[Westheim]

Bonus Birthday Update, yaaaaaaaay!!!

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Raccoons (20-15) vs. Loggers (17-19) – May 13-16, 2019

This was the first meeting with the Loggers in 2019, and we’d play four in Portland. The 2018 season series ended up even at 9-9, but the Raccoons hadn’t actually lost a season series to Milwaukee since 2013. He Loggers had the highest batting average in the CL and were scoring the third-most runs (boy do I wish we’d do that!), but their pitching was between mediocre and crummy with a 4.52 starters’ ERA and overall the fifth-most runs allowed. They did however have a positive run differential at +8.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (3-2, 2.68 ERA) vs. J.J. Wirth (3-2, 1.99 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (1-5, 9.49 ERA) vs. Julio San Pedro (0-2, 7.79 ERA)
Cole Pierson (1-3, 4.35 ERA) vs. Ron Bartlatt (2-3, 3.74 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (4-2, 3.29 ERA) vs. Troy McCaskill (0-4, 7.42 ERA)

These were all right-handed pitchers.

Game 1
MIL: 1B Pagan – CF Coleman – LF LeMoine – 3B Velez – RF Hodgers – 2B Stewart – SS Burns – C Wool – P Wirth
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – CF Duarte – P Santos

The Raccoons got Walter and McKnight on with singles, Wirth threw a wild pitch, but Walter scampering home on Mendoza’s groundout was the only run they would get in the first inning before Denny struck out. The Loggers had an immediate response, putting two runners on base and in scoring position before Josh Wool grounded past a lunging Hugo Mendoza for a 2-run single. They had two more on base in the third, Alberto Velez walking and Victor Hodgers hitting a single to center. With two outs, Santos proceeded to drill Tyler Stewart quite good to load the bases. Kyle Burns was down 0-2 and grounded to the left side, it looked like it would get through the hole, but McKnight made an amazing play and flung bare-handed to first just in time to nip Burns and strand three batters. The Raccoons were terrible, or at best soul-searching for the 71st month in a row and just couldn’t find a hit when they needed it, and when Cookie was hit by a pitch at one point, Walter would hit right into a double play, because they were not to score, ever, while Santos was constantly in trouble. Burns singled and Wool walked on four pitches in the sixth, and they pulled off a double steal with one out. Santos struck out J.J. Wirth and had Antonio Pagan at 0-2, but then allowed a howling liner up the leftfield line for a 2-out double that knocked him out of the game. And maybe that howling was actually me.

The Raccoons would put the tying runs on base actually in the bottom 7th, but as usual it would not end well, because it never did. Nunley initially hit a 1-out single, but got forced by DeWeese’s grounder to Stewart. Duarte singled and Mathews walked, bringing up Cookie with a full plate and two outs, and Cookie harmlessly rolled one over to Stewart to end the inning. Bottom 8th, two men were on with one out; Jackson hit for Denny and struck out, and Nunley grounded out to the omnipresent Stewart. Chris LeMoine drove in Pagan, who led the Continental League with 15 stolen bases (including one in this game), with a 1-out single in the top of the ninth against Wade Davis, like the Loggers needed another run… When Shane Walter found runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom 9th against closer James Silmon, he lined out to … Stewart! 5-1 Loggers. Walter 2-5; Nunley 2-4; DeWeese 2-4, 2B;

Last in runs scored by now. The constant nightmare just won’t end…

Game 2
MIL: 1B Pagan – CF Coleman – LF LeMoine – 3B Velez – RF Hodgers – 2B Stewart – SS Burns – C Wool – P San Pedro
POR: LF Carmona – 2B Mathews – SS Walter – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – RF Jackson – 3B Nunley – CF Petracek – P Guerrero

