Major leagues:
Major League Baseball will open the 2022 season on March 31 – as long as there isn’t a work stoppage – and will try for the fourth time to have every team play its first game on the same day for the first time since 1968.
The league released the full schedule Wednesday. NL openers have the Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati, Colorado at the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta at Miami, Arizona at Milwaukee, Washington at the New York Mets, St. Louis at Pittsburgh and San Francisco at San Diego.
AL openers are Toronto at Baltimore, Tampa Bay at Boston, Minnesota at the Chicago White Sox, Kansas City at Cleveland, the Los Angeles Angels at Oakland, Detroit at Seattle and the New York Yankees at Texas.
In the one interleague opener, Philadelphia is at Houston.
The collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the players’ association expires Dec. 1. Given the acrimonious relationship between the sides, a lockout or strike appears possible. Baseball has not had a work stoppage since a 7 ½-month strike in 1994-95 that caused the first cancellation of the World Series in 90 years.
Home openers for teams opening on the road start April 4, when the Royals host the White Sox, the Blue Jays host the Rays, the Cubs host the Cardinals and the Nationals host the Phillies.
April 7 home openers have the Yankees host the Red Sox, the Angels host the Astros, the Twins host the Mariners, the Diamondbacks host the Padres, the Cardinals host the Pirates and the Braves host the Reds.
Remaining home openers are April 8, with the the Tigers home against the White Sox, the Rays home against the Orioles, the Phillies home against the Athletics, the Rockies home against the Dodgers and the Gianst home against the Marlins.
Interleague play has the AL East vs. NL Central, AL Central vs. NL West and AL West vs. NL East. The Cubs play at Yankee Stadium from June 10-12 and the Red Sox are at Wrigley Field from July 1-3.
The All-Star Game will be at Dodger Stadium July 19, its latest date since 1981 was played on Aug. 9 following a players’ strike. The 2020 All-Star Game was supposed to be at Dodger Stadium but was canceled due to the pandemic.
Interleague
Cincinnati 6, Minnesota 5: Luis Castillo pitched six effective innings, Tyler Stephenson homered to give the Reds a cushion they ended up needing, and Cincinnati held on to beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-5.
Jonathan India had three hits and Joey Votto drove in two runs for the Reds, who came in trailing first-place Milwaukee by 7 ½ games in the NL Central. Cincinnati also trailed San Diego by five games for the second wild card and is hoping to make up ground during a six-game homestand against last-place teams.
Oakland 5, San Diego 4: Matt Olson hit a two-run, walk-off double in the 10th inning and the Oakland Athletics rallied past the San Diego Padres 5-4.
The A’s scored twice in the ninth with two outs off closer Mark Melancon to tie it at 3. San Diego scored a run in the top of the 10th off Lou Trivino (4-4) to take a 4-3 lead.
American League
Tampa Bay 4, Seattle 3: Randy Arozarena had a two-run triple during a three-run third and the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Seattle Mariners 4-3 to avoid a season series sweep.
The Rays went 1-6 overall against Seattle, including losing the first two games of the three-game set.
Rendon out for season: Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon will have season-ending surgery on his right hip, finishing off an injury-plagued second year in Southern California.
Rendon, who was limited to 58 games, had been on the injured list since July 6 with a left hamstring strain. The 31-year-old also missed time with knee and groin injuries.
Manager Joe Maddon said he wasn’t sure how the injury progressed from a hamstring issue to a problem with the hip. The club is hopeful Rendon will be ready for spring training next year.