[Westheim]

All Star Game

Milwaukee’s Ian Coleman (.356, 3 HR, 50 RBI) was named MVP of the All Star Game as the Continental League beat the Federal League, 5-3. Coleman drove in the winning runs with a 3-run home run off the Scorpions’ Ian Rutter in the fourth inning. DEN Mike Bednarski and CIN Eddie Moreno were the only other players with multiple base hits in the game, with Coleman overall going 2-for-3 with a walk.

The Coons’ Brett Lillis earned a hold with a perfect eighth inning, having to give deference for the save to a former Raccoon, Tijuana’s Joel Davis.

Assorted Nightmares

Everybody expected Cookie Carmona to be back in the lineup by the first game after the All Star Game, but – well – he wasn’t. He strained a hamstring in a rehab game on Tuesday and went back to the disabled list.

We love ya, Cookie. Maybe see you in August.

Maybe.

Raccoons (37-51) @ Indians (45-44) – July 13-16, 2023

Here we were again, this time in the Arrowheads’ lair. Nothing had greatly changed (except maybe for a hamstring strain felling Erik Janes) since we had played them in Portland the previous week, a series that had ended in an even split, leaving us 2-6 short against them in 2023.

Projected matchups:
Chris McKendrick (2-3, 2.33 ERA) vs. Mario Alva (6-7, 3.19 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (5-6, 4.35 ERA) vs. Jordan Caldwell (4-6, 3.35 ERA)
Travis Garrett (2-3, 3.68 ERA) vs. Manny Ortega (4-8, 4.22 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (6-8, 4.28 ERA) vs. Alvin Smith (5-5, 4.30 ERA)

Tom Shumway (10-2, 2.67 ERA) remains their only left-hander with Tristan Broun on the DL, a state that will not change again in ’23 unless they find someone in a trade.

Game 1
POR: CF Stevenson – 2B Spencer – 1B Walter – LF Graves – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – SS Stalker – C Tovias – P McKendrick
IND: CF D. Morales – C Calhoun – LF Genge – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – 3B J. Jackson – 2B Rolland – SS Matias – P Alva

Alva was not very sharp to start the game, which saw Stevenson single up the middle to get things underway. Spencer grounded out, but then Walter singled, Graves walked, and Nunley’s blooper fell between Lowell Genge and a wildly swiping and waving Raul Matias as he raced across the infield dirt, in vain. That single scored the first run of the game. While Omar Alfaro struck out, the Coons would plate all their current runners on base with Tim Stalker’s 2-run single lined into shallow left center, and Tovias’ RBI single to center, putting McKendrick up 4-0 before he grounded out and took the mound for the first time and immediately ****ed things up. Danny Morales and Justin Calhoun ripped sharp singles, and Lowell Genge rocked the park with a 3-run homer to erase 75% of the Coons’ lead before they got a single out. Morales and Calhoun would hit hard singles again when they led off the third inning, but that time while trying to repeat history Lowell Genge struck out and the rest of the middle of the Indians’ order wouldn’t follow through either.

Alva retired the Coons in order the second time through, whiffing four, and the Indians batted for him even in the bottom of the fourth inning! Bob Reyes found Justin Jackson at first base after drawing a leadoff walk, but grounded out to Tim Stalker to keep the Indians behind. That gave Indy Rafael Urbano in the fifth inning, a reliever that had already been bummed by the Coons the previous week in Portland. Stevenson promptly hit a leadoff double in the fifth, and while Walter was walked intentionally, Spencer and Graves both struck out. Nunley, however, didn’t and hit a hard 2-out single to right, allowing Stevenson to score from second base, 5-3.The runners made for the extra base on Cesar Martinez’ throw home, after which the Indians walked Alfaro intentionally (!) to get to Stalker, who walked unintentionally in a full count to push home another run. Tovias hit a hard fly to deep left, but couldn’t get it past Genge, ending the inning in a 6-3 score. McKendrick opened the next inning with a single to right, and the newest Indians reliever, Brandon Smith, walked Stevenson on four pitches, but then reeled himself in and retired the next three batters, including Graves with a strikeout, to get out of the jam.

