BST guide to this week’s early MLB games: Josh Johnson leads the way

Including a close-to-midnight start on Tuesday, we’ve got ‘early’ games every day this working week. 

There are fifteen games in total starting before midnight, with the potential highlight being a Josh Johnson start on Thursday.  All times are in BST.

Monday 2 May

20.35. Texas at Oakland (Holland – McCarthy) * ESPN America

We start the working week with a game from the AL West.  The A’s lead the four-game series 2-1 and can move above .500 with a victory today.

Tuesday 3 May

23.40. Toronto at Tampa Bay (Reyes – Davis)

This Blue Jays-Rays game just makes it into the early bracket.  Jo-Jo Reyes is still seeking his first win of the season and lasted only 2.2 innings in his previous start against the Rangers.  Wade Davis has earned three winning decisions in a row and has made it through at least six innings in each start so far this season. 

Wednesday 4 May

17.35. Houston at Cincinnati (Myers – Wood)
19.10. Minnesota at Chicago White Sox (Blackburn – Danks) * ESPN America
20.10. Chicago Cubs at LA Dodgers (Zambrano – Lilly)
23.35. Pittsburgh at San Diego (Correia – Richard)
23.35. Toronto at Tampa Bay (Morrow – Hellickson)

Ted Lilly faces his former team with the unpredictable Carlos Zambrano on the mound for the Cubs.  Big Z has been on a roll in terms of his win-loss record, but you’re never quite sure what you will get from him.  He struck out ten Padres over eight innings for a no-decision on 18 April, conceded six runs in five innings against the Dodgers on 24 April and then got a win against the D-Backs last time out despite walking more batters than he struck out (3-2). 

Thursday 5 May

18.05. NY Yankees at Detroit (Burnett – Porcello)
18.10. San Francisco at NY Mets (Sanchez – Pelfrey)
18.10. Toronto at Tampa Bay (Romero – Niemann) * ESPN America
18.35. LA Angels at Boston (Pineiro – Matsuzaka)
18.45. Florida at St. Louis (Johnson – Westbrook)
19.10. Baltimore at Kansas City (Tillman – Chen)
20.35. Cleveland at Oakland (Gomez – Anderson)

Josh Johnson has been in mesmerizing form this season and the Marlins’ game against the Cardinals gives baseball fans in Britain the perfect opportunity to watch him in action.  Elsewhere, Daisuke Matsuzaka was showing promising signs before tightness in his elbow brought a premature end to his last start.  This would be his next rotation turn if he is healthy enough to take the ball.   

Friday 6 May

19.20. Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs (Volquez – Garza) * ESPN America

We end the working week, and start the weekend, with a day-game from Wrigley Field.

All of these games are available to watch live via the MLB.TV subscription at MLB.com.  The early games being shown on ESPN America are highlighted above, while the ESPN/ESPN America schedule can be found on their website.  The full schedule for this week’s games can be found on MLB.com.