[Westheim]

Raccoons (40-42) @ Canadiens (35-47) – July 7-10, 2059

This was a great time for the bunch to travel to Elk City. Sometimes a period of separation rekindles the love for another… or at least I wouldn’t be able to throw them in the Willamette for the next four days. The Elks were pretty dismal, but there was a club for that, and we had a premium membership. The vile creatures from up north, who we’d play eight times this month (shivers), were ranked fourth in runs scored and eleventh in runs allowed in the CL. The rotation was barely palatable, but the bullpen carried an ERA over five. The Coons led the season series, 3-1.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (7-6, 3.20 ERA) vs. John Morris (5-6, 4.17 ERA)
Duarte Damasceno (1-4, 2.89 ERA) vs. Bill Lawrence (6-5, 3.75 ERA)
Chance Fox (7-3, 4.31 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (5-7, 3.27 ERA)
Justin DeRose (3-4, 3.59 ERA) vs. Andy Overy (7-6, 3.43 ERA)

The damn Elks had southpaws bookending this series, with two right-handers in the middle. The Raccoons’ roster would be in a state of flux this week, with several players scheduled to come off the DL.

Game 1
POR: 3B Benitez – LF Brassfield – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – 1B Starr – C Monaghan – 2B Ortega – SS Hudalla – P B. Herrera
VAN: LF D. Garcia – 3B Whittington – 1B J. Campos – CF D. Moreno – 2B Younce – RF Magnussen – C A. Maldonado – SS Solano – P J. Morris

Bobby Herrera appeared to stop sucking, which was very nice of him, and John Morris was absolutely ghastly. After a nice enough first inning, he offered the Raccoons three walks each in the second and third innings, and the Raccoons for once pounced on the opportunity… mostly. Vernon Hudalla of all people forced in the first run of the game by drawing a bases-loaded walk with nobody out in the top 2nd, but then Herrera popped out, Benitez whiffed, and Brassfield grounded out to leave three on, however, the floodgates opened in the third inning and the Raccoons plated four more runs, loading the bags with the middle of the order and then getting straight RBI singles from the 7-8-9 batters, and a sac fly from Brass after that.

Bobby Herrera then stopped to appear to stop sucking, getting battered in the bottom 4th. Sharp hits by Damian Moreno, Mark Younce, and Adam Magnussen gave the Elks two runs, and Alex Maldonado drew a 1-out walk before Edwin Solano and Juan Aragon grounded out to strand runners on the corners. While the Coons’ offense plainly stopped once the Elks disposed of Morris, Tipsy Bobby tumbled into the sixth and gave up another leadoff single to Moreno, a double to left to Younce, and after Magnussen grounded out to Starr, another run on Maldonado’s sac fly, 5-3. The inning then would have ended there, if not for an error by another fool entirely… twice. Monaghan fumbled Solano’s grounder, and Benitez threw away Chris Hopper’s roller, allowing the Elks to score another run before Herrera regained control with a K on Danny Garcia, stranding the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. He added a 1-2-3 seventh inning, striking out Jose Campos and Moreno for 9 K in total at the end of his day. Bravo and Walters dragged the game over the finish line from there, but Walters didn’t nail the save down until after an infield single from Danny Garcia, a 2-out walk to Campos, and then finally getting the K in a full count against Moreno. 5-4 Raccoons. Caswell 2-5, 2B; Starr 2-2, 3 BB; Monaghan 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Ortega 3-5, RBI;

The Raccoons got eight hits and six walks in four innings against John Morris. They then got two hits and one walk in the last five innings against an assortment of otherwise terrible relievers.

Speaking of terrible, Vernon Hudalla (.104, 0 HR, 3 RBI) was sent to the Alley Cats to make room for Arturo Bribiesca between games.

Game 2
POR: 2B Ortega – SS Bean – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – RF Martinez – 3B Benitez – C Lathers – P Damasceno
VAN: LF D. Garcia – 3B Whittington – 1B J. Campos – CF D. Moreno – 2B Younce – RF Magnussen – C A. Maldonado – SS Solano – P B. Lawrence

Danny Garcia hit a homer off Damasceno after three pitches, and it wouldn’t get batter for the scratch starter any time soon. A walk and two singles loaded the bases with Thomas Whittington, Campos, and Moreno, and nobody out, and after Younce whiffed, Magnussen forced in a run with another walk. Maldonado exited the inning with a double play grounder, but by then I was screaming into the nearest pillow. The Coons then had the bags full and nobody out in the top 2nd after Starr and Martinez got free passes and Tony Benitez singled to left. Lathers popped out, Damasceno rolled into a force play at home, and Ortega plain whiffed.

