As Marty mentioned yesterday, it’s incredible to think that tomorrow marks the beginning of the final month of the regular season.  There have been countless great moments already and they have set up an exciting climax that will surely involve many twists and turns.   

As we count down these final weeks of regular season play, the joy of being able to follow a selection of games live during the British evening is felt even more keenly than usual.  This week provides another good selection of games to choose from, including two today.  All times are in BST. 

Monday 31 August

18.05. Rays @ Tigers – Shields (8-10), Washburn (9-7)
18.10. Pirates @ Reds – McCutchen (0-0), Wells (0-3)

The Bank Holiday weekend in Britain ends with two early MLB games to enjoy.  All non-Pirates or Reds fans are likely to turn their attention to the final game of the Rays-Tigers series.  The first three games have been predictably close affairs and this one should be no different.  Detroit took a 2-1 series lead yesterday after scoring three runs in the eighth inning to win 4-3.  James Shields will lead Tampa Bay’s attempt to gain a split.

The Pirates-Reds game won’t have any bearing on the postseason race, but there is a reason to take an interest thanks to Daniel McCutchen.  The Pirates’ pitcher was on Team USA’s World Cup roster before he was called up to make his first Major League start today.  He will not be gracing the World Cup stage in Europe now, so this is a chance to see him pitch against Major League opposition instead.  McCutchen was acquired from the Yankees in the trade that saw Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte go to the Bronx last July. 

Tuesday 1 September

22.05. Blue Jays @ Rangers – Rzepczynski (2-3), Nippert (4-2)

There is a rare Tuesday early game tomorrow as the Blue Jays and Rangers play a double-header in Arlington.  Game One sees the writer’s worst nightmare Marc Rzepczynski matching up against Dustin Nippert; Brian Tallet and Brandon McCarthy will start the second game thirty minutes or so after the first game finishes.

Games from three crucial series begin just after midnight.  The Giants are taking on the Phillies (Sanchez vs Hamels – 00.05), the Braves are facing the Marlins (Tim Hudson making his first start after Tommy John surgery against Anibal Sanchez – 00.10) and the Red Sox match up against the Rays (Lester vs Sonnanstine – 00.08).

Wednesday 2 September

17.35. Pirates @ Reds – Duke (10-12), Bailey (4-4)
18.10. White Sox @ Twins – Buehrle (11-7), Duensing (2-1)
19.20. Astros @ Cubs – TBD, Lilly (9-8)
20.35. Royals @ A’s – Bannister (7-11), Cahill (7-12)
20.35. Nationals @ Padres – Lannan (8-9), Correia (9-10)

23.40. Angels @ Mariners – TBD, Hernandez (13-5)

My cut-off point for ‘early’ games is midnight, so the Angels-Mariners game just squeezes onto the list.  A Felix Hernandez start is normally worth staying up for in any case.

The five earlier games are mainly concentrated on teams outside the playoff races.  The Twins and White Sox are still in the AL Central hunt behind the Tigers, although Chicago’s challenge is being hampered by Jake Peavy’s delayed debut and Mark Buehrle’s win-less run since his perfect game back on 23 July.  Of the other teams, the Cubs are just about staying alive in the NL Wild Card competition, but they need to go on a decent winning streak to get past the teams ahead of them.

Elsewhere, Homer Bailey has performed well in his last two starts for the Reds, while Trevor Cahill pitched brilliantly to shutout the Angels over seven innings in his most recent start.

Thursday 3 September

18.05. Indians @ Tigers – Carmona (3-9), Robertson (1-1)
19.15. Brewers @ Cardinals – Parra (9-10), Smoltz (3-5)
19.20. White Sox @ Cubs – Torres (0-0), Dempster (8-7)
20.10. Mets @ Rockies – Misch (0-1), De La Rosa (12-9)

‘Getaway’ Thursday offers us four promising encounters.  Nate Robertson is likely to get another start for Detroit if Armando Galarraga is not fit to return, while Fausto Carmona looks to rebound from a shaky start against the Orioles last time out.  Jorge De La Rosa also took a loss in his most recent outing, but he pitched well against the Dodgers and has been an unsung hero for the Rockies over the past couple of months.

The early returns on the John Smoltz pick-up have been very promising for the Cardinals as they continue their march to the NL Central title.  The Red Birds have won both of the two games he has started, with Smoltz giving up just one run in the process, and the question now is whether he can keep up that level of performance for the rest of the season. 

The one oddity in the fixture list is an interleague game from Chicago.  Their game on 16 June was rained out and this is a make-up date.  Carlos Torres is listed as the probable pitcher on MLB.com as Jose Contreras failed badly in his one-game reprieve against the Yankees and will almost certainly not be given the ball again. 

Friday 4 September

There are no early games on Friday.  It should be another fascinating weekend of action as most of the main postseason contenders are kept apart from each other. The main exception is at Tropicana Field where the Tigers and Rays meet up for the second consecutive weekend.

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.