[Westheim]

Raccoons (7-4) vs. Titans (8-5) – April 20-22, 2048

Nick Valdes went his ways after the successful sweep of the damn Elks, leaving me to my own devices for the 3-game set with the Titans that dawned on Monday and would conclude the long homestand. The Bostonians had started the year 5-0 against the Loggers and Aces before meeting actual opposition and had sagged a bit since, leaving us in a virtual tie for first place on Monday morning. They ranked fourth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed so far, but the Raccoons had owned the Titans’ bottoms for a number of years now and I did not yet see how that was supposed to change any time soon. We had won the season series for six years in a row, with three straight years of pounding them for a final tally of 14-4 each time.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (1-0, 2.13 ERA) vs. Brian Jackson (1-0, 1.06 ERA)
Jake Jackson (0-0, 4.15 ERA) vs. Jim Cushing (0-0, 6.30 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (1-0, 4.76 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (1-2, 5.96 ERA)

Their Jackson would open the series by throwing with his left hand; the others were right-handers. The Titans had Ed Haertling on the DL already.

Game 1
BOS: SS Kohr – 1B Wheeler – RF C. Jimenez – CF T. Lopez – 2B Galaz – LF L. Estrada – C Brooks – 3B J. Rodriguez – P B. Jackson
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – 2B Waters – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – P Merino

Merino yielded a single to Chris Jimenez in the first inning, but the Titans did not score. The Raccoons *did* score in the bottom 1st, and weren’t shy about it. Our first four batters all chipped singles off Jackson, giving Maldonado an RBI while Toohey loaded the bases for Pellicano, who uncorked a true blast to left-center – GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAMMMM!!!

The game then soon fell victim to more iffy weather that had plagued Portland or much of the prior week, with the skies opening in the second inning and leading to an hourlong rain delay pretty quickly… The Raccoons emerged on the other side of it with a pair of errors and two Titans hits in the top of the second that conceded two runs (one earned) to the Titans. Maldonado fumbled a grounder, Merino made a throwing error, and it was all pretty ugly… But Toohey doubled home Maldonado in the bottom 3rd for an extra run, 6-2, and Merino at least recollected themselves so far as to make it through five innings without coming apart hard enough to forfeit a potential W after the 5-run first inning.

Portland tacked on more with the sort-of-hot Maldonado homering to right in the bottom 5th to put Brian Jackson to bed and extend his RBI streak to six games. Merino was done after six innings, also owing to the earlier rain delay, with Kevin Hitchcock putting in a quick seventh, but then being removed from the eighth after leadoff base hits from Tony Lopez and Gerardo Galaz. Jake Bonnie extricated the Raccoons from that spot for a Leo Estrada sac fly, but nothing else, keeping the team up by four. The Coons answered in the bottom of the inning against lefty David Barnes, who got two outs before allowing straight hits to Gonzalez, Kevin Prow (first Critters hit!), and Adame, loading the bases for Herrera, who singled to center to drive in two runs, and it was pretty much the same for Maldo, who raked a 2-run double to left on the first pitch he got from Barnes, which was also the last pitch offered by Barnes in this game. Bryan MacDuffie rung up Bryce Toohey to end the onslaught. Preston Porter put Boston away in a 1-2-3 ninth. 11-3 Critters! Adame 2-5; Herrera 2-5, 2 RBI; Maldonado 3-3, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Toohey 2-5, 2B, RBI; Pellicano 1-3, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Prow (PH) 1-1; Merino 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (2-0);

Whoop, whoop!

I know, Honeypaws, I am getting way too cocky again…

Game 2
BOS: RF L. Estrada – 1B Wheeler – SS C. Jimenez – CF T. Lopez – C W. Gardner – 2B Kohr – LF C. Vega – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Cushing
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – LF Watt – RF Fernandez – C Prow – P J. Jackson

Cushing had walked ten batters in as many innings to begin his season, but the Raccoons showed a real lack of patience in the early going. While Jackson loaded the bases in the top 3rd with hits by Cushing and Jeff Wheeler, plus a 2-out walk to Tony Lopez, then escaped when Wade Gardner grounded out to Adame to strand absolutely everybody, the Raccoons had a Matt Watt double in the bottom 2nd, then a leadoff single from Prow in the third, but did not get close to a base on balls the first time through. Cushing did not hang around much longer than that, feeling a twinge or something shortly after conceding a 2-out RBI single to Armando Herrera for the first run of the game.

