[Westheim]

Originally Posted by nymetsfan5

Not to clutter, but this whole thread is an impressive piece of work

Thx. - Please don't touch the protective glass.

+++

Raccoons (36-31) vs. Loggers (36-33) – June 23-25, 2064

The Loggers were once again playing well against the Critters, leading the season series 4-2. They had scored and surrendered 335 runs each this year, which was near the top end of the CL almost 70 games in. They were second in the league in both homers and stolen bases, but their rotation was trying to get to a flat-five ERA. Former Raccoons third-sacker Juan Ojeda was their only player on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (10-1, 3.15 ERA) vs. Larry Wilson (5-4, 4.96 ERA)
Jarod Morris (3-4, 3.65 ERA) vs. Tony Espinosa (7-4, 3.53 ERA)
Chance Fox (4-6, 4.82 ERA) vs. Larry Colwell (1-1, 4.30 ERA)

Espinosa was the only southpaw coming up here.

Game 1
MIL: LF Franks – 1B C. Ramirez – 2B F. Carrera – 3B D. Miller – CF Wilks – RF D. Wright – C Jack – SS Reber – P L. Wilson
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – RF Maldonado – SS Novelo – CF Oley – P Elling

Elling came out with a stinker; after Scott Franks hit a single to begin the game, but was stranded, the Loggers slapped him around in the second inning after a pair of 1-out walks to Dave Wright and J.P. Jack before Kyle Reber, Franks, and Cesar Ramirez all hit RBI singles for an early 3-0 lead. Elling would not ever get his act together in this game; while getting to the sixth inning, he got stuck there after offering a leadoff walk to Dave Wright and a single to Jack in the top 6th. Reber’s sac fly made it 4-0 – spoiler, no, the Raccoons did not have any offense whatsoever through five – before Elling was yanked after offering six walks in 5.2 innings and replaced in a double switch with Moreno and Mike Hall, who faced the three left-handers at the top of the batting order for the Loggers, and gave up sharp base hits to ******* all of them. This conceded another run of Elling’s and Fidel Carrera’s RBI double made it 6-0 before Ramirez was thrown out on the bases.

Not that it got better after that. Barton allowed a run in the seventh inning and the Loggers then shredded Rich Read for another four runs after that. The Raccoons got a leadoff triple from Rich Monck in the seventh inning and actually found somebody to drive him in; not Arellano, but Maldonado with a 1-out grounder, whee! 11-1 Loggers. Corral (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Awful.

Rich Read (0-0, 15.00 ERA) was purged again and should really just be told to go back to school and learn a ******* trade. Y’know what would be fun to throw at a wall again? J.J. Sensabaugh!

(sobs)

Game 2
MIL: LF Franks – 1B C. Ramirez – C Guitreau – 2B F. Carrera – 3B D. Miller – CF Wilks – RF D. Wright – SS Reber – P T. Espinosa
POR: 3B Morales – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – C Burkart – RF Corral – SS Novelo – CF Moreno – LF Tallent – P Morris

Another Jarod Morris nightmare began with him booting a Franks roller for an error to begin the game, but the Loggers then made three outs. He was less fortunate in the second inning when Danny Miller singled his way on and James Wilks then socked a homer to left to put the Loggers up 2-0 again. Franks drew a walk in the third, stole second base, and was singled home by Tommy Guitreau to add to that lead, while the Raccoons actually made up two runs in the same inning. Morris and Morales hit 1-out singles off Espinosa, and Monck hit a 2-out RBI single to right, Wright throwing that ball past anybody on the infield to allow not only one, but two runs to score. Burkart then ended the inning with a fly to centerfielder Wilks.

One inning later, Espinosa failed the bases full with three walks to Novelo, Tallent, and Morris, even offering a pair of wild pitches in between, although that didn’t lead to any runs on its own. A 2-out knock by Vic Morales would be required to get somebody home, but he tamely flew out to Wright… Instead, Jack Kozak tied the game with a leadoff jack in the fifth. Monck then singled past Carrera before Bruce Burkart unwrapped another homer to left-center and the Raccoons took a 5-3 lead…! Corral then hit a deep fly out before Novelo singled, but the inning fizzled out from there.

