[Westheim]

Raccoons (23-12) @ Indians (15-18)

The Indians had no offense. That was their main problem. Their 125 runs scored ranked second-to-last in the Continental League (the Raccoons had scored 166 so far).

There were few things not to like about Kisho Saito’s outing in game 1. He got an early 1-0 lead, that remained that small. He controlled the Indians pretty well, and didn’t get into trouble until the fifth with runners on the corners and one out. Here, the Indians ran themselves out of the inning. Sixto Moreno tried to steal second base, but was thrown out by Vinson. Bob Goyer then flew out to right, ending the inning. Had Moreno been still on, it would have been a game-tying sac fly. It took the offense until the seventh to get a leg up against Indians starter Jesse Carver again. Back-to-back 1-out doubles to right by Salazar and Higgins made it 2-0. Saito came up with two out and blooped into shallow right, scoring Higgins, which was a wise move. A leadoff double by Raúl Vázquez spelled trouble in the bottom 7th and while Saito didn’t give up another hit, the Indians brought the runner in. Then the Indians had two leadoff hits in the eighth and had the tying runs in scoring position. Saito conceded another run on a sac fly, then struck out R.J. Stinton. Goyer on third base, he faced right-hander Bob Edwards. No, Kisho can remove him. Johnston had to run a bit in center, but they got the out. In the ninth, Vázquez tried to spoil things again with a leadoff hit, a single, but Grant West remained in control and retired the next three batters. 3-2 Coons! O’Morrissey 2-4; Saito 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (6-1) and 2-3, RBI;

Saito and West tied for the CL leads in wins (6) and saves (11) after this game.

Up 1-0 in the third inning of game 2, the Raccoons had the bases loaded, but David Vinson grounded into a double play. Before that, Jason Turner had left two men on in the second after JUST not getting through up the middle. While Turner was excused for being a pitcher, Vinson was clearly not clicking as well as last season. Vázquez tied the game in the fourth with a leadoff jack. That’s what you get for not driving in runners. Osanai left two on in the fifth. Somehow, things were continuing. The Indians got Turner up again with two on in the sixth and he struck out to leave those on. Neverending story. Top 7th, still 1-1: O-Mo led off the inning with an easy triple to dead center. Neil Reece FINALLY came through, a single up the middle to break the tie. Hadn’t it been for a balk by Jorge Mora, the score would have remained there, but Mora balked in Reece, 3-1. Bottom 8th, same score. Matthews put a man on, getting one out. Cordero came in to face the left-handers Stinton and Vázquez. Stinton flew out to Quinn in right (who had only entered in a double switch today). Vázquez jabbed at a 3-0 pitch and lined out to Hall in left to end the inning. Vázquez had had a 3-0 base hit the day before, but not today, my pal. West closed it successfully. 3-1 Coons. O’Morrissey 2-5, 3B, 2B; Reece 2-4, BB, RBI; Quinn (PH) 1-1; Turner 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (5-2);

Game 3 saw the Raccoons leave two men in scoring position in the first, and the Indians left five men on in their first two innings against ex-Indian Robert Vázquez. The game dragged through four anemic innings before O’Morrissey put something on the board with a solo home run in the fifth, but it woke up the team after all. In the sixth, doubles by Osanai and Higgins brought a run in, and then it was again Vázquez to come through, a 2-out, 2-run double! The Coons added a run after that and another runner (O’Morrissey) was just thrown out at the plate by RF Raúl Vázquez. Everything looked fine for Robert Vázquez, until everything came apart in the eighth, where the Indians scored four including a towering 3-run homer by Victor Cornett, and now the Coons had only a 1-run lead for the bottom 9th. West had been out two days in a row, and we turned to Lagarde, who hadn’t pitched in the series yet. He struck out the first two men and let Reece do the rest in center. 5-4 Coons. O’Morrissey 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Higgins 3-4, 2 2B, RBI;

We weren’t necessarily burning down the park, but I will take a series sweep any day. Or rather, twice a week. Had Vázquez held up in the eighth, it would have given us two pitchers atop the ERA table (Turner and Vázquez).

Raccoons (26-12) @ Titans (18-20)

The Titans were third in the division and possessed the most powerful offense in the league so far, which was kind of surprising, since on paper there was not so much to love about their batters. But Cameron Green (newly acquired ex-Coon) had a strong year, they had a high-average, if low-power, outfield set, and they seemed to have struck gold with 1B Jack Burbidge, a former supplemental round pick in 1986, on whom the Pacifics had then given up. The Titans had believed in him, and now had a very good first baseman at age 22. We’d play four with them.

