A’s adjust to schedule change, heat at K.C.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In an unusual turn of events, the A’s couldn’t take batting practice at the regular time the first day into a new series - a celebrity softball game pushed all pregame baseball activity much earlier.

“I’ve never see that before, where you’re not able to get in and get on the field the first day in your regular time slot,” manager Bob Melvin said. “But we told these guys we wanted them out here early, and all of them were here. With this group, it’s not like there was any hesitation about it.”

That meant that Oakland players showed up two hours early and took batting practice during the hottest point of the day at Kauffman Stadium.