[BirdWatcher]

Brewers record: 3-3 (week), 28-10, 1st place, MGL (season).

May 16, versus Charlotte: 7-5.

The Brewers conclude the 3-game sweep of the Sting with Joe McPhillips leading the way. McPhillips went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI and hit his 4th double of the season. Sekien Hamasaki (4-0, 1.88) got another victory, giving up 3 runs on 9 hits in 7 innings pitched. Ben Flynn had another rough outing, giving up 2 runs in his 1 inning of work and sees his ERA rise to 6.28. But Jason Gottula came in to close things out for his 3rd save. Andrew Kennedy, off to a fine start, went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI and hit his 10th double of 1976.

May 17-19, at Baltimore: 1-2, 3-4, 6-1.

The Brewers lose in a pitching duel in the first game of three against the Lords in Baltimore. Sadahige Kawasaki (2-4, 2.63) continues to be the unluckiest Brewer pitcher in 1976. In spite of giving up just 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits over 6 2/3rds innings, he is saddled with another loss. RodRod went 2 for 4 in the loss. And Joe McPhillips picked up his 8th stolen base and Josh Schaeffer got his 6th. McPhillips, though, also committed his 1st error of the season.

The Brewers battled back from a 3-0 deficit in game 2 to tie the game going into the 9th but then lost it in walk-off fashion when the Lords scored the winning run on an error by pitcher Ben Flynn (2-2, 6.28), who took the loss. Cheol-han Lee started and gave up 3 runs on 8 hits in 6 2/3rds innings. Andrew Kennedy went 3 for 5 in the loss and hit his 11th double.

Erik Sloan gave the Brewers a fantastic start to halt the skid. Sloan (5-2, 2.35) worked 8 innings, giving up just 1 run on 7 hits. Brad Tesh went 2 for 5 in his first start as a Brewer, picking up his 1st stolen base but also being caught attempting to steal once. Andrew Kennedy stays hot, going 3 for 4 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI in the win. And Zacarias Martell, who has been struggling at the plate the last few weeks, went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles to get to 7 on the season.

May 21-22, versus Detroit: 3-4, 9-0.

The Brewers return home to take on the last place Falcons, and drop a close one in the first of three. Steve Green (4-2, 2.44) takes the loss, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits in 7 innings. Brett Taranto, one of the most valuable Brewers thus far, hit his 1st HR of the season.

In the final game of one of the more challenging weeks for the Brewers thus far in 1976, the team treated the fans to a good ole' shellacking of Detroit. Matt Helm (3-0, 2.72) was great for 7 innings, giving up no runs on 6 hits. Damian Hahn pitched 2 scoreless innings to close things out. Josh Schaeffer (.324/.466/.371), once again proving to be one of the most consistently valuable players on the team, went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored, 4 RBI, and hit his 1st HR of the season. Brett Taranto (.378/.414/.535) continues his great start to the season, going 4 for 5 with 2 RBI and hitting his 9th double. (Taranto leads the league in slugging and OPS, and is 2nd in batting average.) RodRod (.311/.326/.356) went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and hit his 6th double. (While RodRod's offensive numbers aren't as good this year as in his ROY campaign last year, his defense is much better, and he has committed just one error this season. Though I also just noticed that he now profiles as fragile, so we'll see how that works out.)


Notes from around the league: The Columbus Whalers (25-13) still hold a 1 game edge in the SJL over Washington (24-14). El Paso and Boston are tied for 3rd, both 2 games out at 23-15.
The Brewers, in spite of a sub-par week, maintain a 6 game lead over the surging Brooklyn Aces (22-16). Oklahoma City (21-17) falls to 3rd place, 7 games out.
Former Brewer Ruben "Streak" Souffront is on pace for a career year at this stage of the season, leading the league in batting average (.385), and is tied for 2nd in WAR among position players at 2.4 (along with Brooklyn's Jeremy Brigatti.) And who is leading the league? Well, Rich White, of course, at 2.9! That's what a great start at the plate combined with defensive dominance gets you.