Harry Lyerly and the Denver Brewers of the WPK

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers conclude their home stand with 4 games (in 3 days) against the Oklahoma City Diamond Kings.

In game 1 the Brewers fight back late to tie the game at 4-4 going into extra innings but then give up 2 runs to the Diamond Kings in the 10th inning and are unable to score in the bottom of the frame and lose 6-4. Jordan Stephens giveth and Jordan Stephens taketh away. In the 7th inning Jordan came in as a pinch-hitter and hit a solo HR that helped the Brewers inch back into the game. He stayed in as the pitcher in the 8th inning and pitched well for 2 innings but unfortunately then gave up the big 2-run HR in the 10th inning that lost the game for Denver. Stephens drops to 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA. Starter Cheol-han Lee went 7 innings, giving up 4 runs on 9 hits. Jonathan Koch (.311/.335/.446), currently on a roll at the plate, was 4 for 5 in the game, hitting his 11th double of the season. The recently promoted Frank Rojas went 3 for 5 in his first start with the Brewers. And Chad Brown (.277/.301/.400), in the midst of one of his toughest seasons yet as a big leaguer, was 2 for 4 and hit 2 doubles to get to 9 on the season.


The Brewers bounced back in game 2 behind starter Erik Sloan who had one of his better starts of the season. The diminutive lefty worked 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on just 3 hits, striking out 5 and walking 1. The team gave him good run support, especially early in the game, and the home team won 7-4. Sloan improves to 5-4 with a 4.56 ERA. Jaden Francis, having a tremendous season, worked a perfect 9th to secure his 7th save and drop his ERA down to 0.56. The offense was led by Mike Foster as it so often has been this season. Foster (.372/.427/.576) was 2 for 4 with 1 run scored and 3 RBI hitting in the number 3 slot and hit his 7th HR of the season. Jonathan Koch (.315/.338/.447) also stays hot and went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored in the game. John Flores (.283/.313/.543), who along with Frank Rojas is helping fill in the outfield gap while Joe McPhillips recovers on the IL, went 1 for 3 but his 1 hit was a big 2-out, 2-run HR in the 2nd inning, his 4th long ball of the season.


The Brewers take the opening game of a Sunday doubleheader at Centennial Stadium behind the fine pitching of Steve Green. Green worked 7 1/3rd innings, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits while striking out 8 and walking nary a batter. Unfortunately, he was denied a well deserved win as the Brewers didn't break a 2-2 tie until he was gone as they plated 2 in the bottom of the 8th. Reliever Jaden Francis got the win and is now 2-0 and his fantastic ERA drops even lower to 0.51. Bobby Erbakan (.320/.369/.540) was the offensive force in the game, going 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and hitting his 14th double. Andrew Kennedy (.335/.372/.425) went 2 for 3 and drove in a run. And rookie catcher Zacarias Martell (.275/.400/.367), continuing his fine start, was 2 for 4 with 1 run scored, 1 RBI, and hit his 7th double of the season.


The Brewers dropped the night cap, 5-2, and had to settle for a series split against the Diamond Kings. Matt Helm pitched well enough but was saddled with the loss. Helm, the team captain, gave up 3 runs (only 1 earned) on 7 hits in 5 innings pitched. He drops to 5-2 with 2.52 ERA. Mike Foster and Jonathan Koch each went 2 for 4 in the loss. Joe Willemse (.284/.323/.379), who got the start at shortstop, was 2 for 4 at the dish, driving in a run and hitting his 8th double of 1974. He did also commit his 2nd error but by and large has provided the team with great defensive back-up work at 3 infield positions.


The Brewers now stand at 37-18 on the season, leading the MGL by 4 games over the still surprising Charlotte Sting. They lead L.A. by 5 and Phoenix by 7 1/2 games. The disappointing Brooklyn Aces have now dropped down to 6th place, just 1 game over .500 and 9 games behind Denver.

[BirdWatcher]

He is 33-years old but remains one of the premiere players in the WPK and today third baseman Jesus Hernandez signed a 5-year extension with the only WPK team he has ever played for, the Los Angeles Spinners, that could mean he finishes his almost sure Hall-of-Fame career in an L.A. uniform.


