PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Friday is one month until Opening Day -- and more than four months until the first game this season between the Tigers and White Sox.

In one of the Tigers' most noticeable scheduling quirks in years, they don't play the White Sox this season until the week before the All-Star break in July.

Then the teams will play five of their six series this season after the All-Star break. They will have three series against each other in the first four weeks after the break. Then they will play two series in September.

If the Tigers and White Sox are going to go to the wire for the Central Division title again, they'll be playing lots of head-to-head games in the second half.

It's not the first time lately something like this has happened. Last season, the Red Sox and Yankees played only one of their six series against each other before July.

In an ideal world, division rivals would have their games spaced out over the entire season. But putting together a big-league schedule involves many challenges, including interleague play. Tigers manager Jim Leyland used to complain about the schedule. Then he got an inside look at how difficult it is to put the schedule together, and he said he'd never complain about it again.

The first Tigers-White Sox series is July 9-11 (Tuesday-Thursday) at Comerica Park. Their first series in Chicago is July 22-25 (Monday-Thursday).

The Tigers will play four series against the Twins before they play their first game of the season against the White Sox.

(c)2013 Detroit Free Press

Visit the Detroit Free Press at www.freep.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services