[Westheim]

Raccoons (69-55) vs. Loggers (68-56) – August 22-24, 2072

The Raccoons ran into the Loggers just as the division tightened up even further, which couldn’t be good news for us. The #1 offense in the league had a habit of battering the Critters, even when their pitching staff was also giving up the third-most runs. There was no speed, no defense, no rotation – just a high OBP and raw power with 142 homers in 124 games. The season series was even at six, which was a borderline success for the Raccoons. The Loggers also arrived without starter Mike Bell and key position players Fidel Carrera and Sean McLaughlin.

Projected matchups:
Josh Jackson (4-3, 3.51 ERA) vs. Julio Robles (8-6, 5.17 ERA)
Crispino D’Urso (11-5, 3.56 ERA) vs. Matt Crist (11-9, 4.45 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (6-8, 3.62 ERA) vs. Ayahito Ochi (8-8, 4.76 ERA)

We got their three worst starters by ERA, and only one of the three left-handers, Ochi.

Game 1
MIL: 1B C. Ramirez – 3B Sowards – RF C. Dominguez – LF Frank – SS Fish – CF E. Mullen – C Pavlacka – 2B Vic. Morales – P Ju. Robles
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF Licona – RF V.D. Morales – 1B Woodley – C S. Brown – 3B Gonzales – P J. Jackson

First of all, Juan Licona hit a single in the first inning, in which both teams scored 2-out runs. Jackson conceded one on Jon Fish’s RBI single after putting Cesar Ramirez (walk) and Carlos Dominguez (single) on base; but the Coons got two on Josh Woodley’s bases-loaded single to right-center with Yocum (nicked), Licona, and V.D. Morales (walk) on base. Sam Brown then had a soft fly to shallow left taken on the run by Ken Frank to end the inning.

After that early pack of runs, offense got quiet for a while; Frank hit a double in the third, and the Coons scattered a couple of singles for no effect, and so Jesse Sowards’ score-flipping 2-run homer after a leadoff single by Ramirez in the fifth inning rang all the louder. It was the only major blip in a solid outing for Josh Jackson in which he struck out eight batters in six innings, but the Raccoons didn’t seem to have an answer. Brown and Gonzales reached base with two gone in the bottom 6th, leading to LeVan to bat for Jackson, but he grounded out to ex-Coon Victor Morales and that was that.

Rios got two outs and Cam Jackson one more in the seventh before Humph drew a leadoff walk from Robles in the bottom 7th. He advanced on a grounder, then went for home on a Katz single to right-center. Dominguez’ throw as off the line and he scored easily, finally tying the game at three. Katz went up to second, but the Loggers walked Licona intentionally and then sent Danny Mendoza after V.D., who snuck a single through the right side to load the bags. Woodley then smashed into a 3-6-1 double play, because why bring in more runs? Why win?

Brown’s leadoff single and walks drawn by Hamel and Humph then loaded the bases in the bottom 8th. Justin Cullum came in to see Yocum, they ran a full count, and then Yocum grounded to short. An inning-ending double play was possible for the second straight frame – but not turned, and the Coons got the go-ahead run across, with a gasp, as Yocum beat out Vic Morales’ throw to first. Katz flew out to Frank, ending the inning, and then Rismiller developed a new strategy to save games. After he issued a 1-out walk to Ramirez in the top 9th, he got Sowards to pop out, but that brought up Carlos Dominguez (.346, 16 HR, 81 RBI). Rather than give up a 2-run homer, Rismiller battered Dominguez out of the game with a fastball into his ankle – which did not amuse the Loggers – but Ramirez and his pinch-runner Tommy Pritchard were stranded when Frank struck out to end the game. 4-3 Raccoons. Licona 2-3, BB; Woodley 2-4, 2 RBI; S. Brown 2-4;

Dominguez would miss the remaining games in the series with a foot contusion, which might lead to revenge…

Game 2
MIL: 1B C. Ramirez – 3B Sowards – RF J. Wright – LF Frank – SS Hills – CF E. Mullen – C Pavlacka – 2B Fish – P Crist
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – RF Licona – C Contreras – 1B Woodley – CF LeVan – 3B Gonzales – P D’Urso

