[Westheim]

Raccoons (53-52) @ Bayhawks (55-50) – August 4-6, 2059

San Francisco was scoring the second-most runs in the Continental League, but they were also giving up the fourth-most and had only a +17 run differential. Then again, they had beaten the Raccoons in all games played so far this year, and nothing good ever happened at the Bay. Woe is us!

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (10-8, 3.07 ERA) vs. Jeff Crowley (6-11, 5.67 ERA)
Duarte Damasceno (3-6, 3.38 ERA) vs. Garrett Giustino (9-6, 3.80 ERA)
Chance Fox (9-4, 3.78 ERA) vs. Joe Byrd (3-3, 5.04 ERA)

Only right-handed pitching to be seen here.

The Raccoons began the week by rather reluctantly recalling David Gonzales from his AAA rehab assignment. Tony Benitez was sent to St. Petersburg to make room for the Rule 5er.

Game 1
POR: RF Christopher – 2B Labonte – CF Caswell – 1B Brassfield – SS Bean – 3B Gonzales – LF Cooke – C Monaghan – P B. Herrera
SFB: SS X. Reyes – 3B Peltier – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – 1B P. Fowler – CF A. Walker – C Redfern – RF Tomko – P Crowley

The Raccoons took the lead in the third inning when Caswell singled home Christopher from second base after previously having ended the top of the first with a double play grounder to Armando Montoya, the CL home run and RBI leader, batting .279 with 19 HR and 84 RBI. Caswell scored himself on a Brass double and Crowley’s subsequent balk for a 2-0 lead. Crowley then also beaned Bean, but struck out David Gonzales to escape the inning. Bobby Herrera didn’t put much of a paw wrong in the first four innings, but then blundered into another Tipsy Bobby inning in the bottom of the fifth, which began with loopy singles by Keith Redfern and Chris Tomko, and continued with Crowley’s RBI double to left. Redfern scored, Tomko was thrown out at the plate, but the Bayhawks still got the tying run to score with Xavier Reyes’ single that sent Crowley to third base, then a groundout by Adam Peltier, who else. Not much else happened offensively; the Raccoons were completely hopeless against another pitcher with an ERA over five, as Crowley went eight innings and struck out ten Critters. Bobby Herrera only lasted six innings after the long bottom 5th, with Rios, Ornelas, and Ricky Herrera then adding two scoreless innings after that to keep the game tied. The Bayhawks then sent Brett Lillis jr. into the ninth inning. He also gave up a pair of loopy singles to Bean and Gonzales, then with two outs a booming, pinch-hit, 3-run homer to Joel Starr! Matt Walters would then take care of the 4-5-6 batters in order. 5-2 Raccoons. Brassfield 2-4, RBI; Gonzales 2-4; Starr (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Perez (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
POR: 2B Labonte – LF Ortega – CF Caswell – RF Brassfield – 1B Starr – C Perez – SS Bean – 3B Ojeda – P Damasceno
SFB: SS X. Reyes – 3B Peltier – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – 1B P. Fowler – CF A. Walker – C Redfern – RF Tomko – P Giustino

In his first go on Tuesday, Angel Perez mashed his first career home run, a solo shot to left in the second inning. This did not give the Raccoons the lead, because the other half of the battery had been busy noisily drowning in the bottom of the first. DD walked Peltier, then allowed sharp hits to Grant Anker, Armando Mongoya, and Aaron Walker, who drove in a total of three runs. It got better with him in the following innings, but it took the Raccoons a while to scramble and make up the difference. Angel Perez hit a leadoff double in the fourth inning, then scored on Ojeda’s sac fly to inch the Critters closer, and when Starr socked another longshot in the sixth inning, we were finally even at three. The inning wasn’t over, though, because Jon Bean got on base with one out and stole second base. Ojeda’s grounder moved him to third base, but the Raccoons forewent sending a pinch-hitter with the go-ahead run on third and two outs. Why a pinch-hitter? For what? Duarte Damasceno slapped a single to center, Bean scored, 4-3, and the Bayhawks mutteringly changed pitchers. Labonte then grounded out.

