[Westheim]

Raccoons (73-52) @ Titans (45-78) – August 22-24, 2017

The Titans were certifiably awful, having allowed 650 runs already, which was good enough for 5.3 per game, and they had the worst rotation in the CL. The offense was mediocre, plating the ninth-most runs, and their run differential was -140. By record, they were the worst team outright in the ABL, and the Raccoons were 8-4 against them this season, and needed to start beating the bad teams before facing the good teams again…

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (9-4, 2.82 ERA) vs. Jose Fuentes (4-11, 4.82 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (15-6, 1.69 ERA) vs. Alfredo Collazo (1-7, 6.44 ERA)
Nick Brown (4-2, 4.30 ERA) vs. Zach Boyer (11-8, 2.69 ERA)

We started this series (facing three right-handers) after an off day on Monday, kicking off a string of 13 straight games. And I can’t help but the middle game looked like one of those 1-0 losses again…

Game 1
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – 1B Young – P Santos
BOS: CF Mata – 3B T. Thomas – 1B S. Butler – C T. Robinson – RF Branch – 2B Holt – LF Cesta – SS J. Stephenson – P J. Fuentes

Fuentes had 88 walks in 130.2 innings coming into this game, which was not something that made a manager happy, but the Coons didn’t draw one the first time through. That didn’t mean they didn’t score. Walter’s single, Tiger’s double, and DeWeese’s sac fly plated a run in the first, and by the third inning, Fuentes was about to drown in runners. Cookie and Walter led off with singles to get to the corners, after which Mendoza flew out to right. DeWeese and Nunley walked in full counts, which pushed in a run, Joe Stephenson narrowly missed McKnight’s grounder that made it to leftfield for a 2-run single, but Fuentes got the last two outs from the bottom of the order. Overall, he didn’t even last through the fifth inning, and the Titans were not very impressive offensively. Somehow they piled three singles for a run onto Santos in the fourth inning, and that was about all they did against him, but he did run a few full counts that depleted his pitch allotment considerably and he was over 90 pitches after six. The top 7th saw the Raccoons load the bases again, all with one out against Jeff Lyon, as Walter singled, Mendoza walked, and DeWeese singled. Nunley ran a full count and then drew a run-scoring walk for the second time in the game, but the score remained 5-1 when McKnight lined out to Jasper Holt and Mike Denny whiffed. Santos got two more outs in the seventh before bumping up against 100 pitches, and with left-handed batter Mike Cesta up – who made his major league debut in this game – we sent our own debutee, Ryan Nielson, who got a grounder on his second pitch, and the last one he threw in his debut game. Waggoner hit a pinch-hit homer, which was something of a specialty of his, while Chun and Ramirez put the game away largely panic-free. 6-1 Coons. Carmona 2-5; Walter 4-5, 2B; DeWeese 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Waggoner (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Santos 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (10-4);

Game 2
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Margolis – 1B Young – P Toner
BOS: CF Mata – 3B T. Thomas – 1B S. Butler – C T. Robinson – RF Branch – 2B Holt – LF Blake – SS J. Stephenson – P Collazo

Cookie took his 20th base of the year after a leadoff single in the first, came home on Mendoza’s single, with Mendoza moving up on a groundout and scoring on Nunley’s single. All singles went to rightfield, and at least Toner suffered another shutout loss at the hands of a pitcher with roughly four times his own ERA. Which didn’t mean that he didn’t inexplicably get shredded. After Tim Robinson hit a leadoff single in the bottom 2nd, he walked the bases full, then conceded runs on singles by Jonathan Blake and Alfredo Collazo (…!), with a Stephenson sac fly in between. Alex Mata singled, putting them on the corners again, but Tom Thomas finally struck out to end the inning from hell, with three runs across and the Titans 3-2 ahead. That lead didn’t live for long; Cookie and Walter opened the third with a double and a triple, respectively, and although it took a throwing error by Jasper Holt to get Walter home, the Coons were back in the saddle. But the baseball gods giveth, and they taketh away – Toner remained badly hittable and lacked stuff. That McKnight put Robinson on with a throwing error of his own in the bottom 3rd was certainly no help, but the howling double that Ezra Branch hit off Toner right afterwards tied the game again at four, and singles by Collazo (…!!!!), Mata, and Steve Butler gave them another lead in the bottom 4th, 5-4. Branch homered in the bottom 5th for the sixth and final run off Toner (five earned), after Margolis had grounded out to leave the bases loaded in the top of the inning. Holt made another error in the seventh inning that didn’t lead to anything for the Coons, and then ANOTHER error in the ninth, which put Adam Young on second base with nobody out, and brought up the tying run in pinch-hitter William Waggoner. He singled to right, Cookie singled to center, and Young came in, with runners on first and second and no outs. Walter whiffed, Tiger walked, putting the tying run 90 feet away, and then DeWeese popped out to first, and Nunley lifted out to right to end this one with an all too predictable loss. 6-5 Titans. Carmona 3-5, 2B, RBI; Nunley 2-5, RBI; Waggoner (PH) 1-1; Reed 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

