[Westheim]

Raccoons (40-22) @ Buffaloes (27-35) – June 11-13, 2018

15 games out in the FL East, the Buffaloes were struggling with their pitching staff. They had the second-worst rotation in the Federal League, and the bullpen was not that much better, giving them the fourth-most runs allowed in the FL, while their offense could not make up for the damage. They were only eighth in runs scored, last in home runs, but first in stolen bases – if they ever got on base (11th in OBP, they were quite dangerous). The Raccoons had been swept the last time those two teams had faced another in 2015.

Projected matchups:
Ricky Mendoza (5-3, 4.12 ERA) vs. Mike Baker (5-2, 3.77 ERA)
Ryan Nielson (2-1, 3.80 ERA) vs. Alberto Molina (5-5, 4.06 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (9-2, 2.24 ERA) vs. Frank Guggenheim (2-4, 4.71 ERA)

They only have right-handed starters, so that’s that, but we should hurry up with the runs. They have three left-handed pitchers in the bullpen, including Luis Beltran (0-1, 3.81 ERA), who was a Raccoon from 2007 through 2011, although there’s only one full season in that string. He’s now 38, not having made his major league debut until 27 years of age. He was sent to Washington in the reliever flip integrated in the Cookie Carmona trade.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – CF Duarte – 2B Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – SS McKnight – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – C Denny – P R. Mendoza
TOP: 2B Hernandes – C J. Rodriguez – LF B. Adams – CF Sanborn – RF Piepoli – SS Gray – 1B Traylor – 3B Weber – P Baker

Back-to-back doubles by Tyler Gray and Zack Traylor to start the bottom of the second inning erased the run that the Raccoons had stumbled into in the top of the same frame, when DeWeese had reached base on a fielder’s choice, stole second, and scurried home from there when the Buffaloes figured that with two strikes on Denny and two outs, everything would be fine. Denny singled, but the lead was not forever. Nunley’s flyout to left stranded a full set of runners in the top 3rd, and in the bottom of the inning Ricky Mendoza also had the bases loaded, but with one out, having walked a pair for four walks total in the game. So much for the Buffaloes struggling to reach base… Gray bounced a ball back to the mound for Mendoza to get an out at home, but the inning continued when Gray beat out the throw to first. Zack Traylor found the gap with a liner into left center that became a bases-clearing double, and the Raccoons were 4-1 in arrears, which was nowhere near the final tally. Mendoza was stampeded for another four runs in the bottom of the fourth, with Saverio Piepoli’s 3-run bomb to left the final nail in his coffin.

In a twist, Mike Baker would not qualify for the win, getting hopelessly stuck in the fifth inning. He blew through 100 pitches as he loaded the bases with two outs, eventually issuing four walks of his own. Dave Flores replaced him, threw a wild pitch and walked DeWeese, but Denny rolled out to Gray at short to once again strand a full set of runners. They had another situation with the bases loaded in the seventh, this one with no outs after a Mendoza single and two walks issued by southpaw Bobby Dean. The score at that point was 9-2, so largely irrelevant, and Joey Mathews had replaced Ronnie McKnight at short for a mysterious injury the shortstop had suffered. DeWeese struck out (Jackson did not pinch-hit for him since he would not be able to take the field afterwards), but Denny singled to right center for two runs to score. They scored two more in the eighth on a Matt Nunley double, and that still wasn’t enough to get even reasonably close to the Buffaloes anymore. 9-6 Buffaloes. Walter 2-5, 2B; H. Mendoza 1-2, 3 BB; McKnight 2-3; Mathews 1-1, BB; Denny 2-5, 3 RBI; Schroeder 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

If Hugo Mendoza draws many more walks, I will choke him to death and collect insurance. Guy drives me absolutely nuts. Does he even know he’s in the middle of the order? Does he ever feel the urge to swing!? It is almost a month since his last home run!! His last dinger came on May 18!!

Continuing his season-long futility was also Cookie Carmona, who got six at-bats in the game and struck out, struck out, struck out, popped out, grounded out, and finally grounded out to end the game. At this point, we might have to consider the market for chopped-up pieces of him covered in chocolate.

