[Westheim]

Raccoons (8-10) vs. Thunder (8-10) – April 23-25, 2046

To put it mildly, neither of those two CLCS contenders from last year had gotten the start to the new season they had expected. While the Raccoons were mostly wholesale crummy, the Thunder couldn’t score a damn, sitting second from the bottom in board markers. They had also allowed the second-fewest runs, and had a 1.41 bullpen ERA for standouts, but in the end they were hugging an even run differential (-2), same as the Critters (+1), and both were under .500 as April was about to close out. Last year we had beaten them 9-6, 4-2 of those in the CLCS.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (1-1, 3.50 ERA) vs. Michael Donovan (0-2, 4.34 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (2-2, 3.86 ERA) vs. Ray Thune (0-1, 6.60 ERA)
Ryan Person (2-1, 2.86 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (2-1, 2.81 ERA)

Donovan was the only southpaw for this series we’d come up against, with Victor Marquez (1-2, 5.04 ERA) having gone on Sunday for them.

Game 1
OCT: LF Zurita – 2B Ban – C Adames – RF Benavides – SS R. Cox – 3B Greer – CF DeMarco – 1B Levis – P M. Donovan
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – P Merino

Straight doubles by Ryan Cox, Marshall Greer, and Nick DeMarco to all directions on the field gave the Thunder a 2-0 lead to begin the second inning, while I kept wondering how it could continue to be going so very wrong. Both teams had four hits through three innings, but of course the Raccoons were not very smart about it once more and didn’t score. The closest they came were singles to put Pellicano and Maldonado on the corners with two outs in the bottom 3rd, but then Bryce Toohey fouled out to ex-Coon Doug Levis. Derek Baskins and Ruben Gonzalez hit 1-out singles the following inning, but were stranded by Carreno and Merino…

Merino grinded it out for seven innings and 109 pitches, allowing only three hits after the triple-double disaster, but that was enough to keep him up on the hook rather than on the score. He was pinch-hit for with Manny Fernandez in the bottom 7th after Carreno had opened the inning with a single to center against Jesse Allison. Manny grounded out, so did Pellicano. Herrera hit a single a step in front of Juan Benavides, the former Pacifics standout, and Carreno had to hold on third base. The tying runs were on the corners for Jesus Maldonado – and down 2-2, he found the hole between Cox and Jonathan Ban, knocking an RBI single to center. Bryce Toohey had hit the ball hard twice already, but had an 0-for-3 to show off. It got better now – blasting the first pitch by Allison to dead-center for a no-doubt homer, and giving Merino a posthumous 4-2 lead.

It didn’t last, because a parade of relievers retired next to nobody in the eighth inning. Nelson Moreno and Zack Kelly both put on a guy, Jesus Adames and Cox, respectively, then left Preston Porter to brave it out against a barrage of left-handed pinch-hitters, which would have worked better with a second lefty in the pen, maybe, or if the colossal ******* *********** ******* in the field didn’t make not one, but TWO errors behind Porter; Baskins overran a ball, Carreno threw one into Toohey’s hindpaws, neither play was made, and the Thunder tied the game before ex-Coon Jose Zarate flew out to Baskins to strand Brad Simon and another ex-Coon in Mal Phinazee on the corners in a 4-4 game. The abject misery was hard to describe. Carreno hit another leadoff single in the bottom 8th, but was ultimately stranded at third base. In the top of the ninth, Josh Rella delighted himself with getting two outs before walking Adames, Benavides, and Cox in order. I was barely containing myself from screaming obscenities with a lady present, which Maud appreciated not half as much as I appreciated how Ethan Moore hacked himself out to strand all the runners in the 4-4 tie. When the Raccoons couldn’t win the game in the ninth, they lost it in the tenth at frightening speed. Sean Marucci faced eight batters and retired one of them. When Hickey replaced him, it only got worse. The Coons scored two in the bottom 10th, not that I cared anymore… 11-6 Thunder. Herrera 2-4, BB, RBI; Maldonado 2-5, 2 RBI; Baskins 2-5; Gonzalez 2-5; Merino 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K;

Eight walks by relievers in three innings.

I have rarely ever seen the baseball gods this vicious.

