[Westheim]

Raccoons (11-14) @ Crusaders (14-10) – April 29-May 2, 2052

Four games in New York as we escaped the Willamette Valley for the time being; the rusaders were in third place, fourth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed, and actually had a -3 run differential (Critters: -2). They had no injuries, but a creaky defense and wobbly rotation, and maybe the Raccoons on-paper-great offense could finally break out… Maybe. But even last year we had lost 11 games to the Crusaders, so I was bracing for impact long before the team plane touched down at Ocasio-Cortez International…

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (2-2, 3.38 ERA) vs. Jim White (1-3, 5.67 ERA)
David Barel (2-2, 4.88 ERA) vs. Edwin Sopena (3-2, 4.26 ERA)
Victor Salcido (1-2, 4.55 ERA) vs. Austin Guastella (1-1, 6.49 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (2-2, 2.91 ERA) vs. Jeff Johnson (3-1, 2.45 ERA)

We’d tip-toe around New York’s only southpaw, Neil Hamann (2-2, 3.45 ERA) here.

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – C Suggs – RF Suzuki – 3B Crispin – P Brobeck
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – RF Magnussen – 3B Gates – LF D. Rivera – 2B Haney – C O. Ramirez – CF M. Ceballos – 1B Bent – P J. White

At least there was a quick start; Lonzo singled, stole second, was driven in by del Toro, and Pucks added an RBI double for a quick 2-0 lead before the ball went to Brobeck and the Crusaders batted through the order in the bottom of the inning. The first four Crusaders all reached on a leadoff walk to Omar Sanchez and hits by Adam Magnussen and Prince Gates before Crispin tossed away Danny Rivera’s grounder. Mark Haney hit a sac fly, and then Omar Ramirez, Mario Ceballos, and Art Bent all drummed more hits for a total of five runs (four unearned) before the inning ended with a mercy K to Jim White. Ah, impact!

Brobeck then homered off White in the second inning, 5-3, while the Coons then went on to hit into inning-ending double plays in each of the next three frames, which was only mildly infuriating. Crum, Suzuki, and Waters were all guilty, in that order. An improvement came about in the sixth inning, when none of the first two batters reached base, and when Ken Crum singled after that, Pucks left him on with a fly to Mario Ceballos. Brobeck struck out nine across six innings in an attempt to escape a severe beating after the game, which may or may not yet be successful. Eloy Sencion then applied for the beating instead, coming into the seventh inning with three left-handers in the first four slots of the Crusaders order to retire, but walked Sanchez to begin the inning and then got whacked around for an additional three runs, Omar Ramirez’ 2-out, 2-run single knocking him from the game in favor of Snyder before the inning was even over. Snyder walked Ceballos, allowed a single to Bent, and the inning only ended with a nice defensive play by Matt Waters on pinch-hitting Pedro Leal – it was the second time on the day that the Crusaders batted through the lineup. The Raccoons never did, and to round out their splendid efforts, after Crum hit a 1-out single off Dan Lawrence in the ninth, Sean Suggs bobbed into the fourth inning-ending double play of the game for them. 8-3 Crusaders. Crum 2-4; Suggs 2-4;

(labored breathing)

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – C Suggs – RF Glodowski – 3B DeMarco – P Barel
NYC: CF O. Sanchez – RF Magnussen – 3B Gates – LF D. Rivera – 2B Haney – 1B Leal – SS Russ – C Skelly – P Sopena

While Barel didn’t allow base hit or run the first time through the order, but still walked three to annoy me further, the Raccoons had a Lonzo double in the first inning, but tossed that away unused. Del Toro hit a single in the fourth inning and then stole second, though. Crum’s grounder got him to third base, Pucks walked, and Suggs hit a sac fly to Omar Sanchez in center to get the Coons on the board… just before Pucks was picked off first base before another pitch was thrown. Pucks would get a 2-out RBI single in the sixth though, driving home Matt Waters, so maybe he wouldn’t be drowned in the Atlantic yet.

