Raccoons (6-3) @ Canadiens (7-1)
So far the Canadiens have played the game that everybody knows from the Raccoons: stellar pitching, no offense. That carried them to .875 in the opening week. Now they face us for four games. And let’s face it. The Coons are hard to scout early on this season
The Coons left runners on third in the first two innings, which came back to hurt them, when the Canadiens plated two off Ackerman in the bottom 2nd. That 2-0 lead held up for a while. Green singled to lead off the top 6th, and Thompson came up when Sanchez had made an out. He socked a homer to dead center to tie up the game, 2-2. Green then provided a lead with a solo jack in the top 8th. Burton Taylor had trouble in the bottom 8th, but White got him out, and I hoped for a 5-out save from White, since the pen had been abused so much in the last game in San Francisco. But he put two on with one out. Gilberto Soto was rested, but I didn’t trust him enough, and David Jones didn’t match the next batters, so I turned to Cunningham, who got Melvin Greene to pop out to Workman. But then the Canadiens sent lefty Jeff Lee, and NOW I turned to Jones to kill him. Which he did (although Daniel Hall made quite a run for that deep flyball…) 3-2 Raccoons. Workman 2-4; Green 3-3, BB, HR, RBI;
This was the Portland Raccoons’ 500th win in franchise history.
Mark Dawson was batting .098 and was by now dropped to #6 in the lineup behind Workman and Green to bunch all the hot guys very closely together. (Does that sound wrong? Nooo…)
The Coons took a 1-0 lead in the top 1st of game 2, but it got away from Kan with a wild pitch in the second. No, Kinji Kan, Pitcher of the Year, was not up to form yet. The Canadiens squeezed in another run in the third, but Raúl Herrera tied it up with a leadoff jack to dead center in the top 4th, and they scored another run in the inning, when the Canadiens’ Robbie Campbell balked *twice* in the inning. Kan lost the lead again with a 2-piece to Eddy Bailey in the seventh, which chased him from the game, but the Raccoons rebounded entering the top 8th trailing 5-3 with pinch-hit RBI hits by Dicks and Banda. Steve Walker mowed down the catcher Shimpei Iwamoto in the ninth on a Cam Green single to score the go-ahead run. Now, West was still tired and I wanted to get him rest. Wally Gaston had pitched the eighth, and I let him in to start the ninth. Melvin Greene singled to lead off, but Gaston got the next three. GO WALLY!! 6-5 Raccoons. Walker 2-5; Hall 3-5, 2B;
Wally Gaston now led the Continental League in wins, with 3. =)
Game 3 featured Chris Powell (0-1, 0.00 ERA) and Bill Smith (1-0, 0.56 ERA), the Canadiens’ only meaningful acquisition this winter. Both had their ERA’s brought to more reasonable numbers in this game.
The Raccoons struck first with a run in the top 1st, but Bailey homered off Powell (#1 this year, here we go again) to tie it immediately. The Canadiens put up another run in the second, when we pitched to #8 Vicente Ramirez with two down and a runner on second, which turned out to be a mistake. But a myriad of singles scored four for the Raccoons in the fourth for a 5-2 lead. Ramirez continued to bat around Powell with a leadoff double in the fifth, and he scored, 5-3 Raccoons. Powell then could not continue past the fifth: back stiffness, a clear sign of old age? The pen blew up his lead again… oh, the humanity! Jason White was to blame, and he walked two to start the seventh. While Gilberto Soto came in now and struck out the side, between K’s Sanchez threw away the ball on a steal, and the stealer scored, 6-5 Canadiens, which was also the final score. What a shameful way to lose the game! Herrera 2-5, RBI; Dawson 3-4; Soto 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K;
Let’s recollect. Powell has three starts. He left twice with minor injuries, while in line for the W, and they botched it both times. They didn’t score in his other start, and Green made an error that LOST him the game. They clearly hate him, it’s the only reasonable explanation.
