Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (34-27) @ Cyclones (31-31) – June 16-18, 2064

The Cyclones screamed average with their stats, which saw them squat in the middle of the FL in terms of runs scored and runs allowed, with a -3 run differential, the sixth-best rotation, the fifth-best batting average… but they had their strengths, like hitting the third-most homers. The bullpen was not one of those, having an ERA well over four. They also carried a pile of injuries, including starter Luis Palacios, infielder Jorge Munoz, and outfielders Melvin Avila and Dallas Baker, plus the odd relief piece. Most recently, the Raccoons took two of three games from the Cyclones in ’62, and the Coons won the last three series played in a row.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (4-5, 3.93 ERA) vs. Ryan De Jong (5-3, 4.52 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (6-5, 3.00 ERA) vs. Randy Rautenstrauch (3-2, 3.82 ERA)
Josh Elling (9-1, 3.20 ERA) vs. Blake Anderson (5-5, 4.65 ERA)

De Jong was one of three southpaws in that rotation, but the only one the Raccoons were to come up against.

Game 1
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – RF Corral – CF Tallent – P Alba
CIN: SS J. Hernandez – RF R. Soto – 1B S. Jordan – LF MacDonnell – C Heath – 2B F. Serrano – CF Arguelles – 3B Rising – P De Jong

Both pitchers struck out to strand a pair in their team’s half of the second inning, but the Raccoons had frittered three singles for no gains, while the Cyclones were up 1-0 after a leadoff walk to John MacDonnell, Josh Heath’s single, and two productive fly ball outs by Franklin Serrano and Mario Arguelles to get the lead runner in. Both #2 hitters, Jack Kozak and Roberto Soto, then whacked a solo home run in the third inning to essentially keep the score at Cyclones one up. The Raccoons then managed to have Alba strike out with another pair on base to conclude the fourth inning, while the Cyclones got a leadoff triple from Kevin Rising in the bottom 5th. De Jong whiffed, and Jordan Hernandez flew out to Corral in rightfield. When Rising went for the plate, he was thrown out by Corral to end the inning, which you could also snarkily call he was Sinking.

The game remained tied until Soto came back up and hit another solo homer in the bottom 6th, followed by Steve Jordan singling and MacDonnell tripling him home for a 4-1 lead. Poor outs then kept MacDonnell at third base. Both pitchers were out of the game after six, with the Raccoons rapping off three leadoff singles to load the bases against righty reliever Marc Timmons with Maldonado, Morales, and Kozak in the seventh. Rich “Grand Slam” Monck … MISSED the four-score, but still hit a ball over the head of Arguelles for a bases-clearing, game-tying, Timmons-chasing double, then was stranded at second base when stingy Craig Scarberry replaced Timmons.

The go-ahead run was on base again in the eighth inning on Jorge Moreno’s pinch-hit, 1-out single to center. Morales’ grounder to third was thrown away for two bases by Rising, which put a pair of Coons in scoring position for Kozak, whom Scarberry lost on balls in a full count, which funnily enough brought back Monck in another full count. That count ran full as well – but this time Scarberry prevailed with a K, and Burkart grounded out, and nobody scored. MacDonnell and Heath hit 2-out singles off McDaniel in the bottom 8th, but Mario Padilla pinch-hit for Scarberry and struck out to keep the game tied there as well. Then it was the Coons’ turn to have a pair on base again in the top 9th. Jonathan Thomas gave up a leadoff single to Joel Starr, then walked Corral with one gone. Todd Oley struck out, but Arellano pinch-hit for McDaniel and singled home Starr from second with a ball into right-center on the first pitch he got. That broke the tie, but a scratch single by Morales only filled the bases and then Kozak flew out to leave them loaded. McGinley got the ball for the bottom 9th, but things went pear-shaped after a K to Arguelles as Rising singled, advanced on a wild pitch, and the Cyclones then got the game-tying single from David Narvaez. Wil Martinez hit another single from the #1 spot, and Soto walked off the Cyclones with a deep sac fly to left. 6-5 Cyclones. Morales 2-6; Kozak 3-5, BB, HR, RBI; Monck 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Starr 2-4, BB; Corral 3-4, BB; Maldonado (PH) 1-1; Moreno (PH) 1-1; Arellano (PH) 1-1, RBI;

16 hits, and couldn’t get past a .500 team. Maybe shouldn’t have left FOURTEEN runners on base…!

That was one of five walkoff wins on that Monday, with only 11 games played. Three of those were come-from-behind in the final half-inning.

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Riddle
CIN: SS J. Hernandez – C Heath – 2B F. Serrano – CF M. Padilla – 3B Rising – LF W. Martinez – RF MacDonnell – 1B S. Jordan – P Rautenstrauch

The Raccoons were aching for a good pitching performance, but Heath doubled and Serrano was nicked in Riddle’s first inning before Padilla hit into an inning-ending double play. At least we scored first, Maldonado doubling home Morales in the top 2nd, and after Aoki drew a 1-out walk, Riddle singled home Maldonado with a ball that escaped between Hernandez and Serrano over the second-base bag, 2-0. Corral filled the bags with a soft single, Kozak hit a sac fly to Martinez in left, and a wild pitch advanced the remaining runners before Starr singled home the pair of them with a 2-out hit to right-center. He advanced to second on Padilla’s late throw to the plate, then scored from there on Monck’s single to left. Morales’ groundout ended the inning, with Portland up a suspiciously comfy 6-0. Subsequently the nerves were a bit strained with the Cyclones, and Steve Jordan was ejected after protesting a strike three call in the third inning. He was replaced with Gunner Epperson. Rautenstrauch was also gone after just three rather thorny innings.

Riddle nursed the lead well on the scoreboard, but in the first five innings also got FOUR double plays turned behind him. There always seemed to be a Cincy batter finding his way on, and then somebody would hit a grounder to Aoki (three times) or Monck (once) to get the two-for-one started. The Raccoons did not score again until the sixth inning when garbage reliever Tyler Chilcott ran out of steam and filled the bases with the 2-3-4 batters before allowing Morales to single home a pair. Mike Burns replaced him, gave up an RBI single to Burkart, but Morales was caught in a rundown between second and third on that play and the inning ended, Portland now leading 9-0. Riddle was hit by a comebacker on the bounce by Jordan Hernandez in the bottom 6th, with the ball subsequently caroming right to Starr for a silly out, but Riddle claimed to be unharmed, which was the main thing here. A shutout went out the window in the seventh with a solo homer hit by Padilla, 9-1. That didn’t stop Riddle’s run through the late innings, which included driving in another run in a 2-run ninth, with Aoki also singling home a run ahead of him. Riddle arrived in the bottom 9th on a mindbogglingly low 64 pitches, and retired the side on just nine more offerings for a complete-game 5-hitter on 73 pitches…! 11-1 Critters! Corral 2-6; Starr 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Monck 2-4, BB, RBI; Morales 2-5, 2 RBI; Moreno (PH) 1-1; Riddle 9.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (7-5) and 2-4, 2 RBI;

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Elling
CIN: SS J. Hernandez – RF R. Soto – 1B S. Jordan – LF MacDonnell – C Heath – CF M. Padilla – 2B F. Serrano – 3B Rising – P B. Anderson

Corral opened the rubber game by drawing a walk and was doubled home by Monck for a 1-0 lead in the first inning before Morales flew out to left. Another run was scored in the second when Aoki got on with two outs, stole second base, and then was singled in by Elling; and another run was scored in the third inning, but … uh … that one by the Cyclones, as Rising and Soto put hits together in the bottom of the inning to get a run back off Elling.

Top 4th, and Burkart and Maldonado went to the corners right away against Anderson. Aoki popped out to Jordan at first, but when Maldonado then jumped to steal second base, Heath’s throw tailed away from Serrano at second base and went into the outfield. Maldonado went to third base while Burkart scored, 3-1, and Elling’s sac fly to left then tacked on another run. So did Corral, homering to right-center, 5-1.

Things looked swell through five, but Jordan doubled home Hernandez in the bottom 6th to show that the Cyclones were still alive and trying to get back into the game. Elling offered a leadoff walk to Padilla in the seventh, but then Serrano found Aoki for a 6-4-3 double play. Rising and Martinez then got on base with a walk and a single, respectively, and Elling would only face Hernandez and no more after that, with the left-handed Soto looming. He struck out Hernandez to complete seven innings and still held on to the 5-2 lead.

In turn, the Raccoons threatened in the eighth against Timmons. Burkart drew a leadoff walk, and a Maldonado double put a pair in scoring position with nobody out. Timmons gave up a run on an Aoki single, then nicked pinch-hitter Randy Tallent to fill the bases. Corral popped out, but Kozak hit a sac fly, Starr singled home a run, and the inning only ended when Timmons was purged for Burns, who struck out Monck. Up by six, the Coons got a scoreless eighth from McDaniel before being bold enough to go to Rich Read in the ninth. Read got one out while walking the bases full and was yanked for Mike Hall, who struck out PH Joey Opsahl, then plated a run with a wild pitch before ending the bloody ballgame. 8-3 Coons. Maldonado 4-5, 2B; Aoki 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Elling 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, W (10-1) and 1-2, 2 RBI;

Series win, but good lord, why can’t we get some good relief …!?

Raccoons (36-28) vs. Canadiens (27-37) – June 20-22, 2064

The Elks were festering in last place. They scored the second-fewest runs and allowed the fifth-most in the CL. Their starters were in the bottom three by ERA, and they had the worst defense and lowest team OBP. With Steven Spalding and Rick Atkins they were also missing two somewhat productive sticks from an already wheezing lineup. The Raccoons were up 2-1 in the season series ahead of this 3-game weekend set.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (4-5, 5.05 ERA) vs. Johnny Doolin (6-4, 3.93 ERA)
Angel Alba (4-5, 4.08 ERA) vs. Carson Miller (5-5, 2.82 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (7-5, 2.79 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (3-5, 3.66 ERA)

This looked like three right-handers coming up. Jarod Morris got the skip treatment with the help of the off day on Thursday. Should the Elks utilize the off day, they’d skip southpaw Shane Fitzgibbon (5-3, 3.79 ERA) into the series.

(looks) … Cristiano, where are all those terrible starters then? – Yeah why were they going with Duarte Damasceno in the first place…?

Game 1
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – LF Whetstine – 1B J. Campos – CF B. Campbell – RF Lozada – C Varner – 3B Medlock – P Doolin
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – C Burkart – CF E. Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Fox

For the middle of June it was pretty cold (52°F) in Portland on Friday, and maybe Kozak should have blown into his paws before the start of the game because right away he dropped a Carlos Castro fly ball for an error and the inning immediately exploded on him and Chance Fox for three runs (one earned) with Alex Castillo singling, a walk drawn by Jose Campos, two runs singled home by Brent Campbell, and Roberto Lozada’s sac fly. A strikeout on Steve Varner ended the misery.

The Coons failed to rally for much of anything and any time soon, not getting a base hit at all until Morales hit a solo homer the second time through. Even then the Elks came back against Fox with Campbell and Lozada hits for a counter-run in the top 6th, and Fox pitched seven innings in total. It wasn’t a terrible performance per se, but surely sabotaged by Kozak. Also, the offense; the Raccoons did not get a second base hit until Tallent singled leading off the bottom 8th while batting for Dover in the #9 spot. Corral struck a double to right after that, which brought the tying run to the plate. Doolin walked that tying run in a full count to Kozak, which ended his day, but auto-doomed the rally by putting us in a three on, nobody out fail scenario. The Elks even brought in Raffy de la Cruz! …who then struck out Starr. He was gone after that, and Zane Fenlon got a poor out from Monck. Next! Mike Perez faced Vic Morales – but Morales came through with a single to left, and two runs scored after ******* all. Burkart flew out to center to leave the Coons a run short, and the Elks tacked another run on in the ninth against Paul Barton with Kenny Graves doubling home Steve Varner, who had drawn a leadoff walk. Bottom 9th, and Erik Swain retired Maldonado on strikes before Aoki doubled. Moreno grounded out, but Corral hit a 2-out RBI single to bring the winning run to the plate. Kozak struck out on three pitches, however… 5-4 Canadiens. Corral 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Morales 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Tallent (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
VAN: 3B C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – LF Whetstine – 1B J. Campos – RF C. Richardson – CF B. Campbell – C A. Maldonado – SS Medlock – P C. Miller
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – CF E. Maldonado – C Arellano – SS Novelo – P Alba

Temps were up 20 degrees on Saturday, and Angel Alba was melting immediately, even though his game-opening walk to Castro ended with the runner caught stealing. The Raccoons scored first with a Morales triple and Maldonado RBI double in the bottom 2nd, but hits by Miller (…) and Castro with two outs and a throwing error by Corral to boot tied the game in the third right away before the real meltdown came in the fourth. Chad Whetstine opened with a triple to center, then scored on Jose Campos’ RBI single, 2-1. Chris Richardson whacked a long homer to right immediately after that, and when Alba then drilled Brent Campbell, a brawl broke out that ended with both Alba and Campbell being ejected, and me dejected and suckling on a bottle of Capt’n Coma.

The Raccoons went to Rich Read, which equated an automatic series loss even though he struck out Alex Maldonado before Stephen Medlock flew out. A Morales error then put Miller on base with two outs, which only made me angrier, and Castro singled home an unearned run, 5-1, which made me yet even angrier…!

No idea what happened in the next couple of half-innings, because I locked myself in the screaming closet to … well, scream, but the score was still 5-1 in the sixth when I came back out. In the seventh then the Raccoons put three singles together from Oley, Arellano, and Moreno to… load the bases with two outs. Miller walked in a run against Corral, but Kozak flew out to right and that was that. The Raccoons then tried to get some outs from Jarod Morris, which only led to four more hits and two more runs for the Elks as everything kept falling apart. 7-2 Canadiens. Morales 2-4; Maldonado 1-2, 2B, RBI; Oley (PH) 1-1, BB; Hall 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Oh boy!

Angel Alba got slapped with a 9-game suspension (same for Campbell), and that wasn’t gonna make ANYTHING easier around here.

Game 3
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – LF Whetstine – 1B J. Campos – CF Friend – RF Lozada – C Varner – 3B Medlock – P Nielsen
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – RF E. Maldonado – CF Moreno – SS Aoki – P Riddle

The damn Elks were up in the first inning on an infield single by Castro, a walk drawn by Castillo, and two productive outs. Riddle threw 29 pitches in that inning, which would have covered him for three frames on Tuesday. He then loaded the bases with a single, walk, and hit batter in the top 2nd, and Nielsen’s groundout made it 2-0 before a pair of strikeouts to the 1-2 batters put the Elks away. He struck out four in a row there, and five of six. He also reached Tuesday’s pitch total in the fourth inning, and when’s the best time to tell you that the miserable Coons didn’t have a base hit the first time through the order?

It took until the bottom 4th to put a threat together when Starr hit a leadoff single and Burkart added a 1-out double, parking the tying runs in scoring position. Starr scored on Maldonado’s groundout, bur Moreno’s groundout left Burkart parked. After a nothing fifth, the sixth inning saw the Critters in a similar situation with Starr and now Monck in scoring position after a 1-out double. Burkart slung a single past a diving Castillo to tie the game at two, and Maldonado’s groundout brought home Monck to make it 3-2 Coons. Again, the inning ended with Moreno.

Riddle managed to reach the stretch on 105 pitches despite the very busy beginning, allowing only three hits in a 3-2 game. But as soon as the bullpen got involved, things turned to **** again, and McDaniel and Dover tossed 37 pitches around only to get blown up for two hits, two walks, and two runs in the top 8th. Andy Friend, the suspension replacement for Campbell, singled in the tying and go-ahead runs with two outs against Dover. The Coons couldn’t break Raffy de la Cruz AND Duarte Damasceno in the bottom 8th and thus deserved their grisly fate. Aoki drew a 1-out walk from Swain in the bottom 9th before being doubled up by Oley to end the game. 4-3 Canadiens. Starr 2-3, BB; Burkart 3-4, 2B, RBI; Riddle 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K;

In other news

June 17 – The Pacifics out-slug the Indians for a 17-9 win in a game with 37 total hits, after initially trailing 6-0. LAP OF/1B Jesus Espinoza (.311, 5 HR, 26 RBI) is only double-switched into the game in the sixth inning and still manages to go 3-for-3 with a grand slam and four RBI.
June 19 – A fourth-inning RBI triple by SFW OF Danny Perez (.282, 3 HR, 23 RBI) is not only the only Warriors hit against the Falcons, it also plates the only run in the 1-0 victory.
June 20 – The Pacifics trade SP Nick Robinson (3-4, 4.92 ERA) to the Condors for three prospects, including #55 prospect 3B David McFarlane.
June 20 – The Falcons lose a 6-5 game to the Knights in 18 innings, as well as the services of young INF John Schmidt (.225, 0 HR, 14 RBI) for six weeks due to a strained oblique.
June 21 – The Crusaders get RF/SS Ted Lloyd (.224, 1 HR, 9 RBI) from the Buffaloes in exchange for catcher Byron Duncan (.247, 2 HR, 10 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: TOP OF Tommy Branch (.245, 7 HR, 43 RBI), batting .500 (11-22) with 2 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL C Matt McLaren (.271, 6 HR, 32 RBI), socking .375 (9-24) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

(wipes his wet big black googly eyes)

I HATE THE CANADIENS!!!

The same day that Angel Alba got a 9-game suspension for hitting Brent Campbell the league also saw Ben Seiter sparring with the Loggers’ Jonathan Merrill. Seiter got six games in the slammer, so it wasn’t a great day for good pitchers. Alba was now parked for the rest of the month and the first game in July and the earliest he could get back on the hill was the finale in San Francisco on July 2. So get ready for 9 games of Riddle and Elling, Diddle (Fox) and Yelling (Morris, if I can’t prevent it), and then you still have to get a start from some hoodlum on the fifth day before you get back to an actual pitcher.

In real terms, Alba’s next start fell on our off day on Thursday in between Loggers and Condors sets, but we still needed some dork to go ahead of him in San Fran then.

Fun Fact: Completely laying eggs against the damn Elks dropped the Crusaders back into last place.

I got literally nothing.

There is no fun.

Life sucks.

(draws the blinds and proceeds to cry bitterly in the dark office, with the big white pairs of cartoon eyes of Maud and Cristiano blinking confusedly, while those of Slappy simply close)

[snoring noise]

[nymetsfan5]

Not to clutter, but this whole thread is an impressive piece of work

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by nymetsfan5

Not to clutter, but this whole thread is an impressive piece of work

Thx. - Please don't touch the protective glass.

+++

Raccoons (36-31) vs. Loggers (36-33) – June 23-25, 2064

The Loggers were once again playing well against the Critters, leading the season series 4-2. They had scored and surrendered 335 runs each this year, which was near the top end of the CL almost 70 games in. They were second in the league in both homers and stolen bases, but their rotation was trying to get to a flat-five ERA. Former Raccoons third-sacker Juan Ojeda was their only player on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (10-1, 3.15 ERA) vs. Larry Wilson (5-4, 4.96 ERA)
Jarod Morris (3-4, 3.65 ERA) vs. Tony Espinosa (7-4, 3.53 ERA)
Chance Fox (4-6, 4.82 ERA) vs. Larry Colwell (1-1, 4.30 ERA)

Espinosa was the only southpaw coming up here.

Game 1
MIL: LF Franks – 1B C. Ramirez – 2B F. Carrera – 3B D. Miller – CF Wilks – RF D. Wright – C Jack – SS Reber – P L. Wilson
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – RF Maldonado – SS Novelo – CF Oley – P Elling

Elling came out with a stinker; after Scott Franks hit a single to begin the game, but was stranded, the Loggers slapped him around in the second inning after a pair of 1-out walks to Dave Wright and J.P. Jack before Kyle Reber, Franks, and Cesar Ramirez all hit RBI singles for an early 3-0 lead. Elling would not ever get his act together in this game; while getting to the sixth inning, he got stuck there after offering a leadoff walk to Dave Wright and a single to Jack in the top 6th. Reber’s sac fly made it 4-0 – spoiler, no, the Raccoons did not have any offense whatsoever through five – before Elling was yanked after offering six walks in 5.2 innings and replaced in a double switch with Moreno and Mike Hall, who faced the three left-handers at the top of the batting order for the Loggers, and gave up sharp base hits to ******* all of them. This conceded another run of Elling’s and Fidel Carrera’s RBI double made it 6-0 before Ramirez was thrown out on the bases.

Not that it got better after that. Barton allowed a run in the seventh inning and the Loggers then shredded Rich Read for another four runs after that. The Raccoons got a leadoff triple from Rich Monck in the seventh inning and actually found somebody to drive him in; not Arellano, but Maldonado with a 1-out grounder, whee! 11-1 Loggers. Corral (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Awful.

Rich Read (0-0, 15.00 ERA) was purged again and should really just be told to go back to school and learn a ******* trade. Y’know what would be fun to throw at a wall again? J.J. Sensabaugh!

(sobs)

Game 2
MIL: LF Franks – 1B C. Ramirez – C Guitreau – 2B F. Carrera – 3B D. Miller – CF Wilks – RF D. Wright – SS Reber – P T. Espinosa
POR: 3B Morales – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – C Burkart – RF Corral – SS Novelo – CF Moreno – LF Tallent – P Morris

Another Jarod Morris nightmare began with him booting a Franks roller for an error to begin the game, but the Loggers then made three outs. He was less fortunate in the second inning when Danny Miller singled his way on and James Wilks then socked a homer to left to put the Loggers up 2-0 again. Franks drew a walk in the third, stole second base, and was singled home by Tommy Guitreau to add to that lead, while the Raccoons actually made up two runs in the same inning. Morris and Morales hit 1-out singles off Espinosa, and Monck hit a 2-out RBI single to right, Wright throwing that ball past anybody on the infield to allow not only one, but two runs to score. Burkart then ended the inning with a fly to centerfielder Wilks.

One inning later, Espinosa failed the bases full with three walks to Novelo, Tallent, and Morris, even offering a pair of wild pitches in between, although that didn’t lead to any runs on its own. A 2-out knock by Vic Morales would be required to get somebody home, but he tamely flew out to Wright… Instead, Jack Kozak tied the game with a leadoff jack in the fifth. Monck then singled past Carrera before Bruce Burkart unwrapped another homer to left-center and the Raccoons took a 5-3 lead…! Corral then hit a deep fly out before Novelo singled, but the inning fizzled out from there.

Morris was done after five innings and right away had his lead blown by Carrillo, who had walked all of TWO ******* batters in his previous 19 innings, but then walked two Loggers right out of the gate in the top 6th before conceding the tying runs on Wright and Reber hits. There was just no reasoning with this bunch…!! Both teams then had a single and a double play in the seventh inning, Burkart killing the Coons’ effort, before Milwaukee’s Aiden Shaw nicked Jorge Moreno on base in the bottom 8th. Tallent grounded out, Starr pinch-hit and walked, and Morales struck out to end another promising inning. The Coons had used Dover in the eighth, then brought out McGinley (who had already pitched a garbage inning on Monday) for the ninth. Wright hit a leadoff single and was caught stealing by Burkart before Reber hit another single, and McGinley then had to climb over that runner, too, but kept the game tied. Kozak then hit a single off Randy Birnbaum to begin the bottom 9th and was on the move with Monck batting. Monck singled through the right side and Kozak moved his tush and the winning run to third base with nobody out. Burkart lined out to short, Corral drew a bases-filling walk, and I was getting kinda miffed. Aoki batted for Novelo, but lined out to the righty Birnbaum for the second out. Birnbaum considered himself very lucky that the scorcher off Aoki’s stick didn’t end A) the game, B) his existence. McGinley was in the #7 spot and hit for with Arellano, who uselessly popped out to second.

Overtime saw Sensabaugh pitching, so that was that. Guitreau drew a leadoff walk in the top 10th, but Devin Willoughby struck out and then Miller hit into a double play. The Coons got Starr and Morales on with one out against Birnbaum in the bottom 10th. Kozak grounded out to Willoughby at second base, presenting Monck with the winning and a useless run in scoring position with two outs. The Loggers – stunningly? – did pitch to him with first base open and were punished accordingly with a walkoff single through the left side. 6-5 Critters. Kozak 2-6, HR, RBI; Monck 5-6, 2 RBI; Burkart 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Starr (PH) 0-0, 2 BB;

Game 3
MIL: LF Franks – RF C. Ramirez – 1B D. Robles – 2B F. Carrera – C Guitreau – 3B D. Miller – CF Wilks – SS Reber – P Colwell
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – RF Corral – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – CF Moreno – SS Aoki – P Fox

Offense was absent to begin the rubber game on Wednesday. Fox allowed two hits in the early innings, Colwell just one, and that was that, in a scoreless affair. Fox issued leadoff walks in both the fourth and fifth innings, creating some unnecessary drama, but also got strikeouts after that and the runners were both ending up stranded at second base. All looked well and fine with Scott Franks grounding out, but Fox picked around on his left forearm and drew the attention of Luis Silva, who immediately went out to check him out. He returned with Fox under his arm, and I was getting kinda dizzy with the lack of starting pitchers and all.

McDaniel got out of the sixth inning, and Dover climbed over a Tommy Guitreau double to begin the top 7th, stranding that potentially golden run on third base with a groundout from Miller and strikeouts on Wilks and the pinch-hitting David Milian. Monck gave a ball a right to the wall, but not over it, and instead into the mitten of Franks, in the bottom 7th, leaving the Raccoons searching for a second base hit in the game (Aoki had singled in the third). The scoreless tie was blown by Mike Hall, the useless ********, who allowed an infield single to Franks, a walk to Dave Wright, and a 2-out RBI single bashed through the right side by Fidel Carrera in the eighth. The Coons answered with leadoff singles for Aoki and Tallent in the bottom 8th, then barely a sac fly for Morales before Kozak and Corral made the inning croak… The Coons then survived throwing Barton into the ninth inning against the bottom of the Loggers’ lineup (he still gave up two singles), then got Joel Starr to hit a triple in the bottom of the ninth…! And… nothing ******* else…! (screams into pillow)

Barton struck out two in the second tenth inning in two days while being short two starters by now, and we were not even speaking of talent at this stage. Aoki drew a leadoff walk of Vincent Hernandez in the bottom 10th, but the inning ended with him getting thrown out at third base on a 2-out Kozak single. With that, we arrived at the end of the line, e.g. Sensabaugh, who got two outs in the 11th before allowing two hits, walking the bags full, and then walking Franks with the bases loaded to give the Loggers a lead before Wright grounded out to Morales. Aiden Shaw retired the dismal Critters in order to end the series. 2-1 Loggers. Aoki 2-3, BB; Tallent (PH) 1-1; Fox 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K; Barton 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

If Yukio Aoki is your best man, you should just stay the **** home.

Thursday was a day off. We learned that Chance Fox had a mild forearm strain with the potential to miss a start, which was just GREAT timing right now,

Raccoons (37-33) @ Condors (37-35) – June 27-29, 2064

Things looked dim for the roster in Tijuana. We barely could scratch three starters together, but next week was then just a big old shrug. The thought of J.J. Sensabaugh starting games any time soon gave me terrors. Meanwhile, the Condors ranked fifth in runs scored in the Continental League, and eighth in runs allowed. They had a +13 run differential (Portland: +31). They had a paltry .245 team batting average and their defense was second-worst in the CL, but they were nominally in contention despite being in fifth place in the South, 7 1/2 games behind the leading Knights. The Critters were up 2-1 on the season series.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (7-5, 2.77 ERA) vs. Brett Bebout (7-5, 2.53 ERA)
Josh Elling (10-2, 3.43 ERA) vs. Marco Clemente (4-7, 4.60 ERA)
Jarod Morris (3-4, 3.78 ERA) vs. Carlos Rodriguez (5-1, 3.08 ERA)

Bebout was starting on short rest on Friday, but the Raccoons wouldn’t even have anybody to do *that* on Monday. All three starters lined up by the Vultures were right-handers.

Game 1
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – RF Corral – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Riddle
TIJ: 1B Metz – RF Ewig – LF Kaniewski – SS C. Ramsey – 2B Churricho – C Burgio – 3B J. Humphries – CF Cardwell – P Bebout

Because everything was going so well, Tyler Riddle threw a stinker again and was behind 3-0 just four batters into the game. Andy Metz drew a walk, Matt Ewig singled, and Casey Ramsey hit a 3-run bomb to left… Monck tried to do something with his 12th homer of the season, a solo piece in the second, but Riddle just gave up hits to sub-.200 batters Joe Humphries and Bebout and then a sac fly to Andy Metz to suck that run right back onto the board in the bottom of the same frame. John Kaniewski and Ramsey were right back on the corners with leadoff hits in the third inning, and Querubim Churricho’s groundout scored one run, and another Humphries hit another, 6-1. The Coons then inched closer when Starr singled home Corral with two outs in the fourth, only for Riddle to get blown around for another two runs in the bottom 4th – unearned this time BECAUSE OF HIS OWN ******* ERROR!!

Needless to say that this was all we saw of Riddle that night; four innings, eight runs (six earned), Jesus Christ in a vegan supermarket…!! Morales and Kozak hit a pair of doubles for a run in the fifth, not that anybody was still seriously counting. The Coons pressed out Juan Carrillo for two full innings, got one more inning from Barton, and then were already down bad enough right after an off day to send out Pablo Novelo to pitch in the bottom 8th. He got three outs in order. 8-3 Condors. Kozak 2-4, 2B, RBI; Carrillo 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

It's not getting better…

Interlude: waiver claim

The Raccoons claimed right-handed MR Juan Soriano off waivers by the Scorpions on Friday. Soriano, 27, was supposed to be handed off the 40-man roster when the Critters pounced. He threw three pitches, but had no stamina, so was not the most brilliant option for a starting pitcher. He had a tendency to walk everything with legs and had only one major league appearance in 2062 (which he got an L for), but we were in the tethers.

Jorge Moreno (.259, 0 HR, 1 RBI) was optioned to St. Petersburg to get an extra pitcher on the roster.

Raccoons (37-33) @ Condors (37-35) – June 27-29, 2064

Game 2
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – RF Corral – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Elling
TIJ: 2B W. Acosta – SS C. Ramsey – C Brann – 1B Metz – RF Ewig – 3B Frasher – LF Alf. Mendez – CF Churricho – P C. Rodriguez

Early signs that it was all for nothing was Kozak popping out to Willie Acosta on a 3-0 pitch in the first, Monck getting stranded at second after a leadoff double in the following inning, and Elling getting whacked around for four sharp hits and one run on a double-play grounder by Querubim Churricho in the bottom 2nd. Acosta drew a leadoff walk in the third, but was stranded, however, in the fourth inning Matt Ewig hit a leadoff single on a 3-1 pitch, Eric Frasher flew out on a 3-1 pitch, and eventually Elling found a way to get double-bombed by Alf Mendez and Churricho, which made it a 4-0 game.

The Coons had two hits through five, Aoki chipping in a single in two runs through the order that were otherwise raw turds. Elling allowed leadoff singles to Mike Brann and Andy Metz in the bottom 5th, got a 1-6-3 double play outta Ewig, and then still gave up another ******* run on a Frasher single. He was then yanked. Hall replaced him, because the game was already in the bin, retired Mendez to end the fifth, but gave up a leadoff double to Churricho in the sixth and then soon enough that extra run, 6-0. When the Condors’ Rodriguez then gifted the Raccoons a base runner by nicking Starr, the gift was declined and Elmer Maldonado hit into an inning-ending double play…

Soriano made his Coons debut in the seventh, got three outs from three batters, and was immediately the best pitcher on the bloody team. Rodriguez ran outta juice in the eighth inning then; Aoki singled to begin the frame, and he walked Novelo before allowing an RBI single to Morales, and was lifted for righty Matt Nelson. He balked and advanced the runners, but struck out Kozak before being replaced with Miguel Batista, against whom Corral hit an RBI single, Monck hit a sac fly, and Burkart another single. Aaron Sloan then became the fourth pitcher of the inning, facing Joel Starr as the tying run with two outs. He got to 0-2, then got a fly to Churricho to end the inning. The Condors answered with four runs off Barton in the bottom 8th. The fool was taken deep by Frasher, and then started giving up more hits and hitting batters. Ramsey got an RBI single and Metz doubled home two runs before Ewig struck out to keep two on base. 10-3 Condors. Morales 2-5, RBI; Aoki 2-4; Arellano (PH) 1-1;

Oh boy.

The best news right now were that Chance Fox maybe wouldn’t miss a start and could go on Monday. (claws crossed!)

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – SS Aoki – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – 3B Tallent – P Morris
TIJ: 2B W. Acosta – LF Kaniewski – C Brann – 1B Metz – RF Ewig – 3B Frasher – SS C. Ramsey – CF Cardwell – P M. Clemente

Corral started the Sunday game with extra bases to right, he just disagreed with Ewig on the nature of those extra bases. Corral thought he had three, but Ewig insisted he had only two and threw him out at third base. The Raccoons subsequently didn’t score in the opening frame, while Andy Metz socked a 2-run homer off Morris in the bottom 1st, and that was after Acosta had been doubled off by Kaniewski after Morris had plunked him on base. (noisily facepaws three times in a row)

Arellano hit a solo homer in the second inning, 2-1, while Corral hit another double in the third inning, again to right, this time stopped at second base… and was stranded. The Condors opened the bottom 3rd with a Clemente single, got another single from Acosta, a walk in a full count to Kaniewski for three on and nobody out, and then – choked. Brann hit into a 9-2 double play (ho!!), and Metz grounded out to Monck.

The Coons then got the tying run in silly ways; Monck hit a 1-out single in the fourth inning before taking off mistaking a sign that was meant for Kozak for him. The Condors were just as confused as the third base coach and saw him take second by force. Kozak’s grounder moved him to third, and when Ramsey butchered Arellano’s 2-out grounder for an error, Monck diddled home to tie the game. Maldonado then drove a ball high up the leftfield line, but it came down in Kaniewski’s mitten in the deep dark corner. And besides – why bother … Morris gave up a 2-run homer to Frasher right after that ANYWAY… A Metz homer in the fifth then made it 5-2…

Amazingly, that wasn’t the end of the game, although purging Morris after the fifth certainly helped. The sixth was scoreless, courtesy of Carrillo, and the Raccoons then made two outs in the seventh against Clemente before Maldonado hit a single. Innocent enough. Tallent hit another single. Oh well. Morales then singled home a run. And Corral singled home a run. Aoki had the tying and go-ahead runs on base and launched a 2-0 pitch into the depths of right-center for a score-flipping triple…! Clemente was also flipped after allowing five straight hits and four runs, and Matt Nelson got a grounder from Starr to end the inning. The Coons then got four outs from Dover, and one from McDaniel, who allowed a single to Metz to put the tying run on base in the bottom 8th. When Alf Mendez pinch-hit for the Condors pitcher in the #6 spot, the Raccoons went to Soriano to get that out. And he did, with a strikeout! – and then consulted Luis Silva for arm trouble. The Raccoons went in order in the eighth and ninth, then sent McGinley against the bottom of the order. He walked Ramsey on four pitches, and when Chad Cardwell rolled a ball on the infield … nobody managed to his fat lazy tush in a position to make a play on it. Two on, nobody out. Gee! Joe Humphries flew out to Maldonado, but McGinley walked the bags full against Acosta. Kaniewski popped out to Monck, bringing Brann to the dish. He struck out – barely. 6-5 Raccoons. Corral 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Morales (PH) 1-1, RBI;

In other news

June 23 – Scorpions outfielder Juan de Luna (.243, 7 HR, 21 RBI) will be out for at least a month after tearing his meniscus.
June 24 – Wolves RF/LF Javier Acuna (.270, 6 HR, 22 RBI) will miss a month while suffering from back spasms.
June 25 – The Condors’ 3B/RF Eric Frasher (.228, 6 HR, 32 RBI) drives in seven runs on a homer, a double, and three singles in a 12-4 win against the Thunder.
June 25 – The Scorpions trade SP Preston Young (2-4, 4.70 ERA) to the Blue Sox for three prospects. The package includes #12 SP Jorge Sanchez and #87 UT Humberto Blandon.
June 27 – The Capitals rally for six runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Warriors, 7-6.
June 28 – CHA SP Ernie Gomes (4-5, 3.05 ERA) is supposed to miss a full year to repair a damaged elbow ligament.

FL Player of the Week: WAS SS/2B Ramon Archuleta (.281, 7 HR, 31 RBI), clipping .455 (10-22) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ 3B/RF Eric Frasher (.238, 7 HR, 34 RBI), raking .429 (12-28) with 3 HR, 13 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Hey-hey, the Portland Country Pumpkins! That was a ******* awful week! And somehow we’re still in second place, what’s going on? Also, the Titans are not *really* gaining much ground right now.

No, the division is out of reach. We can’t even pitch half a decent game, it’s pretty dismal right now. And we still have to plug in somebody to cover Alba’s banned *** for the game on Tuesday. Meanwhile, waiver claim Juan Soriano has a dead arm, Chance Fox still has *an* arm, and will probably pitch on Monday, but who knows for how long, and then Sensabaugh looms on Tuesday. I am actually having convulsions right now.

Did I mention that we play in San Fran and Boston next week? Seven games in two cities where nothing good ever happens??

Fun Fact: The Raccoons’ starters in AAA have ERA’s of 4.32, 4.38, 4.66, 5.17, and 5.91;

That didn’t even include Hachiro Yokoyama’s 7.26 ERA in AAA. He was unceremoniously fired on Sunday, the THIRD Raccoons pitcher that was just purged outta town while still being owned money this season.

(rends his garments and falls to his knees to beg the baseball gods for mercy and a rising prospect)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (38-35) @ Bayhawks (28-47) – June 30-July 2, 2064

The Raccoons were across the border again and up I-5 to San Francisco to play three games with the last-place Baybirds, but nothing good had ever happened in San Francisco either. The Coons had swept the first series of the year from the second-worst offense and worst pitching in the Continental League. The team was also without a bunch of players important and not, foremost Armando Montoya, but also Juan Paez and a pile of pitchers, including always erratic Steve Watson and Jason Posey.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (4-6, 4.50 ERA) vs. Joe Chalmers (5-7, 4.44 ERA)
Nick Walla (0-0) vs. Mark Jacobs (2-8, 5.96 ERA)
Angel Alba (4-6, 4.25 ERA) vs. Paul Egley (1-7, 4.88 ERA)

Jacobs was the only left-hander on offer for this series.

