[Westheim]

Ricardo Gonzalez was recalled and Pedro Vazquez sent down again. Gonzalez hit a 2-run homer in AAA, so apparently he can still hit.

Raccoons (6-6) vs. Titans (8-5)

The Raccoons found amazing ways to destroy themselves. That had always been true, but the first inning of the series opener was … utterly amazing. Eduardo German hit an infield single on a full count to get things moving. Barry Miller flew out to Hall in left, before Kisho Saito balked German over to second. Mark Dawson lost Hjalmar Flygt’s grounder for an unearned run across, and then Saito hit Isto Grönholm with a pitch. 2-out doubles by Bob Arnold and Carlos Hernandez plated three more runs. 4-0 Titans. I was close to losing consciousness. German made it 5-0 with a solo jack in the second. The Raccoons did zero until the bottom 4th, when Osanai and Dadswell hit back-to-back home runs to cut the deficit to 5-2. They then chased Boston’s Dave O’Neill from the game in the fifth, while he was still ahead when they loaded the bags for Osanai with nobody out. But Osanai popped out and Dadswell lined into a double play. Oh, the calamity. Mark Dawson, who was dropped to #7 in the lineup for his struggles, still got the Raccoons back into the game with a 2-run homer in the bottom 6th. Sergio Martinez singled and was bunted to second by Saito after that. Thompson’s liner was caught by Bob Goyer, but Sanchez then hit one that could not be caught to deep right. Home run, 6-5 Raccoons. They had another bases loaded-zero outs situation in the seventh – and scored only once. But it was enough, Bentley and West finished out the game. 7-5 Coons. All position players that started the game had at least one hit. Thompson 2-4, BB; Sanchez 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-4, HR, RBI; Dadswell 2-4, HR, RBI; Dawson 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

That brought Saito to 2-1, the only starter currently with a winning record, yet the one with the worst ERA (4.26).

Boston’s Bob MacGruder entered with an 0.56 ERA after surrendering only one earned run in 16 innings so far. The Raccoons doubled that to two earned runs in the first inning of game 2. Bottom 3rd, Raccoons still up 1-0. Sanchez singled. Thompson walked. León singled. Nobody out. Osanai up. Flygt caught his flyer to left, Sanchez tagged and scored, and that was all the production in the inning. Scott Wade collapsed in the top 4th. He issued a 2-out bases loaded walk to Ernesto Ruíz (who was hitting z-e-r-o), and then a 2-run single to MacGruder, and they put two more on him in the fifth. Bottom 7th, down 5-3, Armando Sanchez tripled off MacGruder to get things moving. Unfortunately, the Raccoons made three outs that were SO poor, he couldn’t score. A Mark Dawson home run in the eighth didn’t matter. The Raccoons lost, 5-4. Sanchez 3-4, BB, 3B, 2B; Dadswell 2-4, 2 RBI; Chong (PH) 1-1;

The Titans took an early 2-0 lead against Vicente Ruíz in the rubber game. The Coons came back in the fourth and tied the game, but also left the bases loaded. Ruíz went five innings before tiring, another concerning development. The game was still at 2-2 heading to the bottom 7th. Sanchez walked, stole second and reached third on Thompson’s single. Nobody out. Dadswell flew out to short right. Osanai fouled out. I snapped out. Carlos León pinch hit for Wally Gaston in the #5 spot – a single to center. That would have to do. Jones walked Flygt to start things in the top 8th. Grönholm singled against Cunningham, who then got two outs with the runners both going into scoring position. Bob Goyer up, 2 for 21. STRUCK HIM OUT!! West came in for the ninth and struck out Barry Miller on a full count. He also struck out Salvador Vargas on a full count, but Dadswell lost the ball and Vargas dashed to first – safe. German K’ed, and this brought up Carlos Gonsales, the well-hitting, not-so-well-catching catcher. Single to left. Pressure building up. Flygt stepped in. West threw two balls, then Flygt slapped two pitches foul. Another ball, another full count. Another foul ball. Pitch #31 of the inning: a bit low and inside it appeared, Flygt ripped – and missed, HE STRUCK HIM OUT!!! 3-2 Raccoons. Sanchez 2-3, BB; León (PH) 1-1, RBI; West 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, SV (4);

Raccoons (8-7) @ Aces (7-8)

Game 1: Logan Evans fell behind 2-0 in the first, but the Raccoons tied that deficit in the top 3rd. Unfortunately, Evans gave up a 2-run homer to Ira Houston right away in the bottom of the inning, and then was half-way solid until he was shelled by rookie Zheng-xin Zhang with a 3-run home run in the bottom 7th, which also was the end for the Raccoons’ ambitions, which had been pathetic anyway. Miguel Martinez, the equally pathetic excuse for a reliever, gave up three straight singles, then a 1-out grand slam to Chong-seop O. The Raccoons ended up victims of an 11-2 bashing, and were also 4-hit. Hall 1-2, BB, RBI; Thompson (PH) 1-1; Bentley 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

With that rout, the Raccoons now ranked 10th in both runs scored and runs against, and 64-77 overall. Even defense, long a strong suit of the team, only had them 7th overall in the CL.