Game 2
OCT: CF Tortora – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – C Adames – SS R. Cox – 3B Greer – LF E. Moore – 1B Levis – P Thune
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – R Fernandez – C Morales – 2B Martell – P Wheatley

After Baskins grounded out, two singles and a walk filled the bags with Critters in the first inning on Tuesday night. Ball four to Matt Waters pushed home the game’s first run before Fernandez popped out and Morales struck out to strand three runners. The Thunder came back at once, with a leadoff jack – truly crushed – by Adames to tie it, and then Marshall Greer’s RBI double exploiting the walk Wheatley had issued to Cox to take a 2-1 lead. That became 3-1 in the fourth on a Cox double and a Greer single, and to be honest, last year’s Pitcher of the Year looked just like any other old tosser we were dropping on the mound this season…

He *did* open the bottom 5th with a single to left, though, which Derek Baskins quickly followed up on, so maybe we could at least get some pitcher-induced offense going here? Herrera popped out, but Maldonado singled to center, however the nature of Wheats’ slow hindpaws, aggravated by the face that he had gotten the face of a bacon ad over the winter, meant he had to slow down and park it at third base. Bags full for Toohey, who chopped a 3-1 pitch to the left side to cause me more agony. I howled, but somehow the ball made it through between Cox and Greer, and tied the score becoming a 2-run single…! The remaining runners were left on, however. But Wheats held the line through seven innings, allowing only the four hits that mostly caused the accumulated damage, then got his pointy black nose in the lead when Thune served up a leadoff homer to Maldo in the bottom 7th. Toohey doubled to right to send home the starter, but the tack-on run remained stranded against the bottom of the order and some stingy relief.

Wheats was back on it in the eighth, facing three more batters, of which Cullen Tortora hit a 1-out single. Wheats went out with a K to Jonathan Ban, then yielded for Zack Kelly against Benavides. Our sole surviving southpaw struck out the genuine threat, and the 4-3 lead lived into the next inning. Rella retired the Thunder in order, squeezing a W into the books after all. 4-3 Critters. Baskins 4-5; Herrera 2-5; Maldonado 3-5, HR, RBI; Toohey 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Wheatley 7.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (3-2) and 1-3;

Now we only have to figure out how to have Wheats start every game and we’re good.

Game 3
OCT: LF Zurita – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – C Adames – SS R. Cox – 3B Greer – CF Tortora – 1B Levis – P J. Ramos
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – C Morales – RF Mercado – 2B Carreno – P Person

Still waiting on the first non-**** start by Ryan Person, the Raccoons were sorely disappointed on Wednesday. While he didn’t allow a run and didn’t walk everything with legs, including chairs and tables, Person needed 50 pitches to get through even three innings, running a myriad of long counts, walking one and whiffing four against one base hit. Nobody scored early, with the Coons bringing up the minimum against Ramos, who allowed a walk to Baskins, who was forced out by Herrera, who was caught stealing in the bottom 1st.

Then came the fourth. Person led off with a walk to Benavides, which was not so great. Adames grounded out, and Cox hit a single, putting runners on the corners. Greer inched out another walk, and with that Dr. Padilla was all over Person all of a sudden. After deliberation on the mound, he removed him from the game. I had a mild stroke. I missed Tortora plating the game’s first run with a groundout against Bob Ibold, who along with Hickey held the game close in the middle innings. Carreno opened the bottom 6th with a single to center, our first actual base hit in the horrendous, no-good game. Manny was batting ninth, entering the game in a double switch with Hickey the inning prior, but flew out to Zurita, and Carreno in fact wasn’t moved off first base the entire inning, and Ramos kept them off base except for a Tony Morales double in the eighth that also led absolutely nowhere. Preston Porter allowed a run on three hits in the ninth inning, doubling the gap the Coons had to make up. Right-hander Alan Fleming had the ball in the bottom 9th and got taken deep by Manny Fernandez, which would have tied the game without Porter’s gaffe, but now the Coons were still a run short. That was also where they remained, with only Herrera singling with one gone, and then getting forced out by Maldonado. Toohey popped out. 2-1 Thunder. Hickey 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Intense agony.

Also, pretty close to last place now.

Dr. Padilla reported that Ryan Person had suffered a forearm strain and that a DL stint was required. He *might* be fair to go in the second half of May. Or maybe not.

I was told everything was gonna be fine, and after clamoring “WHY WHY WHY” for three hours and being fed some sugar cookies, I went over replacement options with Cristiano Carmona. The schedule demanded a replacement by the following Tuesday. One option was Hickey, who was doing fundamentally alright, but while the 40-man crew in AAA was mostly ho-hum, including Jeremy Chaney and Tony Negrete, there was one guy doing fairly well with a 2.05 ERA and 22 K in 22 innings. 23-year-old lefty Bubba Wolinsky would get his first call-up, five years after being taken #12 in the 2041 draft!

