[Westheim]

Raccoons (35-20) vs. Canadiens (30-25) – June 4-7, 2018

Tied for second in the North, five games behind the Raccoons, the Elks were in a splendid position to do some damage to us after we had just ended our 10-game winning streak on Sunday in a hard to explain Jonny-xplosion. This would be a set of four games, with the Elks longing to extend their own, still living winning streak of five games. They were third in runs scored, but only seventh in runs allowed in the Continental League, and the Raccoons had taken two of three games from them in the first series between the two teams.

Projected matchups:
Damani Knight (0-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. Juan Ortega (3-3, 3.82 ERA)
Hector Santos (4-2, 2.33 ERA) vs. Michael Colvard (0-0, 2.53 ERA)
Ricky Mendoza (4-3, 4.19 ERA) vs. R.J. Lloyd (5-3, 4.44 ERA)
Ryan Nielson (2-0, 4.70 ERA) vs. A.J. Bartels (4-4, 3.51 ERA)

Looks like we’re gonna dance around their only left-hander; C.J. Fishel (5-3, 4.72 ERA) pitched on Sunday. The Elks just placed their closer, Juan Jimenez (3-3, 2.45 ERA, 12 SV) on the DL. The 34-year old lefty was suffering from radial nerve compression and would not be back until September at the earliest. But if you can just go back to Pedro Alvarado (1-1, 1.17 ERA, 1 SV) to close… the 39-year old Puerto Rican still knows how to deal it. He’s in his *21st* season with the Elks, and at 585 career saves looks like a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame one day.

Matt Nunley felt completely fine on Monday morning after leaving Sunday’s game early, and was in the lineup.

Game 1
VAN: 3B J. Gutierrez – 2B Rinehart – RF Branch – CF Rocha – C Padilla – 1B J. Ramirez – SS Grooms – LF K. Evans – P J. Ortega
POR: RF Carmona – CF Duarte – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – SS McKnight – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – C Margolis – P Knight

The Critters scored an unearned run in the first inning, exploiting a throwing error by Jose Gutierrez that placed Duarte on second base with one out. DeWeese’s 2-out single scored him, but Damani Knight allowed hard contact ‘round the clock and Mario Rocha’s leadoff double in the top of the second quickly led to the tying run. Cookie opened the bottom 3rd in a 1-1 game with a single and swiped second base right away on a poor throw by Dave Padilla, his 16th stolen base for the year, one off Matt Good’s mark that led the CL. Duarte singled to center with ample time for Cookie to score the go-ahead run, after which two walks loaded the bases with nobody out on Ortega’s watch. Ortega, 32, who had spent most of his career with the Buffaloes, was a gross 31 games under .500 for his career record, and needed all the unclutchiness the Raccoons could muster to get out of this one. McKnight struck out right away, but Walter’s RBI single and Nunley’s RBI groundout at least put two more runs onto the board for a 4-1 lead before Margolis was bypassed and Ortega sniffed out Knight, but Damani would return the favor right in the top of the fourth with runners then on the corners, whiffing Ortega to end the threat and the inning. Ortega would not get out of the bottom 4th, which was started by Cookie singling and Duarte doubling. Both runners scored after a grounder to short by the Tiger and then a McKnight single to right, the latter knocking Ortega from the game. While Damani Knight had been at least as shaky in the early innings, he got better when Ortega was already showering. The Elks only put him in the wringer once more, placing runners on the corners with nobody out in the seventh inning. At that point, Jose Gutierrez kinda was Knight’s last batter, but grounded into a double play. While that scored a run, the Coons remained up by four, and Knight would retire another four Elks to pitch eight innings for the second time in three starts since being called up. The score bloomed in the bottom 8th, which saw ancient Iemitsu Rin walk a pair before falling to a 2-out, 3-run homer by ex-Elk Brian Petracek, which made me chuckle. Chun finished the ninth without much in terms of trouble. 9-2 Furballs! Carmona 2-5; Duarte 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Petracek 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Walter 4-4, RBI; Knight 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W (1-0);

When Monday tumbled over into Tuesday, Chet Cummings cleared waivers for a lack of claimants. He accepted his assignment to the Alley Cats.

