Brewers Set for Opening Day

Friday afternoon Miller Park will play host to the Milwaukee Brewers 2012 season opener against the NL Central rival and reigning World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. The two teams last meeting was during last season's NLCS.

Although Friday's game opens the season for Milwaukee, St. Louis began their season with a win Wednesday night against the Miami Marlins.

Yovani Gallardo will take the mound Friday for the Brewers, and Jaime Garcia will get the nod for the Cardinals.

While no official lineups have been announced, expect to see Jonathan Lucroy catching Gallardo, Matt Gamel at first, Rickie Weeks on second, Alex Gonzalez at shortstop, Aramis Ramirez on third, and Ryan Braun, Carlos Gomez, and Corey Hart rounding out the outfield.

Both teams are opening their season missing last year's slugging first basemen, Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols.

Yo to the Rescue

The Milwaukee Brewers finally scraped out their first win of the 2011 MLB season last night in a 1-0 win over the Atlanta Braves.

Yovani Gallardo was undoubtedly the hero of the game, pitching a complete game shutout, giving up just 2 hits and scoring the sole run for the Brewers.

Gallardo became the first Brewer pitcher in history to throw a complete game shutout and score the only run of the game, and is the first player in the MLB to accomplish the feat since Pete Harnisch of the Houston Astros did it in 1991.

The Brewers face the Braves again tonight at 7. Marco Estrada takes the mound for the Brewers facing Mike Minor. Both are making their first starts of the season.

Brewers Find Their Groove

The Brewers beat the Pirates 20 to 0 (yes 20) Thursday to complete the sweep against Pittsburgh. The win tied the Brewer record for largest margin of victory, and is a Brewer record for the largest shutout victory in team history. The Brewers also set a club record by leading by 8 runs in four straight games, going back to the final game of the Nationals series.

This three game series against the Pirates was an offensive explosion for the Brewers. In the series Milwaukee outscored Pittsburgh 36-1. The Crew amassed 46 hits, which included 25 extra-base hits (8 home runs).

Several Brewers saw huge production during this series. Ryan Braun went 7-11, hitting 2 home runs and collecting 8 RBI's. Prince Fielder ended a 15 at-bat streak without a hit and finally hit his first home run of the season. Alcides Escobar had arguably the best series of his young career, going 6-14 which included back-to-back triples.

Pitching was also big for the Brewers, as all three starters threw shutouts, the lone run coming from relief pitching. The Brewers starters (Dave Bush, Yovani Gallardo, and Randy Wolf) threw a combined 18 shutout innings. Currently the Brewers have gone 19 innings without surrendering a run.

This series sweep allowed the Brewers to go back above .500, improving their record to 8-7.

The momentum gained in Pittsburgh is vital as the Brewers return home for a series against the rival Cubs.

Brewers Lock Down Gallardo

Yovani Gallardo will be wearing a Brewer jersey for at least the next three seasons.

This morning he signed a five year contract extension that runs through 2014, with a no-trade clause over the first three season.

The new contract guarantees Gallardo $30.1 million, which could grow to $42.5 million depending on an interesting contract clause concerning the 2015 season.

This clause is based on a points system, where in Gallardo can earn points on his way to being a free agent for the 2015 season. For this to happen, Gallardo must earn 6 points. Points can be earned by winning the Cy Young Award (5 points), finishing second in the balloting (3 points), and finishing third in the balloting (1 point).

The no-trade clause of the contract exists until 2013, when Gallardo has the option to submit a 10-team list to the Brewers if he desires a trade.

Signing Gallardo is huge for the Crew. He is very young (24) and is coming off a huge 2009 season after sitting out most of 2008 with a torn ACL.

In 2009 Gallardo went 13-12 with a 3.73 ERA. During the season he also became the fourth Brewer in history to throw 200 strikeouts.

Gallardo was excited about the new contract, saying:

"It's a great feeling knowing I'm going to be here for the next five years. Growing up, me and my parents never dreamed of this amount. It hasn't really settled in yet. I try not to show too much emotion, but it's great."

"It sets up my son more than anything. It sets him up for college or whatever he wants to do. That's the No. 1 thing."

By signing Gallardo the Brewers have extended contracts for two young stars through at least 2014. (Last year the Crew signed Ryan Braun through 2015).

Braun was pleased as well with the new contract, saying:

"I'm excited. First and foremost, I'm excited for Yovani. He deserves it, and I know that the financial security is a great thing. That's something I can relate to. I'm excited to be with him for at least the next five years.