[Westheim]

Raccoons (25-30) @ Indians (26-31) – June 3-6, 2058

The Raccoons were to play four games with the Indians, who they had already played four games against, splitting the whole affair two and two. Indy was bottoms in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed in the Continental League, lugging around a -40 run differential that looked a lot like it was gonna get bigger. Maybe not this week, though.

Projected matchups:
Ramon Carreno (3-5, 3.82 ERA) vs. Bill Lawrence (3-6, 4.15 ERA)
Ryan Wade (0-1, 48.60 ERA) vs. Jeremy Fetta (2-3, 3.47 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (4-3, 3.60 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (6-5, 4.50 ERA)
Zach Stewart (4-5, 2.78 ERA) vs. Josh Barbieri (2-6, 5.02 ERA)

Fitzgibbon was the only southpaw to come up against the Critters in this series.

The Coons had been rained out on Sunday. We kept Carreno on regular rest on Monday, then moved Ryan Wade to Tuesday. Herrera and Stewart had both pitched on Saturday, so neither would be on regular rest to start on Wednesday. We might figure out something, use Brobeck, call someone up from AAA, or maybe meet somebody in the hotel lobby, a travelling insurance salesman that wanted to give pitching a go his whole life. Couldn’t be much worse than Wade.

Noah Caswell had been activated for the opener, and Matt Walters was still rehabbing in St. Pete, but was due to rejoin the team this week as well. He had so far pitched three times, and I wanted him to go out at least four times, maybe five.

Game 1
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – C Chavez – 3B Brobeck – LF Puckeridge – 1B Royer – RF Martinez – P Carreno
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B An. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – LF O. Ramos – RF Lovins – SS R. Vargas – CF Abel – C Lefebvre – P B. Lawrence

Bill Lawrence retired 15 of 16 Raccoons he faced in the first five innings, only seeing Brobeck reach on an error in the second inning, and that was it for the Raccoons early on, while the Indians didn’t get *much*, but they got Carreno for a homer to left by Antonio Rios in the third inning, and Quinteros lashed a 2-out, 2-run double with Matt Kilday and Rios on the corners in the fifth inning for a 3-0 lead for the home team. The Raccoons loaded the bases in the top 6th through precious little talent of their own. Jesus Martinez slapped a leadoff single, and Carreno failed to bunt, poking for a duck snort single at 0-2 instead. Labonte tried the old 6-4-3 vanishing trick with a grounder to Ricardo Vargas, but Vargas bobbled the ball and the Coons instead had the tying runs all on with nobody out. Lonzo’s slow grounder to third base allowed a run to score while he was thrown out at first base by Rios, but Noah Caswell made all the doctor bills worthwhile with a game-tying single over the head of Vargas. The inning fizzled out after that, while Pucks and Martinez drew walks in the seventh inning against Lawrence, but Carreno bunted into an inning-ending double play, then continued his bid for an L when he allowed Kilday on base with a 2-out single in the bottom 7th. Kilday stole second, Rios socked an RBI double, and Quinteros would single home another run off Ricky Herrera when the Coons were finally full of Carreno’s act. Lawrence went eight, and Randy Slocum held up the lead for the Indians in the ninth despite a leadoff double by Marcos Chavez, who was stranded on second base. 5-3 Indians. Martinez 1-2, BB;

Matt Walters came back on Tuesday after throwing 17 pitches on Monday. Alex Rios (0.00 ERA) was returned to St. Petersburg.

Game 2
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – C Chavez – 3B Brobeck – RF Puckeridge – 1B Royer – LF Brassfield – P R. Wade
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B An. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – LF O. Ramos – RF Lovins – SS R. Vargas – CF S. Thompson – C Lefebvre – P Fetta

Thankfully there was never a concern that Matt Walters might pitch on Tuesday. Ryan Wade briefly fooled me by starting the game with two outs, then walked Quinteros, nailed Orlando Ramos with an 0-2 pitch, threw a wild pitch, allowed a single to Chris Lovins, walked Vargas, and then Steve Thompson singled, another wild pitch, Michael Lefebvre doubled, ANOTHER WILD PITCH, and then a K to Jeremy Fetta finally ended the 5-run inning. Wade ****** another run on the board in the second, then walked the bags full in the bottom 3rd before hitting Fetta with another ****** pitch. He was yanked for Hamann, and was on waivers before the game was over. Hamann was also no more helpful than a wet rag, allowing RBI singles to Kilday and Rios, and another run to score on Quinteros’ double play grounder. 10-0 at that point, by the way. The game was essentially over, and it wasn’t like the Raccoons did any rallying. They scored a run in the fifth inning, getting on base Royer and Brass to begin the inning, but only scored on Fetta’s wild pitch. Yay. Ornelas allowed a run to Indy in the seventh that didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. 11-1 Indians. Sheilds 1-1;

Ryan Wade (0-2, 46.64 ERA) was surely never going to be seen again around here. The vacated roster spot was used for Cameron Argenziano to make a spot start on Wednesday. The 30-year-old left-hander was 2-7 with a 4.20 ERA with the Alley Cats, and across an inexplicably long time of ferrying back and forth between Portland and St. Pete had accumulated a 10-12 record with 3.95 ERA in Portland.

