[Westheim]

I still want to catch up, but your pace is brisk, to say the least.

+++

Without much attention paid to it, Richmond’s Danny Flores had tied the single season steals mark by Javy Rodriguez already on September 27. He now has another week to put up his own mark.

Raccoons (76-79) vs. Indians (78-77) – September 28-October 1, 2015

To say that the Coons had been kinda awful against the Indians in 2015 would be a slight understatement at a 4-10 record coming into the 4-game set at hand. At first glance, these four games were for nothing at all, but actually the Raccoons currently held a protected 2016 first round pick and the Indians didn’t. Ah, the dilemma at hand – except that recent results suggest that the Raccoons will score like seven runs against the league’s second-best pitching staff. The Indians nevertheless ranked last in runs scored, 39 runs behind the eighth-place Coons.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (9-9, 2.82 ERA) vs. Alejandro Mendez (11-12, 3.05 ERA)
Kenichi Watanabe (7-12, 4.58 ERA) vs. Dan Lambert (14-9, 3.30 ERA)
TBD vs. Tom Weise (12-11, 3.55 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (17-5, 2.22 ERA) vs. Kyle Lamb (8-15, 5.23 ERA)

If Nick Brown (17-8, 2.76 ERA) can go on Wednesday, he’ll go. If not, it will be Francisquo Bocanegra (0-3, 7.88 ERA) to take the start. Toner remains on regular rest for his last start; Brownie would then instead face the Loggers on the weekend, to the detriment of Watanabe, who is currently slated to pitch in the season finale. Kyle Lamb would be the only opposing left-hander at hand.

Game 1
IND: CF J. Wilson – C Padilla – RF Gilmor – 1B S. Guerra – SS Matias – LF M. Cruz – 3B D. Jones – 2B Mathews – P A. Mendez
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Sambrano – SS McKnight – LF Richards – 1B Murphy – RF Reya – C Alexander – 3B Taylor – P Santos

The bottom of the first was another one of those reminders that these 2015 Raccoons had been plagued by the most lousy RISP hitters in the history of the league. Cookie singled, Sandy doubled, they were in scoring position with no outs, and remained there. McKnight struck out, Richards popped out, Murphy was actually sledgehammered by Alejandro Mendez, and Reya rolled over to Joey Mathews to end the inning with three on base. Failure would move from the batter’s box to the basepaths afterwards as Cookie was caught stealing by a catcher that hardly caught anybody in the third inning, and Murphy hit a double and was thrown out at third base in the fourth. The latter one stung especially hard, since Luis Reya then came up with a homer to right center, the first score of the game, and it could have been 2-0 Coons.

Santos held the Indians to three hits over five innings, but John Wilson led off with his second single of the day in the top of the sixth. In a hurry, the Indians tied their previous output as Dave Padilla singled to right, and Nick Gilmor hit an RBI double past Reya. Santiago Guerra and Raul Matias then also unleashed rockets. Guerra’s to deep right was caught on the track by Reya, but the go-ahead run scored handily from third base, and Gilmor came home on Matias’ sharp single to left center. The pitching coach went out to check on Santos’ pulse, who claimed to be fine, despite having his cap lodged in place on his scalp with an arrow that had gone right through the left eye of the little raccoon on the logo. Like all innings from hell, this one eventually ended, too, with the Coons down 3-1. The bottom 6th saw Santos’ removal on the grounds of the team longing for offense, especially with the bases loaded and two outs. Actually all runners had reached with two outs, as Mendez had walked Reya and Alexander before Taylor had singled. Danny Ochoa hit for Santos, and grounded out to Mathews like all ****ty corner outfielders did ‘round here. The Coons were beaten already, they just claimed ignorance; Murphy had runners on the corners with two outs in the seventh and rolled over to the shortstop Matias. The Indians then proceeded to set fire to Juan Gallegos, who walked a pair in the eighth and was then taken deep enough for the ball to reach the stratosphere when Manny Cruz walloped a 3-run homer to left. Another run scored off Marco Gomez in the ninth, the bottom half of which would fittingly end with Murphy flying out to center with two runners on base. 7-1 Indians. Carmona 4-5; Richards 2-5; Reya 1-2, BB, HR, RBI; Alexander 2-2, BB; Canning (PH) 1-1;

While the result might not seem like it, the Raccoons out-hit the Indians, actually, 13-11. Which doesn’t change much about the fact that I gotta kill them all. Except for Cookie, the poor sod.

