[Westheim]

This won’t be an easy 9-game road trip. The Condors are playoff-bound, and we have had trouble with the Titans for years.

Raccoons (83-63) @ Bayhawks (65-81)

Within our long stretch of games here, the resting of starters continued in game 1, with Sam Dadswell and Daniel Hall getting the day off.

We faced young phenom Wilson Moreno in game 1. The 22-yr old’s 3-6 record didn’t tell you a lot, but his 2.34 ERA certainly did. He was this year’s second overall draft pick and had raced through the minors, skipping AAA completely. He sat down the Coons in order in the top 1st, while Logan Evans went to 3-ball counts on each of the first three Bayhawks. All three reached base, and only a double play started by Mark Dawson held the damage to one run in the first inning. Evans was uncomfortable in the second inning, and was looked at by the trainer. He complained about neck pain and was taken out of the game. While Bentley and Juan Martinez tried to keep the Bayhawks at bay, Wilson Moreno DID keep the Raccoons at bay. They were hitless through three, through five, through seven… With one down in the top 8th, Quintanilla batted for Odwin Garza, who had allowed two passed balls, and there was a wild pitch on Bentley, too. Quintanilla stroked the ball into short center to finally break up the no-hit bid. Moreno was removed after eight then, and Russ McCallum entered. León singled up the middle and Osanai walked on four pitches to put the tying runs on base. Weber walked with one out, bases loaded. Thompson struck out, and Quintanilla fouled out, the Raccoons lost 2-0, and were 2-hit.

And now we KNOW they won’t make the playoffs. But good news: the Indians hosted the Falcons, rallied from 6-0 down, but fell short, 6-5 Charlotte. Our lead survives this nightmare. Logan Evans will be taken proper care of the next few days and should not miss a start (he still took the loss).

Daniel Hall’s 2-out triple in the top 1st of the middle game was not picked up by Osanai, but the Coons got an unearned run in the top 2nd when León drove in Dawson, who had reached on a throwing error by Jose Diaz at second base. That was all Kisho Saito got. Dawson made a great catch for the final out in the bottom 6th with Jimmy Hunter at third base, holding on to the 1-0 lead. Maybe a leadoff double by León in the top 7th could be made into a run? Perez and Saito brought him in with two flyouts to center. Yay, success. Saito was chased by a leadoff double by Kai Edwards in the bottom 8th, but Cunningham entered for two full count strikeouts and a lazy flyball to center to get out, and West saved the game on six pitches in the ninth. 2-0 Raccoons on five hits, the majority of which came from León: 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (13-7);

The Indians this time rallied successfully, turning a 3-1 deficit after seven around to beat the Falcons, 4-3. Lead remains one game.

Game 3, and Chong played in place of Sergio Martinez, and Campbell was on second. Scott Wade was up, trying for win #12 of the season. The Coons again didn’t know how to bat, in an alarming way. Chong reached on an error in the third and was moved over to third, but left there, with the team hitless again through 11 outs, before Osanai finally entered the H column, and the R column, too. He homered to center, 1-0 Coons. Scott Wade had been awesome so far, but things threatened to go wrong in the bottom 5th. C Jack Jackson led off with an infield single, but was forced by Wade on a bad bunt by Carlos Castro. 3B Alfonso Torres reached on another infield single, and a wild pitch by Wade moved the runners into scoring position. Wade then completed SS Hector Martinez’ at-bat with a K, bringing up the pitcher. Vincente Ortiz drilled a liner over Darren Campbell into rightfield, and OH, AWESOME CATCH!!! Carlos León ended the inning with a highlight reel play. Sanchez and Hall walked to start the top 6th, only for Osanai to hit into a double play and Dawson to ground out. Jose Diaz’ 1-out double in the bottom 6th set up for the game to be tied. He stole third (Dadswell didn’t look good) and scored on a single by Kai Edwards, who also scored, 2-1 Bayhawks. Dirk Campbell allowed two runs to score in the eighth, but it was over already. Raccoons lost 4-1, on only three hits.

For the series, they managed three runs and ten hits. The Falcons beat the Indians 4-3, which held the lead where it was, but in this condition, the Raccoons won’t win crap during their next stop, south of the border.

Raccoons (84-65) @ Condors (81-68)

The Condors’ pitching staff was decimated by injuries, but they finally had Miguel Sanchez back. Good news were that Sanchez had pitched the day before (eight shutout innings) and would not hurt the Coons this time around. Sean Bergeron (19 dingers) was their only source of power, but their lineup was good at chaining up singles at rapid pace. Less rapid was Dimian Barrios, ex-Coon, who hit a mere .230 this season, so letting him go had been gold.