Game 3
POR: 2B Bribiesca – SS Lavorano – C Chavez – CF Caswell – 3B Brobeck – 1B Royer – RF Martinez – LF Brassfield – P Argenziano
IND: SS Kilday – CF Oldfield – 1B B. Quinteros – LF Abel – RF O. Ramos – C Lefebvre – 3B R. Vargas – 2B Bahena – P Fitzgibbon

I was begging the baseball gods for five innings from Argenziano and being vaguely in contention after that, but the Raccoons were actually up 2-0 after five innings, having scored their runs in the top 3rd, which began with … an Argenziano double. Lonzo doubled home the pitcher, and Caswell singled home Lonzo for the runs, while Argenziano was not flashy, but serviceable on the hill, though Noah Caswell did some heavy lifting in centerfield as well. Four hits, two walks, three strikeouts on 79 pitches through five didn’t scream ace, but hinted at the possibility of more spot starts, because the baseball gods knew the Raccoons needed a lot more spot starts…

The Coons couldn’t score in the seventh despite leadoff singles from Royer and Martinez, while the bottom of the inning saw an infield single from Bernie Bahena with one out, and the runner reached third base on Hugo Munoz’ pinch-hit single. Kilday grounded out on an 0-2 pitch, plating Bahena, and when Antonio Rios pinch-hit for Cory Oldfield, the Raccoons went for Tanizaki, who nearly gave up a homer to right on a 1-2 pitch. Martinez made the catch on the warning track. Top 8th, Ben Akman came on for Indy and retired nobody; Lonzo singled, Chavez tripled him home, Caswell hit another RBI single, and Brobeck walked. Jameel Williams then restored order and retired the 6-7-8 in a row, holding the Coons to a 4-1 lead. Lots of loud noises and base hits by Kevin Abel and Lefebvre gave Indy a counter-run in the home half of the eighth, ultimately setting up Matt Walters for his first ABL save chance of 2058. He converted it in three batters. 4-2 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-5, 2B, RBI; Caswell 2-3, BB, RBI; Argenziano 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (1-0) and 1-2, 2B;

Game 4
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – 3B Brobeck – LF Puckeridge – RF Martinez – 1B Brassfield – C Lathers – P B. Herrera
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B An. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – LF O. Ramos – CF Oldfield – SS R. Vargas – RF Abel – C Villafan – P Barbieri

Bobby and Barbieri traded zeroes for three innings before the Indians’ right-hander left with an oblique tweak and the bullpen took over for them. It took two innings of Matt Green for Brass to single and steal a base, then come home with two outs on Labonte’s single through the hole on the right side. Offense was very much at a premium for either side, with three base hits for either team by the time of the seventh-inning stretch. Herrera had only allowed one hit to actually leave the infield. The bottom 7th began with Ramos reaching on a Brobeck error, which wasn’t great. Oldfield struck out, but Vargas legged out another infield single, which was mildly annoying. Same for the wild pitch that Herrera threw at 0-1 to PH Steve Thompson. The runners moved up, but Thompson’s poor second out didn’t allow for a run to score, and Willie Villafan’s fly to center ended up with a hustling Caswell to end the inning. The eighth was calm and collected, and the ninth presented a conundrum. The stinky Coons had not gotten past a 2-out single by Jesus Martinez in the top 9th, but Herrera looked absolutely in control whenever Brobeck wasn’t sabotaging him. So instead of bringing in Matt Walters, we brought in Tyrese Sheilds to bring calmness to third base. Quinteros flew out to center, but Ramos walked. Oldfield popped out. Vargas went down on strikes. 1-0 Blighters! Martinez 2-4; B. Herrera 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (5-3);

First career shutout for Bobby Herrera! Finally!

110 pitches, but Herrera’s build says he can take that easily, like Taki most recently.

