Milwaukee Brewers' weekly minor-league report

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Lewis Brinson, OF, Colorado Springs: Brinson pounded out three homers in the past week, including a pair in an eventual 11-inning loss to New Orleans on Sunday. He hit .286 in four games with five runs batted in while posting an OPS of 1.262. Brinson is hitting .331 on the season, good for sixth in the Pacific Coast League, with 13 homers, 48 RBI, a .400 on-base percentage and an OPS of .962. Teammate Brett Phillips hit .450 with a 1.200 OPS in five games last week and is at .318/17/71. Brinson and Phillips both have to be considered front-runners to be named Brewers minor-league player of the year.

PITCHERS OF THE WEEK

Hiram Burgos, Forrest Snow, Nick Ramirez, Jorge Lopez, Biloxi: The foursome combined on a seven-inning no-hitter in a 1-0 victory over Tennessee on Monday, the first in Shuckers' history. Burgos started and threw two perfect innings with two strikeouts and was followed by Snow, who issued a walk with four strikeouts. Ramirez walked one and struck out one in his lone inning of work, then Lopez pitched a perfect seventh with a punchout to end it. Snow earned his fifth victory of the season, Ramirez his eighth hold and Lopez his fifth save. It was the second no-hitter of the season in the Southern League.

JOURNAL SENTINEL’S TOP FIVE PROSPECTS

1. Lewis Brinson, OF, Colorado Springs: Brinson's week came to a tough end Monday, when he pulled up lame while running to first base in his third at-bat against New Orleans. He suffered a strained left hamstring and is expected to miss four to six weeks.

2. Corey Ray, OF, Carolina: Ray hit .292 with an RBI over six games last week, leaving him with a .242 average, six homers and 41 RBI for the season.

3. Isan Diaz, IF, Carolina: Diaz, who is hitting .225/12/52, has been sidelined since Aug. 10 with a bruised hand.

4. Lucas Erceg, 3B, Carolina: Erceg has been serving as the Mudcats’ designated hitter in order to rest a sore throwing shoulder. He had a rough seven-game stretch last week, however, hitting .174 with a double, homer and two RBI. He’s at .240/13/67 overall.

5. Luis Ortiz, RHP, Biloxi: Ortiz’s return after missing time due to an illness didn’t go well. On Aug. 11, his first start since July 25, he lasted just two-thirds of an inning after allowing four hits, four earned runs and a walk. That upped his season ERA to 3.98 and his WHIP to 1.18 through 18 total turns.

AFFILIATES UPDATE

Class AAA Colorado Springs: A 2-3 week left the Sky Sox with a 70-47 record and 6½ games ahead of second-place Oklahoma City in the PCL’s American Northern Division. Junior Guerra is 1-1 with a 2.86 ERA after three starts, but he has as many walks as strikeouts (eight) after 16 innings. Rob Scahill has a team-best seven saves with an ERA of just 1.02.

Class AA Biloxi: Things are getting interesting in the Southern League’s South Division. The Shuckers went 3-2 last week to put their second-half record at 24-24, which was just one game out of first place and a half-game behind second-place Jacksonville. Right-hander Corbin Burnes has come back to earth a bit since his phenomenal start to the season but still has put up solid numbers with Biloxi with a 3-3 record, 2.10 ERA, WHIP of 0.92 and 67 strikeouts in 64 1/3 innings.

Advanced Class A Carolina: The Mudcats’ 2-5 week dropped them to 22-29 in the second half. That was just 2½ games out of the cellar in the Carolina League’s Southern Division. Right-hander Jordan Yamamoto, a 12th-round pick of the Brewers in 2014, is quietly having a nice season with a 5-4 record, 3.32 ERA, WHIP of 1.19 and 86 strikeouts in 84 innings (18 appearances, 14 starts).

Class A Wisconsin: The Timber Rattlers went 2-4 last week, and they’re 22-28 in the second half in the Midwest League’s Western Division. First-round pick Keston Hiura is still searching for his first homer with Wisconsin, but he’s done just about everything else wwith a .344 average, .384 on-base percentage, nine doubles, two triples and 15 RBI through 23 games. Right-hander Josh Pennington made his longest start for the Timber Rattlers on Aug. 11, throwing five shutout innings and striking out nine.

Advanced Rookie Helena: After a 3-3 week, the Brewers were tied for first with Great Falls in the Pioneer League’s North Division with a 5-7 second-half record. K.J. Harrison, Milwaukee’s third-round pick in June, hit .318 with a pair of homers and seven RBI. Right-hander Nelson Hernandez’s five victories are tied for most in the league.