The Scouting Report:
Game 1:
In his first start since returning from his AAA banishment, young right-handed prospect
Bryant Cox gives the Brewers an excellent outing, lasting 8 innings and giving up just 1 run on 4 hits with 2 K's and no walks allowed.
Cox also drove in 1 of the Denver runs with his 5th inning double, his first of the season.
Tim Shore pitches the 9th for his 29th save.
Val Guzman (.314/.402/.508) was 2 for 3 and scored 1 run, while also stealing his 22nd base of the season (he also was caught stealing for the 9th time.)
Game 2:
Joe McPhillips led the team to a win in game 2, collecting 3 hits in 4 at-bats, while scoring 3 times and driving in 3 runs.
Joe hit his 28th double and 1st triple of the season.
Jake DiCesare (.326/.369/.509) was 3 for 5 and drove in a pair of runs while also scoring 1 and he collected 2 doubles in this one to get to 21. And young outfielder
Matt Catlett got his first big league start and scratched out a pair of infield singles thanks to his great speed while also scoring a run in 5 at-bats.
Steve Green gave up just 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits over 7 innings pitched for the win and
Walter Hackler pitched the final 2 innings and earned his 3rd save.
Game 3:
A back and forth game ended with the Velocity getting a walk-off homer by their superstar catcher Andrew Litteral, his 2nd bomb of the game. Things may have ended a bit differently if the Brewers hadn't squandered some great early scoring chances, including leaving the bases loaded in the 1st inning.
Erik Sloan was not sharp in the start, giving up 6 runs on 9 hits in his 5 1/3rd innings pitched but reliever
Walter Hackler took the loss after following
Ben Flynn, who was his usual erratic self (striking out the side in the 8th, but also giving up 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks over the course of 2 2/3rds innings pitched.) Of course, being
Ben Flynn, he also went 1 for 2 and scored a run.
Antonio Acuna (.368/.425/.607) was 3 for 5 with a run scored and 3 RBI and he hit his 18th double of the season.
Brett Taranto (.327/.354/.443) also went 3 for 5 and he scored 3 runs and also drove in 3, while hitting his 10th home run of the season. And
Joe McPhillips (.301/.392/.483) stays hot, collecting 2 hits in 5 at-bats in this one and hitting his 29th double of the 1979 season.
Notes from around the league:
Aaron McNally may not have the win-loss record he deserves, but he continues to prove season after season that he is the best pitcher of his generation (the man to whom Jake Harris and Cheol-han Lee passed the torch when they each retired.) Although the Brewers
Sadahige Kawasaki remains the frontrunner to win the MGL Pitcher of the Year award at the end of this season, McNally is certainly determined to make it a tough decision on the part of the voters. (He is currently 3rd in the MGL in ERA, behind
Kawasaki and just barely behind Portland's Brad Evans, and is 2nd in FIP, WAR , rWAR, and ERA+ behind
Sadahige.)
As for McNally's Aces, they sit in 4th place with a 74-61 record and trail Denver by 15 games, meaning they still have a chance to contend, but only by virtue of some sort of miracle.
After Denver, there are 2 teams in 2nd place: the Los Angeles Spinners and the Detroit Falcons, both with 76-59 records, both 13 games behind the Brewers. At this point only 3 teams are technically eliminated: Phoenix, Oklahoma City, and now the Baltimore Lords.
In the SJL, all but 4 teams are now without a mathematic chance of competing, with Pittsburgh, the reigning WPK Champs El Paso, and Milwaukee the most recent to be eliminated. San Antonio (93-41) is in good shape at the top of the standings, leading Columbus (87-48) by 6 1/2 games, and Philadelphia (82-52) by 11. The Boston Berserkers are the only other team that still has any chance in the SJL, but they are 16 1/2 games behind San Antonio with a 77-58 record.