Damasceno had a scoreless sixth despite Aaron Walker getting on base and stealing second, while the Bayhawks had another mess on their claws in the seventh inning with Zane Fenlon pitching. He allowed a single to Bernie Ortega, who advanced on Cas’ groundout. San Fran wanted no piece of Brassfield and walked him intentionally, but then Fenlon balked and they had to walk Starr intentionally as well, bringing … whom to the plate? Angel Perez – the youngster drew a walk in a full count to push home another run. Manny Cooke batted for Bean against the left-handed Fenlon, but struck out, and then Ojeda grounded out to leave the bags full. The bags were left loaded the inning after that as well when Starr flew out to Grant Anker after Christopher and Labonte had drawn walks and Brass had singled.

Eloy Sencion tried to blow the 5-3 game in the bottom 8th, nicking Anker – his own fault for catching that fly ball! – and then conceding a single to Pat Fowler, the other lefty batter he saw. He didn’t see any batter after that at all, with Reynaldo Bravo storming in beating up Walker and Keith Redfern with strikeouts to strand runners on the corners. Three runs in the ninth then blew the doors off. Gonzales doubled and scored on an Ojeda single, Labonte got on, and Bernie Ortega hit a 2-run double into the gap with two outs. The Bayhawks then tried to blow the doors back on in the bottom 9th against Brad Loveless, but only managed to put Reyes and Peltier on the corners with two 2-out singles before Anker struck out to end the game. 8-3 Critters. Ortega 2-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Brassfield 2-4, BB; Perez 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Bean 2-3; Gonzales 1-1, 2B; Damasceno 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (4-6) and 2-3, RBI;

Game 3
POR: RF Christopher – 2B Ortega – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – C Perez – SS Bean – 3B Ojeda – P C. Fox
SFB: SS X. Reyes – 3B Peltier – 2B A. Montoya – CF A. Walker – LF Anker – 1B C. Jimenez – C Redfern – RF Tomko – P Byrd

Both teams had only one runner each in the first two innings, but the top 3rd then got bizarre right away. Juan Ojeda hit a leadoff single, which was still within the realm of possibilities, but then scored on a stolen base attempt, Redfern’s throwing error, and then a balk by Byrd. Joey Christopher then also reached base, stole second, reached third on another throwing error by Redfern, and was singled home by Bernie Ortega. It was certainly ONE way to go up 2-0.

Meanwhile Chance Fox did his royal best to give up a run for the first time in a while. He had already walked Anker in the second, then walked Chris Tomko and Xavier Reyes in the third inning. Then he threw a wild pitch. The runners were in scoring position with one out, but Peltier popped out where he could do no harm (!!!), and Montoya grounded out to Joel Starr. Fox did run out of stupid luck in the fourth, though, giving away leadoff knocks to Walker and Anker, then a sac fly to Chris Jimenez. Redfern hit another sharp single, but Anker was thrown out at the plate by Brassfield on that one. Tomko then flew out to shallow left to keep the Coons up 2-1.

The next two innings didn’t see a lot of excitement, and the seventh didn’t begin overly promising with a groundout by Bean, but then Ojeda hit another single. Fox’ bunt was thrown away by Byrd for two bases, and the Raccoons had another pair in scoring position with less than two outs. The Bayhawks didn’t bother with Joe-Chris, who was walked intentionally, because he looked really menacing with that .227/.394/.297 slash line. Even worse: it worked. Bernie Ortega struck out, and Caswell grounded out to Montoya…

Fox was gone after Reyes’ 2-out single in the bottom 7th. Ornelas replaced him, was met with pinch-hitter Pat Fowler (as if anybody could conceivably do more damage to the Raccoons as Adam Peltier did with his eyes closed), and got a groundout to second to end the inning. Ornelas and Sencion combined for a 1-2-3 eighth inning to keep the 2-1 lead together. Juan Ojeda hit a leadoff single against Lillis in the ninth, but was forced out by Manny Cooke and the Raccoons failed to tack on, leaving Walters to his own devices against the 6-7-8 batters. Keith Redfern promptly homered the game tied, and eventually we went on to extra innings. The top 10th began with Zane Fenlon walking Caswell before Montoya butchered a Brass grounder for the fourth Bayhawks error of the game. Starr’s soft single loaded the bases with nobody out, oh-oh. Angel Perez was so far hitless in the game, but broke the stalemate with a clean single past third baseman Brendan Mayer, 3-2. Bean then popped out, but Ojeda remained unretired and doubled home a pair with a shot to right. Jorge Solis replaced feckless Fenlon, conceded a run with a wild pitch, and another one on Labonte’s sac fly.