Game 2
VAN: SS C. Alexander – 2B Rinehart – RF Branch – CF Rocha – C Padilla – 1B J. Ramirez – 3B J. Gutierrez – LF Cameron – P Colvard
POR: RF Carmona – CF Duarte – 1B H. Mendoza – LF DeWeese – SS McKnight – 2B Walter – 3B Nunley – C Denny – P Santos

With dark clouds overhead, Santos had a tumultuous first inning, with Jeff Rinehart splintering his bat, but the looper passed over the jumping Tiger into shallow right and Rinehart ended up with a double when the ball made an escape from Cookie into foul ground. Ezra Branch popped up the 2-2 in foul ground, where Nunley was under it, yet dropped it for an error, and Santos ended up walking Branch, but with two odd runners on base, Santos struck out Rocha and got a pop from Padilla that was not dropped into some gutter. It started to rain as early as the second inning, which saw Colvard pile them up on the bases with nobody out after McKnight and Walter singled, and Nunley drew a walk in a full count. While Mike Denny hit an RBI single to left, Santos struck out, and then the consistently slumping Cookie hit into a double play to end the inning. The lone run was threatened quickly with Chris Alexander’s leadoff single in the third, and Santos’ pickoff attempt was wild and eluded Mendoza, sending the runner to second. Thankfully, the Elks didn’t get another ball to fall in, and Alexander was stranded at third base.

The game dragged itself through the innings. There was the on-and-off drizzle that kept everybody moist, and Santos was on-and-off with his control as well. While he walked only one, he needed 78 pitches through five shutout innings, which sent the bullpen casually stretching by the bottom of the fifth. Colvard threw 74 pitches in just four innings, but the Coons were still stuck to the lone run drive in by Denny. Santos ended up being done after six innings and exactly 100 pitches, and due to Jeff Rinehart’s leadoff double and well-placed outs he also was no longer in the lead. When Joey Mathews hit for Santos in the bottom 6th, there was still a chance for a W for Hector in there. Walter and Denny had both singled and were on second and first with two outs, but Mathews’ slow roller to first was not going to get things done. Jesus Ramirez picked it up to end the inning.

Wade Davis came in for the seventh, but allowed two singles right away to Jose Gutierrez and Don Cameron, the latter legging out a drag bunt against a confused Coons infield. Kurt Evans hit for Colvard, but bounced it back to Davis for a double play. With left-hander Manlio Varone pinch-hitting for Alexander, Thrasher was broken from the pen and struck Varone out in no time to strand Gutierrez at third. The Raccoons would then come unnervingly close to leaving Cookie Carmona on third base after a leadoff triple in the bottom of the inning. Duarte and DeWeese both struck out, with the Tiger not even being pitched to by Scott Hanson. Ronnie McKnight then trickled a 1-0 pitch up the middle and through into centerfield to claim a 2-1 lead. Walter grounded out to leave runners on the corners. Thrasher got two outs in the top 8th before Rocha singled to center, and the Coons moved on to Alex Ramirez for a 4-out save that he blew before getting even one out. Dave Padilla singled, sending Rocha to second, and Ramirez singled to score him, 2-2. Nunley reached on an error to start the bottom of the inning and was bunted over by Denny. Eddie Jackson drew a walk that made the bunt a bit moot, and when Cookie lined to center, Rocha retired him with a tumbling spill, holding on to the ball just barely. Duarte got a 3-1 pitch from Hanson and grounded it to short, and Chris Grooms’ throw was so bad that the first baseman Ramirez never attempted to lunge after it. The 2-base throwing error plated Nunley from second base and moved two runners to scoring position. With first base open, two outs, and Alex Ramirez behind Mendoza after a double switch, the Elks still pitched to the Tiger. Sadly, he grounded out to Rinehart. Up 3-2, Alex Ramirez got another shot at putting the game away, and the Elks went down in order, but not without some extra effort by the defense. 3-2 Coons. McKnight 2-4, RBI; Walter 1-2, 2 BB; Denny 2-3, RBI; Santos 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K;

It was also time to sprinkle in some off days. Shane Walter had not started on Sunday, so he was excluded for the moment. Of the other regulars, nobody was particularly hot right now. Matt Nunley and R.J. DeWeese got to hit the bench for some second dinner first, being left out of Wednesday’s lineup, but ultimately we’d cycle out all our guys over the next four games. This was only a 13-game stretch, but I keep telling myself that it helps keeping guys fresh.

