Harry Lyerly and the Denver Brewers of the WPK

[BirdWatcher]

It probably shouldn't come as a surprise that Mike Foster won the MGL Player of the Week honors for the 1st week of the 1974 season.

[Palaaemon]

Bird,

What result did you get for the yearly roll for what year to base your current 1974 year on?

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Palaaemon

Bird,

What result did you get for the yearly roll for what year to base your current 1974 year on?

Ah, yes, I meant to squeeze that in to one of those early season posts.
1979.
Which probably somewhat explains the pretty middle of the road stats projected for the best hitters and pitchers in the WPK this season. Though those HR totals for some of the best sluggers (like Joe Brodeur) look a bit low compared to the likes of Dave Kingman, Mike Schmidt, and Gorman Thomas in MLB in 1979.

I should probably say that up to now I have not used the auto-calc modifiers option prior to any season, other than 1968- and I must not have done it right that time as it just reverted my stats back to MLB 1968 levels, which wasn't my intention. So far everything seems to be working out pretty well without that and I don't mind if the statistical modifiers interact in such a way with the current talent pool to create a statistical reality that is influenced by IRL MLB stats of a particular season but with some unpredictable variation as well. Should things start to get out of hand in the WPK I'll re-visit the auto-calc modifier thingy, but at this point I'm happy with how the league is evolving.

[stevem810]

Coasting

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by stevem810

Coasting

It's a nice little start.
Spoiler alert: The Brewers will not go 162-0.
Okay, of course you knew that.
But the point is we have now suffered our first loss, which I should be reporting on tonight.
Haven't advanced much further but both good and bad to report.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers have a quick-one game stop in San Francisco and with Harry Lyerly having just come off the IL he gets his first start of the 1974 season.

It's quite possible that Harry isn't quite in regular season form yet as he suffered his injury after having pitched just 14 innings in pre-season games. Whatever the reason, Lyerly wasn't particularly sharp in this one, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits- including a pair of homers by veteran Velocity center fielder Antonio Sosa- in 6 innings pitched.


Granted, it likely wouldn't have made much difference as the Brewers are shut out on just 5 hits, all singles. The Brewers suffer their first loss of the season by a score of 4-0.

Jonathan Koch continues his hot start though with a 2 for 4 performance.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers return home to Denver and will start a short home stand with a 2-game series against the Oklahoma City Diamond Kings.

In game 1 veteran left-handed starter Erik Sloan strikes out 12 batters in his 8 1/3rd innings pitched, giving up 3 runs on 9 hits (2 HR's) but the pair of runs the Brewers score in the 2nd inning are all they can muster and the lose 3-2. Mike Foster (.500/.567/.885) had a good game, going 2 for 4, hitting his 2nd double and 1st triple of the season.


After having dropped two straight, the Brewers offense roars to life again in the second game of the series. At the same time, the pitching dominates. Oh, and the defense was pretty spectacular too. All of this added up to an easy 12-1 victory. Steve Green picked up his 2nd win of the season, giving up just 1 run on 5 hits in 8 innings pitched (7 K, 3 BB.) Green improves to 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA. He was helped out by some great d behind him. Early in the game it was center fielder Joe McPhillips making a pair of great catches to rob hits. And later it was the infield turning 3 double plays (oddly, 2 of the 5-4-3 variety and the other a 3-6-1.) The offense was pretty well spread out but it is noteworthy that rookie catcher Zacarias Martell (.444/.560/.556) went 4 for 4 and walked once. With starter Kevin Curtis off to another slow start Martell has been receiving the lion's share of the playing time. (It hasn't hurt that every starting pitcher the Brewers have faced so far has been a right-hander.) Young utility infielder Joe Willemse (.350/.435/.400) also continues to play well, going 1 for 5 in this one but also scoring twice, driving in two and drawing a walk, while continuing to be a solid defender at three infield positions. With Chad Brown looking less and less impressive, Willemse is getting more opportunities at shortstop and so far is not disappointing.


