[Westheim]

Raccoons (92-64) @ Loggers (67-89) – September 25-27, 2017

While I was considering the damned Elks the bigger threat to our high goal of making the playoffs, with history and all, the crummy Loggers shouldn’t be underestimated. They were only sixth in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed with a hearty -48 run differential, but they hadn’t played badly against the Raccoons at all, and still had a shot at claiming the season series – and wrecking all our hopes and dreams in the process – with the series so far only standing at 8-7 in the Coons’ favor, and the Critters hadn’t actually won a series against the Loggers since April.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (21-9, 3.05 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (2-0, 2.35 ERA)
Bruce Morrison (8-13, 4.62 ERA) vs. Jason McDonald (12-15, 4.04 ERA)
Hector Santos (12-6, 2.58 ERA) vs. TBD

The first two were right-handers, while the Wednesday starter would be southpaw Luis Guerrero (8-16, 3.70 ERA), but he had left his last start with shoulder problems and the Loggers had yet to announce the starter for that game. Maybe he pitches, maybe not. They already had four more or less important pitchers on the DL, so pitcher’s health had been quite on the bad side for them this season. Another option was Victor Scott (10-8, 3.70 ERA), another southpaw, who had been slotted to the bullpen in September.

Tadasu Abe opened the week with 21 wins and two starts left (also getting the season finale in Vancouver on Sunday). No pitcher in franchise history has ever won more than 21 games. The only other pitchers to reach the mark have been Scott Wade (1989) and Kel Yates (2007). Jason Turner (1995) and Nick Brown (2004, 2010) are the only pitchers to reach 20 wins.

Game 1
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – 1B Young – P Abe
MIL: 3B Landeros – SS Konrath – LF LeMoine – C O. Castillo – 1B E. Scott – RF Gore – CF Coleman – 2B Betancourt – P Prevost

Both teams only had a single in the first three innings, but Mendoza opened the fourth with a double to rightfield. Prevost, a fourth-round pick in the 2014 draft that was in his rookie season and made only his second start, nervously balked, allowing DeWeese to plate the runner with a sac fly to Brad Gore in right. Little was happening until Shane Walter’s leadoff double in the sixth inning. Scared of Mendoza’s 137 RBI, the Loggers put him on intentionally, but the purpose was somewhat defeated when Prevost’s first pitch to DeWeese was wild and moved the runners into scoring position. DeWeese, in a full count, hit another sac fly to Gore, and then Nunley was put on intentionally in a game of oddball. Whatever works; McKnight and Denny were struck out by Prevost to end the inning. Chris LeMoine would single – only the Loggers’ second base hit – in the bottom 6th, bringing up Orlando Castillo with two outs. Castillo had spoiled many of the Raccoons’ efforts in the teams’ last meeting, and hit a deep drive to center here, but Cookie took care of that. Cookie also hit a 2-out single in the seventh, took second base by force, and scored on Walter’s single to right, 3-0.

While the Raccoons tacked on two runs in the top 8th thanks to Mike Denny’s homer off Carlos Michel, Abe also got stuck in the bottom 8th. He left the game with one out and runners on second and third, courtesy of a single by David Betancourt and a Victor Hodgers double. In a crazy move, Ryan Nielson came out of the pen to face Cameron Konrath, who doubled right away to plate the runners, and LeMoine, who grounded out to Walter, moving Konrath to third. Jayden Reed then retired Castillo, ending the eighth, and the ninth quickly saw Michel overturned. Margolis singled after entering in a double switch, Cookie walked, and Walter singled to load the bases with no outs. Troy Charters, the Loggers’ sorry excuse for a closer, appeared, a right-handed pitcher against left-handed sluggers, and the Coons killed him. Mendoza doubled to plate two, DeWeese walked. Nunley hit an RBI single, McKnight hit a sac fly, and Reed was retained to pitch the bottom 9th. He hit a single through Elijah Scott, and also scored a run. That was the last run that scored, but the bases were eventually left loaded when Cookie lined out hard to LeMoine. 10-2 Raccoons! Walter 3-5, 2B, RBI; Mendoza 2-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; DeWeese 1-2, BB, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-4, BB, RBI; Young 3-5; Margolis 1-2; Abe 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (22-9); Reed 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, SV (4) and 1-1, RBI;

This wasn’t the only rout in CL play, as the Indians upset the Titans, 9-1, or in other words, scored more runs on Boston in that one game than we managed over an entire weekend. The gap remained at 1 1/2 games.

