[Westheim]

Raccoons (35-33) vs. Canadiens (36-31) – June 18-20, 2057

I really, really didn’t want the Elks to be in town, but … eeeh… well, there were a few bright spots. So far we still led the season series, 4-2, and the Elks had somehow accumulated the worst starting pitching in the league with a 4.70 ERA. You had to get them early though, because later they had the #2 bullpen in the league. They were third in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed, with a +8 run differential (Portland: +33, somehow).

Projected matchups:
Kennedy Adkins (7-5, 2.77 ERA) vs. Ernie Gomes (3-8, 5.38 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (7-4, 2.95 ERA) vs. Gabriel Casanova (3-0, 2.68 ERA)
Josh Mayo (1-0, 3.78 ERA) vs. Bruce Mark jr. (6-4, 2.89 ERA)

Casanova was a scheduled left-handed spot starter, while the other two were right-handed regular starters.

Speaking of paws, the Raccoons had just taken 34 innings to score six runs against the Loggers, so there was no hope, really, and thus, for starters I had a bottle of Capt’n Coma in my right paw and holding onto Slappy’s hand with my left paw to get some sort of comfort level going.

Game 1
VAN: 2B E. Stevens – LF K. Hawkins – 1B Yamamoto – CF D. Moreno – C Weese – RF Magnussen – 3B Lundberg – SS R. Price – P E. Gomes
POR: CF Caballero – SS Lavorano – LF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – 2B Allred – P Adkins

To say that Adkins and Chavez weren’t on the same page would be a mild understatement. In just three innings, the pair committed a passed ball and a wild pitch each, Chavez caught Adkins so clumsily that the latter didn’t get any sort of borderline calls and walked a pair, the Elks had two singles, and at one point with Kevin Weese on first base in the second inning, the two were so at odds that Adkins angrily raised both arms as if to categorically challenge Chavez to call the ******* changeup, but had the hindpaw still on the rubber and was called out for a balk. Somehow, that level of mess resulted in no runs amidst four stranded base runners for the Elks. Adkins started to throw right down the middle to allow everybody to get on with life, which somehow yielded better results, while the Raccoons through five innings scattered four singles, never more than one in an inning, and left everybody on base, without ever getting as far as third base.

Ernie Gomes didn’t even strike anybody out through five innings, but then got back-to-back K on Lonzo and the slumping Aberzombie in the bottom 6th. Brassfield hit another one of those 2-out singles, then got into scoring position on a passed ball charged to Kevin Weese. Pucks then finally broke the ice with a double to center, driving in Abercrombie with the game’s first run. Brobeck added an RBI single, Chavez also singled, and Allred hit another RBI single, but the lunkheaded Chavez was thrown out trying to go first-to-third on the play, but at least that was after Brobeck had already crossed the plate with the third run of the inning. Adkins pitched one more shutout inning, then was pinch-hit for in the bottom 7th. Bribiesca walked, stole his first base of the year, but was stranded. Lane had a scoreless eighth, while Walters gave up a 1-out triple to Damian Moreno in the ninth inning, and then had to concede the run on Weese’s grounder to second base, but put the game away nevertheless. 3-1 Raccoons. Brassfield 3-4; Puckeridge 2-4, 2B, RBI; Chavez 3-4; Adkins 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, W (8-5);

Game 2
VAN: CF D. Moreno – SS R. Price – LF Magnussen – C Waker – LF K. Hawkins – 1B Yamamoto – 2B E. Stevens – 3B Lundberg – P Casanova
POR: 2B Bribiesca – SS Lavorano – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – LF Caballero – RF Puckeridge – CF Royer – C Zamora – P Sweeton

The game started like the last one with no offense worth pointing out, until Bribiesca fudged Rick Price’s leadoff grounder in the fourth inning for an error. Price was forced out at second base on Adam Magnussen’s grounder, but then scored on singles by Kyle Hawkins and Shuta Yamamoto to give the damn Elks an unearned 1-0 lead. Erik Stevens popped out to short to leave two on base. The Elks added an earned run in the fifth inning thanks to a leadoff triple by Tyler Lundberg and Casanova hitting a ball out to Caballero that was just deep enough for a sac fly. And the Raccoons would sure soon find their batting pants against the spot starter on the hill, I was sure.

