Yankees, Diablos Rojos to face off in Mexico City this spring
Historic exhibition games on March 24-25 match up iconic MLB franchise with Mexican Baseball League power
NEW YORK -- The Yankees are spicing up their spring with an international trip, now set to make their first visit to Mexico City since Mickey Mantle’s final season in pinstripes.
The club announced on Friday that it will hold a two-game exhibition series with the Diablos Rojos del México at Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium in Mexico City. The games are scheduled for March 24 and 25, closing out the Bombers’ spring schedule.
The club will also play its regularly scheduled split-squad Grapefruit League games in Florida against the Pirates and Mets, respectively, on those days.
It is expected that the Yankees will field a representative lineup for the Mexico contests. Players on the current roster with Mexican roots include reliever Victor González, catcher Jose Trevino and outfielder Alex Verdugo.
The two teams hold the most titles in their respective leagues, the Yankees leading Major League Baseball with 27 World Series championships and the Diablos Rojos with 16 crowns in the Mexican Baseball League.
This marks the Yanks’ first international trip during Spring Training since 2014, when they visited Panama for a two-game exhibition series against the Marlins, at the request of recently retired pitcher Mariano Rivera.
The Yankees last visited Mexico City in 1968, when they also played exhibition games against the Diablos Rojos. The clubs split the two-game set, as the Diablos defeated the Yankees, 5-3, on March 18, 1968, before the Yankees won the second game, 9-1, on March 20, 1968.
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