Giants release 2018 regular-season schedule

The Giants released their tentative 2018 regular-season schedule, and, well, I keep looking and looking and looking, but I don’t see the Padres anywhere. This is a new era of Giants baseball apparently, one where ...

Oh, right. There they are. And there they are again. And there they are again. And there they are again. And there they are again. And there they are again. No, the Padres are on the schedule, sorry. It’s pretty much a Giants schedule, alright.

But there are some highlights:

• The Giants will open on the road against the Dodgers, with a four-game series. This is the ninth straight season that the team will open on the road, a deliberate choice that allows extra time for the operations staff to prepare for the season. While I do enjoy having a real Opening Day at home, I can appreciate the merits have having Second, Fake Opening Day at home, too. At least it’s in the Pacific Time Zone, which it doesn’t have to be. And none of that Sunday stuff. Pretty sure that’s what futzed up this season, really.
• Then there’s immediately an off day following that four-game series, which probably excites me more than you.
• Right after the off day, it’s time for hot interleague action! The Giants’ home opener is against the Seattle Mariners on April 3, which is more than a little weird. Is this the first time that Opening Day has been against the Mariners? I guess we’ll never know unless someone does a whole bunch of research.
• (Yes.)
• The Giants are doing that weird thing in September where they stop playing on Thursdays entirely. Their last Thursday game is August 23, in New York against the Mets.
• This is the beginning of the schedule changes required by the new CBA, which prohibits dumb teams like the Braves from scheduling a night game the day before the Giants have to fly west. So while we don’t know the times of each of these games yet, It’s safe to say that the Giants will play a nice, calm Sunday morning game in Pittsburgh at the end of a 10-game road trip in May.
• The interleague schedule is against the AL West this year, which starts with the Mariners, gets to the Angels in Anaheim before the end of April, and moves to a pair of games in Houston in May that aren’t reciprocated until they come to San Francisco in August.
• Because it’s against the AL West, the Giants will play a pair of three-game series against the A’s instead of two-game series.
• They will play the Rangers at home for a three-game series, but they won’t have to play them in Arlington, which seems weird. Maybe this is the kind of interleague schedule the really lousy teams get, and we’ve just never seen it before.
• Thursday, June 21 will be when the Giants throw a combined no-hitter against the Padres. The pitch count and walks will get Matt Moore, but Kyle Crick and Mark Melancon will finish the job, so get your tickets early.

Here’s the full tentative schedule for you to inspect far too closely.

Thurs., March 29 @ LAD
Fri., March 30 @ LAD
Sat., March 31 @ LAD
Sun., April 1 @ LAD

Mon., April 2 OFF DAY

Tues., April 3 vs. SEA
Wed., April 4 vs. SEA

Thurs., April 5 OFF DAY

Fri., April 6 vs. LAD
Sat., April 7 vs. LAD
Sun., April 8 vs. LAD
Mon., April 9 vs. ARI
Tues., April 10 vs. ARI
Wed., April 11 vs. ARI
Thurs., April 12 @ SD
Fri., April 13 @ SD
Sat., April 14 @ SD
Sun., April 15 @ SD

Mon., April 16 OFF DAY

Tues., April 17 @ ARI
Wed., April 18 @ ARI
Thurs., April 19 @ ARI
Fri., April 20 @ LAA
Sat., April 21 @ LAA
Sun., April 22 @ LAA

Mon., April 23 vs. WSH
Tues., April 24 vs. WSH
Wed., April 25 vs. WSH

Thurs., April 26 OFF DAY

Fri., April 27 vs. LAD
Sat., April 28 vs. LAD
Sun., April 29 vs. LAD
Mon., April 30 vs. SD
Tues., May 1 vs. SD
Wed., May 2 vs. SD

Thurs., May 3 OFF DAY

Fri., May 4 @ ATL
Sat., May 5 @ ATL
Sun., May 6 @ ATL
Mon., May 7 @ PHI
Tues., May 8 @ 1PHI
Wed., May 9 @ PHI
Thurs., May 10 @ PHI
Fri., May 11 @ PIT
Sat., May 12 @ PIT
Sun., May 13 @ PIT
Mon., May 14 vs. CIN
Tues., May 15 vs. CIN
Wed., May 16 vs. CIN
Thurs., May 17 vs. COL
Fri., May 18 vs. COL
Sat., May 19 vs. COL
Sun., May 20 vs. COL

Mon., May 21 OFF DAY

Tues., May 22 @ HOU
Wed., May 23 @ HOU

Thurs., May 24 OFF DAY

Fri., May 25 @ CHC
Sat., May 26 @ CHC
Sun., May 27 @ CHC
Mon., May 28 @ COL
Tues., May 29 @ COL
Wed., May 30 @ COL

