[Westheim]

Raccoons (4-5) @ Loggers (8-1) – April 13-15, 2063

The Loggers had started the season in sixth gear, but were you ever really concerned about a hot start by the Loggers? We probably had issues of our own to concern ourselves with… For now though they led the league in runs scored (6.86 per game) and were a bit average in runs allowed. I’d go out on three paws and pretend that they wouldn’t score almost seven runs for a full season! Last year they had also been at the top of the division early on and had easily finished sixth, though not without beating the Raccoons 11 out of 18 games.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (0-2, 2.57 ERA) vs. Larry Wilson (1-0, 3.86 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (1-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. Jesus Hinojosa (1-0, 1.29 ERA)
Angel Alba (0-1, 1.42 ERA) vs. Oliver Graham (0-1, 5.06 ERA)

The three Loggers here were all right-handed, although they appeared to have skipped over southpaw Vincent Hernandez (1-0, 3.38 ERA) on the common off day on Thursday.

The Raccoons sent Chance Fox to the DL, hoping to get him back in early May. Since this series was wedged between two off days, we did not turn to a starter, but added a reliever from AAA instead, going with right-hander Rich Read. Since John Bollinger had made the garbage relief outing on Wednesday, he was not going to make a start in this series. He was next up for Tuesday in Elk City.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – 2B White – RF Corral – LF Crumble – C Arellano – P Elling
MIL: LF Franks – RF C. Ramirez – 1B D. Robles – SS F. Carrera – C Guitreau – CF Merrill – 3B D. Miller – 2B Garmon – P L. Wilson

Offense was at a premium early on, with neither team getting more than one batter on base in the first three innings. Starr got stranded for Portland after a first-inning single, while the Loggers’ Jonathan Merrill drew a 2-out walk from Elling in the second inning. Neither made it past first base. Lonzo then did something against that sub-.200 batting average with a double off the fence in leftfield to begin the fourth inning, but even after that, hitting appeared to be hard for the Raccoons. Starr and White made poor outs, while Wilson lost Monck and Corral on balls, which ended up bringing the .074 crumbler Menace Crikey (or something like that) to the plate. He grounded out to Fidel Carrera, and that was the inning. While the Loggers remained on the search for a base hit against Elling, the Raccoons had two more of those early on in the top 5th, putting a pair in scoring position with an Arellano single and Morris’ double hugging the rightfield line. Since Elling popped out on his bunt, Arellano could go no further from first base than to third on Morris’ extra-base knock, and Lonzo batted with the pair of them in scoring position, striking out. Starr was carelessly walked onto the open base, and Monck popped out to Danny Miller in foul ground on a 1-0 pitch to leave the bases full once more.

The Loggers finally put a guy on base with a knock in the sixth inning as now Corey Garmon opened an inning with a double. Wilson’s bunt and Scott Franks’ groundout brought him in to score and the Loggers took a 1-0 lead while I was gnashing my teeth. When Wilson returned to the hill, he gave up another leadoff single to Arellano, and this time Elling finally got the bunt down. The messing up part was this time done by Dave Robles, who flung the ball through Wilson’s legs at first base, and the Coons battery reached scoring position with nobody out on the error before Cesar Ramirez retrieved the ball in foul territory down the line. Ramirez then clonked the very next ball in play, a fly by Morris to right that he dropped for a 2-base, 2-run error, flipping the score to an unearned 2-1 lead for the Portlanders. Next, Lonzo popped a ball to second, which Garmon put clams on and dropped it anyway. Three errors in a row for the Milwaukee Slapsticks! Starr singled in a run after that, but Monck fooled into a double play and the inning ended with a White groundout, but also a VERY VERY unearned 3-1 lead for the Critters.

Elling then squeezed himself out of the bottom 7th by issuing walks to Robles (who was eventually run for with Dave Wright) and Merrill. Chris Sullivan pinch-hit for Danny Miller with two outs, and the Raccoons chose to meet the lefty hitter with McDaniel, who walked the bags full on four pitches. Ace! Garmon then popped out to shallow center, and now the Loggers left three on base. The eighth saw the Raccoons bungle hits by Corral and Crumble with three pathetic outs after that, while the Loggers slapped three singles off Matt Walters (…) and Mike Pohlmann. Fidel Carrera drove in David Milian with a run to reduce the score to 3-2. Thankfully Josh Carlisle put together three quick outs from the 6-7-8 batters in the ninth inning…! 3-2 Raccoons. Starr 2-4, BB, RBI; Arellano 2-4; Elling 6.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W (1-2);

The Loggers then decided to bring the left-handed Hernandez on Saturday.

