[Westheim]

Raccoons (62-49) vs. Crusaders (47-63) – August 11-14, 2036

The Raccoons had both a 10-game winning streak and a 9-2 edge in the season series against the Crusaders, without a doubt setting them up for a 4-game sweep to begin the middle week of August. The Crusaders sat fifth in runs scored, but were bleeding the most runs in the league and had a -73 run differential. Their rotation was in the bottom three, their pen was even worse, and their crummy defense had certainly a hand in their pitchers’ misfortunes.

Projected matchups:
Jared Ottinger (4-3, 3.92 ERA) vs. Joe Hicks (7-5, 4.40 ERA)
Gilberto Rendon (3-7, 5.16 ERA) vs. Eddie Cannon (7-10, 4.90 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (6-6, 3.76 ERA) vs. Geoff Whitehouse (10-3, 3.45 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (8-8, 3.09 ERA) vs. Keith Black (6-11, 5.04 ERA)

The Crusaders had only right-handed pitchers to offer.

Game 1
NYC: LF Salto – SS Obando – 2B M. Hurtado – RF Chavira – 1B K. Henderson – C Brooks – 3B Hansen – CF Balado – P Hicks
POR: 3B Downs – LF Hooge – RF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – C Morales – 2B Vickers – SS Nickas – 1B Maruyama – P Ottinger

As the series began I was totally in cahoots with the thousands of screaming kids in the ballpark who all wanted to see as much baseball and winning out of “Ottie” was possible, since our pen was still somewhat reeling from the busy last week that culminated with an 11-inning win on Sunday. Ottinger got around Vinny Chavira’s and Kumanosuke Henderson’s leadoff singles in the second inning to strand them in scoring position, then got a 2-0 lead served in the bottom of the inning when Fowler legged out an infield single and Rich Vickers took Hicks deep to right for his fifth homer of the year. The Critters added a whole bunch in the following inning, beginning with Ed Hooge’s eighth homer, 3-0, then put Fernandez and Fowler on base again. Fernandez stole two bases and scored on a Morales single, while Steve Nickas got his first career RBI with a single up the middle, scoring Justin Fowler. A walk to Maruyama with two outs loaded the bases for Ottinger, and while the assembled youth of Portland screamed their little lungs out for him to hit a homer, Ottie flew out to Chavira in rightfield, keeping the score at 5-0.

Things then went pear-shaped immediately, with leadoff walks to Mario Hurtado and Chavira in the fourth, a Henderson RBI double and Jeremiah Brooks’ sac fly, then a wild pitch that moved Henderson to third base. John Hansen flew out to center, but Fowler unleashed the worst throw ever seen, allowing Henderson to score, 5-3, then proceeded immediately to the dugout, holding his backside. Jesus Maldonado replaced the brittle old man in the cleanup slot… Hicks was gone soon after, being replaced when Ed Hooge hit another solo homer off him in the bottom of the fourth.

Ottie became increasingly unglued, conceding a leadoff single to relief pitcher Gabriel Recio in the fifth. While Graciano Salto hit into a force at second base, then was caught stealing by Tony Morales, and then Ottinger still managed to stir panic with a pair of 2-out walks. The Coons dragged Ottie through six innings before Justin Marsingill batted for him and made the second out in the bottom 6th. After that, they suddenly filled the bags against Recio, and Maldonado squeezed a 2-out single through the left side to plate Adam Downs with a run, 7-3, before Morales grounded out to strand the bases loaded. It didn’t matter, though – the Raccoons’ pen took over and straight-up dominated the Crusaders lineup. Dusty Kulp, Mauricio Garavito, and Antonio Prieto saw four, two, and three New York batters, respectively, and retired all of them to finish the game. 7-3 Raccoons. Hooge 2-2, 3 BB, 2 HR, 2 RBI; M. Fernandez 2-5; Fowler 1-1, BB; Nickas 3-4, RBI;

Justin Fowler, the old man, had a sore back and would be hampered enough for a few days that he was better relegated to maintaining the snacks bar in the dugout – once more the Coons were down to three healthy guys on the bench.

