Major League Baseball released the 2026 schedule on Tuesday and Seattle was one of a few cities where the World Cup became a complication in compiling the 162-game puzzle for all 30 teams.
For the Mariners, it means that June 20-21 will be a two-day, three-game series with the Boston Red Sox at T-Mobile Park, with the doubleheader played on Saturday, June 20. Playing the doubleheader was needed as on June 19 the United States is already scheduled to play one of its World Cup group stage games across the street at Lumen Field.
The other schedule oddity for the M’s caused by the World Cup comes on July 1. The Mariners will play games on Monday, June 29, and Tuesday, June 30, against the Angels, then are off on Wednesday, July 1, before concluding the series with the Angels on Thursday, July 2. Lumen Field is scheduled to host a match in the knockout round of the tournament on July 1.
The other four matches being played at Lumen Field fall on natural off days or while the M’s are on the road.
The Mariners will open the season on March 26 against Cleveland, the start of a six-game homestand with the Guardians, plus a very early visit from the New York Yankees. The first leg of the Vedder Cup starts on the road in San Diego April 14-16, an oddly wedged three-game road trip between home series against Houston and Texas. The return games against the Padres come May 15-17 at T-Mobile Park.
The M’s also get interleague visits in the first half from Atlanta (May 4-6), Arizona (May 29-31) and the New York Mets (June 1-3). Coming out of the All-Star break, the M’s host San Francisco and Cincinnati (July 17-22) and have another six-game homestand against NL foes in August with the Cubs (Aug. 21-23) and Philadelphia (Aug. 24-26) in town.
Unlike this season when the M’s twice had stretches with 17 straight games without a day off, next season their longest span without a break is 13 days.
The final month of the season is filled almost entirely with games against the AL West with 19 of the final 24 games coming against division opponents. But only two of those games are against Houston, coming on Sept. 22-23 at home. The M’s will face the Athletics and Angels seven times in September, including a four-game series with the Angels Sept. 24-27 to close out the regular season.
The road schedule is a little more kind in 2026 than it was this season. The M’s had five road trips with three-city stops this season, with one more still to come starting later this week in Cleveland before going to Tampa Bay and Atlanta.
Next season, that number is down to three, with the longest trip being 10 games in 10 days with stops in Detroit, Baltimore and Washington in early June.