With this loss, we would need six straight wins to maintain our streak of winning seasons, which had run to eight, the longest in franchise history.

Also, we now held the #8 pick, three games back of an unprotected pick. Also, we hadn’t lost more than 12 games to the Indians in 34 years, but I had a hunch that it was comin’.

Game 2
IND: CF J. Wilson – C Padilla – RF Gilmor – 2B Kym – 1B S. Guerra – SS Matias – LF M. Cruz – 3B Mathews – P Lambert
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Sambrano – SS McKnight – RF Richards – 1B Murphy – 3B Hudman – CF Seeley – C McNeela – P Watanabe

Manny Cruz had come into the series batting under .190 with four homers on the season, but by the second inning had his second dinger, victimizing Watanabe with a solo shot for the first run of the game. That was about all that was to the game through four innings, especially from the home team’s side. In the top 5th the Indians managed to load the bases with no outs despite contributing zero, almost. Cruz drew a leadoff walk, but then Mathews reached on Sambrano clumsily faceplanting himself on intercepting his grounder, costing him any play and some dignity and resulting in an infield single, and then Watanabe himself threw poorly to first on Dan Lambert’s bunt, pulling Murphy into foul ground, which finally put the third man on – and the top of the order was next. While Wilson and Padilla hit hard drives off Watanabe, both were retired on daring plays with Cookie and Seeley, respectively, yet both scored a runner tagging third base and making for home, enlarging the Indians’ lead to 3-0. That was it for the Coons once more. The most excitement they managed to create in the entire game were doubles by Keith Chisholm in the eighth and Ronnie McKnight in the ninth, each with less than two outs, yet neither leading to a run. 4-0 Indians. Chisholm (PH) 1-1, 2B; Watanabe 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, L (7-13);

Still at #8, and now four games behind the #13 pick, held by these very Indians. Also, TIJ Zach Boyer won his 18th by now, so the chances for a triple crown for Jonny Toner – which depend anyway on his ability to drive in enough runs himself for a W on Thursday – become slimmer.

The Indians moved right-hander Josh Hatfield (4-9, 5.03 ERA) into the third game, which will probably negate the southpaw on Thursday. Also, Brownie was pain-free when he ate his morning cake on Wednesday, so he was sent in to start – everybody going out there now will make their last start of the season.

Game 3
IND: 3B D. Jones – C Padilla – 2B Kym – 1B S. Guerra – RF Gilmor – CF J. Wilson – SS Dawson – LF M. Cruz – P Hatfield
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Sambrano – SS McKnight – RF Richards – LF Chisholm – 1B Murphy – C Alexander – 3B Taylor – P N. Brown

McKnight’s 2-run homer in the bottom 1st helped overcome the Indians’ run in the first inning that had scored after Padilla’s 1-out double and two following singles by Guerra and Gilmor. Nick Brown really didn’t look like much early on. Ryan Dawson walked to start the second, but was caught stealing. Cruz (Cruz!!) then singled, and Hatfield’s bunt was misfielded by Brown for an infield single. He then walked Jones … and Padilla, tying the game. Jong-beom Kym struck out, but Santiago Guerra didn’t. He hit a grand slam to left, silencing the entire park in one mighty stroke. Down 6-2 now, the Coons had the bags full with McKnight batting and two outs in the bottom 2nd, but McKnight chose to roll one softly to Kym and ended the inning. The score was still the same in the fifth inning when the Indians loaded the bases again just in time to bring up Cruz. Brownie had allowed singles to Guerra and Gilmor, and then had drilled Dawson. He was about to get yanked from his season finale when Cruz hit a soft lobber over his head, but Brown actually managed to leap and snag it, then found Dawson far astray from first base and doubled him off to end the inning.

