[Westheim]

All Star Game

The Federal League hits four home runs on the way to a 5-1 win in the All Star Game, with Dallas’ Tyler Wharton and Chad Pritchett, Topeka’s Zach Suggs, and Pittsburgh’s Nick Dingman doing the honors. Suggs is the only one to hit a home run with a runner on base, a 2-piece off Portland’s Bobby Herrera, who takes the loss.

In fact, ALL home runs are hit off Raccoons. Chance Fox gives up the Dallas pair’s dingers, and Dingman clonkers one off Matt Walters. Only Justin Rocco escapes the carnage unharmed.

Raccoons (51-38) vs. Titans (44-45) – July 14-17, 2061

The Titans were now 5-3 behind the Raccoons in the season series after a series split in Boston a week ago. They were now carrying a -16 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (5-1, 1.94 ERA) vs. Jayden Craddock (5-9, 4.02 ERA)
Nick Robinson (6-6, 4.03 ERA) vs. Grant MacKinnon (8-4, 4.48 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (6-5, 3.17 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (7-5, 2.81 ERA)
Chance Fox (7-5, 2.82 ERA) vs. Mike Bell (7-7, 2.90 ERA)

No southpaws were expected to be brought up here from Boston.

The Raccoons had optioned Jose Corral on Sunday and had spent the break with just 24 players on the roster. Todd Oley was then brought up to begin the Boston series, which hadn’t done anything for the Coons the last ten times this sentence had been said, but maybe we were really, *truly* out of ideas here…

Game 1
BOS: CF Marcotte – 2B Woodrome – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – LF Ramires – RF Lloyd – SS Bratlien – P Craddock
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – RF Brassfield – 2B Nye – C Perez – 3B Fowler – LF Bean – P Riddle

The Coons burst out of the gates with a 3-spot in the first inning. Ben Morris walked and Lonzo doubled, and both scored on groundouts up the middle by Starr and Brassfield before Nye’s double to left and Perez’ RBI single put another run together. Tyler Riddle wasn’t too sharp and gave up a single here and a drilled Bill Ramires there, but the Titans did a good job in hitting into a double play when things got too tight, but when Riddle came to the plate with Nye and Bean on the corners and two outs in the bottom 4th, he sent a ball through the right side of the infield and plate Nye for a 4-0 lead, leaving ending the inning to Morris. The Titans answered with a leadoff single by Ted Lloyd – not their first such leadoff runner on the day – but then stumbled again as Jacob Bratlien grounded out and Alex Abecassis whiffed. Riddle lost Eddie Marcotte to a walk in a full count, but Ian Woodrome then lined out softly to Nye to leave the pair on base.

Lonzo hit another double to begin the bottom 5th, but got a bad read on Starr’s single to left and had to hold at third base on the play. No issue, though, since Brass brought him home with another single to left-center. Reliever Adam Gardner then entered and cleaned up, getting a double play from Nye and a fly to center from Perez. Riddle took his 4-hit shutout to the seventh-inning stretch, but being generally inefficient meant that he was already on 102 pitches and would go no further. In turn, the Raccoons added a pair against Mike Pohlmann in the bottom 7th with 2-out RBI knocks for Perez and Fowler, although both runs were unearned on Pohlmann because Nick Nye only reached on a throwing error by Bratlien to begin with. The Titans only got a run across against Mike Abrams in the ninth inning. Diego Mendoza led off with a double to left-center and Abrams failed to contain that runner, who scored on Bratlien’s 2-out single. 7-1 Critters. Lavorano 2-4, 2 2B; Starr 2-4, RBI; Riddle 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-1) and 2-3, RBI;

Game 2
BOS: CF Marcotte – 2B Woodrome – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – LF Ramires – RF Lloyd – SS Bratlien – P MacKinnon
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – RF Brassfield – 2B Nye – C Fuller – 3B Fowler – LF Ayala – P Robinson

Nick Robinson was the only Raccoon to start on regular rest in this series and got a sizable lead handed to him quite early as the Raccoons again came out swinging and spanked MacKinnon for five runs in the bottom 1st. Morris doubled and scored on Lonzo’s single. Starr singled, but was forced out by Nye after Brass had already whiffed. Tim Fuller clipped an RBI single, however, and Nick Fowler cranked a 2-out, 3-run homer to right for a 5-0 score. MacKinnon was hit for the first chance the Titans got to dump him, and Robinson walked Abecassis and Eddie Marcotte back-to-back, but then got a double play grounder to end the inning from Ian Woodrome.

