[Westheim]

Raccoons (6-13) vs. Thunder (9-9) – April 27-29, 2065

The Thunder had started the season 1-8, and the Coons were on a 1-8 run now, and, oh, also didn’t have a starter for this game while the Thunder were now on a W4 run. They ranked third in runs scored, fifth in runs allowed, had a +18 run differential, and the less said about the Raccoons’ stats, the better. Oklahoma had won six of nine games in this pairing last year.

Projected matchups:
Jeff Applegate (0-0) vs. Joe Napier (0-1, 5.48 ERA)
Chance Fox (0-2, 5.03 ERA) vs. Aaron Harris (2-1, 2.70 ERA)
Josh Elling (2-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (2-0, 3.38 ERA)

Riddle returned to Portland and would feature as the only left-handed opponent for us in this series.

The Raccoons utilized the Randy Tallent injury to open a roster spot by moving him to the DL. We called up the most convenient warm body already on the 40-man roster, which turned out to be Jeff Applegate, who had been clobbered in his first two AAA starts of the season.

Of note was that we had Jose Corral ready to come off the DL on Wednesday, opening the door for another 1-day cameo by a different scrub on Tuesday.

Game 1
OCT: RF Almanza – C R. Lopez – LF B. Ramires – 3B Blackshire – 2B M. Weber – SS J. Caballero – 1B Laity – CF Jo. Parker – P Napier
POR: RF Spicer – 3B Morales – C Burkart – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – SS Aoki – 1B Vargas – CF Garmon – P Applegate

In addition to all the other woes surrounding the Raccoons it was also drizzling pretty much from the start of the game. The Thunder forced a 1-0 lead on the Critters in the bottom 1st when Napier nicked Spicer, gave him an extra base with a wild pitch, and Burkart obliged and singled home Spicer from second base. However, Applecore was soon taken apart – with support – when Dave Blackshire and Mike Weber reached base to begin the second inning, and both scored on a capital throwing error by Victor Morales on Jorge Caballero’s grounder to flip the score immediately. Applecore balked, allowed an RBI single to Ben Laity, and then we had a 30-minute rain delay. What a game.

Applegate couldn’t throw ******* strikes, which was an issue, and loaded the bases with Ramon Lopez, Bill Ramires, and Blackshire, as well as nobody out, in the third inning, walking two of them while Ramires singled. Somehow the Thunder didn’t score in the inning when Weber popped out and Caballero hit into a 6-4-3 double play. Applecore never stopped being awful, walked six Thunders in total in 5.2 innings before being disposed of, and was right away ushered back to the bus station and outta town. He was charged with four runs (three earned), the last run scoring on the watch of Juan Carrillo, who allowed a 2-out RBI single to Roberto Almanza, plating Johnny Parker, whom Applecore had left behind on departure.

Bruce Burkart hit a leadoff single in the bottom 7th, which marked the third Coons hit against Napier. Besides Alex Vargas, nobody had gotten on base with a knock between Burkart’s first-inning RBI single and this leadoff hit. Monck, Kozak, and Aoki went down in order in spectacular harmlessness. Sansao Tyson allowed another run in the eighth inning, while in the bottom of the inning Marcos Arellano hit a leadoff single, was forced out by Garmon, who was forced out by Matas, who then scored on another Spicer triple. Morales popped out to leave the youngster on third base. The Coons needed an inning from McGinley in the ninth inning. They got the inning, but McGinley also got exploded for four more runs in a hard-to-explain display of utter uselessness. Bill Ramires led off with a jack to left, Blackshire walked, Weber, Laity, Alf Mendez, and Almanza all singled, and it just piled up at some point… The Raccoons scored a meaningless run in the ninth against Willie Mendoza, Novelo driving home Burkart, who was the only player currently escaping capital punishment with his performance… 9-3 Thunder. Burkart 3-4, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-1, RBI; Arellano (PH) 1-1;

Applecore (0-1, 4.76 ERA) was removed from the roster without much fuss and replaced with outfielder Jamie Colter in an attempt to fling something at the wall that would stick.

