The Brewers and the suddenly very hot Detroit Falcons begin a 4-game series tied for 2nd place in the MGL with identical 14-9 records.
And after much drama and a whole lotta hits and runs scored, they finish the series with identical records still.
In game 1, Harry Lyerly struggles with his control for the first time this season, walking 6 batters, and in spite of not allowing a single HR he gives up 4 runs on 8 hits over 7 innings pitched. The Falcons, meanwhile, get another masterful performance from 25-year old Eduardo Saucedo. Saucedo is one of the bigger surprises at this stage of the season as he is off to a 5-0 start and is 3rd in the MGL in ERA at 1.73. (Two L.A. Spinners pitchers, with the advantage of pitching in a very good pitcher's park, are ahead of him- Jose Santos at 1.13 and Juan Soto at 1.71.) Lyerly falls to 2-1 but still has an impressive 2.48 ERA himself (good for 8th in the MGL.) Kevin Curtis (.318/.366/.515), having a career year at the plate thus far, went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles to give him 4 for the season. Second baseman Jonathan Koch (.329/.348/.427), in the midst of what appears to be a breakout season, was also 2 for 4 in the 6-3 loss.
Game 2 was a crazy back-and-forth affair which the Brewers lost 10-8. I'm not even going to attempt to recap this one much. Suffice it say that Cheol-han Lee didn't have his best start (4 2/3rds IP, 6 R, 12 H, 2 K, 5 BB) but did not get a decision in the game. His ERA is now 3.19. Liann-wei Hua, who gave up back-to-back HR's to open the bottom of the 7th inning takes the loss and drops to 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA. Chad Brown (.324/.343/.429) went 2 for 4 with 4 RBI in the loss, hitting his 5th double and 2nd HR.
The Brewers plate a run in the top of the 9th in the third game of the series to break a 4-4 tie and then hold on to win 5-4. Jonathan Koch (.315/.333/.402) hit the game-winning 1-out single and went 2 for 5 in the game. Jordan Stephens (.444/.545/.556) got a rare start at third base to give the slumping Mike Foster a breather and went 2 for 4 with his first double of the season. Jose de los Santos got the win in relief of Steve Green (7 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 6 K, 1 BB- 4.28 ERA) with 2 strong innings pitched. de los Santos is now 1-0 with an ERA of 7.20.
It wasn't easy, but the Brewers get a narrow 6-5 victory in the final game to get the series split. Erik Sloan pitches well enough for the win, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits over 6 1/3rd innings. He improves to 3-3 with a 3.89 ERA. Sam Pruiett pitches the final two innings for his 2nd save and his ERA is now 1.74. Jonathan Koch (.330/.346/.423) stays hot with a 3 for 5, 2 run, 3 RBI game and hits his 4th double of the season. Pat Rondeau (.473/.492/.564) just continues to be unconscious at the plate, going 3 for 5 and scoring 2 runs. Granted he only has 59 plate appearances and has to come back down to earth at some point, but right now you do not want to be pitching to this guy.
