Two years ago, a high-profile late-season Cardinals game in Los Angeles was exclusively streamed on Apple TV+, the contest in which the Redbirds’ Albert Pujols hit his milestone 700th career home run.
This year, an opening-week Cardinals game in LA isn’t expected to have anywhere near the drama that unfolded there on that September 2022 night, but there is a common theme: Friday’s contest also will be streamed exclusively by Apple, meaning there is no coverage by Cards local telecaster Bally Sports Midwest or any other traditional television network.
The game is part of Apple’s “Friday Night Baseball†deal with Major League Baseball, in which its streaming service, Apple TV+, exclusively streams two games each week. For its opening salvo, Apple has the Cards-Dodgers as the nightcap in addition to showing the Yankees-Astros contest that starts two hours earlier.
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Wayne Randazzo, who has done Cardinals games for Apple before including the Pujols No. 700 contest, has the play-by-play Friday and will be joined by analyst Dontrelle Willis and reporter Russell Dorsey. Former big league umpires Ted Barrett and Dale Scott serve as rules analysts.
Lauren Gardner anchors the pregame show from Dodger Stadium beginning at 6:30 p.m. and will be accompanied by Xavier Scruggs and Russell Dorsey.
Apple TV+ charges $9.99 monthly for its services but is offering a free for new and returning customers.
Apple says its MLB games are available on the Apple TV+ app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD, Windows PC, smart TVs, streaming devices and cable set-top boxes. They also can be accessed on the internet at , including on Android, Windows PC and Chrome OS devices.
The step-by-step instructions, per Apple, on how to watch its MLB streaming productions:
- Establish an Apple TV+ subscription and update to the latest software.
- Sign in with your Apple ID.
- Set up the Apple TV app if you’re using a streaming device or game console.
- Open the Apple TV app or go to the
- website.
- Go to the search tab.
- Select Apple TV+ Major League Baseball.
- Select a game.
- Select watch.
Doubling up
The Cardinals’ season is just getting started, and the Blues’ campaign is winding down, creating overlap some days for both teams’ local telecaster, Bally Sports Midwest.
So it will utilize Bally Sports Midwest Extra, its secondary channel that airs overlapping games and ancillary programming at other times. That schedule:
SATURDAY
Blues at 7 p.m. on BSM Extra; Cardinals at 8:10 p.m. on BSM.
APRIL 6
Cardinals at 1:15 p.m. on BSM; Blues at 5 p.m. on BSM Extra.
APRIL 12
Blues game at 7 p.m. on BSM; Cards at 8:40 p.m. on BSM Extra.
Where to find BSM Extra
Channels on which BSM Extra is carried on some programming distributors available in the region, per Bally Sports Midwest:
Bally Sports Midwest Extra channels
TV provider | BSM | BSM Extra |
---|---|---|
AT&T U-verse | 1748 | 1747 |
Bluepeak/Vast | 210 | 208 |
Cable America | 525 | 22 |
Cass | 31 | 197 |
Co-Mo Connect | 302 | 303 or 304 |
Consolidated | 525 | 181 |
DirecTV, DirecTV Stream | 671 | 671-1 |
Fubo | Check listings | Check listings |
Grafton Technologies | 77 | 789 |
Highland Communications | 550 | 551 |
HomeTel | 1055 | 1196 |
HTC Communications | 1076 | 1077 |
Madison Communications | 724 | Ìý26 |
Mediacom (Mid-Missouri, Springfield, Mo.) | 732 | 126 |
Mediacom (Southern Ill.) | 732 | N/A |
Optimum (Branson) | 38 | N/A |
Spectrum | 824 | 826 |
Wabash Communications | 370 | 371 |
Xfinity | 959 | 520 |