[Westheim]

Raccoons (25-28) @ Indians (29-27) – June 6-8, 2006

A lack of offense was holding the Indians back, them scoring the second-least runs in the CL with the worst batting average of all teams (yes, even below the measly Coons). Their pitching staff was sixth overall, and they had taken three of four from the Raccoons so far. They were missing a few significant players however in SP Alonso Alonso and OF Jesus Alvarez.

Projected matchups:
Kelly Fairchild (2-3, 3.75 ERA) vs. Curtis Tobitt (6-2, 1.57 ERA)
Felipe Garcia (1-2, 7.02 ERA) vs. TBD
Nick Brown (6-3, 2.73 ERA) vs. Bob King (3-4, 4.09 ERA)

The Indians were about to shuffle their rotation. Neither Ramón Jimenez, nor Patrick Moreau had pitched in five days. In any case, we might get three right-handers, since Ramiro Gonzalez had pitched on Sunday.

Game 1
POR: 2B Nomura – SS Flores – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – CF Fernandez – C Bowen – 3B Sharp – RF Greenman – P Fairchild
IND: CF P. Javier – RF B. Miller – LF Alston – 3B D. Lopez – C Paraz – 1B Fugosi – SS C. Aguilar – 2B J. Miller – P Tobitt

In a revelation, Kelly Fairchild allowed two runs without conceding a hit, solely by drilling leadoff man Paco Javier and walking two more around a few productive outs and Javier stealing second base in the first inning. That was not all, it would get much worse, with four runs in the third inning, which Fairchild did not survive before getting tarred, feathered, and dumped into the White River. In that third inning, he allowed another two walks, and hit another batter. And we’re puzzled as to why our guys get plunked all the time. With two out in the fifth the Raccoons would load the bases, but Vic Flores popped out to Filippo Fugosi, and that was about it for this game. Mild highlights were an awesome defensive play by Yoshi Nomura in the seventh that still didn’t help Law Rockburn not getting scored on, and Clyde Brady hitting a 2-run homer off Ricardo Sanchez once Tobitt was brought in early by the Indians. 7-2 Indians. Crespo 1-1; Mays (PH) 1-1; Bryan 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

The fact that Kelly Fairchild is a dork is nothing new, but we also got bad news after the game. Marcos Bruno retired the final Indian we faced in the game, Jose Paraz, on a strikeout, but didn’t feel well after the game, nor the next morning. A swift examination revealed some mild inflammation in his shoulder, and he was headed to the DL. Two weeks might be enough to get him patched back together. Adam Riddle joined us from AAA.

Game 2
POR: 2B Nomura – SS Flores – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – CF Fernandez – C Bowen – 3B Sharp – RF Greenman – P F. Garcia
IND: CF P. Javier – RF B. Miller – LF Alston – 3B D. Lopez – C Paraz – 1B Fugosi – 2B J. Miller – SS Kilters – P Jimenez

Ramón Jimenez (4-5, 5.66 ERA) survived putting pairs of runners on base in the first and second innings, and got a 2-0 lead spotted by James Miller’s home run in the bottom 2nd, but when another two Coons were on in the third, Craig Bowen hit a 2-out double past Ron Alston and the game was tied again. The Indians had runners in scoring position after singles by Jimenez and Javier in the bottom 3rd, and Javier stealing second, with no outs, before Bill Miller popped out to Sharp, Alston whiffed, and Brady nabbed David Lopez’ drive to left. Vic Flores’ 2-out RBI single in the top 4th even gave the Critters the lead, which Garcia instantly put in jeopardy. A single, a hit batter, a wild pitch, and the Jimenez with two outs chipped a soft line to right that required a sliding catch by Greenman to keep everything in one piece. Two outs in the fifth, Alston single, Lopez single, Paraz with a drive to deep center, but Fernandez made it their just in time. All the magic happened with two outs in this game. The Coons loaded them up in the sixth, chasing Jimenez, with Lawrence Bentley surrendering Brady on a fly to short right. Quebell came up and singled a 3-2 pitch up the middle, scoring two runners! Garcia wobbled like a drunken sailor through seven innings without the Indians ever getting that one big hit, but the Raccoons were pretty much blanked by the Indians’ pen as well. Bottom 9th, Angel time, and a leadoff double by Fugosi, coupled with the inability to get in a K on anybody, meant that Angel surrendered his first earned run of the season. He still saved the game, however. 5-3 Critters. Flores 3-5, RBI; Quebell 1-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Greenman 2-4; Garcia 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (2-2);

More shuffle for the Indians, they would pitch Patrick Moreau (5-2, 3.82 ERA) on Thursday. Do they actually know what they want?