Bottom 6th, Bribiesca’s double to left and Lonzo’s single to center put the tying runs on the corners with one out. Here we go! …maybe. Brassfield hit a liner over the head of Price at least, which fell for a 1-out RBI single and shortened the score to 2-1, and Kyle Brobeck found the hole on the left to single home Lonzo with the tying run five pitches later. Brass reached third base with the go-ahead run, but Caballero grounded a ball to the Gold Glover Price… it wasn’t very fast though and Price tried to get two the artsy-fartsy way by just flinging the ball to Stevens with his glove. He missed, was charged an error, and the Coons still had two on and one out with a 3-2 lead. Discombobulated, Casanova walked Pucks on four pitches to stuff the bags, and the Coons scratched out another run on Zamora’s sac fly to right. Right-hander Jameson Monk then retired Sweeton to end the inning. Then the tying runs reached scoring position on two pitches in the seventh as the bedeviled Yamamoto singled and Stevens doubled. Sweeton got a grounder from Weese, but when left-handed Sadafumi Taniguchi pinch-hit for Monk in the #9 spot, lining up four straight lefty bats, the Raccoons chose to go to Eloy Sencion with the tying runs in scoring position. Taniguchi hit a single up the middle anyway; Yamamoto scored, and Stevens was sent around – but thrown out by Steve Royer! Moreno then struck out to keep the Coons 4-3 ahead at the stretch. Sencion then axed the Elks quite quickly in the eighth, and Matt Walters got ready again, and again gave up an extra-base hit, a 2-out double to left to Stevens. It was all fine though, because the Raccoons had removed Brobeck for defense at third base, and that was precisely where PH Jacob Goldstein hit bouncer to Daniel Espinoza, who – threw the ball away for two bases and the tying run scored. (dead-eyed stare)

Walters struck out Danny Garcia to end the top 9th, but now the Raccoons had to resume poking against right-hander Kellen Lanning. Espinoza, who had **** to make up for, hit a 1-out double to left in the #9 spot against Lanning, putting the winning run in scoring position. Allred batted for Bribiesca and singled to center, but Espinoza was held at third base as a shallow-playing Damian Moreno was on the ball really quick. Lonzo then? No, first Allred was picked off first base by Lanning as the Coons piled up yet more stupidity, and then Lonzo struck out to send the game to extras. Ricky Herrera held the Elks away in the tenth inning, while the Raccoons made three straight outs in Lanning’s second inning. John Scott then got the ball. Hawkins hit a leadoff single, while Yamamoto walked. Stevens hit a comebacker to the mound, which Scott fumbled while trying to spin for a double play, and ended up getting nobody with. Three on, nobody out, and my bottle was ******* empty. When Goldstein popped out, the Coons were suddenly alive again, however, because the Elks were out of pinch-hitters – Lanning had to bat and struck out! Damian Moreno grounded to first base for the third out of the inning and all their runners were stranded. Hah!! Lanning, a former starter, was still going in the bottom 11th and got Pucks to fly out to right, but Abercrombie singled to right, then stole second base accidentally on a missed hit-and-run with Zamora. The catcher whacked the next pitch, however, into left-center, and for a walkoff double! 5-4 Critters. Allred (PH) 1-1; Brassfield 2-5, RBI;

Beating the Elks will never not be fun, but I’m sure it would also work with less panic, boys.

Damn Elks.

Game 3
VAN: 2B E. Stevens – LF K. Hawkins – 1B Yamamoto – CF Moreno – C Weese – RF Magnussen – 3B Lundberg – SS R. Price – P Mark jr.
POR: CF Caballero – SS Lavorano – LF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – 2B Allred – P Mayo

There was no beating the damn Elks on Wednesday, however, since Josh Mayo had his numb skull caved in right in the first inning, getting blasted for five runs on just 28 pitches. To say that he didn’t fool anybody would have been a mild understatement. Two walks, including leading off against Stevens, and two homers to score all the runs, a 2-piece by Hawkins and a 3-piece by Tyler Lundberg with two outs. That one was unearned because Mayo had also ****** up a defensive play, and the Elks had also seen Yamamoto thrown out at the plate by Abercrombie, trying to score from second base on a Weese single, and from there Mayo was mostly employed for more innings because the Coons weren’t gonna rally out of a 5-run hole before the weekend anyway. He made it a 6-run hole by the third inning, nailing Moreno with the first pitch of the inning before giving up a single to Weese that sent Moreno to third base, and then a wild pitch that allowed Moreno to score uncontested.