Game 3
VAN: SS C. Alexander – 2B Rinehart – RF Branch – CF Rocha – C Padilla – 1B J. Ramirez – 3B J. Gutierrez – LF Cameron – P Lloyd
POR: LF Carmona – CF Duarte – 1B H. Mendoza – RF Jackson – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – 2B Mathews – C Denny – P R. Mendoza

Two K to Rocha and Padilla saved Ricky Mendoza’s bacon after a walk to Rinehart and a Branch double in the first inning. Cookie opened the bottom 1st with a single, but was gunned down by Padilla before the next three Raccoons all appeared on base one way or another. Walter grounded hard to first for an odd 3-6 double play, and that was that. More disappointments followed as Mendoza committed another boo-boo in the second inning, walking Ramirez to start the inning and then surrendering a homer to Jose Gutierrez right away. Down 2-0 the Coons again had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom 2nd, with Chris Alexander’s throwing error putting Mathews on base. Denny singled, Ricky Mendoza walked, and Cookie came up, ripping a pitch to right for an RBI single. Duarte struck out, but the Tiger lined to left, up the line. Cameron cut it off before it could get past him, which kept Cookie from scoring, but two runs did score and gave the Coons the lead, 3-2, before Jackson’s fly to center ended the inning. Little would get better for Ricky Mendoza, who stranded four runners over the next three innings to pitch the five innings required for a win, but needed a depressing 99 pitches to get there, spilling seven hits and two walks, and that was in no way indicative of the amount of 3-ball counts he nursed. He needed another nine pitches to get Gutierrez on a fly to right that opened the sixth, and that was it for him.

Offensively, the Coons didn’t threaten after their 3-spot in the second until Shane Walter doubled to right to open the bottom 6th. McKnight’s groundout sent him to third, from where he scored on Mathews’ single to left. Lloyd was yanked after allowing that fourth run, with Robert Parsons, the former Crusaders, replacing him. He threw one pitch for a double play from Denny, ending the sixth. Against Chun and Kaiser, the Elks would put the tying runs into scoring position thanks to singles by Alexander and Branch in the top 7th. Two outs, first base open with Padilla up, there was the option to give him four wide ones to bring up the lefty Ramirez, who had actually the better stats, which didn’t sound like a potentially rewarding move. Instead, Chris Mathis was called on, entering in a double switch that removed Mathews for Hudman. While Padilla hit the 2-2 pitch high to right, it was in no way deep, and Jackson made an easy catch to end the inning. Hudman grounded out to open the bottom 7th, but Cookie doubled to left. Duarte grounded out, moving him to third, and the Tiger got only junk and walked. Runners on the corners, Parsons was broken up on back-to-back singles to center from Jackson and Walter, both scoring a run and running the score to 6-2. Mathis got three more outs for four total in the eighth, and Wade Davis worked around a Chris Alexander single in the ninth to end the game. 6-2 Furballs! Carmona 3-4, 3B, 2B, RBI; H. Mendoza 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Walter 2-4, 2B, RBI; Mathis 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

While the Elks and everybody else kept sinking away from the streaking Critters, the Crusaders remained in the picture. They had been off on Monday, but had won twice since and were now 5 1/2 back.

The rest carrousel would keep spinning in the meantime. The Tiger and McKnight would get a day off on Thursday in the series finale. These two (along with Nunley and Cookie) have appeared in every game so far this season, and they are the two with the most starting assignments, too, cropping up in the lineup in all but – now – four games this year.