Game 2
NYC: 3B Hansen – SS Obando – 2B M. Hurtado – RF Chavira – 1B K. Henderson – C Brooks – LF Malo – CF Balado – P E. Cannon
POR: 3B Downs – 2B Vickers – LF Hooge – RF M. Fernandez – C Morales – 1B Maruyama – SS Nickas – CF Maldonado – P Rendon

Nick Valdes dropped in just in time to witness his 11-times-straight-winners team concede a first inning run without the benefit of a hit for the Crusaders. Rendon walked two, Maruyama chipped in an error, and Rendon uncorked a wild pitch to Brooks, who eventually struck out to strand Chavira and Henderson on base. Nothing came of a Hurtado error in the bottom 1st, but Maruyama and Nickas hit singles in the bottom 2nd to create an on-base presence. Maldonado hit into a fielder’s choice, bringing Rendon up with runners on the corners and two outs. Brooks then fumbled the first pitch for a passed ball, allowing Maruyama across and tying a so far dismal game at one. Valdes gave me a look and I pretended not to notice it. Rendon then grounded out.

New York was up 4-1 in the third then; John Hansen singled and advanced on two outs before scoring on a Chavira single. Henderson took Rendon *well* deep to left-center. But Ed Hooge continued his own power surge, finding Adam Downs on base with a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning and hitting another bomb off an unassuming Crusaders pitcher to narrow the gap to 4-3. Nick Valdes said something that he hoped the Raccoons wouldn’t lose with their dear leader in town, which made me give him a look he pretended not to notice. Slappy sat between us on the brown couch and was entirely amused. The Coons tied the game in the same inning; Fernandez reached with a 1-out single, advanced on Morales’ groundout, then scored on Maruyama’s single to center. Even better – Maruyama advanced on another passed ball, then was singled home by the newest toy in the box, Steve Nickas, giving the Critters a 5-4 lead. Cannon was battered for more 2-out singles by Maldonado, Rendon (!), and Downs, the latter two each scoring a run, before being yanked in a 7-4 game. Gabe McGill then lasted two pitches before serving up a 430-foot bomb to Rich Vickers, 10-4! Nick Valdes applauded enthusiastically two spots over on the couch, and even Honeypaws seemed to wag his striped tail.

The inning didn’t end until Hooge doubled and scored on a Fernandez single, and then Morales was the final out (after having been the second out, too) with a grounder to McGill. It was 11-4 and the Coons’ streak seemed safe for the day. In fact, both teams were thoroughly exhausted by it all now – NOBODY reached base for the entirety of the middle innings! However, that was also all that there was to get out of Rendon, with the early innings and strong nine strikeouts having sapped him for 99 pitches, a.k.a. pretty much all he had. It wasn’t a problem – Antonio Prieto and David Fernandez split the last nine outs between them, spilling only one base runner. The Coons got Maruyama on in the seventh by being nailed, Triolo in the eighth with a single, and both times hit into a double play, and it was still FINE. 11-4 Raccoons! Downs 2-5, 2B, RBI; Hooge 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; M. Fernandez 2-5, RBI; Maruyama 2-3, RBI; Nickas 2-4, RBI; Triolo 1-1;

Nick Valdes now declared himself the Raccoons’ good luck charm and that he would stay the rest of the homestand.

I don’t know, Nick, they won 11 without you… - Are you sure you don’t have to manage a project somewhere? – I don’t think that isolated tribe in Bolivia will evict themselves from their land to allow for your mining operations there…

Nope, he stayed. I had a sense of foreboding.

