[Westheim]

Raccoons (70-80) vs. Aces (90-59) – September 22-24, 2070

The Aces had a chance for a hundred wins, but not really for the division title, being ten games behind the stomping Knights, and about to be eliminated from playoff consideration. They brought the #3 offense and #2 pitching to Portland, and also the quiet confidence that their young-ish team would be even better next year. They had already bagged the season series, 5-1. They also had a *pile* of injuries, including half of a lineup on the DL. Besides pitcher John Santamaria, they had Vic Lorenzo, Matt Rodewald, Alfredo Rosado, Jorge Caceres, Josh Phelps, and Jordan Hernandez all out of action, so in reality the Raccoons would lose to the Las Vegas Whos? There were so many 40-man roster players out injured that the Aces arrived with only 28 players including a reliever with just one appearance so far and SIX position players that had been in the lineup less than ten times all year.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (8-11, 3.75 ERA) vs. Luis Ortiz (15-6, 3.23 ERA)
Gabriel Rios (8-2, 2.82 ERA) vs. Tim Henderson (9-11, 3.98 ERA)
Val Centeno (2-6, 7.53 ERA) vs. Danny Ryba (4-6, 3.79 ERA)

Only right-handed starters coming up in this series. Not sure why we were even bothering with more starts for Centeno…

Adam Yocum remained day-to-day to begin the week and was not expected to start any game in this series. He might appear as pinch-hitter, but why force things and/or bother?

Game 1
LVA: 3B Ji. Williams – RF A. Jones – SS Hatakeyama – C Haynes – 2B C. Cervantez – 1B L. Jimenez – CF Ben – LF McGrew – P L. Ortiz
POR: SS Murcia – LF Otal – RF Corral – CF T. Wharton – C Flowe – 3B Gallo – 2B Mireles – 1B D. Gomez – P Morales

The Las Vegas Leftovers didn’t bother Morales much the first time through while the Coons scored a cheap second-inning run on Wharton’s single, Flowe getting nicked, a balk, and a Gallo groundout, then masterfully left the second runner on third base. Benito Otal made it 2-0 with a homer in the bottom 3rd, and Corral and Wharton added 1-out singles, but the inning then fizzled out with groundouts from Flowe and Gallo.

Morales carried a 2-hitter through five innings, but had endured some full counts along the way and a shutout appeared unlikely at this point. Bottom 5th, Ortiz knocked Murcia with a fastball and gave up a double to Otal and a 3-run homer to Corral to bloom the score to 5-0. Wharton flew out to center, but Flowe doubled and Gallo walked. Mireles then slapped an RBI double up the leftfield line, Dan Gomez was walked intentionally, and Gabe Molina replaced Ortiz in a 6-0 game. The left-hander struck out Morales, but walked in another run against Murcia before Otal whiffed to end the inning. Murcia drove in another run in the bottom 7th, also with two outs, when he singled off right-hander Alex Santillan with Gomez and Vinny Morales on the corners, Morales having clipped a 2-out single himself.

Morales was still going through eight and holding the Aces to three hits, while the Aces’ Javier Huichapa walked the bags full with Corral, Wharton, and Manny Arredondo in the bottom 8th. Mireles hit a sac fly and Gomez hit an RBI single before Morales grounded out to end the inning, then retook the hill against the 2-3-4 batters, but gave up a leadoff single to Adam Jones, threw a wild pitch, and then allowed another single to Koji Hatakeyama before being removed from the game. Edgar Gutierrez inherited Aces on the corners and nobody out, struck out Jon McFadden, but then gave up a sac fly to Carlos Cervantez before finishing the game. 10-1 Furballs. Otal 2-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Corral 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; T. Wharton 2-4; D. Gomez 1-2, 3 BB, RBI; Morales 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (9-11) and 1-5;

Game 2
LVA: CF Ji. Williams – LF Marazzo – SS Hatakeyama – C Haynes – 2B C. Cervantez – 1B L. Jimenez – RF McGrew – 3B J. Velazquez – P T. Henderson
POR: SS Murcia – LF Otal – RF Corral – CF T. Wharton – 2B Mireles – 1B D. Gomez – C Brown – 3B Jalomo – P Rios

Rios got bombed for four hits in the first inning, including three singles by Jimmy Williams, Nate Marazzo, and Hakateyama for a run before he got an out. Cervantez hit a 2-out RBI double after Chris Haynes and his 31 homers crumpled into a double play grounder. Rios remained wonky, allowed a hit to Henderson in the second, and then a triple to Hatakeyama, who scored on a groundout by Haynes in the third inning to get the score to 3-0, while the Coons disappeared in order against Henderson the first time through.

