1996 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (108-54) @ Las Vegas Aces (95-67)
Game 3 – Scott Wade (14-7, 3.88 ERA) vs. Carlos Guillén (14-7, 3.47 ERA)
POR: 2B Brewer – RF Newton – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B O’Morrissey – SS Ingall – C Vinson – LF Kinnear – P Wade
LVA: 2B M. Gomez – 3B Petipas – CF J. Vargas – RF Mashiba – LF Sanders – C Manuel – 1B A. Maldonado – SS R. Gutierrez – P Guillén
Both teams left a pair on base in the first inning, before Marvin Ingall’s leadoff jack in the top 2nd got something on the board.
In the top 3rd, the Raccoons again got going thanks to Manuel Gomez’ fielding (although he was not normally a bad fielder!). Brewer lined to second to start that inning, and Gomez jumped and caught it, then dropped it. After Newton was brushed on the arm by Guillén and Reece singled, we had the bags full with no outs, and we scored two on Wedemeyer’s groundout and a sac fly by O-Mo.
And the errors continued. Petipas reached on an error by Wedemeyer in the bottom 3rd, and Vargas went yard right after him, cutting a 3-0 lead to 3-2 for the Coons, and the Aces left the tying run on third base when Wade struck out Gomez to end the inning.
In a sloppy game, Guillén hit his second batter of the day, Reece, in the fifth. This mistake was also punished, as O-Mo homered with two out, extending the lead back to three runs.
Petipas reached with a leadoff single in the bottom 5th. Wade had a so-so start, with mostly soft contact, but a few got away from him, and those usually were hit hard. Against Vargas, with Petipas on first and no outs, he ran the count full, then spotted Vargas a strike on the corner as Petipas raced for second. Vinson was up like a shot and death-rayed Petipas out at second base. Mashiba grounded out and the Aces didn’t score in the inning.
We got another run in the sixth, 6-2, and Wade was not showing signs of getting into trouble again when he suddenly did find said trouble. Runner on first in the bottom 7th, one out, he ran into a Manuel Gomez triple, 6-3, and Petipas’ sac fly got the Aces back to within breathing range. Wade finished the inning, but that was it for him.
The Coons were struck out in order by Jose Sotelo in the top 8th, and Burnett pitched a perfect eighth, although Reece and Kinnear had to stretch a bit to make two of the plays. We didn’t score in the ninth, and the 6-4 lead was entrusted to Otero with Ban being a bit sore after tumultuous outings in the first two games of the series.
Otero faced Antenor Maldonado, Robinson Gutierrez, and the pitcher’s spot. Maldonado whiffed, Gutierrez hopped out to Ingall, and Edward Carter fouled out.
Raccoons 6, Aces 4 (Raccoons lead 3-0) – Reece 2-4, 2B; O’Morrissey 1-3, HR, 3 RBI; Ingall 3-4, 3B, RBI;
COONS!!
In Richmond, they played ten innings. In the bottom 10th, Cory Maupin, who had lost game 2, was pitching and gave up a leadoff double to Alejandro Olvera, before he got to two outs with Olvera then at third. That brought up Pedro Villa, who was 4-5 on the day. He wouldn’t? Would he? He did: his fifth hit on the day walked off the Rebels, 5-4, and they now lead the FLCS 3-0!
Game 4 – Jose Rivera (14-1, 2.35 ERA) vs. Rafael Barbosa (7-5, 4.52 ERA)
POR: 2B Brewer – LF Kinnear – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – 3B O’Morrissey – RF Newton – C Vinson – SS Salazar – P J. Rivera
LVA: 2B M. Gomez – 3B Petipas – CF J. Vargas – RF Mashiba – LF Sanders – C Manuel – 1B A. Maldonado – SS R. Gutierrez – P Barbosa
We had never seen Barbosa before, a slim 25-year old right-hander from California with four pitches he was mixing with mixed success. He didn’t have much heat.
Rivera brought in the first run of the game, an RBI groundout in the top 2nd with the bags full. Unfortunately Brewer popped out and that was all we got. Rivera and Vinson got crossed up in the bottom 2nd then on a 2-2 pitch to Andres Manuel. Rivera threw it in the dirt, Manuel swung over it, but Vinson had given a different sign and could not catch the ball. It was a K, but an uncaught one and Manuel made it to first. Still, Rivera retired the next two and the Aces didn’t score.
