Event of the day . . .

Josh Beckett was supposed to start the opener of the Sox/Sox series for Boston on Friday, but he was scratched and Daisuke Matsuzaka was moved up in the rotation instead. That meant the Red Sox needed to find a pitcher for a spot start against the White Sox on Saturday night – and they seem to have settled on Michael Bowden for the job. Righthander Bowden will be making his Major-League debut in that contest.

The White Sox will send veteran Mark Buehrle (11-10, 3.86 ERA) to the mound on Saturday night. Chicago has managed to pick up the win in each of the lefthander’s last four starts. That includes an outing against the Red Sox back on August 8 when Buehrle gave up just a single earned run on four hits over his seven innings pitched.

Sports betting event of the day…

It’s tough to single game out one, as the world’s best handicappers have sundry sports picks. Sports bettors are checking out betting news and notes for Saturday (exclusive) computer against the spread trends (exclusive) and a free betting winner up.

Only Michael Phelps wins more than sports handicappers featured on MasterLockLine.com  

Non-event of the day . . .

Hands up if you missed the WNBA during its Olympic break. Ok, hands up if you even knew the WNBA had an Olympic break. The summer’s afterthought-of-a-league has four games on its Saturday schedule, including San Antonio at Los Angeles. Also on the slate: Atlanta at Indiana, Washington at Minnesota, and Houston at Sacramento.

New hotties…

Thanks to those who have sent in nominations for the OffshoreInsiders.com top hottie. Recent accepted proposals including CBS correspondent Lara Logan (somebody come up with a good joke that her husband’s name is Jason Siemon), buxom bombshell Amy Sedaris, ageing but still attractive actress Tanya Roberts. As far as 40-plus women, even liberals can agree that Sarah Palin is one fine looking middle aged woman.  

Also on the schedule . . .

Francisco Liriano (4-3, 3.83 ERA) will be looking to continue his impressive comeback when he pitches in Oakland for the Twins on Saturday night. Also on the American League schedule: Toronto at the Yankees (at 1:05pm ET), Baltimore at Tampa Bay, Seattle at Cleveland, Kansas City at Detroit, and Texas at the Angels.

Over in the National League the top pitching matchup is in Arizona, where it’ll be the Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley (12-10, 3.15 ERA) vs. the D-Backs’ Dan Haren (14-6, 3.10 ERA). Rounding out the NL slate: Philadelphia at the Cubs, Milwaukee at Pittsburgh, St. Louis at Houston, Atlanta at Washington, the Mets at Florida, San Francisco at Cincinnati, and Colorado at San Diego.

Finally, college football stages its first Saturday of wall-to-wall action, with No. 1 Georgia playing Georgia Southern in an expected blowout. Other notable matchups for the day include Hawaii vs. No. 5 Florida (-34.5), No. 24 Alabama vs. No. 9 Clemson (-4.5), No. 20 Illinois vs. No. 6 Missouri (-8.5), and No. 3 Southern California (-19.5) vs. Virginia.        

The top football handicapper in the world Joe Duffy has his first Wise Guy play on Utah and Michigan. Will there be mutiny on the bounty for Rich Rodriquez, the new Michigan head coach?

The impending Hurricane Gustav has already affected the sports world as LSU has moved their game up to early Saturday to aid those who want to participate in their favorite event before fleeing the Gulf Coast on the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

News from the wire . . .

Outfielder Mark Kotsay made his debut for the Red Sox on Thursday, collecting one hit in four at-bats . . . the Blue Jays have sent veteran outfielder Matt Stairs to the Phillies and recalled top prospect Travis Snider . . . Tight end Todd Heap returned to action for the Ravens on Thursday . . . Colts head coach Tony Dungy fully expects quarterback Peyton Manning to be ready to play for the team in its season opener next week.

Peek at the future . . .

The Sunday night baseball game this week is Los Angeles at Arizona, with Derek Lowe (10-11, 3.81 ERA) facing Brandon Webb (19-5, 2.96 ERA) . . . Coverage of the Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway begins at 7:00pm ET on Sunday . . . the Giants are listed as 3.5-point home favorites against the Redskins in next Thursday’s NFL kickoff game.