[Westheim]

Raccoons (36-17) @ Canadiens (26-28) – June 3-6, 2047

The team departed northwards after our Sunday game was voided to play the damn Elks in a 4-game set. The Raccoons had swept the first 3-game set of the year against them, so they were surely out for blood up there. The Elks continued to have pitching problems, surrendering the third-most runs in the CL, but this year were also only average in scoring, and their -24 run differential (Critters: +45) was maybe an indicator that they would slide backwards rather than close in with the Critters. At least that was what I told myself to feel better about the team going up there for four days, banged up as it was already…

Manny Fernandez came off the DL in time for the series, sending Brian Snyder back to AAA.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (4-4, 3.42 ERA) vs. David Farris (5-2, 3.42 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (8-1, 2.65 ERA) vs. Hisami Furuya (2-3, 3.08 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (5-2, 3.10 ERA) vs. Brad Blankenship (4-3, 5.33 ERA)
Victor Merino (4-5, 4.03 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (2-3, 3.75 ERA)

Three right-handers, followed by a southpaw. Also, on the DL: Jerry Outram, although he could return to the lineup to spread terror any day now. Tim Phillips and Tony Romero were also on the DL for the Elks.

Game 1
POR: LF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – SS Waters – C Morales – 2B Carreno – P Okuda
VAN: CF Escobido – LF Mancini – 1B Delagrange – 3B Malkus – 2B O. Aguirre – C Ebner – RF I. Jaramillo – P Farris – SS R. Price

I soldiered bravely on into the office, only to find out that absolutely everybody had taken the midweek off. No Maud, no Cristiano, no Chad, and Degenhardt and Dr. Padilla were with the team anyway. Only Slappy and Honeypaws were on the trusty brown couch, as always, and as if they were the couch’s inventory. I plunged down next to Slappy, sighed, opened a bottle of booze, and none too soon, because the opener went off pear-shaped in a real hurry.

First, the Coons had a guy on in the first two innings each, but Herrera was caught stealing and things like that; the damn Elks then had Oscar Aguirre triple home Travis Malkus with nobody out in the bottom 2nd to take a 1-0 lead, but also stranded Aguirre at third base with three poor outs, the last made by the silly pitcher in the silly #8 slot. Portland returned to bat, Carreno hitting a leadoff single in the top 3rd. He stole second base, while Okuda put a ball in play that Aguirre initially mishandled and it became a real race to first base. Okuda won it, but also tweaked something on the infield single and had to leave the ballgame. I climbed deeper into my bottle of booze, but at least Nelson Mercado tied the game with a single to center. Herrera found a 6-4-3, but Maldo singled to left to give Portland a 2-1 lead before Farris fanned Toohey. Pitching duties devolved onto Josh Rella for the time being, although we hoped for actual long relief from Kevin Hitchcock after that.

Hitchcock inherited a 3-1 lead, it having been augmented with a Waters homer in the fourth, after Rella pitched two scoreless innings, and would enter the #1 spot in the lineup, Roberto Medina taking over leftfield after pinch-hitting for Rella to begin the top 5th. Hitchcock retired the first four he faced before walking Angel Escobido in the sixth, and appeared to run into a game-tier by Chris Delagrange not long after that, but the strong headwind knocked the ball down in center and dropped it into Armando Herrera’s mitten near the warning track. Long relief would amount to three scoreless in what remained a 3-1 game, with the Elks sitting on no more than two hits through seven innings. Somehow we had to get Jake Bonnie involved though, which happened in the bottom 8th, with the 7-8-9 up, including two left-handers, one of whom, Rick Price, he managed to walk with two outs. Escobido flew out leisurely to Pellicano, though, just ahead of the pitcher in the #2 hole. Not finding any more offense, we found Mike Lynn in the pen instead for the ninth. He struck out PH Antonio Peralta, got a grounder from Delagrange… then ran three full counts and walked the bases full against Malkus, Aguirre, and Sean Ebner, bringing up Israel Jaramillo with everything the Elks needed to win on base. The Raccoons hastily went to Nelson Moreno for the right-handed .340 bat, only to be countered by a .362 lefty in Julio Diaz – who struck out. 3-1 Critters. Maldonado 2-4, RBI; Carreno 1-2, BB; Rella 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (3-1); Hitchcock 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

2-hit them – not bad for a bullpen game.