Game 3
POR: 2B Nomura – SS Flores – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – 3B Sharp – CF Crespo – RF Mays – C Wood – P Brown
IND: CF P. Javier – RF B. Miller – LF Alston – 3B D. Lopez – C Paraz – 1B Fugosi – 2B J. Miller – SS C. Aguilar – P Moreau

Brown came out with a 2-0 lead after Quebell had gone deep in the top of the first inning, allowed a single to Bill Miller, and then David Lopez fired a drive to left that eluded Brady, but he got a nice bounce off the wall and unleashed for home, hammering out Miller to keep Brown’s ledger clean. Brownie had another hiccup in the second, allowing another runner to reach third base, but the Indians didn’t get much done for a while after that. Sadly, the Coons didn’t, either. Brown struck out a few either before suddenly pitching to lots of contact – but they were mostly groundballs. It was the eighth, Quebell’s rocket was still the difference in the game, and when Yoshi led off with a double into the left centerfield gap, it presented the best chance any team had had at scoring in over an hour. Vic Flores walked before Brady lined out to short, but Yoshi hadn’t strayed far and was safely back at the bag. After Moreau balked, it became imperative for Quebell to do something – and he did. A swing, a drive, three runs on the board! That far, Brownie had only thrown 77 pitches, but now control went away. He issued a walk in the eighth that didn’t get the Indians far, but then also gave a freebie to Bill Miller to start the ninth. That got the pen stirring. Not one moment to soon: Ron Alston went deep and that put the Indians back at 5-2. Jose Paraz would get on base, but Angel choked them before it could get really dicey. 5-2 Brownies! Nomura 2-4, 2B; Quebell 2-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Mays 3-4; Brown 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (7-3);

****, I thought that was a shutout. Meh.

Raccoons (27-29) vs. Blue Sox (32-27) – June 9-11, 2006

The Blue Sox were in contention, 2 1/2 games out of the lead in the FL East. They were only eighth in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed with a -8 run differential, though, so it was not all milk and honey for them. We hadn’t faced them since 2002, and we haven’t actually won any of the last three series against them since taking two of three in ’98.

Projected matchups:
Kenichi Watanabe (4-5, 4.35 ERA) vs. Dennis Fried (3-4, 3.32 ERA)
Ralph Ford (5-5, 3.01 ERA) vs. Carlos Castro (5-4, 4.43 ERA)
Kelly Fairchild (2-4, 4.48 ERA) vs. Toshiro Uenohara (3-4, 3.54 ERA)

We could also face Stanton Taylor (5-6, 4.40 ERA) on Sunday. Both of them last pitched on Wednesday due to some wicked weather in Topeka, where the Blue Sox had swept a double header. Castro, of former Gold Sox fame, is a left-hander.

Game 1
NAS: C J. Esquivel – SS Higashi – 1B C. Gonzalez – RF J. Ortíz – 3B A. Esquivel – LF J. Cruz – 2B Townsley – CF Samuels – P Fried
POR: 2B Nomura – SS Flores – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – RF Mays – CF Fernandez – C Bowen – 3B Searcy – P Watanabe

16 years later, it still hurt. Fried, 37, was soon hurting as well, with a capital error by Takahashi Higashi, who was at best a makeshift shortstop in case of a worldwide pandemic that was killing only agile players, putting Nomura on base in the first, and the Raccoons chipped a few singles to plate two unearned runs. That pain was soon soothed however, with both Esquivels hitting home runs off Watanabe in the second inning, driving in five runs in total. Watching Watanabe go about his chosen profession made everybody hurting all over, even the select group of Blue Sox followers on the right field line. Watanabe walked five and struck out only one in the game, which happened to the poor sod that was his final batter, Alex Samuels. The Coons soon added horrible defense to their repertoire, with both Mays and Fernandez casually dropping fly balls in this game. Add to that a lineup that couldn’t harm a fly, let alone a 37-year old pitcher who had his best stuff in the 90s, but wasn’t saddled with anything that was his own fault over eight innings in this game. The Sox’ defense bailed again on Dan Hutchings in the ninth, putting Craig Bowen on base in addition to Eddie Fernandez, who had singled, to bring out closer Robert Parsons, who had been the FL Pitcher of the Month in May. It was a quick encounter for Steve Searcy. 6-2 Blue Sox. Flores 2-4;

Ha. Fried. And the Coons suck. Those Esquivels are not related, by the way, and aren’t even from the same island.

