[Westheim]

Raccoons (64-42) @ Falcons (48-55) – August 2-4, 2027

The Coons had already locked up the 2027 series with the Falcons in happier times, 5-1, and here were the last three games of that season set. Despite their utterly crummy record, the Falcons were only four games out in the CL South, despite the worst rotation and the most runs conceded in the Continental League. Their offense ranked only ninth as well, and they had a -122 run differential. How they were not beaten and buried by August was beyond my imagination.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (7-8, 3.86 ERA) vs. Chris Rountree (7-10, 4.71 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (6-8, 3.00 ERA) vs. Victor Arevalo (7-9, 4.40 ERA)
Rin Nomura (12-3, 2.53 ERA) vs. Warren Polito (5-11, 7.41 ERA)

One left-hander, two right-handers. Lots of problems.

The Raccoons would play seven this week and would not get an off day until the 12th. It wouldn't hurt to give everybody a day off, and we used this southpaw on Monday to rotate out all our left-handed batters.

Game 1
POR: SS Stalker – LF Spencer – 2B Hereford – 1B Gomez – CF Borg – RF Magallanes – C Rocha – 3B Bullock – P Gutierrez
CHA: LF Banfi – RF Camps – 1B Fowlkes – CF Salto – C Sigala – 2B Ra. Mendez – SS Folk – 3B Ochoa – P Rountree

While a shutout by Rountree against this lineup would not have shocked anybody, the Coons put up three in the opening frame, two of those earned. Tim Stalker led off with a double, scored on Raul Mendez' throwing error that put Spencer on second base, and then Rich Hereford hit his first Coons homer. Gomez and Borg actually also reached base after that, but Magallanes whiffed and Daniel Rocha hit into a double play. Now, caution was in order, because the Falcons had an all-right-handed batting order, except for their pitcher, and we all knew how Rico liked to face his lefties; but there were no troubles in the early innings, the odd hit here and there, but no runs, and the Coons tacked on a run in the fourth inning on back-to-back doubles by Juan Magallanes and Daniel Rocha that ran the score to 4-0. Ironically, trouble for Rico brewed in the bottom 5th starting with the sole left-handed batter in there – Rountree – and a disapprovable 2-out single up the middle. Luigi Banfi doubled to right immediately, but Hereford made a good lunging grab on Juan Camps' bouncer and handled it for the third out of the inning.

There was only one more inning in Rico, who got bogged down in the sixth, which he started by drilling Pat Fowlkes with an 0-2 pitch, then surrendered a single to Graciano Salto and had to fight tooth and nail against Jairo Sigala and Raul Mendez for two outs. Brody Folk, the damn ex-Elk, coaxed a walk that filled them up for former Coons farmhand Hugo Ochoa, who grounded a 2-2 pitch to third base, which Daniel Bullock handled for the third out. The pen inherited a 5-0 lead, courtesy of Rafael Gomez' leadoff triple in the top 6th, and Magallanes' sac fly to bring him in after Greg Borg had been walked intentionally(!?). Jonathan Snyder was sent to pitch for Portland, retired the side on nine pitches in the bottom 7th, then got spanked for four hits and two runs in the bottom 8th before being dug out by Josh Boles. Bottom 9th in a 3-run game, Ricky Ohl allowed a single to Camps, then struck out Fowlkes and popped up Salto. Jairo Sigala singled. Ex-Coon Russ Greenwald dropped an RBI single into left, and Brody Folk was the winning run at home plate… but struck out on three pitches. 5-3 Coons. Stalker 2-5, 2B; Gutierrez 6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (8-8);

Game 2
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Hereford – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – CF Mora – C Tovias – LF Carmona – 3B Nunley – P Delgadillo
CHA: LF Banfi – SS Folk – 1B Fowlkes – CF Salto – RF Camps – 3B Ra. Mendez – C Carmichael – 2B Muller – P Arevalo

Raccoons hitters dropped four soft singles with two outs in the first inning, Gomez and Harenberg eventually scoring with RBI's for Mora and Tovias, and they added runs in the second inning, which Nunley started with a single up the middle. Delgadillo struck out bunting, Stalker forced out the runner, but then Hereford singled and Gomez got hit. Kevin Harenberg drove a ball over Salto's head in center for a 2-run double, running the tally to 4-0, before Elias Tovias popped out over home plate to end the inning, and would strand another pair with a fly out to Salto in the fourth inning, but at least the Coons had come out early for the second day in a row, which already counted as progress. So, attention was on Delgadillo, who was perfect the first time through the Falcons' lineup. But his own shackling was not far off; Brody Folk (dry heaves) hit a scratch single in the fourth, and Pat Fowlkes hit a no-doubter to left that cut the gap in half effortlessly. Jason Carmichael's base hit, and Luigi Banfi getting hit in the base of his buttocks put the tying runs on in the bottom 5th, and then Folk singled hard to left. Carmichael was sent, but thrown out at home plate by Cookie Carmona to end the inning.

