[Westheim]

Raccoons (9-10) vs. Falcons (9-9) – April 22-24, 2052

After the double header on Sunday there was luckily just the three games with the Falcons before an off day on Thursday, so we’d not get deeper into the AAA starting corps for the time being. The Falcons ranked sixth in both runs scored and runs allowed, with the rotation much better than the bullpen so far. These teams were both in the top three in stolen bases, but tied for eighth with eight homers each. The Coons had won the season series two years running, with a 7-2 total in ’51.

Projected matchups:
Rafael de la Cruz (1-1, 3.31 ERA) vs. Angel Velasquez (3-0, 0.84 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (2-1, 1.89 ERA) vs. Tyler Weems (0-3, 3.86 ERA)
David Barel (2-1, 4.05 ERA) vs. Hiroyuki Takagi (1-2, 3.91 ERA)

Weems was the only southpaw to come up here. With Chris Jones, Ian Woodrome, and Tony Alvarez all on the DL for them, they had also suffered a few early and unpleasant injuries.

Game 1
CHA: SS Arreola – 3B J. Frazier – LF D. Ceballos – RF Allegood – CF Caballero – 1B Briones – 2B D. Diaz – C Gowin – P A. Velasquez
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF DeMarco – 3B Crispin – RF Suzuki – C Suggs – P de la Cruz

The weather remained iffy in the new week, with an on-and-off drizzle in the early innings. The Coons took the lead on a solo homer by del Toro in the bottom 1st… and again on a 2-run homer by DeMarco in the fourth inning after Oscar Caballero’s leadoff triple and Mario Briones’ deep sac fly had erased the first lead right away in the top 2nd. But Raffy allowed only two hits in the first four innings, which looked like things were improving. Same for the offense – after the DeMarco homer, the Coons put out three more straight hits, with Suggs singling home Crispin, 4-1, before both de la Cruz and Waters grounded out to end the inning.

The offense continued in the fifth, but so did the pain. Del Toro whacked a 1-out double, after which the Falcons walked Crum intentionally. DeMarco then beat Caballero for another double in center, which drove home a run, but also jammed his paw on the slide into second base and ended up leaving the game, replaced by Roberto Medina, who took over left, with del Toro to center. Crispin was walked intentionally onto the open base, but Velasquez gave up one final RBI single to Suzuki before being yanked. Sean Suggs singled home two more against lefty Victor Padilla. Raffy struck out, Waters walked, and Lonzo singled to center for another run, the fifth and final of the inning, now in a 9-1 game, before del Toro grounded out to Danny Diaz. From there, Raffy pitched one more inning, and that was the final inning of the game. The drizzle abruptly worsened to a good dousing by the bottom 6th and the game went into a delay that turned into a six-inning complete-game effort for de la Cruz about two hours later. 9-1 Furballs! Del Toro 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Crum 1-2, BB, 2B; DeMarco 2-3, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Crispin 1-2, BB, 2B; Suzuki 2-3, RBI; Suggs 2-3, 3 RBI; de la Cruz 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, W (2-1) and 1-3;

Ironically, Matt Waters went hitless in the second outburst of 13+ hits in a row.

DeMarco had a lightly sprained paw; it wasn’t too bad, but he was not in the lineup on Tuesday.

Game 2
CHA: SS Arreola – 2B E. Stevens – LF D. Ceballos – RF Allegood – CF Caballero – 1B Briones – 3B J. Frazier – C A. Mercado – P Weems
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF del Toro – LF Crum – RF Glodowski – 1B Maldonado – 3B Sivertson – C Philipps – P Brobeck

Maldo was beyond his prime by any definition, but managed a nice 3-U double play with a slight reach for a Danny Ceballos liner and caught Erik Stevens off guard, and more important, base. But the main problem was Brobeck, who was behind every batter, and walked everything with legs, unless it whacked a single off him first. The Falcons got three hits and two walks in the second inning, and scored two runs before running themselves out of the inning. Brobeck never worked out his control in this game, and walked another pair by the time he completed five innings, but also scored the Coons’ first run, which took five innings, too, when he whacked a double to left in that inning and was brought in by … a wild pitch eventually.

