[Westheim]

Raccoons (28-31) vs. Wolves (28-32)

Here comes a new addition of the Oregon Brawl. We are 7-8 lifetime against the Wolves, but took the last two editions of the series, 2-1 in 1986, and with a sweep in 1984. You can estimate how badly we fared before that.

Game 1. We threw on our walk machine, Logan Evans, who managed to get the bags full in the top 1st, but escaped with a double play. Bottom 1st. Thompson singled, Sanchez walked, Hall singled, Osanai slammed to right, 4-0 Coons. Salem’s starter Vicente Torres left a few batters later with an injury. Evans loaded the bags again in the fourth, and again got through it unharmed, and the Coons added a run on a wild pitch in the bottom 4th. Evans needed 104 pitches through five and didn’t get through six at all. Dirk Campbell ended the sixth and Moss and Jones completed the shutout for the Raccoons. The 5-0 win masked a bit that they were wholly inefficient against any pitcher other than Torres that day. Hall 2-4; Osanai 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; S. Martinez 2-3; Jones 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Daniel Hall’s pair of singles meant a 12-game hitting streak for him.

Kisho Saito struggled in the middle game, falling behind 2-0 in the top 2nd. Bottom of the inning: Osanai, Dawson, and Dadswell reeled off three straight singles. Bases loaded, nobody out, they got one run on a 1-out single by Costello, then popped up twice, but compensated with a 3-spot in the bottom 3rd with a 2-out RBI single by Dawson and a subsequent 2-run homer by Dadswell. Kisho Saito had a dominant stretch afterwards, retiring nine straight, with five K’s included, but was exhausted after 6.1 innings and 127 pitches. CF Tien Dung Nien homered off Cunningham in the top 8th, cutting the 2-run lead in half. Daniel Hall came up first in the bottom 8th, and 0-3 on the day. Hitting streak in danger! Lawrence Mills pitched to him carefully and went to 3-0. Hall smelled it coming down the middle and drilled it for a double into the right corner, but was stranded. The Wolves did not pitch to Osanai, and Dawson instantly grounded into a double play. Top 9th. West got one out, then allowed a single, and then drilled Pancho Pacheco on an 0-2 pitch. Wolves threatening, he struck out Pablo Perez, which brought Ambuvica Talip to the plate as a pinch hitter. West struck him out. 4-3 Raccoons! Dawson 2-4, RBI; Dadswell 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Saito 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (5-5);

Final game of the series, and for the second time in the series the Raccoons bashed a grand slam in the first inning, this time Mark Dawson. Osanai hit a solo thing in the third, 5-0, while Scott Wade breezed through the early innings. The bottom 4th further deconstructed Salem pitching. Wade hit a leadoff double and the Wolves never regained control from there. Hall had a 3-0 swing base hit for back-to-back days in this inning, and Mark Dawson came up again with two on and one out. CRUSHED to left, over the fence, over the bleachers, over the outer fence, and over everything beyond it!! 10-0 Raccoons at this point. The rout was on, and it was 14-0 after five. Raccoons fans began to wait for the collapse. It started innocently enough in the top 6th, with an error by Winston Thompson. The Wolves quickly filled the bags, but only got one unearned run off Wade. Wade surrendered single earned runs the next two innings while going 7.1 frames. The big collapse never came, and the Raccoons rushed the Wolves out of the town with a 15-3 clobbering. S. Martinez 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Hall 2-4, BB; Osanai 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Dawson 3-5, 2 HR, 8 RBI; Quintanilla 2-5, 2B; Wade 7.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (6-3) and 3-4, 2B;

Mark Dawson’s eight RBI’s tie a mark set by Daniel Hall in 1984 for a 9-inning game, although Hall had a ninth RBI when that game went to extra innings.

Raccoons (31-31) @ Cyclones (31-29)

The Cyclones’ offensive output was not exactly intimidating, but they certainly knew how to play their cards and caught the Raccoons off guard early on:

CF Pedro Ortiz hit an inside-the-park home run in the first inning of the series opener, right to the base of the 427’ wall, from where it bounced happily away from Armando Sanchez. While Alejandro Venegas struck out the 7-8-9 batters in the bottom 2nd, he was quickly overwhelmed in the next two innings and left in the fourth with six runs, five earned, against him. Things didn’t get better after shortening the gap to 6-2 in the sixth, since Wally Gaston started the bottom 6th with two walks and Campbell ended up giving up a 3-run triple to Leo Smith. Still, the Raccoons brought the tying run to the on-deck circle in the top 8th, down 9-4, bases loaded, one out. Jose Sanchez hit a sac fly for the only run they’d add here. 9-5 Cyclones. Hall 2-4, RBI; Dawson 2-3, BB, RBI; Thompson (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Carlos Gonzalez was due up in the middle game. At 4-7, 5.81 ERA and an option he doesn’t have many chances left. But apart from that we made a roster move nevertheless, and sent Gustavo Quintanilla to AAA to call up Glenn Johnston. Daniel Dumont and others could follow soon. And then we did this:

