[Westheim]

Raccoons (33-30) @ Warriors (35-26) – June 16-18, 2059

The Warriors were tops in the FL West, one game up after six straight wins. They had a very good defense and were tops in OBP, which helped them to second in runs scored, although their pitching was rather average. They had a +57 run differential, though. We caught them without outfielder Elmer Maldonado, but apart from that they didn’t have too many injury complaints. This was the third straight year these two teams met in the regular season. Last year, we had won two of three games.

Projected matchups:
Duarte Damasceno (0-1, 2.84 ERA) vs. Evan Alvey (2-4, 3.52 ERA)
Chance Fox (6-2, 3.73 ERA) vs. Phil Baker (6-3, 3.21 ERA)
Justin DeRose (3-4, 3.44 ERA) vs. Phil Nelson (5-4, 4.11 ERA)

Alvey was the only left-hander in the Warriors rotation.

Game 1
POR: SS Bribiesca – 3B Ojeda – LF Brassfield – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – 1B Starr – C Monaghan – 2B Hudalla – P Damasceno
SFW: CF J. Robinson – 3B Moriel – 1B M. Medina – RF Kaniewski – LF Bursley – 2B DeFusco – C F. Rivera – SS J. Wall – P Alvey

Josh Bursley threw out Bribiesca at the plate for the first out of the week after Bribiesca had doubled and tried to score on Ojeda’s single to left. The Raccoons still grabbed a 2-0 lead in the inning, though; Brass singled, Cas hit a sac fly, and Martinez smacked an RBI double before Starr popped out to short to end the inning. Starr left a pair his next time up with a 2-out whiff after Cas and Martinez drew walks. Damasceno didn’t allow a hit the first time through, but walked Felix Rivera. Nothing came of that, nor of Miguel Medina’s 1-out double in the bottom 4th.

Starr was back at the dish, now with three runners on base, with one out in the fifth inning. Brass and Cas had walked against the erratic Alvey, who was on six free passes already, and Martinez had whacked a sharp single to left that dropped right in front of Bursley, keeping Brass from turning the corner. Starr finally came through, dishing a single to center, and everybody buggered on by a base as the lead was extended to 3-0. Monaghan then found Josh Wall for a timely 6-4-3 double play exit to the inning. Brass’ tenth homer of the year would add a run just before the stretch, though. Damasceno remained in the groove as well. He scattered three hits and two walks, and got a couple of double plays turned as well, and pitched efficiently enough to find himself still in the game after eight innings were complete. He faced the top of the order in the bottom 9th, beginning with a strikeout against Jamel Robinson. Julio Moriel singled on the next pitch, then advanced to second on Medina’s grounder to Vernon Hudalla. The good news – Damasceno finished the game. The bad news – not until after John Kaniewski singled home Moriel on a 1-2 pitch. 4-1 Raccoons. Ojeda 3-5; Brassfield 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Martinez 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Starr 2-5, RBI; Damasceno 9.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (1-1);

Next, ex-Coon Phil Baker pitching competentely (!?) …

Game 2
POR: RF Christopher – 2B Labonte – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – 3B Ojeda – C Lathers – SS Bean – P Fox
SFW: CF J. Robinson – SS Barre – 1B M. Medina – RF Kaniewski – 2B DeFusco – 3B J. Wall – LF Tarver – C Manjarrez – P P. Baker

Chance Fox drew more ire right out of the gate with walks to Robinson and Medina, then giving up an 0-2 RBI single to Kaniewski to allow the Warriors to take the lead. Mike DeFusco hit into a double play and after that both offenses mostly went home for an extended period of time, having only three hits each through six innings. Unfortunately, one of the Warriors hits was a Devin Tarver solo jack in the bottom 5th that extended the Warriors’ lead to 2-0. Portland scratched, however, and Joel Starr hit a solo home run to right of his own in the seventh to cut the gap in half. The Raccoons then loaded the bases with nobody out with a string of singles from the 6-7-8 hitters, two off Baker, and the third off left-hander Ed Nadeau. There was simply not better spot to bat Jesus Martinez than right here for Fox, and the move took Fox off the hook once Martinez walked on five pitches, knotting the score at two. Christopher’s hard grounder to short saw the Warriors go home to force out Lathers, but Labonte’s sac fly gave us the lead, and then Cas banged in a 2-out pair with a loud double off the fence in right, 5-2. Brass’ groundout ended the inning.

