After winning the AL MVP last year, Justin Verlander will start opening day for the Tigers in 2012.
After winning the AL MVP last year, Justin Verlander will start opening day for the Tigers in 2012. Reuters

The Mariners and Athletics officially started playing regular season games last week when they two teams faced off in Japan. The Cardinals and Marlins had a one-game series Wednesday in what was dubbed baseballs opening night.

Opening day for most of the Major Leagues will be take place on Thursday or Friday. Many of the games will be in the afternoon. A few will be nationally televised, including the first game scheduled to get underway, the Red Sox and Tigers.

Here's a complete list of all the opening day games, start times, pitching matchups and which ones can be seen on national TV.

Thursday

Boston at Detroit 1:00 p.m. ET Lester vs Verlander ESPN 2

Atlanta at NY Mets 1:10 p.m. ET Hanson vs Santana

Philadelphia at Pittsburgh 1:35 p.m. ET Halladay vs Bedard

Washington at Chicago Cubs 2:20 p.m. ET Strasburg vs Dempster

Toronto at Cleveland 3:05 p.m. ET Romero vs Masterson

Miami at Cincinnati 4:00 p.m. ET Buehrle vs Cueto ESPN2

LA Dodgers at San Diego 7:05 p.m. ET Kershaw vs Volquez

Friday

Chicago White Sox at Texas 2:05 p.m. ET Danks vs Lewis

Minnesota at Baltimore 3:05 p.m. ET Pavano vs Arrieta

NY Yankees at Tampa Bay 3:10 p.m. ET Sabathia vs Shields

St. Louis at Milwaukee 4:10 p.m. ET Garcia vs Gallardo

San Francisco at Arizona 7:00 p.m. ET Lincecum vs Kennedy ESPN 2

Colorado at Houston 7:05 p.m. ET Guthrie vs Rodriguez

Kansas City at LA Angels 10:00 p.m. ET Chen vs Weaver ESPN2

Seattle at Oakland 10:05 p.m. ET Hernandez vs McCarthy

Japan Arizona Japan Major league baseball