[BirdWatcher]

In the second game of four against the Spinners in L.A., the Brewers get another shutout- this time of the combined variety as Daniel Torres works the first 7 innings (2 hits, 2 K, 5 BB), Eric Singer works the 8th (1 H, 1K), and Liann-wei Hua works the 9th for his 6th save of the season. Hua (1.47 ERA) didn't allow any base runners and collected 1 strikeout. The Brewers won 3-0, with Ryan Rodgers (.363/.478/.472) pacing the attack with a 2 for 4, 3 RBI day and hitting his 2nd HR of the season. Rodgers continues to lead all of the WPK in both batting average and OBP.

The series culminated with a Sunday doubleheader. The Brewers knew that they faced a tough challenge in the first game with Spinners ace Jaime Schardein on the mound. Schardein entered the game with a 12-6 record (for a last place club) but also an uncharacteristically high ERA of 3.87. And sure enough he held the Brewers scoreless for the first 6 innings. Fortunately, former Spinner Abel Pennington proved to be very effective at working out of jams in the game and kept the Brewers in it as he didn't give up a run until the bottom of the 6th. Trailing 1-0, the Brewers did manage to scrape together 2 runs against Schardein in the top of the 7th to take a narrow 2-1 lead. The score would remain right there until the top of the 9th. Perhaps Schardein was tiring or perhaps the Brewers just got lucky, but the 9th would prove to be Schardein's undoing. The Brewers put together a 6 run inning and held on for an 8-1 victory that looks a lot more lopsided than it felt. Pennington improves to 7-8 with a 3.83 ERA. Antonio Puente (.252/.363/.489) paced the attack with a 3 for 5, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI game including hitting his 19th HR of the season.

The nightcap was nearly a repeat of the day's early game. The Brewers scored a 1st inning run off Spinners starter Lani Malolu and another single run off the veteran lefty in the 5th and took a narrow 2-0 lead into the 7th inning. At that point the Brewers bats exploded again, this time for 5 runs, keyed by a pair of 2-run doubles off the bats of Chad Brown (.260/.289/.344, 17th double of the season) and Pat Rondeau (.298/.340/.390, 22nd double of the season). Will Smart pitched a great game for the Brewers, working 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 7 hits while striking out 4 and walking 3. Smart improves to 6-2 with a 1.49 ERA on the season.

With the 4-game sweep of L.A. the Brewers now find themselves just 3 1/2 games behind the first place Phoenix Speed Devils. What seemed nearly impossible a few weeks ago- winning the MGL for a second straight year- is now very much within reach with a little over a month left in the 1970 season.