[Westheim]

Raccoons (63-29) vs. Crusaders (43-50) – July 16-18, 2047

Over 20 games out, the Crusaders had long resorted to playing out a long, long string. They were average in scoring runs, but their pitchers gave up the fourth-most in the CL, with a -32 run differential. The rotation was really troubled, with a second-worst 4.45 ERA, and then was also taken apart by injuries, with Carlos Malla, Matthew Owen, and Yataro Tanabe all down ad out; Randolph Nash joined them as a regular position player on the DL. The Coons led the season series quite convincingly, 7-2 at this point.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (7-7, 3.53 ERA) vs. Tony Negrete (1-2, 3.38 ERA)
Jake Jackson (9-4, 3.35 ERA) vs. Paul Paris (8-8, 5.60 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (8-3, 2.89 ERA) vs. Jim White (4-7, 3.81 ERA)

Two-cups-of-coffee former Raccoon Tony Negrete was a left-hander to open the series. He had moved into the rotation after 30 relief appearances to begin the year. The other two probables were right-handers.

Game 1
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – LF C. Cortes – 1B D. Hernandez – RF Rogers – C Urfer – CF Rico – P Negrete
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – 2B Waters – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – P Merino

Nothing but right-handed hitters opposed Merino (save for Negrete), which at times in the past had seen him struggle quite significantly, but ironically he began the game by sitting down the eight right-handers before walking Negrete. Neither team scored in the early innings, the Raccoons having their chances, however; Adame grounded out at 3-0 to begin the bottom 1st, before Herrera tripled and was stranded on a Maldo pop and Toohey strikeout. Pellicano’s leadoff walk ended with Manny’s double play grounder in the second, and Ruben Gonzalez opened the third with a single, but was left on third base. The leadoff man was on base *again* in the fourth, Maldo singling to center, but he never got off first base. The Crusaders did not even get a base hit off Merino until Danny Rico legged out an infield single in the sixth inning, but he was caught stealing to clean himself up. Bottom 6th, Adame opened with a single to left, the stole second off Negrete. He reached third on a Herrera grounder, and Maldo put the Coons ahead with a long fly to right that narrowly missed the fence and instead bounced away from Phil Rogers for an RBI triple. New York went on to walk Toohey intentionally, Waters walked unintentionally with two outs, and then Manny hit a soft liner over Mario Briones for a 2-out, 2-run single to extend the score to 3-0. Gonzalez flew out to left.

And Merino? The Crusaders next got a runner in the eighth when he walked Rogers with one out, but got through Rick Urfer, who flew out easily, and Rico, who was punched out for Merino’s seventh strikeout. Would he get the ninth? Yes, he would – whether Ruben Gonzalez’ 3-run homer off Steve Arrowsmith in the bottom 8th had anything to do with that? Probably! Merino batted for himself after that, grounded out, then retook the mound on 97 pitches to face PH Ken Wiersma in the #9 hole. Wiersma struck out, Prince Gates flew out to Pellicano, and after taking a ball, Brian Kaufman popped up high to second base. Matt Waters put the claws on the ball, and Merino posted an unexpected 1-hitter! 6-0 Raccoons! Adame 2-4; Herrera 2-4, 3B, 2B; Maldonado 2-4, 3B, RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Merino 9.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, W (8-7);

Damn you, Danny Rico!

There was no Paul Paris on Wednesday – the Crusaders traded him to the Blue Sox instead, receiving unranked infield prospect Felix Tovar instead. The Crusaders dug out another left-handed pitcher, Mike Zeigler (0-3, 6.57 ERA) to make the Wednesday start.

