Nationals, Marlins face off in MLB Sunday Leadoff Game on Peacock

Start your Sundays with baseball on Peacock and NBC.

The weekly MLB Sunday Leadoff game will be streamed on Peacock. Most games will also be simulcast on NBCSN. This weekend’s matchup features the Nationals and Marlins facing off at loanDepot park.

Here is what you need to know about this showdown.

The Nationals (19-21) sit in second place in the NL East, one game ahead of the Marlins (18-22). Washington has been tough on opposing pitchers as it has scored 215 runs, tied for the second most in MLB. Much of that production has come from left-handed-hitting stars CJ Abrams and James Wood. Showcasing lots of power and speed, both are threatening to post a 30-homer, 30-steal season, which no Nationals player has done since Alfonso Soriano in 2006. And speaking of steals, the Marlins need to keep infielder Nasim Nuñez off the bases. He leads MLB with 16 stolen bases.

The starting pitching matchup boasts a couple of hard-throwing righties in the Nationals’ Cade Cavalli and the Marlins Sandy Alcantara. Alcantara is looking to rebound from a rough outing against the Orioles on Tuesday. But prior to allowing seven earned runs in that 4 1/3-inning start, the former NL Cy Young Award winner had a 3.04 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP across his first six starts. The Marlins’ offense is headed by Otto Lopez, Xavier Edwards and Liam Hicks, all of whom are batting better than .300 with an OPS above .890. Lopez’s 353 average is the best in the Majors. Another promising sign for the Marlins was seeing young slugger Kyle Stowers bash his first home run of the season Saturday after missing a few weeks with a hamstring strain.

Matt Vasgersian will be the play-by-play announcer for many of the MLB Sunday Leadoff games, and he will often work with analysts who are associated with the teams involved in each week’s game. For this Sunday’s game between the Nationals and Marlins, the analysts will be four-time World Series champion relief pitcher Jeff Nelson and nine-year MLB infielder Kevin Frandsen. John Fanta will serve as the sideline reporter.

A Peacock Premium subscription is required to view the games on the streaming service. However, most MLB Sunday Leadoff games will be simulcast on NBCSN, NBC Sports’ cable network.

There will be 18 MLB Sunday Leadoff games during the regular season, streaming on Peacock each Sunday from May 3 through Aug. 30.

Every MLB Sunday Leadoff game can be streamed on the Peacock app.

MLB Sunday Leadoff games are exclusive to Peacock in the United States. They are not available on MLB.TV.

MLB Sunday Leadoff games on Peacock do not have any international blackout restrictions.