[Westheim]

Raccoons (20-18) @ Canadiens (16-21) – May 16-19, 2033

The Raccoons were in Vancouver for four, the first meeting between the two teams, who had split last year’s season series right down the middle while they both trundled straight to Nowhere. The Elks were in the bottom three in both runs scored and runs allowed in the 2033 Continental League. Their rotation was very respectable, but their bullpen was a bottomless disaster, posting an ERA over five, worst in the CL. They were actually second in batting average, but still managed to score the third-fewest runs, somehow. Maybe they were due a breakout! Thank goodness the Critters were there…

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (2-2, 5.08 ERA) vs. Steve Corcoran (5-3, 2.61 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (4-2, 3.02 ERA) vs. Logan Bessey (3-3, 4.30 ERA)
Ignacio del Rio (2-3, 3.53 ERA) vs. Jeremy Truett (4-1, 2.60 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (2-3, 3.06 ERA) vs. Fernando Nora (2-5, 5.40 ERA)

The Elks had two southpaw starters, and we’d get both of them to begin the series, while I was sitting at home and trying to make myself reasonably comfortable with four game of burning hell under my bum, keeping both Honeypaws and a selection of snacks, most of them liquid, well within reach. Oh, and a pillow to scream into, just in case.

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – CF Reichardt – 1B Zitzner – 3B Perkins – RF Jennings – LF Ferrero – C Tinnin – P Gutierrez
VAN: 2B Morrow – 1B Arroyo – LF LeJeune – SS L. Hernandez – RF Braun – 3B M. Cole – C Hinojosa – CF Pohl – P Corcoran

Ramos and Stalker led off with singles, pulled off a double steal, and then watched taken aback as both Reichardt and Zitzner hit pops over the infield, and then Perkins hit another one between infield and outfield. Esteban Arroyo didn’t get back to it, the ball dropped in and ran away from both Arroyo and Adam Braun, who was batting .198 after the trade that sent him out of Portland for a 2-run double. Jennings then grounded out, but then caught Braun’s fly to right with Arroyo and Jesse LeJeune on base after hard singles off Gutierrez, stranding those. The Coons would go up 3-0 in the third, Zitzner singling home Tim Stalker, who had hit a leadoff double past Braun. Rico Gutierrez had two shutout innings to begin his day, like last time out, and this time even felt like pitching a bit longer. He lined up two more clean-ish innings, and arrived in the bottom 5th with a 4-hitter and didn’t even look half-bad. But when Steve Corcoran buried a ball in the gap for a leadoff double, I sighed, poured myself and Honeypaws two hard ones, and then dropped them both into by throat before Arroyo’s RBI double with one out. Singles by LeJeune and Lazaro Hernandez followed, but Braun grounded out to kill the inning with the score 3-2 through five.

While the Raccoons’ offense had apparently gone to bed, Gutierrez’ day was not over yet. Nothing terrible happened in the sixth and he was out there for the seventh, which was led off by Corcoran, who promptly blooped a single. Oh great. The Elks tasked Eric Morrow with bunting, which he did, but badly, forcing out his pitcher at second base, and keeping the tying run at first. Gutierrez looked like he could use a day or two in the oxygen tent after just 84 pitches, but the thing was that three left-handed bats were coming up and despite three southpaws in the pen, the Coons remained allergic to switching lefty-for-lefty. And there was the OTHER thing: there were nine hits off Gutierrez in the game; two by the right-handed hitting pitcher, and the other seven had ALL come out of those three lefty hitters. Open swung the bullpen door – Mauricio Garavito would have a look! He grounded out Arroyo to Perkins, and LeJeune flew out to center, except that Reichardt had misjudged the ball and took a tumble on the inning-ending catch, spraining his thumb in the process. He had to come out of the game (and remember that the Coons had ditched Pinkerton to avoid putting Fernando Garcia on the DL, which required adding a third catcher). Jimmy Wallace was brought on, playing left with Ferrero moving over. He was up to bat second in the top 8th, following up Tim Stalker’s single with a 6-4-3 double play. Zitzner singled after that, but Perkins popped out. After Victor Anaya worked around a Ramos error in the bottom 8th, the Coons put Billy Jennings on with a leadoff single in the ninth against righty Ed Miller, who balked the runner to second, leading to an intentional walk to Noel Ferrero(!) before David Tinnin was asked to bunt. The debutee failed, bunting into an easy force at third base. Thompson batted for Anaya, but whiffed, yet Ramos came through, knocking a ball into left-center for a 2-out RBI single. Stalker fouled out, but there was at least one insurance run for Chris Wise, who soon looked like he might need it after Zitzner dropped Ramos’ throw on Toby Ross’ grounder leading off. The ex-Coon on first, Morrow struck out, though, and on the very next pitch Arroyo served a perfect double play ball to the 6-time Gold Glover Tim Stalker, 4-6-3 ended the game. 4-2 Raccoons. Ramos 2-5, RBI; Stalker 3-5, 2B; Zitzner 3-4, RBI;