But Brobeck didn’t retire another batter. He faced three more in the top 6th, but allowed straight singles to Oscar Caballero, Mario Briones, and Josh Frazier before getting yanked. That was with a run already in, and when Justin Johns replaced him, he schmucked up another three runs with a walk to Anton Mercado, a Juan Arreola sac fly, and a 2-run single by Erik Stevens. Ceballos struck out, and three clean innings from Miles and Lillis followed, but that didn’t help with much of anything anymore as the Raccoons couldn’t put any sort of rally together. They had a hit in every inning, it seemed, but then also found a double play or a couple of pops, and didn’t drive in another hit until they were down to their final out when Matt Waters doubled home Suzuki. But Marcos Nabo then got Lonzo to fly out to Caballero, and that was that. 6-2 Falcons. Del Toro 2-4; Miles 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

Let’s go back to the other lineup then…!

Game 3
CHA: LF D. Ceballos – 2B E. Stevens – CF Caballero – 1B Briones – 3B J. Frazier – C Payne – RF Allegood – SS Arreola – P Takagi
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF DeMarco – 3B Crispin – RF Suzuki – C Suggs – P Barel

…and another rather inconvincing first inning for a Raccoons starter, as David Barel ran three balls to everybody, and four balls to three batters in the first inning. A Briones sac fly gave Charlotte a 1-0 lead, but the Coons at least came back right away; Waters doubled to right, then scored on singles by del Toro and Crum before DeMarco jammed into a double play.

My main concern was Barel, though, who pitched like arse and walked two more batters in the third inning. That time, Briones singled home a run, but the Falcons also left the bases loaded when Mike Allegood bounced out to Crum at first base. And the game really felt like it was gonna end in a blowout. Arreola opened the top 4th with a single to right, and then Takagi’s awful bunt was bungled by Waters for an error. Somehow Ceballos popped out and Stevens slapped a 6-4-3 gift at Lonzo to bugger out of that jam… but by the fifth, back-to-back homers for Josh Frazier and Ricky Payne gave the Falcons a 5-1 lead and the Raccoons a new pitcher on the mound…

The ****** Coons removed Barel in a double switch and put Mike Snyder in the just-vacated #6 hole but ended up getting only four outs out of him, because after going down in order in the bottom 5th, the Coons put Crum and DeMarco in scoring position in the sixth, bringing up that #6 spot. Maldo batted for the abbreviated long man and struck out, and I was taking a bite out of my coonskin cap. Bottom 7th, Suggs singled to send Takagi home, with Victor Padilla filling the bases by giving up a single to Sivertson and a walk to Waters. That brought up Lonzo, all .175 of him, as the tying run with one out. I wasn’t hoping for much, and I got a double play to short on the very first ******* pitch. Another three runners were stranded between the last two innings, and nobody scored. 5-1 Falcons. Waters 2-4, BB, 2B; del Toro 2-4; Crum 2-4, RBI; Suggs 2-4; Crisler 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Raccoons (10-12) vs. Titans (14-7) – April 26-28, 2052

The Raccoons had already dropped two of three this month to the Titans and I had little doubt they could do that again and maybe even drop all three this time. Boston conceded the fewest runs in the lead, which oughta auto-defeat us, but was only eighth in runs scored. But they had won five straight and led the division as they came into Portland, so what the **** did I know?

Projected matchups:
Victor Salcido (1-1, 4.76 ERA) vs. Thomas Turpeau (0-0, 3.13 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (1-2, 2.73 ERA) vs. Jamie Guidry (3-1, 3.14 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (2-1, 2.82 ERA) vs. Jordan Ramos (2-1, 3.33 ERA)

Two left, one right, and three in the snout, probably.

The Coons made a roster move, dropping Roberto Medina (zilch, no RBI) back to AAA for 26-year-old non-prospect Eddy Veloz, a Dominican right-handed batting outfielder that had signed with the Cyclones at 16 and had been released twice before we had taken him off the street in ’47. He was batting .338/.434/.415 in 16 games in AAA and I was getting desperate.

