ARLINGTON, Texas — A cable package will do no good for Giants fans hoping to tune into their series finale Sunday against the Texas Rangers.
The game will air on The Roku Channel instead of NBC Sports Bay Area, which means an earlier-than-normal first pitch, too.
Roku, the San Jose-based streaming company, picked up the exclusive rights previously held by NBC Universal’s streaming service, Peacock, to air 18 games this season on Sunday mornings. Dubbed “MLB Sunday Leadoff,” the timeslot is the first of the day, so set your alarms.
Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi will throw the first pitch at 12:05 p.m. PT, two hours earlier in the Bay Area, matching the Giants’ earliest local start time of the season. They previously played at 12:05 p.m. ET on getaway day in Miami and will also play at 12:05 p.m. at home on the final day of the season, when all games start at the same time.
They have one more game on Roku, Aug. 4 in Cincinnati, which is also set for a 12:05 p.m. local first pitch.
Keaton Winn will oppose Eovaldi in his return to the rotation following a three-week absence with forearm tightness.
Good news: It doesn’t cost anything to watch, but it may require some additional steps to set up on your television or streaming device.
It’s easiest for owners of Roku devices, where the channel is accesible from the home screen. But the Roku Channel is also available on therokuchannel.comtherokuchannel.com, via Amazon Fire devices, Samsung TVs, or Google TVs.
Otherwise, the game is available, blackout-free, on MLB.tv.
While it may not quite be Kruk and Kuip, the broadcast will feature at least one familiar face with Hunter Pence providing color commentary. He’ll be joined in the booth by Rangers play-by-play man Dave Raymond, with Emily Jones, the Rangers’ sideline reporter, on the field.
Logan Webb is tentatively scheduled to be interviewed in the dugout during the game.