[Westheim]

All Star Game

The STUPID All Star Game was won by the Continental League, 3-2, through a score-flipping, ninth-inning home run by the Canadiens’ Tyler Chenette off Cincy closer John Faughnan. Overall, offense was largely down in the contest, with only 12 base hits recorded in total. Chenette, who only entered the game as a sub, won MVP honors.

The Raccoons contingent made only token appearances. Neither Joel Starr nor Jose Corral started the game, both only pinch-hit in the #9 spot, and neither got a hit. Pedro Valentin pitched a scoreless inning, and Alex Dominguez pitched for only one out to retrieve a stuck Brett Bebout in the fifth.

STUPID All Star Game!!

Raccoons (47-42) vs. Crusaders (54-36) – July 12-15, 2068

The Crusaders had not lost a game since snapping the Coons’ 10-game winning streak the week before, and had now won five games in a row themselves. They were sixth in runs scored and were allowing the fewest runs in the CL. The season series was still even at four. Jarod Nesbit, Jose Ambriz, and Alex Rodriguez were still on the DL, and now they had also added Scott Masterson to the list of invalids; his .169 bat would be sorely missed … mostly by us for the free outs it provided.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (4-6, 5.19 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (8-7, 3.78 ERA)
Nick Walla (6-7, 2.31 ERA) vs. Nick Waldron (9-4, 3.31 ERA)
Alex Dominguez (12-2, 3.03 ERA) vs. A.C. Stebbins (6-6, 3.78 ERA)
Vinny Morales (6-2, 2.62 ERA) vs. Aiden Shaw (9-5, 3.95 ERA)

Stebbins was the only southpaw we’d see out of the two they had.

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

In the bottom 1st, the Raccoons managed to turn the disappointment of a Duhe single and Wilson’s 4-6-3 double play into a 2-run inning still when Starr and Corral reached base and Justin Dowsey doubled to right to drive both of them in before being tagged out in no man’s land between second and third. That was also about *it* for offense for the Raccoons before the stretch.

The good news was that Tony Gaytan pitched all the way to the seventh inning stretch on 100 pitches and without allowing an earned run. The bad news was that this point of view required generously glossing over a third inning from hell in which Jordan Hernandez opened with a lousy infield single, Bryant Box hit a single like a man, and after Johnny Parker popped out to third base for the second out, Danny Starwalt floated a ball to shallow center that a jogging Jaden Wilson caught, and then fumbled to the ground for an error. One run scored there, and two more on the David Johnson double that followed – all unearned – before Eric Frasher flew out to Corral to end the inning. The 3-2 score remained true to the stretch.

Gaytan was hit for in the bottom 7th with one out and Flowe on second after Lee had hit him in the hip, and Mendoza on first after a single. Eddy Ramirez pinch-hit and whiffed, Duhe drew a walk to fill the bases, which was not immediately helpful, and then Jaden Wilson made up for the earlier faffing around and strung a bases-clearing double into the leftfield corner, giving Gaytan a chance for a win from behind. (Cristiano Carmona snickers) The 5-3 lead went to the pen, who immediately tried to kill it when Dover offered a leadoff walk to Starwalt and a single to Frasher. The pair was in scoring position with two down after a Duhon groundout when Zack Cooper batted for Philpot from the left side. McMahan came in and rung him up to strand the tying runs. Valentin struck out Hernandez and Jared McLaughlin in the ninth, then allowed a double to the ever pesky Bryant Box, but got another K in on Johnny Parker to end the game and the New York winning streak. 5-3 Coons. Duhe 2-3, BB; Mendoza 1-2, BB; Gaytan 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (5-6);

Game 2
NYC: CF Box – RF J. Parker – 1B Starwalt – C D. Johnson – 3B Frasher – LF Duhon – 2B Philpot – SS J. Hernandez – P Waldron
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Walla

Nick W. Shootouts did not start particularly well as Walla got two outs and then walked Starwalt, allowed a single to Johnson, and nicked Frasher. Chris Duhon ran a full count before striking out on the 29th pitch on the inning. Joel Starr then hit a solo homer to put Portland in the lead in the bottom 1st and Walla had a 7-pitch inning against the bottom of the order for *some* recovery of sorts, but then allowed singles to Box and Parker to begin the third. The runners went to the corners, and Box scored the tying run on Starwalt’s 6-4-3 grounder. Box had another single his third time up, with two outs in the fifth, but Parker struck out. The Coons had nothing in terms of base hits outside that Starr homer through five innings.

