[Westheim]

Raccoons (12-12) @ Crusaders (13-11) – May 4-6, 2043

Winners of four in a row, the Crusaders welcomed the Raccoons for the first set of the year between these two teams. New York was third from the bottom in runs scored, but scoring off them was just as hard; they had a +1 run differential (Coons: +5). More low-scoring games, anyone? And while the Coons loved to steal bases, the Crusaders were in that game even more, leading the league with 31 bags in 24 games. The Coons had taken home the season series last year, 10-8.

Projected matchups:
Jake White (0-1, 7.20 ERA) vs. Jeff Johnson (1-3, 7.25 ERA)
Jake Jackson (3-2, 4.66 ERA) vs. Ernie Quintero (3-0, 3.19 ERA)
Brent Clark (1-2, 6.66 ERA) vs. Paul Paris (2-2, 3.55 ERA)

We’d see all right-handers here.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – CF Nettles – RF Waltz – SS Castro – C Sieber – P White
NYC: SS Adame – 2B Briones – RF Platero – CF Melendez – 3B Nash – 1B Rudd – LF Graf – C H. Alvarez – P J. Johnson

Players went 0-for-15 with two walks issued by White the first time through both orders until Jeff Johnson singled up the middle to begin the bottom 3rd, which was swiftly followed by Alex Adame’s single, then a four-pitch walk to Mario Briones. Hooray, trouble! Jose Platero hit a sac fly to center, after which the remaining runners, with the pitcher roadblock removed, pulled off a double steal. That turned out not to factor into the line score much in the end – Bill Melendez rammed a 2-1 pitch by White outta here anyway. The Raccoons reached both the H and R columns on Manny Fernandez’ solo homer to right in the next half-inning, reducing the New Yorkers’ lead all the way to 4-1… The Coons would get Jimenez and Maldo on base to begin the sixth inning, but then Manny lined out to Briones, and Nettles bounced into a 4-6-3 double play. Waltz and Sieber were on base in the seventh inning; de Wit batted for White, who did not allow a run outside the damn third inning, but whiffed for the second out, while Carreno lined up the middle – and that ball was spectacularly caught by Alex Adame…! The Raccoons couldn’t get a break… and they were out-hitting the Crusaders, 6-4, but still trailed 4-1. The Crusaders also didn’t get another hit against Sauerkraut and Seth Green, who partitioned the seventh and eighth innings between them in a 1:2 ratio, but neither did the Critters against Johnson, who was replaced with closer Andy Hyden for the ninth inning, the Coons bringing up the 5-6-7 batters. Nettles grounded out. Gutierrez batted for Waltz and walked, but Jose Castro, in an entirely anemic rut, flew out to Bill Melendez. Van Anderson batted for Sieber against the right-hander… and ended the game with a strikeout. 4-1 Crusaders. Sieber 2-3;

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – RF Nettles – 1B Yamamoto – C Kilmer – SS Castro – P Jackson
NYC: SS Adame – C Alba – RF Platero – 2B Briones – CF Graf – 2B Nash – LF Rudd – 3B Melendez – P E. Quintero

Four singles and two stolen bases gave the Raccoons three runs in the top of the first inning; Carreno, Maldo, Nettles, and Yamamoto all landed base hits, the first two got a stolen base in, and the last two split the RBI’s, two for Stephon Nettles and one for Yamamoto, who drove in Nettles after the latter advanced to second base on Tom Rudd’s late throw to home plate that was too late to snatch Maldonado. Maldo would score again in the third inning, whacking a leadoff double over Joe Graf and scoring on two well-placed groundouts to extend the lead to 4-0, while Jackson, who had been shackled two starts in a row, was just *fine* the first time through, yielding two hits and allowing no runs to the Crusaders. Maldo hit *another* double in the fifth, but then with two outs and nobody on, and was also stranded when Manny couldn’t break out of his own funk.