Cookie had a 12-game hitting streak after going 1-for-5.

Elsewhere, the Scorpions clinched with Dave Hogan (7-8, 4.73 ERA, 1 SV) tossing them a 6-**** shutout. The Rebels failed to clinch on Monday, losing the opener of a 4-game set against the Cyclones, their direct opposition.

Game 2
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – C Denny – 1B Young – P Morrison
MIL: RF Hodgers – SS Konrath – LF LeMoine – CF Cooper – C O. Castillo – 1B E. Scott – 3B Landeros – 2B Betancourt – P McDonald

Bruce Morrison hadn’t thrown a pitch in anger in weeks, but it really didn’t show in his work on the mound here, which was just as embarrassing as before. The Loggers made hard contact five times in the first inning, and the one time they didn’t make hard contact, Castillo walked. Once, hard contact was to be understood in that Morrison beaned Cameron Konrath. Spectacular catches by Mendoza and DeWeese held the damage to one run in the first, and somehow worked around leadoff walks in the second (to blind-as-a-bat Ruben Landeros) and fourth (Elijah Scott), despite all the hard contact he allowed. The Coons had Cookie thrown out at home in the third inning, which would have been an unearned run after a David Betancourt error, and still trailed 1-0 in the fifth, when Scott made a bad throwing error that put Adam Young on second base with one out. Morrison grounded out, as did Cookie, and Young was left on third base. After that unhelpful performance, Morrison crapped out for good in the bottom of the inning. While he got the first two Loggers, Andrew Cooper and Orlando Castillo then hit sharp singles and he walked Scott. The count ran full on Landeros, who walked to push in a run, and then Betancourt hit a blooper to shallow center to score a pair. When McDonald grounded to short, McKnight threw away the ball to reload the bases, but Morrison didn’t live to see it, yanked instead in favor of Ron Thrasher, because this had to stop NOW. Hodgers struck out, indeed.

At this point, the Indians sealed a 2-1 win in Boston, and unless the Raccoons could make up their 4-0 deficit the Indians would gain control over their own fortune again. They could tie the Coons on our off day on Thursday, and could then force a game 163 just by winning all their games. The starter for that would be Hector Santos on short rest… or Morrison.

Nunley’s sac fly in the sixth got the Coons on the board, but wasn’t good enough, and in the seventh Walter grounded out to strand Ricky Moya and Cookie on the bases. McDonald would finish eight innings with a crisp and clean retirement of Mendoza, DeWeese, and Johnson in the eighth inning, but the Loggers then had to fall back on Troy Charters, who had accounted for waving five runs across on Monday. Little less would do for the Coons in that ninth inning, trailing 4-1. McKnight drew a leadoff walk, but then Charters struck out Ochoa, Duarte, and Moya in order. 4-1 Loggers. Walter 2-4; Mendoza 2-4, 2 2B;

Down to half a game now in the lead department. Up to level 19 in the panic department.

