[Westheim]

Raccoons (27-29) @ Titans (28-29) – June 5-8, 2056

The Titans had the worst batting average in the league, at .249, and the second-fewest runs scored, compared to the fifth-fewest runs allowed. Their #3 rotation by ERA tried, but couldn’t cope with the lack of offense, and the team had a -18 run differential that hinted at problems that needed addressing. Nevertheless, they were in second place in the North at the start of play on Monday, a whopping 9 1/2 games behind the damn Elks. They also held a 3-1 lead over the Raccoons for the year.

Projected matchups:
Sean Sweeton (4-3, 3.38 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (1-0, 1.59 ERA)
Craig Kniep (2-3, 4.42 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (3-7, 3.02 ERA)
Julian Dunn (3-3, 4.36 ERA) vs. Kenneth Spencer (6-4, 3.57 ERA)
He Shui (5-4, 4.57 ERA) vs. Alex Diaz (1-3, 3.71 ERA)

The Titans had just lost SP Ryan Musgrave (5-4, 4.63 ERA) to potentially season-ending shoulder inflammation, so their rotation was in a period of adjustment. The only lefty we expected to see was former Raccoons prospect Kenneth Spencer, who had come out of his first start in ’55 with season-ending shoulder inflammation, and had in 2052 been part of the package for David Barel, a move that in itself didn’t work out, and neither had the trade that had sent Barel to the Thunder after half a season for Fernando Perez, Nick Thomason, and Colby Bowen.

The Raccoons began the week a man short, with Matt Waters still being processed after leaving Saturday’s game in a broken state.

Game 1
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – CF Solorzano – 2B Chavez – C Stanton – P Sweeton
BOS: CF Weir – SS M. Navarro – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – C J. Ortiz – LF Y. Valdez – 3B Garris – 2B D. Diaz – P Glaude

Nobody in the game got a base hit until Pucks narrowly missed a low liner by Yoslan Valdez for a 2-out single in the bottom of the fourth, although by then five walks had been issued, and the Coons had managed to erase both of theirs – in full drawn by Anton Venegas – on the base paths to make Glaude face the minimum. Sweeton remained erratic and walked three while striking out as many through four innings, but the many full counts ran up his pitch count rather briskly. Sweeton also managed to offer both a leadoff walk to Glaude in the third inning, and then a 1-out double to the same opposing pitcher in the fifth inning, and yet, the game remained scoreless. The Coons’ first single didn’t leave the infield and also didn’t come until the sixth, a leadoff squiggler by Adriano Chavez. Glaude walked Matt Stanton, and then Sweeton bunted into a 5-3 double play to ease the Critters out of the inning. Venegas grounded out to Josh Garris to complete the team’s demise for the half-inning. Boston answered with singles from Eric Whitlow and Sam Witherspoon, a walk drawn by Yoslan Valdez, and, with the bases loaded and one out, Garris firmly grounding into a 4-6-3 double play to kill the effort. If the damn Elks were watching on their day off, they were probably not concerned about having their lead erased or reduced any time soon.

The Raccoons filled the bases with one out in their half of the seventh inning. Lonzo led off with a single, but was forced out by Kirkwood. Glaude walked Pucks, and Ramsay reached on an error by Garris. Carlos Solorzano’s fly to center was deep enough to score Kirkwood from third base for a 1-0 lead, while Sweeton answered by walking Danny Diaz to lead off the bottom 7th. The runner stole second, and then Glaude scratched out a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Sweeton was chopped, Lillis came in, was faced with PH Bruce Burkart, but struck him out anyway. Mike Lane then retired Mario Navarro on a pop and Whitlow on a grounder to short to defuse the unhappy situation.