The Critters scored in the first inning again; Cookie initially reached on an error by LeMoine, but was immediately forced out on Mathews’ grounder to Stewart. Walter singled, Mendoza walked, filling the bases, before Mike Denny drove a ball to deep left. A first-inning slam would have been too good to have, so Hodgers made the catch on the warning track, allowing only Mathews to tag and score. Jackson’s single scored Walter, but Nunley ended the inning with a pop to short. While Guerrero mostly pitched in bad counts, the Loggers could make only one ball fall in in the first three innings, and the Raccoons had a great opportunity to do some more damage in the bottom 3rd, an inning that featured the starting sequence of a Mendoza single to left, a Denny double to left, and then Jackson walking on four pitches. The bad news: it brought up the 7-8-9 spots with a combined batting average of sadness. Matt Nunley continued to get the absolute worst deal at every opportunity, hitting a blazing rocket right into Stewart’s (!) glove for the first out, but the Coons would tack on three runs on an RBI single by Petracek, and a 2-run single by Cookie Carmona, to take a 5-0 lead.

All of which only served as an inspiration to Guerrero to get blown apart immediately. The Loggers opened the fourth inning with a LeMoine double and then two straight singles, but ended up held to one run when they hit a couple of pops. The fifth inning only got worse, with the bases loaded with one out. Velez grounded to third base, where Nunley’s only play was at first base for the second out as one run scored. Guerrero’s simple response was to walk Hodgers, loading the bases AGAIN. That was enough. Guerrero was yanked, bringing Mathis in with the bases loaded with the tying runs. ****ing Tyler Stewart hit an infield single that carried Walter halfway to centerfield to plate one run, and then Mathis threw a wild pitch to plate LeMoine before Burns struck out, leaving the score at 5-4 in the middle of the fifth.

Both teams were in their pen before the fifth inning was over. The Raccoons would add to their lead in the sixth inning, in which Ivan Morales retired nobody before surrendering a 3-run bomb to Dumbo Mendoza that made things much cozier again at 8-4. In the meantime, Jason Kaiser struck out four before walking LeMoine, but the Loggers hit into a double play in that seventh inning, just like they would to in the eighth inning against Wade Davis. While this was not a save situation with a 4-run lead, Alex Ramirez was sent into the ninth inning, because the bullpen continued to be overworked by the continuously terrible rotation. Wool, Brad Gore, and Pagan went down in order. 8-4 Raccoons. Walter 4-5, 2B; Mendoza 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Jackson 3-4, BB, RBI; Petracek 2-4, RBI; DeWeese (PH) 1-1; Kaiser 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K;

Guerrero (1-5, 9.20 ERA) was done with this one. He was sent to St. Petersburg right the next morning, to be replaced by Damani Knight (0-3, 3.51 ERA).

Game 3
MIL: 1B Pagan – SS Burns – RF Gore – LF LeMoine – 3B Velez – 2B Stewart – CF Coleman – C Wool – P Bartlatt
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – LF DeWeese – CF Duarte – 2B Lafon – P Pierson

Pierson faced the minimum through three inning, which included Alberto Velez singling in the second inning, but getting thrown out by Cookie trying to make it a double. Pierson flew to left with two outs and two on in the bottom 2nd, but LeMoine had no trouble making the catch. In turn, LeMoine’s sac fly in the fourth plated the first run of the game. Kyle Burns had walked, stolen second base, and had gone to third on Brad Gore’s single to center. The Raccoons failed to get on base after Pierson’s flyout in the second inning until McKnight walked in the sixth. Mendoza also walked, putting two on for Denny, who singled to center. McKnight with two outs ran all the way and scored handily to tie the game at one, but after that DeWeese struck out. Pierson kept hanging on, which was a pleasant change to the usual misery, and the Coons had another scoring chance in the bottom 7th. Duarte hit a leadoff single off Bartlatt, who lost Roland Lafon to a walk. Pierson was left in the game to bunt the runners to scoring position, bringing up Cookie, who was 2-for-11 in the series and was probably due a good knock by now. On 1-0, he fouled out… So much for being due. At least Shane Walter came through now and hit a 3-1 pitch to center, well in front of Ian Coleman, for a go-ahead 2-run single. Wool was charged with a passed ball before McKnight hit a 3-2 pitch through Pagan, allowing Walter to score from second base. Left-hander Chris Sinkhorn replaced Bartlatt, but allowed a single to Mendoza and then walked Denny. That brought up Eddie Jackson, batting for DeWeese, and not only did Jackson draw a bases-loaded walk, but so did Duarte, and two more runs scored to make the seventh a 5-spot for the Critters before Lafon struck out to end the inning. Pierson made it through eight innings on 93 pitches, and was allowed to hit leading off the bottom 8th, which was over quickly enough, and Pierson returned for the ninth. Pagan grounded out to Lafon, Burns popped out, and Gore grounded to short. McKnight’s throw to Mendoza was poor, but Mendoza scooped it, and Pierson had a complete game. 6-1 Critters. Duarte 2-3, BB, RBI; Pierson 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (2-3);

