[Westheim]

Raccoons (21-22) @ Aces (18-25) – May 25-27, 2043

After a horrendous week of going 2-5 against two sixth-place teams, during which the Critters scored approximately negative eleven runs (I counted!), they were off to Vegas to play a fifth-place team that had lost six games in a row, but somehow had a +1 run differential with an average number of runs scored and runs allowed. We had gone 0-9 against the Aces last year, and I had no significant expectations to not stretch that run of Vegas futility to 0-12.

Projected matchups:
Cory Lambert (0-4, 3.82 ERA) vs. Oscar Valdes (4-4, 3.16 ERA)
Jake Jackson (4-3, 3.86 ERA) vs. Sal Lozano (2-4, 5.92 ERA)
Brent Clark (4-2, 4.06 ERA) vs. Tim Steinbach (1-1, 4.10 ERA)

We’d not score against two right-handers on either side of the southpaw Lozano.

Game 1
POR: 3B Jimenez – 2B de Wit – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 1B Yamamoto – RF Casas – C Kilmer – SS Castro – P Lambert
LVA: SS Montes de Oca – C Prow – 1B S. Ayala – RF Gurney – 3B D. Richardson – CF M. Roberts – LF J. Byrd – 2B Owen – P O. Valdes

Without the benefit of a strikeout, Cory Lambert retired the Aces in order the first time through the lineup, and even got a run of support from some of the scratch-off sniffers in the lineup, as Jose Casas hit a single up the middle in the second, then scored on Jose Castro’s 2-out double down the rightfield line. The Coons had at least one base hit in every inning to begin the Monday game, and they had two again in the fourth, with Yamamoto and Kilmer hitting singles, but standing parked in scoring position with two outs and Lambert down 0-2. Valdes tried to be too fine, and buried a breaking ball behind Lambert’s back paw. Lambert didn’t poke, and Kevin Prow didn’t coral it either, with Yamamoto scampering across home plate to make it 2-0 on the wild pitch. Lambert then struck out on a heater, then walked Sal Ayala in the bottom 4th after retiring the first 11 Aces to come up.

Top 5th, the Coons had the bags full with no outs (oh dear…) after putting their first three batters on via a single, a Brandon Owen error, and a four-pitch walk. We did not get another hit – shocker, huh? – as Manny and Yamamoto both hit ****** grounders for an out at home plate, then barely only a 3-unassisted play that allowed de Wit to score, and Casas grounded out to Owen. Lambert, who bunted into a double play in the sixth, maintained a no-hitter through 5.1 innings, or until he was taken deep by Oscar Valdes, the ******* opposing pitcher. That remained the only hit through seven against Lambert, but Owen’s single and Marc DeVita’s triple in the gap in right-center in the bottom 8th scored another run for the Aces. Alex Ramirez replaced Lambert, walked Angel Montes de Oca, but then got a convenient fly out from Prow to end the inning, the Coons still up 3-2. The bags were full again in the top 9th with singles by Kilmer and Castro off ex-Coon Dennis Citriniti, then an intentional walk to Ricky Jimenez after Nettles’ groundout moved both runners into scoring position. Jay de Wit ran a full count before hitting a comebacker for another out at home plate, and Maldonado grounded out to short… (dramatic sigh!) … Then we sent Chuck Jones into the bottom 9th, where we expected many left-handed batters. Sal Ayala struck out, but Pat Gurney singled to right on 1-2. He was doubled up by Doug Richardson, though, 6-4-3, as the Raccoons eeked out a win. 3-2 Blighters. Kilmer 2-4; Castro 3-4, 2B, RBI; Lambert 7.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (1-4);

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 1B Yamamoto – C Kilmer – RF Casas – SS Castro – P Jackson
LVA: SS Montes de Oca – C Prow – 1B S. Ayala – RF Gurney – 3B D. Richardson – CF M. Roberts – LF DeVita – 2B Owen – P Lozano

