National League West Petco Park Baseball
Manny Machado, left, and Eric Hosmer, right, during summer camp at Petco Park. Photo credit: @Padres, via Twitter

The San Diego Padres will open the belated 2020 season at home on July 24 with a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Major League Baseball revealed the schedules for the shortened 60-game season Monday. It begins  on July 23, as the World Series champs, the Washington Nationals (with former San Diego State star Stephen Strasburg), take on the New York Yankees. Later that night, the San Francisco Giants play the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In addition, the Padres will play a pre-season game against the Los Angeles Angels on July 20 at Petco Park. They’ll travel to Anaheim to take on the Angels again two days later.

MLB came up with a new structure for the season to limit travel so the Padres will play teams from the west in both leagues. A designated hitter also will appear in all games – typically only American League teams use the DH.

Fans will not be able to attend the games, though that could change if  the pandemic eases. Players also will have to adhere to a strict testing protocol, along with other safety regulations, as the season progresses.

More than 30 players have tested positive for the virus so far, including new Padre Tommy Pham.

The Padres play the rival Dodgers at home Aug. 3-5, then travel to Los Angeles a week later. They will conclude the short season with a Sept. 25 series in San Francisco.

Their longest stretch at home begins Sept. 7, when the Colorado Rockies, Giants and Dodgers come to town for a 10-game homestand.

Teams opened up training last week, more than three months after the coronavirus pandemic shut down spring training and all of sports in general.

Baseball also plans to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day on Aug. 28, the date of the March on Washington in 1963, along with Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. It’s also the date in 1945 when Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey met with Robinson to discuss his future.

The Padres will play the Rockies in Denver that day.

The new date marks both Robinson’s journey in baseball and his life as a civil rights activist. Jackie Robinson Day is customarily celebrated on April 15, the anniversary of his breaking MLB’s color line in 1947.

– Staff and wire reports