Despite getting rocked for four runs early on, the Falcons' Arevalo held out until Kevin Harenberg's leadoff double in the seventh, only then being replaced by righty Jesse Schiebout, who allowed a single to Mora that put them on the corners. Tovias came up for the fourth time in this game with a pair of Coons aboard, and for the third time failed miserably, hitting into a double play, and then Harenberg didn't even go for home from third base; instead he was stranded when Cookie flew out to Juan Camps. Bottom 8th, the Coons pen was in mild distress, using three relievers. Kearney struck out PH Joseph McClenon before Surginer walked Fowlkes, but at least got rid of Salto. When Rick Morris pinch-hit, the Coons sent another left-hander in Boles, who surrendered a single, putting the go-ahead run on board, but then got Mendez to ground out to Hereford to get through the inning. No insurance run came together for the Coons in the ninth, and so it was Dan McLin with the 4-3 lead in the ninth as Ricky Ohl was not available. Greenwald and John Muller grounded out, but Ochoa singled to left, bringing up a hitless Banfi, who aimed for and missed a 1-2 pitch to put this squeezer away. 4-3 Coons. Harenberg 4-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Mora 3-4, BB, RBI;

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Hereford – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – CF Mora – C Tovias – LF Magallanes – 3B Nunley – P Nomura
CHA: LF Banfi – RF Camps – 1B Fowlkes – CF Salto – C Sigala – 2B Ra. Mendez – SS Folk – 3B Ochoa – P Polito

There was no quick start against the worst of the bunch in the Charlotte rotation, not even a slow start, but rather no start at all for the Raccoons, while Rin Nomura was the one getting torn apart early. Jairo Sigala drove in Graciano Salto twice in the early innings; once after Salto's leadoff triple in the bottom 2nd, Sigala's single making it 1-0, and then again in the third, when Salto had hit an RBI single to score Juan Camps, had reached third base on Tovias' error on his stolen base attempt, and then Sigala hit another single. Worse, Mendez and Folk also hit 2-out singles to put a fourth run on Nomura by the time the third inning ended on Ochoa's groundout. Nomura would not even get through four, being bludgeoned for ten hits by the bottom 4th. Polito hit a leadoff single, was doubled up by Banfi, but then Camps, Fowlkes, and Salto ripped him for straight 2-out base hits, running the tally to 5-0, and it was just enough. On the other side of the box score, the Coons had two base hits off Polito and his 7+ ERA in the first three innings, then one in the next three. That was Hereford with a 2-out single in the sixth, and after that he was caught stealing. No great surprise there – and they would not produce any surprise from there, either. Warren Polito ended up with a complete-game 6-hitter, losing the shutout only on singles by Harenberg and Tovias in the seventh, with Magallanes plating Harenberg with a sac fly. Polito got revenge in his own way (as if a complete game was not enough), hitting a 2-out RBI single off McLin in the bottom 8th for the final tally of… 6-1 Falcons. Tovias 2-4;

(shrugs dejectedly)

Raccoons (66-43) @ Indians (54-53) – August 5-8, 2027

The Indians were still stubbornly clinging onto a winning record, and whether the Coons were the ones to knock them below .500 was anybody's guess. Indy led the season series as a matter of fact, 4-3, despite having the absolute worst offense in the Continental League. They were scoring only 3.7 runs per game, although to be honest, the Raccoons' average over their last 15 games was much, much worse than that; since July 20 they had scored no more than 3.0 runs per game…

Projected matchups:
George James (2-1, 3.48 ERA) vs. John McInerney (11-6, 2.57 ERA)
Jason Butler (0-1, 4.26 ERA) vs. Chris Sinkhorn (11-7, 3.98 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (8-8, 3.70 ERA) vs. David Elliott (7-10, 5.23 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (7-8, 3.05 ERA) vs. Myles Mood (5-9, 2.90 ERA)

