Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Raccoons (49-68) vs. Cyclones (64-53) – August 17-19, 2066

I didn’t know a lot of things, but I knew that these were the final games against a Federal League opponent this year… Cincy had won six games in a row and was second in runs scored and third in runs allowed in the Federal League. They had a good team – but they were 11 1/2 games behind the Blue Sox and it didn’t look like they were gonna catch up anymore. These teams had played the last two years as well, the Coons both times winning two of three games. The Raccoons had in fact won the last FIVE series from the Cyclones, but that streak was in some danger now.

Projected matchups:
Evan Alvey (4-2, 3.42 ERA) vs. Blake Anderson (8-9, 4.24 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (7-10, 3.90 ERA) vs. Sean Sweeton (13-8, 3.03 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (2-3, 3.99 ERA) vs. A.C. Stebbins (10-6, 3.60 ERA)

Sweeton, who was 40 years old at this point, had of course had some nice years with the Critters, and Stebbins was the only southpaw coming up here.

Game 1
CIN: SS J. Munoz – RF F. Cruz – 3B D. Mendoza – LF M. Avila – C J. Contreras – CF Valencia – 2B J. Hernandez – 1B D. Baker – P B. Anderson
POR: RF Corral – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – 3B Colter – SS Novelo – CF Matas – P Alvey

Fernando Cruz hit his first homer of the season (in the majors; he had five in AAA) as the second batter of the game, putting the Cyclones up 1-0. Corral answered with a leadoff double for the Critters in the bottom 1st, but three poor outs stranded him on third base. In turn, Alvey drilled Jonathan Contreras and Jordan Hernandez in the second inning and was battered by Dallas Baker with a 2-run double off the wall, which he probably deserved at this point. Corral hit another double his second time up, but nobody besides him reached base in the first three innings.

Alvey pitched five innings in the 3-0 game before being chased by rain and we sat with our wet fur through another 1:15 rain delay. Anderson returned after the delay to finish five innings himself and qualify for the W. The Coons got a sixth inning from Yamauchi in 1-2-3 fashion before Piteira took over and allowed a leadoff double to Baker. He then got two outs from Mario Padilla and Jorge Munoz, then got collected by Luis Silva after shaking out his arm in a weird way. Cruz then doubled home the runner against Pedro Mendoza, 4-0, and big bopper Roberto Soto came off the bench and socked his 25th homer of the year off Mendoza in the eighth inning, a solo job to right that was outta here just on sound off the bat alone. The Raccoons never came even close to producing such a loud sound – and in fact they never got a base hit against Anderson and three relievers after the second Corral double in the third inning. 5-0 Cyclones. Corral 2-4, 2 2B;

Game 2
CIN: SS J. Munoz – LF M. Avila – CF F. Cruz – RF R. Soto – 3B D. Baker – 1B S. Jordan – C Heath – 2B D. Mendoza – P Sweeton
POR: RF Corral – LF Colter – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – SS Novelo – C Flowe – 2B Arantes – CF Tallent – P Nakayama

Another game, another second-batter home run, this time by Melvin Avila. Cruz then doubled, but was left on base; however, the Cyclones would eat up Nakayama in a terrible third inning, in which Jorge Munoz first grounded out, but then the bags filled up with 1-out walks to Avila and Soto around a Cruz single on 0-2, and then runs scored on a passed ball, a Baker sac fly, and – after Steve Jordan walked – on singles by Josh Heath and Diego Mendoza, cranking the score up to 5-0 before Sweeton ended the inning by grounding out.

The Raccoons had a Tallent double the first time through, and a Jamie Colter double to begin the fourth inning. The latter run came around to score – (claps his paws together excitedly for all the offense!) – on a Starr grounder and Monck’s sac fly to center, 5-1. That run was put back on the board by Heath with a solo homer off Nakayama in the fifth, which was the starter’s last inning. And the gap wasn’t getting any closer from there; Quinones had a scoreless sixth before allowing a single to Steve Jordan in the seventh, and that run was surrendered by Cullum by serving up a double to Mendoza, 7-1.

Bottom 7th, and the bases filled up, even though it was in unearned fashion and with two outs as Sweeton walked Jake Flowe, Arantes hit a single, and then Tallent reached on an error by Baker. Ramon Lopez batted for Cullum and slapped a clean RBI single to shallow left for a run, but Corral then popped out to Jordan behind first base and the inning ended. Again the Cyclones immediately answered with another run, this time against Pedro Mendoza, who also didn’t seem like he could get anybody out. Cruz doubled home Munoz to make it 8-2. Sweeton continued into the ninth inning, where Spicer batted for Novelo to begin the inning and was brushed near the belly by an inside pitch. Spicer stole second base… but then was stranded by Flowe, Arantes, and Matas, as Sweeton finished a 114-pitch, complete-game 5-hitter, which wasn’t terrible at age 40! … 8-2 Cyclones. Lopez (PH) 1-1, RBI;

The Raccoons remained an arm short for the final game of the series, as Piteira remained undiagnosed.

But at least Maud baked muffins! (dunks a muffin into a bowl with Capt’n Coma)

Game 3
CIN: SS J. Munoz – LF M. Avila – CF F. Cruz – RF R. Soto – 3B D. Baker – 1B S. Jordan – C Heath – 2B J. Hernandez – P Stebbins
POR: RF Corral – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Arantes – 1B Caballero – 2B Gardner – CF Tallent – P Gaytan

Again the second hitter mashed a homer – but this time the second hitter from the bottom, #8 Jordan Hernandez, and it counted for two with Dallas Baker on base and two outs, as the Cyclones took yet another lead on the hapless Coons. That 2-spot made me way less angry than the one Gaytan allowed in the fourth inning, when he issued two walks and then the runners scored with two outs, one by one, on a Hernandez single and then a wild pitch… It wasn’t all bad about Gaytan in this game, f.e. he struck out seven batters in five innings, and for the first time this week the Raccoons starter got somebody out in the sixth! …and then he allowed another 2-run homer to Josh Heath with one out and was finally chased from the 6-1 game, the only Coons run comng in the bottom 5th on a Gardner single and Tallent RBI double. Another run came home in the bottom 6th as Corral led off with another double and scored on Lopez’ single to right-center, but that still left the team behind by a slam.

