Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (14-17) vs. Gold Sox (10-21) – May 8-10, 2068

Last-place teams met in Portland beginning on Tuesday, as the Raccoons hosted the worst offensive team from the Federal League (just 3.5 runs per game). The Gold Sox’ pitching was mediocre, held together mostly by a strong defense. They were reaching base at just a .296 clip, which was embarrassing even to our fuzzy ears. Outfielder Matt Little was their most notable injury; when not on the DL with a forearm strain he was always good for 15 homers and a solid batting average. These two teams had met last season, when the Raccoons had won two of three games.

Projected matchups:
Alex Dominguez (3-2, 3.82 ERA) vs. Juan Ybarra (2-4, 2.45 ERA)
Vinny Morales (0-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Jon Cuadrado (1-4, 7.45 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (2-3, 5.79 ERA) vs. John Bollinger (1-2, 3.58 ERA)

Among those three right-handers was the same John Bollinger that had made 28 largely forgettable starts for the Raccoons early in the decade, then had disappeared from view for a while before resurfacing in the majors with the Sox in late ’66. His starts, though, were still largely forgettable. He had made 34 (52 total appearances) for Denver since returning to the majors after years in AAA.

Game 1
DEN: LF N. Chapman – 1B J. Gutierrez – RF M. Sandoval – CF Tuck – C R. Rogers – 3B Stockton – SS Gonzilez – 2B L. Palacios – P Ybarra
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – RF Corral – 1B Starr – LF Early – C Flowe – 2B Hills – 3B Mendoza – P Dominguez

The Raccoons only got Brian Hills on base the first time through, while Dominguez struck out three – all in full counts that accelerated his limited pitch count – while allowing a single to Chris Tuck and a home run to Ryan Rogers in the second inning for a quick deficit. Marquise Early would hit a home run in the fourth inning to get the teams even again, that one coming with Joel Starr having reached base with a 2-out walk. Offense was rather limited outside of the two dingers; Dominguez ramped up the strikeouts to eight through five innings, but was near 80 with his pitch count, while the Raccoons began the bottom 5th with a walk drawn by Hills and then Diego Mendoza singled to left. Both runners were bunted onwards by Dominguez, and Hills scored on Duhe’s grounder up the middle – but Alex Gonzilez also spiked the throw to Juan Gutierrez, who could not contain the ball, and had to chase it into foul ground. Mendoza held at third base, though, and the Coons were up 3-2 with runners on the corners. Wilson added an RBI single, but Corral and Starr made soft outs to keep a pair on base. Dominguez held the 4-2 lead through the sixth before Early’s leadoff walk in the bottom 6th was followed by another Sox error, this time Luis Palacios throwing a ball entirely past Gutierrez. Early and Flowe reached scoring position with nobody out. After Hills popped out easily, the Sox walked Diego Mendoza with intent, which sounded rather foolish, then brought a right-hander, Eric Matthews, for Dominguez, who was on 91 pitches and hit for with Jamie Colter – but the move didn’t pay off when Colter lined out to Norm Chapman in shallow left, and the runners held. There was no holding back with two outs though: Jared Duhe drew a bases-loaded walk, and both Wilson and Corral clubbed hits that plated two runs each before Starr grounded out. (casual high-fives with Slappy)

For Denver, the air was then out of the game. They would be held to a total of five hits in the game, and went down mostly meekly against competent relief from Hall, Yamauchi, and Holzmeister. The Raccoons loaded the bases with their 7-8-9 batters in the bottom 7th, but Duhe flew out and Wilson grounded out to prevent any runs from scoring in that inning. We had, however, scored enough already for a solid win. 9-2 Raccoons. Wilson 2-5, 3 RBI; Mendoza 2-3, BB; Dominguez 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (4-2);

Denver’s Luis Palacios left the game late with a shoulder strain and ended up on the DL.

Game 2
DEN: LF N. Chapman – 1B J. Gutierrez – RF M. Sandoval – CF Tuck – C R. Rogers – 3B Stockton – SS Gonzilez – 2B Proffitt – P Cuadrado
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – RF Corral – 1B Starr – LF Early – C Flowe – 2B Hills – 3B Mendoza – P Morales

Fine, I sneered when the Gold Sox walked Diego Mendoza intentionally on Tuesday, but when they did not do it on Wednesday, with Marquise Early on second base and two outs in the bottom 2nd, he hit an RBI single to left-center to drive in the game’s first run. Offense was slow again to begin the middle game of the series, but while Morales was nominally on a 1-hitter through four innings it was to be noted that the Sox were really good at hitting balls quite hard, but right at people. Things got interesting in the fifth inning, when Dallas Stockton led off with a single and got himself caught stealing. Gonzilez then hit the next single right away, advanced on Justin Proffitt’s groundout, and then scored when Morales had the pitcher at 0-2, and for a lack of stuff couldn’t put him away and gave up an RBI single in the same spot where Mendoza had hit his earlier in the game, which was now tied at one. Chapman popped out to Wilson in shallow center to end the inning.

Bottom 6th, still tied, and Corral singled to begin the inning. Starr flew out to deep left, but Early walked, moving Corral to second base. Flowe’s pop did not help a whole lot, but Hills with two outs dished a ball through Juan Gutierrez at first base and up the line for an RBI double. This time the Gold Sox did walk Mendoza again, and the Raccoons lifted their starter for Jamie Colter for the second day in a row. Cuadrado walked him on straight balls to force in a run, 3-1, and then was yanked for lefty ex-Coon Ricky Baca. Duhe grounded out, leaving the bags packed. Off to the pen we went, with McMahan giving up a single to Stockton, but keeping the Gold Sox away from scoring in the seventh inning, which was followed by Dover with a 1-2-3 eighth, but Valentin then ran into a spot of bother in the ninth inning. The score was still 3-1 when Miguel Sandoval flicked an 0-2 pitch into shallow center for a leadoff single. Tuck popped out, but Rogers drove a ball past Pablo Novelo at second base and into right-center for a double, parking the tying runs in scoring position. Despite left-handed bats coming up, the Raccoons hung with Valentin, who then popped out Stockton on the infield. After a ball to Gonzilez, the Sox’ batter popped up the second pitch behind home plate. Flowe tossed his mask and rushed back to the netting and managed to grab the ball before it could hit the backstop, ending the game…! 3-1 Raccoons. Corral 2-3, BB; Early 1-2, 2 BB; Mendoza 1-2, BB, RBI; Colter (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI; Morales 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (1-0);

Ramon Archuleta came off the DL for the series finale, and Brian Hills was hitting, so Manny Arredondo (.115, 0 HR, 1 RBI) was off the roster.

Game 3
DEN: LF N. Chapman – 1B J. Gutierrez – RF M. Sandoval – CF Tuck – C R. Rogers – SS Gonzilez – 3B B. Wilken – 2B Proffitt – P Bollinger
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – 1B Starr – LF Early – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Gaytan

Denver scored first on Thursday, plating a stupid run with doubles from Bollinger and Gutierrez; Gaytan had retired seven of eight before allowing the first hit to the opposing pitcher… He tried to make up with a leadoff single to left in the bottom 3rd, and Duhe followed with a double, putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position right away in the inning. However, Wilson whiffed, and the Raccoons only got a run on Corral’s groundout before Archuleta flew out to Sandoval to keep the go-ahead run on third base.

They tried again in the bottom 5th with *another* leadoff single flicked to left by Gaytan. Duhe walked in a full count this time around, and Wilson’s single to right loaded the bases with nobody out. Corral hit a long fly to right that was caught by Sandoval on the warning track, but Gaytan jogged home to give himself a 2-1 lead on the sac fly. Duhe moved to third on the play, and Wilson desired second base and made a bid for a steal. Rogers’ throw hit the sliding Wilson’s furry tush and bounced away, and the Raccoons were off to the races as Wilson went to third base and Duhe scored. Archuleta then sent Wilson home with another sac fly, 4-1. Starr singled and knocked out Bollinger, but Early whiffed to end the inning.

Gaytan meanwhile looked less awful than he had for most of April. He allowed two hits and struck out five through five innings, and on just 59 pitches, had a 1-2-3 sixth… and then things came crashing down again. Tuck, Rogers, and Gonzilez clipped straight hits to begin the seventh inning, bringing in a run, and Gaytan walked Chad Whetstine to load the bases before getting yanked. McMahan came in to fan the flames, allowing a run on Proffitt’s groundout before ringing up Justin Donaldson – but then conceded the tying and go-ahead runs on a Chapman double to center. Gutierrez strung another single, but the inning ended with Chapman thrown out at the plate by Jaden Wilson…

At least the loss didn’t stick to Gaytan. The Raccoons did little in the bottom 7th, but Kehoe kept the Sox to their 5-4 lead in the top 8th before a parade of relievers put Starr on base with a 1-out walk in the bottom 8th, and then right-hander Mike Penaranda gave up a booming, score-flipping 2-run homer to Jake Flowe…! – …but then Valentin blew the lead in the ninth on a single by Dallas Stockton and Brycen Fink’s 2-out RBI double into the rightfield corner…… (dismayed groan) … Left-hander Danny Eisinger then sent the game to overtime; Eddy Ramirez hit a 2-out single in place of Wilson, but was stranded when Corral fanned.

Top 10th, and Dover drilled Miguel Sandoval with one out, but then struck out Tuck and got Rogers to ground out to short. Eisinger was still around and walked Archuleta to begin the bottom of the inning. Arch reached second base on a hit-and-run on which Joel Starr grounded out to short, but now the Sox walked Early intentionally to get to Flowe. The Raccoons got cute and called the double steal, but Archuleta was thrown out at third base by Rogers. “Just let me hit!”, begged Jake Flowe, then strung a walkoff single through the right side, plating Marquise Early from second base with it…! 7-6 Furballs! Ramirez (PH) 1-1; Flowe 4-5, HR, 3 RBI;

Raccoons (17-17) @ Loggers (20-14) – May 11-13, 2068

The Raccoons had handed the red lantern to the Titans on Thursday, while the Loggers had lost first place to the Crusaders, so things were developing in the CL North. But this was still the #1 offense in the league, and yes, they were still scoring over six runs a game, which was not something our pitching staff could generally cope with. Their pitching was mediocre, but a +38 run differential in early May was always playing. With Tim Goss and Mario Alaniz there were at least two of the sticks from the lineup missing, although they were noe exactly the ones you feared most and they still rocked up with FIVE qualifying .300 hitters… Milwaukee was up 2-1 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Girolamo Pizzichini (1-1, 4.11 ERA) vs. B.J. Butrico (4-2, 2.54 ERA)
Nick Walla (1-3, 2.93 ERA) vs. Ramon Carreno (2-3, 5.40 ERA)
Alex Dominguez (4-2, 3.70 ERA) vs. Matt Crist (1-2, 4.61 ERA)

Butrico was the only Loggers starter with an ERA better than four. All of them were right-handed.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – 1B Starr – LF Early – 3B Hills – C D’Alessandro – P Pizzichini
MIL: RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – 2B F. Carrera – SS Reber – C Guitreau – 3B Murcia – P Butrico

Despite the array of deadly weapons in that Loggers lineup, the Raccoons scored first when Joel Starr homered to left for a 2-0 lead in the top 2nd. An error by Fidel Carrera had put Ramon Archuleta on base to begin the inning. Early and Hills continued with a pair of singles before the battery struck out collectively, but Butrico made a mistake to Duhe with two outs and paid for it with an (unearned) 3-run homer to left-center. Butrico then got four more outs before being hit for. Phil Reder singled in his place in the bottom 3rd, but the Loggers were turned away for two singles and no runs by Pizza in the first round of orders. The Loggers got closer to scoring in the fourth inning then, getting Cesar Ramirez and Kyle Reber to the corners with a pair of sharp singles before Tommy Guitreau lined out to Duhe for the third out in the inning. The Coons would also waste a pair of singles by Wilson and Corral in the following half-inning.

Pizza got around a leadoff walk to Rafael Murcia in the bottom 5th, but then ran out of luck with Carlos Dominguez beginning the sixth with a single. Ramirez walked, Carrera hit an RBI single, and while Reber struck out, Guitreau drew another walk to load the bases and Pizza was served with a replacement order. Yamauchi gave up a sac fly to Murcia, 5-2, then got a groundout from PH Tony Mendez to end the inning. He got another out to begin the seventh before the Raccoons went to Mike Hall in a double switch against the four left-handed torture sticks that were still there, with Colter replacing Starr at first base. Hall got Merrill out, but then gave up three straight hits and was yanked with a run in and Ramirez and Carrera representing the tying runs in scoring position. Kehoe replaced Hall, gave up the tying runs on Kyle Reber’s single, allowed another single to Guitreau, and then Murcia finally ******* popped out, and the game was tied at five.

When Kehoe then gave up a leadoff jack to Yoslan Valdez in the bottom 8th to give Milwaukee the lead, he was made to wear it when the Loggers beat him up for another three singles and another run. Tetsu Kurihara offered a leadoff walk to Duhe in the ninth inning, putting the tying run back in the box, but between Wilson, Corral, and Archuleta the Raccoons got absolutely nothing out of that. 7-5 Loggers. Wilson 2-4, 2B; Early 2-4; Hills 2-4, 2B;

The Loggers had four hits through five innings, then exploded for 11 hits in the next three innings.

Meanwhile, Chris D’Alessandro hit for a golden sombrero.

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – 1B Starr – LF Early – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Walla
MIL: RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – 2B F. Carrera – SS Reber – C Guitreau – 3B Murcia – P Carreno

Walla’s day began with a walk to Wright, an infield single by Merrill, and Dominguez getting brushed, at which point I marked an L in the pocket schedule. Ramirez’ double-play grounder plated Wright, but Carrera made an easy third out on the ground, and the Loggers got only the one run, but in this constellation it was never too early to throw in the towel. Starr tied the game with a homer in the top 2nd, but Walla had nothing, gave up hits to Reber and Murcia, and then a homer to Wright in the bottom 2nd to fall into a 4-1 hole.

A quickfire home run round followed, all solo pieces: first Starr, then Dominguez, followed by Archuleta, and then Dave Wright – the latter to lead off the bottom 5th, give the Loggers a 6-3 lead, and finally knock out Walla. Holzmeister was sent in to get abused and then probably sent back to AAA for another victim after the game.

Corral, Starr, and Early loaded the bases in the sixth inning with one out to put the tying runs on base. Flowe grounded up the middle, Carrera got the ball, but they only had an out on Early while a run scored. Mendoza hit an RBI single, 6-5, and there were still two on with two out for Holzmeister – and the Raccoons flinched. When Julio Robles replaced Carreno, Hills batted for Holzmeister – but struck out. And now what? Dover came in and got four outs from Reber to Reder in the #9 hole, but then was taken deep by Wright, which was Dave Wright’s third homer in the game and the fifth of the season… Hall got the last five outs, including the 2-3-4-5 henchmen in a row, but the Raccoons’ offense was shut up well by the Loggers’ pen and never amounted to a rally in the last three innings. 7-5 Loggers. Starr 2-4, HR, RBI;

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – LF Early – RF Colter – 3B Novelo – P A. Dominguez
MIL: RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – 2B F. Carrera – SS Reber – C Guitreau – 3B Murcia – P Crist

The Raccoons galloped all over Matt Crist in the opening inning with Duhe and Starr singles putting them on the corners, and then Archuleta hit an RBI double, Flowe got an RBI single, Early got a sac fly, and Colter snapped an RBI single. That was a 4-0 lead once Novelo made the third out, or in other words, an average Loggers inning to get even again. The left-handed killing squad got Dominguez for a Merrill triple and a run on Dominguez’ groundout before Cesar Ramirez hit a single to right. Carrera lifted a ball into the left-center gap, but it was rushed down by Early on the run to end the inning.

Top 3rd, Archuleta got on, and then off again when Flowe’s grounder forced him out. But with one out, Early walked, and then Colter landed an RBI single in left-center, 5-1. Novelo’s RBI double in the gap ended Crist’s presence in the game. Vincent Hernandez allowed a sac fly to Dominguez, 7-1, but Duhe grounded out to send the Milwaukee Chuckers back to work. Wright led off the bottom 3rd with a groundout before Dominguez retired NONE of the left-handed batters. Two singles, a walk to Ramirez, and then Carrera hit an RBI single up the middle. Merrill scored, but Dominguez was thrown out by Wilson trying, and then Reber grounded out to short to leave two on in a 7-2 game. Yes, 7-2, but the cracks were showing.

The saving grace for Dominguez was that he at least got the bottom half of the order out, but that assault brigade tended to come back around… The Coons tacked on a run in the fifth when Novelo drove in Flowe with a single, 8-2, and then Dominguez got the 1-2-3 in order in the bottom 5th, which was a whole new concept of approaching this lineup. Dominguez plunked Ramirez with an 0-2 pitch to begin the sixth, but Carrera then hit into a double play – and then script flipped when Reber doubled, Guitreau singled, Dominguez plated Reber with a wild pitch, and conceded another run on a pinch-hit single by Phil Reder. This lineup…!!!

Wright singled to begin the seventh, and Wilson overran the ball for an error, which was the end for Dominguez. McMahan and Corral arrived in a double switch replacing him and Colter, but McMahan was behind everybody. Merrill popped out on a 3-0 pitch, while Dominguez drew the walk. Ramirez and Carrera both flew out to strand a pair. The trouble didn’t end there either. Yamauchi was in for the eighth, got two outs, then struck Murcia with a ball. Valdez hit a single, and Wright then hit a gapper for a 2-run triple – and Merrill came up as the tying run. The Coons went for Valentin in the 8-6 game, with Mendoza replacing Duhe in a double switch (Novelo went to short), and Valentin rung up Merrill to get out of the inning. The Coons had Archuleta and Early on against Jimmy Ding(er)man in the top 9th, but didn’t do anything with the runners, and it remained a 2-run game for Valentin to sort out. Dominguez grounded out, Ramirez flew out to left, and Carrera struck out. 8-6 Raccoons. Duhe 2-4, BB; Starr 2-5; Archuleta 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Colter 3-4, 2 RBI; Novelo 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Valentin 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (11);

In other news

May 8 – The Thunder win 1-0 in ten innings against the Capitals. OCT LF Grant Anker (.250, 2 HR, 9 RBI) drives in the winning run with a walkoff single.
May 9 – The Aces thrash the Miners, 12-0, while LVA SP Gabe Molina (3-1, 3.28 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout. Aces OF Victor Lorenzo (.326, 0 HR, 12 RBI) goes 5-or-5 with a double and two RBI in the game.
May 9 – VAN RF/LF Roberto Lozada (.331, 2 HR, 23 RBI) hits a walkoff grand slam to beat the Wolves, 6-2 in 12 innings.
May 10 – Thunder SP Ben Seiter (3-4, 6.94 ERA) wins his 250th game with seven innings of 3-hit, 10-K ball against the Capitals for a 5-1 OKC win. Of course, 236 of the 38-year-old right-hander and 2-time Pitcher of the Year game with the Crusaders.
May 11 – WAS CL Steve Keller (4-0, 1.89 ERA, 9 SV) was off to surgery for a torn flexor tendon in his elbow and was expected to miss at least a full year.
May 11 – PIT C/1B Nick Dingman (.255, 4 HR, 15 RBI) is day-to-day with a back strain that might bother him for two weeks. Since Dingman hit 40 homers last season, the Miners might be tempted to still have him play through it.
May 11 – The Capitals beat the Miners, 7-6 in 14 innings, despite getting out-hit 17-11 by Pittsburgh.
May 12 – Cincy loses closer John Faughnan (1-1, 2.04 ERA, 10 SV) for a month with a shoulder strain.
May 12 – The Titans break out in the top of the 13th inning to beat the Indians, 8-4.
May 13 – BOS SP Mike Bell (4-1, 2.97 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Indians while being in control of a 10-0 game.

FL Player of the Week: NAS RF Austin Gordon (.342, 13 HR, 38 RBI), smashing .400 (10-25) with 5 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL RF/LF Carlos Dominguez (.373, 5 HR, 27 RBI), cracking .542 (13-24) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

It’s a bit frustrating when you give up 6+ runs every game to a team, but for the Loggers, that’s AVERAGE. We also can’t complain about our own offense, which served the Loggers almost as well as ours got shredded… Almost. Still lost two of three.

The Coons are in last place, but only four games out in a tight division. We give up the most runs in the CL, more than 5.1 per game (don’t dare to act surprised), and the offense is seventh in runs scored solely on dingers. We’re tops with 35 home runs, and bottoms with 13 stolen bases. The Lonzo days are over.

We might bring up Matt Schmieder, who is doing fine in AAA, and Josh Carrington also has pieced himself back together, walking two and whiffing seven in 6.1 innings in St. Petersburg since being excised.

Lower down the Raccoons began to make some room in single-A, even with the draft over a month away. Some players were released, including 2064 eighth-rounder Scott Cole, who four years after getting drafted was still poking around in single-A … until now at least.

We’ll have the next two Mondays off, framing a 6-game homestand against the Canadiens and Condors.

Fun Fact: Ben Seiter led the CL in wins five years in a row from 2057 through 2061.

This coincided with the era when the Crusaders won two rings in 2056 and 2060. Seiter led the league in ERA in ’56, the year in which he won the first of his two consecutive Pitcher of the Year awards. In ’57 he also led the CL in strikeouts, the only time he achieved that feat.

The next big number for Seiter was probably not far away – although his terrible ERA was down to a loss of command this year (and with a year to spare on his contract!), as his walk numbers had DOUBLED compared to last season. Nevertheless, in 3,736 career innings he had now struck out 2,985 batters, and 15 more should be able to come around at some point.

(checks whether he was in line to face the Coons any time soon) Nah, we’ll only play them again in June.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (18-19) vs. Canadiens (21-15) – May 15-17, 2068

Uck, the Elks!! It smells! Nevertheless, they were one game out of the lead in the North, and it was mostly on pitching, giving up the second-fewest runs in the CL, in stark contrast to the Raccoons. Both teams were right around average in scoring. The Coons had not won a season series from the damn Elks in six years, with four straight defeats, including 8-10 in 2067.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Vince Ellison (4-0, 2.65 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (2-3, 6.02 ERA) vs. Nate Freeman (2-4, 3.89 ERA)
Girolamo Pizzichini (1-1, 4.02 ERA) vs. Ernesto Culver (3-3, 5.93 ERA)

The Elks had been off on Monday (like the Coons) and the preceding Thursday, and they had wiggle room to get southpaw Martyn Polaco (3-0, 2.17 ERA) into this series. The other starters were all right-handed.

Game 1
VAN: 3B C. Castro – 2B Kilday – C Varner – LF Chenette – CF D. Moore – 1B R. Cordero – RF Atkins – SS Barraza – P Ellison
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – 2B Archuleta – RF Corral – LF Early – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Morales

Maybe next year, though, because the Raccoons’ left side of the infield committed a pair of errors to begin the second inning and then watched in awe as Rick Atkins hit a 3-run tater to Vancouver, Washington for the first runs (one earned) in the game. Neither team would get more than three base hits in the first five innings, so that was a biggie. While Morales struck out four and didn’t walk anybody, which was sure a nice development, the Raccoons managed to get a run in the fourth on a pair of doubles hit by Starr and Corral, but apart from that looked rather tame against Ellison, who also struck out four and allowed one earned run through five innings.

When Jared Duhe drew a walk to begin the bottom 6th, the Raccoons never got the runner off first base as they made three meek outs in order. In turn, Dan Moore and Rico Cordero singles back-to-back to begin the seventh would have the Elks score a run when Roberto Barraza hit a 1-out grounder to short and the Raccoons couldn’t turn two in time, allowing Moore to score from third base. Ellison issued back-to-back walks to Early and Flowe in the bottom 7th, but Diego Mendoza rumbled into an inning-ending double play…

Hall and Kehoe then exploded for a 4-run inning in the eighth, capped with Rico Cordero’s 3-run homer off Kehoe, even though all the other runners had been put on base by Mike Hall, and Nick Vaughn’s pinch-hit homer off Holzmeister in the ninth put the cherry on top. The Elks had seven hits in the final four innings, and the Raccoons had but one. 9-1 Canadiens. D’Alessandro (PH) 1-1; Morales 7.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, L (1-1);

At this rate, we’d have a bullpen ERA over six before the weekend.

Game 2
VAN: 3B C. Castro – 2B Kilday – RF Lozada – C Varner – LF Chenette – CF D. Moore – 1B R. Cordero – SS Barraza – P N. Freeman
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – 2B Archuleta – RF Corral – C Flowe – LF Ramirez – 3B Mendoza – P Gaytan

Gaytan simply sucked and had oodles of traffic on the bases right to begin the game, although the Elks would find ways to hit into outs with runners on base for three innings, although luckily for them that went away in the fourth inning of a scoreless (…) game when Tyler Chenette was hit on the first pitch offered by Gaytan, and then Dan Moore right away whacked a double. The Elks scored their runners on Barraza’s groundout and a Freeman sac fly to go up 2-0, but with the bases empty, Gaytan started refilling them again, allowing three straight singles for a third run, then walked Roberto Lozada to fill the bases and Steve Varner with the bases loaded. He was then disposed of; Yamauchi got a groundout from Chenette to end the ******* inning.

