Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to must-win baseball.
Today in Mesa, we'll have the first meeting between the Brewers and our neighbors to the south. With a win today, the Brewers would be just a game back in the loss column - with a loss, they'll be a full two and a half games back in the oh-so-crucial Cactus League standings.
(Cubs fans: I'm kidding about this being must-win. Seriously. Don't run over to the other BCB and talk about how angst-ridden we are, like you did last year. It demeans both of us.)
Follow the jump for pitching match-ups, game notes, and conversation on today's game!
At any rate, as noted in this morning's Mug, I'm off today, so I don't have lineups or a pitching matchup today - BUT RUBIE SWINGS IN LIKE FREAKIN' BATMAN TO SAVE THE DAY.
On the bump for the Crew, it's Jeff Suppan, who pitched the best game of his life in his first Spring Training start of 2010. According to the Club, Claudio Vargas, Chuck Lofgren, and John Halama are also scheduled to throw.
If you missed the Crew lineup, here's a refresher:
2B Weeks
SS Counsell
CF Gomez
1B Fielder
LF Edmonds
RF Gerut
3B HEETHER!
C Lucroy
P Suppan
It looks like Ryan Braun, Corey Hart, Alcides Escobar and Gregg Zaun didn't make the trip to HoHoKam, which is just as well: the beer is ridiculously overpriced there, anyway.
Randy Wells, who came out of nowhere with a 12-10 record and 3.05 ERA in '09, takes the ball for the Baby Bears.
The Cubs seem to be going with their regulars today, as Ryan Theriot, Kosuke Fukudome, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto and Mike Fontenot are all in the lineup.
Enjoy the game!