[Westheim]

Raccoons (77-79) vs. Indians (70-86) – September 23-25, 2058

The Raccoons needed to sweep their final home series of the year to obtain a split for the year with the fifth-place, threatening to be last-place, Indians, who ranked third-worst in runs scored (but we were still bottoms, so eh) and eighth in runs allowed.

Projected matchups:
Zach Stewart (13-11, 3.07 ERA) vs. Chris Kaye (6-11, 4.63 ERA)
Cameron Argenziano (8-1, 3.05 ERA) vs. Matt Green (4-6, 5.40 ERA)
Justin DeRose (2-5, 5.66 ERA) vs. Bill Lawrence (10-11, 4.39 ERA)

The Indians had Shane Fitzgibbon (13-14, 3.83 ERA), but the southpaw had pitched on Saturday and would not get a turn in this series. There was still hope for us to catch a glimpse of John Morris on the weekend…

Game 1
IND: SS Kilday – 2B Ewers – CF O. Ramos – 1B B. Quinteros – RF Lovins – C Lefebvre – LF Abel – 3B R. Rodriguez – P Kaye
POR: 2B Labonte – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – RF Puckeridge – 3B Benitez – C C. Chavez – P Stewart

Lonzo singled and stole a base in the first inning, but was stranded; it was however #58 for the season, and the next one would tie him Rich de Luna on the all-time list. While that was going on, Zach Stewart put up four perfect innings with six strikeouts, and then the Raccoons actually stirred up some offense in support against Kaye, who allowed two hits the first time through, but in the bottom 4th allowed a double to Caswell and a single to Starr, and then was taken over the fence by Alan Puckeridge, who reached the lofty mark of 62 RBI and became the new team leader in that category. What a progressive feat!

The perfect game lasted five innings before Joel Starr couldn’t contain Tony Benitez’ throw on Kevin Abel’s grounder to lead off the sixth inning for Indy. Pops by Ruben Rodriguez and Kaye as well as Matt Kilday’s grounder to second base ended the inning without an advance for the unearned runner, though, and Stewart still had a no-hitter to worry about, while Starr tried to escape a good flogging with a leadoff jack to left in the bottom 6th, extending the lead to 4-0. Stewart kept chugging and retired three more in the seventh inning, getting to 9 K along the way, although his pitch count was still very manageable.

No longer manageable were Paul Labonte’s paws after an awkward slide into third base with a leadoff triple in the bottom 7th. He had to leave the game, and his replacement Bribiesca scored on Lonzo’s groundout to lengthen the score to 5-0, giving Lonzo 61 RBI. The absolute menace!

Top 8th, and Chris Lovins and Kevin Abel struck out, surrounding a pop to Benitez off Michael Lefebvre’s bat, and Stewart would enter the ninth inning on 92 pitches. Up was Ruben Rodriguez, a 25-year-old on his third September cup of coffee, who hit a wheezer to the wrong side of the mound, and then legged the bloody thing out for an infield single, upsetting not only the sparse crowd, but also made me sob passionately. Steve Thompson’s comebacker was used by Stewart to erase Rodriguez at second base, Kilday popped out, Kevin Ewers singled cleanly to center (but wouldn’t have come up if…), and then the game ended on a K to Orlando Ramos. 5-0 Furballs! Labonte 2-4, 3B; Starr 2-4, HR, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Stewart 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 12 K, W (14-11);

Yaaay, shutout, but also noooooo, the … the thing…!!

(glares upwards to the baseball gods)

Game 2
IND: SS Kilday – LF McConnell – CF O. Ramos – 1B B. Quinteros – C Lefebvre – 2B R. Vargas – RF S. Thompson – 3B R. Rodriguez – P M. Green
POR: RF Oley – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – C M. Chavez – 3B Anderson – 2B Bribiesca – P Argenziano

Matt Kilday opened the game on Tuesday with a single to right, so there went Argenziano’s perfecto bid, but this time it was the Raccoons that threatened to get no-hit, reaching base only with a Rodriguez error that put Brass on base in the bottom 2nd, and he was then doubled off by Marcos Chavez. Todd Oley broke into the H column with a firm leadoff single to right in the bottom 4th, but it took until Brass’ 2-out single to get him off first base, and Starr’s fly to Orlando Ramos stranded both runners and kept the game scoreless.

Argenziano was solid, but not exactly efficient; he allowed only two hits through six innings, and no runs, and walked a pair, but also needed 103 pitches to make it that far and thus wouldn’t go any further. He still got in line for a W – Oley hit another leadoff single in the bottom 6th, stole his sixth base, and then was singled home by Lonzo, who thus got another sniff of a tie for the team RBI lead. 62, baby! 62! Cas forced out Lonzo, but stole second base then, and the bags filled up with a soft single by Brass and a walk issued to Starr. The situation was kindly defused by the local fire department as Chavez and Anderson both struck out in the most refusing way possible.