Game 1 saw the Raccoons put up some small ball and three runs early on, but the lead went to hell in the bottom 4th. First, Scott Wade, who was more or less erratic and generally not sharp, surrendered a 2-run homer to Chad Fisher, and then the Coons didn’t get the final out on an Osanai error. The Titans took advantage of that and tied the game, and took a 4-3 lead in the fifth. Two were on, two out, and the pitcher at the plate, but Wade couldn’t get Jorge Valdes out, and he doubled down the line in right to score both runners. Wade got the hook after surrendering six runs (five earned). The Raccoons offense could not muster anything even remotely productive in the game anymore. The bullpen pitched sloppily, too, and the Titans added a run to win 7-3. Hall 3-4; Quinn 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Carrillo 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Mark Dawson had not played at all in the Indians series. Here, he pinch-hit in the seventh with Vinson on first base and managed to clean up the bags with another double play. Patience is running out at a rapid pace with the old man.

Where had the offense gone? With Berry pitching in game 2, we needed to find it quickly. The Titans sent out 22-year old phenom Doug Morrow (1-0, 2.00 ERA). With one out in the second inning, the Raccoons had the bases loaded. Vinson had the day off and Flores stepped to the plate with Berry on deck. This smelled like another bout of depression coming in, but Flores managed to draw a full count walk, and O’Mo delivered a 2-out RBI single. Berry was in a hurry to give it away. In the bottom 3rd, he walked two, he balked, had the bags full, two down, 0-2 to Cameron Green, and then surrendered a grand slam. Going into the sixth, Berry surrendered two more runs, and the Raccoons were again helpless into the late innings. Osanai drove in a run in the seventh, and O-Mo came through with a 2-out RBI single in the eighth, which put the tying runs on base. Reece was up, but Morrow was still in the game, and Reece had not seen any land against him. Vinson came out to pinch hit. He grounded out. Top 9th: a 1-out single by Osanai brought the tying run to the plate. Quinn lifted it out to right, where it hit off Jose Martinez’ glove. Two men on, one out. Higgins flew to right, Martinez got to it – and dropped it again!! Bases loaded now, and just a knock away from getting the game tied up. Salazar singled into short center, but it was too short for Quinn to go home. Down 6-5, still only one out. Now Flores had to bat with Vinson out of the game and he popped out. Johnston had to get things done. 1-0 pitch, liner to left, OVER the shortstop, and dropping in!! Hjalmar Flygt brought it in, but the speedy Higgins scored!! The Raccoons had turned the game around!! O’Morrissey brought in another run before Dawson pinch-hit for Matthews and made the final out. Now Grant West came out, 1-2-3, it was over. 8-6 Furballs after a will-they?-will-they?-they-will! rally in the last three innings!! They had 13 hits, all singles, but THERE was the offense. Right THERE. O’Morrissey 3-5, BB, 3 RBI; Osanai 3-5, RBI; Quinn 2-5; Salazar 3-4, BB, RBI; Johnston (PH) 1-2, 2 RBI;

O’Morrissey has gone from platoon third baseman to third place in the batting title race, now hitting .347 behind MIL Jim Stein (.366) and VAN Kevin Gilmore (.360).

Master Kisho had a strange start in game 3. In a scoreless game, he didn’t strike out anybody until the bottom 4th, when an error by Salazar loaded the bases. Had Salazar made the play, it could have been two, and the inning would have been over. Only then did Saito manage to K Martinez, but Shotaro Ono singled to short center and two unearned runs scored. Saito allowed two earned runs in the sixth amidst a bout of bad control. The Raccoons didn’t get onto the board until the seventh. Higgins was on first with one out and Salazar dinked the ball into center, where the relocated Martinez tried to make a great play, and didn’t make one at all. Salazar ended up with an RBI double. That was it. The Titans made about six great plays in the outfield, retiring all our sluggers all the time. 4-1 Titans. Carrillo 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Nope, the offense was still not there. Although it could more be a BABIP issue at this point. They were not striking out a lot, and they tended to make solid contact, but continued to fly into outs. Not even double plays were a big issue here at the moment.

