[Westheim]

Raccoons (34-32) vs. Titans (30-37)

We played the series without Steve Walker, who had a sore back and was day-to-day.

Kinji Kan found new way to suck in the series opener: he hit three batsmen. THREE. Howard Walden, the opposing pitcher, was hit in the hand and had to leave the game. Kan had to leave as well after the third one, to be whipped in the clubhouse. Two of the hit batters came in to score, getting the Raccoons 3-2 behind in the sixth. Both pens made good outings and the game was still 3-2 in the bottom 9th. Banda had a 1-out double, Green struck out, but Hall doubled to left center to tie the game! Hall went to third on a wild pitch, but Dawson lined right into Stanley Holman’s glove to send the game to extra innings, where Enrique Sanchez repeated Dawson’s feat with one down and nobody on. We pinch hit for Cunningham in the 11th but Serna struck out and that left only Grant West, who had to win now – or lose. There was no other pitcher available anymore. Luckily, he only had to pitch one inning, as Dave O’Neill hit Hall with a pitch and then walked two to fill the bases. Thompson singled through to left to walk off the Coons, 4-3. Banda 3-5, BB, 2B, 3B; Hall 2-5, 2B, RBI; Dawson 2-5, BB; Workman 2-6; Thompson 3-5, BB, RBI; Justin Neubauer, Jason White, Burton Taylor, and Wally Gaston all went out to cover just 1.2 innings, facing five batters. They struck out all five of them in succession (with Gaston K’ing two).

Christopher Powell retired the first 16 batters in order in the middle game, but then Yong-Chan Chong singled to right and gone was the no-hitter. By then, the Coons led 11-0 in what had become a major rout early on. Workman had homered for three, Banda had homered for two, and they had driven many more after that. While the winner was already decided, the question was whether Powell could complete the shutout he still had on the table. He had had some long at-bats, striking guys out on full counts a couple of times. Dickerson doubled off him in the eighth and came to third, but was stranded there. Powell entered the ninth and surrendered the Titans in order to complete a strong 2-hit shutout! 12-0 Raccoons. Banda 3-5, HR, 5 RBI; Green 4-4, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Workman 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Powell 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K and 2-4, RBI;

YES! Old Chris can still do it! This was his ninth career shutout, and the second of the Titans after a 1-hitter in 1980. His last shutout had been in last September against the Condors, and he now has a shutout in five consecutive seasons. His 9 SHO rank 6th all-time. David Burke leads – with TWENTY-SIX!! Even Juan Correa, 2nd on the list, has “only” 15.

The Titans returned the favor to a terrible Charles Young in the last game. Young allowed six runs in 1.2 innings, and even committed a massive throwing error to get the scoring started in the second. That deficit was never overcome by the Raccoons. Gilberto Soto was tagged for three with a homer by Keith Lake, and the rest of the pen bled a few more out. Workman and Dawson homered late to no effect. 12-5 Titans. Banda 2-5; Green 2-5, 2B, RBI; Workman 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Bowling 2-4, 2B;

Raccoons (36-33) @ Indians (37-31)

This was a series for second place, but the Raccoons would have to sweep the 3-game series to get there by Wednesday night. To get there in the first place, we made a roster move: Jayson Bowling was hitting .125 and was demoted to AAA, and Edgardo Gonzalez was called up.

Mark Dawson hit a 2-run shot in the first inning of the series opener to get the Coons ahead, but Ruíz was not able to hold on to it and could not get through the fifth. He left in a 3-3 tie with the bags full and two out. Jason White struck out pitcher Joe Brown to get through the jam. The Raccoons put up a few guys and failed to bring them in afterwards, with Indians reliever Joseph Meyer spectacularly striking out four Coons in the eighth innings with runners on the corners. Also, Mark Dawson nailed a runner at the plate to end the seventh. The game went to overtime, where Gaston put two on in the 11th and Walker could not get an out with the next slow grounder. Grant West surrendered a double to left that scored the winning run. 4-3 Indians. Dawson 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Sanchez 2-5, 2 2B;

The Coons then put up five quickly in game 2 against Dominic Beniniger, who was pinch hit for in the second inning already. We still led 5-0 in the bottom 4th, which came to epitomize our troubles this season. Workman made an error with one out that put a runner on first. That runner advanced to third with a walk and a grounder, then scored on a wild pitch by Carlos Moran. Dawson had another 2-piece in the top 7th to make it 7-1. That long one was necessary. Moran walked two in the eighth and was yanked, but Soto imploded and four runs scored. West came out for a 4-out save with the tying run at the plate and ended the threat in the eighth, then pitched a clean ninth, but by then the Coons had scored two more on four 2-out singles in the top 9th. 9-5 Raccoons. Banda 2-5, 2B; Hall 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Dawson 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Workman 2-5, RBI; Sanchez 3-5, RBI; Thompson 2-5; Walker 2-4; Cameron Green went 1-5 and was the only starter not to hit safely multiple times, they had 19 hits in total in the game, although 15 were singles.