Freeman was still no-hitting the Raccoons at this point, and was still doing so when McMahan cluelessly walked a pair and gave up a run on an infield single by Chenette with two outs in the top 6th, and continued with that act afterwards, while the Raccoons were mostly concerned about running out of arms to throw garbage innings. McMahan was dug out by Holzmeister, who got four outs, and Dover pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, with the no-hitter still raging. Corral bounced out to Matt Kilday to begin the bottom 8th, but the bid blew up with five outs to go when Jake Flowe hit a zinger up the middle for a single. And then Novelo pinch-hit straight into a double play. Freeman would pitch into the ninth inning, where PH Brian Hills reached on a Barraza error. Matt Nelson then replaced Freeman and got a game-ending double play from Duhe. 5-0 Canadiens.

(gives a confused Jake Flowe a thick smooch)

Game 3
VAN: 3B C. Castro – 2B Kilday – RF Lozada – C Varner – LF Chenette – CF D. Moore – 1B R. Cordero – SS Barraza – P E. Culver
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – 2B Archuleta – RF Corral – LF Colter – 3B Hills – C D’Alessandro – P Pizzichini

Pizza was just as useless as everybody else and gave up two runs right in the opening inning, allowing two hits, two walks, and two runs – which were even unearned thanks to the whole ******* inning starting with Kilday reaching on a 1-out, 2-base throwing error by Jared Duhe. Lozada then hit an RBI single and things developed from there, although Barraza eventually grounded out to leave the bases loaded. Starr and Archuleta reached base in the first, but were left on by Corral, while Colter walked and Hills singled to begin the bottom 2nd for some traffic that remained stationary while D’Alessandro struck out, Pizza popped out, and Duhe grounded out to Carlos Castro.

While Pizza managed to run up a pitch count of 87 in just four innings with endless long counts and a full-count walk to Culver thrown in for good measure in the fourth, the Raccoons started the bottom 4th again with Colter and Hills reaching base, this time on a pair of singles. D’Alessandro whiffed again, but Pizza hit a single up the middle and drove in Colter for the team’s second run of the week, and it was merely 2:20pm on a ******* Thursday. Duhe flew out to left and Wilson grounded out to Kilday to make sure no tying run came anywhere near home plate. Joel Starr led off the bottom 5th with a single, but was forced out by Archuleta, who could not get a steal off, but then rushed to third base on a Corral single to right. He drew a throw from Lozada, and Corral scurried up to second base behind him, putting runners on second and third with one out. Colter promptly popped out to short, but Hills dished a ball into the left-center gap for a 2-out, score-flipping double. D’Alessandro was walked intentionally, but Marquise Early batted for Pizza and served another RBI double. Duhe then flew out to left again to leave a pair in scoring position in the 4-2 game in which the Raccoons now had to get 12 outs from their rancid bullpen.

Four outs were brought in by Kehoe before he allowed a pinch-hit single to Rick Atkins in place of Culver. The runner was caught stealing on Mike Hall’s watch before he walked Castro and then got a pop from Kilday. Duhe batted with a pair in scoring position again in the bottom 7th after D’Alessandro and Eddy Ramirez reached with 2-out hits, but now grounded out to Barraza. Instead, Dan Moore doubled home Steve Varner against Yamauchi in the eighth inning, reducing the lead to one run temporarily before the offense claimed the second run back in the bottom 8th. Starr got on, was forced out by Archuleta, but this time Archuleta stole second and then came around on Corral’s 2-out single to right off lefty Paul Wolk. Novelo walked, but Hills struck out to end the inning. The Raccoons then went to Valentin, who had been forced to pitch a garbage ninth inning the day before, and right away things hit the ******* again. Barraza and Castro reached with base hits and went into scoring position and right away Kilday drove the dagger in with a game-tying single to left-center. Lozada popped out, Varner doubled and hurt himself and was run for with Kevin Herr, and Chenette struck out. Too little, too late.

D'Alessandro hit a leadoff single in the bottom 9th before the team resorted to croaking, which sent the game to extra innings. Dover held the game together in the tenth inning, but the Raccoons had Starr on with a leadoff walk and then doubled up by Archuleta… Dover returned for another inning, walked Carlos Castro right away, but got out of the inning with a Kilday groundout, Lozada lining out to Starr, and Wilson making a diving catch to retire Herr, the backup catcher, to keep Castro stranded. Bottom 11th, Novelo led off with a single off Matt Nelson, but was forced out by Hills, who in turn was caught stealing. McMahan pitched a scoreless 12th, then had to bat leading off the home half of the inning. While Diego Mendoza was still on the bench, the Coons were about out of relievers and Nick Walla popped up in the bullpen in the bottom 12th doing stretches. He would likely be in for the 14th should things escalate to that. For now, though, McMahan struck out, but Justin Wittman’s strike three got away from Herr, and McMahan somehow reached first base in time on the uncaught third strike – and then Duhe hit INTO ANOTHER ******* DOUBLE PLAY. Wilson singled – and was caught stealing… Maud… I’ll need … can you please make a tea for me? I feel like my head is going to burst off in the next six seconds.

Maud was a good girl, unlike the bozos on the field, who managed to wipe out a Walla start by ******* the game into the 14th inning, when he made his first ever relief appearance after 102 starts in the majors. Walla allowed a single to Chenette, but got around that, then saw Hills lead off the bottom 14th with a single. D’Alessandro doubled to right, and the Coons had a pair in scoring position with nobody out. Mendoza was STILL on the bench, but we couldn’t hit for Walla. We’d hit for Dumbo Duhe though, if Walla wouldn’t get the winning run across, which he didn’t, falling to 2-2 before hitting a fly to left. Chenette made the catch, Hills went for home, because WHY ******* NOT, and – was thrown out. D’Alessandro boggled up to third base, and Mendoza indeed batted for Duhe. He struck out. (slurps tea)

Mendoza then had to play the outfield for the first time since Little League because that’s where Duhe had been playing for the last few hours, but no ball came his way in the near future. Kevin Herr threw out Wilson again in the bottom 15th, then got Walla for a 2-out homer to right to break the tie in the 16th inning. Bottom 16th, Wittman walked Hills, was yanked for Dallas Samson, who walked D’Alessandro. Those were with one out, and there were no hitting options for Walla anymore, and since Walla was hitting only 30 points less than Mendoza, why not let him swing away? He ended the game! …by grounding to short for a 6-4-3 double play. 6-5 Canadiens. Starr 4-5, 3 BB; Corral 3-8, RBI; Hills 4-7, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; D’Alessandro 3-6, 2 BB, 2B; Early (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Ramirez (PH) 1-1; Dover 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K; McMahan 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

The Raccoons had 23 hits in this game.

They had 23 hits and couldn’t get … (moves paws around erratically) … like … (aggressive paw stabbing) … get in front of the damn Elks???

(aggressively slurps tea)

Raccoons (18-22) vs. Condors (14-26) – May 18-20, 2068

Two tire fires would see who could burn brightest on the weekend, as the Raccoons were all out of pitching, and the Condors had commitments totalling $105M in the offseason and had the worst record in the CL for it. They were scoring the fewest runs in the Continental League, and were giving up the third-most, just ahead of the Raccoons in the latter category, as we gave up the second-most. Phil Nelson, Colt Long, and Phil LeVan were injured, and some other pieces had been through nagging injuries already, including Rich Monck. Mike Brann led the league with 11 homers, but spent most of his time batting leadoff for some ******* reason, and the entire lineup was hitting under .270, with a .235 team batting average. Jason Brenize was 1-6, and the only starting pitcher with more than one win (Phil Nelson) had just shoveled off to the DL for the year. Teams had traded 5-4 season series wins for six straight years. This would be the Coons’ year.

Projected matchups:
Alex Dominguez (5-2, 3.99 ERA) vs. Miguel Lopez (1-2, 2.68 ERA)
TBD vs. Aaron Ledbetter (1-3, 3.31 ERA)
Vinny Morales (1-1, 1.89 ERA) vs. Ryan Davis (1-0, 4.82 ERA)

Only right-handers in that rotation for the Condors.

The Raccoons’ pitching was entirely in disarray after two ****** starter appearances and Walla getting used up in relief for the weekend, having thrown 41 pitches for the loss. We had no replacement lined up as of Friday morning, and we had three relievers (Dover, McMahan, Valentin), who were out of the question for the series opener. Neither Rated-R nor Gabriel Rios were available for a start on regular rest ahead of Morales, so we’d have to make some wacko moves in the next 24 hours.

Game 1
TIJ: SS J. Turner – LF Nakamura – 1B D. Cline – 3B Monck – CF Pinault – RF A. Lee – C Lippert – 2B M. Moreno – P Mi. Lopez
POR: CF Wilson – 2B Archuleta – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Novelo – 3B Mendoza – P Dominguez

A good long outing by Dominguez was an absolute requirement if we wanted to keep **** together at all now, while offense was almost optional. Nevertheless, Archuleta singled, scored on a Starr double, and Corral added a soft 2-out single to put runners on the corners in the bottom 1st, where Flowe left them by whiffing. Longtime Titans benchwarmer Andy Lee hit a single off Dominguez in the second inning, but apart from that the Condors piled up six strikeouts in the first three innings. Starr hit the Coons’ first home run of the week with a solo shot to right in the third inning, doubling the score to 2-0.

Dominguez tried to gain length, getting around a Natsu Nakamura single in the fourth and Randy Lippert’s single in the fifth, but ran up a pitch count of 64 with seven strikeouts, which was not great with his limited stamina. Throwing nine pitches to David Cline and then losing him to a single in the sixth was also not ideal, but he, too, was left on base. Corral went deep to right-center to extend the lead to 3-0 in the bottom 6th, and a Flowe single, an intentional walk with two outs to Mendoza, and an infield single by Dominguez off Dan Garicia then filled the bases. Garicia, just into the game, walked in a run against Wilson, but then got a groundout from Archuleta to Mario Moreno to end the inning.

Dominguez was wrung out for 101 pitches in seven shutout innings, scattering five base hits in the end. Mike Hall got the ball in the eighth, entering in a double switch that replaced Early with Eddy Ramirez in left, put Jason Turner and Cline on base, but struck out a hitless Rich Monck (.236, 2 HR, 14 RBI) to end the inning. Kehoe got the 4-0 lead for the ninth. He struck out Mike Pinault and Lee, then walked Lippert on straight balls. Moreno singled. Technically we were now in a save situation, but there was nobody behind Kehoe in the pen. It was him or nobody against right-handed batter Josh Rugar pinch-hitting in the pitcher’s spot. Rugar poked the first pitch to right, Corral came in, and made the catch. 4-0 Coons. Starr 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Corral 3-4, HR, RBI; Dominguez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K, W (6-2) and 2-3;

Jared Duhe didn’t play in this game, the first one he missed in the brown shirt. That’s what you get for pissing me off this much in a 16-inning clonker. Starr and Wilson remained as every-day heroes for this season.

Jamie Colter (.308, 0 HR, 3 RBI) was then cut from the roster to make room for a spot starter, Cameron Bridges, who was neither good, nor a real starter, but it was all the Raccoons could muster for Saturday. Bridges would only be here for a day and then get removed for another broken toy.

Game 2
TIJ: C Brann – LF Nakamura – 1B D. Cline – 3B Monck – CF Pinault – RF A. Lee – SS J. Turner – 2B M. Moreno – P Ledbetter
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – 2B Archuleta – 3B Mendoza – P Bridges

Bridges had pitched to a 4.72 ERA in nine relief outings last season and had a 3.29 ERA in relief for the Alley Cats this year, so yes, this was pure despair. Somehow it translated into facing the minimum the first time through – while allowing a single to Nakamura, who was doubled off by Cline – and on only 30 pitches. Oh, and the skies were darkening rapidly. Of course it started to rain soon, and good, and we had an hourlong rain delay 3.2 shutout innings into Bridges’ season debut.

Since he was literally expendable, Bridges resumed pitching after the rain delay in what was a scoreless game, and at least got through five for the time being. He batted for himself to begin the bottom 5th and made an out before Ledbetter allowed a single to Duhe, a double to Wilson, and Starr was then intentionally walked to get Marquise Early up, who was hitting .330 and not getting any respect this side of the hood. He also struck out on three pitches, but Corral with two outs lifted a drive to deep right – and it was outta here! GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!

When Bridges went back out he was right away taken deep by Mike Brann for #12, then walked Nakamura. Monck singled with one out, and Bridges was yanked with the tying run in the box. Dover replaced him, got a grounder to third from Pinault, but Monck and Archuleta collided at second base, breaking up a potential 5-4-3 double play, and also Archuleta, who remained on the ground and held his side until he was collected by Luis Silva, he with the concerned face. Hills replaced him, playing short, with Duhe going to second base, and Dover struck out Lee to keep Bridges’ runners on the corners. Holzmeister then pitched an inning before Condors long man Harry Facteau walked Duhe to begin the bottom 7th. Wilson’s grounder advanced the runner, Starr was walked intentionally again, and this time Early snapped an RBI single to right, 5-1. Corral was then also intentionally walked when the runners moved into scoring position on Andy Lee’s late throw home, loading them up for Flowe, who flew out to Lee. Starr went home, and Lee this time made the throw for a 9-2 double play to end the inning.

The Coons hung with Holzmeister in the eighth since they didn’t have a rested left-hander available for the all-lefty array of Lippert, Cline, and Monck. Holzmeister got a grounder from Lippert to Starr, then dropped the feed at first base for an error before walking the bags full, uselessly. Yamauchi replaced him, saw Pinault line out to short on his first pitch, then walked in two runs to Lee and Turner before Moreno tied the game with a 2-run single. Absolute ********.

Bottom 8th, and the Portland Bums put trouble kids Mendoza and D’Alessandro on the corners with a pair of 1-out hits against southpaw David Carlson, but that wasn’t anything Duhe couldn’t fix with another double play hit into. Meanwhile, the all-lefty 2-3-4, now headed by Chris Lauterbach playing rightfield, was back up to lead off the top 9th, and we still didn’t have an available left-hander. Valentin was sent out, even though the lead had been already blown expertly by the subordinates. He rung up Lauterbach, walked Cline, but Monck hit into a double play to end the inning now. Jaden Wilson then led off the bottom 9th with a gapper in right-center against Carlson, turned second base to head for third – and was thrown out by Lauterbach. (noisily double-facepaws) Yes, Maud. Tea please.

Starr drew a walk, but things went nowhere from there, except for extra innings. The Raccoons stuck with Valentin in the tenth, because the next-best idea was Kehoe on the third straight day, or Vinny Morales, and who’s gonna ******* pitch tomorrow then?? Pinault bashed a leadoff triple, but Valentin then popped out Rugar and got Turner and Moreno on strikes to keep the game tied, which at this point I wasn’t so sure I cared about anymore. When the Coons went in order against former Portland righty Justin Cullum in the bottom 10th, Morales ended up on the hill. Jason Thorpe grounded out to begin the 11th against him, while Brann doubled to left. Morales bungled Lauterbach’s comebacker for an error, putting the Condors on the corners, then got Cline on a pop and Monck on a grounder to third. Morales hit for himself to begin the bottom 11th – and since we were a guy short on the bench the only option would have been Novelo, who was also the next pitcher on the bump – and grounded out. Duhe remained useless, but Wilson doubled to right. For once this week, Joel Starr was not walked intentionally with a guy vaguely near scoring position – and he cranked a walkoff homer to end the game. 7-5 Blighters. Duhe 3-5, BB; Wilson 3-6, 3 2B; Starr 1-3, 3 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Early 3-5, RBI; Corral 1-3, 2 BB, HR, 4 RBI; Mendoza 2-5, 2 2B; D’Alessandro (PH) 1-1; Bridges 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K; Valentin 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

We made two errors in this game – both by “relief” pitchers.

And now ******* what? Who’s gonna ******* start on Sunday??

Well, there was a roster purge, not all of which was performance related. Luis Silva diagnosed Ramon Archuleta with an intercostal strain, so he was back to the DL and not expected back before the end of June or even the All Star Game. Cameron Bridges (0-0, 1.69 ERA) and Jason Holzmeister (0-0, 8.71 ERA) were sent back to the Alley Cats.

Infielder Gary Gates returned, but foremost we needed a starter for Sunday. Walla was on two days’ rest from three innings on Wednesday, and was maybe good to throw 75 pitches now – but who did we have to follow him after perhaps only five innings? It was too big a risk, but the rested option in AAA was Rated-R (2-1, 8.50 ERA), who had an 0.81 ERA in three starts for St. Pete, which, fun fact, was almost eight full runs lower than his Coons ERA. It was the least crazy option though and he was returned, even if probably just for one day. Finally, Matt Schmieder was called up as an extra arm (leaving the bench a man short), so that we could perhaps somehow make it to the off day… we had three right-handers (Valentin, Dover, Yamauchi) who were pretty torched after this week and could use being left alone for a couple of days.

Game 3
TIJ: C Brann – LF Nakamura – 1B D. Cline – 3B Monck – RF A. Lee – SS J. Turner – CF Rugar – 2B M. Moreno – P Ry. Davis
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Hills – 3B Mendoza – P Rautenstrauch

Rated-R didn’t allow a lot the first time through, but he did allow a solo homer to Rich Monck to get the Condors into the lead, while Ryan Davis walked FOUR batters the first time through, but also struck out three and allowed no runs to the Critters, who went on to get Wilson and Starr to the corners with a pair of leadoff singles in the third inning before Early popped out, Corral popped out, and Flowe grounded out. (squirts a bit of Capt’n Coma into his tea)

Wilson would pop out with Mendoza and Duhe on the corners to leave another pair stranded in the fourth, while Rated-R did what he could, which admittedly wasn’t much. He was behind in the count at lot, but didn’t walk anybody until Rugar drew four balls to begin the fifth inning. Moreno then struck out and Davis hit into a double play to end the inning. Bottom 5th, and the Coons had a pair again when after Starr popped out to second, Early singled and Corral doubled. Flowe’s poor grounder and Hills’ fly to left stranded those runners, too… Another pair was on base when Mendoza walked and was forced out by Rated-R on a bad bunt in the bottom 6th, and then Wilson added his lazy tush to the bases with two outs. Starr grounded out to short, which made it for the FIFTH inning in the game in which the ******* Critters had stranded two or three runners on base – without ever scoring.

They made it six-outta-seven when Flowe and Hills knocked out Davis with a pair of 2-out singles, but Mendoza then grounded out against Bronson Vanderven in the seventh. Pinault singled from the #9 spot to begin the eighth for Tijuana and stole second as Brann struck out, which was the end for Rated-R. McMahan came in for the bunch of lefty sticks coming up, along with Novelo in a double switch involving Mendoza, and the Condors answered by batting right-hander Art Walker for Nakamura, but he struck out and Cline grounded out to Duhe, who drew a walk in the bottom 8th and was doubled up by Wilson for some variety in the misery. McMahan would get four outs before giving up a single to Lee, after which Schmieder got a groundout from Turner. Cullum then entered to try and save the 1-0 game in the bottom 9th, with Starr leading off. He flew out to Walker in left, but Early singled to center. Corral singled to right, and Early hustled the tying run to third base. Flowe grounded out to first base, with Early having to hold when Cline looked at him menacingly after picking up the ball, but Corral moved up. The game ended with Brian Hills, who swiped at the first pitch he got, hit a sharp grounder to right, Moreno dove and missed it, and Early and Corral rushed home ahead o a throw by Lee, that was off line and no help for Randy Lippert at the plate. It’s a walkoff!! 2-1 Blighters. Early 2-5; Corral 2-5, 2B; Hills 2-5, 2 RBI; Mendoza 3-4; Rautenstrauch 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K;

Eleven hits, eight walks, two double plays hit into, and a baker’s dozen left on base. Jesus H. Christ.

In other news

May 14 – TIJ SP Phil Nelson (3-5, 6.55 ERA) has surgery for a damaged elbow ligament and is out for the season.
May 15 – OCT INF/LF Carlos Gutierrez (.241, 3 HR, 16 RBI) drives in five runs on three hits – including two homers – from the leadoff spot in a 15-5 win against the Knights.
May 16 – Indy SP Justin Esch (1-2, 3.65 ERA) was going to miss time until the All Star Game after suffering a triceps strain.
May 16 – CIN OF Fernando Cruz (.293, 1 HR, 8 RBI) was out at least one month with a strained hamstring.
May 16 – The Stars down the Scorpions, 15-0. DAL INF/RF/CF Jeff Maudlin (.353, 1 HR, 7 RBI) chips in five hits, four singles and a double, and drives in one run. Driving in runs is mostly left to CF Tyler Wharton (.311, 9 HR, 32 RBI), who plates six on three hits, though nothing bigger than a bases-clearing double.
May 17 – IND 1B Matt Rogers (.243, 7 HR, 27 RBI) hits two home runs and a single and drives in the margin of victory of six runs as the Indians beat the Loggers, 13-7.
May 18 – Boston CL Cody Kleidon (2-2, 3.38 ERA, 8 SV) nails down a 1-0 win against the Falcons for his 300th career save. Kleidon, who did most of his work with the Indians, has a career 3.36 ERA.
May 18 – In his second career game in the majors, CIN OF Aaron Hutnick (.500, 0 HR, 0 RBI) goes 5-for-5 – all singles and no RBI’s – in a 4-1 win against the Warriors.
May 18 – The Stars have to put INF/RF/CF Jeff Maudlin (.356, 1 HR, 18 RBI) on the DL due to a broken thumb on his throwing hand.
May 19 – A broken hand could cost LVA RF/LF Alfredo Rosado (.336, 4 HR, 34 RBI) most of the remainder of the season. Rosado was last season’s CL Rookie of the Year.
May 20 – Richmond’s Darby Laybolt (.274, 7 HR, 24 RBI) smacks three home runs in an 8-7 win against the Stars in Dallas. In addition to the three home runs, including the game decider in the 11th inning, Laybolt hits a single, and is hit by the pitch twice. He drives in “only” three runs with his heroics.
May 20 – The Capitals trade outfielder Alex Romero (.279, 4 HR, 28 RBI) to the Miners for a different outfielder, Luis Morales (.315, 1 HR, 16 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: LAP OF John Miller (.331, 9 HR, 30 RBI), batting .448 (13-29), 3 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: IND C/1B Alex Gomez (.228, 5 HR, 15 RBI), slamming .478 (11-23) with 4 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons got six starts from six different pitchers this week, none of whom was Nick Walla, and two of whom weren’t on the roster on Monday and were not likely to be on the roster this coming Monday – that’s how it’s been going. Walla and Morales both had a start wiped out for extra-inning work after a general bullpen collapse, and by the way, we went 3-3 somehow because the Condors might be even more cursed than we are.

Archuleta is back to the DL and if we continue to play Hills somewhat regularly, then maybe Duhe will play more at second base in the next six weeks, since that is his best position with the glove, while Hills has played shortstop for many years in the minors.

Nick Walla will resume to start the team’s next game in Atlanta on Tuesday, then well rested. I have no idea what we’re gonna do apart from that and in general I am very tired right now. We’ll be on the road for a week, visiting the Bay besides Atlanta. We’ll then have another week home before the schedule becomes more erratic again.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have already used eight different starting pitchers and 18 pitchers in total.

And four of those eight starters have also made relief appearance(s): Walla, Rated-R, Morales, and Gabriel Rios.

(shakes head)

+++

This six-game week took four hours to play. Which is absurd.

[Westheim]

2068 DRAFT POOL ANALYSIS

(looks back and forth between new scout Oscar Semchez and the draft report on the desk in front of him)

Really?

(looks back and forth)

That’s all?

(Semchez shrugs and leaves)

Oh well. You may recall that the Raccoons ended up with five top 50(-ish) picks for the 2068 draft. We might just as well not have any, because the draft pool was a disaster and I was currently hoping for a pitch black hole to open right under me and swallow me whole with ears and whiskers.

While there were 112 players on the shortlist (including a few two-way examples, only one of whom was actually interesting), the problem was with the hotlist. There was … not a lot of hot stuff available. Like, at all. Can we even make it ten? Ten is not a lot? But can we even make it so many that I can at least for our rather painfully acquired #6 pick say, yes, that is a guy that I am happy to select??

The shambolic hotlist (*high school dolt):

SP Kody Carr (12/13/12) – BNN #9
SP Kevin Schure (12/13/11) – BNN #7
SP Jonathan Martello (11/13/14)

CL Noah Newhard (17/11/10)

1B Oscar Gaitan (10/13/13) *
1B Michael Kiger (11/11/13) – BNN #3

OF/1B Ryan Redding (19/17/9) * – BNN #2
OF Eduardo Zambrano (12/19/15) * – BNN #8
OF Kyle Markovich (9/13/12) – BNN #1
OF/2B Walter Richmond (7/12/7) * – BNN #5

The last two were scouted really badly by Semchez, but they had stats, and the backing of both OSA and BNN that made them at least interesting.

We should perhaps mention the one two-way guy I found worth of a pawful of words, who was corner infielder Jaquan Riggs, who not only had a firm arm for a third baseman, but could also twirl a changeup and a cutter; on the other paw he was described as “too stupid to breathe” and “the type of person to stick a lit firecracker up his butt for giggles”.

Definitely a good #6 pick.

Yes. Most dystopian hotlist ever. Like, do I really have to travel to New York for THAT ****?? – Maud, I know that I’ll have all the time in the world to travel to New York because the Raccoons will be in Elk City at the time, but you are really not helping my argument. – Well, maybe I *want* to sound like a whiny *** *****…!!

****. Shoulda signed Brenize and not given a damn.

Woulda coulda shoulda.

