[Westheim]

Raccoons (59-65) vs. Loggers (49-75)

The Raccoons took a first inning lead, Hall driving in Sanchez, before things unraveled for Jerry Ackerman in the third, making a throwing error on pitcher John Fowler’s sac bunt. That put two on with one out, and the Loggers tied the game with RF Jim Wood’s 2-out single to left. The Loggers took a 2-1 lead in the sixth then, and Fowler singled off Ackerman to start the seventh, leading to Ackerman’s exit. A bad throw by Dawson on Emilio Román’s grounder off Jason Bentley put two on with nobody out, but the Loggers managed nothing but infield hobblers for the rest of the inning and the Coons wiggled out of it. Daniel Hall tied it with a 2-out double scoring Glenn Johnston in the bottom 8th. Suto punched out the side in the ninth, but took the loss in the 10th owed to an unearned run for which Dadswell was responsible. Dadswell had been on second in the bottom 9th, but had not been scored. The Coons managed all of six hits in the game. Johnston 2-3, BB; Hall 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Dadswell 2-4, 2B;

The good news were that we good Winston Thompson back from the DL. Quintanilla was sent to AAA to restore six infielders and five outfielders on the team.

We faced Judd Montgomery (11-7, 2.33 ERA) in the middle game. Two out, one on in the bottom 2nd, Ishizaki drew his very first walk as a Raccoon, bringing up Steve Walker, who had always had a knack for surprise bang – he took Montgomery deep to right center for an instant 3-0 lead. Hall made it 4-0 in the third, before Venegas put three on in the top 4th, but came out unscathed when Osanai got the final out on a grounder into the hole on the right side. Starting the eighth in a 4-1 game, Venegas put on two and left for Juan Martinez to try and clean up the mess. The tying run at the plate was slugger Isto Grönholm, but he grounded out. He allowed both runs to score with a 2-out RBI single by Jordan Archer. West saved the day, 4-3 Coons, again with only six hits. Dadswell 2-2, BB; Walker 1-3, HR, 3 RBI;

Since hitting 4-10 after a 2-0 loss in Atlanta on July 27, Venegas has started five times, with a 3-0 record and a 2.70 ERA. That’s not to say that he was awesome, he has as many shortcomings as everybody on the staff, but he performed very well despite these shortcomings. We may still need a #5 starter next season, so he better closes in on that 4.00 ERA overall (now: 4.30).

We faced rookie Davis Sims (0-5, 9.00 ERA) in the rubber game. Let’s burn him. And things really didn’t fall poor Sims’ way. Errors by Jesus Jimenez in the first and Isto Grönholm in the second helped the Raccoons to mount runs on him for an early 4-0 lead. Carlos Gonzalez then was pounded as well in a 3-run fourth, and then was further lit up in the fifth. He was removed there, 4.1 innings in, 4-4 game and two on. It became a 5-run inning against MacDonald, and the bullpen further broke up with a 4-run sixth. The game far out of hand, I resigned to slowly rock back and forth and weep in a corner. 13-5 Loggers. How many hits did th- right, six. Sanchez 2-4, RBI; Osanai 2-3, HR, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (60-67) @ Falcons (59-67)

The opener. The Falcons had lost five straight, while the Coons’ Kisho Saito came in 10-10 trying to get back to a winning record. Hall and Osanai were both robbed of doubles in the first (Hall still scored Thompson with the sac fly), before Saito tossed a 3-pitch bottom 1st. Up 2-0, a throwing error by Steve Walker was followed by a 2-run single by Alfonso Aranda and the game became tied through unearned runs. Kelly Weber’s 2-run triple renewed life for Saito, who added an RBI himself to make it 5-2. Saito hit Aranda in the bottom 6th, and it could have been ugly unless for a monster catch by Hall, retiring sometimes-slugging catcher Kyae-sung Park to end the inning. Aranda came back to homer off Saito in the eighth. Saito was not too bothered. He stayed in the game to toss a complete game 8-hitter, taking a 5-3 win. Thompson 2-4, BB, 2B; Dawson 2-4; Weber 2-4, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Saito 9.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (11-10) and 1-3, RBI;

Saito only took 105 pitches to complete the game despite all the hits. A double play helped some, but overall the Falcons took a lot of swings early in the count, keeping the pitch count manageable.