Game 2
OCT: RF Almanza – C R. Lopez – 1B I. Stone – 3B Blackshire – 2B M. Weber – SS J. Caballero – LF Alf. Mendez – CF Jo. Parker – P Aa. Harris
POR: LF Spicer – 3B Morales – C Burkart – 2B Monck – 1B Kozak – RF Colter – SS Aoki – CF Garmon – P Fox

The Portland .300s fell behind in the top 1st for another unearned run caused by a Morales error, although Fox also walked two to create unnecessary traffic. The Coons tied it up quickly though, as Spicer singled, stole second, and then was singled across home plate by the same guilty Morales in the bottom 1st. Burkart hit into a double play before Monck singled, but Kozak grounded out to short. Chance Fox probably was a hopeless cause on the pitching side, but he hit the third consecutive single for the 7-8-9 batters in the bottom 2nd to drive in Aoki for a 2-1 lead. Spicer whiffed and Morales flew out to left to end the inning. The Coons wasted another pair of runners in the third inning when Monck *and* Kozak reached (in the same inning!!), but found no support from the debutant Colter and Aoki.

Foxie Brown did have a few good innings after the rumpling start, allowing only two hits through five innings, then hit another wall in the sixth inning when Ian Stone singled and he then walked the bags full with Blackshire and Weber, and one out. Jorge Caballero grounded sharply to Kozak, who went for the bold play – and the Coons turned it successfully, 3-6-1 to end the inning and preserve the skinny 2-1 lead. That was all for Fox, who needed exactly 100 pitches to get through six innings.

Jamie Colter singled to center with one out in the bottom 6th, marking his first ABL knock, but was forced out by Aoki, who was left on base when Garmon grounded out. Dover then got the ball for the seventh. Alf Mendez hit a single right away before the Thunder made two outs. Tony Rodriquez then pinch-hit for Almanza for a lefty stick, doubled to center, and I saw the lead go away before Garmon made a slick play in center, fired the ball back in, Monck was positioned perfectly for the relay, and Mendez, starting from first, was thrown out at the plate – by inches – ending the inning. Instead, the Coons tacked on a run in the bottom 7th with straight 1-out singles by the 1-2-3 batters against Brian Doster. Monck and Kozak both hit a grounder to a middle infielder, but Caballero bungled the latter one for an error, conceding another run. Colter then slapped another RBI single against Danny Baca before Novelo ended the inning in place of Aoki against the southpaw Baca. Burkart added another run, doubling home Serrano against Baca, who also nailed a pinch-hitting Arellano, in the bottom 8th. McDaniel and Morris finished the game on the hill for Portland, without the Thunder getting another stab at a rally. 6-1 Coons. Spicer 2-5; Morales 2-4, RBI; Burkart 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Monck 2-5; Colter 2-4, RBI; Fox 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, W (1-2) and 1-2, RBI;

Corral returned for the rubber game, although we were up against a southpaw Riddle. Carlos Matas (.182, 0 HR, 1 RBI) was returned to AAA, with Colter remaining on the roster for the time being, although he was also not in the lineup for the Wednesday game.

Game 3
OCT: RF Almanza – 1B I. Stone – C Bohannon – 3B Bonilla – 2B M. Weber – SS Blackshire – LF Jo. Parker – CF F. Gomez – P Riddle
POR: RF Spicer – 3B Morales – C Burkart – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Vargas – CF Garmon – SS Serrano – P Elling

Felix Gomez and Ian Stone put a pair of singles together for the game’s first run in the third inning, and it wasn’t long after that when we got an hourlong rain delay, because April in Oregon (like any other month) was mostly there to get you wet. The rain delay held Elling to five innings, which wasn’t great, and he gave up another run in the fourth inning with a walk to Weber and a Johnny Parker RBI single. The Coons had only two hits in five innings, which wasn’t a lot, and definitely not enough to keep up.

Morris grabbed the ball for the sixth and got beaten around by the 5-6-7 batters for a third Thunder run. Riddle appeared unfazed by rain or Raccoons and had his 2-hitter going into the eighth inning on a manageable pitch count, but got plink-plonked for a pair of soft 1-out singles by Serrano and Novelo at the bottom of the order to bring the tying run to the dish for a change. Spicer struck out, and Morales hit a double to left, plating Serrano, but Novelo was thrown out at the plate by Parker to end the inning. In turn, Carrillo, the dumb ****, loaded the bases with a single, walk, and hit batter in the top 9th and then had his stupid tush dug out by McDaniel, who got a pop on the infield from Alberto Bonilla to end the inning. That put the Coons up against Brian Fuqua with a 3-1 deficit in the bottom 9th, and nominally they would bring up three good hitters, even though two of them were in monthlong death spirals. Burkart fanned. Kozak grounded out. And Monck grounded out as well. 3-1 Thunder. Novelo (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (7-15) vs. Indians (5-16) – May 1-3, 2065

The Indians were the one and only team this year that the Raccoons had taken a series (2-1) from so far, and with any luck we might repeat that rousing success against the .238 team that crawled back into Portland at the start of May. They had lost six in a row, ranked tenth in runs scored and runs allowed, and had a -25 run differential. Oddly, that was *better* than the Coons, who were at 11th, 12th, and -41, respectively… Catcher Victor Reyna was the only DL occupant for Indy.

