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July 6 (UPI) -- Major League Baseball on Monday unveiled its 60-game schedule for the pandemic-delayed and shortened 2020 season. The defending World Series champion Washington Nationals will host the New York Yankees in the first game of the season July 23, followed by the San Francisco Giants visiting the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. ESPN will broadcast both games, starting with the Nationals-Yankees matchup at 7 p.m. EDT and the Giants-Dodgers game at 10 p.m. EDT.
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After opening night, 14 games will take place July 24 -- including the first contest at the Texas Rangers' new Globe Life Field as they host the Colorado Rockies.
Other highlights of the schedule include Madison Bumgarner's return to San Francisco when the Arizona Diamondbacks visit the Giants on Aug. 21-23 and Oakland A's pitcher Mike Fiers taking on the Houston Astros. Fiers -- who played for Houston in parts of three seasons -- was the whistle-blower on the Astros' sign-stealing scandal.
Each club will play 60 games -- 40 against divisional opponents and 20 against teams in the corresponding regional division in the opposite league -- as part of the revised schedule. For example, teams in the National League West will play American League West teams.
This year's All-Star Game and matchups planned for London, Mexico City and Puerto Rico have been canceled. But the St. Louis Cardinals will still play the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 13 in the inaugural "Field of Dreams" game in Dyersville, Iowa.
Jackie Robinson Day -- typically celebrated April 15 -- will be Aug. 28. The regular season will conclude Sept. 27.
The 2020 MLB season was scheduled to start March 26, but it was pushed into late July due to the coronavirus pandemic. The league scrapped training camps in mid-March, but players have since returned to stadiums in preparation for the upcoming campaign.
