Jason Benetti to Call Rangers-Tigers on Sunday Night Baseball at 7 p.m. ET Alongside 1984 World Series Champion Pitcher Dan Petry and Former Major League Pitcher Mike Bacsik
MLB Sunday Leadoff Debuts this Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET on Peacock & NBCSN) with AL Champion Blue Jays at Twins, featuring Play-by-Play Voice Matt Vasgersian Joined in Booth by 2016 World Series Champion Center Fielder Dexter Fowler and 2006 American League MVP First Baseman Justin Morneau
Sunday Stretch Whip-Around Show Debuts on Peacock this Sunday, Immediately Following MLB Sunday Leadoff
Ahmed Fareed Hosts Sunday Night Baseball Pregame with 2016 World Series Champion and Four-Time Gold Glove First Baseman Anthony Rizzo, who will also Provide “Inside the Pitch” Commentary from Batter’s Perspective
Peacock “Game of the Day” Features One Out-of-Market Game Streamed Nationally Each Day – Marlins-Dodgers, Tonight at 10:10 p.m. ET
STAMFORD, Conn. – April 28, 2026 – Beginning this Sunday, May 3, NBC Sports is home to national MLB coverage on Sundays from early afternoon into the night. This Sunday, coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. ET with the debut of MLB Sunday Leadoff on Peacock and NBCSN¸ followed immediately after the game by the Sunday Stretch whip-around show on Peacock. Sunday Stretch will then take viewers right up to Sunday Night Baseball, at 7 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCSN.
SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL: RANGERS -TIGERS
1985 AL All-Star pitcher Dan Petry, who won the 1984 World Series with the Detroit Tigers and serves as a television analyst for the team, and former Major League pitcher Mike Bacsik will join play-by-play voice Jason Benetti on NBC Sports’ announce team for this week’s presentation of Sunday Night Baseball. Two-time All-Star outfielder Riley Greene and the Tigers will host two-time World Series MVP shortstop Corey Seager and the Rangers at Comerica Park this Sunday, at 7 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCSN.
Ahmed Fareed will host the pregame show alongside Anthony Rizzo, who will also provide “Inside the Pitch” commentary from the batter’s perspective during the game.
The Tigers rank third in the American League in hits (244), and in batting average (.253), and fourth in ERA (3.95). Rookie shortstop Kevin McGonigle leads Detroit with a .330 batting average, the third highest in the Majors, 35 hits, 11 doubles. and 22 runs scored. The Rangers boast a 3.60 combined ERA, the second-best in the AL, and have racked up 257 strikeouts, which is the fifth-best in the league.
Petry spent the first nine years of his 13-season MLB career with the Detroit Tigers (1979-87), where he was named to the AL All-Star team in 1985, and won the 1984 World Series. The right-handed starter also pitched for the California Angels (1988-89) before returning to the Tigers for two more seasons (1990-91) and closing his career with the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox (1991). Across 370 career games and 300 starts, Petry posted a 125-104 record with a 3.95 ERA and 1,063 strikeouts. Since 2019, Petry has been an analyst for Tigers telecasts, sharing the booth with Benetti on Detroit SportsNet.
Bacsik made his MLB debut with Cleveland in 2001 before playing for the Mets, Rangers and Nationals, compiling a career record of 10-13 in 51 games (35 starts). In 2007, he won a career-high five games with the Nationals and surrendered Barry Bonds’ 756th home run that broke Hank Aaron’s all-time career record. Bacsik’s cap from that game is on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.Bacsik has served as a television color analyst for Rangers’ games on the Rangers Sports Network since 2024. Previously, the southpaw was a member of pre- and post-game coverage on Rangers telecasts from 2014-2023.
