[Westheim]

Raccoons (80-63) vs. Titans (70-72) – September 11-14, 2051

The Titans had lost five in a row at a point in the season where they needed wins, and they never needed them more than in this upcoming four-game tilt, the last meeting between those two teams for the year. The Coons led the Titans by 9 1/2, but were down 8-6 on the year against them. Oh well, at least we had dumped the golden plunger for having the fewest runs scored in the league onto them. Which still beats the golden toilet for ALLOWING the most runs…

Projected matchups:
Paul Miles (4-3, 4.09 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (12-10, 3.50 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (13-10, 3.67 ERA) vs. Thomas Turpeau (12-9, 3.31 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (17-6, 2.57 ERA) vs. Troy Ratliff (10-8, 3.31 ERA)
Victor Salcido (8-8, 3.67 ERA) vs. Steve Miles (11-9, 3.55 ERA)

The Coons kept avoiding lefty David Barel (16-8, 2.69 ERA), who had made back-to-back appearance against Portland in the four-and-four at the All Star Game, but apart from that always fell outside this series in 2051. Turpeau was the only southpaw we were scheduled to come up against in this series.

We were not yet sure where to re-insert Rafael de la Cruz (6-6, 4.33 ERA) into the rotation, but we couldn’t make his scheduled start on Monday with a sore hindpaw.

Game 1
BOS: 1B E. Rodriguez – C R. Salas – CF M. Martinez – RF T. Lopez – SS Thatcher – 2B Galaz – LF Ruano – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Turay
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – CF DeMarco – RF Suzuki – C Gonzalez – 3B Crispin – 1B Philipps – P P. Miles

The Blue Sox had gangbanged Miles pretty good in his only prior spot start of the year in May, but things got better this time, despite Boston taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning; a throwing error by Ed Crispin helped them with that, too, and the run was unearned. Matt Waters erased the deficit with a leadoff jack in the bottom 1st, then scored along with Lonzo on a 2-run double over the head of Miguel Martinez that Pucks smacked in the third inning for a 3-1 lead. Miles seemed to hold up pretty good until Jose Rodriguez homered off him in the fifth, and the bases filled up after that, but John Thatcher popped out to strand all the runners and keep the Coons 3-2 ahead. Miles’ sixth was without complaints, and the seventh would begin with the opposing pitcher and a lefty, so what could possibly go wrong? Well, for starters, Turay zinging a triple into the corner? Miles got Elias Rodriguez, but then was lifted for Willie Cruz, who tried his ******* best to blow the lead. He walked Raul Salas, then ran full counts to Martinez, who lined out to a lunging Lonzo, and Tony Lopez, perhaps the most credible batter in the lineup here. Lopez sent a drive to center, but Nick DeMarco went back to grab it and strand runners on the corners. Waldo and Sencion each walked a batter, but somehow wound their way through the eighth inning, and Kevin Hitchcock got two quick outs in the ninth before Miguel Martinez inevitably singled and brought Lopez back to the plate… but Lopez grounded out calmly to Lonzo. 3-2 Coons. Waters 3-4, HR, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; DeMarco 3-4, 2B; Miles 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (5-3);

This W mathematically eliminated the Loggers, who’d be watching October baseball from the couch for the 29th time in the last 30 seasons.

Game 2
BOS: 1B E. Rodriguez – C R. Salas – CF M. Martinez – RF T. Lopez – SS Thatcher – LF L. Estrada – 2B M. Castillo – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Turpeau
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – CF DeMarco – RF Glodowski – 3B Kaufman – C Gonzalez – 1B Philipps – P Wolinsky

As with Miles on Monday, Bubba fell behind on an unearned run; two errors, one by each catcher in the lineup, absolutely forced Leo Estrada around the bases in the second inning to make it 1-0 Boston. And since Wolinsky had already committed an error in the first inning, the Coons were already on three for the day, wheeee…!! Bottom 2nd, though: walk, double, walk, and the bags were full with nobody out (uh-oh) for Tyler Philipps. Oh for ***** sake. Astonishingly, he didn’t hit into a triple play, though, but singled up the middle for a run and a 1-1 score, bettering his batting average all the way to .156. Bubba held still rather than do something stupid and took the K, which gave him a 2-1 lead on Waters’ sac fly to Lopez, but that was as good as it got, with Lonzo also flying out.

