[Westheim]

Raccoons (21-15) vs. Indians (20-17) – May 19-22, 2014

Are the Indians fake, and if they are, how fake are they? Both teams hadn’t met another yet in 2014, and while they had started strong, they had lost their last four games. They were sixth in runs scored, and third in runs allowed, but in their last 13 games they had scored only 2.15 runs per game and had gone 3-10. The 2013 season series had ended up split.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (3-1, 2.13 ERA) vs. Tom Weise (1-2, 4.56 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (3-3, 3.54 ERA) vs. Chester Graham (3-2, 4.50 ERA)
Bill Conway (2-2, 2.62 ERA) vs. Tristan Broun (2-1, 3.13 ERA)
Tom Constantino (0-1, 4.96 ERA) vs. Dan Lambert (2-2, 4.63 ERA)

The middle two guys are left-handers. We’re also squarely in the middle of a stretch of 16 games here, so all left-handed batting starters can expect to get a day off in either of the two middle games.

Game 1
IND: 3B Dawson – C Padilla – RF J. Ortíz – 2B Kym – 1B S. Guerra – CF Tanner – LF Phillip – SS Mathews – P Weise
POR: CF Carmona – LF Seeley – RF Bednarski – 1B Quebell – 3B Nunley – 2B Bergquist – C Alexander – SS Canning – P Santos

The Coons took a 1-0 lead in the first when Seeley came home on Quebell’s 2-out single. Seeley had forced out Carmona with a grounder to short, but had stolen second base to make up for it. Santos struck out five against one single allowed to Juan Ortíz the first time through the order, dipping his ERA under the 2.00 mark., then led off the bottom 3rd with a single. Carmona singled as well, then got forced out for the second time by Seeley. Bednarski singled to center with runners on the corners, plating Santos, 2-0, after which Quebell fouled out. Nunley hobbled a ball to second base, but Jong-beom Kym didn’t quite grab it hustling in on the first attempt and all runners were safe and the bags full for Bergquist, who was 4-for-25 recently. A soft line up the middle eluded Kym and made it to center, scoring another run, before D-Alex flew out to center, dropping further off the .200 mark.

Santos dominated the Indians for four innings, but they got two singles in the fifth, left those runners stranded when Weise struck out, but Ryan Dawson and Dave Padilla opened the second inning with a pair of singles and the bottom fell out right there despite a double play grounder hit into by Ortíz. Kym singled to left, plating Dawson, and then Santiago Guerra lifted his average up to .100 with a fast-track home run to left that was absolutely a no-doubter and tied the score at three. Matt Pruitt, batting .209 with two homers, made a PH appearance in the top 7th, batting for Dawson with two outs and a man on first, but struck out. Seeley led off the bottom 7th with a double, a prime chance to regain the lead for Santos. While Bednarski failed with a pop to shallow right, and Quebell was intentionally walked, Nunley at least got the lead run moving with a groundout. Sandy batted for Bergquist with two outs and dumped a ball to center that took a nasty hop on Rowan Tanner, allowing both runners to score. Santos made a token appearance in the top 8th, conceded a single to Padilla, then left for Sugano, off whom Ortíz singled. On to Sakellaris, who wiggled out of a horrible mess despite walking Tanner with two outs. Clint Phillip thankfully fouled out to strand three red runners. The ninth was markedly more relaxed, with a 7-pitch save delivered by Angel Casas, who struck out leadoff man Joey Mathews. 5-3 Critters. Carmona 3-5; Bergquist 1-2, RBI; Sambrano (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Santos 7.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 11 K, W (4-1) and 1-2;

The Elks were idle, allowing the Raccoons to move into a tie for first place.

Quebell was tagged for having the first game against the southpaw off, while Carmona was penciled in for Wednesday to take a seat and have a cookie or two. Hernandez would get both starts with D-Alex a complete mess, batting .191.