Then the Coons blew the doors off the game. Stanton opened the eighth with a single off Glaude, who was replaced by Jim Peterson. The lefty offered another single to Venegas with one out, then a 2-run triple into the leftfield corner to Lonzo. After an intentional walk to Kirkwood to get to the left-handed patch of the lineup, the first of said left-handers, Pucks, powered a 3-run homer to right to suddenly post a 6-0 score on the board. 23-year-old Nevadan right-hander Dave Parra then made his major league debut, and got his own personal fireworks from Harry Ramsay, who hit another home run to right. Parra’s ERA remained infinite for a while; Solorzano singled, Chavez reached on another error, Stanton hit an RBI single, and only then did Oscar Caballero ground out, making both the first and second out in the inning on different plays after previously popping out against Glaude, two pitchers ago. Venegas flew out to right to end the 7-run assault on the senses. Sencion, who walked two, and Harmer, who walked one, would pitch the final two innings without blowing the shutout. 8-0 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Stanton 2-3, BB, RBI;

Sweeton walked five against three strikeouts to get to 5-3 on the year, but didn’t quite tickle my sweet zone for what I’d call a good time out.

By Tuesday, we finally found a hairline fracture in Matt Waters’ fibula. In other words, his leg was ******* broken, which had a good chance of ending his age 35 season and Coons career altogether. He ended up on the DL.

The Raccoons had signed 22-year-old Cuban “tourist” for $350k about 18 months ago that was given the call-up. Arturo Bribiesca was in dire need of a spellable nickname, but was hitting .334 between AA and AAA this season with six total homers in 49 games. Bribiesca could play a slick glove at all seven positions not involved in the battery, in theory, but “only” had experience at second, third, short, right, and center. Some speed, but not a staggering amount.

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 3B Brobeck – 2B Bribiesca – C Fiore – P Kniep
BOS: CF Weir – LF Ma. Gilmore – RF Whitlow – C Burkart – 1B Witherspoon – SS M. Navarro – 3B Torrence – 2B D. Diaz – P Koga

Whitlow hit a solo bomb off Kniep in the first inning, then robbed both Bribiesca and Fiore of drives to right-center in the second inning, immediately winning Villain of the Day honors on Tuesday. Bribiesca found an inning-ending double play in the fourth after Ramsay and Brobeck reached, but also started a neat 4-6-3 inning-ender on Sam Witherspoon in the bottom of the same inning, so it was a bit of a mixed debut.

Neither team managed more than two hits through six innings in a pitchers’ duel. Koga kept the pace in the seventh, but Kniep walked Whitlow and gave up the run on a pinch-hit double by Israel Santiago to fall 2-0 behind. Santiago even stole third base, but was stranded there with Mario Navarro’s pop to first base and a groundout by Ethan Torrence. Venegas batted for Kniep to begin the eighth inning, but then Royer struck out and Lonzo found a double play. Ramon Montes de Oca got Kirkwood and Pucks to begin the ninth inning before Ramsay squeezed out a 2-out single. Brobeck’s grounder to Danny Diaz was handled to end the game, though. 2-0 Titans. Venegas (PH) 1-1; Kniep 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, L (2-4);

Game 3
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 2B Chavez – C Stanton – P Dunn
BOS: CF Weir – SS M. Navarro – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – C J. Ortiz – 3B Torrence – LF Garris – 2B D. Diaz – P K. Spencer

Pucks singled and stole a base in the second inning, but the Raccoons didn’t have much going otherwise. Dunn held the scoreless tie through three innings before Kirkwood drew a walk in the fourth inning and scored on a Venegas double for a 1-0 lead for Portland. Dunn scattered three hits and a walk through four innings, then had his bunt to third baseman Ethan Torrence thrown away for a 2-base error in the fifth inning, moving the entire Coons battery into scoring position with nobody out in the inning. Farmhand Ken gave up a run on a Royer single, 2-0, but then handled Lonzo’s comebacker for a force at second base, although Lonzo, frustrated with himself as much as anything, then stole his 21st base of the year out of spite. Boston answered with an intentional walk to Kirkwood, then killed the inning with a K to Caballero and a groundout to Witherspoon off Pucks’ bat…

