The Scouting Report:
Game 1:
The Brewers get an easy win in game 1 of 3 in Detroit with
Sadahige Kawasaki continuing his push for another MGL Pitcher of the Year award.
Kawasaki gave up just 1 unearned run over the course of 8 innings pitched, allowing 6 hits while striking out 3 and walking 1 batter. Brewer third baseman
Jake DiCesare had a big game, going 3 for 5 with 1 run scored and 3 driven in and he hit his 12th homer of the season.
Eric Hammock went 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI, hitting his 3rd double and stealing his first base as a big leaguer (while he isn't what you would call fast he is pretty smart on the base paths.)
Game 2:
The Falcons get the win in the middle game of the series, getting to starter
Sekien Hamasaki for 3 runs on 6 hits over the course of 6 1/3rd innings and then beating up on reliever
Nick Schroeder, who allowed 4 runs on 6 hits while recording just 2 outs.
Rich White was 2 for 4 with a run scored and 2 driven in and hit his 9th home run in the loss and
Val Guzman also homered for the 9th time this season and had a pair of hits.
Game 3:
The Brewers then crushed the Falcons in the rubber match to the take the series on the road, with
Jim Atwell continuing his strong second half, lasting 7 2/3rds innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits, and getting the win.
Antonio Acuna and
Jake DiCesare led the way offensively.
Acuna (.373/.431/.623) was 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI and hit his team-best 17th homer.
DiCesare (.306/.352/.495) also went 3 for 5 while driving in 3 and scoring once and he hit his 1st triple of the season.
Val Guzman (.313/.406/.493) hit his 26th double and stole his 19th base while going 2 for 4 and scoring twice.
Notes from around the league:
The San Antonio Keys' 27-year old center fielder Zach McClelland has had an impressive 6 plus season career in the big leagues already after having been the 4th overall pick in the 1970 draft, but he has kicked it up to another level in 1979. The two-time All-Star has previously led the league in stolen bases three times (the past 3 seasons), runs scored twice, and hits once, but this year he is on pace for his first 10 WAR season (his previous high was 7.6 in 1976). While McClelland had his recent 21-game hitting streak snapped yesterday, with his bat atop the Keys lineup, followed by young star John Mussaw (.293, 16 HR, 75 RBI), John Freeman (.347, 13 HR, 70 RBI) and the best player in the WPK Bud Lindsay (.367, 25 HR, 83 RBI) it is easy to see why San Antonio is in contention for their first SJL title.
As for that quest, the Keys are once again in first place (69-32), a game ahead of Columbus (68-33), and 11 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia (58-44). The Boston Berserkers (56-46) have been slumping and are now 13 1/2 games off the pace in 4th place.
The Denver Brewers, of course, maintain the top spot in the MGL- and easily. Brooklyn and Los Angeles are each now 13 games back at 57-45 and the 4th place Detroit Falcons are 15 out with a 55-47 record.