The Coons then put in Loveless and leaned back. Maybe they leaned back a bit too much. Reyes led off the bottom 10th with a double to left, and then Ojeda threw away Mayer’s grounder for two bases and a run. Montoya walked, there was a wild pitch, but then a K on Walker. Grant Anker grounded out first, and now Starr completely fudged a play. Mayer scored, two were on the corners, and the tying run was at the plate with one out. The Coons brought Bravo, who walked the bags full against Chris Jimenez, but then struck out Redfern and had Tomko ground out to short… 7-4 Raccoons. Ojeda 5-5, 2B, 2 RBI;

Juan Ojeda had more hits than the rest of the team combined (four).

…which is good, because so far I don’t see how he wants to merit that $2.35M salary for this season…..

Raccoons (56-52) vs. Crusaders (69-40) – August 7-10, 2059

Nope, it wasn’t happening. Even with a sweep of the Crusaders, we would still be 8 1/2 games behind. They were third in runs scored and allowing the fewest runs in the CL, and were looking to get their +99 run differential into triple digits on the weekend. Somehow we led the season series, 4-3.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Sneeze (0-1, 6.00 ERA) vs. Joel Luera (7-6, 2.05 ERA)
Justin DeRose (4-8, 3.58 ERA) vs. Seisaku Taki (14-4, 3.27 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (10-8, 3.07 ERA) vs. Jose Ortega (8-7, 4.36 ERA)
Duarte Damasceno (4-6, 3.42 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (14-4, 3.06 ERA)

Only right-handers coming up here.

Game 1
NYC: CF Branch – LF Rodriquez – 2B O. Sanchez – RF Zeiher – 1B Sevilla – C Seidman – SS N. Fowler – 3B Zucal – P Taki
POR: RF Christopher – 2B Ortega – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – C Perez – SS Bean – 3B Ojeda – P Sneeze

Taki what? Joel Luera was a late scratch with a tight neck and Taki had to suddenly go on short rest, who avoided trouble in the first inning, but Brass and Starr started the bottom 2nd with singles and Angel Perez’ single to center gave the Coons a 1-0 lead before Jon Bean struck out, but Juan Ojeda made it 2-0 with a sac fly for Bobby Sneeze (gesundheit!), who had already avoided deserved damage in both of the first two innings when the Crusaders ran themselves out of the first inning when Omar Sanchez doubled and was thrown out at home on Sean Zeiher’s single, or in the second, when Roger Zucal spanked a ball into an inning-ending double play after Mike Seidman and Nick Fowler had both hit singles. This couldn’t go well forever, and it didn’t. The Crusaders two hits in the third inning were homers by Tommy Branch (solo) and Sean Zeiher (for two), the latter picking up Sanchez having drawn a walk.

While Portland then had Ortega and Ojeda hit into double plays to kill their third and fourth innings, Tommy Branch at least got what he deserved in the fifth, where he hit a leadoff single to center. Tony Rodriquez grounded to short, and Bean’s throw to Ortega was poor and to the first base side. Ortega reached and fell onto the sliding Branch, who hurt his shoulder in the process and was replaced with Chris Deeley; and he was out too, because there’s not much sliding to be done anymore when you’re pinned under a second baseman. Sanchez then hit into a double play to end the inning, 4-6-3. Mike Seidman’s 2-run homer in the sixth created some distance then, putting New York up 5-2, while Brass and Starr drew walks off Taki in the bottom 6th to bring Angel Perez to the plate as the tying run – and he hit into yet another double play.

