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Phoenix - Brewers manager Ron Roenicke announced Thursday that right-hander Yovani Gallardo will be making his fifth consecutive opening day start, a club record.

Gallardo will take the mound March 31 at Miller Park against the Atlanta Braves to open the Brewers' 2014 season. Ben Sheets has made the most opening starts in club history -- six -- but made only four in a row. Gallardo is the first Brewers pitcher to make five consecutive opening starts.

Asked if deciding on Gallardo was a difficult decision, Roenicke said, "Yes and no. I think 'Yo' has shown, if you just look at his winning percentage, even though we know he didn’t have the year that we thought he was going to have last year, he still was 12-10.

"The guy knows how to win. I think with him being on this club for a long time, with having the success that he’s had, we feel like he should be the guy that starts it. And Kyle (Lohse) was fine with it, (Matt) Garza was fine with it. So it wasn’t that big of a deal.”



“It does make a difference on a guy that you feel good about doing it, and has done it. I know they take it as an honor, and they should. It’s not mean to do that; what it’s meant to do is 'Yo' deserves to start opening day, and he’s going to do start.”



After struggling throughout much of the 2013 season and finishing with a 12-10 record and 4.18 ERA, Gallardo said he hadn't taken for granted that he'd be the opening day starter again.

"Honestly, I didn't even think about it," said Gallardo. "Coming into spring, we all know I didn't have the year I wanted to last year. It's definitely a privilege to have that opportunity. As far as myself, I just showed up in spring training ready to go.

"This is going to be a big year for me. I have something to prove. I have to get back to throwing the ball the way I'd been throwing the previous years."

Roenicke had three experienced pitchers from which to pick as his opening day starter -- Gallardo, Kyle Lohse and Matt Garza. He went with Gallardo again, noting his winning background and also because "he's our guy."

In other words, Gallardo is a home-grown Brewer from the organization's farm system. Lohse and Garza were free-agent signings.

"It means a lot," said Gallardo. "To have the opportunity to do it five years in a row, it's pretty amazing. It shows you what the organization really thinks of you, to allow that for five years. You can't take it for granted. You have to go out there and take care of business."

As for pitching on opening day, Gallardo said, "The only difference is it gets the season under way. The fans are excited; the players are excited. There's a little extra emotion going into it. The hardest thing about having the opportunity to throw one of those games is you really have to calm yourself down. You can't get too excited up on the mound or try to change things.

"Having the opportunity to do it in past years definitely helps. You get that experience. You've got to go out there and perform. There's a lot of extra adrenaline but you've got to find a way to calm down and make pitches."

Gallardo will be looking for his first opening day victory, having gone 0-2 with a 5.81 ERA in his previous four outings. He was in position for victories against Cincinnati in 2011 and Colorado in 2013 but the bullpen blew leads. Gallardo's worst outing was in 2012 against St. Louis, when he was tagged for six runs in 3 2/3 innings in an 11-5 whipping.

Roenicke said Lohse would start the second game against the Braves but held off aligning the last three pitchers because they're looking at what they want to do with the next series in Boston, including the Red Sox's home opener.