Tuesday rarely offers an opportunity to catch some live MLB games during the British evening, but this week is an exception thanks to two double-headers.

The Rays and Red Sox are playing two at Fenway this Tuesday, whilst the Mets and Braves are also doubling up.

Teams do sometimes switch their starting pitchers when double-headers come along, but hopefully the Mets will stick to their normal rotation and send Matt Harvey out to the mound for the opener.

As for the Rays, their exciting hitting prospect Wil Meyers is due to make his Major League debut on Tuesday, although it seems as though he will only play in one of the two games and we don’t yet know if he’ll feature in the day-game.

There are MLB games starting before midnight U.K. time each evening from Tuesday onwards this working week. ESPN America also will be continuing its coverage of the College World Series. This includes a game at 20.00 on Friday night despite their being an early MLB game that evening, although to be fair to the broadcaster the MLB offering is Astros-Cubs that even their fans would admit is not likely to be a ‘can’t miss’ event for neutrals.

All times are in BST.

Monday 17 June

No early games

Tuesday 18 June

18.05. Tampa Bay at Boston (Archer – Doubront)
18.05. NY Mets at Atlanta (Harvey – Maholm)

Wednesday 19 June

18.08. Baltimore at Detroit (Tillman – Porcello) *ESPN America
20.40. Miami at Arizona (Fernandez – Cahill)
20.45. San Diego at San Francisco (Stults – Bumgarner) *ESPN America, MLB.com Free Game

Thursday 20 June

17.35. Pittsburgh at Cincinnati (TBA – Bailey)
18.10. Chicago White Sox at Minnesota (Danks – Diamond) *BBC 5LSX
19.05. Oakland at Texas (Griffin – Lindbolm) *ESPN America
19.10. Milwaukee at Houston (Gallardo – Harrell) *MLB.com Free Game

Friday 21 June

19.20. Houston at Chicago Cubs (Keuchel – Garza)

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 full ESPN/ESPN America schedule can be found on their website.  BBC 5 Live Sports Extra can be found on digital radio, digital TV and on the BBC.co.uk website (coverage on the website is only available to UK residents). The complete schedule for this week’s MLB games can be found on MLB.com

Only Wednesday and Thursday provide MLB games scheduled to start before midnight U.K. time this working week.

However, what we lack in quantity should be made up for in terms of quality.

On Wednesday Kaufmann Stadium should be hosting a pitching duel between Justin Verlander and James Shields.

The Royals trade for Shields was meant to be part of an effort to put the team in playoff contention for the first time in years.  Unfortunately for Kansas City, that optimism hasn’t translated into a strong start to the season, but Shields has lived up to his side of the bargain with some impressive pitching that is completely lost in his deceptive 2-6 win-loss record.

There are good pitchers on show in all of the four early games on Thursday. The first match-up is arguably the most impressive with Adam Wainwright and Matt Harvey scheduled to be the starting pitchers. Harvey left his last start on Saturday with tightness in his back but the Mets are confident that he’ll be ready to go on Thursday and it should make for a great contest against Wainwright, who has arguably been the best pitcher in baseball so far this season.

All times are in BST.

Monday 10 June

No early games

Tuesday 11 June

No early games

Wednesday 12 June

17.35. LA Angels at Baltimore (TBA – Hammel) *ESPN America
19.10. Detroit at Kansas City (Verlander – Shields)
19.20. Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs (Leake – Wood)
20.40. Atlanta at San Diego (Maholm – Volquez) *ESPN America

Thursday 13 June

18.10. St. Louis at NY Mets (Wainwright – Harvey) *ESPN America
19.20. Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs (Latos – Samardzija)
20.10. Washington at Colorado (Gonzalez – Francis) *MLB.com Free Game of the Day
20.35. NY Yankees at Oakland (Kuroda – Parker) *ESPN America

Friday 14 June

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 full ESPN/ESPN America schedule can be found on their website.  BBC 5 Live Sports Extra can be found on digital radio, digital TV and on the BBC.co.uk website (coverage on the website is only available to UK residents). The complete schedule for this week’s MLB games can be found on MLB.com

There are nine MLB games to enjoy this working week that begin before midnight U.K. time.

We draw a blank on Monday and Tueday, but from then on there are a series of good match-ups and talented pitchers scheduled to be on the mound.

The games include CC Sabathia taking on his former team, the Cleveland Indians, Cole Hamels facing the Marlins, R.A. Dickey taking on the Giants and Max Scherzer facing the Rays.

All times are in BST.