Game 3
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – RF Johnson – C Denny – P Santos
MIL: RF Hodgers – SS Konrath – LF LeMoine – C O. Castillo – 1B E. Scott – 3B Landeros – CF Gore – 2B Betancourt – P R. Mendoza

Ricky Mendoza (10-10, 5.06 ERA) pitched on short rest in the rubber game, and allowed two runs in the first inning. Cookie singled to extend his streak to 14 games, then took his 30th base of the season before scoring on Walter’s double. Shane Walter ended up scoring on a wild pitch. While Santos was perfect the first time through the order, the Raccoons upped their score to four runs by the third inning. Mendoza hit a 2-out single, DeWeese got hit, and Nunley doubled them in, and Matt hit another RBI double his next time up, this time with only Mendoza on base. Ricky Mendoza was removed after allowing five runs in as many innings when the Coons walked Betancourt intentionally with Scott on second base and two outs in the bottom 5th. Andrew Cooper hit for him, but grounded out to Santos, who ended up with seven shutout innings, stranding two on base again in the bottom 7th and again by retiring a left-handed pinch-hitter in the #9 slot as Juan Ortíz popped out to shallow left. Santos was removed on 85 pitches, which probably wouldn’t get him to a shutout anyway due to his limited stamina, but there was the active threat of a tie-breaker game on Monday, and I wanted him to be available on short rest… The alternative? Bruce Morrison, or ****ing Damani Knight for all I know. No controversy arose from the early removal of Santos, fortunately. Ryan Nielson faced five batters and retired four of them, and John Korb was 2-for-2 in the bottom 9th. 5-0 Critters. Mendoza 2-5, 2B; Nunley 4-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Santos 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (13-6) and 1-3; Nielson 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Unforunately, the Titans just kept losing. Tristan Broun threw eight shutout innings in a 2-0 Indians win on Wednesday, and they had their game in hand on Thursday, which they won 6-4, evening the division after their 4-game sweep.

Also a 4-game sweep: the Cyclones-Rebels series, with the Cyclones stubbornly refusing to yield. They are now three games out with three to play.

In the North, the Raccoons now had to venture to extremely hostile territory, the snow-covered, frost-bitten wastes of Vancouver. The Indians were in New York for the final weekend.

Raccoons (94-65) @ Canadiens (71-88) – September 29-October 1, 2017

The Elks had owned the Raccoons in 2017 (and many years prior), leading the season series 9-6. The best the Raccoons could still achieve was a tie, and they would probably need that to stave off the Indians. The Elks would love nothing more than to play final spoilers, and would happily disregard their league-worst offense and their mediocre pitching to drive the final nail into a coon-sized coffin.

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (17-9, 1.95 ERA) vs. Bill King (2-10, 4.76 ERA)
Nick Brown (8-3, 4.43 ERA) vs. Samuel McMullen (13-12, 2.73 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (22-9, 3.03 ERA) vs. Steve Kreider (11-11, 4.58 ERA)

Not liking that Saturday matchup. Handedness will match for all games.

William Waggoner rejoined the team off the DL for this series.

Game 1
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – RF Waggoner – C Denny – P Toner
VAN: 2B Rinehart – 1B Fellows – LF Cameron – RF K. Evans – CF Cowan – SS Lawrence – C R. Lewis – 3B Tellez – P Bi. King

McKnight popped out to leave the bases loaded in the top 1st before Jeff Rinehart hit a hard single and Mike Fellows walked on four pitches in the bottom 1st. No panic, said Jonny, and struck out the three left-handed batters in the middle of the order. Mike Denny pulled a solo shot in the second to give Jonny a 1-0 lead, and in the third McKnight batted again with the bases loaded and this time one out. He flew out to center, Shane Walter tagged, went, and was thrown out by Joe Cowan. It was a highly uncomfortable 1-0 lead that Toner held. He stranded somebody in scoring position in each of the first three innings, and after the Elks went down 1-2-3 in the fourth, they were on the corners in the fifth again. Fellows had drawn another walk and Don Cameron had singled, but Toner struck out Kurt Evans to end the inning. That gave him 11 K and 94 pitches after five innings…

