[Westheim]

Raccoons (80-61) @ Loggers (80-62) – September 9-12, 2019

The moment of truth probably had arrived. Should one of the teams manage to get swept, the division would probably be over for the year. Neither the Coons nor the Loggers had been anywhere remotely near dominant in the last couple of weeks, both were dealing with injuries in numbers, and those Indians were coming closer. The Coons still held a 9-5 lead in the season series over the Loggers, who ranked third in runs scored and runs allowed, with a +102 run differential. The Raccoons were tied for seventh in runs scored, and still led the league in runs allowed, with a +111 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Guerrero (10-7, 3.48 ERA) vs. Julio San Pedro (9-10, 4.19 ERA)
Cole Pierson (9-12, 3.57 ERA) vs. Ian Prevost (14-8, 2.65 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (10-8, 3.02 ERA) vs. Ron Bartlatt (11-10, 3.30 ERA)
Hector Santos (12-10, 2.80 ERA) vs. Chris Sinkhorn (6-6, 3.94 ERA)

Right-handers from Monday through Wednesday, and the southpaw Sinkhorn on Thursday.

The Loggers are missing Chris LeMoine (.281, 26 HR, 97 RBI) and Ian Coleman (.303, 5 HR, 45 RBI) from their lineup, and the Raccoons were still down Andy Bareford, Danny Margolis, and Jonny Toner.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 3B Nunley – CF DeWald – P Guerrero
MIL: 2B Stewart – SS Burns – RF Gore – 3B Velez – LF Hodgers – 1B P. Turner – CF Tesch – C Wool – P San Pedro

Guerrero’s first pitch hit Tyler Stewart, who right away stole his 36th base of the season, and it wasn’t long before Brad Gore smashed a pitch by Guerrero to right, deep and deeper, for a 2-run homer. That was his 11th of the season, and the Raccoons were immediately in arrears. The good thing was that they were facing a pitcher with a worse-than-average ERA and secondary stats that hinted at him having been lucky to have arrived even there. The Coons loaded the bases in the third inning with nobody out as Cookie singled, Walter walked, and McKnight singled, and unfortunately that brought up Dumbo Mendoza, who hit a ****ty soft fly that didn’t even get Cookie home from third base, and then DeWeese and Denny struck out. Always the same, always the same with this team. Cookie popped out to Kyle Burns to strand Kevin DeWald in scoring position in the fourth inning, and then the fifth started with consecutive singles by Walter and McKnight, bringing up Mendoza again. The capitally lost ex-slugger ran a full count before bouncing a ball to Alberto Velez, opening up the Raccoons for all kinds of terrible things once more, except that Velez overran the ball, was assessed an error, and the Coons had the bases loaded with no outs for the second time in three innings. This time, they got San Pedro. DeWeese rolled a single past Pat Turner for the first run, Denny walked to tie the score at two, and then Nunley hit a soft single to center to score the go-ahead run, Mendoza. San Pedro was yanked at that point, with left-hander Carlos Michel coming in with the bases still loaded and still no outs. Two more runs scored on his watch, with DeWald hitting a sac fly, and Cookie coming up with an RBI single with two outs.

Guerrero now held a 5-2 lead, but although the Loggers still only had that one hit well deep by Gore, they certainly had met other balls to make noise, but they couldn’t get them to fall in. They hit another few hard ones in the fifth, still with no success, and through six they remained one-hit, and actually had more errors than hits, too. The Coons chewed up Michel in the seventh, with DeWald hitting a single, stealing a base, Cookie walking, and both pulled off a double steal. Walter was walked intentionally to get to McKnight, although I failed to see the genius in that strategy, which soon turned into nothing more than an untimely move when Toby Wood’s very first pitch was wild and scored DeWald from third base, 6-2. McKnight worked an honest walk eventually, Mendoza hit an RBI single that plated Cookie while Walter was sent around third to score as well, but was thrown out by Victor Hodgers. DeWeese grounded out to Stewart, stranding two in scoring position in a 7-2 game. It took the Loggers until the eighth inning to log another hit, a 2-out single by Josh Wool, but that wasn’t greatly helping them. On the other hand, the Raccoons scored three unearned runs on Morgan Shepherd in the top of the ninth, with Pat Turner making the Loggers’ third error to their two hits. Guerrero did away with the Loggers on 101 pitches, not requiring assistance from the bullpen after the rocky start. 10-2 Furballs. Carmona 2-5, BB, RBI; McKnight 4-5, BB; Greenwald (PH) 1-1; Mathews (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Nunley 3-6, 2 RBI; DeWald 2-4, BB, RBI; Guerrero 9.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (11-7);

