Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (16-21) @ Loggers (15-20) – May 15-18, 2056

Here was another team that we had ended up going 9-9 against last season, which was a lot of 9-9 (three teams total) to go in your division and still win it by 12 games. The Loggers were eighth in both runs scored and runs allowed, with a completely inept bullpen pushing an ERA near six, but which one had to get to in the first place. They were near the bottom in homers, but first in stolen bases.

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (1-1, 2.02 ERA) vs. Jamie Kempf (2-1, 4.82 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (0-3, 3.94 ERA) vs. Roberto Alvarado (2-2, 4.73 ERA)
He Shui (3-3, 4.53 ERA) vs. Victor Scott (1-4, 5.16 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (3-5, 4.74 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (4-0, 1.95 ERA)

Two from the right, two from the left, and most of them should give way to the bullpen eventually… but these were the Coons, still scoring under four runs per game.

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – P Kniep
MIL: CF B. Rivera – 3B Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – RF Callaia – SS E. Miller – C M. Torres – 2B T. Edwards – P Kempf

Kniep held out for two innings, then was slaughtered. Travis Edwards bashed a leadoff double, scored on Bobby Rivera’s single, who scored on another screaming double mashed by Robby Gaxiola, who was TRIPLED home by Perry Pigman, who finally scored on Dave Robles’ groundout. They also stole a few bases in between there while casually dumping four runs on Kniep. The Raccoons had yet to produce much, but would get Venegas and Fiore on base with one down in the fifth, which was still better than never. Kniep bunted them into scoring position, and Venegas scored when Royer… had his grounder to first base butchered by Robles for an error. Lonzo then popped out in foul ground when he was the tying run, and that ended the inning. It took another error by Kempf to get the team at least visually going in the seventh inning. Fiore had drawn a 1-out walk, and this time Kniep’s bunt was fumbled by the opposing pitcher, bringing the tying run back to the plate. Royer rumbled into a double play, 1-6-3, to kill that unearned chance. The Loggers **** two more runs on Kniep in the bottom 7th with a single by Kempf and then Rivera’s triple, the latter run being brought in a Gaxiola grounder. 6-1 Loggers. Fiore 1-2, BB;

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – LF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Chavez – C Fiore – P de la Cruz
MIL: CF B. Rivera – SS Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – RF Callaia – 3B Burgos – C C. Thomas – 2B E. Miller – P Alvarado

Lonzo got on in the first, but was forced out by Waters. Pucks’ double and Caballero’s single each drove in the runner ahead of them for a lofty 2-0 lead, which doubled to 4-0 in the second inning as Fiore reached base again with a single, and then Royer took Alvarado quite deep to right. Lonzo nearly hit another bomb to left, but that one was picked at the fence by Perry Pigman. The inning ended with Waters, but Pucks and Caballero were on base again in the third inning, and Adriano Chavez brought at least one run home with a groundout, 5-0. A sixth Portland run scored in the fifth inning, which Caballero opened with a triple to center, then scored on a wild pitch.

And Raffy? Six shutout innings, but I covered my eyes with my paws the entire time. Four hits, three walks, two strikeouts, 88 pitches and gassed – also a few deep drives to right that kept Pucks busy especially in the last few frames he pitched. The Loggers only started to score in the bottom 7th when Tanizaki walked Ryan Bishton, who stole second base, and then jogged home when Ramsay chucked Rivera’s 2-out grounder into the stands rather than into Tanizaki’s mitten. When Lillis replaced Tanizaki, he threw a wild pitch, walked Robby Gaxiola, and only then was kind enough to strike out Pigman for the third out, in a full count. It only got worse for him in the eighth, when left-handers Gaudencio Callaia and Chris Thomas hit soft singles, and then right-hander Eric Miller smashed a not-so-soft homer off Lillis. That narrowed the score all the way to 6-4, but Mike Lane got out of the damn inning, and then Lonzo rushed a leadoff triple in the ninth against Josh Costello. Waters’ sac fly added on a run again, but Matt Walters just didn’t needed it. After two horror innings, he retired the Loggers in order to put the game away and even the series. 7-4 Coons. Lavorano 3-5, 3B; Puckeridge 2-5, 2B, RBI; Caballero 3-4, BB, 3B, RBI; de la Cruz 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K, W (1-3);

Now imagine Raffy could still throw 100 pitches, or not go to ten 3-ball counts in a game… but I guess he hurled himself to yet another start, somehow? I mean, you can’t bin him after six shutout inning and a W, can you?

Interlude: waiver claim

The Raccoons claimed 28-year-old right-hander Julian Dunn (3-1, 3.49 ERA) off the Miners on Wednesday. He was a swingman with four pitches, but a poor fastball, and despite being only a few months short of his 29th birthday had only 72 innings in total in the majors. But the Raccoons were kinda desperate, so there was that.

Dunn had thrown 107 pitches on Saturday and was thus not assigned to the roster on Wednesday yet.

Raccoons (16-21) @ Loggers (15-20) – May 15-18, 2056

Game 3
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 3B Venegas – 1B Ramsay – C Stanton – P Shui
MIL: CF B. Rivera – SS Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – RF Callaia – 3B Burgos – C C. Thomas – 2B T. Edwards – P V. Scott

Lonzo forced out Royer in the top 1st, but stole second base to get a body into scoring position. Waters walked, and Chris Kirkwood and Oscar Caballero both clipped RBI singles before Venegas also got on to fill the sacks. Ramsay and Stanton struck out to keep the sacks filled for the inning. The Loggers shrugged, socked four hits off Shui, and tied the game right in the bottom 1st. Rivera and Pigman doubled, Callaia singled home the tying run, and old Jesus Burgos also hit his way on base before Chris Thomas’ groundout ended the inning. Shui continued to have his snout beaten in after that; Rivera and Gaxiola crashed back-to-back triples in the second inning, and Pigman drove home Gaxiola to take a 4-2 lead with a single. The Coons answered in the most wicked way, getting Waters and Venegas on base in the top 3rd before Harry Ramsay drilled a triple down the rightfield line, and off a left-hander…! One had to wonder whether Gaudencio Callaia had been momentarily abducted by aliens.

Ramsay was left on base, but Royer and Lonzo got on to begin the top 4th with a single and double, respectively, and Waters gave Portland a new 5-4 lead with a single to right. Kirkwood struck out and Caballero grounded to short, but Gaxiola’s throw to Edwards was sub-standard, and the Loggers had to settle for the out at second base, while Lonzo scored from third base. Venegas made a poor third out, though.

After all that madness, the next four half-innings were tame and no runs were scored, nor any pitchers hurt. But the bottom 6th beckoned, and He Shui went in putting Chris Thomas on base with a single, and Bishton added another one. Shui then threw a wild pitch with two outs to Rivera, who OF COURSE singled up the middle to tie the score at six. Shui was evicted from the mound, and Eloy Sencion retired Gaxiola to get out of the ******* inning. The left-hander also had a scoreless seventh, while Reynaldo Bravo was torn to shreds for three runs in the bottom 8th, giving up four hits and two stolen bases to the reloggless Lenters. Thomas with a double, Yuki Okano with a single, and with two outs, more singles by ******* Bobby Rivera and Robby Gaxiola. The advertised ****** Loggers bullpen never materialized – Sansao Tyson, Dan Bell, and Ryan Dow pitched 5.1 shutout innings against the Raccoons. 9-6 Loggers. Royer 2-5;

(looks incredibly dead inside)

Bravo (0-2, 5.19 ERA), who was neither bravo nor bueno, was dumped to AAA again to get Dunn on the roster.

The Raccoons now had about seven starting pitchers on the roster and nobody that could bloody toss a good game.

Game 4
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Espinoza – C Stanton – P Taki
MIL: CF B. Rivera – SS Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – RF Callaia – 3B Burgos – C C. Thomas – 2B E. Miller – P Riddle

Riddle retired two, walked two, and then left with the trainer and an apparent injury, so the Raccoons were guaranteed 8.1 innings of that allegedly hopeless Loggers pen, although I had yet to see any of that. Josh Costello was a leftover starter (tell me about it) though, and replaced Riddle – and was especially a right-hander, so it wasn’t like we gained much of an advantage. Caballero promptly flew out easily to Perry Pigman in celebration. Instead the Loggers took a 1-0 lead on Taki, getting Rivera to reach on a gap double, and him to score on a 1-out wild pitch to Pigman… Callaia then hit a leadoff double in the bottom 2nd, but was stranded, and Royer did the same trick in the top 3rd, advanced on a passed ball, and was then singled home when Lonzo rolled one through the middle and into centerfield for an RBI single. He was left on base, though, and the Loggers instead took a new lead on a solo homer by Dave Robles, his tenth of the year, in the bottom 4th.

Lonzo singled off Costello with one out in the top 5th, knocking out Costello for Al Munoz, then stole second, and then was left stranded when Waters and Kirkwood made middling outs. Instead, Munoz (…), Rivera, and Gaxiola, the bloody *********, all landed knocks off Taki in the bottom 5th for another Loggers run, 3-1.

Top 7th, Matt Stanton led off against Dan Bell and slapped a ball over Rivera, playing shallow, for a leadoff double. Ramsay batted for Taki and dished a ball through a diving Robles for another double, shortening the score to 3-2 with the tying run in scoring position and nobody out. Bell walked Royer, and Lonzo forced out Royer at second base, but then stole the same, giving Waters a pair in scoring position – the tying and go-ahead runs – with one gone and a 2-0 count, but from there Waters grounded out to third base to keep the runners pinned, and then Kirkwood struck out… Bottom 8th, Julian Dunn made his Coons debut. Robles singled. Okano singled. Thomas walked. And Eric Miller’s fly to Kirkwood had Robles dead at home, until Kirkwood through the ball away quite spectacularly at least. Eh, who cares? The Coons weren’t rallying in the ninth inning anyway…! 4-2 Loggers. Royer 2-4, BB, 2 2B; Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Stanton 2-4, 2 2B; Ramsay (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

Five doubles, and we still can’t ******* score. Or win.

Raccoons (17-24) vs. Bayhawks (16-26) – May 19-21, 2056

Battle of the fifth-placed teams in the Continental League, we’d meet the #9 offense and #9 pitching in the league, which at least gave us a fair chance after getting bopped by the #8 offense and #8 pitching in Milwaukee. The Baybirds had the second-worst OBP in the league… ahead of the Coons of course. We had gone 5-4 against San Fran last year.

Projected matchups:
Sean Sweeton (3-2, 2.94 ERA) vs. Milt Cantrell (0-6, 4.10 ERA)
Craig Kniep (1-2, 4.05 ERA) vs. Andy Overy (2-5, 4.50 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (1-3, 3.28 ERA) vs. Bob Ruggiero (3-3, 3.51 ERA)

Overy would be the third and final southpaw we’d face this week.

We’d give out the odd off day during the series, although the only people playing every day now were Royer, Lonzo, and Waters anyway. Lonzo was on the bench on Friday. The other two would sit on Sunday. All three of them were needed against the lefty.

Game 1
SFB: LF Zhang – C Mittleider – 2B A. Montoya – SS Peltier – 3B Thibault – CF Caban – RF M. Brown – 1B R. Cox – P Cantrell
POR: CF Royer – LF Caballero – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – SS Espinoza – P Sweeton

Meh pitching appeared to prevail over meh offense; the Raccoons had two hits through five innings, and the Bayhawks had just three, but Sean Sweeton had the misfortune of giving up a 2-out single to Bobby Thibault in the fourth inning after walking Armando Montoya, who advanced into scoring position – and scored by Thibault – after former Raccoons farmhand Adam Peltier’s groundout. We dragged our lame bums around until the sixth when Espinoza and Royer went to the corners with a pair of singles and Caballero came up with one out in the inning. He strung a single over the glove of Peltier for a game-tying single. From there, Royer was thrown out at third base on a double steal attempt, and Waters grounded out to Montoya to kill the inning. …and then Danny Rivera’s pinch-hit home run in the top 7th gave the Bayhawks a new 2-1 lead right away…!

Pucks’ long drive to left to begin the bottom 7th of course dropped into Rivera’s glove on the warning track then, and the last two inning went to Brobeck, who had been unused through the Loggers series, and here gave up a walk to Peltier and an RBI double to Rivera in the eighth. He was also batting in the bottom 8th, though, and Daniel Espinoza got on base ahead of him against Cantrell. Brobeck socked a double to right, putting the tying runs in scoring position with nobody out. Cantrell went 1-2 on Royer, but got no further; Royer drilled a ball over the head of Armando Caban for a game-tying triple, and while Caballero failed with a poor out, Waters’ sac fly gave the Coons the lead. Pucks walked, which finally got rid of Cantrell, and then Ramsay stuck a double off Patrick Jones in the rightfield corner, plating Pucks from first base. Jones walked the bases full with Lonzo and Fiore, then gave up two runs on an Espinoza single. That got the pitcher replaced with Sam Geren, and Brobeck got the ball replaced with a booming 3-run homer to right. The shellshocked Bayhawks then went down on five pitches to Brobeck in the ninth inning. 10-3 Critters. Royer 3-4, 3B, 2 RBI; Espinoza 3-4, 2 RBI; Brobeck 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (3-2) and 2-2, HR, 2B, 3 RBI;

Boys – you couldn’t start with the offense a tad sooner? Before I pulled out all my fur again? Fur glue is expensive, you know!?

Game 2
SFB: CF Caban – RF M. Brown – 2B A. Montoya – C Mittleider – SS Holbrook – 3B Thibault – LF E. Cobb – 1B R. Cox – P Overy
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – C Stanton – P Kniep

Overy was the second lefty starter we faced this week that left with an injury in the first inning and was replaced by a right-hander, this time former Coons farmpaw Duarte Damasceno, who had an ERA over five. Oscar Caballero’s solo homer in the bottom 2nd made it 1-0 Coons, while Kniep struck out five batters in a mostly right-handed lineup through three innings. But knowing our luck, Kniep had to run into a ****** inning sooner or later, and in this case it was the fifth inning. Steve Holbrook hit a leadoff single and Thibault walked, both in full counts, and it was downhill from there despite a K to Eric Cobb. Ryan Cox walked the bags full, and Ken Mills tied the game with a sac fly. Armando Caban’s single to left-center gave San Fran the lead, and Matt Brown legged out an infield single, but Montoya hit into the third out with a grounder to Venegas. Kniep was done after six innings, and the Raccoons were getting duped by another measly bullpen; by the seventh-inning stretched, they still had only one ****** hit on the board – the Caballero homer. That didn’t get any better in the bottom 7th, either, while Tanizaki put Montoya and Brett Banks on base with eighth-inning singles and had to be rescued by Sencion.

Bottom 8th, Ramsay led off against Patrick Jones with a scratch single, but Venegas popped out. Pucks then batted for Stanton against the righty and hit a gapper for a double in right-center. Once again, the tying and go-ahead runs were in scoring position for the dismal team with less than two outs. Matt Fiore grabbed some wood in place of Sencion and ran a full count before rolling a single past Montoya, which was good enough to knot the score, but not good enough to get Pucks home from second base. Royer had to do that with a sac fly to center, and Caban’s throw was a bit late. Without another pitch, Fiore was then picked off first base by new pitcher Cody Lovett to end the inning. Walters was perfect in the ninth, striking out three Bayhawks… but Ramsay wasn’t, throwing away a Peltier grounder that put the tying run in scoring position with one out. 3-2 Blighters. Caballero 1-2, BB, HR, RBI; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1, 2B; Fiore (PH) 1-1, RBI;

This team. Even the wins are hard… let alone the losses…!

There was still a winning week on the table on Sunday, but the Raccoons stuck to the off days as originally planned.

Game 3
SFB: CF Caban – LF M. Brown – RF D. Rivera – SS Peltier – 3B Thibault – C B. Banks – 2B Holbrook – 1B R. Cox – P Ruggiero
POR: LF Caballero – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – C Fiore – 3B Venegas – CF Solorzano – 2B Chavez – P de la Cruz

Both teams’ efforts the first time through saw only the #7 batter reach base, Holbrook on a walk and Solorzano on a single. Nothing came of either occurrence. The fourth was uneventful, and Raffy then issued two walks to Thibault and Holbrook in the fifth inning before getting a grounder from Ryan Cox for the second out. He then also got immediate attention from Luis Silva after shaking out his throwing arm repeatedly after that last pitch, and I calmly put down the bottle of Capt’n Coma and picked up a pillow to primal-scream into it.

The Critters sent Brobeck, who had as much time to warm up as desired, then threw a ball on a stick to Ruggiero with two outs, which Ruggiero cracked hard to the left side… but Venegas was on his post and made a difficult play to get the third out after all to keep the game scoreless. Venegas then led off the bottom 5th with a single… and continued it by getting caught stealing. Brobeck retired the Baybirds 1-2-3 in the sixth inning, then began his team’s half of that frame with a howler up the rightfield line that bounced barely fair for a leadoff double. Caballero popped out, but Lonzo hit a shy single to move him to third base, then stole second. Rams rammed a 2-2 pitch into the left-center gap to take a 2-0 lead in the game. Pucks was then walked intentionally, which paid off when Fiore bumbled into an inning-ending double play.

Thibault killed the combined no-hitter with a leadoff single to center in the seventh inning (because that was my chief concern now…), but was doubled off by Brett Banks and Brobeck completed the inning. Dunn got the ball for the eighth, but gave up an unearned run on Caban’s sac fly, which was best blamed on Adriano Chavez for tossing away Ryan Cox’ leadoff groundball for two bases… Lonzo singled and stole a base in the bottom 8th, but the rest of the Clownshoes just couldn’t get him across the plate, so there wasn’t any cushion for Walters against the 3-4-5 batters in the ninth. Cobb struck out. Peltier popped out. Pinch-hitter Zhi-qiang Zhang… singled to center. Big thanks to Brett Banks, however, for popping out as well. 2-1 Furballs. Lavorano 3-4; Ramsay 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Chavez 1-2, BB; de la Cruz 4.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K; Brobeck 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (4-2) and 1-2, 2B;

In other news

May 15 – The Warriors actually do win a game in the first inning, stomping the Scorpions for ten runs in the top 1st and going on to win 14-6.
May 16 – SFW SP Troy Ratliff (2-2, 2.20 ERA) will miss at least two months with a torn meniscus.
May 17 – TIJ LF Tim Duncan (.272, 11 HR, 35 RBI) goes yard twice and drives in seven runs in a 17-9 scorefest win over the Bayhawks.
May 17 – WAS SP Larry Colwell (4-1, 3.77 ERA) is out for the season most likely with a bad case of shoulder inflammation.

FL Player of the Week: RIC LF/RF Matt Lewandowski (.327, 2 HR, 21 RBI), batting .600 (12-20) with 1 HR, 2 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 1B Eddie de la Roca (.279, 5 HR, 14 RBI), hitting .526 (10-19) with 2 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Raffy…….

13-inning scoreless streak (well, better than the usual horse ****), and now …? “Acute elbow soreness”. He was going to the DL for baseball-gods-know-how-*******-long-this-time. I mean, not that we were starved of starters now. Maybe we’d actually use Julian Dunn, our (hangs head in shame) waiver claim from this week, since Brobeck seems to do a lot better when he’s not starting, but taking out somebody else’s trash.

What else… we swept the Baybirds, which according to some metrics wasn’t a major feat. Next week we’ll get two .500-ish teams to contend with in the Condors and Thunder.

…and Todd Oley is hitting .275 in AAA now and might need someone to take a look at him. Maybe a switch can be made for Solorzano (who has options).

Fun Fact: Raffy could have been in the top 10 in ERA for the CL, if only he had managed to throw enough innings to qualify.

(opens mouth)

(closes mouth)

(drinks harder)

Fun Fact (Bound Round): Despite only starting one of the games, Kyle Brobeck has won every single one of his outings in May.

He beat the damn Elks as starter on May 1, going six innings of 1-run ball, then wasn’t seen again for ten full days before appearing in garbage relief behind Raffy against the Wolves. Three innings of 1-run ball conincided with the Coons’ 6-run outburst in the fifth inning for the W in that game. And then he won two games in relief this weekend after again not being seen for a full week.

In April, as a starter, he went 0-2 with a 4.88 ERA. In May, as whatever-this-is, he’s gone 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA. Granted, it didn’t hurt that the Raccoons happened to score 17 of their 18 runs in those three games while he was on the hill……

[Westheim]

Raccoons (20-24) @ Condors (20-23) – May 22-24, 2056

The Raccoons’ reward for sweeping the Baybirds was a trip to Mexico for three days, where the Condors ranked fourth in the South, fifth in runs scored, and tenth in runs allowed. They had the second-worst rotation and a -22 run differential (Critters: -2). Tijuana had won four straight games, having swept the Loggers on the weekend. The Raccoons had won the series between these two teams last year, 7-2, after a 9-0 wipeout in 2054.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (3-3, 5.11 ERA) vs. Jay Everett (0-2, 9.87 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (3-6, 4.72 ERA) vs. Dave Washington (3-4, 6.13 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (3-2, 2.90 ERA) vs. Bill Quinn (3-5, 5.36 ERA)

The Condors had lost Juan Juarez and Tyrese Shields to injury out of their five starters to begin the season and so far weren’t coping very well, although both were expected back within the week. Washington was the only left-hander we expected in this set.

The Coons shed Raffy onto the DL on Monday and didn’t expect him back before the All Star Game with the elbow complaint (yet again). We brought up Geoff Sather for an extra left-hander in the pen for this series specifically, since the Condors had a heavily lefty-leaning lineup. Sather had appeared in 27 games across the last two seasons with a 6.30 ERA. He was on a 3.18 ERA in AAA this year.

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – LF Kirkwood – RF Puckeridge – C Fiore – 3B Venegas – P Shui
TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – 2B Chapa – LF T. Duncan – RF J. Harmon – C Poindexter – CF Hildebrand – SS V. Velez – 3B Crispin – P Everett

Jamie Harmon’s sac fly following singles by Luis Chapa and Tim Duncan gave the Condors an early first-inning lead, but Manny Poindexter then popped out to third base. Danny Hildebrand’s leadoff wallbanger double in right in the bottom 2nd did not lead to a run though. Ed Crispin (waves hi to his ex-player, who can’t even see him up in the suite) drew a 1-out walk, Everett got a bunt down to move both runners into scoring position, but Kirkwood grabbed John Rosenstiel’s drive to left to end the inning. But Tim Duncan’s bloop single, Harmon’s loud double, and another hit for Poindexter added two runs to the Condors’ lead, and at this point you had to ask yourself when the Raccoons were going to show up, and whether He Shui had been switched for his twin, She Hui, who was less evil, but more inept.

Before any offense showed up, though, Geoff Sather did. Shui gave up a leadoff single to Everett in the bottom 4th, then walked Rosenstiel on four pitches. A couple outs later, a run was home, Luis Chapa was in scoring position, and the Coons went to the replacement lefty in a game that had the vultures circling overhead. Sather got Harmon out to end the inning, but surrendered a run in the fifth, which was unearned though, since Steve Royer saw fit to add an error to the two singles given up by Sather. The southpaw nevertheless gave up an earned run in the sixth; leadoff single to center from Rosenstiel, who was forced out by Luis Chapa, and then Julian Dunn came in and served up a double to Duncan. Harmon got another RBI with a groundout before Poindexter struck out to end the inning. Dunn and Sencion would each get another three outs to get the game over with… 6-0 Condors.

We had three hits, and no paw on third base, ever. It was so ***** a game that I refuse to even mention the guys with the measly singles. Dunce caps for everybody!!

No southpaw Washington on Tuesday – the Condors moved Bill Quinn ahead.

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – 2B Waters – LF Caballero – 3B Brobeck – RF Puckeridge – C Fiore – P Taki
TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – 2B Chapa – LF T. Duncan – RF J. Harmon – C Poindexter – CF Hildebrand – SS V. Velez – 3B Crispin – P Quinn

The Raccoons had Lonzo on base with a single, and then in scoring position after he swiped his 18th bag of the year in the first inning, but ultimately left him there; however, the top 2nd saw Pucks zing a triple with two outs, and then be driven home by Matt Fiore’s soft single for a 1-0 lead. Taki struggled with the six lefty sticks in the lineup, but was held together by the defense in the first few innings, then got a bigger lead in the third inning as Royer reached base on a walk, and then Lonzo got a hanging breaking ball and chucked it over to a fan ten rows up in the leftfield stands, 3-0. That wasn’t even all in the inning; Waters singled, and with two gone, Brobeck stuffed an RBI double into the rightfield corner. Pucks drew a 2-out walk, but Fiore was retired when Chapa intercepted his bouncer and lobbed it to Rosenstiel just in time to end the inning.

No score in the middle innings, as the Raccoons maintained their 4-0 lead, which also meant that Taki finally found a groove. He was nursing a 3-hitter through six innings on 79 pitches, but with a few long counts early and also some nice defensive plays. Lonzo smacked another long drive in the seventh inning, but that was caught at the fence by Harmon. Hildebrand hit a leadoff single in the bottom 7th, but Victor Velez grounded out, Crispin flew out to Pucks, and PH Nick Fowler whiffed to complete the inning. Taki got one more out from Rosenstiel to begin the eighth, but then gave up a walk to Chapa and a single to Duncan and was lifted with the all-lefty 4-5-6 part of the lineup coming up. Lillis needed two pitches to get a 4-6-3 groundball double play from Jamie Harmon to defuse the inning. Brobeck moved to the hill in the bottom 9th then, but gave up a single to Poindexter and then Velez’ grounder to short was bobbled by Lonzo for an error. The Coons went to Matt Walters, who struck out Crispin, but then gave up not one, but two RBI singles to Jerry Morales and Danny Ramirez before finally ringing up Chapa. 4-2 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Waters 2-4; Taki 7.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, W (4-6);

The runs were unearned on Brobeck because of the Lonzo error, but the whole inning made me grumble anyway after we finally got a nice start from Taki.

Game 3
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – C Stanton – P Sweeton
TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – 2B Chapa – LF T. Duncan – RF J. Harmon – C Poindexter – CF Hildebrand – SS V. Velez – 3B Crispin – P Washington

The Critters jumped out to a 4-0 lead without making an out as Royer hit a scratch single, Lonzo reached on an error, and Matt Waters jumped a ball some 420 feet for his fifth blast of the season, and then Chris Kirkwood made it back-to-back with a homer to left. The Condors answered with a Duncan single and a Harmon homer in the bottom 1st, so half the lead was immediately given back by Sweeton. He didn’t have the best of days, not getting a K until the fourth inning, and generally giving up a few more loud fly balls, but those were caught. Lonzo’s loud fly in the third was not caught, but fell for a double, but when he went from third base on Kirkwood’s fly out to Hildebrand, he was thrown out at the plate for an inning-ending double play. Ultimately neither team managed to scratch another run together all the way into the seventh inning, when Hildebrand banged a leadoff double and scored on productive outs by Velez and Ed Crispin, narrowing the score to 4-3.

That was it for Sweeton; the Coons had Royer on base to begin the eighth, but Lonzo found the opposing shortstop for a double play grounder. Sencion then began the bottom 8th by retiring Rosenstiel and Chapa. Mike Lane came on for Duncan, who singled anyway. Sather then was brought in for the lefties, but Jerry Morales pinch-hit for Harmon… but also popped out to Venegas in foul ground to end the inning.

Washington was still going in the ninth inning, but gave up singles to Caballero and Ramsay. Chavez batted for Venegas, but popped out for the second out. Daniel Espinoza batted for Stanton and flipped a single behind Chapa for an insurance run, and knocked out the starter. Pucks hit for Sather against another lefty, Matt Otte, but we were out of righty sticks. Pucks hit a soft single, loading the bases, but Royer grounded out to leave three aboard. Walters was back, fourth game in five days, but struck out the first two Condors and got Velez to pop out to Waters on the first pitch in the bottom 9th. 5-3 Coons. Kirkwood 3-4, HR, RBI; Espinoza (PH) 1-1; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1; Sweeton 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (4-2);

Raccoons (22-25) @ Thunder (25-23) – May 26-28, 2056

After an off day spent travelling by bus to San Diego because the Mexican air traffic controllers decided to go on strike for the tenth time that year, the Raccoons arrived in Oklahoma City eventually. The Thunder had the sixth-most runs scored in the league, and were tied for fourth-fewest runs allowed with a +22 run differential. OKC was up 2-1 in the season series, but they were down a starter in David Barel and a pair of outfielders / first basemen in Mike Allegood and Pat Stipp.

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (1-2, 3.81 ERA) vs. Mike Zeigler (1-4, 4.65 ERA)
Julian Dunn (3-1, 3.40 ERA) vs. Alfredo Llamas (4-3, 4.04 ERA)
He Shui (3-4, 5.43 ERA) vs. Bubba Wolinsky (4-1, 3.25 ERA)

You want lefties? You get lefties. One to start the series, and then a meeting with Bubba on Southpaw Sunday. Bubba, who won two rings at the back end of the Critters’ trio of championships in the 2040s, was in his third season (including a partial season in ’54) in Oklahoma. Stamina was becoming an issue for him, and he was in a contract year while being due to turning 34 in August.

The Raccoons returned Geoff Sather (0-0, 4.50 ERA) to AAA and … well, it’s Ryan Harmer again…

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Kirkwood – 3B Brobeck – RF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – C Fiore – P Kniep
OCT: RF D. Guzman – C Korfhage – 3B Soberanes – 1B de la Roca – LF Weant – CF Buras – 2B Hester – SS Almadanim – P Zeigler

For the second game in a row, the Raccoons grabbed a first-inning lead with a 3-0 smash, this one by Kirkwood to rightfield after Lonzo got hit and Waters got *a* hit ahead of him. The Thunder at least got three runners on base, as Kniep gave up a single to Danny Guzman, walked Eddie de la Roca, and then saw Tim Weant reach when Brobeck bobbled what would have been the grounder for the third out, but at least Will Buras found a more sure-pawed Lonzo for the third out with another grounder. Also three on, with nobody out, in the top 2nd: the Coons. Fiore doubled, Kniep singled, and Royer walked to set everybody up for disappointment. Lonzo lined out to Weant in shallow left, but Waters’ groundout got a run home (yay…!). After that, Kirkwood flew out to Will Bura-aaah, he dropped it. Two runs scored, and Kirkwood hustled into second base after almost turning right to the dugout halfway up the first base line. Brobeck, who had singled in the first, ended this inning with a groundout to third base.

The good news was that Zeigler was out before batting once, the bad news was that Harley Thomas ripped an RBI triple in his spot to get the Thunder on the board, plating Hélder Almadanim, who had just knocked a single off Kniep, who had yet to fool anybody. Guzman lined out, Korfhage grounded out, at least keeping Thomas stranded at third base in a 6-1 game. Kniep didn’t get a K until de la Roca whiffed in the bottom 3rd, but he also put Ed Soberanes and Tim Weant on the corners with one out, giving up singles. Weant was caught stealing, Buras struck out, and somehow Kniep weasled out of the inning. At least he also struck out Billy Hester and Almadanim in the fourth in an attempt to find a groove. The score remained at 6-1 into the sixth, when Kniep hit his second single of the game, but was stranded by Royer and Lonzo, while then offering a walk to Weant, who was caught mid-theft by Fiore for the second time in the game. Buras struck out again to end the inning. Hester singled off Kniep to begin the seventh, but was forced out by Almadanim, who finally got a base stolen against Fiore, but was also stranded on base with a K to Danny Guzman, the seventh for Kniep after not getting anybody to whiff the first time through.

It was also his last in the game, because the 2-3-4 batters were all righties, and he was on 98 pitches now, and his spot was up at the dish in the top 8th. Ramsay opened the inning with a jack off Ryan Moore, 7-1, and the first score since the second inning. Fiore singled, Solorzano popped out, and Pucks batted for Royer and walloped another jack for the Coons’ third 3-spot of the game. Moore was relieved of pitching duties in favor of Amando Estevens then. He got rid of the middle infielders, and Harmer and Sencion got rid of the Thunder for the last six outs. 9-1 Raccoons. Puckeridge (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; Kirkwood 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Fiore 2-4, 2B; Kniep 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (2-2) and 2-3;

With this mild rout, we were still two games under .500, but now a +4 in the old runs differential. Still bottoms in OBP, though.

Game 2
POR: 2B Waters – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – LF Kirkwood – RF Puckeridge – C Fiore – CF Solorzano – 3B Espinoza – P Dunn
OCT: SS Almadanim – 3B Soberanes – LF D. Guzman – CF M. Harmon – 2B Ban – C Korfhage – 1B de la Roca – RF Buras – P Llamas

Early Coons attempts at scoring fell to pieces by double plays hit into by Lonzo in the first and then Fiore in the second, while the Thunder got a single from Eddie de la Roca, a double from Will Buras, all with one out in the bottom 2nd, and then plated the runs on Llamas’ groundout and when Almadanim’s 2-out fly was dropped for an error by Kirkwood. Dunn walked Soberanes before Danny Guzman grounded out to end the miserable inning. The Coons had Solorzano and Espinoza on base in the third inning, but then Dunn struck out failing to bunt and Waters and Lonzo did hardly any better and stranded the runners.

The Raccoons then stalled entirely for a while, whereas Jonathan Ban, who along with Mike Harmon had sat on Friday against the lefty Kniep, doubled home Soberanes with a 2-out double in the bottom 5th, 3-0. Top 6th, Waters reached on an error and Lonzo on an infield single with one out, which was one way to bring the tying run to the plate. Groundouts by Rams and Kirkwood made the entire exercise moot. The Thunder instead smacked two more runs over Dunn’s head in the bottom 6th, but it was a team effort. De la Roca opened the inning with a first-pitch single, advanced on a passed ball, then a wild pitch, and scored on Buras’ single. Soberanes drove home Buras with a 2-out single, then stole second base unopposed as the middle infielders couldn’t make their mind up. (blows!)

Better yet, Solorzano, Espinoza, and Royer would load the bases with two outs in the seventh inning, and then Waters grounded out to Ban, stranding everybody and keeping the Coons shut out. Ban and de la Roca then smacked more singles to get a run off Tanizaki in the seventh. Llamas hit a single off Lillis in the bottom 8th, but was eventually doubled off, yet then went back out bidding for shutout, entering the ninth inning on a 5-hitter. A walk to Pucks ended the effort rather quickly, as lefty Juan Valencia took over. He got three outs from Venegas, Solorzano, and Espinoza to complete the shutout. 6-0 Thunder. Espinoza 2-4;

Just erase what I said earlier about the positive run differential.

Nothing here’s positive.

Game 3
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 2B Waters – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 3B Venegas – 1B Puckeridge – C Stanton – P Shui
OCT: SS Almadanim – 3B Soberanes – LF D. Guzman – CF M. Harmon – 2B Ban – C Korfhage – 1B de la Roca – RF Buras – P Wolinsky

Bubba was perfect the first time through and struck out four – too bad that he was on the wrong team. Shui meanwhile gave up only a single to Ban the first time through the lineup, and a 2-out single to Almadanim in the third inning, but at least didn’t look half as bad as in the last few weeks.

The Raccoons didn’t reach base until Kirkwood socked a leadoff double in the fifth inning. Caballero’s grounder moved him to third, and Venegas’ single to center got him in to score, 1-0. Pucks’ grounder moved up Venegas, but opened the door for an intentional walk to Matt Stanton and then an easy third out from Shui. Five scoreless innings from Shui meanwhile got his ERA back under five, which was a nice start. Top 7th, Kirkwood singled his way on base, but was forced out on Caballero’s grounder. Caballero stole second base, but then scored easily on a jog when Anton Venegas smashed his first homer of the year to left-center. Mitch Korfhage hit a double in the bottom 7th, the first extra-base knock off Shui, but it came with two down and was followed by a K to de la Roca. Shui offered a 1-out walk to pinch-hitter Tim Weant in the bottom 8th, but worked his way out of there himself before bumping against 100 pitches. Eight shutout innings – nicely done indeed! Venegas and Solorzano reached base in the ninth, but were left on when the Raccoons didn’t bat for Stanton with two outs and Stanton went down in flames. Matt Walters made the Thunder go away in 1-2-3 style in the bottom of the ninth. 3-0 Furballs. Kirkwood 2-4, 2B; Venegas 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Solorzano (PH) 1-1; Shui 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (4-4);

In other news

May 22 – MIL 3B Jesus Burgos (.206, 0 HR, 3 RBI) reaches 2,500 career hits with two singles in a 12-inning, 5-4 loss to the Falcons. The milestone is an RBI single in the second inning off CHA SP Noah Hollis (3-2, 3.55 ERA). Burgos is in his 17th season, more than half the time having been spent with the Cyclones in two different stints. He had two Platinum Sticks, three All Star nominations, and was a career .300 hitter with 99 HR and 997 RBI, so there was more to celebrate soon for him.
May 22 – PIT SP Jeff Crowley (4-5, 4.09 ERA) is one out shy of a nine-inning no-hitter, albeit in the top 9th of a scoreless game, before getting taken deep by LAP LF/RF/1B Salvatore Rodrigues (.294, 3 HR, 17 RBI) and being handed a soggy 1-0 loss instead of a potential entry into the record books.
May 24 – The Falcons beat the Loggers, 7-6 in 14 innings, with a walkoff single for rookie C Braden McCarver (.405, 1 HR, 9 RBI).
May 24 – Sacramento beats Cincy, 7-4 in 15 innings. The tie is broken in the top 15th with a 3-piece smashed by SAC RF/LF Danny Munn (.163, 4 HR, 17 RBI).
May 25 – The Bayhawks acquire 1B Gustavo Jacinto (.292, 3 HR, 10 RBI) from the Stars in exchange for two prospects.
May 25 – The second homer of the game for CIN C Tim Lehman (.297, 3 HR, 17 RBI) gives the Cyclones a 12th-inning, 11-10 walkoff win against the Scorpions.

FL Player of the Week: CIN LF/CF Juan del Toro (.337, 6 HR, 28 RBI), bating .533 (16-30) with 2 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ LF Tim Duncan (.297, 13 HR, 44 RBI), hitting .480 (12-25) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Decent week. I know, if you go 4-2 every week you make the playoffs, but the hole is quite deep already, and the damn Elks are 10 games ahead just behind the first quarterpost…

What is needed to make the team win more consistently? Well, if Shui and Taki could stop messing up, that would be great, and then we’re still a competent starter short. The pen might hold its own even though one spot is a bit of a revolving door thing right now.

We have no production from the catcher position, and despite a menagerie of third basemen on the roster, we also get next to nothing from them. Also, Pucks, maybe stop slumping, pleeease?

The Raccoons return home now for six games against the Aces and Crusaders. After that, a rather erratic travel schedule with two single-series trips to the East Coast for consecutive midweek series, but we’re at home on the weekends. Whee.

Fun Fact: Matt Walters is erasing batters at a 15.6 K/9 rate.

That is not anything a long-time closer for the Raccoons has ever done. The best bids in the category come from Angel Casas and Josh Boles with a few seasons each in the 13s, and that’s that. Whether Walters can sustain that tempo will have to be seen, but for now he’s great fun.

7.5 K/BB, so far no homers allowed, a 0.46 ERA, and a 905 ERA+ … I kinda like those numbers…!

[Westheim]

2056 DRAFT POOL ANALYSIS

With the end of May, draft season was upon us yet again. The Raccoons had 133 players on the shortlist (including a two-way guy we’d talk about in a second), and of course there was also another hotlist that I insisted on Eric Hartwig begrudgingly compiling (*high school player):

SP Jason Bair (11/15/11) * – BNN #8
SP D.C. Kozick (12/11/16) *
SP Carson Miller (11/11/12) *
SP Mike DeWitt (13/15/11) *

CL Elijah LaBat (14/16/11)

C Curt Goodwin (11/14/13)
C Josh Heath (8/15/9) * – BNN #3

1B Danny Starwalt (8/14/17)
1B Joe Agee (7/10/14)
INF/LF Elliott Grant (14/8/10) *

OF Tyler Wharton (15/12/13) *
OF Eddie Marcotte (12/16/14) * – BNN #10
OF Tommy Branch (9/15/11) – BNN #9
UT Jorge Moreno (11/1/10) *

Yup, one of those years where I found the selection of college starting pitchers entirely unimpressive. That one surely hurt less if you were drafting #24 and #36, and just barely four times inside the top 100 in total.

It should also be noted that Eric Hartwig was a nationally renowned misanthropist and didn’t like ANY player, so a 15 for contact or 11 for stuff was quite impressive and the guy should be going on the Hall of Fame ballot right now…. Somehow we were also miles away from BNN’s top 10 this year, but don’t let yourself be confused by Jon Agee being given seven contact by Hartwig. OSA had him at 10/10/12, he was one of the most talked-about prospects in the nation, and if there was anything putting me off him it was his porous defense at first base. The story was similar for Starwalt.

But the one guy that needed another light shone on him was D.C. Kozick. The quick description was “Kyle Brobeck, but better”. Rated 13/10/6 by even Hartwig as a batter, he promised to be a capable, but unimpressive defender at third base, with some speed at least (still brings me back to Matt Nunley comparisons, although Kozick was a righty hitter). But he might just be a lot more valuable as a pitcher, despite a rather unimpressive 87mph at this point. His selection of cutter, changeup, and circle change in addition to that fastball made me foam from the mouth, however, and I’d love to get my paws on this 17-year-old, which sounded wrong in all the wrong way, but that we only had the #24 pick sounded way worse for me…..

[Westheim]

Raccoons (24-26) vs. Aces (18-31) – May 29-31, 2056

The Critters returned home to see what they could do against the Aces, whom they had beaten two out of three in the first series this year between these teams, and that was about the pace the Aces were going at with their .367 winning percentage, which somehow was good enough (“good”) for fifth place in the South. They had the seventh-best offense in the CL, but the pitching just kept on giving out gifts and they had the most runs surrendered in the league, with a -57 run differential. The rotation and bullpen both had ERA’s over five. Jeremy Welter, regular infielder, was on the DL along with two pitchers that weren’t any help anyway.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (4-6, 4.16 ERA) vs. Josh Wilson (4-3, 4.29 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (4-2, 3.00 ERA) vs. Ray Benner (0-1, 0.00 ERA)
Craig Kniep (2-2, 3.27 ERA) vs. Scott Evans (3-2, 3.58 ERA)

Only right-handers coming up here; Benner and Evans were both rookies and would make their second and tenth ABL starts, respectively. Benner had lost his first outing without giving up an earned run, but three unearned runs thanks to as many errors behind him in a 3-2 loss against the damn Elks. No, the Aces’ defense wasn’t any good either.

Game 1
LVA: CF Hummel – 2B J. White – 1B Austin – 3B A. Alfaro – LF Kaniewski – RF Epperson – SS Veguilla – C Lytle – P Jo. Wilson
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwoord – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – C Fiore – 3B Venegas – P Taki

Three scoreless innings to begin the week brought Taki’s ERA into the threes for the first time since the start of the month, but was still slightly outdone by Josh Wilson, who gave up one hit through three innings to Taki’s two. Alex Alfaro’s leadoff homer in the fourth made the prior point moot as well, but maybe the Coons could stir something up in the bottom 4th. Lonzo started with an infield single, stole second base, and Kirkwood then walked onto the open base. Matt Waters was offered a fat one, belted it for a 3-run blast to right, and the Raccoons took the lead. Two singles sandwiching a walk then loaded the bases with the Critters’ 5-6-7 batters, but just like that the 8-9-1 made shambolic outs to not score any more runs; Venegas popped out, Taki struck out, and Royer flew out to John Kaniewski in left. Jim White tripled and scored on Aubrey Austin’s groundout to reduce the lead to 3-2 in the fifth, but Kirkwood answered with a solo home run to left right away. Taki would pitch around Miguel Veguilla’s double in the sixth, but then grounded out poorly to – along with Royer – waste Anton Venegas’ 1-out triple in the bottom of the inning. Taki would go seven innings, and then Lane and Walters did the rest without allowing another base runner. 4-2 Raccoons. Kirkwood 1-2, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Ramsay 2-4; Taki 7.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (5-6);

Taki ended the game with a 4.00 ERA, but that was rounded down from something like 4.004; he would have needed one more out to get back into the threes, but at least he appeared on the right path now.

Game 2
LVA: CF Hummel – 2B J. White – 1B Austin – 3B A. Alfaro – LF Kaniewski – RF Epperson – SS Veguilla – C W. Ramos – P Benner
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – LF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – C Fiore – 3B Chavez – P Sweeton

The fourth run Ray Benner allowed as a major leaguer was just as unearned as the first three, but this time on his own throwing error on a comebacker hit by Oscar Caballero in the bottom 2nd. Benner aimed for Waters starting from first base, but threw wide of second base, which added a second runner. Ramsay hit into a double play, but Matt Fiore came through with an RBI single to right; this tied the game, erasing the Aces’ 1-0 lead from the top 1st when Kaniewski had singled home Ken Hummel with two outs.

