[Westheim]

The Raccoons began the last week before the All Star Game by shoving Lonzo back to the DL with the bum knee, and called up 23-year-old Joe Gardner, who had been taken in the sixth round of the 2058 draft. He was hitting .329/.400/.380 in 37 games in AAA, which was probably more enthusiastic than he would hit in a full slate. He was a speedy switch-hitting singles slapper that could play all infield positions except for first base reasonably well, and would fill in as a backup for the next two weeks. Outfielder Jorge Moreno was placed on waivers to make room on the 40-man roster.

Raccoons (48-33) @ Titans (43-37) – July 2-5, 2063

The Coons would face the closest competition in the North right now, with the Titans sitting third in the division, and fourth in the CL in runs scored and runs allowed. They led the league in homers, the Coons hadn’t hit a homer in a blue moon, and Boston had no injuries. So far this year, the Raccoons had won two of three games against the Titans, with eight up to play in the next two weeks.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (4-6, 3.44 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (8-4, 1.62 ERA)
TBD vs. Grant MacKinnon (6-6, 3.84 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (6-2, 3.17 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (6-5, 4.67 ERA)
Jeff Applegate (0-0, 1.53 ERA) vs. Mike Bell (6-6, 3.84 ERA)

Only right-handers were coming up against the Raccoons here, who had no starter lined up for Tuesday after another double header played on Friday.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – SS Monck – RF Corral – 3B Morales – 2B Bean – C Lawson – P Elling
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 2B W. de Leon – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – 1B M. Rubin – 3B D. Mendoza – RF Y. Valdez – SS Sowell – P Brenize

The Raccoons had another game without a hit the first time through the order, having to wait until a fourth-inning single by Joel Starr before breaking into the H column. The Titans also only had one hit through four frames, while Elling had walked three batters the first time through the order, then bailed out of a the second inning with a double play bunt by Brenize after the 7-8 batters, Yoslan Valdez and Ken Sowell, had drawn 1-out walks. The Coons’ 7-8 batters were on base with one out as well in the top 5th Bean walked and Lawson singled against Brenize. Elling bunted near the third base line, Brenize made a rush for it and went to third base for some reason, but was beaten by Bean and the bases were loaded for Ben Morris, who grounded to the right side. Willie de Leon intercepted the ball, got the pitcher out at second, but Morris legged out the double play, allowing Lawson to score with the game’s first run. Morris stole second base then, but was stranded when Kozak flew out to Valdez. In turn, the bottom 5th saw Sowell and Steve Humphries on the corners against Elling on nothing more than not one, but TWO errors by Rich Monck at short. The Titans failed to convert once de Leon flew out to Kozak in left to end the inning.

Portland extended the lead to 2-0 with two outs in the sixth when the youngsters Corral and Morales put out a double and RBI single, respectively, before Bean struck out to end the inning. Elling meanwhile put a very fine game together after the early struggles, and held the Titans to a de Leon single and the three walks through seven innings – but was also over 100 pitches by that point and would not return for the eighth. Brenize was, allowing nothing, and then Carrillo was for Portland, allowed a leadoff double to Humphries, but the Titans then made three unhelpful outs, including a long fly out to right by Jorge Arviso with two outs against McDaniel. While Brenize finished a nine-inning 4-hitter, the Raccoons went to Pohlmann in the bottom 9th after long outings for Carlisle on Saturday and Sunday. The Titans’ 5-6-7 went in order against the right-hander. 2-0 Critters. Elling 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, W (5-6);

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – RF Corral – C Arellano – SS Fowler – 2B Gardner – P Sensabaugh
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 2B W. de Leon – CF Marcotte – 1B M. Rubin – RF A. Lee – 3B D. Mendoza – C S. Moreno – SS Sowell – P MacKinnon

Throwaway game on Tuesday with J.J. Sensabaugh (1-0, 4.50 ERA) pitching. The Coons started the throwing away early as Morris hit a double to open the game and was stranded on second base. Joe Gardner made his debut and right away got a grounder from Humphries to work with in the bottom 1st, while the Titans took a 1-0 lead on a 2-out double by CL home run leader Eddie Marcotte and Manny Rubin’s RBI single. Corral and Arellano hit leadoff singles in the second inning, but Fowler found a double play and Gardner flew out to Marcotte in shallow center, but that part of the lineup managed to tie the game after all in the fourth inning when Arellano doubled to right and then scored from second on Fowler’s single, all with one out. MacKinnon misfielded a grounder from Gardner for an error. Sensabaugh bunted the pair into scoring position, and Morris hit a 2-out grounder over the second base bag that was intercepted by Ken Sowell, but he had no play, and the go-ahead run scored. Kozak hit a clean RBI single, 3-1, but Starr grounded out to Rubin to strand two.

