[Westheim]

Raccoons (31-24) vs. Canadiens (31-24) – June 9-12, 2014

You’ve been gone for a few weeks, and you come home, only to find out that some stray cat ate a bird, then threw it up onto your door mat. It’s like that when the Canadiens open a homestand here. Both teams were tied one game behind the Crusaders, and the Elks clearly had the edge in offense, plating the third-most runs in the league. They were fifth in runs allowed, but had a top three rotation that had to be cracked before getting to a middling bullpen. They had swept the Critters in the first 3-game set played this year.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (7-1, 1.73 ERA) vs. Samuel McMullen (6-1, 2.75 ERA)
Daniel Dickerson (0-1, 5.27 ERA) vs. Dustin Burke (3-5, 4.33 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (4-5, 3.64 ERA) vs. Hunter Park (1-0, 4.09 ERA)
Bill Conway (4-2, 2.60 ERA) vs. Kelvin Yates (4-2, 5.29 ERA)

We don’t bring Brownie into the set, but we’ll miss Rod Taylor (2-6, 3.75 ERA), so that’s that as far as #1 starters are concerned. The Elks are missing William Raven on the DL (out for the year) and Hunter Park is his replacement, a 25-year old with a history of control issues who will make his fourth career start on Wednesday. He’s a right-hander, but the series will be opened by lefty Sam McMullen.

The Coons are still sitting Walt Canning, whose elbow is still tender, but with the return of Dickerson (for better or worse) he’s the only casualty right now. Dickerson will have to cover some distance now. He’s cashed in almost $4.3M from the Raccoons, delivering 36 major league innings in return. I prefer a rate closer to $10k per inning rather than $100k…

Game 1
VAN: 2B Lawrence – RF E. Garcia – LF Cameron – 3B Suzuki – C M. Torres – CF K. Evans – 1B Paull – SS Irvin – P McMullen
POR: LF Carmona – SS Sambrano – 3B Nunley – RF Bednarski – 2B Bergquist – 1B Merritt – C Hernandez – CF Cowan – P Santos

Cookie and Sandy opened the first inning with a pair of singles before Nunley was retired on an easy fly and Bednarski pulled a Quebell. Santos sat down the first eleven batters, but struck out only two, and starting with Don Cameron the Elks hit three straight 2-out singles in the top of the fourth to take a 1-0 lead. Two outs in the sixth, Mitsuhide Suzuki doubled with Enrique Garcia on first base and two outs. Garcia had reached on an ill throw by Sambrano, and Suzuki beat Nunley with a real hard shot that bounced once and escaped into leftfield. Garcia was sent, Carmona fired the ball home, and after Sambrano’s relay Garcia was narrowly tagged out at home. The Coons tied the game with their first serious effort in five innings when Bergquist doubled and swiftly scored on a Merritt single to left, 1-1 through six. Santos batted here with two out and two on, but he had juice left and the Coons had played 14 on Sunday, and I liked how he was pitching in general. I didn’t like how Raúl Hernandez was catching however, clumsily putting on Miguel Torres with an uncaught third strike to start the seventh inning. While the K’s in general didn’t roll for Santos, he managed to strand Torres at second after Kurt Evans’ bunt and two pops.

It was a long inning, though, and Santos had another long at-bat with ex-Critter Freddy Rosa, who struck out to open the eighth. With left-handers galore at the top of the Elks’ order, Thrasher came out and got three outs before the Elks almost toppled Constantino in the ninth, but Steve Madison struck out with runners on the corners to end the inning. The Raccoons had forfeited a Bednarski double leading off the bottom 8th, then had the otherwise splendidly useless Joe Cowan draw a walk off Chris Spindler to start the bottom of the (hopefully) last. Constantino was employed to bunt, failed miserably, and Cowan was out at second on a slick play by Mitsuhide Suzuki. Carmona singled, moving the winning run to second base anyway, and now Canning ran for Constantino. But Sandy grounded out and Nunley popped out, and the Raccoons had to enter extras again. Gallegos was almost run over in the top 10th before Nunley started a saving double play, and the bottom 10th saw Bednarski squeeze a single past Suzuki to lead off. Bergquist doubled, putting the winning run 90 feet away with nobody out. With Pat Treglown, a right-hander, in the game, Quebell hit for Merritt, and scandalously fouled out on the first pitch, right behind the dish. D-Alex had hit for Hernandez the last time through and was walked intentionally, bringing up … PH Jason Seeley, because Cowan sucked and didn’t matter as a batter, or a human being, and Seeley … struck out. That was in a full count, and the bench was emptied with Palmer Taylor batting for Gallegos. Treglown ran another 3-ball count, and this time lost the batter on the fifth pitch, walking off the Raccoons in decidedly unenergetic fashion. 2-1 Blighters. Carmona 2-5; Bednarski 2-5, 2B; Bergquist 3-5, 2 2B; Merrit 2-4, RBI; Taylor (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI; Santos 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K;