Damasceno walked the bags full in the bottom 2nd and gave up a run on a sac fly, while in the next half-inning Bean drew a walk, was doubled up by Cas, and then Brass drew a walk, and was thrown out at the plate on a Joel Starr double off the wall in rightfield. I screamed into the pillow harder.

Amongst two terrible pitchers, Damasceno was yanked first, not making it out of the fourth inning after the Coons scored a run on two walks and a Bernie Ortega RBI single in the top 4th. The same Ortega then dropped a pop to begin the bottom 4th, and Garcia and Campos knocked hits to plate Lawrence (…), 4-1, and that’s when Adam Harris came out of the pen. He got a grounder to first from Damian Moreno to stall the remaining runners and a grounder to short from Mark Younce to strand them.

Adam Harris gave the Raccoons 3.2 scoreless innings of garbage relief while the offense was rather tame and didn’t exactly make up the deficit, although Joel Starr hit a solo jack in the fifth to narrow the tally to 4-2. Most everybody else was awful; once the Elks dumped their horrendous starter, the Coons again couldn’t get a paw up against the bullpen – not that they scored a lot against Lawrence, who walked SEVEN. Seven hits and eight walks amounted to a 4-2 loss, also because the universe was against the Coons. Paul Labonte drew a leadoff walk in the ninth inning against erratic Rafael Flores, but then was doubled off first base on Ortega’s liner to Campos, 3-unassisted. Jon Bean then grounded out. 4-2 Canadiens. Starr 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Martinez 2-2, 2 BB; Harris 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Adam Harris, who had allowed one hit in nine scoreless innings, was rewarded with a trip to Florida as now Joey Christopher got off the DL.

Game 3
POR: CF Christopher – 2B Labonte – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – RF Martinez – SS Bean – 3B Benitez – C Lathers – P Fox
VAN: C L. Burnham – LF B. Needham – 1B J. Campos – CF D. Moreno – 2B Younce – RF Magnussen – 3B Hopper – SS Solano – P Kozloski

The Suck continued as Chance Fox ran three three-ball counts in the first inning, walking Bobby Needham, throwing a wild pitch, and giving up an RBI single with two outs to Moreno. He then had to hit a double himself to get the tying run on base in the top 3rd, scoring on a wild pitch and Christopher’s groundout. The Raccoons took the lead in the fourth after some healthy encouragement from the Elks, who nicked Brass, put Martinez on with a Hopper error, fumbled a potential double play on Jon Bean’s grounder, and finally Kozloski hung a 3-2 to Tony Benitez that got bopped to the base of the fence in left for an RBI double, 3-1. Lathers was not pitched to with two outs, getting the K from Fox instead.

The horror show was far from over. Fox walked a pair in the fourth, but escaped with a double play grounder. In the fifth he allowed a single to Luke Burnham before Campos reached when Martinez dropped his 2-out fly for a 2-base error. Fox then walked Moreno on the open base, filling them up for Younce, but the rookie found Jon Bean on the first pitch to end the inning. Fox then offered another leadoff walk to Magnussen in the sixth (his sixth), somehow tumbled through the inning against the bottom of the order while avoiding obliteration, and then wasn’t seen again.

Kozloski was still around in the top 7th, giving up a single to Konecny in the #9 spot. Konecny stole second and scored on Labonte’s 2-out single, 4-1. Kozloski hung around until the eighth, giving up a few more singles to the Coons, who loaded the bases with Martinez, Bean, and Benitez before Morgan Lathers forced in a run, drawing a 1-out walk from righty Aaron Hain. Konecny plated another run with a fielder’s choice to short, and Hain plated yet another run with a wild pitch, then walked Christopher before finally getting Labonte out. The Elks answered with three singles and a run off a hapless Eloy Sencion, while Portland loaded the bags again in the ninth as Cas doubled, pinch-hitting for Alex Rios in the #3 spot to begin the inning, Starr walked, and Bean singled. A bases-loaded walk to Benitez and Konecny’s 2-out, 2-run single escalated the score further before Alex Lodes ended the inning from the Elks’ side. 10-2 Raccoons. Labonte 2-5, BB, RBI; Caswell (PH) 1-1, 2B; Martinez 2-5; Bean 2-5, RBI; Benitez 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Konecny (PH) 2-3, 3 RBI;

Arturo Bribiesca didn’t get into a game before he was demoted to AAA for the first time since 2056 when Juan Ojeda came off the DL on Thursday.

