MESA, Ariz. — An hour and a half after A’s starter Paul Blackburn threw the first pitch of their Cactus League exhibition Friday afternoon, Jorge Soler watched strike three go by to finally bring an end to the first inning.
Two batters into the game, play was interrupted by an hourlong rain delay. Upon resuming play, they got in only slightly more action — two innings, or about 45 minutes — before the skies opened again, and the Giants had their third game this spring spoiled by rain.
Jordan Hicks was scheduled to make his fourth start of the spring but got his work in on the side instead, going four innings, manager Bob Melvin said. The upside to getting in the two innings they did was that Luke Jackson and Camilo Doval were able to pitch, the two relievers Melvin hoped to see Friday.
Four other games around the valley were canceled, but with the Bay Bridge rivals’ third meeting of the spring only serving as the undercard to MLB’s inaugural “Prospect Breakout” game featuring the top young players from both teams’ farm systems, there was plenty of motivation to play.
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Both games were going to be televised on NBC Sports Bay Area but were canceled approximately 2 hours after the scheduled first pitch.
Hayden Birdsong, rated the Giants’ No. 7 prospect by MLB.com, was slated to start the later contest, with fellow top prospects IF Bryce Eldridge (No. 4 on MLB.com), IF Walker Martin (No. 5 on MLB.com), IF Maui Ahuna (No. 10 on MLB.com) and OF Rayner Arias (No. 6 on MLB.com) also set to participate.
The field staff for the game offered a fun blast from the past to pair with the eye to the future.
Joe Panik was going to serve as the first base coach, Ryan Vogelsong and Dan Runzler as the pitching coaches and Travis Ishikawa as a hitting coach. Jacob Heyward, a rising star in the organizational coaching ranks and the younger brother of Jason Heyward, was going to serve as manager.