Venegas (5-5, 3.58 ERA) was sent out first against Gary Simmons (16-8, 3.48 ERA). A 2-out walk to Hall in the top 1st cost Simmons the first run of the game, when Osanai doubled him in, breaking what felt like an oh-for-sixty streak of Osanai leaving Hall on base with two down. The Coons left two on, and the same happened in the top 3rd, Osanai getting an RBI and two left on. A walk to Simmons cost Venegas a run in the third on a triple by Cipriano Ortega. The Condors turned the game with two runs in the fourth. The Raccoons were unable to counter. In the top 7th, Flores pinch hit for Venegas for a single, and Martinez doubled. One out, go-ahead runs in scoring position. Quintanilla pinch hit for León, but grounded out and Flores held. Hall flew to deep left – Bergeron caught it. Bottom 7th, Gaston loaded the bases, Moss came in to face Juan Valentin, who grand slammed the Raccoons into submission, taking the opener 8-2. S. Martinez 2-5, 2B; Dawson 2-4; Flores (PH) 2-2, 2B;

A 7-3 win of the Indians against Las Vegas ties the division.

Compared to their last few games, the Coons stormed out of the gate in the middle game against Israel Gomes (5-9, 5.50 ERA). Daniel Hall hit a 2-run homer and they led 3-0, leaving two in scoring position when Gomes struck out both León and Thompson to end the inning. Zach Baker needed 30 pitches for the bottom 1st, giving up two walks before striking out the side. He walked the first three batters in the second. He dodged that bullet, too – Gomes lined out to Thompson, and Thompson then started a saving double play on the next grounder, beating both runners by inches. Osanai’s solo shot made it 20 for him this year and 4-0 in the game. Baker retired eight straight Condors after that dismaltastic first two innings, keeping a no-hitter intact until Paul Dundee doubled with two down in the fifth. Valentin drove him in and Baker was removed despite leading 4-1. But things happened from there. Sergio Martinez made an error that put two into scoring position on Juan Martinez’ first batter. A walk loaded the bases, and Bergeron banged in two, followed by a John Fleury home run. Six 2-out runs. Six. Jones loaded the bags with nobody out in the seventh – the Condors scored four runs. 10-4 Condors. Sanchez 2-3, BB, 2B;

Division remains tied, as the Aces beat the Indians 4-2. But the writing is not only on the wall, it is glowing bright red. It’s over.

In this perfect nightmare, Logan Evans stepped in for game 3. He said he felt as fine as one could feel past 30. And boy, did he deliver, shutting out the Condors over eight innings. The Coons got ahead 1-0 in the first with a 2-out RBI single by Gustavo Flores who was in with a right-hander on the mound for Tijuana. They gradually added to lead 6-0 after the top 9th, then headed to the bottom 9th with Evans still pitching. He could close the deal, loading the bases with one out. Bentley came in and surrendered a 2-run single to John Fleury (a better first baseman would have had it). Grant West came in to salvage the win, 6-2 Raccoons. S. Martinez 2-5, 2B; Hall 1-2, 3 BB; Flores 2-5, RBI; Evans 8.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (12-7);

The Indians won 6-3 against the Aces, keeping the division tied up, and both teams had off on the following day, while the Coons travelled cross country, while the Indians went to the Northwest to Vancouver. Four days till the finale grande.

Raccoons (85-67) @ Titans (69-84)

We NEED to take that series. And we REALLY need a sweep, to be honest.

The first game pitted Kisho Saito against Eric McCullough, a sub-decent ex-Coon, who had fun dumping the Coons now. Three scoreless innings into the game, Tetsu Osanai clobbered the Coons to a 1-0 lead in the top 4th. Apart from that shot, the Coons were a lousy bunch again, but things improved a wee bit in the top 7th. With two out, Armando Sanchez worked a bases loaded walk, 2-0. Juan Cardenas replaced McCullough, but walked Dawson. Darren Campbell singled up the middle to score two, 5-0, before Saito grounded out. Saito had been worth his weight in gold so far, but the Titans singled him to death in the bottom 7th, scoring two runs and removing Saito from the game. Moss and Martinez pitched a quick eighth and Martinez remained in for the ninth initially, put started with a double given away, and now West came in. The run scored, but the Coons won, 5-3. S. Martinez 3-5; León 2-4, 3B; Da. Campbell 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Saito 6.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (14-7);

The Indians also won 5-3 in Vancouver, but only in the 10th inning. The division remained knotted together.