Game 2
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – LF Garris – 1B D. Hernandez – CF Rogers – RF de Luna – C Urfer – P Zeigler
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – P Jackson

Ruben Gonzalez drove in a pair with a 2-out single his first time up, chasing home Toohey and Waters, who had hit a single and double, respectively, ahead of him. Like Merino the day before, Jackson didn’t yield a hit the first time through, or a runner through the first seven hitters, before walking the entire New York battery. Urfer was caught stealing before Zeigler’s walk, however, and Kaufman made the third out again. In turn, the bags were loaded in the fourth inning, with nobody out. Briones and Josh Garris hit singles to either side of Waters, who then dropped Maldo’s feed off Dave Hernandez’ grounder. The Raccoons turned two, conceding a run, on Phil Rogers’ grounder to Adame, 6-4-3, and maintained a 2-1 lead when Rich de Luna flew out to Derek Baskins in left. Toohey went yard to right in the bottom of the inning to pull the run back, while Urfer was not seen again after the fourth inning, having hurt himself either on the stole base attempt earlier or on a defensive play in the bottom 4th. Wiersma replaced him.

Three hits by Briones – a double – Hernandez, and Rogers – singles – scored a run for New York in the sixth, reducing the lead to 3-2 as Jackson seemed to fade. A Toohey error put the tying run on base in Wiersma to begin the seventh, with productive outs moving the runner to third base by the time Kaufman batted and doubled to right to tie the ballgame. Briones flew out to Baskins in left-center, but Jackson was done – the #9 spot led off the bottom 7th – and the game was tied. The Coons went down in order, leaving him with a no-decision. Come the eighth, Pellicano hit a triple, but with two outs and nobody on base. Crucially, though, Matt Waters found the hole on the left side for an RBI single! Then Baskins hit *another* triple, scoring Waters, 5-3, before the Raccoons made a move designed solely to keep Manny Fernandez’ vesting option alive – he could only miss five more games all year, and this shouldn’t be one of them, so he batted for Gonzalez. He flicked a soft RBI single into leftfield to bring in Baskins! Tony Morales made the third out in the #9 slot, but Mike Lynn retired the New Yorkers in three batters to put the game away in the ninth inning. 6-3 Raccoons. Toohey 3-4, HR, RBI; Pellicano 2-4, 3B; Waters 3-4, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 1-2, BB, 2 RBI; Fernandez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Jackson 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K;

Game 3
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – RF C. Cortes – LF Garris – 1B D. Hernandez – CF Rogers – C Wiersma – P J. White
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – 2B Waters – CF Mills – C Morales – P Wheatley

Wheats stumbled out of the gate, giving up four hard-hit balls to the first four batters. Kaufman hit a single, Briones a double, and Carlos Cortes put New York up 1-0 with a sac fly, so I was already concerned. This was supposed to be the second half, and he was supposed to be unbeatable now! At least he rung up Garris… Nelson Mercado’s leadoff jack tied the score right away in the bottom 1st, while Wheats had a weird second run through the order, where only one player put the ball in play. Kaufman and Hernandez were whacked, while the rest of the bunch struck out. Wheats hit Kaufman again in the top 5th, with the New York third baseman having a few choice words from halfway up the line this time, which looked like “next time I’ll take your head off”. Anyway, neither team amounted to more than three base hits and one run through five innings.

Wheatley never faced Kaufman again, working himself to death in a bitter sixth inning that ended with him down 2-1. Cortes had drawn a leadoff walk, Garris had reached on a Toohey error, and Hernandez hit an RBI single before Wheatley slowly chewed through the bottom three to get out of the mess. White hit Maldonado to put the tying run on base in the bottom 6th, but Toohey hit into an inning-ending double play right away. New York added another two unearned runs, these on an Adame error, against Josh Rella and Aaron Curl in the seventh. Rella put the runners on base (with aid from Adame), and Curl waved them in when he gave up a 2-out double to Garris. The Raccoons had no runners in the seventh or eighth, then faced lefty Julian Ponce in the ninth, beginning with Adame. Adame grounded out, Maldo singled, but Toohey whiffed. Herrera grounded out to Kaufman as he batted for Manny, ending the game. 4-1 Crusaders. Maldonado 1-2, BB;

But… but-but-but…! It’s the second half? How is Wheats losing games??