While straight singles by their 3-4-5 batters scored a first-inning run for the Aces against Jackson, I had my doubts whether Sal Lozano was the same Sal Lozano that appeared in 13 games (12 starts) for the Coons three years ago, going 2-6 with a 4.84 ERA. He faced the minimum the first time through, walking Manny, who was caught stealing, and continued to deny the Raccoons base runners even after that. Vegas made it 2-0 on a Mike Roberts triple and Marc DeVita single in the bottom 4th, then doubled their output the next inning, getting the run going with Lozano’s single up the middle, a triple by Montes, a walk to Kevin Prow, and then finally an Ayala sac fly, 4-0. Pretty close to ballgame here, although Castro at least took the no-hitter away in the sixth inning with a single up the middle. And then he was doubled up on a bunt attempt on which Jackson slapped the ball right back to Lozano. That wasn’t Jackson’s last act of arson in the game; with DeVita on base in the bottom 6th, he served up a lazy hanger to Lozano, and for the second game in a row an Aces pitcher homered off a Raccoons pitcher. This one drove the dagger in pretty firmly, 6-0, and the manager strolled out there to inform Jackson that his presence was no longer required.

The Coons never got anything of substance off Lozano, but he was not back for the ninth inning, having run out of steam with a 2-hitter. Right-hander Dusty Behrens replaced him with a 6-0 lead, then allowed a 1-out walk and single, respectively, to pinch-hitters Van Anderson and Omar Gutierrez, with Chris Whalen overrunning the ball in centerfield to allow both runners into scoring position. Huh, boys? How about scoring a ******* run here?? Jimenez grounded out to Richardson at third base, which seemed like a pretty convincing “nah”. Maldonado though singled to center. Anderson scored, and Gutierrez was thrown out trying by Whalen. 6-1 Aces. Gutierrez (PH) 1-1;

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – 1B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – RF Nettles – C Sieber – SS Castro – CF Anderson – P Clark
LVA: SS Montes de Oca – C Prow – RF Gurney – 3B D. Richardson – CF M. Roberts – 1B DeVita – 2B Owen – LF Beaudoin – P Steinbach

Two sad teams flailed and failed away at each other for four innings before one of them somehow happened to get a run across home plate, and that was the Raccoons. Sean Sieber singled in the fifth, the third base hit for Portland, and the fifth in the game, leading off the inning. Castro flew out, and Anderson’s grounder was thrown away by Montes for a 2-base error, putting a pair in scoring position for Clark, who singled up the middle to plate Sieber. Anderson tried to have some, too, but was thrown out at home plate by Roberts. This definitely cost a run with the subsequent singles by Carreno (to center) and Jimenez (to left), which now only loaded the bases with two outs for Maldo instead of also scoring Van Anderson – but Maldo came through, powering a liner into the gap in right-center that made it all the way to the wall and allowed the bases to clear on a 3-run triple …! Steinbach, stunned, then walked the bags full again in a seemingly never-ending inning, which brought back Sieber, who grounded out to Owen, ending it after all, but with a 4-0 lead.

Clark 3-hit the Aces through six innings and had ample room to go a bit longer, while the Raccoons had three on and nobody out against Steinbach in the seventh, with Nettles at the plate. Between him flying out to right, Jimenez being thrown out at the plate by Pat Gurney, and Sieber’s fly to Justin Beaudoin, they scored no runs. Clark hit a single in the eighth, then survived having runners on the corners in the same inning when Gurney’s fly to right was tracked down at the rightfield line by Nettles … who also couldn’t slow down and smacked full-steam into the sidewall, which was about chest-high at that point. The inning was over, but so was Nettles game, with him limping off with the trainer eventually. Jose Casas took over, striking out to end a 1-2-3 top 9th. Clark returned for the bottom of the inning on 97 pitches, but after Richardson grounded out to third base was taken deep by Mike Roberts. DeVita flew out to right, Owen whiffed, the game was complete, but the shutout was gone. 4-1 Raccoons. Carreno 2-4, BB; Jimenez 3-5, 2B; Maldonado 2-4, BB, 3B, 3 RBI; Clark 9.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (5-2) and 2-3, RBI;

Stephon Nettles did not incur any structural damage, but had a sore hip for all of Thursday’s day off, and was still listed as day-to-day to begin the weekend set.

