Raccoons (4-2) vs. Aces (3-3) April 10-12, 2028
The Aces had come out of the first week with 20 runs scored and 21 runs allowed, all quite middling in the Continental League at this point, but also almost identical to what the Falcons had put out before they had come to Portland (where the scoring had merrily continued). Vegas was batting .212 in the early going, which was certainly not sustainable. They also had seen their bullpen exploded time and again, with a 6.52 ERA mark that was the worst in the league at this early stage. The Raccoons had taken the season series in 2027, winning five out of nine games from them.
Projected matchups:
Rin Nomura (1-0, 1.13 ERA) vs. Ed Hague (1-0, 2.25 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Abramo Archibugi (0-1, 2.57 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (0-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. Joel Trotter (0-0)
Archibugi was the sole left-hander on offer for this series (although they had three in their rotation). Worse yet, that Tuesday matchup was also the first game for which new ownership would be in the house in person. Nick Valdes had announced his attendance on Monday morning, had pointed out that he wished to see the champagne cool and the Raccoons hot, and had hinted that a trip over from his usual hideaways to the cold Pacific Northwest was a significant investment to him.
Investment
Game 1
LVA: SS A. Medina LF Dunlap CF Serrano C Motley 2B Roundtree 3B J. Navarro RF Beckwith 1B Cornejo P Hague
POR: SS Ramos 2B Stalker LF Hereford 1B Harenberg RF Gomez CF Mora 3B Booker C Leal P Nomura
Speaking of the Pacific Northwest, at game time on Monday it was near freezing (35 degrees) and soon started to drizzle, which thickened to slight sleet by the third inning. In this mess, the Aces took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, with both runs doubly unearned thanks to errors by both Jaden Booker and Abel Mora, although I was not going to absolve Rin Nomura for allowing that 2-out RBI single to Ed Hague, either
Hague almost drove in another run the next time around, then with Gil Cornejo on second base and two outs in the fourth. Nomura also more or less struck out nobody, and the Aces kept slapping hits off him, but didn't score again until Andres Medina's leadoff jack in the fifth that ran the score to 3-0 on slow and tardy Coons that only got on the board for the first time in the bottom of that inning with a Ramos leadoff single, his first stolen base of the year, then an RBI single by Tim Stalker. That was all in the inning, with the 3-4-5 batters going down immediately. Jaden Booker refused to go down silently, making another gruesome fielding error in the sixth inning that put the leadoff man Jose Navarro on base, whom the Aces sure enough moved around to score swiftly, 4-1. Nothing would get better from here. Raccoons pitching, foremost Jeff Kearney, remained clumsy, as did the defense, and the offense excelled at putting one guy on and then leaving him out there to die. They did that in the sixth, then in the seventh, put even two on in the eighth, after which Armando Leal flew out to centerfielder Danny Serrano to end that inning. The ninth saw J.D. Hamm retire Spencer and Ramos before Magallanes batted for Tim Stalker, walked, and then Hereford found Serrano's glove again. 4-1 Aces. Ramos 2-5; Harenberg 2-3, BB; Tovias (PH) 1-1;
The Aces moved Joel Trotter into the middle game, pushing Archibugi to Wednesday.
And the Raccoons moved to cozy up the place for Nick Valdes.
Game 2
LVA: SS A. Medina LF Dunlap RF M. Hamilton CF Serrano C Motley 1B Cornejo 3B A. Velez 2B Roundtree P Trotter
POR: SS Ramos 2B Stalker 3B Hereford 1B Harenberg RF Gomez C Tovias CF Mora LF Millan P Delgadillo
Yusneldan, under the watchful gaze of the Raccoons' new owner, started the game with a leadoff walk to Medina, but Tom Dunlap hit into a double play before things could get out of paw really soon. The Aces got only one more runner the first time through, Trotter doubling into the leftfield corner, while the Raccoons stranded pairs in the second when Delgadillo struck out and the third, which ended on a slow Gomez fly to left with Hereford and Harenberg having reached with two outs. Top 4th, Delgadillo issued a 1-out walk to Matt Hamilton, who got forced out by Serrano. Stalker could have ended the inning by handling Josh Motley's grounder, but instead fumbled it for the Coons' fourth error in the series. Soon enough, the Coons also cashed their fourth unearned run of the series
and the fifth. Gil Cornejo turned a 1-2 pitch into a 2-run triple to centerfield, and the Aces had another lead. Alberto Velez, the former Logger, flew out to left to end the inning.