Guerrero, almost 30 years old, entered the season with four complete games in his career. This was his sixth complete game *this season*.

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – C Denny – 3B Nunley – CF DeWald – P Pierson
MIL: 2B Stewart – SS Burns – RF Gore – LF Hodgers – C P. Turner – CF Cooper – 3B Pagan – 1B Betancourt – P Prevost

Nobody scored in the first few innings, although the Critters had their chances. David Betancourt made an error in the first inning that was not exploited, and in the second they had Denny and Nunley on base only for DeWald to hit into a double play to end the frame. Pat Turner made a throwing error in the fourth inning when Mendoza tried to steal second base after walking, allowing Mendoza to reach third base with one out, but DeWeese whiffed and Denny fouled out in a full count to keep the Coons off the scoreboard. Both teams had only two base knocks apiece through five innings, and Nunley had both of the Raccoons’, but it didn’t get the team very far. After the DeWald double play in the second, Nunley got forced on a bad bunt by Pierson in the fifth, so that was that.

The serenity at this point was most likely to be blasted by a surprise homer, and Kyle Burns hit a deep drive to left to start the bottom of the sixth, but DeWeese made the catch at the wall. When Victor Hodgers drove a ball hard and high to right, no such saving catch could be made by Cookie – that ball was clearly and soundly gone, and the Loggers took a 1-0 lead. Nunley hit a 2-out double in the seventh, which DeWald answered to by striking out, then managed to misplay a drive to center by Andrew Cooper to give the opposing centerfielder a leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh. Pierson, lacking stuff, couldn’t cope with that either, and the Loggers moved their guy around to score on two productive outs. Pierson was gone after the inning, with Chun and Kaiser tasked to mix it up in the eighth. Chun got his two men, but Kaiser got taken deep by Brad Gore to extend the score to 3-0. Outside a pinch-walk by Roland Lafon in the ninth inning, the Raccoons had nothing to offer, and fell feebly to Ian Prevost, who got his 15th win with eight shutout innings, whiffing seven. 3-0 Loggers. Nunley 3-3, 2B; Pierson 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, L (9-13);

That makes seven defeats in his last eight games for Pierson, and by the time his next start will come around he will have gone two full months with only one victory claimed.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – RF Jackson – 3B Nunley – C Walker – CF Petracek – P Abe
MIL: 2B Stewart – 1B P. Turner – 3B Velez – CF Cooper – LF Hodgers – SS Tadlock – RF Buddin – C Redmond – P Bartlatt

Abe was also winless in the last eight contests he had started, but the Raccoons at least gave him some runs early on that he would have to manage. Mendoza and Jackson opened the second inning with singles, after which Nunley, who had gone unretired in the previous game when everybody else had been (almost) nothing but retired, fired a ball into the gap in left center for an RBI double. Walker struck out, but Petracek plated a run with a groundout, which had Nunley on third with two outs and Abe batting. Maybe the worst-hitting pitcher in the league, Abe drew a walk from a completely unnerved Ron Bartlatt, who then allowed an RBI single to Cookie Carmona to give the Coons a 3-spot before Walter grounded out. The Raccoons added a fourth run in the fourth inning, Petracek scoring from third base on a really sorry 2-out blooper into shallow center chopped by Walter, while Abe was not exactly perfect, but whenever somebody appeared on base for the Loggers he usually got a lucky break or a really good defensive play, like in the bottom 5th when he hit Judson Buddin with a 2-2 pitch, but then got a tailor-made double play grounder to short from Adam Redmond.

