[Westheim]

Raccoons (35-18) @ Crusaders (25-31) – June 8-10, 2055

The Raccoons were up against the #2 team in preventing runs for the opposition in this Tuesday-to-Thursday series. Scoring themselves was much harder for the Crusaders, who ranked only eighth in runs scored, but with a +17 run differential despite sitting six games under .500. The Coons had swept them in a four-game series earlier this year.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (6-2, 3.25 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (2-4, 4.52 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (7-0, 1.76 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (6-3, 2.41 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (5-4, 2.92 ERA) vs. Dave Washington (1-1, 3.86 ERA)

Washington was the only left-hander in New York’s rotation.

The Raccoons skipped Brobeck’s turn, while Kevin Hitchcock was back to 100% by Tuesday, after coming out of Friday’s game with a sore back. Our outfield and lineup as a whole was still a mess…

Game 1
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – RF Munn – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – CF Lamotta – LF Tenazes – P Shui
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – C Seidman – SS Z. Suggs – RF D. Rivera – 1B Sevilla – 3B Gates – CF Monson – LF Caballero – P Seiter

Danny Munn put the Coons up 1-0 in the first inning with his 11th homer of the season (still under .200, though…), but also couldn’t catch up with Omar Sanchez’ fly to right to begin the bottom 1st, and that one dropped for a double. Zach Suggs’ and Raul Sevilla’s singles evened the score. Bottom 2nd, Lamotta dropped Oscar Caballero’s drive to center for a “double”, and the Crusaders again added two singles, then with two outs, by Sanchez and Mike Seidman. Sanchez’ scored the go-ahead run, he stole second, and then came around on Seidman’s hit, 3-1. Zach Suggs grounded out, which sugged for him at least…

While Seiter cranked it up and at one point struck out four Critters in a row, Shui barely crawled along, with only three strikeouts for him through six busy innings. He gave up ten hits to the Crusaders, including a leadoff triple to Caballero in the sixth that eventually led to a fourth run on Sanchez’ sac fly. The pen kept the Crusaders away in the following two innings, but Seiter struck out a dozen and completely suffocated the Critters through eight. Danny Munn’s homer was the ONLY hit the Coons had off him, and the only other base runner was Waters, drawing a glorious walk at one point. Lonzo singled off Willie Cruz with two outs in the ninth inning, but Munn grounded out to end the game. 4-1 Crusaders.

Well, that sucked!

Game 2
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – RF Munn – C Gowin – 1B Rojas – CF Lamotta – LF Tenazes – 2B Knight – P Adkins
NYC: CF O. Sanchez – LF G. Cabrera – SS Z. Suggs – 3B Gates – 1B Sevilla – C Seidman – RF Caballero – 2B E. Stevens – P Turay

Adkins walked in a run against Seidman in a miserable first inning, in which the Crusaders hit two shy singles and drew a walk previously – all with two outs. Caballero struck out in a full count before things could get completely out of paw. The Raccoons rallied for two runs in a single inning (!) in the third, which began with Adkins striking out, but then Crispin singled. He stole second base, his first theft of the season, then was doubled home by Munn with two outs, and Munn hustled home on Chris Gowin’s single to take a 2-1 lead. Rojas grounded out. The following inning, they repeated the trick; Tenazes and Lamotta got on to start the fourth, but Knight popped out and Adkins grounded out. Ed Crispin socked a 2-2 pitch through Raul Sevilla for a 2-run double, extending the lead to 4-1. Lonzo hit an infield single to put two on the corners, stole second base to put two in scoring position, and then walked back to the dugout when Munn grounded out to Erik Stevens to end the inning.