Game 4
VAN: LF Cameron – 2B J. Gutierrez – RF Branch – C Padilla – 1B J. Ramirez – 3B Grooms – CF Rinehart – SS Roundtree – P Bartels
POR: RF Carmona – CF Duarte – SS Walter – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – 2B Mathews – C Margolis – 1B Petracek – P Nielson

Ryan Nielson whiffed five in four no-hit innings to start this game, with the Raccoons having two hits somewhere, but I sure didn’t notice them. Jesus Ramirez chugged a ball to centerfield and all the way past it to start the fifth inning to not only break up the no-hit bid (though he had no chance of completing it, using up 61 pitches through four innings), but to also give the Elks a 1-0 lead. The Elks got two more hits in the inning, singles by Rinehart and Bartels, but left the runners on and also lost Rinehart to injury when he sprained his thumb in a futile slide into second base on a grounder by Steve Roundtree that forced him. The Coons had Margolis on with a 2-out single in the bottom 5th, but that hit was soon forgotten as well. Petracek was walked intentionally once Bartels balked Margolis to second, and Nielson readily made the third out, then issued two walks to start the sixth inning. Padilla singled to load the bases with nobody down, although Nielson struck out Ramirez after that. Grooms was a switch-hitter, but weaker against lefties, and grounded an 0-1 pitch back to the mound. Nielson threw home to get Gutierrez, and Margolis knocked out Grooms at first to end the inning with no damage incurred!

Cookie singled on a 3-0 pitch to start the bottom 6th. Duarte was at 3-1, then grounded to short. Roundtree only got Cookie, but Duarte recovered by dashing to third base when Padilla threw the ball away on his stolen base attempt. Then Walter flew to center, Rocha caught the ball, Duarte went – and was thrown out. Two were on in the bottom 7th after Nunley and Margolis singled, but Petracek feebly whiffed. Chun and Kaiser coughed up a run in the top 8th, putting the Coons into a 2-0 hole, and their inability to put a fork into Bartels, who had lasted four starts as a Raccoon in 2016 before getting shafted, was infuriating, to say the least. Bartels was still diddling along in the bottom 8th, got two outs from McKnight and Cookie before Duarte singled and Walter doubled. DeWeese couldn’t be trusted and we had to send the Tiger to bat for him. The Elks did NOT walk him intentionally, but instead he grounded out to first base. As he slumped back to the dugout, two stripes fell off. Alvarado faced the Coons in the bottom 9th and the tying run came up with nobody out once Nunley singled to center. Mathews walked, and this was developing well until Margolis hit into a double play. Jackson batted for Petracek and popped out. 2-0 Canadiens. Duarte 2-4; Nunley 3-4; Margolis 2-4;

Yes, I still hate sending a lefty for a lefty. Ramirez bats left-handed, so Nielson stayed in the game.

Also, that Bartels escaped completely ticks me off. You lot better not look at me now! – (gets accidentally looked at by Alex Duarte) – …! – (takes a deep breath before…)

§%(/&§%&/(!!!

Raccoons (38-21) vs. Pacifics (35-25) – June 8-10, 2018

We had played and swept the Pacifics last season and I was certainly hoping for another such development. But they were a powerful team again, ranking first in runs scored with exactly 300, which worked out to precisely five runs per game, where the Raccoons didn’t even reach 4.2 runs per game. They were fourth in runs allowed, with their rotation in the top three, but a bullpen that was full of holes. There was an Angel in that pen that had a 4.84 ERA and was not alone in failing to replicate success of years past…

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (8-2, 2.46 ERA) vs. Rod Taylor (4-2, 2.45 ERA)
Damani Knight (1-0, 4.12 ERA) vs. Ozzie Pereira (0-3, 8.22 ERA)
Hector Santos (4-2, 2.27 ERA) vs. Brad Smith (6-4, 2.80 ERA)

Pereira is a likely skip candidate here as their off day on Thursday allows for it. This would be double-bad for the Raccoons, because it would move Fred O’Quinn into the series, a left-hander with a 6-3 record and 1.78 ERA. Their other starters were all right-handers.

Alex Duarte stopped crying in time to take his spot on the bench for the opener, which was his scheduled off day. Cookie got planned in for Saturday to have a day off, and we’d see whether Walter needed another one after sitting out last Sunday.

