[Westheim]

Raccoons (72-72) @ Titans (77-66) – September 12-14, 2062

The Titans’ season was hanging by a thread and they pretty much had to win all their games now if they still wanted a piece of first place, from which they were removed 8 1/2 games. This was with the #6 offense and #4 pitching in the league, but on the other paw they were also already up 11-4 on the Raccoons this year, and this season was in Boston, where nothing good ever happened.

Projected matchups:
John Bollinger (7-3, 3.30 ERA) vs. Jayden Craddock (9-15, 5.06 ERA)
Angel Alba (10-11, 2.96 ERA) vs. Grant MacKinnon (8-11, 4.26 ERA)
Chance Fox (8-10, 3.51 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (19-4, 1.86 ERA)

Again, only right-handed starters in this Titans rotation.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – RF Corral – C Robertson – P Bollinger
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 2B Ramires – C Arviso – CF Marcotte – RF A. Lee – 1B M. Rubin – 3B D. Mendoza – SS Mena – P Craddock

The Raccoons took the early lead with Morris and Starr doubles in the first inning, which was only a setup for the night’s biggest event, which came in the third inning when Lonzo led off with a single, and then stole second base against Craddock and Jorge Arviso, matching the 721 career steals by Pablo Sanchez, most all-time! The Titans duly acknowledged the feat on the scoreboard which had totally nothing to do with me threatening to set all the dumpsters behind the ballpark on fire if their GM didn’t tell his guys to do so, and then Joel Starr doubled in Lonzo with another drive to the deep outfield to make it a 2-0 game, and then Crumble went deep to left to double the score to 4-0. Starr hit *another* RBI double his next time up, then driving in Bollinger with two outs in the fourth inning.

Bollinger had a busy day, but somehow the Titans always managed to clean the bases without scoring. They had a single and two walks through four innings, and left no trace with a double play hit into and two runners being caught stealing. His luck ran out in the fifth, putting one on a tee for Eddie Marcotte to bop his 30th homer of the year on, then allowed singles to Andy Lee and Manny Rubin. Diego Mendoza hit a sac fly, but then the battering continued with an RBI double by PH Willie de Leon. Steve Humphries grounded out to end a 3-run inning. The Raccoons saw him wobble through the sixth, putting Bill Ramires on before Marcotte ended the inning with a groundout as the tying run, then quietly put him to bed before it could get worse.

For Starr, it only got better; he led off the seventh inning with a double to left, which tied him for the CL record of hitting four doubles in a game. Crumble made an out, but Andy Younge walked White and Nick Fox then clipped an RBI single to re-extend the lead to 6-3. Corral found another RBI single, and Joe Robertson found a double play to kill the inning.

Mendoza and Juan Mena had hits off Erickson in the bottom 7th, but were left on base, while in the bottom 8th, Brad Loveless got the ball, got a grounder from Ramires that Fox threw away for two bases, threw a wild pitch, and then allowed a walk to Arviso and a single to Andy Lee before being yanked. One run in, runners on the corners, Rubin the tying run in the box, and one out for Murdock, who got a comebacker from the batter, and then threw that into centerfield for another error and a run to score before Yoslan Valdez struck out and Mena grounded out to Jon Bean at short (Lonzo had taken a seat). Starr then led off the ninth in a 7-5 game against Jason Posey, but struck out rather than hitting another double. Posey struck out the side, in fact, before Matt Walters got the ball and I covered my eyes with my paws. Sandy Moreno hit a leadoff single before walks to Humphries and Arviso filled the bases. Eddie Marcotte emptied them with a slam to left. 9-7 Titans. Starr 4-5, 4 2B, 3 RBI; Crumble 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Corral 2-4, RBI;

NOTHING GOOD EVER HAPPENS IN BOSTON.

Okay, sometimes something good happens. But it never lasts very long. Regardless – (gives a very confused looking Lonzo a thick smooch on the fuzzy cheek)

This was the last regular save attempt for Matt Walters, who was absolute junk at this point. Since Rocco, Murdock, and Pohlmann were also getting humbled regularly, the Raccoons would finish the season closing by committee and then try and get creative over the winter.