Jackson held on to that 1-0 lead through six innings, while actually putting more runners on base than the Titans hurlers combined during his time in the game. He allowed four hits and as many walks, but also struck out seven to help himself out of one tight spot or another. The Coons looked like a threat in the bottom 6th with a leadoff single by Maldo and with Toohey getting nicked, but Waters found a 6-4-3 double play, knocking a few teeth out of that setup. Matt Watt, though, singled through the left side, plating Maldonado for a 2-0 lead and his first RBI as a Critter. Manny added a single, but Prow grounded out.

However, both Jackson and Cushing failed to get a decision ultimately, thanks to Bob Ibold walking Estrada, then getting bombed by Jeff Wheeler to tie the game in the top 7th. The Raccoons made two outs against MacDuffie to begin the bottom 7th, then got Herrera and Maldo on with singles, while Toohey was drilled for the second time in the game and looked at MacDuffie with visible displeasure, but forewent caving the silly right-hander’s skull in with his club for the time being. Matt Waters came up with the bags stacked, but struck out, and the 2-2 tie prevailed.

Gerardo Galaz socked a leadoff double off Ibold in the eighth, which led to some tight at-bats with Kuo, Moreno, and the bottom of the Boston order, but the two relievers managed to strand the go-ahead run on second base, so that was neat enough. The bottom 8th led nowhere, while Mike Lynn shaved another couple of runs off that ghastly ERA of his, although he did go to three 3-ball counts in the top 9th and walked Jimenez for some additional wrinkles on my sorrow-scarred forehead. Boston didn’t score, however, so the Coons were still only one run away from a walkoff win. Pat Gurney, who had been living in the #9 hole for a bit after an earlier double switch, opened with a single off Emanuel Caceiro. The lefty got Adame, but brushed Herrera with a pitch. That brought up Maldo with the winning run on second and his RBI streak in danger; he was 2-for-4 on the day, but had yet to chase home a run! He ran a full count with Caceiro, then dropped in a single, but Gurney had to hold near second base, because rightfielder Tom Steffensen *almost* got to the ball. Bases loaded for Toohey, then, and a third hit-by-pitch wouldn’t be the worst thing right now. The count ran full instead and Caceiro looked like he didn’t know what to throw anymore. Toohey was licking his lips and wiggling his twig, then had to freeze on a pitch that was like three feet outside and very obviously walked off the Raccoons with a walkoff walk…! 3-2 Critters. Herrera 2-4, RBI; Maldonado 3-5; Watt 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Jackson 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 K;

Not that Toohey wouldn’t have liked to hit a walkoff slam…! This was his fifth RBI of the year, which for the early-season Maldo grades out as a slow weekend.

Jim Cushing (0-0, 5.68 ERA) meanwhile learned that he’d likely miss most of the season, or maybe even all of it, with a tear in his triceps discovered by Wednesday.

Game 3
BOS: LF C. Vega – 1B Wheeler – RF C. Jimenez – CF T. Lopez – 2B Galaz – C W. Gardner – SS Kohr – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Turay
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – 2B Martell – LF Baskins – P Okuda

In the team’s 14th game, Jesus Maldonado ticked his 18th RBI with a groundout in the first inning, bringing home Adame after the 1-2 batters had went to the corners with a pair of leadoff hits. The Titans got the occasional hit off Okuda, but always seemed to hit into a double play, then made 10 straight outs from the fourth until the seventh inning as Okuda defended the skinny 1-0 lead that the Raccoons, stuck on only one additional base knock after the pair of singles to begin the bottom 1st, failed to extend. The string of retirements ended when Okuda walked Wade Gardner in a full count in the seventh inning. Jason Kohr went on to single through the left side, putting Bostonians on the corners, but there they were stranded when Jose Rodriguez grounded out to Al Martell. Okuda went on to have a 1-2-3 eighth inning, but reached 100 total pitches at the conclusion of it, and with the score being what it was, was hit for with Matt Waters in the bottom 8th, but Waters made the second out with a grounder. Adame then hit a single, stole second (after being caught by Gardner earlier in the game), and Armando Herrera walked to bring Maldo up against Kyle Turay again. His fly to right was no serious challenge for Chris Jimenez, and the inning ended. Things had been adventurous for Mike Lynn so far, to use a more neutral term, and after 26 pitches the day before he was not brought out against the all-right-handed 3-4-5 area of the Boston lineup in the ninth; Nelson Moreno got the call instead. Jimenez looped a leadoff single over the head of Adame, but Moreno struck out the next two. Wade Gardner hit a first-pitch floater to Manny Fernandez, who completed the sweep with a sure grab. 1-0 Furballs. Adame 2-3, 2B; Okuda 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (2-0);

This sweep gave the Coons a 3-game lead ahead of the .500 Titans and Indians. The rest of the division was actually shambolic and deserved no spotlight to be shown on their failures.