Walla didn’t have much left, reaching 99 pitches at the end of six, while still holding the 1-1 tie. Waldron struck out Duhe and Wilson to begin the bottom 6th – and then ran into another Starr homer to give the Coons a 2-1 lead. That was turned over to the pen, where Yamauchi immediately put two runners on base with Philpot and Cooper in the seventh. Waldron bunted them into scoring position before Rios came in to face the lefty 1-2 pair, striking out Box and getting Wilson in place to catch a Parker fly to strand the runners on second and third. Josh C handled the eighth against the middle of the order before the Raccoons poked at the ball again, getting Wilson on with two outs against Waldron in the bottom 8th. That gave Starr another chance – and he cranked a homer to right! Three Coons base hits – three Joel Starr homers!!

The game still had to be put away though, and Pedro Valentin retired the first two batters in the ninth and then was one strike away from ending the game when he nicked Omar Vera with a 2-2 pitch. Jared McLaughlin singled and Box then legged out an RBI infield single, pesky as ever, but Johnny Parker struck out to end the game. 4-2 Starrs! Starr 3-4, 3 HR, 4 RBI; Walla 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (7-7);

Joel Starrrrrrr…!!!

What a weird, weird, weird game.

Game 3
NYC: CF Box – RF J. Parker – 1B Starwalt – C D. Johnson – 3B Frasher – LF Duhon – 2B Philpot – SS J. Hernandez – P Stebbins
POR: SS Duhe – CF Ramirez – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – 3B Mendoza – C D’Alessandro – P A. Dominguez

Box singled, stole second, and was driven in by Johnson with a single in the top 1st, but Starr and Early pulled back even with a pair of doubles in the bottom of the inning on Saturday. New York scored another run in the top 2nd, of the unearned sort, with a Chris Duhon single and Corral flubbing a fly ball by Jordan Hernandez for an error. Stebbins hit a sac fly to get himself a new lead, but Box bounced out to Archuleta, who led off the bottom 2nd with a single, but was stranded.

After a silent third, Duhon took Dominguez deep for a 3-1 New York lead in the fourth, but Diego Mendoza mashed a 2-piece in the bottom of the same inning with Early on base to get the teams even again. Another silent inning followed before the Crusaders got Philpot and McLaughlin on the corners by hitting for Stebbins with two outs in the top 6th. The Raccoons hesitated and did not send McMahan to face Box – and Box popped out to short to end the inning.

Unfortunately, hanging with Dominguez for the seventh didn’t pay off as Parker and Starwalt got him for seven bases and two runs in just four pitches and knocked him out after Starwalt bashed the third New York homer of the game, 5-3. The Raccoons continued with two innings from George Kehoe, and then turned to Rios with the top of the order leading off the ninth, but he allowed a double to Box and an RBI single to Parker before getting yanked. Yamauchi then sorted out the rest of the inning while keeping Parker on base, and Archuleta began the bottom 9th with a single off Jerry Washington, moving the tying run to the on-deck circle in a 6-3 game. Wilson batted for Yamauchi in the #7 spot and singled, and Dowsey batted for D’Alessandro, but hit into a fielder’s choice at second. Gary Gates grounded out to Frasher, who came in and took the sure out at first base as Archuleta scored. Down to their last out, the Coons got Duhe on with a soft single, putting the tying runs on the corners for Flowe, who batted for Ramirez. The count got to 2-2 before Flowe belted a screamer up the rightfield line; it bounced barely fair, and the runners scored easily, and Flowe raced all the way to third base when Parker had trouble catching up with the carom in rightfield. The Crusaders sent left-hander Dan Graham after Starr, who flew out to Box, and the game went to extras.

Dover got the ball for the tenth and retired the New Yorkers in order, while Graham remained in for the Crusaders, and got around a Corral single to keep the game going. McMahan then did an inning, then was hit for with Novelo, the last stick on the bench. Josh C was up for the 12th, but the Raccoons already sent Pizza to the pen, since he was not going to get a start in this series, and Monday was off. Novelo singled off Andres Lopez to begin the bottom 11th, and the winning run moved to third base with Duhe’s 1-out single to center. Flowe was overpowered by the left-handed Lopez, but Starr came up with two outs and fought the count full. Lopez gave it his all with the 3-2, and so did Joel Starr, hitting an absolute lightning strike that Johnny Parker didn’t even bother to look after, a massive 3-run, walkoff home run…!!! 9-6 Furballs!! Duhe 2-6; Flowe (PH) 1-2, 3B, 2 RBI; Starr 3-6, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Early 2-5, 2B, RBI; Archuleta 2-5; Mendoza 1-2, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Wilson (PH) 1-2; Novelo (PH) 1-1; Kehoe 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Starr was shooting them dingers across the sky!

Game 4
NYC: CF Box – RF J. Parker – 1B Starwalt – C D. Johnson – 3B Frasher – LF Duhon – 2B Philpot – SS J. Hernandez – P A. Shaw
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Early – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Morales

Both teams scattered three hits in the early innings, with a double by Jake Flowe the loudest knock for the Critters, but the only lasting damage was done by Eric Frasher to his own oblique on a defensive play. He left the game for Omar Vera after two innings.