Hernandez won the 1966 MGL MVP award at the age of 25, led the league in batting average in 1969, has won 7 Gold Glove awards at third base (though the most recent was in 1971), is an 8-time All-Star, and has won 3 Silver Slugger awards. What he doesn't have yet is a championship ring and he hopes he can help lead the L.A. club to the promised land before time runs out on his celebrated career.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers head out on the road and start with a 4-game series versus last place San Francisco Velocity in one of the league's most extreme pitcher's parks, Bank of the West Ballpark.

In the first game, Harry Lyerly produces one of his best starts of the season, taking advantage of the home run suppression provided by the BOW. Lyerly goes 7 innings, allowing 2 runs (neither earned) on 5 hits (no HR) while striking out 3 and walking none. While he deserves a win the game was a 2-2 tie going into the 9th inning when the Brewers scored 3 times to win 5-2. Sam Pruiett, who along with Jaden Francis has led the league's best bullpen, gets the win for his fine inning and 2/3rds and improves to 4-0 with a 2.01 ERA. Ryan Rodgers (.415/.518/.494) continues to lead the league in batting and went 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored and 2 walks in this one. The Brewers got a pair of big hits from pinch hitters in the 9th inning: Josh Schaeffer (.331/.438/.456) hit a run scoring triple off the right field wall with no outs (his 1st triple of the year) and Joe Willemse (.291/.328/.385) hit a 1-out RBI single.


The Brewers claimed a fairly easy win in the second game, 6-1. They got a masterpiece from young righty Justin Peacock, who has been quietly building a case for more frequent starts. Peacock went the distance, giving up just 1 run on 6 hits in his 9 innings worked, striking out only 1 but walking not a soul. He improves to 3-0 with a 2.52 ERA. Mike Foster (.378/.428/.574), leading the MGL in WAR among batters, went 3 for 5 in this one and hit his 16th double of 1974. Ryan Rodgers (.417/.520/.494) was 2 for 4 and drove in 3 runs from the leadoff slot. And how about Zacarias Martell in his rookie campaign? Martell (.283/.407/.372) went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and a walk.


More of the same in game 3 as the offense was once again led by Rodgers (3 for 5), Foster (4 for 4) and Martell (2 for 5 with 2 RBI and his 8th double.) Ace Cheol-han Lee wasn't particularly sharp, giving up 3 runs on 12 hits in 8 2/3rds innings pitched and wasn't around for the decision as it took a pair of 10th inning runs to break a 3-3 tie. (Cheol-han was however 2 for 3 at the plate which is not bad for a guy with a career .131 batting average.) Eric Marino wasn't particularly effective either but lucked into the win to improve to 1-1 with a 4.63 ERA and Jaden Francis was very effective and got his 8th save to go with his terrific 0.48 ERA.


The Brewers had their chances to get game 4 and complete the road sweep but they fell short and lost 4-3. The loss certainly can't be blamed on Mike Foster. Foster (.394/.445/.593) continues to be one of the hottest hitters in the league thus far and he went 2 for 3 in this one with his 2 hits both being doubles, getting him to a league leading 18 on the season. He also leads the league in hits, SLG, OPS, OPS+, and of course WAR. While being 2nd in the league in batting average, OBP (in both these cases behind teammate Ryan Rodgers), extra base hits, total bases, and win probability added. Erik Sloan continues his uneven season, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits in 6 innings pitched and taking the loss to fall to 5-5 with a 4.56 ERA.


Having taken 3 of 4 from San Fran, the Brewers hold a 3 1/2 game lead over the red-hot Charlotte Sting. Phoenix has also been playing well of late and is 6 1/2 back in 3rd place. L.A. is 7 1/2 back and Brooklyn is back in 5th place at 10 games off the pace.

[BirdWatcher]

It's beginning to look like Pat Rondeau's batting title last season at the age of 30 might not have been such a fluke after all. He is currently on a roll, having hit safely in 20 straight games now and sitting at .373 for the season while playing for his new team, the El Paso Dawgs. Rondeau hasn't gotten the playing time he thinks he deserves though and doesn't have enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting race in the SJL but his batting average is nearly 20 points higher than the current SJL leader.

