[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers picked a bad time to go cold, as they have now dropped six of their last eight games and are 6-8 in the month of September.
And yesterday they found out that they will be without one of their most valuable players down the pennant stretch run as Willie Romero was diagnosed with a fractured shoulder blade.




In Romero's absence 25-year old Brandon Singer (.276/.348/.454) will get the bulk of the starts at shortstop and while Singer has done pretty well in his 210 plate appearances at the big league level this season, and has shown some decent power, hitting 8 home runs, he cannot provide the next-level defensive prowess that Romero provides.
With just about three weeks left in the regular season the Brewers find themselves clinging to a 2 1/2 game lead over the also struggling Phoenix Speed Devils and 3 1/2 over the recently hot San Francisco Velocity. If the Brewers are to return to the postseason after a two year absence they will have to redouble their efforts and probably will need to get some heroic performances from unlikely sources. It will be a grind and this is shaping up as the best pennant race in the WPK this season.




Speaking of pennant races, the San Antonio Keys are now officially not a factor in the SJL West race, having been mathematically eliminated. Not long ago the Keys were the dominant team not just in their division but in the Shoeless Joe League entirely. They were in the post-season six straight years, starting in 1979, and won 3 championships during that stretch. But having gotten old and injury-prone and also with some of their key players now playing elsewhere (Mike Shervey in San Francisco, Ryan Campbell in Denver), the Keys may need to start the rebuilding process soon.