(has wet eyes)

Raccoons (65-30) vs. Bayhawks (55-40) – July 19-21, 2047

San Francisco sat second in the South, six games and a half behind the Thunder. They needed the wins, but so did the Raccoons – 65 would not be enough by the end of September, y’know! The Baybirds ranked second in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed with a +54 run differential (Portland: +112), with the season series locked in a 1-1 tie with a rainout that would be made up in August at the Bay.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (7-5, 3.04 ERA) vs. Jesse Bulas (7-8, 3.82 ERA)
Jeremy Chaney (0-0) vs. Chih Ke (10-3, 3.01 ERA)
Victor Merino (8-7, 3.26 ERA) vs. Kevin Nolte (10-3, 2.75 ERA)

The Bayhawks had only righty starters around at this point.

The Raccoons would bring up Jeremy Chaney for a spot start on Saturday. The #5 slot in the rotation could be skipped again next week with an off day on Thursday, and after that we’d probably go to Jeremy Baker for the long run. Ken Mills would be sent back to AAA to make room on the roster, and we were as of yet open to suggestions to who would take the roster spot on Sunday.

Game 1
SFB: RF Del Vecchio – C J. Hill – LF Crum – 3B R. Sifuentes – 2B Quiroz – SS B. Nelson – CF A. Marquez – 1B D. Riley – P Bulas
POR: RF Mercado – CF A. Herrera – 1B Gurney – 3B Maldonado – SS Waters – LF Fernandez – 2B Martell – C Morales – P Okuda

The always annoying Ted Del Vecchio hit singles his first two times up, but Okuda also struck out five Bayhawks in between and didn’t allow him past second base in either baserunning attempt. The Raccoons had only one hit the first time through, while Bulas left with a shoulder ailment before getting through the order once, needing replacement by Natsume Adachi.

The first two Raccoons hits were also by the same player – Pat Gurney. He singled in the first and doubled in the fourth. The latter time, Maldo came to his aid and flicked an RBI single to put the Raccoons 1-0 ahead. Maldo stole second, but was stranded by Waters and Manny making weak outs.

With no other runs through five innings in the game, Okuda tried his best, hitting a double with two outs in the bottom 5th, but being left on by Mercado, while piling up eight strikeouts through six innings. The lead went bust in the seventh; first Bob Nelson hit a 1-out double to left, then Waters threw an Alex Marquez grounder past Gurney for a 2-base error that got the teams even again. Dan Riley and Adrian Ringel ended the inning with a K and a 6-3 that was actually on target, with Okuda now over 100 pitches and done. No decision for him – Waters led off the bottom 7th with a single, but was stranded.

Then Nelson Moreno had a rather uncharacteristic blowout in the eighth, walking three batters and giving up an RBI single to Ken Crum in between. He left with the bases loaded and two outs, and Curl found no way out of this one either, giving up an RBI single to Marquez, with Crum thrown out at home plate by Armando Herrera to end the inning after all. The Raccoons saw Herrera reach base with a 2-out single in the eighth, which led nowhere nice, and still trailed 3-1 when they faced Matt Simmons in the bottom 9th. Maldo singled to left, Waters singled to center, and the tying runs were on the corners. Manny grounded to short, but Bob Nelson had to hustle in and had only the play at first base while Maldo scored. Toohey batted for Rella in the #7 hole, but struck out. Morales grounded out to short… 3-2 Bayhawks. Gurney 2-4, 2B; Maldonado 2-4, RBI; Waters 2-4; Okuda 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K and 1-2, 2B;

A bit much shaky defense and not quite enough offense for my taste right now…!

Bulas would miss a month with shoulder inflammation.

Game 2
SFB: 2B Quiroz – 1B D. Riley – 3B R. Sifuentes – CF A. Marquez – LF Crum – C Jaros – SS Del Vecchio – RF A.L. Herrera – P Ke
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Gurney – CF A. Herrera – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – P Chaney

Roster move made as indicated, Chaney took his 8-4 record and 3.47 ERA from AAA to war against San Fran. Double, single, double, sac fly – that was how the Bayhawks greeted him, taking a 2-0 lead right in the first inning. Sergio Quiroz added a solo homer in the second, a feat matched by Armando Herrera in the same inning. Hits by Gonzalez and Adame scored another run in the third, but Chaney kept bleeding, trailing 5-2 on seven hits and a walk allowed through four innings. The bottom 4th gave hope to the Critters with leadoff singles by Maldo and Toohey, although then Gurney walked to make it three on and nobody out, ruining the whole effort. Herrera hit a soft grounder for an out and a run to begin the demise, Manny lined out to Dan Riley for only an out, and Ruben Gonzalez flew to right – but Armando Luis Herrera could no catch up with the ball! It fell on the warning track for a game-tying 2-run double…!