Bubba celebrated by promptly walking three Titans, Elias Rodriguez, Martinez, and Lopez, in the top 3rd. Rodriguez was caught stealing third base, though, and Thatcher hacked himself out to strand the other two. Wolinsky couldn’t take off the clown shoes in the middle innings, either; he nailed Turpeau with a 2-2 pitch and two outs in the fourth, and conceded a run after Manny Castillo tripled in the sixth inning – although a Ruben Gonzalez homer in the fourth had given the Coons an extra tally and thus Wolinsky left after six innings with a 3-2 lead, albeit on 106 often messy pitches.

The lead went bust in the seventh though; Eric Reese was brought in solely to retire Elias Rodriguez, got him to 0-2, and then gave up a double to center. Waldo tried, but couldn’t keep the runner on base, and Martinez’ sac fly tied the game. So there we were, in a 3-3 tie, and trying to get the offense refired, which didn’t work in the seventh or eighth innings at all. Lillis and Hitchcock kept the Titans from scoring, though, so in the bottom 9th a single run off Jordan Ramos would still do. Mikio Suzuki struck out in the #9 spot to begin the inning, but Matt Waters had enough of the whole charade and cracked a walkoff homer to right! 4-3 Coons! Waters 1-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 2-4; Gonzalez 2-3, BB, HR, RBI;

When Wheats heard that Victor Marquez had not only overcome a sore thumb, but had also casually tossed a shutout against the Knights on Tuesday, he packed an extra four ounces of bacon on his breakfast footlong sandwich. It was *on* now!

He did enter Wednesday 14 points behind now, though, so giving up runs was not advised even if he didn’t go nine innings. Meanwhile, the Coons also announced that Raffy would start in the series finale on Thursday.

Game 3
BOS: CF M. Martinez – C R. Salas – 1B E. Rodriguez – RF T. Lopez – LF L. Estrada – 2B Galaz – SS J. Ramos – 3B J. Rodriguez – P Ratliff
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – CF DeMarco – 3B Crispin – LF Medina – C Raczka – 1B Philipps – P Wheatley

For the second time in the series, a walk-double-walk sequence loaded the bags with Critters and nobody out, and this time right at the start of the first inning. DeMarco whiffed and Crispin popped out to sap a considerable amount of confidence from my shriveled-up little black heart, before the 6-7-8-9 batters unleashed a flurry of liners, three of which fell for hits and four runs in the bottom 1st, and then Wheats lined out to Gerardo Galaz to end the inning.

On the plus side, Wheats allowed only two hits through five innings to the Titans. On the other paw, one of those hits was a solo homer by Jose Rodriguez, so his ERA didn’t drop by all that much in those five innings. The sixth was tedious with two Titans singles, but also two long-count strikeouts, yet no runs; however, a 2-run homer by Tyler Philipps in the bottom 6th brought in Jeff Raczka and extended the lead to 6-1, so things looked decently good for Wheats’ first-ever 18th win in a season. He pitched one more inning, retiring the 7-8-9 in order in the seventh, but also reached 100 pitches and small change in the process and wouldn’t be brought back, ending his day with a 2.53 ERA, ten points behind Marquez… *and* in the W column, with the shallow end of the pen getting six outs – two each by O’Higgins, Reese, and Lenderink – to put the game away. 6-1 Wheaties! Medina 2-4, 2 RBI; Raczka 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Philipps 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (18-6);

First time ever the 6-7-8-9 batters and only them make the post-game shoutout? Especially with three of them being clearly afterthoughts, mild-at-best prospects, and AAA hangers-on?

