[Westheim]

Raccoons (71-66) @ Indians (67-68) – September 3-5, 2057

The Raccoons had six games left and a 7-5 season series lead against the Indians – the only season series against a CL North opponent that was still up for grabs at this point. Indy was hanging on somehow despite scoring the fewest runs in the CL and allowing the fourth-most runs; their -74 run differential didn’t mesh at all with their nearly .500 record.

Projected matchups:
Ryan Wade (0-0) vs. Marcus Wilkins (4-5, 4.20 ERA)
J.J. Sensabaugh (2-2, 4.78 ERA) vs. Fernando Salazar (8-10, 4.52 ERA)
Craig Kniep (4-5, 5.77 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (7-11, 3.74 ERA)

Left-hander for the series finale.

The Raccoons meanwhile expected to be without Trent Brassfield for the entire week, so the only actual threat remaining in the lineup was Abercrombie, although the rookies Labonte and Johnson were hitting .300+ with OPS+ of 135 or better entering this week, but of course neither was even close to qualifying for rate stat rankings by year’s end. They had 275 PA between them.

Game 1
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – RF Abercrombie – C Chavez – CF Oley – LF Johnson – 3B Benitez – 1B A. Wade – P R. Wade
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B An. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – CF Oldfield – SS Mullen – RF Abel – LF Ewers – C Werman – P Wilkins

Ryan Wade made his season debut with a 1-0 thanks to Lonzo’s triple and Abercrombie’s sac fly in the top of the first inning, but the Indians soon went up 2-1 in the bottom 2nd when Cory Oldfield hit a leadoff single, Wade nailed Kevin Ewers with two outs and two strikes, and Danny Werman hit a gapper for a 2-run double after that. It didn’t get much better after that; Matt Kilday hit a leadoff single in the third inning, stole a base and advanced another on a groundout, and scored on Oldfield’s sac fly after old reliable Bill Quinteros had advanced the line by drawing a walk. Quinteros then did the damage himself with a 2-run homer to right in the fifth inning, his 900th home run against the Raccoons in his career. I counted. Nope, Ryan Wade pitched as well as Aaron Wade batted (.100 by the middle of the game), and got a double play turned behind him to get dragged through six innings. The rest of the team was in lockstep, though, and didn’t produce much after the first inning run. Antonio Rios singled home Kilday and his 2-out double against Alex Rios in the latter’s season debut in the bottom 7th, after which the Raccoons finally put a few hits together after a couple of “a single per inning” frames in a row. Todd Oley doubled home Abercrombie and Chavez off left-hander Bill Dewan, but Johnson and Benitez then made meek outs against righty Matt Green. 6-3 Indians. Labonte 2-5; Lavorano 2-5, 3B; Oley 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Game 2
POR: 1B Royer – SS Lavorano – 2B Labonte – RF Abercrombie – C Chavez – LF Johnson – CF Oley – 3B Bribiesca – P Sensabaugh
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B An. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – RF Lovins – CF Oldfield – SS Mullen – LF O. Ramos – C Werman – P F. Salazar

Lonzo and Quinteros both hit a double in isolation in their teams’ offensive halves of the first inning, but the game remained scoreless for longer, also because Lonzo his next time up hit into a double play with Bribiesca and Royer on the corners and one out. Indy scored in the fourth, finally, with Quinteros and Oldfield clipping singles to go to the corners. Dan Mullen shot a double through Royer to score the game’s first run, while a walk to Orlando Ramos loaded the bases with only one out. However, Sensabaugh struck out the battery to get out of the inning rather than collapsing entirely, which was a rather pleasant development for once, as was Sensabaugh striking an RBI double of his own past Antonio Rios with two outs in the top 5th, plating Elijah Johnson’s leadoff walk to get even again. Royer drew another walk behind him, but Lonzo grounded out.

There was a spattering of rain in the sixth inning; the tarp was brought out in the middle of the inning, then rolled right back up again, which still took 20 minutes to sort out. Sensabaugh came back out to give up a leadoff double to Chris Lovins, but stranded that go-ahead run at third base for the rest of the inning. Sensabaugh and Royer *again* reached base with two outs in the seventh inning on a single and walk, respectively, but again Lonzo couldn’t get through and grounded out to Dan Mullen at short. It was a no-decision in the end for the rookie, who got two more outs before walking Antonio Rios on four pitches in the bottom 7th and was replaced with Ricky Herrera, who got a grounder to second from Quinteros.

