[Westheim]

Raccoons (54-46) vs. Aces (46-56)

The Raccoons were flustered by Jarrod Schroeder in the series opener, not getting a hit until the bottom 4th, then a Sanchez double. The Coons trailed 1-0 since early on, a run scored against Francisco Trujillo, who was called up just for this game. Sanchez’ double at least got it started, as Osanai and Dawson moved him ‘round to score with flyouts, and León doubled in Dadswell, who had walked in between, 2-1 Coons after four. The Coons got a very good start from Trujillo, who doubled and scored in the fifth and pitched seven innings of 3-hit ball after the early trouble. His command however was not good, walking five. The Raccoons managed only seven hits themselves, but it was enough to hold the Aces at bay and win 3-1. Sanchez 2-4, 2B; Trujillo 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K, W (1-1) and 1-2, 2B;

Trujillo was sent back to AAA after his strong outing and Juan Martinez was recalled. Zach Baker will take over the #5 spot in the rotation the next time through, although we may give him an inning of relief in the next game, if things work out that way.

Of course we’d prefer Logan Evans to go the distance. An enormous homer by Mark Dawson got the Coons ahead in the bottom 2nd of game 2, but it got away from Evans again in the top 3rd. The Coons took three in the bottom 4th, including a 2-run homer by Dani Perez. This lead wasn’t meant to last either, as the Aces bashed Evans, whose control went away in the sixth. He went to three consecutive full counts, with two batters getting on, and then surrendered a homer to Tadashi Kan that tied the game. Evans put 1B Mauro Granados on base with a double and was removed. Baker came in and got out of the inning, then had a chance to bring in the go-ahead run in the bottom 6th, but failed. Gustavo Flores homered to start the bottom 8th for another Raccoons lead. Grant West was not brought in for the ninth after pitching in four of the last six games, and with three of the next four batters being lefties, David Jones came out. The Aces instantly sent out righty Craig Knapp as pinch hitter. Jones didn’t care and surrendered the Aces in order, 5-4 Raccoons. Dawson 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Weber 2-4, 2B; Flores 2-2, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Perez 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Dadswell (PH) 1-1; Baker 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Stats of the day: Sergio Martinez kept his 17-game hitting streak alive, but didn’t get day #18 completed until the ninth inning. And Juan Martinez has now appeared for the Coons in three games – and racked up THREE wins!!

There were good news about Kisho Saito only hours before he took the mound for game 3 (see below). His team mates wanted to show their appreciation for him, too. Two infield singles helped them score a run in the bottom 1st, bringing up Hall with two on and two out, and Hall launched a bomb to left center for a home run, 4-0. Dawson and Perez added runs in the next two innings, 6-0, and in the bottom 4th, Tetsu Osanai FINALLY broke his home run drought, hammering a 2-shot after going a stunning 40 days without going deep for the Coons! Saito cruised until the sixth, where the Aces put their first three men on. Saito struck out Kan, and Granados flew out to Sanchez in center, but the runner on third scored on an errant throw by Sanchez, but that was the only run that got in, and it was unearned. In the seventh, Saito fell to a 2-run homer by Connor Barrett, though, and left without finishing the inning. But the game and series sweep were secured, the Raccoons won 10-4 while leaving the bags loaded twice. Sanchez 3-5, 2B; Dawson 2-5, 2B, RBI; Osanai 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Dadswell 4-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; León 2-5; Perez 2-4, RBI;

The Raccoons have swept consecutive series now, and have won seven in a row, distancing the Indians by four and everybody else by ten or more. Sweeping the last week put the Raccoons atop the Power Rankings. Next up is a dreadful 14-day road trip – without an off day. Oklahoma, New York, Vancouver, Sacramento.

Raccoons (57-46) @ Thunder (56-47)

Game 1 in this set saw both pitchers, Scott Wade and Wilson Cordova, pitch at their best early on. Wade carried a no-hit bid into the fifth before giving up a 1-out single, but the runner was erased on a double play, and Wade still had faced the minimum through five. The Coons scored the first run in the top 6th, three singles from Dawson, Osanai, and Dadswell. The moment, he had a lead, Wade fell apart, and the Thunder also had a walk and two hits and one run quickly in the bottom 6th. Wade struck out Dave Browne with two in scoring position, bringing up Guy King, who singled for another run. Wade was left with little, leaving in the bottom 7th after Osanai’s error brought him into another tight spot. Tim Moss collected the final out. Armando Sanchez tied the game with a homer in the top 8th. Dawson got on after that, advanced on a passed ball, and scored on a Dadswell single. Moss was in line for the win now and held on through the eighth, and West surrendered a leadoff single, but saved the game. 3-2 Raccoons. Dawson 3-4, 2B; Osanai 2-4; Dadswell 2-4, 2 RBI; Wade 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K; Moss 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (4-0);

If the Raccoons’ winning streak survived, the 19-game hitting streak of Sergio Martinez did not. He went 0-4 and would have been up in the on-deck circle in the top 9th, but Dani Perez made the final out before Martinez came to bat again.