I knew it, right away.

I hate the universe. I hate this entire team. I hate everything.

Except one thing. Boooooozzzze.

*hcks*

Game 3
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – RF Waggoner – C Denny – SS McKnight – P Brown
BOS: RF Branch – 3B T. Thomas – 1B S. Butler – C T. Robinson – CF Blake – 2B Holt – LF Mata – SS J. Stephenson – P Boyer

Cookie hit another leadoff single, stole another base, and scored only with two outs when DeWeese tripled to center. That 1-0 advantage didn’t hold, because Jonathan Blake was brought around to score after a HUGE double in the second inning, but Jasper Holt would soon make his fourth error of the series at a very unfortunate time for the Titans, blowing Mike Denny’s grounder that could have been an inning-ending double play in the fourth, but now loaded the bases with one out for McKnight, whose liner to left was out of Mata’s range and fell in for a 2-run double, but with two remaining in scoring position neither Brownie nor Cookie managed to make meaningful contact and the score remained 3-1 in the inning, but Boyer was rolled up for good in the fifth. Mendoza and DeWeese hit back-to-back doubles, both off the centerfield wall, and Nunley and Denny hit RBI singles to get to 6-1. While Blake hit a dinger off Brownie in the fifth, Nunley remained his best friend, making a strong play in both the fifth and sixth to keep the Titans far away, while also opening the scoring off reliever Brett Dill in the seventh with a single. Waggoner tripled, which was the real key knock in a 2-run inning that got the Coons to 8-2. Brownie opened the bottom 7th with a walk to Butler, who was nailed by Waggoner at third base when Robinson singled to right. Blake then hit sharply to third, where Nunley started his second double play of the day. Both defense and pitching eroded completely for the Titans in the eighth, as they made two more errors (for five in the game) and issued three walks, allowing three runs once Mike Denny hit a 2-run single to right, and three more runs were put on Kenichi Watanabe in the ninth, in the bottom of which Nick Brown continued to throw baseballs, having expended only 90 pitches so far. Branch grounded out to Mendoza, Thomas flew out to left, and when Butler reached on an infield single, we weren’t too concerned. Tim Robinson bounced back to Brownie on pitch #101, and Brownie threw to first to seal a complete game effort. 14-2 Brownies!! Mendoza 2-5, BB, 2B, RBI; DeWeese 3-5, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Nunley 3-6, RBI; Johnson (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Denny 2-5, BB, 3 RBI; Brown 9.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (5-2);

The Indians matched our results every day, so the gap never changed from one game.

Raccoons (75-53) vs. Aces (62-65) – August 25-27, 2017

The Aces had won their last four games, but their run differential (-32) still hinted at a team that should be a few more games under .500 than it currently was. They were third in offense, but tenth in pitching, with the second-worst rotation in the Continental League, right next to the Titans’. The Coons led the season series, 4-2.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (16-9, 2.95 ERA) vs. Manuel Ortíz (8-10, 4.49 ERA)
Bruce Morrison (8-13, 4.43 ERA) vs. William Hinkley (7-10, 5.09 ERA)
Hector Santos (10-4, 2.76 ERA) vs. Juan Valdevez (7-12, 4.37 ERA)

Three more right-handers, none too intimidating, but we already lost to Alfredo Collazo this week, so…

Game 1
LVA: 2B R. Walsh – LF Hubbard – 1B T. Ramos – RF Hamilton – SS Burke – C D. Rice – CF McCullough – 3B A. Perez – P M. Ortíz
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – RF Waggoner – C Denny – SS McKnight – P Abe

