Alanna Rizzo to host MLB whiparound show

This weekend, we wrote about how TNT Sports had an MLB Race To The Pennant alternate broadcast set for truTV on Tuesdays this September, with that reportedly a whip-around show. They’ve now fully announced that show and noted that it can also be streamed on Max. They’ve also revealed details on those involved, including host Alanna Rizzo and analyst Yonder Alonso.

Around this, TNT Sports has also added three more games to its Tuesday schedule, providing three doubleheaders down the September stretch. Two of those will feature both games on TBS, while a third will have one on TBS and one on truTV. This all comes ahead of their playoff coverage, where they’ll have an American League Divisional Series series and the American League Championship Series this October.

Here’s more from that release :

TNT Sports will expand its scope of coverage of the frenetic pennant races with the premiere of MLB Race to the Pennant on truTV and Max. Starting tonight at 7 p.m. ET and every Tuesday in September, host Alanna Rizzo, with analyst Yonder Alonso and others, will take fans around the League, highlighting the biggest moments and plays during the final stretch of the regular season, with live game look-ins.

…TNT Sports has added additional games to its schedule throughout the rest of the month on both TBS and truTV, spotlighting the stars and teams that will be making noise his fall:

· On Sept. 10 on TBS and Max, the Red Sox host Gunner Henderson and the Baltimore Orioles at 7 p.m., followed by NL MVP favorite Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers going up against Cody Bellinger and the Chicago Cubs at 10 p.m.;

· On Tuesday, Sept. 17, two division leaders will square off as the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers play the NL East-leading Philadelphia Philles at 7:30 p.m. on TBS and Max. Later at 9:30 p.m. on truTV and Max, the AL West-leading Houston Astros visit the San Diego Padres, currently firmly in the NL Wild Card picture;

· In the final night of regular season coverage on TBS and Max (Sept. 24), the Orioles take on the New York Yankees at 7 p.m. in a race for top spot in the AL East, followed by an NL West showdown as Ohtani and the Dodgers host Manny Machado and the Padres at 10 p.m.

As we discussed around the initial reports on this, this is part of a larger expansion of sports on truTV. TNT Sports and parent company Warner Bros. Discovery have been discussing that for a while, with TNT Sports chairman Luis Silberwasser talking it up as “a more comprehensive sports offering for our fans” in March and TNT Sports executive vice president and chief content officer Craig Barry saying in July the company would “expand our commitment to bolstering the dedicated primetime sports lineup this fall.” They’ve now put out some details on that, and the whiparound show is perhaps particularly notable; those have been tried many times in MLB before, but there’s a lot of interest in whiparound shows right now coming off of the buzz around Gold Zone on Peacock at the Olympics and Paralympics and ahead of NFL RedZone .

It’s interesting to see Rizzo and Alonso involved as well. Rizzo’s been involved in MLB coverage for more than a decade, including time with Root Sports Rocky Mountain, MLB Network (2012-13 and again since 2021 ), Spectrum SportsNet LA (2014- 20 ), and Foul Territory (since this March ). And she was part of the first-ever all-female MLB broadcast in July 2021 (Orioles-Rays on YouTube, alongside Melanie Newman and Sarah Langs). So she’s certainly a familiar figure for MLB fans. Alonso played for 10 MLB seasons from 2010-19 and joined MLB Network in 2021, shortly after his retirement in the fall of 2020, so he’s an experienced analyst at this point, too.

We’ll see how Race to the Pennant (and this overall expansion of MLB coverage) works out for TNT Sports. It will be particularly interesting to consider that, and the live Astros-Padres game on Sept. 17, as part of this truTV sports expansion. We’re still in the early days of that concept overall, but the idea of turning truTV into more of a regular sports destination certainly has some merit and will be worth keeping an eye on.

[ WBD Pressroom ]

The post Alanna Rizzo to host truTV ‘MLB Race To The Pennant’ whiparound show appeared first on Awful Announcing .