Bottom 4th, the Raccoons got Omar Millan on base with a 2-out single, which brought up Delgadillo again. His grounder to right eluded Steve Roundtree and Gil Cornejo for another single, and the tying runs were on. Alberto Ramos' grounder to right was intercepted by Roundtree, but he couldn't turn it into anything useful, and the Coons had filled them up for .192/.250/.192 batter Tim Stalker, who struck out. In turn, Trotter hit another double in the fifth, then scored on Tom Dunlap's 2-out single that extended the score to 3-0. On to the bottom 5th, where Rich Hereford drew a 4-pitch walk leading off before Harenberg singled. A passed ball moved the runners into scoring position, where they remained after Gomez struck out, Tovias struck out, and Mora
popped out. No word yet on how happy Nick Valdes was with the course of the game, but I ****ing wasn't.
And I would not grow happy with the game down the road, either. The Aces tried to pick Delgadillo apart, limb for limb, by the seventh inning, with three hits and a run falling out of him before Billy Brotman contained Serrano and Motley to get out of the inning. The score remained 4-0 into the ninth inning, where Jarod Spencer made the first out before Ramos walked and stole second. Stalker flew out uselessly before Franklin Alvarado nicked Hereford, then surrendered an RBI single to Harenberg. That brought up the tying run in Rafael Gomez, but by now all hopes and dreams had been suffocated and I refused to believe in miracles, or anything that would not draw the ire of the new ownership. Gomez' single to left loaded the bases, making Tovias the winning run at the plate. He had no RBI on the season he picked up three on a shot through Gil Cornejo and up the rightfield line, all the way into the corner, while the middle of the order guys circled the bases to tie the game while Elias stopped at second base. Mora's fly to Dunlap served to give us extra innings, which would see Josh Boles entering in the 10th in Mora's slot, fumbled Serrano's grounder to begin the inning for yet another error, then hit Velez with two outs. Steve Roundtree popped out to end the inning. Millan led off the bottom of the inning with a single, after which Spencer struggled to get a bunt down and eventually grounded out, but that at least moved the winning run to second base for Ramos. The Aces had none of that they walked him intentionally to bring up Stalker, now batting .172, but upped that to a spiffy .200 with a blast to leftfield. Up, up, up, and outta here! 7-4 Raccoons!! Ramos 1-3, 3 BB; Harenberg 3-5, RBI; Gomez 2-5; Millan 2-4, BB;
Don't you think that the seven runs while making a single out in a last-ditch rally would have saved me from a 3-hour talk with Nick Valdes, who had MADE NOTES about every single thing he had not enjoyed. This only started with the on-field performance, but extended to the cleanliness of the entire place and also the friendliness of usher #38. We play the Knights on our next home weekend. He will be back then. So we have about ten days to set everything straight around here.
Game 3
LVA: SS A. Medina LF Dunlap RF M. Hamilton CF Serrano C Motley 2B Roundtree 3B J. Navarro 1B Cornejo P Archibugi
POR: SS Ramos 2B Stalker 3B Hereford 1B Harenberg RF Gomez C Tovias LF Spencer C Magallanes P Gutierrez
Calamity continued for Portland Rico Gutierrez pitched for four outs, then left with shoulder woes, leaving Kevin Surginer to enter the scoreless game in the second inning. Surginer struck out two in the second, then three in the third, but in between walked Cornejo and Dunlap and also drilled Medina, but nobody scored. Danny Morales hit a single in his place in the bottom 3rd, Hereford doubled with two outs, but Harenberg popped out to strand the runners to keep the game without an official score. With Kearney taking over on the mound for the fourth, the Critters had another chance brewing in the bottom 4th. Singles put Gomez and Spencer on the corners with one out for Magallanes, who lacked a base hit for the season, but popping out to Medina didn't help his cause, and Jaden Booker went down on strikes in Kearney's spot.
