The Milwaukee Milkmen are back in 1st Place
The Milkmen are the hottest team in the American Association of Professional Baseball. They have climbed up the standings and are now in 1st place in the East Division. Milwaukee is 19-11 and the team has won eight of its last ten games. The Chicago Dogs, who were in first and also swept by Milwaukee, have fallen to 3rd place at 15-15.
This team really has an identity as a fast, base-stealing team that can pitch and defend.
Also, no one is truly “out of it” yet. The Lake County Dockhounds (the Milkmen’s rival to the West) are in last at 12-18. So as you can read, they are still within striking distance.
Fun and Fundamentals
You don’t have to watch too much baseball to know the importance of strong pitching and defense. If you can keep the team from scoring, well…
On June 15th the Milkmen defeated the second place Cleburne RailRoaders with some strong pitching and defense. The final score was 3-1. Christian Young led the way with six strong innings, giving up a run while striking out 4.
The bullpen was lights out for that game and only gave up one hit in three innings. The defense seems to be playing the ball to contact. Of the eleven batters the bullpen faced, Peyton Gray, Aneurysm Rosario and Nate Hadley only gave up one walk and one hit. Every other out was a clean play by the defense.
On Tuesday’s 5-3 win the script was the same. After giving up three runs in the first six innings Rosario and Hadley shut the door by not giving up a run in the last three innings.
On Saturday June 3rd the Milkmen pitching staff shut out the Chicago Dogs in a nice away win. Again, Christian Young was the winning pitcher, dealing six strong innings.
The pitching for this team has been very strong so far on the way to their first place start.
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Milkmen’s Offense is starting to rake
Not to be lost in all of these great pitching performances is some increased offense. On June 13th Bryan Torres really had a great game. In the leadoff hole, Torres was 2-5 with a stolen base. On June 9th against Sioux City he was 3-3 with two stolen bases. The patterns seems to be that Torres gets on, steals a base and scores. Nothing wrong with that!
Catcher Roy Morales is playing really well. In 20 games he is hitting .343. He has been showing some good plate discipline with 11 walks in 70 AB’s
Gabriel Cancel has also been hot at the plate. He is hitting .307. In 114 AB’s he has also hit 3 home runs.
Other Highlights
Christian Young leads the leagues in wins with 4. He is also third in the league with 40 strikeouts.
Rudy Martin still leads the team with 4 home runs.
Bryan Torres still leads the team with a .362 batting average and 39 hits. Torres also leads the AA with 23 stolen bases. Teammate Reggie Pruitt Jr. is fifth in the league with 17 stolen bases.
Miguel Gomez leads the team with 88 at-bats. Gomez is only hitting .227 but there is a ton of baseball left to play.
Next Up
The Milkmen play at Franklin field at the Roc sports complex in Franklin. Take in some baseball after playing a round of Top Golf right next door.
Milwaukee has a nice stretch of home games coming up, playing June 22-25 at home. On June 22nd it is $1 beer night. Friday June 23rd is Fireworks night with live music following the game. Saturday June 24th is Western Night.
There is still a ton of baseball to play. Sunday June 25th is “Rock the Pink” day with the team supporting the worthwhile cause of the fight against breast cancer.
Related: Milkmen Season is Off and Running
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