[Westheim]

Raccoons (47-20) @ Crusaders (30-39) – June 17-19, 2047

Final set on the road trip – three games in New York with the Crusaders, who we led 5-1 this year. Their team was really struggling in many aspects of the game, in the bottom four in runs scored and runs allowed, f.e., and their rotation was the worst in the CL by ERA (4.69).

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (6-3, 3.36 ERA) vs. Jeff Johnson (5-7, 4.26 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (2-0, 2.77 ERA) vs. Matthew Owen (2-2, 3.33 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (10-1, 3.26 ERA) vs. TBD

Wednesday would be Yataro Tanabe (1-4, 6.61 ERA), the only southpaw in their current rotation, but he had left his last start with an injury and there was no word on whether he’d be able to take the next one out of the Crusaders camp yet.

Game 1
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – 2B Gurney – C Morales – P Jackson
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – LF C. Cortes – 1B D. Hernandez – CF Rogers – RF Rico – C Urfer – P J. Johnson

Something weird: an entirely right-handed lineup to face a right-handed pitcher – this should help Jake Jackson, shouldn’t it? While he allowed only one hit to Mario Briones the first time through, he struck out nobody, and instead walked the opposing pitcher in the bottom 3rd… Neither base runner got very far; the Raccoons were up 1-0 by then, having gotten Toohey across in the top 2nd on a leadoff double, Manny’s grounder, and a wild pitch. Pat Gurney helped out with a solo homer in the fourth, but Danny Rico matched the feat an inning later, 2-1, before Jackson helped himself in the seventh, finding Waters and Gurney in scoring position with one out and singling through the left side to drive in the pair of them. Unfortunately he also gave up a run on hits by Rico and Rick Urfer in the bottom of the inning, and the Crusaders came back to 4-2. Maldo hit a solo homer in the top 8th off former Critter Tony Negrete, but Jackson put Carlos Cortes, another former Critter, on base in the bottom 8th and then saw Josh Rella haplessly concede the run to a pinch-hit single by Josh Garris WHILE he walked the bases full. Urfer struck out to strand the purple threesome on base and keep the Raccoons afloat… Mike Lynn also made a fuss with two outs in the ninth, giving up a homer to Brian Kaufman that narrowed the lead to almost nothing – but Briones grounded out to Maldo to end the game after all… 5-4 Raccoons. Gurney 3-3, BB, RBI; Jackson 7.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (7-3) and 1-3, 2 RBI;

By Tuesday, the season of Yataro Tanabe ended with shoulder soreness. No word on Wednesday’s replacement starter so far.

Game 2
POR: CF Mercado – RF Pellicano – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – 2B Gurney – C Gonzalez – P Baker
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – 1B D. Hernandez – RF Rogers – C Urfer – LF Garris – CF Rico – P M. Owen

Tuesday’s game was a weird one; after two fine starts in place of Okuda, who was about to get back to action, Jeremy Baker had nothing. He walked four Crusaders and whiffed nobody through five innings, but also allowed only two hits, and they reliably found a double play to hit into whenever things got tight, and didn’t score a run. The Raccoons scattered five hits through as many innings, and took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a Maldo single, him stealing second, and eventually an Urfer error. This skinny lead could hardly stand up forever, and wouldn’t: Baker got taken deep by Briones to begin the bottom 6th, then immediately gave up a triple into the leftfield corner to Dave Hernandez, who was scored easily by Phil Rogers with a single to left. That gave New York the lead, 2-1. Owen remained stingy, retiring the Coons in order in the seventh, then singled to begin the Crusaders’ side of the inning. Prince Gates also singled, knocking out Baker, but the Crusaders choked against Hitchcock, with Kaufman finding a 5-4-3 double play and Briones flying out to right. Mercado hit a single in the eighth, but the Coons never got the tying run off first base, then faced left-hander Julian Ponce in the ninth inning. Toohey, Manny, and Waters hit three poor grounders in a row to end our winning streak at seven games. 2-1 Crusaders. Mercado 2-4;

Baker was then returned to AAA – not for losing the game, but because Sadaharu Okuda would spring back into action after returning from the DL. He would be lined up for the Friday game, with Wolinsky remaining in the rubber game slot, where word was at first that we’d come up against Tony Negrete, making a spot start after pitching in relief (17 tosses) on Monday, but by Wednesday the Crusaders sent right-hander Paul Paris (5-6, 6.10 ERA) on short rest instead.

