The Denver Brewers:
Having driven in two huge runs with a pinch-hit single in the 4-run 8th inning of Tuesday's Denver victory in his very first big league at-bat,
Richard Escamilla followed that up by hitting a 2-out, walk-off 3-run homer in just his second Brewers at-bat, again in a pinch-hitting role. Not a bad first impression for the power-hitting first baseman. Rookie starting pitcher
Jim Atwell was not at his best in what might be his last regular season start of 1978, giving up 6 runs on 10 hits over 7 innings of work, though he did strikeout 8 batters while walking just 2.(He also went 2 for 3 at the plate with 2 RBI.) He still had a chance for the win, but veteran left-handed reliever
Jason Gottula, having a bad second half of the season, blew the save. Young
Brandon Veach (2-0, 0.00) picked up the win in relief.
Brett Taranto looks like he is well on the way to his first batting title, and possibly the league MVP award, as he went 3 for 5, scoring 3 times (111 runs scored), hitting 2 doubles to get to 30 on the season. Recent call-up
Willie Olivarez was 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and an RBI and also hit 2 doubles, his first as a Brewer. And
Joe McPhillips went 2 for 4 and drove in 2 runs to get to 90 RBI on the year.
Brooklyn's Jose Hernandes had a rough outing against L.A. and saw his ERA rise to 2.32, making it more likely that
Sadahige Kawasaki could end the year with the MGL's best ERA.
The Shoeless Joe League Pennant Race:
El Paso came from behind for a walk-off win against Jacksonville to maintain a slim hold on the top spot in the SJL standings.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia got a great start from their number 4 starter, sinker specialist Tristan Russell, who shut out San Antonio on 4 hits. Our old friend Harry Lyerly took the loss for the Keys in this one.
Columbus suffered a tough loss in Pittsburgh and Boston lost a 13-inning battle with Washington.
While Boston and Columbus can still get back in things, it is looking more and more like this one will come down to the El Paso Dawgs and the Philadelphia Mud Hens. El Paso holds onto a slim 1 game lead with just 6 games remaining for both teams.