[Westheim]

Raccoons (60-58) vs. Cyclones (55-62) – August 15-17, 2056

The Coons had won two of three from Cincy when meeting them last year. This year the Cyclones had a .290 team batting average, but somehow ranked fifth in runs scored, which didn’t add up at all. Then throw in the second-worst rotation, a cruddy defense, and just like that you had a team with a -61 run differential going absolutely nowhere.

Projected matchups:
Sean Sweeton (10-6, 2.94 ERA) vs. Hector Estevez (9-7, 4.18 ERA)
He Shui (11-7, 3.73 ERA) vs. Jay Gunderson (4-8, 6.31 ERA)
Craig Kniep (6-10, 4.23 ERA) vs. Cory Ellis (9-6, 4.04 ERA)

No lefty starters on the Cyclones either.

Game 1
CIN: SS J. Ojeda – 2B G. Keller – LF del Toro – 3B Medlock – 1B V. Cruz – 1B G. Perez – C Wheat – CF Gill – P H. Estevez
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B A. Chavez – P Sweeton

Gerardo Perez’ leadoff double and two productive outs by Tom Wheat and Greg Gill gave the Cyclones a 1-0 lead in the second inning as Sweeton struggled both with fooling guys with his offerings, and with bunting once Adriano Chavez hit a leadoff single in the bottom 3rd. A bad bunt forced out the runner, and then Sweeton made a traffic jam with this thick bum while Callaia and Lonzo hit singles behind him. Caballero came up with the bases loaded, singled over Gabe Keller for one run, and then Pucks followed with thee bases still loaded, singled over Gabe Keller for two runs, and the Coons had a 3-1 lead. Ramsay flew out, but Anton Venegas managed another RBI single with two outs, while Fiore grounded out to Keller to end the 6-hit, 4-run assault. Sweeton was on base again through no right-doing of his own in the bottom 4th when Victor Cruz bobbled his 1-out grounder. This one paid back, though, as Gaudencio Callaia jacked a ball over the fence in right, extended the lead to 6-1, and sent Estevez packing.

Reliever Keith Thompson didn’t last for long. His first pitch hit Lonzo in the upper back, and Lonzo had none of it, dashing out and throwing a punch at Thompson. A whole bru-ha-ha ensued, at the end of which the two worst offenders were excluded from further proceedings, and I felt a bit of a penalty coming there. The Raccoons though just took out their anger at the next pitcher within range. Caballero, Pucks, Ramsay, and Venegas all reached base against righty Matthew Falco, while Fiore struck out for only the second out of the inning. Chavez walked, forcing in another run, 9-1, and Sweeton struck out.

And that was almost the entire ballgame. The Raccoons considered nine plenty, and left the rest of the game to Sweeton, who got better as things got along and would pitch a complete-game 7-hitter. It was a complete-game 5-hitter until the Cyclones were down to their final out and peskily scored a late run on a double by Stephen Medlock and an RBI single for Cruz. Gerardo Perez then grounded out on a 3-1 pitch. 9-2 Raccoons. Callaia 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Caballero 2-5, RBI; Puckeridge 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Sweeton 9.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (11-6);

The hammer of justice was brought down on Lonzo swiftly, as he was slapped with a 7-game suspension, rendering him ineligible for the rest of the week (and then some), while also leaving the Coons’ bench a man short.

Not too short yet was short, with Espinoza and Adriano Chavez to split duties there.

Game 2
CIN: 2B G. Keller – RF Colwill – C Lehman – LF del Toro – 3B Medlock – 1B V. Cruz – SS Tovar – CF Gill – P C. Ellis
POR: CF Royer – RF Callaia – LF Kirkwood – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C Fiore – SS Espinoza – P Shui

Two home runs gave Cincy a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Wednesday. Medlocks’ was of the outside variety, and Gill’s of the inside-the-park variety. The Raccoons’ first hit was also a home run – but it did not come until the fifth inning. Ellis retired the first ten in a row, then walked Callaia. Kirkwood doubled up the runner, ending the fourth, but the bottom of the fifth began with Pucks hitting a jack to right-center, 2-1.

