[Westheim]

Raccoons (23-15) vs. Indians (25-13) – May 15-18, 2017

This would be the first meeting between these two teams in 2017. The Coons hadn’t exactly looked brilliant against Indy in the last two years, losing a total of 24 games, including a 7-11 campaign in ’16. Oddly for an Indians team, they were pouring out runs, ranking third in runs scored as well as in runs allowed with a healthy +61 run differential (Coons: +9). Their rotation ranked second to the Bayhawks’, with the Critters third in starters’ ERA.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (4-2, 3.33 ERA) vs. Tristan Broun (5-2, 3.19 ERA)
Bruce Morrison (2-3, 3.86 ERA) vs. Dan Lambert (4-3, 2.75 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (4-2, 1.68 ERA) vs. Felipe Ramirez (1-3, 4.81 ERA)
Hector Santos (4-2, 3.62 ERA) vs. Josh Riley (4-3, 5.14 ERA)

Broun’s appearance in the opener on Monday will give us a left-handed opponent, most likely the only one this week. We will also miss their best guy, Alejandro “Ant” Mendez (7-1, 1.45 ERA).

Game 1
IND: SS Sambrano – CF J. Wilson – 2B Ventura – C Padilla – RF Gilmor – 1B S. Guerra – LF Baker – 3B Mathews – P Broun
POR: CF Duarte – 1B Petracek – SS McKnight – 3B Nunley – RF Waggoner – C Denny – LF Johnson – 2B Bergquist – P Abe

The Raccoons scored the first run of the game in wasteful fashion, Denny hitting into a double play with runners on the corners and nobody out in the bottom 2nd. The resulting 1-0 lead was short-lived, with John Wilson hitting a solo homer off Abe in the third, and Wilson continued to stir the pot, hitting a 2-out single in the fifth inning that also move Sandy Sambrano, who came in batting .275, to second base. Jeremie Ventura lined a ball past Petracek into the rightfield corner, where Waggoner got a favorable bounce. While Sandy scored with the go-ahead run, Waggoner threw out Wilson to end the inning. While Abe lasted seven innings, which was always a good number, his performance overall was murky, with the Indians slapping singles off him left and right, nine hits in total against only five strikeouts. What was even worse was the total refusal of the Coons to hit something themselves. From Denny’s double play, which had seen Nunley and Waggoner on with singles, through Abe getting the hardly excited high-fives, the Raccoons had only one more hit, also by Waggoner. Broun went eight innings, whiffing as many against the three paltry singles he allowed, leaving the 2-1 lead to Jarrod Morrison in the ninth. Morrison, a right-hander, had only seven strikeouts in 13.1 innings, but had saved ten games anyway with a 0.67 ERA, so he was doing *something* right. The Raccoons, quite simply, didn’t; they went down in order. 2-1 Indians. Waggoner 2-3;

Bloody hell.

Game 2
IND: SS Sambrano – CF J. Wilson – 2B Ventura – LF Genge – C Padilla – RF Gilmor – 1B S. Guerra – 3B Mathews – P Lambert
POR: CF Petracek – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – RF Waggoner – LF DeWeese – C Margolis – SS McKnight – 1B Young – P Morrison

While Lowell Genge hit a 2-run double right in the first inning for the ostensibly game-winning RBI’s, the Raccoons found the oddest ways to not score. Petracek and Walter had singles in the first inning, but Nunley hit into a double play to Ventura, who also sucked up Waggoner’s grounder. In the bottom 3rd, Young hit a leadoff single to right, after which Morrison failed to bunt thrice. Petracek singled, and Walter was plunked, pulling up Nunley with the bases loaded, but he popped out to Sandy at short on the first pitch. Goddamnit, can anybody here gimme some runs?? Waggoner could, snipping a 3-2 pitch up the middle and past Ventura for a 2-run single to center, tying the game and also casually becoming the first Raccoon to 20 RBI this season (…). DeWeese singled to right center to allow Walter to score for a 3-2 lead before Margolis, last week’s surprise hero, struck out to end the inning.