With the series split the Brewers move to 6-2 and trail only the 6-1 Los Angeles Spinners. (Meanwhile, in the SJL, the Washington Night Train are off to an 8-0 start.)

[BirdWatcher]

It is of course way to early for much of anything to be clear yet but there are few trends worth watching.

First let's look at a few position players whose roles might be somewhat in jeopardy.

Shortstop Chad Brown has been a mainstay of the team since its beginning.
Brown has good range in the field and is great at turning the double play but it is becoming increasingly clear that he will likely never live up to the Gold Glove award winning potential it was once thought he had. Not only does Brown commit far too many errors but his range has plateaued at above average and shows signs of regressing from there. But more troubling is that his batting contact skills, once thought to be well above average, are now profiling as average at best. With very little power and an inability to draw many walks, even a slight decline in contact skills can render Brown an offensive liability. In his earlier days he at least showed a great ability to avoid being struck out, and while he is still a plus in that area the signs are that he is likely trending in the wrong direction there as well. What Brown still does possess is great speed and base-stealing/base-running abilities. But with Joe Willemse showing good bat skills and, with a bit more playing time, having the potential to exceed Brown defensively, is Brown, who is signed to a healthy contract through 1979 (team option for final year) on the verge of being reduced to a backup middle infield and pinch-running role?

Starting catcher Kevin Curtis is a fan favorite and a 3-time Gold Glove winner. But while he does have some good on-base skills (a good eye at the plate) and decent gap power, he has always been a poor hitter overall who strikes out at rates that put him among the league leaders. And in 1973 his defense seemed to suffer as well. Rookie Zacarias Martell is off to a great start and playing far more than Curtis thus far in 1974. Martell's hitting will almost surely regress to the mean (I am unsure of his BABIP right now, but I would imagine it is quite unsustainable). On the other hand, thus far his defense looks tremendous. All indications are that he is of the highest order in terms of work ethic and intelligence and this should bode well for his progress in the future. He was expected to be Curtis back-up this season. But thus far that seems to be reversed.

Young center fielder Joe McPhillips looks like he might finally have that break-through season expected of him. Now if we can just keep him relatively healthy for an entire season.

Josh Schaeffer hit a home run in his first at-bat of the 1974 season (in fact, the team's first AB) but then went into a bit of a slump. He is showing signs of bouncing back and with his great on-base skills and decent defense should remain a valuable member of the team. He does however struggle a bit against left-handed pitching and so right-hander Ryan Rodgers got quite a bit of work in right field in Spring Training and has already progressed to a level of proficiency equal to Schaeffer's. (With his still very good range and very strong arm, Rodgers should be able to man right field nearly as well as he does left field, where he is near GG caliber.)
The trick always for the Brewers is getting 4 very talented outfielders enough playing time. But so far, especially with Rodgers ability to play all 3 OF positions, things have gone well on that front.

Harry Lyerly is the weak link thus far in the starting rotation, with Matt Helm, Steve Green, and Erik Sloan all off to great starts and Cheol-han Lee looking like his usual ace self (though he did have to leave his most recent start early due to back spasms- fortunately he is expected to be fully recovered soon and likely will just need his next start to be pushed back a few days). But the thought at this time is that Harry's struggles were predictable and in hindsight team leadership should have given him a bit of a rehab stint at AAA Chester when he came off the IL as he just hasn't had much work yet this year.

Jonathan Koch and Mike Foster are off to great starts at the plate and Koch is a wizard in the field. Should they falter Joe Willemse could see his role enhanced and Rodrigo "RodRod" Rodriguez is waiting in the wings at AAA Chester.

The bullpen is looking pretty solid, especially Jordan Stephens.

So the big early questions are:
1) Will Harry Lyerly work his way out of his early struggles? (The feeling is that he likely will, eventually.)
2) Will Chad Brown see his role continue to decline? (Probably yes.)
3) Will Kevin Curtis lose the starting catcher job to rookie Zacarias Martell? (Too early to tell, but at least a fairly equal platoon situation is likely.)

