[Westheim]

Thankfully Sunday’s 16-3 crunching had happened in Las Vegas. We could have waited years and years for Slappy to clean the blood and the gore off our park if that had happened on home turf.

Raccoons (30-18) vs. Falcons (19-31) – June 1-3, 2009

Instead the Raccoons returned home to find out that another soundly-below-.500 team (oddly the Falcons) were waiting for them. They had knives in their beaks, and it would probably turn ugly. How exactly they, of the fifth-worst offense and third-worst pitching, were going to humiliate us I didn’t know yet, but life was full of surprises. The Raccoons had taken two of three earlier in the year from Charlotte.

Projected matchups:
Colin Baldwin (3-3, 3.12 ERA) vs. David Estrada (4-2, 3.64 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (3-2, 3.61 ERA) vs. Jerry Lane (3-4, 7.68 ERA)
Javier Cruz (4-3, 3.55 ERA) vs. Manuel Ortíz (1-2, 4.61 ERA)

To start the set, we got a puzzle from them. It would have been Steve Rogers’ (3-7, 3.93 ERA) turn on Monday. They sent David Estrada on short rest instead. Was something going on here?

Game 1
CHA: SS Reeve – 2B H. Green – LF Brulhart – 3B J. Lopez – C F. Chavez – RF Reya – 1B Heart – CF Burke – P D. Estrada
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Quebell – 3B Sharp – SS Howell – C De La Parra – P Baldwin

Max Heart, who had been a rule 5 pick by the Raccoons at the start of the decade, batting .191 then, had held odd jobs over the last few years, mostly in the FL, before being washed ashore with the Falcons now. His error gave them a chance in the bottom of the first inning, but Ron Alston timely hit into the first double play of the week and there would certainly be a few dozen more to come.

Baldwin was guilty of allowing the Falcons excessive contact in this start. Fernando Chavez homered his first time up and the Falcons hit a few more balls hard enough (including a Heart double) to take a 2-0 lead. Howell’s sac fly halved the gap in the bottom of the inning before the gaping hole we employed as luxury catcher struck out to end the frame with another man in scoring position, then conceded a run on a passed ball in the third, and struck out with two men on base to end the bottom 6th, with the Raccoons still down 3-1. Baldwin made it to the eighth before being relieved with one out, Ron Reeve on first base, and the right-handed mashing pair of Jim Brulhart and Jose Lopez next. Matt Cash, unscathed by Sunday’s holocaust, removed them both. Ed Bryan sucked in the ninth and had to be dug out by Law Rockburn. The bottom of the inning started with a Rob Howell double off Jeff Paul. Nomura drew a walk coming off the bench, but that was as far as the Coons got. Pruitt flew out to center, Castro whiffed, and Correa had another 0-5 day in rolling out to short. 3-1 Falcons. Quebell 2-4, 2B; Sharp 3-4;

Game 2
CHA: SS Reeve – 2B H. Green – 3B J. Lopez – RF Reya – LF Brulhart – 1B Mendoza – C Ishikawa – CF Burke – P Rogers
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Quebell – 3B Sharp – SS Howell – C De La Parra – P Umberger

Even a true standout day in the field by Rob Howell, who made all the easy, challenging, and hard plays, as well as one or two (or three) impossible ones, couldn’t prevent Jong-hoo Umberger from allowing seven hard hits, most of them for extra bases, in seven innings. The Falcons plated two runs in the third, which Ron Alston negated with a 2-run shot in the same inning’s bottom, but then Brulhart hit a true moonshot in the fourth inning that put the Falcons on top 3-2, which didn’t change until Umberger was practically done after seven innings, with the Raccoons being held to two hits – including Alston’s shot – through seven.

Maybe Rogers could be enticed to walk in the tying run? So far only Jose Correa had walked – in each of his three at-bats – but Castro drew a 1-out walk in the bottom 8th, and then Correa also drew four more balls to tie a franchise record. The count on Ron Alston ran full as well, with a borderline call going the hitter’s way to load the bases and bring in Ryan O’Quinn in Rogers’ place. Luke Black managed to snip a single past Jose Lopez to tie the game, before Quebell went the exact other way for a 2-run double. Sharp was walked intentionally before Howell livened up his golden defensive day, that so far had seen him go 0-3, 3 K at the plate, with a run-scoring infield single. De La Picenza popped up before Yoshi Nomura got his second at-bat in the inning and made his second out in the inning. Angel Casas preserved the win that came on five hits and seven walks. 6-3 Coons. Correa 0-0, 4 BB; Black 2-4, RBI;

While the Crusaders are on a Refuse to Lose streak and lead the Coons by three and a half now, Ron Alston is closing in a bit on the CL home run lead, which is led by Dan Morris of the Elks with 15 bombs, working out to a pace of 49 for the year for him. Not bad for a 38-year old, whose only treat at this point in his career with two bad legs is his power stick. He is second on the career list with 393 dingers, 23 off Raúl Vázquez, who will enter the Hall of Fame ballot in a few years. (Ron Alston: 253 HR, 13th; trailing only Mark Dawson in terms of ex-Raccoons)