After that 5-spot and a 1-2-3 inning from Alex Rios, the Raccoons tacked on a 3-spot in the eighth off Javier Cortes and Spencer Dalrymple. Starr and Ojeda got on base to begin the frame, and Martinez singled them home with a shot through the left side with two outs. Christopher walked, and Labonte hit another RBI single before Cas grounded out. Rios got five outs on eight pitches before the Warriors finally brought up a left-handed pinch-hitter against him, but instead Ricky Herrera got rid of that to complete the bottom 8th. We even got a scoreless ninth from J.J. Sensabaugh…! 8-2 Raccoons. Caswell 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Brassfield 2-4; Ojeda 2-3, BB; Martinez 1-1, BB, 3 RBI;

Game 3
POR: CF Christopher – 2B Labonte – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – RF Martinez – 3B Ojeda – C Lathers – SS Bribiesca – P DeRose
SFW: CF J. Robinson – 3B Moriel – 1B M. Medina – RF Kaniewski – LF Bursley – 2B DeFusco – C F. Rivera – SS B. Wilken – P P. Nelson

Wednesday’s pitchers’ duel saw the Raccoons’ DeRosiest Critter allow three hits and three strikeouts in five innings (and no runs), while Nelson gave half of that up to the Raccoons himself: only the strikeouts, none of the hits. The only Raccoon that reached base in the first five innings was Martinez by way of getting brushed with a pitch. Nelson continued with strikeouts to the 8-9 batters as the sixth inning broke, then walked Christopher in a full count. Two pitches later, Labonte singled, and was the spell broken now? Yes! On consecutive pitches Brass and Starr both drove in a run, the former on a full-count single to center, and the latter on a first-pitch double to right-center. Martinez struck out, though, but I was even more annoyed when DeRose ticked a pitch off Phil Nelson’s bum to begin the bottom 6th. The Warriors’ 1-2-3 didn’t come through, though, at all, and Nelson was stranded on second base. Kaniewski then hit a leadoff single in the seventh, but was forced out by Bursley, and then DeFusco found a double play to hit into, 6-4-3. That was on the 109th pitch for DeRose, and he was hit for to begin the top 8th, but starting with the pinch-hitter Konecny, the Coons went down in order.

It was still 2-0 on the board, which made it the more annoying when Eloy Sencion retired neither Felix Rivera (walk), nor Ben Wilken (single) to begin the bottom 8th. Tanizaki came on with Devin Tarver pinch-hitting for the pitcher in the #9 spot, getting a fielder’s choice at second base from him, then another 6-4-3 from Jamel Robinson, and somehow the Coons buggered out of that inning. All of this somewhat derailed our plans for who’d pitch the ninth inning. Instead, Bravo got the ninth inning – and on the snout, with a run-up, and spikes in the bat. Moriel walked in a full count, Medina singled, and Kaniewski erased the lead with a triple to left-center … and there was still nobody out. The Coons did bring Ricky Herrera for the left-hander, but the game ended on a sac fly by answering pinch-hitter Josh Wall. 3-2 Warriors. DeRose 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

You rarely win when you bring on four relievers, three of which don’t get anybody out.