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers short home stand concludes with 3 games against Baltimore.

In the first game the Brewers jump out to a 6-0 lead only to see that lead evaporate in the 7th and 8th innings. The teams go into extras tied at 6-6 and trade zeroes until the bottom of the 12th when the Brewers get a walk off bases loaded walk for the win. Anyway, weird game. Matt Helm was carrying a no-hitter into the 7th inning when things fell apart. Although Helm did allow 4 hits in the inning it was a 1 out error by third baseman Mike Foster that really doomed him, as all 4 runs scored in the inning were unearned. Helm's ERA stays perfect at 0.00 after his 6 2/3rds innings pitched in this one. Jaden Francis pitches the final inning and a third to get the win and also has an ERA of 0.00. In addition to drawing the game winning walk, Josh Schaeffer (.276/.400/.379) went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 3 walks in the game. Joe McPhillips (.314/.368/.571) was 3 for 5 with 2 RBI and hit his 3rd double of 1974. McPhillips also picked up his 4th stolen base while Schaeffer swiped his first of the season.


Game 2 saw the Brewers again take an early lead only to need late game heroics to get the win. This time the game winner was a bit more dynamic as Bobby Erbakan hit a 1-out Grand Slam to give the Brewers the 6-4 win. It was Erbakan's (.289/.386/.526) first HR of the year and he also hit his first triple of the season and drove in 5 runs. Jonathan Koch (.455/.500/.727) went 2 for 3 and hit his 2nd HR. Cheol-han Lee was cruising along, having allowed no runs on 3 hits in 5 innings pitched when he had to leave the game due to back spasms. Eric Johnson gave up 3 runs in an inning and two thirds to relinquish the lead he inherited. But Sam Pruiett was very sharp the last 1 1/3rd innings and got the win, his first of the 1974 season.


The Brewers were denied the sweep when Harry Lyerly looked even worse in his second start than he had in the first, giving up 6 runs on 7 hits (2 HR) in just 2 2/3rds innings pitched. The Brewers tried to claw their way back into this one but fell short and lost 8-3. Lyerly falls to 0-2 with a 10.38 ERA. Andrew Kennedy (.436/.476/.513) went 3 for 4 in the loss, hitting his 3rd double. Zacarias Martell (.417/.545/.625) hit his 1st big league HR.


The Brewers now sit in 1st place with an 8-3 record, a half game ahead of the 8-4 L.A. Spinners and a game and half ahead of the 7-5 Brooklyn Aces.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers then travel to Oklahoma City for a two-game set against the Diamond Kings.

In the first game, Erik Sloan, who had two fine outings to start the season, struggles in his third start. Sloan gives up 6 runs on 11 hits in 6 innings pitched and the Brewers fall by a score of 8-2. Ryan Rodgers (.412/.524/.500) went 3 for 4 in the loss. And Bobby Erbakan (.311/.385/.578) was 2 for 3.


The Brewers bounce back in the second game behind the terrific pitching of Steve Green. After a very disappointing 1973 season, Green is off to a wonderful start in 1974. In this game he worked 7 1/3rd innings, giving up 1 run on just 2 hits, striking out 5 and walking 2. He got just enough run support as the Brewers win 3-1 to get the victory, lifting his record to 3-0 with a 1.61 ERA. He even scored one of the runs after having hit his first double of the season in the 5th inning. Bobby Erbakan also doubled- his 5th of the season. And Joe McPhillips hit his first triple of 1974.


At 9-4, the Brewers now lead the L.A. Spinners and Brooklyn Aces by 1/2 game as they both have 9-5 records.

[stevem810]

Any update for the streak?

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by stevem810

Any update for the streak?

Last I looked he was on the big league squad but mostly just pinch-hitting/pinch-running. And not doing much.
On the other hand, Pat Rondeau was off to a good start for El Paso.

We are a couple of days away from the end of the first month of the season and I'll report a bit about both of them at that time.