Sweeton was out of sorts; he walked Jim White in the first, then two more in the third inning, and yet two more in the fourth inning. Those last two were the ones that came around to bite and score. Gunner Epperson and Veguilla drew the walks to begin the top 4th, and an RBI single by Willie Ramos and Hummel’s sac fly got the runs home for a 3-1 Aces lead. Sweeton would hang around for two scoreless innings while bunting into a double play, then gave up a leadoff double to Benner and a 2-run homer to Hummel in the seventh and was yanked for the weirdly-hanging-on Kyle Brobeck.

The Critters never managed to hang an earned run on Benner, who went seven, with another double play tumbled into by Fiore, and both Royer and Caballero were caught stealing. Brobeck threw three scoreless garbage innings despite getting hit around for five base knocks by the Aces, while Aaron Erwin pitched two scoreless innings for the Aces in the eighth and ninth. 5-1 Aces. Chavez 2-3; Brobeck 3.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Game 3
LVA: SS Veguilla – 2B J. White – CF Hummel – 1B Austin – LF Kaniewski – 3B A. Alfaro – RF Epperson – C Lytle – P S. Evans
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – RF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – C Stanton – P Kniep

Walk to White, double by Hummel, outta here by Austin, and just like that, Craig Kniep trailed 3-0 in the first inning. Top 2nd, Epperson walked, Jarred Lytle singled, and then Veguilla rammed a 3-run homer. Since the game was an L anyway at this point – give or take a 2-run homer by Ramsay in the bottom 2nd – the Raccoons tried to get a few more innings out of the rookie, but gave up after Evans and White hit singles and were on the corners with two outs in the fourth inning. Tanizaki came in and got a groundout to short from Hummel to close Kniep’s needlessly ghastly line at six runs in three and two thirds innings…

Because we can’t have nice things anymore.

Speaking of which, Tanizaki was torn a wholly new ******* in the fifth inning. He walked Austin on nine pitches. Kaniewski homered, 8-2. Alfaro whiffed, but Epperson singled, Little trypled, and Evans (…) hit another single, 10-2. I was still waiting for the advertised terrible Aces pitching to show up, but instead we got Ryan Harmer for two innings, giving up three hits and two walks, and somehow no runs, but surely enough another ******* single to ******* Scott Evans. Kirkwood hit a solo jack in the bottom 8th off Evans that only got the statheads excited, while Eloy Sencion didn’t find it beneath himself to walk Evans in the ninth inning. Pucks countered with a pinch-hit home run off Evans in the bottom 9th, which meant the tying run moved from the dumpster behind the ballpark to the water cooler at the other end of the clubhouse tunnel. Matt Fiore made it back-to-backs, which at least got Evans removed from the game, but the rally didn’t go on and Stanton and Solorzano made the last few outs quickly. 10-5 Aces. Waters 2-4; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Fiore (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Solorzano (PH) 1-3;

(frowns)

Raccoons (25-28) vs. Crusaders (23-28) – June 2-4, 2056

Here was another team with a worse record, and another potential buzzsaw to run into. The Crusaders had the second-most runs in the CL, and ranked seventh in runs allowed, with made for a +18 run differential, and yet they were five under .500 – they were due a winning streak. Well, they did have issues, like a 5.38 ERA on the pen, but offensively they looked like a force that just had to get more steady. New York was up 3-2 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Julian Dunn (3-2, 3.72 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (5-2, 2.90 ERA)
He Shui (4-4, 4.72 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (3-3, 4.22 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (5-6, 4.00 ERA) vs. Jose Ortega (4-3, 3.79 ERA)

No southpaw starters – the Crusaders didn’t have any. Also no Mike Pfeifer and Chad Williams – the two outfielders were on the DL.

Game 1
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – RF Buss – LF M. Villa – 3B Gates – C J. Ortiz – CF Mata – P Seiter
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – 1B Puckeridge – RF Caballero – 3B Brobeck – C Fiore – P Dunn

Dunn, the dolt, nicked Omar Sanchez to begin the game, and Sanchez promptly stole his 28th base of the season, increasing his lead over Lonzo to nine, which somehow annoyed my more than the back-to-back RBI doubles yanked into either gap by Zach Suggs and Raul Sevilla. Dunn then quelled the offense and would not allow a run through five innings anymore. He also got the Raccoons’ first hit with a third-inning single, and one of only two through five innings for the home team… And then, after a Sevilla fly out to begin the sixth inning, he also got relentlessly pummeled out of the game with a Jeff Buss triple, Mario Villa’s RBI single, Prince Gates’ RBI double, and Jose Ortiz’ RBI double. Carlos Mata then clonked another RBI double off Ryan Harmer, 6-0.

The Coons made the board in ho-hum fashion in the bottom 6th when Steve Royer hit a leadoff single mid-slump, stole second base, and reached third when Jose Ortiz’ throw got away from Suggs. That allowed Lonzo to plate him with a sac fly to Buss. Kirkwood singled with one out, and Pucks fired a homer to left with two outs, reducing the deficit by half. Seiter further got taken deep by Brobeck to begin the bottom 7th, 6-4. Royer hit a double with two outs, but was stranded when Lonzo’s grounder was snared by Gates and hurled to first base just in time to end the inning. Tanizaki and Lillis kept the Crusaders within reach, but the Coons went in order in the bottom 8th, then drew mightily struggling (7.61 ERA) closer Ben Lussier in the ninth. Caballero, Brobeck, and Chavez went in order. 6-4 Crusaders. Royer 2-4, 2B;

Maud? – How long until the season is over? – Soooo loooong…?

(whiskers hang)

Game 2
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – RF Buss – LF M. Villa – 3B Gates – C Seidman – CF Mata – P Turay
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – C Fiore – 3B Venegas – P Shui

New York had no hits the first time through, but Shui walked a pair and seemed generally out of sorts still. The Raccoons had Royer on and stealing a base in the first, but stranded him between the 2-3-4 batters, then had Pucks on with a leadoff single in the second inning. Rams walked to move him to second base and Pucks then stole third base before he scored on Fiore’s groundout for the game’s first run. Rams moved up to third base on the play, then went home when Venegas flew out to Jeff Buss, but was struck down at the plate by lightning and the inning ended in 9-2 fashion. Royer hit another single in the third, but was forced out by Lonzo, who was then caught stealing as he spiralled deeper into a slump that had lingered for all of May and was now fully breaking out.

Bottom 4th, singles by Waters and Pucks, then a nicker into Rams, and the bases were loaded with one down. Fiore grounded to Omar Sanchez, and only the second-sacker’s slight fumble prevented the double play; the Crusaders still got Rams at second base, but a run scored. Venegas then grounded out to Suggs, leaving runners on the corners. Shui still had to allow a base hit, and did so with a single that Mike Seidman ticked into center in the fifth inning. The Crusaders quickly escalated with doubles by Mata and Sanchez, tying the score at two before Suggs grounded out to Lonzo to end the inning. For what it was worth, Shui also hit a double down the leftfield line to begin the bottom 5th and was then driven home by Royer’s double that split Villa and Mata, scoring himself for a new 3-2 lead. The 2-3-4 failed again, though, and Royer was stranded at third base.

Top 6th, Sevilla opened with a single to center, but was out at second base on Jeff Buss’ grounder to short, but broke up the double play… and from the looks of it also Matt Waters, who had his legs taken out from under him on an I-don’t-give-a-**** slide and then writhed in agony on the dirt before being collected on a stretcher. That slide might yet get Omar Sanchez beaned before the end of the weekend, but for the moment the Raccoons sent Chavez to fill up the numbers on the infield. Shui’s day ended in the bottom 6th when the Raccoons brought up the #9 spot with two outs and Rams and Fiore in scoring position. They had reached… uh… on a Buss error, a wild pitch, and an intentional walk. Caballero pinch-hit and bashed an RBI single through the right side, 4-2, then took off for second base, and Seidman’s throw wasn’t anywhere near second base. The error scored Fiore and moved Caballero to third base, Royer doubled him home, and then even Lonzo briefly stopped drowning with a 2-out RBI single to center, then stole second base, but was left on as Ken Quisenberry stopped the bleeding in the 7-2 game.

7-2 became 7-6 around Eloy Sencion’s rather horrendous seventh inning. Mata singled. Nate Culp walked. Sanchez walked. It kinds pinballed out of control from there. Mario Villa tripled home the fourth run of the inning eventually and Sencion off the mound along with it, and Gates flew out to Caballero in pretty deep left against Lane, finally ending the ******* inning. The Raccoons faced righty Alex Mancilla in the bottom 7th. Pucks walked, Fiore walked, and Solorzano batted for a hitless Venegas. He swung at a fat 3-1, and belted it 429 feet for his first homer of the year, 10-6. Caballero then went back-to-back with a homer to right off Mike Vance – it was the third straight half-inning with four runs scored in it, but that was also the last half-inning with scoring in the game. Lane pitched the eighth (after even batting to end the bottom 7th), and Tanizaki at first put a pair on base in the ninth inning, but before we could bother Matt Walters got a double play grounder from Buss and was on his way out to finish the game. 11-6 Critters. Royer 4-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, BB; Ramsay 2-4; Stanton (PH) 1-1; Solorzano (PH) 1-2, HR, 3 RBI; Caballero (PH) 2-2, HR, 2 RBI;

No news on Waters, who as an old man needed to have all sorts of scans and tests taken after a nasty fall, so the Raccoons played four paws short on Sunday. Lonzo had landed two hits on Saturday, but was still deep in a slump and got a day off as we ran out the backup infielders in tandem.

Game 3
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – RF Buss – LF M. Villa – 3B Gates – C Seidman – CF Mata – P J. Ortega
POR: CF Royer – 3B Venegas – LF Kirkwood – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – C Fiore – 2B Chavez – SS Espinoza – P Taki

Royer walked and was caught stealing to begin the Raccoons’ day in the box, which helped both pitchers to face the minimum through three innings, except that Taki was still perfect with five strikeouts. That changed with a walk to Sanchez (of all people) in the fourth inning, although Suggs quickly forced out the speedster, and a K to Sevilla and Buss’ groundout kept New York off the board. Royer sneaking a single to center on a 1-2 pitch to lead off the bottom 4th marked the first base hit for anybody in the game. He was stranded at first base. Prince Gates got a single for New York in the fifth, but was also stranded on base.

Bottom 5th, Ortega lost both Fiore and Espinoza on balls, bringing up Taki with two outs. A scratch single loaded the bases for Royer, who grounded meekly to Sevilla to end the inning with three Coons left stranded… Taki remained awesome, with eight strikeouts through six shutout innings, but he was more or less the only one so far. That changed in the bottom 6th, although the team made two outs before kicking it into gear, finally. Pucks singled, then scored on a Rams double into the right corner for a 1-0 lead. Fiore walked intentionally, Chavez hit an RBI single, and Espinoza’s grounder to Gates was overran for an error, allowing Fiore to score. Ortega finally got the third out with three strikes on Taki, but the Raccoons’ righty now had a 3-0 lead and had looked thoroughly unassailable so far, and as on a halfway modest 83 pitches through six. He got the 4-5-6 on ten pitches, with a K on Gates, in the seventh, while Kirkwood’s sac fly brought in Rakin’ Royer for a fourth Coons run in the bottom of the inning.

The top of the eighth began with a clean single to left by Seidman, though, and Carlos Mata reached on a Venegas error. Taki remained in against the right-handed Nate Culp pinch-hitting, and got a 6-4-3 double play to ease everybody’s pain. Sanchez popped out to Espinoza, stranding the runner at third base, but Taki was now at 107 pitches. He was retained to bunt, though, when Lonzo batted for Espinoza to begin the bottom 8th, walked against Austin Guastella, and got the runner to second base with the first out. Royer grounded out and Venegas’ floater to shallow right was snatched on the run by Buss, leaving Lonzo at third base. Taki went out for the ninth, but Suggs singled right away, which sugged. A K on Sevilla gave Taki ten on the day, but Jeff Buss first ran a full count and then smashed an RBI triple into the leftfield corner to end his day. Walters took over and struck out two to end the game… but not until after Mario Villa singled home Taki’s second run… 4-2 Coons. Royer 2-4, BB; Fiore 0-1, 3 BB; Taki 8.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (6-6) and 1-3;

In other news

May 30 – The Gold Sox beat the Capitals, 6-5 in 15 innings.
May 31 – After 14 innings of 1-1 ball, the Blue Sox’ staff runs out of jazz and collapses for six runs in the top of the 15th against the Wolves, who gladly take the 7-1 win.
June 1 – OCT 3B/SS/RF Ed Soberanes (.225, 7 HR, 25 RBI) might miss most of June with a tear in his hamstring.
June 2 – LAP 2B/SS Ken Sowell (.217, 6 HR, 23 RBI) homers for the only run in a 1-0 win over the Wolves.
June 4 – A high ankle sprain might leave the Warriors without OF Jordan Marroquin (.282, 6 HR, 33 RBI) for two months.
June 4 – The Gold Sox send OF Jose Munoz (.292, 3 HR, 14 RBI), a 31-year-old Cuban rookie, to the Stars for 2B/SS John Miller (.182, 3 HR, 9 RBI) and a prospect.
June 4 – The Aces beat the Knights, 12-5, with ten runs scored in the sixth inning alone, which included two homers, a triple, and a double for Vegas.
June 4 – SAC RF/LF Danny Munn (.214, 8 HR, 25 RBI) beats the Stars with a ninth-inning homer, 1-0.

FL Player of the Week: CIN LF/CF Juan del Toro (.366, 8 HR, 36 RBI), poking .593 (16-27) with 2 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL 1B/RF/LF Gaudencio Callaia (.310, 2 HR, 15 RBI), hitting .526 (10-19) with 2 HR, 3 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: CIN LF/CF Juan del Toro (.350, 8 HR, 34 RBI), batting .344 with 6 HR, 24 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: TIJ LF Tim Duncan (.285, 13 HR, 44 RBI), swatting .333 with 9 HR, 30 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: NAS SP Richard Castillo (4-4, 3.55 ERA), going an unbeaten 4-0 in six starts with 2.22 ERA, 32 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: BOS SP Kenneth Spencer (6-4, 3.86 ERA), hurling for a 5-1 record with 2.19 ERA, 23 K
FL Rookie of the Month: RIC LF/RF Matt Lewandowski (.343, 6 HR, 32 RBI), hitting .379 with 6 HR, 19 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: MIL 1B Dave Robles (.255, 12 HR, 45 RBI), poking .220 with 6 HR, 20 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Up-and-down 3-3 week, and it surely felt worse. Pitching remains a thing, and the offense … oh boy. Also, with Matt Waters… (looks over to the twitching body on the stretcher in the corner of the room) … actually, I don’t want to speak ill of the dead and dying.

Steve Royer took over as the team’s OPS leader this week, which … sounds wrong on many levels and actually is. Guy oughta bat cleanup, huh?

Lonzo is in a deep slump, 4-for-32 and 8-for-44. Which is such a great segway over to our sponsor, eXtenz0r – if you’re club is slumping, too, take eXtenz0r! … actually, I wanted to get over to the career leaderboard for stolen bases again. Lonzo stole ten bases again this “month”, but this “month” includes five weeks rather than four, and he’s still a rather distant second to Omar Sanchez in the CL (and ABL) this year. Still good enough to gain three spots on the career leaderboard, going up from 24th to 21st this week, with two of the passed players being actives that managed one stolen base between them (Thompson got that one). The rest of the active herd behind Lonzo stole three (Navarro) and two (Russ) in the last “month”.

16th – Alex Torres – 445
17th – Chance Bossert – 437
18th – Ricardo “Cookie” Carmona – 428
19th – Cristo Ramirez – 424 – HOF
20th – Daniel Silva – 417
21st – Lorenzo Lavorano – 415 – active
t-22nd – Danny Flores – 413
t-22nd – Ronnie Thompson – 413 – active
24th – Jose Rivas – 406 – active
25th – Chris Navarro – 398 – active
26th – Andrew Russ – 395 – active

Alex Torres was an Elks nuisance for most of the 2020s and 2030s, leading the league in steals twice and once in homers and RBI, but that was later in his career. Torres was one of only two players with 400+ stolen bases and 200+ home runs (215 exactly) in his career, the other being Crusaders Hall of Famer Martin Ortiz, who had 457 SB and 377 HR.

Chance Bossert was a career Blue Sock, a #1 pick in 2027 and a solid defensive corner infielder with a high-average bat, but no power to speak of. He won a batting title, but hit never more than seven home runs in a season. He was stealing though, winning two theft titles in the FL with a season-high of 70 in ’33. He won two rings with the Sox, but his career ended rather early when his body failed him past his age 33 season.

And then there’s Cookie Carmona, who shouldn’t need much introduction, having his #31 retired by the Raccoons. One of the six older brothers of our front office know-it-all Cristiano, Cookie was much from the same mold as Bossert, except that he was a centerfielder that gradually lost his edge defensively and eventually played more in leftfield than centerfield for his career. He stole 44+ bases three times in his career, winning the CL title in each of those three seasons, and also won the batting title with a .344 mark in 2017. He won a Gold Glove (in rightfield, funnily enough), an All Star nod, and a ring in 2026, but he as not resigned after 2027 and finished his career with a benchwarmer year for the Cyclones in ’28, so didn’t partake in that ring-winning season anymore.

Cookie hit .307 for his career, which is something Lonzo might still do if he ever stopped slumping. Three further former Raccoons were on the stolen base leaderboard ahead of Lonzo: Alex Adame (15th, 447 and counting), Alberto Ramos (4th, 677), and Enrique Trevino (2nd, 708).

Next week: four games in Boston, then three at home against the Gold Sox.

Maud? Maud? – Can we order a box of eXtenz0r?

Fun Fact: Kennedy Adkins is fifth in the All Star ballot for CL starting pitchers.

Maud, how many Kennedy Adkinses do we have?

Just the one, huh?

(scratches himself behind fuzzy ear with hindpaw)

People are weird.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (27-29) @ Titans (28-29) – June 5-8, 2056

The Titans had the worst batting average in the league, at .249, and the second-fewest runs scored, compared to the fifth-fewest runs allowed. Their #3 rotation by ERA tried, but couldn’t cope with the lack of offense, and the team had a -18 run differential that hinted at problems that needed addressing. Nevertheless, they were in second place in the North at the start of play on Monday, a whopping 9 1/2 games behind the damn Elks. They also held a 3-1 lead over the Raccoons for the year.

Projected matchups:
Sean Sweeton (4-3, 3.38 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (1-0, 1.59 ERA)
Craig Kniep (2-3, 4.42 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (3-7, 3.02 ERA)
Julian Dunn (3-3, 4.36 ERA) vs. Kenneth Spencer (6-4, 3.57 ERA)
He Shui (5-4, 4.57 ERA) vs. Alex Diaz (1-3, 3.71 ERA)

The Titans had just lost SP Ryan Musgrave (5-4, 4.63 ERA) to potentially season-ending shoulder inflammation, so their rotation was in a period of adjustment. The only lefty we expected to see was former Raccoons prospect Kenneth Spencer, who had come out of his first start in ’55 with season-ending shoulder inflammation, and had in 2052 been part of the package for David Barel, a move that in itself didn’t work out, and neither had the trade that had sent Barel to the Thunder after half a season for Fernando Perez, Nick Thomason, and Colby Bowen.

The Raccoons began the week a man short, with Matt Waters still being processed after leaving Saturday’s game in a broken state.

Game 1
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – CF Solorzano – 2B Chavez – C Stanton – P Sweeton
BOS: CF Weir – SS M. Navarro – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – C J. Ortiz – LF Y. Valdez – 3B Garris – 2B D. Diaz – P Glaude

Nobody in the game got a base hit until Pucks narrowly missed a low liner by Yoslan Valdez for a 2-out single in the bottom of the fourth, although by then five walks had been issued, and the Coons had managed to erase both of theirs – in full drawn by Anton Venegas – on the base paths to make Glaude face the minimum. Sweeton remained erratic and walked three while striking out as many through four innings, but the many full counts ran up his pitch count rather briskly. Sweeton also managed to offer both a leadoff walk to Glaude in the third inning, and then a 1-out double to the same opposing pitcher in the fifth inning, and yet, the game remained scoreless. The Coons’ first single didn’t leave the infield and also didn’t come until the sixth, a leadoff squiggler by Adriano Chavez. Glaude walked Matt Stanton, and then Sweeton bunted into a 5-3 double play to ease the Critters out of the inning. Venegas grounded out to Josh Garris to complete the team’s demise for the half-inning. Boston answered with singles from Eric Whitlow and Sam Witherspoon, a walk drawn by Yoslan Valdez, and, with the bases loaded and one out, Garris firmly grounding into a 4-6-3 double play to kill the effort. If the damn Elks were watching on their day off, they were probably not concerned about having their lead erased or reduced any time soon.

The Raccoons filled the bases with one out in their half of the seventh inning. Lonzo led off with a single, but was forced out by Kirkwood. Glaude walked Pucks, and Ramsay reached on an error by Garris. Carlos Solorzano’s fly to center was deep enough to score Kirkwood from third base for a 1-0 lead, while Sweeton answered by walking Danny Diaz to lead off the bottom 7th. The runner stole second, and then Glaude scratched out a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Sweeton was chopped, Lillis came in, was faced with PH Bruce Burkart, but struck him out anyway. Mike Lane then retired Mario Navarro on a pop and Whitlow on a grounder to short to defuse the unhappy situation.

Then the Coons blew the doors off the game. Stanton opened the eighth with a single off Glaude, who was replaced by Jim Peterson. The lefty offered another single to Venegas with one out, then a 2-run triple into the leftfield corner to Lonzo. After an intentional walk to Kirkwood to get to the left-handed patch of the lineup, the first of said left-handers, Pucks, powered a 3-run homer to right to suddenly post a 6-0 score on the board. 23-year-old Nevadan right-hander Dave Parra then made his major league debut, and got his own personal fireworks from Harry Ramsay, who hit another home run to right. Parra’s ERA remained infinite for a while; Solorzano singled, Chavez reached on another error, Stanton hit an RBI single, and only then did Oscar Caballero ground out, making both the first and second out in the inning on different plays after previously popping out against Glaude, two pitchers ago. Venegas flew out to right to end the 7-run assault on the senses. Sencion, who walked two, and Harmer, who walked one, would pitch the final two innings without blowing the shutout. 8-0 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Stanton 2-3, BB, RBI;

Sweeton walked five against three strikeouts to get to 5-3 on the year, but didn’t quite tickle my sweet zone for what I’d call a good time out.

By Tuesday, we finally found a hairline fracture in Matt Waters’ fibula. In other words, his leg was ******* broken, which had a good chance of ending his age 35 season and Coons career altogether. He ended up on the DL.

The Raccoons had signed 22-year-old Cuban “tourist” for $350k about 18 months ago that was given the call-up. Arturo Bribiesca was in dire need of a spellable nickname, but was hitting .334 between AA and AAA this season with six total homers in 49 games. Bribiesca could play a slick glove at all seven positions not involved in the battery, in theory, but “only” had experience at second, third, short, right, and center. Some speed, but not a staggering amount.

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 3B Brobeck – 2B Bribiesca – C Fiore – P Kniep
BOS: CF Weir – LF Ma. Gilmore – RF Whitlow – C Burkart – 1B Witherspoon – SS M. Navarro – 3B Torrence – 2B D. Diaz – P Koga

Whitlow hit a solo bomb off Kniep in the first inning, then robbed both Bribiesca and Fiore of drives to right-center in the second inning, immediately winning Villain of the Day honors on Tuesday. Bribiesca found an inning-ending double play in the fourth after Ramsay and Brobeck reached, but also started a neat 4-6-3 inning-ender on Sam Witherspoon in the bottom of the same inning, so it was a bit of a mixed debut.

Neither team managed more than two hits through six innings in a pitchers’ duel. Koga kept the pace in the seventh, but Kniep walked Whitlow and gave up the run on a pinch-hit double by Israel Santiago to fall 2-0 behind. Santiago even stole third base, but was stranded there with Mario Navarro’s pop to first base and a groundout by Ethan Torrence. Venegas batted for Kniep to begin the eighth inning, but then Royer struck out and Lonzo found a double play. Ramon Montes de Oca got Kirkwood and Pucks to begin the ninth inning before Ramsay squeezed out a 2-out single. Brobeck’s grounder to Danny Diaz was handled to end the game, though. 2-0 Titans. Venegas (PH) 1-1; Kniep 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, L (2-4);

Game 3
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 2B Chavez – C Stanton – P Dunn
BOS: CF Weir – SS M. Navarro – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – C J. Ortiz – 3B Torrence – LF Garris – 2B D. Diaz – P K. Spencer

Pucks singled and stole a base in the second inning, but the Raccoons didn’t have much going otherwise. Dunn held the scoreless tie through three innings before Kirkwood drew a walk in the fourth inning and scored on a Venegas double for a 1-0 lead for Portland. Dunn scattered three hits and a walk through four innings, then had his bunt to third baseman Ethan Torrence thrown away for a 2-base error in the fifth inning, moving the entire Coons battery into scoring position with nobody out in the inning. Farmhand Ken gave up a run on a Royer single, 2-0, but then handled Lonzo’s comebacker for a force at second base, although Lonzo, frustrated with himself as much as anything, then stole his 21st base of the year out of spite. Boston answered with an intentional walk to Kirkwood, then killed the inning with a K to Caballero and a groundout to Witherspoon off Pucks’ bat…

Spencer singled and Hector Weir was nicked in the bottom 5th, but Royer caught Navarro’s long fly and Whitlow went down on strikes to deny the Titans. Jorge Ortiz got the team on the board in the sixth, however, smashing a solo homer just when we thought that Dunn might last in this game. He didn’t finish another inning, as Weir hit a single in the bottom 7th and then he nicked Yoslan Valdez batting for Whitlow with two outs. Lillis came on to face Witherspoon, but was met with Bruce Burkart instead, just as on Monday. This time the result was a game-tying single before Ortiz flew out to Kirkwood to end the inning, now in a 2-2 tie. The Titans took the lead the next inning. Josh Garris singled off Lillis, Pucks butchered Diaz’ grounder, and with two outs Hector Weir slammed a ball through the diving Venegas for an RBI single. Tanizaki replaced Lillis and struck out Navarro, but now the Coons had to make up a run against Montes de Oca, starting with the #8 slot, so the bench was poured out now. Bribiesca grounded out, but Ramsay singled in the #9 hole. Solorzano ran for him, but was forced out anyway on Royer’s roller to Diaz. Lonzo flew out to Yoslan Valdez to seal the loss. 3-2 Titans. Caballero 2-4; Venegas 2-4, 2B, RBI; Ramsay (PH) 1-1;

We’re just not gonna put it together, aren’t we?

We were just as successless on Thursday, but not for faults of our own. Rather, the weather was forecast to be rather unpleasant all day, and the game was called off in the morning so that everybody could get on their merry way.

Raccoons (28-31) vs. Gold Sox (31-28) – June 9-11, 2056

The Sox were seven games out in the West, and despite being three games over .500 had a -5 run differential. Their bullpen (5.42 ERA) couldn’t stop exploding, ruining the efforts by their #3 rotation. Offensively they ranked sixth in runs scored in the FL, with third-best in homers, but ninth-best in OBP. They also had a myriad of injuries to position players, with Bill Joyner, Nelson Aguilar, Bill Ramires, Sandy Castillo, Jake Frederick all on the DL, leaving their lineup somewhat bereft. These teams had played three years in a row, and every time the Sox won two of three games from the Critters.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (5-4, 4.57 ERA) vs. Adam Middleton (4-4, 3.14 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (6-6, 3.81 ERA) vs. Nick Robinson (5-4, 3.70 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (5-3, 3.12 ERA) vs. Tony Llorens (3-3, 2.96 ERA)

Righty, lefty, lefty. The Raccoons kept the lineup devised for Thursday in Boston in its entirety for the Friday game, then would work out things from there.

Game 1
DEN: LF Ayres – CF S. Reed – 2B I. Villa – RF Angulo – C Mickle – 1B Serna – SS J. Miller – 3B Villacorta – P Middleton
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – 2B Bribiesca – C Fiore – P Shui

A walk, two singles, and the Raccoons had the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom 1st. Pucks popped out to Angel Angulo in shallow rightfield, but Ramsay’s sac fly and Venegas’ RBI single gave Shui a 2-0 lead before Bribiesca grounded out, but the rookie then started two 4-6-3 double plays in the second and third innings to help with crowd control behind Shui, whom the extra day didn’t appear to have done much good. The Gold Sox had no trouble making solid contact time and again. He threw just 25 pitches through three innings, then 20 more in the fourth in which Ivan Villa walked and Angel Angulo homered to tie the score at two, even before Blake Mickle and Marty Serna hit 2-out singles. Villa and Mickle were on base again in the sixth inning, but Kirkwood snatched Serna’s floater to shallow left on the run to end the inning. But while the Raccoons did absolutely nothing, the Sox kept pressing and broke through for a 4-2 lead in the seventh. John Miller singled, PH Ben Bodkin socked an RBI double, and moved to third base on Vic Ayres’ groundout, the second out of the inning. Shui’s 0-2 to Steve Reed was wild, plating the runner before Reed struck out on the next pitch. Steve Royer hit an infield single with two outs in the bottom 7th against Brian Shan, which for the Coons’ last hour of flailing or so counted for a major offensive outbreak. He was also left stranded when Lonzo grounded out. Instead, Ryan Harmer served up a leadoff jack to Ivan Villa in the eighth inning, 5-2, although he also struck out four in pitching the last two hopeless innings. 5-2 Gold Sox. Lavorano 2-4; Kirkwood 2-3, BB;

This is fine.

(throws paperwork into the fireplace to hide from Nick Valdes how many millions were getting burned here for absolutely nothing)

Game 2
DEN: LF Ayres – SS Loguidice – 2B I. Villa – RF Angulo – C Mickle – 1B Serna – CF S. Reed – 3B Villacorta – P N. Robinson
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 2B Chavez – C Stanton – P Taki

Taki had a 1-2-3 first inning, then fumbled the second. Angulo and Mickle went to the corners with a walk, stolen base, and soft single, before Marty Serna brought in a run with a double off the wall in leftfield. Steve Reed’s sac fly made it 2-0, while Leo Villacorta hit a single to right, but Caballero threw out Serna at the plate to keep things from further escalating. The inning ended with Robinson grounding out to Lonzo. The Sox would tack on a third run in the fourth inning that scored entirely on errors by Pucks and Stanton, then actually got an earned run in the fifth on base knocks by Ayres and Villa. So no, Taki wasn’t fooling anybody, but at least the Raccoons were winning at the “hide” part of the daily hide and seek game. They had one hit through five innings, and when Adriano Chavez drew a walk in the bottom 5th, he was immediately picked off by Robinson.

When Taki singled to lead off the bottom 6th, it was only the Coons’ second knock in the game, and it came as quite the stunner when Chris Kirkwood cracked a homer to left with two outs, cutting the previous 4-0 gap in half. Venegas and Stanton hit singles in the bottom 7th, but Harry Ramsay’s PH appearance in the #9 hole yielded no fruits this time, and the inning ended on his fly out. The Raccoons then inserted Brobeck to pitch the last two innings, while keeping Ramsay at first, so Brobeck went in the #5 hole. That made him appear with two outs and the tying runs on base against Victor Mondragon in the bottom 8th after Kirkwood and Caballero got on base with two outs, a single off Robinson and then a double off Mondragon. Brobeck hit a fly to deep center, but it was caught by Steve Reed and the Raccoons were denied again. Instead, Brobeck waved across an insurance run in the ninth inning as Serna hit a leadoff single, stole second, advanced on Reed’s groundout, and got home on a wild pitch. 5-2 Gold Sox. Kirkwood 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Venegas 2-4; Chavez 1-2, BB;

So, fourth straight year of facing the Gold Sox in the regular season, fourth straight series lost. Also the fourth straight loss in the 2056 schedule. I’m running out red ink for the pocket schedule.

Game 3
DEN: 3B Serna – SS Loguidice – 2B I. Villa – RF Angulo – C Mickle – 1B Bodkin – LF Siddens – CF S. Reed – P Llorens
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Espinoza – 2B Bribiesca – C Stanton – P Sweeton

Six singles were scattered equally between the two teams, but no pitchers were harmed through five mostly lousy innings on Sunday, but notably Arturo Bribiesca, in his second attempt of the day, found a single in shallow left for his first career hit after starting his major league scorebook 0-for-9 with two strikeouts. His next time up he found a double play with the shortstop Colt Loguidice to erase Espinoza and his 1-out single and ending the bottom 7th, still in a scoreless game. The inning before, Lonzo had singled and been caught stealing as things continued to just not click for him for an extended period. Sweeton then fell in the eighth inning to first a Llorens single with one out, and then a 2-out RBI single through the left side by Loguidice. He was hit for by Venegas in the bottom 8th, and the pinch-hitter snuck a single through the most convenient seam to put the tying run on base with one down. Royer’s groundout moved him to second base, and when Lonzo rolled over to Marty Serna and Serna’s throw went well over Ben Bodkin and into the dugout, Venegas scored to tie the game again. Mondragon replaced Llorens, walked Kirkwood, walked Caballero as well, and then got Ramsay to ground out in another 3-2 count…

At this point we remembered that, hey, Matt Walters exists. Showing some rust from a week on the sidelines, Walter walked PH John Miller to begin the top of the ninth, but then saw pinch-runner Chris Lauterbach caught stealing before retiring the next two batters. Daniel Espinoza led off the bottom 9th against Mondragon, zinged a ball up the rightfield line for extra bases, but instead of stopping at second base, which technically – even for the Raccoons! – constituted scoring position, he went on to third base, where he was thrown out by rightfielder Jesus Mendoza. I gasped, and Maud hurried to get a box of cookies. Stanton hit a 2-out single, but Pucks struck out to send the game to extras. The Raccoons went with Tanizaki for the tenth, and the Sox went with a leadoff single for Mendoza, a walk drawn by Ayres, and eventually a sac fly to go ahead off Serna’s bat before Loguidice grounded out on a 3-1 pitch to leave Ayres on third base. Jim Cushing got the ball for Denver for the bottom 10th, retired Royer, retired Lonzo, and … gave up a single to Kirkwood through the left side. Caballero did him one better with a gapper in left-center for a double that sent Kirkwood home to score from first base (albeit with a head start) and tied the game at two. Rams completed the comeback with a single to right-center, chasing Caballero home from second base. 3-2 Critters. Lavorano 2-5; Sweeton 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K;

No honorable mention for Daniel Espinoza, the dumb ****, for getting thrown out at third base as the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, despite getting three hits on the day. On the wall of shame with you!!

Raccoons (29-33) @ Miners (31-32) – June 12-14, 2056

On the road again, the Raccoons had three more games in Pittsburgh before the draft, which would fall on our off day on Thursday, so at least I didn’t have to miss grumbling at the dolts in person this year. Pittsburgh ranked fourth in the FL East, just two games out, and fourth in offense in the Federal League. They were also sixth in runs allowed, with a +26 run differential that didn’t really mesh with their record. There was a lot of “mid” in their team stats, but they did have a .358 OBP, second-best in their league. Ryan Spehar and Jamie Guidry were the only notable DL cases for them, while the Raccoons had won this matchup, two games to one, last season.

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (2-4, 4.12 ERA) vs. Josh Swindell (4-4, 2.48 ERA)
Julian Dunn (3-3, 4.18 ERA) vs. Jose Arias (5-3, 4.09 ERA)
He Shui (5-5, 4.50 ERA) vs. Jeff Crowley (4-6, 4.62 ERA)

Arias was their resident southpaw starter.

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – 3B Venegas – LF Kirkwood – RF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – SS Chavez – C Fiore – 2B Bribiesca – P Kniep
PIT: 2B A. Vasquez – SS Russ – CF Abercrombie – 3B Corrales – C Monaghan – 1B Abecassis – LF C. Jimenez – RF Thomason – P Swindell

Pucks singled, stole second, and after Chavez walked behind him, scored on Matt Fiore’s double to right for the first run of the week in the top 2nd. Bribiesca flew to modestly deep left for the second out, and Adriano Chavez went from third base for home plate and was thrown out by Chris Jimenez for the third out of the inning. The lead didn’t last long; Kniep retired the first six Miners in order, then walked the bases full with Chris Jimenez, Nick Thomason (one of the returns in the Barel trade some years back), and Alex Vasquez. ANOTHER walk to ******* Andrew Russ forced in the tying run, Josh Abercrombie – coming in batting .349 – hit an RBI single for a Miners lead, and Victor Corrales added another run with a groundout. Then Kniep walked a fifth batter, Eric Monaghan… Alex Abecassis popped out, but by then I was thoroughly distraught. Kniep returned for the bottom 4th, got a groundout from Jimenez on a 2-0 pitch, then walked Thomason on four pitches yet again. Swindell’s bunt was mishandled by Kniep, who was then yanked and sent to a dark corner to think about what he had ******* done.

It began to rain at about the same time; Eloy Sencion got five outs from there, while Ryan Harmer offered Nick Thomason’s third walk of the day in the bottom 6th, then conceded the run on a 2-out hit by Vasquez, which gave the Miners a 4-1 lead on two ******* hits. That was all they’d get, while the Raccoons scattered six hits against Josh Swindell, who would get credit for a rain-shortened complete game when the contest disappeared into a rain delay finally in the seventh inning and never re-emerged from it. 4-1 Miners. Venegas 2-3; Fiore 1-2, 2B, RBI; Sencion 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

(deep groan from the bottom of the soul)

This was the first game of the year in which Lonzo did not appear.

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 3B Brobeck – 1B Ramsay – 2B Bribiesca – C Stanton – P Dunn
PIT: 2B A. Vasquez – SS Russ – CF Abercrombie – 3B Corrales – 1B Abecassis – LF C. Jimenez – C Monaghan – RF Thomason – P J. Arias

Two scoreless innings to begin Tuesday’s contest were followed by the Raccoons putting Julian Dunn on base on a Corrales error with one out in the top 3rd. Royer and Lonzo loaded the bases with singles, then barely took the lead on a Kirkwood sac fly to deep left. Caballero also hit a deep fly to right, but that was caught for the third out by Thomason. The bags were full again in the fourth; Brobeck hit an infield single, but was forced out by Ramsay. Bribiesca doubled to left-center, which could have been an RBI with anybody but Rams on first base, but instead the Miners felt free to add Stanton to the bases intentionally to get Dunn to the dish with three on and one out. Dunn poked at the first pitch he got, flying out to Abercrombie in centerfield. Ramsay went for home somewhat opportunistically, which caught Abercrombie by surprise and led to a terrible throw that Monaghan had to chase up the first base line, allowing the trailing runners to advance as well. Royer then grounded out to short, stranding a pair. The Miners then got a sac fly of their own in the bottom 4th after Dunn like a dunce filled the bases with a leadoff single by Corrales, then two walks and nobody out. Monaghan popped out to Brobeck, but Thomason hit a sac fly to Royer, 2-1. Arias went down whiffing.

Top 5th, bases loaded *again*. Kirkwood socked a 1-out double, Caballero walked, and Brobeck snuck a soft single to stuff the sacks. Ramsay hit a sac fly to center (say!), but Bribiesca got an actual RBI knock when he crashed a ball through Corrales and all the way into the corner for a 2-out, 2-run triple…! An intentional walk to Stanton (again!) and a K on Dunn ended the inning. Dunn would go seven innings, getting around a leadoff double by Corrales in the sixth and being resuced after walks to Thomason and Vasquez in the seventh when Lonzo started a 6-4-3 inning-ender on Andrew Russ (hiss!).

The Coons tacked on a run with two outs in the top 8th when Solorzano (still on the roster, though hiding like a pro) found the gap for a pinch-hit triple, then scored on Royer’s single. That was the last run of the game, with scoreless relief by Lillis and Brobeck after seven messy innings by Dunn. 6-1 Raccoons. Royer 3-5, RBI; Kirkwood 2-4, 2B, RBI; Caballero 2-3, BB; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1; Brobeck 2-5; Bribiesca 2-4, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Solorzano (PH) 1-1, 3B;

Now, here’s a crazy thought – maybe win a series?

Game 3
POR: CF Solorzano – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 2B Bribiesca – C Fiore – P Shui
PIT: 2B A. Vasquez – SS Russ – CF Abercrombie – 3B Corrales – 1B Abecassis – LF C. Jimenez – C W. Gardner – RF Thomason – P Crowley

Probably not, given that He Shui fell on the snout as soon as he had his cleats on. Vasquez walked to begin the Miners’ efforts in the bottom 1st, stole a base, and scored on two groundouts from there. Corrales’ single and Abecassis’ double then added a second run with two down before Chris Jimenez grounded out. The Miners scored another run like their first in the third inning. Shui walked Vasquez to begin the inning AGAIN, he stole second AGAIN, and he scored on the hands of Abercrombie AGAIN, this time with a hit. Corrales forced out the runner, then reached third on another single by Abecassis as Shui just kept putting them on. Jimenez grounded out to second to strand a pair on the corners. Vasquez knocked a leadoff single in the fifth when he was back at the dish, but this time didn’t get a steal off and was stranded. What an improvement.

The Coons had two meager hits off Crowley through five innings, but Solorzano and Lonzo hit 1-out singles in the sixth and Kirkwood walked in a full count to load the bases. Rams got ahead 2-0 after that before striking a firm 2-run single to right, and Pucks tried to shake off the slump with another one like those, just better: he got the ball by Thomason and into the corner for a triple, flipping the score from 3-2 Miners to 4-3 Critters…! Venegas walked, and Bribiesca put Crowley out of his misery with an RBI single to center. Brett Graham almost managed to get out of the inning until he gave up a 2-out RBI single to Shui, 6-3. Solorzano ended the inning with a grounder to Vasquez, leaving two runners on base.

From there, Shui logged another six outs with significantly less panic than earlier, shedding only a single to ex-Coon Wade Gardner, but got through seven innings with the 6-3 lead still intact. Eloy Sencion would get the eighth inning against the all-lefty 3-4-5 batters, whiffing two and not letting anybody on base. Walters would gt the ninth when the lead was still three runs. He struck out three, but not without another Wade Gardner single and another walk drawn by Thomason, both with one out. 6-3 Furballs. Lavorano 2-5; Ramsay 2-4, 2 RBI; Shui 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (6-5) and 2-3, RBI;

In other news

June 5 – WAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.375, 9 HR, 27 RBI) has two hits in an 11-5 loss to the Miners, with a 2-run home run in the ninth inning, but it is his second-inning single off PIT SP Victor Salcido (3-2, 6.23 ERA) that puts him on 2,000 hits for his career in his first season as a Capital after spending his entire career previously with the Blue Sox, winning Player of the Year honors in 2052 along with three Gold Gloves and four Platinum Sticks.
June 6 – TOP SP/MR Pat DiLullo (2-4, 8.91 ERA) has his struggles end for the year after being diagnosed with a torn back muscle.
June 6 – The Cyclones get INF/LF Gabriel Keller (.223, 4 HR, 14 RBI) and a prospect from the Wolves for all of AAA catcher Ruben Zamora, a 32-year-old backstop with 21 career homers.
June 6 – The Stars beat the Wolves, 5-4 in 18 innings. INF Steve Diaz (.279, 2 HR, 9 RBI), in only his 11th game of the season, hits the tie-breaking home run in the top of the 18th inning.
June 9 - OCT OF Tim Weant (.281, 4 HR, 22 RBI) leads the attack with seven RBI on four hits, including two home runs as the Thunder out-slug the Miners, 14-11.
June 9 – The Scorpions rout the Indians, 16-0 on 20 base hits. SAC SS/2B Matt Knight (.298, 5 HR, 33 RBI) leads all players with four RBI on three base hits, including a double.
June 11 – The Loggers send SP Juan Mercado (1-4, 4.78 ERA) to the Buffaloes for #140 prospect SP Ernesto Culver.
June 14 – TIJ C Manny Poindexter (.262, 6 HR, 21 RBI) is handed down a 15-game suspension for taking a swing with his bat at NAS MR Mike Chartrand (1-1, 3.35 ERA, 1 SV) after getting hit by a pitch from the right-hander, who gets a suspension of his own for following up by punching Poindexter in the kisser.
June 14 – The Warriors score in every inning bar one in a 16-10 shootout win over the Aces. Sioux Falls’ Steve Dilly (.253, 8 HR, 29 RBI) rocks four hits (with a homer and a double) and drives in five runs to lead all players in both categories.
June 15 – Capitals outfielder Dan Martin (.264, 12 HR, 42 RBI) could miss six weeks with an oblique strain.

FL Player of the Week: SFW 2B Mike DeFusco (.299, 4 HR, 13 RBI), batting .500 (9-18) with 1 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN INF Alan Leitch (.317, 1 HR, 18 RBI), batting .619 (13-21) with 0 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Elks claimed Alan Leitch off waivers from the Pacifics last month; he was hitting over .300 for either team.

Thursday’s rainout in Boston would be made up this month, since the Raccoons were scheduled to be back in Boston as soon as June 29 through July 2. This gave us a nice and frightening 5-game set in four days in the middle of the pre-All Star Game run of 17 games without a reprieve. Swell.