Now, Slappy, if Dr. Padilla answered my calls, that would be very lovely.

Game 2
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – P Wolinsky
VAN: CF Escobido – LF Mancini – RF A. Peralta – 1B Delagrange – 3B Malkus – 2B O. Aguirre – C Ebner – P Furuya – SS R. Price

After both teams got their #2 man on and had him removed with a double play in the first inning, the Raccoons took an unearned 1-0 lead in the top 2nd. Manny reached with a soft single, while Ruben Gonzalez’ 2-out grounder was bobbled by Delagrange. Arturo Carreno struck with an RBI single up the middle before the inning ended with Wolinsky flying out to Angel Escobido. Top 3rd, leadoff walk for Mercado, then a single for Herrera. Both took off on the first pitch to Maldo, and Ebner spiked the throw to third, which got through Malkus for another error, allowed Mercado to score, and Herrera to third base with nobody out. Maldo cashed an RBI single before the inning ran out.

Another run was added in the fourth with back-to-back 2-out doubles by Carreno and Wolinsky, 4-0. On the mound, Bubba had the habit of putting a guy on in each inning, but the damn Elks kept finding double plays (as did the Coons…) and he sailed relatively cleanly until the fifth when he walked Aguirre and Ebner singled. Furuya bunted them into scoring position, bringing up Price with two outs – the only lefty hitter in the lineup though, and Wolinsky rung him up to keep his sheet clean. Top 6th, Waters forced out Manny with a bad grounder, but then stole second and scored on a Gonzalez single to extend the lead to 5-0. It looked like a comfy game – I was wondering where the baseball gods had hidden the hammer for this one. Antonio Peralta homered to left in the bottom 6th, which did get the Elks on the board, but Furuya did not retire anybody to begin the seventh. Herrera singled, Maldo was brushed in the fuzzy belly, and Toohey hit an RBI single to center. Herrera’s rush to home plate drew a throw from Escobido, which was late, allowed the trailing runners to move up, and Furuya was yanked after that. Manny grounded out to Malkus, which scored nobody, but Waters’ groundout and Gonzalez’ single each brought in a run.

Wolinsky left the 8-1 game with two outs and two on in the seventh, having issued four walks against six strikeouts, not the best ratio. The Coons went to Preston Porter, the only righty not involved in the Monday game, who got a fly to Herrera from Escobido to end the inning, then added a 1-2-3 eighth. Then, with the 7-run lead, the Coons thought they could just as well use Bonnie in the bottom 9th, even against right-handers. He retired the first two before Ebner hit a single. Fine enough. Bonnie then threw a wild pitch, walked Diaz, walked Price, and suddenly the bags were full again. He would face one more before we’d have to dig out a competent pitcher again… Thankfully, Escobido grounded out to Maldo to end the game… 8-1 Raccoons. Herrera 3-5; Fernandez 2-5; Gonzalez 2-4, 2 RBI; Carreno 4-4, 2B, RBI; Wolinsky 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, W (9-1) and 1-4, 2B, RBI;

I always like it when our pitchers drive in as many runs as they give up.

Or more.

Game 3
POR: CF Herrera – LF Fernandez – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 1B Gurney – SS Waters – C Morales – 2B Carreno – P Wheatley
VAN: CF F. Rojas – C Julio Diaz – LF Mancini – 1B Delagrange – SS R. Price – 2B O. Aguirre – RF Escobido – P Blankenship – 3B Malkus

Three singles to center and Rick Price’s double to right strafed Wheats for two runs in the opening inning. The Coons had the tying runs on base in the second, with Carreno flying out to Escobido to leave them on, and again in the third, then even with nobody out as Wheats singled and Herrera reached on Malkus’ error. Manny lined out to Delagrange, and Maldo and Toohey both grounded out to a corner infielder to sap my enthusiasm.

