[Westheim]

Raccoons (42-26) vs. Indians (21-48) – June 19-21, 2045

The Raccoons were 5-1 against the badly drowning Indians this season, with nothing, but really nothing going right for them. They were bottoms in runs scored, third from the bottom in runs allowed, and had run up 21 1/2 games of gap to the first-place Coons and a -100 run differential by the middle of June. The only offensive thing they managed to do was stealing bases – if they ever got on base. Their rotation was wretched, their defense was clunky, and their pen was… decent! But that was not enough to salvage the rest of the clown troupe …

Projected matchups:
Brent Clark (6-5, 4.38 ERA) vs. Bill Drury (3-10, 4.01 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (5-5, 3.69 ERA) vs. Jonathan Dykstra (2-11, 7.24 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (7-4, 3.92 ERA) vs. Willie Gonzales (2-5, 3.86 ERA)

All these clowns were right-handed.

Game 1
IND: 3B Russ – 1B Barrientos – LF D. Rivera – CF N. Galvan – C Julian Diaz – RF B. Quinteros – 2B A. Avila – SS Huber – P Drury
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Fernandez – SS Waters – 2B Gurney – C Zarate – P Clark

Matt Waters drew a walk with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom 1st before Gurney’s pop stranded three other runners. But Brent Clark, speaking of clowns, struck out five the first time through the order and didn’t allow a hit until Miguel Barrientos hit a leadoff single in the top of the fourth. Clark went on to nail Danny Rivera – perhaps the lone Indians hitter not beyond salvation – with an 0-2 pitch, but got Nelson Galvan to hit into a double play. Julian Diaz then made the third out to short. But of course, this was Brent Clark. The clown allowed a triple to Andres Avila in the fifth, then walked Adam Huber, all with one gone. Drury popped out, but Andrew Russ doubled home the runners, and the Indians took the lead, 2-1. Waters pulled it back with a 2-out single, driving home Herrera, who had reached on an Avila error in the bottom 5th, and sent Maldonado first-to-third. Gurney grounded out to strand multiple Raccoons again.

Clark continued to rampage, beaning Diaz from the game in the sixth – Sean Ebner replaced him – then bunted badly to force out Zarate in the bottom 6th when the Coons catcher reached on an error by Russ. Clark made it through the seventh, somehow, then even got in line for the W when Drury got bombed to center by Bryce Toohey to open the bottom 7th. Rivera would counter with a 1-out single off Nelson Moreno in the eighth, but was forced out on Galvan’s grounder. On the same grounder, which went 6-4-and-nothing-more from a defensive standpoint, Gurney jerked awkwardly to catch a bad feed from Waters at second base, and was soon hauled in after making grimaces towards the dugout. John Castner took over, while Moreno ended the eighth by fanning Sean Ebner.

Top 9th, Josh Rella struck out Bill Quinteros, struck out Nick Crocker, and Adam Huber grounded to – oh, and … and nobody played that one. Infield single. Steven Jennings hit another one. Andrew Russ, the annoying **** hit a ball into the gap on 2-2, driving in both runners with a double. Barrientos singled him in. Rivera walked. I sunk into the cushions. Somehow Preston Porter found out of the inning, but not until after the Arrowheads had put up three runs. The Raccoons went down meekly against Tommy Gardner in the ninth. 5-3 Indians. Baskins 4-5, 2B; Toohey 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Waters 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Clark 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K;

(looks bleached)

With this latest Rella meltdown, the Raccoons became a lot less likable.

Also, Pat Gurney was headed for the DL with an oblique strain and would probably not return until after the All Star Game. The Raccoons reached into their AAA team again and pulled up Omar Gutierrez, hitting .284 with a homer down there.

Game 2
IND: 3B Russ – LF D. Rivera – CF N. Galvan – RF B. Quinteros – 1B Barrientos – 2B D. Diaz – C Ebner – SS Huber – P Dykstra
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Kilmer – 2B Martell – P Wheatley

Straight 1-out singles gave the Raccoons a 1-0 lead in the bottom 1st, Toohey driving in Herrera after Manny Fernandez, who was up next, had picked a Quinteros drive off the top of the fence to bail out Wheats in the opening half-frame, and before Manny Fernandez cranked a 3-piece over that same fence to extend the lead to 4-0. They tacked on a run when Baskins reached base, stole second, and scored after a Herrera single and a Maldonado double play grounder in the second.

