[Westheim]

Raccoons (74-51) @ Titans (80-43) – August 24-26, 2027

If the Critters were a little bit closer as they entered Boston, I would declare this a chance, but the probability of them sweeping the Titans, even without sending in any replacement pitching, was slim to begin with. The week also began with Abel Mora being declared day-to-day, but hobbled, with a mild ankle sprain and he was more or less unavailable for at least the first few games of the week. The Titans were fourth in runs scored and had allowed the fewest runs in the league, with an impressive +152 run differential. They were one convincing series win away from mostly locking up the division, although there would be another series against the Coons in September. Portland even led the season series, 7-5, and still had a chance to win it for the first time in six years.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (10-9, 3.89 ERA) vs. Greg Gannon (13-6, 3.38 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (8-9, 3.47 ERA) vs. Guillermo Regalado (9-6, 3.56 ERA)
Rin Nomura (14-5, 2.63 ERA) vs. Jeremy Waite (12-8, 3.61 ERA)

These were all right-handers, but the Titans had Monday off just like the Raccoons and could easily skip somebody to bring in lefty Dustin Wingo (13-5, 1.57 ERA). How does someone lose five games with a 1.57 ERA?? The Raccoons would definitely skip Juan Barzaga (0-0, 6.35 ERA) in Mark Roberts' vacated spot.

Boston also missed a few regulars from their lineup, with Rhett West (finger) and Keith Spataro (quad) on the DL, but they would be back in September, although maybe not in time to face the Coons then.

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – CF Magallanes – 2B Stalker – 1B Harenberg – LF Hereford – RF Gomez – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – P Gutierrez
BOS: CF W. Vega – 1B Gasso – RF Braun – LF Kuramoto – 3B Corder – C A. Arias – 2B Good – SS J. Perez – P Gannon

The Coons scored a first-inning run once more, with Tim Stalker snipping a 2-out single to right, stealing second base, then coming home on Harenberg's line drive to right-center. Boston was almost right away on top of Rico, though, with Gus Gasso singling sharply in the bottom 1st, and Ramos fumbling a grounder by Adam Braun to put two men on, but Yasuhiro Kuramoto flew out to left and Stalker handled Adam Corder's grounder for the third out. There was no safety net in the second, though, when Alex Arias opened the inning with right-center gapper for a double, then scored on Jon Perez' RBI single. Portland came rumbling right back in the third, with Ramos legging out an infield grounder for a leadoff single, his 100th hit of the season, then stole his 40th base off strong defensive catcher Arias. Tim Stalker plated him with a single. Harenberg struck out, Hereford reached on an error by Matt Good, but Rafael Gomez, in a 2-for-27 hole, lined out to Perez to strand a pair. Then it was the Titans' turn to roar back past them in the bottom 3rd. Rico Gutierrez allowed a leadoff single to Braun, then walked the bags full before allowing a 2-run double to Arias, who came in batting .185; another run scored on Good's groundout, putting Boston up 4-2. They extended that to 5-2 on Gasso's solo shot in the fourth, but the Coons brought the middle of the order to the plate as the tying run in the top of the fifth, which started with another Good error putting Ramos on base before Gannon walked Juan Magallanes. Tim Stalker dropped a single into shallow center to load the bases for Kevin Harenberg, who – with three on and nobody down – put Gannon's very next pitch into shallow right for an RBI single, cutting the gap to 5-3. That became 5-4 on a passed ball lost by Arias, but then someone threw the anchor; Hereford struck out, Gomez grounded out to first, and Tovias grounded out to the pitcher, and Stalker and Harenberg were stranded in scoring position. Ramos hit a 2-out triple in the sixth, but was stranded when Magallanes grounded out, and that kept Gutierrez on the hook after he had been hit for by Cookie Carmona to no great effect in the inning. The Titans did score a run, though, Jon Perez hitting a leadoff single off Barzaga, then scoring on another single by Gasso with two outs in the bottom 6th, extending their lead to 6-4, and another run in the seventh when Barzaga and Kearney made a mess on the bases.

