Home MLBBST Game Guides Sunday’s early MLB games: Pressure on the Braves and Red Sox

Sunday’s early MLB games: Pressure on the Braves and Red Sox

by Matt Smith

CovHlWEFriday’s results initially appeared to have caused an important shift in the Wild Card races.  The chasing teams slipped up, increasing the cushions enjoyed by the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves.

However, yesterday’s results set us back to where we started, albeit with the games now running out for the chasing pack.

That means the final Sunday of the 2011 regular season is set to be a thrilling evening of live baseball.  All but the second game of the Red Sox-Yankees double-header will be played in daylight in North America.

All times are in BST.

18.05. Minnesota at Cleveland (Hendriks – Carmona)
18.05. Baltimore at Detroit (Matusz – Penny)
18.05. Boston at NY Yankees (Wakefield – Burnett) *ESPN America
18.35. Atlanta at Washington (Minor – Detwiler)
18.35. Cincinnati at Pittsburgh (Willis – McDonald)
18.40. Toronto at Tampa Bay (Cecil – Davis)
19.05. Colorado at Houston (Millwood – Harrell)
19.10. Kansas City at Chicago White Sox (Mendoza – Floyd)
19.10. Florida at Milwaukee (Nolasco – Narveson)
19.10. Philadelphia at NY Mets (Halladay – Pelfrey)
19.15. Chicago Cubs at St. Louis (Wells – Jackson)
20.05. Seattle at Texas (Furbush – Holland)
20.35. Oakland at LA Angels (Harden – Pineiro)
21.05. LA Dodgers at San Diego (Kershaw – Luebke)
21.10. San Francisco at Arizona (Lincecum – Collmenter) *ESPN America

To say this is a significant day for the Red Sox and their fans is an understatement.  After a heavy loss to the Yankees yesterday, the team goes into a double-header today with the weight of the Red Sox nation on their shoulders. 

A pessimistic Red Sox fan would think today will be the day that the inconsistent A.J. Burnett finds his best stuff and that would be the stuff of nightmares for Boston.  Their own Mr Inconsistent John Lackey is scheduled to pitch the nightcap of this double-header and if they lose the opener, Red Sox fans will not be looking forward to it.

The Tampa Bay Rays need to do their best to take advantage of the Red Sox’s situation by winning their game against the Blue Jays, while the Angels are still mathematically in the AL Wild Card race as well.

In the National League, the Atlanta Braves are playing the Red Sox’s role. The dreaded word ‘choke’ is being used more and more as Atlanta’s previously strong grip on the Wild Card has loosened to them holding on with their fingernails.

The Braves lost 4-1 against the Washington Nationals yesterday, while the St. Louis Cardinals earned a a stunning walk-off win (on a wild pitch) against the Chicago Cubs to leave them just two games behind Atlanta.  A loss for the Braves and a win for the Cards will bring that gap down to one.

The only slight disappointment of the day is that Nat Coombs and Josh Chetwynd will not be presenting any action on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra. The International Twenty20 between England and the West Indies takes precedence in the early evening, although North American sports fans can enjoy coverage of the NFL game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears from approximately 21.30.

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