[Westheim]

Raccoons (54-76) @ Falcons (65-63) – August 30-September 1, 2066

The weeklong trip opened in Charlotte with the last three games against the Falcons, with whom we were currently having a tied season series. They ranked eighth in runs scored, but fourth in runs allowed and were solidly outside of where you could still dream about the playoffs. Notably, outfielders Cody Padgett and Tony Garcia were on the DL for them. Rosters would expand for the finale of this series.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (2-5, 5.18 ERA) vs. Jose Lugo (7-9, 3.86 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (6-8, 3.63 ERA) vs. Aaron Ledbetter (13-9, 4.11 ERA)
Nick Walla (10-8, 3.87 ERA) vs. Edgar Mauricio (10-15, 3.70 ERA)

Only right-handers in the Falcons’ rotation!

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – LF Colter – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 2B Arantes – SS Novelo – P Gaytan
CHA: 3B J. Schmidt – LF J. Black – C O. Matos – 1B M. Rubin – RF Nakamura – SS Tr. Taylor – 2B Duhe – CF S. Brown – P Jo. Lugo

The Raccoons quickly took a 1-0 lead with Ramon Lopez’ triple to right and Rich Monck’s single through the right side before Starr grounded out to end the top of the first inning, and Corral and Arantes got on base to begin the second inning before John Schmidt’s big throwing error on Novelo’s grounder to third base gave everybody two bases and a second run to the Critters. Gaytan, eager to stop losing, slapped an RBI single through the left side of the infield, and Jaden Wilson’s sac fly made it 4-0. Colter singled, as did Lopez, loading the bases. Monck dished a fly to deep center, but that was tracked down by Scott Brown, holding him to another sac fly, and Starr’s K ended the 4-run inning (two earned). On the hill, Gaytan opened with three fine innings of 1-hit ball, even though he ran a few full counts, which was always such a bugaboo for me.

Gaytan reached base again in the fourth, albeit on another error by Schmidt, and was quickly forced out by Wilson. Rich Monck went yard to right for his 18th homer to begin the fifth inning, 6-0, and Jose Corral narrowly missed a home run, hitting a 1-out double high off the wall in left. Novelo was walked intentionally with two outs, but Gaytan chipped another RBI single against Phil Baker before Brown robbed extra bases again, this time from Wilson, ending the inning with two left on base. All the baserunning appeared like it was taking its toll on Gaytan, who was getting hit harder in the bottom 5th, with Trent Taylor doubling to let and Jared Duhe getting a walk out of him, but Brown now hit into a double play to allow him out of that inning. The sixth was easier, even though Schmidt singled and was caught stealing. Schmidt then made a third error in the top 7th on another Novelo grounder, which put him and Leon Arantes on the corners with two outs for Gaytan, which by now should concern the Falcons. Jayden Craddock still hadn’t gotten the memo that Gaytan was a slugger now and got burned for a 2-run double into the leftfield corner on the first pitch he handed to Gaytan! Wilson then reached on a Duhe error (…!), but Brown remained master of his corner of real estate out there and took a Colter drive away to end the inning.

The Coons reached double digits when Corral singled home Monck in the eighth inning for a 10-0 lead, while Gaytan kept going out there every half-inning and got three more outs in the bottom 8th, but that would be all for him, despite a sparkling 3-hitter on the scoreboard, as he was on 110 pitches through eight. Sean Thomas would get the last three outs in order from the Falcons. 10-0 Furballs! Lopez 3-5, 3B, 2B; Monck 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Corral 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Arantes 2-5, 2B; Gaytan 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (3-5) and 3-4, 2B, 4 RBI;

Tony Gaytan!! (grins from fuzzy ear to fuzzy ear!)

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Spicer – 2B Arantes – SS Novelo – P Sanchez
CHA: 3B J. Schmidt – LF J. Black – C O. Matos – 1B M. Rubin – SS Tr. Taylor – 2B Duhe – RF Nakamura – CF S. Brown – P Ledbetter

Both teams had two singles and a double play in the first inning – but the Coons did not score, while the Falcons got Schmidt and Black to the corners before Oscar Matos put them up 1-0 with a 6-4-3 double play, and then they hit another two singles with Manny Rubin and Trent Taylor before Duhe bounced out to end an inning that somehow only took 13 pitches from Juan Sanchez. Spicer singled, stole second, and was stranded in the next inning, while Sanchez remained adrift. Bottom 3rd, he allowed a leadoff double to Matos, walked Taylor and Nakamura, but Brown then popped out on an 0-2 pitch to keep the score at 1-0 through three. It was a dismal showing from Sanchez, though, and the pen was stirring in the fourth, although Sanchez would last through five innings eventually.