Game 3
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – 2B Martell – C Morales – P Wolinsky
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – LF C. Cortes – RF Rogers – C Urfer – 1B de Luna – CF Rico – P Paris

Wolinsky didn’t gel with the all-righty lineup at all; Cortes hit a 2-run homer off him in the first inning, and Rogers hit a triple right after that, but was stranded when Urfer grounded out. The Raccoons then shed Manny again; he hit a double in the top 2nd, but was out at home plate on a Martell single, pulling up lame halfway between third base and home and requiring Urfer to come out and tag him to allow him to limp to the dugout. Medina replaced him, and the Coons didn’t score in the inning. They did score when Paris was taken deep by Mercado in the third, cutting the gap to 2-1, and Herrera got on afterwards with a single and stole second – Urfer had thrown him out in the first inning on another attempt. Maldo lined out, Toohey walked, and Medina stranded two with his grounder to Rich de Luna…

Top 4th, Waters drew a leadoff walk, and Martell singled to right. Tony Morales remained a burden, but his groundout at least advanced the runners and allowed Wolinsky to take himself off the hook with another grounder that scored Waters, leveling the game at two runs per side. Mercado popped out, ending the inning, but Paris issued walks to Herrera and Toohey to begin the next one. There was Medina again, but he singled to center this time, with Herrera turning third base. Rico’s throw was too late, but also allowed the trailing runners to reach scoring position while we went up 3-2. Waters added a run with a groundout, but Martell flew out to Rico, capping things at 4-2 at halftime. Wolinsky was still no bueno – he gave up seven hits and a walk through five innings. Gates and Briones hit singles in the bottom 5th, with Gates thrown out at home plate by Medina for a change. A Maldo error in the sixth didn’t help, putting Urfer on base before de Luna singled with one out. Rico smacked the ball to Waters, however, for an inning-ending double play.

Breathing room was established by Bryce Toohey in the seventh inning, smashing a 2-piece off Jeff Frank, who had just replaced Paris when he had yielded a leadoff single to Maldo. Wolinsky got one out in the seventh but was finally lifted with a guy on base and was worked out of the situation by Hitchcock. Rella worked a scoreless eighth before the Coons loaded them up in the ninth against Luis Villagomez. Maldo singled, Medina doubled, and Waters walked, bringing up Martell with one down. He hit a comebacker for a force out at home plate, and Morales grounded out to Briones to end the inning… Oh well, Nelson Moreno made no mess in the ninth at least, and the Raccoons took the series. 6-2 Critters. Mercado 2-5, HR, RBI; Herrera 2-4, BB; Maldonado 3-5; Fernandez 1-1, 2B; Medina 2-4, 2B, RBI; Martell 2-5; Pellicano (PH) 1-1;

It was off to the DL for two weeks for Manny Fernandez with the new injury, and somehow we seemed unable to come down from having a pawful of players on the DL or in rehab at all times… and no returnees for the rest of the month, either, probably, before we’d get Manny, Baskins, and Adame all back in early July.

Probably.

Yes, Manny, I talked about you. – What? – I need to talk louder? – YOU ARE BRITTLE, MANNY. – YES, VERY BRITTLE. – YES, BUT… WE TALK LATER, MANNY. LET DR. PADILLA SPOON-FEED YOU THAT SOUP FIRST.

Since interesting outfield talent was thin in AAA, we called up Brian Snyder for the time being.

Raccoons (49-21) vs. Aces (34-38) – June 21-23, 2047

The Aces had started the season 2-14 (including a sweep at the paws of the Raccoons), but since then had rallied respectably. This despite them sitting ninth in both runs scored and runs allowed, with a still pronounced -23 run differential. They were crummy in many aspects of the game, except in stealing bases and in defense, ranking near the top I both categories.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (4-4, 3.45 ERA) vs. Adrien Calabresi (7-5, 3.52 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (6-3, 3.21 ERA) vs. Jaylen Woods (1-0, 1.93 ERA)
Victor Merino (6-6, 4.24 ERA) vs. Jose Villalba (3-5, 3.56 ERA)

The Aces had four left-handed starting pitchers around, but we still managed to draw their only right-hander, Woods. Meanwhile, outfielders Bob Montana and Mike Roberts were on the DL for them.

Game 1
LVA: SS Montes de Oca – CF Cramer – C Weese – LF Watt – 2B Landstrom – 3B E. Luna – 1B Stern – RF Cannizzard – P Calabresi
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – LF Toohey – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Martell – 3B Coen – P Okuda

The Raccoons took the lead in the bottom 2nd on an errant pickoff throw, which was one of those rarely ticked boxes on the Stupid Baseball Bingo card, but Calabresi still misfired past Rusty Stern with Gonzalez (double) and Martell (single) on the corners and one out, then walked Ben Coen for good measure. Okuda and Pellicano both flew out to strand the pair, and stranded another pair in the fourth inning, then Gonzalez and Coen. On the mound, Okuda’s return began rather gooey with a long drawn-out first inning in which the Aces had two singles, but did not score. Before long though, Okuda became sharper and by the middle innings fed the Aces reliably into his own defense. Josh Landstrom ended a string of 10 straight retirements with a seventh-inning single, but was left on base.