[BirdWatcher]

The 42-year old former star starting pitcher Juan Soto, after a particularly disastrous outing as the closer for the Pittsburgh Roadrunners AAA club, the Laredo Oil Kings, has decided this is his last season as a professional ballplayer.


Soto is still hoping to get one last taste of the bigs after having given the L.A. Spinners 30 solid starts last year, going 10-7 with a 3.88 ERA. In his earlier days Soto was one of the finer starting pitchers in the game, having won the SJL Pitcher of the Year award in 1966 while a member of the WPK champions, the Jacksonville Wolf Pack. While he did not win the award again in 1967, he had perhaps an even more impressive season as he went 21-8 with a 2.30 ERA. His career did start to go downhill from there though as he suffered major injuries during both the 1968 and 1970 seasons. Having already been 33 years old at the time of the formation of the WPK, Soto didn't have a chance to show what he could do in the league in his prime and surely will fall short of HOF recognition.
Still, with a career record of 108-54 and an ERA of 2.66 and having a career WAR total of 34.7 it has certainly been a career to be proud of. Not that the humble, hard-working Soto would ever admit that in public.

[stevem810]

Had the league launched 10 years earlier it would have been interesting to see those career numbers.

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by stevem810

Had the league launched 10 years earlier it would have been interesting to see those career numbers.

Indeed. As I start to think about a future Hall-of-Fame for the league I always think about the could-have-been's like Soto. But then I figure that any league, IRL or in OOTP, has to start somewhere and there will inevitably be some great players who are unlucky due to the league just not starting early enough for them to play through the entirety of their prime years.

I suppose I might just create my own branch of the Hall for the what might have been guys, like Soto but also future players who have their careers cut short by injury, etc.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers finish off the week with a 3-game set at Oklahoma City against the 6th place Diamond Kings, who come into the series with a 3 game losing streak.

It took an impressive complete game shutout by Oklahoma City's Danny Black, but the Diamond Kings were able to end their skid with a 1-0 win over the Brewers. This one was a pitcher's duel as both starters went the distance, with Steve Green giving up just the 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 5 and walking 1. With the tough loss Green falls to 6-4 with a 3.67 ERA. Bobby Erbakan (.318/.375/.521) gets 2 of the 3 Brewers hits in the game, going 2 for 4.


The Brewers offense stays ice cold in game 2 and the Diamond Kings win easily, 7-1. Matt Helm gives up 4 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits in 6 1/3rd innings pitched and Eric Johnson struggles in relief, giving up 3 runs (though none earned) in 1 2/3rds innings. Helm drops to 5-3 with a 2.69 ERA. Ryan Rodgers (.415/.520/.486) went 2 for 4 in the loss.


Things don't get any better for the Brewers, who have now lost 4 straight, when Oklahoma City completes the series sweep with a 5-1 victory. What a tough season this has been for Harry Lyerly. Early in the season he was pitching horribly and giving up home runs in bunches. Now he is pitching much better, and getting no run support. Lyerly lasted 7 innings, gave up 3 runs but only 1 was earned, on 6 hits (no HR's), while striking out 9 and walking just 1. But in spite of a fine start he was saddled with a loss and drops to 3-6 on the season, now with a 4.27 ERA. Prior to the game Joe McPhillips, just returned from the IL, was added to the active roster again (Frank Rojas returning to AAA Chester) and inserted into the lineup. It was hoped that the young sparkplug and budding star would give the offense a boost. And in fact, he did his part, going 2 for 4 with a run scored and saw his current hitting streak reach 15 games. John Flores (.309/.367/.545), who continues to produce as the 5th outfielder, was 3 for 3 with a walk in the game. And Bobby Erbakan (.321/.379/.531) went 2 for 4, hitting his 15th double and driving in the lone Denver run. But beyond that the Brewers didn't get much and they just couldn't put together any scoring rallies.


Having been swept, the Brewers find their MGL lead shrunk down to 2 games, over the Charlotte Sting. They hold a 5 game edge over L.A. and Phoenix is 6 games behind.

