Red Sox announce 2009 schedule
The Red Sox will begin the 2009 season at home — their first season-opener at Fenway Park since 2002 and just their second since 1996 — and their opponent will be a familiar one.
The Red Sox today unveiled their schedule for next season (click here for the complete version), and the new season will begin April 6 with the opener of a three-game series against the team they are currently battling for the American League East title, the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Sox will not meet their more traditional rival until a few weeks later, when the Yankees come to Fenway for a weekend series April 24-26. The Sox will make their first visit to the new Yankee Stadium for a Monday-Tuesday two-game set May 4-5.
The Red Sox will play a total of 72 games against their AL East rivals — 18 each with the Rays, Yankees, Orioles, and Blue Jays.
The Yankees will also come to Fenway for a midweek series June 9-11 and a weekend series Aug. 21-23, while the teams will meet in the Bronx Aug. 6-9 (a four-game series) and Sept. 25-27, the Sox’ final three road games of the regular season.
All 18 of the Red Sox’ interleague games will be against National League East opponents. The Sox open interleague play with a three-game series against the Mets at Fenway May 22-24. After a trio of games at Philadelphia June 12-14, they will have a day off, then will host Florida and Atlanta in a pair of three-game matchups from June 16-21.
They will complete the interleague portion of their schedule with a six-game road swing at Washington (June 23-25) and Atlanta (June 26-28).
After the season-opening series against the Rays, the Sox head to California for three-game sets with the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland A’s.
The Sox will return to Fenway for a nine-game homestand with Baltimore, Minnesota, and the Yankees, April 17-26. The Sox have a pair of 10-game homestands, July 3-12 with Seattle, Oakland, and Kansas City, and Aug. 21-30 with the Yankees, White Sox, and Toronto.
The Red Sox will end the regular season with a seven-game homestand, beginning with three games with the Jays (Sept. 28-30) and concluding with four games versus the Indians (Oct. 1-4).
Game times will be finalized and announced at a later date.
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