How to Watch 'Battle of the Bay 2.0': Oakland Ballers vs. San José Giants

As fans nationwide celebrate the start of the Major League Baseball season, the Bay Area is adjusting to a new reality: a baseball season with just one MLB team.

While the San Francisco Giants celebrated an Opening Day victory against the Cincinnati Reds on March 27, the Oakland Athletics — their historic rivals across the Bay — now play their home games in West Sacramento as of Monday, following the team ownership’s decision to leave the Town. Their move means this will also be the first year without an official “Battle of the Bay”: the nickname given to the beloved face-offs between the Giants and the A’s.

But baseball lovers rejoice: this tradition is back — with a twist.

• Jump straight to: How can I watch San José Giants vs. Oakland Ballers?

On Wednesday, the San José Giants — the Single-A minor league affiliate of the San Francisco Giants — will play against the Pioneer League’s Oakland Ballers in a single-date exhibition game at Excite Ballpark in San José at 6 p.m. And both teams are, naturally, calling this game “The Battle of the Bay 2.0.”

“The Battle of the Bay 2.0, at its core, is a celebration of Bay Area baseball fans and the history of baseball in this region,” said Ben Taylor, president of the San José Giants.

“Anybody who has grown up in the Bay Area knows the history between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics and the great ball games that used to take place between them,” Taylor said. And when it became clear that the A’s would not play the 2025 season from Oakland, he and the Oakland Ballers ownership met to think of how they could once again give fans the experience of seeing two Bay Area teams face off against each other.

Wednesday’s game marks the first time in history that an MLB-affiliated team will play against an independent team from the Pioneer League — no mean feat considering each league operates on different season calendars.

“We’ve had to really accelerate our off-season plan to pull this game off,” said Casey Pratt, vice president of communications and fan entertainment for the Oakland Ballers. While the Ballers will have their own Opening Day on May 20, Pratt said the team wanted to give Oakland’s baseball fans the experience of a season opener around the same time as the MLB Opening Day.

At a time when many A’s fans are still grieving the loss of their team to West Sacramento, the Battle of the Bay 2.0 “hopefully helps the healing process,” Pratt said. “This is baseball that is for the people and for the community first.”

What to expect at Wednesday’s ‘Battle of the Bay 2.0’ at Excite Ballpark

All attendees at Wednesday’s game will receive a free Battle of the Bay 2.0 poster designed by local artist Guy Sliwinski, who will sign posters at the ballpark. J.T. Snow, former first baseman for the San Francisco Giants and currently part of the Oakland Ballers coaching staff, will throw the first pitch. And both team mascots — the Ballers’ Scrappy the Rally Possum and Gigante from the San José Giants — will be hyping up fans throughout the game.

“This is going to be the unofficial opening day for Bay Area professional baseball,” said Taylor with the San José Giants. He adds that both teams are coming into this game after making it to their respective post-seasons last year. “All that energy and excitement will be inside the ballpark.”

Elected officials for both Bay Area cities are also trying to get behind this new rivalry. Last week, San José Mayor Matt Mahan and Oakland interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins announced a wager for Wednesday’s game.

“I am so confident that the San José Giants are going to win this thing that I’m putting a bottle of La Vic’s famous orange sauce on the line,” said Mahan, referencing a popular salsa sold by the San José-based La Victoria Taquería. In response, Jenkins has bet a bottle of barbeque sauce from Oakland’s Everett & Jones restaurant chain.

“Ballers will be successful, mark my words,” Jenkins said.

How can I watch San José Giants vs. Oakland Ballers?

Who: San José Giants vs. Oakland Ballers

Where: Excite Ballpark in San José

When: Wednesday, April 2 — first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.

Official tickets to Wednesday’s game between the San José Giants and the Oakland Ballers are still available at mlb.tickets.com.

If you plan to take public transit, you can take BART to Berryessa/North San José BART Station, take the 500 Rapid VTA bus to San José Diridon and then transfer to the 73 VTA bus to the Senter & Alma Avenue bus station. Oakland 68’s, an independent fan group, is organizing a bus to take fans from Raimondi Park in West Oakland to San José. The bus will leave Raimondi Park at 4 p.m. Bus tickets are sold for $40 each, which comes with two drinks but do not include game tickets.

Not able to watch the game in person at San José’s Excite Ballpark? You can watch the game live on the San José Giants official website, stream it on your cellphone using the MiLB app or watch it on TV on KPIX+ (channel 44 cable 12).