McKendrick went six before his outing ended in a sudden thunderstorm during the top of the seventh inning. An almost hour-long rain delay was the result, and McKendrick wouldn’t come back out afterwards. Joe Moore retired Jaylen Rolland, Raul Matias, and A.J. Faulk in order in the bottom 7th, which would probably have been McKendrick’s last anyway. Indians pitching collapsed for good in the top of the eighth. While Eric Davidson started the inning with picking two outs from Tovias and Bullock, the Coons then rapped off six straight 2-out base runners off him and Mat Stone. Josh Stevenson singled and reached second on Morales’ fielding error in center, then scored on Spencer’s single to right. Shane Walter homered to center, Zach Graves doubled, Nunley hit another RBI single, and even Alfaro reached on a non-intentional walk before Stalker grounded out to short, with the four runs in the inning pushing the Coons to their third double-digit game of the season. The Indians would not manage another base runner against Cowen and Vince D in the last two innings. 10-3 Furballs! Stevenson 3-4, 2B; Walter 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Nunley 3-5, 3 RBI;

Whee, offense! Whee! Whee!

Between games, the Indians picked up MR Nick Salinas (6-2, 3.17 ERA) from the Miners, parting with a pair of prospects. This included #50 SP Ben Darr.

Game 2
POR: CF Stevenson – 2B Spencer – 1B Walter – LF Graves – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – SS Stalker – C Tovias – P Gutierrez
IND: LF Faulk – 3B J. Jackson – 2B Rolland – RF C. Martinez – SS Matias – CF D. Morales – 1B M. Rucker – C Calhoun – P Caldwell

After Shane Walter murdered Spencer’s first-inning single with a grounder to Jaylen Rolland for a double play, the Coons loaded the bases with no outs in the second. Graves and Nunley both singled to right, Alfaro walked, but as soon as they appeared in business, they were out of it again. While one run scored, it did so on Tim Stalker’s double play grounder to Matias. An intentional walk removed Tovias from the plate, and Gutierrez was victimized for the third out, then dabbled away the 1-0 lead right away in the bottom 2nd. Cesar Martinez drew a leadoff walk and was moved around to score by the rest of the team. Indy stranded pairs of runners both in this inning (when Caldwell flew out to Alfaro) and the next, when Faulk and Martinez hit singles but never got around to score. In exchange the Coons stranded Zach Graves at third base in the top of the fourth after he had singled and stolen a base. Caldwell batted with two outs again in the bottom 4th, this time with Mike Rucker on first after the first baseman had singled. Caldwell lined to left center for a single, but Gutierrez reached back for that extra pepper and struck out A.J. Faulk on three pitches, all dazzling him – Faulk never swung during the at-bat. Another key at-bat followed soon in the bottom 5th. With Rolland on first and one out, Tovias once again had a ball escape between his awkwardly bent legs for a passed ball. Rolland to second, Gutierrez fell to 3-0 on Martinez before the batter poked and grounded out to short. Matias grounded out to Nunley, denying the Indians again.

After several innings of being so close to taking the lead, the Indians fell into arrears in the sixth then. Following Graves going 3-for-3 with a single to right, Matt Nunley broke the four-way tie for the team dinger lead by crushing a 2-piece around the inside of the right foul pole, putting Gutierrez ahead 3-1. And as if on command, he fell apart. So did the rest of the team. Danny Morales drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 6th, and Rucker singled up the middle on 1-2, moving Morales to third. Calhoun lined out to Nunley, and when Caldwell grounded to short for what could have been two, Stalker’s throw went behind Spencer for an error. One run scored, nobody was out, and Josh Malinowski was sent to pinch-run for Rucker, the tying run. He easily scored on the very next pitch that Faulk hit into left center, but at least the Coons killed Calhoun at third base on the play. Justin Jackson’s single knocked out Gutierrez. Vince D threw one pitch in relief, which Rolland popped out to Spencer, ending the inning in a 3-3 tie. Devereaux was hit for by Raul Claros right away in the top 7th, and Claros rammed a home run off Caldwell to break the tie.