David Tinnin’s major league debut? Groundout, strikeout, foul pop out, groundout (bunted into force at third). Could have been better. Meanwhile, Travis Zitzner reached 20 RBI, the first Critter to do so this season after merely 39 games.

Furthermore, Adrian Reichardt reached the DL with a torn thumb ligament, but Dr. Chung wired home that it was not too terrible and he would have him swing the bat by early June. It sounded almost like a threat.

The Raccoons tried to make amends as best as possible. The Agitator on Tuesday morning cried for the promotion of 2031 #5 pick Manny Fernandez, but he was batting .226 in St. Pete and it was just no good at this point. Preston Pinkerton was recalled, and that was it.

Game 2
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Marsingill – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – 3B Perkins – RF Ferrero – CF Pinkerton – C Tinnin – P Chavez
VAN: 2B Morrow – 3B Anton – LF LeJeune – RF Wojnarowski – 1B Arroyo – C Hinojosa – CF Braun – SS L. Hernandez – P Bessey

Adam Braun was not completely useless; he threw out Marsingill tagging up to go home on a Jimmy Wallace flyout after he had himself hit a 1-out triple in the top 1st, ending the inning. The Critters had four hits the first time through, including a leadoff single by Bernie in the third. Stalker and Marsingill made poor outs, bringing up Jimmy Wallace, who crashed a fastball for a 2-out homer to right, putting the Critters up 2-0! Unfortunately, Lazaro Hernandez got one back from Chavez to begin the bottom 3rd, whopping a solo homer to right, and Bessey and Matt Anton hit singles before Bernie came through against the left-handers LeJeune and Brian Wojnarowski, ringing them both up.

Top 4th, a single and a walk put Ferrero and Pinkerton on base to begin the frame, with Tinnin up next, which sparked at least some thought of whether HE should bunt (uh-oh) with Bernie batting a solid 5-for-18 behind him. Tony Hinojosa, equally successless replacement catcher for Vancouver, took the option off the table when he fudged Bessey’s first pitch for a passed ball, moving up the runners anyway. That punched Tinnin a ticket to first base, and Bernie batted with three on and nobody out, but whiffed. Stalker fouled out. Marsingill grounded out. Nobody scored, and I poured two hard ones for me and Honeypaws, and then again drank them both myself. At least some distance was provided by Wallace in the fifth, mashing a solo tater to center, 3-1, his second in the game after hitting a total of one homer for almost the first quarter of the season. He *narrowly* missed a third bomb in the top 6th, having to settle for a 2-out RBI double that cashed Marsingill, who in turn had just hit his second triple of the game, bringing in Bernie Chavez, who again in turn had hit his second single of the contest while pitching a 4-hitter with 6 K through five, which was also the Coons’ offensive total now in a 5-1 game, at least until Zitz hit an RBI single to score Wallace. That was the end for Bessey, who was yanked after 5.2 innings, 13 hits, and six runs. Denny Marsh dug him out to end the inning. On the other side of the box score, Bernie lasted seven innings, allowed five hits, and struck out nine. He might have gone deeper, but lost the zone in the bottom 7th and walked both Hernandez and PH Rob Sher before whiffing Morrow to escape trouble himself. David Fernandez did not escape trouble in the eighth; missing both stuff and location he allowed a walk and two hits, conceding two runs on an Esteban Arroyo single. That put the game in save range in the ninth, but Wise had pitched two days in a row; the Raccoons sent Ed Blair, who got rid of Hernandez, PH Bill McWhirter, and Morrow just fine. 6-3 Critters. Marsingill 2-5, 2 3B, RBI; Wallace 3-4, BB, 2 HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Zitzner 2-5, RBI; Perkins 2-3, BB; Ferrero 2-5, 2B; Chavez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, W (5-2) and 3-4;