Morrison’s pitching initially didn’t instill much confidence, so extra runs would be welcome. The Indians ran themselves out of the fifth inning when Sambrano was caught stealing, but then DeWeese found himself up with runners on the corners again, with one out in the bottom 5th. How much longer can he actually bat sub-.200? It’s completely out of what you could expect given his career. Maybe he’s gone blind over the winter. Mena should look into that. For the moment, however, DeWeese grounded the first pitch to Ventura, who was a bit slow with his throw to second base, which cost the Indians the double play and therefore a run. Margolis then struck out. While Morrison – after much difficulty early on – had two quick innings after that, DeWeese came up with runners on the corners for the third time in the game in the bottom 7th, this time with two outs again and facing left-hander Kevin Johnston, who had just replaced Lambert after Nunley’s single. Maybe this here, this triple to center that eluded Gold Glover John Wilson and ramped the score to 6-2 against a pitcher that shouldn’t have given him much chance, maybe this 2-out, 2-run triple would finally spark the Raccoons’ offense for good, or at least for a little bit. In the event, Johnston retired nobody. Margolis hit a single, McKnight tripled, and Young singled, all plating the guy ahead of them for a 9-2 lead and five runs in the inning before the Indians had seen enough of their southpaw. Morrison completed eight innings after all after popping out to end the bottom 7th against Jason Clements, before yielding to the struggling Chun in the ninth. Genge hit another 2-run homer off him, and Chun also put Josh Baker on with a 2-out single before the game finally ended when McKnight made a sparkling play on a rocket by Santiago Guerra, knocking it down in mid-lunge before scrambling and firing to first base in time. 9-4 Raccoons. Petracek 2-5; Walter 3-4, 2B; Waggoner 2-4, 2 RBI; DeWeese 2-4, 3B, 4 RBI; Young 2-4, RBI; Morrison 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (3-3);

Please let this be a spark, please let this be a spark, please let this be a spark, please let this…

Game 3
IND: SS Sambrano – CF J. Wilson – 2B Ventura – LF Genge – C Padilla – RF Gilmor – 1B S. Guerra – 3B Mathews – P F. Ramirez
POR: 2B Petracek – SS Walter – 3B Nunley – RF Waggoner – LF DeWeese – CF Duarte – 1B Young – C Denny – P Toner

Genge continued to be trouble, plating Wilson with a 2-out single after the centerfielder had singled and stolen second base in the first inning. Toner would tie the game himself; finding DeWeese and Young on the corners with two outs in the bottom 2nd, he hit a sharp liner to right for an RBI single. Petracek also hit an RBI single, Walter walked, and Nunley hauled in two with another single, flipping the score to 4-1 in favor of the home team. Ramirez would hit DeWeese to start the bottom 3rd, which didn’t end well for him. Duarte singled, and both pulled off a double steal against the confused Indians. Young’s sac fly made it 5-1 and Denny singled before Toner hit another RBI single sharply to right, 6-1. While he was a considerable offensive force, Toner struggled on the mound initially and had only one strikeout through four innings before whiffing the side, Mathews, Kyle Lamb, and Sambrano, in the fifth. Lamb was trying to log innings in long relief for the Indians, but loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom 5th, which pulled up Toner once more. This time he floated one out to Wilson, who had it pop out of his glove again for a run-scoring error, giving Toner RBI’s in all three of his at-bats in the game after having none entering the contest. The Coons got more runs on Petracek drawing a bases-loaded walk and Walter hitting into a double play before Nunley struck out, giving Toner an 8-run lead. Toner would have a long and tedious sixth inning, and given the size of the lead and that he was often pitching into the late innings, he was removed early in this contest. John Korb got ready for a potential 3-inning save, but before it came to that, Brandon Smith walked the bases full against the Coons’ 5-6-7 batters in the bottom 6th. Denny struck out, and looking at our bench Toner got to bat. He completed the humiliation for the Indians by hitting the first pitch he saw to shallow center, where it dinked in for a 2-run single! That was the final swing for the Critters. The Indians got a run in the eighth when Genge hit a sac fly off Korb, but that was it. With one out in the ninth and Nick Gilmor having reached first base with a single, Josh Baker bounced the ball back to Korb, who started the game-ending double play. 11-2 Furballs! DeWeese 2-3, BB, 2B; Young 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Toner 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (5-2) and 3-4, 5 RBI; Korb 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

Not sure whether I’ve seen a 5 RBI game from a pitcher before. Although there was a reliever that once hit a slam for the Coons, so things are happening all the time. Can’t remember who that reliever was… Maud! Maud! – You got some time to kill?

