Today's Matchup: Milwaukee (Gallardo) vs. New York (Marcum)

While not important in the context of a lost 2013 season, this start by Yovani Gallardo (4.78 ERA, 4.07 FIP) could be extremely important to the Brewers' longterm future.

The Brewers are reportedly shopping Gallardo to interested teams, or at the very least discussing trading him. If, however, Gallardo puts up another start like his last one, that interest could (continue?) to go down. Against the Nationals last week, Gallardo allowed eight earned runs over three innings. Normally we expect that kind of start from Gallardo coming against the Cardinals, not against any of the other 29 teams.

Gallardo has certainly not looked like himself for much of the season. He did have three consecutive starts without an earned run in June where it looked like he had shown vast improvement, but those have been quelched by his latest outing.

Gallardo has faced just two Mets hitters at least ten times over his career. David Wright has hit .188/.316/.375 in 19 PA while Marlon Byrd has hit .250/.400/.250 in 15 PA.

The Brewers will see an old friend return to Miller Park as Shaun Marcum (5.03 ERA, 3.56 FIP) will start for the Mets. There have been recent rumblings that Marcum could be removed from the Mets rotation, but those have quieted due to recent injuries.

Marcum has had a couple of nice starts--most recently on June 26 when he pitched eight innings of four-hit ball. However, for the most part he has been hit hard and has just five quality starts on the season.

Only Yuniesky Betancourt has at least ten plate appearances against Marcum for the Brewers. In 17 PA, Betancourt has hit .118/.118/.294.

Lineups:

I have not yet seen a lineup for tonight's game. If you have, feel free to post it in the comments.

In the bullpen:

• Burke Badenhop faced four batters (12 pitches) Thursday and pitched one inning (28 pitches) yesterday.
• Tyler Thornburg pitched 4.1 innings (89 pitches) yesterday.
• Brandon Kintzler pitched 1.1 innings (22 pitches) Thursday.
• Tom Gorzelanny pitched 1.2 innings (20 pitches) Thursday.
• Francisco Rodriguez pitched one inning (22 pitches) on Wednesday.
• Michael Gonzalez, Jim Henderson and John Axfordlast pitched on Tuesday.