In 2013 Arrangement, a First: An Interleague Opener

Next season，there will have an original twist in terms of one of baseball’s traditional home openers.

The Reds and the Los Angeles Angels will play April 1 in Cincinnati, becoming the first teams to start their seasons with an interleague matchup.

“It’s a little strange, but Anaheim has a lot of big-name guys,” Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo said. “It’ll be Albert Pujols coming back for the first time. It’s a nice mix for us. It’s strange, but I’d rather do that than open with Milwaukee or someone in our division we see all the time.”

The Reds, the first professional baseball team, celebrate opening day with a parade and have opened all but four seasons at home: 1885, 1888, 1966 and 1990, according to Stats LLC.

Major League Baseball’s 2013 preliminary schedule, announced Wednesday, includes several format changes caused by the shift of the Astros to the American League. A National League franchise for its first 51 seasons, Houston starts A.L. play April 2 when it hosts cross-state rival Texas.

The Astros move from the N.L. Central to the A.L. West, creating six divisions of five teams each. Under a move announced last November, Houston will become only the second team since 1900 to switch leagues, following the Milwaukee Brewers’ entry to the N.L. for the 1998 season.

Because there will be 15 teams in each major league for the first time, interleague play is necessary nearly every day. Since its inception in 1997, interleague play had been mostly concentrated during periods in late May and June.

Eleven of the 15 series on the final weekend of the regular season, Sept. 27-29, will involve division rivalries. The exceptions have the Yankees at Houston, Milwaukee at the Mets, Detroit at Miami and Washington at Arizona.

M.L.B. is abandoning its two-year experiment with midweek openers, reverting to a Sunday night start in a nationally televised game on ESPN that will be determined later.

In another shift, the Yankees and the Mets for now are scheduled to open at home on the same day for the first time, with Boston visiting the Bronx on April 1 and San Diego playing in Queens.

“I think it’s kind of cool,” Mets third baseman David Wright said.

ESPN could move the Red Sox-Yankees opener to the March 31 Sunday night slot.

Under the new schedule format, a team plays 19 games against each division rival for a total of 76, and six or seven against each league opponent in the other two divisions for a total of 66. Each club will play 20 interleague games over eight series, with rivalry games — like the Cubs-White Sox and Dodgers-Angels — in consecutive two-game series during the week of May 27. That is down from a pair of three-game rivalry series.

“We played the Yankees more than anybody,” Mets Manager Terry Collins said. “That could be difficult. I think it’s starting to even out.”

PHILLIES 3, MARLINS 1 Jimmy Rollins hit a two-run homer and Cliff Lee pitched seven strong innings to lead streaking Philadelphia to its seventh straight win.

The host Phillies continued their push for an N.L. wild-card spot with a three-game sweep of the Marlins. Up next for the Phillies are four games in Houston against the N.L.-worst Astros.

Philadelphia came into the game four games out of a playoff spot in the always-changing wild-card standings. The Phillies  are on a season-high winning streak and have won 15 of 19 to move over .500 for the first time since they were 28-27 on June 3.

Rollins hit a two-run homer off Josh Johnson (8-12) in the seventh for a 3-1 lead.

Phillippe Aumont worked a scoreless eighth, and Jonathan Papelbon completed the four-hitter with his 34th save. Papelbon struck out Gorkys Hernandez with two on to end the game.

The five-time defending N.L. East champion Phillies have made an amazing run since they appeared out of contention at 37-51 on July 13. Fueled by a rotation that has found its groove, and unexpected contributions from role players, the Phillies have become one of baseball’s hottest teams.

Their 15-4 record since Aug. 23 is the best in the National League, and they are 21-8 in their last 29 home games.

Johnson took a no-hitter and a 1-0 lead into the sixth.

Orioles right-hander Jason Hammel will have a magnetic resonance imaging test Thursday to determine the extent of damage in his sore right knee.

Hammel left Tuesday night’s game against Tampa Bay in the fourth inning. He was making his second start since undergoing surgery on the same knee in July.