Tanizaki then had nothing better to do than to blow the lead instantly, yet slowly, in the seventh inning, loading the bases with the 6-7-8 batters and gross ineptitude, then gave up a game-tying sac fly to Matt Green. Ricky Herrera came in for Kilday, who was instead hit for with right-handed Kevin Abel. The bases then emptied on a passed ball, a balk, and a sac fly, while I was increasingly loudly gasping for air. The Raccoons, down 3-1, would get a pinch-hit single from Ben Morris in the seventh, then a single from Starr with two outs in the eighth before Chavez reached on an error by Miguel Morales to extend the inning and get the tying run on board. Jesus Martinez batted for Anderson, but flew out miserably to right. The tying runs were on again in the bottom 9th, with the score still at 3-1 Indy thanks to scoreless relief from Goldfield (!) and Rios. Bribiesca hit a leadoff single to left against Jameel Williams, who then walked Morris in the #9 hole. Brobeck was batting first after a series of double switches, singled to center, and the bags were full… with nobody out. But we had our RBI threat up! Lonzo to the dish! While he did get home a run, he did so with a grounder to Ricardo Vargas at second base, who got Brobeck out at first. The tying run got to third for Caswell, though, and a sac fly to left tied the game. Brass then singled Lonzo to third base with the winning run and two outs against new ham-and-egger Ben Akman, and the game ended on a sharp single through the hole on the right by Joel Starr. 4-3 Critters! Oley 2-4; Brobeck 1-1; Brassfield 3-5; Starr 2-4, BB, RBI; Morris (PH) 1-1, BB; Argenziano 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K;

First career win for reliever Alex Rios in 32 ABL games.

Paul Labonte was confirmed as out for the year on Wednesday, having suffered a sprained ankle that would keep him out for the last four games and then another few weeks to boot.

Game 3
IND: SS Kilday – RF Lovins – LF O. Ramos – 1B B. Quinteros – CF Oldfield – 3B McConnell – C Villafan – 2B Ewers – P B. Lawrence
POR: LF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – 1B Brassfield – C M. Chavez – RF Martinez – 3B Anderson – 2B Bribiesca – P DeRose

DeRose wasn’t slaughtered on sight by the five left-handed sticks atop the Indians order and instead the Coons went up 1-0 when Bribiesca singled in Marcos Chavez in the second inning. Previously, Lonzo had tried to tie Rich de Luna after drawing a walk (!) in the first inning, but was thrown out by Willie Villafan to the dismay of the crowd and his GM.

Top 4th, Orlando Ramos and Bill Quinteros reached base against DeRose to lead off. Two comebackers hit at DeRose then twice led to a force out at second base, but no double play was turned, and the tying run was instead balked in by DeRose with two outs. DeRose kept scratching, though, and held the Indians to four hits in six innings of 1-run ball. He just needed a little help from his friends now. Bottom 6th, Lonzo hit a leadoff single, and the entire ballpark expected him to go, but he didn’t get a jump while Cas was batting, and instead he was off to the races only once the 2-1 pitch was hit by Caswell over Kevin Ewers’ head. Lonzo was chugging for third base while Ewers and Chris Lovins got into each other’s comfort zone trying to field that ball, and instead Ewers kicked it further into the outfield. Lonzo turned third and scored for a 2-1 lead, and Cas reached second base. Brass and Martinez would fill the bases with walks before Joel Starr batted for Anderson and smashed the ball into a double play that kept any additional runs from being scored…

The Coons tacked on in the seventh after DeRose completed a strong 7-frame showing (at least by his standards); Oley walked batting for DeRose, and Pucks then drove another ball over the fence in right for his tenth homer and reclaiming the RBI lead for this scrappy team. Lonzo drew another walk (!), then was caught stealing again (!!) once Melvin Guerra replaced Lawrence. Sencion and Walters held on to the lead in the last two innings and completed the sweep. 4-1 Critters. Puckeridge 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Lavorano 1-2, 2 BB; DeRose 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (3-5);

Sweep! Winning record!

At least until Friday night.

Raccoons (80-79) @ Canadiens (71-88) – September 27-29, 2058

The Coons had already taken the season series, 10-5, and were now playing for a winning record this year, which would require another two wins in Elk City against the #8 offense and #10 pitching of the Continental League. At this point we had already come close to frittering away a protected first-round pick anyway…

Projected matchups:
Ramon Carreno (7-14, 4.52 ERA) vs. Luis Arroyo (8-14, 5.74 ERA)
Chance Fox (6-8, 4.88 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (14-11, 3.52 ERA)
Zach Stewart (14-11, 2.93 ERA) vs. Federico Purificao (1-5, 8.06 ERA)

Because they were *****, the Elks had used left-hander John Morris (11-11, 3.93 ERA) on short rest (!!) on Thursday, and thus we had only three more right-handers to face here. That meant that the Raccoons finished the season by facing 44 straight right-handed pitchers.