Still don’t know what to make of the team. Now down four key players, just under .500, and with a +4 run differential, yet a dozen games back in division… I don’t see us pull this out of the dumpster again. I mean, there’s still about $5M in the budget, but it’s not like we have the abundance of prospects required to swing the big trades needed in the next six weeks.

After the draft, we’ll be home for six games with the Loggers and Indians, and then it’s off for a three-city road trip starting in Atlanta. The off day on Thursday is the last before the All Star Game, though.

Fun Fact: 25 years ago today, Jonas Mejia threw a no-hitter against the Aces.

Mejia as a right-hander that was briefly among the best pitchers in the Federal League in the late 2020s and early 2030s. He won 17+ games four times between 2028 and 2033, including leading the CL in wins as a Condor in ’28 in his only season in the CL. He was never a big strikeout pitcher but usually kept it on the ground. He never led the league in ERA either, but posted a 2.67 ERA in 2030.

Through his 15-year career, mostly with Dallas and Pittsburgh, Mejia went 189-163 with a 3.92 ERA and 2,130 K in 3,124.2 innings. He was an All Star once, ironically also in 2028 with the Condors.

[Westheim]

2056 AMATEUR DRAFT

The draft fell on the off day, which was rather convenient, and with the team travelling in the other direction, which was as well, since I could get their sorry faces out of my sight for a day.

The Raccoons entered armed with the #24 (last) pick in every round, which was the price of finishing the previous season with the best record in the league (and boy, wasn’t there anything left of that glow…!), and a pick in the supplemental round, and of course also the annual hotlist that I insisted on Eric Hartwig begrudgingly compiling (*high school player):

SP Jason Bair (11/15/11) * – BNN #8
SP D.C. Kozick (12/11/16) *
SP Carson Miller (11/11/12) *
SP Mike DeWitt (13/15/11) *

CL Elijah LaBat (14/16/11)

C Curt Goodwin (11/14/13)
C Josh Heath (8/15/9) * – BNN #3

1B Danny Starwalt (8/14/17)
1B Joe Agee (7/10/14)
INF/LF Elliott Grant (14/8/10) *

OF Tyler Wharton (15/12/13) *
OF Eddie Marcotte (12/16/14) * – BNN #10
OF Tommy Branch (9/15/11) – BNN #9
UT Jorge Moreno (11/1/10) *

We had already talked about D.C. “Kyle Brobeck but better” Kozick, who could be whatever you wanted him to be, starting pitcher or third baseman. The stick was formidable (for a pitcher especially), but he might just be a lot more valuable as a pitcher, despite a rather unimpressive 87mph at this point. His selection of cutter, changeup, and circle change in addition to that fastball made me foam from the mouth, and I was ready to scratch the eyes out of every GM that tried to use one of the prior 23 picks on him.

The #1 pick was with the Stars and they selected Tyler Wharton with it, swiftly followed by the Titans picking another outfielder in Eddie Marcotte, and then Curt Goodwin going to the Aces. The Rebels picked Danny Starwalt with the #4 selection, while #5 was the first pitcher taken in the draft and the first guy not on our hotlist, left-hander Ben Caldwell. The Wolves were up next and selected Tommy Branch.

The next hotlist selection didn’t come until the Cyclones took a fancy with Josh Heath at #9. Without interruption then, Jason Bair went to the Miners, and Elliott Grant to the Pacifics. Mike DeWitt went to Indy at #14, after which a lull ensued with the hotlist.

…which was abruptly broken when the Crusaders tore by heart out by taking D.C. Kozick with their ******* #21 pick. All my dreams were dead, once again. Carson Miller went #22 to the Capitals right after that, so the Raccoons could only pick between the closer LaBat, first-sacker Agee, and super utility (but mostly outfielder) Jorge Moreno. We went with Agee… I already didn’t like his face…

Our supplemental round pick came at #36; to anybody’s surprise both LaBat and Moreno were still on the board at that point, which sure boded well. We went with the lefty closing candidate LaBat, which was the wrong name to have for a pitcher, but if he wouldn’t pan out I could then blame it on the universe rather than my own ineptitude, which was a train of thought I liked a lot.

For better or worse, Moreno was STILL around when we had our second-round pick. At this point I had lost faith anyway…

+++

2056 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#24) – 1B Joe Agee, 21, from New York, NY – big city kid with a big city mouth (he knows words…) that isn’t rated very highly, but was an OBP machine in college. How that would work out with the lumbering speed and the middling lumber remained to be seen.
Supp. Round (#36) – CL Elijah LaBat, 22, from Cheyenne, WY – left-hander with a cutter and curveball and very good movement; if he can figure out the spots on the cutter better, he could make it to the back end of a major league pen
Round 2 (#68) – UT Jorge Moreno, 19, from Ponce, Puerto Rico – right-handed batting super utility player more adapted to the outfield, and then really centerfield because he had no power to speak of. Could be a speed singles slapper, though.
Round 3 (#92) – SP Bobby Sneeze, 21, from Los Angeles, CA – I swear we’re not picking them by name yet; right-hander with three nice pitches and a lack of movement that was somewhat concerning, as was his obesity.
Round 4 (#116) – SP Scott Gerhard, 21, from Moline, IL – right-hander with a nice fastball, slider, and some complementary crap that needed work quite badly, as was his tendency to throw it all right down the middle
Round 5 (#140) – CL Jason Slayton, 20, from Elsa, TX – this right-hander was the best baseball player in his town of like 5,000 people; fastball at 93 and a knuckle curve to make people uncomfortable
Round 6 (#164) – OF Scott Maynard, 18, from Picnic Point-North Lynnwood, WA – run of the mill outfielder that could do a bit of everything – poke, run, throw, catch – but wasn’t really good at anything
Round 7 (#188) – C Cortez Chavez, 22, from Medford, NJ – your basic, middle-round catcher, hitting a little for average, but for little power, no speed, and not especially pretty behind the dish
Round 8 (#212) – LF/RF Justin Zych, 22, from Marrero, LA – good eye at the plate and a decent swing, but little power at a power position and not a lot of speed on the base paths or in the field, leading to questions where to even hide him
Round 9 (#236) – MR Bryan Feasel, 20, from Cheektowaga, NY – fastball and splitter, and huuuge control problems for this right-hander
Round 10 (#260) – 2B John Finney, 19, from Bellflower, CA – bit bland, even for a right-handed hitting second baseman without a ton of speed or power, but had quite a good eye and patience at the plate
Round 11 (#284) – SP Chris Fishburn, 19, from San Francisco, CA – left-hander with a fastball and slider, which is not much less than what Nick Brown started with
Round 12 (#308) – C Jim McBride, 18, from San Leandro, CA – clumsy, lead-footed backstop with a hunch of power potential
Round 13 (#332) – LF/RF Cody Friedman, 19, from Milford Mill, MD – slow and without power at a power position, Friedman was the ideal Mr. Irrelevant…!

+++

Some other warm bodies had to go of course. This included a former 13th round pick, left-hander Angel Fernandez, who had held on for six years, but was let go with nine walks allowed in just 3.1 innings in Ham Lake after washing out as a starter two years ago. A few non-draftee pitchers were also sent out the door.

For position players, we parted with 25-year-old 2054 fifth-rounder C Alan Olsen, who was really stuck in AA. C/1B Lance Stephens, last year’s last-rounder, was released, as was 2050 third-rounder OF Jim Matthews, age 26 by now. More outfielders culled included LF/RF Justin Bartnick (2053, 12th Round).

All draft picks were assigned to Aumsville.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (31-34) vs. Loggers (30-33) – June 16-18, 2056

The state of the 2056 Raccoons was perhaps most fittingly expressed with the little factoid that they were 1-3 against the Loggers so far. Milwaukee’s Finest were a crummy bunch, eighth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed with a -12 run differential (Coons: +4), but always remember that these teams were in a virtual tie for pretty much nothing. The Loggers also had their share of injuries, being without Jesus Burgos and Dave Robles, while Eric Miller and Steve Valenzano were day-to-day. These were all position players, making an already meek lineup even meeker.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (6-7, 3.83 ERA) vs. Jamie Kempf (5-4, 3.92 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (5-3, 2.93 ERA) vs. Victor Scott (3-6, 4.96 ERA)
Craig Kniep (2-5, 4.40 ERA) vs. Roberto Alvarado (2-4, 4.82 ERA)

Scott was the only left-hander we expected, although there was also the possibility of Angelo Munoz (2-1, 4.10 ERA) making more spot starts and jumbling the order here.

Game 1
MIL: 2B B. Rivera – CF Okano – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – RF Callaia – C M. Torres – SS Gaxiola – 3B T. Edwards – P Kempf
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B Chavez – P Taki

The weather looked iffy, so it was perhaps not a bad idea to take an early lead, but Taki did exactly the opposite and walked Yukinari Okano in the first inning, then surrendered the run on singles by David Worthington and Gaudencio Callaia with two outs before Marvin Torres whiffed. Taki would put the 4-5 batters on base again in the fourth inning by nailing Worthington and seeing Callaia leg out an infield single, but the next three Loggers went down without much forte, only for Taki to also drill Kempf at the start of the fifth inning. Both benches were by now a bit annoyed with Taki, who nevertheless got a double play grounder from Okano to Lonzo to bugger out of the inning. And the Coons? Dozen up, dozen down for Kempf so far, and the 4-5-6 in the bottom 5th didn’t exactly cash in on Kempf having gotten plunked earlier and disappeared in order as well, with strikeouts to Pucks and Venegas.

Perry Pigman drew a leadoff walk in the sixth as the Loggers continued to get the leadoff guy on base and even more stringently continued to do their darndest to strand him. Pigman stole second base, but was still stranded on third base. Kempf lost the perfecto on his own error, fumbling Fiore’s bouncer to begin the bottom 6th, then the no-hitter as well when Adriano Chavez doubled to right. He lost the lead eventually, getting Taki out without damage, but Steve Royer walked and Lonzo singled home a pair to flip the score. Kirkwood raked a 2-run double to left as everything collapsed rather noisily for the Loggers. Ramsay flicked an RBI single, 5-1, before the inning fizzled out. Offensively the Loggers couldn’t touch Taki anymore in the seventh and eighth before Kirkwood’s solo home run off Alan Marshall added on a run in the bottom 8th. Taki entered the ninth inning on 98 pitches, facing Callaia to begin the affair, got a groundout, then walked Torres. The pen was now ready to come in, but Taki still had some left, got a pop from Robby Gaxiola, and then had Travis Edwards ground out to Ramsay. 6-1 Raccoons. Kirkwood 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Chavez 2-3, 2B; Taki 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (7-7);

Game 2
MIL: CF B. Rivera – SS Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – RF Callaia – 3B G. Cabrera – C M. Torres – 2B T. Edwards – P V. Scott
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 3B Brobeck – 1B Puckeridge – 2B Bribiesca – C Stanton – P Sweeton

The Loggers scored first again on Saturday with an RBI double to left-center from Marvin Torres in the second inning, driving in Gaudencio Callaia. The Raccoons seemed to prepare an answer or at least set up everybody for disappointment in the bottom 2nd, getting three singles from the 5-6-7 batters to load the bases with nobody out. The Loggers successfully manufactured another implosion, though; Scott threw a wild pitch to score Brobeck and tie the game, then was directed to put Matt Stanton on intentionally. The Coons took the lead on a balk, and after Sweeton was done striking out, Steve Royer lined a double to left, driving in two more runs for a 4-1 lead.

Sweeton held on to the 4-1 lead, but not for very long. He was rather inefficient and continued to pitch in long counts and ran up 92 pitches through five innings. The Loggers were kind enough to hurry and make three outs on seven pitches in the sixth inning, and Edwards grounded out to start the seventh against Sweeton, but he was then lifted when left-handed Ryan Bishton pinch-hit for Scott. Lillis replaced him, but didn’t meet with much success. He walked Bishton, who stole second base, and then gave up the run on Bobby Rivera’s single to right-center, 4-2. Bottom 7th, the Coons began with a walk to Stanton and then a pinch-hit single by Solorzano, then batted Ramsay for Royer and quickly found themselves with a double play grounder roughing up the inning. Lonzo grounded out to strand Stanton at third base. Worthington’s leadoff single in the eighth off Mike Lane at least fell victim to Callaia’s 4-6-3 double play bouncer, so the Loggers weren’t much more successful.

We then got to sit out an hour-long rain delay in the bottom 8th, because it was summer in Portland, obviously. At least it didn’t rain on Matt Walters’ parade – he retired the Loggers in order with one strikeout on Okano in the ninth inning. 4-2 Raccoons. Royer 1-2, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Stanton 0-1, 2 BB; Solorzano (PH) 1-1;

Game 3
MIL: CF B. Rivera – 3B G. Cabrera – LF Pigman – 1B Worthington – RF Callaia – SS E. Miller – C M. Torres – 2B Gaxiola – P R. Alvarado
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B Chavez – P Kniep

Royer doubled, Lonzo singled, and another wild pitch gave the Coons a 1-0 lead in the first inning before Lonzo was caught stealing third base. It wasn’t his month… or year… Same for Craig Kniep, who offered a leadoff walk in the first and second innings. He got around the first one, but not the second one, not even close. Torres singled home Callaia, who had stolen second base after drawing that ******* walk, tying the game, but Kniep just kept dishing out walks. He walked Gaxiola, conceded two runs on a Rivera hit, then walked Gil Cabrera, too. Pigman lined out to Ramsay to end the dismal inning with a 3-1 score. So he was neither efficient, nor successful, and while Sweeton had at least made it through six and a third on Saturday, Kniep needed 100 pitches to wobble through five innings with six hits and five walks against him. At least the Loggers didn’t score any more runs.

Somehow that would get him in line for the W after the bottom 5th. The Raccoons hadn’t done much since their first-inning run had given them a brief lead, but Chavez and the pinch-hitter Caballero began the bottom 5th with singles against Alvarado. Royer flew out, but Lonzo hit a blast to left-center and over the wall for a score-flipping, 3-run homer!! Lonzooooo!! Totally his month! And year! … The inning continued as Alvarado came apart at the seams. He walked Ramsay and Pucks with two down, then gave up a single to Venegas. Fiore’s roller on the infield couldn’t be played by anybody with a forest-green hat, and everybody moved up 90 feet for another run. Chavez then singled home a pair, 7-3, before Caballero struck out to end the inning. What was it with the huge innings…!?

Milwaukee answered with two runs in the sixth. Ryan Harmer failed two runners on base and Eloy Sencion gave up a 2-out, 2-run triple to Pigman to get them across home plate to score, 7-5. Portland replied with one run in the bottom 6th against John Norris: Royer singled, stole second, and after moving to third on Lonzo’s groundout scored on Kirkwood’s sac fly to deep center. Eric Miller, Marvin Torres, and Yuki Okano all hit singles off Brobeck to counter that run in the top 7th, and the Loggers loaded the bases in the eighth inning. With two outs, Lonzo’s error put Callaia on base, and Brobeck filled the bags with a walk to Miller and a Torres single. Matt Walters was brought in for hopefully a 4-out save, but blew it before getting any outs as Gaxiola, the little pest, hit a single through the left side on a 1-2 pitch and drove in the tying runs. All even at eight, then. Gil Cabrera singled but three Loggers struck out in the ninth inning against Walters to keep the game even, while the Raccoons tried to shake one more run out of their sticks to complete the sweep in regulation, but Matt Fiore’s 2-out single against righty Ryan Dow was not enough in the bottom 9th.

Top 10th, Tanizaki struck out three after a gross throwing error by Venegas put the leadoff man Callaia on base, keeping the Loggers from scoring. Tanizaki had entered in a double switch with Bribiesca, who led off the bottom of the inning with a double to left, presenting a superb chance to walk off. Royer struck out. Lonzo grounded out. Kirkwood grounded out. (looks at Honeypaws, then just opens another bottle of Capt’n Coma) The 11th inning began like the 10th, with a 2-base throwing error, this time by Tanizaki himself, putting Travis Edwards on second base for no greater good. Cabrera singled, and Pigman brought in a run, but cleaned up the bases with a 6-4-3 double play grounder. Then Worthington and Callaia blasted back-to-back bombs… Sam Webb retired the Coons in order in the bottom of the inning… 11-8 Loggers. Royer 3-6, 2B; Lavorano 2-6, HR, 3 RBI; Venegas 2-6; Fiore 4-5, RBI; Chavez 3-5, 2 RBI; Caballero (PH) 1-2; Bribiesca (PH) 1-1, 2B;

(tired look)

Raccoons (33-35) vs. Indians (23-45) – June 19-21, 2056

While we didn’t know what had happened to the Coons, specifically, the Indians were going through an even more precipitous drop, carpet-crawling along at a .338 pace with the third-worst offense, the very worst pitching, and a -94 run differential. Their rotation seemed to have collectively hit the *******, and the defense was rightfully atrocious and the worst in the league. Also, no homers. Jose Garza and Chris Briggs were on the CL along with pitcher Salvatore Calderon, which couldn’t make the team much worse than it already was. And yet, the season series was even at three…

Projected matchups:
He Shui (6-5, 4.44 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (6-5, 5.13 ERA)
Julian Dunn (4-3, 3.88 ERA) vs. Juan Vasquez (1-7, 5.64 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (7-7, 3.56 ERA) vs. Jeremy Fetta (1-9, 6.60 ERA)

All righties, all terrible. Watch us get swept with three runs to our fuzzy names.

Game 1
IND: 2B Ewers – SS Bahena – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B D. Sandoval – CF Oldfield – C Mi. Gilmore – RF Lovins – LF Perry – P Brink
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – CF Solorzano – C Fiore – 2B Bribiesca – P Shui

Lonzo bashed a home run for the second game in a row, and this one came after Venegas had reached base to begin the bottom 1st, giving Shui a quick 2-0 lead. The 3-4-5 went single, single, walk, filling the bases with nobody out, and nobody would be put out for quite a while yet. Brink nailed Solorzano to force in a run, Fiore singled home two, and then Bribiesca finally grounded out, but btought in Solorzano with the sixth run of the game. A K to Shui and Venegas’ groundout ended the inning, but it was another 6-spot…!

Three singles scored a run for Indy in the top 2nd, while Brink was already pinch-hit for and thus disposed of quickly. Shui kept scattering hits, but also landed a leadoff single in the fourth. Lonzo singled as well, and when Brad Barnes walked Kirkwood, the bags were full again. Ramsay did what he did best, though, hitting into an inning-ending double play. Shui would only last six innings, which included getting taken deep by Bernie Bahena (who?) in the sixth inning to get the Indians back into slam range. Portland found an answer though against lefty Shane Fitzgibbon; Espinoza singled in place of Shui in the bottom 6th, Lonzo reached base on an error with two outs, and Kirkwood pounced with a double into the left-center gap, driving home both runners. Ramsay singled to right, with Kirkwood scoring from second once Chris Lovins overran the ball for another error, 9-2. Pucks finally struck out. Ryan Harmer pitched two scoreless innings then, which was probably the biggest indictment of the Indians we had seen yet, and Sencion had a 1-2-3 ninth to get the game into the books. 9-2 Raccoons. Lavorano 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Kirkwood 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Ramsay 2-4, RBI; Espinoza (PH) 1-2; Shui 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (7-5) and 1-2; Harmer 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Game 2
IND: 2B Ewers – SS Bahena – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B D. Sandoval – RF McIntyre – CF Oldfield – C Mi. Gilmore – LF Lovins – P J. Vasquez
POR: RF Caballero – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – CF Puckeridge – 3B Espinoza – 2B Bribiesca – C Stanton – P Dunn

Again, the Raccoons would have a huge inning on Tuesday, although they let everybody wait quite a while for it. The game began with the Indians taking a 1-0 lead in the first thanks to Kevin Ewers’ leadoff triple and a sac fly for Bernie Bahena. Dunn then walked a pair in the second inning, but otherwise reeled in his pitchery, while nevertheless bunting badly twice for two force outs at second base of Matt Stanton whenever the Raccoons had ached through their lineup again. Through five and two thirds, the Raccoons had two base hits. And then they tore Vasquez a new one with two outs in the bottom 6th. Pucks doubled, then scored on Espinoza’s single. Bribiesca’s double to left gave the Raccoons a 2-1 lead, after which Stanton was walked with intent. Dunn snipped an RBI single on a 3-1 pitch for a 3-1 lead, though, and a fourth run would eventually score on a wild pitch. Vasquez walked the bags full before Kirkwood flew out to shallow left, making the first and last outs in the inning.

Bottom 7th, Rams bopped a double to center to get going. Pucks walked, but Espinoza hit into a 6-4-3 double play. Left-hander Bill Dewan then allowed an RBI single to Bribiesca, another single to Stanton, and ANOTHER RBI single to Dunn. Caballero grounded out to end the inning. One more 2-out run in the eighth then, when Steve Royer pinch-hit for Pucks and singled home Kirkwood. Dunn would enter the ninth, but didn’t emerge from it, at least not triumphantly. Bill Quinteros grounded out, but then Dan Sandoval reached on Rams’ error, Will McIntyre walked, and Antonio Rios hit a soft single. Six up, three on, and only one out. Mike Lane rung up Mike Gilmore, and Chris Lovins flew out to Kirkwood to end the game. 7-1 Raccoons. Kirkwood 2-5, 2B; Ramsay 2-5, 2B; Royer (PH) 1-1, RBI; Espinoza 2-5, RBI; Bribiesca 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Stanton 2-2, 2 BB; Dunn 8.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (5-3) and 2-3, 2 RBI;

Back to .500 … wheee…

Also, all Critters runs in this game scored with two outs. It’s one of those games that makes you mad if you’re on the other side.

Game 3
IND: 2B Ewers – SS Bahena – 1B B. Quinteros – RF McIntyre – CF Oldfield – C Mi. Gilmore – 3B A. Rios – LF French – P Fetta
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B Bribiesca – P Taki

The Indians sure tried to repay the Coons in kind on Wednesday, hitting three 2-out singles off Taki in the second inning, but then came up to the pitcher’s slot and Taki prevailed with a K to strand the bases loaded. In turn, Portland had the bases loaded with nobody on in the bottom 2nd, Fetta filling them up for good when he plunked Fiore with Pucks and Venegas already aboard. Bribiesca hit a floater to Cory Oldfield, who simply fumbled the very easy catch for an error. The stunned Coons scored only one run on the play. Taki would hit a sac fly for a 2-0 lead, but then the inning fizzled out with outs from Royer and Lonzo.

Taki was busy, but not unsuccessful. He needed 76 pitches through five, whiffing seven, but also giving up five base hits. The last (at that stage) was another Ewers triple, this one into the rightfield corner, but it also came with two outs in the top 5th, and this time Bahena struck out. Taki whiffed two more while nailing McIntyre in the sixth, and was through seven shutout innings with 102 pitches. A shutout wasn’t in the cards, and the Raccoons were still only 2-0 ahead, getting out-hit by the Arrowheads. Bottom 7th, Bill Dewan offered a leadoff walk to Royer, who stole second base. Lonzo grounded out, but Caballero socked an RBI double to right, 3-0, but was left on when Dewan saw off Ramsay and Pucks. Taki struck out Bahena again on seven more pitches, but then yielded for Lillis in the eighth inning. Two quick outs later, the Raccoons readied Matt Walters after a pinch-hit single by Kirkwood in the bottom 8th led nowhere in particular. And Matt Walters stumbled…! Oldfield singled softly, and Gilmore was drilled. That brought up the tying run with nobody out. Rios and Larry Rodriguez both struck out, but Chris Lovins came through with a 2-out, 2-run, pinch-hit single that annoyed me greatly. Ewers floated out to Caballero to end the game and complete the sweep after all. 3-2 Coons. Royer 1-2, BB, 2B; Caballero 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Kirkwood (PH) 1-1; Taki 7.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K, W (8-7) and 1-2, RBI;

(looks at Matt Walters with great exasperation) But… but… but you were supposed to be invincible…!

(gets handed a bottle of Capt’n Coma by Slappy to make it all whole again)

Raccoons (36-35) @ Knights (49-23) – June 23-25, 2056

Bit of a culture shock – suddenly we were up against a competent team after running up the score against some bottom feeders for the last few series. The Knights were tied with the Falcons atop the CL South, double digits ahead of anybody else, while the second-place Coons were 9 1/2 back of the damn Elks on Friday morning. Atlanta ranked third in runs scored, first in runs allowed, and had a staggering +126 run differential nine games short of the halfway point of the regular season. Coons? +22. They were up 2-1 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Sean Sweeton (6-3, 2.83 ERA) vs. Terry Herman (9-1, 2.31 ERA)
Craig Kniep (2-5, 4.50 ERA) vs. Esteban Duran (7-4, 2.62 ERA)
He Shui (7-5, 4.34 ERA) vs. Austin Wilcox (4-5, 3.83 ERA)

Only right-handers. Only dominators.

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B Chavez – P Sweeton
ATL: CF Alade – C Almaguer – 2B W. Acosta – 1B P. Fowler – RF E. Moreno – LF Fink – SS Aguilera – 3B A. Lopez – P Herman

The Raccoons socked some off Terry Herman in the opening inning, when both Lonzo and Kirkwood zinged triples before Ramsay went over the fence altogether for a quick 3-0 lead. Good! Now we just needed Sweeton to put a really good start together…!

Well. He needed 44 pitches to get through the lineup once, giving up a solo jack to Eddie Moreno, who knocked his 19th of the season with 90 games to play. Through five frames he was also the only guy to get a hit off Sweeton, with a single in the bottom 4th, but the main problem was how Sweeton was running long counts up and down the lineup. Pedro Almaguer hit a leadoff single on a 1-2 pitch in the bottom 6th, but Sweeton would get through the meat of the order on only soft contact and without the runner even reaching scoring position.

The Raccoons had yet to do much since they scored three runs in the first inning, although twice already they had brought up Adriano Chavez with a guy in scoring position and two outs, and the Knights then put Chavez on intentionally before Herman carved up Sweeton on strikes to get out of the inning. Herman was gone after six innings, though, not that that helped the Raccoons to generate more offense against Morgan Aben. Sweeton went seven inning of 1-run ball, which was thoroughly respectable against this team. Eloy Sencion got the ball for the bottom 8th, allowed a sharp single to Mike Roberts and walked Jon Alade, and was then swiftly removed for Mike Lane, who saw off the 2-3-4 batters without allowing Roberts to score. Walters was handed the ball for the ninth. He threw just three pitches; Eddie Moreno flew out to Royer in deep center, but then John Fink and Alvin Aguilera grounded out meekly to Chavez. 3-1 Raccoons. Puckeridge 2-4; Chavez 1-2, 2 BB; Sweeton 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (7-3);

Game 2
POR: CF Caballero – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – 3B Espinoza – C Fiore – 2B Chavez – P Kniep
ATL: C Almaguer – CF Alade – 2B W. Acosta – RF E. Moreno – 1B P. Fowler – 3B Ri. Jimenez – LF Fink – SS Aguilera – P E. Duran

The prospect of Kniep going up against the Knights lineup made me ever so slightly queasy, and he promptly walked Almaguer on four pitches and nailed Jon Alade to begin his day. The crisis committee was out there really quickly, after which Kniep got out of the inning only allowing one run on Moreno’s sac fly. The Coons would equalize in the third inning with hits from Caballero and Ramsay, but Kniep walked Almaguer and Willie Acosta in a long bottom 3rd. Moreno eventually struck out, but Kniep was already well over 50 pitches…

This was without the Knights getting an actual *hit* off Kniep, but Alvin Aguilera singled up the middle to begin the bottom 5th, but was then forced out when Kniep pounced on a bad bunt by Duran and got the lead runner at second. Almaguer’s grounder to third base saw Venegas also get the lead runner at second base, and Alade grounded out easily to end the inning, the score still being tied at one. Pucks robbed Acosta of extra bases in the right-center gap to begin the bottom 6th, while the Raccoons knocked out Duran at the start of the seventh inning. Fiore singled over Acosta, Chavez walked, and then righty Matt Weber was too greedy on Kniep’s bunt, went to third base, but was too late, and the Knights didn’t get anybody. Three on, nobody out in a 1-1 game, the Coons’ 1-2-3 made three pathetic outs. They only got a 2-1 lead because Almaguer bumbled a ball thrown to Caballero, which got away for a passed ball, bringing in Matt Fiore…

Fiore was also crucial in the eighth inning. After Weber allowed a 2-out single to Espinoza, Fiore hit a blast to right-center to extend the lead to 4-1…! Kniep came back out for the eighth and awesomely and ably avoided Alex Lopez, Almaguer, and Alade all asking to acquire a base. That would be it though – he was already over 100 pitches after this eighth inning. Walters struck out two in a quick 1-2-3 ninth inning. 4-1 Coons. Fiore 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Chavez 2-3, BB, 2B; Kniep 8.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (3-5);

That Aguilera single was the only hit for the Knights in this game.

I wouldn’t classify their act as playoff form.

(is unnecessarily cocky and will certainly pay for it soon)

Game 3
POR: RF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – CF Solorzano – C Fiore – 2B Chavez – P Shui
ATL: CF Alade – C Almaguer – 2B W. Acosta – 1B P. Fowler – RF E. Moreno – LF Fink – SS Aguilera – 3B A. Lopez – P Wilcox

Anton Venegas wasn’t exactly making pitchers cry on a regular basis, but slapped a 2-out, 2-run single through the right side for a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning on Sunday. Lonzo had singled and Caballero had been nicked to get bodies on base. Venegas walked his next time up, which was to lead off the fourth inning in a game otherwise starved of offense. Solorzano flew out, but after Venegas stole second base he also scored when Matt Fiore singled to right-center, 3-0. Acosta homered off Shui in the bottom 4th to take that run away again, 3-1, while the Coons loaded the bases with Royer, Caballero, and Rams on a double and two 1-out walks in the fifth inning. Wilcox was out of sorts, ran a full count with Venegas, but then missed grossly with his sixth pitch, giving Venegas a bases-loaded walk and the Critters a 4-1 lead, with Venegas having his paws in every run they had scored so far, either as scoring himself or driving the run in. That was about to change, though. While Solorzano struck out for the second retirement of the inning, Matt Fiore belted a ball over the running Jon Alade for a 2-out, bases-clearing double and a 7-1 lead.

That was the end for Wilcox, while Shui kept going, holding the Knights to four hits through six innings without *much* trouble, that silly Acosta homer aside. The Coons had the bags full once more in the seventh, then against Jeremy Baker, who allowed hits to Rams, Solorzano, and Fiore. Chavez drew a bases-loaded walk, but Shui and Royer were retired to end the inning.

Shui went into the eighth, but put Lopez and Roberts on the corners with one out and was then lifted after 101 pitches. Eloy Sencion didn’t help, having his second outing in a row in which he retired nobody as he nailed Alade with a 1-2 pitch and then went his merry ways to the dugout with Tanizaki inheriting the bags stacked. Almaguer slapped a hard grounder… right at Venegas, and 5-4-3 went the Knights. Tanizaki also got the last three outs in the ninth inning, completing a highly unlikely sweep of the Knights. 8-1 Raccoons. Royer 2-5, 2B; Lavorano 2-5; Fiore 3-4, BB, 2B, 4 RBI; Shui 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (8-5); Tanizaki 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

In other news

June 16 – A ninth-inning home run by BOS C Bruce Burkart (.243, 4 HR, 13 RBI) is the only score in the Titans’ 1-0 win over the Canadiens.
June 17 – Dallas rookie C Chris D’Alessandro (.269, 1 HR, 10 RBI) has three hits, a home run, and six RBI in a 13-1 rout of the Pacifics.
June 18 – A calf strain would cost LVA SP Andy Overy (3-5, 3.98 ERA) a month of the season.
June 23 – The Knights acquire 3B Alex Lopez (.353, 0 HR, 7 RBI) from the Aces for two prospects.
June 23 – The Aces pour out their bullpen after losing SP Danny Bethea (1-1, 2.60 ERA) to injury in the second inning, but it works for a 2-0 win over the Titans, who get only one measly single from OF/1B Matt Gilmore (.244, 0 HR, 18 RBI).
June 25 – MIL SP Tyler Riddle (8-0, 2.27 ERA) will miss a month with an abdominal strain.

FL Player of the Week (11): WAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.358, 13 HR, 37 RBI), pumping .423 (11-26) with 4 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week (11): SFB RF/LF Danny Rivera (.267, 4 HR, 31 RBI), clipping .636 (14-22) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

FL Player of the Week (12): WAS 1B/RF/LF Willie Jenkins (.293, 16 HR, 40 RBI), hitting .625 (10-16) with 2 HR, 3 RBI
CL Player of the Week (12): VAN CF Damian Moreno (.278, 6 HR, 39 RBI), batting .379 (11-29) with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Well, well! Have we finally gotten untracked!? The Coons have played 13 consecutive games without losing one in nine innings (cough!), which of course is a 11-2 run with a loss in seven innings and a loss in 11 innings.

The road trip will continue in grueling fashion, though, with eight more games on the road next week against San Fran and Boston, and then yet seven more games against the Elks and Crusaders before we reach the All Star Game.

The Coons have rallied to second place and out of the sub-.500 doldrums, but we only have a +34 run differential. The Elks lead the league in offense and have a +99 run differential. I am not sure I can really talk myself into buying into the hype. Luckily, we’ll meet them for eight games around the All Star Game before I’ll have to fork over ALL the prospects!

What about reinforcements from AAA? Eh. I was watching Todd Oley for a while, but he’s in a dire slump right now and there’s no point in replacing Solorzano with him right now. And then there’s Marcos Chavez, the catcher I mentioned before. He’s batting .288/.366/.424 in 50 games with the Alley Cats. So he’s probably going to come up before Oley right now.

Fun Fact: 65 years ago today, Chris O’Keefe no-hit the Titans in a 1-0 Bayhawks win.

O’Keefe, a 2-time All Star, was normally prone to home runs, rarely passing up the chance to surrender 20 of them in a season, but still had a nice career with the Bayhawks, the Titans (funnily enough), and the Rebels. He went 183-195 with a 4.27 ERA and 2,060 K while pitching in the Bigs for 17 seasons. He also offered 1,596 walks and 236 home runs.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (39-35) @ Bayhawks (27-48) – June 26-28, 2056

The Raccoons’ make-or-break week started with a 3-game set at the Bay, rather inconveniently placed in between cross-country trips and ahead of a 5-game series in four days in Boston. At least we knew that nothing good ever happened in either of those cities and could prepare mentally. (clonks jumbo bottle of Capt’n Coma on the table) San Fran ranked second from the bottom in runs scored in the CL, and ninth in runs allowed, with a rather unhealthy -75 run differential. The whole team was best described as crummy throughout; the only category where they beat the league average was stolen bases, in which they ranked fifth. The Critters had swept the first series of the year from them.

Projected matchups:
Julian Dunn (5-3, 3.57 ERA) vs. Josh Doyle (1-10, 5.35 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (8-7, 3.30 ERA) vs. Charlie Hudson (1-3, 3.48 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (7-3, 2.72 ERA) vs. Milt Cantrell (2-11, 4.30 ERA)

Apparently the Bayhawks had found their rotation by digging really deep into the value bin at the comic book store. All three of these were right-handed, and only Cantrell had any sort of credible track record. Hudson was a 36-year-old career Capitals quad-A swingman who had somehow managed to lead the Federal League in walks one year when he didn’t even qualify for rate stats with just 153.1 innings.

Kyle Brobeck was dying of boredom on the roster, but Monday was the last day that he could in theory pitch a few outs in relief, because he was of course penciled in to make the extra start on Thursday. That was the only nice thing about having 27 starting pitchers on the roster – the double headers were less scary.

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – RF Puckeridge – 2B Bribiesca – C Stanton – P Dunn
SFB: SS X. Reyes – C Mittleider – 2B A. Montoya – LF D. Rivera – 3B Peltier – RF Tomko – 1B Sherrick – CF Caban – P Doyle

Dunn retired the first 11 Baybirds before allowing a single to left to Armando Montoya, who was stranded when Danny Rivera – far from the threat of the past, hitting .269 with just four homers – popped out. The Coons by then had squandered four hits and a couple o’ walks, with the best chance ending when Ramsay bounced into a double play with runners on the corners to end the top of the first inning. Dunn bunted into a force at second after Matt Stanton drew a leadoff walk in the fifth inning, then allowed a leadoff single to Adam Peltier (sigh) in the bottom 5th, but the runner got himself caught stealing.

The game was still scoreless in the seventh of a rather unsatisfying (for us, at least) pitchers’ duel when Pucks walked and Stanton singled. Dunn’s bunt was good this time, and the runners were in scoring position for Steve Royer with two gone, and Royer finally broke the line of goose eggs on the scoreboard with a clean single to right-center. Both runners scored, Royer stole second base, but Lonzo’s grounder was collected by Peltier and played for the third out of the inning. Armando Montoya answered with a leadoff jack to right-center in the bottom 7th, 2-1, but Dunn then retired another six batters in order to complete eight very fine innings. The quest for an insurance run in the ninth began with righty Patrick Jones walking Pucks. Kirkwood batted for Bribiesca and singled to left, and Stanton bunted the runners into scoring position before Solorzano batted for Dunn… and whiffed. Royer grounded out and the lead remained a skinny run. The Coons also sent Mike Lane into the bottom 9th, since Matt Walters’ workload last week had been heavy and Lane had somehow only thrown six pitches in five days; also, Danny Rivera was the only lefty stick in the first four batters in the lineup, ahead of Jones in the #6 spot. Strikeouts to Jon Mittleider and Danny Rivera framed a fly by Montoya to Royer to put the game away. 2-1 Raccoons. Royer 2-5, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB; Kirkwood (PH) 1-1; Stanton 1-1, 2 BB; Dunn 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (6-3);

First save for Mike Lane as a Critter!

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – 3B Brobeck – RF Puckeridge – C Fiore – 2B Chavez – P Taki
SFB: SS X. Reyes – C Mittleider – 2B A. Montoya – LF D. Rivera – 3B Peltier – RF Tomko – 1B Sherrick – CF Caban – P C. Hudson

Another scoreless affair through three innings on Tuesday before Hudson nicked Kirkwood to begin the fourth inning, and Brobeck went 2-for-2 with a double to right and one gone. Kirkwood was held at third base, while the Bayhawks didn’t hold Pucks at the plate and instead directed him to first base to get Fiore to hit into a double play, to which the backstop duly obliged.

Scorelessness endured; Peltier hit a double in the bottom 4th, but Chris Tomko had a habit of striking out and stranded the 2-out runner. It took the very bored Brobeck to break the ban on scoring; with Kirkwood on first base after a leadoff single in the sixth, Brobeck sent one over the fence in right-center to give the Raccoons a 2-0 lead.

Taki completed six innings under 60 pitches, which I enjoyed a lot, then allowed a single to Peltier and a double to Tomko to begin the bottom 7th, which I did in fact not enjoy so much. The tying runs were in scoring position with nobody out, but the 7-8-9 batters up. Jamie Sherrick and Armando Caban both hit easy flies to the shallow outfield that were shagged by Kirkwood and Pucks, respectively, and then Hudson rolled over to Ramsay for the third out when a bolder move would have been a pinch-hitter, maybe, but what was I going to berate a last-place team, they clearly knew what they were doing… Before I could get too cocky, the Coons loaded the bases with their 3-4-5 batters and nobody out in the eighth, then had Pucks hit into a 1-2-3 double play, Fiore intentionally walked, and still didn’t score a ******* run with Adriano Chavez’ grounding out to Peltier. Lonzo bungled Xavier Reyes’ grounder to begin the bottom 8th for an error, but then turned Mittleider’s grounder 6-4-3 style, which kinda made up for it. Montoya singled, but Taki rung up Rivera. Taki seemed to *have* this, and he batted for himself (against Hudson!) to lead off (!) the top 9th (!!). The Coons didn’t score, and then Peltier led off the bottom 9th. He sent Royer back into deep center, but the over-the-shoulder catch was made for the first out. Tomko grounded out to Lonzo. Sherrick struck out. 2-0 Blighters. Kirkwood 2-2; Brobeck 3-3, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Taki 9.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, W (9-7);

This gave Taki two complete games and two scoreless outings in his last three starts, encompassing 25.1 innings for one earned run in total, with four walks and 23 strikeouts. Decent run!

This was also his fourth career shutout (and 12th complete game) but the first since 2053.

Also nod to Brobeck, who was basically the entire offense, although Kirkwood went also unretired, getting nicked *twice* by Hudson.

Should we mention that the career quad-A player threw a complete game, too?

Game 3
POR: CF Royer – 3B Venegas – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – SS Espinoza – C Fiore – 2B Chavez – P Sweeton
SFB: SS X. Reyes – C Mittleider – 2B A. Montoya – LF D. Rivera – 3B Peltier – RF Tomko – 1B Sherrick – CF Caban – P Cantrell

Cantrell lasted three batters and one out before leaving the game with the trainer, to be replaced by Duarte Damasceno, who gave up a 2-out RBI single to Pucks to get Cantrell onto the hook as Royer scored from second base. Espinoza grounded out. The fallen Baybirds starter was rescued by his offense, though, as Sweeton also put the first two batters on base, then surrendered an RBI single to Rivera. Peltier found Espinoza, spelling a foundering Lonzo at short, for an inning-ending double play then.

Top 3rd, Sam Geren walked Royer and gave up a single to Venegas to get going. Kirkwood whiffed, but a wild pitch advanced the runners into scoring position. Ramsay’s fly to left was good enough for Royer to dash home from third base and a new 2-1 lead for the Raccoons. Venegas was left on, but Danny Rivera still had to shut my big mouth and finally did it after three days of trying, homering with Mittleider on base in the bottom 3rd to flip the score to 3-2 Baybirds. The lead would grow to 4-2 in the fifth as the Raccoons’ offense couldn’t solve the Bayhawks’ pen and Sweeton couldn’t stop putting their batters on base. Xavier Reyes singled with one down in the bottom 5th, stole second, reached third on a wild pitch, and then scored on Mittleider’s groundout.

Top 6th, Geren gave up a leadoff triple to Rams (!) and a sac fly to Pucks, 4-3, then was yanked for Dave Lister, who had done a very confusing job at the end of the Loggers pen the last couple of years, but almost completely shut down the Raccoons for the next five outs. Sweeton went six rather forgettable innings before being hit for by Lonzo in the seventh, but his single wasn’t met with any response by the rest of the team. Tanizaki and Harmer pitched the Raccoons through eight innings without giving up another run, but the Raccoons went in order in the eighth, then faced lefty Tony Negrete in the ninth inning. Espinoza lined out to Peltier. Caballero batted for Fiore and singled through the left side to at least keep the thought going, but Chavez whiffed. Stanton pinch-hit for Harmer, but ended the winning streak with a soft groundout to Sherrick. 4-3 Bayhawks. Royer 1-2, 2 BB; Venegas 2-4; Caballero (PH) 1-1; Lavorano (PH) 1-1;

…and there goes the 8-game winning streak.

Raccoons (41-36) @ Titans (39-39) – June 29-July 2, 2056

There was hardly a worse place for a double header than this Thursday, and the scheduled starter (Kniep) also didn’t instill any confidence that our bullpen would hold up, which was why we had the odd extra arm stashed in the shadows to make a quick roster move between games if necessary. The Titans were 11th in runs scored in the CL, but fifth in runs allowed, with a -30 run differential (Coons: +36). Boston was also handling Portland so far this year, 5-2 in seven games. They were without pitcher Ryan Musgrave and starting catcher Jorge Ortiz, however, both stowed away on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (4-2, 3.57 ERA) vs. Kenneth Spencer (8-4, 3.52 ERA)
Craig Kniep (3-5, 4.05 ERA) vs. Chad Shultz (6-7, 5.18 ERA)
He Shui (8-5, 4.10 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (2-3, 3.44 ERA)
Julian Dunn (6-3, 3.33 ERA) vs. Alex Diaz (2-5, 3.88 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (9-7, 3.03 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (6-9, 2.97 ERA)

Unless the Titans made any surprise moves, Spencer was the only southpaw that would oppose us in this set.

…and then it rained. Thursday’s double-header was called off, and only one game could be played in the evening. Friday would instead have the double-header, and Brobeck was moved on a day. Kniep started the series opener

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 3B Venegas – 1B Ramsay – 2B Chavez – C Stanton – P Kniep
BOS: CF Weir – LF Ma. Gilmore – RF Whitlow – C Burkart – 1B Witherspoon – SS M. Navarro – 3B Torrence – 2B D. Diaz – P Spencer

Kniep allowed no hits the first time through the lineup, while the Raccoons scattered a few hits for no greater gains until the fourth inning when Lonzo hit a leadoff single. He struggled to find a footing on the still wet infield and couldn’t even try to steal a base, but that didn’t matter, as Chris Kirkwood slapped a homer over the fence for a 2-0 lead anyway. Craig Kniep had seven strikeouts through four innings, then struggled with two walks in the fifth, but then thankfully came up against Spencer, who flew out harmlessly to Kirkwood. Hector Weir tried to break up the no-hitter with a loud liner to the left side in the sixth inning, but Lonzo lunged and latched onto it for the first out. Alas, there was no defending Matt Gilmore’s clean single through the right side, and gone was the no-hitter. Eric Whitlow dropped another single into center right away, but Kniep then struck out both Bruce Burkart and Sam Witherspoon to end the inning. His pitch count was up, though, 97 through six innings, but he had enough juice left to retire the 6-7-8 batters in the seventh inning in order… never mind that drive to the warning track that Ethan Torrence smacked.

Spencer lasted eight, scattering as many base hits, but didn’t fall further behind than 2-0. Eloy Sencion held away the Titans in the bottom 8th, while a Chavez double and Bribiesca’s 2-out RBI single added a third Portland run in the top of the ninth. Weir tracked down a deep fly by Royer to end the inning, while the Boston 3-4-5 disappeared without a trace against Matt Walters, who struck out Bruce Burkart and Sam Witherspoon to finish the game. 3-0 Coons. Kirkwood 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Chavez 2-4, 2B; Stanton 2-4; Bribiesca (PH) 1-1, RBI; Kniep 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 9 K, W (4-5);

For the newly doubled Friday slate, Shui would get the first game now and Brobeck was put up for the second game, although in reality they were both up and down with their pitching this year. We just liked to use the good relief to secure a win in the first game if possible, because who knows what happens in the second one…

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B Chavez – P Shui
BOS: CF Weir – LF Ma. Gilmore – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – C Burkart – 3B Torrence – SS M. Navarro – 2B D. Diaz – P Shultz

The Titans sure had the better opportunities early in the game, f.e. a leadoff double by Burkart in the second inning after they had already stranded Weir on third base in the first inning. They stranded Burkart, too, along with Ethan Torrence, who drew a walk. The 7-8-9 didn’t even advance the runners, and Shui retired another two in a row, but then Whitlow singled and Witherspoon tore a crater into a mostly empty section of seats in rightfield with a 2-run homer, and this time it was the Raccoons that didn’t have a base hit yet.

Kirkwood doubled and Ramsay reached on an error by Mario Navarro with two down in the fourth inning, but Pucks popped out quite unhelpfully after that. More hits didn’t arrive until the seventh inning, when Rams and Venegas hit singles, but now Matt Fiore grounded out easily to short to end the inning. By then, Matt Gilmore had popped his first home run of the season in 216 attempts to extend the Boston lead to 3-0. Shui scratched and clawed valiantly for seven innings and 100 pitches, but that didn’t help the offense much. Shultz pitched into the ninth inning until he walked Ramsay with one out and was lifted for Ramon Montes de Oca. The right-hander walked Pucks, which brought the tying run to the dish, but Venegas flew out easily to left. Fiore’s single loaded the bases with two down. Oscar Caballero batted for Chavez and crashed a ball through a diving Witherspoon and up the line for a 2-run double – Fiore had to be held against Whitlow’s murder arm, and a pinch-runner wouldn’t have made much of a difference here. Solorzano was still in the game (the pitcher Tanizaki was in the #1 spot), but grounded out to end it. 3-2 Titans. Caballero (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Solorzano (PH) 1-2, 2B; Shui 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, L (8-6);

No roster moves were made between games, since the Raccoons had several relievers that hadn’t thrown a pitch for four days (Lane, Lillis, technically Brobeck), but the reserves (nothing special, the usual right-handed garbage troupe) were not sent home quite yet.

The Coons did the maximum turnover they could with their five bench slots for the night cap.

Game 3
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Espinoza – LF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – P Brobeck – CF Solorzano – C Stanton – 2B Bribiesca
BOS: CF Weir – LF Ma. Gilmore – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – 3B Torrence – SS M. Navarro – C Salas – 2B D. Diaz – P Glaude

Venegas opened the game with a triple to center and Glaude walked Espinoza before giving up the first run on Caballero’s single. Rams hit another RBI single to center, but the next three batters made meek outs and the Coons kept it at 2-0. In the second, Stanton and Bribiesca got on base, and then it started to rain a bit. Whee! Caballero would reach with two outs when Navarro made a bad throw on his grounder, loading the bases for Ramsay, whose grounder to right was corralled by Witherspoon, ending the inning. So, the Coons had already left five on base, while the Titans reached for the first time when Torrence walked in the bottom 2nd. He stole second, scored on Navarro’s single, and that made it a 2-1 game. Navarro was left on first base, while the Raccoons slowly filled the bags with Venegas, Caballero, and Ramsay in the fourth inning, which already led to the removal of Glaude. Pucks’ groundout to third base allowed Bobby Callejas to escape the inning, and now the Coons had already stranded EIGHT runners.

Of course the Titans then flipped the score on Brobeck. Leadoff double by Whitlow, a wild pitch, a sac fly from Witherspoon, and then another walk, two singles, and a 3-2 lead for Boston on Danny Diaz’ 2-out knock. Josh Garris grounded out to strand a pair, but Brobeck leaked two walks and Torrence hit another 2-out RBI single in the fifth inning, 4-2…

Caballero’s triple in the sixth inning off lefty Adam Gardner drove in Venegas to shorten the score to 4-3 and also put the tying run in scoring position. It also came with two outs, and Ramsay flew out rather easily to Weir to strand Caballero 90 feet away. Brobeck was axed when Gardner singled home Raul Salas in the bottom 6th. Lillis and Harmer would pitch the Raccoons through on-and-off rain through the eighth inning, still 5-3 behind, after which the tarp came on the field, and the umpires made everybody sit through a rain delay of more than an hour when I already had a hunch that the game was lost anyway. We eventually faced Montes de Oca in the ninth inning, starting with Espinoza (shrugs). Him, Caballero, and Ramsay went down in order to complete the double-header sweep. 5-3 Titans. Venegas 2-4, BB, 3B; Caballero 2-4, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Ramsay 2-5, RBI; Harmer 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

The Raccoons would sent Arturo Bribiesca (.222, 0 HR, 8 RBI) away after this game and brought up 2B Ryan Allred from AAA for a lefty bat. They were both 24 years old (well, Allred would turn 25 within a week), but the new arrival wasn’t so new after all, having batted .185 in 23 games with Portland in ’54.

Game 4
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B Chavez – P Dunn
BOS: CF Weir – LF Ma. Gilmore – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – C Burkart – 3B Torrence – SS M. Navarro – 2B D. Diaz – P Koga

Adriano Chavez singled home a run in the second inning for a quick and brief lead, because Dunn ran into a buzzsaw in the third inning, although there were more contributors than just him. The whole damn inning started with Kirkwood botching Diaz’ fly to left for an error. Koga’s bunt was followed by a single, after which runners were on the corners. Weir stole second base, but Matt Gilmore popped out to Lonzo for the second out. And then Whitlow singled home a pair in a full count, and Dunn squandered another two singles and another run to Witherspoon and Burkart before Torrence finally made the third out with a grounder to Chavez. None of the runs were earned, which was of only modest consolation of us in the pursuit of the damn Elks.

Kirkwood singled home Royer, who had dropped a 1-out double into left, with a 2-out single in the fifth inning, narrowing the score to 3-2. He made a move to steal second base, but was almost picked off, then had to settle for one base on Caballero’s single to left-center. He *did* score when Rams hit another single, this one to right-center, tying the game and getting Koga, who had started on short rest, outta here. Callejas put out the fire again, getting Venegas to fly out. Callejas pitched another two innings, bidding for the W when Hector Weir doubled home Danny Diaz off Dunn in the seventh inning, 4-3, although the reward was taken away on an unlikely home run that Venegas mashed off left-hander Donovan Little in the eighth, knotting the score at four.

Sencion put Burkart on base with a 1-out single in the bottom 8th. Torrence’s grounder forced out the lead runner, after which Mike Lane and Ryan Allred entered in a double switch with Chavez gone. Navarro hit a fly that tried to dink into shallow right, but Caballero came rushing in and made the headlong dive for the ball, and came up with it…! That ended the inning! Yes, boys, and now take the lead!!

They didn’t. Allred drew a leadoff walk in the ninth, and then was forced out, and the go-ahead run never got off first base. Lane held out and sent the game to extras, which probably hurt Boston more than us at this stage. Pucks ran for Ramsay after the latter’s 1-out single in the tenth inning, but didn’t get further than second base, either.

The game dragged on. Tanizaki pitched a scoreless inning. Lillis pitched two. The Coons couldn’t get their ******* tails out of their own ********. Maybe Whitlow’s fumble of Pucks’ fly to shallow right, which put the go-ahead run on once more with nobody out in the 13th inning would help. Venegas singled, moving Pucks to second base. Matt Stanton had replaced Fiore a while ago, but now actually singled home the so needed run with a single to left-center. Solorzano, Allred, and Royer all made poor outs, the first one batting for Lillis. But we had the run, now it was on Walters to whiff three and let us get back to the damn hotel. Whitlow singled with two strikes. Israel Santiago singled with two strikes. Burkart walked. I whined. Antonio Cruz hit into a double play, but the tying run scored. Navarro flew out, the game continued, and I whined even louder, annoying the nearby patrons. The 14th was a bunch of nothing, after which Taki went to the bullpen to warm up, since the Coons now had no bench, and after Harmer replaced Walters for the bottom 15th, also no bullpen anymore. Whitlow led off the bottom 15th with a drive to left, but Kirkwood caught it on the warning track. Burkart and Cruz reached with two outs on a single and a walk, respectively, but Navarro grounded out.

Ryan Harmer then also hit a double off Julio Castaneda with one gone in the 16th inning. Lonzo grounded out, Kirkwood grounded out, and the runner was stranded. By now, the Titans had lost Danny Diaz to injury. Will Glaude, starter of the Friday night game, was plugged in there, batting eighth, and leading off the bottom 16th. He made an out, but then Josh Garris singled off Harmer. Castaneda grounded out, advancing the runner, but Gilmore walked with two outs. Harmer looked gassed. Whitlow was shaking the twig, but we wouldn’t bring in Taki with the winning run in scoring position. Harmer had to sort this out himself. Or Whitlow did – singling to left-center, he plated Garris, and the Raccoons cashed a brutal L. 6-5 Titans. Ramsay 3-5, RBI; Venegas 3-7, HR, RBI; Fiore 2-3; Chavez 2-4, RBI; Lillis 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Lonzo went 0-for-8.

He remained on the roster, but Matt Stanton (.258, 0 HR, 3 RBI) and Ryan Harmer (0-1, 3.48 ERA) didn’t. We needed a fresh arm in the worst way, and Harmer had gone more than one inning two days in a row. Thankfully Colby Bowen was available, who easily qualified as being an arm in the worst way.

And Marcos Chavez, while rough behind the plate, kept hitting in AAA, so we had to bring him up. And since we already had 19 starting pitchers on the roster, we couldn’t go with three catchers, too.

Game 5
POR: CF Royer – RF Caballero – LF Kirkwood – 3B Brobeck – 1B Puckeridge – SS Espinoza – C M. Chavez – 2B Allred – P Taki
BOS: CF Weir – LF Ma. Gilmore – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – 3B Torrence – C Salas – SS W. de Leon – 2B D. Diaz – P R. Montes de Oca

The Titans were very much out of pitchers just the same as the Coons and declared a “bullpen & accountants day” – everybody was available! At least the Raccoons could start the game with Taki, who was on a strong string of games. Taki did what he could, despite being at odds with the rather wooden rookie behind the plate right from the start. He hit a double to begin the top 3rd, Royer walked behind him, and then Caballero’s fielder’s choice and Kirkwood’s sac fly gave Taki a 1-0 lead – and that would be that! The Coons stranded Caballero, then stranded Pucks when he reached base to begin the fourth, and Royer, when he reached base to begin the fifth. They were in a TERRIBLE rut now. The Titans at least appeared under control… until Danny Diaz, balking back be damned, hit a double in the bottom 5th, and Hector Weir opened a can of 2-out whoop-your-bum with a homer to right-center, flipping the score.

I struggled to watch at this point, but Royer would get on base against Montes de Oca, finally ending his day in the seventh inning, stole second, and then scored when Caballero singled off Joe Ryan with two outs. This at least got us even again, but while Caballero also stole second base, Kirkwood struck out in a full count to leave him in scoring position. Taki lasted seven innings on 102 pitches, while Brobeck opened the eighth with a single to right, and Pucks continued with a grounder to Diaz that was turned for two. For crying out loud.

Bottom 8th, Sencion came in and got two outs. Then Witherspoon – not a fast runner by any definition – rumbled out a triple over the head of Royer. Ethan Torrence grounded to third base – and Brobeck flatout ****** that play up. The runner scored on the error, and a disheveled Sencion managed to allow another run by walking Raul Salas and giving up a single to Willie de Leon, who made his major league debut and got his first hit and RBI all in one go. Bless you, son, I hope you burst from all the joy….. Top 9th, Donovan Little pitching. The Coons sent pinch-hitters for the 7-8 batters, who had zero hits between them. Venegas landed a hit, Lonzo got hit, and that put the tying runs on base. Sencion was sent to the plate to bunt, getting them into scoring position for Royer, Caballero, and Kirkwood, the only three batters on this team doing ******* anything. Royer grounded out to short, which scored a ****-all run, and Caballero grounded out to short, which ******* didn’t. 4-3 Titans. Royer 2-4, BB, RBI; Venegas (PH) 1-1; Taki 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K and 1-3, 2B;

In other news

June 26 – SAC SP Mike McCaffrey (9-1, 1.92 ERA) goes 25 outs deep into a no-hitter before being taken deep by NAS 1B/LF Dustin Huber (.150, 1 HR, 8 RBI) to break up the no-no, shutout, and complete game effort. Sacramento still wins 7-1.
June 26 – Season over for SFW SP Ricardo Montoya (5-4, 2.97 ERA), who has suffered a ruptured finger tendon.
June 26 – CHA INF/LF Ian Woodrome (.249, 4 HR, 26 RBI) was going to be out for up to a month with a back strain.
June 26 – The Knights waffle the Crusaders, 17-7, scoring 11 runs in the fifth inning alone.
June 27 – PIT INF Victor Corrales (.319, 9 HR, 61 RBI) whacks out three doubles, two singles, and drives in three runs in a 13-2 rush of the Stars.
June 27 – Everybody had long had enough baseball for the day when IND OF/1B/2B Kevin Ewers (.191, 3 HR, 13 RBI) hits a walkoff double to beat the Aces, 4-3 in 20 innings. The previous scoring event had been in the eighth inning. IND SP Tan Brink (7-6, 5.38 ERA) gets the W in relief.
June 28 – SFW 2B Mike DeFusco (.306, 4 HR, 15 RBI) will miss a month at least after suffering an abdominal strain.
June 29 – Atlanta 1B/LF/RF Eddie Moreno (.282, 20 HR, 65 RBI) reaches 2,500 career hits with a 2-run homer off OCT SP Chris Kaye (2-3, 5.29 ERA) in an 8-7 Knights win. Moreno, age 37 and the 2055 CL home run king, leads the league in the category again. The two-time Player of the Year has 453 career home runs with 1,612 RBI while batting .279/.351/.478 for his 17-year ABL career.
June 30 – The month of June ends with an elbow sprain for Thunder outfielder Mike Harmon (.243, 11 HR, 24 RBI), which would probably keep him out for most of July.
July 1 – IND SS Juan Llampallas (.280, 0 HR, 3 RBI) might miss the rest of the season with a bad concussion.
July 1 – The season might also be over for SFB SP Milt Cantrell (2-11, 4.38 ERA), who has been diagnosed with shoulder inflammation.
July 2 – The Wolves have only three hits, but one of them is a home run by OF Tony Lopez (.211, 5 HR, 27 RBI) to beat the Stars, 1-0.

FL Player of the Week: PIT INF Victor Corrales (.316, 9 HR, 63 RBI), batting .455 (15-33) with 1 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL 1B/RF/LF Gaudencio Callaia (.335, 4 HR, 33 RBI), slapping .517 (15-29) with 8 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: CIN LF/CF Juan del Toro (.361, 10 HR, 56 RBI), batting .383 with 2 HR, 22 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: LVA 1B/RF/LF Aubrey Austin (.314, 20 HR, 50 RBI), smashing .347 with 11 HR, 27 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: SAC SP Mike McCaffrey (9-1, 1.92 ERA), going 4-0 with a 1.51 ERA, 50 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: MIL CL Ryan Dow (2-3, 2.97 ERA, 21 SV), saving 9 games with 2-0 record, 1.23 ERA, 14 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW 1B Miguel Medina (.278, 7 HR, 31 RBI), poking .269 with 4 HR, 12 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: OCT RF/CF Will Buras (.310, 2 HR, 19 RBI), hitting .346 with 1 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

We’re now 3-9 against Boston this year. Last year we won that series 16-2. What the heck??

In 11 of the last 12 games the team failed to score more than four runs in regulation, and even those four are already quite lofty heights. Somehow, sturdy pitching means that we still went 7-5 in those games, but that’s not sustainable, especially since we’ve run out of games against bottom feeders for the moment. We have eight against the Elks looming, and I don’t even see the team break even against them. Not even close.

We’ve talked about Todd Oley a bit recently and how he was going to be called up and then slumped, and then maybe still… well, he won’t be called up any time soon, because he ****** up his knee on Tuesday and will miss the rest of the season.

And how deep is Lonzo’s slump? He batted only .238 in June, but more recently he’s (since June 20) in a 6-for-49 hole. That is of course also adversely affecting his stolen bases, which pretty much remained stagnant in June. He nipped only four bags in four weeks… unheard of…! It was barely enough to crawl past Daniel Silva into 20th place, but at least the four active guys right behind him stole four bases *combined*. Yes, somehow he got further away from the pack with that no-show in June.

15th – Alex Adame – 447 – active
16th – Alex Torres – 445
17th – Chance Bossert – 437
18th – Ricardo “Cookie” Carmona – 428
19th – Cristo Ramirez – 424 – HOF
20th – Lorenzo Lavorano – 419 – active
21st – Daniel Silva – 417
22nd – Ronnie Thompson – 414 – active
23rd – Danny Flores – 413
24th – Jose Rivas – 406 – active
25th – Chris Navarro – 400 – active
26th – Andrew Russ – 396 – active

We’d get a good look of ex-Coon Alex Adame over the next two weeks, because he was on the damn Elks, at least when he wasn’t on the damn DL, where he’d already gone and come back from twice this season. Only three stolen bases so far, but then again he had also only made it into 21 games without keeling over.

Fun Fact: The career home run leader remains Ron Alston with 475 bombs.

71 of these he hit as a Critter from 2008 through 2010, winning the 2009 CL homer title, one of four for three different CL teams. He also won three batting titles, but never in the same season in which he led the league in bombs.

He retired as a 3-time Player of the Year (never as a Critter) batting .307/.395/.491 with 1,598 RBI. Sadly, just 2,993 hits. Hall of Famer, but only on the fringe!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (42-40) vs. Canadiens (49-33) – July 3-6, 2056

My queasy feeling wasn’t made any better by Nick Valdes paying his first visit in over a year to begin the week. He had gotten on in age a bit (didn’t we all?), and had gotten himself a walking cane with an eagle’s head for a handle – not because he necessarily needed it, I suspected, but because he could be that much more annoying by banging the metal tip on the bottom on whatever hard surface was near. The damn Elks meanwhile where first in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed with a +69 run differential. This had actually gone down quite a bit after a week in which they lost three games by nine runs or more to the Thunder and Crusaders. The Coons (+34) still better had no illusions… the season series was even at two.

Projected matchups:
Sean Sweeton (7-4, 2.91 ERA) vs. Martino Barbiusa (8-3, 3.72 ERA)
Craig Kniep (4-5, 3.63 ERA) vs. Marcus Wilkins (6-5, 4.83 ERA)
He Shui (8-6, 4.09 ERA) vs. Jesse Lausch (2-1, 2.35 ERA)
Julian Dunn (6-3, 3.18 ERA) vs. Anton Jesus (7-7, 4.46 ERA)

The Elks had their share of injuries, which included position players Jeff Wheeler, Jorge Uranga, and Dan Mullen, as well as staters Bill McDermott and, well, Barbiusa, who had left his last start with a bad back and was officially a big pink question mark on their matchup table on the way into this series. He was listed as starter on Monday morning, but then scratched for Wilkins to go on short rest an hour before the game. Those four above were all right-handed anyway.

The Coons’ long man Colby Bowen was also day-to-day on Monday, having come down with the sniffles.

Nick Valdes tocked on the wooden floor in the office and croned how young men were tougher in the olden days, which wasn’t even something I could disagree with.

Game 1
VAN: RF A. Walker – 3B Adame – C Waker – CF D. Moreno – 2B K. Hawkins – LF Magnussen – SS Price – 1B Leitch – P Wilkins
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – 3B Brobeck – RF Puckeridge – 2B A. Chavez – C M. Chavez – P Sweeton

The Coons took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Steve Royer drove home Marcos Chavez, who had drawn a leadoff walk from Wilkins, who didn’t look particularly sharp and had so far lived off his defense. The crowd roared, and Nick Valdes tocked on the floor again and complained that the children were playing too loud. That didn’t get better in the bottom 4th when the Raccoons strung three straight 2-out singles together for another run. Pucks made the start with a single to right, and then the Chavezes both singled to center, with the first hit and RBI in Marcos Chavez’ career being logged here when Pucks circled home from second base, 2-0. Sweeton struck out, but at least seemed to have the Elks under control so far, whiffing four against one base hit in four innings. Aaron Walker hit a 2-out single in the sixth inning, but was stranded when Alex Adame slapped a 3-1 pitch over to Brobeck for the third out of the inning. Kyle Hawkins found another 2-out single the inning after, but Adam Magnussen popped out to Brobeck in foul territory to have that runner dealt with.

Sweeton, who had thrown 85 pitches through seven, then opened the home half of the seventh with a single to center, lifting his batting average all the way to a dizzying .086, a value that Lonzo was also working towards these days. Unfortunately, it took a 2-out single by Kirkwood to get Sweeton into scoring position, and Rams’ liner to center was caught by Moreno. Alan Leitch singled in the eighth, but was forced out on Jason Ashley’s comebacker and the Elks again didn’t score. Sweeton might have gotten the ninth inning, but when the Raccoons fumbled an unearned scoring opportunity together in the bottom 8th against Dan Lawrence, he was hit for with Anton Venegas, with two outs and Caballero and Marcos Chavez on second and first, respectively. Nick Valdes quipped that pitchers used to pitch the WHOLE game in his day, but then was distracted when Venegas dropped a floater behind Kyle Hawkins for an RBI single and a tack-on run. Royer grounded out, but Matt Walters didn’t fudge much with the Elks and the Raccoons shut them out in the opener. 3-0 Furballs! Royer 2-5, 2B, RBI; Kirkwood 2-4; Puckeridge 2-4; M. Chavez 2-3, BB, RBI; Venegas (PH) 1-1, RBI; Sweeton 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, W (8-4);

Yes, Nick, we should bunt and hit-and-run more to manufacture runs. That’s how the game is played today, yes, yes.

Game 2
VAN: 3B Adame – C Cass – CF D. Moreno – RF A. Walker – LF K. Hawkins – SS Leitch – 2B Price – 1B Aragon – P Sopena
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – RF Solorzano – C Fiore – 2B Allred – P Kniep

Edwin Sopena (4-4, 5.06 ERA) made a spot start on Tuesday with Barbiusa still not available due to the balking back. Yes, yes, Nick, you saw guys come back from the war with only one arm and one leg and pitch a complete game the next day, I know.

Those double amputee hurlers couldn’t have been much worse than Kniep on Tuesday, with the rookie getting lit up for four runs (three earned) in the first inning. Alex Adame singled, Tyler Cass and Damian Moreno ripped RBI doubles up either line, and that’s when we had our first mound conference. A Solorzano error in rightfield on a fly ball didn’t help, but even without that he gave up five hits, most of them quite loud, in the inning. Lonzo singled and stole a base in the bottom 1st, which was almost worth putting it on the 11 o’clock news with how his June had gone, but was also stranded by the rest of the lineup, which was not all that newsworthy. Kniep went back out for the second, nailed Adame, threw a wild pitch, and after a K to Cass walked Moreno. The bullpen got up.

At the same time Kniep logged his first six outs with the strikeout, so while he was getting raked all over, the defense wasn’t helping one lick, either. Was it just one of those rotten days? He got a seventh strikeout in the third inning, and then got his deficit erased when the Raccoons took Sopena behind the shed in the bottom 3rd. Royer socked a leadoff jack, Lonzo singled, and Kirkwood launched another bomb to get to 4-3, while the fourth run was pieced together with Venegas and Fiore’s 2-out RBI single. Nick Valdes tocked his cane on the floor and demanded that the Critters finish him, and “no quarter!!”, but the inning ended, and then Kniep was taken deep by Cass in the fourth and surrender a sixth run in the fifth inning with hits by Hawkins and Leitch. He was then excused further participation, ten strikeouts be damned to hell.

Moreno’s homer off Tanizaki extended the Elks’ lead to 7-4 in the sixth inning, but Pucks offered a counter-homer when he pinch-hit for the right-hander in the bottom of the same inning, and also knocked out Sopena with the 410-footer, 7-5. The Coons then got two innings from Colby Bowen in the worst way (which was his trademark after all); he allowed four hits, a walk, and some hard liners for outs, but at least Rams got a 3-U double play on one of them and the Elks failed to score. Still… jeez. Nick Valdes recommended that he should go back to work in the sawmill, but I warned that he probably hadn’t done a day’s honest work in his life, to which Nick spat on the floor in disgust, and Maud went to get a bucket and mop, also in disgust. Slappy snickered and took another sip. There was no mopping up of the Elks in this game, as Hyuma Hitomi, Jameson Monk, and Bernardino Risso offered nearly blameless relief once Sopena was out of the game. 7-5 Canadiens. Lavorano 3-5; Fiore 2-4, RBI; Puckeridge (PH) 1-2, HR, RBI;

Nick Valdes had a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday morning, and I bribed the taxi driver with a hundo that he wouldn’t bring him back from the doctor, but drive him right to the airport to make him go away.

Somehow that worked out as planned.

Game 3
VAN: SS Price – 3B Adame – C Waker – CF D. Moreno – LF Magnussen – RF Taniguchi – 2B Mooney – 1B Leitch – P Barbiusa
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – RF Caballero – CF Puckeridge – 2B A. Chavez – C M. Chavez – P Shui

Barbiusa finally appeared, pitched for five outs and no score, and then left with more back stiffness, leaving the rest of the game to Kellen Lanning and whoever else the Elks would find in that bullpen. Sounded like advantage Coons, but for the time being Shui fell 1-0 behind by nicking Rick Price with an 0-2 pitch in the top 3rd, then giving up hits to Tristan Waker and Damian Moreno. Magnussen walked, but Sadafumi Tanaguchi lined out to Venegas to keep the bags stacked.

Shui would have six busy innings with 105 pitches, having quite a few long counts especially in the middle innings. The Elks couldn’t put another run together, but the Raccoons so far had to put ANY run together against Barbiusa (briefly) and Lanning (longer). Lonzo found a 1-out triple in the bottom 6th that danced around the leftfield corner, but Dan Lawrence rung up Kirkwood and then had Ramsay ground out to strand the runner…

Top 7th, Eloy Sencion got two outs from Juan Aragon and Rick Price before Adame singled to center, Waker walked, and Moreno legged out an infield single. The bases loaded, Magnussen grounded firmly to first base, but Ramsay made the reaching grab and fed the ball to Sencion *just* in time to end the inning with three Elks stranded. The Critters then tied the game after all; Lawrence walked Caballero to begin the bottom 7th and after Pucks whiffed, the runner stole second base, just in time for Adriano Chavez’ single through the right side, scoring from second to get the teams level at one run apiece. Marcos Chavez then cracked a double to center, putting two Chavezes in scoring position for Steve Royer, pinch-hitting for Eloy Sencion. Him and Venegas made soggy outs, but the go-ahead run scored on a passed ball charged to Waker. (opens another bottle of Capt’n Coma) Whatever ******* works.

Line held the lane in the eighth, after which Lonzo lined out to Magnussen to begin the bottom 8th against Hitomi. Kirkwood singled over Jason Ashley at short, and Ramsay grounded out Ashley, who bungled the sure-as-heck double play for an error, but got a second chance from Caballero, and this time the Elks put the 6-4-3 together. Alex Adame hit a 1-out single off Walters in the ninth inning, but two strikeouts settled the issue. 2-1 Critters! A. Chavez 2-3, RBI;

CHOKE THEM HARDER!! (illustrates the strangling he wishes to see in the series finale on a very confused looking Honeypaws)

Game 4
VAN: RF A. Walker – 3B Adame – CF D. Moreno – 2B K. Hawkins – LF Magnussen – C Cass – SS Solano – 1B Leitch – P Lausch
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – 3B Brobeck – 1B Puckeridge – RF Solorzano – C Fiore – 2B A. Chavez – P Dunn

Dunn got socked three 2-out runs in the first inning after getting two outs to start the game, but then Moreno doubled to right, Hawkins walks, and Magnussen again doubled to right, driving home the pair. Tyler Cass’ single to left-center made it a 3-0 score. Kyle Brobeck put the teams even again with a huge 3-run blast in the bottom 1st, having found Lonzo and Caballero on base to do so. Dunn kept wobbling, but so did Lausch, and Lausch buckled first. Royer singled to get on base to begin the bottom 3rd, and Lonzo dished a line drive home run into the leftfield stands where the missile took out a guy carrying a tray with four big cups of beer, which in my honest opinion should be worth extra points, but it was “only” 5-3 after Lonzo’s fifth blast of the season, and it wasn’t that for long, thanks to Dunn’s own throwing error in the fourth inning that put Edwin Solano on second base, from where he scored on Leitch’s single.

Lausch was done after four innings, and Dunn after four and a third, plus a score-flipping homer to right off the stick of Kyle Hawkins. Tanizaki and Brian Grohoski restored order on both sides after this and the score remained 6-5 through six innings, when the ball went to Kyle Brobeck, who was replaced on the hot corner by Daniel Espinoza, pitched a scoreless seventh around a Moreno single, and then batted after Jameson Monk had issued 1-out walks to Lonzo and Caballero. He struck out in a full count, as did Pucks, fumbling the chance, but the scrubs at the bottom of the order put something together in the eighth inning against Kellen Lanning, who had done long relief less than 24 hours ago. Solorzano flew out to Aaron Walker to begin that inning, but then Fiore singled, Chavez singled, and Espinoza singled to left, the ball ticking gently off the edge of Solano’s glove as he dove, which had the added effect of sending Taniguchi the wrong way initially in leftfield and allowed Fiore time to score from second base. Taniguchi threw home late, allowing the trailing runners into scoring position – tied game, and guys on second and third with one out! Come on, boys! Finish them! (angrily shakes Honeypaws) Royer singled shyly past Mark Mooney indeed, but Walker was on the ball right away and Espinoza had to retreat to third base after making it 20 feet to home plate. Dan Lawrence replaced the ineffective Lanning, but surrendered another run on Lonzo’s sac fly to center. Caballero singled to center, moving Royer to second base, and at this point Ramsay batted for Brobeck – which was not a common move, but Brobeck was out of the game anyway with the lead having been taken and two innings on his ledger. Rams gave a ball a ride to center, but couldn’t beat Damian Moreno, who made the catch. Walters retired the damn Elks in order in the ninth to take the series…! 8-6 Furballs!! Royer 3-5, RBI; Lavorano 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Brobeck 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (5-3) and 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; A. Chavez 2-4; Espinoza 1-1, RBI; Tanizaki 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

HAH!! (symbolically slams the door to Maud’s office after the Elks players, who were in a different part of the ballpark entirely)

(Maud cautiously opens the door from her room, looking concerned)

Raccoons (45-41) vs. Crusaders (42-42) – July 7-9, 2056

New York was playing .500 ball with the #1 offense in the CL and the #8 pitching, which added up for a +34 run differential, nearly identical to the Coons’ +38, but of course we did it with pitching, somehow. The season series was even at four currently, and this was the last series before the All Star Game.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (9-7, 3.00 ERA) vs. Alex Murillo (3-3, 4.53 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (8-4, 2.70 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (10-4, 3.09 ERA)
Craig Kniep (4-6, 4.00 ERA) vs. Joel Luera (1-3, 4.03 ERA)

Only right-handed pitchers in this series as well; the CL North was starved for southpaws this year.

The Crusaders were also additionally starved for Prince Gates, who was out with a thumb contusion, but on the roster, and outfielders Jeff Buss and Mike Pfeifer, who were not.

Game 1
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – 3B Lemke – LF M. Villa – RF C. Williams – C Seidman – CF Mata – P A. Murillo
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – RF Puckeridge – C Fiore – 2B Allred – P Taki

Offense was minimal to start Friday’s game, with Chad Williams and Ryan Allred exchanging singles the first time through, and that was all. Taki retired Zach Suggs and Raul Sevilla to begin the fourth inning, but then rookie Bruce Lemke singled. And Mario Villa homered to left. Sigh. Williams reached on a Ramsay error, then scored on Mike Seidman’s line drive single, adding a third, unearned, run for New York. Murillo, however, got in the face almost as badly in the bottom 4th. He nicked Lonzo to start the inning. Lonzo stole second, then scored on a Kirkwood double. Ramsay singled home another run, 3-2, while the Coons then made two outs before Fiore and Allred filled the bags with singles, but they remained filled with Taki’s groundout to Omar Sanchez; however, Rams singled home Royer in the fifth inning to get the teams even at three.

Mario Villa shrugged, and with Lemke on base again in the sixth inning, hit another go-ahead, 2-run jack, this time to right. The horror! Even more annoying was how Murillo hit Lonzo a second time in the bottom 7th, but the Raccoons couldn’t get him around this time and remained 5-3 behind. Colby Bowen pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings in relief of Taki, who had been shown around his own house thoroughly by Villa, which begged for a rally against Murillo, who was still going in the bottom 8th, but the right-hander retired the all-lefty 6-7-8 batters in order in the ninth inning. The Coons shrugged, left Bowen in to finish the game, but he did anything but, and got raked for three runs in the ninth, which pretty much decided the game for good. 8-3 Crusaders. Ramsay 2-4, RBI; Allred 3-4, 2B;

Colby Bowen (7.71 ERA) went, Ryan Harmer arrived.

Pffff.

Game 2
NYC: 2B O. Sanchez – C Seidman – 1B Sevilla – 3B Lemke – LF M. Villa – RF C. Williams – SS E. Stevens – CF Nork – P Seiter
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – RF Puckeridge – 2B Allred – C M. Chavez – P Sweeton

Omar Sanchez, the CL stolen base leader (!?) with 42 bags taken, drew a leadoff walk on Saturday, but was caught stealing by Marcos Chavez. The Crusaders instead went up in the third inning, getting a single from Erik Stevens, a double by Dan Nork, and then a run-scoring groundout from Seiter (.200+ hitters listed so far: zero) and a Sanchez sac fly for a 2-0 lead. The Raccoons had yet to reach base, but only did so with Royer’s leadoff single in the bottom 4th. Lonzo popped out, Kirkwood singled to left, and Ramsay smacked into a double play…

An infield single by Venegas in the fifth was the only other attempt at offense prior to the stretch, which marked the end of Sweeton’s day after 106 pitches, not all of them great. At least he kept New York close, the score still being 2-0. Kirkwood hit a leadoff single off Seiter in the bottom 7th, but “Two-for-one” Ramsay found another double play to rumble into, this time 4-6-3 style. And then the Coons’ pen exploded anyway. The Crusaders stuffed four runs into Tanizaki, Sencion (who retired nobody) and Lane in the eighth inning, which just didn’t seem to ever end. Singles upon singles. And the Coons? Pucks hit a pointless home run in the bottom 8th to soil Seiter’s shutout, but when Allred walked, Chavez struck out and Solorzano pinch-hit for another ******* double play.

Seiter got with an out of a complete game before Caballero drew a full-count walk in Kirkwood’s spot. The next pitch was wild, and four pitches later Ramsay – poor boy not having a double play to **** into anymore – hit an RBI single, then scored on Venegas’ wallbanger double in right. Left-hander Ben Lussier replaced Seiter at that point, but allowed a soft single to Pucks. The tying run was up, but it would be Espinoza batting for Allred, and he struck out. 6-3 Crusaders. Venegas 2-4, 2B, RBI; Puckeridge 2-4, HR, RBI; Sweeton 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, L (8-5);

This sad-sack loss put us virtually even for second place with the Crusaders, now six games behind the Elks.

Can we please not get swept?

Oh **** it’s Kniep…

Game 3
NYC: CF O. Sanchez – C Seidman – 3B Gates – RF C. Williams – 2B E. Stevens – SS Lemke – LF Mata – 1B Nork – P Luera
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Espinoza – 2B A. Chavez – C M. Chavez – P Kniep

Luera nailed Royer and allowed the Coons to score a run in the first inning on Kirkwood’s double and Caballero’s groundout before Pucks flew out to center to end the inning. Kniep was knee deep in another bucket of lard, however, and walked three batters the first time through, then conceded hits to Seidman and the recuperated Prince Gates in the third inning before offering another walk to Erik Stevens with two outs. Bruce Lemke fell to 0-2, but then still slapped a ball up the middle, where Lonzo made a wonderful lunge-and-toss-while-eating-dirt to Adriano Chavez to get the force on Stevens to end the inning.

Lonzo singled and stole second base in the bottom 3rd, then was thrown out trying to get third base, too, while Carlos Mata singled and was caught stealing second base already in the top of the fourth. Defense was the only thing that threatened to drag Kniep to a 1-0 win, and only a 1-0 win. After Daniel Espinoza reached with a leadoff single in the bottom 4th, Adriano Chavez first forced him out, then was picked off first base himself…

The Critters’ defense gave all they had and indeed dragged Kniep through six and two third shutout innings by their teeth before he bumped into both nearly 100 pitches and also Omar Sanchez atop the lineup. Sencion got that out to end the seventh inning. The Coons frittered away another leadoff single from Espinoza in their half of the inning, then sent Mike Lane into the eighth as rain began to fall. Gates hit a 1-out single, and PH Raul Sevilla hit a fly to the warning track, but also Kirkwood’s glove, after which we had a 25-minute rain delay on our paws. Lane returned afterwards to get Stevens to fly out to Caballero, completing eight.

Lonzo hit a leadoff single off Ryan Sullivan in the bottom 8th, but was forced out when Kirkwood grounded to short. Kirkwood stole second base, advanced on Caballero’s groundout, and Pucks walked. Matt Fiore then batted for Espinoza against the right-handed Sullivan, but grounded out most meekly. We had wanted to not use Matt Walters on Sunday, if possible, since he was going to the All Star Game and was almost guaranteed to pitch an inning there, too, but with a 1-0 lead and Mario Villa leading off the ninth as pinch-hitter, we had to. Walters struck out Villa with a spot on the corner, his 57th K of the season, and Villa didn’t like it at all and disputed it almost all the way to the dugout, somehow not getting ejected for that. Mata was out on a soft comebacker to Walters, and Jeff Standard was out on strike three called! 1-0 Blighters! Lavorano 2-4; Espinoza 2-3; Kniep 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 K, W (5-6);

In other news

July 3 – Los Angeles lose SP Felix Alvarez (4-5, 4.22 ERA) for the year with shoulder inflammation the culprit.
July 4 – LAP 2B/SS Jesse Sweeney (.307, 8 HR, 44 RBI) and SAC 2B/SS Chris Navarro (.314, 1 HR, 35 RBI) both have 5-hit days in the Pacifics’ 12-10 win over the Scorpions, four singles and a double each, but only Navarro gets a lone RBI. Sweeney scored four times, though.
July 5 – The Scorpions down the Pacifics, 17-3, with 4-hit, 4-RBI days chipped in by both Chris Navarro (.319, 1 HR, 39 RBI) and SAC OF/1B Omar Gonzalez (.270, 3 HR, 34 RBI).
July 9 – Season over for IND SP Enrique Ortiz (3-9, 5.29 ERA), who needs surgery for a torn labrum.
July 9 – Season over for RIC OF Mike Allen (.289, 8 HR, 43 RBI), who … also needs surgery for a torn labrum.

FL Player of the Week: SAC 2B/SS Chris Navarro (.325, 1 HR, 44 RBI), raking .583 (21-36) with 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS INF/LF Willie de Leon (.533, 0 HR, 4 RBI), spanking .556 (15-27) with 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons had ONE All Star, and it was an obvious selection, as Matt Walters got his first invitation to the showcase. When you ring up 14 1/2 batters per nine innings, it usually draws somebody’s attention.

The Elks lost two of three to the Indians on the weekend, so they were really not trending upwards right now. Which also means that I have to figure out a way to have more than TWO batters with positive OPS+ values in the lineup at the same time. And only ONE of those was on the roster to begin the year…

Raffy started a rehab assignment in St. Pete early this week. I’m sure only good things will come of this. He walked six in his first outing and was beaten out of the fourth inning by the triple-A boys.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Ramon Carreno was making noise. The Venezuelan righty had been promoted from Ham Lake to St. Pete in May and in 16 combined starts this year was posting a 4-3 record with 2.46 ERA. Walks appeared under control, and I wondered where the hook was, but if he continued to pitch like that we’d have to have a look at him at least in September, didn’t we?

As we’re on pitching prospects, supplemental rounder Elijah LaBat was moved to Ham Lake on Sunday after eviscerating single-A hitters, whiffing 16 of them in 12 innings.

Next: All Star Game, and then four more with the damn Elks in Permafrost Park. That road trip would then continue to Indy and Charlotte before we’d return home on the 25th.

Fun Fact: 12 years ago today, Gene Pellicano hit for the cycle in our 20-3 rout of the Loggers.

That was Pellicano’s rookie season, in which he’d appear in 46 games, hitting .286 with six homers. He never really progressed past that and became a regular backup outfielder for the team, playing enough to wear three rings now, but his career highs were 106 games, 293 at-bats, and 37 RBI spread between his busiest seasons, 2046 and 2047. He never reached six homers in a season again.

He appeared in only six games in an injury-riddled 2049 campaign before attaining free agency. The Aces and Titans stashed him in the minors in 2050, but he made five appearances as a Crusader in ’51 – those were the last major league games of his career. He was in the minors until last season, eventually being part of every CL North organization except the damn Elks, but retired this winter. In 311 games and across 823 at-bats, he batted .269 with 20 HR, 107 RBI, and 15 SB for his career.

[Westheim]

All Star Game

Crusaders infielder Omar Sanchez wins MVP honors in the All Star Game, batting 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI as the Continental League beats the Federal League, 7-3. The CL scores four runs in the second inning against SAL SP Zach Stewart (9-4, 2.57 ERA) and never looks back.

The Raccoons’ only representative, Matt Walters, did not appear in the game.

Raccoons (46-43) @ Canadiens (51-38) – July 13-16, 2056

The Coons had just won three of four from the damn Elks last week and now “just” had to follow that up with more of the same to keep making the CL North interesting as the trade deadline approached ever faster. The Elks ranked third in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed with a +57 run differential as their recent meltdown continued. Portland was up 5-3 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (9-8, 3.15 ERA) vs. Anton Jesus (7-7, 4.40 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (8-5, 2.69 ERA) vs. Martino Barbiusa (8-3, 3.66 ERA)
He Shui (8-6, 3.94 ERA) vs. Jesse Lausch (2-1, 3.02 ERA)
Craig Kniep (5-6, 3.66 ERA) vs. Marcus Wilkins (6-7, 4.88 ERA)

Only righty opposition in this life-or-death series.

The Raccoons had another off day on Monday, which meant that both Brobeck and Dunn were available in long relief for quite a while now. What a welcome excuse to dispose of Ryan Harmer again! The Raccoons called up 1B Pedro Rojas, not because he deserved it, or because we needed him, or because he fit well no the roster, but … uh… well… such players were heart to find on our AAA roster.

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B A. Chavez – P Taki
VAN: RF A. Walker – 1B Leitch – C Waker – SS Price – LF Magnussen – 2B Mooney – CF K. Hawkins – 3B Nicholson – P A. Jesus

Aaron Walker’s leadoff triple in the first inning led to a quick 1-0 lead for the damn Elks, although it took Tristan Waker’s long sac fly after Alan Leitch grounded out to Taki initially. Kyle Hawkins upped to 2-0 with a homer to right in the second inning, and Taki allowed only three hits total in the first four innings, but also managed to bunt into a force out of Adriano Chavez on second base TWICE in the first five innings, suffocating any and all offense the Raccoons might have been trying to bobble together. The Coons scattered five hits without the benefit of a run in the first five innings, and the game finally tilted the other way in the bottom of the sixth when Taki walked Leitch and then was taken deep by Tristan Waker, 4-0. Then a walk, an error by Taki, a wild pitch, and another run-scoring groundout and RBI for Hawkins, 5-0. Leitch doubled off Tanizaki (and jammed his thumb sliding into second base, leading to him leaving the game for Jason Ashley) in the bottom 7th, and the Elks got another run on Rick Price’s single to right.

Top 8th, Royer led off with a single to right. Lonzo singled to left. Kirkwood grounded to Brian Nicholson, who dropped the ball rather than make a play, and that error filled the bases. The tying run was still in the dugout, and worse yet, “Double Play” Ramsay was at the dish. Jesus, however, walked him on five pitches, which was hard to defend and forced in Portland’s first run in the game. Pucks *also* walked, bringing in yet another run. Venegas and Fiore both added runs with groundouts, but that also meant that the inning was threatening to fizzle out, and it finally did so with Chavez’ groundout. Sencion held the 6-4 score in the bottom 8th, while Bernardino Risso assumed left-handed pitching duties for the Elks in the ninth inning. Daniel Espinoza batted for Sencion and singled his way on base to lead off the inning. Lonzo reached on Risso’s error, and the tying runs were on base. Kirkwood struck out, while Caballero batted for D.P. Ramsay and walked, filling the sacks. Pucks drew his second bases-loaded walk in a row, narrowing the score to 6-5, and brought up Venegas, who drove the final dagger in with a single over the head of Mark Mooney. Lonzo scored, Caballero scored, and the score was flipped…!! Kellen Lanning struck out Fiore to end the inning, and Walters axed the Elks in 11 pitches in the bottom 9th to complete the stunning comeback…! 7-6 Furballs! Lavorano 2-5; Venegas 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; A. Chavez 2-4; Espinoza (PH) 1-1;

Since I had been left to my own devices in Portland as usual, and Maud had announced that the office needed the walls repainted (which meant that I had to stay far away, eschewing any form of physical labor, same for Slappy), I was sitting at home, and after the game ended with Tristan Waker floating out easily to Kirkwood, Honeypaws and me had to run into the hallway and knock on the door of apartment 4A until it was finally opened by Mr. Krivnopchuk, who didn’t speak a word of English, but I enthusiastically told him that the Raccoons had come back from six runs down in the last two innings against the DAMN, STINKING ELKS, and then kissed him on the cheek anyway.

…and then he invited me into 4A and introduced me to the wonders of Montenegrin fruit schnapps.

Friday’s game would pass by me in a bit of a haze.

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B Allred– P Sweeton
VAN: RF A. Walker – 1B Leitch – C Waker – CF D. Moreno – SS Price – LF Magnussen – 2B K. Hawkins – 3B Ashley – P Barbiusa

Lonzo was on base twice and was caught stealing twice in the otherwise abortive first four innings. Both pitchers rung up four batters through three frames, and while Barbiusa kept the shutout going, Tristan Waker bombed Sweeton with a leadoff jack in the bottom 4th. Damian Moreno then immediately doubled, Rick Price singled and was caught stealing, and somehow the Elks managed to leave Moreno on third base even with another walk to Adam Magnussen. Pucks hit a leadoff double in the top 5th and was stranded even after 2-out walks to Allred and Sweeton, after which Royer popped out to short. Lonzo was on base for the third time with a leadoff walk in the top 6th, did not take off this time, and was also stranded on third base on three hopeless outs. Fiore doubled with one out in the seventh and had just as much support behind him as the last few guys.

Sweeton left still down 1-0 after six innings. Lillis pitched the bottom 7th competently enough, while Lonzo hit another single off Kellen Lanning in the eighth and never made it off first base this time. Julian Dunn had a 1-2-3 eighth, and Pucks had another leadoff hit, a single off Risso to begin the ninth inning. Venegas walked on four straight balls, so was another ninth-inning meltdown budding? Espinoza batted for Fiore against the southpaw, but flew out to Aaron Walker. Marcos Chavez then went to bat for Allred, who had no RBI’s and was unlikely to get one now. Chavez himself also had only one RBI in 14 at-bats, but took his best rip at a first-pitch fastball and BELTED it 370 feet into the leftfield stands…!! (gasp!!) Matt Walters did the rest to the merrily collapsing Elks. 3-1 Coons! Lavorano 2-2, 2 BB; Puckeridge 2-4, 2B; M. Chavez (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Sweeton 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K;

Honeypaws and me immediately hustled over to Mr. Krivnopchuk to tell him all about Marcos Chavez’ first career homer and how stupid the damn Elks were, only to find a folk party to take place in the apartment. We were immediately invited, and yes, there was more schnapps.

Saturday was hard for me. I woke up on Mr. Krivnopchuk’s couch, sitting next to an old Serbian lady wearing a head scarf with floral design indoors, who without hesitation started to make a sandwich with a thick layer of honey for me.

If only the room stopped spinning…

Game 3
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 1B Rojas – C M. Chavez – 2B Allred – P Shui
VAN: RF A. Walker – 1B Leitch – C Waker – CF D. Moreno – SS Price – LF Magnussen – 2B Mooney – 3B Ashley – P Lausch

Allred got that elusive RBI in the second inning, singling home Pucks with two down for the game’s first run, and also the only one of the inning since Shui went down on strikes rather briskly against the swingman Lausch. Shui retired the first seven Elks before getting taken well deep by Jason Ashley to tie the score, and after Waker’s double, a Moreno single, and Rick Price’s sac fly to Royer the Elks were 2-1 ahead in the fourth. Ah, why worry!? They sure had Risso (0-6, 4.28 ERA, 22 SV) lingering somewhere still, always ready to bring more misfortune over them.

Allred, Royer, and Lonzo all hit singles off Lausch in the fifth inning, which wasn’t enough to tie the game because He Shui laid down the third ****** bunt by a Raccoons pitcher in the series and had Allred forced out at second base, then was a roadblock to everybody else. Kirkwood tied the game with a sac fly, but Pucks grounded out to Mooney and the inning ended. The Elks *did* score a run from three singles by Mooney, Walker, and Leitch in the bottom 5th, but they also didn’t have their pitcher remove the leading runner. Lausch struck out failing to bunt instead.

Portland took a 4-3 lead in the sixth; it was the second score-flipping homer by Marcos Chavez in as many days, and it came after a leadoff double by Brobeck. Allred singled, was bunted to second base successfully for once, and then scored on more singles by Royer and Lonzo, the last one off Edwin Sopena. Lonzo enthusiastically tried to steal second base again, but Tristan Waker had him thrown out … if only Mooney had made the catch. The ball hit off Mooney’s wrist, which hurt physically, and then bounced into centerfield, which hurt digitally, on the scoreboard. Royer scored, Lonzo went to third, and then Kirkwood nearly hit a homer, but it plucked by Moreno on the warning track to end the 4-run inning.

Shui pitched into the eighth with the 6-3 lead, but failed to get another bunt down in between, then served up a leadoff double to Leitch. Waker grounded out, moving the runner to third base, and the Raccoons went to Lillis against the all-lefty 4-5-6 array (and if things went well enough, a save opportunity). Things went *********, as Moreno and Price both hit singles, Lillis threw a wild pitch, and another run scored on a Magnussen groundout. Mike Lane came in with a 6-5 lead, the tying run on third base, and two outs, only to be met with lefty pinch-hitter Kyle Hawkins – who grounded out meekly.

The game still had more to give; Kirkwood reached on Price’s error to begin the ninth inning, and with two outs righty Dan Lawrence added Pedro Rojas (single) and Marcos Chavez (walk) to fill the bases. Ryan Allred was unretired in the game, but Magnussen ran down his fly to deep left to kill the Raccoons’ bid for insurance run(s). Lane returned to the bottom 9th undeterred and retired Ashley and Taniguchi, and struck out Leitch after Walker singled to center with two outs. 6-5 Critters. Royer 2-5; Lavorano 3-5, RBI; Rojas 2-4, BB; Allred 4-5, RBI; Lane 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (2);

I didn’t go over to Mr. Krivnopchuk after Saturday’s game – in fact, he came over with the schnapps right after the game ended!

…although by Sunday morning, as I was lying somewhat paralyzed, but fully clothed in my bathtub, I almost caught myself wishing the Raccoons would stop winning soon. And that was even before Honeypaws let in the cold water.

Game 4
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Brobeck – RF Puckeridge – C M. Chavez – 2B Allred – P Kniep
VAN: LF K. Hawkins – C Cass – CF D. Moreno – RF A. Walker – 2B Price – SS Leitch – 1B Aragon – 3B Ashley – P Wilkins

Pucks’ 11th homer opened the scoring in the second inning, but Aaron Walker would knot the score at 1-1 with a solo homer of his own in the fourth inning against Kniep, who wasn’t *bad*, but was surely pitching in a lot of long counts again and only barely escaped after putting Price and Leitch on the corners right after the Walker homer, getting pops from Juan Aragon and Ashley to escape, but those two, too, came in full counts.

Portland then had Chavez on with a leadoff double in the fifth, after which Wilkins offered his first walk of the game to Allred. Kniep struggled to get the bunt down, then grounded out softly to first base on an 0-2 pitch, which had the same effect, except on his .136 batting average. The runners were in scoring position for Royer, who grounded to Price, who had to hurry, threw poorly to first base, and Aragon couldn’t come up with that ball, which bounced into the dugout, allowing the two runners to score. Mr. Krivnopchuk, Honeypaws, and me all had a laugh on my couch and Mr. Krivnopchuk cursed out Price by calling him a donkey’s ****, at least according to my “The Balkan Languages for Beginners” book. Lonzo flew out to right, Caballero walked, and Ramsay singled home Royer with two outs, extending the lead to 4-1 before Hawkins threw himself into a Brobeck liner to end the inning before faceplanting in left-center, but getting away with the heroics without breaking his neck.

Kniep allowed only two hits through seven innings, but thanks to the many long counts, especially early on in this game, he would not be able to go any deeper. The Coons added a run in the eighth on straight leadoff singles by their 3-4-5 batters against Edwin Sopena, who gave up another single to Allred with two outs, but the bags remained loaded when Pedro Rojas flew out to Damian Moreno in center, and the score was thus “only” 5-1. Brobeck went to the hill for (hopefully) the last two innings, but started with a walk to PH Mark Mooney. Hawkins struck out, while Tyler Cass hit a drive to deep right. Pucks raced back and made the catch at the fence, then fired to second base when Mooney tried to advance – and he threw him out!! Hah!!! More schnapps!! …and then more runs after Moreno’s leadoff double and a Walker homer in the bottom 9th. Nobody out, Matt Walters entered the 5-3 game. Price whiffed after a 9-pitch battle. Leitch grounded out to Allred in another full count. Aragon was carved up into its individual provinces on just four pitches, though. 5-3 Furballs!! Caballero 2-4, BB; Ramsay 3-5, RBI; M. Chavez 2-4, 2B; Kniep 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (6-6);

In other news

July 11 – The Condors trade SP/MR Felix Castano (2-2, 3.48 ERA, 1 SV) to the Pacifics for three prospects, including #183 SP Sam Howlett, and further trade SP Mark Jacobs (6-5, 3.38 ERA) to the Buffaloes for an unranked prospect.
July 13 – The Loggers will be without RF/LF Perry Pigman (.337, 9 HR, 52 RBI) for a month; the 25-year-old was down with an intercostal strain.
July 14 – OCT SP Bubby Wolinsky (6-4, 3.81 ERA) and CHA 3B Bobby Anderson (.295, 8 HR, 51 RBI) are both suspended for a whopping 15 games for inciting a benches-clearing brawl by trying to strangle each other – none of the two players is actually successful in that endeavor.
July 16 – With a home run in the second inning against the Miners, CIN LF/CF Juan del Toro (.366, 14 HR, 64 RBI) has put together a 20-game hitting streak. Del Toro lands two hits in the game, but the Cyclones lose a 14-12 football game.
July 16 – The Aces acquire SP Dave Washington (3-5, 5.09 ERA) from the Condors, who should be out of pitchers soon, but receive another two prospects.

FL Player of the Week: PIT INF Victor Corrales (.339, 10 HR, 73 RBI), poking .440 (11-25) with 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA 1B Jason Schaack (.286, 17 HR, 72 RBI), slapping .471 (8-17) with 1 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

(grins stupidly)

I was looking for trade options for second-sackers and catchers this week, but then Marcos Chavez started hitting come-from-behind blasts against the damn Elks, and what more can I possibly want from a catcher…? The Aces’ Jim White was an option for second base, but he was under contract for four more years and the Aces thought they could get our entire farm for him…

The road trip continues to Indy and Charlotte now, but maybe I can convince Mr. Krivnop– … – What is it, Mr. Krivnopchuk? – I’m sorry, I forgot. *Ivo*. … Maybe I can convince Ivo to give me a bottle of that schnapps for the road trip. I really like the taste of the one from plums, but the pears schnapps makes me cry less.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have won the season series against the damn Elks only once in the last six years.

It’s 9-3 now. Just sayin’!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (50-43) @ Indians (35-58) – July 18-20, 2056

Joining the Raccoons on the road on Tuesday, we had another set with the Indians up. They were in the bottom three in both runs scored and runs allowed with a rotten -116 run differential. Basically, nothing was working for them, including defense, and then add a grotesque amount of injuries. They had no fewer than eight major leaguers on the DL, including SP Enrique Ortiz and regulars Antonio Rios, Juan Llampallas, Jose Garza, and Jason Perry. The Coons were up 6-3 on them for the year.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (9-8, 3.28 ERA) vs. Tan Brink (7-9, 5.59 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (8-5, 2.64 ERA) vs. Jeremy Fetta (3-10, 4.92 ERA)
He Shui (9-6, 4.00 ERA) vs. Salvatore Calderon (3-5, 4.11 ERA)

Only righty starters on those Indians.

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – RF Puckeridge – C M. Chavez – 2B A. Chavez – P Taki
IND: 2B Ewers – SS Bahena – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B D. Sandoval – RF McIntyre – CF Oldfield – C Mi. Gilmore – LF Lovins – P Brink

The Raccoons had three hits in the first three innings, one in each, and two double plays hit into by Lonzo and Venegas to make sure not to put up too much offense any time soon. Taki allowed a hit to Will McIntyre in the second, and a leadoff single to Chris Lovins in the bottom 3rd. Brink’s bunt was bungled by Taki for an error, but Kevin Ewers popped out to short, and Bernie Bahena grounded a bouncer to short. Lonzo tossed to Adriano Chavez, and Adriano Chavez was bowled over by Ewers and landed on his shoulder. He was collected by Luis Silva, and Ryan Allred took over the position. Ewers had not only broken up Chavez, but also the double play; however, Bill Quinteros grounded out to Rams in a full count to strand runners on the corners.

Lonzo doubled to begin the fourth inning, then scored on a 2-out single by Venegas to give Taki a 1-0 lead, and Lonzo had another hit his next time up, knocking a 2-out single in the sixth. He stole second, “only” his 30th base of the year, but Brink then walked the bags full behind him anyway, bringing up Venegas again. He flew a ball to right near the foul line, but couldn’t beat McIntyre, and the inning tragically ended. And Taki, after choking the Indians for five innings, allowed back-to-back doubles to Ewers and Bernie Bahena (seriously, who!?) to slip into a 1-1 tie in the bottom 6th… The Indians then took the lead in the seventh on Taki’s own throwing error, which put leadoff man Cory Oldfield on second base. Mike Gilmore’s grounder and Lovins’ sac fly moved the unearned run around to score. The silly Raccoons couldn’t even get on base in the last two innings, and thus cashed a sad-sack loss. 2-1 Indians. Lavorano 2-4, 2B; A. Chavez 1-1; Taki 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, L (9-9);

Adriano Chavez had a mild shoulder strain. He would miss a week or a bit more, probably less than two, but we didn’t feel like carrying an invalid backup infielder on the roster. He was off to the DL. It wasn’t like we were stuffed with infielder options in AAA. We ended up calling up a 27-year-old defensive artist that couldn’t hit a damn thing in 2051 sixth-rounder Tommy Hannoush.

Somebody’s gotta bat eighth?

Juan Vasquez (2-9, 5.97 ERA), another righty with “mixed” results, would get the start on Wednesday for Indy.

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – RF Puckeridge – 2B Allred – C Fiore – P Sweeton
IND: 2B Ewers – SS Bahena – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B D. Sandoval – RF McIntyre – CF Oldfield – C Mi. Gilmore – LF Lovins – P J. Vasquez

The Raccoons lost the middle game in the first inning when Sweeton nailed Bahena and Dan Sandoval. Quinteros doubled in the first run, McIntyre doubled in the second run, and there were a few more singles and a few more runs and Indy went up 5-0 in no time. Bernie Bahena hit another leadoff double in the bottom 2nd, but with the bullpen going, Sweeton retired the next three batters without conceding yet another run. Additionally, Sweeton bunted into a force at third base after Allred and Fiore reached base to begin the Coons’ half of the third inning, and with two more groundouts after that we didn’t score a damn lick in the inning. Sweeton was finally kicked off the ******* mound after allowing a single to Vasquez and a homer to Ewers in the fourth inning, down 7-0.

Brobeck would get the ball for long relief after Eloy Sencion got the Coons out of the fourth inning. He would hit two singles off Vasquez, while Vasquez hit an RBI single off him in the bottom 5th. Brobeck’s two singles weren’t good for anything; one came to fill the bases behind Allred and Fiore in the seventh inning, loading the bases for Royer and Lonzo with one out. One of the muppets popped out, the other grounded out, and the Raccoons again scored zero runs. Vasquez was still pitching a shutout when he left the game for injury concerns in the eighth inning. He left with Rams and Pucks on the corners and two outs. Chris Edwards got Allred to ground out to Bahena to leave them there. Brobeck was a strike away from pitching four semi-decent (1 ER) garbage innings when he nailed Quinteros with an 0-2 pitch in the bottom 8th. A wild pitch and a 3-2 homer by Sandoval followed. The Coons scored a ******* token run in the ninth when Edwards walked Fiore, gave up a single to Solorzano, and then saw through a string of groundouts, Lonzo getting a useless RBI. 10-1 Indians. Ramsay 2-5, 2B; Puckeridge 2-3, BB; Solorzano (PH) 1-1;

(blinks silently)

Game 3
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – C M. Chavez – 2B Allred – CF Solorzano – P Shui
IND: 2B Ewers – SS Bahena – 1B B. Quinteros – 3B D. Sandoval – RF McIntyre – CF Oldfield – C Mi. Gilmore – LF French – P Fetta

The lineup remained cursed; Rams and Pucks began the second inning with a single and walk, respectively, but then Marcos Chavez hit into a double play, and Allred grounded out to leave the remaining runner on third base. Venegas hit a triple in the third inning, but it came with nobody on base and two outs. Lonzo’s fly to center was long, but not long enough to beat Oldfield, and another runner was stranded.

The innings breezed by; the game was scoreless through six innings, with Indy no less inept than Portland, and the Raccoons were getting SO desperate for run(s), that when Fetta offered leadoff walks to Rams and Pucks in the seventh inning, Steve Royer pinch-ran for the first-sacker. The ploy didn’t work, mainly because Chavez plunged into another double play, and Allred’s clutch had worn out in Elk City.

Shui’s 1-out single in the eighth inning knocked out Fetta, but Bill Dewan loaded the bases with two more singles hit by Venegas and Lonzo. Caballero ran a full count before hitting a fly to right-center, and now the Raccoons sent Shui from third base – he was thrown out at the plate by McIntyre, and I wondered whom I had to kiss on the butt here to get an arrow shot through my head. In one ear, out the other – I don’t care…

The Raccoons ended up swept by the Arrowheads when Shui finally stumbled and fell flat on the face in the eighth inning. The Indians churned out four singles, and Nick Fernandez’ pinch-hit, 2-out, 2-run knock put the game away. 2-0 Indians. Venegas 3-4, 3B; Ramsay 1-2, BB; Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB; Shui 7.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, L (9-7) and 1-3;

(dead-eyed stare)

Raccoons (50-46) @ Falcons (63-33) – July 21-23, 2056

And now, a *proper* team. Charlotte ranked first in runs scored, first in runs allowed, and had a +136 run differential. They had also swept the Coons the first time around this season, and I wondered why I bothered traveling to North Carolina for the upcoming smackdown.

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (6-6, 3.47 ERA) vs. Art Schaeffer (15-3, 2.95 ERA)
Julian Dunn (7-3, 3.47 ERA) vs. Garrett Giustino (2-6, 4.95 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (9-9, 3.15 ERA) vs. Josh Clem (5-10, 4.69 ERA)

We’d see three right-handers, and also both of the weak spots in their rotation. But then again, we had just travelled through Ball-on-a-Stick-ville, and had scored two runs in 27 innings, so why get the old hopes up…?

Tommy Hannoush made his major league debut in the series opener.

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Espinoza – C Fiore – 2B Hannoush – P Kniep
CHA: LF Kulak – C L. Miranda – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – 3B G. Vazquez – SS Woodrome – CF M. Ceballos – 2B J. Sanchez – P Schaeffer

Mario Ceballos popped out to Espinoza on a 3-1 pitch to end the bottom of the first inning after a generally inept Craig Kniep had allowed two hits, two walks, and a run to score, and had the bases all stacked around him. Kniep walked the bases full with Jordan Sanchez, William Kulak, and Luis Miranda in the bottom 2nd, then gave up a bases-clearing double to Danny Ceballos, which was about the time where a reasonable person would doff their cap and call it a ballgame.

The Coons would have one base hit through five innings, while Kniep dragged his useless bum into the fifth inning, but was axed before logging an out when Danny Ceballos and Jason Schaack went to the corners on a pair of singles. Tanizaki replaced him and somehow managed to suck even harder, throwing two wild pitches before giving up a single to Gerardo Vazquez, closing Kniep’s line at six runs in four+ innings. Top 6th, Royer and Lonzo reached base to begin the inning, but then Schaeffer struck out Kirkwood, struck out Caballero, and had Sanchez snatch Pucks’ liner to end the ******* inning. Royer and Lonzo were on base to begin the eighth inning *again*, and that time the Coons scored a token run when Royer advanced on a fly to center and scored on Caballero’s fielder’s choice to short. Pucks was robbed by Kulak dashing into the gap to snare his drive to left-center, ending the inning. 6-1 Falcons. Royer 1-2, 2 BB; Lavorano 2-4;

Pedro Rojas hit 2-for-7 in his brief time up, but was now optioned to get another pitcher on the roster. Let’s try Bravo. Maybe the ninth time is the charm.

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – C M. Chavez – 2B Allred – P Dunn
CHA: LF Kulak – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – 3B G. Vazquez – C L. Miranda – CF Conner – 2B J. Sanchez – P Giustino

Dunn threw 58 pitches through three innings, but the busy boy somehow managed to not allow runs despite frequent traffic on the bases in the early innings. The Raccoons however took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning – whoah! slow down! – when Caballero singled and scored from first on Ramsay’s double to right-center. Dunn ran three more long counts in the bottom 4th, which was still not as bad as giving up a leadoff double to the ******* opposing pitcher in the fifth inning. Giustino was still at second base with two outs after a K to Kulak and Ian Woodrome’s groundout to short, but then Dunn walked Danny Ceballos and gave up the lead on Jason Schaack’s single to center. Gerardo Vazquez grounded out on Dunn’s 102nd pitch of the game. It was also the last one.

Bravo got the sixth right away against the bottom half of the order. Doug Conner hit a 1-out single, but was stranded despite stealing second base. Pucks batted for Bravo after Ryan Allred hit a 2-out double in the seventh for Portland, but grounded out to short as the offensive misery continued. Before too long, it was joined by pitching misery. Lillis had pitched the bottom 7th, then added a K of Schaack to begin the bottom 8th. Mike Lane then got the ball, but walked Vazquez. And Luis Miranda, too. And then surrendered an RBI single to PH Elias Rodriguez. And Braden McCarver walked as well. And Mario Ceballos? Mario Ceballos hit a grand slam. 6-1 Falcons.

(opens mouth)

(closes mouth)

Game 3
POR: 2B Allred – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – C Fiore – CF Solorzano – P Taki
CHA: LF Kulak – SS Woodrome – RF D. Ceballos – 1B Schaack – 3B G. Vazquez – C L. Miranda – CF M. Ceballos – 2B J. Sanchez – P Clem

Sunday’s game began with a 1-0 Falcons lead as Danny Ceballos singled home Kulak in the Falcons’ 2-hit, 2-walk bottom 1st, and that Taki emerged with that little concrete damage was due to the 6-U double play that Lonzo shagged against Schaack, doubling Woodrome off second base. Clem walked three the first time through, but the Raccoons couldn’t find a ******* base hit when it mattered. They got two leadoff singles in the fourth inning from Pucks and Brobeck, but the 7-8-9 might just as well have stayed in the dugout. Pucks didn’t even make it to third base amidst two strikeouts and a ****** pop to shallow left. Lonzo hit a double to left in the fifth inning. Yes, of course he was stranded too.

Taki walked the bases full in three full counts in the bottom 5th as part of his exit strategy, including a leadoff walk to the ******* opposing pitcher. Schaack hit an RBI single for an actual 2-0 score in what felt like a 9-0 game, Vazquez whiffed, and Miranda grounded out to Brobeck at third base to end the dismal inning. Somehow Taki pitched six innings without getting outright strangled by a furious GM, then was hit for with Anton Venegas to begin the top 7th. Clem offered a walk, giving him five free passes to Taki’s six, then ran a full count to Ryan Allred before the seventh-string second-sacker streaked a stripe of a drive through the left side and into the leftfield corner for an RBI triple! I was confused for a moment when the Raccoons’ marker in the R column on the scoreboard flipped to “1”. It was Sunday. We had yet to make it skip to “2” this week. Let alone win a game. Lonzo was batting with the tying run on third base and nobody out. He struck out. Caballero grounded out in front of the plate and Allred had to hold at third base. Ramsay popped out. Allred hung his head retreating to the dugout from third base. I also retreated to the nearest concession stand with alcoholic beverages, because I knew that the damn Coons wouldn’t come back in this game anymore.

Sencion and Tanizaki put the seventh and eighth together scorelessly for the visiting team. The Falcons used three pitchers for three outs in the top 8th, then sent Coons reject Steve Watson into the ninth inning. Solorzano grounded out, but Royer pinch-hit and singled up the middle. Kirkwood pinch-hit for Allred, but struck out, and Lonzo struck out for himself. 2-1 Falcons. Royer (PH) 1-1;

In other news

July 17 – A broken ankle ends the season of DEN 1B Bill Joyner (.359, 11 HR, 48 RBI).
July 17 – The Cyclones trade SP Larry Broad (5-9, 4.67 ERA) to the Rebels for #176 prospect C Brycen Fink.
July 17 – The Canadiens beat the Loggers, 3-2, in the only game played on Monday. The only other scheduled game between the Thunder and Bayhawks is rained out.
July 18 – Aces 3B/1B/RF Alex Alfaro (.327, 18 HR, 64 RBI) pounds out four singles and a grand slam as he goes 5-for-5 in the Aces’ 10-4 win over the Falcons.
July 18 – Pacifics LF/RF/1B Salvatore Rodrigues (.329, 8 HR, 46 RBI) has suffered a concussion and could miss the rest of the season.
July 19 – SAC 2B/SS Chris Navarro (.333, 2 HR, 49 RBI) pumps a 10th-inning, walkoff grand slam to beat the Wolves, 8-4.
July 19 – A home run by CHA 2B/SS Jordan Sanchez (.271, 6 HR, 41 RBI) marks the only scoring in the Falcons’ 1-0 win over the Aces.
July 19 – Also decided by a solo home run is the Titans’ 1-0 win, on the strength of 1B/SS/OF Mario Navarro’s (.220, 2 HR, 15 RBI) longball heroics, against the Crusaders.
July 20 – The hitting streak of CIN LF/CF Juan del Toro (.364, 14 HR, 65 RBI) ends at 22 games when the Rebels hold him hitless in four at-bats. The Cyclones still win the game, 4-3.
July 20 – The Crusaders lose INF Zach Suggs (.324, 15 HR, 66 RBI) to an oblique strain. The 30-year-old right-handed batter would be out for up to a month.
July 21 – The Thunder re-acquire 1B David Worthington (.316, 3 HR, 15 RBI) from the Loggers for infielder Doug Triplett (.289, 9 HR, 28 RBI) and #188 prospect CL Juan Macias.
July 21 – In a separate deal, the Loggers trade OF Bobby Rivera (.288, 4 HR, 22 RBI) to the Buffaloes for C Jonathan Dye (.259, 1 HR, 6 RBI) and a prospect.

FL Player of the Week: CIN RF/1B/LF John MacDonnell (.340, 4 HR, 19 RBI), hitting .619 (13-21) with 1 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ LF/RF Danny Ramirez (.247, 4 HR, 18 RBI), dishing .550 (11-20) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I consulted the internets and apparently a fall from the 15th floor is usually fatal. The Raccoons this week had the baseball equivalent of a fall from the 15th floor. After the riotous sweep of the damn Elks in damn Elk City last weekend, we went less than winless this week. 0-6, and absolutely feckless while at it.

Five runs. Five.

The team batted .211/.289/.263 for the week. Seven double plays hit into. 48 runners were left stranded.

This can’t be saved with a few savvy trades at the deadline. This isn’t fixable.

The Raccoons spent just $22k in the July IFA period this year, those for an outfielder with ho-hum potential. We were bidding on two different starting pitchers, Dominican righties Juan Montoya and Danny Tabares, but dropped out of the former’s race at a quarter of a million bucks, and from the latter’s at a whopping $900k. While the potential was there, Tabares so far had only two really good pitches developed, and that was a lot of dosh for a middle reliever.

Next week: the Coons return home in disgrace to play the Condors and Aces…

Fun Fact: Off the top of my head, I can not remember a worse week for the Raccoons, ever.

And terrible weeks we had many.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (50-49) vs. Condors (45-54) – July 25-27, 2056

Having **** the bed on the latter part of the road trip, the Raccoons returned home heads hanging, having wholly humped the last six games, losing all of them while scoring five runs. In total. (shakes head) The Condors ranked sixth in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed and were generally playing out the string, being 20-ish games out in their division. Their bullpen was the worst in the league with an ERA of almost five… but you had to get to that bullpen first……. The Coons had a 2-1 edge in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Sean Sweeton (8-6, 3.05 ERA) vs. Juan Juarez (3-6, 5.25 ERA)
He Shui (9-7, 3.90 ERA) vs. Ivan Ornelas (3-2, 4.86 ERA)
Craig Kniep (6-7, 3.91 ERA) vs. Steve Hawkins (7-9, 3.88 ERA)

Again, only right-handers. Where had all the southpaws gone??

Game 1
TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – 2B Sheilds – LF T. Duncan – RF D. Ramirez – C Poindexter – CF Hildebrand – SS Chapa – 3B Frasher – P J. Juarez
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – LF Kirkwood – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C Fiore – P Sweeton

Behold! – the Raccoons scored three runs… not in the game, but in AN INNING!! Okay, all the runs were unearned in that bottom of the second, which began grandly with … a throwing error for two bases for Chris Kirkwood, committed by Tyrese Sheilds. Venegas and Allred hit soft singles to get Kirkwood around to score, Fiore popped out, Sweeton bunted the runners onwards, and then Steve Royer came through with a 2-run single to center. It was the single-biggest rush of offense for the team in over a week. Lonzo then grounded out to end the inning. Ryan Allred then answered with a leadoff, 2-base throwing error of his own in the third inning, putting Luis Chapa on base for free, and he, too, scored in the inning, singled home by Juarez, depressingly. I don’t care – if you give up an RBI single to the opposing pitcher, the run should always be earned. Make it count double.

The middle innings passed calmly. The Condors had only two base hits (but also just two strikeouts) against Sweeton through six innings, while Juarez rung up seven Critters, but nevertheless remained on an unearned 3-1 hook. Sweeton wouldn’t get through the seventh inning, nicking Player of the Week Danny Ramirez to get it going, and then was clipped with singles by Danny Hildebrand and Luis Chapa, the latter singling home the Condors’ second run. Craig Sayre was seen off when he pinch-hit in the #8 spot, but with two outs and Nick Fowler pinch-hitting, the Coons went to Brett Lillis jr. in a double switch, and Fowler grounded out to short on the first pitch to kill the inning. Entering with Lillis in the double switch and leading off the bottom 7th was Tommy Hannoush, who landed his first big league hit with a dinker behind Chapa and Sheilds, advanced on a wild pitch and then scored easily on Lonzo’s 1-out gap triple in right-center – but Rams and Pucks failed at the plate against Jayden Durant and Lonzo remained unscored… Lillis and Tanizaki put the eighth together, before Matt Walters got bombed to left by Danny Ramirez to lead off the ninth, taking the cushion away. Manny Poindexter and Danny Hildebrand both whiffed before Luis Chapa bumped a single through the right side. Victor Velez raked and missed, though, and the Coons won their first game in nine days… 4-3 Critters. Royer 2-4, 2 RBI; Venegas 3-4; Allred 2-3, RBI; Hannoush 1-1; Sweeton 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (9-6);

Unearned anyway.

Game 2
TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – 2B Sheilds – LF T. Duncan – RF D. Ramirez – C Poindexter – CF Hildebrand – SS Chapa – 3B V. Velez – P Ornelas
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – RF Puckeridge – LF Kirkwood – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C M. Chavez – P Shui

John Rosenstiel hit a long leadoff double to center to begin Wednesday’s game, but Sheilds popped out, and Tim Duncan’s single was right in front of Kirkwood and didn’t suit itself to make a run for home plate. Ramirez’ 6-4-3 double play grounder kept the Condors off the board for the time being. The Raccoons took a 1-0 lead in the bottom 1st instead when Ornelas brushed Lonzo with a pitch, Lonzo took offense, and stole second base out from under the right-hander. Rams then singled him home with a ball past the diving Tyrese Sheilds. Pucks one-upped Rams by ramming a homer to straightaway centerfield, extending the lead to 3-0 with the Coons first longball since time immemorial. Pucks grounded out to leave the bases loaded with the 1-2-3 batters in the second inning, with Royer having singled home Marcos Chavez in between to extend the lead to 4-0.

Through five innings, the Condors didn’t have much against Shui, while the Raccoons could have had much more against Ornelas, who got three double plays turned behind himself in the first, fourth, and fifth innings to clean up surplus runners. Shui offered a leadoff walk to Sheilds in the fourth, but the runner was caught stealing, and then again to Victor Velez in the sixth. Nick Fowler popped out pinch-hitting, but Rosenstiel singled. Sheilds and Tim Duncan both went down on strikes, giving Shui seven whiffs on the day. Right-hander Miguel Batista offered leadoff walks to Venegas and Allred in the bottom 6th. Marcos Chavez flew out to left-center, moving the lead runner to third base, which took the bunt off Shui and he was told to rake away instead. Raking he did, an RBI double to left…! The pair in scoring position remained stranded though, and then some, with Royer whiffing, Lonzo walking, and Ramsay grounding out… the inning after, Kirkwood hit into the fourth double play on the home team’s side of the box score.

Shui completed eight shutout innings, but that took him 107 pitches and he was gassed and wouldn’t be brought back for the ninth. The ball went to Reynaldo Bravo with the lead upped to 6-0 thanks to Royer doubling home Fiore off Gabe Hill with two outs in the bottom 8th. The Condors went in order. 6-0 Coons. Royer 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Kirkwood 2-4; Shui 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (10-7) and 1-2, 2B, RBI;

Interlude: Trade

The Raccoons struck a superficially senseless deal with the Loggers between games, acquiring 1B/RF/LF Gaudencio Callaia (.327, 4 HR, 39 RBI) from Milwaukee for SP/MR Julian Dunn (7-3, 3.39 ERA) and left-hander Geoff Sather (0-0, 4.50 ERA).

Callaia ranked third in the CL batting title race and was signed through 2059, while Dunn had only 134.1 major league innings under his belt (101 of them this year) and Sather had been a rather occasional contributor and was 26 already as well. Dunn had been a waiver claim from the Miners. There was no doubt that Callaia could hit, but where the heck would he even play? The Raccoons already struggled to cram Kirkwood, Pucks, Rams, and Caballero into the lineup, and Callaia was competition for those spots exclusively. He also batted left-handed, so wasn’t an alternative to spell Rams and Pucks against southpaws.

However: both Kirkwood and Caballero were free agents after this season, so this deal fit into the bigger picture of building for a playoff run in 2057 again (anybody remember Kennedy Adkins?), and how long Dunn would keep his (admirably decent) act together was anybody’s guess. Sometimes there’s writing on the wall when you get a 28-year-old starter off waivers like that.

Roster moves were made, with Carlos Solorzano (.221, 1 HR, 11 RBI) axed to make room in the outfield. The Raccoons would start Kyle Brobeck on Friday, while Raffy de la Cruz had to return from a horrendous rehab assignment (8.55 ERA) in AAA by the start of next week, but couldn’t make the start on Friday (he had last been anal-probed by AAA hitting on Tuesday). The Raccoons called up the next-closest thing to a pitcher that was already on the 40-man roster in St. Pete and added left-handed Josh Mayo, who had last featured on the Critters in ’53 (!) and had a 4.44 ERA in swingman duty for the Alley Cats this year. Mayo had worn #34 in his time with the Coons, which had since gone to Adkins, but since Adkins wasn’t anywhere close in working himself back from elbow recalibration, Mayo would wear #34 again during this invariably brief cup of coffee.

Raccoons (50-49) vs. Condors (45-54) – July 25-27, 2056

Game 3
TIJ: 1B Rosenstiel – 2B Sheilds – LF T. Duncan – RF D. Ramirez – C J. Morales – CF Hildebrand – SS N. Fowler – 3B Chapa – P S. Hawkins
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – 1B Callaia – LF Caballero – RF Puckeridge – 2B Allred – C M. Chavez – 3B Espinoza – P Kniep

Callaia fit right in with the team in not hitting anything in his first times to the plate, but he wasn’t the only one not hitting a whole lot. The Condors would hold a 1-0 lead at the seventh-inning stretch, courtesy of a Luis Chapa homer. That was one of four hits off a rather well pitching Craig Kniep, who struck out six through seven innings, throwing 97 pitches, while the Raccoons had a Steve Royer single to lead off the bottom 1st, but had him doubled off by Lonzo, and then *nothing* until Ryan Allred legged out an infield single to begin the bottom of the seventh. Allred was caught stealing (…), and the Raccoons didn’t get anywhere in the inning. Eloy Sencion pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, then was hit for with Venegas to begin the bottom 8th. Venegas grounded out, but Royer singled over the head of Nick Fowler. He, too, was caught stealing. Mike Lane worked around an Espinoza error to keep the Condors close in the ninth, while Steve Hawkins was still going with a 3-hitter in the bottom 9th. But here came Callaia – a drive to right-center, and a double between Hildebrand and Craig Sayre to begin the inning! Caballero walked in a full count, and Hawkins was replaced with lefty Matt Otte, who had more walks than strikeouts. He got to 0-2 on Pucks, but Pucks crammed a single through the right side. Callaia was held at third base in deference to Sayre’s impressive arm. It was three on and nobody out in a 1-0 deficit, a.k.a no better time to choke. Chris Kirkwood batted for Allred, but popped out to Velez. Marcos Chavez batted for himself, but grounded hard at Velez, who didn’t trust the two-for-one, and instead fired home to kill off Callaia. Espinoza grounded out to Otte. 1-0 Condors. Royer 2-3, BB; Caballero 0-1, 3 BB; Kniep 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, L (6-8);

(looks old and gray and his stripes are all pale)

Raccoons (52-50) vs. Aces (41-59) – July 28-30, 2056

Here was another team that couldn’t keep others off the scoreboard, with the second-most runs allowed by these Aces. They ranked sixth in runs scored. Basically, the team was very good at mashing homers, and really not that good at literally anything else. The season series was even at three.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (5-3, 4.34 ERA) vs. Josh Wilson (10-8, 4.94 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (9-10, 3.15 ERA) vs. Dave Washington (3-6, 5.25 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (9-6, 2.97 ERA) vs. Ray Benner (4-4, 2.44 ERA)

Hey, hey! A left-handed starter being offered up – Washington on Saturday.

Game 1
LVA: SS Veguilla – LF Kaniewski – 1B Austin – 3B A. Alfaro – CF Hummel – RF Epperson – 2B J. White – C Dixon – P Jo. Wilson
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Callaia – LF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – P Brobeck – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B Hannoush

Lonzo made his second 6-U double play in short succession in the second inning on Friday after Brobeck had walked Alex Alfaro on four pitches, Ken Hummel singled, and Gunner Epperson unleashed a real rocket that was right into Lonzo’s mitten and Alfaro was caught astray, all in all killing the inning for the Vegans. Brobeck would land the first hit for the Coons with a 2-out single in the bottom 2nd, and the bases filled with Venegas getting nicked and Matt Fiore drawing a walk, but then Tommy Hannoush grounded out. In turn, Brobeck loaded the bases in the top 3rd, but didn’t escape. Two hits and a walk filled them up, and Alex Alfaro drove in two with a single and Hummel added another run with yet another single. Epperson ended the 3-spot with a foul pop caught by Venegas. John Kaniewski’s and Aubrey Austin’s leadoff hits in the fifth would allow the Aces to score a fourth run on Alfaro’s groundout, and Brobeck was not seen again after that inning…

The Coons’ offense had yet to show up, while the Raccoons got two scoreless innings from Bravo, then were still down 4-0, shrugged, and tossed in Josh Mayo to mop up the game. He nailed Epperson to begin the eighth, but then retired the bottom third of the order without allowing Epperson to get into scoring position. Callaia socked a double in the bottom 8th and was stranded at second base. Mayo finished the game for the Coons, but so did Wilson for the Aces, putting a 6-hit shutout in the books… 4-0 Aces. Fiore 2-3, BB; Bravo 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K; Mayo 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Game 2
LVA: SS Veguilla – LF Kaniewski – 1B Austin – 3B A. Alfaro – CF Hummel – RF Epperson – 2B J. White – C Dixon – P Washington
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Caballero – LF Kirkwood – 1B Callaia – 3B Venegas – C M. Chavez – 2B Hannoush – P Taki

The Raccoons scored a run – wheee!! – in the first inning, which Royer opened with a double to center and then scored on two groundouts. Royer also had the second hit for the Coons, a leadoff single in the bottom 3rd, after Chavez and Hannoush had walked in the second inning, but had been stranded by Taki grounding out. Lonzo added another single, and so did Caballero, lining one past Jim White to load the bases with nobody out. Kirkwood’s sac fly to left upped the score to 2-0, and then Callaia’s single reloaded the bases. Washington fell to 3-1 against Caballero, who swung, I shrieked, but he found the gap between Hummel and Epperson for a 2-run double. Marcos Chavez’ groundout brought in the fourth and final run of the inning, giving Taki a 5-0 lead after he had struck out five in three innings. However, he had also needed 52 pitches to get through 11 batters, which was already annoying again. Austin doubled and Epperson hit a 2-run homer in the fourth to make my mood worse…

The Aces added two more in a rotten fifth inning. John Dixon drew a leadoff walk in a full count, was bunted to second by reliever Danny Bethea, and then Taki nailed Miguel Veguilla with a 1-2 pitch. Kaniewski doubled in a run, Austin walked, Alfaro singled home another run, and then Ken Hummel found Lonzo for a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play, leaving the Raccoons with a skinny 5-4 lead. Epperson finally homered the ******* game tied with a jack in the sixth…

Maud, can you check whether there’s any junkies in the dumpster behind the ballpark? – Because I have a twenny for them if they press this pillow into my face until I stop struggling.

Mike Lane began the seventh inning with a 3-0 count against Veguilla, who over-eagerly grounded out and allowed Lane to have a 1-2-3 inning after all. The Raccoons also started with a 3-0 count by Bob Kelly to Daniel Espinoza in the #9 hole, and Espinoza held out for a walk from the left-hander. Royer also walked, and a scratch single by Lonzo filled the bases with nobody out for the middle of the order. Kelly nailed Caballero before he could do something stupid, which gave the Coons a 6-5 lead, Kirkwood found an RBI single to center, but Callaia grounded into a force at home plate. Kelly was disposed of by means of Anton Venegas’ bases-clearing double, 10-5, and the inning ended after that against righty Aaron Erwin. Could we blow another 5-run lead? Sencion had a 1-2-3 eighth, and Tanizaki had the same result in the ninth inning. 10-5 Raccoons. Royer 2-4, BB, 2B; Lavorano 2-5; Venegas 2-4, 2 2B, 5 RBI;

Game 3
LVA: SS Veguilla – LF Kaniewski – 1B Austin – 3B A. Alfaro – CF Hummel – RF Epperson – 2B J. White – C Dixon – P Benner
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – RF Callaia – LF Caballero – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – C M. Chavez – 2B Allred – P Sweeton

Veguilla singled to start the rubber game and was caught stealing, and then Sweeton still managed to walk four Aces batters and give up three runs in the inning. Lonzo’s triple and Callaia’s groundout scored a first-inning run for Portland, although that was it for base runners the first time through, except for Ryan Allred, who drew a walk, and then was also caught stealing in the third inning.

