[Westheim]

Raccoons (16-22) @ Titans (26-12) – May 17-20, 2066

The Raccoons had a rough week coming with four weeks in Boston up next. The Titans had won five in a row, a lot of games overall, and were fifth in runs scored and third in runs allowed in the CL. They had hands down the best rotation in the league and had won the season series from the Critters for four straight years, and rather convincingly (13-5) in 2065. The only injury for them right now was starter Will Glaude.

Projected matchups:
Duarte Damasceno (2-4, 4.95 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (6-0, 1.74 ERA)
Cody Childress (0-0) vs. Matt Taylor (5-1, 1.54 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (3-4, 2.15 ERA) vs. Tony Castellanos (1-2, 5.52 ERA)
Nick Walla (4-3, 2.75 ERA) vs. Mike Bell (5-2, 2.48 ERA)

The Titans brought only right-handers, and the Raccoons had yet another ABL debut candidate lined up for Tuesday in 25-year-old right-hander Cody Childress, the second-round pick from 2062, who had a very nice curve and changeup, but ever so often just hung one in the middle of the nearest slugger’s wheelhouse. He had a 4.95 ERA even in St. Pete at this point. Childress was not yet on the roster on Monday, but would most likely take the roster spot of Marco Campos, who was hitting zilch-for-7.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Corral – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Tallent – P Damasceno
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Joe Washington – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Joyner – 2B Onelas – 3B C. Pena – P Brenize

Spicer singled and continued his bleak streak of getting caught stealing for the sixth straight time in the opening inning on Monday, and Brenize didn’t look like he’d allow many other chances to the Critters in this series opener. Damasceno allowed only one runner, walking Bill Joyner, in the first two innings, but then had his head semi-surgically beaten off his neck by the Titans in the bottom 3rd as they batted through the lineup and stripped him down for four runs, although after Cesar Pena’s leadoff triple to right they made two poor outs with Brenize (K) and Steve Humphries, who hit a comebacker, before Joe Washington doubled home the runner. Eddie Marcotte socked a homer, and then the Titans clipped four straight singles before Pena grounded out leave the bases loaded.

That was already most of Damasceno’s outing, as he only pitched one more inning, allowed another run on a hit batter and two singles, and then was hit for with two outs in the fifth and Joel Starr in scoring position. Ryan Bonner hit an RBI single in his place before being left on base by Jaden Wilson. Hudson labored through two innings after this, giving up a run on two clumsy walks and a well-placed groundout by Marcotte in his second inning on duty. Soriano and Garvey filled the rest of the box score on the pitching side, while Brenize went eight innings, whiffing ten Critters against just four hits. Jason Rhodes retired the Coons in order in the ninth. 6-1 Titans. Starr 1-2, BB, 2B; Bonner (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Marco Campos had a fly out against Brenize, then went onto waivers with his 0-for-8 clip.

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Corral – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Tallent – P Childress
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Joe Washington – CF Marcotte – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Joyner – 2B Onelas – C S. Moreno – 3B C. Pena – P Ma. Taylor

The game plan for Tuesday involved hoping for the best and otherwise piggy-backing Childress with J.J. Sensabaugh. In the event, the first 15 batters in the game were all retired before Sandy Moreno opened the bottom 3rd with a double to left. Childress, who had struck out a pair in the first two innings, walked Cesar Pena in a full count, then misfielded Taylor’s bunt to fill the bases, trying to get Moreno at third base, which turned out to be ill advised. Childress did not exactly buckle down here. He walked in a run against Humphries, Joe Washington hit an RBI single to center, and only then did the Titans make three outs with a run-scoring groundout by Marcotte, Zach Suggs’ sac fly, which sugged, and a fly out by Joyner, keeping the damage at four runs (two earned). Taylor walked Ramon Lopez after retiring 11 in a row, so the Raccoons were slowly defrosting to compete in this game, too, maybe, but Childress was picked limb from limb by angry Titans after hitting Sandy Moreno in the hand and forcing him from the game in the bottom 4th. The bases again filled up rapidly before he walked in a run with two outs against Washington, and then gave up a big old grand slam to Marcotte, which made it 9-0, and seven earned.

