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Braves-Brewers Preview

May 12, 2010 - 5:54 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Atlanta (14-18) at Milwaukee (15-17), 1:10 p.m. EDT

Yovani Gallardo has been one of baseball's best pitchers in recent weeks, but he still sees room for improvement.

The Milwaukee Brewers just hope their ace can do enough to help them end another home losing streak.

Gallardo looks to win his fifth straight start and help Milwaukee avoid its first sweep to the Atlanta Braves in nearly eight years Wednesday.

Gallardo (4-2, 3.07 ERA) has a 1.17 ERA over his last four starts, and recording 10 or more strikeouts in three of those outings. He fanned 10 on Friday to lead the Brewers past Arizona 3-2. However, he wasn't pleased about lasting only five innings - allowing two runs, three hits and four walks - after racking up 103 pitches.

The right-hander is averaging 18 pitches per inning, and has lasted beyond the sixth only twice in his seven starts.

"Obviously I wanted to go a lot deeper in the game," Gallardo told the Brewers' official website. "That's the goal for the starting pitcher, to get as deep as you can."

While it wasn't perfect, Gallardo's performance helped Milwaukee (15-18) finish its 10-game road trip with a sweep in Arizona and a 6-4 mark. That success hasn't carried over at home, where the Brewers are a major league-worst 4-10 after dropping the first two games of this series.

They suffered a season-high fourth straight loss Tuesday night, falling 8-2 as the Braves (15-18) continued to rediscover their offense.

After plating 16 runs in its season-opening victory over the Cubs, Atlanta averaged 3.5 and batted .228 over its next 30 games. The Braves After winning 8-2 in Monday's series opener, the Braves followed with an 11-3 victory that included a season-high 16 hits.

"That's fun to get that many runs," manager Bobby Cox said. "Relax a little bit once in a while."

Rookie phenom Jason Heyward collected two hits in his return to the lineup after missing five starts with a strained groin. Atlanta is 12-5 when Heyward has at least one base hit, and 3-13 in all other games.

Facing Gallardo has proved difficult for the Braves. The Brewers' ace is 2-0 with a 0.81 ERA in his three career starts against Atlanta, including a 4-0 home victory July 25, when he yielded four hits over 7 1-3 innings.

Gallardo is the only Milwaukee pitcher with a win at Miller Park since April 11, having beaten Pittsburgh on April 26.

The Braves will counter with Derek Lowe, who has dropped three of four decisions since a 3-0 start. Lowe (4-3, 6.16) gave up a season-high seven runs and 11 hits in his latest outing, a 7-0 defeat in Philadelphia on Friday.

The right-handed sinkerballer is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in his last two starts against Milwaukee. He allowed two runs over six innings of a 10-2 Atlanta win at Miller Park on July 26.

While the Braves benefited from Heyward's return to the lineup, they scratched Chipper Jones with a sore groin. The third baseman's is status is unknown for Wednesday's game.

Milwaukee, meanwhile, will likely be without slugger Ryan Braun because of a bruised left elbow suffered Monday night when he got hit by a pitch. Braun, batting .359 with 28 RBIs, missed Tuesday's contest and might not return until Friday.

His absence could help Atlanta sweep the Brewers for the first time since July 30-Aug. 1, 2002. The Braves have never swept a series at Miller Park.