[Westheim]

Monday was off and spent reorganizing the roster, which meant that Rated-R (2-1, 6.39 ERA) RReturned to AAA and we brought up Randy Tallent as utility. He wasn’t hitting, but he was still offering options, although at age 31 his defense was noticeably diminishing and he we would mostly be held to the corners here, or second base at most up the middle. Also, Marquise Early was currently holding down leftfield well enough to not cause a disturbance with a batter that would … y’know… actually bat.

Raccoons (21-22) @ Knights (24-19) – May 22-24, 2068

The Knights were a game and a half behind first place in the South, all while being right around average in runs scored and runs allowed in the league, with a +6 run differential (Coons: -27). The Knights had no defense and were bottoms in stolen bases, and they were missing a number of regulars in Casey Ramsey, Javier Acuna, and FL import pitcher Rob Wilkinson.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (1-5, 3.74 ERA) vs. Goffredo Merlin (2-2, 3.70 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (2-4, 6.32 ERA) vs. Ivan Rodriguez (2-3, 7.41 ERA)
Alex Dominguez (6-2, 3.48 ERA) vs. Luis Briseno (4-2, 3.08 ERA)

Those were all right-handed pitchers.

Game 1
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Novelo – 3B Mendoza – P Walla
ATL: CF Fumero – C Hart – RF J. Evans – 3B Schomer – 2B J. Munoz – 1B M. Medina – LF J. Austin – SS B. Ellis – P Merlin

The Raccoons were once more hitless through five innings, but the Knights were less shy against Walla, who was pitching in the zone almost to a fault and was getting whacked around quite a bit after a pair of scoreless innings to begin the game. Carlos Fumero doubled and Justin Hart homered with two outs in the bottom 3rd to give Atlanta the lead, and he would then give up another double in the following couple of innings, including an RBI knock to John Austin, driving home Jon Schomer in the fourth.

Jose Corral broke up the no-hitter in the seventh inning with a leadoff single to right-center, but Flowe’s drive to left was intercepted by Austin, and then Novelo and Mendoza made poor outs until the inning was over. Duhe would get a single in the eighth, then was forced out by Wilson, who was then caught stealing to end the inning. The same happened to the Knights’ Alex Rascon in the bottom 8th, reaching base only by hitting into a fielder’s choice and ending the inning with a CS, which completed eight mixed innings for Walla, and unless the Raccoons would finally get their hitting shoes on against Merlin in the ninth inning, that would be a complete-game loss for him. Starr grounded out, Early popped out, and Corral bounced out to first. 4-0 Knights. Duhe 1-2, 2 BB;

Two hits, three walks, and no runs for the Critters.

Luis Briseno and his slider were then moved up to the middle game, where they’d pitch on regular rest.

Game 2
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Novelo – 3B Mendoza – P Gaytan
ATL: 1B M. Medina – C Hart – RF J. Evans – 3B Schomer – 2B J. Munoz – LF J. Paez – CF Jo. Soto – SS B. Ellis – P Briseno

Duhe opened the game with a single, which should not interpreted to mean that he got anywhere nice after that. Meanwhile, Gaytan’s goal for the game was to finally stop the panic and get the ERA into the fives again, but it went up before it could get down with a Hart single and Jon Schomer landing a 2-out RBI double at the base of the fence right in the first inning. Gaytan hit a 2-out double in the top 2nd that went up the leftfield line and Diego Mendoza, who had reached on a Schomer error, was trying to score from first base, but was thrown out by Juan Paez to keep the Raccoons off the board.

Portland got even with a Jaden Wilson homer with one out in the third inning, then got Starr on base with a walk. Early’s groundout advanced the runner, and Starr scored on a Corral single to right-center to make it 2-1 Critters. Jake Flowe also reached base on balls, but Briseno then struck out Novelo to strand the pair. Briseno then also reached base to begin the bottom 3rd on an uncaught third strike, but Miguel Medina immediately hit into a 6-4-3 double play to get the silly runner off the bases. Gaytan then pitched cleanly through five innings, which got the ERA out of the sixes. It would remain under six for the rest of the start – but by giving up a solo homer to Jorge Munoz in the bottom 7th he blew he tender 2-1 lead and the Raccoons’ generally futile poking meant that he was left with a no-decision. The Knights would put Fumero and Hart on the corners against Jesse Dover in the bottom 8th, but then had both Jake Evans and Schomer go down on strikes to keep them on base.

Top 9th, Brad Fales gave up a 2-out double to Wilson before the Knights put Starr on intentionally. Marquise Early then struck out. Kehoe would then send the game to extras, where Novelo hit a 2-out double, but was also left on base, and Kehoe would pitch a second inning while keeping the game going. After that the Raccoons went to long relief option Matt Schmieder, although it’s really only long relief if you don’t give up the winning run after just four outs, which he did by conceding in the bottom 12th a 1-out single to Christian Glenn, a walk to Medina, and then a walkoff single to Justin Hart. 3-2 Knights. Wilson 2-6, HR, 2B, RBI; Early 2-5, BB; Novelo 2-5, 2B; Gaytan 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K and 1-3, 2B; Kehoe 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Game 3
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Hills – 3B Gates – P Dominguez
ATL: 1B M. Medina – C Hart – RF J. Evans – 3B Schomer – 2B J. Munoz – LF J. Paez – CF J. Austin – SS B. Ellis – P I. Rodriguez

The Raccoons were soon a-trailing again as Alex Dominguez got taken deep on a 1-2 pitch by the first batter he faced, Miguel Medina. The Coons would have three on and nobody out when Rodriguez walked Corral and Hills, and gave up a single to Flowe in between in the top 2nd. Rodriguez went on to tie the game with four straight balls to Gary Gates, but struck out Dominguez. Duhe grounded to the left side, where Ben Ellis contained the ball with a dive, but then flubbed a very bad throw to second base that sent Munoz scurrying. Ellis got an error, and the Raccoons got a 2-1 lead. Wilson whiffed, but Starr drove in two with a hit to left before the inning ended with Early’s easy fly out. The 5-6-7 batters then loaded the bases *again* to begin the third inning. When both Gates and Dominguez hit RBI singles, the Knights gave Rodriguez an early hook. Right-hander Nate Baker came in and struck out a pair before giving up two more runs on a Starr single, giving the Raccoons their second consecutive 4-spot, another single to Early to reload the bases, but then got Corral with a fly to left.

The air was a bit out of the game then; the Raccoons were silenced by the pen, and Dominguez pitched competently, if barren of sparkle, through seven innings, giving up only one run along the way from there, seeing Medina double home a second Knights run in the fifth inning, but through seven the score remained 8-2, with four shutout innings credited to Nate Baker.

So far so well. Then Yamauchi got the ball for the bottom 8th, gave up a homer to Medina right away, and then a string of singles that knocked him out with two down, two in scoring position, and only an 8-4 lead remaining. Valentin came in, walked John Austin, saw an inherited run score with a passed ball charged to Flowe, and then walked Ben Ellis, too. Jorge Soto finally struck out to end the dismal inning. Elijah LaBat, former Raccoon, held the Critters tight in the ninth inning before Valentin returned, shut Medina the **** up with a strikeout, and then retired Hart and Evans in order to put in the win in the books. 8-5 Coons. Starr 3-4, BB, 2B, 4 RBI; Flowe 2-4; Dominguez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (7-2) and 1-4, RBI;

Raccoons (22-24) @ Bayhawks (18-30) – May 25-27, 2068

The Baybirds were up 2-1 against the Coons this year, but they had lost seven games in a row. They were second from the bottom in runs scored and third from the bottom in runs allowed, with a -49 run differential already. They looked superficially less hopeless than last year’s team, but it wasn’t showing in the W-L columns for sure. With Ian Streng, Wally Leggett, and numerous other bits and pieces, they already had five players on the DL as well.

Projected matchups:
Girolamo Pizzichini (1-1, 3.57 ERA) vs. Preston Young (5-3, 3.30 ERA)
Vinny Morales (2-1, 1.80 ERA) vs. Juan Sanchez (3-4, 4.50 ERA)
Nick Walla (1-6, 3.84 ERA) vs. Kelly Whitney (1-7, 4.84 ERA)

Former teammate Juan Sanchez was the only southpaw we’d see this week.

Game 1
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Hills – 3B Mendoza – P Pizzichini
SFB: 1B J. Juarez – SS Bruce – RF J. Ward – 2B A. Montoya – CF Parrish – LF Navarre – C H. Valdez – 3B M. Flores – P P. Young

The immeasurable disappointment when you open a cardboard box and find a Pineapple Pizza – this can ruin someone’s entire day! – and this was one of those days, as Pizza went out and was slapped around for a Jake Ward double, veteran Armando Montoya’s RBI single, an RBI double by John Parrish, another single by Nate Navarre, and then finally got the third out from Hugo Valdez in the first inning, being already down 2-0, while Young faced the minimum the first time through partly because Pizza failed to get a bunt down, Hills was caught stealing in despair, and then Pizza struck out altogether. The Raccoons would put Wilson and Starr on the corners in the top 4th, finally, and scored a run on a well-placed groundout by Marquise Early, but left the tying run in scoring position and remained 2-1 behind.

The sixth began with a walk to Duhe and Wilson’s scratch single moved the tying run to second base. Starr hit a looper into shallow center that dropped between converging fielders for a single, but Duhe then got overambitious and turned third base for home, and was thrown out by a country mile. A K on Early and a groundout by Corral then killed the inning for good. Instead, Jake Ward’s solo home run to left in the bottom 6th extended the Baybirds’ lead to 3-1. In turn reliever Luis Morales then loaded the bases with nobody out in the top 7th, walking Flowe, allowing a single to Hills, and issuing another walk to Mendoza. Eddy Ramirez’ pinch-hit fielder’s choice grounder, plus Duhe’s sac fly to center tied the game at three, and Wilson lining out to short kept the game tied and Pizza with a no-decision.

The Coons then sent Schmieder after the bottom of the order, but he put Valdez and Curt Enos on base. Hall added Dan Geiger with a 1-out walk, but Francisco Roviva popped out. Ward then came up with the bases loaded and would face Dover, all with two outs. Dover settled the dispute on three pitches, and the K kept the game tied. Dover also inched around a double by John Parrish in the bottom 8th to maintain the tie long enough for McMahan to get walked off against with a Curt Enos double and Ernesto Holguin’s walkoff single to center in the ninth. 4-3 Bayhawks. Starr 2-4; Hills 2-4;

No, I don’t know who those people are either, but they are sure beating up on the Critters, three games outta four.

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – CF Ramirez – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – 2B Novelo – C D’Alessandro – 3B Mendoza – P V. Morales
SFB: 1B J. Juarez – SS Bruce – RF J. Ward – 2B A. Montoya – CF Parrish – LF Navarre – C H. Valdez – 3B M. Flores – P Ju. Sanchez

Parrish and Valdez ganged up to produce a Baybirds run with sharp base knocks in the second inning on Saturday, and the annoying one was Juan Sanchez’ leadoff double to left in the third inning, although he was left on third base ater two outs, an infield single by Ward, and then Montoya struck out in a full count. The Coons had already frittered away three hits at that point, then got walks to Early and Corral from Sanchez at the start of the fourth inning. Novelo’s liner to left was robbed by Nate Navarre on the slide, and D’Alessandro hit into a double play. Navarre and Valdez then reached base on a single and a walk in the bottom 4th. Navarre scored on a passed ball *and* a wild pitch, but Valdez remained on base while Mario Flores popped out and Sanchez flew out to Early. The fifth began with a Jose Juarez single, but he was caught stealing. Through five it was a 2-0 game, but it somehow felt closer to 6-0…

Vinny Morales was pinch-hit for in the top 7th when the Raccoons had Novelo and Mendoza on the corners with one out against Sanchez, who was otherwise still pitching a 4-hit shutout. Gary Gates pinch-hit, grounded out, both runners advanced and so the Coons got on the board, and Sanchez was yanked immediately. Luis Morales came in and struck out Duhe to quell the threat. He put Eddy Ramirez on base with a walk to begin the eighth, though, and the Baybirds began to rapidly exchange pitchers to mix and match with the batters in the box, but while Starr struck out, Marquise Early laced a game-tying triple off Matt Pickel with one out. After Corral was intentionally walked, Jaden Wilson batted for Novelo and gave Portland the lead with a solid RBI single to center. Pickel then retired the 7-8 batters without allowing any add-on runs.

Bottom 8th, and Dover appeared again after two other pitchers had fooled the bases full with two outs, this time Kehoe, who had pitched a scoreless seventh, but allowed a double to Montoya leading off, and then McMahan, who nailed PH Francisco Roviva, got a bad bunt from Geiger that he took to third base to kill the lead runner, but then Mario Flores reached base with a soft 2-out single. Curt Enos was up for Dover, hit a fly to left, and Early went back a bit, but made the catch without trouble. The ninth saw Valentin strike out Juarez and Ryan Bruce before falling behind 1-0 on Ward, who then hit a smoker into the right-center gap – but here came Corral on his horse, and he made the catch on the run! Ballgame! 3-2 Critters! Ramirez 2-4; Early 1-2, 2 BB, 3B, RBI; Wilson (PH) 1-1, RBI; Morales 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K;

Can we at least take the rubber game and not go down 2-4 to the Baybirds on the year…?

Game 3
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Gates – 3B Tallent – P Walla
SFB: 1B J. Juarez – SS Bruce – RF J. Ward – 2B A. Montoya – CF Parrish – LF Navarre – C H. Valdez – 3B M. Flores – P Whitney

The Raccoons took a quick 3-0 lead, starting with Duhe and Wilson going to the corners on a walk and single to begin the game. Starr grounded out, but got Duhe home, and Early whiffed, but Corral and Flowe hit singles, and Gates hit a double, with RBI’s for Corral and Gates, before Tallent struck out to end the inning with two in scoring position. Duhe and Wilson were on base again with one out in the second inning. Starr popped out to short, and Early hit a blooper behind short that dropped in, Navarre and Bruce almost ran into each other, the ball got knocked by Navarre’s shin towards the infield, and on the confused play the Coons scored a run, but then had Wilson tagged out in a rundown to end it as well.

Whitney didn’t get out of the fourth inning, in which Wilson reached, stole second, and was driven in by Early for a 5-0 lead. Walla meanwhile threw 41 pitches through three, scattering four hits and having to get around a Corral error, and somehow had yet to give up a run. He had a 1-2-3 fourth before Flores singled his way on in the fifth inning, but was caught stealing. Ryan Bruce hit a leadoff single in the sixth, was forced out by Ward, who did steal second base, but was still left there at the end of the inning. The Raccoons had a few silent innings before Wilson hit a solo home run off Austin LaRosa in the eighth to extend the lead to six. Walla meanwhile retired the Baybirds in order in the seventh and eighth and set himself up for a go at a complete-game shutout, sitting at 92 pitches through eight innings. When Diego Mendoza reached on a Juarez error to begin the ninth inning after batting for Tallent in the #8 spot, Walla was retained to bunt him to second. Hills’ pinch-hit single put runners on the corners, Wilson added another run with a sac fly, but Starr’s bleak day ended with a K. Walla then tried to finish the job; Ward led off and grounded out to Mendoza at third. Montoya whiffed. And so did Parrish! 7-0 Furballs! Hills (PH) 1-1; Wilson 4-5, HR, 2 RBI; Early 2-5, 2 RBI; Corral 1-1, 3 BB, RBI; Flowe 2-4, BB; Gates 3-5, 2B, RBI; Walla 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, W (2-6);

Shutout!

In other news

May 23 – DAL 3B/LF Xavier Reyes (.322, 0 HR, 18 RBI) puts up four singles and two doubles for a 6-hit game with two RBI in a 10-5 win against the Miners.
May 32 – Blue Sox SP Tony Marquez (6-3, 2.62 ERA) spins a 3-hit shutout to beat the Wolves, 3-0.
May 25 – The Thunder beat the Titans, 3-0 in 11 innings.
May 26 – The Titans win another extra-inning affair from the Thunder, 9-8 in 12 innings. Both teams score a pair in the tenth before the Titans walk off in the 12th. The best day is had by OCT 1B Ian Stone (.274, 4 HR, 25 RBI), who goes 5-for-7 with all singles and one RBI.
May 27 – Miners C/1B Nick Dingman (.268, 8 HR, 32 RBI) is a triple shy of the cycle in a 4-hit, 5-RBI rush against the Wolves. The Miners win the game, 14-5.

FL Player of the Week: CIN OF Anthony Schneider (.278, 3 HR, 21 RBI), clipping .429 (9-21) with 3 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL 3B Jon Schomer (.332, 7 HR, 33 RBI), batting .542 (13-24) with 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Odd 3-3 week. Not as odd as the last one. But the last one was … oh boy.

We’ll talk about Walla below, but Alex Dominguez won his seventh game this week – and nobody in the league has more than seven wins, somehow. He’s the only CL pitcher with seven wins even, and that on a losing team.

It’s an odd year in the CL. Like, the top two home run hitters were both catchers right now, Mike Brann having 13 ahead of Jorge Arviso’s 12. And neither team was in the upper half of their division.

We go back home from here and will play three with the Aces starting on Monday. The 31st will be a day off, and then we’ll host the Titans on the weekend. There is only one off day after that Titans series all the way to the All Star Game, so that’ll be fun…!

Fun Fact: Nick Walla pitched his second career shutout on Sunday.

And two complete games this week. He went 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA.

The shutout was wobbly early and not quite as impressive as his 2-hitter against the Loggers in 2066. But he didn’t have a complete game at all last year, and overall his record of 2-6 is not indicative of his craft this year. Also, that dismal loss in extra innings.

But this also means that no pitcher has come to *relief* Nick Walla in his last three outings, since he finished that icky 16-inning loss against the damn Elks last week and went the distance twice this week.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (24-25) vs. Aces (29-20) – May 28-30, 2068

The Aces came to Portland on Monday, and they had already swept the Raccoons once this season in their pursuit of a playoff ticket. They were currently leading the South, batting .275 as a team and scoring the third-most runs. They were allowing the fourth-fewest runs despite a porous bullpen – but you had to get to that pen first. The rotation ranked third in the CL by ERA. They had a score of injuries though, with pitchers Tim Henderson, David Gaither, and Tony Torres, as well as position players Leo Jimenez, Alfredo Rosado, and Nate Marazzo all out of action.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (2-4, 5.83 ERA) vs. Chris Monahan (4-4, 4.70 ERA)
Alex Dominguez (7-2, 3.38 ERA) vs. Adam Johnson (2-3, 6.00 ERA)
Girolamo Pizzichini (1-1, 3.68 ERA) vs. Gabe Molina (4-3, 3.67 ERA)

The Raccoons would miss the best starters by ERA there, Josh Jackson (4-2, 3.53 ERA) and Ignazio Flores (6-3, 3.13 ERA). We’d get one left-hander, Molina, at the end of the series.

Game 1
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – RF Caceres – LF Lorenzo – C Haynes – 3B Vic. Morales – 1B A. Alfaro – CF A. Warner – 2B O. Lira – P Monahan
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Hills – 3B Mendoza – P Gaytan

The Raccoons would score first to begin the week when Jose Corral hit a homer to right with Marquise Early on base to begin the bottom 2nd, going up 2-0. Corral also doubled in the fourth inning and scored after a scratch single by Jake Flowe moved him to third, coming home on Brian Hills’ sac fly to center, 3-0. Gaytan pitched to relatively little drama, but with occasional loss of control. He walked Vic Morales to begin the top 2nd, but Alex Alfaro doubled off the runner, and then nicked Chris Haynes and Omar Lira in consecutive innings in the fourth and fifth, but neither runner made it very far around the bases. The Aces had two hits off him in five innings. By the sixth, they reached base by getting hit with pitches more often than actual base hits when another pitch brushed Haynes’ uniform and sent him to first base again, where he remained. Granted, it didn’t look pretty, but he was pressing through the innings at least…!

Bottom 6th, Early drew a 1-out walk and then Corral dropped a looper behind Alex Alfaro for a single that was higher than far, and sent Early to third base. It also put Corral a triple short of the cycle. A dead infield roller near the third base line by Flowe then became a bases-filling single, as Early had to hold. Hills brought in another run with a groundout, Mendoza was walked intentionally for some odd reason, and then Gaytan popped out to short.

Everything then went to **** again in the seventh inning. Gaytan went out and allowed FOUR straight hits to the bottom four in the order, including PH Mike Davis in Monahan’s spot, and when he was yanked for Kehoe with two runs in and runners on the corners, little actual relief was offered when Kehoe surrendered an RBI double to Koji Hatakeyama, a game-tying groundout to Jorge Caceres, another run-scoring groundout to Vic Lorenzo, and then a Hills error put Haynes on base with two outs to keep the ******* inning yet going, but Vic Morales flew out to Corral. The Aces now led 5-4 out of the blue, then saw left-handed reliever Jesse Connors walk Starr and Early with two outs in the bottom 7th. Corral then got plunked to fill the bases, but Flowe’s fly to right was caught by Caceres to keep everybody stranded. An assortment of relievers loaded the bags with Coons again in the bottom 8th as Hills singled and Eddy Ramirez and Duhe drew walks. Wilson batted with one out, rolled another infield single, and the Raccoons tied the game when that ball died a hero next to the mound. Ex-Coon Ricky Herrera then struck out both Starr and Early to keep the bases ******* loaded.

We used Valentin in the top of the ninth to keep the game tied, even though Jorge Caceres hit a leadoff single, stole a base, and got to third base before Valentin regained control of the inning. Corral batted again facing Ricky H to begin the bottom 9th, but grounded out instead of tripling. Right-handed pinch-hitters Pablo Novelo and Chris D’Alessandro then hit a pair of singles to build some pressure, Mendoza hit another soft single to load the bases, which the Raccoons did habitually before not scoring, and Eddy Ramirez was still in the #9 hole (Wilson had left the game). His grounder to short was fired home in time by Hatakeyama, and Duhe floated out to left to keep the bases loaded and send the game to extras. Valentin pitched a second inning before Takenori Tanizaki got two outs in the bottom 10th. Early then singled, as did Corral (still no triple magic), and then Novelo grounded out to keep the game going to the 11th. Schmieder pitched a 1-2-3 inning before D’Alessandro reached second base on a throwing error by Hatakeyama to begin the bottom 11th. The Aces walked Mendoza intentionally again, then got a double play from Ramirez. Duhe was walked intentionally now with Randy Tallent having pinch-hit for Valentin the last time around and having remained in the #2 spot, playing leftfield in lieu of Marquise Early. He grounded out… Schmieder then loaded the bases in the top 12th – but the Aces arrived at the pitcher’s spot with two outs and Tanizaki struck out to keep those three faces on the bases. Joel Starr led off the bottom 12th with a single to left against Dario Luna, then was bunted to second by Schmieder. Corral wasn’t pitched to, and Luna axed the replacements in the 6-7 slots to extend the game further. The tie was broken in the 13th when Hatakeyama led off with a triple to right and scored on a groundout rather quickly. Diego Mendoza then led off the bottom 13th with a single against Luna, but was doubled off again by Ramirez. Luna walked Duhe to put the tying run on base again, and then gave up a gapper to Tallent that ran all the way to the wall. Duhe scored, and Tallent’s first ABL hit of the season was a game-tying triple with two outs in the 13th …! Starr then knocked a single to left to end the ballgame…! 7-6 Critters. Early 2-4, 2 BB; Corral 4-5, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Flowe 2-4; Novelo (PH) 1-3; Hills 1-2, BB, 2 RBI; D’Alessandro (PH) 1-3; Mendoza 2-5, 2 BB; Valentin 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Schmieder got the win with three innings of relief. The Raccoons drew 11 walks (six intentional!) in this game in addition to 18 base hits. They left TWENTY RUNNERS ON BASE.

Schmieder (2-1, 3.60 ERA) was thanked for his services by being sent to AAA, and we recalled Josh Carrington, who seemed to have sorted himself out in a month down in St. Pete.

Omar Lira hurt himself baserunning late in the game, so add him to the pile of broken bodies, and the Aces traded 1B Mike Davis (.318, 1 HR, 6 RBI) to the Cyclones for a pair of minor leaguers after this game.

Game 2
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – RF Caceres – LF Lorenzo – C Haynes – 3B Vic. Morales – 1B A. Alfaro – CF A. Warner – 2B Joe Jackson – P A. Johnson
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Hills – 3B Mendoza – P Dominguez

Jose Corral started the second game much like the first one, with a homer in his first at-bat, and a double in the second. This time he only drove in one run though with the homer, leading off the bottom 2nd after Wilson had been left on base in the first, and was left stranded in the fourth; his homer marked the only run through four innings, in fact, as Alex Dominguez was holding the Aces to a pair of singles in the early going. Jared Duhe walked in his first two plate appearances, then opened the fifth with a double to left-center. Wilson’s grounder advanced him, Starr was not pitched to, but Early got the run home with a sac fly to center, 2-0. Corral then grounded out, leaving Starr on base.