Sensabaugh then gave everything, expending 61 pitches over 3.1 scoreless innings in pointless relief, and actually batted 2-for-2 against Taylor, who began to leak in the middle innings. Ramon Lopez drove in Tallent with a run in the sixth inning, and in the seventh Starr was on base with two outs and scored on Sensabaugh’s second single off Taylor. The Coons got another (unearned) run in the eighth, in which Spicer finally stole a base again after a considerably dearth, and came home when Washington had a Lopez single escape through his legs for an error. None of this prevented the first pitching appearance of the year of Pablo Novelo, who came into a 9-3 game and got two outs in the bottom 8th before a pair of singles by Marcotte and Suggs, and a 3-run homer by Joyner, tagged on some more runs. Taylor finished the game for Boston, but not without allowing a run for a fourth straight frame in the top 9th on a pinch-hit Gardner triple and Jorge Caballero’s run-scoring groundout. 12-4 Titans. Lopez 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Gardner (PH) 1-1, 3B; Sensabaugh 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K and 2-2, RBI;

That coulda gone better…

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – RF Corral – 3B Monck – C Arellano – 1B Starr – SS Gardner – 2B Caballero – P Nakayama
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Joe Washington – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Joyner – 2B Onelas – 3B C. Pena – P T. Castellanos

Nakayama was whacked for two runs right in the first inning, losing Humphries on a leadoff walk and allowing singles to Washington, Suggs, and Joyner; Arviso’s groundout and the Suggs single got the runs home, all of which sugged. Jorge Arviso hit a solo homer to get the score to 3-0 in the third inning, while the Raccoons disappeared in order again the first time through, and I started to wonder why we were putting pants on in the first place at this point. Jaden Wilson singled to begin the fourth, but was caught stealing, and Castellanos continued to face the minimum. Instead, the Titans churned Nakayama harder, getting triples from Marcos Onelas and Castellanos (…) in the bottom 4th, and another RBI double from Humphries, 5-0… Come the fifth, the Coons finally escaped the minimum trap when Monck… got hit…? And Starr singled, but then Joe Gardner crapped into a double play. Unbeknownst at that point, those were the final base runners for the Raccoons; Castellanos would finish the game with a 2-hit shutout, while the Coons got no more than five innings from Nakayama before piecing the rest together with Cullum, McMahan, and Dover for no runs allowed by the pen. 5-0 Titans.

Game 4
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Corral – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Bonner – P Walla
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Joe Washington – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Joyner – 2B B. Snyder – 3B C. Pena – P M. Bell

No shutout on Thursday, because the Raccoons started the game with singles by Wilson and Spicer, then an RBI double off the stick of Ramon Lopez, before Bell struck out Monck, struck out Corral, and struck out Starr to keep a pair in scoring position. Walla walked Washington in the bottom 1st, but got a double play grounder from Marcotte, and thus after 28 full innings in Boston, the Raccoons were finally ahead at the end of one…

Bafflingly, they then repeated the three strikeouts in order with runners on second and third RIGHT IN THE NEXT ******* INNING after Novelo singled and Bonner doubled in the top 2nd, and the 9-1-2 went all down flailing against Bell. The Titans answered with a 7-run second inning against Walla, who tossed like an amateur, walked Arviso and Joyner around a Suggs single to begin the inning, and didn’t get any better from there. Brendan Snyder tied the game drawing a four-pitch walk, Cesar Pena and Bell hit RBI singles, Humphries plated a run with a groundout, and Washington hit a 3-run blast. A 2-out walk to Arviso then ended Walla’s day after five outs, four hits, five walks, and seven runs, all earned, when even Steven ******* Hudson managed to get ten outs from the ******* Titans without allowing a ******* run afterwards!!

The Raccoons were dead in a ditch, punching out a total of 12 times against Bell in six innings before being handed over to the bullpen. The Portland relief corps shone with a scoreless sixth by Garvey before Soriano and McMahan got gangbanged for another four runs in the seventh. Jesse Dover walked the bases full in the eighth, but the Titans were tired from all the scoring and left the runners on base. 11-1 Titans. Novelo 3-4, 2B; Hudson 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

In case you are currently covering your eyes with both paws, we were out-smashed to the tune of 34-6 runs in this series. The term “sweep” wasn’t quite covering the result of this four-game set.

Raccoons (16-26) @ Condors (23-19) – May 21-23, 2066

Second in the South and four games behind, the Condors had been waiting for the Raccoons to pass through town on their way to the dog food factory. Tijuana was seventh in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed in the Continental League, with a +15 run differential (Coma Coons: -61), which was bound to get better, even though they were missing a few regulars from the lineup, with Andy Metz, Mike Brann, and Ralph Lange all down hurting. The Condors had won the season series last year, 5-4.