Game 3
NYC: LF Salto – SS Obando – 2B M. Hurtado – 1B K. Henderson – C Brooks – 3B Hansen – RF H. Saito – CF Balado – P Whitehouse
POR: 3B Downs – 2B Vickers – LF Hooge – RF M. Fernandez – C Morales – 1B Maruyama – CF Maldonado – SS Triolo – P Sabre

Things came apart at once for Sabre, who allowed singles to Salto and Obando, walked Hurtado and Henderson, conceded another run on a groundout by Brooks, then nailed John Hansen to restock the bases. Hirofumi Saito lined out to Maruyama in a scary at-bat, and Jose Balado grounded out to Downs, so the Coons emerged badly scuffed, but only 2-0 down. A throwing error by Triolo that put Whitehouse on second base to begin the next inning wasn’t exactly how we imagined to proceed from there, but Valdes was undeterred and was sure that he would bring the team good luck and a sure win. While Maldonado singled home Tony Morales in the bottom 2nd to narrow the gap to 2-1, Raffaello Sabre sure pitched like completely stale arse. He threw *63* pitches in two innings, all of them dismal, and continued to end up behind EVERY batter he faced. Somehow, the Critters still scratched out a tie by the fourth with sound defense and Fernandez and Maruyama base hits in that inning, and then kept hitting against Whitehouse. Maldonado hit another 1-out single, and Triolo got a ball past John Hansen and into leftfield for another single. Maruyama was waved around and scored, 3-2, with the other runners advancing into scoring position. With runners on second and third, one out, and Sabre being as **** as he was, there was some serious consideration to pinch-hitting for him – and the Coons did. 91 pitches in, Sabre was yanked. Justin Fowler grabbed a stick, popped out, Downs did the same, and that could have gone better.

Casey Moore then blew the lead immediately by walking Obando, allowing a double to Hurtado, a sac fly to tie, and a groundout to get the Crusaders ahead again, 4-3. Saito doubled, Salto singled off Moore for more in the fifth, 5-3. Meanwhile the Raccoons took the middle innings off, not reaching scoring position again until the bottom 7th when Downs singled and Vickers walked with one out to chase Whitehouse and bring in J.D. Hamm against Hooge as the go-ahead run at the plate. Hooge flew out easily to Salto, while Fernandez hit a fly to right – but that one wasn’t caught, that one was GONE!! 2-out, 3-run homer by Manny Fernandez, and the Critters were up again, 6-5! Nick Valdes told me that he’d told me, but I was anxiously peeking at my personal lineup card and how our options were diminishing fast, although there WAS the option of “simply” using Wise and Soung to get out of this game. Wise allowed a leadoff single to Hansen in the eighth, but then tip-toed around that, while the offense did nothing in the bottom of the inning. Yeom Soung was up against the top of the order in the ninth, so Valdes naturally proclaimed that nothing could go wrong anymore. At this point I resorted to squeezing Honeypaws and closing my eyes because I could see the world burn before my eyes – but “The Warden” kept the Crusaders locked in, ending the game on two grounders and a K to Hurtado. 6-5 Critters! M. Fernandez 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Maldonado 2-4, RBI;

13 wins in a row!

If only our pen wasn’t constantly overworked……

Game 4
NYC: LF Salto – SS Obando – 2B M. Hurtado – RF Chavira – C Brooks – 3B Hansen – 1B Malo – CF Balado – P Black
POR: 3B Downs – LF Hooge – RF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – C Morales – 2B Vickers – 1B Maldonado – SS Nickas – P Chavez

Bernie retired the first ten Crusaders before Obando singled, stole second, and was stranded, but the Raccoons were also stymied by Keith Black, who allowed only one base hit the first time through. Ed Hooge then opened the fourth with a single to right, and Manny Fernandez added another one, bringing up Fowler, who felt a little less old today and could be pencilled into the lineup once again. He also struck out, Morales flew out, and Vickers grounded out to not plate anybody. The Coons only got a lead on Jesus Maldonado’s leadoff jack in the bottom 5th, with Valdes jumping up and clapping his hands like a mad man.

