[Westheim]

Raccoons (19-18) vs. Canadiens (23-13)

With ailing pitching, on-off offense, and two men short with the hurting Daniel Hall and Sergio Martinez, we went home to face the resurging Canadiens, who were rather hawt coming in.

We made a roster change on the off day preceding the series, demoting Juan Martinez to AAA. In turn, Wally Gaston, who had signed a 1-yr, $130k contract a day earlier, was put on the roster. Had there been reasons nobody had dared to sign him? Don’t matter. Coons are desperate.

Scott Wade started off the series for us, and somehow had managed to dodge a loss so far. In fact, he had the best ERA in the rotation now (and that’s where you know you’re in trouble). An error by 1B Fred Rodgers helped the Raccoons to score two unearned runs in the bottom 1st of the opener. One run got away in the second already, and Ramon Gonzalez sunk Wade with a 2-run homer in the fourth. The Canadiens upped it to 4-2 in the fifth and Wade left in the seventh, leaving a guy on second base, who promptly scored on an RBI double by Hector Atilano given up by Tim Moss. If little has been said so far about the Coons offense in this paragraph it fits the picture well. They were cancelled out by Tia Fa, and didn’t factor again until the bottom 7th, leaving the tying runs on base. Wally Gaston pitched the last four outs, surrendering a homer to Hokichi Endo, and the Coons had the tying run at the plate in the bottom 9th, but struck out repeatedly there. 6-4 Canadiens. Dadswell 3-4, 2B, RBI; Quintanilla (PH) 2-2, 2B, 2 RBI;

So much for Wade not losing and leading the rotation in ERA. That latter title was back to Kisho Saito with a – for a rotation-best miserable – 3.47 mark.

Sergio Martinez’ ailment was finally determined to be a sore ankle. He was placed on the 15-day DL. After much deliberating, Daniel Hall was also put on the DL with his back problems. Glenn Johnston was hurt at AAA, so he was no option to call up. We turned to two infielders, 1B Billy Mitchell and 1B/3B Joe Jackson. Dawson could play in the outfield, giving Jackson plenty of time at third for the next two weeks. Mitchell had no room but pinch hitting every day. He was batting .347 at AAA, but by now we have learned to what that translates in the big league. Mitchell was a 1984 supplemental round pick, and Jackson was the 1985 first round pick by the Coons. Of course, 1B-only players had no chance with Tetsu Osanai on the team, so we routinely looked to ship them out now.

In the rotation, Venegas was skipped this time through and we went to Carlos Gonzalez right away. Although Mark Dawson lifted the Raccoons with his sixth homer of the year in the bottom 2nd, Gonzalez fell in the fourth to a leadoff walk to Melvin Greene, a fluke single to short left, and then a 1-out 3-run bomb by Atilano. Gonzalez delivered a good game overall, eight innings, seven runners, but was bitten by that one hard shot. The Raccoons, as usual, did nothing to bail him out. They were held to four hits. Both youngsters made their debuts as pinch hitters, both made outs. 3-1 Canadiens.

Jackson started at third with Dawson in right in the third game. Logan Evans and Vernon Robertson zeroed for three innings. In the bottom 4th, Osanai got on with a double, and Jose Sanchez added a single. Two down, runners on the corners for Joe Jackson in his third big league at bat. He tripled to right, so the Raccoons scored first in all games in this series. Can at least Evans hold on? The Coons upped to 4-0 in the fifth, while Evans zipped through six frames in 54 pitches. The seventh took him some more, and Quintanilla threw out a runner at the plate from left field to end the inning. The last two innings went by quickly – Logan Evans turned in a 6-hit shutout to end a 6-game losing streak. 4-0 Raccoons. Osanai 2-4, 2B; J. Sanchez 3-4, 2B, RBI; Jackson 2-4, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Evans 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (4-4);

Evans pitched his ninth career shutout, and maintains a streak of six consecutive seasons with a shutout. Evans trails Chris Powell now by one shutout for most for the Raccoons all time.

