MILWAUKEE — Shaun Marcum thinks people really want to see two aces face off in Game 7 with the NL pennant on the line. He can go a long way to forcing that matchup with a strong effort today.
Marcum will get the ball for Milwaukee when it faces Edwin Jackson and St. Louis in the league championship series, with the Brewers trailing 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. If the Brewers win, Yovani Gallardo would pitch against Chris Carpenter on Monday night.
“I think I’m on the bandwagon with everybody in here, probably everybody in the country that wants to see Yo versus Carp in Game 7,” Marcum said. “I’m going to try to get the ball to Yo.”
This series has been more about what comes next on the mound.
St. Louis has taken the lead in every game of the series, and the Cardinals’ bullpen is 2-0 with a 1.66 ERA in 21 2/3 innings over the first five games. Manager Tony La Russa has made 23 pitching changes, using all eight of his relievers.
“In the end, players decide, pitchers decide who plays,” La Russa said. “We’re all basically reading basically the same. We just have different weapons. When you watch the game tomorrow, the players will decide.
“Edwin’s going to decide how far he goes. It depends on how he’s pitching. I don’t go in thinking let’s get 5 1/3 from him. I don’t think anything. I just watch the game.”
Milwaukee won a major-league-best 57 times at home during the regular season, and four more in the postseason. But St. Louis won the most recent one at Miller Park and needs one of the next two for its 18th NL pennant.
Milwaukee also set a franchise record with 96 wins this season, six more than the Cardinals, but the NL Central champions are on the brink of elimination because starters have stumbled.
No one has been worse than Marcum, who has given up 30 runs in his last 33 innings dating to September. He allowed five runs in four innings in a 12-3 loss in Game 2 and is 0-2 with a 12.46 ERA in the postseason.
Marcum said he feels fine physically. Manager Ron Roenicke has mapped out a plan if Marcum struggles early, but ruled out Gallardo.
“This is definitely the biggest game of my career, probably all the guys in the clubhouse too, except for the few that have won the World Series,” Marcum said. “Definitely a big game, but it’s baseball. It’s another game. You just got to take it at that. We can’t put too much pressure on ourselves.”