Like the day before, a thunderstorm strolled by in the seventh inning, this time forcing a delay of more than an hour. That was what actually removed Caldwell from the game, but the loss wouldn’t stick to him like an old band-aid. The Indians rolled over Kevin Surginer in the bottom 7th, tagging him for three hits and a walk, with Lowell Genge’s 2-run double off the fence in left flipping the score the Indians’ way, 5-4. Kipple replaced and dug out Surginer, but of course the damage was done. The Coons couldn’t score in the eighth despite facing frequently-battered Rafael Urbano and career sludge Rich Hood, while Cory Dew hit consecutive batters in Bob Reyes and Cesar Martinez in the bottom 8th, balked them into scoring position, and then SOMEHOW eluded the Indians’ arrows with a K to Matias and Morales’ pop to Nunley. New acquisition Nick Salinas was in to close this game for the Indians, but the Coons couldn’t get more than a 1-out double from Stevenson and went down stranding him on second base with groundouts by Newman and Walter. 5-4 Indians. Stevenson 3-5, 2B; Graves 3-4; Nunley 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Alfaro 2-3, BB; Claros (PH) 1-2, HR, RBI;

Kinda silently, Omar Alfaro has been batting .600 for his last nine games!

THE AGE OF OMAR – IT IS HERE!!

Still contains a whole lotta losin’ though.

Game 3
POR: 2B Claros – SS Stalker – 1B Walter – LF Graves – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – C Tovias – CF Santos – P Garrett
IND: 2B Rolland – C Calhoun – LF Genge – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – 3B J. Jackson – CF Faulk – SS Malinowski – P M. Ortega

The Critters scored before they made an out, thanks to Raul Claros’ leadoff triple and a Jackson error on Stalker’s grounder. Shane Walter quickly hit into a double play after that, Graves and Nunley singled, and then the guy that had this particular age named after him struck out. So much for .600! Alfaro then made an error on Genge’s pop to shallow right in the bottom 1st, which moved Rolland to third base after his leadoff double and allowed him to score trivially on Mike Rucker’s 2-out single up the middle. Tovias homered in the top 2nd to put the Coons 2-1 ahead, and Garrett tried to fumble that on his own, but was denied by Graves, who threw out Malinowski at home plate to end the bottom 2nd.

These were two tremendously drunk and / or stupid teams – with every inning it appeared more like that. Ortega drilled Stalker to begin the top 3rd, after which Walter singled to right, only to get picked off first base. Graves walked to fill the void left by his demise, and Nunley singled to left center to plate Stalker. Omar Alfaro then knocked a grounder to Rolland for an inning-ending double play, and thinking about it, I much preferred him to simply strike out. But it still got better! “Tragic” Travis walked Martinez with two outs in the bottom 3rd, after which Rucker knocked a ball to right. Martinez went for third base, Alfaro tried to redeem himself with an outfield assist, and threw a ball about 15 feet over Nunley’s head, with the rocket making for a gentleman’s French fries and ketchup in the first row, causing collateral damage to at least 20 other fans in that section. In mundane baseball terms, a run scored on an Alfaro error AGAIN, and only a nifty Nunley play on Jackson’s grounder held the 3-2 lead together after that, tethered as it was.

Well, that was only the third inning, of course. The bottom 4th was opened by Faulk with a double to left center, and a groundout moved him to third base. In no way whatsoever would Garrett exert dominance over the opposing pitcher – Ortega hit a fairly deep fly to left, and while Graves made the catch, going backwards he had no chance on Faulk making for home. The sac fly tied the score at three, and who knew what other horrors were yet to come? Well, how about Tim Stalker’s leadoff triple in the fifth inning? The Indians issued two intentional walks and the Raccoons bopped two absolutely pathetic grounders to keep Stalker pinned at third base the entire inning, with Tovias striking out to strand a full set of runners.

Garrett fudged his way into the sixth, with the Indians wasting a walk and a hit in the fifth, and getting another walk and a hit in the sixth to knock him out – FINALLY. Cory Dew replaced him, and on his first pitch to Rolland the runners went. Tovias threw out Faulk at third base for the second out of the inning, and Rolland struck out to leave Bob Reyes on base as well. Top 7th, Tim Stalker hit ANOTHER leadoff triple, this one to centerfield and bouncing away from Faulk! The Indians’ Mat Stone was instructed to walk Walter intentionally, so right now this was all mirroring the horrendous fifth inning. Graves grounded to the left side, with Stalker hesitating, and Graves thrown out at first base. Walter moved to second, and Nunley came up, who had poorly grounded out the last time, now rolled a ball up the middle, but Malinowski blatantly missed it! Both runs scored, breaking the 3-3 tie, and with Nunley going to second base on the throw home, Omar Alfaro got his second intentional walk of the game, which fit nicely with the two errors he had made. Tovias popped out against new pitcher Tony Lino, after which Will Newman batted for an 0-for-3 Santos and bounced to Malinowski, who again fooled out and who appeared to be struck in the cup by the ball for an error to load the bases with Rolland securing the ball, and only after the game did we find out that Malinowski, who lay on the ground crying, had forgotten to put on his cup before the game. Jarod Spencer batted for Dew, ran a full count, then struck out, stranding three, maddeningly.