Yes, the point where the Raccoons will turn into a 70-92 team again will be very hard or me.

Raccoons (10-4) @ Falcons (8-7) – April 24-26, 2048

On the road again, the Raccoons went cross-country to Charlotte, trying to extend their 7-game winning streak against the Falcons, who were tenth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed in the CL in the early going. Their rotation was in the top 3 by ERA, while the bullpen was in the bottom 3, and they had already shed a few pitchers to injury, most notably Jerry Felix and Kurt Olson. The Coons had lost the season series in both of the last two seasons, 4-5 each time.

Projected matchups:
Jeremy Baker (0-1, 1.38 ERA) vs. Alan Fleming (1-0, 1.56 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (0-2, 9.69 ERA) vs. Hiroyuki Takagi (1-1, 5.00 ERA)
Victor Merino (2-0, 1.93 ERA) vs. Jose Villalba (0-0, 3.38 ERA)

Another Southpaw Sunday, what joy! Takagi meanwhile was a 26-year-old Japanese import that had come with a $5M bill for a 3-year deal.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – 1B Gurney – 2B Waters – RF Pellicano – C Gonzalez – P Baker
CHA: RF de Luna – 2B E. Sandoval – CF M. Martinez – 1B Marroquin – LF Caballero – 3B Thibault – C Burgess – SS Marroguin – P Fleming

Another busy first inning for Portland in the series opener, as Adame hit a double to left, Herrera was tickled by a pitch, and Maldo chopped a single that filled the bases with nobody out for Bryce Toohey, who had yet to get the RBI factory going, sitting on five for the season. He popped out, Gurney whiffed, and Waters flew out to center, with a grand total of zero runs going on the board… Instead, the Falcons went up 1-0 with hits by Rich de Luna and Esteban Sandoval, then an Omar Marroquin sac fly in the bottom 1st. The Coons tied it up in the second inning on hits by Pellicano and Adame, only for Jordan Marroguin (seriously, who can tell those two apart??) to belt a 2-run homer off Baker in the bottom of the same inning. That deficit was made up in the fifth with solo homers by Bryce Toohey and Matt Waters, evening the score at three.

While Baker wasn’t *great* but managed to hold on, the Raccoons seemed to have found a power reservoir. Come the seventh inning, Toohey strung a double to left, soon followed by the first homer of the year for Pat Gurney, a no-doubter to right that gave the Critters a 5-3 lead. Unfortunately, Baker crumbled for good in the bottom of the same inning. Bobby Thibault singled, Jordan Marroguin found the gap for an RBI triple, and then scored himself with the tying run on a groundout by Robby Gomez.

Gonzalez singled with one out in the eighth, but was doubled up by Manny Fernandez. Bob Ibold then kept the game tied in the bottom of the inning before the Falcons sent former Raccoon Antonio Prieto out for the top of the ninth. He retired Adame, but Herrera doubled over Archie Turley in center. Maldonado didn’t hit a baseball nearly as hard, but singled to shallow right-center, which was good enough to get home Herrera, who got a very fine read on the play, breaking the tie in favor of the Critters again. Maldo reached second on Turley’s throw to home plate, which took the bat away from Toohey with first base open. Gurney lined out to Esteban Sandoval, but Prieto fell over Matt Waters for a 2-out RBI double to left, then was yanked. Matt Watt hit for Pellicano and singled home another two runs off Kyle Conner for a 4-spot in the inning. Kuo retired the side in order in the bottom 9th. 9-5 Raccoons. Adame 3-5, 2 2B, RBI; Maldonado 3-5, RBI; Toohey 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Gurney 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Waters 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Watt (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 2-5;

Game 2
POR: CF Watt – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – RF Pellicano – LF Baskins – C Prow – P Wheatley
LVA: 2B M. Martinez – SS E. Sandoval – RF Allegood – 1B Sevilla – 3B Thibault – LF Marroguin – CF Caballero – C Hoffmann – P Takagi

To my great concern, Jason Wheatley continued to pitch like a bum. He gave up three hits in the first four innings, which sounded good at first glance, but one was a solo homer by Raul Sevilla, and while that was the only damage in terms of runs, there were multiple further hard hits that came down in mittens around the warning track. Wheats didn’t get a K until the fifth inning, and then only on the pitcher. In that inning, he also blew up, exploding a 3-1 lead into a 4-3 deficit, although a throwing error by Waters also made two of those runs unearned. The Raccoons had tied the game on a third-inning Adame triple and a Gurney single after the Sevilla homer, then had taken the lead in the top 5th with RBI’s for Maldo (20!) and Waters again.

