BE IT BASEBALL, FOOTBALL OR VOLLEYBALL, IT’S GAME TIME!

AH, THE BEAUTY of early August gives area sports fans a buffet of events, highlighted by the annual Adidas John Turner Classic that will see a majority of the area’s high school volleyball teams hold their own against some of the best programs in the state. WEDNESDAY: It will be an afternoon affair at Minute Maid Park as Gerrit Cole (13-5, 2.87 ERA) looks for a 10th straight victory when the Astros close a two game set against the Rockies. Rookie Peter Lambert (2-2, 5.71 ERA) gets the nod for Colorado at 1:10pm, shortly after AT&T Sportsnet Southwest completes its pregame show, which begins at 12:30pm. THURSDAY: The Texans begin their preseason with a trip to Green Bay to face the Packers beginning at 7:00pm. Don’t expect the starters to play much in this one. KTRK 13 will have the game live and will start with the pregame show at 6:30pm. In football of another sort, the Dynamo will visit New York City FC at 6:00pm. KUBE 57 and TeleXitos will each carry the game live from Yankee Stadium. One of the state’s premier high school volleyball tournaments gets underway as eight of the area’s schools will be at the Adidas John Turner Classic in Pearland. Clear Brook, Clear Creek, Clear Falls, Clear Springs, Dickinson, Friendswood, Santa Fe and Texas City will each compete among a host of the state’s best programs in an event that will conclude on Saturday. La Marque hits the road to meet Houston Washington at 4:00pm. FRIDAY: Wade Miley (10-4, 3.05 ERA) takes the mound for the Astros as they open a three-game set at the Orioles, who will counter with Dylan Bundy (5-11, 5.15 ERA) when the teams square off at 6:05pm. AT&T Sportsnet Southwest will start its pregame show at 5:30pm. Galveston Ball travels to Fort Bend Dulles for a non-district volleyball match that begins at 6:30pm. SATURDAY: Coming off an impressive Astros debut that saw him hold the Mariners hitless for six innings as part of a combined no-hitter last Saturday, Aaron Sanchez (4-14, 5.76 ERA) takes the mound for Houston in the middle game of the series against the Orioles. For the second time this week, the Astros face a rookie starter as Baltimore hands the ball to Tom Eshelman (1-2, 6.31 ERA). We hear you, Cowboys fans, so equal time means letting the loyalists of “America’s Team” know their preseason starts out at San Francisco against the 49ers beginning at 8:00pm. The game can be seen live on NFL Network.