Soon the rain returned and we got our second rain delay of the day, this time much more substantial at just over an hour. When play resumed, the eighth was scoreless, while the Raccoons got Oley on base with a leadoff walk off closer Randy Slocum in the ninth inning. Bribiesca reached on an error by shortstop Ruben Rodriguez, but Griggs popped out, and Royer did the same. For the third time on the day, Lonzo was in the box with two on and two outs, and again couldn’t find a hit – nor could Antonio Rios find grip on the slimy field and ball on the 2-1 grounder he hit to third base, and 2-1 was the score after the ball flubbed out of Rios’ hand twice, no throw was made, and Oley jiggered home to break the tie. Lonzo stole second, but Labonte flew out to right to end the inning. Matt Walters got the ball in the bottom 9th then, struck out Bernie Bahena, then saw Ruben Rodriguez reach base on Lonzo’s error – pretty much the same circumstances that gave Portland the lead in the top of the inning. Griggs in right then misjudged Hugo Munoz’ pinch-hit fly to right and played it into a double, but with the tying and winning runs in scoring position, Walters popped out Rios to Labonte. A righty pitcher in this instance would issue an intentional walk to Quinteros and try his luck with Will McIntyre, now in the #4 spot, but Walters would go after Quinteros, who in turn went after a 1-0 pitch and hit it at Labonte. And Labonte ****** that play, too. The error scored the tying run, and McIntyre’s single through the left side plated the winning run. 3-2 Indians. Chavez 2-4; Sensabaugh 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K and 2-3, 2B, RBI;

(looks up and shakes fist at the snickering baseball gods)

Game 3
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Griggs – LF Abercrombie – C Zamora – 2B Bribiesca – 3B Espinoza – 1B A. Wade – P Kniep
IND: 2B Ewers – SS Mullen – 1B B. Quinteros – CF Abel – RF McIntyre – 3B Kilday – LF Briggs – C Werman – P Fitzgibbon

Hard to say what was more surprising – Abercrombie’s blind over-the-shoulder robbery of Chris Briggs that denied the Indians of a 2-out run and extra bases and instead ended the bottom 2nd, or that Aaron Wade actually hit a double off the wall after that and was driven home for a 1-0 Coons lead by Kniep in the top 3rd. Fitzgibbon returned the favor with a single off Kniep in the bottom 3rd, and Dan Mullen’s 2-out double through Espinoza then tied the game. Kniep nicked Quinteros, then gave up another run on Kevin Abel’s single to center. McIntyre grounded out to Espinoza to leave two on, but now with Indy ahead 2-1.

The game dragged on without much involvement by the visitors’ offense, while Kniep gave up a double to McIntyre, singles to Kilday and Briggs, and no runs in the bottom 6th. How so? McIntyre was thrown out trying to stretch his leadoff double into a triple, and after the two singles Kniep struck out Werman and Fitzgibbon in order to conclude the inning.

The Raccoons then found their way back to tie the game in the seventh. Ruben Zamora doubled with one down, and after Bribiesca popped out, Espinoza grabbed all of his ninth (!) RBI with a 2-out single to left-center. Wade grounded out, while in the eighth Lonzo and Griggs slapped 2-out singles, only to get stranded when Abercrombie, who didn’t see Fitzgibbon well at all, grounded out easily. The L would then hang on Eloy Sencion. He drilled PH Chris Lovins after Mike Lane got the first out of the bottom 8th. Antonio Rios singled, and Sencion’s poor throw to second base on Werman’s comebacker couldn’t be handled by Lonzo. Lovins scored the go-ahead run on that play. Zamora, Bribiesca, and Johnson went down in order in the ninth inning against right-handed Tim Jacoby. 3-2 Indians. A. Wade 2-3, 2B; Kniep 7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K and 1-2, RBI;

When Aaron Wade is your best batter, you can just as well go home.

And play Boston.

Raccoons (71-69) vs. Titans (64-75) – September 7-9, 2057

The Indians were scoring the fewest runs – though enough, as we had found out – and the Titans had the worst batting average in the Continental League, although they managed to plate the ninth-most runs (just one run behind Portland) and held on with the #5 pitching for a -8 run differential. They should be the ones with the .500 record! Well, maybe we could help them there with some more unraveling of our own. We were up 11-4 on Boston for the year, though. Injuries had decimated the Titans roster, however, with Ryan Musgrave, Matt Gilmore, Hector Weir, and Brent Andrews all out and on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Ramon Carreno (4-5, 4.50 ERA) vs. Medardo Regueir (11-12, 3.26 ERA)
Justin DeRose (2-2, 3.77 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (0-0, 33.75 ERA)
Ryan Wade (0-1, 7.50 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (12-10, 3.30 ERA)

That was not a typo on Brenize, the league’s #2 prospect. He had made three relief appearances so far, being rammed through every outfield wall for ten runs in 2.2 innings, walking as many. One strikeout. The rotation lined up in a way for him to start on Saturday, although the Titans would still wisen up on that. Regueir was the only scheduled lefty here.