The Coons took him off the hook in the sixth with a Wilson double to lead off and a shy 2-out single by Monck, tying the score at one, and Sanchez retired the 6-7-8 batters in order in that inning before going to bed. Top 7th, Spicer led off with a double up the rightfield line before advancing on an Arantes grounder. Novelo walked unintentionally, and Colter struck out in Sanchez’ spot before Wilson flew out to Brown, who was always popping up where the ball was.

The Raccoons then had a complete meltdown once more in the bottom 7th, and it wasn’t only on Justin Cullum, even though he walked the ******* opposing pitcher to begin the inning. Schmidt singled Ledbetter to third, but Ledbetter also tore out a leg there and had to be run for with Raul Ontiveros, who scored on Black’s groundout. Schmidt then tried to steal third base on the first pitch to Matos, and Lopez threw the ball past Monck for an error, allowing Schmidt to score, 3-1. Cullum finished the inning against Matos and Rubin, then screamed and bit into his glove on the way to the dugout. Yamauchi got the eighth, allowed a triple to Taylor and an RBI single to Duhe, and was replaced with Mendoza, who got three groundouts from the bottom of the order. Jason Stine put the Raccoons’ Tallent, Spicer, and Arantes away in order in the ninth inning. 4-1 Falcons. Wilson 2-4, 2B; Spicer 2-4, 2B;

And then – snap! – September. The Raccoons could bring up even more players that weren’t worth oxygen nor vowels. There really wasn’t anything to write home about in the additions: Josh C, Barton, Soriano, and Vinny Morales for pitchers; Marcos Arellano as third catcher; and Manny Arredondo and John Bentley for extra sticks / bench warmers.

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – RF Colter – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – 2B Arantes – C Flowe – LF Spicer – SS Novelo – P Walla
CHA: 3B J. Schmidt – LF S. Brown – C O. Matos – SS Tr. Taylor – 2B Duhe – RF S. Gil – 1B J. Black – CF Fountain – P E. Mauricio

Walla remained off kilter and allowed a quick run on singles by John Schmidt, who stole second, and Scott Brown in the bottom 1st, then slowly and painfully filled the bases with yet more runners before getting a double play grounder to escape. He didn’t get into many good counts at all in the early innings, but at least the Falcons didn’t get any more hits to fall into the field in the early innings. The Coons brought up the minimum against Mauricio in three innings, but then exploited the sudden absence of Scott Brown in centerfield when Wilson led off the fourth with a triple over the head of Elijah Fountain, and then scored right away on a Colter double, also to center. Starr and Monck had productive outs to get Colter across home plate, flipping the score to 2-1 for Portland.

The defense kept Walla going, while Jaden Wilson led off another inning with a triple, going to right for three bases in the sixth inning. This time, Colter scored him with a sac fly, 3-1, and the Raccoons then filled the bases with the 3-4-5 batters as Starr walked, Monck reached on an error by Duhe, and Arantes hit a soft single. Jake Flowe, however, bounced into a 4-6-3 double play to prevent any tack-on runs from being scored.

Walla got only two more outs, allowing a leadoff single to Oscar Matos in the bottom 6th. The runner was caught stealing – second inning in a row after Schmidt had been caught stealing in the fifth – but Duhe hit another single with two outs and the Raccoons brought McMahan for the upcoming left-handers, of whom he retired Sal Gil to end the sixth, but Justin Black singled to lead off the seventh. McMahan got two outs, including Fountain forcing out Black, then was replaced with Carrington to face Schmidt, who singled on the only pitch Carrington threw. At this point, the runners were on the corners with two outs in a 3-1 game. Jorge Quinones entered the contest, and Schmidt attempted to steal second on the first pitch to PH Manny Rubin. Flowe’s throw went past Novelo, Fountain scored, Schmidt went to third base, and from there Quinones plated him with a wild pitch. Tied ballgame. (facepaws noisily) And then Rubin homered to left. (wails)

The Falcons then put another 3-spot on the terrific duo of Barton and Thomas in the eighth inning, the latter absorbing most of the brunt, giving up another homer to Elijah Fountain in the process. The Raccoons went in order in the last two innings against Mauricio, who went eight, and Alvaro Garza. 7-3 Falcons. Wilson 2-4, 2 3B; Arantes 2-3;

Raccoons (55-78) @ Titans (90-42) – September 2-5, 2066

I’d be surprised if the Titans, who led the division by 14 games, wouldn’t nail us into the losing zone for the year with a sweep, giving us 82 losses. Boston was on a 5-game winning streak, fourth in runs scored, but allowing the fewest runs by far in the CL. They had a +187 run differential, and should get to 200 easily in this set. The Coons were at -193. Funnily enough though, the season series was only at 6-5 for Boston. They were without Steve Humphries, who would return before October, and Cesar Pena and Jose Gomez, who would very much not.