Bottom 4th, the Critters’ 3-4-5 batters loaded the bases with one out. Rams popped out on a 2-1 pitch, which gave me medium-intensity migraines, but Ray Benner then walked in a run with four balls to Marcos Chavez. Allred then dished a 1-1 pitch to right, Epperson couldn’t catch up, and the ball fell for a score-flipping double, 4-3 Critters. Better yet, Sweeton killed Benner’s outing for good with a single to center. Both remaining runners scored, which gave Sweeton his first RBI’s of the season. He’d pitch into the seventh – supported by a solo homer hit by Allred in the sixth – while allowing the leadoff man on base in the fifth, sixth, and seventh, and while that leadoff man never scored, the Aces still knocked him out in the seventh after Kaniewski’s fielder’s choice removed Veguilla and his leadoff single, and then Austin drew the sixth walk of the game off Sweeton. Lillis came in for the switch-bashing Alfaro, got the K, and then hung around for the right-handed Hummel, with the lefty Epperson lingering behind him. Lillis didn’t bother with Epperson, ringing up Hummel instead.

The Coons crushed the Aces’ pen for another four runs in the seventh inning. Lonzo and Callaia got on, did a double steal, and then scored both on Pucks’ single to center. Chavez and Allred would also both get another RBI with two outs before Espinoza grounded out to end the inning, batting for Lillis. The Coons, up by eight, went to Mayo again, who was sitting on a packed suitcase anyway. We wouldn’t miss him, thanks to him shuffling the bags full and then offering 2-out, run-scoring walks to both Kaniewski and Austin before Alfaro struck out. In turn, left-hander Jose Cintora conceded singles to Venegas, Lonzo, Caballero, and doubles to Pucks and Rams in the bottom 8th for another 4-spot before being replaced by another lefty, Tim Abraham. Chavez struck out, but that still brought up Allred, who was a triple short of the cycle, but had to settle for a walk. Tanizaki had another 1-2-3 ninth inning to put the blowout away. 15-5 Furballs! Venegas 2-5; Lavorano 3-5, 3B; Puckeridge 3-5, 2B, 4 RBI; Ramsay 2-5, 2B, RBI; Allred 3-3, 2 BB, HR, 2B, 4 RBI;

In other news

July 24 – The Canadiens trade RF/CF Aaron Walker (.276, 8 HR, 37 RBI) to the Bayhawks for CL Tony Negrete (4-0, 1.22 ERA, 19 SV) and #37 prospect RF Patrick Zehe.
July 25 – VAN SP Martino Barbiusa (9-4, 3.02 ERA), spins a 2-hit shutout at the Aces, whiffing four in a 4-0 win. Vegas’ last three outs of the game are all first-pitch groundouts.
July 26 – The Wolves send SP Mike Pohlmann (5-9, 4.95 ERA) to the Rebels for two prospects.
July 26 – IND 1B/LF/RF Bill Quinteros (.245, 5 HR, 32 RBI) figured to miss a month with a sprained ankle.
July 28 – The busy Loggers trade INF Travis Edwards (.219, 5 HR, 28 RBI) and a prospect to the Falcons for the return of SP Noah Hollis (8-4, 3.89 ERA).
July 28 – Los Angeles sends OF/1B Noah Caswell (.271, 3 HR, 34 RBI) to the Loggers, along with cash, for SP Brian Goldsmith (10-7, 3.03 ERA) and a prospect, #83 C Angel Perez.
July 28 – Aruban OF Neville van de Wouw (.264, 12 HR, 53 RBI) might miss at least a month; the Capitals player was down with a flexor-pronator strain.
July 28 – The Warriors beat the Miners, 5-4 in 11 innings. All runs score in extra innings, two each in the 10th for either team, and also for the Miners in the top of the 11th. The Warriors walk it off with a 3-spot in the bottom 11th.
July 28 – DAL INF Steve Diaz (.312, 10 HR, 41 RBI) gives the Stars a 14-inning, 6-3 win over the Buffaloes with a 3-run walkoff home run.
July 29 – The Knights acquire RF/LF Danny Rivera (.280, 12 HR, 52 RBI) from the Bayhawks for 1B Pat Fowler (.250, 12 HR, 55 RBI).
July 29 – Boston trades SP Chad Shultz (9-9, 4.37 ERA) to the Pacifics for 2B/SS Ken Sowell (.229, 8 HR, 46 RBI) and a prospect.
July 29 – The Loggers bring in SP Brad Blankenship (8-6, 3.77 ERA) from the Blue Sox for five prospects. The package includes #168 SP Bryan Roper.
July 30 – The Crusaders surprisingly trade INF Prince Gates (.295, 9 HR, 49 RBI) to the Canadiens 3B Alex Adame (.292, 0 HR, 13 RBI) and a prospect.
July 30 – The Knights beat the Loggers, 5-2 in 14 innings, after stranding 15 runners on base.

FL Player of the Week: RIC LF/RF Andres Velasco (.294, 1 HR, 8 RBI), hitting .500 (12-24) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL 1B/LF/RF Eddie Moreno (.272, 26 HR, 84 RBI), mashing .296 (8-27) with 4 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Every Coon in the lineup on Sunday had a hit, all but Sweeton had a run scored, and all but Venegas and Lonzo had an RBI. Solid team effort!

Who came up with the Callaia deal? The Loggers. Although they originally also offered a prospect I was rather indifferent about, and wanted Taki. I liked the actual deal in the end better.

Also, not sure what the Loggers were doing in general here. One day they went in, one day they sold off. They struck five deals in July, all in themselves somewhat defensible, but as a whole rather not.

And what are the Coons gonna do? Monday is the trade deadline! Are we gonna add another bat? Would that even make sense?? Who knows these things! We’re gonna add Raffy at the very least, since his time in rehab is up, and it wasn’t a good one…

Long road trip ahead, with the next two weeks being spent tingling between Atlanta, Milwaukee, Elk City, and Dallas.

Fun Fact: Matt Walters went 39.2 innings without getting taken deep this season.

…until he ran into Danny Ramirez at least.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (54-51) @ Knights (64-40) – July 31-August 2, 2056

The Knights were in second place in the South, 3 1/2 games out, and needed the wins, and here were the Raccoons. We looked at a +119 run differential against the #4 offense and #2 pitching in the league, including the best rotation. I was so devoid of confidence, despite having gone merely 2-4 against them so far this year, that the Raccoons did not make another effort to grab another player at the deadline. It wasn’t gonna work out anyway…

Projected matchups:
He Shui (10-7, 3.66 ERA) vs. Terry Herman (10-5, 2.77 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (1-3, 2.90 ERA) vs. Austin Wilcox (7-8, 4.26 ERA)
Craig Kniep (6-8, 3.72 ERA) vs. Esteban Duran (10-6, 3.25 ERA)

Only righty starters for the Knights.

The Raccoons put Josh Mayo (6.00 ERA) on waivers to get back Raffy, who had gone through a rehab assignment in St. Petersburg that was best described as “catastrophic”, posting an 8.55 ERA and walking 18 batters in 20 innings across five starts. He was now inches away from the dumpster.

Game 1
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – RF Callaia – 1B Ramsay – LF Kirkwood – CF Puckeridge – C Fiore – 2B Allred – P Shui
ATL: LF Fink – CF Alade – 2B W. Acosta – 1B E. Moreno – RF D. Rivera – C Almaguer – SS A. Aguilera – 3B Ri. Jimenez – P Herman

Shui gave up two singles in the first inning, but struck out Eddie Moreno and Danny Rivera, the highly-experienced coonskinners, to keep Atlanta off the board ahead of Chris Kirkwood’s solo homer to left in the top 2nd that gave the Coons a 1-0 lead. The 4-5 batters got their revenge in the bottom 3rd though after Willie Acosta hit a 2-out single and stole second base. Moreno hit an RBI single, Rivera bopped an RBI double, and the Knights flipped the score to 2-1 in their favor. Herman struck out the side from Callaia to Kirkwood in the fourth inning for a bit of a statement, but the Raccoons would have an answer they brought up the top of the order the next time in the sixth. Venegas singled, and while he was forced out on Lonzo’s grounder to ex-Coon Ricky Jimenez, Gaudencio Callaia then socked a score-flipping 2-run homer to left-center, 3-2 Critters, but hits by Rivera and Alvin Aguilera in the bottom 6th evened the score again rather briskly. Shui pitched only six innings, getting knocked around for ten hits.

Herman went seven, while scoreless innings by Lillis and Lane on one side and David Hardaway on the other side kept the score even into the ninth inning. Ruben Mendez still retired the Raccoons’ 2-3-4 batters in order. Bottom 9th, Eloy Sencion struck out Dave Lee, walked Jimenez in a full count, but then got another K on Mike Roberts, and John Fink grounded out to Venegas to send the game to overtime. The Coons made two quick outs against Mendez in the tenth before Matt Fiore snuck a single through the middle, and Ryan Allred drove in the catcher from first base with a long double into the left-center gap, breaking the tie. Royer popped out to Jimenez, and Matt Walters got the baseball. Chris Baker, Acosta, and Moreno went in order. 4-3 Critters. Fiore 2-4;

Game 2
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – LF Kirkwood – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B Hannoush – P de la Cruz
ATL: LF Fink – CF Alade – 2B W. Acosta – 1B E. Moreno – RF D. Rivera – C Almaguer – SS A. Aguilera – 3B Ri. Jimenez – P Wilcox

The Knights did not **** around with Raffy; let alone that he offered three walks in the first inning *after* John Fink opened with a single (but was caught stealing) and *whilst* Eddie Moreno banged a 2-run homer, even Wilcox, with a 3-0 lead and the bases loaded launched a drive to right that required Callaia to lay out and make a daring headlong dive across the foul line and dangerously close to the sidewall to end the goddamn inning. The Coons in the top 2nd put their 4-5-6 batters on without making an out, plinking Wilcox for three straight singles, but Fiore hit into a 4-6-3 double play. While that scored a run, and Tommy Hannoush’s single added another, Raffy struck out to remain 3-2 behind. Then he walked the bags full in the bottom 2nd, although the Knights didn’t get a hit and stranded the bases loaded; but Fink doubled home Jimenez in the bottom 3rd for a 4-2 lead. That was the last inning for de la Cruz. 91 pitches. Nine outs, barely.

Brobeck pitched two innings after that, being limited more than coming in on three days’ rest than anything else, but also surrendered another run to the Knights. The Raccoons then found another three straight singles to lead off the top 6th; the three straight singles to begin the second and these three aside, we had only one other hit so far against Wilcox. Lonzo singled and stole second, Caballero singled, and Rams shortened the score to 5-3 with another single, but then the inning fizzled out rapidly. The bases were loaded again in the seventh; Espinoza (who entered in a double switch with Bravo) and Callaia singled, Caballero walked, and Rams was up with two outs against Wilcox – and the Knights fumbled their lead when Wilcox got to 1-2, then threw a teaser inside that Rams lunged over the middle infielders and into shallow center for a game-tying 2-run single. Right-hander Matt Weber replaced Wilcox, but gave up the go-ahead run on Kirkwood’s single to left. Bravo, intended to go multiple innings, was next, but obviously hit for with Pucks – who was down 1-2 when Kirkwood got picked off first base, ending the inning……

Tanizaki had a good seventh inning, while Alade and Acosta hit 1-out singles off Eloy Sencion in the bottom 8th. Moreno flew out to Caballero in left-center, advancing the tying run to third base, but Danny Rivera grounded out rather calmly to Hannoush to end the inning. Facing lefty Amari Walker in the ninth, the Coons got Espinoza and Callaia on with leadoff singles. Lonzo grounded out, having both insurance runs in scoring position for Caballero, who was walked with intent. Ramsay was having a *great* day, but he was not a good matchup with Amari Walker, he was a constant double play menace, and we *really* wanted that extra run(s). Steve Royer batted for him, even though Sencion was in the next spot and the only other bat on the bench now was Ryan Allred, and Brobeck was no longer available either. The latter bit was at least not an issue anymore once Royer hit into a ******* double play… But hey, at least Matt Walters saw off another three in a row…! 6-5 Critters. Callaia 2-4, BB; Lavorano 2-5; Ramsay 3-4, 3 RBI; Kirkwood 2-4, RBI; Venegas 1-2, BB; Espinoza 2-2;

First career win for Reynaldo Bravo in 32 outings.

Another fringe guy was sent back to AAA after this game, with Tommy Hannoush (.200, 0 HR, 1 RBI) going back to make room for Adriano Chavez, who rejoined from the DL.

Game 3
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – LF Kirkwood – 2B Allred – 3B Espinoza – C M. Chavez – P Kniep
ATL: SS Wartella – C Almaguer – 2B W. Acosta – 1B E. Moreno – RF D. Rivera – CF Alade – 3B Ri. Jimenez – LF Fink – P E. Duran

With little bullpen available, the fool Kniep walked three batters in the bottom 1st and was taken deep by Eddie Moreno for a 3-piece, too, flushing 37 pitches in the first frame alone. The Coons got a solo jack from Marcos Chavez in the third inning; and “Clownshoes” Kniep issued another three walks, two hits, and two runs in the bottom 3rd. The game was in the toilet anyway given the lack of relief available, so Kniep got a real chance at breaking that long-standing Coons record for most walks by a starting pitcher in a game. A free pass to Matt Wartella made it seven in the bottom 4th, but Almaguer hit into a double play after walking twice before and that ended the inning. Bottom 5th, leadoff walk to Acosta. THROW A ******* STRIKE!!! Moreno hacked out, then a wild pitch and Rivera’s groundout moved Acosta to third base. Kirkwood caught a fly to left from Alade, completing five innings, and Kniep was sent to bed without dinner after that abysmal appearance, giving the Knights a 5-2 lead on two base hits.

Kirkwood also doubled home Caballero with two outs in the sixth, shortening the score to 5-3, but we were on Bravo again in another attempt to have him pitch multiple innings before inevitable disposal to St. Pete. He really took one for the team, pitching three innings and giving up three runs to the bottom of the order; John Fink hit a solo homer to right in the bottom 6th, and in the eighth when he was obviously losing cohesion, he put runners in scoring position before facing PH Mike Roberts with two outs. Roberts dinked a ball behind Adriano Chavez at second base to cash the runners, but it wasn’t like the Coons had rallied any closer in the meantime. Bravo even finished the inning, being abused for 47 pitches, but at least saved the rest of the pen for the upcoming Loggers series. 8-3 Knights. Lavorano 2-4; Caballero 2-3;

Bravo (1-2, 4.62 ERA) was indeed returned to the Alley Cats. Have you heard about our savior, Ryan Harmer?

Raccoons (56-52) @ Loggers (47-60) – August 3-6, 2056

The Loggers had lost seven in a row to finally sink out of “well maybe everybody else dies in a fire” contention. They ranked eighth in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed with a -59 run differential. They led the league in stolen bases, but were mediocre to crummy in literally everything else. Still held a 4-3 lead against the Coons this year, though…

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (9-10, 3.32 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (10-0, 1.99 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (10-6, 3.03 ERA) vs. Brad Blankenship (8-6, 4.06 ERA)
He Shui (10-7, 3.70 ERA) vs. Jamie Kempf (6-7, 4.30 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (1-3, 3.53 ERA) vs. Julian Dunn (7-5, 3.41 ERA)

Riddle, undefeated, was the only southpaw starter for the week. But one felt like plenty currently…

The Loggers had half a lineup on the DL, with Perry Pigman, Gil Cabrera, Eric Miller, and a helping of bit players, all out and injured. And never mind that we snatched Callaia. He wasn’t in the lineup on Thursday, but that was mostly down to Riddle being the only southpaw anywhere near in this long string without an off day, so what better time to give Callaia a day off? Everybody else had already been rotated pretty neatly, except for Lonzo, so Lonzo would get a day off perhaps on Friday.

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – RF Caballero – LF Kirkwood – 3B Venegas – 1B Ramsay – C M. Chavez – 2B A. Chavez – P Taki
MIL: SS Gaxiola – CF Okano – 1B D. Robles – LF D. Encarnacion – 3B Triplett – C Dye – RF Garmon – 2B Sheehe – P Riddle

Robby Gaxiola was a pest from the start, doubling to left against Taki in the first inning, but was stranded with a crucial K to Dave Robles and two groundouts otherwise. That was the only Loggers hit in the early innings, with Taki striking out a total of five Loggers in three innings, including all of the 8-9-1 slate he faced in the bottom 3rd. The game was still scoreless; Caballero had hit a double in the top 1st, but had been left aboard by Kirkwood, but then hit a single to begin the fourth inning. This time, Kirkwood came through, belting a giant homer to center for a 2-0 lead. Rams and Adriano Chavez hit singles to continue the inning, but Taki grounded out to Eric Sheehe to leave them aboard.

By the fifth, Caballero knocked a 2-out triple and was stranded again – Kirkwood walked, but Venegas grounded out – and was thus a bomb away from a cycle, while Corey Garmon’s single made it two base hits for the Loggers, but he was stranded as well. Dennis Starnes batted for Riddle in the bottom 6th and hit a leadoff single. Gaxiola grounded out, and Yukinari Okano grinded out a walk against Taki, whose pitch count was now exploding. The Loggers pulled off a double steal, but still stranded the runners; Robles grounded out to Venegas at third base, and Danny Encarnacion popped out to shallow right, although Caballero had to make a sliding catch to get there. Taki got two outs to begin the bottom 7th, then was knocked out with straight singles by Garmon (of the infield variety…), Sheehe, and Marvin Torres, who drove in the Loggers’ first run and erased half the Coons’ lead. Lillis came in for Gaxiola, who was hit for with Angel Montes de Oca, but the righty batter still struck out to end the inning.

Caballero grounded out in the eighth, which was not helping in terms of the cycle, and the Coons went in order, which wasn’t helping with bloody anything. Lillis and Lane kept the Loggers in their lane in the bottom 8th, and while Callaia pinch-hit and doubled off Ryan Dow in the ninth inning, the Coons still couldn’t get unstuck and tack on a run or three. Walters got his third 1-run lead of the week, and his third save as well, although this time Garmon hit a single off him. He was stranded like (almost) everybody else in this game. 2-1 Raccoons. Caballero 3-4, 3B, 2B; Callaia (PH) 1-1, 2B; Taki 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (10-10);

And that was the first skinny loss on Tyler Riddle this year. Chris Kirkwood wouldn’t get another Christmas card from him any time soon.

Milwaukee flipped the starters for the middle two games around, which wasn’t going to cause us any headaches. They were all right-handed.

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – RF Callaia – LF Kirkwood – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 2B Allred – C Fiore – SS Espinoza – P Sweeton
MIL: SS Gaxiola – CF Okano – 1B D. Robles – RF Bishton – 3B Triplett – C Dye – LF Garmon – 2B Sheehe – P Kempf

Sweeton annoyed me more than necessary with two walks to begin his day. Robles hit into a double play, but Ryan Bishton tripled home Gaxiola for a 1-0 Loggers lead before Doug Triplett struck out. Gaxiola was walked again in the bottom 3rd (…), stole his way to third base, and then was still stranded with a K to Okano and a pop to Brobeck by Robles.

Through five innings, the Bishton triple was the only Loggers hit against six strikeouts for Sweeton, while the Coons had a Callaia double and a Brobeck single, but no runs. Kempf struck out three in five innings, but walked two, and then walked two more with one down in the top 6th, putting Callaia and Kirkwood on base. Pucks singled narrowly past Sheehe, but since he almost made a jumping catch, Callaia had to retreat to the base, and then only made it to third base afterwards. Brobeck batted with the bags stacked, and got the game-tying RBI when Kempf leaked another walk…! …and then Allred and Fiore struck out to leave the bases loaded… Josh Costello walked Espinoza and Callaia in the seventh, but the Coons couldn’t get a hit or a run from that. Instead, the Loggers broke through when Sweeton crapped out in the bottom of the inning, walking Triplett, nailing Dye, and finally giving up a 2-run double to Sheehe, the 29-year-old rookie.

Sencion got out of the inning, and Pucks got a first-pitch single from right-hander Dan Bell in the eighth. Brobeck knocked a screaming RBI double to right, 3-2, and the Loggers went to left-hander Sam Webb, prompting Portland to empty the bench. Lonzo singled in Allred’s spot, moving the tying run to third base with nobody out. Caballero grounded out in Fiore’s spot, but Espinoza tied the game with a single; this, too, only narrowly escaped the grasp of a middle infielder, though, and so Lonzo had to hold at third base. Marcos Chavez batted for Sencion, drew right-hander Al Munoz, and hit into a double play… and then a leadoff double by Okano off Tanizaki, and not one, but TWO errors by Chavez and Callaia crammed two unearned runs up the Loggers’ wooden bums.

The Coons weren’t dead yet, though. Ryan Dow invited Callaia on base with a 1-out walk in the ninth inning, bringing the tying run to the plate. Kirkwood hit into a fielder’s choice, which didn’t help, but Pucks drove a ball into the right-center gap when down to the last out. The RBI double narrowed the score and presented Brobeck with a RISP situation, but he struck out… 5-4 Loggers. Callaia 1-2, 3 BB, 2B; Puckeridge 3-5, 2B, RBI; Brobeck 2-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Lavorano (PH) 1-1;

That felt like such an unnecessary loss.

Game 3
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 2B Allred – 3B Venegas – C M. Chavez – P Shui
MIL: CF Valenzano – SS Gaxiola – 1B D. Robles – LF D. Encarnacion – RF Bishton – 3B Triplett – C Dye – 2B Sheehe – P Blankenship

The Raccoons had a single and three stolen bases in the first inning and didn’t score a run; Callaia singled, stole second, and after Kirkwood was nicked by Blankenship, the pair pulled off a double steal, but neither Pucks nor Rams managed to get the ball to dink in somewhere. But Shui held up early, and the Coons took the lead when the top of the order was back at the dish. Straight 1-out singles to left or left-center by Callaia, Lonzo, and Kirkwood gave Portland a 1-0 lead, and then Pucks and Rams hit useless grounders to kill another inning.

Milwaukee had the leadoff man on in the second and third inning without scoring, but Bishton doubled with a ball caroming off the fence in centerfield – along with Pucks – with one gone in the bottom 4th. Triplett flew out, but Shui lost Jonathan Dye on balls. Sheehe then singled to center, Bishton made a bid for home plate, Pucks’ throw was absolutely wild, and the tying run scored. Dye and Sheehe went into scoring position, but Blankenship popped out to strand them. The Coons recovered with Lonzo’s single, stolen base, and Kirkwood’s RBI single in the top 5th, 2-1. Pucks found a double play, digging himself an ever-deeper hole.

So did the rest of the team. Shui nailed Steve Valenzano to begin the bottom of the fifth. Gaxiola popped out, and so threatened Robles to do, but Lonzo dropped the ball and now there were two on base. Now the Loggers got through with a double steal, Encarnacion’s sac fly tied the game, and Bishton singled home Robles to give them a 3-2 lead, both runs in the inning being unearned. Triplett grounded out to short while I was chewing on my coonskin cap.

Blankenship got the first two batters out in the sixth inning, then stumbled against the right-handed bats at the bottom of the order. Venegas singled. Chavez singled. Shui was NOT hit for and batted for himself – AND SINGLED TO CENTER! Venegas around to score, and we were even *again*, three-all! …and Callaia flew out to Encarnacion, stranding two more. Blankenship got revenge on Shui right away, though; with nobody on base, he hit a single in the bottom 6th, and another single by Valenzano and a walk drawn by Gaxiola made the patience for us run out. Lane came in to face Robles, Robles popped out in foul ground, and the score remained 3-3 in this game that nobody seemed all too keen on winning.

The Coons had the bases full in the seventh, because why not. Kirkwood singled, Rams got punched with a fastball, which also punched Blankenship’s ticket for the bench, and then Costello walked Allred on five pitches. Anton Venegas broke through – crashing a screamer through a diving Triplett, over the bag, and down the leftfield line for a bases-clearing double…! Chavez grounded out, and Lane walked Bishton, balked, and allowed the runner to score on Dye’s 2-out hit, getting the Loggers back to 6-4 in the bottom 7th in this game that kept on giving. Headaches, mostly.

(big breath) Top 8th. Royer struck out against Costello in the #9 spot to begin the frame, but then Callaia singled to left. Lonzo did the same, and Encarnacion overran that ball for an extra base for the runners, who were now in scoring position. Kirkwood shoved the very next pitch through the right side for a single. The ball bounced off Bishton’s chest, and the Coons scored two on the single and second consecutive error. Espinoza pinch-hit for Pucks when lefty Sam Webb appeared again. Webb threw a wild pitch, which moved Kirkwood to third base and allowed him to score on Espinoza’s groundout to Gaxiola. 9-4, in case you were struggling to keep track. Harmer and Tanizaki then finished off the Loggers with RELATIVELY little additional panic. 9-4 Furballs. Callaia 3-5; Lavorano 3-5; Kirkwood 4-4, 4 RBI; Venegas 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI;

15 hits, 14 singles. And I sure hoped that this wouldn’t be the day and game I’d have to relive endlessly, Groundhog Day-style.

Game 4
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 2B Allred – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – P de la Cruz
MIL: CF Valenzano – SS Gaxiola – 1B D. Robles – RF Bishton – 3B Triplett – LF Starnes – C M. Torres – 2B Sheehe – P Dunn

Raffy had to show something, even if it was just five innings with a relatively modest runs total for the Loggers, but we couldn’t keep going with what he had done on Tuesday. He was a pawful right out of the gate, though. Valenzano singled and was caught stealing in the first, while Bishton hit an infield single to begin the bottom 2nd, which was still not something I’d be mad about. But Raffy then walked Triplett on four pitches, fell to 3-1 on Dennis Starnes before the outfielder hit into a fielder’s choice to Lonzo, and then was ALSO caught stealing. With Marvin Torres at 0-2, Raffy then uncorked a *wild* pitch that bounced about 12 feet from the plate went over a confused Fiore, hit off the umpire’s face mask, and then bounced away, allowing Bishton to score after all. 1-0 Loggers. And more headaches. Torres struck out on the next pitch…

Dunn got 11 outs before Ramsay snuck a single, so no offensive relief was available soon, but defensive relief was called in from the pen in the same inning when the Loggers took the axe to de la Cruz. Gaxiola doubled. Robles walked on four pitches. Bishton doubled, Triplett singled, running the score to 4-0. With two down, Torres singled home Triplett, and then Sheehe doubled in Torres, 6-0. Dunn grounded out, and then Kyle Brobeck replaced Raffy, who probably knew that he was not going to get another start, slouching off head hanging and covering his stripey face with his glove.

Meanwhile, Brobeck threw 27 pitches before he got the ******* third out in the inning, by which point he had offered two walks, three hits, and four more runs to the Loggers’ 9-spot and 10-0 lead. Starnes finally grounded out. The only thing that kept Brobeck from getting abandoned in Wisconsin was that he added three more garbage disposal innings for the cost of another run, which Gaxiola manufactured while stealing a base in a 10-0 blowout. If he had come to bat again in the bottom 8th, Gaxiola might have had a fastball coming at his face, but Lillis retired Sheehe, Dunn, and Garmon in order in the inning because he had a hunch that the “finish him” sign (right paw, index claw extended, moved vertically across the front of the neck) from the dugout. The Coons meanwhile scored two runs in the eighth when Pucks hit a bases-loaded single to right-center, then had the bags full with Royer, Fiore, and Espinoza in the ninth and nobody out (although there was already a Triplett error involved in that). Callaia singled to left, shortening the gap to eight, but Lonzo popped out and Kirkwood grounded out, which added a fourth run and finally knocked out Dunn in favor of Dan Bell. Pucks flew out to center. 11-4 Loggers. Puckeridge 2-5, 2 RBI; Espinoza (PH) 1-1;

In other news

July 31 – Denver OF/1B Jake Frederick (.287, 8 HR, 46 RBI) lands a sixth-inning single in a 3-2 loss to the Rebs, but gains a 20-game hitting streak.
August 1 – The Pacifics and Buffaloes fight to a draw for 13 innings before L.A. breaks through with five runs in the top 14th for a 9-4 win. LAP C Chris Maresh (.280, 6 HR, 30 RBI) has four hits and four RBI’s to lead his team.
August 2 – L.A. OF Jesus Espinoza (.300, 2 HR, 26 RBI) will have to sit out six weeks with a strained ACL.
August 3 – Hard hit for the Falcons, who will be without RF/LF Danny Ceballos (.365, 9 HR, 69 RBI) for at least a month; the 25-year-old had suffered a torn abdominal muscle on Monday.
August 3 – A torn back muscle ends the season of Condors SP Juan Juarez (3-7, 5.05 ERA).
August 4 – The Wolves and Gold Sox play a double-header, with both games going to extra innings. The Wolves take the opener, 2-1 in 10 innings, but the Gold Sox walk off in the 11th on a 3-run homer by Ivan Villa (.283, 19 HR, 78 RBI) for a 9-6 win. The hitting streak of Denver’s Jake Frederick (.282, 8 HR, 48 RBI) ends at 22 games in the first game.
August 4 – The Crusaders had ten base hits, but fail to score a run in a 2-0 loss to the Indians.
August 6 – LAP RF Matt Diskin (.356, 2 HR, 12 RBI) has his injury-riddled season be riddled with more injuries, now a shoulder strain that would cost him six more weeks.
August 6 – TOP INF Alex de los Santos (.247, 18 HR, 56 RBI) hits a home run for the only base hit for Topeka in a 2-1 loss to the Miners.

FL Player of the Week: PIT OF Josh Abercrombie (.341, 6 HR, 74 RBI), churning .515 (17-33) with 1 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 3B/SS/RF Ed Soberanes (.290, 14 HR, 54 RBI), hitting .483 (14-29) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL INF Steve Diaz (.317, 10 HR, 41 RBI), scorching .408 with 8 HR, 24 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: ATL 2B/SS Willie Acosta (.310, 12 HR, 59 RBI), clipping .390 with 2 HR, 16 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: PIT CL Ross Mitchell (5-3, 4.70 ERA, 25 SV), saving 11 games with a 3-1 record, 3.86 ERA, 18 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: CHA SP Art Schaeffer (17-3, 2.77 ERA), hurling for a 5-0 mark, 1.59 ERA, 36 K
FL Rookie of the Month: CIN RF/1B/LF John MacDonnell (.355, 4 HR, 25 RBI), hitting .417 with 3 HR, 15 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: OCT LF/CF Tim Weant (.292, 8 HR, 39 RBI), batting .295 with 3 HR, 14 RBI

Complaints and stuff

We give up.

Raffy (1-4, 4.60 ERA) will be outrighted to the Alley Cats on Monday. He has the right to refuse the assignment. If he does, he gets his papers. He’s toast. The absolute mountain of injuries, and 8.0 walks per nine innings, regardless of the level he’s pitching at. We’d be willing to have him try and sort his **** out in the minors, even for seven figures in arbitration next year, but we’re only three games behind the damn Elks and we can’t piss every fifth game away by starting him.

Or generally letting him anywhere near the mound in Portland.

11-12 with a 3.32 ERA in 2052, and 5-2 with a 2.31 ERA in 2053 before everything came apart. Now 33-36 with a 3.74 ERA for his career, but that was rapidly getting worse.

I’m not crying, Honeypaws!! YOU’RE CRYING!!

Another week spent sobbing on the road then with Elk City and Dallas on the schedule. Off day on Thursday, then again on Monday, which means we won’t need an actual fifth starter for a while and can use Brobeck where he can do the least damage – in games that are already in the bin.

At least Lonzo had a renaissance this month. He rushed opposing batteries for 14 bases (in five weeks) after just four in June (give or take a day here or there), passing Hall of Famer Cristo Ramirez and former Coons darling Cookie Carmona for 18th on the all-time leaderboard:

13th – Martin Ortíz – 457 – HOF
14th – Omar Gonzalez – 455 – active
15th – Alex Adame – 449 – active
16th – Alex Torres – 445
17th – Chance Bossert – 437
18th – Lorenzo Lavorano – 433 – active
19th – Ricardo “Cookie” Carmona – 428
20th – Cristo Ramirez – 424 – HOF
21st – Daniel Silva – 417
22nd – Ronnie Thompson – 414 – active
23rd – Danny Flores – 413
24th – Chris Navarro – 411 – active

We’ve clipped off Jose Rivas and Andrew Russ here, but Navarro stole 11 bases in these five weeks, and would probably find the top 20 before the end of the year. Alex Adame stole just two bases, remaining in 15th spot, while another active player appears on the horizon in Sacramento’s Omar Gonzalez.

The 33-year-old has taken 12 bags this year. His career-best was 56 with the ’49 Stars, but he never led the FL in stolen bases, but has won a batting title and three times led the league in triples. He also missed some 40 games this year, so he still had speed, though not as much as Lonzo.

And then there’s Martin Ortiz, who is always a bit of a surprise near the top of this leaderboard because you remembered Ortíz more as the guy that just punched the ball out of the park altogether and as a driving force behind the Crusaders’ impressive success in the 2000s and 2010s with two instances of three championships in a row. Ortíz was one of the best players in the league, hands down; a six-time Player of the Year with more Gold Gloves, Platinum Sticks (which were not awarded until he was already in his late 20s), and All Star Games than one could fit on a standard-sized baseball card. He won a batting title, a homer crown, and five times led the CL in WAR, twice with double-digit values. He stole more than 33 bases only once, but he stole 20+ for almost 20 years, which also works out to 400+.

And he’s also known as the Loggers’ folly, because he was actually theirs and they lost him to New York on waivers when he was 21. Oops.

Fun Fact: Craig Kniep to great fanfare joined the list of Raccoons starting pitchers to offer eight walks in a single game.

It’s not even that long ago that it happened before, less than 14 months in fact. Three of the pitchers – nine total – were named Brown, including a Hall of Famer:

Juan Berrios (1980)
Ramon Ocasio (1981)
Logan Evans (1981)
Nick Brown (2002) – HOF
Chris Brown (2015)
Travis Garrett (2024)
Darren Brown (2034)
Jared Ottinger (2038)
Jesus Guzman (2055) – major league debut
Craig Kniep (2056)

[Westheim]

Big news to begin the week: Rafael de la Cruz *accepted* his assignment to the minors. Good luck to the coaching staff down there. The Coons would need a fifth starter exactly once in the next three weeks, which all had an off day, so while 21-year-old Ramon Carreno was doing quite well for himself in AAA right now (3.97 ERA, 2.1 K/BB), we were in no rush to bring him up. Left-hander Ricky Herrera was probably going to be promoted soon, but had pitched two days in a row as of Monday morning, so that was a no; Colby Bowen was brought up once again despite better judgment to pitch some garbage innings if the situation required.

Raccoons (58-54) @ Canadiens (61-51) – August 7-9, 2056

There was potential for remote heartbreak here, as the Raccoons hit Elk City just three games behind the Elks and having swept them on their last trip there. High expectations and the like, especially with a 9-3 record against the stinking Elks this year! They sat fourth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed with a +40 run differential, which wasn’t a lot, not that the Raccoons (+26) were any better. Rick Price and Jorge Uranga were notable absences for this series.

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (6-9, 3.98 ERA) vs. Anton Jesus (10-8, 4.10 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (10-10, 3.24 ERA) vs. Edwin Sopena (6-5, 5.05 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (10-6, 3.07 ERA) vs. Martino Barbiusa (10-5, 3.11 ERA)

All right-handed opponents here, again.

Game 1
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 2B Allred – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – P Kniep
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 3B Mullen – 1B Wheeler – RF K. Hawkins – LF Magnussen – SS Leitch – 2B Nicholson – C Cass – P A. Jesus

Kniep had walked eight batters his last time out, and this time walked the eighth batter he faced, Tyler Cass. Jesus bunted the runner to second base, but Callaia threw him out at home plate on Damian Moreno’s 1-out single to right to help get Kniep out of the inning in scoreless fashion. The top 4th began with long flies by Kirkwood and Pucks that were caught by Moreno and Kyle Hawkins, respectively, while Rams’ dinker fell into shallow center for a single. Ryan Allred then doubled to right, Jesus’ 1-0 to Venegas was wild and scored the game’s first run, and Venegas singled through the right side to plate Allred, too. Bottom 4th, and another outfield assist to keep Kniep in shape; Jeff Wheeler hit a leadoff single, but was forced out on Hawkins’ grounder to Allred. Hawkins then attempted third base on Adam Magnussen’s single to center, but was thrown out by Pucks! Alan Leitch struck out, ending the inning.

Kniep and Callaia also struck out to begin the fifth against Jesus, who also had Lonzo at 0-2, but the Coons’ shortstop then lobbed a ball over the head of Leitch for a 2-out single, then scored easily on Kirkwood’s double over Moreno in center, 3-0. Pucks whiffed, leaving Kirkwood in scoring position. All looked fine through six this way, before Magnussen doubled on a 3-1 pitch to begin the bottom 7th. The Coons should have sniffed it right there, but didn’t; we let Kniep walk Leitch, then strike out Brian Nicholson after an 8-pitch battle. Tyler Cass grounded out. Which brought up the pitcher with two outs – easy, right? No, a 2-run single. Dolt. Mike Lane replaced Kniep, but the meltdown was in fifth gear now. Moreno and Dan Mullen singled, the latter drove home two runs, and the damn Elks took a 4-3 lead.

Thankfully the Elks’ Anton Jesus overstayed his welcome just the same; allowing a 1-out single to Kirkwood in the eighth, and then a 2-run blast on a 1-2 pitch to right to Pucks, he left trailing 5-4. The Elks brought left-hander Bernardino Risso, who was taken deep by Rams regardless, 6-4. After Lane and Lillis pieced the eighth together, the Coons got Gaudencio Callaia on base in the ninth inning against Risso, but he got himself caught stealing. Walters went in for the ninth, and stumbled. A walk to Nicholson, a single by Cass, and the tying runs were on the corners with one out. Tristan Waker’s sac fly removed all the cushion we had, but Sadafumi Taniguchi flew out easily batting for Moreno. 6-5 Critters. Kirkwood 3-4, 2B, RBI; Ramsay 2-4, HR, RBI; Allred 2-3, 2B;

That was a bit too close for comfort, but I’ll take seven straight wins against the damn Elks without complaints.

Game 2
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 2B Allred – 3B Espinoza – C M. Chavez – P Taki
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 3B Mullen – 2B Gates – C Waker – 1B Wheeler – LF Magnussen – RF Taniguchi – SS Leitch – P Sopena

Callaia had a double to start the game, but was stranded, and the Coons hit into double plays in the next two innings, frittering four hits for nothing in the first three innings, while the Elks had only one base hit, but also a 1-0 lead after Taki put the 4-5-6 batters on base to begin the bottom 2nd, including two walks. Taniguchi popped out, but Leitch’s sac fly to right plated Tristan Waker. Sopena then struck out to leave two on base. Top 4th then, and the Coons had Kirkwood and Pucks on the corners with a pair of leadoff knocks. Rams grounded up the middle, and the Elks tried to get two at first, but Pucks had started early, Prince Gates reconsidered, and they took only the out at first base while Kirkwood scored for a 1-1 tie. Allred jumped on the very next pitch and slashed it through the right side. Pucks turned third and scored just ahead of Taniguchi’s throw to home plate, and now we had a 2-1 lead. Briefly. Wheeler walked, Magnussen went *well* deep in the bottom of the inning, and now the Elks were up 3-2 again…

Portland got even again in the sixth inning; Rams reached on an error, then was forced out by Allred, but the second-sacker stole second sack, his first of the year, then was driven home by Daniel Espinoza with a 2-out single. Marcos Chavez ended the inning, and the score remained locked at three runs aside through seven innings, which was as deep as Taki would go. Sopena was still pitching in the eighth inning, Pucks hit a single, but then was doubled up by D.P. Ramsay. Tanizaki retired the 1-2-3 batters in the bottom 8th, so the game was still tied, but the Raccoons couldn’t find a way on base against Tony Negrete in the ninth inning; but Eloy Sencion matched the others with another 1-2-3 inning, and this one went to extras.

Negrete was still out there in the 10th against the top of the order. Callaia singled to center, then went while Lonzo slapped a single past Leitch into left-center. Callaia with the go-ahead run reached third base – and there was nobody out. And then the Coons struck out, struck out, and … popped out foul. The Raccoons ****** up again, and then Ryan Harmer ****** up some more in the bottom of the 10th inning. Leitch doubled to left, Jake Ashley singled to left, and Leitch scored ahead of Callaia’s throw to the plate to end the game. 4-3 Canadiens. Callaia 2-5, 2B; Lavorano 2-5; Kirkwood 2-5, 2B; Puckeridge 2-5; Allred 2-4, RBI;

But NOW I can complain…!

Game 3
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – CF Royer – C Fiore – 2B A. Chavez – P Sweeton
VAN: CF D. Moreno – 3B Mullen – 2B Gates – C Waker – RF K. Hawkins – 1B Wheeler – LF D. Garcia – SS Leitch – P Barbiusa

A pitching duel broke out on Wednesday, with neither team getting to third base through six innings, and Barbiusa scattering four hits, while the Elks got three off Sweeton. The first instance of a guy on third base was unearned and came when Pucks singled to lead off the seventh, then took off to steal. Not only did he make it to second base, but Waker also threw the ball well past Prince Gates, and Pucks buggered off to third base. Brobeck fell to 0-2 at that point, but then hit a sac fly to Hawkins to break the ice. That was nice, but the Coons then didn’t tack on, and Sweeton fumbled the lead in the bottom 7th. Wheeler and Danny Garcia hit back-to-back singles with two outs, Wheeler went to third base, and Callaia threw the ball away, allowing Wheeler to score. Leitch flew out to end the inning, and Sweeton was then batted for to begin the top 8th against Barbiusa, but only got a 2-out single from Lonzo, and nothing from Kirkwood that would have helped with scoring.

Sencion got us to the ninth still in a 1-1 tie, and once there Tony Negrete nicked first Pucks, secondly Brobeck, and thirdly escaped when pinch-hitters Caballero and Espinoza plainly failed to get anywhere with those two free runners. Brobeck went to the hill for the bottom 9th. He got to 0-2 against Tristan Waker to begin the inning. And then he got taken over the fence in right. 2-1 Canadiens. Puckeridge 3-3; Royer 2-3; Sweeton 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K;

Gah.

Raccoons (59-56) @ Stars (47-68) – August 11-13, 2056

The Stars were at the bottom of the FL West, bleeding runs at a prodigious pace and sitting only eighth in runs scored, piling up a -106 run differential. Their rotation was the worst, their pen was very nearly the worst, and even offensively their best category was stolen bases, in which they led the Federal League. These teams had last met in 2054, when Dallas had won two of three games.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (10-7, 3.61 ERA) vs. Bobby Shenk (5-12, 5.01 ERA)
Craig Kniep (6-9, 3.99 ERA) vs. Thomas Turpeau (5-9, 5.07 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (10-10, 3.26 ERA) vs. Rich Morrall (9-4, 5.21 ERA)

Righty, lefty, righty, and nothing under a five in terms of ERA. We’d probably get swept with five runs or fewer to our name then…

Colby Bowen never appeared in Elk City games, but was now exchanged with Ricky Herrera for the 2053 second-rounder to make his ABL debut.

Game 1
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Puckeridge – CF Caballero – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C Fiore – P Shui
DAL: RF Pritchett – C Dickerson – 3B D. Sandoval – 1B J. Rogers – LF Bursley – 2B S. Diaz – CF J. Munoz – SS Freet – P Shenk

The first time through the order was a bit of a mixed bag for the Raccoons, who went in order in the first, had Pucks go deep to start the top 2nd, followed by a Caballero doubled, and then croaked to strand Caballero on third base. Shui in turn got on the snout, badly. Steve Diaz and Jose Munoz hit 1-out singles, Joe Freet slapped a 2-run triple, and then scored on Chad Pritchett’s 2-out single to give the Dallasians a 3-1 lead… Shui had a terrible time. The Stars slapped him around for ten hits in the first five innings, with Isaiah Dickerson singling home another run in the fourth inning, which wasn’t a hard thing to do with constant traffic on the base paths.

Top 6th, leadoff walk drawn by Pucks, and then Caballero hit for a scratch single. The Stars axed Shenk for righty Jason Harding with the tying run in the box, but Harding fell to 3-1 against Venegas, then gave up an RBI double, moving the tying runs into scoring position with nobody out. Allred lobbed a wailer that dinked between Leo Arguello and Chad Pritchett in shallow right-center for an RBI single, but Fiore’s groundout kept Venegas at third base for the time being. Rams batted for Shui in that spot, but before he could tie the game, Dickerson did, losing a Harding pitch between his legs and to the backstop; Venegas scored, and we were flat at four. Rams instead rammed home Allred with a single to center, 5-4, but that would be it for the inning.

