If you like rivalry series, there's Cubs vs. Cardinals or Cubs vs. Brewers.

If premier pitching pairings are your thing, the choices include Toronto's Roy Halladay vs. Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka, San Diego's Greg Maddux vs. Philadelphia's Cole Hamels, Milwaukee's Yovanni Gallardo vs. Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs and Ian Snell of the Pirates vs. Johan Santana of the Mets.

And if you just want to see a series between two hot teams, the next seven days has Athletics at Angels, Astros at Diamondbacks and Orioles at Angels.

There's much more in the week ahead, like Mets-Diamondbacks, Tigers-Yankees, Mariners-Indians and Dodgers-Rockies.

You can kick off your Monday with a pair of getaway day bonuses, as Daniel Cabrera and the Orioles take on Javier Vazquez and the White Sox in the final game of their four-game series at 2:05 p.m. ET at U.S. Cellular Field. The two teams begin play this week atop their respective divisions.

The other getaway day game of note takes place at Progressive Field in Cleveland, where Mike Mussina and the Yankees face spot starter Aaron Laffey and the Indians in a 7:05 p.m. ET rematch of last year's American League Division Series.

As for the rest of the week ahead, here's a peek at the lineup ...

A's at Angels, Monday-Thursday: The surprising A's, off to their best start since 2003, enter play this week tied for the top spot in the AL West, and this four-game set at Angel Stadium in Anaheim has the potential to significantly boost either team heading into May. The Angels have won nine of their past 12 games.

Oakland, which leads the AL in team ERA, will go with right-hander Chad Gaudin (2-1, 3.38 ERA) against Jon Garland (3-2, 5.04), who is 1-1 with a 7.15 ERA in two home starts, in Monday night's opener. A pair of lefties, Oakland's Greg Smith (2-0, 2.88) and Joe Saunders (4-0, 2.55) will start Tuesday night's game, while Oakland's Dana Eveland (3-1, 2.48) will face another unbeaten Angels starter, Ervin Santana (4-0, 2.97) on Wednesday.

The series finale will pit two right-handers, Justin Duchscherer (1-1, 2.70) of the A's against Dustin Moseley (1-2, 7.30) of the Angels.

Astros at Diamondbacks, Monday-Wednesday: The Astros climbed out of the cellar in the National League Central by winning six in a row before losing on Saturday in St. Louis. Now they head to Phoenix to take on an Arizona team with the best record in baseball. It will also be a reunion for some, as Astros closer Jose Valverde led the Major Leagues with 47 saves for the D-backs last season. Former Astros and current D-backs Chad Qualls and Chris Burke will get their first crack at their former team.

Houston will send right-hander Chris Sampson (1-2, 6.38) against Arizona's Dan Haren (3-1, 3.03) on Monday night, with Jack Cassel (1-0, 5.40) facing D-backs right-hander Edgar Gonzalez (1-1, 4.66) on Tuesday night. Wednesday afternoon's game will see Astros right-hander Shawn Chacon (0-0, 2.45) against another former Astros pitcher, Randy Johnson (1-1, 2.70).

Brewers at Cubs, Tuesday-Thursday: The two NL Central contenders pick up their rivalry again with a three-game set at Wrigley Field, including a pair of night games on Monday and Tuesday.

Ben Sheets (3-0, 0.96) returns to the rotation for Milwaukee on Monday after missing his last turn due to soreness in his right triceps. Sheets is matched up against Cubs right-hander Jason Marquis (1-0, 3.47). Tuesday's game will feature a pair of veteran right-handers, Milwaukee's Jeff Suppan (1-0, 3.48) and Chicago's Ryan Dempster (3-0, 2.90). Suppan's lone win of the season came on April 2, when he beat the Cubs, 8-2, at Wrigley.

The finale will feature one of the best pitching matchups of the season in Gallardo (0-0, 0.64) vs. Zambrano (4-1, 2.21). Gallardo has made two excellent starts since his return from the 15-day disabled list.