The Coons then had Fernandez and Fowler in scoring position on a pair of singles in the bottom 6th. Chavira’s over-ambitious throw to third base on Fowler’s single allowed the trailing runner to scoot up, too, and Morales would bat with one out. His liner to deep left was caught by Salto, but that was deep enough for Fernandez to chug home, 2-0, before Vickers walked. Maldonado then fouled out, stranding two in a 2-0 game. And Bernie? He was doing *fine*. Two hits, six strikeouts, 90 pitches through seven innings, and he was not currently a concern – but then why do I feel doom approaching? Bernie retired Hansen and Caleb Malo on grounders, then Balado on a pop in the eighth, maintaining the 2-0 edge, but was now also at 102 pitches, and it was sure *dicey*. An insurance run or two would go a long way to make us more comfy about sending him back out in the ninth! Keith Black, however, said no, retired the 2-3-4 in order, and it was 2-0 in the ninth. With Hirofumi Saito, a lefty batter, pinch-hitting for Black to begin the inning, the Coons definitely made the switch to Soung. Portland also replaced Fowler with Maldonado for defense, Maruyama taking over first base. That didn’t factor as Soung struck out Saito, or as Salto flew out to left. Obando then singled, bringing up Hurtado as the tying run. Like the day before, Soung carved him up on strikes. 2-0 Furballs! M. Fernandez 2-4; Vickers 1-2, BB; Chavez 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, W (9-8);

14 wins in a row! Will wonders ever cease!?

At least the homestand ceased, Valdes shook my paw for six minutes on the way out and to Bolivia where he’d displace poor Indios for profit, and the Raccoons had to pack up to head out to Sioux Falls.

Raccoons (66-49) @ Warriors (58-55) – August 15-17, 2036

The Warriors were doing respectably, but were 14 games out in an FL West that had long gotten away from them. They were right around the middle of the pack in runs scored and runs allowed in the Federal League, with a +4 run differential. Their offense was weirdly reliant on the long ball – they led the FL in that category with 99 bombs, but were last in stolen bases, and only ninth in batting average. The Raccoons hadn’t faced them in three years and hadn’t won a series from them since *2020*! Not exactly ideal circumstances to extend the streak to 15 and beyond, especially with what we’re opening the series with…

Projected matchups:
Darren Brown (3-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. Jose Medina (9-8, 4.31 ERA)
Jared Ottinger (5-3, 3.97 ERA) vs. Tony Galligher (9-6, 2.21 ERA)
Gilberto Rendon (4-7, 5.12 ERA) vs. Francisco Colmenarez (4-8, 5.60 ERA)

In a stark change to how the week began, these were all left-handed starters.

Game 1
POR: SS Downs – 2B Vickers – LF M. Fernandez – CF Fowler – RF Pinkerton – 1B Maldonado – C Wall – 3B Marsingill – P Brown
SFW: RF Stross – SS Matos – 2B Colon – LF M. Hernandez – C McCullar – 3B Rozenboom – 1B Sheaffer – CF P. Cisneros – P J. Medina

Justin Fowler’s 19th homer cashed Manny Fernandez and allowed Darren Brown to take the mound with a 2-0 lead. He sure didn’t hold on to it for long, walking Doug Stross to begin the game, although Mario Colon would double off the runner to end the inning. Melvin Hernandez’ single and Nick Rozenboom’s homer in the bottom 2nd however tied the game, and the Warriors weren’t gonna stop there. A walk to Jesus Matos in the bottom 3rd was followed by 2-out doubles by both Hernandez and Ethan McCullar, putting them 4-2 ahead before Rozenboom struck out.

While Justin Marsingill cashed in Kurt Wall and his double with a 2-out single in the bottom 4th to half the distance to the Warriors, Brown remained reliably awful and the Raccoons looked at their pen, sorting through arms and how much more they could take. Fortunately only Yeom Soung was “only available in dire straits” after Bernie’s strong outing on Thursday. Unfortunately, in a 4-3 game, the move wasn’t made in time, Brown continued to ****tily dawdle along, with Rozenboom hitting a leadoff single in the bottom 6th before being forced on Travis Sheaffer’s grounder. Pedro Cisneros crushed a baseball to center for a 2-run homer, and that seemed to bury the Coons for good, 6-3. Kurt Wall getting nicked by Jeremy Truett was all the Coons’ offense in the seventh inning, but when Casey Moore returned to the mound the fireworks restarted. Jesus Matos singled, Mario Colon homered, and it was 8-3. David Fernandez and Antonio Prieto came apart for another run in the eighth, and the Raccoons never did anything to stave off the end of the winning streak. 9-3 Warriors. Triolo (PH) 1-1; Wall 1-2, 2B; Marsingill 2-3, RBI;

Emptiness.*

Darren Brown (3-4, 5.19 ERA) was beaten to death the same night, or at least I exercised for it my angrily stabbing my steak in the hotel restaurant, 47 times. He was however sent to St. Petersburg, never to return. The Raccoons recalled Josh Livingston.

