Can the Brewers spoil game 1 of the J.A. Happ Era?
Current Series
3 game series vs Astros @ Minute Maid Park
Milwaukee Brewers Friday, Jul 30, 2010, 7:05 PM CDT Manny Parra vs J.A. Happ Clear. Winds blowing out to right field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 95. Complete Coverage > | ||
| Sat 07/31 | 6:05 PM CDT | |
| Sun 08/01 | 1:05 PM CDT | |
Follow the jump for tonight's pitching matchup, lineup and more!
Roy OswaltRockiesHapp is a lefty and, as you might expect, he's better against lefties, holding them to a career .224/.292/.367 line. Righties fare significantly better, at .252/.327/.410. He throws in the upper 80's (89.2 mph average fastball), with a below average slider and an average changeup. No Brewer has faced Happ more than four times, and no one has taken him deep. Prince Fielder (2-for-4 with a pair of doubles) has had the most success.
Meanwhile, it's impossible to tell what to expect from Manny Parra (5.33 ERA, 4.44 FIP), who had one of his better starts of the season on Saturday. Parra held the Nationals to two runs on four hits over six innings, walking three and striking out four. Before that, it had been over a month since his last quality start.
Parra is getting crushed by lefties this season, allowing them to hit .391/.443/.652 in 110 PAs. He's also allowing a ton of baserunners, with a 1.704 WHIP. Among major leaguers with at least 80 IP, Parra's WHIP is the third worst:
| Pitcher | Team | IP | WHIP |
| Brad Bergesen | BAL | 88 | 1.750 |
| Ryan Rowland-Smith | SEA | 98.1 | 1.719 |
| Manny Parra | MIL | 81 | 1.704 |
Six Astros have faced Parra at least ten times, and four of them have fared very well:
| Player | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Hunter Pence | 22 | .200 | .273 | .300 | .573 |
| Carlos Lee | 21 | .529 | .619 | .824 | 1.443 |
| Lance Berkman | 18 | .357 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 |
| Michael Bourn | 15 | .357 | .357 | .857 | 1.214 |
| Jeff Keppinger | 15 | .250 | .357 | .333 | .690 |
| Pedro Feliz | 10 | .500 | .500 | .800 | 1.300 |
I haven't seen a lineup yet, but after reading Jordan Schelling's Twitter I do feel like I watched last night's entire episode of Jersey Shore.
And in the bullpen:
Todd Coffey pitched 1 inning (21 pitches) Wednesday, and also pitched on Tuesday.
David Riske pitched 1 inning (11 pitches) Wednesday, and also pitched on Tuesday.
Carlos Villanueva pitched 1 inning (33 pitches) Wednesday.
Kameron Loe pitched .2 innings (27 pitches) Wednesday.
Chris Capuano pitched 3 innings (59 pitches) Tuesday.
Trevor Hoffman pitched 1 inning (6 pitches) Tuesday.
John Axford pitched 1 inning (21 pitches) on Monday.
Zach Braddock has not pitched since July 19th.
Enjoy the game!