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Monday offers some intriguing pitching matchups as we enter the fourth week of the season. After a slow start, the Tigers' offense has come alive, hitting .295/.360/.492 as a team in the past seven days. They'll face Shaun Marcum, who is trying to maintain a potential breakout season (2.81 ERA, 20 K's). Brad Penny is off to another quick start, and since 2006, he has allowed just two home runs in the first two months of the season. Pitching on the road in Cincinnati is always risky, though. And Micah Owings, another young pitcher whose quick start could portend a breakout, faces the lowly Giants for the second time in a week, this time at home.

Time	Visitors		L/R	Record	ERA	WHIP		Home		L/R	Record	ERA	WHIP
11:05 a.m.		Kason Gabbard	L	1-0	2.41	1.45	@		Clay Buchholz	R	0-1	6.75	1.64
12:37 p.m.		Armando Galarraga	R	1-0	2.70	0.15	@		Shaun Marcum	R	2-0	2.61	0.87
7:00 p.m.		Matt Chico	L	0-3	4.81	1.36	@		Tim Hudson	R	2-1	3.38	0.88
7:05 p.m.		Mark Hendrickson	L	3-1	3.97	1.32	@		Matt Morris	R	0-2	7.02	1.86
7:05 p.m.		John Maine	R	1-1	3.78	1.80	@		Carlos Zambrano	R	2-1	3.04	1.13
7:10 p.m.		Brad Penny	R	2-2	2.96	1.44	@		Matt Belisle	R	0-0	0.00	0.00
8:05 p.m.		Justin Germano	R	0-1	1.35	1.00	@		Roy Oswalt	R	1-3	6.65	1.70
8:05 p.m.		Adam Wainwright	R	2-1	2.78	1.06	@		Carlos Villanueva	R	1-2	6.19	1.88
8:35 p.m.		Kyle Kendrick	R	1-2	4.40	1.74	@		Mark Redman	L	2-1	4.60	1.60
9:40 p.m.		Kevin Correia	R	1-2	4.12	1.22	@		Micah Owings	R	3-0	2.29	0.86

All times are ET. Statistics are from the 2008 regular season.

Out
Paul Lo Duca, C, Nationals (hand)

Day-to-day
Coco Crisp, OF, Red Sox (leg)
Gabe Kapler, OF, Brewers (shoulder)
Derrek Lee, 1B, Cubs (neck)
Placido Polanco, 2B, Tigers (back)
Jimmy Rollins, SS, Phillies (ankle)
Brian Schneider, C, Nationals (forearm)
Shannon Stewart, OF, Blue Jays (groin)

Hitters: Xavier Nady quietly has a seven-game hitting streak, and he's hitting .323 for his career against lefties. Lo and behold, he's facing Mark Hendrickson, a mediocre lefty. … This is really looking like the end for Matt Morris, who had a 6.70 ERA in 15 starts after the All-Star break last season. Expect him to get lit up by everyone who faces him, and start opposing batters accordingly. For instance, Mike Jacobs should continue his tear; at this point, anything less than a home run would be a disappointment. Jeremy Hermida, Josh Willingham and Co. all have massive single-game potential as well.

Pitchers: Don't put much stock in Clay Buchholz's numbers (6.75 ERA, 1.64 WHIP); the Yankees are tough on right-handed starting pitchers, and Buchholz has faced them twice. Starting at home against a decent-hitting, but not great, team should mean a more reasonable performance. … The Tigers' bats might be coming around, but they have yet to prove they can hit quality righties instead of just southpaws and the Nick Blackburns of the league. Marcum is more legit than not; before tiring in September, he had a 3.45 ERA in 21 starts from May to August, and his peripherals support his numbers. … This already will be Tim Hudson's third start against the Nationals, not that he's complaining: He has a 0.80 ERA in his past six starts against the team. It's domination all around: 34 strikeouts, five walks and zero home runs in 45 innings. … The Mets have been quite poor offensively, and especially putrid against righties (.658 OPS, 26th). Meanwhile, Carlos Zambrano has walked just three batters in his past four starts, and if he's not allowing walks, opposing teams tend not to score runs. … The Reds do miss Josh Hamilton after all. Despite having four home runs, Corey Patterson just doesn't offer the same production, and neither Ken Griffey Jr. nor Brandon Phillips is hitting as well as last year. Meanwhile, Penny is not pitching particularly well, but it shouldn't matter as long as he continues to keep the ball in the park. … Allowing just one run in seven innings against the Phillies in Philadelphia does a lot to lower the blood pressure for Roy Oswalt's owners. And Monday's start should go well, too. The Padres are dead last in the majors in OPS (.622).

Hitters: With Frank Thomas having been released by the Blue Jays, Matt Stairs' value definitely increases. Stairs had a .931 OPS in 312 at-bats against righties last season, and with career minor leaguer (and right-hander) Armando Galarraga on the mound for the Tigers on Monday, Stairs is a good spot starter. … Matt Diaz made his living against lefties last season, with a triple-slash line of .356/.384/.580 in 188 at-bats. He doesn't have much pop for a corner outfielder, but a bloated average against southpaws should persist. … With seven multihit games in his past nine starts, Skip Schumaker has entered the "just ride the hot streak" territory. It also doesn't hurt that he has added three steals (Jason Kendall cannot throw out runners, by the way) and has nine walks to five strikeouts this season. … Chris Duncan had 20 home runs and a 1.034 OPS against righties in 2006, 20 home runs and an .897 OPS versus right-handers last year, and now both of his home runs this season have come against righties. He's up to 42 home runs and a .960 OPS in 566 career at-bats against righties, and will face a righty about 80 percent of the time … but is owned in less than 30 percent of ESPN leagues. So I suppose that means 80 percent of the time his name will be recommended.

Pitchers: The Reds are sliding in Matt Belisle and dropping Josh Fogg from the rotation. This doesn't mean much; Belisle had a 5.32 ERA last season and a 5.83 ERA at home. This spot in the rotation is really just being kept warm for the eventual Homer Bailey arrival (redux).

Pittsburgh is expecting rain Sunday night and into Monday morning but should be clear by game time. … There are four weatherproof games - Tigers-Blue Jays, Padres-Astros, Cardinals-Brewers and Giants-Diamondbacks - and weather should be of little concern. The Marlins-Pirates game is the only game that could be remotely threatened.

Adam Madison is a fantasy baseball analyst for ESPN.com.