Morris was done after five innings and right away had his lead blown by Carrillo, who had walked all of TWO ******* batters in his previous 19 innings, but then walked two Loggers right out of the gate in the top 6th before conceding the tying runs on Wright and Reber hits. There was just no reasoning with this bunch…!! Both teams then had a single and a double play in the seventh inning, Burkart killing the Coons’ effort, before Milwaukee’s Aiden Shaw nicked Jorge Moreno on base in the bottom 8th. Tallent grounded out, Starr pinch-hit and walked, and Morales struck out to end another promising inning. The Coons had used Dover in the eighth, then brought out McGinley (who had already pitched a garbage inning on Monday) for the ninth. Wright hit a leadoff single and was caught stealing by Burkart before Reber hit another single, and McGinley then had to climb over that runner, too, but kept the game tied. Kozak then hit a single off Randy Birnbaum to begin the bottom 9th and was on the move with Monck batting. Monck singled through the right side and Kozak moved his tush and the winning run to third base with nobody out. Burkart lined out to short, Corral drew a bases-filling walk, and I was getting kinda miffed. Aoki batted for Novelo, but lined out to the righty Birnbaum for the second out. Birnbaum considered himself very lucky that the scorcher off Aoki’s stick didn’t end A) the game, B) his existence. McGinley was in the #7 spot and hit for with Arellano, who uselessly popped out to second.

Overtime saw Sensabaugh pitching, so that was that. Guitreau drew a leadoff walk in the top 10th, but Devin Willoughby struck out and then Miller hit into a double play. The Coons got Starr and Morales on with one out against Birnbaum in the bottom 10th. Kozak grounded out to Willoughby at second base, presenting Monck with the winning and a useless run in scoring position with two outs. The Loggers – stunningly? – did pitch to him with first base open and were punished accordingly with a walkoff single through the left side. 6-5 Critters. Kozak 2-6, HR, RBI; Monck 5-6, 2 RBI; Burkart 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Starr (PH) 0-0, 2 BB;

Game 3
MIL: LF Franks – RF C. Ramirez – 1B D. Robles – 2B F. Carrera – C Guitreau – 3B D. Miller – CF Wilks – SS Reber – P Colwell
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – RF Corral – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – CF Moreno – SS Aoki – P Fox

Offense was absent to begin the rubber game on Wednesday. Fox allowed two hits in the early innings, Colwell just one, and that was that, in a scoreless affair. Fox issued leadoff walks in both the fourth and fifth innings, creating some unnecessary drama, but also got strikeouts after that and the runners were both ending up stranded at second base. All looked well and fine with Scott Franks grounding out, but Fox picked around on his left forearm and drew the attention of Luis Silva, who immediately went out to check him out. He returned with Fox under his arm, and I was getting kinda dizzy with the lack of starting pitchers and all.

McDaniel got out of the sixth inning, and Dover climbed over a Tommy Guitreau double to begin the top 7th, stranding that potentially golden run on third base with a groundout from Miller and strikeouts on Wilks and the pinch-hitting David Milian. Monck gave a ball a right to the wall, but not over it, and instead into the mitten of Franks, in the bottom 7th, leaving the Raccoons searching for a second base hit in the game (Aoki had singled in the third). The scoreless tie was blown by Mike Hall, the useless ********, who allowed an infield single to Franks, a walk to Dave Wright, and a 2-out RBI single bashed through the right side by Fidel Carrera in the eighth. The Coons answered with leadoff singles for Aoki and Tallent in the bottom 8th, then barely a sac fly for Morales before Kozak and Corral made the inning croak… The Coons then survived throwing Barton into the ninth inning against the bottom of the Loggers’ lineup (he still gave up two singles), then got Joel Starr to hit a triple in the bottom of the ninth…! And… nothing ******* else…! (screams into pillow)

Barton struck out two in the second tenth inning in two days while being short two starters by now, and we were not even speaking of talent at this stage. Aoki drew a leadoff walk of Vincent Hernandez in the bottom 10th, but the inning ended with him getting thrown out at third base on a 2-out Kozak single. With that, we arrived at the end of the line, e.g. Sensabaugh, who got two outs in the 11th before allowing two hits, walking the bags full, and then walking Franks with the bases loaded to give the Loggers a lead before Wright grounded out to Morales. Aiden Shaw retired the dismal Critters in order to end the series. 2-1 Loggers. Aoki 2-3, BB; Tallent (PH) 1-1; Fox 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K; Barton 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

If Yukio Aoki is your best man, you should just stay the **** home.

Thursday was a day off. We learned that Chance Fox had a mild forearm strain with the potential to miss a start, which was just GREAT timing right now,

Raccoons (37-33) @ Condors (37-35) – June 27-29, 2064

Things looked dim for the roster in Tijuana. We barely could scratch three starters together, but next week was then just a big old shrug. The thought of J.J. Sensabaugh starting games any time soon gave me terrors. Meanwhile, the Condors ranked fifth in runs scored in the Continental League, and eighth in runs allowed. They had a +13 run differential (Portland: +31). They had a paltry .245 team batting average and their defense was second-worst in the CL, but they were nominally in contention despite being in fifth place in the South, 7 1/2 games behind the leading Knights. The Critters were up 2-1 on the season series.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (7-5, 2.77 ERA) vs. Brett Bebout (7-5, 2.53 ERA)
Josh Elling (10-2, 3.43 ERA) vs. Marco Clemente (4-7, 4.60 ERA)
Jarod Morris (3-4, 3.78 ERA) vs. Carlos Rodriguez (5-1, 3.08 ERA)

Bebout was starting on short rest on Friday, but the Raccoons wouldn’t even have anybody to do *that* on Monday. All three starters lined up by the Vultures were right-handers.

Game 1
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – RF Corral – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Riddle
TIJ: 1B Metz – RF Ewig – LF Kaniewski – SS C. Ramsey – 2B Churricho – C Burgio – 3B J. Humphries – CF Cardwell – P Bebout

Because everything was going so well, Tyler Riddle threw a stinker again and was behind 3-0 just four batters into the game. Andy Metz drew a walk, Matt Ewig singled, and Casey Ramsey hit a 3-run bomb to left… Monck tried to do something with his 12th homer of the season, a solo piece in the second, but Riddle just gave up hits to sub-.200 batters Joe Humphries and Bebout and then a sac fly to Andy Metz to suck that run right back onto the board in the bottom of the same frame. John Kaniewski and Ramsey were right back on the corners with leadoff hits in the third inning, and Querubim Churricho’s groundout scored one run, and another Humphries hit another, 6-1. The Coons then inched closer when Starr singled home Corral with two outs in the fourth, only for Riddle to get blown around for another two runs in the bottom 4th – unearned this time BECAUSE OF HIS OWN ******* ERROR!!

Needless to say that this was all we saw of Riddle that night; four innings, eight runs (six earned), Jesus Christ in a vegan supermarket…!! Morales and Kozak hit a pair of doubles for a run in the fifth, not that anybody was still seriously counting. The Coons pressed out Juan Carrillo for two full innings, got one more inning from Barton, and then were already down bad enough right after an off day to send out Pablo Novelo to pitch in the bottom 8th. He got three outs in order. 8-3 Condors. Kozak 2-4, 2B, RBI; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

It's not getting better…

Interlude: waiver claim

The Raccoons claimed right-handed MR Juan Soriano off waivers by the Scorpions on Friday. Soriano, 27, was supposed to be handed off the 40-man roster when the Critters pounced. He threw three pitches, but had no stamina, so was not the most brilliant option for a starting pitcher. He had a tendency to walk everything with legs and had only one major league appearance in 2062 (which he got an L for), but we were in the tethers.

Jorge Moreno (.259, 0 HR, 1 RBI) was optioned to St. Petersburg to get an extra pitcher on the roster.

