Blue Jays-Yankees lead off full slate on MLB Opening Day

NEW YORK (AP) — The major league season is scheduled to start April 1 with the New York Yankees hosting Toronto and Detroit hosting Cleveland, part of an openingday schedule of 15 games.

Major League Baseball announced its initial 2021 schedule last July 9 and updated it Thursday with game times. The schedule envisions every team playing its first game on the same day for the first time since 1968.

Four openers are scheduled to be televised on ESPN, starting with the Blue Jays-Yankees at 7:05 a.m. (all times Hawaii time). The Los Angeles Dodgers are at Colorado at 10:10 a.m., followed by the New York Mets at Washington at 1:09 p.m. and the Chicago White Sox at the Los Angeles Angels at 4:05 p.m.

The regular season is scheduled to end Oct. 3, with all games scheduled to start close to simultaneously shortly after 9 a.m. HST.

Among regular season games are Colorado at the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 15 on Jackie Robinson Day; the New York Yankees vs. the Chicago White Sox at Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 12 in the Field of Dreams game, and the Angels vs. Cleveland on Aug. 22 at Williamsport, Pa., in the Little League Classic.

The All-Star Game is scheduled for July 13 at Atlanta. The Yankees host Boston in the only game scheduled for July 15, the final day of the All-Star break for most teams.

The Yankees and Mets play each other for the first time on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, at Citi Field.

Players rejected a proposal by teams to delay opening day to April 28 and cut each team’s schedule from 162 games to 154. Spring training workouts are scheduled to start next Wednesday.