The Brewers last home series of the 1977 regular season sees them matched up with the Brooklyn Aces and their talented starting rotation.
Game 1:
Sadahige Kawasaki (16-8, 2.72) suffered a bit of late season set-back in his quest to win the MGL Pitcher of the Year award as he was blasted for 6 runs (4 earned) on 12 hits over 6 2/3rds inning pitched. Meanwhile, Brooklyn's Mike Hiatt, he of the two WPK no-hitters, improved to 16-6 with a 3.74 ERA with a strong complete game victory.
Bobby Erbakan went 2 for 3 with a walk in the loss and
Brett Taranto drove in 3 runs to get to 115 RBI on the year (passing up
Erbakan for the most on the team) with his 36th double of the season.
Game 2:
Likely the biggest competitor for Kawasaki when it comes to MGL Pitcher of the Year honors is 2-time Pitcher of the Year Aaron McNally. So naturally, in game 2 of the series, McNally, as Kawasaki had done the day before, pretty much stunk up the joint as the Rookies got a blow-out win. McNally (14-7, 2.42) allowed 7 runs on 11 hits over 7 innings pitched. On the other hand,
Sekien Hamasaki (17-5, 3.53) may have given himself a fighting chance of getting in on the competition for that honor as he pitched a complete game, 108 pitch gem in which he allowed his only run on a 3rd inning solo homer, struck out 7 batters while giving up 8 hits and walking not one batter!
Hamasaki, the best hitting member of the rotation, also went 2 for 3 with a run scored and another driven in and even drew a walk.
Brett Taranto has taken over the top spot in the MGL in terms of batting average from teammate
Bobby Erbakan and went 4 for 5 with 4 runs scored and 2 doubles to get to 38 on the season.
Joe McPhillips is also getting very hot, and he went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored, 2 RBI, and hit his 18 double and 18th homer of the season while stealing his 16th bag. And
Val Guzman continues to impress with his power/speed combination in this his rookie season.
Val went 3 for 4 in this one with 5 RBI and swiped his 30th base.
Game 3:
So in case game 2 wasn't enough of a statement, the Brewers just completely dismantled the Aces in the final home game of the regular season. Where to start? Well, how about with the starting pitcher,
Steve Green.
Green (13-7, 4.56) worked 8 innings (throwing just 87 pitches), giving up 2 runs (only 1 earned) on 4 hits, striking out 4 and walking 1. The offensive star? Well, the entire offense, really. But it was impressive that slugging prospect
Mike Lovett, having just returned from being on the IL most of the season, showed no signs of rust by belting his 1st ever big league home run in his second at bat of the game and adding another later.
Joe McPhillips (.328/.407/.549) stays hot, going 3 for 5 with 3 runs and 3 RBI, hitting his 19th double and 6th triple of the season. Rookie catcher
Erik Bettencourt (.364/.382/.455) went 4 for 6 with 4 runs scored, 2 RBI, and hit his 3rd double.
Val Guzman (.268/.376/.450) hit his 17th homer of 1977, scoring twice, driving in 2 runs, and walking for the 64th time. Late in the game most of the starters had been pulled, and
John Flores (.306/.385/.566), who had taken
Guzman's spot in left field, also homered, his 9th of the season and 4th as a Brewer this year. Oh, and
Josh Schaeffer (.325/.483/.488) just went 3 for 4 with 4 runs scored, 2 RBI, and hit his 22nd double while walking twice. As the primary lead-off hitter for the club,
Schaeffer has now scored 110 runs and drawn 122 bases on balls. Impressive stuff from the often maligned and under-rated right fielder.
On the day that the Brewers were pummeling the Aces for a second straight game, the L.A. Spinners were the victims of a walk-off win by the Sting in Charlotte. The Brewers now have a 4 game lead with just 6 games remaining for each team and their magic number is down to 3. But they know it isn't over yet and will strive to remain on task not only until they can claim the MGL pennant, but until they have won 4 games in the Kinsella Classic Series.
Over in the SJL, it certainly looks like Columbus will be returning to the KCS for a 3rd straight year. The Boston Berserkers have won 4 straight and have moved into second place but the SJL pennant is certainly the Whalers to win or lose.