Joe Cowan, batting under a buck-fifty now, was shopped on Tuesday and didn’t attract offers other than other non-performing 30-year olds. The Warriors dangled Ken Harris, who had started for them as recently as last year, but had been moved to the pen. He was a good pitcher, but he was making real starter’s money, and I didn’t intend to add expensive pitching now. The pitching worked, more or less, but we needed offense, real quick.

Cowan, not of any use to man nor beast, was thus waived and designated for assignment on Tuesday. Jimmy Fucito, 26, had been close to being released out of Ham Lake at the end of last year, had been assigned back to AAA as a filler this season, and after injuries to other guys had batted a sound .266 with little power in this year’s AAA campaign. He was added back to the roster. At least he was a right-handed bat.

… and I had a lot of time on my hands on Tuesday, because our game with the Elks was killed off by horrendous weather. A double-header was scheduled for Wednesday.

Game 2
VAN: CF Holland – 2B Lawrence – 1B Madison – LF Cameron – 3B Suzuki – C M. Torres – RF K. Evans – SS Mateo – P Burke
POR: CF Carmona – LF Sambrano – RF Bednarski – 1B Quebell – 3B Nunley – C Alexander – 2B Bergquist – SS Taylor – P Dickerson

Dickerson was a mess on a wildly unimaginable scale. After a wobbly first inning, Dickerson walked Miguel Torres, Kurt Evans, and Jaime Mateo to start the top 2nd, then issued an RBI single to Burke. The Elks jumped on him and plated four runs rather leisurely in the inning. Little did the grinning Elks know that their lead was not going to last even one inning. Quebell and Nunley opened the bottom 2nd with hits and D-Alex then added his own, a huge 3-run bomb to slightly-to-right center. Taylor singled, Dickerson failed to bunt, then hit a double at 1-2, and Carmona brought home Taylor with a sac fly – tied ball game. Momentum carried the Coons into the lead in the bottom 3rd. Bednarski walked, Quebell singled, and Nunley also singled to drive home Bednarski with the go-ahead run. Two on, nobody out, D-Alex fed into a double play and Bergquist struck out, leaving Burke hanging on the ropes rather than cutting him off and plunging him into the abyss. The Elks still hit for him in the fourth inning, going into their pen early. The Coons didn’t lag behind them for long, however, with Dickerson barely making it five frames, but at least he managed to hold on to the 5-4 lead, somehow. Torres K’ed to strand runners on the corners in the fifth.

Getting two innings from Josh Gibson in a 5-4 game was probably ambitious and the Elks had two men on in the sixth again when Jaylin Lawrence struck out to leave them on. Gibson came to bat in the bottom 6th with Taylor at second – after having just driven in Bergquist, 6-4 – and one out. No, I need the arm. Gibson was to bat, found himself down 1-2, then was brushed on the chest by Johnny Smith. That put another man on for Cookie Carmona, who singled to load them up, and then Sandy singled home a pair. Bednarski hit into a double play. Gibson of course didn’t get through the top 7th, with the Elks striking three hard hits, the last of which being a 1-out RBI double by Torres that also left Suzuki on third, and prompted an exit from Gibson and Sugano’s entry. Sugano struck out Evans and had Carmona dash after a Mateo drive successfully, ending that inning with another two left on base, and an 8-5 lead. Sugano had a calm eighth, but this game would get tense in the ninth as the Elks whacked around Angel Casas, who started off by walking Madison. Don Cameron grounded into a force, but Suzuki doubled, bringing up the tying run. Miguel Torres came WAY too close to a 3-run homer for any comfort, but Carmona picked that one right at the wall in center. One run in, Kurt Evans doubled, plating Suzuki, 8-7. Jaime Mateo grounded hard to right, Bergquist had it, lunging, and threw to first JUST IN TIME. 8-7 Critters. Nunley 3-4, RBI; Taylor 3-4, 2B, RBI; Sugano 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

The Crusaders were shut out by the Loggers, both games finishing roughly at the same time, despite us getting the first leg of the double header underway early. Brian Patrick (6-4, 3.87 ERA) threw a 5-hitter for Milwaukee. This result put the Coons and Crusaders into a virtual tie for first place, but it would be resolved by the night cap, one way or the other.

