The Red Sox are in Texas this weekend for a big series against the Rangers. NESN has all three games starting tonight at 8. Saturday’s game is at 8 as well and Sunday’s game will be played at 2 p.m. Frank Viola will join Don Orsillo in the NESN booth for series as well as next week in Toronto.
Fox has Philadelphia at Atlanta. Neither Joe Buck nor Tim McCarver are working on Saturday meaning that this is not a major showcase weekend in Fox’s mind. Phillies-Braves will also be the ESPN Sunday Night game. And WGN has Pirates at Cubs on Sunday. MLB this weekend including regional splits and announcing assignments for Fox and ESPN are located right here.
The PGA Championship, golf’s last major of the year is taking place at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota. CBS is hoping to see Tiger Woods in contention as he has helped raise the network’s golf ratings over the last few weeks. If he’s at or near the top throughout the weekend, then you’ll see the ratings rise significantly. If not, then it’ll be a long weekend for CBS. TNT has early 3rd and final round coverage at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. CBS (WBZ and WPRI) then joins at 2 p.m. for full 18 hole coverage.
The English Premier League returns this weekend and ESPN2 is an addition to the U.S. rightsholders. It will carry a Saturday morning and Monday afternoon game every week. This is part of the deal that ESPN signed with the EPL to carry games in the UK. Setanta Sports and Fox Soccer Channel will continue to carry games here as well. ESPN2’s debut will be Chelsea vs. Hull City at 7:30 a.m., Saturday.
If you need your football fix, NFL Network has a live exhibition game tripleheader on Saturday. It will carry both the home and away feeds of each game.
NASCAR heads to Michigan International Speedway and the Carfax 400 which ESPN carries Sunday at 2 p.m.
NBC has Olympic sports including the VISA Gymnastics Championships where gold medalist Nastia Liukin will participate Saturday night at 8. And there’s the World Track & Field Championships from Berlin which NBC carries Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Versus also has coverage Saturday night at 7.
And in primetime, the season premiere of Mad Men is on AMC, Sunday night at 10.
Your weekend viewing picks are below.
Saturday, August 15
English Premier League
Chelsea vs. Hull City – ESPN2, 7:30 a.m.
Aston Villa vs. Wigan – Fox Soccer Channel, 10 a.m.
Blackburn vs. Manchester City – Setanta Sports, 10 a.m.
Everton vs. Arsenal – Fox Soccer Channel, 12:30 p.m.
Wolverhampton vs. West Ham – Setanta Sports, 5 p.m. (same day coverage)
Portsmouth vs. Fulham – Setanta Sports, 6:45 p.m. (same day coverage)
Golf
PGA Championship, 3rd round – TNT, 11 a.m./WBZ, WPRI, 2 p.m.
Gymnastics
VISA Championships – WHDH/WJAR, 8 p.m.
MLB
American League
Toronto at Tampa Bay – MLB Network, 7 p.m.
Red Sox at Texas – NESN, 8 p.m.
National League
Atlanta at Philadelphia – WFXT/WNAC, 4 p.m.
Quick Pitch – MLB Network, 11 p.m.
NASCAR
Nationwide Series/Carfax 250 – ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.
NFL
Atlanta at Detroit – NFL Network, 4 p.m.
Chicago at Buffalo – NFL Network, 7 p.m.
Seattle at San Diego – NFL Network, 10 p.m.
Tennis
US Open Series/Rogers Masters, semifinals – ESPN2, 7 p.m.
US Open Series/W&S Financial Group Women’s Open, semifinals – ESPN2, 1 p.m./Tennis Channel, 11 p.m.
Track & Field
IAAF World Championships – WHDH/WJAR, 1 p.m./Versus, 7 p.m.
Entertainment
5 Ingredient Fix – Food Network, 12:30 p.m.
Cops – WFXT/WNAC, 8 p.m.
America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back -WFXT/WNAC, 9 p.m.
Being Human – BBC America, 9 p.m.
48 Hours Mystery – WBZ/WPRI, 10 p.m.
Samantha Brown’s Great Weekends: Nashville – Travel Channel, 10 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Sho2, midnight
Sunday, August 16
English Premier League
Manchester United vs. Birmingham City – Setanta Sports, 8:30 a.m.
Tottenham vs. Liverpool – Fox Soccer Channel, 11 a.m.
Golf
PGA Championship, final round – TNT, 11 a.m./WBZ, WPRI, 2 p.m.
MLB
American League
Red Sox at Texas – NESN, 2 p.m.
National League
Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs – WGN America, 2 p.m.
Atlanta at Philadelphia – ESPN, 8 p.m.
Baseball Tonight – ESPN, 7 p.m.
Quick Pitch – MLB Network, 7 p.m.
NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series/Carfax 400 – ESPN, 2 p.m.
Tennis
US Open Series/Rogers Masters, finals – ESPN2, 1 p.m.
US Open Series/W&S Financial Group Women’s Open, finals – ESPN2, 4 p.m.
US Open Series/W&S Financial Group Women’s Open, doubles finals – Tennis Channel, 8 p.m.
Track & Field
IAAF World Championships – NBC, 2 p.m.
Entertainment
10 Dollar Dinners with Melissa: Less Money, More Moroccan – Food Network, 12:30 p.m.
60 Minutes – WBZ/WPRI, 7 p.m.
Big Brother 11, WBZ/WPRI, 8:01 p.m.
Ice Road Truckers – History Channel, 9 p.m.
True Blood – HBO, 9 p.m.
Mad Men (season premiere) – AMC, 10 p.m.
Hung – HBO, 10 p.m.
Entourage – HBO, 10:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Sho2, midnight