This was the first save for Ed Blair this year (and as a Critter); he has a save in each of the last seven seasons now, and usually it’s only one or two, although he saved as many as 18 games in a year with his first team, the Knights. He has 37 for his career.

Game 3
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – RF Jennings – 3B Perkins – C Thompson – CF Pinkerton – P del Rio
VAN: 2B Morrow – 3B Anton – LF LeJeune – C Ross – RF Wojnarowski – 1B Arroyo – CF Pohl – SS L. Hernandez – P Truett

The injury woes would not get any less. Just a handful of pitches into the game, and following a leadoff single by Berto, Jeremy Truett hit Tim Stalker in the knee. Stalker collapsed at the plate and had to be helped off the field by Dr. Chung, who threateningly entered the dirt around the batter’s box wielding a bone saw. No on-field amputation was required, but a pinch-runner and replacement keystone guardian was, and Marsingill got the assignment. The Coons were now down to three bench players (Tinnin, Ferrero, and Hawkins) and it was the top of the first… I poured two hard ones for me and Honeypaws, then left the childish glass things to the stuffed toy raccoon and drank straight from the bottle while Wallace hit an RBI single up the middle, and Zitzner knocked a bases-loading single. Truett had yet to retire anybody, but then got Jennings to ground to short. The Elks couldn’t turn two, though, so while Marsingill scored, runners remained on the corners for Perkins, who dutifully hit into the double play, keeping it a 2-0 game, and Matt Anton’s walk and Toby Ross’ homer tied the game before long against del Rio. Ill control, mainly, would see del Rio put runners on base frequently; the damn Elks stranded two in the second, one in the third, and saw Arroyo hit into a 3-6-4 double play in the fourth, displaying creativity while being dismal all the same.

The Coons also stranded their share of baserunners, but would take a new lead in the sixth. Jennings hit a 1-out double, Perkins was on good use as he had bee nthe entire month, but Elliott Thompson dropped in a soft one for a 2-out RBI single to give del Rio a new, 3-2 lead before Pinkerton grounded out. The damn Elks answered promptly – Matt Anton hit a leadoff single, Ross legged out an infield single, and Wojnarowski hit a blast over the fence, his sixth of the year, to flip the score and then some, 5-3 for the team with the vile stench. On to the seventh, another ex-Coon was in the game in right-hander Matt Stonecipher and his 5.54 ERA. Tom Hawkins hit for del Rio to begin the frame and rammed a single to left, Berto singled to center, and the tying runs were aboard. Marsingill’s groundout advanced them to scoring position for the scalding-hot Jimmy Wallace, who grounded out to second – scoring Hawkins – before Zitzner whiffed and kept the team down 5-4. The Coons did nothing in the eighth, but Wojnarowski gave himself a 2-homer day when he peppered a 1-2 pitch by John Hennessy over the fence in right-center, adding an insurance run before the Coons could try to come back in the ninth. Noel Ferrero was penciled in to pinch-hit in the #9 hole to being the inning against right-hander Ed Miller, who got two fly outs before Marsingill singled to left to bring up Wallace as the tying run. He struck out on three pitches. 6-4 Canadiens. Ramos 2-5; Marsingill 2-4; Wallace 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Thompson 3-4, RBI; Hawkins (PH) 1-1;

More damage reports: Tim Stalker was about to miss the rest of the week with a knee contusion, maybe a few days longer, but he would not go to the DL.

