[Westheim]

2055 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (102-60) vs. Atlanta Knights (95-67)

Thanks to the Raccoons finishing the season with the best record in baseball, we would have home field advantage for the entire playoffs (cough), and the CLCS would start at home.

Game 1 – He Shui (20-6, 2.81 ERA) vs. Bruce Mark jr. (8-11, 4.63 ERA)

There was a bit of a lineup question. Anton Venegas had struggled to finish the season, and Ed Crispin had delivered a few raking games. And we’d face a right-hander. It seemed like a no-brainer to put Crispin in the lineup at least until he’d go 0-for-12 or something.

Shui faced Atlanta only once in the regular season and was lit up for five runs in five innings by them in April for a no-decision. Mark faced Portland twice, once in April, when he dominated, and once in September, when the whole stadium caved in on him. He was 1-1 with a ghastly 7.84 ERA. While Shui hadn’t won any of his last three games, Mark had gone 0-3 in his last four outings.

Mark Roberts threw out the ceremonial first pitch as the Raccoons tried to channel some 2020s rings magic.

ATL: 3B R. Thompson – CF Alade – SS W. Acosta – 1B P. Fowler – RF E. Moreno – C Almaguer – LF Kirkwood – 2B E. Miller – P Mark jr.
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – 3B Crispin – 2B Waters – P Shui

Ronnie Thompson opened the series with a single to left-center. Two full counts after that netted the Knights a walk drawn by Jon Alade and a single scratched out by Willie Acosta. Pat Fowler fell to 0-2 after that, but then humped a 416-footer and the Knights had a 4-0 lead without making an out.

Worse yet, Shui did not get out of the first inning. Eddie Moreno popped another jack, and Chris Kirkwood and Eric Miller slapped singles. Mark’s sac fly put the score at 6-0 and the Raccoons, having been harmed enough, went to Ryan Harmer for garbage relief. Cristiano, check whether we can still put Mark Roberts on the playoff roster – quick!!

He’d really fit right in. Fowler and Moreno smashed another pair of home runs off the hapless Harmer in the second inning, and then the 6-7-8 batters whooped him for three singles and another run. 9-0. The game was toast, of course. Mark pitched seven and two thirds, scattering eight hits but only two runs, one of which he even balked in himself in a sticky third inning when it briefly seemed like the Raccoons might at least make it interesting again. But between four singles, the run-scoring balk, and a 2-out RBI infield single by Pucks, that was about that. The Coons didn’t mount a substantial threat against Mark beyond that, while expending not only Harmer for over 50 pitches but also the other garbage collector, Bravo, who pitched three-plus innings and was charged with one run. And then we still had to use Tikitaki, Sencion, and even Brobeck to get through the damn ballgame.

Knights 10, Raccoons 2 – Knights lead series 1-0

Waters 2-4; Venegas (PH) 1-1; Solorzano (PH) 1-1; Brobeck 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K and 1-1, 2B;

Well, that made an ugly slapping noise on the fuzzy cheek. It was a bold statement, but it could hardly get worse in Game 2…

Game 2 – Seisaku Taki (9-9, 3.91 ERA) vs. Esteban Duran (12-9, 3.39 ERA)

Duran had gotten a no-decision for 6.1 innings of 3-run ball in his only appearance against the Raccoons this season. Taki faced them twice, went 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA, and I started to wonder who the heck actually got a W against them from our pitchers…

Taki didn’t have to do much to improve on Shui’s abysmal outing… Get out of the first inning maybe?

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by Father Nicholas Mandelbaum of St. Aedwine of Deira and Bernicia over on 27th Street, where he sheltered all kinds of murderers and robbers from prosecution in his church.

Who makes these appointments??

ATL: 3B R. Thompson – CF Alade – SS W. Acosta – 1B P. Fowler – RF E. Moreno – C Almaguer – LF Kirkwood – 2B E. Miller – P E. Duran
POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – 3B Crispin – 2B Waters – P Taki

Neither team changed its lineup, and why would the Knights? Their starting nine had absolutely *slapped* in the opener.

They also *slapped* to begin Game 2, as Taki had one of his first innings, walked Jon Alade, and was then taken quite deep to right by Pat Fowler, who now had 3 HR and 7 RBI in this already traumatizing series. The Coons had Pucks on base in the bottom 1st, but only briefly; they did however load the bases with nobody out in the bottom 2nd, the certified Portland recipe for more heartaches. Rams, Gowin, and Crispin were all on with a pair of singles and a walk, and then Matt Waters struck out. Oh boy. But: Taki singled through the left side for a run, and Brassfield singled to right for another, and the game was tied! Lonzo grounded to Ronnie Thompson, but broke up the double play with his hindpaws, and the go-ahead run scored in form of Crispin. The inning ended with Pucks flying out to center, and runners left on the corners.

Taki plunked Acosta with two outs in the third, gracefully putting another runner in front of Fowler, who had to settle for a sharp single to center, though, and the pair was stranded with a K on Eddie Moreno.

Both teams drew a leadoff walk in the fourth; while Pedro Almaguer was doubled up by Eric Miller’s grounder to Lonzo, the Coons just left Crispin stranded the old-fashioned way. The fifth was uneventful, and the score remained 3-2.

Taki then ran a 3-0 count against Fowler to begin the sixth inning, which gave me some nausea, especially when Fowler raked – but he popped out to Waters. Almaguer would hit a single with two outs, but didn’t get past first base with a fly out by Chris Kirkwood. Taki would complete seven innings with the lead still intact, then was pinch-hit for after the stretch, with Dave Hils replacing Duran at the same time. Instead, Brett Lillis jr. blew the lead in the eighth inning. After a K to Alade, he gave up a double to center to Acosta, and then an RBI single to Fowler. Yanked, he then had to watch Bak get outs from Moreno and Almaguer to keep the game at least tied.

Pro tip for the Critters: another hit or two might help. They just couldn’t get the ball to fall in; Lonzo drew a 2-out walk in the seventh, which led nowhere, and in the eighth Hils retired them in order in his second inning of work. Hitchcock got the tied game for the ninth inning, walked the leadoff man, which had already been an infuriating pattern in the last week of the season, then got two outs from Felix Rojas and Eduardo Avila. Ronnie Thompson, however, singled home Almaguer from third base with the go-ahead run. Alade drew ANOTHER walk, but the inning ended with an Acosta pop.

Righty David Hardaway was trusted with the ball to get the Knights up 2-0 in the series. Crispin grounded out to first. Waters struck out. Solorzano grounded out to short.

Knights 4, Raccoons 3 – Knights lead series 2-0

Taki 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K and 1-1, RBI;

Arf.