Yet again – the tying run was up again in the eighth. Tovias hit an infield single, moved to second on a wild pitch by Gannon, then to third on Nunley's single. Jarod Spencer batted for Kearney, hit a sac fly not helping in the grander scheme of things, and then Ramos struck out to end the eighth, at least the top half. The bottom half saw Nick Derks allow a leadoff double to PH Adrian Reichardt, walked Willie Vega and Braun, and conceded an RBI single to Yasuhiro Kuramoto. Billy Brotman then replaced him, and surrendered all his remaining runs by walking in a run against Keith Leonard, then shed two more RBI singles to leave the Coons thoroughly routed. Top 9th, Julio San Pedro inherited an 11-5 lead and had one job to do, but actually made it interesting. Greg Borg singled in Magallanes' spot. Stalker singled. Harenberg singled. Suddenly the bags were full and there was again nobody out. Rich Hereford hit a deep drive to right, but Braun made the catch, holding him to a sac fly. Ben Marx replaced San Pedro, drilled Rafael Gomez to restock the bags, and when Elias Tovias dropped an RBI single in front of Braun, the score became 11-7 and it was the first time in 70 days that the Raccoons had plated seven runs against a team not the Crusaders. And they were still doomed, ****ty pitching to be credited for that. Nunley struck out. Daniel Rocha, last healthy stick on the bench, popped out to Kuramoto in shallow left, and the game was in the books. 11-7 Titans. Ramos 2-5, 3B; Borg (PH) 1-1; Stalker 4-5, RBI; Harenberg 3-5, 2 RBI; Tovias 2-5, RBI;

We even out-hit them, 14-13, but except for that Ramos triple that did not lead to a run, all hits were singles again. The Titans landed a homer and three doubles.

Game 2
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – CF Gomez – LF Spencer – 3B Nunley – C Rocha – P Delgadillo
BOS: CF Reichardt – LF W. Vega – 2B Good – 1B Gasso – C Leonard – 3B Corder – RF Braun – SS J. Perez – P Regalado

Ramos opened the game with a single, after which nothing interesting happened anymore in the inning. Rafael Gomez would put the Coons up 1-0 with a solo jack in the second inning, but Delgadillo, who struggled from the start with control, command, confidence, and coolness, surrendered the lead on doubles by Reichardt and Good in the bottom of the third. While Delgadillo walked "only" three batters in five innings, he also took 97 pitches to get through five innings, running numerous full counts. He hung around for the sixth, got Gasso on a pop, and might have gotten Leonard on a fly to right, if Hereford hadn't messed up and had dropped the ball when it hit the heel of his glove. Adam Corder's single to left put runners on the corners as well as Delgadillo to bed, and the Coons turned to Kevin Surginer, who got Braun to foul out, then Gomez to catch up with Perez' fly in center, ending the inning still in a 1-1 tie. And that score stuck around for longer as Surginer got two more outs for four in total before Brotman did away with the mostly left-handed middle of the order for the next four outs to put the game clear through eight. Ben Marx was up for the Titans in the ninth, facing the Coons' own middle of the order. Rich Hereford drew a leadoff walk, stole second base, only for Harenberg to also walk. Gomez was key here, because behind him was Brotman, with Spencer having earlier been removed in a double switch, and the Coons' bench was notoriously weak. He flew out to left, though, Tovias batted for Brotman and struck out, and Matt Nunley was in a month-long slump and had sagged to .234 – but got the ball to fall in. His fly to right landed near the line, out of Braun's reach, and Hereford scored on the single to break the 1-1 tie! Braun also could not reach Rocha's liner to right, which fell for an RBI double and knocked out Marx for San Pedro, who brought in Nunley with a wild pitch to Magallanes, who ultimately flew out to Braun. With Ricky Ohl on the shelf for the year, Jonathan Snyder was back in the closer's role, especially with right-handers up in the bottom 9th (although Josh Boles was knocking on that door…), but despite a Rocha error putting Braun on base, he put the game away without the Titans coming back. 4-1 Coons. Ramos 2-4; Rocha 2-4, 2B, RBI; Surginer 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

That was the 26th save for Snyder this year, and maybe also the last. He was in growing discomfort after the game and might be the latest broken pitching toy that we have to throw on that pile (points at the quivering remains of Roberts, Anderson, and Ohl) over there…

Say, Josh – how'd you like closing?

Game 3
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – RF Gomez – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – CF Borg – P Nomura
BOS: CF W. Vega – 1B Gasso – RF Braun – 3B Corder – C A. Arias – 2B Good – LF Reichardt – SS Perkins – P Waite