Arguello singled in the #9 spot to begin the bottom 6th against Tanizaki, who retired Pritchett and Dickerson before Lillis struck out Dan Sandoval. Lillis would also pitch the seventh inning while getting around a single by Josh Bursley. Allred singled off ex-Coon Corey Mathers in the eighth, but was left on base, while Pritchett drew a 2-out walk off Lane in the bottom half of the inning before Dickerson hit a hissing liner to right on an 0-2 pitch. Pucks hustled, reached, and made the catch to end the inning and keep the lead in one piece. An insurance run would be nice, though, boys! Didn’t get past a Lonzo single in the ninth, and then Kirkwood hit into a double play… Walters got the 3-4-5 batters, who were all left-handed, and none of whom was hit for. Sandoval popped out, Jay Rogers flew out to center, and Bursley went down on strikes. 5-4 Coons. Lavorano 2-4, BB; Caballero 2-4, 2B; Allred 3-4, RBI; Ramsay (PH) 1-2, RBI;

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 1B Callaia – 3B Venegas – 2B A. Chavez – C M. Chavez – P Kniep
DAL: SS Kunst – 1B J. Rogers – RF Pritchett – 2B S. Diaz – C Dickerson – LF Crum – 3B Freet – CF Lower – P Turpeau

Kniep, ever annoying, walked the first three batters he faced in the Saturday game, loading the bags before surrendering runs on Dickerson’s single and Ken Crum’s groundout. Steve Diaz popped out, as did Joe Freet. Crum, meanwhile, wasn’t having a good season, playing part-time and hitting .230 with 3 homers coming in. Kniep walked another two batters in the bottom 2nd after he already allowed singles and a run to Matt Lower and Rogers. Dickerson popped out to Venegas to leave the bases loaded. That was the last inning that Kniep finished. He ****** the bags full again, issuing a sixth walk, in the bottom 3rd, gave up a run on Phil Kunst single with the bases full, and then was unceremoniously dispensed with. Sencion got a sticky situation, but got a double play from Rogers, 4-6-3, to end the inning. Through three, the Coons were starterless and down 4-0.

Kirkwood walked and was plated by Callaia with a 2-out triple, but Venegas stranded the guy on third base in the top 4th. Ryan Harmer pitched a scoreless inning, and then the ball went to Ricky Herrera in his debut. He would face six Stars and turned away all of them. Maybe he should start games instead of Craig ******* Kniep.

Turpeau still held a 4-1 lead going into the sixth, but Venegas hit a leadoff single and then Adriano Chavez reached on an error, which brought up Marcos Chavez as the tying run. The glitter was off on the backstop, who had mashed two dramatic game-winning homers against the Elks in July, and nothing since. He struck out, Pucks hit into a double play, and I was ready to turn some of their little necks around backwards. Since it was all pointless anyway, Kyle Brobeck was tossed in for two garbage innings, and promptly gave up another homer to Dickerson. Ryan Allred tripled in Caballero pinch-hitting against Sam Gibson, a former Elks foe, with two gone in the ninth inning, and after Matt Fiore struck out, that was that. 5-2 Stars. Caballero 2-5, 2B; Allred (PH) 1-1, 3B, RBI; Ramsay (PH) 1-1; Herrera 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Game 3
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C Fiore – P Taki
DAL: RF Pritchett – SS Arguello – 3B D. Sandoval – 1B J. Rogers – LF Bursley – 2B S. Diaz – C Dickerson – CF J. Munoz – P Morrall

Jay Rogers’ jack in the bottom 1st made it 2-0 rather quickly after Taki had issued a walk to Sandoval to get him to the plate in the first place. Rogers would also double home Leo Arguello his next time up, matching Pucks’ feat in doubling home Lonzo with two outs in the top of the same (third) inning, marching the score to 3-1. Next time around Lonzo singled his way on and was doubled up by Pucks to end the fifth inning, which was just the normal Raccoons shenanigans against a team and/or a pitcher that couldn’t keep a clean scoresheet with all the tools and toys of the Maginot line behind them. Fiore drew a leadoff walk in the seventh, was bunted over by Taki, advanced on a grounder by Callaia, and was then stranded when Lonzo was retired for the first time on the ******* day, grounding out to Sandoval, who in turn bashed a 3-run homer off Taki, who had just walked a pair in the bottom 7th.

Bunch o’ ********.

Three more runs scored on Ryan Harmer’s watch, that useless ****. Top 8th, Caballero hit a leadoff single, then was doubled off by Pucks against Sam Gibson. Espinoza hit a single in the ninth, but went unscored just like everybody else. 9-1 Stars. Lavorano 3-4, 3B; Espinoza (PH) 1-1;

In other news

August 7 – In a waiver deal, the Indians send corner infielder Dan Sandoval (.259, 8 HR, 56 RBI) to the Stars for Sergio Quiroz (.125, 0 HR, 0 RBI), who spent most of the year in AAA, and #68 prospect OF Hector Chavez.
August 11 – NYC 3B Alex Adame (.287, 0 HR, 23 RBI) collects his 2,500th base hit in a 6-4 win against the Scorpions. The milestone is reached with a single off left-hander SAC MR A.C. Stebbins (0-0, 5.40 ERA). Adame goes 2-3 overall.
August 11 – Capitals catcher Chris Gowin (.203, 10 HR, 54 RBI) hits a walkoff grand slam to beat the Condors, 7-6.
August 12 – The Condors beat the Capitals, 2-1 in 15 innings, without anybody delivering any heroics in particular.
August 13 – The Crusaders lose NYC SP Alex Murillo (8-4, 3.65 ERA) to a torn UCL, which will come with 12 months on the shelf for the 30-year-old.

FL Player of the Week: DAL C Isaiah Dickerson (.300, 4 HR, 62 RBI), batting .560 (14-25) with 1 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL INF Matt Wartella (.298, 2 HR, 26 RBI), hitting .571 (12-21) with 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Trying times.

I don’t know whether the Elks want to win the division, but the Coons surely don’t. New York zoomed past now and is a game and a half behind Elk City. Bless them. Sure wonder why they traded Prince Gates, though.

Ugh. Monday is a day off. **** it, flush it. And then play the Cyclones and Titans. We have ten more games against the top two in the division, but they’re all in September.

Fun Fact: Craig Kniep has the best K/9 among the starters on the roster.

Also, the worst BB/9….

[Westheim]

Raccoons (60-58) vs. Cyclones (55-62) – August 15-17, 2056

The Coons had won two of three from Cincy when meeting them last year. This year the Cyclones had a .290 team batting average, but somehow ranked fifth in runs scored, which didn’t add up at all. Then throw in the second-worst rotation, a cruddy defense, and just like that you had a team with a -61 run differential going absolutely nowhere.

Projected matchups:
Sean Sweeton (10-6, 2.94 ERA) vs. Hector Estevez (9-7, 4.18 ERA)
He Shui (11-7, 3.73 ERA) vs. Jay Gunderson (4-8, 6.31 ERA)
Craig Kniep (6-10, 4.23 ERA) vs. Cory Ellis (9-6, 4.04 ERA)

No lefty starters on the Cyclones either.

Game 1
CIN: SS J. Ojeda – 2B G. Keller – LF del Toro – 3B Medlock – 1B V. Cruz – 1B G. Perez – C Wheat – CF Gill – P H. Estevez
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – 2B A. Chavez – P Sweeton

Gerardo Perez’ leadoff double and two productive outs by Tom Wheat and Greg Gill gave the Cyclones a 1-0 lead in the second inning as Sweeton struggled both with fooling guys with his offerings, and with bunting once Adriano Chavez hit a leadoff single in the bottom 3rd. A bad bunt forced out the runner, and then Sweeton made a traffic jam with this thick bum while Callaia and Lonzo hit singles behind him. Caballero came up with the bases loaded, singled over Gabe Keller for one run, and then Pucks followed with thee bases still loaded, singled over Gabe Keller for two runs, and the Coons had a 3-1 lead. Ramsay flew out, but Anton Venegas managed another RBI single with two outs, while Fiore grounded out to Keller to end the 6-hit, 4-run assault. Sweeton was on base again through no right-doing of his own in the bottom 4th when Victor Cruz bobbled his 1-out grounder. This one paid back, though, as Gaudencio Callaia jacked a ball over the fence in right, extended the lead to 6-1, and sent Estevez packing.

Reliever Keith Thompson didn’t last for long. His first pitch hit Lonzo in the upper back, and Lonzo had none of it, dashing out and throwing a punch at Thompson. A whole bru-ha-ha ensued, at the end of which the two worst offenders were excluded from further proceedings, and I felt a bit of a penalty coming there. The Raccoons though just took out their anger at the next pitcher within range. Caballero, Pucks, Ramsay, and Venegas all reached base against righty Matthew Falco, while Fiore struck out for only the second out of the inning. Chavez walked, forcing in another run, 9-1, and Sweeton struck out.

And that was almost the entire ballgame. The Raccoons considered nine plenty, and left the rest of the game to Sweeton, who got better as things got along and would pitch a complete-game 7-hitter. It was a complete-game 5-hitter until the Cyclones were down to their final out and peskily scored a late run on a double by Stephen Medlock and an RBI single for Cruz. Gerardo Perez then grounded out on a 3-1 pitch. 9-2 Raccoons. Callaia 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Caballero 2-5, RBI; Puckeridge 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Sweeton 9.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (11-6);

The hammer of justice was brought down on Lonzo swiftly, as he was slapped with a 7-game suspension, rendering him ineligible for the rest of the week (and then some), while also leaving the Coons’ bench a man short.

Not too short yet was short, with Espinoza and Adriano Chavez to split duties there.

Game 2
CIN: 2B G. Keller – RF Colwill – C Lehman – LF del Toro – 3B Medlock – 1B V. Cruz – SS Tovar – CF Gill – P C. Ellis
POR: CF Royer – RF Callaia – LF Kirkwood – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C Fiore – SS Espinoza – P Shui

Two home runs gave Cincy a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Wednesday. Medlocks’ was of the outside variety, and Gill’s of the inside-the-park variety. The Raccoons’ first hit was also a home run – but it did not come until the fifth inning. Ellis retired the first ten in a row, then walked Callaia. Kirkwood doubled up the runner, ending the fourth, but the bottom of the fifth began with Pucks hitting a jack to right-center, 2-1.

Shui couldn’t hold it together, though, and gave up singles to Rick Colwill and Medlock in the top of the sixth. Medlock’s came with two outs and chased home Tim Lehman, who had forced out Colwill, from second base to get that cushion run back. Gill, Keller, and Colwill knocked out Shui with three more singles for a run in the seventh inning, while Tanizaki got a double play grounder from Lehman to at least stop the bleeding. The Coons had just three hits at the stretch, but began the bottom 7th with a leadoff walk drawn by Pucks, and then a Venegas single, which promoted the tying run to the plate with nobody out. Ryan Allred singled to fill the bases, which ever so slightly dismayed me, but Fiore refused to be the running gag this time and singled to right in a full count, chasing in two runs to get back to 4-3. Espinoza grounded out, putting the two runners in scoring position, while Caballero drew a walk from Ellis, who was then yanked for a right-handed reliever. And that was Jason Wheatley, who was having a rough time with his stuff completely evaporated by now. Steve Royer shoved a clean single into centerfield, tying the score at four, and then Callaia grounded into a double play. But, let’s be honest? Would I have been *really* happy if someone had hit a grand slam off Wheats?

Brett Lillis jr. went 1-2-3 in the eighth, and the Cyclones sent Wheats back out for the bottom of the inning. Kirkwood hit a bomb to left immediately, Pucks drew a walk, but then the inning fizzled out. Matt Walters turned the Cyclones away in the ninth inning to nail down the victory… and the L for Wheats. 5-4 Raccoons. Royer 2-4, RBI; Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Fiore 2-4, 2 RBI;

(noisily blows nose)

Game 3
CIN: SS J. Ojeda – 2B G. Keller – C Lehman – LF del Toro – 3B Medlock – 1B V. Cruz – RF Volker – CF Gill – P Gunderson
POR: CF Royer – RF Callaia – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – 3B Brobeck – 2B Allred – SS Espinoza – C M. Chavez – P Kniep

Single, walk, walk – the headaches were back as soon as Kniep took the mound. He went to 2-0 against del Toro with the bases loaded, but del Toro popped out, and then the Cyclones somehow failed their way out of the inning without scoring a run. The Coons got one in the bottom 1st, albeit unearned, when Brobeck’s 2-out grounder was thrown away by Keller with Kirkwood and Ramsay on the corners after a pair of singles. Allred popped out to strand a pair. Next time Brobeck was at the plate, another run scored, extending the tally to 2-0 with a 2-out RBI single in the bottom 3rd. Callaia and Kirkwood began that inning by getting on base, and then Rams rumbled into another double play. Gunderson then filled the bases with a walk to Allred and an Espinoza single, but Marcos Chavez fanned to keep them all stranded.

Kniep was not scored upon through five innings, collecting himself to a degree after the busy first inning. He offered one more hit and two walks (one of them intentional to Gill with two outs and a guy on third base) through five innings, then got his first career RBI as he singled home Daniel Espinoza in the bottom 5th. Chavez was also on base, but the battery was stranded when Royer grounded out, the score remaining 3-0.

It remained the same through seven innings before an explosion rocked the old ballpark in the eighth inning. Mike Lane filled the bases while getting only two outs in the top of the eighth, then was removed for Walters in a double switch. Walters came in for Cruz, but faced PH Tom Wheat, who hit a 2-run single to center. And Tony Volker, batting .125, whacked a 2-run double to flip the score. I buried my face in my paws. And that was before Ryan Harmer pitched in the ninth inning. He got the second out of the inning after Perez had grounded out against Walters, and only the second. Keller singled. Lehman walked. Del Toro singled. Medlock singled. Mike Tovar singled. Three runs were in, and the only saving grace turned out to be that the Raccoons would rally in the bottom 9th anyway. 7-3 Cyclones. Kirkwood 2-5; Ramsay 2-5; Allred 2-4, BB; Espinoza 2-4, 2B; A. Chavez 1-1; Kniep 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K;

This was approximately the 3687th time that Ryan Harmer ****** up, and it would be the last time. He went on waivers, and I’d go out of my way to get rid of him and his 0-2 record and 4.97 ERA. We called up very raw righty Alex Rios, a 2053 fifth-rounder with a 5.32 ERA in AAA, but he was also battling his own defense as much as he did the other teams with a .357 BABIP.

Raccoons (62-59) vs. Titans (57-65) – August 18-20, 2056

The Titans were probably no longer in the running, if they ever had been. They were only 8 1/2 games out, and weirder things had happened, but they also had two teams in between, and they had only the third-worst offense in the CL, and were not exactly *great* at pitching, either, with a -30 run differential. They had the Raccoons’ number, though, having won nine of twelve games between the two teams so far this season…?

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (10-11, 3.51 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (5-6, 3.32 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (5-5, 4.86 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (9-12, 3.18 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (11-6, 2.89 ERA) vs. Kenneth Spencer (11-9, 3.14 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday! …maybe, they came in after an off day on Thursday.

Game 1
BOS: SS Sowell – 3B Garris – CF Weir – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – C J. Ortiz – LF Y. Valdez – 2B W. de Leon – P Glaude
POR: CF Royer – RF Callaia – LF Kirkwood – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – SS Espinoza – C Fiore – P Taki

Taki pitched eight innings, allowing seven hits. Three of them were bunched up in the second inning to give the Titans an early run… and it was still a 1-0 game in the middle of the eighth when Taki left. The Raccoons were unspeakable at the plate again. Ryan Allred hit a double, and the rest of the bunch hit just enough to somehow and staggeringly manufacture three double plays. The only runner other than Allred on his double (he was also doubled up by Espinoza) that was actually stranded on base through seven innings was Taki on a rare single for him. The Raccoons then had runners on the corners in the bottom 8th on nothing more than Espinoza reaching on catcher’s interference, and then legging it out to third base on Fiore’s cheap trick single to right. Caballero batted for Taki, sure as heck *tried* to find the double play with shortstop Ken Sowell, but the Titans got only Fiore at second base, and Espinoza scored to tie the game. Caballero then stole second, Steve Royer doubled him home, and Callaia grounded out to end the weird inning. The Raccoons didn’t have Walters to send into the ninth inning, either, and the next-best thing was Lillis. PH Bruce Burkart and switch-hitter Jorge Ortiz grounded out to short, but Yoslan Valdez got a single into center. Pinch-runner Ethan Torrence advanced on a passed ball, but Mario Navarro popped out to kill the effort. 2-1 Blighters. Allred 1-2, BB, 2B; Taki 8.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (11-11) and 1-2;

First save of the season for Lillis, who was probably having his best year, but wasn’t getting many opportunities with the Walters/Lane pair usually hogging the ninth.

Game 2
BOS: 3B Torrence – LF Ma. Gilmore – CF Weir – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – C J. Ortiz – SS Sowell – 2B W. de Leon – P Koga
POR: CF Royer – RF Puckeridge – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – P Brobeck – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C Fiore – SS A. Chavez

Every day something new – on Saturday it was the Raccoons hitting into only two double plays before Kirkwood doubled home Adriano Chavez with the game’s first run, while Kyle Brobeck retired the Titans in order the first time through, and would go on to make it 16 up, 16 down, before issuing a walk to Willie de Leon, who was caught stealing before a K to Kodai Koga. The Raccoons’ offense was still nowhere to be found, so Brobeck just continued on. Ethan Torrence grounded out to begin the seventh. Matt Gilmore popped out foul to Venegas, and Hector Weir flew out cozily to Royer. The eighth inning began with Eric Whitlow – and Whitlow POUNDED a ball over the fence in leftfield, which took care of a whole lot of things, like the no-hitter, and the lead, and also me having to figure out some vague excuses to the snitch employed by the Agitator waiting behind the dumpster for me to walk to my car about why we were not pitching “No-Hit Brobeck” more often.

Jorge Ortiz hit a single before the inning was over, but was stranded. Brobeck completed nine innings on 92 pitches and just those two hits, while the Coons had gotten a Kirkwood single to begin the bottom 8th, but Ramsay had doubled him up right away. He even came *back* when the Coons couldn’t do anything with a Fiore single in the ninth inning, either. The Boston 3-4-5 disappeared without a trace against Brobeck in the tenth inning, but even those heroics weren’t enough to get a W in this game. The Coons saw a 2-out single for Kirkwood against Donovan Little in the bottom 10th, Caballero batted for Ramsay, but grounded out harmlessly.

And then Mike Lane laid his second egg of the week, putting Ortiz and de Leon on with singles in the 11th inning. The Coons went to Sencion, who did absolutely nothing to de-escalate. Josh Garris singled, Ethan Torrence walked in a run, Ryan Allred fumbled home another run when he **** on Gilmore’s grounder, and finally Eric Whitlow, with two outs, hit a bases-clearing ******* triple. For reasons hard to explain, the Titans then didn’t just put the game away with a 5-run lead. Jim Peterson allowed back-to-back leadoff doubles to Callaia and Venegas in the bottom 11th. Two outs were made before Adriano Chavez singled home Venegas, 6-3. But when Royer then singled off Bobby Callejas, the new pitcher, Pucks came up as the tying run. Another single – on an 0-2 pitch – drove home Chavez, and kept the line moving. Kirkwood got a 2-1 pitch to hit and bashed it by Navarro for another RBI single. The tying run was now at second base for Caballero. And Caballero flew out to Whitlow. 6-5 Titans. Royer 3-6; Kirkwood 3-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Callaia (PH) 1-1, 2B; Venegas 3-5, 2B, RBI; Brobeck 10.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K;

Of all people – BROBECK.

Also, for the mathemagicians here: of the five ******* runs in the 11th inning, only one on Lane was earned. He got the L anyway.

Is it worth musing about how the Titans left ZERO runners on base, and the Raccoons frittered away 11 even after hitting into a gazillion double plays?

Bloody murder, I say.

Game 3
BOS: 3B Torrence – LF Ma. Gilmore – CF Weir – RF Whitlow – 1B Witherspoon – C J. Ortiz – SS M. Navarro – 2B W. de Leon – P Spencer
POR: CF Royer – 1B Callaia – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 3B Venegas – SS Espinoza – C M. Chavez – 2B A. Chavez – P Sweeton

The Coons had two rookie relievers on the roster that had not thrown a pitch all week long and I worried that we’d have to send them into a game that didn’t merit their presence by its closeness on Sunday, but then there was also Sweeton putting the first three batters of the game on base and giving up a quick run on Weir’s RBI single before pitching generally indifferently afterwards, while the Raccoons showed up in minimum numbers the first time through. Caballero did get on base, and Venegas made the **** sure he’d get off again with a 1-6-3 double play.

Matt Gilmore’s homer in the fifth inning was only the fourth Titans hit of the game, but extended their lead to 2-0. Weir also reached, stole a base, was annoying, but also stranded by Whitlow. In response, Venegas drew a 1-out walk in the bottom 5th, and then was duly doubled off by Daniel Dunce-inoza. The leadoff walk drawn by Marcos Chavez in the bottom 6th was the first base runner that didn’t get doubled off, even though Sweeton forced him out with a bad bunt and was then left on first base by Royer, at which point I also lost my remaining qualms about giving the ball to the kits. Sweeton went seven, then yielded for Ricky Herrera, who got the 2-3-4 batters in order in the eighth inning. Rios got the ninth inning, struck out Sam Witherspoon to begin his career, and then shuffled the bags full with two singles to center and a walk to Yoslan Valdez. There was a wild pitch, there was a 2-run single, and there was an ugly 27.00 ERA at the end of the inning. The Raccoons disappeared into the night quietly. 5-0 Titans. Sweeton 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, L (11-7);

In other news

August 16 – A back muscle issue curtails the season of MIL SP Tyler Riddle (11-2, 2.14 ERA).
August 20 – LVA SP Medardo Regueir (6-11, 4.10 ERA) is also out for the season after tearing the flexor tendon in his elbow.
August 20 – The Cyclones’ MR Travis Julien (4-2, 5.01 ERA, 4 SV) tries to save a 3-2 game against the Buffaloes, but first loads the bases, and then nails both RF/LF Bobby Grewe (.220, 3 HR, 35 RBI) and OF Gustavo Pena (.268, 1 HR, 14 RBI), both on 1-2 pitches, to suffer a 4-3 walkoff loss.

FL Player of the Week: TOP INF Alex de los Santos (.260, 23 HR, 69 RBI), plugging .429 (12-28) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS OF/2B Eric Whitlow (.245, 15 HR, 67 RBI), batting .423 (11-26) with 3 HR, 13 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Kyle Brobeck pitched ten innings for a no-decision, and somehow that was the highlight of the week for the team. Soggy 3-3 run, against mediocre competition.

Also, baseball is no fun without Lonzo. But he’s under the ban hammer for another two games of the following Indians series. It will be a single-series road trip to Indy, after which we’re right back home for a 6-game homestand with the Baybirds and Falcons to finish out the month of August.

And then, roster expansion! … although I wasn’t quite sure what we wanted to expand with. AAA was full of Ryan Harmers and Marcos Chavezes.

Fun Fact: 18 years ago today, Mike Hall hit for a reverse-natural cycle against the Knights.

This was the last homer-triple-double-single cycle in the league until Willie Sanchez hit for one this April. Hall did it as an Ace, and before being traded to the Bayhawks the next winter, with whom he had his best seasons. In his 14-year career, Hall was usually just above the league average for OPS, with a 111 OPS+ mark for his career, but he never let the league in anything and was an All Star only once. He won the World Series with the Baybirds in 2043. For his career he hit .285 with 57 HR and 610 RBI, also stealing 209 bases.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (63-61) @ Indians (50-74) – August 21-23, 2056

Another round against the horrendous Indians, whom the Raccoons were a no less horrendous 6-6 against this season. The run differential on Indy had piled up to -146 by now, and they were the worst pitching and second-worst offensive team. There was little to like about the roster, which even included Bill Quinteros (.248, 6 HR, 36 RBI) slugging over 130 points less than just the year prior. Bobby Anderson had absconded in the winter, and in addition to all that, they had traded Dan Sandoval, who (still) led the team in all triple crown categories with a .269, 8 HR, 56 RBI line, to the Stars. Add on seven players on the DL, some crucial to the continued operation of a baseball team, f.e. Enrique Ortiz, Juan Llampallas, Mike Gilmore, and a host of replacement fodder that you’d expect on a last-place team.

If the Coons bungled this series, they didn’t deserve no playoffs anyway.

Projected matchups:
He Shui (11-7, 3.82 ERA) vs. Jeremy Fetta (4-13, 5.02 ERA)
Craig Kniep (6-10, 3.98 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (2-0, 1.54 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (11-11, 3.41 ERA) vs. Salvatore Calderon (5-6, 3.43 ERA)

Fitzgibbon was the sole southpaw coming up here. He would make his 61st ABL appearance, and the fourth as a starting pitcher.

The Raccoons were still four paws short with Lonzo under the ban hammer for the first two games of the series.

Game 1
POR: CF Royer – RF Callaia – LF Kirkwood – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C Fiore – SS Espinoza – P Shui
IND: CF Abel – SS Bahena – 2B A. Rios – 1B B. Quinteros – RF McIntyre – LF Perry – 3B M. Coto – C Keels – P Fetta

Chris Kirkwood wasted no time; following a Callaia single, he hit a jack to left in the first inning, his 17th of the year, and put the Raccoons 2-0 in front. He Shui also wasted no time; he gave up singles to Kevin Abel (who?), Bernie Bahena, and Antonio Rios to begin his day, and the Indians got the tying runs across on Rios’ single and Bill Quinteros’ sac fly. It would only get worse. The Indians’ battery, Fetta and Bob Keels (seriously, who?) bopped base hits off Shui in the bottom 2nd, Abel singled home a run, and Bahena doubled in a pair. When Rios singled home the shortstop, Shui was yanked after four outs completed, down 6-2.

Fetta was not lasting much longer, although he left with an injury in the third inning after Pucks had just doubled home Kirkwood to shorten the score to 6-3. Bubba Poss took over from there and stranded Pucks in scoring position and got the Indians through five innings with spotless relief – although Ricky Herrera out-did him, getting 12 outs in perfect garbage relief of Shui, and thus probably also a bus ticket due south after the game. Pearls to the pigs and so on.

Chris Edwards invited the tying run to the plate in the seventh inning, putting Steve Royer on base with a single, and then walked Callaia. Kirkwood hit a sizzler, but right at Bahena, and Pucks grounded out easily to Rios, ending the inning. Instead, Abel homered off Tanizaki in the bottom of the inning, getting the Indians to slam distance. But: the tying run was at the plate again in the eighth against a parade of relievers for the Arrowheads. Caballero, Fiore, and Espinoza were all waiting for Adriano Chavez to work the magic against newly-arrived righty Bill Lawrence with one out, but his grounder to Quinteros was almost turned for two; Espinoza was out at second, and Chavez barely beat the return throw, while Caballero scored. Royer flew out to center to end the inning. But, down by three, the tying run was at the plate AGAIN in the ninth inning… Callaia singled off Randy Slocum, who walked Pucks on four pitches, all with one gone. Anton Venegas singled to left on a 3-2 pitch, but Jason Perry nearly got there and Callaia had to freeze momentarily, and so could not attempt to score. Bases loaded for Caballero, who could do no better than a sac fly. With the team down to the final out, and the double play no longer a topic, Rams batted for Fiore, walked, and thus moved the tying run (Venegas) into scoring position for… well, there was only Marcos Chavez left on the base, so we’d stick to Espinoza. He struck out, and that was the game. 7-5 Indians. Callaia 2-4, BB; Kirkwood 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Puckeridge 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Caballero (PH) 1-1, RBI; Herrera 4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

Jeremy Fetta (4-13, 5.14 ERA) was out for the year with a torn labrum, which came tantalizingly close to saying that he was put out of his misery by the injury.

The pen was still in shape, mostly; so even with Herrera having thrown 40 pitches and not advised to be used again in this series, he remained on the roster for the time being. We couldn’t afford another windy outing by Kniep, though…

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – 1B Callaia – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – 3B Venegas – SS Espinoza – 2B A. Chavez – C M. Chavez – P Kniep
IND: CF French – SS Bahena – 1B B. Quinteros – 2B A. Rios – LF J. Garza – RF McIntyre – 3B M. Coto – C Werman – P Fitzgibbon

Two walks and a Caballero single loaded the bases in the first inning, but with the sacks stacked, Daniel Espinoza lined out to Bahena to strand everybody. Two more were stranded when Venegas grounded out to Bernie Bahena in the third inning, while Kniep was rocketing up the pitch count, but at least with strikeouts and not with walks. Through three scoreless innings, he walked one and whiffed six Indians.

The Coons’ own scrubs, Espinoza and Adriano Chavez, opened the top 4th with singles and went to the corners, and when Danny Werman couldn’t contain a wayward 0-2 pitch to Marcos Chavez, the wild pitch gave the Coons a 1-0 lead as Espinoza sprinted home. Strikeouts to the battery and a Royer groundout then left Adriano Chavez in scoring position. Oscar Caballero went yard in the fifth inning, 2-0, but Kniep kept having busy innings; although the Indians disappeared for the minimum in the fourth and fifth innings, they did so with three long counts for flyball outs in the fourth, then had Will McIntyre draw a leadoff walk in the bottom 5th in a full count. Mario Coto struck out, as did Werman, while McIntyre went for second base on the 3-2 pitch and was somehow thrown out by Marcos Chavez in a strike-‘em-out-throw-‘em-out double play. Kniep’s pitch count was into the 80s now.

Marcos Chavez, with eyes closed, flailed a 1-1 pitch over the fence in left in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 3-0. Kniep and Royer hit 2-out singles past either flank of Rios, but Jose Garza hurried in to snare a Callaia fly to end the inning. PH Hugo Munoz managed another leadoff walk off Kniep in the bottom of the inning, but the Indians then disappeared 1-2-3 quite quickly and remained off the board. The Coons were committed – we squeezed the last drop of blood out of Kniep, which amounted to a final tally of seven shutout innings on 110 pitches, while the Indians never reached third base against him!

Lefty Tony Martinez then walked the bases full with the Chavezes, pinch-ramming Hits, and nobody out in the eighth inning. The 1-2-3 were mostly disappointing; Callaia hit an RBI single, but the other two popped out, and Caballero grounded out to short to end the inning with three runners still on base. In came the Coons pen, then, and out went all pretense of cohesion. Alex Rios got an out from Werman, but then allowed a single to PH Kevin Price. Smelling danger, we removed him for Lillis, but Lillis retired ******** nobody. Bobby French tripled, Bernie Bahena singled, and Bill Quinteros walked, and all of a sudden it was a 4-2 game with the tying runs on base. Matt Walters came in a double switch along with Pucks, got a grounder to short from Rios, but the double play couldn’t be turned because Adriano Chavez had his legs sliced out from under him by Quinteros and left with an injury, replaced by Allred. Jose Garza then grounded out. Walters in the ninth retired the first two batters, but then inexplicably lost Werman and Perry on balls with two down. He rejiggered himself just in time to strike out French and save the game after all. 4-2 Critters. Caballero 3-4, BB, HR, RBI; Kniep 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 10 K, W (7-10); Walters 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, SV (38);

Adriano Chavez remained on the roster for the rubber game, but was ruled out by Luis Silva. At least Lonzo’s suspension had FINALLY run out, so we merely remained four paws short…

Game 3
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Caballero – 3B Brobeck – 1B Puckeridge – 2B Allred – C Fiore – P Taki
IND: CF French – SS Bahena – 1B B. Quinteros – 2B A. Rios – LF J. Garza – RF McIntyre – 3B M. Coto – C Keels – P S. Calderon

The Raccoons loaded the bases with their 1-2-4 batters, and left them loaded with their 5-6 batters in the first inning, so everything was working within normal parameters. The Coons then had Ryan Allred caught stealing in the second inning, as well as Fiore on base and forced out on Taki’s bad bunt, and even worse was his pitch to Mario Coto in the bottom of the inning, which was deposited over the fence to give Indy a 1-0 lead. They made it 2-0 in the third, as French doubled and Bahena singled him in, both threw the left side. Offensive attempts from either side soon died down entirely and the game absolutely breezed through the middle innings and the seventh until the silence was rudely interrupted by a 1-out solo homer Kirkwood bashed to left in the eighth inning, reminding everybody that, oh yeah, there was a baseball game going on! And the score was now 2-1. Calderon retired the next two batters without fuss, though. Taki offered a leadoff walk to Bob Keels in the bottom 8th. He was forced out by Kevin Price, who advanced on French’s groundout, then tried to score from second base on Bahena’s single to center, but was thrown out by 20 feet by Caballero, ending the inning. With one out, Allred singled off Randy Slocum in the ninth, was forced out by Royer, and the game ended with Ramsay grounding out. 2-1 Indians. Allred 2-4; Taki 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, L (11-12);

Valiant, but pointless complete-game effort for Taki. The rest of the bunch was sent to bed without second dinner and without a goodnight kiss.

Thursday was off, and also the day we shuffled Adriano Chavez off to the DL with a sprained wrist that might or might not cost him the rest of the season. The Raccoons needed somebody to cover second base and turned to Arturo Bribiesca, who had been demoted at the start of July, had since dropped his batting average in AAA by 22 points to .293, and especially had missed six weeks with a hammy.

Raccoons (64-63) vs. Bayhawks (53-73) – August 25-27, 2056

Here was another last-place team to look bad against, although in this case we had actually already bagged the season series, 5-1. San Fran ranked bottoms in runs scored with 3.8 runs per game, and their average pitching couldn’t keep up. Their run differential was a relatively modest -55, though.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (5-5, 4.37 ERA) vs. Andy Overy (6-8, 3.68 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (11-7, 2.87 ERA) vs. Charlie Hudson (4-6, 3.76 ERA)
He Shui (11-8, 4.13 ERA) vs. Bill Grau (2-1, 2.16 ERA)

The series started with a southpaw and would most likely end with one on Southpaw Sunday, although we didn’t yet know whether that would be swingman Bill Grau or more established starter Jeff Fox (4-6, 3.23 ERA). With Milt Cantrell and Bob Ruggiero (plus outfielder Armando Caban) on the DL, they’re rotation was in a bit of a fluid state.

Brobeck would get two turns in the rotation between consecutive Thursday off days, and who even knew whether we wanted to call anybody up for September anymore. The kits in AAA weren’t exactly filing the best applications…

Game 1
SFB: SS X. Reyes – 3B Peltier – 1B P. Fowler – 2B A. Montoya – C Fuller – CF A. Walker – LF Anker – RF Tomko – P Overy
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Caballero – P Brobeck – 3B Venegas – 1B Ramsay – C M. Chavez – 2B Bribiesca

Tim Fuller singled off Brobeck, was forced out by former Elk Aaron Walker, and then Grant Anker (it was a week of “who?”, wasn’t it?) popped a homer over the fence in left-center to put the last-place team on top, 2-0. Caballero’s leadoff triple in the bottom 2nd led to a run eventually after Brobeck walked and Venegas hit into a double play, but the latter wouldn’t get an RBI for his bothers. No permanent rally magic ensued, and instead Brobeck kept getting slapped around. He was clipped for three singles and a run in the third inning, then two singles and no run(s) in both the fourth and fifth, and looked just terrible in general, but limped through six innings, with Chris Tomko’s single in the sixth the tenth and final hit off him in the rather dismal outing. At least he didn’t walk anybody…

But Brobeck wasn’t all done yet; he was up third to bat in the bottom 6th and came on after Caballero hit a 1-out single in a full count. Brobeck swiped at the first pitch he got from Overy and dinked it into the left-center gap for an RBI double, shortening the score to 4-2. Overy walked Venegas, but then struck out Rams and Marcos Chavez to strand the tying runs. Tanizaki and Rios offered scoreless innings to hold the Baybirds close, and the Baybirds invited a comeback when rightfielder Lupe Pina dropped Caballero’s easy fly to begin the bottom 8th for an error. Pucks pinch-hit for Rios against right-hander Ralph Needham, but Aaron Walker grabbed his deep drive on the run. Venegas and Ramsay made rather meek outs to just waste the free runner, and Dave Lister retired Royer, Allred, and Callaia in order in the ninth……. 4-2 Bayhawks. Caballero 2-4, 3B;

Getting close to the point where they’ll find bodies floating down the river in Longview.

Game 2
SFB: SS X. Reyes – 3B Peltier – 1B P. Fowler – 2B A. Montoya – C Fuller – CF A. Walker – LF Anker – RF Tomko – P C. Hudson
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C Fiore – P Sweeton

The weather forecast for the game was Oregonian, so maybe grab a lead soon, boys? Pucks obliged and hit a solo homer to right in the second inning, but the Bayhawks had stranded runners on the corners in the top 2nd against Sweeton, and he began the third inning with a wayward breaking ball that smacked Charlie Hudson on the kneecap and led to the opposing pitcher to be taken out of the ballgame. Reliever Steve Winnett pinch-ran, moved to second on Xavier Reyes’ single, but then was caught running on Adam Peltier’s liner, not expecting Pucks to leap and catch that ball. Pucks leapt, Pucks caught, and Pucks zinged it to second base to double off the runner astray. Reyes then was caught stealing to complete a wicked inning. Pucks would start another double play I’d be less grinning for in the bottom 4th, and the score remained 1-0 until the sixth when Lonzo singled, stole his first base in almost two weeks, and then came home on Caballero’s 2-out single, 2-0. After a balk and a walk, Venegas struck out to end the inning.

…and then the whole lead went out into the Willamette in the seventh inning. Leadoff single for Tim Fuller, another single to center for Aaron Walker, and Gustavo Jacinto advanced the runners with a groundout. Chris Tomko’s grounder brought in one run, Eric Cobb’s pinch-hit single another, and just like that it was two-all. Sweeton would pitch another inning to stay in the tie through eight innings and 108 pitches, while the Raccoons put the leadoff man on base with Kirkwood against Cody Lovett in the bottom 8th… on an uncaught third strike. Whatever ******* works. Caballero singled, but Pucks whiffed and Venegas grounded out, and only now Kirkwood even reached third base. Ryan Allred was batting an inexplicable .346 and was a lefty, and the Bayhawks didn’t make a move, so why would the Coons? Lovett fell 3-1 behind against Allred, and once Allred dropped a 2-run single into left-center, 4-2 behind on the scoreboard. So, there was another lead for Sweeton, who now handed the ball straight to Walters, just as it began to rain after all. – and how it did!

Walters threw one pitch before it started to POUR, and the grounds crew brought the tarp out in a real hurry. It took an hour to wait for the storm cell to pass through, and then Walters resumed with an 0-1 count to Aaron Walker. An hour later, a strikeout removed the leadoff man, and Jamie Sherrick grounded out. Chris Tomko ran a 2-0 count, and just as Walters threw the third pitch, lightning flashed and Walters threw the ball ten feet over the folks at the dish for ball three. Within seconds, it started dousing again. Everybody got shooed off the field *again*, more grounds crew, more tarp, more waiting, and I plotted our move to the sunny South with Honeypaws. Matt Walters did not return for a *third* time when play resumed yet another hour later (nor did the crowd), with Mike Lane inheriting the 3-0 count on Tomko, who *did* return. Tomko saw three pitches, all strikes, and that finally ended the damn ballgame. 4-2 Raccoons. Kirkwood 2-4; Caballero 2-4, RBI; Allred 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Sweeton 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (12-7);

Game 3
SFB: SS X. Reyes – 3B Peltier – 1B P. Fowler – 2B A. Montoya – CF A. Walker – LF Anker – C Mittleider – RF Tomko – P Grau
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Caballero – 3B Venegas – 1B Puckeridge – 2B Bribiesca – C M. Chavez – P Shui

Xavier Reyes began the Sunday rubber game with an infield single, his 39th stolen base, and then scored on Pat Fowler’s groundout to put Shui in an early hole again. Callaia then hit a leadoff single in the first, but was doubled off by Kirkwood. Caballero hit a leadoff single in the second, but was caught stealing. Venegas got on base and was actually scored on a Bribiesca double to tie the score. San Fran bypassed Chavez, but Grau gave up a single to Shui, yet Bribiesca stopped at third base. The bags remained loaded with Callaia’s comebacker to Bill Grau, that was lobbed to first base for the third out.

Portland took the lead, 2-1, in the bottom 3rd when Lonzo drew a leadoff walk (!), stole second, and then came home on a throwing error by Jon Mittleider and Kirkwood’s groundout. Shui tip-toed around a leadoff double by the inevitable Adam Peltier in the fourth inning, and Lonzo also hit one of those in the fifth inning. The Bayhawks walked Kirkwood intentionally, which was *a* move, and it even worked, as Caballero popped out and Venegas found Armando Montoya for a double play to kill the inning, but the Bayhawks also had Pat Fowler barrel into a 4-6-3 with Reyes and Peltier on base in the sixth inning, ending that frame, too. Lots of awful batting on both sides.

Pucks was stranded after a leadoff double in the sixth inning, and the Coons essentially got another leadoff “double” in the seventh, then with a Callaia single and an 0-2 in the dirt that went through Mittleider’s wickets for a passed ball and advanced the runner to second base. Lonzo rallied for a scratch single, and Callaia made it to third base. Corners, nobody out, middle up. Boys! But now! At least ONE! Kirkwood hit a fly to medium-depth right, Callaia went for home, and Tomko threw him out without much celebration for a 9-2 double play. Gah!! Grau then flubbed walks to the 4-5 batters to fill the bases before getting yanked for Needham. It was the third walk in a row, this one to Pucks, that FINALLY pushed a ******* run across…! Rams then batted for Bribiesca, but was retired on a miserable pop to third base, and in foul ground, too.

Shui added a 1-2-3 eighth inning before getting hit for with Fiore in the bottom 8th, but the inning went precisely nowhere. Walters then was back for the ninth inning, and this time there was not a cloud in the skies, until there was a clout in the skies, and Peltier dished a double to deep center to begin the ninth inning. Fuller and Montoya made poor outs on the infield, though, and then Aaron Walker lined out to Venegas to end the game after all. 3-1 Coons. Callaia 2-5; Lavorano 2-3, BB, 2B; Puckeridge 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Shui 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (12-8);

In other news

August 21 – A strained rib cage muscle could cost LVA OF Ken Hummel (.276, 14 HR, 61 RBI) a month, e.g. most of the remaining season.
August 23 – A flayed flexor tendon in his elbow ends the season of PIT SP Josh Swindell (7-7, 3.70 ERA) and could cost him most or all of 2057, too.
August 25 – VAN SP Anton Jesus (12-10, 3.86 ERA) spins a 3-hit shutout against the Thunder with only one strikeout to his name. Vancouver wins, 5-0.
August 26 – DAL CL Trent O’Sullivan (0-7, 2.73 ERA, 21 SV) reaches the 400 saves mark with a scoreless ninth inning to beat the Miners, 3-0. The 33-year-old O’Sullivan three times led the FL in saves with Topeka, and has a Reliever of the Year award to his name. He was 49-88 with 3.22 ERA and 852 K for his career.
August 27 – The game with the most runs this week is a 17-10 win by the Miners over the Stars in which Pittsburgh puts up six crooked numbers and INF Victor Corrales (.336, 13 HR, 101 RBI) churns out five hits and a walk with two RBI.

FL Player of the Week: RIC RF/LF Willie Sanchez (.301, 17 HR, 77 RBI), hitting .407 (11-27) with 2 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN C Tristan Waker (.293, 16 HR, 69 RBI), batting .524 (11-21) with 3 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

3-3, barely, against the two last-place teams in the Continental League, just in case you needed more reasons to convince your partner that it wasn’t worth waiting for Coons postseason tickets to go on sale. There’s nothing stopping you from an October trip to Acapulco, or any other place with tropical temperatures that time of the year, like Minneapolis these days.

It’s a series against the Falcons, a day off, and then the roster expansion. So far there are no applicants to get a few starts at the end of the season, although we might give 21-year-old righty Ramon Carreno (4.05 ERA in AAA) a looksie anyway once we’re out of the running for good.

September will start with a 7-game road trip to Milwaukee and New York.

Fun Fact: Eddie Moreno has 101 RBI on the year.

That leads the CL, and is tied for the ABL lead with Corrales of the Miners, who had the big game on Sunday.

The Raccoons’ RBI leader? That’s actually a toughie. Now, Kirkwood was running around with 64 RBI as of Sunday night, but he was actually not it, because we had gotten him from the Knights a month into the season and only 51 of those RBI’s had come with the Raccoons. He was second on the team though with just 51 markers planted in 97 games. He was not far off though, since the leader was Pucks with *55* RBI at the end of August. And he had missed only three games…!

Tell me you got offensive issues in just one stat – that’s the one. Pucks leading the team in RBI with 55 and 5 weeks to spare.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (66-64) vs. Falcons (85-45) – August 28-30, 2056

The Falcons had won eight games in a row and a whole lotta games this year as a whole. Most importantly, they had won every game they had played against the Critters so far in 2056, so maybe embrace sub-.500 before it’s too late… Charlotte had the #3 offense and #1 pitching in the league, with a whopping +166 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (7-10, 3.75 ERA) vs. Josh Clem (9-11, 4.14 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (11-12, 3.36 ERA) vs. Garrett Giustino (6-7, 3.95 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (5-6, 4.48 ERA) vs. Alfonso Jewel (13-4, 2.73 ERA)

Right, right, left, and probably three losses. We had scored just 13 runs in six games against the Falcons, while giving up 29 runs to them.

