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Just two days after he was a hero with the bat, Micah Owings tries to duplicate the effort with his arm, as he battles the Mets in his first start since suffering an ankle injury. His leads a deep day on the pitching side: Clay Buchholz aims for revenge for a tough loss against the Rays in their past meeting; Chien-Ming Wang goes for a seventh consecutive win against the Mariners; Brad Penny tackles the beast that is Coors Field; and Tim Hudson hopes to continue to carry the Braves on his shoulders in a match against the Reds.

Time	Visitors		L/R	Record	ERA	WHIP		Home		L/R	Record	ERA	WHIP
7:05 p.m.		Edwin Jackson	R	2-2	3.86	1.29	@		Clay Buchholz	R	1-2	4.08	1.26
7:05 p.m.		Luke Hochevar	R	1-1	5.91	1.88	@		C.C. Sabathia	L	1-4	7.88	1.78
7:05 p.m.		Erik Bedard	L	2-0	2.04	1.25	@		Chien-Ming Wang	R	5-0	3.23	1.18
7:05 p.m.		Patrick Misch	L	0-0	3.00	1.00	@		Kyle Kendrick	R	2-2	5.13	1.59
7:07 p.m.		Mark Buehrle	L	1-2	5.65	1.60	@		Shaun Marcum	R	2-2	3.24	1.02
7:10 p.m.		Justin Germano	R	0-2	6.04	1.45	@		Mark Hendrickson	L	4-1	3.68	1.23
7:35 p.m.		Edinson Volquez	R	4-0	1.23	1.23	@		Tim Hudson	R	3-2	3.74	1.19
7:35 p.m.		Phil Dumatrait	L	0-1	3.92	1.69	@		Matt Chico	L	0-5	6.68	1.67
8:05 p.m.		Carlos Villanueva	R	1-2	4.66	1.48	@		Roy Oswalt	R	2-3	5.75	1.53
8:10 p.m.		Armando Galarraga	R	2-0	1.50	0.72	@		Scott Baker	R	2-0	4.50	1.17
8:15 p.m.		Rich Hill	L	1-0	3.79	1.42	@		Adam Wainwright	R	3-1	2.79	1.01
9:05 p.m.		Brad Penny	R	4-2	2.89	1.31	@		Jeff Francis	L	0-2	5.01	1.39
9:40 p.m.		John Maine	R	2-2	3.58	1.55	@		Micah Owings	R	4-0	3.48	1.00
10:05 p.m.		Jeremy Guthrie	R	0-3	4.34	1.34	@		Jered Weaver	R	2-3	4.21	1.38
10:05 p.m.		Vicente Padilla	R	3-2	3.79	1.53	@		Joe Blanton	R	2-4	4.07	1.38

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

Out
Hank Blalock, 3B, Rangers (hamstring)
Chad Cordero, RP, Nationals (latissimus dorsi)
Kevin Correia, SP, Giants (oblique)
Jorge Posada, C, Yankees (shoulder)
Alex Rodriguez, 3B, Yankees (quadriceps)
Brian Schneider, C, Mets (thumb)
Troy Tulowitzki, SS, Rockies (quadriceps)
Kip Wells, RP, Rockies (hand)

Day-to-day
Jeff Baker, 1B, Rockies (hand)
Jonathan Broxton, RP, Dodgers (shoulder)
J.D. Drew, OF, Red Sox (quadriceps)
Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, Red Sox (groin)
Maicer Izturis, 2B/3B, Angels (back)
Mike Jacobs, 1B, Marlins (finger)
Kelly Johnson, 2B, Braves (back)
Micah Owings, SP, Diamondbacks (ankle)

Hitters: Those left-handed Red Sox hitters seem to have had Edwin Jackson's number over the years; J.D. Drew (5-for-12, .417 AVG), Jacoby Ellsbury (4-for-8, .500, but check his health) and David Ortiz (4-for-9, .444, 1 home run) stand out in particular. … Don't even bother with left-handed Royals against the Indians' C.C. Sabathia; Alex Gordon (1-for-9, .111, 3 K's) and Mark Teahen (6-for-28, .214, 16 K's) can barely touch him. Billy Butler, though, is one Royals hitter with some success against Sabathia, going 6-for-15 (.400) in his young career. … Despite their reputation, the Yankees actually rank as one of the game's worst offenses against a left-hander, and they draw Erik Bedard as an opponent on Friday. That's terrible news for their hitters who can't touch Bedard, a group that includes Bobby Abreu (3-for-17, .176), ice-cold Robinson Cano (3-for-14, .214) and Johnny Damon (3-for-20, .150). Melky Cabrera and Derek Jeter might be about the only ones worth starting, though Morgan Ensberg warrants a look in AL-only formats. … The White Sox's Alexei Ramirez won't be in Toronto with the team this weekend because his visa issues prevent him from leaving the U.S. … Sit Brian Giles, 2-for-17 (.118) lifetime against the Marlins' Mark Hendrickson, albeit with a home run. Hendrickson, so you know, is off to a red-hot start. … Everyone back on the Jeff Keppinger bandwagon, because he's a perfect 3-for-3 with a double lifetime against the Braves' Tim Hudson. … Rickie Weeks is a must-sit based on his 2-for-15 (.133) lifetime performance against the Astros' Roy Oswalt. … Ryan Theriot is 6-for-13 (.462) in his career against the Cardinals' Adam Wainwright. … The Rockies' stand-in for the injured Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop, Clint Barmes, shouldn't be in your active lineup, even though it's a Coors Field contest. He's 3-for-18 (.167) lifetime against the Dodgers' Brad Penny. … Load up on Dodgers, though. Right-handed hitters have been lighting up Jeff Francis (.287 batting average and .879 OPS), and the Dodgers bring plenty of right-handed lumber with strong Coors track records. Jeff Kent has .367/1.125 career rates there (72 games); Andruw Jones has .316/1.041 numbers at Coors (42 contests). … Red-hot Conor Jackson is 4-for-6 lifetime against the Mets' John Maine, and he already has an OPS well over 1.000 in his home games. Keep riding that streak. … The Mets expect Moises Alou back from the DL on Friday, and he's well worth activating immediately in NL-only or deep mixed leagues. He's 2-for-2 in his career against the Diamondbacks' Micah Owings, and is a .340/.957 hitter in 40 career games at Chase Field.

