[Westheim]

New year, new Coons!?

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Raccoons (35-46) vs. Titans (46-36) – July 1-4, 2058

Half a game out of first place, the Titans needed wins, and they had eight games with the Raccoons in the next two weeks to get them. Boston was 3-1 against Portland this year, scoring the sixth-most runs and the third-fewest runs allowed. Their run differential was +28. They had the second-best rotation, even though the defense was a bit crummy. They were top three in homers, but bottom three in stolen bases. Outfielder Israel Santiago and pitchers Justin Martin and Xavier Caston were out and on the DL, the latter two for the rest of the year.

Projected matchups:
Ramon Carreno (3-8, 4.42 ERA) vs. Grant McKinnon (0-1, 5.29 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (3-0, 2.73 ERA) vs. Ryan Musgrave (9-3, 2.59 ERA)
Zach Stewart (6-7, 2.95 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (4-4, 3.22 ERA)
Chance Fox (0-3, 7.50 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (4-7, 4.47 ERA)

We’d see a full set of right-handers for this series. We’d also have a double-header on Friday, consisting of Bobby Herrera and Mystery Man.

Game 1
BOS: RF J. Harris – LF Ma. Gilmore – C Arviso – 1B M. Rubin – 2B W. de Leon – SS Leitch – CF Tobin – 3B D. Mendoza – P MacKinnon
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – C M. Chavez – 3B Brobeck – LF Puckeridge – RF Martinez – 1B Brassfield – P Carreno

Speaking of seventh-rounders from two years ago, that was what MacKinnon was. He was making his fourth career start on Monday, loaded the bags in the bottom 1st with a Lonzo double and two walks, but Pucks then flew out to Matt Gilmore. He drew a leadoff walk off Carreno in the third inning, which Jonathan Harris hitting a soft single right afterwards. Gilmore hit into a fielder’s choice, Carreno walked Jorge Arviso to fill the bags as well now – but Manny Rubin found Lonzo for the inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. Lonzo kept stirring, hitting a 1-out single to left in the home 3rd. He stole second, his 28th bag of the year, MacKinnon walked Caswell, and Marcos Chavez dropped a single into left-center that gave Lonzo ample time to hurry home from second base and score the game’s first run. Brobeck then found another inning-ending double play.

The next two innings were uneventful, but the Titans then suddenly flipped the score in the sixth inning with a leadoff single for Arviso and then a homer to left mashed by Willie de Leon. Arviso himself hit a home run off Neal Hamann in the eighth inning to extend the score to 3-1, while the Raccoons appeared to have disappeared by that point, but Chavez hit a long fly to right that was caught in the bottom 8th, and then Brobeck and Royer hit a pair of 2-out singles … but Martinez struck out; all that against Alex Mancilla to boot. Alex Diaz got the ninth; the right-hander walked Brass to bring the tying run to the plate to begin the inning, then put the tying on base with four straight balls to Toushi. Labonte narrowly singled past Danny Encarnacion at short on a 2-1 pitch, Brass raced home, and the score narrowed to 3-2. Lonzo’s own soft single loaded the bases and the winning run moved into scoring position. Cas whiffed – but Chavez came through with another single up the middle. Toushi scored, and Labonte raced around from second base and scored as well for a walkoff…! 4-3 Raccoons! Labonte 2-5, RBI; Lavorano 3-5, 2B; M. Chavez 2-4, BB, 3 RBI; Brobeck 2-3, BB, 2B; Royer (PH) 1-1;

The Titans made a trade overnight, acquiring SP Mike Pohlmann (5-5, 3.81 ERA) from the Bayhawks, along with half a million in cash, for two prospects, including #192 SP Dan Graham. Pohlmann was an option to pitch in the last game of the series.