Ken Frank hit a home run to put the Loggers up 1-0 against Crispy Bear, who got his 100th strikeout in this game, and allowed three hits in the fifth inning, as Fish, Ramirez, and Sowards all singled, but nobody scored since Fish had been caught trying to steal third base. The Coons had four walks drawn and hit into two double plays before Edgar Gonzales finally got a single for the H column with two gone in the bottom 5th and was left on base by Crispy…

Even when the Coons didn’t hit into a double play, they couldn’t ******* score, like in the bottom 6th when Humph drew a leadoff walk and Yocum singled. The two did the double steal, and still were stranded on three poor outs by the 3-4-5 batters, who flew out to shallow right, grounded out to first, and flew out to left, in that order… The Gonzales and Yocum singles were the brown team’s only base hits in seven innings, and he was still 1-0 behind when he got hit for to begin the bottom 8th. Hamel, Humph, and Yocum disappeared without leaving paw prints on the bases, and only Humph gave the defense some bother, sending back Eddie Mullen to make a catch in deep center. Chad Brown then held the game close in the ninth, retiring the Loggers in order, while Crist took his 2-hitter into the bottom 9th himself. Katz grounded to third, and a bad throw by Sowards pulled Ramirez off first base, allowing Katz to reach on an error. Licona grounded out, moving the runner to second, and Contreras grounded to second base, and Brian Hills made the second error of the inning with another sub-par throw. Doubly unearned runners were on the corners for Woodley, who lobbed a single over the head of Hills to tie the game. After LeVan popped out, V.D. batted for Gonzales, but drew another walk off Crist, who was somehow still pitching. Sam Brown pinch-hit for Chad Brown, lined out to right, and the Coons couldn’t ******* walk it off, despite TWO Loggers errors in the ******* inning…!!

Todd Sullivan got the ball in the tenth and right away gave up a leadoff double to PH Travis Metcalf in the #7 spot. Fish grounded out and Vic Morales hit a sac fly to break the tie; but the Coons got Humph on base with his 35th leadoff walk of the game, and the first off Omar Vences, Yocum’s groundout moved him to second, and Katz singled to tie it back up in the bottom 10th. Vences walked Licona, Contreras hit a scratch single to load them up with one out, and Woodley rolled a ball over the second base bag that eluded Fish and Hills, and walked off the Critters. 3-2 Blighters. Humphries 0-1, 4 BB; Woodley 2-5, 2 RBI; D’Urso 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K;

The Indians and Crusaders began a 3-game set in New York on Tuesday and played 11 innings before anybody scored. It was the home team, and the 1-0 walkoff sent the Raccoons into first place by half a game.

Game 3
MIL: 1B C. Ramirez – 3B Sowards – RF J. Wright – LF Frank – SS Hills – CF E. Mullen – C Pavlacka – 2B Vic. Morales – P Ochi
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – C Contreras – RF Licona – 1B V.D. Morales – CF Hamel – 3B Gonzales – P Gaytan

Gaytan was not a good match against the Loggers and gave up two runs right in the first inning. Sowards drew a walk and Frank and Hills both knocked an RBI hit with two down in the inning. After that, strikeouts were few, and high fly balls were plenty, but perplexingly, the Loggers couldn’t get them over the fence (but they sure tried to wear out Humphries in leftfield). The Raccoons were again offensively absent and only got an unearned run in the bottom 3rd. Humph drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and then scored on an error by Frank on a ball hit to left by Yocum. Katz got another walk, but the inning didn’t really continue anywhere pretty from there.

Gaytan looked sufficiently badly to get hit for when he led off the bottom 5th despite the score being only 2-1. The Critters did nothing against Ochi, who had hit two singles off Gaytan and was sad to see him gone, in he inning, but Ochi also pitched only five innings before walking Katz to begin the bottom 6th and being yanked for Carlos Gonzalez. The right-hander gave up a double to Contreras, and now the Raccoons had the tying run at third, the go-ahead run at second, nobody out, and so many options to not score. Licona grounding sharply to Vic Morales was a nice start for a useless first out. V.D. walked, filling the bases and presenting Hamel with a double play chance. But Hamel, whose playing time had decreased a lot since the Licona trade, declined the option and instead chose violence with a high fly to deep left, and if it could be bothered to stay fair that would be greatly appreciated – GRAAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!!!