Barel held the Crusaders to just two hits in six innings, but four walks, six strikeouts, and numerous long counts escalated his pitch count, and he was batted for in the seventh inning of a 2-0 game. In his spot, Sivertson poked a the second of three straight singles for him, DeMarco, and Waters, filling the bases with one out against Sopena. Lonzo fell to two strikes before grinding back and eventually dropped a ball behind the reaching Andrew Russ for the fourth straight single, driving home DeMarco in the process, 3-0. A fifth straight single by del Toro to center scored two more runs, before the inning fizzled out as Devin Crawford restored order for the Crusaders. The Coons pen struggled again; Johns put a guy on, but Rick Colwill got himself caught stealing. Lillis added two more runners on singles in the eighth and had to be rescued by Crisler, who got an easy grounder from Mark Haney to get out of that inning, and then also pitched the ninth to finish the game. 5-0 Coons. Waters 2-5; Lavorano 2-5, 2B, RBI; Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Sivertson (PH) 1-2; Barel 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K, W (3-2) and 1-2;

Game 3
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – CF Puckeridge – 3B DeMarco – RF Maldonado – C Philipps – P Salcido
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – RF Magnussen – 3B Gates – LF D. Rivera – CF Leal – C O. Ramirez – 2B Russ – 1B Bent – P Guastella

Second 5-run first inning of the week, and this time they were all earned. Salcido walked three, and was banged around for another three hits, including a 3-run homer by Omar Ramirez somewhere in the middle. He also balked in a run with two outs and the pitcher batting. Like Brobeck on Monday, he sought salvation in offense, driving home DeMarco with a 2-out RBI single in the second inning, as if that would shave something off his considerable ERA. Lonzo reached to begin the third and Pucks whacked a 2-run homer to right to get the Coons back to 5-3, but Salcido was yanked after a 1-out triple by Omar Sanchez in the fourth inning. Miles got the ball and out of the inning with a grounder by Adam Magnussen, because for reasons best known to them, the Crusaders went with a steal of home attempt, but the Coons battery was for once alert and Sanchez was slapped out.

And the Coons crept closer. Del Toro was nicked and Pucks walked in the fifth before DeMarco foolishly grounded into a double play, but in the sixth, Maldo doubled to right and was driven in by Matt Waters, 5-4. Lonzo also reached base, but del Toro’s bouncer was cut off by Art Bent to kill the inning. While Miles held steady, the seventh saw another try: Crum got on, and so did Pucks. DeMarco grounded into a fielder’s choice at second base, and Maldo struck out after fouling off a few 2-2’s, but after Guastella got Philipps, batting all of .161 and getting close to a holiday in Florida, to 1-2, he also hung one over the middle of the plate and Philipps rushed it 400 feet… in front of the 426’ sign, but it still flipped the score as a 2-run double…! Crispin hit for Miles, but flew out to center to end the inning. Sencion held on in the bottom 7th, and Waters homered to right for an insurance run in the top 8th; del Toro, Crum, and Glodowski then all reached, only to be stranded when Maldo whiffed. The bottom 8th was tight, though. Johns entered, walked Prince Gates, and was yanked right away for Lillis, who walked Danny Rivera. Haney and Colwill pinch-hit and struck out, but the Crusaders figured that resentworthy coonskinner deluxe Andrew Russ (.184, 0 HR, 4 RBI) was good enough for an upset. He grounded out to first, which was the real upset here. When had Russ ever NOT killed the Coons in such a spot?? Hitchcock however retired New York in order to seal the deal. 7-5 Raccoons. Waters 3-6, HR, 2 RBI; del Toro 2-5; Crum 2-5; Puckeridge 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Maldonado 2-5, 2B; Philipps 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Sivertson 1-1; Miles 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (1-1);

Not trying to rain on a 7-run unanswered rally, but we had 17 hits and stranded three pawfuls…