ILogan Evans not only pitched a shutout, but also struck out to end the fourth inning. How is that significant? It was the 10,000th strikeout for the Raccoons ever at the plate. (Raccoons pitchers have racked up 9,251 K’s themselves this far)

Raccoons (20-20) vs. Falcons (19-22)

In the Falcons we met the team that had the next-worst bullpen ERA in the Continental League at 3.58. That was almost three quarters of a run better than the Coons’ 4.26. Shocking.

Kisho Saito managed to fall behind in record speed in the opener: double, balk, double, 1-0 Falcons. Saito nailed two batters in the first four innings, while his opposite Bastyao Caixinha only gave up hits to Tetsu Osanai the first two times through the lineup. Osanai scored in the fourth after a double and a subsequent throwing error by Justin Reader on a poor grounder by Dani Perez. Armando Sanchez singled the Coons ahead, 2-1, in the fifth. Saito had not given up a hit since the first inning, but continued to hit batters, adding a plunk to Alfonso Aranda in the sixth, in the bottom of which the Coons got another unearned run across to make it 3-1. Saito went seven without surrendering any more than the two doubles at the start of the game, and Bentley and West closed the deal as Caixinha (7-2, 2.16 ERA before the game) was defeated by his own defense. 3-1 Raccoons. Osanai 3-4, 3 2B; Saito 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (4-4);

Batters leading off the inning reaching base was a common theme for the Falcons stepping in against Scott Wade in the middle game. The first three times they got on and in the top 3rd finally caused damage, two runs. Wade reached on an error to start the bottom 3rd and two singles through the seams between infielders by Thompson and Armando Sanchez loaded the bases with nobody out. Dani Perez – K; Osanai – sac fly; Dawson – pop out; Embarassment ’88, the new attraction in Portland. The Coons left the bags loaded entirely in the fourth, and a Thompson error helped the Falcons to score in the top 5th. Wade exited after seven, trailing. The Coons were 3-2 behind into the bottom 9th. The Falcons sent closer Ricardo Medina, who walked Thompson to start the inning. Sanchez grounded to force Thompson at second, but Dani Perez doubled down on the right side to put the winning run (himself) on second base with one out and Osanai and Dawson next. Osanai flew out to left, and Sanchez went home to tie the game, but Dawson left Perez on third. Extra innings. Bottom 10th, Weber walked and Dumont singled off Medina. Next was Cunningham in the #8 spot, and Joe Jackson was sent to pinch hit (with only Jose Sanchez left on the bench) and flew out. Vinson struck out. Thompson walked. Bases loaded, two down, Armando Sanchez next. That hadn’t worked in the fourth inning. But it did this time: Sanchez singled up the middle on a full count to walk off the Coons, 4-3. Thompson 2-3, 3 BB; A. Sanchez 3-6, 2B, RBI; Dumont 3-4, BB; Weber 1-1; Cunningham 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (3-2);

This was the first series win for the Furballs since they took three of four against Boston 2 1/2 weeks earlier.

Oldie Joe Ellis engaged in a low-key and unanticipated pitching duel with Alejandro Venegas in the last game of the homestand, and the game was tied 1-1 through five. Venegas jammed in the sixth and was removed. Bentley cleaned house to keep the tie alive. Ellis jammed as well in the bottom 6th after singles to Thompson and Armando Sanchez. Osanai lifted the Raccoons with a 3-piece shot out to center. Top 7th. After a leadoff single to Jose Rivera, Bentley and Dadswell fell completely apart. A wild pitch was instantly followed by a passed ball, adding up to a 4-pitch walk to Reader. Ellis was removed for Keith Lake to pinch hit. Bentley went out, Jones went in, and the Falcons scored four runs in the inning. Wally Gaston collected four outs with no catastrophes in between, setting the table for the bottom 8th. Dawson doubled to left, Osanai singled to right, and Perez walked. Nobody out, bases loaded, as always. Dadswell flew out to center, but Dawson scored to tie the game. Billy Mitchell came out to pinch hit for Gaston – and knocked his first big league hit over CF Rich Tracy, a 2-run triple that lifted the Coons once more. 8-5 into the top 9th, the Coons sent Grant West, who almost blew it. 29 pitches did the job, leaving the bases loaded after a K to catcher Kyae-sung Park. 8-5 Coons. Thompson 2-3, 2 BB; Osanai 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Perez 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Mitchell (PH) 1-1, 3B, 2 RBI; Weber 2-4, 2 RBI;

Some Portland newspaper caught me hanging half dead over the railing in the top 7th of the last game, head and arms dangling downwards in agonizing disbelief with the undertitle “Look what nature’s washed ashore”. Them journalists were quickly sued.