The Raccoons faced Luis DeJesus in the middle game, who had a 17.18 ERA going into the game. The Aces were not bothered by those numbers, putting two runs on Carlos Gonzalez in the bottom 1st, one unearned after a throwing error by Dadswell (here we go again). DeJesus puzzled the Raccoons in a … puzzling way. He 4-hit them into the seventh, but was removed with two on and a 3-0 lead. Nelson Gonzales came in to face Yong-chan Chong. The Raccoons’ first ever South Korean player unloaded to left to tie the game with a home run. Mark Dawson in the bottom 7th made an amazing catch on a line drive and converted it for a double play, forcing the runner on second, ending the inning. The Coons had to scramble to get an unearned run over the plate in the top 8th on a grounder by Hall, but then Kelly Weber hit a huge double against the wall in center that scored two more runs, and Chong drove in Weber. Moss and Cunningham ended the game with wobbly, but scoreless innings. 7-3 Raccoons. Thompson 2-5, 2B; Chong 2-3, BB, HR, 4 RBI; C. Gonzalez 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (1-1);

The Raccoons put up three runs in the first inning, which included two doubles JUST past the reach of LF Craig Knapp. “Icon” Allen got one run right back from Saito with a homer in the bottom 1st. The Raccoons led 5-1 after the top 6th, but Saito got himself into trouble with two walks in the bottom 6th and both runners (or rather: walkers) scored. But Saito was a strange guy, and rebounded by striking out the side in the seventh. Then came the eighth – and a massive collapse by Gaston and Cunningham. The first four Aces all reached base, and they scored three runs in the inning.

The agony. The agony.

Trailing 6-5 into the top 9th, the Raccoons faced Matt Sims. Thompson reached on an error. Dadswell bunted him to second. Osanai walked on a full count, and was forced at second on Leóns grounder. Dawson popped out.

11 hits, all singles. Thompson 3-5; León 2-4, BB;

The agony.

Raccoons (9-9) @ Falcons (9-10)

Scott Wade was up against Manuel Movonda in game 1. It was not a pretty game. The Falcons stole three bases off Dadswell in the first two innings – their whole lineup had stolen two bases COMBINED going into the game. Dadswell was unable to get anything meaningful done – the Falcons scored three runs in the bottom 3rd in close plays at home alone, and he never managed to get anybody out. Through three, Scott Wade was long blasted, as the Raccoons trailed 6-2. Home runs by Dawson (solo, 4th inning) and Osanai (3-run, 5th inning) tied the game again, so Movonda got his shelling, too, but the amount of terrible catching and pitching and hitting and fielding was … terrible. Movonda’s exit didn’t come until hitting Daniel Hall with a pitch. Hall objected to Movonda’s pitch location – with blunt force. The benches emptied and some shoving and punching and choking later, Movonda and Hall were ejected. Wade for some reason was still pitching and was hit for another run in the bottom 5th, then hit by me for being a dork. Bentley surrendered a run in the seventh and the Coons lost, 8-6. Sanchez 2-5, 2B; Thompson 4-5, 2B, RBI; Osanai 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Dawson 2-5, HR, RBI; Walker 2-4;

Daniel Hall was given a 7-game suspension. Well, he doesn’t hit more than .197 anyway.

Vicente Ruíz gave up only three hits in game 2. Too bad, he did it in 5.2 innings, added five walks, and was slapped for four runs. The Raccoons actually out-hit the Falcons through six, 4-3, but trailed, 4-0. It wasn’t until the eighth that the Raccoons got on the board against Bastyao Caixinha, with a walk from Chong, a single by Sanchez, and a long double by Sergio Martinez. Nobody out, Mark Dawson came to the plate representing the tying run. He grounded slowly up the left foul line for a very poor out. Osanai struck out – but Kyae-Sung Park lost the ball, Osanai dashed to first and Sanchez raced home. They did get in Martinez, too, but still trailed, 4-3. They went down silently in the ninth. 4-3 Falcons, who were out-hit 7-4. Sanchez 2-4; Martinez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-4, RBI; Chong (PH) 0-0, BB;