Lamotta drove in another 2-out run in the fifth inning, singling to score Gowin, who had whacked a gap double to begin the inning. Austin Guastella balked, then walked Knight intentionally, then struck out Adkins, sending the latter back to the hill. He was on *82* pitches through four innings, as the Crusaders continued to grind him down. He needed 20 more in the fifth inning, allowing three singles, but Zach Suggs was caught in a rundown between second and third base to ruin the inning for the Crusaders, who left the other pair, Gates and Seidman, on base. Adkins got two more outs in the bottom 6th, then allowed a pinch-hit single to Alejandro Mendoza and was hauled in. Walters got Omar Sanchez to end the inning.

The late innings saw the Raccoons scatter singles and score nada, while Walters walked a pair in the bottom 7th, but got through it. Bak got the bottom 8th, gave up a homer to Seidman, 5-2, then put Caballero and Stevens on the corners with two singles, and was shafted without retiring a batter when Danny Rivera pinch-hit for the pitcher. Brett Lillis jr. was brought in, gave up the lead runner on a sac fly, but got the Coons out of the inning. At least Gardner kept the gate closed in the ninth… 5-3 Raccoons. Crispin 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Lavorano 2-5; Gowin 3-5, 2 2B, RBI; Tenazes 2-4; Lamotta 2-4, RBI; Ramsay (PH) 1-1;

We faced the left-hander on Thursday in the rubber game then, and our lineup indicated some increased cluelessness on how to generate offense anymore. Munn, Waters, Rams – they were all struggling *terribly*. You had to cram ‘em somewhere in the lineup, though, didn’t you? That somehow made Kyle Brobeck the #3 hitter…

Game 3
POR: LF Lamotta – SS Lavorano – 3B Brobeck – C Gowin – RF Munn – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – CF Tenazes – P Taki
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – C Seidman – SS Z. Suggs – RF D. Rivera – 1B Sevilla – 3B Gates – CF Monson – LF Caballero – P Washington

The cursed bottom of the lineup produced an unearned run in the second inning, with the kind support of Suggs’ throwing error that put Waters on second base, from where he scored on Rams’ single to right. Gowin singled home Lamotta with two outs in the third inning; this one came after a wild pitch moved Lamotta into scoring position to begin with. Taki gave all of that back when the Crusaders got him for three hits in the bottom 4th, although the tying run only scored on a wild pitch with two outs and two strikes on Jason Monson, and Gates and Sevilla on the corners. Monson grounded out eventually, but we were even again, and on just two hits through four innings.

Lonzo walked and was caught thieving in the fifth inning, but Chris Gowin found a base hit in the sixth, a leadoff jack to left to take a new 3-2 lead. Waters hit a single two batters later, then was doubled up by Ramsay… Taki got around both a Waters error in the fifth and nailing Suggs to begin the sixth, so things could still go either way. Tenazes’ leadoff double to right in the seventh was met with disinterest by the 9-1-2 batters, and he was left on second base. Taki made an error himself in the bottom 7th, but got a groundout from Sanchez to end the inning, which was also the end of his outing. The Fail continued unabated; Ryan Sullivan walked Brobeck and Munn in the eighth, but the Raccoons couldn’t even get to third base in the inning, and in turn Hitchcock allowed a Seidman single and Suggs double to begin the bottom 8th. Lillis came on, did his best, but PH Gil Cabrera hit a sac fly to Lamotta to tie the game. The go-ahead run remained on base, but Tokizuki came into the bottom 9th and walked the leadoff man Monson. Two outs advanced Monson to third base, while Sanchez drew another walk. The game ended when the 0-1 to Seidman got away from Gowin for a passed ball…. 4-3 Crusaders. Gowin 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Taki 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K;

(buries face in paws)

The eighth-inning sac fly was the first earned run on Kevin Hitchcock’s ledger for this season.

Raccoons (36-20) vs. Cyclones (28-31) – June 11-13, 2055

The Coons wobbled home to play the fourth-place Cyclones, who were sixth in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed in the Federal League. They were having problems with the bullpen especially, and were also the worst FL team in the power department. Gabriel Brown and Jose Luna being on the DL also wouldn’t help the offense. The Coons hadn’t won a series against the Cyclones since 2047, with the last meeting in ’53 ending in a sweep.