Game 2
BOS: 2B W. de Leon – SS Leitch – 1B M. Rubin – C Burkart – RF J. Harris – CF Ma. Gilmore – LF Weir – 3B D. Mendoza – P Musgrave
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – 3B Brobeck – LF Puckeridge – RF Martinez – 1B Royer – C C. Chavez – P Argenziano

Paul Labonte had the first two base hits of the game, a pair of singles to begin the bottom 1st and then again in the bottom 3rd. He was doubled up the first time by Lonzo, and the second time singled Cortez Chavez, who had walked, from second to third. Chavez only scored on a wild pitch, and Lonzo struck out to end the inning. The Titans didn’t get a base hit until the fifth inning, but then found back-to-back singles from Hector Weir and Diego Mendoza. Musgrave bunted them into scoring position, but de Leon grounded out to Lonzo and that stranded the runners. They were getting closer, though – Manny Rubin and Bruce Burkart had more back-to-back, 1-out singles in the sixth. Jonathan Harris struck out, but Matt Gilmore walked, loading the bases. Weir, however, hit a soft comebacker to Argenziano and was out at first by a mile, stranding a full set of runners.

The Raccoons would have the bases loaded of their own in the bottom of the sixth. Lonzo reached on an error by Mendoza, last week’s/month’s batter/rookie of the thing, stole another bag, while Cas walked and Pucks singled after Brobeck K’ed. Jesus Martinez socked a long fly to center, but it was caught by Gilmore. Lonzo scored, though. Royer hit another long fly, but this one got into the gap and fell in for a 2-run double, extending the lead to 4-0. The Titans walked Chavez intentionally, but then Musgrave gave up another 2-out hit, an RBI double to Argenziano. The shame! The demolition finished with a 2-run knock by Labonte. Musgrave was yanked, although all six runs in the inning were unearned. Argenziano went eight innings, giving up a solo home run to Rubin in the final frame he pitched. Ornelas’ 1-2-3 ninth capped off the game. 7-1 Raccoons. Labonte 3-4, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 2-4; Argenziano 8.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, W (4-0) and 1-2, 2B, RBI;

Game 3
BOS: CF Torrence – SS Leitch – 1B M. Rubin – C Burkart – LF Y. Valdez – RF J. Harris – 2B W. de Leon – 3B D. Mendoza – P Glaude
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – C M. Chavez – 3B Brobeck – LF Puckeridge – RF Martinez – 1B Brassfield – P Stewart

Everybody seemed to hit the ball really hard off Zach Stewart in the first inning, but the Titans got sharp singles from Alan Leitch and Manny Rubin and then nothing else. Burkart struck out and Yoslan Valdez grounded out sharply to Brassfield to end the inning. Then it seemed fine, until the fourth rolled along. Valdez and Harris socked more sharp singles, de Leon walked, and then Mendoza finally came through with a 2-out, 2-run single, the first runs in the game. Glaude grounded out, leaving two aboard, but he was no-hitting the Critters at this point, so he was doing *something* right. Stewart really wasn’t, giving up a double to Leitch and then the run on another Burkart single in the fifth inning, falling behind 3-0 in the process. The no-hitter ended on a 2-out triple by Brassfield in the bottom 5th, but there was A) nobody on, and B) no help coming from Stewart either.

Stewart pitched into the seventh, but was removed after a walk to Rubin, with Siwik going out to finish the inning. Glaude ran into his own spot of bother in the bottom 7th, nicking Brobeck and giving up a single to Pucks with one out. Martinez then based a drive into the gap, and Harris, the mean bean, raced in there and picked it out of the sky for a frustrating second out. Brass’ RBI single and Toushi’s RBI double narrowed the score to 3-2 then, but Labonte grounded out, leaving the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. The Titans then went through four relievers in the eighth inning. Between them, Mancilla and Dave Parra and Ramon Montes de Oca and Dan Lawrence put Cas and Brobeck on the corners, but then got Pucks to pop out to de Leon to end the inning. Arf!! Instead, Boston got an insurance run in the ninth thanks to Mike Tobin’s leadoff double off Eloy Sencion, who surrendered the run on a Leitch single; they then sent in Alex Diaz again. Martinez, Brass, and Royer went down without much of a fuss. 4-2 Titans. Brassfield 2-4, 3B, RBI; Imai (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

Lonzo needed a day off, especially with the double-header looming, and wasn’t in the lineup on Thursday.

