[Westheim]

When the Raccoons embarked on the road trip, Nick Fowler didn’t come along, getting put on the DL with a partial tear in his labrum instead, which sounded like it was gonna take a while. It was a small tear, I was assured, and Luis Silva would be able to mend it without cutting Fowler up top to bottom, which still didn’t help with restocking the rapidly depleting roster.

The Raccoons were reduced to bringing up Arturo Bribiesca from the Alley Cats at this point, who was by now 30 years old and hadn’t featured in the majors in the last two years at all. The Alley Cats meanwhile, for infielders, were down to first-sackers Jack Kozak and Mike Davis, and hot 3B Victor Morales. The rest would have to be patched with super utility outfielders Ellis Brown and Jorge Moreno, and a sixth-round shortstop, Joe Gardner, brought up from Ham Lake, that had no business being in AAA. Bribiesca got #50 at this stage, his old #33 having been assigned to Jim White.

Raccoons (6-3) @ Indians (6-2) – April 13-16, 2062

The Indians had conceded just 18 runs in their first eight games, so here was a challenge for the Raccoons’ challenged offense and what was already just left of it. Offensively, Indy had put up the fourth-fewest runs themselves so far. This pairing had been a 9-9 split in 2061.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (0-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Jarod Morris (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (0-1, 4.35 ERA) vs. Travis Glovinsky (0-0, 4.50 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (2-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (2-0, 2.08 ERA)
Nick Robinson (1-1, 3.55 ERA) vs. Antonio Pichardo (0-1, 4.50 ERA)

DeWitt was the only left-hander coming up in this series. Glovinsky had been a Rule 5 draft robbed from the Raccoons two winters ago. He had been exclusively used out of the pen in ’61, going 3-2 with a 3.32 ERA in 32 games, which looked a tad like a glitch in the matrix.

Game 1
POR: CF B. Morris – SS Lavorano – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 1B Tomlin – RF Christopher – 2B White – 3B Bean – P Alba
IND: CF S. Thompson – LF Abel – 2B Kilday – 1B Starwalt – RF Lovins – SS Cirelli – C Atencio – 3B Humphries – P Jar. Morris

Ben Morris singled off Jarod Morris to begin the game, and stole second base, and when Eric Cirelli threw away Brass’ grounder with one out, that opened the floodgates. Morris scored on that play, Brass was driven in by Perez, and with two outs Christopher hit an RBI triple and Jim White singled him home in turn, going up 4-0 before the inning ended. Then it was Angel Alba’s turn to get whacked, allowing singles to Steve Thompson and Matt Kilday before serving up a 3-piece to Chris Lovins in the bottom 1st. 4-3, and eight innings to go…!

The Indians took a 5-4 lead in the second inning with more singles for Vinny Atencio and Joe Humphries, who both scored when Christopher completely butchered a fly to right by Steve Thompson, turning it from a likely sac fly into two bases and two runs for the Indians. The Raccoons got even with doubles from Perez and Tomlin in the third inning, then took a 6-5 lead again with Jon Bean’s leadoff jack (!!) off Jarod Morris in the fourth. It was the second career homer for Bean, and the last action for Jarod Morris on the night, with him getting replaced with righty Jesse Pursel. Alba followed an inning later after allowing a 1-out single to Kilday and offering a four-pitch walk to Danny Starwalt. Ricky Herrera popped out Lovins for the second out, but then allowed straight hits to Cirelli, Atencio, and Humphries to fudge three runs onto the board.

