Phase 1: win the first game. Phase 2: __________. Phase 3: PROFIT.
Let's do this thing, after the jump.
The Brewers send former Cardinal farmhand Chris Narveson (5.17 ERA, 4.33 FIP) to the bump tonight. The NarvDog turned in his best performance of the year in his last start, going eight innings and striking out seven without surrendering a run against the Mariners. That said, it was the Mariners, so one takes the result with a grain (or block) of salt. Narveson has made one start against the Cardinals in 2010, and he took some lumps, lasting six innings and striking out four while walking five and giving up four earned runs in a 5-4 Brewer loss.Two Cardinals have faced Narveson ten times in their (respective) careers:
Player | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
His Grace | 10 | .500 | .700 | 1.500 | 2.200 |
Colby Rasmus | 10 | .333 | .400 | .556 | .956 |
The Cardinals counter with lefty Jaime Garcia (2.27 ERA, 3.46 FIP). Garcia has made 15 starts for the Redbirds in 2010 and his results have been very good: 7-4, 87.1 IP, 70 SO, 37 BB, and a WHIP of 1.260. His most recent start, however, was awful: 2 IP, 4 hits, 2 BB, and 5 earned runs against the Kansas City Royals. Garcia has faced the Crew twice this year; he handcuffed the Brewers for six innings (5 SO, 3 BB, 1 ER) on April 10 in a 7-1 Cardinals win, and submitted a quality start (6 IP, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) on June 6 in a game the Crew won 4-3.
No Brewer has faced Garcia ten times in his career. Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, and Rickie Weeks have each faced Garcia seven times, and Fielder (.429/.429/.429) and Weeks (.500/.571/1.000) have fared alright.
Today's lineup, courtesy of Tom H.:
2B Rickie Weeks
RF Corey Hart
1B Prince Fielder
LF Ryan Braun
3B Casey McGehee
C Jon Lucroy
CF Carlos Gomez
SS Alcides Escobar
P Chris Narveson
Out in the bullpen:
Todd Coffey pitched 1 inning (8 pitches) on Wednesday.
Chris Capuano pitched 1.1 inning (27 pitches) on Wednesday.
Carlos Villanueva pitched 0.2 inning (18 pitches) on Wednesday.
John Axford pitched 1 inning (14 pitches) and picked up a save yesterday.
Kameron Loe pitched 1.2 innings (21 pitches) yesterday.
Zach Braddock pitched 0.2 inning (12 pitches) on Tuesday.
David Riske pitched 1 inning (27 pitches) on Monday.
Trevor Hoffman pitched 1 inning (7 pitches) Saturday.
Enjoy the game!