5-0 it was then, while the Indians had a guy in scoring position each of the first three innings, but were suffocated by Wheats nicely in the middle innings. There was a chance for a shutout – Wheatley was on 76 pitches through six innings, having whiffed four. The 5-6-7 went down on 12 pitches in the seventh, not reaching base, but Russ would single on his 100th pitch with two outs in the eighth inning. Rivera grounded out, closing out the eighth. Wheats batted for himself in the bottom 8th, singling with nobody out to move Martell and his leadoff double from second to third. Baskins hit an RBI single to left, the first run scored by either team since the second inning. Herrera flew out, and Maldo plated Wheatley with a groundout, extending the lead to seven runs before the Raccoons’ batting parts were (hopefully over). Wheats began the ninth on 104 pitches, and the meat of the order was up. Galvan flew out to center on five pitches. Then he walked Bill Quinteros on four pitches. Yellow alert, at least – he’d have one more chance against Barrientos. He rung him up! Danny Diaz would be Wheat’s last batter – and he singled to left, on his 117th pitch. And that was enough. Jon Craig ended the game with a K. 7-0 Coons. Baskins 2-5, RBI; Herrera 2-5; Toohey 3-5, 2 2B, RBI; Fernandez 2-3, BB, 3 RBI; Martell 3-3, BB, 2 2B; Wheatley 8.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (6-5) and 1-4;

Game 3
IND: 3B Russ – 1B Barrientos – LF D. Rivera – CF N. Galvan – RF B. Quinteros – C Ebner – 2B A. Avila – SS Huber – P W. Gonzales
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Kilmer – 3B Jimenez – 2B Gutierrez – P Okuda

Season debut for Omar Gutierrez, who had been reasonably far down the depth chart, but, eh, the nature of injuries! He would not be around for long, with Arturo Carreno already on the horizon, anyway.

Him and the remaining Raccoons had no hits the first time through, and by the time Maldonado hit a single in the bottom 4th, they were behind 2-0 on an Avila RBI double, scoring Ebner, from the second inning, and a Rivera homer in the fourth. Okuda would grind away at the Arrowheads for seven and two thirds, allowing five hits before being lifted for Nate Norris to get the last out in the eighth from Galvan, with Barrientos on second base. He also left the game trailing, 2-0, with the Raccoons getting 3-hit by unassuming looking Willie Gonzales. It was then Gutierrez to reach scoring position to begin the bottom 8th, dropping a bloop single between Huber and Rivera, with the sliding Huber forcing Rivera to peel off and the ball getting behind both of them for an extra base, Adam Huber being charged a hard-nosed error. Toohey hit for Norris and walked, putting the tying run on base. That flipped the lineup over to Derek Baskins, and only now did the Indians’ pen spring into action with bends and stretches. It was no use – Baskins flew out on the first pitch, and Herrera found the shortstop for a double play, allowing Gonzales out of the inning. Zack Kelly had a scoreless ninth, with Gonzales remaining in the game against the 3-4-5 of the Raccoons in the bottom 9th. Maldo flew out to center, but Manny hit a jack to right to blow up the shutout and bring in Tommy Gardner, who had sawed off the Critters on Monday already. He struck out Waters, but Dustal hit for Kilmer and hit a sharp grounder to left. Huber cut it off deep on the dirt, but had no play – 2-out infield single. But Ricky Jimenez dipped his batting average to .169 with another whiff, and the Raccoons lost the series to the abysmal Indians… 2-1 Indians. Dustal (PH) 1-1; Gutierrez 2-3; Okuda 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, L (7-5);

The Crusaders gained one game on us during this series, splitting a double header with the Elks on Monday, winning on Tuesday, and being rained out for the joy of another double header in September on Wednesday. Thursday, we were both off.