The middle innings saw the Titans increasingly befuddled by Sensabaugh meatballing his way through the lineup for one reason or another. They made some good contact, but the Raccoons also made a bunch of strong defensive plays, especially Kozak in left. However, Sensabaugh overstayed his welcome in the seventh inning, allowed a single to de Leon, and then was taken very deep to right by Andy Lee for a game-tying bomb.

Joe Gardner hit a 1-out single in the eighth for his first major league hit; it came off reliever Tony Castellanos. Crumble batted for Sensabaugh and struck out, and Morris grounded out, so nothing came off the rook’s heroics. In turn, James Murdock continued his relentless mid-season melt, put runners on the corners with a Sowell double and a walk to Humphries in the bottom 8th before being replaced with Walters for de Leon with two outs. De Leon shrugged and socked a 3-piece to right, and that was the ballgame. 6-3 Titans. Morris 2-5, 2B, RBI; Kozak 2-5, RBI; Arellano 3-4, 2B; Sensabaugh 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K and 2-2;

Solid start here, solid start there, the Raccoons needed a new arm and Sensabaugh (1-0, 4.15 ERA) was optioned to AAA after the game. Daniel Benitez was the warm body addition.

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – C Arellano – 1B Starr – SS Monck – RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Crumble – 2B Bean – P Riddle
BOS: RF A. Lee – 2B W. de Leon – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – 1B M. Rubin – 3B D. Mendoza – LF Y. Valdez – SS Sowell – P Glaude

The Titans took a rather depressing 2-0 lead in the second inning from two outs and nobody on when Riddle plunked Mendoza, walked Valdez, allowed an RBI single to Sowell, and then threw a wild pitch before doing the **** away with Glaude – and then on a 3-1 pitch and a pop to short. Riddle got another 2-out beating in the third inning, allowing singles to Marcotte and Arviso before leaving one up for Rubin to double off the wall and drive in the two runners.

The Coons’ middle of the order couldn’t hit their way out of a ******* cardboard box, but Malik Crumble hit a solo homer in the fifth to at least get the team on the bloody board, now down 4-1, but the Titans answered in the sixth with a Mendoza double and a Valdez homer to stomp out Riddle for the time being. Murdock got out of that inning, then walked Marcotte to begin the seventh and was taken deep by Arviso for the fourth 2-spot on the scoreboard. On to Benitez to mop up (maybe), and the Titans put Mendoza and Valdez on base, then got a 3-piece from Sowell. The Titans hit three homers in the game, while the Raccoons had all of two base hits. 11-1 Titans. Corral 1-2, BB; Crumble 1-2, BB, HR, RBI;

Daniel Benitez (0-0, 10.29 ERA) was disposed of right away again and sent back to St. Petersburg. The Raccoons almost brought up former #9 pick – a long time ago – Brett Cotton on his 25th birthday. Cotton was 3-11 with a 7.59 ERA in AAA, and while we needed *some* arm to get us to the break, we were not down that bad quite yet. Paul Barton got the call. Which was still a sign of being down bad.

For the last game in Boston, both Starr and Monck – in terrible black holes – were on the bench.

Game 4
POR: CF Morris – C Arellano – 1B Kozak – RF Corral – LF Crumble – 3B Morales – SS Fowler – 2B Gardner – P Applegate
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 2B W. de Leon – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – 1B M. Rubin – 3B D. Mendoza – RF A. Lee – SS Sowell – P M. Bell

Morris drew a leadoff walk and was caught stealing, while Humphries drew a leadoff walk for Boston, did steal second base successfully, but was still left on base to end the first inning. The Titans did not get a base hit against Applegate in the early innings and neither team scored, but the Raccoons got a rare stir from the 3-4 spots in the fourth inning as Kozak singled and Corral doubled to right, putting a pair in scoring position with one out. Malik Crumbled on strikes, and Morales flew out to center to leave them right there. Top 5th, Fowler led off with a single to center, Gardner walked, and after a good bunt by Applegate, the Coons had another pair in scoring position with one out. Morris popped out to short. Arellano whiffed. No runs.

Boston’s first hit was a soft single by Andy Lee in the bottom 5th, and Lee was doubled up by Sowell’s grounder to short to end the inning, keeping the game scoreless. The Titans got a leadoff single from Bell in the sixth. Humphries forced out his pitcher, but de Leon doubled, and now the Titans had runners on second and third with one out – and Applegate, who had only one strikeout so far on the day, struck out Marcotte and Arviso back-to-back to extricate himself from that spot.