But Fernando Garcia was good to play again. With that, David Tinnin (0-for-8) was sent back to St. Pete and we called up another outfielder. Still not Manny Fernandez, though. How about some Ed Hooge? He was batting .276 with one homer in AAA. We didn’t feel the need to bring up an infielder specifically to address the Stalker injury since with Pinkerton and Ferrero we had two outfielders that were also experienced at one or more infield positions.

Game 4
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Marsingill – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – RF Jennings – C Thompson – CF Hooge – 3B Hawkins – P Sabre
VAN: 2B Morrow – 3B Anton – LF LeJeune – C Ross – RF Wojnarowski – 1B Arroyo – CF Pohl – SS M. Cole – P F. Nora

Unable to find strike three despite numerous chances, Raffaello Sabre was tagged with two runs in the bottom 1st when the disgusting Wojnarowski drove in Anton and LeJeune with a single to right, two outs, and two strikes. The Raccoons would come out and scratch Nora for three in the top half of the second, which started with a Zitzner double and Jennings single, saw Thompson strike out, and then had every member of the bottom of the order grab an RBI; Ed Hooge doubled to right in his first game of the season, Tom Hawkins singled in Jennings, and Sabre hit a sac fly before swiftly moving on to concede a 2-strike single to Nora in an otherwise uneventful bottom 2nd. Anton opened the following inning with a double to center. Sabre nailed LeJeune, putting two on with nobody out, but then got the next three batters retired… even though Esteban Arroyo had a pretty good bid for a 2-run double in the depths of centerfield until that ball was run down and killed by Hooge.

There was no killing the fly to left that Tom Hawkins hit in the fourth with Elliott Thompson on second base – that one was outta that stinkin’ place and increased the Coons’ lead to 5-2, but an embattled Sabre lasted only six innings, conceding a third run on two hits and Mike Cole’s run-plating groundout in his final frame of the game. The Critters handed a 5-3 game to the pen and hoped for the best. They got two outs for no runners from Anaya, then three outs from Hennessy, albeit with a Wojnarowski single in the bottom 8th. With two outs, the next pitching change brought on Nick Bates, who rung up Pat Pohl to get out of the inning. The Raccoons would get both of their catchers on base in the ninth inning, but wouldn’t score against Matt Tillman, sending the lead to the kind and loving paws of Chris Wise to nail down a series win. Cole grounded to third base on the first pitch of the inning, but Hawkins threw the ball away for a 2-base error. A wild pitch on 0-2 to Tony Hinojosa moved Cole to third, and Hinojosa hit a sac fly to Hooge, but at least that removed all the distractions from the base paths as I poured the contents of a bottle into a bowl with whatever pills I found in a hurry. Morrow struck out, and Anton grounded to third, where Tom Hawkins this time kindly made the play to end the game. 5-4 Coons. Thompson 2-4; Hawkins 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI;

Suddenly the stewing and foaming cocktail in the bowl was no longer needed – the Raccoons had taken the series from their archenemies!

Raccoons (23-19) @ Bayhawks (25-17) – May 20-22, 2033

Second in the South and two-and-a-half games behind the Condors, the Baybirds were on a 5-game winning streak and understandably looking for more. How convenient – the Coons are a-comin’! They were second in runs scored *and* runs allowed in the league, signaling just past the quarter post of the season that maybe they should be taken seriously. Their run differential was +56, which was certainly impressive, while for comparison the Coons’ was only a meager +7. Then again that beat our run differential last year around this time. What was it, negative 98?? Last year, this series, too, had given the Raccoons nothing but nightmares. We had won a single game from the Bayhawks in all of ’32.

Projected matchups:
Andy Palomares (3-3, 6.32 ERA) vs. Joe Dishon (5-2, 3.97 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (3-2, 4.72 ERA) vs. Matt Huf (3-4, 3.81 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (5-2, 2.82 ERA) vs. Rodolfo Cervantes (4-2, 3.00 ERA)

Only right-handers to contend with here!