While the Raccoons prepared to routinely pour out their entire bullpen and couldn't get a run across, somehow the Aces could not land a hit. Dan McLin pitched two hitless innings, extending the Coons' combined no-hitter to six frames. It didn't last Josh Motley hit a 1-out single off McLin in the seventh, but by then Elias Tovias had also put the Coons in the lead with a solo homer in the bottom 6th. Roundtree popped out to Ramos, after which the Coons made a double switch, bringing on Brotman in the #7 hole and Millan to play leftfield. Billy secured a grounder to Stalker from Cornejo to end the threat, while Millan hit a 1-out single over Roundtree in the bottom 7th. Ramos singled up the middle, both runners pulled off a double steal, after which the Aces walked Stalker intentionally to have a double play chance on Rich Hereford, who had a 1.299 OPS at this point. I would have enjoyed a slam at this point, but didn't get it. A sac fly was decent, though, extending the score to 2-0. Harenberg however grounded out. Archibugi(!) and Dunlap hit singles off Brotman in the eighth, but Ricky Ohl came on, rung up PH Jon Gilbert and got another grounder to Stalker from Serrano. Somehow they kept hanging on by the skin of their teeth
! And there was no point in stopping to do that now Josh Motley hit a leadoff double off Josh Boles in the ninth, then scored on consecutive groundouts. Tim Stalker again came into play with Cornejo batting, snagging a scorched liner to end the game. 2-1 Critters. Gomez 2-4, 2B; Morales (PH) 1-1; Millan (PH) 1-1; Surginer 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K; McLin 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, W (1-1);
The Raccoons placed Rico Gutierrez on the DL with a shoulder ailment on Thursday, their off day. For now we called up an extra reliever to help out the beleaguered bullpen, since they would not need a starting pitcher until next week. Steve Costilow was added to the roster.
Raccoons (6-3) @ Canadiens (5-4) April 14-16, 2028
I. Want. Blood. Damn Elks! Stupid Elks! I hate the Elks! The Elks were second in the division right now, second in runs scored, but tied for ninth in runs allowed. Their rotation had been wonky, putting up a 4.60 ERA through nine games. The Raccoons lost 11 of 18 games to the damn, stupid Elks in '27.
Projected matchups:
George James (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. Jeremy Truett (1-0, 2.16 ERA)
Mark Roberts (2-0, 0.67 ERA) vs. Leon Hernandez (0-2, 8.49 ERA)
Rin Nomura (1-1, 1.29 ERA) vs. Rodolfo Cervantes (0-1, 3.46 ERA)
Nothing but right-handed pitchers on offer here.
And I want their blood.
Game 1
POR: SS Ramos 2B Stalker 3B Hereford 1B Harenberg RF Gomez C Tovias CF Mora LF Millan P James
VAN: LF A. Torres 1B Day RF Coca CF Wojnarowski 3B Anton SS Byrd C R. Ortνz 2B Gura P Truett
Portland struck first, thanks to Ramos singling, stealing, scoring on a Stalker double in the first inning, but then the middle of the order also collectively cucked out and left Stalker on second base with two whiffs and a sad pop. If only George James hadn't folded right away in the first inning
! Alex Torres popped out, but then they rapped out a Norman Day double, a walk drawn by Tony Coca, an infield single contained, but not conclusively played by Matt Anton, and finally John Byrd's score-flipping 2-run single
The Coons did not go down without wasting more chances for sure; Hereford and Harenberg both failed when Ramos and Stalker were on base again in the third inning, and James grounded out with Gomez and Millan on the corners in the fourth.
On to the fifth, where Ramos led off flying out to center, but then Stalker and Hereford hit singles to go to the corners. Here came Kevin Harenberg, who fun fact in his 10th game this year had 10 hits
all of them singles! He didn't get a hit at all here, but at least tied the score when he flew out to Brian Wojnarowski in centerfield, allowing Stalker to scamper home. And while James was wonky, at one point walking the opposing pitcher (sigh
), he held up just well enough with some help from the D that Abel Mora could put the Coons on top again with a 2-out solo homer in the sixth inning, a shot to right that JUST barely made it over Tony Coca's glove and the fence to get us a 3-2 edge.
