Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (21-17) vs. Titans (20-17) – May 15-18, 2062

The homestand continued with a four-game set against the Titans, who came in with the #4 offense and #9 pitching staff. They in fact had the very worst bullpen in the CL, with a 4.57 ERA. They led the CL in homers with 37 (one per game!), but had next to no speed. Infielder Jonathan Watson and pitchers Art Schaeffer and Craig Scarberry were on the DL for the team that had drowned 14-4 against the Raccoons last season.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (2-1, 3.43 ERA) vs. Grant MacKinnon (3-1, 3.38 ERA)
Angel Alba (1-5, 4.42 ERA) vs. Jayden Craddock (3-4, 5.84 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (3-2, 1.75 ERA) vs. Mike Bell (2-5, 3.16 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (4-2, 3.51 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (3-2, 4.29 ERA)

Only right-handed starters coming up here.

Game 1
BOS: 2B Ramires – RF Lloyd – CF Marcotte – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – LF A. Lee – SS J. Nunez – P MacKinnon
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – 2B Nye – RF Christopher – C Perez – 3B N. Fox – P C. Fox

MacKinnon allowed an infield single to Ben Morris to begin the bottom 1st, then plunked the bags full with nobody out. Brassfield quickly whiffed, but Nick Nye’s RBI single and Joey Christopher’s groundout each brought in a run before Angel Perez also struck out. Joe-Chris would get another RBI two innings later when he brought in Brassfield with a sac fly, and Ben Morris got on, stole a base and was singled in by Lonzo for a 4-0 lead in the fourth, while Chance Fox played that funny game where he allowed a single per inning, but never anything with a guy in scoring position. This worked very well until the sixth inning, when Ted Lloyd hit a leadoff double to left and scored on two productive outs, but Chance Fox then actually filled the bags with two outs with a Jorge Arviso single, a walk to Diego Mendoza, and an infield single for Andy Lee. The Coons stuck with Fox and got on the snout for it. Jesus Nunez and Bill Dorey knocked another two 2-out singles, drove in three runs to tie the game, and THEN we went to Murdock to get a K on Bill Ramires to get out of the ******* inning.

The seventh was uneventful with Murdock retiring the Titans in order and Lonzo getting on and stealing a base with two outs, but being stranded by Starr. Instead, Ricky Herrera was chainsawed in the eighth inning, putting the left-handers Arviso and Andy Lee on base before giving up a 3-piece to Jesus Nunez. The game moved to the bottom 9th where Jason Posey got the ball for Boston with a 7-4 lead and allowed a leadoff double to Nick Fox and a single to Carlos Mata, which put runners on the corners, and brought up Morris as the tying run with nobody out, and once Posey drilled Morris – the third hit Raccoons batter in the game – Lonzo appeared as the winning run. Lonzo also struck out… Starr was gone, removed in an earlier double switch, and Jim White batted for DeRose in the spot, hit a sac fly that wasn’t all that helpful, and then watched Brassfield strike out to end the game. 7-5 Titans. Lavorano 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Nye 2-4, RBI; N. Fox 2-4, 2B; Mata 1-1;

Will Chance Fox ever not be annoying?

Lonzo’s next stolen base would tie all-time-third-place Guillermo Obando with 686 career steals.

Game 2
BOS: LF Ramires – RF A. Lee – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – 1B M. Rubin – SS Lloyd – 3B D. Mendoza – 2B W. de Leon – P Craddock
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – 2B Nye – RF Christopher – C Perez – 3B N. Fox – P Alba

Tuesday began with four strikeouts in two innings for Alba before he got an RBI on a groundout in a 3-spot in the bottom 2nd. The main part of the work was done by Brass and Christopher, each whacking triples into the right-center gap. Perez’ RBI single and a Fox double helped get somebody to third base for Alba to drive home with his grounder up the middle. Morris popped out to Willie de Leon to end the inning. Alba finished the first time through the order with another two strikeouts to the 8-9 hitters, and the next minute it started to rain. Brilliant.

Alba put up nine strikeouts in five innings while maintaining a 2-hitter, but for the cost of 89 pitches and being quite wet in the fur. He reached base on a Diego Mendoza error in the bottom 5th, was forced out by Morris, who stole his way to third base to tie Lonzo for the team lead with 11, but was then left there. The sixth inning was Alba’s last – and Andy Lee’s infield single and Arviso’s 2-run homer made sure he didn’t leave without a few bruises, the lead down to 3-2 by the middle of the sixth. Craddock also bruised Brass with another hit-by-pitch in the bottom 6th, and the Titans were kinda asking for one or two of theirs to get drilled now. Nye’s groundout moved Brass to second, and Christopher singled him in for a revenge run at least, 4-2. Perez reached on an error by Ted Lloyd, who should have ended the inning with that ball, and Nick Fox drove in Christopher for an unearned run, but was also gone from the game after the inning ended with Mata’s groundout, as there was concern about a groin strain.

The rain was stop-start-stop-start and going on everybody’s nerves at this point. Middleton pitched a scoreless seventh, although Boston reached third base. The Raccoons also reached third base in the bottom 7th with singles by Morris and Lonzo off Mike Pohlmann, then a double steal – and that was the tie with Obando for third all-time for Lonzo. No runs came from this, because the middle of the order was just a giant shell crater at this point and completely useless.

Also useless: Adam Harris, putting runners on the corners with Lee and Eddy Marcotte hits in the eighth while getting only one out from Arviso. Both runs scored on Manny Rubin’s groundout and Ted Lloyd’s RBI single, respectively, coming against Ryan Sullivan – speaking of useless things. This narrowed the score to 5-4 before Mendoza made the last out of the eighth. At this point every sane person was rooting for the rain to end the game, but it came down to Rocco, who at least had the decency to get three outs in quick succession and be done with it. 5-4 Raccoons. Christopher 3-4, 3B, 2 RBI; N. Fox 2-3, 2 2B, RBI; Alba 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (2-5);

Nick Fox was day-to-day with a sore groin and would not be in the lineup on Wednesday.

Game 3
BOS: 2B Ramires – RF Lloyd – CF Marcotte – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – LF Y. Valdez – SS W. de Leon – P M. Bell
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Nye – C Perez – RF Christopher – LF Crumble – 3B Bean – P Riddle

Malik Crumble had his first hit as a Raccoon, a 2-run double in the bottom 2nd that went to the base of the wall in left and drove in Perez and Christopher for the first runs of the game. Riddle retired the Titans in order the first time through, but they sent the entire lineup to bat in the fourth… Ramires singled and Lloyd reached on a soon costly Bean error. Marcotte whiffed, but Rubin singled in a run. Riddle threw a wild pitch and Arviso tied the game with another single. Mendoza, Yoslan Valdez, and de Leon then each drove in a 2-out run with a base knock to give the Titans a 5-2 lead before Bell grounded out to leave de Leon on base. All but one of the runs were unearned.

Because things were not going **** enough, Morris then left the game with back pain and was replaced with Mata, who hit a single in the bottom 5th after Bean reached on an error by Ramires. Lonzo strung a screamer into the leftfield corner, and legged it out for a 1-out, 2-run triple, cutting the deficit to 5-4 …! Starr, stinking along with a .188 average, showed a brief flick of the tail’s worth of life with a game-tying RBI double to center, all even at five, then with two out scored on a duck snort single by Perez into shallow right. Bell was yanked, and Tyler Gleason struck out Christopher to end the 4-run onslaught. Two of those runs were unearned, too.

The 6-5 lead was thoroughly blown in the seventh inning. De Leon hit a leadoff single off Riddle, who walked Dorey before departing, leaving two on with nobody out for Murdock, who got smacked from one wall to the next by the 1-2-3 batters for three runs. Ryan Sullivan then gave up a 2-out, 2-run homer to Arviso, completing the second 5-spot on the feckless Critters in this game… (calmly hammers a few nails into an old bat) Slappy, I know you never do any actual cleaning around here, but there will be a few bloodstains in the clubhouse that I will need you to tend to in about 45 minutes.

The Raccoons didn’t get through the Titans’ infamously terrible pen in the next few innings, but Andy Lee touched DeRose for a solo homer in the ninth inning. 11-6 Titans. Morris 1-2; Mata 1-2, BB; Lavorano 2-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Perez 2-4, RBI; Crumble 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Now the good news: Ben Morris was off to the DL with a back strain, which was a great thing to have for a 24-year-old player on a demanding defensive position! Anybody remember Todd Oley?

I was also lying. There are no good news. Ever.

Game 4
BOS: LF Ramires – RF A. Lee – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – 1B M. Rubin – SS Lloyd – 3B D. Mendoza – 2B W. de Leon – P Glaude
POR: 2B Nye – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – RF Brassfield – CF Mata – LF Crumble – C Arellano – 3B N. Fox – P B. Herrera

Tipsy Bobby struggled to reconnect with his April success and the back-to-back shutouts, giving up a run in the first on a walk to Lee, a Marcotte double, and Arviso’s groundout, most of that with two strikes on the batters. At least the Raccoons countered with a 1-out infield single from Lonzo, Starr walking, and Brass hitting an RBI single through the left side to tie the game almost immediately. That was all, though; Mata flew out to right, and the rest of the inning Crumbled out to short.

The Titans hit leadoff singles in the second and the third innings; in the latter case, Bill Ramires was soon joined by Marcotte and Arviso as Bobby H. walked the bases full. SOMEHOW this didn’t end in disaster; instead Rubin popped out to Starr and Lloyd grounded out to the first baseman to strand the whole collection on base. Tipsy Bobby still gave up a run in the fifth with another huge fail in the same part of the lineup. Leadoff walk to Ramires, nailing Lee, and having no real clue where the stupid baseballs were going all ultimately led to the go-ahead run scoring on two productive outs, if nothing else. Generally a mess, Herrera needed nearly 100 pitches through just five innings and was yanked unceremoniously after that.

The 2-1 loss stuck, mainly because the Coons wound up with Middleton pitching in the sixth and the Titans wound up with another ******* 5-spot. de Leon doubled, Glaude hit an RBI single – already with two outs! – and Ramires homered, Lee was mangled by a pitch once more, and then Marcotte crushed ANOTHER homer. DeRose got the ball from there, and I went to check the waiver wire, but there was SOMETHING at least in the bottom 6th. Lonzo reached on a de Leon error to begin that inning, and with two soggy outs on the board went ahead and stole his 687th career base, taking third place from Guillermo Obando for good, which the scoreboard dutifully pointed out. Mata then plated him with a 2-out single, which was about as good as it got after the Lonzo milestone. DeRose pitched semi-competent garbage relief for ten outs, but just couldn’t ******* resist giving up another homer to Rubin in the ninth inning. The Coons entered the bottom 9th down by six, but got the tying run away from the table with cakes and chocolates at least temporarily as right-hander Luis Lerma allowed a single to Nick Fox, brutally drilled Angel Perez in the #9 spot, and then conceded a pinch-hit single to Bean, loading the bags with Coons and one out. Lonzo found the perfect way to douse what little fun we had had in this game and rolled into a game-ending double play. 8-2 Titans. Bean (PH) 1-1; Lavorano 2-5; Crumble 2-4;

Must be nice to have a team that hits a homer from time to time.

Raccoons (22-20) vs. Knights (16-24) – May 19-21, 2062

Also not homering were the Knights, but I was confident our tossers could help them out here. Atlanta was seventh in runs scored and second-worst in runs allowed, with a -19 run differential. They had the worst defense in the league. Portland had gone back-to-back 6-3 seasons against them.

Projected matchups:
Nick Robinson (4-3, 3.78 ERA) vs. Vic Harman (4-2, 3.73 ERA)
Chance Fox (2-1, 3.75 ERA) vs. Jose Villegas (4-3, 2.60 ERA)
Angel Alba (2-5, 4.23 ERA) vs. Hironobu Hanzawa (0-1, 5.06 ERA)

Villegas was something really strange – a left-handed starter on an opposing team!

The last-place Coons made a roster move and recalled Nick Fowler from his rehab assignment, with Jon Bean (.245, 1 HR, 6 RBI) getting banished.

Game 1
ATL: 3B A. Duncan – C M. Nieto – SS Sowell – CF O. Caballero – RF McIntyre – 2B del Toro – LF J. Parker – 1B J. Ojeda – P Harman
POR: 2B Nye – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – RF Christopher – C Perez – CF Mata – 3B Fowler – P Robinson

The Critters scored first with a Lonzo walk (!), a Starr double, and at least a well-placed groundout by Brassfield in the bottom 1st. Christopher flew out to Johnny Parker to leave Starr on third base. There was another pair in scoring position with nobody out in the bottom 2nd; Perez and Mata singled and Harman threw a 1-2 wild pitch that almost took out Nick Fowler’s just-reattached legs. Fowler rolled the next pitch to first base, which wouldn’t have led to anything, but a former inhabitant of the wild Raccoons carrousel at third base, Juan Ojeda, flutched the pickup and that allowed Perez to scamper home and Fowler to reach first base on the error. Runners were on the corners with nobody out for Robinson, who was asked to bunt, couldn’t, fell to 0-2, then was told to swing away, and hit into a ******* double play. (pained exhale!) … at least Mata came home from third base and we went up 3-0…?

That remained the score as high as Robinson was on the hill, which was 6.2 innings with eight hits and four strikeouts, and with the Knights hitting into two double plays to get him out of tight spots. Johnny Parker was on second base after a leadoff double when Robinson left as the lineup flipped back to the top and right-hander Adam Duncan after 93 pitches. Murdock and Oley entered in a double switch. Duncan and Marco Nieto slapped two singles off Murdock, which easily plated Robinson’s run, before Ken Sowell hacked himself out with the tying runs on base. Bottom 7th, Harman allowed leadoff hits to Fowler and Oley, who went to the corners. Nick Nye ended Harman’s day with a 3-run homer to left-center, which extended the score to 6-1 and finally gave us a bit of a breather here. Murdock and Ricky H. put together the eighth, with the former walking Will McIntyre, and the latter keeping the floodgates closed this time. Middleton did the ninth without getting flogged or flayed, too. 6-1 Critters. Nye 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Mata 1-2, BB; Oley 1-1; Robinson 6.2 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (5-3);

Game 2
ATL: LF K. Fisher – C M. Nieto – SS Sowell – CF O. Caballero – RF McIntyre – 2B del Toro – 3B A. Duncan – 1B J. Ojeda – P Villegas
POR: 2B Nye – SS Lavorano – C Perez – 1B Brassfield – CF Mata – RF Christopher – 3B N. Fox – LF Crumble – P C. Fox

Chance Fox gave up three singles in the first inning before a 6-4-3 double play that McIntyre hit into with the bases loaded dug him out of a hole. It didn’t get much better with him; Sowell drew a leadoff walk in the fourth and twice-a-Coon Oscar Caballero struck a double to left. McIntyre’s single to left was then overran by Crumble as the Coons conceded two runs at once. Duncan hit a 1-out single to right on which McIntyre tried to score from second base, but was thrown out by Christopher to limit the damage.

The Coons had only three hits inside five innings, one of them an RBI double with which one Fox drove in the other in the bottom 5th, but was then left on when Nye popped out and remained down 2-1. That was all the offense we could muster through seven innings. Chance Fox scattered nine hits on the hill before being lifted for Sullivan, who managed to get three outs without having his brains beaten out by the other team, which was certainly a step forwards out of the quagmire.

The only thing that could help the Raccoons now was to face a Raccoons reliever on hard times – and the Knights delivered, bringing in Takenori Tanizaki, who threw one pitch in the bottom 8th and got the game tied by getting *blasted* by Malik Crumble, flattening the score at two. The game moved to the ninth with Rocco pitching and allowing an infield single to PH Alex Vasquez (the former active stolen base leader before Lonzo came steaming through). Del Toro struck out, and Duncan hit a grounder to Jim White at short. Two were possible, but the Raccoons only got one at second base before Vasquez bowled over Nick Nye, who had a rough landing and left the game with Luis Silva after sitting on his tush for five minutes. White went to second and Fowler became the Coons’ third shortstop in less than an inning since Rocco entered the game in Lonzo’s spot in the order. Ojeda singled up the middle, but Josh Abercrombie (all those ex-Coons, no wonder the Knights SUCK) struck out and the Critters got BEN LUSSIER to walk off against with the middle of the order. No easier task than that in this game!! Right, boys? Right? Two strikeouts and Mata’s sorry grounder to short later, we went to extras. Boys…

Ricky Herrera got his head caved in by left-handed batters instead in the 11th inning, walking Caballero and giving up a double to Parker and a 2-run single to del Toro to break the tie, but don’t you worry, the Knights were still trying to lose, now bringing in Alex Rios for the save in the bottom 11th. White struck out and Fowler floated out to left before Starr hit a double to right in Lonzo’s spot. Perez mashed another double to center, plating Starr and bringing up Brassfield as the winning run. The game ended there, when Brass found himself in a 2-2 count, got a fat ball right in his wheelhouse and TATERED it over the wall in leftfield for a walkoff home run…!! 5-4 Blighters! Starr (PH) 1-1, 2B; Perez 2-5, 2B, RBI; Brassfield 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; C. Fox 7.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K and 1-2, 2B, RBI;

Alright. What do we have. Six ex-Coons AND Ben Lussier was clearly too much misery for one ABL roster, so that was the Knights’ problem, and the Raccoons had just gotten 11 torrid games out of Nick Nye, and now something was hurting him yet again…!

Swell.

Game 3
ATL: 2B A. Vasquez – C M. Nieto – CF J. Parker – SS Sowell – 1B C. Rice – RF K. Fisher – LF del Toro – P Hanzawa – 3B J. Ojeda
POR: CF Mata – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – RF Christopher – 2B White – 3B Fowler – C Arellano – P Alba

Sunday would have been a day off for Lonzo, but the scheduled off day on Monday would have to do now. Meanwhile, the Knights batting the pitcher eighth demanded harsh punishment, but first of all the Knights loaded the bases with an infield single (Vasquez), a walk (Parker), getting clonked on 0-2 (Chris Rice), and then had Kyle Fisher strike out to leave everybody stranded in the top 1st. The Raccoons were a bit more economical. Lonzo hit a single, Starr walked on straight balls, and Lonzo chugged around from second base when Brass singled to left. That was it, though, with a K on Christopher and a groundout for White. Alba bobbled that 1-0 lead immediately with a 2-base throwing error of his own making to put del Toro on to begin the second. Hanzawa bunted and Ojeda got the run home with a sac fly to right. – Maud, have you seen my good belt?

Ojeda drove in del Toro again in the fourth as both landed a single, so Atlanta took a 2-1 lead. This time the Coons answered immediately, and that with Joe-Chris being caught stealing after drawing a leadoff walk in the bottom 4th. Jim White cracked a triple, and Fowler’s RBI single tied the game again, but Fowler was left on and the next inning we fumbled a leadoff hit by Mata without getting him across. Chris Rice then struck a leadoff double to left in the sixth. Alba got the next three in order, with Fisher grounding out, del Toro whiffing, and the silly pitcher in the #8 spot going down in flames as well.

Lonzo doubled with two outs in the seventh against Alex Rios, who was told to walk Starr with intent and then struck out Brassfield, which was sorta embarrassing for Brassfield and everybody associated with him. Rios kept going in the bottom 8th after the Coons survived a Middleton outing in which the Knights hit two singles before White started a double play with Lonzo to end the inning. White then hit the first of two singles off Rios with one out in the home half of the eighth, putting runners on the corners. The Raccoons batted Nick Fox for Arellano, trying to stay out of the double play. The ploy worked – Fox drove a ball to right-center, Caballero and McIntyre crossed paths, and neither made the catch, with the Critters getting an RBI double and a 3-2 lead out of it. Angel Perez batted for Middleton and hit an RBI single to center, which supplanted Rios with Tanizaki. Oley batted for Mata, emptying the bench, and hit a sac fly to right. Lonzo grounded out, and the Raccoons put Rocco into the ninth with a 5-2 lead. The Knights disappeared in order. 5-2 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-5, 2B; Starr 1-1, 3 BB; White 2-4, 3B; Fowler 2-4, RBI; N. Fox (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Perez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Alba 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K;

In other news

May 15 – The Bayhawks sign 2B/LF Armando Montoya (.308, 10 HR, 36 RBI) to a fat 6-year, $50.4M extension that will keep him in San Francisco through his age 37 season.
May 15 – Loggers SS/2B Fidel Carrera (.364, 6 HR, 21 RBI) was going to miss at least a month with a strained hammy.
May 16 – Caps 2B/SS Willie Acosta (.226, 2 HR, 13 RBI) was ruled out for the season with a bad hip strain. Since winning the last of his three Player of the Year titles in 2058, the 32-year-old Acosta had struggled with staying on the field, and in three out of four seasons also hitting at all.
May 17 – Salem trades for 40-year-old LF/RF/1B Mike Harmon (.243, 2 HR, 9 RBI) with Sacramento, also getting a prospect and $1.15M in cash for SP Sean Guice (2-5, 6.23 ERA).
May 17 – The Miners acquire 3B/SS Stephen Medlock (.238, 1 HR, 4 RBI) from the Thunder, along with a prospect, for SP Tyler Roe (1-4, 6.75 ERA).
May 18 – SFB LF Grant Anker (.219, 5 HR, 24 RBI) will miss two weeks with an elbow contusion.
May 19 – Dallas SP Keith Trail (3-1, 3.06 ERA) rings up a dozen Rebels and throws a 3-hit shutout in a 4-0 win.
May 20 – The season of SAC LF/RF Josh Bursley (.255, 3 HR, 19 RBI) is also over after a diagnosis of a torn labrum.

FL Player of the Week: NAS RF Austin Gordon (.308, 11 HR, 29 RBI), smashing .471 (8-17) with 4 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 1B Ian Stone (.345, 8 HR, 19 RBI), batting .516 (16-31) with 1 HR, 2 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The North remains … “tense” with all teams at least two games over .500 after we were so kind and blundered a series win to the Titans this week.

We sure hope that Nick Nye is not seriously hurt. His bat was a very welcome addition to the lineup and we already shed Ben Morris for the rest of the month this week. And I have kinda seen enough of Jon Bean…

We’re having a bit of an eye on Jose Corral, who has a .390 OBP despite not hitting a whole lot in AAA. Come on, kid – proof them wrong after they plunged you off the Empire State Building in the prospect rankings…!

Lonzo successfully reached third place on the all-time steals table this week and took 13 bases overall in the first quarter (more or less) of the season.

1st – Pablo Sanchez (HOF) – 721
2nd – Enrique “Cosmo” Trevino (HOF) – 708
3rd – Lorenzo Lavorano (active) – 687
4th – Guillermo Obando (HOF) – 686
5th – Alberto “Berto” Ramos (HOF) – 677
6th – Alex Vasquez (active) – 656
7th – Rich de Luna – 570
8th – Omar Sanchez (active) – 565
9th – Danny Ceballos (active) – 530
10th – Chris Navarro (active) – 516

Compared to Lonzo, who was now 21 bases away from good old Cosmo Trevino, and 34 from all-time thief of thieves Pablo Sanchez, the more or less near competition so far had stolen at most seven bags so far this season (Omar Sanchez). Navarro hadn’t stolen any. Behind these top 5 was Omar Gonzalez in 11th place with 499 steals and technically still active, but he was a free agent at 39 years old. There was no active player until all the way down to Ed Soberanes with 406, tied for 28th all time, and Soberanes was 38 years old. The interesting guy was Chad Pritchett, 32nd with 377 bags. The Stars outfielder was 30 years old, had six stolen base titles in the FL, and had bagged 37+ for eight straight years, but this year had started with just eight from 43 games.

Short road trip coming up to San Francisco and Vegas next week. We’ll be home again for another 2-week homestand after that.

Fun Fact: San Fran’s Grant Anker, before going to the DL, was hitting 206 points below his 2061 OPS.

He won the Player of the Year last season with a .919 OPS and 35 homers and 146 RBI – those marks all leading the Continental League. This year it’s .219/.319/.394, just five homers, and quite painful to watch with the 25-year-old, even without contused elbows.

[Westheim]

2062 DRAFT POOL ANALYSIS

The draft was still a few weeks away, but the Raccoons were prepared. We had the #19 pick as well as a 112-player shortlist. And yes, of course there was also the ever-popular hotlist with a dozen or so of the best and brightest talent in the pool, and we hope you like the thought of drafting a closer in the first round (*HS players):

SP Chris Jones (11/13/11) *
SP Jake Grotto (12/10/14)
SP Gary Blosser (11/13/13)

CL Jorge Sanchez (14/13/17) *
CL Jesse Dover (20/13/12)
CL Dale Hyman (17/14/13)
CL Paul Wolk (18/13/11)

C Jesse West (10/10/15) *

OF/2B/SS Mike Pinault (9/14/11)
UT Carlos Fumero (14/5/6)
OF Jimmy Poe (10/12/10) *
OF Devon Franks (10/8/17) *

West was more a hitter rater than a catcher. There were no pure infielders that made the list, but a whole host of first basemen that somehow also consistently could whack the ball at least a little bit, but basically had no legs under them. One exception would be 1B/3B Justin DeFeo (9/13/11), who actually could field, but also piled on the strikeouts.

For novelty, there was a South African outfielder in the draft pool, that didn’t look like much more than a tenth-round selection just to say that we had a new exotic toy, which you and his family ten time zones away (only nine in the summer!) would then never hear from again.

[Westheim]

Before the Raccoons left town, they put Nick Nye on the DL again, this time for a concussion. He had had his bell rung pretty good, and it would perhaps take until July to get him back in order.

While Jim White was back to starting at second base on a daily basis, we got Jon Bean back from AAA. Hooray.

Raccoons (25-20) @ Bayhawks (21-24) – May 23-25, 2062

Things were a bit piling up here. The Coons weren’t playing well to begin with, now lost Nick Nye again, and now got to travel to the Bayhawks that had won the World Series last year after stomping the Raccoons, 11-3 combined in the regular season and CLCS, so even claiming credit for the two regular season wins wouldn’t have gotten the Raccoons into the World Series, and nothing good had ever happened at the Bay either. The Baybirds were scoring the eighth-most runs with the second-best batting average, the fourth-most homers, and the most stolen bases in the league. They would be starting to score runs at some point. And probably soon. Right now, they were still without Grant Anker though, so at least there was *something* on the other side of the scales.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (3-3, 2.04 ERA) vs. Jon Mendosa (0-5, 5.40 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (4-3, 3.52 ERA) vs. Larry Colwell (3-2, 3.42 ERA)
Nick Robinson (5-3, 3.49 ERA) vs. Hector Montenegro (3-2, 5.23 ERA)

Only righty starters on the Baybirds.

Game 1
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 3B N. Fowler – 2B White – CF Oley – P Riddle
SFB: RF Laws – LF Escalera – SS X. Reyes – 2B A. Montoya – 3B D. Sandoval – C Bogdan – 1B P. Fowler – CF Pepper – P J. Mendosa

Todd Oley somehow ended up playing centerfield, and Todd Oley would double in the game’s first runs with two outs in the fourth inning, on a 3-2 pitch that he lunked into the rightfield corner with Perez and White on the bases. Perez had doubled and White had been nicked to get there; and it got better, as Riddle singled through the right side and drove in Oley to get up to 3-0. Mendosa walked Christopher, but got Lonzo to ground out and end the inning. Riddle’s RBI single matched a feat – bar the RBI – that Mendosa had achieved with two outs in the previous half-inning. Apart from that Riddle had allowed only one more hit and had struck out four in the first three innings. Armando Montoya, always a threat, walked in the fourth for San Fran, and Pat Fowler singled, but the Bayhawks could not get past first base, and then could not get on in the sixth inning at all. But Riddle could, hitting another single in the seventh inning before being forced out by Christopher. Starr hit a 2-out double to put a pair in scoring position, and that pair was cashed in when Brass lobbed a single over Xavier Reyes’ head into left-center. That knocked out Mendosa, with his replacement Esteban Duran allowed another single given up to Perez, sending Brassfield to third base, and then an error by Pat Fowler on a grounder by Nick Fowler allowed Brassfield to score, the final run in the Raccoons’ second 3-spot of the game.

Montoya then led off the bottom 7th with a triple bashed to center, over the head of Oley, the reasons for his presence I was still trying to figure out. Dan Sandoval’s grounder didn’t get him home, but Bryan Bogdan did with a sac fly, narrowing the lead to five. Top 8th, and the Raccoons tried to answer with leadoff singles by Crumble, Christopher, and Lonzo, filling the bases with nobody out. Duran kept pitching, allowed two runs on a Starr hit to left, walked Brass, and was finally axed when Angel Perez hit another RBI single and there were still three on with nobody out. Jorge Solis got Nick Fowler to hit into a run-scoring groundout, and Jim White popped out to end the inning. Adam Harris got the 9-run lead in the bottom 8th and was yanked after two hits, a walk, and a run with two runners on the corners. Murdock cleaned up behind him; and Lonzo tripled home Christopher, who had been plunked by Jesse Connors. 11-2 Raccoons! Lavorano 3-6, 3B, RBI; Starr 3-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Brassfield 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Perez 3-5, 2B, RBI; Crumble (PH) 1-2; Riddle 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (4-3) and 2-3, RBI;

Game 2
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 3B N. Fowler – 2B White – CF Mata – P B. Herrera
SFB: SS X. Reyes – LF Escalera – 2B A. Montoya – 3B D. Sandoval – RF Laws – 1B P. Fowler – C Bogdan – CF Pepper – P H. Montenegro

Wednesday saw another snoozy first three innings with only one hit per side and nobody reaching third base for the duration of it before Starr and Brass opened the fourth with single against the moved-up Montenegro and went to the corners. Perez found a 6-4-3 double play, which got the game’s first run home, but I grumbled anyway.

More injuries then! Jim White made a leaping catch on Pat Fowler in the bottom 5th, but came down wrongly and twisted his knee. He collapsed onto the dirt and couldn’t stand up again, and ended up being carted off on the glorious golf cart cabriolet. Jon Bean took over the position.

Barring offense, Bobby Herrera tried to make a run for it with the 1-0 lead and got into the late innings on a 3-hitter, although that was with both Christopher and Brassfield rushing down a drive in the gaps that could have been extra-base trouble. Joel Starr socked a homer off Jesse Connors in the eighth inning to double the lead to 2-0, but the bottom 8th began with Bobby Grewe pinch-hitting and dropping a ball between converging outfielders for a leadoff single. Bogdan also singled up the middle, sending Grewe to third base, from where he scored on Craig Pepper’s 4-6-3 double play grounder. Ikuo Ogawa came up and poked a single, but Bobby H. hung around and struck out Xavier Reyes to end the inning, and his day overall, on a high note. Rocco retired the 2-3-4 on straight groundouts to the middle infielders. 2-1 Critters. Starr 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Brassfield 3-4; B. Herrera 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (5-3);

Jim White was down with a meniscus tear and would also not return before July. The Raccoons had to bring up … (blows) … oh boy… Arturo Bribiesca…!

Bribiesca was THIRTY years old.

Are we REALLY going to go through all our perpetual awful AAA infielders again??

Game 3
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 3B N. Fox – CF Crumble – 2B Bean – P Robinson
SFB: RF Laws – LF Escalera – SS X. Reyes – 2B A. Montoya – 3B D. Sandoval – C Bogdan – 1B Ogawa – CF Pepper – P Colwell

The Raccoons scored early for once, getting Joe-Chris and Lonzo on base, and then got them home with a Starr sac fly and a Brass double in the first inning. Brass was stranded, but drove in Lonzo in the third inning again, hitting a 2-out single after Lonzo’s 1-out double to get the runner home. Angel Perez then drove another double into the leftfield corner, and Brass with two outs scored on that, 4-0. The Coons had four extra-base knocks off Colwell in three innings, but Robinson had also given up some rockets, they just had ended up with the outfielders so far. Colwell didn’t make it out of the fourth inning; Crumble singled and stole a base, then went to third on Robinson’s single. Joe-Chris hit a sac fly, and the bases filled up with Lonzo and Starr, and two outs. Solis replaced Colwell here, walked in the Coons’ sixth run with four straight balls to Brass, but then got Perez to fly out and end the inning.

But the Raccoons kept piling on in the sixth. While Robinson had a defense holding him together, Solis like Colwell had no such thing. Christopher got on, Lonzo hit an RBI double, and Brass added an RBI single in the sixth inning. Jon Bean then smashed a seventh-inning homer off Bill Goda to add more insult to insult. Robinson hobbled into the eighth, but walked Aaron Walker and nicked Scott Laws. Escalera popped out, but Robinson didn’t face the right-handers again. Those were retired by Middleton and the Bayhawks continued to not score, even against Ryan Sullivan in the ninth inning. 9-0 Coons. Lavorano 4-5, 3 2B, RBI; Brassfield 3-4, BB, 2B, 4 RBI; Robinson 7.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, W (6-3) and 1-4;

That line for Robinson did a very poor job communicating how often he sent his own outfielders scurrying backwards.

While we passed from the Bay to the Desert, the Bayhawks acquired Jonathan Echols (.314, 2 HR, 15 RBI) from Vegas for a prospect. If the RACCOONS could do this to them, then they were in trouble, apparently.

Raccoons (28-20) @ Aces (22-24) – May 26-28, 2062

The Aces were second in runs scored, but were giving up almost as many markers for a +5 run differential. They were having a real issue with their bullpen, but they actually sported one of the best defenses in the league. The Coons had won the first series between these two teams this year, two games to one.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (2-1, 3.61 ERA) vs. Steve Hunter (4-4, 3.22 ERA)
Angel Alba (2-5, 3.88 ERA) vs. Jesus Aquino (4-1, 6.02 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (4-3, 1.96 ERA) vs. Dan Graham (2-5, 3.99 ERA)

Southpaws! Both Hunter and Graham were left-handers, and there was even another one in the rotation that we’d not meet, Bill Grau (4-2, 3.12 ERA). Also, how was Aquino’s ERA matching up with his record? The Aces were scoring him 6.7 runs/game of support and he was hardly ever pitching over six innings, so only had time to give up four runs himself.

Game 1
POR: LF Crumble – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – 1B Starr – CF Mata – 3B N. Fox – C Arellano – 2B Bribiesca – P C. Fox
LVA: C Colford – SS Veguilla – LF K. Hummel – RF J. Evans – 2B M. Roberts – CF Humphries – 3B Villarreal – 1B S. King – P S. Hunter

Chance Fox had a terrible day, with long counts, long counts, and even longer counts. Bobby Colford hit a double to begin the bottom 1st, but went past second base and then was slapped out when he tried to retreat. The Aces tended to hit 3-2 pitches very well (like Colford), but the defense was in play again… at least until Nick Fox threw away Ken Hummel’s 2-out grounder with Colford and Miguel Veguilla on base, scoring the game’s first run in unearned fashion. Jake Evans then grounded out to end the inning with a pair in scoring position. The Coons answered with singles by the rejects in the fourth, Mata, Arellano, and Bribiesca putting a run together before Arellano was also slapped out in a rundown to end the inning, but that was nothing compared to how hard Chance Fox was slapped around in the bottom of the same inning. Mike Roberts’ leadoff single, Steve Humphries’ RBI double and after a grounder by Tony Villarreal, Scott King’s sac fly were all pretty hard hit and gave the Aces a 3-1 lead.

Malik Crumble hit a homer to left in the fifth inning, but so did Ken Hummel, and Hummel’s counted for two, one on Fox for walking Colford and getting yanked, and the other on Murdock for putting the ball on a ******* stick. The Raccoons made a rally bid in the top 6th against Hunter; Starr got on, Mata got on, and Nick Fox hit a double to center that scored a run, 5-3, and put the tying runs in scoring position with nobody out. The choke that followed was huge: Arellano whiffed, Bribiesca grounded out in front of home plate, and Nick Fowler pinch-hit for Murdock and popped out on the infield. The tying runs retreated to the dugout silently. Crumble led off the seventh with a triple, Lonzo singled him home… and was stranded on first base. So we were still a run short, and then we were three runs short again once Ricky H. and Middleton had a little meltdown after the stretch. The runs were on Herrera, who allowed three base hits. Nick Fox’ leadoff jack off Jordan Juarez shortened the score to 7-5 to begin the eighth, before Arellano got nicked… and then doubled off by Bribiesca. Joey Christopher hit a double with two outs… and then was also stranded. It was one of those games that could get you off baseball forever. The 2-3-4 went down in order against left-hander David Figueroa in the ninth inning. 7-5 Aces. Crumble 2-5, HR, 3B, RBI; Lavorano 3-5, RBI; N. Fox 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Bribiesca 2-4, RBI; Christopher (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Game 2
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 3B Fowler – CF Oley – 2B Bean – P Alba
LVA: CF Jad. Wilson – SS Veguilla – RF J. Evans – 3B A. Alfaro – 2B M. Roberts – 1B S. King – LF Humphries – C Burgio – P J. Aquino

Saturday was Angel Perez vs. everybody, hitting a solo jack in the second and a sac fly to score Brassfield in the fourth. The Aces had taken a lead in the first with a Jaden Wilson triple to center and Veguilla’s run-scoring groundout, then again in the bottom 2nd with a loud Scott King double to left and Steve Humphries’ soft single to left-center. Through four innings both teams were even on two runs and five hits per side, and both pitchers looked like an implosion waiting to happen.

The Coons loaded the bases in the fifth inning on … not a whole lot. Bean reached on an error, Christopher was nicked, and Lonzo singled on a 3-1 pitch to make it three on with nobody out. Starr’s fly to deep left was not deep enough and caught by Humphries on the warning track; sac fly though, and a 3-2 lead. Same for Brassfield, except that Humphries caught the third out there and no more runs scored. Alba allowed three long fly balls himself in the bottom 5th, all of which were caught, one for each outfielder – there are no favorites on this team. Except for Lonzo, but Lonzo wasn’t having a great week (no stolen bases!). The Aces hit more long flies in the bottom 6th. This went less well for Alba, allowing a game-tying jack to Alex Alfaro, and we were all even at three again.

Alba was removed for Carlos Mata to lead off the seventh with a double off Aquino. Joe-Chris walked again, and Lonzo hit another bases-filling single, this time with nobody out. Joel Starr ran a full count and then drew ball four on a reeeeeally sketchy pitch, which forced in another run and put the Coons up 4-3 again, and the Aces were reeeeeally unhappy. Brass singled in another run before Mike Goldfield, ex-Coon, struck out two. Todd Oley suck a single through the right side with two outs, driving in two more runs, and now the Aces were reeeeeeeeeeally unhappy. Crumble batted for Bean, but struck out. Up by four, the Coons went to Ricky H., who after the previous day’s drubbing struck out the side in the bottom 7th and then stomped back to the dugout without looking at anybody. DeRose hadn’t pitched all week and reluctantly got the ball in the eighth, and – lo and behold – retired six Aces on 13 pitches, and even had time to allow a 2-out single to Humphries in the ninth…!? 7-3 Raccoons. Lavorano 3-5; Brassfield 2-5, 3B, RBI; Perez 2-3, HR, 2 RBI; Oley 2-4, 2 RBI; Mata (PH) 1-2, 2B; DeRose 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

With this win the Raccoons took first place in the North, eight games over .500. The last-place Titans were still three games over .500, and everybody else was five games over .500;

Game 3
POR: LF Crumble – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – 1B Starr – C Perez – CF Mata – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bribiesca – P Riddle
LVA: CF Jad. Wilson – SS Veguilla – LF K. Hummel – RF J. Evans – 3B A. Alfaro – 2B M. Roberts – C Colford – 1B O. Vega – P D. Graham

Lonzo singled and was caught stealing in the first on Sunday, then tripled to center to bring in Crumble with the game’s first run in the third inning, but was left on by Brassfield, who grounded out. Riddle however had struggled the first time through. Hummel and Evans got base hits in the first, and he walked Colford in the second inning, but all the runners were stranded, and Veguilla hit a single in the third and got doubled up, 5-4-3 style, by Hummel. Riddle had no strikeouts through three, though, which was highly unusual, and gave up a single to Evans into centerfield in the fourth, but Evans was also doubled up by Alfaro with a grounder to short. Colford had another leadoff walk in the fifth, and then Riddle finally rung up Oscar Vega. Graham bunted, and Jaden Wilson whiffed to end that inning, and the Raccoons remained up 1-0.

Funnily enough Riddle then had a pretty good run through the lineup until he came up to Vega again with two outs in the bottom 7th, and the skinny left-handed batter slapped him over the fence for a homer to tie the score at one.

Neither team then did anything for the rest of regulation, as Murdock and Sullivan pitched the Raccoons into overtime. Figueroa was out for the top 10th; the left-hander allowed hits to center to Nick Fox and Bribiesca to begin the inning, but Nick Fowler pinch-hit and bashed into a double play before Crumble flew out to left. Middleton got the ball in the bottom 10th and would have had a clean inning if not for a Lonzo error that put Humphries on base. But the Aces also couldn’t get a base hit when it really mattered and left the free runner at second base, same with Jake Evans, who singled in the 11th and was also left at second base. Nick Fox hit a single in the 12th, but nothing came of that either. The game ended with genuinely useless Adam Harris in the bottom 12th, walking Casey Burgio and giving up a walkoff homer to Humphries. 3-1 Aces. Lavorano 2-5, 3B, RBI; N. Fox 4-5; Riddle 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K; Middleton 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

In other news

May 24 – A badly smashed ankle could end the season of Warriors outfielder Cory Oldfield (.260, 3 HR, 19 RBI).
May 25 – The Stars beat the Cyclones in 14 innings, 3-2.
May 26 – TIJ SP Kodai Koga (5-2, 2.91 ERA) issues a 2-hit shutout to the Indians for a 1-0 win with six strikeouts.
May 27 – LAP 3B/LF/1B/RF Steve Dilly (.195, 7 HR, 31 RBI) will miss time until July with a case of shoulder inflammation.
May 28 – The Capitals beat the Warriors, 16-10, scoring their 16 runs all inside three consecutive innings with two in the third, four in the fifth, and a whole ten runs in the fourth inning. WAS C Bruce Burkart (.283, 3 HR, 27 RBI) bats eighth and drives in five runs on two hits and two walks, and WAS SP Trevor Justesen (6-3, 5.01 ERA) is himself smashed for eight runs in seven innings, but also bats 3-for-4.

FL Player of the Week: TOP INF Alex de los Santos (.362, 13 HR, 44 RBI), scattering .522 (12-23) with 2 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR SS Lorenzo Lavorano (.275, 1 HR, 19 RBI), poking .533 (16-30) with 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Lonzoooo!! Yeah, terrible week, batting .533 but went 0-for-2 in stolen bases. Woeful! Jon Bean might replace him every second!

(grins broadly because he has something to respond to Cristiano whenever the nagging about Lonzo being a net negative starts again)

Also. This division!

Can’t wait to see us finding a way to win 87 games and finishing fifth with that!

Maybe there is some tweaking that can be done with the roster, although it’s hard when every five innings we’re dropping an infielder. And Ben Morris. With a little luck we’d have Ben Morris back in a week or two, which would really help with that leadoff spot where we were kinda fudging around right now with people that at the start of the season were ranked somewhere between fifth and seventh on the depth chart. For outfielders alone.

Oh well. One week after another. We’d have another two-week homestand coming up with an off day on Monday followed by series with the Condors, Loggers, Indians, and Pacifics. We’d have two separate trips to the East Coast in June, though.

Fun Fact: 38 years ago today, the Condors’ Pat Sanford hit three home runs in a 9-8 loss to the Raccoons.

Sanford was a journeyman catcher for six different teams, playing 1,808 games across 15 years. He was a fourth-year player in 2024, batting just .223 with 16 homers, three of them in that one game. He got a qualifying number of plate appearances just five times in his career, and overall hit .250/.321/.401 with 1,374 hits, 176 homers, and 761 RBI. He won two Gold Gloves at catcher, but never led the league in an offensive category.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (29-22) vs. Condors (29-22) – May 30-June 1, 2062

The Condors played minimalistic ball, allowing the fewest runs (3-flat per game), and scoring just barely over 3.3 runs, which was second-worst in the league. It was enough to hang within half a game of the leading Thunder in the CL South, with a +17 run differential. Like the Coons, who were up 2-1 in the season series, they had a well-filled DL with Alf Mendez, Mario Asencio, Ramon Archuleta, Dan Beare, and Jesus Chacon all out.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (5-3, 3.25 ERA) vs. Vince Ellison (3-4, 2.94 ERA)
Nick Robinson (6-3, 3.09 ERA) vs. Aaron Sloan (2-1, 2.73 ERA)
Chance Fox (2-2, 3.82 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (5-2, 2.91 ERA)

Sloan was the Condors’ left-hander.

Game 1
TIJ: LF Churricho – C Brann – 1B Metz – SS C. Ramsey – 3B Frasher – RF E. Maldonado – 2B F. Serrano – CF Cardwell – P Ellison
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – CF Crumble – 3B Fowler – 2B Bean – P B. Herrera

Bobby H. was looking for form, and form kept eluding him even against about the worst offense in the league. The Condors left one on in the first, and two in the second, then another one in the third and two more in the fourth. There was constant on-base traffic for Tijuana and Herrera giving up a run or six was just a matter of time. It came in the fifth with a leadoff double by Chad Cardwell, who was brought in on Querubim Churricho’s deep sac fly to right. Mike Brann then hit an even deeper ball, which went over the fence in left-center and gave the Condors a 2-0 lead against hapless Critters that sat on a lone single by Nick Fowler through five innings. The Condors tacked on with another leadoff double for Casey Ramsey and two groundouts to get him in, the RBI going to Elmer Maldonado, in the sixth. Doubles by Brann and Ramsey added another run for Tijuana in the eighth against James Murdock, while the Raccoons in the same inning got a second single from PH Nick Fox, who was promptly stranded on base by Christopher. It was also the last base knock for the Portlanders as Ellison completed the 2-hit shutout. 4-0 Condors. N. Fox (PH) 1-1;

Well, that one stunk.

Adam Harris (0-1, 6.23 ERA) was optioned to St. Pete after this game, and we brought back Paul Barton, who had more strikeouts than innings in AAA, which was … *something*.

