Nationals announce 2023 regular season schedule originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Major League Baseball released its schedule for the 2023 regular season Wednesday with a new twist: interleague play will be expanded with every team playing at least one series against each other for the first time in league history.
For the Nationals, that will mean playing 46 games against interleague opponents with eight series at home and eight on the road. As a result, the number of NL East division games will drop from 19 per opponent (six series each year) to 13 (four series). They will also play two fewer intraleague games against other NL teams than they have in previous seasons.
Washington will open the season at home against the Atlanta Braves on March 30, which will be Opening Day across the league. The Nationals will host a six-game homestand that also includes a series with the Tampa Bay Rays before embarking on their first road trip of the year with stops in Denver and Anaheim.
The only AL team the Nationals are scheduled to play two series with are the crosstown rival Baltimore Orioles. The first Beltway series will be April 18-19 in D.C. before the two teams square off at Camden Yards on Sept. 26-27, the second to last series of the season.
Although the Nationals won’t be at home for either Memorial Day (on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers) or Labor Day (scheduled off day), they will be in Navy Yard for both Mother’s Day on May 14 (vs. New York Mets) and Father’s Day on June 18 (vs. Miami Marlins). They will also once again host a matinee July 4 game at 11:05 a.m. against the Cincinnati Reds.
One of the biggest highlights of the season will come Aug. 20 when the Nationals and Phillies square off in the Little League Classic at Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It will cost Washington one of its home games, however, giving it 80 games at Nationals Park for the year.
The Nationals close out the season the same way they open it: against the Braves. That final three-game set will take place at Truist Park with the regular season finale scheduled for Oct. 1.
