MLB ’20 schedule: Rangers, Astros open on home fields

Published 6:03 pm Monday, July 6, 2020

Editor’s Note: For the MLB schedule please see TylerPaper.com

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The Texas Rangers open new Globe Life Field in Arlington on July 24 against the Colorado Rockies, Major League Baseball announced on Monday. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m.

The Houston Astros, defending American League champions, open at home as well with games against the Seattle Mariners on July 24-27, followed by home games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who the Astros defeated in the World Series in 2017, on July 28-29.

As far as opening day, Mookie Betts, Gerrit Cole and a pair of high-profile matchups are set as Major League Baseball begins its shortened 60-game season on July 23 in ballparks without fans amid the coronavirus pandemic.

MLB released the schedule Monday, and it starts with two games. Cole and the New York Yankees visit the World Series champion Washington Nationals at 6:08 p.m. CDT, then Betts and his new Los Angeles Dodgers teammates host the San Francisco Giants at 9:08 p.m.

Also on July 24, Anthony Rendon and the Los Angeles Angels visit Oakland and the Cincinnati Reds host Detroit.

The Rangers are scheduled to play two exhibition games against the Rockies on July 21-22 at Globe Life Field. They open the season with three games against the Rockies at home on July 24-26 and two against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 28-29 in Arlington.

The Rangers are not anticipating having fans during their first homestand. The club will continue to evaluate whether fans will be allowed at MLB parks in August.

“I’m less concerned with fans’ impact on the players’ safety than on their own and the employees with whom they’d have close contact,” general manager Jon Daniels said. “I’m more concerned about transmission between fans, and between fans and the (game-day) employees.

“We want and need to feel comfortable that we can all feel as safe as possible. That’s why we’ve got to take things seriously if we want to put a dent in this and play the season. It goes back to masks and being socially distant.”

For home games against Colorado and Houston, the normal game times will be 7:05 p.m. central for weekday night games, 6:05 p.m. on Saturday and 1:35 p.m. on Sunday.

For home games against teams in the Pacific time zone (Arizona, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland, San Diego, Seattle), the normal game times will be 8:05 p.m. CT on weekday nights, 6:05 p.m. on Saturday and 1:35 p.m. on Sunday.

Per agreement with Major League Baseball, the Rangers will play 8:05 p.m. CT weekday night home games against teams in the Pacific time zone, with those clubs starting weekday night home games against Texas at 6:05 p.m. PT/8:05 p.m. CT. Weekday night game times may be adjusted if fans are allowed to attend.

The season ends on Sept. 27, with all 30 teams starting their games at 2 p.m. CDT to possibly make for a final-day playoff scramble. Most games this season, however, are at night.

Teams will play 40 games against their division opponents. The other 20 will be interleague games, including six against a natural opponent, taking on clubs in their corresponding geographic region — East vs. East, for example.

Houston will finish the regular season with a seven-game road trip to Seattle and Texas, with the Rangers playing host to the Astros at Globe Life Park from Sept. 24-27 to end the season.

Games planned for London, Mexico City and Puerto Rico already have been canceled.

Among the schedule highlights:

— The St. Louis Cardinals take on the Chicago White Sox next to the “Field of Dreams” cornfield outside Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 13.

— Jackie Robinson Day, usually celebrated on April 15, will be held Aug. 28 — that’s the date the Rev. Martin Luther King led the March on Washington in 1963, and also the date Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey talked to Robinson in 1945 about a future in the majors.

— Roberto Clemente Day will be held Sept. 9.

— The 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues will be celebrated on Aug. 16.

— Oakland pitcher Mike Fiers will get his first look at his former Houston teammates on Aug. 7 at the empty Coliseum. Fiers blew the whistle on the Astros’ sign-stealing scam, which dominated baseball talk throughout the winter before the virus shut down the sport.