Ramirez singled off McMahan to begin the seventh, but Sowards hit into a double play, and the Loggers ultimately went 1-2-3 in both this inning and the next against Rismiller. The Coons emptied the bench in the bottom 8th after Hamel hit a double to left-center against Cullum, and Nick Luebbert got in an extra runner for a 6-2 lead when he poked an RBI single. Chad Brown then finished off the sweep of the Loggers. 6-2 Furballs! Katzman 1-1, 3 BB; Hamel 3-3, BB, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Luebbert (PH) 1-1, RBI; S. Brown (PH) 1-1;

The Crusaders won another 1-0 squeezer on Wednesday, but then lost the finale on Thursday (our off day), 9-7. This meant the Raccoons were now up one game on both of the Crusaders and Indians, with the Loggers having fallen to four games out.

After this sweep of the oddly toothless Loggers, let’s look like a bunch of asylum inmates against the .349 Thunder…!

Raccoons (72-55) @ Thunder (44-82) – August 26-28, 2072

The Raccoons had so far won all six games they had played against the Thunder this year. Oklahoma was bottoms in runs scored (by a margin) and bottoms in runs allowed (by an even bigger margin). They had a -244 run differential (!!) with 36 games to play. They had started the season 19-9, and had gone 25-73 (.255) since. Their 9-14 August was shaping up to be their second-best month of the season. They were bottoms or next-to-bottoms in all major team stats except for stolen bases (5th). They had a dire lineup, only two solid starting pitchers, and a bullpen with an ERA north of six, and three guys currently in it with an ERA over seven. They had seven left-handed pitchers on the roster, which was not going to be great for them against *this* team. Or so you’d think. It’s the Raccoons. Expect the brainlessness.

Projected matchups:
Jimmy Wharton (10-11, 4.10 ERA) vs. Harrison Hunt (9-10, 3.04 ERA)
Nick Walla (12-3, 3.10 ERA) vs. Jose Aguilar (5-10, 5.60 ERA)
Josh Jackson (4-3, 3.61 ERA) vs. Ray Rath (5-13, 5.00 ERA)

Rath was the only right-hander in the rotation. The Thunder had been off on Thursday, so they could skip another lefty into the series in Danny Baca (6-7, 3.71 ERA).

And then the series opened with a rainout. Good start.

While we were idle, the Crusaders had a 13th-inning, 5-3 walkoff against the Aces, and the Indians lost 5-3 to the Falcons.

Game 1
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – C Contreras – RF Licona – 1B V.D. Morales – CF Hamel – 3B Gonzales – P Wharton
OCT: CF J. Reyes – SS Maciel – 1B I. Stone – LF Talavera – 2B Ang. Flores – RF J. Evans – C A. Rivera – 3B Reed – P Hunt

The Raccoons scored an early run as Humph walked, Yocum doubled, and following a K for Katz, Contreras hit an RBI groundout at Angelo Flores. Yocum remained on base. The Coons then had nothing better to do than to turn that into a 2-1 deficit in the bottom of the inning, as Jimmyboy allowed Juan Maciel on base, who stole second and reached third on Contreras’ throwing error, and then Ian Stone smacked a home run. Those two were good for another run two innings later when Maciel tripled and Stone singled him home, with no major Portland heroics in between.

Hunt, a former Raccoon no less, then of course ticked off 15 straight batters before allowing a 2-out single to Yocum in the sixth inning. Katz’ bouncer to short ended that inning. While Wharton was kept alive with double play grounders the Thunder hit once somebody got on base, Contreras grounded out to begin the seventh inning, but Licona hit a home run to shorten the score to 3-2. V.D. hit another long fly after that, but was retired by Jake Evans. With two out, Hamel doubled to left-center, but Gonzales flew out to Evans.