Like Gaytan on Monday, Dominguez exploded all at once, in this case with a pair of homers in the sixth inning that flipped the score to 3-2 Aces. Caceres hit a solo shot, Haynes got on base, and then Vic Morales cranked a 2-piece to left in his old hunting grounds. Dominguez finished seven before being hit for with Gary Gates, who singled to center against Johnson to begin the bottom 7th. Duhe walked, the runners did a double steal, and then Wilson and Starr both drove in a run with solid singles, flipping the score back to the Portlanders, 4-3. Early walked on four pitches and Johnson was yanked for Connors with the bags full and nobody out. Corral slapped an RBI single to right, again sitting a triple shy of the cycle with that. Flowe doubled in two more before the inning fizzled out with the bottom of the order, but the Coons were now up by a slam. Singles by Ramirez and Early in the bottom 8th brought Corral to the plate one more time, but he lined out to Joe Jackson to end the inning. Jesse Dover pitched a clean eighth, then gave up a leadoff homer to Vic Morales in the ninth, making it a save opportunity for McMahan, who had already been warming up to face the mixed-hitting bottom of the order behind Morales. He gave up singles to Aaron Warner and Jackson, but scrabbled enough outs together before the game could be blown altogether… 7-4 Raccoons. Duhe 1-2, 3 BB, 2B; Ramirez (PH) 1-1; Corral 3-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Mendoza 1-2, 2 BB; Gates (PH) 1-2; Dominguez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (8-2);

The Raccoons were above .500 for the first time since their 3-2 start by April 7.

Game 3
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – RF Caceres – LF Lorenzo – C Haynes – 3B Vic. Morales – 1B A. Alfaro – 2B Rodewald – CF A. Warner – P G. Molina
POR: SS Duhe – CF Ramirez – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – 3B Gates – C D’Alessandro – 2B Mendoza – P Pizzichini

For variety, Corral began his hitting with an RBI double, driving in Early from first base in the bottom 2nd on Wednesday. Again, this was the first run in the ballgame, after which Gary Gates singled softly to move Corral to third, then stole second base. The Coons left the pair in scoring position though with a pop out by D’Alessandro, an intentional walk to Mendoza, a K on Pizza, and Duhe’s fly out to deep left that Lorenzo ran down. Pizza had allowed a pair of singles to begin the game, but the runners had been left on base by the 3-4-5 batters, but he was less lucky in the top 3rd, when Hatakeyama and Caceres led off with singles *again*. One run scored on Lorenzo’s groundout to tie the game, and Vic Morales singled home the go-ahead run for the Aces with two outs. Alex Alfaro drew a walk, but Matt Rodewald whiffed to keep a pair on base.

Pizza would go on to leak a walk that got around to score in both the fifth and sixth innings, and was yanked once Hatakeyama singled home Rodewald in the sixth to extend the lead to 4-1. Kehoe got a fly from Caceres to Eddy Ramirez to end the inning. Kehoe went on to fill the bases with right-handed batters as Lorenzo and Morales singled and Rodewald drew a 2-out walk against him in the seventh. Mike Hall replaced him for Warner, but Bill Dorey pinch-hit instead and smashed a bases-clearing double. Hall then even gave up a single to Molina, who had been 0-for-27 on the year up to that point, before Hatakeyama flew out to left, leaving runners on the corners. Rodewald left the game with an elbow injury and was replaced with Juan Ojeda, a 40-year-old corner infielder who had spent a season with the Coons in the previous decade, and who was misplaced at second, but the Aces were simply out of bodies. Josh C pitched a scoreless eighth and didn’t walk anybody either, which was a nice step in the right direction, even though he was merely managing a 6-run deficit at that point. That became seven when the pest Hatakeyama beat another run out of Yamauchi with a 2-out RBI single, plating Ojeda, in the ninth inning. 8-1 Aces. Gates 2-4, 2B; Mendoza 0-1, 2 BB; Flowe (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (26-26) vs. Titans (28-26) – June 1-3, 2068

Next in were the Titans, against whom we were as .500 as we were for the whole year, even at three after six games. Boston brought the #2 offense and indifferent pitching to the park. While the rotation had the best ERA in the league even without Brenize, the bullpen and the defense were causing plenty of damage to ambitions for the team. The only injury here was reliever Tyler Gleason.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (2-1, 1.73 ERA) vs. Ricardo Montoya (5-1, 2.97 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-6, 3.34 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (3-5, 3.82 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (2-4, 5.85 ERA) vs. Mike Bell (7-1, 2.60 ERA)

Riddle was the only southpaw expected to show up, and Bell had just taken Pitcher of the Month honors as this series began.

Game 1
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Joe Washington – CF Marcotte – 1B M. Garcia – C Arviso – 2B Jer. White – 3B C. Pena – SS Robichaud – P R. Montoya
POR: 2B Gates – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Hills – 3B Mendoza – P Morales

In the Friday opener, both teams brought up the minimum in the first three innings, but while Vinny Morales was perfect and would get the first ten Titans in a row, the Raccoons had already hit into two double plays. Joe Washington drew a walk from Morales in the fourth, but was forced out on Eddie Marcotte’s groundout, and Manuel Garcia – Rookie of the Month in May – grounded out to short to keep him on base. Cesar Pena and Jared Robichaud got back-to-back 2-out singles in the fifth for the Titans to break into that H column, but Morales got the veteran Montoya to end the inning. Both teams had two hits through five innings, and the Coons had a third double play once Corral reached on an error by Robichaud and was doubled off by Flowe in the bottom 5th. With Hills’ leadoff walk and Mendoza’s 4-6-3 bungle we were already on FOUR double plays in six innings.

Gary Gates, who made a sly appearance in the leadoff spot in place of Jared Duhe, went 2-for-3 with a leadoff single in the bottom 7th, but was forced out on Wilson’s grounder. Wilson started with Starr slapping a ball to right and reached third base, which was the furthest advance by either team in this game. And then Early cracked one hard to Danny Miller for a 5-4-3 double play.

Vinny Morales pitched eight innings of 2-hit, shutout ball on 104 pitches while seeing the people paid princely to put runs on the board do anything but. The Coons’ 5-6-7 batters went down in order in the bottom 8th against Montoya, who was on only *74* pitches. Dover disposed of the 2-3-4 batters in order in the ninth, while Montoya – whose one weakness was stamina, and who didn’t have it exploited in the slightest by the Blighters in this game – continued in the bottom 9th. Mendoza hit a leadoff single against his longtime team, and the Raccoons got cute and tried to get around the double play by having Dover bunt. He bunted straight into a 1-6-3 double play. Gates singled, Cody Kleidon appeared, the Raccoons sent Duhe to bat for Wilson, but he was rung up and the scoreless game went to extras.

Pedro Valentin retired the Titans on seven pitches in the top 10th, while Kleidon remained in the game, and gave up a deep drive to left to Joel Starr to begin the inning, but Marcotte raced back and made the catch while bouncing off the wall. Early got on base, but was left stranded as the game continued. After McMahan held the Titans away in the 11th, Boston brought a new lefty, Joe Cash. Novelo batted for Hills and struck a double to right, putting the winning run in scoring position. C’mon, boys…! (begs audibly) Mendoza whiffed, Ramirez walked, and Gates hit into a fielder’s choice at second base, bringing up the pitcher’s spot. D’Alessandro batted for McMahan aaaand… struck out. (hits head against doorframe)

Top 12th, and it was Josh Carrington time. He walked John MacDonnell in the #2 spot on four straight balls, allowed a single to Marcotte, then threw a wild pitch, putting a pair of Titans in scoring position. I facepawed, but Carrington then came back and struck out Manuel Garcia, struck out Jorge Arviso, and struck out Jeremy White to kill the attempt. The game was instead lost by Mike Hall, who began the 13th with getting a groundout from Robichaud, then allowed a single to PH Trent Brassfield (waves hi), and proceeded to walk the bags full before walking in the game’s first run against Marcotte. Garcia whacked a 2-run double to center, Arviso walked again, and White cranked a grand slam. The Coons loaded the bases in the bottom 13th against Travis Davis, but then had Gates and Tallent strike out to end the game. 7-0 Titans. Gates 3-6; Novelo (PH) 1-2; Mendoza 2-4, BB; Ramirez 1-1, BB; Morales 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K;

**********.

Mike Hall (0-1, 12.54 ERA), who had been **** enough without giving up 7-spots, ended up on waivers as soon as Tallent was done whiffing. Certifiably useless Sean Thomas would fill the spot for the next couple of days.

Game 2
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Joe Washington – CF Marcotte – 1B M. Garcia – C Arviso – 2B Jer. White – 3B D. Miller – SS Robichaud – P Riddle
POR: SS Duhe – CF E. Ramirez – 1B Starr – LF Early – 3B Gates – C D’Alessandro – 2B Mendoza – RF Tallent – P Walla

Walla fell behind in the first inning when Joe Washington reached on an infield single, advanced on Marcotte’s groundout, and then scored on a solid 2-out single by Manuel Garcia. That remained the score for a good long while because the Raccoons sucked, and the only other time the Titans put a pair of runners together in the near future was back-to-back singles by Garcia and Arviso, and Garcia running the team out of the inning by trying to go first-to-third. The Titans doubled their score in the seventh with a leadoff double by Arviso, who was then brought around on a grounder and Miller’s sac fly to center. The Raccoons had four hits at that point, including one by Walla, after which he was doubled off by Duhe grounding to second… Walla went into the eighth, K’ed Brass, but then allowed a single to Steve Humphries and was lifted for McMahan, who sorted out the rest of the inning, allowing a 2-out single to Marcotte, but no runs once Garcia popped out. McMahan got three outs and Yamauchi got two to complete nine innings, while the Coons were shut out through eight by Riddle, then faced Kleidon, who had at least been engaged in the extra inning affair the day before, but got two quick outs before D’Alessandro hit a late single. Mendoza flew out to left, and that was the ballgame. 2-0 Titans. Walla 7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, L (2-7) and 1-3;

In case you can’t remember anymore, the Raccoons last scored on the Corral RBI double in the second inning on Wednesday, which was three days and 30 innings ago (29 scoreless since). And we haven’t even faced the reigning Pitcher of the Month yet – that was a treat left for the series finale…!

Randy Tallent (.077, 0 HR, 1 RBI) went back to AAA after this game as we could reclaim Justin Dowsey from the DL.

Game 3
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Joe Washington – CF Marcotte – 1B M. Garcia – C Arviso – 3B D. Miller – 2B Jer. White – SS Robichaud – P M. Bell
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – SS Novelo – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Gaytan

Mike Bell had issued 12 walks so far this season, then walked three batters – Duhe, Wilson, and Corral – in the bottom 1st, a conundrum which the Raccoons expertly resolved by Starr hitting into a double play and Dowsey flying out to center, where Marcotte hurt his knee on the slide and left the game limping. Cesar Pena replaced him. The Titans took a 2-0 lead on Gaytan in the second without him. Arviso socked a leadoff homer, and a White single, Robichaud double, and Bell’s groundout produced the second run. Humphries walked as well, but Washington flew out to Corral to keep two on base. Gaytan, whose fight with the 6 ERA mark didn’t go that well at all, issued walks to Pena and Arviso in the third inning before getting yelled at by the pitching coach for all to see. Danny Miller then grounded to short for a double play to end the inning.

Gaytan sucked all the way through five inning, which took him 104 pitches to clear, but the Titans didn’t score any additional runs, and the Raccoons… well. No. Wilson was on base in the sixth, but doubled off by Starr. Corral then led off the bottom 7th with a walk, but was forced out by Dowsey, and Novelo and Flowe made poor outs as well. Bell would go eight innings on his 104 pitches, and maintained a 2-hit shutout. The Titans had used up Cody Kleidon by now and had to make do with another left-hander, Travis Davis, in the bottom 9th. Wilson grounded out, but Joel Starr ran into a home run to left – the first ******* run for the Raccoons after THIRTY-SEVEN SHUTOUT INNINGS. Early and Ramirez then batted for Corral and Dowsey. The former walked, and the latter ended the game with another one of those precious 6-4-3 grounders. 2-1 Titans. Corral 0-1, 2 BB; Kehoe 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

In other news

May 28 – Rebels OF Willie Ospina (.308, 3 HR, 25 RBI) clips five singles in a 5-0 win against Sacramento.
May 29 – Rebs OF Willie Ospina (.324, 3 HR, 27 RBI) hits *another* five knocks, this time including a double and driving in two runs, but the Rebels fall to the Scorpions this time after a ninth-inning bullpen explosion, 5-4.
May 29 – The Wolves take 16 innings to beat the Buffaloes, 5-4.
June 1 – SFW INF/LF Jon Barrientos (.298, 1 HR, 12 RBI) will miss the rest of the season after surgery for a ruptured medial collateral ligament.
June 2 – Aces INF/RF Victor Morales (.327, 11 HR, 34 RBI) will miss at least one week suffering from patellar tendinitis.
June 3 – Miners SP Ben Peterson (6-3, 3.46 ERA) pitches a complete-game 7-hitter to beat the Buffaloes in a 12-2 rout and chips in on offense with two outs, including a bases-clearing triple, and four RBI.
June 3 – Boston outfielder Eddie Marcotte (.249, 8 HR, 40 RBI) might miss two weeks with a knee contusion.

FL Player of the Week: LAP OF John Miller (.341, 15 HR, 49 RBI), stroking .650 (13-20) with 6 HR, 14 RBI
CL Player of the Week: IND 1B Matt Rogers (.274, 10 HR, 38 RBI), batting .545 (12-22) with 2 HR, 6 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.318, 9 HR, 40 RBI), hitting .380 with 5 HR, 26 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: IND RF/LF Tony Torres (.265, 10 HR, 34 RBI), lobbing .293 with 8 HR, 23 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: CIN SP Jose Aguilar (6-1, 2.03 ERA), going unbeaten 5-0 with an 0.69 ERA, 31 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: BOS SP Mike Bell (7-1, 2.60 ERA), twirling for a 5-0 mark with 1.62 ERA, 36 K
FL Rookie of the Month: PIT 1B Mike White (.313, 10 HR, 30 RBI), batting .333 with 3 HR, 12 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: BOS LF/RF/1B Manuel Garcia (.242, 8 HR, 34 RBI), slapping .263 with 5 HR, 19 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Pffffff.

That’s really all the smart insight I have right now. Not scoring a run for 37 consecutive innings to begin a nice 4-game losing streak – with room to grow! – really robs you of any “oh well maybe if…” arguments for the offense.

It’s erratic travel weeks now, with four games in Indy, followed by a return trip to host the Warriors on the weekend, and then a road trip through Richmond, Elk City, and Milwaukee. I have been so kind to map this out here on the pinboard with a bit of red string to show the insanity… (points at pinboard that has WAY more red string than just the travel itinerary and also Cristiano Carmona, firmly gagged, and, separately, his wheelchair entangled in the web of strings)

Fun Fact: Alex Dominguez STILL has the most wins in the CL.

Tied with Mike Bell, who won his eighth game on Sunday, in case you missed it…

[Westheim]

Raccoons (26-29) @ Indians (24-31) – June 4-7, 2068

The Raccoons were off to Indianapolis for last-place battles with the Indians, who were ninth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed. These were the two absolute worst bullpens in the league. Their run differential was -20 (Coons: -35), and they had two pitcher injuries with Justin Esch and John Nesbitt down for a while. The Raccoons had won two of three games from Indy so far this year.

Projected matchups:
Alex Dominguez (8-2, 3.42 ERA) vs. Tony Lira (2-4, 5.54 ERA)
Girolamo Pizzichini (1-2, 3.95 ERA) vs. Jorge Flores (4-4, 5.28 ERA)
Vinny Morales (2-1, 1.32 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (5-4, 2.27 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-7, 3.26 ERA) vs. Victor Perez (4-1, 3.24 ERA)

DeWitt was still the only left-handed starter on this team.

Game 1
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – SS Hills – C Flowe – 3B Gates – P Dominguez
IND: CF Hilario – RF T. Torres – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – 2B P. Weber – SS Baxley – LF Spicer – P T. Lira

The Indians went up quickly after both teams squandered a single by Joel Starr and Jose Hilario, respectively, in the first inning, when Matt Martin singled, Paul Weber tripled, and Dominguez conceded a walk to John Baxley, a run on Malcolm Spicer’s groundout, and another walk to the opposing pitcher before Hilario was kind enough to fly out to center and end the inning with two on after two came in. Dominguez then singled himself in the third inning, but was doubled up by Jared Duhe. Wilson and Corral hit singles in the fourth, but were also left on base when Dowsey whiffed and Hills grounded out. Lira hit a double off Dominguez his next time around, but was also stranded, and we still were trailing 2-0 through five innings.

The Raccoons merrily kept failing at the plate. Joel Starr got on in the sixth and was left on to end the sixth by Corral, and Dowsey hit a single in the seventh and was doubled off by Brian Hills… Dominguez held the line through seven before being hit for with Marquise Early, who drew a leadoff walk from Lira in the eighth. Diego Mendoza batted for a chronically successless Duhe, but made an out just as meekly, but then a Wilson single put runners on the corners. Starr grounded to short, but John Baxley had to rush in and flubbed the pickup, and that error was the Coons’ big break in the game; Early scored, and the tying run went to second with Wilson, who then scored on Corral’s single to center off reliever Garrett Napolitano, who had come in after the error, tying the game at two. Starr went to third base on that one, then scored on Dowsey’s groundout to Wil Mejia at second base, giving Portland a heavily unearned lead that Brian Hills extended with a 2-out RBI single to center, 4-2. Flowe cranked an RBI double to pile on, before Novelo pinch-hit and walked, and Early batted for the second time in the inning, but lined out to Matt Martin to end it. After the Coons pieced the eighth together with Thomas and Kehoe, Napolitano loaded the bases with the 2-3-4 batters and one out in the ninth inning before getting yanked. Brian McLaughlin struck out Dowsey and lucked into a lineout from Hills to end the inning without a run scoring. Pedro Valentin retired the Indians in order for the save. 5-2 Blighters. Wilson 3-5; Corral 3-5, RBI; Flowe 2-4, 2B, RBI; Dominguez 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (9-2) and 1-2;

Jared Duhe, batting a frustrating .217, got Tuesday off…

Game 2
POR: SS Hills – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – 2B Novelo – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Pizzichini
IND: CF Hilario – RF T. Torres – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – 2B P. Weber – SS Baxley – LF Menchaca – P Jo. Flores

Alex Gomez and Justin Dowsey exchanged early solo home runs for a 1-1 score on Tuesday, but other than that the early innings were calm, with only a single on top of the home run for either team. The Raccoons drew walks with Corral and Dowsey to begin the fourth inning, but Novelo hit into a double play and Flowe flew one out to center to end the inning. Baxley also hit into a double play in the inning… but not until after the inning had started with a Tony Torres homer to break the tie, and the Indians had put two more on base, before Paul Weber’s RBI single gave them a 3-1 lead. Eddie Menchaca’s leadoff single in the bottom 5th was overrun by Dowsey in leftfield for an extra base, which turned into an extra (unearned) run with Flores’ bunt and Hilario’s well-placed groundout.

The Raccoons had only three hits through five innings, but Joel Starr drew a leadoff walk in the sixth and then Corral doubled to left, putting a pair of runners in scoring position with nobody out. Dowsey whiffed, Novelo hit a pathetic comebacker for no gains, but Jake Flowe whacked a 2-run double finally. The Indians walked Mendoza intentionally, then gave up an infield single to Pizza to load the bases, but Hills couldn’t get a fly ball to fall in and the Coons left the bases loaded. But while the game was now close again, it wasn’t for long. Pizza walked Gomez to begin the bottom 6th, then nicked Rogers. Paul Weber’s 3-run homer made it 7-3 and got the pen involved… Thomas came in, walked Menchaca with two outs and gave up a run on a pinch-hit triple by Wil Mejia as the Indians piled on. Hilario grounded out to Mendoza as the sixth inning concluded with an 8-3 score.

The Raccoons didn’t seem to have much rally in them, but that didn’t mean the Indians didn’t have room to tack on. Josh C was pitching in the bottom 8th, gave up a leadoff double to Weber, and then a pinch-hit, 2-out, 2-run homer to … Malcolm Spicer, of all people. That gave the Indians double digits, while the Coons began the ninth inning with a triple into the rightfield corner by Brian Hills, who also pulled something and was run for with Duhe… Wilson was nicked by Juan Pera, while Starr popped out. The pitcher was in Corral’s deserted spot, and D’Alessandro pinch-hit and struck out. Dowsey, down 0-2, doubled down the rightfield line to do some late and pointless damage, but the game ended with Novelo. 10-5 Indians. Bills 2-5, 3B; Dowsey 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Flowe 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

No word on Hills immediately, so the Coons played a set of paws short on Wednesday against DeWitt, where chances were slim anyway.

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – CF Ramirez – RF Corral – LF Early – 1B Dowsey – 3B Gates – 2B Mendoza – C D’Alessandro – P Morales
IND: CF Hilario – RF T. Torres – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – 2B P. Weber – SS Baxley – LF Spicer – P DeWitt

Morales gave up a leadoff single to Hilario and then straight 2-out singles to Rogers, Martin, and Weber in the first inning, conceding two runs before Baxley grounded out to Gates. Things didn’t improve noticeably from there, as Spicer led off the bottom 2nd with a triple and scored on a groundout by DeWitt, 3-0. The Coons were again wildly not hitting – they had a single from Eddy Ramirez in the first five innings, and apart from that drew three walks, which they also didn’t do anything with.

While Vinny Morales rallied himself after the early battering and struck out the side in the fifth inning, the Coons couldn’t get the sticks up against DeWitt, who struck out seven to Morales’ six through six innings, but Gates then led off the seventh with a single to center, and Diego Mendoza knocked an RBI double to left – and the Indians yanked DeWitt for Pera immediately. D’Alessandro whiffed before Morales grounded to short where Baxley made another grim error with a wild throw past Matt Rogers for a run-scoring, 2-base throwing error, and the Coons were back to 3-2. Duhe struck out, but Ramirez whacked a double to right with two outs and tied the ballgame…!

The inning ended after Corral walked and Early popped out, but the eighth began with Dowsey and Gates getting on base with soft singles. The Indians went to Napolitano, which hadn’t worked so well on Monday. Joel Starr batted for Mendoza and singled to center, loading the bases with nobody out. D’Alessandro bashed a 2-run double for a 5-3 lead, and Wilson pinch-hit for Morales and hit a sac fly for an extra run. Singles by Duhe and Ramirez got another run home before Corral and Early made the last outs of the 4-run inning. Dover pitched a scoreless eighth, but Yamauchi stumbled in the ninth and Baxley and Spicer reached base. With two outs, McMahan replaced him to face lefty hitter Wil Martinez in the #9 hole. A strikeout against the .128 poker ended the game and gave McMahan a dirt cheap save. 7-3 Coons. Ramirez 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Gates 2-5; Starr (PH) 1-2;

Luis Silva then brought the grim news that Hills would probably miss the rest of the season with a badly strained hip muscle, which was just what I anted to hear about a 23-year-old batting .316 in a coffee-sized call-up to the majors, so he was off to the DL for the year… The Coons recalled Manny Arredondo to ride the bench.

Game 4
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – 2B Novelo – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Walla
IND: CF Hilario – RF T. Torres – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – 2B P. Weber – SS Baxley – LF Spicer – P V. Perez

Duhe opened with a single and was doubled off by Starr in the first inning, and aside from Corral robbing Paul Weber of a homer, not a whole lot more happened in the early innings on getaway day. Duhe hit into a double play himself in the third, and Flowe in the fifth, and was this pain ever gonna end?

Nick “What’s a run support?” Walla was pitching finely through five innings, allowing two hits against three strikeouts, all while maintaining a scoreless tie. Him and Mendoza made outs to begin the sixth against Perez, who then put Duhe and Wilson on base and gave up a 3-run blast to Joel Starr, his ninth of the season. Hilario singled and was caught stealing in the bottom 6th, with Walla maintaining shutout pace until all the horse manure in the world hit the fan all at once again in the seventh inning. Granted, with leadoff walks to Gomez and Rogers, it was mostly Walla’s own fault, although he then struck out Matt Martin and popped out Weber to first. Baxley’s grounder was then thrown away by Flowe for an error and a run, and Spicer tied the game with a spicy 2-run singles to right, blowing the once-upon-a-time 3-0 lead all to hell. Menchaca struck out, but Walla had now reached 100 pitches and was out of the game. The Coons went in order in the eighth, so Winless Walla was again left … well, winless, and wandering the wilderness. All runs on him were unearned.

Kehoe held the game tied in the eighth before McLaughlin got two outs from Portland before allowing a single to Dowsey in the ninth. Early batted for Novelo and singled, but Flowe’s drive to deep right was contained by both the ballpark and Tony Torres and ended the inning. Weber and Baxley hit singles off Josh C in the bottom 9th, but Spicer’s fielder’s choice and Wil Martinez’ fly to center prevented them from scoring the winning run, and the game went into overtime. The Coons kept doing nothing of great value, and the Indians walked off without making an out in the bottom 10th against McMahan when Hilario reached with a drag single, stole second, and was doubled home by Torres lobbing a ball over the head of Marquise Early in leftfield. 4-3 Indians. Duhe 2-5; Early (PH) 1-1; Walla 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K;

Winless Walla was now 2-7 with a 2.99 ERA.

(hollers upwards at the baseball gods) MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!!!

