Current Series
Brewers lead the series 1-0
| Tue 05/04 | WP: Chris Narveson (2 - 0) LP: Clayton Kershaw (1 - 2) | 11 - 6 win |
Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday, May 5, 2010, 9:10 PM CDT Doug Davis vs Chad Billingsley Mostly clear. Winds blowing out to right field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 60.
Complete Coverage > | ||
| Thu 05/06 | 9:10 PM CDT | |
Follow us after the jump for tonight's pitching matchup, lineup and more!
While just 25 years old, Chad Billingsley (2-1, 4.85) has already been an NL All Star, appeared in six postseason games, thrown over 200 innings in a season and accumulated 200 strikeouts. He got off to a bit of a rough start in 2010 but has recovered lately, allowing just three earned runs on ten hits over his last twelve innings. He also has something going for him that Brewer fans will be able to relate to: He's been awesome against the Pirates this season (2-0, 2.38), and not as good against everyone else (0-1, 6.75).
Billingsley works in the low 90's (avg fastball velocity of 91.6), but relies heavily on an 89 mph cutter (22.5%) and a 79 mph curve (21.6%). FanGraphs rates all three of his primary pitches as above average for his career, but below average this season. In five career appearances against the Brewers (3 starts), he's 2-0 with a 5.23 ERA. Three Brewers have seen him at least ten times:
| Player | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Jim Edmonds | 13 | .091 | .231 | .091 | .322 |
| Prince Fielder | 10 | .167 | .500 | .167 | .667 |
| Jody Gerut | 10 | .100 | .100 | .100 | .200 |
He'll face off against Doug Davis (0-3, 8.87), and it's hard not to like his chances. Davis has had three disaster starts in five opportunities, and one other where he allowed four runs in four innings, narrowly missing the cutoff. He's allowing 15.3 hits per nine innings pitched, but his walk rate is actually down a bit (from 4.6/9 innings to 4.0) from last season, when he led the NL in walks allowed with 103.
FanGraphs shows roughly what you'd expect: His fastball isn't very fast (84.6 mph), but he only uses it roughly 28% of the time, instead using his 81.7 mph cutter 44% of the time. His cutter is his only above average pitch this season at +0.34 runs per 100 throws. His fastball (-3.28) and changeup (-6.18) are significantly below average. As you might expect from someone who pitched for the Diamondbacks recently, he's pretty familiar with the Dodgers: He's posted a 3.51 ERA in 12 starts against them, including a 4.96 ERA in three starts last season. Eleven Dodgers have faced him at least ten times:
| Player | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Brad Ausmus | 36 | .375 | .444 | .500 | .944 |
| Rafael Furcal | 29 | .346 | .414 | .385 | .798 |
| Manny Ramirez | 28 | .462 | .500 | .731 | 1.231 |
| Matt Kemp | 27 | .435 | .481 | .739 | 1.221 |
| Andre Ethier | 25 | .333 | .440 | .571 | 1.011 |
| Russell Martin | 24 | .273 | .333 | .364 | .697 |
| Jamey Carroll | 16 | .400 | .571 | .500 | 1.071 |
| Casey Blake | 14 | .333 | .429 | .500 | .929 |
| James Loney | 14 | .385 | .429 | .462 | .890 |
| Ronnie Belliard | 11 | .286 | .545 | .714 | 1.260 |
| Reed Johnson | 11 | .300 | .364 | .500 | .864 |
Jim Edmonds and George Kottaras are in the lineup tonight, according to Adam McCalvy:
Rickie Weeks 2B
Carlos Gomez CF
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Casey McGehee 3B
Jim Edmonds RF
Alcides Escobar SS
George Kottaras C
Doug Davis P
And in the bullpen:
Manny Parra pitched 1 inning (21 pitches) yesterday.
Todd Coffey pitched 1 inning (17 pitches) yesterday.
Claudio Vargas pitched 1 inning (10 pitches) yesterday.
Carlos Villanueva pitched 1 inning (21 pitches) Sunday.
LaTroy Hawkins pitched 1 inning (17 pitches) Saturday.
Trevor Hoffman pitched 1 inning (11 pitches) Saturday.
Jeff Suppan pitched 4 innings (65 pitches) Thursday.
Enjoy the game!