Jimmy held on for seven innings, then was pinch-hit for with McFarland in the eighth, but the Coons went down in order once more against Hunt, who then got hit for himself with Mike Mabe. The Thunder’s idea of a closer in a 3-2 game against a first-place team was right-hander Luis Ramirez and his 6.52 ERA. Katz banged a double off the wall in right to begin the inning, then advanced on a groundout by Contreras. Licona got a 3-1 count from Ramirez… then grounded out poorly, and Katz had to stay at third base. V.D. fell to two strikes … but Ramirez fell to a wild pitch that tied the bloody ballgame. V.D. walked, but Hamel popped out and the game went to extra innings after David Delgado held off the Thunder in the bottom of the inning.

Maciel’s error put Gonzales on base to start the tenth inning. LeVan batted for Delgado, but by the time he singled, Gonzales had been caught stealing. LeVan *did* steal second, got balked to third by Ramirez, and then scored on a 2-out single by Yocum, who was then … caught stealing. Cam Jackson got the ball in the bottom of the inning, allowed a leadoff single to Arturo Rivera immediately, and then got David Reed to ground out. PH Jérome Martini singled to right, the Thunder sent Rivera, and Hamel declined the request and threw him out at the plate; Martini moved up to second base on two outs, but Jon Reyes flew out to LeVan in center to end the game. 4-3 Blighters. Yocum 3-5, 2B, RBI; LeVan (PH) 1-1;

Oh my … bwoah.

The Thunder then opted for Rath in the late game, leading the Raccoons to empty the bench when presented with an opposite-handed starter.

Game 2
POR: 1B Woodley – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – LF Licona – RF V.D. Morales – CF LeVan – C S. Brown – 3B Luebbert – P Walla
OCT: CF J. Reyes – SS Maciel – 1B I. Stone – C O. Matos – RF Talavera – 2B Ang. Flores – LF J. Evans – 3B Mabe – P Rath

Game two began with a pair of singles and a run on two productive outs as Licona legged out the return throw on a grounder to short with runners on the corners, getting Woodley home. Morales then popped out. Like Wharton, Walla couldn’t hold on, allowing a leadoff single to Reyes himself, who stole his 45th and 46th bases and scored on Stone’s groundout in the bottom 1st… Of course it then got WORSE as Flores singled and Evans whacked a homer in the bottom 2nd, giving the ******* Thunder a 3-1 lead.

Yocum got on base with two gone in the third, but Katz grounded out. The fourth then began with Rath missing generously to both Licona and V.D. for walks, and LeVan singled to fill the bases with nobody out. The Coons didn’t ******* score, because Brown hit a grounder to third for Mabe firing home to kill off the lead runner, Luebbert popped out, and Walla grounded out to Mabe again. The tying runs were in scoring position with nobody retired AGAIN in the fifth as Woodley and Yocum led off with singles, and Evans overran the latter ball for extra bases for the pair. Katz hit another grounder to third base, but this one actually got past Mabe for an RBI single, just before my head could burst off the neck. Licona grounded out poorly, advancing only Katz, but not Yocum from third base. V.D. then lined out to ******* Mike Mabe, and LeVan grounded out to some other dismal ****** on the infield.

Somehow the game got tied in the sixth between Luebbert drawing a walk from Randy Nichols, stealing second, and then being singled home by WALLA, who couldn’t get a bunt down…! (shrugs in despair) Woodley then singled softly, and Yocum zinged an RBI double to left, putting Portland up 4-3. Katz got an intentional walk, and Licona, with the bags full, got a fresh lefty in Kevin Anderson and his 10.67 ERA. The big knock we deserved didn’t happen, but Licona’s grounder was only cut off well behind second base by Angelo Flores, who had no play, and the infield single extended the score to 5-3. V.D. hit a sac fly, Hamel batted for LeVan and walked, and Brown left the bases loaded with a fly to center. And then Walla ran into a 2-run homer by Angelo Flores in the bottom of the inning.

