[Westheim]

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

The series shifted to Atlanta, probably to never return as things were going.

Game 3 – Cameron Argenziano (7-3, 3.36 ERA) vs. Austin Wilcox (17-10, 4.03 ERA)

At least the matchup was “interesting”. The Raccoons went to Argenziano, who had been nothing but an afterthought in AAA when the season began and somehow wound up in line for a rather hypothetical Game 7 at this stage, while the Knights went to 33-year-old Austin Wilcox, who had not been particularly good as a Falcon for his first 21 starts of the season, but had cranked it up with the Knights. In the white shirt with red stripes he was 9-1 with a 3.12 ERA.

Can we just go home again?

Wilcox hadn’t faced the Coons with the Knights, but had beaten them with eight innings of 2-run ball as a Falcon in May. Argenziano had pitched against Atlanta twice after being called up, getting only one out in the sixth innings, and not a single decision. His ERA against them had been good though: 1.74;

The Raccoons still didn’t make an adjustment to the lineup. And to be honest, I also didn’t know which adjustment to make.

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

As the disaster continued to unravel unabated, Argenziano walked the first two batters he faced, gave up a double in the gap to Moreno, a 2-out single to Kirkwood, and three runs in total in the first inning. It was bad. I didn’t know what to do with my face anymore.

Top 2nd, the Raccoons had leadoff singles from Munn and Rams, but then dawdled around a bit until Waters drew a 2-out walk. That brought up the pitcher. Great. But Argenziano slapped a single past Eric Miller to drive home two runs, and Brassfield legged out an infield single to load the bases for Lonzo, who was a strong 0-for-8 in the series and popped out to Miller. 0-for-9, and still down a run. Actually, the Coons did flip the score in the third inning. Pucks doubled to lead off, but the magic only happened with two outs. Gowin singled home the tying run, and Waters would drive in the go-ahead run with a double after Crispin walked…!

Argenziano grounded out to short, stranding a pair in scoring position, and in between the Raccoons’ two 2-spots he had also issued back-to-back 2-out walks to the Knights’ 1-2 batters again, so I didn’t know which tall building to throw him off right now. He walked Eddie Moreno on four straight balls to begin the bottom 3rd before also going 3-0 on Jon Alade, who poked and hit into a double play. (blinks)

Don’t you get excited though, because Kirkwood then hit a slammer to left to tie the score at four.

Wickedly, Argenziano drove home another run with another 2-out single, off Amari Walker, in the fifth inning. Rams and Waters were on the corners when he came up and he just slapped an 0-1 pitch through between Acosta and Miller, 5-4. Brassfield then flew out to left, leaving two on base, and Argenziano just COULDN’T ******* RESIST and walked Moreno in the bottom 5th, his SEVENTH free pass of the game. No strikeouts. Alade popped out, but Kirkwood dished a double and tied the game again. Argenziano was yanked and was in line for the L once Almaguer drove home the go-ahead run with a single off Hyun-soo Bak.

Lonzo singled and stole second against Amari Walker to begin the sixth inning, but was left on base by the meat of the order. Lonzo was also batting in the seventh with two outs after Gowin, Waters, and Brassfield had all hit singles to load the bases against Hils, who had been removed with injury concerns. Morgan Aben replaced him, and he had gotten it *socked* by the Coons more than once this season. …but Lonzo grounded out to third base, and the inning ended in favor of the seventh inning stretch.

Portland went in order in the eighth, but Matt Walters held the Knights to their single-run lead. It would be Hardaway again in the ninth inning, and the 6-7-8 batters for the Coons. Gowin led off with a fly to deep center…! …alas, Alade. Gold Glover. Out #1. Crispin slapped a single past Miller, but Waters then slapped a ball right *at* Miller. Only the lead runner was out, but things grew dim. Venegas pinch-hit, and singled up the middle, moving the tying run to second base for Brassfield. He fell to two strikes, then hit a pop to shallow left. Rojas and Acosta converged – and neither caught the ball, courteously extending the invitation to make the 27th out to the other. The plonker scored Waters with the tying run, but Lonzo then grounded out to Brian Kaufman at third base to strand a pair.

A scoreless inning by Lillis sent the game to extra innings where the Coons’ 3-4-5 in the top 10th once more amounted to pretty much nothing. Three more singles broke the tie in the 11th inning against Eli Dupuis, however. Waters, Knight, and Lonzo partook in the slowly-building attack, and then Pucks dished a deep drive to right – that was caught by Moreno at the fence. Bugger. Hitchcock got the bottom 11th, and for once didn’t put the ******* leadoff man on base. He put the second batter on base, as Acosta singled to right. Lefty sticks were next, but the Raccoons had already used up all their lefty relievers. Felix Rojas singled to center, with the tying run to second and the winning run now at first. Oh, and what about Pat Fowler? SOMEBODY had to pitch to him…! Hitchcock did – and rung him up on three strikes! Moreno bounced out to Lonzo, and the Raccoons actually won a game…!