Raccoons (43-28) @ Condors (33-40) – June 23-25, 2045

We’d meet another last-place team to look like total fools against, with the Condors ninth in both runs scored and runs allowed, with only a -31 run differential. They also had a bottom three rotation, coupled with one of the worst defenses in the league. They didn’t excel at anything, really, ranking consistently in the bottom half in almost all important categories. We had swept them in the first meeting with them this season.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (1-1, 3.90 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (6-2, 3.29 ERA)
Brent Clark (6-5, 4.22 ERA) vs. Gabe Butler (7-7, 3.39 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (6-5, 3.31 ERA) vs. Ryan Porter (3-9, 5.33 ERA)

The series would begin with two southpaws from the Condors’ side. Only right-handers left after that.

The Coons skipped Corey Mathers (5.33 ERA and melting) on their off day. Not that more Merino and Clark were advised right now…

Game 1
POR: SS Waters – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – 3B Jimenez – 2B Castner – P Merino
TIJ: 2B M. Lopez – 3B Barcia – C T. Black – RF Ito – LF Rossi – 1B A. Zacarias – CF J. Clark – SS Clary – P de Anda

Manny singled home Maldo for a first-inning run, the latter having doubled and Toohey having drawn a walk in between. Meanwhile there was a sole lefty bat (Jacob Clark) opposing Merino, who nevertheless got through the first couple of innings alright before the Raccoons tacked on with a 3-run third; Herrera and Maldonado opened with singles before de Anda struck out the next two. Kilmer, however, jabbed an RBI single to right, and Jimenez whacked a gapper for a 2-run double. Castner was walked intentionally to get the third out from Merino, who allowed a Sergio Barcia double in the bottom 3rd, but little else of note all the way through the seventh inning, maintaining a 3-hit shutout … but on 100 pitches, he would not get the chance to go the distance. The last two innings were picked up by Norris and Craig, while the offense laid low and conserved energies for Saturday, or so I’d hope… 4-0 Raccoons. Maldonado 4-4, 2B; Jimenez 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Baskins (PH) 1-1; Merino 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, W (2-1);

With that, Arturo Carreno came off the DL for Saturday. The Raccoons reconsidered and sent John Castner (.184, 0 HR, 1 RBI) back to AAA, thus keeping the extra lefty bat that Omar Gutierrez offered.

Game 2
POR: SS Waters – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – C Zarate – 3B Jimenez – 2B Carreno – P B. Clark
TIJ: 2B M. Lopez – 3B Barcia – C T. Black – RF Ito – LF Rossi – 1B A. Zacarias – CF Oliver – SS Clary – P G. Butler

Nate Rossi drove in a run with a groundout when the Condors had the bases loaded and one out in the bottom 1st, with Alex Zacarias’ groundout keeping the remaining runners on base. Eric Clary hit a blast to right in the second, extending the Condors’ lead over Clark to 2-0. The Raccoons? They weren’t hitting, literally. Butler carried a no-hitter through four before Ricky Jimenez hit the shiest of singles through the right side. Carreno flew out weekly to ex-Coon Rikuto Ito, while Clark couldn’t get the bunt own, then popped out on 0-2. Waters singled past Clary to move Jimenez to second, but Herrera’s grounder was handled by Barcia, and the inning ended.

IT didn’t look like Portland had a chance, and Clark then pissed it all away for good in the bottom 6th, failing to retire any of the 5-6-7-8-9 batters with one out. Oliver singled home a run, and Butler (…) singled in two before Clark was yanked. Porter appeared on the mound, struck out Miguel Lopez, then had his own string of not getting any of five consecutive hitters out, getting ravaged for four runs on his furry tush (never mind another two on Clark that he surrendered), before Chuck Jones came on to get a ******* out from Brian Oliver. The Condors had piled up nine in the inning, and the game was over as a contest. Gabe Butler finished the game without breaking much of a sweat, 4-hitting the miserable Critters. 11-0 Condors.

It’s not going well.