Abe threw one ball to the first six batters he faced, retiring them all, but Kevin McCullough opened the third with a double and scored on Arturo Perez’ sharp single. Waggoner’s throw home was late, and Perez moved to second, scoring on productive outs. The Coons also had two of those after McKnight’s leadoff double in the bottom 3rd, but remained down 2-1. The Coons struggled against Ortíz, while Abe also had McCullough on to lead off the fifth, and once he danced around that problem, Tony Ramos opened the sixth with a single. He was on second with two outs and tried to score on Danny Rice’s single, but was thrown out at home by DeWeese’s mighty arm. Greed helped the Critters in the bottom 6th, which was led off by Cookie. He lined to left center, and Jimmy Hubbard could have taken it on a bounce for a single, but tried to get it on the fly. He ended up missing the ball, and not by just a little, and Cookie had a leadoff triple, but nobody came to his aid to keep the inning rolling. Mendoza’s sac fly tied the game, but that was all.

McCullough had his third leadoff base hit of the game in the seventh, this time of the infield variety, but was left stranded on second base once Rich Walsh fouled out. Abe threw only 80 pitches, but was replaced for the eighth with three left-handed bats coming up. Thrasher had a 1-2-3 inning against the 2-3-4 batters, despite Bobby Diersing pinch-hitting for Hubbard. He fouled out, and Thrasher whiffed Ramos and Matt Hamilton. Ramirez also held the Aces dry in the ninth, but there was hardly anything drier than the Raccoons, who had only four hits and no walks in eight innings against Ortíz, who remained active for the bottom 9th, which opened with Shane Walter. Maybe the Aces should have gone to the pen; Ortíz walked Mendoza and Nunley, and Waggoner hit a soft 2-out single that didn’t allow Mendoza to come home. Denny jerked the first pitch he saw to deep right – this was game over, regardless of where it landed. It landed on the grass, as the Coons walked off. 3-2 Critters! Waggoner 3-4; Abe 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K;

Indy lost 8-1 to the Bayhawks, which levelled the race for the North – virtually.

Game 2
LVA: 2B R. Walsh – LF Hubbard – 1B T. Ramos – RF Hamilton – SS Burke – C D. Rice – CF McCullough – 3B A. Perez – P Hinkley
POR: CF Carmona – 3B Nunley – RF Mendoza – LF DeWeese – SS McKnight – 1B Young – C Denny – 2B Petracek – P Morrison

The Raccoons got a quick start with singles by Cookie and Nunley. While the two big guys whiffed and grounded out, respectively, McKnight sent a floater to shallow center for a 2-run single in support of Morrison, who probably needed ten runs of support to make me feel mildly okay about the game. As was to be expected, he was torn to pieces as early as the second inning. Brent Burke singled, Rice walked, and McCullough remained unretired in the series and wonked a 3-piece to right center. That was not enough, with two outs Morrison allowed singles to everybody, starting with the opposing pitcher. The bases were loaded for Tony Ramos, who grounded out to Petracek on the first pitch. To increase his standing, he got Petracek forced out with a pathetic bunt attempt in the bottom 2nd, and continued to invite the Aces on invade home plate. Defense held him together, and when Petracek was on first again in the bottom 4th, he failed AGAIN to bunt. Petracek remained alive this time, advanced on a balk by Hinkley, and then scored on Cookie’s double to right, tying the score at three.

At least Bruce Morrison struck out McCullough in the fifth, which ended a 6-for-6 run for the centerfielder in this series. Somehow, Morrison lasted six innings to claim a no-decision, but had allowed nine hits and three walks as his annoyance factor grew and grew and grew. Ryan Nielson was sent into the top 7th, with the three left-handed bats up that Thrasher had been tasked with the night before. He retired nobody, allowing singles to Hubbard and Hamilton while walking Ramos. One run was already across, but Jayden Reed got a double play from Burke and got out of the inning. If only the Raccoons could find the tying run somewhere! Not against Hinkley, who lasted seven, and the Aces sent a decent southpaw into the eighth in Alex Morin, who allowed a single to McKnight, but otherwise handled the middle of the order. The Coons remained down 4-3 into the ninth and were to face righty Steve Rob. Petracek struck out before Walter hit for Thrasher and found the gap in right center for a double. To the shock of about 25,000 people, Cookie fouled out on a 2-2 pitch, and Nunley went down looking. 4-3 Aces. Carmona 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; McKnight 3-4, 2 RBI; Walter (PH) 1-1, 2B;