Spencer singled and Hector Weir was nicked in the bottom 5th, but Royer caught Navarro’s long fly and Whitlow went down on strikes to deny the Titans. Jorge Ortiz got the team on the board in the sixth, however, smashing a solo homer just when we thought that Dunn might last in this game. He didn’t finish another inning, as Weir hit a single in the bottom 7th and then he nicked Yoslan Valdez batting for Whitlow with two outs. Lillis came on to face Witherspoon, but was met with Bruce Burkart instead, just as on Monday. This time the result was a game-tying single before Ortiz flew out to Kirkwood to end the inning, now in a 2-2 tie. The Titans took the lead the next inning. Josh Garris singled off Lillis, Pucks butchered Diaz’ grounder, and with two outs Hector Weir slammed a ball through the diving Venegas for an RBI single. Tanizaki replaced Lillis and struck out Navarro, but now the Coons had to make up a run against Montes de Oca, starting with the #8 slot, so the bench was poured out now. Bribiesca grounded out, but Ramsay singled in the #9 hole. Solorzano ran for him, but was forced out anyway on Royer’s roller to Diaz. Lonzo flew out to Yoslan Valdez to seal the loss. 3-2 Titans. Caballero 2-4; Venegas 2-4, 2B, RBI; Ramsay (PH) 1-1;

We’re just not gonna put it together, aren’t we?

We were just as successless on Thursday, but not for faults of our own. Rather, the weather was forecast to be rather unpleasant all day, and the game was called off in the morning so that everybody could get on their merry way.

Raccoons (28-31) vs. Gold Sox (31-28) – June 9-11, 2056

The Sox were seven games out in the West, and despite being three games over .500 had a -5 run differential. Their bullpen (5.42 ERA) couldn’t stop exploding, ruining the efforts by their #3 rotation. Offensively they ranked sixth in runs scored in the FL, with third-best in homers, but ninth-best in OBP. They also had a myriad of injuries to position players, with Bill Joyner, Nelson Aguilar, Bill Ramires, Sandy Castillo, Jake Frederick all on the DL, leaving their lineup somewhat bereft. These teams had played three years in a row, and every time the Sox won two of three games from the Critters.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (5-4, 4.57 ERA) vs. Adam Middleton (4-4, 3.14 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (6-6, 3.81 ERA) vs. Nick Robinson (5-4, 3.70 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (5-3, 3.12 ERA) vs. Tony Llorens (3-3, 2.96 ERA)

Righty, lefty, lefty. The Raccoons kept the lineup devised for Thursday in Boston in its entirety for the Friday game, then would work out things from there.

Game 1
DEN: LF Ayres – CF S. Reed – 2B I. Villa – RF Angulo – C Mickle – 1B Serna – SS J. Miller – 3B Villacorta – P Middleton
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – 2B Bribiesca – C Fiore – P Shui

A walk, two singles, and the Raccoons had the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom 1st. Pucks popped out to Angel Angulo in shallow rightfield, but Ramsay’s sac fly and Venegas’ RBI single gave Shui a 2-0 lead before Bribiesca grounded out, but the rookie then started two 4-6-3 double plays in the second and third innings to help with crowd control behind Shui, whom the extra day didn’t appear to have done much good. The Gold Sox had no trouble making solid contact time and again. He threw just 25 pitches through three innings, then 20 more in the fourth in which Ivan Villa walked and Angel Angulo homered to tie the score at two, even before Blake Mickle and Marty Serna hit 2-out singles. Villa and Mickle were on base again in the sixth inning, but Kirkwood snatched Serna’s floater to shallow left on the run to end the inning. But while the Raccoons did absolutely nothing, the Sox kept pressing and broke through for a 4-2 lead in the seventh. John Miller singled, PH Ben Bodkin socked an RBI double, and moved to third base on Vic Ayres’ groundout, the second out of the inning. Shui’s 0-2 to Steve Reed was wild, plating the runner before Reed struck out on the next pitch. Steve Royer hit an infield single with two outs in the bottom 7th against Brian Shan, which for the Coons’ last hour of flailing or so counted for a major offensive outbreak. He was also left stranded when Lonzo grounded out. Instead, Ryan Harmer served up a leadoff jack to Ivan Villa in the eighth inning, 5-2, although he also struck out four in pitching the last two hopeless innings. 5-2 Gold Sox. Lavorano 2-4; Kirkwood 2-3, BB;

This is fine.

