Next up: Mariners
60-game season opens with six at Minute Maid vs. Mariners, Dodgers
» The Astros’ schedule is released and begins with four home games against Seattle.
If there is a 2020 season, the Astros will open with a six-game homestand.
Houston will host the Seattle Mariners on July 24 to begin its 60-game season, one highlighted by 40 games against American League West foes and four matchups with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sixteen of the Astros’ final 20 games are on the road.
The Astros’ season opener against the Mariners will air on MLB Network with an 8:10 p.m. first pitch. Following the four-game series with Seattle, the Dodgers come to town for a twogame set July 28-29.
On Sept. 12-13, the Astros will travel to Dodger Stadium for a two-game set. Houston defeated the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series, a title since tainted by the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme.
Many Dodgers were vocal in their disdain this past
February, particularly reigning National League MVP Cody Bellinger. Bellinger said the Astros “stole the ring from us” and Jose Altuve “stole the MVP” from Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge.
“I lost respect for those guys,” Bellinger said. “I would say everyone in the show, in the big leagues, lost respect for those guys.”
Astros shortstop Carlos Correa fired back at Bellinger in two interviews in February, continuing a back-and-forth conversation that the coronavirus pandemic has silenced.
To limit travel during the pandemic, all major league teams are playing a regionalized schedule featuring their divisional opponents and their geographic counterparts in the opposite league. So the Astros will face the American League West and National League West.
Houston has interleague road series against the Colorado Rockies, San Diego
Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks and Dodgers. Couple that with the West Coastheavy division trips, and the Astros will travel 13,954 miles if the full season is played. The only team scheduled to travel more is the Texas Rangers.
Teams play each of their four divisional opponents 10 times, leaving 20 games for interleague play. To facilitate easier travel, distribution of home games within divisional matchups is not even.
The Astros play seven of their 10 games against the
Oakland A’s on the road — a tough assignment against a playoff team from last season— but do host the woebegone Mariners for seven of their 10 meetings.
Houston will be featured on national television four times: July 29 against the Dodgers at 6:10 p.m. on ESPN; Aug. 1 at the Los Angeles Angels at 6:15 on Fox; Aug. 6 at Arizona at 6:15 p.m. on Fox; and Sept. 12 at the Dodgers at 7:15 p.m. on Fox.