[Westheim]

Raccoons (7-11) @ Falcons (13-5) – April 25-27, 2056

The Falcons were second in the CL South as well as in runs scored and runs allowed in the Continental League with an impressively early +47 run differential. The question was whether the Coons should even disembark the plane. We had lost last year’s season series already, 5-4.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (2-1, 3.26 ERA) vs. Alfonso Jewel (3-0, 0.82 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (0-2, 4.82 ERA) vs. Noah Hollis (1-1, 3.86 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (2-2, 3.21 ERA) vs. Art Schaeffer (4-0, 1.65 ERA)

The Tuesday opener would have the Critters face the first southpaw in over a week… and probably the only one this week.

Game 1
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – 1B Puckeridge – CF Royer – LF Caballero – C Philipps – RF Tenazes – P Shui
CHA: LF Kulak – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – 3B B. Anderson – C L. Miranda – CF Conner – 2B J. Sanchez – P Jewel

Jewel sparkled, and the Raccoons didn’t. Matt Waters drew a walk, and that was it the first time through, while Shui struck out four in three innings, but gave up singles to Danny Ceballos and Jason Schaack to begin the bottom 4th, which also marked 29 straight games of hitting for the .467 torturer Ceballos, and then a run on former Indian Bobby Anderson’s 6-4-3 double play. Oscar Caballero took off the no-hitter with a 1-out single in the fifth, but didn’t get off first base, while Shui’s half of the fifth on the hill began with strikeouts to the 8-9 hitters, but then he gave up a wallbanger double to William Kulak and an RBI single to Ian Woodrome for a 2-0 score. Ceballos then popped out to end the inning, which in itself was a little victory. Top 6th, Shui strung a liner into Bobby Anderson’s mitten before the struggling Venegas reached on a dorkly double to right that first blooped behind Jordan Sanchez, who then tumbled into Ceballos’ path, and that kept the rightfielder from making a play. Matt Waters plated the runner with a 2-out single, 2-1, but was stranded by Pucks. Royer’s leadoff double in the seventh seemed to get the Coons somewhere soon; Caballero grounded out and sent him to third base, but Philipps struck out in his quest to reach sub-.100 depths. Again, a 2-out single got the run home, this one lobbed by Prospero Tenazes over the glove of Woodrome. Shui held the tie through six and two thirds, then was followed by Sencion, who was bombed by Schaack in the bottom 8th for a solo homer. Ex-Coon Steve Watson retired the Critters’ 4-5-6 batters in order to get the game over with. 3-2 Falcons. Shui 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K;

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – P Brobeck – C Fiore – 3B Chavez – LF Solorzano
CHA: LF Kulak – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – 3B B. Anderson – C L. Miranda – CF M. Ceballos – 2B J. Sanchez – P Hollis

The Raccoons had hit Hollis more than once as a Logger, surely they could find a few scraps in this game…! We started with an unearned run in the first as Lonzo reached on an error, stole his ninth base of the year, and then was doubled home by Matt Waters, the closest thing to a clutch hitter on the roster this month. Brobeck did his best bid to give the gift straight back, walked two of the three left-handers atop the Charlotte order in the bottom 1st, but Kulak was caught stealing and the inning fizzled out for the Falcons. Despite an eerie lack of stuff and much command, Brobeck managed to not only stalk his way around that early threat, but also around Bobby Anderson reaching on a 2-base throwing error by Adriano Chavez to begin the bottom 2nd, and then a leadoff double by Schaack in the fourth. That latter inning progressed with a walk to the lesser Ceballos – Mario – and then a shy single for Sanchez, but Hollis was hung with a K to end the inning with the bases loaded. At least that Brobeck did get done…!

The 1-2-3 got Brobeck in the fifth though, for 1-2-3 singles and just as many base runners for Schaack with nobody out – and yes, that was the 30th straight game with a hit for Danny Ceballos (.456, 3 HR, 21 RBI). Schaack hit another single to right to tie the game, and Anderson’s double play grounder brought in the go-ahead run for Charlotte, 2-1, but the major Ceballos was left on base, after a walk to Luis Miranda, when the lesser Ceballos flew out to Steve Royer.

