ESPN baseball analyst Jessica Mendoza made the most of her opportunities on the network this season and has been rewarded with a spot in the booth for the American League wild-card game, becoming the first female analyst to call a nationally televised MLB postseason game.
Mendoza will sit alongside fellow analyst John Kruk and play-by-play announcer Dan Schulman, ESPN announced Thursday. Mendoza has been part of that announcing team — which handles "Sunday Night Baseball" during the regular season — since replacing the suspended Curt Schilling on the Aug. 30 telecast. Schilling will be part of ESPN's studio team for the postseason.
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The wild-card game, slated for Oct. 6 at 8 p.m. ET, will likely feature the New York Yankees, who hold a 2 1/2-game lead in the wild card standings, as the home team against the Astros, Angels or Twins, who could all be tied at the end of the regular season.