The bullpen really needed that. And so did I.

And Duarte. Andy Bareford had a two bad weeks recently, but has turned it around. He’s just waiting for Duarte to post two 0-for-4’s in back-to-back games.

Game 4
MIL: 1B Pagan – CF Coleman – LF LeMoine – 3B Velez – RF Hodgers – 2B Stewart – SS Burns – C Almond – P McCaskill
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – CF Duarte – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – C Margolis – P Toner

Toner retired the first ten batters, including six strikeouts, before Ian Coleman homered off him in the fourth. The Critters had had three hits in the first three innings, but no conclusive success, but got Mendoza on with a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth. Duarte and Nunley failed to move the runner, but DeWeese crashed a McCaskill pitch for a 2-run homer to right, flipping the score in the Coons’ favor. McCaskill would sneak a leadoff single to center in the sixth inning, not with any kind of authority, but it was a single. Pagan was used to bunt, but with the tying run on second base, Toner got consecutive fly outs right to Duarte in center from Coleman and LeMoine, but then couldn’t cope with a triple into the corner by the blazing fast Hodgers in the seventh. Stewart grounded up the middle, McKnight cut off the ball, but had no means of keeping Hodgers from scoring and had to retire Stewart at first instead, and in the eighth another extra-base hit sunk Toner for good. Brian Almond had drawn a leadoff walk and scored on Coleman’s double. Toner remained in for LeMoine, who singled, Coleman scored, and the Loggers were up 4-2.

Cookie opened the bottom 8th with a sharp grounder to right, but this one also ended up with Stewart, as usual, before McCaskill walked Walter on four pitches. McKnight doubled to right center between Gore and Hodgers before Mendoza sent a hard grounder to third base. Velez missed it by inches and both runs scored to tie the game on Mendoza’s double. Jonny Toner now even had a chance to win it, but neither Duarte nor Nunley could get the ball past the infielders. Both teams had their closer in for the ninth inning. Ramirez allowed a hit, but got through the inning unharmed. Left-hander Quinn MacCarthy retired the first two (with DeWeese batting leading off and lining out Stewart, whom else?), before Eddie Jackson hit a floater into shallow right for a single. Cookie came up, 2-for-16 in the series, and hit a liner to left. LeMoine cut it off before it reached the corner, and Jackson had to stop at third base with no chance to score, leaving Cookie with a double. Walter had a 3-0 count going against MacCarthy, then poked and grounded to Stewart. Oh fine, Walter, hit it right to the guy who denied the Raccoons any good vibes the entire series! Stewart missed the ball, though, by inches, and the Coons walked off on Walter’s single to right. 5-4 Critters. Walter 2-4, BB, RBI; McKnight 3-4, 2B; Mendoza 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; DeWeese 2-4, 2 RBI; Jackson (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (23-16) vs. Condors (17-24) – May 17-19, 2019

The Condors were also in fifth place, like the Loggers, but they were a much worse team than the Loggers, who had given the Coons a mighty hard time. The Condors were at the very bottom of the league in runs allowed, with a mediocre rotation that was eighth by ERA, and the worst bullpen in the league with an ERA close to six. They were fifth in runs scored, but even that didn’t work for them, with Jimmy Oatmeal leading the league in home runs with 14, but had only 26 RBI. We beat the Condors in 2018, and it wasn’t close at 7-2.

