[Westheim]

Raccoons (47-64) vs. Loggers (46-66) – August 9-11, 2066

The Loggers miraculously managed to sit in the bottom of the CL North while scoring the most runs in the Continental League. Key to their success was to allow EVEN MORE runs than they scored, and they had a -50 run differential, which was kinda tame compared to the Critters’ mark of -136. Milwaukee was tops in batting average and OBP, good in homers, and terrible in literally everything else. But they knew how to play the Raccoons this year, winning nine of a dozen games played so far. With starter Nick Waldron on the DL for the year, and three regulars (Fidel Carrera, Tommy Guitreau, Tim Goss) nursing minor injuries, quite a few teeth were pulled from that lineup right now.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (9-7, 3.65 ERA) vs. Girolamo Pizzichini (8-8, 4.23 ERA)
Evan Alvey (3-2, 3.72 ERA) vs. Luis Palacios (7-5, 4.42 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (7-9, 3.57 ERA) vs. Julio Robles (3-4, 5.01 ERA)

One left-hander coming up here, which was Palacios on Tuesday.

Game 1
MIL: RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – SS Brantly – LF C. Dominguez – 3B Reber – C Burchell – 2B Willoughby – P Pizzichini
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Colter – SS Novelo – 2B Caballero – P Walla

Ironically, with two of the worst pitching groups clashing again in this series, nobody managed to get a base hit the first time through on Monday for either team. The Coons got a couple of walks early on, while Dave Wright reached on a Monck error in the fourth, but was doubled off by Jonathan Merrill right away. Walla then walked Cesar Ramirez, but struck out Chance Brantly, who was subbing for Fidel Carrera, and not too great. It took until the bottom 5th for Jamie Colter to hit an infield single for the game’s first knock, and then the ball didn’t even reach the infield dirt before dying in between “Pizza”, Devin Willoughby, and Cesar Ramirez, and nobody covering first base anymore. Novelo flew out to right, and Caballero grounded to short, where Brantly threw the ball wildly past Willoughby for an error, putting a second Critter on base. Walla bunted the runners over, Wilson drew a walk, and then Corral got a roller through the middle for a 2-out RBI single before Ramon Lopez grounded out to Brantly to leave three on base. Willoughby then led off the sixth with a double to center, but was thrown out at third base when Walla pounced on a bad bunt by “Pizza”.

Walla kept trucking along, lacking great stuff, but getting a great amount of easy groundballs for the infielders. He only struck out two batters up to stretch time, but he also needed only 65 pitches to make it that far. Carlos Dominguez also grounded out to begin the eighth, but then Kyle Reber worked a walk and Sam Burchell singled past Novelo at short. Now required to reach back, Walla prevailed, struck out Willoughby as well as PH Dave Robles, and got out of the inning. Ramon Lopez got on base in the bottom 8th, but was stranded, and then Walla went back out – it wasn’t like we had a functioning closer anyway, and Walla was on 84 pitches even after a hairy eighth. He struck out Wright for three in a row, and Merrill grounded out to Joel Starr. Cesar Ramirez hit the first pitch at Caballero – and that was the ballgame! 1-0 Blighters! Walla 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (10-7) and 1-2;

Nick Walla! This was his first career shutout; he had thrown three complete games so far, all in 2065.

Game 2
MIL: 3B Reber – CF Merrill – LF C. Ramirez – 1B D. Robles – RF C. Dominguez – SS Brantly – C Burchell – 2B Willoughby – P L. Palacios
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 1B Starr – 3B Arantes – LF Spicer – 2B Caballero – RF Tallent – P Alvey

Alvey got the first six Loggers out on Tuesday while getting an early run in the second inning when Randy Tallent doubled home Arantes with two outs in the bottom 2nd. Sam Burchell then drew a leadoff walk in the third inning before Willoughby flew out to Jaden Wilson in center … with Wilson making a diving catch and leaving a noticeable crater in centerfield. He was slow to get up and even slower to walk off the field with Luis Silva. Corral replaced him, with Tallent going to centerfield. The runner Burchell was stranded on first base after that, and the Raccoons loaded the bases with their 1-2-3 batters and nobody out in the bottom 3rd. This yielded minimal actual results as Starr flew out to Ramirez in shallow left, and only Arantes managed to get a run home with a sac fly. Spicer lined out to Willoughby to end the inning.