Newton drove in a run in the third, but we left the bags full when Salazar grounded out, and the score remained at 2-0. In the fourth, with the bags empty, Kinnear was thrown out by Mashiba as he tried to stretch a 2-out double into a 2-out triple, but redeemed himself in the bottom half of the inning catching a nasty liner by Sanders for the final out, also with the bags empty.
Bottom 5th. Manuel singled, Maldonado was hit, and then Rivera walked Gutierrez. Nobody out. Barbosa was not hit for, but grounded to O-Mo, who first looked home, but Manuel had started early. O-Mo got the out at first instead. Gomez lobbed out to shallow left (Kinnear), and then Petipas went to deep center, where Reece caught it, and our lead survived, but was down to a run, 2-1.
The Coons got a big chance of their own in the top 6th. Vinson walked to start that inning, and Salazar rocketed a double into the corner in right. Both were in scoring position, but Rivera was batting. Nah, he was 2-hitting the Aces, he was not coming out.
One could not know it at this point, but this AB looked like it was the one where the Aces lost the series for good. At 2-2, Barbosa threw right down broadway and even RIVERA wouldn’t miss that one. He hurled a fly ball into deep left, where it eluded Sanders, and fell in for a 2-run double. Rivera would come in to score on Kinnear’s double play, and we were up 5-1, with 12 outs to collect.
Rivera harvested half of that, while expending one run in the bottom 6th, but Vinson put the run back on the board in the top 7th, 6-2. Rivera exited when he hit Vargas to start the bottom 8th. Santana came in to face the left-handers Mashiba and Sanders. He struck out Mashiba, but Sanders hit an RBI triple, his first hit in the series in 13 AB. De La Rosa came out, ended the inning, but conceded the run. Back to 6-4.
Vinson walked with two out in the ninth, and Salazar singled to right. Vinson went to third, and that got De La Rosa lifted for a pinch-hitter in Marvin Ingall, while the Aces brought ex-Coon Qi-zhen Geng, whose first duty in the series had him strike out Ingall and quell the threat.
Bottom 9th, Ban against Gutierrez, backup catcher Mario Guerrero, and Gomez. Gutierrez flew into the gap in left center, but Reece made the play. Guerrero struck out. Manuel Gomez for a ticket to the Big Stage, and lifted a 2-0 pitch to center, where Reece was very happy to receive it. Ballgame!!
Raccoons 6, Aces 4 (Raccoons win 4-0) – Kinnear 2-5, 2 2B; Wedemeyer 2-4, BB; Vinson 1-1, 3 BB, 2B, RBI; Salazar 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Rivera 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (1-0) and 1-4, 2B, 3 RBI;
COOOOOOOOONS!!!!
In the Federal League, the Rebels again walked off in the 10th on a Javier Encarnación single off Jose Lopez, 3-2.
They swept the Scorpions!
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The Raccoons played well, scoring six runs in every game (and exactly six runs in every game). The only regulars on our roster that did not hit .250 or better were Kinnear (.222) and O-Mo (.154). Weeds went .389 with 2 HR, and 6 RBI, and after the injury to Scott Strong, Luke Newton came out big to bat .308 with 4 RBI.
In contrast, the Aces had ONE player batting in excess of .250! Javier Vargas tore up everybody, hitting .400, but he was alone in the lineup. Mashiba, Maldonado, Gutierrez batted below .200, and Sanders went 1-13. Also, their catcher, Andres Manuel, while a decent batter, has a weak arm. After barely stealing with 60% success all season, we went 5/5 off him, and that contributed to a few runs.
So, yeah. I though we had an edge, but WOW! It is the first time we have swept any playoff series, and you could argue that at 24-16 total runs the Aces were much closer to us than a sweep looks like.
But the even bigger surprise (or shock) is that the Rebels swept the Scorpions, too! I did NOT see that coming. I thought the Scorpions were a lock to the World Series! Well, we will adjust to the Rebels, I hope.
See you in my personal suite for the first two games. Saito's gonna be pitching.
By the way, for Saito, the game 1 victory was his 10th playoff win in 21 starts against six losses and a 2.37 ERA. For completeness: Jason Turner is 6-3 with a 2.77 ERA in the playoffs, Wade 5-4 with a 3.93 ERA (he also has a save), and Rivera, well, 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in his first start.
COOOOOOOOONS!!!