Projected matchups:
Shoma Nakayama (1-3, 5.11 ERA) vs. Raul Ontiveros (0-3, 5.79 ERA)
Angel Alba (0-4, 6.12 ERA) vs. Keith Thompson (1-2, 3.29 ERA)
Jeff Crowley (1-1, 5.32 ERA) vs. Ramon Carreno (1-2, 3.00 ERA)

We would draw only right-handers to finish the homestand.

Game 1
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – 1B M. Rogers – C Atencio – RF B. Johnston – SS Sowell – LF Lovins – 2B Falcon – P Ontiveros
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – C Burkart – 3B Morales – 2B Monck – 1B Kozak – SS Aoki – CF Garmon – P Nakayama

Rich Monck made an error in the first inning which combined with two hits for Matt Martin and Vinny Atencio served to allow the Indians to score an earned run against Nakayama, but then showed hints of a pulse, along with Kozak in the bottom 1st, in which Spicer singled and stole his 10th base of the year before Morales also got on base. The troubled core pair then socked a 2-run double and an RBI single, respectively, giving Nakayama a 3-1 lead before the inning ended with Aoki.

There was just no hope for this pitching staff, though. Nakayama had two calm innings, then pointlessly walked Bryan Johnston and gave up a game-tying homer to Ken Sowell in the fourth inning. That remained the score through five, with Spicer hitting another single in the fifth, stealing second again, and not trusting the remainder of the lineup with much ability to lend a paw, tried to steal third base as well, but was thrown out by Atencio; and after forcing out Franklin Serrano with a grounder in the seventh inning, Spicer would try to steal second base again, but was again bested by Atencio to end the inning. The score remained even at three for all this time, with Nakayama going to bed after seven innings. Tyson had a scoreless eighth despite nicking Atencio and walking Johnston, but McGinley got whacked around AGAIN for three singles by Miguel Falcon, Matt Martin, and Matt Rogers in the ninth inning and allowed the go-ahead run to score for Indy. The Coons got the tying run on base against Cody Kleidon to begin the bottom 9th as Novelo singled in place of Aoki, but was then forced out by Garmon. Arellano batted for that dolt McGinley, struck out, but Garmon stole second during the at-bat. Jose Corral flew out to center. 4-3 Indians. Spicer 2-4; Monck 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Kozak 2-4, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-1; Garmon 2-4; Serrano (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – LF Dowsey – 1B Starwalt – C Atencio – RF B. Johnston – SS G. Lujan – 2B Falcon – P K. Thompson
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – 3B Morales – 2B Monck – C Arellano – CF Kozak – 1B Vargas – SS Novelo – P Alba

While Alba leaned on a defense that had so far been all too eager to betray him in the first few innings, the Raccoons got a gift runner in the bottom 2nd when Arellano reached because Danny Starwalt could not contain the short hop on a bad throw to first by Guillermo Lujan with one out. Jack Kozak hit a ball into the gap for an RBI triple before Vargas struck out. Novelo, very un-Coons-like, hit a 2-out RBI single to center, and Alba added another single before Jose Corral, 0-for-6 since coming off the DL, smashed a 3-run homer to right-center to open up the score to 5-0 immediately. Thompson allowed a double to Monck in the third inning before leaving with an injury. Roberto Ponce de Leon replaced him and got bleached for three more hits and as many runs by the Coons batters, firstly Kozak with an RBI double, and then more RBI knocks by Vargas and Novelo, extending the lead to 8-0.

At that point you worried for the Indians, because even this Raccoons pitching staff had its work cut out for it to blow an 8-run lead in six innings, and then Alba did reasonably well through five, although he scattered quite a few runners. The Indians loaded the bags with Atencio, Johnston, and Lujan in the sixth, but with two outs and Falcon flew out easily to Spicer in left. That inning, Morales singled and scored on a gap double by Monck to tack on another run, 9-0.