New York went down in order in the fourth and fifth, while the Raccoons got a 1-out single from Mendoza in the bottom 5th. Morales’ bunt was thrown away by Johnson for two bases, and the Coons got a pair in scoring position with one down and Duhe back in the box. Both him and Wilson would smack solid RBI singles to center for the first two runs of the game, but Starr hit into a double play to end the frame.

Morales looked steady and clicked off batters without getting a single strikeout. Starwalt singled with two outs in the sixth, but was left on by Johnson. Vera then hit a leadoff single in the seventh, but was doubled up, 4-6-3, by Duhon. After the stretch, Flowe hit a leadoff jack to right, his tenth home run on the season, and extended the Coons lead to 3-0 as we were bidding for a 4-game sweep of the first-place Crusaders. Mendoza doubled, and Duhe hit another home run to get to 5-0! The Crusaders left Shaw in to at least recover the bullpen (they did not have Monday off), and he ran into Joel Starr with two outs – BOOM!! ‘nother homer!! (giggles madly)

Morales however got stuck in the eighth. Zack Cooper walked, Box singled (when did he not?), and with two outs Starwalt drew another walk to fill the bases. Dover replaced him, got a groundball out from Johnson, and the inning was over. Carrington completed the sweep with a 1-2-3 ninth! 6-0 Furballs! Duhe 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Flowe 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Mendoza 2-3, 2B; Morales 7.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, W (7-2);

In other news

July 12 – The Cyclones beat the Rebels, 6-1 in 15 innings, fresh out of the All Star break. Cincy catcher Ryan Marty (.263, 5 HR, 25 RBI) goes 5-for-7 with a home run in the 15th inning, a double, three hits in extra innings in general, and two RBI.
July 13 – The Pacifics deal C Ramon Lopez (.196, 1 HR, 11 RBI) to the Rebels for RF/LF/1B Matt Ford (.250, 6 HR, 28 RBI) and a prospect.
July 13 – Furthermore, L.A. acquires SP Tom Delaney (10-2, 3.02 ERA) from the Gold Sox for the price of two prospects.
July 13 – The Condors end the 23-game hitting streak of Vegas’ Vic Lorenzo (.323, 0 HR, 39 RBI) while beating the Aces, 7-5.
July 13 – The Rebels’ LF/CF/2B Darby Laybolt (.265, 11 HR, 49 RBI) will miss a month with a sprained ankle.
July 14 – Boston shoots down Milwaukee, 16-6, in a game in which every starting position player for Boston has at least one hit and one run scored.
July 14 – The Thunder beat the Falcons, 7-5, in a 16-inning slogfest.

FL Player of the Week: SAC C Nate Danis (.245, 13 HR, 40 RBI), hitting .438 (7-16) with 2 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR 1B Joel Starr (.305, 20 HR, 70 RBI), swatting .444 (8-18) with 5 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I hear Joel Starr is wanted for murder in New York. Their CL North lead, specifically.

Starr smacked three homers and the rest of the team hit NOTHING on Friday, which was enough for a W behind Nick Walla, who had a difficult start, but got to 7-7 at least. I think I have now seen everything.

Starr also matched his output of the last two seasons with dingers #16, 17, and 18 on Friday, and tied for the CL lead for bombs with Jorge Arviso – ten behind the ABL leader Austin Gordon of Nashville. Starr’s single-season high in the majors is 22, achieved in 2060, which reminds me that this is the final guaranteed year of his contract. Only that team option left. – Anyway, on Sunday night, Starr stood alone atop the CL homer board with 20, with Arviso at 19 and Starwalt at 18.

Ken Nielsen also got on the face on Sunday, and Nick Walla was now the CL ERA leader by 23 points. His next start would be against the Loggers though. Them and the Falcons would complete the homestand next week.

The Raccoons signed 17-year-old Nelson Aguilar for an eye-watering $1.3M this week, which also means that there’s not a lot of budget left to buy improvements for the roster. And we’re not trading Jimmy Wharton. Aguilar is scouted a 16/15/15 bat monster by OSA, with a bit less by Semchez, but one can dream, right? He would probably be in left of at first with a meek throwing arm, but he had very good speed and range. Since he was already 17, he was moved straight to Aumsville after signing.

The Aguilar signing cost another $640k in penalty tax, and ensured maximum signing restrictions for next year.

Fun Fact: Joel Starr’s 3-homer game is the first such occurrence in the ABL where the power surge’s team scores less than five runs.

Probably also the first where the entire rest of the team fails to get a single base knock, but sometimes you get a W and you try and ignore the rest.