[Westheim]

The Raccoons on Sunday started playing at 1:05 central time. They played a 4:38 first leg of the double header, not including a 50-minute rain delay, then had a 30-minute break between games, and then spent another 3:53 on the second leg of the double header. They then spent another hour getting showered, combed, and dressed at the ballpark, half an hour on the way to the airport where they demolished every trash can they could sniff out, then spent four hours on a red eye flight with a screaming baby on board to Portland, and disembarked there at 2:37am pacific time on Monday morning – and then still had to get home. Let’s just say training on Monday was cancelled and everybody only flocked to the park at 4pm for some light jogging a 7pm start against the Elks.

Full steak dinner, though.

Raccoons (40-28) vs. Canadiens (36-33) – June 18-20, 2063

The very tired Raccoons, fresh off a triple header’s worth of games, faced the damn Elks in Portland starting on Monday. Elk City was sixth in runs scored, fifth in runs allowed, and had played only nine innings worth of baseball on Sunday. The Coons led the season series, 4-2.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (5-2, 3.36 ERA) vs. Juan Mercado (4-6, 5.50 ERA)
Angel Alba (6-4, 3.09 ERA) vs. Eric Barnes (3-6, 4.16 ERA)
Chance Fox (5-3, 2.62 ERA) vs. Carlos Torres (3-4, 4.94 ERA)

Mercado was the only left-hander coming up against Portland.

We obviously made a roster move. Mildly abused Paul Barton (0-1, 3.60 ERA) was returned to AAA for a fresh reliever… and… have you heard of J.J. Sensabaugh?

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

The Elks’ Alex Corpus, Jose Campos, and Roberto Lozada loaded the bases against Riddle in the first inning, but Riddle then struck out Chet Whetstine and Damian Moreno to escape the jam. Instead, the tired Coons took a 1-0 lead in the bottom 1st on Starr and Morales singles and Lonzo hitting a sac fly to center. After Riddle pitched around a Kozak error in center when he dropped Alex Castillo’s fly to begin the third inning, the bottom 3rd saw another pair of Critters on the corners when Marco Campos and Rich Monck hit 1-out singles, but Crumble lined out to Steven Spalding, and Starr rolled over to Corpus to waste the opportunity.

Things remained tense around Riddle, who allowed loud hits to Spalding (single to right) and Mike Orphanos (double to left) with one down in the fourth. Mercado struck out and Lonzo handled a Castillo grounder for the third out to strand a pair of Elks in scoring position. His fifth was calm, while the Coons tacked on a run with Campos’ single and stolen base, plus a 2-out RBI single by Monck in the bottom 5th. Spalding and Orphanos continued to plonk singles off Riddle in the sixth, but they did so with two outs and Mercado struck out again. It was a bit of a nerve-wrecking game, but I was tired and for an inning or two in the middle there rolled into a ball, covered my eyes with my tail, and snored away.

The Critters managed to get seven innings of 8-hit ball out of Riddle, who didn’t allow a run, but threw 110 pitches, which was quite a lot for him. McDaniel struck out Whetstine and Moreno in the eighth before Murdock replaced him, allowed a single to Spalding, but then rung up Orphanos. The Coons began the bottom 8th with outs by Crumble and Starr against lefty Gabe Hill, but Morales singled and then Lonzo hit another single to shallow right-center, where three Elks converged, hoofed each other and Lozada and Castillo even locked antlers for a bit, and that confusion allowed both runners to reach scoring position. Arellano batted for a hitless Scott Lawson, dropped a 2-run single into the same spot, and Morris hit another single after pinch-hitting earlier for Riddle. Murdock was in the #1 spot and was allowed to make the final out; the Raccoons were keener on getting three more outs from *him* rather than bringing in another reliever. He accomplished that task by getting three outs – but not without allowing a single to Castillo and a 2-out homer to Jose Campos in the ninth inning. Lozada struck out to finish the game. 4-2 Raccoons. Campos 2-4; Monck 2-4, RBI; Morales 3-4; Arellano (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Morris (PH) 2-2; Riddle 7.0 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, W (6-2);

Overall, very well pitched game, and this would go quite some way to reset the pen for the last two games of the series ahead of our last pre-All Star Game day off on Thursday. After that it would be 17 straight games to the break.

