[Westheim]

Raccoons (78-65) vs. Canadiens (69-73) – September 15-18, 2064

This was not a matchup that had gone much in the Coons’ favor this year, as we’d need to sweep the damn Elks over four games just to reach a 9-9 split for the year anymore. Talking about the #7 offense and #10 pitching in the CL here, and this Critters team wanted to somehow faceplant their way into the playoffs?

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (14-6, 3.56 ERA) vs. Carlos Torres (9-13, 4.98 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (14-9, 3.10 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (11-6, 3.84 ERA)
Chance Fox (11-9, 4.60 ERA) vs. Johnny Doolin (14-10, 3.73 ERA)
Angel Alba (12-11, 4.21 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (9-11, 4.36 ERA)

Fitzgibbon was the only southpaw in the pool here.

Game 1
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – RF B. Campbell – 1B P. Fowler – C Varner – LF Lozada – 3B Spalding – P C. Torres
POR: C Burkart – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – CF E. Maldonado – SS Aoki – RF Tallent – P Elling

Elling had a **** inning right out of the gate, allowing three hits and as many runs in the first inning, which began right away with a Carlos Castro single and a four-pitch walk to Alex Castillo. Brent Campbell and Steve Varner also hit singles, there was also a wild pitch, and a lot of GM-sourced moaning already, barely ten minutes into the new week. The Raccoons would then also show no real reaction; they left Bruce Burkart on base after he reached base by being gently brushed by a pitch in the bottom 1st and then only had two hits in four innings before it took a Yukio Aoki homer to get them on the board at all in the fifth inning, and then only for one run. While Elling tried to rally after the awful start, lots of long counts held him to six innings even though he eventually struck out nine Elks in that time. Still didn’t get him back even, nor did Vic Morales’ solo homer in the sixth, merely shortening the score to 3-2. That was obviously not gonna be enough because before long the most useless bullpen since at least 2032 ****** up and put another two Elks runs on the board, which happened in the eighth and between Herrera, Carrillo, and McDaniel, as the Elks exploited the gaps for three extra-base hits in the inning. Burkart and Monck put a pair of doubles together for a run in the bottom 8th before Raffy de la Cruz walked the tying run on base in Kozak with two outs, but Elmer Maldonado grounded out against another failed former Raccoons hurler, Duarte Damasceno. McDaniel then put Kenny Graves and Mike Orphanos on the corners to begin the ninth inning. Castro struck out and was ejected for stomping his hooves at the umpire, but even a pitching change to Jesse Dover couldn’t keep the damn Elks from scoring as Rick Atkins singled home a run against the right-hander. Elijah LaBat retired the Critters in order in the bottom 9th to claim the season series for the ******* Elks. 6-3 Canadiens. Morales 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Aoki 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI;

The ******* LAST-PLACE Elks! Gotta allow for *that*!!

(glares at the team with their little heads in their food bowls)

Game 2
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – LF Whetstine – C Varner – RF Lozada – 1B K. Graves – 3B Spalding – P Doolin
POR: C Burkart – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – CF E. Maldonado – SS Aoki – RF Tallent – P Riddle

The Coons went down in order against Doolin, who got the go ahead of Fitzgibbon on Tuesday, the first time through, while Riddle hit Chad Whetstine with an 0-2 pitch before getting a double play out of Steve Varner in the second inning, then had Steven Spalding single to center in the third, but kept the game scoreless in the early going. He struck out the side in the fourth inning before nicking another leadoff man – Varner – on base in the fifth and paying with an ice-breaking 2-piece over the wall in left that Roberto Lozada whacked. The Raccoons remained list- and hitless until the bottom 6th when Bruce Burkart hit a 2-out double to left and also tore out a leg doing so. Marco Campos ran for him, but was quickly stranded by Morales. Campos then remained in the game in centerfield, while Arellano entered the game catching in the #6 spot.

Graves and Spalding beat Riddle with a pair of doubles for a third Elks run in the seventh inning. Riddle got to seven and a third, departing after popping out the left-handed Castro at the start of the top 8th. Nesbitt and Read managed to pitch without getting huffed and puffed for another seven runs, which was nice enough, but Doolin kept plucking away on that shutout and reached the bottom 9th largely unharmed. Vic Morales hit a 1-out double in the inning, but Starr grounded out. Monck was the last straw and socked a 2-piece over the wall in right, which did kill the shutout and the complete-game bid, as LaBat replaced Doolin at this point. But Kozak’s calm groundout still kept the Raccoons from making up the earlier deficit… 3-2 Canadiens.