Monday 3 June

No early games

Tuesday 4 June

No early games

Wednesday 5 June

17.10. Pittsburgh at Atlanta (Rodriguez – Teheran) *MLB.com Free Game of the Day
18.05. Cleveland at NY Yankees (Kluber – Sabathia) *ESPN America
18.05. Miami at Philadelphia (Turner – Hamels)
19.10. Oakland at Milwaukee (Colon – Gallardo)
20.40. Chicago White Sox at Seattle (Axelrod – Iwakuma)
20.45. Toronto at San Francisco (Dickey – Zito) *ESPN America

Thursday 6 June

18.08. Tampa Bay at Detroit (Hernandez – Scherzer) *BBC 5LSX, MLB.com Free Game of the Day
19.10. Baltimore at Houston (Gonzalez – Norris) *ESPN America

Friday 7 June

19.20. Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs (Liriano – Wood) *ESPN America

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 full ESPN/ESPN America schedule can be found on their website.  BBC 5 Live Sports Extra can be found on digital radio, digital TV and on the BBC.co.uk website (coverage on the website is only available to UK residents). The complete schedule for this week’s MLB games can be found on MLB.com

There are eight MLB games starting before midnight U.K. time this working week.

The week starts with a bonus early game as the White Sox and Royals make up their postponed game from Friday. The Royals have won the first two games of the series and will look for ‘Big Game’ James Shields to complete the sweep in an exciting pitching match-up with Chris Sale.

ESPN America is offering MLB double-headers on both Wednesday and Thursday evening.

The Mariners and Pirates aren’t featured a great deal on the channel so the first game on Wednesday offers the perfect opportunity to watch those teams, especially as it brings together Felix Hernandez and A.J. Burnett in a very promising encounter at the beautiful PNC Park

BBC 5 Live Sports Extra is scheduled to provide coverage of the Yankees-Rockies game from Coors Field on Thursday.

All times are in BST.

Monday 6 May

19.10. Chicago White Sox at Kansas City (Sale – Shields)

Tuesday 7 May

No early games

Wednesday 8 May

17.35. Atlanta at Cincinnati (Minor – Leake)
17.35. Seattle at Pittsburgh (Hernandez – Burnett) *ESPN America
19.20. St. Louis at Chicago Cubs (Westbrook – Villanueva)
20.40. Miami at San Diego (Nolasco – Marquis) *MLB.com Free Game of the Day
20.45. Philadelphia at San Francisco (Pettibone – Zito) *ESPN America

Thursday 9 May

17.05. Oakland at Cleveland (Colon – Kazmir) *ESPN America
20.10. NY Yankees at Colorado (Sabathia – Francis) *BBC 5LSX, ESPN America

Friday 10 May

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 full ESPN/ESPN America schedule can be found on their website.  BBC 5 Live Sports Extra can be found on digital radio, digital TV and on the BBC.co.uk website (coverage on the website is only available to UK residents). The complete schedule for this week’s MLB games can be found on MLB.com

It’s a relatively quiet working week of pre-midnight U.K. time games in MLB.

Subject to rainouts causing a double-header or two, there are no early games scheduled for either Monday or Tuesday.

Things pick up on Wednesday with a selection of five games, before two on Thursday and a Cubs home game on Friday.

All times are in BST.

Monday 29 April

No early games

Tuesday 30 April

No early games.

Wednesday 1 May

17.40. NY Mets at Miami (Gee – LeBlanc)
18.08. Minnesota at Detroit (Diamond – Sanchez)
18.10. Pittsburgh at Milwaukee (Sanchez – Burgos) *ESPN America
18.45. Cincinnati at St. Louis (Bailey – Lynn) *MLB.com Free Game of the Day
20.35. LA Angels at Oakland (Wilson – Milone)

Thursday 2 May

19.10. Tampa Bay at Kansas City (Hernandez – Santana) *BBC 5LSX, ESPN America
19.20. San Diego at Chicago Cubs (Stults – Wood)

Note: BBC 5 Live Sports Extra will be broadcasting one of these games as well. I’m guessing it will be Rays-Royals but will update this if not.

Friday 3 May

19.20. Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs (Leake – Villanueva) *ESPN America

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 full ESPN/ESPN America schedule can be found on their website.  BBC 5 Live Sports Extra can be found on digital radio, digital TV and on the BBC.co.uk website (coverage on the website is only available to UK residents). The complete schedule for this week’s MLB games can be found on MLB.com

There are fifteen MLB games starting before midnight U.K. time this working week.

The first two games of the A’s-Red Sox series from Boston only narrowly fall in the ‘early’ bracket by five minutes, as does a game from Fenway on Thursday.

However, the rest of the games are all at a convenient time for viewing.

The game between Miami and Minnesota on Tuesday was originally scheduled to feature exciting young pitcher Jose Fernandez, but the Marlins and Twins’ game on Monday has been postponed so now they will play a double-header on Tuesday and we’ll have to wait to see who pitches in which of the two games.

There’s a good selection of games scheduled for Wednesday, including a Stephen Strasburg start in Washington, before four early contests on Thursday including a Dodgers-Mets clash on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.

All times are in BST.

