[Westheim]

Baldivia is .333 with 8 HR and 40 RBI in AAA as of the end of this update. Just one series. It was bad enough.

Raccoons (38-25) vs. Crusaders (25-40)

The Crusaders didn’t score, and while their rotation was mid-pack, their bullpen had a horrendous 5.41 ERA attached to it. Taking advantage of this sorry collection of souls was imperative. We’d play four.

The Crusaders struck first in the opener, their pitcher John Woodard tagging our pitcher Raimundo Beato with a 2-out RBI double in the top 2nd. While the Raccoons got the game tied back up in the bottom 2nd, they would leave seven men on over the next three innings, scoring only once after a leadoff triple by Hall in the fifth, and then only with a sac fly by Vinson with the bags full. That had to be punished, and was in the seventh, where Beato got two out, then put two on. Martinez allowed the tying run to score. Bottom 7th, Hall led off with a double, and O’Morrissey singled. Runners on the corners, no out, Osanai up, and what used to mean three runs in the inning, was another sac fly with a close play at the plate. Up 3-2, Martinez put the first two men on in the top 8th. Miller came in and got Victor Martinez to ground into a double play, but on third was now pinch runner Dan Joyner, ready to dash home at the slightest provocation. Miller went to work on catcher Ruben Melendez and struck him out in a full count. With our pen and especially Grant West reeling from the 12-inning game in Denver the day before, we called on Burnett to save another one. He got the save, although it meant some acrobatic defense from Glenn Johnston in right on Diego Rodriguez’ flyer to start the frame. 3-2 Coons. Reece 2-5; Hall 3-4, 3B, 2 2B; O’Morrissey 3-4, 2B; Osanai 1-2, BB, 2 RBI;

Another tooth-to-nail win (that was given to Martinez for almost blowing TWO leads… strange game this is). The bullpen was aching badly, and we needed a strong outing, preferably eight innings, from Kisho Saito in game 2.

David Ramirez, the 26th overall pick from the 1989 amateur draft, made his debut in Portland as SP for the Crusaders in game 2. He gave up a run in the first, but Melendez tied the game with a shot off Saito in the third. The Raccoons left men on in droves. Top 5th, Saito issuing a leadoff walk to Raúl Castillo (yeah, that one). That alone would have been half bad, but he followed it up with a bad throw on the next grounder. Two on, no outs, he barely was able to stall the Crusaders on second and third to keep the tie tied up. Top 7th, leadoff walk to Sean Bergeron. Osanai mishandled Castillo’s grounder, and then Saito fell to Joyner’s RBI double. From here, he struck out Melendez, Benjamin Butler, and Diego Rodriguez in succession – and still was on the losing end of affairs. Saito did his job, went eight, fanning ten, and ended up defeated by the most agonizingly bad team in baseball. The awful Crusaders pen sat down the Coons in order, and the first thing the first reliever we sent in did, was Lagarde being taken deep by Castillo. 3-1 Crusaders. Reece 3-4; Hall 2-4; Rodriguez 2-4; Kinnear (PH) 1-1; Saito 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, L (4-6);

I ****ing can’t believe it. What the ****ing hell does Kisho have to do for A ****ING WIN AROUND HERE??? HIT THREE HOME RUNS???

All 13 batters were sent to bed without candy and also were told no stories before sleep. This even included Daniel Hall, who had an 11-game hitting streak.

I mean, it’s not like I hadn’t seen it coming. They have sucked at the plate for so long now, it was obvious they’d play dead with Saito up, because they know it hurts me the most. Average run support for Kisho this year: 3.5 R/G. In his last five starts (40 IP!) he has allowed seven runs, six earned. SEVEN! His record? Merely 2-1. Way to go.

Game 3 was more of the same. They got a 1-0 lead in the first, but left two men on. They left the bags full in the second, AND also in the third. Kinnear had made the final out in the second, and came up with the bags full and one out in the sixth, still in a 1-0 game thanks to gritty pitching by Jason Turner. Kinnear flew into the corner in deep left, and Benjamin Butler caught that one, too … Rodriguez tagged and scored, but … HOW can it BE??? Bad control at times (although he walked only one with two down in the seventh, the obnoxious Butler) prohibited Turner from going past the seventh. Bottom 7th. O’Morrissey walked to start the frame, and then Higgins singled. O-Mo went for third, the Crusaders tried to get him there, but he was safe, and the speedy Higgins moved up. Osanai was put on intentionally to get to Jose Rodriguez, but with righty John Hatt replacing starter Hector Lara on the mound for the Crusaders, we countered with our only left-hander on the bench, Glenn Johnston, as a pinch hitter. He struck out. Quinn pinch hit for Turner. And struck out. Salazar grounded out.

AAAAHHHH!!!!!

Top 8th, Nelson pitching for Portland. Jesus Morales doubled, and Alfonso Rojas tried to, but Reece barely made the play. Enough seen, bring Martinez! He surrendered an RBI single to Pete Thompson that blinked off Salazar’s glove, and another single to Douglas Donaldson. I was yelling manically in the bullpen and tearing at the railing. Lagarde was brought in to face Victor Martinez, who shot a rocket grounder to right – but Higgins got to hit, 4-6-3, out of the inning. Thank goodness for my throat and the ears of everybody in and around the dugout, Neil Reece drilled a solo home run in the bottom 8th. West had a run to spare in the top 9th, but didn’t need it, as he sat down the Crusaders in order, getting the final out by punching out “I hate him” Butler. 3-1 Coons. Reece 3-5, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Higgins 2-5; Osanai 2-3, BB, 2B; Rodriguez 1-2, BB; Turner 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (7-4);

Game 4 went a little differently. The Coons half-heartedly took advantage of two terrible fielding errors in the bottom 2nd to score four runs, but then still left the bags full. The score was upped to 6-0 in the fourth – another run scoring on an error and one on a wild pitch. Robert Vazquez covered 4.1 innings of no-hit ball, then exploded fantastically for three runs on three hits and a walk in the very same fifth inning. After that he was fine again, but there, for five minutes, he threw balls like a six-year old. The Raccoons were absent at the plate before they actually did some damage in the eighth, scoring four on an overwhelmed New York bullpen, and won 10-3. The six runs against starter Gary Nixon, however, were all unearned. Salazar 2-5, 2B, RBI; Reece 2-5, 3 RBI; Hawley (PH) 1-1, RBI; Morales 2-4, RBI; Vinson 3-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Vazquez 7.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (9-3);

In other news

June 18 – The Scorpions trade SP Carlos Reyes (7-3, 3.57 ERA) to the Capitals for C Arturo Aguilar (.218, 3 HR, 15 RBI). Whatever made them do that, remains a mystery.
June 20 – CHA LF/RF Jose Madrid (.318, 3 HR, 35 RBI) will miss at least three weeks with a torn ligament in his thumb.

Complaints and stuff

The Monday morning edition of the Portland Agitator will report a 45% increase of prescriptions for heart ailments during this weekend series. No, there are no connections to this here.

Apart from Daniel Hall’s 13-game hitting streak, Neil Reece was named Player of the Week, going 16-27 with 2 HR and 4 RBI. Yay!

But never mind those two. If I imagine the Raccoons playing a *good* team right now, I am filled with much foreboding. Like the Roman, I see the river Tiber foaming with much blood.

Oh yeah, the Titans are next.