When Is MLB Opening Day 2017? Date, Schedule, Ticket Info For Every Baseball Game

The 2017 MLB season will begin exactly five months after Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. Meaningful baseball returns Sunday afternoon, and the Opening Day schedule for all 30 teams will span two days.

Six teams will be in action Sunday, starting with a matchup between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays. The defending champion Chicago Cubs will take the field in a regular-season game for the first time since breaking their 108-year title drought, facing the rival St. Louis Cardinals.

April 3 might be considered the date of MLB’s true 2017 Opening Day because most of the teams will begin their season Monday. Twelve games are on the schedule with start times between 1 p.m. EDT and 10 p.m. EDT.

Monday’s schedule features one rematch from the 2016 playoffs. The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Baltimore Orioles in last year’s AL Wild-Card Game, and the AL East rivals will go head-to-head in the 2017 season opener. The Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers both made the postseason, and they’ll start the year with a three-game series against one another.

Only four Opening Day matchups feature two teams from separate divisions. The Boston Red Sox host the Pittsburgh Pirates in the only interleague game. AL Cy Young winner Rick Porcello will start for Boston.