Raccoons (28-31) vs. Warriors (34-26) – June 8-10, 2068

After failing along against the last-place Native Americans, why not get pierced with arrows and scalped by the first-place Native Americans? Oddly enough they were leading the FL West while scoring the *fewest* runs in the Federal League, and also *fewer runs than the RACCOONS*; of course they were also giving up the fewest runs to make up for that, just over 3.5 per game, and the Raccoons would never score against them. No homers, but they led the FL in stolen bases, starters’ ERA, defense, and a few other things that were generally pretty useful to run a winning ballclub, not that we knew anything about that. These teams had not met since 2062, and the Raccoons had won four straight series from the Warriors, each by two games to one.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (2-5, 5.68 ERA) vs. Alex Diez (6-4, 3.14 ERA)
Alex Dominguez (9-2, 3.35 ERA) vs. Tim Cropp (3-4, 3.73 ERA)
Girolamo Pizzichini (1-3, 4.62 ERA) vs. Luis Olvera (7-4, 3.08 ERA)

Only right-handers here. Dominguez had won his last seven starts in a row, but now came up against the team that knew everything about him. Meanwhile with Gaytan and Pizza you were wondering whether they knew anything about their own stuff at all, so anything but getting swept would *shock* me…

Game 1
SFW: SS Guangorena – 2B R. Jimenes – LF D. Perez – RF Jo. Lopez – 3B B. Metz – CF A. Campbell – C Rivas – 1B J. Allen – P Diez
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Early – 2B Novelo – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Gaytan

The Raccoons scored first on Friday, getting Corral on with a leadoff single against Diez in the bottom 2nd. Early walked, Novelo whiffed, Flowe flew out, and then Mendoza snapped an RBI single to get ahead. Gaytan then was carved up for strikes. Gabe Rivas then opened the top 3rd with a single after Gaytan had sat down the first six. Jared Allen grounded out, and Diez was down 0-2 before Gaytan plunked him, which was such a … (waves paws around in despair) … Tomas Guangorena – now that’s a *name*! – flew out to Early, and Ramon Jimenes singled the bags full before Danny Perez popped out to shallow left, leaving everybody on base.

The Warriors eventually flipped the score though as Gaytan gave up three hits and two runs in the fifth. Rivas singled to lead off the inning, and a Guangorena double and Jimenes single with two outs each brought in a run to turn the thing around. The Coons took the lead right back in the same inning, though, with a 2-out, 2-run homer by Jaden Wilson, however, the runner on base was Gary Gates, running for Diego Mendoza, who legged out an infield single, but then called for attention from the dugout, conversed with the coaches and trainer Luis Silva for nearly five minutes, and then eventually left the game.

Gaytan then tip-toed himself to the seventh-inning stretch despite giving up a leadoff single to Adam Campbell in the seventh. Rivas grounded out, Jared Allen popped out, and Devon Franks struck out, stranding the tying run on second base. Bottom 7th, Gates led off with an infield single and was caught stealing; Dowsey walked in place of Gaytan and was forced out by Duhe; and then Wilson popped out to short to end the inning… The Raccoons then dispatched of the top of the order in the eighth; Yamauchi threw a single pitch that Guangorena popped out on, and then Sean Thomas came in and struck out the left-handed Jimenes and Danny Perez. No tack-on runs being provided by the Coons’ offense, we decided to get cute and have Thomas in to begin the ninth against another lefty stick, Jordan Lopez, and THEN go to Valentin. Lopez singled, and Valentin had to deal with a base runner, so that was that. Beau Metz lined out softly to Duhe, Campbell grounded out and advanced the runner, and then Duhe dove for a low liner by Rivas – and caught it to end the ballgame…! 3-2 Critters! Mendoza 2-2, RBI; Gates 1-1; Gaytan 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (3-5);

Diego Mendoza was day-to-day with back tightness and would not be in the lineup for the rest of the weekend, it looked like. Might be available to pinch-hit.

Game 2
SFW: SS Guangorena – 2B R. Jimenes – C J. Clark – RF Jo. Lopez – 3B B. Metz – CF A. Campbell – LF Griffin – 1B J. Allen – P Cropp
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – 3B Gates – C Flowe – 2B Novelo – P Dominguez

After a calm start to the game and no runs in the first two frames, both pitchers committed a balk in the third inning, but only Dominguez did so with Jared Allen on third base and thus waved in the game’s first run. Cropp balked with Starr on first and two outs, then walked Corral, but Dowsey was slumping and made a poor third out. The following two innings were even chewier for Dominguez, who worked himself into two jams, but escaped without allowing a run both times. In the fourth, Beau Metz singled to lead off before Campbell and Tony Griffin went whiffin’, and Allen doubled off the wall in right. Cropp then struck out. Guangorena was then hit with a 1-2 pitch to begin the fifth, Jimenes’ bunt was misfielded for an extra runner by Gates, and Jamie Clark flew out to let. The runners pulled off a double steal before Dominguez rung down Jordan Lopez for a 9-pitch strikeout, and then also struck out Metz. It was a heroic battle, but also the end of it, since Dominguez was already about to blast through the 100 pitch mark. His W streak ended when Cropp retired the Coons’ 1-2-3 in order in the bottom 5th.

The Raccoons would go to Kehoe in the hope of getting multiple innings, while the bottom 6th began with Corral reaching on an error by Allen. Dowsey singled, but Gates whiffed. Flowe walked in a full count, which put a runner on every base. Novelo then slapped a 1-0 pitch unceremoniously through the left side to flip the score, bringing in Corral and Dowsey for a 2-1 Coons lead. With Griffin’s throw home, the Raccoons’ trailing runners both advanced into scoring position; however we also still longed for more length from Kehoe, who then batted for himself, whiffed, and then Duhe grounded out to Guangorena, who then singled off Kehoe with one out in the top 7th following a K to Devon Franks, which turned out to be the last out Kehoe recorded before he got bombed with a pair of homers by Rivas and Clark, then allowed another hit to Lopez, and then Gates ****** a grounder by Metz for an error. Dover replaced him and got out of the inning, but Portland was now down 4-2.

Thomas and Yamauchi got beaten around for another run charged to the lefty in the eighth inning, while the Racoons struggled to get going against the Warriors pen once Cropp was lifted in the bottom 7th. Hector Estevez, Neil Mongillo, and Lorenzo Lucatero didn’t allow another base hit to the Critters on the way to level the series. 5-2 Warriors. Dowsey 2-4;

Off days for Corral and Flowe on Sunday, and Mendoza was still ailing.

Game 3
SFW: SS Guangorena – 2B R. Jimenes – C J. Clark – RF Jo. Lopez – 3B B. Metz – CF A. Campbell – LF Griffin – 1B J. Allen – P Olvera
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Dowsey – 3B Gates – 2B Novelo – C D’Alessandro – P Pizzichini

Guangorena singled, stole second, gained a base on a wild pitch when Pizza dropped some more or less fresh tomatoes, and eventually scored on a groundout by Clark for an early Warriors lead in the rubber game. By contrast, Duhe led off the bottom 1st with a double to left and was stranded, because the Raccoons were just incompetent fraudsters who had their baseballing licences from the back of a Crunchies box…

Pizza continued to SUCK, giving up leadoff hits to Metz and Campbell in the second inning. Both runners would score – after Pizza balked not once, but TWICE in the ******* inning…! A Dowsey double off the wall to lead off the bottom 2nd, meanwhile, again did not lead to a run, since Olvera rung up all of the 6-7-8 batters. Both teams then had a triple in the fourth inning. Griffin tripled with one out and scored on an Allen groundout, 4-0, while Dowsey tripled with two outs and nobody on and was of course also left on base by Gates, who popped out in foul territory. At this point I was raging and screaming into a pillow on the brown couch that had seen too much already in its life.

With the gap slam-sized and the offense playing el ******o again, damage control would consist of having Pizza go as long as possible to at least absorb innings. He got into a tight spot in the sixth with leadoff knocks by Lopez and Metz, but Campbell hit into a double play and Griffin grounded out to get him through, and he was still around for the seventh, entering on 87 pitches, getting three more groundouts from the 8-9-1 batters to end his day. McMahan and Josh C got the last six outs from the Warriors, split 1:2 between them, while Olvera took a 4-hit shutout into the bottom 9th. Wilson singled to left with one out, but Starr popped out and Corral flew out to end the game and give Olvera a 5-hitter. 4-0 Warriors. Dowsey 2-3, 3B, 2B;

In other news

June 6 – The Aces are obliterated by the Thunder, 16-0, while Thunder SP Danny Baca (1-0, 3.09 ERA) fires a 2-hit shutout and drives in four runs on three hits himself. The four RBI’s lead the team in the blowout.
June 9 – The Thunder beat the Stars, 6-5 in 13 innings, the game ending on a walkoff homer by OCT C Travis Anderson (.156, 2 HR, 5 RBI). Both teams had scored two runs in the 12th inning.
June 9 – The Knights rally for a 5-run bottom of the ninth to walk off against the Capitals, 6-5.

FL Player of the Week: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.343, 13 HR, 55 RBI), raking .414 (12-29) with 4 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL LF/RF Javier Acuna (.361, 10 HR, 33 RBI), batting .417 (10-24) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

After a mild revival to begin the week, the Raccoons then quickly resumed not scoring. We’re at 2.6 runs per game for the month of June, with three shutouts, and only one game where we scored more than five runs. There’s nobody in AAA that could help out here, and it’s just gonna be like this for another one-hundred games…

The 7-game winning streak of Alex Dominguez ended against his old team on Saturday, but since the Raccoons took the lead for about 3.5 seconds in that game after he left, he got off the hook and still has a 9-game unbeaten streak to go around now.

Mike Hall cleared waivers, refused an assignment to St. Petersburg, and was unceremoniously released. The Crusaders were probably snickering.

Very much not looking forward to this Richmond, Elk City, Milwaukee road trip. Although given that the draft is on the weekend and I can’t get into Canada anyway, I can also visit a couple of old Civil War battlefields around the draft in New York on Friday. I’ve seen this staff getting slaughtered so bad, there’s no sunken lane in Maryland or stone wall on a hill above the Rappahannock left that can still strike fear and awe into my black old heart…

Fun Fact: Nick Walla (2-7, 2.99 ERA) is getting 2.75 runs of support per start.

I don’t think it’s enough…

Dominguez (9-2, 3.25 ERA) meanwhile was the ONLY pitcher with nine wins in the entire league on Sunday night, and he was getting 5.31 runs of support per start. Not on Saturday, though…

[Westheim]

Here's a skip ahead to the draft. Played half a week yesterday to get there, and now I am too tired to finish it. Maybe tomorrow morning with my coffee, otherwise ... later.

+++

2068 AMATEUR DRAFT

Meandering around the northeastern corner of the country brought me to New York on Friday for the Amateur Draft, where the Raccoons had a splendid selection of high picks, and not a lot to pick from because the pool was just … eh… shallow. While we had 112 players selected for the shortlist, just to go through the motions again, here’s the really shambolic hotlist (*high school dolt):

SP Kody Carr (12/13/12) – BNN #9
SP Kevin Schure (12/13/11) – BNN #7
SP Jonathan Martello (11/13/14)

CL Noah Newhard (17/11/10)

1B Oscar Gaitan (10/13/13) *
1B Michael Kiger (11/11/13) – BNN #3

OF/1B Ryan Redding (19/17/9) * – BNN #2
OF Eduardo Zambrano (12/19/15) * – BNN #8
OF Kyle Markovich (9/13/12) – BNN #1
OF/2B Walter Richmond (7/12/7) * – BNN #5

Sure been hotter before…

The draft began with the Bayhawks, who selected Ryan Redding, and were immediately followed by the Wolves snatching Eduardo Zambrano, which would also have been my first two selections, probably. Just like that, the whole fun was out of the draft…!! The Buffaloes then helped themselves to pitcher Kody Carr at #3. After that it was Kevin Schure to the Scorpions and Walter Richmond to the Indians. The Coons were then really picking between the only remaining starter Martello and the only remaining outfielder Markovich. I didn’t really see why BNN had put Markovich #1 on their list, and I also didn’t get why Martello wasn’t in their top 10 at all given the absolute scarcity of talent otherwise. Unable to make a decision, I screamed into my paws for a solid two minutes, much to the bewilderment of all the adults in the draft room, and then just blindly slapped one paw on one of the sheets with profiles that very confused Oscar Semchez was holding. I didn’t believe in the choice, and I would surely be terrible disappointed by Kyle Markovich further down the road.

Martello went to the Pacifics at #10, probably relieved he didn’t end up with *this* godforsaken franchise for the next half-decade. The other three players – Newhard, Gaitan, and Kiger – remained available into the latter half of the first round, when the Raccoons had their compensation pick for the loss of Rich Monck. The Raccoons went against character and did not draft the closer, but the first baseman Gaitan, who appeared to have a high ceiling, and was also praised by OSA. With that, Kiger was off the table, since there was no point in drafting two first-sackers that high when they’d only end up standing on each other’s hindpaws in Aumsville. Newhard was thus the default selection for our first supplemental round pick, if he was still around, which he was – but Kiger had been taken by the Loggers at #24 anyway.

+++

2068 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#6) – OF Kyle Markovich, 20, from West Columbia, SC – solid allrounder outfielder with above average defense and speed, and some promising power potential. Which sounds like a third-round pick, because that’s what the draft pool was like…
Round 1 (#21) – 1B Oscar Gaitan, 19, from Caguas, Puerto Rico – reasonably agile for a first baseman, Gaitan is a hard worker and can hit for both contact and power, although the swing does have some holes when he gets too eager.
Supp. Round (#27) – CL Noah Newhard, 20, from Los Angeles, CA – blazing fastball, vicious slider on this right-hander
Supp. Round (#40) – SP/1B/3B/RF Jaquan Riggs, 19, from Wilmington, NC – profiling largely as a singles slapper at a power position, Riggs shone chiefly through his capital throwing arm at third base and was the star pitcher on his high school team. The Raccoons were not sure at all what to do with him, but we’d probably turn him into a starting pitcher, which he had enough pitches – more than brain cells at least – and stamina for.
Round 2 (#50) – OF Dave Perry, 19, from Massillon, OH – can hit well for contact and is a tough strikeout, although the power profile is more gap-oriented; at least has the speed to pile up doubles, and had some range in the outfield, but the throwing arm was nothing special
Round 3 (#74) – SP John Knox, 23, from Harvey, LA – right-hander with five pitches, including a fastball, cutter, and slider that looked usable, but control was an issue even at that advanced age; perhaps a late bloomer?
Round 4 (#98) – SP Paul Fitzgerald, 18, from Ormond Beach, FL – right-handed Florida Man, also with five pitches, some usable, and control issues; at least he was five years younger than Knox…!
Round 5 (#122) – LF/RF Kory Steiner, 17, from Washington, DC – free-swinging power hitter with questionable defense and friends
Round 6 (#146) – 1B/C Adam Nissen, 18, from Wichita, KS – oddball low-power first baseman with a good eye, moonlighting as a catcher; if he had been gifted with blazing speed, the M.C. Escher painting would have been complete, alas, it wasn’t so.
Round 7 (#170) – 2B/3B Mike Harter, 17, from Mission Viejo, CA – zoomy infielder with sure paws and speed, albeit with a modest bat that was at best good for a few doubles
Round 8 (#194) – SP Steve Denn, 19, from Manhattan Beach, CA – right-hander with really only two pitches, an 88mph fastball and slider, and both were being hit quite decent distances
Round 9 (#218) – SS/2B Kevin Howell, 18, from San Francisco, CA – what was it with all these California high schoolers, and then they never hit for power? Another defensive middle infielder.
Round 10 (#242) – MR William Ives, 20, from Torrington, CT – one more for the pile of uninspiring right-handers with control issues, although, if he could figure out the cutter to accompany it, that curveball might get him at least some attention.
Round 11 (#266) – CL Tom Allen, 20, from Yonkers, NY – left-hander (hah!) with 90mph and a slider, and from Yonkers of all places, oh dear!
Round 12 (#290) – OF Jeremy Simonds, 21, from Everson, WA – singles slapper trying to occupy a power position; some speed, no plate discipline
Round 13 (#314) – SP Brian Keener, 19, from Drexel Hill, PA – right-hander with four pitches, all unimpressive, and can’t throw harder than 88

+++

All picks were assigned to Aumsville. As we realigned the player material in the minors, I will note that of the two Ham Lake starting pitchers we’ve been having a keen eye on right now, Val Centeno was promoted to St. Pete, but Jimmy Wharton was yet held back.

Of course a number of players were also released, of which the following had been drafted or signed for hard coin in the July IFA periods:

For pitchers, we canned $830k signing Alexis Barron from 2064, who had absolutely no control whatsoever and who could really light up a locker room in all the wrong ways. We also released 2066 fourth-rounder Tom Michael, who had been up and down between single- and double-A several times already, as well as 2066 11th-rounder James Swink, and others.

On the position player side, we let go of German AAA outfielder Olaf Volkert, who had been a scouting discovery, but mentioned as being somewhere or other on depth charts at various times during the decade, but by now he was 27, in his fifth year in AAA, taken off he 40-man, and just taking up space. Also gone were OF Aaron Moore (2062, 4th round), LF/RF Jim Higgins (2062, 7th round), 3B Nate Jones (2066, 9th round), and a few more oddball walk-ons and such. All of them had been hanging around in double- or single-A.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (29-33) @ Rebels (31-29) – June 11-13, 2068

The Rebs were nowhere in particular, middling around in the Federal League with a +10 run differential, and largely average values for most stats, except that they were weak on power and had good defense. Apart from that it was all a bit average. They had three relievers on the DL, including ex-Coon Jorge Quinones. They had also swept us in a series last year.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (3-1, 1.76 ERA) vs. Pedro Acebedo (3-3, 3.75 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-7, 2.99 ERA) vs. Bobby Marceau (4-2, 3.33 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (3-5, 5.38 ERA) vs. Sean Ranney (2-5, 4.98 ERA)

Ranney was the only southpaw in that rotation.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – 2B Arredondo – P Morales
RIC: LF Licona – SS Yniguez – CF Laybolt – C Vaillancourt – RF Ospina – 1B Ford – 2B Selep – 3B S. Rubio – P Acebedo

The Rebels scored on Vinny Morales before they made an out with a leadoff walk drawn by Juan Licona, who immediately scored on Adan Yniguez’ double into the rightfield corner. A walk to Matt Ford and a Matthew Selep single put another pair on base to begin the second inning for Richmond, but that time Sergio Rubio popped out and Acebedo bunted into a double play; also, by then the Raccoons had tied the game with a Corral double and Diego Mendoza’s RBI single in the top 2nd. Corral then drove in the go-ahead run in the fourth inning, finding Wilson and Starr on the corners; the former had singled and stolen second, and the latter had only reached base on an error by Yniguez. Diego Mendoza then blasted a 3-run homer to left, 5-1, with Acebedo’s cap flying off in the rocket’s draft, and he had to leave the game to go find it again.

After a very trying beginning, Morales then retired the Rebels 13-for-13 into the sixth inning until he gave up a 2-out triple to Darby Laybolt, but John Vaillancourt popped out foul to Mendoza to keep that runner on base and the lead slam-sized. Marquise Early also hit a 2-out triple in the top 7th, but this not only came with Joel Starr on base, but with Starr already having singled home Wilson, who in turn had driven in Manny Arredondo. Corral popped out to Selep, ending a 3-run inning. The Coons then gave two runs back when Morales ran into another spot of bother in the bottom 7th, being taken deep by Ford, 8-2, before allowing another hit to Selep, who was in scoring position with two outs when Jerry Morejon pinch-hit in the pitcher’s spot. Sean Thomas was brought in to face the left-handed batter, but gave up an RBI single before retiring Licona instead. Josh C and Dover would throw scoreless ball after that in the last two innings, while the Raccoons put Wilson, Starr, and Ramirez on base with two outs in the ninth, but Corral then struck out to leave them all stranded. 8-3 Raccoons. Wilson 3-5, 2B, RBI; Starr 2-5, RBI; Early 2-4, 3B, RBI; Corral 2-5, 2B, RBI; Mendoza 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; Arredondo 3-4;

Jared Duhe went 0-for-5 and dropped his OBP to .339. The Raccoons got a bit crazy on Tuesday and batted Marquise Early (.413 OBP) leadoff.

Game 2
POR: LF Early – CF Wilson – 1B Dowsey – RF Corral – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – SS Novelo – 2B Arredondo – P Walla
RIC: LF Licona – SS Yniguez – CF Laybolt – C Vaillancourt – RF Ospina – 1B Ford – 2B Selep – 3B S. Rubio – P Marceau

Winless Walla gave up a single in each of the first three innings on Tuesday, but the Rebs never made it very far into Kentucky before being beaten back across the Cumberland; however, a single per inning was more than the Raccoons put together in the entirety of the first three innings. They didn’t land a base hit until Jaden Wilson dropped a single behind Selep to lead off the fourth inning – but then filled the bases with three singles in a row. Jake Flowe was up next and fell behind 1-2, at which point I was all but expecting a strikeout, popout, groundout, but instead Jake Flowe popped one out – and all the way out of the ballpark. GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!

After the slam, Diego Mendoza hit another single before Marceau retired the bottom of the order, but was then pinch-hit for at the nearest opportunity with two outs in the bottom 4th after Selep had landed another isolated single that led to the runner getting stranded. That was the penultimate base runner that Walla allowed in the game; he would retire 13 straight Rebs like Morales on Monday, then give up a pinch-hit single to Bill Joyner, but then saw Licona pop out on the infield to complete the bottom of the eighth. Unfortunately, the pitch economy wasn’t there and he was already at 100 pitches. The Raccoons had also not done a whole lot of anything on offense in the last four innings, so the score was still 4-0. Arrendondo and Starr singled in the ninth, but Early killed the inning with a 6-4-3 grounder, and then Kehoe got the ball for the home half of the (hopefully) final inning, got two outs, then allowed two singles to Vaillancourt and Ospina. Enough with that, then, and we brought in Pedro Valentin, who struck out Matt Ford to put the game to bed. 4-0 Critters. Wilson 3-4, 2B; Corral 1-2, BB; Flowe 1-4, HR, 4 RBI; Starr (PH) 1-1; Walla 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, W (3-7);

Winning Walla!

Not so great was auxiliary leadoff batter Marquise Early, who went a swell 0-for-5 with that double play at the end.

Nothing says “steady” as much as three different leadoff batters by Wednesday of any given week, but here we go…

Game 3
POR: CF Ramirez – LF Early – 1B Starr – 2B Duhe – RF Corral – 3B Mendoza – C D’Alessandro – SS Novelo – P Gaytan
RIC: LF Licona – SS Yniguez – CF Laybolt – C Vaillancourt – RF Ospina – 1B Ford – 2B Selep – 3B S. Rubio – P Ranney

To demonstrate that sometimes your choices are meaningless and you WILL get forked no matter what you do, none of the three different leadoff batters we used in this series reached base the first time through against Sean Ranney, nor did Joel Starr. Ranney drilled Jose Corral, who was then wrapped up in a double play by Diego Mendoza to end the second inning. Ranney then also drilled D’Alessandro to begin the third inning, after which the selection of Oregon’s Finest struck out, struck out, aaaand… struck out.

Not that the pain ended there. Marquise Early *did* hit a single to begin the fourth inning for Portland, but was doubled up by Duhe, and in the fifth inning the Raccoons got Mendoza to double to left, D’Alessandro reached on an error, and with runners on the corners and one out, Pablo Novelo flew out to Willie Ospina, who immediately fired home to get another ******* double play, 9-2 on Diego Mendoza to end the inning.

What was the best point in time to mention that Tony Gaytan pitched finely, but seemed to have drawn the usual Walla lot for run support? He allowed two hits and struck out four through five innings of a game that was scoreless until Marquise Early lifted a solo homer to left in the sixth inning. The Rebs got a single in both the sixth and seventh against Gaytan, but didn’t come near scoring, while the Coons put Corral and Mendoza on the corners with nobody out in the seventh and then saw the bottom of the order do another great escape over the horizon, leaving the runners like litter where they were. The Coons loaded the bags again with Ramirez, who stole his first base of the year, singling, as did Starr. Duhe drew a 1-out walk to fill them up for Corral, who knocked out Ranney with an RBI single to right, 2-0. Right-hander Allen Tinsley replaced him, but gave up two runs on a Mendoza double before whiffing D’Alessandro and getting Dowsey to ground out in Novelo’s place. Gaytan pitched another inning, but walked Licona and gave up the run on an Yniguez triple before leaving the game after getting unlucky outs from Laybolt and Vaillancourt to starve the second runner on third base. Valentin put the game away in the ninth – but not without walking the leadoff man Ospina and giving up a 2-run homer to PH Jerry Morejon… 4-3 Coons. Early 2-5, HR, RBI; Starr 2-4; Corral 2-3, RBI; Mendoza 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Gaytan 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (4-5);

Raccoons (32-33) @ Canadiens (36-27) – June 14-17, 2068

The team was off to the frozen North then, while I had business in New York on Friday, trundling northwards from Richmond by way of what remained of the Fredricksburg and Manassas battlefields next to some very lovely strip malls. The damn Elks were just two games out in the division and were lusting for some Furballs to punch up, having swept the Raccoons in the first 3-game set of the year. They were fifth in runs scored and second in runs allowed in the CL. Starter Nate Freeman and infielder Matt Kilday were on the DL for the Elks.

Projected matchups:
Alex Dominguez (9-2, 3.25 ERA) vs. Vince Ellison (6-1, 2.96 ERA)
Girolamo Pizzichini (1-4, 4.67 ERA) vs. Ian Lowry (3-6, 3.73 ERA)
Vinny Morales (4-1, 2.08 ERA) vs. Martyn Polaco (3-3, 3.34 ERA)
Nick Walla (3-7, 2.73 ERA) vs. Ray Rath (5-5, 3.28 ERA)

Polaco was the only left-hander on offer. On draft day, the Elks would for the first time start Lowry, who they had picked up from the Wolves just a few days earlier.