[BirdWatcher]

On their way from Oklahoma to the west coast, the Brewers stop over in Denver for a 3-game series against the Charlotte Sting.

The first game of the series looks like a pitcher's duel for the first 4 innings between Denver captain Matt Helm and Charlotte's Mike Hiatt, of 2 no-hitter including one perfect game fame. But then things fell apart for Helm in the 5th inning and the Sting scored 6 runs. Now in defense of Helm he was let down by, well, the Denver defense, as a 1-out error by second baseman Jonathan Koch led to all but 1 of the runs being unearned. The Brewers got 3 runs back in the bottom of the frame but ultimately fell short and lost 10-7. Helm now has a record of 1-1 but still with a sterling ERA of 0.44. Jordan Stephens had his first rough outing of the season, giving up 4 runs (3 earned) in his 3 1/3rd innings pitched. Andrew Kennedy (.404/.436/.538) had a great game in the loss, going 3 for 5, hitting his 4th double and 1st HR of the season and driving in 3 runs. he also threw a runner out at home plate from his spot in left field. Mike Foster (.400/.481/.667) also went 3 for 4 and hit 2 doubles to get to 4 on the season.


In an unlikely turn of events, the Brewers plate 4 runs in the 7th inning of game 2 off the normally dominant Jamel McNeil and go on to win 8-5. The big hit in the inning was a Mike Foster (.388/.464/.694) 2-out, 2-run HR, his team-leading 3rd HR of the 1974 season. Harry Lyerly got the start, and the win, for the Brewers. While Lyerly was still not sharp- he gave up 3 HR's- he did seem to get stronger as the game progressed and showed signs of his old self, striking out 7 and walking just 1 in his 8 innings pitched. He improves to 1-2 with an 8.10 ERA. Jaden Francis pitches a perfect 9th to get his 2nd save (0.00 ERA.) Joe McPhillips (.276/.333/.483) went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and a RBI.


The Brewers get a narrow game 3 victory to take another series. Cheol-han Lee uncharacteristically gave up 2 HR's but held on to get the complete game victory. He allowed 3 runs on 7 hits, striking out 3 and walking none, and improves to 3-0 with a 2.17 ERA. Joe McPhillips (.283/.358/.533) went 1 for 2 with 2 walks and hit his 3rd HR of the season, driving in 2 runs to lead the offense. Andrew Kennedy (.383/.413/.533) also chipped in with a 2 for 4, 2 double (6) game.


Charlotte's Bill Burkart, the hero for the Sting in game 1, is an interesting story. He's been knocking around the Washington farm system for the past 9 years without even a cup of coffee at the WPK level. The past 3 seasons he has dominated AAA pitching. Then his big break came when he was left unprotected this off-season and the Sting picked him in the Rule 5 draft. While the 27-year old Burkart doesn't look like a star, he is a valuable building block for a rebuilding team like the Sting and provides both a solid bat and a great intensity and focus. This looks like a shrewd move by the Charlotte front office.


With the series win the Brewers improve to a fine 11-5 and lead the Brooklyn Aces (11-6) by a half a game and L.A. (10-7) by a game and a half.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers wrap up the month of April with a 2-game series in Portland against the Wild Things.

Steve Green suffers his first loss in the first game of the short series, as he gives up 7 runs on 10 hits in 5 innings pitched and sees his ERA rise to 3.62 and his record fall to 3-1. The Brewers offense never gave up in this game but they fell short and the team lost 9-7. Jordan Stephens, who is starting to get hot at the plate and went 2 for 2 in the game with his 2nd double of the season, is conversely getting cold on the mound and gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in his 2 innings pitched. The Brewers hit 7 doubles in the game, including 2 off the bat of Joe McPhillips (6) and 2 by Mike Foster (6).