The Elks' starter fell first after both went seven in a game with plenty of hits. Truett stranded runners on the corners by whiffing Rafael Gomez in the seventh, but then allowed a single to Mora and a double up the rightfield line to Millan in the eighth, which with one out and righty Troy Charters coming in also ended the day of George James. Jarod Spencer batted for him, walked in a full count, and brought up Ramos with three on and one out. Ramos grounded at Matt Anton, who zipped the ball to second in attempt of a double play, but Spencer took out disgusting Ted Gura to break it up, and the Mora scored when Ramos reached first base safely without a throw coming over. Stalker grounded out to Anton then, stranding another two runners. This was still a dicey, 4-2 game; Kearney retired Wojnarowski to begin the bottom 8th, then Ohl came on and conceded 2-out singles to John Byrd and Ricky Ortνz. Ted Gura came up, the disgusting scoundrel, and popped out to Harenberg. It could just as well be a 10-7 game now both teams had stranded them by the bushel! The Coons got nothing going in the ninth, then stuck with Ohl for a strikeout of Adan Myles in the #9 hole, then a walk to Torres. That was Josh Boles' cue, but he would face PH Luke Gross, a righty, rather than the left-handed batter Norman Day as the tying run. Gross rolled out to Hereford in a full count before Boles lost Coca on four pitches. That brought up the winning run but the Elks kept going for the platoon edge and sent Manny Sanchez to bat for Wojnarowski, who was the defending Player of the Year, if you recall. This was inexplicable to me. They needed to be punished. They needed to be bled! Sanchez grounded out to Spencer at second base to end the game. 4-2 Coons. Ramos 2-5, RBI; Stalker 3-5, 2B, RBI; Hereford 2-5; Mora 2-4, HR, RBI; Millan 2-3, BB, 2B; James 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (1-0);
Game 2
POR: SS Ramos 2B Stalker 3B Hereford 1B Harenberg C Tovias CF Mora LF Spencer RF Millan P Roberts
VAN: SS Byrd 3B Anton LF A. Torres RF Coca CF Wojnarowski C M. Sanchez 1B L. Gross 2B Gura P L. Hernandez
Mark Roberts was solid, allowing three hits in his first four innings of work. One of them was a Tony Coca homer in the second inning, giving the Elks a 1-0 edge that held up for a while as Leon Hernandez retired the first 14 Raccoons he faced, although he struck out only two, but there was A LOT of soft contact. He finally lost Mora to a 2-out walk in the top of the fifth, and Jarod Spencer then also took the no-hitter away with a single up the middle. Omar Millan also looped a ball to left-center softly, where it was contained quickly, but Abel Mora managed to scurry around to score from second base on the single, knotting the score at one and bringing up Mark Roberts with two outs, so maybe we could continue the momentum next inn- HO-LY WHISKERS!! Mark Roberts A SHOT
to centerfield! High! Deep! GONE!!!
I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!
While I took a while to contain myself back at home on my couch, Mark Roberts was entirely calm and collected. He somehow knew that he had them in the bag. While there was the occasional hard-hit ball, the Elks didn't get another base runner until Ted Gura doubled in the bottom of the eighth, and then was still stranded by Roberts. In between, Rich Hereford had added a run to the Coons' tally with a 2-out RBI single in the top 8th, plating Millan. Bottom 9th, Matt Anton flew out to Rafael Gomez, who was by now in rightfield. Alex Torres grounded out to Hereford at the hot corner. And then the gears still jammed. Coca coaxed a walk, Roberts' first and only one in the game, and Wojnarowski hit a single. It was suddenly a save situation, and the Coons went to Ricky Ohl by necessity with Roberts over 100 pitches and Sanchez on the approach again. A strikeout ended the game. 5-1 Furballs! Mora 1-2, BB; Spencer 2-4; Millan 2-3, RBI; Roberts 8.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (3-0) and 1-2, HR, 3 RBI;
Coons! Coons! Coons!
At this point we were 8-3 and the only team with a winning record in the division. The East Coast faction tied for second place with equal 6-6 marks.
Game 3
POR: SS Ramos 2B Stalker 3B Hereford 1B Gomez CF Mora LF Millan RF Booker C Leal P Nomura
VAN: SS Byrd 3B Anton LF A. Torres RF Coca CF Wojnarowski 1B Myles C R. Ortνz 2B Gura P Cervantes
Calling Rin Nomura "a bit all over the place" would be the mildest understatement of recent decades. Juan Diaz in '01 had been "a bit all over the place". Nomura on Sunday was completely out of whack, like a fine Swiss watch having been flattened first by a sledgehammer, then a semi truck. While the Coons pulled out a 1-0 lead in unearned fashion thanks to a throwing error by Ortνz in the second inning that allowed Mora to go first-to-third on a stolen base attempt, then to score on Millan's sac fly, Nomura had already had runners all over the place in the first two innings of his start, but completely disentwirled in the third. After Byrd opened with a groundout, Anton singled, and walks to Torres and Coca filled the bags. Wojnarowski flipped the score with a 2-run single up the middle, after which Nomura also walked Myles to fill them up, and Ortνz to push in another run. Gura's sac fly made it 4-1 and Cervantes grounded out, but if there had been an inning straight from a part of hell run by one of the most fiendish baseball gods, who had been banished from baseball god heaven even by his fellow baseball gods
it was this one.
