AL Central, NL Central Matchups Take Center Stage This Weekend On ESPN’S MLB Coverage

Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell closes out its 25^th season of MLB coverage this weekend when the NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals host division foes the Cincinnati Reds.

Sunday night’s matchup will be the closer in a three-game series between the NL Central foes. Dan Shulman will have the call for Sunday night’s broadcast. He will be joined by analysts John Kruk, Curt Schilling, and reporter Buster Olney for commentary. Coverage of the game is scheduled to begin at 8pm ET. Before Shulman and his SNB colleagues bring audiences Sunday’s season-ending broadcast, Karl Ravech and MLB Hall of Famer (and Cincinnati Reds great) Barry Larkin will have all of the latest baseball headlines on Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown presented by Chevrolet live at 7pm ET. For those that won’t be near a TV, the game will be simulcast on ESPN Radio affiliates nationwide and online at WatchESPN. Spanish-speaking audiences can catch the game on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes Radio.

Tonight, ESPN2 will have another matchup with even bigger playoff implications as the Kansas City Royals host the Detroit Tigers in the opener of a three-game series between the AL Central foes. Detroit currently leads the Royals by only half a game. And it looks to end its current two-game skid as it comes into Kansas City today in that series’ first game. This weekend’s series looks to be a close one as the Royals and Tigers are evenly matched. Detroit is 43 – 35 on the road while Kansas City is 41 – 36 at home. Interestingly enough, Kansas City is 4 – 6 in its last 10 games while Detroit is 7 – 3 in its last 10 games. Dan Shulman and company will be on hand for tonight’s broadcast. Hakem Dermish and analysts Alex Cora and Mark Mulder will have all the latest from around the league before the game at 7pm ET on Baseball Tonight. Fans can also catch the series’ second game live Saturday on their local ESPN Radio affiliate. Jon Sciambi will have the call for that game. He will be joined by Jim Bowden for additional commentary. The duo will also have full coverage of Sunday night’s game between the Cardinals and Reds.

More information on this weekend’s MLB coverage is available online at

Website: http://espn.go.com/mlb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ESPNBaseballTonight

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN Announces Latest Addition To Its Sunday Night Baseball Schedule

Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN has added another game to the schedule of its 25^th anniversary season of Sunday Night Baseball.

Officials with the network announced Thursday that the currently first-place San Francisco Giants will host the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday, July 27^th on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell. Coverage of the game is scheduled to start at 8pm ET on ESPN. It will be preceded by ESPN’s weekly pre-game broadcast of Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown presented by Chevrolet at 7pm ET. Karl Ravech will host the pre-game broadcast. He will be joined by MLB Hall of Famer and former Cincinnati Red Barry Larkin, and John Kruk. Dan Shulman will anchor the broadcast of the game itself. He will be joined in the booth by analyst John Kruk and reporter Buster Olney.

The broadcast of the Giants/Dodgers July 27^th game will be simulcast on ESPN Radio. Jon Sciambi and analyst Chris Singleton will have the call for the game. Spanish-speaking audiences can catch the game on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes Radio. And all audiences can follow the game online via WatchESPN.

Next up on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell schedule, the Angels host the Rangers. The Rangers have proven so far this season to do better on the road than at home while the opposite has proven to be the case for the Angels. That means Sunday’s game is sure to be quite the interesting matchup for viewers.

Games selections for Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell broadcasts in August and September will be made two weeks in advance of their airings. The current schedule of games for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell is listed below.

Upcoming Sunday Night Baseball schedule:

Date	Game
June 22	Texas Rangers at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
June 29	Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees
July 6	Tampa Bay Rays at Detroit Tigers
July 13	New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles
July 20	Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals
July 27	Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants
Aug 3	New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox

 

More information on all of ESPN’s upcoming slate of games and all of the latest MLB news is available online now at http://espn.go.com/mlb and http://www.facebook.com/ESPNBaseballTonight. To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN Announces Latest Addition To Sunday Night Baseball Broadcast Schedule

Courtesy: ESPN

Officials with ESPN announced this week the latest addition to the network’s Sunday Night Baseball schedule.

Freddie Freeman and the Atlanta Braves will host Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on the Sunday, June 15^th edition of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell. The game is scheduled to be broadcast at 8pm ET on ESPN. Dan Shulman will anchor the broadcast. He will be joined by analyst John Kruk and reporter Buster Olney for additional commentary.