Since that opener was three time zones away, I took in the Crusaders-Capitals game in D.C. that night in person – Caps staff was surely confused to see me without my team around and called Maud in Portland to check whether I had gotten lost, how nice of them – and would then join the Coons game-in-progress on TV in my hotel room.

Game 1
POR: LF Early – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – SS Duhe – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – 2B Novelo – P Dominguez
VAN: 3B C. Castro – SS Barraza – C Varner – LF Chenette – CF D. Moore – 1B R. Cordero – RF Atkins – 2B Eggert – P Ellison

I joined with the Raccoons down 1-0 and Jaden Wilson pulling down a Dan Moore drive to end the fourth inning in deep center. The Elks had scored their run in the second inning on singles by Tyler Chenette, Moore, and Rick Atkins, and the Raccoons were … present and all healthy, I presumed, while checking on the mini fridge how drunk I could get on my $50 travel allowance here. Turned out, not very, even though Duhe reached on an uncaught third strike to begin the fifth inning and then was doubled up on a 3-1 pitch by Jake Flowe, 4-6-3 went the Elks, which, I learned, was not the first double play the Coons had bungled into in the game.

On two hits through five, the Raccoons then got Novelo on base with a leadoff single in the sixth. When Dominguez failed to get a bunt down, Novelo tried to steal on an 0-2 pitch, but was thrown out, the pitch being high for ball one, and Dominguez singling to right on the next offering from Vince Ellison. Early also singled, Wilson popped out, and Joel Starr tied the game with a single to right-center. Corral added a single to take the lead, and then Duhe dropped in another RBI single to score Starr, 3-1. Flowe then lined out to Moore in center, but at least not on a 3-1 pitch…

Dominguez would maintain his unbeaten streak by defending the 3-1 lead through the end of the seventh inning, having to fight his way around an Early error in the seventh inning. The bottom 8th was contested by Yamauchi and McMahan, neither of whom had pitched in Richmond. Yamauchi nailed Dan Eggert before getting Corey Stovall out; McMahan then got Carlos Castro on a fielder’s choice to Novelo, who also collected Roberto Barraza’s groundout to end the bottom 8th. The ninth went to Dover – still up by two – since Valentin had been out two days in a row, and had thrown 26 pitches in his mixed save on Wednesday. Steve Varner put up a fight and a full count before grounding out to Duhe, while Chenette and Moore were less successful still and both struck out. 3-1 Critters! Dominguez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (10-2) and 3-3;

The damn Elks did another trade on Friday, bringing in 1B Andy Metz (.269, 14 HR, 46 RBI) from Dallas while parting with luckless outfielder Nick Vaughn and a catching prospect.

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – SS Duhe – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – 2B Gates – P Pizzichini
VAN: 3B C. Castro – SS Barraza – RF Lozada – 1B A. Metz – C Varner – LF Chenette – CF D. Moore – 2B Stovall – P Lowry

The Raccoons scored first on Friday, but not often enough. Gary Gates drove in a 2-out run with a single in the top 2nd after Lowry had walked Corral and Mendoza, and Joel Starr bounced into a run-scoring double play after Wilson and Duhe got on base to begin the third inning, but Pizza fumbled that 2-0 lead in the bottom 3rd when he walked Castro and then allowed 2-out RBI knocks to Roberto Lozada and new Elk Andy Metz to tie the game. Varner then flew out to Dowsey.

After Stovall came close to a homer in the fourth, Dominguez had a clean fifth inning, but the pitch count was already up there despite only three hits and three walks allowed through five innings. His spot then also came up with Flowe, Mendoza, and Gates on base in an unearned 2-out situation in the top of the sixth. The Coons very emphatically rolled the dice with Marquise Early, who hit a high fly to right – but beat neither wall nor Lozada and ended the inning instead. Josh C then pitched in relief, giving up a leadoff walk to Metz in the bottom 6th before somehow getting around that to keep the game tied.

The bags were full again with two outs in the top 7th after Lowry walked the leadoff man Wilson and was yanked. Juan Rosado walked Corral with two outs, then allowed a soft single to Dowsey. Flowe flew out to Lozada, and another three runners remained stranded. Carrington and McMahan put the seventh together before Kehoe in the eighth walked both Lozada and Varner, but in between Metz had already rumbled into a double play and Chenette then struck out in a full count. Neither team got a runner on base in the ninth, and so extras dawned on the combatants.

Jake Flowe didn’t take long to break the tie in the 10th inning, hitting a solo home run with one out against Matt Nelson, who had held the Coons down in the ninth inning. Arredondo and Gates made two quick outs after that and Pedro Valentin got the baseball against the top of the order, although the Elks had the pitcher in the #2 spot by now. Castro grounded out to Gates on the first pitch before John Bustillos (who?) pinch-hit, bringing a lefty stick with him. He struck out, and so did Lozada. 3-2 Critters! Wilson 2-4, BB; Flowe 2-5, HR, RBI; Mendoza 2-3, BB; Kehoe 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, W (2-2);

Above .500! Tah!

Yes, yes, Oscar, I’ll make a pick now. Don’t rush me!

I travelled with Semchez to Pittsburgh on the way back to take in a Rebs-Miners game. I witnessed Semchez eat a hot dog with nothing but relish on it and decided to not renew his contract once it would expire, right then and there. We have standards here.

The Miners won that game 4-0, and there was no Raccoons game to miss since the Raccoons were not playing on Saturday, suffering through a freezeout in Elk City. They had a double header going on Sunday. The pairing of Polaco and Morales for the third game in the series was replaced with Rath and Walla.

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – SS Duhe – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – 3B Gates – 2B Arredondo – P Walla
VAN: 3B C. Castro – SS Barraza – RF Lozada – 1B A. Metz – C Varner – LF Chenette – CF D. Moore – 2B Stovall – P Rath

Wilson got on with a single and was immediately doubled off to begin the second of hopefully two games on Sunday, after which Starr and Corral got on and Dowsey dropped an RBI single. Flowe struck out to end the inning, while Walla gave up two singles to Castro and Barraza to get going, but got a double play grounder from Lozada and another groundout from Andy Metz. Walla kept leaking singles, allowing another two in the second inning, along with an unearned tying run because the whole inning had started with Steve Varner getting on base on a 2-base throwing error by Gary Gates. Stovall drove in the tying run. Varner hit a solo homer his next time up to get the Elks a 2-1 lead in the fourth. This came after Walla singled in the top 4th and was doubled off by Wilson, and before Duhe reached base and advanced on a wild pitch to begin the top 5th, after which the inning began to drag. Two meek outs were made, Dowsey walked with two outs, and Flowe snuck an RBI single up the middle into center to tie the game at two. Gates flew out to Tyler Chenette to end that inning.

Both teams got a leadoff single in the sixth through Arredondo and Metz, respectively. Neither scored, with Arrendondo even stealing second base before being stranded, while Varner hit into a double play to erase Metz as baserunner. Dan Moore hit another leadoff single off Walla in the seventh, but also wasn’t brought around.

The Coons began the eighth with Flowe drawing a walk from righty Miguel Batista. Gates singled, and Batista’s wild pitch put a pair in scoring position with nobody out. Arredondo flew out poorly, preventing Flowe from going home, and Marquise Early batted for Walla with a sense of urgency. He also flew out to Chenette, but deep enough to get Flowe home with the go-ahead run on a sac fly. Wilson struck out, keeping the score at 3-2, while Josh C retired the 2-3-4 batters for the Elks in order in the bottom 8th. Portland was just as listless in the ninth before Pedro Valentin took the ball, and not only fumbled Walla’s win, but got overturned for a loss after a leadoff single by Varner and a booming walkoff homer by Chenette. 4-3 Canadiens. Arredondo 2-4; Walla 7.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K and 1-3;

Ack.

Game 4
POR: CF Ramirez – LF Early – 1B Starr – 3B Mendoza – 2B Duhe – RF Dowsey – C D’Alessandro – SS Novelo – P Morales
VAN: 3B C. Castro – SS Barraza – RF Lozada – 1B A. Metz – LF Chenette – CF D. Moore – C Herr – 2B Stovall – P Polaco

Eddy Ramirez opened the late gig with a home run to left, and Starr scored a second run, singled in by Duhe, as the 3-4-5 batters all reached in the top of the first inning. Dowsey and D’Alessandro left a pair on base before the 2-0 lead went to Morales, who then went on to throw 34 pitches in the bottom 1st and gave up FIVE runs. Castro grounded out, but he drilled Barraza. Lozada singled to right, and Dowsey threw that ball away for the first error of the inning, allowing Barraza to score. Metz hit an RBI single, Chenette singled, and Moore’s grounder to third was fudged by Mendoza, allowing another run to score. Morales walked Kevin Herr to load the bases, and Stovall hit a sac fly. Polaco then snapped a 2-out RBI single, Castro singled to refill the bases, but Barraza then finally ******* flew out to Ramirez to end the 5-run (three earned) inning.

Things went a bit silent after that. Morales did the honorable thing and fell on his own sword for another four innings, not giving up any more runs, although plenty of damage had already been done. The Coons had also little going immediately after the battering before Polaco walked a pair and gave up an RBI single to Ramirez with two outs in the fourth, although Pablo Novelo then also ran into the third out on the base paths. Dowsey chased Polaco with a leadoff single in the sixth, but was then doubled off by Novelo, who was trying his darndest to get demoted to St. Petersburg.

The Coons got a scoreless inning from Yamauchi before Wilson batted for him and singled to start the seventh. Ramirez also singled, two outs were made again, Mendoza walked, and Duhe … popped out after Juan Rosado balked home a run to shorten the score to 5-4. Sean Thomas then ****** the bags full in the bottom 7th and Jesse Dover allowed one run to score on a groundout by Stovall before whiffing Rick Atkins in the #9 hole, but the Elks were now two ahead again. Dover was himself charged another run in the eighth when Lozada hit a single, Metz drew a 2-out walk, and then McMahan could not get rid of John Bustillos, who socked an RBI double past Starr and up the line. Metz was thrown out at the plate trying to score by Dowsey, ending the inning. Corral, Ramirez, and Early then went down in order against Matt Nelson in the ninth. 7-4 Canadiens. Ramirez 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Starr 2-4; Dowsey 2-4; Wilson (PH) 1-1;

In other news

June 13 – The Wolves flip SP Ian Lowry (3-6, 3.73 ERA) to the Canadiens for two prospects. The deal includes #192 prospect INF/LF/CF Ray Olin.
June 14 – The Stars beat the Scorpions, 14-4, scoring 11 runs in the seventh inning alone.
June 15 – Terrible blow for the Loggers, who lose 2B/SS Fidel Carrera (.288, 3 HR, 25 RBI) for the season. The 29-year-old is out with a torn back muscle.
June 17 – Condors SS Jason Turner (.200, 7 HR, 20 RBI) will miss six weeks with an oblique strain.
June 17 – The Blue Sox beat the Buffaloes, 1-0 in ten innings.

FL Player of the Week: LAP LF/RF John Miller (.369, 18 HR, 59 RBI), raking .571 (12-21) with 2 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA C/1B Oscar Matos (.310, 9 HR, 32 RBI), socking .364 (8-22) with 4 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

That was a brief stay over .500 …

After Tuesday’s game Nick Walla appeared inside the ABL top 10 for ERA despite the .300 record he was pitching to. He had the lowest BB/9 in the Continental League, and ranked second behind only Mike Bell for K/BB. After Sunday’s outing he was up to fourth in ERA in the CL, one ninth of a run behind league ERA leader Ricardo Montoya, and yet … 3-7 for his record.

Dominguez meanwhile got his eighth W in nine starts and got his unbeaten streak to ten besides reclaiming .500 for the Strugglecoons on Thursday with the 7,700th regular season W in Raccoons history.

Sunday’s double header will not lead to pitching complications, since we will be off on Thursday after a 3-game series in Milwaukee. We then return home for a 6-game homestand hosting the Thunder and Condors.

Fun Fact: Nick Walla is not only fourth in ERA in the CL, but also t-3rd in losses.

SCORE HIM SOME RUNS, YOU DIMWITS!!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (34-35) @ Loggers (38-31) – June 18-20, 2068

The Raccoons would then be led to the slaughter again as another 3-game set against the Loggers was up. They were scoring the most runs in the CL – although not quite at last year’s prodigious pace – with 5.3 runs per game. They were also giving up the most runs, for a +47 run differential. The pitching was awful, and losing Fidel Carrera for the rest of the season was certainly gonna hurt the offense. Apart from that, Kyle Reber had left Sunday’s game with an undisclosed injury and was unavailable to begin the series. The Loggers held a 4-2 lead in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (4-5, 4.95 ERA) vs. Ramon Carreno (5-6, 6.35 ERA)
Alex Dominguez (10-2, 3.09 ERA) vs. B.J. Butrico (5-6, 4.19 ERA)
Girolamo Pizzichini (1-4, 4.60 ERA) vs. Brett Bebout (7-1, 3.06 ERA)

We were up against only right-handed pitchers here.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – 2B Duhe – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – SS Novelo – P Gaytan
MIL: RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – 2B Goss – SS Y. Valdez – C Guitreau – 3B R. Murcia – P Carreno

Pressed into service at short, Yoslan Valdez committed both an error and turned a double play right in the first inning, so things could still go either way here, at least until Tony Gaytan got near a baseball. Dave Wright hit a leadoff single in the bottom 1st, but was left on; however Tim Goss hit another leadoff single in the second and was doubled in by Tommy Guitreau for the game’s first run. The Coons made that up with Novelo and Duhe singles in the top 3rd, then took the lead on Joel Starr’s tenth home run of the year. However, Gaytan got double-bombed by Wright and Cesar Ramirez to tie the score at three in the bottom of the same inning, just before Tim Goss limped off after legging out an infield single and the Loggers’ middle infield woes intensified. Ricardo Vargas took over second base.

Gaytan’s no-good outing continued into the fifth inning, where he faced five batters and retired a grand total of none. Wright singled, Jonathan Merrill walked, Carlos Dominguez doubled in a run, Ramirez walked, and Vargas hit an RBI single. Carrington gave up a sac fly to Valdez, walked the bags full again with Guitreau, but then retired Rafael Murcia and long-ago Coon Carreno to extricate the team from the inning, three runs later.

The sixth was uneventful and the Raccoons got their 7-8 batters on base against Carreno to begin the seventh. Eddy Ramirez pinch-hit for Sean Thomas and struck out, and then Wilson hit an RBI single to right, 6-4, but Novelo was stopped at third base fearing the warm of Wright, but then Duhe rumbled into another double play… We then got two absolutely woeful (three walks) scoreless innings from George Kehoe, keeping it a 2-run gap while Carreno staggered through eight innings before being replaced with another ex-Coon, Nick Robinson, who retired Early, Mendoza, and Novelo in order to finish the game. 6-4 Loggers. Wilson 2-4, RBI; Novelo 3-4;

Blech.

Reber was off to the DL with knee tendinitis, and Goss was day-to-day with groin soreness by Tuesday, which probably meant they would be able to have a middle infield tighter than Goss’ groin again.

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – 3B Mendoza – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – 2B Gates – SS Novelo – P A. Dominguez
MIL: RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – 2B Goss – C Guitreau – SS R. Murcia – 3B R. Vargas – P Butrico

Alex Dominguez was perfect the first time through the order (!) on two strikeouts and 32 pitches. Unfortunately, the Raccoons had not used the opportunity to build a bit of a lead, either. However, Jose Corral went yard for a solo homer in the fourth inning to grab a skinny lead. Dominguez went on to retire 13 straight Loggers before losing Goss on ball four in a full count, but he was easily doubled up on Guitreau’s grounder to Novelo that followed, ending the inning. The Raccoons extended the lead slightly in the sixth with back-to-back doubles by Starr and Corral, who was then thrown out at the plate on a Dowsey single, which helped bring the inning to a quicker end. Vargas doubled in the bottom 6th, but was stranded when Butrico popped out and Wright whiffed.

This meant the bottom 7th began with the left-handed array in the 2-3-4-5 slots of the Loggers lineup, and Merrill and Carlos Dominguez immediately hit soft singles. Goss and Guitreau made weak outs, but Guitreau then grinded out a walk in a full count to load the bases with two outs. The Raccoons hung with Dominguez against Murcia, but he walked in a run in another full count and then was replaced with Dover, who walked in the tying run in another full count against Vargas… Mario Alaniz batted for Butrico and struck out to end the ******* inning.

Mendoza and Dowsey singles against reliever Jose Lugo led nowhere in particular in the eighth inning and Dover and McMahan kept the game tied in the bottom of the frame, despite McMahan nicking Carlos Dominguez with two outs and in an 0-2 count… The Raccoons still would not score against Robinson in the ninth inning as Gates, Novelo, and Early went down in order against the old southpaw, and instead McMahan allowed a single to Guitreau, a walk to Vargas, and then, with two outs, a grand old walkoff homer to pinch-hitter Yoslan “Not a Shortstop” Valdez. 5-2 Loggers. Starr 2-4, 2 2B; Corral 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Flowe 2-4; Dominguez 6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K;

Maybe there just are no words to describe this team anymore…

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – 3B Mendoza – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Early – SS Duhe – 2B Arredondo – C D’Alessandro – P Pizzichini
MIL: RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – 2B Goss – C Guitreau – SS R. Murcia – 3B R. Vargas – P Bebout

Pizza was getting whacked around by the Loggers, which was something everybody could see coming from a mile away. Merrill singled and scored on a Dominguez double in the first, while Goss was thrown out at the plate on a Murcia double in the second inning, and Merrill spanked a grounder into a double play after a leadoff single by Dave Wright in the third. In short, Pizza was a 4-run inning waiting to happen. The Raccoons took a 3-1 lead in the fourth, though with a leadoff single by Starr, a Corral double, and after Early made a poor out, a 2-run double by vaunted .208 hitter Jared Duhe, who scored on an Arredondo single for the third and final run of the inning. Pizza somehow got around a leadoff single by Cesar Ramirez in the bottom 4th, followed by three lineouts in the fifth. Dominguez hit a leadoff single in the sixth, after which Ramirez flew out to deep center, and then Goss and Guitreau actually struck out. SOMEHOW Pizza wobbled like that through seven innings without getting torn up – the Loggers never got a second run out of him – but the aesthetics were none too pleasing.

The Coons were seemingly done after their 3-run fourth. Bebout was out of the game after five and a third, but the Loggers pen then held tight against the Critters, while McMahan tried to recover from last night’s loss in the bottom 8th, allowed a single to Domiguez, but retired enough lefty bats to get through the inning with the 3-1 score intact. Pedro Valentin then walked the leadoff man Goss in the bottom of the ninth, which was far from ideal. Guitreau grounded out, Murcia legged out an infield single, and Vargas whiffed before Mario Alaniz pinch-hit in the pitcher’s spot with two outs. He tied the game with a triple in the right-center gap, I hated my closer again, and Wright’s fly out sent the game to extra innings.

Jaden Wilson struck a double against Nick Robinson to begin the tenth inning. Mendoza walked, and the runners pulled off a double steal. The Loggers walked Starr intentionally, making it three on and nobody out. The Raccoons got an RBI single from Corral, and then struck out, struck out, and – with Gary Gates – grounded out to strand three runners. Jesse Dover got the ball in the bottom 10th since there was no trust in Sean Thomas against this lefty battery, with Merrill leading off again. He grounded out sharply to short, but Dominguez singled up the middle. Ramirez hit another spanker, but right at Gates at second base, who went to first base before Starr fired a throw over to second that somehow beat the bumbling Dominguez for a game-ending 4-3-6 double play…! 4-3 Raccoons. Corral 3-5, 2B, RBI; Duhe 2-3, 2 BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Pizzichini 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K;

Raccoons (35-37) vs. Thunder (43-29) – June 22-24, 2068

The Thunder were back in first place in the South and hoped to stay there by taking games off the Raccoons on the weekend. They had so far won two of three games from Portland this year, had won six games in a row, and were allowing the fewest runs in the CL while scoring the third-most. Yeah, things were looking dire, even though they were two starters short with Danny Baca and Jeff Kozloski on the DL, along with outfielder Roberto Almanza, who was about to return though.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (3-7, 2.63 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (4-5, 5.74 ERA)
Vinny Morales (4-2, 2.39 ERA) vs. Matthew May (2-1, 2.45 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (4-5, 5.36 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (8-4, 2.68 ERA)

May was left-handed, the only lefty in that rotation right now.

Game 1
OCT: 2B C. Gutierrez – 1B I. Stone – SS Palominos – CF Thore – C Bohannon – RF B. Johnston – LF Anker – 3B B. Robinson – P Seiter
POR: CF Wilson – 3B Mendoza – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – SS Duhe – 2B Novelo – P Walla

Walla in his chase up the ERA leaderboard didn’t strike out a batter the first time through, but also allowed only a soft single to Coby Thore, who then hit another harder single in the fourth inning. Walla walked Martin Bohannon, all with one out, but Bryan Johnston popped out and Grant Anker struck out, stranding a pair of Thunder on the bases. The Coons scattered four hits and two walks against an aged Ben Seiter in the first four innings, but didn’t get a single run across, either. Walla then opened the bottom 5th with a single. Wilson and Starr hit more singles, Walla blundered through the stop sign at third on the latter and was out by a mile at home plate, but the Raccoons still got a 2-out RBI single from Corral to grab the lead. Dowsey grounded out to Ian Stone to keep two stranded, then homered the game tied again on Walla’s first pitch in the sixth inning…

The failing for the offense continued in the sixth when Duhe and Novelo went to the corners with one out, but Walla hit into a double play. He pitched his way to the stretch, but was looking at another no-decision unless the Coons could scratch a run in the bottom 7th. Seiter had already given up ten hits in six innings, and Wilson hit a single for #11 leading off the bottom 7th. He was right away forced out on a Mendoza grounder, but Starr singled and Mendoza went to third. Seiter plunked Corral to fill the bags for Dowsey, who struck out very helpfully, but Jake Flowe pressed a single through the right side for a pair of 2-out runs! Duhe’s RBI single was the 14th and final hit off Seiter in this game – what five years ago would have been described as “a season’s worth” for any team facing him – as Javier Arocho replaced him. Eddy Ramirez pinch-hit for Novelo, but flew out to center to end the inning.

Walla then returned for the eighth, walked Jose Palominos, and was replaced with Josh C, who was utterly useless, walked Thore, gave up an RBI single to Bohannon, and was yanked for McMahan, who allowed a single to Johnston, got a double play bouncer from PH Daniel Richardson, and then gave up the game-tying hit to Brian Robinson, and I had the urge to murder the **** out of them all. Matt Ewig made the third out in this ******* inning of a 4-4 game.

The Portland Dimwits continued with leadoff singles from Gates and Wilson in the bottom 8th, then a double play from Mendoza and Starr whiffing. Useless. George Kehoe, also ******* useless, then allowed straight hits to Carlos Gutierrez, Stone, and Palominos in the ninth inning to concede a run to the Thunder without getting an out. Thore flew out and Bohannon hit into a double play after that, while the Raccoons drew nothing but duds against Erik Swain in the bottom 9th, because what else was new… 5-4 Thunder. Wilson 3-5; Starr 3-5; Duhe 3-4, RBI; Gates (PH) 1-1; Walla 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K;

The useless ********* had SIXTEEN base hits in the game and still couldn’t get ******* in front of the ******* Thunder.

******* *********!!!

Game 2
OCT: RF Almanza – 1B I. Stone – SS Palominos – 3B B. Robinson – CF Thore – C Bohannon – LF Ewig – 2B C. Gutierrez – P May
POR: SS Duhe – CF Ramirez – LF Early – 1B Starr – 3B Mendoza – RF Corral – 2B Gates – C D’Alessandro – P Morales

Ian Stone took Vinny Morales deep before most people got their first $38 hot dog, and the Raccoons then wasted leadoff walks to Duhe in the first and Mendoza in the second. Duhe and Ramirez then both walked in the third inning for the home team, and while Marquise Early merrily kept failing, Joel Starr did the occasional good thing with a ball in the left-center gap for a score-flipping 2-run double with two gone. He was then left on by Mendoza.

Morales had not given up a hit since the Stone homer going into the fifth when he lost Thore on balls in a full count leading off and Bohannon then singled. Ewig bunted the runners into scoring position before Carlos Gutierrez flew out to Early. Thore went for home – and was thrown out to end the inning, 7-2 on the scorecard.

Jose Corral extended the lead to 3-1 in the sixth with a solo home run, his ninth of the season, while Morales then got around a Gary Gates error in the seventh while holding the Thunder to three hits at the stretch. Since there was no trusting this ******* pen once again, and Morales’ pitch count was rather decent, he kept hitting for himself and then gave up a leadoff single go Gutierrez in the eighth, but struck out Travis Anderson and then got a double play grounder from Almanza to Duhe to complete eight inning. Those were now all long counts though and his pitch count suddenly rose to 99. The Raccoons in the bottom 8th got Early on base before Wilson pinch-hit for Mendoza against Arocho and was walked intentionally. With two outs, Dowsey batted for Gates – and was nailed. The bags were loaded and Flowe batted for D’Alessandro, but lined out to a sliding Matt Ewig to strand the set…

Pedro Valentin then ******* blew that lead as well in the ninth, giving up a leadoff double to Stone, who scored on Brian Robinson’s 1-out single. Thore flew out, but Grant Anker cranked a game-tying gap double with two outs. Ewig grounded out to end the inning, while I climbed into Valentin’s locker armed with a hatchet. The Remaindercoons were batting in the bottom 9th, which we hadn’t intended to contest, against Jon McGinley. Novelo grounded out before the left-handed ex-Coon walked Duhe. Arredondo reached on an error by Stone, moving Duhe to second base with the winning run. Marquise Early then hit into a double play and the game went to extras, where the Thunder overran Yamauchi, the useless **** bag, for four runs with rockets. Wilson and Corral reached with one down in the bottom 10th, bringing up the pitcher’s spot. The Coons’ bench was empty, because WE HADN’T ******* INTENDED TO PLAY FOR THIS LONG. Dominguez batted for Yamauchi, struck out anyway, and then Flowe grounded out to end another ******* STUPID LOSS. 7-3 Thunder. Wilson (PH) 1-1, BB; Corral 2-5, 2B, RBI; Morales 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K;

The whole bullpen belongs in a bubbling volcano. Useless pieces of ****, all seven of them.