The Indians of course won. The auto-loss Morrison is totally costing us. The Coons have lost eight of Morrison’s last nine starts……

Game 3
LVA: 2B R. Walsh – LF Struck – 1B T. Ramos – RF M. Hamilton – SS Burke – C D. Rice – CF Flack – 3B DuFrane – P Valdevez
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – RF Johnson – C Margolis – P Santos

The Aces hit the ball quite hard off Santos in the first innings, but the first run of the game would be the Coons’ after three 2-out singles by McKnight, Johnson, and Margolis in the bottom 2nd. Walter hit a dinger in the next inning to get to 2-0, while Santos remained erratic. He issued a leadoff walk to Tony Ramos in the top 4th – which was only the third Aces runner despite hard contact, due to strong D on the home lot’s part – and then the battery somewhat broke down, advancing Ramos to third base on a passed ball and wild pitch during Hamilton’s at-bat, which ended with a K after all. Burke fouled out and Rice bounced back to Santos to end the inning, as the Aces left their gifted runner on third base.

The 2-0 lead was not a comfy one, and Santos was the main reason for that. The Aces continued to make sound contact, like Rich Walsh did with two men on base in the fifth. Brandon Johnson made a fantastic play, and also caught Geoff Struck’s fly to fairly deep right to end the inning. Struck then looked bad again, creating a trench in the outfield when he missed Santos’ liner to left in a headlong dive. Santos ended up with a triple(!) in that bottom of the fifth, and Cookie’s 1-out single to center plated him for the third Portland run. Cookie was then caught stealing (like McKnight earlier in the game), which was double-bad once Walter walked and Mendoza homered to left center, by which time it officially cost the Coons a run. Matt Hamilton finally touched Santos with a solo jack in the sixth that had been in the air for the last 90 minutes, and there was no doubt over his tremendous shot to right that landed in the upper rows of the stands out there. Flack hit a leadoff single in the seventh but was caught stealing by Margolis, which held the Aces down in this inning, which was also Santos’ last. Nielson was at it again in the eighth, and one day after retiring nobody and taking the loss he retired the 1-2-3 batters in order, but walked Hamilton in the ninth before departing. Chun walked Danny Rice, and Chris Mathis entered the game. He hadn’t pitched at all this week, and this was not a save situation thanks to the Coons scoring a pair in the bottom 8th around a McKnight triple. Mathis went 2-0 on Flack before the centerfielder singled to centerfield. The Aces blundered by sending Hamilton around and he was thrown out at home by Cookie. The Coons nailed down the game and the series when Howie DuFrane grounded out to Mendoza on the first pitch he saw. 7-1 Furballs. McKnight 3-4, 3B, RBI; Johnson 2-3, RBI; Santos 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (11-4) and 1-3;

To everybody’s amazement, the Indians lost to the Bayhawks again, which flattened the two teams again. Oh the tension!

In other news

August 22 – While three games in the CL end with walkoffs (NYC over MIL; OCT over SFB; LVA over CHA), two FL games end with 10-run routs, the Rebels beating the Blue Sox 10-0, and the Scorpions upending the Gold Sox, 11-1.
August 24 – OCT LF Ron Alston (.321, 14 HR, 54 RBI) will miss a month with a knee injury. Information has leaked that he suffered the injury on the golf course.
August 24 – The hitting streak of Richmond’s Alberto Rodriguez (.334, 13 HR, 88 RBI) ends at 22 games with an 0-for-4 effort in a 2-1 win over the Blue Sox.
August 27 – Power play in the Rebels’ 9-6 win over the Pacifics, as the teams combine for seven home runs, including two apiece by Richmond’s Justin Cramer (.251, 8 HR, 49 RBI) and L.A.’s Errol Spears (.304, 15 HR, 58 RBI).

Complaints and stuff

Highlight of the week, probably Nick Brown’s 29th complete game. Matt Nunley had a share in that, but then again we could afford to leave him out there in a tremendous rout of the Titans.

The Raccoons offense has found its way into third place in the CL by now, having plated 594 runs. Only the Bayhawks (628) and Knights (658) have more. Significantly more.

We will play the Condors to start next week before facing the Indians on a 4-game weekend. We will have a tiny hidden advantage, since the Indians have to include a makeup game in their midweek series with the Knights and will arrive starved for pitching until rosters expand for the second game of our series. But, oh well, Morrison will start the opener, so it’s probably a moot point…