Saturday baseball

What you missed, in a nutshell:

- So, you may have heard of this Alex Rodriguez guy... Yankees def. Royals 11-5.

- Smoltz works a late-inning near no-hitter on Friday. Glavine works a late-inning near no-hitter on Saturday. Did Maddux not get the memo? Mets def. Astros 3-1.

- Francis was good. Maddux was better. Padres def. Rockies 3-1.

- So, the Orioles have a higher number next to their name than the Red Sox have. What does this mean, exactly? Orioles def. Red Sox 11-5.

- Imagine how good the Nationals would be if Ryan Zimmerman knew how to throw a baseball. Braves def. Nationals 9-2.

Other Scores of Note: Phillies def. Marlins (9-1), Dodgers def. Giants (6-2), Cubs def. Pirates (5-1), Tigers def. Mariners (12-6), Brewers def. Reds (4-3)

The Indians currently lead the Angels 6-0 in the bottom of the 8th. The Diamondbacks lead the Cardinals 9-7 in the bottom of the 4th.

Tomorrow's games, the abbreviated version yet again:

RHP Chien-Ming Wang (17-6, 3.68 ERA) and the Yankees look to pick up a series sweep against RHP Zack Greinke (6-5, 3.87 ERA) and the Royals.

RHP Chris Young (9-6, 2.63 ERA) desperately needs a good outing against RHP Josh Fogg (8-9, 5.01 ERA) and the Rockies.

Interesting match-up in Shea tomorrow as RHP Pedro Martinez (1-0, 3.60 ERA) makes his second start of the season against RHP Roy Oswalt (14-6, 3.35 ERA) and the Astros.

The Nationals look to avoid the sweep as RHP Jason Bergmann (3-5, 4.30 ERA) takes on RHP Lance Cormier (2-4, 6.69 ERA) and the Braves.

RHP Jeremy Guthrie (7-5, 3.65 ERA) and the Orioles take on RHP Josh Beckett (17-6, 3.30 ERA) and the Red Sox.

Other games of note:
Mariners @ Tigers (Hernandez vs. Bonderman)
Brewers @ Reds (Sheets vs. Dumatrait)
Cubs @ Pirates (Trachsel vs. Morris)
Marlins @ Phillies (Willis vs. Moyer)
Dodgers @ Giants (Penny vs. Cain)
Cardinals @ Diamondbacks (Thompson vs. Davis)
Indians @ Angels (Laffey vs. Weaver)

The big games of tomorrow are Mariners-Tigers and Cardinals-Diamondbacks. If the Tigers complete the sweep of the Mariners, it could effectively knock the Mariners out of contention for the wild card - especially if the Yankees manage the sweep of the Royals. Ordonez might be the closest competition to A-Rod's MVP bid, but look at the way the team has responded to having Gary Sheffield back in the line-up. ... Those Diamondbacks just don't want to go away. ... Some interesting pitching match-ups tomorrow. Wang vs. Greinke could be a good, low-scoring game in KC. Hernandez vs. Bonderman could be very interesting too. The Mariners need a win, and Felix Hernandez is the guy they want on the mound, that's for sure. Oswalt-Martinez would be an elite pitching duel if Pedro were 100%. Even following a decent star,t it's hard to know what he'll have in the tank tomorrow against the Astros. If he's on, that could be another interesting game. ... Another reason to watch: Josh Beckett and Chien-Ming Wang both go for their league-leading 18th wins tomorrow. With the injury to Erik Bedard and the faltering by Johan Santana, Beckett has to be one of the forerunners for the AL Cy Young. But look at Chien-Ming Wang, who was having what many considered to be an off-year earlier in the season. He's quietly stacked up a lot of runs and has been looking even more dominant in his latest starts. Not only does he have the ability to get his ground balls, but that slider has been effective this year at picking up his strikeout totals.