The Coons were invisible until the fifth, when Bruce Mark jr. walked Pucks and Brobeck to begin the inning, and gave up RBI singles to Chavez and Caballero, but even then the score was barely dented; also, Brobeck had taken over tossing duties after Mayo’s demise after three innings, so the gap was bound to get bigger eventually. Daniel Espinoza replaced him at third base, made another error in the sixth inning, and I was making angry noises while flailing my paws. Brobeck finally gave up two runs in the eighth, his fifth inning of work, when he started to walk people after four treacherously good innings of 1-hit ball. Caballero and Abercrombie pulled a run back with a pair of doubles in the bottom 8th, but it wasn’t like that covered for all the damage already received… 8-3 Canadiens. Caballero 2-4, 2B, RBI; Brobeck 1-2, BB, 2B and 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K; Bribiesca (PH) 1-1;

The Raccoons then had Thursday off and had enough time to clean house. The Josh Mayo (1-1, 4.58 ERA) experiment ended with him punching a waiver and being designated for assignment, while Espinoza (.239, 0 HR, 5 RBI) had gone 0-for-4 with an error in that last game, and I decided that we really didn’t need TWO right-handed, non-hitting third basemen on the roster.

Raccoons (37-34) @ Bayhawks (36-35) – June 22-24, 2057

San Francisco ranked second in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed. They were third in the South, six games out, which wasn’t entirely dissimilar to the Raccoons’ own position. The Bayhawks notably were the power kings of the CL with a leading 67 taters, but also had a mellow rotation, third from the bottom in ERA. Given that the Coons had just been content with 11 runs against the worst rotation in the league, I didn’t get my hopes up all too far. San Fran also led the season series, 2-1, and nothing good had ever happened at the Bay.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (6-6, 3.67 ERA) vs. Salvatore Calderon (3-4, 5.71 ERA)
Kennedy Adkins (8-5, 2.57 ERA) vs. Bill Grau (2-2, 4.70 ERA)
Ramon Carreno (0-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. Milt Cantrell (7-3, 3.05 ERA)

Grau was a *second* left-hander we’d see this week. Whoah! Where were they all coming from??

Meanwhile, the Raccoons had obviously added Ramon Carreno back to the roster, and he’d go on Sunday on an extra day of rest, while Brobeck didn’t get a start here after going five innings on Wednesday. There was also the added challenge of no further off days before the All Star Game, but a scheduled double header (!?) against the Crusaders on Thursday.

…and then we’d also have a debut on Friday, as the Raccoons called up 22-year-old INF (but realistically: 2B) Paul Labonte, a left-handed batter mashing .333 with 5 HR, 37 RBI in AAA. Labonte had been a third-rounder taken at #71 in the 2053 draft. He was a weird character in that he had great speed but no timing for base stealing, and he was Canadian but brash and ill-tempered.

Game 1
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – LF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – CF Royer – P Taki
SFB: LF X. Reyes – C Mittleider – 1B P. Fowler – 2B A. Montoya – RF Epperson – 3B Peltier – SS Sherrick – CF A. Walker – P S. Calderon

Labonte began his major league career with a pop to Armando Montoya, but hit a single to right his second time up with one out in the top 3rd, which allowed Lonzo to hit into an inning-ending double play in the scoreless game. It also remained scoreless for a while longer. There was no shortage of base runners, with both Calderon and Taki each putting seven runners on base through seven innings – Calderon with only hits and Taki with five hits and two walks – but neither team managed to pile enough of them into a single frame to gain some traction on the scoreboard. The game was still scoreless going into the eighth inning. The Coons went down 1-2-3, but Taki gave up a 1-out single to Jon Mittleider, and then a gapper for a triple to Pat Fowler. Montoya’s grounder scored Fowler with the game’s second run, which was also the last one. 2-0 Bayhawks. Brassfield 2-4; Puckeridge 3-4; Taki 8.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, L (6-7);

Nothing good, like I said.