The Coons’ sixth began with a Lonzo single and regressed when Pucks grounded to Sanchez for a double play, which was just the way things were going here… Brobeck was charged another run when he served up a triple to Hollis in the bottom 6th and Lillis couldn’t keep the runner on base, which was one of those depressing developments, but then the seventh saw the Coons… make two outs to begin the inning before Matt Fiore singled. The Raccoons would pump out another FOUR straight singles, driving in as many runs; one RBI for Solorzano and Royer, the latter tying the game, and then Lonzo drove home two with a single to center before Pucks grounded out to Schaack to end the attack.

The 5-3 lead held up for … no outs. Mike Lane gave up a double to Danny Ceballos, then a homer to Schaack to get the score even with nobody out in the bottom 7th. The lead was taken by the Falcons in the eighth, again, and off Sencion, again, this time with a Kulak single, Sencion’s own throwing error to put Woodrome on base, and eventually ****** Schaack’s sac fly to Solorzano. For the second day in a row as well Steve Watson kept the pillow firmly on our snouts in the ninth inning. 6-5 Falcons. Lavorano 2-3, 2 RBI;

Sole possession of last place!

Wheeeee.

Game 3
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – C Fiore – LF Caballero – 3B Espinoza – P Taki
CHA: LF Kulak – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – 3B B. Anderson – C L. Miranda – CF M. Ceballos – 2B J. Sanchez – P Schaeffer

It was a Taki first inning, as he got bludgeoned for a double, a walk, and homers by Schaack (…) and Luis Miranda for a quick and depressing 4-0 deficit. While Taki gave up six hits in three innings, Schaeffer made it ten up, ten down before Lonzo hit a single to center in the fourth inning, but was stranded on base. Out of the blue, Oscar Caballero socked a home run in the fifth to narrow the score to 4-1, but Charlotte answered in no time: leadoff single for Woodrome, double for D. Ceballos – the D stood for devil – and then a sac fly for Bobby Anderson after Taki even got the K on Schaack.

But Taki hit a leadoff single in the sixth and moved up on Royer’s groundout. He scored on a Lonzo single, Lonzo reached second base, and then scored on another 2-out RBI single by Waters, which at the time brought the tying run to the plate, but Ramsay was dismissed on a pop to Anderson. Taki never retired Danny Ceballos, but Lillis did in the seventh inning for a nice change. The Raccoons couldn’t get untracked in the seventh or eighth innings, but the Falcons got another run off Salazar in the bottom 8th. The ninth this time featured Joe Gowin, our ex-catcher’s brother, against the heart of the order. Pucks whiffed and Waters popped out, and only Solorzano, pinch-hitting for Salazar in the #5 spot, reached on a glorious infield single with two outs. Matt Fiore doubled to right-center, and now the tying run was at the plate again in Caballero, who had a homer in the game already – but one was enough, and he flew out to Kulak in left-center. 6-3 Falcons. Lavorano 2-4, RBI; Solorzano (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (7-14) @ Crusaders (10-11) – April 28-30, 2056

Since splitting the first two games of the season, the Raccoons had mostly eaten glass, while the Crusaders… well… it wasn’t exactly humming with them, either. They were third in runs scored, fifth in runs allowed, but despite a +19 run differential were just around .500. They needed either more luck, or a more listless opponent. Luckily the Raccoons were here to help.

Projected matchups:
Sean Sweeton (1-1, 3.12 ERA) vs. Alex Murillo (1-1, 2.79 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (0-2, 2.93 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (3-1, 1.15 ERA)
He Shui (2-1, 3.12 ERA) vs. Jose Ortega (2-1, 4.38 ERA)

Nothing but right-handed pitchers in this series, but no Prince Gates; the infielder was on the DL with a torn hammy, and starter Kyle Turay (2-2, 3.25 ERA) was day-to-day with back problems, which might yet cause a jumble in their rotation. Both Murillo and Seiter had pitched on Sunday in a double-header.