One more game before a much needed off day. Logan Evans pitched, but the first scary moment came from rightfield, where Mark Dawson successfully nailed Eddy Bailey trying to go first to third on a single in the first inning. But Dawson lost balance, tripped, and made a bad step, then remained on the ground. He had a sprained ankle and was removed for Cisco Banda. Logan Evans meanwhile didn’t fool anybody. The Canadiens scored three in the second, and three more in the fourth. One run was unearned thanks to another Green error.
Top 8th. The Coons had been held to one hit by Steve Murray through seven. Here, they put runners on the corners with Jones up to bat, who was doing long relief, because I didn’t have too many arms. He went sufficiently deep to left center to score at least Cisco Banda from third. Bowling was plunked and Herrera drew a walk and suddenly there was a 1-out fire. Murray threw a wild pitch to Steve Walker to score the first run, then Walker singled up the middle to score the other two. Now Walker was on for Daniel Hall. The 2-1 pitch – HOME RUN!! Out of the deep blue, the Raccoons incinerated Murray for six runs in that top 8th. Green and Banda provided 2-out doubles to score the go-ahead run!! Now, where was the backend of my pen? But Quincy Cox doubled off Cunningham to lead off and came around to score – the game was tied again. Sad face.
We continued to ride the Cunningham horse, who struck out Iwamoto with the winning run on third in the bottom 9th to get into overtime. He worked through the 11th, ending that with two K’s, but would have to be removed after that. Top 12th. Hall and Workman singled with one out. Green came up and zinged a liner over 2B Melvin Greene into right and made it a double with a dash around first. Hall scored. Banda hit a 2-run double, Sanchez tripled him in – by the time the inning was over, the Coons had plated SEVEN again. Wally Gaston plunked Eddy Bailey in the bottom 12th and he came around to score. 14-8 Furballs!! Herrera 2-6, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Hall 3-6, 2 RBI; Green 2-6, 2 2B, RBI; Banda 3-5, BB, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Sanchez 3-5, BB, 3B, RBI;
That win got us atop the CL North, for the first time since opening day, 0.5 ahead of the Canadiens, who tied us on our off day.
Raccoons (9-4) vs. Indians (6-6)
The Indians have come out of the gates with significantly more offense than last season, which means: mid-pack in the league. But it’s early. The Raccoons rank 2nd in runs scored. Ha-ha.
Mark Dawson was unavailable for this series with the sprained ankle and Banda played in right. Because of his speed he batted 2nd behind Herrera.
Charles Young’s knuckleball didn’t fool anybody in game 1 and he was quickly loaded with three runs. He still went seven. In the eighth, Taylor walked the bases full, he has been awful so far this year. Somehow, the pen still wobbled through without any more damage. But the Indians had a murder 8th/9th inning combo in Domingo Alonso and “Wacky” Booth this year, and the Coons entered the bottom 8th 3-1 behind. Hall homered off Alonso. In the ninth, Cam Green led off with a triple off Booth, who then struck out Thompson and Bowling and got Sanchez to pop out – 3-2 Indians.
Both pitchers developed no-hit bids in the middle game. Jerry Ackerman’s blew up first, in the fifth, and the Indians scored in the sixth, when he grazed opposing pitcher Jesse Carver with a fastball, then walked the next batter with nobody out. Carver came around to score eventually. Carver’s bid remained intact into the seventh. Hall drew a 1-out walk and reached second on a hit-and-run, where Workman was out at first. Walker then singled up the middle and Hall scored to tie the game. Ackerman and Cunningham were then crashed in the eighth, and the Raccoons lost, 4-1, on only three hits.