Game 2
TIJ: LF Churricho – C Brann – 1B Metz – SS C. Ramsey – 3B Frasher – RF E. Maldonado – 2B D. Mercado – CF Cardwell – P Sloan
POR: LF Crumble – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – 1B Starr – C Perez – CF Mata – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bribiesca – P Robinson

Offense remained at a premium on Wednesday, but the Raccoons scored first with a Malik Crumble double and Brass’ 2-out RBI single in the bottom of the third. Robinson had given up only one hit so far, then out of the blue walked Brann and Andy Metz to start the fourth inning. Ramsey flew out to Brass, and both Eric Frasher and Elmer Maldonado struck out to let that chance slip away. The Condors again had a pair on base to begin the fifth as Domingo Mercado singled and Chad Cardwell was robined by Nickson. Sloan was unfortunate enough to bunt hard into a double play, and Churricho’s pop to Bean kept the Condors from scoring for another inning. Brann singled to open the sixth, but was doubled up with Metz’ grounder to Lonzo. Ramsey hit another single to right, stole second, and then Eric Frasher bashered one over the fence in leftfield to flip the score around to 2-1 Condors…

Bottom 6th, Lonzo led off with a single and stole second base – there’s my boy!! – before hustling home with the tying run on Starr’s 1-out double to center. The go-ahead run was not in the cards, despite a 2-out single by Carlos Mata, since Fox grounded out to end the inning. That didn’t come around until the inning after when Joe-Chris batted for Robinson in the #9 spot and socked a pinch-hit home run to right! The joy was very short-lived, since the 3-2 lead was immediately ****** up by the bullpen. Brann and Ramsey smashed doubles off Middleton, and Rocco gave up a go-ahead RBI triple to Eric Frasher in the top 8th, and we were quite literally back to square nothing. The Condors’ pen was spotless from here and retired the Raccoons in order in the eighth and ninth. 4-3 Condors. Brassfield 2-4, RBI; Christopher (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Robinson 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K;

Game 3
TIJ: LF Churricho – C Brann – 1B Metz – SS C. Ramsey – 3B Frasher – RF E. Maldonado – 2B F. Serrano – CF Cardwell – P E. Mauricio
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – CF Crumble – 3B Fowler – C Arellano – 2B Bean – P C. Fox

No Kodai Koga on Thursday, but right-hander Edgar Mauricio (4-5, 3.58 ERA) made the Raccoons look just as silly as the other two starters the Condors had carted up so far this series. Brann also kept torturing Critters, hitting a home run off Fox in the first inning for a 1-0 lead, then another single his next time up. That was two thirds of the Condors hits through five innings, while the Raccoons didn’t get a base knock until Fowler ticked a 1-2 pitch through the left side to begin the bottom 5th, but Arellano flew out and Bean hit into a double play…

It was still 1-0 in the seventh when Frasher walked against Fox and was caught stealing. Chris Maresh drew a 2-out walk, Serrano singled, and Chad Cardwell socked a 1-2 pitch to center for a 2-out, 2-run double. Fox struck out Mauricio, but then peppered his glove into the dugout from 25 feet out. I knew; watching him from 50 feet up hurt just as badly. Fox was not removed from the game either and with the extra anger in his system struck out the 1-2-3 batters in the eighth inning. That wasn’t gonna spare him the L, though. Fowler and Bean were on base in the bottom 8th when Nick Fox hit for Chance Fox, but into a fielder’s choice for the second out. Runners on the corners only led to a run because Christopher legged out an infield roller. Left-hander Joe Cash now replaced Mauricio and got a grounder from Lonzo to third base to end the inning. Jose Lugo retired the middle of the order without issue in the ninth to complete a depressing sweep. 3-1 Condors. Fowler 2-2, BB, 2B;

This sweep plunged the Raccoons to within half a game of last place again in this topsy-turvy CL North.

Raccoons (29-25) vs. Loggers (30-22) – June 2-4, 2062

The first-place Loggers di- … (does a double take) … Cristiano, are you sure? – I feel dizzy. – (takes sip of Capt’n Coma) … Alright. The first-place Loggers. They were second in runs scored AND runs allowed in the CL (!?) with a +49 run differential, and they were up 4-2 on the Coons this year. – Cristiano, what the **** is going on…?

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (3-5, 3.95 ERA) vs. Bob Ruggiero (6-3, 2.79 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (4-3, 1.89 ERA) vs. Jesus Hinojosa (4-3, 3.82 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (5-4, 3.30 ERA) vs. Oliver Graham (1-6, 6.71 ERA)

All righties here, and Hinojosa and Graham had both pitched in a double-header on Tuesday, so whoever went on Saturday would be on short rest. As if that helped us any. There were also a number of regulars on the DL for Milwaukee, including Danny Miller and Fidel Carrera.

Game 1
MIL: LF Franks – 2B Garmon – 1B D. Robles – C Waker – RF Merrill – 3B Lange – CF Reder – SS Loftis – P Ruggiero
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – CF Mata – 3B Fowler – 2B Bribiesca – P Alba

Leadoff hits by Tristan Waker and Jonathan Merrill, a wild pitch, a passed ball, and a hit .140 batting Jonathan Loftis made for two Loggers runs in the top of the second inning while I was mostly facepawing and waiting for better days. The Raccoons in the bottom 2nd got straight singles from their 6-7-8 batters, Bribiesca driving in Mata from second base for a run, and Phil Reder’s throw home allowed the trailing runners into scoring position for Alba to bat with one out. He popped out and Christopher grounded out, however, and the inning was another waste of time, effort, and oxygen. Another pair – Starr and Brass – were stranded in scoring position when Mata struck out in the third. The Loggers would eventually tie the game for the Raccoons in the fourth with a 2-base throwing error by Loftis that put Fowler on base, a Bribiesca groundout, and after Alba struck out, a wild pitch thrown by Ruggiero to bring Fowler in from third base. Christopher whiffed a pitch later.

Home runs by Scott Franks in the fifth and Tristan Waker in the sixth gave and extended the Loggers a 4-2 lead again on a hapless Alba, who was hit for with Malik Crumble after Mata and Bribiesca went to the corners with a pair of singles in the bottom 6th and two outs. Crumble grounded slowly to the left side, too slow to have a play for the Loggers, and got an RBI infield single. And then Christopher had another pathetic plate appearance and grounded out to second… Brass was nicked and left on base in the seventh, and Mata and Bribiesca were on once more in the eighth and were left stranded by Crumble and Fox with woeful outs. Murdock, Ricky H., and Rocco held the 4-3 score together in the eighth and ninth, allowing the Critters another shot in the bottom 9th against Alex Diaz, the CL Pitcher of the Month for May, starting with Lonzo, the CL Player of the Week for what felt like five years ago. The Coons didn’t get on base until Brass walked with two outs in a full count. Todd Oley then pinch-hit for an 0-for-4 Angel Perez in what would either be a 50 or 150 IQ move. Diaz rung him up with no issues. 4-3 Loggers. Mata 3-4; Bribiesca 2-3, BB, RBI; Crumble (PH) 1-2, RBI;

Last place!

Whee.

Game 2
MIL: RF Merrill – LF Garmon – CF Franks – 1B D. Robles – 2B Lange – 3B Benitez – SS Loftis – C Jack – P Hinojosa
POR: CF Mata – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – RF Brassfield – LF Crumble – 3B Fowler – 2B Bribiesca – C Arellano – P Riddle

Brassfield was hit to begin the bottom 2nd to give the Coons a base runner. He was not happy that he was drilled by Hinojosa, then even less happy when Malik Crumbled into a double play right afterwards and the Coons put up another goose egg. Riddle walked two and whiffed four in the early innings, but allowed no base hits, while Hinojosa had no walks, no strikeouts, no hits, and nobody over the minimum. Ralph Lange’s 2-out double to left in the fourth inning was the first base hit for either side, but he was left on by the former Raccoon Tony Benitez. Starr and Brass were walked in the bottom 4th, but Crumble was useless again and that was the inning.

Tyler Riddle then appeared to slip on a pitch to Loftis in the fifth and fell, then couldn’t get up. Luis Silva had to collect him with the cart, and the Raccoons now were also facing a hole in the rotation in addition to a hole in the lineup stretching from the #1 to the #9 spot. Middleton came into the scoreless game in a double switch, Christopher entering for Crumble, with Brass going to left.

Bribiesca had a single in the fifth, but the game was still scoreless in the sixth. Mata and Starr scratched singles against Hinojosa, but Brass flew out, and the pitcher’s spot came up with two outs. Nick Fox grabbed a stick and ticked a 3-1 pitch into center for a single, but Scott Franks was right on it and Mata scrambled back to third base after going some 20 feet beyond it. Fowler batted with the bags full, and Hinojosa was having a struggle now, falling to 3-0 against Fowler. I was taking aim with the blunderbuss if Fowler dared to move a whisker in the box on the 3-0. He didn’t Hinojosa missed, and the Raccoons were gifted a 1-0 lead. Bribiesca ran a full count, but then flew out to Merrill in right to leave a full menu on base…

Murdock murdered the lead immediately in the seventh with a leadoff BOMB served up to Dave Robles, the Loggers’ first-sacker hitting his eighth of the year. Meanwhile Starr, Brass, and the rest of the hairy menaces couldn’t hit one out if there was a $250,000 prize on it. Murdock finished the seventh, and Ricky H. handled the eighth, and when his spot did not come up went back out to start the ninth in a 1-1 tie. He gave up a dinker for a leadoff single to Franks, then was removed for Sullivan, and got the unearned L hung on him when Bribiesca threw away Lange’s grounder for two bases before Sullivan served up a gapper for a 2-out, 2-run double to pinch-hitter Willie Martinez. Christopher threw out Martinez at home on J.P. Jack’s single to right, ending the inning. Bottom 9th, Alex Diaz in, and Jon Bean grounded out to get us started. Oley then batted for Bribiesca and singled to right. Arellano was the definition of useless, but in this case drove an RBI double to center! The winning run came to the plate with Christopher, who got plonked on base on a 2-2 pitch. Mata grounded sharply to third base, but Lange made the play and got the out at second base, but Mata beat out the throw to first. Lonzo lined out to end the game. 3-2 Loggers. Oley (PH) 1-1; Riddle 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K;

Todd Oley (.385, 0 HR, 5 RBI) was dropped onto the waiver wire after this game and the Raccoons brought up 21-year-old Jose Corral, hitting .288 with four homers in AAA so far, with a .414 OBP. Yes, *that* desperate. Corral had made five games for the Coons last year, batting .211 with no homers.

We devised a really wicked lineup with Corral batting leadoff and Christopher coming behind him in second with a scheduled off day for Lonzo in the middle of this homestand… and then the baseball gods said no and the game was rained out.

In other news

May 30 – SAC 3B/SS Victor Corrales (.341, 4 HR, 21 RBI) logs two hits in a 3-2 win against the Cyclones, including his 2,500th career hit off CIN SP Alex Cruzado (2-3, 2.95 ERA). Corrales, 35, is a serial Gold Glover, 2-time Player of the Year, home run champion, and 4-time RBI champion, batting .307/.354/.468 with 240 homers and 1,414 RBI, alongside 291 stolen bases, for his career.
May 30 – Thunder SP Tyler Roe (3-4, 4.63 ERA) and two relievers pitch a combined 1-hitter against the Crusaders. Only NYC 1B/LF/RF Aubrey Austin (.219, 4 HR, 15 RBI) drops in a single in the 3-0 Thunder win.
May 30 – Sacramento will be without INF Zach Suggs (.254, 4 HR, 27 RBI) for three weeks; the 36-year-old is out with a strained oblique.
May 30 – Warriors CL Jon McGinley (3-1, 2.73 ERA, 13 SV) has a bone spur in his elbow. The team claims they can clean this up in a month.
June 2 – A throwing error by Miners INF Travis Edwards (.214, 1 HR, 19 RBI) allows not only the tying, but also the winning run to score for the Rebels in a 6-5 walkoff.
June 3 – DEN SP Matt Apslund (7-3, 4.41 ERA) goes to the DL with elbow tendinitis. The 21-year-old is not expected to miss more than a few weeks.
June 4 – TOP SP Pablo Lara (4-3, 3.20 ERA) 1-hits the Cyclones in a 1-0 win sponsored by LF/CF Jose Ambriz (.254, 6 HR, 17 RBI), who hits a home run. The only knock for Cincy comes from OF Manny Sauceda (.283, 3 HR, 16 RBI).
June 4 – SAC 3B/SS Victor Corrales (.342, 4 HR, 23 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak with a single in a 12-4 win against the Gold Sox.
June 4 – The Indians rout the Canadiens, 15-2. Indians 1B Danny Starwalt (.229, 5 HR, 29 RBI) drives in five runs on two homers and a double, with another five RBI for RF/LF/1B Chris Lovins (.285, 6 HR, 27 RBI) on three hits, including a home run.

FL Player of the Week: SAC 2B/SS Justin Finnegan (.263, 10 HR, 29 RBI), hammering .320 (8-25) with 4 HR, 14 RBI
CL Player of the Week: IND 1B Danny Starwalt (.229, 5 HR, 29 RBI), bashing .563 (9-16) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL OF Tyler Wharton (.416, 10 HR, 39 RBI), bashing .419 with 5 HR, 18 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: OCT 1B Ian Stone (.341, 9 HR, 25 RBI), socking .352 with 6 HR, 16 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DAL SP Ray Walker (9-1, 1.38 ERA), a perfect 6-0 with 1.24 ERA, 68 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: MIL CL Alex Diaz (4-0, 0.36 ERA, 13 SV), no earned runs in 13 games, with a 4-0 record, 7 SV, 5 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW OF Alex Barnes (.260, 8 HR, 29 RBI), hitting .298 with 4 HR, 17 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: NYC 1B Jared McLaughlin (.292, 3 HR, 27 RBI), batting .288 with 2 HR, 16 RBI

Complaints and stuff

This team makes you struggle for words every ******* week.

So Jose Corral’s grand return (pleeeease!) will be delayed to Monday. The game will be made up on July 7 in a double-header … to begin the last series before the All Star Game. You know, that stretch without an off day? Screams for a Justin DeRose spot start. (shivers)

The Coons will have the Indians and Pacifics on their paws to finish this 0-5 homestand.

Fun Fact: Cincy’s Rich Monck has 16 home runs after about a third of the schedule.

The Raccoons have a grand total of 28……

[Westheim]

Raccoons (29-27) vs. Indians (30-24) – June 5-8, 2062

The foundering Raccoons, on a 1-7 run and an L6 within that, were up against the Indians for four games to continue this listless homestand. The Indians ranked third in the North, second in runs scored, and fifth in runs allowed. The Coons were up 3-1 in the season series, which was something that was rather easily fiddled away if the sucking continued.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (5-4, 3.30 ERA) vs. Jarod Morris (4-1, 4.04 ERA)
Nick Robinson (6-3, 3.04 ERA) vs. Adam Foley (0-2, 9.22 ERA)
Chance Fox (2-3, 3.76 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (5-5, 3.44 ERA)
Angel Alba (3-6, 4.00 ERA) vs. Antonio Pichardo (4-5, 3.45 ERA)

DeWitt was the only left-hander. Foley was getting battered trying to sub for former Raccoons farmhand Travis Glovinsky, who was on the DL with Joe Humphries.

The Raccoons used the lineup they would have used on Sunday, so Lonzo still got a day off on Monday. Tyler Riddle was still on the roster, injured, while Ben Morris started a rehab assignment in St. Pete on Monday.

Game 1
IND: CF S. Thompson – SS M. Morales – 2B Kilday – 1B Starwalt – RF Lovins – C A. Gomez – LF R. Alvarez – 3B G. Keller – P Jar. Morris
POR: RF Corral – CF Christopher – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – SS Fowler – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bribiesca – P B. Herrera

Tipsy Bobby seamlessly got in line with the strugglers and fell behind 2-0 in the first on a homer by Danny Starwalt to left. Miguel Morales had reached base ahead of time with a clean single. Jarod Morris disposed of the Coons in 25 pitches in three innings while allowing a single to Arturo Bribiesca, even though the team coaxed 22 tosses out of him in the fourth, landed two 2-out singles between Perez and Fowler, and still didn’t get a run across. Bribiesca hit another leadoff single in the fifth, and was stranded as well in that inning.

Herrera would pile up 11 strikeouts in seven innings, but first, didn’t get any support, and second, also gave up another run in the sixth inning on base hits by Matt Kilday, who stole second for his 23rd bag of the year, and Alex Gomez, 3-0. Ricky H. and Barton added scoreless innings after Bobby H. departed, while Morris went eight innings of 5-hit shutout ball against the feckless Furballs, who then came up against Cody Kleidon, a left-hander, in the bottom 9th. Lonzo led off batting for Fowler, but popped out to Kilday, and the Raccoons went in order. 3-0 Indians. Fowler 1-2, BB; Bribiesca 2-4; B. Herrera 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, L (5-5);

The Coons didn’t score in principle, and hadn’t scored as much as four runs since the 27th…

So, Tyler Riddle (4-3, 1.78 ERA) going down to a torn labrum that would keep him out until September and maybe the entire rest of the season at least wasn’t gonna make the *offense* worse…

The Raccoons had a selection of AAA starters with sub-3 ERA’s for once, which included Bobby Sneeze (2.87), and also three players that had never been up in the majors before: Brett Cotton (2.30), John Bollinger (2.34), and Freddy Castillo (2.72). Cotton, 23, had the worst K/BB between all of them. Bollinger and Castillo were both 25. The former had low stamina, although if the opposition got rid of him in five innings or less anyway that would not matter as much. Yeah. We went with the right-handed Bollinger, our #32 pick from 2058. His debut would be on Friday.

Since there were now also just two left-handers in the rotation, we would swap Fox and Alba in the last two games of the series to separate the southpaws Robinson and Fox. With the Sunday rainout, this was possible without issue.

Game 2
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B G. Keller – C A. Gomez – 1B Starwalt – CF S. Thompson – LF Abel – RF R. Alvarez – SS Cirelli – P Foley
POR: RF Corral – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – CF Mata – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bean – P Robinson

The Raccoons scored (!) first (!), early (!!), and multiple runs (!!!) against Foley, who initially gave up a double to Lonzo in the first, but only was booked on the board for two runs in the second inning. Carlos Mata drew a walk and was at second base after Nick Fox’ groundout before the 8-9 batters both produced RBI hits for the two runs. Corral struck out, still looking for a base knock here. Meanwhile the Indians got Gabriel Keller to second base in the first, runners to the corners in the second inning, and then tied the game at two in the third inning on straight extra-base bops by Keller (double), Gomez (homer), and Danny Starwalt (double), who was stranded. The Raccoons responded, however, and took the lead back in the bottom 3rd. Lonzo singled his way on and Foley walked Starr. After two meager outs, Carlos Mata chucked a ball into the left-center gap for a 2-out, 2-run triple, however, and the Coons were back on top, 4-2! Nick Fox then reached on Kilday’s error, allowing Mata to score. Foley threw a wild pitch, Bean was then walked with intent, and then Foley still managed to give up a 2-run double to Robinson before being whisked away.

The game then settled in, with Robinson going into the eighth without allowing anything much of substance, departing after a 1-out single by Kilday, who was stranded by Middleton. The Indians pen also shut up the Raccoons’ offense until the bottom 8th, which began with Christopher pinch-hitting for Mata and reaching with a single. He stole second, but was thrown out at the plate on Nick Fox’ single to right. Fox made it to second, then scored on a Bean single, all coming off Jesse Pursel. Fowler flew out in Middleton’s place, and then Jose Corral found some grass for a 2-out single in shallow center after starting out 0-for-6 in this call-up. Arellano batted for Lonzo and popped out to end the inning. Indy reclaimed that late run against Ryan Sullivan, who allowed a leadoff double to Steve Thompson, who scored on Ricardo Alvarez’ groundout. 8-3 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-4, 2B; Mata 1-2, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Christopher (PH) 1-1; Bean 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Robinson 7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (7-3) and 2-3, 2B, 3 RBI;

Game 3
IND: CF S. Thompson – SS Cirelli – 2B Kilday – 1B Starwalt – RF Lovins – C A. Gomez – LF O. Ramos – 3B G. Keller – P DeWitt
POR: LF Crumble – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – 1B Starr – CF Mata – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bribiesca – C Arellano – P Alba

Alba tried to get on the pokey black nose right away, allowing hits to Eric Cirelli and Kilday before walking Starwalt to fill ‘em up in the first. Chris Lovins’ sac fly made it 1-0 Indians, *another* walk to Gomez filled them up again, and then Orlando Ramos grounded out to Lonzo on a 3-1 pitch… Whatever works? The 2-3-4 batters went hit-hit-walk again in the third inning, then to begin the whole shebang, but Lovins popped out to Fox, Gomez whiffed, and Orlando Ramos grounded out to Lonzo for the third out this time. DeWitt socked a double off the irritating Alba in the fourth, but was also stranded. We dragged him through five with that sort of performance, and then gave the ball to DeRose, who was probably pee-peed that he was not even considered for Riddle’s replacement in the rotation, not that I still cared for his feelings much.

DeRose didn’t pitch badly, though. He inherited the 1-0 deficit – the Coons had only two hits in five innings – and put up two scoreless, getting around a 2-out Kilday triple in the seventh inning, striking out Starwalt. When Bribiesca walked and Arellano singled with two outs in the bottom 7th it not only got rid of DeWitt, but also DeRose, as the Raccoons went to a pinch-hitter in DeChristopher to face DeMelvin DeGuerra. He flew out to DeLovins.

The 1-2-3 disappeared without a squeak in the bottom 8th, while Rocco and Barton still kept the score at 1-0 into the ninth inning. Kleidon was back for the save attempt in the bottom 9th, which started with Starr, who grounded out. Mata scratched out a walk in a full count. Fox’ grounder to third base moved the tying run to second base, but a K to Bribiesca ended the game. 1-0 Indians. DeRose 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Sigh.

Game 4
IND: 2B Kilday – RF Lovins – C A. Gomez – 1B Starwalt – CF S. Thompson – LF Abel – 3B G. Keller – SS Cirelli – P Pichardo
POR: CF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – RF Corral – 3B Fowler – 2B Bean – P C. Fox

Another pitcher did damage on Thursday, as Chance Fox first allowed two 1-out singles to Thompson and Kevin Abel in the top 2nd, but then struck out Keller and Cirelli to get outta there, then came up to bat after Corral and Fowler had opened the bottom 2nd with singles and were looking at him from scoring position. Fox smashed a single past a diving Cirelli, and both runners scored with the first markers on the board. Christopher hit another single, but Lonzo and Starr made outs to end the inning. Pichardo partly got Fox back with a single to center beginning the top 3rd, but the 1-2-3 went down easily and he was stranded on base as well.

The Indians were silent in the middle innings, while the Raccoons got a leadoff jack by Joel Starr in the fifth to get up to 3-0, while with two outs in the sixth Christopher, Lonzo, and Starr all pooled onto the bases to knock out Pichardo, but Brass grounded out against ex-Coon Hyun-soo Bak and they were all stranded. Fox didn’t allow much into the seventh, when Abel whacked a 2-out double off him and Keller sent another deep fly to left, but it was caught on the warning track by Brassfield to get out of the inning. And maybe it was time to replace Foxie Brown after just 86 pitches, because the Indians were now certainly getting louder. But, y’know, stubbornness. Why waste a scarce lefty reliever when there is a left-handed batter in the box, and you already have a left-handed starter up? That way, Fox ended up facing another four batters in the eighth inning – all left-handers! – and this while beginning the inning with a hit batter (Cirelli), and then a single allowed to Alvarez. Kilday popped out, and Lovins hit into a double play to usher him out of the inning. James Murdock got his first Coons save with a much less tense 1-2-3 ninth. 3-0 Critters. Christopher 2-5; Starr 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Fowler 2-4; C. Fox 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, W (3-3) and 1-3, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (31-29) vs. Pacifics (21-40) – June 9-11, 2062

These teams had not seen another in four years, with L.A. taking two of three in the last meeting in ’57. The 2062 Pacifics were pretty wretched, in the bottom three in both runs scored and runs allowed in the FL, and with a -62 run differential after just over a third of the season. They had the worst rotation in the entire league with a combined ERA over five. The defense was crummy, but the pen was pretty solid given all other issues. Milt Cantrell and infielders Steve Dilly and Jesse Sweeney were notably on the DL for them.

Projected matchups:
John Bollinger (0-0) vs. Dave Robinson (5-4, 2.48 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (5-5, 3.35 ERA) vs. Alfonso Calderon (1-3, 4.89 ERA)
Nick Robinson (7-3, 2.99 ERA) vs. Ivan Torres (3-1, 3.97 ERA)

The two Robinsons were the only two left-handed pitchers for this weekend series.

Game 1
LAP: SS Baird – LF McInnis – 1B Olivares – CF J. Espinoza – RF J. Martinez – 2B Cline – C Kelbaugh – 3B Marchek – P D. Robinson
POR: LF Crumble – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – 1B Starr – CF Mata – C Perez – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bribiesca – P Bollinger

Adam Baird was the first ABL batter Bollinger faced and singled to left on a 1-0 pitch before Bollinger walked Matt McInnis. Things got a wee bit better with Alejandro Olivares’ grounder to short, which Lonzo took to start a 6-4-3 double play. Jesus Espinoza struck out in a full count, and Bollinger had his first big-boy zero. He lined up a few more of those, but the Pacifics kept getting on base, like in the fourth with back-to-back 2-out singles from ex-Coon Jesus Martinez and Jake Cline. Pete Kelbaugh made the third out to left-center, though. Joe Marchek socked a home run to left to begin the fifth; that was the first run in the game, with the Raccoons on just two base hits through four innings, including a Bollinger single in his first at-bat. His second time up he followed Fox and Bribiesca getting on base with one out in the bottom 5th and couldn’t get the bunt down, striking out eventually. Malik Crumble was to the rescue with a single past Baird into left-center, sending home Fox with the tying run. Lonzo followed up with another RBI single to right for a 2-1 lead. Martinez made an attempt at Bribiesca at the plate, but that was wide and only allowed the trailing runners to advance, although Brass ended up walking anyway. Starr batted with three on and two down, smashed the first pitch he saw to deep center, and Espinoza wasn’t gonna get to it. The ball ended up a bases-clearing, and for Dave Robinson game-ending, double, putting the Coons up 5-1. Jose Salazar, right-hander, ended the shenanigans with a K to Mata.

Crumble had another 2-out RBI single in the following inning after Salazar put fodder on by nicking Perez and walking Fox. Bollinger even got the bunt down this time. Lonzo further cranked up the hurt with a 2-run double to left, 8-1, while Brass flew out to Martinez in right against new pitcher Jim Peterson. Bollinger got only one more out before being lifted on 98 pitches after allowing a Cline single in the seventh. Middleton worked the Coons out of the inning, then also did the eighth. Sullivan allowed three sharply hit balls in the ninth inning, but all three ended up with a defender to make him look competent at first glance. 8-1 Critters! Crumble 3-4, 2 RBI; Lavorano 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Bollinger 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (1-0) and 1-2;

Solid debut!

The Coons had hoped to get Ben Morris back by now, but he had a slow time to get going in AAA and would remain there another day or two, giving Jose Corral a few more chances to try and build a case to stay up over Malik Crumble.

Game 2
LAP: SS Baird – LF McInnis – 1B Olivares – CF J. Espinoza – RF J. Martinez – 2B Cline – C Kelbaugh – 3B Marchek – P A. Calderon
POR: CF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – RF Corral – 3B Fowler – 2B Bean – C Arellano – P B. Herrera

Tipsy Bobby laid another early egg, retiring the first two batters on Saturday before issuing a triple to Olivares in the rightfield corner, walking the bags full, and then giving up two runs on a Cline single before finally getting over it with Pete Kelbaugh’s groundout. The Raccoons responded in kind, though, tying the game on walks Calderon issued to Lonzo and Starr, then a left-center gap triple honked by Brassfield. Corral drew another walk, and Fowler flew out to center for a sac fly, which gave Portland a 3-2 lead. Bean singled, but Arellano grounded out to end the inning.

Herrera had two neat innings before leadoff hits by Martinez (single) and Cline (double) in the fourth. Martinez tried to score all the way from first base, and was denied by Christopher, firing a rocket from the outfield to hammer him out at home. Cline advanced to third base on the play, but was stranded with a K to Kelbaugh and a Marchek pop to Bean.

Calderon fooled the bags full with Lonzo, Brass, and Corral, who couldn’t buy a hit, but drew another walk, bringing up Fowler with three on and one out. Fowler hit another sac fly to center to extend the lead he had earlier produced with a sac fly to center further to 4-2. Bean’s fly to center ended the inning, though. Top 6th, and Tipsy Bobby continued to wobble. Olivares hit a leadoff double to left, then was thrown out by Christopher trying to score on Espinoza’s single. Espinoza then tried to steal third base, and when Arellano threw the ball away, scored altogether, 4-3. Herrera got one more out, then was lifted after 5.2 trying innings.

Murdock got blown up in the seventh to flip the score. Joe Marchek led off with a triple to center, and Pedro Parada’s pinch-hit power push produced plenty pain por Portland, making it a 5-4 L.A. game. Ricky H. and Barton did some holding-the-opposition-in-place, but the offense didn’t come around, and the ninth inning saw Sullivan make more of a mess by filling the bases: Kelbaugh had a hit, Rich Cabrera drew a walk, and in between Sullivan’s own throwing error put Marchek aboard. DeRose (!) would come in with three on and two outs and Olivares batting, got a strikeout, and the Raccoons would try getting a run (or even two!) off righty Roberto Ramirez in the bottom 9th, starting with Nick Fox in the #9 hole (the pitcher was hitting sixth for Portland at this point). Fox opened with a single through the right side, and moved his tying-run bum to second base on Christopher’s groundout, then to third base on a wild 2-2 to Lonzo, who poked the next ball up the middle. Baird’s throw to first pulled Olivares off the base, allowing Lonzo to reach, but Fox would have scored regardless, tying the game at five! Lonzo was caught stealing against an always alert Ramirez before Starr singled to enter, and Brass whiffed to send the game to extras, so now DeRose wasn’t so misplaced in the game after all…! …then promptly issued a walk, a balk, and another walk in the top 10th in a desperate bid to get his snout beaten in, but the Pacifics couldn’t find the base hit they needed. Ramirez was still on the hill for L.A. on the other side of the ad break, got Corral on a grounder, but then saw Marchek bobble Bribiesca’s pinch-hit grounder for an error. Bean grounded out, moving the winning run to second, and Perez batted for Arellano to try and end the damn thing, but grounded out.

Middleton had a panic-free 11th inning before Jim Peterson took over for L.A. Christopher hit a 1-out single and Lonzo got nicked to create an opportunity in the bottom 11th, but Starr popped out and Brass grounded out to let it pass. Martinez and Cline were on bas with hits off Middleton in the 12th. Kelbaugh grounded out, and Marchek singed a liner right into Lonzo’s mitten to keep them stranded in scoring position. Corral led off another extra inning and this time singled to right. Bribiesca popped out, while Middleton was used to bunt the winning run into scoring position, which worked out well enough. Angel Perez was batting with two outs on the winning run out there again, and this time lobbed a single to left-center. Corral was waved around, Ken Dickson’s throw from left arrived too late, and the Raccoons walked off…! 6-5 Raccoons! Christopher 2-6; Fowler 0-1, 2 BB; Bean 2-5; Middleton 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, W (3-2);

Justin Rocco was the only unused reliever in this game.

Game 3
LAP: CF T. Garcia – 2B Cline – 1B Olivares – RF J. Martinez – LF J. Espinoza – 3B Marchek – C Eaton – SS Baird – P I. Torres
POR: RF Corral – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – CF Mata – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bean – P N. Robinson

Robinson was up against an all-right-handed lineup. Cline singled but was doubled up by Olivares in the first, in which the Coons got leadoff singles from Corral and Lonzo, and eventually a 1-0 lead after productive groundouts by Starr and Brass. Perez left one more on base, but then hit a leadoff home run to left in the fourth inning, running the score to 2-0. Robinson had only given up one more hit by then, although stuff was lacking. The contact against him was mostly poor, though – until the fifth and a pair of homers smashed by Espinoza and Todd Eaton to tie the game at two.

Eaton was back in the box when Robinson ran out of wits in the sixth inning, having loaded the bases with Cline, Olivares, and Marchek, a hit and two walks, and two outs. The Raccoons bolted for Murdock, and the right-hander got a fly to left from Eaton that Brass could track down comfortably to keep the game tied in the middle of the sixth. Bottom 6th, Torres walked Brass with one out. Brass stole a base before Perez also walked in a full count, and Mata grounded into a fielder’s choice on another full count getting Perez erased at second base. The Pacifics also lifted the starter after 5.2 innings, and Zane Fenlon got Nick Fox out to center to leave runners on the corners.

Murdock got a groundout and three strikeouts in the seve- … (counts on all claws) … oh, Kelbaugh reached on an uncaught third strike in the #9 hole. That go-ahead runner never left first base, though. The seventh was uneventful, and the Pacifists frittered another two singles off Paul Barton away in the eighth inning. Brass singled off Nick Leigh, but was doubled up by Perez to end the inning in the bottom 8th, which marked Perez’ fourth double play tumbled into this week. Rocco got the ball in the ninth. He got two outs, then allowed a double to Tony Garcia, a walk to Cline, and then saw Bribiesca fire away the grounder for the third out by Olivares. The go-ahead run scored, and two more were left in scoring position on a first-pitch, pinch-hit pop by Rich Cabrera. The Raccoons found themselves up against Roberto Ramirez again, who was hopefully tired enough to leak something in the bottom 9th to the 6-7-8 batters. But no – Mata, Fox, and Christopher were retired in order. 3-2 Pacifics.

In other news

June 6 – The Blue Sox rally for eight runs in the last three innings, making up at least half their deficit on the Rebels before losing 17-10 anyway. RIC INF/RF Robby Cox (.269, 2 HR, 32 RBI) has five hits with a double and three RBI, while RIC SP Goffredo Merlin (3-7, 4.81 ERA) cracks two doubles, a single, and drives in six runs to support himself.
June 7 – SAC SP Josh Elling (6-4, 4.20 ERA) throws a 1-hit shutout against the Wolves, claiming a 6-0 win with eight strikeouts. SAL OF Diego Montero (.269, 4 HR, 25 RBI) has the lone single for the losing side.
June 7 – The Bayhawks beat the Falcons, 13-9 in 13 innings. Both teams score four in the tenth inning before San Francisco breaks through with a 5-run top of the 13th inning, allowing only one run in return.
June 9 – The Cyclones beat the Aces, 5-3 in 12 innings. All runs in the game score in that 12th inning, including three homers.
June 10 – A fourth-inning single in an 8-3 loss to the Thunder extends the hitting streak of Sacramento’s Victor Corrales (.336, 4 HR, 25 RBI) to 25 games.
June 11 – Thunder SP Aaron Harris (8-3, 2.26 ERA) shuts out the Scorpions on three hits, whiffing eight in a 6-0 game.

FL Player of the Week: DAL OF Tyler Wharton (.410, 13 HR, 51 RBI), strafing .457 (16-35) with 3 HR, 12 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL OF Scott Franks (.329, 2 HR, 25 RBI), poking .486 (17-35) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Still in last place, and still over .500 while doing so, 63 games into the season. This is a wicked division.

What to do about Jose Corral? He’s not hitting, but he’s drawing walks. But if he’s not hitting, he’s just a less defensively adept version of Joey Christopher, and one that is hitting from the same side. And we need Ben Morris back on the roster for an *actual* leadoff man capable of stirring. Yeah, it doesn’t look *great* for the youngster for an extension to this cup o’ coffee.

The Riddle injury is highly unfortunate. Bollinger was *fine* in his debut, but we’ll see where we stand after three, four starts, and whether we want to make a move for another AAA guy instead. In the meantime, Riddle will probably lead the CL ERA table until he’ll drop off for insufficient innings two weeks from now.

Trades would be possible, as long as nobody wants us to part with Roberto Soto, who is literally in every trade proposal we receive this year. I’m not entirely sure why. He’s a couple months younger than Corral, and batting .201/.250/.270 in Ham Lake.

Coons are off on Monday, then head East for series with the Cyclones and Titans. In between I’ll ditch them to head to New York for the draft.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are ranked 11th among CL teams in both homers allowed and homers hit themselves.

Just in case I wasn’t making the point last week… we have socked 30 bombs and served up 53. Which is perplexing since the pitchers still have the second-best ERA (starters) and a respectable fifth place for relievers. I don’t … I don’t know.

Do you know, Honeypaws? – No, Honeypaws doesn’t know either, and if Honeypaws doesn’t know, who could possibly know what’s going on?

(sad Cristiano noises)

[Westheim]

Here’s the draft from the middle of the following week. I played the Cyclones series yesterday, but then didn’t get to the draft because Steam was having a stroke in the timeslot available. So I’ll just put this here, and the Cyclones/Titans week will come later tonight or so.

+++

2062 AMATEUR DRAFT

The Raccoons took their GM, their scout, and their #19 pick to New York on Thursday for the annual amateur draft to give the farm an injection of fresh blood that was sorely needed. Maybe we could finally draft a hitting hitter, or something!

The following players were on our annual hotlist, although at #19 we were not guaranteed a selection from this list (*HS players):

SP Chris Jones (11/13/11) *
SP Jake Grotto (12/10/14)
SP Gary Blosser (11/13/13)

CL Jorge Sanchez (14/13/17) *
CL Jesse Dover (20/13/12)
CL Dave Hyman (17/14/13)
CL Paul Wolk (18/13/11)

C Jesse West (10/10/15) *

OF/2B/SS Mike Pinault (9/14/11)
UT Carlos Fumero (14/5/6)
OF Jimmy Poe (10/12/10) *
OF Devon Franks (10/8/17) *

The Falcons had the #1 pick and went with Mike Pinault in that slot. The Knights also went for versatility with Carlos Fumero at #2, and the Loggers reached for more outfield help with Jimmy Poe using their #3 pick. After that came the Wolves with pitcher Jon Graham, who was not on our hotlist at all. Cincy’s #5 pick was used on Jake Grotto. Further hotlist picks were made by the Miners, taking Chris Jones at #7, and the Crusaders, selecting Gary Blosser with the #10 pick, which emptied the pool of starting pitchers we had there. Outfielders went extinct with the Thunder taking Devon Franks at #13, and at this point only the defensively challenged catcher Jesse West and the horde of closers were left, and those five remained left over for the Raccoons to dig their paws in with the #19 pick.

The thing with Jesse West was that you wouldn’t want him as a catcher. Drafting him would immediately require retraining him to first base, and how often had the Raccoons had any luck with first basemen in the draft? He had pretty decent hitting potential, but the Raccoons were better advised taking a swing at a closer here, and we opted for the best filth and rook right-hander Jesse Dover.

West went #23 to the Bayhawks near the end of the first round. Hyman was selected #39 by the Crusaders, the Loggers grabbed Wolk with the #43 pick, and the Blue Sox emptied the hotlist by selecting Sanchez with the #49 selection.

South African novelty option Duecha Sumai was taken #161 by the Falcons to start the seventh round.

+++

2062 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#19) – CL Jesse Dover, 20, from Pittsburgh, PA – no-doubt right-hander that throws the 97mph heat and a filthy slider, and has only control to work out before he will get up to the majors
Round 2 (#59) – SP Cody Childress, 21, from Baltimore, MD – right-hander with a curve and strong changeup, occasionally hanging them for firework effects
Round 3 (#83) – 2B/SS Pat Reynolds, 17, from Aurora, IL – according to some (looks at scout Steve Hansen), he was a future defensive wizard (but not the strongest arm), who would hit top of the lineup with enough speed to steal 30 bags a year because his singles prowess and tons of walks would put him constantly on base. OSA very much did not agree, and 23 other teams probably didn’t either.
Round 4 (#107) – OF Aaron Moore, 18, from Nutley, NJ – another singles slapper with good speed, no power, and the capability to be a plus defender in centerfield
Round 5 (#131) – 1B Alex Palacios, 18, from Coppell, TX – at this point we felt obligated to draft a defensively challenged first baseman with some sort of home run power potential (double digits on the scouting scale at least) and hope he’d pan out for once
Round 6 (#155) – SP Rich Duran, 18, from San Juan, Puerto Rico – right-hander with a four-pitch mix, but nothing stands out there, except for his control issues
Round 7 (#179) – LF/RF Jim Higgins, 20, from Valley Station, KY – plays a power position (poorly) while not hitting for much power
Round 8 (#203) – C Bobby Lund, 18, from Muncie, IN – solid plate work for a young catcher, and a half-decent hitting profile, but he throws like a girl and runners are free ranging on him
Round 9 (#227) – SP Evan Woodall, 19, from Port Arthur, TX – left-hander with a 90mph fastball and a good knuckle curve, but only a putrid changeup that gets hit a lot for a third pitch; might be better served in the pen
Round 10 (#251) – INF Scott Maxey, 19, from San Diego, CA – very hard worker, constantly studying reports, but that doesn’t change that he can’t hit the baseball
Round 11 (#275) – SP Jonathan Payan, 19, from Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico – left-hander (of course) with an 87mph fastball and a basic curve, and then some other things that mostly make loud noises; paradoxically, his control might be the best of his assets
Round 12 (#299) – C Nick McDaniel, 20, from San Mateo, CA – another defensively challenged catcher that is also offensively challenged, but I hear he’s quite good at making his parents’ taxes
Round 13 (#323) – INF Fred Sheets, 18, from Lochearn, MD – can’t hit a lick, but throws a bit of a sinker and who knows, maybe he can be a righty reliever in some capacity (batting practice?)

+++

Jesse Dover went straight to Ham Lake, while the rest was assigned to Aumsville.

Cleanup was done as well. On the pitching side we parted ways with former 13th-rounder Steve Zuercher, who had failed his way around the lower levels for five years now, but it was time to learn a proper job now; same for 2058 Nick Brown memorial pick John Wiemers, who was an actual danger to society with his non-curving curves that were going right at the batters’ heads.

For batters, another 13th-rounder going out was C Garrett Wackler, taken in 2058, who couldn’t hit anything. 2060 10th-rounder 2B Chase Schmitt was 23 years old and had two career hits in two years in Aumsville, which was all he’d get. From the Alley Cats, we released corner guy Matt Hamilton, who had at point come over from the Loggers with Tony Benitez in exchange for Seisaku Taki and Gaudencio Callaia, but who had never hit at the AAA level and now he was 27 and no longer required. 2059 10th-rounder Justin Garrett was also released from Aumsville, hitting .184 as a regular.

By the way, we’re not intentionally picking on 13th-rounders here; the two pitchers from the last two seasons taken in the last round were moved to Ham Lake with this draft.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (33-30) @ Cyclones (29-34) – June 13-15, 2062

Last series before the draft, and also the first on the road after two weeks of playing mostly awfully at home. The Cyclones were in fourth place in the FL East with a lot of middling stats, except for their rotation, which was the second-best by ERA in the Federal League, although Edwin Moreno and his 1.78 ERA had gone to the DL by now, which reminded me too much of Tyler Riddle (sob). Another exception was the power department, in which the Cyclones were tops, and speed, where they were bottoms. Lonzo was out-stealing that entire team of theirs. This was the third straight year these teams met in the regular season. The Coons had swept Cincy the last time around.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (3-7, 3.84 ERA) vs. Matthew May (7-5, 4.21 ERA)
Chance Fox (3-3, 3.38 ERA) vs. Luis Palacios (3-6, 4.52 ERA)
John Bollinger (1-0, 1.42 ERA) vs. Johnny Doolin (5-5, 3.60 ERA)

Instead we’d get their two worst regulars, who were also their two left-handers, May and Palacios, to begin the series.

The Raccoons brought back Ben Morris for the Tuesday opener, with Jose Corral begrudgingly returned to AAA.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Brassfield – C Perez – RF Mata – LF Crumble – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bribiesca – P Alba
CIN: CF D. Baker – SS J. Munoz – 2B Monck – C Heath – RF Ewig – 1B S. Jordan – LF DeSando – 3B Ruskin – P May

Continuing the theme of the Raccoons getting most of their offense from pitchers, Angel Alba drove in the game’s first run with the third of four singles for eventually two runs in the top 2nd. Crumble, Bribiesca, and Morris, who got another RBI, were also involved before Lonzo’s grounder to short ended the inning. Throwing errors by both Jorge Munoz and Matthew May allowed the Raccoons to then add three unearned runs in the third inning. Perez and Nick Fox had base hits in the inning, but it all started with Munoz’ error to put Brassfield on base, and it ended with the pitcher’s error on a Bribiesca grounder that allowed the last two runs to score. Alba then flew out to center to end that inning. While the Cyclones were a mess, so was Alba, who put two runners on base in each of the first three innings, but Cincy couldn’t get a run across despite being issued three hits, a hit batter, and two walks.

Brass knocked out May with a 2-out single to center in the fourth, with that run then quickly conceded on lefty Jason Carlson’s RBI double served to Perez, but the Cyclones also finally got Alba… for an unearned run in the same inning. Alba threw away a pickoff attempt after Matt DeSando reached with a bloop single. Dallas Baker’s 2-out double to the base of the ball brought in that runner, 6-1, but Munoz then struck out. Another three hits cobbled another run driven in by Steve Jordan together for the Cyclones in the fifth, and making it even that far took Alba 107 pitches. Matt Ruskin flew out to Crumble in deep left to end the last of his five awful innings.

The Coons went to DeRose hoping for multiple innings, but got a four-pitch leadoff walk to the reliever Carlson in the bottom 6th, which was so not up to code. DeRose would concede the run after a Brass error and a Munoz RBI single, but then got out of the inning with the tying run in the box by now. Jordan then ****** a Mata grounder for another Cyclones error with one out in the seventh, and Jason Harding drilled Crumble to put another Critter on base. Fox and Starr, hitting for Bribiesca, then both flew out harmlessly to keep the free runners on base. DeRose then got stuck with another two Cyclones on base in the bottom 7th. Ricky H. replaced him in a double switch with Nick Fowler to go to third base, struck out Baker, and buggered the Coons out of the inning. But the drag continued with Herrera loading the bases in the following inning, drilling Munoz and allowing singles to Josh Heath and Matt Ewig. Bags full, Jordan popped out to Starr at first, but Murdock was brought in for the right-handed DeSando and got the crucial strikeout to get out of another waste of several perfectly good runners by the Cyclones. The plonking also continued, with Ryan De Jong nailing Perez with an 0-2 pitch to begin the ninth inning. Mata forced out the runner, and Bean hit into a double play altogether. Rocco then slammed the door facing the minimum. 6-3 Critters. Perez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Fowler 1-1;

The Cyclones left *15* runners on base. The Coons still stranded nine in a game with 24 hits, three walks, and five hit batters, plus the five errors.

