[Westheim]

Raccoons (29-27) vs. Indians (30-24) – June 5-8, 2062

The foundering Raccoons, on a 1-7 run and an L6 within that, were up against the Indians for four games to continue this listless homestand. The Indians ranked third in the North, second in runs scored, and fifth in runs allowed. The Coons were up 3-1 in the season series, which was something that was rather easily fiddled away if the sucking continued.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (5-4, 3.30 ERA) vs. Jarod Morris (4-1, 4.04 ERA)
Nick Robinson (6-3, 3.04 ERA) vs. Adam Foley (0-2, 9.22 ERA)
Chance Fox (2-3, 3.76 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (5-5, 3.44 ERA)
Angel Alba (3-6, 4.00 ERA) vs. Antonio Pichardo (4-5, 3.45 ERA)

DeWitt was the only left-hander. Foley was getting battered trying to sub for former Raccoons farmhand Travis Glovinsky, who was on the DL with Joe Humphries.

The Raccoons used the lineup they would have used on Sunday, so Lonzo still got a day off on Monday. Tyler Riddle was still on the roster, injured, while Ben Morris started a rehab assignment in St. Pete on Monday.

Game 1
IND: CF S. Thompson – SS M. Morales – 2B Kilday – 1B Starwalt – RF Lovins – C A. Gomez – LF R. Alvarez – 3B G. Keller – P Jar. Morris
POR: RF Corral – CF Christopher – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – SS Fowler – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bribiesca – P B. Herrera

Tipsy Bobby seamlessly got in line with the strugglers and fell behind 2-0 in the first on a homer by Danny Starwalt to left. Miguel Morales had reached base ahead of time with a clean single. Jarod Morris disposed of the Coons in 25 pitches in three innings while allowing a single to Arturo Bribiesca, even though the team coaxed 22 tosses out of him in the fourth, landed two 2-out singles between Perez and Fowler, and still didn’t get a run across. Bribiesca hit another leadoff single in the fifth, and was stranded as well in that inning.

Herrera would pile up 11 strikeouts in seven innings, but first, didn’t get any support, and second, also gave up another run in the sixth inning on base hits by Matt Kilday, who stole second for his 23rd bag of the year, and Alex Gomez, 3-0. Ricky H. and Barton added scoreless innings after Bobby H. departed, while Morris went eight innings of 5-hit shutout ball against the feckless Furballs, who then came up against Cody Kleidon, a left-hander, in the bottom 9th. Lonzo led off batting for Fowler, but popped out to Kilday, and the Raccoons went in order. 3-0 Indians. Fowler 1-2, BB; Bribiesca 2-4; B. Herrera 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, L (5-5);

The Coons didn’t score in principle, and hadn’t scored as much as four runs since the 27th…

So, Tyler Riddle (4-3, 1.78 ERA) going down to a torn labrum that would keep him out until September and maybe the entire rest of the season at least wasn’t gonna make the *offense* worse…

The Raccoons had a selection of AAA starters with sub-3 ERA’s for once, which included Bobby Sneeze (2.87), and also three players that had never been up in the majors before: Brett Cotton (2.30), John Bollinger (2.34), and Freddy Castillo (2.72). Cotton, 23, had the worst K/BB between all of them. Bollinger and Castillo were both 25. The former had low stamina, although if the opposition got rid of him in five innings or less anyway that would not matter as much. Yeah. We went with the right-handed Bollinger, our #32 pick from 2058. His debut would be on Friday.

Since there were now also just two left-handers in the rotation, we would swap Fox and Alba in the last two games of the series to separate the southpaws Robinson and Fox. With the Sunday rainout, this was possible without issue.

