After some unusual split interleague series games last week, this week’s schedule doesn’t just bring us back to normal league play, but often sees division rivals battling it out.
We’ll get to see plenty of those games this working week from the pre-midnight UK time starts.
After two days without early starts, Wednesday provides us with games from the AL East and Central as well as a 2009 World Series re-match between the Phillies and Yankees. Cole Hamels continues to feature in trade rumours and a good performance against an AL team may well help the Phillies’ cause in getting the return they want for the lefty.
One left-hander every team would love to acquire is Chris Sale. The White Sox’s disappointing start to the season has led to a few rumblings that it might make sense for them to dangle one of the best pitchers in MLB currently and see if the offers that come forth are too good to turn down. Whatever uniform he’s wearing, Sale is one of the ‘must-see’ starters on recent form.
We then have a bumper crop of eight early starts to enjoy on Thursday. Dodgers-Cubs should be an interesting series and Jon Lester is scheduled to start for Chicago on Thursday, whilst James Shields will take the mound at AT&T Park for the Padres against the Giants.
You may even opt for the battle of the De La Rosa’s (the MLB.com Free Game that day), although some may think that unless you’re a fan of either Arizona or Colorado, the fact that Rubby and Jorge are both starting that day could be the only notable thing about the game. If it produces a no-hitter, I’m taking full credit for it.
All times are in BST.
Monday 22 June
No early games
Tuesday 23 June
No early games
Wednesday 24 June
17.10. Detroit at Cleveland (Verlander – Carrasco)
17.10. Toronto at Tampa Bay (Estrada – Karns)
18.05. Philadelphia at NY Yankees (Hamels – Warren)
18.10. Chicago White Sox at Minnesota (Sale – Hughes) *BT Sport/ESPN
20.35. Houston at LA Angels (McCullers – Shoemaker) *BT Sport/ESPN
Thursday 25 June
18.08. Chicago White Sox at Detroit (Rodon – Simon) *BT Sport/ESPN
18.35. Baltimore at Boston (Wright – Rodriguez)
19.05. Oakland at Texas (Gray – Lewis)
19.10. NY Mets at Milwaukee (deGrom – Jungmann)
19.20. LA Dodgers at Chicago Cubs (Frias – Lester)
20.10. Arizona at Colorado (De La Rosa – De La Rosa) *MLB.com Free Game
20.45. San Diego at San Francisco (Shields – Heston)
21.05. Atlanta at Washington (Wisler – TBA) *BT Sport/ESPN
Friday 26 June
No early games
All of these games are available to watch or listen to live via an MLB.TV subscription. TV coverage of MLB comes courtesy of the BT Sport and ESPN channels and these are highlighted above, as are any games that are available to view online for free via MLB.com. The above list of games just shows those starting before midnight UK time. The full schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com.
2 comments
I honestly can’t see the White Sox offering Sale before the trade deadline. They are completely out of contention in the AL Central (14.5 games behind the Royals and 8 game sunder .500 as a write this), so would better off waiting until the off-season before cashing in on their ace. In the short term, The Good Guys would be better off keeping Sale and trading Danks and Samardzjia for prospects.
Hi John. Yes, seems most likely Samardzija will get moved on to a team looking for a rental (Blue Jays?). Trading Sale would be a big step to make and really only becomes an option if someone gets desperate and is prepared to offer a big deal to get him.