[Westheim]

Raccoons (27-14) @ Falcons (20-25) – May 25-27, 2055

The Falcons were in fourth place in the South and were just below average in both runs scored and runs allowed, with a -15 run differential. Their defense and starting pitching ranked 11th in the CL, with the rotation pushing a 5 ERA, and they had the fewest home runs with just 15 dingers from 45 games. We had won the season series in 2054, five games to four.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (3-3, 3.46 ERA) vs. Austin Wilcox (3-5, 5.12 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (3-3, 4.43 ERA) vs. Felix Castano (1-3, 4.50 ERA)
He Shui (5-1, 2.76 ERA) vs. Josh Clem (1-2, 5.55 ERA)

Only right-handed starters for this series; the Falcons had no injuries, but even then they had nobody with more three homers, only two guys batting higher than .253, and while Castano’s ERA was the best in their rotation, he didn’t even qualify by innings pitched.

Game 1
POR: LF Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – RF Munn – CF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – 2B Waters – P Taki
CHA: LF Kulak – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – C L. Miranda – CF Whitehead – 3B Sivertson – 2B G. Vazquez – P Wilcox

The good news were that Taki had a 1-2-3 first inning, and all was gonna be well! The bad news were that Taki instead drowned in the second inning this time around. He nailed Jason Schaack, and then gave up two singles and a run right away. Ex-Coon Mitch Sivertson grounded to third base where Crispin committed an error, conceding a second run, and Gerardo Vazquez added a third run with an RBI single. William Kulak walked and Ian Woodrome brought in a fourth run with a groundout before the inning ended with Danny Ceballos grounding out. The Raccoons had nothing much through four innings, then actually loaded the bases with Crispin, Venegas, and Lonzo singles in the fifth. Ramsay grounded out, however, and nobody scored. An inning later, Gowin, Pucks, and Crispin hit singles to fill the bases *again*. This time Matt Waters drove in two with a single up the middle, but Tenazes and Venegas made poor outs to keep the tying runs on base.

With Taki gone – he didn’t allow much outside of the rotten second inning – the Coons sent Bak in for the bottom 6th, and two singles off him and a Lonzo error led to an unearned run for Charlotte in the bottom 6th. Lonzo also had a rotten game, running a 3-0 count to begin the seventh inning and then popping out to Vazquez. The Raccoons would have only one more base runner when Crispin got drilled in the eighth inning and posed no threat at all. 5-2 Falcons. Crispin 2-2, BB;

Daniel Espinoza made his debut as pinch-hitter in this game, lining out as pinch-hitter.

Danny Munn was completely lost in this game, and now was second in homers in the CL with a .197 batting average, which was also a thing.

Game 2
POR: LF Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – RF Munn – CF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – 2B Waters – P de la Cruz
CHA: LF Kulak – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – C L. Miranda – 3B J. Frazier – CF Whitehead – 2B G. Vazquez – P Clem

The Raccoons disappeared in order against Clem in the first three innings, while the Falcons beat four hits out of Raffy and a first-inning run on Kulak’s double and Ceballos’ RBI single. It took 11 batters to get the Raccoons into the H column with a Lonzo single in the fourth, but he was stranded on first base, not getting a jump, and not getting and help from Rams and Gowin, either.

It was still 1-0 through five, which looked way more decent than Raffy actually was; he gave up seven hits through five innings, and a few more drives that were luckily caught. He also began the sixth with grounding out, but then Venegas and Lonzo went to the corners with a pair of base hits. WHAT A RUSH OF OFFENSE!! Lonzo stole second base, but the Raccoons barely got Venegas home to tie the game on Rams’ sac fly to right. Gowin grounded out meekly. Bottom 6th, Ethan Whitehead walked, Gerardo Vazquez singled, and the Coons went to the pen with the pair in scoring position and two outs. Lillis came in with a triple switch, Rams going home and Pucks moving to first base, while Cramer took over centerfield, but Kulak flew out to Venegas on a 2-1 pitch to dispel the threat on paw.

The Raccoons then took the 2-1 lead in the seventh inning. Pucks singled, then scored when Crispin rushed a triple up the leftfield line. A funny bounce off the sidewall fooled Kulak and allowed Pucks to score and Crispin into third base in the first place, and that was also where Crispin was stranded as Waters grounded out to Clem and Cramer popped out to Josh Frazier, ending the inning and bringing on the stretch… The Raccoons had nothing in the eighth and a 2-out double for Pucks in the ninth, but at least Lillis and Hitchcock got the 2-1 lead to the ninth without any hiccups. Tommy Gardner it was, then. The Falcons threw all lefty bats they had at him; Manny Castillo and Billy Hester both grounded out to Pucks at first base, but Kulak doubled to right. Oh, here we go! Actually no – Woodrome struck out to end the game and level the series. 2-1 Coons. Lavorano 2-4; Puckeridge 2-4, 2B;

Danny Munn continued to be not much fun and dropped to .192. Both him and Waters, also struggling with the .200 mark, would get a day off in the rubber game. First lineup assignment for Danny Espinoza then…?

