They’re still not officially the Sacramento A’s, but one thing is for sure — fans will be seeing a whole lot more “Sacramento” at Sutter Health Park in 2026.
It’s the second of the planned three seasons the River Cats and A’s will share Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento prior to the A’s scheduled move to Las Vegas in 2028. Sutter Health Park is now the only park to share a major and minor league team, with the Tampa Bay Rays moving back to a storm-damaged Tropicana Field after spending last season playing at a minor league park in Tampa.
Led by manager Mark Kotsay (right), the A’s line up on opening
night at Sutter Health Park on April 3.
The day after the Athletics beat the Astros 11-4 in their sold-out home opener on April 3, fans lined up several hours before gates opened for the first of 13 season-long “Sacramento Saturday” promotional days. Each Saturday game will feature a giveaway item, while A’s team members that day will wear bright gold jerseys emblazoned with “Sacramento” in green script (and a Las Vegas patch on the left shoulder).
Max Muncy scores the first A’s run of the season at Sutter Health
Park April 3 on a second-inning single from Denzel Clarke.
The first giveaway on April 4 was a replica buttoned jersey, handed out to the 12,015 fans in attendance. Addressing a criticism from last year’s first season in Sacramento that team officials didn’t embrace their temporary home adequately, the jerseys proved to be extremely popular, with many fans immediately putting them on. The jerseys could also be spotted selling later on sites like eBay, with several being sold for around $100 each in the days following the game.
Houston Astros’ second baseman Jose Altuve, the American League’s
MVP in 2017, seen getting a walk on April 3, was booed loudly
(along with teammate Carlos Correa) before every plate appearance
because of their roles in the 2017 season cheating scandal.
“I love the Sacramento gear; we’ll be back tomorrow (to get the jerseys),” says West Sacramento’s Sarah Sepulveda, while sitting on the lawn down the right field line during the opener on Friday, April 3 with her husband, Victor. As longtime A’s fans who would ride BART to games in Oakland, Sepulveda was wearing one of the new “Sacramento” jackets available for purchase, saying they were excited when the team came to Sacramento.
The A’s’ Lawrence Butler celebrates after his fourth-inning homer
during the home opener on April 3.
“They’re finally doing a good job encouraging us to come out,” she says, noting the wider selection of Sacramento attire available at the park’s On Deck store.
The A’s, hoping to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020 (and it has been announced that playoff games in 2026 would be played at Sutter Health Park), struggled to start the season and came into the opening home series with a 1-6 won-loss record, the worst in baseball. Though fans on jersey giveaway day suffered through an 11-0 defeat, the A’s won the series before heading back out on an east coast road trip, taking the Sunday finale — a thrilling, extra-inning 12-10 comeback victory with Brent Rooker hitting a walk-off three-run homer.
Max Muncy rounds first base after following Butler with a homer
of his own, as the A’s beat the Astros 11-4. “I had chills
running around third base,” Muncy said after the game.
While A’s attendance in 2025 proved to be lower than many expected, averaging 9,487 per game, the 2026 start was encouraging with 12,000-plus at each of the first two games and 10,085 at the Sunday matinee. Opening night was electric, with fans loudly enjoying the A’s offensive barrage, which included back-to-back homers in the fourth inning from Lawrence Butler and Max Muncy.
West Sacramento’s Sarah and Victor Sepulveda show off some of the
new Sacramento-themed attire from the lawn along the left field
line at Sutter Health Park on April 3.
“I had chills running around third base,” Muncy said after the game.
The River Cats, now in its 27th year in Sacramento and the top affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, will play its full 75-game home schedule at Sutter Health Park, hoping to rebound from last year when attendance suffered a 22 percent drop from 2024 after having to share its field with an MLB team. As a result, the River Cats branded each of the 13 homestands in its “Festival of Baseball” with a different theme, which a team press release described as “uniquely curated music-festival-style experience, celebrating the spirit, culture, and community that defines Sacramento.”
Lawrence Butler signs the new Sacramento jersey for fans along
the right-field line before the April 4 game.
Meanwhile, instead of repeating last year’s regular 81-game home schedule in Sacramento, the A’s will head to their new city to play six regular-season games from June 8-14 at the minor league Las Vegas Ballpark in Summerlin, NV, against the Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies.
Fans wearing their new jerseys with “Sacramento” emblazoned
across the chest filled Sutter Health Park on April 4.
But the Sacramento schedule will still be packed with highlights, including a visit June 29-July 1 by the back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and its MVP winner the past two years, Shohei Ohtani. Other popular draws will include two big weekend series visits by the San Francisco Giants on May 15-17 and the New York Yankees on May 29-31.
–
Never miss a story: Get Comstock’s weekly newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Recommended For You
Sacramento’s March Madness Run Ends With UCLA’s Historic NCAA Championship Victory
NCAA women’s tournament at Golden 1 Center sends two teams to Final Four, including eventual champion UCLA
The tournament had everything: eight teams hailing from coast to
coast, legendary coaches with deep Sacramento connections, and a
buzzer beater for the ages.
Sacramento’s Daniel Susac Makes San Francisco Giants Roster Ahead of MLB Debut
The Roseville native and former first-round pick caps a whirlwind offseason with a spot on the Giants’ opening roster
On Wednesday morning in advance
of their season opener at Oracle Park it became official — Daniel
Susac made San Francisco’s final roster after making a huge
impression during spring training.
‘We’ve Shown Sacramento the Best Baseball in the World’: First Year With A’s in Sacramento Draws a Total 1.1 Million Fans
A’s finish first season of unique Sutter Health Park sharing experiment with the River Cats
You never know what you might see at an MLB game, as
Sacramento learned this year.
How Baseball Shaped My Life and Taught Me Important Lessons
Baseball had become part of my life — not like a boy growing up playing the game (because there were few female sports back then). But baseball became a constant thread for me in other ways.