The Brewers bounce back the next day and end the month on a good note with a 7-3 victory. Erik Sloan wasn't at his best but got enough run support for the win, improving his record to 2-2 with an ERA of 3.99. (He gave up 3 runs on 7 hits in 7 innings pitched with 6 K and no BB.) Liann-wei Hua notched his first save of the season by getting the final two outs of the game after Sam Pruiett had worked into the trouble in the 9th. Veteran outfielder Ryan Rodgers (.479/.590/.583) continues his great start with a 4 for 4 game and hits his 3rd double of the season. And Joe McPhillips (.304/.377/.594) went 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored, 3 RBI, and hit his team-leading 4th HR. Also, John Flores, recently brought up to the big league club when first baseman Greg Tietz was returned to AAA Chester after struggling at the plate early and not getting much playing time, hit an inside-the-park homer in his first at-bat with the team in 1974. Not a bad first impression this year.


The Brewers finish April in 1st place in the MGL with a fine 12-6 record, a game and a half ahead of the 2nd place Brooklyn Aces, and 2 games ahead of Phoenix and Oklahoma City. The L.A. Spinners, having gotten off to a great start are now in the midst of a rough stretch and have fallen to 5th place, 2 1/2 games off the pace.
The Washington Night Train are off to a great 14-5 start in the SJL. The surprising Philadelphia Mud Hens are 2 games back and the surging Boston Berserkers sit at 2 1/2 games back as we enter May.

[BirdWatcher]

So after getting off to a bit of slow start playing for his new team, the Columbus Whalers, Ruben "Streak" Souffront has had a good last week and a half and though he still has only started in 4 games, he is putting up nice numbers at the plate.


On the other hand, Pat Rondeau, who started the season strong at the plate, is in the midst of a slump and is pretty seriously under-performing as the starting left fielder for his new team, the El Paso Dawgs.


And although the Brewers owner Steve Lester is not happy with me for letting veteran reliever Jose de los Santos depart in the off-season (one of the goals the owner set for me was the extend de los Santos), thus far it looks like I made the right decision as Jose is not off to a good start (albeit very limited sample size) for Philly.

[BirdWatcher]

The story out of Brooklyn is that the players may not be happy with the erratic leadership of manager Luis Morelos.


Morelos, known for his emotional volatility, has been managing the Aces since 1969 and led them to winning records the past 2 seasons. But it seems as though his temper tantrums may be getting on the last nerves of his talented club. (Prior to coming to Brooklyn, Morelos managed the Seattle Alligators for 4 mostly unsuccessful seasons.)


It is probably not a good time for tensions to be boiling over in the Brooklyn clubhouse as they begin May by hosting the 1st place Denver Brewers for a pair of games.

[BirdWatcher]

And whether it had anything to do with the Brooklyn players' frustration with their manager's emotional outbursts or not, the 2 game series against Denver gave Luis Morelos plenty of reasons to rage and smash things.

In game 1, the Brewers built an early lead behind starter (and team captain) Matt Helm and then increased that in the 6th and 7th innings to a comfortable margin which resulted in a 7-2 victory. Helm pitched 8 2/3rds innings before needing a little help from Eric Marino to get the final out. Helm allowed 2 runs on 9 hits and improves to 2-1 with an 0.92 ERA. Ryan Rodgers, at 35 years of age, continues to be a force on offense. Rodgers (.491/.591/.604) went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, and hit his 4th double of the season. Chad Brown (.256/.283/.256), off to a poor start at the plate in 1974, showed some signs of life with a 2 for 4 game and drove in 1 run.


The Brewers nearly blew an early 4-0 lead in the second game but managed to hold on for a 7-6 win to get the short series sweep. Harry Lyerly continues his struggles with the long ball- giving up 3 HR's in this one- but managed to get the win in spite of allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 10 hits in 6 innings pitched. Lyerly improves to 2-2 but his ERA remains a very high 7.54. Jaden Francis nearly blows the save in the bottom of the 9th but is bailed out by probably the biggest play of the game when Joe McPhillips threw a perfect strike to home plate to prevent the tying run from scoring. It was the second Brooklyn runner McPhillips had thrown out at home in the game. In addition, McPhillips (.325/.391/.584) went 3 for 5 at the plate, scoring twice. While a very strong argument could be made the he was the Player of the Game, that honor went to Bobby Erbakan (.284/.387/.552) who went 2 for 5, scoring 3 runs and driving in 3 while hitting his 7th double and 3rd HR of the season. He also picked up his 3rd stolen base (with no CS yet.) Oh, and Ryan Rodgers is just hitting .500 at this stage of the season, having gone 3 for 5 again in this one and hitting his 2nd triple of 1974.