Game 4
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF del Toro – CF Puckeridge – 3B DeMarco – C Suggs – RF Suzuki – 1B Maldonado – P Taki
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – RF Magnussen – 3B Gates – LF D. Rivera – CF Leal – 2B Haney – C O. Ramirez – 1B Bent – P J. Johnson

Lonzo had a paw in the Coons’ first three runs on Thursday; he stole his way into scoring position and scored on a Pucks single in the first, then doubled home Waters in the third inning, only to immediately score on a del Toro single. Pucks right away bashed another RBI double, and it was 4-0. Lonzo added two more RBI in the fourth inning, finding Taki (single) and Waters (double) in scoring position, and zinged one down the line and into the leftfield corner for a two-bagger of his own. Taki meanwhile faced the minimum through five innings, walking Adam Magnussen in the first inning, and Gates doubled him up nicely right away there. Pedro Leal eventually flung a single to center in the fifth, but was also doubled up by Haney. The Crusaders didn’t reach again until Leal was brushed by a pitch in the eighth inning, and that was their first runner that wasn’t taken off again with a double play… but he didn’t come close to scoring either. Taki appeared to be cruising in fifth gear, while the Coons added a run with a Pucks homer in the sixth, and took out the regular middle infielders and Pucks in the middle of the eighth, and Maldo ahead of the final half-inning, which Taki entered with a 1-hitter on 90 pitches… and didn’t finish. Bent grounded out, but Colwill, Sanchez, Magnussen, and Gates flicked hits in order to score two runs before the hammer came down. Crisler secured the last two outs without conceding another run. 7-2 Critters. Waters 2-4, BB, 2B; Lavorano 2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; del Toro 2-5, RBI; Puckeridge 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Taki 8.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, W (3-2) and 1-4;

Let’s just pretend the last four batters against Taki didn’t happen and then we can all happy fly down to Richmond…

Raccoons (14-15) @ Rebels (16-12) – May 3-5, 2052

The Critters took a +5 run differential to Virginia, where the resident team sat at +17 and also atop the FL East. They were eighth in runs scored, but gave up the second-fewest runs in the Federal League. They were without one of their best batters in Lance Harrison, but could pound out a lot of singles to crowd batters; despite sitting fourth in team average, they were just seventh in OBP, though, and had bottom-quarter power. The Coons won two of three when these teams last met in 2049.

Projected matchups:
Rafael de la Cruz (2-1, 3.64 ERA) vs. Paul Paris (2-3, 4.66 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (2-3, 3.00 ERA) vs. Eric Braley (2-3, 2.87 ERA)
David Barel (3-2, 4.10 ERA) vs. James Powell (3-3, 2.87 ERA)

The Rebs only had right-handers in their rotation, and they also had Sam Gibson waiting in the ninth, so you better got them early…

The Coons had another six games to play before the next off day and all regulars would get a day off in this weekend set; except for Ken Crum, who had already not appeared in the series finale in New York. Del Toro and DeMarco were not in the lineup on Friday to get started. Pucks, Waters, and Lonzo were yet to sit down.

Game 1
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – LF Crum – 1B Puckeridge – C Suggs – 3B Crispin – CF Suzuki – RF Glodowski – P de la Cruz
RIC: 2B Jav. Ramos – 1B Carreno – RF Grewe – 3B D. Espinosa – LF C. Morris – C Seidman – SS Guillory – CF J. Gutierrez – P Paris

The Rebs brought up a nearly-all-righty lineup (except for Chris Morris), but Raffy still almost managed to walk two and give up a 3-run homer to .167 hitter Landon Guillory in the bottom 2nd – Glodowski picked that one off the fence. Hitting a 3-run homer was instead left to Sean Suggs in the fourth inning; he collected Lonzo and Pucks with the fourth hit of the game, all for the Coons. Glodowski then added a solo piece the following inning, while de la Cruz befuddled the Rebels for 17 hitters without giving up a base knock, then shed a 2-out single to the opposing pitcher, of all people. Javier Ramos singled up the middle after that, but ex-Coon Arturo Carreno popped out hopelessly, which was just how I remembered ex-Coon Arturo Carreno.