Raccoons (23-20) @ Knights (24-19)

Good news: The Coons would not face electric Carlos Asquabal in the series. Bad news: they were to face Kiyohira Sasaki, Juan Correa, and Xavier Mayes.

It didn’t matter who was pitching for *Atlanta* in the opener anyway. Carlos Gonzalez pitched for Portland, and was out of the game by the second inning, with six runs in and two runners on base. Armando Sanchez’ 2-run homer in the third was merely cosmetic, and Sasaki countered with a triple off Tim Moss (and scored) in the bottom 3rd. Joe Jackson hit his first major league home run in the top 4th, but was not necessarily ecstatic while circling the bags. The Knights just kept adding massively. Lowlight from a Coons viewpoint was a 2-run home run by Sasaki against Jason Bentley in the sixth. The Raccoons were clobbered, 12-5. Jackson 3-3, BB, HR, RBI;

Juan Correa (4-4, 2.85 ERA) had a rather human season so far, but at age 37 still looked more than ready to wipe the dirt with the Furballs. Looking further, his 37/17 K/BB ratio almost matched him up with Logan Evans (4-4, 2.89 ERA, 37/14 K/BB). It never became a pitching duel. Correa scattered a few hits here and there, while Evans was at his worst control-wise. He walked pairs in the first, second, and fourth innings, while only falling 1-0 behind. Evans didn’t get out of the fifth inning at all. A walk to Dimian Barrios was picked up by Michael Root, who homered to center. That was it for Evans, but not for the bullpen. Campbell and Gaston surrendered pairs of runs and Cunningham was also hit in the eighth. Correa pitched as he always had against the Raccoons, eight shutout innings in an 8-2 rout. Dawson 3-4, 3 2B; Weber 2-3, BB;

Osanai in the first and Dawson in the second had RBI singles in support of Kisho Saito in the last game. Saito attempted to throw the stop on the romping Knights and fared quite well in the early innings. After a solo shot by Osanai in the top 5th, Saito got in trouble in the bottom of the inning, putting two in scoring position with one out. But popping up 1B Emilio Rosa for an easy out brought the pitcher, Mayes, to the plate and he was easy prey, and the zero stood. Saito sacrificed in a run in the sixth to further bolster his lead. Then he crashed in the sixth, bases loaded, one out, after his first two walks of the game. Eddy Bailey up, a shot into right, Mark Dawson with a bear of a catch, and only the lead runner tagged up and scored. But that was only the second out. Gary Helton singled up the middle and Root scored from second base. Saito’s day was over. Bentley came in. Walk to Carl Vickers, and a bases-clearing double to Rosa. Game over. Raccoons lost, 6-4. Osanai 3-4, HR, 2 RBI;

In other news

May 17 – The Wolves beat the Scorpions 3-2, as Andres “Beagle” Ramirez logs his 300th career save.
May 17 – NAS 1B Mike Grimes (.280, 0 HR, 13 RBI) is hurt in an on base collision and will miss a few weeks with a back injury.
May 19 – Although not a full time closer for a few years, 40-yr old Jon Butler notched his 300th career save in a 7-4 win of his Condors over the Thunder.
May 19 – On the day Logan Evans shut out the Canadiens, he didn’t even receive top billing in the headlines, as Terry Murphy of the Wolves 2-hit the Scorpions in a 6-0 win. Murphy, 22, is 2-1 with a 2.14 ERA on the season.

Complaints and stuff

That’s it. I’ve had it. I can’t stand the daily raping by this game anymore. Screw this. Screw this.