[Westheim]

Raccoons (13-15) @ Capitals (21-8)

The Capitals had fueled their early run with the most brutal offense in the league, scoring 6.5 runs per game! The three starters we were to face were a combined 10-0 on the season. And the Raccoons staff was shivering. Bobby Quinn was facing his former team mates.

The opener had veteran Greg O’Brien pitching for the Capitals, his ERA a hair over four, and the Coons hurt him early, and hurt him often, with two in the first, two in the fourth, and two in the fifth, the latter with a Daniel Hall homer that chased O’Brien. While the Raccoons offense was motoring, Logan Evans was knocked up by the Capitals in the fifth and seventh. A 2-run triple by Clement Clark chased him and he was saddled with five runs in total, but the Furballs’ own offensive output was enough to give Evans his first W of the season, despite an outing that derailed badly at the end. 10-5 Raccoons. Quinn 2-4, BB, RBI; Higgins 3-5, RBI; Osanai 2-5, 2B, RBI; Hall 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Johnston 2-5, 2B; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

The Coons didn’t get a hit until the fourth in the middle game, but then took the lead right there, driven in by Dawson, 1-0. Carlos Reyes looked good on the mound, but left in the fourth inning with an injury. Four singles off Juan Martinez tied the game in the fifth. The Capitals consistently put their leadoff men on, slowly but surely eating up the Raccoons bullpen. The Coons got the tying run to the plate in the ninth with a few defensive indifferences by the Capitals, and closer Domingo Rivera balked at one point, but the Raccoons were unable to seal the deal and lost, 4-2. Johnston 2-5; Higgins 2-4, BB; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1;

Rubber game: the Coons went up 2-0 in the first, but couldn’t ride out the Turner Train this time, as the youngster gave up two runs in the bottom 4th. Johnston’s solo homer in the fifth got Turner back into the lead, but he only went six, through which the Coons led 4-2. Opposing pitcher Buddy Hamilton twice made the final out against Turner with the bags full. Hamilton then filled up the pond with nobody up in the eighth. They scored only one run, Quintanilla with an RBI groundout pinch hitting in the #9 hole. Grant West surrendered a 2-run homer to Jose Madrid in the ninth, but it was just enough to hang on to a 5-4 win. Johnston 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Hall 2-5, 2B; Dawson 2-5, RBI;

We dodged a bullet on Monday, an off day on the way back home, when trainer Michael Dempsey informed us that Carlos Reyes had merely a sore forearm and would miss only one start. He was officially DTD, but Dempsey recommended not to start him. We had Yasushi Suto here, who could make a spot start, or we could turn to Jose Fernandez at AAA, who had been AAA Pitcher of the Month, but he was not on the 40-man roster and I wasn’t thrilled by the idea of putting a 3.15 ERA, 1.15 K/BB guy on for just one start. So, most likely Suto it was.

Raccoons (15-16) vs. Stars (18-13)

Here come the World Champions. The re-surging Raccoons have every reason to be worried, albeit the king of sluggers, Gabriel Cruz being traded away to Nashville this winter. Which is still puzzling the nation. The Stars also came in with the worst rotation in the Federal League, carrying the burden of a 5.93 ERA.

David Vinson batted leadoff in the opener for his .357 OBP so far, although he possessed no speed at all. He worked only partially well in there, he reached base twice in the game, on an intentional walk and when hit by a pitch from veteran Bill Smith. Osanai’s solo homer in the bottom 2nd got the Coons ahead and the Stars had trouble making good contact on Kisho Saito. Just when one thought that a special gem might be in the works, Pete Ross bunted for a base hit in the third to kill a no-hit bid in the early stages. The Stars managed only three more hits (two by the always pesky Raúl Herrera) against Saito, who breezed through the middle innings and through nine for a 4-0 shutout. Higgins 2-3, BB, RBI; Dawson 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Saito 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (2-1);

This is the 9th career shutout for Kisho Saito, his first complete game this year (total: 27). Six of those shutouts came with the Raccoons.

Scott Wade did not pitch a shutout in the middle game. The Stars put on their leadoff man in almost every inning, but the damage was still limited. The Coons trailed 2-1 in the bottom 5th with one out and two on, when Wade came to bat. He missed an 0-1 pitch trying to bunt, before resorting to trying to land a hit. He got back to 2-2 against Jorge Rosa, then lined a double into the left field corner, tying the game with the RBI hit. Higgins hit an RBI groundout for a 3-2 lead. For Wade, infield singles were also one of the themes of the day. The Stars laid down two, both times ending up scoring. Wade went seven, allowing three runs, but saving a fourth when a liner off the bat of pinch hitter Jerry Phelps found it’s way right into his glove. By then, the Coons led 5-3. West walked Herrera to start the ninth, and the Stars added an infield single, but West still pitched a scoreless inning. 5-3 Raccoons. Miranda 2-3, RBI;

Scott Wade is now 7-0 in seven games! Also, Daniel Hall was ejected in this game after being struck out to start the bottom 8th. Hall thought the pitch was out of the plate, the umpire didn’t think so, and when Hall sniped back once more, Hall was out of the plate.