Early in the morning on June 14 (the day before the draft), the Raccoons traded for BOS MR Ed King, 35, a gutsy veteran lefty. We sent over MR Tim Moss, so this was lefty for lefty. Moss’ ERA is over eight, but he still has a few more years left than King, who will be a free agent at the end of this season. King is 2-1 with a 1.65 ERA this season. King spent 11 seasons with the Bayhawks and ended up in Boston only this season. He has appeared in 642 games and has 355 saves with a 2.34 ERA. He will be 36 in July.

King arrived just in time for the game that night with Carlos Gonzalez pitching. Old Bob Hillier opposed him (2-4, 3.74 ERA), and was roughed up in a 3-run first inning. With the score 6-0, Hillier was pinch-hit for in the bottom 3rd, and the Raccoons piled them on, 8-0 after four, and 10-0 after five, aided by misplays and a balk by reliever Francisco Roman. Gonzalez clicked off batters and innings at alarming speed. He came to bat with Jose Sanchez on second base and two down in the ninth and was left in to bat. He hit an RBI single to make it 11-0, then stepped on the mound for the bottom 9th. Up until then, the Cyclones had landed only two hits against him, and while Robert Harris singled to short left in the inning, Gonzalez ended the game with a strikeout to Jesus Galindo. A shutout out of the blue!! 11-0 Raccoons! A. Sanchez 2-6, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; Hall 2-5, 2 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; J. Sanchez 3-4, BB, 2B; Johnston 2-4, 2B; Gonzalez 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, W (5-7) and 1-4, RBI;

All starters had at least one hit in the game in an impressive hitting display. With the middle of the order, Hall, Osanai, Dawson, and even Dadswell all mildly warm to really hot, this is a run machine. The pitching has to become more reliable. In any case, this was Carlos Gonzalez’ first big league shutout!

Another game left in Cincy, on the day of the draft. Logan Evans went out, facing Jim Harrington. While the Furballs went up 1-0 early, it was also apparent early on that Evans was out of whack again, unable to get ahead in the count, and the Cyclones tied the game in the bottom 1st. A key moment came in the bottom 3rd, the game still tied. Leadoff hitter Miramao Hino singled to left and then engaged in a long string of pickoff tries by Evans, who held him close enough so that when Hino finally set out to steal, he was thrown out by Dadswell. Osanai and Dadswell worked together for the go-ahead run in the top 4th and Dadswell punched out another stealer in the bottom 4th to keep it at 2-1. But Dadswell did not get Hino when he was the leading engine in a successful double steal in the bottom 6th. Hino scored on a sac fly by Santiago Gonzalez to tie the game. That was it for Evans, but Dirk Campbell let the runner on second score and Evans was on the hook, but not for long. With one out in the seventh, Dadswell and Jose Sanchez hit back-to-back doubles to tie the game again. Ed King made his Raccoons debut along the way, getting the final out in the bottom 8th. Still at 3-3, Dawson hit a leadoff double in the ninth. Dadswell was waved through and Jose Sanchez was supposed to bunt, but failed, then hit an 0-2 single off Harrington. Bases loaded, nobody out. And didn’t score! Johnston got Dawson forced at home with a grounder, PH Martinez popped out, and Armando Sanchez flew out to center. Cunningham forced extra innings, which gave Daniel Hall (0-3, BB) and his hitting streak new life, since he was up second in the top 10th. Thompson singled his way on ahead of him, and Hall lobbed a really weak ball into short center, where it found a way to drop safely. Dadswell drove in Thompson with two outs to bring out Grant West with a 4-3 lead. Osanai was pulled for defense with Perez in at second and Thompson moving to first – and that move was gold. Bob Strickland sent a fast grounder up wide of first that Osanai in all likelihood would not have gotten, but the agile Thompson did. Strickland was out. West turned in a 1-2-3 save, 4-3 Raccoons! Osanai 2-5, 2B; Dawson 2-5, 2B, RBI; Dadswell 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; J. Sanchez 2-5, 2B, RBI; Gaston 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

So, Dannyboy’s streak at 17; we have played Cincy three years straight, and went 2-1 three years straight, and we are FINALLY back in the winning zone at 33-32.

The Raccoons sent Marcos Costello to AAA and called up Daniel Dumont.

