NewsHardy plans to return for series finale
Milwaukee (27-19) vs. St. Louis (27-19), 12:05 p.m. CT
By Cash Kruth / MLB.com
05/26/09 11:59 PM ET
MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers should get an added boost to their lineup in Wednesday's series-deciding game against St. Louis. Shortstop J.J. Hardy, who has missed the past four games with lower back spasms, should be in the lineup Wednesday afternoon, both he and manager Ken Macha said Tuesday."I'm planning on playing," Hardy said after Milwaukee's 8-1 loss on Tuesday. "I feel like the spasms are gone -- there's no more pinching and stuff. It's tight, but I can play through tightness and soreness."
Hardy, who left Friday's game against Minnesota in the bottom of the fourth inning, was on a tear before getting injured, hitting .328 (21-for-64) during his past 18 games. On the season, Hardy is hitting .234 with five home runs and 23 RBIs. During his pregame remarks on Monday, Macha said he thought Tuesday could have been the day for Hardy's return, but opted to give his shortstop another day after consulting head athletic trainer Roger Caplinger. "Roger said [Hardy's] come a long way in the days that he's had off, but we'd hate to have him have a setback," Macha said. Hardy also agreed with Caplinger's diagnosis, saying that while he could have played if needed Tuesday, the extra day should help."[Monday] I went out and threw and I don't think I would've been able to play the way it felt," Hardy said. "But [Tuesday] I was able to come in and played catch, bent over like I was fielding ground balls -- it wasn't full speed -- but that felt good and then I took some swings off the tee and that felt good too. I felt like I would have been able to play if I needed to, but [Wednesday] I feel like it will be even better."
Milwaukee fell to 1-3 without Hardy after Tuesday's loss to the Cardinals, which left both teams tied for first place atop the National League Central. It was the Brewers' first loss of the season against St. Louis, the team they swept earlier this month and beat, 1-0, on Monday. In their four wins against the Cardinals, the Brewers have won with solid pitching and defense (two 1-0 wins), as well as with their bats (two games with eight runs).
In the two eight-run games, Milwaukee managed to pounce on the St. Louis starter early. In their 8-2 win at St. Louis on May 17, the Brewers put up four runs in the first inning off starter Todd Wellemeyer, who is Wednesday's scheduled starter. The next day, Milwaukee scored four runs in the third inning en route to an 8-4 win against Kyle Lohse, who lasted only four innings. Bill Hall said the quick starts have been the key to Milwaukee's success against the Cardinals, and the club will take the same mindset into Wednesday's series finale against Wellemeyer, who is 0-3 with a 5.97 ERA against the Brewers during his career. "Outside of [Monday] we've been getting their starters out pretty early and making those guys throw a lot of pitches," Hall said. "That's what we have to do in every series, but especially those guys." Pitching matchupMIL: LHP Manny Parra (3-5, 5.79 ERA)
Parra appeared to have turned the corner after a difficult April in which he was 0-4 with a 6.52 ERA in four starts. Entering Friday's game against the Twins, Parra was 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA in four May starts and 3-1 with a 2.79 ERA in five starts since April 26. Parra's May resurgence hit a major snag on Friday, when he allowed nine runs -- eight earned -- on eight hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings. The left-hander will look to right the ship immediately on Wednesday against the Cardinals. Parra has been successful against the Cardinals in his career, going 1-0 with a 3.63 ERA in six starts and one relief appearance over 34 2/3 innings. STL: RHP Todd Wellemeyer (4-4, 5.19 ERA)
Wellemeyer has shown signs of progress a couple of times already this year, and he did so again his last time out. The key is not to take two steps back after a step forward. Wellemeyer insists that as much as anything, he needs to get out of his own head and stop thinking so much about his delivery. He also needs to have all of his pitches available to throw for strikes from the start of a game. When he's able to mix in his slider and changeup along with his fastball, Wellemeyer is much more effective. Tidbits
Milwaukee's divisional record of 18-9 and winning percentage of .667 is the second-highest clip in the National League. The Dodgers (22-8, .733) lead the National League in that department, while two American League teams (Texas at 10-2, .833 and Boston at 16-6, .727) rank ahead of Milwaukee. ... Outfielder Chris Duffy, who was removed from the roster on Friday to make room for Jody Gerut, accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Nashville. He will report on Wednesday. ... The ESPN crew was at Miller Park Tuesday, two days after analyst Steve Phillips and others said on air that Macha should have argued the Joe Mauer hit-by-pitch/foul ball call in the seventh inning of that game a little more loudly. After meeting with the entire crew in his office, Macha and Phillips chatted alone in the Milwaukee dugout for about five minutes. The discussion looked peaceful and business-like. Tickets
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• Thursday: Off-day
• Friday: Brewers (Braden Looper, 4-3, 4.47) vs. Reds (Johnny Cueto, 4-2, 2.37), 7:05 p.m. CT
• Saturday: Brewers (Dave Bush, 3-1, 3.92) vs. Reds (Aaron Harang, 5-4, 3.36), 6:05 p.m. CT
Cash Kruth is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
