[Westheim]

Raccoons (71-52) vs. Crusaders (57-67) – August 21-23, 2046

Beginning on Tuesday, we had another 3-game set with the Crusaders, who we were leading 9-3 in the season series. New York was out of ambitions, second from the bottom in runs scored (just under four runs per game), but with decent pitching and especially a stingy bullpen. Only infielder Frank Mujica was on the DL for them.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (10-9, 3.50 ERA) vs. Paul Paris (8-12, 3.94 ERA)
Victor Merino (11-7, 2.67 ERA) vs. Carlos Malla (5-9, 4.27 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (14-4, 3.30 ERA) vs. Yataro Tanabe (5-4, 4.61 ERA)

The series would start with the right-handed Paris, then bring up a pair of left-handers that had both pitched in a double-header on Friday.

Game 1
NYC: SS Adame – LF E. Moore – 2B Briones – RF P. Rogers – C Alba – 1B Schneller – 3B Riario – CF Foss – P Paris
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Morales – LF Baskins – SS Waters – 2B Martell – P Jackson

Jackson ended up 3-0 behind in the second inning when he couldn’t ******* retire the opposing pitcher with two outs, but the drama started earlier with a Fernando Alba single and Dan Schneller getting nicked. Vittorio Riario flew out, Aaron Foss whiffed, and Paul Paris singled to center to score Alba… Alex Adame, the persistent annoyance, then whacked a 2-run double to right. Matt Waters tried to take off some of the sting with a 2-run homer to right in the bottom 2nd, but Jackson was whacked around for three more hits and another two runs in the third inning. Oh boy…

Mercado singled and Herrera doubled to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom 3rd with nobody out. The Raccoons had already had those two on base in the bottom 1st before Maldo (foul fly caught by Phil Rogers) and Toohey (6-4-3) laid a pair of eggs and the chance evaporated. It didn’t get much better this time, Maldo flying out to Aaron Foss in shallow center, forcing the runners to hold, and Toohey bouncing out to Riario. At least Tony Morales was awake, singling up the middle for two and a 5-4 score.

Jackson was then trampled to death for good in the fifth. He walked Ethan Moore on four pitches to start the inning, and retired nobody from there. Mario Briones mashed a double, Phil Rogers an RBI single. The Coons went to Preston Porter to accelerate the fire. He threw a wild pitch and allowed a double to Alba to concede Jackson’s runners, then allowed a single to Schneller that Baskins overran for an error, because why not. He struck out the 7-8-9 batters, but by now we were buried by a swift pawful – awful. The Raccoons stopped pretending by the sixth, when a second double switch removed Armando Herrera, and we didn’t get Paris out of the game until the first three batters in the bottom 8th reached. Manny Fernandez drew a leadoff walk in the #8 hole, and John Castner doubled to right. Mercado hit an RBI single. Righty Matt May replaced Paris, giving up a sac fly, 9-6, to Pat Gurney, but the inning fizzled out after that. Julian Ponce would retire Baskins, Waters, and Fernandez in order in the ninth. 9-6 Crusaders. Mercado 3-4, BB, RBI; Herrera 2-4, 2B; Toohey 2-5; Castner 1-2, 2B; Hickey 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Shambolic!

Game 2
NYC: SS Adame – 1B Schneller – 2B Briones – RF P. Rogers – 3B Nash – CF Foss – LF J. Simmons – C Bergomi – P Malla
POR: LF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Gonzalez – SS Waters – RF Pellicano – 2B Castner – P Merino

Merino allowed singles to Randolph Nash and Justin Simmons in the second, but also struck out Foss and Josh Bergomi to bail out of the inning, so things at least started better, despite Foss (and Malla) being the only lefty batter(s) in the New York lineup. Merino whiffed three the first time through, then got a lead when Mercado singled and Maldo crushed a homer to left in the bottom 3rd, 2-0. The Crusaders of course loaded the bases at once, getting Rogers to draw a walk, an infield single for Nash, and a proper single for Foss, all with one out in the fourth. Merino and Herrera held Simmons to a sac fly, and Bergomi’s fly was tracked down by Gene Pellicano to bail out of the jam, still up 2-1.

The game then entered a doozy phase in which nobody reached base whatsoever. Poor out after poor out, a string of offensive futility only ended when Matt Waters heroically singled in the bottom 7th. Pellicano forced him out, Castner popped out, and that was that.

