Gavin Stone vs. Framber Valdez on the mound in the series opener at Minute Maid Park in Houston, 5:10 p.m. PT
The Dodgers start a road trip this weekend in Houston to play the Astros, and Friday night’s series opener is exclusively on Apple TV+.
Wayne Randazzo will call play-by-play for the game alongside analyst Dontrelle Willis, with reporter Heidi Watney also on the telecast. There will be no local broadcast for Friday night’s game.
Apple TV+ is a subscription service which costs $9.99 per month, but MLB has been running a deal all season that offers two months of Apple TV+ for free, which is good for both new and returning subscribers. As someone who was a previous subscriber who just signed up Friday morning, I can verify that this deal works.
Signing up on Friday will run your free subscription through September 26, which covers all but the last Friday of the regular season. The Dodgers have no games in August on Apple TV+, and the slate of games on the network in September will likely be revealed later in August.
This Dodgers-Astros game is the third Dodgers game this season on Apple TV+. They beat the Cardinals on March 29 at Dodger Stadium (the Bobby Miller and Teoscar Hernández game) and beat the Yankees in 11 innings on June 7 at Yankee Stadium (the Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Teoscar Hernández game, or perhaps the Yohan Ramírez save game if you prefer). That June 7 game in New York was a rare instance of non-exclusivity for Apple TV+, as both the Dodgers and Yankees also televised that game locally.
Gavin Stone starts for the Dodgers on Friday in Houston, with left-hander Framber Valdez on the mound for the Astros.