Orioles Announce 2017 Spring Training Schedule
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The Orioles announced their 2017 Grapefruit League schedule, which opens Friday, February 24, with an away game in Lakeland, Fla. against the Detroit Tigers.
The Orioles will play their home opener two days later on Sunday, February 26, with a 1:05 p.m. ET game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. The club's Grapefruit League season will conclude at Ed Smith Stadium with the club's Spring Training finale on Thursday, March 30, against the Tigers.
The 2017 season marks the eighth consecutive Spring Training season for the Orioles in Sarasota and the seventh at renovated Ed Smith Stadium.
Last January, Ed Smith Stadium was named the 2015 Sports Turf Managers Association "Field of the Year" for professional baseball, considered the highest honor in the industry.
Baltimore will face eight different Major League opponents during its 17-game home schedule. The Orioles will play the Philadelphia Phillies three times at Ed Smith Stadium and the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Rays, and Toronto Blue Jays twice each. The Orioles will also square off against the division-rival New York Yankees once in Sarasota on Monday, February 27.
Additionally, as part of the World Baseball Classic exhibition schedule, the Orioles will host the defending champion Dominican Republic team on Tuesday, March 7. In 2013, the Dominican Republic defeated Puerto Rico to claim the World Baseball Classic crown with a roster featuring several of the Major League's biggest stars.
The Orioles will play 17 road games during the Spring Training season, including four trips to play the Pirates; two trips to play the Rays, Red Sox, Tigers, Twins, and Yankees; and one trip to play the Blue Jays, Braves, and Phillies.
Single game tickets for all 17 games at Ed Smith Stadium will go on sale Saturday, January 21, 2017, at 10:00 a.m.