Isto Grönholm hit a home run off Scott Wade in the bottom 2nd of game 2. Wade struggled, loaded the bases, and then somehow got grounders and a force out at home to escape with only a 1-0 deficit. In the top 4th, the Furballs countered. León singled, Hall walked, Osanai doubled to tie the game, and Hall scored on a groundout to make it 2-1. Hall came up with the bags full and one out in the fifth, and sometimes a walk is enough to get a run. Osanai grounded for Hall being forced at second, but the Titans didn’t turn the double play and another run scored, 4-1, and they led 5-1 after the top 6th. Hjalmar Flygt, who had the batting title bagged already, singled to start the bottom 6th, but Dadswell picked him off with Grönholm at the plate. This saved a run on Chad Fisher’s double later in the inning, which still knocked out Wade. Tim Moss struck out C Augusto Arrendondo to end the inning. The Titans crawled back in, scoring another run off Campbell and Jones in the seventh, 5-3. Jones walked Isto Grönholm to start the eighth, and he was replaced by a pinch runner. Zahid Mashwanis grounded out and PR Colin Irwin moved to second base. The next move – if going badly – had the potential to be much discussed for the next decades. Jones remained in, Chad Fisher (representing the tying run) was walked intentionally to get to the lefties behind him. On an 0-1 pitch, Arrendondo tried to bunt, but missed, 0-2. Jones struck him out, but now the Titans sent Carlos Gonsales to pinch hit. A questionable catcher, he was a formidable right-handed batter. The next move was obvious: GET CUNNINGHAM, AND QUICK!! Full count, Gonsales hit one into the gap in left center, Sanchez after it – HE CAUGHT IT!! Cunningham exhaled visibly, trotting to the dugout. Hall and Dawson drove in three more in the top 9th and Cunningham turned his outing into a 4-out save. 8-3 Raccoons! S. Martinez 2-5, RBI; León 3-4, BB, 2B; Hall 1-2, 3 BB, 2 RBI; Osanai 1-3, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Dawson 2-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Cunningham 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (5);

The Indians-Canadiens game was again tied in the ninth, but this time the Canadiens walked off before it went to extra innings, and won 6-5. We sent “Thank you” cards to Melvin Greene, whose 2-out single got Stan Bass moving, and call-up Juan Robles, whose throwing error allowed Bass to score.

Final road game of the (regular?) season. Bob MacGruder (8-10, 4.38 ERA) was our so far unspectacular opponent. The game was over rather quickly. The Titans socked Alejandro Venegas for four runs in the first inning, added a Salvador Vargas home run in the third and Venegas was yanked after hitting his second batter of the day. By the fifth inning, the Titans had also broken the bullpen and led 9-1. CF Ryan Dickerson’s homer off Wally Gaston, who threw 64 pitches in relief, made it 10-1 in the sixth. The Raccoons were crushed, 11-2. Thompson 3-3, BB, 2 2B, RBI;

The Indians prevailed in Vancouver, and won 2-1, tying up the division again.

Now for additional damage: both Daniel Hall and Juan Martinez left the last game with injuries. The book on Martinez is closed for this year: torn meniscus in his knee, he’s gonna be watching with the leg in a knee brace in the clubhouse when the Coons go home now. Hall was hurt making a daring catch on a soaring fly ball and slammed the ground hard. The amount of damage to his body is not known so far.

We called up MR Pedro Vazquez and OF Marcos Costello to replace them.

In other news

September 20 – Bad news for the Stars, who lose SP Bill Smith (13-9, 3.73 ERA) to a torn rotator cuff. Smith is expected to miss all of next season at this point. Smith is the pitcher who infamously snuffed the Coons for an equal offer by Dallas.
September 20 – LAP Eduardo Quezada (7-12, 4.64 ERA) 2-hits the Cyclones in a 6-0 L.A. win.
September 21 – BOS OF Eduardo German (.254, 9 HR, 58 RBI) has a torn labrum and will be out until next summer.
September 25 – The season of OCT SP Kevin Williams (16-10, 3.47 ERA) ends a bit early with a torn triceps.
September 27 – Milwaukee’s Edgardo Garza goes 5-7 against the Crusaders, but New York still wins the game, 11-10. It is the 1,000th overall loss for the Loggers, the first team in the ABL to go *there*.

Complaints and stuff

I wore my Raccoons 1983 CL champions shirt during the first five games of this road trip to channel some positive energy down the stretch. One thing is clear, it has to be burned. Gotta get some matches.

This has unfortunately gone unnoticed before: on September 1, Tetsu Osanai logged his 1,000th big league base hit, a single.

With one week at home remaining, four against Indy and three against the Loggers, and the division tied, and Hall out, and the pen not holding up, and Dawson not hitting, and Dadswell not hitting, and Osanai not hitting anything but double plays - we’re toast. The Indians are gonna sweep us like the Canadiens swept us last year, then much earlier in the season.

This will be a bitter week, and nobody will win again.

But Indy.