Chance Fox made it to pitch on Monday, but Juan Soriano didn’t, being shuffled to the DL with a dead arm after two appearances for the Critters. I should call Maud and have her check on the return policy on waiver claims. Since Angel Alba was still banhammered for his regular turn on Tuesday, the Raccoons had to reach down to AAA to find a filler, that filler being 2059 second-rounder Nick Walla. The right-hander was getting pummeled for a 5.17 ERA in St. Petersburg but his body was at least technically warm. Angel Alba was allowed to return to the hill on Wednesday.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Fox
SFB: RF Laws – 1B Seidman – LF Anker – CF Navarre – SS D. Cox – C Eaton – 3B D. Sandoval – 2B Je. White – P Chalmers

Dustin Cox drew a leadoff walk in the second and Todd Eaton singled to create a tight spot for Fox, who had already put the 3-4 batters on base with two outs in the first before Grant Anker unhappily blundered on the bases and was caught in a rundown. This time he was not so lucky, despite a pop by Dan Sandoval and a K to Jeremy White, because with two outs Joe Chalmers singled up the middle and Cox scored the first run of the game. Scott Laws then flew out to right to strand a pair. Singles by Mike Seidman, Anker, and Cox then gave the Bayhawks a 2-0 lead before the Raccoons finally bothered and loaded the bases with Morales, Kozak, and Burkart in the fourth inning… and two outs. Elmer Maldonado hit a bouncer to Jeremy White, who threw very poorly to first, where the old rickety catcher on duty couldn’t contain it, and the ball got away for two bases and two unearned and game-tying runs. An intentional walk to Yukio Aoki and a K on Fox ended the inning.

But Fox kept getting hit and hit and hit and gave up another single to Chalmers and RBI doubles to Laws and Anker in the bottom of the 4th, right away re-establishing the Bayhawks’ 2-run lead. Morales’ triple and Starr’s groundout produced a Coons run in the fifth. The sixth inning was uneventful, and Aoki led off the seventh with a single to center. Fox was retained to bunt, and Corral singled through between the huge gap between White and Seidman with one out. Aoki dashed for home, Laws’ throw was late, and the game was tied again, with Corral jiggering up to second base, although Morales and Starr left him there.

Fox got one more out from Anker to begin the seventh then was replaced with Carrillo, who gave up a double to Nate Navarre on his first pitch and an RBI single to Todd Eaton a couple more tosses later, and for the third time on the day the Critters trailed. The 4-5-6 then went in order in the eighth against Mike Rocheford, leaving the bottom of the pack to deal with right-hander Brad Fales and his 14.00 K/BB ratio in 27.2 innings in the ninth. Maldonado promptly struck out and Aoki grounded out. Pablo Novelo landed a pinch-hit 2-out knock, but Corral’s groundout ended the game. 5-4 Bayhawks. Morales 2-4, 3B; Kozak 2-4, 2B; Novelo (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – CF Kozak – C Burkart – 2B Monck – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – LF Tallent – P Walla
SFB: RF Laws – 1B Seidman – LF Anker – CF Navarre – 3B D. Sandoval – SS D. Cox – 2B Je. White – C L. Marquez – P Ma. Jacobs

Walla began his career with a 2-0 lead, courtesy of Corral walking and scoring on a Kozak triple, and then it taking two outs before Vic Morales singled home Kozak. Walla gave up a single on the first pitch he threw, then hit Grant Anker with one out, which the Bayhawks didn’t really appreciate, but both Navarre and Sandoval popped out on the infield to strand the two runners. Somehow the Bayhawks didn’t know what to do with him; through five shutout innings, they got only two hits, no walks, and struck out three times. They also lost Jacobs to injury after four innings, but the Raccoons had yet to bring out the big sticks. Rich Monck did that in the sixth inning, hitting a 2-run homer with Burkart on base to double the lead to 4-0. The Coons would proceed to load the bases – in unearned fashion including a throwing error by Dan Sandoval – but then had Walla whiff and Corral ground out to leave three runners on base in the inning.

Scott Laws’ infield single to begin the bottom 6th was soon followed by a walk offered to Grant Anker, the first free pass given up by Walla that didn’t make direct contact with the batter. Navarre grounded out and Sandoval popped out to Morales to let him off the hook again. Instead, Bruce Burkart hit a solo jack in the seventh. The Bayhawks kept going down and down, and all of a sudden, the ninth inning began with Walla still on a 3-hit shutout and 95 pitches. Nate Navarre lasted seven pitches in the box and drew a leadoff walk, then was doubled up by Sandoval on a grounder to short. What the heck was going on? But the slipper didn’t fit in the end – Cox, White, and Lorenzo Marquez all clipped him for 2-out singles and a run, and then he was hauled in. McGinley retired Todd Eaton for a 1-out save. 5-1 Raccoons. Burkart 2-5, HR, RBI; Monck 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Morales 2-4, RBI; Novelo 2-4; Walla 8.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (1-0);

Nick Walla what?

Just when you think you know baseball…!!

He still returned to AAA after this game, but we had certainly taken note of his outing and would go beyond “oh that guy’s still there too” in our observations of the AAA rotation from now on. Because that AAA rotation needs to bring forth *something* for us…

The roster spot was taken by a spare infielder, switch-hitting Joe Gardner, who was batting .252 in AAA this year, while having gone a very flat .200 in 19 games for the Critters last year.

The Coons gave one more day off to Monck and Kozak ahead of the four-game series with the Titans that was coming up.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – SS Aoki – 1B Starr – 3B Morales – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – LF Oley – 2B Novelo – P Alba
SFB: RF Paez – CF Laws – 3B Anker – C L. Marquez – 1B Seidman – SS D. Cox – LF Echols – 2B Je. White – P Egley

Paez, fresh off the DL, singled to begin the bottom 1st and was then right away doubled off by Laws’ grounder to Morales, as the Baybirds went 5-4-3. San Francisco still took a 1-0 lead with two singles and White’s run-scoring groundout in the bottom 2nd, before the Baybirds got a rapidly decomposing Alba for three more runs in the third inning. Paez and Laws drew leadoff walks, Anker nearly hit one outta here that was caught by Corral at the fence, but Marquez doubled in two runs and scored on a 2-out hit by Cox…

The Raccoons finally arrived at the plate in the fourth inning. Aoki and Starr got on base right away, but Morales struck out. Marcos Arellano’s RBI double to right-center made it 4-1 and brought the tying run to the plate, but Elmer Maldonado couldn’t do better than a run-scoring groundout and Oley also grounded out to end the inning.

Two calm innings followed before the Coons got their first two batters on base again in the seventh with Arellano and Maldonado. Oley popped out, Novelo fanned, and Monck batted for Alba and scratched out a soft RBI single, 4-3, to keep the line moving. Corral’s fly to deep left unfortunately ended up with Jonathan Echols, and the inning ended there. Egley got one more out from Aoki in the eighth before being replaced with Rocheford, who retired Starr. Morales then singled, and Arellano hit a gapper to right-center. Morales went around, but Paez made a thunderous throw and culled him down at the plate, ending that inning in dismay. Corral would then be at the plate again in the ninth inning with the tying run in scoring position after Maldonado and Burkart had clipped singles off Brad Fales, who by now had his K/BB up to a flat 15. Corral kept it right there with a pop to Jeremy White. 4-3 Bayhawks. Arellano 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Monck (PH) 1-1, RBI; Burkart (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (39-37) @ Titans (45-34) – July 3-6, 2064

The Coons were in the doldrums, but the Titans were also in a tailspin, having lost nine of their last eleven games ahead of this four-game set, not that the Raccoons were really any better; while the Titans had gone 2-9, the Coons had gone 3-9. Yay, us! The season series against the CL’s second-best offense and the stingiest pitching (uh-oh) was even at four. The only noteworthy Titans injury was starter Jayden Craddock.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (7-6, 3.22 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (4-6, 4.22 ERA)
Josh Elling (10-3, 3.73 ERA) vs. Matt Taylor (5-3, 5.26 ERA)
Jarod Morris (3-4, 4.14 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (8-3, 1.61 ERA)
Chance Fox (4-6, 4.59 ERA) vs. Tony Castellanos (2-4, 4.47 ERA)

Only right-handers up for Boston, and I had already marked an L in the pocket schedule for the Saturday game.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – SS Aoki – CF Oley – P Riddle
BOS: LF S. Humphries – C Arviso – CF Marcotte – SS Nye – 1B Joyner – 3B D. Mendoza – RF Ellwood – 2B Spehar – P Glaude

Corral hit a double to begin the series and scored on productive outs by Morales and Kozak for a quick 1-0 lead. That double was the only hit for the Critters the first time through the lineup, but the Titans also only got a single from inevitable Eddie Marcotte, who was left on base by Nick Nye. The Titans threatened in the fourth inning, however, after a leadoff single by Jorge Arviso and then a Marcotte double – but stranded the two runners when Nye popped out to Kozak in shallow left, and both Bill Joyner and Diego Mendoza went down on strikes against Riddle.

The game remained tight with a 1-0 score into the seventh inning, with only two base hits on the Coons’ side of the box score until Rich Monck hit a single to center to begin the top 7th. Burkart popped out, and Starr rolled a ball on the infield … and he beat the throw by Diego Mendoza to first base, but also limped around in foul ground after that and ended up being checked out and ultimately collected by the team trainer Luis Silva. Oh-oh. Randy Tallent ran for him while Aoki hit a ball through between Joyner and Ryan Spehar for a 1-out single. Monck had gotten a great jump and came around ahead of a mediocre throw by Bobby Ellwood that also allowed the remaining runners to reach scoring position, from where Todd Oley doubled them home, knocking out Glaude in the process. He was replaced with Sansao Tyson, who gave up a single to Riddle, then a wallbanger RBI double to Corral. Tyson walked the bases full with Vic Morales, then gave up a long drive to center to Kozak. Marcotte rushed back and jumped into the fence, making a breathtaking catch that robbed Kozak of a bases-clearing knock and left him with a sac fly before Monck flew out to Steve Humphries, leaving two on base after a 5-run onslaught. The Titans remained off the board until they waffled Jesse Dover in the eighth inning for Spehar and John Rosenstiel doubles, with Marcotte singling home a second run in the inning. Dover finished the inning, and Carrillo finished the game with a scoreless ninth. 6-2 Furballs. Corral 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Burkart 2-4, 2B; Starr 1-2, BB; Riddle 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K and 1-3;

The good news: Joel Starr’s hamstring came back rather clean on the imaging and he would not have to go to the DL. He was going to miss at least one game, though.

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – C Burkart – SS Aoki – CF Maldonado – LF Oley – P Elling
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 1B Joyner – CF Marcotte – 2B Nye – C Arviso – RF A. Lee – 3B Blackshire – 2B Spehar – P Ma. Taylor

Corral homered to dead center to begin Friday’s game, and Oley drove in Maldonado in the second inning with two outs there to make it 2-0. The Titans had two singles in the first, but also hit into a double play with Joyner and then saw their 5-through-9 batters strike out in order against Elling. The lead went bust in the fourth, though, with a leadoff single by Joyner, a walk issued to Marcotte, and after Nye popped out, an RBI double to right for Arviso and Andy Lee’s run-scoring groundout. Elling allowed another walk to Spehar and a Humphries single in the fifth inning, but Joyner struck out and Marcotte grounded out to Aoki to keep them on the corners.

Elling had another two clean innings after that before rolling up and covering his eyes with his bushy tail for the night, but the Raccoons had had a whole host of quiet innings against Taylor by then. The Titans’ starter was still going in the eighth inning, striking out the 2-3-4 batters in order, but the Coons threw Paul Barton against the wall in the bottom 8th against the top of the order, and he actually bloody stuck and got them in order, too! Barton got another out in the ninth against Nye, and Mike Hall retired two more batters to send the game to extra innings, still tied at two. We then had to go to Sensabaugh, so the clock was ticking on the game being lost, but the Raccoons just couldn’t get back into the groove, did basically nothing against Tyler Gleason and Nick Leigh, and once Bill Joyner hit a leadoff double against Sensabaugh in the bottom 11th the writing was on the wall. Marcotte and Nye made outs, but Arviso ended the game with a single past Monck. 3-2 Titans. Maldonado 2-2, BB; Elling 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K;

I had no hopes for the next game. Jose Corral and Vic Morales both got a day off, and we still didn’t have Starr.

Game 3
POR: SS Novelo – 1B Kozak – C Burkart – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – LF Oley – 3B Gardner – RF Tallent – P Morris
BOS: LF S. Humphries – 1B Joyner – CF Marcotte – SS Nye – C Arviso – 3B D. Mendoza – RF A. Lee – 2B Spehar – P Brenize

For four innings it looked like neither team would be able to make a spark by clanging two rocks together any time soon, and while that was never a surprise with Brenize pitching (these days at least), who entered the game with a baffling 152 strikeouts on the season, it was surprising that Morris got off rather easily in the early innings, allowing just one hit and two walks in four innings, and one of the walks, drawn by Humphries right in the bottom 1st, also ended with the runner being caught stealing by Burkart. Brenize got two outs in the top 5th in a scoreless game before giving up a single to Randy Tallent, which was certainly annoying to him, because it was gonna clear the pitcher’s spot, but Morris hit another single. Novelo hit another scruffy single and suddenly Tallent scored and it was 1-0 Coons. Kozak then struck out.

Burkart didn’t miss a homer by much to begin the sixth, doubling off the wall instead. The Titans elected to walk Monck – no longer serially winning Player of the Week honors – intentionally, and got a double play grounder from Maldonado and the third out from Oley with considerable comfort after that, so the success made them right. Marcotte and Nye went to the corners in the bottom 6th, but were stranded by Arviso’s grounder to Kozak. Joe Gardner singled and stole second base against Brenize in the seventh, but that was that, while Morris nicked Lee, but got him doubled up on a Rosenstiel grounder from the #8 spot to get out of the bottom 7th.

Bottom 8th, Bobby Ellwood drew a leadoff walk in Brenize’s place and advanced on a wild pitch. Morris got Humphries out, but then was replaced with McDaniel, who struck out Joyner, while Dover was brought in to face Marcotte, who had yet to do anything big in this series, and grounded out calmly to Novelo to end the inning. Gardner hit another single in the ninth against Nick Leigh, but Corral then grounded out in place of Tallent. McGinley inherited the 1-0 lead and would face the 4-5-6 batters in the bottom 9th. Nye grounded out to Gardner, Arviso grounded out to Kozak, and Mendoza flew out to Maldonado. 1-0 Blighters. Burkart 3-4, 2 2B; Gardner 2-4; Morris 7.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 4 K, W (4-4) and 1-3;

Those baseball gods! Always good for a chuckle, like the three little pigs here taking apart the big bad Brenize for a silly run (and his ERA actually went down by another three points in this game).

The Raccoons then successfully got Joel Starr off the stretcher for the series finale.

Game 4
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – SS Novelo – P Fox
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF A. Lee – CF Marcotte – 1B Joyner – 3B D. Mendoza – C S. Moreno – SS Blackshire – 2B Spehar – P T. Castellanos

Jack Kozak and Andy Lee exchanged visiting cards with solo home runs in the first inning on Sunday, before Novelo got another RBI with the third of three singles in the second inning, this time behind Starr and Maldonado. Fox whiffed, but Corral cranked a 3-run homer for a 5-1 lead. The problem was that Fox kept getting hit; Mendoza hit a single to begin the bottom 2nd, Sandy Moreno’s grounder was butchered for an error by Morales, and Blackshire walked. Spehar hit an RBI single past Morales before Fox finally got an out with a K on Castellanos. Groundouts by Humphries (which scored a run) and Lee ended the inning, the score now 5-3 and the two runs from the second unearned on Fox, who gave up a leadoff triple to Marcotte and then also that run in the third inning to melt the lead down to 5-4.

Maldonado singled and stole a base, but was stranded in the fourth, while Morales (single) and Kozak (double) began the fifth inning with base knocks to put their tushes in scoring position. Monck had a dour week, but knocked out Castellanos with an RBI single, 6-4, and Starr got Kozak home against lefty Gabe Hill… but only with a 3-6-3 double play. Marcotte in turn homered to left against Fox in the bottom 5th, 7-5, giving him the hard half of the cycle.

Fox was pressed for 111 pitches in six muddy innings, but at least maintained that 7-5 score for the time being. The Coons had 2-out singles from Monck and Starr against Roberto Navarro in the seventh, but Arellano grounded out to short. Marcotte, however, hit another homer off Carrillo in the seventh, which didn’t help him with the cycle, and came with nobody on base, so the Raccoons were still up by a hair until Navarro made it a full whisker again in the eighth, nicking Maldonado on base before giving up a pinch-hit RBI double to Oley in the #9 spot. Answering were the Titans, though, getting Mendoza and Moreno on base against Paul Barton in the bottom 8th. Blackshire’s grounder moved them to scoring position before McDaniel allowed a run on a pinch-hit grounder by Rosenstiel, but then struck out Ellwood to maintain the skinny 8-7 lead.

The Furballs were not done with scoring quite yet. Tyler Gleason allowed a single to Kozak to start the ninth inning, but Monck struck out. Starr then singled, and Arellano was down 0-2 before he scratched a ball out of the dirt and flicked it over the hill and the second base bag into centerfield for an RBI single…! Burkart and Maldonado then stranded a pair before McGinley faced the top of the order in the bottom 9th. Humphries immediately doubled to left, but McGinley rung up Lee, then pitched to Marcotte, because we didn’t fancy putting the tying run on base for Joyner, either. McGinley struck out the slugger in a full count, then gave up an RBI single to Joyner (tah!), but Mendoza floated out to Corral to end the game. 9-8 Critters. Kozak 4-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Monck 2-5, RBI; Starr 3-5; Maldonado 2-3; Novelo 2-5, 2B, RBI; Oley (PH) 1-1, RBI;

It just feels like we blew the lead seven times – the W still went to Chance Fox.

In other news

June 30 – The Loggers lose their best player, 2B/SS Fidel Carrera (.341, 22 HR, 76 RBI) for six weeks after the 25-year-old suffers a sprained ankle. Carrera enjoyed healthy leads in all batting triple crown categories before heading to the DL.
July 3 – The Crusaders send OF Sean Zeiher (.195, 6 HR, 19 RBI) to the Rebels in exchange for 1B Belchior Fresco (.280, 10 HR, 36 RBI).
July 3 – At 40 years old, 3B/LF/RF/1B Steve Dilly (.284, 3 HR, 21 RBI) returns to the Warriors in a trade with L.A. that leaves the Pacifics with three prospects.
July 4 – One day in a Warriors shirt, Steve Dilly (.291, 4 HR, 24 RBI) strikes a 14th-inning walkoff home run to beat the Gold Sox, 7-6. Overall he has three hits and three RBI in the game.
July 4 – DEN SP Nate Nilson (5-6, 2.37 ERA) is expected to miss a full year with elbow ligament damage.
July 4 – The Miners beat the Buffaloes, 5-4, on a walkoff balk charged to TOP MR Brett Lillis jr. (3-4, 4.43 ERA, 2 SV).
July 6 – ATL SP Danny Ortiz (10-1, 2.32 ERA) 3-hits the Condors in a 10-0 blowout.
July 6 – Nashville fears they’ll miss OF/1B Tony Roman (.317, 8 HR, 34 RBI) for six weeks after the 29-year-old badly strains a hammy.
July 6 – Vancouver deals INF Alex Corpus (.208, 0 HR, 2 RBI) to the Gold Sox for MR Elijah LaBat (4-3, 4.85 ERA, 12 SV) and #58 prospect SP David Mundell.
July 6 – The Rebels trade CL Luis Morales (2-4, 4.80 ERA, 19 SV) to the Knights for two prospects, including #116 SP Sean Ranney.

FL Player of the Week: WAS C Jonathan Gutierrez (.360, 10 HR, 34 RBI), spraying .611 (11-18) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN 1B Jose Campos (.318 11 HR, 50 RBI), hitting .538 (14-26) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.404, 18 HR, 75 RBI), batting .366 with 4 HR, 22 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: MIL 2B/SS Fidel Carrera (.341, 22 HR, 76 RBI), smashing .375 with 11 HR, 30 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: NAS CL Steve Keller (3-4, 3.09 ERA, 21 SV), going 3-1 with a 1.23 ERA and 10 SV, 12 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: ATL SP Brian Fuqua (7-4, 3.70 ERA), posting a 5-1 mark with 1.37 ERA, 18 K
FL Rookie of the Month: CIN RF/LF Roberto Soto (.269, 14 HR, 39 RBI), whacking .278 with 5 HR, 15 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: OCT INF/LF Ernesto Curiel (.362, 2 HR, 18 RBI), clipping .407 with 2 HR, 16 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Look at those Loggers! Those sneaky buggers, just a game and a half behind the Titans for first place. The Titans are now 3-12 for their last 15 games after losing a series even to the Critters, although most of the games in the set could have gone either way.

The Raccoons have seven games at home next week, facing the Indians and Crusaders.

We’re also into the July IFA period and the Raccoons are currently rolling high. The signing window opened on Tuesday and we made offers to seven players right away. Of those, only a 16-year-old Venezuelan left-hander, Edwin Altamirano, has signed for $20k so far, while the others are still entertaining other offers. In total we have put out $1.56M currently, which is far beyond the soft cap and would incur a $740k tax penalty if we signed all of them. The main prize we’re after is SP Alexis Barron, a 17-year-old Dominican righty groundballer with five pitches, of which the sinker, slider, and changeup all look very interesting. He alone is already costing the cap and trending higher. Overall we’re still bidding on three pitchers and three outfielders.

Normally I’m hesitant to go for one particular player and then blow our chances to sign anything meaningful the year after, but Barron might be worth it. It’s still possible that we drop everybody else to maybe stay out of the highest penalty bracket.

Fun Fact: Eddie Marcotte had six hits in the Raccoons series, four of them for extra bases.

It felt like less than that though, until Sunday at least. Until Saturday, his season OPS continued to drop from a high of .892 in the middle of June. His two homers and the triple on Sunday however put him right back at .895, which is still far off Fidel Carrera’s 1.072 mark – but Carrera is off to the DL now and nobody’s concern anymore. Marcotte hit homers #16 and #17 on Sunday, making him second in the CL to Carrera’s 22, while Rich Monck is second in batting average with a .333 clip that is currently tanking, though.

[Westheim]

In a rather surprising development, Alexis Barron signed our $830k offer already on Monday when I thought we’d have to weed through the remaining players first to perhaps lessen the impact of penalties. Together with the earlier Altamirano signing we were now at $850k against the $820k cap, which was just under the 105% threshold for signing restrictions next year. We would not make any more offers after this, but that would not stop the other five teenager from potentially still picking up existing offers made by us last week and plunge us into penalty territory anyway.

Raccoons (42-38) vs. Indians (41-41) – July 7-10, 2064

Here were two teams that were within five games of the division lead and had no business being there. Indy had a -21 run differential on an average offense and allowing the third-most runs in the CL. They had beaten the Raccoons three out of four games so far this year, and eight more games would be played between these two teams in the next two weeks.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (4-7, 4.37 ERA) vs. Kelly Whitney (3-2, 4.63 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (8-6, 3.03 ERA) vs. Ramon Carreno (9-2, 3.41 ERA)
Josh Elling (10-3, 3.65 ERA) vs. Roger Pritchard (5-3, 4.66 ERA)
Jarod Morris (4-4, 3.76 ERA) vs. Antonio Pichardo (3-4, 5.22 ERA)

Between an injury to Blake Sparks, who was out for the season, and a double header on Friday, the Indians’ rotation was liable to get shuffled some more. Whitney had pitched in relief twice in the last five days, and Carreno and Pritchard, the only southpaw on offer, had both gone three days ago, and Tuesday’s starter would have to go on short rest unless they brought somebody in.

Game 1
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – 1B Starwalt – C A. Gomez – LF Vaughn – RF B. Johnston – 2B M. Weber – SS Jim White – P Whitney
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Alba

Neither team amounted to a whole lot the first time through between the Indians stranded a pair in the top of the fourth inning against Alba. The Raccoons instead scored with two outs in the bottom 4th when Joel Starr hit a double to center and scored on Burkart’s single through the left side. Alba allowed only two hits and two walks for no runs in the first five, then brought in the game’s second run in the bottom 5th after Aoki’s leadoff single, stolen base and dash to third base when Alex Gomez’ throw got away from the infielders, by grounding out to second base. Rich Monck struck a leadoff home run to left to make it 3-0 in the sixth, and that seemed to be the game. Alba allowed only one more infield single to Mike Weber on the way to a 3-hitter through eight shutout innings, but he was already up to 110 pitches after that and would not be sent back out for the ninth inning. Still up 3-0, the Coons gave the ball to Dover with McGinley having been out two days in a row, but Dover put Danny Starwalt on base with a leadoff walk and Gomez with a single and then was replaced with Mike Hall against the lefty 5-6-7 batters, which was dicey even considering that McDaniel *also* had been out two days in a row. Nick Vaughn singled to fill the bases before Bryan Johnston popped out, Weber whiffed, and Jim White’s grounder to third … was bungled by Morales for a run-scoring error. Vinny Atencio pinch-hit for the pitcher, and thankfully popped out behind home plate to Burkart…! 3-1 Coons. Corral 2-4; Burkart 2-3, RBI; Alba 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (5-7);

Game 2
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – C A. Gomez – 1B Starwalt – LF Vaughn – RF B. Johnston – 2B Jim White – SS Cirelli – P Carreno
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Riddle

Riddle tried really hard to give up runs, allowing a single and a walk in each of the first three innings, but the Indians somehow always found a way to ground out hard enough or pop out high enough to never get a run across, stranding a guy on third base in each of those three innings. A Morales error in the fourth also didn’t help them, while the Raccoons had taken the lead in the bottom 1st with a leadoff jack by Jose Corral, but that was one of only two base hits for the Portlanders in the first four innings.

Matt Martin hit a leadoff single in the fifth, but was doubled off, 5-4-3, by Gomez. Riddle then walked Starwalt, making it four innings outta five with the single-walk special from Riddle, who by then was on his third mound conference, and then got another poor pop to Starr from Nick Vaughn to end another inning. Burkart and Maldonado hit singles in the bottom 5th, but were stranded by the bottom third of the order. Riddle ached around a Jim White single in the sixth, then was quietly ushered away.

Morales struck a leadoff triple up the rightfield line in the bottom 6th and then scored on a Kozak single to make it 2-0 after a long time of collective failure at the plate. Kozak was caught stealing while Monck lined out to Eric Cirelli and Starr flew out to deep right. Burkart and Aoki were on base an inning later. Pablo Novelo batted for Carrillo and popped out against Melvin Guerra, but Corral doubled to right to get Burkart home from second base and extend the lead to 3-0, but Morales grounded out to White and left two in scoring position. The Raccoons sent Barton into the eighth, but he walked Starwalt right away and was axed even quicker. McDaniel then sorted his mess out.

Kozak and Monck got on base against Guerra to begin the bottom 8th, but Starr hit a fielder’s choice to short that rendered Monck out at second. Burkart then chopped a dead wailer in front of home plate, but Gomez fumbled and kicked the ball for an error, and Kozak scored from third base to tack on a run. Aoki struck out, but Novelo, who had remained in the game at third base, then bashed a bases-clearing 2-out double into the right-center gap to put the game away. Or so you’d think. The Coons sent in Sensabaugh for the ninth inning, and he got one out before allowing a single and offering three straight walks. Dover replaced him, struck out Starwalt, walked in a run against Vaughn, and then gave up his own bases-clearing 2-out double against Bryan Johnston before Chris Lovins FINALLY made the final out. 7-5 Raccoons. Corral 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Kozak 3-4, RBI; Burkart 2-4, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-2, 2B, 3 RBI;

This bullpen will be the end of me.

Game 3
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – 1B Starwalt – C A. Gomez – LF Vaughn – RF B. Johnston – 2B M. Weber – SS Jim White – P Whitney
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – C Burkart – 2B Monck – 1B Arellano – SS Novelo – CF Maldonado – RF Tallent – P Elling

The Indians finally took a lead in the series on Wednesday, although it took four innings for them to score (well, the Coons still did not) against Elling. Matt Martin singled and Alex Gomez doubled him home in the fourth inning to get up 1-0 on the Critters, who got a Kozak single to lead off the bottom 4th and also a double from a catcher, but Kozak was thrown out at the plate by Vaughn on Arellano’s 2-out double and the inning ended. Maldonado was on base and stole second before being stranded in the fifth, and before Elling, who hadn’t put many paws wrong until then, slipped for a 3-run sixth when he allowed singles to Gomez and Johnston before getting bombed to right by Mike Weber, which made it 4-0.

The Raccoons had the tying run in the box though in the bottom 6th. Kozak and Burkart reached on merit with one out while Monck reached on a Starwalt error, bringing up Arellano with the bags full, but he hobbled the first pitch he got into a stock standard 6-4-3 double play. That was already the last chance the Raccoons got in the game as Pritchard didn’t miss a beat in the next two innings and Cody Kleidon retired them in order in the ninth. 4-0 Indians. Burkart 2-4;

The Raccoons shipped out Paul Barton (0-0, 3.70 ERA) and J.J. Sensabaugh (1-2, 13.50 ERA) after this game and added John Nesbitt (again) and left-hander Victor Herrera, who would make his debut. Both had pretty ERA’s in AAA, not that it would last. Herrera had been a $100k July IFA signing seven years ago and was about to turn 24. He had been in AAA for part or all of the last three seasons. His control was iffy.

I am hopefully not giving anybody illusions about future bullpen exce- … success here.

Game 4
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – 1B Starwalt – C A. Gomez – LF Vaughn – RF B. Johnston – 2B M. Weber – SS Jim White – P Pichardo
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – SS Gardner – P Morris

Both teams loaded the bases in the first inning, the Indians by getting a single, walk, and hit batter with two outs and Johnston then grounding out to third base. The Raccoons began the bottom 1st with straight singles to get to three on and nobody out for Monck, who got a run home but no RBI with a 4-6-3 double play grounder before Starr singled home Morales for a 2-0 lead. So far so well, but in the third inning the Indians first made up a run with Martin and Starwalt singles and Gomez’ sac fly, and when the Raccoons got Morales on with a 1-out single in the bottom 3rd and Kozak walked, Yukio Aoki stepped in at the plate.

Wait a minute. Something ain’t right. Where’s Mon- (already faints and crashes face first through the glass table in front of the couch)

After Eddy Ramirez doubled home Weber and White with the tying and go-ahead runs in the top 4th against an as usually useless Morris, we learned that Monck had felt a twinge in his shoulder during the 4-3 play that ended the top of the third inning and had been removed on those grounds (and of course replacing him with Aoki in the #4 hole was not leading anywhere nice, like, runs). Portland tied the game back up in the bottom 4th when Pichardo walked Elmer Maldonado and then got beaten by Joe Gardner for a triple in the rightfield corner, but the 9-1-2 batters all croaked in trying to get a guy home from third base with nobody out as they whiffed, popped out, and grounded out.

Aoki was not batting cleanup for long because when Morris got stuck in the sixth inning the Coons double-switched him out for Nesbitt and Novelo, the former getting out of the inning with a 3-3 tie and a guy on base, and the latter nearly hitting a go-ahead gapper with Gardner on second base and one out in the bottom 6th, but Johnston rushed the ball down and caught in on the run. Corral to the rescue though – his tenth homer of the season was well out to right and gave the Raccoons a 5-3 lead. The following inning the Raccoons would load the bases with their 5-6-7 batters before Gardner grounded out harmlessly. Herrera then made his ABL debut, putting runners on the corners as Johnston and White struck sharp line drive hits off him while he got Weber and Atencio out. He handed this mess off to Carrillo, who survived Chris Lovins batting for Ramirez and driving a ball to the warning track in right, where Corral caught it. McGinley took care of the rest in the ninth, allowing only a single to Starwalt. 5-3 Raccoons. Corral 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Morales 2-5; Starr 2-2, 2 BB, RBI; Gardner 2-4, 3B, RBI;

Slappy was kind enough to hold my paw and pat it while Luis Silva reported on Rich Monck after the game. He had a mild shoulder strain, nothing to worry about – but he had to sit out the Crusaders series. He was expected to be back at 100% after the All Star Game.

That coulda been a lot worse.

Raccoons (45-39) vs. Crusaders (37-47) – July 11-13, 2064

New York was still bottoms in runs scored and was already shedding the odd part in what people there were really not used to – a rebuild?? What’s that?? They were also allowing only third-fewest runs but that still made for a -35 run differential, and the Coons were up on them this year, 5-3. Marcos Onelas was the only regular on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (5-6, 4.58 ERA) vs. Ryan Musgrave (5-9, 3.83 ERA)
Angel Alba (5-7, 4.01 ERA) vs. Josh Barcellona (4-4, 3.91 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (9-6, 2.85 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (7-8, 3.33 ERA)

Only right-handers in this rotation; Seiter had won his 200th game against the damn Elks on Tuesday, and the Raccoons were their best offensive paw short. Oh well.

Game 1
NYC: CF Thore – LF Cline – 2B O. Sanchez – 1B Fresco – RF A. Romero – SS Lloyd – C J. Morales – 3B V. Velez – P Musgrave
POR: RF Corral – 3B V. Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – C Burkart – CF Oley – 2B Novelo – SS Aoki – P Fox

Musgrave had a complete meltdown in the first inning after getting two outs on the board, as Kozak then singled, Starr drew a walk, Burkart singled home a run, Oley walked the bags full, and more knocks followed as Novelo drove in two, Aoki one, and Fox another two runs for a 6-0 lead. Corral then made the third and his second out in the inning. A shutdown inning is always what you want after that but Fox served up a triple to Belchior Fresco to begin the second inning; however, when Alex Romero flew out to Corral and Fresco went for it, Corral threw him out by a solid six feet, and even after Ted Lloyd singled, Fox got out of the inning unharmed.

Kozak homered Musgrave out of the game with one out in the bottom 2nd, after which Rafael Mendoza bled a run on three straight hits to the 4-5-6 batters, before Novelo hit a scratch single to fill the bases and Aoki drove home another pair with a single. It was now 10-0, the Crusaders were on their third pitcher in Eric Matthews, and they had only collected four outs so far. Fox struck an RBI double off him before Corral and Victor Morales made meek outs to end the inning, but I won’t complain about a 6-spot and a 5-spot to begin a game. New York kept getting battered; Burkart, Oley, and Aoki all got more RBI’s in a 3-run third, 14-0, but Belchior Fresco socked a leadoff homer in the fourth, and the Crusaders then unfurled six runs on hapless Chance Fox, who walked a score, but was also sabotaged by not one, but TWO Morales errors, which made everything but the Fresco homer unearned. He also threw over 40 pitches in the inning, though, and was now unlikely to even make it through five innings. The Coons went to 15-6 with a run-scoring groundout by Kozak after Corral and Morales had gone to the corners in the bottom 4th, and Fox then barely got through five innings on 110 pitches – and then it began to rain and we had a rain delay for over an hour. What a game.

When play resumed – because the umps didn’t necessarily think the Coons unable to blow a 9-run lead in four innings – Novelo socked a 2-run homer in the bottom 5th to extend the lead to 17-6, and that was surprisingly the final scoring event of the game. The Raccoons pieced innings together with Hall, Carrillo, and Herrera, neither of whom allowed a run, while the Raccoons were shut down by Curt Rosato in garbage relief. 17-6 Critters! Corral 2-6, 2 2B; Kozak 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Starr 2-4, 2 BB, 2B; Burkart 3-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Oley 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Novelo 4-5, HR, 4 RBI; Aoki 4-5, 4 RBI; Herrera 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Whooooo-eeeyyyy!! (squeal!)

Game 2
NYC: CF Thore – SS Lloyd – 2B O. Sanchez – 1B Fresco – C M. Nieto – LF Cline – RF Heiden – 3B V. Velez – P Barcellona
POR: RF Corral – 3B V. Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – C Burkart – 2B Novelo – SS Aoki – CF Tallent – P Alba

Corral doubled to begin the bottom 1st and then limped off the field while I calmly poured weed killers into a bottle of Capt’n Coma. Tallent went to right and Maldonado would take over centerfield after that. Pinch-running, Maldonado was stranded at second base by the 2-3-4 batters before Alba ****** two runs on the board with a walk, a hit batter, one single, and a wild pitch in the second inning. Bottom 2nd, and Burkart, Novelo, and Tallent loaded the bases with one out, but Alba turned over a 3-1 pitch to Omar Sanchez for a 6-4-3 double play.

Can I get my whooooo-eeeyyy back?

Alba allowed hits to Lloyd and Sanchez, then nailed Fresco to stuff the bases with one down in the third. Marco Nieto’s sac fly was on thing, but the inning kept going as Cline tripled in two runs, Steven Heiden singled to score a run, and then Vic Velez hit a 2-run homer, 8-0. Alba was gone, and while both Starr and Burkart drove in a 2-run in the bottom 3rd against Barcellona, the game looked kinda dead. McDaniel got four outs and Dover was squeezed out for two innings, and they did not allow anything, nor did Nesbitt in the seventh or McGinley being used in garbage relief in the eighth.

The ninth went to Novelo, who doubled in Burkart in the bottom 8th but that still left the Coons down by five, because we were mostly out of pitchers anyway. It got silly though, as Novelo loaded the bases before Cline hit a sac fly for the first out. Heiden singled to fill the bases again, and then Velez hit a sac fly to center. Fresco went for home and bouldered through Burkart, who got his paw pinched under Fresco’s fat ass, and then remained on his knees holding said paw. Trainer and certified busy bee Luis Silva went to check him out and had to collect him – which was total collapse at this point because Arellano had been used to pinch-hit earlier and the Raccoons in fact did not have another position player on the decimated bench. Joel Starr volunteered to catch, with Jarod Morris being plonked at first base. YES – the Raccoons now had an infielder pitching, a starting pitcher at first base, and the first baseman catching. In this configuration, Novelo got Alex Abecassis to 0-2 before throwing a wild pitch, then walked Abecassis to fill the bases and walked in two runs against Romero and Lloyd before Omar Sanchez finally flew out to center. Tallent and Maldonado hit singles in the bottom 9th against Kody Mello, but a genuine rally did not break out. 12-3 Crusaders. Corral 1-1, 2B; Maldonado 2-4; Burkart 3-4, 2B, RBI; Tallent 3-4; Dover 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

(looks like he’s seen a ghost)

The best news was that we’d have to lose only one more game before the All Star break would offer some time to pant.

For now though, Bruce Burkart was going to be out for a month with a torn thumb ligament, and he was off to the DL. There was no diagnosis for Corral and Monck was going to be out still, so the Raccoons would try to make it through the rubber game with a 3-man bench, the third man being replacement catcher Scott Lawson, last year’s Rule 5 pick.

Game 3
NYC: CF Thore – LF Cline – 2B O. Sanchez – 1B Fresco – C M. Nieto – RF A. Romero – SS Lloyd – 3B Heiden – P Seiter
POR: 3B V. Morales – SS Novelo – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – 2B Gardner – RF Oley – P Riddle

An infield single by Heiden was the only disturbance in a nice start to Riddle’s outing, allowing nobody else on while whiffing three the first time through. Lloyd walked and Heiden singled with two outs in the fifth, but Seiter was an easy third out to keep the New Yorkers off the board still, but the Raccoons had so far spread out three hits in a rather inefficient way against Seiter, who then allowed a run on three soft singles by Morales, Novelo, and Starr in the bottom 5th before K’ing Arellano to end the inning.

