[BirdWatcher]

To begin their long road-trip, the Brewers fly to Portland to take on the last place Wild Things for 3 games.

The Brewers extend their winning streak to 4 games behind the pitching of Erik Sloan as they win 5-1 in game 1 of the series. Sloan gets the complete game win, allowing the single run on just 4 hits while striking out 7 and walking 1. He improves to 4-3 with a 1.75 ERA for Denver and 12-6 with a 2.00 ERA for the season. Chad Brown (.298/.322/.394) paces the offense with a 2 for 5 game, scoring a run and driving in another. He also picks up his 21st stolen base, 3rd most in the MGL.

The winning streak comes to an end in game 2 as Portland starter Orlando Vidal, in the midst of a nice rookie campaign, shuts out the Brewers on 5 hits. Vidal was the Wild Things first round draft pick (5th overall) in the 1971 draft. In this game he out-dueled likely future Hall-of-Famer Cheol-han Lee for the 2-0 victory. Lee also went the distance, allowing the 2 runs on 5 hits, striking out 8 and walking none. He drops to 12-6 with a 2.00 ERA. (Yes, that's right- Lee and Sloan now have not only identical records, but identical ERA's as well. Spooky.) Jonathan Koch (.233/.265/.359), who went 2 for 4 the day before, fared best against Vidal with a 2 for 3 day at the plate and his first stolen base of the season. Chad Brown hit his 28th double of 1972 in the loss. Brown is 2nd in the MGL in doubles and batting average, in both cases trailing Brooklyn's Felix Lopez by a good margin.

In the game 3 rubber match the Brewers carry a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 7th inning. And then the wheels fall off. Harry Lyerly, who was pitching a shutout in spite of some control issues, sees the first batter he faces in the bottom of the 7th reach on a error by Chad Brown. He then strikes out the next batter. The opposing pitcher is up next and Lyerly inexplicably walks him. After giving up a run-scoring single to the next batter, Lyerly is lifted for reliever Jaden Francis. The Brewers still lead 2-1 at this point. But not for long. Francis gives up another single which loads the bases. Then gets the very dangerous Chris Tobin to fly out to center, not deep enough to advance any runners. Almost out of the jam with the lead preserved. But a 2-out single scores 2 runs. The lead is gone as is Francis, though not before walking the bases loaded again. Liann-wei Hua comes in to face a tough lefty in Jay Ebersole. And allows a single scoring 2 more runs. And, well, you get the picture. Before the final out was recorded the Wild Things had scored 6 times.The Brewers lose the game 6-2 and drop 2 of 3 in the series. Lyerly falls to 11-6 though his ERA also drops, having not allowed any earned runs, and is now 2.59. He struck out 5 but also walked 5, though he only gave up 4 hits in his 6 1/3rd innings pitched. Although only scoring 2 runs, the Brewers managed to collect 4 doubles in their 8 hits on the evening. Andrew Kennedy collects double #25, Kevin Curtis #16, Jonathan Koch #12, and Mike Foster (.277/.304/.365), who went 2 for 3 in the game, gets his 3rd double of 1972.

With the series loss the Brewers once again fall behind the suddenly again hot Charlotte Sting by double digits (10 games behind.) With September no longer that far away it is looking more and more like the Brewers will not be able to catch the front-runners to earn their 4th straight MGL pennant.