Although the Raccoons pretended the game to be over when they inserted DeRose into the 8-6 contest, the top 7th saw Cruz Madrid put on Ben Morris off the bat, and Morris gained a base on a bad pickoff throw before being singled home by Lonzo, who was the tying run on base, but couldn’t get a jump while Brass struck out and Perez popped out. Tomlin’s scratch single moved him to second base, a wild pitch by Madrid made it third base, and Joe-Chris’ fly out to Steve Thompson made it straight to the dugout from there without touching home. The Raccoons did not get another base runner until Brassfield hit an infield single off Cody Kleidon with two outs in the ninth inning. Perez grounded out to Cirelli to end the game. 8-7 Indians. Morris 3-5; Perez 2-5, 2B, RBI; Tomlin 2-4, 2B, RBI; White 2-4, RBI; DeRose 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K;

Game 2
POR: CF B. Morris – SS Lavorano – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 1B Tomlin – RF Christopher – 2B White – 3B Bean – P Riddle
IND: 2B Kilday – RF Lovins – 1B Starwalt – CF S. Thompson – 3B Humphries – C Atencio – LF J. Gutierrez – SS Cirelli – P Glovinsky

Riddle faced the minimum the first time through, including Jim White dropping Humphries pop in the second inning, but then pooling talent together with Lonzo to turn a double play on Atencio’s grounder to clean up his own mess. The Raccoons had two singles the first time through, which didn’t get them very far, while Kilday and Starwalt got singles off Riddle in the fourth inning and the speedy Kilday reaching as far as third base when Humphries popped out to Lonzo to end the inning. The Raccoons were also on the corners in the top 5th with a leadoff walk for Joe-Chris and Bean’s soft single that sent him to third base. Riddle poked at a 3-1 pitch, but Kilday and Cirelli could not turn the double play in time against the *pitcher*, who thus drove in the run for his own 1-0 lead.

The Critters tacked on to that in the sixth which began with Lonzo drawing a leadoff walk (!) and then being forgotten about for two outs before Tomlin stuffed a double into the left-center gap that sent Lonzo around to score from first. Christopher added an RBI single, 3-0, before White flew out to center to turn the stick over to the Indians, who answered with two runs of their own. Starwalt homered to left with one out, Thompson hit an infield single, and was driven in by Atencio with two outs and another single. Riddle got outta there with a K on Jose Gutierrez, then was hit for with Suriel in the seventh. Suriel drew a walk, but that was the only offensive action in that inning.

Rocco held the 3-2 lead together in the bottom 7th before the Raccoons built a chance against Indy’s Tim Moore to begin the eighth. Brass hit a soft single and Perez knocked a double off the wall in right to put a pair in scoring position for Tomlin, who popped out to first, and Christopher, who fanned, and then finally Jim White, who grounded out to Humphries, except the 36-year-old third baseman was tardy off the line and lost the play that way, allowing Brass to FINALLY score from third base on the resulting infield single, 4-2. Bean flew out to right to end the inning. Rocco got one more out from Thompson in the bottom 8th, then handed the ball to Murdock, who popped out Humphries before giving up a pinch-hit homer to Bryan Johnston, a 24-year-old sophomore outfielder. Gutierrez grounded out to finish the eighth.

Top 9th, and the Raccoons got a chance from nothing. Marcos Arellano batted for Murdock against righty Juan Carrillo, but reached only on an error by Cirelli. Morris grounded to Kilday, who took the ball off his chest, then scrambled late and Morris was adjudged as having reached on an “infield single”. Lonzo grounded out, advancing the runners, and Brass was walked with intent to coerce Angel Perez to hit into a double play … or a comebacker for an out at home, which was similarly depressing. Tomlin also grounded out to the pitcher as the Raccoons choked on having the bases loaded once again. At least Walters didn’t choke and retired the Indians in order, with two strikeouts. 4-3 Coons. Christopher 2-3, BB, RBI;

With no off day until Thursday, there’d be another round of off days. Ben Morris would sit down on Saturday against the lefty DeWitt. Brass and Lonzo were planned for Sunday to take a seat.