Riddle then promptly came apart for a Cline triple, Sanchez double, balk, and Nieto single to give the Crusaders a 2-1 lead in the sixth. He got another two outs in the seventh inning, but left with Heiden on base and two outs when Vic Velez pinch-hit for Coby Thore in the #1 spot. Carrillo and the precious-by-scarcity Tallent double-switched in for Riddle and Oley, and Carrillo got out of the inning with a grounder. For Portland, Morales hit a 1-out single in the bottom 7th, followed by Seiter walking Novelo. A wild pitch advanced the runners, but Kozak popped out to Sanchez for the second out. Starr came through with a game-tying single, shy as it was, though, but Arellano grounded out to strand another pair.

The Coons survived Hall pitching, but not McGinley in the ninth inning. Lloyd hit a 1-out single, and with two outs Jerry Morales doubled in the go-ahead run and then scored on another Velez single. Bottom 9th, Jason Rhodes pitching for New York, the Coons got the tying runs on with Morales and Kozak singles and one out. Starr walked the bases full, bringing back Arellano, who was having a terrible day, but with Lawson already used up as pinch-hitter, the Raccoons had to let him bat (Aoki was still on the bench), and watched horrified as he hit into a game-ending double play. 4-2 Crusaders. Morales 3-5; Novelo 2-4, BB; Starr 2-4, BB, 2 RBI;

In other news

July 7 – A day after winning CL Player of the Week honors, 1B Jose Campos (.318, 11 HR, 50 RBI) is shipped out of Vancouver and to Atlanta for two prospects.
July 7 – The Blue Sox acquire aging 3B Victor Corrales (.256, 5 HR, 23 RBI) from the Scorpions along with #105 prospect SP Juan Arauz and $600k in cash for right-hander Phil Nelson (6-3, 4.65 ERA).
July 8 – NYC SP Ben Seiter (7-8, 3.33 ERA) gets his 200th career W by striking out 11 Canadiens in a 7-2 win. The 34-year-old Seiter has spent his entire career with the Crusaders, going 200-117 with a 3.39 ERA, 2,374 strikeouts, and two Pitcher of the Year awards along with leading the CL in wins six times, and ERA and strikeouts once each.
July 10 – LAP 1B/2B Alejandro Olivares (.262, 11 HR, 53 RBI) breaks his arm crashing into a base and will miss at least six weeks.
July 10 – The Rebels pick up MR Brett Lillis jr. (3-4, 4.23 ERA, 2 SV) and a prospect in exchange for outfielder Wade Griffith (.264, 0 HR, 15 RBI) going to the Buffaloes.
July 11 – SFW SP Kenny Donnelly (8-7, 3.98 ERA) walks four but allows no hits in a 7-0 win against the Wolves, for the first ABL no-hitter of 2064 and the first for the Warriors since Evan Alvey no-hit the Blue Sox four years ago. The no-hitter comes in the first game of a double header in which the Wolves fail to score at all.
July 12 – 23-year-old DEN SP Matt Asplund (7-6, 3.33 ERA) is headed for Tommy John surgery with a torn UCL and will miss a full year.
July 13 – SFW SP Tom Delaney (5-4, 2.98 ERA) sees his season end with a torn labrum.
July 13 – The Knights acquire CL Brad Fales (2-4, 3.78 ERA, 16 SV) from the Bayhawks for two prospects.
July 13 – OCT 1B Ian Stone (.295, 15 HR, 42 RBI) goes yard for the only run in a 1-0 win against the Knights.

FL Player of the Week: NAS OF/3B/1B Fernando Aracena (.317, 0 HR, 29 RBI), clipping .469 (15-32) with 2 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 1B Ian Stone (.295, 15 HR, 42 RBI), batting .478 (11-23) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Well. After suffering next to no serious injuries in the first half of the season, the Raccoons had a grenade go off in the clubhouse this week and it left some smears on the walls. Losing Burkart for a month sucks, and we don’t know about Corral yet.

The Raccoons tried to trade for right-hander Mike Rocheford of the Bayhawks this week, which went nowhere.

The Raccoons have only one All Star, and it’s not who you think. It’s Kozak. Good for him, I guess, making his first showcase, but how Rich Monck got snubbed for the All Star Game is absolutely beyond me. I am stark raving mad right now.

We will play 11 straight games after the break, first four in Indy, then a makeup game at home against the Wolves, then six more on the road in Milwaukee and Vegas.

Fun Fact: The Warriors got their fifth no-hitter this week.

The others were thrown by Juan Muniz (2029), Pat Okrasinski (2033) – who was briefly a Raccoon later on – Joe Robinson (2042), and Evan Alvey (2060). Two were against the Blue Sox and two against the Wolves, with one Buffos no-hitter included.

[Westheim]

Over the break, the Raccoons got Juan Soriano off the DL and sent him straight to AAA. We then went ahead and placed Jose Corral on the DL with a case of knee tendinitis on Tuesday, and he should be out for up to a month as well.

All Star Game

The Federal League beat the Continental League in the dumbest way possible in the annual All Star Game, winning 6-5 on a walkoff home run by Dallas’ Ray “Crabman” Walker off the damn Elks’ Erik Swain. Why would they not use a position player to pinch- … because the roster have like 72 players on … okay, what the **** do I know.

Jack Kozak pinch-hit for the CL for no gains.

Eddie Marcotte was the MVP thanks to a 3-run homer off the Rebs’ Luis Olvera.

Raccoons (46-41) @ Indians (43-46) – July 17-20, 2064

Four more with the season series now even at four, this time in Indianapolis. By now Indy ranked eighth in runs scored and tenth in runs allowed with a -21 run differential (Critters: +29).

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (10-4, 3.75 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (4-7, 3.53 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (9-6, 2.85 ERA) vs. Ramon Carreno (9-3, 3.38 ERA)
Chance Fox (6-6, 4.44 ERA) vs. Roger Pritchard (6-3, 4.21 ERA)
Angel Alba (5-8, 4.62 ERA) vs. Antonio Pichardo (3-5, 5.31 ERA)

DeWitt and Pritchard were the resident left-handers. The Raccoons were able to get Rich Monck back in the lineup, but were now without two regulars in Burkart and Corral, the latter of whom had his roster spot taken by Marco Campos.

Game 1
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – 1B Starr – CF Campos – RF Tallent – P Elling
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – 1B Starwalt – C A. Gomez – LF Vaughn – RF B. Johnston – 2B M. Weber – SS Jim White – P DeWitt

Both pitchers struck out in their first at-bats, DeWitt doing so with the bases loaded to end the second inning, and the Indians had them loaded again in the third against a wobbly Elling, who nailed Matt Martin, walked Danny Starwalt, and allowed a single to Nick Vaughn before Bryan Johnston had his 2-out drive caught by Kozak with his back right at the fence. The Raccoons had no hits the first time through, but two walks, then got a pair of 1-out singles in the third from Morales and Novelo before Kozak hit into a 3-6-3 double play. Elling never managed to put a clean inning together and finally gave up a run in the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Johnston and Mike Weber. The Coons were still soul-searching, but got singles from Starr and Tallent, then Maldonado getting knocked while batting for Elling, and thus the bases loaded with one out in the top 7th. This time Morales grooved one into a double play to kill the inning.

The game looked a bit cursed until the Indians removed DeWitt with one out in the eighth after he got out Novelo on a fly to center. Kozak then singled off Kelly Whitney, and Melvin Guerra gave up a 2-out walk to Arellano before Starr hit a game-tying RBI double to right. Aoki batted for Campos, but popped out in foul ground behind the plate to end the inning with a pair left in scoring position… The teams then failed each other to extra innings, with the Raccoons managing to use four relievers to cover nine outs into overtime, with Nesbitt, Herrera, Carillo, and McDaniel all taking turns. Cody Kleidon struck out the side in the tenth inning before the Indians got another go at McDaniel, who put Johnston and Weber on the corners with left-handed 1-out hits before Jim White took him over the fence in left. 4-1 Indians. Starr 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Game 2
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – RF Oley – P Riddle
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – C A. Gomez – 1B Starwalt – LF Vaughn – RF B. Johnston – 2B Jim White – SS Cirelli – P Carreno

Riddle went on regular rest in this game because who had an urge to see the other remaining Coons starters any earlier than absolutely required? His game plan seemed to revolve around going through as many full counts as possible to get the pain over with sooner, but at least he didn’t allow a hit in the first three innings before Rich Monck hit one outta there in the fourth to give the Coons a 1-0 lead. Starwalt hit a single the second time through against Riddle, so a 140-pitch no-hitter was off the table, thankfully. Riddle was also on base with a leadoff single in the top 3rd, only to get doubled up by Kozak, and then drew a walk in the fifth, but was left on base by Morales and Kozak.

Riddle lasted just five and two thirds, departing after a 2-out walk to Alex Gomez in the bottom 6th that put him at 105 pitches, which was plenty for him anyway. The Coons had their skinny lead defended by McDaniel for four outs before Mike Hall retired only one of his two lefty sticks in the eighth before yielding for Dover, who allowed a 2-out single to Matt Martin that sent Vinny Atencio to third base, but then struck out Gomez to escape. The offense never put another thing on the board, but McGinley managed to retire the Indians in order in the ninth inning, although Nick Vaughn drove a ball all the way into Kozak’s mitten on the warning track. 1-0 Blighters. Monck 1-4, HR, RBI; Maldonado 1-2, BB; Riddle 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, W (10-6) and 1-1, BB;

Two games, three runs in regulation – both teams combined, that is.

With the way the Titans were going, the Loggers had a real chance at the playoffs this year!

Game 3
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – 1B Starr – CF Campos – RF Tallent – P Fox
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – C A. Gomez – 1B Starwalt – LF Vaughn – RF B. Johnston – 2B Jim White – SS Cirelli – P R. Pritchard

With rain in the air, the Raccoons started in a rush, getting Morales and Novelo on base right away before Kozak drove both of them in with a single played into extra bases and the second run by defensive discombobulation between Eddy Ramirez and Bryan Johnston. Three poor outs followed, as well as Martin doubling and Starwalt walking in the bottom 1st before Vaughn grounded out to strand a pair. The Indians got Fox in the third with three singles by Ramirez, Gomez, and Vaughn, and then got more singles in the fourth, leading off with Jim White singling to right. Pritchard hit a single, Martin walked, and Gomez flipped the score with a 2-run single. The rain then picked up and Fox was gone after an hourlong rain delay, Portland down 3-2, but the game continued on the other end of the downpour.

Kozak reached base on a Starwalt error to begin the top of the sixth and then dashed to third base on Monck’s single, presenting the tying run with nobody out. Arellano struck out, which was a nice start, but Starr then hit a gapper for an RBI double to get even and lift Fox off a wet hook. Marco Campos, already batting a sturdy .155, then grounded to Martin, which wasn’t gonna help, until Martin’s throw tailed away from Starwalt and bounced into the dugout, which gave the dumb-but-lucky Coons two free runs and a 5-3 lead. Tallent and Oley then left Campos at second base.

The Coons then got five outs from Nesbitt without doing anything silly, but Victor Herrera barely got one out to complete seven, giving up singles to Vaughn and Atencio before White grounded out. He gave up *another two singles* to left-handed batters to begin the bottom 8th, which put Eric Cirelli and Matt McInnis on base as the tying runs. Jesse Dover completely failed as replacement, walked the bags full with Ramirez, walked in a run with a free pass to Martin, then struck out two before giving up a game-tying single by Vaughn. He then walked in ANOTHER ******* RUN against PH Matt Rogers. Hall replaced him, got Chris Lovins to ground out, but by then the game was already firmly in the L column, and Kleidon retired the Critters in order. 6-5 Indians.

This bullpen.

Game 4
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – RF Oley – SS Gardner – C Lawson – P Alba
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – 1B Starwalt – C A. Gomez – RF B. Johnston – 2B M. Weber – LF Lovins – SS Jim White – P Pichardo

Alba struck out three in the first inning, but also gave up a double to Martin and threw a wild pitch, so things could still go either way. Johnston then hit a homer for a 1-0 Arrowheads lead in the bottom 2nd, and Jim White came close to another one, so things were clearly going *that* way, although the Raccoons tied the game in the top 3rd in doubly-unearned fashion as it took TWO errors and a Starr single to get Scott Lawson to score. Monck, slumping badly, popped out to strand a pair of undeserved runners on base.

Alba tossed the game in the fourth then, failing Johnston and Weber on base with 1-out walks before giving up a 2-run double into the rightfield corner to Lovins and another RBI single to White, 4-1. Alba hit a leadoff double in the fifth and was stranded, then gave up another homer to Martin on the way to departing after five runs in five innings. Herrera and Carrillo allowed another run between them in the sixth, before the Raccoons were forced into another chance by Pichardo, who drilled Lawson and walked Novelo to begin the top 7th. Morales hit into a fielder’s choice, Kozak popped out, but Joel Starr singled home a run against Jeff Caldwell before Monck made the final out of an inning with two board for the third time on the day. Carrillo then issued two leadoff walks in the bottom 7th, one of which was waved around to score on a Weber single off Mike Hall. We got in another pointless rain delay in the eighth inning, wasting 50 minutes plus the remaining two innings’ worth of everybody’s time. 7-2 Indians.

Matt Martin went 5-for-5 and was a triple shy of the cycle in this game, while the Coons were one hit short of having anybody get at least two knocks in the bloody affair.

In other news

July 14 – SAC SP Jay Williams (6-6, 3.30 ERA) will miss the rest of the season with a ruptured finger tendon.
July 16 – A strained hamstring could cost Capitals SP Jon Reyes (4-7, 4.29 ERA) the rest of the season.
July 17 – The Blue Sox rout the Capitals in the first game after the break, beating them 14-1.

FL Player of the Week: NAS C David Johnson (.298, 16 HR, 61 RBI), batting .476 (10-21) with 1 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA OF/1B Cody Padgett (.319, 4 HR, 57 RBI), clipping .563 (9-16) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

That was a right miserable series in Indy. Nothing worked: no offense, no starting, no relieving. At least nobody broke their little neck.

We will now kindly abandon our pathetic efforts to bring in new pitching because there is no helping this staff, except maybe with a plastic bag firmly pulled over everybody’s fuzzy numb skull.

We play the Wolves for the make-up game on Monday, then six with the Loggers and Aces on the road next week.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons almost sent out a precious prospect this week in an attempt to put a band-aid on a 20-foot crater.

The Bayhawks can keep Rocheford. I hope they’re forever happy with him.

[Westheim]

(COUGH COUGH COUGH)

I’ve been felled by the plague, but I squeezed the last ounce of energy out of my dying body to bring you this update. (wheeze) No-no! Don’t touch it. I accidentally smeared nasal excretions all over it.

(cough!)

Keith Ayers, out at hooooome…! (dramatically cranks out eyeballs before letting a Vern Kinnear bobblehead drop out of his paw)

+++

Raccoons (47-44) vs. Wolves (35-56) – July 21, 2064

This was the silly postponed rubber game from the earlier series played in Portland, now interrupting our Midwest road trip. Whee. Jarod Morris (4-4, 3.83 ERA) was put up against the FL’s meekest offense, while we got to see some of left-handed sophomore Alan Deakin (2-2, 3.47 ERA), a swingman that was walking more batters than he struck out for the second year in a row.

SAL: CF J. Cervantes – 2B Hartgrove – C Preston – LF Grulke – SS M.-J. Park – 1B C. Santiago – RF Weir – 3B R. Rivas – P Deakin
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – 1B Starr – CF Campos – RF Tallent – P Morris

Morris first three pitches were all put on play, two for singles by Jimmy Hartgrove and Steve Preston, but Kyle Grulke and Myung-joo Park both struck out to strand the runners. The Raccoons neglected scoring on Morales and Kozak singles in the first inning, but Kozak would come around the next time and struck a solo homer off Deakin for the first marker on the board in the third inning. A bigger breakthrough was made in the fourth inning with Randy Tallent getting the rally going with a double. Morris reached on an error, Morales’ RBI single upped the score to 2-0, and Novelo singled to fill the bases. Kozak whiffed this time, but Monck singled in a 2-out run and Arellano drew a bases-loaded walk to get to 4-0 before Starr flew out easily. Morris was handling the Wolves really well by then, completing five shutout innings on four hits and seven strikeouts, and retired another four Wolves after that before giving up an 0-2 single to Cesar Santiago and a 2-run homer to Hector Weir in the seventh inning. McDaniel managed to restore order after Morris also walked Rico Rivas, but then gave up a double to Hartgrove in the eighth. Park singled in the runner with two outs against Carrillo, prompting a switch to McGinley for a 4-out save. He struck out PH Ricky Lopez to complete eight for the time being. The Critters failed to tack on against the Wolves’ pen, but McGinley retired all the little ducks in a row required to squeeze this one into the W column. 4-3 Coons. Morales 2-5, RBI; Kozak 3-4, HR, RBI; Monck 3-4, RBI; Morris 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (5-4); McGinley 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (22);

Raccoons (48-44) @ Loggers (48-45) – July 22-24, 2064

These teams were in an unexpected battle for second place in the division, and who knew how much faltering the Titans were still capable of? The Loggers had lost three in a row and ranked third in runs scored and 11th in runs allowed in the Continental League. They had a +6 run differential, but they were also struggling all over with their pitching and defense, and now had most of a (very capable) infield on the DL with Fidel Carrera, Kyle Reber, and Juan Ojeda all down and out. We were up 5-4 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (10-4, 3.64 ERA) vs. Larry Colwell (2-1, 2.72 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (10-6, 2.72 ERA) vs. Oliver Graham (5-9, 4.37 ERA)
Chance Fox (6-6, 4.49 ERA) vs. Larry Wilson (7-6, 4.53 ERA)

Only right-handed opponents were coming up here.

Game 1
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – RF Oley – SS Aoki – P Elling
MIL: LF Franks – CF Merrill – C Guitreau – 1B C. Ramirez – SS D. Miller – RF D. Wright – 2B Gilliam – 3B Ruskin – P Colwell

While the Coons went in order in the first, the Loggers got Elling for a run on a Scott Franks single, a wild pitch, and Jonathan Merrill’s double to left before the 3-4-5 stranded Merrill on second base. The score would be flipped in the third inning in unlikely fashion as Colwell walked Todd Oley leading off before giving up the first ABL homer in the career of Yukio Aoki. Elling however had to insist on immediately blowing that lead by giving up a single to Merrill and an RBI double to Tommy Guitreau in the bottom 3rd…

The fourth was uneventful, and the Coons reclawed the lead in the fifth with Elmer Maldonado getting on base with a shy single to begin the inning and then setting himself in motion when Todd Oley found the leftfield line for a double, allowing Maldonado to score from first base. Oley scored on a pair of singles by Aoki and Elling(!), Morales hit another RBI single, and Kozak walked to fill the bases with nobody out. Starr promptly made an out, albeit in form of a sac fly, 6-2. The Loggers replaced Colwell with Ricky Pippin at that point, but Pippin walked Monck, allowed two runs on an Arellano single, and then would have gotten an inning-ending double play from Maldonado to short, but Danny Miller fudged it into an error and the bags were full once more. Oley drove home two more runs, Aoki another one, and the inning ended on a 9-2 double play when Elling flew out to Dave Wright, who hammered out Oley at home plate, but the score was now 11-2.

Elling would go seven innings in total after that, but not without scattering around another six base hits and three runs, one in the sixth after a leadoff double by Cesar Ramirez and two productive outs, and two in the seventh after the Loggers started off with three singles and followed up with two run-scoring groundouts. Nesbitt had a clean eighth, and Victor Herrera was trouble in the ninth and put a pair on the corners before the Loggers’ Guitreau – the non-DL team leader with 16 homers – popped out to Monck to end the game. 11-5 Raccoons. Morales 2-5, RBI; Arellano 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Oley 2-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Aoki 3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI;

Game 2
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – RF Oley – SS Aoki – CF Campos – P Riddle
MIL: LF Franks – RF C. Ramirez – 1B D. Robles – C Guitreau – 3B D. Miller – CF Merrill – SS Gilliam – 2B Willoughby – P O. Graham

An unearned run put the Raccoons up 1-0 in the first inning when Arellano singled home Kozak; those two had reached on merit, but Monck had gotten on base with an error by Tyler Gilliam. Milwaukee overturned that score in the bottom 1st – and on merit. Franks singled, and with two outs Guitreau socked a game-tying double and Miller singled him home to make it 2-1 Loggers. They didn’t stop there; Franks and Ramirez went to the corners with base hits off a wonky Riddle to begin the bottom 3rd, and while Dave Robles hit a grounder to Aoki for a double play, Franks scored from third base to make it 3-1. Guitreau drew a walk, but Miller grounded out to short.

A weird game kept developing – through five innings, the two starting pitchers combined for ZERO strikeouts, with Graham walking three and Riddle walking one batter instead. The Loggers were still up 3-1, but Graham then issued 1-out walks to Arellano and Oley in the sixth inning before Aoki hit an RBI double to left-center to get to 3-2. Marco Campos was walked intentionally, but the Raccoons weren’t baited; Riddle had already singled against Graham his last time up, and making contact against Graham didn’t seem like much of a problem. Graham fell behind in that count, too, and then gave up a zinger up the middle and over second base for a 2-run, score-flipping single, 4-3! Groundouts by Morales and Kozak then ended that inning.

Riddle then resumed his ****** *** pitching in the bottom 6th and got romped with two outs as Gilliam doubled, Devin Willoughby hit a game-tying single, David Milian doubled, and Franks doubled in the latter pair before Riddle – still with zero strikeouts to his name – was yanked. Dover retired Ramirez to end the inning, Portland now *down* two again, and with Graham having been pinch-hit for, the two starting pitchers ended up tossing 11.2 combined innings for still ZERO strikeouts. Dover fumbled another run on the board in a messy seventh, and another run was beaten out of Mike Hall in the bottom 8th. The Raccoons never got a shot against the Loggers’ pen and went down quite meekly in the last three innings. 8-4 Loggers. Arellano 2-3, BB, RBI;

That entire ******* pitching staff needs being put out the door.

Game 3
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – SS Novelo – RF Oley – C Lawson – P Fox
MIL: LF Franks – RF C. Ramirez – 1B D. Robles – C Guitreau – CF Merrill – 3B D. Miller – SS Gilliam – 2B Willoughby – P L. Wilson

Kozak forced out Morales and his game-opening single in Thursday’s rubber game, then stole second unnecessarily ahead of Joel Starr’s homer to right that made it a quick 2-0. Offense then tried to die right there, as the Raccoons did not get another base hit until Kozak socked a double in the fifth inning against Wilson, who with two outs on the board then walked the bases full before managing to strike out Maldonado. It was still a 2-0 game at that point with Fox so far having struggled only with Guitreau, who had a bloop single in the second and a fly out to the warning track to end the fourth. Of course that **** couldn’t last, so the bottom 5th began with Merrill and Miller singles, Gilliam doubled home a run, and Willoughby’s sac fly tied the game before the ******* opposing pitcher swatted a go-ahead RBI double.

Fox pitched around another Guitreau single in the sixth and finished seven innings in what would almost have been good order if not for that ******* blow-up in the fifth. He was barely taken off the hook in the eighth then when Starr hit a leadoff single and got doubled off by Monck, but Aiden Shaw was then taken deep to right by Elmer Maldonado to tie the game at three after all. Better yet, straight singles by the 6-7-8 batters brought home another 2-out run against Shaw before Randy Birnbaum restored order, retiring Aoki, who was batting for Fox, who was suddenly in line for the win in this game (talk about undeserved…); and he got it! McDaniel and McGinley allowed no base runners between them in the last two innings, and the Raccoons got away with a series win. 4-3 Furballs. Starr 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Fox 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (7-6);

Raccoons (50-45) @ Aces (49-47) – July 25-27, 2064

The Aces had lost five in a row, so maybe we could be lucky with the timing here. They were otherwise seventh in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed in the league, but had swept the Raccoons in the first meeting of the year between these two teams. They had a pile of injuries, but mostly second-echelon players, like half a bullpen and then infielders Cesar Pena and Wally Leggett.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (5-9, 4.82 ERA) vs. Adam Edge (7-5, 4.15 ERA)
Jarod Morris (5-4, 3.74 ERA) vs. Tim Henderson (4-4, 4.69 ERA)
Josh Elling (11-4, 3.80 ERA) vs. Dan Graham (10-6, 3.72 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday! Whee!

Game 1
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – SS Aoki – RF Tallent – P Alba
LVA: LF Lorenzo – RF D. Lewis – CF Jad. Wilson – 3B A. Alfaro – 1B M. Davis – 2B M. Roberts – C Wheat – SS Boyce – P Edge

The Raccoons started the game well with a Morales triple into the right-center gap and Kozak’s RBI single. Starr walked, but Monck hit into a double play; however, Maldonado rescued a second run with a 2-out single before a K on Arellano moved the ball into Alba’s paws, which had led nowhere but disaster for most of a month. This game would hardly be an exception. Victor Lorenzo singled in the first, but Alba turned them away there; however, the second inning led to three stupid Aces runs on three straight 1-out singles by Mike Roberts, Tom Wheat, and Mike Boyce, the last of which Tallent overran for extra bases, although a wild pitch and another single by Lorenzo then put blame for the 3-2 deficit squarely back with Alba, and all the runs were earned. Portland tied the game in the top 3rd with a Starr double and Arellano single, and Randy Tallent went yard in the fourth for a 4-3 lead, which only survived four innings because Kozak threw himself into a screaming liner by PH Aaron Warner to heroically secure the last out of the bottom 4th with Tom Wheat waiting in scoring position. There was no catching Jaden Wilson’s monster homer to left in the fifth, though…

Tom Wheat went deep to left to give the Aces a 5-4 lead with two outs in the sixth, and that was the end of another **** outing for Alba, who found himself taken off the hook after being replaced with Victor Herrera when Rich Monck doubled home Kozak to tie the game at five in the seventh inning. The Aces regained a 6-5 lead in the same inning with spectacular bullpen stupidity by Herrera and Dover, who split the blame evenly in issuing no fewer than FOUR straight 2-out walks to Don Lewis, Jaden Wilson, Ken Hummel, and Mike Davis before PH Phil Macomber was dumb enough to poke and grounded out.

Top 8th, Aoki drew a leadoff walk from Danny Zepeda, who then plunked Tallent on base as well. A pinch-hit single by Novelo was picked up by Boyce behind second base, but with no play, and the bases were loaded with nobody outs for the 1-2-3 batters, who popped out, struck out, and popped out. (double facepaws while screaming) In the ninth, they went down in order instead. 6-5 Aces. Morales 2-5, 3B; Tallent 2-3, HR, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-1;

(looks up to the baseball gods, extending both front paws) Will it ever stop???

3B Phil Macomber (.316, 1 HR, 12 RBI) was then shipped off to the Wolves as punishment for his earlier overboarding aggressiveness as the Aces instead received left-hander Ryan Hogues (2-3, 3.51 ERA, 15 SV), some $800k in cash, and a prospect to boot in #120 SP Jorge Flores.

Game 2
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – SS Aoki – RF Oley – P Morris
LVA: LF Lorenzo – RF D. Lewis – CF Jad. Wilson – 3B A. Alfaro – 1B M. Davis – 2B M. Roberts – C Wheat – SS Boyce – P T. Henderson

Rich Monck hit his 16th homer, a solo shot to begin the top 2nd, for the usual 1-0 Coons lead, which was then as usual immediately ****** up for two runs in the next half-inning. Morris retired Vegas in order in the first, but then walked Alex Alfaro, allowed a single to Mike Davis, and – after Oley dropped a long fly by Roberts in foul ground to put the batter back in the box – another walk to Roberts for three on and nobody out. Wheat grounded into a game-tying 6-4-3 double play before the go-ahead run scored on a passed ball charged to Arellano… what a team effort…

Top 3rd, Morris singled and two walks filled the bases with nobody out, which already dismayed me again. Starr tied the game grounding out, Monck whiffed, and Maldonado grounded out to Alfaro… In the fourth, the Critters got their first two batters on before Oley hit into a double play and Morris grounded out to short, and that was it with threats for the Raccoons for the time being. Morris wobbled on into the bottom 6th where he walked Jaden Wilson base. Wilson stole second, then tried to score from there on Mike Davis’ 1-out single, but he was thrown out by Oley. Davis went to second on the play, then scored on another sharp single by Roberts, giving Vegas the 3-2 lead. Morris was dismissed at that point, with Carrillo ending the inning.

Starr once more tied the game in the seventh against Zepeda, after Morales doubled and reached third on a passed ball now charged to Wheat, and the Aces regained the lead in the same inning against Carrillo with a pinch-hit Warner triple and Vic Lorenzo’s sac fly… The Aces tacked on two runs in the eighth against the retarded pen; McDaniel parked Alfaro and Hummel on base, and Nesbitt waved them around with a pair 2-out RBI singles given up to Wheat and Boyce before Starr nearly fell into the home dugout pulling down a Miguel Falcon pop in foul territory, just to get another stupid inning over with. Left-hander Gabe Molina then disposed of the Raccoons in short order in the ninth. 6-3 Aces. Starr 2-5, 2 RBI; Arellano 2-4;

The Aces won the season series by now.

In five games.

Game 3
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – RF Tallent – LF Maldonado – C Lawson – CF Campos – P Elling
LVA: LF Lorenzo – C Wheat – CF Jad. Wilson – 3B A. Alfaro – 1B M. Davis – 2B M. Roberts – RF K. Hummel – SS Boyce – P D. Graham

Elling, whose record said “not on my watch!”, didn’t put an Ace on base before the Raccoons broke out for a 3-run third inning; Lawson and Campos went to the corners before Morales tripled them home and then scored on Novelo’s groundout. Kozak hit a 2-out single, but was left on. Of course, Elling then immediately stumbled, walked Boyce, and allowed runs on a Lorenzo double and Wheat single with two outs in the bottom 3rd, because nobody here had any ******* clue what they were doing…

Two more Aces reached in the fourth, but didn’t score; after that the fifth was calm and then the Raccoons got Tallent on base with a 1-out single in the sixth. Maldonado reached on a throwing error by Roberts, and a double steal put the pair in scoring position with some insurance runs. Lawson got home a run with a groundout, but the Aces didn’t trust Campos’ .145 stick and walked him intentionally, getting the last out on Elling’s grounder. The Aces then had not one, but two infield singles in the bottom 6th, but Jaden Wilson, who had the first of the two, was also caught stealing before Davis hit the other one, and the effort amounted to nothing but an annoyance for me.

Elling made it through seven and two thirds before handing the ball and the 4-2 lead right off to McGinley, because honestly, **** the rest of that bunch. McGinley entered in a double switch with Starr that moved Kozak back to left, gave up a single to Wilson right away, then got a grounder from Alfaro that Morales barfed away for an error, and then finally struck out the pinch-hitting Falcon to get the *eighth* over with. Lawson singled to begin the ninth, but was left on base, while McGinley got three quick outs to salvage one game from the series. 4-2 Raccoons. Lawson 2-4, RBI; Elling 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (12-4) and 1-3;

In other news

July 21 – The Knights pick up the Canadiens’ closer, Erik Swain (3-4, 3.83 ERA, 18 SV), in exchange for four prospects, including starting pitchers #44 Josh Tarver and #192 Dave Almy.
July 21 – IND 2B Mike Weber (.295, 5 HR, 36 RBI) drives in seven runs on four hits – a triple shy of the cycle – in a 13-2 takedown of the Canadiens.
July 22 – The Miners have a 6-run walkoff rally in the bottom of the ninth against the Rebels, capped with a 3-run homer for a 7-4 win by PIT C/1B Nick Dingman (.301, 14 HR, 35 RBI).
July 23 – The Aces send right-hander Curt Carter (1-6, 4.71 ERA, 20 SV) to the Blue Sox for two prospects. The deal includes #103 SP Sonny Moschella.
July 23 – The Indians trounce the Canadiens again, 15-3, this time with leadoff batter Eddy Ramirez (.259, 12 HR, 52 RBI) driving in five runs on a homer and a single.
July 24 – SFW 2B Mike DeFusco (.264, 4 HR, 25 RBI) will miss the rest of the year with a ruptured disc.
July 24 – Washington edges out Topeka, 2-1 in 14 innings, while scoring in the first and last innings and nothing in the dozen frames in between.
July 25 – The Bayhawks send right-hander Mike Rocheford (4-0, 2.41 ERA, 3 SV) to the Stars for two prospects.
July 25 – New York acquires RF/LF/2B David Milian (.298, 1 HR, 15 RBI) from the Loggers in exchange for 3B/2B/CF Victor Velez (.254, 9 HR, 52 RBI) and a prospect.
July 25 – A second-inning home run by ATL OF Kyle Fisher (.388, 2 HR, 7 RBI) is enough to beat the Loggers, 1-0.

FL Player of the Week: DAL RF/LF Roberto Almanza (.310, 0 HR, 59 RBI), clipping .520 (13-25) with 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ 3B/RF Eric Frasher (.254, 9 HR, 46 RBI), batting .455 (10-22) with 2 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The prospects the Baybirds got from Dallas aren’t even ranked!! Not even top 200! Not even … aaah!!!

The Coons also tried to nibble around on other teams for some relief help or so this week, but were only turned down with ridiculous demands, like a fine young right-hander on the Miners, Juan Betancourt, who was nothing *special*, but could have helped *us* quite a way, and they want Morales or Alba for him. Sure! What else?? HOW MANY ******* KIDNEYS DO I HAVE TO TOSS IN??

(is handed a soothing tea by Maud and immediately adds a splurge of Capt’n Coma to it)

Part of the problem here is maybe that we have no attractive medium-oomph players. We only have some really good ones, and a bushel of stinkers. And nobody wants the latter, and there’s no reason to trade from the former when we’re a pawful of games behind Boston.

Oh well. We can’t trade for half a new roster anyway, which we would have to. Monday will be a day off, and then we play six at home against the Thunder and Falcons. The latter series is already in August.

Fun Fact: Josh Elling is only one behind Mike Bell of Boston for the CL wins lead of 13.

I don’t know what’s more shocking – that a Critter is that close to the lead, or that Jason Brenize with his 1.68 ERA and 172 strikeouts has only won EIGHT games this year. That’s half of the FL and ABL leader, Dallas’ Ray “Crabman” Walker (16-3, 2.43 ERA, 179 K). Walker is third in ERA and tops in strikeouts, so there’s a triple crown thing going on in the FL.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (51-47) vs. Thunder (57-42) – July 29-31, 2064

After a day off on Monday the Raccoons hosted the Thunder for three games at home. Oklahoma City was leading the South by a narrow margin over the Knights, struggling to find offense. They managed to sit bottoms in both homers and stolen bases, while having the second-highest OBP in the Continental League. Thad oddball mix only worked itself out for the ninth-most runs in the CL, but they were being kept afloat by their pitching, which allowed the second-fewest runs to the opposition. They were ahead of the Coons, 2-1, in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (10-7, 3.02 ERA) vs. A.C. Stebbins (7-6, 3.74 ERA)
Chance Fox (7-6, 4.45 ERA) vs. Danny Baca (1-3, 3.12 ERA)
Angel Alba (5-9, 4.98 ERA) vs. Alfredo Picun (12-3, 4.40 ERA)

Handedness would match for all games in this series, e.g. we’d face two left-handers ahead of the righty Picun. Both Baca, 23, and Picun, 25, were relative newcomers, and a rookie and sophomore, respectively. Baca would make his fifth career start.

Game 1
OCT: CF R. Miles – RF Whitlow – SS M. Veguilla – LF B. Ramires – 3B McNeal – 1B I. Stone – C T. Anderson – 2B Bonilla – P Stebbins
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – 1B Starr – RF Tallent – CF Campos – P Riddle

The week began with Riddle trying to put up a crooked number by hitting Rick Miles, allowing a single to center to Eric Whitlow, and then walks to Bill Ramires and – with the bags full – Josh McNeal. That brought up the only run of the inning, with aggressive defending by Kozak and Tallent preventing a worse outcome. He would never figure out his arsenal for the entire game, and allowed another run in the fourth on singles by Alberto Bonilla and Stebbins, with a neat wild pitch in between moving Bonilla into scoring position. For Portland, Arellano hit doubles his first two times at the plate; he got stranded with Tallent in the second inning, but in the fourth followed a Monck single with two bases and then Joel Starr at least scored Monck with a groundout before Tallent flew out to Miles to end the inning.

The Raccoons then seemed trapped 2-1 down with a lack of offensive ambition. Marco Campos’ leadoff single in the fifth led nowhere partly because Riddle couldn’t get a bunt down, and Monck drew a 2-out walk in the sixth, but then Arellano struck out. Riddle lasted seven muddled innings, and a sprinkling of relief from Hall, Nesbitt, and Herrera didn’t allow any more runs to the Thunder, but we still had to score a run to get even, or two to win. Vic Morales’ leadoff single in the eighth led nowhere, and in the ninth Brian Doster retired Arellano and Starr before Elmer Maldonado kept up the pretense with a pinch-hit 2-out single. Aoki batted for Campos, but popped out to the catcher Tim Anderson. 2-1 Thunder. Arellano 2-4, 2 2B; Maldonado (PH) 1-1; Campos 1-2, BB;

Game 2
OCT: C L. Miranda – RF Whitlow – SS M. Veguilla – LF B. Ramires – 3B McNeal – 1B I. Stone – CF R. Miles – 2B J. Caballero – P D. Baca
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – 1B Starr – RF Tallent – CF Campos – P Fox

On Wednesday it was the Critters to go up 1-0 in the first, as Baca walked Morales to begin his start and then conceded the run on a 2-out single to right-center by Rich Monck. Fox did not allow a hit the first time through (but then right away gave up a single on Luis Miranda’s second attempt in the box), and had his lead doubled in the bottom 3rd, when Morales drew another walk and then scored on successive singles by Pablo Novelo and Jack Kozak. Monck whiffed and Arellano flew out to keep a pair on base. Fox maintained his shutout through four, then struggled trying to bunt in the bottom 4th after Baca had issued walks to Starr and Campos. Down 0-2 we just set the runners in motion. Baca now threw a ball, but the Thunder were taken by surprise and the Coons got an odd double steal (Starr took *third*). Baca was so surprised, he gave up a soft RBI single to Fox on the next pitch, 3-0. Morales drew his third walk of the day, but Novelo hit into an inning-ending double play.