Could there be a shutout? Angel Alba had really high stamina, but broke through the 100 pitch mark in the eighth inning, reaching 110 by the end of the eighth. The Coons were up against former farmhand Travis Glovinsky in the bottom 8th. Spicer singled, Serrano doubled in place of Morales, driving home the squirrely Spicer, and a walk to Monck and a welt to Kozak loaded the bases for Alex Vargas, who hit his first ABL home run, and it was a – GRAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM!!!!!

The Coons then brought Alba back, but he issued a 4-pitch walk to Lujan to begin the ninth and was immediately whisked away for Cruz Madrid to finish the ballgame without damage instead. 14-0 Furballs!! Serrano (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Monck 2-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Kozak 2-4, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Vargas 3-5, HR, 4 RBI; Novelo 3-5, 2 RBI; Alba 8.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K, W (1-4) and 2-4, RBI;

We had 16 hits, two walks, and left only five batters on base in this game, which I would almost describe as “fun”, quite the novel sentiment in 2065. It also gave the red lantern in runs allowed to the Arrowheads.

Pitching change for the Indians on Sunday, as they went with Antonio Pichardo (0-1, 6.00 ERA) instead of the long-ago Critter Carreno. He was a dexter one anyway…

Game 3
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – LF Dowsey – 1B Starwalt – RF B. Johnston – SS Sowell – C Maresh – 2B Falcon – P Pichardo
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – 3B Morales – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Kozak – 1B Vargas – SS Novelo – P Crowley

It was near freezing (38 degrees) for this Sunday afternoon game IN MAY to close out the week, but the Raccoons came back out hitting in the first inning, so maybe it wouldn’t be such a miserable experience anyway. Spicer singled and stole second base, his 12th theft on the year, then scored right away on a Morales single to center. Kozak would plate Morales with two outs after Burkart reached on an error, but Vargas left two on base with a groundout. Crowley also started like a fire engine, striking out five of the first eight Indians batters before walking Pichardo on four pitches, which I found genuinely hard to explain. He then balked the pitcher to second before Eddy Ramirez surrendered himself with a bouncer to Morales. Justin Dowsey, Starwalt, and Sowell then all hit singles off Crowley in the fourth for a run, 2-1, but at least Novelo remained on top of Chris Maresh’s grounder to keep runners on the corners. The Indians left another run on second base in the fifth, then had Dowsey and Johnston on the corners in the sixth when Sowell spanked a ball into an inning-ending, 5-4-3 double play.

The Raccoons continued to take their turns at the plate, they just didn’t ******* do anything after the first inning. Spicer hit a leadoff double in the bottom 6th and was left on base. Monck was excused for that, being intentionally walked, but not for his game-tying, 2-out throwing error in the top 7th that plated Falcon with the tying run, peppering away a pinch-hit grounder by Matt Rogers. Martin flew out then, completing seven for a 2-2 tie for Crowley, who was hit for after Novelo’s 1-out double to left off Pichardo in the bottom 7th. Jamie Colter singled up the middle, but Novelo was thrown out at the plate by Steve Thompson, and the game remained tied. The Coons then had Morales and Burkart singles in the bottom 8th, but the one that would have been crucial, a long drive to center by Monck, was caught by Steve Thompson and the inning went absolutely nowhere.

Tellingly, the Raccoons then forewent McGinley in the ninth-inning tie and stuck to Dover, who, following McDaniel, had gotten the final out in the eighth inning. Dover did not allow a runner, except for Guillermo Lujan, who reached on an error by Vargas. Indy sent lefty Bob West into the bottom 9th and against the bottom of the order. Novelo again got on base with one out, singling to left, while Arellano batted for Dover, grounded to third base, and Martin was eaten up by the ball and charged an error that moved the winning run to second base. Corey Garmon batted for an 0-for-4 Corral against the southpaw, but floated harmlessly to Thompson, and Spicer pretty much did the same, sending the game to overtime.

