[Westheim]

Raccoons (11-14) vs. Crusaders (13-11) – May 1-4, 2062

After a week in which the Raccoons scored all of three runs – (starts to shake and shiver uncontrollably) – … wowzers. (blinks) … Well, after that week, even with the Crusaders in for four games, it couldn’t even get worse anymore. Even if the entire ******* ballpark crumbled and collapsed onto the dimwits in the brown shirts, at least that would allow us to have a clean slate. The Crusaders were second in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed, but it wasn’t like the Raccoons knew how to handle a bat. Last year we won the season series 14-4, but last year was a ******* long time ago.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (1-2, 2.37 ERA) vs. Nate Mickler (1-2, 7.17 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (4-1, 2.35 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (2-2, 3.18 ERA)
Nick Robinson (2-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (3-2, 3.52 ERA)
Chance Fox (1-1, 4.45 ERA) vs. Joel Luera (3-1, 2.89 ERA)

Only right-handers. As if it mattered. Aubrey Austin and Omar Sanchez were out injured for New York, but I was confident they’d scratch out a run or two without them.

Game 1
NYC: C P. Gonzales – 3B B. Anderson – SS Almaguer – CF Branch – RF Zeiher – 1B McLaughlin – LF A. Romero – 2B V. Velez – P Mickler
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – RF Christopher – LF Brassfield – 2B White – 3B Bean – P Riddle

The Crusaders had some atrocious defense going on between a 38-year-old Bobby Anderson on his last leg and a 33-year-old catcher in Pedro Almaguer that had terminally bad knees and couldn’t spend three hours in the crouch anymore, so they were trying him out at short, to reviews that were normally reserved for snuff movies. The Raccoons went up 2-0 in the first inning, but that was more down to Mickler, who walked Morris to get going, then allowed RBI knocks to Starr and Brassfield, with another walk to Perez in between. The hits were to center and didn’t have anything to do with the left-side defense, where Jon Bean made a throwing error early on that looked way worse than what the New York octogenarians might amount to under pressure. Lonzo had a single and a stolen base in the third inning, but was left on base, and Bean made ANOTHER error on Jared McLaughlin’s grounder in the fourth. White and Bean had 1-out singles in the bottom 4th, and then Bobby Anderson came through with a 2-base, run-scoring throwing error on Riddle’s bunt. Age had robbed Anderson of his first (and second and third) step and the bare-handed throw escaped the field to extend the Coons’ lead (!) to 3-0. Morris added an RBI single, but was caught stealing, and Lonzo grounded out to Almaguer to end the inning.

Mickler hung around until he gave up a leadoff triple to Jim White in the bottom 6th, plus a sac fly to Bean for a 5-0 tally, but Riddle kept trucking through eight, determined to get a W into the books after six straight losses. He scattered five hits for no runs, the last knock being a pinch-hit single by Bill Quinteros in the eighth inning – so, after a couple of years apart, the Indians’ longtime infield corner duo as reunited to watch the sun set on their careers in New York. Not sure how much sense that made for a team wanting to contend, though. Ryan Sullivan got the ninth inning and immediately exploded, allowing a single to Almaguer, a double to Sean Zeiher, then a 3-run homer to McLaughlin, and was yoinked for Rocco, who got the second out of the inning on Alex Romero’s pop, then loaded the bases by fudging all of Victor Velez, Matt McLaren, and Pedro Gonzales on base. Bobby Anderson then gave a ball a good sock to left, but only to the warning track and Brassfield was there to catch the bloody thing. 5-3 Raccoons. Morris 3-4, BB, RBI; Perez 2-4; Brassfield 2-4, RBI; White 2-4, 3B; Bean 1-2, RBI; Tomlin (PH) 1-1; Riddle 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, W (2-2) and 1-2;

Not sure what was wrong with Ryan Sullivan, but if he continues like this, he’ll get turned into sausage.

This was with Matt Walters still out with a mystery injury and Rocco almost blowing a 2-out save, so who was our best reliever for Tuesday? Does anybody have Preston Pinkerton’s number!? Maud!!??