Merino struck out Malla – his first K since the third inning – to begin the eighth, then was replaced with Nelson Moreno against the right-handed lineup. He had thrown 92 pitches. Alex Adame whiffed, Schneller walked and was run for by Riario as the tying run, but Briones struck out before anything could happen. And then the Coons ACTUALLY scratched out an insurance run in the bottom 8th against Malla, who allowed Mercado on with a soft single, then gave up a liner that Herrera buried in the gap in right-center well enough for a stand-up RBI triple! And then Maldo popped out on the infield and Toohey found third base again for another staggeringly stranded runner at third base… The Raccoons used Lynn in the ninth since Rella had been requisitioned to pitch a pointless ninth inning on Monday. He would axed the Crusaders in three batters, but the middle one, Nash, reached on a Waters error and advanced on Foss’ groundout. Simmons was rung up to correct the mistake. 3-1 Raccoons. Mercado 2-4; Merino 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (12-7);

Then, a plan change for the rubber game – the Crusaders evicted Tanabe from the start, preferring to go with right-hander Jeff Johnson (8-7, 3.22 ERA).

Game 3
NYC: SS Adame – LF E. Moore – 2B Briones – RF P. Rogers – C Alba – 1B Schneller – 3B Gates – CF Foss – P J. Johnson
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Morales – SS Waters – LF Fernandez – 2B Martell – P Wheatley

The Jason Wheatley Experience was back in town, and everybody hoped for something special. The first inning was certainly special… Adame and Moore opened with singles. Mercado threw away Moore’s ball for an error that allowed Adame to score, while Morales filed in a passed ball and Rogers drew a walk after Moore scored on a sac fly. Alba hit into a double play, which was for the better, given that I was already gasping for air. The deficit would be made up, slowly, with solo homers by Waters in the second and Mercado in the fifth, with not a whole lot in between. Wheatley had a chewy second inning before settling into groundball parade mode, which at least got outs, but still got taken deep by Ethan Moore in the sixth, falling behind again.

He remained behind through seven innings of work, being hit for with Baskins with one out and Manny on first base in the bottom 7th, but neither Baskins nor Mercado did anything writing home about. The tying run was granted second base with nobody out in the bottom 8th when Prince Gates threw away Herrera’s grounder. Maldo grounded out, Toohey flew out to right, but that was at least enough for a ******* sac fly and a 3-3 tie. Ibold, Curl, and Moreno patched together a scoreless ninth after a leadoff single for Rogers, giving the Critters a chance to walk off, still facing a gritty Johnson. Waters flew out to Moore, but the leftfielder couldn’t reach Manny’s gapper that fell for a 1-out double, putting the winning run in scoring position. Martell flew out, and Gurney barely scratched out an infield single when he hit for Moreno. Now the Crusaders went to Matt May, but he’d have to get Mercado first. The count ran full before Mercado hit a chopper into play, slowly up the middle. May swiped and missed while falling in the wrong direction, while Adame had to race in – overran the ball! Manny across home plate – it’s a walkoff! 4-3 Raccoons. Mercado 2-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Gurney (PH) 1-1;

The Indians matched our results every day so far, always staying four games behind.

Raccoons (73-53) vs. Bayhawks (62-65) – August 24-26, 2046

The Bayhawks were a very average team. Three games under .500, with a +2 run differential with middling rankings in both offense and pitching, and average defense… they were almost boring to talk about. Somehow they had a 4-2 lead in the season series though, so maybe don’t fall asleep on the field again? Starter Chris “Tuba” Turner and OF/2B Moises Avila were out for the season for them.

Projected matchups:
Bubba Wolinsky (3-3, 3.14 ERA) vs. Rafael Pedraza (13-8, 2.90 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (9-9, 4.09 ERA) vs. Kevin Nolte (7-15, 6.28 ERA)
Jake Jackson (10-10, 3.87 ERA) vs. Jesse Bulas (4-4, 3.83 ERA)

Only right-handed pitching coming up here.

