[BirdWatcher]

Brewers record: 4-3 (week), 75-45, 3rd place, MGL, 3 gb L.A. (season)

August 14, at Portland: 5-0

August 15-17, versus Phoenix: 3-5, 8-5, 10-2.

August 18-20, versus Los Angeles: 5-4, 3-6, 6-9.

The Brewers start the week by completing a 3-game sweep of the Wild Things in Portland. In game 3 Sekien Hamasaki and Ben Flynn combined to shut out the home club. Hamasaki (13-3, 3.16), lasted 7 innings, allowing 4 hits. Flynn pitched the final 2 innings, striking out 4 while not allowing a base runner. Flynn also homered in the game, his 5th of the season. Rodrigo "RodRod" Rodriguez, hitting in the cleanup spot, went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI and hit his 6th homer of 1977.

Returning home for a 6-game home stand, the Brewers started by hosting the woeful last-place Phoenix Speed Devils.
And in game 1, they found themselves on the losing end. The Speed Devils scored 3 times in the 9th inning to come from behind and then held on for the victory. Denver starter Steve Green was sailing along until the 9th when he ran into trouble and the bullpen was not able to bail him out. He ended up giving up 3 runs on 6 hits over 8 innings pitched. The loss went to reliever Victor Colon (1-1, 5.14). Casey Bromwell led the way offensively for the Brewers, with a 4 for 4 performance, including hitting his 5th double.

The Brewers broke a 4-4 tie by scoring 3 runs in the 6th inning of game 2 and held on to even up the series. Bobby Erbakan led the way with a 2 for 4, 2 RBI game. Val Guzman hit his 11th homer of the year and John Flores his 2nd. Cheol-han Lee (6-6, 6.95) got a rare start and the win, allowing 4 runs, but only 2 earned, over 6 innings. Victor Colon was the last of 4 relievers for the Brewers and got credit for his first save with the team.

And in the rubber match of the series, the Brewers man-handled the visitors, winning 10-2. Among many hitting stars for the home club, Brett Taranto stood out and was named Player of the Game for his 3 for 5, 3 run scored, 2 RBI game in the lead-off slot. Taranto hit his 26th double and 7th triple of the season in this game. Bobby Erbakan hit his 22nd home run of 1977, to set a personal single-season highest mark, and drove in 3 runs to get to 95. Bobby also swiped his 12th bag of 1977. Jake DiCesare hit his 4th homer and light-hitting defensive specialist infielder Nick Ward hit his 1st homer of 1977, also his first as a big leaguer. John Weaver (5-5, 3.74) got the start and the win, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits over 6 1/3rd innings pitched.

The Brewers concluded the week by playing host to the 1st place Los Angeles Spinners. The Brewers came into this series having taken 9 of 12 games off the Spinners this season, but it is a red-hot and very confident Spinners team that entered Centennial Stadium for this series.
The Brewers do manage to narrowly win the first game of the series but it requires extra innings. Los Angeles scored 2 9th inning runs to tie the game at 4 apiece and it took a 1-out, bases loaded single by Josh Schaeffer to give the Brewers the walk-off victory in the 10th. Staff Ace Sadahige Kawasaki pitched well in this one but didn't get a decision. He allowed just 2 runs on 6 hits over 7 2/3rds innings. Closer Tim Shore (6-2, 2.52) got both a blown save (his 5th) and the win in relief. Brett Taranto stays hot and went 3 for 5 in this one. Casey Bromwell hit his 2nd homer of the season in a Brewers uniform.

But in game 2 the Spinners plated 3 7th inning runs and held on for the win. Erik Sloan (7-5, 3.93) was not sharp in this one, giving up 6 runs on 12 hits, including 2 homers, over 6 innings. Brett Taranto (.345/.392/.542) was again the hitting star for the home team, going 3 for 4 with a run scored (72). RodRod hit his 7th homer of the season in the loss.

And in the final game of the series and the week, the Spinners beat the Brewers more soundly than the final score even indicates. The Brewers did waste several good scoring opportunities early and then put together some late runs off the Spinners bullpen to make the score seem a little more respectable, but really it was clear early that this wasn't going to be their day. Starter Sekien Hamaski (13-4, 3.51) ,having had such a good start to begin the week, ended it with a disastrous one, giving up 8 runs on 12 hits in just 4 1/3rd innings pitched. The bullpen was much better, with Walter Hackler pitching a pretty heroic 2 2/3rds (though he did give up 1 run as he tired), but the damage had been done by that point. Bobby Erbakan (.375/.410/.634) was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and hit his 23rd homer in the loss. And Casey Bromwell (.283/.356/.457) is showing some real life at the plate of late, going 2 for 5 with 2 RBI and hitting his 3rd home run, his 2nd in 3 games, in the loss.

With the series loss to L.A. the Brewers drop 3 games behind them in the MGL standings, while Brooklyn remains 7 games off the pace in 3rd place. No other MGL team is closer than 13 games behind and it appears to be a 3-team race to the finish line.
Things are much closer in the SJL, where Columbus holds just a 1/2 game lead over Jacksonville, with Boston just 1 game back and just 6 1/2 games separating the top 7 teams in the league.