Game 3
POR: 2B White – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – 1B Tomlin – CF Mata – LF Ayala – C Arellano – 3B Suriel – P B. Herrera
IND: CF S. Thompson – SS Cirelli – 2B Kilday – 1B Starwalt – RF Lovins – LF B. Johnston – C Atencio – 3B Humphries – P DeWitt

Bobby H., coming off the shutout against the Aces, had two scoreless to start the Saturday game, but also failed to get a bunt down after Armando Suriel hit a leadoff single to begin the third inning, and struck out. Jim White singled and Suriel reached third base that way, then scored when Lonzo snuck another one up the middle for an RBI single. Brassfield then whiffed, Tomlin walked, but Mata struck out to end the inning with the bases loaded. Tipsy Bobby hit a single his next time up, leading off the fifth inning, and White singled as well. Both reached scoring position on Lonzo’s grounder to short, and Brassfield, hitting all of .195 at this point, was walked intentionally to get to Tomlin, who hit a sac fly to left, 2-0, before Carlos Mata turned an 0-2 pitch around for a 2-run double in the right-center gap, putting DeWitt down 4-0, even though when he rung up Ayala to end the inning, that was his eighth strikeout in the game. Bobby H. had five through as many innings, but had yet to allow a base hit.

Portland tacked on in the seventh when Dave Corrao walked Brass, then gave Brass another base with a bad pickoff attempt before giving up an RBI single to Tomlin on the next pitch. That put Tomlin at 10 RBI, the first Raccoon to double digit RBI’s this year, and while not even being on the Opening Day roster! Also still around: Carlos Mata, who cracked another 2-out extra-base knock, this one all the way over the fence for his first Coons bomb and a 7-0 lead.

Herrera took the no-hitter to the seventh inning before Kilday killed it with a single to left, but was immediately doubled up by Starwalt with a grounder to short to end the inning. Bobby was at 87 pitches through seven innings, but then saw off the Indians on five pitches in the bottom 8th and thus still had very fine bid going for back-to-back shutouts! Joe Humphries began the bottom 9th with a pop to Suriel on the first pitch. Suriel also caught the second out on a foul pop, although Mike Weber had run a full count. Thompson came back up, whacked the first pitch to center, but Mata got into position and made the catch. 7-0 Furballs! White 2-5; Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Tomlin 3-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Mata 2-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Ayala 2-4; B. Herrera 9.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, W (3-0) and 1-4;

Tipsy Bobby!! Back-to-back shutouts!!

Also, first guy in the majors to three wins, not that that would count for much and long.

The Raccoons also moved into first place for the first time this season.

Game 4
POR: CF Morris – RF Christopher – 1B Tomlin – C Perez – LF Mata – 2B White – SS Bean – 3B Bribiesca – P Robinson
IND: 2B Kilday – RF Lovins – C A. Gomez – 1B Starwalt – CF S. Thompson – LF Abel – 3B Humphries – SS Cirelli – P Pichardo

The Raccoons had a new sole team leader in bombs in the first inning when Carlos Mata mashed his second 2-piece in as many games and for the season, giving Robinson a 3-0 lead after the inning began with a Morris triple and Christopher sac fly. Tomlin hit a 1-out single before scoring on the Mata home run. Ben Morris hit *another* triple in the second inning, driving in Nick Robinson and his 2-out single for a 4-0 lead, but this time was left on by Joe-Chris. No Raccoon had ever hit three triples in a game and Morris had to be content with a single his next time up, leading off the fifth in a 4-1 game after Chris Lovins had whacked an inside-the-park home run off Robinson in the previous half-inning. Morris stole second base, but the 2-3-4 batters disappeared without much noise and he didn’t score. Around this time, Robinson struggled with bad counts, being behind almost every batter. He seemed to turn the corner in the sixth, striking out a pair, but then allowed a leadoff single to Thompson and a double to Kevin Abel to begin the bottom 7th, putting a pair in scoring position. Humphries’ sac fly narrowed the score to 4-2, but left-handers Cirelli and Weber then came up and the Coons stuck with the lefty pitcher they already had. Cirelli popped out and the pinch-hitting Weber struck out to finish Robinson’s day.

