For the second consecutive year, the Tampa Bay Rays will open the 2017 Major League Baseball season as part of ESPN's national Opening Day coverage.
The team will host the New York Yankees on Sunday, April 2, at Tropicana Field. Start time for the cable televised game will be announced at a later date.
The Rays also will host the Oakland Athletics in a single-admission doubleheader on Saturday, June 10, the league's first scheduled doubleheader since July 16, 2011, when the A's hosted the Los Angeles Angels, and only the second time since the A's played at Minnesota on June 7, 1996.
All 30 major league teams released their 2017 schedules today.
It will be the fourth time the Rays will host the Yankees in their home opener.
For the fifth consecutive season, Tampa Bay will play 20 interleague games. The Rays will face all five teams from the National League Central Division and continue their annual home-and-home series with the Miami Marlins. Other interleague home opponents include the Cincinnati Reds (June 19-21) and Milwaukee Brewers (August 4-6). The Rays will visit Busch Stadium (St. Louis) and PNC Park (Pittsburgh).
The schedule includes 76 games versus their rivals from the American League East Division and 33 against the teams from both the AL Central and AL West Divisions. The breakdown includes 19 games each against the Yankees (9 home, 10 away), Orioles (9 home, 10 away), Red Sox (9 home, 10 away) and Toronto Blue Jays (10 home, 9 away).
The Rays will play seven games against the Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Oakland Athletics and Houston Astros. The Rays will have six games apiece versus the Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners.
The Rays close out the 2017 home schedule with a three-game home stand against the Orioles, Sept. 29–Oct. 1.