Through five, Fox seemed *fine*, but the sixth began with full counts and a walk to Miranda, followed by a Whitlow single. Novelo got a grounder from Miguel Veguilla, but the Coons couldn’t turn two on the play, but Bill Ramires then whiffed and Kozak tracked down a McNeal fly to left-center to keep the Thunder off the board. Instead, Starr struck a leadoff double in the bottom 6th and scored on a grounder by Tallent and Campos’ sac fly that went all the way to the fence in center. Miles made the catch crashing into the wall and broke his shoulder blade, leading to replacement by Danny Garcia.

Fox put seven shutout innings together before hitting the 100 pitches mark. The Raccoons double-bombed Juan Juarez between Novelo and Kozak in the seventh to extend the lead to 6-0, and the bases filled up in the eighth against Mike Chartrand with pinch-hit singles for Oley and Aoki, then another walk drawn by Morales. Novelo’s grounder to short should have ended the inning, but Veguilla’s throw to first pulled Ian Stone off the bag and the Raccoons got another run on the error before Kozak struck out. Dover and McDaniel finished the game on the hill without conceding a run to the Thunder. 6-0 Critters! Morales 0-1, 4 BB; Novelo 2-5, HR, RBI; Kozak 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Campos 0-1, BB, RBI; Oley (PH) 1-1; Aoki (PH) 1-1; Fox 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K, W (8-6);

With that, the trade deadline was upon us. Honeypaws – are we getting anybody!?

(Honeypaws’ whiskers hang)

Game 3
OCT: 2B Curiel – 1B I. Stone – RF B. Ramires – SS M. Veguilla – 3B Bonilla – C L. Miranda – LF D. Garcia – CF F. Gomez – P Picun
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – C Lawson – RF Oley – P Alba

The Coons hit four singles between Maldonado, Aoki, Oley (who got the RBI), and Alba in the second inning before Morales struck out to strand three runners, but at least that was a 1-0 lead, also meaning that, yes, Angel Alba had already faced six-plus batters (seven, in fact), and had yet to suffer insertion of another white hot poker up his furry tush. Instead, Picun got punked in the third inning; Kozak led off with a jack, after which he walked the 3-4 batters and was taken deep yet again by Maldonado, exploding the score to 5-0 at once. Picun did not re-appear after that inning.

While not all was rosy with Alba, he worked his way through the innings. Early on the Thunder made some hard contact without finding empty space for it to drop in, while in the middle innings Alba’s counts went longer, but the Thunder still didn’t gain traction and then mostly went down fast from the sixth inning onwards, to the point where Alba batted for himself leading off the bottom 8th. The Raccoons had only added one run in the meantime after some very good long relief by Joe Napier, but then a Bonilla error had helped us to an unearned run in the seventh. Alba grounded out to begin the bottom 8th, but Chartrand then put Morales on base with a single and Kozak and Starr hit back-to-back doubles. Starr drove in a pair, but then also left the game with Luis Silva – same hammy as last time. Campos ran for him and was left on base before Alba went out for the ninth, retiring Ernesto Curiel and Ian Stone quickly before Bill Ramires took him deep to right on the last out of the game… Alba had to settle for a complete-game 4-hitter after he retired Veguilla on a fly to Oley. 8-1 Raccoons. Kozak 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Alba 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (6-9) and 1-3;

Joel Starr was day-to-day for at least the rest of the week with the same hamstring acting up as four weeks ago.

Trade

Just before the curtains came down on unrestricted trading for the season, the Raccoons acquired MR Ryan Harmer (7-1, 1.80 ERA, 1 SV) from the Scorpions for the failed career of AAA SP Freddy Castillo, who was 28 years old by now. Harmer was 37, having his last hurrah, and yes, that is the same Ryan Harmer that persistently drove me insane in a previous decade before the Stars took him in the Rule 5 draft one year.

Victor Herrera (0-1, 4.91 ERA) was sent back to AAA to make room on the roster for Harmer.

Raccoons (53-48) vs. Falcons (52-48) – August 1-3, 2064

The Falcons were four games out in the South, but were posting rather mediocre numbers throughout, sitting eighth in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed. The only things they excelled at were defense and stealing bases, and they led the CL in both categories. They also led the season series against the Portlanders, 4-2.

Projected matchups:
Jarod Morris (5-4, 3.62 ERA) vs. Tom Kies (0-1, 7.90 ERA)
Josh Elling (12-4, 3.71 ERA) vs. Aaron Ledbetter (4-7, 5.61 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (10-8, 3.00 ERA) vs. Levi Harre (9-5, 3.48 ERA)

Tom Kies was the #5 pick from three years ago and would make his third career start in the opener. He was also the only left-hander to face the Raccoons on the weekend.

Game 1
CHA: 2B Duhe – RF Padgett – 1B Joe Washington – CF Pinault – C O. Matos – 3B Healey – LF S. Brown – SS T. Taylor – P Kies
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – LF Maldonado – RF Tallent – CF Campos – P Morris

Offense was scarce in the Friday opener, even with the pitching pairing on paw. The two teams combined for five base hits in the first five innings, and it took until the bottom 5th until the Raccoons scratched out a 1-0 lead when Campos drew a walk from Kies, was bunted to second by Morris, and scored on Vic Morales’ 2-out single to left-center. That was about it for excitement. Cody Padgett and Mike Pinault hit a pair of singles against Morris in the sixth, but were left on base by Oscar Matos, who flew out easily to Tallent. Morris then completed eight innings while the Raccoons could not do better than three hits against Kies in seven frames. Aoki hit an infield single in place of Morris to begin the bottom 8th, but was doubled off by Morales, and so the 1-0 lead went to McGinley, who had not appeared at all in the Thunder series. Joe Washington and Pinault grounded out before Matos hit a 2-out single in the ninth, but the game ended with a Rick Healey grounder to Monck. 1-0 Blighters. Campos 1-2, BB; Aoki (PH) 1-1; Morris 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (6-4);

Interlude: waiver claim

Come Saturday, the Raccoons would claim right-hander Alex Cruzado (5-0, 3.26 ERA) off waivers by the Loggers. Cruzado, 29, was a swingman with six pitches, although he should just ditch half of them and throw the changeup more. He had a tendency to get taken deep, was a constant source of command issues, and was changing teams mid-season for the third straight year.

But hey, we had just actively traded for Ryan Harmer, so we were very much flinging things at the wall. John Nesbitt (1-0, 3.75 ERA) was sent back to St. Petersburg to make room on the roster.

Raccoons (53-48) vs. Falcons (52-48) – August 1-3, 2064

Game 2
CHA: LF Fountain – RF Padgett – 1B Joe Washington – CF Pinault – C O. Matos – 3B Healey – 2B Duhe – SS T. Taylor – P Ledbetter
POR: 3B Morales – RF Oley – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – SS Aoki – LF Tallent – P Elling

Morales, Kozak, and Monck all drove doubles to left in the first inning for a very quick 2-0 lead on Saturday, and that was not it for doubles the first time through, as Randy Tallent also socked an RBI double after Aoki singled and stole second base to begin the bottom 2nd – and then Elling whacked another RBI double to left…! Elling would come in to score on Morales’ grounder and Oley’s sac fly to left as Elijah Fountain finally caught something. By then the score was 5-0, but Fountain singled and stole second in the top 3rd and scored on a Washington hit to get the Falcons on the board.

Arellano hit another double in the third, but the doubles then fizzled out once the Falcons figured that Ledbetter was better let go. However, Kozak and Arellano put a run together with singles in the bottom 5th against righty Esteban Vargas, who had an ERA over seven. Elling held up his end rather well, although he had help from the defense, which turned double plays for him in the fourth and sixth, but when the defense betrayed him and Morales fudged a Jared Duhe grounder for an error in the seventh, Elling ended up being stuck. He walked Scott Brown in the #9 hole, and Padgett legged out an infield single with two outs. McDaniel replaced Elling with the bases loaded against Washington, got two strikes, and then got BLASTED for a grand slam.

With the score close again at 6-5, the Raccoons got leadoff singles from Monck and Maldonado, then croaked in the bottom 7th. Jesse Dover retired Charlotte in order in the eighth, then was hit for with Campos, who drew a walk from Jason Stine. Morales ripped a 2-run homer to left after that, creating some breathing room, although McGinley ended up not needing it in the ninth inning, in which the Falcons went down in three batters. 8-5 Raccoons. Morales 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Monck 2-5, 2B, RBI; Arellano 2-3, 2B, RBI; Elling 6.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, W (13-4) and 2-2, 2B, RBI;

Game 3
CHA: LF Fountain – RF Padgett – CF Pinault – 3B Healey – 2B Duhe – 1B Joe Washington – C Ayon – SS T. Taylor – P Harre
POR: 3B Morales – RF Oley – 1B Kozak – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – LF Tallent – SS Aoki – 2B Gardner – P Riddle

Both teams got a double from their #2 hitter in the first inning, and neither managed to score them to get an early leg up in the game that would decide the season series. The Coons had a hit in each of the three innings without scoring, while the Falcons got 2-out knocks from Healey and Duhe in the fourth, then stranded them on the corners when Washington grounded out to Aoki. Jack Kozak then socked his 18th homer of the season to lead off the fourth. Maldonado walked and stole second base before scoring on an Arellano single past Duhe, 2-0, before the 6-7-8 batters were convenient outs.

The game trundled along the next couple innings before the Falcons put their first two bodies on base in the seventh. Danny Ayon hit a comebacker to Riddle after that, and the Coons pitcher pounced and threw the ball to third base to get the lead runner Duhe out. Trent Taylor grounded into a fielder’s choice and the Falcons hung on to Harre for some reason for the inning-concluding strikeout. Harre then walked Aoki to begin the bottom 7th, although he was forced out by Gardner, giving Monck a day off ahead of an 8-game week, before Starr batted for Riddle. The hamstring-addled first-sacker slapped a ball through Joe Washington for a single. Gardner raced for third base, and Cody Padgett threw the ball away, allowing Gardner to dash around to score and Starr to gingerly slide his body up to second base, from where Campos ran for him. From there, Morales walked, Monck batted for Oley and flew out to deep center, and Kozak singled home a run, 4-0, before Maldonado grounded out.

Harmer made his first appearance for the Raccoons in almost a decade in the eighth and allowed singles to Fountain and Healey, although Fountain managed to run the Falcons out of the inning. Harmer allowed a single to Duhe to begin the ninth before yielding for Mike Hall, who got a double play and the sweep into the books. 4-0 Coons. Oley 2-3, 2B; Kozak 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Starr (PH) 1-1; Riddle 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, W (11-8);

In other news

July 30 – The Titans acquire SP Joe Chalmers (7-10, 4.51 ERA) from the Bayhawks for the price of three prospects.
July 30 – The Scorpions trade veteran SP Bobby “Tipsy” Herrera (6-13, 3.89 ERA) to the Loggers for four prospects. This package includes #66 CL Ben Dickson and #83 C Omar Lopez.
July 31 – Bayhawks 2B/LF Armando Montoya (.325, 9 HR, 27 RBI) finds his 2,000th career hit (and then two more) in a 5-3 win against the Titans. The milestone is a 2-run single off BOS SP Will Glaude (6-9, 4.41 ERA).
August 1 – DEN OF William Ortiz (.222, 4 HR, 26 RBI) will miss the rest of the season with a broken ankle.
August 2 – DAL SP Ray “Crabman” Walker (16-3, 2.50 ERA) will miss the rest of the month with a strained forearm.

FL Player of the Week: PIT 1B Mike Velazquez (.306, 11 HR, 41 RBI), hitting .375 (9-24) with 3 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS OF Steve Humphries (.308, 12 HR, 65 RBI), batting .500 (13-26) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL RF/LF Roberto Almanza (.305, 0 HR, 61 RBI), clipping .396 with 26 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: NYC 1B Belchior Fresco (.329, 5 HR, 22 RBI), hitting .326 with 5 HR, 23 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: LAP SP Francisco Tello (7-5, 3.09 ERA), going 4-1 with a 1.40 ERA, 28 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: OCT SP Aaron Harris (9-6, 2.73 ERA), an unbeaten 4-0 with 0.79 ERA, 28 K
FL Rookie of the Month: RIC LF/RF/1B Brady Terrell (.331, 5 HR, 36 RBI), batting .330 with 3 HR, 19 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: VAN INF/RF Carlos Castro (.310, 2 HR, 16 RBI), batting .333 with 2 HR, 15 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Our deadline activity was probably not typical for a team two games behind and with various needs, but we lacked the sort of prospects that I was willing to part with to make impact moves. Always hesitant to let go of 20-year-old AAA outfielders (Malcolm Spicer) for a quick fix. And no, I am not entirely sure that Harmer and Cruzado – the latter of whom had yet to get the ball while wearing a brown hat – were gonna fix *anything*.

The Raccoons almost brought back Trent Brassfield, who was on the trading block from the Capitals. However, at this point he was making $3.5M a year and hitting league average, and that wasn’t exactly what I imagined in getting over the hump. So yeah, I was tempted, but for once I was smarter than that.

(Cristiano gives the blunderbuss back to Maud, now that the trade deadline has passed)

On the injury front, Joel Starr is expected to be back in the lineup on Monday, although his hamstring bothers me. Jose Corral started a brief rehab assignment in AAA on Saturday and will return by the middle of the week. Bruce Burkart will be a bit further behind and might not return until the week after next.

The next two weeks will be rough regardless with 14 games on the road, including a 5-game, extended weekend set in Elk City right after our next series in Tijuana. Indy and Sacramento were also part of that travel itinerary.

Fun Fact: 33-year-old Armando Montoya has spent his entire career with the Bayhawks and hurting the Raccoons.

The Dominican right-handed batter won Rookie of the Year honors in 2053 and since then a championship, six Platinum Sticks, and four All Star nominations. He has led the league in hits, doubles, triples, and RBI at various points while regularly hitting 20+ home runs without ever taking the CL home run crown. Overall he was hitting .289/.345/.488 with 267 homers and 1,153 RBI alongside 206 stolen bases.

Montoya never missed more than 14 games in his first nine years as a major league, but since then has been down for 38, 29, and this year already 60 games.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (56-48) @ Condors (55-49) – August 4-6, 2064

The season series was even at three and waiting to be decided between these two teams. The Condors were just behind the leaders in the South and needed the wins just like the Raccoons. Tijuana sat sixth in runs scored and second in runs allowed, but the rotation was doing all the heavy lifting there; their bullpen ERA was actually the worst in the CL at 4.25. Willie Acosta was a key player on the DL for them.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (8-6, 4.18 ERA) vs. Ryan Singletary (3-1, 2.70 ERA)
Angel Alba (6-9, 4.69 ERA) vs. Marco Clemente (7-10, 3.92 ERA)
Jarod Morris (6-4, 3.34 ERA) vs. Brett Bebout (11-5, 2.87 ERA)

The Condors would cart up only right-handers here. The Raccoons in turn had not only this series to worry about, but also the following 5-game set against the damn Elks, which would start with a double header on Thursday.

The week also started with a day off for Victor Morales.

Game 1
POR: SS Aoki – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – 3B Novelo – RF Tallent – C Lawson – P Fox
TIJ: 1B L. Jimenez – 3B Frasher – C Brann – LF Kaniewski – RF Ewig – SS C. Ramsey – CF Alf. Mendez – 2B Cross – P Singletary

Chance Fox came off a good outing, but ran right into a 3-run smacking in the second inning as John Kaniewski opened the inning with a single and Fox then issued a walk to Matt Ewig. Casey Ramsey right away doubled home the runners and then scored on a groundout later in the inning to give the Condors a sizable lead. Portland would answer with two runs on straight singles of the 4-5-6-7 batters in the fourth inning, but the Condors then walked Lawson intentionally and Fox whiffed and Aoki flew out to center to leave a full set of runners on base. Ramsey hit a single off Fox in the bottom 4th, but was picked off first base by him to end the inning. So things looked like they could still swing either way, but after two calm innings Fox blundered again in the seventh, allowed another hit to Ramsey, and then was taken deep to left by Alf Mendez to decide the game. That was before Ryan Harmer (…) was demolished for three tack-on runs in the eighth and required rescue by Mike Hall. 8-2 Condors. Monck 2-4; Tallent 2-4, 2 RBI;

Alex Cruzado pitched two outs as the first Critter out of the pen in the seventh inning, which was his first action in the brown shirt. He was murmured to make the spot start on Thursday.

Game 2
POR: 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – SS Novelo – RF Oley – P Alba
TIJ: RF Ewig – 2B Churricho – C Brann – 1B Metz – SS C. Ramsey – LF Kaniewski – 3B Frasher – CF Alf. Mendez – P M. Clemente

Monck hit a leadoff single and Arellano walked before Maldonado’s 4-6-3 put a dent into the second inning on Tuesday. Pablo Novelo salvaged what was still left with a 2-out, 2-run homer to left and the first runs in the ballgame. Monck however left Morales and Kozak in scoring position in the third inning with the second of two consecutive groundouts between him and Joel Starr. The offensive indiscretions continued with leadoff hits by Arellano and Maldonado in the fourth, but then a double play hit into by Novelo. Todd Oley was walked intentionally before Alba chipped a 2-out single through the left side to get Arellano home for an extra run. Morales’ grounder to short was then butchered by Ramsey, loading the bases with the error, and Kozak didn’t wait around and knocked out Clemente with a firmly hit 2-run single to left-center. Replacement Vince Ellison struck out Starr to keep two Coons on base, but Starr hit an RBI double to score Morales his next time up in the sixth inning before being driven in himself by Rich Monck, which gave the Raccoons a 7-0 lead.

And Alba? Pretty good for five innings, and then he bungled things pretty good in the sixth with walks to reliever Amari Walker, Matt Ewig, and Andy Metz; in between Querubim Churricho had singled home the reliever, 7-1, but on the other paw the three outs Alba got were all strikeouts, including Ramsey, who had gone unretired on Monday, with the bases loaded to end the inning. The inning still did unspeakable damage to a so far respectable pitch count, and it got no better in the bottom 7th, when he allowed a walk to John Kaniewski, a single to Eric Frasher, and then walked Leonardo Jimenez to fill the bags with one out before being replaced with McDaniel, who true to form walked in a run against Ewig. Churricho plated another run grounding out to Monck, and when Jesse Dover replaced McDaniel, he gave up a 3-run homer to Mike Brann… ******* dimwits.

Vic Morales answered with a jack off Nick Robinson in the eighth to extend the decimated lead again to 8-6, then made an error behind Dover in the bottom of the inning which more capable infielders then thankfully managed to iron out with a 4-6-3 double play behind the foundering rookie right-hander, who at least managed to hand the game off to McGinley for a save and a re-leveled season series. 8-6 Raccoons. Morales 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Monck 3-5, RBI; Arellano 2-4, BB, 2B; Maldonado 2-5; Novelo 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

Roster moves were made for the series finale. While Bruce Burkart would start a rehab assignment in AAA, Jose Corral would be activated from such an assignment. Marco Campos (.160, 0 HR, 6 RBI) had to vacate his roster spot. Kozak got a day off ahead of the double header.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – SS Novelo – LF Oley – P Morris
TIJ: RF Ewig – 2B Churricho – C Brann – 1B Metz – SS C. Ramsey – 3B Frasher – LF S. Moore – CF Alf. Mendez – P Bebout

The Coons began like a fire engine with a Corral triple, Morales’ RBI double, and then hit the emergency brake as Starr grounded out and Monck flew out to center, Alf Mendez hammering out Morales at home to prevent the sac fly and end the inning after just one run was scored. We found another oddball double play just two innings later when Oley was on first and Morris couldn’t get the bloody bunt down. At 0-2, Oley started, but was thrown out by Brann after Morris looked at strike three. Until then, Morris had at least pitched well, but Ewig tied the game with a solo homer in the bottom 3rd, and Morris put Ramsey and Frasher on the corners with one out in the fourth before plating one run with a wild pitch and the other on Alf Mendez’ double.

Monck doubled home Starr in the sixth to shorten the gap to 3-2, and the Raccoons threatened again in the seventh inning. Elmer Maldonado knocked out Bebout with a single, and Oley reached base against Matt Nelson, hitting another single. Maldonado’s bid for third base drew a meek throw from Ewig and allowed Oley to also reach scoring position with one out. Morris grounded to third base for an easy out, which didn’t help us with anything, but Jose Corral came through with a sharp 2-out, 2-run, score-flipping single to left-center…!

Morris held out for another inning, but Carrillo then saw it necessary to blow the lead by putting a ball on a stick for Frasher, who promptly hit a moonshot in the eighth to even the score at four. Only Jack Kozak reached with a pinch-hit single against Jose Lugo in the ninth inning, and was then caught stealing. Hall held out in the bottom 9th to get the game to extras, which was just dandy ahead of a double-header, and there Lugo brittled and allowed the Coons’ 1-2-3 batters on base without seeing somebody being retired. That brought up Monck in the hardest of all spots (three on, nobody out), and when he swung at a 3-0 pitch I screamed in terror, but he singled up the middle and drove in a run to break the tie. Arellano whiffed, another run scored on a wild pitch, but that was all the hitting prowess the Raccoons ended up mustering. Hall remained in the game for the bottom 10th, and ended the game… after a pair of 2-out singles by Casey Burgio and Moore before Alf Mendez grounded out. 6-4 Critters. Corral 3-4, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Morales 3-5, 2B, RBI; Starr 3-5; Monck 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Kozak (PH) 1-1; Morris 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K; Hall 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-0);

Raccoons (58-49) @ Canadiens (48-58) – August 7-10, 2064

Ugh, five games in Elk City! Honeypaws – do something! Honeypaws kept looking fluffy, and the Raccoons were far north of the border while I was back in Portland as persona non grata on moose soil. The Elks were bottoms in the North, were in the bottom four in runs scored and runs allowed, but held a 4-2 edge in the season series that direly needed overturning. Their only injuries were short-term ailments to Steven Spalding and Pat Fowler, the latter of whom was day-to-day with an abdominal complaint after having been acquired in a waiver deal from L.A. just on Monday.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (13-4, 3.60 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (6-9, 4.60 ERA)
Alex Cruzado (5-0, 3.20 ERA) vs. Carlos Torres (5-11, 6.15 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (11-8, 2.85 ERA) vs. Johnny Doolin (12-7, 4.00 ERA)
Chance Fox (8-7, 4.33 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (9-6, 3.58 ERA)
Angel Alba (7-9, 4.74 ERA) vs. Carson Miller (7-11, 4.02 ERA)

The only left-hander in the set was Fitzgibbon, barring any switcheroos.

The Coons had a pair of innings gobblers in reserve in Elk City, should anything stupid happen in the first game especially of the double header. Sensabaugh and Vic Herrera had made the trip north from Florida. Bruce Burkart was not up for discussion at this point and probably would only rejoin the team in the new week.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – CF E. Maldonado – SS Aoki – C Lawson – P Elling
VAN: 3B C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – LF Whetstine – RF B. Campbell – 1B P. Fowler – SS Sowell – C A. Maldonado – P Nielsen

Morales hit a double in the first and was thrown out trying to make it a triple, then threw away Rick Atkins’ grounder for a 2-base error in the bottom of the same inning. Chad Whetstine pounced with an RBI single for an unearned first run of the game…

It only got better from there, with the Pacific Northwest weather interfering for an hourlong rain delay in the third inning – cue back to my remark about “anything stupid” – and Kozak hitting a single and stealing second base in the fourth inning only to be thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a Monck single. The Raccoons would scatter more runners here and there and managed to waste eight base hits for no runs in six innings, while the damn Elks still held their unearned 1-0 lead on three hits. Alex Castillo and Brent Campbell then hit singles off Elling in the bottom 6th before abdominally-challenged Pat Fowler socked a 3-run homer to right. The Elks slapped another run out of Elling in the seventh before Dover had to dig him out. Dover got the final five outs needed from the Elks in this game while the Raccoons only made it onto the board in the final inning when Joel Starr hit a solo shot off ex-Coon Ryan Sullivan that offered little consolation. 5-1 Canadiens. Corral 2-4, 2B; Kozak 2-4; Starr 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI;

No roster moves were made between games in the end, indicating that also no players suffered a grisly death at the paws of a fuming GM. Said fuming GM of course sat 300 miles away and had to try and contain himself while petting Honeypaws.

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – CF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – LF Oley – 3B Novelo – SS Gardner – P Cruzado
VAN: 3B C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – LF Whetstine – RF B. Campbell – 1B P. Fowler – SS Sowell – C Varner – P C. Torres

Cruzado had not made a start all year, but looked like a million bucks the first time through, getting four strikeouts for one base hit from the damn Elks. Not a lead, of course, because that would require the rest of the team to do something. The Elks also still had hooves to kick with and in the fourth got Rick Atkins and Chad Whetstine on base to begin the inning. Now Cruzado couldn’t cope, and a run scored on Campbell’s groundout. Fowler drew a 1-out walk, but Ken Sowell and Steve Varner made weak outs to end the inning at least.

But the Coons had only two hits in five innings, and couldn’t score when Corral tripled in the sixth inning, either. Kozak whiffed and Starr popped out to pass on the opportunity, and instead the damn Elks put the game away in the bottom of the sixth, shredding Cruzado for three runs before he was yanked. Atkins led off with a jack, 2-0, before Whetstine flew out. A walk to Campbell, Fowler and Sowell singles, and a Varner double plated three runs. Torres struck out before McDaniel got a fly out from Carlos Castro to end the bloody inning.

The game looked over, with no flick of the tail, let alone a bat, from the Coons in the seventh and eighth innings. Torres completed seven shutout innings despite entering with a 6+ ERA, while the Raccoons were up against Sullivan again in the ninth inning. Kozak drew a four-pitch walk leading off but was immediately doubled off by Starr, 6-4-3. Monck then singled and so did Morales batting for Arellano, which prompted another pitching change to another former Critter, Elijah LaBat. He walked another pinch-hitter, Randy Tallent, loading the bases and bringing up the tying run in Novelo… who struck out. 4-0 Canadiens. Monck 2-4; Morales (PH) 1-1;

Awful! Just awful!

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – CF Tallent – SS Aoki – C Lawson – P Riddle
VAN: 3B C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – RF B. Campbell – SS Sowell – C Varner – LF Lozada – 1B P. Fowler – P Doolin

On Friday, Johnny Doolin got a 1-0 lead on an Atkins homer in the first inning, and 14 outs from 14 Critters before Randy Tallent hit a single with two outs in the fifth to show that we were technically still playing and nominally at least trying. Nothing came of that single, but the Raccoons out of the blue flipped the score in the sixth when Riddle singled and Corral struck a homer to right. The Elks meanwhile had not seen a base hit for themselves since the Atkins homer, mostly making easy outs against Riddle. Alex Castillo then broke the drought with a 2-out single in the sixth, but was left on when Atkins grounded out. However, Brent Campbell raked a game-tying homer to left to begin the seventh, and that was that. (unscrews bottle of Capt’n Coma)

The Coons had nothing in the eighth, while Hall struck out a pair before plonking down Castro and Castillo on the corners. Carrillo came in to counter Atkins, and Morales snagged a liner to end the inning, then led off the ninth with a screaming single against LaBat. Kozak doubled to right, presenting Monck with a prime scoring opportunity. He popped out to short on the first pitch, and I buried my face in my paws and howled. However, Starr singled home Morales to break the tie, and Tallent added Kozak’s run with a sac fly. Aoki reached with an infield single against Duarte Damasceno (I was starting to see why they were in last place), but Lawson grounded out to end the inning. The extra run proved crucial because Campbell hit a leadoff triple off McGinley in the bottom 9th and was brought in by Sowell, but the Elks fizzled out with two strikeouts after that. 4-3 Raccoons. Morales 2-4; Riddle 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K and 1-2;

Finally, a W against the ******* Elks!!

Game 4
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – 1B Starr – RF Tallent – CF E. Maldonado – P Fox
VAN: 3B C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – LF Whetstine – SS Sowell – C Varner – RF Lozada – 1B K. Graves – P Fitzgibbon

Fox got a 2-0 lead before he took the ball, as Morales singled, Kozak slapped an RBI double to center, and then scored on a Monck RBI single in the top 1st. The Raccoons’ tosser of the day managed to blow the lead on two walks and a game-tying triple on just nine pitches, and Atkins also didn’t remain on base, but scored on a Sowell single to give the Elks the 3-2 lead. – Maud, I will need a basket of muffins. Now. Either that or a good piece of rope.

The Coons pulled even in the top 2nd with Tallent’s leadoff triple and a Maldonado single. With two outs in the inning, Novelo singled home Maldonado to even take a new 4-3 lead, but that also didn’t last long. Whetstine socked a score-flipping homer in the bottom 3rd, with Rick Atkins having reached on a third strike not caught by Arellano… Fox would not get out of the fourth inning, putting another two runners on base that were then cluelessly waved around by Carrillo allowing two more singles to let the damn Elks get up 7-4.

The Coons wasted two singles in the fifth before Jose Corral entered in a double switch with McDaniel in the bottom 5th, then powered a solo homer off Fitzgibbon in the sixth to narrow the gap to two runs again. The seventh was treacherously calm before Joel Starr bombed “DD” Damasceno leading off the eighth, 7-6. Joe Gardner – in for Monck after more double switching, which might yet come back to bite us in the fuzzy tush – grounded out, but the Coons then got runners in odd ways as DD nailed Maldonado, who stole second, and then Corral reached on catcher’s interference whilst missing an 0-2 pitch. WHATEVER WORKS. The damn Elks went to Raffy de la Cruz – was ALL their bullpen Raccoons flameouts?? – against whom Morales grounded out, moving the runners into scoring position. Aoki batted for Novelo, but struck out, and the inning ended….

The Elks pulled out an insurance run against Ryan Harmer, who went two innings in garbage relief for Fox, so the Coons were back at two down in the ninth inning against Sullivan, and with no Rich Monck coming up to bat anymore. Sullivan walked Kozak to begin the inning, but the best we could do to bat for Harmer was Todd Oley, who singled past Sowell to put his tush on base with the tying run. Arellano’s grounder to third advanced the pair, and Joel Starr ran a full count before shoving a ball through between Fowler and Castillo for a single. One run in, two runs in, tied ballgame! Gardner made a useless out before Starr stole second base and Steve Slye nailed Maldonado. Corral flew out to Lozada, though. Instead Ken Sowell took Mike Hall deep in the bottom 9th to decide the game. 9-8 Canadiens. Oley (PH) 1-1; Starr 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Tallent 2-3, 3B; Corral 1-2, HR, RBI;

Rats.

Game 5
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Arellano – SS Aoki – CF E. Maldonado – P Alba
VAN: 3B C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – LF Whetstine – 1B P. Fowler – SS Sowell – RF C. Richardson – C A. Maldonado – P C. Miller

Corral singled and Kozak and Monck walked before Starr killed the effort with a double play grounder to Castro, and the Raccoons didn’t score in the first inning on Sunday, but they scratched one out in the second on Arellano and Aoki singled and an Alba sac fly. Morales’ leadoff double and a Monck single made it 2-0 with one out in the third, while Alba doled out two hits and two walks in the first three innings, but didn’t allow any runs to score so far. Alba was next up at the dish after Elmer Maldonado got on base with a soft single to begin the fourth inning. His bunt was thrown away by Alex Maldonado, and the Coons had a pair in scoring position with nobody out. Only one of the unearned runs came in on Corral’s groundout before Morales lined out to a diving Sowell and Kozak grounded out. The bags were full in the fifth after Carson Miller issued walks to Starr and Arellano, then conceded a single to Yukio Aoki. However, Maldonado lined out to Fowler, and Alba flew out easily. Through five innings, the Critters left TEN runners on base…

They added two more seamlessly in the sixth, but at least Alba had the Elks under control through the middle innings. They were on three hits and three walks now, but his pitch count was nearing a hundred rather rapidly thanks to seven strikeouts. He kept going into the seventh, but Alex Maldonado and Castro hit singles and he was gone with two outs as Thomas Whittington pinch-hit for Castillo and the Coons actually preferred McDaniel to face somebody. He walked Whittington on four pitches (…), but Atkins then popped out on the very next pitch to strand a full set. At this point, both teams combined for 20 stranded base runners in a 3-0 game.

The Elks added two more to the tally in the eighth as Fowler and Sowell hit 1-out knocks off McDaniel, but Chris Richardson’s pop and a K to Alex Maldonado kept the runners on base this time. Starr singled in the ninth and was left on of course, while McGinley offered a leadoff walk to Kenny Graves in the bottom 9th, struck out two, was taken deep by Atkins, and then rung up Campbell to finally end the series. 3-2 Critters. Morales 2-5, 2B; Arellano 2-4, BB; Aoki 2-4; Alba 6.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K, W (8-9);

In other news

August 4 – In a waiver deal, the Canadiens send 3B/SS Stephen Medlock (.164, 0 HR, 4 RBI) to the Pacifics for 1B Pat Fowler (.309, 1 HR, 10 RBI). L.A. also receives a prospect.
August 5 – 22-year-old PIT 3B/SS Brian Robinson (.285, 4 HR, 45 RBI) has a 5-hit day with a homer, four singles, and two RBI in a 6-2 win in the second leg of a double header against Los Angeles. Pittsburgh wins both games, and Robinson goes a grand total of 7-for-8.
August 7 – Dallas super-Star CF Tyler Wharton (.362, 22 HR, 96 RBI) will miss a month at the minimum with a torn meniscus after stepping into a hole in the Warriors’ outfield on a defensive play. To add insult to injury, the Stars lose the game, 6-1.
August 8 – The Crusaders beat the Loggers, 6-5 in 16 innings, which is nothing compared to the Aces’ 14-11 win against the Condors in 18 innings. In both games, both teams score a run two innings prior to the actual conclusion of the game. LVA INF Mike Roberts (.244, 2 HR, 34 RBI) draws six walks while going 1-4 with a double.
August 9 – The Pacifics beat the Wolves, 12-5, on account of an 11-run third inning.
August 10 – Cincy catcher Josh Heath (.267, 5 HR, 37 RBI) puts out five hits, including three doubles, and two RBI in a 7-6 win over the Buffaloes.

FL Player of the Week: PIT 3B/SS Brian Robinson (.286, 4 HR, 48 RBI), pushing .464 (13-28) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR INF/RF Victor Morales (.295, 5 HR, 44 RBI), clipping .433 (13-30) with 1 HR, 2 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Only one homer and two RBI for Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico’s finest, Vic Morales, but he also had four doubles to prop up the slugging. No walks drawn, but just two strikeouts. Let’s just say kid hat a solid week and we can use more of that. Speaking of kids, as of Sunday night him and Robinson combined to be just 45 years and 317 days old.

Doesn’t mean I won’t at some point beat Morales dead with his own glove if he keeps making stupid errors galore, but right now that’s his first Player of the Week award at 23 years and two months.

4-4 week and half a game gained on the Titans – the week could have gone worse in a sea of hopeless relief and terrible clutch hitting for the entire 8-game slate we had to slog through this week.

The road trip will continue right away with three games in Indy, then a day off and three more games in Sacramento. After that we’ll be home for a week with a weekend set against the Titans.

Fun Fact: With 50 games to play, we have six each left with the three other winning teams in the North.

All the season series are standing at 7-5. The Coons are ups on Boston and Milwaukee, but trailing the Arrowheads by that score.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (60-52) @ Indians (58-54) – August 11-13, 2064

The Indians were the one team in the contender circle that were ahead of the Raccoons in the season series, 7-5, and we’d have to play them three times, and their #5 offense and #9 pitching. This still worked out to a +24 run differential (Coons: +35). Pitcher Blake Sparks was the only player on the DL for them.

Projected matchups:
Jarod Morris (6-4, 3.38 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (7-8, 3.23 ERA)
Josh Elling (13-5, 3.69 ERA) vs. Antonio Pichardo (5-6, 5.31 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (11-8, 2.84 ERA) vs. Ramon Carreno (12-4, 3.35 ERA)

We’d get a southpaw to begin the series here, an off day after it, and we got Bruce Burkart back from his rehab assignment. Scott Lawson (.192, 0 HR, 2 RBI) went away, along with Todd Oley (.276, 0 HR, 13 RBI). We’d try Rafael Valencia … again. Burkart did not start the Monday opener, though, because he had caught three days in a row for the Alley Cats.

Game 1
POR: 3B Morales – RF Corral – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – SS Novelo – LF Valencia – CF Tallent – P Morris
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – C Atencio – 1B Starwalt – RF B. Johnston – 2B M. Weber – LF Lovins – SS Cirelli – P DeWitt

Bryan Johnston hurt himself on the first play of the game, taking a plunge to catch a Morales drive to right, and couldn’t get up by himself anymore. Matt McInnis replaced him. The Raccoons left a runner on base in each of the first two innings, then loaded the bases with nobody out in the third inning, which actually started with a Morris single before Morales and Corral joined him on base. DeWitt walked in the game’s first run against Kozak, Monck singled home a run, and after Arellano whiffed, Novelo slapped a double to center for two more runs. Valencia then doubled home the remaining runners with a ball to right-center, instantly tripling the number of RBI’s he had on the year so far. The 6-run beating saw DeWitt pinch-hit for in the bottom 3rd, and then replaced with Ernesto Rios, who was only marginally better in the fourth, allowing a leadoff single to Morales, followed by a Corral double, Kozak’s RBI single, and a sac fly for Monck, which ran the score to 8-0 before the inning fizzled out. The Indians answered with something at least in the bottom 4th, getting a run on hits by Vinny Atencio and Mike Weber, but then it took them until the seventh to score another run when Chris Lovins took Morris over the fence. Morris completed eight fine innings, and Ryan Harmer resisted the urge to harm the scoreline in the ninth inning. 8-2 Raccoons. Morales 2-5; Corral 2-4, BB, 2B; Valencia 2-4, 2 RBI; Morris 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (7-4) and 1-3;

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Burkart – SS Aoki – CF Maldonado – P Elling
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – C Atencio – 1B Starwalt – LF Vaughn – RF Lovins – 2B M. Weber – SS Jim White – P Pichardo

Rich Monck’s wallbanger double made it 1-0 in the first inning, but came after Kozak had hit into a double play after Corral and Morales had begun the game by getting on base with singles. The inning ended with a fly to left by Starr, and the Coons then left Maldonado on base after a 2-out triple in the second before loading the bases with Corral, Kozak, and Starr, but couldn’t get a run across in that third inning either, leading to a leadoff double by Jim White in the bottom 3rd, and two productive groundouts to tie the game.

The fourth saw Maldonado on base and caught stealing, matching a feat earlier achieved by Lovins, but the Coons went up again in the fifth inning when Monck swatted a 2-run homer to right, 3-1. Burkart socked a solo shot in the same inning, and Pichardo was out of the game after five frames, allowing a dozen hits.