Sergio Martinez reached on an error and scored on another error in the top 1st of the middle game. The Thunder tied the game in the bottom 2nd before a 51-minute rain delay halted play. Both starters came back out for the third (yet neither would record an out in the fourth) and the Thunder scored the go-ahead run, but Dani Perez had a huge 2-run triple in the top 4th to turn the table back the right direction. In this rainy situation, the Raccoons got stellar relief from their bullpen, with Juan Martinez going three innings to get in line for another W, and Tim Moss pitching two frames, including striking out the side in the eighth. The Thunder threatened big against Grant West and a 5-2 lead in the bottom 9th. West walked two, didn’t get to an infield single, and one run scored, before he struck out the last two batters. 5-3 Raccoons. S. Martinez 2-5; J. Martinez 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (4-0); Moss 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Four games for Juan Martinez, and four wins. That’s … that’s weird!

Zach Baker was tasked with making it ten in a row in his first start for the Raccoons. Like Wade in the first game he faced almost exclusively lefties, and got behind 1-0 in the third. The Coons didn’t have a hit until Mark Dawson hit a leadoff double in the fourth and Osanai singled him in to tie the game. The first two Thunder went into scoring position in the bottom 4th and Baker was lucky to get two popouts over the infield to escape with only one run in. Baker was done after four with bad control and Jones allowed another run in the fifth. The Raccoons had nothing going for them and down 3-1 after seven looked beaten. Gary Hill went eight innings for the Thunder, allowing only four hits. With Lance Parsons coming in to close, Dadswell hit a 1-out single in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate in Daniel Hall, who singled to right. Sanchez pinch hit for Weber and singled. Bases loaded. Flores pinch hit in the #8 spot for Cunningham, grounded to third, and 3B Marc Shaw dropped the ball repeatedly. Tying run at third, go-ahead run at second, one out. Quintanilla up, but his poor grounder forced Hall at home, and Sergio Martinez popped out foul. 3-2 Thunder, streak over. Gah. Dadswell 2-3, BB;

Raccoons (59-47) @ Crusaders (45-63)

Four in New York, with four in Vancouver looming. The Crusaders’ rotation was only half bad despite their awful record.

Game 1 saw the Raccoons get ahead early with a Sanchez homer (#10) in the first, and they added a run in the third, when Sanchez tagged up to race home on an Osanai flyout. Replays however showed that Sanchez was in fact tagged out at home. The run stood, 2-0 Coons. Logan Evans pitched a great game in absence of more offense, 1-hit the Crusaders through five, and surrendered a run in the sixth on two hits despite a stellar play by Dawson on Francisco Vidrio’s bunt, forcing the runner at second. Dawson didn’t get to the next grounder however, which was an RBI double for the Crusaders. That was as close as they came. Logan Evans upped it a little and went the distance with a 4-hitter, while the Coons had only six hits themselves in a 2-1 win. S. Martinez 2-4; Evans 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (9-4);

Game 2 started with Osanai and Dadswell striking out with two on base in the top 1st, before Saito had a rough bottom 1st with two runs in, which included nailing Pedro Villa. Things didn’t get better. Dadswell had a ball elude him behind the plate in the third, which helped the Crusaders to go 4-0, and they made it 5-0 in the fourth, while the Coons were dominated by Gary Nixon, who came into the contest with an impressive 1-8 record. The Coons had Martinez and Thompson at the corners with nobody out, and managed to get out of the inning still shut out – Dawson flew out to short right, Thompson was picked off first, and Osanai flew out to deep left. Oh, well, that’s an L on Saito, a big L. It came even worse, as Daniel Hall got a knock on his knee on a bang-bang play at first in the top 7th. Hall was called safe, but left hurting. Sanchez ran for him, but did get round the infield. Saito went six, then pen pitched two scoreless frames, but the Raccoons were shut out, 5-0, on five hits. Thompson 2-3, BB;

This was the first major league game that Juan Martinez appeared in that he did not win. Daniel Hall suffered a knee contusion and will be out for a few days.

