Yankees, Mets to open '13 at home

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NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees and New York Mets never have opened a season at home on the same day.

That's about to change.

The two teams both will play their 2013 season openers in New York on April 1, highlighting next year's preliminary schedule, which was released Wednesday.

The Mets will take on the San Diego Padres in Queens at 1:10 p.m. The Yankees will host the Boston Red Sox in the Bronx at a time yet to be determined, although ESPN could move it to the March 31 Sunday night slot.

The Yankees have not played the Red Sox in a season-opener at Yankee Stadium since 2005.

The Yankees and Mets will play each other just four times in 2013: at Citi Field on May 27-28 and then at Yankee Stadium on May 29-30. They had played six Subway Series games per season for 14 consecutive years (1999-2012) after playing three each in 1997 and '98, the first two years of interleague play.

The Yankees will take on the NL West in interleague play, while the Mets will face the AL Central. The Yankees will play interleague games in every month of the season.

Former Yankees great Don Mattingly returns to the Bronx from June 18-19 as his Los Angeles Dodgers make their first regular-season visit to Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees will host the AL's newest team, the Houston Astros, from April 29-May 1. New York then finishes its season at Minute Maid Park from Sept. 27-29.

The Mets are hosting the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field on July 16, then will follow that up with a seven-game homestand from July 19-25 against the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves.

Under the new schedule format, a team plays 19 games against each division rival for a total of 76, and six or seven against each league opponent in the other two divisions for a total of 66. Each club will play 20 interleague games over eight series, with rivalry games -- such as Yankees-Mets -- in consecutive two-game series during the week of May 27.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story. Mike Mazzeo is a frequent contributor to ESPNNewYork.com.

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