Padres at Phillies, Tuesday-Thursday: Even without Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino, the Phillies still continue to crank out the runs. The offense will face another tough assignment when the Padres visit Citizens Bank Park for three games.

The Padres have struggled lately, but despite the recent woes, the team ERA is only 4.05. And with Maddux (2-1, 3.66), Chris Young (1-2, 3.77) and Randy Wolf (2-1, 3.68) scheduled to start, the Phillies face a formidable task. Hamels (2-3, 2.75) and Maddux will square off in the series opener. The Phillies will go with Jamie Moyer (1-1, 4.05) and Adam Eaton (0-0, 5.08), respectively, in Games 2 and 3.

Mariners at Indians, Tuesday-Thursday: The Indians, winners of seven of their past nine (through Saturday), appear to be playing as well as most observers expected, but after hosting the Yankees over the weekend, another talented team comes to Progressive Field in the Mariners.

Seattle will go with right-hander Carlos Silva (3-0, 2.83) against Cleveland's Fausto Carmona (3-1, 2.89), who was 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in one start against the Mariners last season.

Seattle lefty Jarrod Washburn (1-3, 4.03) will meet Cleveland southpaw Cliff Lee (4-0, 0.28) on Wednesday. Lee is coming off his first complete-game shutout of his career, when he struck out nine and did not walk anyone in a win against Kansas City. The finale will see dueling right-handers in Seattle's Miguel Batista (2-3, 5.26) and Cleveland's Paul Byrd (1-2, 4.85).

Tigers at Yankees, Tuesday-Thursday: Both teams are looking to get off on the right track in the new month after disappointing Aprils. The Tigers have won eight of their past 13 games.

An intriguing set of pitching pairings include Detroit's Kenny Rogers (1-3, 7.66) vs. New York's Phil Hughes (0-3, 7.85) on Tuesday, Jeremy Bonderman (1-2, 4.28) of the Tigers against Andy Pettitte (3-2, 3.23) on Wednesday and Nate Robertson (0-3, 6.91) opposite Ian Kennedy (0-2, 8.53) of the Yankees on Thursday.

Blue Jays at Red Sox, Tuesday-Thursday: Toronto's recent six-game losing streak -- not helped by a 4-for-42, .095 batting average with runners in scoring position -- left the club in the AL East cellar. And it doesn't get any easier for the Blue Jays as they head to Fenway Park for three.

Cubs at Cardinals, Friday-Sunday: The two teams are 1-2 in the NL Central with less than two games between them as the week began. But do the records or the calendar really matter when it's Cubs vs. Cardinals?

Mets at Diamondbacks, Friday-Sunday: A very tough task faces manager Willie Randolph's Mets in their only visit to Chase Field this season. The D-backs entered play this week with the best team ERA in baseball (3.04) and an offense that leads the Major Leagues in runs scored (148). The Diamondbacks have lost only one of eight series this season (with one split) and have lost as many as two games in a row only twice.

Orioles at Angels, Friday-Sunday: They didn't fade in April, but can the Orioles keep up their winning ways in May? Anaheim is as good a place as any for a team to test its mettle.

Dodgers at Rockies, Friday-Sunday: The two NL West contenders, who had high hopes before the season began, endured disappointing Aprils and will try to start over in May in a three-game set at Coors Field.

Milestone of the week: Maddux will try to nail down career win No. 350 for a third time on Tuesday night, when the Padres face the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The veteran right-hander was two outs away from that milestone win in his last start before closer Trevor Hoffman gave up a game-tying homer in the ninth to the Giants' Bengie Molina. Maddux pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits, in that game.

Factoid of the week: The four youngest teams in the AL, based on Opening Day rosters, are Oakland (average age: 28.20 years), Tampa Bay (28.24), Minnesota (28.28) and Baltimore (28.74 years). Entering play this week, the combined records of those teams was 55-46 (.545), with the Twins as the only club (11-14) under .500.