The Titans, who had been off on Monday to watch the Coons drop to three games out, lost their opener to the Arrowheads, so there was that.

There was no news on Burkart by game time on Wednesday, now against the lefty Fitzgibbon, but we still had two catchers on the roster, so there was no need for additional moves at this point for the backstop position.

…but not otherwise, as with the AAA season over, the Raccoons brought up 20-year-old Malcolm Spicer after all. Spicer had batted .340 for the season, winning the all-AAA batting title despite the lousy Alley Cats finishing bottoms in their division.

The lefty-hitting Aussie Spicer somehow had speed (30 SB) but no range in the outfield, and was mostly a singles slapper stuck in power positions, but who knows, maybe we can still get something out of trading Nick Nye to the Thunder at the deadline two years ago.

Game 3
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – LF Whetstine – RF B. Campbell – C Varner – 1B P. Fowler – 3B Spalding – P Fitzgibbon
POR: 3B Morales – C Arellano – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – LF Valencia – SS Novelo – RF Spicer – CF Tallent – P Fox

The new wearer of the #16 shirt was unmolested on defense in rightfield until his time to bat came around and got an enthusiastic paw from the crowd in that bottom 2nd. Valencia and Novelo had just gotten on base ahead of him with nobody out and a light drizzle started to set in, so the scene was set for a sorry grounder to second base and force out at second. What a debut! Randy Tallent then got him off base with another fielder’s choice, on which Valencia didn’t even score, and Fox delivered the third groundout of the inning.

The Elks then jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third on Alex Castillo’s leadoff single, an Atkins triple, and a passed ball charged to Arellano, who also thumped into a double play after Vic Morales reached on an error to begin the bottom 3rd. One of those unhappy games. Rich Monck hit another “within-one” homer in the bottom 4th, and Spicer hit another fielder’s choice grounder in the same inning. Fox, who largely held himself together despite the miserable third inning, then began the bottom 5th with a single to center. Morales didn’t get anything good done, but Arellano singled and Kozak then doubled to right to tie the game before Monck singled through the right side on the very next pitch, plating both Arellano and Kozak from scoring position, 4-2, before he was doubled up on Valencia’s inning-ending grounder to short.

Fox walked Whetstine to begin the sixth, but then pounced on a Campbell comebacker for a 1-6-3 double play. Novelo doubled to begin the bottom of that inning and scored on a Spicer groundout and Tallent’s sac fly. Fox went on to finish seven innings on 102 pitches, but walked Castillo to begin the eighth and was lifted for Cruzado, who miraculously cleaned up behind him. Monck doubled leading off the home eighth against Raffy before the Raccoons flung all those left-handed batters out to pinch-hit. Starr and Aoki ended up drawing walks, and in between Spicer hit into his third fielder’s choice. With three on and two outs, Scott Lawson batted for Cruzado with no more left-handed options available and flew out to Campbell to make the entire inning a giant waste of time. At least the Elks went down in three batters against McGinley… 5-2 Coons. Arellano 2-4, 2B; Monck 3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Valencia 2-3; Novelo 1-2, BB, 2B; Fox 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (12-9) and 1-3;

Inauspicious career debut, 0-for-4 with a load of nothing, but maybe the kiddo could do better against a right-hander.

The Titans beat the Indians, 11-7, so the gap remained at three games.

Bruce Burkart meanwhile was down and out with a mildly strained hammy. It looked like he would miss two weeks, but should the Raccoons somehow tumble into the postseason, he *might* be available. Nevertheless, no point in hanging around the roster just now, so he was shuffled off to the DL. The Coons desired another third catcher, though, and brought up Michael Guinea, who had not been seen since making 17 appearances batting .196 in ’62, but had been on the 40-man roster the entire time despite being handed down to Ham Lake for a while. Guinea was the odd left-handed hitting catcher you’d find once in a while.

