The Athletics are back in the Bay area. More than a year after announcing intentions to leave their long-time home in Oakland to play at a minor league facility in Sacramento while a new stadium in Las Vegas is being built, the A's made the journey south to face the San Francisco Giants in a three-game series that began Friday. For Athletics general manager David Forst, that meant a trip across the Bay Bridge that used to take 20 minutes turned into a 90-mile afternoon drive.