[Westheim]

Raccoons (63-55) vs. Capitals (55-61) – August 15-17, 2051

For the second time this year, the Raccoons would join hands weakly with the team that hogged the very bottom of the runs scored table in the Federal League, and the Caps were scoring even fewer runs than the Critters. Hitting .248 as a team, and also bottoms in power and without much speed, they were kept alive by a stern rotation that ranked second in ERA, but their run differential was still a rough -85. The Coons had lost the last two meetings with Washington, each time two games to one, most recently last year.

Projected matchups:
Rafael de la Cruz (4-5, 4.26 ERA) vs. Bruce Mark jr. (10-9, 3.34 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (12-9, 3.57 ERA) vs. Sean Fowler (8-9, 3.80 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (13-6, 2.87 ERA) vs. Salvatore Calderon (5-5, 3.14 ERA)

Only right-handed opposition drawing up in this set.

Game 1
WAS: 2B Ale. Silva – SS Clevidence – C Korfhage – CF Monson – LF Vesey – 1B V. Chavez – 3B Higareda – RF Baldwin – P Mark jr.
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – CF DeMarco – 1B J. Maldonado – C Suggs – RF Suzuki – 3B Crispin – P de la Cruz

The Coons jumped out to sizable lead rather quickly as Nick DeMarco hit a 2-run homer with Pucks on base in the first inning, and in the second inning Suggs and Suzuki hit singles up the middle initially. Crispin found a fielder’s choice at second base, but Raffy drove a sac fly to Jayden Baldwin in right, 3-0, before Waters singled to left. Crispin raced for third base, drew a throw, and Waters moved up behind him, which allowed Lonzo to single the pair of them home with a ball between Jim Vesey and Jason Monson – 5-0 after two innings!

So the main focus was Raffy then, who did not allow a base hit the first time through the Washington lineup, then was splattered for four hits the second time through – but the Caps also found two double plays and failed to score even with a Crispin error for additional support. Still all well until there, but in the sixth the Capitals packed another four hits into a single inning, and that was a bit too much. Doug Clevidence hit a 1-out single and scored after a pair of 2-out singles by Monson and Vesey. Vic Chavez was nailed, and Higareda singled in two more, with Chavez slapped out in a rundown between second and third base to mercifully end the inning. The Coons meanwhile had fallen asleep after taking that 5-0 lead. The Caps actually had more hits at this stage, and the Coons only got their seventh base hit when Maldo hit a single in the bottom 7th, but he was also picked off before much could come about it. The Coons loaded the bags in the bottom 7th against Danny Grimstead; the left-hander allowed a single to PH Mitch Sivertson, who was forced out by Brian Kaufman before the lineup flipped over again. Waters walked, Lonzo singled, and there were three on and one out for Puckeridge, who struck out. DeMarco scratched out a run with a really soft RBI single, while Maldo added another one with a liner to right for another RBI single. Sean Suggs popped out to strand three, which sugged. Tyler Philipps made his major league debut after two days on the bench and a day off, pinch-hitting for Suzuki in the bottom 8th, but he struck out as well. The Coons were up by a slam to begin the ninth inning, so continued with Snyder, who had already pitched the eighth haphazardly. He nailed Adrian Higareda before being replaced with Brett Lillis jr., who gave up a single to Baldwin and put runners on the corners, but got a double play – albeit run-scoring – from PH Jaden Richards before finding his way to the end of the game without having to bother Kevin Hitchcock. 7-4 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4, 2 RBI; DeMarco 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; J. Maldonado 2-4, RBI; Sivertson (PH) 1-1, BB;

Game 2
WAS: SS Ale. Silva – 1B Clevidence – C Korfhage – CF Monson – LF Vesey – 3B Higareda – RF J. Richards – 2B Ritter – P S. Fowler
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – CF DeMarco – 1B J. Maldonado – RF Suzuki – 3B Crispin – C Philipps – P Wolinsky

That team that never scored landed another three singles off Wolinsky in the first inning, scoring one run driven in the former Bostonian Monson, but the Coons answered with a run in the bottom 1st without a hit entirely as Lonzo got nicked, stole second, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on Pucks’ groundout in quick succession. The two pitchers singled off each other the first chance they got, neither hit leading to a run, and those were the only base hits in the game between the first inning assault and Ed Crispin’s single in the bottom 5th that followed a walk drawn and base stolen by Mikio Suzuki and put runners on the corners. Philipps grounded out, moving Crispin along, but the inning ended with strikeouts by Wolinsky and Waters and the runners stranded in scoring position in a 1-1 game.