The matchup of the Braves and Angels will also be simulcast on ESPN Radio. Jon Sciambi will anchor the broadcast. He will be joined by analyst Chris Singleton for the broadcast. Spanish-speaking audiences will be able to hear the game live on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes Radio.

Along with its broadcast on television and radio, baseball fans can also catch the matchup between the Braves and Angels online via WatchESPN. The latest schedule of games on tap for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell is listed below.

Date	Game
June 1	Pittsburgh Pirates at Los Angeles Dodgers
June 8	Boston Red Sox at Detroit Tigers
June 15	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Atlanta Braves
June 29	Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees
July 13	New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles
July 20	Los Angeles Dodgers at St. Louis Cardinals
Aug 3	New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox

Additional games in June and July will be made three weeks prior to their broadcast. Games for August and September will be announced two weeks in advance to their broadcast.

Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell is preceded each week by Baseball Tonight Countdown presented by Chevrolet at 7pm ET. Karl Ravech anchors the broadcast and is joined by Hall of Famer Barry Larkin and John Kruk.

More information on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell and Baseball Tonight Countdown is available online at http://www.facebook.com/ESPNBaseballTonight and http://espn.go.com/mlb. To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

Pirates Host Cards This Weekend On ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball

Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN’s 25^th season covering Major League Baseball rolls on this Sunday as the Worldwide Leader in Sports comes to Pittsburgh for a matchup of the Pirates and Cardinals. It all starts at 7pm ET with ESPN’s Baseball Tonight live on ESPN.

Sunday night’s 8PM ET broadcast of the Pirates/Cardinals matchup on Sunday Night Baseball is an important landmark for ESPN as it will be the first time since July 28, 1996 that ESPN has broadcasted a Sunday Night baseball game live from PNC Park and the first time since that day that ESPN has broadcasted its weekly pre-game program, Baseball Tonight. Dan Shulman will anchor Sunday’s broadcast. He will be joined by analyst John Kruk and reporter Buster Olney. Jon Sciambi will anchor ESPN Radio’s simulcast of Sunday night’s broadcast. He will be joined by analyst Chris Singleton for the game. Sunday’s matchup between the Pirates and Cardinals will also be available on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes Radio.

Jon Hamm, start of Disney’s new movie Million Dollar Arm is scheduled to appear on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight live at 7pm ET as part of the network’s lead up to Sunday night’s game. Along with being an actor, Hamm is also an avid baseball fan. He will join Baseball Tonight host Karl Ravech and MLB Hall of Famer Barry Larkin for Sunday evening’s broadcast live from PNC Park. Baseball Tonight will broadcast live on Federal Street near the Roberto Clemente Bridge.

The Cardinals will head back to St. Louis after Sunday night’s game and prepare to host Anthony Rizzo and the Cubs on ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball Presented by USAA live at 8pm ET. Dave O’Brien will anchor Monday’s broadcast. He will be joined by analyst Aaron Boone and reporter Tim Kurkjian. Monday’s game will be preceded by ESPN’s weekly Monday night pre-game show Baseball Tonight. Karl Ravech will anchor the broadcast, which begins at 7:30pm ET. He will be joined by John Kruk and Ozzie Guillen. Monday night’s game (and Sunday’s) will also be available on ESPN Deportes, online and via all mobile internet platforms.

More information on ESPN’s 25^th Anniversary season of MLB coverage is available online now at http://www.facebok.com/ESPNBaseballTonight and http://espn.go.com/mlb. To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN Networks Announce Changes For 2014 MLB Season

Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN kicks off its 25th season covering Major League Baseball today. In celebration of the anniversary, ESPN has announced a number of changes and additions to its coverage. The very first of those changes and additions is a rebranding of its flagship program, Sunday Night Baseball. Sunday Night Baseball has been rebranded as Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown. The name change has been implemented in order to better coincide with ESPN’s weekly national game of the week. Karl Ravech will continue to anchor the broadcast. And MLB Hall of Famer/analyst Barry Larkin will join Ravech for most episodes.

The rebranding of Sunday Night Baseball is just the tip of the iceberg for the changes being made to ESPN’s MLB coverage in its 25th season. Along with the rebranding of the network’s flagship show, several episodes of Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown will be broadcast live on-site from key locations near select games throughout the season. The live broadcasts will allow fans to show their pride live on television and viewers to get a taste of the live Baseball Tonight atmosphere. It all begins opening night from PetCo Park in San Diego at 6:30pm.

