Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (30-17) vs. Thunder (22-27) – May 31-June 2, 2055

We were still not quite sure what had happened to the Thunder, who had been swept in the first meeting with the Critters this year, and who were languishing in fifth place in the CL South, a stark departure from a full decade of finishing either first or second in the South, and finishing more than three games out of first place only once. Well, David Worthington and Kevin Weese were gone (besides others, like the cherry on the pie that the Coons snatched up in, uh, Ricky Lamotta?), and there were injuries, with David Barel, Ed Soberanes, Danny Guzman and others all down on the DL, and somehow the team had collectively turned to turds: bottoms in starters ERA, bottoms in defense, and mediocre numbers across the board in offense, except for home runs, in which they somehow led the league.

Projected matchups:
Rafael de la Cruz (3-3, 4.11 ERA) vs. Jay Gunderson (1-4, 8.65 ERA)
He Shui (5-2, 3.27 ERA) vs. TBD
Kyle Brobeck (0-3, 6.50 ERA) vs. Victor Mondragon (3-5, 5.43 ERA)

The TBD would be Bubba Wolinsky (3-2, 4.78 ERA), but the former Raccoon had back issues and was day-to-day. He would be the only southpaw in the set above. Also, remember when Jay Gunderson almost won the ERA title? … Ya, him neither.

Game 1
OCT: SS Almadanim – 2B Ban – RF M. Harmon – C Monaghan – LF D. Ramirez – 1B R. Cox – 3B Triplett – CF Ward – P Gunderson
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – LF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 2B Waters – CF Cramer – C Philipps – P de la Cruz

The week began with Raffy, and Raffy was awful once more. He walked Hélder Almadanim and Jonathan Ban, gave up a run on Mike Harmon’s double, walked Eric Monaghan, and then luckily got Venegas to start a 5-4-3, run-scoring double play, and got Ramsay to snatch a quick bouncer by Ryan Cox to somehow get out of the inning for “only” two runs. Rams made it up to the Thunder by hitting into a double play after Venegas and Lonzo hit singles in the bottom 1st, and Pucks grounded out to Cox to end the inning. Danny Munn drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 2nd, and Matt Waters pumped a homer to right, so at least we got even again. It got better – partly because Raffy not only couldn’t pitch, but also couldn’t bunt; after Philipps drew a 1-out walk, he bunted his way to two strikes, then hit a single after all. Venegas hit a gapper for an RBI double, 3-2, and Lonzo added a run with a groundout. Rams flew out to left.

Raffy held his **** together for a little while, but then began the fifth with another pair of leadoff walks, now to Doug Triplett and Jayden Ward. Aaron Foss batted for Gunderson, but bunted into a force at third base. Almadanim sent a liner to left, and Pucks rushed in, made a running, though partly hobbling catch, and then hobbled all the way to the infield with an injury. Yes, Slappy, looks like a hammy. Will you please hand me that bottle over there?

Ed Crispin replaced Pucks in the cleanup spot, while Venegas moved to left. Ban singled home a 2-out run before Harmon struck out, so it was 4-3 in the middle of the fifth. The Thunder had only two hits, but Raffy had failed them on base with four balls *five* times… He would also strike out five in this start, but walked Cox with two outs in the sixth, gave up a single to Triplett, and was shanked. Ward grounded out to Waters against Hyun-soo Bak, stranding two runners. Two were back on again in the seventh with leadoff singles for Dustin Ransford and Almadanim off Eloy Sencion. Ban grounded out, Harmon popped out, and then Teriyaki came in by a double switch, exchanging Matts at second base, Knight for Waters. Monaghan popped out to Munn on the first pitch the Coons’ righty threw, stranding the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, and then Teriyaki retired three straight in the eighth inning. The Coons could not find any offense with Gunderson gone, and the 4-3 lead was eventually handed to Tommy Gardner. He blew the save… but Venegas had more than one paw in it. Ward reached when his fly to left was dropped by Venegas, and scored on Ban’s 2-out double, and without the error, Ban wouldn’t have batted, the game ending with Almadanim. Harmon flew out to Munn, keeping the game tied, but the bottom 9th began with free passes by Hyeok Kim to Crispin and Munn. That brought Gardner up, and he was used to bunt the winning and useless runners to scoring position. Brent Cramer was walked with intent. Chris Gowin pinch-hit for Philipps, fell to 1-2, but then hit a fly to deep center. Ward had the ball caught, but no play on Crispin at the plate for a walkoff sacrifice fly. 5-4 Raccoons. Venegas 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Pucks was sent to the DL and would miss most or all of June, which was such a thrill. We were *really* short of quality outfielders at this point, since Brassfield and Lamotta were also out, but Lamotta could be activated by the weekend, so I could resist the urge to claim Fernando Perez, with Portland 2052-53, off waivers. We called up Pedro Rojas for the two days (Thursday was off), and would send him back for Lamotta then.

Game 2
OCT: SS Almadanim – 2B Ban – RF M. Harmon – C Monaghan – 1B R. Cox – 3B Triplett – LF D. Lee – CF Ward – P Mondragon
POR: LF Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – RF Munn – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – CF Cramer – P Shui

The Thunder sent Mondragon on short rest on Tuesday, and took a 1-0 lead on a Doug Triplett homer to left-center in the second inning, but Portland turned the game around right away with hits by Gowin, Waters, and Cramer in the bottom 2nd; both Waters and Cramer drove in the runner before them for a 2-1 lead.

Things were going pear-shaped soon, though… primarily for Venegas, who pulled a hammy while playing leftfield in the fourth inning, which gave me some ghastly flashbacks to Monday’s game. Danny Munn moved to left, and Daniel Espinoza would play rightfield from here. The Raccoons had Waters derail the bottom 4th with a double play when Gowin and Munn were on base, then got a leadoff single from Brent Cramer in the bottom 5th. He stole second, Shui’s grounder moved him to third base, and Espinoza… popped out. Lonzo hit an RBI single though for a cushion run, stole a base, but was left on by Rams’ grounder to short.

Next, we shed Brent Cramer, who injured some real or imagined part of his body in the sixth inning, to be replaced by Tenazes. It was getting a bit ridiculous at this point, and then Shui began the seventh by giving up a single to Monaghan, a double to Cox, and an RBI single to Triplett without logging an out. The tying run was at third base, and it was all going to **** now. Enter Matt Walters, who was hit with righty pinch-hitters Luke Burnham (K) and Danny Ramirez (F4), and when the Thunder were out of those, left-handed Aaron Foss, who cashed another K, *stranding* that tying run at third base.

Bottom 7th, Tenazes and Rojas hit 1-out singles against Victor Marquez, but Espinoza forced out Rojas with a grounder to second base. Lonzo fell 0-2 behind, but then slung a ball over the head of Triplett for a double up the line, driving in both runners for a much needed extension to our lead, now at 5-2. Rams singled home Lonzo with a plonker into shallow right, 6-2, then against lefty Mike LeMasters. Lillis pitched around a throwing error by Crispin in the eighth, but Hitchcock retired the Thunder 1-2-3 in salvaging a W for the badly, badly wounded Raccoons. 6-2 Critters. Lavorano 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Gowin 2-4; Cramer 1-1, BB, 2B, RBI; Rojas (PH) 1-1;

(blows)

Okay, what now? Venegas went to the DL right away, but Cramer wasn’t processed, although I saw both black body bags being delivered on Wednesday morning as well as a shipment of sunflower oil, so things could still go either way between him and Dr. Luis Silva.

What do you mean, Dr. Silva, you’re “not technically” a doctor? – What is it then? – “Medicine man”? – Fine by me.

The Raccoons called up Humberto Hernandez, lefty corner outfielder, because he was the only option left on the 40-man roster, although he was hitting .196 in AAA at age 27. Yes, it was … it was a bit of a Volkssturm promotion.

Game 3
OCT: SS Almadanim – 2B Ban – RF M. Harmon – LF D. Ramirez – 1B R. Cox – 3B Triplett – C Burnham – CF Ward – P Wolinsky
POR: CF Tenazes – SS Lavorano – C Gowin – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – LF Munn – RF Espinoza – P Brobeck

The Thunder went up 1-0 right away on Almadanim’s first homer of the year, while the Coons got Lonzo on base with a throwing error, but also saw Lonzo thrown out by Danny Ramirez at home plate on Gowin’s single, after which the Critters filled the bags, and left them loaded when Crispin struck out. And that was it for the Raccoons. They didn’t get another base hit for hours, while Brobeck failed his way bravely onwards, and held the Thunder to just three hits through eight innings, whiffing five, but that Almadanim homer still stood up through seven-and-a-half innings, which was as much as what would be chipped in by Brobeck… except that his spot led off the bottom 8th against Bubba. He flew out to left, but then Prospero Tenazes singled to left, which was an outrageous amount of offense for a single inning by Coons standards on that Wednesday. Also all the offense they scrabbled together. Lonzo flew out to center, Gowin grounded out to short, and Tenazes was left on base. Sencion and Torizuki held the Thunder away in the ninth inning, while the Raccoons came up against their former closer Kevin Daley, who had a 6.97 ERA, in the bottom 9th. On the other paw, Rams and Munn were in dreadful slumps by now, so he hadn’t much to be fearful of. Rams grounded out to first to begin the inning, but then Daley walked Waters and served up a double to Crispin. Danny Munn was by now hitting *.179*, but managed a fly to right. Harmon caught it, but Waters went home and scored to tie the game. Rojas batted for Espinoza, but popped out to short – extras!

Tommy Gardner had a 1-2-3 tenth inning, but then allowed leadoff singles to Ward and Dave Lee in the 11th inning. Jonathan Ban, always a terror, socked a 2-run double to break the tie, and the Raccoons faced Kim again trailing by two in the bottom 11th. Rams led off, flew out to Ward, and it was all horrible. Waters whiffed, but Crispin singled to right. Munn grounded out to Cox, and that was the ballgame. 3-1 Thunder. Crispin 2-5, 2B; Brobeck 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K;

At least nobody broke his little neck in this game, so I call a moral victory…

Humberto Hernandez entered that game as replacement in rightfield, hit a groundout, and was then sent back to AAA to make room for Ricky Lamotta, while Brent Cramer was still rotting on the roster on Friday morning with no amount of sunflower oil giving Dr. Luis enough insight into what ailed him. I was perhaps losing patience a bit at this stage, but I punched him to the DL anyway and Hernandez was recalled right away from the Alley Cats.

Raccoons (32-18) @ Titans (24-28) – June 4-6, 2055

…and only now did we travel to Boston, where nothing good ever happened. The Titans were second from the bottom in runs scored in the CL, and fourth from the bottom in runs allowed, with a -38 run differential. They were worst in OBP and homers, and nearly had the worst bullpen ERA, pushing five in that category. The Coons led the season series, 4-1, but right now, everything was possible…

Projected matchups:
Kennedy Adkins (6-0, 1.68 ERA) vs. Jamie Guidry (4-5, 4.33 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (4-4, 3.23 ERA) vs. Chad Shultz (4-6, 4.59 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (3-3, 4.18 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (3-3, 4.75 ERA)

And now, with a flogged lineup and struggling lefty hitters at the best of times, the Raccoons would see only one right-hander in that series – Shultz – unless the Titans wanted to skip him and bring a third southpaw in Jim Peterson (5-4, 4.71 ERA) into the weekend set. No Kenneth Spencer, who was on the DL along with longtime Critters backstop Ruben Gonzalez and reliever Alex Diaz.

Game 1
POR: LF Lamotta – SS Lavorano – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 3B Brobeck – 1B Ramsay – CF Tenazes – RF Munn – P Adkins
BOS: LF Weir – C R. Salas – RF Whitlow – 1B L. Rodriguez – 2B Roura – SS Marroguin – CF M. Gilmore – 3B Ro. Jimenez – P Guidry

Adkins batted before he pitched, which was always great; Lonzo was nicked by Guidry, which the Coons objected to. They would punch out *six* singles after that, starting with Gowin. Waters made the second out of the inning, but then the team riffed off five straight 2-out RBI singles to take a 5-0 lead, which oughta be enough to win the game for Adkins twice…! Lonzo was hit *again* in the second inning, stole second base, but was left on that time. Adkins nailed Larry Rodriguez in the bottom 2nd, and Dave Roura hit into a double play to keep the Titans to the minimum for a while longer. Lonzo next reached on an error by Rocky Jimenez in the fourth inning, stole second again, and was left on base *again*.

Eric Whitlow hit a 2-out single in the bottom 4th to get the Titans into the H column, but Rodriguez popped out to end the inning. Adkins looked totally in control through six innings, but this was Boston, and things had to go haywire eventually. Raul Salas opened the seventh with a single to center. Whitlow then walked, and Rodriguez doubled through Brobeck to left. Salas scored, but Whitlow was thrown out by Ricky Lamotta, and two groundouts stranded Rodriguez on base, holding the Titans somewhat luckily to one run and the Raccoons kept a slam-sized lead. Then Gilmore opened the eighth with a walk. Adkins misfiled Jimenez’ comebacker for an error, and then Will McIntyre doubled home a pair. Hector Weir singled, the tying runs were on the corners, and Adkins was yanked out of the blue. Hitchcock came on, struck out Salas, then kept rotating his shoulders until Luis Silva collected him. Yay! MORE INJURIES!! Torinori took over, gave up a sac fly on a 3-0 pitch to Whitlow (!), but got out of the ******* inning with a Rodriguez fly to right. The Raccoons had ONE hit beyond the first inning and were in no spot to tack on anything, and Gardner got a 1-run lead for the bottom 9th. Dave Gonzalez opened the frame with a pinch-hit single to right, but Jordan Marroguin and Matt Gilmore both struck out. PH Antonio Cruz was another lefty stick, but Waters lunged for his bouncer and threw it to first base in time to end the game. 5-4 Critters. Munn 2-4, RBI; Adkins 7.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (7-0) and 1-4, RBI;

(looks greatly concerned about how things were going)

Two of the runs on Adkins were earned, raising his ERA to 1.76 for seven-plus innings.

Luis Silva eventually found no major structural damage in Brent Cramer’s paw, and came back with a diagnosis of “sore wrist”. He’d not be able to play for another week, so he’d have been DL’ed now anyway. Not going to the DL was Kevin Hitchcock, who had a tight back, which Silva claimed to be able to crank back into place with massages and a selection of four hours a day of listening to his playlist of chants by Buddhist monks.

Does that really work, Dr. Silva? – Theravada or Mahayana? – Once Hitch is done with it, can I get some? I have this sore neck from always bending the head forwards to bury my face in my paws…..

Game 2
POR: LF Lamotta – SS Lavorano – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 3B Brobeck – RF Munn – CF Tenazes – 1B Philipps – P Taki
BOS: CF Weir – LF M. Gilmore – RF Whitlow – 1B L. Rodriguez – 2B Roura – C R. Salas – SS Marroguin – 3B Ro. Jimenez – P de Anda

Next southpaw in line, who got spotted a 1-0 lead in the bottom 1st when Taki put Whitlow and Rodriguez on the corners with two outs, and Philipps threw away Roura’s roller in front of home plate to bring Whitlow across. Salas grounded out, and then the Coons answered in the top 2nd, Matt Waters opening the inning with a wallbanger double in center. Brobeck singled, Munn singled, and Waters scored there to tie the game, but then a fielder’s choice, a K, and a groundout stranded the go-ahead runs on the corners… There was a 2-out rally in the third inning, now with a double by Chris Gowin to get somebody on base. De Anda walked Waters, but then gave up an RBI single to Brobeck. The Raccoons went for the double steal – successfully even – but Munn walked anyway to fill ‘em up. Tenazes slashed a grounder up the middle that eluded Roura and Marroguin, driving home a pair, and Philipps singled home Munn with a liner dropping near the rightfield line and cut off by Whitlow. Taki even singled to center, bringing home Tenazes with his first RBI of the year, and then Ricky Lamotta’s triple to center sunk de Anda for good – it ran the score to 8-1 on a 7-run third inning, and all that after de Anda had logged two outs to begin the inning…! The Raccoons hung a ninth run on him when Lonzo singled off Ryan Musgrave, 9-1, so now the entire lineup had reached base safely in order without making an out. Gowin popped out, and now it was on Taki to go as long as possible; he had already expended 40 pitches in the first two frames, and now had sat down for half an hour…

Efficiency wouldn’t come to his game any time soon; he needed another almost 40 pitches for the next two innings, but Tyler Philipps had a paw in that as well, making another silly error to drop Marroguin’s pop to begin the bottom 4th. Jimenez walked, and the Titans would get those two runners across in unearned fashion with a hit by Will McIntyre and Weir’s sac fly to narrow the score to 9-3. Taki and Lonzo reached on errors by Jimenez and Marroguin, respectively, in the fifth, but were stranded, and they were on base again in the seventh inning as Taki doubled off Adam Gardner and Lonzo drew a 2-out walk. With Gowin flying out to Whitlow, they were again stranded.

The Coons squeezed out Taki for 120 pitches, which was seven innings in the end, and without allowing an earned run; all three Boston markers were on Philipps, who also struck out to strand a pair in scoring position in the eighth inning. Bak walked the bases full in a crass departure from his usually dependable pitching, but was dug out by Matt Walters, who got the last out of the bottom 8th from PH Dave Gonzalez. Eloy Sencion was even less fortunate, turning a 6-run lead into a save opportunity in the bottom 9th, getting strafed for a walk and three hits by the Titans. Tommy Gardner came on, nailed Marroguin to fill the bases, and then somehow got Nate Oden to fly out to Lamotta when a slam would have completed the 8-run rally. 9-5 Raccoons. Lamotta 2-6, 3B, 2 RBI; Brobeck 2-4, BB, RBI; Munn 2-4, BB, RBI; Tenazes 2-5, 2 RBI; Taki 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (5-4) and 2-4, 2B, RBI;

It’s some thing or other every single day now. One day three broken legs, the next day they try to blow an 8-game lead…

(deep sigh!)

Shultz was up for the Sunday game, so the Raccoons were even robbed of Southpaw Sunday in a week in which they were up 4-1 and that nevertheless felt extremely lousy somehow…

Game 3
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – RF Munn – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 1B Rojas – CF Lamotta – LF Hernandez – P de la Cruz
BOS: CF Weir – LF M. Gilmore – RF Whitlow – 1B L. Rodriguez – 2B Roura – C R. Salas – SS Marroguin – 3B J. Nieto – P Shultz

Raffy didn’t falter as soon as he took the hill, which was already dandy, and the Raccoons took a lead in the third inning in rather weird circumstances. Lamotta led off with a single, then advanced on not one, but two wild pitches by Shultz, but was still on third base when Crispin walked with two down. Lonzo came through with a single to left, but Munn flew out to Whitlow to end the inning. Jose Nieto hit a single off Raffy in the bottom 3rd, the first runner for Boston, but was left on second base. Crispin reached base again his next time up, but only briefly, hitting a 2-out solo jack to right in the fifth inning to get up to 2-0. Raffy issued his first walk in the bottom 5th, which made my whiskers quiver with trepidation, but he got through the inning without major problems.

The Raccoons had a chance in the sixth; Munn drew a leadoff walk, Gowin singled, and Waters grounded out to first, but that advanced the runners into scoring position for Pedro Rojas. The Titans declined, and instead pitched to Lamotta with the bags full, but Marroguin couldn’t quite reach the soft looper Lamotta hit up the middle and that dinked into shallow center for a single. Since Marroguin almost made the catch, the runners only got to advance a base each, 3-0. Hernandez popped out, Raffy grounded out, and another three runs were left on base.

…and then, the inevitable Raffy meltdown. He walked Weir and Gilmore in the bottom 6th, gave up a run on Whitlow’s 1-out double, and another on Rodriguez’ groundout. Roura grounded out to Crispin, keeping the tying run on third base, but … ugh!! Crispin and Munn singles in the seventh got the Raccoons nowhere nice, but Salas’ and McIntyre’s singles off Tinytimi got the Titans just as far. Lillis came on with two outs in the bottom 7th and got ap pop from Hector Weir to get out of the inning.

Humberto Hernandez’ first career hit was a 1-out single off Noel Groh in the eighth inning, moving Lamotta, who had also singled, to second base. Ramsay and Crispin made outs after that, while Matt Walters had a clean bottom 8th for a change. David Williams went 1-2-3 on the Raccoons in the ninth, and the Raccoons had to go to Hyun-soo Bak in the bottom 9th, because other options were limited to Eloy Sencion and… Brobeck? Bak walked Roura on base with the tying run to begin the inning, and Roura moved to third base on two groundouts after that. Rocky Jimenez was batting with the game on the line. He entered batting .207 … and dropped to .206 with a K hung on him by Bak. 3-2 Coons. Crispin 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Lamotta 3-4, RBI;

In other news

May 31 – The Stars get bleached by PIT SP Rafael Mendoza (3-4, 2.89 ERA) for a 2-hit shutout while going down in a 15-0 rout. PIT C Wade Gardner (.276, 4 HR, 19 RBI) is a triple shy of the cycle with five hits and three RBI.
May 31 – The Titans rally over the Knights for five runs in the bottom 9th for an 8-7 walkoff win.
June 2 – The Condors’ SP Steve Hawkins (6-0, 2.90 ERA), in his eighth big-league start, throws a 2-hit shutout against the Canadiens in a 9-0 win.
June 2 – LAP CF/1B Noah Caswell (.303, 4 HR, 19 RBI) will miss a month with a pinched nerve in his back.
June 3 – Knights OF/1B Jon Alade (.255, 3 HR, 13 RBI) heads to the DL after being diagnosed with an intercostal strain and is expected to be out for at least a month.
June 3 – The Warriors win a rain-shortened, six-inning game, 3-0 against the Capitals, who had only one hit by Mitch Korfhage (.319, 6 HR, 34 RBI) against SFW SP Ricardo Montoya (5-1, 3.26 ERA), who gets credit for a cheap shutout.
June 4 – LAP C Chris Maresh (.289, 0 HR, 12 RBI) drives in five runs on five hits in a 12-4 rout of the Warriors.

FL Player of the Week: RIC 1B Mario Delgadillo (.338, 5 HR, 17 RBI), batting .455 (10-22) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA 3B/SS Jeremy Welter (.325, 10 HR, 31 RBI), hitting .522 (12-23) with 2 HR, 3 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: NAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.324, 7 HR, 35 RBI), batting .386 with 5 HR, 27 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: LVA 3B/SS Jeremy Welter (.305, 8 HR, 29 RBI), hitting .356 with 5 HR, 19 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: RIC SP Brian Jackson (8-2, 3.49 ERA), going a perfect 6-0 with 2.51 ERA, 27 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: BOS SP Jordan Ramos (5-3, 2.65 ERA), throwing for a 4-0 record with 0.78 ERA, 21 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW LF/RF/3B/1B Steve Dilly (.270, 4 HR, 24 RBI), hitting .268 with 2 HR, 13 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: LVA OF/1B Gunner Epperson (.266, 5 HR, 20 RBI), socking .265 with 4 HR, 14 RBI

Complaints and stuff

First career save for Bak on Sunday, mostly because we ran out of other options. That’s not to discredit his performance through a season and a half in the US – if he wasn’t walking four batters across 1.2 innings as he did on Satuday-Sunday, he was a pretty good right-handed reliever!

The rush of injuries this week made the 5-1 tally seem like a consolation price, but at least none of the players that went down this week will be gone for longer than a month or so. Of course, them all being outfielders (or in case of Venegas, replacement outfielders) didn’t help much either. – (looks at Humberto Hernandez, the 27-year-old debutee grinning stupidly with the ball from his big-league hit) Well, *some* here are delighted about the situation…!

At least we remain up by three games, with the Indians also barely skipping a beat. No games with them this month, but we’ll meet plenty in July, since we were drawn against another for the four-and-four part of the schedule around the All Star Game.

At least Lonzo is still standing… or, running. He stole 13 bags since we last looked at his tally, which gained him another four spots on the career leaderboards, up to 36th place. Now-Sacramento’s Chris Navarro out-did him, though, stealing 14 in the same timespan. But the retired Dave Heffer, Danny Zarate, and Bartolo Hernandez, as well as injured Ed Soberanes all fell to Lonzo on the leaderboards.

t-31st – Oscar Aguirre – 359
t-31st – Nando Maiello – 359
t-33rd – Xiao-wei Li – 357
t-33rd – Chris Navarro – 357 – active
35th – Mario Villa – 352 – active
36th – Lorenzo Lavorano – 347 – active
37th – Ed Soberanes – 345 – active
t-38th – Bartolo Hernandez – 344 – HOF
t-38th – Danny Zarate – 344 – HOF

Newly up on the radar would be active Mario Villa, just five bags ahead, as well as few retired players in Xiao-wei Li, Nando Maiello, and Oscar Aguirre – all but Aguirre more prominent in the FL during their careers. Villa was of course the Warriors stalwart, while Li and Maiello barely spent four seasons in the CL between them. Aguirre started his career with the Falcons in the 2030s, but also had stints with half the CL North teams at the end of his playing days, the Titans, Elks, and Indians.

Fun Fact: Mario Villa won five batting titles and one stolen base title in his career.

He stole 53 bases in 2044, which was his age 23, and second full season with the Warriors. He then posted a few more 30s and 20s, but last year got only five bags and this year so far only one. He’s only 34, but both his speed and defense have gone down the toilet already. Since he’s also not hitting triples anymore, and hit for more than 20 homers only once, it will be interesting to see for how long he can actually remain a net gain for the Warriors. So far this year he’s batting .282/.329/.351, which together with ****** defense has him post a negative WAR for the first time in his career.

[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.

[Westheim]

2055 AMATEUR DRAFT

While the Raccoons were busy in Colorado, I had to make the trip to New York with head scout Eric Hartwig, who grumbled that the trip wasn’t worth it all the way across three time zones, for the annual draft. The Raccoons came armed with the #21 and #38 picks, which wasn’t much, but I also liked the shiny new ring the team had won last year, so I pretended I was fine with not being able to make a selection (probably!) from our annual hotlist (*denotes high school player):

SP Miguel Romero (11/16/11)
SP Alfonso Calderon (11/14/10)
SP Tyler Chilcott (13/12/11)
SP Mike Bell (11/13/14) *

CL Adam Harris (17/12/15)

SS/3B Ben Stine (17/10/7) *
1B/LF/CF/2B Steve Anderson (15/13/15) *
SS/2B Jason Turner (11/13/16) *
INF Matt Kilday (13/1/13) *

OF Chad Cardwell (15/14/16) *
RF/LF Austin Gordon (14/14/7) *

The first pick was with the Condors, who went with outfielder Chad Cardwell at #1. With Austin Gordon going #2 to the Blue Sox, we could already crumble up the sheet with the hotlist outfielder and toss that at the damn Elks’ GM’s head, then point at some sod on the other side of the room. #3 was Steve Anderson, taken by the Cyclones. Matt Kilday to the Indians and Mike Bell to the Titans completed the top 5. The Buffos took Miguel Romero at #6, and the other teams hadn’t missed one off our hotlist yet.

The Bayhawks did, drafting Patrick Zehe at #7, but then it was Ben Stine to the Aces at #8. The Caps selected Tyler Chilcott at #12, and Rebels picked up Jason Turner with their #18 pick – no relation to the old Coons starting pitcher Jason Turner from the 80s/90s, by the way.

Two remained: SP Alfonso Calderon and CL Adam Harris. Now, Harris looked like a bullpen beast in the making. Left-handed groundballer with a cutter and forkball, intelligent, charming, what was there not to like? A future major leaguer for sure, at the back end of somebody’s pen. The sole question here was whether we thought we’d get more out of Calderon, a right-hander sporting four pitches, but none really dominant, and at 22 his control was still an issue. OSA’s scouting report looked a bit better than ours (13/14/12), but while Harris was charming and intelligent, Calderon answered interview questions in three-word sentences and looked annoyed while doing so. Probably not affecting his pitchcraft negatively, but… well, Hartwig hated him, but Hartwig hated everybody. Nevertheless, the Raccoons threw their first-round pick at the sure thing this time and drafted Harris.

The Pacifics were delighted about our selection there, taking Calderon with the very next pick, #22, and that was it for the annual hotlist. Only down to the shortlist now, which had a whopping 136 players on it regardless.

The Coons were trying to stay away from infielders for the most part in this draft, because there was already a glut of them still stuck at Aumsville, but I also had a hard time making up my mind which of them to cull. Not more than one infielder in any case for us. This would be with an asterisk, because we did pick up that two-way guy Armando Suriel in the fifth round, and his basic position was third base, but he could also be converted to a reliever. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to pick another infielder from there on forwards.

Towards the late innings I got a bit antsy, because for a while it seemed like we’d run out of left-handed pitchers to take in the 11th round, the traditional Nick Brown Memorial Pick. In the end, only *two* southpaws remained on the draft board when our #289 pick rolled around, and they both looked like future dog food. But traditions are traditions, and we got into this situation in the first place by drafting a pitcher charitably described as “lefty with a slider” 60 years ago precisely.

It got weirder from there; by our round 12 pick, there were only three pitchers of *any* description left in the draft class, all of them infielders that were also side-hustling in pitching. The Scorpions took one of them (Brad Koski) with the #332 pick, but the other two would remain on the board.

2055 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#21) – CL Adam Harris, 21, from Escondido, CA – left-handed groundballer with a 94mph cutter and a darting forkball, he looks like a sure thing to make it to the end of a major league bullpen soon.
Supp. Round (#38) – SP John Marshell, 18, from Palmdale, CA – left-handed starter with four pitches, who also keeps things on the ground; bit low on the stamina side, but otherwise looks highly promising
Round 2 (#73) – LF/RF Tyler McGovern, 18, from New York, NY – looks like a switch-hitting on-base pest with power, though not much speed, nor range in the outfield, so very much looks like a defensive liability in the making
Round 3 (#97) – C/1B Corey Crawford, 20, from Pekin, IL – above-average defensive catcher with a balanced if average hitting profile; works and parties hard.
Round 4 (#121) – SP Curt Therien, 21, from Surrey, BC, Canada – left-hander with four pitches and control issues, which could describe half the average draft class
Round 5 (#145) – 3B/RF/1B/MR Armando Suriel, 20, from Camden, ME – if he can hit his way there, he could be a Gold Glove third baseman, but also usable on all the corners; if he can’t hit his way there, he could still make it as a right-handed reliever, throwing 90mph with a fastball/slider combo
Round 6 (#169) – SP Travis Glovinsky, 18, from Rio Grande City, TX – right-hander with two-and-a-half pitches and control problems, but at least we’re only taking him in the sixth round, so he’s not likely to violate my “no more Travises, ever!” rule any time soon.
Round 7 (#193) – SS Randy Paul, 18, from El Paso, TX – entered in the draft as a shortstop, but not given any positional rating by Eric Hartwig, we didn’t see his future there at all; with a murder arm and not much lateral range, he looked more destined for the rightfield job, but unfortunately didn’t possess much power. Good speed. Weird player.
Round 8 (#217) – CL Bryan Erickson, 21, from Manhattan, NY – basic righty with basic 90mph fastball and a curve, low control and even lower stamina
Round 9 (#241) – 1B/LF/RF Jose Aguirre, 17, from San Juan, Puerto Rico – looks basically doomed as a switch-hitting singles slapper with no power whatsoever, being physically limited to power positions; weirdly enough can steal bases, and has bad table manners going for him, so there’s that.
Round 10 (#265) – OF Ben Morris, 17, from Cary, IL – good defender, fast runner, even a good singles hitter, but also no power, and no patience at the plate
Round 11 (#289) – SP Ben Schaar, 22, from Gates-North Gates, NY – southpaw with three pitches, none of them good, and no control to boot
Round 12 (#313) – LF/INF/RF Jon Bean, 20, from Lee, NH – super utility with a singles bat, but not enough of a hitting profile to get anybody’s hopes up for becoming a Swiss Army knife for the major league team
Round 13 (#337) – C/1B Lance Stephens, 19, from Carollton, TX – meek hitter, casual defender, glacially slow runner, but the board was nearly empty, and we weren’t allowed to pass…

+++

Adam Harris was assigned to Ham Lake right away. The rest of the new draft picks were all going to Aumsville.

Of course, with 14 new players also came a number of departures, none of them voluntary. Ignoring the odd scouting discovery and trash heap signing that didn’t make news before and doesn’t have to make news now, the Raccoons culled these players in particular:

For pitchers, Dusty Ferber (2053, 8th Round), Bobby Spisak (2054, 10th Round), and Matt DeFusco (2053, 11th Round) were escorted out. Among position players, we escorted out C/1B Jonathan Rhodes (2049, 4th Round), C/1B Kevin Tissue (2053, 7th Round), INF/RF Todd Stuebe (2052, 7th Round), SS Seth Pavlick (2052, 9th Round), and LF/RF Justin Bartnick (2053, 12th Round).

Most of the removals had still been hanging around the Aumsville Beagles roster, although Rhodes had reached AAA in 2053, but had never hit anything at the level.

We also promoted OF Felix Ayala to Aumsville from the international complex at this point. He had cost $32k in last year’s IFA window, and had made some progress in the complex.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (38-21) @ Gold Sox (32-29) – June 14-16, 2055

Monday brought a brief trip to Colorado (at least not Carolina…), with the Gold Sox awaiting the Raccoons. They ranked fifth in runs scored in the FL, and seventh in runs allowed. Their run differential was goose eggs. Shady rotation, but the second-best pen in the FL by ERA, so you had to get them early. You listen, boys? No heavy stomachs to begin these games! Only two lunches per snout! (heavy bickering in the back of the team bus) Like against the Cyclones, the Raccoons had not won a series against the Gold Sox since 2047, which included three two-to-one sets in the regular season, two of them in the last two years, and a crushing sweep in the 2051 World Series…

Projected matchups:
Kennedy Adkins (8-0, 1.75 ERA) vs. Chris Jones (2-8, 4.74 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (5-4, 2.88 ERA) vs. Adam Foley (2-4, 3.95 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (4-4, 4.30 ERA) vs. Nick Robinson (2-2, 3.45 ERA)

Left-hander on Wednesday, but two righties before that. Lonzo got a day off in this thick string of games, with Matt Knight holding down short in the series opener.

The Raccoons also returned Pedro Rojas to AAA to begin the week, since him and Rams were just standing around on each other’s hindpaws and neither of them had hit a big league homer since I had bought a new calendar. We’d throw a few at-bats at another 23-year-old, last year’s trash heap pickup OF/1B Carlos Solorzano. The Dominican left-hander could play all outfield positions reasonably well although his arm wasn’t too strong. Also not a power hitter (zero homers in 20 AAA games), but he had batted nearly .340 between Ham Lake and St. Pete since the start of the minor league season, and had stolen 14 bases.

Game 1
POR: 3B Crispin – LF Lamotta – RF Munn – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – CF Solorzano – SS Knight – P Adkins
DEN: SS B. Andrews – C Mickle – 1B Joyner – LF Ramires – 2B I. Villa – RF Angulo – 3B A. Montes de Oca – CF Frederick – P C. Jones

Hits by Lamotta and Munn and Gowin’s sac fly gave the Critters a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning, but the Sox took Adkins through the wringer for 35 pitches in the bottom 1st. Now, they didn’t score a run, they just loaded the bags on two full-count walks and a scratch hit, after which Ivan Villa popped out hiiiigh to Munn in shallow right, and Angel Angulo struck out to strand a full set. Solorzano’s debut at-bat gave him a single and his first stolen base as well, but he was left on second base by the rest of the bottom of the order. He also tracked down Blake Mickle’s drive to center to end the bottom 2nd with Angel Montes de Oca and Jake Frederick in scoring position after leadoff singles. Yeah, it wasn’t Adkins’ best start by any stretch of the imagination and vocabulary. Bottom 3rd, leadoff hits for Bill Joyner and Bill Ramires, and they were on the corners. Ugh! Villa struck out in a full count, but Angulo tied the game with a groundout this time. Frederick and Mickle then grabbed a lead with two more singles off Adkins in the fourth inning, 2-1 Gold Sox.

At that point I was just annoyed. Adkins was out after five ****** up frames and 110 pitches. Munn was on base in the sixth, but stranded, and Solorzano opened the seventh with a double to left-center. He, too, was stranded, with nothing useful contributed between Knight, Lonzo, and Crispin. The Critters’ pen chipped in three scoreless innings after Adkins’ early exit, but the offense still had to score a run and it was increasingly not looking like it. The eighth was just meh, and the ninth began with Jim Cushing and the 5-6-7 batters. Matt Waters drove another ball into the gap for another leadoff double. But now, boys! Now you score him! Ramsay singled to right, Waters was sent for home plate… and thrown out by Angulo. Solorzano and Knight went down without much fight. 2-1 Gold Sox. Ramsay 2-4; Solorzano 2-4, 2B;

*******.

Game 2
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – LF Munn – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – CF Solorzano – RF Espinoza – P Taki
DEN: SS B. Andrews – C Mickle – 1B Joyner – LF Ramires – 2B I. Villa – RF Angulo – 3B A. Montes de Oca – CF Frederick – P Foley

Taki had a clean first, but then nailed Bill Ramires with a 1-2 pitch to begin the bottom 2nd. Jake Frederick’s 2-out double scored Ramires from second base and gave Denver a 1-0 lead. Foley enjoyed that for 3.2 innings, allowing only one base hit before leaving with an injury. Reliever Andrew Clarke nailed Espinoza to begin the fifth inning, but Taki forced out the runner with a bad bunt, and then got himself doubled off first base when Crispin lined out to Joyner. Awesometastic.

There was then a rain shower between innings, which was slightly unnerving, because this was Denver, and just because it was June that didn’t mean we couldn’t get a game shortened by a blizzard, and we were down 1-0. But play resumed after a 35-minute rain delay (ruining Taki’s day, though), and the Coons went to work on Clarke. Danny Munn hit a double with one out, Gowin walked, and Waters socked another double to left to tie the score. A pair was then stranded in scoring position with Ramsay’s grounder that made it about 12 feet from home plate before being pickled by Mickle and thrown to first base for the second out. Solorzano flew out to left, and that was that for the rally. Bak held the tie in the sixth, but ex-Coon Tony Negrete struck out Espinoza, Tenazes, and Crispin in order in the seventh. Walters and Hitchcock offered more scoreless innings, but the Raccoons also failed to gain any traction through seven, eight, and two thirds of the ninth inning until an error by shortstop Marty Serna put Solorzano on base. The pitcher’s spot was next in the #8 hole, and facing Cushing the Coons went to Hernandez, who was a lefty batter with a pulse, and that was all the qualification he had. He also dished a drive to left-center for extra bases, and Solorzano dashed around the bases, and scored well ahead of Bill Ramires’ throw to the infield. Whoooey! Tenazes hit another single, but Crispin struck out to leave runners on the corners, and then Tommy Gardner got the ball for the bottom 9th. Gardner struck out Joyner and Villa… then gave up a double to Bill Ramires. Angulo was next, but swung and missed three times, and that evened the series. 2-1 Coons. Hernandez (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

The Raccoons would send Humberto Hernandez (.308, 0 HR, 2 RBI) back to AAA after this game, because Pucks could be activated from the DL.

Also, the Raccoons would be up against a spot starter for the rubber game, as the Gold Sox enlisted the services of Jonathan Fenton (0-1, 9.00 ERA). The 31-yeaer-old would make his third career start, all this season.

Game 3
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – CF Lamotta – C Philipps – P de la Cruz
DEN: SS B. Andrews – C Mickle – 1B Joyner – 2B I. Villa – LF Ramires – 3B A. Montes de Oca – RF N. Aguilar – CF Frederick – P Fenton

Doom befell the Raccoons early on Wednesday, as Raffy de la Cruz threw four pitches – all balls – to Brent Andrews for a walk, then decided nope, and left the game with Luis Silva. Brilliant. The Raccoons went to Tapinaki, who would pitch two innings, but surrendered Andrews’ run with a Bill Joyner single and Ivan Villa’s groundout which scored the game’s first run from third base. After that, Kyle Brobeck had to come in for long relief, because there wasn’t enough bullpen available otherwise. Ivan Villa drove in another run off Brobeck with a 2-out single in the bottom 3rd, but that run was unearned thanks to a Crispin error that had put on Blake Mickle in the first place. Villa would not let go – while the Raccoons drew blanks exclusively against the scrappy, to be charitable, Fenton, Villa would power a 3-run homer off Brobeck in the fifth inning as things just continued to collapse. Brobeck would at least pitch 4.1 innings to keep the pen together – never mind that we now didn’t have a starter for Thursday. He also had one of only two hits against Fenton through seven completely pathetic innings, and when the eighth inning began with a walk drawn by Matt Waters, a Ramsay single, and then a 3-run bomb to left for Ricky Lamotta, everybody was somewhat stunned, but the Gold Sox quickly recovered and hung two runs on Lillis in the bottom 8th when he just couldn’t seem to retire anybody. 7-3 Gold Sox.

Well, that sucked.

There were multiple roster moves on the way home, all related to injuries. First, Raffy was placed on the DL with a sore shoulder, and Luis Silva opined that he would be able to get him back into shape by the resumption of play after the All Star Game, but I was secretly working on a plan to collect insurance. Brent Cramer came *off* the DL, and the Raccoons optioned Carlos Solorzano (.222, 0 HR, 0 RBI) to AAA. What we needed was a starting pitcher for the opener against Elktown.

Jesus Guzman was my no means major league ready at age 24 and a 6-3 record and 4.44 ERA in St. Pete, but he was the next guy in line and sometimes you had to bend over and take it, as Cristiano told me. He was a lefty signed for $33k in the July IFA period eight years ago, who had moved up the minors rather silently.

Raccoons (39-23) vs. Canadiens (29-36) – June 17-20, 2055

The Elks had lost five games in a row, so were due a rebound. They had also two of three to the Coons so far this year, so were due a rebound. The Elks had sunk to the bottom of the division, so were due a rebound. And here were the Coons, with a roster in disarray, facing the #4 offense and #9 pitching in the CL. The run differential was only -1 for Elk City, so they were due a rebound.

Projected matchups:
Jesus Guzman (0-0) vs. Anton Jesus (4-4, 4.70 ERA)
He Shui (7-3, 3.39 ERA) vs. Hyuma Hitomi (3-6, 4.28 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (8-1, 1.85 ERA) vs. Adam Middleton (4-5, 4.69 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (5-4, 2.82 ERA) vs. Terry Herman (3-6, 4.03 ERA)

Only right-handed pitchers coming up against us in this series. Also no Damian Moreno (on DL), nor Kyle Hawkins, perhaps, the latter having left his last game with an injury, but there were no news about that so far.

Game 1
VAN: SS Mullen – 3B Adame – 1B Wheeler – RF A. Walker – CF T. Turner – LF Magnussen – 2B Uranga – C Julio Diaz – P A. Jesus
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – C Gowin – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 2B Knight – CF Cramer – P Guzman

Guzman was chopped apart into his constituent parts without much fuss in the first inning. Dan Mullen, Alex Adame, and Aaron Walker quickly pumped out three hits and two runs on Walker’s 2-run single, and it only got worse from there. Tim Turner walked, Adam Magnussen walked, Jorge Uranga doubled home two, and Julio Diaz’ groundout plated Magnussen for a 5-0 score. Guzman would go on to tie a franchise record with eight walks in a start without getting shot in the face with the blunderbuss. He walked four straight with two outs in the second inning, giving up one more run, then added two zeroes, but also two mores walks, before being yanked after four innings to be sent back to AAA and hopefully never be seen again.

The Coons actually scored some runs in the bottom 4th after being blanked out by Jesus the first time through. Gowin singled, Munn doubled, and the runs scored on Rams’ groundout and a 2-out single for Matt Knight to shorten the score to 6-2. While the Raccoons emptied their pen for the second time in a row, they also reached the halfway point for a rally with Pucks singling, advancing on a Gowin groundout, and scoring on Munn’s single in the bottom 6th, 6-3. The tying run appeared in the box by the following inning, as Cramer and Espinoza took to the corners with leadoff base hits against Jesus, but only the former scored on a groundout by Crispin before the inning descended into a pile of meh. Lonzo whiffed, and while Pucks hit an infield single, Gowin grounded out to Dan Mullen to strand runners on the corners. The Raccoons never allowed another run, getting scoreless relief from Bak, Pucks, Sencion, and Gardner – all for the bum when they ran out of offense and didn’t get on base in the eighth or ninth innings anymore. 6-4 Canadiens. Puckeridge 2-4; Munn 3-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Sencion 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

It didn’t get better. While we disposed of Guzman right away, Tyler Philipps woke up wheezing and freezing on Friday and was diagnosed with bronchitis. He’d spend the rest of the weekend inhaling Luis Silva’s personal weeds mixture under a blanket, and the Raccoons needed to grab another catcher when what they really needed was more arms. Didn’t help, though – perpetual third catcher Jeff Raczka was called up.

