[Westheim]

Raccoons (43-39) @ Crusaders (49-34) – July 2-5, 2068

The Raccoons took their 8-game winning streak to New York to play the first-place Crusaders, who ranked seventh in runs scored and second in runs allowed in the Continental League. They had the best pen – almost two runs better than the Coons! – and the season series was even at two. They had some significant injuries with Jose Ambriz, Kazuhide Takeuchi, Alex Rodriguez, and Jarod Nesbit all missing.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (4-7, 2.52 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (7-6, 3.93 ERA)
Vinny Morales (5-2, 2.27 ERA) vs. Aiden Shaw (8-5, 3.87 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (4-6, 5.46 ERA) vs. Ed Nadeau (3-4, 5.28 ERA)
Alex Dominguez (12-2, 3.14 ERA) vs. A.C. Stebbins (6-6, 3.98 ERA)

Two right, two left from the Crusaders here.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – LF Early – 3B Mendoza – P Walla
NYC: SS Masterson – RF J. Parker – 1B Starwalt – C D. Johnson – 3B Frasher – LF Duhon – CF Law – 2B J. Hernandez – P E. Lee

Walla didn’t get a strikeout until arriving at Erik Lee the first time through, which wasn’t necessarily new, but at least he kept the Crusaders off the board in the early going. It was the Raccoons to do the early scoring, getting Archuleta on base with a leadoff walk in the second, and then a 2-out, 2-run homer from Diego Mendoza, and Duhe doubled and scored on a Starr single in the third inning to tack on another run. The Crusaders mounted their first real threat in the bottom 4th when Danny Starwalt and David Johnson clipped a pair of singles to go to the corners with nobody out. Walla found something and struck out Eric Frasher and Chris Duhon, then got Andy Law to ground out to Archuleta, wasting the runners.

After a calm fifth, the Raccoons had something going again in the sixth inning when Archuleta and Flowe put up back-to-back 1-out singles against Lee. Marquise Early lifted a fly to left-center that dropped between Duhon and Law for an RBI double, 4-0, but the Crusaders then walked Mendoza intentionally and got a double play bouncer from Walla to kill the bases-loaded situation. Walla retired the Crusaders on seven pitches in the bottom 6th, but then had a longer inning after that when Eric Frasher singled in a full count to lead off the bottom 7th. Duhon popped out, and Law and Jordan Hernandez both flew out to keep him on base, but that inning ballooned Walla’s pitch count to 94, so a shutout was not in the cards anymore. He would only get two more outs from PH Zack Cooper and then leadoff man Scott Masterson, who was batting .182 with five homers and six RBI for wickedness, and who struck out in another full count, which pushed Walla to 105 and out of the game. Jesse Dover would collect the final four outs for the Critters to extend the winning streak to nine games. 4-0 Furballs! Flowe 2-4; Walla 7.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (5-7);

Winless Walla (5-7, 2.36 ERA) led the CL ERA race after this performance!

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – 3B Gates – P Morales
NYC: CF Box – RF J. Parker – 1B Starwalt – C D. Johnson – LF Duhon – SS Masterson – 3B O. Vera – 2B J. Hernandez – P A. Shaw

Bryant Box doubled on an 0-2 pitch before scoring on a Starwalt single to give the New Yorkers the early lead, but the Raccoons got Archuleta on base with a leadoff single in the second inning before Dowsey and Flowe drew walks to fill the bags with nobody out. Gary Gates hit an RBI single to right, and Vinny Morales slapped an RBI single to left, but Jared Duhe then hit into a double play to end the inning. Morales struck out four the first time through the order, but Box and Starwalt remained trouble. Box hit a drive all the way to the fence in the third inning, where Corral made a leaping grab much to the dismay of the local fans, and Starwalt hit a single before being stranded at second base on two fly outs and a K on Masterson in the fourth inning.

The Coons didn’t have a hit after their two runs in the second inning until Duhe snapped a 2-out single to center in the top 5th. He stole second, then scored on Jared Wilson’s double to left. Joel Starr knew an even better trick and cranked a 2-run homer, 5-1! Morales held that line, then joined Dowsey and Gates in hitting singles off Andres Lopez in the sixth inning, although that didn’t get a run home, but loaded the bases with two outs for Duhe, who struck out, so all the effort was for naught.