The draft will happen right here, but will be analyzed in the next post. Here we will complete the road trip into Vancouver and Milwaukee.

Raccoons (33-32) @ Canadiens (34-29)

For the opener, Armando Sanchez got a day off, which put Dumont right into things in right, and Weber in center. We still had seven games (four here) to play before an off day. Daniel Hall and Mark Dawson were earmarked for off days, too, possibly in game 2. Everybody else but Tetsu Osanai was cycling through things pretty regularly anyway.

A Dani Perez sac fly got the Coons ahead in the top 2nd of the opener of the 4-set. Kisho Saito came up with runners on the corners and two down, but singled in another run. Jose Sanchez, batting leadoff today, singled to fill the bags, and Dumont walked on a full count. Daniel Hall also went to a full count, and also walked! Carlos Lozano then punched out Osanai, who had started the inning with a single. Saito looked locked in early on, and probably was, but was taken deep with solo home runs by RF Miguel Guzman in the fifth and 2B Hector Atilano in the sixth. But Saito struck out the side (nicking a batter in between) in the seventh before yielding to a pinch hitter in the eighth. The Raccoons left them loaded there, and two on in the ninth, but Cunningham and West held the Canadiens short to save the 4-2 win. Osanai 2-4, BB; Weber 3-4; Saito 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (6-5) and 1-3, RBI;

Daniel Hall extended his hitting streak with a single in the sixth, but was left on.

Hall and Dawson were both left out of game 2. Dadswell batted third and Glenn Johnston fifth to start with five lefties and six in total against right-hander Tia Fa. Scott Wade fell behind 1-0 in the second, but what is so likeable at Wade is that he can kick it up a notch at times. The Canadiens put two in scoring position with one out in the third, and Wade punched out Atilano, not a guy to K easily, before surrendering Art Garrett on a pop to short. The Raccoons left guys in scoring position in most innings. In the fifth then, Armando Sanchez singled to start things of. He stole second (10th bag on the season and second in the game), then advanced on a wild pitch with Winston Thompson still at the plate. Thompson scored Sanchez with a sac fly, 1-1 tied game. Then they left two in scoring position. Wade had to take matters into his own hands at the plate, doubling in Daniel Dumont in the sixth for a 2-1 lead, and the Coons then added two runs with a freak double between everybody by Dadswell and a passed ball to Carlos Gonsales, 4-1. That was cut back to 4-3 by Brian Adams’ 2-run homer in the bottom 6th, though. It was 5-3 going to the bottom 9th. West was unavailable and we went with Wally Gaston to close out the game. He collected an out, a walk, and hit batter, and was removed for David Jones to face lefty Pedro Mora, but Vancouver countered with Ramón Carrillo, a .229 righty. Jones punched him out on a full count, but that brought up Teo Colón, who already had a triple in the game. Campbell and a still sweaty Cunningham in the pen – Jones went after Colón. Colón homered to center, and the Canadiens walked off. 6-5 Canadiens. A. Sanchez 2-4, BB; Johnston 2-5; J. Sanchez 2-5; Dumont 2-5, 2B;

This bullpen … this bullpen …!

Game 3 saw the Raccoons 1-0 up in the second. The run was unearned as Ramon Gonzalez dropped Tetsu Osanai’s flyball for a 2-base error to lead things off. Venegas was taken very deep by Adams in the fourth with a runner on, but Daniel Hall tied it in the fifth with a double. Two on, two out, Osanai up, he fell ten feet short of the fence and instead made the final out. Bottom 6th, two down, runner on third for the Canadiens, Venegas was replaced with Bentley with righty Carlos Gonsales up, but Bentley gave up a single and the run. It was the winning run. The Raccoons drew a few more walks, but all fly balls to the outfield were caught and they ended up 5-hit. 3-2 Canadiens. Hall 2-4, 2B, RBI;

This was the 300th career save for Rick Evans. I was not able to feel much joy for him.

Hall got the hitting started early in the final game, a 1-out single in the first inning, which brought his streak to 20 games, tying the longest streak in the ABL this season (now jointly held with the Indians’ Jorge Salazar). They still didn’t score, because Osanai grounded into a double play with perfect accuracy. An error by Jose Sanchez at short scored an unearned run for the Canadiens in the bottom 2nd to put Carlos Gonzalez behind. Dawson tied the game when he scored on a 2-out single by Vinson, before the Coons left the bases loaded in the fourth, preceding a 3-run inning by the Canadiens that chopped Gonzalez apart, as he surrendered ten hits over five frames. Bottom 6th, and Jones loaded the bags with one out. Great, really. Campbell got two strikeouts from the Canadiens, but not before throwing a wild pitch to score another run. David Vinson hit his first big league home run in the losing effort in the ninth. 6-3 Canadiens. Dawson 2-4, 2B; Perez 2-4; Vinson 2-4, HR, 3 RBI;

That killed the last chance in the division. The Indians were going strong and now were already nine games away. Also, Ed King left with a severy fingernail injury. Oh, greatness.