And again, that only got worse. Melvin Avila took Yamauchi deep for a solo homer in the seventh, 7-2, and when Tallent hit a 2-out single and tried to score from first base on a Spicer double to left in the home half of that inning, he was thrown out at the plate by Avila. Novelo and Lopez reached base in the bottom 8th before righty Pedro Valentin replaced Stebbins with two outs, right as the Coons arrived at Cullum in the #5 hole. Joel Starr came off the bench and struck a liner to center, but Cruz caught that on the slide and the Raccoons were turned away again. Surrendering, we then put Novelo on the hill for the ninth, and somehow he was able to get three outs in order when nobody else ******* could on this team…!! 7-2 Cyclones. Lopez 2-3, BB, RBI; Gardner 2-4; Tallent 2-4, 2B, RBI; Spicer 2-2, 2B;

Welp.

On top of everything else, add injury: Ubaldo Piteira was found to have a torn UCL, and was headed for Tommy John surgery. So he was off to the 60-day DL, and the Raccoons tried to paw through the detritus in AAA and brought up Paul Barton, who was currently on rehab in AAA for a meniscus he had torn in May while with the Critters.

Raccoons (49-71) vs. Crusaders (70-50) – August 20-22, 2066

The Raccoons were 3-8 against the Crusaders this year, with some box scores that deserved an R rating. New York had a 4-game winning streak (but they were still ten games behind Boston), and the Raccoons had now dropped seven in a row without making it seem like a major achievement. The Crusaders scored the second-most runs in our league, and also allowed the second-fewest runs, with a +143 run differential. The Coons were racing for -200, and were just 25 runs away from that, which sounded totally doable in a 3-game set now. The Crusaders also had injuries, mostly around the fringes on the roster, though. Ryan Spehar, Jose Ambriz, Victor Reyna, and relievers Ryan Harmer and Jarod Nesbit were all either on the DL or battling nagging injuries while hanging onto their roster spot.

Projected matchups:
Juan Sanchez (6-8, 3.77 ERA) vs. Ricardo Montoya (11-4, 3.03 ERA)
Nick Walla (10-7, 3.41 ERA) vs. Jeff Kozloski (7-6, 4.70 ERA)
Evan Alvey (4-3, 3.58 ERA) vs. Ben Seiter (9-7, 3.16 ERA)

Only right-handers coming up in this series.

And beatings.

Game 1
NYC: CF Box – 2B O. Sanchez – RF Takeuchi – 3B B. Wilken – LF Menchaca – SS Blackshire – 1B Jose Alvarez – C Norwood – P R. Montoya
POR: RF Corral – LF Colter – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Arantes – CF Matas – P J. Sanchez

For the fourth time in four attempts this week, the scoring started on a homer surrendered by the Raccoons’ starter, this time a solo piece to Eddie Menchaca in the second inning. While I found it worse to then give up a leadoff double to Ricardo Montoya in the third inning, at least Sanchez buckled down and kept that runner on base. The next time Montoya was up in the briskly proceeding game – thanks to one team just passing on offense – he found himself in a 3-0 game leading off the fifth inning. He then chomped a fat pitch into play, a bouncer to third base that Monck threw away for two bases. (facepaws) Omar Sanchez, he of the recently 3,000 base hits, and Kazuhide Takeuchi, last week’s CL Player of the Week, then hit singles to get the unearned runner home, and another unearned run scored on Ben Wilken’s RBI groundout, 3-0. Menchaca then grounded out to Leon Arantes to end the inning.

Bottom 6th, Colter led off with a single, and Ramon Lopez then pounded a ball over the wall to shorten the deficit to 3-2, which somehow felt like being reborn after a whole midweek series of falling behind quickly and then just continuing to lose until it was over. Monck then singled, but was left on first base until the end of the inning. Sanchez held the score through another inning despite allowing another hit to Montoya, which confused the crap out of me. Spicer batted for him in the bottom 7th, singled, was caught stealing, and then Corral homered to tie the game. Brilliant!

The Raccoons’ pen answered by giving up a 3-run eighth between three different relievers, which was … (buries face in paws again) McMahan was in first, allowing a 1-out single to Dave Blackshire, who pulled something and limped off the field, replaced by Willie Villafan, and then McMahan lost PH Eric Whitlow on balls in a ull count. Barton came in, struck out Zachary Norwood, then was replaced with Quinones when Cesar Santiago pinch-hit in the #9 hole, lining up a lot of lefty bats… to which Quinones served up three straight 2-out, RBI singles before Takeuchi grounded out. Quinones remained in the game in the ninth, ****** the bags full, and gave up a 2-out, 2-run single to another left-handed batter, pinch-hitter Jared Allen. (pets Honeypaws, trying not to strangle innocent bystanders) To put the cherry on top, Duarte Damasceno then finished off the game for New York… 8-3 Crusaders. Colter 2-3, BB, 2B; Spicer (PH) 1-2; Sanchez 7.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K and 1-2;

Roster move on Saturday: Joe Gardner (.214, 0 HR, 4 RBI) ended up on waiers, and the Raccoons started the clock on 21-year-old natural-born New Yorker Brian Hills, the #58 pick from the 2064 draft, who was hitting .321/.408/.484 in 58 games since promotion to St. Pete.