Raccoons (35-31) vs. Crusaders (44-22) – June 20-22, 2059

If the Raccoons wanted to remain in the conversation by the dawn of July, here as a chance. Win the series and remain within ten games of the New York EZ-Squirts. That team ranked first in runs scored and second in runs allowed, but interestingly enough was hitting no homers (bottoms) and had no speed (tenth). They were only third place in OBP, either, so perhaps they scored runs by sacrificing newborn baby boys or something. The first series this year between these two teams had been a fair split in a four-game set.

Projected matchups:
Cameron Argenziano (2-3, 4.93 ERA) vs. Seisaku Taki (9-3, 2.85 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (6-4, 2.74 ERA) vs. Jose Ortega (3-4, 5.88 ERA)
Duarte Damasceno (1-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (10-3, 3.17 ERA)

Only right-handers on that staff.

Matt Walters was not quite ready for the opener, but we expected him to be activated from the DL by Saturday.

Game 1
NYC: LF Deeley – 3B Zucal – 2B O. Sanchez – RF Zeiher – CF Branch – 1B Epperson – C J. Reese – SS N. Fowler – P Taki
POR: LF Christopher – 2B Labonte – 1B Brassfield – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – 3B Ojeda – C Lathers – SS Bribiesca – P Argenziano

The Raccoons achieved no mean feat in having three singles the first time through and still bring up the minimum amount of batters in three innings against ex-Coon Taki, with Labonte being caught stealing in the bottom 1st and Cas and Lathers being doubled up in the subsequent innings. At least Argenziano didn’t blow up early and the game was still scoreless … until Argenziano got slapped on the snout in the fourth inning. Omar Sanchez started with a single, stole second, and scored on Sean Zeiher’s single. Tommy Branch hit into a double play, but Gunner Epperson socked a triple to left and Justin Reese found another RBI single to give the Crusaders a 2-0 lead on four hits before Nick Fowler grounded out to Brass at first base.

The Coons got Joey Christopher on with a leadoff walk in the bottom 4th, but he was doubled up by Brass to kill that inning, and we were still bringing up the minimum against Taki through six. Poor Gunner Epperson meanwhile whacked a leadoff triple to right in the seventh inning and then was stranded when the bottom three in the order popped out and struck out twice against Argenziano. The Raccoons looked *so* constipated that it came as a bit of a shock when Caswell drew another walk in the eighth inning and then Jesus Martinez unpacked a game-tying bomb to left.

The ninth was scoreless. Tanizaki and Sencion pieced it together for Portland, while Christopher singled his way on with one out in the bottom 9th, and then there was another double play, but of the strike-em-out-throw-em-out variety… Bravo had a scoreless tenth inning, while Taki had a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the *tenth*. He threw 119 pitches over ten innings, and it wasn’t enough for a W. Ricky Herrera handled the 11th for Portland, with Zachariah Alldred beginning proceedings from the Crusaders pen, their first reliever to our fourth. After Ojeda grounded out, Alldred gave up a single to Lathers, then walked Bribiesca. Joel Starr batted for Herrera, crashed into another double play, and the Coons more or less gave up there, and put in Sensabaugh, which didn’t result in an immediate loss. Much the contrary, the Coons remained tied in the top 12th, then put Christopher and Labonte on the corners with leadoff singles against Alldred in the bottom 12th. Before the middle of the order could lay a whole basket of eggs and escalate the game into the wee hours of the morning, Alldred threw a game-ending wild pitch just so he could get back to the hotel. 3-2 Blighters. Christopher 3-4, BB; Martinez 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Lathers 2-4;

Sensabaugh (1-0, 0.00 ERA) then took his W and went back to St. Petersburg. Matt Walters came off the DL and needed a roster spot.