There was no point in putting him on the roster already, though; the Raccoons would set him aside from pitching in AAA (his next turn would have been Saturday), and bring up left-hander Steven Johnston for the weekend set against the Loggers to help out the pen. Johnston had been through meager cups of coffee in 2043 and 2044 and had already been outrighted off the 40-man roster a while ago, but we were kinda needy and other pickings in AAA were slim as far as lefty relief was concerned. Chuck Jones? The climate change had not changed his pitching success in 2046, to put it mildly.

Raccoons (9-12) vs. Loggers (13-8) – April 27-29, 2046

The Loggers led the division – the Loggers! – while sitting fifth in runs scored and third in runs allowed with a modest +10 run differential. They had also beaten the Coons two out of three at the start of the year, and I didn’t see yet why that wouldn’t continue to be a thing…

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (0-3, 7.63 ERA) vs. Marvin Verduzco (1-1, 3.46 ERA)
Jake Jackson (0-2, 3.28 ERA) vs. Victor Padilla (3-1, 4.50 ERA)
Victor Merino (1-1, 3.24 ERA) vs. Sergio Piedra (5-0, 1.06 ERA)

We’d get two left-handed opposing pitchers in the set, and none of them on Sunday? Loggers, we need to talk about timing…!

With the Raccoons having put Person on the DL, the Loggers also had starter Jose de Luco there (possibly for the season with Tommy John surgery not having gone that well), as well as catcher Ricky Payne and righty Aaron Howell.

Game 1
MIL: CF B. Allen – 2B Davison – RF Hertenstein – SS R. Espinoza – LF Brayboy – 1B Edsell – C R. Rodriguez – 3B R. Johnston – P Verduzco
POR: RF Pellicano – CF A. Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – P Okuda

Okuda retired the first five, then put four straight on base, as things had been going all year long so far. Ryan Johnston singled home Kyle Edsell in the event, which consisted of two hits and two walks, including a free pass with two outs to the opposing pitcher. That sequence was not the only issue – throughout his appearance, Okuda got into an endless procession of long counts, exploding his pitch count to the tune of 85 pitches in four innings while trailing “only” 1-0. He trailed while the Coons got Waters on base on a Loggers error to begin the bottom 2nd, but failed to do anything with that. They then got Maldonado on base on another Loggers error to begin the fourth when Ryan Johnston skipped a throw and Edsell barely kept it in play. Bryce Toohey didn’t need no second invitation, hitting a crusher to left to flip the score, half earned, half not.

Wicked became absurd the same inning when Verduzco descended into walks to Waters, Carreno, and ultimately Okuda with two outs, while rain burst over the ballpark and brought on a 45-minute rain delay in the same inning. Despite four walks in total, Verduzco had only thrown 52 pitches twice through the lineup and resumed pitching after the rain delay, with three on, two outs, and Gene Pellicano in the box. He got the K. With his earlier excursions and the rain delay on top of that, Okuda was not brought back for the fifth inning. The Raccoons went to Ibold, who pitched a scoreless fifth before Verduzco allowed a single to Herrera and a homer to Maldo in the bottom of the inning, widening the score to 4-1. Ibold added another inning, throwing 19 pitches in total for six outs. Just saying, Sadaharu-san. Just saying.

Verduzco held out until there were two outs in the bottom 6th, when Derek Baskins reached with a pinch-hit single in place of Ibold and he was taken deep a third time, now by Pellicano, 6-1. After a scoreless frame by Marucci, Steven Johnston made his first appearance in two years and retired nobody. Daniel Hertenstein took him deep to left to begin the eighth, after which he walked Ricky Espinoza and the insufferable Aaron Brayboy. Nelson Moreno replaced him, allowed a single and a run, but maneuvered the Raccoons to relative safety still up by three. He had entered in a double switch, with the #9 spot leading off the bottom 8th, to perhaps facilitate a 2-inning save should the Coons tack on in the bottom 8th, which they did. Tony Morales singled to lead off the inning, was forced out by Pellicano, but Pellicano stole second off a sleeping Miguel Herrera, then scored on Nelson Mercado’s single – Mercado had pinch-hit to get Armando Herrera off his paws when the game looked bagged one pass through the lineup earlier. Moreno retired the first two in the ninth, then gave up a double to Hertenstein. He’d pitch to Espinoza, while it was Zack Kelly, who got ready for Brayboy, the lefty terror. He never entered the game – Espinoza went down on strikes. 7-3 Raccoons. Mercado (PH) 1-1, BB, RBI; Maldonado 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Baskins (PH) 1-1; Morales 1-1; Ibold 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (2-0); Moreno 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

