Tonight's Matchup: Brewers (Wolf) vs Diamondbacks (Kennedy)

The Brewers are 11-13 in June, but 7-5 at home. So there's that.

Tonight they'll send Randy Wolf (5.32 ERA, 4.43 FIP) to the mound. It's tough to tell what to expect from Wolf on a day-to-day basis: In his five starts in June he's allowed 0, 1, 4, 5 and 6 runs. The five spot came on Saturday against the White Sox, when he allowed those runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings, walking none and striking out four.

Wolf's effectiveness always seems to come and go, but it's worth noting that he's been better at throwing strikes lately. He's walked just five batters over his last four starts and has a 3.55 ERA over that span. He had been walking nearly four batters per nine over his first eleven starts.

Wolf last faced the Diamondbacks on May 27 and allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits over 5.2 innings. Eight current Diamondbacks have faced him ten times or more:

He'll face Ian Kennedy (4.42 ERA, 3.82 FIP), whose numbers have fallen off a bit a season after he posted a career-high 234.2 innings. Some of that may be luck, though: His fastball velocity, strikeout and walk numbers all remain roughly steady from last season. He got roughed up by the Cubs on Saturday, allowing five runs on ten hits over 4.1 innings.

Like Wolf, Kennedy has been all over the map lately. He's allowed 0, 1, 2, 5 and 6 runs in his last five starts. He'll throw a roughly 90 mph fastball along with a fair number of changeups and some curves and cutters. He's also allowed ten home runs in his last nine appearances.

The Brewers beat Kennedy on May 25, tagging him for four runs on seven hits over 5.2 innings. Five current Brewers have faced him ten times or more:

Today's lineup, courtesy of Mike Vassallo. Bonus points if you can guess who's catching Randy Wolf:

Aoki 9
Morgan 8
Braun 7
Ramirez 5
Hart 3
Weeks 4
Kottaras 2
Izturis 6
Wolf 1

The bullpen has some extra rest and is hopefully ready for a fresh start:

Francisco Rodriguez pitched one inning (20 pitches) Wednesday.
Livan Hernandez pitched one inning (18 pitches) Wednesday.
Kameron Loe pitched one inning (nine pitches) Wednesday.
John Axford and Tim Dillard last pitched on Tuesday.
Manny Parra last pitched on Monday.
Jose Veras last pitched on Sunday.

It should be a nice night for baseball at Miller Park tonight. Temperatures will be in the low 80's and any rain that comes through today should be gone by then.