In all the detritus, Joe Moore pitched a perfect bottom of the seventh, and Lino also retired the side in order in the eighth, which was probably the first instance of back-to-back non-panic half-innings in the game. Panic resumed in the bottom 8th, where Billy Brotman faced but one batter, Rucker, who singled. Surginer replaced him, got consecutive grounders to short and struck out Malinowski to escape, and did we mention earlier that Omar Alfaro had entered the game with a 10-game hitting streak? He extended it with two outs in the ninth, singling off Lino with nobody on base. He stole second, then was stranded by Tovias flying out to center. Bottom 9th, Lillis in with a 2-run lead. PH Tony Ruiz singled on the first pitch, and the third pitch went through Tovias’ legs for another passed ball. Lillis lost Rolland to a walk, with Danny Morales pinch-hitting as the winning run. He popped out, Genge whiffed, but in a full count Lillis lost Martinez to load the bases. That brought up Mike Rucker, a slugger who was notoriously bad against left-handed pitching for his entire career, and even overall was batting only .236 this season. Lillis got him to two strikes before Rucker put the ball in play anyway. Sharp grounder up the middle, Stalker knocking it down, falling over the ball, and as he lay in the dirt, he blindly flung the ball in the general direction of second base with his glove – Martinez was sliding in as Claros reached – in time, the runner out, and game over!! 5-3 Blighters!! Stalker 2-4, 2 3B, RBI; Nunley 3-5, 3 RBI;

I need a nap now. For about six weeks.

Game 4
POR: CF Stevenson – 2B Claros – 1B Walter – LF Graves – 3B Nunley – RF Alfaro – SS Stalker – C Delgado – P Chavez
IND: CF D. Morales – C Calhoun – LF Genge – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – 3B J. Jackson – 2B B. Reyes – SS Matias – P A. Smith

Both teams had two base hits in the first inning. While the Coons started well with singles by Stevenson and Claros, they did not continue well and Graves hit into a double play; the Indians had a Calhoun double followed by a Genge pop and then Martinez singling to center. Calhoun made for home, but was thrown out by Stevenson to end the inning. Stevenson left the game in the very next inning, tweaking his ankle on a defensive play and having to be replaced by Santos, who made the first out in the top of the third before Claros singled to right. Walter lined to Bob Reyes, who dropped the ball for an error, but would hold on to the next liner hit by Graves. There, with two outs, the Coons would rap out three consecutive RBI singles, all runs being unearned.

Chavez had a 3-0 lead now, but rain continued to plague that series although it had been absent from the Saturday game. A shower sent the game to delay for 40 minutes in the bottom 3rd, with Matias on third base and two outs. When play resumed, Calhoun popped out to keep the Indians runless. Matias had drawn a leadoff walk, and these became frequent now. *Chavez* drew a leadoff walk against Smith in the top 4th, but when Zach Graves hit a 2-out single to center and he was sent around to score he strolled so casually down the third base line, Morales managed to throw him out by about 25 feet despite not possessing the best of launchers. Chavez then issued a leadoff walk to Genge in the bottom 4th and advanced him with a wild pitch, something he had also done with Matias in the third. The wild pitch didn’t matter, because Chavez served up a home run ball to Martinez anyway, and Martinez had already hit 17 on the year before that and knew when to go all-out. Chavez issued another nobody-out walk to Mike Rucker then, also allowed a single to Reyes, and had Omar Alfaro make three difficult catches all over rightfield to keep the Coons’ 3-2 lead in one piece.