The Indians then got a chance outta nothing in the bottom 8th when errors by White and Perez, with Rocco and Sullivan pitching, put Lovins and Starwalt on base by the time there were two outs. With the left-handed Thompson up next, the Raccoons flipped in Walters and Brassfield in a double switch, Tomlin’s time in the game being over. Thompson flew out to Mata on a 1-2 pitch to end the inning and strand the very unearned tying runs. The Coons did not tack on in the ninth, but the Indians went down in order against Walters, with only Abel’s long fly out making any commotion. 4-2 Critters. Morris 3-4, 3 2B, RBI; Tomlin 2-4; Robinson 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (2-1) and 1-3;

Raccoons (9-4) @ Canadiens (4-8) – April 17-19, 2062

The Elks were bottoms in the league in runs scored with just 29 markers from 12 games, but that’s what the Raccoons’ trips to the tundra were for… Their bullpen had been nothing but incendiary, too, with a 5.56 ERA against the relievers, undoing a basically decent rotation, and they had a -24 run differential in the middle of April. The Raccoons had won the season series against the Elks for six seasons in a row, 10-8 in 2061.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (0-0, 6.00 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (0-2, 2.51 ERA)
Angel Alba (0-1, 5.23 ERA) vs. Rafael Mendoza (0-2, 4.38 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (1-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. Carson Miller (0-1, 6.00 ERA)

Southpaw Monday. Miller was a 24-year-old sophomore that had appeared in 31 games, mostly out of the pen, last year, and this year in two starts had issued more walks than strikeouts so far.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – C Perez – 1B Tomlin – RF Brassfield – LF Mata – 2B White – 3B Bribiesca – P C. Fox
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – CF Needham – 1B J. Campos – 3B Whittington – C A. Maldonado – SS C. Sullivan – RF D. Moreno – LF D. Garcia – P Fitzgibbon

The Raccoons had another first-inning triple, this time by Lonzo after Morris drew a leadoff walk. That made for a quick 1-0 lead, but then also quick annoyance when the 3-4-5 batters all made miserable outs and failed to get Lonzo home for the extra run. The skinny lead was soon under threat with an Alex Maldonado double in the second inning, but he was stranded at third base, and in the third then when Danny Garcia, Alex Castillo, and Bobby Needham gradually loaded the bases against Fox with one out. Jose Campos popped out and Thomas Whittington whiffed to keep the Elks off the board. Chance Fox tried to dig himself another shallow grave in the fifth inning, allowing a leadoff single to the opposing pitcher, then a walk to Castillo, but then the Elks struck out twice and Whittington rolled one over to Jim White to end that inning, too.

Angel Perez hit a homer to extend the Coons’ lead to 2-0 in the sixth inning, but that was also only the fourth hit for the team in this game. Fox finally croaked in the same inning, allowing a single to Chris Sullivan before walking the bags full, and then gave up an infield single to Fitzgibbon with the bases loaded. That scored a run and got the pen involved. Ryan Sullivan would be less of a help than hoped for, plating the tying run with a wild pitch, but then walked Needham anyway. A Campos sac fly then gave the lead to the Elks, 3-2, but Whittington grounded out to keep piling up his runners left on base tally.

Top 8th, and back home in the office in Portland I then made a bit of a mess, having so far watched the game with Slappy on the trusty brown couch, a bucket of fudge between us for nourishment. Brian Doster replaced Fitzgibbon to begin the inning, and with his fourth pitch *beaned* Lonzo, who went down in a heap, just like the bucket of fudge did. Unlike the bucket, Lonzo eventually picked himself up after having a bit of a lie-down in the batter’s box. Replay showed that the ball hit ear flap of the helmet before glancing off his cheek as he turned his head, and he walked off the field unaided eventually, with Joey Christopher pinch-running as the tying run, stealing second base, and then coming around on productive outs by the 3-4 pair, evening the tallies a three. Brass struck out; Christopher would replace him in rightfield, while Jon Bean filled in at short and batting ninth.