[BirdWatcher]

It's a week late (somehow I forgot to share this news), but belated congratulations are in order for Brewers second baseman Jonathan Koch, who was the MGL Player of the Week for the first full week of June.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers wrap up the road trip with a 3-game series at Baltimore against the 9th place Lords. In the 9 games played between these two teams up to this point of the season, the Brewers have won 8.

But in the first game of the series the Brewers offense continues to sputter and they drop a narrow 2-1 decision. The Brewers score their lone run in the 8th inning but also leave the bases loaded that inning. They had the bases juiced with just 1 out but Andrew Kennedy hit a harmless fly out to right field that wasn't deep enough to score Joe Willemse from third, and then Joe McPhillips struck out to end the inning. Again, Cheol-han Lee pitched well enough for a victory but was denied. Lee worked 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits, striking out 6 and walking 2. Lee drops to 6-3 and has the 3rd best ERA in the league at 2.51. Not much to report on the offensive side of things, but Ryan Rodgers (.405/.511/.479) went 1 for 3 with a walk and his 10th double of the season.


The Brewers slide continued in game 2 as they now have lost 6 games in a row. They lost this one by a narrow 4-3 score. It was another mediocre start by veteran lefty Erik Sloan who gave up 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits in 6 1/3rd innings pitched. He neither struck out a single batter (surprising) nor walked any (less surprising.) Sloan takes the loss and falls to 5-6 with a 4.53 ERA. Chad Brown (.269/.289/.394), in an increasingly more rare start, had a good day at the plate, going 2 for 4, driving in a run and hitting his 11th double of the season. On the other hand, he also committed his 13th error. Zacarias Martell (.287/.409/.372) also went 2 for 4 in the game.


And finally, in the 3rd game of the series, the Brewers get the big inning that has been eluding them for the past week or so, as they break a 3-3 tie in the 6th inning by scoring 5 runs. They would add another 4 in the 9th on their way to a 12-4 victory. There were many offensive stars in this one. Mike Foster (.384/.435/.570), slumping a bit at the plate of late, went 4 for 6, driving in 3 runs, and hitting his 19th double of the season. Josh Schaeffer (.323/.437/.427) was 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored and an RBI. Bobby Erbakan (.322/.388/.530), the leading vote-getter thus far among MGL first basemen in All-Star balloting, was 2 for 2, scoring 2 runs, driving in 3, walking twice, getting hit by a pitch for the 3rd time this season, and hitting his 16th double. And Ryan Rodgers (.410/.515/.487) went 3 for 5, scored 3 runs, and hit his 11th double of 1974, which is also the 250th of his illustrious career. Matt Helm was the beneficiary of the Brewers offensive outburst, but he also did his part to secure the win, going 7 innings, allowing 3 runs (only 1 earned) on 6 hits, striking out 5 and walking 3. Helm improves to 6-3 with 2.55 ERA.


With the win in the final game of the series the Brewers avoid being swept again on the road and put a stop to their 6 game losing streak. They currently maintain a lead of just 1 game over Charlotte and 3 1/2 over the presently hot L.A. Spinners. On the plus side, the Brewers now come home and start a 7-game home stand with 4 against the last place San Francisco Velocity. (After that they host the 2nd place Sting for 3 games, so that should be interesting.)

[BirdWatcher]

Former Brewer Pat Rondeau saw his season-best hitting streak end at 24 games.

[BirdWatcher]

The Seattle Alligators were predicted by many to be in the hunt this year for the SJL title. Instead, they currently find themselves 9 games below .500 and in 9th place.



And today they got some very bad news that certainly complicates any hopes of getting back into contention as they learned that star second baseman Mike Robinette, already in the midst of an off season, will be lost likely until late August with an elbow sprain. The 7-time All-Star, who has average 7 WAR per 162 games in his career, currently sits at -0.2 WAR for the 1974 season. Barry Baars, 25-year old backup out of Suriname, will likely get the majority of playing time at second in Robinette's absence. Baars is known for his slick glove work, but is unproven at the plate.

[BirdWatcher]

The first cycle of the 1974 came from an unlikely source- El Paso Dawg's backup shortstop Humberto Rivera. In just his 4th start of the 1974 season, Rivera went 5 for 5, and all of his extra base hits were the first of the season for him.


