Milwaukee @ San Diego preview
Petco Park
Last Meeting ( Apr 30, 2010 ) Milwaukee 0, San Diego 3
The Milwaukee Brewers must be wondering where their offense disappeared to. Mirrored in a cold spell, just a week after lighting up the scoreboard, the Brewers are left searching for answers.
Milwaukee was shutout for the second straight game in Friday’s 3-0 loss to the San Diego Padres in dropping its fourth contest in a row and seven of eight since a remarkable offensive outburst.
The Brewers completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates last week, outscoring the opposition by a combined total of 36-1. Since then, the bats have cooled off considerably as the squad continues to drop further in the standings.
In a testament to just how strong the Brewers started, they still rank among the NL’s top two teams in batting average (.278), runs (126), on-base percentage (.360) and slugging percentage (.465). Yet the lofty numbers haven’t translated to much success of late.
Some of the blame has to fall on the shoulders of slugging first baseman Prince Fielder, who had 46 home runs and drove in a career-high 141 runs last season, yet is batting just .244 with a pair of homers and nine RBIs through 23 games.
Milwaukee will turn to its ace on Saturday in hopes of turning their luck around as Yovani Gallardo heads to the hill.
Gallardo got off to bumpy beginnings through three winless starts, but appears to be rounding back into form with wins in his last two outings.
The right-hander worked six innings and allowed two unearned runs on five hits in a win over the Pirates on Monday. He has a 3.41 ERA and 29 strikeouts through 29 innings.
Gallardo has faced the Padres just once in his career, suffering a loss.
Getting the start for the Padres is Mat Latos, who may well be pitching to keep his spot in the rotation. With Chris Young slated to come off the disabled list and rejoin the rotation, Latos could be replaced and possibly demoted to Triple-A.
The 22-year-old has been far from impressive in garnering a 6.20 ERA and one win in four starts. His last outing was a disaster as he was tagged for seven runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings of work against the Florida Marlins.
San Diego remains one of the hottest teams in baseball, winning four straight to hold a 1 1/2 games lead over the San Francisco Giants.