Game 1
SFB: 2B Quiroz – 3B R. Sifuentes – SS B. Nelson – RF C. Cortes – C J. Hill – CF A. Marquez – LF Crum – 1B Hunter – P Pedraza
POR: RF Mercado – CF A. Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Morales – 2B Gurney – SS Waters – LF Fernandez – P Wolinsky

Wolinsky was worked into the mound by the Bayhawks right away. Ramon Sifuentes walked, Bob Nelson, Carlos Cortes, and John Hill hit a single, a double, and another single in order for two runs, and Alex Marquez groundout made it 3-0. In return, Wolinsky landed his first major league hit in the bottom 3rd after Pedraza had sat down the first eight Critters without significant resistance. Sifuentes singled home Ken Crum for a fourth run in the fourth inning, somewhat answered by the Raccoons when Maldo and Gurney hit singles in the bottom 4th and Toohey had at least had the decency to reach on an error. Maldo scored on the Gurney hit, 4-1, bringing up Waters as the tying run, but he struck out. In turn, Ken Crum’s 2-run homer to left basically put the game away in the fifth.

While I was moping and looking for things besides chocolate chip cookies to crumble into my Capt’n Coma, the Raccoons put Manny and Martell in scoring position with a single and a double to begin the bottom 5th. That was before piss-poor outs by Mercado, Herrera, and Maldo, in order, stranded them right where they were. Bottom 7th, Waters and Baskins hit singles, and so did Mercado, finding the hole on the right. Cortes threw out Waters at home plate as he tried to come home from second base, and Herrera calmly flew out to Marquez. … Maud, I think we should release the lions. – Then please call the zoo and ask if they have any lions!

No lions arrived in time, nor any appreciable amount of offense. While the bottom 9th began with Gurney and Waters reaching base, Manny jabbed into a double play. Ruben Gonzalez got home a sad consolation run with a pinch-hit single, but a K to Mercado ended the game, Pedraza pitching a complete-game 10-hitter. 6-2 Bayhawks. Waters 2-4; Martell (PH) 1-1, 2B; Baskins (PH) 1-1; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Hickey 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Game 2
SFB: 2B Quiroz – 3B R. Sifuentes – SS B. Nelson – RF C. Cortes – C J. Hill – CF A. Marquez – LF A.L. Herrera – 1B Riley – P Nolte
POR: RF Mercado – CF A. Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Gurney – SS Waters – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – 2B Martell – P Okuda

Okuda had been exploded two games in a row and I was wary enough that I started the game already slightly intoxicated and with Honeypaws in my firm clutch. Things certainly didn’t get easier with an early rain delay, although Okuda had thrown only 20 pitches before the rude interruption. The Coons’ offense the first time through included a Herrera walk and Maldo’s double play in the first, then a Gonzalez single and Martell’s double play in the third. Then they spooled off three straight 2-out singles, starting with Okuda, to take a 1-0 lead before Maldo flew out to left. The Baybirds flipped the score at once, with a Sifuentes single and a Bob Nelson homer in the fourth… ah, booze…!

The game was even at two after five innings, thanks to a Mercado homer to right in the bottom 5th. By this point, Okuda tried to wear out his middle infielders, getting countless groundball outs with them. He also hit a 1-out double up the leftfield line in the bottom 7th, but Nolte struck out Mercado and Herrera and that was that… Okuda pitched eight decent innings for a no-decision, then was taken out for Josh Rella in the top 9th, with the 1-2-3 hitters being put down in order. Right-hander Brad Barnes opposed the Raccoons in the bottom 9th – you might remember the kid as being forever leftover in St. Petersburg before getting wrapped up in the Aaron Curl trade. He had a 5.40 ERA, with 12 hits allowed in 6.2 innings. Boys? Go get ‘em! He struck out Baskins and Gonzalez before Martell grounded out…

Extra innings beckoned. Rella continued, getting Cortes to fly to Baskins… who dropped the ball for a 2-base error. Rella then nailed Hill, while Justin Kristoff ran for Cortes. Curl replaced Rella, but gave up a single to Marquez, although Mercado threw out Kristoff at home plate. The remaining runners reached scoring position. Ken Crum broke the tie with a pinch-hit sac fly, and Tony Hunter, ex-Coon, flew out to left. Barnes was still around in the bottom 10th, giving up a leadoff double to Manny in the cursed #9 hole. Mercado singled, putting the tying and winning runs on the corners. Herrera ran a full count against Barnes, then grounded to the left side, where Bob Nelson couldn’t reach the ball, and the RBI single tied the game, with Mercado to second. One more, boys! Maldo obliged, clipping a walkoff single near the rightfield line to end the game. 4-3 Blighters. Mercado 3-5, HR, RBI; Herrera 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Fernandez (PH) 1-1, 2B; Okuda 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K and 2-3, 2B;

I know, Slappy, I know. They were much better in July. – Everything is better in July.

