We’ve got seven early MLB games this working week, split over today and Thursday, with the latter promising a marquee pitching match-up so long as the potential starters stay on their rotation schedules.

There are no star starters scheduled to pitch this evening, although fans of contending teams may want to do a bit of scouting on Kevin Millwood as he is a potential trade target for several teams in need of an innings-eater.  The Cubs need to bounce back from a horror show yesterday when the Reds used the infamous Wrigley wind-stream to launch seven home runs against them in a 14-3 loss.  After witnessing that carnage, Tom Gorzelanny would have preferred to pitch in somewhere other than Chase Field, which is hardly a pitcher’s paradise either.

The big potential pitching match-up is scheduled for Thursday, as Chris Carpenter and Ubaldo Jimenez are on course to meet in what could be a classic encounter.  Elsewhere, Roy Oswalt will look to further impress potential suitors in the Astros’ game against the Buccos.  All times are in BST.

Monday 5 July

18.05. Baltimore at Detroit (Kevin Millwood – Andrew Oliver)
21.10. San Francisco at Milwaukee (Jonathan Sanchez – Dave Bush)
21.10. Chicago Cubs at Arizona (Tom Gorzelanny – Ian Kennedy)

Tuesday 6 July

No early games

Wednesday 7 July

No early games

Thursday 8 July

19.05. LA Angels at Chicago Sox (Ervin Santana – John Danks)
19.05. Pittsburgh at Houston (Ross Ohlendorf – Roy Oswalt)
19.10. San Francisco at Milwaukee (Barry Zito – Manny Parra)
20.10. St. Louis at Colorado (Chris Carpenter – Ubaldo Jimenez)

Friday 9 July

No early games

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