Game 2
NYC: 3B Zucal – C Seidman – 2B O. Sanchez – RF Zeiher – CF Branch – LF Alade – 1B Sevilla – SS N. Fowler – P J. Ortega
POR: RF Christopher – 2B Labonte – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – 3B Ojeda – C Lathers – SS Bean – P B. Herrera

Offense came from weird places on Saturday. The Crusaders went up 1-0 in the first on Mike Seidman’s homer, but Joey Christopher tied the game with his first career home run right away. When Sevilla and Fowler hit 2-out doubles against Herrera in the second to give New York a new 2-1 lead, the Coons got on Lathers with a single and then the first career RBI for Jon Bean, who stuffed a 2-out double into the leftfield corner in the bottom 2nd. When New York actually didn’t score in the third inning, the Raccoons did so anyway. Labonte hit a 1-out triple to right-center before Cas and Brass backfilled the bases by drawing walks. Starr gave the Coons a 3-2 lead with a sac fly, and Ojeda tacked on a run with a single up the middle, a feat soon repeated by Morgan Lathers before Jon Bean flew out to center to end the inning with two on base, but up 5-2.

But Bobby Herrera kept leaking runners… lots of long counts, lots of hits, bunch of walks… and he was done after five innings, needing over 100 pitches to make it even that far. The Crusaders made up one run against him in the fourth when Andrew Russ (gnashes teeth audibly) singled in a run as pinch-hitter for Ortega, who was thus gone even sooner.

Former Indian Jason Palladino was on the mound in the bottom 5th and gave up leadoff doubles to right to Brass and Starr, which made for a 6-3 lead, and then a Luis Silva visit at second base as Starr seemed to have tweaked something on the slide into the bag. He came out of the game; Brass moved in to first, and Konecny entered in left. The bases loaded up with Lathers nicked and Bean walked with two outs, and Jesus Martinez batted for Herrera. He singled in Konecny with a solid 3-2 drop into shallow right, 7-3. Two more runs scored on a solid line drive single to left-center by Christopher.

The Coons then wanted multiple innings from Ornelas, but got the bags full and nobody out in the top 6th. The Crusaders settled for two runs on a Seidman single, but that got them back in slam range, 9-5. His seventh was better, while the home half of that frame saw Jon Bean and Vernon Hudalla reach for the Alley Cats, but they were stranded. Then Sencion had another **** outing in the eighth. Three walks, a single, a wild pitch, and two runs for the Crusaders, and that didn’t even end the inning. Tanizaki still had to get a groundout from Justin Reese to strand the bases loaded in a 9-7 game. At least the ninth inning was no longer a draw from a hat. Matt Walters retired the Crusaders 1-2-3 and that was that…! 9-7 Raccoons. Christopher 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Brassfield 2-4, BB, 2B; Starr 1-2, 2B, 2 RBI; Lathers 2-3, RBI; Bean 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Martinez (PH) 1-1, RBI;

That was already a series win.

No Joel Starr on Sunday, though – he had discomfort in his back and would sit out at least one game. Too bad, because he would perhaps do well against the ace Seiter.

Game 3
NYC: LF Deeley – C Seidman – 2B O. Sanchez – RF Zeiher – CF Branch – 1B Epperson – 3B Zucal – SS N. Fowler – P Seiter
POR: LF Christopher – 2B Labonte – 1B Brassfield – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – 3B Ojeda – C Monaghan – SS Bribiesca – P Argenziano

After two scoreless, the Crusaders took a lead in the third inning in stupid ways. Seiter hit a leadoff single, which was already annoying the crap out of me. Chris Deeley’s infield single that was mishandled by Brassfield, and Damasceno’s outright error on a comebacker by Seidman filled the bases with nobody out. He then walked in a run against Sanchez, and Zeiher hit a sac fly, although Tommy Branch then mercifully hit into a double play. Seiter even more outrageously hit another leadoff single in the fifth, although he was then forced out by Deeley, who stole second base but was still stranded with some poor outs from the middle of the order. In the sixth it was Branch to hit the leadoff single. Damasceno threw a wild pitch, then walked Roger Zucal anyway. Nick Fowler doubled home Branch, but Zucal was thrown out at the plate. The same fate had already befallen Bribiesca a few innings earlier, contributing markedly to the face that the Raccoons were nowhere near the scoreboard in a game that 3-0 Crusaders in the middle of the sixth inning.

