Play Ball! A’s Open 2019 Season (Early) On Wednesday In Japan

Mar 18, 2019, 10:19 AM | Updated: 10:28 am

(Photo by Masterpress/Getty Images)

Sacramento Kings Beat Writer

The most wonderful day of the year has arrived: Opening Day

It’s an early Opening Day for the 2019 Oakland Athletics, in two ways to be exact. The first is that Wednesday’s opening day between the A’s and Seattle Mariners is taking place more than a week ahead of the rest of Major League Baseball’s March 28th Opening Day. Second, if you plan on tuning in on Wednesday, you better set that alarm clock to 2:30am so that you don’t miss first pitch from Tokyo, Japan.

Early or late, rain or shine, Japan or Oakland, it doesn’t matter.

Baseball is back.

Wednesday morning marks game one of 162, a blank canvas in a sense as this year’s Oakland Athletics will look to build off of a surprise 2018 season that saw them clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 2014. After winning 97 games last year, the A’s will look to take things a step further in 2019 as they look to dethrone the two-time reigning American League West Division champion Houston Astros.

It all starts Wednesday morning at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.

Oakland Athletics 2019 Opening Day Details

Wednesday, March 20, 2019 – 2:30am PT

Tokyo Dome – Tokyo, Japan

Radio – Sports 1140 KHTK

TV – ESPN

Game Info

Probable Pitchers: Marco Gonzales (SEA) LHP vs Mike Fiers (OAK) RHP

Gonzales had a 13-9 record with a 4.00 ERA while striking out 145 batters in 2018 for the Mariners
Acquired by Oakland via trade last season, Fiers went 12-8 with a 3.56 ERA during the 2018 season. Fiers also struck out 139 batters and held a 1.18 WHIP last season.

Future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki returns home to Japan and will start in the outfield for Seattle on Wednesday in possibly the last series of his career. It is speculated that the 19-year MLB veteran will retire after Thursday’s series finale when the rosters shrink back to the 25-man limit from the Japan-approved 28. Suzuki has had an incredible career, playing over 27 years of professional baseball and accumulating 3,089 hits (4,367 including Japan Pacific League). At 45 years old, Ichiro will look to put on a show back home where it all began.

Khris Davis will head an Oakland lineup that hit 227 home runs in 2018, third in all of baseball. Davis showed that his 40-home run power is ready for the big stage with a game-tying, two-out, three-run home run in the ninth inning on Monday against the Hookaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Matt Chapman went 3-for-3 on Sunday and 2-for-2 on Monday, proving that he too is ready for the regular season. Marcus Semien had a solid spring, hitting .314 with a home run over 35 at-bats.

Oakland is ready. Are you?

Catch the early morning Opening Day action right here on Sports 1140 KHTK, with first pitch at 2:30am from Tokyo.