Jackson had broken out though and cruised through the innings until Tom Rudd tagged him with a leadoff double to right in the eighth inning. John Davis batted for Quintero and got a single through the right side to score Rudd with one out, and while he was out on Adame’s fielder’s choice grounder, the Raccoons then moved to the pen, selecting Chuck Jones against Fernando Alba, hitting .386 with three homers from the left side. Jackson was on 100 pitches anyway. Alba singled to right-center against Jones, who got out of the inning anyway when Adame was slapped out on Nettles’ throw in a vigorously disputed close call at third base. The ninth was then Rella’s, with the Raccoons having done their best hibernation dance again in the last four innings of batting. Briones doubled to left with one out, Graf walked in a full count, and Randolph Nash sent another deep fly to left – but Manny had it at the fence. Tom Rudd was the tying run with two outs then, hitting .225 from the left side. He struck out. 4-1 Raccoons. Maldonado 3-4, 2 2B; Jackson 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (4-2);

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – RF Nettles – 1B Yamamoto – C Kilmer – SS Gutierrez – P Clark
NYC: SS Adame – 2B Briones – RF Platero – CF Melendez – LF J. Davis – 3B Nash – 1B Rudd – C H. Alvarez – P Paris

Brent Clark hit a single in the third inning, which gave him more base hits than the Crusaders had the first time through. Briones singled in the fourth inning off Clark, so that was that, while the Raccoons scattered four singles in four innings, always finding a way into a double play when it counted. Maldo hit into a two-for-one in the first, and Manny, still in a dire slump, did so in the fourth. Yamamoto hit a leadoff single to left in the fifth, and Kilmer also grounded to left, but into a 6-4-3 double play. Oh well, send Clark to the rescue! After Omar Gutierrez walked with two outs in the top 5th, Clark ripped a Paris fastball to deep right, high, and gone – home run! Brent Clark! Outta here! … I hugged a stocky red-haired lady on the concourse in utter excitement. She was a Crusaders fan though, and hit me with her purse until a guard intervened.

The Coons had more runners on base in the sixth. Jimenez opened with a double to left, while Maldo walked. Manny hit a liner – right at Adame for the first out. He couldn’t get a break…! A full-count walk to Nettles loaded the bases with one gone, but Yamamoto fanned and Kilmer grounded out to Nash… Platero and Melendez hit back-to-back 2-out singles in the bottom 6th in turn, but were stranded on Davis’ groundout. A leadoff double off the fence in right by Gutierrez was also wasted.

Clark was done after seven innings, with Alex Ramirez filling the eighth inning with competence and another goose egg on the scoreboard for New York. Josh Rella was out for the ninth again, but pulled the tying run to the plate right away with a leadoff walk to Davis. Alba batted for Nash, but grounded into a double play, getting that tying run off the plate again. Rudd grounded out, making the last out for the second game in a row. 2-0 Critters. Jimenez 3-4, 2B; Gutierrez 2-4, 2B; Clark 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, W (2-2) and 2-3, HR, 2 RBI;

Paul Paris went the distance for a complete-game 9-hitter on the losing end while the Raccoons were left wondering why they didn’t just fill their lineup with pitchers…

Thursday was off – with Cory Lambert expected back in time to make the start the next time a fifth starter would be needed, the Raccoons sent Jake White (0-2, 6.55 ERA) back to AAA. Since the pen *right now* was doing alright, the Raccoons did not go for an eighth reliever, but instead opted for a left-handed bat from AAA, bringing up 1B Art Goetz, who was hitting .146 with the Alley Cats. That was with a .138 BABIP.

Raccoons (14-13) @ Scorpions (15-13) – May 8-10, 2043

Both teams were in fourth place, but the Scorpions were actually scoring the most runs in the Federal League, while giving up the fifth-most. Their rotation was the worst in the league with an ERA of almost five. We had lost two of three against them last year.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (2-2, 2.51 ERA) vs. Craig Czyszczon (2-4, 5.17 ERA)
Corey Mathers (3-2, 2.60 ERA) vs. Josh Vercher (1-2, 5.01 ERA)
Jake Jackson (4-2, 3.93 ERA) vs. Ruben Guzman (2-0, 4.83 ERA)

Again, no southpaw to square off against.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – RF Nettles – 1B Yamamoto – C Kilmer – SS Gutierrez – P Wheatley
SAC: SS Banuelas – 3B Copeland – 1B E. Moreno – RF Porfirio – LF Preble – 2B A. Cedillo – CF Rogers – C Graham – P Czyszczon