The game went to extras with no further offense through nine, Rocco getting four outs for Portland and Murdock two more, but Ben Morris then cranked a homer off Elks closer Erik Swain to start the top 10th, Swain’s second inning of work. The next three went down without much fuss before Matt Walters entered the game and also gave up a leadoff jack to Alex Maldonado to blow the lead. With one out, PH Santiago Contreras reached on an infield single, went to third on another single by Danny Garcia, and Rafael Roldan’ sac fly to Christopher ended the ballgame… 5-4 Canadiens. Suriel (PH) 1-1, 2B;

The good news: Lonzo had a bruised cheekbone, but would not miss extended time. He was not in the lineup on Tuesday, however.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – RF Christopher – 1B Tomlin – LF Brassfield – 2B White – C Arellano – SS Bean – 3B Suriel – P Alba
VAN: 3B C. Sullivan – LF D. Garcia – 1B J. Campos – CF D. Moreno – C A. Maldonado – 2B Roldan – RF C. Richardson – SS Spalding – P R. Mendoza

Alba was all over the place, which quickly gave the Elks a hoof up in the bottom 2nd with Damian Moreno drawing a leadoff walk before Maldonado singled. Chris Richardson hit an RBI double and Steven Spalding added a sac fly for a 2-0 lead. Tomlin singled home Ben Morris in the third inning to get half of that gap back, but the Raccoons again struggled to get base hits, and Alba struggled with all those runners on base all the time. The Elks had him out of the game after singles by Moreno and Roldan in the sixth inning, but Ricky H. offered no relief and gave up the runs on a Richardson double, 4-1.

We ended up with DeRose pitching by the seventh inning, and Moreno ended up with a 2-run homer off the punching bag; the second run was unearned though because Morris’ error had put Garcia on base. The Critters never got untracked against the Elks’ pitching and went down rather meekly. 6-1 Canadiens. Morris 2-4, 2B; Bean 1-2, BB; Ayala (PH) 1-1;

The Coons returned Armando Suriel (.167, 0 HR, 0 RBI) to the minors after this game and activated Joel Starr from the DL.

Yay, two first basemen on the roster again…!

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – RF Christopher – LF Brassfield – 2B White – 3B Bribiesca – P Riddle
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – LF D. Garcia – 1B J. Campos – RF C. Cardenas – 3B Whittington – SS Spalding – CF Magana – C Orphanos – P C. Miller

Joel Starr’s second at-bat of the year was a solo jack in the first for a 1-0 lead. Just too bad that Lonzo had doubled up Ben Morris and his leadoff single just ahead of that. Christopher’s leadoff double and two productive outs by Brass and White made it 2-0 in the second, but Morris’ single and stolen base in the third inning saw no support and he was left in scoring position. Riddle had a shutout going through five; he didn’t strike out anybody the first time through the order, but then rung up four Elks on the second try. A leadoff walk to Alex Castillo in the bottom 6th spelled trouble, though, and Garcia singled right after that. Campos found a double play, but Chad Cardenas snuck a 2-out RBI single up the middle to get the Elks on the board before Whittington grounded out to White.

But Riddle hung on and pitched eight innings of 5-hit ball, so outside of that one inning the Elks really didn’t get a whole damn lot. Neither did the Coons, though, who were still stuck on four base hits as the game entered the ninth inning and Swain was in again to face them in another non-save situation, retiring the 2-3-4 in order. The Coons then blew the 2-1 lead in a team effort in the ninth inning. Walters walked Cardenas, but Whittington reached on a 2-base throwing error by Bribiesca. Spalding’s sac fly tied the game, which then went to extras…

Brassfield and Mata hit singles in the tenth, but Swain struck out Tomlin batting in the #9 spot and the inning ended with no scoring success. Adam Middleton then got the ball for multiple innings… or just one third of an inning, by which time the Raccoons had managed to get swept. Middleton walked Rafael Roldan, Castillo reached on another error by a ******* third baseman (Bean), and Garcia socked a walkoff double. 3-2 Canadiens. Mata (PH) 1-1; Riddle 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K;

(gnashes teeth)