Game 2
POR: 3B Downs – 2B Vickers – LF Hooge – CF Fowler – RF Pinkerton – C Morales – 1B Maldonado – SS Nickas – P Ottinger
SFW: RF Stross – SS Matos – 2B Colon – LF M. Hernandez – C McCullar – 3B Rozenboom – 1B Sheaffer – CF P. Cisneros – P Galligher

Doug Stross had a noisy collision at second base in the bottom of the first that left the Warriors’ veteran in considerable discomfort and eventually replaced by Josh Hatfield – at least he had broken up the double play on Matos’ grounder. The Warriors would fill them up on a Colon single and Ottinger nailing Hernandez, but only got a sac fly from McCullar before Rozenboom grounded out to end the inning. The game got entirely out of hand in the bottom of the second inning, despite a good start. Galligher’s bad bunt forced out Cisneros and left the pitcher to run on first base with two outs. Ottinger collapsed after a double hit by Hatfield when Vickers threw away Matos’ grounder for a run-scoring error. Ottinger threw eight straight balls, walking in one run, then conceded another two on McCullar and Rozenboom singles before Sheaffer flew out to Pinkerton. All four runs were unearned, but it was still a 5-0 game and nobody was happy … except probably the Warriors’ fans.

The Raccoons were largely silent until the fifth inning, when Maldonado singled and stole second base. McCullar’s throwing error allowed him to reach third base, from where he scored on Nickas’ groundout. Ottinger then hit a 2-out single, his second single in the game – if only he had been as good on the mound… – which was followed by a Downs single and a Vickers double off the fence in leftfield. Hooge grounded out to Matos, ending the inning with a 5-3 score. Two runs had been unearned in this case, so it was an earned 1-1 tie. How consoling!

Even though the Warriors had them in scoring position with one out in the bottom 7th after another Vickers error amidst some incendiary pitching by Dusty Kulp, Mauricio Garavito would strand those runners, getting a pop from pinch-hitting ex-Coon Toby Ross, as well as a fly out to Hooge from Cisneros. Rich Vickers, desperate to redeem himself after witnessing the example made out of Darren Brown the night before, opened the eighth with a jack off Galligher, narrowing the score to 5-4. Fowler and Morales hit singles before Manny Fernandez batted for Garavito in the #7 hole … and struck out to end the inning. The Coons would see right-hander Chris Henry in the top of the ninth, with a 2.74 ERA and just over nine strikeouts per nine innings – and he retired Nickas, Maruyama, and Marsingill in order. 5-4 Warriors. Vickers 3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Morales 2-4;

Game 3
POR: 3B Downs – LF Hooge – CF Fowler – RF M. Fernandez – 1B Maruyama – C Wall – SS Nickas – 2B Marsingill – P Rendon
SFW: RF R. Miller jr. – SS Matos – 2B Colon – LF M. Hernandez – C McCullar – 3B Rozenboom – 1B Sheaffer – CF P. Cisneros – P Colmenarez

For the second time in the series, Justin Fowler hit a 2-run bomb in the first inning, this time cashing in Ed Hooge, who had however forced out Downs after his leadoff single. Manny Fernandez tripled and Maruyama walked thereafter, but Wall lined out on a 3-1 pitch and the third run scored only on a wild pitch by Colmenarez before Nickas struck out. While the Critters didn’t score any more off Colmenarez in the next innings, they sure ran up his pitch count as he walked four and struck out six through four innings. Rendon meanwhile looked solid until he didn’t; Mario Colon homered with one out in the bottom 4th, and then McCullar doubled and Rozenboom singled with two outs. A passed ball allowed another run across, 3-2, before Sheaffer struck out.