The Crusaders then restored the balance of power in the bottom 6th when they razed the Coons’ 5-1 lead to the ground with three swipes, as Parker and Starwalt socked homers to lead off, Johnson singled, and then Chris Duhon snapped a third, game-tying homer to knock out Morales. Kehoe replaced him and got out of the depressing inning, and McMahan retired three left-handers in the seventh while keeping the game tied. The Raccoons were a bit numb for a few innings before Dowsey hit a 1-out single off Jon Dominguez, then advanced on Flowe’s groundout. Gary Gates lobbed a ball over Masterson and into left-center for an RBI single, and Portland had a new 6-5 lead, although that was blown by Josh C rather quickly in the same inning when he allowed a single to Johnson, walked Masterson, and gave away the game-tying 2-out single to Omar Vera.

Top 9th, and the Raccoons were up against June’s CL Pitcher of the Month Jerry Washington (sneers!), who gave away a leadoff double to right to Duhe. Wilson didn’t help with a pop, and Starr was walked intentionally before Washington struck out Corral. The Raccoons batted Marquise Early for Archuleta – and he found space in left-center for another RBI single! Dowsey flew out to Bryant Box to leave two on base, and the Raccoons gave the ball to Pedro Valentin, as far as a closer could be from being Pitcher of the Month in June. He struck out Frasher and got Box to pop out before Parker singled, ensuring that Danny Starwalt came back up and could end the game. Which he did by whiffing. 7-6 Critters! Duhe 2-5, 2B; Early (PH) 1-1, RBI; Dowsey 2-4; Gates 2-3, 2 RBI;

Ten!

Will wonders ever cease??

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – CF Ramirez – LF Early – 1B Starr – 2B Archuleta – RF Dowsey – 3B Mendoza – C Flowe – P Gaytan
NYC: CF Box – SS Masterson – 1B Starwalt – 3B Frasher – RF Z. Cooper – C Norwood – LF O. Vera – 2B J. Hernandez – P Nadeau

Any 10-game winning streak would shiver when Tony Gaytan was up to defend it next, but he allowed only a hit and a walk through four innings, and also no runs on those. He was about to retire the 6-7-8 in order in the bottom 5th when Jordan Hernandez was clipped by an 0-2 pitch, clearing the pitcher spot if nothing else in the inning. Ed Nadeau however singled to right, and Hernandez made a bid for third base – but was thrown out by Dowsey to end the inning. Phew!

This kept the game scoreless, with Nadeau facing only one over the minimum through five innings thanks to Dowsey hitting into a double play and Mendoza being caught stealing to reduce the gains to be gotten from two hits and two walks to about zilch. Duhe drew a walk in the sixth, but that came with two outs and Eddy Ramirez then grounded out to Frasher. When Bryant Box legged out an infield single to begin the bottom 6th, I knew we were in trouble. Masterson continued to make outs, but advanced the runner, and Starwalt was on point and hit an RBI single to center. Frasher also singled, putting runners on the corners, and Starwalt went for home on Zack Cooper’s fly out to Marquise Early – but the Crusaders ran into the second out on the base paths in consecutive innings when Early fired a laser home that had Starwalt out on the swipe to end the inning, keeping the score at 1-0 New York. Early then drew a leadoff walk in the seventh, but was doubled up by Starr.

Gaytan got stuck for good in the bottom 7th with Zachery Norwood getting on base, being forced out by PH Johnny Parker, and then Hernandez hit another single. Nadeau bunted the runners into scoring position, at which point McMahan came out to face Pandora’s Box, but the Crusaders chose to pinch-hit with righty slapper Chris Duhon, who struck out anyway.