Game 2
VAN: 1B Wheeler – 3B Adame – C Waker – RF A. Walker – 2B Aparicio – SS Mullen – LF J. Caballero – CF T. Turner – P Hitomi
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – C Gowin – RF Munn – CF Lamotta – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – P Shui

The Raccoons bitterly needed a long, sturdy outing from He Shui, and hey, maybe even a W! Tim Turner’s sac fly in the second inning, plating Tony Aparicio – age 41 – after Aparicio and Dan Mullen had both singled to begin the inning. Portland prepared an answer in the bottom of the inning when they got the bags loaded with Gowin, Lamotta, and Ramsay, and one out. Matt Waters grounded to Aparicio, and the old man could still spin a 4-6-3 double play with the youngest of them… Worse yet, Shui would hit a single to begin the bottom 3rd then but was also stranded on base as the entire lineup seemed to have crapped out all at once.

At least Shui’s pitching held up. He allowed only three base hits through five innings, and then the Raccoons finally rallied in the bottom 5th. Rams and Waters reached base to begin the inning, and were bunted into scoring position by Shui. Crispin’s sac fly tied the game, and Lonzo – plunging his average with a terrible 0-for-20 slump right now – dropped a single into right to bring in Waters with the go-ahead run. Lonzo stole second, reached third when Pucks reached first on an Aparicio fumble, and then Chris Gowin hit an RBI double to left. Munn sent home two to score with a single to left-center, and Hitomi for the showers, too. Ben Arner got a groundout from Lamotta to end the 5-run inning.

Also gone was Jeff Wheeler, who doubled off Shui in the sixth inning, but jammed his thumb sliding into second base and left the game for Juan Aragon to replace him. Aragon was stranded on base, while the Coons got hits from Rams and Crisps and a run in the bottom 6th. The Coons ran Shui until he was obviously out of gas after 6.2 innings. He nailed Mullen to begin the seventh inning, then gave up the run on a 2-out hit by Uranga. Aragon walked, and the Coons had to get Shui and bring in the pen. Takenori Dillydally gave up a 2-run double to Alex Adame to draw some ire from his GM, because that narrowed the score to 6-4. Tristan Waker struck out to end the ******* inning. The eighth was calm, after which the Coons went back to Gardner, who had not had any problem in last night’s ninth inning. Julio Caballero, who made his debut in this game and went 0-for-4, whiffed, but then Tim Turner singled. Diaz grounded out. Aragon flew out to Munn in fairly deep center. 6-4 Raccoons. Gowin 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Ramsay 3-4;

The weather on Saturday would not be up to allowing any sort of baseball being played in Portland, and the game was postponed into a double header on Sunday. Brobeck would have gotten a start at third base on Saturday, but was removed from the lineup on Sunday, since he was scheduled to start the Monday game against the Loggers. Daniel Espinoza won the assignment.

Game 3
VAN: CF J. Caballero – SS Mullen – 1B Wheeler – RF A. Walker – 3B Adame – LF Magnussen – 2B Aparicio – C Julio Diaz – P Herman
POR: CF Lamotta – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – C Gowin – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – 3B Espinoza – P Adkins

Dan Mullen’s homer gave the Elks a 1-0 lead two batters into the game. Both teams had a pair of 2-out singles in the first inning, but neither managed to tack on. The Coons then entered hibernation, while Adkins tried his best. Aparicio drove in a run in the fourth inning to score Adam Magnussen and his double, but those were all the hits the Elks had through eight innings against Adkins, but the Raccoons couldn’t gain any traction against Terry Herman. They had four hits by the stretch, one of them by Adkins, and hadn’t reached third base yet.

Adkins whiffed eight in his start, but didn’t get any help and was still on a 2-0 hook when he was hit for in the bottom 8th. Tenazes flew out in his spot, in what was another hapless 1-2-3 innings against a dominant Herman. Matt Walters held the line in the ninth inning, while Herman returned for the bottom 9th to face the 2-3-4 hitters. Lonzo grounded out. Pucks grounded out. Gowin grounded out. 2-0 Canadiens. Adkins 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, L (8-2) and 1-2;

(calmly unscrews a new bottle of Capt’n Coma)

Game 4
VAN: 1B Wheeler – 3B Adame – LF Magnussen – C Waker – RF A. Walker – 2B Aparicio – SS Mullen – CF T. Turner – P Middleton
POR: 3B Crispin – 2B Waters – LF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – SS Knight – CF Cramer – C Raczka – P Taki

Wheeler opened with a double and this time stayed in the game. He would score on Tristan Waker’s sac fly to put the Coons into yet another early 1-0 hole, but at least Taki made it out of the inning before it could get really awful. Waters and Munn hit singles to make up the deficit right away in the bottom 1st, though; Pucks’ groundout moved Waters into second base to facilitate that awesome rally. Come the bottom 2nd, Knight drew a leadoff walk and reached third base on Cramer’s single. Jeff Raczka whiffed, but Taki snuck a single into right to give himself a 2-1 lead…! That inning continued with an RBI double for Crispin, a 2-run single for Waters, a groundout for Pucks, and after Munn hit a shy 2-out single that held Waters to third base, a Ramsay double to left. Waters scored, 6-1, but Munn was thrown out at the plate trying to make it a run from first base. Magnussen told him off.

So what was the worst that could happen with a 6-1 lead after two innings? Well, Tristan Waker hit another sac fly in the third inning, getting home Adame, so it was only 6-2 anymore. But the Raccoons’ 2-3-4 batters churned out three 1-out singles against Dan Lawrence in the bottom 4th to create a threat with Rams batting, but he found Aparicio for another depressing 4-6-3 double play. The Raccoons stranded two more in the fifth, Cramer and Raczka, although the latter had only reached on an error by Dan Mullen. Taki gave up a third run by sac fly in the seventh inning, this time to Wheeler’s fly to right after Juan Aragon had ripped a pinch-hit triple. Raczka reached on an error again in the bottom 7th, then by Aparicio, misfiring on his 2-out grounder to prolong the inning, while Brent Cramer, who had doubled, went to third base. Lonzo batted for Taki, slashed a single up the middle, and drove in Cramer with a tack-on run. Alex Mancilla struck out Crispin to end the inning.

Top 8th, Lillis rung up Magnussen, but gave up a single to the switch-hitting Waker. Hitchcock entered as scheduled, gave up a 2-out single to Aparicio, but struck out Mullen to get out of the inning. Sencion got the ball for the ninth inning. Julio Diaz hit a 1-out double off him, but two strikeouts and a grounder by Adame ended the game and split the series. 7-3 Critters. Waters 3-5, 2 RBI; Munn 3-5, RBI; Knight 0-1, 3 BB; Cramer 3-4, 2B; Lavorano (PH) 1-1, RBI; Taki 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (6-4) and 1-3, RBI;

In other news

June 16 – ATL RF/LF Pat Stipp (.237, 4 HR, 23 RBI) drives in six runs from the leadoff spot with four hits in an 18-3 socking of the Scorpions.
June 16 – Aces OF Ken Hummel (.375, 1 HR, 17 RBI) has broken his foot and is going to miss a month.
June 17 – TOP SP Angelo Munoz (7-4, 2.90 ERA) will miss at least three weeks with a herniated disc.
June 18 – The Loggers trade LF/RF Eric Cobb (.276, 3 HR, 11 RBI) to the Bayhawks for INF Adriano Chavez (.222, 0 HR, 1 RBI) and a prospect.
June 19 – Sacramento loses OF/1B Omar Gonzalez (.365, 2 HR, 31 RBI) for the season; the 32-year-old is laid up with a fracture in his knee.
June 19 – The Knights’ Bruce Mark jr. (4-4, 4.11 ERA) and two relievers pitch a combined 1-hitter against the Falcons, who only get a double from RF/LF Danny Ceballos (.321, 2 HR, 35 RBI) in the 3-0 Knights win.
June 19 – It takes 12 innings for the Blue Sox to beat the Capitals, 1-0. NAS OF/1B Edwin Flores (.275, 5 HR, 27 RBI) doubles home the winning run in the top of the inning.
June 20 – Next blow for Sacramento: SP Mike McCaffrey (5-3, 3.16 ERA) is also out for the season with a case of shoulder inflammation.

FL Player of the Week: PIT C Wade Gardner (.310, 7 HR, 36 RBI), hitting .471 (8-17) with 2 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT C Eric Monaghan (.274, 9 HR, 35 RBI), batting .435 (10-23) with 4 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Jeff Raczka is back! Not to crap on Jeff, but he’s doing scratch duty up here while Philipps is down with lung disease for the seventh straight season. When you pass through waivers that often, it says something about your playing prowess.

He does blend in nicely, though. We mentioned Lonzo being in a terrible slump (two hits and one bag taken all week), but there’s still a lot more shrugs and blows and puffs around this roster. Right now, nobody has a better OPS+ than Danny Munn, and he’s only at 109. He’s also hitting .228. Waters is terrible. Rams is terrible. We’re at a point where Ricky Lamotta with a 100 OPS+ almost counts as revelation and/or a great investment. Perhaps Trent Brassfield and Anton Venegas could fix a thing or two, but the former was at least one week and perhaps two away, and Venegas was not likely to return before the weekend, and to be honest, both should get a few games of rehab in AAA at least before coming back…

For consolation: the double header on Sunday will not create even more problems with the rotation than we already have. Thursday will be off, so that will reset Adkins to start Friday’s game on regular rest. That still doesn’t make me feel any fuzzier about what we might have in the Loggers series that starts on Monday: Brobeck, [blank], and then Shui.

We didn’t feel like a team that’s last in runs scored at least at the start of the month, but right now it’s becoming more and more noticeable.

It’s also one of those pleasant four-city road trips to Milwaukee, Vegas, San Francisco, and then New York. We’ll be back home only next month.

Fun Fact: The list of pitchers to offer eight walks to the opposing team in a single game is long and Brown.

Three of the pitchers – nine total – were named Brown, including a Hall of Famer:

Juan Berrios (1980)
Ramon Ocasio (1981)
Logan Evans (1981)
Nick Brown (2002)
Chris Brown (2015)
Travis Garrett (2024)
Darren Brown (2034)
Jared Ottinger (2038)
Jesus Guzman (2055)

None of them dared to do so in their major league debut, though.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (41-25) @ Loggers (35-34) – June 21-23, 2055

Off to Milwaukee, where the Loggers had a 4-2 lead against the Raccoons in six games this season. The Loggers ranked fifth in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed, with a -14 run differential (Critters: +49), and we showed up with a rotation perforated and riddled with holes. The Loggers had no injuries to complain about.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (1-3, 5.81 ERA) vs. Luke Moses (3-4, 4.81 ERA)
Phil Baker (0-0) vs. Josh Costello (1-9, 6.12 ERA)
He Shui (8-3, 3.53 ERA) vs. Juan Mercado (5-2, 5.08 ERA)

The sole left-hander would be Mercado here, but Costello had been skipped last time through the rotation and they could skip him again today after having gotten a spot start on the weekend. Next in line would be another left-hander in Jeff Fox (4-3, 5.79 ERA). And no, this wasn’t even the worst rotation by ERA in the majors.

Game 1
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – C Gowin – RF Munn – P Brobeck – 2B Waters – LF Lamotta – CF Cramer
MIL: CF B. Rivera – SS Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – RF Callaia – C C. Thomas – 2B M. Martinez – 3B A. Chavez – P Moses

Danny Munn bopped a 2-run homer in the second inning with Chris Gowin on base ahead of him for a quick lead for Brobeck, who, if the Coons had any depth in starting pitchers, would be holding a mop in the pen right now. This was while he retired the first seven Loggers in a row, after which it got dicey really fast. Adriano Chavez doubled to right, and scored on Bobby Rivera’s 2-out single. Robby Gaxiola hit another single, but those two were stranded when Brent Cramer snagged Perry Pigman’s fly. David Worthington’s 10th homer of the year was a leadoff jack to left in the fourth, and the teams were tied again from there.

The Coons had a pair on for Munn in the third inning, but he grounded out, and Waters’ walk in the fourth inning led really nowhere. Pucks drew a leadoff walk in the sixth inning, then was picked off first base by Moses. Gowin doubled right after that, which was dandy, and Munn flew out to Gaudencio Callaia. Brobeck was up with two outs, singled to center, and Gowin dashed around from second base to score and put the Coons in front again, 3-2. Waters walked behind Brobeck, but Ricky Lamotta grounded out and the inning ended. Useless Brobeck gave the lead right back, giving up a double to Gaxiola (…), who of course also stole third base (…!!), and then came home on a Worthington hit (…!!!), tying the game at three, all in the bottom 6th.

Brobeck was yanked in the seventh and dug out by Matt Walters, barely, but Walters and Bak collapsed for three Loggers runs on five hits in the bottom 8th and it was all just really and truly horrendous. Pigman’s homer off Walters gave the Loggers the lead at first, and also the win in the end. 6-3 Loggers. Gowin 3-4, 2B;

(deep sigh)

At that point, Tyler Philipps was fine again, so Jeff Raczka once again found himself riding the bus to Florida. The open roster spot went to Phil Baker for a spot start on Tuesday, and who the **** knows what we’ll come up with after that…

Game 2
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – C Gowin – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 2B Knight – CF Tenazes – P Baker
MIL: CF B. Rivera – SS Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – RF Callaia – 2B M. Martinez – C Cadena – 3B A. Chavez – P Costello

Costello did make the start on Tuesday, and put four straight Critters on base in the first inning with a Lonzo single, walk to Pucks, Gowin RBI single, and another walk to Danny Munn. Then Rams rammed one into a double play to kill three on, one out. The Loggers flipped the score in the bottom 2nd when Jose Cadena not only drove in Callaia, who reached on a gross throwing error by Ed Crispin, but hit a *triple*, and then scored on an Adriano Chavez single. Those runs were unearned, but the run Baker gave up in the bottom 3rd wasn’t. Bobby Rivera walked, advanced on a groundout, stole third base (…), and scored on Pigman’s groundout, 3-1.

Now, Baker wasn’t terrible; he allowed only three hits in five innings, which was still more than the Raccoons put together in five and change – yes, after the pair of singles in the first inning, the Critters had no more base hits for … a long time. The Loggers added a fourth run in the sixth inning when Baker walked Pigman, and gave up the run on a clean 2-out single to center hit by Travis Edwards, while the Raccoons suffered a rush of offense in the top 7th with a single for Matt Knight…! …and an inning-ending double play from Prospero Tenazes, 5-4-3. Baker went seven, Sencion had a 1-2-3 eighth, and emotionally I was already on the way back to the hotel when Pucks opened the ninth inning with a jack to left-center, which put the tying run in the on-deck circle against Dave Lister. Gowin then rushed a liner to deep right that hit off the fence for a double. Chris? Chris? I said, a *double*! Gowin didn’t listen, raced for third base, and was thrown out on the relay. I didn’t have another heartbeat until Danny Munn singled in a 3-2 count, which by now SHOULD HAVE put the tying run in scoring position, but very much ******* wasn’t. Rams singled, putting the tying runs on the corners for Matt Knight, whose comebacker to Lister was only enough for a fielder’s choice at second base. Matt Waters batted for Sencion in the #8 spot. He grounded out to Miguel Martinez. 4-2 Loggers. Puckeridge 1-2, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Munn 1-2, 2 BB, 2B;

The Raccoons would need another spot starter next Tuesday, and Raffy’s return by then was highly questionable. Baker hung around until next week.

As a special for the series finale, I’d watch the game with my eyes covered with my bushy striped tail…

Game 3
POR: CF Lamotta – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 1B Ramsay – C Philipps – RF Espinoza – P Shui
MIL: CF B. Rivera – SS Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – RF Callaia – C C. Thomas – 2B F. Vazquez – 3B A. Chavez – P J. Mercado

Ricky Lamotta opened the game with a home run to left, which was something new, and the Coons gave the lead right back, which wasn’t. Pigman singled, stole second, and scored on a Worthington double right in the bottom 1st, and we were tied at one again before Gaudencio Callaia popped out to Brobeck. Chris Thomas homered them Loggers a lead in the second inning, 2-1, while Lonzo reached base in the fourth by a nicking, and then reached the dugout by a picking … off first base, that was. They had no hits since Lamotta’s jack, and it was horrendous and impossible to watch, especially with a bushy tail covering your eyes.

The Loggers scored a run on three singles in the bottom 4th, and the inning after two more runs on two hits before Shui was yanked. Pigman singled, stole another base, was tripled home by Callaia, and a Thomas single made it 5-1 in the fifth. The low point was hopefully reached in the next half-inning, which Lonzo began by socking a triple over the head of Bobby Rivera, and then was stranded at third base as Waters lined out softly to Felix Vazquez, Pucks grounded out to first base, and Brobeck fanned. And that was about it. Lonzo would have another single and stole his 30th and a sad base in the eighth inning, but then was left in scoring position just the same. 5-1 Loggers. Lavorano 2-3, 3B;

Sweep.

Weep.

Raccoons (41-28) @ Aces (32-40) – June 25-27, 2055

The Raccoons had swept the Aces in the better days of April as part of their 13-0 start, which seemed like a ******* long time ago. Vegas was fifth in runs scored and bottoms in runs allowed, so it was worst offense against worst pitching. Could you possibly fill a bottomless pit with an infinite amount of lard?

Projected matchups:
Kennedy Adkins (8-2, 1.89 ERA) vs. Josh Wilson (3-4, 4.53 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (6-4, 2.90 ERA) vs. Bill Lawrence (3-4, 3.78 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (1-3, 5.66 ERA) vs. Julio Nunez (5-3, 3.70 ERA)

Only right-handers to come in this series. The really rotten part with their staff was the pen, by the way, but you had find your ******* way there with four paws, a map, and a flashlight first…

Game 1
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – C Gowin – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – CF Cramer – P Adkins
LVA: 2B J. White – SS Welter – 1B Austin – LF Kaniewski – C DeFrank – RF Epperson – CF J. Harris – 3B Alfaro – P Jo. Wilson

The Coons scored two quick ones with a Crispin triple and Lonzo RBI single and stolen base, and Danny Munn would get Lonzo home with a sac fly after Pucks reached as well, but that would be it; Ramsay was nicked with two outs, but Waters calmly flew out to end the inning. But the 1-2 batters teamed up again in the second inning, then with two outs. Crispin got on, stole a base, and then was singled home by Lonzo, 3-0, but Pucks whiffed. That was also the best time to tell you that Adkins was no bueno, and scattered six hits in the first three innings; two singles in the first, one single in the second, and two more singles in the third, followed by a 2-out, 2-run double Ray DeFrank knelt over the head of Brent Cramer in center. Gunner Epperson struck out to end that miserable inning, now with Adkins’ ERA over *two*!

Brent Cramer’s leadoff single in the fourth led to a run though; Adkins bunted him to second base, and he scored easily on Crispin’s single. Lonzo singled as well, but Pucks and Gowin both flew out too easily and kept the score at 4-2. And the better news yet: Adkins pulled his crap together in the middle innings. He used over 50 pitches through three innings and gave up six hits and two runs; but he needed barely over 30 pitches for the next three innings and gave up nada, while striking out another four batters for eight on the day. Jonathan Harris would open the bottom 7th with a single off Adkins, but Alex Alfaro struck out and John McDonell hit into a double play to end the inning, and also Adkins’ day, his ERA now tucked in under two again by a few points. Hitchcock struck out two in disposing of the 1-2-3 batters for Vegas in the eighth inning,

We then blew the dust off Tommy Gardner and threw him into the ninth inning. John Kaniewski singled right away, so wasn’t that great… A passed ball advanced the runner, but DeFrank popped out for the first out. Gunner Epperson also popped one out… out of the park, that was. A 397-footer to right-center, and this game was thoroughly tied. Outs by Harris and Alfaro ended the inning and got us to extras. YAY.

Knight reached in the 10th. Pucks reached in the 11th and was caught stealing. Gowin also reached in the 11th and was stranded. Daniel Espinoza, who was for some reason still on the roster, pinch-hit to begin the 12th and drew a walk … and was left on base. Gowin drew a walk with two outs in the 13th inning… and was stranded. In two innings against Takenori Dance-Dance-Revolution, the Aces got nothing much at all, and Walters also had a good inning in the bottom 12th before the bottom 13th began with a Jarred Lytle single and a walk to Jim White. Cruz Madrid, reliever of three scoreless innings for Vegas, bunted them into scoring position with both benches empty. Aubrey Austin’s 3-2 grounder went back to Walters, and Lytle was almost doubled off from third base on that bouncing comebacker. John Kaniewski struck out, and the game dragged on and on and on…! Madrid was back out for the 14th. Espinoza singled, and Knight was hit by a pitch, but Lamotta managed to hack himself out in the #9 hole for the second out. That wrapped the lineup around once more to the #1 hitter… Matt Walters. But the Coons had one more trick up their sleeves: Brobeck. He pinch-hit, was hit by the pitch as well, and that brought on Lonzo with the bases loaded and two gone. He singled up the middle! Espinoza scored, Knight scored, and Brobeck was tagged out at third base to end the damn inning already…! The save chance, part deux, then went to Lillis, who retired the Vegans in order, striking out two. 6-4 Coons. Crispin 3-6, BB, 3B, RBI; Lavorano 4-8, 4 RBI; Espinoza (PH) 1-1, BB; Cramer 2-3, BB; Tanizaki 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; Walters 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, W (2-1);

Tommy Gardner – 3-3 with 4.34 ERA and 15 saves as well as SEVEN BLOWN ones – was done in Portland. I wanted his face gone. Until I could find a silly team to take his stupid ***, Hitchcock was closer, with an alternate of Lillis or even Walters if the ninth inning proved lefty-heavy.

You know, if the Coons ever entered a ninth inning with a lead…

Game 2
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – CF Lamotta – C Philipps – P Taki
LVA: 2B J. White – SS Welter – RF Austin – LF Kaniewski – CF Epperson – C DeFrank – 3B Alfaro – 1B Blair – P B. Lawrence

On Saturday, the Raccoons found two double plays the first time through by Waters and Taki, but the third inning still continued with a 2-out triple for Crispin and then a rousing homer to left for Lonzo! Maybe he was hitting his way out of the slump right now, which would very much be appreciated! Ramsay found a double play to erase a leadoff walk for Munn the inning after, but the Raccoons then got three straight 2-out base runners, with Tyler Philipps singling home Matt Waters for a 3-0 lead. Taki’s groundout ended the inning, but at least Taki retired the first ten batters in a row to – … get on the snout after Jeremy Welter’s 1-out single in the fourth. Kaniewski socked an RBI double, Epperson singled home a run, and suddenly it was 3-2 again.

(dramatic sigh!)

Bottom 5th, and Alfaro and Dave Blair began the inning with outs against Taki. Bill Lawrence was next… and doubled. Immediately I felt queasy, and Taki walked Jim White afterwards. Welter tied the game with a single, Aubrey Austin drew another walk, and then Kaniewski drove in two more with a bases-full single. Epperson grounded out, but the damage was done and the Aces had flipped the score to 5-3 in their favor. The Raccoons, who hadn’t hit into a double play in the fifth for they didn’t reach base at all, got Munn on to begin the sixth inning, and then Ramsay hit into another ******* double play. Waters singled, but was left on by Lamotta’s grounder to White.

Taki was gone after six innings and hit for with Brent Cramer, who singled off Lawrence. Crispin also got on base, and left-hander Bob Kelly replaced Lawrence with the tying runs aboard. Lonzo grounded out to short, but the Aces only got the out at second base and Lonzo legged out the throw to first to keep the inning going for Pucks, who fell to 1-2 before driving a ball into the right-center gap. Austin jumped and missed it, then took a tumble on the turf, and Epperson had to chase after the ball for a long while, allowing Pucks to knot the score with a 2-out, 2-run triple…! Kelly rung up Munn, though, keeping the score even at five, and Kelly loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth inning, conceding singles to Lamotta and Philipps before nailing the pinch-hitter Espinoza. Chris Gowin pinch-hit for Crispin against the southpaw, but hit a 3-2 grounder right at Alfaro for the third out. (bites into his clenched fist in anger) Tommy ******* Gardner pitched a scoreless bottom 8th to keep the game tied, and the Coons also kept it tied despite a 1-out walk drawn by Pucks in the ninth inning, thanks to Munn hitting into the team’s FIFTY-SEVEN-ZILLIONTH DOUBLE PLAY OF THE GAME.

The tie prevailed through nine and ten innings, which was such a thrill right after a 14-inning game, until Lonzo socked a triple off Jorge Quinones with two outs in the 11th. Nobody had been on base, because why would we have a base runner? Pucks shoved a single through the right side, though, and that broke the tie alright for a 6-5 lead. Munn flew out to deep right to end the inning, and since Lillis had already been used, it was Hitchcock for the bottom 11th. Epperson flew out to center. McDonell flew out to left. And Alfaro flew out to center again. 6-5 Critters. Lavorano 2-6, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, 2 BB, 3B, 3 RBI; Ramsay 2-5; Waters 2-5; Lamotta 2-5; Philipps 2-4, BB, RBI; Lillis 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (2-2);

And then, Brobeck! …and we had no real pen left.

(sharply draws in air between his spiky teeth)

Game 3
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – C Gowin – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – P Brobeck – CF Cramer – 2B Knight
LVA: 2B J. White – SS Welter – RF Austin – LF Kaniewski – CF Epperson – C DeFrank – 3B Alfaro – 1B de Castro – P Eutsler

If Brobeck failed we could still use Phil Baker in long relief. Next week’s pitching would then unravel from there, so we were almost in a spot where I had to shrug and conclude that he’d have to take whatever was coming for him.

The Raccoons went up 2-0 in the first… on *another* Lonzo homer! Crispin singled, Lonzo went deep to left, and the Aces were looking kinda confuddled. Gowin and Munn added singles before Ramsay found another double play to blunder into, and the second was uneventful. The third inning began with assault, as the Raccoons’ 1-2-3-4 batters dished out 1-2-3-4 hits. Two runs in, Munn walked to fill the bases, and hugged first base when Rams – cursed, probably – lined out to Alex de Castro. Brobeck hit an RBI single, 5-0, Cramer hit a sac fly, and Knight hit a grounder to Jim White to end the – … no, White peppered it away, and Munn scored on the error. The Aces chased Nunez for Adam Eutsler, who gave up a 2-run single to Crispin before Lonzo lined out to Kaniewski, concluding a 7-spot for a 9-0 lead. Brobeck gave up a run with a de Castro leadoff double in the bottom 3rd, but the Raccoons picked Eutsler apart with four walks and a few odd hits for four more runs in the fourth inning, storming away to a 13-1 lead. John Steffey walked two more Coons in the fifth inning, but didn’t give up hits nor runs. Ryan Clements got two outs before giving up a double to Crispin and an RBI single to Lonzo in the sixth inning. Pucks also singled, but White snatched Gowin’s liner to end the inning. Munn bombed Clements to lead off the seventh, 15-1, and Pucks hit another one of those off Cruz Madrid the following frame. And Brobeck? Paced himself, gave the defense manageable tasks, and scattered five hits through a 109-pitch, complete-game effort to complete the sweep with an utter rout. 16-1 Furballs!! Crispin 5-6, 2B, 4 RBI; Lavorano 3-6, HR, 3 RBI; Puckeridge 3-5, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Gowin 3-6, RBI; Munn 2-2, 3 BB, HR, RBI; Tenazes 1-1; Brobeck 9.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (2-3) and 1-5, 2 RBI;

In other news

June 24 – The Condors win a rain-shortened 5-3 game in six innings from the Bayhawks.
June 27 – WAS INF Mark Haney (.303, 6 HR, 44 RBI) drives in six runs on four hits as the Capitals crush the Gold Sox, 18-4.

FL Player of the Week: DAL 3B Randy Wilken (.251, 7 HR, 30 RBI), batting .500 (13-26) with 3 HR, 12 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA INF/LF Ian Woodrome (.285, 3 HR, 33 RBI), hitting .522 (12-23) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

This team! Scoring 16 runs on Sunday and then they still get outscored by the Caps! Suckers!!

Even with the 28-run outburst in three games in Vegas, the Raccoons were still bottoms in runs scored in the CL, but at least they had rallied from getting swept by the Loggers to a .500 week, and to stay within shouting distance of the Indians.

Lonzo is suddenly hot, which is alright by me. .478 in his last four games, with two homers, nine ribeyes, and two swiped bags – can’t complain.

The pitching issues remain unresolved, however. Baker makes another spot start on Monday, and then we probably have Raffy back to take the roster spot by the weekend. Venegas will also be back soon; he already started a rehab assignment a few days ago. What I’m really waiting for is Brassfield, but he was a week further behind. He’d probably go to St. Pete for rehab by the middle of the week now, and return just before the All Star Game.

Better than never…

No more off days, either. We play the Baybirds and Crusaders on the road from here, then the Indians at home for five games in four days (ya-hay!), then head to Boston for three games before the actual break, only to then head out to Indy right away again.

Fun Fact: 14 years ago today, New York Crusaders pitcher Ernesto Lujan no-hit the Titans in a 1-0 squeezer.

Lujan was almost 39 years old when he achieved the feat, which came in his last productive season as a starter, as he went 12-8 with a 3.43 ERA in 2041 for the Crusaders. While Lujan had a 6-year stint with the Buffos in the first half of his career, he ended up a prolific journeyman, winding up for 11 different teams in a 20-year career, which even included two separate stints with both the Cyclones and the Gold Sox, the latter becoming his first *and* last major league team.

Lujan never led the majors in anything meaningful, but twice started the most games in the FL in 2028 and 2029. Apart from that, he knew how to keep finding jobs, as starter, reliever, or swingman if necessary.

For his career, he got into 583 games (385 starts) with 150-163 record, 3.92 ERA, and 12 saves. He pitched 2,789 innings and struck out 1,592 batters.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (44-28) @ Bayhawks (39-35) – June 28-30, 2055

The road trip continued with a visit at the Bay, where nothing good ever happened. The Bayhawks ranked eighth in runs scored and third in runs allowed, with a +11 run differential. The Raccoons were up 2-1 in the season series. San Francisco had been in the doldrums for a while, with four straight finishes of fifth or sixth, but now sat only three games out in a mellow division, doing most of the hard work with the top-rated defense in the league and the third-best rotation by ERA. By contrast, they were second-worst in OBP, even behind the Raccoons, who were still stuck with the fewest runs in the CL, and yet, a +62 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Phil Baker (0-1, 2.57 ERA) vs. Jose Arias (4-8, 5.06 ERA)
He Shui (8-4, 3.79 ERA) vs. Milt Cantrell (12-0, 2.20 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (8-2, 1.93 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (6-4, 4.02 ERA)

Milt Cantrell had the chance to win more games in 2055 by the end of June than in all of his 2054 season when he went 12-14 with a 4.01 ERA. The Raccoons had to prevent that. Arias was a left-hander and he went on short rest on Monday, because Bob Ruggiero (4-8, 5.33 ERA) was down with an ear infection and couldn’t take his turn.

Since we were in the long pre-All Star Game string of games, every regular could expect to get a day off this week, and maybe another one next week. Also, Anton Venegas was on the verge of returning from his rehab assignment, but Trent Brassfield was not expected back until next week.

Game 1
POR: LF Lamotta – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – C Gowin – RF Munn – 2B Waters – CF Tenazes – 3B Espinoza – P Baker
SFB: SS X. Reyes – CF M. Brown – 2B A. Montoya – 3B Peltier – 1B Whitehurst – LF C. Morris – RF Felix – C Redfern – P J. Arias

Baker faced the minimum the first time through with a single hit by Xavier Reyes, but Matt Brown doubled him up right away. Baker threw only 22 pitches through three innings, so it couldn’t be claimed that he was fooling the opposing hitters, they were just finding the defenders really well. In fact, the longest at-bat, seven pitches, was against Arias, who eventually relented and struck out. So I already had a hunch and was merely dismayed, but not shocked, when in the fifth inning the Bayhawks suddenly chained singles by Chris Morris and Jorge Felix, and then had Keith Redfern pop a 3-run homer over the fence in left. The inning after, he walked Armando Montoya, who stole two bases, and scored on a single by Adam Peltier. Baker would go seven innings of 4-run ball, which was easily beaten by Arias, who went the same distance, but allowed only two singles and struck out eight batters. Only with Arias gone, the Raccoons woke up. Tenazes and Espinoza went to the corners with singles in the eighth inning, and one run scored on Crispin’s groundout, but in the ninth against ex-Coon Antonio Alfaro, Pucks and Munn hit singles to bring the tying run to the plate, albeit with two already down. Waters whiffed, and that was the game. 4-1 Bayhawks.

Game 2
POR: LF Lamotta – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – C Gowin – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – CF Cramer – P Shui
SFB: SS X. Reyes – CF M. Brown – 2B A. Montoya – 3B Peltier – 1B Whitehurst – LF Felix – RF C. Morris – C Redfern – P Cantrell

A 2-base throwing error by Keith Redfern that put Chris Gowin on second base to begin the inning allowed the Raccoons to scratch out an unearned run for a 1-0 lead there. Munn softly singled, and while Ramsay lined out to Montoya, Waters’ groundout distracted the defense long enough to get Gowin to score from third base. Cramer was walked intentionally and Shui struck out to end the inning. The Coons would only get one more hit against Cantrell through five innings when Pucks hit a single and stole second base, but was stranded in the third inning. Shui scattered four hits through five frames, and struggled to get strikeouts as his lean period continued. Pucks singled again in the sixth, but was stranded again, and Shui finally gave up a leadoff jack to Brown in the bottom 6th that tied the game at one.

But Matt Waters answered with a homer of his own in the seventh inning, putting Cantrell right back on the hook he had just been taken from, and he didn’t get off before being lifted for Patrick Jones in the eighth inning. Lonzo singled and stole second with one out, and then the Baybirds put Pucks on intentionally, but Jones threw a wild pitch right away, advancing both runners into scoring position. Gowin whiffed, though, and Munn grounded out, and the Raccoons once again barely touched their dinner…

Shui completed eight, but would not return for the ninth regardless of the lead, having thrown 105 pitches. The Coons didn’t get an insurance run, either, and thus gave the ball to Hitchcock for the 3-4-5 batters in the bottom 9th. Hitchcock was taken deep on his very first ******* pitch by Montoya, and I was back to square one AND hitting my head against the nearest wall in agony. Lonzo doubling and Pucks walking and Gowin botching into an inning-ending double play in the tenth inning wasn’t any better, either. Nor was the homer Keith Redfern lifted off Matt Walters in the bottom 10th… 3-2 Bayhawks. Lavorano 2-5, 2B; Puckeridge 2-3, 2 BB; Shui 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K;

I struggle to properly express the level of dismay I have for this team.

Game 3
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – C Philipps – CF Lamotta – P Adkins
SFB: SS X. Reyes – RF I. Jaramillo – 2B A. Montoya – 3B Peltier – 1B Whitehurst – CF M. Brown – C Redfern – LF E. Cobb – P Koga

Lonzo walked, stole second, and was driven home by Pucks for a quick 1-0 lead on Wednesday, after which Koga walked the bases full, but Tyler Philipps made sure to hack out to strand three runners and to not make the game uninteresting all too soon. Or fun to watch. Whatever, your mileage might vary here. Adkins was up against an all-righty lineup, which wasn’t making it any easier for him, and Lonzo’s error to put Adam Peltier on first base to begin the bottom 2nd wasn’t helping either. The Bayhawks would find singles with Matt Brown and Eric Cobb, but the latter, coming with two outs, also saw Peltier thrown out at the plate by Danny Munn to end the inning.

The Coons had their two most lead-pawed runners in scoring position with nobody out in the fourth inning as both Ramsay and Philipps singled, and Brown overran Philipps’ single for an extra base. Second and third, no outs for Lamotta – but the Bayhawks put him on intentionally to ruin my day and everybody else’s, too, even when Adkins plated a run by crashing into a double play and Crispin singled home Philipps for a 3-0 lead. Adkins was by now feeding balls to the infielders with regularity, so maybe the Coons would elope with a win after all…

The fifth was calm and the sixth figured almost as much until Adkins hit a 2-out single to center. Ed Crispin wasn’t having taken the butter off his bread and swatted a 2-run homer to left for a 5-0 lead. Darren McRee was then chopped up in the seventh as Pucks and Munn reached, and Waters socked a 3-piece to right. Adkins kept cruising, mostly, scattering six hits, which were reduced with two double plays, and the only time he was in danger was in the bottom 7th when the Bayhawks put a pair in scoring position with two outs, but then had Redfern ground out to Crispin to end the inning. Adkins would return for the ninth inning, but had to make it quick – he was on 102 pitches already. Montoya grounded out to Lonzo on five, and Peltier popped out foul to Rams on the second pitch he saw. Nathan Whitehurst worked a walk, and that would be the last lapse we’d allow Adkins – he had to get Brown, who poked a 1-2 pitch in front of home plate. Philipps jumped out and threw to first in time for a shutout! 8-0 Raccoons. Crispin 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Puckeridge 2-5, RBI; Adkins 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (9-2) and 1-3;

Raccoons (45-30) @ Crusaders (36-42) – July 1-4, 2055

The Crusaders appeared to be a bit out of it, 14 games off the music just before the halfway point. They had won five in a row, though, so the Coons oughta be careful, despite leading the season series 5-2. New York ranked sixth in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed. There was a lot of middle-middle in their team stats, with them not ranking in the top three or bottom three in any major category amongst the CL teams.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (6-4, 3.19 ERA) vs. Dave Washington (1-1, 3.48 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (4-5, 4.43 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (5-5, 4.09 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (2-3, 5.12 ERA) vs. Edwin Sopena (6-6, 3.30 ERA)
He Shui (8-4, 3.59 ERA) vs. Alex Murillo (2-8, 5.33 ERA)

Another series that started with a lefty opponent; Washington was the only southpaw in the Crusaders’ rotation.

The Raccoons made roster moves, with Daniel Espinoza (.273, 0 HR, 3 RBI) and Phil Baker (0-2, 3.86 ERA) going back to AAA for Raffy, who came off the DL, and Anton Venegas, who had completed his rehab assignment.

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

Andrew Russ (hiss!) never batted in this game, leaving the game with an injury that he suffered on defense in the second inning, but his replacement Erik Stevens singled in his spot in the third. The Coons had no offense at all against Washington in the early going, while the Crusaders knocked leadoff hits off Taki in the second, third, and fourth innings. None of those runners scored, with Zach Suggs’ leadoff single going by the way of a stolen base in the bottom 4th. One pitch later, Raul Sevilla hit a 2-out double, followed by Oscar Caballero and Justin Reese singles for a run. Stevens flew out to Tenazes, leaving runners on the corners, but New York was up 1-0. That was six hits off Taki, and the Raccoons didn’t get their first off Washington until Rams singled to right with one out in the fifth inning. Venegas walked, but Tenazes popped out foul behind the dish. Taki then hit a surprise 2-out single to left-center, but Ramsay read it wrong, dashed for home from second base, and was thrown out by Caballero to end the inning…

Zach Suggs doubled home Omar Sanchez with a second run in the bottom 5th, which sugged, and the Raccoons remained choked and slightly blue in the face against Washington. Anton Venegas flicked a leadoff single over Stevens in the eighth inning, but was doubled up by Tenazes. Washington left the game with the trainer, though, so maybe that was something. Pucks singled in Taki’s place with two outs, but was left on base, and another 2-out, pinch-hit single by Danny Munn in the ninth inning got the Raccoons precisely as far against Willie Cruz… 2-0 Crusaders. Munn (PH) 1-1; Venegas 1-2, BB; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1;

That was the last W for Dave Washington this year – he would be diagnosed with a torn labrum, season over, by Friday.

Game 2
POR: 3B Crispin – LF Venegas – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – C Philipps – SS Knight – P de la Cruz
NYC: CF O. Sanchez – C Seidman – SS Z. Suggs – RF D. Rivera – 1B Sevilla – 3B Gates – 2B Buss – LF O. Caballero – P Seiter

Danny Munn’s 2-run homer in the fourth would be the first scoring event of the game, collecting Anton Venegas from first base. At that point I was still pretending that Raffy was miraculously fixed after missing three starts on the DL, but he was also just playing it to the defense for as long as that worked out for him, which turned out to be five innings of 2-hit ball with as many strikeouts in his favor. Things unraveled, and fast, in the bottom 6th. Seiter hit a leadoff single, which was always awesome to see from the opposing pitcher. Sanchez grounded to Waters, who bobbled the ball for an error. Yikes. Mike Seidman struck out, but Zach Suggs reached on an infield single that Crispin couldn’t play, and now the bases were loaded for Danny Rivera, the Coons’ nightmare for a decade. The Coons were not keen on seeing how Raffy would extricate himself from there. Lillis came in after sitting bored on the sidelines the whole week so far (same for Sencion AND Tamagotchi!), and got pop to shallow center from Rivera. Pucks hustled in and snatched the ball, barely, and the runners had to hold, for the second out. Raul Sevilla popped out in foul territory, and the threat was staved off!

Instead, the lead went bust with Tamagotchi pitching in the bottom 7th. Jeff Buss and Oscar Caballero dished back-to-back 1-out triples to right, and while Seiter struck out, a wild pitch to him plated the tying run anyway, and I made a face like somebody had just killed every puppy on earth…

Leadoff singles by Crispin and Venegas in the eighth inning led only to three straight pops on the infield from the 3-4-5 batters and more depressions, and stingy pitching by Bak and Walters in the last two innings assured me of an extra dose of headaches in overtime. Right-hander Jose Ortega offered a single and two walks to the Raccoons in the 11th inning, but since Ramsay insisted in barging into another double play squat in the middle of the attempted meltdown, once again no runs were scored. And yet, it was the Coons to break the tie. Disgraced Tommy Gardner threw two shutout innings in the 10th and 11th, and then Crispin hit a double to center in the 12th inning, still off Ortega. Venegas’ gapper to right-center became an RBI triple and a 3-2 lead. Of course he’d be stranded on two ****** groundouts by Pucks and Munn… Hitchcock got the ball for the bottom 12th, gave up a double to Prince Gates, a walk to Jeff Buss, and then a walkoff triple to Oscar Caballero… 4-3 Crusaders. Venegas 4-6, 3B, RBI; Munn 2-6, HR, 2 RBI; Gardner 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

*****.

Game 3
POR: CF Cramer – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – C Gowin – RF Munn – 3B Venegas – LF Lamotta – 2B Knight – P Brobeck
NYC: CF O. Sanchez – 2B E. Stevens – SS Z. Suggs – RF D. Rivera – 1B Sevilla – 3B Gates – C Seidman – LF Buss – P Sopena

Nobody scored in the first four innings, which was longer for Brobeck to hold up than usual. The Raccoons didn’t even have a hit so far, which they only got with a Ricky Lamotta single with two outs in the fifth inning. That of course led nowhere, and instead Prince Gates whacked a leadoff triple to right in the bottom of the same frame. Seidman singled him in without fuss or Buss, and it looked like the 1-0 deficit would be terminal, but out of the blue nothing, Cramer whacked a double to center and scored on Pucks’ 2-out single in the top of the sixth to get the Coons level again. Gowin popped out to Stevens, ending the inning, and the Crusaders came right back; Stevens drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 6th, and then scored on a triple that Suggs tugged into the rightfield corner, which sugged. Rivera hit a sac fly, 3-1, Sevilla hit a homer, 4-1, and Gates and Seidman hit a single and double, respectively. Brobeck was yanked, while Buss hit a sac fly off Bak for a fourth run in the inning, and also the last one, as Sopena struck out, but the Crusaders effortlessly put another four runs on Mementomori in the bottom of the eighth …. 9-1 Crusaders. Venegas 1-2, BB; Waters (PH) 1-1;

(groans!)

Game 4
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – CF Cramer – P Shui
NYC: CF O. Sanchez – 2B E. Stevens – SS Z. Suggs – RF D. Rivera – 1B Sevilla – 3B Gates – C Seidman – LF Monson – P A. Murillo

The misery continued unabated on Sunday, where the Raccoons had Lonzo as far as scoring position in the first and third innings and never scored him or anybody ******* else. Lonzo singled in the third, but reached on a hit-by-pitch in the first inning. The fourth saw two outs on two pitches from Gowin and Waters before Ramsay reached on an error by Jason Monson. With the runner on second base in the scoreless game, Cramer was walked intentionally, but then Shui grinded out another walk to load the bases for Venegas, who fell to 0-2 and grounded out to Suggs, which ******* SUGGED.

