ESPN’s New Sunday Night Baseball Team to Call Three Games in Four Days; Baseball Tonight Debuts On-Site Show April 3

ESPN will begin its 22nd season of Major League Baseball coverage with six games from March 31 through April 3, including Opening Night Presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods showcasing the defending World Champion San Francisco Giants visiting rival Los Angeles Dodgers at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. The game will mark the regular-season debut of ESPN’s new Sunday Night Baseball commentator team of Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser and Bobby Valentine, with reporter Wendi Nix. It will also mark the debut of ESPN Radio’s new Sunday Night Baseball team of Jon Sciambi and Chris Singleton (coverage beginning at 7 p.m.). Opening Night will be available via ESPN, ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com and ESPN Mobile TV.

Shulman, Hershiser and Valentine will hit the road to call three games in four days during MLB Opening Week, including the Boston Red Sox at Texas Rangers (with reporter Buster Olney) on Friday, April 1, at 4 p.m. on ESPN, before returning to Los Angeles (with reporters Nix and Olney) for Dodgers vs. Giants on Sunday, April 3, at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

Opening Day will also feature the regular-season debuts of the new Monday Night Baseball and Wednesday Night Baseball commentator teams. Monday Night’s Sean McDonough, Aaron Boone and Rick Sutcliffe will call games on back-to-back days – the Detroit Tigers at New York Yankees (with reporters Olney and Tim Kurkjian) on March 31 at 1 p.m. on ESPN, followed by the Houston Astros at Philadelphia Phillies (with reporter Kurkjian) on April 1 at 1 p.m. on ESPN. Wednesday Night’s Dave O’Brien and Nomar Garciaparra, with reporter Pedro Gomez, will debut on Opening Day for the San Diego Padres at St. Louis Cardinals at 4 p.m. on ESPN. All MLB games airing on ESPN throughout the season will also be available via ESPN3.com and ESPN Mobile TV.

In addition to Opening Night, ESPN Radio’s Sciambi and Singleton will also provide commentary for Red Sox/Rangers on April 1 (coverage beginning at 3:30 p.m.), Padres/Cardinals on April 2 (3 p.m.) and Giants/Dodgers on April 3 (7 p.m.).

ESPN’s Opening Week game schedule with commentator assignments: