[Westheim]

Raccoons (60-52) vs. Crusaders (62-51) – August 6-8, 2068

The Raccoons had now slipped to four games out in the division, while the Crusaders were down to third place themselves and found themselves right in the problem zone, as the Raccoons held an 8-4 lead in the season series against them. New York was eighth in runs scored and third in runs allowed. They were without regulars Jose Ambriz, Kazuhide Takeuchi, Alex Rodriguez, and pitcher Jarod Nesbit.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (7-3, 2.72 ERA) vs. Aiden Shaw (10-8, 4.07 ERA)
Girolamo Pizzichini (3-6, 4.15 ERA) vs. Ed Nadeau (4-6, 4.14 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (7-8, 4.47 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (10-10, 4.27 ERA)

Nadeau was a left-hander, and both him and Lee had pitched in a double header on Thursday, but that would still allow either to go on regular rest in the middle game on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Vinny Morales would finally – at least for a day – qualify for and rank potentially third in the CL ERA race if he would complete seven innings in good order in the opener.

Game 1
NYC: CF Box – 2B Maudlin – 1B Starwalt – C D. Johnson – 3B Frasher – RF Nakamura – LF J. Parker – SS Masterson – P A. Shaw
POR: CF Wilson – 2B Archuleta – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Otal – SS Duhe – C Flowe – 3B Gates – P Morales

It was not going to happen on this Monday because the Crusaders put Morales in a corner pretty much immediately and then started punching him. Morales’ control was well off, and he walked four batters in the first four innings, three of whom scored. Eric Frasher drew a leadoff walk in the second and Natsu Nakamura singled him to third base. Johnny Parker hit a sac fly for the game’s first run, Scott Masterson drew another walk, and after Shaw bunted, Bryant Box hit an infield RBI single. Jeff Maudlin, brought in from Dallas, struck out. Nakamura also struck out, protested, and was ejected his next time up in the fourth, but in the inning Morales also offered another walk to Masterson and then gave up an RBI double to center to Aiden Shaw. The Raccoons were on one hit before Joel Starr opened the bottom 4th with a homer to right-center, 3-1, and a walk to Benito Otal and Jared Duhe’s homer in the same inning then tied the game at three.

Danny Starwalt and David Johnson reached base in long counts in the fifth inning and after Frasher hit into a fielder’s choice on Morales’ 98th pitch of the game, the pitcher was lifted for Gabriel Rios with runners on the corners and two outs – so now he was even further away from even qualifying for the ERA title. Omar Vera – the replacement of the ejected Nakamura – hit an RBI single to give New York the lead back, but Parker struck out. Joel Starr then *insisted* and tied the game again with another solo jack to right in the bottom 5th. The Raccoons made it another 3-spot with a Corral single and Benito Otal’s second career homer, and that ended Shaw’s day.

The Raccoons, while up 6-4, needed Rios, Josh C, and McMahan just to make it to the stretch after Morales’ early exit, with the first two conspiring to load the bases in the sixth inning before the Coons somehow wiggled out of that jam, but Danny Nava got three quick outs in the eighth inning. The Coons had a few silent innings against the Cruaders’ pen before Dan Graham got the ball in the bottom 8th. Early batted for Otal against the left-hander and walked. D’Alessandro batted for Nava in the #6 spot and whiffed, but Flowe then singled. Gates popped out, but Pablo Novelo cranked a 3-run homer that put the game away for good. Dover got the last three outs without nasty accidents. 9-4 Raccoons. Ramirez (PH) 1-1; Starr 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Otal 1-2, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Flowe 3-4; Novelo 1-2, HR, 3 RBI;

Morales was not even a virtual third in the ERA race anymore after that outing…

The Crusaders went with the right-handed Lee for the middle game, so that would give us the southpaw for the series finale.

Game 2
NYC: CF Box – 2B Maudlin – 1B Starwalt – C D. Johnson – 3B Frasher – RF Nakamura – LF J. Parker – SS Masterson – P E. Lee
POR: CF Wilson – 2B Archuleta – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Early – SS Duhe – C Flowe – 3B Novelo – P Pizzichini

The Coons scored first on Tuesday on an RBI triple by Jose Corral in the first inning, driving in Starr, although Starr had only forced out Archuleta. Marquise Early lined out to leave Corral on base, and Duhe and Flowe went to the corners with a walk and a single to begin the bottom 2nd. Novelo snapped an RBI single past Maudlin, 2-0, but Pizza then bunted into a force at third base, and Wilson and Archuleta made poor outs as well and left two on base.

Pizza on the hill was not much better. While he did not allow a run until the fourth, when Nakamura singled home Johnson, he ran constant 3-ball counts and his pitch count was EXPLODING. He was up to *85* in just four innings, scattering four hits, two walks, and whiffing five. He had a decently brisk fifth and hit for himself for the first out in the bottom 5th after which the Raccoons started getting on base as Wilson walked and with two outs Starr singled him to third base. Corral knocked a ball to right for an RBI double, and Marquise Early hit a high fly to deep left – but it came down on the warning track for grabby Johnny Parker to take it and end the inning.

Early was then out when the Raccoons failed to press Pizza through six and he walked Nakamura with two outs. Otal and Kehoe entered in a double switch, and Parker flew out to deep center for Wilson to make an over-the-shoulder catch. Kehoe instead gave up a run in the stupidest way in the seventh inning, allowing a 1-out triple to the pitcher Lee, who scored on Bryant Box’ groundout, 3-2. However, on the other side of the box score Otal then led off the bottom 7th with a triple off the top of the rightfield wall. Nakamura was too close to the wall and was hit by the carom, which then went into the corners while Nakamura was confused. Wilson walked, Archuleta hit a sac fly, and Wilson was caught stealing before Starr popped out to Maudlin.

The Coons ran Kehoe into the eighth when he put Omar Vera and Nakamura on with two outs. Valentin then entered for a 4-out save in the second double switch of the day, entering Gates and the closer for Ramon Archuleta. He got Parker to 1-2 before the batter hit a spanker to right, but Starr got in the way of it and took it to first base himself to end the inning. Bottom 8th, and Gates went to work, hitting a single off Russell Anderson and stealing two bases before scoring on Flowe’s infield single. Jared Duhe had drawn a walk in between, went to third base on the Flowe single, and then scored on Novelo’s sac fly. Otal popped out in foul ground, and now Valentin had twice the lead he came in with, and none of the pesky runners. He retired the Crusaders in order in the ninth inning. 6-2 Furballs! Corral 2-3, BB, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Gates 1-1; Flowe 2-4, RBI;

Game 3
NYC: CF Box – 2B Maudlin – 1B Starwalt – 3B Frasher – RF Nakamura – LF J. Parker – C Norwood – SS Masterson – P Nadeau
POR: SS Duhe – CF Ramirez – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – 3B Gates – C D’Alessandro – P Gaytan

Gaytan struck out the first two he faced, but Nadeau walked the first two, and a Starr single loaded the bases with nobody out. Nadeau still could not find the zone and walked in a run against Early, then allowed an RBI single to Corral. A run scored on Archuleta’s groundout, and another on a balk, before Nadeau buggered out of the inning against the bottom of the order, down 4-0.

Gaytan then managed to blow all of that in a rotten third inning, issuing a leadoff walk to Masterson, who was bunted to second base. Box hit an RBI single and gained an extra base on an attempt on the runner at home, and with two outs then Gaytan walked the bags full, plated a run with a wild pitch and two more on a sharp Nakamura double. Parker then flew out to left. The bottom 3rd then started with a Frasher throwing error to put Early on second base, and Corral drew a fifth and final walk from Nadeau (who was hit for the next chance New York) got, but Archuleta flew out to right, Gates struck out in a full count, and Corral was then picked off first base…

A really, really weird ballgame reached the middle of the sixth with the score tied at four, and neither team having even four base hits. The Crusaders got only three hits off Gaytan in six innings, and the Raccoons were still only on their two singles from the first. Corral drew a leadoff walk from Carlos Torres in the bottom 6th before Archuleta legged out an infield single. Gates bounced one over the bag for a single, and there were three on with nobody out again. The Coons scored nada, as D’Alessandro hit into a 1-2-3 double play, which took some effort, and Otal popped out when he batted for Gaytan. Tied at four, the Raccoons got five outs from Nava before turning to McMahan, who gave up two singles to left-handers and then was stuffed into the nearest trash can. Dover inherited runners on the corners, but K’ed Zachery Norwood to get out of the inning. Instead, he conceded the go-ahead run to the Crusaders in the ninth on singles by Masterson, who stole second, and Box. The Raccoons faced Jon Dominguez in the bottom 9th, with Wilson batting for D’Alessandro leading off against the right-hander. Wilson, Flowe, and Duhe went down in order. 5-4 Crusaders. Corral 1-1, 3 BB, RBI;

We were then off on Thursday, with no need to travel, and I busied myself with admin. Y’know, the important things, like what toppings we could put on hot dogs on Wacky Wednesday for the rest of the season (salmon!) and then also sent Diego Mendoza for a rehab assignment in AAA, which should occupy him for the weekend.

Raccoons (62-53) @ Wolves (56-56) – August 10-12, 2068

The Raccoons had won five straight interleague series against the not-horrible Wolves, who were in a similar situation as the Coons for the playoff picture, being just about a pawful of games out in the FL West. Like the Raccoons with their +3 run differential, the Wolves’ -33 RD indicated that there were issued not on obvious display in the W-L record. They ranked eighth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed in the FL. They were without two key players, infielders John Katzman and Carlos Cervantez, though.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (9-9, 2.28 ERA) vs. Guido Branco (10-6, 3.49 ERA)
Alex Dominguez (14-3, 2.99 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (3-3, 2.92 ERA)
Vinny Morales (7-3, 2.93 ERA) vs. Gary Peoples (6-9, 4.60 ERA)

Both teams had been off on Thursday. As things stood, we expected a lefty in the middle game again. Fitzgibbon was the only southpaw the Wolves had available.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – 2B Archuleta – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Otal – SS Duhe – C Flowe – 3B Novelo – P Walla
SAL: SS T. Armstrong – C F. Contreras – LF Bauer – 1B McDermott – 2B I. Roberts – RF Deisinger – 3B Crow – CF Jurado – P Branco

The Raccoons scored in the top 1st after making two outs as Starr doubled and scored on a Corral single to right-center. Otal also singled, but Duhe grounded out. The lead didn’t last; while Walla nicked Jeremy McDermott in the second inning, but got around that, he then became the third Raccoons pitcher this week to allow run(s) after giving up an extra-base knock to the opposing hurler. In this case, Guido Branco hit a 1-out double, the first Wolves hit, to left in the bottom 3rd, and scored on Francisco Contreras’ RBI single to center.

While Walla then struggled into the middle innings and was behind in the count a lot, the Wolves nicked Flowe in the fourth, but he was left on, and Wilson in the fifth, but Archuleta hit into a double play. Top 6th, Corral remained unretired in the game with a double off the wall in right, and Otal legged out an infield single to put runners on the corners … and then was caught stealing before Jared Duhe raked a homer to left. Flowe then singled, but Novelo’s 6-4-3 ended the inning. Walla’s struggles lasted six-plus, after which he allowed a leadoff single to Ian Roberts, then walked Jamie Deisinger. The Coons pulled the plug and sent Dover with the tying runs on base. He faced a parade of pinch-hitters. Tyler Eaves grounded out, putting the tying runs in scoring position, but Matt DeForge whiffed and Jesus Garza popped out to shallow center.

Portlanders gained length in the eighth with a Starr single and Corral’s 2-run homer, which was #13 for him, exactly half of league leader Starr’s current total. Dover got one more out, but allowed a single to Contreras in the bottom 8th; Rios then got the last two outs in that inning. Right-hander Johnny Chapman walked Novelo to begin the ninth, and Marquise Early then batted for the pitcher and doubled, putting a pair on second and third. Wilson walked, and Eddy Ramirez batted for a hitless Archuleta and hit a sac fly, but that as all the Coons got. The 5-run lead went to Josh C in the bottom 9th, and he put the Wolves away in order with two strikeouts. 6-1 Critters. Starr 2-5, 2B; Corral 4-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Otal 2-4; Early (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Not the best start for Walla, but the ERA went down three points, and Nate Freeman’s went up three points at the same time, so he was now .18 ahead in the CL.

This time we would also indeed see the left-hander in the middle game of the series.

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – CF Ramirez – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Novelo – P Dominguez
SAL: RF J. Garza – C F. Contreras – 1B McDermott – 3B R. Moreno – SS T. Armstrong – LF DeForge – 2B Crow – CF Jurado – P Fitzgibbon

The first three Coons reached base again on Saturday, loading them up with a walk and two singles. Early hit a sac fly and Corral walked to refill the bases, but the foundering Archuleta hit into a double play to end the inning. Bags were full again with Flowe and Novelo singles and after a bunt, another walk drawn by Duhe in the top 2nd. Ramirez singled in a run, Starr whiffed, Early held out for a bases-loaded walk in a full count with two down, and then Corral grounded out. Meanwhile, Dominguez, who still led the CL with 14 wins, was struggling and was well behind in the count. Contreras walked and was doubled off in the first, and Raul Moreno drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 2nd and was forced out on a grounder by Tyrese Armstrong. DeForge singled, but Justin Crow lined out to Duhe, who caught Armstrong off the bag and tagged him out for a double play, bailing Dominguez out of trouble.

Salem was on the board with Ricky Jurado and Contreras singles in the bottom 3rd, reducing the score to 3-1. The next few innings fast quickly, as did Eddy Ramirez’ time on the basepaths in the sixth inning when he doubled into the left-center gap and legged out an inside-the-park homer! Dominguez pitched into the seventh with solid middle innings, but with one down allowed a hit to Armstrong and walked DeForge and was lifted. Nava came in, got Crow to 0-2, and then Crow undid the whole inning with a 6-4-3 grounder.

Flowe and Novelo got on base against righty Pedro Negron in the eighth, and Nava was asked to bunt, but punched the ball too hard to Raul Moreno, who got the lead runner on a force play. A walk to Duhe filled the bases, but Ramirez whiffed, and with two outs Starr rolled a ball near the third base line. Moreno now rushed in and zinged it bare-handed to first base, but Starr legged out the play for an infield single and a run – but then also limped around behind first base. I immediately turned my big black googly eyes upside down and collapsed where I stood, while Luis Silva walked off the field with Starr. Arredondo pinch-ran for Starr, but didn’t get far with Early grounding out to leave three on.

The Raccoons actually no longer had a first baseman among their outfielders, or infielders, so Jake Flowe soldiered over to first base in the bottom of the inning, and D’Alessandro put his gear on. *Immediately* every ball was hit at or near Flowe, who dropped a feed from new second-sacker Novelo for an error in the bottom 8th, but Nava pulled through that. McMahan at least had a decent ninth to prevent things to get even more dramatic. 5-1 Raccoons. Duhe 1-2, 3 BB; Ramirez 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Starr 2-5, RBI; D’Alessandro 1-1, 2B; Flowe 3-5;

(nods slowly as Luis Silva asks whether the oxygen masks sits comfortably over the snout)

The Raccoons still got off easy – Joel Starr was diagnosed with a knee inflammation, and would get a poison injection or whatever doctors do, and he should be good to go by the middle of next week, but he will miss at least a couple of games. We also did not carry another actual first baseman and we couldn’t scrape by with just Jake Flowe moonlighting over there, so a roster move had to be made on Sunday. The Starr injury sent Manny Arredondo (.203, 0 HR, 4 RBI) to St. Pete, and there were a handful of options here, including well-traveled backup outfielders Randy Tallent and Jamie Colter. We also had two actual first baseman in AAA, Alex Palacios and Dan Gomez, neither of whom was hitting and neither of whom was on the 40-man roster. So we shrugged, pulled Randy Tallent up for a few days, and would run with that.

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – 2B Archuleta – 3B Gates – 1B Tallent – P Morales
SAL: RF J. Garza – C F. Contreras – LF Bauer – 1B McDermott – 3B R. Moreno – 2B I. Roberts – SS T. Armstrong – CF Jurado – P Peoples

Jesus Garza led off with a triple in the bottom 1st, but didn’t score thanks to Contreras and McDermott pops and a K on Chris Bauer. Neither team got more than one hit in the first three innings, with Peoples facing the minimum when he allowed a single to Marquise Early and then promptly picked him off first base.

Flowe got on base with a single in the fifth and was doubled off by Archuleta, while Morales was surely better than on Monday and the game remained scoreless until the sixth inning when Peoples led off with a single off Morales and Bauer socked a 2-run homer. The Coons were on the corners in the seventh then after a leadoff walk to Wilson and a 1-out single for Corral. Flowe hit a sac fly to deep left, 2-1, Archuleta walked, and Peoples threw a wild 2-0 pitch to Gary Gates to move the runners into scoring position. The correct move would be a voluntary ball four to get up .067 hitter Randy Tallent, but Peoples fought the count full and then walked him anyway with a high 3-2. Tallent couldn’t be hit for, grounded out to short, and three runners were left on base.

Morales lasted seven, but was still on the hook. Ramirez walked to lead off the top 8th, pnch-hitting for him, stole second, and tied the game on a Wilson single to left. Wilson tried to go, couldn’t get a jump, and then was doubled up on an Early grounder to short. The tied game went to Rios, who was bombarded with righty pinch-hitters, put a pile on base, and then was dug out by the fire brigade, e.g. Jesse Dover getting a groundout from another pinch-hitter, DeForge, which ended the inning. Corral got on base in the ninth, but nowhere nice after that, and Dover retired three in order to send the 2-2 game to extras.

