The Denver Brewers:
The mighty mite,
Nick Ward, every now and then just suddenly seems to be channeling Babe Ruth (wait, who's that?), instead of just being content to be the great-fielding, light-hitting little utility infielder he really is. This was one of those games, and
Ward is named the WPK #1 Star of the Day as a result. He went 3 for 5, hitting his 9th double and 4th home run, scoring 3 times and driving in 4 of the Brewers 7 runs. He helps provide the bulk of the ample run support for starter
Sekien Hamasaki (18-4, 2.55), who reaches a new career high in wins for a season after going 17-5 last season.
Hamasaki worked 7 innings, giving up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 3 batters and walking none. (Rumor has it that the team and
Hamasaki are nearing completion on working out a deal that should keep him in a Brewers uniform for several more years and make him financially quite comfortable.) Backup catcher
Kirk Patnode, another player known more for his defense than his bat, went 3 for 5.
Brett Taranto saw his batting average drop to .342 but his one hit was his 28th double. And
Joe McPhillips went 2 for 4 and swiped his 21st bag.
Brooklyn beat Oklahoma City again but with the Denver win the magic number is down to 2 for the Brewers to claim the pennant.
And L.A.'s Jesus Hernandez hit home run number 28 and was the POTG in the Spinners win over Baltimore.
The Shoeless Joe League Pennant Race:
El Paso gets a big win to stretch their lead in the SJL to 3 games again, over Boston and Philly. Former Brewer catcher Spencer Wilson was the POTG in El Paso's win, driving in 3 runs and hitting his 6th home run of the season.
Philadelphia got back on the winning track with another former Brewer, Mike Lovett, being part of the reason as the slugging young first baseman hit his 27th home run, which ties him for second in the SJL with the great Justin Vargas, just 2 behind the even greater Bud Lindsay.
And the Columbus Whalers, looking for their 4th straight SJL pennant, suffered a soul-destroying 15-inning loss to the Wolf Pack in Jacksonville.
Columbus is now 4 games back and San Antonio sits 5 back of El Paso, having now lost 4 straight games.