[BirdWatcher]

Brewers record: 4-2 (week), 79-47, 1st place, MGL (season).

August 24-26, at Baltimore: 10-0, 4-3, 1-10.

The Brewers got the week off to a good start with an easy victory behind Matt Helm (10-4, 2.11). Helm, who was a 1st round draft pick in the 1966 draft, picked 6th overall by the Charlotte Sting, is having a career year. In this one he picked up his 3rd complete game shutout of 1975, allowing just 5 hits while striking out 2 and walking 1. RodRod went 4 for 4 with 4 RBI and hit his 7th HR. Josh Schaeffer went 2 for 3 with 3 runs scored and 3 walks in the lead off slot.

In game 2 the Brewers jumped out to an early lead and then held on to get the narrow 4-3 win. Sekein Hamasaki was given his 4th start of the season and, having given up 3 runs on 5 hits in 6 innings, improved to 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA. Tim Shore earned his 11th save by pitching a not really flawless but ultimately successful 9th inning. Bobby Erbakan hit his 12th HR and stole his 12th base in this one. And Zacarias Martell committed his 12th error. In an otherwise tremendous year for the second year catcher this is one troubling sign- he committed just 4 errors in 111 games in 1974. And while his range rating is essentially unchanged, his Zone Rating has dropped from +3.9 in '74 to -0.6 this season.

And then the Brewers got clobbered in game 3. Harry Lyerly started and didn't pitch that bad- giving up 4 runs, but only 2 of them earned, on 5 hits and 4 walks in his 6 innings pitched. He didn't get any run support and then the bullpen just completed imploded- again- and Lyerly drops to 8-6 with a 3.49 ERA. Jaden Francis gave up 4 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks in his inning pitched, seeing his ERA rise to 5.26 and his chances of being a Brewer in 1976 diminish to nearly nothing. On the plus side, RodRod went 2 for 5 and hit his 29th double.

August 28-30, at Phoenix: 6-9, 6-0, 17-7.

The Brewers head down to the dessert and lose another as the Speed Devils score 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th to break open a close game. Having recently lavished praise on Erik Sloan, he has perhaps his worst start of the season, giving up 6 runs on 12 hits in 6 innings pitched. He drops to 8-5 with a 3.28 ERA. RodRod, Josh Schaeffer, and Zacarias Martell all had 3 hits in the game, with Martell's 15th double of the season the only extra base hit for the Brewers in this one.

Sadahige Kawasaki (14-5, 2.46) helps get the Brewers on the right track again by giving up no runs on 8 hits in 8 innings pitched and Jaden Francis, in spite of giving up a pair of hits, holds the shutout in the 9th. Zacarias Martell hits his 7th HR of the season and Joe McPhillips picks up homer number 18. McPhillips also swipes his 6th base while Josh Schaeffer gets stolen base number 10.

But the best way to beat the power hitting Speed Devils in their hitter's paradise ballpark is to score a crap load of runs. And that's exactly what the Brewers did in the final game of the series and the week. Big games all around for the Brewers lineup, but special note for Oscar Vargas and his 2 for 4, 6 RBI game including a Grand Slam HR in the 8 run 9th inning. Bobby Erbakan went 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI, hitting his 13th HR. And RodRod picked up his 30th double as part of a 2 for 4, 3 RBI game. Cheol-han Lee (14-4, 3.35) gets the win, although he did allow 4 runs on 8 hits in 6 innings pitched. The Brewers also swipe 4 bases (Vargas' 1st, McPhillips' 7th, Schaeffer's 11th, Erbakan's 14th.)

Notes from around the league: The Columbus Whalers look like they will be the prohibitive favorite to win the SJL heading into September as they have stretched their lead to 8 1/2 games over the slumping Boston Berserkers. Philadelphia is in 3rd place at 11 games back.
The Brewers are playing pretty well but so are the L.A. Spinners, who at one point mid-week had taken over 1st place from Denver and at week's end trail by only 1 game. The Brooklyn Aces, the Brewers next opponents, are 5 games back in 3rd place. RodRod is in good position to get his first batting title as he leads the MGL with his .361 mark, nearly 20 points higher than nearest challenger, L.A. catcher Greg Foster at .342. (Andrew Kennedy, who has been cold for awhile, sits in 3rd at .341.) Sadahige Kawasaki is looking like Aaron McNally's most serious contender for MGL Pitcher of the Year. Sadahige is 2nd in ERA to McNally, tied for 2nd in wins (McNally is up to 17 now), and 2nd in pitcher WAR to McNally (5.0 to 4.9).