The Coons meanwhile were more games under .500 (seven) than runs (five). I wore my most clueless look as the week continued to unravel.

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – LF Caballero – C Philipps – P Sweeton
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – RF Buss – CF Pfeifer – C Seidman – LF Standard – 3B D. Wagner – P A. Murillo

Venegas tried his best to rally to .200 with singles in his first two plate appearances on Friday. The first let absolutely ******** nowhere, and was the only Critter appearance on base the first time through. The second came with two outs in the fourth and Waters on second and Rams on first base. Waters turned around and headed for the plate, while Ramsay aimed for third base on Venegas’ single to center. Mike Pfeifer gave up the run, but got Ramsay struck down in a rundown to end the inning. Sweeton had given up one hit so far, and walked Jeff Buss in the bottom 4th, but struck out Pfeifer to kept the Crusaders shut out. Another walk was extended to Mike Seidman in the fifth, but he, too, was stranded by the New Yorkers.

The Crusaders then tied the game in the sixth against Sweeton, and in the most facepaw way possible. Alex Murillo snuck a leadoff single into left, was forced out on Omar Sanchez’ grounder, but Sanchez stole his 13th base of the year, advanced on a wild pitch, and then scored on Zach Suggs’ groundout, which SUUUUGGED. The Portlanders answered with a hit for Ramsay and a hit into Caballero in the top 7th, and then Tyler Philipps’ masterfully executed, inning-ending 4-6-3 grounder to Sanchez. Adriano Chavez, batting for Sweeton, hit a leadoff single in the eighth and reached third base on Pucks’ 2-out single, but Waters popped out over home plate to end the inning. Waters went on to open the bottom 8th with a fumble of Jeff Standard’s grounder for an error, and Tanizaki ****** the bags full before giving up a sac fly to Suggs, which – well, yes.

Top 9th, Lussier pitching left-handedly, and the Raccoons trailed 2-1. Ramsay was up, but we wanted a righty stick and had to go with Daniel Espinoza, who was a steady oh-for-’56, but singled through the left side to get the inning going. Venegas walked. Caballero singled. Suddenly the bases were loaded…! And with nobody out. Tenazes batted for Philipps, and grounded sharply to Suggs, who threw home to get Espinoza out, which sugged. Matt Fiore batted for Tanizaki and popped out. Steve Royer was down to 2-2 when he hit a grounder up the middle – and through! Into center, and two runs scored! The Crusaders yanked Lussier, then brought righty Ryan Sullivan, who nicked Lonzo, then gave up two more runs on Pucks’ single. Waters walked, Espinoza singled home another pair, and by now the Crusaders were on right-handed garbage reliever Joel Luera, whom Venegas took to deep center for a 2-run double. Caballero walked. Tenazes was drilled. And Fiore struck out. But after being down to their final strike, the Raccoons EXPLODED for eight runs! Where had that been all month?? Ryan Harmer turned New York away in the home half of the ninth. 9-2 Raccoons!? Puckeridge 2-5, 2 RBI; Ramsay 1-2, BB; Espinoza (PH) 2-2, 2 RBI; Venegas 3-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Chavez (PH) 1-1; Sweeton 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K;

Tyler Philipps (.097, 1 HR, 2 RBI) found himself on waivers after this game. The Raccoons didn’t go to their hope at the position, Marcos Chavez, but instead called up a 25-year-old Oregonian, who had been the #241 pick in the 2051 draft, Matt Stanton, hitting .321 in 16 games with the Alley Cats. He was solid defensively, batted righty, and had catcher’s pace.

Game 2
POR: LF Caballero – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – C Fiore – 3B Venegas – CF Solorzano – P de la Cruz
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – RF Buss – CF Pfeifer – C Seidman – LF C. Williams – 3B D. Wagner – P Seiter

Raffy remained highly erratic after an extended break between starts and began his outing with a full count and a walk to Omar Sanchez, whom Suggs doubled off with a grounder to short. Hits by Seidman, a double to left, and Chad Williams, a single to right, gave New York a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but the Raccoons made up the run in the fourth when Pucks forced out Lonzo, then stole second and was doubled in by Waters.

