Game #4: Diamondbacks @ Brewers

Wade Miley LHP, 0-0, N/A

Kyle Lohse RHP, 0-0, N/A

D-backs line-up:

1. Gerardo Parra, RF
2. Martin Prado, 3B
   
3. Aaron Hill, 2B
   
4. Miguel Montero, C
   
5. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
   
6. Jason Kubel, LF
   
7. A.J. Pollock, CF
   
8. Cliff Pennington, SS
   
9. Wade Miley, P

Miley doesn't seem to benefit too much from pitching away from Chase: indeed, his career ERA is a quarter-run lower at home than when he's on the road. He has one start at Miller Park, on the last day of June 2012, and it didn't go too well, to say the least, as he was clubbed for eight earned runs and didn't get through the third inning. His other outing, at Chase, saw him tagged for five runs in six innings, though two of those were unearned. Unsurprisingly, Miley's career numbers against current Brewers aren't good, with a .333/.389/.727, led by Ryan* Braun*, who is 2-for-5* with both hits* being homers*. Yep, expect a lot of asterisks this series...

Lohse, on the other hand, pitched very well against us last season, allowing one run in 11.2 innings over a pair of starts, though got a no-decision in the game where he didn't allow a run. Still, this winter, Lohse couldn't get a job to save his life, due to the change in the CBA which meant whoever signed him would have had to forfeit a high draft pick. This resulted in a really weird off-season, summed up by this:

Everything unraveled on March 22, the day he threw a 95-pitch simulated game against the Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes. That was strange enough. When the "opposing pitcher" turned out to be a Korean billionaire trying to break into American baseball, Lohse slipped into bizarro world. "This guy is out there throwing 45 mph knuckleballs," he said. "He had an agent there, cameras following him around. He had his own dude massaging him between innings. It was really hard for me to concentrate. I'm looking around thinking, 'What in the world is going on here?' I kept waiting for Ashton Kutcher to walk out and tell me I was being punk'd."

The Brewers finally took pity on him, but so late in the season that, as ZM already noted, he managed only one spring start against "proper" opposition. Just so long as the Diamondbacks do better than the Fighting Artichokes of SCC. Looks like our new arrivals this winter are primed to do well, with Martin Prado and the two Erics (Hinske and Chavez) all hitting .316 or better, in more than 15 AB. Odd, then, knowing Gibby's fondness for match-ups, that only Prado is playing today. Collectively, current Arizona hitters are .315 /.380 /.461, though that does include those not in the line-up.

'charmer on the reca... Nope, it's actually Clefo, for baby-shower related reasons. Meanwhile, he won't be around tomorrow, so I'll be covering him there. Just so you know. If you're looking for some more reading, swing over to Brew Crew Ball, where they just posted their preview of the series, in which I answer some probing questions about the D-backs and their hopes and fears for this season.