The Raccoons celebrated another grand slam, this time by Enrique Sanchez in the bottom 2nd of the last game. And it was off Alex Miranda, making it double sweet. Apparently, Miranda was angry about it. He reached on a Thompson error in the top 3rd, then mowed down Thompson on second base on the next play. Thompson was injured and had to leave the game, incinerating the crowd, who aggressively booed Miranda and littered the field with cups and food. Chaos almost broke out. The crowd then got something to cheer, when Miranda missed his bunt on an 0-2 pitch in the top 5th, and fouled the ball to right – a strikeout. Kan struck out Bill Taggart to end that inning with a runner on second. Kan and Miranda both went on in the game. The Indians scored one off Kan in the top 7th and he was removed for Mark Dawson to pinch hit, who had a scratch single, but was removed on the next play. Herrera was on first now, and Banda singled to put two on. Daniel Hall stepped in, still facing Miranda. Two on, two out. HOME RUN TO LEFT!!! And the ballpark erupted in cheers.
That should have been a safe lead, right? No. Soto gave up one in the eighth, and Taylor and Jones were raped for four in the ninth. Grant West got the last two outs in the game. 7-6 Raccoons. Banda 2-4; Hall 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI;
Thompson had a bad hamstring injury and was out for at least one month. He went to the DL. This left Steve Walker as only backup for 1B, so I needed someone from AAA, who could play there and was already on the 40-man roster. Brandon Roland was only a middle infielder. I chose Edgardo Gonzalez, who had been demoted after the signing of Davis Rigsby. You should remember him, he batted .239 for us in ’82 as a pleasant surprise, but only .201 last year. This is his last option year.
Raccoons (10-6) vs. Thunder (5-11)
The Thunder had moved from first to last since we last met them in the CLCS. Their feared outfield wasn’t hitting a lot and Ralph Hoyles had been blasted so far. For the home team, Dawson was back in for Banda in right and batting fifth behind Workman (as had been the case for a few days already), since Workman was cleaning up just better at the moment.
Christopher Powell (0-1, 1.56 ERA ………) entered facing Shayne Nealon (2-1, 2.89 ERA). Powell seemed to be single-handedly defeated by Guy King (who had been injured during the CLCS), who drove in two early, once with a solo jack. But while the Coons took some time to hit against Nealon, they eventually did. Walker walked (pun!!) to lead off the bottom 4th. Hall socked a home run (the first hit for the team in the game) to tie the score, 2-2. Powell again only earned a no-decision, leaving after seven frames. The Raccoons lost, 3-2, in 12 innings, with the loss on Cunningham, but really on Sanchez, who could not keep the winning run from stealing second. Only five hits on poor offense again.
Logan Evans hit the first batter he faced in game 2 and that set the stage for a horrible night. Down 3-1 in the third, the Coons had the bags full, but Hall and Workman popped up in the infield to end the inning. Exceptionally poor fielding by the infielders and messy pitching contributed to an 8-3 defeat. Wally Gaston f.e. walked five in 1.1 innings. Hall 2-5;
The pitching was so awful, as well as the fielding, that I found myself looking at the free agents list here… Daniel Hall now had a 14-game hitting streak, which was about the only good news at the moment.
Game 3. Young’s knuckleball still didn’t get people to chop wildly at air. The Raccoons lost Steve Walker in the third inning to a calf cramp after sliding into second base. Hall tripled in replacement Gonzalez for a 2-0 lead and to extend his streak to 15. Workman drove in Hall, 3-0. In the top 4th, Guy King’s ongoing destruction of the Raccoons staff came to hurt the Thunder. With a runner on third and one out, King was walked intentionally. Shaw then grounded into a double play to end the inning. Young went seven scoreless, striking out Alfonso Aranda to end the top 7th with the bags full and 5-0 ahead. In the bottom 7th, Raúl Herrera ended an 0-24 skid at the plate with a 2-run triple to make it 7-0. The Coons won this one, 8-0, to avoid the sweep. Hall 2-2, 3 BB, 2B, 3B, RBI; Workman 2-4, 2 RBI; Dawson 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Rigsby 1-2, 2 BB;
Raccoons (11-8) vs. Knights (7-11)
Gonzalez had to play short in this series for Steve Walker, who was nursing his calf. In game 1, Jerry Ackerman was yanked after three innings: eight hits, four runs were against him. It didn’t get any better after that. Five runs were on Richard Cunningham, who couldn’t get anybody out, Sanchez had two passed balls, there were a few wild pitches. The team was steamrolled, 11-2, had only five hits, and Hall hadn’t any, hitting streak over, everything over.