Projected matchups:
Rafael de la Cruz (4-3, 4.06 ERA) vs. Martino Barbiusa (3-7, 4.58 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (0-3, 5.68 ERA) vs. Felix Alvarez (3-4, 3.61 ERA)
He Shui (6-3, 3.46 ERA) vs. Cory Ellis (4-4, 3.31 ERA)

Only right-handed opposition for this weekend set.

Game 1
CIN: SS J. Ojeda – 1B Anzo – LF del Toro – RF J. Harmon – 2B R. Lopez – C B. Ortega – CF C. Williams – 3B Laster – P Barbiusa
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – LF Munn – 2B Waters – 1B Rojas – CF Lamotta – C Philipps – RF Hernandez – P de la Cruz

There was still always the hope that one day Raffy would wake up and piece it all back together, but once again after a decent first inning he was just a mess. Two walks in the second, one walk in the third, and that one scored on a Jamie Harmon double to right. The Cyclones scattered four hits off him through four innings, and the pitch count went up. The Raccoons had one base hit through three innings, then got a Rojas triple with one out in the fourth. Lamotta struck out, Philipps popped out, and then Chris Anzo, the first-sacker on the other side, hit a leadoff triple for Cincy in the top 5th. Juan del Toro singled him home right away, 2-0, and de la Cruz walked Harmon, then gave up another run on Ricky Lopez’ single. Bobby Ortega struck out in a full count, but Chad Williams was extended another walk. Darryl Laster whiffed on three pitches, and Barbiusa also struck out… but not until after another run was waved across with a wild pitch to the ******* opposing pitcher.

The Raccoons loaded the bags in the bottom 5th on straight singles (sorta, mostly) by PH Daniel Espinoza, Crispin (which didn’t leave the infield), and Lonzo (which left the infield, but only after clipping off the edge of Juan Ojeda’s glove). Munn hit a sac fly, two outs, and when Waters singled to right, Crispin tried to score from second base, but was thrown out at the plate by Harmon… The Cyclones then made not one, but TWO errors in the bottom 6th to get the Coons back into the game. Rojas and Philipps reached that way, but the former was forced out by Lamotta in between. Lamotta scored from second on Humberto Hernandez’ single to left-center, 4-2, and Ramsay batted for Sencion and singled to fill the sacks. Yet, Crispin whiffed, and Lonzo flew out to center, and all runners were stranded… Portland meanwhile, with Raffy gone after five ****** innings, tried to get two innings from Matt Walters, but Walters was turned inside-out in the eighth inning and was torched for a walk and three hits in the inning, giving up two runs. There was another Cyclones error in the bottom 8th, but at this point I merely shrugged and drunk faster. 6-2 Cyclones. Lavorano 2-5; Espinoza (PH) 1-1; Ramsay (PH) 1-1;

At this point, absolutely nothing worked for the team…

Game 2
CIN: SS J. Ojeda – 1B Anzo – LF del Toro – RF J. Harmon – 2B R. Lopez – C B. Ortega – CF Rock – 3B Laster – P F. Alvarez
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – LF Munn – C Gowin – 2B Waters – P Brobeck – CF Tenazes – 1B Ramsay – RF Espinoza

