From The Tribune staff reports
Major League Baseball released its full 60-game schedule for the long-delayed 2020 season on Monday, July 6. Regular season play is set to begin on July 23 and end two months later on Sept. 27.
The league has lined up an ESPN doubleheader for opening night on July 23. The defending World Series champion Washington Nationals will host the New York Yankees in the first game of the season, which will air starting at 6 p.m. CT. ESPN will later jump to the Giants and Dodgers at 9 p.m. CT to close out its July 23 doubleheader.
Following opening night, 14 games will be played on July 24, including a National League East bout between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets. This year’s schedule is mainly made up of divisional contests, in an effort to set postseason positioning in a coronavirus-shortened season.
According to reports, throughout the 60-game regular season, teams will play their four divisional opponents 10 times each, with the other 20 games coming against interleague opponents in the same geographical area.
“Seeing the schedule makes it a little more real,” Reds manager David Bell told ESPN. “We can all start to plan a little better, have an idea what our life is going to be like and where we’re going to be the next several months.
“It will make it more realistic: Hey, this is about to happen in just over two weeks now.”