Don’t hiss, Wheats, you’re obviously the fourth one. – Don’t stare at me. Have your food. – There. – (nudges food bowl a little closer) – Come on, Wheats. Eat. – Eat. – Stop staring please. – It’s your favorite – an omelette from 15 eggs and the whole chicken, too. – (nudges food bowl)

(nudges food bowl)

Game 4
BOS: CF M. Martinez – C R. Salas – 1B E. Rodriguez – SS Thatcher – LF L. Estrada – 2B Galaz – 3B J. Rodriguez – P S. Miles
POR: SS Lavorano – 2B Kaufman – 1B Puckeridge – 3B DeMarco – C Gonzalez – CF Suzuki – LF Medina – RF Glodowski – P de la Cruz

Medina kept sumlimely raking, tripling home Suzuki for a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Thursday, but while Raffy was well the first time through, the struggles started the second time through the order and the beatings by the third, although technically the Titans already tied it when Steve Miles doubled home Gerardo Galaz with two outs in the fifth, evening the score at one. The Coons fell behind the inning after, which saw Raul Salas draw a leadoff walk, a single by Elias Rodriguez, which sent Salas to third and allowed Rodriguez to steal second, and an RBI single for Tony Lopez, followed by Thatcher’s sac fly, 3-1 Boston. Raffy threw another inning, scorelessly, but departed as potential loser, also because the Raccoons made it their new national sport to hit into double plays. Gonzalez, Glodowski, and finally also Medina hit into a two-for-one, all three to end innings with two men aboard. Dixon and Cruz offered scoreless relief to complete nine, but the Coons could never solve Steve Miles without stumbling over their own paws, and Jordan Ramos shot down the 2-3-4 batters in the ninth to end the Titans’ season-soiling losing spill at eight games. 3-1 Titans. Medina 2-3, 3B, RBI;

With three of four in this series, the Coons had distanced the Titans far enough to potentially eliminate them along with the Indians and Elks on the weekend; only the Crusaders remained as sorta-serious competition, 7 1/2 behind after taking two of three from the Arrowheads, and with only three games left against the Critters.

Raccoons (83-64) @ Aces (62-83) – September 15-17, 2051

The Aces were last in the South with their sixth-best offense and the second-most runs conceded in the league. Their rotation had an ERA just under five, and the pen one just over five. The defense was also shoddy, but they were whacking homers at a prolific rate, second in the CL. The season series, which the Coons hadn’t won in any of the last three seasons, stood at 3-3.

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (8-8, 3.67 ERA) vs. Josh Wilson (10-10, 4.45 ERA)
Juan Mercado (9-7, 3.96 ERA) vs. Medardo Regueir (6-6, 3.82 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (13-10, 3.60 ERA) vs. Chris Cornelius (14-13, 4.14 ERA)

The only left-hander due up here was Medardo Regir- … Redu- … Emu- … That guy.

Friday was the last day without Ken Crum and Cullen Tortora, who’d hang with the Alley Cats on rehab assignements until today’s AAA season finale and then join the Coons with another pitcher or two.

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Sivertson – LF Puckeridge – CF DeMarco – RF Suzuki – C Gonzalez – 3B Crispin – 1B Philipps – P Salcido
LVA: 2B J. White – LF Austin – CF Cramer – SS Welter – C Weese – 1B van Eijk – RF J. Harris – 3B V. Fernandez – P Jo. Wilson

After two innings of precious little, Tyler Philipps drew a leadoff walk in the third on Friday. Salcido’s bunt was mishandled for an error by Victor Fernandez, and while Waters popped out to Jeremy Welter, Sivertson got a blooper behind the shortstop for a bases-filling single. Pucks popped out, unfortunately, and DeMarco’s single to right brought in the only run of the inning before Suzuki flew out to Aubrey Austin. …all of which was still better than the Aces, who got five hits and a walk off Salcido and an error of Waters, all in five innings, but also hit into three double plays and got absolutely nowhere on offense, but Salcido also found a double play on offense when Crispin singled and stole second, and Philipps walked in the sixth inning. With one out, Salcido faked a bunt, then slapped a grounder at Welter for a 6-4-3 inning-killer.

