After spending several weeks at spring training in Arizona, the San Francisco Giants are returning to Northern California for three final exhibition games which kicked off Sunday before the start of the new Major League Baseball season.

The Giants faced off on Sunday evening against their Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats, who hosted the matchup at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento.

The Giants then play two games against the Oakland Athletics, first at 6:40 p.m. Monday at the Oakland Coliseum, then at 5:05 p.m. Tuesday at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

The Giants’ regular season starts Thursday with a series on the road against the San Diego Padres.

Dan McMenamin is the managing editor at Bay City News, directing daily news coverage of the 12-county greater Bay Area. He has worked for BCN since 2008 and has been managing editor since 2014 after previously serving as BCN’s San Francisco bureau reporter. A UC Davis graduate, he came to BCN after working for a newspaper and nonprofit in the Davis area. He handles staffing, including coaching of our interns, day-to-day coverage decisions and management of the newswire.