Friday belonged to the American League (and the bugs). Today it’s the Senior Circuit’s chance to shine. Two mid-market NL West teams look to complete sweeps against big spenders from the east.

Diamondbacks at Cubs, 3:00 p.m. PT — The good news, if you’re a Cubs fan, is that this one’s in Chicago. The bad news is that Livan Hernandez gets the start for Arizona. Yeah, he’s got an ERA near 5.00 and his peripherals are nauseating, but the guy has been lights-out in the playoffs throughout his career (the World Series is a different story, but we’re not there yet). …read more

This is it. The final day of the regular season. Four teams are fighting for the final two playoff spots in the National League. Baseball Prospectus is tracking the odds as each game finishes this weekend, while David Pinto keeps us posted on his massive tie scenario.
Meanwhile, here are the games that matter:

Marlins at Mets, 10:10 a.m. PT — Dontrelle Willis vs Tom Glavine. I can’t think of a better pitcher to make this start for New York than Glavine. To say the guy is well prepared for this situation is to make a colossal understatement. He’ll face a tough …read more

Wednesday? Must be a full schedule. Let’s jump right in…
American League

Angels at Mariners, 1:35 p.m. PT — Division rivals, great pitching matchup (Jered Weaver vs Felix Hernandez). Most days this would be a no-brainer as the game to watch, but there are several good ones today.
Red Sox at Yankees, 4:05 p.m. PT — Josh Beckett goes up against Roger Clemens. Advice to hitters: look for the fastball. The AL East is slipping away from the Yankees, as they are now 8 games back with 31 remaining. They’re only 2 behind Seattle in the wild card.
Twins at Indians, 4:05 p.m. PT …read more

Super lightning quick, here are your games for Friday:

Yankees at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT — It seems like these two teams are always playing each other. Anyway, Roger Clemens and Andrew Miller makes for an interesting matchup. Aside from the fact that Clemens is twice as old as Miller, it’s also worth noting that lefties are hitting just .140/.241/.180 against the young southpaw. Granted, it’s in all of 60 plate appearances, but yikes.
Blue Jays at Angels, 7:05 p.m. PT — Roy Halladay and Jered Weaver hook up at Anaheim. If I didn’t have a softball game, I’d make the drive …read more

There really aren’t any good pitching matchups on Sunday. Probably the best are Boof Bonser vs Jered Weaver at Anaheim (11:05 a.m. PT), and Jake Peavy vs Bronson Arroyo at Cincinnati (10:15 a.m. PT). If you like offense, might I suggest Jeff Weaver vs John Danks at Chicago (11:05 a.m. PT), or Claudio Vargas vs Woody Williams at Houston (11:05 a.m. PT).
Looking for games with the biggest playoff implications? Try the Yankees at Indians (Andy Pettitte vs Jake Westbrook, 10:05 a.m. PT), or Braves at Phillies (Buddy Carlyle vs Jamie Moyer, 5:05 p.m. PT).
Enjoy…

Hey, did you notice that I hyped some pretty decent games on Wednesday? Will miracles never cease…
Not that it took a genius to figure out that Felix Hernandez/Daisuke Matsuzaka would be a great matchup, but a one-hitter from Hernandez? Against that lineup? Yesterday I said, “…and if something should happen to Johan Santana, Hernandez could garner some Cy Young support.” I’d like to remove the qualifier from that statement. You dominate the Red Sox in their house, and you’re something special.
And the Justin Verlander/Adam Loewen matchup turned out to be a dandy as well. Both struggled with control a bit, …read more