Game 3
CHA: SS Reeve – 2B H. Green – C F. Chavez – 3B J. Lopez – RF Reya – LF Brulhart – 1B Mendoza – CF Burke – P Lane
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – 1B Quebell – RF Black – 3B Sharp – C Esquivel – SS Howell – P Cruz

The Falcons took another early lead, and even earlier than before in this series, with Jose Lopez knocking a 2-piece off Javier Cruz in the first inning. Light-hitting Ron Reeve left his own mark on Cruz’ pelt with a leadoff jack in the third, and Cruz shed another run in the fifth on a Luis Reya double. In between Quebell had hit a 2-run homer, but with the tying runs on in the fifth inning, Quebell and Black failed to get a hit. We had Esquivel on third with a double and Howell on first after his single with one out in the bottom 6th, when Matt Pruitt batted for Cruz. Pruitt made me throw my half-eaten donut at Honeypaws when he hit a 3-0 pitch into a 4-6-3 double play. Quebell grounded out with Alston on base, ending the bottom 7th. De La Penguin batted for Ed Bryan in the eighth inning, having Black (walk) and Nomura (single) on the corners with two out against Javier Navarro and actually managed to hit a single. The Coons came back to 4-3, with the Falcons going to their fourth reliever in an inning that had started with Ryan O’Quinn walking Count Hack. Castro came up against Sancho Rivera and grounded out to Reeve. Bottom 9th, Jeff Paul pitching. Correa grounded out before Alston and Quebell singled to represent the winning runs. That left the game in Black’s paws, he struck out, and Sharp grounded out to third base. 4-3 Falcons. Castro 2-4, BB; Alston 3-4, BB; Quebell 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Esquivel 3-4, 2 2B; Nomura (PH) 1-1; De La Parra (PH) 1-1; Bryan 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

This time, the Raccoons out-hit the Falcons 13-8, while going down. Yesterday they out-hit us 8-5. Wicked game.

Now where has that donut gone?

Raccoons (31-20) vs. Canadiens (29-22) – June 5-7, 2009

We’re 3-2 against them, but when you have issues already, the last thing you need is to have those smelling skunks invading your house. Their .278 batting average led the league, although they were only second in runs scored. Despite a rotation that got whacked relentlessly to a 4.50 ERA, 10th in the CL, they were average in runs allowed.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (4-2, 1.77 ERA) vs. Rod Taylor (5-3, 3.67 ERA)
Greg Grams (5-2, 3.93 ERA) vs. Dave Crawford (5-2, 4.67 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (3-4, 3.18 ERA) vs. David Peterson (4-6, 6.50 ERA)

Three right-handers here, and we miss their best guy, Juichi Fujita (2.99 ERA).

Game 1
VAN: CF Holland – RF E. Garcia – 1B T. Ramos – LF D. Morris – 3B Suzuki – C G. Ortíz – SS Rice – 2B Rodgers – P R. Taylor
POR: LF Castro – 2B Correa – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – 3B Sharp – SS Howell – CF Trevino – C De La Parra – P Brown

Gary Rice’s leadoff walk in the top 3rd led to the first run of the game when Ross Holland doubled him in with two outs. That was the only hit Brown allowed in five innings while whiffing six, and the Raccoons amounted to a hit, six strikeouts and no runs despite four walks in five innings. Alston led off the bottom 6th with a blooper into shallow left center for a leadoff single. Quebell hit into a double play. That was it for offensive output, except for a Ken Rodgers error, until Alston hit another single in the bottom 8th against left-hander Kevin Jones, and then Quebell popped out, while Brown pitched into the ninth in his losing one-hitter, and finished the inning after issuing a walk to Enrique Garcia. Pedro Alvarado was out to close the game for the Elks. Sharp struck out, Pruitt flew out to center, and the Count … oh, the Count hacked until the game was over. 1-0 Canadiens. Alston 2-3, BB; Brown 9.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 11 K, L (4-3);

****ing team of ****ing ****s.

Despite my best efforts to suffocate myself with my own pillow that night, I couldn’t. You can’t do that on your own, it seems. And Honeypaws was still mad for the donut incident and refused to help me.

Game 2
VAN: CF Holland – C G. Ortíz – 1B T. Ramos – LF D. Morris – RF J. Thomas – 3B Suzuki – SS Rice – 2B Rodgers – P Crawford
POR: SS Correa – 2B Nomura – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – 3B Sharp – RF Black – C Esquivel – P Grams

“Hard Contact” Grams was whacked from the beginning, and Luke Black made two circus plays inside the first five outs, injuring himself on the latter. Despite Grams’ complete lack of stuff and entertainment value, and the Canadiens hitting the ball every which way, they couldn’t get any meaningful amount of actual hits and didn’t score through six innings, of course leading to an overall scoreless game. The bottom 6th was led off with singles by Correa and Nomura. If Alston, Quebell, and Pruitt wouldn’t be able to bring in at least one run, we’re gonna start a fire sale! Once Alston hit into a double play and Quebell grounded out to first base, I went to check the top prospects list.

