[Westheim]

Raccoons (93-56) vs. Falcons (84-65) – September 17-19, 2007

The Falcons were 2-4 this season against the Raccoons, but the Raccoons were out of luck, and the Falcons had a 5-game winning streak. Their second-best offense was most eager to smash the Raccoons, who had clearly the better pitching on paper, into the ground, despite allowing the fifth-most runs themselves.

Projected matchups:
Cássio Boda (6-5, 4.30 ERA) vs. Tommy Wilson (11-11, 4.78 ERA)
Raúl Fuentes (10-11, 4.51 ERA) vs. Larry Cutts (12-6, 3.83 ERA)
Kenichi Watanabe (4-3, 2.51 ERA) vs. Pancho Trevino (14-10, 4.21 ERA)

That’s their three best starters, arranged right-left-right, just like them Furballs. However, we don’t QUITE send our three best guys…

Game 1
CHA: 1B Tsung – 3B S. Moore – C F. Chavez – 2B J. Lopez – RF Reya – LF J. Flores – CF P. Estrada – SS D. Perez – P T. Wilson
POR: SS V. Flores – 1B Quebell – LF Castro – RF Black – C Bowen – 3B Sharp – 2B Nomura – CF S. Trevino – P Boda

The Falcons’ lineup was loaded with lefties, and from the start they gave the brown-clad outfielders a good workout as Boda was giving up fly balls galore. Nothing fell in for two innings, but the third became another one of those instances where a bodybuilder swings a sledgehammer right into your private parts. The Raccoons had taken a 1-0 lead on Quebell and Black doubles in the first, but in the third the Falcons got a leadoff single by Mun-wah Tsung on a 1-2 pitch before Boda walked Moore and Chavez. The meltdown ultimately amounted to five runs. A mild rally was underway in the bottom 4th. With two outs, Trevino had Sharp and Nomura on the corners and rammed a double to right, cutting the deficit to 5-2. Boda was taken out for his well-deserved flogging with Matt Pruitt hitting for him. Pruitt defeated Jose Lopez’ range for a 2-run single as the Raccoons came back to within a run before Flores grounded out to first.

But while the Coons fell silent after that, the Falcons kept pushing. Otherwise unremarkable Steve Moore homered off John Bennett in the sixth to get the score to 6-4, and they were on the verge of squishing the bullpen in the next two innings, but left pairs of runners on in both innings. The honors of extinguishing the Raccoons’ candle were on Dave Hamilton, a 24-year old shortstop with no major league hits, and not a single day spent in AAA. He bolted a 2-run home run off Law Rockburn in the ninth to bring the contest to a definite conclusion. 8-4 Falcons. Quebell 2-5, 2B; Pruitt (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI;

Old Man Anderson squeezed through the Crusaders in a 4-3 Thunder win, so we did not drop further behind, despite deserving it.

The Dallas Stars had double celebrations on Monday, locking up the FL West, and - … ah, see below.

Game 2
CHA: LF J. Flores – RF Theobald – 1B Tsung – 2B J. Lopez – CF Walls – 3B S. Moore – C Ishikawa – SS Starks – P Cutts
POR: 3B V. Flores – CF Castro – C Bowen – RF Black – 1B Sharp – LF Crespo – SS R. Miller – 2B J. Gutierrez – P Fuentes

In this game the Raccoons trailed by the third batter, Mun-wah Tsung singling past Vic Flores to score Jesus Flores from second base. It got worse quickly (how else should it be?) with another Steve Moore homer in the second, and three more hits for another run in the second, 3-0, before Tsung, a former Coons farmhand, thankfully striking out to strand a pair in scoring position. By the third, it was 4-0, and in the fourth Cutts hit a leadoff single and was doubled in by Jesus Flores. Fuentes was not retiring left-handed batters, nor pitchers, nor left-handed batting pitchers. Bowen added a passed ball to the box score, helping Flores to score as well in the inning, 6-0, and 8-0 through five, before Kaz Kichida – whoah! – pitched A PERFECT SIXTH. He got the game all through the eighth without being charged a run, before Matt Cash was bludgeoned in the ninth. The Raccoons were swiftly blown out, while Cutts delivered a complete game 8-hitter and Jesus Flores had five hits. 10-2 Falcons. Black 2-4, HR, RBI; Sharp 2-3; Esquivel (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Sato (PH) 1-1; Kichida 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Leave me alone, I’m bitter.