Shui couldn’t hold it together, though, and gave up singles to Rick Colwill and Medlock in the top of the sixth. Medlock’s came with two outs and chased home Tim Lehman, who had forced out Colwill, from second base to get that cushion run back. Gill, Keller, and Colwill knocked out Shui with three more singles for a run in the seventh inning, while Tanizaki got a double play grounder from Lehman to at least stop the bleeding. The Coons had just three hits at the stretch, but began the bottom 7th with a leadoff walk drawn by Pucks, and then a Venegas single, which promoted the tying run to the plate with nobody out. Ryan Allred singled to fill the bases, which ever so slightly dismayed me, but Fiore refused to be the running gag this time and singled to right in a full count, chasing in two runs to get back to 4-3. Espinoza grounded out, putting the two runners in scoring position, while Caballero drew a walk from Ellis, who was then yanked for a right-handed reliever. And that was Jason Wheatley, who was having a rough time with his stuff completely evaporated by now. Steve Royer shoved a clean single into centerfield, tying the score at four, and then Callaia grounded into a double play. But, let’s be honest? Would I have been *really* happy if someone had hit a grand slam off Wheats?

Brett Lillis jr. went 1-2-3 in the eighth, and the Cyclones sent Wheats back out for the bottom of the inning. Kirkwood hit a bomb to left immediately, Pucks drew a walk, but then the inning fizzled out. Matt Walters turned the Cyclones away in the ninth inning to nail down the victory… and the L for Wheats. 5-4 Raccoons. Royer 2-4, RBI; Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Fiore 2-4, 2 RBI;

(noisily blows nose)

Game 3
CIN: SS J. Ojeda – 2B G. Keller – C Lehman – LF del Toro – 3B Medlock – 1B V. Cruz – RF Volker – CF Gill – P Gunderson
POR: CF Royer – RF Callaia – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – 3B Brobeck – 2B Allred – SS Espinoza – C M. Chavez – P Kniep

Single, walk, walk – the headaches were back as soon as Kniep took the mound. He went to 2-0 against del Toro with the bases loaded, but del Toro popped out, and then the Cyclones somehow failed their way out of the inning without scoring a run. The Coons got one in the bottom 1st, albeit unearned, when Brobeck’s 2-out grounder was thrown away by Keller with Kirkwood and Ramsay on the corners after a pair of singles. Allred popped out to strand a pair. Next time Brobeck was at the plate, another run scored, extending the tally to 2-0 with a 2-out RBI single in the bottom 3rd. Callaia and Kirkwood began that inning by getting on base, and then Rams rumbled into another double play. Gunderson then filled the bases with a walk to Allred and an Espinoza single, but Marcos Chavez fanned to keep them all stranded.

Kniep was not scored upon through five innings, collecting himself to a degree after the busy first inning. He offered one more hit and two walks (one of them intentional to Gill with two outs and a guy on third base) through five innings, then got his first career RBI as he singled home Daniel Espinoza in the bottom 5th. Chavez was also on base, but the battery was stranded when Royer grounded out, the score remaining 3-0.

It remained the same through seven innings before an explosion rocked the old ballpark in the eighth inning. Mike Lane filled the bases while getting only two outs in the top of the eighth, then was removed for Walters in a double switch. Walters came in for Cruz, but faced PH Tom Wheat, who hit a 2-run single to center. And Tony Volker, batting .125, whacked a 2-run double to flip the score. I buried my face in my paws. And that was before Ryan Harmer pitched in the ninth inning. He got the second out of the inning after Perez had grounded out against Walters, and only the second. Keller singled. Lehman walked. Del Toro singled. Medlock singled. Mike Tovar singled. Three runs were in, and the only saving grace turned out to be that the Raccoons would rally in the bottom 9th anyway. 7-3 Cyclones. Kirkwood 2-5; Ramsay 2-5; Allred 2-4, BB; Espinoza 2-4, 2B; A. Chavez 1-1; Kniep 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K;

This was approximately the 3687th time that Ryan Harmer ****** up, and it would be the last time. He went on waivers, and I’d go out of my way to get rid of him and his 0-2 record and 4.97 ERA. We called up very raw righty Alex Rios, a 2053 fifth-rounder with a 5.32 ERA in AAA, but he was also battling his own defense as much as he did the other teams with a .357 BABIP.

Raccoons (62-59) vs. Titans (57-65) – August 18-20, 2056

The Titans were probably no longer in the running, if they ever had been. They were only 8 1/2 games out, and weirder things had happened, but they also had two teams in between, and they had only the third-worst offense in the CL, and were not exactly *great* at pitching, either, with a -30 run differential. They had the Raccoons’ number, though, having won nine of twelve games between the two teams so far this season…?

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (10-11, 3.51 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (5-6, 3.32 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (5-5, 4.86 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (9-12, 3.18 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (11-6, 2.89 ERA) vs. Kenneth Spencer (11-9, 3.14 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday! …maybe, they came in after an off day on Thursday.

