2005 World Series Champion Geoff Blum and 2007 NL Cy Young Award Winner Jake Peavy Join Jason Benetti in Booth on Sunday Night Baseball at 8 p.m. ET
Ahmed Fareed Hosts Sunday Night Baseball Pregame with Hall of Famer CC Sabathia, who will also Provide “Inside the Pitch” Commentary
Two-Time NL All-Stars James Wood and Elly De La Cruz Square Off as Washington Nationals Host Cincinnati Reds on MLB Sunday Leadoff at Noon ET on Peacock and NBCSN
Dave Flemming Calls Reds-Nationals Alongside Former Washington Infielder Kevin Frandsen and Former Cincinnati Pitcher Sam LeCure; Caroline Pineda Serves as Sideline Reporter
Sunday Stretch Whip-Around Show to Immediately Follow MLB Sunday Leadoff; Peacock “Game of the Day” Features One Out-of-Market Game Streamed Nationally
STAMFORD, Conn. – Aug. 4, 2026 – AL Triple Crown leader Yordan Alvarez, three-time Silver Slugger Manny Machado, and two-time NL All-Stars James Wood and Elly De La Cruz headline NBC Sports’ national MLB slate this Sunday, featuring the San Diego Padres hosting the first-place Houston Astros on Sunday Night Baseball at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. Coverage begins at Noon ET on Peacock and NBCSN when the Cincinnati Reds visit the Washington Nationals on MLB Sunday Leadoff. The Padres are two games out of a Wild Card berth, while the Nationals and Reds are 5.5 and six games back, respectively.
SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL: ASTROS-PADRES (8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock)
AL Triple Crown leader Yordan Alvarez and the Houston Astros face three-time Silver Slugger third baseman Manny Machado and the San Diego Padres in an interleague battle at Petco Park this Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. 2005 World Series champion Geoff Blum makes his Sunday Night Baseball debut alongside 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy and play-by-play voice Jason Benetti.
Ahmed Fareed will host the pregame show alongside CC Sabathia, who will also provide “Inside the Pitch” commentary. During crucial at-bats in the game, Sabathia will provide insight into the pitcher’s throw-by-throw approach against a hitter.
The first-place Astros, who make their first Sunday Night Baseball appearance of the season this weekend, lead the Texas Rangers by 2.5 games in the AL West. The Padres are third in the NL West at 58-55 and are within two games of an NL Wild Card berth. Houston is third in the Majors with 155 home runs, led by DH/OF Alvarez’s MLB-best 35. An MVP candidate, Alvarez also leads the AL with 84 RBI and a .330 batting average. San Diego is tied for tied for second in the NL with 34 saves and is third with 114 stolen bases. Machado paces the Padres with 23 home runs (T-10th in the NL) and 65 RBI (15th in the NL), while outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. ranks in MLB’s top 10 in both hits (122 – T-9th) and stolen bases (26 – T-8th).
A 14-year MLB veteran, Blum debuted with the Montreal Expos in 1999 before playing for the Astros, Rays, Padres, White Sox, and Diamondbacks. The switch-hitter won the 2005 World Series with the Chicago White Sox and delivered the go-ahead home run in the top of the 14th inning of Game 3 against the Astros — tying the longest game in World Series history at the time. Across 1,389 games, he recorded 990 hits, 206 doubles, 99 home runs, 479 RBI, and 446 runs scored. One of baseball’s top utility players during his career, Blum appeared at all four infield positions in nine consecutive seasons from 2000-08. Blum is in his 14th season as an analyst for Astros telecasts and has won five Lone Star Emmy Awards for his work with Space City Home Network.
Peavy spent the first seven years of his 15-season career (2002-2016) with the Padres before stops with the White Sox, Red Sox, and Giants. In 2007, he was named the unanimous NL Cy Young Award winner and won the pitching “Triple Crown,” posting a 19-6 record, 2.54 ERA, and 240 strikeouts. Peavy is the only pitching “Triple Crown” winner in Padres history. A three-time All-Star (2005, 2007, 2012), Peavy won back-to-back World Series titles with the Red Sox (2013) and Giants (2014). Peavy was a 2023 inductee in the Padres Hall of Fame after finishing his career as the franchise’s all-time leader in strikeouts and returned to the organization in 2025 to serve as a special assistant to the Padres CEO. He has served as an analyst for MLB Network since 2022. Peavy will make his third Sunday Night Baseball appearance this weekend, following Padres-Mariners on May 17 and Padres-Dodgers on July 5.