Game 3
OCT: RF Almanza – 1B I. Stone – SS Palominos – 3B B. Robinson – CF Thore – C Bohannon – LF Goll – 2B C. Gutierrez – P Nielsen
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – 2B Gates – P Gaytan

Gaytan tried to save the bullpen’s tushes by getting blown up early and decisively on Sunday, starting with a Stone triple in the first inning, which of course immediately led to a run for the Thunder. The Coons got Duhe on with a leadoff walk in the bottom 1st, and Wilson right away sucked into a double play. Starr also walked, then was left on base by Corral. Gaytan loaded the bases with 2-out singles by Gutierrez and the opposing pitcher, then a walk issued to Almanza in the second inning, but now Stone popped out. Palominos’ single and Robinson’s RBI double made it 2-0 Thunder in the third, after which the Thunder started hitting rockets right at defenders for a change, which didn’t make Gaytan’s tossing any better.

The Raccoons had no hits the first time through until Duhe hit a 2-out single in the third that was soon forgotten, how I wished to be forgotten once the sands of time had turned by bones to dust. Starr hit a leadoff single in the fourth, Corral walked, and then the 5-6-7 sucked the air out of that inning. Gates hit another leadoff single in the fifth. He stole second, Gaytan whiffed, Duhe walked, and then Wilson snuck an RBI single, but Starr’s foul pop and Corral’s groundout kept the tying and go-ahead runs on base.

Gaytan pitched five and two thirds **** innings, then left with Gutierrez (triple) and Ewig (walk) on the corners in the top 6th. Carrington replaced him and survived a first-pitch spanker from Almanza to Mendoza for a 5-3 third out of the inning. Instead he crapped the bags full in the seventh with a leadoff walk to Stone, putting paws on a Palominos bouncer that was not his business to turn it into an infield single, and then put Thore on base by throwing away his comebacker for an error. He was yanked with the bags full and one out, but Jesse Dover was no less awful. Bohannon lined out HARD to Gates for the second out, and then Grant Anker struck a pinch-hit 2-run double to extend the score to 4-1. Gutierrez grounded out. Duhe hit a useless solo homer in the bottom 7th before Sean Thomas got whacked around for three hits and two runs in the eighth inning, although Duhe was generous enough to mix in an error as well.

Bottom 8th, and somewhere the Thunder had picked up Mike Hall, who faced PH Eddy Ramirez and Flowe, and put both on base. Mendoza then flew out to Almanza in the gap, and Gates hit an RBI single against Danny Zepeda. Matt Maylath became the third pitcher of the inning, facing Novelo as the tying run in the pitcher’s spot, and Novelo shanked a drive through Brian Robinson for a 2-run double, 6-5. The tying run was now at second with one out, so Duhe grounded out, advancing the runner to third. Maylath walked Wilson, and then ran a full count on Joel Starr, whose fly to left-center eluded Grant Anker and fell for a 2-run double, flipping the ******* score. Erik Swain had expected to readying himself for a save, but now had to come in and just *end* a 5-run inning, which he did with a K on Corral. The silly Coons had no other options but Valentin for the ninth, and for a change he actually put the goddamn save in the books. 7-6 Disastercoons. Duhe 2-3, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Starr 3-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Gates 2-4, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI;

In other news

June 18 – OCT SP Danny Baca (1-0, 4.58 ERA), who already missed most of the year with a broken thumb and a forearm strain, will now miss the rest of the year with a broken elbow.
June 22 – The lead changes three times in the late innings of the Loggers’ 15-11 win against the Knights. MIL 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.344, 14 HR, 67 RBI) hits two home runs and drives in seven runs.
June 23 – DAL SP Ray Walker (11-2, 2.36 ERA) is expected to miss two months with a torn triceps.
June 23 – TIJ SP Jason Brenize (3-9, 4.24 ERA) and three relievers pitch a combined 1-hitter against the Crusaders for a 3-0 Condors win. New York outfielder Bryant Box (.323, 3 HR, 32 RBI) hits a leadoff double to knock out Brenize in the eighth inning, but the serial Pitcher of the Year struck out ten batters at least.
June 24 – A ruptured achilles tendon ends the season of NAS 1B Kris DiPrimio (.284, 8 HR, 32 RBI).
June 24 – Dallas INF Adam Yocum (.322, 2 HR, 37 RBI) will miss six weeks with a groin strain.

FL Player of the Week: NAS RF Austin Gordon (.301, 21 HR, 63 RBI), rushing .462 (12-26) with 4 HR, 12 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA OF Victor Lorenzo (.319, 0 HR, 33 RBI), clipping .607 (17-28) with 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Last five games:
Starters ERA: 2.10 ERA and winless
Bullpen ERA: 10.95 ERA and all wins blown to pieces

I can’t work with these people. They must all go. Again.

No rest for the wicked, though, as we will have no more off days until the All Star Game, with three games at home against the Condors, followed by eight on the road in Indy and New York. The final set before the break will be three games with the Titans, the start for a wicked 2 1/2-week, 13-game homestand.

Except for our All Stars of course. (nervous snicker)

Fun Fact: Pedro Valentin blew three saves in a row in the last three series, and has allowed multiple runs in four of his last six outings.

They must all go.

Again.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (36-39) vs. Condors (29-45) – June 25-27, 2068

The Condors were still scoring the fewest runs and allowing the sixth-most, for a grim -73 run differential after buying up most of the free agent market this previous offseason. Nothing was quite working, and quite emblematic for that was Jason Brenize being second in losses in the league. Even the Coons had swept them in the first series these teams had played this year! A pile of injuries added to the agony in Tijuana, with Phil Nelson, Jason Turner, Natsu Nakamura, Mike Pinault, and Andy Lee all hurt and on the DL. Only Pinault was expected to return soon, maybe in this series.

Projected matchups:
Alex Dominguez (10-2, 3.06 ERA) vs. Justin Martin (1-5, 5.63 ERA)
Girolamo Pizzichini (1-4, 4.32 ERA) vs. Aaron Ledbetter (4-5, 3.25 ERA)
Nick Walla (3-7, 2.62 ERA) vs. Miguel Lopez (3-3, 2.57 ERA)

No southpaws in sight.

Game 1
TIJ: RF LeVan – SS M. Moreno – 1B D. Cline – 3B Monck – C Brann – CF Rugar – LF A. Walker – 2B Wyatt – P J. Martin
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – 2B Gates – P Dominguez

Rich Monck was batting .258 with seven homers after a poor start with injuries to his first Condors season, and flew out easily in the first inning. He was however pretty much the only batter that made an easy out while the Condors bashed Dominguez for four runs right out of the gate, getting singles from Phil LeVan and Mario Moreno past either side of Gary Gates, and a sac fly from David Cline before Mike Brann singled, Josh Rugar doubled home a second run, and then Art Walker found a 2-run single, all with two outs. Only Tim Wyatt was retired again by Dominguez. The Raccoons answered with a 5-spot in the bottom 1st – but four runs were unearned. Wilson walked, and Corral hit a 2-out RBI double before both Dowsey and Flowe reached on errors by Monck and Wyatt, respectively, the latter plating the second run. Mendoza doubled, 4-3, and Gates then flipped the score with a 2-out, 2-run single; Dominguez popped out to second to end the inning. This was already the end for Justin Martin, who was hit for with Chris Lauterbach to begin the second inning…! Lauterbach singled, but was forced out by LeVan, and Moreno and Cline then both struck out.

Bottom 2nd, left-hander Chris Thompson walked Wilson and gave up a homer to Starr, 7-4. Dominguez, who now had the task to go at least five after a long first inning, struck out three in the third, getting around a Rugar double in between. Brann and Rugar were on base with two outs in the fifth before Art Walker grounded out to short to get Dominguez to qualifying distance on 94 pitches, with the score 8-4 after a pair of Starr and Corral doubles in the bottom 4th. Jake Flowe then took Willie Mendoza deep with a leadoff jack in the fifth, 9-4.

The Coons’ pen then gave blowing the 5-run lead a go. Sean Thomas was brought in and would retire one of the four left-handed batters he faced across an inning and a third, with Mendoza starting a 5-4-3 double play for him in the sixth. David Cline led off the seventh with a triple before Monck struck out, after which Kehoe replaced Thomas, popped out Brann to Starr, but then Rugar sent a deep drive to right – but it came down in Corral’s glove on the warning track after lots of hangtime. Kehoe then went on and struck out the side in the eighth. The Coons made two outs in the bottom 8th before Marquise Early pinch-hit and singled in the pitcher’s spot. Jared Duhe then cranked a 2-run homer off Justin Cullum. Yamauchi then handled the Condors for a LeVan single in the ninth. 11-4 Furballs! Starr 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Corral 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Gates 2-3, 2 RBI; Early (PH) 1-1;

Roster news after this W included Ramon Archuleta starting a rehab assignment in AAA with the idea being that he would return by the end of the week. Also, Sean Thomas (1-1, 5.79 ERA) was disappeared off the roster, and the Raccoons brought up Gabriel Rios again, this time as left-hander out of the pen. He had posted a 1.83 ERA mostly as a starter in AAA.

Game 2
TIJ: RF LeVan – C Brann – 1B D. Cline – 3B Monck – CF Pinault – SS M. Moreno – LF Rugar – 2B Wyatt – P Ledbetter
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – 2B Gates – P Pizzichini

Duhe drew a walk to begin the bottom 1st and was immediately picked off first base, but the Raccoons got a better start to the second inning with Corral and Dowsey singles. Flowe whiffed, but Mendoza hit an RBI double to left-center, and Gates plated Dowsey with a groundout to take a 2-0 lead before Pizza got sliced for the final out on strikes. His main battle was on the hill though, and mostly with his own body; he got six straight outs to begin the game, but walked the 7-8 batters to begin the top of the third; however, Rugar got himself caught stealing before Wyatt reached, and Wyatt was bunted to second and left there on LeVan’s groundout.

Mike Brann put the Condors on the board with a homer to left in the fourth inning, ending a string of 13 unanswered Raccoons runs across the two games. Cline got on and was doubled off by Monck, while Dowsey hit into a double play in the same inning. Pizza needed 83 pitches to get a 2-hitter in a 2-1 game through five innings, but got three quick outs in the sixth at least. Bottom 6th, a leadoff walk put Wilson on base; he stole second, advanced on Starr’s first out, and then scored on a wild pitch, 3-1.

Top 7th, and McMahan, who allowed a double to Cline, and Josh C, who walked the returned Pinault, made a bit of a mess on the bases before both Moreno and Rugar struck out in full counts against Carrington to end the inning. The Raccoons got a leadoff triple from Flowe (!) off Ledbetter in the bottom 7th, but would not get the run home. Mendoza walked, Gates whiffed, and Early hit into a double play. Gabriel Rios then made an appearance and immediately walked two of the three batters he faced before being removed for being useless. Dover replaced him and got a double play grounder from Brann to end that inning. He remained in the game for the ninth, allowed a 1-out single to Monck, who had gone 0-for-8 to begin this Portland series, but then retired Pinault on strikes and Moreno on a bouncer to end the game and cashed a 5-out save. 3-1 Critters. Corral 2-4; Mendoza 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Pizzichini 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (2-4); Dover 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (5);

Game 3
TIJ: RF LeVan – C Brann – 1B D. Cline – 3B Monck – CF Pinault – SS M. Moreno – LF Rugar – 2B Wyatt – P Mi. Lopez
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – 3B Mendoza – 2B Novelo – C D’Alessandro – P Walla

Here were two pitchers with 200 innings of 2.60 ERA ball this year, and only six wins between them. Walla didn’t get a good start, walking LeVan, who was caught stealing, and then was taken deep by Brann for a quick 1-0 deficit. It was a bit of a struggle the first time through the lineup for him, but at least no further damage occurred. The Raccoons did little in the first two innings before D’Alessandro hit a leadoff single in the bottom 3rd. Walla’s bunt was thrown away for two bases by Brann, putting the Coons battery in scoring position with nobody out. Duhe whiffed, Wilson singled to tie the game, but then was caught stealing, and Starr grounded out to Wyatt to leave Walla at third base. Before long, Walla had to bat again – then with two outs in the bottom 4th and Corral (walk), Mendoza (nicked), and D’Alessandro (intentional walk) on base. Walla had no RBI’s on the year, but slapped a single up the middle into center and drove in two runs to give himself a 3-1 lead…! Duhe added another run with a little fister for a single over the glove of Wyatt, and Lopez walked Wilson to fill the bases, and then Starr as well, forcing in another run and giving Joel Starr 50 RBI in the team’s 78th game of the year. Lopez was yanked for the lefty Thompson, who got Corral to bounce out to second on the first pitch he threw, but it was now 5-1 in favor of Winless Walla.

…who still wasn’t pitching with the relative ease he had shown a few weeks ago, but had the Condors under control for a while in the fifth, sixth inning. He entered the eighth on 82 pitches, because the Condors started to make very quick and eager outs as well, and got Sal Romero, LeVan, and Brann in order, but the last two made outs in full counts and shot Walla’s pitch count to 99, meaning he would not return for the complete game. Eddy Ramirez batted for him and walked in the bottom 8th, but nothing came of that. Rios got the ball for the ninth, retired Cline and Monck, but then walked the following right-handers until Valentin replaced him with two on in a 4-run game and struck out Rugar to end the game. 5-1 Raccoons! Duhe 2-5, RBI; Walla 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (4-7) and 1-2, 2 RBI;

With this 4-game winning streak, the Raccoons were back at .500, and Nick Walla was up to third place in ERA in the CL, behind second-place Ricardo Montoya, and league leader Mike DeWitt, whom the Raccoons were going to face this weekend.

Raccoons (39-39) @ Indians (34-43) – June 28-July 1, 2068

From one last-place team to another, the Raccoons would play four with the Indians on the weekend. The season series was at 4-3 in Portland’s favor, and while we had won four games in a row, the Indians had won FIVE games in a row. They were eighth in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed in the league, with a -25 run differential (Coons: -26). The only Indians player on the DL was ex-Coon John Nesbitt.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (4-2, 2.23 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (6-5, 2.39 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (4-6, 5.22 ERA) vs. Victor Perez (6-1, 3.41 ERA)
Alex Dominguez (11-2, 3.27 ERA) vs. Adam Molloy (4-6, 4.03 ERA)
Girolamo Pizzichini (2-4, 4.12 ERA) vs. Jorge Flores (6-5, 4.73 ERA)

DeWitt needed a whacking, and he was also the only southpaw we would meet this week.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – CF Ramirez – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – 3B Mendoza – C Flowe – 2B Gates – P Morales
IND: CF Hilario – RF T. Torres – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – 2B P. Weber – SS Baxley – LF Menchaca – P DeWitt

The Coons sure got off to a good start, hitting singles with their first three batters to load the bases against DeWitt! Early fell to 1-2, but snapped an RBI single after that, but then Corral flew out to Tony Torres in right, and Ramirez went for home from third base and was thrown out for a 9-2 double play, and Mendoza grounded out to short, so only one actual run was scored against DeWitt. Another chance developed, though, in the top 2nd with a leadoff single by Jake Flowe. Gates whiffed, and Morales’ bunt was misfielded by DeWitt, putting another batter on base … and then a passed ball moved them into scoring position with Duhe batting. Again, the Coons got only one run on a Duhe sac fly to deep center, and Ramirez left Morales on base. Matt Rogers hit a leadoff single in the bottom 2nd, stole a base, and was brought around to score to keep the game close, 2-1. Jose Hilario and Torres got on base against Morales in the third, and Rogers’ sac fly tied the game.

DeWitt walked Starr in the third, then struck out three, and made it four straight with a K on Flowe in the fourth – and then felt a twinge and left the game after a consultation with the Indians’ trainer…! Pablo Apodaca took over and fell behind in the fifth, 3-2, on back-to-back doubles by Ramirez and Starr. Early then struck out, and Corral lined out to Apodaca, who raised the glove in self-defense, and then found the third out in it. Flowe hit a solo jack in the sixth, 4-2, while Morales stumbled bravely onwards with the help of his own defense. When Mendoza fumbled a grounder by Matt Martin for a 1-out error in the bottom 6th, Paul Weber hit into a 6-4-3 double play to erase the free runner and Morales kept going.

Right-hander Shamar King came out to pitch for the Indians in the seventh, giving up straight singles and a run to the 2-3-4 batters, but then recovered with a pop and two strikeouts. The Indians then got soft singles from John Baxley (on the infield) and Eddie Menchaca. The tying run was in the box as Morales got a groundout from Wil Martinez, then struck out Hilario. When lefty Wil Mejia pinch-hit for the pitcher in Torres’ deserted spot, the Raccoons went to McMahan in a double switch that sat down Mendoza (Gates went to third, and Novelo entered playing second), but gave up a sharp first-pitch grounder – right at Duhe for the third out. (blows!)

McMahan walked Alex Gomez to start the bottom 8th, with Rogers grounding into a fielder’s choice after that. With righty sticks up, Yamauchi came in, allowed a single to Martin, and then allowed two deep fly balls that luckily both stayed in the park and were caught by Corral and Early, respectively. Top 9th, Starr hit a deep fly himself, but that one fell for a 1-out double. Early was not helpful and whiffed. Dowsey batted for a hitless Corral against Juan Pera, who drilled him, and then Jaden Wilson batted for the pitcher and snapped an RBI single to center. Flowe flew out to Hilario, and then Josh C got the ball in a 4-run game. He got three groundouts in six pitches in an odd spot of efficiency. 6-2 Coons. Ramirez 3-5, 2B; Starr 4-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Early 2-5, 2 RBI; Wilson (PH) 1-1, RBI; Flowe 2-5, HR, RBI; Gates 2-4; Morales 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (5-2);

Only a mild calf strain on DeWitt, who was not likely to miss a start. Only one run of the Coons had been earned, so his ERA only went up one tick to 2.40, still leading the CL.

And yes, Vinny Morales had an ERA lower than all of them – 2.27 after this game – but he was 11.2 innings short of qualifying after this game, and was unlikely to do so before late July.

We had to sprinkle some off days in the middle of this 17-game stint without an off day. Mendoza got rotated out on Friday, with Duhe due in one of the other games on the weekend. We were going to face the Crusaders next, but might not see a left-hander in that series until about Wednesday, so Jose Corral would probably get a day off before that.

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – 3B Gates – 2B Novelo – P Gaytan
IND: CF Hilario – RF T. Torres – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – 2B P. Weber – SS Baxley – LF Spicer – P V. Perez

The winning streak was going to end on Friday, when Tony Gaytan struggled to put his pants on correctly, and it only got worse from there. He walked Hilario, Torres singled, and Alex Gomez punched a 3-run homer right away. He then nailed Rogers, Martin singled, Weber doubled, Baxley walked, and then Malcolm Spicer finally made an out with a grounder. Even the pitcher chimed in with an RBI single before Spicer was caught stealing third base and Hilario flew out to Corral, ending a 6-run assault.

The game would remain full of surprises though, the first being that Gaytan was then left in there for the time being because if we purged his furry tush to St. Petersburg for this catastrophic start, then he could at least soak up a few more innings – and then delivered three scoreless innings while the Raccoons went ******* hitless against Perez.

The next surprise was that Perez left the game before Gaytan did. Gary Gates opened the top 5th with a single to right, and then Pablo Novelo hit his first homer of the season, 6-2. Gaytan and Duhe made outs, but Wilson singled and Starr bopped another homer, 6-4. Corral walked, and a pair of singles by Dowsey and Flowe drove him in – and Perez was yanked. Shamar King got a groundout from Gates to end the inning, and the Coons wasted a leadoff double by Novelo in the sixth.

Gaytan finished six innings before being relieved, allowing ONE hit in the last five after having gotten gangbanged in the first inning. He was taken off the hook in the seventh, which Starr and Corral started with singles off King, and then a Dowsey double tied the game at six! There was a pair in scoring position with nobody out, and Flowe hit a sac fly to give the Coons a 7-6 lead. Arredondo batted for Gates, but grounded out. That still moved Dowsey to third base, from where Juan Pera then balked him in to a shower of boos. Novelo grounded out to end the inning, and then the Coons pen blew the lead rather effortlessly, as Kehoe put Hilario and Torres on base with a double and walk, respectively. A double steal, a run-scoring throwing error by Flowe, and then a Rogers RBI single off McMahan tied the game at eight before Martin grounded out to end the seventh.

The eighth was comparatively uneventful, but Jose Corral cranked a tie-breaking homer with one out off Brian McLaughlin in the ninth inning, 9-8. With two outs, Jake Flowe hit a single and was run for with Eddy Ramirez, who reached third base on an Arredondo single, but Novelo whiffed and left runners on the corners. Valentin and D’Alessandro were then the battery for the bottom 9th against the Indians’ 2-3-4 batters. Torres whiffed, Gomez whiffed in a full count, and Rogers grounded out to Novelo on the first pitch he saw. 9-8 Furballs!! Starr 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Corral 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Dowsey 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Flowe 2-4, 2 RBI; Novelo 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

The Coons! Six in a row!

Somehow…!!

Gaytan was NOT purged, although maybe we really should… Jared Duhe got Saturday off, though.

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – 3B Mendoza – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – SS Novelo – 2B Arredondo – P Dominguez
IND: CF Hilario – RF T. Torres – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – 2B P. Weber – SS Baxley – C J. Edwards – LF Spicer – P Molloy

We almost put Corral on the bench instead, which woulda been a mistake given that he followed Starr’s single in the first inning with a 2-run homer. Dowsey made it back-to-back with a solo shot before Flowe popped out on a 3-1 pitch to end the inning. Hilario opened the bottom 1st with a looping double to left, but was then stranded on poor outs made by Torres, Rogers, and Martin, and the Indians did not reach base again until Hilario singled with two outs in the third and was again stranded when Dominguez K’ed Torres. Baxley singled in the fifth, but that was all the Indians offense through five; however the Raccoons only had one hit after the double-whammy in the first inning, either, so things could still go either way.

Hilario remained unretired with a leadoff single in the bottom 6th, stole second, and finally was driven in on a Rogers double, 3-1. Crucially, Matt Martin hit a rocket line drive right into Mendoza’s mitten at third base, leaving a burn mark, for the second out, with Rogers being stranded once Weber struck out. Mendoza went on to throw away a Baxley grounder to begin the seventh, but the 7-8-9 batters then made another string of miserable outs to help Dominguez through the inning. He was hit for with Eddy Ramirez to begin the top 8th, and Ramirez rocked a homer to left to extend the lead to 4-1. Ramirez remained in the game for Wilson afterwards, and Gabriel Rios pitched a 1-2-3 eighth against the top of the Indians’ order. Top 9th, Corral and Dowsey drew walks off Garrett Napolitano before Flowe hit into a 4-6-3 double play. However, with two outs, Novelo shoved an RBI double through Martin and up the leftfield line, taking the save off and bringing in Yamauchi rather than Valentin, who nevertheless remained up. Martin singled to begin the bottom 9th, but was doubled off, 5-4-3, on a Weber grounder. Baxley whiffed, and the Coons’ win streak was up to seven. 5-1 Raccoons! Novelo 2-4, 2B, RBI; Ramirez (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Dominguez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (12-2);

This was the first time all year we were three games over .500.

Corral was too hot to sit down right now, even though we really didn’t see a southpaw coming before Wednesday. Only Flowe had a day off on Sunday after three straight starts.

A roster move was made, though, with Manny Arredondo (.212, 0 HR, 2 RBI) back to AAA with Ramon Archuleta rejoining from his rehab assignment.

Game 4
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – LF Dowsey – 3B Mendoza – C D’Alessandro – P Pizzichini
IND: CF Hilario – RF T. Torres – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – 3B Ma. Martin – 2B P. Weber – SS G. Lujan – LF Spicer – P Jo. Flores

The Coons were up 3-0 after three batters on Sunday, as Duhe doubled, Wilson got brushed, and Joel Starr socked the 3-piece to right-center. The Coons tacked one on in the second with a leadoff walk to D’Alessandro, who was bunted on by Pizza, and then came around on a Duhe single to left-center. Wilson also singled, but Starr now found a double play to hit into. Flores walked Corral and Archuleta to begin the third, but Dowsey flew out and Mendoza found a double play to end that inning. Pizza meanwhile retired eight of nine the first time through to get his ERA to a flat four, and then promptly gave up a solo homer to Hilario, who kept raking the Raccoons.

