Braves to open 2010 season at home

By CARROLL ROGERS

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Braves on Tuesday announced their tentative 2010 schedule, which features the Cubs on Opening Day, the Phillies to close out the season and Interleague play against the AL Central.

A final version of the schedule with game times will be released in the offseason.

Perusing the new schedule, Chipper Jones noticed a lot of heavy-hitters coming up in April, with 13 games against clubs in contention for this year’s playoffs: the Giants, the Rockies, the Phillies and the Cardinals.

“Next April is going to be a bear,” Jones said.

The Braves’ interleague matchups lack the star power of the Red Sox or Yankees but Jones’ raised his eyebrows at facing the Tampa Bay Rays and the Detroit Tigers. He was disappointed the Braves play the Royals at home and not on the road. Kansas City is the only major league city he’s never played in.

Some dates to note:

● The Braves open at home for the first time in six years, hosting the Chicago Cubs on Monday, April 5, at Turner Field in the first of a three-game series.

● The Braves go west on their first trip of the year, playing San Francisco and San Diego for six games April 9-15.

● The Tampa Bay Rays visit Turner Field for the first time since 2001 on June 15-17.

● The other four interleague series all fall in June: the Royals (June 18-20) and Tigers (June 25-27) at Turner Field and the Twins (June 11-13) and White Sox (June 22-24) on the road. The Twins will be playing in new Target Field next season.

● The Braves close out the season with a homestand against the Marlins (Sept. 27-29) and Phillies (Oct. 1-3). They will play the Phillies in six of their final 12 games.

“Well, I dare say those last couple series against the Phillies will probably mean something, either way,” Jones said.