The San Diego Padres will host the opening game of the 2014 Major League Baseball season on Sunday, March 30, when they face the Los Angeles Dodgers, ESPN announced Thursday.
The contest will begin at 5 p.m. at Petco Park and be broadcast nationally on the cable sports channel. ESPN will begin its 25th anniversary season of airing MLB games.
The new Sunday Night Baseball team of Dan Shulman, analysts John Kruk and Curt Schilling and reporter Buster Olney will make their regular-season debut to call the action. Jon Sciambi and Chris Singleton will call the game on ESPN Radio.
The Dodgers won the National League West division last year with a 92-70 record. The Padres were third, with 76 wins and 86 losses.
The Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks open the season with a two-game series at Sydney on March 22-23, MLB's first regular-season games in Australia. Most other big league teams start their schedules March 31.