While Abe kept shutting out the Loggers through six (although his pitch count made an actual shutout prohibitive), the Raccoons got Cookie on with a leadoff single in the seventh. Itching to go, Cookie had witnessed Petracek being thrown out an inning earlier (except maybe if he had been sitting in the fridge, which happened from time to time with this team). He never got a steal attempt off under Redmond’s watchful pair of eyes while Walter flew out to left and McKnight went down looking. Mendoza then singled, sending Cookie to third, but Jackson hit a slow roller in front of home plate, and the inning would have ended if Redmond hadn’t slipped with his fingers when he tried to rip his mask off. Befuddled for only a split second, it was the difference that Jackson needed to leg out the poor grounder, while Cookie scored with the fifth run of the game, and all were the Coons’. Bartlatt game-overed at that point, while Toby Wood retired Nunley on a grounder to third, ending the inning.

Abe departed with runners on the corners and one out in the bottom 7th, having surrendered a walk to Buddin and a single to Redmond. Wade Davis came on and allowed hard contact to PH Brian Lautner and Tyler Stewart, but the Loggers kept getting unlucky and both were right at a defender, Cookie and Ronnie respectively. While Velez romped a solo home run off Will West in the bottom of the eighth inning to bring the Loggers back into slam range, Mendoza’s 2-run shot off James Silmon in the top of the ninth pretty much ended the game. While Ron Tadlock and Brad Tesch would hit doubles off Matt Schroeder to plate another run in the bottom of the ninth, this game was firmly the Coons’, Abe’s not-winning streak was over, and the Critters would also maintain the division lead throughout this series. 7-2 Raccoons. Carmona 3-5, RBI; Mendoza 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Jackson 3-5, RBI; Nunley 2-5, 2B, RBI; Abe 6.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (11-8);

Resting guys was still a thing and we had refrained from that so far in this series, but with a left-hander up in the Thursday game it was as good a point as any to rotate right-handers into the lineup.

Game 4
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Mathews – RF Jackson – 1B H. Mendoza – C Denny – 3B Nunley – CF Petracek – SS Lafon – P Santos
MIL: 1B P. Turner – SS Burns – RF Gore – 3B Velez – CF Cooper – 2B Krueger – LF Tesch – C Stickley – P Sinkhorn

Yes, Sinkhorn was a left-hander, but he was also walk-prone, and that could be an inroad for the Raccoons; indeed the first inning got going for them with Mathews walking, and Eddie Jackson and Dumbo Mendoza quickly came up with a pair of doubles to left for a 2-0 lead. Nunley would plate Mendoza with a 2-out single, 3-0, but also got the Loggers into gear in the bottom 1st, putting Burns on base after a gross throwing error; his offering to Mendoza actually missed first base by 15 feet. Santos labored on, getting Gore on a pop before Lafon mishandled Velez’ grounder to put Loggers on the corner on two errors. This was exactly the sort of thing you did NOT want to see, just ahead of the drive Andrew Cooper hit to right. Jackson with a soaring catch kept the 3-0 lead in one piece in the first inning – a marvelous play indeed!

Mess continued in the second inning. Jack Stickley hit a double to left with two outs, which was only half-bad since the pitcher came up. Santos promptly hit said pitcher, which put two men on base, and Pat Turner’s single chased home Stickley with the Loggers’ first run, 3-1. While the Coons scored two runs in the third with Denny tripling home Jackson and scoring himself on a wild pitch, Brad Gore led off the bottom of the inning with a double. Santos wild-pitched him to third base, from where he scored on Velez’ groundout, 5-2. Boys, this is serious! These games count double! Stop playing with your ****ing food!

