There will be pink at every turn today as MLB once again raises awareness of breast cancer on Mother’s Day in North America.
Watching players waving pink bats around always looks a little odd, but that’s the whole point. It’s an eye-catching way for the sport to do something positive and is one recent initiative that MLB can be proud of (even if it can produce panic in Brits thinking for a moment that Mother’s Day has come around again very quickly and they’ve somehow missed it today).
The main news story of the day is Andy Pettitte’s return to the mound. The New York Yankees legend didn’t find retirement to his liking and has decided to make a comeback after a year out of the game. His Minor League appearances in preparation for today have been functional rather than greatly impressive, but the left-hander will be hoping that being back on a Big League mound will rekindle the competitive spirit for which he is so well known.
The Mariners-Yankees game is one of 14 contests scheduled to start before midnight UK time, as is standard on a Sunday. The Angels and Rangers are playing the sole night game, with Jered Weaver being the latest starting pitcher trying to keep the red-hot Josh Hamilton from taking him deep.
All times are in BST.
18.05 Seattle at NY Yankees (Millwood - Pettitte)
18.10 Washington at Cincinnati (Jackson - Arroyo)
18.10 NY Mets at Miami (Niese - Zambrano)
18.35 Tampa Bay at Baltimore (Shields - Arrieta)
18.35 Cleveland at Boston (Masterson - Bard)
18.35 San Diego at Philadelphia (Suppan - Hamels)
18.35 Houston at Pittsburgh (Rodriguez - Burnett)
19.10 Kansas City at Chicago White Sox (Duffy - Humber)
19.10 Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee (Samardzija - Estrada)
19.10 Toronto at Minnesota (Romero - Diamond)
19.15 Atlanta at St. Louis (Hanson - Lynn) *ESPN America
21.05 Detroit at Oakland (Verlander - Parker)
21.10 Colorado at LA Dodgers (White - Lilly)
21.10 San Francisco at Arizona (Zito - Saunders)
01.00 LA Angels at Texas (Weaver - Feliz) *ESPN America
Pettitte isn’t the only pitcher returning from a break today. Cole Hamels will start for the Phillies against the Padres following his five-game suspension for deliberately throwing at Bryce Harper last Sunday. Of course, Hamels hasn’t missed much action as he would have been resting between starts during most of that time anyway. Whether he should have been suspended at all is up for debate, but I think most would agree that once MLB decided to take action then handing him a five-game ban made a mockery of the whole process.
There should be a good pitching duel in St. Louis with Tommy Hanson and Lance Lynn taking to the mound. Â Lynn has won all six of his starts so far and his been a very welcome surprise for the Red Birds, especially with the continuing absence of the injured Chris Carpenter. The ESPN America Twitter account has warned that weather could intervene in this game, so keep an eye out for updates on that throughout the day.
All of these games are available to watch live via the MLB.TV subscription at MLB.com. ESPN America is showing the Braves-Cardinals game from 19.00 and the Angels-Rangers game from 1 a.m. The full schedule for today’s games can be found on MLB.com.