I’m kinda just glad nobody got hurt.

No double-lefty either, as the Cyclones moved Doolin up to the middle game.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – RF Christopher – C Perez – 3B Fowler – 2B Bean – P C. Fox
CIN: 3B D. Baker – SS J. Munoz – 2B Monck – C Heath – RF Ewig – CF DeSando – LF S. Valdez – 1B S. Jordan – P Doolin

Ben Morris whacked a leadoff double to center and then stood around the bases for a while as two outs were made before Brass worked a full-count walk. Christopher and Perez then came through with a pair of RBI singles before Fowler popped out to Santiago Valdez in shallow left. The Coons even got another two 2-out runs in the second inning, which Bean opened with a shy single up the middle. Fox bunted him onwards, but Morris whiffed; Lonzo got an RBI single and Starr swatted an RBI double off the wall in right-center for a 4-0 edge. Runs then came early in the third, as Christopher singled and Perez smashed a homer, 6-0, and Doolin didn’t make it out of the inning.

Things looked neat with Fox until the bottom 4th began with a four-pitch walk to Munoz, a nicked Rich Monck, and Fowler fudging Heath’s grounder, resulting in three on and nobody out. Fox struck out Ewig after a mound conference, but eventually got punked for four runs (two earned) with a DeSando single, a Valdez double, and Jordan’s sac fly, before whiffing PH Trevor Niemiec.

Angel Perez to the rescue; Carlson put Christopher on base to begin the fifth, then left with an injury in favor of Spencer Dalrymple, who immediately hung one to Perez that the backstop clocked for his second 2-run homer of the night, extending the battered lead back to 8-4. Fowler got on with another single and scored on Morris’ 2-out single, 9-4, but the lid appeared to be off with Fox now, as the Cyclones hit three deep flies – all for outs – in the bottom 5th, and they had two more loud outs in the sixth. The Raccoons dragged him through seven before tacking on another run, Fowler bringing home Starr with a 2-out hit, in the top 8th. The inning ended with Bribiesca pinch-hitting and grounding out, so Fox didn’t bat, then came back for one more pitch and an F7 from Baker in the bottom 8th before handing it off to Middleton, who entered in a double switch that exchanged catchers, and got the last five outs without undue horror. 10-4 Furballs! Morris 2-6, 2B, RBI; Starr 3-5, 2B, RBI; Christopher 2-3, BB, RBI; Perez 3-4, BB, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Fowler 3-5, RBI; C. Fox 7.1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (4-3) and 1-2;

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 2B Bribiesca – 3B N. Fox – C Arellano – P Bollinger
CIN: 1B S. Jordan – SS J. Munoz – RF MacDonnell – 2B Monck – C Heath – LF Ewig – CF Sauceda – 3B Ruskin – P L. Palacios

The Coons scored first and early again with straight hits to begin the second inning, starting with Starr and Crumble singles before Bribiesca drove an RBI double to left-center, although he couldn’t get it past Sauceda and the remaining runners had to hold at second and third. The hits continued with a fastball into Nick Fox’ hip, loading the bags with nobody out, and Arellano singled in two before Bollinger’s fielder’s choice grounder was the actual first out of the inning. Morris’ RBI single made it 4-0, Lonzo flew out to center, and Brass walked to fill them up and bring back Starr, who flew out to John MacDonnell on the warning track.

Outside of that inning the Raccoons were rather silent, while Bollinger had three good innings before putting Munoz on and giving up a 2-piece over the wall in right in the fourth. It was a bit the beginning of the end for him; Manny Sauceda and Matt Ruskin had sharp hits to begin the bottom 5th before the Cyclones chose violence and batted for Palacios, thus ensuring none of their starters went into the sixth in this series. Mario Padilla hit into a fielder’s choice, but Bollinger lost Steve Jordan on balls, then gave up a sac fly to Munoz, 4-3. Another walk to MacDonnell filled the bases again and was the end of his day, too. Ricky H. came in, gave up a 2-run double to flip the score against Monck, but Heath then grounded out to Nick Fox to FINALLY end the inning. Herrera was then bludgeoned for another four hits and three runs in the bottom 6th, mostly against lefty hitters, as his stuff had clearly departed him about ten months ago, and became more visible every day.

The Cyclones weren’t stopping there. While Barton narrowly escaped damage in the seventh, DeRose allowed an unearned run in the eighth inning after hits by Ruskin and Baker before the run was conceded on an error by Fowler, who had replaced Nick Fox at third base. Top 9th, Blake Anderson had a 5-run lead against a team that had not mounted a threat since the second inning, but allowed leadoff singles to Christopher and Mata in the 8-9 spots. Morris flew out, Lonzo’s sac fly was not really any help, and Brass walked, but Starr flew out to Sauceda and that ended the game. 9-5 Cyclones. Crumble 2-3, 2B; Christopher (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (35-31) @ Titans (34-31) – June 16-18, 2062

Nothing good ever happened in Boston, where the Titans ranked third in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed, and had a +28 run differential. But everybody in the division had a positive run differential, and everybody was above .500, and somehow this madness was continuing with the draft already behind everybody. The Titans had taken three of four from the Critters in the first meeting of the year.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (5-5, 3.44 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (9-2, 2.09 ERA)
Nick Robinson (7-3, 3.00 ERA) vs. Jayden Craddock (6-6, 4.62 ERA)
Angel Alba (4-7, 3.82 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (7-3, 3.12 ERA)

The Titans only had right-handers to offer. Also, at 25, Jason Brenize was finally living up to the hype. Retrospectively, the Titans had definitely thrown him to the lions too early, but he had already led the CL in strikeouts last year, and every year his ERA was getting better.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – RF Christopher – C Perez – 3B Fowler – 2B Bean – P B. Herrera
BOS: LF Ramires – RF A. Lee – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – 1B M. Rubin – 3B D. Mendoza – SS Lloyd – 2B W. de Leon – P Brenize

A soggy Friday evening became even soggier when after two scoreless innings Bobby Herrera felt a twinge in his shoulder and did not come back out for the third inning. The Raccoons went to Middleton for long relief rather than DeRose, because DeRose had thrown 58 pitches in the last three days. Middleton threw seven pitches in the bottom 3rd before getting the lead in the fourth when Lonzo lashed a leadoff triple to left, then scored on an error by Ted Lloyd, but even if the play on Starr’s grounder had been made, Lonzo would have come home without issue. Brenize walked Brassfield, but then struck out Christopher and got a double play grounder from Angel Perez to get out of the inning, and then got the lead himself after Middleton drilled Andy Lee to begin the bottom 4th, and then was very much taken deep by Eddie Marcotte, who already whacked his 16th homer of the season. Middleton allowed a third run an inning later via a triple by a middle infielder (Willie DeLeon) and a sac fly hit to right by Brenize. Then a rain delay ended his tenure in the game, but he would have been replaced after three innings anyway. Brenize would last seven innings despite the rain delay, holding on to a 3-hitter and a 3-1 lead, and the Raccoons would be no more successful against Josh Carlisle and Jason Posey in the last two innings. 3-1 Titans.

Alright. Nobody panic. Bobby Herrera should be *fine*. Luis Silva found nothing of real concern. Cool that shoulder, maybe inject some stuff, perhaps an oil change, and he should be good to go.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – RF Christopher – C Perez – 3B Fowler – 2B Bribiesca – P Robinson
BOS: 2B Ramires – RF Lloyd – CF Marcotte – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – LF Y. Valdez – SS W. de Leon – P Craddock

While Robinson spent the first two innings mostly behind in the count, but didn’t allow a run, the Raccoons got another third-inning triple from Lonzo, but this time couldn’t make a score out of it. Starr drew a walk, but Brassfield hit into an inning-ending double play, 6-4-3. The Raccoons also frittered away a leadoff double by Joe-Chris in the following inning, then saw Robinson serve up doubles to Manny Rubin and Diego Mendoza to fall 1-0 behind in the bottom of the fourth. He wasn’t fooling anybody, nor was the offense. Angel Perez hit into another double play in the sixth just after Christopher reached with an infield single. Robinson ached through six chewy innings on 98 pitches, somehow allowed only one run, but Craddock was just not touchable for the Raccoons, who went down in order in the last three innings against Craddock and Posey. 1-0 Titans. Starr 1-2, 2 BB; Christopher 2-4, 2B;

And that was the end of the series. For the second time in three weeks, the Raccoons were rained out on Sunday. Lonzo and Brass would have been off, and now everybody was off. Huzzah.

In other news

June 13 – SAC 3B/2B Victor Corrales (.330, 4 HR, 25 RBI) has his hitting streak ended at 27 games with an 0-for-4 while the Scorpions win 7-2 against the Canadiens.
June 14 – San Francisco takes a big L with an oblique strain sending 2B/LF Armando Montoya (.306, 10 HR, 41 RBI) to the DL for at least a month.
June 15 – The Indians acquire SP Ramon Carreno (1-6, 5.28 ERA) from the Pacifics for two prospects.
June 17 – CHA SP Leo Mendez (2-7, 3.24 ERA) breaks out with a 3-hit shutout of the Canadiens, claiming a 3-0 win.
June 17 – The Stars riot over the Wolves, 19-8, with five singles chipped in by OF/1B Tommy Pritchard (.400, 7 HR, 70 RBI), and seven runs driven in on three hits, including two homers, by OF Tyler Wharton (.415, 15 HR, 58 RBI). Since Wharton hit right in front of Pritchard, the latter got zero RBI’s on his five hits.
June 18 – SFB OF Scott Laws (.335, 1 HR, 24 RBI) would miss at least a month with a broken thumb.

FL Player of the Week: WAS INF Angelo Flores (.322, 10 HR, 57 RBI), batting .375 (9-24) with 3 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA 1B/3B Alex Alfaro (.256, 9 HR, 32 RBI), bashing .542 (13-24) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The makeup date for Sunday’s newest rainout will be even more of a pain in the tush than the Loggers game. This one will be made up in a Thursday double header on August 3, near the middle of a 16-day string without a day off, and at the second station of a murderous 4-city road trip, mostly on the East Coast.

Like we say, nothing good ever happens in Boston. And at the Bay. Technically, Boston is also on a bay. Different bay though. Both are good for drowning an entire entirely useless lineup in it though.

Matt Walters will start a rehab assignment in AAA on Monday. This will take at least one week, and I have heard some concerning stuff from that corner of the office that always pretends to know it all that his stuff is in the trash.

The Raccoons come home for just a few days, playing a 3-game set against the damn Elks starting on Monday, and then we’ll trip right back East again for a swoop through Charlotte and Atlanta. After that, we’ll finish the first half of the year at home against division rivals.

We might take something home with us, as the Titans are basically giving away Mike Pohlmann (2-0, 2.35 ERA) for free. A bit of a failed starter that became very effective in the pen, Pohlmann was paid seven figures at $1.3M, but we could literally get him for a stack of waste paper or, say, Brad Loveless.

Yes, I know, we need OFFENSE. I am *painfully* aware.

Fun Fact: The triple that Lonzo hit on Saturday was the 2,000th hit of his career.

That was the triple that led nowhere, y’know, in the shutout.

Lonzo is a career .278/.312/.360 hitter. Of his 2,000 hits, 394 have gone for extra bases, with a surprisingly large share of triples: 113 of his hits were for three bases, with 43 homers and 238 doubles. Not counted: the faux doubles for stealing second base.

It’s not much talked about, but the 113 career triples actually rank him tied for 28th on the all-time leaderboard, even with Ricky Avila, a journeyman from the 2010s and 20s. The top of THAT leaderboard is not within reach: the one-and-only Pablo Sanchez between 2013 and 2039 smashed *293* triples, 84 more than second-place Hugo Acosta.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (35-33) vs. Canadiens (35-32) – June 19-21, 2062

Things weren’t going great, and then the Elks hooved into town. Ugh! They had a 4-2 lead on the Raccoons for the year, and ranked ninth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed. Seven-year Elk Danny Garcia was the only key player on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (4-7, 3.82 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (5-5, 4.48 ERA)
Chance Fox (4-3, 3.30 ERA) vs. Rafael Mendoza (3-8, 4.10 ERA)
John Bollinger (1-1, 4.91 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (4-4, 3.49 ERA)

One left-hander, which would be Fitzgibbon, who had come over from the Indians. The Raccoons would have given Lonzo and Brass a day off, but for different reasons. Lonzo got rest enough during our second Sunday rainout in short succession. Brass just needed to give Malik Crumble a go.

Game 1
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – CF B. Campbell – 1B J. Campos – RF C. Richardson – 3B C. Sullivan – LF Valencia – C Orphanos – SS Pierson – P Kozloski
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – LF Crumble – RF Christopher – 2B Bribiesca – 3B N. Fox – P Alba

The Coons went up 1-0 in the opener on Angel Perez’ sac fly in the bottom 1st after Morris and Starr had set up camp on the corners with a pair of singles. The two hit-getters would put together another run in the fifth inning with a pair of doubles, and in between not a whole lot had happened. The Elks didn’t have a hit (but a couple of walks) and the Raccoons had left Lonzo at third in the third, and that had been about that. The bottom 5th continued with a 2-out Crumble single to put runners on the corners, and then Joey Christopher stuck a ball into the leftfield corner for a 2-run double, 4-0. Bribiesca struck out to end the inning, and Preston Pierson singled through the left side to begin the sixth to end Alba’s no-hitter, but was stranded on base with Kozloski’s bunt and two strikeouts on Alex Castillo and Brent Campbell.

The Elks came apart even more in the seventh inning. Kozloski hit Angel Perez with an 0-2 pitch with one out. Crumble and Bribiesca singled in the runner between them before Kozloski was yanked for long-ago Raccoons lefty Josh Mayo, who gave up an RBI double to Nick Fox. Alba still had enough fizz to complete the game with a little luck and struck out to leave a pair in scoring position, but cleared the Elks away in the eighth despite a leadoff single by Rafael Valencia, and sat on 99 pitches through eight. Damian Moreno grounded out to begin the ninth and Alba struck out Castillo for the 26th out. Brent Campbell rolled a 1-2 pitch to short then, Lonzo to first – and it was a shutout! 6-0 Raccoons! Morris 3-5, 2 2B; Starr 2-4, 2B, RBI; Mata (PH) 1-1; Crumble 2-4; N. Fox 2-4, 2B, RBI; Alba 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K, W (5-7);

Game 2
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – LF R. Valencia – 1B J. Campos – RF C. Cardenas – 3B C. Sullivan – CF B. Campbell – SS Spalding – C Orphanos – P R. Mendoza
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – RF Brassfield – C Perez – 3B Fowler – LF Mata – 2B Bean – P C. Fox

Chance Fox didn’t have such a great start on Tuesday, with Castillo drawing a leadoff walk and Rafael Valencia singling through the right side to put Elks on the corners with nobody out before they blundered into a strike-em-out-throw-em-out with Jose Campos and Valencia getting thrown out. Chad Cardenas grounded out and Castillo was left on third. The second was less great. Chris Sullivan singled, Campbell got nicked, and the damn Elks plated two runs with a Mike Orphanos double and a Mendoza sac fly, and while Castillo made the third out, Fox got smacked for another three hits and a third run in the third inning.

Tuesday’s Raccoons were meanwhile Monday’s Elks and couldn’t hit a thing. Fox never got his stuff together on this Tuesday. He lasted just five innings, getting waffled for nine hits and five runs. Following him was Barton, who pitched two innings, giving up another two runs in the second of those frames, in which Campos hit a leadoff single and Cardenas then mashed a homer to left. Bottom 7th, Starr singled and Brass doubled to left to begin the inning in a bid for some honorary run. Perez popped out, but Fowler hit a scratch RBI single to at least get on the board, which was as good as it got when Carlos Mata poked a 3-1 pitch into a double play. Joe-Chris pinch-hit to begin the bottom 8th and tripled and scored on a pinch-hit sac fly by Arellano, but that was again all the Coons scratched out in the inning, and they had nothing going in the ninth against Jeremy Garvey. 6-2 Canadiens. Brassfield 2-4, 2B; Christopher (PH) 1-1, 3B;

Game 3
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – C A. Maldonado – 1B J. Campos – LF C. Cardenas – 3B C. Sullivan – CF R. Valencia – RF D. Moreno – SS Graves – P Fitzgibbon
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Brassfield – C Perez – LF Crumble – RF Mata – 2B Bribiesca – 3B N. Fox – P Bollinger

Carlos Mata homered to left to begin the second inning for the first run in the rubber game, which came after Morris had gotten on base and having been caught stealing in the first. Lonzo also singled his way on base, but was left on. Brassfield hit a leadoff single in the third and … was caught stealing.

Bollinger held together quite nicely in the early innings, while Kenny Graves didn’t, suffering an injury on defense in the third inning and being replaced with Steven Spalding. Bollinger rung up seven through five innings and gave up just three singles, but the Raccoons took their time to tack some on. Lonzo got on base on a Chris Sullivan error in the bottom 5th, though. He moved up on Brass’ groundout, the first out of the inning, and then dashed around third base to score on Angel Perez’ single to left-center, 2-0. Bollinger would have had three groundouts in the sixth, but Nick Fox butchered Cardenas’ 2-out grounder for an error. However, Cardenas was also caught stealing on the first pitch to Sullivan, which ended the inning just fine. Fox then reached on an error himself to begin the home half of the sixth, when Sullivan peppered away his grounder for two bases. Bollinger and Morris had poor fly outs, but Lonzo slapped a single into center with two outs, and Fox got a quick start and scored to up the tally to 3-0. Brass knocked out Fitzgibbon with another single, but Perez flew out to center against Carson Miller to leave the pair on base.

Bollinger then was brushed into the bin very quickly in the seventh, allowing a leadoff single to Sullivan and a long homer to Valencia. Ricky H. and Murdock fumbled the rest of the inning together, while the Raccoons actually replied against lefty Jeremy Garvey by way of a 2-out double by Bribiesca and Fox’ RBI single. Starr pinch-hit in the pitcher’s spot, but grounded out to short, sending a 4-2 score to the eighth and Middleton. Cardenas and Sullivan singles crowded the right-hander, who struck out Valencia, then left for Rocco with two outs. The lefty Moreno popped out to Lonzo to end the threat before Garvey went back to the hill, who kept getting battered. Morris singled, Perez romped an RBI double, and Malik Crumble fired a 399-footer for a 2-run homer…! Brian Doster replaced Garvey, allowed two more singles to Mata and Bean, but Fox grounded out before Rocco could be forced to bat. The southpaw returned for the ninth inning and completed a 4-out save, but not without conceding a double to Spalding, and the runner to score on a 2-out balk… 7-3 Raccoons. Morris 2-4, BB; Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Brassfield 2-5; Perez 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Mata 3-4, BB, HR, RBI; Bean (PH) 1-1;

Trades

The Raccoons were off on Thursday, but busy on the phone. Two trades were made:

The Raccoons acquired 2B/SS Ken Sowell (.231, 16 HR, 53 RBI) from the Knights for nothing more than Carlos Mata (.262, 4 HR, 14 RBI).

The Critters also brought on MR Mike Pohlmann (2-0, 2.35 ERA) from the Titans in a trade for INF/RF Arturo Bribiesca (.284, 1 HR, 5 RBI).

Sowell was a free agent come the end of the year. He was a right-handed batter that was 32 years old but still adept up the middle. We had no illusions that he would hit homers for us (who ever did?) but the Bribiesca/Bean situation was just woeful. Pohlmann was perhaps still a serviceable starter, but for now just added to the pile of has-been right-handers in the pen that could go long.

The roster needed some balancing of course. Paul Barton (0-0, 2.08 ERA) was returned to the Alley Cats and instead we needed another outfielder and it was … ugh… a right-hander was required, actually. It was Jack Kozak, who barely qualified as an outfielder, and hardly qualified as a hitter…

Raccoons (37-34) @ Falcons (21-49) – June 23-25, 2062

The Falcons were in trouble. They were scoring the fewest runs in the league, and they were allowing more than 50% more runs than they scored himself, the second-most runs any team was on the receiving end for. Their run differential in June was at -116. They were down 2-1 in the season series. They were banking on the Raccoons laying an unprovoked egg or three.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (5-5, 3.36 ERA) vs. Leo Mendez (2-7, 3.24 ERA)
Nick Robinson (7-4, 2.90 ERA) vs. Phil Baker (3-5, 2.92 ERA)
Angel Alba (5-7, 3.40 ERA) vs. Danny Houghton (4-7, 4.38 ERA)

We would only get right-handers in this series.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Brassfield – RF Christopher – C Perez – 3B Fowler – P B. Herrera
CHA: 3B Duhe – 2B Falcon – RF Washington – C L. Miranda – 1B Valcarcel – SS T. Taylor – LF Padgett – CF T. Stone – P L. Mendez

The top 1st was a mess, with Morris reaching by getting plonked, stealing second, and then getting another base on a wild pitch. Falcons things, perhaps? Starr got the RBI with a groundout, after which Sowell singled, Brass singled as well, and Christopher walked to fill the bases, all for Angel Perez to strike out and let Mendez off the hook. Perez had another K to strand a pair in the third inning, after Joe-Chris singled home Sowell with a single. Bobby H. allowed no hits the first time through, but walked Tim Stone in the third. He was left on, and instead Ben Morris cranked a 2-out solo homer in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 3-0. Joe Washington answered with a 1-out triple in the bottom 4th and scored on Luis Miranda’s sac fly, so gone was the no-hitter and the shutout.

But that hiccup aside Bobby was solid; his second hit allowed was a Mendez single in the sixth, which, y’know, the pitcher, really? He didn’t pile up strikeouts, but he had a lot of soft contact off him. The Raccoons were also famously displaying soft contact and didn’t tack on despite plenty of base runners, which included Bobby H. hitting a single for himself in the ninth inning. Yup, we were not hitting for Bobby, expecting him to finish the deal, although Washington was leading off the bottom 9th, the only lefty hitter in sight. Washington grounded out calmly to Sowell at second, and Miranda flew out to Christopher in shallow right on an 0-2 pitch. A 2-out walk to Jesus Valcarcel was somewhat concerning, but Danny Ceballos pinch-hit and grounded out on the very next pitch to end the game. 3-1 Raccoons. Brassfield 2-4, 2B; Christopher 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; B. Herrera 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (6-5) and 1-4;

103 pitches for Bobby H., and if not for that damn triple his third shutout of the year.

Woulda coulda shoulda.

The Falcons dealt swingman Juan Juarez (2-5, 3.84 ERA) to the Condors on Saturday, bringing in two prospects. Former Critter Phil Baker remained the pitcher for that game, however.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Brassfield – RF Christopher – C Perez – 3B Fowler – P Robinson
CHA: CF Washington – LF B. Snyder – 1B Valcarcel – SS T. Taylor – 3B Law – RF Padgett – C Ayon – 2B Duhe – P P. Baker

Coming up against his old team did Baker no good (although Lonzo was the only player that had been a Coon when Baker was with the team, so he might as well have pitched to a team of Martians), as the first SEVEN Raccoons in that game either got a single or a walk off him. Morris and Lonzo both stole a base before it devolved into station-to-station ball with RBI’s for Starr, Brass, Christopher, and Perez before Nick Fowler struck out in a full count. Robinson grounded out, bringing in a fifth run, and Baker had Morris 1-2 before nicking him in the chest, which seemed to be quite painful. Morris slouched to first base eventually, and Lonzo punished Baker with another 90 feet for everybody with a single to center. Starr grounded out sharply to Bryant Law to finally put Robinson on the hill. Ken Sowell then put Baker to bed with a leadoff jack to left in the second inning, his 17th homer of the year, and the first as a Critter!

Robinson cruised through the first three innings but got whacked a bit in the fourth inning, allowing straight sharp hits to Valcarcel, Trent Taylor, and Law, the latter two getting an RBI double and RBI single, respectively, to shorten the score to 7-2. The Coons were at that time shut up by Gary Ponds, pitching four scoreless innings of garbage relief, then put Christopher and Fowler on base with two outs in the seventh against righty Bernie Mojica. Robinson still batted for himself, fell to 1-2, but then slapped a single through the right side to drive in Joe-Chris from second base, 8-2. Morris then grounded out to second, leaving two on.

Robinson struck out ten Falcons, but got stuck in the bottom 8th. Craig Sayre’s pinch-hit single, his own error on a Washington comebacker, and then an RBI double for Brendan Snyder knocked him out with five outs to go. Sharp grounders by Valcarcel to Fowler and by Taylor to Bean at short (Lonzo had taken a seat after seven) against Murdock stranded the two runners and ended the inning. The ball went to Pohlmann in the ninth inning in his first Coons outing, and it didn’t go so great. Three rockets landed for hits, and when Danny Ceballos drove in Danny Ayon, who had driven in Cody Padgett, the Raccoons went to Ricky H. for the final out, a fly to Morris in center. 8-5 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Starr 2-5, RBI; Brassfield 2-5, RBI; Christopher 2-4, RBI; Perez 2-4, RBI; Arellano (PH) 1-1;

Clumsily pitched, but the offense put up 14 hits, which was the third time this week they put up 14 or 15 hits. That was a bit of progress!

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Brassfield – RF Christopher – 3B N. Fox – C Arellano – P Alba
CHA: SS T. Taylor – 2B Duhe – RF Washington – C L. Miranda – 1B Valcarcel – 3B Law – LF D. Ceballos – CF Padgett – P Houghton

Singles by Sowell, Christopher, and Arellano put a 2-out run together in the second inning as the Raccoons took the lead again. Alba grounded out to end the inning, but coming off the shutout and an extra day did not immediately allow stuff to the Falcons. In fact, he retired eight in a row before Houghton landed a base hit, because opposing pitchers were sometimes the worst threats…! Lonzo was then the focus in the bottom 4th, throwing away Jared Duhe’s grounder for two bases to begin that inning. Washington popped out to him, and Alba walked Luis Miranda for a second runner on base before Lonzo got another ball, a grounder from Valcarcel, which he turned for a double play to get out of the inning. Padgett and Houghton (!) had 2-out hits in the bottom 5th, but were stranded with a K to Taylor.

The Raccoons were making some solid contact, but often also solidly at the defender and had only four knocks in five innings. Lonzo and Starr opened the sixth with soft singles before Sowell hit a ball hard – a lineout to Duhe with Starr caught off base and put out in a 4-3 double play of the depressing sort. Lonzo was stranded on Brass’ pop. Top 7th, another chance with the first two batters reaching. Christopher walked, which marked the end for Houghton, and Jeff McFadden allowed a single to Fox that sent Christopher to third base with nobody out. How about an insurance run, boys!? The battery struck out and struck out, and Morris ran a full count before sneaking a grounder through between Taylor and Duhe for an actual RBI single…! Lonzo then lined out to Taylor to leave another pair on base. Sowell also lined out to Taylor in the eighth after Starr drew a leadoff walk. Brass socked a double off lefty Yoshinari Kuroiwa, putting a pair in scoring position for Christopher. He grounded out to first – no advance there – and then Fox flew out easily to Padgett, and another chance was frittered away.

So we gave a 2-0 lead to the wonky pen. Middleton was out first, nailed Taylor with an 0-2 pitch, and then was lucky that Duhe hit a sharp grounder right at Fox for a 5-4-3 double play. Ricky H. then struck out Washington to complete the eighth. Rocco handled the ninth well enough, despite a walk to Valcarcel. Law then struck out and Ceballos grounded out to Sowell to complete the sweep. 2-0 Raccoons. Brassfield 2-4, 2 2B; Christopher 2-4; Alba 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, W (6-7);

In other news

June 20 – Buffos SP Pablo Lara (6-4, 3.11 ERA) fires a 2-hit shutout with eight strikeouts in a 4-0 win against the Miners.
June 23 – CIN SP Matthew May (8-6, 3.94 ERA) shuts out the Gold Sox on two hits in a 4-0 win.
June 24 – A 12-11 game in 13 innings is played between the Pacifics and Rebels. L.A. first plates three runs in the ninth to tie the game and get to extras, where both teams put up a 3-spot in the 12th inning. The Rebels can’t answer the Pacifics’ lone run in the top of the 13th and take the loss.

FL Player of the Week: CIN INF Rich Monck (.325, 23 HR, 59 RBI), socking .500 (14-28) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR SP Angel Alba (6-7, 3.13 ERA), going 2-0 with 16 shutout innings, 11 K

Complaints and stuff

Angel Alba! Of all the starters we have piled up on the roster it’s *Alba* to get a Player of the Week! Remember also that Alba started the season 0-5 from his first six stars and since then has scrubbed down that ERA that was at 5.06 after six games. Taking only his last nine outings, his ERA is 2.05 against a 6-2 record.

5-1 week against the Elks and the dead Falcons, nothing to really complain about there.

The trades this week won’t fix the team, which, given how the division looks like, might conceivably stumble into first place at the end of the year, but it’s not a playoff team. Then we have no fewer than ten free agents on this roster (Middleton, Nye, Robinson, N. Fox, Sullivan, Fowler, Sowell, Rocco, Murdock, Ricky H. by decreasing order of salary), and that doesn’t include the guys with options, Bobby H. and Lonzo (player, vesting, respectively). There’s a rebuild coming. For now we’ll have to watch how things go the next four weeks to decide whether the rebuild starts in July or in November.

We go to Atlanta from here, then home to play 12 games in Portland in 11 days to the All Star Game, starting with Indy.

Fun Fact: Ken Sowell ranks second in the CL in home runs.

Eddie Marcotte has 19 for the Titans. I am entirely convinced that Sowell will plunge out of the top 3 before long.

[Westheim]

Jim White was sent on a rehab assignment to the Alley Cats to begin this week.

Raccoons (40-34) @ Knights (30-45) – June 26-28, 2062

Here was another struggling CL South team, with pitching the main culprit. The Knights were giving up the most runs in the Continental League, and were not nearly scoring enough, sitting eighth in runs scored for a -46 run differential. They had neither power (tell me about it) nor defense, ranking bottoms in either category. The Raccoons had swept them in the first meeting this year.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (4-4, 3.51 ERA) vs. Joe Napier (2-4, 4.22 ERA)
John Bollinger (2-1, 4.24 ERA) vs. Jose Villegas (5-6, 3.28 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (6-5, 3.15 ERA) vs. Vic Harman (6-6, 4.49 ERA)

Villegas was the only southpaw in the Atlanta rotation.

After acquiring the Knights’ home run and RBI leader Ken Sowell the week before, the statistical lead in both categories had devolved to Johnny Parker (.295, 5 HR, 43 RBI). But then again, nobody had more bombs for the Coons than Angel Perez, who had hit six…

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Brassfield – C Perez – RF Christopher – 3B N. Fox – P C. Fox
ATL: 1B Moya – C M. Nieto – CF C. Mata – 2B del Toro – RF McIntyre – 3B J. Ojeda – LF J. Parker – SS Gallo – P Napier

Fox faced six batters before an hourlong rain delay, three of which he fell behind to and three of which put the first ball in play. All were retired. After the rain delay he struck out J.P. Gallo and Napier, and perhaps this game could still go either way. No offense for the Portlanders early on, either, although Brass and Nick Fox had hit singles in the second and third innings, respectively, only for Angel Perez and Chance Fox to hit into double plays.

For a while after the rain delay it looked like it might have fixed Fox, but before long the Knights were on the base paths, and Johnny Parker and Gallo hit singles in the bottom 5th before getting bunted into scoring position by Napier. Joaquin Moya got a 2-out grounder past Lonzo and drove in the two runners for the first markers on the board. The Raccoons then answered with a Morris walk and Starr hitting an RBI double to right in the sixth, but the ex-Coons in the Knights lineup answered promptly, getting a leadoff single from Mata, and a 2-out RBI double up the rightfield line from Juan Ojeda to restore their 2-run lead.

Brass answered with a leadoff jack to left in the seventh inning, reducing the score to 3-2, and the Coons scratched out the tying run with two out against Napier, who allowed a sharp double to right to Nick Fox, then an RBI single to center to Fowler, who was batting for Chance Fox – and then fell right behind again when Middleton got bopped for a Moya double and Marco Nieto’s 2-out RBI single in the same pattern in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Sullivan did even worse, giving up a 2-out, 2-run homer to Parker in the eighth to apparently put the game away. However, the Knights brought Ben Lussier for the top of the ninth inning, and within four batters the Raccoons had the bases loaded with the tying runs and one down in the top 9th after Fox, Arellano, and Morris all hit singles. And then Lonzo whiffed and Starr grounded out to Alex Vasquez… 6-3 Knights. Starr 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Brassfield 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; N. Fox 3-4, 2B; Fowler (PH) 1-1, RBI; Arellano 1-1;

Game 2
POR: CF Crumble – SS Lavorano – RF Brassfield – 2B Sowell – 1B Starr – C Perez – LF Kozak – 3B N. Fox – P Bollinger
ATL: 2B A. Vasquez – C M. Nieto – CF J. Parker – 1B C. Rice – SS Moya – LF del Toro – RF K. Fisher – P Villegas – 3B Gallo

Bollinger came up against a host of left-handed batters in the fourth start of his career and it didn’t go so well. The Knights got a hit in the second, two in the third, and then finally three with a pair of walks in the fourth, and plated two runs, one on an RBI single by Kyle Fisher, and the other when Bollinger walked Villegas with the bases loaded and one out… (deep breath) … Gallo and Vasquez then struck out to leave the bases loaded. Meanwhile, the Critters had no base knocks through four innings at all, and had to wait for Nick Fox to hit a 1-out single in the fifth inning just after Villegas had offered a four-pitch walk to Jack Kozak. Bollinger struck out, but Morris singled softly to load the bases with two outs for Lonzo, who grounded out to end the inning…

Bollinger got no additional outs in the bottom 5th before having the bags stuffed again and was then yoinked. Ricky Herrera got a run-scoring double play grounder from Moya, then popped Juan del Toro out to Sowell to get out of the inning, closing Bollinger’s line at eight hits and three runs in four-plus innings. After another abortive top of the sixth the Raccoons went to DeRose in a double switch, hoping to get multiple innings. Villegas and Gallo singled off him in the bottom 6th, but he kept the inning together before Angel Perez hit a leadoff jack to left in the seventh to get the Critters on the board. Kozak followed with a single to left, which signaled to the Knights that Villegas was very done, but his replacement was Alex Rios – seriously, why so many ex-Coons? No wonder you’re .400! – who gave up another single to Fox before Christopher’s grounder advanced the tying runs into scoring position. Malik Crumble hit an RBI single past Ojeda, 3-2, bringing back Lonzo, who like Sowell had yet to do ANYTHING in this series, but broke through by flicking an 0-2 pitch over a jumping Moya to single home Fox with the tying run…! The runners then embarked on a double steal against the bumbling Rios, with the Knights answering with a sneaky intentional walk to Brassfield, bringing up Sowell with three on, one out, and the pitcher’s spot right behind him. When Sowell whiffed to remain 0-for-peaches, DeRose had to be evicted from the game. Ben Morris pinch-hit against Rios, the Knights hung with their right-hander, and the right-hander hung a flat pitch to Morris that got slapped safely into leftfield for a go-ahead, 2-run single…! Only then did Rios get kicked from the game and replaced with Curt Crater, who got a groundout from Perez to end the inning.

The 5-3 lead went to Murdock in the bottom 7th, who was bombarded with left-handed batters and shredded for Parker and del Toro doubles, a Josh Abercrombie single, in between a walk to Moya, and ultimately the tying runs. It was very depressing. Nobody reached in the eighth inning with Pohlmann going for the Raccoons and having his first outing that didn’t make me want to reverse the trade with the Titans, and the ninth was just the same, with the game going to overtime tied at five. Lussier had already pitched the ninth and got the tenth, too, but walked Perez and Fox before running a full count to Christopher with two outs. The lefty hitter poked the 3-2 up the middle, past the lefty tosser’s left ear, and with two outs and the full count Perez got an early start and managed to score ahead of Johnny Parker’s throw to break the tie. The inning Crumbled away with a foul pop, and the ball went to Rocco, who retired the Knights in order in the bottom 10th. 6-5 Raccoons. Crumble 2-6, RBI; Morris (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; N. Fox 2-4, BB; Christopher 2-3, 2B, RBI; Pohlmann 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (3-0);

Tight!

The Raccoons then made the unpopular decision to designate Ryan Sullivan (1-1, 5.55 ERA) for assignment and place him on waivers. This was after no trade partner could be found for the right-hander, who was getting whacked around quite mercilessly after a series of injuries. But just wait until you see the new and rebuilt Matt Walters. The scouting report just said “the edge is off”, which could mean many things, none of them good…

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Brassfield – RF Christopher – 3B Fowler – C Arellano – P B. Herrera
ATL: 2B A. Vasquez – RF C. Mata – CF J. Parker – LF Abercrombie – 1B C. Rice – SS Moya – C Ziegler – P Harman – 3B Gallo

Sowell walked to get on base for the first time in the series to lead off the second inning of the rubber game, with a Brass single and a breaking ball into Joe-Chris’ back hindpaw loading the bags with nobody out. Nick Fowler knew that behind him was nothing but misery and whacked a bases-clearing double over Parker’s head to give the Raccoons a quick start. The battery accordingly made meek outs, but Morris managed to single home Fowler with two outs to extend the lead to 4-0. The leathering of Harman continued with 2-out singles by Lonzo and Starr, the latter plating Morris with the fifth run, and Sowell, who drove in Lonzo. Brass then ended Harman’s existence with the fifth straight 2-out single, and the third straight that drove in another run, 7-0, a 3-2 wheezer over Gallo. Left-hander Tim Webb then retired Christopher with a groundout to stop the bleeding, and to allow Tipsy Bobby to give up a celebratory leadoff jack to Abercrombie in the bottom of the inning.

The Raccoons answered with leadoff singles from Fowler and Arellano in the third inning. Herrera bunted them on, but Morris flew out poorly to Mata in shallow right. Lonzo got an RBI single through the left side, though, 8-1, before Starr grounded out to short.

With the huge lead, Tipsy Bobby nevertheless struggled with control and between the third and fifth inning ran no fewer than six 3-ball counts, which was not exactly what I wanted to see, although he walked only one batter and allowed just one hit other than the Abercrombie round-tripper through five innings. The pitch count got up there, though.

The top 6th was one of those innings. On the plus side, Ken Sowell smashed a 3-run homer with Lonzo and Starr on the corners against righty Brian Fuqua, who had just replaced Webb after 3.2 innings of until-then-shutout ball, but by then the Raccoons had already replaced Ben Morris with Malik Crumble after Morris had come up with back pain after an awkward slide on the bases. Crumble in turn singled home Fowler in the seventh inning to make the dozen full with two outs.

Tipsy Bobby fought his way through seven innings with all the control issues, resisting the urge to give up meaningless runs in a 12-1 game. Or 13-1, after Joel Starr smashed a bomb that left a crater in the batter’s eye off … uh… Curt Crater, to lead off the eighth. Murdock handled the eighth for the Raccoons, while the ninth went to Walters against a nice stretch of left-handers to ease him back into things while we were very concerned for that edge being allegedly off. The Knights went down in order, but without a strikeout, and two outs were loud as Parker flew out to Christopher and Will McIntyre lined out to Sowell. 13-1 Critters! Morris 2-4, RBI; Crumble 1-2, RBI; Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Starr 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Sowell 2-4, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Brassfield 2-5, RBI; Fowler 3-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; B. Herrera 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (7-5);

Ben Morris had “back” again, which wasn’t great, since he had just missed a bunch of time with “back” in May. Luis Silva said that he was day-to-day, but that it would take him at least a week to get back to 100%, and right now he was probably more like 60%. Was that enough to drag him down that tough stretch to the All Star Game? The Raccoons probably wanted a bench with five guys, not four-and-a-half. DL’ing him would at least utilize the All Star break as part of the 15-day minimum.

Oh, the joys of a 24-year-old talent with chronic back issues…!

Off to the DL he was. With the trade of Mata, the Raccoons definitely needed a centerfielder, since neither Christopher nor Crumble should play in center on a permanent basis. Have you heard about Todd Oley lately?

Raccoons (42-35) vs. Indians (44-32) – June 29-July 2, 2062

The Indians had taken the lead in the North a few days earlier when a losing streak befell the Loggers, and they were now two games ahead of the field and two-and-a-half of the Raccoons, who held a 5-3 lead in the season series. Indy ranked fourth in runs scored and runs allowed, with a +46 run differential. They topped the CL in stolen bases and bullpen ERA.

Projected matchups:
Nick Robinson (8-4, 2.96 ERA) vs. Antonio Pichardo (6-7, 3.66 ERA)
Angel Alba (6-7, 3.13 ERA) vs. Kelly Whitney (8-4, 3.86 ERA)
Chance Fox (4-4, 3.57 ERA) vs. Ramon Carreno (2-7, 5.30 ERA)
John Bollinger (2-1, 4.71 ERA) vs. Jarod Morris (7-1, 3.53 ERA)

The Raccoons stalked their way around the only Indians southpaw, Mike DeWitt (7-6, 3.10 ERA).

Game 1
IND: 2B Kilday – RF Lovins – 1B Starwalt – LF Abel – CF S. Thompson – 3B Humphries – C Atencio – SS Cirelli – P Pichardo
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 3B Fowler – CF Crumble – P Robinson

Brassfield socked a 3-run homer in the first inning after Starr and Sowell hit 2-out singles. The Indians had also gotten 2-out singles from Danny Starwalt and Kevin Abel in the first inning, but Steve Thompson’s grounder to Sowell had ended the inning. Fowler and Crumble would reach base to begin the bottom 2nd, but were stranded with meek outs by the top of the order after Robinson’s successful bunt, and the bottom 3rd began with the bags full after Starr doubled, Sowell singled, and Brass drew a walk to fill them up for the bottom half. The 6-7-8 all were productive in some way: Perez hit a sac fly, Fowler hit an RBI single, and Crumble drew a walk to fill the bags again, if only for Robinson to smash a grounder to short for an inning-ending double play.

The middle innings were then calm; Robinson nursed his 5-0 lead very well, and didn’t allow anything of substance to the Indians. He also racked up strikeouts, which might make it tough to finish the shutout for him with his rather low-end stamina. The Indians were on only three hits through seven innings, while the Raccoons tacked on in the bottom 7th when Christopher drew a leadoff walk from Hyun-soo Bak, stole second, and was then driven in by Lonzo with a single to left-center. Starr then hit into a double play, his second of the game, after already having doubled up Lonzo in the fourth inning. The 4-5-6 all reached base with two outs, Perez singling home Sowell for another run. Robinson then retired Eric Cirelli with a grounder to begin the eighth before suffering three straight singles to fill the bases and removal from the game. Middleton replaced him, fooled in one run with a wild pitch, and another with Starwalt’s sac fly. Abel grounded out to end the inning and leave Chris Lovins on third base. That was all the rally the Indians could muster, though. 7-2 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Starr 2-4, 2B; Sowell 2-3, BB; Brassfield 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Bean (PH) 1-1; Robinson 7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (9-4);

There’d be days off for the regulars in this stretch despite the games being against the division leaders. Lonzo and Brass were on the bench on Friday, and Sowell was earmarked for Saturday.

Game 2
IND: CF S. Thompson – LF Johnston – 1B Starwalt – 2B Kilday – C A. Gomez – RF Lovins – 3B Humphries – SS Cirelli – P Whitney
POR: RF Christopher – CF Crumble – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – C Perez – SS Fowler – 3B N. Fox – LF Kozak – P Alba

The weather forecast said “lead after five”, although early on I doubted we’d ever get there the way Alba pitched. You could see Honeypaws grow his fur longer in the time it took him to get an out, with endless long counts, although the Indians managed only one base hit through five innings against him, which was a leadoff double to right for Eric Cirelli in the third inning. Steve Thompson got nicked and Bryan Johnston walked to fill the bases, but they remained loaded with a K on Starwalt and the CL stolen base leader Matt Kilday grounding out to Sowell. Ken Sowell also drove in the game’s first run, a single that plated Christopher in the bottom 4th after the Coons had been retired in order the first time through by Whitney. Jack Kozak slapped a homer over the fence in left in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 2-0.

Alba hit a single after the homer, but was forced out by Christopher, and then worked hard through the sixth after a leadoff walk to Johnston. That was his last inning; Ricky H. took over in the seventh, retired Lovins on a grounder, and then gradually put runners on base. Joe Humphries walked. Cirelli and Whitney singled, which put the Indians on the board. And then Kevin Abel smashed a 3-piece to left, which gave them the lead. Stunned, the Raccoons would make their last nine outs in order without getting on base anymore while DeRose pitched scoreless relief when it didn’t matter anymore. 4-2 Indians. Alba 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K and 1-2; DeRose 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

(reads the best-before date in Ricky Herrera’s scouting report) That explains a lot.

Game 3
IND: 2B Kilday – 3B Humphries – 1B Starwalt – C A. Gomez – LF Abel – CF S. Thompson – RF Johnston – SS Cirelli – P Carreno
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – 3B Fowler – CF Crumble – C Arellano – 2B Bean – P C. Fox

Control and good fortunes continued to elude Chance Fox persistently as he walked Joe Humphries in the first before giving up a double to Starwalt. That put a pair in scoring position that remained pinned when Alex Gomez grounded out to Fowler, but then scored when Kevin Abel’s 2-out liner went off the glove of Jon Bean and into centerfield for a 2-run single. The Raccoons couldn’t find any offense against Ramon Carreno, which was doubly depressing, while Chance Fox wobbled into the fifth inning before getting completely eviscerated. Kilday led off with a jack, Humphries got nicked, and Starwalt hit *another* homer right away. Fox then hung around long enough to clear most of the lineup and give up another two hits, a walk, and another run, and was yanked. Carreno, the ex-Critter, would go eight innings and didn’t allow anything until his last frame, when he got smacked for a Kozak double, a Lonzo triple, and a Brass single, and two runs in total. The Critters would get another run in the ninth through an unlikely Arellano triple and Bean’s sac fly, but the ship had long sailed by then. 6-3 Indians. Kozak (PH) 1-1, 2B; Lavorano 2-4, 3B, RBI; Starr 2-4;

This was going in the wrong direction.