Thurs., May 31 OFF DAY

Fri., June 1 vs. PHI
Sat., June 2 vs. PHI
Sun., June 3 vs. PHI
Mon., June 4 vs. ARI
Tues., June 5 vs. ARI
Wed., June 6 vs. ARI

Thurs., June 7 OFF DAY

Fri., June 8 @ WSH
Sat., June 9 @ WSH
Sun., June 10 @ WSH
Mon., June 11 @ MIA
Tues., June 12 @ MIA
Wed., June 13 @ MIA
Thurs., June 14 @ MIA
Fri., June 15 @ LAD
Sat., June 16 @ LAD
Sun., June 17 @ LAD
Mon., June 18 vs. MIA
Tues., June 19 vs. MIA
Wed., June 20 vs. MIA
Thurs., June 21 vs. SD
Fri., June 22 vs. SD
Sat., June 23 vs. SD
Sun., June 24 vs. SD

Mon., June 25 OFF DAY

Tues., June 26 vs. COL
Wed., June 27 vs. COL
Thurs., June 28 vs. COL
Fri., June 29 @ ARI
Sat., June 30 @ ARI
Sun., July 1 @ ARI
Mon., July 2 @ COL
Tues., July 3 @ COL
Wed., July 4 @ COL
Thurs., July 5 vs. STL
Fri., July 6 vs. STL
Sat., July 7 vs. STL
Sun., July 8 vs. STL
Mon., July 9 vs. CHC
Tues., July 10 vs. CHC
Wed., July 11 vs. CHC

Thurs., July 12 OFF DAY

Fri., July 13 vs. OAK
Sat., July 14 vs. OAK
Sun., July 15 vs. OAK

Mon., July 16 AS Break
Tues., July 17 AS Break
Wed., July 18 AS Break

Thurs., July 19 OFF DAY

Fri., July 20 @ OAK
Sat., July 21 @ OAK
Sun., July 22 @ OAK

Mon., July 23 OFF DAY

Tues., July 24 @ SEA
Wed., July 25 @ SEA
Thurs., July 26 vs. MIL
Fri., July 27 vs. MIL
Sat., July 28 vs. MIL
Sun., July 29 vs. MIL
Mon., July 30 @ SD
Tues, July 31 @ SD

Wed., August 1 OFF DAY

Thurs., August 2 @ ARI
Fri., August 3 @ ARI
Sat., August 4 @ ARI
Sun., August 5 @ ARI
Mon., August 6 vs. HOU
Tues., August 7 vs. HOU

Wed., August 8 OFF DAY

Thurs., August 9 vs. PIT
Fri., August 10 vs. PIT
Sat., August 11 vs. PIT
Sun, August 12 vs. PIT
Mon., August 13 @ LAD
Tues., August 14 @ LAD
Wed., August 15 @ LAD

Thurs., August 16 OFF DAY

Fri., August 17 @ CIN
Sat., August 18 @ CIN
Sun., August 19 @ CIN
Mon., August 20 @ NYM
Tues., August 21 @ NYM
Wed., August 22 @ NYM
Thurs., August 23 @ NYM
Fri., August 24 vs. TEX
Sat., August 25 vs. TEX
Sun., August 26 vs. TEX
Mon., August 27 vs. ARI
Tues., August 28 vs. ARI
Wed., August 29 vs. ARI

Thurs., August 30 OFF DAY

Fri., August 31 vs. NYM
Sat., Sept. 1 vs. NYM
Sun., Sept. 2 vs. NYM
Mon., Sept. 3 @ COL
Tues., Sept. 4 @ COL
Wed., Sept. 5 @ COL

Thurs., Sept. 6 OFF DAY

Fri., Sept. 7 @ MIL
Sat., Sept. 8 @ MIL
Sun., Sept. 9 @ MIL
Mon., Sept. 10 vs. ATL
Tues., Sept. 11 vs. ATL
Wed., Sept. 12 vs. ATL

Thurs., Sept. 13 OFF DAY

Fri., Sept. 14 vs. COL
Sat., Sept. 15 vs. COL
Sun., Sept. 16 vs. COL
Mon., Sept. 17 @ SD
Tues., Sept. 18 @ SD
Wed., Sept. 19 @ SD

Thurs., Sept. 20 OFF DAY

Fri., Sept. 21 @ STL
Sat., Sept. 22 @ STL
Sun., Sept. 23 @ STL

Mon., Sept. 24 vs. SD
Tues., Sept. 25 vs. SD
Wed., Sept. 26 vs. SD

Thurs., Sept. 27 OFF DAY

Fri., Sept. 28 vs. LAD
Sat., Sept. 29 vs. LAD
Sun., Sept. 30 vs. LAD