[Westheim]

Raccoons (64-48) vs. Titans (56-56) – August 8-10, 2061

The Raccoons had the Titans in, against whom they had an 8-4 advantage on the year. The Titans were right around the middle of the Continental League in both runs scored and runs allowed, but overall had a -16 run differential (Coons: +79). Boston had the second-lowest team batting average and the third-fewest stolen bases in the CL, but hit the second-most dingers.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (9-6, 2.74 ERA) vs. Mike Bell (10-8, 2.61 ERA)
Justin DeRose (10-9, 3.83 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (6-5, 2.69 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (8-2, 1.98 ERA) vs. Jayden Craddock (6-12, 4.24 ERA)

Boston had only right-handers to bring up. They did not have position players Jonathan Watson and Andy Lee to bring up, though, who were both on the DL.

The Raccoons had to sprinkle some off days; Morris and Lonzo were both not in the lineup on Monday. Joey Christopher was ready to return from a rehab assignment, but right now I was struggling for a roster spot for him…

Game 1
BOS: CF Marcotte – 2B Woodrome – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – LF Ramires – RF Y. Valdez – SS Bratlien – P M. Bell
POR: 2B Ortega – CF Caswell – RF Brassfield – 1B Starr – SS Fowler – C Perez – 3B N. Fox – LF Bean – P C. Fox

Bernie Ortega began the bottom 1st with a single to right and getting thrown out by Yoslan Valdez trying to make it a double, but the Raccoons still managed to score in the inning, getting a 2-out rally going when Brass (also bitterly needing a day off) singled, Starr walked, and Fowler hit an RBI single through the right side. Perez popped out to end the inning, while the Titans got singles from Jorge Arviso and Valdez in the top 2nd, but Jacob Bratlien struck out to keep them on the corners. Foxie Brown then hit a single in the bottom 2nd, his second knock of the season, but was stranded, while Bell got him for a leadoff single in the top 3rd and then scored on Eddie Marcotte’s sixth homer of the year, which also flipped the score to 2-1 Titans.

Foxie struck out with two on and two out to conclude the bottom 4th, then ran into trouble with leadoff singles by Bratlien and Bell (…) in the fifth inning, at least until Marcotte hit another hard ball, but spanked it right at Nick Fox at third base. Fox snatched, tapped the bag, threw to Ortega for two, and they *almost* got Marcotte at first for a triple play, but had to settle for the 6-4 double play and getting Ian Woodrome to strike out in a full count afterwards. The Coons again put two (Ortega, Brass) on with singles in the bottom 5th, and then had a pop to short and an easy fly to left to not score anybody… When Perez hit a leadoff single in the bottom 6th, but was forced out on Nick Fox’ grounder, and Fox went to third base on Bean’s single, the Raccoons sent Ben Morris to bat for Chance Fox. He hit into a fielder’s choice, but at least it tied the game and took Foxie Brown off the hook. Morris stole second, but Ortega fanned and the inning ended with the game tied at two.

From there, the Raccoons did allow precious little through the rest of regulation. Rocco got four outs, Barton three, and Ricky Herrera chipped in two, with only two Titans reaching base, and one of them, Bill Ramires, got himself caught stealing against Rocco. Unfortunately, the Coons offense was just as tame as the Titans’ and the best we could do was getting Bernie Ortega to second base in the bottom 9th on a single and wild pitch by lefty Gabe Hill before Caswell grounded out. Matt Walters was brought out for extras and punched out two in a 1-2-3 tenth inning, which brought the meat of the order to the plate against righty closer Jason Posey, deployed in a 2-2 tie. Or, actually, just Brass and Starr. One hit a soft single, and the other walloped a ball over the fence to end the game. 4-2 Coons! Brassfield 4-5; Bean 2-3; C. Fox 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K and 1-2;

4-for-5 here, 4-for-5 there, Brass needed a day off, and he wouldn’t make it to the scheduled day off on Thursday.

Game 2
BOS: CF Marcotte – 2B Woodrome – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – RF Lloyd – LF Y. Valdez – SS Bratlien – P Brenize
POR: LF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – CF Caswell – 3B Fowler – RF Ayala – 2B Bean – P DeRose

DeRose was generous with the free passes, putting Ted Lloyd on base in the second inning with four balls, but Yoslan Valdez lined into a 3-U double play to end the inning. The Titans scored a run in the third inning, however, in which DeRose walked *three* and gave up a soft RBI single to Ian Woodrome in the process. After being yelled at with three on and one out, he struck out Arviso and got a pop from Diego Mendoza, however, keeping the damage limited. Nevertheless, Valdez socked a double and scored on Brenize’s 2-out RBI single in the fourth inning to double the score to 2-0…

The Coons were done with in order the first time through by Brenize, who then walked Morris to begin the bottom 4th. Lonzo singled to right, and the two stole a pair of bases to force the issue. The Coons got only one run on Starr’s groundout, though. Lonzo was stranded as Perez walked, Cas lined out to Woodrome, and Fowler grounded out meekly.