The new live, on-site broadcasts of Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown are the cornerstone of ESPN’s re-branded broadcasts for its 25th season of coverage. Along with the new live, on-site broadcasts, viewers will also see some new faces on this year’s telecasts. ESPN added new commentators for its telecasts during the offseason. Veteran manager Eric Wedge has been added to the Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown roster as has former perfect game pitcher Dallas Braden. Braden will join ESPN’s weekly broadcast as an analyst. Wedge will contribute regularly to the show, too.

MLB great and former manager Ozzie Guillen joined ESPN Deportes throughout the 2013 MLB season. His role has been expanded this season. Guillen will contribute both to ESPN Deportes and ESPN’s English-language platforms this season, including regular appearances on Baseball Tonight. Eduardo Perez returns to the broadcast side of the game after spending the past two seasons in the dugout. Perez will contribute largely to MLB broadcasts on ESPN Deportes. Both Guillen and Perez will join Manny Acta and Alex Cora in ESPN’s growing stable of bilingual MLB analysts.

As the 2014 MLB season progresses, audiences can stay tuned in to ESPN as the Worldwide Leader in Sports will televise special holiday games on Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day, as well as at least one Wild Card game, in addition to NY and all tie-breaker games. Making the deal even sweeter, ESPN will have rights to four Postseason Impact games in late September. This will allow ESPN to present the top games and storylines from around the league heading into the postseason. The schedule for ESPN’s special holiday broadcasts is provided below.

Holiday Date Time (ET) Game
Memorial Day Mon, May 26 1 p.m. Boston Red Sox at Atlanta Braves
4 p.m. New York Yankees at St. Louis Cardinals
Independence Day Fri, Jul 4 3 p.m. New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins
TBD TBD
Labor Day Mon, Sep 1 TBD TBD
TBD TBD

If the weekly Sunday night broadcast of MLB games isn’t enough for fans, ESPN will also offer audiences a special “seamheads” edition of Baseball Tonight every Thursday night at 10pm ET. ESPN MLB Insiders Tim Kurkjian, Buster Olney, and Jayson Stark will serve as the panel for the program. They will discuss all even more insight than is offered every Sunday night, including: advanced stats, ranking, and breaking news and rumors throughout the season. They will be joined occasionally by Keith Law and Grantland’s Jonah Keri.

ESPN is going to have expansive and in-depth coverage of MLB baseball this season, as is obvious by now. But it’s still not all that fans have to expect from the Worldwide Leader in Sports during the 2014 MLB season. ESPN will also present specially produced vignettes each week across its TV and internet platforms that celebrate each of the league’s teams. The first of those vignettes will air tonight, March 30th. It will focus on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The final touch to ESPN’s massive list of changes for this season of MBL coverage involves coverage on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Deportes +. ESPN Deportes increases its broadcast schedule to more than eighty regular season games. That is sixty-five games more than in previous seasons. ESPN Deportes + will also include exclusive Spanish-language coverage of thirty regular season games.

More information on all of the latest on the ESPN family of networks’ MLB coverage is available online at http://espn.go.com/mlb. To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN Opens 25th Anniversary Season Of MLB Coverage This Weekend

Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN hits a major mark this weekend.

The Worldwide Leader in Sports begins its 25th season of Major League Baseball coverage beginning this Sunday night. ESPN opens its 25th anniversary season covering Major League Baseball live from San Diego, California. Chase Headley and the Padres host Yasiel Puig and the Los Angeles Dodgers live on ESPN’s MLB Opening Night Presented by Scotts at 8pm ET on ESPN in the network’s season opening broadcast. Dan Shulman will have the call. He will be joined by analyst John Kruk and reporter Buster Olney for the broadcast. The game will be broadcast on ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes Radio, and ESPN Deportes. Before the game starts, ESPN will air a special 90-minute edition of Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown beginning at 6:30pm live from Petco Park in San Diego with Karl Ravech, Jon Kruk and MLB Hall of Famer/ESPN analyst Barry Larkin. Larkin and Ravech will hit the road after Sunday’s broadcast for a special Opening Day edition of Baseball Tonight live at 12pm ET live from Great American Ballpark.