While Rivera is a very fine contact hitter, he doesn't possess much power and is a sub-par defender. He is also thought to be particularly injury prone and not a great influence in the clubhouse.


But for one day at least, he is the talk of the WPK.

[BirdWatcher]

The Pittsburgh Roadrunner's, trying to hang around the middle of the pack in the SJL and give themselves at least a shot of climbing into contention, are currently a game over .500 in 5th place and trail the leading team, cross-state rivals the Philadelphia Mud Hens, by 8 1/2 games.

And today the Roadrunners suffered the toughest loss of the season so far as they lost 2 players to season-ending injuries: starting pitcher Fumito Kunishi, who it was just announced is currently 5th in the All-Star voting for SJL starting pitchers, and speedy second baseman Bill Craig. Konishi is suffering from shoulder inflammation that is expected to sideline him for 4-5 months while Craig tore his ACL and will likely not be able to play again until sometime during spring training 1975.



Konishi was the ace of a staff that has done pretty well this year (4th in ERA, team overall 2nd in runs allowed) but that doesn't run terribly deep. Craig's most likely replacement is 26-year old back-up Matt Harrington, who is a very fine fielder and a very weak hitter.

[BirdWatcher]

So the Brewers return home hoping that the offense they rediscovered in the final game of the road trip is nourished in the friendly confines of Centennial Stadium.

In the first game of the this 4-game series, that certainly seems to be the case. The Brewers score 6 times in the bottom of the 1st and never look back as they get an easy 10-2 win to start the home stand. Steve Green had to work with quite a bit of traffic as his control was suspect in this one- he walked 5 batters- and he gave up 7 hits in his 6 innings pitched. But mostly he worked out of jams and ended up giving up just the 2 runs and gets the win to improve to 7-4 with a 3.62 ERA. Jonathan Koch (.297/.320/.423) had a big game, going 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored, 4 RBI, and hitting his 6th HR of the season. Bobby Erbakan (.325/.392/.543) also homered, his 9th, and went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI. And Mike Foster (.388/.438/.570), trailing only teammate Ryan Rodgers in batting average in the WPK, went 3 for 5 with 2 runs and 1 RBI.


Game 2: more of the same. The Brewers actually trailed 4-3 going into the bottom of the 7th inning. But then they scored 11 times on the way to a 15-5 victory. Harry Lyerly got the victory, giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 6 hits in 7 2/3rds innings pitched, while striking out 7 and walking 2. Lyerly improves to 4-6 with a 4.32 ERA. Ryan Rodgers (.409/.516/.488) went 3 for 5 with 5 RBI and hit his 12th double. John Flores (.355/.403/.613) continues to shine off the bench and in his rare starts and went 4 for 5 with 2 runs scored and hit his 5th HR (in just 69 plate appearances.) Joe McPhillips (.300/.370/.527) scored 3 runs, walked 3 times, and went 1 for 3.


In the opening game of the Sunday doubleheader, Justin Peacock did not give the Brewers his best start of the season as he allowed 6 runs (5 earned) on 9 hits over 5 1/3rd innings. But the offense bailed him out and the Brewers ended up prevailing by a score of 9-6. Sam Pruiett got the win in relief, pitching 2 scoreless innings, and he improves to 5-0 with a 2.39 ERA. (He is also currently 2nd in the All-Star voting among relief pitchers in the MGL.) Jaden Francis (5th in the AS voting) pitched the 9th inning for his 9th save (0.43 ERA.) Andrew Kennedy (.317/.354/.399), who has been slumping at the plate for awhile, went 2 for 5 with 4 RBI, both his hits being doubles to get him to 13 on the season. Ryan Rodgers (.415/.516/.493), having one of his finest campaigns at age 35 (in what is surely a HOF career), was 3 for 5 and hit his 3rd triple of 1974.


With staff ace, Cheol-han Lee, on the mound for the night cap it seemed the Brewers were in a good position to secure a 4-game sweep of the lowly Velocity. It was not to be. Lee was far from his best, giving up 8 runs on 12 hits in 6 1/3rd innings pitched. He struggled with his control, walking just 2 batters but putting 3 others on base by hitting them with pitches that got away. The Brewers fought back from an early deficit to tie the game at 5-5 going into the 7th, but then Lee and reliever Eric Johnson gave up 4 more runs between them and the game ended with the same score as the earlier contest but with Brewers on the losing end. Ryan Rodgers (.418/.519/.507) was once again 3 for 5 and hit his 13th double and Andrew Kennedy (.319/.359/.403) was 3 for 3 with 2 runs scored and an RBI.