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – CF Duarte – SS Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – 2B Mathews – C Denny – P Nielson
TOP: 2B Hernandes – 1B Madrid – C Salas – RF Piepoli – CF Sanborn – LF Nickel – SS Humphres – 3B Weber – P Molina

Cookie and Duarte opened the game with singles to go to the corners, with Cookie scoring on Shane Walter’s grounder to first that was taken to second for a fielder’s choice by Willie Madrid. Mendoza then hit into a double play, staying useless at all cost. A Joey Mathews triple in the second came with two outs and found no takers, while the Buffaloes were on top of Nielson in the second inning. Robby Humphres’ single to left plated Piepoli with one out. Piepoli had hit a leadoff double to center, and Nielson had walked Justin Nickel. The inning ended on a K and a pop, but I had a bad feeling about this 1-1 contest… and within reason. Just like Mendoza the day before, Nielson managed to be 4-1 behind after three innings, courtesy of three more base hits including a 2-out, 2-run double by Justin Nickel, and the Buffaloes would just keep adding to that tally of theirs. Todd Sanborn was the only left-handed bat opposing Nielson, but raked a leadoff double off him in the fifth, and Nielson didn’t help himself by moving Sanborn to third with a wild pitch – his second such pitch on the day. That run scored, and another run scored in the sixth, although that was unearned after a Nunley error, which would not stay the only such error in the inning…….

Nope, this was not a fun game. I knocked myself out with some cheap fuel-based booze that made your stomach burn, your eyes wet, but erased all memories, while DeWeese just barely caught up with Nickel’s drive to left to end the bottom 6th with two men left on. Normal teams would create excitement by ripping three straight base hits off the opposing starter to begin the seventh inning, but while the Coons had two in scoring position and no outs, with the tying run at the plate after Mathews’ RBI double, that was DENNY at the plate, and the entire lineup was stuffed with DENNYS. Nickel could not catch up with Denny’s soft line to left, which fell for an RBI single, 6-4, runners on the corners, no outs. Margolis batted for Kaiser with the bench picked thin and hit a sac fly, 6-5. When Cookie stepped in, the skies opened. It had drizzled earlier in the second and third innings, but now it poured, and the tarp came onto the infield while the game went into an hourlong delay until that storm passed through. When play resumed, Cookie grounded out, Duarte doubled off Beau Barnaby, but Walter grounded to second for the last out, stranding runners in scoring position. The Buffaloes loaded the bases in both of the next two innings, first against Chun, then against Thrasher, and never scored an insurance run, which was absolutely BEGGING for a ninth-inning comeback, with the Coons unfortunately sending the bottom of the order against right-hander Lawrence Rivers and his 4.02 ERA. Mathews grounded out, Denny struck out, Eddie Jackson fouled out. 6-5 Buffaloes. Carmona 2-4; Duarte 2-4, 2B; Mathews 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Here would be a salty comment, but due to benzene poisoning I don’t feel like moving and might burst into flames any second. Let the games continue!

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – CF Duarte – SS Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – C Margolis – 2B Petracek – P Toner
TOP: 2B Hernandes – 1B Madrid – LF B. Adams – RF Piepoli – C J. Rodriguez – CF Nickel – SS Humphres – 3B Weber – P Guggenheim

Duarte singled, stole second base, and scored on Mendoza’s triple to right in the first inning, as the Raccoons took the 1-0 lead for the third time in the series. So far they had held on to zero of those leads, and they needed Jonny Toner dearly to save them from yet another sweep at the hands of the Buffaloes. But… oh well. Marco Hernandes singled on Toner’s first pitch, stole second and reached third on Margolis’ ****ing up the throw which had to be contained by Duarte in center, and Willie Madrid’s single tied the game right away. Bill Adams also singled, with the go-ahead run scoring on a groundout by Piepoli. Toner threw a wild pitch before the nightmare was over, and the Raccoons now trailed even after the first inning, and trailed 4-1 an inning earlier than in the other games in the series. Toner walked a pair in the bottom 2nd, then allowed back-to-back RBI singles to Madrid and Adams. Bottom 3rd: Rodriguez singled, Nickel walked, Humphres singled, three on base and nobody out. Toner struck out Henry Weber before Guggenheim grounded into a double play, but WHAT THE **** WAS GOING ON???

