All 30 MLB teams to open 2018 season

NEW YORK (AFP) — Major League Baseball will start 2018 with a bang, with all 30 teams in action next March 29.

It will mark the first time since 1968 that every club has opened play on the same day.

In addition, March 29 represents the earliest start to a major league season — apart from some scattered games held overseas.

It will be just the 12th time — and the first since 2011 — that the season will begin on a Thursday.

Opening Day features eight divisional matchups among the 15 games, in addition to an interleague contest between the Detroit Tigers and host Pittsburgh Pirates.

The New York Yankees open at American League East division rivals the Toronto Blue Jays for the first time since 2003 while the San Francisco Giants visit the Los Angeles Dodgers in a National League West clash.

The final day of the 2018 regular season features 12 divisional games on September 30, including the Yankees visiting the rival Boston Red Sox.

Interleague play between National League and American League franchises will pit teams from one league against those from the same division of the other league.