Game 3
POR: LF Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – CF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – C Philipps – 2B Knight – RF Espinoza – P Shui
CHA: LF Kulak – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – C L. Miranda – 3B J. Frazier – CF Whitehead – 2B G. Vazquez – P Castano

Now Shui was brutalized in the first inning; the Falcons battered him four hits, a walk, and three runs before Gerardo Vazquez struck out to strand Frazier and Whitehead, finally. When Tyler Philipps and Matt Knight hit 2-out singles in the second inning, that brought up Espinoza as the tying run, but he was quite humiliated by Castano for a K, but he’d hit a 2-out RBI single to plate Knight in the fourth inning. That then cut the gap to 4-2, but Shui ended the inning with a pop to short. Rams had hit a sac fly to score Venegas in the third inning, but Shui just kept melting and had given the run right back in the bottom of the third inning, and the Coons’ fourth-inning run was also matched right away by the Falcons, who started the bottom 4th with a bloop single by Vazquez and then effortlessly moved him around with more hits for Kulak and Woodrome. That was all for Shui, four innings, nine hits, five runs, blargh.

It only got worse. Nikinaki and Sencion had scoreless outings, but Luis Miranda hit a 2-run homer off Matt Walters in the seventh inning to extend the Falcons’ lead to five. Ian Woodrome did Miranda one better in the eighth, crashing a 3-run homer off Hyun-soo Bak. 10-2 Falcons. Cramer (PH) 1-1; Lavorano 2-4; Knight 2-3, 2B; Espinoza 2-4, RBI;

Raccoons (28-16) vs. Condors (22-25) – May 28-30, 2055

The Condors were in third place in the South, and I wondered how and why. They were 11th in runs scored, 10th in runs allowed, had a -39 run differential, and no matter which angle you took to look at them, it was horrendous. We had swept them in the first series of the year, and of course it was 13 straight wins across three seasons for the Coons against the Condors.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (0-2, 6.41 ERA) vs. Steve Hawkins (4-0, 3.45 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (5-0, 1.59 ERA) vs. Juan Juarez (4-5, 3.32 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (3-4, 3.63 ERA) vs. Mike Jacobs (2-5, 7.88 ERA)

Of course sending out Brobeck for the opener was not exactly a bid to continue any kind of positive streak.

Southpaw Sunday, though, so at least we had that going for us.

Game 1
TIJ: 3B Chapa – 2B D. Mercado – LF T. Duncan – 1B Witherspoon – C Lehman – SS Medlock – RF M. Allen – CF Briggs – P S. Hawkins
POR: LF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – 3B Crispin – RF Munn – 2B Waters – CF Tenazes – P Brobeck

Ignoring a Tim Duncan single, Brobeck struck out the side in the first inning, which wasn’t taken well by Domingo Mercado, who objected noisily enough to strike three to get the rest of the evening off, to be replaced by Tyrese Sheilds. The Raccoons then got three hits and three walks off Hawkins in the bottom 1st while scoring the bare minimum of runs… two of them. Lonzo and Rams were in scoring position and scored on Gowin and Crispin singles, but Gowin was also picked off first base in between for the second out. Munn and Waters, the old strugglers, walked the bags full, but were all left on when Tenazes grounded out to Luis Chapa. Brobeck would hit a leadoff double in the bottom 2nd, was left on second base by the top of the order, then offered a leadoff walk to Hawkins and fooled that runner around to score in the inning, driven in by Sheilds. The bags were full again in the bottom 3rd with Gowin leading off with a single, Crispin drew a walk, and Waters got a soft single after a K on Munn. Tenazes’ turn was up again, and he hit into a double play…

Then Brobeck ******* ****** up the ******* game completely. Sam Witherspoon tripled to center to begin the fourth inning and Tim Lehman’s sac fly tied the game right away. Then there was a Mike Allen double, walks to Chris Briggs and Hawkins, for ***** sake, and Luis Chapa dropped a 2-out, 2-run single between Lonzo and Tenazes. Sheilds flew out to Munn, but the Condors were up 4-2 and the Raccoons were getting close to collective punishment. Brobeck was done after five absolutely atrocious innings, while the Coons had Lonzo on with a single in the fourth, and Crispin on with a single in the fifth, and never got them anywhere. The team couldn’t even score a ******* run when Tenazes socked a leadoff double to left in the sixth inning, at which point I kissed the Condors-conquering streak goodbye and instead wrapped by fuzzy lips around the neck of the nearest bottle of booze.