Scott Lawson, though. He started nice enough, but right now he was hitting .176 with 5 RBI, and was on a 1-for-22 streak with 2 RBI. He was a Rule 5 pick, so the only way to get rid of him was to send him back to Stars, and there were another 93 games to play…

Game 2
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – SS Corpus – 1B J. Campos – RF C. Richardson – LF Whetstine – C A. Maldonado – CF D. Moreno – 3B Spalding – P E. Barnes
POR: CF Morris – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – RF Corral – LF Crumble – SS Fowler – C Arellano – P Alba

…and then Angel Alba ruined everything. Campos’ triple in the first only saw him stranded on third base with no support, but the Elks tore him an entirely new hole in the second inning. Whetstine opened with a double and scored after two sharp singles by Alex Maldonado and Moreno. Alba walked Spalding and allowed a sac fly to Barnes before serving up a 3-run blast to Castillo, and then still managed to give up another two hits before the inning finally ended. He allowed another hit in the third, then two hits to Castillo and Corpus to begin the fourth inning. The pair of singles married up with a bad throw to third base by Morris, which skipped by a tardy looking Morales (…), allowing Castillo to score from first base. The Coons pulled the plug there, yanking Alba for … Sensabaugh, who immediately gave up a single, a run-scoring wild pitch, and an RBI double to Jose Campos and Chris Richardson, respectively. That ran the score to 8-3 Elks, with the Coons’ “3” stemming from a mighty homer by Jose Corral in the bottom 3rd after Morales and Starr had gotten on base. Victor Morales singled home Marco Campos – who had come in with Sensabaugh in a double switch that ended Crumble’s day early – in the bottom of the fourth, 8-4. Both teams gained 25% interest on that score in the fifth; the Elks’ Jose Campos hit a 2-run homer off Sensabaugh, and Nick Fowler singled home Rich Monck and his leadoff double, but him and Corral were left on the corners by Arellano and Marco Campos.

So things did not look particularly close while nobody scored in the next two innings. Sensabaugh was relieved by Carrillo after three garbage innings, and Walters pitched in the eighth as his regular abuse continued. The Elks were still up 10-5 in the bottom 8th until Arellano homered off ex-Coons right-hander Mike Siwik, and then Campos and Morris went to the corners before a new righty, Mike Perez, came into the game, striking out Morales. Starr popped out, and a pair was left on base. Instead a Spalding home run off Pohlmann tacked on a run for Elk City in the ninth… 11-6 Canadiens. Morris 2-4; Morales 2-4, BB, RBI; Arellano 2-4, HR, RBI;

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

Victor Morales’ surprise solo homer gave the Raccoons a quick 1-0 lead in the rubber game, and the game remained rather quaint after that. Foxie Brown scattered three hits and a walk through five innings, but never really looked like a collapse was imminent, while the Critters did much of the same, hitting the odd single here and there, but struggled to reach third base. Fox then led off the bottom 5th with a single past Corpus and Morris doubled to center, putting all of a sudden a pair in scoring position for the 2-3-4 batters, who struck out, popped out, and popped out. I covered my face with a pillow and screamed.

Fox got around a 1-out single by Corpus in the sixth, while the Coons took to the corners with Corral and Lonzo singles until Arellano jammed into an inning-ending double play. Foxie allowed no more base runners to the Elks… while pitching through eight innings, whiffing nine. The rest of the hunchbacks failed to provide anything even remotely looking like a cushion; even when Starr reached base to begin the bottom 8th on an error by Castillo, Monck immediately hit into a double play. At least Carlisle was wise enough not to blow the skinny lead in the ninth, although Chris Richardson found a pinch-hit single with two outs against him. Whetstine then grounded out to Monck to finish the game. 1-0 Blighters. Morales 1-4, HR, RBI; Starr 2-4; Fox 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K, W (6-3) and 1-3;

Raccoons (42-29) @ Knights (41-32) – June 22-24, 2063

Atlanta had won two of three from the Raccoons earlier in the season and now tried to win more games against the Furballs, who led the North by 3 1/2 games on Friday morning, while the Knights were 3 1/2 back in the South. Atlanta ranked sixth in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed though, with a -19 run differential, which was even more absurd than the Critters’ +6 mark. The Knights pen was highly explosive, their defense crummy, they had little power, but led the CL in stolen bases.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (4-6, 3.40 ERA) vs. Hironobu Hanzawa (4-4, 3.86 ERA)
Jeff Applegate (0-0, 1.88 ERA) vs. Jose Rosa (3-5, 5.16 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (6-2, 3.12 ERA) vs. Jose Villegas (3-5, 3.44 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday! …unless the Knights were up to no good and used the off day on Thursday to shift starters around.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – RF Corral – LF Crumble – SS Lavorano – C Arellano – P Elling
ATL: 2B Fumero – RF J. Evans – CF Oldfield – SS Gallo – C M. Nieto – LF J. Parker – 1B A. Vasquez – 3B A. Duncan – P Hanzawa

