The Blue Jays play their home opener in Toronto tonight. Here is what you need to know

Baseball is back and there are a few things Blue Jays fans should keep in mind if they are planning to head downtown for tonight’s home opener against the Texas Rangers.

Here is what you should know:

ROAD CLOSURES

Toronto police say that the roadways around the Rogers Centre, including Bremner Boulevard (down to two lanes), Blue Jays Way and Navy Warf Court, will be closed about two hours prior to first pitch at 7:07 p.m. in order to “ensure the safe flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.”

The closures will remain in effect until after the conclusion of the game. Police say that residents in condominiums in the area will still be permitted access during the closures but may have to provide proof of address at the police check point.

Meanwhile, anyone dropping someone off at the game is being urged to do so along Front Street due to the road closures in the immediate vicinity of the stadium.

TRANSIT

Commuters using the 504 King streetcar will not have to pay a fare between 5:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. tonight due to a Opening Night promotion being paid for by Polar Ice Vodka.

Most train service will be replaced with buses on the Lakeshore West line between Union and Oakville stations on Sunday due to construction work on the Hurontario light rail transit line in Port Credit. GO Transit, however, says that there will be two trains trips planned to accommodate fans going to and from an afternoon Blue Jays game.

Go Transit also says that they are expecting this weekend to be one of their busiest since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago and are warning those going to the games to leave plenty of time. “We've been adding coaches to trains so there's more capacity. For trains that had six coaches, for example, there are now 10 or 12. So that's been helping a lot. But we do expect it to be busy,” Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins told CP24. “Plan ahead give yourself lots of time and don't forget your mask. It's still mandatory on transit and it's important to mask up whenever you're expecting crowds.”

THE GAME

It will be the first sold-out crowd on hand at the Rogers Centre since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Blue Jays played exclusively out of Dunedin, Florida and Buffalo in 2020. They returned home midway through last season but had to play in front of reduced crowds due to public health restrictions. Speaking with CP24 on Friday, Blue Jays President Mark Shapiro said that he will be a little “emotional” when the game actually gets underway.

“It's impossible not to consider and reflect on the journey that we've had over the past two years. Everybody's had a lot of adversity, everybody's had a lot of challenges but within the Major League Baseball context the Blue Jays challenges have been disproportional,” he said. “Our guys have had to play home games in Florida and Buffalo in front of hostile crowds and over that time the team's matured, gotten pretty darn good and their anticipation for being truly home, being in Toronto and reconnecting with our fans across the country and city is palpable.”

It will be a new-look Rogers Centre for fans in attendance. The Blue Jays undertook a host of improvements to their home stadium over the course of the off-season, including installing a new scoreboard in centre field, a new sound system and new field turf.

José Berríos will get the Opening Night start for the Blue Jays. Berríos signed a seven-year, $131 million contract extension in the off-season.

The Blue Jays are urging fans to get to their seats early for a special Opening Night ceremony. Gates open at 5 p.m. with first pitch scheduled for 7:07 p.m.

MISCELLANEOUS

The Toronto sign outside city hall will be lit blue tonight to mark the beginning of a new Blue Jays season. A Blue Jays flag has also been raised outside city hall.