Up 6-5, and with all good fortune used up, the Coons left Woodley and Yocum on the corners in the seventh while scratching up outs with Sullivan (four) and Rios (two) to get through eight. After Brown, Luebbert, and Humph went in order in the top 9th, Rismiller got the ball against the Thunder’s 7-8-9 batters. He walked the leadoff man Evans (double facepaws!!), who was run for with Eduardo Zambrano, who quickly gained ground, running on consecutive groundouts by Mabe and Rivera to get to third base for Reyes. Rismiller had him at 2-2, then gave up a game-tying single to right. ******* ************. Reyes stole second, but Martini grounded out to send the game to extras.

Yocum got on and was doubled off by Katz in the tenth, which Rismiller still pitched as punishment for his crimes, walking Stone to lead off but somehow not getting hung with a walkoff loss. McMahan pitched the 11th, but Josh Jackson was now in the pen warming up, since McMahan was the Coons’ last reliever in this double header. McMahan held up for two frames, despite Reyes hitting a walkoff single in the 12th. He was forced out by Martini, who then stole second, but remained on base as Stone fanned and Oscar Matos flew out to right.

When Jackson entered the 6-6 game in the bottom 13th, he immediately gave up rockets. Victor Talavera flew out to the Coons’ third centerfielder of the day, Luebbert, and Licona had to run after a Flores drive to take away extra bases. Reed *did* get extra bases with a double, Mabe walked, but the Thunder were out of sticks and reliever Alex Nunez popped out to short. The ******* Coons didn’t get on ******* base at all anymore, and instead Reyes slapped a leadoff double to begin the bottom 14th, which of course was the end of the game. Martini’s grounder sent him to third, and Stone’s solid single to right handed the braindead Roadkills a loss they very much deserved. 7-6 Thunder. Woodley 3-6, BB; Yocum 5-6, BB, 2B, RBI; McMahan 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

******* *******.

The Crusaders beat the Aces, 4-3, to draw even atop the CL North. Indy got rained out in Charlotte.

Pitching plans were now shot of course, but for Sunday we could still use Crispy Bear (11-5, 3.42 ERA) on regular rest, and there’d be Gaytan on Monday. Today, though – precious little pen available. Did I mention the chance of rain yet?

Game 3
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – 3B Katzman – C Contreras – RF Licona – 1B V.D. Morales – CF Hamel – SS McFarland – P D’Urso
OCT: CF J. Reyes – SS Maciel – 1B I. Stone – C O. Matos – RF Talavera – 2B Ang. Flores – LF Thore – 3B Mabe – P D. Baca

The Coons again scored first in the rubber game, but this time it took until the second inning, where Licona went deep to right for his 22nd of the year, and his fifth homer in Coons colors. For a welcome change, Crispy didn’t blow the lead as soon as he got to it, and the Raccoons – hh!! – even tacked on a run on three straight singles by the 1-2-3 batters in the top of the third!

It remained a flimsy lead though, and the bottom 5th began with a infield single for Flores, and once Coby Thore hit a proper single to left, I knew that it was gone. Mabe and Baca groundouts plated a run, the unretireable Reyes walked, and Maciel slipped a 2-out RBI single through the left side to tie the ******* game. Stone grounded out to Katz to leave a pair on base.

Back to square one, Licona socked a leadoff jack in the seventh to break this tie. V.D. flew out to right, but Hamel singled on 0-2, stole his 10th base of the year, and then came home from second on a McFarland single to left-center, 4-2. Thore led off the post-stretch times with a single, but got doubled up by Mike Mabe, and pinch-runner Zambrano pinch-hit instead and struck out. Mike Blanchard had the ball for the eighth and conceded a single to Yocum, who stole *two* bases, and scored on the latter attempt as Matos’ throw skipped over Mabe’s glove. Katz gained a base behind him, having walked, and then scored on a Contreras single, 6-2. Lupe Arguijo (who?) replaced Blanchard, but gave up a 2-run homer to V.D., another homer back-to-back to Hamel, a single to McFarland, and then ANOTHER homer to Humphries! That 7-run inning put the game away; Crispy Bear went seven and two thirds decent innings, and Delgado collected the last four outs in a blowout. 11-2 Furballs. Humphries 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Yocum 3-5; Licona 2-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Hamel 2-4, HR, RBI; McFarland 2-4, RBI; D’Urso 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (12-5);

FINALLY SOME ******* OFFENSE!!!