Game 2
IND: 3B Dawson – C Padilla – RF J. Ortíz – 2B Kym – 1B S. Guerra – LF A. Chavez – CF Tanner – SS Mathews – P C. Graham
POR: LF Carmona – 1B Sambrano – 3B Merritt – RF Bednarski – 2B Bergquist – SS Canning – C Hernandez – CF Cowan – P Toner

A Kym error in the bottom of the first cost the Indians immediately when Bednarski homered off Graham to put the Coons ahead 2-0. Toner surrendered the Indians in order the first time through, but Ryan Dawson hit a single to start the fourth. The run never moved off first base, though. There was a clumsy error by Cookie Carmona in leftfield in the fifth inning, but that didn’t manage to get the Indians started either, and there wasn’t another scoring opportunity for either team until the bottom 7th when Raúl Hernandez drew the first walk of the game, appearing on base with one out. Joe Cowan, who had singled in his previous at-bat only to get picked off first, doubled to center, and then Toner came up and found a the gap in right center with a soft line, plating both runs, 4-0, to the amazement of the home crowd, even though Toner got a case of the chickens halfway between first and second and scampered back to first. The Indians got the leadoff man Tanner on with a single in the eighth, but he was stranded on third base, while the Raccoons got three singles for a run off Pat Kling in the bottom 8th. Toner was only on 93 pitches through eight and of course returned for the ninth. Padilla singled on pitch #94. Ortíz worked a full count walk and Kym hit an RBI single to right, and just like that Toner’s strong start went up in smoke. Fans were up and clapped and cheered as Toner was hauled in, with Gibson taking the spot and surrendering an RBI single to Guerra (approaching .150) right away. He struck out Armando Chavez, then left for Thrasher, who blew the game with a goose egg to Rowan Tanner that was taken for a 3-run homer, tying the score. Mathews walked, Pruitt hit into a double play. Carmona was left on second base after swiping it in the bottom 9th, extra innings, and rain was moving in, too. Gallegos threw two pitches in the top of the tenth before the skies opened up and drowned the city. The game was suspended until Wednesday.

The Raccoons moved to sole possession of first place when the Loggers beat the Elks, which was little consolation for a butchered 5-0 lead.

IND: PH Shank – C Padilla – RF J. Ortíz – 2B Kym – 1B Larsen – LF A. Chavez – CF Tanner – SS Mathews – P Bryan
POR: LF Carmona – 1B Sambrano – 3B Merritt – RF Bednarski – 2B Bergquist – SS Canning – C Hernandez – CF Cowan – P Gallegos

Play resumed with an 0-2 count on pinch-hitter Jimmy Shank, with Gallegos picking it up where he had left off on Tuesday. He managed to lose Shank to a walk, was bombed by Juan Ortíz, and Ed Bryan, another ex-Coon, dealt the Raccoons a 1-2-3 get-off-my-lawn as the Raccoons lost this one in bitter fashion. 7-5 Indians. Sambrano 2-5; Bednarski 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Cowan 2-4, 2B; Toner 8.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K and 2-3, 2 RBI;

****ing idiots.

Game 3
IND: 3B Dawson – CF Tanner – 2B Kym – RF J. Ortíz – LF A. Chavez – C Denny – 1B Shank – SS Mathews – P Broun
POR: LF Sambrano – 3B Merritt – RF Bednarski – 1B Quebell – 2B Bergquist – SS Canning – CF Seeley – C Hernandez – P Conway

Similar to the previous game, Bednarski took care of the first score, hitting a solo shot in the fourth inning. Broun had surrendered the first nine Coons before Sambrano had singled, but Merritt had him mopped up with a double play to Mathews. The lead was short-lived thanks to back-to-back 2-out doubles by Shank and Mathews in the fifth inning. That was not the last deal-killer for the Raccoons in the game, with a Bednarski leadoff single in the seventh leading to nothing once Quebell got Bednarski forced with his grounder, then was collateral damage on Bergquist’s 6-4-3 service to short. Conway held on through eight before Slayton started the top 9th like Gallegos had started the top 10th in the completion of the last game, with a walk to the leadoff batter. It hadn’t ended up well for the Coons then, it didn’t end well here. Slayton walked Kym as well before Thrasher allowed an RBI double to Ortíz. The Raccoons faced left-handed closer Anthony Bryant in the bottom 9th, bringing up the top of the order, which sent a grounder to third, a grounder to short, and a grounder to second to lose their second game in four hours. 2-1 Indians. Sambrano 2-4; Bednarski 2-4, RBI; Conway 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K;