Game 1
LAP: RF M. Thompson – 3B C. Martinez – 1B D. McCormick – CF J. Roberts – C Spears – SS Getchell – LF Webb – 2B R. Mendez – P R. Taylor
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – RF Jackson – LF DeWeese – SS McKnight – 3B Nunley – C Denny – P Toner

A balk and a wild pitch were required for the Raccoons to get Shane Walter home after his first-inning double, but sometimes even guys like Rod Taylor like to shovel their own grave. Somehow, pretty soon neither team appeared very smart or like a winning team anymore. After the Pacifics had gone down 1-2-3 in the first, Jimmy Roberts ran a 3-0 count against Toner to start the second inning, then fouled out behind home plate. The bottom 2nd saw McKnight with a leadoff single and get caught stealing by former Gold Glover Errol Spears. That was before the next three Coons all reached base: Nunley singled, and Taylor walked both Denny AND Toner, the latter on four pitches, and then Cookie Carmona hit into the second inning-ending double play of the week. Both teams were really equally infuriating early on.

While Jonny allowed only two base runners in four innings, the Raccoons had another thick chance in the bottom 4th, with back-to-back singles by McKnight and Nunley to start the inning, and this time without anybody falling off the edge of the table in the meantime (yay!). Taylor came roaring back with three strikeouts to Denny, Toner, and Carmona, and things remained tense, even more so when Errol Spears hit a leadoff double in the fifth, but hurt his knee and had to leave the game. Backup catcher Jesus Martinez was on third base with two outs and Rich Mendez batting; Mendez had doubled off Toner in the third, and was batting .370 in left-handed fashion in limited appearances. We twitched, Jonny had to put him on intentionally, then had an ANGRY strikeout against poor Rod Taylor. The odd pitching duel continued until the bottom 7th. Jonny struck out the side in the top 7th following a solo home run by McKnight in the previous inning that had DOUBLED the Raccoons’ output. Taylor was done after walking Mendoza with one out, and when Edwin Balandran replaced him, he walked Jackson right away. But Balandran was not in the game for Jackson, he was in for the left-handers behind Jackson. We had none of that, with Duarte pinch-hitting for a once more 0-for-3 DeWeese, but rolled right into a double play.

Toner arrived in the ninth inning with a 3-hit shutout, a dozen whiffs, and Alex Ramirez was a turd. 101 pitches on the clock, but **** those, Jonny’s gonna rip himself a shutout now! He faced the top of the order, nominally, but Carlos Martinez had been replaced earlier and Balandran still sat in the #2 hole. Left-hander John Gartner hit for him after Marc Thompson drew a 9-pitch leadoff walk. Gartner walked as well, and I couldn’t cope anymore and went into hiding in the liquor cabinet. Toner struck out Dave McCormick before walking Roberts, which filled the bags and ended his day for good. The turd came in, struck out Jesus Martinez, and then Mike Getchell grounded sloooowly past the mound. Shane Walter hustled in, picked it bare-handed and flung the ball to first without looking much – OUT! But just barely. 2-0 Critters. H. Mendoza 1-2, 2 BB; McKnight 3-4, HR, RBI; Nunley 2-4; Toner 8.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 13 K, W (9-2); Ramirez 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (16);

Much to my amazement, the Pacifics would NOT skip Ozzie Pereira, so it looks like we would bypass yet another southpaw.

Game 2
LAP: RF M. Thompson – SS R. Irvin – CF J. Roberts – 1B D. McCormick – 3B C. Martinez – LF J. Garcia – C Ford – 2B R. Mendez – P Pereira
POR: CF Duarte – 2B Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – RF Jackson – SS McKnight – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – C Denny – P Knight