Elling then had an inexplicable meltdown in the bottom 6th after controlling the Indians’ lineup well until that point, but a hit for Matt Martin and walks issued to Vinny Atencio and Danny Starwalt loaded the bags with one out. Nick Vaughn got Martin forced out at home on a roller in front of the plate, but Chris Lovins turned a 1-2 pitch around for a double to right-center. Two runs scored, and Vaughn was thrown out at the plate to end the inning, Portland still up 4-3. Elling got another five outs after that before Mike Hall retired Atencio to finish the bottom 8th, while the Raccoons had yet to mount any sort of offense against the Indians’ pen, which had yet to allow a hit against them. Cody Kleidon held them off the base in the ninth, though, so McGinley would have to deliver a save without a couple of eggs laid along the way, but was immediately taken deep by Starwalt to left to blow the ******* lead. Lovins and White would clip singles off him after that, but the Indians couldn’t push the winning run across and the game went to extras instead.

The Coons met Justin DeRose in the tenth and immediately piled on base. Kozak got on and was caught stealing, and then Monck and Starr put out a pair of singles. Monck dashed to third base, beating a throw by Lovins, and Starr advanced in his wake. However, Burkart whiffed and Aoki popped out to Weber, and the runners were stranded. Jesse Dover then got the ball for the bottom 10th. He got two outs, then allowed a single to Atencio. Starwalt then doubled to left, and Atencio somehow managed to work his way around the bases and walked off the Indians – except for Starwalt, who had pulled some thing or other before even reaching second base. 5-4 Indians. Corral 2-5; Kozak 2-4, BB; Monck 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Maldonado 2-4, 3B;

The Indians would call Starwalt’s injury a bruised ankle and that he was day-to-day, but under my breath I grumbled that I hoped it hurt him good…

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Burkart – SS Aoki – CF Maldonado – P Riddle
IND: CF E. Ramirez – RF Lovins – 1B Starwalt – C A. Gomez – LF Vaughn – 3B M. Martin – 2B Jim White – SS Cirelli – P Carreno

Riddle had the hardest hit for the Raccoons the first time through, hitting a double while being ignored by his teammates. At least he didn’t give up any runs – that allowed Joel Starr to grab a 1-0 lead with a homer to right in the fourth. Corral and Kozak had hits in the fifth, but the inning ended with Corral blundering on the bases and getting tagged out after overrunning third base. The score remained 1-0 through six as both teams scattered five hits a side rather inefficiently. Riddle would go seven shutout innings, but that took him 104 pitches and that was more or less as far as you could run him. Carrillo immediately blew the lead by giving up an eighth-inning homer to Alex Gomez, which surprised nobody anymore, and the entire bullpen could expect to get stuffed into a bag and thrown into the Willamette the second the season ended.

This game, too, went to extras as Kleidon and Cruzado exchanged scoreless half-inning in the ninth, but the Raccoons still couldn’t find anything in the tenth inning while Cruzado got one more out before Lovins singled and he walked the bags full with Starwalt and Gomez. McDaniel replaced him, got a pop from Vaughn for the second out of the inning, but then got singled off by Matt Martin and that ended the game… 2-1 Indians. Starr 2-4, HR, RBI; Riddle 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K and 1-3, 2B;

Raccoons (61-54) @ Scorpions (49-66) – August 15-17, 2064

Last stop on the road trip, and maybe we could finally not fumble each and every game. The Stingers had lost four in a row, were third from the bottom in runs scored, and allowing the fifth-most runs, for a -83 run differential. They were missing here pitchers and outfielder Will Buras on the DL, none of which affected by them having no speed, and the worst defense in the league. These teams had not played since 2060, when Sacramento had taken two of three games from the Critters.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (8-7, 4.64 ERA) vs. Ray Rath (3-3, 4.98 ERA)
Angel Alba (8-9, 4.50 ERA) vs. Nick Waldron (3-6, 3.54 ERA)
Jarod Morris (7-4, 3.30 ERA) vs. Phil Nelson (7-7, 4.24 ERA)

Only right-handers to see here. The only lefty Scorpions starter Jorge Quinones was on the DL.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Burkart – SS Aoki – CF Maldonado – P Fox
SAC: SS Gallo – 3B J. Ochoa – C Danis – RF J. de Luna – LF Sheridan – 2B Finnegan – 1B Fusselman – CF K. Hawkins – P Rath

Jose Corral entered the game with a 15-game hitting streak intact and immediately singled to begin proceedings, and then was left on base. Offense would be slow, neither team managing more than three base hits inside five innings, but the Scorpions got a run in the second inning when Kyle Hawkins drove in Justin Finnegan with two outs to go up one-zip.

The Raccoons remained zipped into the sixth inning, but Corral hit a leadoff double to right and finally things started to come together. Morales grounded out, but Kozak walked and Monck hit a game-tying RBI single. That was all though, as J.P. Sheridan robbed Starr and his drive in left-center, and Burkart calmly grounded out. Fox at least maneuvered around a leadoff hit by Javier Ochoa in the bottom 6th, and the Raccoons got a chance when Elmer Maldonado hit a triple off the wall in right-center with one down in the seventh inning. The Scorpions wrapped up Rath and brought left-hander Trevor Littles, who struck out Fox and Corral, stranding the runner.

Fox held up through seven despite singles by Finnegan and Josh Bursley in his last inning, with J.P. Gallo grounding out to Aoki to keep them on base. Top 8th, Victor Ramirez faced the top-ish of the order, and retired Morales before Kozak drew a walk. He was forced out on Monck’s grounder before Starr hit a ball to left-center that was this time far enough away from Sheridan and dropped for a double, but wasn’t good enough for Monck to score. Burkart then made the third out – on the base paths, after hitting a 2-out, 2-run single, and getting involved in a rundown between first and second. Carrillo didn’t manage to blow that 3-1 lead in the eighth inning, but McGinley sure gave it an honest go, allowing a single to Fusselman, a walk to Hawkins, and a 2-out RBI single to PH Greg Solomon before Gallo struck out hacking… 3-2 Coons. Corral 3-4, 2 2B; Starr 2-4, 2 2B; Fox 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (9-7);

That was the fourth straight game in which McGinley allowed a run. Or two.

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Arellano – SS Novelo – CF Maldonado – P Alba
SAC: 3B J. Ochoa – 1B J. McLaughlin – C Danis – SS Gallo – RF J. de Luna – LF Mijangos – 2B Finnegan – CF K. Hawkins – P Waldron

After a calm first inning, the Coons put out singles with Starr, Arellano, Maldonado, and Corral, for RBI’s each on the latter two, before Waldron nailed Morales with two outs to fill the bases up for Kozak, but Kozak struck out on three pitches… That meant Rich Monck started the next inning with a clean slate and his homer to right only counted for one run. That described most of the offensive action for the first five innings, after which the Raccoons were still up 3-0. Alba was scattering runners, but the Scorpions never seemed to gain traction on him.

Both pitchers went seven, with another run going on Waldron’s ledger thanks to Starr singling home Vic Morales in the seventh inning. Monck drew a walk in between them, moving Morales to second base, then committed a throwing error in the bottom of the inning that Alba managed to pitch around. Portland then got two outs from Hall and three more outs from Dover, and then the Scorpions clipped 2-out, ninth-inning singles between Danny Mijangos and Justin Finnegan. McGinley came in and struck out Hawkins to end the ballgame. 4-0 Critters. Corral 2-4, BB, RBI; Valencia (PH) 1-1; Starr 2-4, RBI; Alba 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (9-9);

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Burkart – CF Tallent – SS Gardner – P Morris
SAC: 3B J. Ochoa – 1B J. McLaughlin – C Danis – SS Gallo – RF J. de Luna – 2B Finnegan – LF Bursley – CF K. Hawkins – P P. Nelson

On Sunday, the Raccoons’ first hit was a single by… Joe Gardner, which was apparently a thing that was possible, and it was a leadoff single in the third that eventually led to Morales driving him in with a 2-out single for the game’s first run. The Scorpions had three early hits against Morris, but again couldn’t bunch anything together or the time being.

The middle innings didn’t see any base hits by any side. Hawkins came close to a homer for the Stingers, but that one was caught by Tallent in the deep outfield. Burkart hit a 2-out single in the seventh for the first base hit since Morales brought home Gardner four innings earlier, but he was left on base by Tallent. The Scorpions got another base hit from their pitcher Nelson, but that single also went nowhere while Morris went largely unmolested for eight innings of shutout ball, but threw 100 pitches to make it there. Top 9th, Kozak lined a 1-out double off Tony Torres for some chance at a tack-on run, but Monck hit a pop to shallow left that was – … dropping between Bursley and Gallo as they both tried to get to the ball without getting into the other guy’s underwear. The ball went through Bursley’s legs and rolled for an RBI double, 2-0. The Stingers walked Starr intentionally, and the Raccoons sent Elmer Maldonado to bat for Burkart. Torres was taken over the fence to break the score open well. Harmer then got three groundouts to complete the sweep. 5-0 Furballs! Maldonado (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Morris 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, W (8-4);

Corral went 0-for-3 with being hit by a pitch, which did not keep his 17-game hitting streak alive.

In other news

August 13 – The Pacifics win a double-size game against the Warriors, 4-3 in 18 innings. LAP 2B/SS Oscar Aredondo (.266, 6 HR, 39 RBI) hits a game-winning RBI triple in the 18th inning.
August 13 – Denver walks off on the Stars, 5-3 in 16 innings, on a come-from-behind, 3-run homer by CF/LF Matt Little (.257, 1 HR, 14 RBI) – the first career home run of the 22-year-old rookie.
August 13 – The Blue Sox beat the Capitals, 3-1 in 15 innings.
August 15 – Warriors OF Danny Perez (.263, 7 HR, 37 RBI) will miss the rest of the year after suffering a concussion.
August 15 – A homer by NAS RF Austin Gordon (.342, 26 HR, 82 RBI) beats the Falcons, 1-0.
August 16 – DEN SP Raul Ontiveros (5-10, 4.10 ERA) delivers a 2-hit shutout against the Canadiens, claiming a 6-0 win with nine strikeouts.

FL Player of the Week: DEN SP Raul Ontiveros (5-10, 4.10 ERA), going 2-0 with a 0.53 ERA, 16 K, in 17 innings
CL Player of the Week: OCT LF/RF/2B Bill Ramires (.248, 13 HR, 48 RBI), hitting .440 with 3 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Look who’s in first place! No, I don’t know how that happened either.

The Coons toyed with the thought of bringing up Malcolm Spicer, 20-year-old prospect hitting over .300 in AAA, but then he suffered a shoulder strain this week and would be out for the rest of the month. Still up for a September call-up, though.

We are at home next week, and after a day off on Monday we’ll be hosting the Miners and Titans. That latter series could get spicey.

Fun Fact: 37 years ago today, the Indians’ Chris Sinkhorn pitched a perfect game against the Rebels.

This was the third of five perfect games in league history, and the second of three against the Rebels.

Sinkhorn was in his first year with the Indians back then. He spent most of his career in the CL North, but had longer stints with the Loggers and Elks, but he was six years with the former, five with the latter, and only two with the Indians. However, these days he’s mostly remembered for that perfect game, although he also won the CL Pitcher of the Year award in 2021 as a 25-year-old Logger. That year he also won his only ring. He led his league in wins three times, in ERA twice, and in strikeouts once, but never put that triple crown together.

For his career, Sinkhorn went 184-131 with a 3.50 ERA and four saves. He struck out 2,368 batters across 2,941 innings. As a side hustle, he won three Platinum Sticks, batting .231 with 12 homers for his career.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (64-54) vs. Miners (49-69) – August 19-21, 2064

The Miners were bottoms in the FL East and had lost four in a row. They were 6-10 in August after a 16-10 July (after a 7-20 June). They had the worst rotation in the Federal League, and scored the fourth-fewest runs. They were mediocre to cruddy in most statistics. They had outfielders Kelly Konecny and Randy Hummel on the DL. The Coons had won the last seven series played against the Miners, including 2-1 series wins in each of the last three seasons.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (13-5, 3.68 ERA) vs. Cameron Parks (7-12, 4.66 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (11-8, 2.71 ERA) vs. Andres Lopez (8-8, 4.68 ERA)
Chance Fox (9-7, 4.47 ERA) vs. Dave Robinson (4-11, 4.93 ERA)

Cameron Parks was the only RIGHT-hander in the Miners’ rotation – they had four southpaws assembled otherwise.

Game 1
PIT: SS R. Ortiz – 2B Karch – CF McNamee – C N. Dingman – 3B B. Robinson – LF Ma. Gilmore – 1B M. Velazquez – RF L. Morales – P Parks
POR: RF Corral – 3B V. Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Burkart – SS Aoki – CF Maldonado – P Elling

Kozak hit into a double play in the bottom 1st after Corral and Morales got on base, but Rich Monck scratched out an early run with an RBI double to center. He was left on base by Starr, which happened again two innings later after Monck drove home Vic Morales with a 2-out single to right. Morales had doubled down the rightfield line to get on base.

Up 2-0, the Raccoons appeared to run face first into a chainsaw in the fourth inning. Sean Karch opened with a double to left and Elling lost Kevin McNamee on balls before Nick Dingman’s grounder was thrown away by Morales for his 20th error of the year, and to make it three on base with nobody out. Elling got on-the-hill counseling, then struck out Brian Robinson before Matt Gilmore committed the fatal error to ground not to Morales, but Yukio Aoki, who turned an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. Elling then went on to strike out five in a row in the fifth and sixth innings before McNamee managed to make contact and pop out to short. In turn, Portland got a third run in the sixth inning, and again Monck was involved, although this time Elmer Maldonado drove him in with a 2-out single.

All was well through seven innings before Elling went into the eighth. Luis Morales hit a single, and then Burkart threw away Parks’ grounder for two bases. Elling plated the runners with a wild pitch and a Robert Ortiz single, then was yoinked. Dover replaced him, walked Karch, but then got two strikeouts while we hurried McGinley to get ready for the left-handed bunch starting with Robinson, who was then pinch-hit for with Braden McCarver, but that right-handed batter flew out to Corral against McGinley to end the inning and keep the Raccoons ahead by a skinny run. McGinley then got two outs in the ninth before blowing the lead on a 2-out homer by the #8 batter Morales… From there, Juan Betancourt, who we tried to trade for in July, but it just wouldn’t come together, sent the game to extras. Ryan Harmer managed to get harmed in the tenth while Betancourt kept going until Rafael Valencia singled his way on and Kozak hit a 1-out double to move Valencia’s winning run to third base for Monck – who was not pitched to with first base open. Starr came up with the bases loaded instead, fell down 0-2, then was gently brushed by a pitch inside that the Miners bitterly complained he had leaned into. The umpire had dinner reservations, though, and their protests were not heard. 4-3 Critters. Morales 2-4, 2B; Valencia (PH) 1-1; Monck 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Aoki 1-2, 2 BB; Maldonado 2-4, RBI; Elling 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K;

The Miners changed pitching assignments for Wednesday and sent Chris Hale (6-1, 2.08 ERA) in there. That swingman was still left-handed, though.

Game 2
PIT: 2B Karch – 3B B. Robinson – C N. Dingman – SS R. Ortiz – CF McNamee – RF L. Morales – 1B Ma. Gilmore – LF Crumble – P Hale
POR: 3B V. Morales – RF Corral – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – C Burkart – SS Novelo – LF Valencia – CF Tallent – P Riddle

The Coons again went up 1-0 in the first inning, this time thanks to a Corral double, Kozak’s groundout, and then a wild pitch by Hale. Novelo and Valencia doubles produced another run in the fourth inning in an otherwise slowly developing game. The Miners had four hits in the first five innings, never two in one frame, and didn’t get beyond second base against Riddle, who struck out three, but at least didn’t walk anybody. Hale walked Kozak and Monck in the bottom 5th, but the Raccoons couldn’t get a base hit to turn those into runs there.

Riddle lost a bit of cohesion in the following innings and issued a walk each in the sixth and seventh innings, but the Miners still couldn’t gain any traction. Bottom 7th, Matt Maylath was up pitching for the Miners, giving up a leadoff double to Vic Morales. Corral walked, but Kozak whiffed. Monck came through with an RBI single through the left side, extending the lead to 3-0. A walk to Burkart filled the bases, but Novelo popped out and Starr – batting for Valencia – flew out to left, and the Coons left the bases full. Riddle, too, then foundered in the eighth inning; Troy Blake hit a leadoff single from the #9 spot and with two outs Nick Dingman, who had missed a lot of time this year, socked his 19th homer to shorten the score to 3-2 again. The Coons went for Carrillo in a double switch in another bid at a 4-out save, and Robert Ortiz flew out to Corral on the warning track for a tense first one. Carrillo actually got it done, despite a 1-out hit by Danny Guzman in the ninth inning. Gilmore grounded out and Mike Velazquez flew out to Tallent in shallow center to end the game. 3-2 Coons. Monck 2-3, BB, RBI; Riddle 7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (12-8);

Game 3
PIT: 2B Karch – 3B B. Robinson – C N. Dingman – SS R. Ortiz – CF McNamee – RF L. Morales – 1B M. Velazquez – LF D. Guzman – P An. Lopez
POR: 3B V. Morales – RF Corral – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – SS Novelo – LF Valencia – CF Tallent – P Fox

No early offense from the Portlanders on Thursday, but the Miners had something going after McNamee was hit with an 0-2 pitch by Fox to begin the second inning. Morales worked a walk, but the bottom of the order choked and went down without much fuss. The game sputtered along, with only one base hit in four innings for the Coons, but the Miners weren’t doing better either until Danny Guzman hit a homer to left in the fifth inning to put the Miners up 1-0. They went to 2-0 in the seventh on pinch-hit knocks by Malik Crumble and Roland Hood, while the Raccoons were still stuck. Fox pitched eight solid, but luckless innings, conceding two runs on four base hits, and was hit for with Aoki to begin the bottom 8th, but the Coons again went in order against reliever Mark Fitzthum. Mike Hall had a scoreless ninth, and Ryan Croft turned the Coons’ 1-2-3 batters away without trouble after that. 2-0 Miners. Fox 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, L (9-8);

Raccoons (66-55) vs. Titans (67-55) – August 22-24, 2064

The Titans swept the Buffos during the week and thus regained first place by half a game, meaning that whoever won this series would lead the division on Sunday night (with Indy and the Loggers too far behind to challenge right now). The Titans brought the #1 offense and the #1 pitching in the league. They had a strong defense, the best rotation by ERA, and hit the most homers, along with the highest OBP in the CL. The Raccoons … had a 7-5 lead in the season series. Ex-Coon Nick Nye had broken his kneecap this week and was out for the season; he was the only DL occupant on the Titans right now.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (9-9, 4.28 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (7-10, 4.76 ERA)
Jarod Morris (8-4, 3.09 ERA) vs. Mike Bell (15-5, 2.49 ERA)
Josh Elling (13-5, 3.58 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (10-5, 1.72 ERA)

Only right-handers lined up for Boston here.

Game 1
BOS: LF S. Humphries – SS J. Watson – C Arviso – CF Marcotte – 1B Joyner – 3B D. Mendoza – RF A. Lee – 2B Spehar – P Glaude
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Burkart – SS Aoki – CF Maldonado – P Alba

Right away, the Titans were whacking Alba, who gave up doubles to Steve Humphries and Jonathan Watson before nicking Jorge Arviso and walking Eddie Marcotte. Bill Joyner popped out, but Diego Mendoza made it 2-0 with a sac fly before Andy Lee whiffed. Humphries hit another 2-out double in the second inning, but was left alone with that, and Alba then ran up the strikeouts a bit, ringing up six Titans by the end of the fourth inning. Some offensive assistance, maybe? The Coons didn’t look like a whole lot for four innings, however, scattering the odd single without much effect, until Bruce Burkart led off the bottom 5th with a double to left. Aoki singled softly, putting the tying runs on the corners. A strikeout to Maldonado and Alba hitting into a double play took care of the threat, though…

Kozak found another double play to hit into in the sixth, and the Raccoons never scored as long as Alba pitched, which turned out to be six and two thirds. Diego Mendoza got him for a leadoff home run in the seventh, and Ryan Spehar also got on base with another hit before being plated when Steve Humphries strung a 2-out single off Alex Cruzado. Glaude kept the Coons under control, even when Novelo and Corral hit soft 2-out singles in the eighth inning. Morales flew out to Humphries, who didn’t have to move very far for that ball, and that took care of the mild threat. Instead, Ryan Harmer hit Andy Lee in the wrist in the ninth inning, forcing him out of the game in favor of Yoslan Valdez, and then went under for three innings, two earned thanks to an uncaught third strike charged to Burkart. The Coons scored a tired run in the ninth inning that wasn’t gonna get them bloody anywhere… 7-1 Titans. Corral 2-4; Morales 2-4; Aoki 2-4, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-1;

Oh well. Turns out the #1 pitching staff and a slumbering offense are not a great match. For the slumbering offense.

Game 2
BOS: LF S. Humphries – SS J. Watson – C Arviso – CF Marcotte – 1B Joyner – 3B D. Mendoza – RF A. Lee – 2B Spehar – P M. Bell
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Novelo – P Morris

Morris allowed a single and a walk in the first, then the same plus a hit batter and with nobody out in the second inning. Right then, the pitcher Bell came up and dropped a ball right in front of the plate that was an easy out at home on Mendoza, but the Coons could not turn two on Humphries’ grounder to third base, and the Titans went up 1-0 on that one before Jonathan Watson popped out to Monck. Eddie Marcotte clobbered his 23rd homer of the season to extend that score to 2-0 in the third inning, but Rich Monck finally answered with a homer of his own one inning later, socking a 2-piece to right to get the teams even again. Morales had singled his way on ahead of him, and both teams only had three hits through four frames.

Morris lasted six innings before being evacuated after 92 pitches. The last four batters he faced, from Marcotte through to Spehar all hit long fly balls, which were all shagged by the outfielders, but he was a go-ahead homer waiting to happen. The Coons instead tried to go ahead in the bottom 6th; Morales hit a triple to right-center with one out, but was thrown out at the plate by Andy Lee on Kozak’s fly to him, which ended the inning. Jesse Dover struck out the side in the top 7th, while Bell allowed a hit to Burkart with two outs in the bottom 7th before being taken over the fence by Elmer Maldonado, 4-2! Novelo and Valencia scratched out singles after that, but Corral’s sharp grounder was speared by Diego Mendoza and the inning ended.

The Titans in the eighth inning got the tying runs to the corners against McDaniel as Marcotte and Joyner threatened the scoreline. But when Dave Blackshire batted for Lee with two gone, the Raccoons sent Carrillo as a counter, and Carrillo prevailed by getting a pop to Kozak in shallow left, which ended the inning. Bell went eight, while the Raccoons tried their luck with McGinley again. The Titans opened with an infield single for Spehar in the ninth inning, which made me immediately reach for the Capt’n Coma, even more so when Humphries then legged out ANOTHER infield single with one out. Sandy Moreno singled home a run, with the tying run going to second base. Arviso struck out, and Marcotte ran a full count before – striking out as well. 4-3 Critters. Morales 3-4, 3B; Valencia (PH) 1-1;

Out of the blue, the Titans then swapped the middle infielder Ryan Spehar (.289, 4 HR, 30 RBI) to the Crusaders in a waiver deal. They got back another middle infielder in Marcos Onelas (.187, 3 HR, 30 RBI) and a catching prospect.

Game 3
BOS: LF S. Humphries – SS J. Watson – C Arviso – CF Marcotte – 1B Joyner – 3B D. Mendoza – RF A. Lee – 2B Onelas – P Brenize
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – SS Aoki – P Elling

Beating Brenize was hard enough, but Elling going up there and throwing four 3-ball counts in the rubber game, with all four batters either reaching on a hit (Humphries) or a walk (Watson, Marcotte, Mendoza) was not ******* helping with ******* anything. Mendoza’s walk pushed home the game’s first run before Andy Lee flew out to Kozak. Starting with the new arrival Onelas, the Titans then ****** Elling to bits for five singles and two runs in the second inning. Elling sucked so hard, he didn’t make it out of the THIRD inning, getting yanked after Onelas singled again and Humphries drew another ******* walk with two outs. Cruzado replaced him, struck out Jonathan Watson, except that Arellano couldn’t keep clamps on that ******* ball either, and another Titan reached on an uncaught third strike. I marked an L in the pocket schedule, then buried my face in the cushions, even though Arviso struck out to leave the bases loaded. Cruzado then lost two Titans to walks and gave up a 3-run homer to Lee in the fourth inning, by which point the game was pretty much a dead horse.

Rich Monck hit a solo homer to right in the bottom 4th to put the Raccoons on the board with all of two hits and two walks against Brenize, now down 6-1. That was the only run the Raccoons would get against Brenize, who went eight innings comfortably, allowing just four total hits to the Critters. We got seven outs in the worst way from Cruzado, then two innings each from Hall and Harmer, the latter of whom tried to explode the score further as best as he could, but despite being issued four walks by him across two frames, the Titans were content with the half-dozen runs they already had. Tyler Gleason did the rest. 6-1 Titans. Monck 3-4, HR, RBI; Hall 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

In other news

August 18 – Cyclones OF Melvin Avila (.295, 3 HR, 32 RBI) will miss the rest of the year with a concussion.
August 19 – 40-year-old ATL SP Kodai Koga (11-14, 3.54 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against the Scorpions for a 3-0 win, the 225th of his career.
August 19 – Indians catcher Alex Gomez (.227, 11 HR, 60 RBI) will be out for the rest of the season after suffering a partial tear in his labrum.
August 19 – CIN SP Edwin Moreno (7-7, 2.97 ERA) beats the Indians, 1-0, while driving in the game’s only run himself with a sac fly.
August 21 – Denver’s INF/LF Willie de Leon (.307, 3 HR, 39 RBI) chips out six hits, including two doubles, but gets no RBI, in a 6-4 loss to the Warriors that stretches 14 innings. Two of de Leon’s hits come in overtime.
August 21 – TIJ SP Brett Bebout (13-5, 2.91 ERA) will miss not only the rest of this year with a torn rotator cuff, but could also miss most of next season.
August 22 – DEN INF Alex Corpus (.257, 2 HR, 18 RBI) hits a walkoff grand slam in the 11th inning to beat the Warriors, 6-2.
August 22 – The Condors beat the Knights, 1-0 in 11 innings.
August 23 – Another walkoff grand slam in extra innings: this time NAS 3B Nick Phillips (.236, 3 HR, 34 RBI) goes the deed in the tenth inning against the Rebels for a 9-5 victory.

FL Player of the Week: SFW OF Alex Barnes (.264, 18 HR, 63 RBI), batting .364 (12-33) with 4 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR INF Rich Monck (.318, 20 HR, 83 RBI), hitting .500 (11-22) with 2 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

This was Monck’s fourth Player of the Week award this year, and the sixth since he joined the Coons. He got the nod only once as a Cyclone in three full years and a cup of coffee.

Rich Monck at least tried – but the rest of the team was a trial to watch. Wrong time to face a first-place team. And it wasn’t a great time to have faced a last-place team either. The offense was crap this week, there was no denying that, and the pitching made selective bids to get put out the door again. I don’t feel like our teambuilding exercise here is getting any closer to actually producing a potential ring winner.

Jon McGinley especially is leaking left and right – he’s gonna pitch wearing a diaper if he continues like that!

It’s not getting much easier from here. We will have three games with the Loggers in Milwaukee starting on Monday, then a day off before another 6-game homestand against the Baybirds and Aces. The latter series will already be in September.

Yay, roster expansion! More dimwits to cuss and fume about!

Fun Fact: Rich Monck is leading the batting race in the CL again!

He had dropped away quite a bit, but who else has dropped away is Fidel Carrera, no longer qualifying for the honors after a lengthy DL stint. He is however back on his feet now, and still hitting .331, or 13 points better than Monck. Carrera is currently 27 plate appearances shy of qualifying for the batting race again, which he should easily be able to claw back if he stays healthy from here to the end of the season, even though he is batting more in the middle of the order and not on top for the Loggers.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (67-57) @ Loggers (62-62) – August 25-27, 2064

The Loggers had been well in contention until going on an active 5-game losing streak, but I guess that was what the Raccoons were in town for now. They ranked second in runs scored, but also gave up the second-most runs, for a +4 run differential. They had the third-worst rotation and the very worst bullpen in the CL, despite average defending, and the Raccoons tried to hold on to a 7-5 lead in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (12-8, 2.69 ERA) vs. Girolamo Pizzichini (5-6, 4.79 ERA)
Chance Fox (9-8, 4.34 ERA) vs. Larry Colwell (4-3, 3.94 ERA)
Angel Alba (9-10, 4.33 ERA) vs. Tony Espinosa (10-9, 3.84 ERA)

No reunion with Tipsy Bobby, who had pitched on Sunday, but we’d get a southpaw on Wednesday.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Burkart – SS Aoki – CF Tallent – P Riddle
MIL: RF D. Wright – LF C. Ramirez – 1B D. Robles – 2B F. Carrera – 3B D. Miller – C Jack – CF Franks – SS Reber – P Pizzichini

The weather threatened to become an issue on Monday, so the Raccoons went out and took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Kozak doubled home Corral in the first inning. “Pizza” then walked the bags full, but Bruce Burkart grounded into an inning-murdering double play. Both teams would bungle chances in the early innings, and the Loggers ended up not only loading the bases, but also leaving them loaded without scoring in the third inning when J.P. Jack popped out to Rich Monck with Cesar Ramirez, Dave Robles, and Danny Miller all on base. The Raccoons then rapped off straight 1-out singles from Tallent, Riddle (after fail-bunting his way down to 0-2), and Corral in the top 4th. Corral plated Tallent for a 2-0 lead, but Morales grounded out and Kozak struck out in a full count to keep it right there, and the Loggers finally figured out that putting-hits-together thing and got a run of their own in the bottom 4th on hits by Scott Franks and Dave Wright.

Rain then came and went, knocking out the starters after five innings. The sixth was calm, while Kozak and Monck hit singles off Randy Birnbaum in the seventh, but that came with two outs and without Joel Starr continuing the chain. The Raccoons put innings together with McDaniel and Carrillo before the Coons accumulated on base again facing Birnbaum to begin the eighth. Aoki singled, Tallent singled, and then Rafael Valencia showed up, having entered in a double switch in the previous half-inning (Starr was done for the day). Valencia so far had failed his way through 80 at-bats on the season, but now cranked a 3-run homer to left to significantly expand the lead to 5-1. The Loggers replaced Birnbaum with ex-Coon Kevin Hitchcock, who allowed another single to Corral, a gap double to Vic Morales, and then plated another run with a wild pitch at 1-2 to Kozak, who ended up hitting a sac fly, 7-1. Out with Hitchcock and in with Hironobu Hanzawa, the Loggers conceded another run on a Monck single and Burkart’s RBI double strung down the rightfield line. Aoki drew a walk before the inning ended with a fly out by Tallent. The 6-run inning sucked the air out of the Loggers, who went down meekly for their last six outs. 8-1 Raccoons. Corral 3-4, BB, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-1; Arellano (PH) 1-1; Monck 2-4, BB; Starr 2-2, 2 BB; Tallent 3-5; Valencia 1-2, HR, 3 RBI; Riddle 5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (13-8) and 1-1;

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Burkart – SS Aoki – CF Maldonado – P Fox
MIL: RF D. Wright – LF C. Ramirez – 1B D. Robles – 2B F. Carrera – C Guitreau – 3B D. Miller – CF Merrill – SS Reber – P Colwell

The bases were loaded four batters into the the middle game, with a Morales single, Kozak walking, and Monck lucking on base when Fidel Carrera flubbed the throw to Kyle Reber on his grounder to second that might have been two otherwise. Runs ended up scoring on a wild pitch and Starr groundout, making it 2-0 before Chance Fox touched a ball. Morales singled home Maldonado with two outs in the second to extend the lead to 3-0, but Jonathan Merrill conquered Fox for a solo jack in the bottom of the inning to get the Loggers back to 3-1, and they got another run the inning after when Fox walked leadoff man Wright and the Loggers got him around with a grounder and a Robles RBI single. So, no, Chance Fox did not have a good game, not at all, and the Loggers tore him to bits in the fourth inning. He got one more out while getting ****** for five hits and four runs; basically everybody but Colwell raked a line drive that fell somewhere against him, three singles and two doubles, and he was disposed of while I double-facepawed. That was even before Alex Cruzado – the next useless piece of **** in a long string of useless pieces of **** in that cursed bullpen – came in and walked the first three batters he faced. The Loggers got two more runs in total against Cruzado; Tommy Guitreau drew a bases-loaded walk while Danny Miller hit a sac fly to Corral. Merrill’s fly to Maldonado ended a 6-run inning with the Loggers now up 8-3.

The Raccoons sorta crept back into semi-contention by the sixth inning when Colwell blatantly hung one that even Yukio Aoki couldn’t miss and deposited for a 2-run homer to right with Burkart on base, shortening the gap to three runs. Both Kozak and Monck came close to homers the inning after, but both had their drives caught on the warning track for no gains, and then Mike Hall got slapped around for two more runs in the bottom 7th, which pretty much put the hallucinations of a comeback away. Monck did get a homer after all in the ninth inning, but by then the Critters were down to their last out and there wasn’t even anybody on base, so even Monck’s 21st bomb of the year still kept the Raccoons down by a slam. A strikeout to Starr kept them right there. 10-6 Loggers. Morales 3-5, RBI; Maldonado 3-4, 2B;

I am not sure Chance Fox will survive the next offseason…

Game 3
POR: 3B Morales – RF Corral – C Burkart – 2B Monck – 1B Kozak – LF Valencia – SS Novelo – CF Tallent – P Alba
MIL: LF Franks – 1B C. Ramirez – C Guitreau – 2B F. Carrera – 3B D. Miller – RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – SS Reber – P T. Espinosa

Offense was down the first time through either lineup, with Alba in fact going perfectly through the Loggers’ order for the first time, but the Raccoons got hits from Burkart and Kozak to put a pair in scoring position with one out in the fourth. Valencia lined out to Espinosa to prevent an advance, but Pablo Novelo managed to double to the wall in left to drive both runners in before being left on by Tallent. Alba then gave up a leadoff single to Franks, walked Cesar Ramirez right after, and while he got two outs from the 3-4 batters, both Miller and Wright clipped more hits with two outs and brought in the tying runs. Merrill popped out to Morales to keep that pair in scoring position.

The Raccoons reclaimed the lead in the top 5th, which Alba began with a ringing double to right. Morales walked, Corral made a weak out, but Burkart made it 3-2 with a double to left. Monck kept the line moving with an RBI single over a jumping Carrera, and Kozak scored Burkart by grounding out to second. Valencia’s grounder to short kept it at 5-2. It didn’t stay there for long, though. Novelo dropped a pop by Vic Velez in the home half of the fifth, and Alba then served up a pair of 2-out RBI doubles to Ramirez and Guitreau for two unearned runs.

After that excitement the Raccoons tried to claw on to their 5-4 lead through the next couple of innings. Eventually, Monck flew to center to begin the eighth. To pitcher Aiden Shaw’s dismay, Merrill dropped that fly for a 2-base error. Kozak and Valencia hit poor groundouts that didn’t help much at all, but with those two gone, Novelo singled to left to get Monck home for an insurance run, unearned as it was. That was it, though, as Maldonado batted for Tallent, but flew out easily. Carrillo held on to the lead in the bottom 8th, and then it was holding on to dear life again with McGinley in the ninth. He faced the bottom of the order though and the Loggers did not manage to pile on him. J.P. Jack had a pinch-hit single with two outs, but Dave Robles batted for Franks and grounded out to short. 6-4 Coons. Burkart 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Novelo 2-4, 3 RBI; Alba 7.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (10-10) and 1-3, 2B;

Series win, and we left Milwaukee one full game behind the Titans, which became half a game when they lost the finale of their series in New York on Thursday, 3-1.

Raccoons (69-58) vs. Bayhawks (51-74) – August 29-31, 2064

The Baybirds, who had lost four of six games against the Raccoons so far, were bottoms in the South and awaiting the end of the dreadful season. They had the fewest runs scored and the most runs allowed in the CL. For that record, their -135 run differential looked even kind of tame. There was little to like about that roster except for the few well-known star hitters like Grant Anker (.267, 12 HR, 48 RBI) and Armando Montoya (.270, 10 HR, 41 RBI), both of whom had missed a bunch of games this year with injury and Montoya was also getting deeper into his 30s now. The rest of the roster had been ravaged by injuries, with five pitchers on the DL and catcher Lorenzo Marquez being day-to-day with a balking ankle.

Projected matchups:
Jarod Morris (8-4, 3.09 ERA) vs. Paul Egley (2-13, 5.11 ERA)
Josh Elling (13-6, 3.68 ERA) vs. Justin Wittman (5-2, 4.20 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (13-8, 2.66 ERA) vs. TBD

Sunday would be Goffredo Merlin (9-8, 3.41 ERA) in turn, but he had left his start on Monday with an injury and was doubtful. Next in line would be Adam Foley (7-6, 2.95 ERA), who would even go on regular rest thanks to the common off day on Thursday. All of these starters were right-handed.

Game 1
SFB: RF Paez – CF Laws – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – SS D. Cox – 1B Navarre – 3B D. Sandoval – C L. Marquez – P Egley
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – C Burkart – SS Aoki – CF Maldonado – P Morris

Juan Paez opened the weekend series with a single to center, stole second, and then was caught stealing third base. Dustin Cox singled and stole second, but was stranded an inning later. Rich Monck in turn showed what mattered and began the bottom 2nd with a big swat to left for a leadoff homer, extending the 12-game hitting streak he entered with. The Raccoons **** the bed right in the next half-inning, though. Monck bungled a Marquez grounder for an error to begin the top 3rd, and then Starr threw away Egley’s bunt for two bases. Morris tried; Paez popped out and Laws whiffed, but then Grant Anker worked a walk and Armando Montoya singled home a pair of doubly-unearned runs to flip the score. – Maud, may I calmly request you give me the blunderbuss?

Even better was the fifth inning. It began with two outs by Egley and Paez before Laws drew a walk from Morris. Anker homered, Montoya and Cox singled, Morris threw a wild pitch, then walked Nate Navarre, gave up a bases-clearing double to Dan Sandoval, and Marquez then hit another homer. Morris was cast into the nearest deep, dank hole, and the Raccoons had ****** up another huge inning, the Baybirds scoring seven to go up 9-1, e.g. game over. The Coons scratched out a run on Kozak and Burkart doubles in the bottom 5th, as if that was gonna do ******* anything anymore. Corral and Starr reached the following inning before Egley hung a 1-2 to Monck, who hardly needed encouragement and smashed a 3-run homer, which still barely dented the score. Got rid of the 2-13 pitcher that was gonna go up to a lofty 3-13, though…

The next couple of innings didn’t see much happening; Cruzado pitched garbage relief for 13 outs without allowing much to the Baybirds, which was commendable but probably would end up being pointless. The Coons were still down by a slam going into the bottom 9th against the right-hander Brian McLaughlin. Aoki grounded out before McLaughlin walked Maldonado and Valencia. Corral flew out, but Morales singled in a run with the Coons down to their final out, and that brought Starr to the dish as the tying run. He struck out. 9-6 Bayhawks. Starr 2-5; Monck 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Kozak 2-4, 2B; Cruzado 4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K and 1-2;

By Saturday the Bayhawks knew that Goffredo Merlin would need surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow, which ended his season and might put him in jeopardy for Opening Day. So he was off to the DL and we’d probably see Foley on Sunday.