DeRose got stuck in the sixth inning and was yanked after allowing leadoff singles to Valdez and Bratlien, and following Fowler being aggro on Brenize’s bunt and getting the out at second base. Mendez then replaced the stuck starter, struck out Marcotte, and got a groundout from Woodrome to strand the Bostonians on the corners. Bottom 6th, and Lonzo led off with a single. Starr walked, moving the tying run to second base. Angel Perez then had to toss another spanner in the gears with a 6-4-3 double play grounder, but Caswell came through with a double to left to finally score Lonzo and tie the game. Fowler then fell to 0-2 against Brenize before flicking a wailer to shallow right-center for a go-ahead RBI single…! Brenize was done after six, and Josh Carlisle gave up an insurance run with two outs in the seventh. Morris doubled and was singled home by a re-energized Lonzo.

Boston filled the bases with two soft singles and a 2-out walk drawn by Bill Dorey against LaBat in the eighth inning, but Manny Rubin then went down flailing before he could do damage to the Coons’ 4-2 lead. Matt Walters then struck out the side in the ninth inning… give or take a terrible bloop single by Diego Mendoza with one out… 4-2 Critters. Lavorano 3-4, RBI; Ayala 2-4; Mendez 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (5-0);

Ruben Mendez is the new Ricky Herrera.

Game 3
BOS: CF Marcotte – 2B Woodrome – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – LF Ramires – RF Y. Valdez – SS Bratlien – P Craddock
POR: LF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – RF Brassfield – CF Caswell – C Fuller – 3B Fowler – 2B Ortega – P Riddle

Riddle didn’t allow anything in the first inning, but Ben Morris took Craddock deep to right just two pitches into the Boston righty’s day, and the Coons tacked on two more; Starr walked, Brass singled, and both advanced on a wild pitch at the 1-1 to Caswell, who ended up hitting a sac fly to center. Tim Fuller added an RBI single to center to make it 3-0 before Fowler grounded out to Rubin. The next four innings then brought a light on-and-off ran threatening to knock out Riddle while he gave up five singles and got two double plays from the Titans, who did not score any runs by the time he completed the five-inning requirement for qualifying for a W, while the Raccoons had only two more hits after the 3-run first, and from those Lonzo was caught stealing to reduce the traffic on the base paths even further.

The Titans made two outs before Diego Mendoza hit a double to center in the sixth, but Bill Ramires grounded out on a 3-1 pitch to end the inning. Lonzo in turn led off the Coons’ half of the sixth with a double to left. Starr walked, and while Brass flew out ineffectively, Caswell singled to left-center to send Lonzo around to score, 4-0. Poor outs by Fuller and Fowler kept the other runners on base, though. The rain returned at the same time, and this time picked up in intensity. By the seventh-inning stretch it got bad enough to send the game to a rain delay that lasted nearly an hour and ended both starters’ outings. LaBat and Ricky H. would complete the game for the Critters; both put a runner on base, but neither allowed a run to the Titans to complete the sweep (and a perfect homestand!) either. 4-0 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4, 2B; Caswell 1-2, 2 RBI; Fuller 2-3, RBI; Riddle 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (9-2);

Raccoons (67-48) @ Stars (63-51) – August 12-14, 2061

The Stars were chasing the top of the FL West, but had recently stumbled with four straight losses. They had the highest batting average in the FL while playing in their little shoebox, but were overall just seventh in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed. Tyler Wharton (.363, 25 HR, 81 RBI) was going berserk with the stick, but nobody else on the team was in double digits in dingers for some reason. These teams had played each other in both of the last two years, both taking home a 2-1 series victory, with the Coons taking the 2060 series like that.

Projected matchups:
Nick Robinson (10-6, 3.38 ERA) vs. Evan Stanley (5-10, 4.75 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (8-6, 3.13 ERA) vs. Keith Trail (5-10, 6.17 ERA)
Chance Fox (9-6, 2.75 ERA) vs. Alex Quevedo (10-6, 3.93 ERA)

Trail was a 25-year-old sophomore left-hander – the only southpaw in their rotation – that was being dinged around for a .343 BABIP, which surely would undergo a correction for the better right on this Saturday. ALL the 6+ ERA pitchers just begged and prayed to come up against the Raccoons to always get a correction for the better!