The Elks were victorious and the Raccoons dropped back to second place. Pat Slayton dropped as well, off the roster. He was waived and designated for assignment with his replacement being 27-year old Marco Gomez, who had enjoyed miserable cups of coffee in 2012 and 2013. The 2006 fourth-rounder was trying to just be better than Slayton, which was not a high hurdle to jump over.

Game 4
IND: 3B Dawson – CF Tanner – 2B Kym – RF J. Ortíz – C Padilla – LF A. Chavez – 1B Pruitt – SS Mathews – P Lambert
POR: CF Carmona – LF Sambrano – RF Bednarski – 1B Quebell – 3B Nunley – 2B Bergquist – C Alexander – SS Taylor – P Constantino

Lambert couldn’t get any of the first five Raccoons in the game out, but with a 2-0 score and the bases loaded, Bergquist struck out and Dylan Alexander continued his completely useless streak by hitting into an inning-ending double play. Matt Pruitt hit a double in the top 2nd and scored on Lambert’s 2-out single, and immediately the conversion rates for both teams with runners in scoring position began to diverge again. Top 3rd, Tanner singled, Kym doubled, Ortíz homered, and the Indians were up 4-2. Bottom of the inning, Sandy led off with a single, and Bednarski also singled on a liner to center that Tanner played cautiously rather than going for it. Quebell then ****ed up everything once more, grounding to Kym for a force at second base, then got picked off first base. WHAT ARE YOU DOING, MORON?? YOU THINK YOU’RE GONNA - … WHAT ARE YOU DOING???

Lambert walked Nunley and Bergquist, bringing up Alexander with the bases loaded and two outs, leading to predictable results. Constantino labored through five horrendous innings, and was still on the short end of a 4-2 score when Bergquist grounded to Lambert with runners on first and second and one out in the bottom 5th. Lambert threw wildly to second, all hands were safe, and up came … Dylan Alexander. Oh lord, thou are wise and all, but I’m begging thou, hath mercy! Dylan the Dork poked at a 3-1 pitch, flew out to center, and I was struggling with Maud who wouldn’t let me fire the blunderbuss from the bell tower. At least one run came home on the sac fly, sparing Alexander (due another $6.55M…) the shame of a negative batting average. Taylor grounded out.

Marco Gomez made his season debut and delivered two scoreless innings before Gibson and Sugano were almost blown out in the eighth. Sugano held on, and the Coons were still down by one in the bottom of the eighth. Bergquist led off with a double, prompting the eviction of Lambert and the appearance of lefty Pat Kling. This slightest provocation was enough to send Merritt to bat for D-Alex, but he flew out to left, and Canning and Seeley were no less unsuccessful. Bergquist remained at second base throughout the miserable inning. The ninth yet managed to be more miserable. Sakellaris was assigned the job, allowed singles to Ortíz and Padilla, then walked Shane Larsen. Pruitt came up with nobody out and slammed the Raccoons into oblivion. 8-3 Indians. Carmona 2-5; Sambrano 2-4; Bednarski 3-5, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-3, BB; Gomez 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

The Indians aren’t scoring, they said. The Indians aren’t winning, they said. Well, they ****ing won three in a row. And can you possibly be rebalanced more than Sakellaris with a Matt Pruitt grand slam? That alone warrants a demotion to the high school level!

Ricardo Carmona stole two bases in this game, getting him to ten for the season, tying Tom Reese for third in the CL, three behind BOS Mike Rivera, his adversary from last year. The majors are led by Salem’s Roberto Cervantes, a quirky 22-year old outfielder with 16 bags taken. Our own quirky 22-year old outfielder is an infinitely better batter, as should be pointed out, than Cervantes.