Toner’s spot to bat came up with with two outs in the sixth. Nunley had doubled (and had not been retired since Tuesday) and was on third base, with Waggoner 90 feet behind following a walk. Scott Hanson had already replaced King, was 1-1 against Toner, but the third pitch went through Russell Lewis’ legs for a passed ball that plated Nunley and extended the lead to 2-0. Toner flew out to Evans to end the inning. Cowan, the ****head, then opened the bottom 6th with an infield single and was in scoring position with two outs. Jonny so far had stranded them all right there. Cesar Tellez grounded to the right side, Walter didn’t get it, and it was through into rightfield. Waggoner took long to get to it, and Cowan scored, 2-1. Jonny struck out PH Manlio Varone to get out of that inning, but now was close to 120 pitches, and we had Ron Thrasher get ready, but that plan changed in the top 7th, with left-hander Orlando Valdez getting torn to shreds by the lineup. Mendoza reached, DeWeese homered. Nunley reached, McKnight homered. 6-1 all of a sudden. We went to Nielson instead in the bottom 7th to face the top of the order. Rinehart grounded out, but Fellows singled. Fellows was the only right-handed bat up there, so the plan was still good. Nielson struck out Cameron and Evans to end the inning, and was retained to bunt Mike Denny to second base when the backstop led off with a single in the top 8th. The Raccoons ended up putting two more runs on Joe O’Brian (who once was part of the trade for Cookie Carmona) in the inning. While Cowan homered off Nielson in the bottom 8th, the Elks were not going to clamber back into this game. 8-2 Furballs!! Carmona 2-6; Walter 2-4; Mendoza 4-5, RBI; Nunley 3-4, BB, 2B; Denny 2-4, HR, RBI; Duarte (PH) 1-1; Toner 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 12 K, W (18-9);

R.J. DeWeese drew a bases-loaded walk off O’Brian for his 100th RBI of the season. Also, Cookie struck out three times before getting a hit to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.

The Rebels finally clinched the FL East on Friday.

And the best news: the Indians blew a seventh-inning lead against the Crusaders and took a 7-5 loss, which gives the Raccoons back a 1-game lead, which they might need, looking at the middle game pitching matchup. New York hitters whacked five homers in that game.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – RF Petracek – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – SS McKnight – CF Duarte – 2B Moya – P Brown
VAN: 2B Tellez – 1B Fellows – RF K. Evans – C Little – SS Lawrence – LF Rocha – 3B Grooms – CF Rinehart – P S. McMullen

A Chris Grooms error put Nunley and Mendoza in scoring position in the first inning, but Denny struck out in a full count to keep them on base. Brownie issued two walks to Tellez and Fellows as his start got underway, and when Kurt Evans grounded back to him, he only got the out at second base. Morgan Little grounded sharply to second base, and Ricky Moya turned the double play to end the inning in 4-6-3 fashion. The game was scoreless through three innings, and the Elks had no hits, which should not be understood as an indicator of Brownie’s sharpness. In fact, any Sharpie might be sharper than Brownie…

In an odd pitching duel it was only the second base hit of the game when Alex Duarte singled with one out in the fifth. He never moved off first base, and the Coons couldn’t get to McMullen. Any error by Brownie could and would be fatal, and it didn’t take long. Mario Rocha had the Elks’ first hit, an infield single with one out in the bottom 5th. Grooms singled hard to right, sending Rocha to third base, and then Jeff Rinehart lined right past Mendoza for an RBI double. The Elks were in business, and after Sam McMullen blooped a 1-2 pitch into shallow center for a 2-run single and ran the score to 3-0, the Raccoons very much weren’t anymore. Brown drilled Fellows to start the sixth inning, that run ended up scoring as well, and when the Raccoons had Duarte and Moya on base with two outs in the seventh, Shane Walter pinch-hit and struck out. The Coons then brought up the tying run in the eighth inning, loading the bases with two outs after singles by Nunley and Mendoza saw the Elks send Scott Hanson to face Denny. DeWeese replaced him, walked, and the Elks turned to Orlando Valdez, a left-hander, against Ronnie McKnight, who on the first pitch grounded out to Tellez. Valdez ended up putting runners on the corners when he walked Duarte and allowed a 1-out single to Waggoner in the ninth inning. Pedro Alvarado appeared to face a hitless Ricardo Carmona, who fouled out, and Petracek, who rolled to Tellez on the first pitch. 4-0 Canadiens. Nunley 2-4; Duarte 1-2, 2 BB; Waggoner (PH) 1-1;

Stale taste in my mouth. Might be blood.

