[BirdWatcher]

Brewers record: 2-4 (week), 54-33, 1st place (tie), MGL

July 13-15, versus Oklahoma City: 2-5, 5-7, 9-1.

After losing 3 straight to L.A. to start the home stand, the Brewers drop the first game against the Diamond Kings as the offense only gets 2 runs in spite of collecting 13 hits and 4 walks. Cheol-han Lee (10-3, 3.28) takes the loss, giving up 4 runs on 9 hits in 7 2/3rds innings. Rodrigo Rodriguez had a fine game, going 4 for 4 with a walk and a stolen base (4) in the loss.

Game 2 is a back-and-forth affair with the visitors prevailing. Denver starter Erik Sloan had to leave after recording 1 out in the 2nd inning (fortunately it was some minor back pain that he was soon recovered from fully) and after Jaden Francis and Jeremy Walker combined for a solid 4 2/3rds, young Ben Flynn gave up 3 runs in his 2 innings. Flynn takes the loss to drop to 2-1 with a 4.60 ERA. Jorge Gonzalez, in his first game after being recalled from AAA Chester, went 2 for 4.

Josh Schaeffer (.305/.396/.532) helped lead the team to an easy 9-1 win in the final game of the series, going 3 for 4 with 4 runs scored and 3 RBI, hitting his 8th double and 12th HR of the season. Steve Green (9-2, 3.26), in the midst of perhaps the best season of his career thus far, lasted 8 innings, giving up just the 1 run on 9 hits. Ryan Rodgers went 3 for 4 with 4 RBI in the game.

July 16-18, at San Francisco: 4-5, 1-3, 12-0.

Heading west to San Francisco's Bank of the West Ballpark, the best pitching park in the MGL, the Brewers bats went silent again.
In game 1, Harry Lyerly (5-4, 3.70) deserved a better fate, as he allowed just a single run on 7 hits (with 7 K and 2 BB) over his 6 2/3rds innings pitched but got a no-decision as his team failed to give him run support and the bullpen gave up 3 runs (well, Jason Gottula gave up 3 runs, to be more precise.) Josh Schaeffer stayed hot, going 2 for 5, once again hitting a double (9) and HR (13) in the game. He also threw out a runner at home plate, his 8th OF assist of the season. (RodRod committed 2 errors in the game and is now up to 16 on the season.)

The Denver offense was even more stymied in game 2, leading to a loss for Matt Helm (7-3, 2.51) in spite of another solid start. Helm gave up 3 runs on 9 hits in 7 innings pitched, striking out 6 and walking just 1. Joe Willemse (.302/.324/.413) went 2 for 4 in the loss.

The final score of game 3 couldn't be more misleading. (Well, I guess it could. I mean we won 12-0, and there's no denying that.) This was a scoreless tie going into the 9th inning. The Brewers had squandered a number of good scoring opportunities, including when Jorge Gonzalez tripled with only 1 out in the 1st inning. But then in the top of the 9th the Brewers got things started innocently enough with an Andrew Kennedy lead-off single. Kirk Patnode sent him to second with a sacrifice bunt, because clearly even a single run in this series was significant. RodRod then doubled to score Kennedy. (RodRod was injured on the play and Joe Willemse took his place at second base.) Sadahige Kawasaki, in the midst of a masterful shutout was up next. The Denver manager thought hard about keeping Kawasaki in to try to finish it out, even if that meant protecting a 1-0 lead, especially given how poor the bullpen has been. But in the end, he decided we needed a few more runs. In came the recently hot Josh Schaeffer to pinch-hit. And to be intentionally walked. Chad Brown dropped a little fly ball into shallow center to load the bases. Jorge Gonzalez hit into a force play at home. Bases still loaded, 2 outs. But what the heck, at least the Brewers now had the lead, however narrow. Ryan Rodgers then walked so hey, 2-0. That's a bit better. And hey, Joe McPhillips, up next, singles home 2 runs. Okay, now we're talking. And then all heck broke loose. I suspect the Brewers batters were taking out some frustrations in this inning. Because they proceeded to plate 8 more runs, scoring 12 in all, 11 of them with 2 outs. This included 2 doubles (Jonathan Koch, Chad Brown), another Kennedy single and another Jorge Gonzalez single, and Joe Willemse reaching base on an error. 12 runs, 10 hits, 1 error, 1 man left of base.
Sadahige Kawasaki (10-4, 2.75) gave up no runs on only 2 hits (4 K, 2 BB) in his 8 innings pitched. Ben Flynn pitched a perfect 9th to preserve the shutout. The Brewers hit 5 doubles and a triple in the game, with Jorge Gonzalez (.319/.331/.397) going 3 for 6 with a run and an RBI and hitting the triple for his 2nd of the season as a Brewer.

Notes from around the league: Columbus gets hot again, having won 6 straight, and with a 61-26 record they lead the SJL by 5 games over the Boston Berserkers (56-31). The Milwaukee Cadets are now in 3rd, 11 1/2 games out.
At one point this week the Brewers dropped out of 1st place for the first time since mid-May, but they finish the week tied with Brooklyn at 54-33. The red hot L.A. Spinners are just 3 games back in 3rd place (51-36.)
RodRod suffered a back strain during that 12-run 9th in the last game of the week for the Brewers and isn't expected to be ready to play for at least a week so he was placed on the 10-day IL. Veteran infielder Oscar Vargas, on his second rehab stint at AAA Chester, was recalled to replace him on the roster.