Game 2
NYC: RF Jose Alvarez – 2B O. Sanchez – CF Box – LF Takeuchi – 3B B. Wilken – 1B J. Allen – C Norwood – SS N. Cross – P Kozloski
POR: RF Corral – LF Colter – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Hills – 2B Novelo – CF Matas – P Walla

Good news! On Saturday the scoring did NOT start on a homer by the opposing team! …instead Walla got lit up by Alvarez, Sanchez, Box, and Takeuchi with a single, a double, and another two singles, and with the aid of a wild pitch surrendered three runs before Monck started a 5-4-3 double play on Ben Wilken to eventually nudge him out of the inning. The battering of Walla never stopped, and the Crusaders wasted a hit in the second before Takeuchi doubled home Omar Sanchez in the third inning, as they rapped Walla for seven hits inside of three innings, and took a 4-0 lead. Walla hit a single, the second base hit for the Critters, in the bottom 3rd, and together with Colter getting hit and Lopez walking, the bases filled up. Kozloski then lost Monck on balls as well, walking in a 2-out run, but Starr floated out to Takeuchi and the inning ended…

Hills struck out his first time up, but then hit a leadoff single in the bottom 4th, only to be immediately doubled off on Novelo’s grounder to short on the next pitch by Kozloski. Carlos Matas then ended an 0-for-15 string to begin his spotty big league season with a 2-out double to left and scored on another single by Walla. Corral also singled, and then Jamie Colter uncorked a 3-run homer to right, and suddenly the Raccoons were on top, 5-4! The Crusaders dropped Kozloski, while Walla continued into the fifth, but continued to get shellacked and gave up the lead on a Box single and another RBI double for Takeuchi. He was then done after five ****** innings.

Paul Barton pitched a scoreless sixth and then got in line for the W when the Raccoons whacked Crusaders righty Jason Fick around in the bottom 6th. Matas hit a single, reached third on a Spicer single, but Spicer was then caught stealing, and Corral walked and Colter hit the go-ahead single to center, 6-5. Lopez grounded sharply up the middle; Nigel Cross dove for the ball and contained it, but had no play, and the bases were full for Monck, who struck out in a full count, but Fick was finally torn up by Starr with a 2-out, 2-run double and replaced with another lefty, Ben Caldwell, who walked Hills, but then struck out Novelo, both in full counts.

Pedro Mendoza continued to get nobody out, especially left-handers, allowing leadoff singles to Alvarez and Sanchez in the top 7th, and surrendering both runs on a Takeuchi single (which made three singles by lefty hitters off him) and Wilken’s sac fly, narrowing the Raccoons’ lead right back down to 8-7 before Menchaca struck out. Yamauchi walked a pair in the eighth and looked highly clueless. When the Crusaders, who had the pitcher batting second at that point, arrived at that point and sent lefty Cesar Santiago to pinch-hit with two outs, the Raccoons called on McMahan, who had pitched two days in a row, gave up a fly to center, but Matas was ranging over and made the catch to end the inning.

Bottom 8th, “DD” Damasceno walked Colter leading off. Tallent pinch-ran for him, but Lopez popped out and Monck got nicked without him getting a jump, and the inning ended with whiffs by Starr and Hills, which gave Dover the ball and the 8-7 lead. Box singled sharply on an 0-2 pitch to begin the ninth, and Takeuchi dropped a wheezer behind Hills for another single. Wilken popped out to Novelo at second base, and Menchaca ran a 3-1 count before grounding sharply at Novelo, and the Raccoons ended the losing streak by turning a 4-6-3 double play. 8-7 Critters. Colter 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 4 RBI; Lopez 2-4; Matas 2-4, 2B; Spicer (PH) 1-1;

Takeuchi (.314, 26 HR, 97 RBI) had five hits in the game, a double and four singles, and drove in 26 runs … at least that was how it felt. The box score said it was only three runs. (hisses at Cristiano) Damn intellectuals!!

Game 3
NYC: CF Box – 2B O. Sanchez – RF Takeuchi – 3B B. Wilken – LF Menchaca – SS Spehar – 1B Jose Alvarez – C Norwood – P Seiter
POR: RF Corral – LF Colter – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – 2B Arantes – SS Hills – CF Matas – P Alvey

As much as Takeuchi was raking, on Sunday he made a pretty gross throwing error in the first inning on the second of consecutive 2-out singles by Ramon Lopez and Rich Monck, that allowed Lopez to take another left turn at third base and score the game’s first (and unearned) run. Nothing great happened with Starr from there, but the Raccoons scored first for the first and only time this week…! The lead didn’t last long, since Alvy failed the bases full in the top 2nd and issued a 2-out wild pitch that plated Jose Alvarez with the tying run. Seiter and Box were stranded when Omar Sanchez struck out in a full count. Alvey then continued to achieve the dubious feat of hitting a triple without seeing your team score a run in the inning in the bottom 2nd; the heroics came with two outs and nobody on, but Corral apparently wasn’t interested and grounded out to first.

It hadn’t been Seiter’s best season by a wide margin, and this was far from his best start. He walked three Coons through four innings, then issued leadoff walks to Corral and Colter in the bottom 5th. Lopez struck out and Monck hit into a 1-6-3 double play to politely decline and let the old man live.

Top 6th, and Alvey put Menchaca on with a single, but Ryan Spehar – just off the stretcher – forced him out with a grounder. Alvarez walked, there was a wild pitch, then an intentional walk to Norwood to get Seiter to the dish with two outs – and then Alvey threw ANOTHER ******* RUN-SCORING WILD PITCH. Box was laughing so hard that he struck out to end the inning, but the Crusaders were now up 2-1, but the Raccoons also loaded the bases in the bottom 6th. Seiter walked Starr, Hills reached with an infield single, and Matas got on base on a Spehar error. Spicer batted for Alvey with three on and one out, grounded up the middle, and Sanchez got to it, but had only one out at second base on offer, while Starr scored with the tying (and unearned) run. Seiter then rung up Corral to exit the dicey inning.

