JSOnline/Haudricourt: Macha protecting Gallardo

At age 23, Yovani Gallardo already is a special major league pitcher, and the Brewers intend to keep him that way.

With that in mind, manager Ken Macha pulled the plug on Gallardo after eight innings and 110 pitches tonight, allowing Carlos Villanueva to finish the Brewers’ 4-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.

...

“I do appreciate that a lot,” said Gallardo, who threw 126 pitches two starts prior to this outing in eight shutout innings against St. Louis. “I have no problem with that. They’re doing that with good reason. I just keep throwing until they tell me I’m done.”

Macha had that 126-pitch outing in mind when making the move to Villanueva. In the start after that workload, even with an extra day of rest, Gallardo made it through only 5 1/3 innings against Cincinnati.