(throws paperwork into the fireplace to hide from Nick Valdes how many millions were getting burned here for absolutely nothing)

Game 2
DEN: LF Ayres – SS Loguidice – 2B I. Villa – RF Angulo – C Mickle – 1B Serna – CF S. Reed – 3B Villacorta – P N. Robinson
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 2B Chavez – C Stanton – P Taki

Taki had a 1-2-3 first inning, then fumbled the second. Angulo and Mickle went to the corners with a walk, stolen base, and soft single, before Marty Serna brought in a run with a double off the wall in leftfield. Steve Reed’s sac fly made it 2-0, while Leo Villacorta hit a single to right, but Caballero threw out Serna at the plate to keep things from further escalating. The inning ended with Robinson grounding out to Lonzo. The Sox would tack on a third run in the fourth inning that scored entirely on errors by Pucks and Stanton, then actually got an earned run in the fifth on base knocks by Ayres and Villa. So no, Taki wasn’t fooling anybody, but at least the Raccoons were winning at the “hide” part of the daily hide and seek game. They had one hit through five innings, and when Adriano Chavez drew a walk in the bottom 5th, he was immediately picked off by Robinson.

When Taki singled to lead off the bottom 6th, it was only the Coons’ second knock in the game, and it came as quite the stunner when Chris Kirkwood cracked a homer to left with two outs, cutting the previous 4-0 gap in half. Venegas and Stanton hit singles in the bottom 7th, but Harry Ramsay’s PH appearance in the #9 hole yielded no fruits this time, and the inning ended on his fly out. The Raccoons then inserted Brobeck to pitch the last two innings, while keeping Ramsay at first, so Brobeck went in the #5 hole. That made him appear with two outs and the tying runs on base against Victor Mondragon in the bottom 8th after Kirkwood and Caballero got on base with two outs, a single off Robinson and then a double off Mondragon. Brobeck hit a fly to deep center, but it was caught by Steve Reed and the Raccoons were denied again. Instead, Brobeck waved across an insurance run in the ninth inning as Serna hit a leadoff single, stole second, advanced on Reed’s groundout, and got home on a wild pitch. 5-2 Gold Sox. Kirkwood 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Venegas 2-4; Chavez 1-2, BB;

So, fourth straight year of facing the Gold Sox in the regular season, fourth straight series lost. Also the fourth straight loss in the 2056 schedule. I’m running out red ink for the pocket schedule.

Game 3
DEN: 3B Serna – SS Loguidice – 2B I. Villa – RF Angulo – C Mickle – 1B Bodkin – LF Siddens – CF S. Reed – P Llorens
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Espinoza – 2B Bribiesca – C Stanton – P Sweeton

Six singles were scattered equally between the two teams, but no pitchers were harmed through five mostly lousy innings on Sunday, but notably Arturo Bribiesca, in his second attempt of the day, found a single in shallow left for his first career hit after starting his major league scorebook 0-for-9 with two strikeouts. His next time up he found a double play with the shortstop Colt Loguidice to erase Espinoza and his 1-out single and ending the bottom 7th, still in a scoreless game. The inning before, Lonzo had singled and been caught stealing as things continued to just not click for him for an extended period. Sweeton then fell in the eighth inning to first a Llorens single with one out, and then a 2-out RBI single through the left side by Loguidice. He was hit for by Venegas in the bottom 8th, and the pinch-hitter snuck a single through the most convenient seam to put the tying run on base with one down. Royer’s groundout moved him to second base, and when Lonzo rolled over to Marty Serna and Serna’s throw went well over Ben Bodkin and into the dugout, Venegas scored to tie the game again. Mondragon replaced Llorens, walked Kirkwood, walked Caballero as well, and then got Ramsay to ground out in another 3-2 count…

At this point we remembered that, hey, Matt Walters exists. Showing some rust from a week on the sidelines, Walter walked PH John Miller to begin the top of the ninth, but then saw pinch-runner Chris Lauterbach caught stealing before retiring the next two batters. Daniel Espinoza led off the bottom 9th against Mondragon, zinged a ball up the rightfield line for extra bases, but instead of stopping at second base, which technically – even for the Raccoons! – constituted scoring position, he went on to third base, where he was thrown out by rightfielder Jesus Mendoza. I gasped, and Maud hurried to get a box of cookies. Stanton hit a 2-out single, but Pucks struck out to send the game to extras. The Raccoons went with Tanizaki for the tenth, and the Sox went with a leadoff single for Mendoza, a walk drawn by Ayres, and eventually a sac fly to go ahead off Serna’s bat before Loguidice grounded out on a 3-1 pitch to leave Ayres on third base. Jim Cushing got the ball for Denver for the bottom 10th, retired Royer, retired Lonzo, and … gave up a single to Kirkwood through the left side. Caballero did him one better with a gapper in left-center for a double that sent Kirkwood home to score from first base (albeit with a head start) and tied the game at two. Rams completed the comeback with a single to right-center, chasing Caballero home from second base. 3-2 Critters. Lavorano 2-5; Sweeton 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K;

No honorable mention for Daniel Espinoza, the dumb ****, for getting thrown out at third base as the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, despite getting three hits on the day. On the wall of shame with you!!