Brown managed to get through six, somehow, but the Coons were still hopeless. Bottom 6th, Richards started with a pop to short that Ryan Dawson managed to drop. Chisholm’s following single was already their best guess at a run since McKnight had fistbumped Kym, but Murphy quickly managed to pop to Dawson, and that lad didn’t dare to drop another one. When D-Alex was done fouling out (…!!), Reya hit for Taylor and walked. Bednarski hit for Brownie with two down and the bags full and was gracefully erased by Hatfield’s 112th pitch. The Raccoons would have runners on second and one out in the bottom 7th, prompting Richards and Chisholm to both have themselves retired on more ****ed up pops over the infield. When Cookie and McKnight hit doubles in the bottom 9th, most of the paying customers were already heading for the exits, and few turned back. 6-3 Indians. Carmona 3-5, 2B; Sambrano 2-4; McKnight 3-5, HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Bocanegra 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Well, the GOOD news is that we can stop worrying about ending up with anything other than a losing record, OR a non-forfeitable first round pick. This all-out wretched performance secures us both! (turns to Indians luxury box attendant) Say, do you have sleeping pills to take with this chardonnay?

Cookie makes a late dash for 200 hits, however. He sits at 192, and has eight in the series.

Game 4
IND: CF J. Wilson – LF M. Cruz – RF Gilmor – 2B Kym – 1B S. Guerra – SS Matias – C Malone – 3B Dawson – P Weise
POR: CF Carmona – 1B Sambrano – SS McKnight – RF Richards – LF Chisholm – 2B Bergquist – C Margolis – 3B Taylor – P Toner

Jonny, did you know that we have never lost 14 games to the Indians? – No? – Well, you know now.

You gotta hand that kid one thing – he listens. Jonny struck out pairs of Indians in each of the first three innings, allowing only one hit. Simple Arithmetic indicated that the K hung on John Wilson to end the third was also the one that tied him for the franchise mark for a single season with good old Brownie. The Coons, who had had one runner as well (Chisholm singling and getting doubled up by Bergquist in the second) saw Margolis and Taylor drop quickly in the bottom 3rd before Toner walked. Cookie doubled to right, extending a hitting streak to 12 games and putting two in scoring position for Sambrano, who lifted a soft line to shallow right center where nobody could get it, plating both runners with the 2-out single. McKnight scored Sandy with a double off the wall in right, and Richards reached on an infield single before Chisholm grounded out. Jonny was now 3-0 ahead, and opened the fourth inning with a K to Cruz, robbing Brownie of his franchise mark. He reached a nice round 250 when he obliterated Jong-beom Kym to end the inning. While Jonny’s K rate dipped in the fifth, when he got only one Arrowhead, he came back with two in the sixth, but don’t look at the pitch count, please. The Coons broke out with three runs in the bottom 6th, running the score to 6-0 after the inning had started with straight singles by Chisholm, Bergquist, and Margolis.

In the end it was the weather that clobbered Toner’s K parade. It started to rain in the bottom 6th and by the top 7th the monsoon was on – it was October (read: winter) in Portland after all. Driving rain forced a delay north of an hour and of course knocked Jonny from the game after whiffing a dozen and allowing only one hit. When play resumed, the Indians promptly got a base runner against Marcos Bruno when Bergquist botched Gilmor’s grounder. Nothing came of that, and the Indians only threatened again in the ninth inning when Sugano had the urge to walk a pair and Entwistle upon relieving him surrendered a drive to deep left to Guerra. Chisholm caught that, though. 6-0 Critters. Carmona 3-5, 2B, RBI; Sambrano 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; McKnight 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Chisholm 2-4; Toner 6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 12 K, W (18-5); Bruno 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

With three to play, the Miners hold a 1-run lead over the Rebels. The Warriors are three ahead of the Stars. And in the South, the Condors lead the Knights by one and the Thunder by three. All seven of these teams get to play a team with a losing record on the weekend – no direct duels, unfortunately.