Game 1
BOS: SS Sowell – 3B Garris – CF Weir – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – C J. Ortiz – LF Y. Valdez – 2B W. de Leon – P Glaude
POR: CF Royer – RF Callaia – LF Kirkwood – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – SS Espinoza – C Fiore – P Taki

Taki pitched eight innings, allowing seven hits. Three of them were bunched up in the second inning to give the Titans an early run… and it was still a 1-0 game in the middle of the eighth when Taki left. The Raccoons were unspeakable at the plate again. Ryan Allred hit a double, and the rest of the bunch hit just enough to somehow and staggeringly manufacture three double plays. The only runner other than Allred on his double (he was also doubled up by Espinoza) that was actually stranded on base through seven innings was Taki on a rare single for him. The Raccoons then had runners on the corners in the bottom 8th on nothing more than Espinoza reaching on catcher’s interference, and then legging it out to third base on Fiore’s cheap trick single to right. Caballero batted for Taki, sure as heck *tried* to find the double play with shortstop Ken Sowell, but the Titans got only Fiore at second base, and Espinoza scored to tie the game. Caballero then stole second, Steve Royer doubled him home, and Callaia grounded out to end the weird inning. The Raccoons didn’t have Walters to send into the ninth inning, either, and the next-best thing was Lillis. PH Bruce Burkart and switch-hitter Jorge Ortiz grounded out to short, but Yoslan Valdez got a single into center. Pinch-runner Ethan Torrence advanced on a passed ball, but Mario Navarro popped out to kill the effort. 2-1 Blighters. Allred 1-2, BB, 2B; Taki 8.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (11-11) and 1-2;

First save of the season for Lillis, who was probably having his best year, but wasn’t getting many opportunities with the Walters/Lane pair usually hogging the ninth.

Game 2
BOS: 3B Torrence – LF Ma. Gilmore – CF Weir – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – C J. Ortiz – SS Sowell – 2B W. de Leon – P Koga
POR: CF Royer – RF Puckeridge – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – P Brobeck – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C Fiore – SS A. Chavez

Every day something new – on Saturday it was the Raccoons hitting into only two double plays before Kirkwood doubled home Adriano Chavez with the game’s first run, while Kyle Brobeck retired the Titans in order the first time through, and would go on to make it 16 up, 16 down, before issuing a walk to Willie de Leon, who was caught stealing before a K to Kodai Koga. The Raccoons’ offense was still nowhere to be found, so Brobeck just continued on. Ethan Torrence grounded out to begin the seventh. Matt Gilmore popped out foul to Venegas, and Hector Weir flew out cozily to Royer. The eighth inning began with Eric Whitlow – and Whitlow POUNDED a ball over the fence in leftfield, which took care of a whole lot of things, like the no-hitter, and the lead, and also me having to figure out some vague excuses to the snitch employed by the Agitator waiting behind the dumpster for me to walk to my car about why we were not pitching “No-Hit Brobeck” more often.

Jorge Ortiz hit a single before the inning was over, but was stranded. Brobeck completed nine innings on 92 pitches and just those two hits, while the Coons had gotten a Kirkwood single to begin the bottom 8th, but Ramsay had doubled him up right away. He even came *back* when the Coons couldn’t do anything with a Fiore single in the ninth inning, either. The Boston 3-4-5 disappeared without a trace against Brobeck in the tenth inning, but even those heroics weren’t enough to get a W in this game. The Coons saw a 2-out single for Kirkwood against Donovan Little in the bottom 10th, Caballero batted for Ramsay, but grounded out harmlessly.

And then Mike Lane laid his second egg of the week, putting Ortiz and de Leon on with singles in the 11th inning. The Coons went to Sencion, who did absolutely nothing to de-escalate. Josh Garris singled, Ethan Torrence walked in a run, Ryan Allred fumbled home another run when he **** on Gilmore’s grounder, and finally Eric Whitlow, with two outs, hit a bases-clearing ******* triple. For reasons hard to explain, the Titans then didn’t just put the game away with a 5-run lead. Jim Peterson allowed back-to-back leadoff doubles to Callaia and Venegas in the bottom 11th. Two outs were made before Adriano Chavez singled home Venegas, 6-3. But when Royer then singled off Bobby Callejas, the new pitcher, Pucks came up as the tying run. Another single – on an 0-2 pitch – drove home Chavez, and kept the line moving. Kirkwood got a 2-1 pitch to hit and bashed it by Navarro for another RBI single. The tying run was now at second base for Caballero. And Caballero flew out to Whitlow. 6-5 Titans. Royer 3-6; Kirkwood 3-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Callaia (PH) 1-1, 2B; Venegas 3-5, 2B, RBI; Brobeck 10.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K;

Of all people – BROBECK.

