We were spoilt for choice last week and that makes this week’s haul of just nine early games seem a little disappointing.\u00c2\u00a0 Even so, there are some good contests on Wednesday and Thursday and one particularly early game today.\u00c2\u00a0 Together they give fans of eighteen different teams the chance to follow their\u00c2\u00a0chosen side\u00c2\u00a0live\u00c2\u00a0at a convenient hour.\u00c2\u00a0 Here’s your guide to this week’s early contests (all times listed in British Summer Time).\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Monday 20<\/strong><\/p>\n 16.05. Orioles vs Red Sox – Hendrickson (1-1), Masterson (0-0)<\/p>\n Just the one early game today and it’s an unusual 16.05 start, making it a little too early for some of us.\u00c2\u00a0 Hendrickson is capable of pulling out a half-decent start every now and then and the O’s will be hoping that he can find a bit of form against the Red Sox.\u00c2\u00a0 Justin Masterson makes his first start of ’09 for Boston, effectively taking the injured Matsuzaka’s place in the rotation.<\/p>\n Tuesday 21<\/strong><\/p>\n There are no early starts tomorrow.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Potential highlights from the later games include CC Sabathia facing the A’s in his second start at the new Yankee Stadium (00.05), Roy Halladay attempting to improve his record to 4-0 in the Blue Jays’ game against the Rangers (00.07) and a great pitching match-up at AT&T Park as Jake Peavy and Matt Cain toe the rubber for the Padres and the Giants respectively (03.15).<\/p>\n Wednesday 22<\/strong><\/p>\n 17.35. Marlins vs Pirates – Nolasco (1-1), Maholm (2-0)\u00c2\u00a0 Four early games for the middle of the working week and there are good reasons to take a look at all of them.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n The Marlins have started the season brilliantly and Paul Maholm has been very impressive for the Buccos in his first three outings, so that should be an intriguing contest.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s always a lot of hype surrounding a Joba Chamberlain start in New York, while Dan Haren must think his luck is about to change against the Rockies after losing his first three games despite pitching well.\u00c2\u00a0 Padres-Giants? Okay, perhaps there’s not so many good reasons to watch this one, although San Diego have started surprisingly well and there’s always a slim chance that Barry Zito may recapture his previous Cy Young-winning form.<\/p>\n Thursday 23<\/strong><\/p>\n 17.05. Royals vs Indians – Meche (1-0), Reyes (1-0)\u00c2\u00a0 There are another four early games on Thursday,\u00c2\u00a0bringing together two teams from the AL Central alongside three NL games.\u00c2\u00a0 Mets-Cardinals is always a rivalry worth watching, while Harang against Zambrano should be a thrilling power-pitcher showdown.\u00c2\u00a0 And let’s not overlook the Royals: they’ve started the season well and have some talented young players on their club surrounded by solid veterans like Gil Meche.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ll fill in the ‘To Be Decided’ pitchers for the Brewers-Phillies game when the teams confirm who they will be sending out to the mound.<\/p>\n Friday 24<\/strong><\/p>\n No early games to end the working week.\u00c2\u00a0 Later on, it’s the first Yankees-Red Sox meeting of the season.\u00c2\u00a0 Currently Chien-Ming Wang (0-3 with a 34.50 ERA) is scheduled to start, although it will be interesting to see whether that changes over the course of the week after his\u00c2\u00a0dreadful performances so far.<\/p>\n
\n18.05. Athletics vs Yankees – Outman (0-0), Chamberlain (0-0)\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0
\n20.40. Rockies vs D-Backs – De La Rosa (0-1), Haren (0-3)\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0
\n20.45. Padres vs Giants – Young (2-0), Zito (0-2)<\/p>\n
\n18.05. Brewers vs Phillies – Bush (0-0), Hamels (0-1)
\n18.40. Mets vs Cardinals – Hernandez (1-0), Lohse\u00c2\u00a0(2-0)\u00c2\u00a0
\n19.20. Reds vs Cubs – Harang (1-2), Zambrano (1-0)<\/p>\n