Yovani Gallardo has won just twice this season and not since April 6, but luckily for the right-hander one of those victories came against Atlanta.
Gallardo will try to break out of his funk on Tuesday night when his Milwaukee Brewers resume a four-game series with the Braves.
Winless since April 6, Gallardo is 0-2 over his last seven outings and has pitched to a 5.25 earned run average over his previous four appearances. That has dropped the hurler to 2-2 on the season with a 3.07 ERA overall.
Following back-to-back losses, Gallardo did not factor into a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday. He allowed three runs on five hits and two walks over 6 1/3 innings, giving up two homers. The 28-year-old has allowed five home runs over his last four outings.
Gallardo, though, could rebound tonight given he is 5-1 in his career versus the Braves with a 1.79 ERA in eight previous meetings. That includes a victory on March 31, when he threw six scoreless innings of four-hit ball.
Julio Teheran lost to the Brewers and Gallardo on that day and will try to get some revenge tonight. He has lost both of his previous starts against Milwaukee, but gave up just two runs over six innings in the March setback.
The 23-year-old righty also is in a bit of a rut, going 0-2 over his last five outings overall. Teheran had yielded just five runs over the first four games of that winless stretch, but was pounded for five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits and five walks over 3 1/3 frames of a loss at the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.
"He just had a tough time gripping the ball," Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said of Teheran. "I don't know if it was just a lack of humidity or he just couldn't get a good grip on it. He tried to battle through it and just couldn't get it done."
The rough outing dropped Teheran to 2-3 on the year with a 2.20 ERA.
Atlanta won the opener of this four-game series with a 9-3 victory on Monday. Jason Heyward had three hits, scored twice and stole a pair of bases, while the rest of the offense contributed three homers.
Justin Upton hit a two-run shot, while Freddie Freeman and Ryan Doumit had solo homers. Doumit's longball was the 100th of his career.
"It's a cool little milestone," Doumit said of No. 100. "I'm glad to get there. Now I can just relax and play. It's been on my mind a little bit. It's cool, but it's back to business tomorrow."
The Braves recorded a season-high 15 hits in their second straight victory, and Mike Minor allowed two runs on five hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings to notch the win.
Khris Davis cracked a two-run blast and Ryan Braun stroked a solo homer for Milwaukee, which has dropped three in a row. Wily Peralta surrendered three runs -- two earned -- on nine hits and four walks over five frames in defeat.
"You know it's really frustrating," Peralta said of his outing. "We don't want a loss. You go out there as a starting pitcher and you have to set the tone. I wasn't able to go longer. It didn't happen."
Atlanta won two of three over the Brewers in Milwaukee from March 31-April 2.
[SportsNetwork.com]