Also, for the mathemagicians here: of the five ******* runs in the 11th inning, only one on Lane was earned. He got the L anyway.

Is it worth musing about how the Titans left ZERO runners on base, and the Raccoons frittered away 11 even after hitting into a gazillion double plays?

Bloody murder, I say.

Game 3
BOS: 3B Torrence – LF Ma. Gilmore – CF Weir – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – C J. Ortiz – SS M. Navarro – 2B W. de Leon – P Spencer
POR: CF Royer – 1B Callaia – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 3B Venegas – SS Espinoza – C M. Chavez – 2B A. Chavez – P Sweeton

The Coons had two rookie relievers on the roster that had not thrown a pitch all week long and I worried that we’d have to send them into a game that didn’t merit their presence by its closeness on Sunday, but then there was also Sweeton putting the first three batters of the game on base and giving up a quick run on Weir’s RBI single before pitching generally indifferently afterwards, while the Raccoons showed up in minimum numbers the first time through. Caballero did get on base, and Venegas made the **** sure he’d get off again with a 1-6-3 double play.

Matt Gilmore’s homer in the fifth inning was only the fourth Titans hit of the game, but extended their lead to 2-0. Weir also reached, stole a base, was annoying, but also stranded by Whitlow. In response, Venegas drew a 1-out walk in the bottom 5th, and then was duly doubled off by Daniel Dunce-inoza. The leadoff walk drawn by Marcos Chavez in the bottom 6th was the first base runner that didn’t get doubled off, even though Sweeton forced him out with a bad bunt and was then left on first base by Royer, at which point I also lost my remaining qualms about giving the ball to the kits. Sweeton went seven, then yielded for Ricky Herrera, who got the 2-3-4 batters in order in the eighth inning. Rios got the ninth inning, struck out Sam Witherspoon to begin his career, and then shuffled the bags full with two singles to center and a walk to Yoslan Valdez. There was a wild pitch, there was a 2-run single, and there was an ugly 27.00 ERA at the end of the inning. The Raccoons disappeared into the night quietly. 5-0 Titans. Sweeton 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, L (11-7);

In other news

August 16 – A back muscle issue curtails the season of MIL SP Tyler Riddle (11-2, 2.14 ERA).
August 20 – LVA SP Medardo Regueir (6-11, 4.10 ERA) is also out for the season after tearing the flexor tendon in his elbow.
August 20 – The Cyclones’ MR Travis Julien (4-2, 5.01 ERA, 4 SV) tries to save a 3-2 game against the Buffaloes, but first loads the bases, and then nails both RF/LF Bobby Grewe (.220, 3 HR, 35 RBI) and OF Gustavo Pena (.268, 1 HR, 14 RBI), both on 1-2 pitches, to suffer a 4-3 walkoff loss.

FL Player of the Week: TOP INF Alex de los Santos (.260, 23 HR, 69 RBI), plugging .429 (12-28) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS OF/2B Eric Whitlow (.245, 15 HR, 67 RBI), batting .423 (11-26) with 3 HR, 13 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Kyle Brobeck pitched ten innings for a no-decision, and somehow that was the highlight of the week for the team. Soggy 3-3 run, against mediocre competition.

Also, baseball is no fun without Lonzo. But he’s under the ban hammer for another two games of the following Indians series. It will be a single-series road trip to Indy, after which we’re right back home for a 6-game homestand with the Baybirds and Falcons to finish out the month of August.

And then, roster expansion! … although I wasn’t quite sure what we wanted to expand with. AAA was full of Ryan Harmers and Marcos Chavezes.

Fun Fact: 18 years ago today, Mike Hall hit for a reverse-natural cycle against the Knights.

This was the last homer-triple-double-single cycle in the league until Willie Sanchez hit for one this April. Hall did it as an Ace, and before being traded to the Bayhawks the next winter, with whom he had his best seasons. In his 14-year career, Hall was usually just above the league average for OPS, with a 111 OPS+ mark for his career, but he never let the league in anything and was an All Star only once. He won the World Series with the Baybirds in 2043. For his career he hit .285 with 57 HR and 610 RBI, also stealing 209 bases.