Projected matchups:
Juan Sanchez (2-4, 4.14 ERA) vs. Brett Bebout (3-1, 2.03 ERA)
Duarte Damasceno (2-5, 5.52 ERA) vs. Bronson Vanderven (0-3, 3.22 ERA)
Cody Childress (0-1, 17.18 ERA) vs. Marco Clemente (3-3, 5.29 ERA)

This group would make for a full set of seven right-handers facing the Critters this week.

Game 1
POR: LF Spicer – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – CF Branch – 2B Caballero – P Sanchez
TIJ: 1B L. Jimenez – 3B M. Moreno – 2B Nye – CF Pinault – RF J. Martinez – SS Veguilla – LF Arcos – C M. Nieto – P Bebout

The Condors brought up only right-handed position players – oddly enough Bebout was a lefty hitter – and got singles from Nick Nye, who stole second, and Chad Pinault in the bottom 1st, but had Nye thrown out at the plate by Jose Corral to prevent an early deficit. Not for long, though. While the Coons got Starr on base (on an error…) in the top 2nd and had Branch hit into a double play to prevent any accidental offense, the Condors drew walks with Jesus Martinez and Roberto Arcos, then had Ramon Lopez paw into a swing by Marco Nieto to send the opposing catcher to first on catcher’s interference … and with nobody out…! Bebout then smacked a 2-run single to left, Leonardo Jimenez singled to reload the bases, and then Mario Moreno singled in two more before pops by Nye and Pinault ended the ******* inning.

Down 4-0 again, the Raccoons put Caballero, Corral, and Lopez on base in the third inning until Monck struck out to strand the whole lot of them, and after that the middle innings didn’t see much action from either lineup as both pitchers quickly got through six innings with the 4-0 score. Joel Starr then opened the seventh with a double to center, immediately followed by Novelo doubling to left to get the Coons on the board. Branch grounded out, moving Novelo to third base, and Caballero flew out to center. Pinault made the catch and fired home to kill Novelo at the plate and end the inning. At the same time it started to rain. RAIN. IN ******* TIJUANA.

Sanchez came back for the seventh to retire Bebout but was then chased in a brief rain delay as I saw with my very own eyes that, yes indeed, the Condors *had* a tarp! They were not very skilled in deploying it, but they *had* one. Top 8th, and Spicer and Corral went to the corners with one out. Lopez grounded to short, but the Condors failed to turn two, allowing Spicer to score, 4-2, and bring back Monck as the tying run, but Monck had to settle for a soft single. A passed ball advanced the tying runs into scoring position before Starr hit a bloop for a single in front of Roberto Arcos. Monck had to be held at third base with the tying run, and Nick Leigh came in and retired Novelo to get out of the inning. The Condors clawed a run back immediately with Pinault’s single off Cullum, and Matt Ewig’s pinch-hit double against Garvey, who then surrendered Cullum’s run on a Miguel Veguilla groundout before Arcos whiffed to end the inning. Takenori Tanizaki then had more success in relief as he had enjoyed with Portland and retired Branch, Wilson, and Bonner in order to finish the game. 5-3 Condors. Starr 2-4, 2B, RBI; Novelo 2-4, 2B, RBI;

The Coons found last place with this loss, their seventh straight, and FOURTEENTH in FIFTEEN games.

Jorge Caballero (.189, 0 HR, 3 RBI) and Marcos Arellano (.114, 1 HR, 2 RBI) both ended up on waivers on Friday night. They were replaced with Marquise Early, who was a lousy centerfielder and didn’t even hit in AAA, and right-handed catcher Tony Spink and his .389 OBP in St. Pete. Spink, who batted righty and could also play first base rather well, had been a fifth-round pick in 2061. He was a week away from turning 27 years old.

Game 2
POR: LF Spicer – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Tallent – CF Wilson – P Damasceno
TIJ: 3B M. Moreno – C F. Rivera – 2B Nye – LF Ewig – RF J. Martinez – 1B L. Jimenez – CF K. Hawkins – SS Veguilla – P Vanderven

Spicer singled and stole second, and with two outs Monck hit an RBI single and Starr added an RBI double for a quick and confusing 2-0 lead. Of course it would not last. Veguilla led off the third inning for Tijuana with a sharp single, was bunted to second, and while Mario Moreno was surrendered orderly on a groundout that moved Veguilla to third base, DD then walked Felix Rivera in a full count, threw a wild pitch at 1-2 to Nick Nye, and then hung the next one and had it punched over the fence to flip the score to 3-2 Condors. He allowed another single to Matt Ewig, threw ANOTHER wild pitch, but Jesus Martinez hacked himself out in a full count to end the bloody inning.

