[Westheim]

Raccoons (83-61) @ Indians (59-84) – September 15-17, 2054

Three weeks to go, and after an Elks loss on Monday, 2 1/2 games ahead in the division. This week’s road trip started with three games in Indy on Tuesday. The Arrowheads ranked tenth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed. We were up 11-4 against them this year after sweeping them in Portland two weeks ago.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (9-10, 3.44 ERA) vs. Jimmy Charles (9-9, 3.89 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (12-8, 3.73 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (13-8, 3.11 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (4-4, 3.99 ERA) vs. Pete Becker (4-6, 3.05 ERA)

Only right-handed pitchers drawing up for this set.

Game 1
POR: LF Crum – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – CF Puckeridge – RF Brassfield – 3B Venegas – 2B Knight – P Taki
IND: SS Llampallas – 2B A. Rios – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – 1B Yamamoto – LF J. Garza – CF Oldfield – P Charles

The Coons had a hit in each of the first three innings, but only in the third made it count when Rams rammed a 2-run homer to right, collecting Taki, who had reached on an error. Slight problem – the Indians had three hits in the bottom 3rd through Juan Llampallas, who singled and stole second, but was thrown out at the plate on Antonio Rios’ single to right. Brassfield and the other outfielders had no means to defend Bobby Anderson’s 2-run homer into the 15th row in the stands, though, and the score was level again.

The fourth then saw four Coons singles from their first five batters. Pucks, Brassfield, and Venegas produced one run and a pair on the corners, with Matt Knight grounding out but bringing home Brassfield to go up 4-2. Taki singled to reposition runners on the corners, then was held at third base on Ken Crum’s RBI double to left-center. That was the end for Jimmy Charles, who had a sixth and final run surrendered onto his ledger when Lonzo plated Taki with a groundout off right-hander Armando Cisneros, a 28-year-old Nicaraguan right-hander making his major league debut.

Taki didn’t get the win, however. After a quick fourth, he got stuck in the fifth. Llampallas singled, Bill Quinteros doubled, Manny Poindexter singled, Shuta Yamamoto singled, and then Knight ****** Jose Garza’s grounder for an error instead of using it to end the inning. 6-4 game, three aboard, two outs, and Cory Oldfield would be faced by Lillis, who threw two pitches to get a fly over to Ken Crum to end the miserable inning; the Indians had packed Taki for four runs on ten hits. Raccoons pitching remained spotty; Ryan Harmer got the sixth, at least until he had failed another three Indians on base. One run had scored when Quinteros had singled home Llampallas, who entered hitting barely over .100 and by then had three singles, a walk, and three stolen bases off the ******ed Critters staff. Matt Walters inherited the tying and go-ahead runs on base and two outs, and popped out Poindexter to end the misery. Bak managed to strike out Llampallas in his 1-2-3 eighth inning, which was *a start*, and nursed the 6-5 lead to the ninth. Kevin Daley’s useless pelt made an appearance in the bottom 9th, and he put Bobby Anderson and Manny Poindexter on the corners with leadoff hits. Great. Yamamoto tied the game with a groundout, although Garza and Dan Sandoval made meek outs to send the game to extras. Brilliant. *******.

Alfaro pitched a scoreless 10th, but the Raccoons couldn’t hit anything at all. Ever since Matt Knight had hit a double in the sixth inning, only to get stranded, the Critters hadn’t landed another base hit. Phil Baker was put into the 11th for long relief, if need be. It didn’t need be; he walked Quinteros to begin the inning, and Anderson smacked a double, but the winning run was stopped at third base. There was a pop by Poindexter, but then there was a grounder to Dave Blackshire at third base by Yamamoto, and the throw to home plate was not in time to get Anderson. 7-6 Indians. Crum 2-6, 2B, RBI;

The stinking Elks won, 8-5 against Boston, reducing the gap to 1 1/2.

Dr. Padilla reported on Arthur Pickett finally on Wednesday – he was out for the season with a case of elbow tendinitis. I was tempted to throw myself off the nearest white chalk cliffs, but was advised that no such thing existed within six time zones.

Game 2
POR: LF Crum – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – CF Puckeridge – RF Brassfield – 3B Venegas – 2B Knight – P Wheatley
IND: SS Llampallas – 2B A. Rios – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – 1B Yamamoto – LF J. Garza – CF Oldfield – P En. Ortiz

The Raccoons went up 1-0 in the first, which sounded better than it was given that they had Crum and Lonzo in scoring position with nobody out, but couldn’t get past Rams’ RBI groundout. Gowin popped out, Pucks flew out. It didn’t last long, since Shuta Yamamoto got a hit off Wheats in the bottom 2nd, and left-hander Cory Oldfield was up with two out and first base open. The Coons passed, trying to get the last out from the pitcher after Wheats’ not-so-splendid last start. So he fell to 3-1 behind Ortiz, then gave up a gap double that flipped the score to 2-1 Indians. Great move. ******* Llampallas hit another RBI double, and it was 3-1 Arrowheads. Poindexter’s homer made it 4-1 in the third, and ******* Llampallas doubled home Garza in the fourth for yet another run.

