Well, losing two in a row is kinda sucky. But I'll take a 5-6 west coast road trip any day. Especially considering the road woes this year. But now we're back home in friendly Miller Park. And waiting for them is...
Aw crap. Of course it's Ryan Dempster (7-7, 5.00 ERA, 3.70 FIP). In his last start Dempster only lasted 3 innings against the Phillies. He gave up 6 ER on 3 BB and 7 H. However, in the start before that, Dempster pitched 8 shutout innings against the Marlins. The righty really is having a roller coaster-like season. He's had seven disaster starts and nine quality starts (21 total starts this season). Dempster is having a bit of a down year, but that didn't stop him from still dominating the Crew the last time he faced them. In May he faced the Crew at Wrigley Field and pitched 7 shutout innings, giving up only 4 hits and 1 walk.
In his career against the Crew, Dempster is 15-3 with a 2.50 ERA. Nine Brewers have faced Dempster at least 10 times. I'm thinking Randy Wolf should be the first player off the bench to PH today.
| PA | slash line | |
| Prince Fielder | 50 | .237/.360/.500 |
| Ryan Braun | 47 | .196/.298/.390 |
| Rickie Weeks | 42 | .265/.381/.294 |
| Corey Hart | 41 | .139/.244/.333 |
| Craig Counsell | 33 | .250/.364/.393 |
| Casey McGehee | 25 | .304/.360/.391 |
| Randy Wolf | 17 | .400/.400/.467 |
| Mark Kotsay | 15 | .231/.333/.462 |
| Nyjer Morgan | 12 | .000/.182/.000 |
Chris Narveson (6-6, 4.45 ERA, 3.42 FIP) will hope that the rest of the team can figure out Dempster. But I guess if there's one pitcher on the Brewers who handles the Cubs as well as dempster handles the Brewers, it would be the Narv-dog. In 11 appearances (four starts) against the Cubs, Narveson is 5-0 with a 3.38 ERA. This year he has faced the Cubs twice. In his first start in April he pitched 7 shutout innings, striking out 9. In May he pitched 5.1 innings and gave 4 runs. Narveson is also running on a bit of a hot streak. He hasn;t given up more than three runs in an outing since July second. His time out he pitched 7 shutout innings against the Dbacks, giving up only 4 hits and not allowing any free passes.
Five Cubs have faced Narveson at least 10 times.
| PA | slashline | |
| Geovanny Soto | 16 | .308/.438/.385 |
| Aramis Ramirez | 15 | .143/.200/.357 |
| Jeff Baker | 12 | .300/.417/.600 |
| Reed Johnson | 11 | .182/.182/.545 |
| Alfonso Soriano | 10 | .111/.200/.111 |
Tonight's lineup:
Corey Hart RF
Tony Plush CF
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Rickie Weeks 2B
Casey McGehee 3B
Yuni Betancourt SS
Jonathan Lucroy C
Chris Narveson LHP
In the bullpen...
Takashi Saito pitched 1 inning (21 pitches) Sunday.
LaTroy Hawkins pitched 1 inning (18 pitches) Saturday.
Kameron Loe pitched .1 inning (13 pitches) Saturday.
Marco Estrada pitched .2 innings (3 pitches) Saturday.
Francisco Rodriguez pitched 1 inning (11 pitches) friday.
John Axford pitched 1 inning (18 pitches) Friday.
Tim Dillard has not pitched since last Monday.
Weather:
Looks like it's going to be a great night to tailgate. Gametime temperature at 77 degrees. Winds from the east at 8 MPH.