Game 4. The Raccoons took an early 2-0 lead, but left the bags loaded in the first when Gonzalez and Vinson popped out, and the same two were guilty of leaving two in scoring position in the third, when Gonzalez grounded to third very poorly, and Vinson struck out. The Titans got one run back in the fourth after they were not so choosy about when and where to deliver. Jason Turner struggled a bit with the left-handers in the lineup. Ono was a right-hander and blooped to short center to start the bottom 5th. Nobody called for the ball and it fell in. I was calling for a firing squad for a few fielders, but none came. Pitcher Santiago Perez then laid down a poor bunt that Turner successfully converted into a double play. At least one guy was producing. Bottom 6th, and Turner allowed two singles to left-handers, before O’Morrissey started a double play to end it. Top 7th: Hall doubled with one out and the Titans put Osanai on, then struck out Quinn on a full count. Javier Ortiz came in to match Salazar, but threw a wild pitch, moving up the runners. Could Salazar – liner over Chad Fisher at short! It fell in, Hall came home, and Osanai was waived home and the throw was late! 2-out, 2-run single by Salazar, and finally some breathing space for a sometimes beleaguered Turner. And now they broke it open. Gonzalez singled to right, scoring Salazar, and Vinson homered, 7-1. An Osanai error created a tight spot for Turner again in the bottom 7th, but he got a pop out from Gary Lang and struck out Jesus Rodriguez to escape. Overall, he took 90 pitches through seven innings, but was not sent out for the eighth for three lefties being up to bat. The bullpen got through it, and the Coons scored two in the eighth to tie the series with a 9-1 win. Hall 2-5, 2B; Osanai 1-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Quinn 2-4, RBI; Salazar 2-5, 3 RBI; Turner 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (6-2) and 2-4;

Raccoons (28-14) @ Aces (21-21)

The Aces had yet to decide whether they were going up or down in the standings. So far, they were very average in every aspect, be it pitching or batting. If anything, they were prone to strike out, while at the same time their staff was below average at striking out batters. Both instances could work to the Raccoons’ favor. They have however a 4-game winning streak.

David Vinson got the Raccoons ahead in the opener with a 2-run homer in the second inning. This made for back-to-back days with long balls for him, so maybe his production would improve now. Robert Vázquez was perfect into the fourth, when a 2-out walk to Michael McFarland got that one over with. Didier Bourges did away with the no-hitter with a leadoff single in the fifth. While Vázquez controlled the opposition, the Raccoons couldn’t get another run for their life. Still up 2-0, West remained in the bullpen in the ninth – Vázquez finished this one on his own. Only seven hits in the entire game, five for the Coons. 2-0 Furballs. Vinson 1-3, HR, 2 RBI; Vázquez 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (7-0);

For Vázquez, this was his fifth career shutout, and his first since 1987. All his previous shutouts had come with the Indians.

Game 2. The Coons got a run off the Aces’ Jou Hara in the first, and then started to snooze yet again. They had the bases loaded in the third with one out, but Quinn struck out and Reece popped out and they didn’t score. For a very short period, attention focused on Scott Wade and a no-hit bid, which Marcinek Wodaj foiled in the fourth with a 2-run homer, also putting the Aces on top. Through seven innings, the Aces still held their 2-1 lead. They had had two hits, a walk, and a Higgins error – that was all their offense. The Raccoons had had eight hits, and nine strikeouts against Hara. Osanai hit a 1-out single in the top 8th, bringing up Quinn, and here came the knock, a big one, and outta the park. The game was turned again. Wade got one out in the bottom 8th before Mario Rodriguez reached on an infield single. Burnett struck out Claudio Garcia, and Matthews got an out from Scott Spivey to bail out Wade, and West came on in the ninth for a 1-2-3 save. 3-2 Coons, another close one! Higgins 2-5; Hall 2-5; Osanai 3-4, 2B, RBI; Quinn 1-4, HR, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-4, 2B; Wade 7.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (4-4);

Two weeks ago we stuffed the Miners for 17 runs in a game. Since then, the team has scored only 53 runs, 4.07 R/G. This includes two small outbursts against the Titans. While we have not been shut out in over a month, the offense is barely sufficient at this point.

