Ok, the bachelor party, farmers market, Tulip Time and a AAA game are all behind me, now I'm finally free to catch one game in this series on TV and I'm excited for it, even if Jeff Suppan is on the mound.
At the risk of jinxing it, a Brewer win today would mean:
- The Brewers' first series sweep of the Cubs since May 3-5, 2005.
- The 2009 Brewers would be six games over .500 at 19-13. They didn't reach six games over until June 19 of 2008, when they were 39-33.
- With a win and a Cardinal loss today, the Brewers could move into a tie for first place.
Of course, all of that depends on the Brewers' ability to get a good outing out of Jeff Suppan. Suppan has posted a 5.68 ERA this season in 31.2 innings, and picked up the loss against the Cubs on April 12, when he allowed five runs on two hits and six walks in 3.2 innings. He's been much better since that game, going 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA in four starts.
For the Cubs, lefty Sean Marshall takes the mound. He's 0-2 on the season and has a 4.15 ERA in six appearances (four starts). He faced the Brewers twice in relief in the teams' first meeting, and allowed just one walk in an inning. Bill Hall is back in the lineup today, and he's torched Marshall in limited opportunity, hitting .800/.833/1.800 in six plate appearances.
Here's today's Brewer lineup:
2B Rickie Weeks
RF Corey Hart
LF Ryan Braun
1B Prince Fielder
CF Mike Cameron
SS J.J. Hardy
3B Bill Hall
C Jason Kendall
RHP Jeff Suppan
Sunday's Game Thread is now open.