The ONLY good news: Martin Ortíz’ walkoff home run off Jarrod Morrison, that kept the Indians a game behind. At least we have the perpetual winner Abe – and Pitcher of the Month of September in the CL with a 5-0, 3.66 ERA output – up in the rubber game and finale. What on earth can go wrong?

Game 3
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – RF Waggoner – C Denny – P Abe
VAN: SS Lawrence – 1B Fellows – LF Cameron – C Little – CF Cowan – 2B McNeal – RF E. Garcia – 3B Tellez – P Kreider

McKnight and Waggoner hit 2-out singles in the second and got stranded when Joe Cowan caught up with Denny’s drive to centerfield, while Morgan Little opened the bottom 2nd with a double and was left on third base when Shane Walter found a way to dig out Enrique Garcia’s slow grounder on the infield for the third out. After doubling to left the first time, Little doubled to right his second time up. This one came with Mike Fellows on first base and in motion after drawing a leadoff walk, and Waggoner’s throw wasn’t going to get him. The Elks took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, but at least the Indians’ Kyle Lamb had already bled a few runs in New York, and the Indians might not even force a tie-breaker game.

Relying on that would be foolish, but maybe there would be no other choice. Garcia hit a leadoff single in the bottom 5th, Abe walked Tellez, and then Kreider hit a liner to left for an RBI single. The Elks ended up getting three runs in the inning for a 4-0 lead when Lawrence bunted the runners over, Fellows hit a sac fly, and Cameron hit an RBI single. Abe was hit for leading off the sixth, but Brandon Johnson grounded out in his place. Cookie was then plunked, which was one way to get on base, and the Coons finally managed to smack some balls after that. Walter tripled, Mendoza doubled, two runs scored, but Mendoza was left on third when Nunley lined out to Lawrence, who at least injured himself on the play. Meanwhile we were watching Cookie just about to enter a slump. He had looked bad the entire series, and when the Raccoons had the tying runs on base in the seventh inning, he embarrassingly rolled out to Fellows at first, ending the inning. John Korb allowed a pair of singles in the bottom 7th that led to a run on Thrasher’s watch, putting the Coons down 5-2, but they got the tying run to the plate against left-hander Juan Jimenez in the eighth. McKnight batted with two outs with DeWeese and Nunley in scoring position, but struck out. Top 9th, Frank Yeager pitching for the Elks, a right-hander with a 20.65 ERA in 5.2 innings. Perhaps a nominal comeback chance for the Critters! Waggoner got drilled to start the inning before pinch-hitters Ochoa and Duarte both struck out. Cookie batted in a 3-1 count and grounded to right and past Steve Roundtree on second base, which put the tying run in the box again, but again with two outs. Shane Walter tried to maintain a .300 average, but his liner to left was caught by Dustin Tobin. Game over. 5-2 Canadiens. Young (PH) 1-1;

… and thus the Raccoons made the playoffs for the first time in seven years. The creaky old Crusaders salvaged a winning record from their disappointing (which might understate things) season and completed a 3-game weekend sweep of the Indians, beating them 7-3 on Sunday. They plated five in the first two innings and never were threatened again.