Monday 22 April

23.35. Oakland at Boston (Griffin – Doubront)

Tuesday 23 April

18.10. Miami at Minnesota (Fernandez – Pelfrey) *ESPN America
23.35. Oakland at Boston (Colon – Aceves)

Wednesday 24 April

17.35. Toronto at Baltimore (Morrow – TBA)
17.35. Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati (Samardzija – Latos)
18.05. St. Louis at Washington (Garcia – Strasburg)
19.10. Cleveland at Chicago White Sox (Kluber – Sale) *ESPN America
19.10. Seattle at Houston (Saunders – Harrell)
20.10. Atlanta at Colorado (Hudson – Chacin)
20.45. Arizona at San Francisco (Kennedy – Bumgarner) *MLB.com Free Game of the Day
21.05. Oakland at Boston (Anderson – Lester)

Thursday 25 April

18.05. Kansas City at Detroit (Shields – Sanchez) *ESPN America
18.05. Pittsburgh at Philadelphia (McDonald – Lee)
18.10. LA Dodgers at NY Mets (Ryu – Hefner) *BBC 5LSX
23.35. Houston at Boston (Humber – Buchholz)

Friday 26 April

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 full ESPN/ESPN America schedule can be found on their website.  BBC 5 Live Sports Extra can be found on digital radio, digital TV and on the BBC.co.uk website (coverage on the website is only available to UK residents). The complete schedule for this week’s MLB games can be found on MLB.com

We’ve been spoiled a bit for ‘early’ games during the first two weeks of the MLB season.

This week is a more typical batch of seven games starting before midnight U.K. time.

We start with a Patriots’ Day game at Fenway as the Red Sox host the Rays in a game that may actually prove a little too early for some travelling home from work that evening.

Wednesday’s pairing offers us an Interleague match-up between the Royals and Braves followed by a contest that prior to 2013 would have also been an NL-AL fixture between the Astros and A’s.

Both BBC Radio and ESPN America are focusing on the Giants-Brewers game from Miller Park on Thursday evening. We were originally on course to get another look at Matt Harvey in the Mets’ game against the Rockies, but the postponement of New York’s game in Minnesota on Sunday means that Harvey is likely to be pushed back a day (i.e. keeping everyone else on their normal turn in the starting rotation).

Whilst that’s a shame for U.K. based Mets fans hoping to watch Harvey’s start on Thursday evening, the payback is that he will match up with Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals on Friday night. That game starts at ten past midnight and it should be well worth staying up for.

All times are in BST.

Monday 15 April

16.05. Tampa Bay at Boston (Hellickson – Dempster) *ESPN America

Tuesday 16 April

No early games

Wednesday 17 April

17.10. Kansas City at Atlanta (Davis – Minor)
20.35. Houston at Oakland (Norris – Colon) *ESPN America

Thursday 18 April

18.10. San Francisco at Milwaukee (Cain – Lohse) *BBC 5LSX, ESPN America
19.20. Texas at Chicago Cubs (Ogando – Samardzija)
20.10. NY Mets at Colorado (Niese – Chacin)
20.40. Detroit at Seattle (Scherzer – Iwakuma)

Friday 19 April

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 full ESPN/ESPN America schedule can be found on their website.  BBC 5 Live Sports Extra can be found on digital radio, digital TV and on the BBC.co.uk website (coverage on the website is only available to UK residents). The complete schedule for this week’s MLB games can be found on MLB.com

There are live MLB games to watch every evening this working week.

ESPN America has a game every evening, including two from the Toronto-Detroit series and a Friday game from Wrigley Field.

BBC 5 Live Sports Extra will feature Detroit for the second Thursday in a row and if the starting pitcher schedules hold true it should be a good match-up on the mound between Josh Johnson and Doug Fister.

All times are in BST.

Monday 8 April

19.05. Baltimore at Boston (Chen – Buchholz) *ESPN America
19.20. Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs (Estrada – Jackson)
21.05. NY Yankees at Cleveland    (Kuroda – Jimenez)
21.10. Minnesota at Kansas City    (Correia – Santana)
21.15. Cincinnati at St. Louis    (Latos – Garcia)

Tuesday 9 April

18.05. Toronto at Detroit (Morrow – Sanchez) *ESPN America
23.40. LA Dodgers at San Diego (Beckett – Richard)

Wednesday 10 April

18.05. Toronto at Detroit (Buehrle – Porcello) *MLB.com Free Game of the Day
18.45. Cincinnati at St. Louis (Bailey – Westbrook) *ESPN America
19.05. Tampa Bay at Texas (Moore – Holland)
20.40. Pittsburgh at Arizona (Sanchez – Miley)
20.45. Colorado at San Francisco (Francis – Zito)

Thursday 11 April

18.05. Toronto at Detroit (Johnson – Fister) *BBC 5LSX, ESPN America
19.20. San Francisco at Chicago Cubs (Vogelsong – Villanueva)

Friday 12 April

19.20. San Francisco at Chicago Cubs (Cain – Samardzija) *ESPN America

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 full ESPN/ESPN America schedule can be found on their website.  BBC 5 Live Sports Extra can be found on digital radio, digital TV and on the BBC.co.uk website (coverage on the website is only available to UK residents). The complete schedule for this week’s MLB games can be found on MLB.com