Indians, Twins To Play Series In Puerto Rico Next April

(Photo by Rich Pilling/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Major League Baseball will return to Puerto Rico next April for regular season games for the first time since 2010.

The Indians and Twins will play a two-game series at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Puerto Rico April 17-18, MLB and the players association said Wednesday. The Mets and Marlins last played regular season games there in June 2010.

Indians All-Star Francisco Lindor, a Puerto Rico native who represented the island in the World Baseball Classic, was thrilled by the news.

“It is a dream come true for me to play in Puerto Rico,” Lindor said. “When the Montreal Expos played in Puerto Rico, I remember going to those games and thinking to myself, ‘I would love to be here playing in front of my country and people.’ Now that we have the opportunity next April, it is a dream realized for me. These will be the most memorable regular season games of my career, for sure.”

MLB also held regular season games in San Juan in 2001, when the Rangers and the Blue Jays opened the regular season, and in 2003 and 2004, when the Expos played a portion of their home schedule at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.