Raccoons (22-15) @ Crusaders (20-16) – May 16-19, 2067
The unreasonably high-riding Raccoons were off to New York for a 4-game set then, which should adjust expectations accordingly. The Crusaders had won 11 of 18 games from the Coons last year, and were off to a solid start with ranks of fourth in runs scored and third in runs allowed, but were emotionally still reeling from the departure of Ben Seiter, and were without the injured Bryant Box and Omar Sanchez, so the base paths might be a bit calmer than normal during this series.
Projected matchups:
Ryan Musgrave (2-2, 3.19 ERA) vs. Ben Peterson (2-2, 2.57 ERA)
Nick Walla (4-1, 2.68 ERA) vs. Jerry Washington (5-2, 3.72 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (3-2, 3.71 ERA) vs. Ramon Carreno (1-1, 3.29 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (3-3, 3.58 ERA) vs. Carlos Torres (3-1, 3.98 ERA)
Peterson was the only southpaw the Raccoons would face in this set.
Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Dowsey – LF Early – RF Tallent – 2B C. Gutierrez – P Musgrave
NYC: CF Reyna – LF Ambriz – 1B Starwalt – C D. Johnson – RF Takeuchi – 2B Labonte – 3B Villarreal – SS O. Vera – P B. Peterson
Musgrave allowed singles to Victor Reyna and Jose Ambriz in the first, but would get a double play grounder out of David Johnson to get out of the inning; however, Musgrave then hit into a double play himself to end the second inning after Marquise Early led off with a double and Carlos Gutierrez reached on an error by Omar Verga, putting runners on the corners with one gone in the top 2nd. The first run of the game would score by means of red-hot Rich Monck, who hit a 2-out double off the leftfield wall in the third inning, driving home Novelo from second base. Monck was left on by Dowsey, but the Raccoons tacked on a run in the fourth on unlikely back-to-back doubles from Tallent and Gutierrez.
Starting from the end of the fourth inning, it began to drizzle on and off, and Musgrave squeezed through five complete innings before the clouds broke for a heavy but brief shower in the sixth inning, which was good for a 30-minute rain delay. Musgrave returned for the sixth and was met with another set of Reyna and Ambriz singles – which only made for five Crusaders hits in the game at that point – through the holes, but got outs from Danny Starwalt and Johnson before being replaced against the lefty-hitting Kazuhide Takeuchi. McMahan and Corral entered in a double switch (Early was gone), but Takeuchi legged out an infield single to get a run across before McMahan struck out Paul Labonte to keep the tying and go-ahead runs on base. The Raccoons got the run back though in the top 7th as Gutierrez doubled again and was then driven home by Jaden Wilson with a single, 3-1. Wilson was left on base, and then McMahan allowed soft leadoff singles to Tony Villarreal and Omar Vera in the bottom 7th, neither of which left the infield dirt. Peterson bunted them into scoring position before Josh C replaced the left-hander. Reyna’s sac fly to Corral in right narrowed the score to 3-2, but Ambriz grounded out to Gutierrez to keep the Raccoons narrowly on top. Yamauchi and West then ached around a Starwalt single to lead off the bottom 8th to maintain the lead in that inning, and after Dave Hyman retired the Coons’ 8-9-1 in order in the ninth inning, things didn’t promise to get much easier with a leadoff, four-pitch walk Jesse Dover offered to PH Natsu Nakamura in the bottom 9th. The tying run advanced on Vera’s groundout, and then Jared McLaughlin singled solidly through the right side. The Crusaders sent Nakamura, but Corral threw him out at the plate!! One pitch later, Reyna grounded out to Monck, and the Raccoons dazzled away with a close one! 3-2 Critters. Wilson 2-5, RBI; Gutierrez 2-4, 2 2B, RBI;
The Titans did not play on Monday, while the Loggers knocked off the Indians to take sole possession of first place.
Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B C. Gutierrez – P Walla
NYC: CF Reyna – LF Ambriz – 1B Starwalt – C D. Johnson – RF Takeuchi – 3B Frasher – 2B Labonte – SS O. Vera – P Jer. Washington
Walla, not from Walla Walla, Washington, faced Washington in a game that confused me from the outset. Equally non-sensical was that Walla retired the first seven Crusaders in the game, none on strikes, before giving up an ice-breaking homer to light-hitting shortstop Omar Vera. He got the pitcher before unraveling for three 2-out walks to the 1-2-3 batters, got yelled at by the pitching coach, got Johnson to hit a roller to Monck that had to be bare-pawed, the throw to first was offline, but Starr came off the base and caught it right as he crashed into the catcher, sending equipment flying, but not the ball in Starr’s mitten, and the play was ruled the third out of the inning.