In other news

September 26 – Miners and Capitals enter extra innings without having scored a run. Both teams plate three runs in the 12th inning before the Capitals walk off in the 14th when rookie LF Chris Grubbs (.333, 0 HR, 6 RBI) hits a walkoff single off Matt Cash in the 11th pitch of their at-bat.
September 27 – SFB 3B Javier Rodriguez (.331, 5 HR, 49 RBI) reaches the 2,000 hits mark in a 10-6 win over the Knights. Rodriguez, 33, hits a single off Manny Chavez to reach the milestone. A 13-year veteran, Rodriguez has played most of his career for CL South teams, starting his career with the Falcons (with whom he claimed a ring in his rookie season in 2005) before a brief stop in Denver with the Gold Sox. He’s been with the Bayhawks since 2012. He was an All Star three times, won a Gold Glove, and once led the league in triples. For his career, he is a .300 batter with 66 HR and 732 RBI.
September 28 – A 7-run second inning and a 5-run fourth give the Crusaders a 12-0 lead over the Canadiens, who nevertheless threaten with a comeback and ultimately only lose 13-9.
September 29 – BOS SP Zach Boyer (14-11, 2.77 ERA) spins a 3-hit shutout over the Loggers in a 1-0 game.
September 30 – Dallas’ RF/CF Stephen St. George (.291, 11 HR, 87 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 7-5 win over the Gold Sox, plating four runs with his four hits, one of each kind. The 61st cycle in ABL history, this is also the league-leading sixth for the Stars after those of Samuel Serra (1977), Gustavo Infante (2000), Vitantonio Cavalleri (2003), Artie Barnes (2004), and Jorge Vera (2007). The Stars and Gold Sox combined have now been part of either the cycling or cycled-against end of the last four ABL cycles.
September 30 – The Condors plate two runs in the top of the 12th inning against the Bayhawks, but succumb to Chris Almanza’s (.250, 19 HR, 76 RBI) 3-run walkoff shot in the bottom of the inning, losing 7-6.
October 1 – The Falcons not only blow a 6-3 lead in the ninth inning, they allow seven runs to the Knights to take a 10-6 loss.
October 2 – MIL SP Luis Guerrero (8-16, 3.68 ERA) is expected to miss all of next season, requiring reconstruction surgery for a damaged elbow ligament.

Complaints and stuff

Cookie wins the batting title, and Raccoons take all three parts of the pitching triple crown – we just didn’t time it well. Also, Matt Nunley surged late to finish third in the batting race in the Continental League! Also, despite missing 46 games, Cookie still wound up third in stolen bases, and he even wound up seventh in OPS. He also led the league in triples with 13. DeWeese was t-6th in homers and fourth in RBI (and sixth in strikeouts). Santos finished second in ERA behind Jonny Toner (1.94!!), and Jonny also casually swept up the league leads in K/9, K/BB, OBAVG, FIP, and WAR. Santos beat him in WHIP, but finished only seventh in strikeouts.

95 wins are a perfectly good base for October baseball. The Critters’ average in World Series-winning seasons for regular season wins? 95: 99 in 1992, and 91 in 1993.

Never mind the three times they made the playoffs with actually 95 wins and never won the ugly pot of a trophy.

In the end, Hugo Mendoza batted .316/.403/.524 as a Raccoon, and knocked 13 homers and drove in 67. It’s really not what he hit for with the Stars (.355/.440/.659), but without him the Critters wouldn’t have made the show. And if I remember correctly, then my words were ‘I WANT TO GET INTO THE ****ING PLAYOFFS’. Well, we’re there. It might take another moment to really sink in.

Now wash over the last week, that really didn’t go as intended on most counts. Cookie crashed, Brownie crashed, the bullpen remains a mystery, and we technically have no closer. The Bayhawks won 102 and have a really scary lineup, but at least that lineup does not contain too many left-handers. Javy Rodriguez (Mr. 2,000) is the only dangerous lefty. There’s also D-Alex and Raul Claros. Our lack of a solid second southpaw in the pen will not be a major problem… I think.

We talked a bit about 21 wins and such, but who is the only Raccoons pitcher to ever lose 21 games in a season? In fact, that poor sod is the only Coon to lose more than 18 games in a season.