August marks the final full month of Major League Baseball regular season competition on the road to the Playoffs. We’ll get a few weeks of regular season games in September too, but we are clearly in the home stretch now, so every team in contention for the postseason needs to make their case. 

How to Watch

Watch MLB on NBC and streaming on Peacock.

This week on Sunday Night Baseball, we’ll check in on two teams with very different playoff complexions as August begins, one a shoo-in for the postseason, the other still fighting for a potential wild card slot and riding a wave of consistent wins. It’s the Los Angeles Dodgers hosting the Boston Red Sox, and we’ve got all the details. 

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How to watch Red Sox vs. Dodgers on Sunday Night Baseball?

The Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Sunday night game is set for 7 p.m. ET on August 2, live from Dodger Stadium on NBC and streaming simultaneously on Peacock.

Bob Costas leads NBC’s pregame coverage with three-time Cy Young-winner Clayton Kershaw, who’s also set for “Inside the Pitch” commentary during the game. 

Jason Benetti will call the action for NBC Sports, with analysis from MLB veterans Orel Hershiser and Lou Merloni. 

Want more Sunday baseball? Tune in earlier in the day for Peacock’s MLB Sunday Leadoff game of the week, as the Los Angeles Angels host the Milwaukee Brewers live at 3 p.m. ET. 

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What to expect from Red Sox vs. Dodgers on Sunday Night Baseball

Like so many Sunday Night Baseball games during the season, Red Sox vs. Dodgers arrives at the end of a weekend series set to begin Friday and continue Saturday, which means by the time we see them these teams will know each other quite well. That’ll color the matchup, particularly if one team has managed to sweep the first two games over the other. 

Going into the weekend, though, the Dodgers are the favorites for this matchup because, well, they’re the favorites for most matchups these days. The defending World Series Champions have the best record in baseball, they’ve got a huge lead in the NL West, and Shohei Ohtani leads arguably the best group of batters in the game at the moment. They’re an offensive juggernaut, but they’re also a well-rounded team. 

But the Red Sox might be better than their record suggests, and for proof they’ve spent the last few weeks on a roll, winning far more games than they’ve lost as they climb up the American League standings. They’re still stuck behind both the Rays and the Yankees in the AL East, which means they’ll have to fight tooth and nail for a wild card spot come postseason time, and some wins in Los Angeles would help to make that case. They’ve got solid batting led by Willson Contreras, and one of the best pitching staffs in the American League. This series marks the first time these teams have met this season, so we have no idea how the Sox’s pitchers will fare against the Dodgers’ batters, but if they can dial it in, we’ll have a very interesting game on our hands.