MLB planning Mexico City return in 2024 with Astros to face NL opponent, per report

The Padres and Giants played two games at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú over the weekend

The San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres played a two-game series in Mexico City over the weekend and it was the first series in Mexico's largest city and capital in regular-season MLB history. By all accounts, it was a pretty successful weekend and it appears MLB agrees. There are already plans for a return next season and it'll feature the Houston Astros facing the Colorado Rockies, according to The Athletic. 

It makes sense for these two teams. The Astros are one of the teams closest in geography to Mexico and are currently one of the most decorated franchises of the last decade. As for the Rockies, well, they're used to playing in high altitude. Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú, which hosts the MLB games in Mexico City, is roughly 2,000 feet higher in elevation than Coors Field. 

On that front, things played out almost laughably on Saturday. The Padres won, 16-11, with the teams combining for 11 home runs from 10 different players. Some of the homers, particularly the opposite-field shot from Fernando Tatis Jr., didn't have the look of homers off the bat. 

Apparently, there was an issue with how the baseballs in the humidor were handled before that game and it was fixed before Sunday. In that one, it was a bit more of a normal MLB game with the Padres getting the late comeback victory, 6-4. 

The attendance in both games was near the 20,000 capacity of the ballpark and the in-person accounts were generally that the ballpark was beautiful with excellent food offerings. 

Given everything above in addition to MLB's plan to continue to make the game more international and that Mexico City isn't all that far away from several MLB homes, it makes a ton of sense to keep this series going.