Bottom 4th, and the Raccoons loaded the bases with one out. Morris reached on a throwing error by Woodrome, while left-hander Gabe Hill issued 1-out walks to Starr and Brass. Nye dropped a soft RBI single behind Woodrome, while Jorge Arviso then lost the 0-1 pitch to Fuller and conceded another run on the passed ball. Fuller’s groundout added the third and last run of the inning, 8-0, before Fowler flew out to left.

Despite some inaccuracies and four walks given up, Robinson went a strong eight innings with a single misstep that ended up mattering when he served up a solo home run to Marcotte in the sixth inning. Paul Barton gave up a 2-run homer to Diego Mendoza in the ninth, however, while the Raccoons tacked on a run in the bottom 8th with another Lonzo double and Brass’ RBI single. 9-3 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-5, 2B, RBI; Nye 3-4, RBI; Fuller 2-4, 2 RBI; Robinson 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, W (7-6) and 1-4;

Game 3
BOS: CF Marcotte – LF Ramires – C Arviso – 1B M. Rubin – RF A. Lee – SS Lloyd – 2B D. Mendoza – 3B Woodrome – P Glaude
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – RF Brassfield – 2B Nye – C Fuller – 3B N. Fox – LF Ayala – P B. Herrera

Bobby Herrera was not up to snuff after getting whacked for the L in the All Star Game. He issued a walk in the first, another in the second, and two in the third, which would be the inning when the Titans would come home to roost. Before that, however, Nick Nye homered for a 1-0 lead in the bottom 2nd before Ayala reached base on a Diego Mendoza throwing error and scored on a 2-out RBI single by … Tipsy Bobby! The joy was short-lived though because the 2-0 lead went bust in that 2-walk top 3rd. In addition to the two walks, the Titans also had two hits. Herrera walked Jorge Arviso with one out and the bases loaded, then gave up a sac fly to center to Manny Rubin. Andy Lee popped out to Lonzo to strand a pair. The Titans then scored two more runs in the fourth inning, although those were less on Herrera, who gave up an RBI single to Woodrome, and more on Tim Fuller, who made not one, but *two* 2-base throwing errors on rollers by Lloyd to begin the inning, and then Glaude to bring in Woodrome with the second run.

The Coons stranded pairs in the third and fourth inning, with Lonzo lining out *hard* to Lloyd with runners on the corners to end the effort. Joel Starr then led off the bottom 5th with a jack to right, 4-3, and while Brass flew out to Ramires, Nye and Fuller went to the corners with singles to left. Nick Fox’ grounder up the middle was knocked down by Lloyd, but he dropped the ball standing up and had no play, while Nye scored with the tying run – all even at four. Fox was given an infield hit by the hometown scorer. Glaude lost Ayala on balls to fill the bases, but Forbes Tomlin batted for Herrera and spanked the ball into a 6-4-3 double play…

Lonzo hit into another double play in the sixth to erase Morris, while Ruben Mendez serving up a homer to Marcotte in the seventh meant that the Titans had a new 5-4 lead. Fox tied that one, too, coming up with Brass on second and Fuller on first in the bottom 7th and dishing a low liner to right that Andy Lee caught on the slide – but it popped out of his glove again and rolled behind him. The ump signaled no catch, and the Raccoons turned it into a game-tying RBI double while the Titans were bitterly protesting. Ayala doled a 2-run double to right to give the lead back to the Brownshirts. The Coons got a fourth run in the inning and an 8-5 lead after Morris drew a 2-out walk and they started stealing. Arviso threw the ball away, allowing Ayala to score. Lonzo grounded out to second to end the inning, then. Barton and Walters then did not mess around, each having a 1-2-3 inning and Walters finishing with a pair of strikeouts to Ramires and Arviso. 8-5 Coons! Morris 2-3, BB; Starr 2-5, HR, RBI; Nye 3-5, HR, RBI; N. Fox 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Can we make it four, boys?

