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Gallardo tosses five-hitter to cap sweep
MILWAUKEE — Through 5 1/3 innings on Thursday, Yovani Gallardo was perfect. After nine innings, the Brewers ace had turned in the best pitching performance of his career.
Gallardo (7-3) even had two hits of his own before allowing any Thursday as the Brewers beat the Twins, 5-0, to complete a three-game sweep at Miller Park. It was the first Milwaukee sweep of Minnesota since 1996, and the first one at home since 1995.
Entering the sixth, Gallardo was four innings away from becoming the third pitcher in the Majors this season and the first in Brewers history to toss a perfecto. Two batters later, an opposite-field single to right by Twins catcher Drew Butera broke up the perfect game.
In the end, Gallardo still tossed his third career complete game and second career shutout while tying his career high with 12 strikeouts. Gallardo, who tossed 122 pitches, gave up just five hits and did not walk a batter for the first time since April 24, 2009, at Houston.
“That was a pretty awesome display of pitching today,” Brewers manager Ken Macha said. “No walks, so that’s an indication what his command was. Twelve strikeouts, only five hits. Pretty awesome. And on top of that, he starts the [four-run, third-inning] rally with a double.”
Scoring runs in his at-bats in the third and fourth, Gallardo helped the Brewers provide more than enough offense against Twins starter Nick Blackburn (6-5), who lasted just 3 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs on five hits, walking three and striking out two.
Gallardo’s one-out double in the third led to a four-run inning for the Brewers, featuring two-run home runs by Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder.
“We played good baseball today,” Gallardo said. “We were able to get some runs up there early and get some big hits.
“I’m just going up there trying to help myself out and get on base.”
Amid the excitement of Gallardo’s outing, second baseman Weeks extended his hitting streak to six games with a two-run home run — his 12th of the season — in the third while adding a walk and single in the fourth and sixth innings.
Fielder followed Weeks’ home run with a two-run blast of his own two batters later, his 14th of the season. Despite entering the game batting just a combined 2-for-13 against Blackburn, Fielder and Weeks took advantage of some mistakes by the Minnesota righty.
Macha said he planned to ask bench coach Willie Randolph after the sixth inning if he’d seen a perfect game in his career, but that was before Butera’s single broke up the bid for perfection.
While Gallardo said it was too early to think about it, Fielder acknowledged that it was easy to realize what was going on.
“I don’t know about the perfect game, but you look up there [at the scoreboard] and you saw no hits,” Fielder said. “You knew he was doing well. So, I just wanted him to keep it up regardless of what happens. I just wanted him to keep throwing like he was.”
Though Gallardo allowed five hits over the final four innings, he continued to impress. After striking out just five batters through five innings, Gallardo tallied seven strikeouts in the last four. Nine of Gallardo’s 12 strikeouts came over the final five innings.
Gallardo recorded his eighth career double-digit strikeout performance and his fifth of the season. The last time Gallardo had 12 strikeouts in a game was July 1, 2009.
Over his past six starts, Gallardo has allowed six earned runs on 29 hits in 44 innings of work. Gallardo’s ERA over that stretch is just 1.23, while he’s averaged one earned run on just under five hits per game.
“My command is getting a lot better,” Gallardo said of his recent success. “I’m able to throw my curveball for strikes, slider, changeup, and just mix everything in. … It makes a huge difference.”
Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, who was the only batter to hit safely twice in the game for Minnesota, was impressed by what he saw from Gallardo.
“He was definitely tough,” Morneau said. “He’s got a lot of late life on his fastball. The breaking ball is pretty good, [but] I think his best pitch is the fastball. That sets up everything else. It’s hard enough where you can’t just look offspeed and catch up to it. It’s pretty good.”
The Brewers’ sweep was their first of three or more games against the Twins since May 17-20, 1996, at the Metrodome and the first in Milwaukee since Aug. 24-27, 1995, at County Stadium.
Additionally, the club matched a season high with four consecutive victories, which it has done once previously in 2010, when it took the series finale at Washington and swept the Pirates in Pittsburgh from April 18-22.
Milwaukee also earned its third sweep of the season and its first at home. With six more home games to follow and 13 in their next 17 overall, the Brewers appear poised to make a run at getting back to the .500 mark.