Three southpaws to begin this set, then a righty on Sunday; not that it mattered for the Critters, who didn't score against anybody and weren't of the discriminating sort…

Game 1
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Hereford – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – CF Borg – C Tovias – LF Spencer – 3B Nunley – P James
IND: SS Pizano – 2B E. Sosa – C Kennett – LF O'Rourke – 1B de Negri – RF Ryder – CF Jamieson – 3B C Castro – P McInerney

A 1-2 singles bid put Coons on the corners in the top 1st, but all they could draw from that was a Harenberg sac fly. It only got worse from there; Stalker hit a 1-out double in the third, McInerney walked on both Hereford and Gomez, but Harenberg fouled out with the bags full, and Greg Borg flew out easily to Matt Jamieson in center. While James retired the first eight Indians in a row before issuing a 4-pitch walk to McInerney – probably just to drive me crazy… - the Raccoons kept poking feebly. Spencer got on in the fourth, stole second, then was singled in by Matt Nunley, a play on which Zachary Ryder hurt himself and had to be replaced by Mike Cowan. Top 5th, Stalker hit a single, stole second, Gomez was walked intentionally, and Harenberg reached with an infield single. One way or another, that was three on, one out for Greg Borg, which didn't have a nice ring to it from the start, but at least he grounded to Cesar Castro in such way that a double play was not in the cards for the Indians. Stalker scored on the throw to first base, and Tovias then struck out to strand the other two runners in the 3-0 game.

James no-hit the Indians into the fifth before Matt Jamieson, who should have been a Coon by now, but I couldn't make it work out in July, singled to center with two outs in that inning, but nothing undue happened at that point, and the Raccoons remained ahead, and even more comfortably so when Elias Tovias took sole possession of the team home run lead with a dismal 14 on a 2-run homer off David Galmore in the seventh inning. Greg Borg had reached base ahead of him with a 2-out single, and it was now 5-0 in George James' favor. The Coons would try to squeeze a shutout from their young pitcher, but it didn't work. He entered the bottom 9th on 110 pitches, allowed a single to Elliott Kennett, then a double to David de Negri, which put runners in scoring position with one down. Snyder replaced James at that point, and the game ended three pitches later when Mike Cowan lined out to Hereford, with de Negri caught off his base and doubled up by a quick lob over to Stalker. 5-0 Coons. Stalker 2-4, 2B; Spencer 2-4; Nunley 3-4, RBI; James 8.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (3-1);

Game 2
POR: 2B Hereford – LF Spencer – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – CF Borg – 3B Nunley – C Rocha – 3B Bullock – P Butler
IND: SS Pizano – 2B E. Sosa – C Kennett – CF Suhay – 1B de Negri – RF Ryder – LF Jamieson – 3B C. Castro – P Sinkhorn

Jarod Spencer tripled in the first, but the Coons didn't score, which was one of those things that drove me into madness, every day a little bit deeper. Never mind that this probably was not the Coons' game to win anyway, but at least Butler got disemboweled quickly to spare us any illusions. The first two Arrowheads made outs in the bottom 1st before he walked Kennett, who scored on Ben Suhay's double to right. Suhay moved to third on Gomez' throw, then scored on a wild pitch at 0-2 to de Negri, who singled on the next offering. Ryder, with a balking oblique, then went WELL deep to right-center, putting the Indians up 4-0 in no time at all. And that was all there was to the ballgame! After the early onslaught, the Indians would get only two more base hits against Butler, who lasted seven shoddy innings, but they didn't need any more base hits because Sinkhorn had the stinking Coons more than just under control. I would liken it to a death grip on their puny little necks. Besides Spencer, who rapped together a 3-hit day, the team was dead from the waists up… AND down, to be fair, and was easily shut out on 117 pitches and six base hits. 4-0 Indians. Spencer 3-4, 3B;

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – LF Magallanes – CF Mora – P Gutierrez
IND: 1B de Negri – 2B E. Sosa – CF Suhay – RF Ryder – C Kennett – SS Wagner – LF Cowan – 3B C. Castro – P D. Elliott