Raccoons (9-7) @ Condors (9-7) – April 21-23, 2062

It could hardly get worse for the Raccoons in Mexico, with the Condors being eighth in runs scored and third in runs allowed. They had mashed 14 homers in 16 games, but had stolen only one base, and had put together one of the worst defenses. They were also once again trying to end the Raccoons’ perpetual winning streak in the season series, which had now stretched to eight years with a 6-3 success for Portland in 2061.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (3-0, 1.88 ERA) vs. Marco Clemente (1-2, 4.50 ERA)
Nick Robinson (2-1, 3.20 ERA) vs. Vince Ellison (0-2, 3.15 ERA)
Chance Fox (0-0, 5.71 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (2-1, 2.45 ERA)

All right-handers here from the Condors.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – RF Christopher – LF Brassfield – 2B White – 3B Bribiesca – P B. Herrera
TIJ: CF Asencio – C Brann – SS C. Ramsey – 3B Frasher – LF E. Maldonado – RF Alf. Mendez – 1B Sturgeon – 2B Serrano – P M. Clemente

Bobby “Shut Up and Sit Down” Herrera struck out two and worked around a Mike Brann double in the first inning to keep working on his scoreless streak, and allowed a single to Jason Sturgeon in the second before getting a 1-0 lead in the top 3rd with hits for Bribiesca, whom he bunted to second, and an RBI single by Ben Morris.

The next run on the board came on a leadoff jack by Brassfield in the fifth inning, and BOY, did Brass need that blast, a 440-footer to right-center, considerably livening up that .167/.297/.222 slash line of his through 16 games of this season (it gave him a full 69 points of slug), and the score was up to 2-0. Alf Mendez drew a leadoff walk from Herrera in the bottom 5th, but was doubled up by Sturgeon. Top 6th, Morris got on base, advanced on Lonzo’s grounder, and the Condors walked Starr intentionally. Angel Perez shrugged and hit an RBI single anyway, 3-0. Clemente walked Christopher before Brass killed the inning with a 6-4-3 double play. Clemente then whiffed against Herrera, Bobby H.’s ninth strikeout of the game, to begin the bottom 6th. Mario Asencio singled, then was caught stealing. Brann flew out to complete six.

Alas, all good things must end, and so did Bobby Herrera’s shutout streak in the seventh inning. His pitch count was up there anyway – 76 through six – but hits by Casey Ramsey and Elmer Maldonado pushed the Condors’ first run across with one out in the bottom 7th. Maldonado advanced on a passed ball, but was stranded when Bobby rung up Mendez and Sturgeon flew out to Christopher on the edge of the warning track. Herrera got one more out from Franklin Serrano in the bottom 8th before leaving on 94 pitches when left-handed batter Scott Moore was announced as pinch-hitter. The Coons brought in Rocco, who hadn’t pitched in three days, in a double switch (Tomlin for Starr at first) with some side-eye on a 5-out save after Walters’ double-abortive (yet sabotaged) outings in Elk City. He got Moore and Asencio without issue to keep the 3-1 lead alive into the ninth, then retired three more in order in the ninth inning to put the game away. 3-1 Critters. Morris 2-3, BB, RBI; B. Herrera 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (4-0); Rocco 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (2);

Bobby Herrera had put together 25 shutout innings in total: the last inning he pitched in the rough start against the Loggers, the two shutouts, and then six more to start this game.

The Condors struck a deal between games, acquiring 1B Andy Metz (.261, 0 HR, 0 RBI) from the Thunder for outfielder Bobby Fish (.310, 0 HR, 2 RBI) and #112 prospect SP Danny Baca.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – RF Christopher – LF Brassfield – 2B White – 3B Bribiesca – P Robinson
TIJ: LF Alf. Mendez – CF Cardwell – SS C. Ramsey – 1B Metz – 3B Frasher – C Brann – RF E. Maldonado – 2B Archuleta – P Ellison

Metz immediately got his first RBI with the Condors when he singled in Casey Ramsey and his 2-out double in the bottom 1st. Eric Frasher also singled before Brann struck out against Robinson, who, even while the Condors did not get any more runs any time soon, remained very hittable throughout this start. The Condors were just hitting in bad luck. High flies right to outfielders, and sharp grounders right to infielders, and one liner into Lonzo’s mitten where he didn’t even have to move. At the same time the Raccoons weren’t doing ******* anything. Brass hit a 1-out double at one point, was stranded, and that was about it for runners in scoring position for the Coons before Ramon Archuleta finally came through and put the game away with a 2-run homer off Robinson in the seventh inning.