Game 1
POR: LF Puckeridge – SS Lavorano – CF Caswell – C M. Chavez – 1B Starr – RF Martinez – 3B Brobeck – 2B Anderson – P Carreno
VAN: LF D. Garcia – C S. Contreras – RF Magnussen – CF D. Moreno – 2B K. Hawkins – 1B Rosenstiel – 3B Whittington – SS E. Solano – P L. Arroyo

Arroyo lasted only three innings on account of injury, but in that time gave up five hits and two runs, the latter all in the second inning which Chavez opened with a double to center. Starr and Brobeck also had base hits to get runs in. Of course Carreno was Carreno and nothing but sucking was expected from him; he delivered in the bottom of the third, giving up singles to nobodies Thomas Whittington and Edwin Solano, then a triple to PH Chad Walton, which already tied the game. Danny Garcia grounded out sharply to first for no greater gains, but Santiago Contreras’ RBI single, stolen base, and run scored on Damian Moreno’s 2-out hit flipped a 2-run lead into a 2-run deficit. Two more hits by the nobodies in the 7-8 holes and a 3-run homer by Victor Cruz ended Carreno’s season after four innings, trailing 7-2.

Pitching didn’t get much better, with 27 pitches from Mike Goldfield in the bottom 5th. He walked Adam Magnussen and Moreno, then struck out (in full counts) Kyle Hawkins and John Rosenstiel. Whittington finally grounded out. The Raccoons looked beaten, but a rush of singles in the seventh inning sure served to narrow the score again against a parade of Elks relievers. Brobeck singled, Anderson singled, Oley doubled, Pucks at least brought in a run with a groundout, and Lonzo hit an RBI single to get the tying run back to the dish in a 7-5 game, but Caswell popped out and Chavez struck out to pass on the opportunity. Bottom 7th, Contreras and Moreno instead hit singles off lefty Neal Hamann, who was at least soon going to be off the roster, and Tyler Lundberg’s sac fly tacked on a run for Elk City. Another run was beaten out of Brobeck in the eighth inning, but the Raccoons didn’t threaten in the last two innings. 9-5 Canadiens. Caswell 2-4, 2B; Starr 1-2, 2 BB; Brobeck 2-4, RBI; Oley (PH) 2-2, 2B, RBI;

Game 2
POR: CF Oley – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – C M. Chavez – 2B Bribiesca – 3B Anderson – P Fox
VAN: LF D. Garcia – C S. Contreras – RF Magnussen – LF D. Moreno – 3B Lundberg – 2B M. Saunders – 1B S. Murphy – SS Hetzel – P Kozloski

There wasn’t much to say about the early innings on Saturday, as there were mostly strikeouts and lazy pops from both sides against two rather punchable pitchers. Speaking of punch, Kozloski punched Fox with a breaking ball in the fifth inning, giving the Coons a free 2-out runner. Oley and Lonzo pounced with singles, driving home the pitcher for a 1-0 lead, then pulled off a double steal, which gave Lonzo #59 on the year and tied him with Rich de Luna on the all-time list, but Starr left them stranded in scoring position as he grounded out to Manny Saunders.

Danny Garcia and Damian Moreno singles off Fox in the bottom 6th meant that the 1-0 lead wasn’t good enough, but the Raccoons at least got seven sturdy innings from a mostly struggling youngster as a high note to the end of a trying half-season for Fox. The offense chose not to reward him with a W, and the game remained tied at one through eight innings, as Ricky Herrera got around a Contreras single for a scoreless eighth. Tanizaki however had another atrocious outing in the ninth, offering a leadoff walk to Moreno and a single to PH Alex Maldonado. Even Chad Walton’s 4-6-3 grounder couldn’t stop the meltdown. Victor Cruz singled up the middle to end the game, bringing in Moreno from third base. 2-1 Canadiens. Oley 2-3, BB; Puckeridge 2-4; Bribiesca 2-4; Caswell (PH) 1-1; Fox 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K;

With one game to play, the Raccoons still had the chance to wind up with anything between the #10 and the #14 pick in the 2059 draft. The two extremes required an L or a W, respectively, with a corresponding Caps W or Warriors L, plus the luck of the draw. And then we were tied with the equally 80-81 Scorpions and Wolves.

And don’t forget Lonzo and Pucks doling it out for the team RBI title. Both entered Sunday’s season finale with 65 rib-eyes.