“It’s big for us,” Gallardo said of the sweep. “We’ve got a great team here. It’s just a matter of getting things together, and we showed that these three games here at home. Hopefully we can continue it.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Brewers beat 5/29
No worries about Gallardo’s pitch count
MILWAUKEE — A day after he pitched his first career shutout, Yovani Gallardo remained a topic of conversation in manager Ken Macha’s pregame media session.
Gallardo, who kept the Mets off the board all night while scattering eight hits, impressed all those in attendance on Friday night, including his manager.
“Last night, that’s as good as I’ve seen him throw, ever,” Macha said.
One of the concerns brought up about Gallardo, though, was the high pitch total in the game. Gallardo threw 121 pitches over nine innings, marking his third game in May that he’s thrown 120 or more pitches.
It was the first of the three in which Gallardo has gone nine innings, however, with the other two outings being 121 pitches over seven innings in a win at San Diego and 120 deliveries over six innings in a no-decision at Cincinnati.
With the length of the outing in mind, and the fact that Gallardo had a chance at his first career shutout, Macha was not worried about letting his pitch count go over 120 for the third time in less than a month.
“If I’d have taken him out of the game, there were probably 31,000 people here that would have had me on the rail, tarred and feathered,” Macha said. “The 120 pitches, that was over nine innings, instead of being like seven. Those other ones were shorter.”
Kottaras moved up to second in order
MILWAUKEE — Upon learning he had been moved up to the No. 2 spot in the Brewers’ lineup, even George Kottaras was surprised by the decision.
“I did? They changed the lineup?” Kottaras asked. “I came in and they had me batting eighth.”
Kottaras, who has become the team’s No. 1 catcher since Gregg Zaun went on the disabled list a week ago, has just a .224 batting average. But his on-base percentage is more than 200 points higher, at an impressive .425.
Despite originally listing him eighth, manager Ken Macha, after further consideration, swapped Kottaras with center fielder Carlos Gomez, who batted seventh.
“His on-base percentage is .425,” Macha said, referring to Kottaras. “I think he’s done a great job in the eighth spot getting a lot of walks and turning the lineup over quite a bit. … So we’ll see how this works out. George’s got some power, maybe he’ll get some balls to hit and hit some home runs too.”
Kottaras hit a solo home run in the second inning on Saturday.
When asked about the last time he had batted as high as second in the lineup, Kottaras recalled the exact game.
“I had just gotten traded from San Diego to Boston [in September 2006],” Kottaras said. “We went to the Double-A playoffs and they batted me second. I went 2-for-4, I had a home run and I stole a base.”
Vargas designated for assignment
MILWAUKEE — While much of the pregame discussion centered around his replacement, right-handed reliever Claudio Vargas received some well wishes from Brewers manager Ken Macha.
Vargas, who re-signed with the Brewers during the offseason after being traded from the Dodgers before last year’s deadline, was designated for assignment on Saturday as the Brewers needed to make room on the roster for lefty Chris Capuano.
Through 17 appearances on the season, Vargas is 1-0 with a 7.32 ERA in 19 2/3 innings. Vargas struggled to keep opposing hitters off base, sporting a 1.932 WHIP.
With Vargas likely headed elsewhere, Macha was hopeful for his future.
“He’s a terrific person,” Macha said. “It’s a little bit of a sad day. If he wants to continue playing, I hope he winds up catching on with somebody.”
Worth noting
The Brewers and Mets honored the Negro Leagues on Saturday night by wearing uniforms worn by the Milwaukee Bears and New York Cubans. … The Brewers have won consecutive games in walk-off fashion for the first time since June 17-18, 2006, vs. Cleveland. … The last Brewers walk-off home run that resulted in a shutout victory also came that season when Geoff Jenkins hit a solo home run to to give the Brewers a 1-0 win over St. Louis on Sept. 20, 2006. … The shutout Friday by Yovani Gallardo was the Brewers’ first since Ben Sheets shut out San Diego on Sept 6, 2008, and the first complete game since Gallardo’s on April 24, 2009, at Houston. … Brewers pitchers tied a franchise record Friday with their ninth consecutive game without allowing a home run. The starting pitchers also tied a record for 12 games without allowing a homer in a season. Both records were established in 1976. … The Brewers are the only team in the Majors to have not given up a home run since May 19.