The entire staff was getting slaughtered almost every day now, there was not one guy who didn’t give away runs for free…
Kinji Kan – Pitcher of the Year. That was long forgotten. He was chopped up for six runs in the middle game. The Raccoons scored early on a solo jack by Sanchez, then two more when they walked three times to start the bottom 2nd. Of course they didn’t have any hits in that inning. To be exact, Sanchez’ home run was their only hit through five innings. They came alive in the bottom 9th and started a rally against the Atlanta pen. But once they had tied the game, they left two on with two pathetic outs by Dicks and Herrera. Extra innings, and there weren’t even any relievers available due to the regular slaughterings of the starting pitchers. Jason White somehow wobbled through the 10th with the go-ahead run on third. Bottom 10th. Sanchez led off with a double, getting the crowd to it’s feet. The Knights didn’t dare pitch to Hall and walked him intentionally, getting boos from the ranks. Workman was told to bunt, but the bunt was right to the pitcher, who threw to third, but the throw was high, 3B Bob Goyer was pulled off the bag and Sanchez was safe. Bags full, nobody out. Dawson hit a ball to center that was sufficiently long to score Sanchez and to walk off, 7-6 Raccoons. The crowd celebrated, but what I had seen didn’t warrant any happy faces. Sanchez 3-5, HR, 2 2B, RBI; Dawson 2-3, BB, RBI; Serna (PH) 1-1, RBI;
Herrera (.202) was benched for game 3, Banda played center. Powell (0-1, 1.85 ERA) against Xavier Mayes (1-2, 7.99 ERA). Powell was torn up for seven runs in six innings, two unearned, with two awful errors by Workman and Rigsby. The Raccoons had taken a 3-0 lead with a big rip by Matt Workman, then everything had gone to hell from inning two on. This time, where Powell deserved the loss, the team got him off the hook, by killing Mayes in the bottom 7th. Daniel Hall tied the game with a big 2-run double to deep center, but Sanchez, the go-ahead run, was thrown out at the plate. Taylor lost the game in the eighth. 8-7 Knights.
Here we have the crisis.
Raccoons (12-10) vs. Crusaders (8-13)
Burton Taylor was demoted to AAA on our off day. He kindly waived his 10/5 rights, realizing that an 8.10 ERA and 3.90 WHIP weren’t getting him anywhere. Justin Neubauer joined the team. Other measures were explored at this point.
Cam Green threw away the very first ball rolling in his direction in this game to plate an unearned run in the first. New York’s Miguel Fuentes was injured (and called OUT!) in a collision between catchers in the fourth, when he tried to get through Sanchez, our Man of Steel. That also ended a dangerous inning without runs across. Evans never surrendered an earned run in the start and left after seven, still 1-0 behind. Workman sacrificed in a runner in the eighth to tie the game. There was another catcher’s mix-up in the bottom 9th. The Raccoons had Sanchez on third and Rigsby on first with one out. German Serna pinch hit for the pitcher and grounded to short. Instead of going for the double play against the rather slow Serna, SS Benedict Allard fired home, where Sanchez arrived with the ball and backup catcher Andrew Porter – all in the same spot at the same time. Safe was the call, yet somewhat disputed, and the Raccoons walked off, 2-1. Dawson 2-4; Sanchez 2-3, BB; Daniel Hall isn’t getting many hits anymore, especially not with runners in scoring position, he is simply walked with first open. Cowards, I say! Cowards!