Game 2
SFB: RF Paez – CF Laws – LF Anker – 2B A. Montoya – SS D. Cox – 1B Navarre – 3B D. Sandoval – C L. Marquez – P Wittman
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – C Arellano – SS Aoki – CF Maldonado – P Elling

Paez, Laws, and Montoya hit singles for a Bayhawks run in the first on Saturday, but the Coons made that run up on a Corral single and a 2-out double by Monck in the bottom of the same inning. Elling had nothing, though, and the Bayhawks made substantial contact off him all the time. The Coons had Aoki and Maldonado on base in the second, but got nowhere, but Grant Anker thundered a 2-run homer off a hapless Elling in the third inning to give San Fran a new lead.

Bottom 4th, Kozak flew out, but then Arellano walked and Aoki reached on an error by Sandoval. Both the 8-9 hitters however flew out to Anker and nothing came of it. Wittman offered another walk to Corral to start the bottom 5th, and then got bombed to left by Vic Morales, tying up the score at three! Another walk and another Monck homer then flipped the score around all the way to 5-3 Furballs…! (throws Honeypaws in the air) We love Rich Monck!!

The Monck homer ended Wittman’s day, but it didn’t fix Elling, who gave up another run on some rockets hit around his fuzzy ears in the sixth inning, Marquez singling home a run with two outs to narrow the score to 5-4 again. Elling was hit for after John Steele walked Maldonado to begin the bottom 6th. Joe Gardner drew another walk in his spot, and the Coons pulled off a double steal, a trick they rarely showed off this year. Corral was walked intentionally to plunge the Coons into a three on, no outs dilemma, and they surely delivered. Morales struck out, Starr hit a sac fly, and Monck’s fly to center was caught by Scott Laws, holding the Coons to one run and a 6-4 lead.

That didn’t mean the lead was beyond blowing it. McDaniel couldn’t handle the seventh, departing with two on and two out, courtesy of an Aoki error and a walk to Anker. Dover came in for Armando Montoya, gave up a long fly to center, but Maldonado ran that bloody thing down to end the inning. The Coons had singles from Kozak (forced out by Arellano) and Aoki in the bottom of the same inning, but meek outs by Maldonado and Novelo kept them on base. The ******* pen then blew the lead in the eighth. Carrillo got two outs, then walked Sandoval. Marquez and Todd Eaton socked consecutive RBI doubles to tie the game, and then Carrillo slipped another free pass to Paez. Hall came for Laws, who popped out to Monck to finally end the ******* inning. Hall instead shoveled Montoya and Cox on base in the ninth, but Maldonado managed to catch another missile without breaking his little neck to at least keep the Critters in the tie. Left-hander Josh Atkins then allowed a leadoff single to Monck in the bottom 9th. Tallent ran for Monck with the winning run and made it to third base on a Kozak single. 90 feet away and still two outs to play with! Arellano used one of it for a long fly to center that Laws caught, but it was too deep to prevent Tallent from ending the game. 7-6 Critters. Monck 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Kozak 2-5; Aoki 2-4;

What a ******* ********!

And yet that ******** might yet make it to the playoffs if the Titans run into another 3-10 spill. The gap was a game and a half again by now.

Kozak was struggling right now and got a day off on Sunday. Apart from that, except for Starr against southpaws, we had run out the top five in the lineup for about two weeks straight without change.

Game 3
SFB: RF Paez – CF Laws – 2B A. Montoya – 3B Anker – LF Navarre – SS D. Cox – C Eaton – 1B Escalera – P Foley
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – LF Valencia – CF Maldonado – SS Gardner – P Riddle

Paez bunted his way on base with an infield single to begin the rubber game, and Riddle walked Laws on four pitches, but then the stalwarts failed the Bayhawks as Montoya whiffed and Anker hit into a 4-6-3 double play. The Coons in turn got Corral and Starr on base with singles and Morales reached on an error by Anker, somewhat misplaced at third base, to begin the bottom 1st, presenting Rich Monck with three on and nobody out. Again, the curse struck; Monck got a run home with a double play grounder, but that was the only marker the Coons got by the time Burkart flew out to Laws. Bottom 2nd, the Critters were right again on the corners with Valencia and Maldonado singles. Gardner hit a sac fly, 2-0, but Maldonado was left on base. Those two were on the corners with a pair of singles to begin the fourth inning, with Nate Navarre having given Maldonado an extra base by overrunning his ball. Gardner however singled to Paez’ feet and Maldonado was held against that murderous throwing arm, but sent when Riddle flew out to Navarre in deep left. He scored, giving Riddle ten RBI for the season, which wasn’t that common for pitchers. Gardner then stole second base, which was a moot move given that Corral walloped a ball over the fence one pitch later, 5-0.

The Bayhawks had not shown up for a couple of innings, but Montoya hit a leadoff double off Riddle in the sixth inning to signal that they were still trying. Though they tried, they couldn’t get Montoya home in the inning, however, with him and Navarre stranded on the corners eventually on pop outs by Cox and Eaton. Riddle was in turn then stranded himself after hitting a double to right in the next half-inning.

Riddle then got stuck in the top of the seventh, running a few long counts and putting PH David Blackham on base before being lifted for Harmer, who did little besides loading the bases. McDaniel then gave up a two runs on an Anker single to right before striking out Navarre as the tying run to end the inning. At least McDaniel got three outs in the eighth without further complications… and McGinley retired the Bayhawks in order to win the game and the series. 5-2 Coons. Corral 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Maldonado 2-4; Gardner 1-2, BB, RBI;

In other news

August 27 – Falcons INF John Schmidt (.242, 0 HR, 24 RBI) will be out for three weeks with a case of biceps tendinitis.
August 28 – The Canadiens beat the Indians, 8-4 in ten innings, with the deciding whack coming in the top of the tenth inning on a grand slam by OF/1B Chad Whetstine (.290, 11 HR, 62 RBI).
August 29 – MIL SP Bobby Herrera (10-14, 3.46 ERA) shines with a 2-hit shutout against the Falcons, claiming a 6-0 victory.
August 30 – The Condors beat the Crusaders, 1-0, although it takes them 12 innings to mount all of that offense.

FL Player of the Week: NAS C David Johnson (.315, 27 HR, 89 RBI), socking .444 (12-27) with 4 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA OF/2B/SS Mike Pinault (.218, 4 HR, 25 RBI), clipping .450 (9-20) with 3 HR, 13 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: NAS C David Johnston (.315, 27 HR, 89 RBI), hitting .394 with 9 HR, 20 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: POR INF Rich Monck (.320, 24 HR, 92 RBI), raking .362 with 8 HR, 29 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: LAP SP Joel Luera (10-5, 2.78 ERA), going 4-1 in six starts, with a 1.16 ERA, 24 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: BOS SP Jason Brenize (12-5, 1.64 ERA), an unbeaten 4-0 with 1.49 ERA, 49 K
FL Rookie of the Month: RIC 1B Jerry Morejon (.303, 5 HR, 29 RBI), batting .327 with 2 HR, 20 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: VAN OF Rick Atkins (.299, 13 HR, 69 RBI), poking .273 with 7 HR, 22 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Rich Monck – who ended a 14-game hitting streak with an 0-for-4 on Sunday – slugged his way into a batting triple crown position on Saturday night. Hitting .323 with 24 homers and 92 RBI put him tops in all categories, nine points up on Scott Franks in batting average, one RBI ahead of Tijuana’s Casey Ramsey, and tied with Fidel Carrera and Eddie Marcotte in homers. This of course blissfully ignored that Carrera was currently not qualifying for the batting title, although he also didn’t have a good week and the gap to Monck narrowed a bit. All of this was still true on Sunday night, despite that oh-fer.

Our bumbling pursuit of the division title continues here on Monday with a 3-game set against the Aces before we will have a 7-game road trip to Elk City and New York coming. The team actually has to go to New York twice more this year, also finishing the regular season there on the final weekend. Our remaining three games with the Titans won’t take place until the final week of the regular season, either.

Tune in again on Monday to see whether the Raccoons actually bring up hot prospect Malcolm Spicer, clipping .327 in AAA!

Fun Fact: The last Raccoon to win Player of the Year honors was Manny Fernandez in 2036.

Manny went .326 with 19 homers that year, driving in 90 runs while leading the league with 211 hits. He also stole a career-high 31 bases and posted 7.6 WAR that season. The only other time he led the league in something would be RBI in 2040, then driving in 105.

For his career, Manny went .280/.335/.421 with 2,122 hits, 198 homers, and 1,110 RBI, along with 189 stolen bases, a Gold Glove, and a sack full of Platinum Sticks. Somehow I managed to schmooze him into the Hall of Fame, too!

Right now Rich Monck sits at two Player of the Month awards – Manny was Player of the Month in August of his 2036 season – but only 5.3 WAR, maybe because he’s not necessarily a Gold Glove defender at his position. His .874 OPS would be better than the .862 mark that Manny won the accolade with. The competition from Carrera and Marcotte is rather fierce, though…

The dearth of Player of the Year winners from this team is staggering; for comparison, since Manny took that award, the Coons have put out four Pitchers of the Year (and four different ones at that: Wheats, Taki, He Shui, and Kennedy Adkins), three Rookies of the Year (Taki, Shui, and Matt Walters), and five Relievers of the Year (Mike Lynn, Kevin Daley, and three times Walters).

Yes, even the Rookies of the Year were all pitchers (and then you could say that only Walters was a *real* rookie, not an established pitcher coming from Asia). Most of the winners from other teams were batters, although there were half a dozen pitchers from them as well: Jeff Johnson (NYC), Brian Buttress (ATL), David Barel (BOS), Larry Colwell (ATL), Thomas Turpeau (BOS), and Aaron Harris (OCT);

The last Portland Rookie of the Year that was a position player? Berto, in 2026.

[Westheim]

Rosters expanded on Monday, and the Raccoons loaded up on players. Scott Lawson returned for third catcher duties along with excitement-free outfielders Marco Campos and Jorge Moreno.

And don’t you think it would get any better for pitchers. We added Sensabaugh, Herrera, Nesbitt, and Read, some of them against our own better judgment.

Raccoons (71-59) vs. Aces (61-69) – September 1-3, 2064

Losers of six in a row, the Aces came to Raccoons Ballpark with not a whole to play for anymore. They had done the Raccoons quite well so far this year, though, winning five of the six games played with their #7 offense and #7 pitching. Maybe the problem was us? The Aces were not healthy, with Ubaldo Piteira and Wally Leggett on the DL, and Alex Alfaro and Steve Hawkins day-to-day but on the roster, however, with the roster expansion they had enough warm bodies to compensate if required.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (9-9, 4.68 ERA) vs. Justin Reif (3-4, 4.20 ERA)
Angel Alba (10-10, 4.25 ERA) vs. Adam Edge (7-8, 3.80 ERA)
Jarod Morris (8-5, 3.44 ERA) vs. Dan Graham (14-9, 3.61 ERA)

We’d come up against two right-handers and the southpaw Graham.

Game 1
LVA: RF D. Lewis – SS Stuebe – LF Lorenzo – CF Jad. Wilson – 1B A. Alfaro – 2B M. Roberts – C M. Reed – 3B C. Pena – P Reif
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Fox

The day off on Sunday did Jack Kozak good, because he hit a 2-run homer in the first inning, coming right after Rich Monck kept raking with a RBI single to right, plating Vic Morales. So then the waiting game begun how Chance Fox would **** this particular 3-0 lead, but Fox would not even allow a base hit to the Aces through three, four, five innings. The Raccoons also did not tack on to their early lead, which is why the sixth inning became such a skullcrushing experience again. Leadoff walk to Cesar Pena, bunt by the pitcher, so far so well (sorta). Pena then stole third base and scored when Burkart’s throw got away from Morales, but Don Lewis popped out on the infield, so there were two outs and Fox looked like he’d escape with an unearned run on his ledger… until Dave Stuebe doubled, Vic Lorenzo singled, Jaden Wilson tripled, and Alex Alfaro doubled, at least. By then, four earned runs were in, and Maldonado tracked down Mike Roberts’ drive to prevent even worse damage from occurring.

Fox was disposed of in disgrace once more when his spot in the lineup came up in the bottom 6th, with Burkart and Maldonado on with a 1-out single and Aoki having drawn a walk. Both Rafael Valencia and Jose Corral would ground out to Roberts from here. Valencia’s grounder at least tied the game, while Corral only stranded the go-ahead runs in scoring position. Hall and Dover then pitched around an Aoki error in the seventh inning before Jaden Wilson took Victor Herrera well deep in the eighth to break the 4-4 tie.

The Coons got Kozak on base to begin the bottom 8th, but he was caught stealing. Burkart then singled and Maldonado reached on an error by rookie third baseman Danny Sanchez. Against lefty Ryan Hogues, Novelo batted for Aoki, but hit one right into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. The Aces did not score in the ninth against Alex Cruzado, for whom Randy Tallent then batted to begin the bottom 9th, firing a string to deep center against lefty Willie Mendoza that Jaden Wilson could not catch up to. The ball fell for a leadoff triple, and now the tying run was 90 feet away for the top of the order. So of course the next five minutes became excruciating. Corral popped out to short, which sucked. Morales grounded out to first, which prevented any advance for Tallent. And Starr grounded out to short, which ended the game. 5-4 Aces. Aoki 1-1, 2 BB; Tallent (PH) 1-1, 3B;

Ran out of ******* Tallent again…

Meanwhile the Titans made two outs in the ninth before getting three good at-bats together to walk off against the Thunder, 1-0.

Game 2
LVA: RF D. Lewis – C Wheat – CF Jad. Wilson – 3B A. Alfaro – 1B M. Davis – 2B M. Roberts – LF Marazzo – SS C. Pena – P Edge
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Kozak – C Burkart – LF Valencia – SS Novelo – P Alba

The Aces drew two walks in the first, had two singles in the second, the Coons had nothing going through three, and in the fourth Alba leaked another two walks and then gave up a 2-run single to Adam Edge after Nate Marazzo and Pena pulled off a double steal. I was reaching new levels of depression, and it was only Tuesday. Somehow the Raccoons woke up, though, and in the bottom 4th got a leadoff double from Morales, an RBI single from Monck, and an RBI double from Kozak, who then overran second base and was tagged out after tying the ballgame.

While Alba kept merrily filling the bases at every opportunity, and the defense did its royal best, the Raccoons had Valencia on base in the bottom 5th after drawing a walk. He stole second, then was stranded. Joel Starr broke the tie in the sixth, though, hitting a homer to right! Alba departed in the seventh after an error by Morales; Mike Hall replaced him for Wilson, the Aces pinch-hit with Ken Hummel from the right side, but Hummel hit into a double play to erase the unearned runner. Same inning, Valencia singled, stole another base, advanced on a groundout by Novelo, and then scored when Jorge Moreno came up with a pinch-hit sac fly. Carrillo came on for the eighth, worked painstakingly around a leadoff walk to Alfaro, and somehow got the inning over with before he blew the 4-2 lead (although Mike Roberts’ fly to left was uncomfortably deep and was caught by Valencia on the warning track). McGinley then struck out the first two batters in the ninth before Don Lewis legged out an infield single. Tom Wheat easily grounded out to Monck, though. 4-2 Coons. Valencia 1-2, BB;

Game 3
LVA: LF Lorenzo – C Wheat – CF Jad. Wilson – 3B A. Alfaro – 1B M. Davis – 2B M. Roberts – RF Marazzo – SS C. Pena – P D. Graham
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – LF Valencia – RF Tallent – CF Campos – P Morris

Morris pitched one inning before his arm fell off, which was rather unfortunate for him and probably everybody else near the ballpark, because now J.J. Sensabaugh would get the ball for long relief. He had a scoreless second though, while Monck and Arellano got on base to begin the bottom 2nd. Valencia’s grounder advanced them into scoring position and Tallent’s ball to left-center fell for a 2-run single, the first markers on the board. Campos walked, the two runners pulled off a double steal, and then Graham lost Sensabaugh on balls as well. He held Morales to a sac fly, but Novelo clipped a 2-out RBI single, 4-0, before Jack Kozak emptied the bases and the mound with a 3-run homer. David Gaither replaced Graham, so both pitchers were gone before the end of the second inning.

Sensabaugh then threw three more innings, each worse than the one before. The Aces scored three runs off him by the time five innings were complete, with Nate Marazzo landing the biggest blow with a 2-run homer. Marazzo also doubled against Nesbitt in the seventh, but neither Nesbitt nor Herrera in the prior inning allowed more runs and nursed the 7-3 lead while the Raccoons were doing nothing at all against the parade of Aces relievers until some oddball lefty, Gabe Molina, nicked consecutive batters, Arellano and Valencia, on his way to give up a 3-run homer to Marco Campos, which in itself should be enough to disqualify him from ever touching a baseball again. McDaniel and Harmer rounded out the pitching assignments for the day. 10-3 Raccoons. Arellano 2-3;

We arrived back at 1 1/2 games of deficit by Wednesday night before the boys would travel to Elk City. The Titans started their weekend set with Indy on Thursday, though, because they had to play an additional game in that one. The opener went to Indy, 3-1, so now the Raccoons started the weekend set just one game back.

Raccoons (73-60) @ Canadiens (65-68) – September 5-7, 2064

Why were we constantly playing in Elk City? Like the Aces, the Elks were highly mediocre with the #7 offense and #9 pitching in the CL, but the Raccoons couldn’t figure out how to beat them. The stinkin’ Elks were up 7-4 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (13-6, 3.77 ERA) vs. Johnny Doolin (13-10, 3.84 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (14-8, 2.62 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (10-6, 3.81 ERA)
Chance Fox (9-9, 4.73 ERA) vs. Carson Miller (10-13, 3.98 ERA)

Another southpaw awaited us on Saturday.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Elling
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – LF Whetstine – RF B. Campbell – 1B P. Fowler – C Varner – 3B Spalding – P Doolin

Elling struck out five in the first three innings while also scattering three singles and a walk, but the Elks didn’t score. The Raccoons were sat down in order by Doolin until Morales hit a single with one out in the fourth. He scored on 2-out hits by Monck and Kozak, but Burkart flew out to Brent Campbell to strand a pair on base. The Elks came back though, with three more hits off a very hittable Elling. Chad Whetstine and Campbell began the bottom 4th with singles, and Steve Varner doubled home a run before Steven Spalding popped out and Doolin struck out to keep them in scoring position.

Top 5th, Maldonado led off with a single, then stole second. Aoki’s soft single put them on the corners, while Elling’s grounder to third base only advanced Aoki. Corral came through with a double to center, though, plating both runners for a 3-1 lead! Corral was stranded, and Elling then right away gave up another leadoff single to Carlos Castro and another slow inning ensued with a walk to Whetstine with two outs and finally Kozak running down a Campbell drive in the gap to strand another pair of stinky Elks. I was already surprised that the Elks let him get away with it, then was even more surprised when he managed to pitch two 1-2-3 innings after that, including striking out the side in the bottom 7th before finally departing from a busy day out. In between, he hit a single in the top 7th that moved Aoki to third base, allowing Morales to hit a sac fly to tack on a run. The late innings then saw Duarte Damasceno walk the bags full in the top 8th without the Critters scoring – Arellano pinch-hit and flew out to left to end the inning – and another two runners were stranded on base in the top 9th when Morales and Starr reached. All of this led to a very obvious implosion in the bottom 9th where McGinley couldn’t retire ******* anybody, and McDaniel couldn’t turn the tide when he was purged. Varner singled and was forced out before Roberto Lozada doubled and Chad Cardenas singled off the bench. Alex Castillo and Rick Atkins walked, the latter with the bases loaded, before the pitching change was made. McDaniel rung up Whetstine, but Campbell hit a 2-out, 2-run walkoff single… Corral 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Aoki 2-3, BB; Elling 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 K and 1-3;

Dimwits.

Meanwhile, Jarod Morris, who had limped off the field on Wednesday after just one inning of work, was found to not have any structural defects in his bothersome ankle and might be able to make his next start.

Game 2
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – C Burkart – LF Valencia – RF Tallent – CF Moreno – P Riddle
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B A. Castill – CF Atkins – RF B. Campbell – C Varner – LF Lozada – 1B K. Graves – 3B Spalding – P Fitzgibbon

Riddle walked Castro and Rick Atkins whopped one out right in the first inning for a quick 2-0 hole on Saturday. The Coons made up a run on back-to-back triples by the pair of guys they had claimed off waivers from the Elks when the season began, Valencia and Tallent, but Moreno then struck out to keep Tallent and the tying run on third base. Kenny Graves and Steven Spalding also re-established the 2-run gap with leadoff knocks against a useless looking Riddle in the bottom 2nd, Graves eventually scoring on a sac fly. It didn’t end there. First, it started to rain – an aggressive, bitterly cold rain – and there was a rain delay for 30 minutes in the middle of the third inning. When play resumed, Riddle walked Atkins, gave up an RBI double to Campbell, and another single to Varner, and then was unceremoniously disposed of after two-plus ****** innings. Hall replaced him, and sucked all the runners home with more hits allowed to Lozada and Graves. By the end of the third inning, the Coons were down 7-1.

That remained the score while the Coons cycled through a few more scuffed-up relievers, but the top of the sixth suddenly saw straight hits by the 3-4-5-6 batters to get RBI’s for Monck and Valencia, but then Tallent struck out. Moreno scratched out a single to load the bases, but Jose Corral pinch-hit and grounded out to short as the tying run, killing the inning. Instead, Cruzado would give up another run in relief, and the game slipped away for good. 8-3 Canadiens. Kozak 2-4; Valencia 3-3, 3B; Lawson 1-1;

******* awful.

Thing is, the only presumed joker we have left in AAA is Malcolm Spicer and he’s not exactly… he slaps singles and tries to make a living off that. There is no pitching help anywhere near.

After two losses, the Titans got a shutout from Will Glaude on Saturday, giving them a 2-game lead and the assurance that the Raccoons would stay at a distance by week’s end.

The Elks changed pitching assignments on Sunday, giving us a southpaw (yay!) in Martyn Polaco, who was making his first big league appearance since ’62. To be fair, he had missed most of the previous two seasons to injury. This year, he was 10-14 with a 5.28 ERA for AAA Drummondville.

Game 3
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – 1B Starr – RF Tallent – CF Campos – P Fox
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – LF Whetstine – C Varner – 1B P. Fowler – RF Lozada – 3B Spalding – P Polaco

The Coons went in order in the first, but Rich Monck socked a gap double to left-center to begin the second inning and Arellano singled him to third base. Starr’s RBI double to left made it 1-0. The bottom of the order however managed to **** up runners on second and third with nobody out utterly and completely, as Tallent popped out, Campos whiffed, and Fox lined out softly to Alex Castillo, then ****** up straight singles to the 4-5-6 batters to begin the bottom 2nd. Lozada hit into a game-tying 5-4-3 double play and Spalding popped out leaving Varner stranded, so the damn Elks were only marginally less awful.

The lead was retaken by Jack Kozak’s 2-run homer in the third inning, 3-1 thanks to Novelo on base, before Tallent and Campos got on base too begin the top 4th, the latter by getting viciously drilled by the left-hander who had been away for two-plus years while getting every surgery in the book. Chance Fox shone with a clean RBI single to right, 4-1, a walk to Morales filled the bases, but now Novelo cracked into a run-scoring double play. Polaco then plated Fox with a wild pitch. He was yanked after walking Kozak, who was picked off first by his replacement, Carlos Torres.

Fox would go six innings of 2-run ball while being grossly inefficient for most of the journey; the second run for the home team came in the fifth on hits by Castillo and Atkins. The 5-run lead was restored while Fox’ name was still on the scoreboard when the Raccoons went to work on Raffy de la Cruz in the top 7th. Novelo walked, and hits by Kozak and Arellano got him across, while Monck narrowly missed a home run in between. Starr grounded out to strand a pair, while Campos was nailed *again* by Mike Perez in the eighth, then scored on a 2-out single by Vic Morales. Rich Read bunted Campos to second base in that inning after getting the last out in the seventh. He then got no outs in the eighth, walking two and allowing an RBI single to Varner before being yanked for Hall, who got three outs from three batters, but not without conceding a second run. At least employing Ryan Harmer in the ninth didn’t lead to another meltdown… 8-4 Coons. Kozak 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Monck 2-4, 2B; Burkart (PH) 1-1; Arellano 2-5, RBI;

In other news

September 1 – PIT SP Chris Hale (7-2, 2.19 ERA, 1 SV) throws a 3-hit shutout in a 5-0 win against the Wolves.
September 2 – Rebels OF Jeremy Jenkins (.310, 25 HR, 87 RBI) was not only having a breakout year, he now also added a cycle to his track record, going 4-for-5 with 5 RBI while getting all the required pieces together in a 14-9 win against the Scorpions.
September 2 – The Condors rally for seven runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Indians, 11-9. The game ends on a walkoff grand slam by RF/LF Matt Ewig (.238, 12 HR, 53 RBI).
September 5 – LAP SP Scott Evans (4-14, 6.28 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout against the Wolves for a 2-0 win, which proves that everybody can do it against the Wolves.
September 6 – LAP SP Francisco Tello (9-9, 3.59 ERA) can, too, and throws a 5-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts against the Wolves, taking an 8-0 win.
September 6 – Boston SP Will Glaude (9-11, 4.00 ERA) allows two hits and whiffs six in a 5-0 shutout against the Indians.
September 7 – The Falcons beat the Knights, 4-3 in 15 innings.

FL Player of the Week: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.370, 24 HR, 101 RBI), packing .483 (14-29) with 2 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN OF Rick Atkins (.310, 16 HR, 84 RBI), punching .520 (13-25) with 3 HR, 15 RBI

Complaints and stuff

What a dismal week. Two mediocre teams that both had been fooling the Raccoons all year long, and right now we were a combined 8-15 against the Aces and Elks, with four more chances to look silly against the latter group later on. We had our worst season performance against any team in the two CL divisions against those two ballclubs.

The pennant chase is still populated, claims BNN (with strength of schedule and playoff odds):
BOS (77-61) – VAN (6), IND (3), MIL (3), NYC (3), POR (3), SFB (3), TIJ (3) – .494 – 80.5%
POR (74-62) – NYC (7), VAN (4), ATL (3), BOS (3), IND (3), MIL (3), OCT (3) – .517 – 18.3%
IND (70-67) – MIL (6), NYC (4), BOS (3), CHA (3), LVA (3), POR (3), VAN (3) – .505 – 1.1%
MIL (67-68) – IND (6), NYC (4), VAN (4), BOS (3), POR (3), SFB (3), TIJ (3) – .503 – 0.1%
NYC (67-68) – POR (7), IND (4), MIL (4), ATL (3), BOS (3), OCT (3), VAN (3) – .529 – 0.1%

Triple crown watch? Eh. Rich Monck had a decent week, but lacked homers. Right now he only led the RBI table anymore, one scratch up on Casey Ramsey. Eddie Marcotte socked three homers this week and was now well ahead with 27, and Fidel Carrera got up to 26, while the batting title would now go to a Logger… Scott Franks, batting three points more than Monck.

Malcolm Spicer is hitting .335 for the Alley Cats.

We are in New York for four games starting on Monday before returning home to play the Indians and yet more of the dumb damn Elks.

Fun Fact: Eddy Ramirez of the Indians is leading the stolen base race with 41 trophies.

The Raccoons need to put their five best base stealers together to match that total: Aoki (12), Maldonado (11), Campos (9), Tallent (6), and either Kozak or Monck (4 each) give 42.

Oh to still have Lonzo!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (74-62) @ Crusaders (67-68) – September 8-11, 2064

Trying to track down the Titans would require the Raccoons to go to New York next and not suck there. The Crusaders had no offense, scoring the second-fewest runs in the CL, and decent, but abandoned pitching, with a -12 run differential. The Critters were 6-5 ahead on the season series with seven games to play. Outfielder Bryant Box was the only DL absence for New York.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (11-10, 4.19 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (7-11, 3.61 ERA)
Jarod Morris (8-5, 3.42 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (9-13, 3.47 ERA)
Josh Elling (13-6, 3.67 ERA) vs. Josh Barcellona (8-6, 3.72 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (14-9, 2.90 ERA) vs. Ryan Musgrave (9-13, 4.21 ERA)

All the New York starters were right-handers, and we were missing Ben Seiter (14-11, 3.34 ERA), who had pitched on Sunday, which was always a good point to start from.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – 3B V. Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Alba
NYC: LF Jose Alvarez – RF A. Romero – SS O. Sanchez – C M. Nieto – CF Thore – 2B Jes. Alvarez – 1B Cline – 3B Heiden – P E. Lee

The Coons had a chance in the second inning when Lee filled up the bases only to strike out Alba to leave the triplet of runners stranded, while Alba then began the bottom 2nd by nicking Coby Thore, who stole second, advanced on Jesus Alvarez’ groundout, and scored on Jake Cline’s sac fly to left. New York had no actual base hits in the early innings, while the Coons would bring up Alba with two outs and a scoring opportunity again in the fourth inning, then with Burkart and Maldonado on base. This time Alba singled over the head of Omar Sanchez, and Burkart came around to score the tying run. Lee threw a wild pitch to advance Maldonado and Alba into scoring position, but then whiffed Corral to end the inning. Rich Monck would give Portland the lead an inning later, however, striking his 25th homer of the season with Joel Starr on base to give Alba a 3-1 lead.

Alba retired the bottom third of the order in the Crusaders’ half of the fifth, but then struggled after retiring Jose Alvarez to begin the sixth. Alex Romero singled to right, Omar Sanchez legged out an infield single with those pesky legs of his, and Marco Nieto worked a walk. Thore tied the game with a 2-run single to right-center and knocked out Alba all in one go, and since there were only useless pieces of **** to pick from in the Raccoons bullpen, nobody was particularly surprised when Alex Cruzado waved around another three runs after that with his ******* inability to handle a Jesus Alvarez grounder, which became an infield single, a bases-loaded walk to Cline, and another sac fly hit by Steven Heiden, before David Milian and Jose Alvarez finally made the last two outs of the 5-run inning. Next up in being useless was Victor Herrera, facing two left-handers to begin the bottom 7th and putting them both on base with a walk to Romero and a Sanchez double to right. New York added one more run in the inning, which had to be finished by Carrillo. Nesbitt took the ball in the eighth, retired ******* NOBODY, and departed after Cline’s triple and two walks to Heiden and Belchior Fresco. McDaniel replaced him, gave up a bases-clearing double to Jose Alvarez on his first pitch, singles to Sanchez and Nieto, a homer to the other Alvarez, and then still couldn’t finish the ******* inning, which continued with Ryan Harmer until the Crusaders had scored a ******* 9-spot. 16-3 Crusaders. Maldonado 2-4;

(wrinkles pokey black nose)

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – 3B V. Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – LF Valencia – SS Gardner – P Morris
NYC: LF Jose Alvarez – 2B Jes. Alvarez – SS O. Sanchez – 1B Fresco – C M. Nieto – CF Thore – RF Cline – 3B Heiden – P Kozloski

Jose Alvarez made it 16 unanswered runs across games by socking a leadoff jack off Morris in the bottom 1st on Tuesday, but the Raccoons got four straight singles from their 5-thru-8 batters in the second inning to tie the game and have Morris crash into a 6-4-3 double play to kill the inning with the bags still loaded. Corral hit a leadoff double in the third before being stranded on base, while Morris dorked out walks to Jesus Alvarez and Sanchez, who did the double steal, but both would have scored anyway on the pair of singles that Fresco and Nieto hit before Thore grounded out and Cline whiffed to end the inning. Singles by Burkart and Maldonado to begin the fourth inning got the Critters absolutely nowhere, but Steven Heiden took Morris deep in the fourth to extend the Crusaders’ lead to 4-1.

Jose Corral at least learned that you couldn’t trust the remaining **** muppets on the team to do anything and hit a homer of his own in the fifth to take one run out of the Crusaders’ lead again, a pointless exercise with a pointless pitcher on the mound. Morris fudged another three 2-out runners on base in the bottom 5th, Cline singling home Nieto, 5-2, and then was quietly disposed of once more. Burkart and Maldonado had another pair of leadoff singles in the sixth, only for Valencia to blunder into a double play. Joe Gardner hit a 2-out RBI single for an odd surprise, but Kozak then lined out to first as pinch-hitter. The Coons had no runners in the seventh, Maldonado was forgotten after drawing a walk in the eighth, and in the ninth came up against Jason Rhodes, who allowed a pinch-hit single to Pablo Novelo, but apart from that retired the Critters without much fuss. 5-3 Crusaders. Corral 2-5, HR, 2B, RBI; Burkart 3-4, 2B; Maldonado 3-3, BB; Gardner 2-3, RBI;

Maybe next year? The Titans had so far won a pair from the damn Elks to double their lead to four games.

Rich Monck got a day off after an oh-fer.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – 3B V. Morales – 1B Starr – LF Kozak – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – SS Aoki – 2B Novelo – P Elling
NYC: LF Jose Alvarez – RF A. Romero – SS O. Sanchez – 1B Fresco – C M. Nieto – 2B Jes. Alvarez – CF Bucher – 3B Heiden – P Barcellona

In a rather odd game, Vic Morales managed to be on both ends of a 6-4-3 double play grounder, the Crusaders were caught stealing three times (Romero alone twice), and Arellano was also directly responsible for all the runs in a 3-1 score by the stretch with his 2-run homer in the second inning, then a throwing error that waved a Crusaders run across in the sixth, and finally an RBI single to plate Maldonado in the seventh after Maldonado singled and stole a base. Not a whole lot happened outside of Arellano’s shenanigans and the Crusaders’ baserunning blunders until the top 8th when Morales and Starr hit a pair of singles to begin the inning. Kozak grounded out to move them into scoring position, Maldonado was walked intentionally, and that brought back Arellano, the Destroyer, who destroyed Barcellona’s line for good with a starter-dismissing, bases-clearing double to extend the lead to 6-1.

Elling went eight innings on 107 pitches, and Victor Herrera managed to throw baseballs for three outs without giving up five runs in the bottom 9th, which was such a thrill. 6-1 Coons. Morales 2-4; Arellano 3-4, HR, 6 RBI; Elling 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (14-6);

Conversely, the Titans lost on Wednesday, so the gap was back down to three.

Game 4
POR: RF Corral – 3B V. Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – C Burkart – SS Novelo – CF Moreno – P Riddle
NYC: CF Jose Alvarez – 3B O. Sanchez – 1B Fresco – 2B Jes. Alvarez – SS Spehar – C J. Morales – LF A. Romero – RF Heiden – P Musgrave

The season finale would have seen the Raccoons go in order the first time through if not for a Sanchez error on a Novelo grounder in the third inning. By then the Crusaders were already up 5-0, having beaten in Riddle’s numb skull in the bottom 2nd with singles from their battery, and then with two outs Jose Alvarez’ go-ahead RBI single, Sanchez drawing a walk, and Belchior Fresco hitting a grand slam to dead center. Riddle pitched one more inning before being dismissed, needing over 60 pitches for three ****** frames.

The Raccoons then had their first base knock, a Monck single after leadoff walks to Morales and Starr in the top 4th, which loaded the bases for Kozak, who struck out, of course. Bruce Burkart slapped home two runs with a double to right, Novelo added an RBI single, but the inning ended with an 8-2 double play on Jorge Moreno’s fly to Heiden, which saw Burkart thrown out at the plate in a denied sac fly attempt, keeping the score at 5-3. The Coons made up another run in the top 5th, though in a rather costly way when Corral tweaked his back on a swing for a 1-out double. Tallent ran or him and scored on a Morales knock.

Monck and Burkart singles started to build a threat in the sixth inning, and Novelo’s scratch single loaded the bases with one out. Maldonado batted for Moreno, but hit a comebacker for a force play at the plate. Aoki then batted for Sensabaugh, who had thrown a scoreless inning against all odds, ran a full count, and then hit a bouncer up the middle that hit the lip between infield grass and dirt rather awkwardly and thus got away from Jesus Alvarez for a 2-run, score-flipping single. Whatever ******* works… The inning then ended with a K by reliever Eric Matthews on Randy Tallent. Nesbitt, Carrillo, and Hall would then nurse the flimsy 6-5 lead through eight innings, with only Hall allowing a bloop single. A tack-on run was not in the cards for the Portlanders, though, and so the 6-5 lead sooner or later wound up with Jon McGinley. Corey Boyd and David Milian were retired easily before Sanchez singled with two outs. Fresco grounded out to Monck to end the game. 6-5 Raccoons. Morales 2-3, BB, RBI; Monck 2-4; Burkart 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Novelo 2-4, RBI; Aoki (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI;

The Titans were off on this Thursday, so the gap was now 2 1/2 games.

Another gap opened up in rightfield once Luis Silva informed us that Jose Corral would miss at least a week with a sore back, so we were now suddenly not only without a functioning pitching staff, but also without a leadoff batter.

Raccoons (76-64) vs. Indians (71-69) – September 12-14, 2064

The Raccoons were largely listless against the Arrowheads again this year, trailing the season series 9-6 ahead of this final set of games. Indy was largely average in most stats, fifth in runs scored and seventh in runs allowed especially, with a +14 run differential (Coons: +42 even after soiling themselves in New York). With Blake Sparks, Alex Gomez, and Orlando Ramos the Indians were missing a bunch of regulars, though. This included Jim White, who still had half of a 4-game suspension to serve and would not be allowed to face his former team until Sunday.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (10-9, 4.66 ERA) vs. Roger Pritchard (9-6, 4.55 ERA)
Angel Alba (11-11, 4.33 ERA) vs. Kelly Whitney (5-7, 4.40 ERA)
Jarod Morris (8-6, 3.61 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (8-11, 3.38 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday, and not only that, but also another left-hander to begin the series; only Whitney was right-handed. Who needs Jose Corral? (pathetic chuckle)

(proceeds to hide head in a bucket of chicken nuggets)

Game 1
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – LF McInnis – 1B Starwalt – C Atencio – RF B. Johnston – 2B M. Weber – SS DeRosia – P Pritchard
POR: 3B Morales – SS Novelo – CF Kozak – 2B Monck – C Burkart – 1B Starr – LF Valencia – RF Tallent – P Fox

Chance Fox started the first inning with a walk to Eddy Ramirez, who scored on singles by Matt Martin and Vinny Atencio, then also walked Mike Weber to begin the second inning. Philip DeRosia singled, but Pritchard bunted into a double play and Fox somehow extricated himself from the inning before the score was flipped with back-to-back bombs bashed by Starr and Valencia in the bottom 2nd, not that this kept Fox from sucking further. Martin struck a leadoff double in the third and Fox walked Danny Starwalt, but with runners on the corners Atencio popped out and Bryan Johnston lined out to Starr to end the inning. And those damn leadoff batters kept reaching: Weber singled in the fourth, but was left on third base, and Martin singled again in the fifth inning, although that runner never made it off first base as Fox struck out two and then got Atencio on a grounder.