Unfortunately, Logan Evans was nowhere near a W in the last game. He walked in a run in the first, then threw away pitcher Neil Ford’s bunt in the second, costing two more runs eventually. The Stars became a bit hyperactive, swinging at everything from there, and Evans was able to go six innings with a lot of infield groundouts (SS Justin Reader’s glove was worn off heavily in this game), allowing four runs (two earned), trailing 4-1. Osanai and Hall tried to spark a late rally in the eighth with two doubles to start the frame, but Hall was left on third, and the pen allowed a run in the ninth. The Stars entered the bottom 9th leading 5-2, and that meant that fans in Portland got to see Richard Cunningham for the first time since he was traded last July. He sat the Coons down in order, including K’s on Martin and Johnston. Fans were cheering mildly and were glad he only entered once in the series. 5-2 Stars. Osanai 2-4, 2B; Quinn 2-3, 2B; Bentley 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Raccoons (17-17) vs. Crusaders (20-14)

Somehow, the Crusaders led the CL North. They hadn’t finished with a winning record since 1980 (82-80, 3rd place) and apparently were on a mission.

Yasushi Suto made a spot start in the series opener for the ailing Carlos Reyes, who would join the bullpen as emergency option for the series. Suto did a decent job, pitching into the seventh, but he allowed two homers to Pedro Villa and Juan Nunez and trailed 3-2 when he left. Jackie Lagarde got the final out with the bags full in the seventh. Like the day before, the Coons had two doubles in the eighth (Osanai, Quinn), but left the latter batter on third base. This time, they at least tied the game. Grant West allowed a run in the top 9th, though and we headed for the bottom 9th trailing. Gonzalez led off with a single, but was left … on third. 4-3 Crusaders. Higgins 2-5, 2B; Osanai 2-3, 2B; Quinn 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-4, 2B, RBI;

The Crusaders lost SP Gary Nixon early in the middle game to injury. Not that it helped the Raccoons much. In a 1-1 tie, Osanai grounded into an inning-ending double play in the bottom 3rd, before Jason Turner came unglued in the fourth. A bloop single was followed by two 4-pitch walks and then a double over CF Glenn Johnston. The Crusaders took a 4-1 lead, and held it through to the end, despite the Raccoons out-hitting them 9-6, but they also managed to hit themselves out of any chances. Dadswell 2-4;

Here we stepped in and sent Jeff Martin to AAA. He hit an anemic .149 and was of no general use due to his inferior defense to Glenn Johnston. Bill Stevens (who is out of options) was called up. At age 28, here’s his last chance.

Could Kisho Saito throw a stop on the Crusaders (not that they had raped pitchers so far)? Saito and Andrade engaged in a pitchers’ duel, with neither team mounting a serious threat until the sixth, when the Crusaders got two men in scoring position, but then made the final out to Johnston in center. Bottom 7th, and Quinn led off with a double. Dawson singled and Dadswell hit one to center, flying, flying further, OUTTA HERE!! Saito went eight shutout frames, but with a complete game in his last start, and already over 100 pitches here, he was not brought out for the ninth. A Higgins triple and subsequent score on a Hall groundout took the save opportunity away from Grant West, although he almost would have come into the game with Juan Martinez struggling to get the third out in the ninth. Bobby Quinn threw out a Crusader at the plate before any damage could be done. 4-0 Raccoons. Quinn 2-4, 2B; Dadswell 2-3, HR, 3 RBI; Saito 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K, W (3-1);

In other news

May 5 – SAL OF Dale Cleveland (.329, 4 HR, 19 RBI) is out for the season with a broken kneecap.
May 11 – LVA Miguel Sanchez (2-3, 4.84 ERA) tosses a 2-hitter against the Capitals, as the Aces win 3-0.
May 12 – IND Bob Harris (3-2, 2.70 ERA) puts a spell on the Loggers, throwing a 3-hitter in a 4-0 win.
May 13 – CIN INF Claudio Rojas (.346, 0 HR, 8 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak after two singles in a 2-1 win over Washington. Rojas owns the longest hitting streak all time at 47 games.
May 14 – The budding streak ends quickly, as Rojas goes dry in a 4-0 loss to the Capitals.

Complaints and stuff

Hall and Dawson aren’t hitting anything for a week now. Osanai has the occasional outburst, but doesn’t produce steadily, and accordingly, the whole team doesn’t produce an awful lot of runs. They have scored 4.3 R/G in May, but haven’t scored more than five in over a week. Not scoring more than five is not very profitable in the long run especially if your pitching staff has holes in it. Now, starting pitching has been fairly solid (as has the pen, however little used) the last few series …

Which gets us to our 1-5 record against the Crusaders this year. I mean … how …!?

O’Morrissey has trouble hitting now at AAA. As have the outfield options Reece and Powers. And, heck, even Marcos Costello. Daniel Dumont meanwhile has struggled and is now hurt and sporting a cast for his fractured thumb.

Next up are the lame-duck Loggers for four, of which the Raccoons will certainly manage to lose at least three. Then: four CL South opponents all around the Pacific coast: vs. OCT, @ TIJ, @ LVA, vs. CHA;