Taki was gone after six, just like Sneeze, who still didn’t quite fight the veteran to a draw. Kyle Turay was pitching for New York in the seventh. The disgraced starter allowed a single to Bean, and then a 2-out homer to left to Joe-Chris, which suddenly narrowed the score to 5-4 again. But Ortega made the last out of the inning, and the 3-4-5 disappeared without a trace against Medardo Regueir and Richard Castillo in the eighth inning. Instead, New York’s backup catcher Justin Reese hit a home run off Alex Rios in the ninth… Zachariah Alldred then put the Raccoons away for good. 6-4 Crusaders. Starr 1-2, 2 BB; Perez 2-4, RBI;

Game 2
NYC: CF Zucal – SS N. Fowler – 2B O. Sanchez – RF Zeiher – 1B Sevilla – C Seidman – LF Makino – 3B Russ – P J. Ortega
POR: RF Christopher – 2B Labonte – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – 3B Ojeda – SS Gonzales – C Monaghan – P DeRose

Joe-Chris walked, stole second, and scored on two productive outs, so that was a nice enough start to the Friday game. Monaghan’s sac fly made it 2-0 in the second with a deep fly to left after Starr drew a leadoff walk and Ojeda singled. Ortega offered more leadoff walks to Christopher and Labonte in the bottom 3rd. Cas’ grounder advanced them into scoring position, but Brass only got another walk from Ortega, filling the bases. …except that Ortega kept not finding the zone and walked Joel Starr as well to force in a run. Ojeda’s groundout was good enough to bring in a fourth run, but Gonzales then popped out to strand a pair on base.

So now it was mostly about waiting for DeRose to implode, but the Crusaders seemed to have taken the day off. They had only two hits and one walk to their credit through five innings. They got another single from Fowler, and Sanchez walked with one out in the sixth. This time, they came through with a 2-out, 2-run double to the base of the wall in rightfield, cutting the Coons’ lead in half. In fact, at that point, the Crusaders had two runs on four hits, and the Raccoons had four runs on two hits. Seidman’s groundout on the next pitch ended the inning.

That pattern went with a single for Andrew Russ (hiss!!!!) in the seventh inning, but DeRose still managed to get out of the inning on his own, while Ricky Herrera was less lucky in the eighth and filled the bases with a bushel of runners before Rios shoveled him out of a three on, nobody out situation while conceding one run on Zeiher’s groundout, but then popped out Reese and grounded out Seidman to Labonte to still elope with a skinny 4-3 lead. The Raccoons remained stuck on three hits despite the best attempts to windmill a baseball onto the green grass out there. Russ drew a walk off Walters in the ninth inning, but didn’t get around to score a fiendish tying run before Roger Zucal grounded out to Starr to end the game. 4-3 Blighters. Christopher 1-2, 2 BB; DeRose 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (5-8);

Thankfully there’s no grades on style in baseball…

Game 3
NYC: CF Zucal – LF Rodriquez – 2B O. Sanchez – RF Zeiher – 1B Sevilla – C Seidman – SS N. Fowler – 3B Russ – P Seiter
POR: RF Christopher – 2B Labonte – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – C Perez – SS Bean – 3B Ojeda – P B. Herrera

Seiter moving up due to Luera’s locked neck meant that this game featured the two CL pitchers with the best WAR this season.

Tipsy Bobby allowed Zucal and Sanchez on base with singles in the first inning – the first being of the infield variety – but the runners were stranded and Herrera then struck out half a dozen without allowing another base runner until Nick Fowler hit a 1-out single in the fifth inning, and yes, of course the Raccoons did nothing offensively the entire ******* time and why waste any more breath on them? Russ and Seiter struck out meanwhile to complete the fifth inning for New York in an utterly scoreless game. Even Zeiher dropping a fly by Angel Perez in shallow right to begin an inning couldn’t get the Critters on the horse, and then it was of course Zeiher to hit a 2-run home run to right just after Sanchez’ 2-out single to center in the sixth.

Joel Starr hit a stray homer in the bottom 7th to get the Raccoons on the board, but that only shortened the score to 2-1. Jon Bean got on base, then nowhere in the same inning, while Big Bobby completed eight innings on the hill on 111 pitches, but was still on the hook. Seiter retired the 1-2 to start the bottom 8th, then nicked Caswell on base. Brass hit a sharp grounder to left that Fowler intercepted, but had no play on, and the infield single moved Cas to second base, which was just where he needed to be to score on Joel Starr’s 2-out single to left-center on a 3-2 pitch. Perez’ fly to Zucal ended the inning, though, and left Herrera with a no-decision. Walters then struck out two in a quick ninth inning to keep the game tied, while Seiter completed nine innings for his own no-decision. Ivan Ornelas pitched a scoreless tenth inning for Portland in anticipation of this game going to take a couple more hours, but the Raccoons actually made a quick end to it in the bottom 10th after Christopher grounded out; Labonte walked, Cas singled him to third base, and Brass ended the game with sac fly deep to Deeley to finish this one. 3-2 Blighters. Caswell 2-3, BB; Starr 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; B. Herrera 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 11 K;

Why can we hold our own against the Crusaders (barely), and still can’t go anywhere in the standings? (shakes magic #8 ball)

Fine, I’ll ask again later.