Also going in the wrong direction was the stuff in Brass’ pokey black nose on Sunday morning. He had the sniffles, and would be day-to-day for a at least a couple of days. He was not in the lineup on Sunday.

There was also a roster move, with Jon Bean (.216, 2 HR, 10 RBI) was handed back to AAA and Jim White was activated from a rehab assignment.

Game 4
IND: CF S. Thompson – LF Johnston – 1B Starwalt – 2B Kilday – C A. Gomez – 3B Humphries – RF Abel – SS Cirelli – P Jar. Morris
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – C Perez – LF Crumble – CF Oley – 3B N. Fox – P Bollinger

Johnston singled off Bollinger, but was caught stealing, but Kilday drew a leadoff walk in the second and stole his 29th base. Alex Gomez then raked an RBI double to left, and while Humphries grounded out, a triple by Kevin Abel into the rightfield corner and a Cirelli groundout brought in two more runs for a 3-0 Indians lead. It was time to open the booze and pester Maud for cookies – again. It didn’t get better with Bollinger going forwards either, with another pair of extra-base slaps for Starwalt and Kilday, and another run in the third inning. Bollinger was at this point well on his way to the minors, got through the fourth, but walked Kilday and Humphries in the fifth and was yanked with two outs in the inning. Murdock got a groundout from Abel upon replacing him, holding the Indians to their 4-0 lead. The Coons had only one base hit at this point and looked a bit dead in the water.

Bottom 7th, after four outs by Middleton and three by Rocco, the Raccoons brought the bottom of the order up against Morris. Oley and Fox led off with soft singles, which put the tying run in the on-deck circle. Jim White pinch-hit and flew out, but Christopher scratched out an RBI single and knocked out Morris for right-hander Melvin Guerra, who gave up a solid 1-1 double to Lonzo that Thompson narrowly missed going backwards. Fox scored, but Christopher had to freeze at second and then had to stop at third base. The tying runs were in scoring position with one down. Starr flew out to Abel in shallow right, though, and Sowell’s fly to left was caught by Orlando Ramos, and the tying runs were stranded… (big sigh!)

The Indians answered with a 4-spot in the eighth inning off DeRose (grumble) and Middleton (grumble grumble), who between them gave up four hits and two walks and just got spanked around. The sighs were getting ever bigger and it was time for the Indians to get outta town. The Coons got an unearned run when Perez reached on a throwing error by Humphries and then driven in by Nick Fox with a 2-out double in the bottom 8th. Walters held the Indians in place in the ninth inning. Lonzo singled off Juan Carrillo with one down in the bottom 9th, and Starr doubled. Sowell singled to center, which brought in Lonzo, put two on the corners, and made it a save situation for Cruz Madrid. He slashed Perez and Crumble to bits, and that was the end of the game. 8-4 Indians. Lavorano 2-5, 2B, RBI; N. Fox 3-4, 2B, RBI;

In other news

June 27 – A torn achilles tendon meant that PIT RF Art Daniels (.273, 6 HR, 23 RBI) was done for the year.
June 28 – The Condors beat the Titans, 6-1 in 12 innings. The 5-run breakthrough in the top of the 12th inning included a grand slam by OF Elmer Maldonado (.273, 5 HR, 22 RBI).
June 28 – The Indians beat the Bayhawks, 8-6 in 14 innings.
June 30 – The Blue Sox acquire SP Phil Nelson (5-7, 3.92 ERA) and $1M in cash from the Warriors for C Jamie Clark (.297, 1 HR, 9 RBI) and a prospect.
June 30 – Blue Sox INF Wil Mejia (.311, 3 HR, 36 RBI) might be out for the season; the 23-year-old has smashed his ankle into bits.
June 30 – The Bayhawks will be without LF Grant Anker (.250, 11 HR, 40 RBI) for at least a few weeks; the 25-year-old defending Player of the Year will try to rest his sore back.
June 30 – The Crusaders rout the Loggers, 21-9, scoring 3+ runs in an inning six times, including in the last five innings in a row. All players in the Crusaders lineup get at least one hit and one RBI and SP Ben Seiter (10-5, 3.76 ERA) is the only player not to score a run. C Matt McLaren (.324 12 HR, 50 RBI) leads the team with six RBI on a homer and two singles.
June 30 – Pittsburgh catcher Nick Dingman (.319, 26 HR, 60 RBI) dingers in the only run in a 1-0 win against the Cyclones.
July 2 – San Francisco acquires SP Alex Cruzado (3-6, 2.77 ERA) from the Cyclones for a prospect.
July 2 – The Crusaders beat the Loggers, 15-12, in another high-scoring game, rallying out of a hole with an 8-run eighth inning.
July 2 – The Gold Sox beat the Pacifics, 3-0, with only one hit, a single by Jesus Martinez (.263, 7 HR, 43 RBI), for L.A. being given up by DEN SP Coby Strutz (7-6, 3.80 ERA) and CL Tommy Gardner (3-4, 5.87 ERA, 14 SV).

FL Player of the Week: TOP 1B David Worthington (.263, 6 HR, 47 RBI), batting .414 (12-29) with 2 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA 1B Jesus Valcarcel (.266, 6 HR, 33 RBI), hitting .524 (11-21) with 2 HR, 6 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL OF Tyler Wharton (.414, 20 HR, 68 RBI), hitting .409 with 10 HR, 29 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: LVA 1B/3B Alex Alfaro (.258, 12 HR, 39 RBI), bashing .350 with 6 HR, 17 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: WAS CL David Concha (7-1, 4.47 ERA, 16 SV), saving 7 games with a 3-0 record, 1.53 ERA, and 8 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: OCT SP Aaron Harris (10-3, 2.07 ERA), going 4-0 with a 0.92 ERA, 39 K in five starts
FL Rookie of the Month: LAP UT Joe Marchek (.264, 2 HR, 10 RBI), batting .267 with 2 HR, 8 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: IND RF/LF/1B Bryan Johnston (.385, 3 HR, 20 RBI), whacking .388 with 1 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Why did Jose Corral not come back when Morris went to the DL? Easy, he’s down himself with a concussion. (sigh!)

The Raccoons fired Ryan Sullivan on Saturday after nobody took him while he was on waivers and after he refused an assignment to AAA.

The rotation hit a rough spot this week and the bullpen is just a nightmare at this point. The right-handers are all failed starters, and the left-handers except for Rocco are all past their expiration date. HOW are we over .500…?

It’s two four-game sets crammed into a week from here to the All Star Game, with the Crusaders and Loggers coming to town. Friday will be a double header, but we have no shortage of wannabe spot starters on the roster, probably.

Fun Fact: Pittsburgh’s Nick Dingman is on pace to hit 51 homers this season.

Nobody has ever hit 50 home runs in a season! The ABL record is 49, set by Gil Rockwell with the Knights in 2015. It was the third of his seven consecutive home run titles. Yes of course he’s in the Hall of Fame (although it took him forever to get elected) despite a relatively brief career, the last season of which he spent with the Raccoons in 2022, a mostly forgettable season otherwise. The 37-year-old Rockwell hit .238 with 19 homers and 68 RBI that year – which led the team.

Overall Rockwell hit 412 home runs, which ranks him sixth all time behind Eddie Moreno (478), Ron Alston (475), Danny Santillano (457), Raúl Vázquez (416), and Ivan Villa (414).

[Westheim]

Raccoons (43-38) vs. Crusaders (45-37) - July 3-6, 2062

The busy week with not one but two 4-game series crammed into it began with a set against the Crusaders, who were scoring the most runs in the league, but were having only average pitching and a creaky defense. They had a +30 run differential (Coons: +38), but no injuries, while the Raccoons were as broken as they were, and still had Brassfield day-to-day on the roster. We had a 3-1 edge in the season series, with eight games played between these teams in the next two weeks.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (7-5, 3.03 ERA) vs. Joel Luera (8-5, 3.66 ERA)
Nick Robinson (9-4, 2.92 ERA) vs. Ryan Musgrave (3-5, 3.41 ERA)
Angel Alba (6-7, 2.94 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (10-5, 3.76 ERA)
Chance Fox (4-5, 3.95 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (7-6, 3.35 ERA)

Only righty pitching lined up by New York here.

Game 1
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – C McLaren – LF Austin – CF Branch – 1B McLaughlin – RF A. Romero – 2B Onelas – 3B B. Anderson – P Luera
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – C Perez – CF Crumble – LF Kozak – 3B Fowler – P B. Herrera

Bobby Herrera remained not sharp and gave up a 2-run homer to Alex Romero in the second inning, in between a Jared McLaughlin single and Marcos Onelas’ double. The Raccoons answered though, and weirdly enough through Jack Kozak again, who whacked his second homer of the year, a 2-out, 2-piece in the same inning after Sowell led off with a single.

For Tipsy Bobby, it was long count after long count though, with over 60 pitches on his ledger through four innings. In a bid to offer some relief, he gave himself a lead with a 2-out RBI single in the bottom 4th, beating the vertical available to Onelas for a looper into shallow right-center. Malik Crumble scored from second base on that play. Fowler, who had been walked intentionally, and Herrera were stranded when Christopher struck out, though. Herrera then fought through a tedious, chewy, endless ninth inning, around a Bobby Anderson double, and somehow ached through five innings, but it took him over *90* pitches, and got two more outs from right-handers Aubrey Austin and Tommy Branch in the top 6th – including Austin hitting a searing rocket right at Christopher – before the last out of the sixth was collected by Ricky H., who was then hit for with Jim White for no greater gains in the bottom of the inning. Murdock held the 3-2 lead in the seventh, even though he walked Sean Zeiher on four pitches to get going, and Omar Sanchez added a single. Matt McLaren ended the inning with a K though, the first at-bat in which Murdock looked semi-competent. Austin then opened the eighth with a single off Murdock, but Branch whiffed. Rocco struck out McLaughlin upon replacement, then got taken deep by the pinch-hitting Pedro Gonzales to flip the score…

There was no immediate reaction from the Critters in the eighth inning, but after a scoreless ninth from Pohlmann, Nick Fox batted for that right-hander and doubled to right against Jason Rhodes, bringing the winning run to the dish with nobody out in the bottom 9th. Christopher singled, and they were on the corners. Now, watch closely, Honeypaws. Choke job coming…! Lonzo indeed popped out, but Joel Starr ticked a single to center, and that tied the score at four. Sowell whiffing and Perez grounding out sent the game to extras… and DeRose. But McLaren grounded out to first and then DeRose struck out two in the tenth, so that was nice enough. Malik Crumble led off the bottom 10th with an infield single. And that was as far as we got. Thunder clapped, lightning flashed, and the game went to a hasty weather delay from which it didn’t emerge anymore that night.

Ya, because we needed more disruption to our pitching staff…!

At this point we summoned a couple of scrubs (Sensabaugh f.e.) to Portland from St. Pete that would be activated in case the resumption of the game on Tuesday would take longer than welcome.

It got even wickeder on the New York side, as the Crusaders traded Joel Luera (8-5, 3.71 ERA) – the starter of the suspended game – to the Bayhawks for UT Jake Cline (.257, 3 HR, 25 RBI) and a prospect.

Game 1 (resumed)
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – C McLaren – LF Austin – CF Branch – 1B McLaughlin – P Rhodes – 2B Onelas – 3B B. Anderson – RF B. Quinteros
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – P DeRose – C Perez – CF Crumble – LF Kozak – 2B Fowler – 3B N. Fox

The game resumed with Rhodes still pitching, Crumble on first base, one out, and an 0-1 count Fowler. On the first pitch of the resumed contest, Crumble stole second base. Fowler whiffed, though, and Nick Fox grounded out to Sanchez, ending the inning. DeRose resumed pitching and didn’t allow anything in the 11th, then came up to bat after righty Alex Flores had walked Christopher and Starr in the bottom 11th, and one out. Brassfield was ready to pinch-hit here, but he HAD to get a hit, because our pitching situation was *not* good if this game went much longer. The move was made, Brassfield fanned miserably with snodder dangling from his pokey black nose, and Perez grounded out kill the inning for good. The tie instead was broken in the 12th on Walters, who allowed a single to Sanchez, who stole second, an error by Fowler with two outs, and then a balk by Walters to wave Sanchez home from third base… The Raccoons produced nothing of value against Flores in the bottom of the inning. 5-4 Crusaders. Christopher 2-5, BB; Sowell 2-5; Crumble 3-6; DeRose 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Well, ****.

No roster moves were made in between games, but we needed a good one from Robinson now…

Game 2
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Cline – RF Austin – CF Branch – 1B McLaughlin – 3B B. Anderson – LF Weir – C P. Gonzales – P Musgrave
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Crumble – CF Oley – C Arellano – 3B Fowler – P Robinson

Portland went up in the first inning of the scheduled game. Lonzo was nicked by Musgrave on an 0-2 pitch, stole his 25th base, and then scored on Sowell’s 2-out single. The Crusaders had nothing against Robinson for two innings, then piled on four singles and two runs in the third inning when Hector Weir and Gonzales got on base to get going, and then scored on Sanchez’ sac fly and Cline’s first hit as a Crusaders. Austin also hit a 2-out single, but Branch then struck out. Same inning, Robinson opened the home half with a K looking, but Christopher then whacked a double, and Musgrave hit Lonzo with an 0-2 pitch *again*. The Coons, somewhat miffed, engaged in a double steal, Gonzales’ throw was high, and that was the 700th career steal for Lonzo! The scoreboard went berserk, but for actual runs the Coons would only get the tying run home on a pair of groundouts by Starr and Sowell. The third member of the 700 steals club was left on third base.

Robinson threw 74 pitches through five, allowing no hits outside that third inning, and whiffing five, then opened the bottom 5th with a single to left, but couldn’t get any help with the offense. He was forced out by Lonzo after Christopher made a meek out, and Lonzo was caught stealing, getting too greedy out there. Bottom 6th, the Raccoons then somehow filled up the bases against Musgrave, which involved an error by Sanchez. With two outs, Fowler zinged a grounder up the middle, over the bag, and drove in Starr and Crumble to get up 4-2. Even better, Robinson ran a full count, then rushed a single past Cline that sent Arellano around to score, 5-2, and knocked out Musgrave! Left-hander Pedro Mendoza then provoked the Coons to bat Kozak for Christopher, which led to a bases-filling walk. Lonzo added a clean single to left and drove in a run, but the inning ended with Starr striking out. Mendoza allowed another run in the seventh; Sowell and Oley hit singles to go to the corner, and Arellano’s fly to center was good for a sac fly.

The Raccoons then squeezed every ounce of blood out of Robinson, pressing him for 108 pitches and eight innings before relenting on the guy. The Crusaders did not reach in those last two innings, though. Middleton handled the Crusaders in order in the ninth. 7-2 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-3, RBI; Sowell 2-4, RBI; White (PH) 1-1; Robinson 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (10-4) and 2-3, RBI;

The pen needed that, but it wasn’t like we were all rested and cozy on Wednesday, either. Sensabaugh remained on standby while Angel Alba would go out there to mess with the Crusaders.

Maud, maybe I should start drinking before the game, I feel like I’ll need it.

Day off for Lonzo on Wednesday, and probably Sowell on Thursday. Brass was back in the lineup at least after getting that snot all picked out of his fur by Wednesday.

Game 3
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – C McLaren – RF Austin – CF Branch – 1B McLaughlin – LF Cline – 2B Onelas – 3B Webler – P Seiter
POR: LF Crumble – SS White – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – RF Brassfield – C Perez – CF Oley – 3B N. Fox – P Alba

Wednesday saw a first-inning solo home run by Joel Starr to get the Coons on top, and then we waited for Alba to blow that because we sure were not threatening much after that. Alba had constant traffic on base, scattering six hits through five innings and running up that pitch count (…), before allowing another single to McLaughlin in the sixth, and a walk to Cline. With two outs, John Webler’s 2-out single on a 2-2 pitch tied the game at one. Seiter flew out to center to strand the other two runners, but Alba was also done after 113 pitches in six messy innings – not exactly what we had been looking for – and would get a no-decision.

The Raccoons decided on giving the ball to Pohlmann for three innings and close up shop in the pen behind him. He entered with Christopher in a double switch, Brass sitting down after making the last out in the sixth. Pohlmann made it for eight outs before piling up Sanchez and McLaren on 2-out hits, and Austin with a four-pitch walk, in the top 9th, and still in a tied game. Begrudgingly, the Critters brought Murdock, who popped out Tommy Branch in foul ground to Nick Fox to strand another bazillion runners for New York. Alex Flores got the ball for New York in the bottom 9th, with Sowell leading off. Him, Lonzo, and Perez went in order, and the game went to extras, exactly what we didn’t need. Matt Walters went 1-2-3 in the 10th inning on mostly loud contact right at people as he started to live up to that grim scouting report, and Flores put Christopher and Crumble on the corners with two outs, on a walk and single, respectively. Jim White’s grounder to short kept the game going, and then he made an error at short to get the New Yorkers going in the 11th, putting Pedro Almaguer on with one out. And Walters just didn’t have anything. He walked Sanchez, and then Starr made ANOTHER error to load the bases against the other New York catcher… Aubrey Austin singled in two runs to clinch the W for New York. Starr singled against Kody Mello to begin the bottom 11th, but was doubled up by Sowell. Kozak chucked a pinch-hit double, then scored on a Perez single, 3-2. Oley singled, too. Fox’ pop to short ended the game. 3-2 Crusaders. White 2-5; Starr 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Kozak (PH) 1-1, 2B; Perez 3-5, RBI; Pohlmann 2.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

This is only getting worse and worse.

The Crusaders kept wheeling, dealing OF Tommy Branch (.226, 13 HR, 46 RBI) to the Buffos between games, acquiring SP Josh Barcellona (6-5, 4.14 ERA). Lee remained the Thursday starter, though.

Game 4
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Cline – RF Austin – 1B McLaughlin – LF Zeiher – C McLaren – 3B B. Anderson – CF Weir – P E. Lee
POR: CF Crumble – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – RF Christopher – 2B White – 3B Fowler – P C. Fox

The Raccoons kept needing good starts, but they got Chance Fox, and Chance Fox burned the ballpark down. He walked two in the second inning, then gave up extra-base smashes to the 7-8 batters Bobby Anderson and Hector Weir, and managed to allow another walk to Sanchez in a 3-run second inning, and that was before the Crusaders added another run on Sean Zeiher and Anderson hits in the third inning. At this point he had to wear it while getting smacked all around the ballpark, but even then he amounted to only five absolutely ***** innings, getting wiped for six runs on nine hits and four walks on a disgusting 110 pitches. The Coons had scattered four hits and two double plays for no runs in the first four innings, although when Jim White struck a leadoff triple in the bottom 5th, Fowler at least got him home with a grounder.

Middleton was thrown in for garbage relief, not that he was rested in any way to go multiple innings. In fact, he got only one out before the Crusaders sent him back to mommy, crying, with his pants down, as five of them beat him around for two hits, two walks, and two runs, with two more on base. Ricky Herrera boogied out of the inning with two grounders, but then got bopped by Weir and Sanchez for two hits and a run in the seventh as his career kept disintegrating. DeRose had to dig him out, making him unavailable for the double header, while Lee, up 9-1, stumbled a bit in the bottom 7th. He walked Christopher, allowed a triple to Jim White, and then served up a homer to Fowler. DeRose was supposed to get the game over with, but completely ran out of anything resembling juice in the ninth inning, walking the bags full with one out. No runs were charged to him as the Coons burned Rocco and got a double play grounder from Sean Zeiher to crawl out of the inning, and the game. 9-4 Crusaders. Starr 2-3, BB, 2B; White 2-4, 2 3B, RBI;

This… This is how a dying team plays.

The collapse was real.

Raccoons (44-41) vs. Loggers (43-41) – July 7-9, 2062

The two bottom teams in the CL North (yes, still!) were up for a 4-game set in three days with the Raccoons not knowing how to complete even ONE game on Friday at this point. The Loggers were up 6-2 in the season series, too, and brought in the #4 hitting and #8 pitching. They had the worst pen by ERA, but we were giving it a go to relief them there. They also had spotty pitching to deal with, having Bob Ruggiero and Oliver Graham out injured, as well as outfielder Scott Franks.

Projected matchups:
John Bollinger (2-2, 5.26 ERA) vs. Larry Wilson (6-5, 3.84 ERA)
TBD vs. Jake Frensley (7-5, 3.69 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (7-5, 3.04 ERA) vs. Girolamo Pizzichini (0-1, 17.18 ERA)
Nick Robinson (10-4, 2.88 ERA) vs. Jesus Hinojosa (7-5, 3.96 ERA)

We LITERALLY didn’t know who would pitch the nightcap in the Friday double header. We had no fewer than THREE AAA pitchers sitting around in Portland, but off the roster, as Friday began: Sensabaugh, Jose Rosa, and for giggles, the old 11th rounder Brad Loveless. There was a good chance that Bollinger would get yoinked off the roster after his start in the first leg of the double header – regardless of the result – and that Rosa would start the second game with Sensabaugh for garbage relief.

There was just as well a good chance that I would club them all to ******* death if they kept tossing like this.

The Loggers, who were having a 2-12 meltdown but had won against the Elks on Thursday, looked like they would only bring right-handers against us.

Game 1
MIL: CF Merrill – RF Whetstine – SS F. Carrera – 1B D. Robles – C Waker – 3B D. Miller – 2B Gilliam – LF Reder – P L. Wilson
POR: CF Crumble – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Brassfield – RF Christopher – C Perez – 3B Fowler – P Bollinger

The only hits the first time through were solo homer by Malik Crumble in the first and Tristan Waker in the second, and the game was thus tied at one. Bollinger was pitching for his life and relatively efficient, when even a complete game might not save his roster spot, but I appreciated the effort while having steam come out my fuzzy ears over the *********** of a pitching staff. I was so annoying that even Slappy moved one cushion further away on the trusty brown couch.

Brass and Christopher got on base to begin the bottom 4th for Portland. Perez grounded out, moving the runners into scoring position for Fowler, who was walked with intent. Bollinger lined out to Fidel Carrera and Crumble grounded out, and no runs were scored. Bollinger didn’t allow a hit after the Waker waker until the sixth inning, when Wilson singled to center against him, but then was doubled up 4-6-3 by Jonathan Merrill to end the inning. Waker singled in the seventh after Bollinger clipped Dave Robles with two outs, but the runners were stranded on Danny Miller’s groundout to Fowler. Bollinger, who was on *71* pitches through seven, even led off the bottom of that inning. …and he singled off left-hander Vincent Hernandez! Crumble hit another single, sending Bollinger with the go-ahead run to second base. The 2-3-4 made ****** outs, however, and the runners were left in scoring position.

Instead the Raccoons got two outs from Bollinger to begin the eighth before he gave up a double to Jake Jackson in the #9 hole, an RBI single to Merrill, who stole second base, and then another RBI single to PH Ralph Lange. And that was that. Middleton had a scoreless ninth, while the Raccoons had not gotten on base in the eighth. They were up against right-hander Alex Diaz in the bottom 9th. Fowler was nicked to lead off before Kozak and Crumble made meek outs. Lonzo hit a 2-out single to put the tying run on base and bring up Starr with a shot to end the game as a winner after all. Starr’s fly to right was of the lame duck variety, though, and the Raccoons dropped another game. 3-1 Loggers. Crumble 3-5, HR, RBI; Bollinger 8.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, L (2-3);

And with that, Bollinger (2-3, 4.81 ERA) was off the roster, falling to a roster squeeze after making his first six career starts. Up was Jose Rosa, who had made a single start for the Raccoons in 2060, pitching 6.2 innings without allowing an earned run (but walking five) for a no-decision. DeRose (1-0, 3.50 ERA) was also optioned to AAA to make room for a different punching bag that had come over from the Crusaders in the Kennedy Adkins deal at the 2057 deadline.

Game 2
MIL: CF Merrill – RF Whetstine – SS F. Carrera – 1B D. Robles – 3B D. Miller – 2B Gilliam – C Jack – LF Reder – P Frensley
POR: RF Christopher – SS White – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Brassfield – 3B N. Fox – CF Oley – C Arellano – P Rosa

Single, single, triple, sac fly – the Loggers had a 3-0 lead by the time they made their first out, then got Danny Miller to draw a walk and J.P. Jack to chuck an RBI double for a fourth run off Rosa, who fooled absolutely nobody. Dave Robles hit a 1-out single in the third inning, then raced around to score on a Danny Miller double to center. Miller was tagged out *and* injured on the play, hitting second base awkwardly and spraining his ankle before nosediving in the kitty litter behind the bag in agony, where Jim White casually tagged him out. Ralph Lange replaced him as Miller went to the DL.

The Coons made the scoreboard in the bottom 3rd. Arellano and Christopher took to the corners with singles, and Frensley plated the catcher with a wild pitch while Joel Starr plated Joe-Chris with a 2-out RBI single to left. Sowell flew out to left-center to keep the score at 5-2.

The Coons got only five innings out of Rosa before plonking in Sensabaugh’s sorry bum. He immediately gave up a run in the sixth, 6-2, with Jack singling to lead off, a walk issued to Phil Reder, and after a bunt, a sac fly by Merrill. Chad Whetstine struck out to keep Reder on base. And when the Coons got Sowell and Brass on base to begin the bottom 6th, Nick Fox right away chopped into a double play…

Bottom 7th, and Arellano led off with a single to center. Batting ninth was Lonzo, who had already pinch-hit for Rosa earlier and had remained at short, with Sensabaugh in the #2 hole. Lonzo slapped a ball to deep center that Merrill had no whiff at, and it fell for an RBI triple! Christopher’s RBI single to left-center narrowed it to 6-4, and ejected Frensley from the game for righty Matt Pickel. Sensabaugh was retained to bunt, but Starr only drew a walk and Sowell and Brassfield were less useful than a wooden spoon, leaving the tying runs on base with meek outs. And for what? For Sensabaugh to shuffle the bags full with nobody out in the eighth, then give up a bases-clearing triple to Merrill. He hung around to finish the inning (what more was there to take away but the whiff of a comeback and whatever fraction of a soul I had left?), and Fox and Oley opened the bottom 8th by getting on base against Ricky Pippin. The right-hander got Arellano to fly out to center, but gave up an RBI single to Lonzo, then was yoinked for lefty Michael McLaughlin. Crumble batted for Christopher and got another run in with a single. Kozak hit for Sensabaugh, but flew out to right. Joel Starr hit a fly to deep right… but not deep enough and that was also caught… Thankfully Maud brought in a fresh bucket of muffins just before I could fit the hot end of the blunderbuss in my snout. Pohlmann had a clean inning (!), but Brass’ walk off McLaughlin stood alone in the bottom 9th and the Raccoons cashed another loss. 9-6 Loggers. Christopher 2-4, RBI; Crumble (PH) 1-1, RBI; Arellano 2-4; Lavorano 2-3, 3B, 2 RBI;

Rosa (0-1, 9.00 ERA) and Sensabaugh (0-0, 12.00 ERA), who was lucky that one could only assess pitchers one loss per game, were immediately purged off the roster that same night. Rosa had options, and Sensabaugh had cleared waivers 50 times before, and I didn’t give a wet paw print whether he did so for a 51st time or not.

We obviously didn’t need another starter with the All Star break almost upon us, so we called up Bryan Erickson and Brad Loveless to make up the numbers in the pen for the next two days. At least the last two games before break went to Tipsy Bobby and Robinson, the only two starters I would trust with my fuzzy tail (if not my muffin).

Game 3
MIL: CF Merrill – 3B Lange – 1B D. Robles – C Waker – 2B Wall – SS Gilliam – RF Ja. Jackson – LF Reder – P Pizzichini
POR: CF Crumble – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Brassfield – C Perez – RF Christopher – 3B Fowler – P B. Herrera

Tipsy Bobby promptly got romped for three runs in the first inning, giving up leadoff hits to Merrill and Lange, a sac fly to Waker, and a 2-run homer to Josh Wall. (drops the scorecard and picks up the Capt’n Coma) The Raccoons then answered with four hits and the tying run in the bottom 1st, but just to be sure I remained with the bottle. Christopher singled, moved to second on a grounder by Lonzo, then scored on Starr’s RBI single. Brass and Perez both ripped RBI doubles with two outs, and Christopher hit a long fly that Reder caught on the run to end the inning.

Things calmed down briefly after that, but Josh Wall completed the hard half of the cycle with a triple and scored on Tyler Gilliam’s groundout in the fourth inning to get Milwaukee on top again. Portland answered immediately again. Christopher singled and stole second to begin the bottom 4th. Fowler grounded out, but Bobby H. dropped an RBI single into right, and Crumble hammered a home run to left to take a 6-4 lead and end Pizzichini’s day.

While Bobby H. was trying to gut it out as good as he could, but looked far from pretty, the Raccoons would extend their lead in the fifth with a Perez homer off McLaughlin, and in the sixth when Bobby singled and scored on Starr’s 2-out double. Herrera went into the seventh, but there gave up a leadoff single to Gilliam, who came around to score on a pinch-hit, 2-out single Whetstine hit off Loveless, who came in specifically for this pinch-hitter… and then gave up a leadoff jack to the switch-hitting Lange to begin the eighth after Merrill had made the third out by accident. This narrowed the lead down to 8-6, which became 8-7 when Gilliam homered off Walters in the ninth inning. That was the only base runner against Walters though. 8-7 Raccoons. Crumble 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Starr 2-3, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Perez 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

First save for Walters in almost three months!

This W ensured that all CL North teams would be over .500 at the All Star Game.

Nick Robinson was the team’s only All Star this year … but the Raccoons had to ask him to go on Sunday. Everything was *that* dire. This would prevent him from pitching in the All Star Game.

Game 4
MIL: CF Merrill – LF Garmon – 1B D. Robles – SS F. Carrera – 3B Lange – RF Whetstine – 2B Wall – C Jack – P Hinojosa
POR: CF Crumble – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – RF Christopher – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – P Robinson

The final game of this 25-day week saw both #1 hitters reach base in the first and then get doubled off by the #2 hitter on their own team. Joel Starr homered to right, though, and the Coons took a 1-0 lead. Robinson put two on before getting another double play from J.P. Jack in the second, but things remained hard. Corey Garmon doubled and Dave Robles homered in the third inning to flip the score the Loggers’ way. That same inning, Lonzo and Starr knocked 1-out hits off Hinojosa to put their tushes in scoring position and give me hope again, but we only got the tying run home on Brass’ groundout while Perez flew out to Garmon. There was a new chance in the bottom 4th though, which Christopher led off with a double to right before Hinojosa walked the bags full. Robinson batted with three on and nobody out, which was a good start for the three on, no out curse to slap us right across the snout, except that he fit a grounder over second base and right through between Carrera and Wall for an RBI single, and we reclaimed the lead, 3-2! Crumble hit another station-to-station single, as did Starr, but Lonzo popped out to first in between. Brass then flicked an 0-2 single to left and drove in two runs with that, 7-2. That was the end for the Loggers’ starter, with Ricky Pippin taking the ball and conceding Starr’s run on a grounder hit by Perez to short. Joe-Chris flew out, capping a 6-run assault!

Clouds were moving in by the fifth inning and it looked like rain. However, Robinson went through six without major hiccups, got another run from Starr’s second homer of the game, but then was taken deep by Wall to begin the seventh and put Jack and Gilliam on base as well before being replaced. The Raccoons moved on to Murdock, who wrestled with the Loggers for two outs before the rain started coming down and sent the contest to a rain delay. For the second game this week, the Coons did not pick up a game again from a rain delay, but this time the game was called and we got a cheap W. 9-3 Raccoons. Crumble 2-4, RBI; Starr 4-4, 2 HR, 2B, 3 RBI; White 1-2, BB; N. Fox 1-2, BB;

In other news

July 4 – Indians CL Cody Kleidon (1-3, 1.63 ERA, 25 SV) will miss a month with shoulder tendinitis.
July 4 – The Loggers’ SP Oliver Graham (1-7, 6.50 ERA) has his season put to rest by shoulder inflammation.
July 5 – The Warriors score 11 runs in the fourth inning of a 17-3 rout against the Pacifics. SFW 2B Mike DeFusco (.329, 6 HR, 26 RBI) goes 4-for-6 with a homer in that fourth inning, and four RBI in total.
July 7 – The Stars beat the Pacifics, 5-3 in 16 innings.
July 9 – IND SP Kelly Whitney (10-5, 3.90 ERA) 2-hits the Canadiens for a 4-0 shutout, while striking out ten batters.
July 9 – Boston acquires MR Nick Leigh (3-3, 3.33 ERA) from the Pacifics for two prospects.

FL Player of the Week: SFW 2B Mike DeFusco (.331, 7 HR, 31 RBI), batting .407 (11-27) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LAP/NYC UT Jake Cline (.272, 5 HR, 29 RBI), bashing .600 (12-20) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I aged six years this week. Great time for a few days off.

When play will resume, the Raccoons will not need a fifth starter until the second week and the third station of their 3-city road trip to New York, Elk City, and Oklahoma. We’ll probably look for a replacement for Loveless and then give Freddy Castillo a look. The lefty had turned 26 by now, the ERA was no longer under three in AAA either, but Bollinger had shown his cards, and his cards had mainly been sixes and fours and the like, and none of the same suit.

It was also the season of the international free agent frenzy. The Raccoons had so far spent $64k on a pair of third-rate outfielders, and we were really only after one other guy in a rather meh field of 16-year-olds. That third guy was a 16-year-old Aussie right-hander, Glen Vankrimpen, who looked like a promising groundballer. The bidding was just under $300k on him right now, and we were still far away from the soft cap.

Fun Fact: There was never a better timing for the All Star Game.

(rolls into a ball on the trusty brown couch)

+++

This week took north of four hours to play. I need to *actually* roll into a ball now.

[Westheim]

Sorry for the silence, but I got tangled up in a bit of a grind over the weekend and the Raccoons got pre-empted. It's not like we're interrupting a title run, though...

+++

All Star Game

The CL beats the FL 5-2 with MVP honors going to Indy’s Matt Kilday, batting leadoff and 3-for-5 with three singles and two RBI. The Federal League amounts to only three base hits, two of them in the first inning for their two runs against Boston’s Jason Brenize. Outside of Kilday, the CL has only three other base hits in the contest.

Raccoons (46-43) @ Crusaders (50-39) – July 13-16, 2062

The season series between these two teams was now even at four with another four to play in New York right now. New York was tops in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed. They had a +43 run differential, just ahead of the Raccoons’ +38.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (6-7, 2.85 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (8-6, 3.46 ERA)
Chance Fox (4-6, 4.27 ERA) vs. Ryan Musgrave (4-6, 3.32 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (8-5, 3.24 ERA) vs. Josh Barcellona (7-5, 4.16 ERA)
Nick Robinson (11-4, 2.96 ERA) vs. Nate Mickler (3-7, 6.88 ERA)

Only right-handed pitchers were coming up here.

Ben Morris and his bad back came off the DL in time for the second half of the season, taking the roster spot previously occupied by Todd Oley. The Raccoons still carried eight relievers, since there was another off day coming on Monday and no fifth starter was needed until next Saturday.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Brassfield – RF Christopher – C Perez – 3B Fowler – P Alba
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – CF A. Romero – RF Austin – 1B McLaughlin – C McLaren – LF Cline – 2B Onelas – 3B B. Anderson – P E. Lee

The Raccoons started with three hits and scored one run when Lonzo doubled home Morris, then struck out three times in a row and left runners on the corners, but Alba also ended the bottom 1st with two strikeouts on Jared McLaughlin and Matt McLaren after two Crusaders reached base. That was the score early on, the Coons holding on to a 1-0 lead through five innings, although both pitchers had their pitch counts escalated quickly. Lee allowed four hits, struck out six, and offered 80 pitches, and Alba threw 92 pitches for two hits, eight strikeouts, and a walk. He was only good for two more outs and departed with Omar Sanchez on second base. Ricky Herrera came in and immediately conceded the tying run on a single by McLaughlin, so the pen was right back at it… The offense was no longer at it, but the pen continued to fumble. Justin Rocco gave up a pinch-hit homer to Sean Zeiher in the bottom 8th, giving the Crusaders a 2-1 lead that was briefly in danger in the ninth inning when Ken Sowell drew a leadoff walk from Jason Rhodes before being doubled up by Brassfield. Christopher grounded out to short as well. 2-1 Crusaders.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Brassfield – RF Christopher – C Perez – 3B Fowler – P C. Fox
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Cline – RF Austin – 1B McLaughlin – C McLaren – 3B B. Anderson – LF Weir – CF A. Romero – P Musgrave

The Coons did nothing, and Fox did get fine the first time through the lineup, but then walked Omar Sanchez with two outs in the third inning and surrendered the game’s first run on singles through the right side by Jake Cline and Aubrey Austin before getting McLaughlin to strike out. It got worse in the fourth, with another walk to Bobby Anderson, and singles allowed to Hector Weir and – with two outs! – Musgrave… That latter single gave New York another run, and a wild pitch through Sanchez’ legs made it 3-0 when Weir scored from third base.

Musgrave needed just over 70 pitches to get to the stretch, allowing two base hits and one hit into Joe-Chris’ elbow on the way there, without any scoring threat from the Raccoons. Fox covered six on a whopping 95 pitches, returned for the seventh, allowed another single to Musgrave and got the boot. Erickson replaced him, because how were we gonna make up a 3-0 deficit? Surely not with two singles by Fowler and Morris in the top 8th, followed by Lonzo rumbling into an inning-ending double play. It was a minor hiccup for Musgrave on the way to a 4-hit shutout on 89 pitches… 3-0 Crusaders. Brassfield 2-4;

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – RF Christopher – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – P B. Herrera
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – CF A. Romero – RF Austin – 1B McLaughlin – C McLaren – LF Cline – 2B Onelas – 3B B. Anderson – P Barcellona

Joey Christopher hit a single, stole a base, and was driven in by Jim White with another single in the second inning before Nick Fox fumbled his way into an inning-ending double play, then fumbled the tying run on base as well in the bottom 3rd when Barcellona reached base because of his mis-grab. A passed ball charged to Perez advanced the runner, not that it mattered, but because in a real team effort Ben Morris played a 2-out fly by Aubrey Austin into a game-tying triple in the same inning. Tipsy Bobby, the precious 1-0 lead gone, struck out McLaughlin, and that ended the dismal inning. Starr singled to left to begin the fourth in a bid to take the lead right back, but was doubled up by Brassfield instantly. Perez hit another single, but Christopher grounded to short for two if the Crusaders had needed more than one to end the inning.

Lonzo’s gap triple in the sixth and a sac fly by Joel Starr then actually did give Bobby H. the lead back, but good old Bobby ****** the lead right up in the bottom 6th with a 2-out walk to Cline and then a score-flipping homer served up to light-hitting Marcos Onelas. He then allowed another walk to Bobby Anderson and a single to the ******* opposing pitcher, then was shanked for Rocco, who left the Crusaders’ runners on base with a Sanchez pop to Nick Fox.

Top 8th, down 3-2, and Starr and Brassfield got on base with one out and knocked out Barcellona. Angelo Flores got a fielder’s choice grounder from Perez, then right away left for another right-handed reliever, Kody Mello, who flew out to Cline in leftfield and left runners on the corners. Cline then smashed a homer off Murdock in the bottom 8th for an insurance run, but White, Fowler, and Sowell went down in order in the ninth against Rhodes anyway. 4-2 Crusaders. Starr 3-3, 2B RBI; Perez 2-3, BB;

I have never seen a team this dead.

Maybe in ’32.

Yeah, maybe in ’32.

Game 4
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – RF Christopher – C Perez – 3B Fowler – LF Kozak – P Robinson
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Cline – RF Austin – 1B McLaughlin – LF Zeiher – C McLaren – 3B B. Anderson – CF A. Romero – P Mickler

Morris singled and stole second in the top 1st, then was expertly left on base, while the Crusaders got a 1-0 lead against Robinson with base knocks by Sanchez, Austin, and Zeiher. Ballgame! Actually, Joey Christopher found the left-center gap for a leadoff triple and scored on Angel Perez’ single to tie the game right away in the top 2nd. Nothing good happened after that Perez single, while the New Yorkers reached for the sweep again in the third inning. Robinson walked Cline to get going, and the runner stole second base by force, then swiftly scored on an Austin single through the left side. Two outs later, Robinson nicked Matt McLaren with an 0-2 pitch, then gave up an RBI single to old Bobby Anderson on another 0-2 pitch. Romero grounded out, stranding two, but the Raccoons were now a hefty two runs down…

The bottom of the order was not quite dead yet and in the fifth inning Fowler and Kozak started with soft singles past either side of Sanchez at short. Morris found them in scoring position as the tying runs after a successful bunt by Robinson. Mickler got a strike past Morris, but then gave up a string of an RBI single to left that narrowed the score to 3-2. Morris restored the “runners on second and third” situation for Lonzo by stealing second, and Lonzo hit a grounder into the 5-6 hole on the very next pitch. Sanchez knocked the ball down, but had to play – infield single, and a tied ballgame! Lonzo then also stole second base, but Starr popped out to short. That held the runners, but Mickler’s wild pitch to Sowell didn’t, and Morris scored to give Portland a 4-3 lead. Sowell then popped out to end the inning and leave Lonzo at third base. And then Aubrey Austin ostracized a fastball offering by Robinson from the ballpark to lead off the bottom of the same damn inning, and that tied the ******* score at four.

Mickler was still around in the sixth, but Robinson wouldn’t be. Singles by Perez and Fowler and Kozak’s lineout to Cline at second prompted for Brassfield to pinch-hit for the pitcher. He popped out to first. After an inning from Ricky Herrera without explosions, the Raccoons asked Pohlmann for two, but evaded explosions for only five outs before Bobby Anderson jacked a 2-out, 2-strike homer to break the tie in the bottom of the eighth. Rhodes then drove the dagger in for the sweep, getting around a Nick Fox single to do the deed in the ninth inning. 5-4 Crusaders. Morris 2-5, RBI; Perez 2-4, RBI; Fowler 2-4; N. Fox 1-1;

In other news

July 13 – The Falcons’ Phil Baker (4-7, 3.43 ERA) comes out of the All Star break firing a 3-hit shutout for a 1-0 win against the Thunder.
July 13 – The Loggers trade SP Jake Frensley (8-5, 3.65 ERA) to the Thunder for #156 prospect RF/LF Jared Heath.
July 13 – SFW SP Alex Dominguez (4-6, 4.50 ERA) was going to be out for a month with a small bone chip removed from his elbow.
July 14 – Condors SP Kodai Koga (10-6, 3.14 ERA) shuts out his former team, the Knights, on three hits for a 6-0 win.
July 15 – The Capitals beat the Cyclones, 5-3 in 15 innings.
July 16 – Aces OF Jaden Wilson (.287, 5 HR, 34 RBI) would miss a month after suffering a separated shoulder on a defensive play.
July 16 – Two for the price of one, as the Canadiens beat the Loggers, 7-6 in 18 innings. VAN INF/LF Kenny Graves (.263, 5 HR, 26 RBI) homers in the top of the 18th inning for the first and only score in extras. Milwaukee’s Scott Franks (.335, 2 HR, 36 RBI) goes 5-for-9 in a losing effort.

FL Player of the Week: RIC LF/RF Nick Vaughn (.265, 14 HR, 51 RBI), hitting .500 (9-18) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: IND INF Matt Kilday (.344, 1 HR, 51 RBI), clipping .583 (14-24) with 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Woeful.

But we’re not gonna form a good team out of this group anymore by the end of the season, and mind all the free agents. Nope, the roster will have the axe taken to it – assuming anybody wants these bums at all.

I am even more pissed because now it was *this ******* team* to blow all of the CL North being over .500 …! They couldn’t even wait out the Loggers dipping under .500!

Of course Lonzo will stay. He will go down with this ship because I’m tying us together with the best rope I can find!!

The Raccoons signed 16-year-old SP Glen Vankrimpen for $310k this week. We could use another Vern Kinnear-sized smash from Australia! In total we spent $374k on three players this window, well under the soft cap.

The misery tour will continue in Elk City and Oklahoma City after a Monday off day.

Fun Fact: The best record by a sixth-place team in the CL North was 76-86.

That was the 2004 Canadiens finishing there. The Titans owned the division that year, smashing it for a 117-45 record. Nobody else was over .500, with the Loggers finishing second at 81-81. Everybody else was crammed in between the Loggers and Elks, the Raccoons and Indians tying for fourth with 78 wins.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (46-47) @ Canadiens (49-42) – July 18-20, 2062

The Raccoons had bottomed out in the division with a 3-11 skid in July, and now had to face an Elks team that was noticeably on the upswing and 13-7 since last dropping two of three to the Raccoons in June. They still had a 5-4 lead in the season series. They didn’t hit for average and ranked just ninth in runs scored, but the Raccoons struggled to hit a barn from the inside, so that was that. The Elks had a -4 run differential, while the Coons’ was +31 and diving.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (6-7, 2.78 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (6-7, 4.97 ERA)
Chance Fox (4-7, 4.26 ERA) vs. Carlos Torres (8-4, 3.95 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (8-6, 3.24 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (10-7, 3.03 ERA)

Their only southpaw starter, Shane Fitzgibbon (4-9, 4.63 ERA) was one spot away from featuring in this series, and Monday had been a common off day.

I was as usual not with the team in Canada. I was in the office in Portland, plotting how to prevent the worst suckers from making it back home from the road trip. The trade deadline was just 13 days away now.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Brassfield – C Perez – RF Christopher – 3B Fowler – P Alba
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – C A. Maldonado – 1B J. Campos – LF C. Cardenas – 3B C. Sullivan – CF R. Valencia – RF D. Moreno – SS Spalding – P Kozloski

Lonzo hit a double for the first base hit on either team the first time through the lineups, and then opened the fourth inning with a single. Joel Starr homered to left-center for a 2-0 Critters lead, and the bases then filled up with Brownshirts on a Sowell single, a Brass infield single, and after two meek outs, Nick Fowler drawing a walk. Alba then struck out to keep everybody on base. At least Alba didn’t allow a base hit until Alex Castillo, the 19th batter the Elks sent to the plate, singled in the sixth inning. Apart from that he issued four walks across eight innings, but also struck out nine Elks. The home team did not get another base knock off him, and he left with a 3-0 lead – Lonzo had gotten on base with a single in the eighth inning ahead of another single by Starr and then two productive outs by the 4-5 batters who didn’t dare to land a base hit with a runner in scoring position, ever. Christopher singled and stole second, then scored on Ben Morris’ single in the ninth to tack on another run. Pohlmann allowed a leadoff double to Alex Maldonado in the bottom 9th, but then retired the next three Elks in order to get the game over with. 4-0 Critters. Lavorano 3-5, 2B; Starr 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Alba 8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 9 K, W (7-7);

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – LF Brassfield – RF Christopher – 3B N. Fox – C Arellano – P C. Fox
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – LF R. Valencia – 1B J. Campos – RF C. Cardenas – 3B C. Sullivan – CF B. Campbell – SS Spalding – C Orphanos – P C. Torres

The Raccoons put out singles by Morris, Starr, and Sowell in the first inning, but Morris was caught stealing and the other two were left on by Brassfield. Then nothing else happened through to the fifth inning – no base hits by either team until Morris clipped a 2-out triple in the top 5th and was driven in with another 2-out knock by Lonzo. Starr ended the inning with a fly out, and Brent Campbell then singled to center to take Chance Fox’ no-hitter away. Steven Spalding immediately jacked a homer to flip the score, and it got worse with a 2-out walk to Castillo, who stole second, and Rafael Valencia’s RBI single, 3-1, before the inning ended by Valencia being caught stealing.