Game 3
VAN: CF Holland – RF E. Garcia – 1B Madison – LF Cameron – 3B Suzuki – 2B Lawrence – C Rosa – SS Mateo – P Park
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Sambrano – RF Bednarski – 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – SS Canning – LF Seeley – C Hernandez – P Toner

Quebell continued to not be helpful, hitting into an inning-ending double play in the first inning. Would it matter? The ill weather was back and we had a rain delay after only two innings, lasting about an hour. When play resumed, Hunter Park tripled off Toner, but was stranded at third base. Bottom 3rd, Hernandez reached with a leadoff walk. Toner’s bunt was thrown away by Rosa (ex-Coon, mind you), and the Coons had a splendid chance. They would score two on Carmona’s groundout and then Jaime Mateo being completely undressed by a harmless 2-out hopper by Bednarski that escaped for an RBI single to the home crowd’s biting joy. Defense continued to be spotty. Hernandez was guilty of a passed ball in the fourth, but Toner managed to load the bases even without his catcher’s shenanigans. Rosa struck out to end that inning. Bottom 4th, Merritt was already on when Canning singled to left and Don Cameron bungled the pickup to give the runners an extra base. Despite runners on second and third and nobody out AGAIN, the Raccoons scored NOBODY this time when Seeley popped out, Hernandez got four wide ones, Toner whiffed, and Carmona’s liner to left ended up with Cameron on a nice move.

Bottom 5th. For the THIRD inning in a row the Raccoons had runners on second and third with one out when Sandy walked and Bednarski doubled. The Elks replaced their starter with reliever Bill King who promptly threw a wild pitch to Quebell, plating Sandy, 3-0. Quebell struck out, leading me to gnaw on the edge of my desk, but Merritt brought home the other run with a floating single to shallow center. Jaylin Lawrence flying by under it and swiping in vain with the glove was a sight to behold. Toner, despite the early rain delay, made it to the seventh inning before being chased by a real hard Rosa single. Constantino got out of that inning, but also had to pitch the eighth with Sakellaris tagged for the remaining outs. But before we could get there, Bednarski and Quebell went into scoring position with no outs in the bottom 7th, the FOURTH such occurrence on the day. Jon Merritt scared the Elks, who walked him intentionally. Nunley hit for Canning and hit a real deep fly to left, that was caught nevertheless and left him with a sac fly. That was also the only run in the inning as Seeley and Hernandez popped out. That created a 5-0 lead that was in mortal danger in the eighth, where we had to bother Thrasher to get a K from Cameron, stranding two more Elks. 5-0 Raccoons. Bednarski 3-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Merritt 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Toner 6.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K, W (5-5);

(sniff sniff) … (sniff sniff) … anybody else here … (whiskers twitching) … smelling a sweep?

Carmona swiped his 18th base in this game, but he’s still four behind Mike Rivera of the Titans. The FL lead is 20 (SAL Roberto Cervantes).

Game 4
VAN: CF Holland – RF E. Garcia – 1B Madison – LF Cameron – 3B Suzuki – C M. Torres – 2B Paull – SS Mateo – P K. Yates
POR: CF Carmona – LF Sambrano – RF Bednarski – 1B Quebell – 3B Nunley – C Alexander – 2B Bergquist – SS Canning – P Conway