Sebastian Copeland doubled to left, and Wheatley was generally off and walked Joreao Porfirio with two outs and Copeland at third base, then threw a wild pitch that almost took out Mike Preble’s legs, and surely scored Copeland for the first run of the game. Preble grounded out to end the inning, but it only got worse from here. Wheatley was taken deep by Alfonso Cedillo to begin the bottom 2nd, then had two outs in the second when a Maldonado error put the opposing pitcher on base. Wheatley allowed a single to Jesus Banuelas, then another screaming double for two more runs to Copeland. A rattled Wheatley walked Eddie Moreno before Porfirio flew out to Nettles on another 3-1 pitch… Down 4-0, the Raccoons looked like they had already lost. There would be another run off Wheatley, who allowed hits to Czyszczon and Banuelas in the fourth inning, then a Moreno sac fly, to fall 5-0 behind (three earned), but was not back for the fifth inning, while the Coons had nothing off Czyszczon through four innings, but then hit straight singles with their 6-7-8 hitters to begin the fifth inning. That of course forced Wheatley from the game, with Jay de Wit hitting for him and grounding into a fielder’s choice at second base, scoring Yamamoto. Carreno flew out too softly to be useful, but Ricky Jimenez hit an RBI single through the left side. Maldonado struck out to end the inning, still down 5-2.

The Raccoons went to Sauerkraut for long relief (or two innings anyway), while Manny hit a jack to right leading off the sixth, narrowing the gap to two runs, briefly, with Sauerkraut suffering a Gutierrez error in the bottom of the inning, with Andy Graham then scoring on Banuelas’ single off Jon Craig. That run, too, was unearned, and the Coons trailed by three, or as many runs as were unearned for the Scorpions. That problem solved itself with Alex Ramirez on the mound in the bottom of the seventh. Porfirio walked, Preble singled, and Phil Rogers whacked a 3-piece to left. Porfirio hit another 2-piece off Ramirez in the eighth inning as things kept coming apart entirely. The Raccoons loaded the bases in the ninth with three pinch-hitters reaching base – but Maldonado lined out to Rikuto Ito, ex-Coon, in right to end the game. 11-3 Scorpions. Fernandez 2-4, HR, RBI; Kilmer 2-4; Castro (PH) 1-1; Goetz (PH) 1-1;

You know what’s funny? We out-hit the Scorpions, 11-10. This team is finding every opponent’s big spot it can, but can never convert their own chances….

Frustration.

…at least Jose Castro broke an 0-for-21 spell….

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – RF Nettles – C Kilmer – 1B Goetz – SS Castro – P Mathers
SAC: SS Banuelas – 3B Copeland – 1B E. Moreno – RF Porfirio – LF Preble – 2B A. Cedillo – CF Rogers – C Graham – P Vercher

Vercher hit Ricky Jimenez and yielded 2-out singles to Manny and Nettles in the first inning, but Kilmer struck out, and so another nine innings of frustration began. Jose Castro kept climbing back to .200 with a home run in the second, though, putting Portland up 1-0 before Mathers slapped a shy single, then scored on a Carreno triple in left-center. Ricky Jimenez was robbed in the gap by Preble, but easily brought home Carreno with the sac fly, 3-0. That 3-spot was also the only Coons offense worth putting in the books through five innings against Vercher, while Mathers scattered runners at a steady rate, but got two double plays to help out with three hits and two walks through five innings of shutout ball.

Banuelas opened the sixth inning with a single to right, and had 15 stolen bases on the year. Mathers watched him closely while Copeland popped out, Moreno whiffed, and then Banuelas still stole #16 off him. Porfirio grounded out to end the sixth, though. The Coons reached the corners with another Castro single and Vercher hitting Jimenez for the second time in the seventh, but Maldonado then made a sad last out, and the score remained 3-0; same in the eighth when Manny and Goetz were on the corners, and Castro struck out to keep them there.

Mathers lasted eight innings, scattering a total of seven base hits for no runs whatsoever, though. Rella did the rest. 3-0 Critters. Jimenez 1-2, RBI; Fernandez 2-4; Kilmer 2-4; Castro 2-4, HR, RBI; Mathers 8.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (4-2) and 1-2;

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B de Wit – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 1B Yamamoto – SS Castro – RF Waltz – C Sieber – P Jackson
SAC: SS Banuelas – 3B Copeland – 1B E. Moreno – RF Porfirio – LF Preble – 2B A. Cedillo – CF Rogers – C Graham – P R. Guzman

Banuelas tripled and Copeland singled him home for the first run of the game in the bottom 3rd. The Raccoons and Scorpions were both on three hits and a double play, but we had lacked the fortune of a triple through three innings. Manny’s leadoff single and stolen base in the fourth only got him to third base, where he arrived on Yamamoto’s groundout, then watched Castro and Waltz both strike out. In the fifth a leadoff walk drawn by Sean Sieber and a 2-out infield single rolled by Jay de Wit got runners to the corners, and then Maldo struck out… Copeland though doubled home Andy Graham, who had drawn a leadoff walk from Jackson in the bottom 5th. Once Eddie Moreno struck out, it was 2-0 at the end of five, with Portland once more out-hitting the opposition, 5-4, while trailing.

