Many Parra is replacing Dave Bush in the Brewers rotation for this start, which makes sense since Parra has had success against them and St. Louis struggles with left-handers.
Milwaukee Brewers
left-hander Manny Parra gets the start in this prime-time game against the St. Louis Cardinals
instead of right-hander Dave Bush, and it's not hard to figure out why.
The Cardinals rank 14th in the National League in hitting vs. left-handed pitching with a .243 team batting average and just a .679 OPS, while they are one of the best teams in the league vs. righties.
Also, Bush is 2-6 with a 6.45 ERA in nine career starts against St. Louis including 0-3 with a 10.57 ERA at Busch Stadium compared to Parra
, who is 2-1 with a 2.97 ERA in 12 games, including 10 starts, against the Cardinals and is 2-0 with a 2.86 ERA in five starts at Busch Stadium.
Looking at these numbers, it's pretty obvious why Parra is getting the call. Stephen Strasburg makes his long-awaited MLB debut for the Nats in a few days, but add Jaime Garcia's name to the list of rookies that Strasburg will be trying to best.
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Garcia
has done very little wrong this season as the Cards fifth starter, but he's starting to see some teams for the second time, and the first time he saw the Brewers was his first start of the season back on April 10 and this is a team that has gone on a scoring tear since then and are now the second-highest run-scoring team in the NL.
With the betting odds on Milwaukee set at a hefty +210, take the Brewers.
Free Pick:
Brewers +210