Major League Baseball released its 2012 schedule on Wednesday with no real surprises in store for the Nationals.
It was already known that Washington would play a series at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox (June 8-10) and host a series against the New York Yankees (June 15-17) at Nationals Park. Those interleague series against the American League East could certainly make the schedule a little more challenging. The Nats also travel to Toronto to face the Blue Jays (June 11-13) and host the Tampa Bay Rays (June 19-21)
The season opens on April 5 – about a week later than 2011 – with a three-game set at Wrigley Field in Chicago. That could hold some weather surprises in the Midwest so early in the year. The home opener at Nationals Park is a week later on April 12 against the Cincinnati Reds. Washington concluded the season with three home games against National League East rivals – and soon-to-be five-time division champion – Philadelphia Phillies (Oct. 1-3).
A little tweak this time around: The Nats have seven homestands that will last six games and two more that are just seven games. That’s light in a sport where one of the benefits is consistently staying at home for a week to 10 days at a time. But as a tradeoff, Washington twice will play at Nationals Park for 11 consecutive games and has fewer long trips. A 10-gamer in June is mitigated by starting up the BW Parkway in Baltimore for three games. Otherwise, just a nine-gamer (May 21-30) keeps them on the road for an extended period.
Holiday dates: Washington spends Memorial Day in Miami against the renamed Marlins. July 4 is a home series with the San Francisco Giants and Labor Day features a series with the Cubs that should be a massive attendance draw.
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