Elling’s awful season continued with Carlos Fumero’s double in the first, a wild pitch, and a 2-run homer by Jake Evans, all inside seven pitches. That score stood for a bit, even though Elling continued with a leadoff walk to Johnny Parker and another wild pitch in the next inning. The Raccoons wasted a bases loaded situation in the second inning when they got the 5-6-7 batters on base until Arellano hit into a double play to end the inning, and then barely scratched out a run on Monck and Crumble hits in the fourth inning. Elling then issued a leadoff walk on four pitches to Hanzawa for no good reason at all in the bottom 5th, and Fumero’s grounder was then thrown away by Arellano for two bases, putting a pair in scoring position with nobody out. Elling walked the bags full with Evans, then almost gave up a slam to Cory Oldfield, who’s high fly came down on the warning track for Corral to pick, holding him to a sac fly. J.P. Gallo’s K and Marco Nieto’s grounder to third base kept the Knights from doing more damage. Parker and Alex Vasquez then singled off Elling to begin the bottom 6th. Parker scored on Adam Duncan’s groundout for the fourth and last run off Elling (three earned) in this game.

Gallo tacked on a run with a homer against Pohlmann in the seventh, 5-1, and the Raccoons looked a lot like they’d trundle that one out without any more challenges to the Knights until the ninth inning broke and Corral and Bean hit soft singles off right-hander Anton Jesus, which prompted an appearance by Ben Lussier and his 4.50 ERA, which was bad for a closer but decent by his inexplicably prominent standards. Lonzo ripped an RBI double off him on the first pitch, and that brought up the tying run with nobody out. Arellano hit a deep fly, but it was caught by Oldfield, holding him to a sac fly, 5-3. Kozak slapped an RBI single in place of Walters, rushed to third base on Morris’ single to right on the very next pitch, and drew a bad throw by Evans that allowed Morris into second base with the go-ahead run. Morales’ fly to right-center was caught by Evans, but Kozak dazzled home to tie the game at five. Starr was walked intentionally before Lussier was yanked and Jordan Juarez installed, off whom Monck tapped a go-ahead RBI single to left. Corral popped out, and that brought on Carlisle rather unexpectedly with a 6-5 lead. Sal Andon and Carlos Fumero made outs on the infield, but Evans singled to center with two outs. Oldfield grounded out to Jon Bean, though, and that ended the game. 6-5 Coons. Crumble 2-3, RBI; Bean (PH) 1-1; Lavorano 3-4, RBI; Kozak (PH) 1-1, RBI;

I will never understand some GM’s fascination with Ben Lussier, who now had his ERA up to 5.15 after being charged with three runs in this meltdown.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – RF Corral – 3B Morales – SS Fowler – C Lawson – P Applegate
ATL: 2B Baxley - C M. Nieto - RF J. Evans – CF Fumero – 3B A. Duncan – LF Oldfield – SS Swick – 1B A. Vasquez – P Rosa

Scott Lawson whacked his first career home run to give the Critters a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Before that, Starr and Monck had hit 2-out singles on the way to getting stranded in the first, and the team wasn’t doing anything much for a while after. Meanwhile, Applegate was not touched too roughly the first time through the Knights order, but the fourth inning saw the game derail; Jake Evans hit a leadoff single, but was doubled off by Fumero. Adam Duncan then reached on an error by Starr, who dropped a feed from Lawson. From there, Oldfield singled, Troy Swick walked, and Alex Vasquez singled home two runs before Applegate finally got the ex-Coon Rosa out. The Knights then hit three singles in the bottom 5th, but left the bases loaded when Oldfield grounded out in a full count.

The Raccoons finally distanced themselves from the part of impartial observers in the sixth inning. Morris singled, stole second, and Starr ripped a homer to right to flip the score back the Coons’ way, 3-2. Monck lined out hard to Swick, and Corral whiffed, ending the inning. Applegate then blew the lead in the seventh with a 2-base throwing error of his own that put Evans on base with two outs, and Fumero singled home the run. The game was now even at three, with all three runs against Applegate unearned (although not necessarily undeserved…).

Lonzo singled but got nowhere in the eighth inning, while Murdock allowed hits to Swick and the pinch-hitting Parker, the latter getting home the go-ahead run with two outs. The Knights’ way to cope with a lead was to bring Lussier right back, and he’d meet the all-lefty 3-4-5 batters. Starr singled, but was forced out by Monck, who reached second when Corral grounded out. Lussier actually pulled through this time, getting a grounder from Morales to third base to end the game. 4-3 Knights. Starr 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Lavorano (PH) 1-1; Applegate 7.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K;

Game 3
POR: CF Kozak – RF Campos – 2B Monck – LF Crumble – 1B Starr – 3B Morales – SS Lavorano – C Arellano – P Riddle
ATL: LF Andon – C M. Nieto – RF J. Evans – CF Fumero – 3B A. Duncan – SS Gallo – 2B Baxley – 1B A. Vasquez – P Villegas

Riddle got on the snout immediately on Sunday, walking Nieto before giving up a pair of RBI doubles to Evans and Fumero. Adam Duncan also walked, but Gallo and Baxley then grounded out to strand a pair. Riddle struggled to put a clean inning together afterwards, allowing a single and a walk in the second inning, and a single and a wild pitch in the third inning.