Cooper got on with a single and stole second base, but finally Santos did something remotely resembling pitching and hung consecutive K’s on Gene Krueger and Brad Tesch to escape only the third inning. Sinkhorn didn’t appear for the fifth inning, with Toby Wood taking over, and sloppy ballplay continued on both sides unabated. Mendoza hit a fly to center with one out that Cooper dropped for a free base runner for the visiting team. Denny struck out against Toby Wood, but then Nunley cranked a ball to deep right with two outs and that was outta here, 7-2 for the Critters. Wood walked Petracek, then conceded a double to left to Roland Lafon that was enough for Petracek to score, 8-2, and things were getting really out of hand for Milwaukee now, but the Coons weren’t out of the weather yet. Santos’ pitch count had eloped early and he could not get deeper than six innings, and we had to turn to our bullpen, the never-ending box of wonders. Between Cowen and Kaiser, the Loggers got two on in the seventh, but Velez popped out in a full count to end that inning. But this turned out to be the Loggers’ last hurrah in this series. Kaiser delivered a spotless eighth, and with a 6-run lead in the ninth we dared to go back to Will West again, who this time was not only not scored upon, but also did allow a baserunner. 8-2 Critters. Jacson 2-5, 2B; Nunley 2-4, HR, 3 RBI;

PHEW. That went rather well overall, I guess. The Raccoons now have a 2 1/2 game lead and maybe even A BIT of momentum again. Maybe.

Raccoons (83-62) @ Aces (78-68) – September 13-15, 2019

The Aces were tied for the lead in the South, so it was not like this were suddenly going to be easy or something like that. They out-scored the Raccoons, ranking fourth in offense in the Continental League, and they had the second-least number of runs allowed, trailing only the Coons. Their run differential was +93. The season series was so far even at three games apiece.

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (10-3, 2.52 ERA) vs. Jason Clements (12-11, 3.70 ERA)
Travis Garrett (1-1, 5.06 ERA) vs. John Key (11-14, 4.49 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (11-7, 3.38 ERA) vs. Clark Johnson (2-2, 3.48 ERA)

Rejoice! Yes, it’s true! Jonny Triple Crown is back! While a triple crown is not in the books this season, there’s still enough room for a few decent starts and then winding up in the playoffs after all. Jonny had last pitched on July 2, so had missed about two-and-a-half months. In a pleasant departure from the swampy path trodden by most of the rotation, Toner also had a streak of winning decisions, four in total.

The Aces will send three right-handed pitchers (and they don’t have any other starters given that they have dropped G.G. Williams (6-4, 3.82 ERA) into the bullpen). Key an Johnson both pitched in a double-header on Tuesday, though, so we could see a flip or some rookie springing up out of nowhere.

Was it prudent to pitch Jonny Triple Crown on Friday the 13th?

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – 2B Mathews – LF DeWeese – C Denny – CF DeWald – P Toner
LVA: CF A. Martinez – LF D. Brown – 3B I. Alvarez – 1B M. Hamilton – RF Piepoli – C D. Rice – SS Navarro – 2B Arrieta – P Clements

In his first inning off the damned DL, Jonny had all Aces at two strikes, but whiffed none, having to settle for two pops and a grounder to Walter. However, that made for three outs, and results were all that counted now and here. Joey Mathews knew that and homered in the second to give Toner a 1-0 lead, but our star hurler soon found trouble in the bottom 2nd, starting with a walk to Matt Hamilton. After that, Saverio Piepoli and Danny Rice both struck out, but Toner walked Jose Navarro and hit Rich Arrieta to load the bases. Jason Clements was kind enough to strike out, but that had been an ugly inning. The Coons came up with add-on runs, although the one they scored in the third was basically Toner hitting a 1-out double and moving around on Cookie’s single and Walter’s groundout. DeWeese homered majestically in the fourth, 3-0, but Toner kept spilling runners, and had Rice and Navarro reach on a single and walk, respectively in the bottom 4th. Arrieta grounded out, moving them into scoring position with two outs, but Clements flatout beat Toner, hitting a sharp single to left to plate both runners and get the Aces back to 3-2.