Nobody else reached base until Seiter – who was still going on 120+ pitches – walked Hills with two outs in the bottom 8th. Matas dropped a dying quail single on the next pitch, and Jake Flowe batted for Cullum in the #9 hole, but the Crusaders still didn’t go to the pen, and why would they? Sanchez contained Flowe’s easy grounder, and the inning ended. In turn the ninth inning began with a gap triple in right-center for Jose Alvarez against Jesse Dover, but Santiago then struck out and another pinch-hitter, Mike Velazquez, hit a comebacker to Dover for the second out, with Alvarez hugging third base. Dover rung up Box to finish the inning without conceding the run from the leadoff triple and now the Coons had a chance to walk off against righty Dave Hyman. Corral grounded out, but Colter singled to center to put the winning run on base. Tallent pinch-ran for him again and stole second base before Lopez popped out. Rich Monck however had dinner reservations and ended the game with a single to left-center, Tallent coming around to score easily from second base on the play. 3-2 Critters! Monck 2-5, RBI;

In other news

August 16 – Dallas C/1B Jason Bothe (.280, 9 HR, 58 RBI), hits an RBI double in a 5-3 win against the Thunder to get his hitting streak to 20 games.
August 17 – Boston outfielder Steve Humphries (.295, 9 HR, 62 RBI) will miss the rest of the regular season with a quad tear, but there is hope to get him back for the playoffs.
August 17 – LAP SP Sergio Davila (12-6, 4.04 ERA) is out for the year with a torn triceps.
August 17 – The Crusaders beat the Capitals, 1-0 in 13 innings. 38-year-old New York corner outfielder Eric Whitlow (.286, 0 HR, 4 RBI) chops a walkoff single to end the game.
August 18 – CHA 1B Manny Rubin (.268, 19 HR, 84 RBI) strikes four hits, misses the cycle by a triple, and drives in five runs in a 17-7 blowout of the Wolves.
August 19 – The Wolves beat the Falcons, 2-0, but take 12 innings to do so.
August 20 – The hitting streak of Dallas C Jason Bothe (.276, 9 HR, 58 RBI) ends at 21 games with an 0-for-4 against the Pacifics, whom the Stars beat regardless, 8-7.
August 20 – In that same game, which goes 11 innings before Dallas prevails, LAP 1B Alejandro Olivares (.319, 15 HR, 62 RBI) clips five hits, including a homer and a double, and drives in four runs.
August 20 – DAL SP Alan Deakin (11-6, 4.06 ERA) is out for the season after coming down with a case of shoulder inflammation.
August 22 – While the Gold Sox-Warriors game is postponed, the remining five Federal League games all see the winner score double digits: the Cyclones beat the Caps, 10-7; the Rebs rush the Miners, 13-4; the Wolves also get 13 to beat the Stingers by 11; the Blue Sox thrash the Buffos, 14-2; and the Stars trump everybody with a 15-0 rout of the Pacifics, in which DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.334, 22 HR, 76 RBI) hits two homers and drives in eight runs.

FL Player of the Week: PIT 2B Roland Hood (.322, 13 HR, 66 RBI), batting .600 (15-25) with 2 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA 1B/3B Alex Alfaro (.310, 8 HR, 49 RBI), hitting .480 (12-25) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Another casual 8-game losing streak in the books, what else is new? Somehow we’re still at .500 for this month.

There really is not much to say here except that we keep finding new 21-year-olds to throw into the woodchipper. Maybe Hills can hit something! Somebody’s gotta hit something at some point, right??

Monday is off, then three with the Elks, and then four with the Condors, with a double header on Friday, all at home. We might be looking at a spot start by Quinones there, although throwing the game by using Vinny Morales from AAA would also be possible. It’s at least likely that Morales will be in Portland as mobile reserve between games. And don’t count out Sensabaugh, we’re not done sucking the air out of this season yet!

Fun Fact: 28 years ago today, the Condors’ Alvin Zuazo hit for the cycle in an 18-1 riot against the Bayhawks.

Zuazo was a quietly reliable first baseman and occasional leftfielder for 16 seasons in the majors, of which the first six-and-a-half were spent with the Condors, starting in 2033. Posting above-average OPS values in ten full seasons and a 106 OPS+ for his career, Zuazo then moved frequently and eventually played for three FL West teams, then three CL North teams, and then another three teams all over, for a total of ten employers out of 24 franchises. Across all this time, he led the league in something once, hitting .280 with 22 homers and 117 RBI to lead the FL in the last category at age 36 with the 2046 Cyclones.

Overall for his career, Zuazo batted .270/.343/.393 with 1,703 hits, 133 homers, 792 RBI, and 158 stolen bases. He won a ring in his final productive season with the 2048 Stars, and won a Platinum Stick for his 2046 heroics.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (51-72) vs. Canadiens (59-64) – August 24-26, 2066

The damn Elks were in next on this extended 13-game homestand, bringing with them the #8 offense, second-worst pitching in the CL, and a 7-5 lead in the season series. Their starters and relievers had the same ERA as groups, 4.29, and they ranked ninth in a whole lot of major stats, including those ERA’s, defense, batting average, on-base percentage, and stolen bases. Seventh in homers, so perhaps bring a protective blanket if you sit in the outfield bleachers.

Projected matchups:
Shoma Nakayama (7-11, 4.12 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (11-8, 2.79 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (2-4, 4.52 ERA) vs. Ray Rath (2-13, 4.36 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (6-8, 3.65 ERA) vs. Jose Villegas (3-9, 5.59 ERA)

The damn Elks had not played a game in two days due to a rainout on Sunday and the common off day on Monday, so they could basically use every starter on the roster in this series. So we were working with best guesses here, which would include the left-hander Villegas on Thursday, but not seeing the other southpaw, Martyn Polaco (8-10, 5.16 ERA). The only person we would definitely not see in this series was first-sacker Rico Cordero, who was stashed away on the DL.

