The fans at Miller Park were electric and provided the home-field advantage everyone thought they would, but it was a near-perfect performance from Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo who helped the Brew Crew grab a 4-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in game one of the NLDS.
Gallardo pitched eight innings and struck out nine while giving up only four hits and the one run. On the offensive side, it was Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder (who else would it be?) who combined for five of the Brewers’ eight hits on the day.
Prior to Saturday’s win, Gallardo haters were quick to call the guy shaky and that there was a possibility that Arizona could bust open game one and sneak away with a victory, but that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Gallardo looked spectacular while mixing in his curve-ball and slider in what appeared to be a generous strike-zone for both sides.
With the win, Gallardo has now beaten Arizona three times this season and if this series somehow goes to five games, I would fully expect to see Yo in game five.
On the other side, the D-Back’s Ian Kennedy looked good, but not great. With a base open in the seventh inning, Arizona made a huge mistake by pitching to Fielder who went beast-mode on the baseball with a two-run shot to right field. Not sure if it was Kennedy or Arizona Manager Kirk Gibson’s call to pitch to Fielder, but nonetheless it was the wrong call. Fielder yielded the most intentional walks during the regular season for a reason. I don’t expect Arizona to make the same mistake again.
For you Wisconsin fans out there, make sure to take your eyes off the Packers game for just a second on Sunday to see if this Brewers team can take game two and leave for Arizona with a lot of confidence.
I guess I was right about game one, for analysis and predictions on game two and beyond, click here!
Do you think the Brewers have what it takes to win game two or will the D-Backs even the series? Let me know by commenting below!
Nick Grays is a senior writer at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers, Green Bay Packers, and Milwaukee Brewers. He also enjoys to share Fantasy Advice from time-to-time. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best.