We’ve got an impressive 16 MLB games that start before midnight UK time this working week.
Monday is the only day of the week that doesn’t offer any evening baseball for Brits, perhaps offering sports fans the chance to pause for breath after the sensational climax to the Premier League season on Sunday before getting back to the drama and excitement on Tuesday.
It’s rare for there to be any early games on Tuesday, but there are six on that day this week. They include a Stephen Strasburg start in Washington, a Cliff Lee start in Philadelphia and the fried chicken eating, beer swigging, golf-club swinging Josh Beckett looking to avoid the boo birds in Boston against the Mariners.
After a Dodgers-Padres game that just dips into the pre-midnight bracket on Wednesday, we have eight true early games on Thursday. The scheduled pitching match-ups in the games between the Reds and Mets, A’s and Rangers, and Cardinals and Giants catch the eye on that day.
Friday brings the start of Interleague play and the first Windy City series of the season at Wrigley Field.
All times are in BST.
Monday 14 May
No early games.
Tuesday 15 May
18.05. San Diego at Washington (Bass – Strasburg)
18.05. Houston at Philadelphia (Harrell – Lee)
18.10. Cleveland at Minnesota (Lowe – Marquis)
18.45. Chicago Cubs at St. Louis (Garza – Lohse)
19.10. Detroit at Chicago White Sox (Scherzer – Peavy) *MLB.com Free Game of the Day
21.05. Seattle at Boston (Beaven – Beckett)
Wednesday 16 May
23.35. L.A. Dodgers at San Diego (Capuano – Richard)
Thursday 17 May
17.05. Seattle at Cleveland (Noesi – McAllister)
18.05. Minnesota at Detroit (Walters – Fister) *ESPNÂ America
18.10. Cincinnati at New York Mets (Latos – Dickey)
19.05. Oakland at Texas (McCarthy – Harrison)
19.10. Baltimore at Kansas City (Matusz – Hochevar) Â *MLB.com Free Game of the Day
20.10. Arizona at Colorado (Cahill – Nicasio)
20.35. Chicago White Sox at L.A. Angels (Stults – Wilson)
20.45. St. Louis at San Francisco (Wainwright – Cain) *ESPN America
Friday 18 May
19.20. Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs (Humber – 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.