The Raccoons returned Forbes Tomlin (.330, 4 HR, 18 RBI) to the Alley Cats to begin the series and activated Joey Christopher from his rehab assignment.

Game 1
POR: LF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – RF Brassfield – CF Caswell – C Fuller – 3B Fowler – 2B Bean – P Robinson
DAL: RF Almanza – 3B R. Vargas – CF Wharton – LF Pritchett – LF T. Pritchard – SS Yocum – C D’Alessandro – 2B Chairez – P Stanley

Lonzo found the tiny gap in the shoebox for a triple in the first inning and was brought in with a groundout by Starr to give the Critters an early 1-0 lead. Both teams left a pair on the corners in the second inning, with Stanley offering two walks to Caswell and Fuller, but Robinson was having a tough time against a lineup stuffed with right-handed hitters, including the switch-hitting Ricardo Vargas and pitcher. The Stars ran a lot of full counts, three of them alone in the bottom 4th in which they finally smacked Robinson around for a 3-spot. Wharton struck out in a full count, but Chad Pritchett hit a 3-2 single, then stole second base. Tommy Pritchard also singled, tying the game by scoring Pritchett, then was forced out by Adam Yocum, who stole second base himself before Chris D’Alessandro found Lonzo’s miniscule gap in left-center for an inside-the-park home run, of all the things in the world.

Robinson ached through another inning, walking a pair of Stars, but was then out of it, departing in a 3-1 deficit. The Raccoons were stuck on two base hits through five innings, which didn’t get better in the sixth inning, either. Abrams managed to give up a single to Tommy Pritchard, then a 2-out RBI triple in that left-center gap to Andy Chairez, and I considered asking League HQ for an investigation for the black hole out there. At least Stanley made the last out of the inning…

Christopher made his return to big-league ball by hitting for Rocco to begin the eighth inning, drew a walk, and then was doubled off by Morris’ grounder to Chairez as the Raccoons continued to be stuck on two base hits. Now, the good news was that the Critters would add four hits in the ninth inning; Starr singled and Brass homered off Willie Mendoza to make up two runs, and Nick Fox singled and scored on a Bean double against Alfredo Llamas for a fourth run. The bad news was that in between the bottom 8th had seen Paul Barton getting completely gobsmacked for four hits, a walk, and four runs to still make the Raccoons lose by a slam. 8-4 Stars. N. Fox (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
POR: LF Morris – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – 1B Starr – C Perez – 3B N. Fox – CF Ayala – 2B Ortega – P B. Herrera
DAL: RF Almanza – 3B R. Vargas – CF Wharton – LF Pritchett – 1B Callaia – C Bothe – SS Yocum – 2B Chairez – P Trail

The Stars went back on top right in the first inning with Roberto Almanza singling through the left side on Tipsy Bobby’s second pitch, advancing on a rather inconvenient wild pitch to Ricardo Vargas, and then scoring on two productive outs by Vargas and Wharton. Top 2nd, and Perez and Nick Fox went right to the corners with a pair of singles off Keith Trail, who soon trailed when he threw a run-scoring wild pitch, and then himself gave up the second run on two productive outs by Ayala and Ortega. Not that the lead lasted long – Jason Bothe took Herrera deep to left in the bottom 2nd, tying the game at two.

That was it for offense through five, with two hits and two runs per side. Lonzo singled to left to begin the sixth. Brass and Starr made easy outs, but Angel Perez doubled to center to bring him around to score for a new 3-2 lead. Fox socked another double to right for a 4-2 lead, but Ayala’s fly was caught to end the inning. The Stars got singles from Vargas and Wharton with one out in the bottom 6th, but Herrera also struck out the other three batters coming up in this inning. Trail lacked the strikeout powers on display here, and instead allowed a leadoff single to Jon Bean in the seventh. Herrera bunted, Morris popped out, but Lonzo went into the Bermuda Triangle gap again for an RBI double, 5-2. Trail, who got Brass to ground out to Vargas to end the eighth inning, actually pitched deeper into the game as Bobby H. did. The latter was lifted after seven solid innings, while Trail was kept around to use up his pitch capacity for eight innings. Mendez had a scoreless eighth, which was the extent of the good news. Matt Walters entered the ninth inning, gave up the 26th homer of Tyler Wharton, and then departed with an injury concern right away. Ricky H. was then brought in as injury replacement to finish out the game with a bitter tasting W… 5-3 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-3, 2B, RBI; Perez 2-4, 2B, RBI; N. Fox 2-4, 2B, RBI; Christopher (PH) 1-1, 2B; Caswell (PH) 1-1; B. Herrera 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (9-6);

No news on Walters so quickly on Sunday; for the time being Justin Rocco was probably the replacement closer until we could get some clarity.