This time, McGinley got the ball, with two left-handed batters and a pitcher in the next four batters. He walked Starwalt with one out, allowed a double to Johnston, and then conceded a run on Chris Lovins’ sac fly… Infurryating! Cody Kleidon came on then, retired Morales and Monck without much further ado, and then ran into Bruce Burkart, who saved everybody’s bacon with a 2-out, game-tying homer to dead center!! Kozak got on after that, but Vargas whiffed and the game continued. Carrillo barely got around a leadoff knock by Falcon in the 11th, while the Indians gave a second inning to Kleidon. Novelo grounded out, but Serrano and Garmon clipped singles. Spicer’s grounder to second wasn’t gonna do it, but at least Spicer was hard to double up and the inning continued with the winning run at third base and two outs. Vic Morales had enough of this game, though, shoved a single through between Falcon and Starwalt, and the Raccoons had another series win…! 4-3 Blighters. Spicer 3-6, 2B; Morales 3-6, 2 RBI; Burkart 2-5, HR, RBI; Novelo 2-5, 2B; Colter (PH) 1-1; Serrano (PH) 1-1; Crowley 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K;

Wheee…we can beat the Indians, just about.

In other news

April 27 – The Loggers acquire SP Carlos Rodriguez (1-1, 4.29 ERA) from the Condors for AAA LF/CF Roberto Arcos, a .252 hitter in the majors, and #96 prospect SP Alan Fullen.
April 28 – A torn ankle ligament would keep CIN OF Melvin Avila (.250, 2 HR, 4 RBI) out of games for a month.
April 29 – Capitals swingman Joe Hoke (0-0, 2.16 ERA) ends the 27-game hitting streak of Dallas’ Xavier Reyes (.430, 0 HR, 15 RBI), who goes 0-for-2 in a 9-2 win against the Caps before Hoke hits him in the wrist with a pitch. To add injury to insult, Reyes has to go on the DL with a bad bruise and might miss three weeks.
April 29 – The Pacifics beat the Miners, 11-10 in 15 innings. Both teams score at least one run in all of the 12th, 13th, and 14th innings before L.A. breaks through in the 15th.
May 2 – PIT SP Cameron Parks (3-1, 2.43 ERA) is expected to miss four months with a torn labrum.
May 2 – The Rebels acquire SP Bobby Marceau (1-1, 3.24 ERA) from the Stars for infielder Jeff Maudlin (.375, 0 HR, 0 RBI) and a prospect.
May 2 – MIL RF/CF Dave Wright (.400, 4 HR, 17 RBI) hits a home run to beat the Crusaders, 1-0.
May 3 – Nashville SP Ken McDonald (3-2, 5.45 ERA) throws a 1-hit shutout against the Capitals, 11-0, with seven strikeouts. The only Caps hit is a single by 1B Kevin Huffman (.305, 4 HR, 13 RBI).
May 3 – A broken hand will put SFB 2B/LF Armando Montoya (.228, 2 HR, 7 RBI) on the DL for up to three months, and certainly won’t improve the Bayhawks’ chances to try and stay above water.
May 3 – The Crusaders walk off against the Loggers, 8-7 in 11 innings. ALL the runs in the game score in the 11th inning. ALL of them!

FL Player of the Week: PIT C/1B Nick Dingman (.313, 7 HR, 19 RBI), batting .522 (12-23) with 4 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS INF Diego Mendoza (.365, 1 HR, 15 RBI), clipping .550 (11-20) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: SAL OF Bill Davidson (.416, 7 HR, 23 RBI)
CL Hitter of the Month: MIL 2B/SS Fidel Carrera (.325, 7 HR, 15 RBI)
FL Pitcher of the Month: DAL SP Andy Canada (4-0, 1.52 ERA)
CL Pitcher of the Month: BOS SP Mike Bell (4-0, 1.85 ERA)
FL Rookie of the Month: PIT INF/LF Edgar Gonzales (.333, 0 HR, 13 RBI)
CL Rookie of the Month: OCT 1B/LF/RF Ben Laity (.545, 1 HR, 8 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

Scoring seven in the 11th and then allowing eight is such a Loggers way to lose a ballgame.

And yes, I’m looking for something to punch down on while we don’t have a lot to be happy about. Although Monck and Kozak showed some signs of life towards the end of the week, Corral is back and maybe at some point will hit over .200, and at least some of the Critters are honestly giving it a go. That doesn’t include the bullpen, which I want to collectively lock in a tiny barrel and then throw that tiny barrel into the Willamette before we get outta town again.

At least they’re gonna be out of my sight while they go to Elk City for the first leg of a weeklong road trip. I will get to rejoin the Critters in Cincy this weekend.

Fun Fact: If we get to play the Indians another 21 times, we’ll be back at .500!

Cristiano, I don’t care whether that is not how it works. We already *have* 25 reasons for why it doesn’t work!!