The first chance for #601.
Current Series
3 game series vs Cardinals @ Miller Park
| Mon 09/06 | WP: Mitchell Boggs (2 - 2) LP: Zach Braddock (1 - 2) | 6 - 8 loss |
| Tue 09/07 | WP: Chris Narveson (11 - 7) SV: Trevor Hoffman LP: Kyle Lohse (2 - 7) | 4 - 2 win |
St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday, Sep 8, 2010, 7:10 PM CDT Jaime Garcia vs Chris Capuano Clear. Winds blowing out to center field at 10-25 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 60.
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Follow the jump for tonight's pitching matchup, lineup and more!
Chris Capuano (4.62 ERA, 4.00 FIP) is making his first start since a tough luck loss on Friday. Capuano pitched five innings against the Phillies and allowed one run on four hits, but that run was the only offense for either side in a 1-0 Brewer loss. I'm not sure if he's still stretching out or the Brewers are just being conservative with him, but his pitch counts have been very low in his starts: He hasn't thrown more than five innings or 80 pitches in an outing this season.
Capuano would probably be significantly more valuable if he had a credible third pitch. He uses his fastball and changeup a combined 83.8% of the time, and both pitches are above average. He gets hurt, though, when he uses his slider: At -5.28 runs below average, it's the worst pitch thrown by any Brewer with >30 IP this season.
Capuano has only faced the Cardinals once this season, throwing a scoreless inning in relief to close out a 12-5 Brewer win on July 3. Seven Cardinals have faced him ten times or more:
| Player | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Albert Pujols | 33 | .556 | .636 | 1.000 | 1.636 |
| Matt Holliday | 23 | .400 | .478 | .600 | 1.078 |
| Aaron Miles | 19 | .278 | .316 | .333 | .649 |
| Felipe Lopez | 16 | .462 | .563 | .769 | 1.332 |
| Yadier Molina | 16 | .154 | .267 | .231 | .497 |
| Pedro Feliz | 11 | .222 | .273 | .222 | .495 |
| Randy Winn | 11 | .545 | .545 | 1.000 | 1.545 |
Capuano will face Jaime Garcia (2.35 ERA, 3.40 FIP), and the Brewers would likely be ok with it if they never had to face him again. Garcia has owned the Brewers in four starts this season, putting up a 1.08 ERA in 25 innings, striking out 22 and walking just 11. He's also been very good lately, allowing two earned runs in his last 27 innings of work dating back to his last start against the Brewers on August 17.
Garcia throws a 90.4 mph average fastball, and mixes in a cutter, change and curve. All four pitches have been above average this season, but the cutter is the best one at +1.90 runs per 100. Six Brewers have faced him ten times or more:
| Player | PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Ryan Braun | 13 | .154 | .154 | .154 | .308 |
| Prince Fielder | 13 | .231 | .231 | .231 | .462 |
| Rickie Weeks | 13 | .273 | .385 | .545 | .930 |
| Corey Hart | 12 | .364 | .417 | .364 | .780 |
| Casey McGehee | 12 | .300 | .333 | .700 | 1.033 |
| Alcides Escobar | 10 | .125 | .300 | .125 | .425 |
Via Adam McCalvy, here's tonight's lineup:
Rickie Weeks 2B
Corey Hart RF
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Casey McGehee 3B
Lorenzo Cain CF
Jonathan Lucroy C
Alcides Escobar SS
Chris Capuano P
And in the bullpen:
Trevor Hoffman pitched 1 inning (14 pitches) last night.
John Axford pitched .2 innings (14 pitches) last night.
Carlos Villanueva pitched .1 innings (9 pitches) last night.
Mike McClendon pitched 1 inning (15 pitches) Monday.
Jeremy Jeffress faced three batters (14 pitches) Monday.
Todd Coffey pitched .2 innings (9 pitches) Monday.
Zach Braddock pitched .1 innings (8 pitches) Monday.
Kameron Loe hasn't pitched since Saturday.
Brandon Kintzler last pitched on Friday for Nashville.
Manny Parra hasn't pitched since Tuesday, August 31.
Enjoy the game!