Wheats kept trying, hitting another single in the fifth, but nobody else reached base in the inning. On the mound, he remained luckless and stuffless; the Elks hit seven base knocks off him while whiffing once in the first four innings, and could have led by more. Delagrange added a 2-out single in the bottom 5th before Price popped out on a 3-0 pitch, and that was the last inning Wheatley completed before Aguirre and Malkus singled their way to the corners in the bottom 6th and knocked him out with two gone. Pellicano and Curl entered in a double switch that removed Gurney from the #5 hole, with the lefty hitter Felix Rojas grounding out to keep the score a civil 2-0. The Coons however couldn’t even score Waters after he whacked a leadoff double in the seventh, so what was the point… (unscrews Capt’n Coma) The Elks tacked on a run in the eighth, Malkus taking Hitchcock deep, but it wasn’t like the Critters were going to score any time soon… 3-0 Canadiens. Waters 2-4, 2B;

Game 4
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Mercado – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – P Merino
VAN: CF Escobido – LF Mancini – RF A. Peralta – 1B Delagrange – 3B Malkus – 2B O. Aguirre – C Ebner – P de Anda – SS R. Price

Bryce Toohey singled home Herrera with an unearned run in the first inning – Escobido had overrun Herrera’s single – but a Peralta single and a Delagrange homer flipped that score in a hurry and in the same inning. Delagrange repeated the feat in the fourth, then with a solo shot, putting the damn Elks up 3-1.

Both pitchers’ tenure ended with an hourlong rain delay in the fifth inning, with de Anda departing with the tying runs on base in Gonzalez and Carreno, one out, and Manny batting against right-hander Mario Godinez to resume play. His single stuffed the bases for Pellicano, who found Rick Price for a 6-4-3 double play… No, the Raccoons weren’t hitting, at least not where they should hit to, and the Elks were going to escape with a split… Preston Porter pitched two scoreless innings, but Rella was tagged for a run on a walk and two singles in the seventh; same for Moreno in the eighth, although his was unearned despite balking it in, thanks to a Maldonado error. The Raccoons had Gurney hit a single in the #9 hole in the eighth for no great effect, then gave off a last wheeze against Eddie Sotelo in the ninth. Toohey hit a 1-out single and Mercado found the rightfield corner for an RBI triple, 5-2. Sam Gibson, closer on duty, replaced Sotelo, but gave up an RBI single to Waters, promoting the tying run to the plate. Gonzalez hit a bloop single in a full count, but Carreno popped out. Tony Morales then batted for Moreno, but grounded out. 5-3 Canadiens. Herrera 2-4; Toohey 2-4, RBI; Fernandez (PH) 1-1; Gurney (PH) 1-1; Porter 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

Yeah, Slappy, I sometimes wish they’d start hitting before being down to one or two outs…

We also finally shifted Sadaharu Okuda to the DL with an intercostal strain. He would probably miss another two weeks, so there were two to three spot starts available for somebody from AAA. That would be Jeremy Baker, who had a 3.65 ERA with a 5-5 record for the Alley Cats, but the most appealing K/BB numbers among the staff there, with a 1.8 ratio. The lefty was of course nothing special to watch out for at age 26, with two appearances for Portland last year, and a 4.32 ERA in 8.1 innings back then.

Raccoons (38-19) vs. Warriors (29-31) – June 7-9, 2047

Back to interleague play and home soil, with the third-place Warriors, just under .500, coming in. They had a -48 run differential, but I had seen that before this week and it hadn’t worked out *that* great for us. Second in runs scored, but bottoms in runs allowed, with the worst rotation AND bullpen – both with ERA’s over five – were allowing us to score aplenty. (snickers) The last meeting between these two teams had taken place two years ago, Portland taking two of three games.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (4-3, 3.66 ERA) vs. Aaron Jones (3-5, 5.66 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (0-0) vs. Jay Carroll (5-2, 5.17 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (9-1, 2.53 ERA) vs. Mark Elzinga (4-7, 5.16 ERA)

Right, left, left – Southpaw Sunday! – and they also had a pile of injuries, although mostly to relievers. Hugo Acosta was a memorable name on the DL, but the infielder was close to returning, they said, but we also hadn’t seen an antler of Jerry Outram in Elk City, so who knew…

Game 1
SFW: SS Moriel – 2B E. Stevens – LF M. Villa – RF Diskin – 1B Liberos – CF Munn – 3B Mujica – C W. Gardner – P A. Jones
POR: CF Mercado – LF Fernandez – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – SS Waters – 1B Gurney – C Morales – 2B Carreno – P Jackson

