Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Royals send their ace to the mound vs. the ChiSox, the Mariners battle the BoSox, and Manny Ramirez returns to action.
Meeting up in the Junior Circuit . . .
Ten-game winner Zack Greinke (10-3, 1.95 ERA) will be gunning for his third straight victory on Friday night when his Royals play host to the White Sox and John Danks (6-6, 4.08 ERA). Righthander Greinke is coming off back-to-back wins over the Astros and Pirates, surrendering just three earned runs over 14 1-3 innings of work. Lefthander Danks is coming off a stellar outing against the Cubs in which he pitched seven shutout innings and gave up only four hits in a victory.
Also on tap in the American League on Friday: Oakland at Cleveland, Toronto at the Yankees, Tampa Bay at Texas, Detroit at Minnesota, Baltimore at the Angels, and Seattle at Boston. The Mariners will send Felix Hernandez (8-3, 2.54 ERA) to the mound at Fenway Park, while the Red Sox will counter with Tim Wakefield (10-3, 4.18 ERA). Boston is 5-0 in Wakefield's last five trips to the hill.
Taking the field in the Senior Circuit . . .
The Cubs will go with ace Carlos Zambrano (4-3, 3.69 ERA) on Friday afternoon as they continue their home series against the Brewers and Jeff Suppan (5-6, 4.86 ERA). Righthander Zambrano hasn't picked up a win since beating the Reds back on June 5, going 0-1 with three no-decisions in his last four trips to the mound. Righthander Suppan has lost each of his past two outings (vs. the Twins and Giants), surrendering nine earned runs over his 10 2-3 innings pitched.
Rounding out the National League slate for Friday: Pittsburgh at Florida, Atlanta at Washington, the Mets at Philadelphia, St. Louis at Cincinnati, Arizona at Colorado, Houston at San Francisco, and the Dodgers at San Diego. Los Angeles, which will get outfielder Manny Ramirez back from suspension on Friday, sends Hiroki Kuroda (2-4, 3.77 ERA) to the mound against the Padres. San Diego will counter Kuroda with Chad Gaudin (4-6, 4.97 ERA) in that contest.
Rounding out the Roundup . . .
The Canadian Football League closes out the first week of its regular season on Friday night with British Columbia in Saskatchewan to take on the Roughriders. Oddsmakers have the Lions pegged as 1-point road favorites in their season opener, with the total for the contest hovering around 49 points. B.C. was 11-7 straight-up and 8-9-1 ATS last season, while Saskatchewan was 12-6 and 10-8.
Finally, there are a pair of games on the WNBA schedule for Friday, with Chicago at San Antonio and Washington at Atlanta. The Dream fell 91-85 to Minnesota last time out, with forward Tamara Young missing the contest with an ankle injury. The Mystics are coming off an 84-82 win over San Antonio; Washington forward Marissa Coleman is out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain.
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