Waters doubled in Pucks again in the sixth inning, then with one gone and after the outfielder reached base on an infield single. This made it a 2-1 lead for Raffy, while Seiter walked the bags full, half intentionally to Rams, and half unintentionally with Fiore. Venegas then bumbled into a double play, 6-4-3, killing the inning. Raffy returned for the bottom 6th, nailed Jeff Buss and walked Mike Pfeifer, and then was depressingly yanked once again. Fernando Salazar replaced him, put Seidman on with a single, and then served up a grand slam to Darrell Wagner. Salazar continued to pitch and with two outs parked Sanchez and Suggs on base, then gave up another 3-piece to Sevilla. Wagner drove in another run against a hapless Eloy Sencion in the bottom 7th, with the left-hander being behind against every ******* batter he faced in the inning. Sencion also walked Sanchez to begin the eighth, then was removed for Harmer. Ryan Harmer did what he did best and stunk up the ballpark, walking the bases full before giving up 2-run knocks to both Seidman and Williams. 13-2 Crusaders. Puckeridge 3-4; Waters 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI;

More rolling heads then: Ryan Harmer (0-0, 6.23 ERA) was and remained a useless piece of **** and was exchanged for Reynaldo Bravo again.

Interlude: Trade

Fernando Salazar (0-0, 10.29 ERA) was refusing a minors assignment, so the Raccoons swung a deal with the Knights, who longed to divest themselves of LF Chris Kirkwood, a righty hitter batting .282 with 3 HR and 13 RBI, for reasons unknown. Kirkwood, age 32, was a free agent after the season, and was hopefully somewhat of a Brassfield replacement.

Kirkwood pushed Tenazes (.231, 0 HR, 1 RBI) off the roster and onto waivers yet again. The empty bullpen spot went to Colby Bowen (6.23 ERA in 2055) for the moment, but I was eyeing a promotion for Craig Kniep at the next opportunity. He had pitched Friday, so that would be the middle of next week. Kniep had a 1.91 ERA in St. Pete.

Raccoons (7-14) @ Crusaders (10-11) – April 28-30, 2056

Chris Kirkwood had made precisely 900 ABL games as a Knight, with 88 homers and 401 RBI. Sounded good enough to bat cleanup. Waters and Pucks had the day off – there was no off day for the Raccoons in the following week.

POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – C Fiore – 3B Venegas – 2B Chavez – P Shui
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – RF Buss – CF Pfeifer – C Seidman – LF C. Williams – 3B D. Wagner – P Groh

Noel Groh (1-2, 9.82 ERA) had seen some **** this season, but retired the Raccoons for no runs through three innings rather comfortably, a pace matched by Shui. Kirkwood struck out his first time up as a Critter, stranding Ramsay on base in the first inning, but singled in the fourth to get that inning going. Caballero and Venegas would fill the bases before Chavez slapped a ball through the left side for an RBI single and the game’s first run. Groh regained control with K’s to Shui and Royer, then had Lonzo and Kirkwood on base in the fifth before Caballero found a first-pitch, inning-curtailing double play. Venegas singled in the sixth, and Chavez rumbled into another double play, ending that inning, too. And Shui did his best, but Omar Sanchez was just out of his mind. He singled in the bottom 6th to begin the inning, then stole second, stole third, and scored the tying run when Fiore’s throw got away from Venegas. Bottom 7th, Shui retired the first two, then was bombed first-pitch by Williams for a 2-1 New York lead. Wagner singled. Nate Culp was nailed. Sanchez singled home a run. Suggs singled home two. Everything sugged. Shui sugged. Shui was gone. Bowen sugged, too, giving up a run on a Buss single and Seidman doubled in the eighth. 6-1 Crusaders. Venegas 3-3, BB;