Austin and Welter hit singles in the sixth, but Kevin Weese grounded to Crispin for a force at third base and Govaart van Eijk struck out to flush that one down the toilet. Salcido went on for seven and two thirds before Brent Cramer beckoned as the tying run and Salcido having already thrown 104 pitches. Eloy Sencion was brought in, got a groundout to third base, and then remained in the game to begin the ninth, retiring PH Dan Martin, but then Weese singled and the left-handed van Eijk was removed for PH Steve Holbrook. Hitchcock got the call, two more outs, and the Coons squeezed out another 1-0 win. 1-0 Blighters. DeMarco 2-4, RBI; Crispin 2-4; Philipps 1-2, 2 BB; Salcido 7.2 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (9-8);

And with that – reinforcements! Nine games up, and now the Coons got Ken Crum and Cullen Tortora back, with just 14 games to play. What could even go wrong now??

Also included in the package of call-ups on this Saturday was SP Kyle Brobeck, who’d be slipped another start or two down the line, and right-hander Mike Snyder also returned.

Pucks and DeMarco got the day off on Saturday, open spots to be taken by the returnees. If anything, it was now about not breaking more players…

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Crum – 1B Tortora – C Gonzalez – 3B Kaufman – RF Glodowski – CF Suzuki – P Mercado
LVA: 2B Hager – RF Austin – LF D. Martin – C Weese – CF J. Harris – 1B M. Colon – SS Holbrook – 3B Rand – P Regueir

Ken Crum returned with a bang … or at least a sac fly in the first inning, bringing in Waters, who had walked and stolen a base earlier. Mercado however soon turned it into a game of having as much traffic as possible, and was promptly slapped on the paws by the Aces, who scored two runs on three singles and a walk in the bottom 1st. That remained the score until the fourth, when things turned slightly chaotic. Mercado had Matt Rand at 1-2 to begin the bottom 4th, then nailed him good. Remou- … Reinde- … That Guy then swung on the first pitch offered, a fastball down the middle, and singled to center. Rand went for third base, and while he arrived safely, he also took a mouthful of Brian Kaufman’s glove to the face and left the game, dazed and confused. Victor Fernandez replaced him as pinch-runner and went for home when Brenton Hager flew out to Crum, who shot a rocket to home plate and saw Gonzalez slap out Fernandez for a 7-2 double play. That Guy moved up to second, but was stranded when Aubrey Austin grounded out to first base.

Suzuki put the tying run on base with a leadoff single in the fifth, then removed it again by being caught stealing. When Ruben Gonzalez hit another leadoff single in the seventh, it was only the Coons’ fourth hit off Rio- … Reo- … That Guy. Gonzalez got as far as third base, but then was resolutely stranded.

Oh, to heck, with all of you! I want Ken Crum back at the plate! My wish was granted in the eighth, where Waters got on base with one out, but was forced out by Lonzo, who stole second base – his second theft in the game and 60th for the year – and then was singled home by Ken Crum to tie the game! Tortora struck out, moving things to the bottom 8th, where Willie Cruz put Kevin Weese on base, but Brett Lillis jr. stranded him at third base when he struck out Welter, pinch-hitting for Holbrook. The game ended up in extras after closer David Fox and Lillis and O’Higgins refused to let any runner reach base in the ninth.