And yes, this is the first time the Critters reached double digits this season. Merely took them 41 games, right at the first quarter post. Also, DeWeese reached the .200 mark! Whoooo!!! Now everything will be sugar…

Game 4
IND: SS Sambrano – CF J. Wilson – 2B Ventura – LF Genge – C Padilla – RF Gilmor – 1B B. Román – 3B Mathews – P Riley
POR: CF Petracek – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – RF Waggoner – LF DeWeese – SS McKnight – C Margolis – 1B Young – P Santos

When Gilmor hit a 2-pack off Santos in the second inning, those were the first RBI’s for an Indian not named Lowell Genge since Monday. After a DeWeese double and a McKnight single gave the Coons a run in the bottom 2nd to only trail 2-1, Genge hit a 2-out triple in the top 3rd, but found nobody on base and was himself left on when Dave Padilla K’ed against Santos. Riley would hit a leadoff single in the fifth inning, which was not a good thing at all given that Santos lacked stuff and had allowed a few deep drives already in the game, as evident by the Indian listed under the “HR” category on the scoreboard, but the Indians waffled themselves out of the inning. Told to bunt, Sandy failed, getting Riley killed off at second base by Nunley before Wilson hit into a double play. Themselves the Critters showed little offensive prowess, not getting another base hit until McKnight doubled in the bottom 5th, but found himself stranded.

Genge singled but was caught stealing in the sixth inning, Gilmor came awfully close to another dinger in the seventh and the Coons were still fast asleep. McKnight tried to get it started again in the seventh inning with a 1-out single, and then Margolis hit a fly to left that escaped Genge for a double. McKnight had to hold when Genge got a favorable bounce, but then scored on Adam Young’s soft liner over Ventura into shallow right – tied game! Margolis was on third, and Ochoa hit for Santos, but flew out to shallow left, where Genge made it impossible for Margolis to try for home, and Petracek popped out to end the inning. Waggoner gave an Ed Bryan pitch a ride in the eighth, but that one dropped in to Genge’s glove on the warning track. With two outs in the bottom 9th Margolis found his way on with a single that escaped between Sandy and Joey Mathews. Young grounded to first, where Jaime Mateo took it off his chin and was assessed an error, bringing up Duarte in the #9 hole, still against the southpaw and ex-Coon Bryan, after arriving there in a double switch. He floated a 1-1 pitch to shallow center, and that was uncatchable, but was it enough to score Margolis from second base? He was certainly sent! Wilson did his best to kill him at home – but didn’t get enough on the throw, and Margolis slid home safely with two seconds to spare. It’s a walkoff!! 3-2 Coons!! McKnight 3-4, 2B, RBI; Margolis 2-4, 2B; Duarte 1-1, RBI; Santos 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K;

I have also been told that Danny Margolis now has an 11-game hitting streak, although nobody seems to know quite how that beast came to be bred.

Raccoons (26-16) vs. Aces (18-21) – May 19-21, 2017

The Aces had lost their last three games, which was opposite to the Coons’ most recent successes. Overal they were eighth in both runs scored and runs allowed, which certainly never made for a contending team, and they were already 8 1/2 games out in the South. While their bullpen was solid, they had the second-worst rotation in the league, which consisted only of right-handed hurlers. The Raccoons had won the season series in 2016, taking six of the nine games with them.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (3-2, 4.78 ERA) vs. Juan Valdevez (2-4, 4.31 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (4-3, 3.23 ERA) vs. Nehemiah Jones (3-1, 4.59 ERA)
Bruce Morrison (3-3, 3.61 ERA) vs. Manuel Ortíz (2-3, 4.23 ERA)

Those are actually their best three guys, with William Hinkley and Adam Euteneuer both soundly over five in their ERA column.