Marcos Arellano returned from the DL on Wednesday, although I was hesitant to proclaim something like us getting a veteran presence or such thing back.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 2B White – RF Corral – C Arellano – 3B Suriel – P Alba
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 2B Ramires – C Arviso – CF Marcotte – RF A. Lee – 1B M. Rubin – 3B D. Mendoza – SS Mena – P MacKinnon

The bases were loaded again in the bottom 1st with Arviso and Marcotte singles as well as a four-pitch walk to Lee, but Rubin flew out to Crumble to keep everybody stacked. Similarly with the Coons in the top 2nd, where they loaded the bases against MacKinnon – who among other things hammered Arellano with a pitch, which Arellano did not appreciate, just off the DL – but Morris then flew out to Lee to leave three aboard.

The Coons gained a 1-0 lead on a Joel Starr homer in the third inning, then lost Malik Crumble to a groin strain as he made an extra long step to beat out an infield single to lead off the sixth inning. Tony Gonzalez pinch-ran and scored when Jim White took MacKinnon over the wall in rightfield, 3-0. Alba worked into the bottom 7th with that, getting a Mendoza pop there before Mena hit a 1-out single and left-handed Yoslan Valdez came out to pinch hit. Alba, on 103 offerings, was replaced here with Ricky Herrera, and Ricky Herrera got bombed for three straight loud, hard base hits by Valdez, Humphries, and Ramires, at the end of which the Titans had tied the game at three. (buries face in paws in despair)

Tony Gonzalez restored the Coons to the lead with his first career home run, a solo blast off Nick Leigh in the eighth inning. The Titans went in order against Pohlmann in the bottom 8th, while the Coons got an insurance run off Leigh in the ninth inning on singles by Arellano, Morris, and Lonzo, who drove in the catcher. Starr shot 1-2 pitch right at Ramires to end the inning. Murdock got the ball in the bottom 9th, allowed a leadoff single to Mena, but then got a double play grounder, 4-6-3, from Willie de Leon. Humphries singled again, but Ramires’ grounder to first ended the game. 5-3 Critters. Morris 2-4, BB, 3B; Gonzalez 1-1, HR, RBI; Arellano 2-3; Alba 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K;

Ricky H., the wicked fiend … (glances over to Herrera, who has fallen asleep with his head in a bowl of milk, and there are no more bubbles rising out of the milk either) … stole another W here.

Malik Crumble was off to the DL with a groin strain. He might return for a few games at the end of the year, but it was not a guarantee. The Alley Cats were no longer in the running for the AAA playoffs, and the Raccoons brought up 23-year-old Marco Campos, who the Indians had sent over for Trent Brassfield and some loose bits in July. Campos had been hitting .301 with 3 HR, 20 RBI in AAA in 47 games. He was could play all outfield positions, probably was best suited to leftfield due to arm strength, and was batting righty. He was from Costa Rica.

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B White – RF Corral – LF Campos – 3B N. Fox – C Arellano – P C. Fox
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Ramires – CF Marcotte – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – SS Mena – 2B W. de Leon – P Brenize

Campos got his first career hit in his first chance, legging out an infield single against Brenize and de Leon trying to field the same ball in the second inning. This put Critters on the corners following a 1-out double to right by Jose Corral, and Nick Fox quickly drove in the latter with a single to center. Slightly oversugared, Campos was thrown out trying to steal third base before Arellano struck out to end the inning. A Morris single and a 2-out homer by Starr extended the lead to 3-0 in the third inning.