Game 4
BOS: CF Marcotte – 2B Woodrome – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – LF Ramires – RF Lloyd – SS Bratlien – P M. Bell
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – 2B Nye – C Perez – 3B Fowler – RF Oley – P C. Fox

Like Herrera, Chance Fox had had a poor All Star outing, and it continued against the Titans. He walked three and issued a wild pitch in the first run through the lineup, with that wild pitch plating Woodrome for the only run he allowed in the first two innings. Morris homered to right to tie it right away in the bottom 1st, but Manny Rubin answered with a solo jack in the third inning to put Boston back on top, 2-1. Fox would make it through six innings, walking four in total, and getting only a single strikeout, but he held the Titans to four hits and their two runs.

The Coons then got stingy relief to keep the game close, with three outs from Abrams, two from Rocco, and one from Mendez to get through eight, but the Raccoons’ offense just wasn’t coming on. Morris would draw a leadoff walk from Bell in the bottom 8th, but none of the 2-3-4 batters couldn’t get a hit to fall in and Morris was left on second base. Mendez collected three straight outs in the ninth to still keep the Titans within reach with Jason Posey coming in for a save opportunity in the bottom 9th. Nye and Perez grounded out weakly before Fowler singled. Nick Fox batted for Oley, but grounded out to end the game. 2-1 Titans. Fowler 2-4;

In other news

July 15 – Blue Sox RF Austin Gordon (.292, 8 HR, 41 RBI) is expected to miss three weeks with a thumb sprain.
July 15 – The Indians rush the Canadiens in a 19-1 blowout. Honors are distributed evenly throughout the team, though, and the best day is probably had by 3-for-3, 3-walk, 3-RBI Steve Thompson (.243, 7 HR, 42 RBI).
July 15 – The Scorpions beat the Wolves, 6-5 in 10 innings. The game was tied at two after nine innings. SAC LF Tim Duncan (.240, 4 HR, 26 RBI) cranks a 2-out, pinch-hit grand slam in the top 10th for the winning knock.
July 16 – The Falcons trade SP Andres Lopez (4-12, 4.98 ERA) to the Warriors for AAA 3B Chad O’Donnell.
July 16 – Crusaders INF/LF John Webler (.260, 7 HR, 34 RBI) goes 5-for-8 with all singles and no RBI’s, but scores the winning run in New York’s 17-inning, 4-3 win against the Loggers.
July 17 – The Aces put up two separate 7-run innings in a 15-2 rout of the Thunder. LVA C Casey Burgio (.254, 5 HR, 39 RBI) drives in a team-high five runs from the #8 slot with a grand slam and an RBI double.
July 17 – SFB OF/1B Jon Alade (.301, 10 HR, 27 RBI) hits a 2-run walkoff homer for the only scoring in a 2-0 win against the Knights.

FL Player of the Week: RIC 1B Kris DiPrimio (.290, 12 HR, 49 RBI), hitting .500 (7-14) with 2 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR INF Nick Nye (.291, 9 HR, 40 RBI), batting .500 (8-16) with 1 HR, 2 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Good series against the Titans, shame we couldn’t eek out that one or two more runs at the end against Bell. We have three more with the Elks at home, then a day off, and then visit the Thunder and Knights, with another day off in between those two series.

David Gonzales was waived and DFA’ed to make room for Todd Oley (yaaay) on the 40-man roster, but was not claimed and then re-assigned to the Alley Cats on Sunday.

Our bid for George van Otterdijk is up to $616k. This is the most we can bid for the kid without sliding into the highest penalty bracket for signing players in next year’s July IFA window, so I can currently neither confirm nor deny whether we will make another bid after that. The enemy is always watching. (holds his cards closer to his striped face, and peeks over the top edge of them, but the left ear twitches conspicuously)

Fun Fact: Jose Corral is the third-youngest player to have been on an ABL roster so far this year.

He is just two months older than Dallas’ INF Adam Yocum (.262, 0 HR, 10 RBI) and MIL UT Kyle Reber (.143, 0 HR, 0 RBI).