Brewers record: 4-3 (week), 90-43, 1st place, MGL (season).
August 27-29, at Portland:
3-7,
5-3,
9-3.
August 30-September 1, versus San Francisco:
7-0,
6-4,
6-8.
September 2, at Baltimore:
5-6.
The Brewers drop game 1 in Portland against the Wild Things when left-handed reliever
Jason Gottula (5-5, 4.94), who had such a good first half of the season after returning from a long absence having seen his 1977 season be shortened by a serious arm injury, couldn't hold onto the lead for starter
Sekien Hamasaki and picked up his 5th blown save and 5th loss.
Hamasaki had allowed 3 runs on just 4 hits over his 7 innings pitched.
Nick Ward went 2 for 4 in the leadoff slot and hit his 4th triple of the season.
The Brewers bounce back for a game 2 win with
Joe McPhillips 7th inning run producing double (his 20th) being the big hit in the game.
Joe went 3 for 4 with a run scored and that 1 RBI.
Jake DiCesare pitched in with a 2 for 4, 2 RBI game at the plate, hitting his 11th double.
Erik Sloan (7-4, 4.65) got the win, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits in 7 1/3rd innings pitched.
Tim Shore pitched the 9th for his 21st save.
And Denver takes the rubber match for the series win with a lot of the credit going to veteran catcher
Zacarias Martell, who went 2 for 3 with a run scored and 3 driven in.
Val Guzman went 2 for 4, scored twice, drove in a run with his 1st inning solo homer, his 10th of the season, and swiped two bases to get to 18. Captain
Matty Helm only lasted 4 2/3rds innings in this one, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks, but
Ben Flynn (6-2, 4.11) came in and went the rest of the way for the win, shutting the Wild Things down on 4 hits.
Returning home to Denver to take on the San Francisco Velocity, the Brewers got a gem in game 1 from young Mr.
Jim Atwell (14-6, 3.12), who went the distance, giving up just 5 hits while striking out 8 and walking 2 batters. The former collegiate first baseman also went 2 for 5 at the plate and scored a pair of runs.
Brett Taranto,
Joe McPhillips, and
Bobby Erbakan each had 3 hits in the game, with
McPhillips hitting his 21st double and
Brett his 13th triple. And
Geoff Bartholomew went 2 for 5 and hit his 1st triple.
It took an 8th inning 4-run rally, but the Brewers secured the series win in game 2. That 8th inning rally was keyed by a huge pinch-hit bases loaded and bases clearing double off the bat of
Val Guzman (I am really becoming fond of this young man). It was
Guzman's 23rd double of the season.
Bobby Erbakan hit his 24th double and went 2 for 5 with an RBI.
Steve Green didn't get a decision but pitched an effective 7 2/3rd innings, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits with 6 K's and just 1 walk allowed. And he hit his 3rd double of the season and scored a run.
Victor Colon (2-1, 4.59) picked up the win in relief and
Tim Shore finished things up for his 22nd save.
San Francisco avoided being swept with a 3-run rally in the top of the 9th in the final game of the series on the first day of September.
Tim Shore (2-1, 1.35) suffered just his 3rd blown save of the season and took the loss in this one.
Sadahige Kawasaki had not been sharp in the start, giving up 5 runs on 11 hits, though he did strike out 7 without walking any batters, over his 7 innings pitched.
Joe McPhillips went 2 for 2, scoring twice, driving in a run, hitting his 17th home run, and drawing a pair of walks in the loss.
Bobby Erbakan homered for the 9th time this season and drove in 3 runs.
Brett Taranto went 2 for 4 with his 25th double and
Zacarias Martell was 2 for 4 with his 18th two-bagger.
In the series opener at Baltimore's Community Stadium, the Brewers lost a back-and-forth game when the Lords got a walk-off single from second baseman Luis Rodriguez off
Victor Colon, who was trying to bail out
Jason Gottula (5-6, 5.02), who once again struggled, giving up 1 run on 3 hits and a walk and took the loss.
Sekien Hamasaki, like
Sadahige Kawasaki the day before, was not sharp, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits over 6 2/3rds innings.
Brett Taranto went 2 for 5 in the game, hitting his 14th triple and 16th home run. Catcher
Erik Bettencourt, a September call-up, hit his 2nd home run of the season (he was with the club briefly earlier in the season as well).
Bobby Erbakan hit double number 25 and
Joe McPhillips hit his 22nd.
Val Guzman went 2 for 3 with a run scored, one driven in, two walks, and picked up his 19th stolen base of the season.
Joe McPhillips got his 18th stolen base and
Josh Schaeffer his 15th also in this one.
In spite of getting off to an 0-2 start in the month of September, the Brewers maintain an 11-game lead over Brooklyn while L.A. creeps a bit closer and now trails by 17 games.
In the SJL, El Paso keeps their lead and Philadelphia is in second, 4 games back. Boston and San Antonio both sit at 5 games out, while the slumping Columbus Whalers drop to 8 off the pace and see their chances of claiming their 4th straight SJL pennant dwindling quickly.