A 2-out Titans rally in the bottom 2nd saw Good and Reichardt hit hard singles off Rin Nomura before Justin Perkins hit a ball into the rightfield corner for a 2-run double, the first tally in the game, and they had another 2-out, 2-run double in the bottom 3rd with Alex Arias hitting a ball into the leftfield corner to plate Braun and Corder. The Critters had no base hits the first time through the order, then there was a third inning single Ramos, a fourth inning single by Gomez, but nothing of substance. By the sixth, the Coons had made more errors than they had base hits; Tovias had fumbled a grounder, Harenberg had dropped a feed, and Ramos made a poor throw to first. Somehow, Nomura didn't surrender any more runs than he already had and left the game after six innings and just over 100 pitches, still down four-zip. Hereford would open the seventh with a single to center, which removed Jeremy Waite from the game on a 3-hit shutout, apparently for reasons of injury. Left-hander Mike Stank replaced him and retired the next three Critters in order. Portland didn't get onto the board until the eighth, and then on a throwing error by Perkins, a ball thrown over the head of Keith Leonard at first base for a 2-base error that put Ramos on second and scored Magallanes, who had earlier hit a 2-out double to left-center. Harry Merwin came in for Boston and retired Stalker on a fly to center. They never got another runner, going down silently against Matt Rosenthal in the ninth. 4-1 Titans. Hereford 2-4; Magallanes (PH) 1-1, 2B;

(sigh)

Raccoons (75-53) vs. Aces (62-64) – August 27-29, 2027

The ludicrously weak CL South had the sub-.500 Aces just two games behind the lead, currently held by the Condors. They had the second-most runs in the CL, but had allowed the third-most, with a +4 run differential. They had the worst bullpen in the Continental League, being consistently lit on fire to the tune of a 4.76 ERA. The Raccoons were up 4-2 against Vegas on the season.

Projected matchups:
George James (4-2, 3.03 ERA) vs. Tom Shumway (8-12, 4.38 ERA)
Juan Barzaga (0-0, 7.71 ERA) vs. Ed Hague (12-11, 4.13 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (10-10, 4.04 ERA) vs. Abramo Archibugi (13-11, 2.96 ERA)

Left, right, left to contend with; meanwhile the Coons were still an arm short in the pen as the Druid was off in the woods collecting herbs for whatever purpose related to Jonathan Snyder.

Game 1
LVA: LF Dunlap – C Motley – SS Tadlock – RF M. Hamilton – 3B Blades – 2B A. Medina – 1B E. Moreno – CF Serrano – P Shumway
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Hereford – 1B Gomez – C Tovias – LF Spencer – CF Magallanes – 3B Nunley – P James

Vegas went up 2-0 in the first inning when James walked Josh Motley, then allowed singles to Ron Tadlock, Matt Hamilton, and, crucially, Andres Medina with two outs, the latter plating both runs. But Tom Shumway was also put in the wringer right away; Ramos and Stalker hit singles, Hereford plated Ramos with a sac fly, and then Rafael Gomez cracked a 2-piece to left to flip the score in Portland's favor right away, 3-2, but the Aces came right back, tying the score at three in the top 2nd on Josh Motley's RBI double to center. That run was unearned; Tom Dunlap had reached on a throwing error by Matt Nunley.

By the fourth, rain joined the proceedings, causing a half-hour delay more or less right away. When play resumed, George James hit Tom Shumway, which was not a display of strong pitching, either, then had Magallanes sell out for an awesome play on Dunlap's drive in deep center to at least keep the game tied. At the same time, the defense tried to sink a shaky James all the time. Nunley made another error in the fifth, which led to nothing good for Vegas, and Stalker dropped a 2-out pop by Eddie Moreno for an error in the sixth. Danny Serrano reached on an infield single, but the Aces did not bat for Shumway, whom James then struck out, rather than in the thigh. It was only going to get worse, though. The seventh had Kearney pitching, with Motley drawing a 1-out walk. Ron Tadlock grounded to the mound, with Kearney trying to start a 1-6-3 double play, but Ramos couldn't turn it, then couldn't turn anymore. He left the game with back pain, replaced by Abel Mora in the leadoff spot while the defense shifted all over the place. All for nought, as well, with Matt Hamilton tripling into the gap in right-center to break the tie with two outs. Dan McLin would retired Brett Blades to end the inning, while Mora reached base as the tying run to lead off the bottom 8th, albeit only on Andres Medina's error. Three weak outs stranded him, and when Josh Boles kept the Aces to their 1-run lead in the ninth, the 5-6-7 batters were up against righty Franklin Alvarado and his 3.06 ERA in the bottom of the ninth inning. Tovias smacked a 1-2 pitch to center for a leadoff single, then was run for by Greg Borg, then was caught stealing on a hit-and-run call on which Spencer missed. Spencer walked; Magallanes struck out. Matt Nunley grounded out to Moreno to end this particular ****ty game. 4-3 Aces. Stalker 2-4; Tovias 2-4;

(shrugs)

As everything kept unravelling, we put two players on the DL by Saturday. Jonathan Snyder was lost for the season with a partial tear in his labrum, while Alberto Ramos was out for four weeks – so most of the remaining season – with back spasms.

