[Westheim]

It is certainly the worst year for injured pitchers across the league that I have witnessed in 37 years in the ABL. More on this ... now:

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Raccoons (50-47) vs. Bayhawks (52-47) – July 22-24, 2013

The Bayhawks were easy to drum on, conceding the second-most runs in the league, which gave them a -6 run differential despite the fourth-best offense. The Raccoons with their strong -4 run differential were 2-1 against them so far.

Projected matchups:
Bill Conway (3-6, 3.32 ERA) vs. Reynaldo Rendon (10-3, 4.39 ERA)
Hector Santos (4-8, 4.12 ERA) vs. Milt Beauchamp (6-9, 5.01 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (6-5, 3.81 ERA) vs. Jared D’Attilo (5-8, 4.80 ERA)

A full set of right-handers before our next off day. Combined with the rainout on the preceding Sunday, Sergio Vega will not get another spot start, and Juan Gallegos was demoted as the week began, bringing up – because there was really no other semi-sensible addition, Jason Seeley.

Game 1
SFB: LF J. Gomez – 3B J. Rodriguez – RF Alston – 1B A. Young – CF Holt – C McClendon – SS Ingraham – 2B Brazeal – P Rendon
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Bednarski – C D. Alexander – 1B Quebell – LF Sambrano – SS Palmer – 3B Rodgers – P Conway

Conway was taken to town in the first inning, conceding two runs on four hits, most of them hard, including a 2-out RBI triple by Jasper Holt. The Coons would make up the deficit without a single hit in the bottom 1st, with Yoshi Nomura getting drilled, a Zack Ingraham error adding Bednarski to the base paths, and then three walks by an out-of-control Rendon. Rodgers then poked and lined out to Jose Gomez in left, and also hit into a double play in the fourth. While Rendon remained wild, the Coons were unable to get a hit off him, while Conway just kept bleeding, conceding a run in the second, and another one in the third, in which Adam Young hit a leadoff jack, #18 for him on the year. Carmona hit a leadoff single in the bottom 5th to get the ineffective Rendon out of the game, then was promptly caught stealing once again. Yoshi hit an infield single, and Bednarski hit into a double play against lefty Mike Tharp.

Micah Brazeal’s 1-out single between Quebell and Nomura was the tenth hit off Bill Conway and finally got the struggling starter out of the game in the sixth inning. Although George Youngblood balked Brazeal to third after Mike Tharp’s bunt, Gomez struck out to strand the run and the score remained 4-2, at least until Youngblood faced three more left-handers in the seventh and didn’t retire any of them. Tom Constantino held the damage to a run, but with the Raccoons doing absolutely nothing offensively… 5-2 Bayhawks.

The Raccoons were out-hit 13-3 in this game.

Game 2
SFB: LF J. Gomez – 3B J. Rodriguez – RF Alston – 1B A. Young – CF Holt – SS Ingraham – C Lefebure – 2B Brazeal – P Beauchamp
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Bednarski – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – LF Sambrano – SS Palmer – 3B Canning – P Santos

There was hardly a batter in the first two innings that didn’t hit a really hard ball off Hector Santos – but the Bayhawks got only one man on, didn’t score, and then somehow Walt Canning ran into a 2-out, 3-run homer in the bottom 2nd to give the Coons a lead. When “Monte” Alston was thrown out at home plate by Bednarski to end the fourth inning after three singles allowed by Santos, that tasted especially good. However, the singles kept piling up on Santos, who conceded two runs on three hits and a walk in the sixth inning, most of that crap coming with two outs, and then issued a leadoff walk to Jose Gomez in the seventh that was his demise. The Raccoons absolutely didn’t do anything after Canning’s shot, yet arrived with a 3-2 lead in the ninth, when controversially Youngblood, who had gotten the last out in the eighth, remained in the game to face the 9-1-2 batters, left-switch-left with Sugano used, Thrasher used days prior, and Watanabe not being trusted. Yeah, you’re not trusting Watanabe – fine – but then you’re trusting Youngblood?? Are you nuts?? Omarion Thompson promptly opened the inning with a pinch-hit double. Youngblood was still going to handle the ball. Gomez and Javy Rodriguez both lined absolute rockets to left, and Sambrano sold out to make both catches! Alston came up, raked hard, missed, and struck out. 3-2 Blighters. Canning 1-3, HR, 3 RBI; Youngblood 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (1);