A great rally in the fifth put the Raccoons all the way back to 5-2 after Venegas and Knight went to the corners with nobody out, and all the sucky team did was get Crum to hit a sac fly. Was there any hope at all…!? Trent Brassfield said yes, plonking his second career homer to dead-center in the sixth inning, and with Pucks on first base, 5-4. Wheats was already out of the game at that point, but there was still time to pick him off that ghastly hook. Sencion and Alfaro pitched scoreless innings, but the Raccoons couldn’t find any offense through eight, and while Alfaro and Geoff Sather retired the first two batters in the bottom 8th, Sather then allowed singles to Yamamoto and Garza, then was taken deep by PH Mike Gilmore. Raul Medrano came on, gave up two singles, and then somehow had Rios pop out. 8-4 Indians.

Since I could ill send Wheats away I had to take out my anger on Raul Medrano (12.46 ERA), who was sent back to AAA, where the season was over, and replaced with 2048 fourth-rounder Luke Ostler, who was nothing to get excited about, but much the same was true for most of that pitching staff…

The Elks won again, and had a game on Thursday as well, with a chance to grab first place back from the very erratic Raccoons.

Game 3
POR: LF Crum – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – RF Brassfield – 3B Venegas – CF Suzuki – C Philipps – 2B Boese – P de la Cruz
IND: SS Llampallas – 2B A. Rios – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – 1B Yamamoto – LF French – CF Oldfield – P Becker

To say that the Critters were irritating would be an understatement. From the start, Raffy had another wonky start, walking two in the first and allowing two singles in the second, somehow without conceding runs. The Coons also stranded Lonzo after a single and stolen base in the first, Venegas after a leadoff double in the second, and threatened hard to strand after *Raffy* socked a leadoff double in the third inning. Crum and Lonzo failed to get him home, but Ramsay snuck an RBI single past Rios with two outs to finally get on the damn board. Brassfield also singled, but Venegas whiffed to strand a pair, and we stranded another pair in Philipps and Naughty Joe in the fourth, and that was after Suzuki reached base and was caught stealing.

It was 2-0 in the fifth after a 2-out walk drawn by Brassfield, and the rookie stealing second base. Venegas came through this time, plating him with a single to right-center. Suzuki flew out, and the score remained 2-0 to the end of Raffy’s tenure, which was six innings. He didn’t allow a run, three hits and three walks against six strikeouts, but again with many long counts. He had a string of decent outings, but few of them had seen any sort of efficiency. Lillis wasn’t impressive, either, putting Oldfield on to begin the bottom 7th. He stole second base, and scored on outs by Edwin Ortiz and Llampallas, the latter hitting a sac fly against Hitchcock. Rios doubled, putting the tying run in scoring position, but Brassfield chased down Quinteros’ fly to end the inning. Could anybody get a big knock here?? Boys!? No, but the Coons’ pen managed to walk the bags full in the bottom 8th. Hitchcock walked Anderson. Sencion walked Gilmore. Bak walked Alex Ramos. Edwin Ortiz somehow flew out to Mikio Suzuki to strand the whole lot of them and keep the Raccoons up by a skinny run.

…and then came Pucks. Not in the lineup for this game, he would bat for Bak in the ninth inning against Mario Godinez, and after Philipps and Matt Cox had already hit singles off the right-hander. Pucks did then one better, jacking a 3-run homer to right to create some much needed breathing space. Lonzo would reach base and steal second afterwards, but was left on base, and the 4-run lead went to Ryan Harmer in the bottom 9th, because I loved living on the edge. Llampallas singled, Quinteros walked. Out with the **********, in with the **********: Kevin Daley got Anderson to ground to third base, and Blackshire fired the ball over the head of Ramsay for a run-scoring, 2-base error, so the tying run appeared in the box. Daley DRILLED Poindexter to put the tying run on base, but struck out Danny Diaz. Jose Garza’s grounder to short was handled competently by Lonzo to end the game. 5-2 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-5; Venegas 2-4, 2B, RBI; Philipps 2-4; Cox (PH) 1-1; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; de la Cruz 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K;

Pucks’ blast saved the lead in the division, since the damn Elks took a third game from the Titans, who were by now eliminated mathematically, although the top four remained within six games with 15-ish to play.