Blink and you missed it – before I could really get into much of a muttering rage, five innings were over in a 1-1 game. The Indians had scored first on Ryder's 2-out double in the first that brought in de Negri, with Magallanes tying the game with a 2-out single in the fourth that scored Harenberg, but came after Nunley had clubbed into a double play. Gomez led off the sixth with a single, got doubled off by Harenberg, and when Magallanes and Mora both walked in the seventh that brought up Rico with one out. He was hitting .061 this year, and in an 0-for-39 rut in particular, which was grim even by light-hitting pitchers' standards. SWING AWAY, RICO, SWING AWAY …!! (cries in despair) Of course he struck out. Stalker flew out to Cowan in left. Nobody scored. Every run could be the last one now. Rico spilled a leadoff single to Ryder in the bottom 7th, but Kennett hit into a double play (at least it happens to them, too…) and Matt Jamieson struck out when he hit for Curt Wagner, a rookie on his third cup of coffee.

Top 8th, leadoff single by Spencer against the so far sturdy Elliott. Spencer went on to swipe second on a pitchout, and the Indians responded by walking Gomez intentionally. You wanna play it that way? Fine. Off they were for a double steal, Kennett got nobody, and then Harenberg was walked intentionally. Three on, no outs, where the Coons' run expectancy was somewhere around negative .3 runs. Tovias popped out before a double switch brought on ex-Coon Cory Dew and Edwin Alvarez at second base, which was also where Nunley grounded in his 1-out appearance. Alvarez handled the ball, stepped on second base… and somehow threw late to first. Nunley legged it out, Spencer scored, and Portland had the lead. Magallanes struck out to leave them on the corners. Nope, they couldn't just take a lead and run with it. Rico was okay through eight, was batted for with Cookie in the ninth to no effect at all, and then Ricky Ohl faced the top of the order with the skinniest of leads in the bottom 9th. De Negri led off with a soft single to center. Oh ****ing ****. Dave O'Rourke struck out, Suhay grounded into a fielder's choice, and then Ohl drilled Ryder. Kennett came up; not technically a rookie anymore but also on his third (slightly longer) cup of coffee. He squeezed out a walk, which brought up Jamieson with the bases loaded. No, not Jamieson. Not him… not him… not him…! (begs) Not him…! Ohl got the K on a 98mph blaster, ending this particular comatose appearance by the Raccoons. 2-1 Blighters. Spencer 2-4; Magallanes 2-3, BB, RBI; Gutierrez 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (9-8);

(deep sigh)

Game 4
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Hereford – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – CF Mora – C Tovias – LF Carmona – 3B Nunley – P Delgadillo
IND: SS Pizano – RF Ryder – CF Suhay – LF O'Rourke – 1B de Negri – 2B E. Alvarez – C J. Ramirez – 3B Wagner – P Mood

Two pitches in, Tim Stalker tripled, but it should not shock you that he did not score. Hereford walked, Gomez popped out, and Harenberg clubbed into a double play, and I had my tearful breakdown a few innings earlier than usual. Delgadillo got around a pair of singles in the bottom of the inning before the Coons were back in action. Abel Mora worked a leadoff walk, Tovias singled, Cookie singled – three on, no outs, again, hooraaaay. Thankfully Alvarez chose to turn two on Nunley's grounder right at him rather than go home; the 4-6-3 double play at least brought in the first run of the game before Delgadillo flew out to Suhay…

I spent the next few innings breathing slowly into a paper bag, but at least for now Yusneldan held up nicely. Suhay hit a leadoff single in the bottom 4th, O'Rourke hit another single to right, but Suhay bid for third, and Gomez told them to screw off, hammering him out with a wonderful throw, which killed the Indians' inning and the 1-0 lead stood through four. Delgadillo hit a double in the fifth, was ignored, then blew the lead on three singles by Jose Ramirez, Pizano, and Ryder in the bottom of the inning. Suhay fouled out to strand a pair, but these were the two most annoying teams in the league, and this was the fourth game of the set, and I just didn't want to live anymore…

Rafael Gomez had not homered in exactly a month, and I wouldn't claim that he was back on the horse after his 1-out solo jack off Mood in the eighth inning, but at least the damn Coons were up 2-1 again in a stingy pitchers' duel / offensive anorexia. In what appeared to be a waste of perfectly good runs, Kevin Harenberg went back-to-back with Gomez to move the Coons out to a 3-1 lead, but while I thought Delgadillo would pull through for a complete game now, the Indians rolled him from the game with a pair of 2-out singles by Suhay and O'Rourke in the bottom 8th, going to the corners. Surginer came on to face de Negri, ran a full count, then blasted him away with a high 99. The Coons also went to the corners in the ninth, Cookie and Nunley knocking singles against Galmore to go to the corners. Of course they would not do any better than a Stalker sac fly, giving Ohl a 3-run lead. Jose Ramirez' 1-out homer served well to make me dizzy, but it was the only batter that reached base in the bottom 9th. 4-2 Coons. Gomez 2-5, BB, HR, RBI; Tovias 2-4; Carmona 2-4; Delgadillo 7.2 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (8-8) and 1-3, 2B;