Game 2
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B G. Keller – C A. Gomez – 1B Starwalt – CF S. Thompson – LF Abel – RF R. Alvarez – SS Cirelli – P Foley
POR: RF Corral – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – CF Mata – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bean – P Robinson

The Raccoons scored (!) first (!), early (!!), and multiple runs (!!!) against Foley, who initially gave up a double to Lonzo in the first, but only was booked on the board for two runs in the second inning. Carlos Mata drew a walk and was at second base after Nick Fox’ groundout before the 8-9 batters both produced RBI hits for the two runs. Corral struck out, still looking for a base knock here. Meanwhile the Indians got Gabriel Keller to second base in the first, runners to the corners in the second inning, and then tied the game at two in the third inning on straight extra-base bops by Keller (double), Gomez (homer), and Danny Starwalt (double), who was stranded. The Raccoons responded, however, and took the lead back in the bottom 3rd. Lonzo singled his way on and Foley walked Starr. After two meager outs, Carlos Mata chucked a ball into the left-center gap for a 2-out, 2-run triple, however, and the Coons were back on top, 4-2! Nick Fox then reached on Kilday’s error, allowing Mata to score. Foley threw a wild pitch, Bean was then walked with intent, and then Foley still managed to give up a 2-run double to Robinson before being whisked away.

The game then settled in, with Robinson going into the eighth without allowing anything much of substance, departing after a 1-out single by Kilday, who was stranded by Middleton. The Indians pen also shut up the Raccoons’ offense until the bottom 8th, which began with Christopher pinch-hitting for Mata and reaching with a single. He stole second, but was thrown out at the plate on Nick Fox’ single to right. Fox made it to second, then scored on a Bean single, all coming off Jesse Pursel. Fowler flew out in Middleton’s place, and then Jose Corral found some grass for a 2-out single in shallow center after starting out 0-for-6 in this call-up. Arellano batted for Lonzo and popped out to end the inning. Indy reclaimed that late run against Ryan Sullivan, who allowed a leadoff double to Steve Thompson, who scored on Ricardo Alvarez’ groundout. 8-3 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4, 2B; Mata 1-2, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Christopher (PH) 1-1; Bean 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Robinson 7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (7-3) and 2-3, 2B, 3 RBI;

Game 3
IND: CF S. Thompson – SS Cirelli – 2B Kilday – 1B Starwalt – RF Lovins – C A. Gomez – LF O. Ramos – 3B G. Keller – P DeWitt
POR: LF Crumble – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – 1B Starr – CF Mata – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bribiesca – C Arellano – P Alba

Alba tried to get on the pokey black nose right away, allowing hits to Eric Cirelli and Kilday before walking Starwalt to fill ‘em up in the first. Chris Lovins’ sac fly made it 1-0 Indians, *another* walk to Gomez filled them up again, and then Orlando Ramos grounded out to Lonzo on a 3-1 pitch… Whatever works? The 2-3-4 batters went hit-hit-walk again in the third inning, then to begin the whole shebang, but Lovins popped out to Fox, Gomez whiffed, and Orlando Ramos grounded out to Lonzo for the third out this time. DeWitt socked a double off the irritating Alba in the fourth, but was also stranded. We dragged him through five with that sort of performance, and then gave the ball to DeRose, who was probably pee-peed that he was not even considered for Riddle’s replacement in the rotation, not that I still cared for his feelings much.

DeRose didn’t pitch badly, though. He inherited the 1-0 deficit – the Coons had only two hits in five innings – and put up two scoreless, getting around a 2-out Kilday triple in the seventh inning, striking out Starwalt. When Bribiesca walked and Arellano singled with two outs in the bottom 7th it not only got rid of DeWitt, but also DeRose, as the Raccoons went to a pinch-hitter in DeChristopher to face DeMelvin DeGuerra. He flew out to DeLovins.

The 1-2-3 disappeared without a squeak in the bottom 8th, while Rocco and Barton still kept the score at 1-0 into the ninth inning. Kleidon was back for the save attempt in the bottom 9th, which started with Starr, who grounded out. Mata scratched out a walk in a full count. Fox’ grounder to third base moved the tying run to second base, but a K to Bribiesca ended the game. 1-0 Indians. DeRose 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Sigh.

