Nationals announce 2021 schedule

The Washington Nationals - in conjunction with Major League Baseball - announced their 2021 schedule on Thursday. The 17th season of Nationals baseball will commence with an Opening Day matchup against the New York Mets at Nationals Park on April 1st. Washington's initial homestand will feature three games against the Mets before welcoming the Atlanta Braves, April 5th-7th.

Washington's first road trip will take the Nationals to Los Angeles for a three-game weekend series against the Dodgers, April 9th-11th and then on to St. Louis to face the Cardinals, April 12th-14th.

Washington will host 13 homestands - with two of at least nine games - and 14 weekend series during the 2021 season. While the Nationals play at Atlanta on Memorial Day (May 31st), the weekend will feature a visit from the Milwaukee Brewers, May 28th-30th. The Nationals will host the Los Angeles Dodgers for a weekend series, July 1st-4th that will feature the annual Fourth of July game at Nationals Park.

Interleague play will match the Nationals up with the American League East. The Nationals will welcome the Tampa Bay Rays (June 29th-30th), Toronto Blue Jays (Aug. 17th-18th), and Boston Red Sox (Oct. 1st-3rd) to Nationals Park.

Interleague road trips will include series against the Toronto Blue Jays (April 27th-28th), New York Yankees (May 7th-9th), and Tampa Bay Rays (June 8th-9th).

The annual Beltway Series with the Baltimore Orioles will renew on May 21st-23rd at Nationals Park and Baltimore will host Washington at Oriole Park at Camden Yards July 23rd-25th.

The Nationals will make three visits to the West Coast, including two separate three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers (April 9th-11th) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (May 14th-16th), before heading back east for the rest of the road trip. Washington's third and final West Coast swing will feature matchups with the San Diego Padres (July 5th-8th) and San Francisco (July 9th-11th) leading into the 2021 All-Star break.

From Aug. 24th through Sept. 22nd, the Nationals will play 22 out of 28 games against National League East foes. Washington will cap the 2021 regular season with 10 games outside of the division against the Cincinnati Reds (Sept. 23rd-26th) and Colorado Rockies (Sept. 27th-29th) on the road, before hosting the Boston Red Sox for three games (Oct. 1st-3rd).