Lonzo was on with another single in the fifth, but was caught stealing, while Shui was pitching rather well, even though Seidman and Monson reached base to begin the bottom 5th and were bunted into scoring position by Murillo. Sanchez grounded out to first base, and Stevens grounded out to short, and the game remained scoreless, though. Venegas hit a leadoff single in the seventh, but now Lonzo flew out to center. Pucks hit into a fielder’s choice. Munn came up with two outs and bolted a drive to deep right – and outta here, finally something on the board, and it was a 2-0 lead for the Coons…!

Shui got seven shutout innings together, but needed 103 pitches for that and would not return afterwards anymore. Gardner quickly put the tying runs on the corners in the bottom 8th, leaving with Sanchez and Suggs waiting for Danny Rivera to do something with two outs. The ball went to Lillis, the stick went to Buss, and Lillis buzzed Buss with three strikes to send him back to the dugout. He would also get the ball for the ninth inning, since the concept of a closer eluded our grasp completely at this point. The Crusaders withered and died in six more pitches. 2-0 Blighters. Lavorano 3-4; Munn 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Tenazes (PH) 1-1; Shui 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K, W (9-4); Lillis 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (4);

In other news

June 29 – PIT INF Alex Vasquez (.199, 2 HR, 15 RBI) will miss three weeks at least with a back strain.
June 30 – IND SP Enrique Ortiz (11-3, 2.59 ERA) sparkles with eight innings of 2-hit ball in a 2-0 Indians win, striking out 15 Condors for his 11th win of the year.
June 30 – No Wolves position player manages a base hit in a 6-0 loss to the Miners – only SAL SP Jeff Boyce (3-6, 3.56 ERA) flicks out a single to keep the team from getting no-hit by PIT SP Jason Wheatley (4-5, 3.93 ERA), who goes eight innings, and reliever Dale Mrazek (1-2, 1.20 ERA).

FL Player of the Week: LAP RF Matt Diskin (.312, 17 HR, 57 RBI), batting .519 (14-27) with 5 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA RF/LF Danny Ceballos (.335, 2 HR, 44 RBI), hitting .517 (15-29) with 8 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: WAS OF Neville van de Wouw (.334, 17 HR, 55 RBI), batting .400 with 6 HR, 22 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: TIJ LF Tim Duncan (.303, 12 HR, 46 RBI), hitting .336 with 9 HR, 27 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: WAS SP Larry Colwell (9-5, 3.65 ERA), throwing a perfect 6-0 with 2.70 ERA, 31 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: IND SP Enrique Ortiz (11-3, 2.59 ERA), going 4-1 in 6 starts, with a 1.34 ERA, 46 K
FL Rookie of the Month: NAS SP/MR Richard Castillo (6-2, 4.19 ERA), in 5 games (all starts) going 4-1 with a 1.64 ERA, 26 K
CL Rookie of the Month: SFB INF/LF/CF Xavier Reyes (.329, 0 HR, 25 RBI), poking .283 with 13 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Last Sunday, the Raccoons drilled it to the Aces with a 16-1 rout. This week, they even scored 17! …well, across THE WHOLE ******* WEEK, but … ugh!!

Even then it was eight on Wednesday, and 1.5 per game otherwise, with obvious results. Nothing to write home about.

Speaking of home, that’s where the Indians are waiting for a 4-day, 5-game set and I have yet to find a pitcher for the second game of the Monday double-header. It will be the Titans on the weekend before the All Star Game.

Lonzo stole ten bases in the last four weeks, which doesn’t quite reflect on the slump he had. The entire team has of course been mellow, but at least Lonzo passed Mario Villa, who stole three in the same timeframe, and caught up with Xiao-wei Li, who last time was tied with Chris Navarro, who also stole only three bags in four weeks.

29th – Billy Bouldin – 365 – HOF
30th – Alex Majano – 361
31st – Chris Navarro – 360 – active
t-32nd – Oscar Aguirre – 359
t-32nd – Nando Maiello – 359
t-34th – Xiao-wei Li – 357
t-34th – Lorenzo Lavorano – 357 – active
36th – Mario Villa – 355 – active
37th – Ed Soberanes – 345 – active
t-38th – Bartolo Hernandez – 344 – HOF
t-38th – Danny Zarate – 344 – HOF

New on the radar are Alex Majano and Billy Bouldin, former FL infielders. Bouldin is a Blue Sox legend with two rings, a batting title, and a few years he led the FL in triples, while Majano was mostly with the Buffos and Cyclones, and even spent 18 games in a Coons uniform in 2039 before being traded on for Drew Johnson, which didn’t work out either. But he arrived here along with Ryan Bedrosian, who was of course the pitcher that netted the Raccoons Wheats and Waters in 2040.

And now Wheats is pitching for the Miners, and Waters is struggling to hit .200, and the team is still bottoms in runs scored.

Fun Fact: Kennedy Adkins’ only prior career shutout also came in the last week of June.

That was three years ago on June 24, 2052, when he threw a 3-hitter against the Gold Sox as a member of the Buffaloes. I wonder what surprises me more here, that he only had one prior shutout or that the Gold Sox of then were getting shut out by *anybody*?

[Westheim]

Raccoons (46-33) vs. Indians (52-28) – July 5-8, 2055

This was not a series that promised to be good. Five games in four days with the first-place Indians, and that without any useful depth in starting pitchers to cover the extra game. The Indians were second in both runs scored and runs allowed with a healthy +79 run differential. Second-best rotation, best batting average (.285!), third-best defense, but little speed and few homers, sitting 10th in bombs with just 35 through 80 games. The season series was tied at one with the rainout that had to be made up on Monday.

Projected matchups:
Kennedy Adkins (9-2, 1.78 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (11-3, 2.59 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (0-0) vs. Bill McDermott (5-4, 3.70 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (6-5, 3.15 ERA) vs. Bill Drury (1-0, 5.00 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (4-5, 4.11 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (9-5, 2.72 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (2-4, 5.33 ERA) vs. Chris Edwards (6-6, 3.43 ERA)

Five right-handers from Indy, unless they’d find a spot starter besides Bill Drury. The Raccoons would have to go to Cameron Argenziano for the makeup game. The 27-year-old was 1-8 with a 4.66 ERA in his major league career, and hadn’t appeared at all for the Coons in 2054. The alternative would have been a spot start for Matt Walters. Argenziano was not on the roster for the first game, and so far I didn’t know how to get him on the roster, either.

Game 1
IND: 1B D. Sandoval – CF M. Ceballos – 3B B. Anderson – RF B. Quinteros – 2B A. Rios – C M. Gilmore – LF Kokel – SS Ed. Ortiz – P En. Ortiz
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – CF Lamotta – P Adkins

Mario Ceballos, Bobby Anderson, and Antonio Rios all hit singles to center against Adkins in the first inning and plated a run for the Indians before Mike Gilmore whiffed to strand a pair. Adkins offered a walk each in the second and third innings, while the Raccoons continued to make a habit out of going down in order the first time through their listless lineup. Pucks’ 2-out walk in the fourth inning marked the first instance of a Coon on base, and he was left on base when Danny Munn was rung up. But Ortiz seemed to have lost it a bit; he offered leadoff walks to Chris Gowin and Matt Waters to begin the bottom 5th, but then Ramsay bobbled into another double play… Lamotta was walked intentionally, and Adkins popped out to short to strand runners on the corners.

Adkins went seven innings, allowing only one more hit and one more walk, but also remained on the hook as the Critters couldn’t buy a ******* base hit until Gowin singled to left in the bottom 7th. Waters and Ramsay both flew out to Chaz Kokel to strand that runner, too. Ortiz walked Lamotta to begin the bottom 8th, but then Crispin found a double play to hit into to end the inning. Eloy Sencion pitched two scoreless in relief of Adkins, keeping this miserable display of NOTHING a 1-0 game. Ortiz was still around for the bottom of the ninth inning, which began with Lonzo singling to left on an 0-2 pitch. Lonzo took off on the 0-1 to Pucks, who swung and missed, but at least that also kept Gilmore from getting a good throw off. He threw anyway, hurling the ball past Antonio Rios for an error, and Lonzo hustled to third base with the tying run. Pucks then hit a comebacker to Ortiz for the first out and Lonzo had to hold. Munn grounded out hard to Nick Fernandez at first base, and Lonzo had to retreat to third base. Gowin with two outs – and Ortiz’ first pitch to Gilmore went completely past the box, Gowin, and Gilmore, and to the backstop, and FINALLY Lonzo came home to tie the damn baseball game…! Gowin then even hit a single, but Matt Waters had nothing to give and grounded out for extra innings.

Because that was what we needed – extra innings! But the Raccoons had no intent to hang around. Jason Perry hit a 1-out single off Bak in the 10th inning, and when Manny Poindexter grounded to Pucks, his feed to Bak was dropped by the reliever, and a second Indians runner added to the bases. Bobby Anderson flew out to right, two gone. Bill Quinteros grounded to Waters, and Waters threw the ball quite much away for a 2-base error that gave the Indians a 2-1 lead. Rios flew out to Cramer. Bak’s spot was up to begin the bottom 10th and Venegas hit a single in his spot. Lamotta flew out, and Cramer found a third double play on the day to hit into. 2-1 Indians. Gowin 2-3, BB; Venegas (PH) 1-1; Adkins 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K; Sencion 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

This is gonna be a long, long, long, long week.

For shock value, then, Harry Ramsay got the axe and was sent to St. Pete. He was hitting .250 with no homers in 168 at-bats and just 12 RBI. He also had 12 double plays. He was out of sorts, somehow. For somebody who had knocked 34 homers between the previous two seasons, he was completely off the rolls. He was also 27, so who knew what unhappy conclusion this story was heading to…

Game 2
IND: LF Ewers – 1B D. Sandoval – 3B B. Anderson – RF B. Quinteros – 2B A. Rios – CF Kokel – C Poindexter – SS Ed. Ortiz – P McDermott
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – LF Tenazes – CF Cramer – C Philipps – 2B Knight – P Argenziano

Nobody expected much from Argenziano, but he delivered – the Indians were held to three hits and two walks through five innings, while he himself poked two base hits, including a 1-out single in the bottom 3rd of a scoreless game. Venegas grounded to the right side to move him to second base, while the Raccoons then slapped three straight RBI knocks: Lonzo and Pucks hit RBI doubles, and Munn added an RBI single for a 3-0 lead. Argenziano’s second hit was a 2-out RBI single to chase home Matt Knight and his double in the bottom 4th, 4-0. An inning later, Pucks walked and Munn hit his 16th homer to right for a commanding 6-0 lead. All dandy then, huh?

Remember though that nobody expected much from Argenziano. Come the sixth, there was a walk, a single, and then a crushing 3-run homer mashed by Bill Quinteros to cut the lead in half. He clawed out of the inning, though, and then also did the seventh for a decent result overall. Matt Walters struck out the side in the eighth inning before the ball went to Hitchcock, who had blown the last two save situations he had been tossed into. Rios started the inning with a bloop single to center, but Mike Shoemaker found Lonzo for a 6-4-3 double play. Poindexter went out to Pucks to complete a split of the double-header. 6-3 Raccoons. Munn 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Argenziano 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W (1-0) and 2-3, RBI;

Game 3
IND: LF Ewers – 2B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – CF M. Ceballos – RF Kokel – SS Ed. Ortiz – P Drury
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – LF Venegas – CF Cramer – 2B Waters – P Taki

Anderson singled home Kevin Ewers with two outs in the first inning to put Taki into an early hole, but that wasn’t nearly as depressing as the home run that Drury knocked off Taki in the third, and which extended their lead to 2-0. While Taki hit a single off Drury in the same inning, Crispin grounded out and Lonzo hit a 2-out single, but that only moved Taki to third base. Pucks ran a 3-1 count, but grounded out to Rios to strand the tying runs right there.

The Arrowheads lost Drury to injury in the fourth inning, which gave the ball and the lead to Tyler Weems, but before the Raccoons had much of a chance to get to him, Anderson singled home Ewers with two outs in the fifth inning again, and it was already 3-0. Matt Waters hit a jack to lead off the bottom 5th, which raised his batting average all the way to .199, and Danny Munn took Weems deep to right to begin the inning after, narrowing the score to 3-2. The Indians went on to Orlando Altreche, who was almost 40 years old and had made only 21 appearances since the start of the 2051 season, mostly lingering in teams’ AAA rosters. Gowin and Cramer knocked hits to go to the corners, but Waters popped out and Tenazes did no better pinch-hitting for Taki, who needed over 100 pitches to get through six.

The Raccoons got a tidy seventh inning from Takizaki, but he then allowed a leadoff single to Rios in the eighth. Lillis followed, but nailed Anderson and with two outs walked Ceballos to fill the bases and Perry to push home an insurance run for Indy. Ortiz finally grounded out to second base. Gowin answered with a solo homer off Zach Tubbs to get the Raccoons back to one run *again*, and the Indians went on to Ralph Needham. Venegas doubled to left, Cramer walked, and the 0-2 to Waters was wild. With one out, the Raccoons had the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, but there were still two strikes on Waters. But Needham didn’t get the third strike; he got taken into the gap in right-center for a score-flipping double! Fly outs by Knight and Crispin kept Waters on base, but Hitchcock was on point, struck out two, and got an easy fly to Venegas from Rios to end the game. 5-4 Critters. Lavorano 2-4; Gowin 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Venegas 3-4, 2B; Waters 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI;

To be fair, I didn’t expect us to take a lead in this series at all.

Game 4
IND: LF Ewers – RF Kokel – 1B B. Quinteros – C Poindexter – CF M. Ceballos – 2B N. Fernandez – 3B D. Sandoval – SS Ed. Ortiz – P Brink
POR: 3B Crispin – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – LF Venegas – 2B Waters – CF Lamotta – P de la Cruz

Calamity! Raffy threw one pitch, felt a “nope!”, and left the game. I sat there, my snout frozen in stone. The Raccoons went on to ready Matt Walters for what would hopefully be long relief, and he got through the first few innings crisply at least. The Indians lost Ceballos on the basepaths, and while the Coons would not report on Raffy’s injury any time soon, the Indians announced that Ceballos had a knee sprain and was headed to the DL. That wasn’t the last injury in the game though… or even the second inning. Venegas socked a 2-out triple into the left-center gap, and then Waters grounded to the right side, with Fernandez scrambling for the ball but not getting a throw off in time, as Waters legged out an RBI infield single… and then limped off to the dugout. Great Fuzzball in heaven, what was going on?? Matt Knight replaced him.

Walters was still unscored upon through three innings, then opened the bottom 3rd with a single to right. Crispin singled, Lonzo grounded out and advanced the runners into scoring position. Pucks’ sac fly and Munn’s RBI single to right cashed the pair, and Gowin drew another walk, but Venegas then popped out to Quinteros. Gowin would get an RBI his next time up, finding Munn on second base with two outs, and bringing him in with a single to left. Venegas ended the inning again, but that was a 4-0 lead through five innings, with the Indians drawing little more than blanks against Walters, but at this point he was used up with 54 pitches. Bak would give us a 1-2-3 sixth, and Tommy Gardner delivered two innings that left little to complain about. The most drama actually came in the ninth inning, where Eloy Sencion gave up a single to Chaz Kokel with one out, and another one to Poindexter with two outs. Hitchcock had been out two straight days and wasn’t gonna ride in and save him – Sencion had to get that one himself: and he did by getting a first-pitch comebacker from Bobby Anderson and threw that to Pucks at first before Anderson was even halfway up the first base line. 4-0 Raccoons! Venegas 2-4, 3B; Waters 1-1, RBI; Walters 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (3-2) and 2-2; Gardner 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

A series win in the bag!

Dr. Silva, what did you just zip up in that black body bag?

Is that blood on the ground?

Ahead of Thursday, the fifth game of the series, the Raccoons were in trouble. Waters was day-to-day with a adductor strain and would only heal up during the All Star break. He could play, but it was probably not wise. We already had a 4-man bench thanks to six starters on the roster, and now with Waters down, it was already a 3 1/2-man bench.

While there was no diagnosis on Raffy, chances were that he needed complete dis- and re-assembly anyway, and his next start would be after the break anyway. He went to the DL just to free up that roster spot and get a warm body to place on the bench. Argenziano – who had only hung around earlier because he was out of options – would make another start on the weekend in Boston. Trent Brassfield still had to hit himself warm, and we needed a middle infielder, so here was the return of Naughty Joe…

Meanwhile, we were still blessed with Boom-Boom Brobeck, so here was Thursday’s game.

Game 5
IND: SS Ed. Ortiz – 2B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – C Poindexter – RF Kokel – 3B D. Sandoval – LF Perry – CF Ewers – P C. Edwards
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – P Brobeck – LF Lamotta – 2B Knight – CF Cramer

Edwin Ortiz reached on an uncaught third strike to begin the fifth game of the set, which was just how things were going. Rios singled to center, Quinteros walked on four pitches, and the bases were already loaded. Poindexter singled in a run, a wild pitch added a run, and then Kokel walked in a full count anyway. Dan Sandoval flew out to center for an ACTUAL, ******* OUT, but Quinteros still went home on the sac fly for a 3-0 lead. Jason Perry also flew out to Cramer, and Ewers whiffed to end the absolutely bottomless inning. Bottom 2nd, the Raccoons’ battery and Lamotta all hit singles to begin the inning, putting three on with nobody out. Nothing much came out of it; Matt Knight slapped a 2-0 pitch at Ortiz for a run-scoring double play, and Cramer struck out, leaving Brobeck on third base in a 3-1 game.

It only got worse from there. Brobeck gave up a run on Quinteros and Poindexter hits in the third, then offered a leadoff walk to Ewers in the fourth. Edwards bunted him over, Ortiz drove him in, and a useless Brobeck then smashed Antonio Rios’ hand with a 2-0 pitch. SOMEHOW that inning didn’t balloon any further, but Brobeck also wasn’t back after this ********* inning. Brobeck still batted in the bottom 5th and loaded the bases with Munn and Knight before the Raccoons with three on and two outs actually got a ******* base hit from Brent Cramer, who singled in a pair with a soft liner to left-center. Venegas struck out, though, stranding the tying runs.

Eloy Sencion held the Indians away (barely) in the fifth, upon which Lonzo singled and stole second, and then Pucks walked, so the tying runs were on base again in the 5-3 game that felt more like a 13-3 game. Munn grounded out to advance them, and Gowin hit a sac fly, 5-4. Matt Waters batted for Sencion and limped out a game-tying RBI double to right. Gone was Edwards, and ex-Coon Corey Mathers gave up a single to Lamotta, but there was no way for Waters to score, and Knight flew out to Ewers to leave a pair on base again. Stingy relief continued with two scoreless innings from Lillis, then one more by Nukizuki. Offense died along with the Indians’, and the Raccoons didn’t get much beyond a Lamotta double in the eighth, which led precisely nowhere. Hitchcock’s ninth had a Poindexter single with two outs, but nothing else, and I would very much approve of the Raccoons ending the game in regulation, because our pitching was very much running short here. Venegas snuck a single through the right side for a decent enough start against Zach Tubbs. Lonzo popped out to short, but Pucks singled to center to move Venegas to second base. Munn lined past Nick Fernandez, but the Arrowhead *nearly* got there, so Venegas had to go back to second base before the ball got past Fernandez after all and then Venegas could only reach third base. Gowin batted with three on and one out, fell to 0-2, then jabbed a ball into play after all. It went to Dan Sandoval at third base, and the play had to be at home – but Sandoval missed the pickup and Venegas dashed home unchallenged to end the game…! 6-5 Furballs! Lavorano 2-5; Munn 2-5; Waters (PH) 1-1, 2B; Lamotta 3-4, 2B; Lillis 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

That shrunk the gap to the Indians from 5 1/2 to 2 1/2 games, but please be careful when you dance around, because we have body parts strewn all over the place here.

Raccoons (50-34) @ Titans (36-49) – July 9-11, 2055

Nothing good had ever happened in Boston, but the Titans were on their knees, had just sold Jordan Ramos (9-5, 2.34 ERA) to the Caps for #9 prospect Diego Mendoza, were bottoms in the division, had lost five straight, and were 1-for-8 against Portland this year. With the Raccoons having won four straight, maybe this could be a major stepping stone, even if the Titans were in the bottom four in both runs scored and runs allowed. But mind that the Coons were STILL bottoms in runs scored in the CL with under 4.1 runs per game.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (9-4, 3.36 ERA) vs. Jim Peterson (8-6, 4.43 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (9-2, 1.75 ERA) vs. Jamie Guidry (4-10, 4.94 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (1-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. Noel Groh (0-1, 2.35 ERA)

Friday would have been Ramos’ turn, too, so Peterson had to go on short rest. Him and Guidry were left-handers, and the final start could just as well be taken by Mario de Anda (6-7, 4.70 ERA) for a third southpaw.

Game 1
POR: RF Lamotta – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – LF Venegas – C Philipps – CF Tenazes – 2B Knight – 3B Crispin – P Shui
BOS: CF Weir – SS Marroguin – RF Whitlow – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – 2B J. Nieto – LF Santiago – 3B Ro. Jimenez – P J. Peterson

Looking at that lineup I wasn’t exactly surprised anymore why we were where we were in terms of runs scored, but nevertheless Tyler Philipps doubled home two runs with two outs in the first inning, driving in Lonzo (who forced out Lamotta) and Venegas. The Coons stranded a pair in the second, then had the bags full in the third inning with Philipps, Tenazes (who reached on an error by Marroguin), and Knight, bringing up Ed Crispin with one out. Peterson ran the count full on him, then gave up a single up the leftfield line, conceding another two runs before Shui hit into a double play. Marroguin would leave with an injury, straining some thing or other on a double play attempt in the fourth inning when Lonzo was at first base and Pucks grounded to Jose Nieto. Marroguin had to reach across his body for a bad throw, never threw to first base, and left the game for Dave Roura. Venegas bopped a 2-out RBI double into left-center, but then Philipps struck out to curtail the inning.

Shui retired the first ten Titans that came up, then gave up a fourth-inning run on straight hits by Roura, Eric Whitlow, and Larry Rodriguez, and another one on Ruben Gonzalez’ sac fly. Nieto flew out to center, leaving a run on the plate. The Raccoons answered in the sixth inning. Lonzo doubled to left, then scored on a Pucks single two pitches later. Pucks stole second base, but Venegas grounded out to short to end the inning. Boston got a homer from Ruben Gonzalez in the bottom 7th, which closed Shui’s line at three runs, but still ahead by another three. The pen came on after that, with a scoreless eighth by Boom Chakalaka. The Raccoons then had the bases loaded in the ninth inning, Alex Diaz putting on Tenazes with a walk and Knight and Crispin with singles with one out, then was yanked for David Williams. Danny Munn pinch-hit for the pitcher, but flew out to Whitlow in shallow right, and Tenazes didn’t go. Gowin batted for Lamotta, who was 0-for-4, and zinged a liner to center for two tack-on runs. Lonzo whiffed, and Bak got the ball for the ninth, getting two grounders before Venegas had to race into the gap to snatch a Jose Nieto drive that looked like extra bases, but instead ended the game. 8-3 Raccoons. Gowin (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Lavorano 4-6, 2B; Venegas 2-5, 2B, RBI; Philipps 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Knight 2-5;

Five in a row!

Never mind the body parts, though. One body part returned, however, with Trent Brassfield returning from his rehab assignment, finally. The Raccoons put Brent Cramer on waivers after he batted .220 with 8 RBI.

Game 2
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – LF Brassfield – RF Munn – C Gowin – CF Tenazes – 2B Knight – P Adkins
BOS: CF Weir – 2B Roura – RF Whitlow – 1B L. Rodriguez – LF D. Gonzalez – SS Hunt – C R. Salas – 3B J. Nieto – P Guidry

The game opened with Venegas doubling to center, and a wild pitch and Lonzo’s groundout scored him rather quickly. Adkins was intending on running with that 1-0 lead. He struck out six against two hits in the first three innings, and when Eric Whitlow hit a leadoff single in the fourth inning, he got himself caught stealing – although Lonzo managed the same in the same inning. The bases were then full to begin the top 5th, and mostly on nothing. Munn singled on a bad 0-2 pitch in the middle of the plate, Gowin reached base on a pitch that went squat through the middle of his box and plonked him, and then Tenazes walked on four pitches. Guidry continued like that, offering four more balls to Matt Knight to push home a run, 2-0. Adkins whiffed, and Venegas grounded to third base for a 5-U second out as Nieto took the ball back to his plate to force out Tenazes while Gowin scored. Lonzo grounded out to short to end the inning.

Adkins racked up nine strikeouts through five innings, but Hector Weir doubled to center to begin the sixth. Roura grounded out, Whitlow popped out, and Rodriguez struck out – but by then the pesky Weir had stolen home against a sleepy Coons battery. Dave Gonzalez and Raul Salas struck out in a 1-2-3 seventh to give Adkins a full dozen strikeouts.

The Raccoons gained a bigger lead in the eighth inning. Alex Diaz walked Lonzo with one gone, and he came around to score on Pucks and Brass singles. Those two pulled off a double steal, which led to an intentional walk to Munn. Gowin’s groundout brought home Pucks, 5-1, and Gonzalez rushed to snatch a Tenazes liner before the Raccoons could blow the doors off the game, but then Adkins got stuck with two hits off him in the bottom 8th by Ruben Gonzalez, who was forced out on Weir’s grounder, and Roura. Tommy Gardner would get the save opportunity, walked Whitlow on four pitches, then gave up Adkins’ runs on a Rodriguez single. Dave Gonzalez lined out to Lonzo, and that ******* ********* Gardner had to ******* go. Lillis would actually finish the damn ballgame in the ninth inning…. 5-3 Raccoons. Puckeridge 2-4; Brassfield 2-4, RBI; Munn 1-2, BB; Adkins 7.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 12 K, W (10-2);

The top 3 starters of the Coons were all nominated for the All Star Game, but we already had Argenziano lined up for the Sunday game anyway. If one of Shui, Taki, or Adkins had been lined up for today, he’d have to take his start, because our pitching was a complete mess beyond those top 3 and a few ever-reliable relievers.

Matt Waters healed up quicker than anticipated and was back in the lineup in the final game before the break.

Game 3
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – CF Lamotta – 3B Crispin – 2B Waters – P Argenziano
BOS: CF Weir – 2B Roura – RF Whitlow – 1B L. Rodriguez – LF D. Gonzalez – SS Hunt – C R. Salas – 3B J. Nieto – P Groh

Argenziano was nowhere near as sharp as in his start on Monday. He walked Weir to begin the bottom 1st, but the runner was caught stealing. Less luck with that in the second inning, however, where Argenziano walked both Salas and Nieto with two outs, then got double-doubled off by Groh (…) and Weir for three runs. Whitlow hit another double to begin the third inning, but was stranded with some stingy defense. The Raccoons didn’t put anything together for five innings, finding only two hits off Groh. When Lonzo singled and stole second base in the sixth, we at least had somebody in scoring position for once. Danny Munn cracked a 2-out RBI double, 3-1, but Gowin grounded out to short.

That was it for the rally there, while Argenziano lasted seven innings, despite giving up a leadoff double to Will McIntyre in the bottom 7th. Weir grounded out, and then Roura lined out to Lonzo – but McIntyre had completely misread the play and went for home plate, and was casually doubled off with a toss to Ed Crispin to end the inning. Venegas then batted for Argenziano to begin the eighth inning, but was ignored by the top of the order. Bak and Sencion kept the Titans close in the eighth inning at least, and then it was the 4-5-6 batters against David Williams. Fly to right, grounder to short, and fly to left, and there went the 6-game winning streak. 3-1 Titans. Munn 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Venegas (PH) 1-1;

In other news

July 5 – The Falcons trade SP Jamie Kempf (3-7, 5.74 ERA) to the Loggers for #43 prospect OF Mario Solano.
July 7 – Two days later, Jamie Kempf (4-7, 5.22 ERA) throws a 4-hit shutout as the Loggers riot over the Canadiens, 12-0.
July 7 – SFW LF Mario Villa (.288, 3 HR, 30 RBI) singles in the fourth inning of the first game of a double-header, both ends of which the Warriors lose to the Stars, 10-4 and 7-6, for his 2,500th career hit. The milestone comes off Rich Morrall (2-11, 6.43 ERA). The five-time batting champion has spent his entire career with the Warriors, batting .340 with 152 HR and 1,070 RBI.
July 7 – The Blue Sox acquire SP Julio Nunez (5-4, 4.50 ERA) from the Aces for AAA 1B Jeff Andersen and a prospect.
July 7 – Vancouver acquires MR Jameson Monk (3-3, 7.53 ERA, 16 SV) from the Cyclones for AAA INF Bill Sostre.
July 8 – SFW 3B/SS Julio Moriel (.326, 2 HR, 18 RBI) will miss three weeks with a torn hammy.
July 9 – The Titans trade SP Jordan Ramos (9-5, 2.34 ERA) to the Capitals for #9 prospect INF Diego Mendoza.
July 10 – The Knights acquire 1B Pat Fowler (.289, 6 HR, 26 RBI) from the Scorpions for SP Joe Byrd (10-1, 3.55 ERA) and a prospect, which seemed lop-sided for sure.

FL Player of the Week: SFW LF Mario Villa (.296, 5 HR, 34 RBI), batting .417 (10-24) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN SS/3B Dan Mullen (.280, 3 HR, 42 RBI), hitting .444 (12-27) with 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The All Star Game is here, and the Raccoons stuffed the pitching department with five selections, including one that made me even madder. The top 3 in the rotation all got the call: Adkins, Shui, and Taki all going. Hitchcock was also nominated, and then there was Tommy ******* Gardner, who if I had my way would wear somebody else’s bloody hat in the STUPID ALL STAR GAME.

No position players at all, but then again we’re talking about the worst offense… EVER.

Now for the bad news: Rafael de la Cruz was already on the DL, and he would remain there with a badly inflamed shoulder that would end his season.

Sigh. Three days off, and then we’ll resume the season with four games in Indy. After that we’d be at home for the rest of the month with a 4-series, 12-game homestand.

Fun Fact: Kennedy Adkins has the highest WAR of any CL player at the All Star Game.

That would be 4.5 WAR over Willie Acosta’s 4.4; he was batting .319/.470/.506 for the first-place Knights.

Two batters in the FL had a higher WAR: WAS OF Neville van de Wouw (5.5) and TOP INF Alex de los Santos (4.6). De los Santos was the #2 prospect prior to last year, batting .232 with 12 homers in his rookie season. This year he is MUCH better: .313 with 11 homers through 87 games, with 41 total extra-base hits. He had an 83 OPS+ last year, and this year was *nearly* doubling it to 164!

[Westheim]

All Star Game

The CL beat the FL, 7-2, in the annual All Star Game, and to be honest, I was surprised that the CL gave up anything given the absolute array of Raccoons hurlers that went there. Well, actually, Seisaku Taki gave up a third-inning run, because that was the first inning he pitched, and first innings and him just don’t mesh. It was the only earned run given up by the CL. Adkins started the game and struck out two in a perfect inning. Shui and Hitchcock each had clean innings. Tommy Gardner didn’t pitch, because everybody knows he’s a fraud.

Vegas’ Aubrey Austin went 2-for-2 with a 3-run homer off SFW David Concha to win MVP honors.

Trade

The Raccoons also swung a trade with the Capitals that seemed weirdly white-flag, but in reality only got rid of problems.

The Coons sent CL Tommy Gardner (3-3, 3.50 ERA, 15 SV), CF Brent Cramer (.220, 0 HR, 8 RBI), and AAA C Brian Moore (a 2050 second-rounder) to the Capitals for two prospects, #44 AAA SP Craig Kniep and #153 AA OF Todd Oley.

Kniep was 24 and basically major league ready, even though the control was still rough. A team with many, many pitching problems behind a trio of starter All Stars might just as well… Oley was in AA, but seemed ready for a promotion at almost 23 years of age. He didn’t have much power, but looked like more of a centerfielder anyway. He came with great speed, too, and 95 stolen bases in his minor league career since being taken at #54 in the 2051 draft.

Gardner had thoroughly worn out his welcome and we were glad to find a taker for the $8M still left on his contract. Brent Cramer had cleared waivers and had refused an assignment to AAA. Moore didn’t figure in the catching depth chart. The open roster spot went to 26-year-old right-hander Colby Bowen, who had been part of the return for David Barel going to the Warriors in 2052 and who had made AA his home since even before that. Originally a starter, he had since moved to the pen, and had only been promoted to AAA recently, but we needed somebody for garbage innings right now.

Raccoons (52-35) @ Indians (55-33) – July 15-18, 2055

The Raccoons had just flogged the Indians four out of five in Portland and were now inviting them to return the favor. The Indians’ lead was down to 2 1/2 games, but their #3 offense and #2 pitching still looked like issues. We were up 5-2 in the season series now.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (2-4, 5.50 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (9-6, 2.82 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (10-2, 1.86 ERA) vs. Bill McDermott (6-5, 3.70 ERA)
He Shui (10-4, 3.39 ERA) vs. Chris Edwards (6-6, 3.79 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (6-5, 3.22 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (12-3, 2.69 ERA)

Only righty throwers coming up here, probably. Mario Ceballos, Jose Garza, and Rich Knowles were all on the DL for Indy. Kevin Ewers was on the roster, but unavailable to begin the series with a back complaint, and Antonio Rios was listed as day-to-day for similar reasons.

Brobeck opened the second half of the season to give the three All Stars an extra day. Since we’d be off on Monday, Cameron Argenziano was also available in relief.

Game 1
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – P Brobeck – 3B Venegas – 2B Waters – CF Lamotta
IND: SS Ed. Ortiz – 2B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – LF Shoemaker – RF Perry – CF M. Gilmore – P Brink

Offense remained at a premium for the Raccoons, who had their best early chance in the first inning when Trent Brassfield reached on a bad throw by Edwin Ortiz, and Pucks added a single to put a pair on base, but neither Munn nor Gowin had anything to contribute. There was only one more hit through five innings, a leadoff single by Brobeck in the fifth, but he was doubled off swiftly by Venegas. The game was still scoreless then, although Jason Perry’ solo home run to right put the Indians up 1-0 in the bottom 5th. That was also only the third base hit for Indy, but they would make up for that by singling Brobeck to death in the sixth inning, getting four soft hits, one not leaving the infield, to score two runs before Brink grounded out to strand Mike Shoemaker and Perry in scoring position. Top 7th, Pucks hit a double to right to get the inning underway. Munn grounded out, moving him to third base, and Gowin flew a ball out to Gilmore, who dropped the ball for an error that got Pucks over home plate. Brobeck hit into a double play to end his day… The Raccoons didn’t reach base in the eighth, and made two outs in the ninth against Mike Mensch before the right-hander then walked both Pucks and Munn. He found three strikes against Gowin, though… 3-1 Indians. Puckeridge 2-3, BB, 2B;

Colby Bowen pitched a scoreless seventh inning in his major league debut.

Game 2
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 3B Venegas – 2B Waters – CF Tenazes – P Adkins
IND: CF French – LF Kokel – 3B B. Anderson – RF B. Quinteros – 2B A. Rios – C M. Gilmore – 1B D. Sandoval – SS Ed. Ortiz – P McDermott

Friday, like Thursday, a team handled his first chance for an error, and this time it was the ******* Coons. Matt Waters fudged Bobby French’s grounder in the bottom 1st, and the Indians would get an RBI double from Bobby Anderson and an RBI single from Antonio Rios for two unearned runs. Those were all the runs Adkins gave up in the game – but he also only pitched five innings, needing 88 pitches, and with the way things were going, two days removed from his appearance in the All Star Game, we removed him before we’d forcefully break him in a pointless pursuit of a win that would never come. The Raccoons were just as **** offensively as ever, with a Brassfield single and literally nothing else through five innings in terms of hits, although two walks were also drawn. Brassfield reached to begin the sixth, if only on Rios’ error, but Lonzo popped out, Pucks struck out, and Munn was down 0-2 before McDermott made a mistake and had it banged off the wall in rightfield for an RBI double, narrowing the gap to 2-1. Gowin grounded to third base, but Bobby Anderson’s throw to first was dropped by Dan Sandoval, and the inning continued with runners on the corners. Crispin batted for Venegas in hope of a platoon advantage, but struck out to end the inning.

Naughty Joe hit a 2-out double in the pitcher’s spot in the seventh inning, but then Brassfield floated out easily for the third out, and the tying run was left in scoring position yet again. Pucks walked in the eighth, but was doubled off when Zach Tubbs got a grounder to short from Danny Munn, and that was that inning done. While Walters, Sencion, and Bak offered scoreless relief out of the Raccoons’ pen, the brown-shirted team was up against Mike Mensch in the ninth inning again, this time with the 5-6-7 batters. Gowin grounded out. Crispin singled to left. And Waters found a double play at the shortstop’s. 2-1 Indians. Boese (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Gah.

Game 3
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – CF Lamotta – 3B Crispin – 2B Knight – C Philipps – P Shui
IND: SS Ed. Ortiz – 2B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – LF Perry – RF Shoemaker – CF Ewers – P C. Edwards

First inning, Lonzo singled to right, and Pucks hit into a double play to short, so another one of those days? Not quite, the team managed to match its total runs output from the first two games in the second inning when Munn singled, Crispin tripled into left-center, and Matt Knight at least managed a run-scoring grounder to second base. Jason Perry immediately cut the lead in half with a solo jack in the bottom 2nd, and Shui kept having traffic on the bases with at least a runner in every inning from there, and two to begin the fourth inning as Quinteros walked and Anderson singled. Manny Poindexter found a double play to hit into, however, and Perry’s groundout stranded Quinteros and the tying run at third base.

Top 7th, a leadoff walk that Edwards offered to Munn, a balk, and a shy single by Lamotta put runners on the corners with nobody out as well as Edwards to bed. Ralph Needham replaced him, but gave up a sac fly to Ed Crispin, although then Lamotta was caught stealing and the inning quickly disappeared in the quicksand. Shui finally had a clean inning in the bottom of the seventh, and then the Raccoons stirred more against Needham in the eighth. Brassfield drew a 2-out walk, stole second base, and then was doubled home by Lonzo with a fly over Shoemaker’s head in right. Pucks popped out, ending the inning with a 4-1 lead. Shui would complete one more inning despite nicking PH Dan Sandoval, but the Indians never added to their three base hits. Portland scratched the bags full against Zach Tubbs in the ninth, getting Lamotta, Knight, and Philipps on with a walk and two soft singles. Chris Gowin pinch-hit for Shui, but flew out to right easily, so the ball went to Hitchcock with a 3-run lead. He, too, put the first two batters of the ninth inning on base, and like Shui in the fourth they were Quinteros and Anderson. Poindexter couldn’t be asked for two this time, but struck out. Perry popped out to Lonzo, and Shoemaker grounded out to Crispin to end the game. 4-1 Coons. Lavorano 3-4, 2B, RBI; Lamotta 2-4; Shui 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (11-4);

Game 4
POR: LF Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – CF Lamotta – 3B Crispin – C Gowin – 2B Waters – P Taki
IND: LF French – 2B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – RF Kokel – SS Ed. Ortiz – CF Ewers – P En. Ortiz

For Sunday Specials, the Raccoons scattered five singles through four innings and never set paw on third base, while the Indians had only a Quinteros walk the first time through against usually-wonky-early Seisaku Taki, and didn’t find a base hit until Bobby Anderson singled with two outs in the fourth inning. Then Poindexter almost whacked a homer to left, Venegas making the catch six feet from the fence. Pucks hit a single in the fifth, but Ortiz struck out the other three Furballs rolling into the box and back to the dugout, while the bottom of the frame saw Taki retire the Indians on three pitches as Chaz Kokel, Edwin Ortiz, and Kevin Ewers all rolled the first pitch they saw to Lonzo for a 6-3 out. Ed Crispin singled to center to open the sixth, but was immediately doubled up by Gowin, who was so cold that I wondered whether he’d been secretly dead for weeks already.

Pucks reached again in the eighth, then on Quinteros’ dropping of a nice feed from Rios to begin that inning. Pucks stole second base, but Munn banked a K, the tenth for Ortiz in this start and 140th for the year. Lamotta popped out to first, Crispin whiffed, and another inning was over. I was just *waiting* for the pop homer by some soft-hitting Arrowhead at this point, but the bottom 8th only saw a 2-out single from Ewers – the second Indy hit in the game – and him being caught stealing to completely waste a pinch-hitting appearance by Jason Perry – he of three homers on the year, and two in *this* series.

The Indians lifted Ortiz after eight frames and 11 see-ya-laters, sending Mike Mensch for the ninth inning, not that the Raccoons had found much (any) success against him so far in this set. The Raccoons made outs from their 7-8-9 spots without hitting for Taki, who allowed singles to Bobby French and Antonio Rios in the bottom 9th, but got a double play grounder from Quinteros to send a silly game to silly extras. Top 10th, Venegas hit a leadoff single against Needham, then stole second base. Lonzo singled past a diving Edwin Ortiz into centerfield, Venegas didn’t look back and scored just ahead of Ewers’ throw to home plate to break the scoreless tie and potentially still make Taki a winner. Lonzo, disgusted with how the team was playing, stole his way to third base, which made it 40 for the season for him, and then was stranded there, which didn’t make it any better. Pucks popped out, Munn was walked intentionally, Brassfield also popped out, and Crispin flew out to Ewers, leaving Lonzo on ******* third base. The Raccoons then got cute; Tokudori Tokugawa at first appeared for the bottom 10th to face Bobby Anderson, but once Anderson grounded out to Crispin, the Coons moved on to Lillis for the following lefty swingers. Poindexter grounded out to first, but Mike Gilmore batted for Dan Sandoval. He lined out to Waters. 1-0 Blighters. Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Puckeridge 2-5; Crispin 2-5; Taki 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (7-5);

In other news

July 15 – The Falcons *walk off* against the Thunder in the 17th inning of a 4-3 win. Thunder pitching, apparently tired and aimless, issues four walks in the bottom 17th to end the game.
July 16 – CIN LF/CF Juan del Toro (.340, 12 HR, 49 RBI) hits five singles and two doubles in a 20-inning, 7-4 win over the Miners.
July 16 – 3B/SS Stephen Medlock (.235, 5 HR, 23 RBI) is traded from the Condors to the Cyclones with a prospect for OF Tom Rock (.268, 6 HR, 26 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: WAS OF Dan Martin (.319, 13 HR, 61 RBI), hitting .500 (11-22) with 1 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL 1B/LF/RF Eddie Moreno (.302, 17 HR, 75 RBI), socking .778 (7-9) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I have no ******* clue how we scratched out a split against the Arrowheads while scoring all of seven ******* runs in 37 innings in Indianapolis. I only know that this offense isn’t great for my blood pressure, or the thumping veins in my head.

(blows hard)

Two weeks at home are coming up. We’ll face the Loggers, Knights, Falcons, and Thunder, and each Monday will be off. That’ll also get us all the way to the trade deadline plus one day. Now, if someone can give me pointers where I can find an entirely new lineup… I’m all fuzzy ears!

Fun Fact: Nobody had ever hit seven base hits in a game prior to Friday’s heroics by Juan del Toro.

Well, let the boys swing the sticks down on the field long enough, and eventually you’ll see everything.

Maybe one day someone will tie Craig Bowen’s unmatched record of four home runs in one game, too!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (54-37) vs. Loggers (48-45) – July 20-22, 2055

The Loggers were nine games out in the North, which wasn’t necessarily fatal, but then they also never had the budget to absorb big money players for the stretch drive. They needed pitching most of all, giving up the fourth-most runs in the CL, but scoring the second-most themselves for a +13 run differential (Raccoons: +67). The thing that concerned me more was their 7-2 record against the Raccoons this year…

Projected matchups:
Cameron Argenziano (1-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. Josh Costello (3-9, 5.86 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (10-3, 1.79 ERA) vs. Juan Mercado (7-3, 5.36 ERA)
He Shui (11-4, 3.25 ERA) vs. Jamie Kempf (4-7, 5.26 ERA)

Yes, that was a rotation in need. Costello and Kempf were the only right-handers in it, and we might see both of them.

The Raccoons made a roster move, sending Prospero Tenazes (.260, 0 HR, 6 RBI) to AAA for Carlos Solorzano, who had gone 2-for-9 in a brief three games with Portland earlier this year, but was hitting .348 (without power, mind) in AAA and right now any spark would do…

Game 1
MIL: CF B. Rivera – 3B Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – RF Callaia – 2B T. Edwards – SS A. Chavez – C Cadena – P Costello
POR: LF Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – 3B Crispin – CF Solorzano – C Gowin – 2B Knight – P Argenziano

Venegas and Lonzo opened the Coons’ offensive week with singles to left, but Pucks immediately found Travis Edwards for a 4-6-3 double play. Nevertheless, Danny Munn plated the team’s daily run (hardly an understatement) with a 2-out RBI single to rightfield before being left on by Crispin. The Loggers responded rather angrily against Argenziano, starting with Gaudencio Callaia’s double in left-center in the top 2nd. Edwards walked, Adriano Chavez singled home a run, the runners reached scoring position, and then scored on two productive outs by the battery.