Pat Slayton was claimed by the Pacifics, ending a loveless connection after four-and-half years.

Raccoons (22-18) vs. Thunder (24-17) – May 23-25, 2014

Business as usual in the South, with the Thunder leading the field. They were not overwhelming however, ranking only fourth in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed, and actually ran a -8 run differential at that. Their bullpen was especially wonky. The Raccoons had claimed the season series in 2013, beating them 5-4.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (6-0, 2.47 ERA) vs. Jorge Gine (1-3, 2.89 ERA)
Hector Santos (4-1, 2.37 ERA) vs. Ralph Ford (2-1, 3.33 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (3-3, 3.51 ERA) vs. Curtis Tobitt (6-1, 2.20 ERA)

Ford will be the third left-hander this week for the Raccoons after seeing only two of those in the first six weeks of the season. He has made only four starts this season due to oblique issues.

Game 1
OCT: 1B O. Torres – C J. Martinez – RF Bailey – 2B A. Martinez – CF Reese – LF P. Estrada – 3B J. Soto – SS Janes – P Gine
POR: CF Carmona – LF Sambrano – RF Bednarski – 1B Quebell – 3B Nunley – 2B Taylor – SS Canning – C Alexander – P Brown

Nick Brown continued to not have his pitches where he wanted them as indicated by a walk count that was elevated when compared to recent years. Here trouble found him in due time when he issued a leadoff walk to Erik Janes in the third inning, then drilled Oliver Torres pretty hard. Will Bailey didn’t like seeing his team mates banged up and cranked a 3-run homer that put the Raccoons into a mighty deep hole, especially with Brown being the first of the bunch to reach with a 2-out single in the third. Top 4th, more trouble. Another leadoff walk to Tom Reese, and then he drilled Jesus Soto. Janes struck out and Gine was an easy F8, but despite six strikeouts in the first four innings, Brownie was no good here.

The next few innings with opportunities were killed with double plays on either side. Quebell and Canning were guilty for the home team, with Canning’s at least scoring Nunley from third base in the bottom 5th. Soto drew a leadoff walk in the seventh but got doubled up on a terrible bunt attempt by Janes. Brown allowed a leadoff single to Torres in the eighth before getting yanked. Josh Gibson came in, walked Jesus Martinez and Will Bailey, then allowed a run on an Armando Martinez single. Nobody out, game blowing up, Sugano came in and struck out Tom Reese before getting a double play grounder from Pedro Estrada. Still, the Raccoons were down 4-1 and hadn’t showed any sign of ambition to maintain Brown’s undefeated run. Bottom 9th, Robert Parsons issued a leadoff walk to Carmona. Gine hadn’t walked anybody in his start. Not that it changed anything about the general futility in the lineup. Sandy struck out, and Bednarski rolled a 6-4-3 over to Janes. 4-1 Thunder.

Game 2
OCT: 1B O. Torres – LF Britton – RF Bailey – CF Reese – C Parks – 3B J. Soto – 2B A. Martinez – SS Janes – P Ford
POR: CF Carmona – 3B Merritt – RF Bednarski – 1B Quebell – 2B Bergquist – LF Seeley – SS Canning – C Hernandez – P Santos

In a pitching duel that was scoreless in the fifth, the Thunder stunned the Coons when, with Janes on first base and nobody out, Ralph Ford faked a bunt on the first pitch, then suddenly swung and singled to left on the next pitch. Two on, nobody out, Torres was asked to bunt, but Quebell – while useless during his day job – still had the glove and fired a beam to third base on the not-so-great bunt to get Janes forced out. That sucked the momentum out of the Thunder and Santos escaped with a pop and a K. Santos didn’t allow a run, but only went six innings with seven hits and seven strikeouts on his ledger. Sandy batted for him leading off the bottom 6th and doubled off the base of the wall in rightfield, only the Coons’ second hit in the game. Cookie flew out to left, but Jon Merritt came through with a single to left center, easily plating the quick Sambrano. Bednarski then opened the score with a 2-run homer to left center. Ralph Ford was visibly losing it, issuing a walk to Quebell and then striking Bergquist. Seeley singled, loading the bases, but Canning popped out. Up came Hernandez, with Ford not being moved despite clearly not having much left. Hernandez clanked a 1-1 pitch hard to left, going, going, high and deep – GRAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!