While Alvey was holding the Loggers to one hit through five innings, he wasn’t as economical as Walla had been at all, throwing 67 pitches with a bunch of longer counts and requiring more outfield assistance as well. (looks at the hole left by Jaden Wilson in shallow center) The score was 3-0 after five, as Joel Starr doubled home Corral with two outs in the bottom 5th, but was then tagged out trying to retreat to second base after going halfway to third base for a greedy triple that wasn’t meant to be.

Top 6th, and things got chewy. Palacios led off the inning with a double to right, which was never good, and scored after a 1-out Merrill single and Ramirez’ sac fly. Alvey then felt the need to fill the bases with a walk to Robles and drilling Dominguez, but Brantly flew out easily to Spicer to leave the bases loaded. Alvey added another 1-2-3 seventh after that and brought the 3-1 score to the stretch, to which the Raccoons added a run in the bottom 7th when Corral tripled and scored immediately on Novelo’s sac fly, 4-1. Jorge Quinones got the ball for the eighth and immediately had Kyle Reber reach base on a throwing error by Arantes, but retired the next three batters to get out of the inning himself. He got one more out from the lefty-hitting Dominguez before Dover took over for the final two outs from Brantly and Burchell. 4-1 Raccoons. Wilson 1-1; Corral 3-3, 3B; Alvey 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (4-2);

Rich Monck did not appear in this game, only the second game all year that he did not feature in at all. The Raccoons left him in the on-deck circle by going down in order in the bottom 8th. Joel Starr had only missed four games so far, and Jaden Wilson had missed six, although it looked like that number was going to go up.

However, there was no immediately available diagnosis for Wilson, so the Raccoons would play the final game of the series a set of paws short.

Game 3
MIL: RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – SS Brantly – LF C. Dominguez – 3B Reber – C Guitreau – 1B D. Robles – 2B Willoughby – P J. Robles
POR: RF Corral – SS Novelo – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Colter – C Flowe – CF Tallent – 2B Caballero – P Nakayama

Tommy Guitreau returned to the lineup on Wednesday, but the Loggers managed to go up 1-0 in the first without him as Merrill and Brantly put a run together on a pair of doubles to right. The top of the order produced another run in the third inning, as Wright and Merrill reached base and Dominguez singled home his fellow corner outfielder, but Reber and Guitreau then made poor outs. Nakayama kept falling apart after that, allowing a leadoff walk to Dave Robles in the fourth inning before giving up back-to-back doubles to the 8-9 hitters, giving two RBI’s to Julio Robles. Mound counseling got him two more outs from Wright and Merill, but he then got bopped for an RBI double by Brantly and an RBI single by Dominguez, and unceremoniously removed from the 6-0 game. Schmieder replaced him, and poured oil onto the fire by allowing a triple into the leftfield corner to Reber, 7-0, before Guitreau popped out.

What little offense the Raccoons had disappeared in double plays hit into in the fourth and fifth innings, and Schmieder reached on an error to begin the sixth before being forced by Corral, who was forced out by Novelo, who didn’t get around to score either. Schmieder had gotten seven outs for no issues so far, then suddenly filled the bases to begin the seventh inning; Dominguez and Reber singled, Guitreau walked, Robles hit a big double… and I just put the sleep mask on and rolled into a ball beneath the pillows. One of those games! I only missed Guitreau taking Pedro Mendoza deep in the ninth inning, and the Coons getting a pair of unearned runs as Julio Robles was undone by his own defense, and Reber especially, in a bottom of the ninth during which the ballpark was rapidly emptying already. 12-2 Loggers. Corral 2-5, RBI; Monck 2-4; Caballero 1-2, 2 BB, 2B;

Thursday was a travel day to Dallas, although Jaden Wilson remained home, having been shunted to the DL with a herniated disc. He was probably out for the rest of the month, but would return in September.