With 64 pitches thrown through three absolutely terrible innings, Toner wasn’t going to get very far in this game, nor was his performance anybody wanted to witness for longer than absolutely necessary. There was an off day after this game, I was sure the bullpen would find a way to recover somehow from the four to six innings they had to pitch EVERY ****ING DAY. Top 5th, Petracek drew a leadoff walk. Toner bunted him over, but Cookie’s liner to right ended up with Piepoli. Then Duarte singled to score the runner, and Walter drew a walk. Two outs and the tying runs on for Mendoza, who was getting mighty close to a homerless month, but his absolutely morbid performance continued. He drew another one of his ****ing walks, and it was left to Nunley to fly out to Nickel in center to end the inning with three men stranded. By contrast, the Buffaloes bowled over the sorry remains of Toner in the bottom of the inning, starting with a Piepoli single and a Jose Rodriguez double. Both scored, and with Weber on first and two outs, even Guggenheim hit a single, the 11th of Toner on the day. That was the final straw to yank him. Wade Davis inherited runners on the corners, served up a 2-run double to left to Hernandes, and the score bloomed to 8-2. The Raccoons only managed six hits the entire game and were completely swept under the rug in a crushing sweep. 8-2 Buffaloes. Duarte 4-5, RBI;

Coming into the series, the Raccoons’ catchers – while having no other credentials at all – had thrown out runners at a 39% (Denny) and *60%* (Margolis) success rate. The Buffaloes took four bases from Denny on Tuesday, and Margolis had his own issues in this game, and were never thrown out even once.

The good news also just kept coming. The Druid left a note for me at the hotel reception in Indianapolis on Thursday night, not daring to tell me in person that Ronnie McKnight was out for the season with a torn back muscle.

We sent for Ricky Moya, a versatile defender, to join us from St. Petersburg, where he had hit absolutely nothing so far this season, while McKnight was terminally shunted to the DL, and I had a hunch that this also terminally shunted our entire season onto a dead track.

Raccoons (40-25) @ Indians (33-33) – June 15-17, 2018

The Indians weren’t quite over their recent spill and certainly weren’t scoring any run, so the potential for a series of 2-1 ballgames was high. Or maybe the Raccoons would get blown out 7-0 three times, because slowly but surely, all their tools seemed to disappear. They were ninth in runs scored (Coons: 8th, four runs ahead), and fourth in runs allowed (Coons: 1st, but for how much longer?). Indy also had a top 3 rotation since midweek when the Raccoons’ starters had imploded in absolutely every game against the Buffaloes and had dropped their starters’ ERA to fourth in the CL. The Raccoons so far had a paw up in the season series, which stood 3-1 in their favor.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (4-2, 2.32 ERA) vs. Dan Lambert (4-4, 3.34 ERA)
Ricky Mendoza (5-4, 4.92 ERA) vs. Felipe Ramirez (3-5, 4.57 ERA)
Damani Knight (1-1, 4.97 ERA) vs. Tristan Broun (6-3, 1.66 ERA)

Broun was a left-hander, so Sunday could be written off for a multitude of reasons.

The Coons are not the only CL North team with a flock of injuries to starters. We had Abe, Brownie, and McKnight down, while they were long-term without John Wilson, Jong-beom Kym, and Aaron Nelson. The first two’s absence from the lineup was definitely felt, but we were only beginning to explore a Ronnie-less lineup for ourselves. Not to ignore the defensive impacts. We could certainly cover short, but we had nobody with the sterling glove that he possessed. Shane Walter was probably the starter at short, although Ricky Moya figured to get some playing time and if he hit at least .200, he could make a case for the job… Yup, standards are dropping. ANY guy that hits ANYTHING can have a job right now.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – CF Duarte – SS Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – 2B Mathews – LF DeWeese – C Denny – P Santos
IND: 1B O. Torres – CF D. Morales – LF Genge – RF Gilmor – SS Matias – C Garner – 2B Eason – 3B Dahlke – P Lambert