The Titans hit a bevvy of singles against Foxie Brown early on, but stranded pairs in the first and third innings. Humphries hit another single after a 10-pitch battle in the fifth, but that was with two outs and Ramires left him on. Marcotte drew a leadoff walk in the sixth against Fox, but was doubled up by Rubin. Arviso socked a double to right with two outs, but Diego Mendoza had his fly to center tracked down by Morris to end the inning. While Brenize went seven innings and struck out nine Critters, the beleaguered Fox got only three strikeouts in 6.1 innings before de Leon and Ted Lloyd knocked him out with a pair of hits that put them on the corners. Pohlmann replaced him, struck out Humphries, but Ramires dropped an RBI single into no man’s land with two outs before Marcotte grounded out to Lonzo to keep the tying runs on base. Pohlmann got one more out in the eighth, and Rocco got two groundouts after him to nurse the 3-1 lead along. The Titans tried to get the last two innings from Leigh and it worked just as well as on Tuesday; Campos hit a single for the Coons to begin the ninth, and after Nick Fox made an out, Tony Gonzalez batted for Arellano and smashed a 2-run homer to right! This put the game out of save range. Morris hit another single and stole second, but was left on base, while the Raccoons then sent out Corey Barrett in a bid to *create* a save chance in the first place, but Mena, de Leon, and Valdez made straight outs. 5-1 Furballs. Morris 3-5; Corral 2-4, 2B; Campos 2-4; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (74-73) @ Bayhawks (68-78) – September 15-17, 2062

The Raccoons went on to the Bay, having already taken the season series from the Baybirds, 5-1. San Fran had put together the #5 offense and #9 pitching this year, with the rotation bidding for the worst ERA in the league.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (4-3, 1.78 ERA) vs. Joe Chalmers (10-14, 3.73 ERA)
Malik Padgitt (1-2, 2.51 ERA) vs. Hector Montenegro (6-10, 5.41 ERA)
Freddy Castillo (3-4, 3.94 ERA) vs. Jon Mendosa (7-14, 5.66 ERA)

While the Raccoons brought up only left-handers, the Baybirds had only right-handers to offer. Montenegro and Mendosa had both pitched on Sunday after a Saturday rainout, and they had also been off on Monday, so there was wiggle room to flip those, bring in Jeff Crowley (14-6, 3.86 ERA), or just turn the table over entirely and find some rookie to give a sniff of major league air to.

Tyler Riddle returned from rehab to make a couple of starts at the end of the year here. He was signed for another two years and a potential trade asset this winter.

Game 1
POR: 2B White – SS Lavorano – CF Gonzalez – 1B Kozak – RF Corral – LF Campos – 3B N. Fox – C Robertson – P Riddle
SFB: SS X. Reyes – C Bogdan – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – RF Laws – 3B D. Sandoval – CF L. Quinones – 1B Escalera – P Chalmers

Corral singled home Lonzo with an unearned run in the first inning; unearned because Armando Montoya uncharacteristically made an error on a Gonzalez grounder. Riddle meanwhile returned and gave up a single in each of the first two innings, but also got a double play grounder from Leon Quinones to end the bottom 2nd. Top 3rd then, and Lonzo hit a 1-out single. He was itching to go while Tony Gonzalez struck out, then finally went on the first pitch to Kozak – and beat the throw by Bryan Bogdan, breaking the tie with Pablo Sanchez for the top of the all-time steals table! And then Kozak grounded out to Montoya to leave him on base…

Starting with Jose Escalera, the Bayhawks then clipped three singles off Riddle in the third inning. Kozak chipped in an error, and RBI hits by Bogdan and Grant Anker flipped the score to 2-1 San Fran. Stuff eluded Riddle in this start, with only one strikeout on his ledger through five innings before Montoya whiffed to begin the bottom 6th. Scott Laws was hit by a pitch, but doubled up by Dan Sandoval with a grounder to short. With Robertson on first base and one out, Riddle was asked to bunt in the seventh, but did so badly and got the lead runner forced out, which cost the tying run when Jim White doubled afterwards. Lonzo rolled a wheezer on the infield then with two outs, nobody got a play on it, and Riddle rumbled home with the tying run after all while Lonzo had a single on a ball dying 55 feet from home plate. Chalmers rung up Gonzalez to end the inning and leave runners on the corners.