The Coons didn’t get a hit until a Dowsey double with two outs in the fourth, but Starr struck out to keep him on base. Eric Frasher extended the Crusaders’ lead to 2-0 with another homer in the inning, and Walla finally got a K on Vera, but he just didn’t look right in this start. Novelo drew a walk and was singled home by Wilson with two outs in the top 5th to narrow the score to 2-1, and the sixth inning saw no base runners before Joel Starr put one in the seats to tie the game and send Washington packing to lead off the seventh inning. The Raccoons also batted for an off-kilter Walla with two outs and nobody on in the seventh given that he would face three lefty sticks in the bottom 7th. Early struck out in his spot, leaving him with a no-decision.
The Raccoons still couldn’t find the sticks – only four hits in eight innings – while Alvey retired the bottom of the order in the seventh, walked Reyna to begin the eighth, but got Jared McLaughlin pinch-hitting and flying out to right in Ambriz’ place in the eighth. Dover then came in and got a double play grounder from Starwalt to keep the game tied. He looked like he’d also do the ninth, and Chance Fox was getting ready in the pen for eventual extra innings. That never came to pass though, as David Johnson put the winning run on second base with a double to center to begin the ninth inning and then scored on groundouts by Takeuchi and Frasher to end the game on time. 3-2 Crusaders. Dowsey 2-4, 2B;
Rich Monck went 0-for-4 as we feared he might stop setting every pitcher he faced on fire.
Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – 1B Starr – C Aguilar – SS Novelo – 2B C. Gutierrez – P Gaytan
NYC: CF Reyna – LF Ambriz – 1B Starwalt – C D. Johnson – RF Takeuchi – 3B Frasher – 2B Labonte – SS O. Vera – P Carreno
While Gaytan allowed three hits and got two double plays for damage control the first time through the Crusaders order, long-ago Raccoon Ramon Carreno – last seen in the brown shirt in 2059 – retired the Raccoons in order with two strikeouts and zero hard hits in the first three innings, needing just 25 pitches for that feat. Wilson, Corral, and Monck then disappeared for five pitches in the fourth before an Ambriz single and Johnson’s RBI double to left gave New York a 1-0 lead. Carreno remained perfect for 14 batters before Justin Aguilar lobbed a single over the head of another ex-Coon, Paul Labonte, and was left on when Novelo struck out.
Carreno’s stellar outing ended rather unceremoniously after six-plus innings, when Corral led off the seventh with a sharp single to right, and Carreno also felt a sharp twinge in his shoulder and had to leave the game with the trainer. Lefty Ed Nadeau immediately got a double play from Rich Monck to dispel the notion that the Raccoons might suddenly rally. Gaytan went on to pitch eight innings for what would become a complete-game 6-hitter (and also a loss) once the Crusaders’ Manny Gutierrez retired Carlos Gutierrez, Ramon Lopez, and Jaden Wilson on nine pitches in the ninth inning. 1-0 Crusaders. Gaytan 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, L (3-3);
Four Crusaders pitchers combined to deal with the Raccoons on *83* pitches in this game, which took only 2:14 despite the injury break around Carreno.
Game 4
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – LF Colter – 2B Tallent – P Nakayama
NYC: CF Box – LF Ambriz – 1B Starwalt – RF Takeuchi – 3B Frasher – 2B Labonte – C Reyna – SS O. Vera – P C. Torres
Randy Tallent scored go-ahead runs in both the second and fourth innings on getaway day, hitting a 2-run homer with Jamie Colter on base the first time to erase a 1-0 deficit resulting from Ambriz and Takeuchi hits in the bottom 1st, and after the Crusaders tied the game in the bottom 3rd on hits by fresh-off-the-DL-and-trouble Bryant Box and Ambriz, Tallent hit a 1-out single to put himself on base as the go-ahead run, stole second, reached third on a Nakayama single, and then came home on a Jaden Wilson double. Corral lined out to Labonte, but Monck drove in the pair of runners from second and third with a single through the left side, extending the lead to 5-2 and knocking out Carlos Torres already.