Game 1
BOS: 3B Torrence – C Burkart – LF Y. Valdez – SS Sowell – CF Whitlow – 2B J. Watson – 1B Dorey – RF J. Harris – P Regueir
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Royer – LF Abercrombie – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – RF Griggs – 1B A. Wade – P Carreno

Through five innings on a quickly progressing game on Friday there was a Ken Sowell homer for a 1-0 Boston lead from the second inning, and otherwise teams were splitting four double plays hit into right down the middle for no great effect. Ethan Torrence’s leadoff single and Bruce Burkart’s following comebacker the mound looked like the fifth two-for-one of the day, but Carreno threw the ball away instead, and now Boston had two on with nobody out, but then managed to have Yoslan Valdez’ groundout advance the runners into scoring position, yet Sowell grounded out to Brobeck to keep them pinned, and Eric Whitlow grounded out to Carreno to end the inning. Singles by Jonathan Watson and Jorge Arviso stitched a second Boston run together in the seventh, though. Bottom 7th, Chavez hit a leadoff single through the left side and Griggs tried another 6-4-3 grounder, but now Sowell through a double play ball away and the Coons had two on with nobody out. But don’t you worry for the Critters; Aaron Wade was on the call, found that ******* 6-4-3 double play, and Elijah Johnson struck out batting against the lefty in place of Carreno. Tanizaki walked Valdez and gave up an RBI single to Whitlow in the eighth, while the Raccoons again had two on and nobody out with an error involved in the bottom 8th when Regueir gave up a leadoff single to Labonte before Watson dropped Lonzo’s pop. The middle of the order croaked, however, even after a double steal by the runners. Royer hit a sac fly, but that was it, Lonzo being stranded on second base. Alex Diaz retired the Raccoons in order in the ninth inning. 3-1 Titans. Lavorano 2-4; A. Wade 1-2, BB;

Oh boy!

Game 2
BOS: 2B J. Watson – C Burkart – LF Y. Valdez – SS Sowell – CF Whitlow – 1B I. Santiago – 3B D. Mendoza – RF J. Harris – P Brenize
POR: 1B Royer – SS Lavorano – 2B Labonte – RF Abercrombie – 3B Brobeck – LF Johnson – CF Oley – C Stanton – P DeRose

Alright, maybe we could get a few swings in against the black-eyed #2 prospect, then! DeRose walked Watson to get going, but Burkart hit into a double play and the Titans were turned away in the top 1st, after which Royer flew out deep to right, and Lonzo then hit his first jack of the season to left. Yup, lookin’ claw-lickin’ good! Brenize then walked Labonte on four pitches, but Abercrombie struck out on a 3-2 in the dirt and the inning fizzled out. The fireworks started in the second inning – on DeRose. He nailed Eric Whitlow, and while Isarel Santiago and Jonathan Harris both flew out easily, Diego Mendoza hit an RBI double in between. Brenize gave himself the lead with a 2-out RBI single, followed by a walk to Watson, Burkart’s RBI single, Valdez’ 2-run double, and finally a K on a free-swinging Sowell. 5-1 Boston it was, then, and DeRose was still the biggest ******* dork in the game.

Although Brenize might yet give him a run for his money. Johnson hit a fly in the second that had the length, but went the wrong side past the right foul pole. In the third, Brenize walked a pair. DeRose hit a single, but that was all in the bottom 4th, and then DeRose was yoinked after putting a pair on base himself in the top 5th, then still with a 5-1 score. Brenize then loaded the bases in the bottom 5th with a 1-out single by Labonte and walks drawn by Abercrombie and Johnson. Oley was batting with two outs as the tying run, but flew out to Harris on the warning track on the first pitch he saw and Brenize’s 97th of the game. And that was all that was needed for the Boston rook’s first career W; Willie de Leon batted for him in the top of the sixth, while the Coons kept playing like dorks against the pen. Matt Stanton walked and was plated on two 2-out singles by Lonzo and Labonte off Jim Peterson in the bottom 6th, 5-2, but the Raccoons sent out Colby Bowen in the seventh, which in hindsight was not the greatest move of all time. Sowell walked, Whitlow and Santiago singled to plate a run, and then Alex Mancilla, the master of disaster, came in and gave up a 3-piece to Diego Mendoza – the 22-year-old’s first career home run. I hope he bursts from joy……..

It only got worse. The eighth began with Mancilla being ****, got sprinkled with Lonzo and Royer errors, and once John Scott got involved, the Titans scored four unearned runs in the inning. The Coons hit a pair of RBI triples between Oley and Solorzano in the ninth against Bryan McDuffie, which somehow didn’t manage to erase the 11-run deficit. 13-4 Titans. Lavorano 2-5, HR, RBI; Labonte 2-4, BB, RBI; Oley 3-5, 3B, RBI; Solorzano (PH) 1-1, 3B, RBI;

The Portland Raccoons, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Rated PG-13.

