{"id":633060,"date":"2026-03-20T05:36:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T05:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/633060\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T05:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T05:36:21","slug":"rays-are-featured-in-the-new-espn-baseball-package","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/633060\/","title":{"rendered":"Rays are featured in the new ESPN Baseball Package"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/sportstalkflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/000-MLB.TV-RAYS-AND-MARLINS.webp\" data-caption=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"667\" height=\"338\" class=\"entry-thumb td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/sportstalkflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/000-MLB.TV-RAYS-AND-MARLINS.webp\"   alt=\"\" title=\"000-MLB.TV - RAYS AND MARLINS\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Tampa Bay Rays will be front and center when <a href=\"http:\/\/espn.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ESPN <\/a>rolls out its reimagined 2026 Major League Baseball schedule. The network announced a fresh wave of game selections, and the Rays are the first team featured in ESPN\u2019s opening doubleheader of the season. On Thursday, May 7, Tampa Bay travels to Fenway Park to face the Boston Red Sox at 7 p.m. ET, a matchup that places rising star Junior Caminero on national television early in the year. The game marks the beginning of ESPN\u2019s shift toward a summer\u2011heavy slate, with 23 of its 30 exclusive national broadcasts airing in June, July, and August.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sportstalkflorida.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MORE SPORTS \u2013 SPORTS TALK FLORIDA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cardinals Also Land Key National Windows<\/p>\n<p>The St. Louis Cardinals join the Rays among the early headliners. Immediately following Tampa Bay\u2019s matchup, the Cardinals visit the San Diego Padres at 10 p.m. ET to complete ESPN\u2019s May 7 doubleheader. St. Louis appears again later in the summer, including an August 16 ABC broadcast against the Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals\u2019 presence in multiple national windows underscores ESPN\u2019s strategy of spotlighting marquee brands and competitive rosters throughout the season.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN Adds More Summer Matchups<\/p>\n<p>ESPN also confirmed a June 22 showdown between the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres, featuring Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. and Manny Machado. Additional TBD games will be selected up to two weeks before their scheduled dates, giving the network flexibility to highlight emerging storylines and surging teams. Previously announced broadcasts include Jackie Robinson Day, Memorial Day, the MLB second\u2011half opener and the MLB Little League Classic. ESPN\u2019s three\u2011game MLB on ABC package, revealed in January, remains a central part of the network\u2019s summer programming.<\/p>\n<p>MLB.TV Now Available Directly Through ESPN<\/p>\n<p>Fans can now purchase MLB.TV through the ESPN App and ESPN.com, marking a new milestone in the long\u2011standing partnership between MLB and ESPN. Subscribers will have access to more than 2,000 regular\u2011season games, expanding the reach of both national and out\u2011of\u2011market broadcasts.<\/p>\n<p>Full 2026 ESPN Baseball Schedule<\/p>\n<p>Below is the complete ESPN and ABC schedule as announced, including Rays and Cardinals national appearances:<\/p>\n<p>Wed, Apr. 15 \u2013 10 p.m. \u2013 MLB Jackie Robinson Day: Mets vs. Dodgers (ESPN)<br \/>\nThu, May 7 \u2013 7 p.m. \u2013 Rays vs. Red Sox (ESPN)<br \/>\nThu, May 7 \u2013 10 p.m. \u2013 Cardinals vs. Padres (ESPN)<br \/>\nMon, May 25 \u2013 3:30 p.m. \u2013 Yankees vs. Royals (ESPN)<br \/>\nThu, June 11 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nSun, June 14 \u2013 3 p.m. \u2013 Cubs vs. Giants (ABC)<br \/>\nMon, June 15 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nMon, June 22 \u2013 10 p.m. \u2013 Braves vs. Padres (ESPN)<br \/>\nSat, June 27 \u2013 1 p.m. \u2013 Yankees vs. Red Sox (ABC)<br \/>\nMon, June 29 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nWed, July 1 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nMon, July 6 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nWed, July 8 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nThu, July 16 \u2013 7 p.m. \u2013 MLB second-half opener: Mets vs. Phillies (ESPN)<br \/>\nMon, July 20 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nWed, July 22 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nMon, July 27 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nThu, July 30 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nMon, Aug. 3 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nThu, Aug. 6 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nWed, Aug. 12 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nSun, Aug. 16 \u2013 3 p.m. \u2013 Cardinals vs. Cubs (ABC)<br \/>\nMon, Aug. 17 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nSun, Aug. 23 \u2013 7 p.m. \u2013 MLB Little League Classic: Braves vs. Brewers (ESPN)<br \/>\nWed, Sep. 16 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<br \/>\nWed, Sep. 23 \u2013 TBD \u2013 TBD (ESPN)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tampa Bay Rays will be front and center when ESPN rolls out its reimagined 2026 Major League&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2377],"tags":[46,5,48,42185,81215,4,50988,11851,19639,62,297,18,67,81216,2550,68,2551,2549],"class_list":["post-633060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa-bay-rays","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-baseball","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-espn-app","tag-espn-mlb-schedule-2026","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-on-abc","tag-mlb-on-espn","tag-mlb-tv","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-rays","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-summer-baseball-schedule","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-bay-rays","tag-tampabay","tag-tampabayrays"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116259887685613310","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}