Brewers record: 3-3 (week), 60-27, 1st place, MGL (season)
July 9-11, versus Oklahoma City:
6-3,
3-1,
8-1.
July 12-14, at Brooklyn:
3-4,
2-5,
0-4.
The Brewers return to Denver from the east coast for a quick 3-game homestand against the Oklahoma City Diamond Kings.
In game 1,
Erik Sloan (4-0, 3.05) continues his winning ways since returning from elbow surgery, as he went 8 1/3rd innings giving up 3 runs on 9 hits.
Javy Bermudez comes in to get the final two outs, leaving a runner stranded, and picks up his 1st save of the season.
Nick Ward and
Val Guzman drove the offense in this one:
Ward went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI and hit a pair of doubles to get to 5 on the season and
Guzman was 2 for 3 with a run and 3 RBI.
Rich White hit his 5th homer of the season in the win.
Game 2 saw team captain
Matt Helm have to leave after just recording two outs (the only 2 men he faced) with what later was diagnosed as a sore elbow. It is not believed to be serious and he should be back soon, though he was placed on the 10-day IL.
Ben Flynn (4-1, 3.56) replaced him and worked 3 1/3rd strong innings for the victory, giving up one run on just 2 hits. Four other Brewers relievers were used in the game with
Tim Shore the final one, picking up his 16th save of 1978.
Brett Taranto,
Bobby Erbakan, and
Val Guzman all picked up 2 hits in the game, one of Erbakan's being his 12th double of the season.
And the Brewers got the series sweep behind another strong
Steve Green (6-6, 4.71) pitching performance.
Green went the distance, giving up 1 run on just 2 hits (including a solo HR off the bat of former Brewer farmhand, Dan Kaeding), while striking out 5 and walking 1.
Brett Taranto went 4 for 5 in the victory, driving in a pair of runs. And rookie shortstop
Geoff Bartholomew, who has hit very well since joining the club in mid-June, was 3 for 5 with a run scored and hit a pair of doubles to get to 3.
Josh Schaeffer also hit a pair of doubles (11) in a 2 for 3, 4 runs scored, 2 RBI, 2 walk day.
The Brewers felt pretty good heading into Brooklyn with their top 3 starters lined up, especially knowing that they wouldn't be facing 3-time Pitcher of the Year Aaron McNally, who had just claimed his 12th win of the season the day before.
That didn't work out so well for Denver.
In game 1 Brooklyn fans saw a pitching duel between Denver ace
Sadahige Kawasaki (8-6, 2.47) and the Ace's 26-year old breakout starting pitcher Jose Hernandes, who leads the league in ERA at 1.25.
Kawaski went the distance for the Brewers, but allowed 2 runs to Brooklyn in the bottom of the 8th to see his 1-run lead disappear.
Sadahige was only charged with 2 earned runs while allowing 10 hits and striking out 8 batters and walking none.
Bobby Erbakan went 1 for 3 in the game but scored 2 of the Brewers runs and drew a walk.
And game 2 saw
Sekien Hamasaki's (12-1, 2.15) 15-game winning streak (stretching back to the end of the 1977 season) come to an end.
Hamasaki lasted 6 1/3rd, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits. The Brewers only managed 4 hits off Ace's starter Joel Travino and veteran closer Adriao Simozinho (who got the win in game 1 and the save in this one), two apiece. Two of the Denver hits were doubles,
Erbakan's 13th and
Antonio Acuna's 3rd.
And the Brewers are swept by Brooklyn when Mike Hiatt, the only WPK hurler to have 2 career no-hitters, shutout the Brewers on 5 hits, striking out 4 and walking none.
Jim Atwell (10-4, 2.89) was on the losing side of this one, having allowed 4 runs on 6 hits over 6 1/3rd innings pitched. Lack of control was a big issue for the rookie hurler in this one as he walked 5 batters. He did strike out 6 Brooklyn hitters, including a called strikeout to lead off the bottom of the 1st against the Aces star left fielder Jeremy Brigatti, who took great offense to the call and was ejected from the game for his animated protestations. His displeasure was so colorfully expressed that he was later given a 4 game suspension by the league office.
The normally very steady Denver defense committed 3 errors in the game:
Atwell with his 1st,
Josh Schaffer's 4th, and
Zacarias Martell's 6th.
The sweep finally gets Brooklyn to within single digits of Denver, as they trail the Brewers by 9 in second place, while Oklahoma City is 11 back in third and L.A. sits in 4th place, 12 games off the pace.