Owings hopes to improve upon the pitching part of his vocation tonight when the Cincinnati Reds right-hander faces his old team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team that traded him last August 11 to the Reds for Adam Dunn.

Reds manager Dusty Baker remembered spring training, when pitchers were not supposed to be hitting, "But I walked by the indoor cage and there was this guy hitting. He had on a helmet with flaps on boths sides, so I couldn't see him very well. He was smacking the ball and I thought, "Nice stroke. Must be a minor

leaguer. It was Micah." Baker knows the value of a pitcher who does more with a bat than use it for a walking cane.

"With 12 pitchers on your staff, it leaves you short on the bench," said Baker. "Owings gives us six guys on the bench while other teams have only five."

Owings, though, is more interested in facing his old teammates on the mound than in the batter's box. "I know them pretty well and they know me pretty well," said Owings of the D-Backs. "I came here with the Reds in September, and it helped me get over the feeling of facing old teammates."

His home run was Sunday, a pinch-hit blast on a 3-and-2 count in the ninth with two outs and it tied the game, 7-7, but the St. Louis Cardinals won it in the 10th, 8-7.