Brewers record: 4-4 (week), 67-41, 2nd place, 1 gb L.A., MGL (season)
July 31-August 1, versus Brooklyn:
2-1,
4-5.
August 2-4, at Detroit:
1-3,
2-3,
4-1.
August 5-6, at Baltimore:
1-7, gm.1,
9-8, gm. 2,
7-0
As you can see, during this week when the Brewers got great pitching they didn't get much offense, and when they were scoring runs the pitching was poor. Until the last day of the week, when they finally put it all together again.
On the last day of July the Brewers got a narrow win over Brooklyn in the middle game of that series behind
Steve Green, who gave up just 1 run on 6 hits over 7 innings, though he was denied a victory.
Evan Perez (1-0, 0.00) pitched the final 2 innings for his first win as a Brewer.
Jon Williams went 3 for 4 in the win.
The Brewers then dropped the home series on the first day of August when Brooklyn broke a 4-4 tie when speedster Tommie Signor hit a one-out triple and scored on a suicide squeeze bunt off the bat of pinch-hitter Tim Terry.
Sadahige Kawasaki got the start and worked 6 2/3rds, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits. Closer
Tim Shore (4-2, 1.84) took the loss.
Brett Taranto went 3 for 4 in the loss and hit his 13th homer of the season.
Things didn't get better as the Brewers traveled to Detroit for a 3-game set. The pitching was fine, but the bats went silent.
In game 1, the recently recalled from AAA
John Weaver (3-5, 4.04) gave them 6 solid innings, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits while striking out 7, but took the loss. Even though the Brewers collected 11 hits in the game (outhitting the Falcons by 1), they could only plate one run. Little used defensive specialist
Nick Ward, continuing to hit well beyond his perceived abilities, went 2 for 3 in the loss and picked up his 2nd stolen base.
Game 2, more of the same. The Brewers did manage a pair of runs in the 2nd inning, but lost 3-2.
Erik Sloan pitched well enough for a win, giving up 2 runs on 9 hits over 6 2/3rds. But reliever
Walter Hackler (3-1, 3.00) took the loss when he allowed an 8th inning run that proved the game winner. Backup catcher
Kirk Patnode went 2 for 3 and drove in a run in the loss, in which the Brewers only collected 5 hits.
The Brewers avoided a sweep by scoring 3 9th inning runs in the final game to break a 1-1 tie and then holding on in the bottom of the frame. The big hit, a 2-run pinch-hit homer by reliever
Ben Flynn (probably the best power hitter on the club), who also then earned the save, his 8th.
Sekien Hamasaki pitched a good game, lasting 7 1/3rd, giving up just 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 7 and walking 1. Reliver
Victor Colon (1-0, 0.00) blew the save chance but earned the win, his first with Denver.
RodRod, having a great year at the plate when healthy, went 3 for 4, hitting his 13th double and 3rd triple of the season. Another good game for 4th outfielder
Jon Williams, who went 2 for 4 and hit his 7th double.
The Brewers then traveled further east to Baltimore for a 4-game series against the Lords, starting with a Friday afternoon double-header.
In game 1, forced once again to start
Cheol-han Lee in the midst of a grueling stretch of games without a break, and of course that didn't go well.
Lee (5-6, 7.24) gave up 7 runs on 8 hits over 6 innings. Cheol-han is the highest paid player in the game, is under contract through 1980, and appears to have completely lost his mojo. Oddly, he's in a very good mood currently. I mean, why not, right? Recently promoted reliever
Tim Reinecke, getting his first taste of the big leagues, pitched a strong 2 innings, but the damage was already done at that point. Little
Joe Willemse, getting the start at shortstop for the slumping
Rich White, was a bright spot, going 3 for 4 with a run scored in the game and hitting his 4th triple of the season.
It was a battle and they almost lost it in the bottom of the 9th but the Brewers managed to hold on in the night-cap to salvage a double-header split.
Steve Green (9-5, 5.00) got a win he really didn't deserve, giving up 6 runs on 9 hits over 7 innings pitched.
Tim Shore gave up 2 runs in the 9th but barely held on to get his 18th save. The hitting hero? Well, naturally, it was light-hitting utility infielder
Joe Willemse again. Little Joe just went 3 for 5 with 3 runs scored, 2 RBI, and hit his 1st homer of the season, just the 5th of his big league career. When you're hot you're hot. Although he didn't pitch well,
Steve Green did contribute with the bat, going 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, both of his hits being doubles to give him 3 on the season.
And after barely avoiding dropping both ends of a grueling double-header, the Brewers seemed rejuvenated on Saturday afternoon as they put together the best win they've achieved in awhile.
Sadahige Kawasaki (12-7, 2.60) hurled a shutout, allowing just 4 hits, all harmless singles. The bats were booming as they collected 17 hits and plated 7 runs, with (you guessed it)
Joe Willemse again leading the way. Getting his third start in three games (this time at second base with
Bobby Erbakan playing first to give
Brett Taranto a well-deserved breather), little Joe just had a 4 for 5, 2 run, 1 RBI game, hitting his 4th double of the season. Bobby went 2 for 5 and clubbed his 19th homer of the year.
Josh Schaeffer, continuing his tremendous season, was 3 for 6 and threw out a runner at 3rd base for his 8th assist of the year.
Zacarias Martell went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI and hit his 7th homer.
Although the Brewers now find themselves in 2nd place behind the surging L.A. Spinners, if they can start playing like they did in this last game of the week consistently again things might work out fine.
Rumor has it also that the team is currently in negotiations to get both starting catcher
Zacarias Martell and utility infielder
Joe Willemse signed to extensions to avoid arbitration in the off-season.