Brewers record: 4-2 (week), 57-24, 1st place, MGL (season)
July 3-5, versus San Francisco:
7-4,
14-2,
2-4.
July 6-8, at Baltimore:
12-1,
8-3,
1-3.
Having hosted the All-Star festivities, the Brewers remain at home coming out of the break and take on the San Francisco Velocity to start the symbolic (if not exactly literal) second half of the season.
In game 1 the Brewers overcome an early deficit to get the win behind veteran left-hander
Erik Sloan (3-0, 3.00), who lasted 6 1/3rd innings while giving up 4 runs on 7 hits.
Ben Flynn pitched the final 2 innings for his 4th save.
Josh Schaeffer led the way offensively, going 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI, hitting a pair of doubles to get to 9.
The Brewers get a blowout win in game 2 with
Bobby Erbakan perhaps the biggest offensive contributor (though there was a lot of competition) as he went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 4 RBI, picking up his 11th double.
Brett Taranto hit his 11th homer of the year while going 4 for 6 with 3 runs scored.
Steve Green (5-6, 5.04) had another decent, if unspectacular, start as he tries to turn things around in 1978.
Green gave up 11 hits but lasted 8 innings and gave up just 2 runs, while striking out 3 and not walking a single batter.
The Velocity avoid being swept with a narrow victory in the final game of the series.
Matt Helm (2-1, 2.39) pitched quite well other than a shaky 5th inning when he gave up 3 runs. He gave up the 3 runs on 4 hits over 5 innings pitched.
Josh Schaeffer went 3 for 4 in the loss and
Joe McPhillips hit his 13th home run.
The Brewers then travel to Baltimore to take on the normally high scoring Lords and nearly get a no-hitter in game 1. (This is the previously reported whoopsie moment when I pulled
Sadahige Kawasaki for a pinch-hitter in the 8th, not realizing he hadn't given up a hit.)
Sadahige Kawasaki (8-5, 2.49) worked 7 innings, giving up 1 run on no hits, striking out 6 while walking none. (So how did he give up a run, you ask? Well, in the first inning he hit a batter- All-Star Robert Mustard- who then stole second and third and came home on a ground out to second base.)
Evan Perez pitched the final 2 innings, giving up just 1 hit while striking out 4 batters. The near no-hitter was nearly eclipsed as the story of this game by
Val Guzman's 5 for 5 performance. While all 5 of his hits were singles he did drive in 4 runs in the game. It didn't hurt that the two guys above him in the lineup went 5 for 10 in the game with
Nick Ward having a 2 for 6, 3 runs scored game and catcher
Kirk Patnode going 3 for 4 with 4 runs scored and 2 RBI and hitting a pair of doubles to get to 6 on the season. And
Antonio Acuna (.429/.441/.786) just keeps rolling since joining the club as he hit a pair of triples in this one, his first 2 of the season.
In game 2
Sekien Hamasaki (12-0, 1.95) stayed undefeated on the season as he worked 7 innings, giving up 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits.
Val Guzman stays hot, going 2 for 5 with 2 RBI and hitting his 7th homer of the season.
Rich White went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
And Baltimore managed to salvage the final game of the series behind 27-year old righty Sako Zakian, their first round (3rd overall) 1972 draft pick. The native Houstonian with one of the best names in the league is also emerging as one of the better pitchers in the MGL. In this one he held the Brewers to 1 run on 5 hits over his 7 innings as another young rising star pitcher,
Jim Atwell (10-3, 2.74) takes a tough loss.
Atwell also went 7 innings, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits.
Bobby Erbakan went 2 for 4 in the loss and stole his 5th base and
Brett Taranto hit home run number 12.