By the fourth the Coons tied the game with the bottom of the order. Morales, Lonzo, and Arellano strung together three 2-out singles for a run in the second inning, and Lonzo singled home Starr with two outs in the fourth to get even. Once the score was level, Riddle finally stopped sucking and didn’t allow any Knights runners in the middle innings, but the Raccoons had a snooze all the way to the stretch as well. Riddle had to settle for a no-decision despite striking out Vasquez and Oldfield in the bottom 7th, because the Coons went to Pohlmann after that against the five right-handers atop the Knights lineup. Sal Andon was hit for with the left-handed Parker, but he popped out to second. Nieto reached on catcher’s interference to begin the bottom 8th, but Pohlmann struck out the next two and got Duncan to fly out to keep the scores level. They remained level on the Coons’ side, who got nothing off Anton Jesus and Jordan Juarez after seven innings by Villegas, but putting McDaniel into the bottom 9th quickly escalated into a Knights walkoff, beginning with a pinch-hit double to left by Willie Villafan. Justin Falzone’s single and a Lonzo error on a rushed play to try and get Villafan at home – he never even grabbed the bouncer he was aiming for – ended the game. 3-2 Knights. Starr 2-4, 2B; Lavorano 2-3, RBI;

After last week I’m just glad they didn’t lose in 14…

In other news

June 18 – Blue Sox closer Takenori Tanizaki (3-3, 2.38 ERA, 23 SV) might miss the rest of the season with a case of shoulder inflammation.
June 20 – The Buffaloes beat the Capitals, 1-0 in 10 innings. Topeka has only four hits in the game, two of them including the pinch-hit RBI double by LF/1B Andy Hudson (.273, 1 HR, 6 RBI) in the deciding top of the tenth.

FL Player of the Week: NAS RF Austin Gordon (.353, 21 HR, 61 RBI), bashing .320 (8-25) with 4 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 1B Ian Stone (.293, 11 HR, 42 RBI), raking .522 (12-23) with 3 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Chance Fox briefly qualified for the ERA title this week and at that time was third in the CL behind Mike DeWitt (1.46) and Jason Brenize (1.64). One day, Foxie will grow up to be a formidable pitcher that doesn’t make his GM cry! – Cristiano, I know that he’s already 28, I was just … shut up!

To get Sensabaugh back on the 40-man roster, the Raccoons had to place catcher Joe Robertson on waivers this week, but the 26-year-old went unclaimed. Speaking of meh catchers, I wouldn’t claim that the homer on Saturday saved Lawson’s roster spot and Coons cap for the rest of the year, but kiddo bought himself another week or two of trying to get something together behind the dish. Due to the 17-game string without a day off we’re in now, he’ll surely get another three of four starts or so by the break.

New homestand coming up against the Thunder and Loggers, and then Portland Frequent Flyers will finish the pre-All Star Game schedule in New York and Boston in early July.

Fun Fact: 55 years ago today, Thunders rookie Alex Lindsey no-hit the Bayhawks in a 6-0 game.

Lindsey was a #296 pick in the 2000 draft, taken by the Buffos in the 11th round. He was signed and cut by three different organizations within 24 months of being drafted, then was signed off the trash heap by the Thunder in April 2003 and slowly rose through the minors before getting cooked for a 6.12 ERA in a few appearances in 2006. He didn’t play in the majors at all the following season before making 18 starts in 2008 going 11-4 with a 3.23 ERA. Despite that he then became a swingman making only the occasional start and was eventually claimed off waivers by the Buffaloes again in ’11, making 25 starts for them, but went 8-12 with a 5.32 ERA. He wound up as a starter in Boston the year after, posted another 5+ ERA, and from then on was mostly a garbage reliever, but lasted in the majors until 2022 at the age of 40.

Overall he appeared in 414 games (96 starts) with a 64-55 record, 4.43 ERA, nine saves, and 719 strikeouts in 1,062 innings.

Lindsey also had *four* different stints with the Buffos if you include his single-A time after getting drafted and released from 2000-01. He then pitched in the majors for them in 2011, from 2014 to 2016, and again in 2022.