Otal singled and stole second base in the fourth, but that was about it for offense for the time being, while Rios pitched 6.1 largely abortive innings, didn’t have a clean inning until the sixth, bunted into a double play at one point, and left with PH Jon McFadden on second base. Holzmeister walked Marazzo when he replaced him, but then somehow got two groundouts from H&H in the 3-4 spots and didn’t surrender the inherited runner. Leo Jimenez reached on an uncaught third strike thrown by Steve George and messed up by Sam Brown in the eighth, then stole second and reached third base on a throwing error by Brown right afterwards, but was still stranded at third base by George.

All this time it felt like the Raccoons were as far behind as the Aces had been on Monday, but it was *still* a 3-0 game. Jamie Colter, who had entered the game in a double switch with George and was manning first base, then began the bottom 8th with a single. The inning continued with rain, and after Murcia grounded out Jesus Guerrero pinch-hitting for Otal against the southpaw Molina and hitting a double to left. Van Otterdijk batted for Corral, was met with righty ex-Coon Justin Cullum and struck out, but Big Wharton then socked a Big Blast and tied the game with a mighty 434-footer, all at once!

The game went into a rain delay after the inning, but resumed 30 minutes later. McMahan and Ramirez kept the game tied in the ninth before Yocum batted for the pitcher in the #6 spot that led off the bottom 9th, but struck out. The game went to extras, where Roy Ben hit a pinch-hit single off Pedro Valentin, but got himself caught stealing. Colter hit another leadoff single in the bottom 10th, but the Coons then popped out twice and van Otterdijk whiffed. The Coons sent Matt Schmieder into the 11th and he gave up a pinch-hit single to Adam Jones with two outs. Jones hurt himself on the swing and left the game, and pinch-runner John Harmsen was caught stealing to end that inning. The game dragged on and in the bottom 12th Sam Brown drew a leadoff walk before Willie Jalomo struck out trying to bunt, which he apparently also couldn’t do besides hit, field, or catch. It took Murcia’s 2-out single to even move the runner to second, a wild pitch by Huichapa to get him to third, and Guerrero ended up walking, bringing up the Otter with three out and two on in the tied game, while the guy you’d probably want at the dish, Big Wharton, was standing in the on-deck circle waiting for a bus that would never come. The count ran full, as if the bloody game was produced by Hollywood, and finally van Otterdijk chucked a ridiculously dramatic 420-footer to dead center that Roy Ben spiritedly ran after, but eventually ran out of real estate – WALKOFF! GRAAAAAAAAND! SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!! 7-3 Critters!! Guerrero (PH) 1-2, BB, 2B; van Otterdijk (PH) 1-3, HR, 4 RBI; Brown 2-4, BB; Colter 2-3;

(giddy screeches!)

Game 3
LVA: 3B Ji. Williams – CF Harmsen – SS Hatakeyama – C Haynes – 2B C. Cervantez – 1B L. Jimenez – RF McFadden – LF McGrew – P Ryba
POR: SS Murcia – 2B Mireles – RF Corral – CF T. Wharton – LF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – 3B Gallo – 1B D. Gomez – P Centeno

The Aces’ lineup of parking lot attendants slammed Centeno for three runs in the first inning, although in all fairness the damage was either done by Hatakeyama and Haynes’ 2-run homer, or in unearned fashion after a 2-out throwing error by Murcia. Regardless, it looked rather bleak for Centeno’s career going forwards, and that was before he bunted into a double play to erase a leadoff walk by Gomez in the bottom 3rd – although he also started a double play on a bunt by Ryba the inning after, following the McReplacements getting on base with one out on a single and a walk, respectively. Centeno bunted to force out Gomez AGAIN in the fifth inning, at which point I was going through my trading cards to tear his into lots of tiny little bits.