Having taken 3 of 4 from San Francisco, the Brewers currently hold a 1 1/2 game lead over their next opponent, the Charlotte Sting. They lead L.A. by 5 games and the upward moving Brooklyn Aces by 7.

[BirdWatcher]

Ryan Rodgers, at age 35, shows no signs of slowing down as he wins the MGL Player of the Week award for the second time in the 1974 season.

[BirdWatcher]

The Pittsburgh Roadrunners are dealing with the worst luck when it comes to the health of their players as they lose another key member of the team- 22-year old closer Israel Vazquez- to a season-ending injury.


Vazquez was off to a fine start in his rookie season but shoulder inflammation will now sideline him for at least 4 months.


The Roadrunners are hanging in there in the middle of the SJL pack at 1 game over .500 but one has to wonder at what point they will slide towards the bottom of the pile with all of these season-ending injuries.

[BirdWatcher]

Many in the WPK universe consider Bud Lindsay, the 23-year old shortstop for the San Antonio Keys, to be the best in the business at his position.


But increasingly there are concerns that the 1972 Rookie of the Year, Gold Glover, Silver Slugger, and All-Star may have his HOF potential career derailed by injuries. This is the second season in a row that Lindsay will miss a big chunk of due to an injury- he suffered a fractured finger in late July of the 1973 season that put him out of commission for the rest of that campaign- and now is dealing with a ruptured MCL that is expected to sideline him for at least 6 months.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers then play host to the surprising second place Charlotte Sting.
Entering the series, the Brewers have a decidedly better run differential than the Sting. The greatest strengths for the Sting are their starting rotation and their defense, but while their offense isn't bad, it doesn't really strike fear in the hearts of opponents either.

And in game 1 the Sting pitching is good but the Brewers hold the Sting to just 2 runs and win 5-2. It was one of the better outings of the season for 1972 Pitcher of the Year Erik Sloan. Sloan went the distance, giving up the 2 runs on 8 hits, striking out 5 and walking 1. With the victory Sloan improves to 6-6 with 4.30 ERA. Defensive specialist utility infielder Oscar Vargas (.201/.296/.271), in a rare start at shortstop, helped lead the offense with a 3 for 4, 2 RBI game. Jonathan Koch (.304/.326/.424) also was 3 for 4 with a walk and an RBI. And rookie catcher, Zacarias Martell (.303/.415/.386) had his 3rd two-hit game in a row and drove in his 17th run of the season.


If the Brewers were feeling confident- perhaps a bit too confident- after pretty easily dispatching the Sting in game 1, they received a rude awakening in the second game. The Sting handed the Brewers an 8-1 loss behind the terrific pitching of veteran 5th starter Dean Olsen (8-6, 2.71). The Brewers managed just 5 hits off Olsen, 3 of them coming off the bat of Chad Brown (.287/.306/.420), including his 2nd home run of the 1974 season. In an indication of just how insignificant Brown's role has been on the team this season, he also swiped his first base of the season, this from a man who averages 25 stolen bases every 162 games played. Matt Helm was roughed up in his 4 1/3rd inning pitched, giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits, walking 3, hitting two batters with errant pitches, and striking out none. He takes the loss to drop to 6-4 with a 2.87 ERA.


The Brewers were looking to get revenge in the rubber match and earn a series victory. Instead, they were humiliated. The Sting won 12-3. Steve Green gave up 8 runs on 11 hits in his 5 1/3 innings pitched and drops to 7-5 with a 4.19 ERA. Lefty reliever Eric Marino, having struggled a bit this season at the big league level, was rocked for 4 runs on 4 hits without recording an out. Marino found himself shipped down to AAA Chester after the game to get his head straight and the Brewers brought up fellow-lefthander Jeremy Walker to take his place. Joe McPhillips (.298/.370/.520) was one of the few bright spots for the Brewers in the game as he went 2 for 4 and hit his team-leading 12th home run of the season. Jonathan Koch (.303/.325/.433) also homered in the game, his 7th.