Game 4
POR: 2B Ortega – 1B Brassfield – CF Caswell – RF Martinez – 3B Ojeda – C Monaghan – LF Konecny – SS Benitez – P DeRose
VAN: LF D. Garcia – 3B Whittington – 1B J. Campos – CF D. Moreno – 2B Younce – RF Magnussen – C A. Maldonado – SS Solano – P Overy

Aimless pitching continued in the series finale as Overy offered two walks in the first inning, but the Raccoons couldn’t score on that. Instead, DeRose walked Danny Garcia right out of the gate, then was taken quite deep by Jose Campos. The 2-0 deficit lasted into the third inning when Caswell singled home Ortega (single) and Brassfield (double) to tie the game, stole second base, but then was stranded. The fourth was uneventful, and the fifth began with Brass’ single to right. Caswell struck out now, but Jesus Martinez got a ball through between Garcia and Moreno in the left-center gap for a double, and Brass scored from first base to give Portland a 3-2 lead. That was already the end for Overy, who had been all over the place, like quite literally every single starter in this four-game set. Erik Swain walked Ojeda, but then got Monaghan on a pop to short and Konecny on strikes. Instead, DeRose waited for Brass to make a 2-out error to put Garcia on base in the bottom 5th, then exploded for an RBI double for Whittington and an RBI single by Campos, so it was now 4-3 Elks. Younce and Magnussen would reach in the sixth inning for a timely exit for the Raccoons’ starter, too, but Eloy Sencion got out of the inning without imploding, somehow.

The Raccoons entered the eighth still down by a run, but Ojeda and Monaghan went to the corners with leadoff singles against Jim Woods, so there was a chance. Carlos Torres replaced Woods, popped out Konecny, but when the Coons sent Joey Christopher to bat for Benitez, the Elks sent left-hander Blake Bouchey, who nevertheless filled the bags with a 5-pitch walk. The Elks then went back to a righty, Alex Lodes, before the Raccoons could even do anything stupid with the pinch-hitter for Reynaldo Bravo in the #9 spot. Joel Starr then batted, flew out to Danny Garcia in shallow left, and Ortega grounded out to second, and the bases remained loaded… The success against Rafael Flores in the ninth was about as rousing. 4-3 Canadiens. Brassfield 2-4, BB, 2B; Caswell 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Ojeda 2-3, BB;

Raccoons (42-44) @ Indians (42-44) – July 11-13, 2059

These teams were tied for second place in the North while the Crusaders were by now 14 1/2 games ahead, racing towards a division win only to then get like swept out of the CLCS by the Binghamton Bubblegums or whatever. Indy had lost five straight and ranked eighth in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed. They had no run differential, but a pile of injuries with Roberto Oyola, Bill Quinteros, Steve Thompson, and Orlando Ramos all out, plus the odd reliever. We led the season series, 5-4.

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. Alberto Cuellar (5-7, 4.45 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (8-6, 3.24 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (7-6, 3.32 ERA)
Duarte Damasceno (1-5, 3.24 ERA) vs. Josh Barbieri (1-1, 7.00 ERA)

Everything that wasn’t a southpaw just didn’t click for Indy this year. Fitzgibbon was one of them, and we’d miss Marcos Rivera (11-5, 2.30 ERA), who was filing a Pitcher of the Year application, but pitched on Wednesday and thus wasn’t in line for this series.

Game 1
POR: LF Christopher – 2B Labonte – CF Caswell – 1B Starr – RF Martinez – SS Bean – 3B Ojeda – C Lathers – P Kniep
IND: SS Kilday – RF Lovins – CF Abel – C A. Gomez – 3B R. Vargas – 2B Ewers – 1B Bodkin – LF McConnell – P Cuellar

The Coons fancied making outs on the basepaths while Craig Kniep was pitching, which sounded like a recipe for another loss. Labonte was caught stealing in the first inning, and when Jon Bean singled with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning, he drove in Cas, but Starr was thrown out at the plate trying to get around from second base by Chris Lovins. Lovins was also involved in the first run of the game, hitting the first of three singles the Indians had in the bottom 1st to take a 1-0 lead, but that was all they got against Kniep in the early going.