Game 1
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B Kilday – CF R. Atkins – RF Lozada – C Varner – 1B Whetstine – LF Chenette – 3B Yue – P Nielsen
POR: RF Corral – LF Colter – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – 2B Arantes – SS Hills – CF Matas – P Nakayama

Offense was minimal through the first four innings, especially on the Raccoons’ side, where Colter singled his way on base in the bottom 1st and was then doubled up by Lopez. Nakayama kept the Elks to low growth as well through four innings, where they had a runner on base in three of them, but never more than one runner and they never reached third base, although that streak ended in the fifth, which began with Starr fumbling a grounder by Tyler Chenette, and then Hsi-Chuen Yue doubled to left-center to put a pair in scoring position. Nielsen popped out, but Carlos Castro’s sac fly to center broke the ice they had brought from their dens in the tundra and the Raccoons were sent a-trailing again. Matt Kilday then grounded out to Arantes, who was getting another start over the foundering Pablo Novelo. Arantes then hit into a fielder’s choice to erase Starr, who was looking for redemption, and his leadoff single in the bottom 5th. Arantes stole second, but Hills struck out, Matas was walked intentionally, and Nakayama rolled over to Kilday to end the inning.

Lopez hit into another double play, this time erasing Corral, in the bottom 6th, and Nakayama’s pitch count was up there at 98 through six innings, so he wasn’t gonna last forever in this game, either; he struck out Chad Whetstine to begin the seventh, then allowed a bloop single to Chenette. Yue was likely going to be his last batter, but a 5-4-3 double play hit into completed seven innings for Nakayama. The last two innings were pitched by Quinones, who was still a potential candidate for the spot start in the double header on Friday, but he gave up a solo homer to Roberto Lozada in the ninth inning to double the score. The Raccoons then batted Tallent for Corral to begin the bottom 9th against Jon McGinley and he legged out an infield single. Colter’s grounder advanced him, and he scored on a Lopez single to center, but Monck flew out and Starr lined out to Castro to end the game. 2-1 Canadiens. Tallent (PH) 1-1; Lopez 2-4, RBI; Nakayama 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, L (7-12);

Carlos Matas (.130, 0 HR, 0 RBI) went back to St. Petersburg after this game as the Raccoons were able to reclaim Jaden Wilson from the DL.

Game 2
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B Kilday – CF R. Atkins – RF Lozada – C Varner – 1B Whetstine – LF D. Moore – 3B Yue – P Rath
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – RF Corral – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – C Flowe – SS Hills – SS Novelo – P Gaytan

Novelo was the only right-handed batter in that lineup for the Critters, who got Spicer on in the first, and he stole second base, gained a base when Steve Varner’s throw got away from Castro, and then came in on Corral’s groundout for a quick 1-0 Critters lead; however, Gaytan soon found a way to rid himself of the burden of leading when he filled the bases in the second inning on a Varner single, a walk to Whetstine, nicking Dan Moore with an 0-2 pitch, and then giving up a run on Yue’s 1-out grounder to Monck. Rath struck out to leave two in scoring position, but Gaytan melted down further in the third inning. Getting two outs to begin the inning from the 1-2 batters, he then allowed a triple to Rick Atkins, walked Lozada, conceded one run on a Varner single, and another one by balking home Lozada from third base…

It only got worse from there, and the damn Elks scored three more runs in the fourth inning, which began with a four-pitch walk to Yue, which was always such a great opener. A Kilday triple and Rick Atkins’ homer exploded the score to 6-1, again with two outs. The Coons tried to drag Gaytan through another inning, but he nicked Varner now and gave up the run on Dan Moore’s 1-out single before getting disposed of. Barton struck out Yue and Rath to get through five innings, which Ray Rath did on four hits while facing an army of left-handed batters…

Speaking of useless, Pedro Mendoza came in for the sixth, again walked the first batter he faced, and then gave up a homer to Atkins, 9-1. When the Raccoons in that inning got runners on the corners with nobody out as Spicer doubled and Corral softly singled, Monck struck out and Starr smacked it into a double play to ensure no shortening of the gaping deficit was achieved… The meltdown only got worse in the later innings. McMahan got the ball in the eighth and offered another leadoff walk to Castro, then gave up singles to Kilday (on a bunt…), Atkins, and Varner, the latter two getting RBI’s, and another walk to Whetstine before getting shafted. Dover popped out Moore and got Yue to ground out, stranding the three inherited runners, but the ninth inning went to Novelo AGAIN, which was not a sign of a healthy pitching staff… Novelo got ****** up for another two runs, walking a pair and giving up two hits – Lozada doubled home the runs – but the thing that actually got me raging was the double steal that Castro and Kilday pulled off with a 10-run lead in the ninth inning. 13-1 Canadiens. Spicer 3-4, 2B; Flowe 2-4, 3B, 2B;

(picks random wood splinters out of his fur again)

Rich Monck was in a 4-for-38 rut and got the game against the southpaw off. I wish they could all just have a day off, and also that I didn’t have to see any of them ever again. Alas, there still were another 37 games to play.

Meanwhile, the Raccoons flew in no fewer than three AAA pitchers (Vinny Morales, Schmieder, and Thomas) as extra lard for the upcoming double-header.

Game 3
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B Kilday – CF R. Atkins – RF Lozada – C Varner – 1B Whetstine – LF D. Moore – 3B Yue – P J. Villegas
POR: CF Wilson – 1B Caballero – C Lopez – RF Corral – 3B Tallent – LF Arantes – SS Hills – 2B Novelo – P Sanchez

Two batters were plunked in the first inning – and they were not Castro and Kilday, but Caballero and Corral. Regardless, the Coons failed to score, or even get close to scoring. The Elks instead scored in the second inning, in which Sanchez walked the leadoff man Varner. Moore hit a double, and Yue got a groundout to get the runner home before Villegas, hitting .031, popped out to leave Moore at third base. Kilday was then hit by Sanchez and doubled up on Atkins’ 5-4-3 grounder to Tallent, and the two benches began to chirp at each other, which wasn’t helped when in the fourth Sanchez gave up a leadoff homer to Lozada, walked Varner, and then plunked Whetstine, who slammed his bat down and yelled out to him something like “what the **** have *I* done to you??”; Moore flew out and Yue hit into another double play to keep the 2-0 score from escalating. And Corral’s 4-6-3 grounder after Lopez’ single to begin the bottom 4th kept the Raccoons from showing up on the scoreboard at ******* all.

