Cubs vs. Cardinals 2017 live stream: Time, TV schedule, and how to watch opening night online

Dexter Fowler faces his old Chicago teammates in his first game with St. Louis.

Apr 2, 2017, 11:00 PM UTC

Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images

The defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs open their 2017 season on the road against their fiercest rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, on Sunday night at Busch Stadium.

The ESPN Sunday Night Baseball crew of Dan Shulman, Aaron Boone, and Jessica Mendoza will call the 8:30 p.m. ET game, the third of three MLB games on the ESPN family of networks on Sunday. Online streaming of the game will be available through WatchESPN.

One of the central figures of the Cardinals-Cubs rivalry figures to be Dexter Fowler, who patrolled center field for Chicago the last two seasons, then signed a five-year, $82.5 million free agent contract to join St. Louis.

The 31-year-old switch-hitter hit .276/.393/.447 in 125 games for the Cubs in 2016, and has averaged 69 walks per year in his eight full MLB seasons to go with his .366 career on-base percentage.

Jon Lester starts Sunday night for the Cubs after finishing second in National League Cy Young Award balloting in 2016, going 19-5 with a career-best 2.44 ERA in 32 starts. This is the sixth career opening day start for Lester, and his second in three years with Chicago.

After four consecutive opening day starts, Adam Wainwright will instead start the second game of the season for St. Louis. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny chose right-hander Carlos Martinez for the opening day nod, after Martinez was 16-9 with a 3.04 ERA in 31 starts in 2016.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Martinez said upon hearing the news of his opening day start, per Chuck King of the Associated Press. “I thought he was talking about the exhibition games in Springfield or Memphis. Just to be able to have this position and to be able to represent the Cardinals and be No. 1 and be the ace is so important to me.”

Sunday night is the first of a three-game series between the Cubs and Cardinals, which resumes Tuesday after an off day Monday.

The Cubs won 10 of 19 meetings with the Cardinals last season, including six wins in nine games in St. Louis.