Projected matchups:
Tadasu Abe (5-0, 2.35 ERA) vs. Luis Flores (3-4, 4.47 ERA)
Hector Santos (3-3, 3.10 ERA) vs. Jose Menendez (2-3, 4.59 ERA)
Damani Knight (0-0) vs. Casey Hally (1-3, 5.57 ERA)

Flores was one of the Condors’ two left-handers. We would use this game to give an off day to the left-handed batters that had yet to receive one, even if it would harm Abe’s chances to stay undefeated. Ah, kid just needs to not allow any runs, then he’ll be fine!

Game 1
TIJ: SS Nieves – C J. Vargas – 1B C. Martinez – LF Eichelkraut – 3B P. Cruz – RF Rawlings – CF M. Herrera – 2B Sykes – P L. Flores
POR: 1B Walter – RF Jackson – SS McKnight – C Denny – CF Duarte – LF Petracek – 3B Nunley – 2B Lafon – P Abe

Unfortunately, Abe allowed two singles and a run on Jimmy Oatmeal’s sac fly in the first, so the Raccoons had some work to do. The Critters got the bases loaded in the bottom 1st on two walks and Duarte’s 2-out infield single, but Petracek struck out. Abe allowed no more hits until the fifth when both Mike Herrera and Harrison Sykes hit 1-out singles, then pulled off a double steal against Denny and Abe. That was on a 2-1 pitch to Flores, which was a strike – and the next one rung up Flores. Domingo Nieves popped out and the Condors were starved in scoring position. In the sixth, Jose Vargas and Carlos Martinez hit singles to get to the corners with nobody out before Abe struck out the next three batters, and that still had him trailing 1-0 with the Raccoons doing absolutely nothing at the plate. After 13 strikeouts in seven innings, Mendoza hit for Abe in the bottom 7th with one out and nobody on against Flores. He grounded back to the mound, but Flores airmailed the throw to first and Martinez couldn’t come up with it. Mendoza reached second on the throwing error. Walter struck out after that, but Jackson singled to left. Mendoza was sent around third base, Jimmy Oatmeal unleashed a murderous throw home, and Mendoza was out. Bottom 8th, Denny reached on an error with one out. Against right-hander and ex-Coon Manuel Reyes, a venerable 43 years old, DeWeese batted for Duarte and singled, but Petracek hit squarely into a double play to end the inning. With the Condors failing to add on themselves despite chances like getting two on with nobody out against Boynton in the eighth, the score was still 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth. Cookie batted for Nunley against left-hander Tim Dunkin, singled to center on the first pitch, and when Lafon was told to bunt, Sykes failed to make the play on a really bad bunt. The winning run was on base, and the Raccoons now retained Jason Kaiser to bunt, but of course this time it went really bad and Kaiser got Cookie forced out on third base on a nice play by Dunkin and a REALLY ****TY BUNT. Once Walter walked, it didn’t matter anymore; the Coons had Eddie Jackson, a .318 batter in select exposure, at the plate and that was probably as good as it could get for them right now with three on, two needed to win, and one out. Dunkin ran a full count on him before throwing the sixth pitch low. Jackson tried to slow down his swing and - … borderline call to be made here, and everybody looked up to the third base umpire, who had his fists in his pockets and didn’t move. It was a walk, and the game was tied! McKnight came to bat, hitless in the game, and grounded sharply to first. Martinez fired home to nip Kaiser, but McKnight legged out the return throw, bringing up Denny, who didn’t fudge around and hit the first pitch up the middle, past Domingo Nieves, and the Coons won this one after the greatest pains. 2-1 Blighters. Jackson 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Duarte 1-2, BB; DeWeese (PH) 1-1; Carmona (PH) 1-1; Lafon 2-4; Abe 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 13 K;

I wonder how this happened. The Coons used to hit quite well in the 80s and 90s. They haven’t hit well in 20 years. No matter the personnel. It’s always awful.