The Coons were shut out for the first time since July 11, then 6-0 by the Loggers, a span of 27 days. They have been shut out six times this season (and shut out opponents only five times).

Scott Wade and the home plate umpire were not to become friends in the third game. Wade was frustrated early on, walking four men through four innings, but the defense bailed him out time and again and kept the game scoreless that far. The Coons had Martinez and Thompson on to start the game, but ran themselves out on a double steal gone south. The Crusaders got to Wade with two runs in the fifth, while the Coons were chaining up zeros – through seven in this game, they were scoreless for 22 consecutive frames. Chong got on in a double switch in the bottom 7th and led off the top 8th with a walk, going to third on Martinez’ single. Thompson walked. Bases loaded, nobody out, still down by two. They scored one on a wild pitch, before making two poor outs. Dawson hit a flyer to left that looked like an out, but eluded LF Ben Browning and the tying run scored. At 2-2, the game went to extra innings after gutsy outings by Cunningham in the eighth and Campbell in the ninth. Top 10th, Sanchez got on as the first man up, then stole second with Osanai at the plate. Osanai was in the middle of a 1-18 drought, but was walked intentionally. Dawson grounded into a double play and Weber struck out. By the bottom 12th, the Raccoons had emptied their bullpen. Grant West came to bat in the top 13th and hit a 1-out single, but Flores grounded into a double play, and West had to continue holding on to the tie. Osanai hit a 1-out triple in the top 15th, bringing up Dawson. I’d take any long fly ball. Dawson was walked, which was a great move, bringing up an 0-3 Kelly Weber with West looming behind him. Weber doesn’t drive in the runner, nobody does. Weber popped out, and West came to bat again, sending a flyer along the right field line, but it was caught by Dan Younger. Top 16th. Chong at third, Martinez at first with one out. Thompson was 0-5 with 2 BB and 5 K on the day and Dani Perez came up to bat for him, the last guy off the bench. Perez came up clutch and doubled to right, FINALLY A RUN HERE!!! (fumes) Sanchez hit a sac fly, 4-2. Now, West had to pitch another inning here. He hit Kyle Wider to start the bottom 16th, but Browning grounded to Osanai for a double play. Grant West struck out Norberto Farias to end the game, his 14th batter of the night, as the game ended 16 minutes past midnight. 4-2 Raccoons. S. Martinez 3-7; Perez (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Dadswell (PH) 1-1; Flores 4-7, 2B; Jones 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; West 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (5-2) and 1-2;

Perez did not pinch hit for West in the 15th because there was nobody left in the pen. I want to mention the bullpen here once more for pitching ten scoreless innings in this game. When Wade exited after six, Wally Gaston was the first to enter, and I placed him in the #9 spot, which was due to bat, but when Moss then entered for a lefty in the same inning, I made the double switch into the #7 spot, and that hurt us twice, forcing the removal of Cunningham in the top 9th, and then having West bat with two on and two out in the 48th inning.

Winning the series would mean having Jerry Ackerman (1-1, 5.60 ERA) outlast Steve Weeks (3-3, 5.82 ERA) in game 4. Carlos León homered off Weeks in the first, but the Coons left the bags full when Dani Perez struck out. Dadswell was K’ed with the bases loaded for the final out in the fifth. Between that the Coons had had nothing going, and Ackerman had put on six, but had also stranded six, at least one in every inning. Ackerman’s luck ran out in the fifth, and the Crusaders plated three. Top 6th. Sanchez homered to start things, and Perez doubled, getting Weeks out of the game, but Perez was left on against former Coon Miguel Bojorquez. Tim Moss put two on in the bottom 6th, and both runners scored after he was removed for Dirk Campbell. The Coons still trailed 5-2 in the ninth. Martinez grounded out. León struck out. Dawson hit a home run off Martin Padilla. 5-3. Osanai grounded PAST Ray Lee at first. Suddenly the tying run came to the plate with Osanai at second. Dadswell doubled over Browning in center and Sanchez came up to bat, but Pedro Villa caught his line drive and it was over. 5-4 Crusaders. León 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Dawson 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Sanchez 2-5, RBI;

Raccoons (61-49) @ Canadiens (47-64)

The Canadiens were a half game out of the bottom of the division, and that after dominating for the last five years. The reasons for this were still not fully understood, but if anything it was a wonderful mystery for everybody else in the CL North. The Coons had to play four in Canada while also being up four over the Indians.