Game 4
IND: 2B Kilday – RF Lovins – C A. Gomez – 1B Starwalt – CF S. Thompson – LF Abel – 3B G. Keller – SS Cirelli – P Pichardo
POR: CF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – RF Corral – 3B Fowler – 2B Bean – P C. Fox

Another pitcher did damage on Thursday, as Chance Fox first allowed two 1-out singles to Thompson and Kevin Abel in the top 2nd, but then struck out Keller and Cirelli to get outta there, then came up to bat after Corral and Fowler had opened the bottom 2nd with singles and were looking at him from scoring position. Fox smashed a single past a diving Cirelli, and both runners scored with the first markers on the board. Christopher hit another single, but Lonzo and Starr made outs to end the inning. Pichardo partly got Fox back with a single to center beginning the top 3rd, but the 1-2-3 went down easily and he was stranded on base as well.

The Indians were silent in the middle innings, while the Raccoons got a leadoff jack by Joel Starr in the fifth to get up to 3-0, while with two outs in the sixth Christopher, Lonzo, and Starr all pooled onto the bases to knock out Pichardo, but Brass grounded out against ex-Coon Hyun-soo Bak and they were all stranded. Fox didn’t allow much into the seventh, when Abel whacked a 2-out double off him and Keller sent another deep fly to left, but it was caught on the warning track by Brassfield to get out of the inning. And maybe it was time to replace Foxie Brown after just 86 pitches, because the Indians were now certainly getting louder. But, y’know, stubbornness. Why waste a scarce lefty reliever when there is a left-handed batter in the box, and you already have a left-handed starter up? That way, Fox ended up facing another four batters in the eighth inning – all left-handers! – and this while beginning the inning with a hit batter (Cirelli), and then a single allowed to Alvarez. Kilday popped out, and Lovins hit into a double play to usher him out of the inning. James Murdock got his first Coons save with a much less tense 1-2-3 ninth. 3-0 Critters. Christopher 2-5; Starr 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Fowler 2-4; C. Fox 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, W (3-3) and 1-3, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (31-29) vs. Pacifics (21-40) – June 9-11, 2062

These teams had not seen another in four years, with L.A. taking two of three in the last meeting in ’57. The 2062 Pacifics were pretty wretched, in the bottom three in both runs scored and runs allowed in the FL, and with a -62 run differential after just over a third of the season. They had the worst rotation in the entire league with a combined ERA over five. The defense was crummy, but the pen was pretty solid given all other issues. Milt Cantrell and infielders Steve Dilly and Jesse Sweeney were notably on the DL for them.

Projected matchups:
John Bollinger (0-0) vs. Dave Robinson (5-4, 2.48 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (5-5, 3.35 ERA) vs. Alfonso Calderon (1-3, 4.89 ERA)
Nick Robinson (7-3, 2.99 ERA) vs. Ivan Torres (3-1, 3.97 ERA)

The two Robinsons were the only two left-handed pitchers for this weekend series.

Game 1
LAP: SS Baird – LF McInnis – 1B Olivares – CF J. Espinoza – RF J. Martinez – 2B Cline – C Kelbaugh – 3B Marchek – P D. Robinson
POR: LF Crumble – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – 1B Starr – CF Mata – C Perez – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bribiesca – P Bollinger

