MLB opens the 2019 season with two games in Japan

AL West foes battle Wednesday & Thursday morning in Japan

For the first time in seven years Major League Baseball is holding regular season games in Japan, with the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics getting their 2019 campaigns started with two games beginning Wednesday at Tokyo Dome (5:30 a.m. ET, ESPN).

This marks the fifth time an MLB season has opened in Japan, and the first since Seattle and Oakland were in Tokyo to open the 2012 campaign.

ESPN will televise both games from Japan, with 5:30 a.m. ET broadcasts for both Wednesday and Thursday. Dave Fleming will call the play-by-play, alongside analyst Eduardo Perez.

Japan series time, TV & schedule info

• Teams: Mariners vs. A’s
• Location: Tokyo Dome
• Time: 5:30 a.m. ET both Wednesday & Thursday
• TV: ESPN
• Streaming: Watch ESPN

Ichiro Suzuki is back to start his 19th major league season, making Seattle’s 28-man roster for this opening series. Ichiro, who played nine years for the Orix Blue Wave in the Japanese Pacific League before jumping to MLB in 2001, was also with the Mariners during their last regular season trip to Japan, going 4-for-9 in two games in 2012.

At 45, Ichiro is the second-oldest player in the majors — behind only Bartolo Colon — totaling 4,367 hits in his 27 professional seasons between Japan and MLB.

Seattle also boasts Japanese star Yusei Kikuchi, the left-hander is expected to start the second game of this series, on Thursday. Kikuchi signed a four-year, $56 million contract with the Mariners in January after pitching the last eight seasons for the Seibu Lions in Japan.

Marco Gonzales will start the opener for the Mariners.

Mike Fiers, who signed a two-year deal with the A’s this offseason, starts the opener for Oakland, followed by fellow newcomer Marco Estrada.

Both games in Japan are considered A’s home games.

MLB also opened its regular season with games in Japan in 2000, 2004 and 2008. The series in 2000 between the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs were the first regular season games in MLB history played outside of North America. Each of the first four series in Tokyo have ended in a two-game split.

from SBNation.com - All Posts https://ift.tt/2HGQVK0