Shaun

Marcum

At least he was able to give the Jays a few decent innings after a seven-run first inning. Marcum had managed to keep the Jays in games prior to his outing today, though he’s still lasted six innings only once as a starter. His future could be in middle relief.

Marcum won for the second time in eight career starts. It looks like the Jays would just as soon keep him in the rotation for the rest of the season, but he can only be played in AL-only leagues against the easiest of opponents. Cleveland, the team he’ll face in his next two starts, doesn’t qualify.

Marcum, called up Wednesday, allowed two runs in an inning of relief on Friday night.

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said Greinke volunteered to make the start. It will actually be his second straight outing on short rest, though he threw only 74 pitches during his start Wednesday. The right-hander went 11-0 with a 3.13 ERA in 15 starts at Miller Park this year, while going 5-6 with a 4.70 mark on the road. It also allows the Brews to hold back Shaun Marcum for a start on the road, where he went 8-3 with a 2.21 ERA this season.

As expected. Marcum surrendered seven runs over 4 2/3 innings in Game 3 of the NLDS, while Jackson limited the Phillies to just two runs over six frames in his first ever playoff start. The Brewers will go with Yovani Gallardo in Game 3 and Randy Wolf in Game 4, with Chris Carpenter and Kyle Lohse getting the ball for the Cardinals.

Greinke would have pitched the 11th inning tonight but the Brewers won in the bottom of the 10th on Nyjer Morgan’s walk-off RBI single. “He needed to throw a bullpen today anyway,” Roenicke said. “We didn’t let him throw one earlier so this worked out perfect.” Yovani Gallardo is not expected to be available until Game 3 of the NLCS, leaving one of Shaun Marcum or Randy Wolf to start Game 2.

Coming off a game where he surrendered seven runs in four and 2/3 innings, Marcum (0-2) has looked extremely volatile this postseason. The Brewers acquired him with the intention of using regularly him in the playoffs, relying on Gallardo/Greinke/Marcum in a short series. Including the division series, he’s allowed at least five earned runs in five of his past six starts. Reliever Kameron Loe gave up four runs on six hits in relief.

Marcum has yet to make his Cactus League debut, but Brewers’ manager Ron Roenicke isn’t ready to rule him out for the start of the season. “He’s doing good,” said Roenicke. “Since he has started throwing again, everything is on track and hopefully it will stay on track. We’ll see when we get to the end of this thing, where we are. We have an idea where we think he’s going to fit in.” Marco Estrada is the most likely candidate to serve as a temporary fill-in if Marcum can’t get stretched out in time.

Marcum allowed just one hit while striking out seven and walking none. It originally looked like he would begin the season on the disabled list following his recent bout with shoulder inflammation, but we now believe he’ll be on the active roster.

There doesn’t appear to be much concern right now, especially since he’s not scheduled to make his exhibition debut until March 10. It’s worth noting that Marcum also dealt with shoulder tightness last spring, but still managed to start the season on time.