Game 2
MIL: CF B. Allen – 3B B. Johnson – RF Hertenstein – SS R. Espinoza – 1B Brayboy – LF Reeves – C R. Rodriguez – 2B Davison – P V. Padilla
POR: RF Pellicano – CF A. Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – P Jackson

Rodriguez, Davison, and Brent Allen all hit singles off Jackson in the third inning, all to left, leading to the game’s first two runs. The Coons amounted to precious little the first time through, but reached the board when Waters doubled home Herrera with two outs in the bottom 4th after the big guns in between had both fanned. Baskins flew out to Allen in deep center, stranding the tying run in scoring position, where it arrived again pretty fast in the bottom 5th with a walk to Ruben Gonzalez, then a balk being charged on Padilla. Nevertheless, three poor outs in a row stranded the tying run again, this time on third base.

Padilla left with an injury after strangling the Raccoons for six innings, while Jackson held out even beyond that, hoping to scratch out a win in April in his last chance to do so, but Ron Purcell retired the Raccoons’ 6-7-8 in 1-2-3 fashion in the bottom 7th. Jackson allowed a single to Edsell in the #9 hole in the eighth, but finished the inning, then was pinch-hit for as the Raccoons won back the right to poke. Pellicano would hit a single in the inning, then was stranded in scoring position when Herrera grounded out and Maldonado whiffed. The game then got away for good from Preston Porter, giving up a 2-run homer to ******* Aaron Brayboy in the ninth inning… 4-1 Loggers. Herrera 2-4; Toohey 2-4; Jackson 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, L (0-3);

Interlude: waiver claim

Signs of despair: your team makes a waiver claim on April 29. The Raccoons added a lefty reliever in Todd Lush (1-0, 2.70 ERA) this way, who had been tried to be snuck through waivers by the Titans. The Coons, having just seen Steven Johnston, that bum, almost explode a 5-run lead, had none of that. They added the 10-year veteran swingman, who was on a $710k deal and sent Johnston back onto waivers instead.

Raccoons (9-12) vs. Loggers (13-8) – April 27-29, 2046

Game 3
MIL: C R. Rodriguez – 2B Davison – RF Hertenstein – SS R. Espinoza – LF Brayboy – 1B Edsell – CF Reeves – 3B R. Johnston – P Piedra
POR: LF Baskins – CF A. Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Morales – RF Fernandez – SS Martell – 2B Carreno – P Merino

The rubber game was against the near-impenetrable Sergio Piedra, off to a fabulous start, and I wasn’t quite sure how we planned to stop him from going up to 6-0. Herrera hit a single in the first, but was caught stealing, and while Merino got a decent start, he served up a leadoff double to Piedra in the third inning. Ricky Rodriguez struck out, then said something to the umpire that was enough to even get the catcher ejected without much fuss. This made a major leaguer out of David Nagel, the so far unchristened backup catcher, a tender 22 years old. An opening into Piedra? (whiskers twitch) Two grounders stranded the runner, for a start, and then the Coons took the lead in the bottom 3rd when, all with two outs, Merino singled, Baskins walked, and Herrera singled to score his own pitcher. Hertenstein threw home late, allowing the trailing runners to reach scoring position, and Maldo crammed the very next pitch into the leftfield corner for a 2-run double…! Toohey added an RBI double. It’s happening, Maud! It’s happening! (snickers)

Always remember, kids – the baseball gods don’t like snickering. They’ll turn on you in a heartbeat. Johnston homered off Merino in the fourth, and Hertenstein doubled home a run in the fifth to narrow the score down to 4-2 again. While Piedra returned to solid after an aggravated, but apparently constructive discussion with Nagel in the dugout after the third inning, the Raccoons started to drift down the Willamette again. Merino walked Edsell in the sixth, and with two outs Johnston ripped a double to center. Herrera cut it off ahead of the warning track though, and Edsell was slow as ****, and when sent around third base found himself thrown out at home by a good 25 feet, ending the inning.

On to the seventh, where the game entered the realm of the ridiculous for good. Piedra singled off Merino to begin the inning. Nagel was out on an easy fly, but the Coons then went to the pen and got Marucci. Scott Davison sent a grounder to short, but Martell and Carreno were clumsy in trying to turn two, Carreno had to step on second base again, and that was with Piedra already going into the base in steam hammer fashion. They collided, Carreno fell onto Piedra, who was ruled out, and also had to be hauled off on a stretcher, while Carreno fell soft and was no worse for wear. The Loggers, aghast, went down on a Hertenstein strikeout to reach the stretch.

