The Brewers wrap up the road portion of their 1974 regular season with a three-game series at Detroit against the 9th place Falcons.
In the first game the Brewers hitting woes continue. The lose 3-1 to extend their losing streak to 5 games. Harry Lyerly gets his last start of a disappointing 1974 campaign- his worst yet as a big leaguer- and really pitches pretty well, allowing 3 runs on only 3 hits in 6 innings pitched. But with no run support he drops to 9-12 with a 4.30 ERA. The Brewers collect a total of 2 hits so not much else to report here.
Game 2 was an epic battle. Having fought to a 3-3 tie through 9 innings, the game stretched into extra innings. And the bullpens took over, denying any scoring in the 10th, the 11th, the 12th, and on, until finally, in the 15th inning, the Brewers break through. Having entered the game in relief in the 14th inning, young 2-way player Ben Flynn, who pitched a flawless 14th, came to bat with 2 men on and 1 out (Ryan Rodgers having drawn a 1-out walk and John Flores hitting a single, sending Rodgers to second base) and Flynn worked a full count and then hit a long drive over the head of the center fielder for a double, scoring Rodgers. The Brewers had a chance to add to the run total, especially after Rodrigo Rodriguez followed up with an infield hit single, but as has been happening too often lately, Bobby Erbakan couldn't come through in the clutch, hitting into a fielder's choice and Joe McPhillips hit a deep fly out to right to end the inning.
Out to the mound went the young hitting star Flynn for another inning, in which he would face a few of the most dangerous hitters in the Falcons lineup. And in fact he did give up a lead-off single to second baseman Takeyuki Obana. With plenty of arms still fresh in the 'pen a few of Flynn's veteran teammates looked to the dugout to see if the skipper might pull the kid, knowing that the Brewers desperately needed to end their skid. But no. After the game the manager said, "the kid got us the lead and I was gonna give him every chance to hold it. Hey, we see Ben as an important part of our team going forward and we needed to know that he could do the job. But more importantly,
he needed to know he could do the job." Flynn focused on his catcher, veteran Kevin Curtis, the third catcher used in the game by the Brewers, took a deep breath, and on the first pitch to Greg Potter saw the Falcons catcher drop down a good looking bunt, and then saw his catcher jump on it with catlike reflexes, pick up the ball and fire it to second baseman Joe Willemse, who skillfully placed the tag on Obana at second. One out. And looking at Flynn you could see the weight lifting from his shoulders. His catcher had given him a lift and now he knew he had this. Three pitches later, a Kurt Joiner groundball out and a Tyler Brooks fly out to left, and the losing streak was over. The kid did it.
Cheol-han Lee had started the game, working 7 innings, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits. Including Flynn's double, the Brewers hit 5 in the game. Joe McPhillips (.290/.381/.515) went 3 for 6 in the game, walking twice, and hitting his 8th triple.
Although both teams were exhausted after the game 2 marathon, it appeared that the Brewers were finally breathing easy again and could return to normal. And that is exactly what they did, winning easily in a 9-1 game. Matt Helm's last start of the regular season was pretty typical of his 1974 season. In other words, very good. Helm lasted 8 innings, giving up 1 run on 6 hits, striking out 4 batters and walking none. Helm even went 2 for 4 at the plate, driving in 2 runs. With the win he finishes the season with a 14-6 record and an ERA of 2.71. It is easily a career year for the Brewers captain. It was also a big game for a potential future captain. Catcher Kirk Patnode was called up from AAA about a week and half ago. And in his few starts since then he has not been particularly impressive, in spite of his sterling defensive reputation. There is much talk about the possibility of Kevin Curtis time as a Brewer coming to an end this off season with Patnode taking over as the backup for Zacarias Martell. Some were starting to question whether that was a bit premature. Perhaps Patnode was aware of that, perhaps not. But in this game he showed up to play, and he gave a taste of what he is capable of. Patnode went 3 for 5, driving in 3 runs, hitting his first big league double and doing a fine job behind the plate. Whether he meant it to be or not, it was a statement game, and one that he needed. Joe McPhillips (.293/.384/.518) making a push to compete with teammate Ryan Rodgers for the league MVP award (Bobby Erbakan seems to have taken a step back, but has 3 more games to try to get back in it) went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored (117) and an RBI (103), hitting his 23rd double, drawing his 71st walk, and picking up his 18th stolen base. (Bobby got stolen base #19 in the game.)
The Brewers return home for one last series: 3 games against the Brooklyn Aces, who have won 6 straight and shown great grit in climbing back into 2nd place in spite of being eliminated from the MGL race. While it is felt that the Brewers management would love to see the team get to 100 wins on the season, with an eye towards the World Series they will be giving some players a bit of rest and almost surely none of the expected members of the starting rotation in the WS will be getting starts the rest of the way.