With the mini-sweep the Brewers move to 3 games ahead of Phoenix and Oklahoma City, 3 1/2 ahead of Brooklyn, and 4 1/2 ahead of their next opponent, L.A.

[BirdWatcher]

On the first day of May the Brewers sent AAA first baseman Jacob Kieft along with 22-year old defensive specialist shortstop Steve Nowakowski to the Oklahoma City Diamond Kings for 26-year old minor league pitcher Raul Melendrez and 24-year old outfielder Frank Rojas.


The trade of Kieft was largely due to a glut of first baseman, especially at the top of the Brewers minor league system, and due to the fact that although he has the offensive talent to be a big leaguer, his defense and work ethic are questionable and there was no clear path for him in the Brewers organization. Nowakowski was respected in the organization for his intelligence and superior defensive skills, but his lack of a hitting tool will likely keep him from anything more than a small utility role in the WPK, at best.



Melendrez gives the Brewers a bit more pitching depth at the top of the farm system and could earn an emergency role at the big league level as a long reliever or spot starter. Rojas, on the other hand, possesses plus speed and very good raw defensive tools as well as an above average hit tool, particularly if he can develop a bit more selective eye and cut down on his strikeouts. He won't walk much but he has a bit of pop from the right hand side and profiles similarly to current Brewer John Flores and certainly could earn some playing time in a back-up role in the next few years.

[BirdWatcher]

Although it is still very early in the season, it seemed like a short road swing against the Brooklyn Aces and Los Angeles Spinners- the two teams expected to contend with the Brewers for the MGL title this season- could be seen as an early test of a Denver team off to a pretty fine start.

Now granted, the timing might have been good for the Brewers as Brooklyn is going through a bit of a leadership crisis and L.A. has been playing poorly of late. But whatever the reasons, if this little stretch on the road was a test, the Brewers passed with flying colors.

In game 1, veteran ace Cheol-han Lee hurled a complete game shutout, allowing just 4 hits while striking out 6 and walking 2. The Brewers won 4-0 with all of the runs scored in the game coming before the first out was recorded. The Brewers combined first inning singles by Ryan Rodgers, Jonathan Koch, and Bobby Erbakan with a Grand Slam home run off the bat of Joe McPhillips to account for the game's scoring. Cheol-han improves to 4-0 with a 1.66 ERA. Andrew Kennedy (.346/.370/.487) went 2 for 3 and hit his 8th double of the season. Ryan Rodgers (.500/.587/.629) went 2 for 4 in the game.


Steve Green saw what Cheol-han did in game 1 and said, "hey, that looks fun, let me try." And like Lee before him, Green hurled a 4-hit complete game shutout, striking out 6 batters. But he one-upped the ace a bit by not walking a single batter. The Brewers only managed to score twice, but that was all that Green needed to improve his record to 4-1 with a 2.72 ERA. The Brewers scored the 2 runs in the 8th inning to break a 0-0 tie as L.A. ace Jose Santos was also very sharp. The big hit in the inning was a Mike Foster (.364/.412/.623) run scoring double, his 9th of the season.


