Game Thread #158: Brewers (77-80) at Rockies (89-68)

Published Sept. 30, 2009 at 11:30 p.m.

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Current Series

Rockies lead the series 1-0

Tue 09/29	WP: Matt Belisle (3 - 1)... LP: David Weathers (4 - 6)...	5 - 7 loss
Milwaukee Brewers Brew Crew Ball @...Colorado Rockies Purple Row Wednesday, Sep 30, 2009, 7:40 PM CDT Coors Field Jeff Suppan vs...Jason Hammel ...Partly cloudy. Winds blowing out to right field at 20-25 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 60. Complete Coverage >
Thu 10/01		2:10 PM CDT

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If the Brewers win out, they'll finish at 82-80. Anything less and a winning season is out the window.

Follow the jump for tonight's pitching matchup, lineup and conversation on tonight's game!

Jason Hammel (9-8, 4.30) is completing his first season as a Rockie and his first full season as a major league starter, and has performed pretty well in 169.2 innings of opportunity this season. There's not a lot that's flashy about him, but he's managed to last at least six innings in seven of his last eight starts, posting a 3.31 ERA over that time, and the Rockies are 17-12 in his starts this season. He beat the Brewers on June 9, allowing two runs on five hits in six innings. Because he's spent most of his career in the AL, no Brewer has a prolonged track record against him: Corey Patterson (.286/.286/.571) and Mike Cameron (.200/.333/.200) are the only Brewers who have faced him more than five times.

Meanwhile, everyone continues to hit Jeff Suppan (7-11, 5.04), who will look to bounce back from a dismal performance on Thursday, where he allowed eight runs (seven earned) on twelve hits while lasting just 4.1 innings. He's allowed ten home runs in his last nine starts, and struck out 21 while walking 25 over his last 48 innings. On the plus side, if he can pitch six innings tonight and allow two runs or less, he'll drop his ERA below last season's 4.96. Here's something I didn't expect to discover: Brad Hawpe has faced Suppan 22 times and had very little success, posting a .091/.091/.091 line.

Lineup:

Felipe Lopez  2B
Jody Gerut  RF
Ryan Braun  LF
Prince Fielder  1B
Casey McGehee  3B
Mike Cameron  CF
Alcides Escobar  SS
Jason Kendall  C
Jeff Suppan  RHP

In the bullpen tonight:

Carlos Villanueva pitched two innings (28 pitches) last night.
Claudio Vargas pitched two innings (34 pitches) last night.
Todd Coffey pitched one inning (24 pitches) last night.
David Weathers pitched .1 innings (18 pitches) last night.
Chris Smith has not pitched since Sunday.
Trevor Hoffman has not pitched since Saturday.
Mitch Stetter has not pitched since Sunday.
John Axford has not pitched since Thursday.
Seth McClung has not pitched since Monday, September 21.

Enjoy the game!

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