Bottom 5th, starting with a strikeout to Cuellar, Kniep then ran face first into trouble. Matt Kilday and Lovins went to the corners with 2-strike singles, and Kevin Abel drew a walk in a full count. Kniep walked in the go-ahead run in another full count to Alex Gomez, Ricardo Vargas struck out, and then we fetched Alex Rios, who got an inning-ending groundout to Jon Bean from Kevin Ewers. Jon Bean showed even better paws in the seventh inning after Cuellar walked Jesus Martinez. The count ran full and then Cuellar hung a breaking ball to the 12th-rounder, who walloped the ball over the fence for his first major league home run, and a score-flipper at that. The bad news: that was the last Coons hit in the game. The good news: Ricky Herrera, Tanizaki, and Walters were almost as stingy as the Indians in the last three innings and the tying run never reached scoring position for Indy. 3-2 Coons. Bean 2-4, HR, 3 RBI;

Game 2
POR: CF Christopher – 2B Ortega – LF Brassfield – RF Martinez – 3B Ojeda – 1B Starr – C Monaghan – SS Benitez – P B. Herrera
IND: SS Kilday – 2B Ewers – RF Lovins – C A. Gomez – 3B R. Vargas – 1B Chilelli – CF D. Salas – LF McConnell – P Fitzgibbon

The Raccoons drew a bushel of walks from Fitzgibbon but couldn’t get their hits together. Through five innings, we had two singles, one by Bobby Herrera, and trailed 1-0 thanks to Herrera’s own leadoff walk to Blake McConnell and a throwing error by Jesus Martinez, who had the Coons’ other single for no greater good. McConnell hit a leadoff double in the bottom 5th, but was then out at third base on a terrible bunt by the Indians’ left-hander, who himself was then stranded at first base.

Come the sixth, the Raccoons loaded the bases, still without the benefit of a base knock. Martinez walked, Ojeda was nicked, and Starr walked, all with one out, bringing up the .180 menace that was Eric Monaghan. Yaaay. Monaghan popped out, Benitez grounded out, and that was the ******* inning.

Herrera’s outing ended after seven innings thanks to rain, but play resumed after a 30-minute rain delay, but still without the Raccoons actually doing ******* anything against Michael McLaughlin, who replaced Fitzgibbon and turned them away in the eighth inning. Ben Akman saw the bottom of the order in the ninth inning, still with a 1-0 score, although in reality he faced whatever the bench could launch at him. Labonte grounded out, but Bean singled, only to be forced out at second on Cas’ grounder. Akman walked Christopher, which moved the tying run to second base, but Bernie Ortega flew out to Chris Lovins. 1-0 Indians. Starr 0-1, 3 BB; Bean (PH) 1-1; B. Herrera 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, L (8-7);

We had seven walks. **** walks.

Game 3
POR: RF Christopher – 2B Labonte – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – SS Bean – 3B Ojeda – C Monaghan – P Damasceno
IND: SS Kilday – 2B Ewers – RF Lovins – C A. Gomez – 3B R. Vargas – 1B Chilelli – CF D. Salas – LF McConnell – P Barbieri

The Coons popped out three runs in the first inning like it was nothing. Christopher walked, moved up on Labonte’s groundout, then scored on a Cas single. Brass singled, as did Starr, driving home the second run. Brass went to third base and scored on Jon Bean’s groundout, while Ojeda popped out to short. Cas got another RBI in the second inning, doubling in Monaghan, who had reached on an error by Kilday to begin that top 2nd. Labonte started from first base on that play, but was thrown out at home by McConnell to end the inning. Even more annoyingly, McConnell hit a 3-run homer off a persistently useless Damasceno in the home half of the second after Ricardo Vargas and Danny Salas had singled their way on base. The rest of the lead went away in the bottom 3rd by way of a walk to Lovins and an RBI double off the top of the wall in right for Vargas.

Perhaps Damasceno was better used in a Kyle Brobeck capacity? He drew a 2-out walk in the fifth inning, then scored on hits by Christopher and Labonte, and then avoided giving it right back to Indy in the bottom 5th after Danny Salas singled, McConnell walked, and Nathan Niles hit into a double play, followed by Kilday flying out to right. Damasceno barely survived five innings, then was hit for by Bernie Ortega, who became the newest Critter to mash his maiden home run, a solo jack to left to extend the score to 6-4. Indy drew closer in the seventh with two singles off Ricky Herrera, then an RBI single by Alex Gomez off Tanizaki with two outs. Ricardo Vargas struck out, though, and the Critters got a 6-5 lead into the eighth. Tanizaki also did the eighth and the wind blew a near-homer by Victor Cruz back into play and Caswell’s glove to keep the Coons ahead. The Coons managed to get picked off first base in both the eighth (Ortega) and ninth (Cas) innings, which was also *dandy*. Matt Walters had an All Star Game to get to, however, and retired Indy in order in the bottom 9th. 6-5 Critters. Christopher 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Caswell 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Starr 2-3, BB, RBI; Ortega (PH) 2-2, HR, RBI;