Ozzie Pereira’s third-inning infield single(!) was the first hit for anybody in the game, and while Knight walked Marc Thompson to place a second runner on base, the Pacifics didn’t score when both Ross Irvin and Jimmy Roberts hit easy grounders. Errol Spears’ replacement Mikey Ford hit a 2-run homer off Knight in the fourth inning, at a point where Pereira and his 8+ ERA were still pitching a perfect game – and could there be ANY OTHER WAY FOR THIS TO BE?? Rich Mendez doubled, ****ing Pereira hit an RBI single (a proper one this time), and the Raccoons continued to look pathetic for the third straight game. While Hugo Mendoza’s 2-out single in the bottom 4th ended Pereira’s ridiculous bid, the Raccoons didn’t score after Jackson grounded out to short. The Pacifics continued to make abundant hard contact against Knight, who was stomped for another two runs in the fifth inning and allowed nine hits, most of them hard, in 5.2 innings before being relieved by Matt Schroeder in a hopeless game. Not only did Schroeder log four outs quite quickly, nope, he was also the first ****ing Critter to hit a ****ing extra-base hit off Pereira, a 2-out double in the bottom of the seventh. Nothing came of that, of course. Pereira’s day ended after seven-plus innings when Cookie Carmona hit for Denny to lead off the bottom 8th and tripled to center. He scored on Joey Mathews’ sac fly, and that was largely it for the Raccoons… 5-1 Pacifics. Duarte 2-4; H. Mendoza 2-4; Hudman (PH) 1-1; Carmona (PH) 1-1, 3B; Mathews 1-2, RBI; Schroeder 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K and 1-1, 2B; Davis 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

To further dampen the mood, Eddie Jackson came away with a sore shoulder from this game. He hurt himself on a throw and was subbed out in the middle innings in favor of Petracek. The Druid doesn’t consider it serious, but he will be listed as day-to-day and might just linger on the roster for the next week or so.

Game 3
LAP: RF M. Thompson – SS R. Irvin – CF J. Roberts – 1B D. McCormick – 3B C. Martinez – C J. Martinez – LF Gartner – 2B Bergquist – P B. Smith
POR: RF Carmona – CF Duarte – 2B Walter – 1B H. Mendoza – SS McKnight – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – C Margolis – P Santos

A Margolis throwing error when Marc Thompson tried to steal second base after hitting a leadoff single allowed Thompson to move to third and score on Jimmy Roberts’ sac fly for an unearned run on Santos in the first inning. For the Coons, Cookie hit a single and stole second base in the first inning before being abandoned, and they did not get another base hit until Walter blooped a single into shallow right to start the bottom 4th. The only other base runner in between was Margolis, who walked. With the tying run on, we would have appreciated a swipe by Hugo Mendoza, but he hit a roller for about 35 feet. Brad Smith – who led the FL in strikeouts – and Jesus Martinez got into another’s personal space trying to play it and all hands were safe; two on, no outs for Portland, McKnight fouled out on the first pitch. Nunley ran a full count before drawing a walk, although that was primarily because Brad Smith didn’t get the call on strike three on the corner. Bases loaded, and then … DeWeese. He had five hits in the last three weeks, and Margolis wasn’t that much better, so this was going to be another sad inning. Except that DeWeese knocked the first pitch into the gap between Roberts and Thompson, Nunley was held at third, but the Coons took the lead on the 2-run double! Margolis was not pitched to by the Pacifics, with Smith in all-out collapse mode and walking Santos with the bases loaded, 3-1. When Cookie lined a 3-2 pitch to Bergquist (who batted .215), Santos was caught mindlessly off first base and was doubled off… Bergquist hit a leadoff double off Santos in the top 5th, and Ross Irvin’s 2-out homer tied the game. It was all so frustrating again…

Sadness continued relentlessly, with Duarte drawing a leadoff walk in the bottom 5th, only for Walter to ground to Bergquist for yet another double play. DeWeese was hit and Margolis singled with two outs in the bottom 6th, but Mathews struck out batting for Santos, who was left with yet another no-decision and that was TOTALLY HIS FAULT!! Moremisery in the eighth inning, in which Chris Mathis hit two batters to create a jam. With Roberts and Carlos Martinez on and only one out, Wade Davis replaced Mathis and struck out his only batter, Jesus Martinez. Thrasher came on for Gartner, but the Pacifics sent Mikey Ford instead, a right-handed batter, who fouled out on the first pitch. Bottom 8th, McKnight’s 1-out single chased Smith, with Angel Casas replacing him. Angel had already gotten an out in the series opener, now faced Nunley, who was the real danger here ahead of DeWeese. Angel had 36 K in 22.2 innings, but threw a wild pitch at 1-0, and McKnight moved to third on Nunley’s groundout. DeWeese didn’t strike out again, but his drive to right ended up with Thompson. Pesky Bergquist hit a leadoff double off Thrasher in the top of the ninth, but the Pacifics also stranded the go-ahead run on third base after Jaime Garcia’s fly out and consecutive K’s against Thompson and Irvin. Bottom 9th, Angel issued a leadoff walk to Margolis, who was run for by Petracek, while Denny batted for Thrasher. Things suddenly looked good – Denny singled to center, and Petracek made it to third base with nobody out and Cookie batting… who struck out. As did Duarte. Walter rolled out… to Bergquist.