Game 4
NYC: CF Zucal – LF Rodriquez – 2B O. Sanchez – 1B Sevilla – C Seidman – SS N. Fowler – RF Deeley – 3B Russ – P Cantrell
POR: RF Christopher – 2B Labonte – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – C Perez – SS Bean – 3B Ojeda – P Damasceno

Luera was still a no-go, so we got to see Milt Cantrell (10-8, 2.38 ERA) on Sunday. He was up against Damasceno, who made 33 pitches’ worth of a mess in the first inning, allowing a single to Zucal, a walk to Sanchez, and an RBI single to Sevilla before eventually loading the bases by fowling Nicker. Chris Deeley grounded out to Labonte in a 3-2 count to leave the bases loaded and keep the actual damage to one run. Not that it got better afterwards; leadoff walk to Russ (growl!) in the top 2nd, and Zucal doubled home that runner after a good bunt by Cantrell. Rodriquez drew another walk, and then Sanchez and Sevilla both knocked an RBI single before the inning fizzled out with Seidman’s fielder’s choice grounder and Fowler rolling over to Bean.

The Crusaders had their 4-0 lead, and the Raccoons had only three base knocks in the first five innings against Cantrell, who a couple winters back really, really, really hadn’t wanted to become a Raccoon and was now feasting on them, although Christopher doubled home Ojeda in the bottom 3rd to at least make up one of the runs. Zucal’s 1-out single in the sixth was the end for Damasceno, with Brad Loveless finding a way out of the inning despite Tony Rodriquez’ single. Sanchez struck out and Sevilla flew out, and then Cantrell also didn’t get out of the sixth. He offered a leadoff walk to Labonte in the bottom 6th, but two poor outs and a Starr single later the Raccoons were still only on the corners, yet the Crusaders moved to get Turay. Angel Perez, the tying run, hit an RBI single to left-center, but Jon Bean grounded out to strand a pair on base. Turay retired Ojeda and Ortega in the bottom 7th, then didn’t go very skillfully after Joe-Chris’ infield roller and conceded an infield single. That one came back to lay eggs, though, as Labonte zinged a double into the leftfield corner to drive home Christopher, 4-3, then scored when Caswell flicked an RBI single into shallow center. That one was a true howler, a help-me swing on an 0-2 pitch that Cas shoveled out of the bottom of the zone. It also tied the game ahead of a Brass single and a K to Starr that ended that bottom 7th.

Then Reynaldo Bravo had his day to decompose on the hill in plain sight. He allowed a leadoff single to Russ in the top 8th, then walked the bags full with Mark Seeley and Zucal. The Raccoons shrugged, but didn’t know better than to bring in Sencion, who was right away met with a righty pinch-hitter, Reese, and gave up a deep sac fly. A second run scored on Omar Sanchez’ groundout before Sevilla flew out to Brass. 6-4 became 6-5 in the bottom 8th with Perez’ double off Medardo Regueir, a wild pitch, and Bean’s grounder to second base, but in the end we met Alldred again in the bottom 9th. Christopher grounded out, but in the #2 hole, which now held the pitcher after some switcheroo, Carlos Solorzano pinch-hit and dropped a single into left, just in time to bring up the big boys as the winning runs. Eiji Kinoshiita in right caught Cas’ fly for the second out, but there was no catching Brass’ drive to deepest part of centerfield, where it fell for a game-tying RBI double, knotting the score at six! Starr walked. Perez hit a roller on the infield and three Crusaders fell over each other trying to play it. The infield single loaded the bags with two outs for … well… 12th-rounder Jon Bean then… and he popped out to second base, sending the game to overtime.