Game 2
NYC: LF Weir – C McLaren – SS Almaguer – CF Branch – 1B McLaughlin – RF Zeiher – 3B B. Anderson – 2B V. Velez – P Seiter
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – RF Christopher – LF Brassfield – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – P B. Herrera

Seiter retired the Coons in order in the first two innings of an anticipated pitchers’ duel in which Bobby Herrera was taken deep by Sean Zeiher in the second, so New York had the early 1-0 lead. White and Nick Fox (entering hitting .043) then went to the corners with leadoff singles (and a balk in between) in the bottom 3rd. Herrera swung and hit into a fielder’s choice with no advance for White, so that went well, but Ben Morris drew a walk to fill the bases for Lonzo, the old .172 menace. Both Lonzo and Starr (.167) popped out to Anderson, and the bases remained loaded. Anderson then singled home Tommy Branch and his leadoff walk in the fourth, in the bottom of which another pair was in scoring position as Joe-Chris walked and Brass doubled to left-center. A run scored on White’s groundout up the middle, with Brass to third base, and the Crusaders opted for the .133 hitting pitcher rather than all .083 of Nick Fox, and walked the latter with intent. Bobby H. sneered, ticked the first pitch he got to centerfield for a game-tying RBI single, and Fox, equally offended, made for third base, and when Branch’s throw to Anderson got away from the near-legless third baseman, scampered home to score the go-ahead run. Morris’ fly to left ended the inning.

The 3-2 score persisted to the seventh inning, where Bobby H. got within one out of reaching the stretch, but then walked Velez and gave up a 2-out single to Seiter before departing in shame. Ricky H. was barely any help, walking the bags full with Hector Weir before getting McLaren to strike out and strand an entire Crusade on the bases. When after that James Murdock retired New York on seven pitches in the eighth inning, we got a bit greedy and sent him back out for the ninth rather than Middleton. He walked Zeiher before getting Anderson to third and Velez on strikes, but then Bill Quinteros showed up in the box as pinch-hitter again, and the Raccoons went to Rocco after all. Rocco walked Quinteros, then another pinch-hitter in Pedro Gonzales on four pitches, and the bags were full again. McLaren was not pinch-hit for, and fell to 0-2 before cracking a deep fly to right that fell for a bases-clearing double. Almaguer then grounded out, but I was already busy contemplating murder again. The Raccoons didn’t get past a Carlos Mata walk against Jason Rhodes in the bottom 9th. 5-3 Crusaders. Brassfield 2-4, 2B; N. Fox 2-3, BB;

Game 3
NYC: LF Deeley – 3B B. Anderson – SS Almaguer – CF Branch – RF Zeiher – 1B McLaughlin – C P. Gonzales – 2B V. Velez – P E. Lee
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – RF Christopher – LF Brassfield – 1B Tomlin – C Arellano – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – P Robinson

Both sides had a single the first time through, but the Raccoons would get straight 2-out singles from their 1-2-3 batters in the bottom 3rd with Christopher driving home Morris with the game’s first run. Lonzo and Joe-Chris then took off for a double steal, the ball got away from the Crusaders on a bad throw by Gonzales, and Lonzo went on to score from second base. Brassfield, who had the first single for the team in this game, walked, but Tomlin grounded out to end the inning.

It was also beginning to rain here, and it rained pretty hard pretty quickly and a rain delay was called just before Erik Lee could throw the first pitch of the bottom 4th. When play resumed after 45 minutes of driving rain, Lee immediately gave up straight hits to Arellano, White (who drove in the catcher), and Nick Fox. Robinson hit a sac fly, Morris walked, and Lonzo killed Lee with an RBI single to center before Corey Leonard restored order. And Robinson? He had thrown 48 pitches before the rain delay, so we sent him back out there with a 5-0 lead, but watched him with eagle eyes. He struck out Zeiher and McLaughlin before walking Gonzales in the fifth, but got a grounder to first from Velez to complete five and qualify for the potential W. Unfazed by nature’s moods, Robinson would carry on and pitched seven shutout innings for only one base knock allowed before reaching 91 pitches and not being brought back after the stretch.

Lonzo doubled off Pedro Mendoza to begin the bottom 7th and scored on a Brass single to get to 6-0. That seemed big enough of a lead to ask Justin DeRose for six outs, which didn’t end that well. Romero whacked his first career homer off him, a 2-piece with two outs, although a Lonzo error was also involved with that and made the runs unearned. DeRose then put Bobby Anderson on base in the ninth inning and was yanked two outs later for Ricky H. to get Zeiher for a grounder and the final out. 6-2 Critters. Lavorano 3-4, 2B, RBI; Brassfield 2-3, BB, RBI; Robinson 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, W (3-3);

Matt Walters finally went on the DL on Thursday with a diagnosis of a triceps strain, which would render him out until the end of June, probably. All going to plan here. 27-year-old Adam Harris was recalled from AAA, which was a hint that Rocco was probably going to close most situations from here, so an additional left-hander was welcome.

