We have eleven MLB games this working week that are scheduled to start before midnight UK time.
All times are in BST.
Monday 22 August
22.05. Milwaukee at Pittsburgh (Narveson – Karstens)
We start the week with a game from the picturesque PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The Brewers and Pirates are playing a double-header, hence the unusual start time for this game. Chris Narveson is scheduled to make his first start after injuring himself with a pair of scissors.
Tuesday 23 August
18.05. Seattle at Cleveland (Beavan – Masterson)
It’s another double-header on Tuesday, this time being played in Cleveland. The Mariners have rookie Blake Beavan in line to make his ninth Major League start, while the Tribe will send the impressive Justin Masterson out to the mound.
Wednesday 24 August
17.05. Seattle at Cleveland (Hernandez – Tomlin)
17.35. Milwaukee at Pittsburgh (Marcum – Correia)
18.05. NY Mets at Philadelphia (Pelfrey – Kendrick) *ESPN America
19.15. LA Dodgers at St. Louis (Kuroda – Garcia)
20.10. Houston at Colorado (Rodriguez – Cook)Â Â
The series in Cleveland and Pittsburgh come to an end on Wednesday with another early game in each. Felix Hernandez and Shaun Marcum both have eleven pitching wins on the season, but in King Felix’s case he has been lumbered with eleven losses to go along with the victories, in large part due to little fault of his own.
In Philadelphia, Kyle Kendrick filled in ably for Roy Oswalt during his period on the Disabled List and he should get another start on Wednesday against the Mets.
The Dodgers’ Hiroki Kuroda was a man in demand leading up to the trade deadline before he decided to invoke his no-trade rights to stay in L.A. Ever since then he has shown why so many teams were interested in adding him to their rotation and he will look to give the Dodgers another solid start against the Cardinals.
Thursday 25 August
18.05. Oakland at NY Yankees (Harden – Hughes) *ESPN America?
18.10. Baltimore at Minnesota (Hunter – Liriano) *ESPN America?
18.10. Detroit at Tampa Bay (Fister – Hellickson) *ESPN America?
19.20. Atlanta at Chicago Cubs (Beachy – Garza)
There should be another pitcher on show on Thursday who was close to being dealt a few weeks ago.Â
The Boston Red Sox had a deal in place to acquire Rich Harden from the A’s, but an inspection of his medical records made them take a pass, ultimately to trade for Erik Bedard instead.Â
Like Kuroda, Harden has pitched well ever since and matched a career-high with eleven strikeouts last time out against the Blue Jays. The Yankees are in need of starting pitching help and have been linked with a waiver move for Harden. If he’s still with the A’s by Thursday, he’ll be facing the Yankees instead of playing for them. [Update: minutes after I published this article I read on Twitter that the Indians had made a waiver claim for Harden but were unable to reach a deal with the A’s. So, Harden will make his start for Oakland on Thursday]
ESPN America viewers are being given the choice of three games starting just after 18.00 UK time. If you have a preference, log on to their website and cast your vote.
Friday 26 August
No early games
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.
