The Baseball Planner is the essential guide to setting your lineup for the upcoming week. Every Friday, we provide you with two-start pitchers, favorable team matchups and top hitters to use.

Projections are for Sept. 20-26 games.

On tap: It's the championship week for many Head-to-Head leagues, and the playoffs for others. But for the major leagues, it's not that much different a week than any other, except that pennant races are reaching their peak and many teams are already mathematically eliminated from the postseason. One thing Fantasy owners need to do: Prepare for playoff-bound teams to rest their veteran hitters or shuffle their rotations, beginning this week. Keep an eye on the standings as the week approaches. ...

Through games of Sept. 16, here are the magic numbers for division leaders: St. Louis four, Minnesota six, Atlanta 10, Los Angeles 14, New York Yankees 14 and Oakland 15. It's a virtual lock that the Cardinals and Twins will wrap up their postseason spots sometime this week, and St. Louis in particular already plans to adjust its rotation soon to prepare for October. ...

Among pennant contenders scheduled to go face-to-face: The Astros and Giants play three at San Francisco, Tuesday-Thursday; the Athletics and Angels battle in Anaheim, Friday-Sunday; the Yankees and Red Sox meet up at Boston, Friday-Sunday; and the Dodgers and Giants square off at San Francisco, Friday-Sunday. ...

Several games have been rescheduled for this week: The Cubs and Marlins will make up two games in a Monday doubleheader at Florida; and the Blue Jays and Yankees have moved up their Thursday game at Yankee Stadium to Monday to allow the Devil Rays and Yankees to play a makeup game in New York on Thursday. ... The Chicago Cubs and Florida each play eight games. Ten teams play seven games: Baltimore, Boston, the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minnesota, the N.Y. Yankees, St. Louis and Tampa Bay. The remaining 18 teams play six. ... Coors Field watch: Arizona at Colorado, Tuesday-Thursday; St. Louis at Colorado, Friday-Sunday. ...

Taking into account all games with at least a 40 percent chance of precipitation, according to the Weather Channel website, the following might be threatened by poor weather: Arizona at Colorado on Tuesday; N.Y. Yankees at Boston and Chicago Cubs at N.Y. Mets on Sunday. Milwaukee and Montreal play all their games in weatherproof parks.