Game 3
POR: RF Oley – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 2B Bribiesca – CF Morris – C Stanton – P Stewart
VAN: 2B M. Saunders – LF K. Hawkins – RF Magnussen – CF D. Moreno – 3B Lundberg – 1B Rosenstiel – C A. Maldonado – SS E. Solano – P Purificao

Magnussen took Stewart deep for a solo home run in the first inning and Stewart was struggling with control early on, while the Raccoons were retired in order the first time through before Todd Oley hit a double to open the fourth inning, providing the deathmatch contenders for the team RBI crown a runner in scoring position. Lonzo popped out and Pucks walked, neither of which was an activity that helped erase the 1-0 deficit and stave off the looming sweep, with Oley left on third base in the inning. In the fifth, Bribiesca and Stanton singles were met with both disbelief and a lack of clutch. Stewart grounded out and Oley popped out to strand the runners in scoring position. It took a walk offered to Starr and Damian Moreno severely misjudging a Brobeck fly with two outs to center to get the tying run home as Brobeck got an RBI double out of the rather catchable ball once Moreno had to reverse and chase it into the deeper outfield. Stewart struggled his way through six innings, then was hit for with Jesus Martinez and one out after Ben Morris had opened the inning with a single to left. Martinez, in a perfect miniature of his extremely lackluster season in Portland, grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Hamann and Siwik held the 1-1 lead in the bottom 7th before Oley and Starr hit singles off George Youngblood to get on base in the eighth inning, although Lonzo and Pucks remained remarkably dull. One popped out, the other grounded out, and Brobeck whiffed to strand the runners altogether. Eloy Sencion got the last two outs in the bottom 8th, following Siwik, then was hit for with Caswell with Matt Stanton on first base in the ninth, having drawn a 2-out walk off Rafael Flores. Caswell socked a ball to the base of the wall in centerfield, and Stanton scored thanks to the early start, breaking the 1-1 tie. Oley singled home Caswell, and the Elks changed pitchers to right-hander Jim Woods. Lonzo still hit another single, and then Starr drove a ball into the right-center gap for a 2-run double. This gave Pucks the chance to boot Lonzo from the tie for the RBI crown, but he grounded out to second-sacker Jason Ashley to end the inning.

The Coons then tried Goldfield for the ninth with a 4-run lead, which soon came to be a 3-run lead on a Moreno single and Lundberg triple. Out with that punk, and in with Matt Walters, who conceded the second run on a single by John Rosenstiel, but then brought the season to a quick close. 5-3 Raccoons. Oley 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Starr 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Caswell (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

In other news

September 23 – The Blue Sox wrap up the FL East with a 2-1 win against the Cyclones.
September 24 – The Falcons beat the Bayhawks, 5-0, on just two base hits, including a 3-run homer by CHA C/1B Alex Gomez (.239, 11 HR, 53 RBI). Bayhawks pitchers offer ten walks to supply the Falcons with plenty of runners nevertheless.
September 25 – Warriors 1B Miguel Medina (.297, 21 HR, 112 RBI) goes yard three times and drives in five runs in a 9-3 win over the Scorpions.
September 25 – The entire 2059 season of ATL CL Ruben Mendez (6-4, 4.12 ERA, 37 SV) is in actual danger after news that he has shredded a flexor tendon in his elbow.
September 27 – Crusaders SP Joel Luera (18-6, 2.76 ERA) appears to be in playoff form as he no-hits the Indians on two walks and with six strikeouts in a 1-0 New York win. This is the second no-hitter for New York in 24 months after the one pitched by Kyle Turay in Game 2 of the 2056 CLCS against the Falcons. The offense in this game is supplied on a home run by OF Sean Zeiher (.256, 20 HR, 81 RBI).
September 28 – Dallas’ 8-6 loss the Scorpions wins the FL West for the Pacifics despite their own 2-0 loss to the Wolves.
September 28 – Thunder veteran 3B/RF Ed Soberanes (.336, 16 HR, 70 RBI) has put a 20-game hitting streak together with a pair of singles in a 6-5 loss to the Aces.

Complaints and stuff

Lonzo led the entire league in stolen bases, and Zach Stewart finished third in ERA in the CL, which was not necessarily expected. Nor was the team finishing an even 81-81 and in third place (and close to second), albeit 21 games behind the Crusaders.

We also finished tied with the Wolves for the #12 and #13 picks, and we know how that **** goes over at the league office. Maud, we should write an angry letter even now before they bring out the draft order. Get the red stationery, I’m in that mood!

Apart from that it’s now about frowning for the length of the playoffs and then making plans for how to fix this mess in the foreseeable future.

Somebody that can drive in more than 65 runs would be nice for a start. Can that be Joel Starr? He sure had a nice two months here…

Ah, what am I complaining about…? We didn’t even finish last in runs scored, overtaking the Indians by 10 runs at the very end there.

Fun Fact: Monday marked Zach Stewart’s first career shutout in 167 games started.

Also only his second complete game. He was used out of the pen a lot in his first few years with the Wolves (106 relief appearances), but his stamina wasn’t *that* bad…!