Raccoons (23-23) @ Falcons (20-27) – May 29-31, 2043

Here was another losing team we could look bad against. The Falcons were up 2-1 in the season series, so chances were tremendous. They were seventh in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed, and looked pretty crummy as a whole. They were second from the bottom in home runs, with SS Tony Aparicio (.349, 8 HR, 37 RBI) leading the team by a good margin, but had a triplet of .340 hitters in that lineup with Aparicio, Joe Besaw (!), and phenom Miguel Martinez, who was still a month from turning 20, but hitting .344/.367/.503. He would have been a solid bet for Rookie of the Year – if the Falcons hadn’t pissed away his chance by giving him 322 less impressive at-bats last year.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (2-6, 3.53 ERA) vs. Adam Messer (4-4, 3.54 ERA)
Corey Mathers (5-4, 3.34 ERA) vs. Chris Watson (2-0, 2.38 ERA)
Cory Lambert (1-4, 3.52 ERA) vs. Oscar Flores (4-4, 3.54 ERA)

As in the last set: right-left-right. We would not get to see longtime Critter Bernie Chavez (2-3, 3.89 ERA), who pitched on Thursday for a no-decision in a game the Falcons lost.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – 1B Yamamoto – RF Casas – SS Castro – P Wheatley
CHA: 3B Farfan – 2B M. Martinez – CF Besaw – SS Aparicio – 1B Cahill – RF Turley – LF Case – C Alicea – P Messer

Wheatley started like a fire engine, striking out five of the first six batters he faced and not allowing a hit the first time through the order, only to succumb to 2-out singles by Jose Farfan, Miguel Martinez – who sent Farfan to third base, then stole second – and Joe Besaw in the bottom 3rd. Besaw drove in the pair that had preceded him, and I consigned myself to alcohol. The Coons had already stranded Manny and Yamamoto on the corners in the second inning when Casas struck out and Castro grounded out, and left Manny on base again in the fourth inning, in the bottom of which Wheatley walked the bases loaded, then gave up a sac fly to Messer…

The Raccoons got on the board with a Castro homer in the fifth inning, then had the tying runs on with Jimenez and Manny in the sixth, but Kilmer hit into a double play to bail them outta that scoring chance… While Wheatley got through six innings without falling further behind than he already had, he did not strike out any batter after his 5 K spree in the first two innings, and instead finished with as many walks. The Coons had nobody on in the seventh, then got a leadoff single from Carreno in the eighth before following that up with three groundouts that didn’t amount to a run. The Falcons put the game out of reach for a team as despicably pathetic as the Raccoons when Aparicio took Jon Craig deep to left in the eighth, and Zack Kelly followed that up by bleeding for a run on three hits. Kilmer hit a leadoff single in the ninth off Jon Ramsey. He was still on first base when the game ended, three ****** outs later. 5-1 Falcons. Fernandez 3-4, 2B;

There was no game on Saturday on accounts of rain, which actually set in during the last few pitches of Friday’s game and then persisted for about 36 hours. A double-header was called for Sunday, with the Falcons moving Oscar Flores ahead of Chris Watson. We stuck to our order of Cor(e)ys but arranged for every position player on the roster to get into the lineup – Nettles was back to 100% at this point.

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – SS Castro – 3B Jimenez – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – RF Nettles – 1B Casas – CF Anderson – P Mathers
CHA: LF Haertling – 2B M. Martinez – CF Besaw – SS Aparicio – 1B Cahill – RF Turley – 3B Farfan – C Alicea – P O. Flores

We opened quick, with Carreno singling and scoring on a Castro triple. While Jimenez popped out, Manny hit a sac fly, and we got three 2-out singles to load the bases after that… and an Anderson groundout to short that stranded everybody. More runners came quickly though, with Flores mishandling Mathers’ grounder into a free runner to start the second inning, then a Carreno double to center. Castro struck out, and Jimenez lined out to Apari- no, he dropped the ball! And everybody scrambled to the next base, including Mathers across home plate, 3-0…! Manny hit another sac fly for the second and final run of the inning, both runs being unearned. Top 3rd, leadoff walk to Nettles, who stole second, then a pitch that grazed Casas to add a second runner. The runners pulled off a double steal right after that, with the Falcons, annoyed, walking the .191 menace Van Anderson intentionally to bring up Mathers, who ran a full count before settling for a sac fly to Archie Turley, who also caught Carreno’s fly. Castro’s RBI single to left was not caught by anybody and ran the score to 6-0, with Flores hitting Jimenez and giving up a 2-run single to Manny before being taken behind the shed. Kilmer walked against Jonathan Ramsey, but Nettles grounded out to short, keeping it 8-0.

