The Cubs announced Thursday two changes to the team’s upcoming schedule. ESPN has picked up two Cubs games and moved them to primetime.
The Sunday, June 14 game vs. the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field has been selected to an exclusive national telecast by ESPN and is scheduled to begin at 7:08pm CDT.
And the Sunday, June 28 game vs. the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, originally scheduled for a 1:15pm CDT first pitch, has been selected for an exclusive national telecast by ESPN. The game is now scheduled for a 7:08pm CDT first pitch.
With ESPN carrying both games, Len Kasper should join Pat Hughes, Ron Coomer and Mark Grote on WBBM-AM 780 and help call the games against the Reds and Cardinals.
Sunday, June 14 is the last of four with the Cincinnati Reds. The series begins on Thursday, June 11. The four game series will have four different start times … Thursday (7:05pm), Friday (3:05pm), Saturday (6:15pm) and Sunday (7:08pm). The Cubs do not have to travel following Sunday’s game.
The Cubs and Indians start a home and home series on Monday, June 15 with the first of two at Wrigley. The Cubs start a five-game road trip on Wednesday, June 17. The Cubs play the Indians in Cleveland before making the trip for a three-game weekend series to Minneapolis to take on the Twins.
The Sunday, June 28 game in St. Louis is the last of three with the Cardinals. After hosting the Dodgers for four games (June 22-25), the Cubs travel to St. Louis for a three-game weekend series (June 26-28). Monday, June 29 is an off-day, the Cubs begin a three-game series (June 30-July 2) with the Mets at Citi Field that concludes with an afternoon matinee on Thursday, July 2.
The Cubs have a challenging stretch of 43 games in 45 days ahead of them with games against the Royals, Marlins, Nationals, Tigers, Reds, Indians, Twins, Dodgers, Cardinals, Mets and White Sox leading into the All-Star break.
The remaining games on the Cubs schedule with start times listed as “TBD” will be determined and announced at a later date.