So the Brewers return home, where they have been dominant this year (38-16 coming into this series), having just swept Oklahoma City in a 4-game series and having won 7 of 8 in the month of August, to face the last place San Francisco Velocity. The Brewers have won 8 of 11 against the Velocity this season. The Velocity have lost 4 games in a row coming into this series.
So.
Good time for the Brewers right? Shouldn't have any problem staying hot, right?
Wrong!
Ouch, this one hurt.
Game 1- S.F.-12, Denver-10. The Brewers led 6-3 going into the 7th inning with Cheol-han Lee on the mound. So far, so good. Cheol didn't get a single out in the 7th and with a little help from the bullpen, the Brewers lose their lead as they allow 4 runs in the inning. Cheol-han gave up 5 runs on 10 hits in just 6 innings pitched. Not one of his better starts. The game goes into extras tied at 9-9. And then the normally steady Jaden Francis gets torched in the 11th inning, giving up 3 runs (he gave up 4 runs on 6 hits over 2 1/3rd innings pitched.) The Brewers plate one in the bottom of the inning but fall short. Francis takes the loss, falling to 2-3 with 1.96 ERA. Can't blame the very hot Joe McPhillips for this one though. McPhillips (.293/.382/.533) went 4 for 5 with 2 runs scored, 3 RBI, hit 3 triples to double his season total, and walked twice. (McPhillips sets the MGL record for triples in a single game.) Bobby Erbakan (.328/.392/.509) was 3 for 7 and also hit a triple, his 7th.
Game 2- S.F.-5, Denver-3. Not a good start for Harry Lyerly. Harry gave up 5 runs on 10 hits in 7 2/3rds innings pitched. He falls to 7-9 with a 4.27 ERA. The Brewers get a pair of homers- Kevin Curtis (.209/.345/.299) hits his 2nd of the season and Bobby Erbakan (.327/.391/.513) hits his 13th. Chad Brown (.302/.320/.414) was 2 for 4 and hit his 19th double.
Game 3- S.F.-7, Denver-5. Hector Hard, in his first start at Centennial Stadium as a member of the Brewers, was hit hard. He gave up 7 runs (3 earned) on 11 hits in just 4 1/3rd innings. Now the 5 errors by the team didn't help. Granted, one of them was courtesy of Hard, on a bad pick-off attempt. He also threw a wild pitch that allowed a run. Here are the players who committed the other 4 errors: Bobby Erbakan, Joe McPhillips, and Oscar Vargas (twice.) Now these are not just premium defenders, these are guys who rarely make defensive miscues. That's the kind of game this was, the kind of series this was. On the plus side, the Brewers got another pair of homers- this time by young second baseman David Bennett- his 4th- and veteran utility infielder Oscar Vargas- his 3rd. And Andrew Kennedy (.333/.366/.423) went 2 for 4, hitting his 20th double. (Vargas also hit his 8th double.) The Brewers scored 3 runs in the 8th and another in the bottom of the 9th- before Joe McPhillips hit into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded. Which made this one look closer than it actually was. We sucked in this game.
We sucked in this series.
And having lost 3 in a row to the lowly Velocity, the Brewers lead in the MGL is at 6 games over Brooklyn, 8 over L.A., and 9 over Charlotte.