Game 4
NYC: C P. Gonzales – 3B B. Anderson – SS Almaguer – CF Branch – RF Zeiher – 1B McLaughlin – LF Weir – 2B V. Velez – P Luera
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – RF Christopher – LF Brassfield – 2B Bean – 3B N. Fox – P C. Fox

Jon Bean began the bottom 3rd by getting plunked and ended it with a groundout to Velez, so things occurred in between. Nick Fox singled, and the pair was bunted into scoring position before Morris’ RBI single put the first run on the board. Morris stole second and Gonzales made another throwing error, conceding Fox’ run from third base. Morris scored on Lonzo’s single, and Lonzo went to third base on Starr’s single, then scored on Angel Perez’ groundout. Christopher walked, Brass hit an RBI double, and that made it 5-0 before Bean left on a pair with his groundout.

Chance Fox had a no-hitter going through five innings, whiffing six. Chance Fox also managed somehow to drill Pedro Gonzales twice. The second time, in the sixth inning, made the Crusaders angry enough to finally start hitting him. Anderson singled and another single by Branch would get New York on the board with two outs before Zeiher grounded out to second to leave on a pair. Chance Fox, impeded by a Nick Fox error, would complete one more inning, but reached over 100 pitches by the stretch and would not be brought back after that. Almaguer homered off Sullivan in the eighth to narrow the score to 5-2, making it a save chance for Middleton, of all people, in the ninth inning, but he sat down the Crusaders in order, which was all I could ask for anymore at this point. 5-2 Critters. Morris 2-4, 2B, RBI; C. Fox 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (2-1);

Raccoons (14-15) @ Warriors (15-12) – May 5-7, 2062

The Raccoons had their worst all-time record against the Warriors, despite having won the last three series, each time two games to one, against the team from the FL West. This year they ranked second in the division on pitching, allowing the second-fewest runs while scoring the third-fewest for a +17 run differential (Raccoons: -6). Longtime Warriors infielder Mike DeFusco and reliever Ryan Dow were notable injury absences for the Warriors.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (0-4, 4.55 ERA) vs. Jonathan Vale (0-3, 4.35 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (2-2, 1.88 ERA) vs. Kenny Donnelly (2-1, 2.05 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (4-1, 2.40 ERA) vs. Ricardo Montoya (2-2, 2.84 ERA)

There were no southpaw starters on this staff, but four lefty relievers, three of whom, funnily enough, were former big-league starters: Ed Nadeau, Andres Lopez, and Ethan Alvey.

We might be shortening Nick Nye’s rehab assignment to AAA. He was hitting .421 down there in 10 games, felt a self-proclaimed “fine”, and we needed every shred of help up here.

Lonzo had a day off on Friday.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – RF Christopher – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 2B White – SS Bean – 3B N. Fox – P Alba
SFW: RF A. Barnes – 3B B. Wilken – 1B M. Medina – LF Kaniewski – CF Oldfield – 2B McColgin – C F. Rivera – SS Gut – P Vale

Morris singled and scored on Christopher’s double to begin the game, and Starr walked, but the 4-5-6 batters went all “uuuh” and “ooooh” and nothing else happened. Sioux Falls tied the game in the bottom 2nd with a leadoff triple for veteran John Kaniewski, who then scored on Cory Oldfield’s single to center. When Morris hit a leadoff double in the third inning, he was left stranded, but when Oldfield hit a 2-out double to right in the bottom 4th with nobody out, Angel Perez threw away William McColgin’s grounder for two bases and the go-ahead run, and another double to left by Felix Rivera and Dave Gut’s RBI single to left escalated the score to 4-1, all three runs being unearned, before Vale popped out to end the miserable inning.

