Cubs to Open the 2017 season in St. Louis on April 2
The World Series Champion, Chicago Cubs opens the 2017 season in St. Louis. Instead of beginning the season on Monday, April 3 the Cubs and Cardinals will play on the first day of the 2017 MLB season, Sunday April 2. The change in the schedule was posted on each team’s website Monday. Major League Baseball has not made a formal announcement.
The Cubs were scheduled to open the 2017 season on Monday, April 3 at Busch Stadium. The first matchup of the year between the two long-time rivals was moved up a day to April 2. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, first pitch is scheduled to 7:35pm CDT.
Monday, April 3 has now become an off-day for scheduling purposes. The Cubs and Cardinals have a three-game series scheduled and it will resume Tuesday night (7:15pm CDT) and wrap up with an afternoon tilt on Wednesday (12:45pm CDT).
The Cubs travel from St. Louis to Milwaukee for a three-game series beginning Friday night, April 7 at Miller Park. The Cubs will have two days off in the first week and three in the first 10 days of the season. The Cubs play the Brewers April 7-9 before the home opener on April 10 at Wrigley.
The Cubs first home game is Monday night (7:05pm CDT) against the Dodgers. The Cubs have a nine-game homestand on the schedule (April 10-19) with three versus the Dodgers, three with the Pirates (April 14-16) and three with the Brewers (April 17-19). After a day off on April 20, the Cubs hit the road for three in Cincinnati (April 21-23), three in Pittsburgh (April 24-26) and three in Boston (April 28-30), which should be an interesting weekend with the Red Sox.
The Cubs were 10-9 against the Cardinals this past season on the way to taking the NL Central Division Title. The Cubs finished 17 ½ games ahead of the Cardinals in the division.
• Cubs 2017 Tentative Schedule