Okuda batted for himself to lead off the bottom 7th in the 1-0 game, drawing a walk that got Calabresi removed. Replacement Taylor Joachim walked Pellicano, then gave up a single to Herrera, presenting Maldo with three on and nobody out. He fell to 0-2 before grounding into a force at home, which at least sat down Okuda if nothing else. Toohey grounded out to first, plating Pellicano, but Waters came through with a single to left, chasing home two more to go up 4-0. Of course, when Okuda returned to the mound in the eighth, he retired nobody and left after Angels Rodriguez and Montes de Oca had singled and a walk to Brent Cramer… and nobody out. Moreno came on, struck out Kevin Weese and got a sac fly from Matt Watt, then was replaced with Aaron Curl, who got Landstrom to ground out. Lynn handled the ninth with competence. 4-1 Coons. Herrera 2-4; Gonzalez 2-4, 2B; Okuda 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (5-4);

Curl’s brief cameo in the eighth was the first showing for a lefty middle reliever of ours this week. Bonnie’s still in wraps.

Game 2
LVA: SS Montes de Oca – 3B E. Luna – C Weese – 1B Witherspoon – 2B Landstrom – LF Stern – CF Watt – RF Cannizzard – P J. Woods
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – SS Waters – 1B Gurney – 2B Martell – C Morales – P Wheatley

A Waters error put Montes on base to begin the game, and with Wheats leaking two singles that free runner turned into an unearned 1-0 deficit in short order. Maldo temporarily tied the game with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, but Wheats got whacked some more in the top 2nd, this time giving up earned runs on hits by Tim Cannizzard, Montes, and Eddy Luna, for a 3-1 deficit. He then went on to tie the game himself in the bottom 4th, driving in Martell with a 1-out single; Martell had already doubled home Matt Waters, who had drawn a leadoff walk in the inning. Morales, getting on by getting whacked with a pitch and now the proud owner of FEWER RBI than Wheats, went to second base on the play. A soft single from Mercado filled the bases around Woods, who got a soft pop from Herrera for some relief, but then fell to a Maldonado single anyway; Maldo singled home Morales on a ball that didn’t reach the outfield greenery behind Landstrom, but counted anyway, but Toohey popped out foul to leave a full set stranded.

Six innings was all that Wheats had in another messy start – but hey, the second half was just around the corner! – before leaving the 4-3 lead to other paws to handle. Bonnie needed work, even though the spot hardly called for him, and issued a leadoff walk to Luna in the seventh. He struck out Weese, and Sam Witherspoon hit into a double play to somehow stave off disaster. He also struck out Landstrom to begin the eighth, then let somebody else find disaster. Porter faced Stern and Watt, put both on base, and Aaron Curl walked Cannizzard to fill them up. Juan Jimenez doubled home two to flip the score, and Montes socked an RBI single to give the Aces a 6-4 lead on the bullpen. Hitchcock was shredded for two more runs in the ninth inning. While Mercado singled and Maldo homered once more in the bottom 9th, the resulting deficit after the bullpen meltdown was too big to overcome. 8-6 Aces. Mercado 3-4, BB; Maldonado 3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI;

Game 3
LVA: SS Montes de Oca – CF Cramer – C Weese – 1B Witherspoon – LF Watt – 2B Landstrom – 3B E. Luna – RF Stern – P Villalba
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Martell – LF Medina – P Merino

Merino allowed one hit the first time through, while the Coons scattered a few more than that, all rather inefficiently, with our pitcher leading off the bottom 3rd with a single. Pellicano also singled, then was forced out on a Herrera grounder. Maldo was nicked once more, loading the bags for a struggling Toohey (3 hits, 3 RBI this week), who found a double play to kill the chance…

That was about as much as the starting pitchers did before a rainstorm moved in and doused the entire place for almost two hours in the middle of the fourth. Merino was batted for when his turn came up with Waters on second, Medina on first, and two outs in the bottom 4th, with Miguel Mauricio having replaced Villalba already. Gurney grounded out, leaving everybody with a no-decision. The Critters went on to get two scoreless from Preston Porter before Waters opened the bottom 6th with a double off Mauricio. Gonzalez walked, and a wild pitch advanced the runners into scoring position before Martell unhelpfully grounded out to first base and kept them pinned. Medina was struck hard with a 2-2 pitch but wobbled to first base eventually. Mercado hit for Porter and broke the ice with a sac fly, but that was all the Critters got, Pellicano going down on strikes afterwards. The Aces then flipped the score immediately off Bonnie, who walked leadoff man Matt Watt and was taken deep by Rusty Stern in the seventh inning, going down 2-1.