Raccoons (29-33) @ Miners (31-32) – June 12-14, 2056

On the road again, the Raccoons had three more games in Pittsburgh before the draft, which would fall on our off day on Thursday, so at least I didn’t have to miss grumbling at the dolts in person this year. Pittsburgh ranked fourth in the FL East, just two games out, and fourth in offense in the Federal League. They were also sixth in runs allowed, with a +26 run differential that didn’t really mesh with their record. There was a lot of “mid” in their team stats, but they did have a .358 OBP, second-best in their league. Ryan Spehar and Jamie Guidry were the only notable DL cases for them, while the Raccoons had won this matchup, two games to one, last season.

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (2-4, 4.12 ERA) vs. Josh Swindell (4-4, 2.48 ERA)
Julian Dunn (3-3, 4.18 ERA) vs. Jose Arias (5-3, 4.09 ERA)
He Shui (5-5, 4.50 ERA) vs. Jeff Crowley (4-6, 4.62 ERA)

Arias was their resident southpaw starter.

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – 3B Venegas – LF Kirkwood – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – SS Chavez – C Fiore – 2B Bribiesca – P Kniep
PIT: 2B A. Vasquez – SS Russ – CF Abercrombie – 3B Corrales – C Monaghan – 1B Abecassis – LF C. Jimenez – RF Thomason – P Swindell

Pucks singled, stole second, and after Chavez walked behind him, scored on Matt Fiore’s double to right for the first run of the week in the top 2nd. Bribiesca flew to modestly deep left for the second out, and Adriano Chavez went from third base for home plate and was thrown out by Chris Jimenez for the third out of the inning. The lead didn’t last long; Kniep retired the first six Miners in order, then walked the bases full with Chris Jimenez, Nick Thomason (one of the returns in the Barel trade some years back), and Alex Vasquez. ANOTHER walk to ******* Andrew Russ forced in the tying run, Josh Abercrombie – coming in batting .349 – hit an RBI single for a Miners lead, and Victor Corrales added another run with a groundout. Then Kniep walked a fifth batter, Eric Monaghan… Alex Abecassis popped out, but by then I was thoroughly distraught. Kniep returned for the bottom 4th, got a groundout from Jimenez on a 2-0 pitch, then walked Thomason on four pitches yet again. Swindell’s bunt was mishandled by Kniep, who was then yanked and sent to a dark corner to think about what he had ******* done.

It began to rain at about the same time; Eloy Sencion got five outs from there, while Ryan Harmer offered Nick Thomason’s third walk of the day in the bottom 6th, then conceded the run on a 2-out hit by Vasquez, which gave the Miners a 4-1 lead on two ******* hits. That was all they’d get, while the Raccoons scattered six hits against Josh Swindell, who would get credit for a rain-shortened complete game when the contest disappeared into a rain delay finally in the seventh inning and never re-emerged from it. 4-1 Miners. Venegas 2-3; Fiore 1-2, 2B, RBI; Sencion 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

(deep groan from the bottom of the soul)

This was the first game of the year in which Lonzo did not appear.