Ramsey struck out the side in the fourth, but allowed two singles and a walk in the fifth, which gave another RBI to Manny with a single to center and two outs. Mathers had a phase where he ran many long counts in the third and fourth inning, but was just out of that by the sixth when Joe Besaw hit a triple to center and scored on Tony Aparicio’s sac fly, getting Charlotte on the board in a 9-1 game. Maldonado found a 2-out, 2-run single when he pinch-hit for Mathers in the eighth inning – thus also maintaining his perfect attendance record in 2043, the only Raccoon to feature in every game – which emboldened us to go to Sauerkraut for two innings with a 10-run lead. Sauerkraut hadn’t pitched since the prior Sunday, and allowed two walks and two hits in two innings… but also spread them out as evenly as possible, and didn’t suffer any runs conceded. 11-1 Raccoons! Carreno 2-5, BB, 2B; Castro 3-6, 3B, 2 RBI; Fernandez 2-4, 5 RBI; Kilmer 2-4, BB; Nettles 2-4, BB; Casas 2-4; Maldonado (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Mathers 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (6-4); Becker 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 K;

That was almost perfect – we got them to go rather deep into their pen and we only used up one of our long men / garbage disposal hurlers. What can go wrong in the last one??

Game 3
POR: 2B Carreno – 3B de Wit – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – RF Nettles – 1B Yamamoto – C Sieber – SS Gutierrez – P Lambert
CHA: LF Haertling – 2B M. Martinez – CF Besaw – SS Aparicio – 1B Cahill – RF Turley – 3B Farfan – C M. Cook – P de Lucio

For a start, we didn’t get to see the left-hander, and instead came up against a sneaky Jose de Lucio (1-4, 4.03 ERA) from the right side. Everybody still got to make a start, although de Wit was now at third base instead of Jimenez (who got bumped for an extra lefty bat in Nettles). He had been penciled in for leftfield duty, with Manny getting a rare game in right.

Carreno in the event reached on a bloop single to begin the game, stole second, and came around on de Wit’s triple to right. Maldonado made it 2-0 with a groundout, while Nettles reached on a Martinez error, but was caught stealing. A Martinez double and Besaw’s RBI single off Lambert cut the lead in half right away, and a pair of 2-out hits by Mitch Cook and de Lucio in the bottom 2nd put them on the corners until Ed Haertling struck out in a full count. Farfan and Cook had a pair of hits in the fourth off easily hittable Cory Lambert, but de Lucio struck out and Haertling popped out behind home plate to end that threat, still in a 2-1 game. It took back-to-back doubles by Mark Cahill and Archie Turley to actually tie the game in the sixth inning, with Turley scoring on two productive outs and Cook’s sac fly to give Charlotte the lead.

The Falcons had their fifth 2-hit inning in the seventh against Alex Ramirez, but stranded runners in scoring position yet again on a pop in foul ground. The Coons were familiarly silent, and when they got Gutierrez on base with a 1-out single in the eighth, the pinch-hitting Jose Castro found a double play immediately. The top of the order was up against Marcus Goode, the right-hander with almost as many walks (12) as strikeouts (14) and no cushion in the ninth inning. Carreno and de Wit made two soft outs before Maldonado drew a walk in a full count. Manny fell to 0-2, a strike from the end yet again, then slapped a single through between Cahill and Adam Shay to send Maldo and the tying run to third base. Nettles *also* fell to 0-2, then hit a dribbler between the mound and the third-base line. Goode was falling in the wrong direction and Farfan took his sweet time to come in – and he had no play …! Infield single, tied ballgame!