Nakayama went five with that 5-2 lead, throwing 72 pitches before an hourlong rain delay – ever a joy on getaway day – ended his outing a bit prematurely. Chance Fox followed with the goal of pitching multiple innings, retiring the Crusaders in the sixth before putting Paul Labonte on base with his own error in the seventh, although Labonte would make the third out by getting himself caught stealing in the inning. Tony Villarreal drew a leadoff walk off Fox in the eighth inning, but was doubled up by Ambriz after Box whiffed for three shutout innings and the minimum faced by Fox. The Raccoons, who couldn’t convert a 1-out triple by Ramon Lopez in the ninth inning, then gave the ball to Josh C in the bottom 9th, who retired Starwalt, Takeuchi, and Frasher in order to allow the Raccoons to leave town with a split. 5-2 Raccoons. Monck 2-5, 2 RBI; Starr 2-5; Tallent 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Nakayama 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, W (4-3) and 1-2; Fox 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;
Raccoons (24-17) vs. Bayhawks (16-26) – May 20-22, 2067
San Fran ranked ninth in runs scored and 11th in runs allowed with a -42 run differential, which was never a great start to these intros. They were bottoms in OBP, and their defense was soggy. In addition to everything else, they had starter Juan Sanchez and regulars Juan Paez and Adan Yniguez away on the DL. Besides elder statesman Armando Montoya (.261, 9 HR, 29 RBI) and Nate Navarre (.295, 6 HR, 25 RBI) their lineup looked spectacularly barren. The Raccoons had won the season series from the Baybirds for five years running, 5-4 in 2066.
Projected matchups:
Gabriel Rios (5-2, 3.72 ERA) vs. Paul Egley (1-4, 5.13 ERA)
Ryan Musgrave (3-2, 3.00 ERA) vs. Justin Wittman (5-3, 2.87 ERA)
Nick Walla (4-1, 2.72 ERA) vs. Jon Mendosa (1-4, 5.17 ERA)
These were all right-handers. Wittman was by far the best starter in the rotation, and had more than half the current rotation’s wins. The only other starter with an ERA under five was southpaw Adam Gardner (2-3, 4.15 ERA), who had pitched on Wednesday and wasn’t gonna make it into the weekend.
Pablo Novelo was marked for a day off on Friday, but everybody got Friday off when it rained all day long. Pacific Northwest, huh? A double header was scheduled for Saturday, with the Raccoons switching pitching assignments, pulling Musgrave into the first game. Novelo then got the first game off in the make-up double header.
Game 1
SFB: RF J. Ward – 1B Navarre – LF Streng – 2B A. Montoya – C Haynes – CF Parrish – SS K. Ball – 3B Clapp – P Egley
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – 1B Starr – 2B Gutierrez – SS Tallent – P Musgrave
Montoya immediately doubled home Navarre in the first inning as Musgrave put four straight Baybirds on base, starting with Navarre’s single, followed by a hit Ian Streng, Montoya, and a walk to Chris Haynes. John Parrish struck out and Keith Ball flew out to Corral to keep three on base. The Raccoons wasted no time in equalizing, though, getting a Wilson single and an RBI double from Ramon Lopez, and Rich Monck raked a homer to right for a 3-1 lead, four batters in. The second was scoreless, while Musgrave shuffled the bags full again in the third inning, with a Streng hit and walks offered to Haynes and Parrish. Again, Keith Ball choked with the bases loaded and grounded out to Gutierrez to extend his LOB tally to six. The Raccoons also wasted walks to Dowsey and Starr in the inning, while Ball got better the next time around, striking out for the second out with only Parrish on base…
The pitch count on Musgrave went up quickly, with four walks and seven strikeouts on his ledger through six innings, but with the double header and even with an extra paw in the pen, the Raccoons tried to get as much as possible out of him. The Raccoons after a few silent innings tacked on a run with a Dowsey triple and … well, it took until Tallent grounded out to plate him, with Starr being intentionally walked and Gutierrez popping out. Musgrave retired the 8-9-1 in the lineup in the seventh, then sat down after 105 pitches. The Raccoons went to Yamauchi, who put two on for two outs, but Bob West got a groundout from Parrish to end the eighth inning. Against Danny Zepeda in the bottom 8th, the Coons loaded the bags with Starr, Gutierrez, and Colter, who had come in with West in a double switch in place of Dowsey, before Roberto Mendez replaced Zepeda with three on and one out. Wilson grounded out, bringing in a run, but Corral popped out to short and left two on base. West finished the game against the bottom o the order, though, and thus earned himself a save in the process. 5-1 Raccoons! Starr 2-2, 2 BB; Colter 1-1; Musgrave 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, W (4-2);
Game 2
SFB: RF J. Ward – 1B Haynes – LF Streng – 2B A. Montoya – C Goodwin – CF Navarre – SS K. Ball – 3B Clapp – P Wittman
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – 1B Dowsey – 3B Monck – C Aguilar – LF Early – 2B Gutierrez – RF Tallent – P Rios
Again, the Bayhawks took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, this time on Haynes and Streng singles, aided by a balk committed by Rios that moved Haynes to second base, from where Streng cashed him. Greg Clapp’s first career homer extended their lead to 2-0 in the second, and it was 3-0 in the third after a double to left by Streng and Curt Goodwin’s RBI single. The Raccoons had no hits at that point, but got a run in the bottom 3rd on Gutierrez’ leadoff single and a 2-out RBI double by Jaden Wilson into the right-center gap.