1 0   T W O - S T A R T   P I T C H E R S   T O   U S E - - N L
Here are the 10 most recommended double-duty starting pitchers from the National League, broken down by start:
Pitcher, Last 3:
W-L, ERA, WHIP, IP 		First start
Opponent 		Second start
Opponent
Adam Eaton
1-1, 4.82, 1.661, 18.2 		9/21, LA
vs. W. Alvarez 		9/26, ARI
vs. R. Johnson
Randy Johnson
2-1, 2.95, 0.891, 21.1 		9/21, @COL
vs. S. Estes 		9/26, @SD
vs. A. Eaton
Al Leiter
0-2, 6.19, 1.625, 16 		9/21, @MON
vs. J. Patterson 		9/26, CHC
vs. K. Wood
Cory Lidle
1-0, 4.26, 1.105, 19 		9/21, @FLA
vs. D. Willis 		9/26, @MON
vs. J. Patterson
Carl Pavano
2-1, 2.91, 1.292, 21.2 		9/20, CHC, Gm. 1
vs. M. Prior 		9/25, @ATL
vs. R. Ortiz
Mark Prior
1-1, 6.00, 1.722, 18 		9/20, @FLA, Gm. 1
vs. C. Pavano 		9/25, @NYM
vs. K. Benson
John Thomson
2-0, 1.42, 1.316, 19 		9/21, CIN
vs. J. Acevedo 		9/26, FLA
vs. D. Willis
Brett Tomko
2-0, 0.82, 0.773, 22 		9/21, HOU
vs. C. Hernandez 		9/26, LA
vs. W. Alvarez
Dontrelle Willis
0-0, 3.50, 1.500, 18 		9/21, PHI
vs. C. Lidle 		9/26, @ATL
vs. J. Thomson
Kerry Wood
0-2, 5.89, 1.582, 18.1 		9/21, @PIT
vs. J. Fogg 		9/26, @NYM
vs. A. Leiter
Other two-start pitchers: Wilson Alvarez (9/21, @SD, vs. A. Eaton; 9/26, @SF, vs. B. Tomko), Shawn Estes (9/21, ARI, vs. R. Johnson; 9/26, STL, vs. J. Marquis), Josh Fogg (9/21, CHC, vs. K. Wood; 9/26, CIN, vs. P. Wilson), Carlos E. Hernandez (9/21, @SF, vs. B. Tomko; 9/26, @MIL, vs. V. Santos), Jason Marquis (9/21, @MIL, vs. V. Santos; 9/26, @COL, vs. S. Estes), Matt Morris (9/20, @MIL, vs. W. Obermueller; 9/25, @COL, vs. J. Jennings), Wes Obermueller (9/20, STL, vs. M. Morris; 9/25, HOU, vs. R. Clemens), John Patterson (9/21, NYM, vs. A. Leiter; 9/26, PHI, vs. C. Lidle) and Victor Santos (9/21, STL, vs. J. Marquis; 9/26, HOU, vs. C. Hernandez).
E I G H T   T W O - S T A R T   P I T C H E R S   T O   U S E - - A L
Here are the eight most recommended double-duty starting pitchers from the American League, broken down by start:
Pitcher, Last 3:
W-L, ERA, WHIP, IP 		First start
Opponent 		Second start
Opponent
Dewon Brazelton
0-2, 10.54, 2.195, 13.2 		9/20, KC
vs. Z. Greinke 		9/25, TOR
vs. J. Miller
Mark Buehrle
2-1, 2.74, 1.087, 23 		9/20, MIN
vs. C. Silva 		9/25, KC
vs. Z. Greinke
Ted Lilly
2-1, 3.80, 1.359, 21.1 		9/20, @NYY
vs. J. Vazquez 		9/26, @TB
vs. M. Hendrickson
Mark Mulder
0-1, 7.58, 1.842, 19 		9/21, @TEX
vs. R. Drese 		9/26, @ANA
vs. J. Lackey
C.C. Sabathia
1-1, 3.48, 1.161, 20.2 		9/21, @DET
vs. G. Knotts 		9/26, MIN
vs. K. Lohse
Curt Schilling
3-0, 3.52, 0.826, 23 		9/21, BAL
vs. R. Lopez 		9/26, NYY
vs. B. Halsey
Javier Vazquez
1-1, 6.06, 1.408, 16.1 		9/20, TOR
vs. T. Lilly 		9/25, @BOS
vs. T. Wakefield
Tim Wakefield
0-2, 8.04, 1.851, 15.2 		9/20, BAL
vs. M. Riley 		9/25, NYY
vs. J. Vazquez
Other two-start pitchers: Ryan Drese (9/21, OAK, vs. M. Mulder; 9/26, SEA, vs. R. Franklin), Scott Elarton (9/20, @DET, vs. M. Maroth; 9/25, MIN, vs. C. Silva), Ryan Franklin (9/20, @ANA, vs. J. Lackey; 9/26, @TEX, vs. R. Drese), Jon Garland (9/21, MIN, vs. K. Lohse; 9/26, KC, vs. D. May), Zack Greinke (9/20, @TB, vs. D. Brazelton; 9/25, @CHW, vs. M. Buehrle), Brad Halsey (9/21, TOR, vs. M. Batista; 9/26, @BOS, vs. C. Schilling), Mark Hendrickson (9/21, KC, vs. D. May; 9/26, TOR, vs. T. Lilly), John Lackey (9/20, SEA, vs. R. Franklin; 9/26, OAK, vs. M. Mulder), Kyle Lohse (9/21, @CHW, vs. J. Garland; 9/26, @CLE, vs. C. Sabathia), Rodrigo Lopez (9/21, @BOS, vs. C. Schilling; 9/26, DET, vs. M. Maroth), Mike Maroth (9/20, CLE, vs. S. Elarton; 9/26, @BAL, vs. R. Lopez), Darrell May (9/21, @TB, vs. M. Hendrickson; 9/26, @CHW, vs. J. Garland), Matt Riley (9/20, @BOS, vs. T. Wakefield; 9/25, DET, vs. J. Bonderman) and Carlos Silva (9/20, @CHW, vs. M. Buehrle; 9/25, @CLE, vs. S. Elarton).
B E S T   H I T T E R S '   S C H E D U L E S
(All statistics are through games of Sept. 16.)
COLORADO ROCKIES
MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
-- ARI
Johnson 		ARI
Randolph 		ARI
Webb 		STL
Suppan 		STL
Morris 		STL
Marquis
Stadium stats: Coors Field 13.0 RPG (1st).
ARI pitching: 5.09 ERA overall (27th), 5.36 September ERA (24th).
STL pitching: 3.73 ERA overall (1st), 3.52 September ERA (7th).
Interesting tidbit: Third baseman Vinny Castilla is batting .288 (15-for-52) with seven home runs and 17 RBI in his last 14 games. He's also hitting .333 (88-for-264) with 13 homers and 73 RBI in 67 games at Coors Field this season.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS
MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
@TB
Brazelton 		@TB
Hendrickson 		@TB
Waechter 		@CHW
Contreras 		@CHW
Garcia 		@CHW
Buehrle 		@CHW
Garland