Sanchez was wrung out for 116 pitches in six innings in this start, with constant traffic around him even though he only allowed two runs in his outing. The Elks stranded two more pairs in the fifth and sixth innings, the latter pair being unearned after an error by Sanchez himself. The Raccoons then had the tying runs in scoring position with nobody out in the bottom 6th as Villegas walked Wilson and Caballero briefly interrupted being comatose and doubled to center. Lopez with a groundout to short and Corral with a single to center then both brought in a run to tie the game, and before we could get any lofty ideas, Tallent’s grounder to short ended the inning in 6-4-3 manner.

The Coons then brought Yamauchi in a double switch (Colter replaced Corral in right) hoping for some length, but he walked Castro and Kilday on his first eight pitches, and only after getting yelled at struck out the next three batters to strand the runners, which in between pulled off another double steal, asking for another ******* beanball. Another double switch was made to put Barton in for the last two innings, now with Monck entering at third base and batting his customary fourth, and Tallent going to second base as Novelo had the rest of the day off. Barton’s second pitch was bombed into the stands by Whetstine to break the 2-2 tie, but he *did* pitch the last two innings. The Raccoons had nothing in the eighth, and in the ninth got Arantes on base with a 1-out single against McGinley. Starr batted for Hills, who was hitless in the series, and knocked the ball into a 6-4-3 double play to complete the sweep… 3-2 Canadiens. Caballero 2-3, 2B; Corral 1-2, RBI; Arantes 2-4;

Raccoons (51-75) vs. Condors (62-64) – August 27-29, 2066

There were four to play, including the make-up of the June 30 rainout, in this series against the Condors, who had a 3-2 lead in the season series. Both teams were in the bottom three in runs scored in the CL, although the Coons were really in a league of their own in terms of not scoring, and the Condors ranked sixth in runs allowed, for a -18 run differential. Mike Pinault and Felix Rivera were on the DL for them, as was outfielder Matt Ewig, who had recovered from a mild hip flexor strain, but the Friday double-opener was his 15th day on the DL and he was only eligible to return on Saturday.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (10-7, 3.59 ERA) vs. Brett Bebout (11-6, 2.84 ERA)
Jorge Quinones (3-5, 4.73 ERA) vs. Ryan Davis (9-7, 3.51 ERA)
Evan Alvey (4-3, 3.53 ERA) vs. Bruce Vanderven (4-10, 4.59 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (7-12, 3.94 ERA) vs. Ryan Singletary (9-12, 4.27 ERA)

Four games, four right-handed starters by the Condors, who had been off on Thursday and thus had no issues finding rested starters for the double-header and beyond (which was the pinch-point for the Coons, with no off day on Monday to buffer things out).

Quinones was still set up to make the spot start, even though Vinny Morales was on standby, as was Sean Thomas. The third pitcher called up as reserve, useless Matt Schmieder, was on the roster to begin the series, since Paul Barton (2-2, 3.27 ERA) was rewarded for pitching in consecutive games by getting a ticket to ride the waiver wire as the Coons’ pitching staff gasped for air even ahead of the double header.

Game 1
TIJ: C Brann – SS M. Moreno – 2B Nye – 1B Metz – RF Jes. Martinez – 3B Lange – LF K. Hawkins – CF Cardwell – P Bebout
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Colter – 2B Arantes – SS Novelo – P Walla

The entire construction was reliant on Nick Walla putting together a decent-length outing in the first game of the double-header, and then he went out and nailed Mario Moreno, filled the bags with Nick Nye and Andy Metz, walked in a run against Ralph Lange with two outs, and then was bombed for a slam by Kyle Hawkins, who hit his first homer of the season right there. (kicks over the nearest table) THESE USELESS *****!!!

Colter singled in the bottom 2nd and was doubled off, 3-U, on Arantes’ liner to Metz, and in the bottom 3rd the Coons got Novelo on with a leadoff single before Bebout walked the bags full with two outs, but Monck grounded out to short to leave everybody on base.

The score remained 5-0 through five innings, but Walla then allowed a leadoff single to Metz and a double to Jesus Martinez to begin the sixth inning, and pitching assignments changed at that point. Walla was yanked, the Coons called on Mendoza for this inning, and Quinones, who had been in the bullpen anyway to ready himself for a start in the late innings, was instead told to get ready for garbage relief in the last three of the opener, Vinny Morales becoming starter of the nightcap once we figured out whom to gruesomely draw and quarter in town square to free up a roster spot. Mendoza remained useless, plating a run with a wild pitch and the other on a sac fly by Hawkins after an initial K on Ralph Lange, 7-0. Colter made the last out in the bottom 6th, so he left in the double switch that brought in Quinones for the seventh, Spicer replacing him in left. Quinones then allowed a leadoff single to Bebout, and conceded that run on more singles by Mike Brann and Nick Nye, 8-0. Arantes drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 7th and stole second, scoring on a pair of groundouts by Novelo and Spicer to get the Portland Pathetics on the board. That was the only run the Raccoons scored. Quinones finished the game on 39 pitches in three innings of garbage relief. 8-1 Condors. Monck 2-4, 2B; Flowe (PH) 1-1;

Garbage relief for a garbage team. Speaking of which, Spicer was caught stealing to actually end this game.