Between Nadeau and Dover, nobody allowed a base runner in the eighth inning, and Nadeau was still on the hump to begin the ninth, which was also the spot in the Critters lineup that led off the inning. The Coons sent Jaden Wilson, who singled to right, and Nadeau was gone at once, replaced with Washington, the loser from Tuesday. Wilson didn’t hang around and stole second base, then took third on a grounder from Duhe to Hernandez, that coulda been two with the runner on first. Corral batted for Ramirez, swiped a long fly to center, and that one was gonna tie the game no matter what – and in fact, Parker did NOT get to hit, and Corral jiggered into second base with a game-tying double!! However, Early and Starr made quick outs and left the go-ahead run on base. Gabriel Rios then retired the 5-6-7 in order to send the game to extras. However, Washington held out, and the Raccoons hung around with Rios, who walked the leadoff man Hernandez in the bottom 10th. Jared McLaughlin’s groundout advanced the runner, and Duhon ended the game and the winning streak with a walkoff single. 2-1 Crusaders. Corral (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Mendoza 2-4; Wilson (PH) 1-1; Gaytan 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K;

(whiskers hang)

Game 4
POR: SS Duhe – CF Ramirez – LF Early – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – 1B Dowsey – 3B Mendoza – C D’Alessandro – P A. Dominguez
NYC: CF Box – SS Masterson – 1B Starwalt – C D. Johnson – LF Duhon – RF Law – 3B O. Vera – 2B J. Hernandez – P Stebbins

Archuleta drove in Duhe in the first inning, but the Crusaders got two quick runners with a leadoff walk for Box a Starwalt single and then a sac fly from David Johnson, and the teams remained level after the first inning when all remaining runners were stranded. From there, Dominguez piled up the strikeouts, whiffing up eight Crusaders in five innings, while keeping them to that Starwalt single. The Raccoons did a little better, getting three hits in five innings, and striking out four times, but that didn’t translate into runs. Stebbins also offered a few walks, but Eddy Ramirez was caught stealing and Marquise Early was picked off first, and it really didn’t go anywhere for the Coons.

Dominguez made it through seven without allowing another hit, but also didn’t get another strikeout, with some liners at infielders in the seventh, and when his spot led off the eighth inning, he was hit for with Wilson, but he popped out. Duhe singled, knocking out Stebbins in favor of *Jon* Dominguez (no relation), who allowed a 2-out single to Early after whiffing Ramirez. Corral worked a walk to fill the bags, but Archuleta’s drive to left was caught by Johnny Parker. Yamauchi got the eighth, allowed three deep flies, but somehow they were all caught. He hung around to face the two right-handed batters leading off the bottom 9th with the game still tied, but walked Starwalt, and then gave up the Crusaders’ second and final hit of the game, a 2-run homer to walk off the team by David Johnson. 3-1 Crusaders. Duhe 2-4; Early 2-3, BB; Dominguez 7.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K;

This was the first game all year in which Joel Starr did not appear.

Raccoons (45-41) vs. Titans (45-41) – July 6-8, 2068

These teams were tied for fourth place going into the All Star Game. Boston ranked second for runs scored, and fourth in runs allowed. They had a +45 run differential (Coons: -14). These teams were the top of the class for home runs in the CL. The Titans led with 81, and the Raccoons were second with 69. Nice. The Titans were however near the bottom in defense. We were already down 6-3 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Girolamo Pizzichini (2-4, 4.05 ERA) vs. Tony Castellanos (5-6, 4.59 ERA)
Nick Walla (5-7, 2.36 ERA) vs. Bryce Wallace (4-8, 4.34 ERA)
Vinny Morales (5-2, 2.74 ERA) vs. Ricardo Montoya (5-4, 2.87 ERA)

We got only right-handed pitchers here, and didn’t get to see Trent Brassfield do anything, as he was away on the DL, but he was only hitting .217 with four homers when he was on his feet anyway.

Game 1
BOS: LF S. Humphries – SS Robichaud – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – 2B Jer. White – 3B C. Pena – RF Joe Washington – 1B I. Berrios – P T. Castellanos
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Pizzichini

The series began with a Mendoza error against his old team (hear, hear) to get Steve Humphries on base and before long Eddie Marcotte popped a shot over the wall for a 2-0 Boston lead. His next time up, Humphries drew a walk, stole second, and scored again with the help of Marcotte, after Jared Robichaud grounded out and allowed Marcotte to get Humphries home from third with a sac fly in the bottom 3rd. The Raccoons went hitless the first time through; their first base knock was a 2-out RBI single by Dowsey in the bottom 4th, bringing in Archuleta, who had forced out Corral, who had reached on an error.