That tie was broken by Jake Ritter with a 2-out solo homer in the seventh inning, and you’d be forgiven to wonder “who?”, because Ritter was a 23-year-old that was making his ABL debut in this game after just 18 games at AAA Modesto. Wolinsky was done after that inning and 98 pitches, and relief by Willies Cruz and Maldonado was spotless, but the Raccoons just … couldn’t … get … ******* … going…! Nick DeMarco’s 1-out single off Ryan Dow in the bottom 9th put the tying run on base, but was also only the fourth Coons base hit in the entire miserable game. But it was the key for a comeback. Maldo singled up the middle on the first pitch he saw, becoming the winning run on first, and then Mikio Suzuki struck a 3-1 pitch into the left-center gap that was falling in without doubt. DeMarco would score easily, but would Maldo make it all the way around? He sure tried, chugging around third base puffing and wheezing and sliding into home plate just as the relay throw from Alejandro Silva arrived and he waaaaaaaaas – safe!! It’s a walkoff!! 3-2 Critters! Crispin 1-2, BB; Sivertson (PH) 1-1; Wolinsky 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K and 1-2;

When you have this little offense, that offense is all the more exciting…!

Meanwhile the Caps changed pitchers for Thursday, bringing in righty swingman Charlie Hudson (3-0, 3.79 ERA).

Game 3
WAS: 1B Clevidence – 3B E. Luna – C Korfhage – CF Monson – RF Baldwin – SS I. Dominguez – LF J. Richards – 2B Ritter – P C. Hudson
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – CF DeMarco – 1B J. Maldonado – C Suggs – RF Suzuki – 3B Kaufman – P Wheatley

While Hudson lasted only two innings because of injury, Wheats, who had thrown a shutout in his last start on plenty of pitches, but had had an extra day off in between games, was taken deep by Monson in the second for an early deficit and definitely not a shutout. The Coons were held to a Suzuki single the first time through, but Victor Erazo nicked Lonzo to begin the bottom 4th. Lonzo stole his 45th base, then scored after a Pucks groundout and a DeMarco single to tie the contest. Erazo also dinked Maldo, who looked rather unhappy about that development, then gave up a single to center to Sean Suggs. DeMarco scored, and Monson’s sub-par throw home allowed the trailing runners to reach scoring position. But there, they remained; Suzuki grounded out to first, Kaufman was walked intentionally, and Wheats struck out to strand the whole lot of them.

Meanwhile, throughout the middle innings the Caps failed to amount to much of a charge against Wheats, who nursed the 2-1 lead well until Jaden Richards drove a double to right with two outs in the seventh. The Caps sent Eric Thomas to pinch-hit for Ritter, who had been 4-for-6 against the Coons in two games and looked like the right man to tie the game, but instead Thomas grounded out easily to end the inning. Wheats logged two more outs until Eddy Luna was back in the box, and that left-hander was a bit too intimate with Wheats to have batting a fourth time against him, and as the tying run. Sencion came out, gave up a single on the first pitch, but got Mitch Korfhage on the second pitch to end the inning after all, just not as intended… The Coons then broke through Jesus Cardenas in the bottom 8th; the inning started with Waters, and the first five batters all reached base; three singles, an intentional walk to DeMarco, and a bases-loaded RBI single scored two runs before Suggs grounded into a force at home and Suzuki into a double play. The Coons now stuck to Sencion in the ninth, not because of the 3-run lead, but because left-handers were up – Hitchcock would have pitched if the inning had started with Korfhage, so technically Sencion failed himself into a save opportunity. He also failed himself out of hit, walking Monson and giving up a 2-out single to right to Richards. Alejandro Silva was batting in the #8 hole and drew Hitchcock, who ended the game with a K. 4-1 Coons. DeMarco 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Wheatley 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (14-6);

A nice little slow-motion sweep…!

This extended our lead in the division to 4 1/2 games.

Raccoons (66-55) vs. Crusaders (60-61) – August 18-20, 2051

The Crusaders were six games out and in fourth place, but what better opportunity to gain ground than right here in Portland? They kinda had to; they were tenth in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed with a +17 run differential, which sounded only marginally better than what the Coons could put up. Even with the sweep during the week we were still at a -1 run differential… The Crusaders were rather average throughout; the only category in which they ranked in the top three in the league was starters ERA, where they ranked third precisely. They also held an 8-4 edge in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (5-7, 4.23 ERA) vs. Carlos Malla (6-7, 3.71 ERA)
Juan Mercado (7-5, 3.67 ERA) vs. Austin Guastella (0-1, 5.63 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (5-5, 4.22 ERA) vs. Neal Hamann (4-3, 3.30 ERA)

…and even then that third-place rotation was filled with the odd placeholder. Guastella and Hamann had five starts between them this year. Malla and Hamann were left-handers. Oh well, at least another Southpaw Sunday…!