Colmenarez reached 100 pitches by walking Maruyama for the third time in the top of the fifth. That was with two outs and Fowler already on base after a 1-out single, but Kurt Wall grounded out to short to end the inning. The Warriors’ left-handed did bat for himself (and struck out for the 100th K for Rendon this year) in the bottom 5th, only to give up leadoff singles to Nickas and Marsingill in the sixth. He received Rendon’s bunt, then was ordered to walk Downs before being lifted for Truett against Ed Hooge, who hit into a disastrous 3-6-1 double play. The Critters wrung out Rendon for six and two thirds as well as 108 pitches with two final, drawn-out fly outs by the 7-8 batters in the order, then replaced him with Prieto for PH Seth Salmonsen. Derek Barker held the Coons short for the last two innings of regulation, while Chris Wise had gone 1-2-3 against that same part of the Warriors’ lineup in the bottom of the eighth. It was Yeom Soung after that, and he got a pop from Hernandez, a grounder from McCullar, and strike three called against Rozenboom. 3-2 Raccoons. Fowler 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Maruyama 0-1, 3 BB; Rendon 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (5-7);

In other news

August 11 – IND SP Andy Bressner (11-8, 2.68 ERA) pitches a 3-hit shutout with six strikeouts against the Titans, claiming the 4-0 victory.
August 12 – PIT 1B Danny Santillano (.290, 14 HR, 69 RBI) knocks his 2,000th career hit in a 5-2 loss to the Cyclones. The Miners’ serial Player of the Year (six batting titles and five MVPs), who has a career .339 average with 272 homers and 989 RBI and a .975 OPS, hits an eighth-inning single off CIN MR Tim Zimmerman (1-2, 3.30 ERA) for the milestone.
August 12 – A separated shoulder puts Denver outfielder Kyle Beard (.324, 8 HR, 59 RBI) on the DL for six weeks.
August 17 – Boston will be without OF Willie Vega (.235, 10 HR, 58 RBI) for up to a month. The 29-year-old was out with a broken foot.

Complaints and stuff

We are now an entirely bonkers 13-2 against the Crusaders this season. Despite this and a 14-game winning streak that ended prematurely at the blood-stained paws of Darren Brown, the Raccoons barely matched the Titans’ pace this week. Boston had an off day (lucky bastards) and won four games, so we inched to within three games of them. The damn Elks are 10 out and pretend they are valid, but they’re not, while the other half of the division had entirely descended into the abyss. They’re all the Loggers now.

Tim Stalker comes back from the torn quad on Monday, but will be sent for rehab first to get him warmed up. He might rejoin the team on the weekend in Boston for what will surely be a fun series… In between, we skip home to face the Blue Sox (and finally get a day off!!) in the last regular season interleague set of the year.

Wasn’t that carefully worded? A thing of linguistic beauty!

No, Ed, I didn’t say linguine. – No, I don’t have linguine. – No, also no other noodles of any sort, on my body, or in my pockets. – WILL YOU STOP CLIMBING UP MY LEG??

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are first in defense in the Continental League!

Which isn’t something you’d expect from having a 34-year-old centerfielder or 38-year-old middle infielder. Granted, it helps that they’re injured so often…

Then there’s also Saturday’s game, which wasn’t exactly an advertisement for that #1 defense…

But Cristiano says our .716 defensive efficiency is the best by a good margin (seven points over Vegas) in the CL, and were’ having among the best zone rating in the league. While our CS% remains pitiful (24.1%), we really (normally) cut down on the errors, with only 59 fielding mishaps charged to defenders. Only the Bayhawks are significantly better in the CL (49), but they’re having other problems entirely…

+++

*Winning this one would have meant a missing Steam achievement for 15 straight wins, which wouldn’t be bad to have after TWENTY MILLION HOURS in the game. **** you Darren Brown. **** you.

Also, I was tangled up with Civ 6 quite a bit the last week or so; I blame the new bits of DLC that keep that bloody time sink interesting. The Coons are not forgotten though :-P

And no, I didn’t get any achievements in Civ either…