Daily Dime: Carlos Martinez, J-Up, Dee Gordon and a day late on Duda

OK, we're into the Thursday bargain hunt. As always, we caution you to review the weather reports and check MLB lineups before committing to your players. Let's do this thing...

[Friday Daily Fantasy contest: Turn $5 into $5K]

Carlos Martinez, P, vs. Col (Rusin), $55: Martinez may not seem like a complete steal at this price, but it's an opportunity to add an ace-like arm with a friendly match-up, without paying the Scherzer/Sale premium. He's held opponents to one earned run or less in 10 of his last 12 starts, which is just silly. Martinez is striking out a batter per inning, too. Go get a win, kid.

Lucas Duda, 1B, vs. SD (Cashner), $15: Not sure if you've heard, but he's kinda/sorta hot at the plate. Three homers on Wednesday, a 9,000-foot homer on Tuesday, two on Saturday ... he's hot, Duda. He's also cheap, for a guy on a tear.

Dee Gordon, 2B, vs. Was (Scherzer), $11: Take the post-injury discount, you guys. Gordon returned to Miami with a 2-for-3 performance on Tuesday, raising his season slash to .341/.361/.420. Obviously Scherzer on the other side is a nightmare, but Gordon has actually had some success against Max: 6-for-15, HR, only one K. It's rare we see such a useful player at this price.

Jayson Werth, OF, at Mia (Haren), $10: Another back-from-the-DL bargain. Werth has been a fantasy disaster this year, but he's handled Haren reasonably well in limited career action: 5-for-13, HR. And hey, he's ten fake bucks. If you plan to roll with a top-dollar pitcher pairing, you'll need a player or three at a price like this.

Jon Singleton, 1B, vs. (Shoemaker), $11: He homered on Wednesday in a multi-hit performance, and he's previously taken Shoemaker deep. I'd take him as a low-cost lottery ticket in a larger contest.

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Justin Upton, OF, at NYM (Niese), $16: Upton has homered twice in his last two games, so it appears the mega-slump has ended. He's had no issues with Niese in the past (9-for-23, 3 BB), which shouldn't surprise you. Justin is back on the approved list, at an appealing price.

Phil Hughes, P, vs. Sea (Happ), $43: I feel that the recent Hughes surge has gone largely unnoticed. He's 5-0 over his last eight starts, his July ERA is 2.49, and he's given up just one run over his last 14.0 innings. No obvious reason to fear him here, facing a team that ranks at or near the bottom of the A.L. in every hitting stat that matters.

J.J. Hardy, SS, vs. Det (Simon), $13: Hardy homered on Wednesday, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. (We should note that it's a weird streak, with only one multi-hit performance.) Simon has been a mess (7.46 July ERA), so don't fret about the match-up. Take the friendly salary and enjoy.

Russell Martin, C, vs. KC (Duffy), $16: OK, so Russell isn't cheap by catcher standards, and I generally veer away from the vanity backstops. But I also like to pick on Danny Duffy, so Martin is pretty tempting. He's 3-for-6 lifetime against the lefty, as you might expect. This play feels like easy points.

Chase Headley, 3B, at Tex (Gallardo), $16: He's on a serious multi-week binge (.377/.413/.507 this month) and he has a terrific history against Gallardo (8-for-22, HR, 5 BB). You know what to do. Yovani has also allowed 10 earned runs in his last 8.0 innings, so we're catching him at a nice time.