Nobody from the home team reached in the seventh inning, but Danny Munn hit a leadoff single in the eighth against Jim Woods, who was lifted for Juan Carrillo, who retired the next two. When Brent Cramer batted for the pitcher, the Condors sent lefty Gabe Hill, but Hill gave up a gapper for a 2-out RBI triple, 4-3, but Pucks grounded out. Hitchcock denied the Condors a tack-on run in the ninth, with Leonardo Ramos getting the ball for the bottom 9th. Lonzo grounded out to second. Rams singled, but Gowin struck out in a full count. Crispin was the last guy standing, and grounded out to third base to kill the streak. 4-3 Condors. Ramsay 2-5, 2B; Gowin 3-5, RBI; Cramer (PH) 1-1, 3B, RBI;

********.

Game 2
TIJ: RF Chapa – 2B D. Mercado – LF T. Duncan – C Lehman – 1B Witherspoon – SS Medlock – 3B Sheilds – CF V. Velez – P J. Juarez
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – LF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 2B Waters – CF Cramer – P Adkins

Lonzo singled, stole second, and scored on Pucks’ 2-out singe, with Gowin having drawn a walk in between. Danny Munn struck out, stranding a pair, and I immediately growled because the entire week had been like this now. Thankfully Slappy was back and knew exactly the spot where he had to pat me behind the fuzzy ears to calm me down. And Capt’n Coma was also a reliable friend, as always.

1-0 was the score through four, and Adkins didn’t actually allow a base hit through four innings, walking one and whiffing three. When the Condors did get a hit in the fifth inning, they got three singles at once, loading the bases with Stephen Medlock, Tyrese Sheilds, and Victor Velez, for crying out loud. Now, Juan Juarez struck out, which made two outs in the inning, and brought up Luis Chapa, the soft-hitting utility. He hit a liner to left, but Pucks came over aaaand made the catch… (raises bottle) On Pucks! (clonks bottles with Slappy)

Then the Raccoons also had three on in the bottom 5th… and with nobody out… and it was a bit shambolic. Waters hit a single. After that, Witherspoon fumbled Cramer’s grounder for an error, and when Adkins bunted, Sheilds inexplicably tried to beat Waters to third base, and was well beaten. Three on, no outs, top of the order coming up against Juarez – come on, boys! At least two runs, NOW!! Juarez, fazed, walked Venegas on four pitches, which was fine by me. Lonzo hit a liner to short, but Medlock *narrowly* missed the ball, and Lonzo had an RBI single! Y’know what, boys? Keep at it. And then Rams struck out, Gowin popped out, both in full counts, and I sighed deeply. Pucks hit away at the 2-1 pitch and sent a liner to Witherspoon – who couldn’t swipe it fast enough! Up the line, extra bases, and Pucks drove in three with a bases-clearing double! Five runs in the inning, but zero Pucks given! Tah!!

The inning ended with Munn flying out to right against Juan Carrillo, but Adkins had a 6-0 lead, so I felt like we were in good paws… although he was up to 72 pitches after the lengthy fifth. We’d get seven more outs from Adkins, but he was taken deep by Duncan in the sixth for one run, and gave up a leadoff double to Velez in the eighth, and that runner came around to score on a groundout, a walk issued to Chapa, and Mercado’s sac fly. That was it for Adkins, with Hitchcock coming in, and he struck out the pair of Tims in the 3-4 spots to keep the lead at 6-2. Since the lead was four for the ninth, we sent Lillis into the ninth inning. Witherspoon singled on his very first pitch, but that was as far as the Condors got, making three poor outs from there. 6-2 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, 2B, 4 RBI; Adkins 7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (6-0);

Adkins added nine points to his ERA, all the way up to 1.68. Sucker.