Raccoons 7, Knights 6 (11) – Knights lead series 2-1

Brassfield 3-7, RBI; Lavorano 3-7, 2B, RBI; Ramsay 3-6; Gowin 2-6, RBI; Waters 2-3, 3 BB, 2B, RBI; Venegas (PH) 1-1; Knight (PH) 1-1;

We had 20 hits and we left 16 on base… The Knights had only ten hits, but also drew seven walks – all offered by Argenziano. Seven relievers paraded through the remaining 6.1 innings, and none of them offered a free pass.

Game 4 – Kyle Brobeck (9-8, 4.41 ERA) vs. Vic Harman (10-7, 3.29 ERA)

Despite making only 14 starts, Vic Harman had nevertheless almost qualified for rate statistics, pitching 161.1 innings between the starts and another 48 relief appearances. He had been a busy guy for sure, including four appearances against the Raccoons; twice he had pitched in relief in April. In July he threw a 2-hit shutout against us. And in August he lost on four runs in seven innings. Overall, 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA.

Kyle Brobeck had made three starts against the Knights, going 1-0 with a 3.44 ERA. He had won the 16-2 blowout on September 1, but the two no-decisions on his ledger the Raccoons had eventually lost.

Anton Venegas made his first appearance in the lineup for this series.

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

Lonzo singled, Pucks hit a belter over the fence in right, and the Raccoons opened this crucial game with a 2-0 lead! …and then Brobeck started to take the mound. He walked Ronnie Thompson on straight balls and gave up an RBI double to Acosta, throwing half the lead away immediately. He hit a single himself in the second inning, but was left on base, then threw for another leadoff walk to Kirkwood in the bottom 2nd. Groundout, groundout, … wild pitch. Tied game.

Thoughts of murder.

Brobeck then really cranked it up. Thompson clanked a double, and Alade and Acosta drew 2-out walks to fill the bases. How the **** Fowler didn’t hit another one off the tee was beyond me, but he grounded out to Lonzo to strand all the runners and keep the game tied. Lonzo also bashed a triple to left-center in the third inning and scored on Pucks’ sac fly for a new lead, then also saw it blown to bits again right away when the Knights made fun of Brobeck with three straight singles to begin the bottom 3rd. That loaded the bases, and Miller’s grounder to short was taken to start a 6-4-3 double play by Lonzo, but the game was tied again. Harman grounded out. Lonzo remained the only guy on the team that wasn’t making my blood boil; Brassfield hit a 2-out double in the fifth inning, then was singled home by our adorable shortstop, 4-3. Brobeck then issued 1-out walks to Moreno and Almaguer and was unceremoniously disposed of. Nikituki hung a K on Kirkwood and got a grounder from Miller to tumble out of the damn inning.

But there were still a lot of innings that needed pitching. Bak pitched one of them, but not a second one. He filled the bases with the 3-4-5 batters to begin the bottom 7th, still in a 4-3 game, then left the mess for Kevin Hitchcock, who was the last remaining non-ridiculous right-hander to pick in this scenario. He didn’t get it done – all runs scored; one on Almaguer’s groundout, and two on a pinch-hit single by Felix Rojas. The Knights took a 6-4 lead.

Top 8th, the Knights cycled through their pen, which resulted in walks to Munn and Rams with two outs and then Ramon Montes de Oca coming in. Ed Crispin pinch-hit for Hitchcock against the right-hander, but struck out. Matt Walters then issued two walks in the bottom 8th as nobody seemed to be able to ******* PITCH ANYMORE, but the Knights neglected to score, then had to send out Hardaway again, facing the bottom of the Portland lineup in the ninth inning. Gowin popped out foul, except that Thompson dropped the ball and Gowin got another chance. This time, he singled to center. And Matt Waters rumbled into a double play, 6-4-3. Venegas flew out to left…

Knights 6, Raccoons 4 – Knights lead series 3-1

Lavorano 3-4, 3B, RBI;

(sits frozen, with his paws in position to strangle an imaginary pitcher)

Game 5 – He Shui (20-6, 2.81 ERA) vs. Bruce Mark jr. (8-11, 4.63 ERA)

Rematch of Game 1, which hadn’t been much of a match at all. In boxing terms, Shui had gotten his foot caught in the ropes entering the ring to begin with and had faceplanted on the board, knocking himself out in that miserable game.