Top 5th, and singles by Alba (!), Christopher, and Starr loaded the bases with one out. Brass then sent a quick grounder to Ben Wilken, and 5-4-3 went the inning. Instead, the Warriors dispatched Alba with three more hits in the bottom of the inning. Alex Barnes hit a single, and after Wilken flew out, Miguel Medina and John Kaniewski went yard back-to-back and Alba left the game down 7-1. Those three runs were all earned…

Adam Harris collected five outs from there in his first appearance of his seventh (!) major league season, and yet he had fewer than 70 career innings. Top 7th, Vale nicked Nick Fox, and Morris answered with a 2-run *blast* to shorten the score to 7-3. Starr also drove a long fly, but had it picked right at the wall by Kaniewski. The eighth was uneventful with Rocco pitching in a losing game and allowing a hit to Oldfield before seeing McColgin hit into a double play. Lonzo then batted for a hitless Bean to begin the ninth inning, unpacked a homer off Vale to straightaway centerfield, and coaxed Warriors closer Jon McGinley out of the bullpen in a 7-4 contest. Fox, Mata, and Morris went in order from there, though. 7-4 Warriors. Morris 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Christopher 2-4, 2B, RBI; Starr 1-2, BB; Lavorano (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI;

Game 2
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – CF Mata – 2B White – C Arellano – 3B N. Fox – LF Ayala – P Riddle
SFW: RF A. Barnes – 3B B. Wilken – 1B M. Medina – LF Kaniewski – CF Oldfield – 2B McColgin – SS Gut – C Manjarrez – P Donnelly

Tyler Riddle scored the game’s first run in the third inning, beginning it with a soft single off Donnelly before getting to third base on a Lonzo double to left and scoring on Starr’s sac fly. Mata grounded out to leave the extra runner on base, but Riddle seemed to be in control of the Warriors’ lineup early on. He allowed one hit the first time through, then a 1-out single to Medina in the fourth inning. Kaniewski struck out, and Oldfield flew to left where Ayala butchered the ball into an error and a pair in scoring position with a terrible dropped catch. McColgin thankfully grounded out on a 3-1 pitch, ending the inning and keeping the Coons afloat. This was after Ayala had already hit into an inning-ending double play in the second. He then opened the fifth with a triple to center that was just as badly misplayed by Oldfield, and scored on Riddle’s sac fly, 2-0. Christopher got on, stole second, and came home on Starr’s 2-out single. Ayala went on to walk with White and Nick Fox on base in the sixth inning, loading them up for Riddle, who fanned for the second out, and then Christopher, who laid off a borderline 3-2 pitch and got the call for the walk, pushing home White with the team’s fourth run of the night. Lonzo then flew out to Kaniewski in left.

Riddle was suddenly out of sorts in the bottom 6th, walking Wilken and Medina on eight straight balls to begin the inning. Kaniewski grounded out on a 1-0, and Oldfield popped out on the first pitch he saw, before McColgin fouled off a pitch after the manager and trainer went out to check on Riddle, who claimed to be *fine*. He then got a groundout on the next pitch and the runners were stranded. He pitched another inning without drama, and Murdock then did the eighth. The Raccoons wasted a Lonzo double in the ninth, then sent out Ricky H. for the home half of the inning. Oldfield hit a leadoff single, which was the only lefty hitter that Herrera could expect here, but he then struck out McColgin and got a grounder to short from Gut that Lonzo turned into a 6-3 double play to put the lid on. 4-0 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-5, 2 2B; N. Fox 2-4; Riddle 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, W (3-2) and 1-3, RBI;

Was that enough for Ayala to keep his job? 1-for-3 with a stupid error? Thing was, Malik Crumble was actually hitting a bit in AAA…

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – LF Brassfield – 1B Tomlin – RF Christopher – C Perez – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – P B. Herrera
SFW: C F. Rivera – 3B B. Wilken – 1B M. Medina – LF Kaniewski – CF Oldfield – 2B McColgin – RF C. Santiago – SS Gut – P R. Montoya

Extra-base hits kept arriving with a second-inning triple for Tomlin and RBI double for Perez after Christopher couldn’t get the runner home from third, and Perez was stranded in scoring position altogether. Another run scored in the third with an infield single for Lonzo, who stole second, got third on Brass’ groundout, and then dashed home on a wild pitch by Montoya. Tipsy Bobby looked vulnerable the first time through, needing 35 pitches and running four 3-ball counts, although he didn’t walk anybody. He had another two 3-ball counts in the fourth against Wilken and Kaniewski, neither of whom reached, but then blew the 2-0 lead in the bottom 5th with leadoff doubles for Oldfield and McColgin, and an RBI single for Cesar Santiago. No 3-ball counts in this inning, but two more to begin the sixth, and Medina finally drew a walk off Herrera. Kaniewski struck out and Oldfield found Lonzo with a grounder to end the inning, but that was also the end for Tipsy Bobby after a trying start…