Fox was done after five innings’ worth of 101 pitches, with Middleton offering two similarly awful innings after that, allowing another run when Spalding singled home Chad Cardenas in the sixth inning, extending the Elks’ lead to 4-1. That – surprisingly enough – came under threat again in the eighth inning. Torres departed after walking Starr with two outs, but replacement righty Brian Doster was taken deep to left on the second pitch to Ken Sowell, reducing the Elks’ advantage to just one run. After Murdock and Loveless put a scoreless bottom 8th together, closer Erik Swain’s walk to Joey Christopher put the tying run on base with nobody out. But don’t you worry about the Elks; Nick Fox grounded out, Nick Fowler struck out, and Malik Crumble crumbled out to third base to end the game… 4-3 Canadiens. Morris 2-4, 3B; Starr 1-2, 2 BB; Sowell 2-4, HR, 2 RBI;

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B Sowell – RF Brassfield – C Perez – 3B Fowler – LF Crumble – P B. Herrera
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – LF D. Garcia – 1B J. Campos – RF C. Richardson – CF B. Campbell – 3B C. Sullivan – C A. Maldonado – SS Spalding – P Nielsen

Lonzo got on base on Spalding’s error in the first inning and stole his 29th base of the year, but was stranded by the supposed big bats, while Jose Campos didn’t fuzz around much when Danny Garcia drew a walk off Tipsy Bobby in the bottom 1st and rocked a 2-run homer to put the Elks on top in this rubber game. That sorta crap got repeated in the second inning with a walk to Chris Sullivan and another Spalding homer – Steven Spalding homers entering this series: 1 – and then another hit by Nielsen and a 2-out RBI single for Danny Garcia, at which point we had reached ballgame territory at 5-0.

The Coons scored an unearned run in the third; Sullivan’s error put Crumble on base to begin the inning. Morris also reached with a scratch single, and Lonzo got the RBI with a fielder’s choice grounder, then stole another base before being stranded after a Starr single and a Sowell fly to the warning track that was caught by Garcia. Top 4th, Perez and Fowler reached with one out before Chris Richardson tried to catch Crumble’s looper on the slide, but only played a single into an RBI double. Kozak batted for Tipsy Bobby, struck out, and Morris grounded out to fritter another two base runners away.

The Coons then went to Erickson in the bottom 4th, which derailed for four straight Elks reaching base, culminating in Campos hitting a 2-run single with the bags full before Richardson found a 3-6-3 double play to end the ******* inning. It didn’t get much better; Loveless gave up another run in the sixth after walking a pair, while Crumble hit a meaningless solo homer to left in the seventh inning. The Coons were down by five entering the ninth inning, but again put pressure on Doster, who allowed hits to Jim White and Nick Fox before a 1-out walk to Starr loaded the bases and made it a save opportunity for Swain. He blazed away Sowell and Brassfield with strikeouts to kill that silly rally. 8-3 Canadiens. N. Fox (PH) 1-1; Crumble 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (47-49) @ Thunder (57-39) – July 21-23, 2062

Half a game out in the South, the Thunder were looking forward to this series and meeting an easily beatable team. They had already swept us in the first meeting of the season. They had won five in a row, they were seventh in runs scored, but they had the best rotation and gave up the second-fewest runs overall. Sounded like another tough weekend. However, they had a few notable injuries including Ernesto Rios and Danny Guzman sitting on the DL and Eric Whitlow being day-to-day, bothered by a slight concussion. Oh, then! Only *slight* brain damage!

Projected matchups:
Nick Robinson (11-4, 3.13 ERA) vs. Mark Jacobs (6-2, 2.45 ERA)
TBD vs. Aaron Harris (12-3, 2.10 ERA)
Angel Alba (7-7, 2.59 ERA) vs. Jerry Washington (10-4, 2.38 ERA)

Those ERA’s… Jacobs was their only left-hander. The Raccoons had no idea who’d start on Saturday, but let’s just say I was on the phone a lot. It wasn’t impossible that Freddy Castillo would make his ABL debut, though.

Let’s just say, down by ten games I didn’t expect us to trade *up* now.

Game 1
POR: CF Crumble – SS Lavorano – 1B Brassfield – 2B Sowell – C Perez – LF Kozak – RF Christopher – 3B N. Fox – P Robinson
OCT: SS Lira – RF Whitlow – SS Spehar – C Mowery – 3B McNeal – 1B I. Stone – 2B J. Caballero – CF B. Fish – P M. Jacobs

The Thunder had pairs on base in the first, when Ryan Spehar and Kevin Mowery drew walks, and in the second, with Ian Stone leading off with a single and Bobby Fish getting nicked, but could not push anybody across against Robinson. The Raccoons produced less traffic the first time through, but then got the first run of the game onto the board in the fourth with a Lonzo single and then advancements by a balk, a bloop single by Brassfield, and Sowell’s RBI single to left. Perez and Kozak hit more RBI singles to center and right, respectively, Christopher added a sac fly, and Nick Fox struck out to end the inning, but with a 4-spot on the board.

Robinson then didn’t miss a beat to piss me off by almost immediately ******* most of the 4-0 lead away again. In his first three pitches in the bottom 4th Josh McNeal singled and Ian Stone doubled. A wild pitch and Jorge Caballero’s sac fly plated two runs, and then Robinson hit Fish *again*. Fish stole second, scored on Ethan Torrence’s pinch-hit single, and Torrence stole another base before Omar Lira and Whitlow both struck out to end the ******* inning. Spehar walked to begin the fifth and was doubled up, but Robinson walked McNeal just the same. Ian Stone popped out to second to end that inning.

The sixth was uneventful, with Murdock retiring the Thunder’s bottom of the order without issues after Robinson was not invited back for more drama llama. Right-hander Gabe Ortega came into the game in the seventh for Oklahoma and allowed consecutive 1-out singles to Christopher and Nick Fox; Joe-Chris stole second base in between, however, and then scored on Fox’ single to extend the lead to 5-3. Murdock bunted Fox to second, but Crumble popped out to end the inning. Murdock then held on for another inning, and Rocco put up a scoreless eighth, setting up Walters. Before the closer could come out, though, the Raccoons tacked on another run on Kozak’s leadoff homer in the ninth off left-hander Ryan Hogues. Walters took the 6-3 lead, but stuff seemed to have deserted him. Matt Wartella flew out to center. Omar Lira hit a clean single. Whitlow then knocked a sharp grounder – but right at Lonzo, and the 6-4-3 was turned to end the game. 6-3 Coons. Lavorano 2-4; Sowell 2-4, RBI; Perez 2-3, BB, RBI; Kozak 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Murdock 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Interlude: Trades

Regardless of this particular win, the Raccoons threw in the towel and began to tear this team apart, because it very obviously wasn’t working and would never work. Three position players were traded away overnight in two separate deals, perhaps including a stunner.

The Raccoons traded 2B/SS Ken Sowell (.227, 19 HR, 64 RBI) and OF/1B Joey Christopher (.248, 3 HR, 24 RBI) to the Buffaloes for two 24-year-old prospects, CL John Nesbitt and OF/1B Tony Gonzalez. Nesbitt was ranked #37 in the prospect rankings.

Sowell had batted .215 since arriving in Portland and had done nothing to steady the offense. Nick Nye would eventually come off the DL again and also do nothing to steady the offense, and we had no use for Sowell in playing out the string. Christopher was a perpetual disappointment as a leadoff batter and aside from that was mostly blocking Jose Corral at this point.

Perhaps the more shocking trade was that of LF/RF/1B Trent Brassfield (.245, 4 HR, 39 RBI) to a division rival, the Indians, along with toss-in AAA right-handers Justin DeRose (1-0, 3.50 ERA) and Bobby Sneeze, for another 23-year-old OF Marco Campos, who was in AA ball.

Brassfield’s abject failure to produce much of anything had fit him in seamlessly with everybody else this year, and the Raccoons took a chance to get rid of that contract that still ran through 2065 (with team options, though).

Campos and Gonzalez were not ranked, but while Nesbitt made it to the top of the Coons’ prospect rankings, Campos still fit into the team top 10, being relatively close to the top 200 prospects.

Raccoons (47-49) @ Thunder (57-39) – July 21-23, 2062

The Raccoons reached out for replenishments from AAA, actually bringing up four players since Brad Loveless (0-0, 9.00 ERA) also ended up on waivers at this point.

26-year-old left-hander Freddy Castillo, 5-5 with a 3.49 ERA in AAA, came up to make his ABL debut. He threw six pitches, some well. Jose Corral, once a top 5 prospect, came back up to get as much of a shot as everyday rightfielder at age 21 as he could hit for. He was a .211 hitter across 12 games spread between this and last year. There would be another fresh face up with a promotion for 25-year-old super utility Jorge Moreno, although he was principally an outfielder, and could help out in the infield if really needed. Moreno had been our second-rounder in 2056. He was hitting a paltry .234 in AAA with no power. The final promotion was Jon Bean. Again.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Corral – C Perez – 3B Fowler – 2B White – P Castillo
OCT: SS Lira – RF Whitlow – 2B Spehar – C Mowery – 3B McNeal – 1B I. Stone – LF R. Hummel – CF B. Fish – P Aa. Harris

Castillo pitched into and out of trouble in his maiden inning, with Omar Lira hitting an infield single on his first ever big-boy league pitch, and then he nailed Whitlow with an 0-2 to give him a more milder concussion. Spehar and Mowery whiffed, however, and after McNeal walked the bags full, Ian Stone flew out to Crumble in a full count to end the inning. He would put up a clean inning after that. Meanwhile, Corral singled in his first at-bat back, but was also doubled up by Perez with a grounder to short. The Raccoons then scored a 1-out run in the third inning on a Morris double and Lonzo’s RBI single. Lonzo also stole second base then, but was left on by Starr and Crumble. The fourth inning saw Perez hit a 1-out single. Fowler struck out, but Jim White stuck a triple into the rightfield corner and then scored on Castillo’s first base hit, a single to center, also giving him his first RBI right away, 3-0! Morris reached on an error by Omar Lira, but Lonzo then struck out.

Castillo shut out the Thunder on one hit through five innings, but then threw away a grounder by Whitlow in the sixth inning. He threw a wild pitch, then surrendered the unearned run on Kevin Mowery’s double to center, 3-1. McNeal and Stone made outs, though, and the inning ended with the tying run left in the box. Castillo kept pitching in the seventh inning, facing left-handed batters exclusively. Bobby Fish hit a 1-out single, and Omar Lira whacked a 2-out triple to reduce the score to 3-2 and put the tying run on third base. When right-hander Jorge Caballero pinch-hit in the #2 spot, the Raccoons went to Murdock, who secured a pop on the infield for the third out before Matt Walters got into the 3-2 game in the eighth inning. He struck out nobody; Kevin Mowery hit a 1-out single, and everybody else grounded out.

The Thunder brought Dave Lister for the ninth inning. Kozak was retired to begin the inning before Morris and Starr took to the corners with a pair of hits. Malik Crumble then came through with a double to right-center. Morris scored from third and Starr scored from first base for extra insurance. Corral then added a sharp RBI single to right off righty Gabe Ortega, who next served up a 2-run bomb to Angel Perez. That made it 8-2, but Ricky Herrera then got lit up in the bottom 9th. Three straight hits by Randy Hummel, Bobby Fish, and Bernaldin Mararanha already put a run across – all lefty hitters by the way – before Omar Lira and Steve Preston made poor outs on the infield. A walk to Spehar prompted another move to Middleton, who clinched a depressing save with a K to Mowery… 8-3 Raccoons. Morris 3-5, 2 2B; Starr 2-5, 2B; Corral 2-5, RBI; Perez 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; N. Fox (PH) 2-2; White 2-5, 3B, RBI; Castillo 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (1-0) and 1-3, RBI;

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – 2B White – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Corral – 3B Fowler – C Arellano – SS Bean – P Alba
OCT: SS O. Lira – 1B I. Stone – RF Whitlow – LF R. Hummel – C Preston – 2B Spehar – CF B. Fish – 3B J. Caballero – P Washington

Alba the first time through offered a walk to Spehar and a 2-out single to Caballero, but Spehar committed the cardinal sin of making the third out at third base when he tried to gain the extra 90 feet coming from first, but was thrown out by Jose Corral. The inning after, they moved the outfield assist to taking place at home plate when Whitlow singled and then tried to make it around on Hummel’s double to left. Malik Crumble told him off, but that was only the second out of the inning, and a wild pitch, a Steve Preston RBI single, and a 2-run homer by Spehar still turned the inning into a 3-spot for the Thunder.

The Coons had already frittered away five hits in the first four innings without getting across home plate even once, but Jon Bean opened the fifth with a single and was bunted to second by Alba, then scored on a Morris single to reduce the gap to 3-1. The team then made two outs, but scratched out singles through Corral, Arellano, and Bean in the sixth. Bean drove in the team’s second run, and prompted a move for Lonzo to bat for Alba, but he flew out to Hummel and ended the inning.

The Raccoons then got four outs from Rocco before handing the ball to Erickson, which turned out to be another grave mistake. The right-hander retired nobody and was yanked when Caballero, Ethan Torrence, and Lira had filled the bases with one out in the bottom 7th. Pohlmann replaced him, gave up two runs on a sharp single up the middle by Ian Stone, and then labored his way out of the inning after walking the bases back full with Whitlow. Martaranha and Preston both struck out. The Raccoons never threatened again after this, and the Thunder staved off the sweep. 5-2 Thunder. Morris 2-5, RBI; Bean 3-4, RBI;

In other news

July 18 – The Falcons out-duel the Knights for an 11-10 win in 14 innings.
July 19 – Titans LF/RF Bill Ramires (.256, 8 HR, 42 RBI) has five RBI on four hits, including a home run, in a 14-0 thrashing of the Loggers.
July 19 – SAL RF/LF Javier Acuna (.279, 4 HR, 33 RBI) could be out for a month with a strained hamstring.
July 20 – Miners SP Sean Sweeton (7-7, 3.45 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Buffaloes, striking out eight batters in the 5-0 win.
July 20 – NYC SP Ryan Musgrave (6-6, 2.70 ERA) 2-hits the Indians in a 9-0 whitewash.
July 21 – The Gold Sox acquire SP Mike Chartrand (7-6, 4.19 ERA) from the Scorpions in exchange for CF/1B Jared Allen (.271, 4 HR, 21 RBI) and a prospect.
July 21 – The Blue Sox pick up SP Tony Lira (4-0, 1.59 ERA) from the Rebels for a prospect, #114 RF/LF/1B Matt Ford.
July 22 – Boston sends SP Will Glaude (9-5, 4.20 ERA) to the Aces for outfielder Steve Humphries (.295, 3 HR, 17 RBI) and a prospect, #94 SP George Christensen.
July 23 – 37-year-old NYC 1B/RF/LF Aubrey Austin (.306, 10 HR, 53 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak assembled after a fifth-inning single in a 3-2 win against the Condors.
July 23 – A torn labrum ends the season of VAN SP Rafael Mendoza (6-9, 4.08 ERA).

FL Player of the Week: SAL 1B Belchior Fresco (.283, 10 HR, 39 RBI), mashing .524 (11-21) with 4 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC 1B/RF/LF Aubrey Austin (.306, 10 HR, 53 RBI), slapping .560 (14-25) with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Yes, we are trying to make more trades. There’s a couple of starting pitchers here that might get a good prospect into the system (although so far the offers have been not so great). Starr is not going anywhere with that new contract, and Lonzo isn’t going anywhere because other teams might be smarter and put him on the bench, and how was he gonna steal bases from there!? Besides these two, the only other pieces that were safe however were probably Morris and Alba. Everybody else was very much available.

The Portland Availables would head home for six games with the Baybirds and Condors next week.

Fun Fact: Ken Sowell hit a home run per 17 at-bats with the Knights this year.

One in 31 at-bats with the Coons.

At least this time I saw it coming.

[Westheim]

Welcome to the Portland Flea Markets, where everything is available for a tenner now!

And boy, did we make a deal on Monday. There was not much left on the team on Monday night.

Trade

The Raccoons and the Capitals swung a huge deal on Monday, exchanging six players between them. The Capitals received SP Bobby Herrera (8-7, 3.52 ERA), SP Nick Robinson (12-4, 3.22 ERA), and C Angel Perez (.261, 9 HR, 45 RBI) for three prospects, leaving the Raccoons with no rotation to speak of and no catcher worth talking about, while the Capitals could make one final push to erase a 9 1/2 game deficit in the FL East, which they thought was doable.

The Raccoons received some very fine youngsters in the deal: #12 prospect AAA SP Jeff Applegate (also a former #12 pick), who was very close to the majors at age 22, but not *quite* ready yet, #137 prospect AA SP Sandy Pineda, a left-hander aged 21 and former #31 pick, and a 24-year-old OF Kyle Pisciotti, who was not ranked. All three were actually assigned to St. Pete, even though only Applegate had been in AAA Modesto, with the other two coming from AA Lincoln.

The Raccoons brought back John Bollinger for the rotation. The other spot would be taken by Middleton, who was bickering about his role anyway, and who was not movable even for the remainder of his salary. Right-hander Rich Read returned from St. Pete; he had been very harshly treated in four games with the Coons last year. The backup catcher spot was taken by Cortez Chavez, who had last featured for the Raccoons three years ago and had hit nicely for the Alley Cats last year, but was down to .205 this season and little more than an animate bench warmer behind … uh, Arellano.

Two long months ahead.

Raccoons (49-50) vs. Bayhawks (46-51) – July 25-27, 2062

The hope now was that the next couple of teams facing the Raccoons would not have scouting reports on the bums facing them and we’d sneak a few more wins that way. The Bayhawks had their own problems – these two teams were a far howl from the CLCS last season. They were tied for fifth in runs scored, but allowed the third-most runs with a -25 run differential. Their rotation was the worst in the CL. They were up 3-0 on the Raccoons though this year.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (7-8, 2.71 ERA)* vs. Joe Chalmers (7-8, 3.60 ERA)
Chance Fox (4-8, 4.31 ERA) vs. Jeff Crowley (7-4, 4.37 ERA)
Adam Middleton (3-4, 3.89 ERA) vs. Hector Montenegro (5-7, 5.49 ERA)

Only right-handers coming up here.

Game 1
SFB: SS X. Reyes – RF Laws – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – 3B D. Sandoval – 1B Escalera – C Mathews – CF Echols – P Chalmers
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Corral – 2B White – 3B N. Fowler – C Arellano – P Alba

Alba mauled Scott Laws’ hand right away with a fastball and the Bayhawks had to replace him with the ancient Aaron Walker. They also couldn’t score early on, while the Raccoons loaded the bases in the bottom 2nd with a Crumble single, Corral reaching on an error by Xavier Reyes, and then Fowler getting plonked with one out. Arellano struck out, Angel flew out to center, and that ended the inning.

The Baybirds then suffered both injury AND insult in the bottom 3rd. Ben Morris led off with a single to center, then stole second. Kyle Mathews’ throw got past Armando Montoya at second base, and Morris scampered on to third. Lonzo then brought in the game’s first run with a looper to left-center, which Grant Anker caught in a tumble, but then remained on the ground for about six minutes before being picked up by the trainer and centerfielder Jonathan Echols and slowly walked off the field. Morris had scored on the play, 1-0 Coons on the sac fly, and the Baybirds had to replace Anker, the 2061 Player of the Year, with Bobby Grewe, and were now all out of backup outfielders after just two-and-a-half innings. Malik Crumble rubbed it in with a 2-out homer to left, and the inning after that Fowler and Arellano somehow stumbled to the corners with one out. Alba popped out, but Morris singled to center to get Fowler home, 3-0, while Lonzo grounded out to Reyes to strand a pair.

Alba was then knocked out in the fifth inning* after surrendering a bunch of rockets and a run to the Bayhawks, starting with a sharp leadoff single by Jonathan Echols, and a Reyes RBI double. The Raccoons got out of the inning with Erickson, who together with Pohlmann got the team to the stretch with Portland still up 3-1. Murdock went out for the eighth inning, got two outs, then allowed a single to Armando Montoya. With the left-handed Dan Sandoval and Jose Escalera next, the Raccoons moved for Matt Walters and a 4-out save. Sandoval grounded out, which ended the inning. Jorge Moreno after a few days on the roster made his major league debut in the bottom 8th with a pinch-hit single, but was left on base. The ninth began with an Escalera blooper for a single, but Walters then retired the next three on a pop, a grounder to Starr, and a fly to Christopher. No strikeouts. 3-1 Raccoons. Morris 2-4, RBI; Crumble 2-4, HR, RBI; Moreno (PH) 1-1;

Nick Nye went for another rehab assignment in AAA on Wednesday.

The Bayhawks brought up a different right-hander for the second game in Jon Mendosa (4-7, 5.97 ERA).

Game 2
SFB: SS X. Reyes – CF Echols – RF Pepper – 2B A. Montoya – LF A. Walker – 3B D. Sandoval – 1B Escalera – C Mathews – P J. Mendosa
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Corral – 2B White – 3B N. Fowler – C Arellano – P C. Fox

The Bayhawks got Echols on with a single, but he was caught stealing, then lost their third outfielder in ten innings when Craig Pepper legged out a triple, but also legged out a leg, and since Tuesday’s casualties were still clogging their roster, they now had to send rookie shortstop Dustin Cox into the outfield to make up the numbers. For consolation, they scored two unearned runs when the inning continued with a gross throwing error by Fowler on Montoya’s grounder and singles hit by Aaron Walker and Dan Sandoval before Escalera finally went down on strikes against the very punchable Fox. The Raccoons answered briskly, with Lonzo hitting a first-inning single and taking his 32nd base of the year, then came home on Starr’s single to left-center. Crumble refused to crumble and hit a score-flipping 2-piece over the fence in left, 3-2 Raccoons. Jim White and Fowler then hit 2-out singles in the inning, but Arellano went down on strikes and that was that.

Fox held up for the time being, hit a single his first time up, but was left on in that second inning. Mendosa nicked Crumble to begin the bottom 3rd, and Jose Corral came through with a belter to deep center that didn’t go out, but eluded Echols for an RBI triple. This was Corral’s 52nd ABL at-bat, and he had yet to whack one out. At least he scored on Jim White’s groundout, 5-2.

Xavier Reyes hit a leadoff single in the fifth and then stole second base, wagging an index finger at Lonzo there, because that steal put Reyes at 33, and alone for the CL lead again. Echols walked, but Cox rolled into a double play, 6-4-3. Fox got counseling before facing Montoya, but still gave up an RBI single to the Bayhawks’ only surviving star, then struck out Walker to end the inning at least, and the Raccoons answered in the bottom 5th, which Starr opened with a walk, while White hit a shy single with two outs. There was nothing shy about the 395-foot, 3-piece bomb that Nick Fowler hit off Larry Colwell after that.

Fox got through six before Jorge Moreno batted for him and drew a leadoff walk off Jesse Connors, who allowed singles to Morris and Lonzo to fill up the bags with nobody out. Kozak batted for Starr and lined one right into Connors’ back pocket for the first out. Things crumbled for good with a pop on the infield and a K on Corral. While the Coons went to Rich Read from here, the Bayhawks got more hurt inflicted on their pen in the eighth inning. Morris reached base against Bill Goda, who then served up back-to-back homers to Kozak and Crumble to explode the score further and get the Coons into double digits. The Raccoons meanwhile got a 3-inning save from Read, who was not seriously threatened by the diminished Bayhawks lineup in the final innings. 11-3 Furballs! Morris 2-5; Lavorano 2-5; Starr 1-2, BB, RBI; Kozak (PH) 1-2, HR, 2 RBI; Crumble 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Bean (PH) 1-1; Fowler 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; C. Fox 6.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (5-8) and 1-2; Read 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

Grant Anker (.244, 12 HR, 46 RBI) was off to the DL with a sprained ankle by Thursday, with Laws ruled day-to-day with a bad bruise.

Interlude: Waiver claim

On Thursday, the Raccoons claimed right-handed MR Corey Barrett, age 28, off waivers by the Condors. Barrett had not pitched in the majors all year, but had a 1.85 ERA as closer in AAA, and had been snatched as the Condors tried to get him off the 40-man roster. Barrett, a former ninth-round pick, had 29 major league appearances with Tijuana in previous seasons, going 1-0 with a 3.70 ERA and three saves.

He was not activated ahead of the series finale, but was likely to take the spot of Erickson rather soon.

Raccoons (49-50) vs. Bayhawks (46-51) – July 25-27, 2062

Game 3
SFB: SS X. Reyes – CF Echols – 2B A. Montoya – 3B D. Sandoval – RF Laws – LF Escalera – 1B P. Fowler – C Mathews – P Crowley
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B N. Fowler – 2B White – RF Moreno – C Chavez – P Middleton

Scott Laws double in two runs as the Bayhawks pounded Middleton for four straight hits and three runs in the top of the first inning, but then jammed his thumb sliding into second base and had to come out of another game in this rotten series, replaced by Walker, who scored on Escalera’s single to make it 3-0. Middleton continued to drown, loading the bags with a Crowley (!) single and two walks in the top 2nd before Montoya hit into an uncharacteristic double play to dissolve the threat. Montoya was more successful with two outs in the fourth, hitting an RBI single for the fourth and final run off Middleton, who needed 85 pitches to make it this far into a proper whacking and wasn’t seen again after that, but also managed to strike out on a bunt in between giving up all the runs.

Crowley controlled the Furballs, who got four outs from the remains of Ricky H., then went to Erickson in a double switch that put him in the #7 hole with Kozak replacing Moreno. Erickson got five outs sandwiching Lonzo drawing a walk and stealing #33 to tie up Reyes once more. He was left on, but Crumble socked a triple to lead off the bottom 7th and scored on White’s sac fly after a poor pop by Fowler, which got the team on the board at least, even though they were still down 4-1 on just three hits. When Rocco gave up a Mathews double and an RBI single to Crowley, the gap was four again, and I couldn’t help but squish Honeypaws tighter into my chest and shove the bottle of Capt’n Coma deeper into my throat. That didn’t stop Armando Montoya from taking Murdock deep to left for an extra run in the ninth. 6-1 Bayhawks.

Erickson (1-0, 6.00 ERA) was then indeed sent back to AAA and the Coons activated Barrett for the weekend series with the Condors, where he had just come from.

Raccoons (51-51) vs. Condors (61-42) – July 28-30, 2062

These two teams were in the bottom three in the CL in runs scored. How were the Condors leading the South without scoring? Well, they also weren’t giving up any runs, just 3.3 markers per game against that pitching staff… They were up 4-2 in the season series, which would come to a close on this weekend.

Projected matchups:
Freddy Castillo (1-0, 1.35 ERA) vs. Brett Bebout (2-1, 3.09 ERA)
John Bollinger (2-3, 4.81 ERA) vs. Edgar Mauricio (6-9, 3.42 ERA)
Angel Alba (7-8, 2.69 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (10-8, 3.43 ERA)

Again, only right-handed pitchers coming up here.

We were in a string of 17 games in 16 days, so what little remained in terms of regulars might get a day off this weekend, especially if it bats right-handed. Like, uh, Lonzo.

Game 1
TIJ: CF Asencio – RF Alf. Mendez – 3B Frasher – SS C. Ramsey – 1B Metz – C Maresh – LF E. Maldonado – 2B F. Serrano – P Bebout
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B Fowler – RF Corral – 2B White – C Arellano – P Castillo

Castillo walked the first two batters in his second ABL start, but also got out of the inning with a 6-4-3 double play by Casey Ramsey after Eric Frasher had flown out to Morris; however, Lonzo also found a double play after Ben Morris drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 1st. The game was a bit of a nothing contest from there until the fourth when an in-between sharp Castillo suddenly allowed three straight 1-out singles to Ramsey, Metz, and Chris Maresh, who drove in the game’s first run, then nicked Elmer Maldonado before getting another double play out of Franklin Serrano to save his bacon for more innings.

The Critters didn’t get a base hit until Jim White hit a 1-out single in the bottom 5th, following a walk drawn by Jose Corral. Arellano flew out to center before the 22-year-old rookie Bebout (pronounced: Bay-boo! …apparently) inexplicably offered a 2-out walk to the Critters pitcher, courting disaster and receiving it when Ben Morris dished a bases-clearing triple into the left-center gap to flip the score around. Lonzo flew out to left to keep him on third base and the score at 3-1.

Castillo pitched one more inning, allowing a run after Andy Metz hit a double – and hurt himself and had to hobble off with a quad strain that would send him to the DL. Jason Sturgeon replaced him, and … Slappy, who laid all these landmines out there!? … Maresh’s single and a Maldonado sac fly got the score down to 3-2, but Castillo finished the inning against Bay-Boo.

Murdock tumbled, gave up a double to Alf Mendez and a walk to Frasher in the seventh, but didn’t quite fall and got out of the inning against Ramsey and Sturgeon. Murdock got Maresh to ground out at the start of the eighth, then yielded for Rocco, who blew the skinny lead by hanging one to Elmer Maldonado that didn’t come back down this side of the Columbia. Nick Fox’ pinch-hit single in the bottom 8th went nowhere, and Matt Walters had a 1-2-3 ninth, running three full counts against the 1-2-3 in the Condors order. Two groundouts, and then Frasher swung over ball four for – finally! – a strikeout, but I could already see Cristiano type feverishly into his laptop and it made me dizzy.

The game then still went to extras with lefty Joe Cash leaving the Critters broke in the bottom 9th. Newcomer Cody Barrett was tossed into the tenth inning, gave up a 1-out triple to left to Sturgeon – careful, don’t hurt yourself, we have tripping hazards out there – and then struck out backup catcher Salvatore Bera and got Crumble to rush down a Maldonado fly in left-center to actually avoid giving up the run. The Coons went on to Pohlmann, who gave them three innings scattering three singles and didn’t allow a run until his spot led off the bottom 13th and with the Condors unveiling a new righty in Miguel Batista, the Coons sent Jon Bean to pinch-hit (Cortez Chavez was also still available). Bean grounded out, Morris singled, but was forced out by Lonzo, and Starr also grounded out. Oh god, we’re gonna play 27 innings today…

Rich Read got the ball in the 14th and in all likelihood would be back in the minors tomorrow then. The only other reliever still available was Ricky H., who was so washed that you couldn’t send him up against a mostly righty lineup anyway. Ramsey hit a 2-out single off Read and stole second in the 14th inning, but Sturgeon then struck out to keep him at second base. Maldonado got on in the 15th with a single, but was also stranded as Read finished his second inning of work. Batista entered his third inning in the bottom 15th, and finally the Raccoons got an early paw up when Jim White peppered a ball into the right-center gap, then legged it out for a leadoff triple! When Arellano flew out to Asencio in center, White went for it – and was thrown out at the plate. (bangs head against the nearest hard surface) Read managed another scoreless inning as the Condors scattered 16 hits in 16 innings in the most inefficient way possible, while the Raccoons entered the bottom 16th on SIX base hits. Morris’ leadoff single in the 16th made it seven – and still against Batista. Jon Bean had earlier remained in the game at short so we could get more outta Read, who was now hit for in Lonzo’s spot with Chavez, the last twig on the bench. Batista balked Morris to second base before Chavez made a ****** out, after which Starr was walked intentionally to get to Malik Crumble, who had torn the Baybirds all sorts of holes during the week, but was 0-for-6 in this game. He flew out to center, moving Morris to third base for Fowler to hit with two outs. Fowler was also 0-for-6 at this stage, but who was even counting anymore. At least he ended the BLOODY BALLGAME with a single to center. It was a crawloff. 4-3 Raccoons. Morris 3-6, BB, 3B, 3 RBI; White 2-6, 3B; N. Fox (PH) 1-1; Pohlmann 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Read 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

All four o’ my paws were asleep by the end o’ this one…

After 80 pitches in three days and with the pen in a dire strait once more, Rich Read (1-0, 0.00 ERA) was sent back to AAA after this game and with Barton unavailable, Abrams awful, and Erickson just having been dumped, we brought up another debutant in 23-year-old right-hander Daniel Benitez, who had just been converted to a garbage reliever with the Alley Cats, because he pitched like garbage (4.87 ERA in AAA). He had been a $240k investment in the 2057 July IFA bidding round.

Game 2
TIJ: CF Asencio – RF Alf. Mendez – SS C. Ramsey – 3B Frasher – C Maresh – LF S. Moore – 1B Cross – 2B F. Serrano – P E. Mauricio
POR: CF Morris – SS White – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Corral – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bean – C Chavez – P Bollinger

The Raccoons took the lead in the first on a Starr double and Crumble single, which was nothing compared to the bottom 2nd, because while Jose Corral couldn’t hit a ball outta the park and in fact ended the first inning with a meek out, the Raccoons got a leadoff single from Fox in the second and then – lo and behold – a 2-piece to left-center from CORTEZ CHAVEZ of all possible and impossible people…! Both teams then scattered runners here and there for a few innings before the Coons put White and Starr on the corners in the bottom 5th and cashed those runners with a Crumble triple after the new cleanup guy found his bat again and upped the score to 5-0. Corral still couldn’t coral one out of the corral, but at least got the extra run home from third base with a groundout to Serrano.

Bollinger gave the Coons what he needed with six shutout innings, but then got very vehemently stuck in the seventh inning. It began with a leadoff walk to Maresh, then a double to center by Scott Moore. Nigel Cross’ RBI single got the Condors on the board, and while Serrano grounded out to third, the Coons went to Ricky H. – the only reliever not used yesterday – when Elmer Maldonado pinch-hit for the pitcher. Unfortunately he showed up washed again, gave up both of Bollinger’s runs on a Maldonado single to right, and only then got the last two outs of the inning. We then ended up with the debutant Benitez in a hold situation in the eighth and got what we deserved. Frasher and Maresh made outs, but he put the left-handers Moore and Cross on base, the latter doubling in the former, who walked. Serrano also walked, and Benitez was dumped for Walters and a double switch putting Kozak into leftfield over Crumble. He got PH Domingo Mercado on a groundout to end the inning, the lead down to 6-4. Walters got them in order in the ninth – but again didn’t strike out anybody….. 6-4 Raccoons. Starr 3-4, 2B; Crumble 3-4, 3B, 3 RBI;

Funny how we’re now winning after dealing everything not nailed down…

(looks up to the baseball gods gnashing his pointy teeth)

Game 3
TIJ: CF Asencio – 1B Sturgeon – SS C. Ramsey – 3B Frasher – LF E. Maldonado – C Maresh – RF S. Moore – 2B Cross – P Koga
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Corral – 3B Fowler – 2B Bean – C Arellano – P Alba

Through five, there were two hits in the game, a Fowler single in the second and a Bean single in the fifth. Neither team put a runner on third base. Alba used 63 pitches to get through five innings, walking a pair against six strikeouts. He got Nigel Cross on a fly to left and Koga on strikes to begin the sixth, then lost the bid not on a base hit, but on two full count walks to the 1-2 batters before Ramsey popped out to Arellano behind home plate, with Alba needing 28 pitches in that inning alone. A 10-pitch seventh wasn’t gonna save him now. Also, the Raccoons weren’t scoring. Malik Crumble had their third base hit, another single, in the bottom 7th, and then was caught stealing. Alba was yet back for the eighth inning, got outs from Moore and Cross, and then saw Koga dink in a floater into shallow right for a 2-out single.

Oh, the deflation…! … Asencio popped out to end Alba’s weird and busy day (as well as the eighth inning) on 113 total pitches. But he DID get the lead in the bottom 8th. Granted, the shy single that Bean hit to begin the inning required more than just Morris’ 2-out single to cash him because Koga also threw a wild pitch for a crucial base in between. Lonzo dropped another single, but Starr whiffed to send it to … somebody in the ninth inning. The Raccoons went with Murdock against the 2-3-4 batters which included the switch-hitters Sturgeon and Frasher, who were both largely even, and the righty Ramsey. Sturgeon walloped a high fly to deep left on the very first pitch of the inning, but Crumble hustled back and picked the ******* thing off the top of the fence! Ramsey also flew out to left, and Frasher whiffed…! 1-0 Blighters! Bean 2-3; Alba 8.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 9 K, W (8-8);

In other news

July 25 – The Aces have a 6-run rally to tie the game against the Crusaders in the eighth inning, then fall behind by two runs in the top of the ninth inning again, before winning, 11-10, on a 3-run walkoff shot by INF/LF/RF Mike Roberts (.229, 6 HR, 44 RBI).
July 26 – The hitting streak of New York 1B/RF/LF Aubrey Austin (.310, 10 HR, 53 RBI) ends at 22 games in a 9-5 loss to the Aces.
July 27 – The Capitals acquire OF Isaiah Birth (.333, 2 HR, 38 RBI) from the Blue Sox for right-hander Troy Ratliff (2-3, 5.28 ERA, 6 SV) and a prospect, #69 SP Adam Dochterman.
July 27 – Furthermore, the Caps pick up 1B Pedro Parada (.293, 3 HR, 13 RBI) from the Pacifics for a minor leaguer and a prospect, #93 SP Aiden Shaw.
July 28 – The Indians’ SP Antonio Pichardo (8-10, 4.10 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Falcons for a 6-0 win.
July 30 – WAS SP Jon Reyes (5-9, 3.51 ERA) is expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering a forearm strain.

FL Player of the Week: RIC INF/RF Robby Cox (.262, 6 HR, 43 RBI), hitting .450 (9-20) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN INF Chris Sullivan (.264, 5 HR, 39 RBI), batting .524 (11-21) with 2 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons almost traded for A.C. Stebbins with the Caps, who had a 6.09 ERA and a .364 BABIP, but they weren’t quite willing to include him with either of the pitching prospects. Stebbins won 16 games last year, so we *know* he’s better than *that*. He would have been under contract for one more year, but the Coons would not compete next year, and why then bother. Just go for the prospects.

Some more post-mortem on the trade fireworks. Final tallies for these ex-Coons with the team:
Trent Brassfield – .277/.362/.411 with 960 hits, 86 HR, 466 RBI in 989 games
Joey Christopher – .236/.354/.328 with 302 hits, 15 HR, 99 RBI in 436 games
Angel Perez - .280/.328/.412 with 371 hits, 32 HR, 193 RBI in 371 games
Bobby Herrera – 60-50 with a 3.28 ERA in 152 games (all starts)
Nick Robinson – 28-12 with a 3.04 ERA in 54 games (all starts)
Justin DeRose – 34-43 with a 4.15 ERA in 138 games (110 starts)

Kyle Pisciotti lasted four days in St. Pete before straining a hammy, so don’t wait for a callup for him any time soon.

Also, yes, we are 7-2 for our last nine despite trading all the jewels in that span. Baseball makes no sense, and you should waste neither your heart nor your money on it, because it won’t love you back.

And yes, the entire CL North is now over .500 against, more than 100 games into the season. What the **** is going on here??

Ah, I’m sure it will all come apart again soon. The next weeks will be brutal. The Raccoons are off on a 4-city, 14-game roadtrip with three in Charlotte, five in Boston, and then three more in New York and Denver each. I have no plans for that Thursday double header in Boston coming up so far. One of the least crazy ideas is to use Benitez as spot starter in the opener there – he used to start games until last year – and then immediately dump him between ends of the double header for something with a pulse.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have already used 48 players this season.

24 pitchers. 24 position players. Some of which you – I guarantee – have already forgotten again. In some cases (like Jose Rosa?) ignorance is indeed bliss.

And it’s not even September call-up time yet!

+++

*Yes, we totally started Angel Alba on one day’s rest this week. It’s a total mess around here. (blushes) I can’t remember the last time I ****** up this badly…

[Westheim]

Trade

You thought we were done? Nah.

On Deadline Day, the Raccoons traded INF Nick Nye (.349, 3 HR, 10 RBI) and SP/MR Adam Middleton (3-5, 4.34 ERA, 3 SV) to the Thunder for #97 prospect LF/1B/RB Malcolm Spicer, an 18-year-old high-average, speed guy stuck at a power position, hailing from Australia.

Nick Nye had played in just 29 games this year – 18 of them in various rehab assignments to the Alley Cats. Middleton was 38 and the Thunder thought they could use his arm the last two months of the season. Bless them.

Jose Rosa was recalled from AAA to fill the newest hole in the rotation, while Nye was traded straight from his rehab assignment.

Raccoons (54-51) @ Falcons (36-67) – July 31-August 2, 2062

The tough-love, no-good, murderous road trip for the flayed remains of the team began in Charlotte, where the Falcons longed themselves to October. This was our last meeting with the league’s worst offense and second-worst pitching (worst pen by ERA), who we had already taken the season series from, 5-1.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (5-8, 4.17 ERA) vs. Leo Mendez (3-11, 3.72 ERA)
Jose Rosa (0-1, 9.00 ERA) vs. Danny Houghton (7-9, 4.36 ERA)
Freddy Castillo (1-0, 2.13 ERA) vs. Phil Baker (4-9, 3.38 ERA)

Only right-handers coming up again; whoever the Falcons would start on Tuesday would have to go on short rest due to an earlier double header.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B Fowler – 2B White – RF Corral – C Arellano – P C. Fox
CHA: RF Padgett – SS Yniguez – 1B J. Black – C L. Miranda – 3B T. Taylor – LF Snyder – CF M. Estrada – 2B Duhe – P L. Mendez

Jim White’s first home run as a Raccoon gave the team a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Monday, and Lonzo hit his second homer of the season in the third inning to double that score. Corral walked and was doubled home by Arellano in the fourth, 3-0, but I was also weary of the loud noises the Falcons bats made on balls thrown by Chance Fox. Luis Miranda hit a leadoff double to left-center in the second inning, and Trent Taylor, Brendan Snyder, and Mario Estrada then all made loud contact as well, but all found a defender to hit it at and Miranda was stranded at third base. But for now only Mendez was in open season and was knocked out in the fifth inning after giving up a double to Lonzo and another homer to Joel Starr that made it 5-0. Crumble then narrowly missed a homer against replacement Hector Gutierrez, doubled off the wall, and was stranded after Fowler got nicked, White grounded out, and Jose Corral took the mother of all swings on a 3-2 pitch, but missed to end the inning.

Fox and Lonzo hit singles in the sixth against Gutierrez, at which point Lonzo was a triple away from the cycle with another chance in the box guaranteed. Top 7th, the Raccoons’ 4-5-6 started with straight hits off Gutierrez. White doubled home a run, and Corral brought in another grounding out, as did Arellano. Fox struck out, but at this time he was at least in a much better place with his pitching. Jared Duhe’s long fly to right in the bottom 7th that was caught by Corral was the first serious thump by the Falcons in a few innings. Lonzo batted in the eighth against Gary Ponds, but grounded out, while Fox had eight shutout innings on 102 pitches, and would at least get the chance to finish it. There was some pinch-hitting and defensive shuffling in the top 9th, and then Trent Taylor grounded out to Nick Fox to begin the bottom 9th. Snyder flew out to Jorge Moreno in center. Mario Estrada decided to be pesky though and drew a full-count walk with two outs. Duhe singled on the next pitch, which was #115. Foxie Brown got one more Chance with PH Danny Ceballos, and he grounded out to first base…! 8-0 Raccoons! Lavorano 4-5, HR, 2 2B, RBI; Crumble 2-5, 2B; White 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; C. Fox 9.0 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (6-8) and 1-4;

Third career shutout for Chance Fox, despite scattering eight base hits – as many as he gave up in his first two career shutouts, a pair of 4-hitters, combined.

The rest of the roster managed to clear the trade deadline. With Jose Rosa on the hill, the middle game was considered a lost cause anyway and both Ben Morris and Joel Starr got that needed off day they couldn’t get otherwise with on left-handed starters showing up.

Game 2
POR: 3B Fowler – SS Lavorano – LF Crumble – 2B White – 1B Kozak – RF Corral – CF Moreno – C Chavez – P Rosa
CHA: RF Washington – 2B Duhe – 1B J. Black – 3B T. Taylor – SS Yniguez – C Ayon – LF Padgett – CF Geiger – P Houghton

Joe Washington singled, stole second, and scored on Duhe’s single to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead before they made an out on Tuesday – and that was where the offense stopped. Neither team put anything resembling a threat together for a long time after that; the Falcons did not have another hit through five, and the Coons also only had two base hits total. That changed in the sixth with a Crumble single – but he was caught stealing. And *then* Jim White socked a 2-out triple into the gap…! Houghton walked Kozak with two outs, then got Jose Corral – .167 and plunging – to ground out to Duhe to end the inning.

Instead, the Falcons took Rosa apart in the bottom 6th. Washington started with an infield single, then stole another base. Rosa leaked a walk to Duhe, and the pair went on another double steal after Justin Black whiffed. Taylor drew another walk, and then Adan Yniguez drove in the dagger with a bases-clearing double to right, 4-0. Ricky Herrera got out of the inning, but not without giving up Yniguez’ run on a 2-out single by Cody Padgett. Washington added a solo homer off Corey Barrett, who put another two Falcons on base afterwards, in the seventh. Lonzo was on base in the eighth with a 2-out single off Yoshinari Kuroiwa, but was then caught stealing – a success would have tied him with Cosmo Trevino on the all-time table. The Raccoons got a charity run when Kozak Jacked one over the fence in left off Kuroiwa in the ninth, but that was all. 6-1 Falcons. Kozak 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, RBI;

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B N. Fox – RF Corral – C Arellano – 2B Bean – P Castillo
CHA: CF Washington – SS Yniguez – 1B J. Black – C L. Miranda – 3B T. Taylor – RF Padgett – LF D. Ceballos – 2B Duhe – P P. Baker

Castillo offered two walks to Yniguez and Taylor in the first inning, one of which led to a 1-0 lead for Charlotte when Luis Miranda hit a 2-out RBI double. Miranda went on to draw a leadoff walk in the fourth inning of another “otherwise nothing” game, but was doubled up by Taylor’s grounder to short. Similarly, Bean doubled up Arellano after the catcher drew a leadoff walk in the fifth. Castillo whiffed, and the Raccoons were shut out on three hits through five innings.