Game 2
POR: RF Campos – SS Lavorano – 3B Monck – 2B J. White – 1B Starr – CF Kozak – LF Crumble – C Arellano – P Riddle
MIL: LF Franks – RF C. Ramirez – 1B D. Robles – SS F. Carrera – C Guitreau – CF Merrill – 3B D. Miller – 2B C. Sullivan – P V. Hernandez

Milwaukee went up 1-0 in the second in the middle game with a walk issued to Tommy Guitreau by Riddle, shortly ahead of a wild pitch, and eventually Danny Miller singled that runner in with two outs. The Raccoons responded pronto rapido, however, and Marco Campos smacked a double to left to begin the third inning. Lonzo was ready and brought in the tying run with a single to left-center. Monck popped out, but Jim White singled to left. Trying to stay out of the double play, the Raccoons went running on the 1-0 pitch Joel Starr, who missed a sign and held still, while Guitreau didn’t get a good grip on the ball and threw it wildly by Danny Miller, allowing Lonzo to score and White to third base on the play. White scored on Starr’s sac fly one pitch later, 3-1.

The lead didn’t last; the Coons stranded Campos after another double in the fourth, while Riddle allowed a single to Robles and then a long homer to Carrera in the bottom of that same inning to get the Loggers even again. The Loggers would load the bases even after that in the same inning on two singles and a walk, but also left them full with K’s by Hernandez and Franks. Riddle would labor for five innings before being hit for with two outs in the sixth inning and Crumble on base, but Jose Corral flew out easily to end the inning. The Loggers then outsmarted the Coons in the bottom 6th, in which Carrillo walked Guitreau before arriving with the .417 hitting Chris Sullivan with two outs and the go-ahead run on second base. We chose a rare intentional walk, but the Loggers wasted no time, batted Wright for the pitcher Hernandez, and Wright socked in both runs with a wallbanger double.

Top 8th, and Joel Starr singled off Hector Estevez with one out. The Loggers went to Randy Birnbaum from there, but the new righty allowed more singles to Kozak and Crumble to load the bases. Ben Morris batted for Arellano, but drew a southpaw replacement in Tony Espinosa, who got a pop behind shortstop for the second out. The Loggers then brought right-hander Matt Pickel before the Raccoons sent a new pinch-hitter, Nick Fowler, who lined out to Robles at first base, and that ended the inning with the bases left loaded AGAIN. Lonzo would hit a 1-out single off Brad Walker in the ninth inning, bringing the tying run to the plate, but both Monck and White struck out to end the inning. 5-3 Loggers. Campos 2-5, 2 2B; Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Monck 2-5; Kozak 2-3; Crumble 2-4;

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – 2B White – RF Corral – LF Crumble – C Arellano – P Alba
MIL: LF Franks – RF C. Ramirez – 1B D. Robles – SS F. Carrera – C Guitreau – CF Merrill – 3B C. Sullivan – 2B Milian – P Hinojosa

Scratch singles by Morris, who stole second, and Starr, then a sac fly to center by Rich Monck, gave the Raccoons a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the rubber game before Starr was stranded on base. The Loggers would have their soft singles to put runners (Milian, Ramirez) on the corners in the bottom 3rd, followed also by a fly to center by Dave Robles, but Morris picked that for the *third* out and thus Alba stayed ahead 1-0 through three frames. Instead, Alba bottled the lead in the fourth with another walk to Guitreau, then a pair of 2-out singles by Sullivan and Milian to get the catcher around to score…

After a few innings of nothing from the Furballs’ side, Alba strung a leadoff double to begin the sixth inning, which looked like a cry for help. The Loggers opted to walk Ben Morris with intent, which was a bit of a weird choice, given how even at next to age 36, Lonzo was not easily doubled up. He grounded out to third base, advancing a pair of runners into scoring position for Starr, who fell to 0-2 against Hinojosa, then dished a bouncer over the second base bag and into centerfield for a 2-run single, 3-1! Monck grounded out and White flew out to end the inning. Alba and Morris would be on base again to start the eighth inning, then with a pair of singles. Lonzo grounded to an infielder again, this time Carrera, which forced out Morris, but the Loggers couldn’t turn two, as advertised. Hinojosa would lose Starr to a walk in a full count, filling up the bases, but both Monck and White flew out in the shallow outfield, and neither got another run home…