Game 1
CHA: RF Conner – SS Woodrome – 3B B. Anderson – 1B Schaack – C L. Miranda – 2B T. Edwards – CF M. Ceballos – LF Kulak – P Clem
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C Fiore – P Kniep

Kniep got socked in the snout right out of the gate. Ian Woodrome singled, Bobby Anderson walked, Jason Schaack doubled home a run, and so on and so on. Luis Miranda and Mario Ceballos also reached on a walk and a 2-run single, respectively, so Charlotte was up 3-0 in a real hurry before William Kulak grounded out to Pucks. Kniep would go on to allow a single and two walks, but no runs in the second inning until Miranda popped out to strand everybody. Needless to say that he wasn’t long for the game, while the offense was rather putrid in the early innings, but Clem and Travis Edwards fumbled the bags full in the fourth inning. Kirkwood, Caballero (on an error), and Venegas loaded the bases with one out, and to the great surprise of me, Honeypaws, Slappy, Cristiano Carmona, the entire army of bobbleheads on display in the office, and the ashes of Carlosito in the old shoebox on the highest shelf, Ryan Allred dunked a bases-clearing triple behind Mario Ceballos to level the score at three, but was then also stranded when the entire battery struck out against Clem.

Kniep threw four shutout innings after the first-inning disaster and remained in a 3-3 tie, after which Tanizaki gave up a leadoff single to Mario Ceballos and nicked Doug Conner with an 0-2 pitch in the sixth, but then got Woodrome out to strand a pair, but Bobby Anderson’s leadoff double to left off Mike Lane and two productive groundouts gave the Falcons a 4-3 lead in the seventh, but the Raccoons would get another game-tying triple in this game. Venegas stole a base and was stranded in the seventh, but then came up with two outs and Pucks on base in the bottom 8th. He knocked a shot through a diving Jason Schaack that turned foul behind the bag and hit off the sidewall to send Conner in the wrong direction and made its way into right-center rather merrily. Pucks scored, Venegas went to third, but was stranded when Marcos Chavez struck out pinch-hitting for Allred against left-hander Matt Malone. The Falcons were held in a tie by Lillis and Rios in the ninth inning, while the Coons came up against former Raccoon Steve Watson in the bottom 9th, who had 39 walks in 64 innings, but whom the Coons had yet to rip a new one since he had unhappily departed. He also had 93 strikeouts, which helped with things. He took the Coons down in order in the ninth, sending the game to overtime, where Ricky Herrera held up in the 10th. Watson was back for the bottom 10th, facing the 2-3-4 batters. Lonzo singled, but didn’t get beyond second base. In the 11th, Gerardo Vazquez walked and Anderson singled against Herrera, but Schaack flew out to Caballero in center to strand those runners. Watson was followed by another former Raccoon, Vic Flores, for the bottom 11th.

The Coons were running out of personnel. Sencion and Walters were the only relievers left, and Walters had been out two days in a row and we really weren’t digging the thought of wasting him in extra innings. Steve Royer was the last bat on the bench, but all the outfielders were batting on the top of the lineup, and while the #9 spot led off the bottom 12th, we didn’t go for the double switch, since all that would potentially do was to bring up Eloy Sencion with two on and two out or something. In turn, Sencion had to bat leadoff in the bottom 12th, making the first out. Callaia also grounded out, but Lonzo singled again, then was caught stealing to send the game to the 13th. Sencion had another scoreless inning, while the Falcons had another lefty, Andres Lopez, who gave up a leadoff double to left-center to Chris Kirkwood. But now, boys! Caballero was walked intentionally, Pucks flew out to left, and Venegas… hit into a double play.

It only got worse in the 14th. Sencion was past his best-before date, the Falcons quickly had two on, and then Arturo Bribiesca hurt himself on a defensive play. There was no middle infielder left – the Raccoons had to move Venegas to second base, and Kyle Brobeck took over at third base. With runners on the corners and two outs, Brobeck got a ball hit to him by Ceballos right away and made the play to first to turn away the Falcons again. And at this point, we were well advised to walk it off, because Sencion – who hadn’t pitched in a week – was done after 54 pitches. Brobeck led off with a single to right, and Fiore hit into a 4-6-3 double play and I couldn’t wait to tear his head off after the game.

Chris Kirkwood went to the hill in the 15th inning – the Raccoons were giving the game away (although Kirkwood had been a fine pitcher in high school and was occasionally fooling around and threw a bullpen). He walked Eiji Kinoshiita and Ian Woodrome… but he also struck out Doug Conner in between and Bobby Anderson flew out to Royer in centerfield to end the inning. Bottom 15th, Gaudencio Callaia hit a single after being mostly invisible all game, putting the winning run on against another lefty, Gustavo Chapa. Lonzo grounded to short to force him out, but Kirkwood hit another single, sending Lonzo to second base. Caballero flew out, Pucks struck out, and I was ready to lash out. The Falcons had two on base again in the 16th as Miranda walked and Ceballos singled, but then Kirkwood hung a K on Kinoshiita to end the inning. That silly trick would not work much longer, though, so the Raccoons probably needed to score one, and soon, but didn’t reach base in the inning, and Kirkwood finally fell apart in the 17th, getting whacked for four runs. Leadoff walk to Chapa (…), Woodrome walked, Anderson singled to fill the bags, and then Schaack reached 100 RBI for the season with a bases-clearing triple of his own. Miranda’s sac fly made it four in the inning, eight on the day, and thank goodness they did, because the bloody Raccoons went down 1-2-3 to Chapa again. 8-4 Falcons. Kirkwood 3-6, 2B; Allred 2-3, 3B, 3 RBI; Espinoza (PH) 1-1; Herrera 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K; Sencion 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K;

(deep sigh)

Also, throw Arturo Bribiesca (.231, 0 HR, 9 RBI) on the pile of broken toys for the season; he was out with a bone edema, which was not a thing I knew existed before, and would not return to baseball before the playoffs would long be over. We were scratching the bottom of the barrel for second basemen in the organization.

We called up Richard Anderson, who had the advantage of being on the 40-man roster, although he was hitting a mere .234 in St. Pete, was a third baseman and had only done a few hackjob innings at second base, and while what we really needed were more arms, arms, arms.

Chris Kirkwood got a day off after pitching three innings and walking five, throwing over 50 pitches in what was about Plan O for this game…

Game 2
CHA: RF Conner – C L. Miranda – SS Woodrome – 3B B. Anderson – LF Kulak – CF M. Ceballos – 1B E. Rodriguez – 2B T. Edwards – P Giustino
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – CF Royer – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C M. Chavez – P Taki

Tuesday started with a Conner single and Conner getting caught stealing, but Taki would walk Woodrome with two down, and Bobby Anderson found a double in the corner in leftfield to drive home the runner, 1-0. William Kulak struck out looking to end the inning. Elias Rodriguez would double the gap with a homer to right in the second, but Taki held the Falcons away after that, even though he wasn’t very efficient, needing 81 pitches through five. The Raccoons scattered four singles, half by Marcos Chavez, and Taki tried to bunt twice, finding a double play half the time. No runs, because that would have been too good to be true.

The board was finally reached by the Portland Baseball Club in the bottom of the sixth, which Callaia opened with a double to center, then scored swiftly on a Lonzo RBI single. Lonzo was caught stealing, because it was one of those ruts, and the Coons remained 2-1 behind through six. Travis Edwards’ leadoff double in the seventh also came around to score, though, and so the Raccoons were just as far behind as before when the Falcons got two productive outs before the stretch arrived and Taki departed. Next leadoff double was Royer’s, but he was stranded in the bottom 7th, while Espinoza batted for Lillis to begin the bottom 8th, reached on a Kulak bungle in shallow left, and was still on first with two down when Giustino threw his 88th pitch of the game right down the middle and Oscar Caballero felt obliged to pepper a homer. That tied the game at three, and somewhere I had seen this before. This time Walters got into the ninth inning, only to serve up a homer to left to PH Braden McCarver, which gave the Falcons a new 4-3 lead. Steve Watson retired the Coons’ 5-6-7 in order in the bottom of the ninth… 4-3 Falcons. Callaia 2-4, 2B; M. Chavez 2-3;

Game 3
CHA: RF Conner – CF M. Ceballos – SS Woodrome – 1 Schaack – 3B B. Anderson – LF Kulak – C McCarver – 2B T. Edwards – P Jewel
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Caballero – P Brobeck – 3B Venegas – 1B Callaia – C M. Chavez – 2B R. Anderson

McCarver, the mean bean, hit a double off Brobeck his first time up, but tweaked a hammy while doing so and left the game for the return of Luis Miranda. Offense was at a premium on Wednesday and it wasn’t until the fifth inning that somebody reached second base again, and it was Brobeck, hitting back-to-back 1-out singles with Callaia in the bottom 5th. At that point, both teams had three hits and yet to score. Chavez flew out to center easily, but the debutee Richard Anderson lobbed a ball over the middle infielders for a 2-out RBI single – first ABL hit, first ABL RBI, and a go-ahead one on top of that! Royer singled to right, chasing home Callaia for a 2-0 lead. Lonzo grounded out, stranding a pair.

Brobeck kept holding Charlotte to three hits, and also hit a double in the bottom 6th, but it came with two outs, nobody on, and Anton Venegas deciding not to lend a paw. Callaia socked a leadoff double to right the next inning, and Chavez’ single put runners on the corners with nobody out against Jewel. Anderson grounded out to third base, with Chavez moving up, but Callaia holding, and a K to Royer and Lonzo’s fly to center killed the inning without a run going on the board. The Falcons remained dry through eight against Brobeck, with Mike Lane getting ready for the ninth inning. Conner drew a leadoff walk, but Ceballos popped out and Woodrome whiffed. That brought back all 20 homers and 102 RBI of Jason Schaack, and he got a 1-2 pitch past Ryan Allred into rightfield. The tying runs were now on for Bobby Anderson, who singled to center, plating a run. With Kulak up, a struggling (nominally at least) lefty, the Raccoons went to Matt Walters after all. The Falcons answered with Eiji Kinoshiita, who whacked away at the first pitch, but Lonzo reached and snatched the ball while tumbling backwards! 2-1 Raccoons. Callaia 2-3, 2B; Brobeck 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (6-6) and 2-4, 2B;

1-8!!

You think you can sweep us for the whole year?? Hah!!

The Elks got swept by the Knights in the meantime, so we even reduced the gap to four games with this most meager series, and then gained half a game on Thursday, when the Elks also lost the opener to their 4-game set in Boston.

Rosters expanded on Friday, and the Raccoons didn’t really have a lot of sticks to add, but really dug into the pitching department in AAA. We were getting a lot of short starts and could use any help we could get. Except for Ryan Harmer.

Matt Stanton and Carlos Solorzano were the sole batters added on September 1, while for pitchers, we recalled Colby Bowen and Reynaldo Bravo for garbage duty, and Ryan Wade and Adam Harris for perhaps actual help. Both would make their debuts. Wade was a 24-year-old righty starter that was once taken by the Knights in the ninth round and then released. The Coons had picked him up as minor league free agent in ’54. He had a 4.80 ERA in 167 innings in St. Pete this year. Harris had a 4.37 ERA and had saved 26 games. He struck out people, and he also walked people. The left-hander had been the #21 pick just last season, so he had at least arrived here fast.

Raccoons (67-66) @ Loggers (55-78) – September 1-3, 2056

The Loggers also were ahead of the Coons in the season series, 6-5, despite a rather crummy outfit that tried to out-suck the Indians for last place in the division. They were eighth in runs scored, but 11th in runs allowed, with a -91 run differential. The whole of their pitching and defensive stats was gruesome, but they had the most stolen bases in the league, aiming for 200 for the year. They were at 179 as of Friday morning.

Projected matchups:
Sean Sweeton (12-7, 2.84 ERA) vs. Brad Blankenship (9-9, 3.93 ERA)
He Shui (12-8, 3.98 ERA) vs. Jamie Kempf (7-8, 4.54 ERA)
Craig Kniep (7-10, 3.82 ERA) vs. Julian Dunn (8-7, 3.60 ERA)

Only right-handers in this rotation.

Game 1
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Caballero – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C Fiore – P Sweeton
MIL: CF Valenzano – SS Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – 3B Triplett – C M. Torres – RF Garmon – 2B Flanary – P Blankenship

The Loggers went up 1-0 in the first thanks to Sweeton drilling Robby Gaxiola and a Perry Pigman single on which Callaia threw the ball away, allowing Gaxiola to score. Pigman was then caught stealing third base to apply the brakes. Doug Triplett then hit a leadoff single in the bottom 2nd. Marvin Torres and Allan Flanary both drew walks off Sweeton, and Blankenship’s sac fly to center gave himself a 2-0 lead before Steve Valenzano grounded out to short. Flanary, making his first appearance of the year, hit an RBI single to drive home Corey Garmon in the fourth inning, while the Raccoons were again absolutely awful in every aspect. They scattered four hits through four innings, all singles, and even when Kirkwood and Caballero hit leadoff singles in the top 4th, the rest of the bunch couldn’t find a run in the situation with four paws and a flashlight.

Sweeton hit a single in the fifth, which led nowhere, and Kirkwood drew a leadoff walk in the sixth to try, try, try again. Caballero popped out, but Ramsay found the gap in left-center for an RBI triple. Venegas singled past Doug Triplett to further shorten the score to 3-2, and moved the tying run to second base on Allred’s groundout for Dave Robles. The Loggers walked Fiore with intent, but the Raccoons removed Sweeton with just as much intent for Pucks. Sweeton had thrown 94 pitches so far, and the Raccoons had an army of garbage relievers in case they wouldn’t take the lead. Which they didn’t – Pucks ran a 3-1 count, then grounded out to Flanary.

Speaking of garbage, Reynaldo Bravo gave up a homer to Flanary – the second of the 25-year-old’s career – in the bottom 6th, extending the Loggers lead to 4-2. Herrera and Bowen would also get turns in this sad-sack game, holding the 4-2 score through eight innings. In the meantime Kirkwood had been on base once more, and ignored once more, while righty Ryan Dow offered a leadoff walk to PH Steve Royer in the ninth inning. Callaia forced him out, but Lonzo singled to left, and the tying runs were on for an unretired Kirkwood, who now of course flew out to Garmon in right. Caballero was the last straw, struck out, and that was another pathetic loss in the books. 4-2 Loggers. Kirkwood 3-4, BB;

The Elks were losing a lotta games.

We just weren’t winning enough.

Game 2
POR: CF Royer – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – RF Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – 1B Ramsay – C Fiore – 2B Anderson – P Shui
MIL: CF Valenzano – SS Gaxiola – LF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – 3B Triplett – C M. Torres – RF Okano – 2B Sheehe – P Kempf

The Coons loaded the bases without as much as a single in the first inning as Lonzo and Pucks walked and Kirkwood got a welt on the hip from Kempf, loading the bases for Venegas, who hit a fly to left-center, but it was caught by Pigman and Lonzo scored on the sac fly. Rams and Fiore came up with RBI singles to right, however, and for once the Raccoons put out a 3-spot in the early going before Richard Anderson grounded out. Shui gave one of the runs right back, allowing three hits; singles by Robles and Triplett after before everything else Shui hit Gaxiola, who stole second before being driven in. Marvin Torres flew out to Kirkwood to end the inning and strand a pair.

Kempf walked two more in the second, including Shui to begin the inning. Lonzo singled, Kirkwood walked the bags full, and it was Pucks with three aboard and one down. He grounded out, getting home Shui, but that was it for the inning, as Venegas also grounded out. The next two innings were calm, both teams getting a runner each in their halves of the third and fourth innings, and scoring nobody. Venegas and Rams came up with 1-out singles in to left-center in the fifth, and Kempf’s sixth free pass on the day to Fiore loaded the bases once again. The Coons would plate the whole bunch of them … sorta. Anderson had nothing to do with it, taking a K. One run then scored on a wild pitch, and the other two were driven home by Shui with a single to center. That was the end of Kempf, replaced by Sansao Tyson, who conceded an eighth run on Kempf’s ledger with singles to left-center given up to Royer and Lonzo. Kirkwood flew out to Pigman to end the 4-run inning.

How deep could Shui go? Well, he almost fell over the bottom of the order in the sixth inning, allowing a single to Torres and a double to Yukinari Okano with two outs, but the runners were left on when Eric Sheehe grounded out to Anderson after having hurt the Raccoons in the previous series between these two teams. He went through seven with just over 90 pitches, so probably wouldn’t amount to a complete game, and so he was hit for when Carlos Solorzano brought his spot up in the eighth by pinch-hitting for Anderson with two outs and Puckeridge and Fiore having drawn walks off Alan Marshall. Solorzano drilled an 0-1 into the rightfield corner for a 2-run triple, putting Portland into double digits, 10-1. Caballero grounded out to leave Solorzano on base, after which Harris made his big league debut, retired nobody, and left with Chris Thomas, Dave Robles, and Doug Triplett on base and Tanizaki coming in. Tanizaki also retired nobody, giving up doubles to Torres and Okano and an RBI single to Sheehe, conceding four runs to narrow the score to 10-5. Sencion struck out Ryan Bishton and got a double play grounder from Valenzano to FINALLY END THE ******* INNING. Sencion also retired Gaxiola to begin the ninth inning, after which he handed the ball to Alex Rios. The right-hander struck out Garmon, then walked Robles, walked Triplett, and walked Torres. I was about to go insane when Matt Walters came in, but at least he got Okano to pop out and end the ******* game. 10-5 Raccoons. Royer 2-6; Lavorano 2-4, BB, RBI; Venegas 2-4, 2B, RBI; Ramsay 2-4, BB, RBI; Solorzano (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Shui 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (13-8) and 1-3, BB, 2 RBI;

He Shui threw 90 pitches for seven innings and one run. Eloy Sencion threw 12 pitches for four outs and no runs. Matt Walters threw two pitches for the final out. The four three decrepit scarecrows threw 46 pitches for one out and four runs.

I am getting too old for this ****.

Game 3
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – C Fiore – 2B Anderson – 3B Espinoza – P Kniep
MIL: CF Valenzano – 2B Garmon – RF Pigman – 1B D. Robles – LF D. Encarnacion – 3B Triplett – C Dye – SS Gaxiola – P Dunn

Kniep had the only hit for the Coons in the first three innings, hitting a 1-out single in the third. Dunn nicked Lonzo and had Kirkwood reach on an error, and then struck out Pucks without allowing a run to score after all, then raked a 1-out triple against Kniep in the bottom 3rd, only the second hit off the Coons’ starter. Valenzano’s grounder to Espinoza and Garmon fanning ended the inning while the game was still scoreless. The Coons went on to waste a Fiore double in the fourth, then took a 1-0 lead in the fifth on not one, but TWO 2-base throwing errors committed by Gaxiola and Robles. One put Lonzo on base, the other plated him with two outs and replaced him at second base with Pucks. At this point, the Loggers had three errors on the day, more than either team had base knocks… Rams got an intentional walk, and Valenzano got leather on a Fiore fly to right-center, stranding a pair…

Kniep pitched neat, at least until he offered a four-pitch leadoff walk to Julian Dunn in the bottom 6th, which kinda made me want to go down and strangle him until he was blue in the fuzzy face. Valenzano grounded to short for a force on Dunn, then advanced on Garmon’s grounder. Pigman popped out, leaving the tying run in scoring position, though. The lead went to 2-0 in the top 7th with Callaia’s leadoff jack to left, while Triplett hit a ball that had the length, but turned the wrong side (for Triplett) around the right foul pole, then flew out easily on the next pitch. Top 8th, Rams opened with a single to right before Fiore *blasted* another homer off Dunn, 4-0, and with that lead, Kniep had a semi-decent chance to complete the shutout – at least he’d get a chance! He started the bottom 8th on 82 pitches, but lost Chris Thomas to a walk in a full count with two down, which added eight pitches to his tally alone. Valenzano then whiffed, ending the inning. Garmon was up to begin the bottom 9th with Kniep on 98 pitches. Garmon struck out, and Pigman rolled a ball to the left side. Espinoza had to hurry and made the bare-handed play – JUST in time! One more to go, with Robles in the box. He battled Kniep for six pitches before hitting a 2-2 fly to left. Kirkwood angled back, planted, and caught the ball! 4-0 Furballs! Fiore 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Kniep 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K, W (8-10) and 1-4;

In other news

September 3 – Crusaders utility man Omar Sanchez (.327, 2 HR, 52 RBI) would miss two weeks with a sprained elbow.
September 3 – The Bayhawks send SP Josh Doyle (2-11, 5.11 ERA) to the Aces for a prospect.

FL Player of the Week: LAP 3B/SS Jon Elkins (.245, 10 HR, 68 RBI), socking .360 (9-25) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB C/1B Tim Fuller (.247, 4 HR, 25 RBI), bashing .462 (12-26) with 2 HR, 6 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: NAS 1B Andy Metz (.286, 15 HR, 61 RBI), batting .369 with 5 HR, 18 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: SFB 2B/LF Armando Montoya (.305, 18 HR, 70 RBI), bashing .349 with 6 HR, 19 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: RIC CL Michael McLaughlin (11-10, 4.93 ERA, 25 SV), going 5-0 with a 1.65 ERA, 9 SV
CL Pitcher of the Month: ATL CL Ruben Mendez (10-6, 3.17 ERA, 29 SV), posting a 4-0 mark with 6 SV and 0 ER in 14 IP
FL Rookie of the Month: SAL 1B Jose Campos (.274, 12 HR, 55 RBI), poking .291 with 4 HR, 18 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: OCT LF/CF Tim Weant (.288, 11 HR, 54 RBI), batting .276 with 3 HR, 15 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Craig Kniep threw his first career shutout on Sunday. It came in his 28th major league start. He’s 10-10 with a 3.78 ERA overall and while he had a few awful stretches, his ERA in his last four games is under one. He is also not far away from whiffing nine per game, although once he also wasn’t far away from walking nine in a game…..

Matt Waters started a rehab assignment on the weekend, and we expected to call him up in the middle of next week, or at the weekend.

We have also arrived in September, so it might be worth it to have a glance at the race for the division:

VAN (73-64) – IND (6), NYC (4), BOS (3), CHA (3), LVA (3), MIL (3), POR (3) – .476 – 60.9%
NYC (69-66) – POR (7), IND (4), VAN (4), BOS (3), MIL (3), OCT (3), TIJ (3) – .479 – 24.1%
POR (69-67) – NYC (7), MIL (4), BOS (3), IND (3), OCT (3), TIJ (3), VAN (3) – .479 – 14.7%
BOS (66-72) – MIL (6), ATL (3), IND (3), NYC (3), POR (3), SFB (3), VAN (3) – .480 – 0.4%

It was another meek month on the stolen bases front for Lonzo, who took just five bags since we last checked in on him. That was enough to pass Chance Bossert for 17th place, but not enough to even get into the conversation for the CL stolen base title this year. Of course, being suspended for seven games had something to do with the low output, but this has just been a mediocre offensive season for him overall.

The other active guys on the list? Omar Gonzalez stole four, passing Martin Ortíz for 13th all-time. Alex Adame got two. Ronnie Thompson didn’t rob anybody, while Chris Navarro nipped six bags to go from 24th to a tie for 21st with Daniel ******* Silva.

12th – Diego Rodriguez – 460 – HOF
13th – Omar Gonzalez – 459 – active
14th – Martin Ortíz – 457 – HOF
15th – Alex Adame – 451 – active
16th – Alex Torres – 445
17th – Lorenzo Lavorano – 438 – active
18th – Chance Bossert – 437
19th – Ricardo “Cookie” Carmona – 428
20th – Cristo Ramirez – 424 – HOF
t-21st – Daniel Silva – 417
t-21st – Chris Navarro – 417 – active
23rd – Ronnie Thompson – 414 – active

Another Hall of Famer appears on the list. The Mexican outfielder Diego Rodriguez spent almost his entire career in the 1900s, playing for the Miners, Bayhawks, Capitals, and Stars. His highest single-season mark for stolen bases was 40 with the ’90 Bayhawks, which then was good enough to lead the CL. He was mostly a singles slapper, amounting to 2,993 base hits, only 334 of which went for extra bases. Batting .301/.361/.362 with 118 homers and 1,006 RBI, he was nevertheless on base frequently and made those extra bases with his legs. He won two Gold Gloves and was an All Star four times, but he never won a World Series. The two times his team got there, the 1992-93 Capitals ran into the Raccoons both times and were defeated.

Next week: four games in New York, then three against the damn Elks at home. It’s really that week or no week. If we come up with a 2-5 next week, we can just as well mail it in for the three weeks remaining after that…

Fun Fact: The Falcons won 100 games only once, in 1982.

They went 101-61 then, but got dismissed by the damn Elks in the CLCS, who went on to beat the Miners in the World Series.

The Miners are waiting for a championship to this day, although the Falcons would eventually win a ring in 2005.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (69-67) @ Crusaders (69-66) – September 4-7, 2056

Make or Break Week began with a 4-game set in New York, where the Crusaders were scoring the most runs in the CL and were giving up almost as many, eighth in runs allowed in the league. It still worked out for a +65 run differential (Coons: +18), and it worked out to a slight 6-5 edge in the season series for them. Their main problem was their bullpen, but you had to get to that first. Omar Sanchez was on the DL, tearing a hole into the lineup and the infield all at once.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (11-12, 3.38 ERA) vs. Austin Guastella (5-6, 4.48 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (6-6, 4.10 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (6-11, 4.43 ERA)
Sean Sweeton (12-8, 2.87 ERA) vs. Jose Ortega (13-6, 3.11 ERA)
He Shui (13-8, 3.87 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (12-7, 3.38 ERA)

Four right-handed pitchers coming up here.

Game 1
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Puckeridge – 1B Ramsay – 3B Venegas – 2B Allred – C M. Chavez – P Taki
NYC: LF S. Moore – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – RF C. Williams – 2B E. Stevens – C Seidman – CF Nork – P Guastella – 3B Adame

Batting the pitcher eighth? What blasphemy!! (checks the advanced lineups with Brobeck batting fifth provisionally on Tuesday) The Raccoons punished the New Yorkers with a quick run as Lonzo tripled to right-center in the first inning and was plated with Kirkwood’s grounder. The Crusaders got a leadoff double from Erik Stevens into the leftfield corner in the second inning, but Mike Seidman struck out and Dan Nork grounded out, which meant they brought the pitcher up with the runner on third base. Hah-hah, sucks for them! One strike, two strikes, thr-….ashed to right-center for an RBI double and we were tied. (looks sour)

Even worse, Guastella struck out to end the next inning, which meant the Crusaders tore Taki a new one. The bases loaded up slowly but surely, and it was Seidman to empty them with a bases-clearing double over the head of Pucks. Nork singled home the catcher and the score was 5-1 all of a sudden, and it remained 5-1 as long as Taki pitched, which was in the end only five innings. Marcos Chavez opened the top 6th with a double, but Solorzano pinch-hit and grounded out. Callaia singled to put runners on the corners, and Lonzo came through with an RBI double to left, 5-2. The tying run thus came to the plate with Kirkwood, who fanned, then Pucks, who rolled over to Zach Suggs, which sugged…

Colby Bowen had a clean sixth, then allowed a 1-out single to Suggs and a plunk to Raul Sevilla in the bottom 7th. Tanizaki replaced him, walked the bags full, and allowed an RBI single to Mario Villa before Justin Reese grounded into a double play to kill the inning. Kirkwood posted another K with Lonzo on second base in the eighth, then after Lonzo singled (and thus was a bomb away from the cycle, albeit a little late) and stole his 44th base of the season. Guastella kept pitching into the ninth inning, and was only replaced with struggling lefty Ben Lussier after he allowed singles to Pucks and Caballero, the latter batting for Venegas. Espinoza hit for Ryan Allred against the lefty, but found his way to Suggs for the game-ending double play. 6-2 Crusaders. Lavorano 3-4, 3B, 2B, RBI; Caballero (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 1B Ramsay – P Brobeck – CF Royer – 2B Allred – C Fiore – 3B Anderson
NYC: LF S. Moore – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – RF C. Williams – 2B E. Stevens – CF Mata – C Reese – P Turay – 3B Adame

The Raccoons had another hapless first run through the lineup, while Brobeck made it to Alex Adame in the bottom 3rd before things started to happen. Adame hit a 1-out single, and a walk to Scott Moore started to create actual trouble. The runners pulled off a double steal, a run scored on Suggs’ grounder, which sugged, and then Sevilla singled home Moore for more. Chad Williams grounded out to Allred, ending the inning after all. The Coons were on one hit through four innings, which did not include hit batsmen, of whom they had two in the fourth inning alone. Lonzo was nicked and stole second, and Ramsay was plunked onto the open base behind him with two outs, and then Brobeck softly grounded out to Erik Stevens to send everybody limping back to the dugout. The fourth was uneventful, and so was the fifth, minus the rain that started after the Raccoons were turned away in 1-2-3 fashion. The rain got heavier and heavier, and while Richard Anderson stepped to the plate in the sixth inning and saw two pitches from Turay, the umpires then pulled the plug and the game went to a rain delay.

And from that rain delay it didn’t come back. It rained all night, but it wasn’t like we wouldn’t be in town on Wednesday afternoon. Nevertheless, after two hours under a rain delay, the umps declared the game official, no matter how hard I banged on their door, hollering obscenities. 2-0 Crusaders.

Gaudencio Callaia hit a single to begin the game. That was our entire offense (give or take Lonzo sweeping #45).

We were now down to 69-69, which sounded like some real filth, but still only four games back from the damn Elks.

Game 3
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – CF Solorzano – 2B Allred – C Stanton – P Sweeton
NYC: LF S. Moore – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – RF C. Williams – CF Pfeifer – 2B E. Stevens – C Seidman – P J. Ortega – 3B D. Wagner

Lonzo was now stealing a base a day, taking one after drawing a walk (!) in the first inning. He was stranded on second base. Sweeton was a lot of work for the defense, offering leadoff walks in the first two innings – of which Mike Pfeifer in the bottom 2nd came around to score on Ortega’s sac fly – and then two singles to begin the bottom 3rd. Allred turned 4-6-3 double plays in both the first and third innings to cull some of the excess base runners, but the Crusaders got two singles from Seidman and Moore in the fourth inning, and a wild pitch from Sweeton, to take their lead to 2-0 before Suggs popped out to Pucks to leave at least Moore stranded.

Sweeton came apart for good in the fifth inning. He walked two, then gave up hits to Stevens and Seidman to get two more runs across. Ortega bunted the remaining runners into scoring position for the second out of the inning, but Darrell Wagner faced Tanizaki and flew out to Solorzano in center. The Coons finally reached the bloody scoreboard with a Pucks homer in the sixth inning, after which Venegas homered. Solorzano’s groundout moved Venegas to third base, and Ryan Allred’s fly to left made Venegas bid for home, and Scott Moore’s nice and accurate throw made him the third out of the inning at the dish. The Crusaders also sucked hard in the last three innings, getting seven runners on base against the wonky Critters pen, and plating nobody. Struggling Mike Lane parked two on base in the bottom 7th before getting rescued with a K to Moore from Eloy Sencion, while Bravo in the eighth packed the bags himself and as the hopeless case he was was then left to his own devices, but wiggled out with a pop by Stevens and Justin Reese’s groundout, stranding all three. Lussier didn’t even let anybody on base in the ninth inning, retiring Royer, Anderson, and Stanton in order. 4-1 Crusaders. Kirkwood (PH) 1-1;

Blech.

Matt Waters was hurried back from his AAA rehab a few days earlier than planned to try and salvage ANYTHING. Arturo Bribiesca was moved to the 60-day DL to get Waters back on the 40-man roster.

Game 4
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – CF Royer – 3B Venegas – C Fiore – P Shui
NYC: CF Pfeifer – SS Z. Suggs – 1B Sevilla – 2B Buss – LF S. Moore – RF C. Williams – C Seidman – P Seiter – 3B Adame

I think it would sound less terrible if we called Thursday’s game a pitchers’ duel, because the Raccoons were still not doing ******** anything, but at least Shui kept the Crusaders close for a reasonable amount of time. The Coons had three hits through six innings. Lonzo hit a single. Royer had an infield single. Venegas had the best chance with a leadoff double. None of the three bums even reached third base, and Lonzo was doubled off by Kirkwood altogether. The Crusaders went up 1-0 in the fourth when they got a leadoff double from Zach Suggs, which sugged, and Jeff Buss singled him home. Raul Sevilla unloaded a solo homer in the sixth to make that 2-0. (sigh) Royer hit a 2-out single in the seventh and stole his 24th base of the year, but was also left stranded by Venegas. Chad Williams replied with a leadoff jack after the stretch, as the game slowly started to elude Shui. He was hit for with Espinoza in the eighth inning, in which Seiter sat the suckers down 1-2-3. Alex Rios then got smothered in the bottom 8th, not that it mattered anymore. Single, walk, double steal, two RBI groundouts, and then another walk – he was bidding for assignment to the nearest derelict brownstone filled to the brim with used syringes. Adam Harris replaced him, walked Williams, and then FINALLY RETIRED A ******* BATTER, getting Justin Reese to pop out on an 0-2 pitch, which even lowered his ERA from ******* INFINITE all the way down to 81.00 … Seiter went for the shutout, but allowed hits to Pucks and Waters in the ninth inning, and then had the shutout blown up by Ramsay’s sac fly to center. Royer ended the game with a groundball after that. 5-1 Crusaders. Puckeridge (PH) 1-1; Royer 2-4;

(heavy breathing)

The Titans took three of four from the damn Elks, which meant we were now 4 1/2 games out of first place – but behind the Crusaders, who had a half-game lead, but would now start to face teams again that would actually have a pulse again.

Raccoons (69-71) vs. Canadiens (73-67) – September 8-10, 2056

The guy in me that was eaten alive by hatred mused that at least we got swept by New York, and now still had a chance to stumble up the equally incompetent Elks to help the Crusaders into the playoffs rather than the stinking ELKS. I had yet to formulate a plan however, as to how we wanted to beat the Elks without scoring a run. They came in for the weekend set fourth in runs scored (Coons: 11th and sinking) and tied for seventh in runs scored. We had already taken the season series, somehow, 10-5. This was the last time we’d have to endure the stench. They had lost Prince Gates this week, and Damian Moreno had also left Wednesday’s game with an injury and was in limbo as of Friday morning. Those were their only injuries.

Projected matchups:
Craig Kniep (8-10, 3.57 ERA) vs. Jesse Lausch (4-6, 3.19 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (11-13, 3.52 ERA) vs. Gabriel Casanova (2-3, 8.14 ERA)
Kyle Brobeck (6-7, 4.08 ERA) vs. Anton Jesus (12-11, 3.74 ERA)

Casanova would be the only southpaw opposition this week.

Game 1
VAN: RF K. Hawkins – C Cass – 1B Wheeler – CF Taniguchi – LF Magnussen – SS Leitch – 2B Mooney – 3B Ashley – P Lausch
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – CF Caballero – 1B Puckeridge – C Fiore – 3B Espinoza – P Kniep

Portland took a lead in the first inning, which felt awkward, as Lausch walked Callaia, and while Lonzo popped out, Kirkwood buried a ball in the gap for an RBI triple and then scored on Waters’ sac fly. Kirkwood’s was the only hit for the Critters the first time through, while Kniep looked like he had regressed three steps between starts again. He walked four batters in the first four innings, the fourth of which (Adam Magnussen) came around to score when Jason Ashley hit a 2-run homer in the fourth to tie the ballgame.

The Elks started the fifth with singles from Kyle Hawkins and Tyler Cass, but then had Jeff Wheeler hit into a double play. But they had two on base again to start the sixth when Magnussen singled and Alan Leitch drew another walk. Mark Mooney sacrificed the runners into scoring position, and Ashley’s grounder up the middle would have brought in the go-ahead run anyway, but was also bungled for an error by Lonzo. Lausch in turn popped out on a bad bunt and Hawkins grounded out, so the Elks didn’t actually get any extra runs out of it. That was the end of the game for Kniep, while maybe Kirkwood’s single to left-center in the bottom 6th would be the start of a Raccoons rally, given that it was their first base hit since Kirkwood’s triple in the first inning. But no, Matt Waters grounded out calmly, and that ended the inning.

Kellen Lanning put Caballero on to begin the bottom 7th, but he got doubled off by Pucks. Callaia eked out a 2-out single in the eighth, but Lonzo couldn’t get the ball past the infielders. It was still a 3-2 deficit against Bernardino Risso in the bottom 9th, thanks to scoreless relief from Lane, Rios, and Lillis, but Kirkwood, Waters, and Caballero disappeared in order, with strikeouts to the last two. 3-2 Canadiens. Kirkwood 2-4, 3B, RBI;

(dials up somebody on his old black-lacquered rotary phone, then waits as it toots audibly) Yes, hullo? Is this the United Nations? – I want to report a crime against humanity! – Yes, yes, terrible. Listen, I will send you some box scores of the useless Raccoons and then we need to… hello? Hello? … Hello??

Game 2
VAN: 1B Wheeler – SS Mullen – C Waker – CF D. Moreno – RF K. Hawkins – LF Magnussen – 2B R. Price – 3B Ashley – P Casanova
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – CF Caballero – RF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Ramsay – C M. Chavez – P Taki

Seisaku Taki lasted three innings on Saturday, which was a combination of sucking with command and also a 70-minute rain delay in the third inning after he had just offered a leadoff walk to Casanova. 2-out singles by Tristan Waker and Damian Moreno would bring in that runner when play resumed, both came on 3-2 pitches, and Taki needed 73 pitches in all to complete three innings with a pop by Kyle Hawkins, and wasn’t asked back afterwards. Callaia batted for him to lead off the bottom 3rd, and the Raccoons would go down in order against Casanova, he of the 8.14 ERA.

It got better. Adam Harris got the ball for the fourth inning. Magnussen popped to short on a 1-2 pitch, and for the second time Lonzo made an error behind Harris, which didn’t bode well for the future statistically, dropping the ball for a free leadoff man on base for the damn Elks. That runner soon reached second with a walk to Rick Price, but Ashley at least struck out and the pitcher was up. Casanova swung away and hit a floater to left that dinked in front of Kirkwood, then scooted through his legs for another error while Magnussen scored, and the other two reached scoring position. Exit the cursed Harris, enter Tanizaki. Jeff Wheeler giggled, singled to right, and it was 4-0. A Waker single with two outs extended the score to 5-0.

Both teams loaded the bases in the fifth inning, while I was already sucking on the neck of a bottle of Capt’n Coma, and neither team scored. Ricky Herrera somehow evaded destruction after a leadoff single to Hawkins and then two walks to Magnussen and Ashley, but Casanova whiffed and Wheeler grounded out to first. Casanova then started the bottom 5th with walks to Waters and Rams, Espinoza singled in the #9 hole, and with the bass loaded, Venegas flew out to right, Waters went for home – and was thrown out. And while I tried my best, I just couldn’t suck as hard on that bottle as the little skunks did down on the field…

The season was over at this point. The Raccoons threw in the towel, brought in Ryan Wade, who had been called up on September 1 and so far had only seen the team tumble from loss to loss. He was in for long relief, and he’d be worked into the rotation for a few odd starts in the final futile few weeks. Wade pitched the game to conclusion… which was two innings, which was… (counts on all claws) … No, the baseball gods had mercy, or they just cried too much laughing, because it started to rain (again) as soon as Wade took the mound, and rained for two innings until Wade had logged six outs and the Raccoons were still getting choked by Casanova, who thus got a 3-hit shutout. 5-0 Canadiens. Waters 0-0, 2 BB; Espinoza (PH) 1-1; Wade 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

No harassing the umpires after this one.

Because now I was dead inside.

Game 3
VAN: 1B Wheeler – SS Mullen – C Waker – CF D. Moreno – RF K. Hawkins – LF Magnussen – 2B R. Price – 3B Ashley – P A. Jesus
POR: RF Callaia – SS Lavorano – LF Kirkwood – 2B Waters – CF Caballero – P Brobeck – 1B Puckeridge – 3B Venegas – C Fiore

The Elks got four hits off Brobeck in the first inning, but because Jeff Wheeler was caught stealing rather quickly after beginning the game with a base hit, they amounted to only one run in the inning. They got another run in the second inning on a 2-out single by Dan Mullen after Brobeck had walked a pair. It never got any better with Brobeck in this game as he was slapped from wall to wall by the Elks for six hits and five walks through five innings, then a Rick Price single, an Ashley double, and finally, a 2-out, 2-run triple to right-center by Jeff Wheeler. Colby Bowen ended the dismal inning, but still not my dismal existence. The pitcher’s spot (#6) came up after the Raccoons began the bottom 6th with three straight singles off Anton Jesus, and Caballero actually plated Kirkwood for a RUN. A RUN!! … Ramsay batted for Bowen because I figured a double play would put me out of my misery sooner, but Rams socked a 2-run double to left, advanced on Venegas’ single, and then went from third base when Fiore flew out to center. Moreno’s throw was late, and Rams scored to even the score at four. Callaia then grounded out.

Eloy Sencion, after a string of strong outings, then completely hit the sack in the top of the seventh inning, walked a pair, and fell behind when Magnussen singled home Moreno, at which point I was well beyond caring. The Coons went on to use Lane and Walters in the last two innings despite not having a lead, or even a tie, and so no use for them, but Walters was caught on camera picking his pokey black nose out in the pen on Friday and it was just a very bad look. It was then Risso again in the bottom 9th, with Venegas leading off in a 5-4 game. He struck out. Espinoza struck out. Callaia fell to two strikes aaaaaand – hit a homer.

Lonzo’s groundout extended the pain into extras with Tanizaki on the hill. Both teams went down in order in the tenth inning, while the 11th inning – and Tanizaki’s second, started with a leadoff double into the leftfield corner by Dan Mullen, who then scored on two productive groundouts. The Raccoons faced Hyuma Hitomi in the bottom 11th. Rams led off in the #6 spot, but grounded out. Matt Stanton singled to left-center, then advanced his tying-run bum to second base on Venegas’ groundout, while Solorzano batted for Tanizaki aaaand… grounded out. 6-5 Canadiens. Callaia 2-5, HR, RBI; Ramsay (PH) 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Stanton 1-1; Venegas 2-5;

In other news

September 4 – The Loggers beat the Titans, 12-11 in 10 innings. MIL RF/LF Ryan Bishton (.290, 5 HR, 27 RBI) ends a seesaw affair with a walkoff single.
September 4 – The Cyclones walk off against the Capitals, 1-0 in regulation, through no making of their own. WAS MR Mike Lynn (5-4, 3.00 ERA, 2 SV) hits Stephen Medlock (.295, 9 HR, 63 RBI), Gabriel Keller (.306, 2 HR, 22 RBI) reaches on an error, Rick Colwill (.327, 11 HR, 53 RBI) walks, and then Lynn throws a wild pitch to bring Medlock across.
September 5 – RIC SP Pablo Paez (8-8, 3.63 ERA) is expected to miss the rest of the season with a case of elbow inflammation.
September 6 – OCT 3B/SS/RF Ed Soberanes (.282, 15 HR, 65 RBI) puts out two hits in a 10-5 win over the Condors, including the 2,000th of his career, a double off Condors right-hander Ivan Ornelas (5-4, 5.11 ERA, 18 SV).
September 6 – Acute elbow soreness ends the season of VAN INF Prince Gates (.296, 11 HR, 63 RBI).
September 6 – LVA 1B/RF/LF Aubrey Austin (.297, 25 HR, 80 RBI) faces two weeks on the DL with a mild case of shoulder inflammation.
September 8 – The season of SAC 3B/2B Ronnie Thompson (.245, 0 HR, 36 RBI) ends with a broken kneecap.

FL Player of the Week: DAL 3B/1B Dan Sandoval (.273, 14 HR, 72 RBI), powering .400 (8-20) with 4 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL 1B Dave Robles (.239, 18 HR, 76 RBI), hitting .520 (13-25) with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I would tell you all about how Make or Break Week went, but I am still picking splinters out of my snout, and the only thing that I still have on my mind is murder.

11 runs scored. Five of those on Sunday, just to rally out of a hole, and then lose in extras without getting a single paw, let alone four, on base. I’d go into more detail, but the dictionary is seriously lacking appropriate words right now…

Next week: Loggers, Condors. And very likely more sadness.

Is it even worth it going over the pennant chase data?

VAN (76-67) – NYC (4), BOS (3), CHA (3), IND (3), LVA (3), MIL (3) – .488 – 42.8% (-18.1%)
NYC (75-67) – IND (4), VAN (4), BOS (3), OCT (3), POR (3), TIJ (3) – .482 – 57.1% (+33.0%)
POR (69-74) – MIL (4), BOS (3), IND (3), NYC (3), OCT (3), TIJ (3) – .469 – 0.0% (-14.7%)
BOS (69-75) – ATL (3), MIL (3), NYC (3), POR (3), SFB (3), VAN (3) – .508 – 0.1% (-0.3%)

Fun Fact: The Raccoons lost two rain-shortened games this week.

What, do you have anything better?

[UltimateAverageGuy]

Post #4278 in this wonderful thread may be the most deflating of them all.

[Westheim]

This too shall pass.