Tony Morales tried to atone for the final out in Elk City with an RBI single for the first run on Friday, plating Pat Gurney from second base in the bottom 2nd of the opener. He Coons added more singles from Carreno, followed by a Jackson bunt to put two in scoring position, and eventually Manny with two outs, scoring both runners for a 3-0 edge. Morales added a double to his ledger in the fourth before being singled home by Nelson Mercado, and Maldo doubled and scored on a Gurney single in the fifth to go up 5-0. A Julio Moriel error added Morales to the bags, and Carreno flicked a 2-out RBI single to get to 6-0. Jackson meanwhile held the Warriors to one hit in six innings, but walking three amidst a bunch of long counts did him in in the long run, and he was done after seven shutout innings and 104 pitches. Hitchcock allowed a run on two hits in the eighth, however, and was helped out mainly by a Moriel double play to Waters. Curl had no issues in a clean ninth, though. 6-1 Raccoons! Mercado 3-5, RBI; Maldonado 2-4, 2B; Gurney 2-4, RBI; Morales 2-4, 2B, RBI; Carreno 3-4, RBI; Jackson 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, W (5-3);

Game 2
SFW: SS Moriel – 2B H. Acosta – LF M. Villa – RF Diskin – 1B Liberos – CF Munn – C A. Thompson – 3B Wilken – P Carroll
POR: 2B Carreno – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – LF Medina – P Baker

The Warriors had two singles off Baker in the first, but no cigar, with Moriel thrown out by Herrera as he tried to go first-to-third on Mario Villa’s single. The Coons instead scored another unearned run in the bottom 1st, Carreno singling, going to third on a Herrera single, and finding the game ball sailing over his head and Randy Wilken after an errant throw by Matt Diskin, then turned left and scored. Herrera eventually scored on a Pellicano single with two outs, but also got entangled with Amari Thompson at the plate and got knocked out of the game, to be replaced by Mercado. I wailed terribly and cried into Honeypaws, although Dr. Padilla called a while later that it was only a bruise and he might even be able to play on Sunday. The inning continued with an RBI double by Waters in the right-center gap before Gonzalez lined out to Acosta. The Coons doubled their output in the third inning with a 3-piece that Pellicano smashed outta leftfield, scoring Mercado and Toohey for a 6-0 edge. Matt Waters went back-to-back with him and homered to right, while Gonzalez ripped a double to right before the automatic outs at the bottom of the order ended the inning. Reliever Andy Mejia gave up a run in the fourth, Pellicano driving home Maldonado, but also singled off Baker in the sixth inning of his long relief effort. After two innings in which a remarkably untouchable Baker had allowed a single before getting a double play grounder to clean up, this runner remained on base and had Villa added via walk with two outs. Matt Diskin flew out to Medina, though, stranding the pair. Baker’s defenses broke only in the seventh inning, when Danny Munn singled, advanced on a groundout, and was driven in by Wilken with another single, the eighth hit off Baker, and also the final one, with Baker pinch-hit for in the bottom 7th. Bonnie and Porter filled out the remaining two innings without accident. 8-1 Critters! Herrera 1-1; Mercado 3-4; Coen (PH) 1-1; Pellicano 3-4, HR, 5 RBI; Waters 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Baker 7.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (1-0);

We’re actually scoring MORE on them than their lousy average? Two days in a row? I have a bad feeling about this…! We probably get shut out on Sunday then…

Game 3
SFW: SS Moriel – 2B H. Acosta – LF M. Villa – RF Diskin – 1B Liberos – CF Munn – C A. Thompson – 3B Wilken – P Elzinga
POR: CF Mercado – 2B Carreno – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – P Wolinsky

…or Wolinsky would get blasted. Acosta tripled, Mario Villa homered, and there was another deep fly to right that Pellicano scraped off the top of the fence in the first inning, which saw the Raccoons trail 2-0 early. Mercado responded with a leadoff jack, but while Carreno and Maldo also hit singles, the 4-5-6 hitters collectively blacked out and the runners were stranded. Wolinsky allowed two singles to center in the second, conceding another run, struck out two to begin the top 3rd, then gave up another marker to a Manny Liberos double in left and Danny Munn’s single to center. Add to that 45 minutes of rain delay right after the inning, and the Raccoons were considering a bullpen day…