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Marsingill – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – RF Jennings – CF Hooge – C Garcia – 3B Hawkins – P Palomares
SFB: LF Balado – 3B D. Myers – RF Suhay – 1B Levis – 2B J. Cruz – C M. Thompson – CF Hawthorne – SS Sears – P Dishon

Joe Dishon got dished on right from the start. Ramos singled to right, but was forced out by Marsingill before Wallace singled, Zitzner hit an RBI double, and Jennings dropped an RBI single. Ed Hooge got little chance to do damage before he was hit by a pitch, bringing up Fernando Garcia with the bags packed. Annoyingly, Garcia popped out foul on the first pitch, and Hawkins grounded out to Dave Myers to end the inning with two runs from four hits. Palomares got an almost entirely right-handed lineup, safe for the switch-hitter Jose Cruz. He retired the first seven before giving up a double to Micah Sears in the bottom 3rd, soon followed by Jose Balado’s RBI double into the leftfield corner that took one run off the Coons’ then-3-0 lead, extended in the top of the same inning when a Hooge blooper scored Zitzner from second base. A Ramos Special grabbed back the Balado run in the fourth; Berto walked, stole second without a throw, and came in on a Marsingill single before Jimmy Wallace killed the effort with a double play grounder.

Things remained interesting nevertheless; Ben Suhay, hitting .174 coming in, opened the bottom 4th with a single, and a Hawkins flub added Doug Levis on base, too, and brought up the tying run with nobody out. A pop, a grounder, and a fly to center off George Hawthorne’s bat kept the runners on base, but the Baybirds were far from having all their feathers plucked in a 4-1 game. They scored an unearned run in the fifth as the Portland defense continued to crumble unnervingly. Sears singled, advanced on a grounder, stole third, and scored in the same motion on Garcia’s throwing error. Again, the Critters came back and reclaimed that run; Berto opened the sixth with a gap double, but then it took a while to score him. Wallace was walked intentionally, allowing Jennings to the plate with two outs, knocking a single up the middle to finally plate Ramos from third base, 5-2. Not that the Bayhawks didn’t keep pushing – Suhay hit a leadoff double in the bottom 6th, Palomares walked Cruz with one out, but a Mike Thompson groundout and Hawthorne’s fly to left stranded the runners. Not that Palomares was fooling anybody, but somehow he was holding up still. In a 5-2 game, he was on a batter-by-batter basis now and would remain in barring a runner with a menacing look, a lefty pinch-hitter, or the pitch count hitting triple digits, which it did not through eight innings, with the Bayhawks retired in order in both the seventh and eighth innings, with Palomares on 94 pitches after eight. He wasn’t going to get the ninth inning… until Ed Hooge hit a homer off Mike Simcoe in the ninth that took off the save for the time being. With Wise having been out three out of five days we were not averse to the thought of having somebody else face the 5-6-7 batters. Cruz flew out to defensive replacement Ferrero in left. Thompson hit a bouncing single up the middle. Alright, Palomares would get the right-handed Hawthorne… and the centerfielder also singled, but Thompson went to third base and was thrown out by Preston Pinkerton! Hawthorne went to second base with two outs, and Palomares would face Sears, but Blair and Garavito were ready now for a pinch-hitter in the #9 hole. Neither got into the game – Sears grounded out to Marsingill. 6-2 Furballs! Ramos 2-4, BB, 2B; Marsingill 2-5, RBI; Zitzner 2-5, 2B, RBI; Jennings 2-4, 2 RBI; Hooge 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Palomares 9.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (4-3);

Well, well – that came as a surprise!

More of that, please.