Also, Toner’s pitch count was really and actually exploding; he needed 85 pitches through five, and that was with a rather quick fifth that only cost him seven pitches. Interesting things developed in the sixth inning. The Coons had had Walter on base with one out in the fifth and had been denied extra-base knocks to both McKnight and Mendoza when Armando Martinez redefined range for centerfielders, going extremely deep and almost to the wall for McKnight, and well into the gap in left center for Mendoza. In the sixth, DeWeese drew a 1-out walk before Denny doubled to left. The Aces called for DeWald to get first base for free in an attempt to maybe get Toner out of the game early. He was a .250 batter this season (.236 career), but had only a single RBI in 44 at-bats in ’19. With Santos on 85 pitches in this spot, he is batted for. Toner isn’t. And he struck out. And Cookie grounded out, leaving three men stranded. Toner got through the sixth, but that was all the magic for today. Kaiser and Charters got two outs each of the remaining nine, and with one out in the bottom 8th we moved on to Brett Lillis with the express intent to have him finish the game. Starting with Matt Hamilton, the Aces would send three left-handers in the next five batters, and that was exactly how many outs were needed. In an unpleasant development, Lillis put runners on the corners with a walk to Hamilton and a 2-out single by Rice (both left-handed…) before getting Jose Navarro to fly out to Petracek in right (with Cookie having been moved to left in a triple-switch).

While that 5-out save was out of the window for the moment, the Raccoons had their own situation with runners on the corners in the ninth. Petracek batted ninth and singled to left, with Cookie singling to right after that, both hits coming with one out off Alex Silva, a right-hander with decent enough numbers. The bid for an insurance run was semi-derailed when Walter struck out, but that was still preferable to his special move, a grounder to second for two. McKnight also fell behind, 1-2, but then rammed a single to right to chase home Petracek. Mendoza struck out, but there was an insurance run on the board now. Lillis remained in to face Arrieta, who flew out to deep center, then made way for Alex Ramirez, who had not pitched at all in the Loggers series and struck out Tony Perez in a full count, then got Armando Martinez’ blooper to left picked off the top of the grass blades by a sliding Cookie to end the game. 4-2 Furballs! Carmona 2-5; Petracek 1-1; Toner 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (11-3);

Not outrageous, but a job well done for Jonny in his return from medical hell. I can’t imagine what it is to get an eel therapy for a groin strain from the Druid…

Also, while the Coons had been assured to lead the division by week’s end by virtue of winning this game, the Loggers lost, extending our lead to 3 1/2 games.

Another gain off the DL: Andy Bareford rejoined the team for Saturday and went right into the lineup. We rested Cookie and Mendoza in this one, and those two were the last two regulars to not have gotten a day off this week.

Game 2
POR: 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – RF Jackson – SS McKnight – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – 1B Greenwald – P Garrett
LVA: CF A. Martinez – LF D. Brown – 3B I. Alvarez – 1B M. Hamilton – RF Piepoli – C D. Rice – SS Burke – 2B Arrieta – P C. Johnson

Nunley took Johnson deep in the first inning to give the rookie Garrett an early 1-0 lead, but Garrett wasn’t going to hold on to that for even one inning. He walked Armando Martinez at the start of his outing, then allowed a mighty 2-run shot to left center to Izzy Alvarez before even arriving at the real danger in the 4-5 slots. The same two guys were trouble again in the third, with Martinez hitting a leadoff single this time, and Alvarez reached on Greenwald’s error. Matt Hamilton drove in his 77th run with a single to center, Piepoli singled to right to load the bases, but Danny Rice hacked himself out and Jackson made a great play on Brent Burke’s line drive to right to end the inning with “only” a 3-1 deficit. And the Raccoons would lose this game, no doubt; the last hope was shattered by the fourth inning, when Eddie Jackson reached third base with nobody on thanks to a throwing error by Alvarez and a balk, and was not scored due to ****ty contact times three.

