[BirdWatcher]

Brewers record: 4-3 (week), 100-58, MGL Champs! (season).

September 26, at Los Angeles: 4-5.

The Brewers carry a 4-2 lead into the 9th inning of the rubber match in L.A., only to see the Spinners tie the game in the bottom of the 9th and win it in the 11th. A fine start by Sadahige Kawasaki is wasted. Sadahige goes 6 2/3rds, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. Ben Flynn (naturally) (3-4, 4.85) takes the loss. Bobby Erbakan went 3 for 6 with 2 RBI.
With the win the Spinners keep themselves alive for the time being.

September 27-29, versus Phoenix: 5-6, 5-3, 9-8.

Cheol-han Lee's late-season collapse continued in the first game of a 3-game set against the Speed Devils. Cheol-han (14-7, 4.25) lasted just 2 innings, giving up 6 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits. (There is much talk about the former ace being used out of the bullpen- and perhaps sparingly- in the KCS.) The five pitchers that followed him were excellent and the team battled back but ultimately fell just short. Brett Taranto went 1 for 4 but scored twice and drove in run when he hit his 9th HR of the year (tied with Joe McPhillips for the team lead in this not-the-year-of-the-homer.)

The Brewers get a solid start from Erik Sloan (14-7, 2.96) in the second game to stop the little losing streak. The veteran lefty worked 7 1/3rds, giving up 3 runs on 9 hits, striking out 8 and walking just 1. Jason Gottula went the rest of the way for his 15th save. Brett Taranto, getting hot again as the season winds down, went 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored. Rich White went 3 for 4 and hit his 27th double. And Bobby Erbakan's lone hit was his 8th homer of the season.

It took 10 innings, and as previously reported, a 6 for 6 performance by Andrew Kennedy, but the Brewers prevailed in game three to get the series win. Starter Steve Green was not very sharp, giving up 6 runs (5 earned) on 7 hits and 4 walks in 6 1/3rd innings pitched. Cory Degano (1-0, 0.00), a 3rd round pick for the Brewers in the 1972 draft and a marginal prospect, pitched a wonderful 10th inning for the win. Joe McPhillips, who has largely been a non-factor down the stretch, did go 3 for 6 with 2 runs scored (he cracks the 100 run scored mark again) in this one. He also picked up his 27th stolen base, easily a career best. Rich White is getting hot at the plate again and went 3 for 6 with his 28th double.

September 30- October 2, at Brooklyn: 5-3, 2-1, 3-4.

The Brewers last road series of the season sees them head to Brooklyn to take on the 3rd place, and perpetually under-achieving, Aces. The Brewers, playing some gutsy ball down the stretch, score a 9th inning run to tie the game at 3 apiece and then plate 2 in the 10th and hold on for the win. Sekien Hamasaki got the start and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits over 6 innings. The win goes to Jason Gottula (3-5, 2.49), who pitched the last 2 frames. Andrew Kennedy (.350/.384/.441) was once again the offensive hero, going 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and hitting his 30th double while batting in the lead-off slot, not a role he is accustomed to.

Game 2 was a grind with the Brewers facing the reigning MGL Pitcher of the Year from the last 2 seasons- Aaron McNally. Fortunately, they got to him for 2 early runs, as you often must do with the greatest starters. And then saw Matt Helm have to leave the game after one out in the 5th (Matty had allowed 1 run on 3 hits). But as so often has happened this year, 23-year old John Weaver came in to take over for Helm (who had suffered a minor leg injury, as has also often happened) and was brilliant once again. Weaver (5-1, 2.53) got the win. Ben Flynn (surprise, surprise) pitched 2 good innings for his 2nd hold and Tim Shore finished it out for his 22nd save. The Brewers only managed 5 hits off McNally (16-12, 3.25), who went the distance, but 3 of those came in the first when RodRod hit a 1-out double (his 31st), Bobby Erbakan singled him home, and after Bobby stole second base with 2 outs, Brett Taranto singled him home.

The Brooklyn Aces, in their final home game of the season, sent the fans home happy when they came from behind to plate 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th for the walk-off win. Another tough-luck result for Sadahige Kawasaki, who held the Aces to 2 runs (only 1 earned) on 5 hits over 8 innings only to get a no-decision. Jason Gottula (3-6, 2.70) took the loss. Rich White (.288/.335/.404) went 2 for 3 in the game. Bobby Erbakan (.304/.352/.422) hit his 22nd double and stole his 11th base. (Speaking of Rich White, his 17.5 Zone Rating is by far the best among WPK shortstops, in either league.)

Notes from around the league:
Not much to say at this point. Columbus is just shy of 100 wins and gearing up to take on the Brewers in the KCS. It's looking like those upstart El Paso Dawgs will at least hold onto 2nd place and they have 90 wins. The Chicago Fire have the most losses in the WPK with 96, so no team will finish with triple digit losses. There is a real battle going on in the SJL for the batting title, with Philly's Xiao-mei Mah and Columbus' Matt Fleischman tied at .331. The top HR total in the SJL for an individual is just 15 while at least in the MGL L.A.'s Jesus Hernandez has 20 and Phoenix slugger Devin Schwisow needs just 1 to reach 20 as well. There are only two 20-game winners, and one of them is a reliever/closer (L.A.'s Shouta Hori).

And, of course, as already noted, in spite of the Brewers loss of game 3 in Brooklyn, they clinch as the Spinners lose 2 in a row to Phoenix and are mathematically eliminated. If the Spinners can sweep the last 3 against Brooklyn they would finish with 99 wins.