Grams was removed in the seventh after a walk to Gary Rice and a hard single by Crawford. Donald Sims came out to face Holland, but the Elks hit righty Brian Nichols for him, who grounded out.

But stop the presses! The Raccoons scored a run in the bottom of the seventh, and even before they made an out! Pruitt singled, and we called a hit-and-run when Sharp hit a liner to right that bounced fair once, then turned into foul territory for a double, and Pruitt scored easily ahead of Josh Thomas’ throw in. Of course Sharp was left on base. Bruno struck out two in a perfect top 8th, then Yoshi hit a double to start the Coons’ half of the bottom 8th. An intentional walk to Alston and Quebell’s infield single loaded the bases, but Bruno was in Pruitt’s slot after Castro had remained in the game after hitting in the bottom 7th to improve the defense. De La Poquito and Sharp would hit sac flies to bring in a pair of runs. But in Portland, nothing was ever easy. When Angel Casas came into the ninth inning, he walked Thomas and Suzuki before he got anybody out. Gary Rice grounded to Quebell, who went to second to get the out on Suzuki. After that, Ken Rodgers and Enrique Garcia struck out. 3-0 Blighters. Nomura 2-4, 2B; Sharp 3-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Trevino 2-4, 2B; Grams 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K;

Wicked team. Wicked, wicked, wicked team. Grams logged 20 outs, of which 13 were fly outs, and none were in easy reach of infielders. By the way, Grams still leads the team in wins.

Game 3
VAN: CF Holland – RF E. Garcia – 1B T. Ramos – LF D. Morris – 3B Suzuki – C G. Ortíz – SS Rice – 2B Rodgers – P D. Peterson
POR: CF Castro – 2B Nomura – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – 3B Sharp – C Esquivel – SS Howell – P Baldwin

The Raccoons put up seven batters with averages over .300 for this game, and most of them were left-handed against a right-handed pushover in David Peterson. They had nothing in the first, three singles and Pruitt thrown out at home in the second, and then a walk to Yoshi and a gapper into right center for an RBI triple by Quebell in the third. The Elks bounced back immediately with four singles for two runs in the top 4th, taking a 2-1 lead. Baldwin got his revenge in time, beating Holland with a full-count, 2-out RBI double in the bottom of the inning, which tied the score again.

Baldwin allowed as much contact as Grams the day before, but the difference was that Baldwin’s contact resulted in plenty of hits, eight in five innings. Contrary to Nick Brown, who was actually a good pitcher and knew what he was doing out there, they got run support, however. Ron Alston cracked one in the fifth for a 3-2 lead, and after Quebell walked, Pruitt’s double put both into scoring position with one out. Sharp was walked intentionally, and Esquivel hit into a double play. Okay, the chumps got SLIGHTLY more run support than Brown…

While Baldwin was done after six innings of 10-hit ball, the Coons hit into double plays again in the sixth and seventh. When Pruitt hit a leadoff double in the bottom 8th, the Elks did the only sensible thing with PH Jose Correa and walked him right away. Except that this time it didn’t work. While Esquivel struck out and Howell grounded out, Manuel Gutierrez (in since hitting for Baldwin and replacing Sharp at third) hit a really soft line over the second base bag, so soft nobody had a chance to catch it. Both runs scored, and Donald Sims pitched a quick ninth retiring three left-handers. 5-2 Coons. Nomura 0-1, 3 BB; Pruitt 3-4, 2 2B; Howell 2-4; Gutierrez 1-2, 2 RBI; Bryan 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Angel Casas appeared slightly tired and with all the left-handers I preferred Sims today.

In other news

June 2 – SFW INF Oliver Torres (.280, 0 HR, 24 RBI) will be out with an ankle sprain until the All Star break.
June 3 – NYC SP Whit Reeves (7-1, 3.69 ERA) logs his 200th career win with six innings and change of 1-run ball in a 3-1 win over the Condors. The 34-year old right-hander, who was the 10th overall pick by the Scorpions in the 1992 draft, has lost only 119 games and has a 3.41 career ERA, and has struck out 2,017 batters. He was the 2000 FL Pitcher of the Year and an All Star five times.
June 5 – The Aces lose SP Jack Thomas (4-3, 3.23 ERA) for the season. The 27-year old southpaw has torn his labrum.
June 5 – CHA C Fernando Chavez (.308, 5 HR, 25 RBI) is also out, going to miss a month with a strained rib cage muscle.
June 7 – IND CL Leonardo Sosa (1-2, 5.55 ERA, 2 SV) locks up his 300th save in a 5-4 win over the Crusaders.

Complaints and stuff

No diagnosis on Luke Black, but potentially there’s a million off our 2010 books. Who knows. At THIS point, that might be the better option.

The Falcons debacle was the first home series we lost all season.

Gotta find a way to get Ricardo Martinez back onto the roster now that he’s batted .388/.442/.592 in 26 games in AAA. Maybe he can fill in at short?

Grams is a funny name if you know some German, because Gram is a slightly antique word for concerns, grief, agony. It describes pretty well what he does.

Meanwhile Nick Brown has the best ERA in the majors, and less than half the wins of the leader in either league.