Top 6th. Manny walked to lead off, and Yamamoto singled up the middle. Sigh. Alright, I will try to fake excitement. I excitedly watched on (makes unsure paw movement) as both Castro and Waltz struck out in full counts, before Sieber walked in the third straight full count. That knocked out both pitchers – Guzman, as the game was about to get away from him, replaced by righty Steve McKeny, and Jackson, because down by a pair and with three on and two outs we HAD to hit for him – he ended up with just 73 pitches thrown. Nettles grounded out McKeny’s first pitch. Ya-ay. Co-ons…

The Coons went to Sauerkraut, who retired nobody to begin the bottom 6th and left with the bases loaded and Jon Craig trotting in. He lobbed an infield roller by Phil Rogers to home plate for an out, but yielded a run on Graham’s sac fly to center. Former Raccoons farmhand Craig Hollenbeck then ended the inning with a grounder. We finally got on the board in the seventh, with Carreno’s leadoff single off Aaron Morris, a stolen base, and two groundouts to give the RBI (and the team RBI lead) to Maldonado. The eighth began with a Yamamoto single to left, but Preble robbed Castro near the line. Van Anderson hit for “Blackout” Waltz (0-3, 3 K) and put a golden sombrero in the #7 hole. Sieber grounded to short, but Banuelas bungled the ball, putting the tying run aboard with two down. Ricky Jimenez batted against new righty Omar Benitez then, got hold of the 1-1 pitch and dished it down the leftfield line. Preble missed the cutoff with a bad route, and both runners scored to tie the game…! Carreno struck out after that to end the top 8th.

Once tied, neither team managed to untie the game before extra innings broke over them in the rubber game. Ramirez was pitching a scoreless ninth even with a Jimenez error in the bottom 9th. Jimenez had stayed in after pinch-hitting, with Carreno out of the game and de Wit at second. Jimenez grounded out to end the 10th after Sean Sieber had doubled off Justin Salerno, but that kept Ramirez around for a second inning against righty opposition. He kept the game going. Goetz then hit for him and singled to begin the 11th inning. de Wit hit into a double play right away… In for the bottom 11th came Zack Kelly, who had last pitched in Vancouver and had picked his nose all week. He relished the fresh air outside the pen, running three full counts in the inning. Jose Zarate doubled on one, Banuelas walked on another, and Copeland struck out to end the inning on the third. Moreno singled on another full count to begin the bottom 12th, but was doubled up and the game continued. Here was the concern – the Raccoons only had Rella left in the pen, and after that it would be Brent Clark. Monday was off again, but we had to get through this one first… When Jimenez doubled with one out in the 13th, the Raccoons urged to send Jeff Kilmer to pinch-hit against Salerno… but couldn’t pull the trigger. De Wit had to get a hit with two outs after Salerno was done with Kelly. Instead, Kelly hit a gapper to left-center that dropped for back-to-back doubles and a 4-3 lead …! YOU GO, ZACK!! (jumps up and down, freezes, then seeks out Dr. Padilla)

Gabe Blanco replaced Salerno, but gave up a single to de Wit, then an RBI double to Maldonado. Manny singled through the right side for the third run of the inning, while Yamamoto hit a sac fly. Manny stole second, but Castro flew out, giving a 7-3 lead back to Kelly. He retired the Stingers in order. 7-3 Raccoons! Carreno 2-5; Goetz (PH) 1-1; de Wit 3-7; Fernandez 2-6, BB, RBI; Yamamoto 2-6, RBI; Jimenez (PH) 2-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Craig 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Ramirez 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Kelly 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (1-0) and 1-1, 2B, RBI;

