Today's Matchup: Milwaukee (Gallardo) vs. St. Louis (Wainwright)

We've already seen this matchup once this season. Here is some of what I wrote about Yovani Gallardo (3-1, 4.25 ERA, 3.50 FIP) that time:

The Cardinals absolutely kill Gallardo for whatever reason. Over 14 career starts against St. Louis, Gallardo has a 6.72 ERA--his worst against any team in the MLB except the Boston Red Sox, against whom he has a 15.00 ERA in just one start. Cardinals hitters have an .827 OPS against Gallardo. St. Louis has hit 17 home runs off of him. The Reds are second with 11 home runs hit off of Gallardo.

Shockingly enough, Gallardo had yet another bad start against St. Louis in that game. He made it just 5.1 innings and gave up five earned runs and one unearned run. It didn't look so bad at first; the Cardinals scored just one run through the first five innings. Things fell apart in the sixth for Gallardo, however. His strikeout woes also continued as he fanned just three St. Louis hitters. In fact, four of his six starts this year have seen Gallardo throw three or fewer strikeouts.

He did have his best start of the season against the Pirates in his last outing, going seven innings with just one earned run in three hits and two walks. He also struck out five.

Six Cardinals hitters have at least ten plate appearances against Gallardo. Here is how they have fared:

Adam Wainwright (4-2, 2.03 ERA, 1.07 FIP) fared just a little bit better than Gallardo in their duel earlier this season.

Wainwright pitched a complete game shutout against the Brewers, allowing just four hits while striking out 12 batters, tying a career high. That's not surprising, given Wainwright's career against Milwaukee. Contrast that paragraph of Gallardo's career against the Cardinals to the following:

Over his career, he has confounded Milwaukee hitters to the tune of a 2.07 ERA and 0.888 WHIP over 24 appearances (17 starts). The Brewers easily have the lowest OPS of any National League team against Wainwright in his career as they stand at a paltry .531.

Talk about a lopsided historical matchup.

Four Brewers have faced Wainwright at least ten times. Here is how they have fared:

Given that Aramis Ramirez is the one guy in the Brewers' lineup who kills Wainwright, it only makes sense that he is not in the lineup. Welcome back, Aramis!

RF Norichika Aoki
SS Jean Segura
LF Ryan Braun
3B Yuniesky Betancourt
2B Rickie Weeks
CF Carlos Gomez
C Martin Maldonado
1B Alex Gonzalez
RHP Yovani Gallardo

In the bullpen:

• Brandon Kintzler pitched two innings (40 pitches) yesterday.
  
• John Axford pitched one inning (18 pitches) yesterday.
  
• Mike Gonzalez pitched one inning (13 pitches) yesterday.
• Burke Badenhop pitched one inning (12 pitches) Thursday.
  
• Alfredo Figaro pitched 2.2 innings (27 pitches) Thursday.
• Tom Gorzelanny pitched one inning (eight pitches) Thursday.
• Jim Henderson last pitched on Tuesday.