Projected matchups:
Evan Alvey (4-3, 3.77 ERA) vs. Matt Taylor (17-4, 2.53 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (7-12, 3.98 ERA) vs. Bryce Wallace (9-9, 3.12 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (3-5, 4.62 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (5-4, 3.83 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (6-8, 3.55 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (18-2, 1.76 ERA)

Another set with only right-handed opposition…

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Colter – SS Novelo – 2B Bonner – P Alvey
BOS: SS I. Diaz – RF Joe Washington – CF Marcotte – 3B Z. Suggs – C Arviso – 1B Joyner – 2B Onelas – LF S. Leon – P Ma. Taylor

No runs were scored and the two pitchers both threw just over 30 pitches when on-and-off rain grew into an hour-sized rain delay in the middle of the fourth inning. Alvey had not allowed a hit to the Titans yet, while the Raccoons were on three hits against Taylor, and had persistently fumbled them, with two double plays and Monck pretending that he had doubled when in fact he only had a single to begin the top of the second inning, and finding himself thrown out at second base.

Colter and Novelo hit 1-out singles in the fifth inning, the latter then being forced out on Ryan Bonner’s grounder to short. Taylor inexplicably lost Alvey to ball four in a full ground, bringing up Wilson with three on and two down, after which he got what he deserved: a pair of 2-run doubles smacked by Wilson and Corral, another RBI single for Lopez, and five runs on the board for the Critters! Tah!

The Titans had yet to make it into the H column, which they did with Sergio Leon’s sixth-inning double, but the runner was left on base. Willie Mendoza, left-hander then allowed another run to the Critters in the seventh inning, giving up three singles to Corral, Monck, and Starr, the first-sacker netting the RBI that made it 6-0. Alvey meanwhile ran out of fizz in the bottom 7th, allowed a run on a walk and two hits, that RBI going to Marcos Onelas, before being lifted for Yamauchi, who conceded the runs on a Leon single and Andy Lee’s groundout, then walked Israel Diaz, threw a wild pitch, and walked Joe Washington, too. Bases loaded, Dover was sent in, but proved quite useless as well, giving up another two runs on a 3-2 single by Eddie Marcotte before Zach Suggs grounded out; now the Titans had had their own 5-run inning, and the pretty lead was sliced down to 6-5… McMahan struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth, and the ninth went to Cullum after the Raccoons were unable to create any insurance runs against the Boston bullpen. The right-hander retired lefty pinch-hitters Bobby Ellwood and Jeremy Rushworth, but then allowed a double to right to Diaz. Joe Washington hit a fly to right, where Randy Tallent had ended up, and Tallent went back and made the catch on the warning track. 6-5 Coons. Corral 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Lopez 2-5, RBI; Monck 2-5; Bonner 2-4;

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – 3B Colter – SS Novelo – LF Spicer – P Nakayama
BOS: SS I. Diaz – 2B Onelas – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – RF Joe Washington – LF A. Lee – 1B Ellwood – 3B Macomber – P B. Wallace

Nakayama lost Diaz to a walk to begin his Friday out in the park, but Diaz tagged up to get to second base on Onelas’ fly out to Corral, and was thrown out for a 9-6 double play there. Bryce Wallace was the next batter to reach base with a 2-out single in the bottom 3rd, but was stranded; however, by this point he had not allowed a base runner to the Critters, but then walked Jaden Wilson leading off the fourth. Corral singled to right, sending Wilson to third base, from where he scored on another single by Lopez. Monck whiffed and Starr hit into a double play to end the inning then. A throwing error by Phil Macomber would put Novelo on second base in the fifth, but the Raccoons left him there.

Boston woke up in the sixth and tied the game when Diaz walked, stole second, and immediately dallied home on an Onelas single to left-center. Nakayama then took Marcotte’s comebacker to second base and got Jorge Arviso with another groundout to get out of this inning. He would get a no-decision for his efforts, as he was lifted in the seventh when Bill Joyner dropped in a pinch-hit single with two outs in Ellwood’s spot. Brendan Snyder then batted for Macomber, and was met with Pedro Mendoza and struck out.