Riddle was knocked out with pinch-hit 1-out singles by Dustin Cox and Ikuo Ogawa in the bottom 7th. The overworked Murdock replaced him, but gave up an RBI single to Xavier Reyes before Bogdan reached on a Fox error. Rocco then inherited the bases loaded and retired Anker and Montoya on a pair of shallow fly balls to strand the bases loaded in a 3-2 deficit. The Coons did nothing in the eighth, and Rocco allowed a single to Sandoval in the eighth before being replaced with Erickson, who threw a wild pitch before Craig Pepper popped out, while Kyle Mathews’ pinch-hit single off disgraced Matt Walters brought home the insurance run. Top 9th, and the Bayhawks made a bid for a blown save with Steve Watson who first nailed Nick Fox with a pitch nowhere near the zone. Starr and Bean pinch-hit (Morris had already been used) and both struck out before Jim White doubled to left, putting the tying runs in scoring position for Lonzo, but Sandoval intercepted his bouncer to third base and made the throw to first in time. 4-2 Bayhawks. White 2-4, 2 2B; Lavorano 3-5, 2B, RBI; N. Fox 2-3;

Lonzo, the old career achiever, got a day off on Saturday after Morris and Starr had both been off on Friday. Corral also got a day off.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – 2B White – 1B Starr – LF Kozak – RF Gonzalez – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bean – C Guinea – P Padgitt
SFB: SS X. Reyes – CF Echols – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – RF Laws – 3B D. Sandoval – C Bogdan – 1B Escalera – P H. Montenegro

Morris opened the game with a jack and, not wanting to stand back, Starr also mashed a homer in the first for an early 2-0 lead. However, that was before somebody foolishly handed a ball to Padgitt, who gave up loud singles to Xavier Reyes and Jonathan Echols, a game-tying double to Montoya, a walk to Laws, and after some counseling still continued to burn brightly in the night with an RBI single hit by Bogdan with two outs, Escalera getting nicked to load the bases, and with three on, two outs, and the pitcher down 0-2, Padgitt tossed a wild one that allowed a fourth runner to score before Montenegro finally struck out. It didn’t get much better after that; Padgitt walked Reyes on four pitches to begin the bottom 2nd, threw another wild pitch in the inning, and got outs on two deep flies and Montoya rolling over to White on a 3-0 pitch to end the inning without Reyes coming across the plate.

Starr, Kozak, and Fox hit singles in the third to narrow the score to 4-3, Padgitt had a 1-2-3 third (!), and the Raccoons slowly accumulated on base in the fourth with Morris drawing a 2-out walk. White singled on an 0-2 pitch, and Joel “Doubles” Starr starred with a double, driving in the tying run with an extra-base knock to center. Kozak then popped out to Montoya to keep runners on second and third.

Montenegro was out by the fifth inning, with left-hander Jesse Connors inserted by San Fran against the mostly lefty bottom half of the Coons’ lineup, but Connors gave up a 1-out double to Fox and an RBI single to Bean to put Portland up 5-4 again. Arellano batted for Guinea and singled, sending Bean to second base, and the Raccoons had Lonzo bat for Padgitt after four unhinged innings for the left-hander. Lonzo hit a sac fly, 6-4, then went back to the donuts, and Morris also flew out to Echols to end the inning. Rich Read then filed a valid application for the free win with a scoreless fifth. Joel Starr took Jorge Solis deep in the sixth to extend the score to 7-4, but Brad Loveless came in to face left-handers, was clueless and useless, walked two, gave up an RBI double to Anker, and then was barely bailed out by Erickson against Montoya, who grounded a 3-2 pitch to Fox to strand the tying runs in scoring position…

The game remained a mess. Erickson bunted into a double play in the seventh, then ran 3-0 counts to Scott Laws, who grounded out, and Craig Pepper, who drew the walk. Bogdan popped out before Ricky H. allowed a single to Escalera before serving up a high gap fly to Aaron Drobish, playing third base, which Kozak – of all people – raced down and made a grab on the run on to strand the tying runs on base *again*. Herrera did get the Bayhawks’ 1-2-3 in order in the eighth, though. The Coons also stranded Jorge Moreno, who hit a pinch-hit single, and Nick Fox, who just got hit, in the ninth before giving the ball to the ninth-inning man of the day, Mike Pohlmann. His first three pitches were all put into play loudly, with a leadoff double for Montoya, but Laws and Cox made outs to the corner infielders. Bogdan then hit a wet towel onto the infield, and that one died for an RBI single… Escalera whiffed, though. 7-6 Critters. Starr 4-4, BB, 2 HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Kozak 2-5; Moreno (PH) 1-1; N. Fox 3-4, 2B, RBI; Arellano (PH) 1-2, BB;

Regardless of this W, the Raccoons were mathematically eliminated this Saturday with an Indians win.