While the Coons had two walks in the bottom 4th and then saw Ruben Gonzalez robbed of a 2-out, 3-run, game-tying homer by Mario Villa, the fiend, Wolinsky clawed his way through five innings. He whiffed seven, but the rest of the line was gruesome and he was on the 4-1 hook. A Carreno walk and a Maldo single, all with two outs, brought up Toohey as the tying run in the bottom 5th, but he grounded back to the pitcher; Elzinga dropped the ball, the error filling the bases for Pellicano, who flew out to Diskin in deep right…

The tying run was at the plate AGAIN in the sixth after Manny and Gonzalez got on, with the #9 hole and Hitchcock up with one out. Pat Gurney grounded out in the spot, but Nelson Mercado FINALLY got the damn baseball out of the park with a 3-run homer (on a 1-2 pitch!) to right that Diskin could only look after. The game – tied.

Next, Carreno doubled to left and also strained a quad while doing so, hobbling off the field with Dr. Padilla. The Coons sent Jake Bonnie to pinch-run, showing their paw for their pitching plans in the seventh. Maldo grounded out to keep the game tied. Bonnie then whiffed Acosta, walked Villa, and whiffed Diskin before Villa was caught stealing. A pair of doubles by Manny Liberos and PH Dario Martinez downed Rella in the eighth, however, and the Warriors were back on top, 5-4. Putting runners on the base was not that hard for Portland – they got Elzinga (who was still going) to hit Gonzalez, and Gurney flubbed in a single with one out in the bottom 8th. Hey, here came Mercado again! This time Elzinga walked him, loading the bases. Carreno’s deserted spot now housed the pitcher, but our bench was rather sad. Ben Coen batted with three on and one out, one needed to tie, and two to lead. Elzinga walked him, too, before getting yanked a little late. Vincenzo Battaglia oversaw Maldo whipping a 2-run single to right-center, giving the Critters the lead, but struck out Toohey and got Pellicano to fly out. That left the ball to Lynn then. As in his prior outing, he got two outs before finding trouble, in this case a Villa homer with two outs. Diskin grounded out to first, though, completing the sweep. 7-6 Furballs. Mercado 2-4, BB, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Carreno 2-3, BB, 2B; Maldonado 3-5, 2 RBI;

In other news

June 3 – SAC SP Craig Czyszczon (5-6, 2.90 ERA) 3-hits the Wolves while throwing a 6-0 shutout.
June 5 – Aces RF/LF Mike Roberts (.298, 7 HR, 27 RBI) is headed for Tommy John surgery with a torn UCL, but should be ready for next Opening Day.
June 6 – Bayhawks C Sean Suggs (.276, 3 HR, 11 RBI) would miss about two months with a broken cheekbone.
June 8 – PIT RF/LF Victor Vazquez (.354, 3 HR, 20 RBI) has five hits, including a double and two triples, driving in one run, but the Miners fall to the Thunder in a late meltdown, 6-5.
June 8 – The Capitals fall to a 3-hit shutout thrown by MIL SP Victor Padilla (6-6, 3.51 ERA). The Loggers win 3-0.
June 8 – A broken thumb will mean at least a month on the DL for BOS RF Joe Ritchey (.258, 6 HR, 25 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: LAP 1B Mark Cahill (.274, 11 HR, 45 RBI), hitting .435 (10-23) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB 1B Dan Riley (.292, 7 HR, 23 RBI), socking .462 (12-26) with 3 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Just when the very idea of Arturo Carreno on the team became fun again, he tore out a leg… argh! He’s off to the DL for a month at least with the quad strain as we keep piling up the injuries. Not the BIG-BIG injuries, that end the season, but we have had a TON of these two to six week injuries now and … well, look at the bench. And it’s not gonna get better.

Okay, actually Al Martell will return to the team soon; he started a rehab assignment in St. Pete on Sunday. But we still gotta patch over the latest wound with probably John Castner while we go on the road trip. If Castner still got all paws on him. In this organization you can never be sure.

But somehow we keep wiggling through with the best record in baseball and while leading our division by more than the other three division leaders lead theirs by combined. So (cough) … there should be only so much room for whining?

Anyway, a 3-city road trip is up: Cincy, Milwaukee, New York, 10 games total. The draft will take place on Saturday, too.

Fun Fact: If we win another seven games against the Warriors before taking another L, we’ll finally reach .500 against them.

They are the only team from the FL we are sub-.500 against all-time, 40-47 at this point.

Although we sit at .500 against the Cyclones, and they are up next…