[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers drop 2 of 3 to the Lords in Baltimore.
Fortunately, Phoenix continues to play poorly as well and the Brewers remain in a virtual tie with the Speed Devils for first place in the MGL.

The Brewers lose game 1, 5-1, as Will Smart has one of his poorer starts of the season, giving up 5 runs on 7 hits over 6 IP. Smart drops to 7-4 with a 2.04 ERA for the season. Pat Rondeau (.292/.333/.390), who had been slumping at the plate of late, provides one of the few bright spots for the team as he goes 3 for 5 in the lead-off slot.

Game 2 sees the Brewers bounce back behind the solid pitching of Cheol-han Lee (7 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 5 K, 1BB), and a bunch of runs scored late in the game. With the Lords leading 1-0 going into the 8th inning behind their ace Jose Santos (16-10, 2.30), the Brewers offense erupted for 8 runs in the 8th, the big blow being a 2-out Grand Slam off the bat of Bobby Erbakan (.256/.325/.348), his 8th HR of the season. The Brewers win 8-1 and Lee improves to 14-5 with a 2.97 ERA.

Harry Lyerly starts game 3 for the Brewers. And for the second start in a row he is sabotaged by sloppy defense and lack of run support. The team commits 3 costly errors, though admittedly one was on Lyerly himself, and fails to score in the game. The Brewers lose 5-0. Lyerly lasts just 6 innings, giving up 5 runs, though only 2 are earned, while striking out 4 and walking 1. He drops to 16-9 with a 2.60 ERA.

(I'm trying to get 3 starts each out of Lee and Lyerly in these last 13 games of the season- which is to say 2 more starts now after this series- and Lyerly's 113 pitches thrown in this game should help that, given his high stamina. Lee only threw 94 pitches in his start, and this is guy who is a true workhorse, having started 36 games in each of the last 2 seasons. It could make things a little tricky if we get to the World Series- but just getting there is the first priority.)