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 3B Brobeck – 1B Ramsay – 2B Bribiesca – C Stanton – P Dunn
PIT: 2B A. Vasquez – SS Russ – CF Abercrombie – 3B Corrales – 1B Abecassis – LF C. Jimenez – C Monaghan – RF Thomason – P J. Arias

Two scoreless innings to begin Tuesday’s contest were followed by the Raccoons putting Julian Dunn on base on a Corrales error with one out in the top 3rd. Royer and Lonzo loaded the bases with singles, then barely took the lead on a Kirkwood sac fly to deep left. Caballero also hit a deep fly to right, but that was caught for the third out by Thomason. The bags were full again in the fourth; Brobeck hit an infield single, but was forced out by Ramsay. Bribiesca doubled to left-center, which could have been an RBI with anybody but Rams on first base, but instead the Miners felt free to add Stanton to the bases intentionally to get Dunn to the dish with three on and one out. Dunn poked at the first pitch he got, flying out to Abercrombie in centerfield. Ramsay went for home somewhat opportunistically, which caught Abercrombie by surprise and led to a terrible throw that Monaghan had to chase up the first base line, allowing the trailing runners to advance as well. Royer then grounded out to short, stranding a pair. The Miners then got a sac fly of their own in the bottom 4th after Dunn like a dunce filled the bases with a leadoff single by Corrales, then two walks and nobody out. Monaghan popped out to Brobeck, but Thomason hit a sac fly to Royer, 2-1. Arias went down whiffing.

Top 5th, bases loaded *again*. Kirkwood socked a 1-out double, Caballero walked, and Brobeck snuck a soft single to stuff the sacks. Ramsay hit a sac fly to center (say!), but Bribiesca got an actual RBI knock when he crashed a ball through Corrales and all the way into the corner for a 2-out, 2-run triple…! An intentional walk to Stanton (again!) and a K on Dunn ended the inning. Dunn would go seven innings, getting around a leadoff double by Corrales in the sixth and being resuced after walks to Thomason and Vasquez in the seventh when Lonzo started a 6-4-3 inning-ender on Andrew Russ (hiss!).

The Coons tacked on a run with two outs in the top 8th when Solorzano (still on the roster, though hiding like a pro) found the gap for a pinch-hit triple, then scored on Royer’s single. That was the last run of the game, with scoreless relief by Lillis and Brobeck after seven messy innings by Dunn. 6-1 Raccoons. Royer 3-5, RBI; Kirkwood 2-4, 2B, RBI; Caballero 2-3, BB; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1; Brobeck 2-5; Bribiesca 2-4, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Solorzano (PH) 1-1, 3B;

Now, here’s a crazy thought – maybe win a series?

Game 3
POR: CF Solorzano – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 2B Bribiesca – C Fiore – P Shui
PIT: 2B A. Vasquez – SS Russ – CF Abercrombie – 3B Corrales – 1B Abecassis – LF C. Jimenez – C W. Gardner – RF Thomason – P Crowley

Probably not, given that He Shui fell on the snout as soon as he had his cleats on. Vasquez walked to begin the Miners’ efforts in the bottom 1st, stole a base, and scored on two groundouts from there. Corrales’ single and Abecassis’ double then added a second run with two down before Chris Jimenez grounded out. The Miners scored another run like their first in the third inning. Shui walked Vasquez to begin the inning AGAIN, he stole second AGAIN, and he scored on the hands of Abercrombie AGAIN, this time with a hit. Corrales forced out the runner, then reached third on another single by Abecassis as Shui just kept putting them on. Jimenez grounded out to second to strand a pair on the corners. Vasquez knocked a leadoff single in the fifth when he was back at the dish, but this time didn’t get a steal off and was stranded. What an improvement.

The Coons had two meager hits off Crowley through five innings, but Solorzano and Lonzo hit 1-out singles in the sixth and Kirkwood walked in a full count to load the bases. Rams got ahead 2-0 after that before striking a firm 2-run single to right, and Pucks tried to shake off the slump with another one like those, just better: he got the ball by Thomason and into the corner for a triple, flipping the score from 3-2 Miners to 4-3 Critters…! Venegas walked, and Bribiesca put Crowley out of his misery with an RBI single to center. Brett Graham almost managed to get out of the inning until he gave up a 2-out RBI single to Shui, 6-3. Solorzano ended the inning with a grounder to Vasquez, leaving two runners on base.