And before every Brownie start now, there’s this anxiety and this callous feeling of impending doom……

Game 1
LVA: CF Flack – C D. Rice – 1B T. Ramos – 3B Burke – RF Struck – SS R. Walsh – LF Hubbard – 2B Toledo – P Valdevez
POR: 2B Petracek – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – RF Waggoner – LF DeWeese – C Margolis – 1B Young – CF Duarte – P Brown

Nick Brown faced a lineup of seven left-handers, excluding only Brent Burke and the pitcher Valdevez, but it really didn’t help him to get a few strikeouts to erase that ghastly K/BB ratio being under one. He struck out only one (Rich Walsh) in the first five innings, and also allowed one run after a double by Francisco Toledo, who scored on Adam Flack’s single to left, while giving persistent work to the infielders and Duarte in center. Luckily, the Raccoons had romped Valdevez early; Walter and McKnight had reached base in the first, and back-to-back doubles by DeWeese and Margolis plated three runs. Another run scored in the second inning when Brown doubled and scored on Walter’s 2-out single.

Flack opened the sixth with a single to right center, but the Aces sent Danny Rice to bunt, which led to a relieving double play. Ex-Titan Tony Ramos singled, but Burke bounced out to Brown, who remained 4-1 ahead. McKnight homered in the bottom 7th, and Brown started the top 8th, which was probably a bad idea. He hit Max Erickson with a pitch before Flack singled, and also felt a pinch somewhere. The Druid hauled him in, there’s was something tweaking in that old body once more. Ron Thrasher had to deal with two runners and no outs in the 5-1 game, and almost blew it completely. Rice hit an RBI double, he walked Ramos and allowed a pinch-hit RBI single to Bobby Diersing before Jimmy Hubbard batted with the bases loaded and two outs, was down 0-2 and then still managed to hit a rocket to left center that was intercepted in flying manner by nobody else than DeWeese, ending the inning with a 5-3 advantage. The Coons pulled the two runs back in the bottom of the inning with a Denny RBI single and Petracek sac fly, and Kevin Beaver finished the game without coughing any harder than Thrasher had. 7-3 Brownies. Walter 2-4, RBI; Margolis 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Denny (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Brownie? Are you alright? – You look pale.

Game 2
LVA: CF Hubbard – LF M. Pruitt – 1B T. Ramos – 3B Burke – C D. Rice – SS R. Walsh – RF M. Hamilton – 2B I. Cardenas – P N. Jones
POR: 2B Petracek – RF Ochoa – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – C Margolis – CF Johnson – SS McKnight – 1B Young – P Abe

Adam Flack had landed four base hits in the series opener, and while he was rested in this game with the addition of Matt Hamilton to the lineup, the rest took less than two innings until Abe struck Hamilton in the thumb with a pitch and forced the rookie out of the game. By then the Aces were up 1-0 following Jimmy Hubbard’s leadoff double and two productive outs in the first inning. Hubbard scored again in the third inning after hitting a triple this time. Matt Pruitt brought him home with a sac fly. Abe struggled quite badly to get the upper hand with an almost entirely left-handed lineup, while the Critters were wholly absent against Nehemiah Jones, amounting to a single measly base hit in the first five innings. When Danny Rice romped a 2-run homer run off Abe in the sixth, it put the Coons down 4-0 and looked like they were done for the day. The impression was true. Jones clicked off batter after batter, retiring 16 straight after Petracek’s 2-out single in the third inning, only to be replaced by closer Steve Rob in a non-save situation, which puzzled even the home crowd. For a moment, it looked like the Aces might be punished for their blasphemous dealings when Shane Walter hit a pinch-hit single to lead off the bottom 9th, but Rob quickly choked Petracek, Ochoa, and Waggoner to end the game. 4-0 Aces. Walter (PH) 1-1;

I sure hope this is just an aberration and not a return to the olden ways.

Danny Margolis’ mystery 12-game hitting streak also ended in this shallow defeat.