Alba finished eight innings on the hill, nicking Robles in the final frame he was out for, but got around that with a pop by Carrera and a K to the pesky Guitreau. The Raccoons didn’t tack on in the ninth inning before Carlisle went out with a 3-1 lead and got a grounder from Jonathan Merrill, then filled the bases with the bottom third of the lineup, allowing a single to Chris Sullivan, a walk to Milian, and straight up drilled Dave Wright. After a mound conference in which the pitching coach expressed his concerns for this performance, Carlisle allowed a soft liner from Franks to Fowler, Lonzo’s defensive replacement at short, then ran a full count on Cesar Ramirez, who ended up striking out swinging. 3-1 Raccoons. Morris 2-3, BB; Starr 3-3, BB, 2 RBI; Alba 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (1-1) and 2-3, 2B;

(raises eyebrow)

Raccoons (6-6) @ Canadiens (6-7) – April 17-19, 2063

We had only won six games against the damn Elks in all of 2062, which was clearly not enough to keep this old GM content. I demanded better results, while sitting some 300 miles away in the office in Portland and petting Honeypaws like that was gonna improve the fortunes of the offense. The Elks ranked ninth in runs scored, but third in runs allowed so far this year, so it wasn’t like scoring against them was the most trivial thing in the world.

Projected matchups:
John Bollinger (0-1, 15.88 ERA) vs. Carlos Torres (0-0, 7.00 ERA)
Josh Elling (1-2, 2.18 ERA) vs. Juan Mercardo (0-1, 2.08 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (1-0, 4.26 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (1-0, 1.56 ERA)

Mercado in the middle game would be the next left-hander to contend with. The 36-year-old Mercado had been a Raccoon, 12 years and nine stops journeying through the league ago.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – 2B White – RF Corral – LF Crumble – C Arellano – P Bollinger
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – SS Corpus – 1B J. Campos – RF Whetstine – C A. Maldonado – CF D. Moreno – LF Epperson – 3B Spalding – P C. Torres

Bollinger got yelled at by the pitching coach just 12 pitches into the game, which was enough for Alex Castillo and Alex Corpus to hit a pair of singles and appear both in scoring position after a wild pitch to Chad Whetstine. The yelling worked, as both Whetstine and Alex Maldonado popped out to strand the runners. The total number of Alexes on the Elks roster, by the way, was four, including reliever Alex Diaz. Top 2nd, Jim White and Jose Corral set up camp on the corners with a pair of leadoff singles against Torres, after which both Crumble and Arellano hit long flies that were both caught on the warning track. Crumble got his first RBI of the season for a sac fly, but after that the inning fizzled out fast. A walk to Damian Moreno and a Gunner Epperson blast to center flipped the score for the Elks very fast in the bottom 2nd, although the Coons got even again at the next opportunity; Morris drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and was singled home by Monck in the third. The Elks shrugged, got Corpus to hit a double in the bottom 3rd, and then immediately got him home with Jose Campos’ RBI single to take a new 3-2 lead.

That one remained on the board until Bollinger was finished after five awful innings. The Raccoons would usually hit a single in an inning, and then either double up the runner or leave him somewhere unhelpful until Rich Read – also unhelpfully – messed around and put a couple of runners on base before getting deep for a 3-run homer by Campos in the seventh inning. Campos added ANOTHER 3-run homer in the eighth inning after more completely ******ed tossing by Read and Dean, capping off a 4-spot overall. 10-2 Canadiens. Starr 2-4; Monck 2-4, 2B, RBI; Corral 2-4; Kozak (PH) 1-1;

(blows)

Read (0-0, 15.43 ERA) was disposed of after the game and the Raccoons brought up Freddy Castillo, needing a replacement for Chance Fox later in the week anyway.