…and then Ellison loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth inning. Bribiesca singled, Mata drew a walk in the pitcher’s spot, and Morris hit another single. This brought up Lonzo, who was 0-for-11 since getting hit in the snout in Elk City. On the other paw, sending somebody to pinch-hit for Lonzo felt so wrong. At least he hadn’t racked up any strikeouts in that 0-11 stretch, so maybe he was due one here! He went into the box, ran a full count, then hit a sac fly to Chad Cardwell. It was enough to knock out Ellison – yay! – but Justin Cullum then got a double play grounder from Starr to end the inning – boo. The Condors then also had three on and nobody out in the bottom 8th, as the 4-5-6 reached without resistance from Adam Middleton. Ricky H. replaced him against Elmer Maldonado, but was met by the switch-hitter Sturgeon instead. He got a pop to short, then gave up a sac fly to Archuleta before getting another pop to get out of the inning. The Coons had no rally in them in the ninth. 4-1 Condors. Morris 2-4; Bribiesca 2-3;

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – RF Christopher – LF Ayala – 2B Bean – 3B Bribiesca – P C. Fox
TIJ: CF Asencio – RF S. Moore – 1B Metz – 3B Frasher – C Brann – LF Alf. Mendez – SS Archuleta – 2B Serrano – P Koga

Kodai Koga walked Lonzo, who stole second and reached third when Brann’s throw got away from Archuleta, then came in for an unearned first-inning run on Joel Starr’s long sac fly to left. Chance Fox looked like a blowout waiting to happen early on, giving up three sharp hits and nicking Metz the first time through the lineup, but the Condors stranded a pair in the first and hit into a double play with Serrano in the second to let him off easy. Asencio then hit a leadoff single in the third, but was caught stealing.

Angel Perez opened the fourth with a single to left. Christopher fanned, but Ayala got his first RBI with a triple into the left-center gap and extended the lead to 2-0, which became 3-0 after Bean’s sac fly to Moore, and 4-0 when Bribiesca humped a ball over the fence by mere inches. Angel Perez offered a leadoff homer in the sixth to get to 5-0. Christopher walked, stole second, and scored on Bean’s 1-out single, while the Condors just couldn’t topple Chance Fox, who ran a shutout through six with an elevated pitch count and with some more defensive heroics in the middle innings, with two more double plays turned behind him and with Christopher chasing down two flies in the gap. Fox then worked his way around a Bribiesca error in the seventh inning as his clumsy presence kept vexing the Condors.

Top 8th, and southpaw Aaron Sloan began his appearance with straight walks to Perez, Brass, and Ayala to load the bags with nobody out. Bean lined out to Serrano, Bribiesca popped out to short, and the Raccoons – up by six – did not bat for Foxie Brown since the Condors had lefty sticks up to begin the bottom 8th. He struck out, but then also struck out Asencio and Metz in a 1-2-3 eighth, but that would be all for him after 112 pitches, with at least the first half of those eight shutout innings having been a total mess. Lonzo reached on a Mendez error in the ninth, then scored when Starr hit a 420-foot chunk of Sloan for two extra runs. The Raccoons then tempted fate by putting Justin DeRose into an 8-0 game with just three outs needed. The Condors actually poked themselves out in just four pitches. 8-0 Furballs! Perez 3-4, BB, HR, RBI; Bean 2-3, 2 RBI; Bribiesca 2-4, HR, RBI; C. Fox 8.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (1-0);