Game 3
LVA: CF Hubbard – LF M. Pruitt – SS Burke – 1B Toledo – C D. Rice – 2B R. Walsh – RF Erickson – 3B A. Perez – P M. Ortíz
POR: 2B Walter – CF Johnson – 3B Nunley – RF Waggoner – LF DeWeese – SS McKnight – 1B Young – C Denny – P Morrison

Hubbard continued to cause trouble, hitting Morrison’s second pitch for a long homer to right. A Rich Walsh double, a wild pitch, Arturo Perez’ RBI single and stolen base, and Ortíz’ own single ran the score to 3-0 in the second inning, and for the 25-year old Perez this was the first plate appearance of 2017. While Morrison failed to cope at all with the lineup he faced, DeWeese at least got the Coons on the board with a solo shot in the second inning, but they stranded the tying runs in scoring position in the third. Walter had been hit and Johnson had doubled with two outs, but Nunley rolled out to short. Morrison at least denied the Aces a potential run in the fourth inning by getting Walsh out at third base on Ortíz’ bunt, but other than that he looked like fodder and was hit for in the bottom 5th with Ochoa, yet to no great effect.

Chun allowed singles to Erickson and Perez to start the sixth. Ortíz bunted them over, after which the Aces were denied runs when Young swiped a howling liner by Hubbard and Pruitt popped out to short. Technically the game was still close at 3-1, but the Raccoons just weren’t putting up any pressure at all, being out-hit by the Aces, 11-3. Waggoner hit a leadoff single in the bottom 6th, but two quick outs later was still on first base. Then Young singled. And then Denny singled. Bases loaded. **** it, bring Margolis. He’s quaffed some odd dark magic potion, maybe he can hit one where they ain’t. He struck out. Nope, it would be Hubbard to come through with two outs, ramming a 2-run double to right off Mathis in the eighth inning to put the game away for good at 5-1. Danny Munos put two men on to start the bottom 9th just to toy with the home crowd as he walked Denny and allowed a single to Petracek. Steve Rob appeared for the top of the order, with the tying run in the on-deck circle. He retired two before feeling something and leaving the game, but Steve Chilcott retired Alex Duarte, hitting for Nunley, to end the game. 5-1 Aces. Waggoner 2-4; Petracek (PH) 1-1;

In other news

May 16 – The Wolves get mauled by the Gold Sox, going down 17-4. DEN Piet Oosterom (.268, 0 HR, 18 RBI) has four hits, scores four times, and drives in six.
May 17 – TIJ SP Andrew Gudeman (0-2, 2.74 ERA) might be out until the All Star Game, spraining an ankle after a most awkward tumble off the mound in a game against the Thunder which the Condors end up losing 9-2. The 23-year old Gudeman had no part in that, leaving in a scoreless game in the second inning.
May 17 – SFB RF/LF Chris Almanza (.255, 7 HR, 30 RBI) might miss over a month with a knee sprain.
May 18 – Sacramento’s SP Noah “Bloody” Bricker (4-2, 3.22 ERA) shines with a 2-hit shutout against the Warriors, holding them scoreless in a 4-0 game.

Complaints and stuff

We were in sole possession of first place for one night, then everything stopped again and they scored one run from the last few games on the weekend. They are really disgusting.

We also don’t know what’s wrong with Brownie once again. Might be old age. Could have to be put down. The Druid won’t say anything definitive right now, he always says “could” and “might”.

In lesser notes around the league, Ryan Miller hit a 3-run walkoff jack for the Bayhawks on Monday, beating the Falcons 7-4 in the 11th inning. Why couldn’t he do that when he was with us? Okay, he’s batting .244, so it’s not like it’s an everyday occurrence…

Jonny Toner leads the league in two triple crown categories. He could lead it in three if we had ANY batter with a qualifying number of plate appearances who batted for more than a .750 OPS (Walter), and after that the next-best is actually Denny at .712 … bloody ****.

But hey, bright sides – nobody’s under .200 anymore! Yeeah, whoooo! SLAPPY, WHERE’D MY BOOZE GO???