The next two innings didn’t offer much on offense from the Raccoons, while Murdock and Harris kept the Warriors sorta decent. Both put a runner on base, and both got a 4-6-3 double play to clean up behind them. The closer McGinley was then in the 2-2 game in the ninth inning and retired Nick Fox and Mata before giving up a single to Morris with two outs. Enter Lonzo, and a screamer into the right-center gap that was always gonna score Morris from first base, but the Warriors still tried to get the out at home and instead allowed Lonzo to third base uncontested. Brass drew a walk, but Starr struck out and the Raccoons now needed a closer for a 1-run lead. Rocco got Kaniewski on a fly to right, then walked Jamel Robinson in a full count. McColgin smacked a single to right-center and Robinson dashed to third base with the tying run. PH Julio Moriel tied the game with a single to center, and Dave Gut socked a ball to deep left, but Brass made the catch in front of the wall and McColgin had to scamper his winning-run *** back to second. Jose Manjarrez’ groundout sent the game to extras.

Ed Nadeau was brought in for the tenth to face Christopher leading off, and Christopher was generally regarded as blind against lefty pitching, but ripped a leadoff jack to left anyway. Whatever works! Perez hit another single, but the inning fizzled out. At this point the Raccoons had four options left in the pen: DeRose (snort!), Sullivan (12+ ERA), and Middleton and Ricky H., with only the right-hander sorta rested. Middleton it was, and the top of the Warriors order disappeared 1-2-3 to finish the game. 4-3 Raccoons. Lavorano 3-5, 3B, RBI; Tomlin 2-3, 3B; Christopher 2-5, HR, RBI; Perez 3-5, 2B, RBI; White 2-4, BB;

In other news

May 2 – TOP SP Josh Barcellona (3-1, 1.96 ERA) strikes out eight Rebels in a 3-hit shutout, claiming the 4-0 victory.
May 4 – The Rebels send 1B Kris DiPrimio (.296, 4 HR, 13 RBI), the 2061 FL Rookie of the Year, to the Blue Sox for INF/RF Robby Cox (.273, 0 HR, 14 RBI), a prospect, and $1M in cash.
May 6 – CIN RF/1B/LF John MacDonnell (.315, 9 HR, 22 RBI) has his torrid start to the season interrupted by an intercostal strain.
May 6 – The Titans beat the Cyclones, 2-1 in 14 innings, on a last-frame home run by LF/CF Eddie Marcotte (.261, 8 HR, 19 RBI).
May 7 – Pacifics SP Alfonso Calderon (1-1, 2.57 ERA) 2-hits the Knights in an 11-0 rout.
May 7 – The Gold Sox beat the Condors, 1-0, with the game’s only run scoring in the bottom of the ninth on an errant pickoff attempt by TIJ SP Marco Clemente (2-4, 2.42 ERA) with runners on the corners.
May 7 – The Aces beat the Capitals, 13-11 in 15 innings, after both teams scored multiples runs in the ninth and 11th innings.

FL Player of the Week: SAL INF/RF/LF Alberto Bonilla (.347, 0 HR, 10 RBI), batting .538 (14-26) with 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA INF Miguel Veguilla (.326, 1 HR, 9 RBI), hitting .486 (17-35) with 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Hey-hey, runs! The boys scored runs! Like, several per game! Will wonders ever cease!? Still last in the North though, but we’re actually back to .500 and there is no losing team in the division right now, not even the 15-15 Loggers! Only the Indians are above .500 in a meaningful way, though.

2057 fifth-round pick Justin Richard retired this week with post-concussion syndrome. He had been in Ham Lake for four years and last year for the first time seemed to actually be hitting a little.

Tyler Riddle had his ERA down to 1.59 at this point, best in the Continental League, but there were a few FL pitchers with better ERA’s, led overall by Dallas’ Alex Quevedo (1.16), and respect to everybody that could keep his ERA under three in that fiendish shoebox they played in. Third in the FL was Quevedo’s teammate Ray “Crabman” Walker (1.45 ERA).

Malik Crumble was hitting .343 with 5 homers in AAA, so him and Nick Nye were probably going to come up for the next series against the Caps after an off day on Monday. This was actually the start of a 4-team, 13-game homestand that would also bring in the damn Elks, Titans, and Knights.

Fun Fact: Lonzo’s pinch-hit homer on Friday was his first longball since April 17 of last year, when he bombed Indy’s Kelly Whitney.

Lonzo was on four homers in 52 at-bats to begin this season, then went 617 homerless at-bats before drumming Jonathan Vale.