Diamondbacks-Brewers preview
MILWAUKEE -- Matt Garza hopes to get back on track Tuesday when he takes the mound against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second of a four-game series at Miller Park. Garza has struggled since joining the team following a lengthy run on the disabled list and is 1-4 with a 9.08 ERA in his last five starts. He pitched better his last time out, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits and a pair of walks while striking out three over five innings of work against the Pirates but was done in by one pitch -- a first-inning, three-run home run by Matt Joyce. "They say this game is a game of inches," Garza said. "It broke right two inches (and was a) homer. If it breaks left two inches, he jams himself and pops it up." Milwaukee will be hoping to get some length out of Garza, who hasn't worked longer than 5 1/3 innings in his last four starts and hasn't gone deeper than six innings yet this season. "I feel horrible because I'm not a five (innings) and done guy," Garza said. "I can go deep. I like to keep pitching." Garza has been one of the only Brewers pitchers to have any kind of success against Arizona first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, whose three-hit effort Monday improved his career average to .434 against the Brewers and .518 at Miller Park. But he's just 2-for-15 in his career against Garza, with three strikeouts and five walks. The Diamondbacks will need a big night from Goldschmidt and the rest of the offense as Patrick Corbin tries to snap a three-game losing streak. Since earning his last victory June 21, Corbin has gone 0-3 with a 7.50 ERA in his last five starts. He allowed nine hits and two walks his last time out, but of the six runs he gave up in Arizona's 10-4 loss, only three were earned though two came on a first inning Josh Donaldson home run. "Left the ball out over the plate to Donaldson and he hit it out," manager Chip Hale said. "Second, third, fourth innings, really got ahead in the count, threw a lot of first-pitch strikes and controlled the zone. I thought he really pitched well." Corbin missed all of the 2014 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery but posted a 3.16 ERA in 16 starts after he returned late last season. But he's yet to find his comfort zone in 2016, going 4-9 with a 5.23 ERA in 20 starts. "I've looked at video a bunch and haven't seen anything mechanically," Corbin said. "Just the results aren't there. I'm trying to get better and working on things in between starts. Hopefully can figure something out." Only four players on the Brewers' current roster have faced Corbin. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy is 5-for-8 with a double and a walk in his career while Ryan Braun has one hit -- a home run -- and Hernan Perez is 1-for-3 with a double. Outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis has drawn a pair of walks in his only two plate appearances against Corbin. |