The Brewers return home to Denver and start their 9-game home stand with 3 against the Portland Wild Things.
In game 1, in spite of some strong pitching by ace Cheol-han Lee, things aren't looking good for the Brewers heading into the bottom of the 8th as they trail 2-0. But then they manage to scrape together a walk and 3 singles with a few productive outs (yes, probably a misnomer, but let's go with it) to score 3 runs and they hold on to win 3-2. Cheol-han doesn't get the decision but only allows 2 runs on 10 hits over 7 innings, striking out 6 and walking none. His ERA now stands at 2.40. Jordan Stephens pitches 2 effective innings to get the win and improves to 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA. Bobby Erbakan (.331/.375/.564) went 3 for 4 with an RBI. And Mike Foster (.357/.418/.563) hit his 12th double of the season.
The Brewers bats really came alive in the second game, especially in the 6 run 4th inning, and they won easily, 13-4. Kevin Curtis (.167/.293/.271) has seen his playing time reduced dramatically with the good start by young Zacarias Martell, but Curtis got the start in this one and made it pay off by going 3 for 4 with 3 runs scored, 4 RBI, hitting his first 2 doubles of the season and his first HR, a 4th inning Grand Slam. Erik Sloan once again wasn't particularly sharp- allowing 4 runs on 8 hits over 7 2/3rds innings pitched, although he did strike out 9 batters and leads the league in that category. He got the win and improves to 4-3 with a 5.43 ERA. Veteran outfielder Ryan Rodgers (.441/.548/.514) continues his assault on MGL pitching and went 3 for 6 in the game with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI (he maintains a healthy lead in the batting average race in the MGL). Mike Foster (.369/.432/.592) also stays hot, going 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored, hitting his 2nd triple of the season and 13th double.
Unfortunately, after he had his best outing of the season in his last start, Harry Lyerly's 1974 struggles return in game 3 as he gives up 6 runs on 7 hits (2 HR's, both by Portland star slugger Chris Tobin) and the Brewers go down by a score of 6-4. Lyerly falls to 3-4 with a 5.32 ERA. Chad Brown (.239/.276/.315), who like Kevin Curtis is off to a very poor start and finds himself getting far less playing time than he is accustomed to, had a decent game, going 2 for 4, scoring 2 runs, and hitting his 2nd triple of the season.
After taking 2 of 3 from the lowly Wild Things, the Brewers are now 3 games ahead of second place Charlotte and 6 1/2 ahead of third place Brooklyn.