Chaney grounded out to strand the go-ahead run, then ached through the fifth, putting on another pair, but keeping the game tied. The Coons also stranded a pair, Mercado walking and Maldo getting nicked (like a ******* fastball magnet…) in the bottom 5th, leaving Chaney with a no-decision. A 6-5 lead was only taken by Portland when Ruben Gonzalez was back at the dish, hitting a sac fly to get Armando Herrera home, who had hit a leadoff double in the sixth. This was with Bonnie pitching for hopefully two innings; the sixth went well, and he held up in the seventh, too! Baskins would bat for him – in the #5 spot – in the bottom 7th, but ended the inning flying out to Marquez with Mercado and Adame in scoring position…

Two soft singles off Preston Porter put Mike Jaros and Armando Luis Herrera on the corners in the top 8th. John Hill hit in the pitcher’s slot with two outs, hit a drive in the right-center gap at 2-2, but Mercado tracked it down with a real zoom into the alleyway…! The lead preserved, it was then extended with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. The Critters’ Herrera drew a leadoff walk from Ricardo Ordas, then scored on Waters’ 2-out single from the #9 hole – Matt Waters had earlier entered with Bonnie in a double switch. Mercado grounded out, which gave the 2-run lead to Mike Lynn against the top of the order. Dan Riley hit a 1-out single through the left side, but that was all for San Francisco as the Raccoons evened the series. 7-5 Furballs. Adame 2-4, RBI; Herrera 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 2-3, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Bonnie 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

It was then back to AAA with Chaney (0-0, 9.00 ERA), who had made his fourth major league start here. Including his 27 relief appearances for the Capitals in 2045, he was 2-1 with a 3.68 ERA and 2 saves in the majors, but his ERA as a starter was a flat 7.00 …

Arturo Carreno was brought up for a few days as extra bench bat.

Game 3
SFB: SS Del Vecchio – C J. Hill – LF Crum – 3B R. Sifuentes – 2B Quiroz – CF A. Marquez – RF A.L. Herrera – 1B D. Riley – P Nolte
POR: SS Adame – CF A. Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Fernandez – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – C Morales – P Merino

Carreno was in the game by the top of second inning when Matt Waters left the game with a barking back. The game was scoreless at that point, but the Raccoons were in scoring position with Manny and Baskins and one out in the bottom 2nd. Morales’ grounder to first killed the inning, with Merino making an easy out after that, stranding everybody. Adame and Maldo were then a pair aboard in the bottom 3rd, but Toohey axed that chance with a grounder to short, 6-4-3.

Merino allowed two hits through five, then put himself on base with a leadoff single as the potential go-ahead run in the bottom 5th. Adame’s grounder up the middle narrowly squeezed by Del Vecchio for a single, only for Herrera to now hit into a double play and for Maldo to whiff… It was one of those trying games that tugged your heartstrings, and never gave you a reason to feel good about yourself…

So of course the Bayhawks took a 1-0 lead with a doubly-unearned run in the sixth. John Hill reached with two outs on a Merino error. Maldo fumbled Crum’s grounder for another error. Ramon Sifuentes jabbed an RBI single to center. I stuffed my snout with a pawful of cookies, then immediately turned them to mush with a generous gulp of Capt’n Coma. Quiroz was out to short, ending the inning, with two on again in the bottom half, as Nolte walked Toohey and Carreno. Baskins struck out, but Morales hit an RBI single to center to tie the score. Merino grounded out, allowed a double to Armando Luis Herrera in the seventh, but stranded the runners with a pop from Riley and a K to Nolte. Bottom 7th then, leadoff single by Adame, who was caught stealing, then another single from our Herrera – who was doubled up by Maldonado. Oh for crying out loud!

