Royals (29-44) @ Brewers (41-31) - Series Preview

The Brewers continue their nine-game homestand with their last interleague series of the year. The Royals visit Miller Park for the first time since 2001. Last year, the Royals took two of three from the Brewers in Kansas City. The Royals once again find themselves in last place in the AL Central. Journal Sentinel columnist Michael Hunt writes about how the Brewers have separated themselves this year from being a perennial loser like the Royals.

It's big weekend for promotions at Miller Park. Friday will be the continuing series of 1982 bobbleheads and this week the player is pitcher Mike Caldwell. Saturday is the second-annual Negro Leagues tribute game and the first 15,000 fans will get a Milwaukee Bears hat. During the game, the Brewers will wear Milwaukee Bears uniforms and the Royals will wear Kansas City Monarchs uniforms. In connection with the Negro Leagues tribute, the Negro League Baseball Museum's "Times of Greatness" Tour will be at Miller Park Friday and Saturday. The final game of the series on Sunday will feature another bobblehead which will be Bill Hall.

Also, this tidbit from the Brewers website, "Taking place throughout the weekend at Miller Park is the Northwestern Mutual Brewers Drive for Charity. Jeff Suppan and Northwestern Mutual invite fans to drop off any non-perishable food items at the ballpark from the time the gates open through the second inning. Each person to donate an item will receive a Jeff Suppan Collectors Brewers pin."

Pitching match ups:

Friday - 7:05 PM CDT:

LHP Jorge De La Rosa (4-8, 5.33) vs. RHP Jeff Suppan (7-7, 4.69)

De La Rosa is obviously someone that many Brewers' fans will remember from his time with the Crew. He was traded to the Royals last year for Tony Graffanino. De La Rosa spent time as a starter and reliever with the Brewers and struggled with his command. Since joining the Royals, De La Rosa has solely been a starter. After starting the season strong, De La Rosa has seen his ERA go up almost two runs since May 18th. Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star writes that De La Rosa needs to calm down during his starts in order to get back on track. One positive about De La Rosa's season so far is his walk rate. This year, De La Rosa has 29 walks in 82 2/3 innings compared to last year when he has 54 walks in 79 innings pitched. De La Rosa's last outing was actually in relief as he gave up a walk-off home run in the 14th inning against the Cardinals Wednesday in St. Louis. He only threw five pitches in that outing. The only Brewer to face the southpaw in his career is Craig Counsell who is 0-1 against De La Rosa.

Suppan will be looking to get back on track Friday as he faces another one of his former teams. Last time out for Suppan, he was rocked by the Twins up at the Metrodome. Suppan was charged with nine runs and gave up ten hits in four and two thirds innings. He has not had a quality start since May 27th against the Padres. Suppan is 1-2 with a 8.22 ERA in four June starts. Lefties are hitting .331 against Suppan in 2007. Suppan is 1-3 with a 5.61 ERA against the Royals in six career appearances, five of which were starts. Emil Brown is 3-9 lifetime against Suppan.

Saturday - 6:05 PM CDT:

RHP Brian Bannister (4-3, 3.21) vs. RHP Dave Bush (4-6, 5.48)

Bannister was acquired via a trade with the Mets over this past offseason. Last season was Bannister first in the big leagues. He faced the Brewers once last year and beat them by throwing five innings and giving up one run. Geoff Jenkins was 2-3 against Bannister in that game and J.J. Hardy had a home run against the righty. Bannister started this season at Triple A Omaha and was brought up in late April. Since then, Bannister has been solid for the Royals. He has not given up more than four earned runs in any start this year in the bigs. Last time out for Bannister, he gave up runs in six innings against the Marlins and was able to pick up his fourth win of the season.

Bush finally back on the winning track in his last start against the Twins. He pitched six and a third innings and gave up two runs in his fourth win of the season, his first since May 8th. It was also Bush's first quality start since May 30th against the Braves. Bush's ERA for the month of June is the best of any month so far this year at 4.86. Righties are hitting Bush pretty well this year with a batting average of .326 while lefties are hitting just .243 against Bush. The righty from Wake Forest is 2-0 with a 4.70 ERA in four career starts against the Royals. John Buck is 5-8 with two RBI in his career against Bush.

Sunday - 1:05 PM CDT

LHP Odalis Perez (4-7, 6.06) vs. RHP Yovani Gallardo (1-0, 4.26)

Perez was solid in his last start against the Cardinals. He went six innings and gave up three runs in a win. In the start before that also against the Cardinals, Perez was rocked for seven runs, six earned in only three innings of work. The last two starts demonstrate that this has been an up and down season for Perez. In four starts in June, Perez is 2-2 with a 7.45 ERA. Righties are hitting .335 against Perez. However, Geoff Jenkins might get a start Sunday as he is 4-7 with a homer against Perez in his career. The southpaw is 3-0 with a 2.97 ERA in five career starts against the Brewers.

In his first major league start on Monday, Gallardo picked up a win over the Giants. Gallardo pitched six and a third innings and gave up three runs and four hits. He walked three and struck out four. Also, in his first career at-bat, he doubled home a run. It remains to be seen what happens to Gallardo when Chris Capuano comes from the DL. Capuano is getting closer to throwing off a mound but will not come off the DL Sunday which is the first day he is eligible to return.