Cardinals-Brewers Series Preview

The first series of the season turned out fairly well with the Crew taking 2 out of 3 from the Rockies. As it stands the Crew trails Pirates and Cardinals by 1/2 a game (they'll either be tied or a game back when the series actually starts.

Friday

Lohse vs. Bush

Chico, California product Kyle Lohse gets the start Friday night. Not a star but always finds a way on someones rotation. Historically, this hasn't been enough for him to be effective against Brewers hitters. Gerut, Braun and Counsell have all hit him fairly well....wouldn't be surprised if Gomez and/or Escobar end up getting the night off.

Dave Bush....well there's no way to go but up from his 2009 performance. The reigning NL leader of Hit Batsmen makes his 2010 debut on Friday. Like his counterpart, Bush hasn't exactly dominated the opposition. Pujols, Molina, Schumaker and Ludwick have all hit him around pretty good. In other words, don't be shocked if both terms score runs by the bunch.

Saturday

Carpenter vs. Gallardo

Well, Carpenter has made it through one start healthy. The health thing all about taking it one start at a time. The reigning 2009 NL Leader in ERA, ERA+, Win Pct. and HR/9 gets the start here. Counsell, Edmonds and Fielder have all hit him pretty well but in general Brewers hitters have struggled against Carpenter (then again who hasn't) to the tune of an .580 OPS

The last time (Monday) Gallardo went up against someone on one of my fantasy teams (Jiminez) he ended up coming away with a loss. Considering Carpenter is on one of my fantasy teams, this isn't a good omen. Another bad omen is that Pujols and Molina have hit him relatively well and current cards hitters have rocked him to the tune of a .846 OPS. Based on the past, this game isn't looking too good for the Crew.

Sunday

Garcia vs. Wolf

In this ESPN-televised Sunday night game, the Cardinals are giving Jaime Garcia his 2nd career start (and 11th appearance). The Brewers may struggle against pitchers making their big league debut but Garcia has started before (albeit once) which alone increases the Brewers hopes.

Sunday marks start number 2 of the Randy Wolf era. His start Tuesday didn't exactly go great but the Brewers did enough on offense for them to win (i.e. for this to not be that big of a deal). Wolf has historically struggled against Lopez, Pujols and Holliday. Wolf going against hitters that have hit him well versus a young inexperienced pitcher, we could be in for another high-scorer on Sunday.