The Coons called up Jonathan Fleischer and Adam St. Germaine … does anybody even remember Adam St. Germaine? He batted .179 for the Coons early in the season after coming over in the Jon Gonzalez trade that was already in the "terrible" category. The other player coming over was Trey Rock, who had already been canned to Denver. St. Germaine had spent some time on the DL in AAA, but had batted .290/.446/.391 when healthy.

Game 2
LVA: LF Dunlap – C Motley – SS Tadlock – RF M. Hamilton – 3B Blades – 2B A. Medina – 1B May – CF Serrano – P Hague
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – LF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – RF Gomez – CF Mora – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – P Barzaga

Barzaga didn't implode right away, and in turn opened the third inning with a ball hit into the leftfield corner that he legged out for a triple when the ball bounced awkwardly away from Tom Dunlap. Stalker plated him with an infield single, the first run in the game. Stalker reached second base on an errant pickoff throw, but was then thrown out at home plate on Rich Hereford's single to left. Barzaga survived a leadoff double by Ron Tadlock in the fourth, then had the lead expand in the bottom of the inning. Rafael Gomez hit a leadoff jack, and then Mora tripled to right and scored on a wild pitch by Ed Hague, 3-0. Tovias struck out, but Matt Nunley hit a homer to right to extend the score to 4-0, but the Aces also got to Barzaga in the fifth, getting on the board with a Serrano solo home run in the inning, but that remained the only blemish on the scrap starter, who lasted seven innings and conceded only three base hits, while whiffing seven. The Coons scratched out another run on singles by Hereford, Harenberg, and Mora in the bottom of the seventh inning, extending the lead to 5-1, which the Aces nevertheless encroached on in the eighth inning. Jonathan Fleischer retired Serrano to begin the frame before Kearney took over, walked PH David Gonzalez, then surrendered the run on Motley's 2-out double. He hung around, walking Tadlock ntentionally to get to Hamilton, who struck out to end the inning. Bottom 8th, righty Alejandro Purcella tried to move the game silently along without his 5.40 ERA ballooning further, but a walk to Nunley, a pinch-hit single by Cookie, and another walk drawn by Tim Stalker loaded the bases with nobody out. NOBODY SCORED. Spencer flew out to shallow center, too shallow for Nunley to go, Hereford struck out, and Harenberg grounded out to Medina. Out came Josh Boles for his first appearance as third-string regular closer. Brett Blades led off with a single to right. Alright, here we go… Actually, we didn't. Boles got his act together, rung up both Medina and Donovan May, then got Serrano on a grounder to Nunley. Ballgame. 5-2 Coons. Hereford 3-5, 2B; Harenberg 2-5; Gomez 2-4, HR, RBI; Mora 3-4, 3B, 2B, RBI; Nunley 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Carmona (PH) 1-1; Barzaga 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (1-0);

Game 3
LVA: LF Dunlap – C Motley – 3B Blades – RF M. Hamilton – 1B Tadlock – CF Serrano – SS A. Medina – 2B Dein – P Archibugi
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – RF Gomez – 1B Harenberg – C Tovias – LF Mora – CF Borg – 3B Nunley – P Gutierrez

Rico Gutierrez got clubbed for four singles and two runs right in the opening inning, including leadoff singles by both Dunlap and Motley, left-handed batters to boot. Archibugi found his own rocky inning soon enough, though; Tovias hit a leadoff single in the second, Greg Borg doubled to left, and Nunley found the gap between Dunlap and Serrano for a game-tying 2-run double, too. But Gutierrez continued to not fool anybody; Hamilton doubled off the fence with two down in the top 3rd, Tadlock walked, and then Serrano fired another long drive to right, but Rafael Gomez caught up with that one to end the inning. The home crowd was slightly dismayed, though. As was I. Gomez then also ended the bottom 3rd, trying to score from first base on a 2-out double Elias Tovias, but was told NOPE by Serrano with a perfect throw to home plate.

What ever had happened to Rico Gutierrez? What the **** did I know? But he kept sucking for sure. When Tim Stalker made an error in the fifth inning that put Brett Blades aboard with two down, Gutierrez folded instantly and allowed three straight base hits. Hamilton singled, Tadlock drove in both runners, and Serrano also singled before Gomez caught a fly by Medina. Those runs were unearned, which didn't make his ****ty performance any better. The offense didn't have anything to offer right away, and precious little down the road until Tim Stalker hit a solo homer in the bottom 7th, but that still only closed the gap to 4-3. The Coons, bereft of all sorts of pitching, then had to hope for a decent inning by Nick Derks to keep the Aces close, but he surrendered hard drives to all three Aces he faced. Tadlock flew out to deep center, Serrano singled hard to left, and Gomez somehow robbed Medina in the gap. With left-hander Donovan May pinch-hitting for Jeremy Dein, the Critters called on Billy Brotman, who lost the first baseman in a full count before ringing up Archibugi, who the Aces seemed convinced would finish the game after allowing three runs already. Well, he sure enough retired the Coon's middle of the order in 1-2-3 fashion in the bottom 8th… The chance technically remained in the bottom 9th, then against Alvarado. Mora and Cookie made soft outs before Nunley coaxed a walk in a full count. That got Rich Hereford involved, pinch-hitting for Jonathan Fleischer and flying out to Serrano in center… 4-3 Aces. Tovias 2-4, 2B;