In the end, Centeno made it through seven innings without allowing any further damage against the Aces’ AAA team and Hatakeyama and Haynes, needing exactly 100 pitches for that, but also landed exactly ZERO strikeouts, at which point I found it hard to make up any more excused for him to get another start on the road next week. Ryba meanwhile was pitching a 2-hitter with impunity at the stretch, and while Flowe and Otal singled in the bottom 7th, both remained on base. Gabe Gomez couldn’t keep the left-handed Harmsen off base to begin the eighth, and Holzmeister gave up another 2-run homer to Haynes, who was now at 33 dingers with 103 RBI for the season, something no Raccoon would achieve even if we played until ******* Christmas. Ryba took his shutout into the ninth, but left the game after Flowe slapped another single. Cullum put the lid on the game. 5-0 Aces. Flowe 2-4; Otal (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (72-81) vs. Loggers (91-61) – September 26-28, 2070

The Loggers had clinched the division on Wednesday, and had no chance to catch the Knights for best record in the league, so the air was out of the whole thing by now. They brought a 7-game winning streak along with their #2 offense and #4 pitching, and a +183 run differential. Despite all of that, they were 7-8 against the Raccoons this year and were looking to at least get even. Dave Wright and Nick Walters were the only injury concerns for them right now.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (11-10, 3.64 ERA) vs. Curt Green (12-4, 3.48 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (10-13, 3.77 ERA) vs. Matt Crist (12-9, 3.90 ERA)
Jimmy Wharton (10-10, 4.16 ERA) vs. Julio Robles (11-6, 3.11 ERA)

More right-handers!

Game 1
MIL: SS Van Leeuwen – CF Parrish – RF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – 2B F. Carrera – 3B Monck – C Pavlacka – LF Alaniz – P C. Green
POR: 2B Yocum – LF Otal – RF Corral – CF T. Wharton – SS Mireles – C Flowe – 3B Murcia – 1B D. Gomez – P Walla

The Loggers tried to break Nick Walla’s strong run with a lineup containing six left-handed batters at the top, which in the early going amounted to no more than a tactical draw for them, as they got his pitch count up quite rapidly to 79 in five innings, getting six hits and a hit batter, and a run on a bushel of singles in the fourth inning, that took Dan Gomez’ solo home run in the bottom 3rd off the board as far as a lead was concerned.

The Critters had a new 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth as Corral got on base and was tripled in by Wharton with one out, but neither Mireles nor Flowe could get that extra runner home from third base. Gomez drew a 1-out walk in the bottom 6th, but was forced out on Walla’s bad bunt, and Walla was stranded at third base after a long Yocum single when Otal grounded out.

Walla soldiered bravely through seven innings for 98 pitches, but the top of the order led off the eighth inning and the move to McMahan was obvious at this occasion. He got three groundouts from the 1-2-3 batters, all on 1-0 pitches, to get through the eighth, and we were not completely above sending him back out for the ninth as well, but his spot came up with Flowe and Gomez on the corners and one out in the bottom 8th, and we instead sent J.P. Gallo after right-hander Raul Salas. Gallo raked a 3-run homer, and instead Edgar Gutierrez got around a Fidel Carrera single in the ninth inning to put the game away. 5-1 Raccoons. Yocum 3-5, 2B; Mireles 2-4; D. Gomez 4-4, HR, RBI; Gallo (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Walla 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (12-10);

By Saturday Vinny Morales had come down with a rather violent flu which made him questionable for the start on Monday, but we’d play this one by ear and mucus color once we’d get there.