At least some kept stirring in a 3-1 game, besides me trying to drill a hole into my temples with my index claws to just make it end. Venegas and Lonzo were on base in the bottom 3rd, bringing up Pucks with one out, and this time he chopped an 0-2 into play in a way that Costello and David Worthington got into each other’s personal space in the pursuit of the ball, and nobody covered first base. All paws were safe for Munn, who tied the game with a single to right-center, after which Ed Crispin grounded out. The new man, Solorzano, was up next, banged a 1-2 pitch into deep center and past Bobby Rivera, and legged it out for a 2-out, 2-run triple and a 5-3 lead. That roster move was already worth it. Chris Gowin drove in the rookie with a double, completing the 5-spot. Too bad only that Argenziano kept getting pelted, and put on Edwards and Chavez in the fourth, then gave up a 2-out double to PH Ryan Bishton to surrender those runners, 6-5. Bobby Rivera struck out. Argenziano blew the rest of the lead in the fifth inning when David Worthington doubled home Robby Gaxiola with one out, and that’s when the axe came down. Matt Walters retired the next two batters to preserve a 6-6 tie.

Amazingly, the Raccoons would get a scoreless inning from Colby Bowen in the sixth, then had Sencion and Bak collectively collapse for three runs in the seventh inning. Worthington hit a 2-piece off Sencion, and all three runs were charged to the left-hander. One run was made up when Knight singled home Solorzano with two outs in the bottom 7th against right-hander Dan Bell, and Brassfield hit a double from the #9 spot, but the tying runners were stranded in scoring position when Matt Waters grounded out to Miguel Martinez at second base. Kyle Brobeck finished the game in true garbage fashion, giving up another three hits, two stolen bases, and two runs in the last two innings for yet another depressing loss against the Loggers. 11-7 Loggers. Venegas 1-2, 2 BB; Lavorano 2-5; Munn 2-5, 3 RBI; Solorzano 3-5, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Brassfield (PH) 1-1, BB, 2B;

Solorzano was a homer shy of the cycle, and our pitching staff was about three meltdowns short of a good game.

Game 2
MIL: CF B. Rivera – 3B Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – RF Callaia – SS F. Vazquez – 2B M. Martinez – C Cadena – P J. Mercado
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – LF Brassfield – RF Munn – C Gowin – CF Lamotta – 2B Waters – P Adkins

There was always hope with Adkins, but Adkins gave up a certified stupid run in the second inning with a single hit by Callaia, a clumsy walk offered to Felix Vazquez, and then a 2-out RBI single to former Critters tosser Juan Mercado. It was not pretty to look at, nor was Pucks costing an unearned run in the third inning with another silly error. The Raccoons had a leadoff single from Matt Waters in the bottom 3rd, and after three attempts Adkins even got the bunt down and moved him to second. Venegas’ single plated Waters from there, 2-1, but both Lonzo and Pucks flew out to Callaia in right. Matt Waters also started the fifth inning with a single, and would score the tying run … eventually. It took a bunt, an infield single by Lonzo, and then Callaia clonking Pucks’ 2-out fly to right for an error to get him home. 2-2 then, and 1-1 in oh-dear’s. Brassfield even walked to fill the bases, but Danny Munn then popped out on an 0-2 pitch, leaving the bases loaded.

Adkins kept clawing, and the Raccoons kept finding shy singles, such as those of Gowin – up the middle – and Lamotta – to right – that opened the bottom 6th and put them on the corners. Waters this time hit a sac fly to left, which gave Adkins a 3-2 lead, and Adkins reached when Mercado misplayed his bunt into an error, but neither Venegas nor Lonzo managed to bring in additional runs, making soft outs instead. More scratch runs? Bottom 7th, Pucks with an infield single, a stolen base, and eventually a bold dash home on Chris Gowin’s sac fly to extend the lead to 4-2.

Adkins probably had some left, but the eighth inning was beginning with Gaxiola, who was nothing but trouble, and we wanted a fresh arm. Lillis rung up him and Worthington, but gave up a double to Perry Pigman in between. Callaia grounded out calmly to Waters, though, and the inning ended. Hitchcock gave up a 2-out walk to Jose Cadena in the ninth, but then got Bishton to ground out easily to second base. 4-2 Raccoons. Gowin 2-3, RBI; Waters 2-2, BB, RBI; Adkins 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, W (11-3);

Game 3
MIL: CF B. Rivera – SS Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – C C. Thomas – RF Callaia – 2B T. Edwards – 3B A. Chavez – P Kempf
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – 3B Brobeck – CF Solorzano – 2B Waters – C Philipps – P Shui

Trent Brassfield robbed Worthington of extra bases with Gaxiola on second in the top of the first, then mashed a homer to open the home half of the inning to give the Coons a 1-0 lead in the rubber game. Better yet, Pucks and Munn also got on base, and then Brobeck pumped a 3-run homer for a 4-0 lead! Then they of course stopped hitting, which was probably punishment for me excitedly high-fiving with Slappy, and it was then down to hoping Shui could keep his store closed. The Loggers made up a run in the third inning, which Chavez began with a single, and Rivera drew a 1-out walk. Double steal and a Gaxiola a sac fly, and they were on the board, but Pigman flew out to strand that extra runner on third base. Pigman would also be on base in the sixth inning, but got picked off first by Tyler Philipps to end the frame. Shui nevertheless steamed on and would have completed eight innings if not for a throwing error by Brobeck that put Chavez on base in his last frame. Walters came in to face the switch-hitting Bobby Rivera with the runner on second base, and got a groundout to Brobeck for the third out. The Coons remained dry ever after the 4-run first, and Waters remained on the hill against the lefty-leaning section of the lineup in the ninth inning. He rung up Gaxiola, but Pigman singled. Worthington popped out. Chris Thomas went down on strikes. 4-1 Raccoons. Brassfield 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Munn 2-3, BB, 2B; Brobeck 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Shui 7.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W (12-4);

First save this year, second of his career for Matt Walters, who sure had closer’s stuff and kept applying for the job…!

Raccoons (56-38) vs. Knights (57-37) – July 23-25, 2055

The first-place Knights were doing first-place things, such as scoring the most runs in the CL and having the fourth-fewest runs conceded, with a +75 run differential. They had also swept the Raccoons in the first meeting of the year between those two teams. Injuries were a topic though, with Bruce Mark jr., Eduardo Avila, and a few bits and pieces on the DL. At least they wouldn’t rob us blind with only 30 stolen bases for the entire team, second-fewest in the CL. First in bombs, though…

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (7-5, 2.97 ERA) vs. Vic Harman (4-1, 3.23 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (2-5, 5.51 ERA) vs. Jeremy Baker (8-6, 4.61 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (1-1, 5.89 ERA) vs. Morgan Aben (6-4, 4.06 ERA)

One more southpaw was coming up in Baker, who was also one more former Raccoon to take a swing at.

Game 1
ATL: SS W. Acosta – 3B R. Thompson – 1B P. Fowler – RF E. Moreno – CF Alade – LF Kirkwood – C Almaguer – 2B E. Miller – P Harman
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 3B Crispin – CF Solorzano – 2B Waters – P Taki

Taki had a single and a walk against him in the first inning, always a problem zone, but then again, he never found the groove in the game at all. He issued a walk in each of the first three innings, and didn’t have a 1-2-3… ever. The fourth only saw Chris Kirkwood hit a single, but the fifth began with a Harman single, then a four-pitch walk to Willie Acosta, and that in a scoreless game. Ronnie Thompson grounded out on a 3-1 pitch, but Pat Fowler cranked a 3-run homer to right, and that was that. The Coons through five innings had an infield single for Lonzo, who was caught stealing, and Crispin had reached on an error, and that was the entire offense for the team. Taki was gone after six messy innings, chalking up five each in hits, walks, and strikeouts. When Matt Knight batted for him, grounded to Thompson, and Thompson threw the ball away for two bases, that already marked the furthest advance by a Raccoons runner in the entire ******* ballgame. Brassfield struck out, Lonzo grounded out to short, and Knight slouched back to the dugout, where he belonged. The game then got away completely in the seventh inning with Hyun-soo Bak, who allowed two hits, two walks, and two runs and had to be bailed out by Colby Bowen, of all people. Eloy Sencion found additional abuse in the ninth inning, giving up a single to Eddie Moreno and a 2-piece to left to Alade. Harman completed a 2-hit shutout. 7-0 Knights. Lamotta (PH) 1-1;

Truly dismal.

Same for Saturday’s weather. It started to rain at second lunch, and rained all afternoon and evening, and no baseball activities were possible for the entire day. That gave us a double header on Sunday with Brobeck and Argenziano as the starters.

Yeah.

Hardcore.

Game 2
ATL: SS W. Acosta – C Almaguer – 1B P. Fowler – RF E. Moreno – CF Alade – LF Kirkwood – 3B Villacorta – 2B E. Miller – P J. Baker
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – LF Brassfield – RF Munn – P Brobeck – CF Lamotta – 2B Waters – C Philipps

The weather threatened to remain a mixed bag on Sunday, so at least the Coons were smart enough to take an early lead when Lonzo got nicked, stole second base, and was singled home by Brassfield with two outs in the first inning. That 1-0 stood for a while, since Brobeck was missing here and there, nicked Jon Alade at one point, but didn’t allow a base hit in the first four innings. When he did allow a base hit, however, it was a jack to left for Chris Kirkwood to begin the top 5th, and that tied the game, because the Raccoons remained absolutely ******* hopeless at the plate. Offense for the home team remained minimal. Waters walked and Lonzo singled in the bottom 5th, but Pucks struck out to leave both of them on base.

Brobeck pitched into the seventh inning, where he loaded the bases with Kirkwood and Felix Rojas drawing walks and a single hit by Leo Villacorta. One out, and Pat Stipp pinch-hit in the #9 spot. He got to face Tadahara Tanadara, who coaxed a quick bouncer right to Venegas out of him, and the Raccoons weaseled out of the inning in 5-4-3 style. The Japanese righty got two more outs in the eighth, Sencion struck out Pat Fowler to complete that inning, but then was hit for after Brassfield and Munn drew 2-out walks from Eli Dupuis – which was the main drawback of batting Brobeck out of the #9 hole: as soon as he was out of the game, relievers threatened to bat in stupid spots. Ed Crispin pinch-hit and grounded out, and the whole exercise was rendered moot. Walters got the top of the ninth and struck out two in 1-2-3 inning, while Dupuis got another inning in the bottom 9th. Ricky Lamotta led off with an infield single to Ronnie Thompson out of position at second base, and then Waters walked in a full count. The inning dissolved into nothing when Solorzano batted for Philipps, found a double play, and Venegas hit a comebacker to the pitcher to strand the winning run on third base.

Walters added a scoreless 10th, and Dupuis was still going for the Knights as well, but gave up a leadoff single to Lonzo in the bottom 10th. Pucks flew out, and Lonzo was itching to go, but drew one throw to first after another. He only reached second base once Trent Brassfield singled to shallow left. The Raccoons then unpacked an aggressive double steal, because we had another nine innings to play without going to the 19th in a 1-1 game *here*. Pedro Almaguer was taken by surprise, so the winning run was now at third base with one gone. The Knights walked Danny Munn intentionally, disposed of Dupuis for another righty in closer David Hardaway, and the Coons still had the ******* pitcher in the #6 spot and only poorly-poking right-handed second-sackers on the bench. Naughty Joe batted for Walters, grounded into a force at home plate, and Chris Gowin flew out to Eddie Moreno. And we played on, with me aggressively bawling into my paws because it was too hard to bear anymore. Colby Bowen got the ball from there, for better or worse – at least he was a failed starter, so would offer length. Or, well, fill the bags with the 2-3-4 batters in the 11th, and then Gowin lost a passed ball to allow Almaguer to score. Because the baseball gods had a most wicked sense of humor, the Raccoons tied the game on a Solorzano double and Anton Venegas’ RBI single to left-center, after which Lonzo singled, Pucks walked, and the bags were full, and this time there was no place to put anybody anymore. Brassfield batted with one out, grounded the ball back to Hardaway, and Venegas was as dead as disco at the plate. OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. Munn flew out to Moreno on a 1-2 pitch. I had chest aches.

Top 12th, Hardaway singled off Bowen with two outs, because that was how far we were into each team’s roster, but Willie Acosta’s drive to left-center was run down by Brassfield to keep the Knights from scoring. Bowen also batted for himself to begin the bottom 12th, because that was how far we were into each team’s roster. The Coons went in order against Dave Hils. Almaguer was on again and scored again in the 13th, this time on a tremendous homer by Eddie Moreno, his 20th of the season. The Raccoons went in order against Dave Hils, again. 4-2 Knights. Lavorano 3-6; Brassfield 2-5, BB, RBI; Lamotta 2-4; Walters 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Slappy, grab the hose and fill this barrel please. We’ll have some drowning to do later.

Colby Bowen (0-1, 2.84 ERA) was optioned between games, not necessarily because he lost this one, but because we only had three relievers left to go behind Argenziano, and had been smart enough to summon Luke Ostler to Portland as cushion. Perhaps a pin cushion if things went badly.

Game 3
ATL: SS W. Acosta – 3B R. Thompson – 1B P. Fowler – RF E. Moreno – CF Alade – LF Kirkwood – C M. Nieto – 2B E. Miller – P Aben
POR: LF Brassfield – 3B Crispin – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – CF Solorzano – SS Knight – 2B Boese – P Argenziano

Argenziano started off by drilling Acosta, but turned a 1-6-3 double play on Thompson to clean up. The Coons wasted two singles to begin the bottom 1st when the 3-4-5 batters all croaked. Argenziano exclusively pitched in long counts, and needed 51 pitches through three (scoreless) innings, while Brassfield opened the bottom 3rd with another single, stole second base, and was left there once again by the middle of the ******* order.

Carlos Solorzano was trying to make himself useful with a leadoff double in the fourth inning. Matt Knight walked, but was forced out on Naughty Joe’s grounder. The pitcher whiffed, Brassfield walked, and Ed Crispin had three on with two outs, got ahead 3-1 against Aben, and then poked. I shrieked, but the ball went over Acosta’s glove and into shallow left-center for a 2-run single and the first markers on the board in this game. Pucks then had the urge to whiff in a full count, though.

Argenziano pitched five scoreless with negligible Knights engagement, then offered two leadoff walks to Thompson and Pat Fowler in the sixth. Eddie Moreno singled in a run, and Argenziano was yanked. Hyun-soo Bak replaced him, allowed a single to Alade that filled the bases, but then popped out Kirkwood to first base. Marco Nieto grounded to Naughty Joe, and the backup middle infield turned a 4-6-3 double play to keep the Coons 2-1 ahead. The Coons also had the bags full in the bottom 6th: Naughty Joe led off with a single to left, then was bunted to second by Bak. Brassfield walked, Crispin popped out, and Pucks singled, but it wasn’t enough to get a run home. Danny Munn batted with three on and two outs against Aben, and – struck out. I wondered how far Slappy was with the barrel.

Bak struck out the 8-9 batters and got around Acosta’s 2-out single in the seventh inning when Thompson grounded out to Knight. The Coons began the home half of the seventh with Gowin and Solorzano singles, but Knight popped out and Naughty Joe hit into a double play. Eddie Moreno’s homer off Brett Lillis jr. then tied the game in the eighth, and I made gargling noises. Needless to say that while Ed Crispin hit a 2-out triple in the bottom 8th, the game remained tied. Hitchcock kept the game tied, and then Danny Munn whacked a leadoff triple off Dave Hils, who had logged five outs in the first game, and with three unused pitchers still in the bullpen for Atlanta. The Raccoons chose not to ask questions, took the walkoff win on Chris Gowin’s single to center, and then dodged all my attempts to catch and drown them in the barrel. 3-2 Blighters. Brassfield 2-3, 2 BB; Crispin 3-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Munn 2-4, BB, 3B; Gowin 2-5, RBI; Solorzano 2-4, 2B; Bak 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

In other news

July 19 – The Capitals’ quest for the postseason suffers a nasty hit with the move of OF Neville van de Wouw (.319, 18 HR, 58 RBI) to the DL. The 28-year-old could miss six weeks with shoulder tendinitis.
July 20 – VAN SP Terry Herman (5-8, 3.78 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against the Titans, striking out eight in the 4-0 win.
July 21 – A broken foot will keep out LVA OF Ken Hummel (.367, 2 HR, 18 RBI) for at least a month.
July 22 – The Knights beat the Thunder, 1-0 in 12 innings, on a home run by Jon Alade (.243, 4 HR, 15 RBI).
July 23 – NYC SP Edwin Sopena (9-7, 3.34 ERA) 2-hits the Bayhawks, who also get routed by the New York offense, 10-0.
July 24 – CHA INF Ian Woodrome (.275, 5 HR, 48 RBI) hits two home runs and drives in six runs in a 14-4 demolition of the Canadiens.
July 25 – The Titans trade CL David Williams (0-3, 4.13 ERA, 20 SV) to the Thunder for a prospect.

FL Player of the Week: SAC C/1B Kevin Weese (.305, 10 HR, 51 RBI), hitting .455 (10-22) with 1 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL 1B/LF/RF Eddie Moreno (.313, 21 HR, 86 RBI), batting .444 (12-27) with 4 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Losing the Knights series on the weekend also lost us the season series against Atlanta, ending a 4-year run of always having a paw up in the set, and eight out of nine.

Another week at home remaining with the Falcons and Thunder, and even less than that to the trade deadline. The burning question was how to fix this stupid lineup with two trades or less, and without shedding either prospects or one of the top 3 starters. There was probably no good solution to this one. We didn’t have many prospects, we didn’t have any backup starting pitching and it looked very much like the only thing we could do was to accept things as they were and hope the lineup started to breathe again on its own.

A first baseman would be nice, that’s for sure. Harry Ramsay actually hit his first home run of the season at any level of competition this week, so … yey!

Fun Fact: Since the start of June, Kennedy Adkins’ ERA has only moved inside a narrow 18-point band.

It was never better than 1.75 (twice) nor worse than 1.93, which came on the heels of a really shoddy string of three straight games of allowing TWO earned runs across 20 total innings.

The Coons being what they are this summer, he went 0-2 with that 2.70 ERA.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (57-40) vs. Falcons (44-56) – July 27-29, 2055

The Falcons were eighth in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed with a -55 run differential, but were up 2-1 on the Raccoons for the year. They were bottoms in batting average and homers, and in the bottom three in starters’ ERA and defense. But if the Raccoons had proven one thing so far this year, then that they could lose to absolutely everybody.

Projected matchups:
Kennedy Adkins (11-3, 1.76 ERA) vs. Josh Clem (2-10, 4.54 ERA)
He Shui (12-4, 3.13 ERA) vs. Alfonso Jewel (1-1, 3.78 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (7-6, 3.05 ERA) vs. Joe Thomlinson (2-1, 3.53 ERA)

Jewel was their left-handed gem.

Game 1
CHA: LF Kulak – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – C L. Miranda – 2B J. Sanchez – CF Burr – 3B Sanders – P Clem
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – C C. Gowin – 3B Brobeck – CF Solorzano – 2B Waters – P Adkins

While I still wondered who those people in the bottom half of the Falcons were, the Raccoons got a first inning run by singles from Lonzo and Pucks, a walk issued to Danny Munn, and then a groundout by Gowin. Brobeck hit a 1-2 pitch to deep center, but it was caught by Mike Burr. The Falcons threatened for the first time in the third inning with a leadoff single hit by Cory Sanders, and then Adkins fumbled Clem’s bunt. He recovered by hanging K’s on both William Kulak and Ian Woodrome, and got a grounder to Waters from Danny Ceballos to get out of the inning. Portland made it 2-0 in the bottom 3rd, again with an RBI groundout for Gowin after a pair of hits for Pucks and Munn, although the latter was stranded on third base when Brobeck and Solorzano both grounded out.

Clem continued to leak hits; Brass and Lonzo found a single to left and a double to center with two gone in the bottom 4th, and then were both driven in when a Pucks grounder up the middle got by Woodrome, 4-0. Pucks ended the inning with getting caught stealing, though. Adkins looked strong through five, then completely glitched out in the sixth inning. He offered walks to Woodrome and Ceballos, and surrendered the runs on a double by Luis Miranda, which cut the lead in half. All at-bats in the inning were long, and his pitch count rocketed to 107 as well. He still got two more outs from Sanders and Josh Frazier to begin the seventh inning on another eight pitches, then was removed. Thankfully, the Raccoons would pick the last seven outs from Walters, Bak, and Hitchcock without major drama. Only Matt Walters put a runner on base, walking Jason Schaack with two outs in the eighth. 4-2 Raccoons. Brassfield 2-4; Lavorano 2-4, 2B; Puckeridge 4-4, 2 RBI; Adkins 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (12-3);

Game 2
CHA: LF Kulak – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – C L. Miranda – 3B Sanders – CF Conner – 2B J. Sanchez – P Jewel
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – LF Brassfield – C C. Gowin – RF Munn – CF Lamotta – 2B Waters – P Shui

Ricky Lamotta never batted in this game, hurting himself on a defensive play, as he dove for and caught a Ceballos fly in the top 1st, but his head seemed to whiplash and hit the ground, and he was kinda dazed afterwards, leading to Solorzano being in centerfield when the second inning began. Nobody found a base hit in the first two innings, but the Falcons found two hits and two runs in the third inning, Woodrome doubling home both markers with two outs as Jordan Sanchez (single) and William Kulak (walk) scored. The Coons answered with leadoff singles from Shui (!) and Venegas, but then Lonzo lined out to Ceballos, Pucks grounded out, and Brassfield flew out to Ceballos again… and nobody scored.

Shui failed the bags full to begin the fourth inning, giving up clean singles to Schaack and Miranda, a walk to Sanders, and conceded two runs on a groundout by Doug Conner and another single by Sanchez as the gap widened. The Raccoons didn’t make it onto the board until the fifth inning when Venegas hit a single and Lonzo doubled him in. But again, runner in scoring position, and a loud croak from the 3-4 batters, who both made soggy outs to the second baseman, and the Raccoons didn’t rally past 4-1. Shui failed the bases full to begin the sixth *again*, walking Miranda and giving up singles to Sanders and Conner. He also worked himself out from that jam, turning a comebacker from Sanchez into a 1-2-3 double play and whiffing Jewel, but then was done for the day. Danny Munn hit a homer in the bottom 6th, 4-2, and Venegas drew a leadoff walk in the seventh, then was forced out by Lonzo, Lonzo was caught stealing, and then Pucks singled and scored on Brassfield’s double to center, 4-3. Righty Adam Haller walked Gowin, then whiffed Munn, ending the inning. ****.

That was even before the Raccoons ****** up another run in the eighth inning between Luke Ostler’s ****** tossing and an error by Matt Waters that cost a double play. Ostler walked two, and I didn’t know whom to rather drown between the two of them. Bottom 8th, a parade of relievers, and a Waters single, a pitch into Tyler Philipps’ hip, and another scratch single by Venegas loaded the bases with the tying runs and then some. Lonzo batted with one out against righty John Scott, lined out to Tim Burkhart in center, Waters went for home – and was thrown out. Steve Watson didn’t allow any more pathetic rally attempts in the ninth. 5-3 Falcons. Venegas 2-4, BB; Munn 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Waters 2-4;

At this point I accepted that the team was unfixable. They weren’t *great* in the slash categories, but they weren’t worse than 10th in any of them, even eighth in homers, and still BOTTOMS in runs scored.

The team was cursed, and no trade could turn them straight for the last two months. It wasn’t worth burning prospects for rentals. If the Indians collapsed even harder on their own, fine, we’d take the division crown. But I had zero confidence.

Also, Ricky Lamotta was diagnosed with a pretty bad concussion and was probably out for the season. The Raccoons didn’t have many options besides Prospero Tenazes, and instead called up Pedro Rojas in an attempt to fling something else at the wall. Pucks would go to centerfield again instead.

Game 3
CHA: 3B Sanders – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – C L. Miranda – CF Burkhart – LF Burr – 2B J. Sanchez – P Thomlinson
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Rojas – 3B Crispin – 2B Walters – C Philipps – P Taki

Pucks put the Coons up 1-0 in the first inning of the rubber game with a solo jack to right, and the Raccoons crowded the bases with a Crispin double, Waters single, Philipps getting nicked, and one out. Taki ran a full count before swinging and missing, but Brassfield laid off the junk in another 3-2 count and drew the walk for a 2-0 lead. Lonzo hit a deep fly to center, but Burkhart caught up with it and stranded three runners with a nifty catch. I calmly nommed a cookie without any booze in my paws or rage in my eyes. Maud was slightly concerned, but I explained to her that I had accepted defeat and that we just couldn’t stop the Indians. Then I was scolded for defeatism.

Munn hit his 19th homer, also a solo job, in the bottom 3rd for a 3-0 lead, only for Taki to put the first three batters aboard with two hits and a walk in the fourth inning. Mike Burr hit into a run-scoring double play, and the .105 batter Sanchez struck out to strand the tying runs in scoring position. Taki rung up eight through five innings, scattering four hits. The fifth Falcons hit was a Luis Miranda homer to left in the sixth inning, cutting the lead to 3-2. The aforementioned .105 hitter Jordan Sanchez then poked the game-tying blast in the seventh. – Okay, *fine*, Maud! I’ll have some Capt’n Coma! – Do we have … a glass or something?

The Raccoons sent Mountfuji into the eighth inning, where he got torn to pieces. Ceballos doubled. Schaack doubled. Miranda singled. Burr singled. By then there were three runs home and things just didn’t matter anymore. Ostler replaced him, got the last five outs somehow, and then a bus ticket to Florida. The Coons got Pucks to hit another solo homer off Chris Gowin’s brother Joe in the bottom 8th, narrowing the gap to two, and those tying runs reached base against Steve Watson in the bottom 9th when both Crispin and Waters drew walks. Venegas batted for Philipps, and drew *another* walk. Three on, nobody out, and Chris Gowin batting for Ostler. He found a double play, obviously, 4-6-3, with a run scoring and the tying run going to third base for Big Brassfield. Well, his name was Trent, but I was rooting for him to do things that would qualify him for a name like BIG BRASSFIELD. He struck out. 6-5 Falcons. Puckeridge 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Munn 2-4, HR, RBI;

Raccoons (58-42) vs. Thunder (52-49) – July 30-August 1, 2055

The Raccoons had somehow already won the season series against the Thunder, 5-1, which contributed to the Thunder being already 9 1/2 games out in the South as the Knights threatened to run away with the division. This was the #4 offense and #6 pitching in the league, although the rotation ranked only eighth by ERA. With David Barel, Ed Soberanes, and Zach Boyer they had some significant personnel on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (2-5, 5.26 ERA) vs. Alfredo Llamas (5-8, 4.90 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (1-1, 5.01 ERA) vs. Mike Zeigler (9-5, 3.37 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (12-3, 1.80 ERA) vs. Victor Marquez (5-1, 4.10 ERA)

The Thunder had not played since Tuesday, being rained out on Wednesday and scheduled off on Thursday. As such, their rotation was anybody’s guess, but it started with the right-hander Llamas. The other two, who had not pitched this week either, were southpaws.

The Raccoons had returned Luke Ostler (4.50 ERA) to AAA, and added Ryan Harmer as another admittance of defeat. Raffy de la Cruz was moved to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster.

The Thunder had just acquired OF/2B Dave Roura (.240, 5 HR, 37 RBI) from the Titans, parting with two prospects.

Game 1
OCT: SS Almadanim – 2B Ban – RF M. Harmon – LF D. Guzman – C Monaghan – 1B R. Cox – CF Roura – 3B J. Rivas – P Llamas
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – P Brobeck – 3B Venegas – 1B Rojas – 2B Waters

Today’s go-ahead solo homer was chucked by Gowin in the second inning, and after Matt Waters walked his way on base to begin the third inning, Pucks finally took pity on him standing out there on the field, all ignored, and singled him home with two outs for a 2-0 lead. Brobeck didn’t look too bad so far, although he had given up a double to Mike Harmon in the first inning. In the fourth, Jonathan Ban and Eric Monaghan went to the corners with singles, but Pucks tracked down Ryan Cox’ fly to end the inning just in time. Pucks struck out to strand Brassfield and Lonzo and a pair of 2-out singles in the fifth as the team failed itself along in the game.

Brobeck buckled in the sixth, offering leadoff walks to Ban and Harmon, then got some pats on the back and some kicks in the bum during a mound conference, and didn’t even break after that. He hung strikeouts on both Danny Guzman and Monaghan, and Cox popped out to Lonzo rather harmlessly, stranding the tying runs right where they were. But he didn’t get through the seventh; Roura singled and stole a base, and Hélder Almadanim drew another walk. With two outs and the switch-hitting Ban up, the Raccoons made the switch to Lillis, who bailed out to the jam with an inning-ending groundout, a roller in front of the plate that Gowin hurled to first base just in time. Bottom 7th, Big Brassfield bashed a bomb, a 2-run homer to left with Pedro Rojas on base to extend the lead to 4-0! Lillis got two more outs, Ryan Harmer struck out Monaghan, the only batter he faced, and then Bak pitched a clean ninth to complete a 5-hit team shutout. 4-0 Coons. Brassfield 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, RBI; Brobeck 6.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 K, W (3-5);

The pitching assignment for Saturday went to lefty ex-Furball Bubba Wolinsky (6-4, 3.29 ERA).

Game 2
OCT: SS Almadanim – 2B Ban – LF D. Ramirez – CF Roura – 1B R. Cox – RF D. Guzman – C Burnham – 3B J. Rivas – P Wolinsky
POR: LF Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Brassfield – C Gowin – 3B Waters – 2B Knight – CF Solorzano – P Argenziano

Bubba filled the bases for the Coons without the brown team landing a base hit in the first. He walked Venegas and Big Brassfield, and plunked Lonzo, bringing up “Double Play” Gowin with one out, but to everybody’s relief Gowin struck out. So did Waters.

The Raccoons went up 1-0 eventually, with Solorzano and Venegas hitting a pair of singles and the former scoring on the latter’s with two down. The team had only one other base hit through four innings, while Argenziano shone with one hit, one walk, and six strikeouts through five shutout innings. He soon had to share the spotlight; the bottom 5th saw Venegas on with a leadoff single, and then Lonzo hit a home run to right to extend the score to 3-0! Even better, Pucks hit a single to center, and then BIG BRASSFIELD socked another 2-piece to left, 5-0, and that was the end of Bubba. Not wanting to take a backseat to all the homering, Pucks would unfurl a 3-piece with two outs in the sixth inning, finding Venegas and Lonzo on base and taking Mike LeMasters behind the shed.

With an 8-0 lead, the Coons could be lenient with Argenziano and see how far he could take his shutout bid. The Thunder didn’t get on base again until Jose Rivas hit a 2-out single in the eighth inning, but he also walked PH Dave Lee. Almadanim grounded out to Knight, but that was now already on his 110th pitch. He still got the ball for the ninth inning, but with that pitch count and the 2-3-4 batters up, the bullpen was warm behind him. Jonathan Ban grounded out to Lonzo on a 1-0 pitch. Danny Ramirez walked in a full count, however, and Roura would probably be the last batter for Argenziano. He hit a flare to left that BIG BRASSFIELD caught hustling in, and that gave Argenziano *one* more shot with Ryan Cox – just *one*. Cox popped out to Lonzo, and that was the most unlikely, bewildering shutout in a while…! 8-0 Critters! Venegas 2-2, 2 BB, RBI; Lavorano 2-3, HR, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Brassfield 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Argenziano 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 9 K, W (2-1);

Interlude: Trade

The Raccoons made a last-minute trade after all, acquiring OF Jason Monson (.209, 4 HR, 26 RBI) from the Crusaders for 2B Joe Boese (.286, 0 HR, 1 RBI).

The Coons had been after Monson in the winter, but the Scorpions wouldn’t make a reasonable deal for him, then sent him to the Crusaders for Chris Navarro just one week into the season. He had batted .193 for New York, and they were tired of him. There was no drawback to this trade. Naughty Joe was a known quantity (and little of it), and Monson was in a contract year, and even if he didn’t hit, was still an excellent outfielder with three Gold Gloves on his shelf.

Raccoons (58-42) vs. Thunder (52-49) – July 30-August 1, 2055

Southpaw Sunday with Mike Zeigler, who we had anticipated on Saturday. Close enough.

Game 3
OCT: SS Almadanim – 2B Ban – RF M. Harmon – LF D. Ramirez – C Monaghan – CF Roura – 1B R. Cox – 3B J. Rivas – P Zeigler
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – LF Brassfield – RF Munn – CF Monson – 2B Knight – C Philipps – P Adkins

Ryan Cox’ double to center was the only base hit the first time through either lineup, and he was stranded in scoring position as Adkins got a pop from Jose Rivas, whiffed Zeigler, and got a grounder to Knight from Almadanim. The Raccoons had Monson and Knight on by a walk and a welt in the bottom 2nd, but then had Philipps ground into an inning-ending double play. Danny Munn walked in the fourth, but the Coons were hitless until Matt Knight shoved a leadoff single through the right side in the bottom 5th. The game was still scoreless then, Adkins yet to give something up since the Cox double earlier. Philipps threatened to hit into another double play, but the ball skipped under Almadanim’s glove and the Coons had another single and two Critters on base. Adkins bunted them over, then saw both of them plated; Venegas hit a sac fly to Roura, and Roura swiped but missed Lonzo’s fly into the left-center gap which became a 2-out RBI triple! Unfortunately Pucks would look at strike three in a full count to leave the runner at third base…

Oklahoma found three straight singles in the sixth inning between Zeigler, Almadanim, and Ban… but Zeigler overextended himself by bidding for a double against Big Brassfield and was thrown out at second base, and the rest of the bunch was stranded when Mike Harmon popped out.

Then Jason Monson got his first set of paws for applause in the bottom 6th. Danny Munn hit a 1-out single ahead of him, and then Monson socked a homer to left to double the score to 4-0! Not even the Agitator could talk this one down now! Hah!! Portland scored another crooked number the inning after as Venegas hit a home run, Lonzo doubled, and Pucks chipped in an RBI single off Jay Gunderson. Brassfield doubled, but Pucks only scored on Munn’s groundout to Ban, 7-0. Joe Nix replaced Gunderson, but gave up another run on Monson’s RBI single to left. Knight singled, Philipps singled and Monson scored, and then Adkins hit a ******* RBI double to right-center…! The Thunder arrived on their third reliever of the inning in Isaiah Mowatt. Venegas was unimpressed and hit another RBI single, but Lonzo finally ended the inning with a fly to Harmon. The Raccoons had shoved seven across for an 11-0 lead.

And Adkins? He was on 86 pitches, and while he retired the 7-8-9 batters in order, that cost him another 13 pitches in the eighth. We wouldn’t dare to push him to 125 pitches like Argenziano the day before, although he’d at least get the ball for the ninth inning. Almadanim singled on his first pitch in the ninth, but Monson tracked down Ban’s fly to center. Harmon chopped a bouncer back to Adkins, whose throw to second was imperfect – good enough to get the lead runner, but not good enough to get both of them as it got Lonzo out of sorts. Danny Ramirez hit a fly to deep right, but Solorzano tracked it down for the final out. 11-0 Furballs! Venegas 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Lavorano 2-5, 3B, 2B, RBI; Waters (PH) 1-1; Monson 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Knight 2-4; Philipps 2-4, RBI; Adkins 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, W (13-3) and 1-3, 2B, RBI;

In other news

July 26 – The Knights acquire SP Austin Wilcox (8-9, 4.85 ERA) and $3M in cash from the Falcons for five prospects.
July 26 – SP Troy Ratliff (6-6, 3.86 ERA) is traded from the Buffaloes to the Warriors in exchange for two prospects.
July 26 – The Condors send C Tim Lehman (.247, 8 HR, 45 RBI) to the Cyclones for outfielder Jamie Harmon (.241, 8 HR, 35 RBI).
July 27 – Gold Sox OF Bill Ramires (.341, 10 HR, 59 RBI) figures to be out six weeks with a strained hamstring.
July 27 – The Loggers get MR Ben Lehman (1-6, 7.40 ERA, 1 SV) from the Cyclones for a minor leaguer.
July 28 – LAP LF/RF/1B Salvatore Rodrigues (.335, 11 HR, 57 RBI) hits for the cycle in the Pacifics’ 7-1 win over the Buffaloes. The 24-year-old only gets four attempts at the plate, and converts them all. It’s the second cycle of the season after that of CIN Juan del Toro two months earlier.
July 28 – In another deal with the Cyclones, the Loggers grab back infielder Ricky Lopez (.325, 5 HR, 28 RBI) for two prospects.
July 29 – Scorpions 2B/SS Chris Navarro (.294, 1 HR, 36 RBI) is a home run short of the cycle while churning out five hits with no RBI’s but four runs scored in a 9-1 win over the Capitals.
July 30 – At age 42, INF/RF/LF Felix Marquez (.247, 5 HR, 40 RBI) collects his 2,500th career hit with the Capitals in a 10-5 loss to the Warriors. The milestone is a single off left-handed MR Juan Rivera (2-5, 4.76 ERA, 1 SV) in the eighth inning. Marquez, a 5-time Gold Glover, also has 1,684 career walks with a .272/.388/.397 slash and 199 HR and 1,062 RBI.
July 31 – WAS CL Tommy Gardner (4-3, 3.24 ERA, 17 SV) will miss at least one week with elbow soreness.

FL Player of the Week: DEN 2B/3B Ivan Villa (.298, 18 HR, 69 RBI), hitting .517 (15-29) with 3 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR OF/1B Alan Puckeridge (.275, 9 HR, 36 RBI), batting .478 (11-23) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: LAP RF Matt Diskin (.328, 24 HR, 76 RBI), raking .430 with 10 HR, 26 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: VAN OF Aaron Walker (.292, 12 HR, 68 RBI), batting .367 with 5 HR, 29 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: SFW SP Ricardo Montoya (13-2, 2.80 ERA), going a perfect 5-0 with 1.19 ERA, 33 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: IND SP Tan Brink (12-6, 2.47 ERA), going 4-1 with 1.42 ERA, 17 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW LF/3B/RF/1B Steve Dilly (.249, 12 HR, 55 RBI), batting .245 with 4 HR, 13 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: OCT INF Hélder Almadanim (.268, 2 HR, 34 RBI), poking .297 with 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Puuuucks!

First career shutout, *obviously*, for Cameron Argenziano on Saturday. He took 125 pitches, but he has long lost prospect, or hopeful status, so I didn’t feel like we were gambling with an asset by leaving him in that long. He won’t have an extra day, either, because the Raccoons won’t have another day off until the 16th of the month.

…and only the third career shutout for Adkins, but the second with the Raccoons. Seriously, what were the Caps and Buffos doing with the kid??

I don’t recall the Raccoons ever sweeping a series without conceding a run at all. 23-0 against the Thunder on the weekend! And it wasn’t even a CLCS!!

We even rallied all the way to *11th* in runs scored. Don’t get too excited, we were all of three runs ahead of the Condors. The 10th place Titans were six markers ahead.

The Scorpions offered Steve Wyatt this week, who’s having an off year with just 10 homers on a .234 clip on Wednesday, when we had talks. He also has another $33M on his contract and I wasn’t keen on getting *that* along with a 31-year-old on an off year. Also, they wanted He Shui, so – no.

The trade for Monson was more of an opportunity, because either he’s gonna hit or he’s gonna be gone in two months anyway. I wanted him in the winter and now, I’d take him because we realistically couldn’t get anything else. Naughty Joe for his part batted .213 with 2 HR, 15 RBI for the Coons in 114 games, which somehow sounded like too many games for a player of his non-stature. He was almost 27 at the time of the trade and would have been sent to AAA soon anyway.

As mentioned a second ago, the Coons will not have an off day for another two weeks… and not a home game either. A dreadful 4-city road trip was upon us, three of the destinations being on our side of the mountains: Vegas, Elk City, Indy, and LA-LA-Land.

Fun Fact: The 1,684 career walks of Felix Marquez only rank him 15th all time.

The most walks of all time were drawn by Pablo Sanchez – 2,047! – who played until he was 45 years old and for 27 seasons in total. Sanchez was more successful as a hitter with four batting titles and three Player of the Year awards, and also stole 721 bases, leading that career leaderboard as well. Marquez was at 335 stolen bases for his career. In turn, Sanchez won only one Gold Glove.

They have something in common though: neither of them played for a Continental League team in his 20s or 30s, but both did so in their 40s! Marquez’ age 41 season was with the Elks, while Sanchez spent a year and a half with the Indians and one each with the Bayhawks and Knights, all after turning 41.

+++

Don’t wait for an update tomorrow; I’ll be gone all day for a work event. Service should resume on Saturday, unless I drink myself to death to make the pain go away.

Fun Fact: Other than the Coons GM, I’m actually a teetotaler.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (61-42) @ Aces (45-58) – August 2-4, 2055

Long road trip starting in Vegas, where the Aces had the worst pen and the most runs allowed in the CL, although at this point I wasn’t expecting anything or anybody to get the Coons’ offense going anymore. Las Vegas ranked eighth in runs scored, and the Raccoons had won all six games played between these two teams so far.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (12-5, 3.26 ERA) vs. Jeremy Fetta (1-1, 3.04 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (7-6, 3.09 ERA) vs. Noah Hollis (5-10, 5.37 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (3-5, 4.93 ERA) vs. Bill Lawrence (4-7, 4.50 ERA)

Only right-handed opposition expected here. And no regulars Ken Hummel and Ray DeFrank, who were both on the DL.

Game 1
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 3B Venegas – 1B Rojas – 2B Waters – P Shui
LVA: 2B J. White – SS Welter – RF Austin – LF Kaniewski – CF Epperson – 1B Andersen – 3B A. Alfaro – C Dixon – P Fetta

After a scoreless first inning on Monday, Danny Munn narrowly missed a home run in rightfield and had to settle for a wallbanger double, but still came around to score with a groundout by Gowin and Anton Venegas’ sac fly to John Kaniewski in left. He Shui allowed some hard contact, but mostly on the ground, in the early innings, and the corner infielders did solid work in keeping the Aces from scoring. Shui also hit a leadoff single for the third inning, and Brassfield walked behind him. Lonzo dropped a single into left-center, and the Aces fudged the play long enough to allow Shui to score and the remaining runners to reach scoring position. It got worse for them: Aubrey Austin and Jeff Andersen politely conceded Pucks’ pop to shallow right to each other, leading to the thing dinking in for a 2-run double and a concerned look on the Aces’ manager’s face. Pucks was left on as Fetta retired the next three, despite stealing second base.

The game then went uneventful until Shui had two outs in the bottom 5th and randomly went rotten. Jonathan Harris’ pinch-hit double for Fetta was followed by two walks to Jim White and Jeremy Welter, then a 3-1 count to Aubrey Austin, who poked… and flew out to Pucks to kill the rally. One inning later, Andersen and Alex Alfaro hit 2-out singles to go to the corners, but were stalled with a K to John Dixon, and Shui would depart in the seventh with a 1-out White single and a 2-out walk to Austin. Takinaki got Kaniewski to pop out to Pucks in shallow center to end the inning. The righty got two more outs in the eighth, Sencion and Walters did the rest. 4-0 Coons. Lavorano 2-4, RBI; Waters 1-2, BB; Shui 6.2 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, W (13-5) and 1-2;

The Coons had just two hits after the third inning – and yet had their fourth straight shutout win!

Game 2
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – CF Monson – 3B Crispin – C Philipps – 2B Waters – P Taki
LVA: 2B J. White – SS Welter – RF Austin – LF Kaniewski – CF Epperson – 1B Andersen – 3B A. Alfaro – C Lytle – P Hollis

The Coons scored a quick run with Lonzo and Pucks singles and stolen base attempts; Lonzo’s was successful, leading to him scoring on Pucks’ single, but Pucks was thrown out. Pucks drove in Lonzo again in the third inning with another single, but this time neither tried to steal; Lonzo didn’t have to, he was already on third base after an RBI triple to plate Seisaku Taki, and Pucks decided he needed to gauge Hollis, the old Logger, better. Danny Munn walked and moved him to second base, and while Monson struck out, Ed Crispin hit an RBI single to center, 4-0, before Philipps also whiffed.

Hollis didn’t make it out of the fourth inning, getting bopped after singles by Waters, Brass, and Lonzo made it 5-0 with one out in the inning. Ryan Clements conceded both runs on Pucks’ groundout and a Munn single for the second 3-spot in a row.

