[Westheim]

Raccoons (19-32) vs. Bayhawks (25-26) – May 31-June 2, 2005

The Birds were t-2nd in runs scored and t-8th in runs allowed, but only had a +5 run differential, and a losing record. Their main problem was a bottomless well in disguise of a bullpen, which posted a league-worst 4.27 ERA as they came in, readily blowing ever lead entrusted to it.

Projected matchups:
Ralph Ford (0-2, 4.06 ERA) vs. Iván Cordero (1-2, 5.18 ERA)
Felipe Garcia (2-4, 3.55 ERA) vs. Raúl Fuentes (3-8, 5.90 ERA)
Nick Brown (4-4, 3.09 ERA) vs. Carl Bean (6-3, 2.67 ERA)

Before we could get a jump onto Cordero, Tuesday’s series opener drowned and was washed down the river into the Pacific Ocean. We had a double header scheduled for Wednesday. Oh, the lovely Portland weather.

Game 1
SFB: RF R. Gonzalez – SS J. Perez – 2B J. Diaz – 1B I. Gutierrez – CF Black – LF Bonneau – 3B V. Flores – C Washington – P V. Perez
POR: CF Fernandez – 3B Sharp – LF Wheaton – RF Brady – 1B Martin – C L. Ramirez – 2B Nomura – SS Yamada – P Ford

Ford hit Ramiro Gonzalez with an 0-2 pitch, and the Bayhawks went from there. Ford had a walk, a balk, somebody somewhere hit a 3-run homer, and the first part of a Wednesday doubleheader in front of almost empty seats was underway. When it didn’t matter anymore, Ford struck out ten over the remaining 6.1 innings of his start until Jose Perez hit a 1-out single in the eighth. Rockburn came in, couldn’t solve the problem at hand, and the Bayhawks eventually scored two runs on a 2-out triple by Luke Black. Vicente Perez (5-1, 3.93 ERA) had only given up one run up to there, twice surviving runners on the corners with one out along the way. In the bottom 8th it was Clyde Brady with two on and two out, who had been robbed once before by Black in this game, who powered a 3-run homer out of centerfield, but that was not enough to overcome a 5-1 deficit. Martin flew to deep center, but not deep enough, and in the ninth Johnny Smith massacred Ramirez, Nomura, and Yamada. 5-4 Bayhawks. Yamada 2-4, 2B;

So, round 1 was meh, but what will round 2 give us, apart from a wildly different lineup?

Game 2
SFB: RF R. Gonzalez – SS J. Perez – 2B J. Diaz – 1B I. Gutierrez – LF Bonneau – 3B V. Flores – CF Black – C J. Lopez – P I. Cordero
POR: LF Brady – SS Sheehan – 1B Sharp – RF Greenman – 3B Searcy – C Wood – 2B Nomura – CF King – P Ford

For starters, nobody homered in the first, but Searcy drove home Sheehan with a single, and when did we ever expect to read that? The Coons would get runners to third base in both the third and fourth innings due to Bayhawks errors, but never managed to plate those guys. Greenman flew out to deep to right to end the third (after flying out deep to left in the first inning), and Garcia grounded out to keep two runners starved in scoring position in the fourth. Bottom 5th, another Coon on third, and again after an error! Sheehan had hit a 1-out single, before Cordero had botched Sharp’s grounder. Greenman singled to left, bases loaded with one out, and now Searcy grounded hard to second, four to six to three.

