Tigers 2013 Schedule is Released

MLB has released the schedules for 2013 today and there are some important changes from this year.  The move of the Astros to the American league creates two 15 team leagues and necessitates at least one interleague game every day.  Every team in the American League Central will play one series versus each team in the NL East this year.  Next year, they will play each team in either the NL Central division or NL West division.  The Pittsburgh Pirates have been designated the Tigers annual rival and they will meet in a four game series - two games at Comerica and two games at Pittsburgh - starting on May 27. 

The schedule for divisional rivals will be more balanced this year, but that doesn't mean fewer games within the division.  It means their schedules will be more similar than they have been in the past.   Teams will play the four other teams within their division 19 times each which is up from 18 this year.  They will also play two series versus each other team in their league totaling 66 games along with 20 inter-league games. So, other than the interleague rival series, the schedules for each team in a division will be pretty much the same. 

The Tigers will open up the season with three games at Minnesota starting on April 1.  They then head to Detroit for their home opener versus the Yankees on April 5.  The season ends in Miami with three games between September 27-29. 

For those who need to get up early for work in the morning, one of the most appealing things on the schedule is that they have just one west coast trip which they'll get out of the way early.  They play nine games versus Oakland, Seattle and Los Angeles between April 12-21.

The oddest part of the schedule is that the Tigers do not play the White Sox until July 9 but then play them in 14 of their next 31 games between July 9 - August 14. 

You can view the entire schedule here.