Well, to put it simply, our pitching has completely hit the dirt. Same as offense and defense. The Crusaders outslugged the Thunder in an 11-7 win, increasing the lead to two games.

Game 3
OCT: 1B Tsung – CF Theobald – C F. Chavez – 2B J. Lopez – LF J. Flores – 3B S. Moore – RF Walls – SS Starks – P P. Trevino
POR: SS V. Flores – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – RF Black – C Bowen – 3B Sharp – 2B Nomura – CF S. Trevino – P Watanabe

Matt Pruitt’s 10th home run of the year put the Raccoons 2-0 on top in the first, but the question was what we’d get from Watanabe after missing four months to injury. When the Falcons got Flores and Moore on to start the second, and then had them pull off a double steal, things looked bleak, but Watanabe struck out Walls and Starks before Pancho Trevino flew out harmlessly to center. Tom Walls got to Watanabe in the fourth with a solo homer, and Watanabe had too much traffic and missed too often in general. He didn’t get through six, leaving with two on and one out and Walls up yet again. The score was still 2-1, with the Raccoons having only one hit other than Pruitt’s homer, the Falcons outfielders sucking up EVERYTHING hit past the infield. The Falcons pulled off another double steal, but Law struck out Walls and got Starks to pop out. The first Coon to be a helping hand for the good cause since Pruitt in the first became Luke Black in the top 7th. Ed Bryan had just allowed a base hit to right to Paul Theobald that was heading to the corner. Theobald turned second, but Black got behind the ball and unleashed a horrific liner that went right into Sharp’s glove at third to tag out Theobald.

Between Pruitt’s home run and Vic Flores’ 1-out double in the eighth there were seven innings of futility (and a Sharp single), but there was another scoring chance. The Falcons stuck to Trevino despite the left-handers that were coming up. And why wouldn’t they? Quebell grounded out, Pruitt flew out to center. Angel did his job, handing Pancho Trevino a really awful loss after eight innings of 3-hit ball. 2-1 Critters. Pruitt 1-4, HR, 2 RBI;

Crusaders 6, Thunder 2, no change in the division.

Raccoons (94-58) vs. Indians (81-71) – September 21-23, 2007

So far this year the Raccoons had done a horrendous botch job against the Indians, going 5-10, despite never facing slugger Ron Alston. Well, Alston was back in the lineup, finally, and was eager to leave marks on the Raccoons (tire marks, presumably), and to get that worst-hitting (.251) offense in the CL going. They were t-3rd in runs allowed.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (14-9, 2.62 ERA) vs. Bob King (7-13, 3.91 ERA)
Kelvin Yates (20-3, 2.28 ERA) vs. Ramiro Gonzalez (10-13, 3.79 ERA)
Cássio Boda (6-6, 4.57 ERA) vs. Ramón Jimenez (11-10, 4.39 ERA)

Right-left-right again. Also, we have no more off days through the end of the season. Well, you would want to play our best eight every day, but we had a bit of a problem to find out who those least horrendous eight were after all.

Game 1
IND: 1B S. Stevens – RF Pacheco – LF Alston – CF Luxton – C Paraz – 3B Fugosi – 2B Kilters – SS J. Lopez – P King
POR: SS Flores – CF Castro – LF Pruitt – RF Black – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – 3B Sharp – 2B Nomura – P Brown

This rain-affected game started with a Simon Stevens single to center that Castro overran for extra bases, and the Raccoons burst into flames right away. Stevens would score to set them behind, 1-0, and the Raccoons didn’t necessarily seem intent on fighting them overly hard. They had nothing going for four innings, including a 1-hour rain delay. Nomura hit a 1-out single in the bottom 5th, and Brown’s bunt was taken to second by Stevens, but his throw was high, Lopez had to jump to grab it, and everybody was safe. Flores made the second out before Castro singled to center to score Nomura from third, tying the score. Pruitt grounded to second, where Chris Kilters misplayed the ball into an error that loaded the bases for the Duke, but the Duke blacked out. Brownie went seven sizzling innings – rain and errors or not – but was not looking like he’d get rewarded. J.C. Crespo batted for him in the bottom 7th and hit a 1-out double over Robbie Luxton. The sorry hopper that Vic Flores sent to third was not going to get things done, unless Filippo Fugosi would throw it - … and he threw it away! Going past the reach of Stevens and into the stands, the errant throw awarded Crespo home and Brownie the lead. That didn’t mean they’d score Flores from second now, of course…

