The Pirates will open the 2009 season April 6 in St. Louis, part of a seven-game road trip that continues to Cincinnati. The home opener will be April 13 against the Houston Astros, with a first pitch of 1:35 p.m.

Other highlights from the schedule released this afternoon:

The interleague series with the Cleveland Indians at PNC Park will be June 23-25, their first visit since 2003. The other interleague opponents coming to town are the Detroit Tigers June 12-14 and Kansas City Royals June 26-28.

Interleague travel will take the Pirates to Chicago for a May 22-24 series with the White Sox -- and they will stay there the next three days for games against the Cubs -- and to Minnesota June 16-18.

The Pirates will make four separate trips for their five series in the Pacific and Mountain time zones. They are making five this year.

The first game at the New York Mets' new Citi Field will be May 8.

There will be two Saturday afternoon home games, April 18 and Sept. 19.