The Loggers and Crusaders had their last game of the season rained out, and with no common off day left, would have to make it up on Monday after the nominal end of the regular season.

Raccoons (84-63) @ Condors (56-90) – September 18-20, 2054

Here was another terrible team; the Condors had yet to take a single win from the Raccoons, who had never before gone 9-0 on a CL South team for the season. Tijuana was bottoms in runs scored, third-worst in runs allowed, and had a -123 run differential. Their rotation was decent, but their pen was taking and leaking water at the same time, with the worst ERA in the league. No injuries to fret about for them either, they were just that bad.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (15-8, 2.69 ERA) vs. Larry Colwell (11-13, 4.37 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (5-5, 3.82 ERA) vs. Bill McDermott (1-8, 3.26 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (9-10, 3.55 ERA) vs. Victor Scott (8-14, 4.41 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday. The other two were righties, though.

Game 1
POR: LF Crum – SS Lavorano – 1B Brassfield – C Gowin – CF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – RF Cox – 2B Knight – P Shui
TIJ: 2B D. Mercado – 3B Chapa – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – 1B E. Rodriguez – CF Hildebrand – RF I. Jaramillo – SS Barrento – P Colwell

Crum single, Lonzo triple, Gowin single – the Coons led 2-0 before He Shui touched a baseball. He allowed a single to Luis Chapa in the bottom 1st, but also knocked a double to bring in Matt Cox with an unearned run in the second inning; a throwing error by Carmem Barrento had put Coxie on base. The offense died down from here, with just three more hits in total through the end of six. Shui struck out six while scattering runners for minimum effect, while the Coons did get Gowin and Pucks on base with leadoff walks in the sixth, but Venegas popped out and Cox hit into a double play to kill their most impressive chance to score since the first few innings.

The Condors had another 2-base throwing error in the eighth inning, then by Chapa catapulting away a Brassfield grounder. The Raccoons capitalized again when Pucks hit a 2-out, 2-run home run to right-center, his ninth of the year. Shui pitched eight shutout innings for 108 pitches, but didn’t have enough breath left to try and go the distance. Phil Baker got it done, though, completing a combined 2-hitter. 5-0 Coons. Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Shui 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (16-8) and 1-3, 2B, RBI;

The best news? The entire host of chasers lost their games on Friday. The Loggers got pipped by the Thunder, 7-6, the Crusaders lost early to the Aces, 5-3, while the Knights stuffed the Elks with six in the fifth inning and won 8-3. The Thunder and Knights were of course also neck and neck for the CL South title, so it wasn’t like they had anything to give away.

Game 2
POR: LF Crum – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – CF Puckeridge – RF Cox – 3B Blackshire – 2B Knight – P Brobeck
TIJ: 2B D. Mercado – 3B Chapa – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – 1B E. Rodriguez – CF Hildebrand – RF I. Jaramillo – SS Medlock – P McDermott

Brobeck drove in his own lead with the team’s fourth hit, an RBI double to get home Pucks in the second inning with two outs on the board, after the Raccoons had already wasted a leadoff walk by Crum, who had been forced out by Lonzo, who then was caught stealing trying to get #60 for the year, AND a Ramsay double after that in the first inning. Crum flew out to Tim Duncan after the Brobeck double, stranding Brobeck and Blackshire in scoring position. The Condors got leadoff singles in the bottom 2nd by Tim Duncan and Elias Rodriguez, but a pop, a K, and a groundout ended the inning without them even reaching third base, but they made up the deficit the next frame when Tim Duncan hit a 2-out RBI double to left, bringing home McDermott, who had hit a single to begin the inning. Tijuana, too, left a pair in scoring position there, however, as chances kept getting wasted by both teams.

Stephen Medlock’s error opened a hole in the fifth inning, putting Lonzo on base and bringing up Ramsay, and for the third time in this series the Raccoons cashed in an unearned run when Rams bopped a baseball over the fence in right for a 3-1 lead. Brobeck tried to give the lead right back, giving up two hits, a sac fly, and two walks in the bottom 5th before Danny Hildebrand struck out and Ismael Jaramillo flew out to Cox to strand three in a 3-2 game. Cox then drew a leadoff walk in the sixth and was in motion on the 3-2 to Blackshire, on which the third-sacker hit a ball into the left-center gap for an RBI double, 4-2. Knight grounded out, which gave us no gains, but Kyle Brobeck POUNDED a 2-run homer to right, which sure did! Medlock answered with a home run to left off Brobeck in the bottom 6th, but that was to lead off the inning, and it was still 6-3 when Brobeck’s day ended along with the sixth inning.

