This is when baseball is at its best. One final game between two teams to decide who will go on to the NLCS to either face the Cardinals or Phillies.
This afternoon’s pitching matchup between the Brewers and Diamondbacks will be the same as it was in Game One. Ian Kennedy will be on the mound for Arizona and will be opposed by Yovani Gallardo for Milwaukee.
Despite getting the loss in the first game of this series, Kennedy didn’t really pitch poorly at all. In fact, he probably pitched well enough to get the victory if his offense would have spared him a couple of runs. In 6.2 innings, IPK allowed eight hits and four runs. The only real mistake that he made was the hanging curveball he threw to Prince Fielder. Other than that, there weren’t a lot of hard hit balls off of the D’Backs ace.
Gallardo was impressive in his third postseason start back on Saturday. The right-hander allowed only four hits and a lone run in eight innings of work. That lone run came via of a solo home run off the bat of Ryan Roberts in the eighth inning, but Gallardo would retire the next three batters after that point.
Game Five’s are always interesting to watch, except if you are a starting pitcher. Compared to a regular season game or even another game in the postseason, you are given a very short leash to pitch. Look at last night’s Game Five between the Tigers and Yankees as an example of that.
Everyone should be available tonight for both teams, except for Joe Saunders for the Diamondbacks and Randy Wolf for the Brew Crew. Both pitched less than 48 hours ago and it is hard to see either manager using their guy unless it is in a emergency situation.
Like it is in every road game during the playoffs, the key will be to get off to fast start. The Diamondbacks nearly did that in Game One only to have Willie Bloomquist get thrown out at the plate by 10 feet. If they can do that, they have a hell of a shot to advance.
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