MLB

Phillies, Mets to play two-game series in London next year

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed the June 8-9, 2024, games at London Stadium

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The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies will play a two-game series in London next season as MLB takes another rivalry abroad.

League commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed the June 8-9 games at London Stadium on Friday, ahead of this weekend's series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs.

โ€œWe think our game is at its best when we have traditional rivals playing and we want to show the fans here in London the very best form of baseball,โ€ Manfred said.

The first MLB series in the British capital โ€” and in Europe โ€” featured the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in 2019.

โ€œWe want to show our best when we come someplace special like London. We do regard London to be special โ€” of strategic importance to us,โ€ Manfred said.

The Mets-Phillies series had been widely reported earlier, though league officials held off on an announcement until the eve of the Cardinals-Cubs series.

Manfred spoke at a news conference Friday before Cardinals and Cubs players worked out on the artificial turf at the home of Premier League soccer club West Ham.

The Yankees are lobbying to play in Paris in 2025. The league hasnโ€™t confirmed the French capital yet, but the playersโ€™ association signed off on MLB holding a game in Paris in 2025 as part of last yearโ€™s collective bargaining agreement.

โ€œWe are in the process of working on Paris in 2025,โ€ Manfred said in response to a question from a French journalist. โ€œWeโ€™re not at the point where weโ€™re going to make a commitment or make a formal announcement but it is in the planning stages and was part of the general program that was laid out in the basic agreement.โ€

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