Milwaukee's Yovani Gallardo and Colorado's Jeremy Guthrie have been heading in opposite directions since their respective first starts of the season.
The two Opening Day hurlers go toe-to-toe this afternoon when Milwaukee wraps a three-game series with the visiting Rockies.
Gallardo got the call for the Brewers in their first game of the season on April 6 and was blasted for six runs and four homers over 3 2/3 innings of a loss to the Cardinals. However, the righty rebounded to beat the Cubs five days later with seven innings of one-run ball, striking out six.
Gallardo then got a no-decision versus the Dodgers on Tuesday, yielding two runs over seven frames with seven strikeouts to lower his season earned run average to 4.58.
The 26-year-old may struggle to put together a third straight quality start given his history against the Rockies. Gallardo has faced the club seven times, including six starts, and has posted an 0-4 record in that span with a 6.69 ERA. He has been touched for 27 earned runs over 36 1/3 innings with 32 strikeouts to 13 walks.
Things have been going in the opposite direction for Guthrie, who won his Rockies debut back on April 6 on Opening Day versus the Astros, but has allowed 12 runs in two subsequent starts.
He lasted just 3 1/3 frames versus the Giants on April 11, allowing six runs while not factoring into the decision. The 33-year-old righty then battled the Padres -- as well as a sore throat -- on Monday and gutted out seven innings while yielding another six runs on nine hits and two walks in a 7-1 loss.
"He went out there and gave us seven innings," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "He gave us an opportunity to re-solidify our bullpen a little bit. We were able to stay off of a number of guys and kind of get ourselves back in place."
Guthrie, who is pitching to a 7.79 ERA in his three starts, will face the Brewers for the first time.
A series victory is on the line today after the Brewers rebounded from Friday's ninth-inning loss to record a 9-4 victory last night. Alex Gonzalez capped a six-run seventh inning with a three-run homer as Milwaukee snapped a two-game slide.
Ryan Braun added a solo homer and drove in two runs.
Troy Tulowitzki and Todd Helton hit solo homers for the Rockies, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.
"We were involved in another very good game tonight," said Tracy. "But we didn't pitch well in the seventh inning. They had some big hits with two strikes and made us pay. We couldn't stop them."
The Brewers won six of nine versus the Rockies last season, winning four of five at home.
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