San Diego - The Padres and the Houston Astros will play two spring training games in Mexico City on March 26-27, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association announced Wednesday. The games will mark MLB's first in Mexico since 2004.

The Padres will be making their seventh trip south of the border, where they last went in 2002, facing the Arizona Diamondbacks in a spring training game at Hermosillo. San Diego previously played in exhibition games at Mexico City in 1972 and 1981; at Tijuana in 1982; and at Culiacan in 1997 and 2001. The Padres traveled to Monterrey for three regular-season contests against the New York Mets in 1996, as well as the 1999 season opener against the Colorado Rockies.

"Players on the Astros and Padres are looking forward to playing a pair of Spring Training games in Mexico City and in front of some of the sport's most passionate fans," said former Padres executive and current MLBPA senior advisor Omar Minaya.

"The Players have long been committed to growing the global popularity of the game they love, and they recognize that Mexico has the potential to become one of baseball's hottest international markets."

Wednesday's announcement, jointly made with Mexico City Mayor Miguel Mancera, continues MLB's ongoing push to promote baseball in Mexico. The Padres, who are partially owned by Mexican billionaire Alfredo Harp Helú, play their home games closer to the border than any other club and have increased their outreach efforts in the last few years.

Coming a week after the World Baseball Classic qualifiers in Mexicali, the upcoming Padres-Astros series will be the first MLB games at Fray Nano, home of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico, who are also owned by Helú. The Padres hosted the Diablos Rojos in an exhibition at Petco Park in 2014.

Helú, Padres General Manager A.J. Preller, catcher Austin Hedges and infield prospect Luis Urias joined representatives from the Astros in a Wednesday morning press conference in Mexico City.