D'Alessandro was on base again with a leadoff single in the fourth and was bunted to second. Duhe now walked, and a sharp single right in front of Tony Torres hit by Wilson loaded the bases for Starr, who popped out to Guillermo Lujan, and Corral whiffed. That was quite a few chances fumbled away now… The balls hit off Pizza were getting louder, but the Indians were still finding a lot of outs with them, however, some more runs might help. The Coons got Archuleta on to begin the fifth, but Dowsey forced him out. Mendoza was nicked by Flores, but D’Alessandro whiffed. However, with two outs, Pizza singled up the middle to get Dowsey home, 5-1, but Mendoza was also tagged out at third base to end the inning.

Pizza dipped the ERA into the threes or one batter after walking Hilario to begin the bottom 6th when he struck out Torres, earning salami rights as an upgrade to the default Margherita for 4+ ERA pitchers, but conceded the Hilario run on a 2-out single by Rogers, which took the salami away again. Martin grounded out to Duhe, stranding Rogers, who had stolen second, in a 5-2 game. He would not get the salami back, because the Coons batted for him once Dowsey and D’Alessandro were on the corners with two outs and his spot up in the top 7th. Marquise Early grounded out in his spot.

We then got five of the required nine outs from Rios, who retired the 6-7-8 batters without issue in the seventh, then walked Wil Mejia to begin the eighth, got a double play grounder from Hilario, of all people, and then walked Torres. Dover took over, walked Gomez, and then gave up a 3-run homer to Rogers, and that tied the game… Top 9th, and McLaughlin walked Corral, who was forced out on a bad bunt by Archuleta. However, Archuleta stole second, leading to an intentional walk to Dowsey. Mendoza fanned, and Eddy Ramirez hit a soft single in place of D’Alessandro, loading the bases. Jake Flowe batted for Dover and flew out to Torres – but by then McLaughlin had plated the go-ahead run with a 1-0 wild pitch! The Raccoons took a 6-5 lead to the bottom 9th with Valentin, who gave up a leadoff double to Lujan. Spicer popped out, and Wil Mejia hit a high fly to deep right…! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh, Corral got it on the warning track! (whine!) That was only the second out, too, and Hilario would get another chance with the tying run at third base now. He hit a fly to center, and Wilson had to hustle back, stopped, reached, and picked it! 6-5 Critters! Duhe 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Wilson 3-4; D’Alessandro 2-3, BB; Ramirez (PH) 1-1; Pizzichini 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K and 1-1, RBI;

In other news

June 26 – The Stars and Rebels enter the ninth inning tied at six before the Stars break out for a 10-run inning to notch a 16-6 win. DAL LF/RF Chad Pritchett (.275, 5 HR, 29 RBI) hits a 3-run homer in that inning, and overall drives in four runs in the game, leading the team.
June 26 – The Bayhawks beat the Loggers, 1-0, on an eighth-inning home run by OF Dan Geiger (.272, 5 HR, 21 RBI).
June 27 – NYC INF/LF Alex Rodriguez (.272, 4 HR, 38 RBI) might miss the rest of the year with a frightfully broken ankle.
June 29 – TIJ SP Jason Brenize (4-9, 3.87 ERA) strikes out 11 in a 4-hit shutout to beat the Bayhawks, 6-0.
July 1 – The Loggers beat the Crusaders, 3-2 in 14 innings.

FL Player of the Week: LAP 1B Alejandro Olivares (.296, 4 HR, 41 RBI), batting .500 (14-28) with 2 HR, 12 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR 1B Joel Starr (.299, 13 HR, 56 RBI), hitting .379 with 3 HR, 9 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.334, 20 HR, 78 RBI), burning pitchers at .365, 11 HR, 38 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: ATL LF/RF Javier Acuna (.353, 17 HR, 47 RBI), churning .340 with 10 HR, 22 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: LAP SP Joe Chalmers (12-4, 2.28 ERA), going 5-1 with a 1.48 ERA, 21 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: NYC CL Jerry Washington (4-1, 1.48 ERA, 29 SV), going 1-0 with an 0.60 ERA, 14 SV, and 14 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW OF Jordan Lopez (.293, 8 HR, 51 RBI), batting .312 with 3 HR, 24 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: BOS LF/1B/RF Manuel Garcia (.259, 10 HR, 52 RBI), hitting .295 with 2 HR, 18 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Eight wins in a row, all of a sudden! We’re still fifth in the division, but only 5 1/2 behind the Crusaders, and with the Crusaders being our four-and-four sparring partners this time around, we could easily turn that into a 2 1/2 game lead by Sunday in two weeks! Tah!

I should take a chill pill, I can’t take eight wins in a row anymore without losing my last two marbles.

Joel Starr won Player of the Week, but Nick Walla was snuffed for Pitcher of the Month, suffering a career-ending loss to a CLOSER after going 2-1 (…) with a 1.22 ERA in June. He had a 1.01 ERA in his last seven starts. And only three wins.

The Raccoons ranked first for starters’ ERA at points this week, but apparently Pizza’s six innings and two runs on Sunday were not good enough to maintain that status through the weekend. Calm down, the pen was second-worst in the league with an ERA over five…

Jimmy Wharton joined Val Centeno in AAA now. He had a 3.88 ERA in Ham Lake, but that was with gruesome defense and a .341 BABIP behind him. Walks were up a bit still for both, so they were not considered for a further promotion to the majors so far; Centeno went 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA and even walks and strikeouts in his first three AAA starts. Maybe not even September cups of coffee there, but they appeared on a good track. Wharton was being mentioned in trade proposals already. I wasn’t even reading those through to the end.

The July IFA market opened its doors on Sunday as well. We had our eyes especially on Nelson Aguilar, a 17-year-old Venezuelan outfielder / first baseman with a very enthusiastic scouting report promising all of contact, power, and speed in abundance! He was probably going to cost seven figures to sign, which would mean that we would have signing restrictions in place next season. This year we could spend as much as the coffers would give… which wasn’t a lot, there was only about $2M left of the shriveled budget.

Besides the Crusaders on the road, we’ll also play the Titans at home next week, and then it’s gonna be the All Star Game.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have never won 15 in a row.

Still having an eye on that Steam achievement…

[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.

[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.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (51-42) vs. Loggers (50-43) – July 17-19, 2068

Worst rotation vs. worst bullpen. Thing was that the Loggers still had the #1 offense, coming down to earth relatively speaking with “only” 5.4 runs scored per game this year. They had a +34 run differential because of all their pitching and defensive woes, but it was enough to handle the Raccoons for a 6-3 lead in the season series. Fidel Carrera, who was out for the year, was the only Loggers injury that concerned anybody.

Projected matchups:
Girolamo Pizzichini (2-5, 4.12 ERA) vs. Brett Bebout (8-2, 2.95 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (5-6, 4.86 ERA) vs. Ramon Carreno (8-8, 5.87 ERA)
Nick Walla (7-7, 2.27 ERA) vs. Matt Crist (5-9, 6.66 ERA)

Three right-handers from the Loggers, and probably a lot of bruises in the next three days.

Game 1
MIL: RF D. Wright – 2B Reber – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – CF Goss – C Guitreau – 3B Murcia – SS Y. Valdez – P Bebout
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Dowsey – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Pizzichini

Dave Wright walked, Kyle Reber and Carlos Dominguez hit singles, and Cesar Ramirez’ groundout already made it 2-0, with RBI’s for both him and Dominguez, before Pizza at least vaguely appeared to get all his limbs in sync. The Raccoons answered in the bottom 1st by loading the bases, in unearned fashion, with nobody out, before Corral struck out. Dowsey flew out to Dominguez in left and Duhe made for home plate, crashing into Tommy Guitreau, who was sent flying along with the baseball and was helped off the field by Loggers staff after lying on the ground for seven minutes. The runner was safe, 2-1, and after Ian Lulich replaced Guitreau, Ramon Archuleta tied the game with a single to center. Bebout rung up Flowe to end the inning. Mendoza in the second and Starr in the third inning would reach base and then immediately be doubled off, and then the Raccoons went down in order in the fourth. Duhe reached on a Yoslan Valdez error in the fifth, but with two outs and without Jaden Wilson growing a clutch in time.

The good news was that Pizza was also keeping the Loggers off base after that shoddy first inning. They had only one more hit through five, and then Ramirez hit a single in the sixth, but with two outs and while being left on base when Tim Goss grounded out. Bottom 6th, the Raccoons had the bases loaded with a leadoff single by Starr, Dowsey walking, and an Archuleta single, and one out. Flowe popped out and Mendoza struck out, and nobody scored.

Pizza was hit for without major gains in the bottom 7th, and the pen took over in the 2-2 game. Kehoe got two outs in the eighth before Kyle Reber singled. McMahan replaced him against *that* part of the lineup, but Dominguez hit another single before Ramirez lined out softly to Archuleta to strand runners on the corners. McMahan got two more outs in the ninth and then Rafael Murcia was up and the Raccoons just needed one quick out from a right-handed pitcher and went to Yamauchi. Murcia promptly cranked a homer to left, and Nick Robinson nailed the door shut in the bottom of the ninth. 3-2 Loggers. Starr 2-3, BB; Archuleta 2-4, RBI; Pizzichini 7.0 P, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K;

That was the end of Manabu Yamauchi (0-3, 5.94 ERA) on the roster. His ERA in the last month-plus was nearly eight, and he was sent to AAA outright after the game.

We wanted to bring Holzmeister back, but he would not be rested after pitching on Monday and Tuesday, so we consoled ourselves with 26-year-old Dominican right-hander Juan Vega, who had lived a rather nondescript life for the last ten years in the farm system after being signed as a scouting discovery in 2058. He had four pitches, all hittable, and was just here to waste everybody’s time.

Game 2
MIL: RF D. Wright – 2B Reber – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – 3B Murcia – SS Y. Valdez – CF Merrill – C Lulich – P Crist
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Dowsey – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Gaytan

The Coons went down in order in the first against Crist and his rather satanic ERA, but Dowsey drew a leadoff walk in the second inning. Corral singled to right, and Flowe singled to center with one out to bring in the game’s maiden run. Mendoza reached base on balls, filling them up for Gaytan, who rolled the worst grounder through the hole on the left side for an RBI single. Crist walked in a run against Jared Duhe, Wilson hit a sac fly, and Starr grounded out sharply to Reber to settle a 4-run second. Gaytan then took the opportunity and stuck a knife into his own back with a 2-out walk to the opposing pitcher that just got battered, then saw Mendoza bungle Wright’s grounder for an error, and gave up an unearned RBI double to Reber. Dominguez sent Wilson back with a drive to center, but Wilson made the catch to end the inning.

Crist walked Dowsey and Archuleta singled in the bottom 3rd. Together with strikeouts on Corral and Flowe that briefly gave the Loggers starter four of all of hits, runs, walks, and strikeouts in the game. He was pinch-hit for in the top 4th when Gaytan melted and tried to blow the lead. Murcia and Valdez got on base before Jonathan Merrill hit into a double play. Lulich then hit an RBI single, Mario Alaniz walked, and Gaytan was yelled at on the hill before striking out Wright to leave the bases stuffed in the 4-2 game. He then answered with a leadoff double to center immediately afterwards, and Joel Starr brought him in with two outs by hitting his 21st dinger off Jimmy Ding(er)man. Cesar Ramirez took Gaytan deep for #16 in the fifth, 6-3, and another Merrill single and a walk drawn by PH Chris Thayer with two outs ended Gaytan’s awful start in the sixth inning. Wright struck out against Josh C this time around.

Both Carrington and Rios got two outs before a Corral solo shot extended the Coons lead to four in the bottom 7th. Rios pitched the eighth as well, bleeding three singles, but an intermediate double play grounder by Valdez killed off the first runner, and the Loggers didn’t score once PH Tim Goss flew out to Wilson. Pinch-hitters Marquise Early and Eddy Ramirez drew walks against Vincent Hernandez in the bottom 8th, and Starr doubled both of them home with two outs to pile on. Vega then got the 6-run lead for the ninth for his ABL debut. He struck out Wright, who struck out a lot in this series, but allowed a run on a Reber double and Dominguez’ RBI single. He did retire Ramirez and Murcia to end the game, though. 9-4 Raccoons. Starr 2-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Corral 2-4, HR, RBI;

Game 3
MIL: RF D. Wright – 2B Reber – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – CF Goss – 3B Murcia – SS Y. Valdez – C Lulich – P Carreno
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Dowsey – LF Early – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Gates – P Walla

Nick Walla struck out three the first time through the Loggers’ lineup, which did not include any of the left-handed 3-4-5 batters, who all reached base in the first inning. Dominguez singled, Ramirez homered to dead center, and Goss walked and was stranded.

The Coons got a double from Early in the second, Duhe walked in the third, and Dowsey and Archuleta got to the corners in the fourth – but none of them got around to score as offense always stopped as soon as somebody reached scoring position. Walla allowed another run on Murcia and Lulich hits in the fifth to fall 3-0 behind, then opened the bottom 5th with a single, only to be doubled off by Duhe. Cesar Ramirez raked another home run off him in the sixth to make it 4-0, and Joel Starr finally answered with a solo jack off Carreno before lightning flashed and thunder rumbled and the game went into an hourlong rain delay that knocked out both starters, ending Walla’s worst outing in months.

The Loggers then raked the bullpen for four runs in the seventh inning. George Kehoe faced four batters and retired but one, and when McMahan replaced him with the bags full, he gave up a 2-run double to Dominguez, a sac fly to Ramirez, and plated the fourth run with a wild pitch. Bottom 7th, Gates singled off Tony Espinosa, and Mendoza batted for McMahan and was drilled. Duhe hit an RBI double, Wilson walked the bags full, and Starr hit an RBI single. Eddy Ramirez batted for Dowsey and hit a sac fly, 8-4. Jose Lugo replaced Espinosa, walked Early, and now the tying run was in the box. However, Archuleta whiffed and Flowe popped out to short, ending the inning. Vega then pitched another garbage inning and was taken deep by Murcia, and Cesar Ramirez rammed his third homer of the game, another solo shot, off Jesse Dover in the ninth inning. 10-4 Loggers. Duhe 2-5, 2B, RBI; Starr 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Archuleta 2-4;

First L for Walla in nine starts. He had won five of the eight in between, including four in a row. The ERA also went up 16 points, the first time his ERA went up in a game since MAY.

Juan Vega (0-0, 9.00 ERA) was off the roster again. Jason Holzmeister joined the team for the Falcons series.

Raccoons (52-44) vs. Falcons (40-56) – July 20-22, 2068

The last-place Falcons were tenth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed. The run diifferenial was only -37, so things could be worse. The Coons were up 2-1 on them in ’68. The only notable injuries for them right now were Jonathon Barber and Orazio Cecere.

Projected matchups:
Alex Dominguez (12-2, 3.18 ERA) vs. Jason Morea (6-3, 2.61 ERA)
Vinny Morales (7-2, 2.39 ERA) vs. Kao-Kan Ngui (3-8, 4.93 ERA)
Girolamo Pizzichini (2-5, 4.02 ERA) vs. Ayahito Ochi (4-8, 2.81 ERA)

Ochi promised a Southpaw Sunday, although the Falcons had been off on Thursday and could make changes to the rotation.

Game 1
CHA: 2B Schmidt – 3B Fountain – C O. Matos – 1B Savalli – SS Tr. Taylor – LF T. Lopez – CF Cardwell – RF M. Padilla – P Morea
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – 3B Mendoza – C D’Alessandro – P Dominguez

The Raccoons loaded the bases in the first inning, but Corral hit into a double play and nothing came of it. Instead, singles by Trent Taylor and Mario Padilla scratched out a run for the Falcons in the top 2nd. The game then trundled along until the Coons got even in the bottom 4th in the only way they had available right now – a Joel Starr homer, setting a new season-high for homers with 23, at the tender age of 35 years and 309 days. The Coons battery then cobbled a 2-1 lead together in the fifth when D’Alessandro buried a ball in the right-center gap for a 1-out triple and scored on Dominguez’ sac fly to Padilla.

Next time up, D’Alessandro would end an inning with a double play grounder to John Schmidt, when he came up with Corral and Gary Gates on base. Gates was an injury replacement for Diego Mendoza, who had hurt himself stretching for a throw by Corral in the top of the inning. Dominguez’ day also ended after 96 pitches and seven innings, and Josh C removed the 1-2-3 batters in order in the eighth, so we prepared to remove the cobwebs from Pedro Valentin. Both the Coons in the bottom 8th and the Falcons in the top 9th went down in order to finish off a game that took just a whisker over two hours. 2-1 Critters. Starr 1-2, BB, HR, RBI; Dominguez 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (13-2) and 0-1, RBI;

No injury news or diagnosis was available for Diego Mendoza by Saturday, so Gary Gates would fill in and the bench was a body short on Saturday.

Game 2
CHA: 2B Schmidt – CF Cardwell – C O. Matos – 1B Savalli – SS Tr. Taylor – LF T. Lopez – 3B Mari – RF C. Garner – P Ngui
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Dowsey – RF Corral – 3B Gates – C Flowe – 2B Novelo – P Morales

Collin Garner took Morales deep from the #8 spot in the lineup to put the Falcons up 1-0, but the Raccoons got even with straight leadoff singles by their 4-5-6 batters in the bottom o the second inning, and the 7-8-9 batters made three miserable outs to leave two runners on base. Instead, the Falcons charred Morales for two runs on FOUR straight singles in the fourth inning, taking a 3-1 lead. The tying runs were right back on base in the bottom 4th with a Dowsey double and Corral single and nobody out. The Coons again managed to not score, as Gates hit into a 7-2 double play and Flowe struck out.

Morales, largely forsaken with this type of hitting, went to the stretch, but allowed a solo homer to Justin Savalli to fall 4-1 behind. The Coons did nothing in the seventh, and when Duhe hit a single in the eighth inning, Wilson immediately hit into a double play. This game was just not to be. Holzmeister and Rios picked up the last six outs, while Alvaro Garza grounded out Starr to begin the bottom 9th, but Dowsey singled and with two outs Archuleta drew a walk, bringing up Flowe as the tying run. His RBI single kept the line moving, and Novelo fell to two strikes before slapping another RBI single to left…! Eddy Ramirez came out to bat in the pitcher’s spot – and popped out. 4-3 Falcons. Duhe 1-1, 3 BB; Dowsey 3-4, 2B; Corral 2-4;

(snort)

Game 3
CHA: 2B Schmidt – 3B Fountain – C O. Matos – 1B Savalli – SS Tr. Taylor – LF T. Lopez – CF Cardwell – RF M. Padilla – P Ochi
POR: SS Duhe – CF Ramirez – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – 3B Gates – C D’Alessandro – P Pizzichini

The first sign of trouble of pineapple getting dropped on the Pizza was a walk to Ochi in the third inning, followed by an infield single for John Schmidt, all with one out. Elijah Fountain hit into a double play, though, and the inning ended. Starr also hit into an inning-ending double play with Duhe and Ramirez on base in the that inning, and so the Falcons scored first in the fourth inning when Savalli and Trent Taylor went to the corners and after Tony Lopez struck out, Chad Chardwell clipped a 2-out RBI single. Mario Padilla then grounded out to Gates. Fountain walked and stole second with two outs in the fifth, and then was singled in by Oscar Matos for a second Falcons run.

The Raccoons were shut out through five on one hit and three walks handed out by the Japanese southpaw Ochi, who gave out another leadoff walk to Duhe in the bottom 6th. Eddy Ramirez then bashed a ball into the deep end of the left-center gap and legged that one out for an RBI triple, at once putting the tying run just 90 feet away with nobody out. The Coons ******* failed to score him as Starr grounded out to third, Early grounded out to first, and Corral flew out to Padilla.

McMahan and Carrington then failed the bags full in the seventh, splitting a pair of walks to Padilla and Schmidt, before Carrington nailed Fountain with an 0-2 pitch or good measure, and then struck out Matos and Savalli to prevent the Falcons from scoring…! He added another K on Trent Taylor in the eighth, after which Rios came in, struck out Lopez, allowed a single to Cardwell, and then left with a tweaked ankle after an awkward landing. Cardwell stole second, but Kehoe – who entered in a double switch with Novelo – struck out Bill Mari to end the inning. Novelo led off the bottom 8th with an infield single, then raced to third when Duhe singled off Cory Leonard, who struck out Ramirez, who then was replaced with ex-Coon Evan Alvey, who threw a wild pitch to tie the game and then walked Starr. Early popped out, Corral walked, and that presented Archuleta with three on and two outs. He grounded out rather poorly.

Kehoe 1-2-3’ed the Falcons in the ninth to keep the game tied, then was hit for with Wilson to begin the bottom 9th against Alvey. He grounded out, and then D’Alessandro reached on an error by the Gold Glover Trent Taylor. Novelo walked. There weren’t any legs on the bench – Flowe and Dowsey were available, but neither was a runner worth bringing up – so the winning run on second remained the lead-footed catcher. Duhe ran a full count before lining out to Taylor, and Ramirez’ fly to center ended up with Cardwell, sending the game to extras. Valentin held the game tied in the tenth, walking Savalli before getting a double play grounder to leave with the minimum encountered. Starr was still hitless and led off the bottom 10th, but Alvey rung him up and retired the Coons in order. The Falcons then broke up Holzmeister in the top 11th. Mark Reed singled, Bill Mari drew a 1-out walk, Mario Asencio singled to fill the bases, and John Schmidt’s RBI single and Fountain’s run-scoring grounder plated two runs before Matos struck out. Garza got the ball and retired Archuleta, Wilson, and Flowe in order in the bottom 11th. 4-2 Falcons. Ramirez 2-4, BB, 3B, RBI; Novelo 1-1, BB;

And that’s why I hate walks. The Raccoons had seven walks, but only four hits and didn’t get anybody across the plate…

Swing the ******* bat!!

In other news

July 16 – The Falcons beat the Bayhawks, 6-1, on the only game played in the league on Monday. The only other scheduled game between the Indians and Titans is rained out.
July 17 – A pinched nerve in his neck puts RIC SP Adam McDonald (5-4, 5.27 ERA) on the DL for the rest of the month.
July 17 – The Thunder acquire right-hander Bronson Vanderven (3-2, 5.82 ERA, 1 SV) and a prospect from the Condors for INF Daniel Richardson (.246, 2 HR, 15 RBI).
July 18 – TIJ SP Colt Long (2-3, 3.92 ERA) 3-hits the Thunder in a 1-0 shutout.
July 18 – CIN SP Jose Aguilar (10-3, 2.41 ERA) and two relievers pitch a combined 1-hitter for a 3-1 win against the Buffaloes. The only Buffos hit is Ralph Lange’s (.254, 7 HR, 46 RBI) RBI double in the top of the first inning.
July 18 – The Wolves beat the Pacifics, 11-3, with all 11 of their runs being crammed into the seventh inning.
July 18 – Season over: SAL 2B/SS Carlos Cervantez (.271, 8 HR, 24 RBI) has suffered a torn ACL and will probably miss the start of the 2069 season as well.
July 19 – The Crusaders acquire INF/RF/CF Jeff Maudlin (.377, 1 HR, 26 RBI) from the Stars for their closer Jerry Washington (5-2, 2.01 ERA, 30 SV) and a prospect.
July 20 – Washington C Chris Willhite (.321, 7 HR, 27 RBI) might miss the rest of the season with a badly strained hammy.
July 22 – Denver OF Chris Tuck (.325, 5 HR, 32 RBI) gets a third-inning double in a 6-5 win against the Rebels, driving in three runs and getting his hitting streak to 20 games.
July 22 – The Cyclones send OF Rafael Valencia (.298, 2 HR, 15 RBI) to the Indians for infielder John Baxley (.256, 3 HR, 33 RBI) and a prospect.
July 22 – The Aces beat the Crusaders, 11-8 in 19 innings, when LVA INF/RF Vic Morales (.306, 15 HR, 54 RBI) ends a six-hour game with a 3-run walkoff homer.

FL Player of the Week: NAS RF Austin Gordon (.325, 32 HR, 89 RBI), socking .462 (12-26) with 4 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA INF/RF Victor Morales (.306, 15 HR, 54 RBI), batting .407 (11-27) with 2 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons are trying to find relief help as the deadline is rapidly approaching. The rotation still leads the league in ERA, despite Pizza and Gaytan doing less than great, but the pen continues to be a real bag full of bees. Nothing has really come together yet because we’re not exactly drowning in spare pieces, and Jimmy Wharton was not available for ANYBODY.

Improvements would have to come while shedding salary anyway, since our excesses on signing Latin boys this month cost us a total of $2.15M including tax, and we were now overbudget and living off the cash reserves.

That doesn’t stop the other 23 teams from constantly asking for him, even though he’s so far walking more than he strikes out in AAA.

Gabriel Rios should be fine in a day or two (assuming we wish to continue watching his tossing), and there are still no news on Diego Mendoza.

There won’t be any rest for the wicked, as we have to head right out to Atlanta to start a series on Monday. The Raccoons will only return home in August after additional stops in Vegas and Oklahoma. After that we will spend three weeks without leaving Oregon, playing five home series with only one weekend trip to the Wolves.

Fun Fact: This is the second consecutive year a Logger hits three homers in a game against the Raccoons.

Last May Dave Wright did the honors in Milwaukee, and now it was Cesar Ramirez in Portland. It happened once before that, in 2020 with Chris LeMoine.

Raccoons to hit three homers against the Loggers? Ben Simon in 1977 (the ABL’s first-ever three-homer game);

Raccoons to hit FOUR homers against the Loggers? Craig Bowen in 2007 of course. Tee-hee!