Portland led the middle game 3-1 after the first inning. Rain started in the third and forced a delay in the fourth. Somehow, Young’s knuckleball (and Young himself) were not terribly affected by the 40-minute delay, but it chased Dave Paul, who had started for New York. Young was forced out by a walk and RBI triple to start the sixth and the game derailed right here, when Jason White couldn’t get out and the tying run scored. Bottom 8th: Rigsby singled to get on with one out. Herrera came out to pinch hit for Dicks and tripled to deep left, and was then scored by Sanchez, who pinch hit in the pitcher’s spot. West saved the game, 5-3 Raccoons. Banda 2-5; Walker 2-3, 2B, RBI; Workman 2-4, 2B; Rigsby 3-3, RBI; Wally Gaston had pitched a quick eighth and got the W (4);
Herrera was back playing center, Banda moved to right, Dawson to third for the last game of the series. Green was slumping and had already five errors. That record made me think of giving Ed Sullivan posthumously the title “Rock of the Infield”.
Game 3 was big, with Jerry Ackerman and Kyle Owens both tending to ERA’s over 5. The Coons struck first with Banda getting on with a single, stealing, taking third on Hall’s single and being scored on a sac fly by Workman. Banda made two fantasterrifilicious plays in right in the first few innings to keep that 1-0 lead together. Ackerman pitched eight scoreless innings, while the Raccoons totaled two hits and that 1-0 lead. West came in but the save was blown with an error by Banda that scored the tying run. The Raccoons had a chance to win in the 10th with a double by Rigsby that went untaken. The next inning, Rigsby blew up a double play that would have gotten Cunningham out of the inning, instead he was bludgeoned for three runs. Raccoons lost, 4-1. They had four hits.
In other news
April 14 – The Capitals’ Brady Boyd dominates the Buffaloes in a 1-hit 6-0 shutout.
April 22 – Dallas’ Sergio Esparraguera (1-2, 3.86 ERA) downs Nashville with a 3-hitter. The Stars win 4-0.
April 27 – San Francisco’s outfielder Michael Bolton (.237, 1 HR, 5 RBI) is most likely out for the season with a broken elbow.
April 27 – Los Angeles infielder Carl Foster (.387, 1 HR, 11 RBI) is out for four weeks with an intercostal strain.
Complaints and stuff
TERRIBLE!! They are playing TERRIBLE!!
The rotation has been blown up as well as the pen. Cunningham has been abused and West has been, too, although much of this could come from overuse. The pen has had to pitch 82.2 innings so far, and it is not built to withstand that much strain. Last year we might have made it through two months with only 90 IP on our pen, but this year the whole pitching staff is torched, starting with the ineptitudes of Kan, Evans, and Ackerman (and to a lesser extent Powell and Young) and continuing with the pen. And then there is Gilberto Soto, who has held up very well so far. He is a pitcher similar in build to Wally Gaston. Very good stuff and movement, but no means to control the latter – but worse at the last point. But he’s only walked three so far, so maybe everything’s only half as bad.
Ah, who’m I kidding? Of course it’s 100% bad. TERRIBLE!!
That said, I have an offer out there for veteran SP Vicente Ruíz to come aboard. He’s nothing special, but if he were, he weren’t a free agent.
Daniel Hall was the CL Player of the Week (April 15-21) with a .400, 4 HR, 8 RBI line. I would have felt deeply insulted with any other winner. (Please notice me getting more and more emotionally attached to some of my players – this will end badly at some point)
Note: the avg. CL ERA is 3.88 at this point, which would be a new record high (and would be above the FL’s for the first time in ABL history), but this could well be due to *only* the Raccoons’ performance.
Next: road trip to Milwaukee and Pittsburgh, then interleague home part against L.A., then 2-week road trip to Indy, Boston, Las Vegas, and Charlotte. The draft pool will come out during the Titans series.
Oh, yeah. Alex White bats .341 for Sioux Falls.