Game 3
POR: LF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – RF Brassfield – CF Caswell – C Fuller – 3B Fowler – 2B Bean – P C. Fox
DAL: RF Almanza – 3B R. Vargas – CF Wharton – LF Pritchett – 1B Callaia – C Bothe – SS Yocum – 2B Chairez – P Quevedo

The Coons rocked up with another left-hander against this lineup, but at least they gave Chance Fox a 3-0 lead before he took to the hill as the top 1st saw Morris double to right, Lonzo single softly to left, and Starr getting another single through the left side for a 1-0 lead. Lonzo stole third base with Starr advancing in his wake ahead of Caswell’s 2-run single to left before Fuller and Fowler saw out the end of the inning with easy outs again. Fox gave up doubles to Wharton in the first and Yocum in the second innings, but both came with two outs and the next batter both times ended the inning. He was less lucky with the leadoff single he allowed to Quevedo in the third inning, though. Almanza forced out the pitcher, but then stole second, his 38th base of the year. Vargas hit a scratch single to put them on the corners, but at least Wharton was contained to a sac fly to Morris before Chad Pritchett popped out and the Coons remained ahead 3-1.

The knocks off the bat were getting louder, though. Almanza smacked a hard liner for a single to left in the fifth inning, and losing Vargas on balls was not the very worst thing that Fox could have done, but it was pretty close. Tyler Wharton then knocked the daylights out of a baseball – but was slightly under it and flew out to Caswell in deep center. Pritchett still knocked in a run with a 2-out, 2-strike single to center before Pritchard struck out to leave two on in a 3-2 game. Fox barely made it through six innings with the lead, with the Raccoons offense concerningly silent. After the rapid first inning they landed only three more base this until the seventh-inning stretch…

That was before Paul Barton, the **** ****, suffered another ERA adjustment by a right-handed lineup in the bottom 7th. Displaying peak uselessness, he hit Almanza with his first pitch, then gave up another stolen base. Vargas singled, Wharton singled to tie the game, a wild pitch gave Dallas the lead, and Pritchett then also drove in Wharton, 5-3. The Coons never got another base hit off Willie Mendoza and Jon Dominguez and lost the series. 5-3 Stars. Morris 2-4, 2B;

In other news

August 8 – Shoulder inflammation ends the season of OCT SP Eric Barnes (10-6, 4.21 ERA).
August 8 – The Gold Sox beat the Pacifics, 3-2 in 15 innings.
August 9 – It’s also season over for Indians SP Melvin Guerra (13-6, 3.51 ERA), who had a torn rotator cuff to take care of.
August 13 – The Capitals put 12 runs on the Knights in the first two innings before coasting away for a 15-4 win. WAS C Chris Gowin (.218, 6 HR, 27 RBI) hits two home runs from the #8 spot and drives in seven runs on three total hits and two walks.

FL Player of the Week: WAS LF/RF David Flores (.327, 5 HR, 21 RBI), batting .500 (10-20) with 2 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB 2B/LF Armando Montoya (.283, 14 HR, 86 RBI), poking .483 (14-29) with 2 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Judgment of how well the week went will be reserved for after the point where Luis Silva is done with tugging around on Matt Walters in his room of horrors. (looks upwards to the baseball gods) Please no?

Why was Forbes Tomlin demoted when he was hitting so much better than Joel Starr? Maybe the fact that his BABIP was *140 points* better than Starr’s had something to do with it. It would surely get adjusted to normalcy by giving him 20 straight games.

Strangely enough, giving 20 straight games (or 120…) to Starr was not helping his .230 BABIP at all. It had been just over .300 in his previous seasons.

After demotion to St. Pete, Reynaldo Bravo went through another 22 appearances for a 5.00 ERA before finally being diagnosed with elbow inflammation and being shut down for the season.

The team will return now for a 2-week homestand with the Rebs, Arrowheads, damn Elks, and Condors.

Fun Fact: If Tyler Riddle had enough innings, he would lead the league with his 1.83 ERA.

Not just the CL – the entire ABL. As it is, Mike DeWitt leads it with a 1.88 ERA for the Indians. Nobody in the entire FL was under 2.80, a mark held by LAP Josh Clem. However, Riddle qualifying would require him to pitch another 73.1 innings, which sounded like a tall ask with 44 team games remaining, of which he wasn’t gonna start more than maybe ten.