In other news

April 24 – Six games are played on this Monday, three of which end 1-0. The Knights, Bayhawks, and Wolves defeat the Canadiens, Loggers, and Miners by that score, in that order. In the remaining three games, there’s an average of 12.33 runs scored.
April 25 – The Rebs’ 23-year-old Nicaraguan INF Miguel Portillo (.395, 0 HR, 10 RBI) more than doubles his season and career RBI total with six runs batted in during a 15-2 rout of the Stars.
April 25 – The Thunder send catcher Luke Burnham (.176, 0 HR, 2 RBI) to the Warriors for a minor leaguer and #188 prospect CL Juan Macias.
April 26 – SFW SP Shane Knox (1-2, 3.96 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout with nine strikeouts in a 3-0 win over the Blue Sox.
April 27 – SFW SP Jason Palladino (1-1, 3.74 ERA) is expected to miss the rest of the season with a torn rotator cuff.
April 27 – Thunder OF/1B Mike Harmon (.224, 5 HR, 9 RBI) might miss most of May after suffering an elbow sprain.
April 28 – The Bayhawks turn away the Falcons for a 1-0 win, and in particular end the 31-game hitting streak of Danny Ceballos (.455, 3 HR, 21 RBI).
April 28 – VAN SS/3B Dan Mullen (.370, 2 HR, 14 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak thanks to a ninth-inning single in an 8-6 loss to the Indians.
April 28 – A torn labrum could end the season of DAL SP Mario de Anda (0-1, 2.16 ERA).
April 30 – The hitting streak of VAN SS/3B Dan Mullen (.343, 2 HR, 14 RBI) ends at 21 games with an 0-for-5 showing in a 6-0 win over the Indians.

FL Player of the Week: RIC RF/LF Willie Sanchez (.346, 6 HR, 17 RBI), batting .520 (13-25) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA 1B Jason Schaack (.333, 6 HR, 21 RBI), hitting .375 (9-24) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: SAC 1B Steve Wyatt (.371, 8 HR, 21 RBI)
CL Hitter of the Month: CHA RF/LF Danny Ceballos (.474, 3 HR, 22 RBI)
FL Pitcher of the Month: LAP SP Jim Reynolds (4-1, 1.54 ERA)
CL Pitcher of the Month: CHA SP Art Schaeffer (5-0, 2.04 ERA)
FL Rookie of the Month: RIC LF/RF Matt Lewandowski (.301, 0 HR, 13 RBI)
CL Rookie of the Month: MIL 1B Dave Robles (.297, 6 HR, 25 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

Philipps. Salazar. Harmer. Tenazes. We killed four players this week, and I don’t think those were enough kills. 1-5 week, 22-36 in runs.

And I don’t know a lot of things right now. I know we want to bring Craig Kniep into the rotation, and beyond that… I mean, I can’t ******* KILL THEM all at once.

Won’t hurt trying, though. At least not me.

David Flores, the lead candidate for a call-up among AAA outfielders, was now out with a back strain suffered while hitting .302 with two homers. (sigh)

It’s not gonna lift anybody’s spirits, but I’m gonna lift a bottle of spirit to my fuzzy lips anyway and we’ll look at where Lonzo stands in the stolen base race. He had ten steals in April, which was hardly half of Omar Sanchez’ output – Sanchez stole five on the weekend against completely and blitheringly inept Raccoons – for this season, but on the career tally things didn’t look quite that bleak:

19th – Cristo Ramirez – 424 – HOF
20th – Daniel Silva – 417
21st – Danny Flores – 413
22nd – Ronnie Thompson – 412 – active
23rd – Jose Rivas – 406 – active
24th – Lorenzo Lavorano – 405 – active
25th – Chris Navarro – 395 – active
t-26th – Piet Oosterom – 393
t-26th – Andrew Russ – 393 – active

No spots were gained in April, but Rivas, 37, was a free agent at this point, and Ronnie Thompson stole only three bases with his new team, the Scorpions. He was 38 years old. Thompson and Lonzo were #5 and #6 among players on the leaderboard that had made an appearance in 2056. Ahead of them were only Alex Vasquez (550), Hugo Acosta (476), Alex Adame, and Omar Gonzalez (447 each).

Fun Fact: The Raccoons gave up 18 home runs in April.

Fernando Salazar gave up SEVEN of them.