Game 3
TIJ: 3B Chapa – 2B Sheilds – LF T. Duncan – 1B Witherspoon – C Lehman – SS Medlock – RF M. Allen – CF Briggs – P M. Jacobs
POR: LF Venegas – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 1B Philipps – CF Tenazes – 3B Espinoza – P Taki

Taki conceded a four-pitch walk and a single right afterwards in both of the first two innings, but without allowing a run. He rung up two to recover in the first, and started a 1-5-3 double play on Mark Jacobs in the second inning to end that inning. When it was his own time to bunt after an Espinoza single in the bottom 3rd, Lehman threw the ball away for two bases, and the Coons had a pair in scoring position with nobody out in a scoreless game. The runners scored on a Venegas RBI single, then a double play grounder by Lonzo, which at least made it 2-0. Pucks tripled, but Gowin struck out, ending the inning. While not all was sugar cubes with Taki pitching – he allowed the Condors to reach the corners again in the fourth inning before popping out both Chris Briggs and the pitcher – the same was true for the offense. Waters was on to begin the fourth, then was doubled up by Philipps. Tenazes then doubled, Espinoza was walked intentionally, and Taki reached on Witherspoon’s next error. That loaded them up for Venegas, but he grounded out to Medlock in a week that just kept piling up the missed chances.

The Coons only tacked on in the sixth and only on another throwing error, now by Medlock. Waters singled and stole second base to open the frame, while Medlock then threw away Philipps’ grounder for two bases and a run, 3-0. That was all, the inning ending with Taki, who was already on 104 pitches through six busy innings, but got the seventh pieced together on six pitches to end his outing. Bak retired the 4-5-6 without fuss and with two strikeouts in the eighth inning, and Gardner and Lillis were getting ready for the ninth inning. The plan was to actually send out Lillis first, with the next six spots in the Condors lineup being either a lefty stick or a pitcher. Allen, Briggs, and PH Jon Mittleider went down in order and without as much as a squeal, and the Coons took the series. 3-0 Critters. Waters 2-4; Philipps 2-4, 2B; Espinoza 1-2, BB; Taki 7.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, W (4-4);

First save of the year for Brett Lillis jr.!

In other news

May 27 – LAP RF Matt Diskin (.275, 8 HR, 28 RBI) will miss at least one week with shoulder tendinitis.
May 28 – Los Angeles acquires 2B/SS Lance Harrison (.279, 2 HR, 12 RBI) from the Stars for three prospects.
May 29 – The Pacifics thrash the Miners for 11 runs in the fifth inning of a 14-7 football score.
May 30 – CIN LF/CF Juan del Toro (.347, 5 HR, 22 RBI) hits for the cycle with an at-bat to spare in a 9-8 win over the Gold Sox, collecting every type of hit once and driving in three runs. It’s the second consecutive ABL cycle that occurs with the Cyclones as the road team, after Dallas’ Chad Pritchett had hit for the cycle almost exactly one year ago with Cincy as the visiting team in Dallas.

FL Player of the Week: LAP LF/RF/1B Salvatore Rodrigues (.308, 4 HR, 22 RBI), batting .519 (14-27) with 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN OF Aaron Walker (.261, 6 HR, 32 RBI), batting .478 (11-23) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

3-3 week. May hasn’t been much good for us, and June will have a tough travel schedule with three separate trips across the mountains and two to east of the Mississippi, as well as just nine home games overall. Two of them on the tail end of the Thunder series that will kick off next week, after which we’ll go to Boston and New York.

We have six Raccoons leading the All Star Fan Votes right now. Chris Gowin leads catchers and is the only position player. The other five were pitchers: Adkins and Shui were 1-2 for starters, and Hitchcock, Gardner, and Walters were 1-2-3 for relievers.

Is there any pitching help in AAA, especially a Brobeck replacement? Sadly, not really. Phil Baker is doing halfway decent, but they all have too many walks, too few strikeouts, and an ERA that doesn’t promise much good if promoted. Besides Baker, there’s also have-been-heres Cameron Argenziano and Josh Mayo, former third-rounder John Blevins, and a $33k signing from July ’47 in Jesus Guzman.

Fun Fact: Seventh career save for Brett Lillis jr. on Sunday. He is now just 296 short of his dad.

Brett Lillis, who was a Raccoon twice in 2019 and from 2021 through 2024, got 303 career saves in 796 outings. He got only two in his first half-season with the team in ’19, but then was a regular closer for three-and-a-half years in his second tour of duty, compiling 127 total saves between those years. He saved games for five different teams in his career, most of them for Cincy: 151, just under half his career total.

Lillis sr. was an All Star twice, both in seasons in which he wore the brown shirt, although his 2019 nomination was as a Cyclone and he was only added in a trade after the All Star Game. His other All Star season was in ’23.

The funny thing about how we got Lillis sr. the first time was that outfielder Alex Duarte was wrapped up in the package to Cincy that got him here, and they somehow managed to be teammates on the Raccoons briefly in late 2021 then, when Duarte was claimed off waivers from the Crusaders, but only appeared in 14 games with Portland the rest of the year.