As far as Jonny is concerned, he has the ERA and strikeout titles nailed down. But the wins title depends on whether he can hold onto a share of the lead. Of all his competitors, only Tijuana’s Zach Boyer won his first start of the week, and is thus the only guy who can ruin the triple crown for him. He will most likely pitch on Saturday, opposing San Fran’s Joao Joo (13-9, 3.79 ERA).

Raccoons (77-82) vs. Loggers (80-79) – October 2-4, 2015

The Loggers needed one win to beat out the Coons in the final standings for the first time since 2004. So far, things hadn’t gone in their favor against Portland in 2015, as they had already lost the season series, 10-5. They were seventh in offense, but had the second-worst pitching of the Continental League.

Projected matchups:
Bill Conway (6-13, 5.16 ERA) vs. Chester Graham (15-13, 4.73 ERA)
Hector Santos (9-10, 2.87 ERA) vs. Adam Euteneuer (11-8, 4.05 ERA)
Kenichi Watanabe (7-13, 4.45 ERA) vs. Brian Cope (6-4, 4.30 ERA)

Graham should be our final left-hander of the season. We will have faced southpaws 46 times, roughly doubling the instances in either of the last two to three years.

The Loggers’ Victor Hodgers entered with 57 stolen bases, three shy of the single season record by Javy Rodriguez.

Game 1
MIL: RF Hodgers – 3B Yu – LF Dally – 1B M. Rucker – 2B Enriquez – SS O. Sandoval – CF Cooper – C Leach – P C. Graham
POR: CF Carmona – SS Hudman – LF Richards – RF Bednarski – 1B Murphy – 2B Bergquist – 3B Canning – C Margolis – P Conway

Lo and behold, Stan Murphy drove in two with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom 1st, pasting a single to left center. Cookie and Richards had singled and Bednarski had walked ahead of him. Of course you were expecting Conway to squander a 2-0 lead quickly, and he couldn’t get a clean inning in, or even one that didn’t break out the sweats. The Loggers got a run in the third inning on Justin Dally’s 2-out RBI single which gave Dally a 14-game hitting streak, slightly topping Cookie’s 13-game streak that had already been prolonged at that point. The Loggers had runners in scoring position with two outs and Hodgers batting in the fourth, which looked like a truckload of trouble, but Hodgers fouled out to end the inning in harmless fashion. Conway walked Mike Rucker with two outs in the fifth, and then Victor Enriquez singled through Bergquist, Rucker went aggro to third – except that Bednarski’s throw beat him and Canning tagged him out to end the frame. The Coons finally showed up on the radar again with Brock Hudman’s leadoff double in the bottom 5th, but – oh, surprise – nobody could be found to drive him in.

Conway arrived at the end of his luck in the sixth inning. Foster Leach hit a 2-out single, followed by Chris Harris’ pinch-hit double. Again two in scoring position for Hodgers, and this time we sent Thrasher. Which was a mistake. A bad mistake. Victor Hodgers lined a 2-out, 2-run single to right, flipping the score, and after Yu grounded out to end the inning, Thrasher would also concede the 29th homer of Dally’s season to start the seventh. Great southpaw, much fun to be had with this little ****. The Coons pen kept crumbling, conceding single runs in each of the last three innings, while the offense was toothless as usual. Even a 1-out triple by Seeley in the bottom 9th was not enough for a too-late, last hurrah. 6-2 Loggers. Murphy 3-4, 2 RBI; Seeley (PH) 1-1, 3B;

This one nails us into fifth place for good. We could have reached a tie for fourth before.

Game 2
MIL: RF Hodgers – 3B Yu – LF Dally – 1B M. Rucker – 2B Enriquez – SS O. Sandoval – CF Cooper – C Leach – P Euteneuer
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Sambrano – SS McKnight – RF Richards – 1B Murphy – LF Ochoa – C Alexander – 3B Hudman – P Santos

Cookie extended his streak to 14 games at the first opportunity with a leadoff single to left in the first inning, his 197th hit of the season. While McKnight would get him forced out there, at least our shortstop would drive in the first run of the game in the bottom 3rd, singling home Sambrano, who had doubled. We had an eye on the scoreboard, too. Through three in San Francisco, the Condors (and Boyer!) were up 1-0 as well.

