Oakland Athletics announce 2015 schedule

The Oakland Athletics, who will play 20 interleague games against the National League West next year, today officially announced their regular season schedule for 2015. The A's will open next season against the Texas Rangers Monday, April 6 at O.co Coliseum in Oakland at 7:05 p.m., the first of a seven-game homestand with the Rangers (April 6-9) and Seattle Mariners (April 10-12). For the first time in history, the Athletics also will close their home schedule with a three-game weekend series against the cross-bay rival San Francisco Giants Sept. 25-27.

Other 2015 highlights include NL West interleague home games at the Coliseum against the San Diego Padres June 17-18, the Colorado Rockies June 29-30 and July 1 and the Los Angeles Dodgers Aug. 18-19.

After two straight years of the A's and Giants playing four interleague games during the regular campaign, the "Battle of the Bay" expands to six games next season. Besides the late September series in Oakland, the two local clubs will square off at AT&T Park in San Francisco for a three-game weekend series July 24-26.

Interleague road games next season will feature trips to San Diego June 15-16, the Los Angeles Dodgers July 28-29 and Arizona Aug. 28-30.

While Bob Melvin's club christens April by playing 13 of its first 23 games at home, the A's will face a less-friendly schedule in the late season. After Aug. 23, Oakland will play 22 of its remaining 37 games on foreign soil, including a final six-game road trip through Anaheim (Sept. 28-30) and Seattle (Oct. 2-4). Unlike this season, when the club made five straight three-city road trips to open the schedule, the 2015 A's will only embark on three three-city treks---Houston-Kansas City-Los Angeles (Anaheim) April 13-23, Texas-Minnesota-Seattle May 1-10 and Texas-Chicago-Houston Sept. 11-20.

The Athletics' most favorable stretch of the season begins right after the All-Star Break, when they will play 22 consecutive games within in the state of California. Oakland hosts Minnesota July 17-19 and Toronto July 21-23 before playing five road games at San Francisco and Dodger Stadium July 24-29. The team then returns home for its longest homestand of the season, 11 games with Cleveland, Baltimore and Houston July 30 through Aug. 9.

Oakland's schedule will be comprised of an unbalanced format that includes 19 games against American League West opponents. The A's also will play either six or seven games vs. all other American League teams outside of their division in a home-and-home series arrangement.

Other highlights of the A's 2015 home schedule include:

• A late May homestand that features the perennial playoff-bound Detroit Tigers May 25-27, including a special Memorial Day matinee series opener, and a four-game weekend set with the New York Yankees May 28-31.
• A three-game weekend series with the cross-state rival Los Angeles Angels June 19-21, including a Father's Day afternoon contest Sunday to cap the series.
• Seattle's second visit to Oakland will feature a four-game weekend series the first week of July, including fireworks on Friday night, the 3rd, and a 1:05 p.m. contest on Saturday, the 4th of July.
• After a 10-game road trip to open the month of May, the A's return home to host the always-popular Boston Red Sox in a three-game series May 11-13, the lone Bay Area appearance by the BoSox next season.
• A much-improved Houston Astros club makes their final Oakland appearance of the regular season Sept. 7-9, kicking off the set with a Labor Day matinee.
• Fans wishing to place a $200-per-seat deposit towards 2015 season tickets can do so by calling (510) 638-GO A's (4627) or by logging onto www.athletics.com/deposit
• Fans placing a deposit are eligible for 2014 Postseason ticket rights. Purchasing the full postseason ticket strip will lock in ticket pricing and guarantee seating throughout the postseason.