The thrilling conclusion!
Current Series
Brewers lead the series 1-0
| Tue 08/17 | WP: Dave Bush (6 - 10) SV: John Axford LP: Jaime Garcia (10 - 6) | 3 - 2 win |
Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday, Aug 18, 2010, 1:15 PM CDT Randy Wolf vs Adam Wainwright Partly cloudy. Winds blowing in from right field at 5-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 85. Complete Coverage > | ||
Follow the jump for today's pitching matchup, lineup and more!
You can make a strong case that Adam Wainwright (1.99 ERA, 2.89 FIP) was the NL's best starting pitcher last season, and is again this season. He's the NL leader in WAR (5.8), ERA (1.99) and WHIP (0.970), and is in the top five in innings pitched, strikeouts and complete games. In five of his last seven starts, he hasn't allowed an earned run. He's allowed one earned run in 23 innings in August (a 0.39 ERA), after allowing seven in 34 innings in July (a 1.85 ERA, and six of those runs came in one outing).
This may not be news to you, but Wainwright owns the Brewers. He's faced them twice this season and has two complete game victories, allowing a combined one run on seven hits in eighteen innings. He also crushed the Brewers last season, posting a 1.24 ERA in 36.1 innings over five starts. Seven Brewers have faced him ten times or more:
| Player | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Prince Fielder | 45 | .171 | .356 | .286 | .641 |
| Ryan Braun | 41 | .184 | .244 | .368 | .612 |
| Corey Hart | 38 | .262 | .263 | .474 | .737 |
| Rickie Weeks | 28 | .167 | .286 | .292 | .577 |
| Craig Counsell | 23 | .304 | .304 | .391 | .696 |
| Casey McGehee | 13 | .083 | .154 | .083 | .237 |
| Alcides Escobar | 12 | .167 | .167 | .167 | .333 |
Meanwhile, the Brewers send Randy Wolf (4.86 ERA, 5.24 FIP) to the mound to try to keep it close. Wolf has pitched quality starts in three of his last four starts since his disaster on July 21, but the lone exception was his last time out: Wolf allowed four runs on seven hits to the Diamondbacks over six innings on Thursday, walking four and striking out eight.
Wolf has faced the Cardinals three times this season, and allowed eight earned runs on 16 hits over 19.2 innings of work. Eight Cardinals have faced him ten times or more:
| Player | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Felipe Lopez | 34 | .250 | .294 | .344 | .638 |
| Albert Pujols | 30 | .320 | .367 | .600 | .967 |
| Matt Holliday | 28 | .250 | .357 | .542 | .899 |
| Randy Winn | 28 | .280 | .333 | .560 | .893 |
| Jason LaRue | 26 | .261 | .346 | .478 | .824 |
| Ryan Ludwick | 20 | .200 | .350 | .200 | .550 |
| Yadier Molina | 18 | .167 | .167 | .333 | .500 |
| Brendan Ryan | 15 | .462 | .533 | .538 | 1.072 |
Via Adam McCalvy, here's today's lineup:
Rickie Weeks 2B
Corey Hart RF
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Casey McGehee 3B
Lorenzo Cain CF
Alcides Escobar SS
George Kottaras C
Randy Wolf P
And in the bullpen:
John Axford pitched 1.2 innings (26 pitches) yesterday.
Kameron Loe pitched 1.1 innings (24 pitches) yesterday.
Todd Coffey pitched 1 inning (11 pitches) Sunday.
David Riske pitched 1+ innings (23 pitches) Sunday.
Zach Braddock pitched 1 inning (14 pitches) Sunday.
Trevor Hoffman pitched .2 innings (17 pitches) Sunday.
Mike McClendon pitched 3 innings (33 pitches) Saturday.
Chris Capuano pitched 1 inning (13 pitches) Friday.
Enjoy the game!