The Denver Brewers:
Steve Green (15-8, 3.59) has certainly had a tale of two halves this season, having gone 4-6 with a 5.28 ERA up until the All-Star break, only to turn things around with a 11-2 second half, dropping his ERA nearly two runs per 9 innings pitched lower. And it was on another fine start from the veteran right-hander that the Brewers clinched their third straight MGL pennant.
Green allowed just 1 run on 3 hits in his 8 innings pitched. Detroit did score twice off
Cory Degano in the 9th to make the game look closer than it really was, but in the end the Brewers held on.
Val Guzman (.284/.373/.435) led the way offensively, going 3 for 4, scoring twice and driving in a run, hitting his 28th double of the season in the 6th inning and then following that up with his 12th home run the very next inning.
Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Aces saw the Portland Wild Things score 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th for a walk-off win which sealed the Aces fate as an also-ran in 1978.
The Shoeless Joe League Pennant Race:
Over in the SJL, meanwhile, the five-team pennant race got a bit tighter.
El Paso, holds on to a 3 game lead after being shutout by Chicago Fire starter Lupe Chicas, who threw a 4-hitter.
The Columbus Whalers have been playing the best of the contending SJL teams and they got another win behind their 2-time Pitcher of the Year Jim Norris, narrowly defeating the Phildelphia Mud Hens, pulling into a tie with Philly in second place.
Boston suffers their third straight loss to drop to 4 games off the pace while our old friend Harry Lyerly gets the win as San Antonio defeats Washington and stays in the race, 5 games back.