While the Raccoons casually led 7-0 by the fourth inning, Seisaku Taki was also not allowing any base runners. The Aces were dry through five, with as many strikeouts. Brassfield, Lonzo, and Pucks loaded them up against Clements to begin the sixth inning, with two singles and Lonzo reaching on Clements error. Munn hit a sac fly to Kaniewski, while Monson hit a ball behind Kaniewski and over the fence on a bounce for a ground-rule RBI double, getting robbed of an RBI as Pucks was stopped at third base by law. Crispin got him home with a sac fly. New pitcher Adam Eutsler walked Philipps and gave up a 2-out, 2-run double to Matt Waters. Taki ended the 5-spot with a groundout, then also ended his perfecto with a leadoff walk to Alex Alfaro, although Jarred Lytle hit into a double play right away. Brass and Lonzo were taken out at the stretch since the next off day was yet 12 more games away. The no-hitter was also taken out in the seventh inning; first Crispin made an error to allow Austin on base, and then Kaniewski clipped a 1-2 pitch into rightfield for a single. Gunner Epperson flew out to Monson in center, though, stranding the runners on the corners. Taki retired the side in order in the eighth, but then got smacked in the ninth inning. Gustavo Larrea and Jim White hit singles, Jeremy Welter dished a 2-run double, and there went not only this shutout, but also the shutout streak. Ryan Harmer saw out the game from there, and managed to strand Welter with the third run. 12-2 Critters! Brassfield 2-5; Lavorano 4-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Knight 1-1; Puckeridge 4-6, 3 RBI; Waters 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Taki 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (8-6);

Shame for the shutout streak, but at least the winning streak continues. Also, after never going 9-0 against anyone until last year, when they did it to the Condors, the Raccoons now had the chance to dispose of the Aces in the same fashion.

They had to get around Kyle Brobeck for that, however.

Game 3
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – P Brobeck – 3B Venegas – C Gowin – CF Monson – 2B Knight
LVA: 2B J. White – SS Welter – RF Austin – LF Kaniewski – CF Epperson – 1B Andersen – 3B A. Alfaro – C Dixon – P B. Lawrence

The Aces took a 1-0 lead in the first, actually, getting singles from White and Welter. The former also got a stolen base, and the latter the RBI. Jeremy Welter got another one of those in the third inning, hitting a solo homer off Brobeck, while the Raccoons had yet to scratch anything together. Kyle Brobeck would drive in our first run in the fourth inning, finding Pucks on second base after an earlier double to center, and added a 2-run single to center to chase him home and shorten the score to 2-1. Venegas added another single, and Chris Gowin tried to shake off the slump with a 3-run homer to left! An inning later, Knight, Pucks, and Munn all hit singles, with Danny Fun driving in the backup infielder with a 2-out run, 5-2, but Brobeck gave that run back in another 3-single, 1-run frame for the home team in the bottom 5th. Austin got that RBI, and Kaniewski got squeezed inside and popped out to Pucks to strand the tying runs.

Those were on base again in the sixth as Brobeck drilled Andersen before John Dixon drove a 2-out double to right. The pair was in scoring position for Harris to bat for the pitcher; Harris already had a pinch-hit double in the series, and he’d be attended to by Bak. The count ran full, and eventually Harris flew out to Munn in right-center.

Top 7th, Brassfield singled and stole second against lefty Bob Kelly to begin the inning, but had to stop at third base on Lonzo’s single that dropped right in front of a rushing Kaniewski. Depressingly, the runners were stranded as Kelly whiffed Pucks, and got weak groundouts from Munn and Waters, the latter batting for Bak in the teeth-gnashing post-Brobeck advanced pitcher’s spot. The game thus remained close at 5-3, but the Raccoons’ pen remained stingy. Nukitori Zikunaki got four outs, Brett Lillis got two more to complete eight, setting up Hitchcock. The Raccoons put Knight and Lonzo on the corners with singles in the top 9th, which finally got rid of the lefty Kelly, with Vegas going to right-hander Trent O’Sullivan. Pucks lined out, Lonzo stole second with two gone, and then O’Sullivan nicked Munn. Carlos Solorzano batted for Lillis, then drove a liner to right. Austin hustled over, but couldn’t quite reach it, and it also bounced fair just two feet inside the line for a 2-run double, 7-3! Crispin batted for Venegas, but popped out foul to leave two aboard. Up by four, Eloy Sencion got the ball for the ninth inning, gave up a single to Alfaro, but otherwise completed the season sweep. 7-3 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-5, 2B; Solorzano (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Gowin 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Knight 2-3, 2B;

On the downside, when I asked the cab driver to drive me to a broom store, gigglingly, I had to walk to the airport.

At least that didn’t hold up the team, because we were on separate planes…:

Raccoons (64-42) @ Canadiens (50-58) – August 5-8, 2055

The Elks were very much out of things, fifth in the division and 16 games behind. They had the third-worst pitching, but ranked second in runs scored, with only a -5 run differential (Critters: +100). The Raccoons held a 4-3 lead in the season series. And, oh yes, the mutual hatred was still real, with the giveaway for the first 20,000 fans on Saturday scheduled to be true coonskin caps with fluffy tail and an Elks logo emblazoned on them.

Projected matchups:
Cameron Argenziano (2-1, 3.62 ERA) vs. Adam Middleton (5-7, 5.13 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (13-3, 1.70 ERA) vs. Hyuma Hitomi (4-11, 5.04 ERA)
He Shui (13-5, 3.11 ERA) vs. Jesse Lausch (7-5, 4.22 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (8-6, 3.04 ERA) vs. Anton Jesus (9-9, 4.65 ERA)

We’d miss their „ace“, Terry Herman (7-9, 3.86 ERA). All five starters were right-handed.

The Raccoons would sprinkle in off days to all the regulars during *this* series, because next up were the Indians, and we wanted the crew all aboard for that set that would begin on Monday. Nobody was off in particular on Thursday yet, but the current top four in the lineup were each marked for a sit-down, and probably Venegas and Waters once more as well.

Game 1
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – 3B Venegas – C Gowin – CF Solorzano – 2B Waters – P Argenziano
VAN: CF D. Moreno – SS Mullen – 1B Wheeler – RF A. Walker – 3B Adame – 2B Aparicio – LF A. Magnussen – C Julio Diaz – P Middleton

After a quick first inning, the Raccoons got Munn to draw a walk and then singles from Venegas and Gowin in the top 2nd. That loaded the sacks with nobody out for the bottom of the order. Solorzano grinded out a bases-loaded walk for the game’s first run, but Waters and Argenziano flew out. Waters’ was too short to get a run home, but the pitcher got the sac fly for a 2-0 lead, flying out to Damian Moreno in center. Brassfield singled, but Gowin couldn’t score from second base, and Lonzo scorched a liner right into Dan Mullen’s mitten to strand a full set. The Elks answered in force in the bottom of the inning. Aaron Walker … walked, Alex Adame singled, and Tony Aparicio reached on a Waters error to concede a run. Argenziano walked Adam Magnussen, walked Julio Diaz to tie the game, and the Elks took the lead on Middleton’s double play grounder. That wasn’t all. Damian Moreno rocked a 2-out, 2-run bomb, and then the Elks still scored another run with a Mullen single and a Jeff Wheeler double, 6-2. The Waters error made all but one of the runs unearned, but Argenziano was still yanked after putting two more runners on base in the bottom 3rd, even when Diaz hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

By then, Pucks’ triple and Munn’s groundout had made up one run for a 6-3 score in the top 3rd. The Coons went to Harmer on the hill, and Monson in center after Solorzano was felled by a hammy in the fourth inning. Harmer pitched two scoreless, then hit a sac fly off Jameson Monk after Waters tripled to get Middleton removed from the 6-3, soon 6-4 game. Brassfield hit a 2-out single after that, but Lonzo grounded out. Harmer added a third scoreless inning, which sounded not like Ryan Harmer at all, and then Pucks began the seventh inning with another triple off Dan Lawrence. Munn fanned, but Venegas brought in the run with a groundout, and now the Coons were only one run behind anymore. After a scoreless inning from Matt Walters, Monson drew a leadoff walk from Dan Lawrence to begin the eighth. Waters fell to 1-2, jabbed a ball into play that died halfway up the third base line, and legged it out for an infield single. Elk City moved on to left-hander Bernardino Risso, who struck out PH Tyler Philipps, popped out Pucks, and then frittered the lead away on a 2-out, 2-strike poker by Lonzo that dropped into shallow left-center for an RBI single – all even at six! Get ‘em boys!! Pucks was rung up by the lefty to strand a pair on base, though.

Bak allowed hits to Adame and Aparicio, Lillis walked Magnussen, the bases were full in the bottom 8th, and then Julio Diaz hit a 2-run single behind Waters to make all the effort moot. Top 9th, Munn grounded out to begin the inning against right-hander Ruben Mendez. Crispin batted for Venegas and singled. Mendez then walked the bags full, bringing back Waters, who hit a comebacker for a force play at home, doing away with Crispin, and now Matt Knight batted for Lillis, the last bat off the bench. He grounded out to Jose Uranga at second base. 8-6 Canadiens. Brassfield 2-5; Puckeridge 3-5, 2 3B; Crispin (PH) 1-1; Waters 3-5, 3B; Harmer 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Solorzano would miss the rest of the month in all likelihood, and was sent to the DL to cure out that hamstring. Here’s to more Prospero Tenazes…

Munn and Lonzo got Friday off then.

Game 2
POR: 3B Venegas – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – C Gowin – CF Monson – 2B Waters – 1B Rojas – 2B Knight – P Adkins
VAN: CF D. Moreno – SS Mullen – 1B Wheeler – RF A. Walker – 3B Adame – 2B Aparicio – LF K. Hawkins – C Julio Diaz – P Hitomi

The game started with a single from Venegas, and then the Raccoons didn’t get another base hit for a long time, let alone a run. Adkins scattered some runners, putting runners on the corners twice in the first four innings, but then always got the out pitch to bail him out to keep the game scoreless through four, f.e. a pop by Mullen and a groundout from Wheeler to keep Diaz and Moreno on the corners in the third inning. Matt Waters drew a walk in the fifth, which led nowhere, and Adkins had two more 1-2-3 innings to get through sixth before the Raccoons actually found a second base hit with a leadoff single for Pucks to open the seventh inning against Hitomi. Pucks was caught stealing, and the Raccoons disappeared without as much as a squeak.

Adame and Aparicio hit singles off Adkins in the same inning, but the Coons’ lefty Houdinied his way out of another jam with a double play bouncer to Waters from Kyle Hawkins. Waters then hit a leadoff single to center to begin the eighth. Rojas was awarded ball four on a disputed 3-2 pitch, then was forced out on Knight’s grounder. Lonzo batted for Adkins as the Raccoons were desperate for a run, but popped out foul in the first pitch he got from Hitomi, and Venegas’ grounder to Adame stranded the Critters on the corners… Bottom 8th, Walters and Harakiri bent around a leadoff single by Julio Diaz to keep the board empty. The Raccoons’ Japanese righty got two more outs in the bottom 9th, but also put Wheeler on base with a single and Adame with a walk. With two outs, Sencion replaced him in a double switch, replacing Pucks with Munn, to see to Kyle Hawkins, got him to 1-2, then gave up a high blooper to left near the line. Venegas chased after it, Brassfield hustled over for it. Neither made the catch, and Wheeler scored easily from second base. 1-0 Canadiens. Waters 1-2, BB; Adkins 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Bloody ******** ***********.

Pucks and Gowin were on the bench on Saturday, while Brassfield and Waters would be idle on Sunday.

Game 3
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 3B Crispin – RF Munn – 2B Waters – CF Monson – 1B Rojas – C Philipps – P Shui
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 3B Adame – 1B Wheeler – C Waker – RF A. Walker – LF Magnussen – 2B Aparicio – SS Mullen – P Lausch

Four singles, two walks, and Lonzo’s 47th stolen base of the season into Saturday’s game, the Raccoons still had nothing on the board. It was the top of the fourth, zilch-zilch with Shui scattering three hits himself, and Waters on second and Rojas on first. Philipps had just made a soggy second out, and then He Shui lobbed a 1-2 pitch over Dan Mullen for an RBI single and the Coons’ first run since the eighth inning on Thursday. Brassfield flew out to Aaron Walker to add to my frustration. The indiscriminate sucking with runners on base continued. Crispin and Munn hit singles in the fifth, and then Waters jammed a bouncer to Aparicio for a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Monson singled to begin the sixth, stole a base, and was stranded on second by the dismal bottom of the order. At least Shui was still nursing a 3-hit shutout…

Brassfield hit a leadoff single to left to begin the seventh against Alex Mancilla. The righty gave up a screamer to Lonzo, but right at Magnussen for an unlucky first out. Crispin singled, however, moving Brass to second base. Munn grounded to Aparicio, who made a bit of a clumsy old person’s grab and dropped the ball, costing the Elks one and perhaps two outs. The bases were loaded for Matt Waters, who fell to 1-2, but then got a mistake in the middle of the plate from Mancilla and drilled it into the rightfield corner for a 2-run double and a 3-0 lead. ******* finally! Jameson Monk then rung up Monson and got a groundout from Rojas, keeping two in scoring position…

Tristan Waker’s leadoff walk in the bottom 7th was erased on Aaron Walker’s 5-4-3 double play, but Shui was taken quite deep to left by Tony Aparicio, still 41 years old and not very silent, in the eighth. That narrowed the score to 3-1, but Shui finished the inning. Hitchcock then got ready again, and this time even got in the game. He struck out Adame and Wheeler, then got Waker to hit a harmless pop to finally take a game from the damn Elks! 3-1 Raccoons. Brassfield 2-5; Crispin 3-5; Waters 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Shui 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (14-5) and 1-4, RBI;

Don’t let up, boys! Get that split!

Game 4
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – CF Monson – LF Tenazes – 2B Knight – P Taki
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 3B Adame – 1B Wheeler – C Waker – RF A. Walker – LF Magnussen – 2B Aparicio – SS Mullen – P A. Jesus

After two singles off him in the first, Taki really turned it up in the second inning. Magnussen doubled and Aparicio raked another home run to left, and then the inning continued with a Moreno single on the tenth pitch of that at-bat, and three pitches later Alex Adame mashed a 2-piece over the fence in leftfield against his old team. Wheeler and Waker actually added more singles, but Wheeler ran the team out of the inning by making the third out at third base, getting thrown out by Danny Munn. At that point one goal became to at least not pour out the entire pen just ahead of a 4-game set with the Indians, and so Taki continued to pitch, also in the face of the stark absence of any kind of Raccoons rally. But in the bottom 5th a Venegas error put Adame on base, and then Jeff Wheeler right away bombed another 2-piece to left, extending the Elks’ lead to 6-0.

When the Raccoons couldn’t even score in a top 6th in which Pucks hit a triple, the game plan became shrugging and hoping Ryan Harmer could get most of the remaining nine outs before potential disposal to St. Pete. He actually batted after a scoreless inning with Monson, Tenazes, and Knight all having reached base to begin the seventh inning against Anton Jesus. The Coons weren’t fooled and let Harmer bat. He ******* drew a walk and pushed home Monson with the team’s first run of the game. Then Venegas popped out to Aparicio, Lonzo grounded to Mullen for a run-scoring fielder’s choice, and Pucks fell to 0-2 before drilling the next pitch to deep left. Home runs were denied to the Coons this week, but Magnussen was also denied a catch as he raced back to the track. The ball hit off the base of the wall for a 2-out, 2-run double, and the tying run reached the dish. Danny Munn flew out to Walker in right, and that was that.

For the second time this week, much-maligned Ryan Harmer pitched three shutout innings, despite putting Walker and Magnussen on base to begin the bottom 8th. Aparicio hit into a double play, and Mullen made a meek third out to keep the Raccoons two runs away from a split series. Knight grounded out against Risso to begin the ninth inning before Brass batted for Harmer, but struck out. Venegas grounded out. 6-4 Canadiens. Puckeridge 2-4, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Tenazes 2-4; Knight 2-4; Harmer 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K and 0-0, BB, RBI;

In other news

August 2 – NAS SP Richard Castillo (7-3, 4.43 ERA) throws a 1-hitter against the Pacifics for a 3-0 win. The no-hitter isn’t spoiled until one out in the ninth inning when LAP OF/1B Noah Caswell (.278, 4 HR, 24 RBI) singles.
August 2 – SFB LF/RF Eric Cobb (.331, 6 HR, 27 RBI) bangs out five hits, a cycle less the triple, and four RBI in an 11-8 shootout against the Titans.
August 3 – The Indians beat the Falcons, 11-1. The margin of victory is established in a 10-run fourth inning.
August 4 – An error, two walks, and a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning give the Crusaders a rather undeserved 1-0 walkoff win against the Condors.
August 6 – The Rebels beat the Miners, but take their time to win 6-5 in 17 innings. The Miners put up 16 goose eggs besides a 5-run sixth inning.
August 8 – NYC RF/LF Danny Rivera (.300, 15 HR, 61 RBI) reaches 2,500 career hits in a 7-2 win over the Loggers. Rivera slaps out three hits, reaching the milestone right away with a first-inning single against MIL SP Ben Lehman (1-8, 7.58 ERA, 1 SV).
August 8 – A broken kneecap ends the season of NAS 2B/SS/RF Jake Groff (.287, 4 HR, 45 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: SAL LF/RF Joshua Shaw (.321, 0 HR, 13 RBI), batting .481 (13-27) with 2 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN 3B Alex Adame (.302, 2 HR, 48 RBI), mashing .481 (13-27) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The dismal series in Elk City dropped the Raccoons four games behind the Indians with that 4-game set against them next. The Arrowheads swept the Titans in four games to recover from a 1-game lead before the set.

It was a weird week. The Coons had one homer – Gowin’s score-flipping 3-piece in Vegas – but five triples, three of them by Pucks. Once we left the sandy desert for the icy desert, we also couldn’t bat with runners on base anymore. If that doesn’t get drastically better right now, the Indians might break a seal or two for their first division crown since 2030 in the four games coming up. The Coons will also be in L.A. on the weekend.

Still humming, however, is Lonzo. In the last five weeks he scooped a dozen bases, breaking his way into the career top 30 and then some. While he was still behind Chris Navarro, who also stole an even dozen in the same timespan, Lonzo has already dropped Billy Bouldin, who had just appeared over the horizon in the career leaderboard excerpt last time we looked at it, although from here, the climb would be slower, and the gaps between positions on the leaderboard would get bigger, like 21 between the nearest retired players on the list:

t-24th – Piet Oosterom – 393
t-24th – Andrew Russ – 393 – active
26th – Javier Rodriguez – 391
27th – Chris Navarro – 372 – active
28th – Pedro Cisneros – 370
29th – Lorenzo Lavorano – 369 – active
30th – Paul Connolly – 366 – HOF
31st – Billy Bouldin – 365 – HOF
32nd – Alex Majano – 361

Already disposed of was Gold Sox Hall of Famer Paul Connolly, who played from 1979 through 1999 and stole over 80% of his bases in his 20s. He was an All Star eight times, but never led the league in anything but in doubles, twice. He did compile 3,023 base hits, however, to gain entry into the Hall of Fame.

Cisneros was a career Warrior that aged a bit too quickly, but stole 40+ bases five straight years in the 2020s right around winning a Rookie of the Year title and two World Series rings. Rodriguez played for four different teams from 2005 to 2019 and stole 60 bases as a 23-year-old, then never broke 45 again. He won a Gold Glove and a World Series with the Bayhawks and Falcons, respectively. The Dutch Antillean Oosterom was a quirky middle infielder from 2013 to 2026, who played mostly for the Gold Sox. He, too, got a Gold Glove, and while he stole 32+ for the first eight seasons of his career, his hitting let up after that and he slipped onto the bench of various teams in his 30s, derailing his pursuit of a higher tally that way.

And then there’s Andrew Russ, who has deserved all the hisses I can muster, and will get hisses as long as I live. The disgusting weasel also had 393 career stolen bases as of now, 627 of which had come against the Raccoons. He had spent all his career in the division for the Indians and Crusaders, going over there as free agent in the same offseason as Danny Rivera [see below]. He won two stolen base titles in 2044-45, but was not much of a hitter in general, and he was a sub-100 OPS+ batter for his career overall. He was just a disgusting weasel that existed only to make us suffer.

Fun Fact: Danny Rivera has spent his entire 15-year career in the CL North.

He was with the Indians for all his seasons in the 2040s, then signed with the Crusaders as free agent prior to 2050. He won a Gold Glove and five Platinum Sticks, and was an All Star eight times.

He has also led the CL in a variety of categories, winning three home run crowns, three RBI titles, and twice (in his first two seasons) topped the board for strikeouts. Outside his rookie season, he has always batted for a 112 OPS+ or better.

Overall, Rivera was a .281/.346/.454 batter with 332 homers and 1,442 RBI, as well as 256 stolen bases.

[Orcin]

Ancient writer, frequent lurker here... I can't just like the post anymore to show that I am still reading, so I have to reply.

Could ChatGPT do this? No way. 78 seasons????? Unbelievable. This thread is the all-time champion in my book. How many owners have you survived?

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Orcin

Ancient writer, frequent lurker here... I can't just like the post anymore to show that I am still reading, so I have to reply.

Could ChatGPT do this? No way. 78 seasons????? Unbelievable. This thread is the all-time champion in my book. How many owners have you survived?

No, I thank *you*! As you well know, this entire thread is all Otto Orcin's fault.

So, please, Master, don't crush me with your praise, for I am not worthy!

The Raccoons have had five owners only; they were sold twice in quick succession early on, and have been an asset in the portfolio of the Valdes family ever since, where there's only been Carlos, Carlosito, and Nick.

+++

This is as good a spot as any to address the grace mistake that was made with Ryan Harmer being assigned #42, for he is not worthy to wear Matt Nunley's kinda-retired-but-nah number. His old #40 was taken by the Japanese righty that has an immemorable name. Harmer's is changed to a more appropriate #38 right now.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (65-45) @ Indians (69-41) – August 9-12, 2055

Games 8 through 11 of the 14-day road trip got the Raccoons to Indiana for a perhaps critical 4-game set, which we could ill afford to lose if we still wanted to make an attack on the division title. The Indians had won four straight in sweeping the Titans and were sitting a modest fifth in runs scored, but were conceding the second-fewest runs in the CL for a +86 run differential, so the Critters’ lame-duck offense would be extra challenged. Their rotation ranked second, as was their defense. Their one real weakness was an utter lack of home run power, a category in which they ranked 11th in the CL, and besides the two Big B’s in the middle of their lineup, Bill Quinteros (.286, 14 HR, 74 RBI) and Bobby Anderson (.278, 10 HR, 54 RBI) had nobody with more than five dingers. We had a 7-4 lead over Indy for the year.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (4-5, 4.92 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (13-4, 2.66 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (2-1, 3.57 ERA) vs. Chris Edwards (8-7, 3.42 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (13-3, 1.62 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (12-7, 2.51 ERA)
He Shui (14-5, 3.01 ERA) vs. Bill McDermott (8-6, 3.04 ERA)

A dearth of southpaws had broken out – this was the second 4-game set in a row without a left-handed opponent for the Critters.

Game 1
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – P Brobeck – 1B Rojas – 2B Waters – 3B Venegas
IND: 2B Ewers – SS A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – CF M. Ceballos – RF J. Garza – LF Kokel – P En. Ortiz

Brobeck wasted no time in getting under the wheels with a leadoff walk to Kevin Ewers, a long double hit by Antonio Rios, and then a sac fly and an RBI single for the two Big B’s in the Indians’ order. They found another single clipped by Jose Garza, after Brobeck nailed Mario Ceballos, for a third first-inning run. Chaz Kokel finally grounded out to Venegas to end the dismal inning. From there, Brobeck added six scoreless innings on just three more hits, including a single each for Quinteros and Anderson, but the damage was done, and the Raccoons’ lineup remained decidedly lackluster. They pooled only three hits together through the seven innings that Brobeck pitched, and none of this amounted for a run. It didn’t get any better post-Brobeck, who went a real pitcher’s 0-3, 3K at the plate, with the bottom of the order disappearing in order in the eighth inning as Ortiz kept churning and spitting them out. Bobby Anderson doubled off Eloy Sencion in the bottom 8th, but that didn’t amount to a run, nor did Lonzo hitting a 1-out single in the ninth, getting forced out by Pucks, and Munn grounding out to Ewers to end the game… 3-0 Indians. Lavorano 2-4; Brobeck 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, L (4-6);

Well, that’s not the way to rally to the front of the division. The Indians were on the strength of Ortiz’ 4-hitter already assured to maintain 100% of first place by Thursday night. Tying them had always been the best possible outcome for the Coons in this series.

Game 2
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 3B Venegas – 1B Rojas – 2B Waters – P Argenziano
IND: 2B Ewers – LF Kokel – 3B B. Anderson – RF B. Quinteros – SS A. Rios – CF M. Ceballos – C M. Gilmore – 1B N. Fernandez – P C. Edwards

Tuesday got off much better, as two pitches into the contest Trent Brassfield cranked a home run to left for a quickie 1-0 lead. Pitch #3 was powered to left-center by Lonzo for another home run! That wasn’t the last blast off Edwards, who allowed a double to Gowin in the first, but had a clean second, before Lonzo hit a 1-out single in the top 3rd. Pucks drove him in with a wallbanger double in left-center, and while Munn struck out, Chris Gowin peppered the Raccoons’ third home run of the game, extending the lead to 5-0.

This sounded all nice and dandy, but we still had Argenziano, basically a replacement pitcher on a non-aspirant team, on the hill. He spent a lot of time behind in the count the first time through, scattered three singles, but didn’t walk anybody, nor concede a run. Well, he didn’t concede a run until Kevin Ewers hit a solo jack in the fifth inning to put a small dent into the 5-0 lead. Gowin led off the sixth with a single to left, ticking off all the cycle boxes except for the triple (career triples for Chris Gowin: 7), and Venegas and Pedro Rojas added two more singles against Ralph Needham to load the bases with nobody out. Waters popped out in foul ground next to third base, which didn’t help, and Argenziano flew out to Kokel in shallow left, except that Kokel flubbed the catch and the ball dropped for an error – the Raccoons then actually had to hustle to not still make an out on the play, but all paws were safe as a run scored on the error, 6-1. Brassfield added a run with a groundout, but Lonzo found the shortstop to end the inning.

It started to rain a bit soon after the Raccoons took a 7-1 lead, but only briefly and not long enough to warrant an interruption or abandonment of the game. Argenziano completed seven innings, and Matt Walters had a trouble-free eighth. The Coons put Lonzo on base in the ninth inning and he stole second base before Pucks singled him home for a tack-on run. We also hung around long enough to get Gowin back to the dish a fifth time; he had grounded out last time around, but this time got a fourth hit… albeit only a single to center, and the cycle had to wait for another day. Charles kept bleeding as Gowin and Crispin reached to fill the bases. Prospero Tenazes hit an RBI single, but Matt Knight flew out to centerfielder Mario Ceballos to end the inning. The 8-run lead went to Hyun-soo Bak in the bottom 9th… and he couldn’t get it over the line. Rios, Ceballos, and Mike Gilmore filled the bases on a single and two walks, and Nick Fernandez drove in a pair with a 2-out single. Eloy Sencion had to get the final out of the game. 9-3 Critters. Lavorano 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Puckeridge 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Gowin 4-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Argenziano 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (3-1);

1B Pedro Rojas (.226, 0 HR, 6 RBI) was returned to AAA after this game, having batted 2-for-22 with nothing worth tooting your horn about since being recalled in late July. At this stage Harry Ramsay was hitting .351 with 4 homers in AAA, and the Raccoons would try him again. He still had no homers in 183 PA for the Raccoons this year. In fact, the Raccoons didn’t have a home run from a proper first baseman (not: Pucks, Brassfield, Philipps) this season.

But first – another rainout on Wednesday, not the first one for these two teams this year. A double header was scheduled for Thursday.

Game 3
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 3B Brobeck – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – P Adkins
IND: 2B Ewers – C M. Gilmore – 3B B. Anderson – RF B. Quinteros – SS A. Rios – CF M. Ceballos – LF J. Garza – 1B D. Sandoval – P Brink

Through four innings in the opener on Thursday there was remaining moisture resulting in occasional drippings from the sky, and a total of one base hit in the game, but that one was a second-inning solo homer by Kyle Brobeck to give Adkins a skinny lead. The top 5th had 1-out singles from Rams and Waters, who were bunted over by Adkins. Brassfield walked in a full count, and Lonzo grounded to short to end the inning, ostensibly, but Antonio Rios fumbled the ball for a run-scoring error. Pucks flew out to Quinteros, stranding three. Rios made up for his sins with an infield single in the bottom 5th, the first Indians runner against Adkins, but was doubled up by Ceballos with a grounder to Waters, ending the inning. Gowin and Brobeck hit another pair of singles in the sixth inning, but were left on base by Rams and Waters, while Dan Sandoval hit another infield single off Adkins the same inning, but would be stranded on second by Ewers eventually.

That was all for the starters. The rain got more intense, and we got a rain delay of more than an hour in the top 7th. Brink went six and two thirds, while Adkins didn’t get another turn before the skies opened and the 2-0 lead went to Umfolozi in the bottom 7th. Anderson and Rios hit singles off him, but Ceballos popped out to Waters to end the inning. Lillis retired three lefty batters without much fuss and under ten pitches in the eighth. Hitchcock one-upped him in the ninth inning; while he took 13 pitches to get the Indians out, he did so by striking out Ewers, Gilmore, and Anderson in 1-2-3 fashion. 2-0 Raccoons! Brobeck 2-4, HR, RBI; Monson (PH) 1-1; Adkins 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, W (14-3);

Quite the squeezer! …and now, boys, one more, and then a late-night, cross-country flight to L.A. and looking all crisp and shiny again tomorrow…

Game 4
POR: 1B Brassfield – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – LF Venegas – 3B Crispin – CF Monson – 2B Knight – C Philipps – P Shui
IND: 2B Ewers – SS A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – CF M. Ceballos – RF J. Garza – LF Kokel – P McDermott

No shutout in the second leg of the day’s double-header, as Shui walked Rios and then got slapped around a bit for three singles by the Big B’s and Ceballos, giving up two runs in the first inning. The Indians invited the Raccoons back into the game, though. After turning away the Raccoons on the minimum in the first two innings, McDermott saw the brown battery reach on a pair of errors with one out in the third inning. Philipps got on with a single after Quinteros dropped a foul pop of his, while Shui dropped to 0-2, then swung away and reached on a Rios error. Unfortunately Brassfield flew out and Lonzo whiffed as the Raccoons turned down that invitation…

The error-assisted Philipps single was still the only Coons hit on the board when the Indians clipped another three hits for a third run off Shui in the bottom 6th. The next invitation was mailed right away to begin the seventh inning. McDermott walked Venegas, then nicked Crispin. Jason Monson appeared as the tying run, but flew out to Ceballos. Matt Knight singled up the middle, however, and Venegas scored from second. Ceballos threw home late, and the tying runs reached scoring position with one down. McDermott walked Philipps, and with the bases loaded, the Raccoons had to bat for Shui. Danny Munn took ball four inside in a full count, which forced in the Critters’ second run, and which was the end of the road for McDermott, too. Orlando Altreche replaced him, struck out Brassfield, but Lonzo snuck a single up the middle, and the game was tied! Pucks slapped home two go-ahead runs with a single to left-center before Ramsay batted for Venegas, but flew out to center to end the 5-run seventh!

This was also the point where Ryan Harmer tried his very utmost to return into the bad apple category. He got the bottom 7th with the 8-9-1 hitters, but shuffled the bags full while retiring only one batter. Edwin Ortiz, Kevin Ewers, and Antonio Rios were all on base with the Big B’s coming up. The Raccoons plucked Matt Walters as replacement for Harmer before the righty could seriously harm himself. Walters sparkled – he rung up Quinteros, and got a casual pop to shallow left from Anderson, starving all the runners! Walters also batted with Knight (reached on error) and Philipps (got nailed) on base and two outs in the eighth – we were already ahead, and the pitching resources left were limited. He struck out, but got another three outs in the bottom 8th, which made it totally worth it.

Lonzo was on 49 each of RBI’s and stolen bases as the ninth inning began. Brassfield singled ahead of him, stole second (his own 13th bag), and reached third base on a bad throw by Poindexter. If your money was on 50 stolen bases ahead of 50 RBI for Lonzo, you’d be disappointed, because Lonzo brought in the tuck-on run with a sac fly to Chaz Kokel, 6-3. The ball for the save then went to Bak, who had nearly choked on the ninth inning on Tuesday, but it was between him and Sencion now, and there were right-handed batters up, starting with Kokel. Sencion would only get involved if the Indians kept batting long enough to bring Quinteros to the plate. He did not – Bak retired the Indians in order, and the Raccoons grabbed the series to cut their deficit in half! 6-3 Raccoons! Philipps 1-2, BB; Munn (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI; Walters 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

The real mind boggler here was that the Raccoons scored six runs on four hits, all singles. The Indians made just as many errors – and *yet* … all the runs were earned…!?

Raccoons (68-46) @ Pacifics (58-58) – August 13-15, 2055

The players looked tired on Friday, and I was tired enough to pour some coffee into my morning booze. But the schedule was relentless, and the next off day still wasn’t until *after* this series in L.A. The Pacifics ranked second in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed, but with a +61 run differential which didn’t really mesh with their .500 record. They had the third-worst rotation by ERA, but a steady pen, so you had to get them early. Maybe the second-worst D in the league would help. These teams had not played each other the last two seasons, but the Raccoons had won the last four sets played, all by two games to one.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (8-7, 3.25 ERA) vs. Pat Birkemeier (0-1, 10.00 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (4-6, 4.86 ERA) vs. Roberto Oyola (9-4, 3.80 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (3-1, 3.19 ERA) vs. Jim Reynolds (6-6, 4.64 ERA)

Still no southpaw in sight, but at least we’d start the series against a 36-year-old quad-A journeyman spot starter.

Game 1
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – C Gowin – RF Munn – 3B Venegas – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – CF Monson – P Taki
LAP: 1B C. Rice – 2B Lindauer – LF Rodrigues – RF Diskin – C Kissler – SS R. Price – CF K. Fisher – 3B Miguel – P Birkemeier

The Coons looked dead from the waist up the first time through, getting only a walk drawn by Waters against Birkemeier. Lonzo’s leadoff double in the fourth was their first base hit, and marked the go-ahead run in scoring position, since Taki, who had been sent ahead after the rainout on Wednesday to not fly on the Red Eye Special in the dead of night on Thursday, was stingy with base runners and had held the Pacifics to one hit the first time through. Gowin grounded out, moving Lonzo to third base, but Danny Munn ran into one and barged the hanger over the fence for his 20th homer of the year and a 2-0 lead. The Pacifics answered with leadoff singles from Chris Rice and Jeremy Lindauer, and Matt Diskin and Rick Price each singled home a run to re-tie the game right away in the bottom 4th before Kyle Fisher struck out to leave the go-ahead runs on the corners.

Through seven, the Coons still had only the Lonzo double and Munn bomb against Birkemeier and the second-hand scaffolding that held him together. They were just not in shape to play a ballgame that night, having reached their hotel after 4 AM. Taki then had another collapsetastical inning in the seventh, loading the bags with singles by Fisher, Gustavo Miguel, and Rice. Miguel Medina batted for Lindauer with two outs, the count ran full, and Medina singled through between Lonzo and Venegas for a 2-run single. Sencion struck out Salvatore Rodrigues after that, but it was too late for Taki. The best the Raccoons could do was to scratch out a no-decision for him – which they miraculously did in the eighth. Ed Crispin had entered in a double switch with Sencion, and batted with Waters on first after a leadoff single. Birkemeier offered another *terrible* hanger, and Crispin mashed it no softer than Munn had dunn four innings prior. This 2-run homer tied the game, got rid of the awfully dominating and dominatingly awful quad-A scrub Birkemeier, but the Pacifics pen then didn’t allow another runner in regulation.

Sencion put on a pair, but was bailed out by Bak in the bottom 8th, and Lillis had a 1-2-3 ninth to send the game to overtime, which was *just* what the doctor ordered for the Portland Walking Dead, who nevertheless opened the bonus baseball rounds with a jack Ramsay hit off Jason Posey in the righty’s second inning of work. Waters singled, but was picked off, and it remained 5-4 for the inning. The Pacifics brought up all left-handers in the bottom 10th, all hitting .332 or better, and all with 11 homers or more; Diskin even had 25 bombs for the year. The Raccoons stuck to Lillis. Rodrigues fanned. Diskin flew out to Pucks in rather deep right but still short of the track. Aaron Kissler popped out to Crispin to end the game. 5-4 Rac-snoozers! Waters 2-3, BB; Crispin 1-2, HR, 2 RBI; Lillis 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (4-2);

The boys went to bed without the usual midnight buffet that day, and slept nine straight hours, snoring so loud that we got complaints from the neighbors.

Don’t care. A win’s a win’s a win!

Game 2
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – P Brobeck – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – 3B Venegas
LAP: 1B C. Rice – 2B Lindauer – LF Rodrigues – RF Diskin – C Kissler – SS R. Price – CF K. Fisher – 3B Miguel – P Oyola

Portland took the early lead on Saturday, getting a single from Gowin and a double up the rightfield line from Brobeck to put a pair in scoring position in the second inning. Ramsay’s sac fly made it 1-0, and Waters’ groundout kept it 1-0. Venegas (who was forced out by Brassfield), Lonzo, and Puckeridge all hit singles to extend the lead to 2-0 in the third, and with runners on the corners Oyola had Munn at 0-2, but then hung one and Danny Fun punched it for a 3-run homer, 5-0!

Brobeck was a mixed bag. On the plus side, he allowed no hits through five innings, but he also walked four Pacifics and escalated his pitch count rather quicky. The Coons continued to tack on just in case with a solo jack for Ramsay in the sixth inning against Omar Vargas, who also allowed a single to Waters. Sam Heisler would give up back-to-back RBI *triples* to Lonzo and Pucks in the same inning, walked Munn, conceded another run on a Gowin single, and then was yanked for another right-hander in Jose Reyes, who had Brobeck at 0-2, but then gave up an RBI single to center anyway. Another run scored on a wild pitch before Ramsay lined out to Chris Rice to end the inning. Up 11-0, Brobeck could go as long as he pleased, but he gave up a leadoff single to Rodrigues in the bottom 6th immediately. Diskin hit into a 4-6-3, Kissler drew a fifth walk, but Rick Price struck out. Fisher, Gustavo Miguel, and Adam DeRosia filled the bases to begin the bottom 7th, but the Pacifics fell apart for a Rice sac fly and Lindauer jabbing into a double play. That was the only run off Brobeck, who needed 104 pitches through seven, offering six walks. Walters had a scoreless eighth, and the Raccoons got another run in the ninth on a groundout by Ramsay, the run being scored against ex-Coon Joy-shan Kuo. Gustavo Miguel answered with a homer off Ryan Harmer in the bottom 9th, but that was all there was to the Pacifics’ rally. 12-2 Critters. Lavorano 3-5, 3B, 2B, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI; Gowin 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Knight (PH) 1-1;

With a second straight loss in Denver, the Indians fell into a tie for first place with the Raccoons ahead of Sunday.

Game 3
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 3B Crispin – 2B Knight – C Philipps – P Argenziano
LAP: SS DeRosia – CF Caswell – 1B M. Medina – C Maresh – 2B L. Harrison – RF Diskin – LF K. Fisher – 3B R. Price – P Reynolds

Both teams brought up most of their bench, at least until Noah Caswell hurt his knee plunging into third base in the first inning and had to be replaced with Lindauer again. To add insult to injury, he was also thrown out trying to go first-to-third on a Medina single. Chris Maresh drew a 2-out walk, but Argenziano wiggled out of the inning against Lance Harrison, keeping ahead 1-0 after the Raccoons had gotten a first-inning marker on the board with singles from Brassfield, Munn, and Ramsay; the RBI went to Danny Munn. Top 3rd, Lonzo and Pucks had base hits with one down, but Munn popped out to Medina. Rams was on spot though, driving a double over Lindauer’s head to plate both runners for a 3-0 lead, then scored on a double Crispin zinged up the leftfield line! Knight was drilled, but Lindauer caught Philipps’ fly to center to end the inning.

The Pacifics continued to unravel. Argenziano pressed his ERA under three with as many scoreless innings to begin the game, then hit a single to knock out Reynolds at the start of the fourth inning. Sam Heisler got hit by another bus, conceding hits to Brassfield and Pucks – 5-0 – before walking the bags full with a free pass to Danny Munn. Rams singled home a run, Crispin added another one with a groundout, and Heisler was disposed of for Jose Reyes again, who grounded out to Adam DeRosia to end the inning. 7-0 lead, though.

All looked dandy until Argenziano didn’t return after the fourth inning, collected by Luis Silva for injury concerns. Matt Walters was rushed into the game, gave up a leadoff double to Price in the fifth and balked the run across with two outs. The 7-run lead was restored in the top 6th with Pucks and Rams going to the corners and a well-placed RBI groundout by Crispin. Seven became eight an inning later with a solo jack Waters ripped off Joy-shan Kuo after entering the game in a double switch with Ryan Harmer, who threw two scoreless innings. The rest of the innings were delivered by Fujimori and Hitchcock, as the Raccoons out-spanked the Pacifics in hits, 17-4, and almost as lopsided in runs. 9-1 Furballs! Brassfield 2-5, BB, 3B; Puckeridge 3-5, 2 2B, RBI; Tenazes (PH) 1-1; Ramsay 4-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Waters 2-2, HR, RBI; Argenziano 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K and 1-2; Harmer 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

In other news

August 9 – Scorpions 2B/SS Chris Navarro (.306, 1 HR, 45 RBI) has put a 20-game hitting streak together. He hit three singles in the team’s 4-1 win over the Wolves on Monday.
August 10 – The Wolves get back to SAC 2B/SS Chris Navarro (.304, 1 HR, 45 RBI) on Tuesday, holding him to an 0-for-4 line and killing his 20-game hitting streak. They also beat Sacramento, 9-4.
August 11 – Every day was an event in the Scorpions-Wolves series: SAC CL Tim Moore (3-0, 2.14 ERA, 28 SV) notches his 300th career save in a 5-3 win over the Wolves, every single one of them for the Scorpions, who he has spent his entire 9-year career with.
August 11 – All of the 12 games contested on Wednesday (the Indians and Raccoons are rained out, but Titans and Crusaders played two for a rainout on Tuesday) are won by the home team; two of the games are walkoffs, and one of those takes 11 innings for the Canadiens to beat the Loggers, 6-5.
August 13 – Another 300th save is notched by DAL CL Sam Gibson (4-3, 2.94 ERA, 12 SV) in a 7-4 win over the Crusaders. The 35-year-old is 53-53 with a 2.55 ERA for his career.
August 15 – CHA RF/LF Danny Ceballos (.338, 5 HR, 59 RBI) hits for the cycle with a 5-hit day in a 4-3 win over the Buffaloes. The game goes 11 innings, and while Ceballos hits two doubles as part of the cycle, those both occur in extra innings. The second double drives in the winning run. This is the second cycle against the Buffaloes in less than three weeks after L.A.’s Salvatore Rodrigues achieved the feat on July 28.
August 15 – The Warriors’ quest for repeat FL West titles falls apart more and more with news that shoulder inflammation has ended the season of SP Shane Knox (10-7, 3.07 ERA).

FL Player of the Week: DEN 1B Bill Joyner (.333, 14 HR, 63 RBI), dishing .452 (14-31) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC INF Zach Suggs (.316, 11 HR, 60 RBI), batting .440 (11-25) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Indians got swept by the Gold Sox in Denver, and so the Raccoons, after an initial hiccup on Monday, raged from four games behind on Monday morning (and five on Monday night) to a 1-game lead by winning six in a row, while the Indians dropped just as many.

This was a tough stretch, and it’s not like it gets easier from here, but at least the next two Mondays are off. We play the Miners and Crusaders next week, and finish the month with series against the Loggers, Bayhawks, and Knights, the latter series already bleeding into September.

No word on what is wrong with Argenziano, but why do they always get hurt just when they’re starting to pitch semi-competently…? If Argenziano goes down, we might go to Craig Kniep, who was acquired from the Caps last month. Kniep had a 3.35 ERA with the Alley Cats, but was still walking too many (22 in 40.1 innings, against 41 K). Ugh, decisions, decisions!

Kennedy Adkins remains dominant, dropping his ERA to 1.57. Only one pitcher (Tan Brink) is even within a full run of him in the CL, and Brink is just barely at 2.47. Brink’s teammate Enrique Ortiz leads Adkins by 28 K for the strikeout crown (nobody in between those two, however), and Adkins ties for second with 14 wins, the lead behind held by He Shui with 15.

Fun Fact: Friday’s eyes-closed, extra-inning win against the Pacifics was the 6,666th regular season victory for the Raccoons.

