Courtesy: ESPN
ESPN has a big game on tap for this weekend’s edition of Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell.
This ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell, the league-leading St. Louis Cardinals host the Chicago Cubs in a pivotal NL Central showdown. The game, which could have potential playoff implications as the first half of the season winds down, will be the closer in a three-game series between the NL Central foes. The Cardinals currently sit at 48 – 24 on the season and 7 – 3 in their last ten games. The Red Birds are currently riding high on a six-game win streak. Chicago is third in the division, eight and a half games back from St. Louis, sitting currently at 39 – 32. The team is 5 – 5 in its last ten games and is currently looking to end its two-game skid. Sunday’s broadcast is expected to begin at 8pm ET. The game will be simulcast on ESPN Deportes for the network’s Spanish-speaking viewers. And those that won’t be near a TV during Sunday Night’s game can still catch it online via WatchESPN and on the radio on ESPN Radio. Dan Shulman will have the call for Sunday’s game. He will be joined by analysts Curt Schilling and John Kruk in the booth. Reporter Buster Olney will also be on hand with all of the latest in-game news. As with every broadcast of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell, Sunday’s broadcast will be preceded by Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown presented by Chevrolet at 7pm ET. Karl Ravech will anchor the broadcast and will be joined at the desk by analyst Aaron Boone and ESPN MLB Insider Tim Kurkjian. The broadcast will be simulcast online via WatchESPN.
The second game in the Cubs-Cardinals weekend series will air live on ESPN Radio Saturday night at 6pm ET. Jon Sciambi and Chris Singleton will have the call for Saturday night’s game.
Carlos Martinez is currently expected to take the mound for St. Louis in Sunday’s game. His last time on the mound was Tuesday’s game against the Marlins. St. Louis won that game 4 – 3. He pitched seven innings in the game, allowing eight hits, three earned runs, one walk, and struck out nine batters en route to the team’s win.
Jason Hammel is expected to start for Chicago in Sunday’s game. Hammel’s last time on the mound was Tuesday against the Dodgers. The Cubs won that game 1 – 0 over the Dodgers. Hammel Pitched 7.2 innings, allowing 2 hits along the way, no runs or earned runs, only two walks, and struck out six men.
Monday night on ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball presented by USAA Adam Jones and the Baltimore Orioles will host Prince Fielder and the Texas Rangers on ESPN. Fielder just hit his 300th home run tonight as the Rangers face the Blue Jays. It makes Fielder and his famed father only the second father/son duo since Bobby and Barry Bonds to hit 300 home runs each. Monday night’s game is the first in a four-game series that will run thought next Thursday, July 2nd. Dave O’Brien will have the call for the game. He will be joined in the booth by Eduardo Perez and Mark Mulder in the booth for additional commentary. The game will be simulcast on ESPN Deportes for ESPN’s Spanish-speaking audiences. It will also simulcast online via WatchESPN for those that won’t be close to a television during the course of the game.
Bud Norris is expected to start for the Orioles in Monday night’s game. Norris’ last time on the mound was Wednesday against the Red Sox. Baltimore dropped that game 5 – 1 with Norris pitching 5.2 innings in the game. He allowed seven hits, five runs, no earned runs, one walk, one home run, and struck out three batters in his time on the mound.
Wady Rodriguez is expected to start for Texas in Monday night’s game. His last time taking the mound was Wednesday against Oakland. He struggled in that game, allowing eleven hits, right runs, eight earned runs, three walks and two home runs over the course of four innings and striking out only four batters. By comparison, Rodriguez’s team-mate Anthony Bass only allowed two hits and one walk over the course of four innings, striking out five batters along the way. He allowed no runs, no earned runs, and no home runs in that time, too.
More information on ESPN’s Major League Baseball coverage is available online along with all of the latest baseball news at:
Website: http://espn.go.com/mlb
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ESPNBaseballTonight
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