The bags filled up in the seventh with Gowin, Tenazes, and Blackshire, including an error by lefty Gabe Hill on the hill that allowed Tenazes on. Would the Raccoons again cash an unearned run? Yes – with two outs Tyler Philipps batted for Knight, ran a full count, and drew a bases-loaded walk. Brobeck batted for himself, fell to 0-2, and still managed to scratch out an RBI single before Crum struck out to end the inning. Up 8-3, Luke Ostler made his major league debut in the bottom 7th, gave up three hits and a run, and seemed to seamlessly get in line with all the other aw-shucks right-handers we had behind the three or four that were at least remotely trustworthy. Harmer, who was NOT in that group, struck out Medlock, Mike Crenshaw, and Domingo Mercado in the bottom 8th to advance the game. Jon Mittleider would single off Matt Walters with one out in the ninth, but he got a double play grounder to Naughty Joe from Tim Duncan to end the game. 8-4 Coons. Ramsay 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Boese 1-1; Cox 1-2, BB; Blackshire 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Philipps (PH) 1-1, BB, 2B, RBI; Brobeck 6.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, W (6-5) and 3-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI;

Brobeck’s pitching wasn’t exactly a three-course meal at Chez Louis, but being a triple shy of the cycle still counts for something around here.

The competition turned things around except for the Loggers, who were shut out. The Elks smothered the Knights for 15 runs to stay 1 1/2 back.

But the Coons now had the rare chance to go 9-0 on a CL South team for the first time ever, and the ball would be Seisaku Taki’s:

Game 3
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – C Gowin – 1B Ramsay – CF de Lemos – LF Tenazes – 2B Knight – P Taki
TIJ: 2B D. Mercado – 3B Chapa – C Mittleider – LF T. Duncan – 1B E. Rodriguez – CF Hildebrand – RF I. Jaramillo – SS Medlock – P V. Scott

Both teams hit into a double play in the first inning, while the Condors went up 1-0 in the second inning when Ismael Jaramillo singled home Elias Rodriguez, who had drawn a walk off Taki, who was disturbingly mediocre on the hill recently, but hit a single with Matt Knight on second after a leadoff double to left in the third inning to but Coons on the corners in the top 3rd. Venegas’ sac fly tied the score, but that was all the Coons got. Trent Brassfield drew a 2-out walk, but Gowin flew out.

Tim Duncan hit a leadoff single past a diving Knight in the fourth inning, then got tangled up with Lonzo at second base on Rodriguez’ grounder to Knight. He was called out, and had to limp off supported by the team trainer. Dave Castaneda would replace him, and the Condors also lost Vic Scott to injury after five innings. He got a no-decision for his pains. Right-hander Jim Woods walked both Brassfield and Ramsay in the sixth inning, but the Raccoons couldn’t get a base knock and didn’t score. Taki got stuck in the seventh after walks to Tyrese Sheilds and Domingo Mercado, with Sencion coming on to face Chapa… except that right-hander Nathan Whitehurst, batting .346, was sent against him with two outs… except that Sencion struck him out anyway to end the inning and hand Taki a no-decision as well.

When Trent Brassfield hit a 1-out single to left in the eighth, that was only the third Coons knock in this game. He was left on first base, and it didn’t get any better in the ninth inning, either. Three hits through nine for Portland, and five for Condors, none of them coming off Sencion, who logged five outs between three different innings, and Hitchcock late, giving us extra time to not get any hits. Crum and Venegas made outs against Dale Mrazek to begin the 10th, but Lonzo found the grass in left for a single, then stole his 60th base, but was stranded by Brassfield. Bak kept the game going with a scoreless 10th, and Chris Gowin hit a leadoff single off Jayden Durant in the 11th. Ramsay grounded to the right side. Carmem Barrento bobbled the ball, dropped it when picking it back up, and then threw the ball past Jon Mittleider at first base, allowing two Critters that might just as well be legless, rated 1 for speed, into scoring position with nobody out. Suzuki, who *had* legs, took over as the winning run for Gowin at third base. Pucks was walked with intent to set up a deadly three on, nobody out, but Tenazes got the absolutely needed go-ahead run with a sac fly to right. Knight slashed an RBI single to left, and Jeff Raczka singled in Bak’s spot to reload the bases. Venegas found another hole for an RBI single, which ended Durant and brought on Jaylin King. Lonzo hit another sac fly, and Brassfield popped out – that ended the inning, and now the Coons had to get three outs before blowing four runs to go 9-0 on a South team for the first time ever. Walters got the ball. He struck out Mittleider. He struck out Castaneda. Eric Thomas flew out to center. It was done! 5-1 Furballs! Knight 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Raczka (PH) 1-1; Taki 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K and 1-2; Sencion 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