Mark Dawson actually made a start in game 3 to give O-Mo a day off. He was 8-63 by now. Dawson first came up in the second inning in a 1-1 game – and homered to left. With that 2-1 lead Steven Berry wobbled through the innings and it really seemed like the Aces left runners in scoring position every inning. He finally came apart in the sixth. With two outs and a runner on, he could not remove pitcher Jose Murillo, who singled to center. Scott Spivey’s 2-run double turned the game around and the Aces loaded the bases before Berry was removed. Ken Burnett got out by popping up Wodaj. Overall, Berry had given up ten hits in 5.2 innings. Dawson and Hall grounded the Raccoons out of the seventh and eighth innings with double plays, respectively. Quinn’s 1-out double in the ninth brought another chance. Salazar grounded to Spivey at short, but the ball rolled slowly enough that Spivey could not make a play and the tying run moved to third. Vinson walked to load the bags and Dawson came up. Would he really hit into another double play here? Can’t be! Dawson went to bat. Dawson went to 3-1, then jabbed inexplicably at Vicente Rubio’s offering and grounded to third. It was no double play, but Quinn was forced at home. O’Morrissey pinch-hit in the #9 spot, but flew out. No happy end. 3-2 Aces. Johnston 2-4, 2B; Salazar 2-4; Burnett 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

The unclutchiness of the Coon Citytonians is starting to unnerve me. This was especially true with the Canadiens actually gaining ground. They were 3 1/2 games out as we left Las Vegas for Charlotte. Our offense really has come crashing down now, as we have dropped to 6th in runs scored now.

Raccoons (30-15) @ Falcons (22-22)

The Falcons had not done a lot offensively with 179 runs scored (9th in CL) so far. Their rotation was good, but this was negated by their 11th place bullpen.

Kisho Saito for a while developed a no-hit bid, but it was broken up in the fourth. The Raccoons continued their sloppy play, vomiting up a run in the third (Hall scoring Saito with a groundout), but could not buy a hit in a RISP situation. Top 5th: O-Mo walked to start the game, and Johnston singled to left, nobody out. Hall grounded to left, SS Emmanuele Bedeschi launching at it – UNDER THE GLOVE!! It trickled into left, and O-Mo scored. While this was the first of three runs to score in the inning, it was their only RISP hit. One run scored on a groundout, and one on an error. Saito singled again in the sixth and went to third when O’Morrissey followed that up with a double. Still only one out, Johnston hurled Luis Herrera’s last pitch of the game into short center, both runners scored. WHAT A RASH OF OFFENSE!! No, don’t worry, it ended right there. An error by O’Morrissey threw Saito a curveball in the ninth, and he issued a walk and a single after that, which broke up the shutout. Saito was pulled, and Martinez ended the game with a double play. 6-1 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 1-3, 2 BB, 2B; Johnston 3-5, 2 RBI; Saito 8.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (7-2) and 2-4, 2B;

By the way, Kisho Saito is batting .370 at this point. He should probably bat leadoff. Or maybe not. Well, his career average is .242, for 171 career hits, with 1 HR (for the Canadiens) and 70 RBI, so he is certainly not the worst-hitting pitcher in the league.

Quinn, Vinson, and Salazar were rested in game 2, which was against the lefty Bastyao Caixinha – Arnold, Flores, and Gonzalez played. Jason Turner struggled with control early on, walking three the first time through the Falcons lineup, but allowed no runs until the fourth, when Billy Mitchell hit a homer off Turner to tie the game at 1. It was also the first hit allowed by Turner. Bottom 6th: Turner walked Djordje Nedic with one out, bringing up Mitchell again. Nedic stole second, and Flores threw into the outfield. Nedic went to third and scored on Mitchell’s single, the second hit off Turner on the day. The run was unearned. And now the question: would the Raccoons cause the second unearned loss to Turner this year? The offense was terrible all around. Then in the eighth, Osanai drew a 1-out walk. Higgins singled to left, but Arnold made an out. With two out, I didn’t want to see Flores at the plate. Quinn pinch hit and singled to left, but Osanai had to hold. Gonzalez was 2-3 on the day. Caixinha was cautious and threw outside twice. A walk was probably undesirable. The third pitch was in the middle and Gonzalez knocked it into shallow right. Osanai scored, and the speedy Higgins was right behind him, almost shoving Osanai along. Vinson made the final out, pinch-hitting for Turner. Cordero and Lagarde got the eighth together, after which Daniel Hall added an insurance run in the ninth. Grant West had a sub par ninth, putting the tying runs on base before finishing the game. 4-2 Raccoons. O’Morrissey 2-5, 2B; Osanai 1-2, 3 BB; Quinn (PH) 1-1; Gonzalez 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Turner 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, W (7-2) and 1-3;