In between, however, the Raccoons had packed three runs on the board, as Kozak had drawn a leadoff walk from Pritchard to begin the bottom 4th. He scored on Burkart and Starr singles, Pritchard’s wild pitch moved those two into scoring position, and then Valencia got them home with a single to right-center. The inning ended with meek outs from Tallent and Fox, but Morales narrowly missed a leadoff jack to left to begin the bottom 5th. Him and Novelo settled for a pair of doubles and knocking out Pritchard from a 6-1 game. Monck then socked a homer off Melvin Guerra to get to 8-1. This was the score through five, and the Raccoons then took some regulars off their legs for the second half of the game as Monck, Morales, and Kozak all were replaced with roster chaff.

Fox pitched only one more inning, going 6-for-6 in putting leadoff batters on by drilling Johnston, who came around to score on two singles by DeRosia and Ramirez. Herrera then got four outs before Harmer was beaten around for three long drives, two hits, and a run in the eighth. Rich Read then created a save opportunity by being beaten around for a Starwalt single and Atencio longball in the ninth. McGinley held up, surprisingly. 8-5 Coons. Campos 1-1; Starr 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Valencia 3-4, HR, 3 RBI; Maldonado (PH) 1-1;

The Titans beat the Loggers, 9-6, so the gap didn’t budge on Friday.

Game 2
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – C Atencio – 1B Starwalt – RF Vaughn – 2B M. Weber – LF B. Johnston – SS Cirelli – P Whitney
POR: C Burkart – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – CF Campos – P Alba

Last time Alba had been out the Coons had lost by a baker’s dozen, and Martin and Atencio hit singles off him in the first inning, but were left on base. Morales doubled for the Coons in the bottom 1st, and Starr reached on an error. Monck brought in Morales from third base with a groundout, which marked his 100th RBI of the year, before Kozak slapped a 2-run homer over the cheap end of the fence in left, 3-0. All runs were unearned.

Whitney then throttled the Raccoons’ offense after that, but Alba managed the lead well and gave up only one more base hit through the end of five innings, but then was taken deep for a solo homer by Nick Vaughn in the sixth. Alba went on and completed seven innings, allowing another hit to Eddy Ramirez in the seventh, before McDaniel secured three outs from the four lefty sticks in the 5-6-7-8 slots in the eighth inning. The Coons then finally put an earned run together in the bottom 8th, which they began with just three knocks on the day. Randy Tallent drew a leadoff walk from Whitney before Novelo singled and Burkart hit an RBI double. Morales popped out, Starr walked, and Monck blundered into a double play to keep the score in save range and with McGinley not getting the ball for the third straight day. Instead we sent out Jesse Dover. He retired Chris Lovins, Ramirez, and Martin in order. 4-1 Coons. Burkart 2-4, 2B, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-1; Alba 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, W (12-11);

Jason Brenize suffocated the Loggers on this Saturday, so again the Raccoons did not gain any ground on the Titans.

Game 3
IND: CF E. Ramirez – 3B M. Martin – C Atencio – 1B Starwalt – LF McInnis – RF Vaughn – 2B M. Weber – SS Jim White – P DeWitt
POR: 3B Morales – C Arellano – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – LF Valencia – SS Novelo – RF Tallent – CF Moreno – P Morris

Atencio homered to right-center for an early 1-0 Indians lead on Sunday, but Morales narrowly missed the fence again with a fly to left to start the bottom 1st. He settled for a double and scoring on Arellano’s subsequent single to center, tying the game just fine.

Runners then became rather scarce and were usually not making it very far on base as the innings briskly passed. Morris held the Indians to three hits and struck out eight through six innings before abruptly being taken deep again by Matt McInnis in the seventh, giving Indy a 2-1 lead on two homers and just four total hits. DeWitt went into the bottom 8th before walking Kozak. Robert Ponce de Leon then walked Monck, but Melvin Guerra retired Valencia and Novelo to quell the littlest rally attempt, while Morris hung around long enough to give up another ninth-inning homer to Atencio. Hall replaced him for the last two outs required to complete nine innings, while the Indians had Cody Kleidon up in the bottom 9th, where he offered a leadoff walk to Tallent. Burkart batted for Moreno, but flew out. Starr struck a double from the #9 spot, though, and now the tying runs were in scoring position for Morales, who got ahead 3-1 before swinging and slapped a single past Jim White to plate Tallent and get Starr and the tying run to third base. Arellano popped out, and Kozak struck out to render the whole exercise moot. 3-2 Indians. Morales 2-5, 2B, RBI; Monck 1-2, 2 BB; Starr (PH) 1-1, 2B; Morris 8.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 10 K, L (8-7);

In other news

September 12 – Falcons INF Jared Duhe (.268, 4 HR, 59 RBI) was done for the year after rupturing finger tendons.
September 12 – The Gold Sox beat the Stars, 3-2 in 12 innings – with all runs scoring in the 12th inning.
September 14 – The season of veteran SFW SP Ricardo Montoya (18-5, 2.23 ERA) ends with a shoulder strain. Montoya was atop the FL in wins and second to DAL Alex Quevedo in ERA at this point.
September 14 – The Thunder take 12 innings to beat the Falcons, 2-0.
September 14 – The Buffaloes beat the Rebels, 15-5, scoring a dozen unchallenged runs to begin the game, ten alone in the second inning.

FL Player of the Week: PIT C Nick Dingman (.272, 23 HR, 68 RBI), bashing .455 (10-22) with 3 HR, 12 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL OF Jake Evans (.259, 24 HR, 86 RBI), hitting .500 (10-20) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Despite Nick Dingman’s best efforts, the Miners were eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday.

If it was any consolation, the Titans also lost on Sunday, so the 2 1/2 lead never budged in either direction on the weekend.

The race for the division contains two horses and three pairs of two guys in a horse costume each, continuing to fall down:
BOS (81-63) – IND (3), NYC (3), POR (3), SFB (3), TIJ (3), VAN (3) – .493 – 86.7% (+6.2%)
POR (78-65) – VAN (4), ATL (3), BOS (3), MIL (3), NYC (3), OCT (3) – .522 – 13.2% (-5.1%)
IND (72-71) – NYC (4), BOS (3), CHA (3), LVA (3), MIL (3), VAN (3) – .501 – 0.1% (-1.0%)
NYC (71-71) – IND (4), MIL (4), ATL (3), BOS (3), OCT (3), POR (3) – .531 – 0.1%
MIL (70-71) – NYC (4), VAN (4), IND (3), POR (3), SFB (3), TIJ (3), CHA (1) – .493 – 0.0% (-0.1%)

Monck is the only CL player to 100 RBI so far, with Casey Ramsey at 97. With Fidel Carrera on 87 in third place, it was unlikely that another challenger would get involved unless through the power of a Player of the Week performance. In homers, Boston’s Eddie Marcotte was up to 28 and Carrera in between at 27, while Monck was ten points out in the batting title race at this point, the leader now being Scott Laws of the Bayhawks after a hot week and previously not qualifying.

The Coons will play four games at home with the Elks to begin next week, which was likely gonna end our season for good, and then go on a weekend trip to Oklahoma City. After that there were three more home sets before we would conclude the season in New York.

Fun Fact: Jason Brenize (14-5, 1.71 ERA) led all ABL players with 9.3 WAR so far this season.

And yet he would not win a Triple Crown because his team would only score for the other starters. This was Brenize’s third straight season bidding for a sub-2 ERA. He won the Triple Crown in 2062 with a 22-5, 1.79 ERA, 252 K season, but took home only wins and strikeouts titles last year with a paltry 1.98 ERA.

Kind reminder that as recently as ’59 as a rushed 22-year-old he got whacked around for a 12-16 record and 3.59 ERA and struck out just 159 batters.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (78-65) vs. Canadiens (69-73) – September 15-18, 2064

This was not a matchup that had gone much in the Coons’ favor this year, as we’d need to sweep the damn Elks over four games just to reach a 9-9 split for the year anymore. Talking about the #7 offense and #10 pitching in the CL here, and this Critters team wanted to somehow faceplant their way into the playoffs?

Projected matchups:
Josh Elling (14-6, 3.56 ERA) vs. Carlos Torres (9-13, 4.98 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (14-9, 3.10 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (11-6, 3.84 ERA)
Chance Fox (11-9, 4.60 ERA) vs. Johnny Doolin (14-10, 3.73 ERA)
Angel Alba (12-11, 4.21 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (9-11, 4.36 ERA)

Fitzgibbon was the only southpaw in the pool here.

Game 1
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – RF B. Campbell – 1B P. Fowler – C Varner – LF Lozada – 3B Spalding – P C. Torres
POR: C Burkart – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – CF E. Maldonado – SS Aoki – RF Tallent – P Elling

Elling had a **** inning right out of the gate, allowing three hits and as many runs in the first inning, which began right away with a Carlos Castro single and a four-pitch walk to Alex Castillo. Brent Campbell and Steve Varner also hit singles, there was also a wild pitch, and a lot of GM-sourced moaning already, barely ten minutes into the new week. The Raccoons would then also show no real reaction; they left Bruce Burkart on base after he reached base by being gently brushed by a pitch in the bottom 1st and then only had two hits in four innings before it took a Yukio Aoki homer to get them on the board at all in the fifth inning, and then only for one run. While Elling tried to rally after the awful start, lots of long counts held him to six innings even though he eventually struck out nine Elks in that time. Still didn’t get him back even, nor did Vic Morales’ solo homer in the sixth, merely shortening the score to 3-2. That was obviously not gonna be enough because before long the most useless bullpen since at least 2032 ****** up and put another two Elks runs on the board, which happened in the eighth and between Herrera, Carrillo, and McDaniel, as the Elks exploited the gaps for three extra-base hits in the inning. Burkart and Monck put a pair of doubles together for a run in the bottom 8th before Raffy de la Cruz walked the tying run on base in Kozak with two outs, but Elmer Maldonado grounded out against another failed former Raccoons hurler, Duarte Damasceno. McDaniel then put Kenny Graves and Mike Orphanos on the corners to begin the ninth inning. Castro struck out and was ejected for stomping his hooves at the umpire, but even a pitching change to Jesse Dover couldn’t keep the damn Elks from scoring as Rick Atkins singled home a run against the right-hander. Elijah LaBat retired the Critters in order in the bottom 9th to claim the season series for the ******* Elks. 6-3 Canadiens. Morales 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Aoki 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI;

The ******* LAST-PLACE Elks! Gotta allow for *that*!!

(glares at the team with their little heads in their food bowls)

Game 2
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – LF Whetstine – C Varner – RF Lozada – 1B K. Graves – 3B Spalding – P Doolin
POR: C Burkart – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – CF E. Maldonado – SS Aoki – RF Tallent – P Riddle

The Coons went down in order against Doolin, who got the go ahead of Fitzgibbon on Tuesday, the first time through, while Riddle hit Chad Whetstine with an 0-2 pitch before getting a double play out of Steve Varner in the second inning, then had Steven Spalding single to center in the third, but kept the game scoreless in the early going. He struck out the side in the fourth inning before nicking another leadoff man – Varner – on base in the fifth and paying with an ice-breaking 2-piece over the wall in left that Roberto Lozada whacked. The Raccoons remained list- and hitless until the bottom 6th when Bruce Burkart hit a 2-out double to left and also tore out a leg doing so. Marco Campos ran for him, but was quickly stranded by Morales. Campos then remained in the game in centerfield, while Arellano entered the game catching in the #6 spot.

Graves and Spalding beat Riddle with a pair of doubles for a third Elks run in the seventh inning. Riddle got to seven and a third, departing after popping out the left-handed Castro at the start of the top 8th. Nesbitt and Read managed to pitch without getting huffed and puffed for another seven runs, which was nice enough, but Doolin kept plucking away on that shutout and reached the bottom 9th largely unharmed. Vic Morales hit a 1-out double in the inning, but Starr grounded out. Monck was the last straw and socked a 2-piece over the wall in right, which did kill the shutout and the complete-game bid, as LaBat replaced Doolin at this point. But Kozak’s calm groundout still kept the Raccoons from making up the earlier deficit… 3-2 Canadiens.

The Titans, who had been off on Monday to watch the Coons drop to three games out, lost their opener to the Arrowheads, so there was that.

There was no news on Burkart by game time on Wednesday, now against the lefty Fitzgibbon, but we still had two catchers on the roster, so there was no need for additional moves at this point for the backstop position.

…but not otherwise, as with the AAA season over, the Raccoons brought up 20-year-old Malcolm Spicer after all. Spicer had batted .340 for the season, winning the all-AAA batting title despite the lousy Alley Cats finishing bottoms in their division.

The lefty-hitting Aussie Spicer somehow had speed (30 SB) but no range in the outfield, and was mostly a singles slapper stuck in power positions, but who knows, maybe we can still get something out of trading Nick Nye to the Thunder at the deadline two years ago.

Game 3
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – LF Whetstine – RF B. Campbell – C Varner – 1B P. Fowler – 3B Spalding – P Fitzgibbon
POR: 3B Morales – C Arellano – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – LF Valencia – SS Novelo – RF Spicer – CF Tallent – P Fox

The new wearer of the #16 shirt was unmolested on defense in rightfield until his time to bat came around and got an enthusiastic paw from the crowd in that bottom 2nd. Valencia and Novelo had just gotten on base ahead of him with nobody out and a light drizzle started to set in, so the scene was set for a sorry grounder to second base and force out at second. What a debut! Randy Tallent then got him off base with another fielder’s choice, on which Valencia didn’t even score, and Fox delivered the third groundout of the inning.

The Elks then jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third on Alex Castillo’s leadoff single, an Atkins triple, and a passed ball charged to Arellano, who also thumped into a double play after Vic Morales reached on an error to begin the bottom 3rd. One of those unhappy games. Rich Monck hit another “within-one” homer in the bottom 4th, and Spicer hit another fielder’s choice grounder in the same inning. Fox, who largely held himself together despite the miserable third inning, then began the bottom 5th with a single to center. Morales didn’t get anything good done, but Arellano singled and Kozak then doubled to right to tie the game before Monck singled through the right side on the very next pitch, plating both Arellano and Kozak from scoring position, 4-2, before he was doubled up on Valencia’s inning-ending grounder to short.

Fox walked Whetstine to begin the sixth, but then pounced on a Campbell comebacker for a 1-6-3 double play. Novelo doubled to begin the bottom of that inning and scored on a Spicer groundout and Tallent’s sac fly. Fox went on to finish seven innings on 102 pitches, but walked Castillo to begin the eighth and was lifted for Cruzado, who miraculously cleaned up behind him. Monck doubled leading off the home eighth against Raffy before the Raccoons flung all those left-handed batters out to pinch-hit. Starr and Aoki ended up drawing walks, and in between Spicer hit into his third fielder’s choice. With three on and two outs, Scott Lawson batted for Cruzado with no more left-handed options available and flew out to Campbell to make the entire inning a giant waste of time. At least the Elks went down in three batters against McGinley… 5-2 Coons. Arellano 2-4, 2B; Monck 3-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Valencia 2-3; Novelo 1-2, BB, 2B; Fox 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (12-9) and 1-3;

Inauspicious career debut, 0-for-4 with a load of nothing, but maybe the kiddo could do better against a right-hander.

The Titans beat the Indians, 11-7, so the gap remained at three games.

Bruce Burkart meanwhile was down and out with a mildly strained hammy. It looked like he would miss two weeks, but should the Raccoons somehow tumble into the postseason, he *might* be available. Nevertheless, no point in hanging around the roster just now, so he was shuffled off to the DL. The Coons desired another third catcher, though, and brought up Michael Guinea, who had not been seen since making 17 appearances batting .196 in ’62, but had been on the 40-man roster the entire time despite being handed down to Ham Lake for a while. Guinea was the odd left-handed hitting catcher you’d find once in a while.

Game 4
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B A. Castillo – CF Atkins – LF Whetstine – RF B. Campbell – 1B P. Fowler – C A. Maldonado – 3B Spalding – P Nielsen
POR: SS Aoki – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – LF Kozak – CF E. Maldonado – C Arellano – RF Spicer – P Alba

Carlos Castro struck a leadoff jack to begin the Thursday series finale, which was … well… (sigh) … (hugs bottle of Capt’n Coma) … Atkins added a triple and Whetstine tacked on a second run with a sac fly to Spicer. The Raccoons replied, though; not in the first, when they went 1-out walk and double play, but in the second, which began with Monck and Kozak doubles to make up one run, then a bit of diddling around. Maldonado barely legged out an infield single, Arellano struck out, but Spicer found his first major league hit, an RBI single to right! That tied the game and sent Elmer Maldonado to third base. Spicer then took off for second base with Alba at the plate. Alex Maldonado threw the ball away, Elmer Maldonado scored, and Spicer jiggled to third base. He then scored on an Alba double to left, the fourth and final run of the inning.

From there the game ran to the stretch without major upheavals. The Raccoons basically stopped hitting immediately after putting out the 4-spot, and Alba held his own, although he gave up a stupid run in the fifth inning when Nielsen hit a leadoff double and scored on two productive outs to shorten the score to 4-3. “DD” Damasceno was at it in the bottom 7th and loaded the bases without getting an out, as Aoki and Morales singled and Starr drew a four-pitch walk. Rich Monck ran a full count before looking at a ball in the dirt, drawing the walk that pushed home the insurance run. DD walked in another run against Kozak, then was kicked off the hill for lefty Jeremy Garvey. Campos batted for Maldonado, fell to 0-2, then got plunked to push in another run. We had yet to make an out, but Arellano then grounded out, still scoring another run. Spicer whiffed, but Novelo batted for Alba and singled home the remaining runners on base, 10-3, before the 6-spot ended with Lawson popping out in place of Aoki. Mike Hall was then immediately beaten around for three hits and a run in the eighth before being dug out by Nesbitt. On the other side, Mike Perez put two Coons on base, balked, and then allowed Marco Campos to single home Joe Gardner with two outs. Rich Read walked a pair in the ninth, but was dug out when Gardner, having replaced Monck at second base, turned a double play on Elks catcher Kevin Herr. 11-4 Furballs! Morales 2-4; Gardner (PH) 1-1; Monck 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 1-1, BB; Campos (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Spicer 2-4, RBI; Novelo (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; Alba 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (13-11) and 1-3, 2B, RBI;

Herr made his sixth ABL appearance, but unlike Spicer was still waiting for his first ABL hit.

Crucially for Portland, Jason Brenize got the ball for the Titans in their finale with the Indians, and they immediately failed to score. Brenize cashed a 2-1 loss, and the Coons headed to Oklahoma two games outta first place.

Raccoons (80-67) @ Thunder (82-64) – September 19-21, 2064

This was where the schedule became unfortunate, because the Titans now had the easier South teams to compete against while the Coons had to sort through the two teams with the best case for making the CLCS. The Thunder were tenth in runs scored, but allowed the second-fewest runs in the league and that might yet make it hard for the Raccoons’ spotty offense. The season series was even at three.

Projected matchups:
Jarod Morris (8-7, 3.59 ERA) vs. Jerry Washington (12-6, 3.10 ERA)
Josh Elling (14-7, 3.59 ERA) vs. Joe Napier (10-7, 2.95 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (14-10, 3.12 ERA) vs. Danny Baca (5-6, 3.35 ERA)

Baca was the only southpaw here, but him and Napier had both pitched in a double header on Tuesday and we didn’t know which way round they would go out this time. The Thunder had been off on Thursday, so short rest was not going to be an issue for them.

Game 1
POR: SS Aoki – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – 3B Novelo – RF Spicer – C Lawson – P Morris
OCT: CF D. Garcia – 1B I. Stone – C Bohannon – LF Consuegra – RF B. Ramires – 2B D. Richardson – SS McNeal – 3B Bonilla – P Je. Washington

Morris gave up a triple to Danny Garcia in the first, leading to a swift 1-0 deficit when Ian Stone struck out, but Martin Bohannon brought in the run with a sac fly. The Raccoons tied the game in the top 2nd with Elmer Maldonado drawing a leadoff walk and stealing second base before things got a bit painful. Novelo’s grounder moved him to third, but Spicer struck out and Lawson was going to fly out to Jose Consuegra, but the latter dropped the ball and the Coons tied it up on the 2-out error. Morris was the last out, and the Coons made two outs in the top 3rd before Starr and Monck clipped singles. Maldonado slapped an RBI double to right for a 2-1 lead, and Novelo singled home a pair to get to 4-1. Spicer also got on base, but Lawson grounded out to Josh McNeal. No error this time.

Straight singles by the 1-2-3 hitters gave the Thunder a run immediately in the bottom 3rd, but the middle innings descended with calmness on the game as neither team put much together until the bottom 6th came around and Morris simply exploded. Bohannon flew out to deep left to begin the inning, but Consuegra then singled, Bill Ramires walked, and Daniel Richardson whacked a game-tying 2-run double to center. A four-pitch walk to McNeal ended Morris’ day, opened the gate for the retarded bullpen, and the retarded bullpen didn’t disappoint, as McDaniel came in to face the switch-hitting Alberto Bonilla, which turned Bonilla to his weak side, but McDaniel ****** the bags full anyway with another walk, then gave up a pinch-hit, 2-run single to Eric Whitlow. That was a 6-4 lead for the Thunder now, and I was greatly dismayed.

Novelo drove in Starr with two outs in the seventh to cut the gap in half, but was then left on base. The Thunder then got Rafael Valencia out to begin the eighth, but reliever Willie Campos then committed an error to have Guinea reach with one out. He then walked Aoki and departed in favor of Jake Frensley, who allowed a bases-filling single to Kozak. Left-hander Ricky Baca replaced Frensley for the Coons’ left-handed 3-4-5 section. Starr and Monck made meek outs, and the bases were left loaded. Nesbitt held the Thunder away in the bottom 8th and Brain Doster walked the tying run on base against Maldonado to begin the ninth. Novelo’s groundout moved Maldonado to second base, but Spicer flew out to Zach Meister in right. Two down, the pitcher’s spot was up, and Vic Morales’ day off ended as he pinch-hit for Nesbitt. The move worked, Morales singled solidly to left, Maldonado rushed around from second base to score the tying run, and the game continued! Guinea singled, but Aoki flew out to left to keep the game tied. Victor Herrera drilled Luis Miranda to begin the bottom 9th, but Carrillo replaced him, got a double play grounder and sent the game into overtime, where then *he* hit Meister, allowed a single to Dan Martin, was purged for Mike Hall, and Hall had nothing better to do than to give up a 2-out walkoff single to Bonilla. 7-6 Thunder. Maldonado 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Novelo 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Morales (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Ricky Baca was a Rule 5 pick we made before the 2063 season, but returned him to the Thunder on Opening Day.

The Titans beat the Baybirds in San Francisco, at the Bay where nothing good ever happens, at least not for the Critters. Gap back to three.

The Thunder then went with the right-hander Napier on Saturday, and the Raccoons were able to get Jose Corral back on his hindpaws to bat leadoff again. Spicer was still in the lineup as Kozak got a day off.

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – LF Spicer – SS Novelo – CF Moreno – P Elling
OCT: CF D. Garcia – 1B I. Stone – C Bohannon – LF Consuegra – SS M. Veguilla – 2B D. Richardson – RF Deisinger – 3B Bonilla – P Napier

Elling was punched in the face for four runs right away, as the Thunder never really stopped hitting whistling line drives off him in the first inning. The hard hits off him never really stopped, the Raccoons just managed to throw bodies into them in the next four innings, which prevented the Thunder from tagging on. At the same time, the Coons didn’t do much of anything and were held to two base hits in five innings by Napier. Sensabaugh then fooled around on the hill for two awful innings, allowing another run in the bottom 7th, not that it did much to hurt our chances with no offense of our own. Joe Napier would pitch a 4-hit shutout striking out 11 Critters and putting the game into the books with disturbing ease. 5-0 Thunder. Novelo 2-4, 2B;

Well, that sucked. That the Titans won again sucked even more. Down four now.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – 1B Kozak – 2B Monck – C Arellano – SS Novelo – LF Valencia – CF Tallent – P Riddle
OCT: LF Deisinger – 2B D. Richardson – SS M. Veguilla – C Bohannon – 3B McNeal – 1B I. Stone – RF Whitlow – CF R. Miles – P D. Baca

Kozak drew a walk in the first, but was left on when Monck popped out. The top 2nd then began with straight singles from the 5-6-7 flock, loading the bases for Randy Tallent, who lined out to Miguel Veguilla, and Riddle rolled a 3-2 pitch into a double play. (facepaws) At least the Thunder also hit into a double play with Whitlow after leadoff singles by McNeal and Ian Stone in the bottom 2nd, and Rick Miles fanned to leave McNeal on third base.

Kozak hit into another double play in the third, while in the fourth, starting with Monck, the Coons unfurled another three straight singles to begin the inning and load the bases, now for Rafael Valencia, who struck out, and this time Randy Tallent blundered into a ******* double play. Riddle then clipped Veguilla on base to begin the bottom 4th, but Bohannon hit into a 5-4-3 double play. Riddle singled to start the top 5th, but was doubled up by Vic Morales. That was eight hits in five innings for the Raccoons, four double plays ****** into, and zero bloody runs.

The sixth saw no Critters on base, which was somehow even worse than what they had done so far, while Jamie Deisinger hit into a double play after Baca singled against Riddle, the third two-for-one the Thunder had fallen into. The game might be decided by a lucky punch homer in the 15th inning at this rate, but the Thunder nicked Corral on base and then Kozak scratched out the flimisiest 2-out single in the top 8th, bringing Monck to the dish, but Monck popped out in foul territory. Riddle eventually fell off the hill, allowing a single to Whitlow to begin the bottom 8th. Miles forced him out, but scored on a 2-out triple into the corner in leftfield that Deisinger whacked. Richardson’s infield single made it 2-0, and Dover had to bail out Riddle.

Doster got the ball in the ninth for Oklahoma, and retired Arellano and Aoki before walking Starr. Maldonado was the third straight lefty pinch-hitter, batting in place of Tallent – and smashed a game-tying homer, down to the final out!! Spicer batted for Dover, but grounded out, and McDaniel’s 1-2-3 ninth sent this game to extras as well. The Coons went down just the same against Dave Lister in the tenth, though, and when Juan Carillo got the ball for the bottom of that inning, he was swiftly beaten on a walkoff home run by Steve Rosenthal. 3-2 Thunder. Arellano 2-4; Novelo 2-3; Maldonado (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; Riddle 7.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K and 1-3;

In other news

September 15 – The Rebels’ OF Jeremy Jenkins (.321, 26 HR, 91 RBI) is out for the rest of the season after breaking his forearm.
September 16 – Pacifics 3B/SS Stephen Medlock (.211, 1 HR, 14 RBI) hits his first home run of the season to beat the Wolves, 1-0.
September 17 – NYC SP Ben Seiter (15-12, 3.36 ERA) 1-hits the Loggers in a 1-0 shutout and has to drive in NYC OF/3B/SS Steven Heiden (.270, 4 HR, 38 RBI) himself for the game’s only run. MIL RF Dave Wright (.238, 10 HR, 66 RBI) hits a single for the only Loggers blip in the box score.
September 20 – Dallas 3B/SS/LF Xavier Reyes (.335, 5 HR, 66 RBI) has clipped together a 20-game hitting streak after a pair of singles in a 13-3 loss to the Miners.
September 21 – IND SP Ramon Carreno (15-7, 3.27 ERA) throws a 1-hit shutout against the Falcons for a 4-0 win. The only hit for the Falcons comes off the bat of cup-of-coffee C Dillon Ugalde (.200, 0 HR, 0 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: SFW 1B Miguel Medina (.302, 17 HR, 63 RBI), bashing .429 (9-21) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN OF Rick Atkins (.320, 16 HR, 93 RBI), raking .448 (13-29) with 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Titans were shut out by quad-A starter Steve Smith and two relievers on Sunday, which kept the gap at four games. But at this time, four games was a lot… However, we *did* have three games left with the Titans, so there was still some flick in that bushy tail even in this unfortunate situation:

BOS (84-66) – NYC (3), POR (3), TIJ (3), VAN (3) – .508 – 96.5% (+9.8%)
POR (80-70) – ATL (3), BOS (3), MIL (3), NYC (3) – .522 – 3.5% (-9.7%)

Those Boston games would not come until the final week of the season, though. The Knights and Loggers were waiting for us next week.

Malcolm Spicer did arrive after all after being talked about for most of the year. He hit .222 in his first five games, all hits being singles. Two stolen bases. Those last two bits are probably what you can expect going forwards. A Cookie Carmona type of bat, but with less glove and not able to play centerfield at all.

Fun Fact: The Thunder won just one of their eight CLCS matchups with the Raccoons.

Big brain move then to get swept in their favor in their battle for the South crown, and now we can rally back against the Titans and so on and then knock them out again in the CLCS. Free pennant!

(…)

Man, I should stop drinking gasolene after sweeps…

[Westheim]

Raccoons (80-70) vs. Knights (79-69) – September 23-25, 2064

One more homestand over nine games and it started with the Knights, who demanded justice after the Raccoons lied low against the Thunder on the prior weekend and allowed Oklahoma to move out by five and a half games on Atlanta. The Coons themselves were 4 1/2 games back of the Titans after Boston won their Monday opener on the off day for these two teams here. The Knights brought their #3 offense and #7 pitching, and a +53 run differential. The season series was even at three.

Projected matchups:
Chance Fox (12-9, 4.52 ERA) vs. Danny Ortiz (12-5, 2.62 ERA)
Angel Alba (13-11, 4.19 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (13-15, 3.67 ERA)
Jarod Morris (8-7, 3.81 ERA) vs. Brian Fuqua (13-8, 3.72 ERA)

We saw only right-handers coming up in this series. The Knights arrived on *two* off days after a rainout with the Crusaders on Sunday…

…and then had a third off day when the Tuesday opener was also rained out. Double-header on Wednesday, and at least the Titans were shut out by the Condors to restore the 4-game gap.

The Coons turned Fox and Alba around on Wednesday, not that I was trusting either one with starting a game with the season on the line, or a box of donuts, right now.

Game 1
ATL: 2B Kilday – C McLaren – RF J. Evans – 1B J. Campos – 3B Ovalle – SS Labonte – CF Andon – P D. Ortiz – LF B. Snyder
POR: RF Corral – 3B V. Morales – CF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Arellano – LF Spicer – SS Aoki – P Alba

The weather forecast was dim all the way through Election Day, so it was not advised to fall behind in the latter half of the game. The Coons took the early lead in the opener on Wednesday with a Starr double and Spicer RBI single in the bottom 2nd, then tacked on a run with a Jose Corral homer an inning later. While Alba was allowing just one hit in the early going, the Coons got Starr on base again with a leadoff walk in the fourth inning. Arellano popped out and Spicer forced him out with a grounder to short, but then rushed to third base on an Aoki single and scored when Alba dunked a blooper behind Matt Kilday with two outs. Corral’s grounder to Kilday ended the inning, Portland up 3-0. Alba continued to go like clockwork, through drizzles and dry spells; outside of Jose Campos’ single from the second inning, the Knights got no base hits before the stretch, and after the stretch the Raccoons tacked on with doubles from Morales and Monck, and an Arellano RBI single for two more runs, although Alba then also stuttered in the eighth and allowed a run on hits by Sal Andon and Tristan Waker. Mike Hall would get the game across the finish line in the ninth inning. 5-1 Coons. Starr 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Arellano 2-4, RBI; Spicer 2-4, RBI; Alba 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (14-11) and 1-3, RBI;

The Titans won their finale against the Condors, 4-2 in the meantime.

Game 2
ATL: CF Fumero – RF J. Evans – 1B J. Campos – 3B Lange – LF K. Fisher – 2B Kilday – SS Andon – P Koga – C McLaren
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – 3B Novelo – C Guinea – P Fox

Fox struck out five of the first eight batters he faced before putting Matt McLaren on base with a 2-out walk in the third inning. Carlos Fumero grounded out to keep the catcher stranded. The Coons did not get a hit inside the first three innings either in the late game. The first hit for either team was a 1-out single by Aoki in the bottom 5th, and he never got to move off first base after that. In turn, McLaren socked a 1-out double for the Knights in the next half-inning and scored on a 2-out single by Jake Evans to give them the lead. (looks upwards into the nightly clouds) Ho-hum.

Fox would go eight innings, unfortunately not without allowing another run in the final frame on a Campos double that scored Fumero from first base and doubled the gap the Raccoons had to make up. However, the home 6-7-8 went down without a squeak in the bottom 8th, while the Knights put John Baxley and Waker on the corner with a 2-out singles against Cruzado. McDaniel appeared and struck out McLaren to get out of the inning. The Coons got Corral on base with a 1-out single against Erik Swain in the bottom 9th, but Kozak then right away rumbled into a double play before an actual threat could materialize. 2-0 Knights. Starr 1-2, BB; Fox 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, L (12-10);

Four-and-a-half again with ten games to play…

Game 3
ATL: 2B Kilday – C McLaren – RF J. Evans – 3B Ovalle – CF Fumero – 1B Waker – SS Baxley – P Fuqua – LF B. Snyder
POR: RF Corral – 3B V. Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – SS Aoki – P Morris

The weather was less gloomy on Thursday, but our situation in the standings was, especially when the Knights went up 1-0 in the top of the first with singles to center by Matt Kilday and Pedro Ovalle. The Coons answered with Corral and Morales reaching base in the bottom 1st, then a nothing flyout from Kozak, and Monck rolling into his third double play of the series. Single, walk, double play it was then in the bottom 2nd from Starr, Maldonado, and Arellano, after which Fuqua was made to walk Aoki intentionally, then walked Morris much less intentionally, and then also lost Corral to ball four in a full count, which forced in the tying run, but Vic Morales then flew out to center. Monck then tripled to right in the third inning, but had no friends and was left stranded by Starr and Maldonado…

Fuqua departed in the fifth inning after issuing his seventh walk, a 2-out free pass to Joel Starr with Vic Morales on third base after a leadoff double. Right-hander Luis Morales replaced him, but offered little relief once he gave up a 2-run double into the leftfield corner to Elmer Maldonado, which gave the Coons a hard-won 3-1 lead. Arellano singled home Maldonado, Aoki also singled, but Morris grounded out to short, ending the 3-spot inning. He then walked McLaren and drilled Ovalle in the top 6th before Fumero and Waker popped out to Monck in order to fail the Knights out of the inning.

Bottom 6th, Luis Morales filled the bases with Corral (who was forced out by the other Morales), Kozak, and Monck, then brought up Starr with one out. He singled sharply up the middle, narrowly past the glove of a diving Baxley, and the Coons scored a pair on the play, 6-1. Maldonado walked, Morales departed, and David Concha gave up a 2-run double to Arellano. Valencia batted for Aoki, was intentionally walked, and Morris hit into a double play to end the inning.

Morris failed bravely forward until he put two runners on base in the seventh and gave up a 2-out bomb to McLaren, which brought the Knights back into slam range. Ben Lussier walked three Coons in the bottom 7th without giving up a run, which was always splendid, while the eighth was largely uneventful. Victor Herrera got his filthy paws on a 4-run lead in the ninth inning for a couple of batters, but once Brendan Snyder and McLaren were on base, the ball went to McGinley with two outs to collect, which he got in one swoop with Jake Evans’ 6-4-3 grounder to Joe Gardner. 8-4 Furballs! Corral 2-3, 3 BB, RBI; Morales 2-6, 2B; Starr 2-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Arellano 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Aoki 1-2, BB;

13 hits, 13 walks, and 15 left on base. What a bunch.

Raccoons (82-71) vs. Loggers (77-75) – September 26-28, 2064

In years past, you would have said silly things like, oh, the Loggers, free wins! But while the Raccoons were up 9-6 in the season series, it was a really hard-fought 9-6 and I wasn’t convinced at all that we weren’t gonna lay another clutch of eggs. The Loggers had the #2 offense next to the second-worst pitching in the league. At least they knew where to patch their roster going forwards!

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (14-10, 3.09 ERA) vs. Oliver Graham (9-12, 4.58 ERA)
TBD vs. Girolamo Pizzichini (6-8, 4.75 ERA)
TBD vs. Larry Wilson (9-8, 4.19 ERA)

Keen observers will have noted that Josh Elling did not appear in that list of matchups; he would have started the opener on his turn, but he went through a whole hog with side dishes after the W on Thursday and spent all of Friday barfing. Pitching was out of the question for *at least* the opener. Of course, no other starters of recent memory would be available on regular rest on the weekend, so it was probably gonna be Cruzado (5-2, 3.69 ERA) on Saturday and then praying for Elling’s recovery on Sunday.

Sadly no meeting with Bobby Herrera (13-15, 3.26 ERA), who had pitched on Wednesday, like every Critter that could be of value right now. The three up there were also all right-handed.

Game 1
MIL: RF D. Wright – LF C. Ramirez – 1B D. Robles – 2B F. Carrera – CF Merrill – 3B D. Miller – C Jack – SS Reber – P O. Graham
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – CF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Arellano – LF Spicer – SS Novelo – P Riddle

Riddle didn’t put many paws wrong in the early innings, but J.P. Jack doubled in the second inning and scored on a balk, which kinda blew. The Coons had nothing in the first two frames, but then Spicer led off the third with a single, stole second, and was brought in to score on two groundouts by Novelo and Riddle, getting the score even at one again. Riddle scattered five hits in five innings, while the Raccoons began the bottom 5th with Arellano and Spicer singles. Novelo’s groundout advanced them, but Riddle grounded out to first and Corral flew out to center to keep them stranded.

Fidel Carrera’s solo homer in the sixth sucked on many levels. It buried Monck in the home run race for the time being (Carrera had 29 now to Monck’s 28, same as Eddie Marcotte), and it also put the Loggers up again, 2-1. Monck reached base in the same inning, but only on an error, and then was left on first base. Riddle got to the stretch without any more blunders, then was taken off the hook when Novelo socked a homer to tie the game. Marco Campos then batted for Riddle, scratched out a single against Graham, stole his tenth base of the year, and then Corral got home the go-ahead run from second base. Hall got the ball in the eighth, retiring the 2-3-4 batters in order… although Carrera sent a ball to the warning track where it was caught by Corral. McGinley’s ninth was quick and painless; groundouts by Vic Velez and Danny Miller, and then a K on J.P. Jack to put the game away. 3-2 Coons! Spicer 2-3; Campos (PH) 1-1; Riddle 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (15-10);

The Titans also eked out a 3-2 win, in 11 innings, against the Crusaders, so the gap remained at four with just twice as many to play.

