Early MLB games this week: Six of the best

This looks like being a week to catch up on any chores you’ve been putting off.  Subject to any late additions due to rainouts, we’ve only got six early games to look forward to.  However, they should all be well worth taking a look at.

We have a single game this evening followed by five on ‘getaway’ Thursday, including the ‘early game’ highlight of the week: a Zack Greinke start against the Indians. 

All times are listed in British Summer Time.

Monday 18 May

18.07. White Sox @ Blue Jays – Richard (0-0), Richmond (4-2)

It’s a rare early game on Monday this evening in a battle of the Rich (a Rich Rumble?).  Toronto have had a great start to the season and they’ve taken the first three games of this four-game series against the White Sox.  The brooms will be waving at Rogers Centre as the home team goes for the series sweep.

Tuesday 19 May

There are no early games tomorrow.  The highlights from the later contests include a CC Sabathia start at Yankee Stadium against the Orioles, Shairon Martis going for win number six on the season against the Pirates, Dontrelle Willis making his second start of 2009 in the Tigers’ game against the Rangers (first pitch for all three is 00.05) and a John Maine-Chad Billingsley match-up at Dodger Stadium (03.10).

Wednesday 20 May

We draw another blank on Wednesday.  Later on, the two Central divisions provide several interesting pitching match-ups.  The Brewers-Astros game pits Yovani Gallardo against Wandy Rodriguez, who has quietly had a very promising start to the season.  In the AL, Fausto Carmona and the Indians face Gil Meche and the Royals, while Francisco Liriano starts for the Twins against the White Sox.

Thursday 21 May

17.35. Phillies @ Reds – Blanton (1-3), Harang (3-4) 
18.05. Rangers @ Tigers – Millwood (4-3), Jackson (3-2)  
19.05. Twins @ White Sox – Blackburn (2-2), Colon (2-3)  
19.10. Indians @ Royals – Reyes (1-1), Greinke (7-1) 
21.08. Athletics @ Rays – Braden (3-5), Garza (4-2)

Thursday provides our main baseball fix for the week, with five good games in prospect.  Watching Zack Greinke pitch in his current form is a joy to behold (particularly when he’s on your fantasy team: go Cheddar Chasers!), so be sure to catch some of the Royals’ game.

In contrast, watching Oakland has been painful so far this season for us A’s fans. I’ll log on for our game against the Rays and probably regret doing so.  The Rangers-Tigers game should be a good one for neutrals as both teams have potentially explosive offenses, but Kevin Millwood and Edwin Jackson have been pitching well recently.  It should be fascinating to see whether pitching of hitting comes out on top in that one.

Friday 22 May

The Cubs aren’t at home this Friday.  This invariably means that we don’t get a live game to watch on Friday evening and that’s the case this week.  The first round of interleague play begins later in the evening with a host of exciting games to look forward to, including: Phillies versus Yankees (00.05), Mets versus Red Sox (00.10 – scheduled starters currently are Santana and the returning Matsuzaka) and Randy Johnson returning to Seattle with the Giants (03.10).

All the above games can be followed via various resources on MLB.com (Gameday, Gameday Audio and MLB.tv), while ESPN America’s MLB schedule can be found here.