Ben Morris hit a soft single to begin the sixth inning, then stole second base, only his 21st of the year due to missing 38 games so far. Baker then hit Lonzo with a fastball, which prompted a passive-aggressive reaction from the Raccoons, who sent the runners on a double steal on the first pitch to Starr – and the Falcons were caught asleep! Lonzo nipped his 34th base of the year, and the 708th of his career, tying the mark set by ex-Coon Cosmo Trevino! – …although admittedly Cosmo stole most of his bases with other teams. Baker threw another ball to Joel Starr, then sent one right across the plate that Starr belted to the base of the wall in dead-center for a score-flipping, 2-run double. Crumble walked before Fox flew out to left and Corral crumbled into an inning-ending double play. However, the Raccoons put up another inning in the seventh: Baker allowed a leadoff double to Arellano, and with two outs was taken well deep to right by Ben Morris, 4-1.

Castillo was still stirring in the bottom 7th, allowing a leadoff single to Miranda before getting a 5-4-3 double play out of Taylor. Padgett grounded out to Starr. Castillo got one more out from Ceballos in the eighth before being replaced with Pohlmann for the last two outs in the eighth. The 4-1 lead went to Walters in the ninth inning. Washington and Yniguez grounded out to the right side, but Justin Black, hitting just .158 as a lefty, drew a full count walk from Walters. Miranda’s groundout to Lonzo ended the game, though. 4-1 Raccoons. Morris 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Starr 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Arellano 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Castillo 7.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (2-0);

No strikeouts.

Raccoons (56-52) @ Titans (58-49) – August 3-6, 2062

Nothing good ever happens in Boston, and the Bostonians were already up 5-1 on the Coons this year. We had to play five in four days, and it would require some roster shenanigans to make it through. At least we were not pretending that we were still in it, in fifth place and five games behind … well, almost everybody. Boston ranked fifth in runs scored and t-4th in runs allowed, with a +30 run differential (Coons: +49). What a weird season this was.

Projected matchups:
Daniel Benitez (0-0, 13.50 ERA) vs. Grant MacKinnon (6-7, 4.13 ERA)
John Bollinger (3-3, 4.72 ERA) vs. Mike Bell (8-10, 2.97 ERA)
Angel Alba (8-8, 2.52 ERA) vs. Jayden Craddock (8-10, 4.72 ERA)
Chance Fox (6-8, 3.89 ERA) vs. Javier Huichapa (0-0, 7.71 ERA)
Jose Rosa (0-2, 8.71 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (14-4, 1.99 ERA)

Somehow, still no right-handed pitcher in sight. The Raccoons would give the spot start to Benitez, who would then be whisked off the roster for a long man replacement after the game. Both Paul Barton and J.J. Sensabaugh were standing by in Boston to be activated between games.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – RF J. Moreno – C Chavez – P Benitez
BOS: LF S. Humphries – SS J. Watson – C Arviso – CF Marcotte – RF A. Lee – 1B M. Rubin – 2B Ramires – 3B D. Mendoza – P MacKinnon

Benitez pitched consistently behind against the Titans, who put up two runs early in the second inning with doubles from Eddie Marcotte and Manny Rubin sandwiching a walk issued to Andy Lee, who drove in the game’s first run. Another run came in on Bill Ramires’ groundout. The Raccoons took their sweet time against MacKinnon, loaded the bases with Starr, White, and Moreno in the fourth inning before Chavez flew out to Steve Humphries, but then got a run on the board when Joel Starr doubled home Morris in the fifth inning. The Titans answered though with Diego Mendoza and PH Bill Dorey getting on base right away in the bottom 4th, and then a 2-out RBI single by Jorge Arviso. Marcotte grounded out to Nick Fox to leave runners on the corners. Mendoza added another run in the sixth, cashing Andy Lee’s leadoff double to right with a 2-out infield single. Benitez finished the inning, then was hushed off the roster, while Corey Barrett pitched two more innings while allowing another run to the relentlessly hitting Titans. The Coons hit the occasional single but appeared to be out of the 5-1 game until Cortez Chavez and Ben Morris hit singles off Tyler Gleason in the ninth to chase the left-hander with two outs, with his replacement being the former horrendous Raccoon Ryan Harmer. Lonzo slapped his first pitch for an RBI single to left, bringing up Starr as the tying run … but Starr struck out. 5-2 Titans. Morris 2-4, BB; White 2-4; Moreno 2-4;

Benitez (0-1, 6.75 ERA) was optioned back to the Alley Cats and we activated Paul Barton.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – 3B N. Fox – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – SS Fowler – RF Corral – C Arellano – 2B Bean – P Bollinger
BOS: LF S. Humphries – SS J. Watson – CF Marcotte – RF A. Lee – 1B M. Rubin – 2B Ramires – C S. Moreno – 3B D. Mendoza – P M. Bell

Malik Crumble went yard in the first for a 2-0 lead after Starr’s bloop single. This was his tenth homer of the year, not bad for somebody signed for scraps and sent to St. Pete on Opening Day. Jonathan Watson in the same inning drilled a ball that went high over the left foul pole, but luckily for Bollinger was deemed foul. The Titans went in order in the first inning.

Crumble gave another ball a ride in the fourth inning, but had it caught by Humphries in the gap. The Raccoons then got Fowler on base, and he stole his first bag of the season before being singled home by Arellano with two outs. Bean drew a walk, but Bollinger got rung up and the score remained 3-0 in the middle of the fourth.

There were ten strikeouts in the game through five innings. Bell chalked up nine of them, with only one K for Bollinger, who nevertheless was still leading 3-0. There were also four hits – all by Critters. Bollinger had walked three, though. Humphries drew another walk with one out in the sixth, then scored on a double into the left corner by Jonathan Watson, which took care of a few bids that Bollinger had going, but at least he got out of the inning while keeping Watson on base. The Coons answered with a leadoff triple (!) by Arellano (!!) in the seventh inning, who stuck a ball in between what little space remained between Marcotte and the centerfield fence, and when Marcotte bounced off said fence, the ball rolled for a good while back towards the infield before a shaken Marcotte took possession of it and forced Arellano to stop stomping. Jon Bean found the hole on the right side then for an RBI single, 4-1. Bollinger went into the eighth and got one more out from Mendoza there before being lifted for first Ricky H. and then Murdock, who both got an out to complete the bottom 8th. Matt Walters then saved the game and even struck out Jonathan Watson on the way there… but also gave up a solo jack to Marcotte. Eh, mixed bags. 4-2 Raccoons. Arellano 2-4, 3B, RBI; Bollinger 7.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, W (4-3);

Raccoons batters struck out 15 times in this game. Every person in the lineup struck out at least once, and Fowler, Bollinger, and Corral had hattricks.

How many at-bats will Jose Corral (.155, 0 HR, 4 RBI) get before I am officially allowed to panic? He was at 58 at-bats after this game, which was a lot higher than his OPS+ of 34…

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B Fowler – 2B White – RF Corral – C Arellano – P Alba
BOS: 2B Ramires – SS J. Watson – C Arviso – RF A. Lee – 1B M. Rubin – LF Y. Valdez – CF Lloyd – 3B D. Mendoza – P Craddock

The Raccoons scored a quick run in the first inning when Morris led off with a triple to center and scored on Lonzo’s groundout. Second inning, second triple, this time for Jim White with one out. Corral still couldn’t scratch out a damn base hit, but hit a sac fly to center to make it 2-0. Angel Alba retired the first six Titans in a row before being taken quite deep by Ted Lloyd to lead off the bottom 3rd. Craddock singled, Ramires walked, Watson singled to load the bases with one out, and Jorge Arviso doubled to empty the bases again for a score-flipping 3-run wallbanger. Lee’s grounder and a K to Rubin ended the inning, but Alba looked taken aback by that forceful 4-spot.

The train had left the tracks at this point and was mercilessly chugging down the embankment towards the unsuspecting orphanage. The Titans hit a bunch of hard balls off Alba in the fourth, but couldn’t get a run across with only a Mendoza single to show for it, while Corral drew a leadoff walk in the fifth before Arellano singled. A bad bunt by Alba then derailed the entire inning with Corral forced out at third base, and poor outs by Morris and Lonzo ended the inning. When Alba returned to the mound in the bottom 5th, he was battered with a Ramires double, a Watson single, and another 1-out single by Lee. Rubin walked, and then Alba was finally yanked with two across and two more on. Pohlmann got Yoslan Valdez to hit into a double play to at least keep the Titans from stuffing yet more runs into Alba; 6-2 after five was enough.

Craddock went into the seventh, but got no outs there, being knocked out after singles by White and Corral, and if Jose Corral gets a hit off you, it’s time to retire. Josh Carlisle got the baseball, struck out Arellano and Kozak, and was about to exit the inning when Morris hit a high bouncer to Diego Mendoza, but Mendoza threw the ball away. A run scored, Corral and Morris went into scoring position, and Lonzo was the tying run at the plate… but struck out. It was the very last threat the Raccoons put up in the game, as Carlisle, Nick Leigh, and Jason Posey would not allow another base runner in the final two innings. 6-3 Titans. White 2-4, 3B; Corral 1-2, BB, RBI;

Game 4
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B Fowler – 2B White – RF Corral – C Arellano – P C. Fox
BOS: 3B D. Mendoza – 2B J. Watson – CF Marcotte – 1B M. Rubin – RF Ramires – LF A. Lee – C S. Moreno – SS Lloyd – P Huichapa

For the third straight game the Raccoons took a lead in the top of the first inning, and for the second time on a Crumble homer, this time with Morris on base after a single and a stolen base. Corral shone with a defensive play, robbing Mendoza in the right-center gap on Fox’ very first pitch of his outing. Fox was completely out of whack five days after his 115-pitch shutout, and issued five walks in addition to two base hits in the first three innings in this Saturday game. The Raccoons turned two double plays behind him, he buggered out of the second against Huichapa with the bases loaded, but then suffered an RBI single hit by Rubin in the bottom 3rd to cut the lead in half. The Titans went in order (if not necessarily quietly) in the fourth, but Mendoza homered the game tied right away in the fifth inning. Then the long, slow death of Chance Fox involved a 1-out single by Marcotte on the ninth pitch of that at-bat, a 3-1 groundout by Rubin, a first-pitch single by Ramires, who then stole second prompting Arellano to throw the ball away, which in turn conceded the go-ahead run with Marcotte to score, but Andy Lee then hit another 3-2 single anyway, bringing in Ramires for a 4-2 lead. Moreno struck out, and Fox was yanked after just five absolutely god-awful innings.

Top 6th, the tying runs were in scoring position after a walk to Starr and a 1-out double by Crumble, but Fowler popped out and White flew out to center to keep them on base. Barton and Barrett would offer scoreless relief while the Raccoons offense did zilch against Huichapa and the bullpen, while Ricky Herrera allowed a run in the bottom 8th while continuing to look like a glass of milk that had been left outside for six weeks. Somehow, nobody knew quite how, the Raccoons then brought the tying run to the dish in the ninth inning, facing Posey while having to make up a 3-run deficit. Fowler popped out to second, and Jon Bean only reached because Posey dropped a throw by Rubin at first base. Corral hit into a fielder’s choice before Kozak worked a full-count walk with two outs. So yeah, the tying run was at the plate, but we needed somebody to bat for Ricky H., and we had to choose Jorge Moreno over Cortez Chavez, all other options depleted. Moreno grounded out on the first pitch and that was that… 5-2 Titans. Morris 2-3, BB; Crumble 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

Something something Boston…

And now, Brenize! The ace had not had much luck against Portland in his early years, but he was currently on course for a pitching triple crown…

Game 5
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – LF Kozak – RF Corral – C Chavez – P Rosa
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 2B Ramires – C Arviso – CF Marcotte – 1B M. Rubin – SS J. Nunez – RF Lloyd – 3B D. Mendoza – P Brenize

No early lead, although Lonzo hit a single and stole a base in the early goings, which broke the tie with Cosmo Trevino for second all-time. Yes, this was my favorite thing to watch in the world now, how did you guess? Rosa held up for two innings before walking Mendoza, who was bunted to second by Brenize, and gave up the run on Humphries’ 2-out single to center. Humphries was then caught stealing, but the Titans slaughtered Rosa for three runs on four hits in the fourth inning. The key piece was a 2-run double by Jesus Nunez, who drove in Arviso and Rubin, then was immediately picked up by Ted Lloyd with another single. Mendoza made the third out in the inning, and Chavez led off the fifth with a single off Brenize, but then Rosa bunted into a force at second base. Morris singled on a 3-1 pitch to put a second runner on base, but with Rosa leading the charge, the speed on base was precisely zilch. Lonzo and Starr both flew out to Humphries, and nobody scored in the inning.

The game was basically over anyway. Brenize was in firm control, but was hauled in after just six shutout innings, for which he had needed 91 pitches, whiffing five. Rosa pitched into the sixth, kept getting battered, and ended up laden with six runs on his ledger, all earned. Andy Younge got the ball in the ninth with a 6-0 lead, then allowed a leadoff single on a chomper by Corral. Chavez and Jorge Moreno added more singles, and the bases were loaded with nobody out. Younge walked in a run against Morris, allowed another run on a sac fly hit by Lonzo, but then got Starr and White without any more bloodshed. The Titans rolled into the ninth with Younge still on the hill and still up 6-2, but he gave up a leadoff double to Bean batting for Chavez. Moreno popped out, but Morris worked another walk against Younge, and that brought in Carlisle in what was now a save chance. Lonzo hit a grounder to Mendoza, and to second, to first, and it was a save indeed. 6-2 Titans. Chavez 2-3;

In other news

August 3 – Wolves INF/RF/LF Alberto Bonilla (.276, 2 HR, 35 RBI) was going to miss six weeks with an oblique strain.
August 3 – The Cyclones beat the Rebels in walkoff fashion, 1-0 in 11 innings. CIN RF/1B/LF John MacDonnell (.293, 13 HR, 39 RBI) secures victory with a 2-out walkoff double.
August 3 – The Capitals give the Miners a 15-1 slapping. WAS 1B Pedro Parada (.314, 4 HR, 15 RBI) has four hits, a homer, two doubles, and an RBI.
August 5 – L.A. beats Sacramento, 6-5 in 15 innings. LAP MR Ryan Sullivan (2-1, 4.45 ERA) picks up the win with four innings of hitless relief after having been released by the Raccoons earlier in the season.
August 6 – Condors SP Kodai Koga (11-9, 3.32 ERA) records his 200th win in a 6-4 victory over the Falcons. Koga was 200-193 with a 3.75 ERA and 2,174 strikeouts for his career. The two-time All Star had three times led his league in innings pitched and once in losses.

FL Player of the Week: NAS 2B/SS Paul Labonte (.274, 7 HR, 31 RBI), batting .462 (12-26) with 2 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT INF Nick Nye (.409, 3 HR, 13 RBI), clipping .522 (12-23) with 3 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: SAC INF Zach Suggs (.294, 12 HR, 63 RBI), batting .339 with 6 HR, 26 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: NYC 1B/RF/LF Aubrey Austin (.307, 11 HR, 56 RBI), whacking .411 with 5 HR, 29 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: SFW CL Jon McGinley (4-2, 2.68 ERA, 29 SV), going 1-0 with an 0.60 ERA, 15 SV, 10 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: VAN SP Carlos Torres (11-4, 3.51 ERA), a perfect 5-0 with 2.38 ERA, 25 K
FL Rookie of the Month: DEN C Lorenzo Marquez (.302, 18 HR, 70 RBI), pushing .348 with 4 HR, 18 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: NYC OF Alex Romero (.283, 2 HR, 19 RBI), batting .360 with 1 HR, 13 RBI

Complaints and stuff

One word about Nick Nye, Honeypaws, and I will forget myself…!!

A few months ago I remarked how the team was due for a rebuild because we had ten free agents coming up at the end of the year, plus various option cases. Well, the rebuild came early (but we got some nice toys back) and we STILL have five upcoming free agents regardless of options. Those are the remaining Nicks at third base (Fowler, Fox), and relievers Rocco, Murdock, and Ricky H., who was toast. Lonzo was a few weeks away from triggering his vesting option – and that was now it.

The only guaranteed contracts left on the books were that of Joel Starr (through 2069 including team option), two years of $4M to Tyler Riddle (who escaped the purge by virtue of being on the DL), and one year each on Jim White, Mike Pohlmann, and Matt Walters, who also looked like toast. Chance Fox and Malik Crumble were under team control in their arbitration years, and a couple of relievers in AAA (Abrams, Barton) aside, we only had minimum contracts beyond that.

Six more games on this harsh road trip, with gigs in New York and Denver on the way home, where we’d stay for just three games against the Miners before leaving town yet again.

Fun Fact: Cosmo Trevino stole only 194 of his 708 career bases with the Raccoons.

Three with the Cyclones, and the other 511 came with the Capitals. He won eight stolen base titles, six with the Caps and two more with the Critters, the last one coming in his age 31 season. He set the ABL single-season mark with 74 stolen bases in 2027, at age 19, as a rookie – in just 143 games!!

For comparison, Lonzo has spent his entire career with the Raccoons. He won seven stolen base titles in his time, with a season-best mark of 73 in his age 28 season (2055), appearing in every game that year. He also needed “just” 1,832 career games to reach 708 steals, over 400 fewer games than Cosmo.

Only Pablo Sanchez to go for Lonzo!

1st – Pablo Sanchez (HOF) – 721
2nd – Lorenzo Lavorano (active) – 709
3rd – Enrique “Cosmo” Trevino (HOF) – 708
4th – Guillermo Obando (HOF) – 686
5th – Alberto “Berto” Ramos (HOF) – 677
6th – Alex Vasquez (active) – 663
7th – Omar Sanchez (active) – 580
8th – Rich de Luna – 570
9th – Danny Ceballos (active) – 532
10th – Chris Navarro (active) – 516

And yes, Cosmo was a much better hitter than Lonzo. Career OPS+? 117 vs. 89;

That’s a different leaderboard, though.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (57-56) @ Crusaders (63-49) – August 7-9, 2062

The Crusaders tied for the lead in the division and needed the wins, so the Raccoons came in at a very convenient moment. New York was already up 8-4 in the season series with their #1 offense and #7 pitching.

Projected matchups:
Freddy Castillo (2-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. Nate Mickler (4-9, 6.34 ERA)
John Bollinger (4-3, 4.18 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (12-6, 3.47 ERA)
Angel Alba (8-9, 2.84 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (9-8, 4.03 ERA)

Where had all the left-handed pitchers gone??

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – LF Crumble – 2B White – 3B Fowler – 1B Kozak – RF Corral – C Arellano – P Castillo
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Cline – RF Austin – LF Zeiher – 1B McLaughlin – C McLaren – CF A. Romero – 3B V. Velez – P Mickler

Mickler pickled Morris and Lonzo with breaking pitches to begin the game and filled the bases with a walk to White after Malik Crumbled out to Omar Sanchez on a pop. Unfortunately, a base hit was not in the cards, and Fowler whiffed before Kozak grounded out to Sanchez. The Crusaders did not have such issues; when Castillo hit Jared McLaughlin with an 0-2, then walked Matt McLaren and Alex Romero, the Crusaders quickly unwrapped a couple of hits with Victor Velez and Mickler, of all people, to push home three runs in the bottom 2nd. Sanchez then lined out to White, and Jake Cline flew out to Crumble in deep left to keep two on base. Fowler and Kozak answered with a pair of 2-out RBI single after Mickler leaked more walks to Morris and White in the third inning. Corral popped out in foul ground on a 3-2, however, and the Raccoons remained down, 3-2.

The tie was on the board in the fourth, though, with a leadoff single for Arellano, two outs to move him to third base, and then a game-tying clipper to shallow center hit by Lonzo, who was then caught stealing to end the inning. Bummer!

Castillo lasted only five innings, allowing a single to Sanchez, walked Aubrey Austin, balked the pair into scoring position with two outs, and then somehow survived on Sean Zeiher’s groundout to White. His spot was up with Corral (who forced out Kozak) and Arellano on the corners in the sixth, and Joel Starr was 100% gonna grab a stick on his day off – but struck out. Ben Morris came through though, hitting the Coons’ fourth 2-out RBI single in the game to grab a 4-3 lead before Lonzo grounded out to Velez. That lead somehow survived Ricky H. in the bottom 6th even when he allowed a leadoff double to left to McLaughlin and Arellano was charged a passed ball; however, McLaren and Romero both struck out and Velez grounded out to Fowler to keep that tying run on base. Pohlmann had another clean inning after that but Murdock in the eighth not so much. McLaughlin would get on base against him with a 2-out walk, and in a 4-3 game that was still the tying run. The Crusaders sent Chris Deeley to pinch-run, while the pitcher was in McLaren’s spot by now and Bill Quinteros would pinch-hit, which prompted a reaction with Matt Walters being chugged in for a 4-out save, but he gave up a double to right on a 1-2 pitch, which wouldn’t have happened 12 months ago. Deeley didn’t get a good start, though, and had to hold at third base against the arm of Corral, and Marcos Onelas flew out to Crumble in left rather easily to end the inning and strand the pair in scoring position.

The ninth inning then saw the Raccoons upend Jason Rhodes for once. Ben Morris hit a leadoff double to center, and two poor outs later, Jim White brought another 2-out RBI knock, a triple into the left-center gap. Fowler would chime in with another RBI single after that before Kozak fanned. Walters then went back out there for the bottom 9th. He walked the leadoff man Velez, then also walked Pedro Almaguer, the backup catcher. Sanchez popped out, but Jake Cline drew a 4-pitch walk. I didn’t have a very good feeling at this point, and the game ended on just one more pitch. Aubrey Austin hit that one some 400 feet and that was that. 7-6 Crusaders. Morris 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; White 2-3, 2 BB, 3B, RBI; Fowler 2-5, 2 RBI; Kozak 2-4, RBI; Arellano 2-4;

Walkoff slam-pression.

At least I saw it coming, which is always very comforting.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B Fowler – 2B White – RF Corral – C Arellano – P Bollinger
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – CF A. Romero – RF Austin – 1B McLaughlin – C McLaren – LF Cline – 2B Onelas – 3B V. Velez – P Seiter

The Raccoons scored first on Tuesday, trying to break a 4-game slide with a Morris double and another 2-out RBI single from Crumble, although the party lasted only two batters until Alex Romero clubbed a home run to right in the bottom 1st. Jake Cline was close to another homer in the second inning, but Crumble ran that one down and caught it at the fence. Crumble was then at the front of a fourth-inning attempt at scoring, hitting leadoff singles with Fowler. A wild pitch by Seiter advanced them into scoring position, but the Coons only got one run on Jim White’s groundout. Corral had another useless groundout, Arellano walked intentionally, and then Bollinger was easily victimized, but at least he would hold the Crusaders at bay in the middle innings, when the New Yorkers didn’t amount to more than getting a runner on base with a Nick Fowler error. McLaren drew a leadoff walk in the seventh. Sean Zeiher batted for Cline, grounded to Starr, who zinged it to second for a 3-6 force out, and then Marcos Onelas’ comebacker was taken by Bollinger for a more conventional 1-6-3 double play to give him seven complete innings.

Seiter was still on it in the eighth, giving up soft singles to Morris leading off and Starr with one out. Crumble came through once more with a loud RBI double to center, extending the lead to 3-1 before Fowler drove the dagger in with a 2-run single to right. Seiter was yanked for ex-Coon Seisaku Taki, who got a fly to left from White, but then got the ultimate career counseling to simply retire when Jose Corral bonked a 2-out RBI double to center off him, 6-1. The Crusaders responded by beating up Corey Barrett for three hits and two runs in the bottom 8th, driven in by Austin with a 2-out double. Rocco then put the game away in the ninth without any walkoff slams involved. 6-3 Raccoons. Morris 4-5; Crumble 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Fowler 2-4, 2 RBI; Bollinger 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (5-3);

Game 3
POR: RF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – CF Crumble – LF Kozak – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bean – C Arellano – P Alba
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Onelas – RF Austin – 1B McLaughlin – C McLaren – LF Cline – CF Weir – 3B V. Velez – P E. Lee

Another first inning, another first run, with Morris and Starr putting hits together to go up 1-0 again. A leadoff walk to Sanchez and back-to-back homers by Austin, the ******* killjoy, and McLaughlin off Alba in the bottom 1st put a bit of a dent in that and New York led 3-1 after the first inning, only to botch it in the very next half-inning. Kozak singled to center, where the ball was overrun by Hector Weir, but outs from Fox and Bean looked like the Crusaders would get out of the inning unharmed. But Lee nicked Arellano, and Alba’s grounder to first was misfielded by McLaughlin for a run-scoring error. Morris then hit a clean RBI single to tie the score before Lonzo lined out to Omar Sanchez to keep two very unearned runners on base.

The Raccoons stranded another two runners in the third inning when Fox and Arellano reached the corners, but no further, while the Crusaders beat Alba’s head in for another four sharp base hits and two runs in the bottom 3rd. Alba was getting slapped around so badly that he was hit for in the fourth inning after giving up five runs on six hits and two walks, which didn’t get better when Paul Barton replaced him and was ravaged for five hits and three more runs in just the bottom of the fourth. Ricky Herrera allowed just one run in the fifth inning, which sounded like a success, but it came on a hit, two walks, and a run-scoring wild pitch with two outs… (bites into his fist)

While Barrett then held out for two innings without getting pulverized (gave up two doubles, still), and the offense decided to just lie down and take it, Aubrey Austin came up with a triple required for a cycle, and he whacked that off … of course Matt Walters in the bottom of the eighth inning. Austin would come around to score and Walters just kept imploding outing after outing. 10-3 Crusaders. Morris 2-5, RBI; Starr 3-5, RBI; Barrett 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Raccoons (58-58) @ Gold Sox (62-51) – August 11-13, 2062

The Gold Sox were 15 1/2 games back in the FL West, so if they beat up on the Raccoons on their way home, it would be mostly only to let out the frustration. They were third in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed in the Federal League, but we shared their sentiment (and resentment) for their own bullpen. They were near the bottom of the league in home runs, but were big in base stealing. These teams had not played another in five years, and the Raccoons had lost the last five regular season series against the Gold Sox – all the way back to 2048 – and then there was that mother of all sweeps in the 2051 World Series…

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (6-9, 3.88 ERA) vs. Mike Chartrand (9-8, 3.92 ERA)
Jose Rosa (0-3, 9.00 ERA) vs. Raul Ontiveros (9-6, 4.43 ERA)
Freddy Castillo (2-0, 2.52 ERA) vs. Coby Strutz (10-8, 3.71 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday?? Southpaw Anything?? How exciting!!

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B Fowler – 2B White – RF Corral – C Arellano – P C. Fox
DEN: 2B Ulloa – RF W. Ortiz – 1B Joyner – C L. Marquez – CF Lauterbach – LF Nakamura – 3B Bonds – SS L. Palacios – P Chartrand

The Raccoons started the weekend with singles from their 1-2 guys, a Starr pop, and Malik Crumbling into a double play. Fowler whacked a leadoff double in the second, and the Raccoons barely turned that into a run on a duck snort single with two outs by Arellano, but y’know, keep at it, boys, whatever works. Morris was back on and doubled up by Starr in the third inning, and eventually the Gold Sox pulled one out of their bums after going down on the minimum the first time through against Chance Fox, who then nicked Miguel Ulloa to begin the bottom 4th, threw a wild pitch, and conceded the tying run on Bill Joyner’s single to left. Yay…

The Coons continued to appear on base. Starr, Crumble, and White loaded them up with one out in the sixth inning against Chartrand, which unfortunately brought up all .154 of Jose Corral. Well, actually, the Raccoons brought out Nick Fox to pinch-hit. Fox zipped a single through the left side for a 2-1 lead, and Arellano chipped in a sac fly for another run before Chance Fox grounded out to leave on a pair. On the hill though, he held up very well; the Joyner RBI single was the only hit for the Sox through six innings. Lorenzo Marquez hit a single in the seventh, was forced out by Chris Lauterbach, who was caught stealing to end the inning. He was doing well enough that the Raccoons didn’t bat for him in the ninth inning and brought him back with a 3-1 lead against the 9-1-2 batters, with PH Je-ju Seul leading off for Denver and grounding out to first. Ulloa flew out to left. William Ortiz flew out to Moreno in rightfield – and that was a complete-game win! 3-1 Raccoons. Lavorano 2-5; Crumble 2-4; Fowler 1-2, BB; N. Fox (PH) 1-2, RBI; C. Fox 9.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (7-9);

Foxie Brown’s second complete game of the season came on 97 pitches and for six fewer hits than his shutout a few weeks ago.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B Fowler – 2B White – RF Corral – C Chavez – P Rosa
DEN: 2B Ulloa – 3B Bonds – 1B Joyner – CF Lauterbach – C L. Marquez – RF Nakamura – LF W. Ortiz – SS Seul – P Ontiveros

The Raccoons got Morris on in the first and had him caught stealing, then got Lonzo on base and also caught stealing. Starr walked after that and the Coons somehow still hit two RBI doubles with Crumble and Fowler in the box when everybody decided to use their hindpaws in only modest amounts. Those were the only runs through five innings. The Coons put out seven hits and frittered most of them away some way or other, while the Gold Sox only had a Lauterbach single in the fourth, although in turn Rosa also didn’t strike out anybody and walked a pair.

The trigger claw was itching in the sixth when Ontiveros nailed both Fowler and White and then walked Chavez with two outs, bringing up Rosa, but the bullpen couldn’t be trusted, and at least this time we already had the lead. Jose Rosa rewarded that unmerited certificate of faith by exclusion with his first career hit, driving in two runs with a sharp grounder to left before Morris struck out to keep the score at 4-0. Bottom 6th, and Rosa finally got a strikeout with two outs to Dustin Bonds… but the ball went away from Chavez and the batter reached first base ahead of the throw from the backstop. Bonds stole second, but Joyner flew out to center to keep him stranded.

Things then went straight for the ******* in the bottom 7th. Lauterbach hit a jack, and the Sox suddenly unfurled sharp liners for hits from Marquez, Natsu Nakamura, and Seul, who drove in two more runs. Ricky Herrera came on with the left-handed Jose Consuegra batting in the #9 spot with two outs and got the strikeou- … and Chavez ****** that one up, too!! ANOTHER uncaught third strike put runners on the corners with two outs, and Herrera burst into flames with three straight singles from the top of the order after that, driving in three runs for a 6-4 Denver lead which they would annoyingly hold to the end of the game with none other than ex-Coons Elijah LaBat and Kevin Hitchcock… 6-4 Gold Sox. Starr 2-4, BB, 2B; Fowler 2-3, 2B, RBI; Kozak (PH) 1-1;

Cortez Chavez (.222, 1 HR, 2 RBI) picked the wrong time to **** up like that and was first thrown at by his GM with everybody else’s sweaty socks after the game, then was kicked out of the team hotel and dumped onto waivers in the middle of the night.

A promotion thus went out to 2057 third-rounder Joe Robertson, age 25, who didn’t hit and didn’t catch, and surely couldn’t run when any situation required it.

(looks at the pocket schedule) 44 more games.

…and up next, the first appearance by a left-handed starter after Mike Jacobs on July 21! Half the players from the last time the Critters had faced a lefty pitcher were no longer with the team.

Game 3
POR: CF Crumble – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Kozak – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – RF Moreno – C Arellano – P Castillo
DEN: 2B Ulloa – 3B Bonds – 1B Joyner – C L. Marquez – CF Lauterbach – LF Nakamura – RF A. Law – SS L. Palacios – P Strutz

Inside the first two innings of the rubber game, both pitchers had a frame where they were getting whacked all over the place with hard, whizzing liners, but only gave up one run on three singles each. Arellano singled home White in the second inning after the Sox had taken a 1-0 lead in the first. Both pitchers allowed four hits each in those two innings, and with that, both teams had the offense out of their system, and there was only one more base hit from there through the end of five innings, another Arellano single that went nowhere.

The Coons broke the tie in the sixth when Lonzo opened the inning with a clean single to center, then after two failed attempts in a row and after Starr had already popped out to Ulloa snuck up on the Sox’ battery and scooped his 37th base of the year – now ten behind the all-time record. He then scored on a Kozak single to left-center to get the Critters up 2-1 and within 12 outs of that first series win of any description against the yellow sock-wearing weirdos from the mountaintops in 14 years. White’s 4-6-3 grounder to Ulloa ensured Castillo would immediately get to try and hit his head against those 12 outs to make the number smaller.

Marquez and Nakamura hit singles in the bottom 6th, but the Sox didn’t break through and Luis Palacios struck out to leave the tying and go-ahead runs on base. Instead the Sox then had the pitcher reach when Starr couldn’t handle a clean throw by Lonzo, and Seul legged out an infield single in the #1 spot to begin the bottom 7th. Murdock replaced Castillo, but before long uselessly gave up a 3-run homer to Joyner… Struck strutzed out the side in the eighth instead, and Hitchcock was back out in the ninth inning against the 3-4-5 batters. Kozak drew a walk, and apart from that the Raccoons didn’t have bloody anything. 4-2 Gold Sox. Lavorano 2-4; Arellano 2-3, RBI;

Oh, maybe in five years then.

Lonzo’ll be 40.

In other news

August 7 – 36-year-old ATL 3B/2B Alex Vasquez (.288, 0 HR, 30 RBI) finds his 2,500th career base hit, a third-inning single, in a 4-3 loss to the Condors. Vasquez, sixth on the all-time stolen base leaderboard, is a career .294/.406/.361 hitter with 37 HR, 739 RBI, and 663 SB, who is in his first season outside of Pittsburgh. In his younger years, he won three Gold Gloves.
August 8 – A broken rib will keep TIJ SS Casey Ramsey (.293, 9 HR, 48 RBI) out for the rest of the month.
August 9 – NAS SP Juan Sanchez (10-8, 4.86 ERA) 3-hits the Miners in an 8-0 shutout.
August 9 – A fracture in his elbow ends the season of Aces SP Jesus Aquino (10-5, 4.90 ERA).
August 12 – LVA 1B Dustin Williams (.275, 5 HR, 20 RBI) goes 6-for-7 with two walks, a homer, and one RBI in the Aces’ 8-6 win over the Miners that takes 17 innings to complete.

FL Player of the Week: LAP OF Matt McInnis (.296, 8 HR, 36 RBI), batting .667 (12-18) with 1 HR, 3 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT RF/LF Eric Whitlow (.291, 12 HR, 45 RBI), hitting .462 (12-26) with 4 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

I am ready for October.

Unfortunately the dastardly baseball gods and their decidedly ungodly bedfellows in League HQ have decided that we have to play out the schedule, which entails crawling home after that 5-9 road trip, play three with the Miners, and then immediately dash two time zones east and back again for a 6-game road trip at the Indians and Elks.

Odds on Jose Corral being back in AAA before roster expansion and after it as well? Probably higher than his OPS+. I think he has to show something next week, and we might be content with as little as a 4-for-16 or so. But it can’t continue like THIS.

Thankfully all those other prospects I tied around my neck like millstones the last few years when it came to throwing a virgin into the volcano to get a trade done were doing just *great*. You know, the Victor Moraleses and Roberto Sotos and the Jake Flowes, and the – (looks at the latest stat sheet)

(black face stripes turn white)

Fun Fact: This was the first time a cycle occurred in a Coons-Crusaders game.

Really welcome shakeup in all those no-hitters the teams had against each other especially in the earlier decades of the league.

Well, welcome for THEM.

Aubrey Austin can get it.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (59-60) vs. Miners (57-61) – August 14-16, 2062

The Miners were 8 1/2 games back in the FL East and probably done with contending for the year. They ranked in the bottom half in both runs scored and runs allowed in the Federal League. They had the third-lowest batting average, and the second-fewest stolen bases. The Raccoons had swept the Miners in a meeting last season.

Projected matchups:
John Bollinger (5-3, 3.81 ERA) vs. Mark Fitzthum (8-7, 4.69 ERA)
Angel Alba (8-10, 3.10 ERA) vs. Sean Sweeton (9-8, 3.27 ERA)
Chance Fox (7-9, 3.70 ERA) vs. Cory Ritter (8-9, 5.09 ERA)

Again an all right-handed set. Ritter had the worst ERA, but the most strikeouts of the Miners starters.

Game 1
PIT: CF Blake – LF Winger – 1B M. Velazquez – C Dingman – RF Angulo – 3B Villalba – 2B Hullander – SS Medlock – P Fitzthum
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B Fowler – 2B White – RF Corral – C Robertson – P Bollinger

Nick Dingman hit a scratch over .300 with 33 dingers to his name, with only 21 home runs for the rest of the Miners lineup combined. As a matter of fact, there were only 31 homers in the Raccoons’ lineup as well to begin this day… It was 32 after Malik Crumble’s 2-piece with Starr on base in the third inning, which was the first scoring of the day, although the Miners would make up one of the runs as soon as Bollinger walked Angel Angulo and gave up a double to Joe Hullander in the top 4th. That was about all the excitement before the stretch, with the exception of Lonzo hitting a single and stealing #712 before being left on base in the fifth inning. Dingman dingled, uh, singled off Rocco in the eighth inning but was doubled up on Angulo’s grounder to Jim White, and after the Raccoons couldn’t tack on, they sent in Walters for the ninth. I closed my eyes, but he struck out Raul Villalba and Hullander before Stephen Medlock lined out softly to Lonzo. 2-1 Blighters. Starr 1-2, 2 BB; Crumble 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Bollinger 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (6-3);

Joe Robertson had a single in his first ABL at-bat, then made two more outs after that.

Game 2
PIT: CF Blake – 3B Villalba – C Dingman – 2B Hullander – 1B Winger – RF A. Cruz – LF W. Sanchez – SS Medlock – P Sweeton
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bean – RF Corral – C Arellano – P Alba

Alba retired the first eight before clipping Sweeton, which led to an angry single by Troy Blake and then a hack for a strikeout on Villalba. Lonzo and Nick Fox had singles for Portland the first time through, and one of them went for it and was caught trying to steal a base – and it wasn’t Lonzo! (blinks) Maud, is this real life…!?

Nick Fox made up for the shenanigans in the fourth inning by singling in the game’s first run with two outs, bringing in Starr and his 1-out double. Bean flew out to leftfielder Willie Sanchez, but Corral led off the bottom 5th with a double to right, briefly rejuvenating that .149 average that had him on demotion watch. Morris would plate him with another 2-out single, then was also caught stealing to end the inning.

Alba in the fourth allowed 2-out singles to Curtis Winger and Antonio Cruz before getting Sanchez to pop out. Winger was at the front of the offense again in the seventh, hitting a single to lead off before Medlock and Sweeton (…) with two outs also lobbed soft singles to get him around to score and cut the lead in half. Mike Velazquez then pinch-hit and popped out foul behind the plate, bringing on the stretch. Corral and Arellano got on base in the bottom of the inning, but both Alba and Morris struck out. Alba returned to the hill to issue a leadoff walk to Villalba before Dingman ran into his 34th homer to flip the score with a blaster to left-center. Alba got through the inning, but had another L cemented for him when Paul Barton went out for the ninth inning, got splattered all around the ballpark for four hits and as many runs once Joe Hullander parked one in the leftfield stands, but the Raccoons weren’t gonna score again for him anyway… 7-2 Miners. Starr 2-3, BB, 2B; N. Fox 2-3, BB, RBI; Alba 8.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, L (8-11);

Game 3
PIT: CF Blake – 3B Villalba – C Dingman – SS Medlock – 2B Hullander – RF N. Daniels – 1B Angulo – LF Winger – P Ritter
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – LF Kozak – RF Corral – C Arellano – P C. Fox

Dingman dished a double in the first, then a sharp single in the third off Chance Fox, but never had somebody to drive in on the base paths and then was promptly stranded. The Coons again showed no offense to speak of. Arellano was nicked on base to begin the bottom 3rd, but didn’t progress much after Chance Fox failed to bunt him onwards, while in the bottom 4th the Coons loaded them up with Kozak, Corral, and Arellano all with two outs before arriving at Foxie Brown’s spot again. It was way too early and didn’t matter nearly enough to pinch-hit for the pitcher in this situation, and Fox’ pop to short ended the inning and kept the game scoreless. Fox then got upended by the top half of the Miners lineup in the fifth inning. Blake hit a 2-out single and stole second, while Villalba walked. Dingman and Medlock both hit sharp RBI singles before Hullander grounded out to Nick Fox to end the shambles. To anybody’s surprise and certainly mine and Honeypaws’, the Raccoons then tied the game in the bottom 5th on a Starr single and Jim White’s 2-run homer.

Nathan Daniels opened the sixth with a single, but was forced out by Angulo, who was then doubled up on Winger’s grounder. Not sure why Curtis Winger wasn’t hitting flyballs. Not too bothered by it, though. The Raccoons put Kozak and Arellano on base, but after Fox’ bunt Morris grounded out meekly and the game remained tied at two. Fox reached the stretch on 105 pitches and by retiring Villalba – he wouldn’t have gotten Dingman again, who had gone unretired by him. Pohlmann didn’t have any luck either in the eighth, allowing another single to Dingman, who was then suffering the Daniels fate from two innings earlier as the Miners went down on a fielder’s choice and a double play with their 4-5 batters. Walters got around a leadoff walk to Danny Wallet in the ninth inning, giving the Raccoons a chance to walk it off, if only they could actually wake the **** up now. Justin Round retired Arellano, Crumble, and Morris in order, sending the game to extras.

Murdock was out for the tenth, gave up a leadoff single to Blake, and then the loudest knock that Dingman hat dinged yet in the game, but he got under it and after waiting forever for it to be beaten by gravity, Jose Corral made the catch on the edge of the warning track. Blake was left on base, while Round returned for Pittsburgh in the bottom 10th and ran a full count to Lonzo, who grounded out, then ran more full counts to Starr, White, and Nick Fox – all of whom walked to fill the bases for Kozak with one out. Kozak, the despicable fool, poked at a 1-1 pitch, and only escaped getting yelled at because he actually singled to center to end the game. 3-2 Blighters. Starr 2-4, BB; Kozak 3-5, RBI; Arellano 1-2, BB; C. Fox 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K;

This was Murdock’s first decision of the year!

Raccoons (61-61) @ Indians (70-51) – August 18-20, 2062

The Indians held a 1-game lead entering the weekend and needed to get up on the Raccoons, who held a 6-6 tie in the season series so far. The Indians brought the #2 offense and #6 pitching with a +80 run differential. Their rotation as middling, but they had a very good pen and defense.

Projected matchups:
Jose Rosa (0-3, 7.66 ERA) vs. Antonio Pichardo (11-10, 4.15 ERA)
Freddy Castillo (2-1, 2.61 ERA) vs. Justin DeRose (2-2, 5.64 ERA)
John Bollinger (6-3, 3.52 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (10-9, 3.12 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday!

That’s all the excitement we have left.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B Fowler – 2B White – RF Corral – C Arellano – P Rosa
IND: 2B Kilday – LF Brassfield – 1B Starwalt – C A. Gomez – RF Lovins – CF S. Thompson – 3B Blackshire – SS Cirelli – P Pichardo

Brassfield was hitting .293 with 3 homers since being traded to Indy and had a pair of leadoff singles with Matt Kilday in the bottom 1st. Danny Starwalt would pop out, while the runners went on a 2-2 to Alex Gomez, who whiffed, and the inning died with Brassfield being thrown out at second base, which also kept Lonzo a notch ahead of Kilday, 38 stolen bases to 37 on the year. Fowler led off the top 2nd with a single, but White flew out. Jose Corral also flew out – to a kiddo in the seventh row up in the rightfield stands! FIRST CAREER HOMER!! ******* FINALLY!!!

Arellano got on base after the Corral homer, but was left on third base. The third inning was uneventful even for Rosa, while Jim White led off the fourth with a single to right-center. He was running when Corral slapped a single to left-center, making it to third base, ahead of Marcos Arellano, who also mashed the first home run of his season, a no-doubt 3-piece to left that saw Pichardo exit for right-hander Tim Moore, with Indy down 5-0.

Rosa follied his way into the fifth, then allowed a leadoff hit to Steve Thompson before walking Eric Cirelli and Mike Weber with one down. Clean RBI singles by Kilday and Brass got Rosa yanked two outs shy of completing five innings. Murdock inherited the ball with the tying runs aboard in a 5-2 game, gave up a real spanker to Danny Starwalt, but it went right at Fowler at third base, who picked, tapped, and fired to first for a 5-3 double play to boogie out of the inning. The Coons then tried to make ends meet from the pen. Murdock got one more out in the sixth after bunting and reaching on an error in between before Ricky H. got four outs, then gave up two singles and was replaced with Pohlmann, who gave up an RBI single to Brass, 5-3, and walked Starwalt in the seventh before Alex Gomez kindly grounded out to leave the bases loaded. The trouble didn’t stop with Rocco in the eighth either as both Thompson and Cirelli reached base and were left stranded eventually. It was instead left to Walters to blow the rest of the lead in the ninth inning, allowing a leadoff single to Kilday and then a homer to – of course! – Brassfield. Starwalt also reached base, but the Indians then twice hit into fielder’s choices and this game, too, slipped to extras. It didn’t remain in extras for long. The Coons went in order against Cody Kleidon in the 10th inning, while Corey Barrett started off with a four-pitch walk to Dave Blackshire, another ex-Coon. Cirelli bunted the winning run to second, Bryan Johnston had a pinch-hit single to left, and when Kilday hit a fly to Moreno in right, Blackshire went for home, beat the throw, bowled over Arellano, who went flying, and scored the winning run. 6-5 Indians. Starr 3-5, 2B; Corral 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Arellano 3-3, HR, 3 RBI;

Arellano was hurting on Saturday and was unable to play. The Raccoons optioned the useless Barrett (0-1, 5.00 ERA) and brought up another cannon fodder catcher in 22-year-old Miguel Guinea, a ninth-rounder from four years back, who was hitting all of .217 in St. Pete. We only had 22-year-olds or Cortez Chavez left, and Cortez Chavez wasn’t gonna be it anymore.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B Fowler – 2B White – RF Corral – C Robertson – P Castillo
IND: 2B Kilday – RF B. Johnston – C A. Gomez – 1B Starwalt – LF Brassfield – CF S. Thompson – 3B Blackshire – SS Cirelli – P DeRose

The Arrowheads had stuck DeRose in their rotation, where he had gone 1-2 with a 9.36 ERA in five games. Good move! Of course he was gonna pitch a shutout against the Coons.

