Probable Starters
Monday April 22nd 9:10pm
Game 1
Kyle Lohse (0-1 2.70 ERA) Vs. Jason Marquis (1-1 2.41 ERA)
Tuesday April 23rd 9:10pm
Game 2
Yovani Gallardo (1-1 5.24 ERA) Vs. Clayton Richard (0-1 5.28 ERA)
Wednesday April 24th 9:10pm
Game 3
Marco Estrada (2-0 4.50 ERA) Vs. Edinson Volquez (0-3 8.84 ERA)
The Brewers are winners of seven straight and are heading into San Diego to take on the sinking Padres. Milwaukee just swept back-to-back series against the reigning World Champion San Francisco Giants and division rival Chicago Cubs. Over this, seven game winning streak the Brewers lead the league in home runs and are in the tops in the National League in ERA and runs scored.
The Padres are coming off being swept by the Giants just after sweeping the reeling Los Angeles Dodgers (that’s three of their five wins this season). And not only are they one of the few teams already in double digit losses, they are sending three men to the mound who have been horrible in the past against the Brewers, and only one of them has had any success in this season.
Game one puts a pair of former Cardinals on the mound. Kyle Lohse is on the hill for the Brewers. Lohse has been phenomenal so far in the blue, white and gold, but still hasn’t been able to pull off a win. As long as he can throw another quality start the Brewers should be in good shape to win this game, but Kyle might still not get a win. Lohse has only had one bad inning in his Brewers career this far, and that amounted to just three earned runs making him probably the hottest starter in this series.
Jason Marquis takes Lohse on and is having a surprisingly successful campaign in just three starts. With one loss due to a lack of offense, Marquis carries an ERA under three into the matchup. Unfortunately, for him, Jason has 11 career losses to six wins against Milwaukee. Couple that with a career ERA above 5 when taking on the Brewers and an offense just getting by in the MLB and the chances of a win look grim for the Padres in game one.
Game two sends Brewers staff ace Yovani Gallardo to take on Clayton Richard. Gallardo has had just one good start for Milwaukee so far. In good news for the Brew Crew, that was his last start. Gallardo is known as someone who strings together good and bad losses so after a game where he allowed just one run in six innings he is poised to have another good game in pitcher friendly Petco Park. Oh and in three starts in Petco, Gallardo has a career ERA of 2.84 and 24 strikeouts to 19 innings. And politics aside, Gallardo is charged up to perform extra well after his quick run in with the law earlier this month.
Richard is having a rough season so far but he is also coming off his best start of the season where he blanked the red hot Colorado Rockies through six. Richard is one the San Diego’s best pitchers, despite the stats, and can definitely give the Brewers some trouble in this game. He has a 2-2 record against the Crew in his career with an ERA over four, but that includes his early years when he was a little more wild and inconsistent. I still think he will have trouble conquering Milwaukee.
I won’t spend much time on game three because it’s simple. Estrada is pitching well but not great and can do better for the Brewers, but I find it very unlikely that he’ll be able to pitch as bad or worse than Edinson Volquez who is off to one of the worst starts in the league. Volquez’s 8+ ERA and his 3-3 record against Milwaukee with a 5.64 ERA just makes it even less likely that the Padres will have a chance in the series finale. I am hammering this game down as Milwaukee’s sure bet to win.
Overall Milwaukee could easily sweep this series and keep their hot streak running and I am a person who doesn’t like to predict sweeps. The Padres are one of the worst teams in the MLB this year and will only piece together wins one at a time unless they play teams that are also horrible. The only thing that gives San Diego a chance to get a win is that they are pitching at home in a very pitcher friendly ball park, but the Brewers are getting the same advantage in the pitching department and their pitchers are overall better than the Padres’.
Fantasy buffs the Brewers player you have to start this week is Jean Segura. Hitting the ball on the ground and speed kills in Petco and that’s what Segura does. Not only that but he’s hitting .321 and has scored six runs during the Brewers winning streak and Ryan Braun can still clobber the ball while behind him to add to that run scored total. Also, please stop making Segura stealing first jokes.
Make sure to sit Rickie Weeks (as if you weren’t already). Weeks is on a huge slump and plays horribly in Petco. As if his .182 average wasn’t enough, .175/.257/.254 line in Petco. User beware on Rickie in this series.
-Brad
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