Game 3 was an off day for Hall, as the Raccoons tried to make this a 10-3 road trip. Vázquez faced Manuel Movonda. Offensively, things didn’t get better a bit. Higgins had the daily clutch hit, driving in a run in the fourth, which was exactly Robert Vázquez’ cushion. Bottom 6th: Gunnar Austin singled past Osanai. Stan Potvin singled over Osanai. Mitchell lined way over Osanai, but Johnston made a monstrous play in right to get to that liner. The catch had no permanent effect. The Falcons hit two more singles off Vázquez, tying the game, loading the bases, and getting Vázquez out. Martinez surrendered a 2-run double to Joe Jackson. 3-1 Falcons through six, and the Raccoons had to answer the question why they couldn’t have any big innings anymore. Reece and Salazar led off the seventh with two infield singles. Now, c’mon boys, if that won’t start a rally, I don’t know what can! Hall came out to pinch-hit, and hit it hard, but CF Rich Tracy intercepted it before it could become a double. O’Morrissey came up, and hit it roughly to the same spot – but this time past Tracy, who was slow to retrieve the ball and O-Mo delivered a game-tying 2-run triple! And they stranded him. (bangs head repeatedly against the XXL Gatorade can) Lagarde put a runner on third in the bottom of the inning, but left him there. Top 8th: Osanai and Vinson had leadoff singles. Movonda threw a wild pitch that advanced the runners. Higgins struck out. Good lords in … Reece flew into deep left, into an out, but Osanai tagged and scored the go-ahead run. Salazar singled up the middle and Vinson, not a racer, was waived on and scored. Up 5-3, Matthews put two on in the bottom 8th, but Burnett collected the final out with a grounder. West closed it. 5-3 Coons. Osanai 3-4; Vinson 2-4; Salazar 4-4, 2B, RBI;

In other news

May 14 – The Wolves’ Neil Stewart (5-2, 2.94 ERA) 3-hits the Stars in a 6-0 shutout, which helps them hold on to the division lead.
May 15 – VAN Vicente Torres (6-2, 2.84 ERA) 2-hits the Crusaders in a 5-0 win for the Canadiens.
May 15 – It is season over for the Falcons’ outfielder Jose Madrid (.329, 2 HR, 11 RBI), who has suffered a broken kneecap and will take up to half a year to heal.
May 19 – LAP SP Angel Romero (2-2, 4.13 ERA) will miss up to an entire year after suffering a torn flexor tendon. The 20-year old had made his big league debut this season and had pitched respectably in his first eight starts. He will have to wait a while for start #9.
May 19 – RIC Harry Griggs (4-4, 3.77 ERA) narrowly misses history books, pitching a 1-hitter against the Gold Sox. The Rebels win 8-0. Cris Camacho breaks up the no-hitter with one out in the eighth inning.
May 19 – New York’s Raimundo Beato (4-4, 3.66 ERA) shuts out the Falcons on three hits, taking a 3-0 win.

Complaints and stuff

We scored 54 runs on the road trip. That’s a bit more than four and won’t get it done once the top 3 in the rotation let up only a bit. Anyway: 22 runs were scored with two outs, and of these I think two were scored on pitchers’ presents (balk, wild pitch). The game doesn’t readily give out these numbers, but in 44 instances this road trip, they left runners in scoring position with two out. This does not include the plentiful flailing with less than two outs. I would have to go through all 13 game logs to get a proper WRISP average, which I don’t feel like doing. It was probably something like .230 but it certainly felt like .160 … and even .230 is not going to get things done.

So, we’re off to a phenomenal start, but the offense HAS to kick in better. For all we know, Jason Turner may not pitch to a 1.90 ERA all year. And I’m still surprised by Vázquez, whom I certainly expected to do better than 1.5 stars, but he’s been so strong for us in that #3 hole.

On pitchers, the Cyclones had put SP Luis Velez on waivers, a decent back-end-of-rotation starter, but the Falcons also claimed them and they should have the superior claim over us anyway. Adding Velez would have meant exposing Berry to waivers, but the question is whether I still care about him. But starting pitchers don’t grow in trees and should not be exposed unnecessarily.

I love funny stuff. The Wolves made a trade proposal, offering Mark “Icon” Allen, admittedly an elite slugger with solid fielding. All they wanted for him were SP Kisho Saito, SP Scott Wade, AND two prospects. Yeah, of course.

On the AI: the Stars fired their manager during the Falcons series. The Stars sat at 22-22 at this point, in fourth place, merely three games behind the Wolves. They are throwing the towel even quicker than I do!

The Federal League ERA is up to 4.18 this year, a 12-year high, and a quarter run up from last year. The CL ERA is unchanged (3.84 to 3.85).