For four innings, Santos had the Loggers well under control, although Dally did extend his hitting streak as well to 15 games. But the fifth inning again showed its teeth. Oscar Sandoval, Andrew Cooper, and Foster Leach opened it with three singles, tying the score at one and leaving plenty of runners for others to do damage. Unless after Euteneuer’s bunt Santos would show dominance and whiff both Hodgers and Yu, which he did. But the game was still tied, and considering the lengths and pains it took for the Critters to score even one run …! Accordingly, the 1-2-3 in the order made 1-2-3 outs in the bottom 5th. And if even they couldn’t buy a hit… Meanwhile at the Bay, Boyer was still up 1-0 in the top of the sixth.

In the top 6th up close and personal, Mike Rucker hurt Santos with his 37th homer of the season, a solo shot for his 120th RBI, to put the Loggers 2-1 ahead. Santos did not retire another batter, and instead allowed another three hard line drives for three hits and two runs before being removed to be stashed away in some dark corner until the spring. Mathis got a double play from Foster Leach, but the Loggers now led 4-1. Euteneuer had been everybody’s mattress in 2014, but now looked pretty strong … until he didn’t. Hudman and Chisholm had singles to lead off the bottom 7th and went to the corners for the 1-2-3 guys. Just as Cookie hit to Enriquez for a run-scoring groundout, the entire park moaned and groaned – in San Francisco, Craig Dasher had hit a 2-out, 3-run double off Joao Joo, giving Zach Boyer a 5-0 lead. Nobody took much notice of Sandy’s and McKnight’s singles, which got the Coons back to 4-3 before Richards and Reya failed and left runners in scoring position. The scoreboard was enough to kill everybody’s mood – including Jonny Toner’s, who disappeared into the bowels of the stadium to be sad by himself. That game in San Francisco was over just as Marcos Bruno wiggled out of a jam in the top of the ninth, the Bayhawks remained shut out. The Coons were still down 4-3 in the bottom 9th, facing Kevin Cummings. Chisholm led off with a single, Cookie hit another one. Sandy struck out, McKnight flew out to left. Bednarski hit for Bergquist in Richards’ vacated slot. Bednarski singled to left, Chisholm was sent around third, Martin Sorto threw home, nice throw, Leach tagged, nice tag, and he was out. 4-3 Loggers. Carmona 2-5, RBI; Sambrano 2-5, 2B; McKnight 2-5, 2 RBI; Richards 2-4; Bednarski (PH) 1-1; Chisholm 2-2;

Not quite Keith Ayers, but I still feel like dying tonight. Maud hid the bleach, though.

Zach Boyer spun a ****ing 6-hit shutout to soil Jonny’s dream. Just come to Portland next year, Zach. We’ll find some backup infielder to rub sand in your ****ing eyes.

The Loggers tabbed right-hander Michael Foreman (8-11, 4.15 ERA) for the finale. We stuck to Watanabe, who will be 39 in October and might make his final ever big league start here. For his career, which started in this very town in ’04, he is 65-91 with a 4.18 ERA. That “Winless” moniker came from somewhere!

Game 3
MIL: RF Hodgers – 3B Yu – LF Dally – 1B M. Rucker – 2B Enriquez – SS O. Sandoval – CF Cooper – C Leach – P Foreman
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Sambrano – SS McKnight – RF Richards – 1B Murphy – LF Chisholm – C Alexander – 3B Hudman – P Watanabe