A three-time MLB All-Star and four-time Gold-Glove winning first baseman, Rizzo caught the final out of the 2016 World Series for the Chicago Cubs, breaking the team’s 108-year championship drought. In 2016, Rizzo set a career high in RBI (109), was awarded a Gold Glove, earned a Silver Slugger, and won the Platinum Glove as the NL’s best overall defensive player. Over 14 seasons with the Padres, Cubs and Yankees, the lefty slugger hit 303 home runs and had four seasons with at least 100 RBIs. Rizzo will serve as an analyst for NBC Sports’ MLB coverage throughout the regular season and its exclusive MLB Postseason coverage of all Wild Card games on NBC, Peacock and NBCSN.
MLB SUNDAY LEADOFF: BLUE JAYS -TWINS
Matt Vasgersian returns to the NBC Sports booth after calling MLB’s Opening Day Pirates-Mets matchup on NBC and Peacock. 2016 World Series Champion center fielder Dexter Fowler and 2006 American League MVP first baseman Justin Morneau will join Vasgersian on the announce team, as 2025 ALCS MVP first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the defending American League Champion Blue Jays visit two-time All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton and the Twins from Target Field on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCSN.
Guerrero Jr. is tied for second in the American League in batting average (.330) and is tied for ninth in hits (34). As a team, the Twins are tied for fourth in RBIs (138) and home runs (35) in the AL.
With a career that spanned 14 seasons (2008-2021), Fowler spent his first six years in the league with the Colorado Rockies. As a member of the Chicago Cubs in 2016, the centerfielder was an All-Star and helped the Cubs win their first World Series title since 1908. In that 2016 World Series, Fowler became the first player ever to lead off a World Series Game 7 with a home run. This season, he has been featured as a studio analyst on Sunday Night Baseball’s pregame show and previously served as an analyst on Peacock’s MLB Sunday Leadoff in 2023.
A 14-year MLB veteran and member of the Twins Hall of Fame, Morneau spent the first 11 seasons of his career in Minnesota (2003-13), before stops with the Pirates, Rockies and White Sox. The former first baseman was a key part of two Twins AL Central Division championship teams (2004 and 2006) and made an NL Wild Card appearance in 2013 with the Pirates. Morneau won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 2006, after batting .321 with a career-high 34 home runs and 130 RBIs, and was selected to the AL All-Star team four times from 2007-10 In 2020, Morneau was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Since his retirement in 2017, he has served as a special assistant in the Twins Front Office and is currently an analyst for the Twins’ television broadcasts on Twins.TV.
SUNDAY STRETCH WHIP AROUND SHOW
NBC Sports will debut the Sunday Stretch whip-around show, which will be streamed live on Peacock for the first time this Sunday, May 3, following Blue Jays-Twins 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 will feature a dedicated MLB Hub, a one-stop destination for fans to access live games, team hubs and highlights. This season, baseball fans will also be able to 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 also stream live on Peacock starting this Sunday, May 3, 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” (April 28 – May 6)
One out-of-market game will be streamed nationally* on Peacock nearly every day of the season. Tonight, the National League’s top two batting leaders, Xavier Edwards and Andy Pages, will face off when the Miami Marlins visit the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium with first pitch set for 10:10 p.m. ET on Peacock.
| Date | Time (ET) | Game |
| Tues., April 28 | 10:10 p.m. | Miami Marlins at Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Wed., April 29 | 7:40 p.m. | Arizona Diamondbacks at Milwaukee Brewers |
| Thurs., April 30 | 7:40 p.m. | Toronto Blue Jays at Minnesota Twins |
| Fri., May 1 | 7:10 p.m. | Houston Astros at Boston Red Sox |
| Sat., May 2 | 1:35 p.m. | Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees |
| Sun., May 3 | 4:10 p.m. | Kansas City Royals at Seattle Mariners |
| Mon., May 4 | 9:38 p.m. | Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Angels |
| Tues., May 5 | 9:45 p.m. | San Diego Padres at San Francisco Giants |
| Wed., May 6 | 6:40 p.m. | Boston Red Sox at Detroit Tigers |
(*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)
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--