Top 10th, DeMarco pinch-hit for Suzuki against lefty Dave Saldivar, and on the second pitch clonked a double off the fence in leftfield. Rich Seymour – any righty batter, please? – pinch-hit for O’Higgins, whiffed, but hold on – the ball is loose! Seymour took off and reached base on the uncaught third strike, and DeMarco boogie-woogied over to third base while an aggravated Kevin Weese punched himself in the chest protector. From there, Waters struck out (groans!), and Lonzo fell to 1-2 before Saldivar hung one – and even Lonzo could drive that one outta state, and all the way to ******* Arizona – a 3-run homer!! Hitchcock kept order in the bottom 10th to put the Aces away on three batters. 5-2 Coons! Crum 2-4, 2 RBI; DeMarco (PH) 1-1, 2B;

The Indians were mathematically eliminated with this win, while the Crusaders remained nine behind.

Game 3
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – CF DeMarco – RF Tortora – 3B Crispin – C Raczka – P Wolinsky
LVA: SS J. White – RF Austin – LF D. Martin – C Weese – CF J. Harris – 1B M. Colon – 2B R. Ramos – 3B Welter – P Cornelius

Catcher’s spot aside, this was probably the lineup the Raccoons would cart up against a righty pitcher come playtime in October. So they’d should probably put out a few runs on Cornelius here! … Well. Ironically it was Raczka to drive in the Coons’ first run, singling to score DeMarco and get us even again, 1-1 in the fourth inning after stranding Waters and Lonzo on the corners in the third and little else. The #8 batter had also garnered the RBI for Vegas, Welter singling home Jonathan Harris in the bottom 2nd for them to take the lead. When Welter reappeared at the plate in the bottom 4th, it was with two in scoring position and two outs, so he got four wide ones, and Wolinsky was to go after Cornelius, who went after Wolinsky instead and swatted a 2-run single through the right side and gave himself a 3-1 lead. White popped out and since a Crispin error had put Miguel Colon aboard earlier, both runs were unearned, but I would be lying if I said I was pleased with how things were going against this free-for-all, last-place team.

Crispin tried to make amends and homered in the sixth to narrow the gap to 3-2, but Bubba continued to founder, walked Jonathan Harris to get the bottom 6th underway, and then conceded the run on singles by Rafael Ramos and Welter before being lifted. Waldo retired Jim White to exit the inning. When the Coons got a run back again, it was already the eighth and the run was unearned when Ken Crum chugged home on Rafael Ramos’ 2-out throwing error on a Crispin grounder. Dixon and Miles kept the Aces to their four runs in the late innings, and then Brian Kaufman belted a gapper off Luis Villagomez to begin the ninth inning that went all the way to the fence, while Kaufman went all the way to third base. Waters walked, which brought up … the pitcher’s spot. Suzuki batted in what would have been Lonzo’s place, but singled home the guy that had replaced him after pinch-hitting, getting Kaufman home with a ball over White’s head to knot the score at four…! Pucks singled just barely over the glove of Ramos to load the bases – with nobody out – for Crum, who with the 2-1 pitch found the hole up the middle for a go-ahead RBI single! Efrain Estrada came in and sawed off DeMarco, but lost Cullen Tortora in a full count, giving the alleged impact offseason addition his third RBI on the year, and the first since April. The meltdown for the Aces continued with a run-scoring groundout for Crispin and another RBI single for Raczka before Kaufman made the third out. Jim White homered off Lenderink in the bottom 9th, but that wasn’t enough to get the Aces back in the game. 8-5 Raccoons! Lavorano 2-4; Suzuki (PH) 1-1, RBI; Crum 2-5, 2B, RBI; Raczka 2-5, 2 RBI;

Paul Miles picked up his second W of the week, this one in relief after winning on Monday as a starter.