Zach Baker loaded the bags in the first and the Canadiens scored one run to take an early lead. The Raccoons couldn’t get to Tia Fa on the mound for Vancouver until the sixth. León singled his way on, and Osanai hit a double off the centerfield wall to score him, cutting a 2-0 deficit in half. But Osanai was left on and Brian Adams restored the old distance of two runs with a solo jack in the bottom 6th. The Raccoons never got another chance, and lost 4-1. León 2-4; Osanai 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Jason Bentley’s shoulder was back to usable at this point and he was detached to AAA ball for two or three innings of rehab. I didn’t know how to order my staff at this point anyway.

Game 2 saw Dawson and Martinez rested in the middle of this grueling road trip. It also saw Vancouver pitcher Raimundo Beato leave the game with an injury in the first inning. Daniel Hall was back in left and threw out a runner at the plate in the bottom 1st, which didn’t help at all since Logan Evans threw a wild pitch, Dadswell allowed another pitch to get away, and the Canadiens scored two unearned runs. The Coons did not have a base hit from the second through the seventh in this game, while Evans held the Canadiens to their two runs. Chong led off the top 8th with an infield single. Dawson pinch hit for Evans and hit a double that put the tying runs in scoring position with one out. Jack Pennington was on the mound, and four lefties were next to come up. Thompson grounded out, but at least scored Chong. León just grounded out, chance wasted, as always. Still down 2-1 in the top 9th, lefty Chris Nelson came in to close it. Tetsu Osanai singled his way on, but was left there. 2-1 Canadiens. Osanai 2-4; Chong 1-2, RBI; Dawson (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Three losses in a row, all because of insufficient clutch hitting. Or hitting at all. Small things: Wally Gaston pitched a scoreless eighth, dropping his ERA below four again.

Interlude: waiver claim

We claimed SP Alejandro Venegas off waivers by the Pittsburgh Miners. Venegas was the 6th round pick by the Cyclones in 1978, but only appeared once for them in the big leagues, a long relief appearance in 1985. He was claimed by the Miners this April, when the Cyclones waived him, and appeared in 17 games (7 starts), going 2-4 with a 4.30 ERA. Given our struggles to field a competent rotation, he has a shot at replacing the ill-fated Jerry Ackerman. Or Zach Baker. Or somebody else, whoever may be hit by my wrath may go down. He remains DFA until we have completed this run through the rotation, which will happen in Sacramento.

Now back to:

Raccoons (61-49) @ Canadiens (47-64)

Kisho Saito started out strong in game 3, and got some run support eventually, with Martinez driving in Flores in the top 3rd, 1-0. In the fourth, Sanchez, Osanai, and Dawson singled – three up, none down. Hall’s grounder scored a run, but Perez grounded into a double play. Saito allowed a run in the fifth, making it 2-1, on a 2-out infield RBI-single by Melvin Greene. Saito notched K #100 on Brian Adams in the seventh, but then allowed a double to pitcher Greg O’Brien with two out, bringing up Greene again. Saito was done, and Cunningham struck out Greene, then proceeded to pitch a quick eighth. With two out in the ninth, Hall doubled to center. Dadswell pinch hit for Perez for an RBI double. Flores also got on, but Thompson struck out batting for Cunningham, and so West was given a 3-1 lead. Angel Potter – K; Ramón Carrillo – K; Brian Adams – FO to RF; 3-1 Raccoons. Dadswell (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Flores 3-4, 2B; Saito 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (10-7);