Game 2
POR: LF Caballero – SS Lavorano – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – 2B Bribiesca – RF Abercrombie – CF Royer – P Adkins
SFB: SS X. Reyes – C Mittleider – 2B A. Montoya – RF A. Walker – LF Lindauer – 3B Peltier – CF Gough – 1B P. Fowler – P Grau

When Adkins had the Coons’ first hit with a third-inning single on Saturday, then was swiftly doubled up by Caballero, I double-facepalmed so loudly in the middle of the row of suites in the upper deck that it was audible on both teams’ broadcasts. Adkins lined up three scoreless innings, then got bopped for a 3-run fourth on three straight knocks. Aaron Walker singled, Jeremy Lindauer hit an RBI double, and former Coons farmhand Adam Peltier smashed a homer to left, because who else would? I was suffering noisily in the suite, to the point where the youngest daughter of some of the Bayhawks’ business partner or other asked her mother whether that weird old man was dying. And I hoped so.

Adkins gave up another run in the fifth, while Brassfield singled home Caballero in the sixth for a token run for the cruddy Critters. That aside, the team only shone with stupidity, such as when Marcos Chavez opened the seventh inning with a double to left… and was thrown out trying to make it a triple. Plonkers, all of them. And yet, scoreless relief by Scott and Bravo held the Bayhawks to their four runs off Adkins in six innings, and the Raccoons brought the actual tying run to the plate in the ninth inning, and with two outs, after Dave Lister walked Brass and gave up a single to Chavez. Pucks pinch-hit in the #6 spot occupied by Reynaldo Bravo and lunged at the first offering he got from Lister – and blasted it over the fence in left!! Tied ballgame!! Huaaaahh!! – No, Ma’am, I’m fine. – Yes, this is normal. – You may try to call security, but (shows off his visiting team badge) I am here in an official capaci- (is dragged out of the suite by two cupboard-sized goons)

While I was put outside on the street and then immediately employed Raccoon skills and clambered into the rear-facing visitors’ clubhouse through an open window on the second floor, Abercrombie grounded out against Darren McRee and Ricky Herrera got the game to extras, then offered a leadoff walk to PH Jamie Sherrick in the bottom 10th, but Tanizaki retired the 3-4-5 batters to keep the game going. The Coons’ offense showed only its worst behavior again in extra innings and didn’t mount even the slightest threat against the Baybirds’ pen before Alex Mancilla entered the bottom 12th and gave up hits to Xavier Reyes and Armando Montoya to lose the game… 5-4 Bayhawks. Chavez 2-4, BB, 2B; Puckeridge (PH) 1-2, HR, 3 RBI;

Game 3
POR: 2B Labonte – RF Puckeridge – LF Abercrombie – 1B Brassfield – 3B Brobeck – CF Caballero – SS Bribiesca – C Zamora – P Carreno
SFB: LF X. Reyes – C Mittleider – 1B P. Fowler – 2B A. Montoya – RF Epperson – 3B Peltier – SS Sherrick – CF Lindauer – P Cantrell

Carreno flew out to Lindauer in center to end the second inning with Caballero and Zamora on base, then gave up a bunch of hits in the bottom 2nd; Armando Montoya was caught stealing, but Jamie Sherrick drove home Adam Peltier with a double to give the Baybirds a 1-0 lead. The Raccoons went on to strand Labonte and Brassfield on base in the third inning and had Bribiesca and Zamora on the corners after an intentional walk to the latter in the fourth, when Carreno whiffed and gave the stick to the next rookie in line, Labonte. A firm liner over the head of Montoya fell into shallow right-center and scored the tying run from third base, but Pucks then grounded out to Pat Fowler to strand another pair.

Carreno fought valiantly, though, and retired the Birds in order in the fourth before giving up a leadoff double to the base of the wall in the bottom 5th, hit of course by the inevitable Adam Peltier. The bottom of the order croaked for the Bayhawks, though, and Carreno scurried out of the inning without conceding the go-ahead run. The top three in the San Francisco order then made out on three pitches in the sixth inning, which sounded better than the noise Pat Fowler’s bat made when he flew out to Abercrombie right at the fence in leftfield. And yet, the offense denied him any sort of support, and then Carreno gave up a leadoff jack to Montoya in the bottom 7th. Epperson and Sherrick hit singles after that and the Raccoons moved on to Herrera, who got a groundout from Sam Witherspoon, then walked Eric Cobb in the #9 hole. Tanizaki then got PH Aaron Walker out to Bribiesca at short to strand the bases loaded.