From there, Shui logged another six outs with significantly less panic than earlier, shedding only a single to ex-Coon Wade Gardner, but got through seven innings with the 6-3 lead still intact. Eloy Sencion would get the eighth inning against the all-lefty 3-4-5 batters, whiffing two and not letting anybody on base. Walters would gt the ninth when the lead was still three runs. He struck out three, but not without another Wade Gardner single and another walk drawn by Thomason, both with one out. 6-3 Furballs. Lavorano 2-5; Ramsay 2-4, 2 RBI; Shui 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (6-5) and 2-3, RBI;

In other news

June 5 – WAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.375, 9 HR, 27 RBI) has two hits in an 11-5 loss to the Miners, with a 2-run home run in the ninth inning, but it is his second-inning single off PIT SP Victor Salcido (3-2, 6.23 ERA) that puts him on 2,000 hits for his career in his first season as a Capital after spending his entire career previously with the Blue Sox, winning Player of the Year honors in 2052 along with three Gold Gloves and four Platinum Sticks.
June 6 – TOP SP/MR Pat DiLullo (2-4, 8.91 ERA) has his struggles end for the year after being diagnosed with a torn back muscle.
June 6 – The Cyclones get INF/LF Gabriel Keller (.223, 4 HR, 14 RBI) and a prospect from the Wolves for all of AAA catcher Ruben Zamora, a 32-year-old backstop with 21 career homers.
June 6 – The Stars beat the Wolves, 5-4 in 18 innings. INF Steve Diaz (.279, 2 HR, 9 RBI), in only his 11th game of the season, hits the tie-breaking home run in the top of the 18th inning.
June 9 - OCT OF Tim Weant (.281, 4 HR, 22 RBI) leads the attack with seven RBI on four hits, including two home runs as the Thunder out-slug the Miners, 14-11.
June 9 – The Scorpions rout the Indians, 16-0 on 20 base hits. SAC SS/2B Matt Knight (.298, 5 HR, 33 RBI) leads all players with four RBI on three base hits, including a double.
June 11 – The Loggers send SP Juan Mercado (1-4, 4.78 ERA) to the Buffaloes for #140 prospect SP Ernesto Culver.
June 14 – TIJ C Manny Poindexter (.262, 6 HR, 21 RBI) is handed down a 15-game suspension for taking a swing with his bat at NAS MR Mike Chartrand (1-1, 3.35 ERA, 1 SV) after getting hit by a pitch from the right-hander, who gets a suspension of his own for following up by punching Poindexter in the kisser.
June 14 – The Warriors score in every inning bar one in a 16-10 shootout win over the Aces. Sioux Falls’ Steve Dilly (.253, 8 HR, 29 RBI) rocks four hits (with a homer and a double) and drives in five runs to lead all players in both categories.
June 15 – Capitals outfielder Dan Martin (.264, 12 HR, 42 RBI) could miss six weeks with an oblique strain.

FL Player of the Week: SFW 2B Mike DeFusco (.299, 4 HR, 13 RBI), batting .500 (9-18) with 1 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN INF Alan Leitch (.317, 1 HR, 18 RBI), batting .619 (13-21) with 0 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Elks claimed Alan Leitch off waivers from the Pacifics last month; he was hitting over .300 for either team.

Thursday’s rainout in Boston would be made up this month, since the Raccoons were scheduled to be back in Boston as soon as June 29 through July 2. This gave us a nice and frightening 5-game set in four days in the middle of the pre-All Star Game run of 17 games without a reprieve. Swell.

Still don’t know what to make of the team. Now down four key players, just under .500, and with a +4 run differential, yet a dozen games back in division… I don’t see us pull this out of the dumpster again. I mean, there’s still about $5M in the budget, but it’s not like we have the abundance of prospects required to swing the big trades needed in the next six weeks.

After the draft, we’ll be home for six games with the Loggers and Indians, and then it’s off for a three-city road trip starting in Atlanta. The off day on Thursday is the last before the All Star Game, though.

Fun Fact: 25 years ago today, Jonas Mejia threw a no-hitter against the Aces.

Mejia as a right-hander that was briefly among the best pitchers in the Federal League in the late 2020s and early 2030s. He won 17+ games four times between 2028 and 2033, including leading the CL in wins as a Condor in ’28 in his only season in the CL. He was never a big strikeout pitcher but usually kept it on the ground. He never led the league in ERA either, but posted a 2.67 ERA in 2030.

Through his 15-year career, mostly with Dallas and Pittsburgh, Mejia went 189-163 with a 3.92 ERA and 2,130 K in 3,124.2 innings. He was an All Star once, ironically also in 2028 with the Condors.