No southpaw in the middle game, instead Ken Nielsen was moved up to pitch on regular rest.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – 2B White – RF Corral – LF Crumble – C Arellano – P Elling
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – SS Corpus – 1B J. Campos – RF Whetstine – C A. Maldonado – CF D. Moreno – LF Lozada – 3B Spalding – P Nielsen

Ken Nielsen ended up allowing a leadoff single to Morris, who stole second and then was doubled home by Lonzo. Walks to Monck and White with one out filled the bases for Corral, who clipped an RBI single over Alex Castillo and got it to drop just in front of Whetstine. Crumble grounded to third base, where Steven Spalding went back to the base for a force on White, but then could not get a second out and Monck scored for the third run of the inning. Arellano hit a soft 2-out single, but Elling popped out to leave the bases loaded, then gave up a double to Corpus and a 2-run homer to Campos in the bottom 1st to piss most of a 3-0 lead away immediately. It also meant that Jose Campos had three straight homers with 8 RBI in his last three at-bats… He finally went down on strikes with the tying run – again Corpus – in scoring position in the bottom 3rd. Good! I hope he’s crying on the way back to his ******* dugout!! (angrily hollers while clutching both Honeypaws and a bottle of Capt’n Coma to his chest)

The game trundled along with a 3-2 score through five, although it never felt easy for Elling. The Coons then tacked on unexpectedly in the sixth inning with a 1-out solo homer slapped by Malik Crumble, hitting all of .140 even after the feat. Nielsen would go on to put Morris and Lonzo on the corners to begin the seventh. While Lonzo was caught stealing, Starr hit an RBI single to extend the lead to 5-2, which ended Nielsen’s day. Monck lined out, but lefty Gabe Hill filled the bags with White and Corral and two outs before *somebody* Crumbled and popped out to Spalding in foul ground, stranding a full set of fuzzy runners.

Elling came back for the seventh as well, had two long at-bats for outs against Spalding and Epperson, then was relieved after 108 pitches with the army of Alexes coming back to the plate. Murdock replaced him, got three outs, then handed the ball to McDaniel in the bottom 8th, and the lefty immediately gave up a homer to the left-handed batting Whetstine to narrow the lead to 5-3, but that was the last swipe the Elks were able to take at the Raccoons as McDaniel got out of the inning and then Carlisle shut them down in the ninth. 5-3 Raccoons. Morris 2-4; Lavorano 3-5, 2B, RBI; Bean (PH) 1-1; Corral 2-5, RBI; Campos 1-1;

No Juan Mercado rendezvous on Thursday either – but a different left-hander in Shane Fitzgibbon (1-1, 1.83 ERA).

Game 3
POR: RF Campos – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B White – 3B Monck – CF Kozak – LF Crumble – C Lawson – P Riddle
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – SS Corpus – 1B J. Campos – LF C. Cardenas – CF Whetstine – 3B Spalding – RF D. Moreno – C Orphanos – P Fitzgibbon

Offense was scarce for Portland in the first innings, while Riddle plunged into the abyss in a bottom 3rd that began with a single by the opposing pitcher and went nowhere nice from there. Castillo’s grounder was bobbled by Monck and Corpus walked to fill the bases. Campos struck out, and Cardenas hit only a sac fly to Crumble, but Whetstine then bashed home another pair of (unearned) runs with a double to right before the inning could finally end; thought not until after another single by Spalding, as it was Damian Moreno that finally made the final out with a fly to center.

What was more astonishing? That the Raccoons erased the 3-0 deficit immediately in the top 4th, or that it was White and Monck to get on base and Crumble to tie it up with a 2-out 3-piece to left-center? On the other paw, the Raccoons wasted a leadoff double by Starr in the sixth and left him stranded on third base with three miserable outs in a row. Riddle meanwhile never got into a groove, then had Moreno on with a leadoff walk in the bottom 6th and threw away Fitzgibbon’s bunt to put extra traffic on base with one out. With the last bit of fizz in the tank, he struck out Castillo and popped out Corpus to Starr in foul ground to end the inning and his day, having pitched a – by his standards – very high 105 pitches.

At least he held the tie, which Pohlmann in the seventh didn’t, giving up a leadoff jack to the inevitable Campos… That gave the damn Elks a 4-3 lead before they made six outs with their next seven batters against Pohlmann, Walters, and Carrillo. The Raccoons had a Monck single in the eighth, but then brought up the bottom of the lineup against closer Erik Swain in the ninth. Crumble hit a grounder to the left side that took Corpus nearly to the edge of the dirt and from there he didn’t have a play, and so the tying run reached with an infield single. Lawson’s bunt went straight back to Swain, though, who started a 1-6-3 double play, and Bean grounded out easily to finish the game. 4-3 Canadiens. Monck 2-4; Crumble 2-4, HR, 3 RBI;