Brett Lillis jr. got the W for his two shutout innings in the ninth and tenth.

Only one other team has reached the mark of 6,666 wins: the Thunder with 6,680 wins. The Raccoons are only 12 wins behind.

We’re also second in rings with eight. The Titans have the lead there with ten.

[Westheim]

Luis Silva reported that Cameron Argenziano had a sore thumb and would be day-to-day for a few more days. He’d not miss a start; Monday was off, and from there he was on the tail end of the line anyway.

Raccoons (71-46) vs. Miners (55-60) – August 17-19, 2055

The Coons had a 6-game winning streak, and the Miners had a 5-game winning streak. Something’s gotta give here, and with the #9 offense and #5 pitching of the Federal League producing only a -3 run differential, perhaps it would be them. Last time these teams met, the Miners swept the Raccoons in 2052.

Projected matchups:
Kennedy Adkins (14-3, 1.57 ERA) vs. Victor Salcido (8-7, 3.82 ERA)
He Shui (15-5, 3.06 ERA) vs. Jeff Johnson (9-5, 3.87 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (8-7, 3.35 ERA) vs. Josh Swindell (3-8, 5.79 ERA)

The Raccoons continued to not draw any left-handed starters.

Game 1
PIT: 2B A. Vasquez – SS Spehar – CF Abercrombie – 3B Corrales – LF C. Jimenez – 1B Abecassis – C Lefebvre – RF Thomason – P Salcido
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 3B Brobeck – 1B Ramsay – 2B Walters – P Adkins

Ryan Spehar found the gap for a first-inning double and was singled home by Victor Corrales for a quick 1-0 deficit, but there was reason to believe that Adkins wouldn’t surrender any more, and Danny Munn’s 2-run homer in the bottom 1st flipped the score already. Trent Brassfield had opened the bottom 1st with a double. But Adkins did not not surrender any more… not; the Miners saw something in his delivery and kept hitting flies to deep right for threats. They didn’t get any hits in the second and third innings, but both Corrales and Alex Abecassis got doubles to tie the game in the fourth inning. Abecassis hurt himself and was replaced by Bill Hartman.

The Raccoons didn’t have much after Munn’s 2-piece in the first and Munn’s double in the fifth inning, which came with Pucks on first base and nobody out. Pucks made a bad step and stumbled half the way from second to third base, preventing him to score on the play, but hey, two in scoring position and nobody out! The Miners were mean beans, though, walked Chris Gowin intentionally to put the Raccoons into the three on, no outs trap, and here was the pitcher batting – Brobeck popped out, Rams hit into a double play, and I just hated life in general.

Pittsburgh answered with three singles to take a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning, and chewed up Adkins to the point where he had 108 pitches on the odometer in what was really a mediocre start. Waters drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 6th, and then Venegas batted for Adkins and singled to center to put the go-ahead run on base. Brassfield scratched out a soft single on a 3-2 pitch, but Waters was held at third base against the strong arm of Chris Jimenez. There it was again – three on, nobody out. Lonzo grounded a sharp one to short that Spehar fired home to force out Waters, and then Victor Salcido struck out both Pucks and Munn to strand another three runners. Of course, when the Miners loaded the bases in the seventh inning with a single, two walks, and two outs against Eloy Sencion, and the Coons moved on to Zikizaki, Bobby Murillo snapped a pinch-hit 2-run single to put the ******* game away. 5-2 Miners. Brassfield 3-5, 2B; Munn 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Gowin 2-3, 2 BB; Venegas (PH) 1-1;

Gah.

Game 2
PIT: 2B A. Vasquez – SS Spehar – 3B Corrales – 1B Mayorga – CF Abercrombie – LF C. Jimenez – C W. Gardner – RF Thomason – P J. Johnson
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 3B Venegas – 1B Ramsay – 2B Walters – P Shui

Portland did the early scoring on Wednesday; both Munn and Rams reached with bloop singles in the second inning before Matt Waters thumped a 3-run homer to take an equally-sized lead, and then the fourth inning came around with singles from Munn, Venegas, and Rams again, the latter hitting a 1-out single with the other pair on the corners, dinking it behind Spehar to extend the lead to 4-0. Waters hit another single to center, filling the bases, but Shui rumbled into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Pucks doubled home Lonzo in the fifth inning to knock out Jeff Johnson for Eddie Sotelo; Lonzo had stolen second base, nipping his 50th of the year in his second try in the game, having been thrown out two innings prior.

Shui threw a 1-hit shutout through five, and the only Miners batter to reach with a base hit, Vasquez with a single in the first inning, was caught stealing. But the Miners put Wade Gardner, the former Critter, on base with a sixth-inning single, and another ex-Coon, Nick Thomason, forced him out with a grounder, but was then bunted to second. Vasquez snipped a single to center, plating the runner, 5-1, and then stole second base, but was left on when Spehar flew out to Danny Munn. Josh Abercrombie drew the first walk off Shui in the seventh, but was also caught stealing to then end the inning anyway. Shui still had a 3-hitter through eight innings, but also had thrown 95 pitches. We’d *try* him in the ninth inning, but the pen was up and ready. Bill Hartman grounded out easily on the first pitch of the ninth inning, but Vasquez then dropped a single behind Lonzo. Spehar was Shui’s last batter and grounded to Waters. Throw to Lonzo, throw to Rams – ballgame! 5-1 Raccoons! Ramsay 3-4, RBI; Waters 3-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Shui 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (16-5);

Game 3
PIT: 2B A. Vasquez – SS Spehar – 3B Corrales – 1B Abecassis – CF Abercrombie – LF C. Jimenez – C W. Gardner – RF Thomason – P Swindell
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – 3B Venegas – 2B Waters – CF Monson – C Philipps – P Taki

Taki struck out five and walked one (Thomason) in the first three innings, but also needed almost 50 pitches to get that far, so I wasn’t mad about Shui having pitched a complete game the day before. The same three innings, the Raccoons scattered three hits for no greater good and didn’t score either. Top 4th, Spehar opened with a single past Waters, and then Corrales drew a walk. I sighed, and Maud walked in at just the right time with fresh muffins to distract me. Abecassis struck out, but Josh Abercrombie singled through the right side. Spehar went from second base, but was thrown out at the plate by Danny Fun! Taki ended the inning with a K on Chris Jimenez, stranding a pair. A throwing error by Anton Venegas made the fifth inning just as difficult, with the go-ahead run stranded at third base, and it all further escalated to where Taki needed 85 pitches through five innings.

Bottom 5th, Monson drew a leadoff walk, but didn’t get the jump he needed to steal a base, which would have come handy here. Philipps singled to center, though, and Taki bunted the runners into scoring position for Brass, who ran a full count, then eventually walked. Okay, Lonzo, we need a ******* base hit here. (gets another blueberry muffin stuffed into the snout by Maud to curtail the bad language) … The count ran full between Swindell and Lonzo, and Lonzo fouled off the first 3-2 offering. The second one was knocked forwards and upwards, and to deep center. Abercrombie was one the run, jumped and reached, missed it, then ate some dirt, while the ball went to the wall and Lonzo notched a bases-clearing double!

Taki went into the seventh, but walked Wade Gardner to begin the inning. Thomason flew out, and normally Taki would have been lifted by then, but the Miners weren’t batting for Swindell because they were anticipating the reliever to come in. And the Coons didn’t send a reliever because they were anticipating the pinch-hitter. So those two pitchers, neither of whom felt this was still his spot to be in, had another at-bat, with hesitation. Taki got two strikes, then a grounder to short that Lonzo turned for a double play, giving Taki seven very laborious shutout innings. Swindell then got stuck another run on back-to-back 2-out doubles by Brass and Lonzo for a 4-0 lead in the bottom 7th. Pucks lined out softly to keep Lonzo on base. Lonzo still had all the team RBI’s at that point, but a solo jack Matt Waters hit off Tony Martinez in the eighth inning took that distinction away from him. Walters and Bak got the last six outs without major trouble to put the game away for a series win. 5-0 Furballs. Lavorano 2-4, 2 2B, 4 RBI; Waters 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Philipps 2-3; Taki 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 8 K, W (9-7);

Raccoons (73-47) @ Crusaders (63-58) – August 20-22, 2055

The Raccoons hadn’t been particularly good this year against the New Yorkers (6-5), who had to start sweeping the top two in the division if they still wanted to get into the playoff fight, but as of now they were 10 1/2 games out. But we all knew the leads that the Raccoons liked to blow to the Crusaders… New York ranked fourth in runs scored and third in runs allowed with a +47 run differential (Portland: +130). They were missing starter Dave Washington and outfielder Oscar Caballero on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (5-6, 4.66 ERA) vs. Alex Murillo (4-11, 4.48 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (3-1, 2.91 ERA) vs. Neil Hamann (6-4, 3.63 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (14-4, 1.67 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (9-8, 3.61 ERA)

Hey there – a southpaw! That would be Hamann in the middle game.

Then, for problems, Friday’s opener was rained out and we got a double header on Saturday, with our two worst starters up. That wasn’t the first time this had happened this year. The Coons ended up changing the pitching assignments to get Brobeck to face the left-hander Hamann, paired with Tyler Philipps, who was the best option to bat ninth without being an actual pitcher.

Game 1
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – RF Munn – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – CF Monson – P Argenziano
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – CF G. Cabrera – SS Z. Suggs – LF Culp – 3B Gates – 1B E. Stevens – RF Buss – C Seidman – P A. Murillo

An Omar Sanchez double past Munn and a Zach Suggs single in front of Munn gave the Crusaders a first-inning run, but the Purple Poopers also hit into a double play to end this and the following innings, while the Raccoons found singles from their 8-9 batters and then a huge 3-run blast by Brassfield to left in the top of the third for a 3-1 lead. Lonzo got on base afterwards and was left on base, then did one better in the fifth inning after Brassfield hit a leadoff single. Lonzo tripled into the gap to extend the lead to 4-1, and scored on Munn’s single to center, 5-1, after Ramsay had grounded out to first base. That was the end for Murillo, who had surrendered ten hits in 4.1 innings. Argenziano meanwhile didn’t get a K until the fifth inning, but was also holding the Crusaders remarkably short after the first-inning hiccup. Omar Sanchez hit an infield single to begin the bottom 6th, but was then caught stealing as the Crusaders continued to have things go wrong. Meanwhile for Lonzo, it continued to go right. He batted with Monson and Brassfield in scoring position and two outs in the eighth inning, and hit a single to left-center off Jim White to drive home two more runs. The Crusaders had pairs on base in the eighth and ninth innings, once courtesy of Argenziano and once of Ryan Harmer, but still didn’t get anybody home. Mike Seidman struck out to leave Erik Stevens and Jeff Buss in scoring position to end the game. 7-1 Raccoons. Brassfield 3-4, BB, HR, RBI; Lavorano 3-5, 3B, 3 RBI; Ramsay 2-5; Monson 2-5; Argenziano 7.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (4-1) and 1-3;

Game 2
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – LF Brassfield – P Brobeck – RF Monson – CF Tenazes – 2B Knight – C Philipps
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – CF G. Cabrera – SS Z. Suggs – RF D. Rivera – 1B Sevilla – LF Culp – 3B Gates – C Reese – P Hamann

Lonzo singled and stole second in the opening frame of the nightcap, but the rest of the team had trouble keeping up and he was kept on base. Brobeck hit a single to begin the top 2nd, but was also not supported by the rest of the crew, then gave up a run in the bottom 2nd, which he started quite terribly by nailing Raul Sevilla and walking Nate Culp. Even with that invitation, it took the Crusaders a 2-out RBI single from their own pitcher Hamann to drive in a run. Omar Sanchez grounded out to leave a pair on the corners. Brobeck kept leaking runners; two singles in the third, and then a leadoff single by Prince Gates and four straight balks to very light hitting Justin Reese in the fourth. Hamann popped up a bunt attempt, Sanchez grounded into a fielder’s choice to Knight, and Gil Cabrera bounced out to Venegas. Brobeck was trying his best to get turned inside-out, but the Crusaders weren’t getting over the hump against him.

Well, they still led 1-0, though, and then the fifth inning began with a single for scarcely-used Prospero Tenazes, and a four-pitch walk to Knight, just like the previous Crusaders inning. At 0-2 to Philipps, Hamann threw a wild pitch to put the runners into scoring position. But now, boys! Now you gotta score them! Philipps grounded to Suggs, which got the tying run home, and Suggs lost the ball on the transfer for an error, allowing Philipps to reach as well. Knight got home by Venegas… but that was with Venegas hitting into a 6-4-3 double play. Sigh.

Brobeck offered two more walks to begin the fifth inning, SOMEHOW got out of the jam with a 2-1 lead and Monson racing down Prince Gates’ drive to deep center to keep the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, but his pitching was so awful that he was not invited back for the sixth inning, even against the shoddy battery. He got one more turn at-bat, though, hitting a single with two outs and nobody on, and Monson grounded out to end his day.

The Crusaders eventually did tie the game in the seventh inning against Kazinori Kawasaki, who offered a single to Zach Suggs, a wild pitch, and an RBI single to Danny Rivera in quick succession, all of which sugged. Justin Reese then whacked a leadoff double of Kawasaki in the bottom 8th after the Raccoons had once more stranded Lonzo in scoring position in the road half of the inning. We were ready to send Lillis until Jeff Buss, a righty stick, pinch-hit for the pitcher and then had the current pitcher face one more. Buss hit a sharp grounder to Venegas, who picked, turned, and tagged out the advancing Reese, while Buss was safe at first base. Instead, Lillis imploded, walking Omar Sanchez, and giving up hits to Suggs and Rivera, which sugged, and gave the Crusaders a 4-2 lead. Bak had to get out of the inning, and then the Coons faced their former haphazard closer Willie Cruz. Crispin singled to right, bringing up the tying run with Munn pinch-hitting for Monson, but whiffing. Tenazes singled to center. Waters batted for Knight and flew out to left. Ramsay batted for Philipps and whiffed. 4-2 Crusaders. Lavorano 2-4; Crispin (PH) 1-1; Tenazes 2-4;

To be honest, there was a metric crap ton of missed chances on both sides, so it wasn’t like we were cheated out of one here.

Rubber game!

Game 3
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – P Adkins
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – CF G. Cabrera – SS Z. Suggs – LF Culp – 1B Sevilla – 3B Gates – RF D. Rivera – C Seidman – P Seiter

After Brassfield drew a leadoff walk to begin the game and got exactly nowhere with it, the Raccoons put their slowest runners on base in the second inning, and then actually got Gowin to score from second base on a Venegas single to right-center for a 1-0 lead with one gone in the second inning. That was all through five – neither team had more than two hits, and Adkins also had only one strikeout, but at least was efficient and got weak contact as opposed to Tuesday, where the Miners were hitting him easily. He needed just 51 pitches through five.

But then came the sixth inning. Omar Sanchez opened with a single to center, and then Cabrera and Culp filled the sacks with walks. Adkins got to 0-2 on the next two batters, and struck out Gates, but not Sevilla, who had already singled in the tying run. Danny Rivera grounded to Waters for the third out and were now tied after six, with Adkins suddenly up to 76 pitches… Seidman hit a leadoff single then in the next inning, but was doubled up by Seiter’s bad bunt and the game remained tied through the seventh inning. Both hurlers were still going in a tense eighth; the Coons drowned 1-2-3 with their 1-2-3 in the lineup, but Suggs singled to center with one down in the bottom 8th. Culp shot the next pitch at Waters for a 4-6-3 double play on which both runners were beat by at least 30 feet, which sure sugged… for them.

Willie Cruz was back in the ninth inning, getting quick outs from Munn and Gowin. Then Waters singled to center. Then Rams singled to right-center. Then Venegas singled to left-center. Waters went from second base, was waved around, and scored just ahead of Cabrera’s throw to break the tie…! Ramsay also went to third base, while Tenazes batted for Adkins, but popped out. The Coons went to Hitchcock, who had been wrapped in foil all week, and popped out Buss to begin the bottom 9th. Gates grounded to Lonzo for the second out. Danny Rivera was suspiciously batting seventh despite sitting around the .300 mark and 15 homers. Hitchcock got him to 1-2, then gave up a game-tying blast to right. Seidman reached on a Waters error, but Erik Stevens grounded out to Venegas to send the game to extras, where the game didn’t hang around for too long before Eloy Sencion gave up singles to Omar Sanchez to begin the 10th and to Nate Culp to end the 10th… 3-2 Crusaders. Venegas 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Adkins 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K;

In other news

August 16 – Pacifics SP Omar Vargas (6-6, 6.19 ERA) is done for the year, having been diagnosed with radial nerve compression.
August 17 – Wolves SP Blake Sparks (9-9, 2.76 ERA) will try to rehab a partially torn UCL over the winter and come back for Opening Day.
August 18 – NAS C Jose Cantu (.305, 16 HR, 70 RBI) chips in three extra-base hits and six RBI in a 16-2 rout of the Crusaders.
August 18 – LAP C Chris Maresh (.254, 2 HR, 26 RBI) hits a 3-run homer for the only scoring in a 3-0 win over the Condors.
August 19 – ATL 2B/SS Willie Acosta (.295, 9 HR, 39 RBI) would miss two to three weeks with a lat strain.
August 19 – The Pacifics take 17 innings to down the Condors, 6-3. They score three runs in the ninth, and another three runs in the 17th inning.
August 21 – The season of DAL SP Rich Morrall (4-14, 5.58 ERA) ends with ruptured finger tendons.
August 21 – The Pacifics beat the Stars, 1-0 in 10 innings. LAP 1B Chris Rice (.286, 12 HR, 53 RBI) drives in the game’s only run with a 2-out double in the top of the tenth.

FL Player of the Week: DEN RF/LF/1B Nelson Aguilar (.371, 5 HR, 25 RBI), hitting .464 (13-28) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB 2B/LF Armando Montoya (.276, 15 HR, 65 RBI), batting .462 (12-26) with 1 HR, 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The inability to find a ******* closer that doesn’t ******* **** up ever five ******* minutes. That one’s driving me mad.

Where are the Grant Wests of modern times???

I can’t even… I am raging mad right now about that Sunday game. On the last strike! ON THE LAST ******* STRIKE!!! (tries to strangle Hitchcock while Brass and Pucks try to pull him off the right-hander)

RAH!! … (hiss!!!) … Loggers and Baybirds at home next week. So that means I can’t even claim “oh well, nothing good ever happens at the Bay” when we’re not even playing at the ******* Bay!!

Fun Fact: 17 years ago today, the Condors’ Alvin Zuazo hit for the cycle against the Bayhawks.

Zuazo went from a scouting discovery out of Venezuela signing for free with the Condors to winning a World Series with the Stars 20 years later, and in between was a rather reliable first baseman with some good offensive seasons, who somehow won only one Platinum Stick while batting .270/.343/.393 for his career. He led the FL in RBI in 2046, driving in 117 runs for the Cyclones, which at age 36 was also his best season for homers with 22. He landed 1,703 hits overall with 133 HR and 792 RBI. He also stole 158 bases.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (74-49) vs. Loggers (56-69) – August 24-26, 2055

The Loggers did what they did best, playing out the string, but we shouldn’t think of their second-worst pitching as an invitation, because their #3 offense in the CL had torn the Raccoons a new one more than once this year. The Loggers actually led the season series, 8-4. Ricky Lopez, Bobby Rivera, Adriano Chavez, and Luke Moses were all on the DL and/or ailing for the Loggers.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (16-5, 2.95 ERA) vs. Jamie Kempf (6-11, 5.37 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (9-7, 3.20 ERA) vs. Juan Mercado (7-5, 5.29 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (4-1, 2.68 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (11-9, 2.86 ERA)

Just like Argenziano and Kyle Brobeck had pitched in a double-header on Saturday, the Loggers’ Mercado and Riddle had both pitched in a double-header on Friday and were interchangeable. Didn’t matter too much for setup purposes – they were both left-handed.

Game 1
MIL: CF Starnes – SS Gaxiola – RF Pigman – 1B Worthington – LF Callaia – C C. Thomas – 2B F. Vazquez – 3B T. Edwards – P Kempf
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – P Shui

The Raccoons had Brass and Lonzo in scoring position with a walk and double in the first inning, but scored only one run on Munn’s groundout as the 3-4-5 couldn’t find a base hit. Chris Gowin walked, but Matt Waters whiffed. That ended the inning, but the second inning began with a pair of singles through the seams by Ramsay and Venegas, who were bunted into scoring position by He Shui. Brassfield struck out, Lonzo grounded out, and it looked like it would be a long week again. Bottom 3rd, another pair of leadoff singles to center then for Pucks and Munn. Gowin popped out to Perry Pigman, but Waters singled over Robby Gaxiola into left-center. Pucks went for home from second base, was thrown out, and the Raccoons managed to strand another pair in scoring position when Ramsay grounded out to Gaxiola. Then the Loggers’ 6-7-8 batters hit a string of 2-out knocks off Shui in the fourth inning and tied the game at one that way. They had found only one base hit in the first three innings.

The bottom 5th marked the FOURTH time in the game that the Raccoons began an inning with two guys on base, as Lonzo and Pucks went to the corners with another pair of singles. Kempf lost Munn on balls, filling the bases, and finally somebody found a hit in a RISP spot as Chris Gowin slapped a single to center for a 2-1 lead. Waters hit one to the deepest part of the park, but also into Dennis Starnes’ mitten for a sac fly. Rams popped out, Venegas flew out, and that was another two runners left on. At least Shui was doing reasonably well outside of those three straight hits in the fourth inning. He only allowed three more plus a walk in his seven innings of work, and got two double plays as well, although at one point Gaudencio Callaia also lined out on a 3-0 pitch to begin an inning…

There were four lefty batters in the 2-3-4-5-6 string of the Loggers order, David Worthington being the exception. Lillis came in to face the group in the eighth, and was taken deep by Worthington, taking away the insurance run in what was now a 3-2 game. Hitchcock struck out the side in the ninth, though. 3-2 Coons. Lavorano 2-4, 2B; Puckeridge 2-4; Shui 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (17-5);

Not pretty, but at this point we take wins regardless of individual beauty…

Game 2
MIL: SS Gaxiola – 2B M. Martinez – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – RF Callaia – C C. Thomas – 3B T. Edwards – CF Starnes – P Riddle
POR: 1B Brassfield – SS Lavorano – LF Venegas – RF Munn – 3B Brobeck – 2B Waters – CF Tenazes – C Philipps – P Taki

The Loggers picked a run in the second from Worthington and Travis Edwards doubles, then another one in the third on just singles by Gaxiola, who also stole another base because we never could him keep the **** off them, and Miguel Martinez. The Coons didn’t get a hit until Taki flipped a shy 1-out single in the bottom 3rd, but he was driven home by Lonzo with a 2-out single to left-center. Venegas hit another single, but Munn’s fly to center was caught by Starnes to end the inning before the deficit could be made up in its entirety. The Coons fudged that run right back onto the scoreboard in the fourth inning. Edwards hit a 2-out single, stole a base, there was a passed ball, and finally an RBI single for Starnes, 3-1…

The fourth was quite for the Portlanders, because it took Taki to tickle the team into more offense. Or, well, a throwing error by Gaxiola to begin the bottom 5th, putting Taki on second base. The brown team seemed in no hurry to score him; Brassfield popped out, Lonzo walked, and Venegas grounded out to finally get to third base. Munn punching a K also kept him at third base… Pucks batted for Taki after six innings when the Raccoons had Tenazes and Philipps on base and two outs, and with the Loggers just having introduced right-handed reliever Ben Lehman. One pitch by Lehman was enough to wholly undo Riddle’s line on the ledger, as Pucks shot it 358 feet to right, well outta here for a score-flipping 3-run homer…!

Starnes got on base against Notinapark in the seventh, but was stranded. Pigman and Worthington struck out against Matt Walters to begin the eighth before Callaia drove a ball to deep left – but there it was caught on the warning track by Venegas, while I was still wondering why the heck we had such troubles with the Loggers this year. The Coons neglected getting an insurance run in the bottom 8th despite a Brobeck double and walks drawn by Waters and Philipps. With the bags full, Jason Monson struck out, and Brassfield grounded out to Travis Edwards. Hitchcock then blew the lead, drilling Edwards, giving up a single to Starnes, and then a sac fly to Jose Cadena in the #9 hole. Lonzo sighed. Apparently he had to do EVERYTHING around here. Facing Dave Lister to lead off the bottom 9th, he ended the game with a homer to left-center. 5-4 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Brobeck 2-4, 2B; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI;

Loooooonzooooooo!!

…and then, surprise, no actual second lefty in the Thursday game. Instead we got Josh Costello (3-14, 6.44 ERA), because apparently he could stop the Loggers’ losing spree.

Game 3
MIL: SS Gaxiola – CF M. Martinez – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – RF Callaia – 2B R. Lopez – 3B T. Edwards – C Cadena – P Costello
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 2B Waters – CF Monson – 3B Crispin – P Argenziano

Argenziano came to the plate with the bags full on courtesy of three second-inning walks (including an intentional one to Ed Crispin) and two outs, but ended the inning with a grounder to Ricky Lopez. On the other paw, he struck out three and was perfect the first time through the Loggers order, so I was still loathing the day in the certainly-near future when he’d hit his head on a lintel for the second time and remember that he was supposed to be a 27-year-old bust sucking it up on the AAA level.

A walk to Gaxiola to begin the fourth inning was bad enough; Gaxiola stole bases #48 and #49, unimpressed by the Coons battery, and then scored on Pigman’s sac fly to left for the game’s first run. The fifth began with a Callaia single to right, and he stole second base as well. – Maud, put a catcher with a throwing arm on the offseason shopping list, be so good…… The Loggers went on to get Cadena on base with a 2-out walk before Costello slashed a liner to deep left. Callaia went for home and scored while Brassfield collected the ball. Cadena went for the plate as well, but took on of Chris Gowin’s knees to the chest and a few spikes to the hand, and was ruled out to end the inning, too. He was replaced with Chris Thomas by the bottom of the inning, but the Loggers were now still up 2-0.

Through six, the Coons’ offense was terrible. They had four hits, but also two double plays blundered into, and still no runs. Gowin and Waters began the seventh inning with more singles, at least putting the tying runs on base, but that brought up Monson, who had hit .193 with the Crusaders, and was just as terrible with the Raccoons. Tempted to pinch-hit, the Raccoons didn’t, and Monson raked an RBI double to left to get a run on the board, and the tying and go-ahead runs into scoring position with nobody out. Crispin hit a mighty drive to right-center, but it hung too long and was caught by Callaia for a sac fly, which at least leveled the score. Rams batted for Argenziano, except the Loggers didn’t let him and directed him to first base right away, hoping for a double play from Brassfield, but his grounder to the right side was only good enough for one, and Monson brought in the run for the 3-2 lead. Lonzo singled home Ramsay for a fourth run in the inning and the game, before Pucks grounded out to Ricky Lopez.

Now Lillis got on the snout in the eighth inning, walking Edwards before giving up an RBI double wedged into the leftfield corner to Dave Robles. Brassfield’s throw home also allowed Robles to put his tying-run *** at third base with one out. Lillis then nailed Gaxiola before being lifted for Hyun-soo Bak. The Loggers answered with Ryan Bishton’s lefty stick batting for Miguel Martinez, but he lined out to Ramsay at first base – and Gaxiola, the little pest, was caught astray and was tagged out for a 3-U double play, and the Coons’ 4-3 lead being delivered from the brink of destruction. Since Hitchcock had been out two days in a row with mixed success, Matt Walters got the ball for the ninth inning with another two lefty sticks coming up. Pigman, Worthington, and Callaia went in order to complete a minimalistic sweep. 4-3 Critters. Lavorano 2-4, RBI; Gowin 2-3, BB; Crispin 1-1, BB, RBI; Argenziano 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, W (5-1);

The Coons had not used Ryan Harmer (0-0, 0.73 ERA) in this series, and wouldn’t use him in the future either. He was put on waivers and DFA’ed on Thursday to make room for Reynaldo Bravo, the 24-year-old right-hander that had made just three appearances for Portland last year before missing almost 12 full months with a torn rotator cuff. He had made 15 rehab appearances in AAA, but his time there was up. In those 15 games he had struck out 17 batters with an ERA of zilch.

Bravo’s previous #23 was now Monson’s, so Bravo was assigned #30.

Raccoons (77-49) vs. Bayhawks (68-58) – August 27-29, 2055

The Bayhawks were rallying in the CL South, having closed the gap to the Knights to six games recently. They needed more wins, and the Raccoons were supposed to provide them. The season series was even at three right now, and San Francisco ranked seventh in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed with a modest +27 run differential. No injuries for them.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (5-6, 4.56 ERA) vs. Milt Cantrell (14-5, 2.79 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (14-4, 1.64 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (12-7, 3.63 ERA)
He Shui (17-5, 2.89 ERA) vs. Andy Overy (10-5, 3.37 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday!

Game 1
SFB: SS X. Reyes – C Redfern – 1B Allegood – 2B A. Montoya – LF C. Morris – 3B Hoogendoorn – RF E. Cobb – CF Caban – P Cantrell
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – P Brobeck – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – C Philipps

The only base knock the first time through for either team on Friday was a Lonzo double to left-center in the first inning. He then stole *third* base, and was stranded there like usual.

The first Baybirds hit was an infield single for Chris Morris with two outs in the fourth inning, and in between walks to Armando Montoya and Adam Hoogendoorn, filling the bases in total. Eric Cobb’s single and Armando Caban’s double drove in three runs in total. Danny Fun answered with a leadoff jack in the bottom 4th, but that would only cut the deficit to 3-1. Waters singled, stole second, and was driven in by Venegas with a 2-out single, and then Venegas stole second base, but was left on base on Philipps’ lazy grounder. The rest of the deficit was indeed made up, though, for only one out in the bottom 5th. Brass whacked a double, Lonzo grounded out to move him to third base, and then a passed ball charged to Keith Redfern did the rest. But the second the Coons were even, the increasingly annoying Brobeck gave up leadoff singles in the sixth; Montoya and Morris went to the corners, I went for a new bottle of booze, and a sac fly would give them a new 4-3 lead…

Top 8th, Bravo got his first two outs coming back from a yearlong rehab process after Eloy Sencion had gotten Morris on a grounder to Waters to begin the inning. Bravo rung up Hoogendoorn, then saw Eric Cobb ground out to third base. This kept the Raccoons close, and they had a real threat going in the bottom 8th. Pucks singled off Vic Flores, and then Ed Crispin batted for Bravo in the #5 spot and doubled to left against right-hander Sam Geren. Tying run at third, go-ahead run on second, and one out for Matt Waters – groundout to first, and then Ramsay with a pop to first. On the bright side… (unscrews bottle of Capt’n Coma) Slappy, I have one with a worm in it!

The Bayhawks got three hits of Omikozi in the ninth inning, enough for an insurance run they wouldn’t need, because the Raccoons went in order against Patrick Jones in the bottom of the ninth. 5-3 Bayhawks. Brassfield 3-5, 2 2B; Munn 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Crispin (PH) 1-1;

Sigh.

I’ll give you a tenner if you eat the worm, Cristiano. – Because apparently I have to make my own fun around here.

Game 2
SFB: SS X. Reyes – C Redfern – 2B A. Montoya – 1B Whitehurst – 3B Peltier – RF M. Brown – LF E. Cobb – CF Caban – P Koga
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 3B Venegas – 1B Ramsay – 2B Knight – P Adkins

Adkins faced an all-righty lineup and they appeared to do alrighty against him, starting with a Xavier Reyes walk and continuing with enough singles to load the bases with the 1-2-3 batters. Nathan Whitehurst gave them a lead with a grounder to Lonzo, but the other two runners were stranded with a pop by Adam Peltier and a K to Matt Brown. Eric Cobb drew another leadoff walk in the second inning, then was doubled up when Armando Caban poked at a 3-1 pitch. Adkins didn’t get any sharper any time soon, but at least stopped the crap with the leadoff walks and had the defense catch a few, while the Raccoons didn’t even get a hit the first time through the lineup. Lonzo had a leadoff single to left in the bottom 4th, though, and Pucks found another single through the right-side hole to send Lonzo to third base. Munn whiffed, but Gowin dropped a single into center to tie the game. That was all, Venegas and Ramsay making poor outs to kill the inning.

Adkins fought the Bayhawks to a draw at the stretch, allowing only three hits in total. And he *actually* got a lead in the bottom 7th. Venegas opened the inning with a liner that dropped in front of Brown for a single, and then *Matt Knight* hit an RBI double to left-center to give Portland a 2-1 lead. That was all the support the bums could muster for their teammate, while Hyun-soo Bak then gave up a leadoff double to right to Kodai Koga in the eighth inning. Oh well, maybe next time… No – Bak struck out the 1-2 batters, then got a fly to center from Montoya, and Pucks had no trouble with that, ending the inning with Koga still stranding on second base and grumbling at his own team.

Koga was still going in the bottom 8th, giving away another leadoff double to Pucks. The bases slowly filled with walks, drawn by Munn and Venegas, before Ramsay struck out. Matt Waters batted for Knight, drew a bases-loaded walk, and then Monson whiffed to leave three aboard. The Bayhawks mustered only three groundouts against Hitchcock in the ninth inning. 3-1 Raccoons. Puckeridge 2-4, 2B; Munn 0-1, 3 BB; Waters (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI; Adkins 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (15-4) and 1-2;

Little offense, skinny wins.

I know, Slappy, this one was *two* runs! What am I even complaining about – they had a huuuge cushion…

Game 3
SFB: SS X. Reyes – 3B Peltier – 1B Allegood – 2B A. Montoya – LF C. Morris – RF M. Brown – C Redfern – CF Caban – P Overy
POR: 1B Brassfield – SS Lavorano – LF Venegas – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – C Gowin – 2B Waters – CF Tenazes – P Shui

The rubber game saw the Critters up 1-0 in the first inning without as much as a base hit. Overy threw four balls in four attempts to Trent Brassfield, who stole second, then took third base when Redfern’s throw bounced away from Armando Montoya for an error. Lonzo got him home with a sac fly to left. Lonzo would do his own single-and-swipe-second trick in the third inning, being then plated by Venegas with a 2-out single to extend the lead to 2-0. Pucks singled to right, but Brobeck popped out foul to end the inning. Shui so far had not allowed a runner, whiffing three the first time through the order, but Mike Allegood got him for a 2-out single in the fourth inning. And Shui then got Montoya with a K.

Shui also hit a single to open the fifth inning, while Overy lost Brassfield on balls once more; it was only his second walk of the game, but both to the Coons’ young masher. Speaking of mashing, Lonzo then wrapped a 3-run homer around the left foul pole, at which point I actually became excited and jumped around like a young grasshopper before minding my old man bones and crawled back to the couch.

After striking out the side in the sixth inning, He Shui finally found trouble in the seventh inning in form of Adam Peltier and Armando Montoya both socking doubles up the leftfield line. Montoya also stole third base and came home on Chris Morris’ groundout, which narrowed the lead to 5-2. Matt Brown reached base, but was then caught stealing to bring on stretch time, and also bedtime for Shui. Bottom 7th, facing Cody Lovett, Lonzo and Venegas hit leadoff singles, then swiped a pair of bases together, reaching double-digits individually: 55 for Lonzo and 11 for Venegas. One scored on Pucks’ sac fly to left, and the other on a 2-out single by Gowin, 7-2, before Darren McRee got San Fran out of the inning with an easy fly from Matt Waters. Bravo and Sencion didn’t even need that big a lead – the Coons finished the week with their first not-so-close game of it. 7-2 Raccoons. Lavorano 3-3, HR, 4 RBI; Venegas 3-4, RBI; Gowin 2-4, RBI; Shui 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (18-5) and 1-3;

In other news

August 25 – NAS SP Travis Baker (7-10, 3.09 ERA) puts together a 2-hit shutout in a 7-0 win against Cincinnati.
August 25 – Season over for Loggers outfielder Bobby Rivera (.277, 8 HR, 41 RBI), who needs surgery to fix a broken bone in his elbow.
August 27 – LVA LF/RF John Kaniewski (.273, 10 HR, 67 RBI) could miss up to a month with back spasms.
August 28 – Falcons catcher Luis Miranda (.287, 11 HR, 65 RBI) has three hits and five RBI in a 14-0 rout of the Crusaders.
August 29 – The Crusaders’ right-hander Kyle Turay (11-10, 3.44 ERA) will miss the rest of the season after being ominously diagnosed with a forearm strain.
August 29 – As the Rebels beat the Gold Sox, 16-9, in a busy game, RIC RF/LF Willie Sanchez (.265, 21 HR, 69 RBI) chips in two homers and six RBI.

FL Player of the Week: NAS C Jose Cantu (.312, 19 HR, 77 RBI), hitting .524 (11-21) with 3 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA RF/LF Danny Ceballos (.344, 6 HR, 64 RBI), batting .519 (14-27) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Lonzo was 11-24 with 2 HR and 7 RBI, plus four more stolen bases. Maud, get the good stationery out, we’re writing a harsh letter to the thickheads in New York.

The Indians lost on Tuesday and Sunday to increase our lead from two games to four this week, but of course the year is far from over. There’s another series with them coming, for starters.

Carlos Solorzano was ready to come back on the weekend, but with the roster expansion on Wednesday, we sent him to AAA for a rehab assignment to get that optional pick for the playoff roster. It’s our only one; the remaining personnel on the DL – Raffy and Lamotta – are not going to come back this year.

Next week we’ll be on the road, visiting the Knights and Elks, with roster expansion along the way. It’s hard to find enough personnel worthy of bringing up…

Fun Fact: He Shui has won three more games than any other pitcher in baseball this season.

The silly thing is that he is doing it without a lot of run support. The Raccoons, who were bottoms in runs scored for long enough, were plating only 3.96 runs per game for him.

It’s exactly the same for Adkins, by the way, and he has fewer wins despite an ERA more than a full run better than Shui.

(shrugs!) Baseball!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (79-50) @ Knights (77-52) – August 30-September 1, 2055

A difficult week for the Critters was to start with a 3-game set in Atlanta, the Knights also sitting in first place in their division and leading the Bayhawks by eight games. This pitted the best offense in the league (Atlanta, in case you hadn’t paid much attention) against the best pitching and defense, while the Raccoons had to poke up to the #3 pitching staff. This had so far not been a recipe for anything but disaster, the Knights having already carried away the season series, 5-1.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (9-7, 3.24 ERA) vs. Jeremy Baker (10-9, 4.07 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (5-1, 2.67 ERA) vs. Vic Harman (7-4, 3.51 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (5-7, 4.60 ERA) vs. Bruce Mark jr. (7-7, 4.44 ERA)

The series began with a southpaw and twice-ringed former Raccoon and would then bring only right-handers after that. What it wouldn’t bring was the established middle infield for Atlanta, with both Willie Acosta and Eric Miller on the DL, along with Eddie Moreno.

Game 1
POR: 1B Brassfield – SS Lavorano – LF Venegas – RF Munn – 3B Brobeck – C Gowin – 2B Waters – CF Tenazes – P Taki
ATL: 2B R. Thompson – C Almaguer – 1B P. Fowler – LF Kirkwood – CF Alade – RF Stipp – 3B Villacorta – SS Kaufman – P J. Baker

The Coons went up 2-0 in the first inning as Lonzo and Venegas hit singles and both scored from the corners when Danny Munn hit a ball all the way to the fence in the right-center gap for a 2-run double. Brobeck walked, but was doubled up on Gowin’s grounder to Brian Kaufman. The second inning already saw an hourlong rain delay, because that was what we needed with Taki on the hill and then Laurel and Hardy scheduled for the rest of the series. Taki had thrown only six pitches in the first inning, though, so the hope was that it wouldn’t put him out of sorts too much. The only batter that got a single off him the first time through would be the opposing pitcher, which seemed to happen more often than called for, but Pat Fowler cranked a homer to left in the fourth inning to cut the lead back to 2-1. Taki then melted and walked the bases full with straight free passes to Chris Kirkwood, Jon Alade, and Pat Stipp, which was slightly disconcerting. Leo Villacorta popped mile high up and out to Prospero Tenazes in shallow center, and Brian Kaufman lined out to third base. The count to Baker ran full, but Baker whiffed on a 3-2 pitch that burrowed itself a new home in the dirt. It also got away from Gowin, and suddenly the runners were in motion. Gowin scurried after the ball, flung it to first base, and Trent Brassfield somehow managed to snatch the ball, reaching into the running lane, and then twisted away before the steaming Baker could tear his arm off – inning over…!

Taki retired five more batters after that before he walked Villacorta with two outs in the bottom 6th. Kaufman singled sharply to left, and with Eduardo Avila, another ex-Coon, pinch-hitting at that point, the Raccoons went for the pen. Avila bounced the first pitch by Tikitaka up the middle, Lonzo speared it on the run, and then lost grip on the wet ball and the error filled the bases. The count to Ronnie Thompson then ran full, and his quick bouncer went through the left side between Lonzo and Brobeck for two runs, flipping the score, while a fourth run for Atlanta scored on a wild pitch… Pedro Almaguer ended the inning with a backwards-K, but by then the damage had been done in abundance. Jon Alade added a run with an inside-the-park home run in the bottom 7th. Eloy Sencion threw a bad pitch, and Danny Munn couldn’t reach the drive in the rightfield corner, which ended up bouncing off both the fence and the sidewall, just like Munn shortly before he fell down.

The Coons hadn’t had a whiff of a threat for multiple innings at that point. Brobeck had hit a double in the middle innings. That had been about it. But David Hardaway gave away singles to Gowin and Pucks to begin the ninth inning, and suddenly the tying run was at the plate with nobody out. Harry Ramsay batted for Tenazes, but flew out meekly. Matt Knight had been in the #9 hole for a while since a double switch that had put Matt Waters to bed, and he dropped a single in front of Alade to fill the bases for Trent Brassfield. And not everything shiny was automatically golden, but Brass sure was, blasting a drive to deep left center and outta here!! GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!

Suddenly Kevin Hitchcock had to be mobilized to pitch the bottom of the ninth, now with a 1-run lead. It didn’t get any more than that with Lonzo and Venegas making outs against Ramon Montes de Oca to end the top 9th. But Hitchcock also didn’t need any more support – he retired Kirkwood, Alade, and Gustavo Pena in order, with two strikeouts! 6-5 Raccoons! Brassfield 2-5, HR, 4 RBI; Venegas 3-5; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – C Philipps – P Argenziano
ATL: 2B R. Thompson – CF Alade – LF Kirkwood – 1B P. Fowler – RF Stipp – C Almaguer – 3B Villacorta – SS Kaufman – P Harman

Another day, another 2-0 lead in the first inning, this time with Brass and Lonzo hitting singles, tearing the tardy Knights battery for a double steal, and then scoring on Pucks’ groundout and Munn’s sac fly to left. Argenziano had a good first inning, but soon began to run into trouble. The third inning began with a 1-2 pitch that nailed Kaufman, and even though Harman popped out foul after that, a walk to Ronnie Thompson moved the lead runner to second base anyway. Alade then hit a fly to deep left, but it was too high and not long enough and dropped into Brass’ mitten on the warning track, although Kaufman scurried on to third base. Kirkwood hacked himself out on a bad 3-2 pitch to leave runners on the corners. Inefficiency continued; when Kaufman hit a 1-out single in the bottom 5th and a bad bunt by Harman forced him out at second base, Argenziano nevertheless walked Thompson yet again with the tying run. This time Alade was not denied and rushed an RBI single past Crispin, but Kirkwood flew out to Munn in deep right.

The Coons had only one base hit between the 2-run first inning and a 2-out double that Pucks mashed to right in the sixth inning. Ronnie Thompson lunged and reached Munn’s following bouncer and beat him with a blind throw to first base to end the inning, though. Argenziano threw only one more pitch which Brassfield recovered on the run, catching Pat Fowler’s screamer in left-center. Hyun-soo Bak replaced Argenziano, but only served up two 2-out doubles to Almaguer and Villacorta to blow the lead after all…..

A new lead came from an unexpected source. I was already thinking “oh well, maybe next inning…” when Ramsay’s leadoff single in the seventh didn’t go any further than first base for the cost of two outs, although he was replaced with Crispin on the base. Then Harman made a mistake on a 3-2 pitch to Tyler Philipps, who cranked only his second homer of the season to establish a new 4-2 lead…! Philipps almost hit another 2-out 2-piece in the ninth inning, but it went to the wrong part of the park and was caught by Alade in deep center, which was the fourth straight goose egg on the board between the two teams as both pens were very efficient. The Raccoons had gotten the seventh from Reynaldo Bravo and the eighth from Matt Walters, and with the bottom 9th starting with the left-handed Villacorta, the Raccoons actually stuck to Walters for the time being. Only after the leadoff man flew out to Pucks did Hitchcock come on. Kaufman quickly hit a single to right, but Felix Rojas popped out foul for the second out. Thompson, no homers on the year, hit a bouncer to Lonzo, who made an easy last out of the night. 4-2 Critters. Brassfield 2-4, 2B; Lavorano 2-4;

With this, the Raccoons completed a 21-8 August, their second-best month of the year. We entered September with a 6-game lead after the Indians had already extended their losing streak to three games and their extended rotten run to 5-15.