Game 2
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Marsingill – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – CF Hooge – RF Jennings – C E. Thompson – 3B Perkins – P Gutierrez
SFB: CF Balado – C M. Thompson – RF Suhay – 1B Levis – 2B J. Cruz – 3B D. Myers – LF Hawthorne – SS A. Castillo – P Huf

That was another almost all-right-handed lineup… but now for Rico Gutierrez, who had routinely faltered against such constructions even when his fur hadn’t come out in patches. Mike Thompson, Suhay, and Cruz spanked him for base hits in the opening inning, with two runs scoring on a Levis sac fly and Cruz’ 2-out knock. That came after Zitzner found runners on the corners in the first and hit into an inning-ending double play, and before Jennings was doubled up by Elliott Thompson to end the top 2nd. Billy Jennings was hurt on a defensive play in the bottom 2nd, requiring replacement by Pinkerton, and not adding to my happiness level, which also wasn’t helped by Ramos hitting into the Coons’ third inning-ending double play of the game, in the ****ing third inning of the game…

Gutierrez, who survived through five on defense and the opposing pitcher, ex-Coon Matt Huf (but that ex was a long time ago, remember, the Mark Roberts / Jon Gonzalez trade!), would be the fourth double play sinner of the game, also bunting into a 1-6-3 gut puncher in the sixth inning. Defense got Gutierrez through seven innings, with the seventh featuring a scalding line drive hit right into Perkins’ mitten, while in the meantime the Coons were being 3-hit by Huf, and they had more or less double off all of those hits through ineptness. Top 8th, Hooge struck out, Pinkerton grounded out, Thompson grounded out. Nope, no hitting to see here; barely qualifies as “batting”. Ed Blair handled the eighth for Portland, before the top 9th saw Huf still in the game on 89 pitches. Hawkins hit for Perkins and grounded out. Ferrero hit for Blair… and walked! …and then was forced out by Ramos’ grounder. Marsingill bounced one over to Alex Castillo at short – ballgame. 2-0 Bayhawks.

For the rubber game, the Coons had a 3-man bench. Stalker was not feeling ready. Jennings was subjected to various stretching and bending exercises to find the points where it hurt, and he would then have to do 250 repetitions.

I’m not gonna question that. I questioned him a few weeks ago when he reordered his steak, beans, and mashed potatoes on his plate in a certain way, and when questioned casually, hissed back that this dish had to be brought into line with the party view on plates.

Game 3
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Marsingill – LF Wallace – 1B Zitzner – CF Hooge – C Garcia – 3B Perkins – RF Ferrero – P Chavez
SFB: LF Balado – 3B D. Myers – 1B Levis – CF Cassell – C M. Thompson – RF Hawthorne – 2B I. Russell – SS A. Castillo – P Cervantes

The first inning brought a double play, hit into by the Coons, in case you weren’t sure, and Wallace was the offending party. It came however with Ramos and Marsingill on the corners, so at least scored the game’s first run. Bernie Chavez was tough as nails, but at the same time lacked control over much of his arsenal. While he didn’t walk the Baybirds in droves, his pitch count was driven up by scores of long counts, as it seemed like every at-bat reached at least the 2-2 stage. He rung up five batters through as many innings while allowing three hits, one walk, and allowing no runs despite sabotage in form of two errors (Perkins, Wallace) behind him. However, it took him 80 pitches doing so. On the other end of the box score, he had plated Perkins with a 2-out base knock in the top of the fifth, only the second run of the game.

Top 6th, Cervantes nailed Wallace, the CL batting leader(!!), to begin the inning. Zitzner hit a ball fair over the bag that turned foul afterwards and stopped dead at the wall in the rather spacious foul ground behind the first base dugout, where a young Baybirds fan reached over and touched the ball with his filthy wings, which led to a call of interference and then the umpires huddled to debate where to place the runners with both managers chirping from the steps of their respective dugouts. Zitzner was assessed a double, putting a pair in scoring position with nobody out. Hooge was walked intentionally to give us a better chance for a double play, which was a SMART move… but Cervantes drilled Garcia to force in a run instead. And no double play was to be had in this inning, although the Critters still found a way to make a complete mockery of themselves. Perkins hit a bouncer to Dave Myers, who killed off Zitzner at home. Ferrero hit a comebacker to Cervantes, who killed off Hooge at home. Bernie whiffed, stranding three.