They made eyes hurt. They just … they…

While the offense kept underdoing itself, spectacularly, Garcia was rock solid and kept spooling off scoreless ball – until someone got hold of something. It was Luke Black, it was the seventh, it was going well out of the park, and it tied the score at one. Felipe Garcia went eight, was out of luck in terms of run support, and Dave Williams did the ninth. In the bottom 9th, Salvadaro Soure (a former discovery by Vince) pitched in his second inning of work, facing the bottom of the order, and retired Nomura, Wheaton, and Ramirez with three sorry outs. In the top 10th, Huerta allowed two singles, then drilled Jose Perez before Juan Diaz miraculously made the final out to Ramirez right in front of the screen behind home plate. The Furballs stranded a pair in the 11th, before there were two on again in the 12th when Brady and Fernandez singled. Sharp struck out, the second out in the inning, and Greenman got to 2-0 on lefty Ken McKenzie. The third pitch was wild, moving the runners into scoring position, and the fourth one was off intentionally to get to Searcy. Our bench was empty, Fernandez had been the last man from there. The count ran full before Searcy put one into play, and grounded out to second base. Domingo Moreno was then overcome by Jose Perez and Iván Gutierrez in the 13th, before the Birds loaded them up and left them loaded. Bottom 13th, McKenzie happened to face three lefties, and none reached. 2-1 Bayhawks. Sheehan 2-4, 2B; Fernandez (PH) 1-1; Searcy 2-6, RBI; Garcia 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K; Huerta 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Well. We lost the double-header. We also had to play 22 innings, because reasons, and because of our zero clip with runners in scoring position (actually: minus .150), and we also lost Ricardo Huerta, who reported a tweak in his back and his DTD for at least Thursday.

But hey, we still got our pants and shoes. Life is really only truly miserable when someone takes your pants, and your shoes. We are still not completely burnt out.

Game 3
SFB: RF R. Gonzalez – SS J. Perez – 2B J. Diaz – 1B I. Gutierrez – CF Black – LF Bonneau – 3B V. Flores – C Washington – P R. Fuentes
POR: LF Brady – 3B Sharp – CF Fernandez – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – SS Sheehan – 2B Nomura – C Wood – P Brown

The Coons went out and exploded all over Fuentes’ face right in the second innings, churning him on a Greenman double and a Martin homer run for TWO runs in ONE inning! Top 3rd, a so far perfect Brownie allowed a leadoff single to Vic Flores, and then Washington’s grounder was thrown away by Bobby Wood. The runners were in scoring position with no outs, but from here Brown toughed down on the Birds and nobody scored on a strikeout to Fuentes, a soft pop to center from Gonzalez, and Perez grounded out to short. Not that it helped in the big picture. The fifth saw Bonneau lead off with a double, and then Flores tripled, and scored on Washington’s fly to right. Since obviously nobody had scored for the Coons since the bottom 2nd, the game was tied up. Brown struck out nine through six innings, but looked like he wouldn’t get more help. It took a rip to do something in Portland, and Greenman let it rip on this Thursday. He already had two doubles, then gave the Coons and Brownie a new lead in the bottom 6th with a solo homer off Fuentes, 3-2. Sharp pitched two more innings without striking out anybody, but got a few soft grounders and a pop to short to hold onto the 3-2 lead through eight. Bottom 8th, Sharp hit a 1-out single and was run for by Yamada. Yoshi stole a base, but was stranded at third, no insurance came forth, and then it was Bruno, who had blown his last two saves. He struck out Juan Diaz before Gutierrez hit an infield single. Black whiffed, bringing up Bonneau, on whom the count ran full. Gutierrez started running almost while Bruno was still concentrating, but it didn’t matter: Bruno hammered it past a swinging Yohan Bonneau, and the game was over. 3-2 Brownies! Greenman 3-3, BB, HR, 2 2B, RBI; Brown 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (5-4);

Browniiieee!!!

Raccoons (20-34) vs. Canadiens (30-22) – June 3-5, 2005

Here come the first-place (by half a game) Elks. I don’t know what’s worse. Their foul stench, or them being in first place!

They had the best program to avoid runs, a good defense that was not fed much trouble by the pitchers, with starters and relievers both ranking second in the league. But they ranked in the bottom half in runs scored (still +38 RD though), and the Titans were breathing down their neck. We are 2-4 against them this season.

Projected matchups:
Edgar Amador (2-8, 4.83 ERA) vs. Rod Taylor (3-3, 3.20 ERA)
Ralph Ford (0-3, 4.14 ERA) vs. Daniel Dickerson (5-4, 3.17 ERA)
Felipe Garcia (2-4, 3.28 ERA) vs. George Norris (0-2, 9.72 ERA)

We had confirmation that Ricardo Huerta was good to go if needed, and looking at the Fat Cat’s recent success, it was good to have all arms ready.

