Round One To Brewers
Luring Jeff Suppan from the St. Louis Cardinals was a key step in transforming the Milwaukee Brewers into pennant contenders.
Expected
to be activated from the disabled list prior to Tuesday’s game, Suppan
will try to remain perfect against the Cardinals since joining the
Brewers as the NL Central rivals continue to vie for second place at
Busch Stadium.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global
have made St. Louis -135 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has
been set at 9 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 97% of bets for this game have been placed on St. Louis -135 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
The Brewers (56-43) emerged as a surprising suitor
for Suppan – a key contributor to St. Louis’ run to the 2006 NL pennant
– signing him to a four-year, $42 million deal before the 2007 season.
While the right-hander did not have spectacular numbers overall in 2007
when the Brewers eventually faltered down the stretch, or even this
year, he has tormented the Cardinals as a division rival.
Jeff Suppan
(5-6, 4.71 ERA) is 4-0 with a 1.48 ERA in four starts versus the
Cardinals with the Brewers, yielding five runs in 30 1-3 innings. He
limited St. Louis to one run in seven innings of his lone start against
them this year, a 5-3 victory May 11 at Miller Park.
But Suppan
was placed on 15-day DL on July 7 with an irritated right elbow, a move
that coincided with CC Sabathia’s arrival in Milwaukee via trade.
Suppan had a bullpen session Thursday and told the Brewers’ official
Web site, "the rest helped."
He has won six straight starts over
St. Louis since a 6-0 defeat while pitching for Pittsburgh on May 24,
2003, and is 6-2 in 10 lifetime starts against the Cardinals.
Milwaukee
had to work extra for its fifth straight victory, opening the series
Monday with a 6-3, 10-inning victory that also snapped St. Louis’
five-game win streak. Bill Hall’s solo homer snapped a 3-all tie after
closer Salomon Torres squandered a ninth-inning lead for the Brewers,
who overtook the Cardinals (57-44) by percentage points for second in
the division and are two games behind the Cubs for the NL Central lead.
"From
the looks of it, it’s us, the Cardinals and the Cubs who will be
battling for the division,” Hall said. "Every win is important in this
division.”
Rickie Weeks also homered for the Brewers, extending the team’s streak to a season-high 17 games with at least one.
The
Cardinals turn to Kyle Lohse (12-2, 3.35) to get back to their winning
ways. The right-hander’s remarkable season continued Thursday, when he
limited San Diego to two runs in seven innings of a 4-3 victory –
extending his winning streak to nine decisions.
"A lot goes into
a winning streak,” said Lohse, whose winning streak is the longest by
a Cardinals pitcher since Chris Carpenter reeled off 13 straight from
June 14-Sept. 8, 2005. "They play great defense behind me and score
runs.”
Lohse did not register a decision in two starts versus
the Brewers in a five-day span of April, giving up six runs in 11
innings. He is 3-3 with a 5.50 ERA in nine lifetime starts and 10
overall appearances versus the Brewers.
Cardinals slugger Albert
Pujols, who went 0-for-4 on Monday, is 10-for-26 (.385) with four
doubles lifetime versus Suppan. Troy Glaus, who went 2-for-4 with two
RBIs and is 21-for-40 (.525) with five homers and 12 RBIs during a
10-game hitting streak, is 12-for-36 with three homers against Suppan.
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