We got back into a tie in the eighth with unlikely back-to-back 2-out doubles spanked by Martell and Medina off Willie Gonzales, which was one way to do it. Ben Coen hit for Rella, but grounded out, leaving the go-ahead run in scoring position. Lynn struck out three in the top 9th, which sounded better than the leadoff single to Watt and a walk to Luna that he also offered. Bottom 9th, season debut for 37-year-old journeyman Donovan Mason against the top of the order. Pellicano singled and was caught stealing. Herrera singled. Maldo doubled to right, but Herrera had to hold. I sighed, because we would have won by now if Pellicano had stayed on base. And Toohey? He was slumping badly, but first base was also open. The Aces elected to walk him intentionally to fill the bases for Waters, who ended the game with a sac fly to right. 3-2 Critters. Pellicano 2-5; Herrera 2-4, BB; Maldonado 2-4, 2B; Waters 2-4, 2B, RBI; Medina 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Merino 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K and 1-1; Porter 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;



In other news

June 17 – The Scorpions scorch the Warriors for ten runs in the first inning and then resort to managing that output into a 14-4 win. SAC LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.278, 14 HR, 37 RBI) goes unretired with two hits (both homers), three walks, and drives in six runs.
June 18 – DEN SP Josh Brown (5-2, 3.72 ERA) and three relievers pitch a combined 1-hitter against the Wolves in a 5-0 win. Only SAL 1B Bill Jenkins (.280, 13 HR, 49 RBI) finds a single off Brown.
June 20 – The Buffaloes get an excuse to try a new closer with a strained hammy putting CL Trent O’Sullivan (1-9, 7.12 ERA, 22 SV) on the DL for three weeks.
June 21 – The hitting streak of TOP OF Dave Lee (.295, 8 HR, 33 RBI) reaches 20 games with an RBI single in the Buffos’ 3-2 loss to the Pacifics.
June 21 – SFB OF Armando Luis Herrera (.319, 5 HR, 31 RBI) singles home Alex Marquez (.295, 9 HR, 49 RBI) to walk off the Bayhawks against the Canadiens, 9-8 in 17 innings, including seven scoreless extra innings up to that point after both teams scored a 3-spot in the ninth.
June 22 – Scorpions INF Mario Coto (.289, 2 HR, 17 RBI) drives in six runs from the #8 spot as Sacramento destroys the Miners, 19-2.
June 22 – RIC LF/RF Pablo Gonzalez (.330, 8 HR, 42 RBI) hits a walkoff single to beat the Stars, 1-0 in 10 innings.
June 23 – DEN SP Josh Vercher (7-4, 3.16 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout in a 2-0 win against the Cyclones.
June 23 – Rotator cuff tendinitis will sit down IND CL Tommy Gardner (3-4, 3.90 ERA, 18 SV) until the All Star Game.
June 23 – The Indians beat the Knights, 5-4 in 17 innings, after neither team had managed to score since the seventh inning. The winning run is driven in on a sac fly by 28-year-old rookie C Bill Turbeville (.289, 0 HR, 3 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: CIN 3B/SS David Reid (.238, 7 HR, 27 RBI), batting .600 (6-10) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR INF/RF/LF Jesus Maldonado (.311, 11 HR, 41 RBI), batting .385 (10-26) with 3 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Not an impressive week by our 2047 standards, but we’ll take 4-2 among the slow drip of injuries and the occasional pen meltdown. The Indians are keeping pace, though at their distance, while everybody else keeps sagging. The Elks are already 16 games out, and the bottom three teams are already 21+ games behind.

Wolinsky leads all of the ABL in wins now with 11, while Nelson Mercado has snuck into the lead in the batting title race for the time being.

Maldo, age 33 and to be expensive for a long time yet, took his eighth Player of the Week title this week; he most recently grabbed one last year during Opening Week.

Not only the major league team has its injury issues, the minor leagues also have a lot of players on the shelf this year. This week we already managed to put a new draft pick on the minor league DL, Curtis Scholl needing some time out with sore arm…

Next week we’ll have three more home games with the Falcons, then head to the frozen wastes up North for the second 4-game set there this month. At least the field is almost thawing at this time of the year, reducing the chance of fractures on diving plays…

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are 632-635 (.499) all time against the damn Elks.

I would really love to get on their good side now that we’re stomping everybody…