Through four the Coons had one hit, so that was going GREAT, while the Indians put pairs on base in the first and second, and also left them on base against Castillo, who had a clean third, then allowed a leadoff single to Brass, a double to Thompson, a sac fly to Blackshire, and a 2-out RBI single to DeRose to fall 2-0 behind in the inning. (facepaws audibly)

Castillo did not allow much else through seven innings, but perhaps he had already allowed enough, because the ******* Raccoons couldn’t hold a ******* candle to Justin DeRose, let alone a baseball bat. They were stuck on one hit until the seventh inning when Crumble and Fowler hit 2-out singles, but White grounded out and the effort was moot. The eighth was just pain from Corral, Nick Fox, and Kozak, and it got worse when the Indians, leading 2-0 still, sent DeRose out again for the ninth inning. Morris made a very loud lineout to Kilday, at which point they came to their senses and sent Kleidon, who got the last two outs from Lonzo and Starr. 2-0 Indians.

(looks like he’s about to murder)

Game 3
POR: LF Crumble – SS Lavorano – 1B Kozak – 2B White – RF Moreno – 3B N. Fox – CF Morris – C Robertson – P Bollinger
IND: 2B Kilday – LF Brassfield – 1B Starwalt – C A. Gomez – RF Lovins – CF S. Thompson – 3B Blackshire – SS Cirelli – P DeWitt

Nick Fox had a single and apart from that DeWitt mowed down the Raccoons for eight strikeouts in five innings. Bollinger didn’t allow *any* hits through five innings, whiffing four, but both were near 70 pitches already with lots of busy counts. Joe Robertson hit a leadoff single in the sixth only to be doubled off on a ***** bunt by Bollinger, and then Crumble whiffed to give DeWitt nine strikeouts. DeWitt then also took the no-hitter away with a 1-out single to right in the bottom 6th, then scored on a wallbanger double by Brass with two outs. Bollinger lost Starwalt on balls, then gave up another double for two runs to Alex Gomez before being dismissed. Ricky H. got the last out on a Chris Lovins grounder, while Lonzo drew a leadoff walk in the seventh, stole a base, and then came around on two productive outs for a pity run, 3-1. Herrera would get five outs across three innings without getting annihilated for something novel, while Pohlmann then got the last two outs in the bottom 8th. The Raccoons were up against right-hander Melvin Guerra in the ninth inning. Corral grounded out, but the top of the order got the tying runs aboard with 1-out singles by Crumble and Lonzo. Starr batted for Kozak, and soon had the runners in scoring position on account of a wild pitch by Guerra. Guerra then fell to 3-1, gave up a sharp single up the middle, and both runners scored to tie the game at three…! Hyun-soo Bak replaced Guerra (they had MORE ex-Coons??), allowing a single to White, but Moreno whiffed and Fox grounded out to end the inning before Pohlmann in the #7 spot would have been hit for. He returned for the bottom 9th, much to the delight of Chris Lovins, who waited out a Gomez single and then cranked a walkoff homer to right-center. 5-3 Indians. Starr (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI;

In other news

August 15 – Blue Sox OF/3B/1B Fernando Aracena (.281, 0 HR, 38 RBI) will miss a month after suffering a strained hammy.
August 15 – Both SS Jason Turner (.272, 14 HR, 65 RBI) and LF/RF Nick Vaughn (.261, 22 HR, 68 RBI) churn the Loggers for five base hits in a 17-6 rout that is mostly on the board after a 10-run third inning. Vaughn hits only singles for three RBI, while Turner hits a 3-run homer and drives in four runs total.
August 17 – The Wolves score seven runs on seven hits, all seven runs coming in the seventh inning on the 17th of the month, to beat Sacramento, 7-4.
August 19 – SFW 1B Raul Sevilla (.282, 2 HR, 8 RBI) reaches 2,000 base hits in his part time role in a 6-5 win against the Stars. The milestone is the front piece in a 2-for-4 day, a fourth-inning single against DAL SP Ian Peters (11-7, 3.61 ERA).
August 19 – Thunder SP Jake Frensley (11-7, 3.32 ERA) 3-hits the Knights for a 5-0 shutout.
August 19 – The Buffaloes’ 2B/SS Ken Sowell (.244, 22 HR, 86 RBI) goes deep for a 1-0 win against the Capitals.
August 20 – The Crusaders have three separate innings of 5+ runs in a 17-4 rush of the Loggers. New York gets 12 hits and 12 walks from the Loggers staff.

FL Player of the Week: RIC LF/RF Nick Vaughn (.263, 23 HR, 70 RBI), batting .476 (10-21) with 2 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA OF Ken Hummel (.303, 14 HR, 58 RBI), hitting .560 (14-25) with 1 HR, 1 RBI

Complaints and stuff

**** week. Lonzo taking two bases was the second-best part of it. The best part should be obvious, allowing me to finally go all “told you so!” on Cristiano Carmona.

Miguel Guinea is already the fifth catcher to suit up for the Raccoons this year, appearing as defensive replacement after Robertson (who?) was hit for on Saturday, catching one inning. Arellano is still being processed by Luis Silva, and we might get a third catcher up in 12 more days, so there’s potential for yet more catching… talent?

Nope, sorry, still not over Justin DeRose getting within two outs of a complete-game shutout against the Raccoons. (swipes all the boxes with donuts off the table in the clubhouse) NO SWEETS FOR SUCKERS!!! – (watches with frustration how the Critters just keep nomming the donuts on the ground) … Sometimes I forget that they’re just plus-sized rats, really.

Monday is off, and then the team will travel home by Elk City. After that there’s a 10-game homestand with the Knights, Thunder, and Titans that will bring us straight into September.

Fun Fact: Jose Corral’s first career homer came on his 113th at-bat.

He then quickly went another 1-for-7 from there to the end of the week.

The .229 BABIP is the only thing keeping him alive. And that homer of course.

[Westheim]

The week for the Raccoons began with an off day and transit to Siberia, where they could remain for all I cared. But Marcos Arellano was moved to the DL with a sprained ankle that would cost him about a month, so the Coons were now stuck with a pair of catchers holding a total of eight at-bats’ worth of experience in the majors. Rich Read was recalled from St. Pete to make up the numbers in the pen – we had been on six relievers and three catchers at the end of last week.

Raccoons (61-64) @ Canadiens (67-56) – August 22-24, 2062

The Elks were up 7-5 in the season series on the Critters and needed more wins because at six games out they still had a non-trivial chance to make the playoffs here. This was despite a mediocre offense, half-decent pitching, and a -4 run differential. Starter Rafael Mendoza and infielder Kenny Graves were on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (8-11, 3.12 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (13-10, 3.03 ERA)
Chance Fox (7-9, 3.65 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (8-11, 4.73 ERA)
Jose Rosa (0-3, 7.09 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (9-9, 4.01 ERA)

Fitzgibbon was the resident left-handed starter in Elk City.

Miguel Guinea, who did not have a major-league at-bat yet, but was a left-handed batter, would get his first start and second appearance as backstop in the opener.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B Fowler – 2B White – RF Corral – C Guinea – P Alba
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – LF D. Garcia – 1B J. Campos – RF C. Richardson – CF B. Campbell – 3B C. Sullivan – C A. Maldonado – SS Pierson – P Nielsen

Ken Nielsen was perhaps the most runnable-against pitcher in the league and Lonzo wasted no time when he reached on Preston Pierson’s error in the first inning and scooped #40 on the year and the 714th of his career, seven shy of Pablo Sanchez’s career mark. Starr walked behind him, but somebody Crumbled into a double play and that was the inning. While Alba allowed one base hit through four innings, the Raccoons had Miguel Guinea hit leadoff singles in his first two at-bats, beginning the third and fifth innings. He was left on third base the first time out and about, but in the fifth inning he was on the corners with Ben Morris and two outs when Joel Starr buried a ball in the gap for a 2-run double, the first markers on the board. Crumble grounded out to short to end the inning. The Elks continued to fire blanks against Alba, who reached the stretch on six strikeouts and a 2-hitter, then walked Chris Richardson out of the gate in the bottom 7th. Brent Campbell’s comebacker was taken for a 1-6-3 double play, though, and Chris Sullivan flew out easily to Crumble to complete another inning, with Alba on 86 pitches. The Elks got him over 100 with a 2-out at-bat that ended in a single for Rafael Roldan in the bottom 8th and Alex Castillo’s following groundout. With the way the pen was going right now, Alba would get the ball again in the ninth, though, regardless of further offensive output by the Critters, of which there was none against Brian Doster in the late innings. Alba began the ninth with a full count against Danny Garcia, who then hit a high F7 near the line for Crumble for the first out on Alba’s 108th pitch. Jose Campos flew out to center, but Chris Richardson thumped a homer to break up the shutout, the DASTARDLY FIEND!! Campbell’s fly to center sent Morris back then, but the catch was made and Alba settled for a complete-game 3-hitter. 2-1 Blighters. Starr 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Guinea 2-4; Alba 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, W (9-11);

Clean donuts were restored to Angel Alba and Joel Starr for giving it to the damn Elks, although they hadn’t appeared to mind the ones on the floor last week at all.

Game 2
POR: CF Crumble – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B White – LF Kozak – RF Moreno – 3B N. Fox – C Robertson – P C. Fox
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – LF D. Garcia – 1B J. Campos – CF B. Campbell – RF C. Cardenas – 3B C. Sullivan – SS Spalding – C Orphanos – P Fitzgibbon

Fitzgibbon issued walks to Lonzo and Jim White in the first inning, but nobody could buy a hit and they were left stranded. Lonzo was on base again with one out in the third inning, then on a single. Starr also singled, and Jim White jumped on a hanger and belted a 3-run homer to left to break the ice in the frozen hellhole up North. Kozak singled to right after that, but got doubled up by Jorge Moreno’s grounder to end the inning. Chance Fox then had an inning from hell himself in the bottom 3rd. He retired the first eight Elks for no base hits, but then surrendered back-to-back 1-out doubles to Fitzgibbon (…) and Castillo. Nick Fox’ error put Danny Garcia on base and the tying runs on the corners. Campos’ sac fly narrowed the score to 3-2, while Campbell’s single moved the tying run to third base, where it remained when Chad Cardenas lined out to Nick Fox. Chance Fox needed 60 pitches to get through just three innings.

Top 4th, Nick Fox flew out to begin the inning before Robertson singled. Chance Fox’ bunt was thrown away by Mike Orphanos, though, and there was now a pair in scoring position. Crumble’s strikeout and Lonzo’s grounder to Chris Sullivan left them exactly there. Crumble struck out again with Nick Fox in scoring position to end the sixth, while Chance Fox would go six innings on 98 pitches, allowing just one more hit to the Elks and whiffing eight in total before getting relieved. Pohlmann saw off the bottom of the order in the seventh, then allowed a leadoff hit to Castillo in the eighth. Garcia double to right-center, with Castillo thrown out at home by Jorge Moreno, with Garcia now carrying the tying run to third base. The Coons went to Murdock, who struck out Campos, and when left-hooved Damian Moreno pinch-hit for Campbell, Rocco, but Rocco gave up a sharp RBI single and the lead was gone. Erik Swain silenced the already silent Critters in the ninth inning while Rich Read gave up a leadoff walk to Sullivan, who was bunted to second base and scored on a pinch-hit, 2-out RBI single by Preston Pierson… 4-3 Canadiens. Kozak 2-4;

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 3B Fowler – 2B White – RF Corral – C Robertson – P Rosa
VAN: 2B A. Castillo – C A. Maldonado – 1B J. Campos – RF C. Richardson – CF B. Campbell – 3B C. Sullivan – LF C. Cardenas – SS Spalding – P Kozloski

Rosa retired the first five batters he faced, but to make up for that display of semi competence then got stomped on for five straight 2-out hits and four runs to derail the rubber game quite early. Cardenas drove in two runs with a homer, while Kozloski and Castillo plated a guy each. Leadoff hits by Campos and Richardson and Campbell’s sac fly added an Elks run in the third inning, at which point Rosa’s ERA was over eight again and he had punched his ticket to St. Pete. He was used up through five innings, getting battered for a grand total of eleven base hits and seven runs, the Elks tacking on one more marker in each inning, including Richardson going yard in the fifth. Kozloski in the meantime allowed one hit through five innings in a proper no-contest, which continued with Paul Barton getting socked for two hits, two walks, and two runs in the sixth inning. Rich Read walked a pair, but didn’t give up a run (!) in the seventh. Ricky Herrera also didn’t allow a run in the eighth inning… but allowed leadoff singles to Richardson and Campbell before walking Steven Spalding with two outs, and never mind Cardenas’ deep drive to left that was caught on the warning track in between there… The Elks aimed for the 3-hit shutout held by Kozloski at this point and allowed him to bat, striking out to leave the bases loaded. Starr hit another single in the ninth inning, but Kozloski finished his shutout with strikeouts against Guinea and Fowler. 9-0 Canadiens. N. Fox (PH) 1-1;

Of seven games played on Thursday, this was the only one that was not a 1-run game, so the Raccoons got beaten worse than all other teams got beaten by on Thursday COMBINED.

Jose Rosa (0-4, 7.96 ERA) had company from Paul Barton (0-0, 6.75 ERA) on the bus to St. Petersburg. I had my eyes on a 25-year-old no-good starter in AAA to give us a few innings down the stretch, but he wasn’t gonna pitch until next week and was not brought up quite yet. We instead picked two garbage relievers. Have you heard of our saviors, Bryan Erickson and J.J. Sensabaugh?

I know, I know…

Raccoons (62-66) vs. Knights (52-75) – August 25-27, 2062

The fifth-place Knights were about twice as far off the pace in the South as the fifth-place Coons in the North, although both were just looking forward to October and some time off by now. The Knights had won four straight games, but overall were getting waffled for the second-most runs surrendered. Combined with a middling offense, that gave them a -89 run differential (Coons: +14). The Raccoons had already claimed the season series, 5-1.

Projected matchups:
Freddy Castillo (2-2, 2.61 ERA) vs. Vic Harman (8-11, 5.46 ERA)
John Bollinger (6-3, 3.63 ERA) vs. Blake Sparks (6-13, 4.60 ERA)
Angel Alba (9-11, 2.99 ERA) vs. Anton Jesus (8-9, 4.08 ERA)

Mediocre right-handers was all the Knights had.

Game 1
ATL: RF K. Fisher – C M. Nieto – CF C. Mata – 1B McIntyre – 3B J. Ojeda – 2B Moya – LF Andon – SS Gallo – P Harman
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Kozak – 3B Fowler – 2B White – RF Corral – C Guinea – P Castillo

The Knights made two errors before Lonzo swung a bat, with Ben Morris reaching on a fumble by Joaquin Moya, then stealing second and reaching third on Marco Nieto’s throwing error. When Lonzo *did* swing, he singled to center for a 1-0 lead. Harman hit Starr, who was forced out on Kozak’s grounder, then walked Fowler to fill the bases. Jim White struck out, but Corral poked an 0-2 pitch over Moya’s reaching glove for a 2-out RBI single. The Coons battery then both poked RBI singles to left, 4-0, before Morris held out for ball four in a full count to force in another run. The inning ended with Lonzo flying out to ex-Coon Carlos Mata on the 50th pitch thrown by Harman, who returned for the second, filled the bases again, but buggered out when Guinea lined out to Moya to leave everybody stranded. Josh Abercrombie batted for him in the third inning, singled to center, and Castillo walked Kyle Fisher, threw a wild pitch, and allowed two runs on a Nieto single to get the Knights on the board.

The game remained a mess. Bottom 3rd, Hironobu Hanzawa retired Castillo on a pop before nailing both Morris and Lonzo. The runners took off in protest, and Nieto threw away another baseball, conceding #715 and a run as Morris scored and Lonzo went to third base. Starr then sent Hanzawa to bed with a homer to left. Justin DeJarnatt (who?) got Atlanta out of the inning, after which Castillo allowed a walk to Will McIntyre to begin the fourth, a single to ex-Coon Juan Ojeda, and then got taken well deep by Sal Andon, which made it 8-5 Portland in the fourth. Also: first career home run for the 22-year-old rookie Andon in his third ABL game. The joy is too much for me, I’ll have to numb that with some Capt’n Coma. Castillo allowed another single to J.P. Gallo and an RBI double to Kyle Fisher, then was yanked before inning was over, having gotten bombed for six runs in 3.2 innings. Pohlmann replaced him, left Fisher on base, but was taken deep by Mata to lead off the fifth to narrow the score to 8-7. Three more singles in the sixth allowed Nieto to tie the ******* ballgame at eight runs a side.

Bottom 6th, and Fowler doubled off DeJarnatt to put the go-ahead run (…) into scoring position. White walked, and Corral grounded out to advance the runners. Guinea struck out, but Jorge Moreno got his first Coons RBI’s with a 2-out, 2-run single to right-center, 10-8. Isaac McDaniel replaced DeJarnatt and got Morris out to end the inning. McDaniel then also found himself in a situation with runners on second and third and only one out after Starr singled and Kozak doubled in the seventh. He walked Fowler to fill them up, but White popped out foul and Corral whiffed to end the inning.

The Coons got five outs from Murdock in the seventh and eighth before – with Gallo on base – he beaned Fisher out of the game. Johnny Parker appeared as pinch-runner, and Rocco appeared to get a groundout from Nieto before things could get entirely out of paw again. Bottom 8th, Curt Crater got Guinea and Moreno out before Crumble socked a pinch-hit double in the pitcher’s spot where Morris had once been. Lonzo walked, and another double steal saw Nieto NOT throw the ball away for once, but he also didn’t get Crumble at third base. This was #716 for Lonzo. Starr ended up being walked intentionally then, and Kozak grounded out, leaving a 2-run lead to Matt Walters. Mata flew out to right, and McIntyre flew out to left… entirely out of the park for a 1-out homer, that was. 10-9. Walk to Ojeda, a Moya single. Another single by Andon to center, and Moreno overran the ball for an error. Ojeda scored unimpeded from second base. Gallo grounded out poorly and PH Chris Ziegler popped out to Lonzo, but the ******* game was tied and we were nearly out of relievers already. The Knights tried to help out by sending Takenori Tanizaki, but the Raccoons made two outs before Corral and Guinea hit singles to go to the corners in the bottom 9th. Moreno lined out to short and the game went to extras, where Walters still hung around for no good reason other than a shortage of arms, and then allowed a leadoff bloop single to Parker, but then got a pop and a double play grounder to bugger outta there. The Coons again made two outs against Tanizaki before doing anything in the bottom 10th. Starr singled, and Nick Fox batted for Walters and chugged a double to right. Starr was trying to end the game once and for all, but was thrown out at the plate by Parker.

The Knights hit rockets off Ricky H. in the 11th for no greater gains, and the Knights held on to Tanizaki in the bottom 11th for a lack of great options. Fowler hit a leadoff single to right-center, and White legged out an infield single. Out with Tanizaki, in with Ben Lussier, of all people. Corral hit a soft single in a 3-2 count to load the bases with nobody out for Robertson, who batted for Guinea against the left-handed Lussier. He struck out anyway, but Moreno took another walk to end the game in walkoff fashion. 11-10 Critters. Lavorano 2-5, BB, RBI; Starr 3-5, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Kozak 2-6, 2B; N. Fox (PH) 1-1, 2B; Fowler 2-4, 3 BB, 2B; White 2-6, BB, 2B; Corral 4-7, RBI; Guinea 2-6, RBI; Moreno (PH) 1-3, BB, 3 RBI;

(fur stands up in all directions)

Lonzo got a day off on Saturday.

Game 2
ATL: 2B A. Vasquez – C M. Nieto – CF J. Parker – LF Abercrombie – 1B C. Rice – SS Moya – 3B Gallo – P Sparks – RF Mata
POR: CF Morris – 2B White – 1B Starr – LF Kozak – RF Corral – 3B N. Fox – SS Bean – C Robertson – P Bollinger

Morris hit a jack on the first pitch offered by Blake Sparks, but the Knights would flip that tally with three unearned runs in the third inning. Kozak dropped a fly by J.P. Gallo after Bollinger had retired the first six. Gallo stole second, was bunted to third by Sparks, illegally batting eighth, and then scored on Mata’s sac fly. A single for Alex Vasquez, once the active stolen base leader before out-ageing Lonzo (he had 14 steals on the year) hit a single, and Marco Nieto went yard to left for a 3-1 Atlanta lead after his really, really bleak Friday. Morris led off the bottom 3rd with a single, but the Knights used White-out for a 6-4-3 double play. Kozak then reached on a Moya error to start the fourth inning. He twice advanced on a productive out, then scored on Sparks’ balk to narrow the score to 3-2.

The Raccoons offered a counter-meltdown in the fifth inning, which began with Sparks grounding out. Mata then struck out, except that Robertson fudged the ball and Mata reached on the uncaught third strike. Bollinger walked Vasquez, and when Nieto grounded to third base, Nick Fox capitally threw that ball away for a run-scoring 2-base error. After a mound conference to calm everybody the **** down, Parker hit a sac fly to left and Abercrombie flew out to center to end the inning. Bollinger was now down 5-2, all runs against him being unearned. It got wickeder yet. Bollinger reached on a 1-out error by Gallo in the bottom 5th and Sparks walked Morris. White grounded out, but Starr strung a single to left to drive in two unearned runs for the brown team. Kozak grounded out to end the inning. (counts on all claws) 5-4 through five innings, and ONE of the nine runs was earned…!?

The Coons then made it yet worse in the sixth, hitting three singles off Sparks and making two outs on the base paths; Corral was caught stealing on a butchered hit-and-run, and Nick Fox was thrown out for the last out trying to go first-to-third on a Robertson single to which Johnny Parker said no. Erickson pitched a 1-2-3 seventh (!), then was hit for with Crumble, who hit a leadoff single to begin the bottom 7th. Curt Crater replaced Sparks, walked White, and gave up a 2-out infield single to Kozak that loaded the bases. For the second time this week then, Jose Corral was up in a fat scoring position with two outs, fell 0-2 behind, and then flicked a single to right-center, this time bringing in two runs to flip the score…! Fox grounded out, and the ball went to Rocco for the eighth, with no concept or plan in general who’d pitch the ninth. With Crumble replacing Kozak in left, Rocco went in the #4 spot, so a 2-inning save was not out of the question. A Parker double and with two outs a screaming Mata liner to center that Morris caught on the slide almost made it no save at all right there in the eighth inning… The Coons did not tack on in the eighth, and Rocco was back out for the ninth. Andon and Gallo were sat down before Chris Ziegler dropped a pinch-hit single with two outs. Carlos Mata singled to right, and Ziegler as the tying run aimed for third base, but got Nick Foxed by Jose Corral, who fired a zinger from rightfield to Fox, who tagged out the runner to end a completely messed up ballgame. 6-5 Critters. Morris 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Corral 2-4, 2 RBI; Bollinger 6.0 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K; Rocco 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (13);

Game 3
ATL: 2B A. Vasquez – C M. Nieto – RF J. Parker – LF Abercrombie – 1B C. Rice – SS Moya – 3B Gallo – P A. Jesus – RF Mata
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Corral – 3B Fowler – C Guinea – 2B Bean – P Alba

Alba retired the Knights on 14 pitches with four first-pitch outs and no runners in the first two innings, then got a 1-0 lead when Corral unloaded a homer to right. Fowler singled, Bean singled, and with two outs Alba singled to left-center as well, driving in Fowler for a second run. Morris’ grounder ended the inning with runners on the corners, though. Starr chipped in a homer to left in the third to extend the lead to 3-0.

Ten straight Knights went down before Nieto drew a walk in a full count in the fourth. Parker then singled, sending Nieto to third base, where he slid in awkwardly and left the game with a bum knee, to be replaced with Chris Ziegler. Alba walked the bags full with a free pass to Abercrombie, then got some counseling on the mound, and after that a Chris Rice grounder to Lonzo for a room service 6-4-3 double play that kept the Knights off the board, but while Fowler homered in the bottom of the inning to extend the lead to 4-0, the Knights had the bags full yet again with one out in the fifth. Gallo and Ojeda singled, and Mata was nicked by Alba to fill ‘em up. Straight walked to Vasquez and Ziegler plated two runs, Parker grounded out to score another runner, and Abercrombie’s 2-out single flipped the score to 5-4 Atlanta. Alba was not brought back after that meltdown, but the Raccoons at least stirred up Hanzawa some more in the bottom 5th. Morris walked, Lonzo legged out an infield single, and Starr dropped a single near the line in left and drove in Morris from second base to tie the score at five before the Coons Crumbled into a double play and Corral popped out to waste the effort.

The 5-5 tie somehow survived two busy innings from J.J. Sensabaugh. Past the stretch, Lonzo hit a 1-out single off McDaniel in the bottom 7th and stole another base, inching to within four of Pablo Sanchez. Starr flew out to a hustling Parker in the gap, Crumble was walked intentionally, and Corral popped out to short to leave him on base with the go-ahead run, though. Murdock got four outs and Walters got two to keep the Knights from scoring for the rest of regulation, while the Knights kept rolling the dice with Tanizaki, who had a scoreless eighth and faced Nick Fox in the #9 hole to begin the bottom 9th – Fox having entered with Walters in a double switch. Fox struck out, but Morris singled. And Lonzo found a double play to send the game to overtime, where Walters nicked Abercrombie and allowed a single to Moya, but somehow wobbled through there and came out unharmed on the other side. He was hit for with two outs and Crumble having doubled his way to second base against Tanizaki in the bottom 10th, but the Knights walked Kozak intentionally in that spot and then went to Lussier again. The Raccoons countered with Jorge Moreno to pinch-hit for the lefty-poking Guinea, and got the game to end with a sharp single to left-center that sent Crumble scurrying home from second base. 6-5 Coons. Lavorano 2-5; Starr 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Fowler 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Moreno (PH) 1-1, RBI; Bean 2-4; Sensabaugh 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

In other news

August 26 – The Aces beat the Canadiens, 4-3 in 14 innings. Both teams score all but one of their runs in the 14th inning.

FL Player of the Week: NAS RF Austin Gordon (.344, 33 HR, 92 RBI), punching .522 (12-23) with 2 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB RF/LF/1B Jose Escalera (.317, 6 HR, 55 RBI), batting .474 (9-19) with 2 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

While the Agitator is clamoring for him, no, the new starter brought up for the Tuesday game will not be recent acquisition Jeff Applegate, who had a decent month in St. Pete, but we don’t see him up here quite yet to be honest. The call will go out to Malik Padgitt, a 25-year-old fourth-rounder from 2058. He’s a left-hander with awful control, but he just has to suck less vigorously than Jose Rosa to hold the assignment to the end of the season… So we started the season with four Nicks, and might finish it with two Maliks. Maybe I can find some more on the waiver wire!

Lonzo has by now triggered his vesting option for 2063, so he’ll be back for another $1.25M next year. Yay, 36-year-old shortstop!

Everybody bickers about that old fart we keep running out there, but that old fart is now leading the CL in stolen bases this year (by one over Xavier Reyes) and is just one off the ABL lead Jose Ambriz on the Buffos.

Tyler Riddle should start a rehab assignment with the Alley Cats next week and will probably make three starts there before the end of the AAA season, and then a few more for the Raccoons to end the year.

Seven more games with the Thunder and Titans on this homestand. Rosters will expand on Friday, allowing us to bring up even more lint nobody wants to see in the majors…!

Fun Fact: Matt Walters has a 5.78 FIP.

The worst FIP he ever posted in a season in his career was a 3.01 mark in 2058. That was the year he broke his leg in preseason and then debuted late and was kinda outta shape for the entire season.

And now he’s pitching like he’s on TWO broken legs.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (65-66) vs. Thunder (76-54) – August 28-30, 2062

The Thunder were leading the CL South and the season series, 4-2. They were not very efficient on offense, ranking only eighth in runs scored, but they were really hard to score against, allowing under 3.7 runs per game for a +117 run differential. They were without starter Ernesto Rios and outfielder Danny Guzman.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (7-9, 3.57 ERA) vs. Mark Jacobs (9-5, 2.59 ERA)
Malik Padgitt (0-0) vs. Aaron Harris (14-6, 2.48 ERA)
Freddy Castillo (2-2, 3.67 ERA) vs. Jerry Washington (12-5, 2.43 ERA)

The week would start with a left-handed opponent, the only one the Thunder had to offer.

Malik Padgitt would be promoted on Tuesday for his major league debut. He would already be the 51st player to appear for the Critters this year.

Game 1
OCT: LF Lira – RF Whitlow – C Mowery – 2B Nye – SS Spehar – 3B McNeal – 1B I. Stone – CF B. Fish – P Ma. Jacobs
POR: LF Crumble – SS Lavorano – 1B Kozak – 2B White – RF Moreno – CF Morris – 3B N. Fox – C Robertson – P C. Fox

The Thunder lost Bobby Fish to a hard landing on a flying catch to rob Malik Crumble in the third inning, with the centerfielder replaced with Edwin Ortiz. The game was scoreless at that point, with Chance Fox yielding a walk and a hit batter, but no hits that far into the game. Eric Whitlow took all the hopes away with a single to center to begin the fourth, but was doubled up on Kevin Mowery’s grounder, the second double play the Thunder hit into in the game. The Thunder would then up the ante in the fifth inning, getting straight singles to begin the fifth inning from Josh McNeal, Ian Stone, and the replacement Ortiz, who drove in the game’s first run. Jacobs bunted the other two runners into scoring position, but Omar Lira popped out and Whitlow flew out to Morris in center to keep the Thunder to one run.

The score remained 1-0 into the eighth inning with nothing major going on for either lineup, with Fox completing eight innings for the Raccoons before being hit for with Joel Starr after Joe Robertson dinged a leadoff single to center in the bottom 8th. Starr lined out to Ryan Spehar, but a double to left-center hit by Malik Crumble put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position against Jacobs. Lonzo hit a fly to center that was deep enough to get Robertson home on a sac fly to take Fox off the hook. Two down, Kozak singled to left, but Crumble was held at third base, and then Jim White grounded to the right side. Ex-Coon Nick Nye dove and knocked the ball down, threw to first – and it was late! White legged out the grounder for an infield single, and now Crumble scored to take a 2-1 lead! Moreno grounded out, giving the ball to Matt Walters, who laid off the imploding for one night and retired the Thunder for nothing more than a 2-out single by Josh McNeal. 2-1 Critters. Morris 2-3; C. Fox 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (8-9);

Malik Padgitt took the roster spot of Bryan Erickson (2-0, 5.14 ERA) for his ABL debut on Tuesday.

Game 2
OCT: LF Lira – RF Whitlow – C Mowery – 2B Nye – SS Spehar – 3B McNeal – 1B I. Stone – CF B. Fish – P Aa. Harris
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Corral – 2B White – 3B Fowler – C Robertson – P Padgitt

Padgitt began with a Lira grounder, then walked Whitlow before striking out Mowery. Nye grounded out, and that was one inning in the books for him. The Thunder didn’t get a hit off him the first time through, striking out five times instead, but Mowery and Nye hit a pair of singles with one out in the fourth inning as it appeared as if the Thunder were getting a bearing on his stuff. Spehar hit into a double play, though, and the inning ended. The Raccoons had Morris and Lonzo singles to begin the bottom 1st, left those on base, and then didn’t reach again until Corral legged out an infield single in the bottom 4th, but was stranded by White.

McNeal socked a double to left to lead off the fifth inning, and I sighed, babbled something about bearing that drew a look from Maud and Slappy, and then continued to empty a bottle of Capt’n Coma. Padgitt then struck out the 7-8-9 batters in order, and if Robertson would actually kept his paws on strike three to Harris, the inning would have ended. But he didn’t, the ball went away, and the Thunder were on the corners for Lira when Harris rumbled to first base. Lira spanked a grounder to first base, but Starr remained on top of the play and *now* the inning ended.

The game was scoreless into the bottom 6th when the Raccoons, having had just three hits so far, suddenly rattled off three straight singles with Lonzo, Starr, and Crumble. Lonzo scored and the team was on the board. Corral whiffed and White flew out to Whitlow, which prevented the other runners from scoring. Padgitt nicked Edwin Ortiz with one out in the seventh. Harris bunted badly for a force at second base, but when Jorge Caballero pinch-hit for Lira, the Raccoons lifted Padgitt for a right-hander. James Murdock entered with Jon Bean at Jim White’s expense, got a first-pitch cozy fly to Morris, and that ended the inning and kept Padgitt’s ledger squeaky clean in his debut.

Harris retired Fowler and Robertson to begin the bottom of the seventh, then allowed a clean single to Bean into leftfield. Morris doubled to right, and Lonzo found the gap in left-center for a 2-run triple! This put him a homer shy of the cycle, but with scant chances to come to the plate again. Starr flew out to end the inning and leave him on base as well. Murdock got another three quick outs in the eighth inning, and the Raccoons then went to Pohlmann in the ninth inning. Spehar reached on an error by Lonzo, but that was all the Thunder got in the inning. 3-0 Furballs! Morris 2-4, 2B; Lavorano 3-4, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Bean 1-1; Padgitt 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 10 K, W (1-0);

That was quite the debut for somebody that was like #37 on the depth chart before the season!

Game 3
OCT: LF Lira – RF Whitlow – C Mowery – 2B Nye – SS Spehar – 3B McNeal – 1B I. Stone – CF B. Fish – P Washington
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Corral – 2B White – 3B Fowler – C Guinea – P Castillo

Offense remained at a premium on Wednesday. Castillo offered two leadoff walks to Spehar and McNeal in the second inning, but the Thunder then couldn’t hit the ball out of the batter’s box for the next three batters. The third saw a leadoff single for Lira before Whitlow popped up a 3-1 pitch behind the plate. Guinea was disoriented, then did get a bit of glove on the pop – but couldn’t hold on. I sighed as Whitlow dug back into the box on 3-2, and ended up walking. From there, Mowery popped out, Nye flew out to center, and Spehar also popped out on the infield…!

This could not go on forever; while the Raccoons mostly didn’t get on base to begin with, the Thunder would finally get a hold of Castillo in the fourth when McNeal opened with a single, and Castillo gave up 2-out singles to Washington (…) and Lira to get the runner around before Whitlow grounded out to short. Castillo wouldn’t get much further; Mowery singled and Nye homered to begin the fifth and while Castillo finished the inning, he was over 100 pitches through five and wouldn’t return for the sixth. The Raccoons would from there use Read, Murdock, Rocco, and Sensabaugh to get through four innings without allowing any more runs, but the offense was really, really dire. Washington went eight with a 4-hit shutout before handing it off to Dave Lister in the ninth. Lonzo socked a leadoff double, but was stranded with three poor outs following. 3-0 Thunder. N. Fox 1-1;

Raccoons (67-67) vs. Titans (73-60) – August 31-September 3, 2062

The Coons did not mesh with the Titans at all this year, having lost nine of eleven games played so far. Boston had lost five in a row, so they probably came to town at just the right time to salvage their season. They were four games out in third place in the North. They were sixth in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed.

Projected matchups:
John Bollinger (6-3, 3.33 ERA) vs. Jayden Craddock (9-13, 4.74 ERA)
Angel Alba (9-11, 3.18 ERA) vs. Grant MacKinnon (8-9, 3.96 ERA)
Chance Fox (8-9, 3.45 ERA) vs. Tony Castellanos (1-2, 5.40 ERA)
Malik Padgitt (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (17-4, 1.90 ERA)

All right-handers – with the note that rosters would expand on Friday and everybody could give their squad a bit of a shuffle.

Lonzo got a day off for the opener.

Game 1
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 2B Ramires – CF Marcotte – RF A. Lee – 1B M. Rubin – 3B D. Mendoza – C S. Moreno – SS Mena – P Craddock
POR: CF Morris – 3B Fowler – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Corral – 2B White – SS Bean – C Robertson – P Bollinger

Singles by Fowler and Starr, and an error by Bill Ramires that put Crumble on base, filled them up with one out in the bottom 1st for Jose Corral, still fighting that .200 mark. A clean RBI single to center would help with that, and Craddock would walk in a run against Jim White, but then got a poor fly to shallow left from Bean and a groundout from Robertson, keeping the bases loaded.

That appeared to be *it* for offense; from there through the end of six, the Raccoons had only three more hits, none of them piling up, and Bollinger allowed only three hits total to the Titans and was on a very neat pitch count of 65 through six innings… and then gave up a leadoff jack to Eddie Marcotte in the seventh inning. It was Marcotte’s 28th homer of the year, and I wished we had a batter like *that*. Bottom 7th, Bollinger was offered a leadoff walk by Craddock before Morris tried to hit into a force at second base, but Ramires’ poor throw got away from Juan Mena for his second error in the game. Nick Fowler singled to right-center, with Andy Lee right on top of that ball and keeping Bollinger from bidding for home. Instead, Joel Starr would bat with three on and nobody out… and jammed it straight into a comebacker to Craddock. Bollinger was dead at home, and the only reason the Titans didn’t get two was because Craddock at first only knocked the ball down and then had to pick it up again. Crumble hit a sac fly to Marcotte, 3-1, and Corral walked to refill the bases with two outs. Jim White however snuck a single past Mena for a pair of 2-out runs, and Jon Bean knocked out Craddock for good with a gapper in right-center that became a 2-run double …! Robertson struck out, ending a mostly unearned 5-spot; in total only two of the seven runs on Craddock were earned. Nothing came of a pinch-hit double by Lonzo in the eighth inning, and that pinch-hit was not for Bollinger, who went into the ninth on 90 pitches. Marcotte hit a single with one out, and he then went through a long struggle against Lee, who hit into a fielder’s choice, but the Coons lifted him after 102 pitches, which was a lot for somebody that had “stamina” written right at the top of the negatives in his scouting report. Rich Read secured a groundout from Manny Rubin to end the game. 7-1 Raccoons. Fowler 2-4; Lavorano (PH) 1-1, 2B; Starr 2-5; Bollinger 8.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (7-3) and 1-2, BB;

I looked over the AAA roster and almost despaired trying to find some more warm bodies to put on the roster to finish out those final 27 games of the year. For pitchers we returned Barrett, Erickson, and Adam Harris. No Jeff Applegate (so far). For batters, we brought up Armando Suriel and OF/1B Tony Gonzalez, the lefty-hitting trade booty we had gotten from the Buffos in July, who was hitting .304 with four homers in 37 games in AAA St. Pete. No third catcher – we’d wait on Arellano.

Game 2
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 2B Ramires – C Arviso – CF Marcotte – 1B M. Rubin – 3B D. Mendoza – RF Lloyd – SS Mena – P MacKinnon
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Corral – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – C Guinea – P Alba

The Coons jumped out for a 3-spot in the first inning on MacKinnon, who allowed singles to Morris and Lonzo before Starr grounded out and advanced them. Crumble singled home a pair then, and Jose Corral whacked an RBI double before White and Fox made outs. This was while Angel Alba was OBLITERATING the opposition. The first time through the order, Bill Ramires hit a fly ball for an out – and Alba struck out EVERY SINGLE OTHER TITAN. (giggles madly) Steve Humphries and Ramires had fly outs in the fourth before Jorge Arviso whiffed once more. Corral was on base again with a leadoff walk in that inning and scored on Jim White’s double to center, 4-0, and Nick Fox’ single to center made it 5-0.

Diego Mendoza hit a single in the fifth to get the Titans into the H column, following a walk to Rubin. The two were stranded on base with a K on Ted Lloyd and a pop by Mena. The Titans had a single and a walk again in the sixth but Arviso hit a 6-4-3 double play grounder to kill that effort. Alba in these three innings struck out only two batters and suddenly I was giggling much less. I was just mad anymore.

Lonzo singled home a 2-out run in the sixth, but the Titans got a leadoff walk from Marcotte in the seventh and finally maneuvered that runner around to score. Alba would go eight, hitting Mena with a 1-2 pitch in his final frame before getting one more K in on Humphries, but the vigor from the first three innings had so not translated to the latter five. Pohlmann did the ninth to get the W in the books. 6-1 Raccoons. Morris 2-4; Lavorano 2-4, RBI; Crumble 2-4, 2 RBI; Alba 8.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 11 K, W (10-11) and 1-3;

Tony Gonzalez made his debut as pinch-hitter in the bottom 8th, grounding out. He then got his first starting assignment on Saturday, giving Ben Morris a day off.

Game 3
BOS: SS Mena – RF Ramires – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – LF A. Lee – CF Tobin – 2B W. de Leon – P Castellanos
POR: LF Kozak – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B White – RF Corral – 3B Fowler – CF Gonzalez – C Robertson – P C. Fox

The Raccoons again put up a 3-spot in the first inning with five straight 2-out hits. Starr, Corral, and Fowler each hit doubles, Corral driving in a pair and Fowler plating Corral, and Tony Gonzalez hit a single for his first major league hit before Robertson flew out to Mike Tobin, who struck out after the Titans’ 4-5-6 loaded them up against Foxie Brown to begin the second inning. Willie de Leon’s grounder plated one run for them, but Castellanos struck out. The Coons pulled that run back in the bottom 2nd with hits from Kozak and Lonzo, who stole his first bag of the week to get to #718, and a run-scoring groundout by Starr. White lined out to Mendoza to keep Lonzo stranded.

Lonzo with an error and Fox with allowing a 2-run homer to Rubin, and then another single to Arviso and an RBI double over the head of Tony Gonzalez in the third inning then unfortunately blew that 4-1 lead entirely in the third inning and we were back to square one; straight hits by Castellanos, Mena, and Ramires then gave Boston the lead in the fourth inning. It was an early exit for Fox after that…

Erickson and Ricky H. held the 5-4 score for an inning each before Gonzalez and Robertson took to scoring position with one out in the bottom 6th against Castellanos, with a single to right and a double to left, respectively. Crumble batted for Herrera, but only walked the bases full. Sad shallow flies by Kozak and Lonzo kept the bases loaded until the conclusion of the inning… (scratches some of the odd white spots off one of Maud’s plants and then dips that paw into the Capt’n Coma for some additional numbing)

Instead, back-to-back homers by Arviso and Mendoza off Corey Barrett, the useless bum, extended the Titans’ lead to 7-4 in the seventh. Sensabaugh managed the tire fire well after that, which was cold comfort. Instead of a rally, the Raccoons only got an injury to Nick Fowler in the late innings, with Suriel replacing him in the field. Kozak hit a ninth-inning leadoff homer, but that was not enough to overcome a 3-run deficit… 7-5 Titans. Kozak 2-5, HR, RBI; Gonzalez 3-4, 2B; Robertson 2-4, 2B; Sensabaugh 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Nick Fowler would miss the rest of the season with a strained rib cage muscle. He was whisked off to the DL, but no replacement was called up at this point.

Game 4
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Ramires – CF Marcotte – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – SS Mena – 3B Furman – 2B W. de Leon – P Brenize
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – RF Moreno – C Guinea – P Padgitt

Like Fox, Padgitt put up a stinker after a really fine start against the Thunder. The Titans sat on his face from the start, and he just couldn’t take a breath. They had three singles and drew four walks in just the first two innings. Humphries and Ramires hit RBI singles in the second inning for a 2-0 lead for Boston before Marcotte drew a walk to fill the bases but thankfully Rubin grounded out to leave three aboard. Padgitt held the Titans to those two runs, but the Titans also held him to four innings, squeezing him out of the game on *95* pitches through four frames…

Brenize was doing his “I wanna be the Pitcher of the Year” thing against the Raccoons, who didn’t get anything outside a Nick Fox single the first time through. Crumble and White hit 2-out singles in the fourth, but Fox flew out to left. Moreno opened the fifth with another single and a walk to Corral in the #9 spot put the tying run on base again, this time with one out, but only for Morris to ground into a double play. Adam Harris instead invited Brenize on base in the sixth, then was taken well deep by Humphries to double the Titans lead to 4-0. Ramires singled, the Coons went to Barrett, Ramires stole second, scored on Marcotte’s double, Marcotte stole *third*, and Rubin socked another homer, this time to center. That made it 7-0 and I rolled into a ball on the couch.

Brenize’s busy middle innings cost him an otherwise comfortable shutout and he was hauled in after a throwing error by Greg Furman put Lonzo on base with one out in the eighth. Nick Leigh – a rather inattentive right-hander – replaced Brenize and Lonzo scooped #719 at once, then scored on Starr’s single to right-center, but the run was unearned on Brenize. After that we then Crumbled into an inning-ending double play. The Titans answered by beating three runs out Murdock’s pelt in the ninth inning, by which point we were already out of bum pitchers and had to go to Rocco, who put Tobin on base and was taken well over the wall by Rubin. 12-1 Titans. N. Fox 2-4;

Why is a guy named FURMAN playing for the Titans??

In other news

August 28 – DAL RF/LF Roberto Almanza (.308, 1 HR, 59 RBI) will miss the rest of the season after breaking his leg.
August 30 – The Stars beat the Miners, 11-10 in 14 innings. Both teams score a run in the 11th inning, and the Miners score three in the top of the 14th before being outdone by a 4-run inning put up by the Stars. The game ends with DAL OF Tyler Wharton (.380, 28 HR, 105 RBI) being hit by the first pitch thrown by PIT SP Cory Ritter (8-9, 5.28 ERA), with the bases loaded. Wharton otherwise goes 5-for-6 in the game with a homer, a double, and three RBI, while also drawing a walk.
August 31 – Starved of pitching, the Miners get seriously wobbled one day later in Washington, having a 12-run meltdown in the third inning after taking an early 7-0 lead, and getting slapped ultimately by an 18-9 score.
September 2 – Dallas SP Ian Peters (12-7, 3.78 ERA) is out for the year with a case of biceps tendinitis.