Raccoons (37-33) @ Condors (37-35) – June 27-29, 2064

Game 2
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – RF Corral – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Elling
TIJ: 2B W. Acosta – SS C. Ramsey – C Brann – 1B Metz – RF Ewig – 3B Frasher – LF Alf. Mendez – CF Churricho – P C. Rodriguez

Early signs that it was all for nothing was Kozak popping out to Willie Acosta on a 3-0 pitch in the first, Monck getting stranded at second after a leadoff double in the following inning, and Elling getting whacked around for four sharp hits and one run on a double-play grounder by Querubim Churricho in the bottom 2nd. Acosta drew a leadoff walk in the third, but was stranded, however, in the fourth inning Matt Ewig hit a leadoff single on a 3-1 pitch, Eric Frasher flew out on a 3-1 pitch, and eventually Elling found a way to get double-bombed by Alf Mendez and Churricho, which made it a 4-0 game.

The Coons had two hits through five, Aoki chipping in a single in two runs through the order that were otherwise raw turds. Elling allowed leadoff singles to Mike Brann and Andy Metz in the bottom 5th, got a 1-6-3 double play outta Ewig, and then still gave up another ******* run on a Frasher single. He was then yanked. Hall replaced him, because the game was already in the bin, retired Mendez to end the fifth, but gave up a leadoff double to Churricho in the sixth and then soon enough that extra run, 6-0. When the Condors’ Rodriguez then gifted the Raccoons a base runner by nicking Starr, the gift was declined and Elmer Maldonado hit into an inning-ending double play…

Soriano made his Coons debut in the seventh, got three outs from three batters, and was immediately the best pitcher on the bloody team. Rodriguez ran outta juice in the eighth inning then; Aoki singled to begin the frame, and he walked Novelo before allowing an RBI single to Morales, and was lifted for righty Matt Nelson. He balked and advanced the runners, but struck out Kozak before being replaced with Miguel Batista, against whom Corral hit an RBI single, Monck hit a sac fly, and Burkart another single. Aaron Sloan then became the fourth pitcher of the inning, facing Joel Starr as the tying run with two outs. He got to 0-2, then got a fly to Churricho to end the inning. The Condors answered with four runs off Barton in the bottom 8th. The fool was taken deep by Frasher, and then started giving up more hits and hitting batters. Ramsey got an RBI single and Metz doubled home two runs before Ewig struck out to keep two on base. 10-3 Condors. Morales 2-5, RBI; Aoki 2-4; Arellano (PH) 1-1;

Oh boy.

The best news right now were that Chance Fox maybe wouldn’t miss a start and could go on Monday. (claws crossed!)

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – SS Aoki – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – 3B Tallent – P Morris
TIJ: 2B W. Acosta – LF Kaniewski – C Brann – 1B Metz – RF Ewig – 3B Frasher – SS C. Ramsey – CF Cardwell – P M. Clemente

Corral started the Sunday game with extra bases to right, he just disagreed with Ewig on the nature of those extra bases. Corral thought he had three, but Ewig insisted he had only two and threw him out at third base. The Raccoons subsequently didn’t score in the opening frame, while Andy Metz socked a 2-run homer off Morris in the bottom 1st, and that was after Acosta had been doubled off by Kaniewski after Morris had plunked him on base. (noisily facepaws three times in a row)

Arellano hit a solo homer in the second inning, 2-1, while Corral hit another double in the third inning, again to right, this time stopped at second base… and was stranded. The Condors opened the bottom 3rd with a Clemente single, got another single from Acosta, a walk in a full count to Kaniewski for three on and nobody out, and then – choked. Brann hit into a 9-2 double play (ho!!), and Metz grounded out to Monck.