Raccoons (27-32) vs. Wolves (33-26) – June 7-9, 2058

Bragging rights for best team in Oregon were on the table on the weekend, with the Wolves coming in for three games. This was the third straight year of these teams meeting each other in the regular season, with the Raccoons also having a 3-series winning streak, going 2-1 on the Wolves in ’57. Salem was tops of the FL West, though, with a rather average offense, but allowing the third fewest runs in the Federal League. That was with the best rotation and the second-worst bullpen.

Projected matchups:
Zach Stewart (4-5, 2.78 ERA) vs. Ben Peterson (4-4, 4.12 ERA)
Chance Fox (0-0) vs. Gabriel Casanova (5-3, 3.56 ERA)
Ramon Carreno (3-6, 4.08 ERA) vs. Blake Sparks (9-2, 2.69 ERA)

The series would start with us facing two southpaws, and then a right-handed ace on Sunday. Oh woe is me.

Chance Fox had been a #3 pick in the 2053 draft, and had made it up the levels rather slowly for being that high a pick. He had ranked as high as #29 as a prospect, but was #52 going into this season. He would turn 24 later this month. He was a southpaw and threw a 96mph heater, slider and changeups for groundballs, and way too many balls in general, but we needed a warm body and he was next in line. He also wasn’t on the roster yet, and I wasn’t exactly sure how to get him on after all.

Game 1
SAL: CF Calhoun – 3B Crist – SS Buss – 1B Fresco – C Fuller – CF J. Gutierrez – RF Rock – 2B Pietsch – P B. Peterson
POR: 2B Bribiesca – SS Lavorano – C Chavez – CF Caswell – 3B Brobeck – 1B Royer – RF Martinez – LF Brassfield – P Stewart

‘nother pitching duel; Stewart and Peterson were trading 2-hitters through five innings, with one of the hits Stewart served up having been a Peterson single. Both were walking a couple as well, but neither team had managed to shove anything across home plate. A leadoff walk to Tom Crist in the sixth inning didn’t change anything about that, but Jose Gutierrez singled up the middle to begin the seventh, and out of bloody nowhere Stewart gave up back-to-back bombs to PH Jose Campos and Nate Pietsch for a 3-0 deficit. Siwik replaced him after that, while the Raccoons got a leadoff single from Brobeck and Steve Royer to hit into a double play in the home half of the same frame… Top 8th, Jeff Buss and Belchior Fresco hit singles off Siwik, who got a double play from Tim Fuller, but Buss scored an extra run from third base. The Raccoons looked beaten even when Toushi hit a surprise home run in Siwik’s place in the bottom 8th, and then got another run scratched out against Jason Posey in the ninth when Pucks singled home pinch-runner Paul Labonte, but by then I was sobbing uncontrollably because Labonte was running for Caswell, who had banged up his knee sliding into second base on his earlier double and limped off the field. Martinez ended the game with a fly to center then. 4-2 Wolves. Brobeck 2-3, BB; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1, RBI; Imai (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

His knee is bruised, Luis? – How bruised? – I mean, can he zoom around like a Gold Glove centerfie…– *Fine* I’ll put him on the DL…

WELL. At least that opened a roster spot for the one-off cameo for Chance Fox… One-off for now, because we’ll have a day off five days from Saturday, so he won’t hang around after the start.

Game 2
SAL: CF Calhoun – 3B Crist – SS Buss – 1B Fresco – C Newman – RF D. Gonzalez – CF J. Gutierrez – 2B Pietsch – P Casanova
POR: 2B Bribiesca – SS Lavorano – C Chavez – 3B Brobeck – CF Royer – RF Martinez – LF Brassfield – 1B Imai – P Fox

Merely 4-4 with a 4.85 ERA in St. Pete, Chance Fox struck out Aidan Calhoun to begin his major league career, and whiffed three in total the first time through the Wolves order, giving up nothing outside a Belchior Fresco single. Of course, we can’t have nice things here, so the fourth inning began with a Tom Crist single to center, then walks to Buss and Fresco. Three on, nobody out, Fox whiffed Ben Newman, whiffed Dave Gonzalez, nailed Jose Gutierrez with a 2-strike pitch, NAILED NATE PIETSCH WITH A 2-STRIKE PITCH, and then gave up a bases-clearing double into the left-center gap to the ******* opposing pitcher. – Maud, no!! Take your paws away and LET ME THE **** GO!! (tries to hang himself from the highest shelf of the bobblehead display while Maud keeps tugging around on the noose and Cristiano Carmona tries to hold up his hindpaws to keep it loose while having Clyde Brady and Luke Newton bobbleheads rain down on him)

Fox ended up going two-and-a-third more innings without allowing much at all, ending up with a wicked line that included three hits, three walks, and five earned runs, not that he didn’t deserve every single one of them up his furry tush.