A 3-run blast by Tetsu Osanai lifted the Raccoons up in the top 1st of game 4. León made it 4-0 with a solo jack in the third, but the Canadiens got that run back after an error by Osanai in the bottom 3rd that allowed Ramón Gonzalez on base. Carrillo doubled him in. The Raccoons loaded the bags in the fifth, but Dawson found a way to hit into an inning-ending double play. Bottom 5th, Winston Thompson collided with 2B Kevin Lewis at second base trying to turn a double play. It ended 2-1 Lewis, who was out, but the runner at first was safe, and Thompson left with a sprained ankle. The Coons again left two in scoring position in the sixth, and the Canadiens trailed only 4-2 into the seventh. Here, Scott Wade loaded the bags with one out. He struck out Carrillo, bringing up lefty Pedro Mora. Jones replaced Wade, and the Canadiens brought righty Jorge Diaz to pinch hit. Dawson made a terrific play at third base to get an out from Diaz and Wade’s lead survived. Two more left on for the Coons in the eighth (two singles, then three outs). Three pitchers bobbled together the bottom 8th for the Coons, and Juan Martinez made the final out, but also strained his calf and hobbled off. Two more were stranded in the top 9th. Grant West came in and the first three Canadiens reached base. He struck out Jorge Diaz, then went 1-2 on Fred Rodgers, before Rodgers singled to left. Hall was to it quickly and Steve Wall, the slow-footed catcher, had to hold at third. 4-3, bases loaded, one out, Art Garrett up. He shot a grounder to Martinez at short, out at second, out at first. Barely survived this one. 4-3 Raccoons. León 3-4, BB, HR, RBI; Dawson 2-5; Dadswell 2-4; Thompson 1-1, BB; Wade 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (8-9);

Collectively, the Furballs left 29 on base in this game. NO clutch hitting! We are writhing in agony here!

Writhing in agony were also the terms for Juan Martinez and Thompson here. Martinez’ calf strain would take at least a week to heal. Since he could not go to AAA, he had to go to the DL. Thompson’s sprained ankle was not particularly bad, but estimates by the medical staff ranged from one to two weeks. That was enough to also win him a spot on the DL.

Their places on the roster were consumed by the recently claimed Venegas and RF Marcos Costello. The latter had been acquired from the Wolves in a trade for MR Jason White in the winter of 85/86. He was a competent batter, but his fielding was so-so, despite good speed, which unfortunately didn’t translate into good range. He was on the 40-man roster anyway, and the only infielder on the 40-man roster was Joe Jackson, who had not gotten his batting together so far, hitting only .260 at AAA and not with the power we had expected when drafting him.

Raccoons (63-51) @ Scorpions (55-61)

Game 1 was a must-click start for Jerry Ackerman, who after a great season debut had fallen off so far, he was barely visible now. The Raccoons started off by loading the bases with one out and scored only one run. The Scorpions socked four runs off Ackerman in the bottom 1st, which led me to strike out … his name on our depth chart. Down 5-1 in the top 4th, Ackerman was pinch hit for with Costello, who struck out to end the inning and left two on. After Costello, Venegas made his Coons debut in long relief now. His first batter was Juan Torres, the opposing pitcher, who grounded out, and he struck out the next two men to come up. Venegas went four innings, allowing two runs, including a homer to 1B Francisco Lopez, who was a prime slugger in the Federal League. The rest of the pen coughed up three more runs in the eighth. The Raccoons were downed, 10-3. León 3-4, BB, 2 2B; Sanchez 3-4; Quintanilla (PH) 1-1;

At 1-3 and a 6.11 ERA, Jerry Ackerman was waived and designated for assignment after the game. Jason Bentley joined the team after a successful rehab stint with 3.1 scoreless innings in AAA ball. Venegas moved into the rotation.

Game 2 was Baker’s start. Both Osanai and Francisco Lopez hit homers in their halves of the second inning, 1-1. Doubles by Hall and León scored a run in the top 3rd, and Baker and Mark Dawson managed to strand a runner at third in the bottom 3rd with two grounders well handled by Dawson. Baker went into the sixth, where he jammed. Jones got the final out, although it was more to credit to Armando Sanchez, who JUST caught a huge flyball to deeeeep center. It didn’t help, though. The Scorpions tied it in the bottom 8th, as Moss put the run on base, and he advanced for three more bags against Cunningham. The game went to extra innings, where the Scorpions left the bags full against Campbell in the 11th, and Osanai led off the 12th with a double and came in to score on a Dani Perez single. Grant West came out, not fully rested, to face the heart of the lineup. Lopez got on base with a 1-out blooper to short left. 2B Rodrigo Morales doubled to left, and now the winning run was on second. SS John Harris hit a bouncer up the right foul line. Osanai came in to get the out, and Lopez shied back to third. 3B Ilusuarte Fazenda stepped in. Despite an opening at first he was not walked, since behind him lurked Esteban Hernandez, a famous coonskinner when with the Indians. Vicious grounder up right, Osanai threw his massive body at the ball – MADE THE PLAY, OUT AT FIRST!! 3-2 Coons, but it was far from pretty. The Scorpions out-hit them 16-9. León 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Osanai 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI;

