In the opening game of a 3-game series against the 2nd place Spinners in L.A., Cheol-han Lee carries a no-hitter into the 8th inning when veteran Spinners right fielder Bob Hernandez hit a little dying quail into right to spoil the no-hit bid. No problem for the veteran Lee though. He just emitted a little frustrated sigh and went back to work mowing down L.A. hitters. In the end he had his league leading 5th complete game shutout, giving up just 2 hits, striking out 6 and walking 2. The Brewers win game 1, 5-0. Lee improves to 17-5 with an MGL best 2.49 ERA. Bobby Erbakan (.342/.397/.465) helped lead the offense with a 2 for 5, 2 RBI game and hit his 8th HR of 1973. Jonathan Koch (.312/.334/.470) chipped in with a 3 for 5 performance. One of the pre-season requests from Brewers owner Steve Lester was that we upgrade at second base. With just a little more than a month left in the season it appears that Koch's performance will help us pass that goal with flying colors.
Jason Wilson, the 1969 MGL Pitcher of the Year (the most recent year a Brewer did not win this award) returned the favor by shutting out the Brewers 5-0 in game 2. Erik Sloan had a fine performance as this was a 1-0 game going into the bottom of the 8th. Sloan allowed 1 run on 6 hits in his 7 innings of work but took the loss to drop to 11-8 with a 3.60 ERA. Jaden Francis gave up 4 runs in his 1 inning pitched but although he did allow 3 hits he can't be faulted too much as none of the runs were earned and the inning was extended when on two consecutive batters, with a runner on and one out, Chad Brown committed errors, getting him to 34 miscues on the season. Professional hitter Andrew Kennedy (.344/.387/.462) was a bright spot for the Brewers as he went 2 for 3 in the loss.
With the inconsistent Steve Green on the mound against L.A.'s hardworking All-Star righty Kerry Krieg, Brewers fans could be forgiven if they assumed their team was likely to drop another series to the well-rounded Spinners. Fortunately, they also would have been wrong. Green pitched well enough- allowing 2 runs on 6 hits in 7 innings pitched with 7 strikeouts and 4 walks- and the Brewers hitters were patient against the sometimes control challenged Krieg and Denver walked away with a 5-2 win and a road series victory. The Brewers drew 6 walks off Krieg and combined those with some big hits: a Joe McPhillips (.281/.390/.500) 2-run HR in the 5th and a Bobby Erbakan (.344/.399/.473) 2-run HR in the 7th. Professional hitter Andrew Kennedy (.346/.391/.465) went 2 for 3, drew 2 of the Brewers walks, and hit his league leading 29th double. With the win Steve Green improved to 8-11 with a 4.32 ERA. Sam Pruiett gave one of his finest and most important performances of the season as he pitched the final 2 innings against the always dangerous Spinners, giving up just 1 single and striking out 3 while walking none. Pruiett gets his 4th save and sees his ERA improve to 3.72.
A series victory against the Spinners in L.A. is a huge psychological boost to the team and also gets them into a tie with L.A. for 2nd place, just 1 1/2 games behind Brooklyn.