After the early runs, the Bayhawks would get nothing, not even a base hit, off Rios in the middle innings, although he issued two walks and the counts were generally long, leading to him coming out of the game after six innings and the Raccoons still trailing 3-1, getting only a Dowsey double and nothing else in the middle innings. Holzmeister hadn’t pitched in over a week, but managed a scoreless seventh, and after the stretch the Raccoons’ 5-6-7 hitters loaded the bases with three straight soft singles against Wittman. Tallent blundered into a run-scoring, 6-4-3 double play, but Joel Starr pinch-hit for Holzmeister and pushed a game-tying single past Haynes at first to tie the game at three before Wilson’s groundout ended the inning.
McMahan and Dover pitched scoreless innings for the rest of relegation, while Roland Wiser, a right-hander with a 5.31 ERA and more walks than strikeouts in 20 innings pitched, got the ball for the bottom 9th, starting with Marquise Early, who singled up the middle at 1-0. Gutierrez popped out in foul ground, but Corral drew a walk batting for Tallent. Lopez batted for Dover, but crashed into a double play and sent the game to extra innings. Carrington retired the 3-4-5 batters without issue in the tenth, while Portland would start from the top of the lineup and still against Wiser. Wilson singled cleanly to left to begin the bottom 10th, then took off, stole his 10th base, and a fumble by shortstop Curt Enos allowed him to scamper to third base, and with nobody out! Novelo was thankfully hungry and had no desire to hang around the ballpark any longer. His fly to left-center was caught by Streng, but he had no business with a play at the plate and Wilson jogged home to end the ballgame. 4-3 Critters! Wilson 2-5, 2B, RBI; Dowsey 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Early 2-4; Gutierrez 2-4; Starr (PH) 1-1, RBI;
The Raccoons were now playing .600 ball!
Wait. We what?
Jamie Colter (.261, 1 HR, 4 RBI) was then optioned to St. Petersburg to make room for Carlos Matas, who came off the DL on Sunday. Matas then right away gave Jaden Wilson a day off on Sunday.
Game 3
SFB: RF J. Ward – 1B Navarre – LF Streng – 2B A. Montoya – C Haynes – CF Parrish – SS K. Ball – 3B Clapp – P J. Mendosa
POR: RF Corral – CF Matas – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Gutierrez – P Walla
Walla bent but didn’t break with two singles allowed to Streng and Montoya in the first inning, and instead the Coons scored first for the first time in the series when Dowsey hit a solo homer in the second. The next few innings were rather calm; Walla got a lot of groundballs, but somehow still threw a lot of pitches and was at 71 through five in the game. At that point he was up 2-0, having himself hit a sac fly to score Gutierrez, who had knocked a single, advanced on a stolen base and wild pitch, in the bottom 5th. He couldn’t contain Montoya in the sixth though, as the 36-year-old whacked a 1-out triple into the right-center gap, and then scored on Haynes’ groundout, narrowing the score to 2-1 again.
Monck and Dowsey went to the corners with 1-out singles in the bottom 6th before Mendosa ran a full count on Starr, who had to bend out of the way of a 3-2 pitch to not get plunked, being awarded first base on ball four then anyway. Novelo popped out to first, which was thoroughly not helpful, and Gutierrez hit a drive to deep left, but Streng stalked it down and made the catch on the warning track to strand a full set.
Walla completed seven innings on exactly 100 pitches before being hit for with Wilson leading off the seventh against Josh Doyle. Wilson singled and stole second base, while Corral walked behind him. Matas popped out to second, but Lopez dropped an RBI single into shallow right-center, 3-1. Monck’s sharp grounder was right at Montoya, though, and the Bayhawks exited the inning on a 4-6-3 double play.