The Raccoons ended up erasing Schmieder from the roster without using him so they could activate Vinny Morales (0-3, 7.59 ERA) to catch another loss with his snout in the nightcap.

Game 2
TIJ: LF Arcos – SS M. Moreno – 2B Nye – 1B Metz – RF Jes. Martinez – 3B Lange – C Lippert – CF Cardwell – P R. Davis
POR: CF Wilson – RF Colter – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – C Flowe – LF Spicer – 2B Tallent – SS Hills – P Morales

Vinny Morales was probably the positive surprise of the week, even though he trailed from quite early on after giving up a solo homer to Jesus Martinez in the second inning, but he then kept the Condors to that one run for a while, even though he was not efficient and needed 80 pitches and two double plays to get through even five innings. The Raccoons in turn were still absolute shambles, getting a single and two walks from Davis in the first four innings, and erasing most of that on two double plays hit into by Tallent in the second and Starr in the fourth. However, Spicer doubled to right with one out in the bottom 5th and then immediately scored on a Tallent single to center to get the game tied at one.

Morales ended up going seven, allowing a leadoff single to Martinez in the top 6th before getting another six straight outs for 104 total pitches, which had to be chalked up as a moral victory even if the Raccoons didn’t score for him in the bottom 7th, which – surprise! – they didn’t, even though Spicer hit another double with two outs. Tallent this time flew out to Chad Cardwell in center.

Nye and Metz put themselves in scoring position with nobody out in the top 8th against the usually reliable Cullum, slapping a single and double, respectively, but Cullum then popped out Brann and got a K from Lange before being replaced with McMahan in a double switch (Caballero for Tallent at second base) for the lefty-hitting catcher Randy Lippert, whom McMahan rung up to kill off the runners in scoring position. Brian Hills, in a dire slump, then bashed a ball over Cardwell for a leadoff triple in the bottom 8th and scored on Wilson’s sac fly after Caballero fanned. Jesse Dover got the ball in the ninth and erased the Condors in order with two strikeouts to end the most recent 4-game losing streak. 2-1 Blighters. Spicer 3-3, 2 2B; Morales 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K;

The triple be damned, the Raccoons made more roster moves after the double header was over, and Brian Hills (.150, 0 HR, 0 RBI) was returned to AAA, while Jorge Caballero (.210, 0 HR, 6 RBI) went on waivers. Vinny Morales (0-3, 6.04 ERA) was optioned and Sean Thomas hung around as bullpen stuffing. Ryan Bonner and Marquise Early were also called up.

Game 3
TIJ: 1B L. Jimenez – SS M. Moreno – 2B Nye – RF Jes. Martinez – C Brann – LF Ewig – 3B Lange – CF Arcos – P Vanderven
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – 3B Colter – LF Spicer – SS Novelo – P Alvey

Wilson robbed Brann of a 2-run double in the first inning after Alvey had already littered on the bases, then opened the bottom 1st with a single, stole second, and scored, somehow, on two poor groundouts and a 2-out wild pitch for the game’s first run. Starr and Monck, who was in a death slump, then singled after all and Colter drew a 2-out walk as the inning just wouldn’t end. Vanderven walked in a run against Spicer, but Novelo finally struck out to leave three on base. Ralph Lange halved the lead with a homer to left in the top 2nd before Vanderven struck a liner for extra bases with two outs, but didn’t stop at second base as he should have and was thrown out at third base to end the inning. Alvey and Wilson then began the bottom 2nd with a pair of singles, but Corral hit into a double play and Lopez floated out to center for the third out, and nobody scored.

Top 3rd, and Alvey was in yet more trouble with a leadoff walk to Leonardo Jimenez and a Moreno double off the wall in right. The pair was stranded in scoring position, however, as Nye popped out on the infield and Alvey then rung up both of Martinez and Brann. Rich Monck hit a homer to right in this inning, extending the lead to 3-1, and MAYBE getting back on track. The inning continued with a Colter single, Spicer grounding out, and a 2-out Novelo walk, before Alvey hit his second straight single to center, and brought in Colter with another run! Wilson struck out to keep runners on the corners in the 4-1 game.

But we could not have nice things, and Alvey then completely blew the lead right in the fourth inning. He nicked Ewig – fresh off the DL – to get going, then allowed an RBI double to Lange, an RBI single to Roberto Arcos, another single to Leo Jimenez, and finally a sac fly to Moreno that tied the game. Nye also singled with two outs before Martinez struck out swinging to end the bloody inning. The Coons regrabbed the lead in the same inning with a 2-out rally against lefty Joe Cash, ironically with their lefty sticks, as Starr and Monck got on before Colter doubled home the go-ahead run with a liner to right. Spicer flew out to left, though, stranding a pair in scoring position, but Novelo hit a stray homer to tack on a run in the bottom 5th.

Alvey lasted five and a third innings before Kyle Hawkins reached on a Starr error and the Coons moved on to Yamauchi after 103 pitches from Alvey. Leo Jimenez hammered the game tied with a 420-footer to left at once, and it was a 6-6 game. Ex-Coon Takenori Tanizaki pitched in the bottom 6th and put Starr on base, but the Raccoons couldn’t score on him and instead had to wait him out leaving with an injury…

The Raccoons got Pedro Mendoza to wobble through the bottom of the order, including a single allowed to Arcos before Miguel Veguilla pinch-hit for a double play to keep the game tied. Portland went in order against Dave Lister in the bottom 8th before Dover walked Jimenez to begin the ninth, but also got a double play grounder from Nye to bugger out of there. Right-hander Matt Nelson then walked Colter to begin the home half of the ninth inning and that winning run was at third base after Spicer singled to right-center. Novelo made it short and uneventful from there, flying out to Arcos in deep-enough center to allow Colter to jog home with the winning run. 7-6 Critters. Wilson 2-5; Starr 3-5; Monck 3-5, HR, RBI; Colter 2-2, 3 BB, 2B, RBI; Early (PH) 1-1;

No roster moves after this game, which I guess counts as news by now.