Really starting to sour on Santos…

Game 3
SFB: LF J. Gomez – 2B Brazeal – RF Alston – CF Holt – C McClendon – 3B J. Rodriguez – 1B A. Simmons – SS Ingraham – P D’Attilo
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Bednarski – C D. Alexander – 1B Quebell – CF White – 3B Rodgers – SS Whitehouse – P Baldwin

The Critters actually managed to get one of their chumps to 50 RBI before August broke over them when Quebell slogged a 2-run double off the centerfield wall in the first inning. The lead was short-lived with Baldwin allowing a leadoff hit in each of the first three innings and a lot of contact otherwise, too. Especially sour was the leadoff single that the opposing pitcher had in the third inning, to which Baldwin soon added a Jose Gomez double and conceded both runs to create a 2-2 tie. The Coons stranded a man in the bottom 3rd, two in the fourth, and looked like leaving a full complement in the fifth when Pat White’s grounder narrowly escaped Brazeal into centerfield for a 2-out, 2-run single. Baldwin wobbled through six with the 4-2 lead before being pinch-hit for with Palmer to absolutely no gain in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Coons in the bottom 7th had two outs and nobody on when Bowen pinch-hit for an 0-3 D-Alex against Tharp. He worked a walk – sensation, sensation – before Quebell and White both singled to score him for a sneaky extra run. Thrasher logged five outs in an almost faultless bullpen performance – more sensation – and the Bayhawks, when they did get a leadoff single by Alston in the ninth, soon had Jasper Holt hit into a double play to kill their chances. 5-2 Coons. Carmona 2-5, 2B; Nomura 2-5; Bednarski 2-4; Quebell 3-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; White 3-4, 3 RBI; Thrasher 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Interlude: waiver claim

The Raccoons were awarded the contract of Boston’s Mauro Castro (1-0, 1.80 ERA) on Friday after claiming him off waivers. Castro is essentially the Titans’ Sergio Vega, being in the organization for like forever, and bouncing between the Bigs and AAA for about as long (although they didn’t draft him – Castro actually went undrafted in 1998 and was picked up by the Miners later that year). The last three years this right-hander pitched a meaningful amount of innings in the Bigs, he racked up 5+ ERA’s.

To accommodate Castro on the roster, where he would take over the open rotation slot, Pat Slayton was sent back to AAA.

Raccoons (52-48) vs. Knights (48-53) – July 26-28, 2013

The Knights had the second-worst rotation by ERA, but were only a bit below average when it came to preventing runs as a whole. They were sixth in runs scored, another team with a slightly negative run differential at -5. The Raccoons had already claimed the season series from Atlanta, winning five of six games so far. But that’s what a team that has Ed Bryan closing and as one of their five best players should see coming.

Projected matchups:
Rich Hood (5-6, 4.49 ERA) vs. Ted McKenzie (5-5, 3.69 ERA)
Bill Conway (3-7, 3.47 ERA) vs. Stephen Quirion (3-3, 4.35 ERA)
Hector Santos (5-8, 4.07 ERA) vs. Shaun Yoder (6-7, 4.85 ERA)

Three right-handers, as we miss their southpaw by a day.

Game 1
ATL: C W. Jones – SS Hibbard – LF M. Reyes – 1B Rockwell – 2B Downing – CF C. Morán – 3B Tolwith – RF McIntyre – P McKenzie
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Bednarski – C D. Alexander – 1B Quebell – LF Sambrano – SS Palmer – 3B Canning – P Hood

Marty Reyes’ solo shot put the Knights 1-0 ahead in the top of the first. While the Raccoons tied the score when Carmona came in on D-Alex’ sac fly in the bottom of the inning, a Quebell error and a hit off Hood created enough traffic in the top 2nd for an unearned sac fly by Will McIntyre to hand the lead back to the Knights at 2-1. Another unearned run was added to Rich Hood’s ledger in the third inning when Devin Hibbard reached on a real bad throwing error by Walt Canning. Actually, TWO unearned runs were charged to Hood in the third, because Hibbard scored on Gil Rockwell’s 27th homer of the season, 4-1. Hood ran out of excuses in the fourth inning. Five Knights logged hits off him in that inning, most of them hard, and Reyes’ 2-out, 2-run double sent Hood to the showers, and the Knights soaring to an 8-1 lead. The Raccoons’ comeback started to pick up pace in the bottom 4th, when Palmer hit a 2-out single that was their second hit on the - … oh, and McKenzie picked him off first. Bednarski and D-Alex hit back-to-back singles in the bottom 6th, and Quebell hit into a double play. The highlight of the day were doubtlessly three innings plus change pitched by Sergio Vega in long relief, just before Constantino got lit up for two runs in the eighth. The Coons scored two unearned runs in the bottom 9th because apparently the Knights could make errors, too. 10-3 Knights. Quebell 2-4, 2B; Palmer 1-1, 2 BB; White (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Vega 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K;