Two 2-out RBI doubles in the bottom 3rd got the Falcons ahead in the last game, against Logan Evans. Evans gave up nine hits, yet somehow the damage remained those two runs, in six innings. Surely the Coons – to carry the game safely – could mount some – NO! Of course not! They got one run in the sixth, which was unearned after a throwing error. So, Evans was on the hook heading into the eighth, where Armando Sanchez tied the game with a home run. They put two on with two out in the inning, bringing up Flores. Dadswell came out to pinch hit to counter righty pitcher Julio Rodriguez. He singled over the bag into center, just between the infielders, and brought in a run, and the Raccoons upped to 4-2. Bottom 9th. Gilbert Dougan got on to start the inning, and Walker could not come up with a double play on Dave Polk’s grounder. With two down, Antonio Esquivel took advantage by taking Grant West deep – the game was tied. Between the 10th and 14th innings, the Raccoons had one hit: Wally Gaston’s single in the 12th. The Falcons threatened twice, but never got the winning run in. Mark Dawson was awarded second with one out in the top 15th on another bad throw. Dadswell struck out. León struck out. The Coons didn’t have a hit until the top 17th, when Thompson singled to lead off. Sergio Martinez, the last man off the bench, was hit by a pitch, and Dawson singled to left, but Thompson held. Bases loaded, one out. Right there, the Falcons pen collapsed. Dadswell singled to right, 5-4. León singled to right, 6-4. Walker grounded out, but a run scored, 7-4. Walker went 0-8 in the game. Chong singled to left, 8-4. Sanchez doubled to center, 10-4. But now the Raccoons had to pitch – and did not have anybody left. Jason Bentley had to come out after having pitched several days in a row, but he will be able to hold on to a 6-run lead, right? Teo Colón – grounded to short. Kyae-sung Park – grounded to short. Gary Helton – K! 10-4 Raccoons in *17* innings. Osanai 3-4; Dadswell (PH) 2-5, 2 RBI; León 2-6, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Chong (PB) 2-5, RBI; Gaston 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K; Jones 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0); the game started at 7:05pm and didn’t end until almost 1am.

In other news

April 21 – Atlanta’s Jeremiah Carrell (.341, 1 HR, 8 RBI) is hurt yet again. He will miss five weeks with elbow inflammation.
April 22 – An on base collision leaves Oklahoma’s Dave Browne (.300, 0 HR, 5 RBI) with a separated shoulder and out for up to a month.
April 22 – ATL 1B Fred Rodgers goes hitless against the Condors, ending his 24-game hitting streak.
April 23 – Shock to everyone in Pittsburgh: SP David Burke (1-1, 2.45 ERA) has to leave a game early and will be out for two months with elbow tendinitis.
April 24 – PIT 3B Cameron Green (of Coon history) is out for four months with torn ankle ligaments. He is .265 with 0 HR and 4 RBI this year, but put up a .289, 14 HR, 96 RBI clip last season.
April 24 – WAS 2B Yoshihito Ito (.420, 1 HR, 15 RBI) hits a 9th inning single against the Pacifics to bring his hitting streak to 20 games.
April 25 – The Pacifics hate hitting streaks, and thus chill Ito’s right away, at 20 games.
April 26 – The Buffaloes had added MR Joe Roberts just this winter. After appearing in only three games, he is out for the season with a torn rotator cuff.
April 26 – After a slow start to the season, Aces outfielder Claudio Garcia (.222, 1 HR, 7 RBI) will now have to wait a month to improve, suffering from shoulder tendinitis.
April 29 – OCT SP Kevin Williams (3-1, 1.22 ERA) suffers a light back injury upon striking a deer with his car on the expressway. He will be out for about a week. There are no reports on the condition of the deer.

Complaints and stuff

Grant West’s four strikeouts in a single inning are a Raccoons first. I have no way to tell whether it has happened before in the ABL.

But it makes him no exception to the awful play of the team in April, which is thankfully over. Those ERA’s are nightmares. The batting is, too. Neither catcher can field his position, and everything has basically already died as far as ambitions are concerned. There are SO MANY things going wrong at this point, there is no way, everything can straighten itself out in time.

Wow. Just wow, those numbers. Wow. The record does in no way show how bad they are. They rank close to the bottom in any meaningful pitching or batting category, with very few exceptions.

Saito, Cunningham, Moss, Walker, León, and Chong will be free agents at the end of the year. A couple more are arbitration eligible.

Next: Loggers, Canadiens at home. Interleague play has the Buffaloes and Warriors. We will start a road trip to Titans and Crusaders the day the draft pool is released – should I feel like messing with the slackers the next few days…