Both starters finished seven scoreless, but Bell departed after a 2-out walk to Kozak in the eighth. Tyler Gleason walked Corral after that, but Crumble grounded out to short and that was that. Applegate had thrown 108 pitches already and was not coming back, punching his fifth no-decision in five career starts. Carrillo held the line in the bottom 8th, while Nick Leigh held the Coons shut out through nine. Gardner singled in the ninth with two outs but Starr whiffed batting for Carrillo. McDaniel got the bottom 9th, got two outs, and then gave up a walkoff homer to left-handed .195 hitter Yoslan Valdez. 1-0 Titans. Applegate 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K;

Nothing good, Boston, yada yada.

The offense is MISERABLE.

Raccoons (49-36) @ Crusaders (46-40) – July 6-8, 2063

The Raccoons were up against the best offense in the CL while having no offense of their own. New York ranked fifth in runs allowed with a +69 run differential (Raccoons: +1). The Crusaders were routinely beating the Raccoons this year, holding a 7-2 edge in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (8-5, 3.38 ERA) vs. Josh Barcellona (6-5, 3.49 ERA)
Chance Fox (6-3, 2.27 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (4-8, 4.39 ERA)
Josh Elling (5-6, 3.22 ERA) vs. Steve Stephens (2-1, 2.37 ERA)

The Crusaders had all righties up here, with two starters (Jeff Kozloski, Nate Mickler) on the DL along with Marcos Onelas and Dan Martin.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – LF Kozak – SS Monck – RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Bean – C Lawson – P Alba
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – CF A. Romero – 1B Austin – RF Zeiher – C McLaren – 2B Cline – LF Menchaca – 3B V. Velez – P Barcellona

The Coons took a 1-0 lead (!) in the first (!) on doubles by Monck and Corral, but Jake Cline’s second-inning homer took that away from Alba pretty soon. Alba also had no stuff and didn’t get strikeouts against the Crusaders, while being liberal with balls. In the bottom 3rd the Crusaders almost got a lead without as much as a base hit as Alex Romero walked, Sean Zeiher reached on an error by Kozak, and then Matt McLaren also walked, the fourth free pass issued by Alba. Three on, one out, Cline flew out to Kozak in shallow left, not deep enough to send Romero, and Eddie Menchaca grounded out to Starr, and no one scored.

Joel Starr then briefly interrupted a *1-for-30* collapse and hit a double to left in the fourth inning before being driven in equally unlikely by Jon Bean with a 2-out single, which gave Portland a 2-1 lead. Alba answered with another walk and a long fly out in the bottom 4th, and that was already his final inning as he ran up 103 pitches in just FOUR icky frames. Pohlmann blew the lead with Zeiher and McLaren hits in the fifth to get the game tied, and in the sixth Walters entered with two outs and nobody on, allowed a deep triple to center to Omar Sanchez, then an RBI infield single to Alex Romero and the New Yorkers were up 3-2… Walters then fudged away two walks in the seventh, and Murdock allowed another run on a sac fly by Tristan Waker as the game slowly slipped away. Even higher spheres of uselessness were reached in the eighth inning, when Paul Barton entered, struck out Omar Sanchez, and then walked Romero, walked Aubrey Austin, walked Zeiher, walked McLaren, and walked Cline, then walked back to the dugout. Carrillo got a strikeout and a fly to center to prevent even more runs from scoring, but it was bad enough as it was.

Down 6-2, the Raccoons made two outs to begin the ninth with Crumble and Gardner pinch-hitting, but then got Starr and Bean to the corners with two outs, forcing out Josh Barcellona and his 6-hitter and brought Jason Rhodes into the game. The closer gave up an RBI double to Lawson, which brought up Marco Campos as the tying run, but he grounded out to first to end the game. 6-3 Crusaders. Bean 2-4, RBI;

12 walked issued, one walk drawn.