But three against those Titans!

Yes, Maud, I will cling to that harder than to Honeypaws in a 10-run blowout, until I no longer can! But can you please bake some muffins with the 50/50 sprinkles on top? – Yes, 50% actual sprinkles and 50% painkillers. – Thanks, Maud!

Elling looked like a corpse on Saturday and was not available to pitch. The Coons had to give the ball to Cruzado.

Game 2
MIL: LF Franks – 1B C. Ramirez – C Guitreau – 2B F. Carrera – 3B D. Miller – RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – SS Reber – P Pizzichini
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Arellano – SS Novelo – CF Tallent – P Cruzado

The Coons pulled off a rare feat on Saturday in the second inning, hitting three consecutive homers with their 1-2-3 batters. Corral mashed his 16th, Morales his 8th, and Kozak his 23rd of the season, and it gave us a 5-0 lead; Cruzado had already singled home Arellano and his leadoff double for the game’s first run before the 1-2-3 leathered “Pizza” for four more. Monck then hit a single, but Starr popped out.

Cruzado nailed both Jonathan Merrill and Scott Franks in the third inning, but the Loggers couldn’t buy a hit and didn’t score, nor did they get a run in the fourth, which had a throwing error by Morales, a wild pitch, and a clueless 2-out walk to Dave Wright before Merrill grounded out to leave runners on the corners. Cruzado next walked a pair in the fifth, but still wasn’t scored upon, and in fact the Loggers were still hitless, even though Cruzado’s pitch count was skyrocketing. Joel Starr bashed a homer in the fifth to finally knock out Pizzichini, 6-0, but Cruzado was held to six innings of 1-hit ball, giving up a single to Wright, but still no run, in the sixth inning. Spicer singled in his spot in the bottom 6th and scored on Morales’ 2-out double into the gap, then replaced Kozak in leftfield for the remainder of the game after Kozak ended the inning with a groundout.

Monck became the last of the top five bats to sock a homer in this game, and the only one to take somebody other than Pizzichini deep, blasting one off Jesus Hinojosa in the seventh. Starr and Novelo flocked on base and were tripled home by Maldonado, batting for Tallent, to get the team into double digits. Spicer added an RBI single, and Corral nearly hit another homer off righty Tim Newton, but had the ball taken off the top of the fence by Merrill. At the end of that inning, the remaining four top five batters were all subbed out with plenty of warm bodies on the bench. Read, Harmer, and Sensabaugh pitched scoreless relief against a beaten Loggers team in the late innings. 11-1 Furballs! Morales 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Monck 2-4, HR, RBI; Novelo 2-4; Maldonado (PH) 1-1, 3B, 2 RBI; Spicer (PH) 2-2, RBI;

However, there were no bonus wins for winning by ten, and the Titans stayed four ahead with a 5-2 win against the Crusaders.

Elling then claimed to be good to go on Sunday. So we sent him out there – after helping him pick the last bits of barf out of his fur.

Game 3
MIL: LF Franks – 1B C. Ramirez – C Guitreau – 2B F. Carrera – 3B D. Miller – RF D. Wright – CF Merrill – SS Reber – P L. Wilson
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Aoki – C Lawson – C Campos – P Elling

Tommy Guitreau hit his 27th homer of the year off Elling in the first, putting the Loggers 1-0 ahead again, although the unearned run they got in the second inning was way stinkier as Wright reached on an Aoki error, and then Wilson singled him home with two outs… Elling was no bueno, kept leaking runners, was bashed around for two doubles and a run, then a walk in the third, but after the Coons went in order from 1-through-6, the bottom 3rd began with Lawson and Campos singles – as unlikely as that sounded – and after Elling bunted them into scoring position, Jose Corral chuckled and showed him what he considered scoring position with his third huge homer of the week, tying the game at three as the fans in the upper reaches of the rightfield stands scurried for that ball.

Kozak hit a double with two outs, but was stranded by a fading Monck, however, the Raccoons took the lead in the fourth in even unlikelier fashion as Starr got on base before third-string catcher Scott Lawson chucked a ball over the leftfield wall for a 5-3 lead!

The Coons eventually got six innings out of Elling, the second set of three being much calmer and controlled compared to the first set of three. Portland added another run in the bottom 6th when Campos singled home Starr, although the inning had actually started with a Monck single, but he had been caught stealing. So the Critters left some on the table there, but McDaniel struck out the side in the seventh before three singles off Hinojosa by Corral, Morales, and Starr tacked on another run in the seventh, 7-3. Aoki walked to fill the bases and Lawson shoved one up the middle for a 2-out, 2-run single. Spicer added a pinch-hit single to load them up, but Joe Gardner flew out to Scott Franks to leave the bases full – but then Juan Carrillo absolutely *had* to be taken deep by Fidel Carrera in the eighth inning. It was only one run on the scoreboard, but #30 broke the tie with Monck for the CL home run belt. Monck got another shot in the bottom 8th, but faced a fresh pitcher in Ignazio Flores after Kozak had just disposed of the last hurler, Larry Colwell, with a 3-run homer. 12-4 Furballs!! Corral 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Morales 2-; Kozak 2-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Starr 3-4, RBI; Lawson 3-4, HR, 4 RBI; Campos 2-3, RBI; Spicer (PH) 1-1;

In other news

September 23 – NAS SP Tomas Restrepo (9-4, 3.34 ERA) 2-hits the Gold Sox in a 13-0 shutout slash rout.
September 23 – The Cyclones beat the Wolves, 4-0 in ten innings, after neither team could get a run across in regulation.
September 24 – While the hitting streak of Dallas’ Xavier Reyes (.331, 5 HR, 66 RBI) dies at 23 games in a 13-6 loss to the Capitals in which he goes 0-for-5…
September 24 – …a new 20-game hitting streak is born in the Blue Sox’ 12-4 win against the Gold Sox, as NAS C David Johnson (.318, 28 HR, 94 RBI) reaches the mark with a 3-run homer in the fourth inning and adds an RBI single later. The win also clinches the FL East for the Blue Sox.
September 28 – An 0-for-6 day ends the 22-game hitting streak of Blue Sox backstop David Johnson (.319, 29 HR, 95 RBI). The Blue Sox win anyway, 4-3 against the Cyclones.

FL Player of the Week: RIC SS Jason Turner (.249, 13 HR, 85 RBI), batting .448 (13-29) with 2 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC C Marco Nieto (.281, 2 HR, 66 RBI), hitting .542 (13-24) with 1 RBI

Complaints and stuff

While the Coons destroyed the Loggers in a sweep on the weekend, the Titans finally missed a step on Sunday and lost in 12 innings to the Crusaders. This was a crucial loss for them, because that put their lead to end the week at three games, and they had to play just as many against the Critters starting on Monday. The Raccoons thus controlled their own destiny again: six or seven wins (including a tie-breaker) would give them the division and the playoff ticket.

BOS (88-68) – POR (3), VAN (3) – .508 – 95.6% (-0.9%)
POR (85-71) – BOS (3), NYC (3) – .526 – 4.4% (+0.9%)

All of this was surely a delight to the Raccoons-scarred Thunder when it came to the CLCS, which they were just by a magic number of two away from.

But we had to stop ******* up!

The triple crown for Monck was off the table after this lackluster week, and he was merely tied with Casey Ramsey with 109 RBI, while Fidel Carrera had the sole lead with 30 homers against Monck’s 29. Eddie Marcotte was still at 28, having gone a bit silent recently. That was treacherous…

Fun Fact: The Raccoons’ longest playoff drought is 13 years, from 1997 to 2009 inclusive.

This of course encompasses the entirety of the Decade of Darkness from ’97 to 2006, when we didn’t get as much as 80 wins in any season, and then three strong 90+ wins showings at the end where the Crusaders just proved too much.

By comparison, our last playoff appearance was in 2060, although I admit it felt longer than just three dry seasons.

I talk like we’ve already swept the Titans, huh?

+++

Side note that the Raccoons might go on a brief hiatus over the weekend. I have bought the Founders Edition for the upcoming Civ 7 and that will release into early access on Thursday. I fully expect to sink into it for 20+ hours on the weekend, if it actually technically works – wouldn’t be the first “shill over extra bills to play X games early” that doesn’t actually function then. Then again, we will hit the offseason by Friday at the latest, so it would take just sitting down for an hour with a coffee to get a small update done.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (85-71) vs. Titans (88-68) – September 29-October 1, 2064

Here it was, the series that could still open a hole into the postseason for the Coons, or end their weird and erratic season altogether. The Titans brought the #1 offense *and* #1 pitching to Raccoons Ballpark, a +176 run differential (Critters: +71), and their only real weaknesses being speed on the base paths and not being able to score at all for Jason Brenize. We held a slight 8-7 edge in the season series, but we needed to get the sweep in here, because losing even one game would require us to make up two games against the Crusaders while the Titans played the damn Elks, and those odds were not appealing – and that was only to get into a tie-breaker scenario. Two losses would mathematically end our season for good.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (14-11, 4.06 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (10-12, 3.96 ERA)
Chance Fox (12-10, 4.42 ERA) vs. Jayden Craddock (6-3, 2.70 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (15-10, 3.08 ERA) vs. Joe Chalmers (11-15, 4.33 ERA)

Riddle would be pulled ahead of Jarod Morris into this series because I had more faith in him than in Morris, in whom I had zero. We would face another triplet of righties, and no Brenize (14-6, 1.71 ERA), who had pitched and not been scored for in the Titans’ Sunday loss.

Game 1
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Ellwood – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – 1B Joyner – 3B D. Mendoza – SS J. Watson – 2B Onelas – P Glaude
POR: RF Corral – 3B Morales – LF Kozak – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – SS Aoki – P Alba

The Coons made the first paw print on the board in the bottom of the first inning, where Glaude yielded singles to Morales and Kozak before Starr doubled to right-center with two outs. Morales scored, and Kozak tried to do so from first base, but was thrown out at the plate by Eddie Marcotte to end the inning. The last out of the bottom 2nd was also made on the base paths as Yukio Aoki was caught stealing, before the Titans ripped Alba to shreds in the top 3rd. Jonathan Watson and Marcos Onelas opened with doubles past Morales, and Steve Humphries hit another double with one out, this one into the left-center gap. Humphries stole third base to score on a sac fly by Bobby Ellwood, giving Boston a 3-1 lead.

While Diego Mendoza hit another double in the fourth – all Titans hits up to that point were doubles – the Raccoons scrabbled a run together from three singles in the bottom 4th to get back to 3-2. Aoki drove in Arellano for that run, but the inning ended with a K to Alba with two left on base. The Titans answered right away; Humphries hit a leadoff single in the fifth, and Jorge Arviso socked a homer to right. 5-2. I was starting to get despair and shivered trying to open a bottle of Capt’n Coma, but the Titans bobbled the Coons back into the game in the bottom of the same inning when Humphries – a Gold Glover – dropped a Kozak fly to left with two outs before Glaude put Rich Monck’s 30th homer of the year on a big old stick, and now we were back to 5-4.

Alba was yoinked after Mendoza singled on his first pitch in the sixth inning, but the pen didn’t exactly offer any support. Onelas doubled off Carrillo, who then inexplicably walked Glaude to fill the bases. Dover replaced him, allowed a run on a sac fly by Humphries, and then had Corral rush down Ellwood’s drive in the right-center gap to keep the game even at 6-4, as the inning ended. Glaude was gone after six innings, and Roberto Navarro was immediately under pressure in the bottom 7th. Spicer grounded out batting for McDaniel in the #9 slot, but Corral then singled. Morales flew out, but Kozak got another single through the right side. Ellwood and Marcotte misplayed the ball between them, allowing the tying runs into scoring position. The Titans pitched to Monck to anybody’s surprise. Navarro plated a 2-out run with a wild pitch, but then struck out Monck swinging on a 3-2 pitch and the Coons remained down by a run – and then immediately made it two again with more ****** bullpen ********, as Nesbitt and Hall allowed three hits and a run driven in by Humphries between them in the eighth. The Raccoons got nowhere nice in that inning, then led off the bottom 9th with PH Marco Campos against the lefty Tyler Gleason. Campos whiffed, but Corral dished a double to right, bringing up the tying run once more. Morales cracked a single to the left side where Jonathan Watson knocked it down, but had no play – the Coons had the tying runs on the corners for Jack Kozak, who grounded to Chris Brown at second base. The 27-year-old ham-and-egger tried to start a double play, but the Titans only got Morales at second base; Corral scored, and Kozak reached first base to give Rich Monck another shot at glory. He grounded out to short. 7-6 Titans. Morales 3-5, 2B; Arellano 2-4; Aoki 2-3, RBI;

(sits and stares)

The Thunder secured the South on Monday, and nobody was rooting harder for the Titans to slap this division shut as well than the Thunder – except maybe the Titans players’ moms.

Game 2
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Ellwood – CF Marcotte – 3B D. Mendoza – C Arviso – 1B Joyner – 2B Onleas – SS J. Watson – P Craddock
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – 3B Morales – 2B Monck – CF Kozak – 1B Starr – C Arellano – SS Aoki – P Fox

How despaired was it to put Malcolm Spicer second when he was batting .379 on a mere 29 at-bats? – Yes.

Before Spicer could be the odd hero, the Raccoons were almost already down by a run as Chance Fox nailed Bobby Ellwood, who was forced out by Eddie Marcotte, who then tried to score on a Mendoza double deep in the left-center gap, but was thrown out trying to make it. The Coons in the bottom 1st also had the #2 batter on base as the 20-year-old spicey Spicer singled, then was forced out by Morales, and Monck grounded out to end the inning. Kozak then actually whacked a triple to begin the bottom 2nd; Starr struck out, but Arellano put the first run on the board with a single to center. The bottom of the lineup ended the inning, but Corral singled to start the bottom 3rd, then advanced on a wild pitch. Spicer walked on four pitches – his first ABL walk – and then … Morales flew out to right, and Monck only reached because Onelas bungled his grounder for an error, loading them up for Kozak. However, Craddock found a strikeout in his pocket, and then got Starr to ground out to Mendoza…

While Fox hung on for dear life with some decent help from the defense, the Raccoons just couldn’t build on their sketchy 1-0 lead on the Titans. The bottom third of the lineup got nowhere in the fourth, and in the fifth Morales and Monck clipped 2-out singles before Kozak grounded out to strand them on base. Foxie Brown made it to the pen fighting tooth and nail to keep the Titans from scoring any runs at all, and ended up scattering five hits in a spirited outing.

The Coons began the bottom 7th with a Corral groundout but Spicer slapped a single to center, then stole second base. More Cookie Carmona vibes, except for the glove! Vic Morales didn’t wait around and bashed a double to right, extending the lead to 2-0. Monck was put on intentionally before Kozak and Starr starrved the runners again.

Top 8th, and the Coons went to Dover, and Dover sucked beyond words, packed the bags full by walking Sandy Moreno and singles given up to Humphries and Ellwood and then was dispatched for … Nesbitt? Carrillo was unavailable, and you don’t want a lefty to face Marcotte and Mendoza. In other words, we were ******. Except that Marcotte slumped, hacked himself out, and then John Rosenstiel came out to bat for Mendoza. We took the bait – McGinley came in for a 5-out save when he had trouble saving them over three, entering in a double switch that put Kozak at first, Maldonado in center, and his wobbly closer’s tush in the #6 spot. The fireworks that went off then were spectacular. Rosenstiel tied the game with a streak of a 2-run single to right-center, Arviso and Yoslan Valdez each singled in another run, and that was a 4-spot for Boston. Ryan Harmer would later **** another run onto the board in the ninth inning. The Coons’ season ended after a 1-out single off Gleason that Morales hit in the bottom 9th when Monck followed that up with a 4-6-3 grounder to Onelas. -2 Titans. Spicer 2-4, BB; Morales 3-5, 2B, RBI; Fox 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K;

(quietly sobs in the dark long after everybody else has gone home and killed the lights)

Game 3
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF Ellwood – CF Marcotte – 3B D. Mendoza – C Arviso – 1B Joyner – 2B Onelas – SS J. Watson – P Chalmers
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – 3B Morales – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 1B Tallent – SS Gardner – P Riddle

In a game that nobody cared for anymore and in which Bruce Burkart came off the DL at least a day late, Riddle pitched nicely but inefficiently, much like Fox the day before, and held the game in a 1-1 tie through six innings of work. Both teams scored their run in the third inning, the Titans clipping Riddle for three singles, while the Raccoons answered with a Gardner single in the bottom 3rd, getting bunted onwards by Riddle, and plated by Corral’s 2-out single.

And then came the pen, and the game immediately fell apart again. Harmer allowed two singles in the seventh, Hall walked Arviso to fill the bases, and then gave up a 2-out RBI single to Bill Joyner, which gave Boston a 2-1 lead. Cruzado replaced him, was countered with Valdez batting for Onelas, whom he nicked – and with an 0-2 pitch – and then he walked in another run against Watson. Three relievers, one inning, three hits, two walks, one hit batter, three runs. ******* imbeciles. Elmer Maldonado hit a homer in the bottom 7th for one run, but that was all the Coons had left. Chalmers and Roberto Navarro combined to hold them to four hits in the game. 4-2 Titans. Riddle 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K;

Raccoons (85-74) @ Crusaders (78-80) – October 3-5, 2064

Nobody was up for this series, but it needed to be played as much as the Crusaders’ even more meaningless make-up game with the Knights on Monday. At least *our* pain would end on Sunday. If ever. New York was tenth in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed. They had a -3 run differential. The Coons had an 8-7 lead in the season series, but they had had the same against the Titans before ******** the bed.

Projected matchups:
Jarod Morris (9-7, 3.87 ERA) vs. Ryan Musgrave (9-15, 4.60 ERA)
Josh Elling (15-8, 3.66 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (15-13, 3.21 ERA)
Angel Alba (14-12, 4.24 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (9-12, 3.75 ERA)

No more southpaws this year.

Nor playoffs.

Game 1
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – 3B V. Morales – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – CF Kozak – C Burkart – SS Novelo – P Morris
NYC: CF Box – 2B Jes. Alvarez – SS O. Sanchez – 1B Fresco – LF Jose Alvarez – RF Bucher – C J. Morales – 3B Heiden – P Musgrave

The only Critter that could still win something was Rich Monck in the home run and RBI categories, which he entered Friday in a tie with Fidel Carrera, and one ahead of Casey Ramsey, respectively. He made it a +2 on Ramsey in the first inning on Friday, hitting the third of three singles after Corral and Spicer to get the former across home plate. The Crusaders got a leadoff double from Bryant Box in the bottom 1st, then a 1-out single by Omar Sanchez, who sent Box to third base. Sanchez was then caught stealing, and Belchior Fresco grounded out to keep the tying run stranded. The Coons had a leadoff double from Burkart and then singles by Novelo, Corral, and Vic Morales in the inning, the latter two getting RBI’s, but Rich Monck lined out to Jose Alvarez to end the inning. All of this was for the tush when Morris did not retire anybody after a K on that Alvarez to begin the bottom 2nd. While a Monck error put Mike Bucher on base, he then walked the bags full like an idiot, before allowing two runs on a Musgrave single, and another four runs on spanking hits by the 1-2-3 batters for a 6-3 deficit (five earned) and getting shafted for Victor Herrera, who oversaw Omar Sanchez getting caught stealing for the second time in two innings.

Musgrave didn’t last much longer than that, getting beaten out of the game by the Coons in the top 3rd. The Raccoons got a leadoff double from Starr, then three straight singles before Elmer Maldonado’s pinch-hit RBI groundout. Corral bashed a score-flipping 2-run double, 7-6, just in case you couldn’t keep up with counting, and Musgrave was yanked for Jamie Maddox, who was having a 26-year-old cup of coffee and ended the inning. Starr walked in the fourth and was picked off, while the Coons defaulted to J.J. Sensabaugh in garbage relief, which somehow worked for two innings before he ****** the bags full on walks and emptied them with a groundout and two wild pitches in the bottom 5th.

Vic Morales shortened the score to 9-8 with a sixth-inning jack off Justin Coban, who was replaced after Monck reached on an error by Fresco. Eric Matthews conceded the tying run on a 2-out Kozak double. Burkart’s single to left-center brought in Kozak, making it 10-9 Coons, and in the seventh Matthews put Corral on base before giving up the first career homer of Malcolm Spicer, 12-9! But speaking of young outfielders, Bryant Box whacked a 2-run homer off Mike Hall in the bottom 8th to get the Crusaders back to within one run…

Top 9th, Curt Rosato allowed a pinch-hit leadoff single to Yukio Aoki, who stole second. Corral was walked intentionally, but an infield single by Spicer loaded the bases with nobody out. A passed ball scored a run, and a grounder by Morales to Sanchez was to score another even before Sanchez threw the ball away to actually concede a pair to the Coons and put Morales in scoring position for Monck, who struck out. Starr made another out, but Kozak got on base against righty Steve Stephens, which indicated we were really into the weeds of an extended roster now. Fourth-string catcher Miguel Guinea pinch-hit for Bruce Burkart – and hit an RBI single! Tallent batted for Novelo and walked, bringing Aoki to the dish for the second time in the inning. He fanned, concluding a wicked 4-spot. The Crusaders, down by five in this pitching-exempt madhouse of a game, then got Jose Alvarez on base against Nesbitt on account of a Spicer error in left, after which Mike Bucher singled. Jerry Morales sharply lined to Tallent at second base, who caught the ball and then tapped the bag to double off Alvarez. Steven Heiden grounded out to end the 27-run spectacle. 16-11 Critters. Corral 4-5, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Spicer 3-6, HR, 2 RBI; Morales 3-6, HR, 2 RBI; Monck 2-6, RBI; Kozak 2-6, 2B, RBI; Burkart 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Guinea (PH) 1-1, RBI; Novelo 2-5; Aoki (PH) 1-2;

The win went to Sensabaugh, somehow.

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – 3B V. Morales – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – CF Kozak – C Arellano – SS Aoki – P Elling
NYC: CF Box – RF A. Romero – SS O. Sanchez – 1B Fresco – C M. Nieto – 2B Jes. Alvarez – LF Thore – 3B Heiden – P Seiter

Portland went up in the second inning on a 2-out, 2-run double into left-center by Josh Elling, driving home Kozak and Arellano. As a side hustle, he faced the minimum on 19 pitches the first time through; Marco Nieto reached base on a Morales error, but was doubled up by Jesus Alvarez. Sanchez singled with two outs in the fourth for the first New York hit, but Fresco whiffed to leave him stranded.

Outside of Elling’s heroics, the Raccoons didn’t have much left in the sticks after the 16-run outburst on Friday and then even Elling bunted into a double play after Aoki reached base to begin the seventh against Seiter, who had been whiffing seven batters to that point, including an inefficient Monck twice. Corral doubled to right with two outs and Spicer cashed him with a well-placed single to extend the lead to 3-0. Morales grounded out to bring on the stretch. Elling was on 59 pitches that far, but needed 17 more in the seventh, including a full-count walk to Sanchez. He hit Alvarez in another 17-pitch inning in the eighth, but the Crusaders didn’t get the free runner into scoring position. Elling retained the ball on a 1-hitter to begin the bottom 9th because what else were we gonna do with a 3-0 lead, send in McGinley to blow it? Elling struck out Eddie Menchaca, struck out Box, and then got Alex Romero to ground out to Morales, and Morales could even resent the urge to make another throwing error. 3-0 Furballs. Morales 2-4, 2B; Elling 9.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, W (16-8) and 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Monck did nothing, but neither did the bunch of guys he was fighting. It was still a tie with Fidel Carrera in homers and a +2 on Casey Ramsey for RBI’s.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Novelo – SS Gardner – P Alba
NYC: CF Box – RF A. Romero – SS O. Sanchez – 1B Fresco – C M. Nieto – LF Jose Alvarez – 2B Spehar – 3B Heiden – P E. Lee

Pablo Novelo socked a 2-run homer to break the ice in the season finale, but Ryan Spehar got Alba back for a 2-run homer in the home half of the same inning after Fresco reached base to begin that inning. The next few innings were calm before Novelo singled and Gardner walked to start off the top 5th. Alba bunted them into scoring position before Corral drew a walk in a full count to load them up for Kozak, who singled to center to get Novelo home for a 3-2 lead. Starr struck out, but Monck grinded out a 2-out walk in another full count to force in another run, and Lee lost another batter in the same way against Burkart, forcing in another run and getting yanked immediately after. Pedro Mendoza replaced him, Rafael Valencia batted for Maldonado to oppose the left-hander, but struck out anyway.

Alba only allowed one hit other than the Spehar homer through five, but also bunted badly to force out Joe Gardner in the sixth. Corral and Kozak then reached base to load them up against right-hander Bronson Vanderven (those names!) in the top 6th. Starr knocked out the Aussie rookie with a 2-out, 2-run single to center, but Monck grounded out against Rafael Mendoza to leave two on.

Alba maintained a 2-hitter with a 7-2 lead through seven innings before hitting 100 pitches. Campos singled in his place to begin the eighth, stole second, and came in to score on a Corral single. Kozak bashed an RBI double over the head of Bryant Box, and after Starr lined out to short, Monck swatted an RBI double into the left-center gap for another run. Alex Flores came in as new reliever and walked Burkart, got Spicer out, but with two outs walked Novelo and walked Aoki to push another run across. Campos grounded out to end the inning. Rich Read had a 1-2-3 eighth (!), and Corral reached with a leadoff walk against Maddox in the ninth, trying to get Monck back to the dish for another swipe. Scott Lawson pinch-hit for Read, but hit into a double play. Maddox liked the thought of challenging Monck, though, and walked Starr to get Monck back up, then got bombed for 400 feet for his 31th homer of the year!! RICH MONCK!! Vic Herrera would do the final pitching of the year, completing a big sweep of the Crusaders. 13-2 Critters! Corral 2-4, 2 BB, RBI; Kozak 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Monck 2-5, BB, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Novelo 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Campos (PH) 1-2; Alba 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (15-12);

In other news

September 29 – The season of DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.365, 28 HR, 117 RBI) ends a week early due to a bruised foot.
September 30 – The Knights take 13 innings to beat the Condors, 1-0.
October 4 – TOP CL Justin Round (5-4, 2.38 ERA, 41 SV) has his 300th career save in nailing down a 5-2 win against the Blue Sox. Round was a Reliever of the Year twice for the Scorpions (2057) and Capitals (2063).
October 5 – The Stars win the FL West while being rained out when the Warriors lose their season finale to the Wolves, 11-6.

FL Hitter of the Month: CIN C Josh Heath (.279, 14 HR, 69 RBI), hitting .360 with 9 HR, 27 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: VAN OF Rick Atkins (.317, 16 HR, 96 RBI), bashing .400 with 3 HR, 27 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: WAS SP Adam Lunn (17-7, 3.77 ERA), going 5-0 with a 1.91 ERA, 40 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: MIL SP Bobby Herrera (14-15, 3.23 ERA), posting a 4-1 mark with 2.20 ERA, 36 K
FL Rookie of the Month: RIC LF/RF/1B Brady Terrell (.307, 20 HR, 82 RBI), striking .304 with 11 HR, 22 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: VAN OF Rick Atkins (.317, 16 HR, 96 RBI), bashing .400 with 3 HR, 27 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Rich Monck ended up nowhere in the batting race, really, but a late rally won him his first home run belt and RBI title! And while his batting average slipped to .308 in the end, that’s still his third .300 season in five full years in the ABL, 1-for-2 with the Coons after 2-for-3 with Cincy.

And which team ended up leading the Continental League in runs scored? THIS ******* TEAM!! Oh by the lightning thrown by Igor, the shortest and ugliest of the baseball gods – if only the ******* bullpen wouldn’t have been this ******* awful!! The Coons pen finished with a worse ERA (4.07) than the rotation (3.92)! The entire bunch needed beating with a ballpen hammer!

In the end we beat the Titans by four runs for the crown. And they beat us by three games for the division… by allowing 98 fewer runs. They led the CL in both starters’ and bullpen ERA.

Jose Corral ended the season with a 12-game hitting streak alive.

Jack Kozak appeared in all games this year, starting 152. Not bad for a guy that for years we couldn’t figure out what to do with.

Fun Fact: The last time the Raccoons led the CL in runs scored, the team’s batting WAR leader was ROYCE ******* GREEN.

1996, in case you’re struggling to go back that far. Royce Green hit .326 with 26 homers, narrowly beating David Brewer with .322 and 3 homers. Those were the Neil Reece, Vern Kinner, David Vinson, Ben O’Morrissey Raccoons. The ones that won 108 games but failed in October and then plunged into Darkness.

NINETEEN-*******-NINETY-SIX.

1996 was the ONLY time prior to this odd season that the Raccoons led the CL in scoring.

[UltimateAverageGuy]

Curious on the single season and all time leaders in the major categories?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by UltimateAverageGuy

Curious on the single season and all time leaders in the major categories?

With any luck I'll put something together tonight. If you're outta luck for tonight, it might take a while. Civ7 comes out at 6am my time on Thursday.

[Westheim]

2064 ABL PLAYOFFS

The playoff field was set with the exact same four teams as last season, with the 91-71 Thunder winning home field advantage in the CLCS against the equally 91-71 Titans by virtue of prevailing over the season series in the regular season. How the Thunder took themselves to the playoffs was quite marvelous, as they had scored the second-fewest runs in the Continental League, and while they had also allowed the second-fewest runs, they only had a +7 run differential while being 20 games over .500. There was neither power nor speed on that roster, with the notable exceptions of Ian Stone (.282, 27 HR, 68 RBI) and Bill Ramires (.275, 17 HR, 71 RBI) in the former category. No other Thunder had more than six home runs for the entire season. The rotation was solid of course, with Aaron Harris (12-12, 3.17 ERA), Jerry Washington (12-7, 3.05 ERA) and Joe Napier (12-8, 2.79 ERA) being extremely reliable. The bullpen was not standing out as much, with no regular reliever posting a sub-3 ERA. Pitcher Mike Chartrand and outfielders Felix Gomez and Bernaldin Martaranha were also out for the year with injuries.

The 91-71 Titans by contrast allowed the fewest runs and scored the second-most runs in the CL on their way to winning their division by three games. They had a whopping +178 run differential. Speed was absent on the roster, but apart from that they were top 3 in every major and many minor categories. Eddie Marcotte (.247, 28 HR, 88 RBI) led the power department, and there was a solid supporting cast with five other regulars hitting 12 or more home runs, not including Nick Nye, who was injured and out for the year after hitting 14 homers. Jason Brenize (14-7, 1.80 ERA) won the ERA and strikeout titles while never getting any run support, and Mike Bell (19-7, 2.82 ERA) was a very strong companion to him, but the other starting slots had a bit more issues. The pen was the best in the league, though.

In the Federal League, the 100-62 Stars had homefield advantage after winning their division by two games. They led the entire league in scoring with 857 runs put out in their little shoebox stadium, despite being soft on power. They instead led the league in batting average, OBP, and stolen bases, and allowed the second-fewest runs with a strong rotation as well, posting a +225 run differential. The big blow was however that Tyler Wharton (.365, 28 HR, 117 RBI) was still dealing with a bruised foot and was not ready for the start of the FLCS at least. He was the only injury, but that one hurt for sure. They still had four .320+ batters in Andy Yocum, Robert Almanza, Xavier Reyes, and Tommy Pritchard, but that bunch hit only nine homers between them. Chad Pritchett (.295, 20 HR, 96 RBI) was keeping the lights on the power department. The rotation was led by Alex Quevedo (14-6, 2.68 ERA) and Ray “Crabman” Walker (20-6, 2.76 ERA).

The Blue Sox ranked one position behind the Stars in both runs scored (2nd) and runs allowed (3rd), winning 94 games with a +130 run differential. They were without regular shortstop Wil Mejia for the playoffs, but had all the precious pieces lined up with David Johnston (.315, 30 HR, 97 RBI), Austin Gordon (.332, 33 HR, 110 RBI), and Kris DiPrimio (.306, 21 HR, 86 RBI). If there was a softer area it was the rotation, with no pitcher in there better than a 3.60 ERA, except for Jose Rivera (20-6, 3.12 ERA). Like the Stars, the Blue Sox had a rather average defense and a middling bullpen.

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The Thunder would take the sole lead in playoff appearances with their 25th showing in October ball, zooming past the Raccoons. The Titans, third all-time, had their 21st playoff appearance. The Blue Sox were up for the 19th time and the Stars for the 16th time – all inside the top 10 among the 24 teams.

For titles, the Titans were the defending champs and had the most rings of all teams with 11, the Blue Sox had six, the Stars brought four, and Thunder three. Besides Boston, the most recent titles for these teams were from 2058 (Sox), 2053 (Thunder), and 2048 (Stars).

The Thunder and Titans had met up four times in the CLCS before, three times bunched together in 2001, 2002, and 2004, and then just last year. The Titans won all of these series, and each time also took the trophy off the FL pennant winners.

Before meeting in the FLCS last year, the Stars and Blue Sox had also ran into each other in a compact timespan, four times in the 1980s. The Stars won those meetings in 1983 and 1988, and the Blue Sox won the 1986 and 1987 FLCS meetings, and in each of these cases the FL champions also won the World Series. Beyond that the teams also met in 2005 and the last *two* seasons, with the Sox winning in ’05 and ’62 and the Stars taking the pennant last year, but all of those times they lost in the World Series.

For potential World Series matchups, the Titans had faced the Blue Sox in the World Series in 1998 and 2002, and won both World Series, and then beat the Stars in their first encounter in the World Series last season. The Thunder never encountered either of the two FLCS teams in the World Series.

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2064 LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

BOS @ OCT … 5-6 … (Thunder lead 1-0) … BOS Diego Mendoza 3-5, RBI; OCT Ian Stone 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; OCT Luis Miranda 3-4; OCT Rick Miles 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI;

NAS @ DAL … 1-4 … (Stars lead 1-0) … DAL Ricardo Vargas 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI;
BOS @ OCT … 1-3 … (Thunder lead 2-0) …

A.C. Stebbins (1-0, 1.80 ERA) and three Thunder relievers hold the Titans to a Bill Joyner single in a suffocating Game 2 win.

NAS @ DAL … 1-2 … (Stars lead 2-0) … NAS Fernando Aracena 2-3, 2 BB; NAS Nick Phillips 3-3, BB, 2B; DAL Ray Walker 8.0 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 9 K;

OCT @ BOS … 3-5 … (Thunder lead 2-1) … OCT Luis Miranda 2-4, 2B; BOS Bill Joyner 3-4, RBI; BOS Diego Mendoza 2-4, HR, 4 RBI;

Diego Mendoza comes up big with a score-flipping 3-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against Oklahoma’s Danny Baca (0-0, 9.00 ERA).

DAL @ NAS … 5-3 … (Stars lead 3-0) … NAS Sean McLaughlin 2-3, 2 HR, 2 RBI;
OCT @ BOS … 2-3 (12) … (series tied 2-2) … BOS Andy Lee 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI;

The Stars manage to get Tyler Wharton back into the lineup for Game 3 and he immediately hits a home run in the first inning.

Boston’s Andy Lee (.308, 2 HR, 2 RBI) hits solo home runs in the seventh and ninth innings, the latter with the Titans down to their last out before falling behind 3-1 in the series.

DAL @ NAS … 2-0 … (Stars win 4-0) … DAL Jose Ortega 9.0 IP, 12 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K; NAS Kris DiPrimio 3-3, BB;
OCT @ BOS … 2-10 … (Titans lead 3-2) … BOS Bill Joyner 3-4, HR, 4 RBI;

The Stars have only four hits, but actually make them count while the Sox hit into three double plays and strand ten more runners on base on the way to elimination.

BOS @ OCT … 2-1 … (Titans win 4-2) … BOS Diego Mendoza 2-4, HR, RBI;

The Titans turn an 0-2 series start into a pennant in six games, but lose starter Mike Bell (0-1, 2.70 ERA) to an elbow injury after two innings.

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2064 WORLD SERIES

In a rematch of last year, the 100-62 Stars would have the home field advantage in the World Series against the Titans and their 91-71 record. Tyler Wharton (.365, 28 HR, 117 RBI) had healed up by now, so the full brunt of the Stars’ offense would come to bear on the Titans, who had not removed Mike Bell from the playoff roster and hoped to get another start out of him later in the series.

BOS @ DAL … 2-6 … (Stars lead 1-0) … DAL Adam Yocum 3-4, 2B; DAL Xavier Reyes 2-5, 2 RBI;

BOS @ DAL … 3-5 … (Stars lead 2-0) … BOS Marcos Onelas 3-4, 2B; DAL Adam Yocum 2-4, 2B, RBI; DAL Tyler Wharton 2-4, HR, RBI;

Dallas’ “Crabman” Walker (0-0, 0.93 ERA) leaves the game with an elbow injury in the second inning and would not be available for the rest of the series.

DAL @ BOS … 9-12 … (Stars lead 2-1) … DAL Tyler Wharton 2-4, BB, HR, 3B, 2 RBI; DAL Chad Pritchett 3-5, 2B, RBI; DAL Ricardo Vargas 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; DAL Jon Imamura 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; BOS Jonathan Watson 3-5, 2B; BOS Bill Joyner 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; BOS Diego Mendoza 2-4, 3B, 4 RBI;

The Titans put out nine runs in the first three innings and then let the Stars try and run up against the huge deficit for the rest of the game – which they almost make up.

DAL @ BOS … 8-7 … (Stars lead 3-1) … DAL Roberto Almanza 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Chris D’Alessandro 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; BOS Steve Humphries 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; BOS Jorge Arviso 2-5, 2 RBI;

DAL @ BOS … 2-3 … (Stars lead 3-2) … DAL Tyler Wharton 3-5; DAL Chad Pritchett 3-4, BB, 2B, RBI; BOS Bill Joyner 1-4, HR, 2 RBI;

The Stars have only five hits in the game, but win it on a pivotal come-from-behind, score-flipping home run by Joyner in the eighth inning.

BOS @ DAL … 10-3 … (series tied 3-3) … BOS Eddie Marcotte 3-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI; BOS Bill Joyner 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; BOS Diego Mendoza 3-5, 2 RBI; BOS Jason Brenize 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K, W (2-2) and 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI;

Eight shutout innings and a bases-clearing double to open the score in the sixth inning are a welcome sight out of Jason Brenize (2-2, 3.54 ERA) for the Boston faithful after the ace’s so far trying playoffs.

BOS @ DAL … 4-6 … (Stars win 4-3) … BOS Jonathan Watson 3-5; BOS Eddie Marcotte 3-5, 2 3B, 4 RBI; DAL Adam Yocum 3-5; DAL Tyler Wharton 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; DAL Ricardo Vargas 2-4, RBI; DAL Roberto Almanza 3-3;


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2064 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
Dallas Stars
(5th title)