Garrett issued a leadoff walk to Arrieta in the fourth (and that game was really getting old…), and the Aces didn’t even bother bunting with their pitcher and nobody out. Johnson flew out to right, and that cost them a run, with Arrieta eventually being stranded on third base. Through five, the Coons had only two hits, but they got two more in the sixth inning, 1-out singles by Walter and Jackson to put the tying runs on base for McKnight, who ran a full count and laid off a pitch right on the corner. Or near the corner? Was it off? Was it a strike? It was NOT called a strike, McKnight walked, the bases were loaded, and the Aces manager was livid – trying to get into the playoffs himself – and was tossed after stomping around the field and yelling in the face of three of the four umpires, cleverly ignoring Bob Feldman at third base, who would call strikes, occasionally, in the Sunday game. The Aces also tossed their pitcher, bringing in former starter Stephen Quirion against Denny, who popped out on a 2-0 pitch, just before DeWeese flew out to Piepoli in right.

Garrett was also yanked after five and a third, walking Arrieta yet again for the final nail in the coffin. Denny caught Arrieta stealing to close Garrett’s line at three runs, and Seung-mo Chun got the Coons out of the inning, just before the scrubs at the bottom of the order knotted the score in the seventh. Bareford singled his way on, and then the unassuming Greenwald, who hadn’t collected a base hit since at least (and with that I mean the actual first Easter ever), wrapped a drive around the right foul pole the right way for a 2-run blast that got us even at three. Quirion faced Cookie batting for Chun, surrendered another single, and then another single to Walter that put runners on the corners with no outs. The Aces’ pen was scurrying, but nobody was ready to replace the failing Quirion. Nunley grounded out on the second pitch he got, moving Walter to second, and then Jackson got a free pass. Still on relief in sight, with McKnight batting with the bases loaded and one out, first pitch knocked sharply to right and past Hamilton! Piepoli was on it immediately and Walter wasn’t going to test his arm, but Cookie was home with the go-ahead run! Ken Chilcott NOW replaced Quiron, and the lefty would face Denny, who also hit a hard single to right to score another run, 5-3. Mathews batted for DeWeese, but Chilcott chased another run home on his own with a wild pitch. Mathews walked anyway, Bareford popped out, and with two outs, Greenwald singled to right, bringing home the sixth run of the inning. Cookie, who had pinch-hit with the inning in progress, got to bat again, fell behind 1-2 before singling to right again, Denny scored, Mathews raced hard for home, and Greenwald made for third, Piepoli with the throw back in, Arrieta cut it off and went to third, where Greenwald was nailed out, but not until after Mathews had scored. EIGHT IN THE SEVENTH!!! 9-3 in the lead, Portland!! The Aces were probably done, but they weren’t yet to give up just like that. Alvarez homered off Schroeder in the bottom of the inning to gnaw one run off the lead, and Wade Davis had a man on in the bottom 8th after Burke’s single to right, but when Arrieta hit sharply to Walter for a double play, it was indeed as good as over. Cowen pitched a scoreless ninth, and the Coons clinched the season series. 9-4 Coons! Walter 3-5; Carmona (PH) 2-2, 2 RBI;

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B H. Mendoza – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – C Walker – P Guerrero
LVA: CF A. Martinez – LF D. Brown – 3B I. Alvarez – 1B M. Hamilton – RF Piepoli – C D. Rice – SS Burke – 2B Arrieta – P Key