Stadium stats: Tropicana Field 9.0 RPG (23rd), U.S. Cellular Field 11.0 RPG (5th).
TB pitching: 4.84 ERA overall (22nd), 6.26 September ERA (29th).
CHW pitching: 5.00 ERA overall (26th), 5.50 September ERA (27th).
Interesting tidbits: Shortstop Angel Berroa has hit safely in 11 of 13 games in September, batting .444 (24-for-54) with two home runs, eight RBI and two stolen bases. ... Third baseman Joe Randa has eight multi-hit efforts in his last 18 games, batting .382 (29-for-76) with three homers and 14 RBI during that span.
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
@MIL
Obermueller 		@MIL
Santos 		@MIL
Sheets 		@MIL
Glover 		@COL
Kennedy 		@COL
Jennings 		@COL
Estes
Stadium stats: Miller Park 8.9 RPG (24th), Coors Field 13.0 RPG (1st).
MIL pitching: 4.32 ERA overall (13th), 4.15 September ERA (11th).
COL pitching: 5.65 ERA overall (30th), 5.02 September ERA (20th).
Interesting tidbits: Intrigued by the prospect of one of baseball's most potent offenses heading to Coors Field? Check out these Cardinals' career stats at Coors: Marlon Anderson, .414-0-6-1 in eight games; Jim Edmonds, .373-8-22-0 in 16 games; John Mabry, .456-3-21-0 in 29 games; Mike Matheny, .317-3-12-0 in 18 games; Albert Pujols, .233-4-11-0 in 12 games; Edgar Renteria, .315-2-14-5 in 28 games; Scott Rolen, .324-7-18-3 in 26 games; Reggie Sanders, .352-15-40-7 in 47 games; Larry Walker, .384-154-520-74 in 592 games; and Tony Womack, .271-1-11-5 in 40 games.
TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS
MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
KC
Greinke 		KC
May 		KC
Wood 		@NYY
Lieber 		TOR
Bush 		TOR
Miller 		TOR
Lilly
Stadium stats: Tropicana Field 9.0 RPG (23rd), Yankee Stadium 10.1 RPG (9th).
KC pitching: 5.14 ERA overall (28th), 4.28 September ERA (13th).
NYY pitching: 4.70 ERA overall (19th), 4.53 September ERA (14th).
TOR pitching: 4.97 ERA overall (25th), 5.50 September ERA (26th).
Interesting tidbit: Center fielder Rocco Baldelli has batted .333 (17-for-51) with four home runs, 14 RBI and two stolen bases in 13 games since being activated from the disabled list.
W O R S T   H I T T E R S '   S C H E D U L E S
(All statistics are through games of Sept. 16.)
ANAHEIM ANGELS
MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
SEA
Franklin 		SEA
Moyer 		SEA
Meche 		-- OAK
Hudson 		OAK
Redman 		OAK
Mulder
Stadium stats: Angel Stadium of Anaheim 9.6 RPG (15th).
SEA pitching: 4.84 ERA overall (21st), 4.98 September ERA (19th).
OAK pitching: 4.13 ERA overall (10th), 5.96 September ERA (28th).
Interesting tidbits: Shortstop David Eckstein is batting .188 (12-for-64) with no homers and two RBI in his last 18 games. ... Designated hitter Troy Glaus is batting .196 (11-for-56) with three homers and four RBI in 16 games since returning from the disabled list.
CLEVELAND INDIANS
MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
@DET
Maroth 		@DET
Knotts 		@DET
Robertson 		MIN
Radke 		MIN
Santana 		MIN
Silva 		MIN
Lohse
Stadium stats: Comerica Park 10.0 RPG (11th), Metrodome 9.4 RPG (18th).
DET pitching: 4.90 ERA overall (24th), 5.26 September ERA (23rd).
MIN pitching: 3.89 ERA overall (5th), 2.38 September ERA (1st).
Interesting tidbits: First baseman Ben Broussard is batting just .154 (6-for-39) with no homers and five RBI in 13 games in September. ... In 13 games since his six-hit outburst in New York on Aug. 31, shortstop Omar Vizquel is hitting just .167 (8-for-48) with one homer and three RBI.
FLORIDA MARLINS
MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
-- PHI
Lidle 		PHI
Myers 		PHI
Milton 		@ATL
Wright 		@ATL
Ortiz 		@ATL
Thomson
Stadium stats: Pro Player Stadium 8.2 RPG (30th), Turner Field 9.1 RPG (22nd).
PHI pitching: 4.50 ERA overall (17th), 3.26 September ERA (4th).
ATL pitching: 3.76 ERA overall (2nd), 3.45 September ERA (6th).
Interesting tidbit: The Marlins have dropped nine of 13 games against the Braves this season, including six out of seven at Turner Field. Among their worst hitters against Atlanta in 2004 are shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who has hit .178-0-5-0 in 12 games, and center fielder Juan Pierre, who has hit .235-1-2-2 in 13 games.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
-- @SD
Eaton 		@SD
Peavy 		@SD
Wells 		@SF
Rueter 		@SF
TBA 		@SF
Tomko
Stadium stats: Petco Park 8.1 RPG (31st), SBC Park 10.6 RPG (6th).
SD pitching: 4.04 ERA overall (8th), 5.40 September ERA (25th).
SF pitching: 4.38 ERA overall (16th), 3.74 September ERA (9th).
Interesting tidbit: Second baseman Alex Cora is batting just .130 (7-for-54) with no homers and four RBI in his last 19 games. He's also a lifetime .176-1-3-1 hitter in 29 games at SBC Park.