Sunday night’s Opening Night broadcast will be followed up Monday with an Opening Day double header broadcast. Game one will come live from Pittsburgh as reigning NL MVP Andrew McCutchen and the Pirates host Starlin Castro and the Chicago Cubs. The broadcast is scheduled for a 1pm ET start time. Sean McDonough will anchor the broadcast. He will be joined in the booth by analyst Aaron Boone and reporter Tim Kurkjian. The second game on the day will see Joey Votto and the Cincinnati Reds host NL Central foes and defending National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals. Dan Shulman will have the play-by-play for the game. He will be joined by Jon Kruk and Buster Olney for the trio’s second game in less than twenty-four hours.

If ESPN’s Opening Day double header isn’t enough for baseball lovers, ESPN2 will have a triple-header beginning at 3pm ET. Game one on the day’s schedule will see David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox hosting Chris Davis and the Baltimore Orioles at the famed Fenway Park. Dave O’Brien will anchor the broadcast. He will be joined in the booth by analysts Rick Sutcliff and Eric Wedge, and reporter Pedro Gomez. Troy Tulowitzki and the Colorado Rockies will host Giancarlo Stanton and the Miami Marlins in the second game of the three-game schedule. SportsCenter’s Steve Levy will call the play-by-play action for the game. He will be joined by analyst Eduardo Perez for more insight. The last game of the day on ESPN2’s triple header schedule will see Robinson Cano and the Seattle Mariners on the road against Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. That game is scheduled for a 10pm ET start time. Jon Sciambi will have the call. Analyst Doug Glanville and reporter Jessica Mendoza will also be on hand for more coverage throughout the game.

All of ESPN’s games and Baseball Tonight can be watched online through all computers and mobile internet via WatchESPN. Specific games will also be on ESPN Deportes, ESPN Deportes +, and ESPN Radio.

More information on ESPN’s Opening Night and Opening Day coverage is available online at http://espn.go.com. To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN’s Baseball Tonight Goodyear Express Tour Winds Down This Weekend

Courtesy: ESPN

ESPN winds down its Baseball Tonight Goodyear Express Tour this weekend.

The tour finishes off this weekend beginning this morning at 9am ET.  ESPN’s SportsCenter will feature live reports from the Cincinnati Reds’ training camp in Goodyear, Arizona.  Baseball Tonight host Karl Ravech and analyst Jon Kruk will be joined by ESPN MLB Insider Tim Kurkjian for all the latest from the Reds’ training camp.

Tomorrow—Saturday, March 1^st—Kurkjian will have live SportsCenter updates from the Seattle Mariners’ training camp in Peoria, Arizona.  Coverage of both teams’ training camps includes in-depth analysis of each team and interviews with both players and managers.

ESPN’s MLB coverage picks back up on March 17^th as the Worldwide Leader in Sports kicks off Spring Training telecasts that day.  Spring Training coverage kicks off with a matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox.  Coverage is scheduled to begin at 1pm ET. ESPN’s complete Spring Training coverage schedule is listed below.

Spring Training game schedule:

Date	Time (ET)	Game/Commentators	Networks
Mon, March 17	1 p.m.	St. Louis Cardinals at Boston Red Sox Karl Ravech, Barry Larkin, Tim Kurkjian	ESPN, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes +
Tue, March 18	1 p.m.	Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees Dan Shulman, John Kruk, Buster Olney	ESPN, WatchESPN
Thu, March 20	7 p.m.	New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox Dan Shulman, John Kruk, Buster Olney	ESPN, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes +
Mon, March 24	1 p.m.	Detroit Tigers at Pittsburgh Pirates Adnan Virk, Doug Glanville, Tim Kurkjian	ESPN, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes +
Tue, March  25	1 p.m.	Atlanta Braves at Detroit Tigers Adnan Virk, Doug Glanville, Tim Kurkjian	ESPN, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes +
Wed, March 26	1 p.m.	Washington Nationals at St. Louis Cardinals Steve Levy, Eduardo Perez, Doug Glanville	ESPN, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes +
Thu, March 27	12 p.m.	Washington Nationals at New York Mets Steve Levy, Eduardo Perez, Doug Glanville	ESPN, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes +

 

More information on ESPN’s MLB coverage is available online at http://espn.go.com/mlb.  To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.