In other news

September 14 – The Titans score two runs in the 10th inning for a win over the Canadiens after neither team managed to score inside nine innings.
September 15 – PIT INF Victor Corrales (.309, 30 HR, 124 RBI) extends his hitting streak to 25 games with a game-winning 3-run homer in the ninth inning off CIN MR Willie Santiago (2-6, 5.68 ERA, 2 SV). The Miners win 6-3.
September 15 – Vegas utility Jim White (.290, 8 HR, 72 RBI) is done for the year after breaking his hand.
September 16 – NYC INF Prince Gates (.333, 5 HR, 58 RBI) was also out for the season with an oblique strain.
September 16 – Also on vacation now, albeit with a cast, was SAL RF/LF/1B Salvador Montecino (.270, 23 HR, 89 RBI), breaking his elbow.
September 16 – Loggers outfielder Eric Cobb (.282, 10 HR, 55 RBI) sees his hitting streak end at 24 games, being held blank while the Crusaders torch the Loggers, 15-0.
September 17 – The hitting streak of PIT INF Victor Corrales (.306, 30 HR, 125 RBI) ends with an 0-for-4 appearance in a 4-3 loss to the Cyclones, after he had gotten a knock in 28 straight games.
September 17 – Thunder 2B/SS Ryan Spehar (.302, 0 HR, 17 RBI) has his season end thanks to a sports hernia.
September 17 – Further done for 2054: ATL OF/1B Jon Alade (.279, 25 HR, 75 RBI) thanks to a strained oblique.
September 19 – The Warriors clinch the FL West despite a 1-0 loss to the Miners, because the last team standing, the Gold Sox, lose 9-5 to the Cyclones to eliminate themselves.
September 19 – The Thunder swing a waiver deal for the Scorpions’ SP Bubba Wolinsky (12-9, 2.97 ERA), parting with C Kevin Weese (.255, 7 HR, 67 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: DEN 1B Bill Joyner (.317, 13 HR, 72 RBI), hitting .406 (13-32) with 2 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC UT Omar Sanchez (.332, 1 HR, 53 RBI), batting .600 (12-20) with 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Knights outslugged the Elks on Sunday in the national network TV game, 12-9, with a Nielsen rating of 70 (seven of ten households with a TV were tuned in nationwide), so the Raccoons finished the week 2 1/2 games clear of their most bitter foes. The Loggers salvaged one game in Oklahoma on Sunday, but that was probably too little, too late, while the Crusaders lost their series with the Aces. So it was looking like a two-horse race now, but the other teams weren’t mathematically eliminated quite yet:

POR (87-63) – MIL (3), NYC (3), SFB (3), VAN (3) – .519 – 88.1% (+10.3%)
VAN (84-65) – IND (4), LVA (3), NYC (3), POR (3) – .496 – 11.7% (-6.9%)
NYC (79-70) – ATL (3), BOS (3), POR (3), VAN (3), MIL (1) – .538 – 0.2% (-0.1%)
MIL (78-70) – BOS (4), CHA (3), IND (3), POR (3), MIL (1) – .491 – 0.1% (-3.3%)

For his game-winning sac fly against the Condors on Sunday, which gave us the first-ever 9-0 run against a CL South team in franchise history, Prospero Tenazes – of all Critters! – got a smooch on one cheek and a pinch in the other, and an extra food bowl with the best chocolates and treats that we could find at the airport. Such a good boy!!

The Raccoons would have to make do without Pickett now, so Kyle Brobeck was in the rotation to finish the year. I’m sure it’s gonna go so-so for him, and at one point we’ll need to have a talk about whether he should be moved to a third baseman permanently, because the kid can hit and I think his talents are wasted as a mediocre starting pitcher. If he was a third-sacker, that wouldn’t mean he’d not still be an extra reliever for garbage innings or something like that.

He Shui leads the CL in ERA now after Jay Gunderson had three eh-to-oh-oh starts in a row. Ex-Coon Dave Hils is second, seven points behind Shui, with Gunderson 19 points behind in third place.

The final homestand of the season is coming up. The Coons face the Bayhawks and Elks.

Fun Fact: Barring major upheavals, PIT SP Victor Salcido (18-8, 2.91 ERA) will lead the CL in wins this season.

At least you can’t say we didn’t get nothing for him… Anton Venegas and Matt Cox have done *good*. Not great, but *good*.

I know, Cristiano, I know. The trades I do……