Game 4
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – LF Whetstine – RF B. Campbell – 1B P. Fowler – C A. Maldonado – 3B Spalding – P Nielsen
POR: SS Aoki – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – CF E. Maldonado – C Arellano – RF Spicer – P Alba

Carlos Castro struck a leadoff jack to begin the Thursday series finale, which was … well… (sigh) … (hugs bottle of Capt’n Coma) … Atkins added a triple and Whetstine tacked on a second run with a sac fly to Spicer. The Raccoons replied, though; not in the first, when they went 1-out walk and double play, but in the second, which began with Monck and Kozak doubles to make up one run, then a bit of diddling around. Maldonado barely legged out an infield single, Arellano struck out, but Spicer found his first major league hit, an RBI single to right! That tied the game and sent Elmer Maldonado to third base. Spicer then took off for second base with Alba at the plate. Alex Maldonado threw the ball away, Elmer Maldonado scored, and Spicer jiggled to third base. He then scored on an Alba double to left, the fourth and final run of the inning.

From there the game ran to the stretch without major upheavals. The Raccoons basically stopped hitting immediately after putting out the 4-spot, and Alba held his own, although he gave up a stupid run in the fifth inning when Nielsen hit a leadoff double and scored on two productive outs to shorten the score to 4-3. “DD” Damasceno was at it in the bottom 7th and loaded the bases without getting an out, as Aoki and Morales singled and Starr drew a four-pitch walk. Rich Monck ran a full count before looking at a ball in the dirt, drawing the walk that pushed home the insurance run. DD walked in another run against Kozak, then was kicked off the hill for lefty Jeremy Garvey. Campos batted for Maldonado, fell to 0-2, then got plunked to push in another run. We had yet to make an out, but Arellano then grounded out, still scoring another run. Spicer whiffed, but Novelo batted for Alba and singled home the remaining runners on base, 10-3, before the 6-spot ended with Lawson popping out in place of Aoki. Mike Hall was then immediately beaten around for three hits and a run in the eighth before being dug out by Nesbitt. On the other side, Mike Perez put two Coons on base, balked, and then allowed Marco Campos to single home Joe Gardner with two outs. Rich Read walked a pair in the ninth, but was dug out when Gardner, having replaced Monck at second base, turned a double play on Elks catcher Kevin Herr. 11-4 Furballs! Morales 2-4; Gardner (PH) 1-1; Monck 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 1-1, BB; Campos (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Spicer 2-4, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Alba 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (13-11) and 1-3, 2B, RBI;

Herr made his sixth ABL appearance, but unlike Spicer was still waiting for his first ABL hit.

Crucially for Portland, Jason Brenize got the ball for the Titans in their finale with the Indians, and they immediately failed to score. Brenize cashed a 2-1 loss, and the Coons headed to Oklahoma two games outta first place.

Raccoons (80-67) @ Thunder (82-64) – September 19-21, 2064

This was where the schedule became unfortunate, because the Titans now had the easier South teams to compete against while the Coons had to sort through the two teams with the best case for making the CLCS. The Thunder were tenth in runs scored, but allowed the second-fewest runs in the league and that might yet make it hard for the Raccoons’ spotty offense. The season series was even at three.

Projected matchups:
Jarod Morris (8-7, 3.59 ERA) vs. Jerry Washington (12-6, 3.10 ERA)
Josh Elling (14-7, 3.59 ERA) vs. Joe Napier (10-7, 2.95 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (14-10, 3.12 ERA) vs. Danny Baca (5-6, 3.35 ERA)

Baca was the only southpaw here, but him and Napier had both pitched in a double header on Tuesday and we didn’t know which way round they would go out this time. The Thunder had been off on Thursday, so short rest was not going to be an issue for them.

Game 1
POR: SS Aoki – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – 3B Novelo – RF Spicer – C Lawson – P Morris
OCT: CF D. Garcia – 1B I. Stone – C Bohannon – LF Consuegra – RF B. Ramires – 2B D. Richardson – SS McNeal – 3B Bonilla – P Je. Washington

Morris gave up a triple to Danny Garcia in the first, leading to a swift 1-0 deficit when Ian Stone struck out, but Martin Bohannon brought in the run with a sac fly. The Raccoons tied the game in the top 2nd with Elmer Maldonado drawing a leadoff walk and stealing second base before things got a bit painful. Novelo’s grounder moved him to third, but Spicer struck out and Lawson was going to fly out to Jose Consuegra, but the latter dropped the ball and the Coons tied it up on the 2-out error. Morris was the last out, and the Coons made two outs in the top 3rd before Starr and Monck clipped singles. Maldonado slapped an RBI double to right for a 2-1 lead, and Novelo singled home a pair to get to 4-1. Spicer also got on base, but Lawson grounded out to Josh McNeal. No error this time.