In despair, the Raccoons for the first time batted Brobeck out of the #9 spot on a day he was starting. Before that could bear any fruit, the Cyclones took a 1-0 lead in the first on another Anzo triple to center and del Toro’s RBI single. The Coons tied it up in the bottom 1st with a walk for Crispin, who advanced on Lonzo’s groundout to third base, then an RBI single for Danny Munn, who reached second base on the throw to home plate. Gowin singled, putting Coons on the corners, but Waters found a 4-6-3 double play to hit into. Brobeck started the bottom 2nd with a single to center, was doubled up by Tenazes, and then Ramsay reached with a single. Alvarez walked Espinoza, while Crispin dropped a funny single in the Bermuda triangle in shallow right-center on a 3-2 pitch. With two outs, Ramsay was running on movement by Alvarez and was able to score from second base to take a 2-1 lead. Lonzo singled home Espinoza, 3-1, stole second, but Munn walked in a full count. Gowin ran another full count, but grounded out to Darryl Laster, ending the inning with three left stranded. “Swiss Army Knife” Brojack then extended his own lead with a solo shot to right-center in the third inning, but scuffled all of the lead away against the bottom of the order in the fourth inning. He walked Ortega, then gave up straight singles to Tom Rock, Laster, and Allan Mason, then balked home Laster with the tying run. I calmly got up, walked out of the office, past a confused Cristiano and concerned Maud, into her room, and there entered the old walk-in filing closet. These days, of course, most things ‘round here were fancy-schmancy-digital, so there was enough room for me to close the door behind me, bang both fists against the wooden frames, and scream at the top of my little lungs. WHHHHYYYYY????

When I crawled back into the office, it was the sixth inning. The Raccoons led 5-4, attained on a Tenazes sac fly, as Slappy told me, because getting a ******* base hit with a guy on third base was so hard, and Eloy Sencion was pitching with Tom Rock, Brobeck’s runner, on second base. Mike Tovar was pinch-hitting in the #9 spot, and went down like a rock when Sencion lost a slider and threw in the middle of Tovar’s back. Tovar left the game in discomfort, run for by Greg Gill. – Tell me, Slappy, why exactly did I come back? … Ojeda’s grounder advanced the runners, but Sencion ended the inning with a K to Anzo.

The Coons scratched out a run in the bottom 6th, going up 6-4 when Lonzo singled with two outs against Travis Julien, stole his 28th base, and scored on a Munn single. Gowin then struck out. Sencion got three straight outs to Tenazes in the top 7th, while Tenazes was hit for with Pedro Rojas in the bottom 7th once Julien put Waters on with a walk, Sencion with a misfielded bunt, and then gave up a single to Rojas, which filled the bases with nobody out. Julien walked in a run against Ramsay, then was disposed of. Espinoza singled home two against right-hander Matt Pickel, Crispin walked the bags full again, and Lonzo made the first actual out of the inning with a sac fly to del Toro in left-center, which also got the Coons into double digits, 10-4. Munn singled on 0-2 to fill the bases *again*, and Gowin drew another bases-loaded walk to force in another run *again*. Waters then killed it with a double play grounder to Ricky Lopez. Sencion got three more outs from three more batters in the top 8th, and that at point looked like he had three more in him. He was going to be unavailable for several days, but it would reset the rest of the pen at least. Ojeda hit a 1-out single in the ninth, but that was all the Cyclones got anymore. 11-4 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4, 2 RBI; Munn 3-4, BB, 2 RBI; Rojas (PH) 1-2; Ramsay 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Sencion 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

42 pitches for Sencion’s eighth career save. He also scored his first career run.

Game 3
CIN: SS J. Ojeda – 1B Anzo – LF del Toro – RF J. Harmon – 2B R. Lopez – C B. Ortega – CF Gill – 3B Laster – P Ellis
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – LF Munn – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – CF Lamotta – RF Hernandez – P Shui

Back to the grindstone with the pokey black nose on Sunday, which began with an Ojeda double, and Harmon would single him home with two outs. Three more hits plated a Cyclones run in the second inning, Ojeda driving home Greg Gill. Anzo also reached, but del Toro flew out to Ricky Lamotta. Yeah, pretty soon I accepted that Shui had nothing… Ricky Lopez doubled off him in the third inning, but was left on base, and Shui was just grinding to somehow keep it close for a team that had two hits and no runs in the first four innings, then had Lamotta put into scoring position with nobody out when Ricky Lopez threw away his grounder in the bottom 5th. Humberto Hernandez singled, putting the tying runs on the corners, and after Shui made no impact, Ed Crispin zinged a screamer down the rightfield line for a game-tying double…! Crispin reached third base on Harmon’s throw to home plate, then scored on a groundout by Lonzo for a 3-2 lead.

