The 2011 baseball season is only a few short days away and our two Bay Area teams will conduct their annual spring training finale series to welcome baseball back to the Bay. The Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants have gotten the first game underway as Matt Cain and Brett Anderson do battle in their respective final starts of the spring. If the rotation is as expected for the A’s, they’ll send out Gio Gonzalez tomorrow and Dallas Braden on Wednesday.
The A’s don’t have their exact opening night lineup playing tonight, but it’s fairly close. The game is at AT&T Park, so there is no designated hitter in effect. Opening Night will feature Hideki Matsui in the designated hitter role, and likely hitting in the fourth or fifth spot. Additionally, Josh Willingham will likely get the start in left field and Kurt Suzuki at catcher when the season starts.
1. Ryan Sweeney CF
2. Daric Barton 1B
3. David DeJesus RF
4. Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
5. Mark Ellis 2B
6. Conor Jackson LF
7. Landon Powell C
8. Cliff Pennington SS
9. Bobby Cramer P