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Brewers recap 5/28
Walk-off homer caps Gallardo’s shutout
MILWAUKEE — If ever there were a game that could turn the Brewers’ season around, Yovani Gallardo pitched it Friday night against the Mets.
But it wouldn’t have happened without right fielder Corey Hart, who crushed a 1-1 offering from Ryota Igarashi into the bullpen in left for the 2-0 victory and the Brewers’ second walk-off win in two nights at Miller Park.
Gallardo (5-2) delivered an absolute gem of a performance, pitching his first career shutout and second career complete game. As he scattered eight hits and struck out seven while walking one, Gallardo outlasted one of the best lefties in the game in Johan Santana.
Gallardo dialed up the velocity as high as 94 mph in the ninth, but he credited his ability to stay relaxed on the mound for getting him through a 121-pitch complete game.
“Not trying to overthrow is the main thing for me,” Gallardo said. “We all know I have that tendency to try to do a little bit too much in certain situations. But I was able to stay under control and make pitches whenever I needed.”
In his last three outings, Gallardo settled for no-decisions, despite going six innings in each and giving up an average of just over two runs per game.
But Gallardo was not the only one who pitched well on the night. Santana threw eight scoreless innings for the Mets, giving up just three hits and two walks while walking five.
After throwing 105 pitches, Santana was pulled in the ninth in favor of the Mets’ bullpen.
“Once he had doubled, [and] fought through the eighth, I didn’t think it would be a good move,” Mets manager Jerry Manuel said of leaving Santana in for the ninth, with Prince Fielder up to bat. “Fielder, I thought he was seeing it pretty good, anyway. I didn’t want to chance him losing that ballgame after the way he had performed.”
For the Brewers’ hitters, the end of Santana’s night was a welcome sight.
“Obviously he’s been known to throw upwards of 120 pitches, and I don’t think he was that high,” Hart said. “For us, it was a little comforting to get a few new guys in there to see if we could handle those guys.”
Hart’s home run was his team-leading 10th of the season, but much like Gallardo would not have gotten the shutout victory without his homer, Hart wouldn’t have even batted in the ninth had it not been for the hustle of Ryan Braun two batters earlier.
Braun grounded a ball up the middle and beat it out for a one-out infield single. Following him was third baseman Casey McGehee, who popped out to the first baseman for the second out of the inning.
“Give Brauny some credit,” Brewers manager Ken Macha said. “He hits that ball up the middle and runs it out. Otherwise, it’d have been our third out [and] it would’ve turned the inning over. [But] then Corey gets a pitch to win the game.”
Gallardo’s last complete game, a 5-2 win for the Brewers over the Astros, came on April 24, 2009. Its significance is much higher, however, when considering no Brewers pitcher had gone the distance since.
According to Macha, it was Gallardo’s command of his fastball that helped him last all nine innings, as it got him out of several tough situations.
In the fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings, Gallardo ended the inning with a strikeout, with the last three looking. Each time, Gallardo ended the inning with a fastball.
“He was throwing everything for strikes,” catcher George Kottaras said. “Throwing that velocity in the late innings is impressive as well, but … it’s also how he got to those pitches in those sequences. He was throwing his breaking ball and his changeup for strikes … and just kept them guessing.”
A few times in the Brewers’ recent slump, Macha has talked about not being able to get over the hump. In doing so, he referenced that when one thing went right, another went wrong.
Friday night, despite the lack of offense, the Brewers played as well as they have all season.
As great as Gallardo’s pitching was, the defense behind him bailed him out in a few tough spots, turning double plays in the third and the eighth innings. The first, which started with second baseman Rickie Weeks, ended the inning after the Mets had the bases loaded with none out one batter earlier.
In the eighth, the Brewers went around the horn to get the first two outs of the inning and save a run, as Santana batted next and crushed a double to the gap in right.
With so much going right in a thrilling win, they may have finally gotten over the hump.
“Those guys are pretty excited in there,” Macha said, referring to his players in the clubhouse. “It should do a lot of things as far as getting people over the hump.”
Jordan Schelling is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Recap 4/10
Gallardo struggles in first start after contract
By Jordan Schelling MLB.com
A Schelling For Your Thoughts 