Kel was struggling badly this year and had almost as many walks as strikeouts. The first few innings were initially about baserunning, with each team swiping one (Holland / Sambrano) and having one thrown out (Holland again / Carmona). When Carmona was caught, nobody remained on base with two outs in the bottom 3rd, but then Yates walked both Bednarski and Quebell. Nunley singled, and D-Alex was uncharacteristically patient and drew an easy walk for the first run of the game. Bergquist grounded hard to third, but Suzuki made the play there to keep the Coons at 1-0. The next attempt at running was in the top 6th, when Suzuki was on second base with one out and took off. D-Alex told him with a laser throw to third that left Suzuki dead in the dirt, and the Elks stranded runners on the corners when D-Alex made another strong play on a sorry grounder by Enrique Garcia, now to first base. That was the end for Conway, who delivered seven shutout innings in 104 pitches, and was now hoping for the odd insurance run in the 1-0 game. Cookie opened the bottom 7th with a soft single to center, then took off and claimed his 19th base. Sandy walked, but then Treglown struck out the 3-4 batters whose names shall be eradicated from the game long, and Nunley popped out. No support would come forth, while Sakellaris pitched a laborious but scoreless eighth. Angel Casas then had no cushion to blow, facing the bottom of the order in the ninth. He struck out Eric Paull and Jeremiah Irvin before Freddy Rosa grounded out. 1-0 Furballs!! Carmona 3-4; Conway 7.0 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (5-2);

Kel Yates had only 4 K in six innings, three of which he hung on Conway. Sandy was the odd position player to strike out against Yates.

The Raccoons rotation had a 1.73 ERA in this series, and that includes the near-disaster with Dickerson. The other three guys allowed one run in 21 innings.

Raccoons (35-24) vs. Pacifics (24-35) – June 13-15, 2014

The Pacifics had gone from hey to clay over the winter, mainly because their starting pitching was mysteriously struggling. J.J. Wirth, Bruce Mark, Ernest Green, all great in recent years, were all nursing ERA’s north of the league average, with Mark getting ravaged to a 6.33 tune. Their pen was the worst in the Federal League, and their offense was in the bottom third as well and didn’t compensate for the pitchers’ shortcomings. The Raccoons had nobody with 10 homers, but the team lead for the Pacifics were Stanley Murphy’s five, and they weren’t hitting for average either. The Coons had been swept in the last meeting of these two teams in 2012, with the last series win dating back to 2009.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (8-1, 2.77 ERA) vs. Ozzie Pereira (3-3, 4.27 ERA)
Hector Santos (7-1, 1.68 ERA) vs. Brad Smith (6-3, 2.63 ERA)
TBD vs. Bruce Mark (3-6, 6.33 ERA)

The Pacifics had an off day and might skip Mark in favor of Ernest Green, who would be the only lefty in their rotation.

We weren’t clear on our Sunday starter yet. Dickerson had thrown over 100 pitches on Wednesday and was a no-go, especially with his injury history. Toner had thrown less pitches, but that had been with the rain interfering and I was not keen on breaking him. The most likely scenario is thus a spot start, likely from Gary Dupes in AAA, who was one of four prospects in the Morales/Carmona trade, but has not panned out at all. He’d be a warm body to soak up innings and damage in equal amounts, most likely.

Game 1
LAP: 3B Carroll – SS V. Flores – CF J. Roberts – 1B S. Murphy – C E. Spears – 2B Berman – RF Reya – LF Ibarra – P Pereira
POR: CF Carmona – LF Sambrano – RF Bednarski – 1B Quebell – 3B Nunley – C Alexander – 2B Bergquist – SS Canning – P Brown

The Critters hit into double plays in the first two innings, then created another one of those situations with a pair in scoring position and nobody out in the third inning. Thankfully, no big-money non-slugging bozo was up, but Nick Brown. Only good things could happen now! First pitch, cracked hard to right, a liner caught by Dennis Berman, BERGQUIST OFF THIRD, scrambling, swipe tag – SAFE! Holy mother of trash cans! Can’t you watch the play!!??

Sadly, a trend was already set. Carmona grounded out to the pitcher and Sandy popped out, stranding two perfectly good runners. It was really outrageous. A terrible hitting display looked the worse considering that Brownie had next to no stuff, striking out the 7-8-9 batters in the third inning and little besides that, yet managed to feed balls to the middle infielders with great precision, but after seven shutout innings and 101 pitches had nothing to show for it. Brown was sent out once more for the eighth when left-hander Rich Ibarra was pinch-hit for with left-hander Carlos Diaz, an odd move if there was one. Ozzie Pereira batted for himself, striking out, but that was it – with the top of the order approaching and Brown on 110 pitches and generally not in mint condition anymore at 36, no gamble was made with the top of the order, other than bringing Constantino and Merritt in a double switch. Jens Carroll promptly almost hit one out, but Bednarski made the catch in front of the fence. Constantino got three quick grounders in the ninth, and when Carmona singled off Pereira on the Pacific’s 92nd pitch of the game, things got interesting in the bottom of the inning. Errol Spears had a good arm! Cookie was signed to stay the **** where he was; Sandy was asked to bunt instead, which worked well, and now we needed a single (or more) by any of the two dorks that were paid to hit balls hard and far. Bednarski delivered his money’s worth, firing a 2-0 pitch into the leftfield corner, far beyond the reach of Diaz, and Carmona scored leisurely! 1-0 Raccoons!! Carmona 2-4; Brown 7.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K; Constantino 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (1-3);

… and when do you ever see consecutive 1-0 wins?