Raccoons (7-8) vs. Condors (9-6) – April 20-22, 2063

The Raccoons would try to extend their 9-year run of winning the season series against the Condors this year, although it looked like the Condors had a decent bunch assembled and it was gonna be hard. We won five games of nine last year. This season, early on, the Condors were third in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed, with a +15 run differential (Critters: -16). Their rotation had the lowest ERA in baseball right now at a 2.69 rate.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (1-1, 1.31 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (1-0, 1.20 ERA)
Freddy Castillo (0-0) vs. Edgar Mauricio (1-1, 3.15 ERA)
John Bollinger (0-2, 10.97 ERA) vs. Vince Ellison (2-0, 2.53 ERA)

Only right-handers coming up here. The Raccoons’ next day off was on Thursday next week, so we gave a day off to Lonzo right in the opener here. Jim White also got a day off to Jon Bean’s benefit.

Game 1
TIJ: RF Asencio – 2B Serrano – C Brann – 1B Metz – SS C. Ramsey – 3B Frasher – LF E. Maldonado – CF Cardwell – P Koga
POR: CF Morris – RF Corral – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – LF Crumble – SS Fowler – 2B Bean – C Arellano – P Alba

The two backup infielders reached with a single and on an error, respectively, in the second inning, but were sranded when Arellano popped out. Alba, who allowed one hit the first time through the Condors’ order, then struck a double that bounced on the rightfield line throwing up chalk to start off the bottom 3rd. The 1-2 then made soggy outs before Joel Starr slapped a double over the head of Chad Cardwell to get Alba home with the game’s first run! Monck rushed an RBI single past a diving Franklin Serrano on the very next pitch, and another two pitches later Malik Crumble socked another homer to extend the lead to 4-0…! All of a sudden, Crumble appeared to be red hot!

Mike Brann drew a walk off Alba in the fourth inning, but was also picked off first base in the first such occurrence for a Critters hurler this year. That was the extent of the offense the Condors mustered in the middle innings. Brann would be their next batter to reach with a single in the seventh, but was then doubled up in a 4-6-3 inning-ender by Andy Metz as the Condors remained remarkably listless against Alba. In the sixth and seventh, Ricky Herrera was pitching for the Condors, allowed two hits, but no runs in his return to Raccoons Ballpark. Casey Ramsey hit a double off Alba in the eighth, but was left on base as the shutout remained intact. Not that the Coons lit the park on fire after that 4-run third; they didn’t score again, while Alba poked his head out of the dugout for the ninth inning to face the top of the order … at least until he walked Marco Asencio and allowed a single to Serrano. Carlisle got involved at that point, got a fielder’s choice grounder from Brann, rung up Metz, and then created utter chaos again. Ramsey singled home a run, and Eric Frasher loaded the bags with a walk. Elmer Maldonado strung a liner to right, driving in two runs with a single and reducing the Coons’ lead to a skinny run. Querubim Churricho, batting .422, appeared as pinch-hitter, hit a fly to left near the foul line, but Crumble hustled over and snatched it to end the bloody game. 4-3 Critters. Monck 2-4, RBI; Crumble 1-2, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Alba 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, W (2-1) and 2-2, 2B;

I don’t think we have exactly “solved” the bullpen…

Game 2
TIJ: RF Asencio – LF Churricho – SS C. Ramsey – C Brann – 1B Metz – 3B Frasher – 2B Serrano – CF Cardwell – P E. Mauricio
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – LF Campos – RF Corral – 2B White – C Arellano – P Castillo

The Condors left a pair on the corners against Freddy Castillo in his injury-aided season debut, and Lonzo reached on a Frasher error and stole a base, but was also stranded, to sum up a first inning of missed opportunities. The Condors didn’t miss in the second inning, with three hits and a walk, and two runs driven in by Chad Cardwell and Asencio against a visibly unarmed Castillo. Portland responded, though, and Arellano clubbed in the tying runs with a double to deep center in the bottom 2nd, plating Campos and Corral, who had reached against Edgar Mauricio to begin the inning. The Coons then took a 3-2 lead in the bottom 3rd with Rich Monck’s second Portland home run.