Game 3
SFB: 2B Quiroz – C Suggs – 1B Riley – CF A. Marquez – 3B R. Sifuentes – LF Crum – RF Kristoff – SS Hunter – P Bulas
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Gurney – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – C Morales – LF Fernandez – 2B Martell – P Jackson

The Bayhawks scored first, technically, Bulas throwing a wild pitch to score Mercado in the bottom 1st. the leadoff man had walked, Herrera had whacked a double, and then the 3-4-5 struck out, struck out, and popped out. Two were stranded in the second when Manny walked and Jackson singled, but Mercado now whiffed. Jackson then inexplicably loaded the bases in the top 3rd with a walk to Bulas, a Sergio Quiroz single, and a walk to Sean Suggs, before serving up a bases-clearing double to Dan Riley. Oh, the good lord… (opens bottle of Capt’n Coma)

Toohey’s error, a wild pitch, and a Sifuentes single with two outs in the fifth added to the Bayhawks lead, then 4-1. When Gurney flubbed another ball in the sixth, an inning Jake Jackson did not survive, the Raccoons had more errors (3) than base hits (2). Mike Lynn added a 3-run meltdown, walking everything with legs, and giving up screamers on top of that, in the seventh inning, burying the Raccoons for good. Porter and Ibold pitched the final innings without any more gruesome incidents, but on the other side of the box score no rally ever took place… 7-1 Bayhawks.

In other news

August 20 – The Falcons have to shut down SP Jerry Felix (11-13, 3.49 ERA) due to a herniated disc; he’s out for the season.
August 20 – It takes 10 innings for CIN INF Chris Strohm (.343, 1 HR, 23 RBI) to single home CF/LF Dan Mathes (.340, 12 HR, 79 RBI) and give the Cyclones a 1-0 win over the Blue Sox.
August 23 – ATL SP Brian Buttress (11-7, 3.53 ERA) is lost for the year with a torn rotator cuff.
August 24 – DAL OF Tylor Cecil (.365, 19 HR, 95 RBI) connects for a 20-game hitting streak with a first-inning single in a 9-5 loss to the Rebels.
August 25 – Thunder rookie OF/1B Steve Humphreys (.333, 1 HR, 4 RBI) hits a solo home run for his team’s only base hit in a 4-1 loss to the Canadiens.

FL Player of the Week: DAL 1B Jamie King (.287, 16 HR, 57 RBI), hitting .438 (7-16) with 3 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA LF/RF Bob Montana (.271, 6 HR, 38 RBI), batting .600 (12-20) with 2 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I am not having a good feeling about this. That was a 2-week homestand after which we had to consider ourselves lucky to somehow have gone 6-6. The Indians are coming – or more precisely, we’re coming to the Indians for four games next weekend after a stopover in Oklahoma.

I am filled with much foreboding.

Nobody is hitting, except Mercado, who has really nested in that leadoff spot now with neither Baskins nor Manny ever finding third gear this season. Everybody else is kinda neither here nor there right now, although Maldo and Toohey have gone disturbingly dry. They had a game against New York this week where they combined for a 12 LOB. They have a combined seven multi-hit games in August. And August is almost over. And it wasn’t like that was the only sequence of listless hitting with runners in scoring position…

Rosters will expand next Saturday, but I don’t see us bringing up any great treasures from St. Pete…

Fun Fact: Victor Merino is 3rd in ERA in the CL, and tied for 5th in the league as a whole.

It’s not entirely clear how he does it. A persistent groundballer with good sink on the 91mph fastball and a good slider, he only adds a decent changeup and a weak curveball. He’s rated 10/13/11 by our own Pat Degenhardt, which seems low for a league ERA leader candidate. OSA doesn’t even give him that much credit (10/12/11).

Of course, a low BABIP is part of his game, since strikeouts aren’t (5.0 K/9 this year, 4.8 last year). His BABIP is all the way down to .247 this season – which means everybody has as much luck against him as Manny Fernandez has had the entire ******** year (he also didn't find an RBI all week to break the all-time tie with Nunley). And look how frustrated Manny is. (points at Manny stirring with both paws in his food bowl, not finding anything that excites him)

Yes, Manny, you’re getting more fruit now! Your chubby cheeks need trimming!