Raccoons (49-65) @ Stars (75-38) – August 13-15, 2066

The Stars had another lightyears-sized lead in the FL West, so I was hoping they would not stomp on the Critters too hard, and instead conserve forces for October ball. Please? The Texans had won five in a row, led the Federal League in runs scored, but unlike the Loggers were also competently pitching and allowed the second-fewest runs. They had a +165 run differential. Yeah of course they were gonna stomp us! The Coons had lost two of three meeting the Stars last year, and had lost the last two series played between these two teams.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (2-3, 4.03 ERA) vs. Alan Deakin (11-6, 4.09 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (6-8, 3.71 ERA) vs. Willie Valdez (2-0, 4.56 ERA)
Nick Walla (10-7, 3.42 ERA) vs. Andy Canada (10-2, 2.56 ERA)

The Stars had not been off on Thursday; Valdez was an injury replacement for “Crabman” Walker, who was out for until late September at least. The Stars were also without thundering outfielder Chad Pritchett and Juan de Luna, and hoping to get all the pieces back in time for the postseason. We would begin the series facing another southpaw, Deakin.

The Raccoons called up Carlos Matas as a defensive centerfield option. To get him back on the 40-man roster, the Raccoons first had to claw Sandy Pineda from the minor-league DL and put him on the 60-day DL to free up a roster spot.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Arantes – 1B Starr – 2B Caballero – CF Tallent – P Gaytan
DAL: LF C. Bautista – 2B Maudlin – CF Wharton – 3B X. Reyes – 1B Fresco – C Bothe – SS R. Vargas – RF Robichaud – P Deakin

The Raccoons jumped out to an unearned 2-0 lead in the first inning, which began with a Corral single and a 2-base throwing error by Xavier Reyes, that put Corral and Novelo in scoring position. Lopez hit an RBI single, Monck hit a sac fly, and the inning fizzled out after that. That was the Raccoons’ offense – earned or not – for the early innings, while Dallas from the start made solid contact against Gaytan. This went well for a while, with enough contact made right at the defense, but a sharp single by Reyes, Belchior Fresco’s smacked RBI double, and a 2-out RBI single by Ricardo Vargas would tie the game in the fourth inning. However – Portland was right back on top by two in the fifth thanks to a lazy homer by Rich Monck out of the Dallas shoebox, this one coming with two outs and Lopez on base; but Gaytan couldn’t make it last and was chewed up in the bottom of the same inning. Deakin singled, which was always great, to begin the inning, and then he lost Carlos Bautista in a full count. Jeff Maudlin struck out, but Lopez catastrophically threw away Tyler Wharton’s infield roller for two bases and a run, and Xavier Reyes drove the nails in with a 2-run single. Gaytan crawled out of the inning, but trailed 5-4, and had the little consolation offered by all three runs in the bottom 5th being unearned on the Lopez error.

And he was also taken off the hook after a sixth inning in which nobody reached, Portland pitching duties being taken over by McMahan. Spicer batted for the southpaw to begin the seventh and singled, then stole his 30th base of the year and scored on a Novelo single to tie the game at five. Lopez hit another single, but another Monck drive came up short and was caught, and the inning ended with Arantes flying out.