Straight singles by the 1-2-3 hitters gave the Thunder a run immediately in the bottom 3rd, but the middle innings descended with calmness on the game as neither team put much together until the bottom 6th came around and Morris simply exploded. Bohannon flew out to deep left to begin the inning, but Consuegra then singled, Bill Ramires walked, and Daniel Richardson whacked a game-tying 2-run double to center. A four-pitch walk to McNeal ended Morris’ day, opened the gate for the ******ed bullpen, and the ******ed bullpen didn’t disappoint, as McDaniel came in to face the switch-hitting Alberto Bonilla, which turned Bonilla to his weak side, but McDaniel ****** the bags full anyway with another walk, then gave up a pinch-hit, 2-run single to Eric Whitlow. That was a 6-4 lead for the Thunder now, and I was greatly dismayed.

Novelo drove in Starr with two outs in the seventh to cut the gap in half, but was then left on base. The Thunder then got Rafael Valencia out to begin the eighth, but reliever Willie Campos then committed an error to have Guinea reach with one out. He then walked Aoki and departed in favor of Jake Frensley, who allowed a bases-filling single to Kozak. Left-hander Ricky Baca replaced Frensley for the Coons’ left-handed 3-4-5 section. Starr and Monck made meek outs, and the bases were left loaded. Nesbitt held the Thunder away in the bottom 8th and Brain Doster walked the tying run on base against Maldonado to begin the ninth. Novelo’s groundout moved Maldonado to second base, but Spicer flew out to Zach Meister in right. Two down, the pitcher’s spot was up, and Vic Morales’ day off ended as he pinch-hit for Nesbitt. The move worked, Morales singled solidly to left, Maldonado rushed around from second base to score the tying run, and the game continued! Guinea singled, but Aoki flew out to left to keep the game tied. Victor Herrera drilled Luis Miranda to begin the bottom 9th, but Carrillo replaced him, got a double play grounder and sent the game into overtime, where then *he* hit Meister, allowed a single to Dan Martin, was purged for Mike Hall, and Hall had nothing better to do than to give up a 2-out walkoff single to Bonilla. 7-6 Thunder. Maldonado 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Novelo 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Morales (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Ricky Baca was a Rule 5 pick we made before the 2063 season, but returned him to the Thunder on Opening Day.

The Titans beat the Baybirds in San Francisco, at the Bay where nothing good ever happens, at least not for the Critters. Gap back to three.

The Thunder then went with the right-hander Napier on Saturday, and the Raccoons were able to get Jose Corral back on his hindpaws to bat leadoff again. Spicer was still in the lineup as Kozak got a day off.

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – LF Spicer – SS Novelo – CF Moreno – P Elling
OCT: CF D. Garcia – 1B I. Stone – C Bohannon – LF Consuegra – SS M. Veguilla – 2B D. Richardson – RF Deisinger – 3B Bonilla – P Napier

Elling was punched in the face for four runs right away, as the Thunder never really stopped hitting whistling line drives off him in the first inning. The hard hits off him never really stopped, the Raccoons just managed to throw bodies into them in the next four innings, which prevented the Thunder from tagging on. At the same time, the Coons didn’t do much of anything and were held to two base hits in five innings by Napier. Sensabaugh then fooled around on the hill for two awful innings, allowing another run in the bottom 7th, not that it did much to hurt our chances with no offense of our own. Joe Napier would pitch a 4-hit shutout striking out 11 Critters and putting the game into the books with disturbing ease. 5-0 Thunder. Novelo 2-4, 2B;

Well, that sucked. That the Titans won again sucked even more. Down four now.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – SS Novelo – LF Valencia – CF Tallent – P Riddle
OCT: LF Deisinger – 2B D. Richardson – SS M. Veguilla – C Bohannon – 3B McNeal – 1B I. Stone – RF Whitlow – CF R. Miles – P D. Baca

Kozak drew a walk in the first, but was left on when Monck popped out. The top 2nd then began with straight singles from the 5-6-7 flock, loading the bases for Randy Tallent, who lined out to Miguel Veguilla, and Riddle rolled a 3-2 pitch into a double play. (facepaws) At least the Thunder also hit into a double play with Whitlow after leadoff singles by McNeal and Ian Stone in the bottom 2nd, and Rick Miles fanned to leave McNeal on third base.