Rosters expanded, too. The Raccoons did not call up their recently acquired #44 prospect SP Craig Kniep right away, but planned to so by next week. Bringing him up earlier would have put him up against the damn Elks in their tundra tristesse, and what a soggy debut would that be?

For more hurling options, right-handers Colby Bowen and Ryan Harmer returned (with Ricky Lamotta moved to the 60-day DL to make room for Harmer), and we also added Geoff Sather again, who had a 1.25 ERA (with a .191 BABIP) in AAA this season. Sather had made 14 appearances last year, posting a 7.45 ERA for the Coons. Jeff Raczka joined the team as third catcher again (no other catcher was on the 40-man…), while Carlos Solorzano rejoined from his rehab assignment. Daniel Espinoza was recalled as an extra infielder.

Game 3
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – P Brobeck – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 3B Espinoza
ATL: 2B R. Thompson – 3B Villacorta – 1B P. Fowler – CF Alade – RF J. Luna – C M. Nieto – LF Stipp – SS Kaufman – P Mark jr.

Walk, single, single, and within nine pitches Bruce Mark jr. was surrounded by Furballs and had yet to retire anybody on Wednesday. Munn *just* got an RBI single over the glove of a jumping Ronnie Thompson, while Ramsay hit a sac fly to Alade for another 2-0 lead in the first. It got better, though: Brobeck dished an RBI double to left, and Gowin walked. Waters whiffed, but a wild pitch scored a fourth run, and then Espinoza shoved a single through the left side on a 1-2 pitch to score two more! Brassfield found another hit to right-center, but Lonzo flew out to Alade to end the first inning after merely six runs were scored. Mark lingered until the third inning when he gave up another hit to Brobeck and an RBI double to Walter for a 7-0 score. Amari Walker replaced him, but the left-hander gave away a single to Espinoza, walked Brassfield, and then conceded another run on a Lonzo single to shallow center. Pucks hit an RBI single to right, but Munn struck out for the second out of the inning. From there, Walker threw another wild pitch, then hung a ball that Ramsay rammed for a 2-run double, which made for the Raccoons’ second 6-spot of the game! Walker was yanked for right-hander Joe Napier, who soon drilled Brobeck, then got a grounder to Villacorta from Gowin for what should have been the third out, finally, but was thrown away for a run-scoring error. Matt Waters singled to right to add two more runs before Espinoza grounded out to end the inning. Coons 15, Knights … zilch!

Well, Brobeck knew how to give the Knights crowd something to smile, having himself taken deep by the reliever Napier in the bottom 3rd for a solo shot. Napier would also hit a single off Brobeck in the fifth inning, but didn’t find any support from his teammates and was stranded on first base. Napier got two more outs in the sixth for nine total before giving up straight singles and a run to the 1-2-3 batters and getting replaced with Morgan Aben. Munn flew out to deep left to strand a pair in the 16-1 game. The Raccoons then replaced a bunch of players in the middle of the sixth inning: the top four in the lineup were all removed, as was Waters. Brobeck followed in the bottom 7th, offering a leadoff walk to Stipp, a single to Kaufman, and an RBI double to PH Dan Riley. Thompson popped out, after which Brett Lillis jr. replaced him against the array of lefty hitters coming up. Strikeout, groundout, inning over, and the remaining two runners were stranded in scoring position. He got two more outs in the eighth from the left side before Bravo and Bowen did the rest of the dirty work. 16-2 Furballs!! Brassfield 2-3, BB, 2B; Lavorano 3-5, RBI; Puckeridge 4-5, 2 RBI; Ramsay 2-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Waters 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Knight 1-1; Espinoza 2-5, 2 RBI; Brobeck 6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (6-7) and 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Those collapsing noises you hear? The Knights’ confidence.

NOW I was cocky. Two days from now I’d lie rolled up on the couch whimpering as the Coons were getting nowhere in Elk City, I bet.

We didn’t even score the most runs on that Wednesday – the Bayhawks routed the Crusaders by 14 runs as well, but won 17-3 rather than 16-2.

Raccoons (82-50) @ Canadiens (63-70) – September 3-5, 2055

The Critters went to Canada up by seven games in the division as the Indians kept merrily collapsing, but I was not in celebration mode yet. There were still seven games left against the damn stinking Elks, so basically as far as I was concerned WE HAD NO LEAD. That even with the Elks well out of it, but still second in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed in the CL. They also had a lead in the season series, 6-5.

Projected matchups:
Kennedy Adkins (15-4, 1.63 ERA) vs. Anton Jesus (11-9, 4.30 ERA)
He Shui (18-5, 2.88 ERA) vs. Terry Herman (10-9, 3.64 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (9-7, 3.19 ERA) vs. Hyuma Hitomi (4-14, 4.88 ERA)

Only right-handers expected here.

Game 1
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – 2B Waters – P Adkins
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 3B Adame – 1B Wheeler – RF A. Walker – LF K. Hawkins – C Waker – SS Mullen – 2B Nicholson – P A. Jesus

The Elks, who had already lost starter Alex Mancilla to injury earlier in the week, lost Anton Jesus by the second inning of a scoreless game, as he left the game with a calf strain. The Coons were up against Federico Purificao after that, but the game remained scoreless for a bit longer. Adkins scattered three hits in the first three innings, including singles by Brian Nicholson and Damian Moreno in the bottom 3rd, but then got a 6-4-3 double play inning-ender from ex-Coon Alex Adame, who had hit an infield single his first time up on the day. The Coons’ first two hits in the game were Danny Munn singles, the latter coming with two outs in the fourth inning. Munn went as soon as Chris Gowin made contact on Purificao’s 1-0 pitch, and was already at second base and turning hard-left before the ball smashed a crater into deep centerfield. Damian Moreno didn’t make the best play and Munn was waved around to score on an RBI double, the first run of the game. Rams hit a soft single after that, but Venegas grounded out to leave runners on the corners, just ahead of Adkins getting smashed for three straight 2-out hits in the bottom 4th; Mullen singled home Kyle Hawkins, while Adkins then plunked Nicholson to fill the bases. Adam Magnussen pinch-hit for Purificao, but grounded out to Lonzo to end the dismal inning. It didn’t get any better. By the fifth he was exclusively behind in the count, conceded more hits to Adame and Aaron Walker, and then balked home the go-ahead run with two outs. Hawkins flew out to Brassfield to end the inning, and that was also the end of Adkins’ day, which somehow had entailed 103 pitches in just five innings.

It still didn’t get better; the Coons disappeared 1-2-3 in the sixth, while Bak and Walters gave up four singles and a balk between them, with another run going on the board, charged to Bak, and that was with the Elks having made the first out on third base, Tristan Waker getting thrown out there going first-to-third on a Dan Mullen single. While Ben Arner pitched some more stoic long relief without the Raccoons reaching base in the seventh and eighth against him, the Elks poured a total of 13 hits onto the Coons’ staff, which somehow didn’t allow more runs through eight despite trying their best to do so. Ruben Mendez got the ball for the ninth against the meat of the order, which had yet to produce a whole lot on the day. Pucks flew out to left, Munn whiffed, and Gowin only reached when he was nailed with a 1-1 pitch. Ramsay shoddily grounded out on a 3-1 pitch to drive me up the wall… 3-1 Canadiens. Munn 2-4;

Like I said, seven up and seven with the Elks – basically no lead. Even the Indians were inspired to win their first game in almost a ******* week.

Game 2
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Puckeridge – RF Munn – C Gowin – 3B Venegas – CF Solorzano – 2B Knight – P Shui
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 3B Adame – 1B Wheeler – C Waker – 2B K. Hawkins – LF Magnussen – RF A. Walker – SS Mullen – P Herman

Pucks crunched a first-inning solo home run for the Critters’ fourth first-frame foray onto the undiscovered country of the scoreboard, while Shui scattered three singles and a walk and somehow didn’t allow a run the first time through. Moreno was forced out by Adame, who was doubled up by Jeff Wheeler in the first; and the bottom 2nd saw Tristan Waker, Aaron Walker, and Dan Mullen all stranded when Herman popped out on the first pitch. The third time was the charm for the damn Elks, who got a leadoff double over the head of Munn mashed by Damian Moreno in the bottom 3rd, and then scored him on productive outs to get even at one.

The ******* leadoff batter was on base yet again in the bottom 4th, then with an infield single for Kyle Hawkins. Magnussen doubled him up with a 4-6-3 gem, while Walker lined out to Lonzo. Notably, Shui had zero strikeouts through four innings… and the Coons only had two base hits as the offensive woes continued. Pucks was 2-for-2, having singled and stolen second base in the top 4th, but then Munn and Gowin had both struck out. While Shui finally had a 1-2-3 inning (against 8-9-1) in the fifth, the Raccoons got somebody other than Mr. Puckeridge on base when Brassfield scratched out an infield single in the sixth. Lonzo popped one to the catcher for the second out, but Pucks’ third hit of the day was a single to right and sent Brass to third base. Munn grounded out and nobody scored…

Bottom 6th, Shui somehow stalked his way around singles by Wheeler and Waker, walked Magnussen with two outs, and then yet had Aaron Walker pop out to Lonzo on a 2-1 pitch to strand another three runners. Like Adkins the day before, he was pitching shoddily, and the pen would take over in the seventh despite him having only thrown 81 pitches so far. The Coons still had nothing cookin’, but Matt Walters struck out the 8-9-1 batters in the bottom 7th to at least keep the game tied. Rastafari and Sather made their way through the eighth inning, the latter giving up a pretty long fly to center to Hawkins with Waker on first base, but Solorzano hustled back to make an over-the-shoulder catch.

Still tied, Ruben Mendez gave up a leadoff double to Lonzo to left as the ninth inning broke. But now, boys!! Pucks was as of yet unretired on the day, but grounded out to Wheeler, which at least moved the go-ahead run to third base. Danny Munn quickly fell to two strikes, and back at home in Portland I covered my face with Honeypaws, but Munn then actually bashed a 2-2 pitch to center. That one was sure to get Lonzo home one way or another, and actually fell in for a double! Speaking of falling in, Munn fell into second base and limped off with Luis Silva eventually, which didn’t cause me any increased agony AT ALL. Jason Monson ran for him, and scored on Gowin’s single to center, 3-1, which was the end for Mendez. Bernardino Risso replaced him, gave up a single to Venegas, and then pinch-hitters moved Gowin’s tack-on run to third base when Waters hit into a fielder’s choice, and across to home plate when Philipps’ grounder was fudged by Hawkins. Tenazes finally grounded out. Hitchcock got the ball for the bottom 9th. He dismissed the 6-7-8 batters in order. 4-1 Coons. Puckeridge 3-4, HR, RBI;

Geoff Sather threw one pitch for his first major league win. Half of it he’d better give to Solorzano…

Danny Munn was out with a knee contusion. While that sucked, the good news was that he might be able to come back in ten days or less. He was thus not sent to the DL since I had a hunch we might have a use for him inside the next 15 days…

Indy lost on Saturday, so we were back to seven games ahead. Or, by my advanced math, two games ahead given there were another five contests with the Elks on the schedule.

Game 3
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – 2B Waters – CF Monson – C Raczka – P Taki
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 3B Adame – 1B Wheeler – C Waker – LF Magnussen – RF A. Walker – 2B Uranga – SS Mullen – P Lausch

The Elks carted up a different right-hander in Jesse Lausch (7-8, 4.99 ERA) for the Sunday rubber game. He was the fourth opposing pitcher this week to fall 2-0 or worse behind in the first inning, courtesy of a Lonzo single and another first-frame jack by Pucks, this one to almost straightaway centerfield. Jason Monson’s no-doubter clocked to rightfield made it 3-0 in the second inning, marking Monson’s second homer for the Coons and the sixth between the three teams he’d played for this season. An inning later, a pair of 2-base throwing errors by Waker and Magnussen put Pucks on base and back in the dugout for a fourth Coons run, then with Rams taking over the unearned occupancy at second base. He was stranded, though, when both Venegas and Waters grounded out to Dan Mullen. Jesse Lausch then also became the second pitcher this week to hit a single after the rest of his team had drawn eight blanks against a Raccoons starter, then scored on a long Moreno double in the right-center gap. Taki answered with a 2-out double in the fourth inning, but that came with nobody on base and with Brassfield flying out to Magnussen afterwards.

The rest of the lead disappeared in typical Elk City ******* frozen tundra utter ******** fashion in the bottom 4th. On Taki’s first two pitches of the inning, Wheeler and Waker hit not one, but two infield singles. Magnussen quickly smashed an RBI double to right, Walker added a sac fly, and Jorge Uranga singled home the tying run… Portland rebounded with a Pucks single, a wild pitch that moved him to second base, and Rams’ RBI single in the fifth inning, 5-4. Lausch was yanked for Jameson Monk, while Taki came pretty close to also not seeing the light of day at the end of the fifth inning after drilling Adame with an 0-2 pitch for a 1-out base runner in the bottom 5th. Wheeler spanked a ball to Lonzo for a double play, though, and we indeed were up 5-4 through five.

He still didn’t get a win, despite hitting a 1-out single single in the sixth inning. Brassfield’s grounder and Lonzo’s single moved him to third base, but from there it was back to the dugout when Lonzo was caught stealing to kill the inning. In turn, when Magnussen hit a 1-out single off Taki in the bottom 6th and was run for by Julio Caballero, not only did Caballero successfully steal second base, but Raczka also threw the ball into his legs and it caromed into rightfield to allow Caballero to reach third base, from where he scored on a wild pitch, at which point I was beginning to show third-degree gasping and the first signs of a heart attack. Lillis and Sayonara giving up three singles and the go-ahead run with two outs in the next ******* inning didn’t exactly improve my condition and Honeypaws threatened to call 911 at that point if I wouldn’t calm the **** down.

A fourth Elks error put Monson on base with one gone in the eighth inning and Dan Lawrence pitching, but Jeff Raczka found a double play with absolutely deadly precision, bouncing out to Hawkins at second base. Sencion held off the hordes in the bottom 8th and then it was the rather unimpressive right-hander Jared Bramel in the ninth inning that was assigned holding the 6-5 lead against the Raccoons’ 9-1-2 batters. Ed Crispin, who was already batting ninth after a double switch, began with a single to center. Brassfield and Lonzo were no help and made meek outs that didn’t even advance the runner, and Pucks grounded out to Nicholson behind the second base bag, but Nicholson was carried into centerfield by momentum and had no play at either first or second, giving Pucks an infield single. This here would now have been a great spot to have Danny Munn bat, but Danny Fun was now Danny Bum Knee, and the Coons had to make do with Ramsay, he of two homers in 231 at-bats this year. But no! Make that three homers in 232 ******* at-bats! First pitch, A TREMENDOUS KNELL, a HUGE drive to center, and THAT – WAS – OUTTA THERE!!! SECOND DEAD-AS-DISCO, NINTH-INNING, COME-FROM-BEHIND HOMER OF THE WEEK!!!

I was still screaming like a common wild buffoon when Kevin Hitchcock entered the bottom 9th to try his luck with a newly-established 8-6 lead. Nicholson whiffed. Damian Moreno grounded out to Waters. Alex Adame singled to center. Chad Walton – who?? – walked on four straight balls. HITCH!! STOP ******* AROUND!!! He had Julio Diaz at 1-2 before throwing a wild pitch that sent the tying runs into scoring position. Another ball filled the count. HIIIIIITCH!!! ******* ****!! STRIKE HIM OUT!! So striking him out, he did. Ballgame…! 8-6 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-5; Puckeridge 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Ramsay 3-4, BB, HR, 5 RBI; Crispin 1-1;

(falls asleep on the couch from exhaustion)

In other news

August 30 – Las Vegas rookie OF/1B Gunner Epperson (.274, 12 HR, 70 RBI) enters the record books by hitting for the cycle in a 7-4 win over the Indians. Epperson, 24, adds a walk to the 4-4 day with 2 RBI. This is the fourth cycle of the season and the third in just five weeks.
September 1 – The season of DEN 2B/3B Ivan Villa (.284, 19 HR, 81 RBI) ends with a broken thumb.
September 3 – The Miners beat the Rebels by a football score, 18-12. Half the runs score in the fifth inning; five for the Rebs and ten for Pittsburgh. RIC 1B Mario Delgadillo (.322, 20 HR, 59 RBI), while on the losing side, ostensibly has the best day, going 4-for-4 with a walk, two homers, and a handful of RBI.
September 5 – SAC 2B/SS Ryan Harris (.230, 7 HR, 52 RBI) has suffered a career-ending tear to the labrum in his throwing shoulder. The 27-year-old played for three FL teams in two seasons, batting .246 with 13 HR and 102 RBI.

FL Player of the Week: RIC 1B Mario Delgadillo (.321, 21 HR, 60 RBI), crushing .545 (12-22) with 7 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC INF Zach Suggs (.322, 17 HR, 75 RBI), peppering .560 (14-25) with 5 HR, 9 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DEN 1B Bill Joyner (.340, 17 HR, 75 RBI), batting .393 with 4 HR, 23 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: ATL 1B Pat Fowler (.294, 17 HR, 63 RBI), socking .304 with 9 HR, 31 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: WAS SP Tony Llorens (11-7, 2.95 ERA), going 5-1 in 6 games with a 1.76 ERA, 25 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: POR SP He Shui (18-5, 2.88 ERA), going a perfect 6-0 with 1.65 ERA, 35 K
FL Rookie of the Month: DEN RF/LF/1B Nelson Aguilar (.373, 5 HR, 27 RBI), batting .377 with 2 HR, 13 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: LVA OF/1B Gunner Epperson (.273, 12 HR, 72 RBI), shooting .291 with 5 HR, 21 RBI

Complaints and stuff

That was… a week.

The bullet points are, however, that the Coons went 5-1, and the Indians went very much the opposite. They got swept by the Aces, and they lost two games against the Titans, and they have now rapidly fallen eight games behind. I’m not saying we’re running away with this, because I know the baseball gods are always watching and they always have some more lightning ready. I’m just saying BNN thinks this race is ending briskly (with strength of schedule and playoff odds):

POR (84-51) – BOS (7), NYC (4), VAN (4), CHA (3), IND (3), MIL (3), TIJ (3) – .471 – 99.3%
IND (76-59) – MIL (6), BOS (4), OCT (4), VAN (4), ATL (3), NYC (3), POR (3) – .497 – 0.7%

The Indians have to get themselves straightened out fast – their last chance to take games from the Coons directly will already be on the next weekend, and in Portland. We’ll have an 11-game homestand now, hosting the Titans, Indians, and Elks.

Quick look at Lonzo, who four weeks ago had reached 29th on the career stolen base table, and who had quickly disposed of 28th-place Pedro Cisneros. Lonzo stole ten bags in the last four weeks, compared to nine for Chris Navarro, whom he was chasing up the table currently. Andrew Russ was sitting mostly on the bench for New York and had not stolen a base in over a month.

23rd – Jose Rivas – 404 – active
t-24th – Piet Oosterom – 393
t-24th – Andrew Russ – 393 – active
26th – Javier Rodriguez – 391
27th – Chris Navarro – 381 – active
28th – Lorenzo Lavorano – 379 – active
29th – Pedro Cisneros – 370
30th – Paul Connolly – 366 – HOF
31st – Billy Bouldin – 365 – HOF

Jose Rivas was a 36-year-old infielder on the Thunder. His speed was largely gone; despite hitting .306 in 69 games for Oklahoma, he had stolen only a single base this year. He led the FL in steals with 59 in 2045, then with Dallas, but his last season with double digits was 2052, and he had put together just five sacks in the last three seasons. Apart from stolen bases, he had won a batting title in ’44 and three Gold Gloves in total. He had just five career homers in his 2,582 hits.

Fun Fact: The most efficient starter for the Raccoons in the last few weeks would be… Cameron Argenziano.

4-0 with a 1.32 ERA in his last eight appearances, dating back to mid-July. We’re not quite sure how he’s doing it, offering 2+ walks in all but one of the starts, and usually striking out only modest numbers. But he has allowed more than one earned run just once in the stretch, and so while he’s not always going very deep into games (three starts of five innings or less in those eight games), somehow he’s holding on.

Somehow.

That’s the part that concerns me, because we’re relying on a 27-year-old “who?” that spent all of last year in AAA and put up an ERA near five. His K/BB was worse in AAA than in the majors even *this* season. He’s an explosion waiting to happen. But for the time being he hasn’t been beaten in six weeks and has scrubbed down his career numbers to 6-9 and 3.81 ERA, and he even got the career BB/9 under five now.

Yes, that’s our fourth-best starter now. We’re not calling the ring factory yet…

[Westheim]

The Raccoons lost an outfielder on Sunday night after their return from Elk City when Prospero Tenazes tweaked his knee while horsing around with his young nephews. He’d be out for the entire week. While he wasn’t exactly a pillar for the offense, I was still having Cristiano nosing into whether his sister’s family had even entered the country legally, and if possible give a tip to the authorities where to arrest them and deport them from…

Raccoons (84-51) vs. Titans (58-78) – September 6-9, 2055

Actual gameplay began this week with a 4-game set against the Titans, whom we had so far whooped 9-2 on the year. They ranked second from the bottom in runs scored – by now even behind the Raccoons! – and eighth in runs allowed with a -60 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Cameron Argenziano (5-1, 2.59 ERA) vs. Ryan Musgrave (0-4, 4.19 ERA)
Craig Kniep (0-0) vs. Mario de Anda (7-10, 4.45 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (15-5, 1.68 ERA) vs. Jamie Guidry (7-17, 4.52 ERA)
He Shui (18-5, 2.83 ERA) vs. Chad Shultz (12-12, 4.48 ERA)

Craig Kniep was promoted from AAA for a cup of coffee with the intent of judging whether he could be in the rotation to begin next season. He’d probably get four starts, one a week, from here on out, cannibalizing some of those assigned to Argenziano and Brobeck otherwise. Brobeck would be available out of the pen for the first games in the series. The middle two games put us up against left-handers, and I had my eye on Wednesday for one of those “you gotta be kidding me”, 2-1 losses.

Despite two outfielders lingering uselessly on the roster now (Danny Munn would probably also miss the entire week still), the Coons did not go back to the well that was AAA non-hitting, and instead would shift Venegas to leftfield a bit more should our hearts desire so.

Also, with the weekend set being the final games against the Indians for the year, we would sprinkle in off days for all regulars in this series, then have everybody available for the weekend. Minus the walking wounded, of course.

Game 1
BOS: SS M. Navarro – 3B J. Nieto – RF Whitlow – 1B L. Rodriguez – CF Weir – LF Hunt – C Burkart – 2B Tamargo – P Musgrave
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – CF Solorzano – P Argenziano

A Mario Navarro single and Jose Nieto’s double scored a Boston run before Argenziano logged an out, but the 3-4-5 were sat down in order without conceding the second run. Solorzano would double home Ed Crispin with two outs in the bottom 2nd to make up the early deficit, and the 1-1 score stayed true for a while longer, despite Argenziano being frequently erratic and pitching in quite a few 3-ball counts, not that the Titans knew what to make of that. The whole time, it drizzled on and off, because the grim fall had arrived in Oregon already.

The tie was only broken in the fifth inning when Ed Crispin hit a leadoff single and was on second base after Solorzano popped out and Argenziano’s bunt. Those names were too long, by the way, they needed something more snappy – like Bobo and Hooch or something, Slappy, won’t you think of some nicknames for them? … Anyway, Brassfield hit a first-pitch floater to shallow right that Eric Whitlow lunged for when he should have played it on the bounce. He missed the ball with his glove, but the ball didn’t miss his nose, then gigglingly made for the rightfield corner. Brassfield legged out an RBI triple, but was stranded on Lonzo’s grounder to short, and the Titans turned the game around immediately in the sixth inning with straight hits from their 3-4-5 batters that had earlier stranded Nieto on second base with nobody out. Whitlow singled, Larry Rodriguez doubled, and Hector Weir plated both of them with a single to right-center, flipping the score to 3-2 Boston.

At this point, the rain became rather intense and the game went to a delay in the bottom 6th with Pucks batting leadoff. The game did not resume on the day as the rain only got worse, but the umpires would not call it, but instead, considering the playoff implications, suspended resumption of the game to Tuesday.

Game 1 (resumed)
BOS: SS M. Navarro – 3B J. Nieto – RF Whitlow – 1B L. Rodriguez – CF Weir – LF Hunt – C Burkart – 2B Tamargo – P Musgrave
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – CF Solorzano – P Argenziano

Upon resumption in a stiff breeze on Tuesday afternoon, the personnel in each lineup was nominally still the same, although both pitchers were swiftly replaced. The Coons’ Chris Gowin would bang a home run to left to tie the game in the sixth, and in the eighth inning Pucks reached base with a walk drawn off Jim Peterson, and the left-hander gave away the go-ahead run on Matt Waters’ 2-out RBI single to center. Reynaldo Bravo, Matt Walters, and Kevin Hitchcock each pitched an inning of near-spotless relief to put the game away. 4-3 Raccoons. Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB; Waters 2-4, RBI; Solorzano 2-3, 2 2B, RBI;

Game 2
BOS: 3B Torrence – LF M. Gilmore – RF Whitlow – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – CF Weir – SS M. Navarro – 2B Tamargo – P de Anda
POR: RF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – LF Venegas – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 2B Waters – CF Monson – C Philipps – P Kniep

Kniep got a few in the snout in the first inning; after striking out his first ABL batter, Ethan Torrence, he surrendered a single to Matt Gilmore and a wild pitch. Two more hits by Larry Rodriguez and ex-Coon Ruben Gonzalez followed, along with two runs. Whitlow with a single and Rodriguez with a double would add a third run in the third inning. The counts were generally long, which could be described either to a lack of ripeness or jitters. He hit a single in the bottom 2nd with Waters already on base and two outs. Brassfield reached on an error, but Lonzo grounded out to Oscar Tamargo with the bases loaded to strand a full complement of runners.

Whitlow walked and would be scored AGAIN in the fifth inning by another Rodriguez double, now over the head of a meandering Monson, who had DEFENSE ascribed as his only asset in his scouting report, which I was entirely ready to hit into shreds over Eric Hartwig’s head by now. Rodriguez advanced on Ruben Gonzalez’ groundout, then scored on a passed ball charged to Philipps, the dolt. The Coons had yet to score; Crispin batted for Kniep to begin the bottom 5th and singled to right, and the bases would fill up gradually with a Lonzo double and Pucks getting nicked by de Anda. Brobeck batted with the bags full and singled through the left side to send home two runs and shorten the gap to 5-2, and Waters added another single to left to score Pucks, 5-3, but Brobeck was struck down in a rundown and the inning ended. Brobeck then dragged his confused bum to the mound, Crispin taking over at third base, while Brobeck would be assigned a couple of innings of garbage relief.

The Coons had the bags full for the third time in the 5-3 game in the seventh inning when singles by Venegas and Pucks knocked out de Anda, and Jim Peterson walked Brobeck to fill the bases with one down. Matt Waters ran a full count, then laid off the garbage and pushed home a run with a walk drawn. Chris Gowin batted for the useless Monson, but struck out, and ironically it was Tyler Philipps to draw a 2-out walk to tie the game and secure his food ration for another week. Ed Crispin struck with a single up the middle that scored two runs before Mario Navarro retired Brassfield after a sprawling grab. Brobeck continued to pitch with a 7-5 lead, which was a mistake, and after hits by Hector Weir and Oscar Tamargo, Brett Lillis jr. inherited a 7-6 lead with the tying run on first, but retired Dave Gonzalez and Bruce Burkart orderly to get out of the eighth. The ninth would go to Eloy Sencion, despite right-handers beginning the inning. He struck out Will McIntyre, but Whitlow doubled to left. PH Israel Santiago grounded out, moving the tying run to third base. When Norizuki entered in place of Sencion, the Titans batted left-handed Antonio Cruz for Ruben Gonzalez. The rookie popped out on the first pitch, however. 7-6 Raccoons. Venegas 2-4, BB; Waters 2-3, BB, RBI; Crispin (PH) 2-3, 2 RBI;

First career save for Tokizuki Takiwaki. Brobeck got the W, which got him even at 7-7.

Kniep struck out four, walked five, sprinkled six hits, and gave up five runs (four earned). We’d seen better debuts, and worse, too.

By the Raccoons winning two of a game and a half on Saturday, they eliminated both the Titans and Loggers from mathematical playoff contention and put the Indians nine games away already.

Rams had been rested as left-handed regular on Tuesday, and Pucks’ turn came on Wednesday, along with Matt Waters. Brassfield and Lonzo were both going to sit down on Thursday.

Game 3
BOS: 3B Torrence – LF M. Gilmore – RF Whitlow – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – CF Weir – SS M. Navarro – 2B Tamargo – P Guidry
POR: RF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – LF Venegas – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – 2B Knight – CF Monson – 3B Espinoza – P Adkins

Adkins faced the minimum in three innings, but this included a walk to Larry Rodriguez and a double play grounder from our former bumbling backstop. He struck out nobody in those three frames, while the Raccoons, as usual, wouldn’t dare angering a 17-game loser and stayed out of scoring position at all costs, scattering three singles mostly for comedic effect. The Titans had another base runner in the fourth inning when Adkins nicked Whitlow with an 0-2 pitch, but Whitlow was then caught stealing, and the Titans continued to cart up the minimum.

The Coons finally scratched out a run in the fourth inning, getting back-to-back doubles from Gowin and Knight up opposite foul lines, one to left, then one to right. Adkins got two more outs, then winced and was tended to by Luis Silva, while I was having a mid-sized seizure. Hyun-soo Bak would take over pitching duties and finished the inning, while the Raccoons pooled three singles and a double-play grounder from Ramsay for two runs in the bottom 5th, one on Venegas’ single and one on the double play. Harry Ramsay would later crunch a solo home run in the bottom 7th, extending the lead to 4-0.

That was with the Titans still striving for a base hit. After Adkins’ demise following 4.2 innings of no-hit ball, Bak gave the Coons four outs, after which Sencion retired the lefty Torrence and Gilmore to begin the seventh, and then Whitlow popped out against Ryan Harmer. And this was perhaps not in the spirit of a threatening no-hitter, but the Coons stuck with Harmer to begin the eighth inning against Rodriguez and Gonzalez. He struck out both of them … and the Lillis allowed a single to left on a 1-2 pitch to Hector Weir. Navarro popped out to end the inning. The ninth saw the 4-0 lead go to Colby Bowen, who walked the leadoff man Tamargo, but then struck out Yoslan Valdez, Ethan Torrence, and Matt Gilmore in order to put the game away. 4-0 Coons. Lavorano 3-4; Ramsay 2-4, HR, RBI; Espinoza 1-2, BB; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1; Adkins 4.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; Bak 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (5-2);

(breathes into paper bag)

Thursday began with Maud having baked muffins, Slappy presented me with a fine bottle of Pegleg Pete’s Country Moonshine, and Cristiano offered to give me a massage.

Something was off.

Then Luis Silva snuck into the room. Then I knew.

Kennedy Adkins, the likely CL Pitcher of the Year, had elbow ligament damage, required surgery, and would be out for a year.

This was a pain no muffin nor moonshine could sooth.

Game 4
BOS: 3B Torrence – SS M. Navarro – RF Whitlow – 1B L. Rodriguez – CF Weir – C R. Gonzalez – LF Y. Valdez – 2B Tamargo – P Shultz
POR: CF Solorzano – LF Venegas – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – SS Knight – C Raczka – P Shui

There was little offense in the early inning of the series finale, scoring consisting of an exchange of homers between Ruben Gonzalez and, uh, He Shui? It was only his eighth hit of the season and his first career home run, and it tied the game at 1-1. Boston grabbed the lead back in the fourth with straight 2-out singles from their 4-5-6 batters, before the 22-year-old rookie Valdez grounded out to strand a pair. The Raccoons also got singles from their 4-5-6 batters in the fourth inning, but that was with Ramsay in front, and he couldn’t score on Crispin’s single to left. Shultz’ wild pitch bounced far away from Gonzalez, though, and would do to get the Raccoons even again, 2-2. Matt Knight hit a go-ahead sac fly to left before Raczka was walked with intent and Shui was the third out of the inning.

That score was still true in the sixth, with Shui not giving up a hit since the triple-clipper in the fourth inning. Waters and Knight went to the corners against Shultz in the bottom 6th, and with one out. Jeff Raczka was batting 1-for-9 so far, but livened up his usual September callup with an RBI single to right, extending the lead to 4-2. Shui was rung up, but Solorzano snuck an RBI single to center for a 5-2 lead before the inning ended with Venegas.

Pucks, Rams, and Waters the loaded the bases with nobody out to begin the bottom 7th. Crispin popped out, and Knight hit into a double play to score absolutely nobody, which was the first time all game long that I actually sighed, or breathed at all. The bags were full *again* to begin the bottom 8th. Raczka doubled, Lonzo walked in Shui’s spot, and Solorzano hit an infield single. Brassfield batted for a hitless Venegas and struck out against lefty Jim Peterson, but Pucks singled home a pair before Ramsay hit into the inevitable double play. That lead wasn’t nearly big enough for a full inning of Ryan Harmer in the ninth inning; the Titans found two singles, then a huge 3-piece by Hector Weir, and the Raccoons went and found Matt Walters, who struck out Ruben Gonzalez, but gave up a single to Valdez. Burkart popped out to finally end the game. 7-5 Raccoons. Solorzano 3-5, RBI; Puckeridge 2-5, 2 RBI; Ramsay 3-5, 2B; Waters 3-4, 2B; Raczka 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Shui 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (19-5) and 1-3, HR, RBI;

Sweep.

Maud, I need more tissues. I have yet more tears to cry.

Raccoons (88-51) vs. Indians (77-61) – September 10-12, 2055

This series began with the Indians 10 1/2 games behind and with a magic number of 14. The question was whether they could even rally out of that hole – they were no Crusaders after all. The Coons had clinched the season series at 10-5. The Indians were only sixth in runs scored and third in runs allowed with a +27 run differential (Raccoons: +169). Most importantly and (for them) depressingly, though: the Raccoons were 28-9 since the start of August, and the Indians were persistently plunging, 14-22 since August 1.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (9-7, 3.29 ERA) vs. Bill McDermott (8-11, 3.56 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (5-1, 2.75 ERA) vs. Juan Vasquez (3-2, 3.55 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (7-7, 4.51 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (15-6, 2.93 ERA)

Only righty opposition here. Still no Tenazes and Munn for the Raccoons, and the latter was not expected back by Sunday either.

Game 1
IND: LF Kokel – RF J. Garza – 3B B. Anderson – 1B B. Quinteros – CF M. Ceballos – C Poindexter – SS Ed. Ortiz – 2B Ewers – P McDermott
POR: RF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 3B Brobeck – 2B Waters – C Gowin – LF Venegas – P Taki

We hadn’t seen a patented ****** first inning from Taki in quite a while, but boy, did we see one on Friday. Jose Garza singled, as did Bill Quinteros. In between, Bobby Anderson walked. After it all, Mario Ceballos cranked a grand slam to left. 4-0. Welcome to Portland. Taki didn’t make it out of the second inning at all, giving up another three runs on four more hits – all with two outs. Colby Bowen replaced him, walked Mario Ceballos, got taken DEEP by Manny Poindexter, and now it was a 10-0 game.

While I locked myself in a closet to whimper, Bowen got stuffed with more and more runs. He pitched two more innings, got whacked for a run in the third and two more in the fourth inning, and the Coons rally at this point consisted mostly of a Lonzo double, a groundout, and a run-scoring passed ball. Top 5th, Garza doubled and scored on Anderson’s single to add a run against Hyun-soo Bak, and the scoring parade continued against Geoff Sather in the sixth inning. With one run already home in the inning and the bases loaded, Garza strung a bases-clearing double into the leftfield corner.

Waters and Pucks each drove in a meaningless run in the pointless innings that followed, while the Raccoons’ bamboozled pitching staff actually managed to put up two zeroes in the seventh and eighth innings, courtesy of Geoff Sather’s second and Reynaldo Bravo’s first inning. Bravo was less lucky in the ninth, giving up a 2-run homer to Quinteros after nailing a 5-for-5 Jose Garza to begin the inning. The Indians were no amused; Juan Llampallas hit a pinch-hit double, then stole third base … in a 20-3 game. The next batter, Edwin Ortiz, got beaned. Total coincidence, I swear. Nick Fernandez added a run with a sac fly. Solorzano walked, Lonzo hit an RBI double in the bottom 9th, and then Lonzo stole third base himself against Orlando Altreche and Manny Poindexter. Some members on both teams began to chirp, but nobody had much desire to get into a fight with one out to go in a 17-run game. Crispin popped out to end the inning. 21-4 Indians. Brassfield 2-4; Lavorano 3-5, 2 2B, RBI; Ramsay 2-3, BB; Monson (PH) 1-2;

Arf.

Well. Boys. Flush that. The good news is, tomorrow’s game starts at zilch-zilch again…

Game 2
IND: SS Llampallas – 2B Ewers – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – CF M. Ceballos – 1B D. Sandoval – C Werman – LF Kokel – P J. Vasquez
POR: RF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – LF Venegas – P Argenziano

Quinteros, Lonzo, and Gowin all hit doubles the first time through the order, but only the Arrowhead found somebody to score him when he got singled home by Bobby Anderson with two outs in the first inning. Lonzo and Gowin were both stranded on third base before the Raccoons loaded the bases with Brass, Lonzo, and Pucks in the bottom 3rd. Ramsay was up with one out, which cried out “double play”, but he actually hit a sac fly to deep center to tie the game. Gowin slapped an RBI single through the left side for a 2-1 lead, but Waters whiffed to strand two more runners.

That 2-1 score stayed true through five innings, with Argenziano having a grip now on the lineup against for the Big B’s in the 3-4 spots. Only one of the pair reached in either the fourth or sixth innings, though, and that runner was then stranded at second base. Vasquez was erratic in the middle innings and piled up walks. He offered leadoff walks to Waters and Crispin in the bottom 6th, which gave him five free passes issued on the day. After he balked the runners into scoring position, he was then told to give away another walk to Venegas to fill the bases with nobody out and the pitcher up. Argenziano wasn’t going to be a free out – he hit a single through the right side to extend the lead to 3-1! Brassfield hit a roller for an out at home plate, but then Vasquez brushed Lonzo and walked Pucks to force home runs, then was yanked. Southpaw Tyler Weems got a double play grounder from Ramsay to end the inning; the inning after, however, singles by Gowin and Venegas would piece another run together, and Brassfield drew a leadoff walk and was singled home by Ramsay with two outs against ex-Coon Corey Mathers in the eighth inning. Mathers proceeded to get taken deep by Chris Gowin, and the Raccoons answered a 17-run shelling by getting at least almost half of that back on Saturday. 9-1 Critters. Lavorano 2-4, 2B, RBI; Gowin 4-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Venegas 2-3, BB, RBI; Argenziano 8.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (6-1) and 1-4, RBI;

This win eliminated the damn Elks mathematically.

Game 3
IND: SS Llampallas – RF J. Garza – 3B B. Anderson – 1B B. Quinteros – CF M. Ceballos – C Poindexter – LF Kokel – 2B Ewers – P En. Ortiz
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – P Brobeck – 3B Venegas – CF Solorzano – 2B Knight

Juan Llampallas, the ******* ****, started the game with an infield single, stole two bases, and was almost stranded on third base anyway until the Coons couldn’t make a pick on Quinteros’ 2-out grounder and the infield single allowed the runner to score. Brobeck then walked Ceballos, then gave up three straight ******* depressing 2-out RBI singles in a row before getting a K off the pitcher. Llampallas would draw a leadoff walk in the second inning off an awful Brobeck, then continued to dance off first base, begging to take a few punches in the kisser. He stole another base – giving him four on the season, all in this series – while getting stranded, and then popped out with a pair on base to end the third inning.

Brobeck, who was generally awful and was approaching 100 pitches in the fifth inning, aimed for Llampallas’ ugly face with Kevin Ewers on second base and two outs in the top 5th, but only hit him in the shoulder, which was indeed regrettable. Brobeck walked Garza, then was yanked. Bak got a fly to left from Anderson, ending the inning, and keeping it a 4-0 game. Quinteros hit a jack off Bak to start the next inning, though, and they put a walk and two more hits together for one more run off him.

Since the Raccoons didn’t hit a lick off Enrique Ortiz, we surrendered the game then. Sather was in for the seventh and again could not retire ******* anybody. Anderson walked. Quinteros singled. Ceballos singled. One out, Poindexter grounded to Venegas, who threw a skipper under Ramsay’s glove for two bases and as many runs. Bravo entered and surrendered another run on a sac fly hit by Chaz Kokel.

The damn Critters didn’t get on the board until the bottom 8th. Brassfield and Lonzo hit singles, swiped a pair of bags, and Pucks’ RBI groundout ended Ortiz’ day. Tyler Philipps found an RBI single, and the Indians found two more runs to match that output against Lillis and Lintilanki in the ninth inning… 11-2 Indians. Knight 2-4;

In other news

September 7 – With a broken bone in his elbow, CHA OF Tim Burkhart (.217, 3 HR, 26 RBI) is lost until next season.
September 9 – Pittsburgh INF Alex Vasquez (.249, 3 HR, 33 RBI) would be out for the year with a hip strain.
September 10 – Perfect game! NAS SP Marcus Wilkins (8-10, 3.59 ERA) goes 27 up, 27 down against the Buffaloes for a 3-0 game of a lifetime! Eight outs are notched by strikeout for the first perfect game in the ABL in eight years.
September 10 – SAC OF Adam Bumpus (.348, 9 HR, 62 RBI) has put together a 20-game hitting streak with a first-inning single in a 6-5 loss to the Wolves.
September 11 – Vegas 1B/RF/LF Aubrey Austin (.314, 14 HR, 64 RBI) is dealt a pinched nerve and could miss the rest of the season.
September 11 – One day after the perfecto, the Blue Sox amount to a single by C Jorge Ortiz (.213, 4 HR, 18 RBI) and nothing else against the Buffos’ Marcos Rivera (3-7, 3.66 ERA) and Roberto Ramirez (7-7, 3.07 ERA, 33 SV). The Buffaloes squeeze out a 1-0 win. The only run is unearned.
September 12 – Knights SP Jeremy Baker (11-9, 3.83 ERA) was out until Opening Day with a broken elbow.
September 12 – The Wolves end the hitting streak of SAC OF Adam Bumpus (.346, 9 HR, 62 RBI) at 20 games while suffocating the Scorpions in an 11-0 game.

FL Player of the Week: PIT OF Josh Abercrombie (.347, 8 HR, 68 RBI), hitting .417 (10-24) with 2 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: IND 1B/RF/LF Bill Quinteros (.295, 22 HR, 91 RBI), batting .640 (16-25) with 4 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Hey, Ma, we went 5-2 this week and scored 37 runs! – Really, my boy? How many runs did you give up? – Uh, 47.

Heritage Lake, Indiana. That’s the zip code of the first five innings on Friday, 46121. Or, if you want to go for the bigger number, heck, take 61214 for the second through sixth innings and travel to… Bad Nauheim, Hesse? Cristiano? Is that the closest one?

Ah, ****, maybe Hitch can show you around there…

The weekend performance and the general crater landscape left by the Adkins injury make me surrender all hopes for the playoffs, even when it looks like we should make it there.

BNN doesn’t consider this much of a race:
POR (89-53) – NYC (4), VAN (4), BOS (3), CHA (3), MIL (3), TIJ (3) – .466 – 99.9% (+0.6%)
IND (79-62) – BOS (4), OCT (4), VAN (4), ATL (3), MIL (3), NYC (3) – .488 – 0.1% (-0.6%)

Damn Elks, Falcons next week. Starters are a bit up in the air, but Craig Kniep might now make more than just four starts in his September call-up… Heck, at the rate the starters get blown up, we might need more circus relievers from AAA. At least Danny Munn should be back in the lineup on Monday.

Fun Fact: The last time a perfect game was thrown, a Buffalo was doing it.

That would have been Jose Arias on April 30, 2047 against the Rebels. Now, the Buffos were on the receiving end by Marcus Wilkins, the 35-year-old veteran.

On the receiving end *again* one should say. Of the five perfect games in ABL history, three were against the Rebels and two against the Buffaloes.