With the AAA season over the Raccoons made one more addition to the roster (barring more injuries…) with right-hander John Nesbitt, who had been the other half of the Buffos trade that had exchanged Ken Sowell and Joey Christopher for him and Tony Gonzalez. Nesbitt had pitched to an 0.41 ERA with the Alley Cats. He did not arrive fully rested, though, having thrown multiple innings on Friday.

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B White – RF Corral – LF Campos – C Arellano – 3B Suriel – P Castillo
SFB: SS X. Reyes – CF Echols – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – RF Laws – 3B D. Sandoval – C Bogdan – 1B Escalera – P Crowley

In the first, everybody seemed to be on two strikes against Castillo, but nobody struck out. In the second, Laws and Sandoval reached, but the 7-8-9 went in order with strikeouts against Bogdan and Crowley. In the third inning, the Bayhawks turned Castillo inside-out entirely. Reyes singled and stole second, tying him with Lonzo with 48 steals. Echols and Anker made outs before the sky fell with Montoya’s RBI double, a walk to Laws, a Sandoval single and a throwing error by Morris, allowing Montoya to score, RBI singles for Bogdan and Escalera, and finally Crowley flew out to cap the 4-spot…

The fourth began with a Lonzo single and his 49th stolen base, telling off Reyes. Starr doubled him in, Jim White drew a walk, but Corral popped out. Marco Campos got his first career RBI with a single to left-center and shortened the score to 4-2, but then Crowley buggered out of the inning with strikeouts to the 7-8 batters. Reyes hit a homer to left off Castillo to begin the bottom 4th, 5-2, and Castillo then bobbled a feed by Starr at first base to put Grant Anker on base in the inning, which he finished, but he was then also hit for at the start of the fifth in which Ben Morris hit a solo homer to narrow the score to 5-3 before the ball went to Sensabaugh.

The Coons inched closer in the sixth with back-to-back 1-out singles from Corral and Campos, then an Arellano sac fly. Campos was then caught stealing to end the inning, and the rally stalled. Starr hit a single in the eighth, but apart from that Sensabaugh pitched four messy shutout innings for nobody in particular as the Raccoons were still down by a run into the ninth inning against Steve Watson. Arellano, Gonzalez, and Kozak went in order to end the game. 5-4 Bayhawks. Starr 3-4, 2B, RBI; Campos 2-4, RBI; Sensabaugh 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K;

