The Scouting Report:
Game 1:
The Portland Wild Things come into Denver and get a come-from-behind victory over the Brewers in the first game of the series as the inconsistent Denver bullpen once again implodes. Although
Steve Green took the loss and was charged with 5 runs on 10 hits, he left the game in the 8th inning after having given up a leadoff single (to former Brewer John Flores) still holding onto a 6-4 lead, but four pitchers and eight batters later the Wild Things had taken a 9-6 lead that they would not relinquish. The loss officially went to
Adam Buhman, who allowed a run on a hit without recording an out. In spite of the loss,
Val Guzman was named the Player of the Game for his 3 for 5, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI game in which he hit his 10th homer of the season.
Zacarias Martell also had a big game going 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI and hitting a pair of doubles to get to 9 and also hitting his 4th home run of the season.
(There were earlier rumors that
Martell might be moved before the non-waiver trading deadline, but he is putting together another fine season and remains a very well liked member of the team and when the deadline arrived hours after this game finished Martell remained on the Brewers roster.)
Game 2:
The month of August begins with the Brewers suffering another tough loss, seeing an early 5-0 lead evaporate in the 6th inning when Portland, the poorest offensive team in the MGL, scored 9 runs off starter
Erik Sloan (5 IP, 9 hits allowed, 5 runs allowed) and reliever
Ben Flynn (3 IP, 6 hits allowed, 4 runs allowed). A great day at the plate for
Bobby Erbakan (.299/.354/.489) went for naught-
Bobby was 3 for 5 with a run scored and 5 driven in and he hit his 12th double and 16th home run. Former Brewer John Flores hit 2 homers in this one- both of them coming in that 9 run 6th inning.
Game 3:
And the Wild Things completed the improbable road sweep of Denver in game 3 as the Brewers offense failed to provide run support for staff ace
Sadahige Kawasaki and after 7 solid innings of work, including getting out of some self-inflicted jams, the Wild Things plated 4 runs off him in the 8th inning to saddle him with his 4th loss of the season.
Kawasaki was credited with 7 2/3rds inning while giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 15 hits. Another former Brewer, reliever Antonio Nieves, played a key role in the Portland win as the starter Matt Toone had to leave the game after only 2 innings with a sore hand. Nieves worked a strong 5 innings for the win against his former club. Another good game for
Val Guzman (.319/.411,.509), arguably the Brewers team MVP this season, who went 2 for 3, scoring twice, driving in a run with his 11th home run of the season, and drawing a walk, though he did get caught stealing for the 8th time this season.
Notes from around the league:
This past off-season the Los Angeles Spinners added to their already strong bullpen (headlined by California-born closer Yu-bao Tong and Japanese scouting discovery Shouta Hori) when they signed the young and dynamic South Korean international free agent Yoo-hyun Yon. But as August begins the Spinners find out that they will be without the services of the 22-year old sidearming prankster for the remainder of this season and well into the next as Yon suffered a torn UCL that will require surgical repair. It is a tough loss for the Spinners as they work to make up ground on the MGL front-running Denver Brewers.
At this moment L.A. (59-46) is in 2nd place, 11 games behind Denver and Brooklyn (58-47) is right behind them in 3rd, 12 games off the pace. The Detroit Falcons (56-49) remain in 4th place, 14 games back.
Over in the SJL, the once again hot San Antonio Keys (72-32) remain in first with the best record in the WPK and hold a 1 game lead over the Columbus Whalers (71-33). Philadelphia (61-44) is in 3rd place, 11 1/2 games out.