Nothing great happened in the tenth inning, but the Raccoons took the lead on Oliver Graham in the 11th inning when Corral singled with two outs and then raced all the way around on a Flowe double to right-center. Archuleta grounded out, while Pedro Valentin retired the Wolves without fuss in the bottom 11th to complete the sweep. 3-2 Critters. Corral 3-4, BB; Morales 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K and 1-2;

In other news

August 6 – Rebels SP Sean Ranney (6-8, 4.18 ERA) is put out of action for the year after suffering a fracture in his elbow.
August 6 – The Condors thrash the Aces, 19-4. TIJ OF/SS Josh Rugar (.221, 2 HR, 20 RBI) pounds out four hits, lacks the triple for the cycle, and drives in four runs, while OF/2B/SS Mike Pinault (.241, 8 HR, 41 RBI) hits a grand slam and drives in five runs in total.
August 7 – Wolves INF John Katzman (.310, 13 HR, 61 RBI) will be out for two weeks with a back strain.
August 7 – The Stars beat the Wolves, 4-3, taking 14 innings to do so.
August 10 – The Loggers beat the Pacifics in L.A., 11-7 in 13 innings. LAP LF/RF/1B Brady Terrell (.294, 1 HR, 28 RBI) has five singles and drives in a run, but the Loggers’ OF Jonathan Merrill (.334, 1 HR, 57 RBI) rakes five hits including a bases-clearing triple in the 13th inning and drives in six runs across the entire game.
August 10 – A sprained ankle will keep VAN INF Carlos Castro (.294, 5 HR, 60 RBI) off the field for a month.
August 11 – Indians CF/LF/1B/3B Matt Martin (.259, 8 HR, 50 RBI) hits for a reverse-natural cycle – a home run, triple, double, and single in order – and drives in four runs in an 8-7 win against the Gold Sox.
August 12 – Blue Sox OF/1B Tony Roman (.270, 15 HR, 63 RBI) socks his 300th career home run in a 3-2 win against the Knights. He takes ATL SP Rob Wilkinson (7-8, 3.72 ERA) deep to reach the milestone.

FL Player of the Week: SAC RF/LF Alex Barnes (.256, 17 HR, 61 RBI), batting .571 (12-21) with 4 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA C/1B Oscar Matos (.326, 16 HR, 70 RBI), raking .577 (15-26) with 4 HR, 13 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Crusaders probably hate us at this point, but it’s not like I care. They’re probably my fifth-favorite team in the division, and they can suck it.

We’re now two games out in the division, and since Joel Starr’s leg was kind enough to stay on when he came up limp on that RBI infield single on Saturday, and he will only miss a couple more games (Monday is even off!), the Raccoons are still in the running. I mean, everybody not wearing feathers professionally is in the running in this division.

Vinny Morales ended Sunday an out short of qualifying for the ERA table, where he would be fifth – but virtually fourth – behind Walla, Freeman, Mike Bell, and Mike DeWitt, and ahead of Alex Dominguez. Since Bell was out for the year and had only pitched 153 innings, he would drop off the leaderboard in late September and was not a factor, which meant that depending on how you liked them apples, the Raccoons had three of the top five or six pitchers by ERA in the league.

Applying the same logic, we had three of the best four or five pitchers in terms of WHIP, where the table looked like:
Nick Walla – 1.01
(Mike Bell – 1.04)
Nate Freeman – 1.10
Alex Dominguez – 1.11
(Vinny Morales – 1.11)
Preston Young – 1.16

We have another nine games at home coming up, hosting the Miners, Indians, and Loggers. The Loggers this decade have been to the Raccoons what the Raccoons are to the Crusaders right now, a constant stepping stone.

Fun Fact: Matt Martin’s cycle was the first one of the reverse-natural variety in 12 years.

In 2056, the Rebels’ Willie Sanchez did the honors against the Warriors in that fashion.

It was also the second straight year a cycle was hit on August 11 (WAS Tyler Gilliam in 2067), and the second straight cycle against Denver.

SIX cycles have been hit against the Gold Sox since they last had one, with Blake Mickle in 2052:

2053: SFW Mario Villa
2055: CIN Juan del Toro
2060: SAC Victor Corrales
2065: RIC Matt Ford
2067: DAL Chad Pritchett
2068: IND Matt Martin