Top 8th, Abercrombie drew a leadoff walk against right-hander Travis Julien, then stole second base. Brass whiffed, but Brobeck hit a scratch single, then was run for with Lonzo, who stole second base and took off the double play. Which didn’t keep Caballero and Chavez from striking out, the latter batting for Bribiesca. (bites into clenched fist)

And yet, the dismal Critters tied the game again with two outs in the ninth against Dave Lister, and it was again Pucks to drive in the tying run, Zamora, with a 2-out knock to rightfield; Zamora had hit a leadoff single against Lister. This time we even took the lead – after Abercrombie drew a 2-out walk, Brass doubled to left. Pucks scored, Abercrombie was thrown out trying, and Matt Walters retired Peltier, Sherrick, and John Gough in order to snicker outta here with a win. 3-2 Blighters. Labonte 2-5, RBI; Puckeridge 2-5, 2B, RBI; Zamora 2-3, BB; Carreno 6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K;

In other news

June 19 – TOP SP Bill Hernandez (7-4, 3.89 ERA) is rear-ended in his car while waiting at a red light and hits the DL while suffering from whiplash and bruising, but is expected to return after 15 days.
June 19 – The Blue Sox acquire MR Matt Pickel (2-2, 4.06 ERA, 4 SV) from the Cyclones for two prospects.
June 19 – Condors reliever Jose Jacinto (0-1, 1.93 ERA) loses the Condors’ game against the Knights, 6-5 in 10 innings, when he drills OF Jayden Baldwin (.214, 0 HR, 5 RBI) with the bases loaded, pushing the winning run across the plate.
June 19 – The Capitals also have a weird 10th-inning walkoff win, 3-2 against the Miners, when PIT 1B Alex Abecassis (.238, 10 HR, 41 RBI) drops a throw to his base for what would have been the third out of the inning, instead allowing Washington’s Sergio Quiroz (.158, 0 HR, 1 RBI) to score from third base.
June 20 – The Pacifics beat the Gold Sox, 6-3, when LAP C Chris Maresh (.206, 5 HR, 36 RBI) socks a walkoff grand slam against Denver’s Jim Cushing (0-6, 3.16 ERA, 18 SV).
June 21 – The hitting streak of Falcons RF/LF Danny Ceballos (.368, 11 HR, 47 RBI) ends at 24 games in a 4-1 loss to the Thunder. Ceballos walks twice in the game, but goes 0-for-2 when actually swinging.
June 23 – Indians RF/LF/1B Bill Quinteros (.298, 5 HR, 29 RBI) drops his 2,000th career hit, but is left moping an 11-2 loss against the Knights. Quinteros, age 36, doubles off ATL SP Vic Harman (10-3, 2.78 ERA) to reach the milestone. The career Indian and former #1 pick in the 2042 draft has piled up six Platinum Sticks and 8 All Star nominations in his career, batting .271 with 270 HR and 1,052 RBI. He also stole 207 bases in his younger years.
June 23 – The Wolves beat the Rebels, 9-3. All the Wolves’ runs score in a 9-run ninth inning, including a grand slam by OF Noah Caswell (.303, 10 HR, 36 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: PIT 1B Alex Abecassis (.262, 13 HR, 48 RBI), batting .524 (11-21) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB 2B/LF Armando Montoya (.339, 13 HR, 47 RBI), hitting .480 (12-25) with 2 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Since I was already hissed at because of it, it’s pronounced Pohl La-bon-té, not whatever you thought. He’s Quebecois, whatever that means. It can’t be edible; I’d know if it was edible.

For pitching next week, we either use Brobeck as the extra starter on Thursday or use him in order on Tuesday and then get a spot starter from AAA. Any pitching plan that doesn’t involve Brobeck in some capacity probably involves forfeits. And no, Craig Kniep has not found his mojo again in St. Pete so far; he’s walking eight batters per nine innings.

Speaking of pitching, we still have three very good starting pitchers, and if the offense keeps being comatose like this, then those three good starting pitchers will all be traded in the next five weeks and we’ll suck our way to 90 losses for a good draft pick again. The mix on paw is obviously not working, and it’s a bit depressing, not gonna lie.

We move on to Vegas, then home for a 5-game (…!) set with the Crusaders, and even more home games against the Titans and Indians in the week before the All Star Game.

Fun Fact: The Crusaders are 16-5 in June and 24-9 for their last 33 games.

They are running away with the division quite obviously now, with the Raccoons being a paltry 10-11 in June, and a respectable but insufficient 19-14 for their own last 33 games.