A 2025 inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, 2009 World Series champion (with New York Yankees), and 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner (with Cleveland), Sabathia won 251 games over his 19-year MLB career (2001-2019). A six-time All-Star, he is one of 20 pitchers in MLB history to record more than 3,000 strikeouts (3,093). Sabathia spent eight seasons with Cleveland before an 11-year tenure with the Yankees. In helping New York to the 2009 championship, he went 3-1 with a 1.98 earned run average in five Postseason starts and was named ALCS MVP. The left-hander tied for the MLB lead wins in back-to-back seasons with 19 victories in 2009 and 21 in 2010. Sabathia, who helped launch MLB Network’s ongoing “Clubhouse Edition” special game telecast series in 2021, serves as a Special Assistant to the Commissioner. This Sunday marks Sabathia’s fourth Sunday Night Baseball broadcast of the season (Guardians-Braves on April 12, Padres-Dodgers on July 5, and Dodgers-Yankees on July 19).
MLB SUNDAY LEADOFF: REDS-NATIONALS (Noon ET on Peacock and NBCSN)
Two-time All-Star outfielder James Wood and the Washington Nationals square off against two-time All-Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz and the Cincinnati Reds at Nationals Park this Sunday at Noon ET on Peacock and NBCSN. Play-by-play voice Dave Flemming will call Reds-Nationals alongside former Washington infielder Kevin Frandsen, former Cincinnati pitcher Sam LeCure, and reporter Caroline Pineda.
The Nationals are 5.5 games back from an NL Wild Card berth. Washington’s offense leads MLB with 166 home runs, 581 RBI, 610 runs scored, and 126 stolen bases. Wood has hit 30 home runs this season, ranking fourth in the NL and tied for seventh in MLB. CJ Abrams has posted the most home runs (28) ever in a season by a Nationals shortstop and is tied with Cincinnati’s Sal Stewart for the MLB lead with 85 RBI. Cincinnati ranks third in the NL with 145 home runs, led by Stewart, who has posted a club-best 24 homers (T-6th in the NL). De La Cruz leads the Reds in batting average (.276), triples (five), and runs scored (62).
Frandsen, a nine-year infielder for the Giants, Angels, Phillies, and Nationals (2006-2015), was a member of Washington’s National League East Division Championship team in 2014. Known as a standout defensive player, he saw action at nearly every position throughout his major league career. Since 2022, Frandsen has been a member of the Nationals’ television broadcast booth as an analyst, following four seasons on the Phillies radio broadcast team.
LeCure spent his entire six-year MLB career with the Reds from 2010-15, making 250 appearances, including 10 starts, with a 3.51 ERA and 300 strikeouts. He was part of Cincinnati’s 2010 and 2012 NL Central championship teams and contributed to the club’s NL Wild Card berth in 2013, marking the Reds’ best stretch of postseason appearances since the 1970s. LeCure joined the Reds’ television broadcast team in 2018 and is in his ninth season as an analyst for the club’s pre- and post-game shows on Reds.TV.
Pineda serves as a reporter on this week’s edition of MLB Sunday Leadoff. Pineda has been a reporter with NBC Sports since 2022, covering college football, basketball, the Olympics, and MLB.
Major League Baseball and NBC Sports announced the debut of Road to the Show, a new five-episode documentary series providing unprecedented access to six of baseball’s brightest young stars as they navigate the path to professional baseball’s biggest stage. All five episodes are available now on Peacock.
Produced by MLB Network and narrated by baseball content creator and YouTuber Dan Sarmiento (DSARM), Road to the Show features some of the game’s most exciting young talent, including Braden Montgomery (Chicago White Sox), Gage Wood (Philadelphia Phillies/Reading Fightin’ Phils-AA), Jesús Made (Milwaukee Brewers/Biloxi Shuckers-AA), the No. 1 overall prospect, and Ethan Holliday (Colorado Rockies/Fresno Grizzlies Single-A), alongside 2026 first-round picks Roch Cholowsky (White Sox) and Justin Lebron (Reds).