Game 1
BOS: CF Whitlow – LF Bumpus – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – 3B J. Rodriguez – 2B M. Castillo – SS Lettner – P Turpeau
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF del Toro – 1B Crum – RF Glodowski – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – LF Veloz – P Salcido

Eric Whitlow (who?) whacked a gap triple to open the weekend set, and I opened a bottle of booze three second later. I couldn’t watch this in crystal clear XXHD, and the alternative was to poke my ******* eyes out. After a walk to Adam Bumpus and a sorry pop by Tony Lopez, Larry Rodriguez finally got the run home with a productive out, but oh well. Our turn to bat! To lead off the first four innings, Waters singled in the first, Glodowski singled in the second, Salcido singled in the third, and Crum walked in the fourth. None of them made it off first base, except for Waters, who gained an extra base on an error by Whitlow, and Crum, who was doubled off on a grounder Glodowski hit right at Jose Rodriguez for a 5-4-3 soul-bleacher. Suggs then was nicked, which was understandable, since I also had the constant urge to hit something hard over his head, and DeMarco hit another single. That brought up the unlikely debutee, and he grounded out to Manny Castillo.

At that point I chose to lean on Slappy’s shoulder and bawl for an inning, but didn’t miss much. Salcido, still holding the 1-0 score (on the wrong side, in case you forgot), then struck out to begin the bottom 5th. Waters singled, though! …and then was doubled off when Lonzo slapped the ball at Jason Lettner. Six, four, three, Cristiano, please, be a ******* man and kill me.

Salcido pitched seven, and somehow gave up three runs on four hits eventually. Ruben Gonzalez and Dave Gonzalez reached in the seventh on a walk and a single, respectively, and they were then stupidly driven home with two outs, and after a wild pitch, by Marty Gonza- uh, Serna. Marty Serna. Who?

Ruben Gonzalez later homered off Lillis in the ninth inning for an extra Boston run, after which NWSN caught a fan in the leftfield stands that held up a sign reading “REVERSE THE TRADE”, which I couldn’t find myself to disagree with. The Coons never stopped sugging, and lost their third in a row. 4-0 Titans. Waters 2-4; DeMarco 1-2, BB; Salcido 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, L (1-2) and 1-2;

Pucks would be back by Sunday.

That was all I had on Saturday.

For Saturday, I had nothing.

Game 2
BOS: CF Whitlow – LF Bumpus – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – 3B J. Rodriguez – 2B M. Castillo – SS Lettner – P Guidry
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – CF Crum – RF Glodowski – C Suggs – 3B DeMarco – 1B Maldonado – LF Veloz – P Taki

Behold! The Coons took a 2-0 lead in the Saturday game! Waters walked, Lonzo singled, they swiped a pair, and then scored… on productive outs from Crum and Glodowski, but that was more than we got around these parts usually. Similarly unheard of was Taki NOT laying an egg right away. He didn’t allow a hit the first time through, holding himself to two walks through 12 batters, and one of those – Bumpus – was caught stealing. Larry Rodriguez inched a 2-out single past Waters to extend the fourth, though, but was stranded when Ruben Gonzalez grounded out.

Gonzalez, who still got a nice paw around here, hit a 2-out single in the seventh to get a blue shirt on base again, but was left right there when Jose Rodriguez grounded out, and Taki was clean through seven innings. And the Coons were still batting, it was just entirely for only the hardcore fans to watch, although by the bottom 7th the Coons got Waters and Lonzo back in scoring position with nobody out, this time by a single and double, respectively. The Titans chose not to bother with Ken Crum, and instead brought up Glodowski. I sighed. Three on, no outs. Glodowski went to 2-1 before bouncing one quickly to Manny Castillo, who managed to throw out Waters at home. Oh good, I thought as the first pitch to Sean Suggs was thrown, only a double play to go to get out of the – oh, what a knock! Outta here!! GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!!

To balance for that slam, the baseball gods then made Taki implode in the eighth, where he was taken deep for a 2-out, 3-run homer by Tony Lopez, and Larry Rodriguez whacked a double after that. We went right to Hitchcock, who rung up Ruben Gonzalez to get out of the inning, and retired three more in order in the ninth to put the game away… 6-3 Coons. Waters 2-4, BB; Lavorano 3-4, BB, 2B; Crum 2-4, BB, RBI; Suggs 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; DeMarco 2-4; Taki 7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, W (2-2);

Veloz, 0-for-6 with an intentional walk to his name, returned to AAA with that, and was replaced by Pucks coming off the DL.