When Mathews hit a 3-2 pitch through the right side of the infield in the second inning, it scored Hugo Mendoza from second base. The Clawless Kitten had been hit by a pitch, and not actually hit a ball, but the Coons scored the first run of the game for the fourth time this week. So far they were 0-3, but here they went 3-0 when R.J. DeWeese cranked a homer to right on a 1-2 pitch by Lambert, his first dinger in almost two weeks (but Mendoza was going on four…). The lead was immediately cracked with Santos allowing hard contact more or less constantly. Randy Garner hit a single in the bottom 2nd, and Kym’s replacement Bobby Eason whacked a shot to left for a 2-run homer, 3-2. It only got worse after that. Nunley struck out to strand runners in scoring position in the top 3rd, an inning that had started with Carmona popping out on a 3-1 pitch. Santos also started facing the top of the order and simply didn’t retire anybody. He walked Oliver Torres, then allowed a single to Danny Morales, a double to Lowell Genge, and a single to Nick Gilmor, which gave the Indians a 4-3 lead with runners on the corners. Nunley took Raul Matias’ grounder for a double play, but that still scored another run. Santos sadistically hit a 2-out single in the top 4th to give the Coons runners on the corners with Mathews on third base, but Cookie grounded out to first on an 0-2 pitch.

Santos fudged his way through five, then was hit for in the sixth inning with Eddie Jackson, who had DeWeese on second and Denny on first with one out; both had hit singles off Lambert. Jackson got him beat as well as Morales in center with a long drive hit on 1-0 that reached the warning track and bounced off the wall for a double. Morales got a good bounce and Denny had to he stopped at third, bringing up an ice-cold Ricardo Carmona with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. It was certainly time for him to come through in any way – and he did! Lambert’s 112th pitch, a 1-0, was lined hard to shallow center, Denny scored, Jackson scored, and the Raccoons were up, 6-5! Jason Clements replaced Lambert, but the ground swallowed him whole. Duarte and the Tiger both hit RBI doubles, and Nunley’s bouncer eluded Eason for a single to right, with Mendoza scoring from second, completing a 6-run comeback for the Coons, who held a 9-5 lead, but had to find 12 outs from their constantly pestered bullpen. Matt Schroeder got only two outs while putting two men on, and Ron Thrasher got an early appearance with pinch-hitting switch-hitter Marcos Garza appearing in the #9 hole. Thrasher handled the seventh, but allowed a leadoff double to Nick Gilmor in the bottom 8th, his last scheduled batter anyway. Mathis replaced him and axed away the next three batters on a pop, a grounder, and a strikeout. Although this was not a save situation (and the Coons had not added anything in the late innings), the ball went to Ramirez in the bottom 9th, since he was the last vaguely rested guy in the pen. He held the Indians to a Danny Young single in the inning, thanks to the defense kindly helping out in form of Cookie’s mad dash after Tom Dahlke’s drive, and Nunley made a strong play on Morales’ quick bouncer to end the game. 9-5 Furballs. Carmona 2-5, 2 RBI; Duarte 2-5, 2B, RBI; Walter 2-5; H. Mendoza 2-4, 2B, RBI; Mathews 2-4, BB, RBI; DeWeese 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Jackson (PH) 1-3, 2B, RBI; Thrasher 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

There was a shakeup in the Indians rotation. Tristan Broun was moved up into the middle game, evicting Ramirez from there.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – CF Duarte – RF Jackson – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Walter – 2B Mathews – SS Moya – C Denny – P R. Mendoza
IND: 1B O. Torres – CF D. Morales – LF Genge – RF Gilmor – SS Matias – C Garner – 2B Eason – 3B Dahlke – P Broun