SUNDAY STRETCH WHIP-AROUND SHOW
NBC Sports’ Sunday Stretch whip-around show will stream live on Peacock immediately following Reds-Nationals on MLB Sunday Leadoff. Produced in collaboration with the Emmy Award-winning MLB Network, the show will feature look-ins at all the compelling live action around Major League Baseball in real time and on replay every Sunday, so viewers don’t miss a single run or key play.
Peacock offers a dedicated MLB Hub, a one-stop destination for fans to access live games, team hubs, and highlights. This season, baseball fans can enjoy popular Peacock features, such as Catch up with Key Plays, if they are tuning in late; Live in Browse, which displays the live game on the Peacock home page for instant context about the matchup and allows viewers to immediately join the live game presentation; and MLB Live Picks, a mobile mini-game for fans to predict the winners.
The Sunday Stretch whip-around show will stream live on Peacock this Sunday, Aug. 9, following MLB Sunday Leadoff, providing viewers with the most compelling action in real time and on replay so they won’t miss a single run or key play. In partnership with Telemundo and Universo, Peacock will provide extensive Spanish-language coverage.
Peacock “Game of the Day” (Aug. 4 – Aug. 12)
One out-of-market game will be streamed nationally* on Peacock nearly every day of the season. Tonight, 2026 All-Star shortstop Kevin McGonigle and the Detroit Tigers visit three-time All-Star centerfielder Julio Rodriguez and the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park with first pitch set for 9:40 p.m. ET on Peacock.
| Date | Time (ET) | Game |
| Tues., Aug. 4 | 9:40 p.m. | Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners |
| Wed., Aug. 5 | 3:10 p.m. | Tampa Bay Rays at Colorado Rockies |
| Thurs., Aug. 6 | 2:20 p.m. | Toronto Blue Jays at Chicago Cubs |
| Fri., Aug. 7 | 6:40 p.m. | New York Mets at Pittsburgh Pirates |
| Fri., Aug. 7 | 9:40 p.m. | Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks |
| Sun., Aug. 9 | 4:10 p.m. | Tampa Bay Rays at Seattle Mariners |
| Mon., Aug. 10 | 9:45 p.m. | Houston Astros at San Francisco Giants |
| Tues., Aug. 11 | 9:40 p.m. | Milwaukee Brewers at San Diego Padres |
| Wed., Aug. 12 | 1:40 p.m. | Baltimore Orioles at Minnesota Twins |
(*Note: The Peacock “Game of the Day” will not be available in the competing team markets, where it will be presented by the local rightsholder)
National Baseball Hall of Famer CC Sabathia and Ahmed Fareed star in NBC Sports’ new weekly digital video series, MLB According to CC. On each episode, Sabathia and Fareed will discuss big-picture storylines and spotlight the week’s most exciting and intriguing events around baseball. Among the unique segments featured in the series: “CC’s Clubhouse” will highlight anecdotes from his playing days, while “Show Me Something” will preview MLB’s weekend slate of games and highlight key players across the league. The show’s “newstalgia” storytelling will bridge legends of baseball’s past with today’s rising stars.
New episodes are available to stream every Wednesday on the Peacock MLB Hub, NBC Sports YouTube Channel, NBCSports.com, and all major podcast platforms.
NBC SPORTS’ MLB TRADITION
NBC Sports has a distinguished history with Major League Baseball. The first-ever MLB television broadcast was a 1939 Cincinnati Reds-Brooklyn Dodgers doubleheader on W2XBS (the precursor to WNBC-TV) in New York. NBC Sports was a home to the first World Series broadcast in 1947, the first All-Star Game nationally broadcast in 1952, and has televised 39 World Series – more than any other network.
From 1957-2000, NBC Sports was home to a wealth of baseball programming, including Game of the Week and Monday Night Baseball telecasts, more than 30 All-Star Games, and countless iconic Postseason moments. For the 2022-23 seasons, Peacock was the exclusive home of MLB Sunday Leadoff, a first-of-its-kind Sunday morning presentation featuring a unique three-announcer broadcast booth with one analyst with expertise on each team joining the play-by-play voice.
--NBC SPORTS--