Game 4
BOS: CF Torrence – 2B W. de Leon – 1B M. Rubin – C Burkart – RF J. Harris – SS Tobin – LF Weir – 3B D. Mendoza – P Brenize
POR: 2B Labonte – 1B Imai – CF Caswell – C M. Chavez – 3B Brobeck – LF Puckeridge – RF Brassfield – SS Sheilds – P Fox

We needed a solid outing from Fox, but there was no Chance for that, was there? Singles by the 2-3-4 batters and Brobeck’s groundout gave the Raccoons barely a run in the first inning, and while Fox pitched around a Brobeck error in the first inning, he took it right to the face in the second. Tobin singled, Weir doubled, and Mendoza’s groundout tied the game. Brenize struck out, but Ethan Torrence gave Boston a 2-1 lead with a single before de Leon grounded out to Labonte to end the inning. It got better, though; he started to put up some strikeouts again, although quite in the long counts, and the Titans didn’t score, and also fumbled their lead. Chavez and Pucks tied the game with doubles in the third, and Portland went up by one in the fourth as Fox doubled and scored on Labonte’s single to center. The Titans didn’t get much of anything in the middle innings against Fox, aside a Burkart double with two outs in the fifth inning, and Burkart thought it was a triple, finding Pucks to disagree and throw him out at third base to end the inning.

Fox pitched into the seventh – yay! – but nicked Danny Encarnacion and allowed a single to Torrence – boo. Tanizaki replaced him with two outs and got a grounder to Brobeck from Manny Rubin, and Brobeck made a nifty play when we really needed it and threw him out at first to bring on the stretch. Boston offered southpaw Dave Parra in the bottom 7th. Martinez batted for Toushi and got dinked, but then two poor outs were made before Brobeck singled. Lonzo pinch-hit for Pucks as Parra persisted, and perplexed plenty, peppering a pound to deep left – and gone!! 3-run homer by Lonzo!! That put the game away for good, and no Titan reached base against Tanizaki and Ornelas in the last two innings. 6-2 Coons! M. Chavez 2-4, 2B; Lavorano (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Fox 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (1-3) and 1-1, 2B;

Raccoons (38-47) vs. Canadiens (30-53) – July 5-7, 2058

The Raccoons had distanced the damn Elks quite a bit in last place now, which didn’t mean we would be above getting swept for four in three days at home now. The Elks had a 4-3 edge in the season series, but were in the bottom three in the CL in both runs scored and runs allowed, including bottoms in offense, with a -88 run differential. Their rotation was the second-worst by ERA, reaching nearly five on average, their defense was horrendous, and they weren’t in the top half of any appreciable category in the league.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (7-4, 3.13 ERA) vs. Anton Jesus (5-13, 6.34 ERA)
Neal Hamann (2-3, 6.25 ERA) vs. TBD
Ramon Carreno (3-8, 4.31 ERA) vs. Ernie Gomes (5-6, 4.69 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (4-0, 2.41 ERA) vs. John Morris (5-5, 4.72 ERA)

Ya. Hamann in the second game of the double header. The alternative would be Brobeck. We just didn’t have the wiggle room on the roster right now. There were reserves on standby as well, with Ricky Herrera and Colby Bowen flying in from St. Petersburg.

Meanwhile, no clue what the Elks were gonna do; we expected Gomes and Jesus on Friday, but Gomes was scratched and moved to Saturday with a sore shoulder, as if 24 hours were gonna fix that. They didn’t have any other starter that could go on even three days’ rest on Friday. Also – it’s Bobby Herrera pitching at home, so it’s probably gonna ******* rain anyway. Morris was the only southpaw we saw coming up right now.

Game 1
VAN: CF D. Garcia – SS Kuchta – RF Magnussen – C Burgio – 1B Rosenstiel – 2B R. Price – LF Needham – 3B Bowden – P A. Jesus
POR: 1B Imai – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – C M. Chavez – 3B Brobeck – LF Puckeridge – RF Martinez – 2B Bribiesca – P B. Herrera

Nothing happened out of the gate, but a ********** of a third inning gave the Elks a 2-0 lead. Bobby Needham singled on the first pitch of the inning, but was forced out by Dave Bowden. Jesus bunted terribly, forcing out another runner. Then, a passed ball, a walk to Danny Garcia, an RBI single for Rich Kuchta, and then Pucks dropping Adam Magnussen’s fly to left for another run to score. Casey Burgio grounded out to strand a pair in scoring position. Portland made up one run the unearned way in the bottom 3rd, as Bribiesca opened with an infield single, then scored on a throwing error by Kuchta.