Clyde Brady arrives in this potentially sad series with a 10-game hitting streak.

Game 1
VAN: LF J. Gonzalez – RF Calzado – 2B Dobson – CF E. Garcia – 1B Trinidad – SS Nakayama – 3B Rivas – C Hurtado – P R. Taylor
POR: 3B Sharp – CF Fernandez – LF Brady – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – 2B Sheehan – C Wood – SS Yamada – P Amador

After Amador struck out two in a 1-2-3 first, the second inning was just awful. The first three Elks hit singles, scoring the first run, then he walked Alex Rivas. He was then lucky that Hurtado popped out to him on the mound, and Taylor, a poor hitter even for a pitcher, grounded into a double play. But well, it didn’t matter. The Elks batted through the order in the third inning, put four runs on Amador, and that was that. The Fat Cat was batting with success, with a leadoff single in the third inning, in which he scored the Coons’ only run, then had a 2-out double for an unearned run that plated Yamada, who had reached on a Trinidad error, to make it 5-2. But his pitching was egregiously painful to watch and his ERA had been shot soundly over five. Amador started the top 6th, retired Rivas, and then Yamada and Sharp made errors on consecutive grounders. Everything was blown to pieces even as Ed Bryan came in and the Elks put up their second 4-spot of the day. The Coons rallied in the bottom 7th, Sharp bringing home a run to make it 9-3, and then they loaded the bags, emptied them on a Greenman double, and even Greenman scored, but that still left them down 9-7, and the great offensive effort went to waste, not least for Jose Gonzalez’ leadoff jack off Huerta in the eighth. Pedro Alvarado struck out the side in the ninth for his 12th save of the year. 10-7 Canadiens. Sharp 2-4, BB, RBI; Nomura 1-2, 2B;

Clyde had a hit to get to 11 straight.

Game 2
VAN: CF E. Garcia – RF Trinidad – 1B Harmon – 2B Dobson – SS Nakayama – LF J. Gonzalez – 3B M. Ramirez – C F. Diéguez – P Dickerson
POR: 3B Sharp – CF Fernandez – LF Brady – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – C L. Ramirez – SS Yamada – 2B Nomura – P Ford

Clyde Brady’s first two plate appearances saw a runner on first base, Fernandez in the first, Sharp in the fourth, that was both times picked off before Brady could get his AB completed. Brady never reached, having Dickerson face the minimum through four. Ralph Ford channeled his inner Brownie for 4.2 innings, striking out seven against three singles, before Enrique Garcia homered off him in the fifth, and after that he loaded the bases with two outs and only got out when Yamada snagged Nakayama’s line drive, leaping. All that ran up Ford’s pitch count and he was done after six innings. Wheaton hit for him in the bottom 6th after Nomura had already singled. Wheaton doubled to left against his old team, representing the go-ahead run with nobody out in the 1-0 Elks game. Dickerson crumbled, Sharp walked, Fernandez singled, game tied, and then Clyde Brady against orders put a 3-0 pitch into play, grounded it through Henry Harmon, and we were up 2-1. And still bases loaded. And still nobody out. And remember, Ford still has no wins. Greenman, to center, hard, deep – caught. Sharp tagged and scored, and after Martin grounded to Dickerson for a double play, the 3-1 was the furthest the Coons moved out. While Dickerson toughed it out and went eight innings, the Raccoons got almost spotless relief from their bullpen. Ed Bryan retired Enrique Garcia to start the top 7th, before Rockburn got five quick outs. Marcos Bruno was untouched in the ninth. 3-1 Coons. Fernandez 2-4, RBI; Brady 2-4, RBI; Wheaton (PH) 1-1, 2B; Searcy (PH) 1-1; Ford 6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (1-3); Rockburn 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Yay, Ford no longer winless!