Moreno and Curl pitched the rest of regulation for the Raccoons, keeping them in the 1-1 tie. Matt Simmons was pitching in the bottom 9th again, facing 7-8-9. Baskins grounded out, but Morales drew a walk and Gurney flicked a single in the #9 hole, at which point Morales was run for with Mercado. A wild pitch to Adame moved the winning run to third base, at which point the Baybirds elected to create forces all over with an intentional walk to the shortstop, bringing up Armando Herrera – who found another double play to hit into, sending the game to extra innings…

Mercado remained in right, Manny’s spot being taken by Ruben Gonzalez, while Mike Lynn pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the top 10th. The Bayhawks stuck to Simmons for the bottom 10th, where he got easy outs from Maldo and Toohey before Gonzalez singled on 0-2. That brought up Carreno, but our options were getting thin and he was left in to bat – ending the game with a homer to left-center…! 3-1 Furballs! Adame 2-3, 2 BB; Herrera 2-5; Gonzalez 1-1; Baskins 2-4, 2B; Gurney (PH) 1-1; Merino 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K and 1-3;

In other news

July 15 – The Knights trade SP Bobby Freels (11-3, 3.32 ERA) to the Cyclones for two prospects, including #66 SP Joe Byrd.
July 16 – The Titans beat the Loggers, 2-1 in 10 innings, in a game in which both teams only manage three base hits.
July 17 – A torn meniscus will put PIT 3B/SS Ed Soberanes (.325, 12 HR, 56 RBI) on the sidelines for a month.
July 18 – Boston deals 2B/3B Tony Batista (.232, 1 HR, 14 RBI) to Los Angeles for LF/RF Jon St. Pierre (.273, 0 HR, 2 RBI).
July 19 – LVA LF/1B Rusty Stern (.271, 4 HR, 23 RBI) hits a home run for all the scoring in a 1-0 win over the Crusaders.
July 20 – CIN OF/2B Carlos Vega (.236, 4 HR, 21 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 10-9 loss to the Stars.
July 20 – The Blue Sox acquire SP Ayden Cobb (5-7, 3.23 ERA) from the Falcons, parting with #17 prospect SP Andy Overy.
July 20 – The Miners pick up 27-year-old Taiwanese rookie Joy-shan Kuo (4-4, 2.35 ERA, 16 SV) from the Scorpions for two prospects.
July 21 – The Rebels come back from three runs down to beat the Warriors, 7-6, with a bases-clearing walkoff triple smacked by bit player OF Francisco Mejia (4-for-8, 0 HR, 4 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: RIC 1B Willie Hernandez (.283, 11 HR, 36 RBI), batting .414 (12-29) with 2 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.337, 6 HR, 56 RBI), flicking .600 (15-25) with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The good news is that Matt Waters isn’t doing too badly. He might get a day off on Monday in Oklahoma, but should not miss any more time.

Carreno’s walkoff homer on Sunday not only continues his attempts to scratch his way back into our hearts and onto our roster, but also gives up 14 position players on the roster right now that have all hit a homer this season. Four of them have exactly one homer. As a team we’ve hit 80 in 98 games, second-best in the CL.

Three-city road trip begins on Monday – we’re into Oklahoma City, Atlanta, and Vegas to complete the month of July. The Thunder just swept the Indians on the weekend, which grew our lead some more, but may I remind you that they also swept us in the only meeting this year so far?

The bidding war for Rafael de la Cruz keeps escalating, with the asking price reaching $1.1M this week (not including a chonk of tax amounting to $650k). I am not sure how much further we will go with this one… He looks good, but he does not look like the next coming of Jonny Toner…

Fun Fact: The most recent ABL player to hit a cycle in a losing effort before Carlos Vega on Saturday? Armando Herrera.

That was in his Wolves days – and also against the Stars, a 6-4 defeat in Dallas in April of 2040.

The only player to be on the losing end of a cycle as a Raccoon is Tim Stalker – who actually lost BOTH of his cycles …!