Herrera then struggled along against the all-left-handed lineup while the brownshirt offense did the same against Jesus, amounting to only two hits and still a 2-1 deficit through six innings. Herrera got stuck in the seventh after a Kuchta single and a walk to Magnussen. Sencion got the last out from Burgio and three more in the eighth inning, then was hit for with Labonte to begin the bottom 8th. Labonte socked a triple into the gap in left-center, only Portland’s third hit on the day, but now the tying run was in scoring position with nobody out. (calmly reaches for a bottle of Capt’n Coma) Toushi grounded out to first and Labonte stayed put. Lonzo grounded out to short and Labonte stayed put. I was breathing more laboredly, but Cas finally dropped a ******* single into center to get the tying run home with two outs. Chavez flew out to deep left, and Siwik’s scoreless ninth kept the game tied. Yes, let’s play 16! Off Rafael Flores, right-hander, in the bottom 9th, Brobeck hit a leadoff single. Martinez singled with one out, then was forced out by Bribiesca with a grounder. Brobeck moved to third base with two outs, Royer batted for Siwik, and Bribiesca – the dumb **** – was picked off first base by Flores to send the game to overtime.

Excellent.

Matt Walters was used up in the tenth against the flood of left-handed bats, getting three outs without any trouble. Royer was then back at the plate to begin the bottom 10th against Flores, as he had replaced Pucks in the field to not waste a bat for nothing. He drew a leadoff walk, then found second base when Toushi grounded out. Lonzo grounded to short, which in itself was not a game-winner, but Kuchta’s capital throwing error sent Royer dashing after all, and the Elks were so slow to retrieve the ball from foul ground that Royer scored to end the game. 3-2 Blighters. Labonte (PH) 1-1, 3B; B. Herrera 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K;

The Elks then sent John Morris to start the second game – on TWO days’ rest. He could not possibly last long, but they were really long in the tooth now.

Game 2
VAN: LF D. Garcia – SS Kuchta – RF Magnussen – CF D. Moreno – C Weese – 1B Rosenstiel – 3B Lundberg – 2B Larsen – P J. Morris
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – LF Brassfield – CF Royer – 1B Imai – C C. Cortez – 3B Bribiesca – P Hamann

Two pitchers totally unqualified to start this game from either end of course equated for a skinny 1-0 lead for Portland through five innings, courtesy of Lonzo and Royer hits in the bottom of the third inning. Morris was holding out through five innings, admirably, while Hamann was using 78 pitches to go through five innings, scattering six hits and two walks for no runs, and twice was dug out by Lonzo starting an inning-ending double play with an Elk on third base. Cortez Chavez also got his first major league hit the first time through, a single to center.

Hamann was out of juice by the sixth; Damian Moreno doubled with one out, Kevin Weese moved him to third base with a sharp groundout, and then John Rosenstiel got nicked. Bravo came in and struck out Tyler Lundberg to drag Hamann out of that inning by his fuzzy tail as well. Bravo struck out two more in a 1-2-3 seventh, but the really fun part was how to continue from there. The only remaining relievers that hadn’t pitched in the first game were Ornelas and Tanizaki. The former got the eighth and narrowly held the 1-0 score despite putting Magnussen and Weese on the corners. Rosenstiel flew out to left to strand that pair. The Raccoons were doomed to not score in the bottom 8th either as Lonzo and Pucks hit singles, did a double steal, and then Brass was walked intentionally by Bryan McDuffie. Three on, no outs, Royer hit a sac fly, Toushi popped out, and Cortez Chavez grounded out. (sigh!) Tanizaki was the last guy standing in the pen and walked Lundberg to begin the ninth inning. Yes. Exactly what I needed. Shane Larsen grounded out, and Rick Price and Danny Garcia both went down on strikes to complete the Friday sweep, however. 2-0 Blighters. Lavorano 2-4; Caswell (PH) 1-1;

The damn Elks!