Mendoza then put Zach Suggs on base to begin the bottom 8th. Diaz forced out the lead runner before Soriano came in for the right-handed Onelas and Marcotte and without blinking put them on base to make it three on and one out. McMahan was not available, but amazingly Quinones proved useful against Arviso, who hit a grounder to Colter at third base, who fired home to get the lead runner Diaz out, and then PH Sergio Leon grounded out to Novelo; and the game remained tied at one through eight innings. Starr slapped a single against Tyler Gleason in the ninth inning, but that was as far as the Raccoons got in those late innings.

The game went to extras when the Titans got the winning run to second base with two singles by Dustin Archambeau and Ivan Berrios with two outs in the inning, but then Diaz grounded out. The Titans had two on again facing Yamauchi in the bottom 10th as Onelas singled and Marcotte walked, but then Starr snagged a liner by Arviso, and Leon and Ricardo Alvarez made poor outs and the Titans let the Critters get away again. The Raccoons went to an all-new battery in the bottom 11th, double-switching in Vinny Morales and Jake Flowe. Morales needed six pitches to get three outs in the 11th inning. Onelas drew a walk in the 12th, but got nowhere, and Flowe led off the 13th with a single to right against Willie Mendoza. John Bentley was in the #9 spot after an earlier double switch and bunted him to second base. Marquise Early ran for Flowe from there, but Wilson and Corral both struck out and that was that; Arellano became the third catcher of the day then, and cost the game when he lost a 2-2 pitch to Damian Moreno between his useless legs when the Titans had runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom 13th, and Sergio Leon scampered home from third base with the winning run on that play. 2-1 Titans. Corral 2-6; Flowe 1-1; Nakayama 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K and 1-2;

Arf.

Jaden Wilson and Joel Starr each got a day off on Saturday.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – LF Colter – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 2B Arantes – CF Tallent – 1B Spicer – SS Novelo – P Gaytan
BOS: 2B Onelas – 1B Joyner – C Arviso – RF Joe Washington – LF A. Lee – SS R. Huerta – CF Ellwood – 3B Macomber – P Glaude

The Titans came apart for five runs right in the first inning; it started with hits as Corral singled, Colter doubled, and Lopez hit an RBI single. Monck grounded out to make it 2-0, and Arantes’ single plated Lopez to get to 3-0, but the next two batters, Tallent and Spicer, reached on errors by Macomber and Onelas to fill the bases, and allowed Novelo to drive in two more doubly-unearned runs before Gaytan struck out and Corral flew out to right. But the Raccoons then threatened to lay just as big an egg in the bottom of the inning. Onelas flew out to right against Gaytan to begin the inning, but then Joyner singled, Arviso walked, and Joe Washington reached on an error by Gaytan, who got mound counseling and then struck out Andy Lee, but Raul Huerta hit a sharp grounder to left that Novelo intercepted, but had no play on, and an unearned run scored. Ellwood popped out to Monck on an 0-2 pitch to end the inning with three Titans left on base.

To my great relief, Gaytan then settled in and did away with the Titans quite efficiently in the following innings. Through five innings, he didn’t allow another run, and the Titans never had more than one runner in an inning, and in the fourth they had none. Glaude soldiered on through five innings before being replaced with righty Luis Lerma, but Gaytan continued, striking out Washington and Lee in a 1-2-3 sixth, although his pitch count reached 88 by that point.

Top 7th, Colter and Lopez led off with knocks against Lerma and went to the corners. Monck lobbed a ball over the glove of Huerta for an RBI single, extending the lead to 6-1 and plating the first run since the opening frame of the game. Arantes hit another single to load the bases, from where Tallent tried to crash into a run-scoring 6-4-3 double play, but Huerta’s throw to Onelas was poor and Onelas had to stretch, taking away the chance for a second out. Spicer added a sac fly, but the inning ended with Novelo grounding out. Gaytan finished seven innings even though his middle infielders tried to backstab him, each making an error in the bottom 7th to put runners on the corners; but Joyner flew out to center to keep them there. The Titans did get a run off Sean Thomas in the eighth inning, which the left-hander plated himself with a wild pitch with two outs (…), but Carrington had a 1-2-3 ninth. 8-2 Raccoons. Corral 2-5; Colter 2-5, 2 2B; Lopez 2-5, RBI; Arantes 3-5, RBI; Gaytan 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (4-5);

That was 15 innings without allowing an earned run for Gaytan this week!