I wonder how this happened.

Game 2
TIJ: CF Jamieson – C J. Vargas – 1B C. Martinez – LF Eichelkraut – 3B P. Cruz – RF Rawlings – SS Nieves – 2B Sykes – P Menendez
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – 3B Nunley – LF DeWeese – CF Duarte – P Santos

After about ten pitches, I was sold that Santos would lose this one. These ten pitches were enough to encompass Matt Jamieson’s leadoff jack, Walter putting on Vargas with an error, and then right away a wild pitch by Santos. Duarte made a spectacular catch on Jimmy Oatmeal in the inning to prevent further damage in the early going. Well, except for the dinger that Nieves hit in the second; however, by the third inning, the Coons had a 3-2 lead despite not getting a base knock the first time through the order. Cookie tripled with one out in the bottom 3rd and scored on Walter’s single. Mendoza walked with two outs and Denny split Jamieson and Josh Rawlings for a 2-out, 2-run double to do the job.

While a 3-2 lead by definition was never comfortable, since any whack could end it being a lead, this one was especially – … with Santos pitching like he pitched, to fat contact almost exclusively, it felt more like a tie. He got through five innings, somehow, on 84 pitches and with only the two dingers in the Condors’ hits column, but, boy, did it feel like him getting strafed. Because he DID get strafed. The defense was just avoiding the worst and caught every deep drive that wasn’t too deep to be caught without a ladder. Jamieson had the Condors’ first hit that wasn’t utterly deep with a leadoff single, a liner to right, in the sixth inning, but miraculously the park didn’t collapse onto the misfits in brown right away, and Santos got out of the inning on a grounder by Vargas and two pops over the infield by the combined 24 dingers in the 3-4 slots. Santos made it through 6.1 innings, whiffing Pedro Cruz and reaching 105 pitches, thus departing. Kaiser came in to see after Josh Rawlings, who reached on an infield single, with Mathis following right afterwards. Nieves lined out to short, and Mathis found a way out of the inning. The Critters would get a tasty insurance run in the bottom 7th on singles by Mathews, Cookie, and Mendoza, the latter with two outs, but the Condors had them on the corners with no outs in the top 8th when Jamieson and Vargas both hit hard singles off Boynton. In the most wicked idea in a while, Ron Thrasher came into the game despite no left-hander anywhere close to the plate. We wanted whiffs now! Thrasher whiffed nobody, and Jamieson scored on a sac fly to center by Martinez right away, but the 3-4-5 batters all made outs and the tying run (Vargas) never budged at first base. No help came forward in the bottom of the inning, and Alex Ramirez had to save a 4-3 game without buckling, facing the 6-7-8 batters, starting with PH Alfonso Gonzales, who popped out to Joey Mathews at second base on the first pitch. Nieves ran a full count before dropping a single into shallow left, and Mike Herrera again put the first pitch in play. Hard to second, to short, to first, game over. 4-3 Raccoons. Carmona 2-4, 3B; Mendoza 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Mathews (PH) 1-1; Santos 6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (4-3);

You know, it really does feel like anything else rather than that, but the Raccoons not only have tied the Elks for the lead in the North with this win, they have also won five in a row.

I know, on the field it looks like they’re playing .415 and are heading for early holidays.