This was the last of INF Rick Price (.237, 2 HR, 15 RBI) as an Elk; they sent him to Dallas on Saturday morning for a prospect, #108 SP Martyn Polaco.

Game 3
VAN: CF D. Garcia – SS Kuchta – LF K. Hawkins – RF Magnussen – C Burgio – 1B Rosenstiel – 2B Bowden – 3B Lundberg – P E. Gomes
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – LF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 1B Royer – RF Martinez – C C. Chavez – P Carreno

We weren’t exactly stuffed in the pen for Saturday either, but Carreno was socked around right away in the first inning. He hit a batter and allowed three base hits, including 2-out RBI singles to both Casey Burgio and John Rosenstiel. The Coons responded by going down in order in the first, then putting three on with nobody out in the second against Gomes. Martinez struck out, I was already taking a deep breath to start screaming, and then Chavez minor flicked a ball over the infielders on the left side for a 2-run single to tie the game. That was also the only runs that scored in the inning. Top 3rd, and Carreno threw seven straight balls, walking Kyle Hawkins before getting Magnussen to fly out on a 3-0 pitch. Burgio then found a 4-6-3 double play. Caswell then hit a solo home run in the third, which made for a 3-2 lead that didn’t stand up because Carreno was ******* horse *****. Bowden and Lundberg reached base in the fourth, one run scored on Garcia’s 2-out infield single, and then Kuchta just blasted one outta here for a 3-piece.

The stupid Coons couldn’t score a run in the bottom 4th even when both Elks middle infielders made an error, at which point we could also just throw in Brobeck to pitch, because … why bother? The usual smacking sounds ensued and within two innings and 40 pitches Brobeck was swung around the ballpark by his striped tail for four hits, two walks, and three runs. Gomes pitched into the ninth inning with his sore shoulder, giving up one more meaningless run in the eighth when Pucks, Toushi, and Royer hit three straight singles with two outs. 9-4 Canadiens. Puckeridge 2-4; Imai (PH) 1-1; Royer 2-4, RBI;

If that’s a guy with a sore shoulder, I want all my guys to have sore shoulders, too!

Noah Caswell was not in the lineup on Sunday in deference to his All Star selection and him having played a long string of games already. Let’s get everybody three days off!

Game 4
VAN: LF D. Garcia – C Weese – RF Magnussen – 2B K. Hawkins – 3B Lundberg – 1B V. Cruz – SS Kuchta – P Kozloski
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – C M. Chavez – CF Royer – RF Martinez – 1B Brassfield – 3B Sheilds – P Argenziano

Jeff Kozloski (7-6, 3.17 ERA) was pitching on short rest as well, not that it helped us all that much so far in this series. The Raccoons did grab a 1-0 lead in the second inning, though, as Chavez and Martinez hit singles, and Brassfield at least placed his groundout up the middle so that Chavez could run home from third base. Sheilds remained hopeless and grounded out to first. That lead, too, was transient, as the Elks tied the game in the fourth when Argenziano walked Weese and gave up the game-tying single to Hawkins, but that was one of just two hits for the damn Elks in five innings, and it was once more on the dead offense to actually score something here, which just … didn’t happen. Argenziano stretched the 2-hitter through six, seven, and eight innings, until finally hit for with Toushi and nobody on and two down in the bottom 8th. Toushi singled, and so did Labonte. Bribiesca pinch-ran for Toushi at that point, but Lonzo flew out to Moreno in center, and that was that chance squandered. Walters had a scoreless ninth (would he ever get a save again?), and the Raccoons would have walked off in the bottom 9th on Chavez’ long drive that banged for a double off the base of the wall in dead center, when it would have been well out over like 85% of the outfield circumference. He settled for a 1-out double, but we didn’t have any more pinch-runners. Royer grounded out to Lundberg, but Jesus Martinez was kind enough to get through with another double to center. 2-1 Blighters! Labonte 2-4; M. Chavez 3-4, 2B; Martinez 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Imai (PH) 1-1; Argenziano 8.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K;