Raffy went seven on three hits, the third of which was unfortunately a Bobby Grewe bomb to left, but still left with a 4-1 lead and only because his spot came up with Suggs and Crispin in scoring position after leadoff singles in the top 8th, two outs, and a lefty in Gustavo Chapa on the mound. DeMarco batted for him, but grounded out to Guillory. Crisler held the Rebs away in the eighth, however, and then Hitchcock came out for the 4-5-6 batters in the ninth. Danny Espinosa and Mike Seidman struck out, but Morris singled with one out. Guillory found Lonzo for the final out with a cozy grounder, though. 4-1 Coons! Waters 2-5, 2B; Lavorano 3-5; del Toro (PH) 1-1; Suggs 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Crispin 2-4, 2B; de la Cruz 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (3-1) and 1-2;

Four in a row, and back to .500 now, four games outta first place.

Maldo would have been back in the lineup on Saturday, but five fish burritos got the better of him and he was … uh … “unavailable”. Pucks and Lonzo got the day off for rest purposes.

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – 3B Crispin – LF del Toro – 1B Crum – C Suggs – SS DeMarco – CF Suzuki – RF Sivertson – P Brobeck
RIC: 2B Jav. Ramos – 1B Carreno – RF Grewe – 3B D. Espinosa – LF C. Morris – C Seidman – SS Guillory – CF J. Gutierrez – P Braley

DeMarco and Sivertson RBI singles in the second inning gave the Coons a 2-0 lead after Crum and Suggs had reached base to begin the inning. Suggs would go on to homer to right in the fourth, while DeMarco and Sivertson also reached again, although Sivertson only did so on an error by Mike Seidman, the backstop’s first of the season. Brobeck batted with runners on the corners and one out and hit a deep fly to center, but Jose Gutierrez caught up with it – it was still good for a sac fly and a 4-0 lead, though, before Sivertson got himself caught stealing. Gutierrez then went on to leg out a bases-loaded, 2-out RBI single in the bottom of the inning, in which the Rebs sent up eight batters, two of whom scored, after Brobeck had faced only one over the minimum in the first three frames. He nicked Carreno to begin the inning and it went downhill quickly from there, with three hits and a walk for the Rebs after the initial base runner, but Braley grounded out to Crum to strand a full set in a 4-2 game.

The Coons countered in the fifth; Waters walked and went to third on a Crispin single, then scored when del Toro grounded into a fielder’s choice at second base. Ken Crum drew a four-pitch after that, and with two outs, DeMarco wrapped a 3-piece around the left foul pole to double the Coons’ offensive output in the game to eight runs.

But after Braley, Brobeck also completely imploded in the bottom 5th. He retired… nobody. Walk, hit, walk, hit, walk, and exit, stage right, with the tying run already in the box. Justin Johns came in to salvage the lead… barely. Seidman’s sac fly and Guillory’s groundout were decent enough, but then he conceded two runs on a 2-out single by Gutierrez to get the Rebels all the way back to 8-7, and I swear I saw Jeb Stuart’s cavalry ride by behind our dugout during the middle of that meltdown… Boys, should we go home? I mean, just in case.

The remaining lead evaporated on the paws of Mike Snyder in the sixth inning. Grewe singled, and he walked him in with three straight free passes to the 4-5-6 batters before getting yanked. Crisler stranded the three runners with a pop to del Toro in shallow left and a fly to Sivertson in right, so it was eight-all through six. It also started to rain, or maybe it was just my tears. Del Toro and Crum found the corners against Caleb Martin in the seventh, but Suggs popped out for the second out. DeMarco bounced up the middle, Guillory dove and ticked the ball, but couldn’t knock it down, and the RBI single made it 9-8 Critters. Suzuki added another RBI single, Sivertson grounded out. 10-8 at the stretch, but the Coons had also now used up all their righty relief (bar Hitchcock), and had to make do with the left-handers, somehow, against that heavily right-handed lineup.