Raccoons (34-35) @ Loggers (31-38)

The Loggers were on fire, with four wins in a row and a huge jump back into the middle of the division in the last month. 1B Isto Grönholm was on a 16-game hitting streak, right on Daniel Hall’s heels.

The opener was the second big league start for Ray Burnett (0-1, 15.00 ERA). The Raccoons – not unsurprisingly – failed to get a bat on him early on. 1-1 through three, the game saw them load the bags on an error by Burnett and two singles, and nobody out, in the top 4th. Logan Evans was up and flew out to short left, forcing Jose Sanchez to hold. Thompson, batting leadoff came up and with Burnett having bad control, we were hoping for a walk, but he singled to left to the same effect, but that was it in the inning. Evans started the bottom 4th with a triple to 3B Jesus Jimenez. Next up, Jordan Archer flew out to Armando Sanchez in short right. Jimenez made for home, but Sanchez got in a perfect throw to Dadswell, who planted himself in the way of Jimenez, who knocked him over, but Dadswell held on to the ball and Jimenez was OUT!! While the Raccoons were unable to hurt Burnett, Evans was blown up in the sixth, putting four men on (and logically one man in) without getting an out. The Coons got behind, and they stayed there, losing 5-4. A. Sanchez 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Osanai 2-4, HR, RBI; Johnston 2-4;

While Isto Grönholm got a hit to destroy Logan Evans in the sixth, Daniel Hall was hung out dry by Burnett and the rest of the pack to end his hitting streak at 20 games. Oh, greatness.

We ran into Judd Montgomery in the middle game. Him and Kisho Saito were trading little ovals through five and a half. On the way there, Saito bunted into double plays twice, erasing two of the three base runners the Furballs had, and ending both innings. Montgomery in turn singled in the bottom 6th and the Loggers broke up Saito in the inning with a run. An RBI double by Osanai tied the game again in the top 7th. Bottom 8th, still tied. Vinson threw out a runner for the second out. Jim Wood then rolled to Thompson, who threw to Osanai, who dropped the ball. Next: Grönholm. Home Run. 3-1 Loggers, Raccoons 5-hit. Johnston 2-3; Saito 8.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, L (6-6);

The Raccoons led 3-1 in the bottom 4th when a throwing error (on, granted, a very difficult play) put two runners in scoring position with nobody out, and the lead evaporated away from Wade. But if Dawson doesn’t try to make the play, the runners hold on first and second, and their two sac flies score only one. But misery is miserable, and so the game was tied, 3-3, until Osanai broke it up with a 2-out RBI single in the seventh. The Coons could have scored so much more, hadn’t Armando Sanchez hit into a double play ahead of Osanai. Grönholm came up with two out and one on in the bottom 7th. Wade was removed for Cunningham, who was singled off, but then retired Jimenez. Mr. Moustache pitched the eighth and West saved it with two K’s for a 4-3 win. Thompson 1-2, 3 BB; Johnston 2-5; A. Sanchez 2-5; Osanai 2-5, 2 RBI; Dadswell 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI;

In other news

June 20 – SFW LF/RF Alex White (.333, 3 HR, 14 RBI) goes down for the second time this season, this time for good with a fractured elbow.
June 20 – Las Vegas’ Mark Allen (.335, 11 HR, 48 RBI) will miss about two weeks with a strained hamstring.

Complaints and stuff

I had planned with Moss to be the utility lefty, but he was not cutting it this season after an outstanding 1987. At that point we were 6.5 games out and I thought that King would give us necessary consolidation in the bullpen. He will be allowed to move on at season’s end in all likelihood.

At one point during the road trip, the once fearsome Engjell Vulaj was placed on waivers. The Buffaloes tried to get rid of him. They had signed a dangerous powerful .280 hitter at age 32 for 5-yr, $3.3M, but now they had a 33-yr old .230 hitter who couldn’t find the fence with binoculars.

Daniel Hall was above Tetsu in terms of average for half a game, but since then has been silenced entirely, going 0-9 against the Loggers.

Strange occurrences: MIL Jesus Jimenez failing to bowl over Sam Dadswell decisively enough to score in that game came about ten minutes after NYM Daniel Murphy failed to slam MIA Rob Brantly into the dust enough to walk off the Mets in the 12th. That game is now in the 18th and I am pretty tired.