The Stars got seven innings from Deakin (two of whose runs were unearned as well) and two outs from Mike Rocheford before he left with an injury. The Coons followed Gaytan and McMahan with Justin Cullum, who retired four straight Stars before Reyes hit a 1-out double in the bottom 8th and Fresco managed to leg out an infield single. Runners on the corners, he fell to 3-1 on Jason Bothe, but the catcher then hit the ball at Monck, and a 5-4-3 double play ended the inning…! Still tied, the Stars had Roberto Ramirez retire the Raccoons in order in the ninth inning before Pedro Mendoza came up against the Stars’ bottom of the order in the ninth, but walked Vargas and saw Jared Rochibaud reach on an error by Starr. Tony Villarreal bunted the runners into scoring position, and while Bruce Burkart pinch-hit for a comebacker to spare his former teammates the loss for another 30 seconds, another pinch-hitter, Ben Marmie, singled through the right side to end the game. 6-5 Stars. Corral 2-5; Lopez 3-3, RBI; Spicer (PH) 1-2; Cullum 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – 3B Colter – SS Novelo – CF Tallent – P Sanchez
DAL: 3B X. Reyes – 1B Fresco – CF Wharton – C Bothe – 2B Maudlin – RF T. Pritchard – SS Robichaud – LF C. Bautista – P W. Valdez

Bad weather was in the forecast, so an early lead could be worth a lot. The Raccoons obliged, Corral walking to begin the game before Spicer singled and Ramon Lopez cranked a 3-run homer over the fence in left. However, the weather turned sour not after five innings, but after ONE, and we had a 1:15 rain delay in the top 2nd. Sanchez had thrown 17 pitches in the first inning against the Stars and was good to return for the time being, but it didn’t look like the weather was done with this game yet.

Nor were the Stars, who slapped Sanchez for a Bothe single – 18-game hitting streak there – a Tommy Prichard RBI double, and an RBI single by Carlos Bautista to shorten the score to 3-2 in the bottom 2nd, and he gave up two more loud hits to Fresco and Bothe in the third inning before getting yanked; Willie Valdez had also been removed for Brad Walker in the top of the inning. Quinones replaced Sanchez, got two outs to escape the jam, but then returned for the bottom 4th and retired … nobody. He walked Robichaud, Bautista singled, Vargas walked, Reyes doubled home two, and Fresco singled in another run. Schmieder replaced him, got two outs – including Tyler Wharton singing Novelo’s glove with a HARD lineout – and then got completely demolished as well as Maudlin doubled, Pritchard singled, Robichaud singled, Bautista singled, Vargas walked, Reyes singled, and Fresco ******* finally flew out, but by then the Stars had scored nine, and the Raccoons were getting shoved down a woodchipper once more. Tyler Wharton then homered off Piteira in the fifth, making the Dallas dozen full in four-plus innings…

Piteira hung around long enough to give up another home run to Wharton down the road, which would count for three runs in a 4-run seventh for the Stars. The Raccoons had by then completely disappeared, as usual, and Novelo was up once again to pitch a garbage inning in the eighth. Marmie hit a single off him, but was caught stealing, and should I get a hold of him in the parking a lot, I would tear out all his toe- and fingernails, because what did that ******* ****** have to steal bases in a 13-run game??? Novelo didn’t allow a run – how novelo! – but the Raccoons didn’t have a base hit after the second inning in another complete embarrassment. 16-3 Stars. Lopez 1-2, BB, HR, 3 RBI;

Useless piece of **** Matt Schmieder (0-1, 8.36 ERA) was off the roster by Sunday, and the Raccoons brought back Yamauchi.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – 3B Colter – SS Novelo – CF Tallent – P Walla
DAL: 3B X. Reyes – 2B Maudlin – SS Yocum – CF Wharton – 1B Fresco – C Bothe – RF Marmie – LF C. Bautista – P Canada

Bothe extended his hitting streak with a solo jack against Walla in the second inning, which was the first run of the ballgame. While the Raccoons played being invisible again, the Stars would crowd Walla in the fourth inning by getting Wharton and Fresco on base with one out. Bothe hit a sac fly to right, 2-0, and Marmie singled, but Bautista then popped out to end the inning.