It looked like the winning streak might end in the final game of the series, as L.A. held a 4-0 lead going into the 7th inning. But then the Brewers erupted for 4 runs in the 7th to tie the game and added 4 more in the 8th to get an 8-4 win and a series sweep. Erik Sloan wasn't particularly sharp in the start, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits in 5 2/3rds innings but the Brewer bullpen and potent offense took him off the hook. Jordan Stephens got the win with an effective 2 2/3rds innings pitched and improves to 1-0 with a 3.45 ERA. Two Brewers who have been slumping at the plate for awhile saw their bats come alive in this one. Josh Schaeffer (.309/.441/.400) went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI from the lead-off slot and Joe Willemse (.269/.328/.327) also went 3 for 5 in the game, scored twice and hit his 3rd double of 1974. Mike Foster (.375/.433/.662) continues his great start at the plate, going 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored, 2 walks, 1 RBI, and hitting his 4th HR of the season. Same for Jonathan Koch (.354/.393/.494) who was 2 for 5 with 4 RBI, both of his hits doubles to get him to 5 on the season.


With the series sweep the Brewers now lead the MGL by 4 games over Phoenix, and 4 1/2 over Charlotte and Brooklyn.
Things don't necessarily get much easier as the Brewers return home for 4 against the power hitting Phoenix Speed Devils and then 3 against Brooklyn.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers head home to Centennial Stadium with a 6-game winning streak on the line. First up, they take on the Phoenix Speed Devils, who have been playing well and feature a lineup rich in left-handed power hitters. Not necessarily a good match-up for the Brewers.

But hey, sometimes you're golden.
Now everyone in Brewer Nation knows that the game of baseball isn't this easy. But right now the Denver club is making it look pretty darn easy. And we will just enjoy it while it lasts.

Game 1: Denver- 9, Phoenix- 4. Little Joe Willemse (.286/.339/.411), utility infielder, goes 2 for 4 with his 4th double and 1st HR of the season in this one. Professional hitter Andrew Kennedy (.356/.378/.506) contributes a 3 for 4 game to the cause, hitting his 1st triple of the year. Captain Matty Helm gets the victory, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits in 6 innings pitched, and improves to 3-1 with a 1.78 ERA. Jonathan Koch (.345/.382/.512) hits his 3rd HR of 1974.


Game 2: Denver-3, Phoenix-1. It wasn't always pretty, and he had to work out of several self-inflicted jams, but Harry Lyerly, in a gusty performance, picks up his 3rd win of the season. Lyerly allowed just the 1 run on 4 hits but also walked 5 batters while striking out 8. Oddly, while the 1 run he allowed did come on a HR, it was not of the traditional variety but rather an inside-the-park job by second baseman Lorenzo Castro. Lyerly improves to 3-2 with a still not very lovely ERA of 6.07. Baby steps. Mike Foster (.386/.439/.659) went 3 for 4 in the game, hitting his 10th double of the season. Liann-wei Hua and Jaden Francis pitched great out of the 'pen, with Francis picking up his 4th save (1.23 ERA.)


Game 3: Denver-13, Phoenix-3. Yup, sometimes it's just too easy. Cheol-han Lee gets another complete game victory and improves to 5-0 with a 1.91 ERA. Bobby Erbakan (.286/.353/.527) went 2 for 4 with 3 runs scored, 4 RBI, hitting a Grand Slam in the 3rd inning, his 4th HR of the season. But really, pretty much every Brewer did something to contribute in this one. That final score makes the game look closer than it actually was.


Game 4: Denver-3, Phoenix-2. Even the tough games come up roses for the Brewers right now. Justin Peacock gets a rare start and pitches well, lasting 6 2/3rds, giving up just 3 runs on 6 hits. Great bullpen work again, this time by Liann-wei Hua and Jordan Stephens. Stephens picks up save #3 and drops his ERA to 3.24. Bobby Erbakan (.305/.368/.537) went 3 for 4 in the victory but the big hit was by starting pitcher Justin Peacock, a 2-out single which drove in what proved to be winning run.


The Brewers are now 21-6 and lead the MGL by 5 games over the surprising Charlotte Sting. Brooklyn, Denver's next opponent, has bounced back a bit and now sit in 3rd place, 6 1/2 games out.

The balloon has to burst sometime, but boy is it fun to be a Denver Brewer fan right now!