Game 4
POR: CF Wilson – 2B Arantes – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – RF Corral – C Flowe – LF Early – SS Arredondo – P Sanchez
BOS: SS I. Diaz – 2B Onelas – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – 1B Joyner – RF A. Lee – 3B I. Berrios – LF Ellwood – P Brenize

Brenize axed the Raccoons quickly in the first, but was taken well deep to dead center by Rich Monck for his 19th homer in the second inning, giving Portland a 1-0 lead. Corral worked a walk, but was doubled up by Flowe, and the Titans tied the game back up in the bottom 2nd with an Arviso double, a Joyner grounder and Sanchez’ own wild pitch… Ellwood hit a leadoff single in the bottom 3rd, but Brenize bunted into a double play there. Monck then drove another ball to the warning track in left in the fourth inning, but that one ended up being caught by Ellwood.

The Raccoons had no hits other than Monck’s homer until the fifth inning when Brenize, on six strikeouts, allowed a single to center to Jake Flowe, which was a thing that could happen even to the Jason Brenizes of the world, however, the homer that Marquise Early – MARQUISE EARLY!! – then hit to give the Raccoons a 3-1 lead was genuinely hard to explain. Brenize got mighty angry after that and cranked up the strikeouts, which included striking out the 4-5-6 batters in order in the seventh, AND the 7-8-9 batters in the eighth inning!

And Sanchez? He was still hanging around and also went through eight innings. He used the defense a lot more than Brenize, who struck out a dozen before getting pinch-hit for in a 1-2-3 Boston bottom 8th. Tony Castellanos came into the top 9th, allowed a single to Wilson and walked Arantes, and a double steal put the insurance runs in scoring position. Tyler Gleason came in, walked Starr half-heartedly, and then got an out at home from Monck and struck out Corral. Novelo batted for Flowe and struck a 2-run single to left. Early dropped a bloop single in shallow left, loading the bases again, but Ramon Lopez batted for Arredondo and grounded out to short, leaving three on base. That stopped the rally short of Sanchez, who then resumed pitching. Eddie Marcotte drew a walk in the bottom of the ninth, but the Titans couldn’t get the balls to fall in and ended up getting 4-hit by Sanchez on their way to dropping the series to the Raccoons! 5-1 Critters! Novelo (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Early 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Sanchez 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (7-8);

In other news

September 2 – The Blue Sox lose their closer Curt Carter (7-2, 2.56 ERA, 33 SV) to ulnar nerve irritation that will keep him rehabbing for all of the winter.
September 3 – It takes 12 innings for a run, any run, to score in the Buffaloes’ 1-0 win against the Cyclones.
September 5 – A broken kneecap ends the season of Condors outfielder Matt Ewig (.260, 12 HR, 50 RBI).
September 5 – The season of Warriors OF/1B Soh Tanaka (.290, 3 HR, 47 RBI) ends with a torn ACL, which might cost him the start of the 2067 season as well.

FL Player of the Week: DAL INF/RF/CF Jeff Maudlin (.285, 5 HR, 62 RBI), batting .414 (12-29) with 1 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL OF/2B Tim Goss (.291, 5 HR, 51 RBI), clicking .545 (12-22) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.327, 23 HR, 80 RBI), batting .321 with 8 HR, 24 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: NYC LF/RF Kazuhide Takeuchi (.311, 26 HR, 102 RBI), hitting .337 with 5 HR, 23 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DAL SP Alex Quevedo (15-5, 1.95 ERA), going 4-1 with a 1.46 ERA, 46 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: NYC SP Jerry Washington (16-5, 3.08 ERA), throwing for a 5-1 record with 1.99 ERA, 33 K
FL Rookie of the Month: RIC LF/CF/2B Darby Laybolt (.288, 8 HR, 37 RBI), batting .313 with 6 HR, 17 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: SFB OF Jake Ward (.289, 5 HR, 30 RBI), going .324 with 3 HR, 17 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Now, that was a stunning upset on the weekend, winning three of four games from the Titans, and losing the fourth game only in the 13th inning when it was easily winnable (and for quite a while) before that. Too bad it’s all wasted on a 96-loss season. Beating Brenize in the finale was also odd, especially with the Marquise Early homer out of the blue.

Of course the Crusaders somehow managed to get swept by the Indians, so the Titans didn’t even lose ground in the standings and are pretty much through to the playoffs already. There is no thrill to this September, really, with the closest “race” being 8 1/2 games with four weeks to go.

The Raccoons play the Indians and Loggers next week.

Fun Fact: Jason Brenize has allowed three runs only for the fifth time all year on Sunday, and two homers for the first time all season!

Am I unhealthily obsessed with Jason Brenize?

Well, if someone who just turned 30 is on his way to a sixth Pitcher of the Year award, maybe you want to circle on the calendar when he’s gonna be a free agent.

Stop huffing and puffing, Cristiano, he’s under contract through 2068.