video thumbnail

MIL@MIN: Gallardo fans seven Twins through six frames

Toronto and Milwaukee named their starters for Tuesday's meeting less than 24 hours before the first pitch. In Wednesday's finale, the Brewers know they can count on Yovani Gallardo, while the Blue Jays' decision once again came down to the eleventh hour.

The Blue Jays will tap into their Minor League resources and call up right-hander Joel Carreño from Triple-A Las Vegas on Wednesday to make the outing against the Brewers. Carreño has appeared in five games for Toronto this season (one start) and is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA (six earned runs in 12 innings).

In split time between Double-A and Triple-A this season, Carreño is 3-6 with a 5.24 ERA.

He'll go head-to-head with a starter in Gallardo who is very capable of going nine innings himself. In his last start, on June 15, Gallardo held the Twins to three runs on eight hits over six innings.

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said it may have been Gallardo's best outing of the year.

"The location was great," Roenicke said. "The life was great. The off-speed pitches were great. He was really good."

Blue Jays: Bullpen hanging tough
With three starting pitchers going on the disabled list since June 13 -- Brandon Morrow, Kyle Drabek, and Drew Hutchinson -- the Jays are have been forced to rely heavily on their bullpen.

The group has been up to the task, with its 1.54 ERA since June entering Tuesday as the American League's second-best mark behind Seattle. Farrell said limiting walks has been the key to the 'pen's success.

"A lot of strikes," he said. "We've cut down dramatically the number of base on balls we've issued. We've had guys go multiple innings. We've stretched out a couple of guys in some spots to take advantage of their abilities rather than cutting them short on one end based on need.

"There were so many questions and so much talk [about] how do guys respond to this. Well, in their case, the bullpen has responded extremely well."

Brewers: Weeks figuring things out
Rickie Weeks has hit safely in four straight games -- a welcome sign after the 2011 All-Star's ice-cold start to the season. Weeks hit just .158 through April and May.

"He's tough, but no matter how mentally tough you are, it still gets to you," Roenicke said. "He's a professional, he goes about his job the right way, and when you work that hard at something that you do so well, you can't just say, 'It's going to turn sometime, so I'll just go about my job as normal as possible.'

"[Frustration] is in there, and the longer it goes, it's in there. But he's not going to let on anything. Even behind closed doors, he doesn't let on."

Weeks' .264 average this month is much more consistent with his career rate.

"He's a lot better," Roenicke said. "He's on that path to being that guy I saw last year."

• Catcher Jonathan Lucroy will have the cast removed from his right hand on Wednesday. Doctors will follow that with an X-ray to determine the state of a fractured bone below his pinkie finger, suffered on May 27.

Lucroy may soon be catching bullpen sessions, but he won't be allowed to hit until the bone is completely healed.

Worth noting

• Tuesday's result ended a string of seven straight victories by Milwaukee against Toronto.

• Though the two teams now only meet via Interleague Play, the Brewers joined Toronto in the American League East from 1977-93.

MLB.com Comments