It didn’t go so well. Sencion was out first, but gave up a 1-out single to Ramos, who stole second. Carreno then reached on an infield single, and Grewe reached on an error by Waters, which also scored a run. Espinosa flew out to center, but Wade Gardner – another forgettable ex-Coon – batted for the only lefty hitter, but lined out to Waters to end the inning. Miles put on a pair in Gutierrez and Michael Schuettpelz (who?) in the bottom 8th, but rung up Ramos before things could get really ugly. The Coons came up against Sam Gibson in the ninth, put Suggs and DeMarco on… and then left them on as Suzuki and Sivertson made poor outs. But don’t you fear – Kevin Hitchcock had your back: Carreno, Grewe, and Espinosa went in order in the bottom of the ninth, and the Coons poked above .500 for the first time all year. 10-9 Critters. Crispin 2-5; Crum 2-4, BB; Suggs 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; DeMarco 5-5, HR, 5 RBI;

It also cost the Rebs first place in the East. Wouldn’t hurt to get a good outing from Barel on Sunday now… against THAT lineup…

Maldo still looked pale, but was technically available from the bench. Waters got the day off; it was the first game this year which he wasn’t going to start.

Game 3
POR: LF del Toro – SS Lavorano – 1B Crum – RF Puckeridge – 2B DeMarco – CF Suzuki – 3B Sivertson – C Philipps – P Barel
RIC: 2B Henriquez – 1B Carreno – 3B D. Espinosa – CF J. Gutierrez – LF C. Morris – RF Cooke – C W. Gardner – SS Guillory – P J. Powell

By Sunday, fans showed signs asking the home team to throw the Yankee Doodles back over the Potomac, but the first three innings saw only scarce offense before Sivertson singled home Pucks and DeMarco with a looper over the head of Jorge Henriquez in the fourth inning. And even though the forecast had been dry, the weather by the fourth very much was not, and we ended up having a 40-minute rain delay before the inning was over for the Rebs. The Coons continued to play it by fuzzy ear with Barel after that, but he seemed to have things under control even after the delay, and was 2-hitting the Rebels through six innings.

By the seventh, Sivertson figured in another run, reaching on an error and scoring on a single by Tyler Philipps that made it 3-0 with one gone in the inning. But when Barel offered a leadoff walk to Gutierrez in the bottom of the inning, the bullpen got stirring in earnest. Chris Morris and Manny Cooke grounded out, but Wade Gardner doubled home the runner, and that was the end for Barel. The Coons went to Justin Johns, who struck out Guillory to get out of the seventh.

A Lonzo hit, an error by Gardner, and a DeMarco sac fly put the run just scratched out by the Rebs back on the board in the eighth, 4-1, but Powell (!) and Carreno singled off Johns in the bottom 8th to put the tying run back in the box rather soon. We were anxiously waiting for a lefty pinch-hitter, but none came for Gutierrez, either, so we stuck to Johns, who thankfully got Gutierrez to pop up a 1-0 pitch in foul ground, and Philipps snagged the ball leaning into a camera well after dashing over while tossing all his gear in a wild display.

That made Morris lead off the ninth in a 3-run game. Hitchcock had been out two straight days, and the righty side of the pen had been torched in this set. The Coons thus went to Lillis for the bottom 9th, who was well rested and kinda bored. He got Morris on a grounder and Cooke on strikes, but then walked Gardner in a full count. But, eh, Guillory! Batting .136! Guillory on command hit a floater to right that Pucks approached… and dropped for an error. Once more, the tying run was in the box, with Mike Seidman pinch-hitting, .287 with no homers. The “no homers” part gave Lillis another shot, and he got a grounder to short on the first pitch. Lonzo had firm paws on that one, and the precise throw to first completed a sweep. 4-1 Raccoons! Sivertson 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Waters (PH) 1-1; Barel 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (4-2);