Game 3
BOS: CF Whitlow – LF Bumpus – RF T. Lopez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C R. Gonzalez – 3B J. Rodriguez – 2B M. Castillo – SS Lettner – P Jo. Ramos
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – RF Suzuki – C Philipps – P de la Cruz

Back to Raffy, back to same old, same old with the young one. Bumpus walked in the first, and Tony Lopez cranked a deep homer. Bumpus singled in the third, and Tony Lopez cranked an even deeper homer. The good news was that after just four innings, the entirety of the Coons had as many hits combined as Lopez had, and they were only four runs behind…

By the fifth we even had the tying run at the plate. Suzuki and Waters got walked by Jordan Ramos; the former stole a base and scored on a Lonzo single to center, and del Toro then batted down 4-1 with two aboard and two outs, found the crease between Manny Castillo and Larry Rodriguez for another RBI single, but Crum grounded out to first base after all to strand two. But the tying runs were in scoring position again with nobody out in the bottom of the sixth…! Pucks walked, Crispin doubled to right, and … and that brought up the bottom of the order. Suzuki floated to Whitlow in center, who made the catch, and then threw out Pucks bolting for home plate for an 8-2 double play. Oh goody goodness. The Titans opted to bypass the .185 menace of Tyler Philipps with an intentional walk, instead pulling up Raffy de la Cruz, batting half that. Ramos slapped two strikes on him, then dished one right down the middle. And Raffy hit it a ******* 438 feet for a score-flipping 3-run homer.

Pandemonium broke out not only at home plate, but I hugged Slappy and gave him a smooch on the cheek, ran over and double-high-fived Cristiano, which sent him rolling backwards and crashing into the shelf of ever-tortured bobbleheads, and then chest-bumped Maud clean over the glass table with refreshments before Raffy even made it all of 360 feet…!

RAFFY!!! ALL THE TRADES NOT MADE – FOR THAT ******* HOMER!!! HAH!!! =) =)

Of course, in the end, it was all for naught. Ken Crum homered in the bottom 7th, 6-4, while Raffy pitched into the eighth, but gave up another hit to Bumpus. Crisler replaced him, gave up a single to Larry Rodriguez, and then a 3-run homer to Ruben Gonzalez. I bled from the snout. RUBEN GONZALEZ. That wasn’t all, as Marty Gonza- … Serna hit another homer off Eloy Sencion in the ninth inning, but the Raccoons went down in order against Eddie Sotelo in the ninth. 8-6 Titans. Del Toro 2-5, RBI; Puckeridge 3-4;

In other news

April 23 – Sacramento’s LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.308, 6 HR, 13 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 12-5 win over the Cyclones. Culp hits a homer, triple, double, and single in order, putting together the first reverse-natural cycle since that of the Aces’ Mike Hall in 2038, and the third-ever cycle for the Scorpions.
April 23 – RIC 2B/SS Lance Harrison (.299, 1 HR, 12 RBI) might miss a month with a sprained ankle.
April 26 – With his first home run of the season, LVA CF/LF Dan Martin (.211, 1 HR, 5 RBI) walks off the Aces for a 16-inning, 7-5 win against the Condors.
April 26 – The Miners torch the Buffaloes, 20-0. Pittsburgh’s Eddie Moreno (.383, 5 HR, 23 RBI) leads all players with four hits and five RBI in the game.
April 28 – DEN SP Gary Perrone (2-1, 3.07 ERA) 3-hits the Wolves in a 3-0 shutout.
April 28 – The Indians beat the Loggers in ten innings by an 8-3 score. The game went to its only extra inning tied at one.

FL Player of the Week: SAC 1B Steve Wyatt (.365, 6 HR, 18 RBI), socking .435 (10-23) with 4 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN CF Damian Moreno (.326, 5 HR, 20 RBI), swatting .440 (11-25) with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I just want to sleep. Forever.

David Barel wants to start talk extension? Is that so, Maud? – Well, tell him I want my ******* prospects back.

She’ll not do it, she’s about as smart as I am vengeful.

April is almost over. The Coons will have only six home games in the month of May, which at least means I don’t have to read the Agitator every day. We’ll go on the road to visit New York and Richmond next week.

Fun Fact: This week’s slam notwithstanding, Milwaukee’s chronically underpaid Zach Suggs (.221, 4 HR, 13 RBI) has four times as many homers than Sean Suggs.

That suggs.