The Coons did NOT score the first run of the game! Matias hit a leadoff jack off Ricky Mendoza in the bottom 2nd to put the Indians 1-0 ahead, and Mendoza allowed two singles right after that, but a few poor pops kept the Indians in check and only 1-0 in front. With the Raccoons largely soul-searching against the tough Broun, Mendoza allowed two singles to Danny Morales and Lowell Genge to start the third, then threw a wild one past Denny in his bid to be absolutely no help whatsoever. Somehow, the Arrowheads got only one run out of runners on second and third with no outs, Gilmor’s sac fly to left plating that, before Matias flew out to center and Garner struck out. Bobby Eason’s homer made it 3-0 in the fourth while the Raccoons netted three hits, all singles in the first five innings against the dominant Broun. The nominal Tiger came up as the tying run in the sixth after a Cookie single and an error by Matias (gotta take what you gonna get), but struck out to end the inning. Somehow, the other Mendoza was even less embarrassing in his quest to get blown out, which he never accomplished. The Indians had runners on the corners in the bottom 7th with one out, and right-hander Danny Morales – embedded between left-handed batters – was Mendoza’s last man for sure. Morales’ hard grounder went right to Ricky Moya at short, and from there to second and first for an inning-ending double play, leaving Ricky Mendoza with a mildly palatable final result of three runs in seven innings, although he had deserved to be bled some more. Denny hit a leadoff single in the eighth, but Broun kept that run on first base the entire inning. Helio Maggessi replaced him in a save situation in the ninth inning. DeWeese batted for Jackson to start the inning and was the first of three very poor and very quick outs. 3-0 Indians. H. Mendoza 2-4;

Five hits, all singles. No Raccoon ever touched third base. I saw that coming, by the way.

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – CF Duarte – SS Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – 2B Mathews – LF DeWeese – C Margolis – P Knight
IND: 1B O. Torres – CF D. Morales – LF Genge – RF Gilmor – SS Matias – C Garner – 2B Eason – 3B Dahlke – P F. Ramirez

Cookie singled, stole second, then was left to die in the first inning. Genge also tried to swipe a bag after walking in the bottom of the inning, but Margolis threw him out, giving him seven skulls of runners to hang on his belt out of the dozen that had run on him this season. The top of the third would see the Raccoons reach third base (yay!), despite the inning beginning badly with Duarte’s hard liner to center being caught by Morales. Walter then singled to right and Felipe Ramirez walked the next two to fill the bags for Mathews, who struck out, but DeWeese hit a liner to right center for a 2-run single. Damani Knight made the last out with a grounder to Eason after Margolis was walked intentionally, but he also made it through three innings with only one hit allowed, a Dahlke single, and the Raccoons were in business again in the top of the fourth. Cookie had another leadoff single, stole second again for 20 bags on the season, and went to third on Duarte’s infield single. Walter’s blooper to right fell in front of Gilmor, Cookie scored, 3-0, but the Kitten struck out. Nunley grounded out to first, moving the runners into scoring position for Mathews, who this time came through, splitting Morales and Gilmor with a liner for a 2-run double! Ramirez struck out DeWeese, but that was the last out he got. He was yanked after Margolis’ hard leadoff single to left in the fifth inning. Replacement Pablo Sanchez surrendered the run on a Cookie double, 6-0 in the middle of the fifth, which also as far as Damani Knight had a really good game. That ended in the bottom 5th with leadoff singles by Garner and Eason and a walk issued to Dahlke. Three on, nobody out, switch-hitter Marcos Garza in the box. Kid, ya gotta find a way outta there. We can’t have the pen pitch another half a game. DID YOU JUST WALK GARZA?? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU LITTLE ****???

With that run shoved in, the pen went scurrying, but things actually improved when Oliver Torres sent a hard liner to left. DeWeese caught that, the Indians sent Eason, and DeWeese hammered him out at home plate, two outs in one go. And the inning WOULD have been over – if some Mendoza idiot at first hadn’t bumbled Morales’ grounder for an error. Two more runs ended scoring; one on the error itself, and another one on Genge’s single to right, before Gilmor flew out to center, the once formidable lead soiled down to 6-3, two runs unearned. Torres would then drop Eason’s throw on Mendoza’s grounder to start the top 6th with a free runner for Portland, as things descended into Little League ball, or worse than that. Mendoza stole second base and ended up scoring on Mathews’ single to center with one out, 7-3. Knight made it through a quick sixth, then put Dahlke on with a leadoff single in the bottom 7th, but Domingo Ortega cleaned up with a grounder to short, 6-4-3. Knight then crapped out for good, issuing consecutive walks to Torres and Morales, and with the big left-handers coming up, Ron Thrasher was bothered and had to put down his comic book to do some work. The count on Lowell Genge ran full, but Genge froze on a 3-2 pitch at the knees and got rung up – inning over. Turned out, the Indians did not get another base runner. Thrasher struck out Gilmor to start the eighth before Chun got two outs. He would have gotten the ninth as well, but his spot came up to bat with Moya on base and two outs in the top 9th. Jackson struck out for him, but Chris Mathis retired the Indians in order in the bottom of the ninth. 7-3 Critters. Carmona 3-5, 2B, RBI; Walter 2-5, RBI; Mathews 2-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Moya (PH) 1-1;

