Yovani Gallardo dominated the Diamondbacks today, and the Brewers took a 1-0 series lead with a 4-1 victory in Milwaukee. Gallardo was the star of the day, as he threw eight innings of one run ball, allowing just four hits and walking one. Gallardo struck out nine in the game, which tied Don Sutton for the most in a single game in Brewers playoff history. Arizona got their one run in the eighth inning on a solo homer by Ryan Roberts.
Milwaukee pushed across two runs early in the game. Ryan Braun scored on a sac fly by Jerry Hairston Jr (starting in place of Casey McGehee) after moving to third on a Prince Fielder double. Their second run came in the six, when Jonathan Lucroy hit a flare into left field that fell in between Gerardo Parra and Willie Bloomquist to score Yuniesky Betancourt, who tripled to left with two outs in a ball that was misplayed by Parra in left. The final two Brewers runs came courtesy of a Prince Fielder homer in the seventh, his second career in the playoffs.
But the story was Gallardo. He only faced 28 batters in his eight innings of work, and threw first pitch strikes to 16 of them. After Roberts’ homer in the eighth cut the Brewers lead to 4-1, Gallardo struck out the next three hitters on a total of 13 pitches.
Ian Kennedy didn’t pitch badly for the Diamondbacks for the first five innings, but he started to tire after that. Through the first five, Kennedy had just allowed one run on four hits, one walk, and two strikeouts. But in those final two innings, he only got five outs, allowed four hits (three extra bse) and three runs to put a nail in his coffin for the game. His final line for the game: 6 2/3 innings, eight hits, four runs, one walk, and three strikeouts. Not a bad effort, but not nearly enough to match Gallardo.
Game two will be tomorrow at 5:07 PM, and Daniel Hudson will take on Zack Greinke. Both men are making their postseason debuts.