But Castillo continued to throw a lot of pitches and the Condors weren’t impressed. Some nice defensive plays held them short in the third and fourth innings, but the top 5th saw Asencio and Churricho reach base to begin proceedings and then Ramsey and Brann hit grounders to either middle infielder and neither time the Coons managed to turn two, allowing Asencio to come around and score the tying run. Metz popped out to Starr to end the inning, with 79 mostly awful pitches on Castillo at that point. The Coons came back quickly, though, and bashed leadoff doubles by Lonzo and Starr off Mauricio to take a 4-3 lead in the bottom 5th. Monck was walked intentionally, Campos popped out, and after Brann was charged with a passed ball, Corral got *another* intentional walk, filling the bases. Jim White was down to .180 after slumping for over a week, but made an honest effort to hit himself out of the hole with a howling fly to deep center. Cardwell didn’t get near it, and White emptied the bases with a triple…!! Mauricio was done for the day, but Matt Nelson stranded White with poor outs by the battery. Castillo then surprised with a 5-pitch sixth, only to issue a 4-pitch walk to PH Scott Moore to begin the seventh. Asencio hit into a fielder’s choice and Churricho popped out, but that was the last lefty hitter Castillo could expect here and he was taken out for a righty. We might as well have not bothered; Pohlmann was hit for a single by Ramsey, then gave up a 3-run homer to Brann.

The Coons held a 7-6 lead at the stretch, with rain starting to fall. The bottom 7th was uneventful, and Murdock allowed a single to Serrano and a walk to Jason Sturgeon in the eighth before McDaniel came on and struck out Asencio to escape the jam. The 1-run lead went to Carlisle in the ninth inning after a less than stellar outing the day before. Again, two outs were on the board fast, and then Brann singled. Metz sent a fly to deep left… but it came down in Campos’ glove on the warning track to end the game. 7-6 Critters. Starr 2-4, RBI; Corral 2-3, BB;

This was the first time all year that the Coons were over .500, and the only team not over .500 in the division were the … Crusaders?

Game 3
TIJ: RF Asencio – LF Churricho – SS C. Ramsey – C Brann – 1B Metz – 3B Frasher – 2B Serrano – CF Cardwell – P E. Mauricio
POR: CF Campos – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – LF Crumble – RF Corral – 2B White – C Lawson – P Bollinger

The Coons had two hits in three innings, but didn’t get further than second base, while Bollinger tried his very best, allowed no hits and a leadoff walk to Brann in the second inning, but Metz found another double play and the much-beleaguered Bollinger managed to face the minimum the first time through. The Condors still drew blanks in the fourth, in which the Coons had Monck draw a 1-out walk and then dash to third base on a Crumble single, but then Corral spanked into a 4-6-3 double play to keep the scoreboard clean.

When the Condors finally found the H column, they slapped Bollinger for three singles by Metz, Serrano, and Cardwell, and a run, in the top 5th. Churricho reached base on an error by Bollinger in the sixth, but was stranded at third base. The starter continued into the seventh until Frasher and Serrano reached, and lefty Scott Moore pinch-hit for Cardwell. Matt Walters replaced Bollinger, got a pop from Moore, and then struck out Ellison to keep it a 1-0 game at the stretch. Corral reached for Portland to begin the bottom 7th, then, but was doubled up by Jim White…

Walters and Carrillo held the Condors to their 1-0 lead in the eighth before Morris batted for the latter and hit a leadoff single to right. Campos flew out, but Lonzo found another soft single, sending the tying run to second base. A double steal against the inattentive Ellison and Starr’s sac fly then tied up the game at one, but Monck grounded out to short and left the go-ahead run on third base. With Carlisle having had consecutive outings already, the Coons turned to Murdock for the top 9th in a 1-1 tie. Tijuana’s 5-6-7 went in 1-2-3 fashion on eight pitches, and then righty Jose Lugo got the ball for Tijuana, also facing the 5-6-7 batters, who went just as haplessly without reaching base.

Into extras, McDaniel came in with four lefty hitters lined up starting with the #8 spot, where PH Jason Sturgeon drew a walk. McDaniel struck out the next two, however, and Churricho made the third out to short with the go-ahead run never leaving first base. Portland got a walk from Kozak with two outs in the bottom 10th, batting for McDaniel in the #1 spot, but Lonzo flew out and the game continued. Here, the Coons arrived at Mike Dean, who allowed a leadoff single to Brann in the 11th, walked Metz, and when he came up on the pitcher Lugo with one out, allowed a 2-run single to center. Serrano also singled before Sturgeon and Ian Woodrome made meek outs, but the Condors were now up 3-1. Lefty David Concha got the ball for the Condors in the bottom of the inning, and the Coons carted up mostly lefty sticks and had little in terms of pinch-hitting options. They went down quickly. 3-1 Condors. Starr 2-4, RBI; Crumble 2-5, 2B; Lawson 2-4; Morris (PH) 1-2;