Top 4th, and the Coons loaded the bases with Starr, Tallent, and Wilson on two singles and a walk in between those, but then brought up Damasceno with one out. The Australian Vanderven carved him up on three pitches before Spicer popped out on an 0-1 pitch in foul ground. I was facepawing until Corral struck a leadoff double to right-center in the fifth, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored the tying run on Lopez’ single to right. Vanderven got Monck on a groundout, but lost Starr on balls and was yanked. Novelo flew out, but with two gone Randy Tallent singled through the left side against Joe Cash and the Coons had a 4-3 lead. Wilson then fanned, left two runners on base, as well as DD to somehow crawl around a Moreno single and an error by Spicer to keep the tying run from scoring right away in the bottom 5th – which he somehow did.

And then we sent him back for the sixth, which turned out … sub-optimal. Ewig and Jimenez drew walks, Kyle Hawkins buried a ball behind the cacti in the right-center gap, and the Condors had the lead back, 5-4, and Damasceno was sent packing. Hawkins stole third base off Soriano then and scored on a Veguilla single to add an extra run. But suddenly the Raccoons had some fight, and Cash blew the 6-4 lead – in unearned fashion – in the seventh inning. An error by Veguilla put Monck on base, Starr reached as well, both advanced into scoring position on a Novelo groundout for the second out of the inning, and then scored when Tallent found another hole for another single, knotting the score at six, which was also the score at the stretch.

It wasn’t tied for long, either, as Justin Cullum got the ball for the bottom 7th, got two outs, but then saw Ewig reach on a Starr error, and was immediately blasted over the big wall in left by Martinez for an 8-6 Condors lead. A Corral single in the eighth led nowhere, while Steven Hudson kept toying with his Rule 5 status, allowing a double to Hawkins in the bottom 8th before plating the runner with two outs with a wild pitch. Matt Nelson then finished the game for the Condors… 9-6 Condors. Corral 2-5, 2B; Lopez 2-5, RBI; Starr 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Tallent 2-3, BB, 3 RBI;

L8.

Which doesn’t mean it’s getting late. Oh no. Another 118 games to play with this star-crossed bunch.

We did not see a lefty starter on the horizon in San Fran either, so Spicer and Monck got days off on Sunday. There was no hope to be had. The only good news was that Sensabaugh had not pitched since garbage duty on Tuesday and thus could piggy-back with Childress again, and they could both be sent back to St. Pete together…

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – 3B Tallent – RF Corral – 1B Starr – LF Branch – SS Novelo – 2B Gardner – C Spink – P Childress
TIJ: CF Pinault – C F. Rivera – 2B Nye – LF Ewig – RF J. Martinez – 1B L. Jimenez – 3B M. Moreno – SS Veguilla – P M. Clemente

Childress had two scoreless to begin the Sunday game, but he had gotten that far against the Titans as well before getting crucified and dropped into the harbor. He got another three quick outs in the third inning, although Clemente hit a single with two outs. The Coons also had just one hit, a Starr double, in the early innings. No, of course he wasn’t scored!? Starr even hit another double his second time up, with two outs and nobody on in the fourth inning, and Tommy Branch left him on base there as well.

Childress allowed a clean single to Felix Rivera past Gardner to begin the fourth, but the Condors made three weak outs in keeping that runner on first base for the entire inning. Novelo then opened the fifth with a double, got a base on a wild pitch, and then scored the game’s first run on Tony Spink’s first career hit, a single to center…!

Childress made it into the sixth inning, where Clemente led off with another single and advanced on a groundout by Pinault. Childress plunked Rivera with a 1-2 pitch, then saw the bags full up on Nye’s single. There were scenarios where you’d sent a veteran reliever with three on and one down to maybe get away with the 1-run lead. But the Raccoons – barely past the first quarterpost in ’66 – were already beyond trying to win. They had to check out their young pitching instead. Childress got a talking-to, and then struck out Ewig and popped out Martinez behind Novelo to keep all the pesky runners on base and maintain the 1-0 lead…!