In other news

April 14 – The Bayhawks beat the Falcons, 2-1 in 17 innings. A combined 32 runners are stranded on base between the two teams, and the winning run is driven in with a walkoff single by San Francisco reliever Bill Goda (1-0, 0.00 ERA) with the bench long depleted.
April 15 – The Miners beat the Cyclones, 3-2 in 16 innings.
April 16 – Boston SP Jayden Craddock (2-1, 4.74 ERA) throws a 1-hit shutout against the Canadiens, whiffing six in beating them 6-0. VAN RF/CF Damian Moreno (.237, 1 HR, 5 RBI) has the only single for the Canadiens.
April 16 – The Thunder will be without RF/LF Eric Whitlow (.167, 0 HR, 3 RBI) for at least a month after the 34-year-old suffered an oblique strain.
April 18 – 39-year-old DAL SP Austin Wilcox (1-1, 5.31 ERA) wins his 200th career game in an 11-4 shootout against the Gold Sox.
April 18 – After three abortive starts, TOP SP Zach Stewart (0-1, 14.09 ERA) is revealed to miss the rest of the season with a torn rotator cuff.
April 19 – The Warriors erase a 5-4 deficit against the Scorpions in the bottom of the ninth inning before SFW 3B/SS Ben Wilken (.234, 1 HR, 7 RBI) ends the game with a walkoff grand slam, 9-5.
April 19 – Walkoff success notwithstanding, the Warriors’ closer Ryan Dow (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will miss four months at least with a torn rotator cuff.
April 20 – Knights C Marco Nieto (.327, 1 HR, 3 RBI) has put together a cross-season 20-game hitting streak with a single in the Knights’ 5-4 loss to the Falcons.
April 22 – Atlanta flips OF/1B Bobby Ellwood (.294, 0 HR, 8 RBI) to the Rebels for LF Juan del Toro (.310, 0 HR, 3 RBI).
April 23 – The Loggers are a single by rookie catcher J.P. Jack (.316, 0 HR, 1 RBI) away from getting no-hit by the Aces’ Bill Grau (2-0, 1.50 ERA) and MR Jordan Juarez (0-3, 12.86 ERA, 3 SV), as Vegas wins the game, 5-0.

FL Player of the Week (2): NAS OF/1B Tony Roman (.364, 4 HR, 11 RBI), whacking .450 (9-20) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week (2): MIL C Tristan Waker (.529, 2 HR, 11 RBI), hitting .526 (10-19) with 2 HR, 10 RBI

FL Player of the Week (3): DAL OF Tyler Wharton (.411, 3 HR, 13 RBI), swatting .423 (11-26) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week (3): SFB OF Scott Laws (.464, 0 HR, 10 RBI), plonking .552 (16-29) with 1 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Bobby Herrera not getting Player of the Week in a week in which he threw two shutouts is outrageous and I am going to take the matter to League HQ personally when we go to New York next time!

With the exception of that dreadful no-show in Elk City, the team has been playing decent ball recently, even though the offense is very spotty and we have several players that are expected to do better batting around/under .200 right now (cough) Lonzo (cough).

Oh, shut up, Cristiano! Lonzo’s BABIP is .190! Why don’t you instead figure out a way to make the balls he hits finally ******* fall in!?

Next week: another day off on Monday, then the final stint of this awfully long road trip to Oklahoma City. We finish the month with a home set against the Loggers.

Fun Fact: Jack Kozak and Malik Crumble have .900+ OPS a dozen games into the AAA season.

Just in case Brassfield isn’t gonna turn it around.

Yeah right, like the Raccoons will ever discard a priced former prospect that debuted at age 21 and was a lot of fun since then. His BABIP is .213, so maybe there’s a way to turn this around in the next 20 games. Or 50 games.

Yes, Cristiano, this silly team once waited five years for Matt Pruitt to turn it back around. – Because he then went to Boston and turned it around!!

Fun Fact (Bonus Round): All four Nicks on the payroll are free agents this fall, but Brassfield is not.

And three of them are on the DL.