Adam Baird was the first ABL batter Bollinger faced and singled to left on a 1-0 pitch before Bollinger walked Matt McInnis. Things got a wee bit better with Alejandro Olivares’ grounder to short, which Lonzo took to start a 6-4-3 double play. Jesus Espinoza struck out in a full count, and Bollinger had his first big-boy zero. He lined up a few more of those, but the Pacifics kept getting on base, like in the fourth with back-to-back 2-out singles from ex-Coon Jesus Martinez and Jake Cline. Pete Kelbaugh made the third out to left-center, though. Joe Marchek socked a home run to left to begin the fifth; that was the first run in the game, with the Raccoons on just two base hits through four innings, including a Bollinger single in his first at-bat. His second time up he followed Fox and Bribiesca getting on base with one out in the bottom 5th and couldn’t get the bunt down, striking out eventually. Malik Crumble was to the rescue with a single past Baird into left-center, sending home Fox with the tying run. Lonzo followed up with another RBI single to right for a 2-1 lead. Martinez made an attempt at Bribiesca at the plate, but that was wide and only allowed the trailing runners to advance, although Brass ended up walking anyway. Starr batted with three on and two down, smashed the first pitch he saw to deep center, and Espinoza wasn’t gonna get to it. The ball ended up a bases-clearing, and for Dave Robinson game-ending, double, putting the Coons up 5-1. Jose Salazar, right-hander, ended the shenanigans with a K to Mata.

Crumble had another 2-out RBI single in the following inning after Salazar put fodder on by nicking Perez and walking Fox. Bollinger even got the bunt down this time. Lonzo further cranked up the hurt with a 2-run double to left, 8-1, while Brass flew out to Martinez in right against new pitcher Jim Peterson. Bollinger got only one more out before being lifted on 98 pitches after allowing a Cline single in the seventh. Middleton worked the Coons out of the inning, then also did the eighth. Sullivan allowed three sharply hit balls in the ninth inning, but all three ended up with a defender to make him look competent at first glance. 8-1 Critters! Crumble 3-4, 2 RBI; Lavorano 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Bollinger 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (1-0) and 1-2;

Solid debut!

The Coons had hoped to get Ben Morris back by now, but he had a slow time to get going in AAA and would remain there another day or two, giving Jose Corral a few more chances to try and build a case to stay up over Malik Crumble.

Game 2
LAP: SS Baird – LF McInnis – 1B Olivares – CF J. Espinoza – RF J. Martinez – 2B Cline – C Kelbaugh – 3B Marchek – P A. Calderon
POR: CF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – RF Corral – 3B Fowler – 2B Bean – C Arellano – P B. Herrera

Tipsy Bobby laid another early egg, retiring the first two batters on Saturday before issuing a triple to Olivares in the rightfield corner, walking the bags full, and then giving up two runs on a Cline single before finally getting over it with Pete Kelbaugh’s groundout. The Raccoons responded in kind, though, tying the game on walks Calderon issued to Lonzo and Starr, then a left-center gap triple honked by Brassfield. Corral drew another walk, and Fowler flew out to center for a sac fly, which gave Portland a 3-2 lead. Bean singled, but Arellano grounded out to end the inning.

Herrera had two neat innings before leadoff hits by Martinez (single) and Cline (double) in the fourth. Martinez tried to score all the way from first base, and was denied by Christopher, firing a rocket from the outfield to hammer him out at home. Cline advanced to third base on the play, but was stranded with a K to Kelbaugh and a Marchek pop to Bean.

Calderon fooled the bags full with Lonzo, Brass, and Corral, who couldn’t buy a hit, but drew another walk, bringing up Fowler with three on and one out. Fowler hit another sac fly to center to extend the lead he had earlier produced with a sac fly to center further to 4-2. Bean’s fly to center ended the inning, though. Top 6th, and Tipsy Bobby continued to wobble. Olivares hit a leadoff double to left, then was thrown out by Christopher trying to score on Espinoza’s single. Espinoza then tried to steal third base, and when Arellano threw the ball away, scored altogether, 4-3. Herrera got one more out, then was lifted after 5.2 trying innings.

