Can Yovani Gallardo propel the Brewers back over .500? Follow the jump for tonight's pitching matchup, lineup and conversation on tonight's game!
Hiroki Kuroda (3-5, 4.44) has lost five of his last seven decisions, and has not picked up a win since July 3. With that said, the Dodgers are 3-0 in his last three starts, despite the fact that he hasn't pitched more than six innings or 95 pitches in any of his last six appearances. Jody Gerut is the only Brewer who's faced Kuroda more than three times - he's 2-for-6 with a double.
He'll be opposed by Yovani Gallardo (10-7, 3.13), who has won his last two starts and struck out 24 batters in his last 20.1 innings. Gallardo is fourth in the NL in strikeouts (147), third in hits per nine innings (6.8), and tied for ninth in wins (10). With that said, he's also exceeded 110 pitches in each of his last three starts, and the 108 pitches he's averaging per start are the second most in all of baseball.
Despite leaving last night's game early, Ryan Braun is back in the lineup tonight (h/t McCalvy):
Felipe Lopez 2B
Craig Counsell 3B
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Mike Cameron CF
Frank Catalanotto RF
J.J. Hardy SS
Jason Kendall C
Yovani Gallardo RHP
And in the bullpen:
Trevor Hoffman pitched one inning (15 pitches) last night, and also pitched on Sunday.
Mitch Stetter pitched .2 innings (4 pitches) Sunday.
Claudio Vargas pitched ,1 innings (16 pitches) Sunday.
Todd Coffey pitched 2 innings (32 pitches) Sunday.
Mark DiFelice pitched .1 innings (13 pitches) on Saturday.
R.J. Swindle has not pitched since Friday.
Chris Smith has not pitched since Friday.
Enjoy the game!