Kozak hit into another double play in the third, while in the fourth, starting with Monck, the Coons unfurled another three straight singles to begin the inning and load the bases, now for Rafael Valencia, who struck out, and this time Randy Tallent blundered into a ******* double play. Riddle then clipped Veguilla on base to begin the bottom 4th, but Bohannon hit into a 5-4-3 double play. Riddle singled to start the top 5th, but was doubled up by Vic Morales. That was eight hits in five innings for the Raccoons, four double plays ****** into, and zero bloody runs.

The sixth saw no Critters on base, which was somehow even worse than what they had done so far, while Jamie Deisinger hit into a double play after Baca singled against Riddle, the third two-for-one the Thunder had fallen into. The game might be decided by a lucky punch homer in the 15th inning at this rate, but the Thunder nicked Corral on base and then Kozak scratched out the flimisiest 2-out single in the top 8th, bringing Monck to the dish, but Monck popped out in foul territory. Riddle eventually fell off the hill, allowing a single to Whitlow to begin the bottom 8th. Miles forced him out, but scored on a 2-out triple into the corner in leftfield that Deisinger whacked. Richardson’s infield single made it 2-0, and Dover had to bail out Riddle.

Doster got the ball in the ninth for Oklahoma, and retired Arellano and Aoki before walking Starr. Maldonado was the third straight lefty pinch-hitter, batting in place of Tallent – and smashed a game-tying homer, down to the final out!! Spicer batted for Dover, but grounded out, and McDaniel’s 1-2-3 ninth sent this game to extras as well. The Coons went down just the same against Dave Lister in the tenth, though, and when Juan Carillo got the ball for the bottom of that inning, he was swiftly beaten on a walkoff home run by Steve Rosenthal. 3-2 Thunder. Arellano 2-4; Novelo 2-3; Maldonado (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; Riddle 7.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K and 1-3;

In other news

September 15 – The Rebels’ OF Jeremy Jenkins (.321, 26 HR, 91 RBI) is out for the rest of the season after breaking his forearm.
September 16 – Pacifics 3B/SS Stephen Medlock (.211, 1 HR, 14 RBI) hits his first home run of the season to beat the Wolves, 1-0.
September 17 – NYC SP Ben Seiter (15-12, 3.36 ERA) 1-hits the Loggers in a 1-0 shutout and has to drive in NYC OF/3B/SS Steven Heiden (.270, 4 HR, 38 RBI) himself for the game’s only run. MIL RF Dave Wright (.238, 10 HR, 66 RBI) hits a single for the only Loggers blip in the box score.
September 20 – Dallas 3B/SS/LF Xavier Reyes (.335, 5 HR, 66 RBI) has clipped together a 20-game hitting streak after a pair of singles in a 13-3 loss to the Miners.
September 21 – IND SP Ramon Carreno (15-7, 3.27 ERA) throws a 1-hit shutout against the Falcons for a 4-0 win. The only hit for the Falcons comes off the bat of cup-of-coffee C Dillon Ugalde (.200, 0 HR, 0 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: SFW 1B Miguel Medina (.302, 17 HR, 63 RBI), bashing .429 (9-21) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN OF Rick Atkins (.320, 16 HR, 93 RBI), raking .448 (13-29) with 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Titans were shut out by quad-A starter Steve Smith and two relievers on Sunday, which kept the gap at four games. But at this time, four games was a lot… However, we *did* have three games left with the Titans, so there was still some flick in that bushy tail even in this unfortunate situation:

BOS (84-66) – NYC (3), POR (3), TIJ (3), VAN (3) – .508 – 96.5% (+9.8%)
POR (80-70) – ATL (3), BOS (3), MIL (3), NYC (3) – .522 – 3.5% (-9.7%)

Those Boston games would not come until the final week of the season, though. The Knights and Loggers were waiting for us next week.

Malcolm Spicer did arrive after all after being talked about for most of the year. He hit .222 in his first five games, all hits being singles. Two stolen bases. Those last two bits are probably what you can expect going forwards. A Cookie Carmona type of bat, but with less glove and not able to play centerfield at all.

Fun Fact: The Thunder won just one of their eight CLCS matchups with the Raccoons.

Big brain move then to get swept in their favor in their battle for the South crown, and now we can rally back against the Titans and so on and then knock them out again in the CLCS. Free pennant!

(…)

Man, I should stop drinking gasolene after sweeps…