[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers head out on the road again after a short home-stand. They start in Oklahoma City against the 9th place Diamond Kings for three games. The Brewers take two of three.

In game 1, Harry Lyerly suffers another defeat, allowing 6 runs, albeit only 3 of them earned, on 8 hits allowed, striking out 6 while walking none. Lyerly allows 2 big homeruns, the first coming with 2 outs in the 3rd inning after secondbaseman Tanner Yurek muffed what should have been the out number 3. Lyerly falls to 5-4 with a 3.29 ERA. The Brewers lose 6-2. On the plus side, Andrew Kennedy (.346/.372/.481) continues to rake at the plate, going 3 for 5 in the game and hitting his 6th double of the season. Ryan Rodgers (.311/.375/.403) also stays hot, picking up 3 singles in 4 at-bats. Catcher Kevin Curtis (.184/.283/.288) hit his 2nd homerun of the season in the game, officially going 1 for 2 as he also picked up a pair of walks.

Game 2 saw the Brewers pick off an extremely narrow victory, winning 2-1, thanks to a rare moment of 1971 heroics at the plate for Pat Rondeau, who came in to pinch-hit for Kevin Curtis in the top of the 9th with 2 on and 1 out and hit a single up the middle to score the tie-breaking run. Rookie starter Steve Green was solid for 7 innings, giving up 1 run on 7 hits, but did not figure in the decision. (His ERA drops to 3.00.) Liann-wei Hua gets the victory, improving to 2-1 with a 1.29 ERA. Miguel Solis works the 9th for his 7th save (1.64 ERA.)

After allowing the Diamond Kings to score single runs in the 1st and 2nd innings, Daniel Torres settled into a groove and held them scoreless for the next 5 innings before giving way to closer Miguel Solis. The Brewers score 4 runs in the 3rd inning to take the lead and add 2 more in the 9th for good measure, as they win the rubber match, 6-2. Torres improves to 7-1 on the season with a 2.09 ERA after allowing just the 2 runs on 7 hits (4 K, 2 BB) in his 7 innings pitched. Miguel Solis is not only perfect in the last 2 innings, but in fact he strikes out all 6 batters he faces to earn his 8th save and drop his ERA to 1.54. Gold Glove catcher Kevin Curtis (.198/.296/.313) has a nice game at the plate, going 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles (9) and a walk. Jamison Bash (.295/.373/.628) contributed a 2 for 4 game, driving in 3 runs, including the pair in the 9th with his 17th homerun of the 1971 season. Ruben Souffront (.278/.301/.417), continuing to see a bit more playing time, also chipped in as he went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI and hit his 5th double of the season.