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W: Yovani Gallardo (4-4)
L: Clayton Kershaw (4-3)
S: John Axford (10)
HR: None
MVP: Carlos Gomez (+.162)
LVP: Aramis Ramirez (-.049)
Win Expectancy Graph and Star of the Game Voting
If you had told me on Sunday that the Brewers would clinch a winning road trip tonight by beating Clayton Kershaw, I might have laughed out loud. They've looked like a different team over the last three days after losing two of three in Arizona over the weekend.
Yovani Gallardo recovered from a rough first inning tonight to pitch six solid frames, allowing a run on five hits. Unfortunately, the Brewers opted not to get him out of the game with over 100 pitches at that point and he allowed the first three batters he faced in the seventh to reach before being lifted. Manny Parra allowed two of those runners to score but escaped further damage with a strikeout and double play to end the threat.
By only allowing two inherited runners to score Parra also preserved Gallardo's sixth consecutive quality start. He allowed three earned runs on eight hits over six innings tonight, walking three and striking out eight.
The Brewer bats, meanwhile, woke up against the NL's reigning Cy Young Award winner. They plated five runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings against Kershaw, who had his worst outing of the 2012 season. Corey Hart had three hits tonight and Carlos Gomez had four, the most he's had since 2010. The Brewers as a team had 14 in the game for just the second time this season.
John Axford recorded the final three outs tonight for his third save and fourth appearance in as many days. Yesterday I said I expected him to be unavailable today, but now he's almost certainly got to be unavailable tomorrow.
Tonight's win improved the Brewers to 3-14 this season in games where they didn't hit a home run.
The Brewers have already clinched a winning road trip, but they've got one more exceedingly late night game to play before returning home. Zack Greinke will face Chad Billingsley at 9:10 tomorrow night.