The Coons then got the tying run in silly ways; Monck hit a 1-out single in the fourth inning before taking off mistaking a sign that was meant for Kozak for him. The Condors were just as confused as the third base coach and saw him take second by force. Kozak’s grounder moved him to third, and when Ramsey butchered Arellano’s 2-out grounder for an error, Monck diddled home to tie the game. Maldonado then drove a ball high up the leftfield line, but it came down in Kaniewski’s mitten in the deep dark corner. And besides – why bother … Morris gave up a 2-run homer to Frasher right after that ANYWAY… A Metz homer in the fifth then made it 5-2…

Amazingly, that wasn’t the end of the game, although purging Morris after the fifth certainly helped. The sixth was scoreless, courtesy of Carrillo, and the Raccoons then made two outs in the seventh against Clemente before Maldonado hit a single. Innocent enough. Tallent hit another single. Oh well. Morales then singled home a run. And Corral singled home a run. Aoki had the tying and go-ahead runs on base and launched a 2-0 pitch into the depths of right-center for a score-flipping triple…! Clemente was also flipped after allowing five straight hits and four runs, and Matt Nelson got a grounder from Starr to end the inning. The Coons then got four outs from Dover, and one from McDaniel, who allowed a single to Metz to put the tying run on base in the bottom 8th. When Alf Mendez pinch-hit for the Condors pitcher in the #6 spot, the Raccoons went to Soriano to get that out. And he did, with a strikeout! – and then consulted Luis Silva for arm trouble. The Raccoons went in order in the eighth and ninth, then sent McGinley against the bottom of the order. He walked Ramsey on four pitches, and when Chad Cardwell rolled a ball on the infield … nobody managed to his fat lazy tush in a position to make a play on it. Two on, nobody out. Gee! Joe Humphries flew out to Maldonado, but McGinley walked the bags full against Acosta. Kaniewski popped out to Monck, bringing Brann to the dish. He struck out – barely. 6-5 Raccoons. Corral 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Morales (PH) 1-1, RBI;

In other news

June 23 – Scorpions outfielder Juan de Luna (.243, 7 HR, 21 RBI) will be out for at least a month after tearing his meniscus.
June 24 – Wolves RF/LF Javier Acuna (.270, 6 HR, 22 RBI) will miss a month while suffering from back spasms.
June 25 – The Condors’ 3B/RF Eric Frasher (.228, 6 HR, 32 RBI) drives in seven runs on a homer, a double, and three singles in a 12-4 win against the Thunder.
June 25 – The Scorpions trade SP Preston Young (2-4, 4.70 ERA) to the Blue Sox for three prospects. The package includes #12 SP Jorge Sanchez and #87 UT Humberto Blandon.
June 27 – The Capitals rally for six runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Warriors, 7-6.
June 28 – CHA SP Ernie Gomes (4-5, 3.05 ERA) is supposed to miss a full year to repair a damaged elbow ligament.

FL Player of the Week: WAS SS/2B Ramon Archuleta (.281, 7 HR, 31 RBI), clipping .455 (10-22) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ 3B/RF Eric Frasher (.238, 7 HR, 34 RBI), raking .429 (12-28) with 3 HR, 13 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Hey-hey, the Portland Country Pumpkins! That was a ******* awful week! And somehow we’re still in second place, what’s going on? Also, the Titans are not *really* gaining much ground right now.

No, the division is out of reach. We can’t even pitch half a decent game, it’s pretty dismal right now. And we still have to plug in somebody to cover Alba’s banned *** for the game on Tuesday. Meanwhile, waiver claim Juan Soriano has a dead arm, Chance Fox still has *an* arm, and will probably pitch on Monday, but who knows for how long, and then Sensabaugh looms on Tuesday. I am actually having convulsions right now.

Did I mention that we play in San Fran and Boston next week? Seven games in two cities where nothing good ever happens??

Fun Fact: The Raccoons’ starters in AAA have ERA’s of 4.32, 4.38, 4.66, 5.17, and 5.91;

That didn’t even include Hachiro Yokoyama’s 7.26 ERA in AAA. He was unceremoniously fired on Sunday, the THIRD Raccoons pitcher that was just purged outta town while still being owned money this season.

(rends his garments and falls to his knees to beg the baseball gods for mercy and a rising prospect)