

Records at Glance: Brewers: 41-31, 1st NL Central; Royals: 29-44, 5th AL Central
TV: FSN Wisconsin
Radio: 620 WTMJ

Jorge De La Rosa, LHP (4-7, 5.23)

Jeff Suppan, RHP (7-7, 4.69)
Scouting Report
Royals: De La Rosa had another shaky outing on June 16 against the Marlins, allowing seven runs and a season-high 13 hits in 4 2/3 innings. This time, walks weren't the problem -- he issued one free pass, but it was intentional and didn't factor in the scoring. But he was in the middle of the plate all night, yielding a two-run and a four-run inning. He has worked fewer than five innings in four of his past five starts and hasn't resembled the pitcher who threw five quality starts in the first six weeks of the season. Manager Buddy Bell has contemplated shaking up the rotation, but De La Rosa is the man for now. He will pitch on the road in his next start, a much better venue (3.96 ERA) than home (6.34). He will also pitch against the Brewers, a team he pitched for from 2004 until his trade to the Royals last season. This will be his first career start against Milwaukee.
Brewers: Suppan was spared the loss when the Brewers rallied for a ninth-inning tie against the Twins, but it was nonetheless his worst outing as a Brewer. Suppan surrendered nine runs for the first time since last July in Atlanta, and 10 hits for the first time since Aug. 4, 2005. The outing continued a downward trend for Suppan, who signed a club-record four-year contract in the offseason and began his Brewers career 5-2 with a 2.63 ERA and nine walks in his first seven starts spanning 48 innings. In the 48 innings since, spanning eight starts, Suppan is 2-6 with a 6.75 ERA and 23 walks. He pitched for Kansas City from 1998-02.
Royals Probable Lineup:
CF David DeJesus
LF Joey Gathright
RF Mark Teahen
C John Buck
3B Alex Gordon
1B Ryan Shealy
2B Fernando Cortez
SS Tony Pena Jr
P Jorge De La Rosa
Brewers Probable Lineup:
RF Corey Hart
SS Tony Graffanino
3B Ryan Braun
1B Prince Fielder
CF Bill Hall
C Johnny Estrada
LF Kevin Mench
2B Rickie Weeks
P Jeff Suppan
Captain Erv's Thoughts: Coming off a nice sweep over the Giants, the Brewers will look to continue their winning ways against the Kansas City Royals. We really need to keep the peddle to the medal here and continue to win games and series that we should win. De La Rosa makes his first visit to Milwaukee since being traded...Let's give him a nice welcome home beating!