FL Player of the Week: DAL OF Tyler Wharton (.379, 30 HR, 108 RBI), smashing .500 (12-24) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA LF/RF Ken Hummel (.316, 17 HR, 65 RBI), hitting .455 (10-22) with 3 HR, 5 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: NAS RF Austin Gordon (.345, 33 HR, 93 RBI), bashing .389 with 11 HR, 25 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: LVA LF/RF Ken Hummel (.313, 17 HR, 64 RBI), humming .431 with 5 HR, 14 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: NAS SP Travis Baker (15-5, 3.19 ERA), going 4-0 in five starts, with an 0.98 ERA, 14 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: BOS SP Jason Brenize (17-4, 1.90 ERA), going 4-0 in five starts, with a 1.25 ERA, 55 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW RF/LF Alex Barnes (.263, 20 HR, 74 RBI), batting .297 with 5 HR, 22 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: POR SP John Bollinger (7-3, 3.09 ERA), going 4-0 in six games, 1.51 ERA, 24 K

Complaints and stuff

Seven games, four wins, one homer, and nothing to really talk about otherwise. The number of remaining games is ticking down and that is well enough.

Tip of the brown cap to Bollinger though for nipping a Rookie of the Month title.

Riddle started his rehab assignment in AAA, but he won’t return before the penultimate week of the season, and we probably also won’t call up anybody else from AAA anymore before the season down there ends, which is on September 15.

The Raccoons will jump to Milwaukee now, then come back home to play the Crusaders, then get right back on the road to the East Coast, which is all a bit of a mess.

Fun Fact: Jason Brenize’s 1.83 ERA at this point would be the ninth-best single-season ERA in league history.

Not bad for somebody that got his fair share of face slapping when he debuted, although you can probably blame that on the Titans for bringing him up too early. They rushed him to the Bigs at age 21, and the first two years were very rough. He posted a 2.80 ERA in 2060, his age 23 season. Sunday’s domination of the Critters was actually his first start as a 26-year-old, his birthday being September 1, 2036.

Right now Brenize has four very good to eye-watering pitches and he will be a free agent after the 2063 season. He’s 65-50 with a 3.14 ERA and 974 strikeouts. In the last three seasons though he’s 43-19 with a 2.45 ERA.

The single-season top 10 in ERA, excluding Brenize for the time being:

1st – Juan Correa (1977) – 1.271
2nd – Mike McCaffrey (2057) – 1.635
3rd – Kennedy Adkins (2055) – 1.642
4th – Juan Correa (1982) – 1.643
5th – Phil Harrington (2031) – 1.645
6th – Juan Correa (1986) – 1.684
7th – Salah Brunet (1978) – 1.771
8th – Phil Harrington (2033) – 1.803
9th – Tony Hamlyn (2004) – 1.851
10th – Phil Harrington (2039) – 1.874

The best season on the books by a Raccoon is Jonny Toner’s 2017 campaign when he went 18-9 with a 1.94 ERA and 293 K in 232.1 innings. The ERA and strikeouts led the league, but the wins didn’t, because Tadasu Abe went 22-10 with a 3.12 ERA for the Critters to win that category (although Indy’s Alejandro Mendez also won 20, so it’s not like we laid an egg there).

That was peak Toner-Santos-Abe back then, with Hector Santos finishing second in ERA (2.50). Jonny Toner’s 1.937 ERA mark for that year actually ties exactly with Curtis Tobitt’s 2006 season for 13th place (excluding Brenize) on the leaderboard for single-season ERA.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (69-69) @ Loggers (63-72) – September 4-6, 2062

The two ugly stepchildren of the division had another six games to play out this year, with the first set of three taking place in Milwaukee starting on Monday. The Loggers were fifth in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed, with a -66 run differential (Coons: +16). Since heading the division in an 18-9 May and another good week into June, they had gone 25-46 and were still losing hard. Nevertheless, they led the season series, 8-4.

Projected matchups:
Freddy Castillo (2-3, 3.86 ERA) vs. Tony Espinosa (2-7, 5.99 ERA)
John Bollinger (7-3, 3.09 ERA) vs. Larry Wilson (11-8, 3.16 ERA)
Angel Alba (10-11, 3.08 ERA) vs. Jesus Hinojosa (10-11, 5.64 ERA)

The week would start with a left-handed opponent.

Game 1
POR: CF Kozak – SS Lavorano – LF Crumble – 1B Starr – 2B White – RF Moreno – 3B N. Fox – C Robertson – P Castillo
MIL: LF Franks – RF D. Wright – 1B D. Robles – SS F. Carrera – 3B D. Miller – CF Merrill – C Reed – 2B Wall – P T. Espinosa

Castillo struggled with control this Monday, offering a walk in each of the first two innings, but also getting a double play grounder both times. The Raccoons frittered away a Kozak double to start the game, then Castillo and Kozak singles in the third inning without scoring, and then rain began to fall in the fourth inning. Dave Robles and Fidel Carrera hit singles leading off the bottom 4th, Castillo nicked Danny Miller, and suddenly there were three Loggers on base with nobody out. Castillo got a pop from Jonathan Merrill, but then served a 2-run single to Mark Reed. Josh Wall flew out to Moreno and Espinosa whiffed to end the inning.

Even when poked with a stick like that, the Raccoons showed no immediately discernible reaction. Joel Starr hit a double to lead off the seventh, but was stranded just as badly as Kozak had been in the first. Castillo went into the bottom 7th until he walked Reed and was taken over the wall by Josh … well, Wall. Adam Harris replaced him, ****** around incompetently, and finally gave up a 2-out, 3-run blast to Fidel Carrera. Espinosa carried a 7-0 shutout into the ninth inning until walking a pinch-hitting Armando Suriel with two outs, nicking a pinch-hitting Jose Corral, and then Joe Robertson got him for an RBI single into left to kill the shutout. Tony Gonzalez hit another RBI single – first career RBI – but then Kozak struck out and the game was over, Espinosa finishing a complete-game 8-hitter. 7-2 Loggers. Kozak 2-4, BB, 2B; Gonzalez 2-2, RBI;

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Corral – 2B White – 3B Suriel – C Guinea – P Bollinger
MIL: LF Franks – CF Merrill – SS F. Carrera – 1B D. Robles – C Waker – 2B Milian – RF Ce. Ramirez – 3B D. Miller – P L. Wilson

The first two Raccoons went down on Tuesday before Starr hit a triple into the gap against Wilson. Crumble picked him up with an RBI single and stole second base, Corral reached on an error, and Jim White found another RBI single. Suriel grounded out to David Milian to end the inning before Bollinger took it upon himself to immediately explode. Scott Franks hit a leadoff single in the bottom 1st and Carrera homered to dead center to tie the game at two. Bollinger beaned Robles out of the game – replaced with Chad Whetstine – before falling to a pair of RBI doubles whacked by Milian and Cesar Ramirez that put Milwaukee up 4-2. What’s up with those Loggers??

Bollinger – Rookie of the Month, remember? – then lined up a few zeroes, but the damage was already done. Starr went deep for a solo shot in the third, shortening the score to 4-3, and in the fifth it was Bollinger to lead off with a shy single to left before Morris doubled to right, which put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with nobody out. Lonzo tied it up with a sac fly to Franks in left, while Starr was walked with intent by the Loggers. Crumble made a useless out in the air, while Corral hit a pop behind second base that Carrera and Milian fought over until neither caught it. It clonked off Milian’s glove, so he got the error, and the Raccoons got Jim White up with the bags stacked and two outs, but he grounded out easily to Miller… Carrera nearly answered with a homer in the bottom 5th, but Crumble hustled back and scratched that ball off the top of the fence. Guinea and Morris went to the corners with singles, but were left there when Lonzo struck out to end the sixth inning.

Bollinger allowed a single to Milian and walked Miller with two outs in the bottom 6th. He would have been yanked here regardless, but with Phil Reder pinch-hitting, Rocco was brought in specifically to meet the situation (also: lots of left-handed bats atop the order). He wiped out Reder on three strikes to end the inning. In turn, Joel Starr, facing lefty Vincent Hernandez, socked his second triple of the game to center at the start of the seventh. This gave Starr ten total bases in the game. When the Loggers walked Crumble intentionally, the Raccoons sent Kozak to bat for an 0-for-3 Corral for that righty stick against Hernandez, who lost Kozak in a full count, but now the Loggers had the Coons where they wanted them, stuck in a three on, nobody out hole. Jim White went against the script, however, drilling a 1-0 pitch high to left, and very high, and very left! And outta here! GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM!!!!!

The inning went on long enough for Rocco to bat and make an out, but he still had a left-handed top half of the order to kill in the home half of the seventh, which he did. Tristan Waker homered off Ricky Herrera (…) in the eighth inning, reducing the lead to three and potentially exposing Matt Walters to a save chance. He faced that left-handed top half, giving up leadoff singles to Merrill and Carrera, then ANOTHER single to PH Dave Wright that plated a run. Jesus Christ in an apple tree, save that ******* game!! Ralph Lange hit a sharp grounder at Lonzo for a double play, and Milian actually hacked himself out for three strikes to get the game into the books. 8-6 Raccoons. Morris 2-5, 2B; Starr 3-4, BB, HR, 2 3B, RBI; White 2-5, HR, 5 RBI; Guinea 2-4;

Whenever Matt Walters throws the baseball now, you must always remember: he has a valid $2.22M contract for 2063.

(is filled with much foreboding)

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Corral – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – C Guinea – P Alba
MIL: LF Franks – CF Merrill – SS F. Carrera – 1B D. Robles – C Waker – RF D. Wright – 2B Milian – 3B D. Miller – P Hinojosa

Alba, who came off the weirdest start, began the rubber game with three strikeouts and five straight Loggers sat down before the 6-7-8 bunch all reached base on two hits and a four-pitch walk in the bottom 2nd, but then Hinojosa was easily carved up for another K. Alba continued to be irritating after that, walking Franks, who stole second, and Robles in the third inning before getting out on Tristan Waker’s grounder. Instead, the Coons inched out the game’s first run in the fourth inning with a 1-out walk to Crumble, a groundout by Corral, and then a 2-out RBI single for Jim White. Fox then whiffed. Alba then had his calmest inning yet before Hinojosa offered a leadoff walk to Guinea in the fifth. Alba bunted to third base, and it was not a particularly bad bunt, but Miller still went to second base with it – and late. Two on, nobody out. Morris had so far reached on a walk and a single, and now reached by getting plunked, loading them up for Lonzo. Hinojosa was off kilter and walked in a run on five pitches, 2-0, after which the Raccoons kept tacking on while making outs: Starr grounded out to bring in Alba, Morris scored on Crumble’s sac fly, and then Corral sent a drive to center that stretched beyond the reach of Merrill for a 2-out RBI double. White flew out to Franks, ending the 4-spot.

Alba had a quick fifth, gave up a double to Wright in the sixth, but the Loggers left him on base. Ricky Pippin then nicked Lonzo with a fastball in the seventh, which Lonzo turned into enough energy to steal second base, leaving him one shy of Pablo Sanchez’ all-time mark. Starr and Crumble left him on base with flies to left, though.

Through seven innings, Alba used 98 pitches, which was deemed enough. Harris replaced him, got whacked for a Merrill triple and Carrera single, then was yanked. Murdock replaced him, walked Robles, then served up a 3-run bomb to Waker. Out of the blue, it was a 5-4 game, and there was still nobody out in the eighth inning. Murdock was doubled out of the game by Wright, bringing in Pohlmann, who hung one to Milian for a homer. Six runs, nobody out. Getting ******* outs would be left to Ricky H. in the end, but it wasn’t 2059 anymore and he didn’t get a sneaky win at the tail end. The Coons only got a Morris single off Randy Birnbaum in the ninth inning and went down like losers. 6-5 Loggers. Morris 2-3, BB; White 3-4, RBI; Alba 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K;

This roster needs a torch held to it…

In fact, Adam Harris (0-1, 12.10 ERA) was torched before the plane back to Portland took off. He wasn’t just sent back to St. Pete in September, he went onto waivers! The Raccoons brought back Brad Loveless, who could not possible do any worse.

Am I egging them on, maybe? (looks at Honeypaws) Naaaah.

Raccoons (70-71) vs. Crusaders (78-61) – September 8-10, 2062

Last dips against the Crusaders, who were up 10-5 against the Raccoons and needed the wins, five behind the Indians for first place. They had the most productive offense in the Continental League, which boded well with our ramshackle pitching (well, the rotation was semi-efficient; the pen was a horror show). New York’s pitching was barely adequate, though, giving up the fifth-most runs in the CL. They had a +81 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (8-10, 3.53 ERA) vs. Ryan Musgrave (9-9, 3.48 ERA)
Malik Padgitt (1-1, 1.69 ERA) vs. Josh Barcellona (9-11, 3.88 ERA)
Freddy Castillo (2-4, 4.27 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (14-8, 3.64 ERA)

Three right-handed pitchers coming up.

Game 1
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Cline – RF Austin – 1B McLaughlin – C McLaren – CF A. Romero – LF J. Alvarez – 3B V. Velez – P Musgrave
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B White – LF T. Gonzalez – RF Corral – 3B N. Fox – C Robertson – P C. Fox

Omar Sanchez, Jake Cline, and Matt McLaren all hit singles off Chance Fox for a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning for the Purple Poopers. Fox would never settle in; the bottom of the order disappeared quickly in the second, but the Crusaders loaded the bases with Sanchez, Aubrey Austin, and Jared McLaughlin in the third inning before Fox battled through a pair of full counts against McLaren, who flew out to Tony Gonzalez in shallow left, preventing any advance, and Alex Romero, who looked at strike three on the corner.

The Coons got Robertson on in the bottom 3rd, but Fox’ bad bunt got him erased at second base. Morris grounded out and Lonzo reached with a soft single to put two on with two down for Starr, who doubled to center. Fox scored from second, but Lonzo was thrown out at the plate on a good throw in by Romero, ending the inning before he could tie the game. After an uneventful fourth, the Raccoons got 1-out singles from Morris and Lonzo to mount another threat, but Starr’s spanker at Victor Velez was taken for a 5-4-3 double play and that was that…

New attempt in the bottom 6th: a leadoff walk to White, who dashed to third base on Gonzalez’ single, which by the way gave Gonzalez a .700 batting average, or 503 points higher than Jose Corral, who was up with runners on first and third and nobody out. Oh, Honeypaws! I have a bad feeling! – …but Corral singled to center, bringing home the tying run and reducing his deficit to Tony Gonzalez to 497 points. Nick Fox whiffed against Musgrave, but Robertson hit a shy single to load the bases. Chance Fox, over 90 pitches, was hit for with Malik C., who Crumbled into another 5-4-3 double play to kill that inning. (facepaws)

Read and Ricky H. pieced a scoreless seventh together, before Musgrave – who had already given up 12 hits and two walks, and somehow was still in the ******* ballgame! – offered a leadoff walk to Morris, who stole his 30th base of the year. Lonzo whiffed, Starr was walked intentionally and then forced out on White’s grounder, but the Crusaders made the mistake of pitching to Tony Gonzalez (and with Musgrave), who bolted a 2-2 pitch to deep center for a 2-out, 2-run double…!

Murdock and Rocco handled the eighth, which meant Murdock put the leadoff man on and Rocco got a double play grounder from McLaren eventually. The Raccoons did not tack on, and so Walters came out for the ninth against the 6-7-8 batters with a 2-run lead. I closed my eyes, but Romero, Jose Alvarez, and Ryan Edmondson went down in order and without any loud contact. 4-2 Coons. Morris 2-4, BB; Lavorano 3-5; Gonzalez 3-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Robertson 2-3, BB; C. Fox 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K;

*This* W went to Ricky H., the old thief! It was his fourth this year, which was somewhere in the middle between the one win from last year and the 11 wins from ’59.

Game 2
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Cline – RF Austin – 1B McLaughlin – C McLaren – CF A. Romero – LF Weir – 3B V. Velez – P Barcellona
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – RF Gonzalez – C Robertson – 2B Bean – 3B Suriel – P Padgitt

Malik Padgitt had a soul-bleaching start to the Saturday game. He walked four batters the first time through the order, three of them in the first inning, including Sanchez and Cline. Aubrey Austin singled in a run, and another scored on a McLaren sac fly, putting New York up 2-0. The fourth walk was then to Barcellona, and on four pitches. I reached for the bottle, then buries my head in a bag of chips. Unsurprisingly, Padgitt didn’t last; after a calm third inning, he allowed a leadoff single to Hector Weir in the fourth, then walked Velez. He made a strong play on Barcellona’s awful bunt and started a marvelous 1-5-3 double play, but then offered another walk to Sanchez and was yanked. Six walks in 3.2 innings, albeit Erickson getting a pop to short from Cline the Crusaders settled for their two first-inning markers.

Robertson singled home Starr in the bottom 4th to get the Critters on the board, while Erickson and Loveless held the Crusaders off in the fifth inning. New York got a run in two innings off Sensabaugh, though, getting back to a 2-run lead when Velez doubled home Romero in the sixth inning. The Raccoons then rather unconventionally used Matt Walters in the eighth inning of a losing game when the Crusaders lined up the all-lefty 5-6-7 hitters for that inning. McLaren and Weir hit singles, and Walters mostly escaped because Velez popped out and the Crusaders didn’t pinch-hit for Barcellona, who struck out to leave on the extra runners, but he was controlling the Coons well, so what could possibly go wrong? They got another 1-2-3 inning from him before sending Jason Rhodes into the ninth, who also retired the Critters 1-2-3. 3-1 Crusaders.

Game 3
NYC: SS O. Sanchez – 2B Cline – RF Austin – LF Zeiher – 1B McLaughlin – C McLaren – CF A. Romero – 3B V. Velez – P Seiter
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – RF Corral – C Guinea – P Castillo

Omar Sanchez socked a rare homer to begin the rubber game and Castillo walked Cline, but then worked his way out of the inning without allowing another run. He had to work around a walk to McLaren in the second, then around a Crumble error that put Cline on base again in the third inning, while the Raccoons had little going until Guinea hit a 1-out single against Seiter in the bottom 3rd, Castillo’s bunt was taken to second base by Velez, but not in time to get the catcher there, and Seiter then lost Morris on straight balls to load the bases for Lonzo, who grounded up the middle where Sanchez contained the ball behind the bag. Sanchez expected Cline to step on second, but Cline thought Sanchez would step on it himself and fire through to first base – and while Sanchez eventually did that, the hesitation cost the Crusaders the double play and their 1-0 lead, because now Lonzo reached first uncontested. Starr then was rung up by a miffed Seiter to end the inning.

New York had leadoff singles from McLaughlin and McLaren in the McFourth, but the 7-8-9 went down ineffectively amid all the on-base terror, while in the Coons’ part of the fourth, White walked and Fox singled before Corral killed that inning with a double play grounder. Castillo hit a double in the fifth and was stranded, and I was getting a bit frustrated and tried to pick a fight with Maud about how her muffins contained too many blueberries, a plot she saw right through and just gave me a look rather than the opportunity to release some steam.

The Coons DID take the lead on Seiter in the sixth with a walk to Crumble, who stole second, and then Nick Fox’ 2-out RBI single. Corral flew out, and Castillo allowed a leadoff double to Velez when he went back to the hill. Seiter then popped out on a bunt and Sanchez flew out to left, none of which moved Velez and his tying run. With Cline up, the Raccoons elected to go to a right-hander. Pohlmann and Jorge Moreno replaced Castillo and Corral in a double switch. Cline ran a full count – and then struck out, bringing on the stretch. While Seiter gutted out eight innings on 113 pitches, Pohlmann and Rocco combined for the eighth inning, and when the Raccoons did nothing of value in the bottom 8th and didn’t reach Rocco’s spot, we hung with him for the ninth inning. McLaren struck out to begin the ninth, but Bobby Anderson pinch-hit and singled to center before being replaced with Alvarez to pinch-run, but that didn’t help the Crusaders when Velez fed a grounder right at Lonzo for a 6-4-3 double play. 2-1 Blighters. N. Fox 2-3, RBI; Rocco 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (14);

In other news

September 5 – The Stars take 14 innings to beat the Pacifics, 8-7. The Pacifics actually have an early 7-0 lead before frittering it away from the sixth inning onwards.
September 5 – It takes 11 innings for a solo homer by 31-year-old Rebels 2B/SS Devin Willoughby – in his first at-bat of the season – to clinch a 1-0 win against the Miners.
September 6 – The Crusaders beat the Titans by a football score, 17-7. NYC 2B/SS Marcos Onelas (.262, 5 HR, 37 RBI) drives in six runs with a grand slam and two doubles.
September 8 – TIJ SP Edgar Mauricio (10-12, 3.27 ERA) no-hits the Knights in a crucial 4-0 win! The 27-year-old strikes out five and allows just one walk to Atlanta’s J.P. Gallo (.249, 1 HR, 29 RBI), which is the difference to a perfect game. This is the first no-hitter of the season in the ABL, and the first since OCT Ernesto Rios no-hit those Condors in April of 2061.
September 8 – The season of Aces INF Miguel Veguilla (.270, 8 HR, 42 RBI) ends with a broken finger.
September 9 – Miners 3B/SS Stephen Medlock (.238, 7 HR, 41 RBI) goes yard for the only runs in Pittsburgh’s 10-inning, 2-0 win over the Blue Sox.

FL Player of the Week: DAL OF/1B Tommy Pritchard (.346, 10 HR, 120 RBI), slapping .407 (11-27) with 2 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL SS/2B Fidel Carrera (.296, 17 HR, 62 RBI), raking .444 (8-18) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Remember the days when we had five quality left-handed relievers and couldn’t cram them all onto the roster? Ya, me neither.

It was an alright week outside of that one meltdown in Milwaukee, and we made the Crusaders stumble at home in Portland so they slipped to six games behind the Indians. As far as the CL North opposition goes, I feel somewhat benevolent towards the Indians and Loggers, who have rarely gone neck-and-neck with the Critters in the league’s history. So if either one of those teams can draw the other three a nose, I’m all for it.

Tyler Riddle made his third rehab start on Friday and will probably be back up with the big club for next week. Not sure we wanted a 6-man rotation to the end here with only 6-game weeks left. Padgitt looked a bit out of his depth on Saturday, so maybe he could give his starts to Riddle… I don’t know. None of it deeply matters with the team being potentially mathematically eliminated next week. We’d have an awkward Boston & San Francisco road trip and nothing good has ever happened in either location…

Fun Fact: The Condors have had six no-hitters in franchise history, all within the last 44 years.

This tally includes a combined no-hitter in 2031.

The first proper no-hitter was pitched by Andrew Gudeman in 2018 against the Aces. George Griffin also no-hit the Aces in 2027, and partook in the combined no-hitter four years later as the starter. Jorge Villalobos pitched his second career no-hitter against the Indians in 2030. Paul Paris no-hit the Raccoons in 2051. Yaay.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (72-72) @ Titans (77-66) – September 12-14, 2062

The Titans’ season was hanging by a thread and they pretty much had to win all their games now if they still wanted a piece of first place, from which they were removed 8 1/2 games. This was with the #6 offense and #4 pitching in the league, but on the other paw they were also already up 11-4 on the Raccoons this year, and this season was in Boston, where nothing good ever happened.

Projected matchups:
John Bollinger (7-3, 3.30 ERA) vs. Jayden Craddock (9-15, 5.06 ERA)
Angel Alba (10-11, 2.96 ERA) vs. Grant MacKinnon (8-11, 4.26 ERA)
Chance Fox (8-10, 3.51 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (19-4, 1.86 ERA)

Again, only right-handed starters in this Titans rotation.

Game 1
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – RF Corral – C Robertson – P Bollinger
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 2B Ramires – C Arviso – CF Marcotte – RF A. Lee – 1B M. Rubin – 3B D. Mendoza – SS Mena – P Craddock

The Raccoons took the early lead with Morris and Starr doubles in the first inning, which was only a setup for the night’s biggest event, which came in the third inning when Lonzo led off with a single, and then stole second base against Craddock and Jorge Arviso, matching the 721 career steals by Pablo Sanchez, most all-time! The Titans duly acknowledged the feat on the scoreboard which had totally nothing to do with me threatening to set all the dumpsters behind the ballpark on fire if their GM didn’t tell his guys to do so, and then Joel Starr doubled in Lonzo with another drive to the deep outfield to make it a 2-0 game, and then Crumble went deep to left to double the score to 4-0. Starr hit *another* RBI double his next time up, then driving in Bollinger with two outs in the fourth inning.

Bollinger had a busy day, but somehow the Titans always managed to clean the bases without scoring. They had a single and two walks through four innings, and left no trace with a double play hit into and two runners being caught stealing. His luck ran out in the fifth, putting one on a tee for Eddie Marcotte to bop his 30th homer of the year on, then allowed singles to Andy Lee and Manny Rubin. Diego Mendoza hit a sac fly, but then the battering continued with an RBI double by PH Willie de Leon. Steve Humphries grounded out to end a 3-run inning. The Raccoons saw him wobble through the sixth, putting Bill Ramires on before Marcotte ended the inning with a groundout as the tying run, then quietly put him to bed before it could get worse.

For Starr, it only got better; he led off the seventh inning with a double to left, which tied him for the CL record of hitting four doubles in a game. Crumble made an out, but Andy Younge walked White and Nick Fox then clipped an RBI single to re-extend the lead to 6-3. Corral found another RBI single, and Joe Robertson found a double play to kill the inning.

Mendoza and Juan Mena had hits off Erickson in the bottom 7th, but were left on base, while in the bottom 8th, Brad Loveless got the ball, got a grounder from Ramires that Fox threw away for two bases, threw a wild pitch, and then allowed a walk to Arviso and a single to Andy Lee before being yanked. One run in, runners on the corners, Rubin the tying run in the box, and one out for Murdock, who got a comebacker from the batter, and then threw that into centerfield for another error and a run to score before Yoslan Valdez struck out and Mena grounded out to Jon Bean at short (Lonzo had taken a seat). Starr then led off the ninth in a 7-5 game against Jason Posey, but struck out rather than hitting another double. Posey struck out the side, in fact, before Matt Walters got the ball and I covered my eyes with my paws. Sandy Moreno hit a leadoff single before walks to Humphries and Arviso filled the bases. Eddie Marcotte emptied them with a slam to left. 9-7 Titans. Starr 4-5, 4 2B, 3 RBI; Crumble 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Corral 2-4, RBI;

NOTHING GOOD EVER HAPPENS IN BOSTON.

Okay, sometimes something good happens. But it never lasts very long. Regardless – (gives a very confused looking Lonzo a thick smooch on the fuzzy cheek)

This was the last regular save attempt for Matt Walters, who was absolute junk at this point. Since Rocco, Murdock, and Pohlmann were also getting humbled regularly, the Raccoons would finish the season closing by committee and then try and get creative over the winter.

Marcos Arellano returned from the DL on Wednesday, although I was hesitant to proclaim something like us getting a veteran presence or such thing back.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Crumble – 2B White – RF Corral – C Arellano – 3B Suriel – P Alba
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 2B Ramires – C Arviso – CF Marcotte – RF A. Lee – 1B M. Rubin – 3B D. Mendoza – SS Mena – P MacKinnon

The bases were loaded again in the bottom 1st with Arviso and Marcotte singles as well as a four-pitch walk to Lee, but Rubin flew out to Crumble to keep everybody stacked. Similarly with the Coons in the top 2nd, where they loaded the bases against MacKinnon – who among other things hammered Arellano with a pitch, which Arellano did not appreciate, just off the DL – but Morris then flew out to Lee to leave three aboard.

The Coons gained a 1-0 lead on a Joel Starr homer in the third inning, then lost Malik Crumble to a groin strain as he made an extra long step to beat out an infield single to lead off the sixth inning. Tony Gonzalez pinch-ran and scored when Jim White took MacKinnon over the wall in rightfield, 3-0. Alba worked into the bottom 7th with that, getting a Mendoza pop there before Mena hit a 1-out single and left-handed Yoslan Valdez came out to pinch hit. Alba, on 103 offerings, was replaced here with Ricky Herrera, and Ricky Herrera got bombed for three straight loud, hard base hits by Valdez, Humphries, and Ramires, at the end of which the Titans had tied the game at three. (buries face in paws in despair)

Tony Gonzalez restored the Coons to the lead with his first career home run, a solo blast off Nick Leigh in the eighth inning. The Titans went in order against Pohlmann in the bottom 8th, while the Coons got an insurance run off Leigh in the ninth inning on singles by Arellano, Morris, and Lonzo, who drove in the catcher. Starr shot 1-2 pitch right at Ramires to end the inning. Murdock got the ball in the bottom 9th, allowed a leadoff single to Mena, but then got a double play grounder, 4-6-3, from Willie de Leon. Humphries singled again, but Ramires’ grounder to first ended the game. 5-3 Critters. Morris 2-4, BB, 3B; Gonzalez 1-1, HR, RBI; Arellano 2-3; Alba 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K;

Ricky H., the wicked fiend … (glances over to Herrera, who has fallen asleep with his head in a bowl of milk, and there are no more bubbles rising out of the milk either) … stole another W here.

Malik Crumble was off to the DL with a groin strain. He might return for a few games at the end of the year, but it was not a guarantee. The Alley Cats were no longer in the running for the AAA playoffs, and the Raccoons brought up 23-year-old Marco Campos, who the Indians had sent over for Trent Brassfield and some loose bits in July. Campos had been hitting .301 with 3 HR, 20 RBI in AAA in 47 games. He was could play all outfield positions, probably was best suited to leftfield due to arm strength, and was batting righty. He was from Costa Rica.

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B White – RF Corral – LF Campos – 3B N. Fox – C Arellano – P C. Fox
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Ramires – CF Marcotte – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – SS Mena – 2B W. de Leon – P Brenize

Campos got his first career hit in his first chance, legging out an infield single against Brenize and de Leon trying to field the same ball in the second inning. This put Critters on the corners following a 1-out double to right by Jose Corral, and Nick Fox quickly drove in the latter with a single to center. Slightly oversugared, Campos was thrown out trying to steal third base before Arellano struck out to end the inning. A Morris single and a 2-out homer by Starr extended the lead to 3-0 in the third inning.

The Titans hit a bevvy of singles against Foxie Brown early on, but stranded pairs in the first and third innings. Humphries hit another single after a 10-pitch battle in the fifth, but that was with two outs and Ramires left him on. Marcotte drew a leadoff walk in the sixth against Fox, but was doubled up by Rubin. Arviso socked a double to right with two outs, but Diego Mendoza had his fly to center tracked down by Morris to end the inning. While Brenize went seven innings and struck out nine Critters, the beleaguered Fox got only three strikeouts in 6.1 innings before de Leon and Ted Lloyd knocked him out with a pair of hits that put them on the corners. Pohlmann replaced him, struck out Humphries, but Ramires dropped an RBI single into no man’s land with two outs before Marcotte grounded out to Lonzo to keep the tying runs on base. Pohlmann got one more out in the eighth, and Rocco got two groundouts after him to nurse the 3-1 lead along. The Titans tried to get the last two innings from Leigh and it worked just as well as on Tuesday; Campos hit a single for the Coons to begin the ninth, and after Nick Fox made an out, Tony Gonzalez batted for Arellano and smashed a 2-run homer to right! This put the game out of save range. Morris hit another single and stole second, but was left on base, while the Raccoons then sent out Corey Barrett in a bid to *create* a save chance in the first place, but Mena, de Leon, and Valdez made straight outs. 5-1 Furballs. Morris 3-5; Corral 2-4, 2B; Campos 2-4; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (74-73) @ Bayhawks (68-78) – September 15-17, 2062

The Raccoons went on to the Bay, having already taken the season series from the Baybirds, 5-1. San Fran had put together the #5 offense and #9 pitching this year, with the rotation bidding for the worst ERA in the league.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (4-3, 1.78 ERA) vs. Joe Chalmers (10-14, 3.73 ERA)
Malik Padgitt (1-2, 2.51 ERA) vs. Hector Montenegro (6-10, 5.41 ERA)
Freddy Castillo (3-4, 3.94 ERA) vs. Jon Mendosa (7-14, 5.66 ERA)

While the Raccoons brought up only left-handers, the Baybirds had only right-handers to offer. Montenegro and Mendosa had both pitched on Sunday after a Saturday rainout, and they had also been off on Monday, so there was wiggle room to flip those, bring in Jeff Crowley (14-6, 3.86 ERA), or just turn the table over entirely and find some rookie to give a sniff of major league air to.

Tyler Riddle returned from rehab to make a couple of starts at the end of the year here. He was signed for another two years and a potential trade asset this winter.

Game 1
POR: 2B White – SS Lavorano – CF Gonzalez – 1B Kozak – RF Corral – LF Campos – 3B N. Fox – C Robertson – P Riddle
SFB: SS X. Reyes – C Bogdan – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – RF Laws – 3B D. Sandoval – CF L. Quinones – 1B Escalera – P Chalmers

Corral singled home Lonzo with an unearned run in the first inning; unearned because Armando Montoya uncharacteristically made an error on a Gonzalez grounder. Riddle meanwhile returned and gave up a single in each of the first two innings, but also got a double play grounder from Leon Quinones to end the bottom 2nd. Top 3rd then, and Lonzo hit a 1-out single. He was itching to go while Tony Gonzalez struck out, then finally went on the first pitch to Kozak – and beat the throw by Bryan Bogdan, breaking the tie with Pablo Sanchez for the top of the all-time steals table! And then Kozak grounded out to Montoya to leave him on base…

Starting with Jose Escalera, the Bayhawks then clipped three singles off Riddle in the third inning. Kozak chipped in an error, and RBI hits by Bogdan and Grant Anker flipped the score to 2-1 San Fran. Stuff eluded Riddle in this start, with only one strikeout on his ledger through five innings before Montoya whiffed to begin the bottom 6th. Scott Laws was hit by a pitch, but doubled up by Dan Sandoval with a grounder to short. With Robertson on first base and one out, Riddle was asked to bunt in the seventh, but did so badly and got the lead runner forced out, which cost the tying run when Jim White doubled afterwards. Lonzo rolled a wheezer on the infield then with two outs, nobody got a play on it, and Riddle rumbled home with the tying run after all while Lonzo had a single on a ball dying 55 feet from home plate. Chalmers rung up Gonzalez to end the inning and leave runners on the corners.

Riddle was knocked out with pinch-hit 1-out singles by Dustin Cox and Ikuo Ogawa in the bottom 7th. The overworked Murdock replaced him, but gave up an RBI single to Xavier Reyes before Bogdan reached on a Fox error. Rocco then inherited the bases loaded and retired Anker and Montoya on a pair of shallow fly balls to strand the bases loaded in a 3-2 deficit. The Coons did nothing in the eighth, and Rocco allowed a single to Sandoval in the eighth before being replaced with Erickson, who threw a wild pitch before Craig Pepper popped out, while Kyle Mathews’ pinch-hit single off disgraced Matt Walters brought home the insurance run. Top 9th, and the Bayhawks made a bid for a blown save with Steve Watson who first nailed Nick Fox with a pitch nowhere near the zone. Starr and Bean pinch-hit (Morris had already been used) and both struck out before Jim White doubled to left, putting the tying runs in scoring position for Lonzo, but Sandoval intercepted his bouncer to third base and made the throw to first in time. 4-2 Bayhawks. White 2-4, 2 2B; Lavorano 3-5, 2B, RBI; N. Fox 2-3;

Lonzo, the old career achiever, got a day off on Saturday after Morris and Starr had both been off on Friday. Corral also got a day off.

Game 2
POR: CF Morris – 2B White – 1B Starr – LF Kozak – RF Gonzalez – 3B N. Fox – 2B Bean – C Guinea – P Padgitt
SFB: SS X. Reyes – CF Echols – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – RF Laws – 3B D. Sandoval – C Bogdan – 1B Escalera – P H. Montenegro

Morris opened the game with a jack and, not wanting to stand back, Starr also mashed a homer in the first for an early 2-0 lead. However, that was before somebody foolishly handed a ball to Padgitt, who gave up loud singles to Xavier Reyes and Jonathan Echols, a game-tying double to Montoya, a walk to Laws, and after some counseling still continued to burn brightly in the night with an RBI single hit by Bogdan with two outs, Escalera getting nicked to load the bases, and with three on, two outs, and the pitcher down 0-2, Padgitt tossed a wild one that allowed a fourth runner to score before Montenegro finally struck out. It didn’t get much better after that; Padgitt walked Reyes on four pitches to begin the bottom 2nd, threw another wild pitch in the inning, and got outs on two deep flies and Montoya rolling over to White on a 3-0 pitch to end the inning without Reyes coming across the plate.

Starr, Kozak, and Fox hit singles in the third to narrow the score to 4-3, Padgitt had a 1-2-3 third (!), and the Raccoons slowly accumulated on base in the fourth with Morris drawing a 2-out walk. White singled on an 0-2 pitch, and Joel “Doubles” Starr starred with a double, driving in the tying run with an extra-base knock to center. Kozak then popped out to Montoya to keep runners on second and third.

Montenegro was out by the fifth inning, with left-hander Jesse Connors inserted by San Fran against the mostly lefty bottom half of the Coons’ lineup, but Connors gave up a 1-out double to Fox and an RBI single to Bean to put Portland up 5-4 again. Arellano batted for Guinea and singled, sending Bean to second base, and the Raccoons had Lonzo bat for Padgitt after four unhinged innings for the left-hander. Lonzo hit a sac fly, 6-4, then went back to the donuts, and Morris also flew out to Echols to end the inning. Rich Read then filed a valid application for the free win with a scoreless fifth. Joel Starr took Jorge Solis deep in the sixth to extend the score to 7-4, but Brad Loveless came in to face left-handers, was clueless and useless, walked two, gave up an RBI double to Anker, and then was barely bailed out by Erickson against Montoya, who grounded a 3-2 pitch to Fox to strand the tying runs in scoring position…

The game remained a mess. Erickson bunted into a double play in the seventh, then ran 3-0 counts to Scott Laws, who grounded out, and Craig Pepper, who drew the walk. Bogdan popped out before Ricky H. allowed a single to Escalera before serving up a high gap fly to Aaron Drobish, playing third base, which Kozak – of all people – raced down and made a grab on the run on to strand the tying runs on base *again*. Herrera did get the Bayhawks’ 1-2-3 in order in the eighth, though. The Coons also stranded Jorge Moreno, who hit a pinch-hit single, and Nick Fox, who just got hit, in the ninth before giving the ball to the ninth-inning man of the day, Mike Pohlmann. His first three pitches were all put into play loudly, with a leadoff double for Montoya, but Laws and Cox made outs to the corner infielders. Bogdan then hit a wet towel onto the infield, and that one died for an RBI single… Escalera whiffed, though. 7-6 Critters. Starr 4-4, BB, 2 HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Kozak 2-5; Moreno (PH) 1-1; N. Fox 3-4, 2B, RBI; Arellano (PH) 1-2, BB;

Regardless of this W, the Raccoons were mathematically eliminated this Saturday with an Indians win.

With the AAA season over the Raccoons made one more addition to the roster (barring more injuries…) with right-hander John Nesbitt, who had been the other half of the Buffos trade that had exchanged Ken Sowell and Joey Christopher for him and Tony Gonzalez. Nesbitt had pitched to an 0.41 ERA with the Alley Cats. He did not arrive fully rested, though, having thrown multiple innings on Friday.

Game 3
POR: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – 2B White – RF Corral – LF Campos – C Arellano – 3B Suriel – P Castillo
SFB: SS X. Reyes – CF Echols – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – RF Laws – 3B D. Sandoval – C Bogdan – 1B Escalera – P Crowley

In the first, everybody seemed to be on two strikes against Castillo, but nobody struck out. In the second, Laws and Sandoval reached, but the 7-8-9 went in order with strikeouts against Bogdan and Crowley. In the third inning, the Bayhawks turned Castillo inside-out entirely. Reyes singled and stole second, tying him with Lonzo with 48 steals. Echols and Anker made outs before the sky fell with Montoya’s RBI double, a walk to Laws, a Sandoval single and a throwing error by Morris, allowing Montoya to score, RBI singles for Bogdan and Escalera, and finally Crowley flew out to cap the 4-spot…

The fourth began with a Lonzo single and his 49th stolen base, telling off Reyes. Starr doubled him in, Jim White drew a walk, but Corral popped out. Marco Campos got his first career RBI with a single to left-center and shortened the score to 4-2, but then Crowley buggered out of the inning with strikeouts to the 7-8 batters. Reyes hit a homer to left off Castillo to begin the bottom 4th, 5-2, and Castillo then bobbled a feed by Starr at first base to put Grant Anker on base in the inning, which he finished, but he was then also hit for at the start of the fifth in which Ben Morris hit a solo homer to narrow the score to 5-3 before the ball went to Sensabaugh.

The Coons inched closer in the sixth with back-to-back 1-out singles from Corral and Campos, then an Arellano sac fly. Campos was then caught stealing to end the inning, and the rally stalled. Starr hit a single in the eighth, but apart from that Sensabaugh pitched four messy shutout innings for nobody in particular as the Raccoons were still down by a run into the ninth inning against Steve Watson. Arellano, Gonzalez, and Kozak went in order to end the game. 5-4 Bayhawks. Starr 3-4, 2B, RBI; Campos 2-4, RBI; Sensabaugh 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K;

In other news

September 11 – The Stars win the FL West with 18 games to spare by beating the Wolves, 3-1.
September 11 – RIC SP Luis Olvera (9-14, 3.69 ERA) throws a 5-0 shutout on three hits against the Cyclones.
September 11 – WAS SP Nick Robinson (15-7, 3.08 ERA) is expected to miss time until next summer with a diagnosis of a stretched elbow ligament.
September 11 – The first career home run of MIL OF Jonathan Merrill (.279, 1 HR, 35 RBI) is the decider in a 1-0 win against the Indians.
September 12 – The Loggers’ SS/2B Fidel Carrera (.296, 17 HR, 62 RBI) breaks his forearm on a slide into an opposing player and is out for the season.
September 12 – Pacifics 3B/LF/RF/1B Steve Dilly (.241, 11 HR, 56 RBI) ends his season early with a broken finger.
September 13 – The Indians return the 1-0 win favors to the Loggers with a 10-inning game won on a walkoff sac fly hit by 1B/2B/OF Kevin Ewers (.182, 0 HR, 2 RBI).
September 13 – The Gold Sox and Warriors go the extra couple of miles before Denver wins 4-3 in 18 innings. DEN 2B Miguel Ulloa (.276, 4 HR, 52 RBI) hits a walkoff single to end the plus-sized contest.
September 14 – A broken foot ends the season of Crusaders INF/RF/LF Omar Sanchez (.300, 2 HR, 48 RBI).
September 14 – The Falcons beat the Condors, 5-4 in 15 innings.
September 14 – The Caps and Miners beat each other’s heads in for a 20-10 final win for Washington. WAS SS/2B George Sizemore (.281, 3 HR, 24 RBI) has four hits with a double and drives in five runs from the #8 spot.
September 16 – The Indians lose SP Antonio Pichardo (13-12, 4.16 ERA) to a torn labrum.
September 16 – Blue Sox SP Juan Sanchez (12-9, 4.44 ERA) is shut down for the year with shoulder inflammation.
September 17 – Also done for the year is Rebels SS Jason Turner (.266, 16 HR, 82 RBI), down with a strained rib cage muscle.
September 17 – The Stars beat the Cyclones, 5-2 in 15 innings despite having only three base hits in total: a 2-run homer by OF Tyler Wharton (.375, 32 HR, 118 RBI) in the sixth, and with two outs in the top 15th, a pair of doubles for defensive replacements INF Ramon Ojeda (.276, 0 HR, 9 RBI) and C Jose Cantu (.283, 2 HR, 17 RBI), who drive in two and one run(s) respectively.

FL Player of the Week: NAS C David Johnson (.268, 23 HR, 84 RBI), swatting .400 (10-25) with 4 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR 1B Joel Starr (.295, 18 HR, 76 RBI), raking .565 (13-23) with 4 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Joel Starr raked his way to a Player of the Week honor despite sitting out a game, and otherwise punished pitchers with four homers, six doubles, and three singles! He slugged 1.348 for the week, which is absurd even for that short a timespan. He finally shook off that black cloud that followed him around for a season and a half and now looks like a bargain again for that 8-year deal!

Sensabaugh trying to hang on to the 40-man this winter by pitching semi-efficient garbage relief is the cutest thing ever.

Lonzo, the ABL’s most infamous robber baron, leads the CL stolen base race with two weeks to go, having taken 49 bags this year – and a record 723 all time! (grins stupidly) – juuuust ahead of the 48 stolen bases for IND Matt Kilday and SFB Xavier Reyes. Nobody else is even close; Ben Morris with his injury-addled tally of 32 sits sixth in the CL. Note that both Kilday and Reyes are ten-ish years younger than Lonzo.

I would have loved to give some more playing time to some youngsters, especially our third-sacker of the future (INF/RF/LF) Victor Morales, who was promoted to AAA in April, and batted … well… not a whole lot across 134 games there. .250/.309/.353 with 4 HR, 64 RBI. He turned 21 in June, and he will not be up with the Critters on Opening Day. This makes me wonder whether we should get a 1-year extension with Nick Fox, who isn’t hitting anything either, but who could keep the corner warm for another half a season or so. Nick Fowler would also be an option.

No Jeff Applegate this September either. His control was off a bit in AAA, and there’s no point in giving him two starts and get bopped now when he does not have to be on the 40-man roster on December 1.

Regardless of these, we’re already at 53 players used this year, which is outlandish. No further additions will be made unless the entire outfield breaks a leg now and we have to bring up the Ellis Browns and Matthew DeHarts of the minor league system.

The Raccoons have one more homestand, hosting the Aces and Elks, then a final road trip to the Old Northwest with Indy and Milwaukee.

Fun Fact: Nobody has ever hit exactly five doubles in an ABL game.

But Max Reynolds, on June 2, 1982, hit SIX doubles in a 10-3 against the Wolves. The funny thing about this is that Reynolds was a below-average hitter with questionable defense that watched his career fizzle out at age 28 just a year later after hitting .282/.333/.357 with 12 HR, 266 RBI, and 78 SB over seven years.

In another quirk, Reynolds was traded from the Cyclones to the Loggers in mid-1980 for Dave Martel, and then traded back to the Cyclones 11 months later for Joe Helms.