Yovani Gallardo - 2009 Season

2009 Season

During Spring Training for 2009, Gallardo was offered to pitch for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, but turned it down to focus on getting ready for the 2009 season. A few baseball commentators, notably Eric Karabell of ESPN, believed that Gallardo would be the Brewers' ace for the coming season.

His first start was on April 8 against the Giants, lasting 6⅔ innings, giving up only 2 runs and striking out six en route to getting the win. He made news in the 6th inning when he hit a three-run home run off of Randy Johnson, becoming the first pitcher to ever hit a home run off of Johnson.

Gallardo pitched his first career complete game on April 24 against the Houston Astros. Gallardo allowed only two runs on five hits, striking out seven. His family was in attendance for the game, and were moved to behind the Brewers dugout for the final inning.

Gallardo made baseball news again in his next start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Gallardo pitched 8 shutout innings and hit a home run in the 7th, which was the only run of the game. Gallardo became only the 26th pitcher in major league history to win a game 1–0 while hitting a home run, and joined Red Ruffing and Early Wynn as the only ones to do so while striking out 10 or more batters (Gallardo struck out 11, also a career high). Gallardo tossed a 2-hitter on Memorial Day against the St. Louis Cardinals. He struck out 6 batters, one of them Albert Pujols. He struck out 9 on May 31 against the Cincinnati Reds. Gallardo pitched another 2-hitter on June 5, shutting out the Atlanta Braves 4–0. He struck out six.

Gallardo struggled with his stamina in the final two months of the season, and was finally benched for the remainder of the year in mid-September. Gallardo started 30 games for the Brewers, with a record of 13–12 with a 3.73 ERA. He struck out 204 batters over 185 innings pitched, becoming only the 4th Brewer pitcher to strike out 200+ batters.