Blue Jays to play Pirates in Montreal next spring

Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin walks onto he field at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. (Paul Chiasson/CP)

The Toronto Blue Jays will play a pair of pre-season games in Montreal next spring against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The games will be played at Olympic Stadium on March 31 and April 1, 2017, with tickets reportedly going on sale Oct. 1.

“We are looking forward to another successful visit to Montreal,” Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said in a news release. “The great enthusiasm and electric atmosphere at Olympic Stadium over the last three years has shown the true love and strong passion that the fans of Quebec have for Major League Baseball.”

The two-game series against the Pirates will mark the fourth consecutive season that the Blue Jays have played exhibition games in Montreal, the latest being a pair against the Boston Red Sox in April that drew more than 106,000 fans to the Big O. In 2015, Toronto split a set against the Cincinnati Reds, while the inaugural event in 2014 saw the Blue Jays take on the New York Mets.

Major League Baseball hasn’t been played regularly in the city since the Montreal Expos left for Washington after the 2004 season.

With files from Canadian Press

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