Friday sports preview

GAME(S) OF THE DAY:

Los Angeles Angels at Boston, doubleheader, 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. PT

When the two best teams in the majors meet for a doubleheader, it has to be a big day. It’s not exactly a fair fight in terms of rest though — the Red Sox are coming off of a day off, while the Angels won a night game against Toronto on Thursday, meaning they not only had to fly at night, but they had to clear customs and wake up earlier for a day game the next day.

The Angels were hot before their recent series loss to Toronto, and won 2 out of 3 against Boston last week. Both teams have called up someone from the minors to pitch today, with Ervin Santana making his return to the Angels and Clay Buchholz getting a start today. Weirdly, they’re not facing each other (Lackey vs. Buchholz in Game 1, Santana vs. Beckett in Game 2).

OTHER BIG BASEBALL GAMES:

Arizona at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. You have to check out Mark Teixiera’s new song. Brandon Webb looks to extend his consecutive scoreless innings streak of 33. Probables: Webb vs. Lance Cormier

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs, 11 a.m., nationally televised on WGN. Don’t look now, but after the Cardinals and Cubs wins yesterday, the Cardinals are only one loss worse than the Brewers and Cubs in the NL Central. (Milwaukee’s 62-59, Chicago’s 61-59, St. Louis is 58-60). When was the last time a Cardinals-Cubs series was meaningful for both teams? Probables: Braden Looper vs. Rich Hill

Detroit at New York Yankees, 4 p.m. Carlos Guillen’s grand slam gave the Tigers a win in the series opener on Thursday. Detroit moves into first place by 1/2 a game, the Yankees remain tied with the Mariners for the wild card (and only 1/2 a game in front of Cleveland). Probables: Nate Robertson vs. Andy Pettitte

Colorado at Los Angeles Dodgers, 7 p.m. The Dodgers have won two in a row! Stop the presses! This Dodger Blues post is a day old, but the headline still applies. (If he updates his site, it’s the Aug. 15 headline) Probables: Josh Fogg vs. Mark Hendrickson

OTHER SPORTS:

Tonight there’s 4 NFL preseason games, including Minnesota at the New York Jets on FOX at 5 p.m.

The Little League World Series is on pretty much all day on the ESPN family of networks. It’s just not the same without Harold Reynolds. Though the kids will have someone else they’d rather be looking at.