Game 4
TIJ: C Brann – SS M. Moreno – 2B Nye – 1B Metz – RF Ewig – LF Jes. Martinez – 3B Lange – CF Arcos – P Singletary
POR: CF Wilson – RF Colter – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – 2B Arantes – C Flowe – LF Spicer – SS Novelo – P Nakayama

Maybe Monck was back on the horse, as he homered with Starr on base for a 2-0 lead in the bottom 1st, and I’m allowed to dream for five minutes at least once a week, right? Flowe and Spicer then led off the second inning with singles, but the 8-9-1 batters were less than helpful and the two runners were stranded on the corners before Arcos’ leadoff triple and a well-placed grounder by the opposing pitcher reduced the lead to 2-1 in the top of the third inning. Nakayama struck out the side in the fourth inning and got five strikeouts in total through five innings, while yielding three base hits. The Coons had six hits, but didn’t get another paw on third base after the second-inning disappointment.

A Brann double to left and Nye’s single to center then tied the game in the sixth inning before Metz hit into a 4-6-3 double play. The Raccoons had an answer though, even though Monck flew out to begin the bottom 6th. Arantes singled and Flowe doubled to right, putting a pair in scoring position, and both runners scored on Spicer’s single to right-center, 4-2! Ewig responded with a homer off Nakayama in the seventh, 4-3, and while Monck doubled in that inning, he was left on base.

Brann and Moreno then knocked out Nakayama with a pair of 1-out singles, going to the corners in the eighth inning. Cullum couldn’t keep the tying run on base, surrendering the lead on Nye’s groundout before ringing up Metz to strand at least Moreno in the 4-4 tie. Spicer singled and was caught stealing in the bottom 8th, but the game remained tied with McMahan’s scoreless outing that followed. The pitcher’s spot led off the bottom 9th against right-hander Nick Leigh, but Corral whiffed. Wilson doubled to center, meaning that a 3-game winning streak was just two bases away now. Colter struck out, but Starr’s single to right allowed Wilson to come around for the second straight walkoff win for the measly Critters…! 5-4 Coons. Wilson 2-5, 2B; Starr 2-5, 2B, RBI; Monck 3-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Flowe 2-4, 2B; Spicer 3-4, 2 RBI;

In other news

August 24 – The Wolves score 18 runs inside the first four innings and then fumble most of that on the way to a 23-11 blinder against the Pacifics. SAL INF/CF Jim Katzman (.282, 7 HR, 56 RBI) has three hits, including a grand slam, and drives in eight runs from the #8 spot to lead all players in this game.
August 24 – The Knights beat the Falcons, 2-1 in 12 innings. All runs score in the 12th inning, and the Knights have only two hits: a single by RF/LF/1B Steve Giles (.263, 3 HR, 7 RBI) in the second, and the 2-run walkoff homer by C Justin Hart (.324, 13 HR, 55 RBI) in the last inning. The Falcons have 11 hits.
August 24 – The Aces beat the Condors, 3-0, with all runs scoring on a pinch-hit home run by OF Phil LeVan (.341, 4 HR, 12 RBI).
August 24 – SAC SP Phil Nelson (7-11, 4.15 ERA) is done for the season after tearing his labrum. He is expected to be ready for Opening Day in ’67.
August 25 – Washington bombs the Buffaloes, 20-5, getting a 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-run inning inside their first five, but not in the correct order. Five Capitals hitters have three runs scored, four have three hits, and four have at least three RBI’s in the rout, with OF Matt McInnis (.316, 11 HR, 59 RBI) and 1B Pedro Parada (.273, 12 HR, 67 RBI) ticking all three boxes.
August 29 – The Canadiens win the nightcap of a rain-induced double-header in Atlanta, 2-0, both runs scoring on a home run by VAN RF/LF Roberto Lozada (.310, 16 HR, 76 RBI), who goes 3-for-4 in the game. The Knights had won the first game, 4-1, before that.
August 29 – PIT INF/LF Edgar Gonzales (.302, 2 HR, 27 RBI) goes 7-for-10 across a double-header the Miners sweep from the Warriors, 13-5 and 7-6. Gonzales has a home run, a triple, five singles, and drives in three runs.

FL Player of the Week: DAL INF Adam Yocum (.371, 1 HR, 48 RBI), clipping .538 (14-26) with 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN RF/LF Roberto Lozada (.310, 16 HR, 76 RBI), bashing .462 (12-26) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

That was a very tiring week. With the hapless sweep midweek, the Raccoons have lost the season series against the damn Elks for the third straight season, and with a 3-game set to spare… The double header was exhausting, the Saturday game was exhausting, and while we have a 3-game winning streak now, I just want to sleep.

The player count for the season is up to 51, and we haven’t reached September yet…! Speaking of personnel surplus to requirements, Joe Gardner cleared waivers and was assigned to St. Pete again. Jorge Caballero and Paul Barton are still on waivers as of Sunday night.

Road week on the east coast coming up, with three games in Charlotte and four in Boston, just in case you feared we’d run out of beatings any time soon. The run differential temporarily bottomed out at -197 on Friday before we scratched out those three 1-run wins, so it’s still -194 and I don’t think we’ll still clear above -200 next Sunday…

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are TEN games above their expected record by runs scored and runs allowed.

TEN.

With that -194 run differential (exacerbated by the quadriplegic offense, which is how math works) the Raccoons oughta play 44-86 ball. Which sounds horrendous. We’re just winning too many close games (what a complaint to have!), which also hurts our draft position going forward, even when compared to this season.

The Warriors have probably crawled away with the #1 pick, and we’re not going to out-lose the Wolves and the Loggers right now with those pesky 1-run wins. Also, the Rebs and Aces are barely any better and we might actually come off worse than our #5 pick this season.