Athletics-Astros ALDS schedule: Oakland gets more day games even after complaints

Major League Baseball heard the A’s complaints about day games — and gave them five more.

When the complete schedule for the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros was revealed Sunday, this is what it looked like. And so it shall be.

Monday: 1:07 p.m. (Pacific)

Tuesday: 1:37 p.m.

Wednesday: 12:35 p.m.

Thursday: 12:35 p.m.

Friday: 12:35 p.m.

Having played in daylight all three games of the wild-card round, as well as their last two regular-season games, the A’s are looking at eight days games in a row — 10 if the series goes the distance. It’s as if they’re the Chicago Cubs before Wrigley Field got lights.

The A’s went hunting for a silver lining, and found one.

“We have experience doing it,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We are conditioned for it now and our guys didn’t seem to have a problem.”

The problem, or potential problem, was laid out clearly by Melvin last week when he saw the schedule for the wild-card series against Chicago.

“I mean, we have 12 o’clock games, which means we’re (coronavirus) testing at 6:30 in the morning and taking batting practice at 9 o’clock. We don’t even do that in spring training,” Melvin said then.

Relief pitcher Jake Diekman had put it more bluntly.

“That’s horse—-,” he said. “We’re the second seed and we’re playing three noon games in a row. That’s terrible.”

Well, at least MLB mixed it up for them a little bit this time around: Three 12:35 games in a row, after a 1:07 start Monday and a 1:37 start Tuesday.