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.
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