It did become a 4-0 game the following inning when Wallace doubled home Berto as the stars were kind enough to align for once. Bernie maintained a shutout, but of course couldn’t finish it. He threw 102 pitches for seven innings, shaking off Alex Castillo’s 2-out triple in the bottom 7th when he got PH Ricky Tello to pop out. While the offense stranded a full set of runners (Hawkins double, Ramos walk, Marsingill reaching on an error with two outs) in the top 8th, the bullpen would not miss a beat. Nick Bates and David Fernandez retired six batters in order to put the series into the Critters’ books as a W. 4-0 Raccoons! Ramos 3-3, 2 BB; Marsingill 2-5; Hawkins (PH) 1-1, 2B; Chavez 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (6-2) and 1-3, 2B, RBI;

In other news

May 17 – BOS SP Tony Chavez (3-1, 2.31 ERA) 3-hits the Indians in a 4-0 shutout. He strikes out eight batters.
May 17 – Knights and Falcons play more than six hours and into the 19th inning after the Knights blow a 6-3 lead in the ninth, after which nobody scores until the Falcons run out of pitching in the top of the 19th and concede four runs while failing to come back in their half of the inning, leaving very exhausted Knights with a 10-6 victory.
May 18 – Boston loses both OF/2B Moises Avila (.259, 2 HR, 15 RBI), who goes to the DL with a bruised wrist after being hit by the pitch and is expected to miss three weeks, and 1B Justin Uliasz (.221, 3 HR, 27 RBI), who hits the DL with a hamstring strain and is probably going to be out for a month.
May 19 – A torn back muscle could cost SFW SP Pat Okrasinski (3-2, 3.72 ERA) the rest of the season.
May 19 – The Buffaloes pick up INF Seth Salmonsen (.337, 0 HR, 12 RBI) from the Blue Sox in exchange for 2B/SS Alex Majano (.337, 0 HR, 13 RBI). Neither of the two batters had participated in enough games to qualify for the batting title.
May 19 – DAL OF/1B Aaron Botzet (.292, 6 HR, 23 RBI) could miss up to three months with a shoulder dislocation.
May 21 – LAP C/1B Danny Patron (.333, 1 HR, 18 RBI) hits his second career home run off NAS CL J.D. Ryerson (4-2, 5.18 ERA, 9 SV), a 10th-inning walkoff grand slam to give L.A. a 7-3 win over the Blue Sox.
May 22 – Dallas’ SP John Rucker (4-2, 3.20 ERA) shines in a 1-hit shutout of the Miners. He fans nine batters as the Stars win 9-0. A sixth-inning single by LF/CF Tony Hensley (.308, 0 HR, 1 RBI) is all the Miners have going for them.

Complaints and stuff

Jimmy Wallace leads the CL, and ranks second behind Nashville’s “Mastodon” Allen, with a .351 batting average. He has drawn 17 walks against 11 whiffs. He has three homers, which is not a lot, really. He is on pace for a 5.5-or-so WAR season. If he can hit like THAT, he can be a defensive agony radiator as much as he damn well pleases. I am very interested in his BB% and K%. Those were 6.3 and 11.4 last season, respectively. This year? 9.9 and 6.4! That is a marked turnaround and if everybody could stop hitting into ****ing double plays, maybe he could get some RBI going here!

He was also born on April Fool’s Day, so maybe this is an elaborate joke the baseball gods set up 26 years ago.

Double plays… the Coons hit into a full dozen of those this week, which seems excessive. They have hit into a double play (or triple play…) for 13 straight games. That also seems excessive.

Injuries are starting to accumulate. We have Monday off and Stalker should be back by the time we play in Vegas on Tuesday. Still no idea about Jennings. He hasn’t done his 250 repetitions of “marathon” yet, so Dr. Chung says he can’t speak judgment on what ails him.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have not done better than an 11-7 record against the resentworthy Elks since the 2012 season.

You know, the one where Ray Gilbert took our souls away on the final weekend of the season, and our playoff spot.