In other news

May 4 – Capitals outfielder Jim McGuigan (.256, 3 HR, 10 RBI) could miss the rest of the season with a torn labrum.
May 5 – Cyclones 3B Jesus Burgos (.415, 1 HR, 16 RBI) keeps hitting, reaching the 25-game mark with his hitting streak with three knocks, a double and two singles, in a 7-5 loss to the Rebels.
May 5 – CIN 2B Thomas Gould (.267, 1 HR, 9 RBI) is suffering from back spasms and could miss up to two months.
May 7 – Cyclones CL Josh Boles (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 SV) saves his first of the year and the 500th game of his career. The 39-year-old has taken a backseat in the late innings this year, but the 3-time Reliever of the Year with three different teams (Raccoons, Gold Sox, Stars) has great Hall of Fame chances with a 69-81 mark and 2.94 ERA. He has struck out 1,241 batters in 1,039 innings over his 18-year career. The save comes in the 15th inning of the second game of a double-header.
May 7 – The Canadiens take three of four from the Titans with a wild pitch by Boston’s Justin Johns (1-2, 5.19 ERA) that scores pinch-runner Angel Escobido (0-for-24, 0 HR, 0 RBI) to give the Canadiens a 6-5, 11-inning walkoff.
May 8 – CHA SS Tony Aparicio (.429, 7 HR, 29 RBI) keeps raking, falling a triple short of the cycle with five hits and two RBI in a 9-7 loss to the Miners.
May 8 – Rebels 1B Manny Liberos (.233, 1 HR, 15 RBI) will miss the rest of the month at least with a broken foot.
May 9 – SAL SP John Gano (2-4, 3.38 ERA) scintillates in a Pacific Northwest duel, 1-hitting the Canadiens and whiffing 13 batters in a 5-0 shutout. VAN C Timóteo Clemente (.222, 7 HR, 19 RBI) hits a first-inning single for the only Vancouver entry into the H column.
May 10 – The hitting streak of Cincy’s 3B Jesus Burgos (.420, 1 HR, 21 RBI) reaches 30 games in a 4-1 loss to the Indians. Burgos hits a double in the eighth to stay afloat.
May 10 – NYC SP Jeff Johnson (3-3, 4.35 ERA) 3-hits the Rebels in an 8-0 shutout.
May 10 – LVA 1B/RF/LF Sal Ayala (.327, 6 HR, 18 RBI) rakes in a 13-4 rout of the Warriors. The 31-year-old bangs out five hits, including four for extra bases, a homer and three doubles. He drives in three runs.
May 10 – ATL C Adam Horner (.241, 1 HR, 8 RBI) will miss at least a month with a broken wrist.

FL Player of the Week: DAL 2B Hugo Acosta (.416, 1 HR, 17 RBI), hitting .636 (14-22) with 1 HR, 1 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA 3B/2B Doug Richardson (.287, 3 HR, 17 RBI), batting .435 (10-23) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Coons had two pitchers this week slapping in the winning run for themselves, Brent Clark doing it with a jack in his start, and Zack Kelly doing it with a 13th-inning double on Sunday after rotting in the pen for eight days. Sunday was that game where you *almost* wished for that extra reliever that we didn’t call up, but Monday is off and then all things should shake out again – Rella did not pitch at all, and three relievers (Jones, Green, Sauerkraut) only pitched for one or two outs. Or none (Sauerkraut). Sauerkraut!! (shakes fist)

Alberto Ramos signed a late, late deal with the Buffaloes this week, inking for $470k.

Art Goetz wore #22 earlier with the Critters, a number since given to Jason Wheatley. He now dons #34, briefly displayed by 3B Eric Cox last year.

Two-week homestand up after the off day on Monday – we will host the Miners, Loggers, Indians, and Condors in that string. No off day until the road trip after, when we will rest on Thursday, the 28th, in between gigs in Vegas and Charlotte.

Fun Fact: Corey Mathers, who is 12-18 with a 3.32 ERA for his career, might be the most underrated starting pitcher we know of right now.

And also the unluckiest. And he’s only 24 somehow!

Mathers is rated 12/12/9 by Scout Guy, and OSA is close at 12/11/10. The highest he was ever scouted was a potential 12/13/10 in ’39. Scout Guy gives our #20 pick from ’39 a heartfelt “eh!”. He has four decent pitches, but none overwhelming. He is a groundballer with a sinker as his main pitch, so he appreciates a defensively-minded infield like we have. His BABIP against him is .250 for the year.

Nobody scores for him, but Raccoons fans are used to that.