Nomura faced five more batters, didn't get a strike past any of them, and yielded a leadoff single to Coca in the bottom 5th. After Wojnarowski flew out in deep center, it was deemed enough for today and Fleischer replaced him. Just when I considered the Coons dead and buried and rued the missed chance for a sweep in disgusting Elkland, Ramos hit a single in the sixth and Rich Hereford cashed his first homer of the week and #5 on the season, a 2-run shot outta rightfield that cut the gap to 4-3 and made it a baseball game again. Steve Costilow would get through the bottom 6th despite knocking Ted Gura (which I generally did approve of, but not in close games), getting a double play bunt from Cervantes, and then Mora stabbed the same Cervantes with a leadoff jack to right-center in the seventh. EVEN!! Next thing you know, Millan and Booker went to the corners for Leal, a .091 batter, with nobody out. Armando cracked a ball towards second base that LOOKED like Gura would spin it for two, but he didn't get to it, it was up the middle and into center for an RBI single! COONS IN THE LEAD!! **** THE ELKS!! At this point, we rudely interrupted Kevin Harenberg's off-day dinner and he was grumpy enough to whack Cervantes for an RBI double (hear, hear!) to run the score to 6-4, and that was the final nail into the Elks' starter's coffin. He issued an intentional walk to Ramos, after which Andy Purdy had to worry about three on and nobody out. Tim Stalker promptly struck out, but that brought up league RBI leader Rich Hereford! COME ON, RICHARD poke 'em! I chanted "Here-ford! Here-ford!" while bouncing up and down on my couch in front of the TV. When Andy Purdy threw a 2-2 heater down and in, Rich Hereford didn't miss it a booming drive to left! Up, and UP! AND UP! GRAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM!!!!!!
That wasn't all in the inning. Omar Millan would hit a 2-out, 2-piece off Purdy to run the score to 12-4, but I didn't realize until later, squealing in ecstasy between the pillows. That was even before a cavalcade of errors and wild pitches aided the Coons to another three runs in the eighth, and there was one more extra run driven in by Danny Morales in the ninth. On the flip side, Abel Mora managed to sprain a finger in the rout, Kevin Surginer gave up a 2-piece to Coca, and Dan McLin walked the bags full in the bottom 9th without getting an out. Brotman came in and got a sac fly from Ortνz, but then surrendered the remaining runners, too, on Gura and Byrd singles. Then Matt Anton hit a 3-piece. Uh, say, has someone kept counting runs? How many have there been? Oh, he just struck out Torres and they are walking off. Apparently we scored runs aplenty. 16-12 Furballs. Ramos 3-5, RBI; Hereford 3-4, 2 HR, 6 RBI; Morales 2-2, RBI; Mora 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Millan 1-2, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Booker 3-5; Leal 2-5, RBI; Harenberg (PH) 1-2, 2B, RBI;
Apparently Steve Costilow was the winner of this nut job of a game!
In other news
April 13 RIC INF Evan Donahue (.130, 0 HR, 1 RBI) is out for the season with a ruptured disc.
April 16 SFW SP Scott Soviero (1-2, 3.80 ERA) 1-hits the Wolves in a 4-0 shutout. A single by C Elijah Bean (.262, 2 HR, 6 RBI) is all the Wolves manage in the game.
April 16 The Pacifics send 40-year-old 2B/3B Jamie Wilson (.125, 0 HR, 0 RBI) to the Crusaders for 34-year-old outfielder Nate Ellis (.256, 3 HR, 5 RBI).
Complaints and stuff
**** THE ELKS!!
(coughs)
The Raccoons have put Rico Gutierrez on the DL on Thursday, but there is a chance that he will be ready again after the minimum 15-day stint. The Druid doesn't think it is serious, or fatal. That shoulder will come back together, he claims.
Now, the Raccoons have Monday off, so we don't need an extra starter until next Saturday, and then will only need him for one start. We will think about that when the time arrives.
Fun Fact: 31 years ago today, Los Angeles' Lance Branch hit for the cycle in an 11-5 win over the Miners.
That was before his Raccoons stint; which encompassed only 76 games in 1999. We got him from the Pacifics for a trio of ultimately no-use relievers, then turned him over the Scorpions in July for a package including Gary Fifield, one of the 38 candidates to replace whatever David Vinson was (except tough to replace). Fifield eventually retired as a .212 batter with 27 homers, including one of those great half-seasons as a Coon in 2002, where he hit 16 dingers
and batted .229
It is also way past my bedtime.