Neither pitcher retired a batter in the sixth inning. Frank Santos hit an infield single to begin the top 6th to get Smith out of the game, but wouldn’t score, and Chavez allowed singles to Rucker and Jackson to begin the bottom 6th. Those runs … would score. Joe Moore’s first pitch was belched for 430 feet by Jaylen Rolland, Reyes’ injury replacement, to move the Indians past the Coons, 5-3. That wasn’t the last home run a Raccoons reliever surrendered to the first man he faced – in the bottom 7th, David Kipple was taken deep by the only batter he faced, Lowell Genge. The Coons wouldn’t do anything with a leadoff walk that Daniel Bullock drew in the eighth inning, but the ninth saw them bring up the tying run with nobody out against Salinas. Faulk’s error put Graves aboard, and then Nunley singled up the middle. This was more dramatic than what the Coons would ultimately amount to. Alfaro struck out, and Spencer batted for Adam Cowen and hit into a double play to dissipate the presence of base runners in no time. 6-3 Indians. Stevenson 1-1; Claros 2-4; Nunley 2-5, RBI; Alfaro 2-5, RBI; Stalker 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Cowen 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

In other news

July 11 – The Aces pick up the Falcons’ CL Gregg Bell (0-8, 4.24 ERA, 16 SV) in a trade for two prospects.
July 13 – The Loggers acquire SP Jorge Villalobos (7-9, 4.11 ERA) from the Blue Sox, parting with two prospects, including #20 Jose Jaramillo, who they picked up just four days earlier in the Chris Sinkhorn trade with Denver.
July 14 – The Buffaloes rout the Miners, 19-3, with five of their places dishing out at least three base hits. Chris Owen (.286, 2 HR, 40 RBI) jointly leads the team in either category with four base hits, all singles, and 4 RBI. TOP RF/CF John Wilson (.277, 4 HR, 17 RBI) has three RBI and is a double short of the cycle.
July 14 – The Stars walk off on the Scorpions, 4-3 in 11 innings, on a passed ball charged to SAC C Jaiden Jackson (.294, 9 HR, 55 RBI) that allows Dallas’ Oscar Casillas to score.
July 15 – DEN RF/LF Mike Bednarski (.347, 8 HR, 39 RBI) might be out for a month with a herniated disc.
July 16 – Atlanta’s INF/RF Devin Hibbard (.265, 2 HR, 30 RBI) goes 3-for-3 in a 7-5 win over the Thunder, collecting his 2,000th career base hit on the way, a second-inning, 2-run home run off Jose Vigil. Hibbard, 37, is a 15-year career Knight with a .269/.352/.388 slash line, 121 HR, 830 RBI, and also 187 stolen bases. He stole a career-high 20 as recently as 2021, and he has also been a 4-time All Star and twice a Gold Glover.
July 16 – The Thunder trade for the Canadiens’ SP Tim Sloan (6-10, 5.48 ERA), parting with a 27-year-old AAA player and a non-descript prospect.
July 16 – SFW LF/RF Jeff Wadley (.308, 9 HR, 42 RBI) has suffered a strained hamstring and will miss a month on the DL.

Complaints and stuff

Hah, the Loggers – getting always better, or at least more ridiculous.

Now I’m laughing. Just wait for me making the next Dennis Fried trade here.

In good news (!!) the Player of the Week trophy in the CL went to a resuscitated Matt Nunley, who batted .526 (10-for-19) with a homer and 9 RBI this week.

Meanwhile I have no idea who should fill the fifth starter’s slot by next Saturday. Maybe we’ll pray for rain instead.

The Raccoons released a few minor leaguers this week, most prominent among those being long-time Aumsville dweller C Brandon Tally, a seventh-round pick a few years ago. In turn, 18-year-old 2B Angel Salazar, an international free agent signing in 2021, was added to the Aumsville roster from our international complex.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons also played four-and-four with the Indians in July of 1989. While the Coons’ starters this week were thoroughly mediocre at most, allowing 14 runs (11 earned) in 22 innings over four games, the Coons’ starters in 1989 – Steven Berry, Carlos Reyes, Kisho Saito, and Scott Wade – allowed only nine runs total while pitching almost 30 innings between them. Little offense however meant that only Kisho Saito won his start with eight innings of 2-run ball, improving to 11-2 on the season.

The Coons even had a better starter than that in terms of record at that point. While Scott Wade lost the Sunday game – the only game the Coons dropped to the Indians in that 4-game set – and lost his third straight decision, he was still 15-3 after opening the season with 15 W’s in his first 16 starts.

While the 1989 campaign ended bitterly with Glenn Johnston dropping Ed Parrell’s fly in the 14th inning of Game 6, I would merrily go back to there rather than wait another eight years for this team to improve randomly.