Although it is still very early in the season, it seemed like a short road swing against the Brooklyn Aces and Los Angeles Spinners- the two teams expected to contend with the Brewers for the MGL title this season- could be seen as an early test of a Denver team off to a pretty fine start.
Now granted, the timing might have been good for the Brewers as Brooklyn is going through a bit of a leadership crisis and L.A. has been playing poorly of late. But whatever the reasons, if this little stretch on the road was a test, the Brewers passed with flying colors.
In game 1, veteran ace Cheol-han Lee hurled a complete game shutout, allowing just 4 hits while striking out 6 and walking 2. The Brewers won 4-0 with all of the runs scored in the game coming before the first out was recorded. The Brewers combined first inning singles by Ryan Rodgers, Jonathan Koch, and Bobby Erbakan with a Grand Slam home run off the bat of Joe McPhillips to account for the game's scoring. Cheol-han improves to 4-0 with a 1.66 ERA. Andrew Kennedy (.346/.370/.487) went 2 for 3 and hit his 8th double of the season. Ryan Rodgers (.500/.587/.629) went 2 for 4 in the game.
Steve Green saw what Cheol-han did in game 1 and said, "hey, that looks fun, let me try." And like Lee before him, Green hurled a 4-hit complete game shutout, striking out 6 batters. But he one-upped the ace a bit by not walking a single batter. The Brewers only managed to score twice, but that was all that Green needed to improve his record to 4-1 with a 2.72 ERA. The Brewers scored the 2 runs in the 8th inning to break a 0-0 tie as L.A. ace Jose Santos was also very sharp. The big hit in the inning was a Mike Foster (.364/.412/.623) run scoring double, his 9th of the season.
It looked like the winning streak might end in the final game of the series, as L.A. held a 4-0 lead going into the 7th inning. But then the Brewers erupted for 4 runs in the 7th to tie the game and added 4 more in the 8th to get an 8-4 win and a series sweep. Erik Sloan wasn't particularly sharp in the start, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits in 5 2/3rds innings but the Brewer bullpen and potent offense took him off the hook. Jordan Stephens got the win with an effective 2 2/3rds innings pitched and improves to 1-0 with a 3.45 ERA. Two Brewers who have been slumping at the plate for awhile saw their bats come alive in this one. Josh Schaeffer (.309/.441/.400) went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI from the lead-off slot and Joe Willemse (.269/.328/.327) also went 3 for 5 in the game, scored twice and hit his 3rd double of 1974. Mike Foster (.375/.433/.662) continues his great start at the plate, going 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored, 2 walks, 1 RBI, and hitting his 4th HR of the season. Same for Jonathan Koch (.354/.393/.494) who was 2 for 5 with 4 RBI, both of his hits doubles to get him to 5 on the season.
With the series sweep the Brewers now lead the MGL by 4 games over Phoenix, and 4 1/2 over Charlotte and Brooklyn.
Things don't necessarily get much easier as the Brewers return home for 4 against the power hitting Phoenix Speed Devils and then 3 against Brooklyn.