A very tired Ricky Herrera found three outs from the New Yorkers in the top of the tenth inning, after which we faced right-hander Richard Castillo in the bottom 10th. Ojeda and Ortega made quick outs before Castillo walked Christopher and Cooke. Caswell struck a 2-1 pitch into shallow right, but while the single filled the bases, Christopher couldn’t head for home since Kinoshiita was right on the ball. Brass grounded out sharply to Fowler to leave the bags full yet again. In the 11th, Bean and Ojeda hit 2-out singles, Seidman offered a passed ball, and then Ortega fouled out to still strand a pair in scoring position.

The Crusaders then scored the go-ahead run with … Ben Seiter…? …in the top of the 12th, the second inning for the much-abused Ornelas. Nick Fowler drummed a leadoff double to left, but also sheared off a leg sliding into second base and was out of the game. Since the Crusaders had no more bench pieces available, Ben Seiter entered as pinch-runner and scored the go-ahead run on a Kinoshiita single before Ornelas regained control. The Raccoons then brought the 1-2-3 to the dish against… still Castillo in the bottom 12th. When Joey Christopher drew a leadoff walk, Ornelas was not hit for – and with what? Monaghan?? – and instead was asked to bunt, getting the tying run into scoring position successfully. Cas grounded out to Sanchez, which sent Christopher to third base. Brass was the last guy up and grounded to short, and by the way, did I mention that the Crusaders were out of bench players? It was Seiter out there, and he fumbled the baseball for an error, and Christopher scored the tying run from third base…! The madness! But that wasn’t all yet, because Joel Starr was next to bat, and ran a full count against a gassed Castillo. It was hard to see who could still pitch for the Crusaders though – there was no starting pitcher available to throw in, either! The good news for them? They didn’t need no pitching anymore. Joel Starr socked a 420-footer to send them home! Walkoff home run!!! 9-7 Furballs!! Christopher 2-5, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Labonte 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Solorzano (PH) 1-1; Starr 2-6, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Perez 3-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Ojeda 3-6;

In other news

August 4 – Vancouver SP John Morris (7-7, 3.96 ERA) shuts out the Knights on three hits in an 8-0 win.
August 4 – CIN SP Joe Chalmers (4-8, 5.14 ERA) pitches 23 outs of no-hit ball against the Pacifics before the bid is broken up by the #8 hitter, OF/1B/2B Jimmy Hartgrove (.305, 0 HR, 8 RBI) with a 2-out triple in the eighth. Cyclones right-hander Justin Ball (0-0, 3.45 ERA, 1 SV) ends up finishing up the 5-0 Cincy win as a combined 1-hitter.
August 5 – Thunder 3B/RF Ed Soberanes (.294, 9 HR, 61 RBI) could be out until the end of the regular season after breaking his wrist.
August 6 – SFB SP Eric Braley (6-10, 4.67 ERA) is out for the 2059 season and questionable for the start of 2060 with a torn labrum that requires surgery.
August 6 – The Capitals lose INF/LF John Webler (.273, 6 HR, 18 RBI) to a broken ankle. The 28-year-old is out for the season.
August 7 – RIC 1B Mario Delgadillo (.309, 22 HR, 64 RBI) hits a home run to beat the Miners, 1-0.

FL Player of the Week: SAC OF/1B Israel Santiago (.276, 6 HR, 40 RBI), hitting .625 (15-24) with 1 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR 1B Joel Starr (.297, 14 HR, 59 RBI), whacking .348 (8-23) with 4 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Joel Starr is efficient as heck. Also, just like Noah Caswell earlier he had more RBI than hits in his week. He also drew seven walks and struck out just one, which I am sure will make one know-it-all in the room (looks over to Cristiano Carmona) all giddy inside again.

12 games in, Angel Perez is batting for a 203 OPS+ still. I wonder when the euphoria will wear off, and when it does, where he’ll stop plunging.

The best news of the week was that Lonzo signed that $1.5M contract extension for 2060, so we can have another go at a stolen base title with our increasingly aging shortstop that is above and beyond any discussion right now. – (Cristiano begins to race his voice) – I know how those wheels get unscrewed, Cristiano!! – (Cristiano chooses to remain silent)

Next week: home series against the damn Elks, and while Maud will then try to open the windows and get the vile northern stench out of here, we’ll be frolicking around at the Wolves’ place on the weekend.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are 7-4 against the Crusaders this year.

That’s already more wins, with seven games to spare, than we got against them in any of the last three seasons. We had only one season series win against them this entire decade so far, which was a sturdy 10-8 effort in ’54.