The Cardinals, in conjunction with Major League Baseball’s league-wide release, announced its 2026 regular season schedule on Tuesday. The season opener is scheduled for Thursday, March 26, against Tampa Bay as part of a six-game homestand featuring three games with the Rays (March 26, 28-29) followed by three games against the New York Mets (March 30-April 1).
The Cardinals will open the season at home for the fifth time in the last seven seasons (2020, 2022, 2023, 2025). It marks the third time the club will open the season against an American League opponent (Toronto, 2023 & Minnesota, 2025).
The Cardinals will head off to face the Detroit Tigers (April 3-5) and Washington Nationals (April 6-8) on the first road trip of the year.
The club will conclude the regular season on the road for the third consecutive year when they travel to play division rivals Pittsburgh Pirates (Sept. 22-24) and Milwaukee Brewers (Sept. 25-27).
Interleague Matchups
As part of MLB’s balanced schedule, the Cardinals will host eight American League opponents for eight three-game home series. In addition to the opening series with the Rays, St. Louis will host the Boston Red Sox (April 10-12), Cleveland Guardians (April 13-15), Seattle Mariners (April 24-26), Kansas City Royals (May 15-17), Texas Rangers (June 1-3), Baltimore Orioles (August 25-27), and Chicago White Sox (Sept. 11-13).
The Cardinals will visit the Tigers, Houston Astros (April 17-19), Athletics (May 12-14), Minnesota Twins (June 12-14), Royals (June 18-19, 21), Los Angeles Angels (July 20-22), Toronto Blue Jays (July 31-August 2), and New York Yankees (August 3-5) for three games each.
Division Foes
The Cardinals will face their four National League Central division opponents 13 times each—two series versus each opponent both at home and on the road—for a total of 52 games. Busch Stadium will host the Cubs for a three-game weekend series on May 29-31 and for a four-game summer weekday series on July 27-30; Milwaukee on May 4-6 & July 6-9; Cincinnati for two three-game weekend series on June 5-7 & July 24-26; and Pittsburgh on May 19-21 & Aug. 28-30. The club will not host a divisional opponent in the final month of the season.
Monthly Breakdown
The Cardinals are scheduled to play 53 of their 81 home games (97 total games) before the All-Star Break (July 13-16) and will only play 21 games at Busch Stadium after August 1. The team will play 15 home games in March/April, 15 in May, 16 in June, 14 in July, 12 in August, and 9 home games in September.
Holidays/Notable Dates
The club will not host any holiday games at Busch Stadium in 2026. The team will be on the road for Easter (April 5 at Detroit), Mother’s Day (May 10 at San Diego), Memorial Day (May 25 at Milwaukee), Juneteenth (June 19 at Kansas City), Father’s Day (June 21 at Kansas City), Independence Day (July 4 at Chicago Cubs), and Labor Day (Sept. 7 at San Francisco). The team will host Cleveland on Jackie Robinson Day (April 15), the Texas Rangers on Lou Gehrig Day (June 2), and the San Francisco Giants on Roberto Clemente Day (Sept. 15).
Longest Stretches
The Cardinals longest homestand of the 2026 campaign consists of two separate nine-game homestands from May 29-June 7 (Chicago Cubs, Texas, Cincinnati) and Sept. 11-20 (Chicago White Sox, San Francisco, Washington). The team also has two different road trips consisting of nine games over 10 days: August 14-23 (Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati, Philadelphia) and Sept. 1-9 (Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado, San Francisco). The team’s longest stretch without an off day runs from April 24-May 10 (17 games).
The Cardinals will make future announcements regarding game times, ticket pricing and ticket availability for the 2026 season. The complete 2026 regular season schedule follows below and can be viewed at cardinals.com/schedule.