Game 2
NAS: 2B Higashi – C J. Esquivel – LF C. Gonzalez – RF J. Ortíz – 3B A. Esquivel – SS Townsley – CF Samuels – 1B G. Henry – P C. Castro
POR: SS Flores – 3B Sharp – LF Crespo – 1B Quebell – CF Fernandez – RF Greenman – C Bowen – 2B Ingram – P Ford

Cohesion was lost early by the home battery. Ford already had a man on when he drilled Samuels in the second inning. Next, Bowen allowed a passed ball, but the runners into scoring position, and both scored on a sac fly by Gilles Henry and a single by Carlos Castro. Quick turnaround then in the bottom 2nd, with Greenman hitting a 2-run triple and scoring on Ingram’s fly to right to give Ford a 3-2 lead that was entirely going to last forever … or maybe just for one batter. Cesar Gonzalez, who couldn’t have driven something with the help of a naval gun when he was a Raccoon, hit a solo homer to tie it in the top 3rd, before Crespo lined up in the cue of outfielders making stupid errors. 3-3 became 4-4 by the fifth, and in the sixth inning, Greenman dropped a caught ball for an error, and that broke the team’s back for good. Two on, two out, Higashi doubled into left center and put the Blue Sox ahead, 6-4. An entire team full of dirtbags! Wonderful. They had no skills, no soul, no spine, and they lost. 6-4 Blue Sox. Fernandez 2-4, RBI;

(groans very loudly)

Matt Cash replaced Cody Bryant on the roster. Bryant was walking guys left and right and was in general no help at all. Another move might follow swiftly, however. Cash had an ERA over four in AAA, but who are we to be nitpicky?

Game 3
NAS: LF MacDonald – SS Higashi – 1B C. Gonzalez – RF J. Ortíz – 3B A. Esquivel – C J. Esquivel – 2B Townsley – CF Samuels – P S. Taylor
POR: 2B Nomura – SS Flores – LF Brady – 1B Quebell – RF Mays – 3B Sharp – CF Crespo – C Wood – P Fairchild

And the misery continued. After two scoreless frames, Samuels hit a leadoff single in the third and was bunted to second, which was when the Raccoons began to flicker. Samuels reached third base on a passed ball before MacDonald singled him in, and Fairchild then drilled Higashi in what quickly became another 2-run inning. Fairchild had nothing, was down 3-0 in the fifth, and was only spared another two runs because Sharp made a great grab at third base to retire Antonio Esquivel, but couldn’t be helped when he continued to fudge about in horrible ways in the sixth. Townsley and Samuels reached base, Taylor bunted them over into scoring position and that was it for Fairchild in the sixth, but Domingo Moreno couldn’t keep the runners on base, and the Blue Sox moved out to 5-0. The Coons came to bat in the bottom 6th, but before Stanton Taylor could cut Steve Searcy, batting for Moreno, open, the skies opened and doused the park. The rain never stopped on that day, and the game was eventually called two hours later. 5-0 Blue Sox.

In other news

June 5 – The Pacifics’ LF/RF Yohan Bonneau (.289, 9 HR, 22 RBI) becomes the 15th player in ABL history to hit three home runs in a game, hitting all dingers off Dallas’ Elwood Spurrell as the Pacifics win 8-4. Bonneau is the first player to achieve the feat since Claudio Rey in 2004, and the first non-Indian to do it since career home run leader Raúl Vázquez connected three times in 2002. In the same game, the Stars’ Logan Taylor (.476, 2 HR, 10 RBI in 42 AB) lands five hits, to no avail.
June 9 – The Rebels deal C Rodney Gibson (.262, 2 HR, 18 RBI) to the Scorpions in exchange for #76 prospect LF Gil Gross, who’s been stuck in A ball since being drafted in 2003, and another minor leaguer.

Complaints and stuff

18 runs scored…

For better or worse, the Fat Cat (4-1, 2.70 ERA in 6 GS in AAA) might return sooner rather than later and replace one of the two total dorks in the rotation. The other guy might move to the bullpen, or get traded for a box of bananas.