(Sports Network) – After back-to-back seasons with over 90 losses there
weren’t many people who were picking the Arizona Diamondbacks to win the
National League West this season.

But that’s exactly what happened, as Arizona returns to the postseason for the
first time since 2007 and opens the best-of-five National League Division
Series on Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.

Arizona lost 97 games last season and was an afterthought heading into this
year. However, the team took on the identity of manager Kirk Gibson, got
terrific seasons from an emerging ace in Ian Kennedy and a burgeoning
superstar in Justin Upton and easily claimed the fifth division title in team
history, finishing a comfortable eight games in front of the defending world
champion San Francisco Giants.

“We finished a great regular season,” Gibson said. “The team came together
well, we’re healthy, and now we’ve got some decisions to make to see how we’re
going to attack the Brewers.”

Gibson’s crew battled the Brewers for the second seed in the National League
up until the season’s final day before Milwaukee finally emerged.

While securing home-field for the first round was an important goal for both
Milwaukee and Arizona, it was even more important for the Brewers, who set a
franchise record by going 57-24 at Miller Park this season.

“It’s special, said Ryan Braun. “We recognize that we’re a really tough team
to beat here. It’s a huge advantage for us to know that we have home-field
advantage, at least for the first round. It was definitely a goal of ours from
the beginning of the year.”

The Brewers were a trendy pick in NL Central entering the year thanks to the
acquisitions of Shaun Marcum and Zach Greinke, After a rough start to the year
Milwaukee began to separate itself from the pack and claimed its first
division title since winning the American League East in 1982, the same year
of the team’s last and only trip to the World Series.

Milwaukee is back in the postseason for the first time since 2007 and only the
fourth time in team history.

Arizona won four of its seven meetings with the Diamondbacks this past season.

LINEUP

The Brewers are led by a pair of NL MVP candidates in outfielder Ryan Braun
and first baseman and pending free agent Prince Fielder.

Braun has become one of the best right-handed sluggers in the game and
finished the year second in batting at .332. He also hit 33 home runs with 111
RBI, 109 runs scored and stole 30 bases.

Fielder caught some heat late in the year for alluding to the fact that this
is probably his last year with the Brewers, but he produced yet another great
season, playing in every game and hitting at least 35 home runs with 120 RBI
for a sixth straight season.

Second baseman Rickie Weeks suffered what could have been a season-ending
ankle injury in late July before returning in September. Although he had just
one extra-base hit after returning, but is still a dangerous hitter.

Cory Hart didn’t quite match his breakout 2010 campaign, but still swatted
26 home runs. Fellow outfielder Nyjer Morgan may be a bit eccentric, but often
supplies a much needed spark on the basepaths.

While not as impressive as Braun and Fielder’s MVP cases, people in Arizona
will tell you that Justin Upton is every bit as good as his counterparts. The
right-fielder set a career-high in games played (159) and hit .289, while
setting personal-highs with 31 home runs, 88 RBI and 105 runs scored.

First baseman Paul Goldschmidt hit 30 homers in 366 at-bats at Double-A Mobile
before jumping to the big leagues, and hit a homer off Tim Lincecum in his
first game up at the beginning of August. He ended the year with eight homers
and 26 RBI.

Miguel Montero continued to emerge as one of the best catchers in baseball
this season. He hits .282 with 18 home runs and 86 RBI, but it was his work
behind the plate this season that bought rave reviews.

Center fielder Chris Young also became the first Diamondbacks player with
three 20-20 seasons, finishing with 20 homers and 22 steals.

EDGE: BREWERS

STARTING PITCHING

Milwaukee will open the series with right-hander Yovani Gallardo, who led
the team in wins (17) and strikeouts (207) while working 207 1/3 innings, and
pitched the team’s only complete game.

Over his final three regular-season starts Gallardo pitched to a 1.77 ERA and
struck out 36 batters over 20 1/3 frames.

“I’m going to just focus on the game,” said Gallardo, who did not allow an
earned run in seven innings in the 2008 postseason. “That’s the goal.
Obviously, it’s going to be exciting for all of us, but I just need to do what
I’ve been doing all year.”

Who starts the second game is still up in the air. Roenicke had wanted to go
with righty Zack Greinke on short rest in Game 2 since he was 11-0 with a 3.13
ERA in 15 Miller Park starts this season.

Gallardo and Greinke combined for 31 Miller Park starts with the Brewers
winning 28 of those games, 15 of them being Greinke assignments,

However he threw 74 pitches on short rest on Wednesday and will instead go in
Game 3 on Tuesday. Instead it will likely be righty Shaun Marcum in Game 2.
He was 8-3 with a 2.21 ERA in 16 road starts, compared to a 5-4, 4.81 ERA at
home.

Veteran left-hander Randy Wolf, who led the team with 212 1/3 innings pitched,
will probably start a Game 4 if needed.

Like the Brewers, the Diamondbacks have no concerns on who starts Game 1, as
that will fall on the right arm of NL Cy Young Award candidate Ian Kennedy.
The 26-year-old hurler enjoyed a breakout campaign that saw him go 21-4 with a
2.88 ERA. He ended the year strong winning 13 of his final 14 decisions,
including his last six.

