:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/3246926/118258762.jpg)
Yovani Gallardo(9-5, 3.92 ERA, 3.78 FIP) will try to right the ship this afternoon. He's coming off back-to-back starts of the quality variety against the Twins. Last Friday he pitched 7 innings giving up only 3 runs and 5 H. But he also gave up 4 walks and took a loss. Yo has had some recent success, but he has been rather inconsistent over the last month or so. In his six starts since June he has pitched 6, 4,7, 3, 7, and 7 innings, respectively. All of those starts have either been quality starts or disaster starts. In his career against the DBacks Gallardo is 1-0 with a 1.06 ERA. Only Kelly Johnsonhas faced Gallardo at least 10 times. He has yet to collect a hit in 10 ABs, but he does have 3 walks.
Yo will be facing Arizona rookie Josh Collmenter(3.17 ERA, 3.87 FIP), who is off to a pretty good start to his career. Drafted in the 15thround of the 2007 draft, Collmenter didn't exactly move quickly through the minors, but had solid numbers nonetheless. The righty's success has a lot to do with limiting his base runners. He's allowing only 7.4 H/9 and a wee 1.9 BB/9, which all adds up to a shiny 1.028 WHIP. He doesn't strike out a ton, 6.1 K/9, but his 3.20 K/BB ratio sure is nice.
With all that being said, Collmenter is having a rough go of it recently. Less than a month ago his ERA was 1.12. But it's been on a steady incline ever since. In his last start Collmenter gave up 5 ER in 4.2 innings against the A's. In the start before that he gave up 6 ER in 6 innings against the Tigers. Hopefully, this trend will continue today.
Today's lineup still has a lack of Braun:
Rickie Weeks 2B
Tony Plush CF
Corey Hart RF
Prince Fielder 1B
Mark Kotsay LF
Jonathan Lucroy C
Mat Gamel 3B
Craig Counsell SS
Yovani Gallardo RHP
In the bullpen:
LaTroy Hawkings pitched 1 inning (18 pitches) Monday.
Kameron Loepitched .2 innings (9 pitches) Monday.
John Axford pitched 1 inning (23 pitches) Monday.
Zach Braddock pitched 1 inning (10 pitches) yesterday.
Marco Estrada pitched 2 innings (28 pitches) yesterday.
Takashi Saito pitched 1 inning (10 pitches) Saturday.
Weather:
It should be a beautiful day for baseball. Highs in the upper 70's at game time. Clear skies with a 10% of precipitation. Winds at about 8 MPH from the NNE.