The Coons were bloody awful and had two base knocks before the stretch, then a Brobeck homer over the fence in rightfield right out of the stretch, narrowing the score all the way to 5-1. Brass and Martinez hit singles to knock out Casanova, while right-hander Brian Fuqua walked Pucks in the #9 hole, but Labonte ended the inning with a grounder to short when he batted for Bribiesca with three on and two already out. The only other run that was scored in the game came off Brobeck in the ninth inning on two more Salem hits. 6-1 Wolves. Brobeck 2-4, HR, RBI;

(sits loudly bawling at the foot of the shelf in a sea of 2000-ish Raccoons bobbleheads)

Game 3
SAL: CF Rock – 3B Crist – SS Buss – 1B Fresco – C Newman – RF D. Gonzalez – LF J. Gutierrez – 2B Pietsch – P Sparks
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – RF Martinez – 1B Brassfield – CF Oley – C Lathers – 3B Sheilds – P Carreno

Todd Oley had batted .275 with no homers for the 2057 Raccoons and was similarly powerless in AAA this year, but was brought up as a new left-handed outfielder after Joey Christopher had been rather disappointing during Caswell’s most recent DL stint. Oley also got an RBI single in his second at-bat of the year, driving in Brass, who had just doubled the game’s first run across. Oley was then caught stealing to end the inning.

Carreno had a 1-hitter until he didn’t when Tom Rock, Tom Crist, and Jeff Buss all flicked singles to center or left-center at the start of the sixth inning. There was no mercy. Belchior Fresco belted in two runs, and Newman’s groundout and Dave Gonzalez’ sac fly cleaned up the bases pretty good for a 4-2 Wolves lead. Carreno got a few more outs and Sencion got some more. Ornelas gave up a run in the ninth. The Coons offense never ever ******* did anything anymore and the team ended up swept. 5-2 Wolves. Oley 2-3, RBI;

In other news

June 3 – It’s 2,000 career hits for SAC SS/2B Chris Navarro (.306, 0 HR, 19 RBI) with a 2-for-4 day in a 5-1 win over the Warriors. The 2-time FL stolen base and 2-time FL triples champion locks down the milestone with a second-inning single off SFW SP Victor Salcido (2-8, 5.01 ERA).
June 5 – SAL OF Tom Rock (.300, 2 HR, 4 RBI) hits his first two home runs of the season, including a 2-run walkoff home run in the bottom 10th to beat the Stars, 9-8. The game was tied at three past eight innings before both teams scored a 4-spot in the ninth. Dallas offered one run in the top 10th, but was outbid by Rock’s second longshot.
June 8 – NYC SP Ben Seiter (8-3, 3.51 ERA) 1-hits the Pacifics in a 9-0 rout, striking out nine L.A. batters. Only INF Steve Diaz (.234, 3 HR, 26 RBI) hits a double for the Pacifics while New York’s LF/RF Danny Ramirez (.417, 0 HR, 3 RBI) goes 5-for-5 with an RBI.
June 8 – ATL OF/1B Jon Alade (.192, 0 HR, 8 RBI) will miss another four weeks with a torn thumb ligament.
June 8 – The Scorpions beat the Indians, 6-4 in 16 innings. Six of the game’s ten runs are scored in the 16th inning.
June 9 – The Thunder will be without 3B/RF Ed Soberanes (.338, 7 HR, 31 RBI) until the All Star Game. The 34-year-old was laboring on a strained hammy.

FL Player of the Week: SFW 1B Miguel Medina (.342, 9 HR, 46 RBI), punching .630 (17-27) with 1 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC INF Zach Suggs (.285, 12 HR, 41 RBI), hitting .448 (13-29) with 3 HR, 14 RBI

Complaints and stuff

14 runs in seven games ain’t much. Not even honest work. (glares at some position players in the other corner)

It took just five days to re-break Noah Caswell, so now he’s on the DL with a bum knee. Maybe in two weeks we’ll get to marvel at our $36M man again.

No claims on Ryan Wade. No ****, I wonder why!

The season promises to grow long from here. Another 100 games need to be played by the Critters, which probably means they’ll score another 200 runs.

Next week: Cyclones, Crusaders, more tears, and the annual draft on Saturday.

Fun Fact: Kyle Brobeck leads the team in batting average among qualifiers.

Our best batter is a pitcher that can’t pitch anymore.

No, Maud, I want that on the bloody 2058 yearbook.