I’d like a few early runs, still. Also, we’d play five more until the next off day, so this was a good chance to play a few backups and give guys that often play every inning a day off. Santos is pitching, what’s the worst that can happen?

Game 2
LAP: CF Amundson – 3B Carroll – LF J. Roberts – 1B S. Murphy – 2B Berman – RF Reya – C E. Spears – SS V. Flores – P B. Smith
POR: 3B Merritt – LF Sambrano – C Alexander – 1B Quebell – SS Taylor – 2B Bergquist – RF Fucito – CF Seeley – P Santos

Of course Santos was raked hard in the first inning. The first four batters all hit the ball quite well, with Garrett Amundson landing a single to center and scoring on Stanley Murphy’s 2-out double, ending the Raccoons’ 27-inning scoreless run. Soon enough the Pacifics started a streak of scoring in consecutive innings. Luis Reya drew a leadoff walk in the second, advanced on a wild pitch, and then scored casually, while the Pacifics not only got Jens Carroll on to start the third inning, but also whacked consecutive bombs when Jimmy Roberts and Stanley Murphy got hold of pitches that came bumbling by. Another Murphy homer ended Santos’ day in the fifth inning, trailing 6-1. Yeah, what’s the worst that can happen?

Gallegos took over, already tagged for demotion afterwards with Gary Dupes getting the spot start on Sunday, and while he was almost run over in the same inning, the Pacifics getting a single from Dennis Berman and a double from Reya, Spears then struck out and the inning dissipated. Gallegos even had the second hit for the home team in the bottom 5th, adding to a paltry total consisting solely of Sandy Sambrano’s earlier RBI single. What Gallegos did on the mound was hard to be called long relief, being neither long, nor relief. The Pacifics had five hits off him in 2.1 innings, pushing across a single run with Gibson stalling another runner when he got Amundson to pop out to end the seventh with the Coons down by six, and that would never change. 7-1 Pacifics. Sambrano 1-2, 2 BB, RBI;

Yeah, we were out-drummed 17-4 in this one. Reason for concern? Nah. Three games in a row with only one run on the board is totally normal. The following trade should not be mistaken for a desperate attempt to turn the offense around, because the bat involved won’t do that.

Interlude: trade

Joe Cowan refused to be assigned to AAA after clearing waivers, so a trade had to be worked out. The Gold Sox were casually interested to mix up their outfield where Roberto Pena was in the middle of a lot of mediocrity. The contract was a bit of a pill to swallow for them, but we worked something out, and brought back a player that I NEVER would have thought would set another foot into Portland unless on a visiting team.

The Raccoons deal 32-year old OF Joe Cowan (.147, 1 HR, 5 RBI) and 21-year old AA SP Ernesto Lozano to the Gold Sox for 29-year old SS/1B Rob Howell (.309, 1 HR, 23 RBI) and 25-year old A MR Ricardo Irizarry.

Yeah, think about that one. Howell had been sent out on the sadness-inducing Logan Taylor trade with the Cyclones in 2011, having hit wildly below the league average in Portland from ’09 ‘til then. He had since bounced on twice before landing with the Gold Sox on a really cheap deal. His defense is average, and he’s just hitting enough singles to reach a league-average OPS+. Not really a steal threat. Blind to breaking stuff that will go into the dirt. But maybe better than Canning, who was designated for assignment.

Lozano had been acquired in the John Alexander deal with Boston last year, but I didn’t like the scouting report anymore, and the stats in AA were … hm. Not bad, but certainly not exciting.

Irizarry has blistering stuff and no control over it. We’ll see whether a decent pitching coach can tickle something out of him, and if not we won’t have lost anything.