Game 2
MIL: SS Van Leeuwen – 3B Sowards – RF C. Dominguez – C M. Rodriguez – 1B C. Ramirez – 2B F. Carrera – CF Parrish – LF Alaniz – P Crist
POR: 2B Yocum – LF Otal – RF Corral – CF T. Wharton – SS Mireles – 3B Gallo – 1B D. Gomez – C Brown – P Gaytan

Gaytan gave up two runs in the first inning on … two singles and two hit batsmen, which were Jesse Sowards and Manuel Rodriguez. Two runs were added in the third inning, which Sowards and Carlos Dominguez began with singles. Both moved up on Rodriguez’ groundout and scored on Cesar Ramirez’ single to right. Crist then drilled Gaytan in the bottom 3rd, putting a 1-out runner on base, and there was some glaring there. But the Coons gave him other things to worry about as Yocum and Otal singled to fill the bases with one out. Corral brought in a run on the groundout, but Wharton flew out to center. Gaytan was finally sent packing by the Loggers in the fifth after allowing more singles and a run to Dominguez and Ramirez. Gabe Gomez somehow got out of that inning, put down a bunt in the bottom 5th where the Coons got Brown and Yocum to the corners, but then had to settle for a run on Otal’s fielder’s choice groundout. Otal stole second, but Corral ended the inning flying out to center.

Gomez pitched 2.2 innings against a mostly left-handed lineup and ended up shackled for three more runs in the seventh, as he remained completely useless. Schmieder and Holzmeister pooled their incompetence together to surrender another run in the ninth, while the Raccoons just let it happen at the end and didn’t really cause any issue on the base paths anymore, perhaps with the exception of Sam Brown, who inherited the #8 spot fever from Dan Gomez on this Saturday, while Gomez went 0-for-4. Brown hit another leadoff single in the bottom 9th against Raul Salas, but was left on base as the game died quietly. 9-2 Loggers. Yocum 3-5; Gallo 1-2, 2 BB; Brown 2-3, BB;

Gabe Gomez (0-0, 15.43 ERA) at this point was rather unceremoniously disposed of and removed from the roster, which was the maximum penalty obtainable at the end of September on a team that had just punched its annual losing record. He was replaced with Harrison Hunt, who had pitched to a 1.38 ERA in two spot starts earlier in the season, and was also a left-hander.

Game 3
MIL: SS Van Leeuwen – 2B Hood – RF C. Dominguez – C M. Rodriguez – 1B C. Ramirez – CF Parrish – LF Alaniz – 3B Di. Mendoza – P Ju. Robles
POR: 2B Yocum – SS Mireles – RF Corral – CF T. Wharton – LF van Otterdijk – 1B Spink – 3B Arredondo – C Jalomo – P J. Wharton

The Coons scored first in the rubber game – winning which would give the Coons the season series, lest they wanted to settle for a tie – as Yocum doubled and got to third as Mireles singled. Corral whiffed, and Wharton hit a sac fly. The Otter also got on base, but him and Mireles were left stranded. John Parrish tied the game with a homer in the following half-inning, and it remained 1-1 for a bit, although Lil’ Wharton did his best to find the short end of the stick. Diego Mendoza nearly homered in the same inning, as did Roland Hood in the third – but both were retired. In the fourth, Jimmyboy nailed Rodriguez with an 0-2 pitch, walked Ramirez, and then threw a wild pitch, and somehow the Loggers failed to score on Parrish’s pop and Mario Alaniz’ groundout. When Milwaukee did break the tie in the fifth, it did so in unearned fashion as Mendoza reached on an error by Mireles and was driven home by Sean Van Leeuwen. Hood’s RBI double made it 3-1, and Van Leeuwen’s run was earned. Dominguez and Rodriguez then both struck out.

Manny Arredondo singled to begin the bottom 5th, which replaced Jimmyboy was the batting average king of the bottom four in the lineup with his .138 clip as Arredondo was now 1-for-3. He also scored on Yocum’s 2-out single, narrowing the score to 3-2 before Mireles grounded out. Alaniz nearly homered in the sixth, but van Otterdijk *actually* homered and tied the game.

Jimmyboy struck out the 8-9 batters to begin the seventh and then walked Van Leeuwen and was finally taken over the fence by Hood, and right away the Loggers had a 5-3 lead again. Dominguez’ homer made it 6-3 and Wharton finally departed. Bottom 7th, and Otal pinch-hit as the tying run in the #9 spot after Arrendondo and Jalomo had put out hits to put their AAA tushes on the corners with nobody out. Otal grounded to short for a fielder’s choice as the Loggers conceded Arredondo’s run, 6-4, then was caught stealing.