After little action in the first two innings, the Coons got Bareford and Carmona on with two outs in the third inning. Shane Walter hit a fly to left that tried to stretch but couldn’t, and Dan Brown made the catch close to the corner. When Arrieta hit a fly to left to start the bottom 3rd, DeWeese couldn’t get there, the Aces had a leadoff double and would unwrap another four singles on Guerrero in the inning, scoring two runs before they left the bases loaded on Danny Rice’s fly to left. Brown had quite the game in leftfield, also snagging a soft liner by McKnight to lead off the fourth that would fall in maybe 49 out of 50 times. Burke hit a leadoff double in the bottom 4th, Arrieta plated him with a single, Bareford threw home way too late and Arrieta got to second, then to third when Guerrero, in the process of turning into a bloody spot on the mound, threw a wild pitch through Owen Walker’s legs. Key struck out, but Martinez singled sharply to left, and after nine hits and four runs, Guerrero’s game was over. Martinez stole second base off Chun, who moved him to third with a wild pitch of his own, but struck out Alvarez before the Aces could get a fifth run for their collection. DeWeese got the Coons at least onto the board with a leadoff jack in the fifth inning, but things turned sour for good in the bottom 5th. Schroeder was in to pitch long relief, but retired nobody: Hamilton singled, Piepoli tripled, Rice walked, Burke singled. 6-1, two on, nobody out. Will West replaced Schroeder because things didn’t matter anymore and you gotta know when you’ve lost. His first pitch was hit really hard by Arrieta, but on the ground and right at Walter for an easy double play, and he struck out Key to escape the inning. Things got worse in the sixth. Armando Martinez had a leadoff single, then stole TWO bases off Walker before anybody made an out. Brown grounded out to the pitcher, keeping Martinez on, and then West drilled Izzy Alvarez, who was then caught stealing by Walker. Then West hit Hamilton! Walking Piepoli ended West’s outing and if there’s any justice in the world also ended his career. Lillis came in to strike out Rice to prevent things from getting completely out of hand. The Coons had men on base, but stranded pairs in the sixth and seventh, and Nunley hit into a double play in the eighth. John Key pitched into the ninth, arriving there with an 8-hitter, and while he retired DeWeese to open the frame, there was a noticeable drop on the radar gun and he was hauled in. Steve Rob finished the game with the final gap being six runs after Dan Brown’s eighth-inning homer off Adam Cowen. 7-1 Aces. Thomson (PH) 1-1, 2B; Jackson (PH) 1-1;

Eight hits by eight batters, and six pitchers in a tremendous mess. Guerrero allowed only one hit in the first two innings, then eight in the next 1.1 innings. I should not complain too loudly, because the Raccoons won a game just like that on Saturday…

Armando Martinez stole five bases in the series. Bloody son of a roadrunner!!