This was as good a point as any to get hopelessly drunk. While I was picking through my bottles, the two closers went at another in the 10th and then 11th innings. Ramirez held Los Angeles away for two innings before Petracek hit a leadoff double off Arturo Lopez in the bottom 11th. Lopez left the game with an apparent injury, leaving things to Dusty Balzer and his 68 career saves (although this was not a save opportunity, not by far). Balzer threw only two pitches, the second of which was rammed off the rightfield wall by Mike Denny – Petracek scored to claim the series. 4-3 Raccoons. Margolis 1-1, 3 BB; Petracek 1-1, 2B; Denny (PH) 2-2, 2B, RBI; Thrasher 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Ramirez 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, W (6-1);

Yup, this game was one by the runts of the litter. That’s four games like glue in a row, hopefully not a new trend.

In other news

June 4 – Bayhawks phenom OF Dave Garcia (.314, 13 HR, 35 RBI) has sprained an ankle and will miss two to three weeks.
June 4 – The Warriors’ RF/LF Mike Bednarski (.355, 5 HR, 24 RBI) will be out until the All Star Game with a fractured finger.
June 4 – TIJ SP Casey Hally (5-2, 3.15 ERA) 3-hits the Thunder in a 6-0 shutout.
June 5 – NYC INF Sergio Valdez (.282, 5 HR, 25 RBI) is out for three weeks with a hamstring strain.
June 6 – With an 8-5 lead already blown and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, the Loggers’ Carlos Michel throws a 2-2 wild pitch to allow Roberto Hernandez to score as the Crusaders cash in a come-from-behind victory, 9-8.
June 7 – With the bases drunk in the bottom of the 10th inning, Pittsburgh’s John Watson drills pinch-hitter Justin Nickel (.237, 0 HR, 3 RBI) to hand the Buffaloes a 4-3 walkoff win.
June 8 – Atlanta deals SP Shaun Yoder (3-5, 4.50 ERA) to Dallas for 24-year old AAA SP David Jimenez, who is unranked currently but was up to #93 in prior years.
June 8 – More injury worries for the Bayhawks, as RF/1B Will McIntyre (.310, 4 HR, 19 RBI) will be out for three weeks at least with a herniated disc.
June 9 – Not one, but two blinding routs occur during interleague play as the Stars crush the Canadiens, 16-1, which is nothing at all against the 27-4 raping the Aces deal to the Buffaloes. The Aces, who have a 9-run and an 8-run inning, knock 23 hits and draw 16 walks.
June 10 – NAS 3B/2B Tony Fuentes (.321, 2 HR, 23 RBI) has broken his thumb and might be out for six weeks.
June 10 – The Bayhawks out-hit the Rebels, nine hits to three, but still suffer a 3-2 loss. Two of the Rebels’ three hits are home runs, while the Bayhawks hit seven singles.

Complaints and stuff

Despite a dull 25 runs in seven games this week, the Coons leeched away five wins from the taxing endeavor. Nope, they weren’t pretty to look at, and the offense continues to rank a sad eighth in the CL.

Ron Thrasher’s first earned run of the season thus came on June 5, and it was Alex Ramirez’ fault. Oh wonder.

Next week we’ll have series in Topeka and Indy sandwiched around the amateur draft. Indy is a curious case. They have lost 11 of their last 15 games, suffering from a case of not-hitting similar to the one that continued to afflict the Critters. In their dreadful spell, the Indians had scored precisely three runs per game, and that was including a 13-8 loss to the Falcons right at the start of the 15-game string.