Game 3
TIJ: CF Jamieson – SS Nieves – 1B C. Martinez – 3B P. Cruz – RF Rawlings – C Gonzales – LF M. Herrera – 2B Sykes – P Hally
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Walter – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Denny – 2B Mathews – LF DeWeese – CF Duarte – P Knight

The Coons burst out of the gates against Hally, with Cookie walking, stealing, and scoring on Walter’s double, and then McKnight hit a bomb to left center to put Knight up 3-0 in the first inning. Knight’s career ERA was 5.11, so more runs was always better. Knight retired the first four batters he faced before Rawlings romped a homer in the second inning. Oh well, it’s still 3-1. A blink of an eye later, the bases were loaded, and Knight drilled Hally with a pitch to force in a run. Jamieson hit a sac fly, after which the Condors ripped Knight for three straight 2-out singles, plating two more runs for a 5-3 lead. Rawlings sent a grounder to Mathews, who botched it for a run-scoring error, and Knight allowed two more singles and three more runs before getting bumped. Sykes popped up against Chun, ending the inning from hell with a 9-spot for the Condors, so that 5-game winning streak that never was one was history at least.

The Raccoons would go on to put pairs of runners on base in the second, third, and fourth innings, and never scored, while Seung-mo Chun was in for the long haul and got two at-bats (none with men on, however), while trying to log as many innings as possible without his fingers turning blue. He made it through four innings on 62 pitches, allowing no runs, but was clearly gassed and had to be removed with nobody on and two outs in the sixth. Wade Davis got four outs, Mathis did the eighth, the Condors didn’t score, and all the poo on the scoreboard was Knight’s alone. The Coons didn’t reach scoring position again until the bottom of the eighth on singles by Nunley and Cookie, but Walter popped out to Herrera in shallow left for the final out. Hally went eight innings and had an easy victory after all. 9-3 Condors. Carmona 3-4, BB, 2B; Walter 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Mendoza 2-5; Nunley (PH) 1-1; Chun 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Seung-mo Chun shall be declared the Hero of the Day.

It is a hollow title, really.

In other news

May 14 – TIJ LF Jimmy Eichelkraut (.410, 14 HR, 26 RBI) knocks five hits, including a home run and a double, and drives in two in the Condors’ 10-7 loss to the Thunder.
May 14 – The Buffaloes’ 2B Chris Owen (.321, 3 HR, 18 RBI) hits a solo home run in the seventh inning to beat the Capitals single-handedly in a 1-0 game.
May 16 – The Warriors trade CL Salvadaro Soure (0-5, 9.87 ERA, 3 SV), who … has some issues… to the Buffaloes for two prospects.
May 16 – The Gold Sox score a 12-inning, 5-4 walkoff over the Pacifics with a wild pitch by LAP MR Jesus Lopez (1-2, 4.18 ERA).
May 17 – The Federal League sees three extra-inning walkoffs; the Stars win 10-9 in 11 innings against the Capitals on an ordinary single by 1B Mike Gershkovich, while the Wolves beat the Cyclones, 3-1 in 10 innings, on SS Devon Stephenson (.253, 2 HR, 10 RBI) going yard. The Rebels fall behind in the top 13th to the Pacifics, but then score two in the bottom 13th to claim a 4-3 win. 3B Jesus Soto (.268, 2 HR, 6 RBI) has the winning knock, a single.
May 18 – Although the Indians have 21 of the 36 base hits in the game with the Bayhawks, they still take a 12-10 loss. IND 3B Dan Jones (.246, 1 HR, 6 RBI) leads all players with four hits, all singles, and plates two.

Complaints and stuff

Really … I don’t know, what kind of week was it after all? It was not a GOOD week, that’s for sure! If there is a proof for the claim that there can be bad 5-2 weeks, this is the one. The whole week was just tumbling from one train wreck to the next, and somehow they pulled their masked heads out of the noose at the last second quite a few times.

Not Damani, though. Five runs on Knight were earned, so are you more mad at him for not making it out of the second inning, or are you more mad at Mathews for making the error that knocked the Raccoons completely out of the game? I say why not tie both of them down on an ant hill, covered in honey?

Back to the drawing board with the fifth starter’s spot, I guess. I wonder what Brownie is doing these days.

Nunley’s BABIP remains under .200; I don’t get it. How can the baseball gods be this cruel!?

And now: cake for everybody!