Should Damani Knight be mentioned in the postgame dispatch? He went six and two thirds, and allowed only one earned run. The two unearned runs don’t score if Morales gets his **** together. However, he allowed five hits and five walks, and struck out none. He was covered in lucky clover leaves for this one.

In other news

June 12 – Sacramento’s 2B Ricky Luna (.283, 6 HR, 27 RBI) runs a hitting streak to 20 games with two hits in a 5-3 win over the Falcons.
June 12 – LAP CL Arturo Lopez (1-0, 0.81 ERA, 12 SV) is out for a year with a torn rotator cuff.
June 12 – The Crusaders-Wolves game sees both teams put up a 6-run inning, with the Crusaders also plating nine runs in the eighth inning to crush the Wolves, 19-8.
June 14 – The hitting streak of SAC 2B Ricky Luna (.280, 6 HR, 27 RBI) ends with a hitless day in a 3-2 defeat to the Wolves. Luna had hit in 20 straight games.
June 14 – After knocking another for nine runs each in the first seven innings, Canadiens and Loggers then hold still for the next seven innings. Sean McDermott’s (.211, 1 HR, 10 RBI) walkoff double hands the Loggers a 10-9 win in 15 innings.
June 14 – The Loggers send two minor leaguers to Atlanta to acquire RF Jimmy Raupp (.183, 5 HR, 18 RBI).
June 16 – Knights LF/CF Marty Reyes (.265, 9 HR, 37 RBI) is out for three weeks with torn ankle ligaments.
June 16 – For odd reasons, the Falcons suffer an 8-0 shutout at the hands of the Aces despite out-hitting them 9-6. Even weirder, the Aces score all their runs in the seventh inning, which sees them draw four walks in addition to four base hits.
June 17 – SFB INF Zach Ingraham (.283, 5 HR, 26 RBI) is bound to miss a month with a knee sprain.
June 17 – The Thunder trade SP Fernando Estrada (5-3, 3.23 ERA) to the Gold Sox for two prospects.

Complaints and stuff

Sean McDermott, who had that 15th-inning walkoff double against the Elks on Thursday, was Player of the Week in the CL, batting 14-for-30 with that lone RBI. For the season, he is batting a miserable .232, so perhaps there is some kind of thawing progress involved here.

Unpleasant week. The Buffaloes series was a complete blow to morale and my sanity. At least we recovered against the Indians, and the Crusaders went only 3-3, so the damage was limited. Next week the damage could be much more substantial as we return home for a 3-game set against the … Crusaders. Things will have to click then! I don’t expect a sweep, but we should take two of three to keep them off our backs.

Problem is, right now you don’t even know which Jonny Toner is going to show up. He has three games without allowing a run in his last six starts. Problem is, he also allowed 16 runs in the other three games combined. Wednesday was a real stinker…

The McKnight injury is a terrible blow and we can not cover for that loss. Even moving Shane Walter to short and Mathews to start at second, you lose both offense and defense. Moya is not even that great a defensive shortstop, but better than Walter. There aren’t any other strong options. The thing is, trading for a strong defensive shortstop will be impossible given our lack of prospects, and we have other holes on the roster, too. Might try and see whether Eddie Jackson is worth anything, because that’s the only piece I can see us cutting loose right now and it not immediately crushing us. The original plan was to trade for a starting pitcher given that three out of five of our starters right now are more or less duds, and that’s not a rate at which a playoff team can go at.

Uh boy, that’s gonna be a long summer…