Game 3
VAN: LF J. Gonzalez – RF Calzado – 2B Dobson – CF E. Garcia – 1B Trinidad – 3B Rivas – SS Rodgers – C F. Diéguez – P Fujita
POR: CF Fernandez – SS Yamada – 3B Searcy – RF Brady – 1B Martin – LF Wheaton – C Wood – 2B Nomura – P F. Garcia

The Elks elected to bypass Norris and go with Juichi Fujita (6-3, 2.74 ERA) in the rubber game. In the top 2nd they also had three singles off Garcia, but greedy base running cost them a run when Enrique Garcia was beaten to home plate by Dave Wheaton’s throw. However, one of the curses of Coonsdom was that no good effort was ever rewarded, or rewarding. In the top 3rd, Juichi Fujita led off with a triple(!), and Garcia came back to strike out Gonzalez and Calzado before going to 2-2 on Dobson, but Dobson then doubled into the gap in left center, and the Raccoons trailed once more. The Coons took until the fourth to make themselves noticed, when Martin singled and Wheaton doubled to get into scoring position with one out. Wood just failed, and Nomura was walked to get to Garcia with two out, and Garcia hit the most TERRIBLE bloop seen in a long time, and it fell in, and it scored a pair! They made it a 3-spot when Nomura scored on Fernandez’ single to left, to give Garcia a 3-1 lead that was very much his merit. Or luck. Whatever fits better in your article. Any which way, he gave one run right back on a 2-out double by Dobson, with the Coons’ response being to load the bases in the bottom 5th, just as Wood’s turn came up again. With one out, he at least avoided a double play, and the Coons moved to 4-2 on his groundout. Nomura got the finger again, but this time Garcia grounded out harmlessly. Garcia went six and a third before reaching 100 pitches and the Elks sent lefty Jim Jardine to hit for Fujita. Moreno got Jardine struck out, and also whiffed the righty Gonzalez in this, and lefty Vonne Calzado in the next inning. All was well until the ninth, when Bruno came on, walked Rivas, and Ken Rodgers took him deep. That tied the game. That was really not all there was to see, since Bruno put another man on, got chased angrily, and then Williams came in, issued a walk to Pedro Hurtado, and Jerry Dobson made himself even less liked in Portland with a 3-run homer. Another run scored when Kichida came in. 8-4 Canadiens. Yamada 2-5; Martin 2-4; Wheaton 2-3, BB, 2B; Greenman (PH) 1-1; Garcia 6.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K and 1-3, 2 RBI;

Well, ****.

In other news

May 31 – The venerable WAS 1B/2B David Brewer (.231, 0 HR, 5 RBI) might miss most of the remainder of the season with a fractured ankle.
May 31 – CIN OF/1B Will Bailey (.286, 12 HR, 37 RBI) is headed to the DL with elbow tendinitis. The Cyclones think he can back before the end of June.
June 3 – SFB SP Marc Padgett (4-4, 3.66 ERA, 1 SV) is out for the season with bone chips in his elbow.
June 4 – The Miners acquire 33-yr old OF Luis Alonso (.271, 3 HR, 16 RBI) and a non-prospect from the Falcons for 27-yr old OF David Rincón (.306, 4 HR, 22 RBI).
June 4 – A whopping 33 runs are scored in Los Angeles between the Pacifics and Miners. The Miners prevail and win the slugfest, 19-14.

Complaints and stuff

Back to 23rd in the power rankings. I don’t like these lofty heights.

Really not much else to say, other than how fantastic it is that Marcos Bruno goes in the bin the second that Casas has to be DL’ed. Angel by the way looks to be about two weeks removed from going to rehab, so he should arrive here again in late June. What are we supposed to do until then in the one or two games we lead late each week? Have Raw Lockburn close??

Pitching schedule mess continues. Am I supposed to look at every pitcher before the start of the series to try to figure out when he goes? This is more annoying than the Coons’ perceived .125 RISP average.

I actually composed the projected matchups for the Elks series myself from when they last went. OOTP had Scott Spears in the middle game, but Spears had started on Wednesday! Complete mess! Complete mess! It seems like the middle starter is always wrong now.