With Walla’s pitch count already right up there at 61, the Raccoons threatened to empty their bullpen again, with the associated fireworks. Joel Starr though hit a homer off Canada leading off the fifth inning, which unexpectedly narrowed the score down to 2-1. After that, three straight outs were made to finish the inning, and while Corral struck a double to center in the sixth inning, neither Spicer nor Lopez proved of any use in tying up this ballgame. Monck popped out to begin the seventh against Canada, but Starr singled to left. Colter popped out, but Novelo singled, and then Tallent found a hole on the right side and shoved a third single through there. Starr came around to score from second base, the game was tied, and with a pair of runners still on base and two outs, Arantes would bat for Walla – but lined out to Fresco; however, Walla at least didn’t catch a loss, nor did McMahan for a scoreless seventh.

Lefty David Figueroa was on the hill for Dallas in the eighth and retired Corral before Spicer pushed a single up the middle and stole second base. That gave four wide ones to Lopez, and Monck cracked a liner to the left side – but right at Reyes for the second out. Starr also hit a liner – but Maudlin dove for it and snatched it to end the inning. Robbery!!

The offense didn’t do any heroics in the ninth inning, either, while Cullum followed Yamauchi in trying to keep the Stars in the tie inning by inning. Cullum got two outs from Bothe and Pritchard to begin the inning, but was then singled to death with two outs by Bautista, Vargas, and Reyes for a walkoff….. 3-2 Stars. Starr 2-4, HR, RBI; Tallent 2-4, RBI;

In other news

August 9 – DEN SP Juan Ybarra (4-8, 3.74 ERA) and MR Ricky Baca (3-6, 6.33 ERA) pitch a combined 1-hitter against the Wolves, who get beaten 5-1 with nothing but a single by LF/RF Kyle Grulke (.280, 10 HR, 35 RBI) to show for.
August 13 – The Cyclones beat the Thunder, 5-4, in 14 innings after seven consecutive innings of no scoring.
August 15 – Crusaders INF/RF/LF Omar Sanchez (.275, 1 HR, 44 RBI) connects for two hits in an 8-5 win against the Pacifics, including getting his 3,000th career hit, a double off LAP MR Jim Schaubert (1-0, 2.06 ERA, 2 SV).

FL Player of the Week: DAL 3B/SS/LF Xavier Reyes (.336, 3 HR, 42 RBI), clipping .500 (13-26) with 1 HR, 12 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC LF/RF Kazuhide Takeuchi (.308, 26 HR, 92 RBI), bashing .346 (9-26) with 4 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Getting swept by the Stars is not the worst thing. The worst thing is putting up another two double digit blowouts this week, including another one against the Loggers. The pitching staff remains entirely dysfunctional and needs to get torched wholesale.

Almost wholesale. Walla threw a shutout after all to begin the week.

Nothing else to report, really. We’re just counting the games to the merciful conclusion of the season.

Off day on Monday to travel home on, and then we will have a 13-game homestand against the Cyclones, Crusaders, damn Elks, and Condors.

Yes, I can’t make myself call them their actual name, EVEN IF I AM RUINING A FOUR-LEG ALLITERATION WITH IT!!

Fun Fact: Omar Sanchez has led the CL in WAR four times despite having fewer career home runs than “Berto” Ramos.

Ramos had 20 homers. Sanchez has 19.

Apart from that, Sanchez, age 37 by now, was a career .308/.425/.382 hitter with three batting titles, had seven times led the CL in OBP, and twice in stolen bases. A persistent threat, and a career Crusader, the generational scouting discovery was just plonking away from whatever infield spot the Crusaders felt like using him in any given year, although more than half of his career innings played had come as shortstop.

Sanchez sat now at 3,000 hits, including 427 doubles and 117 triples, had 885 RBI, and 711 stolen bases. The latter stat put him just 41 behind career stolen base leader Lonzo Lavorano, who had retired with 752, and Sanchez had already stolen 22 bags this year. He was third overall in steals, as Pablo Sanchez – no relation – was still in between with his 721 steals.

For silverware, Sanchez had two rings, a Player of the Year award (2060), three Gold Gloves, two Platinum Sticks, and had been an All Star ten times.