ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The St. Louis Cardinals announced their 2012 home regular season schedule today in conjunction with Major League Baseball’s league-wide release. The Cardinals will open their home slate Friday, April 13 vs. Chicago. It marks the latest home opener for the Cardinals since 1991 when the team’s first home game was on April 19 vs. Philadelphia. The Redbirds’ opening homestand
features three games against division rival Chicago (April 13-15), followed by three vs. the Cincinnati Reds (April 17-19). The Cardinals play division opponents in each of their first four home series through May 3.  The club’s home interleague action features a three-team homestand that brings the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals to St. Louis (June 8-17). Following a 9-game road-trip, the club returns home for a 10-game homestand facing Pittsburgh for three, the Colorado Rockies for four games and Miami for three games (June 29-July 8) leading into the All-Star break. The other three team homestand falls in August (14-23) when the club is home for 16 of 19 games August 3-23.

St. Louis will host the Chicago Cubs two additional times besides the home opening weekend; hosting a two-game Monday-Tuesday series, May 14-15, and a three game weekend series in July (20-22). The Cardinals will host both Milwaukee and Pittsburgh for three, three-game series each. However division opponent Houston will visit St. Louis just twice next season, with their first visit not coming until August 21-23.  Cincinnati is also at Busch Stadium on just two occasions next season. After hosting the Reds for three games during the opening homestand, the Cardinals don’t see the Reds at Busch Stadium until the final three games of the season (October 1-3). St. Louis will close the season at home with three games vs. the Washington Nationals (Sept. 28-30) followed by the final three vs. the Reds as the season once again ends on a Wednesday.  The Redbirds will host every National League East and West team one time during 2012, playing the National League East 16 times at home and the National League West teams 17 times. St. Louis will host 43 games at Busch Stadium before the All-Star break, and 38 after the break. The team has nine home dates in April, 15 in May, 11 in June, 15 in July, a season-high 16 in August and 15 September/October home games.

The Cardinals will make future announcements regarding game times, ticket pricing and availability for the 2012 season. The 2012 home schedule follows.

2012 St. Louis Cardinals Home Schedule
April
April 13-14, Friday-Sunday – Chicago Cubs
April 17-19, Tuesday-Thursday – Cincinnati Reds
April 27-29, Friday-Sunday – Milwaukee Brewers
May
May 1-3, Tuesday-Thursday – Pittsburgh Pirates
May 11-13, Friday-Sunday – Atlanta Braves
May 14-15, Monday-Tuesday – Chicago Cubs
May 21-23, Monday-Wednesday – San Diego Padres
May 24-27, Thursday-Sunday – Philadelphia Phillies
June
June 8-10, Friday-Sunday – Cleveland Indians
June 12-14, Tuesday-Thursday – Chicago White Sox
June 15-17, Friday-Sunday – Kansas City Royals
June 29-July 1, Friday-Sunday – Pittsburgh Pirates
July
July 2-5, Monday-Thursday – Colorado Rockies
July 6-8, Friday-Sunday – Miami Marlins
July 20-22, Friday-Sunday – Chicago Cubs
July 23-26, Monday-Thursday – Los Angeles Dodgers
August
August 3-5, Friday-Sunday – Milwaukee Brewers
August 6-9, Monday-Thursday – San Francisco Giants
August 14-16, Tuesday-Thursday – Arizona
Diamondbacks
August 17-19, Friday-Sunday – Pittsburgh Pirates
August 21-23, Tuesday-Thursday – Houston Astros
September/October
Sept. 3-5, Monday-Wednesday – New York Mets
Sept. 7-9, Friday-Sunday – Milwaukee Brewers
Sept. 18-20, Tuesday-Thursday – Houston Astros
Sept. 28-30, Friday-Sunday, Washington Nationals
October 1-3, Monday-Wednesday, Cincinnati Reds