Pitchers: Clay Buchholz lost a heartbreaking 2-1 game at Tampa Bay the last time he battled the Rays, allowing two earned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out nine. The Yankees are the only team to have caused him real trouble in any of his eight career major league starts to date, and they've done it but once in two tries against him, so expect another stellar effort here. … Chien-Ming Wang is a perfect 6-0 with a 2.51 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in six career starts against the Mariners, and 28-9 with a 3.16 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 46 career games (45 starts) at home. Current Mariners are a combined 25-for-123 (.203) with a .505 OPS against Wang in their careers. … The last time Shaun Marcum faced the White Sox, July 29, he tossed a masterful eight-inning, two-hit, one-run, eight-strikeout game at Chicago. So why wouldn't you want him this time around, in a home contest? … Have no fear of Brad Penny at Coors; he's 5-1 with a 3.79 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in 10 career starts there, with five of his past six of the quality-start variety. In 2007, he was 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in two starts at Coors, which seems about right as an expectation. … Didn't that Micah Owings pinch-hit, game-tying home run on Wednesday convince you his ankle problems are behind him? No? Well, his 3.75 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in 18 career games (17 starts) should at least make you feel better about plugging him right back into your lineup. That the Mets have ranked no better than a middling offense thus far also bolsters his case. … Jered Weaver twice has started at home against the Orioles in his career. Both starts were in his rookie year of 2006, and he tossed seven shutout innings each time. If that's what happens in his third go-round against them, I won't be at all surprised.

Hitters: If the Blue Jays consider his career numbers against the White Sox's John Danks, Marco Scutaro should sneak in a spot start for them, and for AL-only owners. He's 2-for-3 with a home run lifetime against Danks. … Not that you can count on it lasting all year, but Jason Kendall is off to a respectable start. He's 15-for-36 (.417) lifetime against the Astros' Roy Oswalt. … The Twins' Jason Kubel has faced the Tigers' Armando Galarraga exactly once in his career, and he homered off the right-hander. Small sample size, sure, but Kubel's OPS against right-handers is nearly .125 points higher than it is against left-handers, whereas Galarraga's OPS allowed to left-handed hitters is nearly .300 points higher than it is to right-handers.

Pitchers: Remember what I wrote earlier about Mark Hendrickson? That's right, he's off to a great start, it's a home game and the Padres rank as baseball's worst team in terms of batting average, OPS and runs scored. Give him a whirl. … Kyle Kendrick is such a matchups pitcher, and a home game against the light-hitting Giants qualifies as a pretty favorable matchup. Shallow mixed owners shouldn't want him, but everyone else should; he's 7-2 with a 3.65 ERA in 12 career starts at Citizens Bank Park. … Armando Galarraga's hot streak is one you need to exploit (again, except for in shallow mixed formats). The Twins rank among the game's bottom five in terms of team OPS. … Vicente Padilla might have a ghastly 7.14 ERA in 19 road starts between this and last season, but if there's one road matchup for AL-only owners to exploit, it's the one at Oakland's McAfee Coliseum. Not that a win is likely for him because he's battling Joe Blanton, but expect a pretty low-scoring affair.

Four Friday games are weatherproof: White Sox-Blue Jays, Brewers-Astros, Tigers-Twins and Mets-Diamondbacks. Meanwhile, Dodgers-Rockies, Orioles-Angels and Rangers-A's should see fairly favorable weather. Among the games most threatened by rain: Royals-Indians, which has a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms; Mariners-Yankees, 40 percent chance of rain; Giants-Phillies, 30 percent chance of showers; and Cubs-Cardinals, which has a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms.

Tristan H. Cockcroft covers fantasy sports for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him here.