MLB’s regular season to come to Mexico City

The MLB’s regular-season games that would take place in Mexico between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres were canceled .

The office of the M ajor League in Mexico revealed on Thursday that the games will not be held due to the recommendations made by health authorities to fight the spread of COVID-19 .

“Nothing is more important to us than the health and well-being of our players, employees, and fans. We hope to able to hold these games in front of our Mexican fans,” was the message sent by MLB Mexico .

The San Diego Padres announced officially that they will play two regular-season games against the Arizona Diamondbacks next April 18 and 19 in the stadium of the Diablos Rojos , which will mark, for the first time in history, the visit of the regular season in Mexico City .

San Diego

was the organization that made official the visit of both teams in the capital of the country. Before this visit, MLB regular-season games had taken place at the baseball stadium of Monterrey. San Diego announced that it will play two regular-season games against Arizona in Mexico City.

"The Padres are honored to be a part of the first regular-season series in Mexico City in Major League history," Padres president Erik Greupner said in a statement. "We are also excited to play at the beautiful new Estadio built by Padres minority owner Alfredo Harp Helú . Our connections to Mexico run deep, including Alfredo's part ownership of the Padres and our bi-national fan base that extends into Baja California and throughout the country."

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Meanwhile, the D-backs CEO Derrick Hall said his team is “committed to spreading our game internationally and specifically throughout Mexico, where we have thousands of loyal fans across the country. I've seen first-hand the incredible efforts made on a league-wide level to help grow the sport of baseball across the globe, and we are honored to be selected to play in Mexico City next season.

“I’m a member of the MLB International Committee and I have witnessed myself the effort of the whole league to contribute to the growth of baseball throughout the world. We feel honored for having been chosen to play in Mexico City,” added Hall.

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This will be the fifth series of the regular season played in Mexico since 1996 . All of them took place in Monterrey. The first one was between the Mets and the Padres; the second was between the Rockies and the Padres; the third was in 2018 between the Reds and the Cardinals; the fourth was between the Astros and the Angels in 2019.

Did you know Mexican José Uriquidy is playing in the

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