Shui ached his way through seven innings, getting around a del Toro double in his final frame, but protected the 3-2 lead. Hitchcock had a strikeout and two pops for a quick eighth inning, and then it was actually Lillis getting ready for the ninth, where we didn’t expect anything but lefty hitters past whatever would appear in the pitcher’s spot to lead off the inning – Juan Ojeda had gone down to injury a few innings earlier, and Tom Rock was in the #1 spot, removing that right-handed bat from the order. Rock snagged a Lamotta liner to strand a pair of Raccoons in the bottom 8th, and then Hitchcock was still on the hill when the ninth began with right-hander Deshawn Beard, who grounded out to Crispin. Rock popped out to short against Lillis then, and Chad Williams grounded out to Waters. 3-2 Blighters. Munn 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Ramsay 2-4, 2B; Hernandez 1-2, BB;

In other news

June 7 – Los Angeles C Aaron Kissler (.389, 8 HR, 34 RBI) slaps out five hits and drives in six runs to down the Stars, 15-6.
June 8 – IND 3B Bobby Anderson (.268, 8 HR, 30 RBI) goes deep to give the Indians an 8-7 walkoff win in 14 innings against the Canadiens.
June 8 – Cincy loses 1B Gabriel Brown (.268, 3 HR, 29 RBI) to a ruptured achilles tendon. The 33-year-old is not expected to return this season.
June 9 – IND SP Enrique Ortiz (8-2, 2.95 ERA) shuts out the Canadiens on three hits in a 9-0 victory.
June 11 – The Indians win another long one by walkoff, this time beating Sacramento, 2-1 in 17 innings.
June 12 – ATL CL David Hardaway (3-1, 4.81 ERA, 17 SV) notches his 300th career save in a 4-2 win over the Rebels. The 3-time Reliever of the Year has spent his entire career with the Knights, pitching to a 57-39 record and 2.55 ERA.
June 12 – LAP LF/RF/1B Salvatore Rodrigues (.341, 6 HR, 33 RBI) chips in six hits in a 6-5 win against the Canadiens, but also needs all 15 innings played to make it that far.
June 12 – Blue Sox SP Marcus Wilkins (4-3, 3.33 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against the Falcons for a 5-0 win.
June 13 – The Blue Sox beat the Falcons in another shutout, 2-0 in 12 innings.

FL Player of the Week: LAP LF/RF/1B Salvatore Rodrigues (.335, 6 HR, 33 RBI), batting .462 (12-26) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: IND LF/RF Jose Garza (.329, 2 HR, 20 RBI), hitting .526 (10-19) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The lead is down to half a game, and we eagerly await reinforcements from the DL. The good news is that at least Pucks and Cramer (well…) were very close to returning, perhaps before the weekend.

Not before the draft, though, which will take place on Tuesday while the Raccoons are busy in Denver. After that is the final home series of the month, a four-game set against the smelly Elks. Brrrr.

The Raccoons couldn’t keep Omar Sanchez off the bases this week, just like they can never keep Robby Gaxiola off the bases, but Lonzo stole his way past both of them this week to narrowly lead with 28 bags taken. The other two both had 27 right now.

Fun Fact: The top 3 CL pitchers by WAR right now were He Shui (2.8), Kennedy Adkins (2.7), and Seisaku Taki (2.4).

It’s hard to put into words how much holding-together these three are doing for the team. I know I bitch and moan about all my players – besides Lonzo; Lonzo is awesome; if you don’t love Lonzo, we can’t be friends – but those three are carrying the whole ******* staff AND the lineup to boot. I mean, look at Raffy and Brobeck… woof.