Josh C got the ball in the eighth, but soon got stuck, allowing a single to Navarre with one out, and walks to Streng and Haynes after that, departing with the bases loaded for McMahan against the left-handed Parrish, who was predictably hit for with switch-hitting catcher Curt Goodwin – but he struck out anyway! Dowsey walked to lead off the bottom 8th, was run for with Tallent, but that move led nowhere in particular as Tallent was stranded on three straight middling outs. McMahan remained on the hill to begin the ninth inning against Ball, who whiffed, and then after that to see how things would develop from there. Clapp popped out to second, and then a lefty, David Blackham, batted for the pitcher, so why would we make a move there? When Blackham hit a 2-out single and the tying run came to the plate, that was when the Raccoons sent Dover in, who secured a sweep on three straight strikes. 3-1 Critters! Dowsey 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Wilson (PH) 1-1; Walla 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (5-1);
In other news
May 16 – Condors 2B/3B Nick Nye (.287, 4 HR, 24 RBI) drives in five runs on a home run and two singles in a 15-5 rout of the Aces.
May 16 – The Warriors score the tying runs in the bottom of the 9th and 11th innings before walking off for a 3-2 win in 12 innings against the Stars.
May 17 – A home run by DEN OF Matt Little (.275, 6 HR, 15 RBI) brings in the only run in a 1-0 win against the Wolves.
May 19 – In a 9-2 loss to the Aces, the Condors get only one base hit, an RBI single by 3B/1B Dan Sandoval (.210, 0 HR, 2 RBI) against three Vegas pitchers. LVA SP Dan Garicia (2-0, 2.00 ERA) is still no-hitting the Aces when he has to leave the game in the seventh inning after suffering an apparent injury. Sandoval’s single comes off Dan Gaither (0-0, 5.06 ERA).
May 19 – The Stars beat the Warriors, 11-6 after a breakout, 5-run 11th inning, in which 3B/2B/LF Jon Schomer (.295, 4 HR, 17 RBI) hits a grand slam.
May 20 – Slugging Loggers 2B/SS Fidel Carrera (.265, 7 HR, 36 RBI) has suffered a concussion and would be shut down for at least the rest of the month.
May 20 – In a bad day for the league’s stars, Dallas CF Tyler Wharton (.319, 16 HR, 46 RBI) is out of the lineup with a sore back and will miss at least one week.
May 21 – Boston 2B/1B Jeremy White (.245, 1 HR, 19 RBI) misses the cycle by the home run while driving in six runs on three hits in an 11-3 rout of the Condors.
FL Player of the Week: RIC OF Willie Ospina (.291, 6 HR, 24 RBI), hitting .483 (14-29) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL OF Jake Evans (.265, 8 HR, 26 RBI), striking .444 (8-18) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
Complaints and stuff
The Raccoons lived on pitching in putting together a 5-2 week, and it didn’t hurt that the Bayhawks were not getting anywhere. The offense was slow, though, just 22 runs in seven games. The pitchers only allowed 13 runs though, which wasn’t even two per game. Surely not sustainable, especially with a bullpen of arsonists.
For now though we had to keep the eighth reliever on board as well, given that we had played a double header on Saturday and needed a spot starter on Tuesday. I had my eye on Chance Fox, who had made three appearances since coming out of rehab, pitching six innings of 2-hit ball. It was all a bit too good to be true given how he had been beaten around by AAA batters. But it would be hard to get anybody else on the roster for Wednesday against the Falcons, so Chance Fox it’d be. Probably.
We would also play the Aces next week, all games being on the road.
Fun Fact: 17 years ago today, Victor Salcido threw the first of his two no-hitters for the Raccoons in a 3-0 win against the Falcons.
The second would come a year later against the Crusaders, and at that point Salcido’s future looked pretty bright after the Raccoons had made a significant $485k investment to sign him in the 2042 July IFA period. He had back problems even as a minor leaguer and suffered repeated minor injuries in the majors, too, although in 2052 he was then abruptly sent to AAA when his walks exploded and he suddenly posted a 5.57 ERA. He made a return to Portland in ’53, but was then traded to the Miners in the trade that brought in Anton Venegas, who won his only ring with the Raccoons in 2054, the team’s most recent championship to date.
Salcido led the FL in wins with the Miners in ’54, being an All Star for the only time in his career while going 18-10 with a 3.11 ERA, but he would never get much under four again while pitching a few years at a time for the Miners, Warriors, and Blue Sox until his career ended with 15 appearances for Nashville in 2060 at age 34.
For his career he went 119-121 with a 3.94 ERA, striking out 1,483 batters in 2,017 innings.
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Don't wait for an update tomorrow. American Truck Simulator will get a new DLC out and that will consume me whole tomorrow 