Following this game, the Knights acquired SP Dave Hogan (2-12, 5.37 ERA) from the Condors for 3B/2B Tom Fish (.207, 5 HR, 16 RBI), who had currently dwelled in the minors. The Knights had already acquired INF Antonio Luján (.287, 3 HR, 29 RBI) from the Blue Sox for CF/RF Conor Shearing (.247, 8 HR, 27 RBI) and #92 prospect SS Kyle Burns earlier in the week.

The Raccoons could not find takers for a number of players, including Quebell, Baldwin, and … Bowen.

Game 2
ATL: CF Arnette – SS Hibbard – LF M. Reyes – 1B Rockwell – RF J. Garcia – 2B Downing – 3B Luján – C Luna – P Yoder
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Nomura – RF Bednarski – C D. Alexander – 1B Quebell – LF Sambrano – SS Palmer – 3B Canning – P Hood

John-Alexander-less John Alexander Bobblehead Day saw the first runner in scoring position in the bottom 2nd, although it was not quite a Raccoons achievement. Gil Rockwell dropped Adrian Quebell’s easy pop before Shaun Yoder drilled Sandy Sambrano. Two on, nobody out, but the Raccoons wouldn’t score despite loading the bases on Canning’s walk. Palmer grounded to short before that, Conway struck out, and Carmona grounded to short again. The home crowd got something to cheer about an inning later, when D-Alex cracked his 15th homer of the year, a 2-piece and the first tally in the game. Alexander soon enough got the home crowd’s frustration, however. Top 5th, Luján hit a long home run to start the inning, 2-1 Coons. Ruben Luna, a rookie catcher, then singled to right, bringing up Yoder, who predictably bunted, and on that bunt Alexander made a colossal throwing error that put the go-ahead runs in scoring position with nobody out. However, Conway buckled down, struck out Pat Arnette, caught a singed liner from Devin Hibbard, and whiffed Marty Reyes to strand the runners.

The Raccoons fans then were soon completely confused as to whether to cheer, or jeer, or wrap hot dog wrappers into balls and throw it at the most conveniently placed brown-clad fielder. Bednarski reached on a sorry bloop in the bottom 5th, and D-Alex came up again and rammed a 2-1 pitch to deep left for another 2-run homer! The first one had been to right. Soon after, a strange game got even stranger when it started to rain, and the game was delayed for more than half an hour in the middle of the sixth, knocking out both starting pitchers. The Coons added single runs with sac flies in both the sixth and the seventh, with D-Alex walking and scoring in the latter. To get him up once more for a chance at three dingers, one Coon would have to get on and stay on base against Steve Arritt in the bottom 8th, and Gil Rockwell’s second error of the game putting on Carmona certainly came in handy. Yoshi singled to left, and Bednarski singled to the clumsy pitcher, bringing up D-Alex with three on and nobody out. First pitch, to center, but an easy out for Pat Arnette. Carmona tagged and scored, however. 7-1 Raccoons. Nomura 2-4, BB; Bednarski 3-5; D. Alexander 2-3, BB, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Sambrano 1-2, 2 BB; Conway 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (4-7) and 1-2; Sugano 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Stephen Quirion was booted from this series for good, and the Raccoons did get to face the left-hander Dave Butler (12-7, 4.25 ERA) after all.

Game 3
ATL: CF Arnette – SS Hibbard – LF M. Reyes – 1B Rockwell – RF J. Garcia – 2B Downing – 3B Luján – C Luna – P D. Butler
POR: 2B Nomura – CF White – RF Bednarski – C D. Alexander – 1B Palmer – LF Sambrano – 3B Canning – SS Whitehouse – P Santos

The Coons were legendarily bad against left-handed pitching, so Santos had to buckle up and not bleed hits and runs again. The Raccoons indeed scored first, again in unusual manner. Sandy hit a leadoff single in the bottom 2nd, then stole two bases during Canning’s at-bat, and only barely scored on Whitehouse’s grounder to short. The Knights didn’t get much off Santos, but D-Alex added to the lead with a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth, handing Santos a 2-0 advantage.

