Twins will open season in Chicago vs. White Sox on July 24

One day off in August.

A lot of factors catch people's eye when a new baseball schedule is released, like the Opening Day opponent, or the date of the home opener, or the interleague travel schedule. But for a manager whose job is juggling a pitching staff and keeping his players fresh, one feature of the Twins' 60-game 2020 schedule jumped out.

"It's 36 games in 37 days, something you wouldn't normally see," Baldelli noted of that grueling late-July-to-early-September stretch, in which Aug. 13 is the lone game-free day between a 16-day and a 20-day stretch of games. "You try to find ways to take advantage of those off days that you have, and having them clustered at the very end of the year [four off days in September] is not what you're really hoping for, but it doesn't mean we can't work through it."

The Twins' coronavirus-delayed season opens July 24 in Chicago against the White Sox, the start of a three-game series. The Twins then return to Minnesota for their Target Field opener, July 28 against the Cardinals, followed by four home games with the Indians and two against the Pirates.

The Twins' home schedule both opens and closes with interleague matchups: Cincinnati visits for the season's final three games, Sept. 25-27 at Target Field. In addition, the Twins will travel to Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Milwaukee and Chicago's Wrigley Field.

If Cleveland and the Twins engage in another race for the AL Central title, Minnesota has the advantage with seven home games, and just three at Progressive Field. The Twins play 10 games against each of their AL Central rivals, but none of those season series is balanced; they play at Detroit for four games, at Kansas City for six and at Chicago vs. the White Sox for seven.

Helping with the summer heat: Only four non-Sunday games will be played during the day.

The Twins will also play one exhibition game, July 22 at Wrigley Field vs. the Cubs, though Baldelli said they are still discussing with other teams — likely the White Sox or Brewers — whether to schedule another one.

July 24-26at Chi. White Sox

July 27off

July 28-29St. Louis

July 30-Aug. 2Cleveland

Aug. 3-4Pittsburgh

Aug. 5-6at Pittsburgh

Aug. 7-9at Kansas City

Aug. 10-12at Milwaukee

Aug. 13off

Aug. 14-17Kansas City

Aug. 18-20Milwaukee

Aug. 21-23at Kansas City

Aug. 24-26at Cleveland

Aug. 27-30at Detroit

Aug. 31-Sept. 2Chi. White Sox

Sept. 3off

Sept. 4-7Detroit

Sept. 8-9at St. Louis

Sept. 10off

Sept. 11-13Cleveland

Sept. 14-17at Chi. White Sox

Sept. 18-20at Chi. Cubs

Sept. 21off

Sept. 22-23Detroit

Sept. 24off

Sept. 25-27Cincinnati