MLB releases 2020 schedule with Yankees-Nationals, Giants-Dodgers set for opening night
The defending World Series champion Washington Nationals will host the New York Yankees in the first game of the 2020 MLB season on July 23, followed by the San Francisco Giants traveling to play the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, as MLB revealed its full schedule for the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season on Monday.
ESPN will broadcast both games, with the action at Nationals Park scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET, with the Giants and Dodgers following at 10 p.m. ET.
Following opening night, 14 games will be played on July 24, including the first game at the Texas Rangers' new Globe Life Field as they host the Colorado Rockies.
Over the 60-game regular season, teams will play their four divisional opponents 10 times each, and the other 20 games will be against interleague opponents in the same geographical area. For example, National League West teams will face American League West teams.
The Opening Day matchup between the Yankees and Nationals could also serve as Gerrit Cole's debut in pinstripes. Cole and the Yankees agreed to a record nine-year, $324 million contract this past winter.
Highlights later in the season include Madison Bumgarner's return to San Francisco as the Arizona Diamondbacks face the Giants on Aug 21-23.
The Boston Red Sox will face a challenge early in the season as 13 of their first 23 games are against a pair of AL East contenders -- the Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays.
The Yankees have more room for error early in the season as all but three of their final 23 games are against teams that lost 95 games or more last season -- 10 against the Toronto Blue Jays and seven against the Baltimore Orioles before ending with three against the Miami Marlins.
The other three games in that stretch are the Yankees' only ones at Fenway Park against the Red Sox on Sept. 18-20. Boston will play at Yankee Stadium seven times in the first half of its schedule.
The Dodgers, among the favorites to win the World Series, will not play the Giants at all in September, and will finish with six interleague games at home against the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels.
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