The Coons hung in with the score 3-1, but again couldn’t bunch any offense together for the third game in a row, while the Titans began the sixth inning with Marcotte and Jorge Arviso singles and then Duhe dropped a feed from Archuleta on Jeremy White’s grounder, turning a potential double play into turds and three on with nobody out. Kehoe replaced him, allowed a run on Cesar Pena’s grounder, then struck out Joe Washington, but then conceded another run on a 2-out single by Ivan Berrios through the left side, 5-1. Castellanos struck out. Gabriel Rios then got six outs without breaking anything, which didn’t mean so much when you were already down by four, and couldn’t get past two base hits. Mendoza hit a leadoff single in the bottom 8th, was forced out by Early, and then Duhe hit into a double play. Josh C pitched a scoreless ninth, while Castellanos went into the ninth, and also through the ninth, finishing a complete-game 3-hitter. 5-1 Titans. Rios 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

I guess we’ll now lose at least ten in a row to make up for the earlier winning…

Jose Corral was not in the lineup on Saturday, being whiny about a sore back and neck.

Game 2
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 3B D. Miller – CF Marcotte – RF M. Garcia – C Arviso – 2B Jer. White – SS Robichaud – 1B I. Berrios – P B. Wallace
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Dowsey – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Walla

Wilson walked and Starr struck his 15th homer of the year for a quick 2-0 lead on Saturday, but Arviso answered with a solo shot for his 18th dinger half an inning later. Wallace would load the bags with nothing but free passes in the bottom 2nd, but Wilson popped out in a full count to strand Archuleta, Mendoza, and Duhe without getting a run home. Starr then drew another walk in the bottom 3rd, but that inning ended with Dowsey’s 3-6-3 double play bouncer.

Not a whole lot happened from there through the end of five, with only three hits for Boston and two for Portland at that point. Walla had not been overly efficient, needing 77 pitches to get that far even without walking everybody and their dog. He was piling up strikeouts, though; he had six through five frames, and then struck out Danny Miller, Eddie Marcotte, and Manuel Garcia in order in the sixth. Arviso got him for a double in the seventh, and was on third base two hard-fought outs later, when Joe Washington was sent to bat for Berrios, and the Raccoons would send McMahan to get that tying run on third base choked out (and Walla was at 100 pitches exactly). The mission was accomplished with a strikeout. Wallace finished seven, despite walking EIGHT Raccoons, and never paying a significant price after the Starr homer in the first inning.

McMahan returned for the top 8th, but walked Omar Sanchez – great, speed on the bases! – and then was removed for Dover. Humphries grounded out, Miller struck out, Marcotte reached on a damn infield single to get runners on the corners – and then Manuel Garcia sent a drive to deep center, and Wilson warped himself back to the warning track and made a running over-the-shoulder catch to keep the ******* game in one piece…! The Coons could not get the offense going, then went to Valentin in the ninth. He struck out Arviso, who had comparatively feasted on Nick Walla, struck out Jeremy White, allowed a 2-out single to Robichaud to make me wail, and then popped out Washington. 2-1 Blighters. Duhe 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Starr 1-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Novelo 1-1; Walla 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (6-7);

Nick Walla!

…still with a losing record.

Game 3
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 3B D. Miller – CF Marcotte – RF M. Garcia – C Arviso – 2B Jer. White – SS Robichaud – 1B I. Berrios – P R. Montoya
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Gates – P Morales

Neither team scored the first time through in the rubber game, with the Coons only getting Flowe on base with a single, but not getting him very far. Morales held up for a while, but Marcotte, Garcia, and Arviso clipped straight singles to start the top 4th, driving in a run and putting runners on the corners for Jeremy White, who flew out to Corral in right-center. It was an odd angle, but when Garcia started to stomper home, Corral fired an accurate throw that allowed Flowe to slap him out for a 9-2 double play. Robichaud’s groundout ended the inning.

Bottom 4th, Wilson opened with a single to right, and then stole second. Starr singled to left-center, and Wilson chugged around and scored to tie the game at one, but the inning fizzled out from there. Wilson hit another leadoff single in the sixth. He could apparently read Montoya like an open book and stole second again, and the Titans had none of Starr and put him on intentionally. Corral whiffed, and Dowsey hit a scratch single that loaded the bases with one out. Archuleta came through, singling to center to bring in Wilson with the go-ahead run. Flowe struck out, but the Titans then replaced Montoya with Victor Ramirez, who allowed a 2-out, 2-run single to Gates, and an RBI double to Morales (!), but Marcotte tracked down a long fly by Duhe to end the inning, Portland up 5-1.

