The MLB Season Opener schedule for 2014 starts with Opening Day on March 31 and the full list of series and ESPN TV matchups comes after the first actual game on US soil on Sunday night and that has the Los Angeles Dodgers visiting the San Diego Padres and that game will start up at 8 pm ET before the matchup's on Monday get going at 1 pm ET.
The Dodgers technically already opened the season with a two game series in Australia with the Arizona Diamondbacks and they will officially open the season in America on Sunday night against the Padres. Clayton Kershaw won the first game in Australia for the team and they ended up taking both games to get started 2-0 on the season and they will face off against the Padres beginning on Sunday March 30 for a three game set.
The first slate of games on the MLB Opening Day schedule has a number in the afternoon, including the first ESPN game with the Chicago Cubs visiting the Pittsburgh Pirates and that game starts up at 1 pm ET and will be streaming on the WatchESPN website. The Pirates are coming off of their first playoffs appearance in 20 years and the Cubs will have Jeff Samardzija starting against Francisco Liriano in that game. The second matchup of the day has the improved Kansas City Royals taking on the Detroit Tigers and that matchup begins at 1:09 pm ET and James Shields will take the hill a year after being traded and he will face off against former Cy Young winner and $180 million man Justin Verlander.
The Washington Nationals will start their season with a division matchup at Citi Field against the NY Mets and they will have Stephen Strasburg on the mound against Dillon Gee and that game starts at 1:10 pm ET. The Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers will start the interleague play very early this season and Cliff Lee will face off against Yu Darvish in Texas for that game which will begin at 2:05 pm ET. The Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers will start off the season in Wisconsin and that game comes before the Boston Red Sox play against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards and that game has Jon Lester taking on Chris Tillman and it will be on ESPN2 for TV coverage and on the WatchESPN website.
The Red Sox will look to continue their World Series dominance after last season and at 4 pm the St. Louis Cardinals, the team they beat, will start against the oldest team in the Cincinnati Reds and they continue their Opening Day tradition and will have Adam Wainwright against Johnny Cueto on the mound. The rest of the day has some great games, including the San Francisco Giants taking on the Diamondbacks, while the Seattle Mariners will play the LA Angels. Felix Hernandez faces off against Jered Weaver and that will be the late game on ESPN2, while the Cleveland Indians visit the Oakland Athletics and that has Justin Masterson facing Sonny Gray.