It would not be a fun experience, this last Portland outing for Watanabe. He allowed a single to Yu in the first before walking three straight. The Loggers could have had his tail right there and then if Sandoval hadn’t hit into a double play and held them to one run. Yu drove in a run with two outs in the second, but at least Foreman also walked the bases loaded in the bottom 2nd, although the Raccoons failed to do more damage than a sac fly by Brock Hudman. Bottom 3rd, Cookie extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an infield single (#199), upon which McKnight bombed to right and flipped the score to 3-2 for the home team. The bottom 5th was led off by Cookie, with the crowd standing up and clapping in anticipation of at least this milestone, a little thing compared to the missed triple crown. Cookie obliged and lined a double into the gap between Hodgers (who had a miserable series and was still at 57 SB) and Cooper, reaching 200 hits for the second year in a row. McKnight scored him with a single, running the score to 4-2, and while the Loggers had been right up Watanabe’s throat early on, they largely left him alone in the middle innings and let him complete seven frames. The Coons scratched out a run in the bottom 7th. Originally getting on Ochoa with a single hit in Watanabe’s spot, they hit into two force plays before Bednarski plated Cookie with a 2-out single, himself batting for Richards against southpaw Carlos Michel, who would be hard pushed again in the bottom 8th, but despite loading the bases with one out allowed only one run on a pinch-hit infield single by Danny Margolis. Now up by four, Bocanegra ended the game. 6-2 Raccoons. Carmona 2-4, BB, 2B; McKnight 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Bednarski (PH) 1-1, RBI; Ochoa (PH) 1-1; Margolis (PH) 1-1, RBI; Watanabe 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, W (8-13);

Watanabe’s three hits allowed were the only ones the Loggers got in this game.

Jonny Toner would have been available to pitch in relief in a tied game late, but it didn’t come to that.

In other news

September 28 – The Stars critically lose 3B/2B Hector Garcia (.306, 7 HR, 45 RBI) for the final week of the season. The 35-year old frequently hurting switch-hitter is out with a bruised foot.
September 28 – The Canadiens beat the Crusaders, 3-1, despite being out-hit 12-3. Two of Vancouver’s hits are doubles, including a 2-out, 2-run double by Juan Medina (.321, 2 HR, 65 RBI), while the Crusaders hit a dozen singles.
September 29 – The Wolves’ SP Kurt Doyle (10-9, 4.98 ERA) 3-hits the Scorpions in a 7-0 shutout.
September 29 – PIT 2B/3B Joe Chappelle (.238, 10 HR, 52 RBI) raps out five hits, including two doubles, in the Miners’ 10-3 win over the Cyclones.
September 30 – Warriors rookie Tyler Nodelman (5-4, 2.82 ERA) spins a 2-hitter in a 6-0 shutout over the Gold Sox, which conveniently also puts the Warriors only one win away from clinching the FL West.
October 1 – This is less convenient for the Warriors: SFW CL Arturo Lopez (8-3, 1.24 ERA, 41 SV) is out for the year with a torn triceps.
October 1 – The Falcons beat the Thunder 1-0 in regulation with a walkoff homer by Aaron Case (.212, 6 HR, 23 RBI) off Steve Rob.
October 2 – The Warriors clinch the FL West with a 5-2 win over the Wolves, their ninth playoff appearance and the third consecutive.
October 3 – RIC OF Danny Flores (.312, 8 HR, 63 RBI) sets a new stolen base mark for a single season by taking his 61st base of the year in the Rebels’ 6-5 loss to the Buffaloes. With Jon Merritt at the plate, Flores swipes second base against the Buffaloes’ Ian Norman and Pedro Salas in the fifth inning.
October 4 – Both the Condors and Miners only clinch their divisions on the final day of the season. The Condors lose 3-1 to the Bayhawks, but the Knights also lose to the Falcons, 9-7, to hand the division to the Condors. In the FL East, the Miners crush the Capitals in the latter half of a double-header, 14-2, to beat the Rebels by a single game.

Complaints and stuff

What a ****ed up week. What a –

Thank heavens and the baseball gods – cruel and evil as they are; especially Ivor, the small, fat, ugly god – that it is over. I couldn’t have made it through a single additional game or inning.

I am still ringing with myself on whether to extend a contract to Ron Richards. There is not much 5-star batting to be had in the upcoming free agent class. There’s some power to be had, but it’s mostly old or swinging freely. I will be hot after R.J. DeWeese, who can hit a ton, but also led the FL in strikeouts the last two years. Is that the #4 hitter we want? Are the 13 dingers he hit more than Richards this year really worth another 50 K? Their OPS is almost identical. For his career, DeWeese has 60 points more of OPS, though.

Oh god, I will do everything wrong again.