Next year starts in Arlington

The Astros will open the 2018 regular season March 29 against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington, MLB announced Tuesday in releasing its master schedule for next year.

Game times have not yet been announced.

After four games against the Rangers, the Astros will return to Minute Maid Park for their April 2 home opener against the Baltimore Orioles. They will play their interleague games next season against the five National League West teams.

Of their interleague matchups, the Astros will play two-and-two home and home sets against the San Francisco Giants, the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks. They will host the San Diego Padres in their third series of the season from April 6 to 8 and visit the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 3-5.

The Astros’ visit to Dodger Stadium will be their first since 2012, their final year as members of the National League. They played at San Francisco’s AT&T Park and Colorado’s Coors Field in interleague play in 2015 and have played at Arizona’s Chase Field annually since 2014 because MLB considers the Diamondbacks the Astros’ NL “natural rival.”

The Astros will finish next season with a seven-game road trip to Toronto and Baltimore. In an odd scheduling quirk, they play won’t play the Rangers in August or September. The last of the 19 annual Lone Star Series games will be played July 29 at Minute Maid Park.

The MLB draft will begin June 4. The 89th MLB All-Star Game will be played July 17th at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.