In other news

April 30 – ATL SP Kodai Koga (3-2, 4.78 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against the Condors to notch a 4-0 win, striking out nine batters in the process.
May 2 – Defensive catcher Juan Jimenez (.275, 1 HR, 6 RBI) goes yard for the sole run in the Loggers’ 1-0 win over the Titans.
May 2 – After 14 innings of 1-1 ball with the Blue Sox, the Miners finally draw ahead by a run in the 15th inning, only to collapse for three hits and two runs for the Blue Sox and a 3-2 walkoff in the bottom 15th. NAS C Jose Cantu (.333, 5 HR, 21 RBI) drives in the tying and go-ahead runs with a single.
May 3 – 22-year-old rising star SFW LF/RF Tony Rodriguez (.274, 1 HR, 10 RBI) would miss three months with a torn hamstring.
May 3 – MIL INF Zach Suggs (.250, 4 HR, 18 RBI) has five singles and five RBI in an 11-4 win over the Stars.
May 3 – The Falcons beat the Capitals, 2-1 in 11 innings – all the runs score in the 11th inning.
May 5 – Topeka will be without 39-year-old INF/RF/LF Felix Marquez (.246, 1 HR, 8 RBI) for a month after the veteran was diagnosed with a strained hamstring.

FL Player of the Week: NAS C Jose Cantu (.337, 5 HR, 24 RBI), batting .435 (10-23) with 1 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL LF Chris Kirkwood (.311, 6 HR, 16 RBI), crushing .579 (11-19) with 5 HR, 12 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: LAP RF Matt Diskin (.409, 8 HR, 25 RBI)
CL Hitter of the Month: OCT 3B Ed Soberanes (.337, 8 HR, 26 RBI)
FL Pitcher of the Month: PIT SP Brian Buttress (5-0, 2.49 ERA)
CL Pitcher of the Month: OCT SP Alfredo Llamas (4-0, 1.86 ERA)
FL Rookie of the Month: LAP OF/1B Noah Caswell (.278, 2 HR, 12 RBI)
CL Rookie of the Month: VAN CF Damian Moreno (.330, 6 HR, 24 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

Maldo wants another contract. I can barely contain myself.

I have filed an official sharp protest with League HQ for the snubbing of Matt Waters (.370, 4 HR, 17 RBI) for POTM honors in April. I don’t think much will come of it, but sometimes you have to let off steam, lest you’re gonna strangle somebody. (looks at Honeypaws) … (looks at Slappy) … (looks at Cristiano) … (nods)

Apart from that, after Brobeck laid an egg on Monday (he laid another one on Saturday, too), the Coons won six straight from the Crusaders and Rebels and rallied to within a series’ worth of games of the division lead, with everyone but the Loggers bunched up tightly right now. We’re still bottom three in runs scored, but with a +12 run differential, and with the #1 defense in the league to support the occasionally noisy pitching.

Sencion might have by far the worst ERA in the pen, but the guy that’s gotta go is Snyder, with 14 walks in 12.1 innings. Unfortunately, Polibio O’Higgins was having issues of his own, as was Raul Medrano, a 24-year-old righty in AAA. Jim Larson was an option, as was Matt Dixon, or even Danny Cancel, who had not been called up at all in 2051, but was still hanging around at age 29, and was halfway decent this year.

We’d travel home to play three with the Wolves, then go right back on a 2-week roadtrip that would open in Indy on the weekend.

Fun Fact: Ten years ago today, Boston’s Alex Zacarias had three home runs in an 8-6 win over the Crusaders.

Zacarias, who was a scouting discovery for the Falcons in 2028, and still hung around in AAA as a 40-year-old last year, last played in the Bigs with the Buffos in 2049. The first baseman was a journeyman in the majors, appearing for eight different teams in all divisions across 14 seasons for 1,444 games in total, during which he hit .242/.376/.375 with 135 HR and 651 RBI.