ABC Snags Major Sports Broadcast From ESPN

ABC is about to get an upgrade when it comes to its sports coverage. On Wednesday, ESPN announced that for the first time Sunday Night Baseball will air on ABC, Aug. 8 at 7 p.m. ET. The game will feature the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox and will also be available to stream on the ESPN app.

Commentary for the game will be provided by Matt Vasgersian, Alex Rodriguez and Buster Onley. They will open the coverage with Baseball Tonight: Sunday Night Countdown at 6 p.m. ET. ABC normally doesn't broadcast baseball games, but this will be the second time in two years the network hosts a marquee matchup. In 2020, ABC aired its first postseason game in 25 years during the MLB Wild Card Series.

The Cubs are having their struggles as they get to the All-Star break. As of Wednesday, the team is two games under .500 and nine games out of first place in the NL Central. The Cubs will have to get things going in the second half of the season if they want to reach the playoffs for the seventh time in six seasons. For right now, they are looking to win a game as they have lost 10-in-a-row.

"I don't think, at any point in any season, any player thinks that you can go on a 10-game losing streak," Cubs pitcher Zach Davies said. "But those things happen. Teams go on 20-plus-game winning streaks. Hopefully, that's in our future, but as of right now, we're trying to get that first one."

On the flip side, the White Sox has one of the best records in MLB (51-35). With new manager Tony La Russa, the White Sox are poised to win their first World Series since 2005. The squad reached the postseason last year, which was the first time since 2008 they have made the playoffs.

''We all go through [adversity],'' La Russa told the Chicago Sun-Times in June. ''You've just got to have the commitment of 'never give in, never give up.' That's what we've done. But an important point: Just because we've done it doesn't mean that we've got a guarantee. We've got to do it to the end. This club is making a special commitment, and we're going to take our best shot."