He could hardly to worse in the first of up to three elimination games!

POR: LF Brassfield – SS Lavorano – CF Puckeridge – RF Munn – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – 2B Waters – 3B Venegas – P Shui
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.

Brass and Lonzo started the game with deep flies, but both were caught by Kirkwood and Moreno, respectively. Shui then took it upon himself to try and imitate that first inning from five days ago. Thompson singled to open the bottom 1st. Acosta walked. Shui balked. And he still had a chance to get out of the inning, but then Moreno dinked an RBI single into shallow right, Almaguer hit another RBI single, and Kirkwood hit another ******* RBI single. I didn’t even know what to say anymore. Miller grounded out to short, but the Raccoons were down 3-0 immediately in an elimination game.

While Shui merely lingered, Mark casually struck out the Coons in the second inning, but then hit a speed bump in the fourth. Leadoff walk to Pucks, and then Ramsay doubled him home with one out. Gowin grounded out, moving Ramsay to third base, and from there Waters drove him in. While Venegas grounded out, the Raccoons were back to 3-2. Atlanta answered in the worst way possible, by getting a 2-out infield single from Alade, and then an RBI double off the wall in center from Acosta. For crying out loud. At least Fowler didn’t pop another one over the fence, but grounded out in front of home plate.

Down 4-2 now, the Raccoons had a three-on, no-outs situation in the fifth inning. Shui singled, Brassfield walked, Lonzo singled again. Pucks hit an RBI single to right, but then Munn – in a black hole in this series and batting .053 – struck out, and then Ramsay clubbed a 3-2 pitch into a 4-6-3 store closer.

Shui was recycled for some fancy sneakers when he gave up a leadoff jack to Moreno in the bottom 5th. Reynaldo Bravo got three outs then, but Eloy Sencion in the sixth got none. Alade singled, Acosta doubled, Fowler walked, and the bases were full with zero retirements. That was gonna be the end of the season for sure. The Critters’ pen sent Kawasaki, who sent first-pitch splitter into Eddie Moreno’s knee, and Jon Alade was pushed across home plate. ******* brilliant.

Almaguer and Kirkwood then popped out and Miller grounded out to short, but the Raccoons now had to make up three runs in as many innings. They started by not reaching base against Ramon Montes de Oca in the seventh, but Pucks hit a leadoff double to right in the top 8th. Munn grounded out, dropping to 1-for-20, and Ramsay also dropped – after Eli Dupuis beaned him in the old noggin’. Ramsay picked himself up soon enough, but Luis Silva collected him and took him out of the game. Jason Monson pinch-ran, his first appearance in the series. Gowin was now the tying run at the plate, and hit an RBI single through the left side, 6-4. Waters hit into a fielder’s choice, and Crispin batted for Venegas with runners at the corners – and he walked. That filled the bases. Tyler Philipps pinch-hit for Brett Lillis jr. with two gone – also his first appearance in the series. AND DUPUIS HIT HIM, TOO!

The *****!! … (reconsiders) … Don’t you dare hitting one more batter to bring in the tying run, you ******!!

Brassfield struck out. (deflates visibly)

Even with eight relievers, the Raccoons also casually threatened to run out of pitchers at this point. The only relievers left were Hitch, Walters, and Bak – ALL had pitched two straight days. Walters got the ball with where we were in the lineup, struck out Acosta and Fowler, and then got a fly to center to end the inning from Moreno.

Who had also pitched two straight days? Hardaway. He did NOT come in for the ninth inning. Eli Dupuis was still in there, and the Raccoons could still turn the table on this game. Lonzo led off…! He also struck out. Pucks grounded out to Miller on the first pitch he saw. That got us to, uh, Danny Munn. 0-4 in this game, 1-20 for the series. Well, it was fun while it lasted…

Dupuis walked him. That brought up Jason Monson, who had hit nothing since being acquired from the Crusaders. But we had run out of players – the only guy left on the bench was Matt Knight. Monson had to bat. In his first at-bat of the series, he singled to center. Munn to second. The Knights – still held on to Dupuis. Chris Gowin was batting. Gowin hit the 1-1 to right … and… no… it wasn’t gonna. Moreno ambled under it, made an easy catch, and the Coons were sent home to be sulky for the next six months.

Knights 6, Raccoons 5 – Knights win series, 4-1

Puckeridge 2-3, 2 BB; Monson 1-1;