Game 3
BOS: 3B Torrence – C Burkart – LF Y. Valdez – SS Sowell – CF Whitlow – 2B J. Watson – 1B M. Navarro – RF J. Harris – P Koga
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – LF Abercrombie – 3B Brobeck – C Chavez – RF Griggs – CF Solorzano – 1B A. Wade – P R. Wade

Ryan Wade was taken deep by Burkart in the first, Whitlow in the second, and then had an *actual* meltdown in the third inning, offering two walks, a wild pitch, a couple of singles, and two more runs to the Titans. In other words, Ryan Wade failed his way on a 4-0 hook before Aaron Wade could ever fail in the batter’s box…

Wade then had scoreless middle innings, racking up six strikeouts while he was on it, but by that point I was reasonably doozy after suckling on a bottle of Capt’n Coma for most of the preceding hour. The Raccoons didn’t amount to a run until the sixth inning when Lonzo legged out an infield single, stole #53 for the year, and was driven in by Abercrombie, who was then caught stealing trying to force the issue himself. Wade went seven despite a leadoff walk to Harris to begin that last inning. He got a hard comebacker for Koga that he turned for a 1-6-3 double play, then got a lazy fly out from Torrence to complete seven. Marcos Chavez then led off the bottom 7th with a double to center, but even with Watson’s error that put Solorzano on base the Coons failed to score in the inning; when Aaron Wade flew out to Harris in right, Chavez went from third base and was thrown out at the plate for a 9-2 double play. Scoreless relief from Scott and Tanizaki in the last two innings was also pointless because the Raccoons failed to put another paw on base. 4-1 Titans. Abercrombie 2-4, RBI;

In other news

September 3 – The Thunder send C Mitch Korfhage (.337, 8 HR, 39 RBI) to the Rebels in a waiver deal, receiving a prospect.
September 6 – Bone spurs in his elbow end the season of OCT SP Tan Brink (10-9, 3.47 ERA) prematurely. He is expected to recover in time for Opening Day, however.
September 7 – LAP 2B/SS Jesse Sweeney (.277, 6 HR, 42 RBI) will miss the rest of the month with a broken wrist and would be highly questionable for the playoffs.
September 8 – LAP C Todd Eaton (.246, 2 HR, 11 RBI) hits a home run for a 1-0 win in Sacramento.
September 9 – The Condors will be without LF Tim Duncan (.268, 16 HR, 73 RBI) for the rest of the year. The 31-year-old was out with a herniated disc.

FL Player of the Week: NAS C David Johnson (.245, 17 HR, 63 RBI), swatting .478 (11-23) with 4 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN C Tristan Waker (.296, 9 HR, 71 RBI), hitting .407 (11-27) with 2 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

0-6.

And not necessarily in a week where I would have expected or feared to go 0-6. Just when I thought they’d fail to turn a losing record!

There’s not enough booze to drink to stomach this week…

Next week: Loggers, Condors on the road. Brass should be back in the lineup to start the set in Milwaukee on Tuesday, not that he’s gonna turn the team around on his own.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have not turned back-to-back losing seasons since 2032.

Funnily enough, 2032 was the year of no pitching whatsoever, and it’s a bit similar this time around. Back then we even had a qualifying pitcher, Ignacio del Rio, who went 12-14 with a 4.60 ERA. Jason Gurney was 6-13 with a 6.29 ERA (but was intentionally removed from his last start before he could get to 162 innings and actually have it “count”). The rest was injury-wrecked madness from Rico Gutierrez (4-7, 4.97 ERA), Tom Shumway (2-8, 8.40 ERA, and never pitching in the Bigs again), plus well underdone rookies Bernie Chavez (3-8, 4.67 ERA) and Raffaello Sabre (5-8, 4.49 ERA), who at least turned out to be forces for the rest of the decade before getting flayed by injuries themselves. The best ERA on the team (regardless of innings) was 2.51 by closer Chris Wise, who saved 33 games, and there weren’t many more than that to save; the rest of the team had four saves in total, three by lefties.

This year nobody will beat the 149.2 innings by Kennedy Adkins before being traded to New York. The most innings pitched on the roster right now is the 91 filed by Ramon Carreno, and those were mostly horrendous as well. The 2032 Raccoons didn’t have a single even semi-regular starting pitcher with an ERA better than 4, and the same fate will very likely befall the 2057 Raccoons unless one between DeRose, Sensabaugh, and Carreno gets their crap together yet, and it isn’t ******* looking like it, is it?