Omar Vences put Big Wharton and van Otterdijk on base with a 2-out walk and a single in the bottom 8th. Gallo batted for Tony Spink, but drew left-handed pitcher Travis Keil out of the pen. However, Gallo walked in a full count and the bases were now full. Murcia batted for Arredondo against the southpaw, but was met with the right-handed Raul Salas. He struck out and the Coons left the bases loaded. The tying run was back in the box in the ninth after a pinch-hit 1-out single by Dan Gomez against B.J. Butrico. Yocum flew out, but Mireles singled up the middle with two gone. Corral singled through the right side, and the bags were full for Wharton, who calmly looked at strike three. 6-4 Loggers. Yocum 2-5, 2B, RBI; Mireles 2-5; van Otterdijk 3-4, HR, RBI; Arredondo 2-3; D. Gomez (PH) 1-1; Hunt 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

In other news

September 22 – The Knights lose SP Brett Bebout (15-9, 4.02 ERA), presumably for the season, as the 30-year-old is shut down with shoulder inflammation.
September 24 – MIL SP Danny Ortiz (15-8, 4.40 ERA) hurls a 1-hit shutout against the Thunder for a 6-0 win that also clinches the CL North for Milwaukee. The lone Thunder hit is a fifth-inning single by 1B Ian Stone (.284, 30 HR, 87 RBI).
September 24 – Vancouver’s right-handed reliever Josh Meighan announces his retirement five months after Tommy John surgery as the replaced ligament frays again and he is forced into more surgeries just to make the arm usable. Meighan appeared in 272 career games, all in relief for the Canadiens, and had a 14-17 record, 4.75 ERA, and four career saves.
September 24 – The season of CHA 1B Andy Metz (.282, 23 HR, 81 RBI) ends with a concussion.
September 24 – The Cyclones take 17 innings to beat the Gold Sox, 5-3. The effort is worth it, though, as this W clinches the FL East for Cincinnati.
September 24 – The Knights rush the Canadiens, 11-2, to become the third team to clinch their division on this day.
September 25 – MIL SP Ramon Carreno (12-10, 4.60 ERA, 1 SV) lands a 3-hit shutout to beat the Crusaders, 6-0.
September 26 – PIT SP Tom Delaney (10-10, 4.79 ERA) is headed for surgery to have bone spurs removed from his elbow, but should be ready for Opening Day.

Player of the Week (FL): SFW OF Jordan Lopez (.339, 14 HR, 67 RBI), batting .474 (9-19) with 4 HR, 7 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): MIL RF/LF Carlos Dominguez (.378, 22 HR, 107 RBI), hitting .414 (12-29) with 2 HR, 6 RBI;

Complaints and stuff

Too bad about the lost Loggers series; taking the season series would have at least been a moral victory for this lousy team, but we had to settle for a 9-9 tie.

We are currently not expecting Vinny Morales to take the start in the Monday opener in Indy; that one will be Rios instead. Morales might pitch the series finale. The Coons will finish the season in Elk City then. Not sure where Val Centeno figures into this whole molasses. Best case would be not at all. Nick Walla (who now has a 1.34 ERA in 8 starts and a 5-game winning streak) could start on Wednesday on regular rest, but that requires Morales to be good to go on Tuesday. Harrison Hunt is also an option for a Wednesday start.

+++

The fun fact is a bit meta today.

Fun Fact: For the first time that I can remember, the game crashed after/during a (sorta) complete game and the Raccoons ended up with a different result on the replay.

This would be the Friday game, where in the first attempt Walla ended up 2-0 behind and squeezed out of the top of the seventh, which ended on a play at the plate and then ended up suspended on account of rain. Game came to the menu, but then crashed on the next click. The one that counts then of course saw Walla win it on homers by Gomez and Gallo.

The most games we have ever lost here on a crash of the game (not that it happened very often overall) was two wins against the Condors, that came back as wins again on the replay.