Game 1
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – RF Magnussen – 3B Gates – LF D. Rivera – CF P. Leal – C O. Ramirez – 2B Russ – 1B Haertling – P Malla
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – CF DeMarco – 1B J. Maldonado – C Suggs – RF Glodowski – 3B Sivertson – P Salcido

Like true contenders, neither team found a base hit the first time through the order, although Maldo at least found himself getting hit in the bum once again. No runs resulted from that, or any other (in)action on the field well into the middle innings. Lonzo hit a single in the fourth that went nowhere nice, but in the bottom 5th the Coons got Glodowski on with a leadoff walk and Sivertson reached on an error by routine pest Andrew Russ. The runners were bunted over by Salcido, but Waters’ sac fly was all the runs we could get in the inning, with Lonzo grounding out. At this point the Coons had one run on one hit, and the Crusaders had even less than that in every regard.

The Crusaders continued to be harmless, with Russ, Ed Haertling, and Malla making tame outs in the sixth, and while Pucks had to jostle after an Omar Sanchez fly in the seventh, him, and Adam Magnussen, and Prince Gates went in order like the 18 Crusaders that had preceded them. I was getting a little antsy and pressed Honeypaws into my chest. The eighth. Danny Rivera struck out. Pedro Leal grounded out to Waters. Omar Ramirez hit a chopper to third base, but Sivertson remained on top of that. The Coons, too, remained inept, and would not add a second base hit to their tally. Lonzo did get brushed by a pitch and stole a base in the bottom 8th, but was left on by Puckeridge.

Then the ninth inning dawned, and the 25th batter for New York along with it. Josh Garris pinch-hit for Russ, which was an odd choice given Russ’ career .879 batting average against the Portlanders. Salcido was back out there OBVIOUSLY. I was sucking my thumb. First pitch, slapped up the middle, Waters over, to first – out. And then Salcido fell behind Haertling… and walked him. Nooooo!! He was two outs from a perfect game…!! (bawls) And the Crusaders found more lefty bats to bombard him with now, Angel Lara pinch-hitting in the #9 hole. Pickoff throw to first, but Haertling, the monster, got back in there in time. Then a 96 to Lara, who grounded to the right side. Right to Waters! To Lonzo! To Maldo!! DOUBLE PLAY!! 1-0 Furballs!! Lavorano 1-2, BB; Glodowski 0-1, 2 BB; Salcido 9.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, W (6-7);

I tried to invade the locker room again after the game to give Salcido a thick smooch on the cheek, but he had wisened up after previously pitching a no-hitter for the Coons and hid in the laundromat. Sneaky bugger!

No-hitter, no-hitter! (dances around the players, in various states of undress, wielding Honeypaws like a trophy)

Game 2
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Russ – RF Magnussen – LF D. Rivera – 3B Gates – CF P. Leal – 1B D. Hernandez – C O. Ramirez – P Guastella
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – CF DeMarco – RF Suzuki – LF Sivertson – 3B Crispin – C Philipps – P Mercado

No no-no on Saturday – Prince Gates’ single in the second took care of that, but Mercado kept the Crusaders off the board the first time through. The Coons scored, and in quite some way, taking the lead in the bottom 3rd on a leadoff jack by Tyler Philipps – not only his first career homer, but also his first career *hit*! Mercado and Waters then went to the corners, the former scoring when Lonzo doubled up the latter, 2-0.

The Crusaders were sufficiently scared of Philipps now that they walked him intentionally when his spot came up with DeMarco and Suzuki in scoring position and two outs in the bottom 4th, and instead picked the last out from Mercado, who went down on strikes. Pucks and DeMarco were left on the corners the following inning and I was getting a bit queasy about all the wasted runners, but Mercado kept shutting out the Crusaders and the 2-0 stood until the bottom 6th when Crispin singled, stole second, and then scored on a 2-out double by Mercado, who thus got his first career RBI in the same game as his battery mate!

Mercado ended up going eight, but was also taken deep by Andrew Russ with two outs in the top 8th to take the shutout away (although his pitch count had reached 102 by then). He struck out Magnussen to end his day, and left the game still up 3-1. Hitchcock then retired Rivera, Gates, and Leal with three grounders to Ed Crispin in the ninth inning. 3-1 Coons. Waters 2-3, BB; DeMarco 2-4; Mercado 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (8-5) and 2-3, 2B, RBI;

That was quite casually also the sixth Coons win in a row.