Murdock got blown up in the seventh to flip the score. Joe Marchek led off with a triple to center, and Pedro Parada’s pinch-hit power push produced plenty pain por Portland, making it a 5-4 L.A. game. Ricky H. and Barton did some holding-the-opposition-in-place, but the offense didn’t come around, and the ninth inning saw Sullivan make more of a mess by filling the bases: Kelbaugh had a hit, Rich Cabrera drew a walk, and in between Sullivan’s own throwing error put Marchek aboard. DeRose (!) would come in with three on and two outs and Olivares batting, got a strikeout, and the Raccoons would try getting a run (or even two!) off righty Roberto Ramirez in the bottom 9th, starting with Nick Fox in the #9 hole (the pitcher was hitting sixth for Portland at this point). Fox opened with a single through the right side, and moved his tying-run bum to second base on Christopher’s groundout, then to third base on a wild 2-2 to Lonzo, who poked the next ball up the middle. Baird’s throw to first pulled Olivares off the base, allowing Lonzo to reach, but Fox would have scored regardless, tying the game at five! Lonzo was caught stealing against an always alert Ramirez before Starr singled to enter, and Brass whiffed to send the game to extras, so now DeRose wasn’t so misplaced in the game after all…! …then promptly issued a walk, a balk, and another walk in the top 10th in a desperate bid to get his snout beaten in, but the Pacifics couldn’t find the base hit they needed. Ramirez was still on the hill for L.A. on the other side of the ad break, got Corral on a grounder, but then saw Marchek bobble Bribiesca’s pinch-hit grounder for an error. Bean grounded out, moving the winning run to second, and Perez batted for Arellano to try and end the damn thing, but grounded out.

Middleton had a panic-free 11th inning before Jim Peterson took over for L.A. Christopher hit a 1-out single and Lonzo got nicked to create an opportunity in the bottom 11th, but Starr popped out and Brass grounded out to let it pass. Martinez and Cline were on bas with hits off Middleton in the 12th. Kelbaugh grounded out, and Marchek singed a liner right into Lonzo’s mitten to keep them stranded in scoring position. Corral led off another extra inning and this time singled to right. Bribiesca popped out, while Middleton was used to bunt the winning run into scoring position, which worked out well enough. Angel Perez was batting with two outs on the winning run out there again, and this time lobbed a single to left-center. Corral was waved around, Ken Dickson’s throw from left arrived too late, and the Raccoons walked off…! 6-5 Raccoons! Christopher 2-6; Fowler 0-1, 2 BB; Bean 2-5; Middleton 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, W (3-2);

Justin Rocco was the only unused reliever in this game.

Game 3
LAP: CF T. Garcia – 2B Cline – 1B Olivares – RF J. Martinez – LF J. Espinoza – 3B Marchek – C Eaton – SS Baird – P I. Torres
POR: RF Corral – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – CF Mata – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bean – P N. Robinson

Robinson was up against an all-right-handed lineup. Cline singled but was doubled up by Olivares in the first, in which the Coons got leadoff singles from Corral and Lonzo, and eventually a 1-0 lead after productive groundouts by Starr and Brass. Perez left one more on base, but then hit a leadoff home run to left in the fourth inning, running the score to 2-0. Robinson had only given up one more hit by then, although stuff was lacking. The contact against him was mostly poor, though – until the fifth and a pair of homers smashed by Espinoza and Todd Eaton to tie the game at two.

Eaton was back in the box when Robinson ran out of wits in the sixth inning, having loaded the bases with Cline, Olivares, and Marchek, a hit and two walks, and two outs. The Raccoons bolted for Murdock, and the right-hander got a fly to left from Eaton that Brass could track down comfortably to keep the game tied in the middle of the sixth. Bottom 6th, Torres walked Brass with one out. Brass stole a base before Perez also walked in a full count, and Mata grounded into a fielder’s choice on another full count getting Perez erased at second base. The Pacifics also lifted the starter after 5.2 innings, and Zane Fenlon got Nick Fox out to center to leave runners on the corners.