+++

Unless I wake up at 4AM tomorrow, no update tomorrow. It’s the time of the year where American Truck Simulator releases a new DLC, and I need to haunt the roads of Oklahoma all evening long tomorrow.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (89-53) vs. Canadiens (66-76) – September 13-16, 2055

The damn Elks themselves posed no threat to the Raccoons anymore, although they could still let us stumble into the maws of the Arrowheads. Yes yes, the lead was tremendous, and the magic number tiny… but I was a natural born pessimist. The Elks were third in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed, and the season series was even at seven games apiece. So this alone made a split in this series mandatory – wouldn’t want to lose the season series, boys, huh??

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (0-0, 7.20 ERA) vs. Hyuma Hitomi (4-15, 4.77 ERA)
He Shui (19-5, 2.81 ERA) vs. Anton Jesus (11-9, 4.24 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (9-8, 3.66 ERA) vs. Terry Herman (11-9, 3.71 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (6-1, 2.59 ERA) vs. Jesse Lausch (7-9, 4.98 ERA)

We’d only come up against right-handed hurlers here.

Danny Munn was finally back in the lineup on Monday.

Game 1
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 3B Adame – 1B Wheeler – RF A. Walker – 2B K. Hawkins – C Waker – LF Magnussen – SS Mullen – P Hitomi
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – 3B Venegas – C Philipps – P Kniep

Munn returned with an RBI single in the bottom 1st, driving in Pucks for an unearned run after Aaron Walker had completely sailed past his 2-out fly ball. Walker was probably excused by his antlered manager, given that he had pounded a 2-run homer in the guest half of the inning, driving in Jeff Wheeler against the rookie Kniep in his second career start. The Coons would flip the score in the bottom 2nd, which took four singles from Venegas, Philipps, Brassfield, and Lonzo. The latter two were stranded, and then the sad play from the top 1st repeated in the next half inning, as Kniep walked Wheeler and was then blasted again by Aaron Walker for the next deficit, 4-3.

Kniep pitched only five busy innings, but at least didn’t allow another run and avoided an L when Rams opened the bottom 3rd with a double to right-center and brought home the tying run on two productive outs. THAT play also repeated itself two innings later, then with a leadoff double by Danny Fun, and him getting plated on two more productive outs, which gave the Coons a 5-4 lead and the Elks a reason to go to the pen in lieu of continued engagement of Hyuma Hitomi, who was now in line for his 16th loss of the year.

Tyler Philipps’ home run in the bottom 6th extended our lead to 6-4, but Kniep’s first career W went but in the seventh inning with Zorizuki on the mound. The right-hander walked Damian Moreno, gave up a hit to Wheeler, walked Aaron, and then fudged the tying run across in what was already a 6-5 game when he dropped Ramsay’s throw at first base, which if caught would have made Tristan Waker the third out of the inning. Instead, Wheeler scored, and Adam Magnussen hit an RBI single to center to put Elk City in front. I sighed annoyingly for the rest of the game. The Raccoons couldn’t get the offense unclogged in the seventh or eighth innings, before Lonzo struck out against Ruben Mendez to begin the bottom 9th, and then Pucks wasn’t even in the game anymore, having been removed in a double switch. Ed Crispin pinch-hit for Colby Bowen, grounded to Kyle Hawkins, and Hawkins bobbled the ball, putting the tying run on base. Munn grounded out, Ramsay hit a scratch single, and the tying and winning runs were on the corners for Matt Waters with two down. Mendez punched him out, and I punched a pillow in anger. 7-6 Canadiens. Brassfield 2-5, RBI; Munn 2-5, 2B, RBI; Ramsay 3-5, 2B; Philipps 2-3, BB, HR, RBI;

The Arrowheads had a game scheduled with the Titans, but that was rained out. The magic number remained at 12, but Indy would play two tomorrow, weather permitting.

Game 2
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 3B Adame – 1B Wheeler – C Waker – 2B K. Hawkins – LF Magnussen – RF A. Walker – SS Mullen – P A. Jesus
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – P Shui

Shui was bidding for his 20th W of the season, but would be impeded by the lovely Oregon weather that would throw some rain and a 35-minute rain delay after he had thrown four scoreless innings (hitless the first time through the order) against the damn Elks. The Raccoons in that time scattered five base hits, and scratched out a lone run in the bottom 3rd with a Lonzo single, his 63rd stolen base, and eventually Danny Fun’s RBI single. Shui returned for the fifth inning on 58 pitches after the sizable, but not extremely long delay, and retired the 6-7-8 batters without much fuss. With that, he also got the sixth, gave up a leadoff single to Jesus, and then got pops from Moreno and Alex Adame. The latter went into shallow right-center, but Munn made a sliding catch. Jesus thought he wouldn’t be in a position to throw to third base quickly and went, but was thrown out by a quickly-popping Munn, and it wasn’t close – about two strides – and ended the inning.

Six would be the limit for Shui, however; Brett Lillis jr. offered a scoreless seventh inning, and after the stretch the Raccoons, still facing Jesus, drew leadoff walks with Brass and Lonzo. The pair was in scoring position when with two outs Ramsay dropped a ball between Moreno and Walker for a 2-out, 2-run single.

Up 3-0, Lillis and Bak conceded three eighth-inning singles to Magnussen, Mullen, and with two outs, Moreno. Magnussen tried to score from second base, but was now thrown out at home by Danny Fun, who was completely raking the Elks. This, too, ended the inning. No outfield assists in support of Kevin Hitchcock in the ninth inning, but he also didn’t allow the Elks to get very far on the bases. 3-0 Critters. Gowin 2-4, 2B; Espinoza (PH) 1-1; Shui 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (20-5);

The Arrowheads and Titans split their double-header, so the Raccoons managed to scratch two games off the magic number and get it down to 10.

Game 3
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 3B Adame – 1B Wheeler – 2B K. Hawkins – LF Magnussen – RF A. Walker – C Julio Diaz – SS Mullen – P Herman
POR: 1B Brassfield – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 3B Brobeck – C Gowin – CF Solorzano – 2B Knight – P Taki

The first eight Elks batters didn’t get a base hit off Seisaku Taki, but Terry Herman did notch a single in the third inning. And Moreno singled. And Adame singled. And Wheeler singled. And Hawkins tripled even. And I sobbed. And Magnussen popped out, but Walker hit another single. All in all, Taki was sledgehammered for six hits, five runs, and it made me despair, because apparently we had no reliable starter beyond He Shui anymore. The Knights were surely looking forward to October. Taki would pitch through five innings, never allowing a base hit outside the thick third inning, and then was hit for when Brobeck (on an error) and Matt Knight erred on base with two outs in the bottom 5th, but Harry Ramsay grounded out in his spot to kill the slightest shred of a rally in the 5-0 game.

Ryan Harmer and Eloy Sencion combined for two scoreless innings to reach the stretch, after which the bottom 7th saw some light crowding of Herman by both teams: Gowin hit a single, while Hawkins stared into the sun without finding Solorzano’s pop that dinked in for a 1-out error. Matt Knight’s gap double in left-center then scored both runners, 5-2. Groundouts by Venegas and Brassfield stranded Knight in scoring position and left me dismayed. The Elks would get those two runs back in the eighth inning anyway. Geoff Sather remained completely useless, offered a leadoff walk to Magnussen and a single to Aaron Walker, and when he was replaced with Bravo and then Lillis, the Raccoons still could not get out of the inning. One run scored on a wild pitch, the other on a pinch-hit double by Tim Turner…

For counterproposals where it came to 2-spots, Danny Fun found Pucks on base in the bottom 8th, and took right-hander Ben Arner well deep to right to shorten the score to 7-4 on his 24th longball of the season. The Elks shrugged and scored another run against Hyun-soo Bak, who seemed to not be able to retire ANYBODY anymore, but Bernardino Risso also didn’t have much joy in the bottom 9th. Prospero Tenazes opened the inning with a single against him, batting for Solorzano, while Matt Knight wasn’t hit for and instead belted another 2-run homer to left, his first of the year. Ruben Mendez replaced Risso, and Crispin batted for Bak. He struck out, and that was the first of three straight outs logged by Mendez… 8-6 Canadiens. Puckeridge 2-3; Tenazes (PH) 1-1; Knight 3-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI;

While the level of non-pitching was becoming a bit of a concern, at least the Indians were non-scoring and were squeezed out by Boston, 3-1. That reduced our magic number to nine.

Boys. Can we PLEASE not lose the season series??

Game 4
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 3B Adame – 1B Wheeler – RF A. Walker – C Waker – LF Magnussen – 2B Uranga – SS Mullen – P Lausch
POR: LF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – C Gowin – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – 2B Waters – CF Monson – P Argenziano

I filled myself with cookies (and had the Capt’n Coma within reach) and the Raccoons filled the bases in the bottom 1st with a pair of singles by the 1-2 batters, then a walk drawn in a full count by Danny Munn. Pops by Rams to short and Venegas to shallow right plated absolutely nobody and stranded the full set. Before long, Argenziano, who scattered runners generously all around the bases, gave up a third-inning, 2-run homer to Jeff Wheeler, and the Raccoons railed once more.

Bottom 3rd, Pucks’ leadoff jack cut the deficit in half, and while the Elks had a leadoff single in both the fourth and fifth innings, they couldn’t get any of the runners across thanks to a caught-stealing and a double play turned by the Critters. Argenziano hit a 1-out single in the bottom 5th to make himself the tying run on base, and Pucks was then plunked by Lausch to move the lead runner to second base. Lonzo ran a full count before driving a ball to deep left for a double. Argenziano scored from second, and Pucks might have scored if there hadn’t been a pitcher ahead of him, but he had to be held at third base with the go-ahead run. He would score on Gowin’s groundout for a 3-2 lead, after which he bags filled with a scratch hit and a walk. Venegas was batting with three on and two outs. His budding slump continued with a weak grounder to Jeff Wheeler that left three Coons stranded for the second time in the game.

Argenziano went to the stretch, maintaining the 3-2 lead in a game in which both teams had seven base knocks per side. Bottom 7th, Ben Arner walked Pucks, and Pucks stole second base. Little did he know he had already been in scoring position because Chris Gowin hit a mighty blast in the bottom 7th to extend our lead to 5-2. The Raccoons got two outs for an Aaron Walker single from Zucchini in the top 8th, but Matt Walters got the final out of the inning from Magnussen. Walters remained on the hill for the ninth with plenty of left-handed batters still in reach. Jorge Uranga, Dan Mullen, and Tim Turner all grounded out against him, and the Raccoons got away with a split against the damn Elks. 5-2 Coons. Puckeridge 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Lavorano 2-4, RBI; Munn 1-2, 2 BB; Ramsay 2-4; Argenziano 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (7-1) and 1-3;

The 9-9 split secured, I ran into the Elks’ GM on the way out of the ballpark after the game. We shared a mutual sneer, but then he extended one of his cloven hoofs and bugled something about seeing each other again, next year. I slammed the door in his face, and yelled – AND STAY OUT!!*

I’m such a charm.

The Indians lost three of four in Boston, which reduced the magic number to seven now. They had to play the Thunder on the weekend (including a Friday double header), while we had the Falcons coming up. Both had similar records, and neither had realistic chances to still catch the Knights.

Raccoons (91-55) @ Falcons (74-72) – September 17-19, 2055

Ninth in offense and sixth in pitching, the Falcons and their +5 run differential weren’t particularly scary … but they held a 4-2 lead in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (7-8, 4.61 ERA) vs. Joe Thomlison (6-2, 3.83 ERA)
Craig Kniep (0-0, 7.20 ERA) vs. Art Schaeffer (9-11, 3.77 ERA)
He Shui (20-5, 2.73 ERA) vs. Josh Clem (8-13, 3.82 ERA)

No southpaw to see this week.

Game 1
POR: LF Brassfield – 3B Venegas – 1B Ramsay – RF Munn – P Brobeck – 2B Waters – CF Solorzano – C Raczka – SS Knight
CHA: CF Conner – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – C L. Miranda – LF Kulak – 2B J. Sanchez – 3B Sanders – P Thomlison

The first runs on Friday came on a 3-run homer Matt Waters raked over the fence in right. This came with nobody out in the second inning after Munn was nicked and Brobeck singled through between Jordan Sanchez and Jason Schaack. Danny Munn would collect Anton Venegas with a 2-run bomb to right-center the inning after for a quick 5-0 lead, and things could have been dandy if Kyle Brobeck had pitched any less like a saboteur. He needed over 70 pitches through three scoreless innings, offering three hits, four walks, and … and they didn’t score off him?? HOW?? … Thomlison was lifted after the Munn homer, while Brobeck walked Cory Sanders on straight balls to begin the bottom 4th, then fired away reliever Jim Hackl’s bunt for a 2-base throwing error. Doug Conner popped out, Ian Woodrome grounded out to Ramsay, and then Danny Ceballos finally broke through with a 2-run single to center. Jason Schaack drove home Ceballos from second base, which he reached on Solorzano’s ill-advised throw to the plate in a failed bit to throw out the running pitcher, and all of a sudden the lead was scrubbed down to 5-3, and Brobeck was on almost 100 pitches.

A leadoff single by Munn, a walk drawn by Waters, and a 2-out RBI single for Jeff Raczka added on a run again in the top 5th, but Brobeck gave up a two screamers to put William Kulak and Jordan Sanchez on the corners right at the start of the home half of the same inning and was unceremoniously yanked. Colby Bowen entered, gave up the lead runner on a sac fly by Sanders, received Hackl’s bunt, and then gave up an RBI single to Conner, who stole second, and another RBI single to Woodrome. Tied ballgame, and I was once more strangling a handrail just to wrap my bloodthirsty paws around SOMETHING.

The southpaw Hackl continued to pitch in the sixth inning, but loaded the bases with the 1-2-3 batters on two hits and a walk surrendered. From there, it took the Coons two outs until Matt Waters drew a walk off fresh right-hander John Scott to get the go-ahead-again run across the ******* plate. Solorzano, though, drove in two with a single to center, and Raczka at least sent Conner back in making the third out of the inning. One of those runs was given back by Reynaldo Bravo in the bottom 7th, putting the first two Falcons on base and then needing rescue by Matt Walters. ****** up relief continued in the bottom 8th with Zakilaki, who was torched for four singles and three runs, flipping the score. Pinch-hitter Matt Sharp drove in the tying and go-ahead runs with one out in the inning… Instead of having a lead which they saved Hitchcock for in the ninth inning, the Coons had a deficit against Steve Watson, needing one to tie and two for a lead. Solorzano and Raczka made meek outs before Pucks drew a 2-out walk. Brassfield whiffed. 10-9 Falcons. Venegas 2-4, BB; Munn 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Waters 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Raczka 2-5, RBI;

Red alert.

The Raccoons sent for Phil Baker (0-2, 3.86 ERA) from AAA to make two starts for form evaluation as we trundled towards the playoffs. He had however pitched on Wednesday and would not get a turn this week. We also recalled Luke Ostler, because we desperately needed more right-handed reliever to fling at the wall and see whether they’d stick.

The Indians also swept their double header with the Thunder so the lead was down to nine with a magic number of still seven.

Game 2
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – C C. Gowin – 1B Ramsay – 3B Crispin – 2B Waters – CF Monson – P Kniep
CHA: 2B J. Sanchez – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – C L. Miranda – CF Burr – LF M. Sharp – 3B Sanders – P Schaeffer

Hits for Brassfield and Lonzo and a 2-run single by Gowin gave Kniep an early lead in his third career start, but the Falcons loaded the bases on just seven pitches in the bottom 1st, and without making an out. It was quite early for a mound conference, but not too late, hopefully. After the pep talk, Kniep gave up a run on Schaack’s sac fly to Brassfield, but got a double play grounder from Luis Miranda, 6-4-3, to strand the other two. Not that it stopped being dicey there; leadoff walk to Mike Burr in the bottom 2nd, a single for Sharp, and a stolen base later the tying and go-ahead runs were in scoring position. Kniep rung up the 8-9 batters, then got a groundout from Sanchez to bail out and save his tender tush. He would have a clean third inning, but then doled out three more walks in the two frames after and somehow was held together by the defense. He was gone after five AWFUL innings, the 2-1 lead he held be damned. It didn’t get much more relaxed with the pen; Bak was out for the sixth, allowed a leadoff single to Burr, walked Sharp, and I was ready to despair, but then the Falcons made three weak outs to strand another pair of runners and stayed 2-1 behind.

In terms of “and here it gets worse”, Schaeffer then drilled Chris Gowin in the elbow to begin the seventh inning. Gowin collapsed in the box and rolled around before Luis Silva collected him with a lavender-soaked towel. Tenazes ran for him, but was forced out on Rams’ grounder. The Coons filled the bases with a Crispin single and a walk drawn by Waters. Jason Monson wasn’t hitting a damn lick, but still batted because he was the best defensive centerfielder we had. Schaeffer helped out by plunking him as well, which forced in Ramsay with the first run since the first inning, 3-1. Munn whiffed, Brass popped out to strand three runners, and it was all awful. Sencion and Philipps were the new battery after the stretch. Ian Woodrome hit a leadoff single, but was doubled off 6-4-3 style on Schaack’s grounder to end the inning.

The Coons had Lonzo and Ramsay singles in the eighth, but didn’t score. Crispin grounded out to end the inning, but at least made a nifty play in the bottom of the inning to cover for our bold decision to patch the inning with Harmer and Sather, hardly Hall of Famers. Hitchcock sawed off the Falcons in order in the ninth inning at least… 3-1 Critters. Brassfield 3-4, 2B; Lavorano 2-4; Gowin 1-2, 2 RBI; Crispin 2-4;

The Thunder beat the Arrowheads, 6-1, reducing the magic number to five.

The magic number was not my chief concern – Chris Gowin’s elbow was. Luis Silva said he had a contusion and would be missing at least a few games, and probably a week, but we’d get him back before the end of the regular season.

Due to push and shove on the 40-man roster, the Raccoons could not bring up another catcher, so it was just Philipps and Raczka for now.

Game 3
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – 2B Waters – C Raczka – P Shui
CHA: CF Conner – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – C L. Miranda – LF Kulak – 2B J. Sanchez – 3B Sanders – P Clem

In pursuit of his 21st win of the year, He Shui drove in the game’s first run with a double into the leftfield corner in the second inning. This came after Rams had hit a leadoff single, Raczka had drawn a walk with two outs, and gave us a 1-0 lead and the battery in scoring position for Brassfield, who fanned quite miserably. There was loud noise aplenty in the third inning, however. After Lonzo grounded out, Pucks hit a homer for a 2-0 lead, and then Munn and Rams smacked back-to-back doubles over Conner in centerfield for a 3-0 lead. Shui didn’t allow a hit the first time through except a single to Clem, which was such an annoyance. The Falcons got singles from Ceballos and Schaack to begin the fourth inning, but Miranda popped out and Kulak, who had hit a fly to the warning track in the second inning, found Waters for an inning-snapping double play.

Pucks singled and Munn whacked another double to begin the fifth inning for Portland, and Clem continued to yield contact and hits. Rams extended the lead to 4-0 with a single between Kulak and Woodrome, and Venegas hit a sac fly, which knocked out Clem. Andres Lopez then got Charlotte out of the inning. And just when you thought all was well with Shui and the world, the bottom 5th began with a Sanchez single, Sanders getting nicked, and another single by Eiji Kinoshiita. Bags full, nobody out, Conner flew to Brassfield – and Brassfield clonkered it for a 2-base error, falling over his own tail rather than making a play. Woodrome added a sac fly, 5-3, before Shui regained control with a Ceballos pop and then Schaack grounding out to Ramsay, leaving Conner stranded. All three runs were unearned.

An earned run followed in the seventh inning when Shui – after allowing two runners in the sixth inning – put Conner and Woodrome on the corners with nobody out. Danny Ceballos’ grounder to Waters was good for two outs, but also the run that narrowed the score to 5-4. Colby Bowen replaced him, threw one pitch to Jason Schaack, and served up a tremendous bomb to tie the game. No 21st win for Shui, and no lunch money for Bowen for the rest of the year. ****.

I was mad and foaming all through the eighth inning, in which no runs were scored and Lillis retired three straight Falcons for a confusing change. The ninth began with Lonzo grounding to the left against Steve Watson. Sanders lunged and stopped the ball, but had no play – infield single. Lonzo was in motion on the first pitch to Pucks, and Pucks buried the damn thing in the right-center gap. Lonzo never stopped running until he was in the dugout, and Pucks slid into third base with a go-ahead RBI triple! Munn then whiffed, Rams walked, and Ed Crispin pinch-hit and grounded out, but got the tack-on run home from third base before the inning could fizzle out. Matt Walters got another save opportunity with left-handed batters coming up. He struck out three of them – with a Doug Conner single in between. 7-5 Coons. Lavorano 2-5; Puckeridge 3-5, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; Munn 2-5, 2 2B; Ramsay 4-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI;

In other news

September 15 – The Thunder’s 3B/SS/RF Ed Soberanes (.266, 4 HR, 14 RBI) is out for the season with a strained hamstring.
September 15 – WAS SP Larry Colwell (15-10, 3.26 ERA) throws nine shutout innings, but not for a prize, in a game against the Blue Sox. The game takes 12 innings to complete, the Capitals notching the 1-0 win after all.
September 16 – Shredded posterior cruciate ligaments will keep RIC OF/2B Manny Cooke (.242, 12 HR, 55 RBI) out not only for the rest of this season, but probably also the first two months of next season.
September 17 – Gold Sox and Blue Sox play 18 innings until the former walk off for a 6-5 win on … a wild pitch by NAS MR Ernie Gomes (0-1, 9.00 ERA).
September 19 – IND 1B/RF/LF Bill Quinteros (.288, 23 HR, 93 RBI) could miss the rest of the season with back soreness.

FL Player of the Week: RIC 1B Mario Delgadillo (.319, 25 HR, 73 RBI), hitting .333 (11-33) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL 1B Pat Fowler (.317, 16 HR, 54 RBI), batting .462 (12-26) with 3 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

BNN doesn’t bother to print a pennant race table for the CL North anymore, as the week ends with the Coons leading by 11 games and a magic number of three. The Indians were battered by two pawsful on Sunday to lose both of their series this week as their second-half collapse continued without mercy or respite. The Coons? Still had a chance for 100 wins despite all the issues.

The biggest issue? The Knights would not be impressed by our postseason rotation at all. Right now Argenziano looks like the #3 starter. ARGENZIANO.

Chris Gowin could miss all of our next series in Tijuana. We’ll be in Milwaukee on the weekend.

Fun Fact: Harry Ramsay, who was stowed away in St. Pete as recently as August 10, is now batting .300.

Still no power to speak of, but since being recalled he has batted .374 with six doubles and four homers, driving in 23 runs. That makes even Lonzo blush! Ramsay is batting .279/.338/.427 for his career. I just wonder where the power went that gave him 20 bombs in 2053 and 14 in 2054.

+++

*Don’t ask how long it took to find the correct terminology here.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (93-56) @ Condors (65-84) – September 20-22, 2055

The Raccoons would try to get rid of their magic number of three altogether in Tijuana, facing the Condors who they had beaten 5-1 this year and 14-1 since the start of last year. The Condors were bottoms in runs scored and third-worst in pitching with a -96 run differential. Their pen was the worst in the league with an ERA pushing five. It wasn’t pretty.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (9-9, 3.81 ERA) vs. Miguel Batista (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Phil Baker (0-2, 3.86 ERA) vs. Chris Cornelius (9-9, 4.25 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (7-1, 2.59 ERA) vs. Victor Scott (8-13, 3.60 ERA)

We’d get a right-handed rookie who had just pitched one inning in relief in his career and would make his debut as a starter at age 23, then a righty veteran and a lefty ex-Coon. Numerous injuries to their pitching staff, with Juan Juarez, Jay Everett, Jaylin King, and Jayden Durant on the DL. Sam Witherspoon was day-to-day with a balky hamstring.

Game 1
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – 2B Waters – C Philipps – P Taki
TIJ: C Mittleider – 3B Chapa – LF T. Duncan – RF J. Harmon – 1B Witherspoon – CF Hildebrand – SS N. Fowler – 2B D. Mercado – P M. Batista

A throwing error by Nick Fowler allowed the Raccoons to plate an unearned run in the first inning, as it allowed Lonzo to second base, from where Pucks singled him home just two pitches later. Taki answered with one of his first innings, conceding a single to Jon Mittleider and a walk to Luis Chapa, and eventually a run on Jamie Harmon’s single to center, tying the game at one before Witherspoon whiffed and Danny Hildebrand grounded out to Waters. Taki answered by hitting a sac fly to plate Waters for a new 2-1 lead in the second inning, then struck out the next four batters he faced before walking Chapa again. This time, Tim Duncan hit into a double play to end the bottom 3rd.

The first two pitches the debutee (as a starter at least) threw in the fifth inning were taken for a single by Brassfield and a double to left by Lonzo. From there, Batista did the smart thing and walked Pucks, dooming the Coons to have the bases loaded with nobody out. Danny Munn immediately struck out, but Ramsay, raging hot, singled to right to drive in a run. Venegas and Waters offered pathetic outs, stranding the bags full. Munn then made an error to put Domingo Mercado on base to begin the bottom 5th, and Chapa and Duncan hit singles to regain a run on the Coons, 3-2. Harmon popped out to leave the 2-3 pair on the corners. Taki went on to knock out Batista with a 1-out single in the top 6th. Jesus Cardenas took over, walked the bags full with Brass and Pucks, and then ran another full count against Munn. The veteran showed patience and laid off a pitch well outside to draw a third walk and push home a run. Ramsay singled past Mercado for another run, while Carlos Solorzano batted for Venegas, but flew out to Duncan, stranding three.

Taki then showed off his playoff form, drilling the already ailing Witherspoon in the bottom 6th before giving up four singles until Mittleider’s 1-out knock tied the game at five. Lillis had to dig him out of the jam, and would probably be the smart choice to start rather than Taki in the upcoming CLCS….. Neither team then scored in the last three innings of regulation even though there was a runner on base in five of the six half-innings. The teams went to overtime exactly even with five runs, nine hits, and an error on each side. The tie was then broken in the most unlikely fashion – Daniel Espinoza was batting in Pucks’ spot, after Solorzano had stayed in centerfield after pinch-hitting earlier when the team had still held a sizable lead. His spot came up in the 10th inning against Leonardo Ramos, who had already gotten five outs, including two from Brass and Lonzo in the inning, but he didn’t get Espinoza; Espinoza got *him* with his first career home run to leftfield…! A stunned Ramos gave up another pair of doubles to Munn and Ramsay, and thus a second run, but Kevin Hitchcock would get by without that when he was handed the ball for the bottom 10th, retiring the Condors in order. 7-5 Raccoons. Brassfield 2-4, BB; Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Espinoza 1-2, HR, RBI; Ramsay 3-6, 2B, 3 RBI; Tenazes (PH) 1-1;

Ryan Harmer got the W with a scoreless bottom 9th.

The Indians beat the Knights, 4-3, so the magic number was now two.

Game 2
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – 2B Knight – C Raczka – P Baker
TIJ: SS Sheilds – 3B Chapa – LF T. Duncan – RF J. Harmon – 1B Witherspoon – CF Hildebrand – C J. Morales – 2B D. Mercado – P Cornelius

Lonzo scored again in the first inning for a 1-0 lead, this time with his own single, his 66th stolen base of the season, an infield single for Pucks, and then Munn’s sac fly to center. Ramsay also singled, but Venegas’ twig remained soft and he grounded out to end the inning. The Coons added a 3-spot in the second inning. Knight got on base and was driven in by Phil Baker with an RBI single, his first hit and RBI of the year. Lonzo reached, stole another base, and then Pucks drove home both remaining runners with a screaming double to right, 4-0. Munn flew out to center again to end the inning. By about that time, however, the Indians finished a 3-2 win against the Knights – so the Raccoons could reduce the magic number to one, but they could not win the division on this day.

Baker, recalled up as desperate wing and a prayer, pitched four shutout innings to begin the game, which sounded much better than it was. The Condors crowded him for five runners in the first two frames, they just couldn’t get anybody across. When they finally did score a run, it was Tyrese Sheilds’ solo homer that got the job done in the bottom 5th. Danny Hildebrand hit a double off him in the sixth inning, but was left on, and Domingo Mercado landed a single behind Lonzo to begin the bottom 7th. Victor Cruz’ pinch-hit grounder erased the lead runner, and after that the Coons went to the pen. Eloy Sencion retired Sheilds and Chapa to get out of the inning. Bottom 8th, Reynaldo Bravo and Matt Walters walked the first two batters, Duncan and Harmon, Witherspoon popped out on a 3-1 pitch, and then Hildebrand was coaxed into a double play by Walters, while I wasn’t sure how much more clearly we could phone in our willingness to blow the game. Hitchcock had another panic-free ninth, however. 4-1 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4; Puckeridge 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Knight 2-4; Baker 6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (1-2) and 1-3, RBI;

One.

Game 3
POR: RF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – LF Venegas – 2B Waters – CF Tenazes – 3B Espinoza – C Philipps – P Argenziano
TIJ: C Mittleider – 2B D. Mercado – LF T. Duncan – 1B V. Cruz – RF Rock – CF Briggs – SS V. Velez – 3B Villalba – P V. Scott

This time, the Condors went up 1-0 in the first inning, thanks to Argenziano handing a gift to Domingo Mercado, and the second-sacker bashing it 390 feet. The Raccoons didn’t immediately reply, but would get their battery into scoring position with nobody out in the top 3rd. Scott walked Philipps, and then Argenziano’s bunt was peppered away for two bases by Raul Villalba. The Raccoons didn’t score; Brassfield struck out, and Lonzo flew out to Chris Briggs, who then threw out Philipps at the plate to end the inning. The Condors responded with stacking the bags and nobody out with their 2-3-4 batters in the bottom 3rd. Argenziano was all over the place, then had a Brassfield error added to his pains when the rightfielder dropped Tom Rock’s 3-1 foul pop to give the batter another chance. Argenziano pounced on the chance and drilled Rock with an errant breaking ball, pushing home a run. Briggs struck out, but Victor Velez dished a double and drove home two runners. Argenziano walked Villalba, conceded another run on Scott’s groundout, and was then yanked from the 5-0 game. Mittleider struck out against Rukizuki to end the inning.

Through five, the Raccoons had pretty much nothing. The sixth began with Pucks pinch-hitting for Geoff Sather in the #9 hole and hitting a bomb off Scott, 5-1. Brassfield and Ramsay then went to the corners, and Anton Venegas’ sac fly got us closer yet, 5-2. The inning ended with Rams picked off first base, though… That was the more fur-raising for when Matt Waters got back to the plate in the sixth inning, he took Scott deep for a homer and it was now 5-3. But the closer the Coons got, the less they produced. Philipps drew a 2-out walk in the same inning, but Pucks’ fly to center was caught. Ramsay hit a 2-out single off Scott in the eighth, and Danny Munn pinch-hit, but popped out.

Top 9th, Leonardo Ramos pitching. Waters singled to center. Tenazes doubled to right. The tying runs were in scoring position! Crispin batted for Espinoza, drew a walk, and now I felt like we were doomed. Three on, nobody out, and Philipps struck out. Pucks struck out as well. Brassfield ran a full count and sent a drive to left. Nope. Duncan was in no particular hurry, waited, and made the catch. 5-3 Condors. Ramsay 2-4; Waters 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Puckeridge (PH) 1-3, HR, RBI;

Rukizuki, Sather, Bowen, Lillis, and Ostler pitched 5.1 innings of scoreless relief – all for naught.

…and it didn’t matter! The Knights Vic Harman (9-7, 3.44 ERA), first full year in the majors at age 24, shut out the Indians on four hits to end their season – the Raccoons had won the division!

Raccoons (95-57) @ Loggers (70-83) – September 24-26, 2055

Now into “don’t get hurt!” territory, the Raccoons had their last road series of the regular season in Milwaukee. The Loggers had been through another meh season, but somehow still held an 8-7 lead in 15 games against the Critters. While I wasn’t fond on losing the season series against any division rival, I wasn’t fond even more of losing more crucial players, so, boys, can you please stop breaking your little necks? The Loggers had the worst rotation, gave up the second-most runs, but also scored the second-most runs in the CL. Their run differential was only modestly bad at -26.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (7-8, 4.61 ERA) vs. Jamie Kempf (8-13, 4.79 ERA)
He Shui (20-5, 2.68 ERA) vs. Luke Moses (4-7, 5.31 ERA)
Craig Kniep (1-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. Jeff Fox (10-7, 4.94 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday after two right-handers. Chris Gowin returned to the lineup after missing all of the Tijuana series. The Raccoons would now begin to weave in more reserves into the lineup.

Game 1
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – P Brobeck – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 3B Crispin
MIL: SS Gaxiola – RF Callaia – LF Pigman – C C. Thomas – 2B de Kok – 1B D. Robles – CF Starnes – 3B T. Edwards – P Kempf

Brobeck remained atrocious, drilling a batter amid three singles in the bottom 1st, surrendering two runs on Dave Robles’ 2-out hit. The Raccoons roared back, though. Munn started the top 2nd with a walk in a full count, advanced on a wild pitch, and then was joined by Ramsay on another walk. Brobeck hit into a fielder’s choice at second base, and Gowin popped out, but Matt Waters then came through with an RBI double to right-center. Even better, the #9 batter Ed Crispin crashed a huge 428-footer for a 3-run homer and a 4-2 lead. The four runs did not help Brobeck a lick. Kempf (!) doubled, Robby Gaxiola singled, and Gaudencio Callaia drew a walk, all with one out in the bottom 2nd. The Coons couldn’t turn two on Perry Pigman’s grounder to short, so a run scored, but Chris Thomas flew out easily to Brassfield to let the Coons keep a 4-3 lead.

No idea what was wrong with Ed Crispin, either – he came back to the plate in the fourth after Waters drew a walk with two down, and bashed another homer, this a 2-piece for a 6-3 lead, five runs driven in by him! Kempf was gone after the inning, with replacement righty Alan Marshall allowing a fifth-inning single to Pucks, who stole his 17th base, and then an RBI single to right to Danny Fun. Rams singled, Brobeck raked a double into the corner to drive in Munn, but the inning fizzled out after that. The bags were even full for Crispin, but he hit a chopper back to the hill for an out at the plate. Munn further hit a jack off Dan Bell to extend the lead to 9-3, and the Coons exploded on their former star right-hander Nelson Moreno in the eighth inning, all with two outs. Rams, Tenazes, and Gowin hit straight singles for one run. Moreno walked Waters, and then gave up a bases-clearing double to Rakin’ Ed Crispin! …who then limped around second base and was soon collected by Luis Silva. TYPICAL. Jason Monson ran for Crispin, then scored on a Brassfield single, which Ben Lehman gave up, along with Lonzo’s 200th hit of the year, a single to center. Pucks added one more run with another single to rush the score to 15-3 by the middle of the eighth. Lonzo, Munn, and Pucks were removed after this inning, and Colby Bowen was inserted to pitch the final six outs. He got one, offering three hits, a walk, and a run instead. Sencion inherited his bases-loaded mess, but conceded a second and third run on a single by PH Ryan Bishton before getting out of the inning. Harmer would pitch the ninth inning. 15-6 Critters. Brassfield 2-5, BB, RBI; Puckeridge 2-6, RBI; Munn 2-5, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Ramsay 3-5, BB; Tenazes (PH) 1-2; Gowin 3-6, RBI; Waters 2-3, 3 BB, 2B, RBI; Crispin 3-5, 2 HR, 2B, 8 RBI;

Ed Crispin was day-to-day for the rest of the weekend and perhaps beyond that after he suffered a tweaked ankle. Bum should have hit a third homer instead of sliding into second base wrongly!

Game 2
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – RF Munn – C Gowin – 3B Venegas – 2B Knight – CF Monson – P Shui
MIL: SS Gaxiola – RF Callaia – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – C C. Thomas – CF Okano – 2B R. Lopez – 3B T. Edwards – P L. Moses

Lonzo stole his 69th base of the year in the first inning, dropping in a single before taking second by force. He took third base, too, for #70, where he would have arrived anyway with walks to Rams and Gowin behind him. And for what? For Venegas to fly out to center to strand absolutely everybody anyway… Robby Gaxiola on the other paw stole his 60th base after reaching base to begin the bottom 1st, but on the same paw was stranded on third base just the same. Milwaukee went up 1-0 in the second, with a walk to Yukinari Okano, a Ricky Lopez double, and then a sac fly for Travis Edwards. Thomas and Edwards would put a second run together in the bottom 4th, while Lonzo and Ramsay had been on base again in the third inning, and had been stranded for the second time.

Shui kept bleeding singles, f.e. another one to Gaxiola in the fifth, but this time the Loggers’ top stealer was thrown into the slammer by Chris Gowin and remained stuck at 60 thefts. Shui struck out only one batter (Okano) in seven innings of work as he was clearly not anywhere near peak performance. Moses allowed only three hits to Shui’s nine, but was lifted for Josh Costello in the eighth inning and Brassfield opened with a single immediately, which already brought up the tying run. Lonzo grounded to Edwards for a force play at second, after which the Loggers went to lefty Sam Webb. Rams found a double play, killing the inning. In turn, Perry Pigman powered a home run off Hyun-soo Bak in the bottom 8th to extend the Loggers’ lead to 3-0. Danny Munn answered with a leadoff jack off Dave Lister in the ninth, his 27th homer of the year. Gowin singled, then was run for by Solorzano. The move was intended to make it harder for the Loggers to turn two, but they never had a chance, as Venegas popped out, Pucks popped out, and Waters popped out. 3-1 Loggers. Lavorano 2-4;

Snatch.

As long as you don’t get hurt, boys!! Just to be safe, Lonzo had a day off in addition to every lefty batter we could spare on Sunday. Lonzo was on 70 stolen bases now, which was one short of his own season-high, and six short of the all-time single-season record by Hugo Acosta.

Game 3
POR: 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – LF Venegas – 2B Waters – RF Tenazes – C Philipps – SS Espinoza – CF Monson – P Kniep
MIL: 3B T. Edwards – CF M. Martinez – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – RF Callaia – 2B de Kok – SS R. Lopez – C Cadena – P J. Fox

Kniep continued to be most mediocre, and the Loggers took a 2-0 lead off him in the second inning. David Worthington walked to begin the inning, after which Callaia’s single and Teo de Kok’s double gave them the lead. Ricky Lopez drew ANOTHER walk, and Jose Cadena’s double play got a second run home. The Coons had seen Brass and Brobeck on with singles in the first, but hadn’t scored them. In the third inning, we got Venegas, Waters, and Tenazes on with two more singles and the outfielder getting drilled, and then Tyler Philipps laid off the garbage to draw a 2-out bases-loaded walk from Fox for the team’s first run, but Daniel Espinoza grounded out. Brobeck killed the fourth, hitting into a double play with Monson and Brassfield on base. Venegas and Waters then led off the fifth inning with a pair of singles, taking up position on the corners. After Tenazes’ groundout plated the tying run and moved Waters to second base, the Loggers pulled a stunner and walked Philipps intentionally to get to Daniel Espinoza, who fell to 1-2 before romping a ball over the head of Miguel Martinez for a go-ahead RBI double. Monson was also walked intentionally, because with that .199 average he could to REAL damage, and Kniep got his first career RBI with a sharp single past de Kok, extending his own lead to 4-2. And then Brassfield hit into a 6-4-3 double play, because somebody apparently ******* had to.

Bottom 5th, Ricky Lopez singled to right, Jose Cadena homered to left, and all of a sudden we were tied again. Brassfield then fudged Ryan Bishton’s grounder, and Kniep threw one right down Broadway after that, and Travis Edwards crushed that one to La-La Land, turning a 2-run lead into a 2-run deficit without as much as a ******* out on the board. He would not get the loss, though, although maybe that would initiate some sort of learning effect… Kyle Conner was pitching to the Coons in the seventh inning when Espinoza hit a single and with two outs, Pucks batted for the pitcher, Ostler. Conner hung a breaking ball, and Pucks made it disappear in Manitoba to tie the game at six!

Matt Walters allowed a single to Martinez and nailed Worthington in the bottom 7th, but would get through the inning himself. Next half-inning, lefty George Youngblood filled the bases with Venegas, Tenazes, and Philipps for only one out. Lonzo batted for Espinoza, but popped out, while Chris Gowin batted for Monson and crammed a shot through the diving Gaxiola and into the leftfield corner for a 2-out, bases-clearing double…! The 9-6 lead went to Norinori in the eighth inning, and while de Kok drew a leadoff walk, Cadena hit into an inning-ending double play. Chris Thomas socked a leadoff double off Hitchcock in the bottom 9th, though, and while Hitchcock got three groundouts after that, that was enough to get that last run home. 9-7 Raccoons. Brassfield 2-4, BB; Brobeck 2-6; Venegas 3-5, BB; Waters 2-6; Espinoza 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Gowin (PH) 1-1, 2B, 3 RBI; Puckeridge (PH) 1-2, HR, 2 RBI;

In other news

September 20 – Falcons SP Joe Thomlison (6-2, 4.16 ERA) will miss the rest of the year with a fracture in his elbow.
September 21 – LVA SP Noah Hollis (7-13, 4.62 ERA) pitches a 2-hit shutout against the Canadiens, whiffing five in a 2-0 win.
September 21 – Shoulder inflammation ends the season of Loggers SP Tyler Riddle (12-11, 3.20 ERA).
September 21 – Also done for the year with shoulder inflammation: OCT SP Bubba Wolinsky (12-7, 3.35 ERA);
September 22 – The Capitals win the FL East despite getting shut out 5-0 by the Wolves. The last opposition, the Buffaloes, lose 3-2 to the Warriors to fall out of mathematical contention.
September 22 – More pains: PIT SP Victor Salcido (11-11, 4.05 ERA) was questionable for Opening Day in 2056 after a diagnosis of a tear in his labrum.
September 22 – The Falcons beat the Titans, 1-0, on a home run by CHA C Luis Miranda (.283, 12 HR, 69 RBI).
September 24 – The Knights win a crucial 11-inning, 1-0 game from the Thunder, with the only run of the game scoring on… a wild pitch by OCT CL Kevin Daley (4-7, 4.24 ERA, 41 SV).
September 26 – Pacifics RF Matt Diskin (.318, 28 HR, 114 RBI) is also done for the year, having broken a finger.

FL Player of the Week: NAS INF Nick Nye (.303, 16 HR, 122 RBI), clipping .462 (12-26) with 2 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ INF Tyrese Sheilds (.279, 6 HR, 45 RBI), hitting .571 (8-14) with 1 HR, 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Playoffs!

We already have more wins this year as we had in any year going back to 2047, the last ring in that string of five straight pennants. That was only our second-ever 100-win season, and the opportunity certainly presented itself right now.

Matt Diskin might still win the home run crown in the Federal League, where he has 28 bombs compared to 25 for the closest challenger, Rebel Mario Delgadillo. The same gap is called up in the CL, with Danny Fun trailing ATL Eddie Moreno by three. In fact, Moreno’s 30th homer had clinched the division for them on Sunday, a 12th-inning walkoff crusher off Oklahoma’s Isaiah Mowatt. With the CLCS now set, Moreno and Munn would have a chance to discuss this home run crown issue in person ten days from now.

Since Enrique Ortiz (19-6, 2.87 ERA) would only make one more start, He Shui (20-6, 2.68 ERA) was assured of a share of the wins title in the CL. Kennedy Adkins (sob!) had won the ERA title anyway. Lonzo was well away with 70 steals, ten up on the persistently pestering Gaxiola of the Loggers.

Ed Crispin, who’s bound to be a free agent after this season, has had a silently great season, batting for a 112 OPS+ and driving in 54 runs in just 287 at-bats. Will the Coons resign him? Probably not. Third base is a bit crowded as we’re trying to weave in Kyle Brobeck on days non-adjacent to his starts. And maybe Kyle Brobeck should make any starts on the hill… Crispin is a career backup, but got more than 300 at-bats three time in his career, and might get there again this year if he heals up in due time. He’s .260/.323/.382 with 36 HR, 255 RBI for his career.

Crusaders, Titans at home in the final week. One more win will definitely clinch home field advantage for the CLCS.

Just don’t get hurt, boys.

Fun Fact: 39 years ago today, Hugo Mendoza blasted three home runs in a 6-1 Stars win against the Pacifics.

That was the year before he was traded to the Coons, where I was then perpetually unhappy with him. He won the home run crown for Dallas with 37 shots in 2016, and then won is with 38 for the 2020 Coons, and I still wasn’t happy. His career would falter early; he was traded to Cincy mid-2022, which brought back nothing good, really, and only played two more full seasons before his body gave out at age 34.

He made it into the Hall of Fame anyway, having batted .312/.382/.524 with 2,260 hits, 336 homers, and 1,327 RBI for his career, which included one Player of the Year award (2016), a Gold Glove, seven All Star Games, but never a ring.