In other news

August 22 – The Knights suffer a blow with news that catcher Justin Hart (.281, 14 HR, 77 RBI) has suffered a torn labrum and might not only miss the rest of this season, but also the start of next season.
August 23 – The Miners beat the Cyclones, 14-11 in a free-for-all. PIT 2B Matthew Selep (.313, 6 HR, 35 RBI) hits four singles, a double, and drives in three, while Miners OF Anthony Schneider (.291, 14 HR, 62 RBI) goes 4-for-4 with a 3-run homer and 5 RBI against his old team.
August 24 – The Warriors beat the Scorpions, 15-4, with the help of three doubles, a single, and five RBI from OF David Jankowski (.284, 4 HR, 36 RBI).
August 26 – CIN C Jorge Arviso (.220, 16 HR, 43 RBI) sends his 300th career home run over the fence in a 3-2 win against the Scorpions.
August 27 – NAS LF/1B/RF Tony Roman (.224, 17 HR, 53 RBI) makes it 400 career home runs in a 6-5 loss to the Pacifics. It wasn’t the 37-year-old Roman’s fault, as he went 3-for-3 with two RBI and gets the milestone homer off LAP SP/MR Carlos Gomez (4-1, 3.56 ERA). Roman has spent his entire career with Nashville, hitting .251 with 2,078 hits, 1,253 RBI, and 108 stolen bases. He led the FL in home runs four times, including most recently in 2070, and with as many as 40 in a season.
August 27 – The Gold Sox make three errors, but land only one hit, a single by C/1B Mike Brann (.228, 5 HR, 17 RBI) in a combined 6-0 shutout between PIT SP Tom Kies (7-9, 4.15 ERA) and two relievers.

Player of the Week (FL): RIC UT Travis Bickerton (.255, 9 HR, 49 RBI), hitting .526 (10-19) with 2 HR, 5 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): BOS C/1B Ruben Perez (.273, 6 HR, 43 RBI), batting .550 (11-20) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Gotta leave it to this spineless team – not everybody can fight a terminal .350 opponent to a draw across 24 senseless innings across a double header. I’m still hitting my head against the door frame, but I’m still not numb enough. Few things make me as mad as when a pretender group plays like the first humans against a last-place team…!!

The Crusaders lost on Sunday and the Indians swept their own double header, meaning the Raccoons had a 1-game lead over both of them by Sunday night. The Loggers still lingered four games back. They had the best run differential though (+69). The Coons had the worst at +27. Well, just look how they play their freebies…!!

Jesus Morentin went on a rehab assignment to AAA on the weekend. There wasn’t any room in the outfield for him anyway right now, but this spared us having to make a roster move before the rosters would expand next Friday.

We go home by Vegas for three tough games. We’ll be off on Expansion Day, then play the Titans for three games at home ahead of a 3-city road trip through the division.

Fun Fact: Jorge Arviso has hit for seven Platinum Sticks as catcher.

The Titans signed him as a scouting discovery out of the Dominican Republic in 2051, and he made his major league debut in ’57. He became the primary catcher in Boston the next year and remained in the job for 11 seasons before signing with Cincy as free agent after the 2068 season. Between 2060 and 2071 he played 12 consecutive seasons of appearing in 143+ games, and was an offensive force in all of them. His playing time has slightly diminished this year at age 38, but he’s still hitting for a 114 OPS+ despite the meager batting average.

Arviso won four rings in his career, split equally between the Titans (2063, 2066) and Cyclones (2069, 2070). He led the CL in RBI and slugging once each, but never in homers, despite a career high of 29 in a single season. The high average was never his thing, but he’s drawn over 1,600 walks in his career for a .258/.396/.424 slash and 1,885 hits, 300 homers, 1,141 RBI; and he was the 2062 CL Player of the Year as well.