Our tally of MLB games starting before midnight UK time gets a boost this week as Monday is Labor Day in the States.

There are two big match-ups in the Central divisions this week. Milwaukee and St. Louis meet again after the Cardinals swept their three-game series last week in the National League.  In the American League, the Detroit Tigers are in Cleveland for a three-game set against the Indians.

And while it’s not quite a pre-midnight start, Stephen Strasburg’s return to a Major League mound should be a big event on Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning.

All times are in BST.

Monday 5 September

18.05. Detroit at Cleveland (Fister – Jimenez) *ESPN America
18.05. Baltimore at NY Yankees (Reyes – Garcia)
18.05. LA Dodgers at Washington (Kuroda – Lannan)
18.07. Boston at Toronto (Beckett – Alvarez)
18.10. Texas at Tampa Bay (Feldman – Shields)
18.10. Chicago White Sox at Minnesota (Humber – Swarzak)
18.35. Houston at Pittsburgh (Sosa – McDonald)
19.20. Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs (Willis – Garza)
20.10. Arizona at Colorado (Miley – Rogers)
21.05. Kansas City at Oakland (Paulino – Harden)
21.05. San Francisco at San Diego (Bumgarner – Stauffer)
21.15. Milwaukee at St. Louis (Wolf – Westbrook) *ESPN America

It’s not a public holiday in the UK (in fairness, we did have one last Monday), but it will feel a bit like one with all this live baseball to look forward to.

To pick out a few match-ups, Ubaldo Jimenez was acquired by the Indians to be an ace and this is exactly the sort of game where he needs to show his best.  Josh Beckett is looking for his fourth win in a row for the Red Sox, while Madison Bumgarner aims for another good showing for the Giants after pitching brilliantly against the Cubs last time out. 

Tuesday 6 September

No early games, although I’m sure more than a few baseball fans in the UK will be staying up to watch Stephen Strasburg make his Major League return for the Nationals. 

First pitch in their game against the Dodgers is set for five past midnight UK time and the plan is for Strasburg to pitch five innings (depending on his pitch count) as he makes his way back from Tommy John surgery. 

Wednesday 7 September

17.05. Detroit at Cleveland (Verlander – Masterson) *ESPN America
18.05. Baltimore at NY Yankees (Britton – Burnett)
18.10. Texas at Tampa Bay (Wilson – Price)
20.35. Kansas City at Oakland (Chen – Moscoso)
22.10. NY Mets at Florida (Dickey – Hensley)
23.35. San Francisco at San Diego (Cain – Harang)

Any chance to watch Justin Verlander pitch should be taken and the fact that his next start is scheduled to come against Justin Masterson, who has been the Tribe’s best starter this season, just adds to the occasion.  Mind you, the Wilson-Price match-up should be a fascinating encounter as well.  Matt Cain is scheduled to take the mound at Petco Park for the Giants in a game that sneaks into the pre-midnight bracket.

Thursday 8 September

18.05. NY Yankees at Baltimore (Nova – Simon)
18.05. LA Dodgers at Washington (Billingsley – Detwiler) *ESPN America
21.10. Atlanta at NY Mets (Minor – Gee)

There are only nine games in total on Thursday, largely due to the number of games being played on Monday this week. 

Ivan Nova has been a rookie revelation for the Yankees and has pitched seven strong innings in each of his last three outings.  As for the Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley, he lasted just four innings in his most recent appearance against the Braves on Friday. 

The Braves and Mets are playing a double-header on Thursday. It looks like the opener will be contested by Mike Minor and Dillon Gee.

Friday 9 September

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.