Raccoons (35-24) vs. Pacifics (24-35) – June 13-15, 2014

Game 3
LAP: CF Amundson – 3B Carroll – LF J. Roberts – 1B S. Murphy – 2B Berman – RF Reya – C E. Spears – SS V. Flores – P Mark
POR: CF Carmona – LF Sambrano – RF Bednarski – 1B Quebell – 3B Nunley – SS Howell – C Alexander – 2B Bergquist – P Dupes

For a while, Gary Dupes was the toast of the town on Sunday. His pitching was utterly forgettable with wild control issues and a run scoring in the top 2nd on two walks and a wild pitch. But he came to bat against Bruce Mark with two outs and three Coons abase in the bottom of the same inning and chipped a soft floater to extreme right that bounced ON the chalk halfway up the rightfield line, and plated two runs. That gave the Coons the lead, which D-Alex extended with a solo homer in the fourth. Dupes actually didn’t allow a hit twice through the order, but when he allowed his first one, it rung: Garrett Amundson smothered a tardy first pitch and killed it all the way to the other side of the Willamette, knotting the score at three thanks to Vic Flores (high, Vic!) having walked (…) before.

Dupes got through the inning however, and soon was in the lead again despite opening the bottom 5th with a K. Cookie walked then, and Sandy found the wide open gap in right center for an RBI triple, scoring himself on Bednarski’s fly to left, 5-3. Dupes faced only one more batter, Jimmy Roberts flying out to deep right, and when Dupes shook his arm and rotated it in a big circle a few times, the trainer dashed out. Dupes told him of having felt an oblique tweak and Ivan the Druid called for amputation (of whatever) right away. So we had to get Josh Gibson separated from his second pizza of the afternoon to pitch in relief here. He got out of the sixth, then had Spears on after a 1-out single in the seventh. Flores whiffed, bringing up PH César Aguilar, who singled to right. Bednarski got to it, Spears – not fast at all – turned second and was lasered out at third base, ending the inning. The 5-3 game got closer with Roberts’ homer off Sakellaris in the eighth, 5-4, and no insurance run came forth in the bottom of the inning. Angel faced the 6-7-8 batters, starting with the left-hander Reya, who fought for seven pitches before striking out. The Pacifics didn’t get the tying run on base until they were on their last out when Flores walked. Diaz batted in the #9 hole and drilled a pitch to deep center, deep center, deep, deep, deep – Cookie! 5-4 Raccoons! Sambrano 2-4, 3B, RBI; Nunley 2-3, 2B; Gibson 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Dupes would not miss a start, but he will be handed back to AAA on Monday and we’ll add a reliever.

In other news

June 9 – ATL 2B Josh Downing (.250, 3 HR, 19 RBI) is fighting a chronic back injury and will have to be shut down until after the All Star game.
June 15 – History is made in San Francisco, where RIC OF Danny Flores (.291, 3 HR, 22 RBI) hits for natural cycle in his team’s 7-5 win over the Bayhawks. Flores, 24, singles in the first, doubles in the third, triples in the fifth, and hits a 3-run bomb off Mike Tharp in the seventh before drawing a walk in his last plate appearance in the eighth. The 54th ABL cycle is the second for the Rebels (Gary Lang, 1989) and the sixth natural cycle, just two years after the last occurrence of this special achievement, then by ATL Gil Rockwell.
June 15 – The Scorpions fall to IND SP Tom Weise (4-5, 4.13 ERA) who spins a complete game 2-hit shutout in a 1-0 win.

Complaints and stuff

Are these 2014 Furballs for real?

What a week, 6-1, and a sweep of the ****ing Elks! That loss was a bit sour – it took until late in the night to pick all the little pieces of Hector Santos out of the wheelhouse of that hideous bus. Like I said before, I like Toner more, and he might become the better pitcher. Mind the 3-year age gap between them. If Toner can harness his stuff a bit more and gets the walks down… but the numbers are not dissimilar to the 24-year old Nick Brown, who had 4.2 BB/9 and 9.1 K/9. Toner is at 3.8 BB/9 and 8.6 K/9 right now and is on pace for less than 15 home runs conceded. Brown conceded 13 in his rookie season. The difference is more than half a run of ERA (Brown went 9-11 with a 2.65 ERA in ’02), but Toner does not get much help from the defense, but he’s not actively harmed. Brown had a soundly below-average BABIP of .292 working for him.

Lots of similarities, lots of reasons to be excited for more!

Now that Rob Howell’s back, I will inquire into the services of Craig Bowen again. Get the 2010 Coons back together! They made it to the World Series after all...