In other news

July 1 – IND SP Josh Barbieri (2-8, 4.81 ERA) could miss a full year with elbow ligament damage.
July 2 – A 3-hit performance in an 8-4 win against the Pacifics allows SFW 3B/SS Julio Moriel (.362, 1 HR, 10 RBI) to reach the 2,000 hits mark at age 30. The career Warrior singles in the first inning against LAP SP/MR Pat Birkemeier (0-1, 5.51 ERA) for #2,000. Moriel, a 2-time All Star, led the FL in runs scored in 2051, and has been batting .315/.378/.396 with 24 homers and 547 RBI alongside 295 stolen bases for his 13-year career.
July 2 – DAL OF Chad Pritchett (.315, 12 HR, 54 RBI) would miss at least one week with back spasms.
July 3 – Falcons catcher Luis Miranda (.256, 5 HR, 44 RBI) could miss the rest of the month after straining a hammy.
July 4 – WAS 1B/RF/LF Willie Jenkins (.265, 10 HR, 37 RBI) drives in six runs on three hits, including a 3-run homer, as the Caps trounce the Rebels, 16-3.
July 4 – Capitals 1B Eddie Moreno (.217, 4 HR, 18 RBI) will miss the rest of the year after tearing a back muscle. Whether the 39-year-old will come back from this remains to be seen.
July 4 – An oblique strain means a month on the sidelines for IND OF Orlando Ramos (.231, 4 HR, 31 RBI).
July 5 – Indy trades SP Jeremy Fetta (5-5, 3.51 ERA) to the Knights for #116 prospect C Vinny Atenzio.
July 5 – Dallas LF/RF Josh Bursley (.245, 6 HR, 34 RBI) could miss a month with a strained rib cage muscle.
July 6 – The Wolves beat the Pacifics, 1-0 in 11 innings. The walkoff, fittingly, occurs on a wild pitch by Pacifics CL Ryan Sullivan (2-7, 3.63 ERA, 14 SV).
July 7 – SAC INF Andrew Russ (.257, 0 HR, 19 RBI) has hit in 20 straight games thanks for an eighth-inning single in Sacramento’s 6-2 loss to Dallas.

FL Player of the Week: DEN 1B Bill Joyner (.330, 15 HR, 73 RBI), batting .556 (15-27) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ C Tristan Waker (.289, 8 HR, 45 RBI), hitting .462 (12-26) with 3 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Despite all the sucking and complaints, we somehow won six games this week in eight tries. The fact that we scored 3.75 runs per game doing so tells you a thing or two about how well the opposition played. 2.75 runs allowed per game, which sounds off, but Cristiano Carmona has run the math four times at my insistence.

Maybe the problem is that Cristiano sucks at running anything.

The Raccoons have three All Stars this year, which convinces me that the silly people that fill out these ballots don’t even watch the games and only smear around their phones for three hours. Noah Caswell was perhaps a solid choice even, but then we stuffed the roster with relievers Eloy Sencion and Reynaldo Bravo. Those two made the team for the first time, but it was the third selection for Caswell, with three different teams. He had previously been an All Star with the Pacifics in 2053, and the Wolves last season.

The damn Elks are damn funny. They offered a catcher – Casey Burgio – for two prospects, including Brett Cotton, the #9 pick from last year. Cotton turned 20 this week, and has been putting up a 5-2 mark with 2.68 ERA in Ham Lake since getting promoted there in May. Yeah, we’re totally trading him for a backup catcher.

We are after three “value” options in the IFA pool, a pitcher and two second basemen, but it’s possible we’ll get priced out of all of them in the bidding process, since we’re hard-capped regarding how much we can sign any player for this year.

On the other side of the All Star Game, we’ll play four games in Boston. Long road trip, actually: the week after that we’ll be in Milwaukee and Oklahoma City before returning home.

Fun Fact: Ramon Carreno has a -0.1 WAR for the season.

Worse than random AAA scum.

Yes, he’s our third-best starter.