The Coons’ catching corps set out to un-tie the ballgame after that. Kilmer batted for a bleak Yamamoto and walked in a full count, the fourth and final 2-strike batter to reach base against Goode. Bases loaded, Sean Sieber struck out a 2-run single up the middle to give Portland the lead, 5-3, and Charlotte a new pitcher in righty Kyle Conner, who got Gutierrez to ground out, and Josh Rella into the game. The Falcons expired in three batters. 5-3 Raccoons. De Wit 2-4, 3B, RBI; Sieber 2-4, 2 RBI;

In other news

May 26 – Warriors SP Mike Kiah (2-4, 4.98 ERA) is expected to miss up to a full year with a torn rotator cuff.
May 26 – TOP RF/CF J.P. Angeletti (.310, 6 HR, 27 RBI) has suffered a strained hamstring and will be out for three weeks.
May 28 – Capitals 2B/3B Kenny Elder (.260, 2 HR, 5 RBI) hits for the cycle in the first game of a double-header against the Scorpions that will end up split between the teams, with Washington taking the opener, 8-4. The 33-year-old Elder gets one of every hit in five attempts, walks once, drives in one run on his homer, and scores twice. It is the 99th cycle in league history, the first-ever for the Capitals, and the second in a row against the Scorpions (Dallas’ Leo Villacorta, 2042).
May 28 – The Canadiens drown the Thunder, 14-3. VAN OF Jerry Outram (.417, 5 HR, 22 RBI) goes 4-for-5 with a home run and 5 RBI.

FL Player of the Week: RIC LF/RF Pablo Gonzalez (.382, 10 HR, 31 RBI), hitting .500 (12-24) with 3 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN OF Jerry Outram (.402, 5 HR, 25 RBI), hitting .409 (9-22) with 2 HR, 10 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: PIT 1B Danny Santillano (.335, 6 HR, 32 RB), batting .373 with 5 HR, 24 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: TIJ LF/CF/1B Mal Phinazee (.236, 8 HR, 21 RBI), poking .295 with 6 HR, 13 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: PIT CL Rich Kappel (4-1, 3.96 ERA, 17 SV), saving it at a 2-0, 1.59 ERA, 12 SV rate
CL Pitcher of the Month: MIL SP Matt Peterson (7-0, 2.69 ERA), hurling to a 6-0 record with 1.90 ERA, 39 K
FL Rookie of the Month: PIT OF Felix Rojas (.282, 1 HR, 21 RBI), batting .306 with 14 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: TIJ 1B Ron Gibbs (.290, 0 HR, 15 RBI), slapping .315 with 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

We’re in fifth place, with a winning record, somehow. We’re also borderline unwatchable. Give or take 16 runs in a swept double-header on Sunday.

I think we should trade Manny and Maldo after all. But that would mean we get no-hit twice a week.

The Raccoons got an offer from the Buffaloes this week, with Tony Morales being offered a release from captivity in a distant land in exchange for first-rounder Bubba Wolinsky and a pretty irrelevant catcher from our farm. Now, Wolinsky at this point looked like one of those first-rounders that only make the majors in a Damani Knight capacity, which was annoying, while Tony Morales had a thick contract through 2047, which was not a problem *now*, but certainly down the road. Kilmer was already tied to the team for a good while longer (2046 being a team option only), and we had a 21-year-old hitting .315 with 5 homers in Ham Lake in Ruben Gonzalez. As much as I liked the Morales/Kilmer dynamic and as little as we thought we’d get out of Wolinsky at this stage, this was definitely not the right trade going forwards.

The Falcons, while we were already in town and with a pillow pressed on our snouts, offered Kyle Conner for Generos de Leon and a rather shadowy second baseman in Aumsville, Miguel Blanco, which I also wasn’t biting for. Conner struck me as a carbon copy of Nelson Moreno, and wasn’t Nelson Moreno all sorts of joy…?

We’d stay in the southeast for a few more days, visiting Atlanta starting on Monday. I’d go home from there, but the team was expected in Elk City on the weekend… We’d ALL go home for a week after that.

Fun Fact: The Capitals were the last team that had never hit for the cycle in their existence.

Now we’re just waiting on those Buffos to get a no-hitter.