In other news

August 2 – The only hit of IND 1B Ramon Tello (.311, 1 HR, 10 RBI) in an 11-inning affair in Tijuana is a 2-out grand slam in the top 11th that allows the Indians to win 8-4. All of the runs in the game are scored in 4's. The Condors took a 4-0 lead in the third, which the Indians wholly made up in the fifth.
August 3 – RIC LF/RF/1B Dan Brown (.224, 7 HR, 38 RBI) knocks in five on three base hits in a 15-8 Rebels win over the Scorpions.
August 5 – VAN OF Tony Coca (.314, 21 HR, 74 RBI) goes 3-for-3 with two walks and 6 RBI in a 13-3 thrashing of the Loggers.
August 5 – It takes 12 innings in Sioux Falls for Scorpions and Warriors to total even one run. SFW 1B/SS Edgar Gonzalez (.300, 6 HR, 46 RBI) singles home utility Andy Walker (.167, 1 HR, 5 RBI) to walk off the Warriors for a 1-0 win that took some time to materialize.
August 6 – SAL INF Dan Cobb (.353, 4 HR, 22 RBI) has cobbled together a 20-game hitting streak after connecting for a 2-run single in the Wolves' 6-5 loss to the Gold Sox.
August 7 – The Condors' SS Andrew Showalter (.306, 11 HR, 43 RBI) notches his 2,500th career hit in a 5-2 win over the Thunder. Showalter hits a sixth-inning double off MR Zach Warner (1-0, 4.50 ERA) to reach the milestone. Showalter, 36, spent most of his 16-year career in the Federal League for the Blue Sox and Cyclones. A 6-time All Star, he has a career .307 batting average with 247 HR and 1,170 RBI.
August 7 – The hitting streak of Salem's Dan Cobb (.346, 4 HR, 22 RB) is already perdu after an 0-3 game against the Gold Sox, who beat the Wolves, 7-2 in 11 innings.
August 8 – NYC SP Mike Rutkowski (6-7, 5.04 ERA) might miss the rest of the season with torn ankle ligaments.

Complaints and stuff

Matt Nunley's fourth-inning RBI single off John McInerney on Thursday was his 2,000th career base hit. It took him a while – he has almost 14 years of major league service credit – but at least the 36-year-old got off to a quick start on his chase for 3,000 (cough!) with a 3-hit game and a total of 2,002 knocks that point. His career slash of .279/.338/.388, while not shabby, will probably not get him into the Hall of Fame (sneeze!). He also has 143 HR and 852 RBI. Well, he's been a glove third baseman for most of his career – he hasn't beaten a .750 OPS in almost a decade.

Matt Nunley is also second in all-time base hits for Raccoons, trailing Cookie Carmona of course. Here are the top 10:

PORTLAND RACCOONS CAREER HITS LEADERS

1st – Cookie Carmona – 2,281
2nd – Matt Nunley – 2,004
3rd – Neil Reece – 1,983
4th – Daniel Hall – 1,886
5th – Ieyoshi Nomura – 1,581
6th – Tetsu Osanai – 1,548
7th – Adrian Quebell – 1,400
8th – Mark Dawson – 1,313
9th – Daniel Sharp – 1,267
10th – Conceicao Guerin – 1,185

Apparently Jonathan Fleischer returned from Portland to St. Petersburg with some mild shoulder inflammation. I wonder whether this is all a dream. A bad one at that.

Fun Fact: 14 Raccoons teams finished with fewer than 4.0 runs scored per game. Only two of them wound up with winning records.

That would be 1987 and 2025, both seasons seeing the Coons with 3.9 runs per game. They even missed the playoffs by only one game in '87.

The 2027 Coons are now one run over a flat 4.0 R/G. They are in a steep descent. Somehow, they are 25 games over .500, which is even more than the '87 Coons squeezed out with their final 91-71 record.