In other news

September 9 – Tijuana’s Casey Hally (11-7, 3.97 ERA) and Brian Gilbert combine for a 1-hitter of the Thunder. OCT C Jalen Parks’ (.281, 13 HR, 78 RBI) seventh-inning single spares them the no-hit shame, but can’t prevent the Thunder from losing, 4-0.
September 9 – SFW RF/2B Stephen St. George (.224, 4 HR, 35 RBI) breaks the Scorpions with a come-from-behind, game-winning grand slam in the eighth inning off starter Joe Medina (7-9, 4.44 ERA). The Warriors hold on in the ninth to win 5-4.
September 10 – The Stars are down 5-0 in the ninth inning against the Wolves as SAL SP Juan Ortega (8-14, 5.13 ERA) tries to finish a 2-hit shutout, but loads the bases on a single and two walks without getting an out. A sac fly knocks Ortega from the game before Jim Cushing allows a single to John Contino, a 2-run double to Matt Harry, a run-scoring groundout to Hector Garcia, and finally a pinch-hit, 2-run walkoff blast to OF Chris Peters (.313, 6 HR, 28 RBI) to hand the Stars a 6-5 win.
September 11 – IND SS Raul Matias (.318, 16 HR, 92 RBI) collects three hits in the Indians’ 4-3 win over the Titans, extending his hitting streak to 20 games.
September 11 – The ball is flying well in Vegas on this Wednesday night in the Aces’ 8-4 loss to the Knights. The teams combine for seven home runs, four for the Knights and three for the Aces, and all but two are solo shots. ATL LF/1B Gil Rockwell (.252, 38 HR, 111 RBI) hits his 38th home run in three hits, driving in two.
September 12 – WAS SP Eric Williams (9-9, 4.00 ERA) throws a 1-hit shutout in a 2-0 game over the Buffaloes. The 22-year old rookie left-hander is separated from the history books early, allowing a single to Topeka’s Bill Adams right in the first inning.
September 12 – Just in the news, IND SS Raul Matias (.317, 16 HR, 92 RBI) is already out of it again,ending his hitting streak in a 6-2 defeat the Indians are handed by the Titans.
September 14 – Boston’s LF/RF Chris Almanza (.271, 16 HR, 51 RBI) is out for the season with a strained anterior cruciate ligament.
September 14 – In a slightly lopsided game, the Indians mangle the Falcons, 18-0, while Tom Shumway (5-3, 2.68 ERA) and Helio Maggessi combine for a 1-hitter. Shumway actually has a no-hitter going into the ninth, but concedes a pinch-hit leadoff single to Brandon Magee (.198, 1 HR, 13 RBI). For Indy, RF Cesar Martinez (.254, 13 HR, 50 RBI) goes 3-for-3 with three walks, two homers, and 6 RBI.
September 15 – SFB SP Manuel “Doom” Rojas (6-10, 5.02 ERA) is expected to miss eight months with a torn rotator cuff.

Complaints and stuff

BAAMM!! Coons are back IN THE GAME!!!

Maud, did you drop your mug? – Because I banged my fist on the table? – But I am excited! – Okay. – Okay. – Yes. Okay. – No, I will be silent now.

It’s not – … she had a rough week. Friday she thought some Mexican construction workers across the street were whistling because of her as she walked by. She hadn’t seen the two blond, attractive Swedish exchange students walking behind her. Twins actually, Lars and Olaf. Well, it IS a very open-minded city! Except for Maud, who struck one of the workers with her bag, and I only know of the guys’ names because the police were here and there was some crying, and Olaf gave me some tips for my brittle fingernails.

Only in Portland!

When the teams with the least and second-least runs allowed in the CL met on the weekend, it wasn’t particularly close. The Aces had allowed 579 runs heading into the 3-game set. The Raccoons? 504.

I left Garrett in the rotation after the return of Jonny Toner, which was with the upcoming double header next Friday in mind. Him and Toner would in fact pitch the two games of the double header against Indy, but I am getting second thoughts. He really isn’t fooling anybody. Or, well, correction. He does get a lot of strikeouts actually (his K rate is better than Guerrero’s and Pierson’s and it is not close), but he also walks 5.5 per nine innings, which is a no-no, and the opposition is also not shy about drubbing him and running him around for a 1.59 WHIP. Minor league season is over, no Coons farm team made the playoffs for the hundredth year in a row, and the best record was a 71-69 showing by Ham Lake, but we could also grab Damani Knight for that one spot start. It *looks* like we can waste a game somewhere.

In the end, it seems, everything always comes up Damani.

The last time a farm team of ours actually made the playoffs? St. Petersburg, 2008. In 129 total minor league campaigns, the Alley Cats won our ONLY minor league title, all the way back in 1992.

Playoff watch:

POR: IND (4), NYC (4), BOS (3), CHA (3) – .496 – 87.8% (+45.3%)
MIL: SFB (4), BOS (3), NYC (3), VAN (3) – .469 – 11.8% (-43.3%)
IND: POR (4), VAN (4), LVA (3), NYC (3) – .523 – 0.5% (-1.9%)

Be warned though that our record this season against our remaining opposition is merely 26-23. These teams have not been kind to us, ESPECIALLY Indy, so that .5% chance of theirs has to be taken with at least one grain of salt. They still have four arrows up their quiver.