And a 2-1 lead was a fragile lead. Marcos Bruno promptly exploded in the top 8th, Lopez singled, Cesar Aguilar doubled, Simon Stevens doubled. Plainly and simply it was the end. There was not even a faint attempt of a comeback on the home team’s part against Dane Sanders and Manuel Reyes in the last two innings. 3-2 Indians. Nomura 2-4; Crespo (PH) 1-2, 2B; Brown 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K;

In Milwaukee, Whit Reeves out-dueled Martin Garcia to claim a 3-1 victory, and you can do that math with games back and forth yourself, I trust. Talking about it depresses me too much.

Game 2
IND: RF A. Solís – 1B S. Stevens – LF Alston – CF Luxton – C Paraz – 2B J. Miller – 3B J. Lopez – SS Kilters – P R. Gonzalez
POR: 3B Flores – CF Castro – LF Pruitt – RF Black – 1B Sharp – SS R. Miller – C Esquivel – 2B J. Gutierrez – P Yates

Kel was eager to tie Scott Wade’s 18-year old mark for wins in a season by a Raccoons starter, For that high and noble goal, he pitched like crap. Spotted with a 1-0 lead in the bottom 1st, Flores scoring on Pruitt’s groundout, he loaded the bases in the top 2nd, then allowed a 1-out, 2-run single to … Ramiro Gonzalez. When another run scored in the third inning to give the Indians a 3-1 lead, everything seemed to be over yet again, but the Furry Forsaken rose one more time with a 3-run homer by Castro that put them up 4-3 in the bottom 3rd. Another run scored when Yates batted with the bases loaded and one out and he was able to leg out Kilters’ relay to first to stay out of a double play. That didn’t make his pitching any better. He was hittable, and he issued three walks, getting yanked after six messy innings, but at least he finished his messy six. Gonzalez didn’t. With two on and two out in the bottom 6th, Jose Cruz batted for Yates and sent a grounder up the middle that vanished in center for Cruz’ first career RBI. Dane Sanders replaced Gonzalez, but allowed another run to score with an RBI single to Flores.

A 7-3 lead still didn’t get the Raccoons out of the woods. John Bennett, a huge disappointment after the trade that brought him in mid-season, allowed a home run to Stevens in the top 7th to get the Indians back within three. While the Raccoons left two more runners in scoring position, Jackson, Law, and Angel took care of getting the game into the right column in the standings. 7-4 Critters. Flores 3-4, 2B, RBI; Gutierrez 1-2, BB; Nomura (PH) 1-1, 2B; Cruz (PH) 1-2, RBI;

A stumble by Angel Javier, who allowed seven runs, allows the Raccoons to draw back within two of the Crusaders, as the Loggers win 8-5 at home.

And bad start or not, Kelvin Yates is now just two back of Nick Brown’s single season strikeout mark for the franchise. Brownie obliterated 240 batters in 2004, and Kel has 238 now. Brownie has 235, though, so this is a free-for-all. And Brownie might have an advantage, because out of sheer desperation we will skip Fuentes’ turn in the rotation. That will put everybody on short rest in the middle of next week (but it’s not like regular rest is working too well), and will give Brownie one more start in the season finale against the Titans.

But if we want to have another shot at the playoffs, we need more starts from the top 2 and less from the dumb****s. We can’t get two more starts from Kel, but we can squeeze two more out of Brownie, and we’re going for it.