In other news

July 7 – DAL SP Alex Quevedo (4-7, 2.25 ERA) and CL Jon Dominguez (2-6, 5.93 ERA, 11 SV) pitch a combined 1-hitter in a 4-0 win against the Wolves, who only get a single from SAL C Ben Newman (.246, 8 HR, 40 RBI).
July 7 – The Indians would be without 22-year-old sophomore OF Steve Thompson (.255, 5 HR, 18 RBI) for the rest of the season; he was out with a torn ACL.
July 8 – The Buffaloes acquire CF/LF Jose Ambriz (.271, 3 HR, 18 RBI) from the Aces for two prospects. The deal includes #34 prospect SP Steve Slye.
July 10 – The Indians lose yet another outfielder as OF Orlando Ramos (.262, 6 HR, 39 RBI) will miss the rest of the season with a torn labrum.
July 11 – TOP SP Pablo Lara (12-3, 2.16 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Capitals, whiffing five in a 3-0 game. It’s the 24-year-old sophomore Lara’s fourth shutout in 2059, and the fifth of his career.
July 11 – NYC SP Jose Ortega (5-7, 5.42 ERA, 1 SV) throws a 1-hit shutout against the Loggers, striking out seven for the 4-0 win. The only Loggers hit is a drag bunt for a single by Jason Monson (.273, 9 HR, 19 RBI), the very first batter of the game.
July 11 – The Crusaders trade OF/1B Gunner Epperson (.311, 6 HR, 29 RBI) to the Caps for SP/MR Sean Fowler (3-1, 2.85 ERA) and #138 prospect RF/LF/1B Juan de Luna.
July 11 – WAS 2B Joo-chan Lee (.270, 0 HR, 16 RBI) would miss six weeks with shoulder bursitis.
July 11 – The Pacifics beat the Wolves, 8-7 in 17 innings. Both teams score single runs in both the 10th and 11th innings before the Wolves fail to make up a home run by LAP OF Matt McInnis (.296, 5 HR, 31 RBI) in the top of the 17th inning.
July 12 – Pittsburgh’s SP Sean Sweeton (12-5, 2.33 ERA) throws a no-hitter against the Blue Sox in a 5-0 Miners win. He faces the minimum, offering only a walk, and strikes out eight. The sole, perfecto-ruining walk is drawn by NAS 1B Andy Metz (.243, 14 HR, 49 RBI).
July 12 – The Aces score ten runs in the seventh inning to decisively overturn a 6-run Bayhawks lead and win 13-9.
July 13 – OCT 3B/RF Ed Soberanes (.297, 9 HR, 53 RBI) drives in seven runs in a 16-2 rout of the Condors, including a grand slam in the Thunder’s 10-run eighth inning.

FL Player of the Week: RIC CF/RF Antonio Cruz (.329, 9 HR, 43 RBI), batting .464 (13-28) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB LF Grant Anker (.299, 11 HR, 49 RBI), hitting .433 (13-30) with 2 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Everybody’s gone bloody stupid now. The Raccoons – THE RACCOONS – have five All Stars. FIVE!

Okay, Bobby Herrera and Matt Walters are defensible choices. Noah Caswell and Jesus Martinez had two strong months, but now they’re sagging. Joel Starr is doing *alright*, and he’s also sagging. I don’t know how that happened. Herrera, Starr, and Martinez were selected for the first time. Walters is on his third, and third straight All Star Game if you ignore his 2058 season which started late due to injury and he missed the first two months. It’s the fourth All Star Game for Caswell, the third straight for him, and the second as a Critter.

You know who else has five All Stars? The Crusaders, who lead the division by a bajillion games. Across both leagues the Buffos have the most All Stars, though: Ben Karst, Pablo Lara, Bill Hernandez, Matt McLaren, Alex de los Santos, Zach Suggs, and Dan Martin make SEVEN.

The Crusaders are trading for prospects WHILST leading the division. Corny. (casually breaks a bat in half with his paws)

Well, it’s the All Star Game now. On the other side we’ll have a 7-game homestand with the damn Elks and the Loggers. And perhaps a few trades for prospects, because we’re 15 1/2 games out.

Fun Fact: For the second consecutive year, a Miners pitcher no-hits the opposition.

Last year Kodai Koga did the honors to the Rebels.