The Falcons reached the corners with singles off Wheatley in the bottom 6th, but Omar Marroquin struck out batting for Takagi to strand the runners. The Raccoons also took to the corners in the top 7th, Adame and Maldonado getting singles of Kyle Conner. Waters’ bouncer up the middle eluded Sandoval for a game-tying RBI single, all even at four. Gurney popped out, Pellicano whiffed, ending the inning. And Wheats? Got taken deep by Mike Allegood for another Falcons lead in the bottom 7th, 5-4. Derek Baskins hit a single in the eighth, but was doubled up by Kevin Prow, and the Raccoons were still down by a run in the ninth, facing right-hander Josh Swindell and his 11.57 ERA. Watt hit another leadoff single… and Maldonado hit into a double play to end the game. 5-4 Falcons. Watt 2-5; Adame 2-5, 3B; Maldonado 3-4, BB, RBI; Waters 3-4, 3 RBI;

What the **** is wrong with Wheats…!?

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – 2B Waters – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – P Merino
CHA: RF de Luna – 2B E. Sandoval – CF M. Martinez – 1B Marroquin – LF Caballero – 3B Thibault – C Hoffmann – SS Marroguin – P Villalba

…not that I was much happier with Merino, who committed the cardinal sin of giving up a 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run double to the opposing pitcher in the second inning. Well, at least it was ******* poetic. Miguel Martinez and Oscar Caballero hit doubles for an extra run in the third inning, Caballero’s coming on two strikes and with two outs again.

The game was very much a lost cause by then. The Raccoons weren’t hitting to an extent that Merino was the king of offense, allowing plenty of hits (eight in six innings) to the Falcons, while landing two of the Coons’ three measly hits through six. Unsurprisingly, no Critter touched third base that far into the contest. Toohey drew a leadoff walk in the seventh, with Waters following up with a 1-out single to center, which technically brought the tying run to the dish. But Manny flew out to Miguel Martinez, and Gonzalez popped out to short, and the Raccoons got ready to book consecutive L’s again. Merino was back for the seventh, but should not have been, allowing singles to de Luna and Sandoval, then was yanked with no outs on the board. Somehow, Hitchcock and Kuo prevented the Falcons from tacking on, despite Marroquin reaching against the former. The latter rug up Thibault to strand the set of three in the 3-0 game. The tying run was at the plate again in the top 8th, with Adame hitting a double to left and Maldo getting hit in the calf by Villalba. Toohey was up with two outs, but struck out. At least we had the decency to go down 1-2-3 in the ninth… Villalba finished with a 5-hit shutout. 3-0 Falcons. Adame 2-4, 2B;

In other news

April 21 – SFB CL John Steuer (0-0, 1.35 ERA, 4 SV) is expected to miss three months with rotator cuff inflammation.
April 24 – The Aces enter the bottom 9th trailing the Indians, 5-0, but go unretired in the inning for a 6-5 walkoff win, the rally capped by a 3-run walkoff homer mashed by 3B Jeremy Hornig (.185, 1 HR, 5 RBI).
April 26 – The Indians swap OF/2B Danny Diaz (.265, 2 HR, 5 RBI) to the Capitals for C Alex Pedraza (.313, 0 HR, 1 RBI) and a prospect.

FL Player of the Week: SFW 1B Manny Liberos (.349, 4 HR, 9 RBI), hitting .545 (12-22) with 4 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR 1B/RF/3B/LF Jesus Maldonado (.379, 5 HR, 20 RBI), poking .545 (12-22) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

We are first. Adame (12 doubles!) and Maldo (20 RBI!) are raking, and there is a sizable supporting cast, but it’s really not all golden around here. Wheats looks utterly broken. Manny is old. Baskins can’t catch a break. The catchers have one RBI between them. The only thing missing is a pile of injuries.

Also of concern is the run differential, which is only +9 so far. We’re actually only scoring about 4.4 runs per game, giving up 3.8 markers per time of putting on pants. The defense was quite sterling in recent years, but is barely average so far.

Old age coming to get us? I fear not. I seek solace in our 34-year-old third baseman slugging .636 and claim that it’s all just numbers and you’re only as old as you feel.

I feel very old.

Next week? Trip to Vegas to gamble away a few of Nick Valdes’ leftover millions, then back home for a 6-game stint in our old cave, hosting the Indians and Loggers.

Fun Fact: Alex Adame has 12 doubles before April is over, after not getting more than 27 in any of the last four seasons.

His career high would be 33 with the ’43 Crusaders, his age 21 season, which is also the year he won his first stolen base title (he got his second one last year).

Of course, it’s hard hitting doubles when you’re hurt a lot. Adame missed 40+ games each of the last two years.