Nothing much changed with that. Seiter was not only smacking the living crap out of Damasceno, who was gone after six innings just so he couldn’t give up any more hits to the opposing pitcher, but was also pitching a fairly sturdy game himself, scattering the odd single here and there, but shutting out the Raccoons through the stretch and beyond. Christopher drew a leadoff walk in the sixth, but was caught stealing. Bribiesca hit a leadoff single in the eighth, but was doubled up by Hudalla. The Crusaders missed the chance to put the game away for good in the ninth inning when Alex Rios mindlessly walked the bags full but the Crusaders didn’t get an actual base hit, not that they were taking out Seiter yet. He got the chance to pitch the shutout to completion – but didn’t. He walked Labonte to begin the bottom 9th, as if a leadoff base runner was gonna do ******** anything for the Raccoons. Brass grounded out, advancing the in itself meaningless runner. Cas drove an RBI double down the rightfield line, though, and this brought Martinez – co-tying for the CL home run lead – to the plate as the tying run, and the Crusaders went to Alldred. Martinez flew out to center, advancing Caswell to third base, and Rios was in the #6 spot, so Konecny grabbed a stick. He singled to center to keep the game going, with Lathers batting for Monaghan as the winning run. He gave a 1-1 pitch a good ride to right, but not good enough. Zeiher made the catch at the edge of the warning track, and the Raccoons were denied a surprise sweep. 3-2 Crusaders. Konecny (PH) 1-1, RBI; Bribiesca 2-3;

In other news

June 17 – 11 innings and 15-13 for a final score, with the Crusaders scoring four runs in the top of the 11th and the Rebs only being able to make up two of them afterwards.
June 18 – What a difference a day makes; this time the Rebels lose in regulation to the Crusaders, and get actually flattened in a 19-1 rout. NYC OF Sean Zeiher (.256, 5 HR, 36 RBI) drives in six runs to lead the team.
June 18 – NAS INF Nick Nye (.311, 14 HR, 37 RBI) puts up five hits, a homer and four singles, with three RBI in a 10-3 win against the Thunder.
June 19 – The Pacifics acquire C Jose Cantu (.254, 7 HR, 38 RBI) from the Miners for a minor leaguer and a prospect, #189 OF Evan Mottern.
June 19 – The Gold Sox pick up infielder Ian Criddle (.304, 2 HR, 11 RBI) from Dallas for 2B Ricky Lopez (.219, 2 HR, 5 RBI).
June 19 – Knights catcher Marco Nieto (.298, 4 HR, 33 RBI) will miss a month with a sprained ankle.
June 19 – To make things worse for the Atlanta team, they also get strangled by the Thunder in a 17-2 thrashing.

FL Player of the Week: NAS INF/LF/RF Jacob Bratlien (.291, 0 HR, 20 RBI), poking .565 (13-23) with 3 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN 1B Jose Campos (.259, 8 HR, 30 RBI), socking .500 (13-26) with 3 HR, 12 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Not hitting a big homer in the bottom 9th cost Jesus Martinez his share in the CL home run lead, as Armando Montoya went up to 15 on Sunday. That’s just on the side, though. The Raccoons lost on Sunday, but beat the Crusaders over the weekend, so we’re somehow still relevant, and we should try and find us a pitcher and half a dozen infielders and catchers. There’s nothing good on the waiver wire, so I guess we have to part with prospects.

(gnashes teeth like Andrew Russ is somewhere within 250 miles of Raccoons Ballpark)

Road trip again, with six games in Milwaukee and San Francisco next week.

Fun Fact: For all the whining, the Raccoons are 3rd in the CL in starters’ ERA.

Some things just can’t be explained, though. Like this stat, or how the tides actually work. Or why we do everything for cats, and they do nothing but plot our demise.