Game 3
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Russ – RF Magnussen – LF D. Rivera – 3B Gates – CF P. Leal – C A. Lara – 1B Haertling – P Hamann
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF DeMarco – 1B J. Maldonado – C Suggs – 3B Sivertson – RF Glodowski – LF Suzuki – P de la Cruz

Raffy struck out five Crusaders against a mostly left-handed lineup the first time through, but that wasn’t enough to keep them off the board, as a Prince Gates single and a double by Angel Lara gave them a run in the second inning. Raffy was dominant – he was on seven strikeouts after three innings, and nine after four. Also after four, he had a lead, thanks to a Coons outburst in the bottom 4th. Lonzo doubled and scored on a Maldo single. Suggs also singled, and Sivertson’s groundout advanced them into scoring position, from where Glodowski cashed them with two outs, doubling sharply up the rightfield line, the ball bouncing fair by no more than four inches. An intentional walk to Suzuki and a pop by Raffy ended the inning with a 3-1 score. Omar Sanchez singled in the fifth, but that was after Haertling and Hamann had struck out to give Raffy 11 K for the day…! Gates made the dozen full in the sixth, but obviously he was running up his pitch count, entering the seventh inning on 89 pitches. He struck out Haertling for a 13th K… but that was with the lead already blown. Leal had dropped in a bloop and Lara had homered to right to tie the game.

Crushing sadness.

A Hamann single knocked out Raffy for good, Lillis working out of the inning to at least leave him with a no-decision. Lillis and Waldo combined for the eighth inning, but the Coons still couldn’t score and when Sencion fell to a pinch-hit double by Art Bent and a Haertling single in the ninth, the Crusaders took a 4-3 lead. Ken Mills struck out, Omar Sanchez popped out, but the Coons now had to find the offense again, which sounded easier than it was. Righty Melvin Lucero was out for the bottom 9th, with the 6-7-8 batters up. Sivertson and Puckeridge both grounded out, and Suzuki flew out to left. 4-3 Crusaders. Suggs 2-4; de la Cruz 6.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 13 K;

In other news

August 14 – The only run in the Bayhawks’ 1-0 win over the Wolves scores on a wild pitch by SAL MR Eddie Sotelo (6-5, 4.38 ERA, 1 SV) in the bottom of the ninth for a walkoff.
August 17 – MIL C Chris Thomas (.308, 12 HR, 57 RBI) has put a 20-game hitting streak together by hitting a double in a 7-0 win over the Cyclones.
August 20 – The Rebels lose 2B/SS Lance Harrison (.317, 17 HR, 78 RBI) to ruptured finger tendons; the 30-year-old is out for the season.

FL Player of the Week: CIN LF/RF/1B Rikuto Ito (.333, 1 HR, 24 RBI), hitting .571 (12-21) with 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL LF/RF Chris Kirkwood (.279, 3 HR, 23 RBI), batting .458 (11-24) with 2 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Oh where to begin!? First, we got a no-hitter! Second, we had a 5-1 week when we hardly scored five runs all week! Third, did I mention the no-hitter?

21-11 in runs scored, to be precise. Which is ridiculous, either way.

Actually, the most important thing this week might be the guy that didn’t figure in the final compact box score on Sunday after all. Sencion got the L, and Raffy de la Cruz wasn’t mentioned at all, nor was any other Coon, but him striking out 13 against a lineup with seven left-handed batters gave me great encouragement that hogging him for years and years and not doing a dozen deals to not have to include them in any of them was the right move. Kid’s barely 21 years old, and is still going to get better. Yeah he’s given up eight homers in 87.1 innings, and he’s walked 43 batters. But he has 72 whiffs, and while his ERA is 4.23, that’s also with a .332 BABIP working against him. I stand by it – future Pitcher of the Year material.

Going back to the no-hitter - make no mistake, it was almost a double-no-no. Lonzo had the *only* hit in the game. The linescore was quite literally ending with 0-0-1 for New York and 1-1-0 for Portland.

So, the Coons are up by five just in time for a trip to Elk City, and then it’s gonna be a homestand with the Baybirds and Knights to complete the month!

Also, fun tidbit, the Coons played the entire week with a 23-man roster. Neither Paul Miles nor Roberto Medina were used even once. Three more players were barely touched: Willie Cruz threw a single inning, and Glodowski and Kaufman got four at-bats each. That’s efficiency – having four outfielders on the roster and using only two of them! Hah!!

Fun Fact: Victor Salcido is the first pitcher since Ben Lipsky in 2039 to pitch a second no-hitter, and the first Raccoon to do so.

Juan Berrios – 1977
Jason Turner – 1989
Manuel Movonda – 1998
Bob Joly – 2000
Jose Dominguez – 2007
Nick Brown – 2016
Jonny Toner – 2019
Tom Shumway – 2030
Victor Merino – 2046
Victor Salcido – 2050
Victor Salcido – 2051

I’m such a proud GM. (wipes a tear)