In other news

September 11 – The Stars win the FL West with 18 games to spare by beating the Wolves, 3-1.
September 11 – RIC SP Luis Olvera (9-14, 3.69 ERA) throws a 5-0 shutout on three hits against the Cyclones.
September 11 – WAS SP Nick Robinson (15-7, 3.08 ERA) is expected to miss time until next summer with a diagnosis of a stretched elbow ligament.
September 11 – The first career home run of MIL OF Jonathan Merrill (.279, 1 HR, 35 RBI) is the decider in a 1-0 win against the Indians.
September 12 – The Loggers’ SS/2B Fidel Carrera (.296, 17 HR, 62 RBI) breaks his forearm on a slide into an opposing player and is out for the season.
September 12 – Pacifics 3B/LF/RF/1B Steve Dilly (.241, 11 HR, 56 RBI) ends his season early with a broken finger.
September 13 – The Indians return the 1-0 win favors to the Loggers with a 10-inning game won on a walkoff sac fly hit by 1B/2B/OF Kevin Ewers (.182, 0 HR, 2 RBI).
September 13 – The Gold Sox and Warriors go the extra couple of miles before Denver wins 4-3 in 18 innings. DEN 2B Miguel Ulloa (.276, 4 HR, 52 RBI) hits a walkoff single to end the plus-sized contest.
September 14 – A broken foot ends the season of Crusaders INF/RF/LF Omar Sanchez (.300, 2 HR, 48 RBI).
September 14 – The Falcons beat the Condors, 5-4 in 15 innings.
September 14 – The Caps and Miners beat each other’s heads in for a 20-10 final win for Washington. WAS SS/2B George Sizemore (.281, 3 HR, 24 RBI) has four hits with a double and drives in five runs from the #8 spot.
September 16 – The Indians lose SP Antonio Pichardo (13-12, 4.16 ERA) to a torn labrum.
September 16 – Blue Sox SP Juan Sanchez (12-9, 4.44 ERA) is shut down for the year with shoulder inflammation.
September 17 – Also done for the year is Rebels SS Jason Turner (.266, 16 HR, 82 RBI), down with a strained rib cage muscle.
September 17 – The Stars beat the Cyclones, 5-2 in 15 innings despite having only three base hits in total: a 2-run homer by OF Tyler Wharton (.375, 32 HR, 118 RBI) in the sixth, and with two outs in the top 15th, a pair of doubles for defensive replacements INF Ramon Ojeda (.276, 0 HR, 9 RBI) and C Jose Cantu (.283, 2 HR, 17 RBI), who drive in two and one run(s) respectively.

FL Player of the Week: NAS C David Johnson (.268, 23 HR, 84 RBI), swatting .400 (10-25) with 4 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR 1B Joel Starr (.295, 18 HR, 76 RBI), raking .565 (13-23) with 4 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Joel Starr raked his way to a Player of the Week honor despite sitting out a game, and otherwise punished pitchers with four homers, six doubles, and three singles! He slugged 1.348 for the week, which is absurd even for that short a timespan. He finally shook off that black cloud that followed him around for a season and a half and now looks like a bargain again for that 8-year deal!

Sensabaugh trying to hang on to the 40-man this winter by pitching semi-efficient garbage relief is the cutest thing ever.

Lonzo, the ABL’s most infamous robber baron, leads the CL stolen base race with two weeks to go, having taken 49 bags this year – and a record 723 all time! (grins stupidly) – juuuust ahead of the 48 stolen bases for IND Matt Kilday and SFB Xavier Reyes. Nobody else is even close; Ben Morris with his injury-addled tally of 32 sits sixth in the CL. Note that both Kilday and Reyes are ten-ish years younger than Lonzo.

I would have loved to give some more playing time to some youngsters, especially our third-sacker of the future (INF/RF/LF) Victor Morales, who was promoted to AAA in April, and batted … well… not a whole lot across 134 games there. .250/.309/.353 with 4 HR, 64 RBI. He turned 21 in June, and he will not be up with the Critters on Opening Day. This makes me wonder whether we should get a 1-year extension with Nick Fox, who isn’t hitting anything either, but who could keep the corner warm for another half a season or so. Nick Fowler would also be an option.

No Jeff Applegate this September either. His control was off a bit in AAA, and there’s no point in giving him two starts and get bopped now when he does not have to be on the 40-man roster on December 1.

Regardless of these, we’re already at 53 players used this year, which is outlandish. No further additions will be made unless the entire outfield breaks a leg now and we have to bring up the Ellis Browns and Matthew DeHarts of the minor league system.

The Raccoons have one more homestand, hosting the Aces and Elks, then a final road trip to the Old Northwest with Indy and Milwaukee.

Fun Fact: Nobody has ever hit exactly five doubles in an ABL game.

But Max Reynolds, on June 2, 1982, hit SIX doubles in a 10-3 against the Wolves. The funny thing about this is that Reynolds was a below-average hitter with questionable defense that watched his career fizzle out at age 28 just a year later after hitting .282/.333/.357 with 12 HR, 266 RBI, and 78 SB over seven years.

In another quirk, Reynolds was traded from the Cyclones to the Loggers in mid-1980 for Dave Martel, and then traded back to the Cyclones 11 months later for Joe Helms.