In other news

August 23 – Capitals and Cyclones go away at another for 16 innings before the Capitals secure a 5-4 walkoff win on a throwing error by rightfielder Marty Reyes (.061, 0 HR, 2 RBI) that allows Washington's Jeremy Houghtaling (.272, 20 HR, 71 RBI) to score.
August 25 – The Warriors trade 1B Danny Lane (.240, 12 HR, 59 RBI) to the Capitals for SP Antonio Quintana (6-8, 4.24 ERA).
August 25 – The Stars smack down the Wolves in a 17-4 rout, including a 7-run seventh in which DAL 3B Carlos Padilla (.237, 8 HR, 49 RBI) chips in a pinch-hit grand slam off SAL MR Cameron Cherry (3-0, 3.38 ERA).
August 27 – LAP SP Gavin Lee (17-4, 2.85 ERA) 1-hits the Rebels in a 4-0 Pacifics win. RIC RF/CF Dan Dalton (.293, 6 HR, 40 RBI) hits a single in the first inning, which remains the Rebels' only knock in the game.
August 27 – WAS SP Graham Wasserman (8-8, 4.55 ERA) is out with a torn flexor tendon. Whether the 37-year-old right-hander will even come back after the estimated 10 months it will take to recover is up in the air.
August 28 – DEN RF/LF Vinny Chavira (.276, 18 HR, 88 RBI) will be out for four weeks with an elbow strain.
August 28 – OCT 2B/SS Alex Serrato (.272, 17 HR, 62 RBI) might be out for the season with a strained hip muscle.
August 28 – The Capitals also might have lost INF Dave Menth (.320, 18 HR, 75 RBI) for the year after the 30-year-old jammed and sprained his thumb sliding into a base.

Complaints and stuff

Before I begin, let me assure you that all the points I am making are in full agreement with my honest and proud council, lined up on the and next to the good old brown couch. (points at Cristiano Carmona still wiping his wet eyes, the Druid staring blankly into space, Chad nodding repetitively while wearing the giant mascot head, and Slappy toasting approvingly with a bottle of booze)

Recurring back spasms are the greatest thing to have for a 21-year-old sterling shortstop. Also, Maud hid the bleach again, which kept me from treating my own core pain over this development.

Saturday was the eighth save of the year for Josh Boles, and the 10th for his career. Mind he's only 23, and he keeps looking very Thrasheresque with those 13 K/9. Also mind he was a trash heap pickup in the spring of 2024 after having been released by the Warriors.

Thanks to this week's soul-clenching performance by the team, they could grab that 4,000th regular season loss as early as next weekend. We polled by dropping either green balls for good things to happen, or red balls for certain doom into a cookie jar, and there are now four red balls in there, while it seems like Chad ate the balls he got for the purpose.

Next week, Condors and Indians. The Coons need to win two from Tijuana to begin the week to prevent a losing August, which would be their first losing month this season. Do we need - … anybody feel like they want to change their vote? (holds up cookie jar) – Seems like nobo- … what is… Chad, why are you nodding?? YOU DIDN'T EVEN VOTE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!

Fun Fact: 38 years ago this Friday, Jason Turner no-hit the Thunder in a 3-0 Raccoons win.

Now, that was back then the second ever Raccoons no-hitter after Juan Berrios' in 1977. What a lineup that was back then. Glenn Johnston, Matt Higgins, Daniel Hall, Tetsu Osanai, Mark Dawson, Antonio Gonzalez, Sam Dadswell, Daniel Dumont (…?), and, well, Turner, who later in the season would toss eight innings of 1-hit ball to beat the Knights in Game 7 of the CLCS.

Glenn Johnston chipped in three hits, including a 2-run homer off Domingo León, and on that August 27, 1989 we felt really good about what an awesome centerfielder we had found that would serve us forever and ever.

And then came October, Ed Parrell's fly in the 14th of Game 6, and a spiked lance rammed right through every decent Coons fan's heart.