In other news

April 13 – DAL RF/LF Roberto Almanza (.340, 0 HR, 6 RBI) has put a 20-game hitting streak together with three singles in a 6-3 win over the Pacifics.
April 13 – As the Canadiens beat the Titans, 4-1, all the runs in the game score only in the 10th inning.
April 14 – The Thunder win a 2-1 game in walkoff fashion against the Bayhawks. All the runs in the game score in the 11th inning.
April 16 – NYC OF Alex Romero (.216, 1 HR, 7 RBI) will miss six weeks with a broken cheekbone after getting hit in the face with a fastball by IND SP/MR Antonio Pichardo (0-1, 6.35 ERA) on the previous Friday.
April 17 – The hitting streak of Dallas’ Roberto Almanza (.339, 0 HR, 7 RBI) ends at 21 games with a dry appearance in a 2-1 loss to the Wolves.
April 18 – The Warriors expect SP Ricardo Montoya (2-1, 1.71 ERA) to miss two months with a forearm strain.
April 19 – The Pacifics beat the Scorpions, 3-0, on a combined 1-hitter by LAP SP Joel Luera (2-2, 2.78 ERA) and CL Roberto Ramirez (0-0, 2.79 ERA, 6 SV). The only hit for Sacramento is a single by LF/CF J.P. Sheridan (.321, 4 HR, 8 RBI).
April 20 – The Blue Sox pick up INF/LF/RF Adam Peltier (.347, 2 HR, 10 RBI) from the Buffaloes, along with a prospect – #200 UT Humberto Blandon – for C Victor Reyna (.100, 0 HR, 3 RBI).
April 20 – Vegas sends outfielder Jake Evans (.382, 4 HR, 13 RBI) to the Knights for MR Curt Carter (0-2, 7.71 ERA) and a prospect.

FL Player of the Week (2): TOP INF Alex de los Santos (.327, 2 HR, 14 RBI), slapping .400 (12-30) with 1 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week (2): IND 1B Danny Starwalt (.279, 3 HR, 9 RBI), batting .423 (11-26) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

FL Player of the Week (3): TOP 1B Mario Delgadillo (.340, 8 HR, 17 RBI), ripping .421 (8-19) with 3 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week (3): VAN 1B Jose Campos (.240, 5 HR, 20 RBI), thrashing .391 (9-23) with 4 HR, 13 RBI

De los Santos also had a 5-yr, $41M extension announced the day after he was named Player of the Week, although we think that the Buffos were motivated by more than one .400 week to dole out that contract.

Complaints and stuff

Campos hit his four homers and drove in 10 of his 13 RBI against the Raccoons this week. **** that ******.

Barely scoring over three runs per game isn’t cutting it, especially with a bullpen in disarray and a rotation with the odd couple of holes in it (although a timely return for Chance Fox might cure some of that).

The thing with us scoring the fewest runs in the CL after three weeks is the more depressing given that we are sixth in batting average, still seventh in OBP, and then near the bottom in slugging. Oh if only we had imported a 37-homer puncher from the FL this winter…!

Oh wait, we did.

The Wolves returned Rule 5 pick 1B Alex Vargas to the Raccoons last weekend. Vargas was only used off the bench and batted .143 with one RBI in seven games. The Raccoons assigned him to St. Pete – a level up from where the Wolves had taken him in December.

We have the Aces at home starting on Monday, then a day off for travel. We’re then in New York and Boston after that, visiting L.A. on the way home ahead of a 13-game homestand in the middle of May.

Fun Fact: Juan Mercado went 10-7 with a 3.79 ERA in his rookie season with the Raccoons.

…after which he was traded – with Bubba Wolinsky and Willie Cruz – in one of the stupider transactions of the last 20 years for Juan del Toro, who didn’t last a season in Portland and was then exchanged for Trent Brassfield in his prospect form straight-up.

Okay, maybe *something* good came outta that transaction after all.

The 3.79 ERA was still the second-best for Mercado in a season in which he pitched triple-digit innings, behind a 3.06 ERA with a 6-14 record (!) with the Rebs in 2058. Overall he was 95-117 with a 4.31 ERA.