Game 3
IND: 2B J. Miller – 1B S. Stevens – LF Alston – CF Luxton – C Paraz – 3B Fugosi – RF P. Javier – SS Kilters – P Jimenez
POR: SS Flores – CF Castro – LF Pruitt – RF Black – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – 3B Sharp – 2B Nomura – P Boda

Cássio Boda, who had been romped regularly recently (11.37 ERA in his last three starts), and faced potential deportation back to Venezuela, was sabotaged early with a Quebell error putting Stevens on, then walked Alston. Luxton’s groundout and Paraz hacking himself out over-eagerly got Boda out of the inning, and he would not allow a hit through four innings. When Fugosi got a single in to start the fifth inning, Javier would hit into a double play to keep the Indians off the board. Bad thing was, the Coons weren’t on, either, despite a hit here and there. Bottom 5th, Sharp walked up first, Nomura hit into a double play. Boda singled, Flores’ liner was intercepted by Javier in right. Bottom 6th, Castro with a leadoff single, stole second, Pruitt walked intentionally, and Black hit into a 2-job. The Indians had two on base on their own in the seventh, but failed to score, either, despite removing Ron Alston for pinch-runner Felix Martines. The Raccoons couldn’t even score after Bowen’s bloop double past Luxton to start the bottom 7th. Jimenez struck out Sharp, Nomura, and Crespo in order. Another double in the bottom 8th, this time by Castro with one out. Pruitt was walked intentionally for the second time to get the Duke up. Could the Duke be the Duke, or would he be a Fluke? It was the latter. He struck out, Quebell grounded out to short. No score, no score, no score. Black carefully climbed off the guillotine in the top 9th when Bruno, in his second inning, allowed a leadoff single to Simon Stevens, which the Indian tried to stretch. Black fired another perfect rocket to strike down Stevens at second. Jimenez was still going in the bottom 9th, allowing a leadoff single to Bowen, who turned right away to the dugout with Yoshi Yamada coming out to run. Yoshi-Y was able to stay out of the double play on Sharp’s grounder, was running when Yoshi-N put the ball in play, high to right, had to get back to tag, but Avery Johnson didn’t get it! And it was in! And the Yoshis paraded off the Coons! 1-0 Furry Yoshis. Castro 2-4, 2B; Bowen 2-4, 2B; Nomura 2-4, 2B, RBI; Boda 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K; Bruno 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (7-1);

Fernando Cruz gagged the Crusaders as the Loggers had a 4-0 shutout on Sunday, which makes this whole horrible week moot. The Coons are one game back again, and on Monday it will be on in New York.

In other news

September 17 – Dallas utility man Jorge Vera (.289, 4 HR, 25 RBI) has the biggest day of his career, hitting for a CYCLE in the Stars’ 8-2 win over the Capitals, in which he logged the hard parts early with a second-inning triple, and a fourth-inning home run off Carlos Sackett. All in all, he’s 4-for-4 with 3 RBI in the ABL’s 41st cycle, and the third this year (POR Victor Flores, IND Angel Solís). The Stars now lead the ABL with the most cycles overall with five (Samuel Serra, 1977; Gustavo Infante, 2000; Vitantonio Cavalleri, 2003; Artie Barnes, 2004). It is also the second cycle on September 17, following that by SFW Rafael Lopez in 1986, then against the Stars.
September 17 – Universally beloved BOS INF Daniel Silva (.279, 3 HR, 23 RBI) logs his 2,000th career base hit in style with a first-inning home run off the Knights’ Ralph Ford. Atlanta would prevail to win 9-5, though.
September 21 – SFW SP Dave Crawford (16-11, 3.40 ERA) 3-hits the Gold Sox in a 4-0 shutout.

Complaints and stuff

Emotional rollercoasters are a children’s carrousel against this season going down the stretch.

We have that big 4-game set in New York coming up. After that, we have the Titans at home. The Crusaders will have the Indians at home on the final weekend. And nobody is saying much about the Elks right now, but they are still in this, three games behind! They will play the Indians and Loggers at home. Those teams in September? VAN 16-6, NYC 12-9, POR 10-11…

Whoever gets out of that mess with the (pointy black?) nose held up high, that team will play the Falcons, who clinched the CL South on Sunday with a 3-2 win over the Bayhawks behind their worst starter, Greg Grams.

For our part, we're gonna roll the dice. Brown, Yates, Boda will all go on short rest in the Crusaders series to lock out Fuentes, who's just a hot mess now. Watanabe opens the set. Fuentes pitching is an auto-loss, and we can't afford auto-losses anymore, especially not against the Crusaders. We have to pitch Fuentes in the opener against the Titans.