Pat Gurney drove in Al Martell when he hit for Marucci in the bottom 7th, extending the scoreline against Ron Purcell, who was then also removed from the game for injury concerns. If you had trouble keeping score at home, it was now 5-2 Coons, while the Loggers had three injured pitchers and an ejected catcher, and a manager looking like his soul was trying to leave his body in the visiting dugout. Zack Kelly entered the game, giving the poor sod new life by serving up a leadoff jack to Espinoza, while Brayboy reached on a Manny Fernandez error. Oh boy. Exit Kelly, enter Porter, who got a 6-4-3 from Edsell to clean up on the bases.

With lefty Walt Wright in for Milwaukee, the Coons put three pinch-hitters aboard with one out in the bottom 8th, putting Pellicano, Gonzalez, and Waters on base for Al Martell, at which point only the also left-handed hitting Mercado was left on the bench. Martell struck out, Carreno popped out, and all the noise was for nothing again. At least Josh Rella put the Loggers away in order… 5-3 Blighters. Herrera 2-4, RBI; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1; Waters (PH) 1-1; Gurney (PH) 1-1, RBI; Merino 6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (2-1) and 1-2;

In other news

April 23 – The Gold Sox announce the loss of OF Sandy Castillo (.271, 0 HR, 4 RBI), missing three weeks at least with a strained hamstring.
April 25 – PIT 1B Jesus Matos (.263, 0 HR, 7 RBI) has his 2,000th career hit in a 2-1 loss to the Pacifics. The 37-year-old with a .276, 176 HR, 916 RBI career lands the only Miners run of the 10-inning contest, an RBI double off LAP SP Aaron Bryant (0-1, 4.01 ERA) for the milestone hit. The 16-year veteran, who is a free agent at the end of the year, has two rings and was an All Star three times in his career.
April 25 – The Wolves collapse for 11 unanswered Capitals runs in the eighth inning on their way to a 12-5 blowout loss.
April 26 – The Stars win a rain-shortened 6-3, 6-inning game from the Buffaloes.
April 27 – The Warriors have themselves a comeback, walkoff win over the Pacifics, 4-3, on back-to-back, 2-strike home runs by Randy Wilken (2-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI) and Rick Urfer (.273, 2 HR, 6 RBI). Wilken’s game-tying home run comes in his major league debut. The 22-year-old was the #1 pick in 2044, and ranked as high as #3 on the prospect boards.
April 29 – Vancouver C Julio Diaz (.385, 1 HR, 14 RBI) and 2B/3B Travis Malkus (.306, 3 HR, 21 RBI) both go 4-for-5 with a homer, a double, and four RBI in an 11-3 rout of the Titans.

FL Player of the Week: CIN OF Dan Mathes (.356, 2 HR, 10 RBI), hitting .542 (13-24) with 2 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA UT Eddie Luna (.467, 2 HR, 6 RBI), breaking out bigly hitting .545 (12-22) with 2 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Yes, Cristiano, Okuda has the best strikeout rate on the team. – But he is 0-3 with a 6.52 ERA! – (aggravatedly points at the standings) Show me here where his 4.03 FIP and the .400 BABIP help us in the standings!!

Alright, we were at home for two weeks, barely played even-steven, and now we’re in last place. This is not how I envisioned pennant #3 to be built towards. We already made a waiver claim, and we’re already disenchanted with our big addition of the winter, who is by now on the DL. All that is left is hope that Dr. Padilla can stretch out that tossing paw of his…

Also, accomplished hitters like Matt Waters and Manny Fernandez and Bryce Toohey and Derek Baskins can’t hit this poorly for the entire season, can they? – Please nod, Honeypaws?

Better not to start on the defense at all.

So Bubba Wolinsky will make his debut come Tuesday, after Wheats’ regular turn. Marucci, who took most of the explosion on Monday in his face, will be returned to AAA. We’ll be in Boston for four games for the occasion (I hear Todd Lush knows his way ‘round town), and then skip by Richmond again. This can only be fun. We’ll also return home only briefly after that for one set against the Pacifics before heading back out East for another 2-week road trip after that. We only have six home games in all of May.

Fun Fact: Jake Jackson has the best FIP on the starting crew (2.91).

See, Cristiano, that’s why nobody takes you for full. Jackson is just as 0-3 as Okuda is. You can just as logically order our starters by hair color for all I care!

You like Wheats’ hazel curls? – Okay, Cristiano, now we’re talking game!