We again scored first in the last game. No-hit through three, a leadoff double by Hall in the fourth got things rolling and the Raccoons took a 2-0 lead. Bottom 5th: catcher Guillermo Gonzalez hit a DEEP leadoff homer off Kinji Kan. The Indians then filled the bags with nobody out on a walk, a hit, and a misplayed bunt by Green. Enrique Sanchez scored after an error in the sixth, 3-1 Coons. Then Green made ANOTHER error in the seventh, that put runners on the corners with two out. And this time, he was taken out, removed in a double switch to bring in a not rested Wally Gaston and Gonzalez at short with Walker to third. Gaston got the out and we continued. The Coons then faced a problem heading into the bottom 9th. Not a single one of the backend guys was ready. Neubauer had pitched the eighth, but didn’t match up with the righties coming up, so we brought in Jason White to save the game, and he came through, 1-2-3. 3-1 Raccoons, while being out-hit 8-4. Thompson 2-3, BB, 3B, RBI;

Raccoons (38-34) @ Condors (41-31)

The Condors, somewhat surprisingly to me, led the CL South ahead of the Aces and Falcons at this point. They had very good pitching, but lacked big time hitters.

The Raccoons got behind early, 3-0 through three. Powell was not as sharp and the defense didn’t help him either. Plus, the Coons were no-hit through four by Jim Harrington. Mark Dawson led off the fifth with a double to show the fans in Mexico that there were actually two teams playing. Harrington wobbled a bit and the Raccoons scored one and had the bags full with one out, but Powell coming up. You don’t switch out a pitcher in the fifth if he’s not that bad. Powell flew out to center, which brought up Cisco Banda, who grounded to Chad Fisher at second – that’s it, that’s the inning, but Fisher threw it away as Wayne Baxter came off the bag far enough for Banda to be safe and it was 3-2 Condors. Green forced a walk to tie the game, and Hall singled up the middle, 4-3 Raccoons. Mark Dawson stepped in, who had also started the inning. And he took Harrington deep – GRAND SLAM MARK DAWSON!!! And then the bottom 5th, and we go in reverse. Runners on the corners with two out, and Wayne Baxter grounds to Thompson at second – and he misses the throw to Workman. One run score, and now Powell starts to shake and Jose Moreno singles up the middle to score another run before Cam Green caught a line drive to end the inning at 8-5 Raccoons.

Now, Powell remained in there, since most of those runs really were not (alone) his fault. LF Diego Rodriguez grounds to third to start the bottom 6th – and Green blows the play! I was screaming many obscene things at this point, probably on network television as well… Powell was taken out after getting an out from Alberto Reyes for Burton Taylor to face tough lefty Marc Leach (the messy play had Powell already far ahead in the pitch count after 5.1 innings). The pen somehow got through this inning although the tying run came to the plate.

At this point, you were glad for every ball going out of the infield… Dawson added a run with his second homer that day in the eighth, but Jason White had a bad outing in the bottom 9th. A home run and a walk brought in Grant West, but the runner left on by White came in to score. 9-7 Coons after a real thriller. Dawson 3-4, 2 HR, 2B, 5 RBI; Workman 2-4, 2B;

Game 2 was the last chance for the Young-Dicks battery to impress me. Young was not getting guys out and in the fourth pointed to his ankle and winced. That no impress me. In that situation, Jason White came in with runners on the corners and one out. K, IBB to Marc Leach, then K to the pitcher Mauro Gomez, inning over, 1-0 lead lives. A leadoff triple by Daniel Hall gave the Coons an extra run in the sixth, and Hall again scored in the eighth, 3-0, but the Coons left the bags full with one out. Dicks struck out and Gonzalez made a poor out as well. Gaston pitched a 2-inning save and even had a leadoff double in the top 9th, but was stranded there. Hall 2-3, 2 BB, 3B, RBI; Herrera (PH) 1-1, RBI; White 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, WIN (2) and 1-1; Gaston 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, SAVE (2) and 1-1, 2B;

We completed the sweep the next day, by jumping on Woody Roberts for four runs in the top 1st. With Vicente Ruíz pitching steadily, that was already enough. Ruíz went seven frames of 1-run ball, and we won 8-2. Green 2-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Hall 2-5, 2B, RBI; Walker 2-3, BB, RBI; Rigsby (PH) 1-1, RBI; Ruíz 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, WIN (7); this tied Ruíz in wins with Gaston for the team lead. A reliever and a guy who didn’t come on until May. That is *a bit* sad.

Raccoons (41-34) vs. Aces (42-34)

How come we have to play the CL South leaders again? We just played against the CL South leaders! :-P

Carlos Moran got another start and would then make way again for Logan Evans, who was solid in his rehab stint in AAA, but with ill command so far. This was to give Evans another rehab start and then put him back up for the next cycle through the rotation.