Murdock got a groundout and three strikeouts in the seve- … (counts on all claws) … oh, Kelbaugh reached on an uncaught third strike in the #9 hole. That go-ahead runner never left first base, though. The seventh was uneventful, and the Pacifists frittered another two singles off Paul Barton away in the eighth inning. Brass singled off Nick Leigh, but was doubled up by Perez to end the inning in the bottom 8th, which marked Perez’ fourth double play tumbled into this week. Rocco got the ball in the ninth. He got two outs, then allowed a double to Tony Garcia, a walk to Cline, and then saw Bribiesca fire away the grounder for the third out by Olivares. The go-ahead run scored, and two more were left in scoring position on a first-pitch, pinch-hit pop by Rich Cabrera. The Raccoons found themselves up against Roberto Ramirez again, who was hopefully tired enough to leak something in the bottom 9th to the 6-7-8 batters. But no – Mata, Fox, and Christopher were retired in order. 3-2 Pacifics.

In other news

June 6 – The Blue Sox rally for eight runs in the last three innings, making up at least half their deficit on the Rebels before losing 17-10 anyway. RIC INF/RF Robby Cox (.269, 2 HR, 32 RBI) has five hits with a double and three RBI, while RIC SP Goffredo Merlin (3-7, 4.81 ERA) cracks two doubles, a single, and drives in six runs to support himself.
June 7 – SAC SP Josh Elling (6-4, 4.20 ERA) throws a 1-hit shutout against the Wolves, claiming a 6-0 win with eight strikeouts. SAL OF Diego Montero (.269, 4 HR, 25 RBI) has the lone single for the losing side.
June 7 – The Bayhawks beat the Falcons, 13-9 in 13 innings. Both teams score four in the tenth inning before San Francisco breaks through with a 5-run top of the 13th inning, allowing only one run in return.
June 9 – The Cyclones beat the Aces, 5-3 in 12 innings. All runs in the game score in that 12th inning, including three homers.
June 10 – A fourth-inning single in an 8-3 loss to the Thunder extends the hitting streak of Sacramento’s Victor Corrales (.336, 4 HR, 25 RBI) to 25 games.
June 11 – Thunder SP Aaron Harris (8-3, 2.26 ERA) shuts out the Scorpions on three hits, whiffing eight in a 6-0 game.

FL Player of the Week: DAL OF Tyler Wharton (.410, 13 HR, 51 RBI), strafing .457 (16-35) with 3 HR, 12 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL OF Scott Franks (.329, 2 HR, 25 RBI), poking .486 (17-35) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Still in last place, and still over .500 while doing so, 63 games into the season. This is a wicked division.

What to do about Jose Corral? He’s not hitting, but he’s drawing walks. But if he’s not hitting, he’s just a less defensively adept version of Joey Christopher, and one that is hitting from the same side. And we need Ben Morris back on the roster for an *actual* leadoff man capable of stirring. Yeah, it doesn’t look *great* for the youngster for an extension to this cup o’ coffee.

The Riddle injury is highly unfortunate. Bollinger was *fine* in his debut, but we’ll see where we stand after three, four starts, and whether we want to make a move for another AAA guy instead. In the meantime, Riddle will probably lead the CL ERA table until he’ll drop off for insufficient innings two weeks from now.

Trades would be possible, as long as nobody wants us to part with Roberto Soto, who is literally in every trade proposal we receive this year. I’m not entirely sure why. He’s a couple months younger than Corral, and batting .201/.250/.270 in Ham Lake.

Coons are off on Monday, then head East for series with the Cyclones and Titans. In between I’ll ditch them to head to New York for the draft.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are ranked 11th among CL teams in both homers allowed and homers hit themselves.

Just in case I wasn’t making the point last week… we have socked 30 bombs and served up 53. Which is perplexing since the pitchers still have the second-best ERA (starters) and a respectable fifth place for relievers. I don’t … I don’t know.

Do you know, Honeypaws? – No, Honeypaws doesn’t know either, and if Honeypaws doesn’t know, who could possibly know what’s going on?

(sad Cristiano noises)