Santos’ turn to bat came up twice with runners on first and second and less than two outs. The first time, in the fourth inning, he hit into a double play that let the air out of the frame. The second time he hit a looper to right that fell in barely fair and then raced away from Jorge Garcia for a 2-run double, 4-0! Santos would score on a 2-out infield single by Pat White, but as soon as he was the hero, he turned south with his pitching and loaded the bases in the top 7th. The Raccoons turned to Manobu Sugano in that situation, who got a high pop to shallow left from Ruben Luna for the second out before right-hander Aaron Tolwith and his .232 clip hit for reliever Jorge Cortez. In the leadoff spot was another left-hander in Pat Arnette. Sugano stayed in, Tolwith hit a huge drive to left, and Sambrano seemed to shred at least a few limbs on a flying catch that turned into a wild tumble at the edge of the warning track, but he bounced up fine and the inning was over. Sambrano doubled and scored (on Canning’s single) in the bottom of the inning, becoming the toast of the town. The Raccoons shut out the Knights en route to a dominant 7-2 season series win when Youngblood got a grounder to short from Josh Downing that Whitehouse turned into a double play to end the game. 6-0 Furballs. D. Alexander 3-4, HR, RBI; Sambrano 3-4, 2B; Canning 3-4, RBI; Santos 6.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (6-8) and 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI;

In other news

July 22 – The Gold Sox trade aging star LF/RF Lionnel Perri (.291, 13 HR, 51 RBI) to the Capitals for promising yet unranked outfield prospect Julio Candela and a minor leaguer.
July 23 – The Crusaders announce the annual DL trip for RF/LF Stanton Martin (.331, 27 HR, 79 RBI), who has suffered a strained hamstring and will miss a month at least.
July 23 – The Warriors’ defensive wizard at short, Jaime Wilson (.273, 5 HR, 34 RBI) has been diagnosed with shoulder inflammation and will be out until September.
July 25 – The Titans lose 2B Jesus Ramirez (.270, 5 HR, 53 RBI) for the season with a broken elbow.
July 26 – CIN SP Brian Doumas (6-3, 2.56 ERA) will miss three weeks with a strained hamstring.
July 27 – A hamstring issue will also sideline IND 2B Jong-beom Kym (.256, 9 HR, 33 RBI) for two weeks.
July 27 – LF Dave Graham (.274, 4 HR, 38 RBI) is sent to Richmond by the Miners, who receive MR Evan Carrell (0-0, 4.66 ERA, 1 SV) and #73 prospect SS/2B Adam Gnall in this deal.
July 28 – The 2,000 hits milestone is reached by BOS 1B/2B Bob Butler (.257, 2 HR, 31 RBI) with a 3-hit performance in the Titans’ 12-2 rout of the Aces. Jimmy Young surrenders the milestone, a single, in the bottom of the fourth, the second of fifth consecutive Titans to reach base in the inning. Butler has never won any decorations, and never led the league in anything other than strikeouts, but sometimes longevity will do the trick. He is batting .263 with 167 HR and 959 RBI for his career, and won a ring with the 2008 Crusaders.

Complaints and stuff

And another PR disaster in Portland. Oh well. Now, Maud, please come out of hiding! – Maud! – Maud, come out now! – Maud, we need to … I … I don’t know how the coffee thing works! It won’t stop blinking! – Maud!? …

Stanton Martin; amazing batter, yet with the health of an immune-system-deficient homeless guy in a gutter in Calcutta. Sad. He’s 34, and currently has 229 homers, mostly because he’s played more than 125 games in a season only TWICE. He also didn’t become good until he was 26, but then led the league in slugging three straight years (while barely qualifying).

Matt Pruitt will be on rehab in St. Pete starting Monday.

More injury news – something everybody seems to enjoy – out of St. Petersburg, where Jon Merritt started a rehab assignment on Sunday, and on Monday left the game with an oblique strain. He has thus gone back to the DL and will remain there until the end of August. He’s now 37, and will damn sure take that player option for 2014.

The Danny Arguello bidding war rages on. We have reached $388k (and if he signs for that, we will only be able to sign one player for more than $60k in ’14), but it looks like the price might go up still.

Yoshi Nomura had a contract suggestion this week. He asked me how ten years for $30M sounded to me. Since then I’ve had this ringing in my ear and it is really loud and won’t stop.