Righty Daniel Hudson should get the ball in Game 2. Hudson was 16-12 on the
year, but lost his last three starts.

Veteran Joe Saunders will likely get the call in Game 3 with rookie Josh
Collmenter taking the hill in Game 4 if needed.

EDGE: BREWERS

BULLPEN

THe Brewers bolstered their bullpen in a big way over the All-Star break,
acquiring Francisco Rodriguez to be the eighth-inning guy for closer John
Axford.

After tutoring under Trevor Hoffman until taking over the job last year,
Axford set a Brewers franchise saves record with 46 this season and hasn’t
blown one since April,

K-Rod is not happy in his role, but he gets the job done and hasn’t allowed a
run in his last 15 appearances. He along with veterans like righty LaTroy
Hawkins and lefty Takashi Saito give the Brewers a bullpen full of former
closers.

Righties Kameron Loe appeared in 72 games, and Marco Estrada, as well as left-
hander Chris Narveson could also be called upon.

J.J. Putz re-established himself as one of the best closers in baseball this
season, as he amassed a career high with 45 saves, while converting his last
23 successfully. His biggest contribution may have been in the clubhouse,
though, for a very young Diamondbacks team.

Right-hander David Hernandez, acquired from Baltimore in the Mark Reynolds
deal, has been the primary bridge to Putz and even went 9-for-9 in save
chances when he was hurt. Side-arming righty Brad Ziegler was a non-waiver
trade deadline pickup and has been solid. Gibson will use Joe Paterson and
Alberto Castillo to get lefties out.

EDGE: BREWERS

BENCH

Jerry Hairston Jr. can play almost everywhere on the field and was an
invaluable addition when Weeks went down. Carlos Gomez will see some time in
the outfield and could be used as a late inning pinch running option.

There is a good chance that Gibson opts to start Lyle Overbay at first in
place of the young Goldschmidt. Either way he has a bat with pretty good pop
at his disposal off the bench. Geoff Blum was slated to be the team’s starting
third baseman but had a knee injury at the outset before breaking his pinkie.
Although he’s only had 49 at-bats, he could be useful here in October. Collin
Cowgill will also likely be on the roster and can play all three outfield
positions.

EDGE: DIAMONDBACKS

PROGNOSIS

This could be the best of the four Division Series matchups as both teams are
so evenly matched. Milwaukee is a little deeper in the starting rotation
department and has a little more pop in its lineup and that should be the
difference. Gallardo, Marcum and Greinke are a pretty solid 1-2-3. Not to
mention in a tight series like this, it’s always wise to go with the team with
home-field advantage. I don’t think it gets to a fifth game, though.

Prediction: BREWERS in FOUR

The Sports Network

MILWAUKEE – The Diamondbacks will look across the field Saturday and see a team with power and speed, a lineup capable of scoring in a variety of ways, and they’ll see a club with a solid rotation and shutdown relief.

---

How the 2011 D-Backs were built | Sizing up the Brewers | D-Backs’ postseason

---

In many ways, the Diamondbacks will see a mirror image of themselves when they face the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division Series. First pitch for Game 1 is set for 11:07 a.m. Saturday at Miller Park.

“I feel like we’re a lot alike,” Diamondbacks center fielder Chris Young said. “They’re an exciting ballclub, as well. They have a mixture of good pitching and an exciting offense, like we do. It should be fun. We’ve played good games against those guys all year so it should be exciting to watch.”

The Brewers largely depend upon a pair of MVP candidates in the middle of their lineup in left fielder Ryan Braun and first baseman Prince Fielder, but they have other dangerous hitters, including Rickie Weeks, Nyjer Morgan and Corey Hart.

They have a former Cy Young Award winner in right-hander Zack Greinke and another right-hander, Yovani Gallardo, who reached the 200-strikeout mark for the third consecutive season.

“They’ve got some very powerful players and an interesting mix of speed,” Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. “They’re very aggressive, much like we are. Fielder and Braun are exceptional. Their pitching staff is pretty solid.”

Braun finished second in the league with a .332 average, slammed 33 home runs and was 33 of 39 in stolen base attempts. Fielder hit 38 home runs and hit .291 with a .415 on-base percentage.

The Diamondbacks played competitively against the Brewers during the season, taking four of seven games, but they seemed to catch them at the right times. Braun played in only three of the games, and Fielder looked out of sorts offensively during a four-game series in Phoenix in July.

The Brewers were five games over .500 in late July before going on a 27-5 tear to take charge in the NL Central. They finished by winning nine of 12 games to hold off the Diamondbacks for home-field advantage.

“They’ve got good momentum going,” Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero said. “They’ve been playing pretty good in the second half. I don’t know if it’s going to be the same team that we played earlier. It’s the same players, but the momentum is a little different.”

Knowing that Fielder would eligible for free agency after this season, the Brewers began bolstering their club in the off-season in hopes of making one last run with their best players intact.

They added a pair of frontline starters in December, bringing in Greinke in a deal with Kansas City and adding the underrated Shawn Marcum in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays. They added another major piece in July, acquiring closer Francisco Rodriguez from the Mets and plugging him into a setup role.

“When you have those kinds of years you hope to have, most of your moves have to work,” Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “And you have to have surprises from people you don’t even count on.”

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