(applies Dr. Blossom’s Pain-Be-Gone! Powder to his furry tush)

Game 3
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Kilmer – 3B Jimenez – 2B Martell – P Wheatley
TIJ: 2B M. Lopez – RF Rossi – 1B A. Zacarias – CF Ito – C T. Black – 3B Barcia – LF Reidinger – SS Clary – P R. Porter

Ricky Jimenez had his odd biweekly clout to centerfield that reminded us, oh yeah, we’re not burning those $3M, we’re actually getting a hit every fortnight. This was a 3-run homer in the fourth, chasing home Waters and Kilmer for the first runs in the rubber game. Wheats was fine the first time through, facing one over the minimum, then allowed a single to Nate Rossi and a walk to Ito in the fourth. However, Zacarias hit into a double play and Ito was caught stealing, meaning it somehow still was a 1-2-3 inning. Terry Black found a clean leadoff single to left in the fifth, but was doubled up by Marty Reidinger after Barcia popped out. Porter and Lopez hit singles up the middle in the sixth, but Rossi’s cozy fly to right and Zacarias’ grounder up the middle ended the inning. There was a weird calmness around Wheats all of a sudden, and he began to encroach on the 3.00 ERA mark, reaching 3.10 in the sixth.

Al Martell opened the seventh with a single to right, then stole second. Wheats swung, grounding out, moving the runner to third base, where Baskins and Herrera stranded him with poor outs. It wasn’t the Raccoons’ week, huh? Well, maybe Matt Waters could put the game away. He found Manny on base in the eighth inning, then hit a homer to right, his ninth on the year, to extend the lead to 5-0. But – no shutout for Wheats this time either! Marty Reidinger took him deep to right to open the eighth inning, which he finished, but which would also be his last in the game.

And it was not a save situation either for Josh Rella in the bottom 9th, but he simply made it one, putting Ito on base, and giving up a bomb to Terry Black to get the Condors within two. With Moreno getting warm in a hurry, Barcia and Reidinger made the last two outs to eek out the series win. 5-3 Coons. Waters 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Wheatley 8.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (7-5) and 1-3;

In other news

June 19 – LVA SP Oscar Valdes (5-5, 4.24 ERA) 2-hits the Condors in a 4-0 shutout.
June 19 – A torn rotator cuff puts VAN SP Mario Godinez (7-5, 5.36 ERA) on the DL for the rest of the 2045 season.
June 20 – Denver’s SP John Kennedy (7-6, 2.98 ERA) spins a 1-hitter in a 10-0 rout of the Pacifics. LAP OF Tony Romero (.272, 2 HR, 18 RBI) has the only L.A. hit, a second-inning single.
June 20 – MIL SP Mackenzie O’Toole (6-4, 3.12 ERA) pitches a 2-hit shutout against the Titans. The Loggers win 3-0.
June 20 – Canadiens infielder Kenichi Saito (.248, 6 HR, 26 RBI) will miss the rest of the season, heading for Tommy John surgery for a torn UCL.

FL Player of the Week: CIN 3B Jesus Burgos (.361, 6 HR, 44 RBI), batting .500 (13-26) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN OF Jerry Outram (.388, 8 HR, 45 RBI), hitting .522 (12-23) with 2 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Not Player of the Week: Wheats, who pitched 16.2 innings for 12 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks, and 11 strikeouts. Screw you, Jerry Outram! Wheats would face Outram on the coming weekend… For his last five games, Wheats is 4-0 with a 1.45 ERA, and with a WHIP of 0.88! … Clunker incoming, I fear.

We need a new closer. Rella wasn’t even unlucky. He is just getting pummeled now. I am highly dismayed by it.

Also, we need to take a good look at ourselves, and wonder how we played the two last-place teams in the CL this week and barely made it out 3-3, and with a -1 run differential at that. We weren’t unlucky in losing three; we were just mediocre.

Maldo put a 12-game hitting streak together, but that one died in the same game as Rella’s prestige on Sunday, where Maldo hit 0-for-4 with a K. In a real slump: Armando Herrera, batting 5-for-36 in his last 8 games. ‘tis but a scratch, I hope.

Next week we’re back home to face the Falcons and the damn Elks, the latter coming in for four games.

Pitching depth took a hit this week, with Tony Negrete hitting the minor league DL with a sprained ankle. He would have been the first guy up in case Brent Clark or whoever needed defenestration.

Fun Fact: We won the Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday games this week, and lost the Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday games – same as last week.

In other words, we’ve done one step forward and one step back for 12 straight games now. That is another way to be mediocre.