If the Brewers entered the series doubting the quality of the Charlotte squad, they were certainly disabused of that notion in a most brutal manner. Having taken 2 of 3 from Denver, the Sting now sit just 1/2 game back while the Brewers next opponent, the Brooklyn Aces, having won 6 straight, are in 3rd place (tied with the L.A. Spinners) at 5 1/2 games back.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers conclude the month of June with a 3-game series against the ever dangerous Aces in Brooklyn.
The Aces come into the series having won 7 straight and 8 of their last 9 while the Brewers are coming off a rather devastating series loss against Charlotte.

With the slightest lead in the MGL, this certainly looked like a series that might bounce Denver out of first place for the first time since April 27th, when they took over from these very Aces.

In game 1 the Brewers served notice that they could win with pitching, defense, and a timely hit or two when needed, as they captured a 2-1 victory. Cheol-han Lee pitched like the true ace and future HOF'er he is, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits over 8 innings pitched, striking out 6 and walking 3. Liann-wei Hua pitched the 9th for his 4th save of the season and has a 2.00 ERA. Cheol-han improved to 7-4 with 2.91 ERA. Bobby Erbakan (.318/.381/.521) went 3 for 4 in the game with 1 run scored, 1 driven in, and hit his 18th double. Jonathan Koch (.305/.327/.443) hit his 1st triple of the season in the 1st inning but was clearly in a great deal of pain after sliding in safely at third and had to be removed from the game. (More on that later.)


The Brewers then got a solid start from Harry Lyerly in the second game and earned a 6-4 win. Lyerly appears to be righting the ship after getting off to a disastrous start in 1974. He allowed 3 runs on 8 hits in 6 1/3rd innings pitched in this one to earn the victory, striking out 4 while walking none. Lyerly improves to 5-6 with 4.31 ERA. Jaden Francis gave up a solo HR to the first Ace batter of the 9th but then settled in and got 3 easy outs to get his 10th save. His ERA went up to 0.82, still pretty darn fantastic. Joe Willemse (.283/.324/.352), taking over at second base for the injured Jonathan Koch, was 3 for 5 in the game, scoring once and driving in another run. Chad Brown (.290/.307/.414) appears to be experiencing a bit of a resurgence in the midst of a difficult season and contributed a 2 for 4 game with two runs scored.


And the Brewers end June on a high note as they sweep the Aces, winning the final game 5-1.Chad Brown (.300/.315/.426) continuing his hot hitting of late, went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI and hit his 12th double of 1974. Prior to the game it was learned that Jonathan Koch had suffered a fractured tibia while sliding in to third on his triple in the first game of the series and would be out of action for 5-6 weeks. Likely this will mean that Joe Willemse will get the majority of playing time at second base and Chad Brown will be counted on once again to carry the lion's share of the load at short. He picked a good time to get hot. Matt Helm was wildly effective in this one, walking 6 batters but working out of jams to limit the Aces to just 1 run on 6 hits in 7 1/3rd innings pitched. With the victory the captain improves to 7-4 with a 2.73 ERA. Jordan Stephens pitched the last inning and 2/3rds for his 5th save and his ERA improves to 2.83. Stephens also got a single in his lone at-bat, has a slash line of .448/.515/.655 in 33 plate appearances, and stole his first base of the season. John Flores continues to be spectacular in his rare starts as the 5th outfielder. Flores (.382/.425/.676) went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and two of his hits were triples, his first two of the season.


With the sweep of Brooklyn the Brewers now have a 3 game lead over the Charlotte Sting to start the month of July. The Aces fall to 8 back and the L.A. Spinners are now 9 off the pace, having lost 6 in a row.

With Jonathan Koch heading to the IL, the Brewers added Rodrigo Rodriguez (RodRod) to the 40-man roster and promoted him to the big league ball club. With third baseman Mike Foster currently going through a slump, RodRod will likely spell him a bit at third, can also play a bit of second, if not nearly as well as Willemse or Oscar Vargas, and gives the Brewers another very potent left-handed bat off the bench.