Like Walla the day before, Morales held out for 6.2 innings of 1-run ball before running out of juice. Yamauchi got an out from Berrios to end the seventh, and when Dowsey drilled a 3-run homer in the bottom 7th, still off Ramirez, the lead was up to seven. The Coons tried to get more outs from Yamauchi, which worked for two more outs until he nicked Miller and was taken well deep by Marcotte in the eighth. Rios collected the last four outs without any more permanent emotional damage. 8-3 Raccoons. Wilson 2-4; Starr 2-3, BB, RBI; Dowsey 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Flowe 2-4, 2B; Novelo 1-1; Morales 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (6-2) and 1-3, 2B, RBI;

In other news

July 2 – After years on the trade block, SS Casey Ramsey (.312, 2 HR, 30 RBI) is traded from the Knights to the Rebels for outfielder Cory Oldfield (.231, 0 HR, 1 RBI).
July 2 – The Thunder slog out a 6-5 win in 15 innings against the Falcons.
July 4 – 21-year-old VAN INF Roberto Barraza (.283, 0 HR, 19 RBI) finds six hits in a 6-5 win against the Indians, albeit with extra chances as the game goes a whopping 13 innings. After Vancouver ties it in the ninth, both teams score one run in the tenth and two in the 12th inning, before the Canadiens win with a single walkoff run in the 13th inning. Barraza has a double and five singles, no RBI’s, but scores three times, including the winning run.
July 5 – LVA OF Victor Lorenzo (.327, 0 HR, 38 RBI) drops two hits, an RBI single and RBI triple, in a 10-4 win against the Condors, marking a 20-game hitting streak for him.
July 6 – NAS RF Austin Gordon (.308, 27 HR, 76 RBI) strikes three home runs and drives in six runs to beat the Cyclones mostly on his own, 9-5. It is the fourth 3-homer game of the year, and the second 3-homer game for Gordon in as many seasons.
July 6 – The Crusaders swat the Indians for 11 runs in the first inning, then tack on another 11 to match the 11 runs the Indians score to make up the early damage, for a 22-11 final score. NAS C David Johnson (.278, 11 HR, 54 RBI) smashes two home runs, two singles, and drives in eight runs in the offensive debauchery.
July 7 – The Condors trade SP Justin Martin (2-6, 5.31 ERA) to the Gold Sox for OF/3B Jake Elliott (.435, 0 HR, 4 RBI), who spent most of the year in AAA so far.
July 8 – The Condors deal SP Aaron Ledbetter (5-7, 3.21 ERA) to the Gold Sox as well, now receiving outfielder Chad Whetstine (.161, 3 HR, 8 RBI).
July 8 – Rebs OF Willie Ospina (.294, 5 HR, 41 RBI) might miss a month with a knee sprain.

FL Player of the Week: NAS RF Austin Gordon (.317, 28 HR, 80 RBI), strafing pitchers for .483 (14-29) with 7 HR, 17 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC C David Johnson (.280, 12 HR, 57 RBI), plonking .423 (11-26) with 4 HR, 14 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Nick Walla was chasing Ken Nielsen of Oklahoma City into the All Star break in the CL ERA table. Nielsen had pitched 1.1 fewer innings but had given up only one earned run (against Portland!) in his last four starts before the break, which was three fewer runs than Walla had given up in the same number of starts.

Shockingly, Nick Walla was NOT AN ALL STAR. Are you all nuts??? Dominguez was an All Star, Valentin was an All Star, Joel Starr was an All Star, and Jose Corral was an All Star, but not Nick Walla?????

You people are all insane.

Insane!

Pff! **** the All Star Game!!

The Coons will play four with the Crusaders when games that matter (sneer!) resume, with the Loggers and Falcons also in on that homestand.

Fun Fact: Nick Walla has allowed SEVEN earned runs across his last nine starts.

Nielsen has given up fewer.

FOUR.