Steve Stephens stepped into the Saturday game where he’d pitch on short rest. Surely the Crusaders knew what they were doing…

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – C Arellano – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – LF Crumble – 1B Starr – SS Fowler – RF Campos – P Fox
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – CF A. Romero – 1B Austin – 2B Cline – C McLaren – 3B V. Velez – RF A. Rodriguez – LF Menchaca – P S. Stephens

A HOMER!! A HOMER!! THE COONS HIT A ******* HOMER!!! Rich Monck – with Arellano on base – took Steve Stephens steeply to left for his 18th homer of the season in the first inning, his first in *24* days. Fox, who entered third in the CL in ERA, held up nicely for a few innings, but things went off kilter again in the fourth inning. Fox walked Cline with one out, but struck out McLaren and was almost out of the inning when Fowler threw away Vic Velez’ grounder for a 2-out error, and then Antonio Rodriguez punched a 2-out, 2-run single to tie the score. Those runs were unearned, which was cold comfort overall even though it kept Fox’ ERA crispy. Eddie Menchaca grounded out to end the fourth in a 2-2 tie.

Fowler tried to escape a post-game beating with a leadoff single in the fifth and advanced on a wild pitch, then a scratch single by Campos, which put runners on the corners with nobody out for Fox, who was obviously not getting pinch-hit for this early on. He whiffed, Morris whiffed, and Arellano got past Cline for an after-all RBI single, and Portland was back on top, 3-2. Monck fell to 0-2, but then chopped a bouncer up the middle and through between Sanchez and Cline, and Campos was easily scoring from second on that single. Morales’ grounder to Cline ended the inning, and Stephens was hit for in the bottom 5th. The Coons were back on the corners with nobody out the next inning as Crumble and Starr singled against lefty Pedro Mendoza. Fowler dropped another single, plating Crumble, in front of Romero, who was gonna lunge, and then pulled up at the last second and let the ball fall in. Campos walked, Fox whiffed, Morris also whiffed again, and then Arellano popped out, so the Coons didn’t score after having three on with nobody out.

Fox then got double-bombed with homers to right-center by Austin and McLaren in the bottom 6th to narrow the score to 5-4 again. Those counted on his ERA. He got two more outs from Mike Seidman and Sanchez, who struck out, but then walked Romero with two outs in the bottom 7th before being replaced with Murdock, who gave up a liner to Aubrey Austin, but that went right at Monck and a sure grab ended the inning.

The Coons had another chance against Alex Flores in the eighth inning when Starr drew a leadoff walk and Fowler doubled to center. Campos came through with a single to left, but while Starr scored, Menchaca threw out Fowler at the plate. So it was 6-4, with Campos up to second. Corral batted for Murdock and walked, and Morris singled to right to load the bags once more. Arellano got ahead 3-1 before poking and grounding out, which at least got another buffer run home before Monck whiffed. McDaniel got three straight outs in the eighth, while Carlisle in the ninth gave up a leadoff double to Rodriguez, and while Menchaca grounded out and Waker flew out, that got the run home. The run didn’t matter, though – Sanchez popping out on the infield mattered. 7-5 Raccoons. Arellano 2-5, 2 RBI; Monck 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Fowler 3-4, 2B, RBI; Campos 3-3, BB, RBI;

Foxie Brown remained third in ERA in the CL, but didn’t get closer to the top 2 Brenize and DeWitt.

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – C Arellano – 3B Monck – RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – SS Fowler – 2B Gardner – P Elling
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – RF A. Romero – 1B Austin – CF Zeiher – C McLaren – 2B Cline – LF Menchaca – 3B V. Velez – P E. Lee

Starr hit a double in the second that led nowhere, and Velez led off the third with a double to right for the Crusaders, but hurt himself and was replaced with Jorge Henriquez, who scored on a throwing error by Elling on Lee’s bunt and then Elling had to stretch to at least keep the pitcher on base, which he narrowly achieved, stranding Lee at third base with stingy outs against the 1-2-3 batters.

The fourth began with a Cline error to put Monck on base, but the Coons then made straight outs. That was about the last rising – “rising” – while Elling was pouring it out for 107 pitches and seven innings, holding the Crusaders to four hits and their unearned run, but Lee sawed off the 1-2-3 batters in the eighth to continue a 3-hit shutout. Pohlmann and McDaniel put together a scoreless eighth for Portland before the Crusaders sent Rhodes into the ninth after the 4-5-6 batters, but Jose Corral *clubbed* a leadoff triple to center to put the tying run on third base at once! Bean batted for a hitless Kozak and lobbed fly deep enough to left that it got Corral home from third base, which already counted as success with this team… Then Starr hit another triple to right. Fowler was walked with intent. Crumble and Morales were sent out to pinch-hit and both struck out in another breathtaking display of ineptitude. Walters got two outs in the bottom 9th before Cline and Menchaca hit singles, but Henriquez flew out to Corral near the line to send the game to extras.