And for what? For straight singles by the 6-7-8 batters in the bottom 7th to load the bags again. Childress was given more counseling, then struck out Arcos in the #9 spot, but then walked in the tying run against Pinault and was lifted. Garvey replaced him, got a double-play grounder to Novelo from Rivera, and that at least spared the rookie a loss. Top 8th, Marquise Early batted for Garvey against lefty Joe Allen and singled to begin the inning, followed by another single hit by Wilson. Tallent ran out of such and popped out, while Monck batted for Corral and singled to fill the bases. Starr hit a go-ahead sac fly to center, bringing in Early, 2-1, but Branch flew out easily to leave two on base. Soriano then survived a Jimenez double in the bottom 8th, and the skinny lead went to Jesse Dover in the ninth, who got a groundout from Veguilla, rung up Chad Cardwell, and then Pinault singled to left. Dover couldn’t close the ******* bag, walked Rivera, and allowed a single to Nye, then was yanked with the bases loaded, biting into his glove on the way out. McMahan got the ball against lefty hitter Matt Ewig, threw but one pitch, and Ewig **** it into the left-center gap for a 2-run walkoff. 3-2 Condors. Wilson 2-4; Monck (PH) 1-1; Starr 2-3, 2 2B, RBI; Early (PH) 1-2; Childress 6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K;

(looks on, snout agape)

In other news

May 18 – LAP SP Melvin Lebron (4-1, 3.18 ERA) spins his first career shutout, a 3-hitter, in an 8-0 win against the Gold Sox.
May 18 – The Falcons beat the Thunder, 1-0, despite being held to one hit, a double by SS/3B Trent Taylor (.302, 6 HR, 24 RBI), against Oklahoma’s seven. OCT SP Josh Elling (2-3, 4.07 ERA) pitches a complete game for the loss.
May 19 – Los Angeles acquires catcher Matt Warner (.368, 3 HR, 12 RBI) from the Capitals for the #85 prospect, 3B/SS Sergio Parada.
May 19 – It takes 15 innings for the Blue Sox to beat the Rebels, 8-7.
May 20 – DAL SP Alex Quevedo (7-0, 1.26 ERA) strikes out ten and allows just one hit in seven innings of a combined 1-hitter for a 4-0 win against the Wolves, for whom 3B/RF Eric Frasher (.304, 10 HR, 27 RBI) collects a lonely single.
May 21 – ATL SP Sean Sweeton (5-3, 3.08 ERA) pitches a no-hitter, allowing just one walk against five strikeouts, in an 8-0 win against the Canadiens.
May 21 – L.A. outfielder Brady Terrell (.284, 3 HR, 18 RBI) will miss at least a month with a broken shoulder blade.
May 23 – Capitals and Wolves play 16 innings before the Caps prevail, 10-6. SAL OF Bill Davidson (.114, 1 HR, 6 RBI) is one of the main reasons for the long game, going 1-for-8 with a game-tying grand slam.

FL Player of the Week: TOP OF Wade Griffith (.344, 0 HR, 22 RBI), skipping .538 (14-26) with 2 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN LF/RF Nick Vaughn (.313, 5 HR, 22 RBI), socking .455 (10-22) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Sunday’s lineup – which ultimately made this team hold the worst record in organized baseball – by batting average entering the game: .186, .215, .261, .203, .150, .223, .278 (in six games), (undefined / debut), .000 (zip-for-1); I like how we have excuses for the last three, but the first six are a bit of a problem…

With this week’s disastrous Boston visit, the Raccoons have an all-time losing record against the Titans again. 802-805.

(deep sigh!)

The Raccoons this week fired hitting coach Mike Moss, who had been with the team since 2060, so he had also overseen the team scoring the most runs in the Continental League just TWO years ago, but this year absolutely NOTHING was clicking. AAA hitting coach Corey Kramer was promoted to the job, but the 68-year-old was likely to retire soon.

Marcos Arellano and Jorge Caballero cleared waivers on Sunday night. Both will accept a minors assignment (although only Caballero had the right to refuse).

Cody Childress might stay for another start against the Thunder next weekend, and after that we don’t need a fifth starter for a bit. I would like to give Tony Gaytan a little bit more time.

Speaking of time… Honeypaws, when’s it gonna be October?

(presses Honeypaws to his chest and weeps)

Fun Fact: All three pitchers that threw a no-hitter in 2059 have thrown a second no-hitter afterwards.

Jayden Craddock threw no-hitters for the Titans on April 29, 2059 (against the Falcons) and on May 12, 2063 (against the Crusaders).

Vic Harman threw no-hitters for the Knights on May 20, 2059 (facing the Thunder) and September 7, 2060 (opposite the Baybirds).

And 40-year-old Sean Sweeton, the former Raccoon, put up a no-hitter with Miners against the Blue Sox on July 12, 2059, and then this week, also with the Knights, against the Canadiens!

Including Joel Luera’s no-hitter from September 2058 with New York and against Indy, that makes four straight first no-no’s that ended up being followed by a second, in Luera’s case also against the damn Elks on April 6, 2061.