Moran pitched six scoreless innings. You may ask why we would demote him with a 2-1 record, 2.77 ERA and in line for the win after six with a 2-0 lead. Because he’s fake. He threw 123 pitches through six innings. 123 pitches of utmost wildness. Sooner or later, some team would find out how to hit him and then he would implode again. We’ve been there before, I know this would happen at one point.

The Coons were fake overall in the first game. They had three hits through seven while leading 2-0, but three walks total by Wally Gaston and Richard Cunningham blew the lead in the eighth. Cunningham also surrendered a home run to Mark Allen in the ninth and the Raccoons lost 3-2.

Kinji Kan was awful once more in game 2, walking five and giving away eight hits and four runs in 6.1 innings. The Raccoons managed to tie it at 2-2 early on, but the latter deficit at 4-2 was too much. Jesus Lopez shut down the Raccoons on four measly hits and the pen collapsed in the ninth. 7-2 Aces. Daniel Hall hit a double on his birthday. Happy 29th, Dannyboy. May I still call you Dannyboy?

The Coons scored first in the last game, two in the bottom 3rd. Actually, Steve Walker crossed the plate without the Coons ever landing a hit. He had drawn a leadoff walk and had then come around on grounders and scored on a wild pitch by Claudio Sanchez. The next walk by Sanchez also went to Walker in the bottom 4th. Then it filled the bases with one out. Enrique Sanchez came up, he was struggling a bit this month. But Claudio threw right into Enrique’s red zone and OH BOY, IT’S A SLAM!!! 6-1 Coons. Chris Powell went six and left then, up 6-2. Justin Neubauer created trouble by plunking pinch hitter Craig Knapp in the seventh. When Knapp went to steal second, Sanchez threw the ball past Walker – for the second time in that game! White still got out of the inning, but then collapsed in the eighth. Soto didn’t help, and Cunningham (not rested) was thrown in with the Coons up 6-3, bases loaded, and only one out. He got Tony Clark to fly out to shallow left, preventing Chris Lynch to score from third, and then Mark Allen grounded to Workman – threat and inning over. West pitched an uneasy, but scoreless ninth. 6-3 Raccoons. Thompson 2-4, 2B; Sanchez 1-2, BB, HR, 4 RBI;

In other news

June 14 – NO-HITTER!! Richmond’s Roger Weaver (7-5, 3.99 ERA) nails down the Capitals in order to complete the fifth no-hitter in ABL history, as the Rebels win 4-0. It is also the second no-hitter of the season, and the quickest no-hitters have been pitched after each other, at only 22 days. The Capitals were also no-hit by the Pacifics’ Bob Haines then, and are the first team to be no-hit twice in ABL. Everything that stands between Weaver and a perfect game is a 6th inning walk to Michinaga Yamada.
June 15 – NAS SP Alfredo Garza (5-3, 3.84 ERA) 3-hits the Miners in a 7-0 win of the Blue Sox.
June 20 – Condors SS Cipriano Ortega (.278, 1 HR, 27 RBI) has his hand spiked and sliced open in an on base collision and will be out for a few weeks.
June 21 – Buffaloes 2B Cordell Atkins (.255, 6 HR, 32 RBI) goes down to a strained hamstring and will miss about six weeks.
June 22 – Atlanta loses 2B Jeremiah Carrell (.361, 0 HR, 17 RBI) to hamstring tendinitis for at least three weeks.
June 25 – ATL SP Xavier Mayes (4-4, 4.30 ERA) 3-hits the Canadiens in a 5-0 shutout.
June 25 – Vancouver’s star shortstop Eddy Bailey (.276, 7 HR, 38 RBI) will miss a month with an oblique strain.

Complaints and stuff

Old Chris is a wise man – the best way to win a game? Never give up a run. That’s about the only way for him to win this season… he was 2-4 as of his shutout. They almost robbed him again the next time out, but he went 3-0 with a 2.21 ERA in the three starts in this update! Finally! FINALLY!!

I like Old Chris :-P

During the Titans series two interesting outfielders were on waivers. One was Chris Smith (the one who played half of last season for the Coons), but he batted only .241 this year. The other was Matthew Beck, who batted a bit more and who had occasionally hurt us. He was a Titan and the reasons behind him being waived were dubious. Anyway, in the end, I didn’t bite. German Serna was not hitting anything, but I had somebody at AAA.

Mark Dawson got hot during this streak, belting long ball after long ball. When he is like that, it’s hard to lose with this team, since I really have a bunch of good to high average hitters assembled around him. Dawson hit five dingers in a matter of five games with 22 AB (9 H, 1 2B). It was not really a huge surprise that he won CL Player of the Week honors for the week of June 17-23, going 10-27, “only” .370, but with 5 HR and 12 RBI.

I made the cut in the middle of the week-long home stand, since next comes the dense intra-division cluster of games around the All Star game. We will have four against Vancouver (can’t lose again!) and then eight with the Loggers and three with the Crusaders around the break. These are almost even more important, because we have slacked against the bottom half of our division so far. The Indians will come up for three at the end of that segment.