Scoring was a tough task for this team, but Mark Dawson got it going early with a finely clutch 2-out RBI single in the top 1st of the rubber match. That was something to cheer for already. Hall sacrificed in a run in the fourth, 2-0 . Logan Evans was not too great on the mound, making good use of two double plays in the first two innings. That luck ran out quickly and the Scorpions tied the affair by the fifth. Osanai drove in a run in the seventh to give the Coons another lead, and the Coons were donated a run with an error and a wild pitch in the eighth. León held on to that lead with a great catch in the bottom 8th that saved two runs, and the Coons added two in the top 9th with back-to-back-to-back 2-out doubles by Osanai, Dawson, and Dadswell. David Jones pitched a 2-inning save, 6-2 Coons! S. Martinez 2-5; Osanai 3-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Dawson 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Dadswell 2-5, 3B, 2B, RBI; Perez 2-5, 3B; Jones 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, SV (4);

In other news

July 31 – The Canadiens will be without Hector Atilano (.325, 3 HR, 25 RBI) for a while. The infielder, 36, has a sore back.
August 1 – Blow to the Indians: Alvin Sutphen (.248, 6 HR, 25 RBI) is out for the season with a torn ACL.
August 3 – PIT Leland Lewis (8-11, 2.58 ERA) 3-hits the Gold Sox in a 6-0 Miners win. If a 2.58 ERA doesn’t get you a winning record, you’re in trouble.
August 4 – Bone chips in the elbow end the season of Pittsburgh’s SP David Burke (3-3, 3.40 ERA), who made only eight starts this year due to injuries.
August 7 – SAL Vicente Torres (8-4, 3.43 ERA) 3-hits the Gold Sox in a 2-0 shutout. The Wolves hang in there in the FL West race. The Wolves have never been to the playoffs.
August 8 – The Condors receive a blow, as SP John Douglas (11-9, 3.15 ERA) will be out for the season with shoulder inflammation. Douglas, 27, is 90-105 for his career, but this includes six seasons with the perennially poor Loggers. His 4.11 career ERA is much closer to average, and since joining the Condors last year, he’s 24-22 with a 3.34 ERA.
August 8 – Bruce Cannon’s hitting streak ends at 28 games as the Pacifics get clobbered by the Stars, 15-0.
August 9 – The Gold Sox lose outfielder Shoichi Fujino (.285, 8 HR, 46 RBI) to a torn meniscus. The Japanese will not come back until late September at best.
August 12 – Salem’s Vicente Torres spins a 5-hit shutout against the Pacifics (7-0 Wolves), making for back-to-back SHO’s.
August 12 – BOS 1B Isto Grönholm misses the cycle by the triple in a 4-5, HR, 4 RBI outing, as the Titans beat the Crusaders, 5-4. He doesn’t miss hitting for 20 consecutive games, however. He’s batting .287 with 7 HR and 64 RBI this year, much down from his former power, which has people gossiping that his long ball danger only came from “subs”. Subs not in the sense of fast food, but rather “substances”.
August 14 – Gold Sox pitching overwhelms Grönholm, ending his streak at 20 games.
August 16 – Ken Winters, outfielder for the Loggers, goes down to a torn labrum. He will miss the rest of the season, batting .240 with 1 HR and 28 RBI.

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons have secured the services of SP Kisho Saito, 27, for another five years, which comes with a $2.45M price tag (actually less than I feared it would cost, I calculated upwards of $600k/y for him). The last year is a team option.

Both Logan Evans and Kisho Saito are locked up for four or more years now. Scott Wade and Zach Baker, our new #5, were on the minimum for another two and one year(s), respectively. Carlos Gonzalez will be arbitration eligible this fall. His estimate currently is $242k/y. That’s cheap for what he can do. IF he is healthy.

Gonzalez is a tricky case. Once he wins another 15 games in a season, his price will shoot up. But he has been ravaged by injuries at the tender age of 25 (he turned 25 on the day of the middle game against Las Vegas, the same day Saito signed his contract offer) and you don’t want to sign him to 5-yr, $2M or more if he will pitch only 38 games for that pile of cash. Tough one here, I could use some help. Or inspiration.

Offense was not plentiful the last two weeks, but at least barely sufficient. Next: Cincy at home, then three games in Indy. The Titans and Knights come to Portland after that.