Evening shade: NL East aces battle in Philly

Some weekday evenings, the Stew looks at the happenings that will be worth monitoring that night. Feel free to discuss the night's action in the comments below.

• Josh Johnson vs. Roy Halladay: Ozzie Guillen may regret saying he loved Fidel Castro, but I'll never rue saying I love pitching matchups like the one he's going to miss tonight. The suspended Marlins manager could be missing another Miami win at Citizens Bank Park, too, as Johnson owns a 1.87 ERA in six appearances in Philadelphia and will be facing a Phillies team that has only scored eight runs in its four games. Of course, the Fightins' might only need one run, as Halladay takes the mound for the first time since his eight innings of shutout ball on opening day — the only game the 1-3 Phillies have won so far this season.

• Timmy tries again: Tim Lincecum will also make his second start of the year when he takes the hill against Jeremy Guthrie and the Rockies. Can he reward those who stayed level-headed after his shaky opening day in Arizona? Asking another somewhat-unbelievable question: Can he perform at Coors Field as well as Barry Zito just did?

• So will Minnesota: The Twins are the lone team in the bigs without a victory to its name and they just have an 0-12 start written all over them, don't they? Sure, that statement could serve me up a plate of crow in just a few hours but I'm confident as Jered Weaver and the Angels have my back.

• Throw CC in there too: A Mariano Rivera blown save on opening day kept the spotlight off of CC Sabathia for a poor start against the Tampa Bay Rays. But with all apologies to Joba Chamberlain, the Yankees ace couldn't ask for a better rebound opportunity. Sabathia is 16-2 with a 2.74 ERA in 22 career starts against the Orioles.

Make sure you're ready for the season ahead ...
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