Thrasher faced a string of lefties when taking over after the 7-run assault came to an end, and still made a mess, giving the Thunder their only run in the game. Gomez pitched the last inning against left-handers without accident (though with two men on). 7-1 Coons. Bednarski 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Quebell 1-2, 2 BB; Hernandez 1-4, HR, 4 RBI; Sambrano (PH) 1-2; Santos 6.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, W (5-1);

Do we really bring in D-Alex again against the right-hander? Do we need to pretend he’s a star? He’s paid like one, but he’s 0-for-28 by now. Twenty-eight!

Game 3
OCT: 1B O. Torres – LF Britton – RF Bailey – CF Reese – C Parks – 3B J. Soto – 2B A. Martinez – SS Janes – P Tobitt
POR: CF Carmona – LF Sambrano – RF Bednarski – 1B Quebell – 3B Nunley – 2B Taylor – SS Canning – C Alexander – P Toner

Toner came out, walked the first two batters, and immediately this one was off to a wild ride for him. He salvaged the inning with two strikeouts and a pop, and that walk-em-whiff-em would become a topic for this start. While the Raccoons were rather hopeless with the sticks, for Toner it was more or less feast or famine against the Thunder. He struck out TEN … while walking six. One of those walks was to bite especially hard. Tom Reese had hit a 1-out double in the fourth, and Toner then walked Parks. Reese was caught stealing (he was one of the few runners ahead of Cookie Carmona in stolen bases) by D-Alex, which was a fortunate coincidence since Jesus Soto hit a hammer shot off Toner on the very next pitch, cashing in only Parks for a 2-0 Thunder lead. Matt Nunley tried his best with a solo shot in the bottom of the inning, but that was about as close as the Thunder got to Tobitt all game long, although there were back-to-back singles by Joe Cowan and Ricardo Carmona in the bottom 7th, but Sandy was victimized for a K and the third out. Angel Casas needed work in the ninth, almost made a mess and struck out Will Bailey after an 8-pitch battle with runners in scoring position that he balked there in the first place. The Coons faced Parsons in relief of Tobitt in the bottom 9th, but Bergquist, Alexander, and Merritt went down 1-2-3. 2-1 Thunder. Carmona 2-4; Cowan (PH) 1-1;

In other news

May 19 – The Pacifics lead the Stars 13-1 in the middle of the eighth and come within 90 feet of blowing their 12-run lead when they suffer a complete bullpen meltdown. Juan Valdez’ 2-out, pinch-hit, 2-run triple off Jason Long pulls the Stars up to 13-12 in the bottom 9th before Armando Rodriguez flies out to left.
May 22 – The Titans reacquire 1B Tony Ramos (.179, 0 HR, 5 RBI) from the Capitals, sending them LF/1B/RF Tokimune Hayashi (.291, 6 HR, 26 RBI) in return. Also included in the deal, heading to Boston, is unranked but interesting AAA prospect OF Chaz Newman.
May 22 – The Wolves and Scorpions engage in a 17-inning marathon that sees both teams score a run in the 13th, two in the 15th, before the Scorpions walk off on Pablo Sanchez’ single off Román Escobedo, 7-6. Both teams had already played 12 innings (with the Wolves winning) the previous day.

Complaints and stuff

Nick Brown approached me as the homestand ended that he wanted to sign an extension and announce it leading up to the next homestand in June. He wasn’t averse to a retirement deal, I understood. The timing for an announcement leading up to the homestand was quite good. Counting 1-2-3-4-5 through the schedule, Brownie would start the opener of the next homestand against the filthy Elks.

Pat Slayton’s new team will be in town after that.

Accidentally simmed a game for the third time in league history. I’m dumb. Not as dumb as the AI though, that played Jon Merritt in leftfield while I was mentally absent.