In other news

September 11 – TOP 1B Mark Cahill (.243, 21 HR, 68 RBI) hits three home runs in a day and drives in six as the Buffaloes sweep a double header from the Cyclones, 12-6 and 5-4. Included in the triplet of homers is a 10th-inning walkoff shot to close out the nightcap.
September 11 – The Canadiens’ CL Bernardino Risso (5-7, 3.37 ERA, 15 SV) is out for the year with bone spurs in his elbow needing removal.
September 12 – OCT SP Victor Marquez (16-5, 2.43 ERA), not worse for wear after recovering from a sore thumb, throws a 3-hit shutout against the Knights in his bid for the CL ERA title. The Thunder win 7-0.
September 12 – The Aces put 11 runs on the Bayhawks in the sixth inning alone on the way to a 15-3 rout. Vegas’ Jim White (.265, 3 HR, 20 RBI) has three hits with a homer and four RBI from the leadoff spot.
September 12 – A torn labrum will keep CIN SP Nick Young (7-8, 4.64 ERA) on the shelf until next summer.
September 13 – The Gold Sox beat the Wolves, 1-0, but it takes 12 innings and a passed ball charged to the Wolves’ catcher Jose Ortiz (.280, 9 HR, 43 RBI) to bring in Denver catcher Justin Brooks (.269, 1 HR, 13 RBI) for the deciding run.
September 14 – VAN RF Jerry Outram (.236, 12 HR, 49 RBI) hits his 300th home run, a solo shot, in a 6-4 win over the Loggers. The career Canadien, now age 37, is a .324/.442/.506 hitter for his career with 1,182 RBI on 2,324 hits. Five times he was the CL Player of the Year, and his pile of honors included 11 All Star nominations and 10 Platinum Sticks, too.
September 15 – NAS SP Jason Palladino (9-14, 4.54 ERA) is out for the year and questionable for Opening Day after suffering a tear in his rotator cuff.

FL Player of the Week: TOP 1B Mark Cahill (.246, 21 HR, 70 RBI), hitting .455 (10-22) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB 3B/1B Ramon Sifuentes (.284, 9 HR, 51 RBI), batting .571 (12-21) with 1 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

300 homers – good for Outram. He beat us often, he beat us where it hurt. I can accept getting beaten by the best.

Getting beaten by little **** weasels like Andrew Russ, that is where the blood starts to boil… or Aaron Brayboy…! Oh for ***** sake, Aaron Brayboy!! (gets so enraged that he beats Cristiano with a pillow)

The good news – we got our offensive reinforcements, we eliminated the Elks by the numbers rather than just spiritually with a ninth-inning comeback on Sunday, and no one died! Whee! The lead is ten, the magic number is three, and not even the old GM here believes in a meltdown anymore.

He also doesn’t believe in a whiff of a chance against the Thunder in the CLCS but that’s on another plate entirely for the time being. First we have to reach the CLCS in one piece. Mostly. Maldolessly. Which suggs.

Next week: Falcons and Elks to open the final regular season homestand, which will also have the Crusaders in for what will by then probably be a pointless series. We finish the year in Milwaukee though.

On the individual titles front, Lonzo leads “Tiny” Navarro by one bag, and Wheats’ deficit in the ERA race is down to five points after the Elks were kind enough to stuff four runs (three earned) into Victor Marquez on Sunday. Curiously, Wheats is also just one W behind the CL (and ABL) leader Hiroyuki Takagi (19-8, 2.91 ERA), who will be in Portland with the Falcons next week… and they MAY even face each other…!

Dun-dun-duuuuuh!

Fun Fact: There are no triple crowns in play this year, anywhere.

Wheats not, because he’s 72 strikeouts behind Indy’s Enrique Ortiz, who in turn won only 13 games. Ed Soberanes of the Thunder leads the league in homers and RBI, but is 42 points behind Jon Alade of Atlanta for the batting title.

In the FL, Ivan Villa has 33 homers, five more than anybody else (Dario Martinez), but is over 50 points behind Pacifics prodigy Joshua Shaw for the batting title. Villa’s Denver teammate Gary Perrone might well nip the wins and ERA titles, but his 176 strikeouts disappear against Scorpions ace Mike McCaffrey’s output of 267 strikeouts. McCaffrey was two wins behind Perrone, and fourth in ERA … but that gap was almost two thirds of a run compared to Perrone.