Morris hit a leadoff single in the tenth, but was caught stealing, and that was that. Walters got two more outs and Barton got one, keeping the game going to the point where Alex Flores offered a leadoff walk to Corral in the 11th. He was forced out by Bean, who moved to second when Flores walked Starr, then dashed for home on a Fowler single to center. Zeiher’s throw was not nearly in time, and the tie was broken, although Starr did not get to third base, and then didn’t score on Crumble’s single. Campos batted for Barton with three on and one out and kept the line moving with an RBI single to right-center, 3-1, before Morris blundered into a double play. McLaren answered with a homer off Carlisle in the bottom 11th, but that came with nobody on base, and the Raccoons ached their way into the break with an overtime W. 3-2 Blighters. Starr 2-3, 2 BB, 3B, 2B; Fowler 2-4, BB, RBI; Campos (PH) 1-1, RBI; Elling 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K;

In other news

July 2 – The Capitals beat the Miners, 17-12, with more than half the day’s runs scored in the eighth inning, in which the Caps overturn a 7-6 deficit with an 11-run top of the eighth before conceding five runs in the bottom of the inning.
July 3 – The Bayhawks acquire SP Trevor Justesen (7-5, 3.48 ERA) from the Capitals for two prospects.
July 3 – The Condors’ SS Casey Ramsey (.314, 6 HR, 39 RBI) is expected to miss six weeks with a broken rib.
July 3 – LAP OF/1B Jesus Martinez (.271, 6 HR, 34 RBI) hits a 10th inning, walkoff grand slam to beat the Wolves, 9-5.
July 4 – RIC SP Luis Olvera (11-3, 2.91 ERA) could be out until the end of August with a torn meniscus.
July 4 – The Canadiens acquire SP Johnny Doolin (6-8, 4.77 ERA) from the Cyclones for a prospect.
July 5 – Buffos LF Juan del Toro (.263, 1 HR, 19 RBI) finds his 2,500th career hit in a 7-4 win against the Rebels’ SP Dan Garicia (3-7, 3.74 ERA) with a sixth-inning single.
July 5 – VAN 1B Jose Campos (.280, 15 HR, 64 RBI) decides the Canadiens’ game against the Indians with an eighth-inning home run for a 1-0 win.
July 6 – The Titans blow out the Indians, 17-6 with two separate 6-spots in the second and fourth innings.
July 6 – The Loggers rout the Canadiens, 14-0.
July 6 – The Stars beat the Gold Sox, 4-3 in 16 innings, on walkoff single by OF/1B Aidan Calhoun (.211, 0 HR, 2 RBI).
July 7 – Boston SP Jason Brenize (9-5, 1.53 ERA) strikes out 11 Indians in a 2-hit shutout of the Indians, claiming a 7-0 victory.

FL Player of the Week: NAS RF Austin Gordon (.368, 22 HR, 68 RBI), slapping .593 (16-27) with 3 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB OF Scott Laws (.353, 2 HR, 33 RBI), poking .414 (12-29) with 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Two All Stars for the Raccoons this year, with Rich Monck and Juan Carrillo of all people getting in there, while Foxie Brown was snuffed. It was the second consecutive nomination for Carrillo, but last year he had been an Indian, and Monck was there for the third straight time, but the first time as a CL player with his first two All Star Games coming on the FL side as a Cyclone.

The Coons dragged themselves to the All Star Game with a 1 1/2 game lead in the North after a shambolic showing in the week against the Northeast teams. Yeah, we got away with “only” a 3-4 record. More games with the Titans are coming on the other side of the stretch followed by a nearside road trip to Elk City and Vegas.

Can the Raccoons find any offense? We’re second from the bottom in runs scored in the CL, and just four runs ahead of the Falcons, who played one game less than us. Getting some oxygen into Monck and Starr would help for sure… at least Monck hit *a* homer finally, and Starr had a nice game on Sunday. What would a trade for offense even look like?

The Raccoons signed three players for just over $400k in the international window so far, with outfielder Jesus Guerrero taking $270k of that, but none of the players commanding seven figures really tickled us and perhaps the Raccoons would not even make any additional signings here.

Fun Fact: Eddie Marcotte, a #2 pick in 2056, has a .967 OPS for half a season.

He won the home run title with 33 dingers last season, and he’s already at 22 at the All Star Game this time round. Last year he hit a modest .243, but this year he’s up to .282 and reaching base at a .408 clip, up 51 points. His OPS is up 159 points, and he has already matched the 4.3 WAR he put together last season. That was without much in terms from defense where he graded as “passable” in centerfield at best and with age you’d probably move to hiding him in leftfield.