Strikeout machine Ricardo Medina (7-10, 2.51 ERA) was up in the middle game to face Scott Wade, who struggled to punch out people in 2-strike counts and fell victim to a Kelly Weber error in the bottom 3rd, producing two runs. The Coons? Produced nuthin’. Kelly Weber’s leadoff single in the top 7th was their first H off Medina since a Hall single in the first. Hall was drilled by Medina, bringing up Osanai and Dawson, who didn’t produce nothing either. Dadswell hit a 2-out fielder’s choice that scored Hall, but the call at first was blown and Dadswell should have been out. Still trailing 2-1, Hall led off the top 9th with a double, and was brought in on the outs made by Osanai and Dawson to get Wade off the hook. Both teams suckered into extra innings, and deep so. The Falcons had a chance to walk off against West in the 13th, but Walker threw out the runner at home for the second out. Hall led off the top 14th with another double. West was in Osanai’s spot and pinch hit for with Armando Sanchez, who struck out, and Hall never moved further. Against Suto, the Falcons left two in scoring position when Jeffery Booker was struck out to end the 14th. Top 15th, Juan Ramirez hit a single. He stole second on a run-and-hit where Johnston lacked the hitting part, but when Johnston grounded to Aranda, the latter threw it away and Ramirez scored. Up 3-2 for the bottom 15th, we had a terrible selection of whom to send out to face Justin Reader, Jonah Frank, and Aranda. Jason Bentley was thrown in – and sat them down in order. 3-2 Raccoons after a long time. Hall 3-6, 2 2B; Wade 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K; Campbell 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; West 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Mark Dawson sat for being ice cold in the final game in Charlotte (as was Sanchez on and off for two weeks now). The Coons took a 1-0 lead in the top 3rd against Bastyao Caixinha, a 14-game winner already, which Ackerman gave back in the bottom with a single, two full count walks and a sac fly. There was only negligible offense until the top 7th, which started innocently enough with a leadoff walk to Walker. Thompson got on, Miranda was hit by Caixinha, and Hall worked a full count walk to force in the go-ahead run for the Furballs. Osanai grounded out to end the inning. Ackerman pitched into the eighth, but became stuck there. Campbell narrowly bailed him out. Grant West had thrown 37 pitches the day before, but I trusted him more than anybody else for the bottom 9th with a 2-1 lead. Juan Barranco to lead o-oh-oh, a double. But West dug in on the mound, looked fiercely, and proceeded to punch out the next three guys up! 2-1 Raccoons. Osanai 2-4, RBI; Ackerman 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W (2-3); West 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, SV (29);

Raccoons (63-67) @ Aces (67-63)

The Aces, who weren’t really knowing whether they were going up or down in the standings, sent oldie Bob Hillier to pitch the opener, but the 36-yr old was ruffled early in a 4-run second inning, including another 3-run home run by Steve Walker. The Coons made it 6-1 in the top 3rd, but it almost got away from Alejandro Venegas in the bottom 3rd. The Aces came back to 6-3 and left the tying runs all on base when Venegas struck out Shimpei Iwamoto, but Venegas faced more misery in the fourth and was removed after surrendering 11 hits and five runs. Both bullpens thus took over in the fourth inning, and from the Raccoons’ point of view this could not be good. Up 6-5, the lead almost came apart in the bottom 6th, where Armando Sanchez threw out the tying run for the third out at the plate. The Coons wobbled on to enter the bottom 9th up 7-6. This time, Grant West was really not available having thrown 57 pitches in two days. Vazquez stayed in, having collected the last out in the eighth, gave a leadoff single to Mark “Icon” Allen, but then punched out two and got out of the game. 7-6 Raccoons after being out-hit 16-8. Osanai 2-2, 2 BB; Dawson 2-3, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Johnston 2-4, 2B, RBI; Vazquez 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

Carlos Gonzalez was in the middle game. Tetsu Osanai saved him in the first inning by starting a double play, first-and-second, to get out of an early jam, but Gonzalez fell into the next in the bottom 2nd, and the Aces went up 1-0. A nasty throwing error by SS Vicente Ramirez plated two unearned runs for Portland in the third, but that 2-1 lead didn’t hold past the fourth. Gonzalez was just too awful. He went on to bunt for Ishizaki to be forced at second in the top 5th and my neck was growing thicker and redder every inning. All of a sudden he struck out the side in the bottom 5th, and that included both Allens, Lowell and Mark. Top 6th, the Raccoons were giving Gonzalez a new lead. Daniel Hall homered. Tetsu Osanai homered. Mark Dawson homered, all back-to-back-to-back. Gonzalez was taken deep by Manuel Guzman in the bottom 6th, 5-3. Guzman was new to the Coonskinners Club. He had gone 250+ AB this season without a dinger, but had hit two in this series. Gonzalez started the seventh with two doubles, was chased, and Martinez allowed his remaining runner to score to tie the game. A leadoff triple by Winston Thompson in the ninth failed to produce a run for the Raccoons, before the Aces loaded them up against Suto in the bottom 9th, but didn’t walk off. Ishizaki threw out Craig Knapp at the plate to end the bottom 10th. Hall’s leadoff single in the 12th provided a chance. 1-out Run-and-hit, Hall went, Dawson flailed, Hall was out. On the next pitch, Dawson doubled to center. The Coons still managed to score two runs in the inning. West came in, walked Tony Clark, and was bashed a mile by Connor Barrett, for his first blown save in almost three months. With one out, Claudio Garcia came to third after a single, steal, and sac fly. Mark Allen was waved over to first to go after Ira Houston, who grounded to second, but Thompson’s throw to home was late and the Aces walked off over West. 8-7 Aces. Hall 2-5, BB, HR, RBI; Dawson 3-5, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Dadswell 3-6, RBI; Ishizaki 4-5, BB, 2B, RBI;

The Aces had no trouble making contact against Kisho Saito in the rubber game, and Mark Allen got them on track early with a first inning homer. Mark Dawson hit a 2-shot in the fourth to tie the game. It was his 26th of the year, and still a month to play. For this game however, it was meaningless. The Aces hit five singles off Saito in the bottom 4th, knocking him out. Among them were two or three of the gotta-be-kidding-me quality, but the damage was done and five runs in already. There was no comeback for the Raccoons, who fizzled out without as much as the tiniest spark. 6-2 Aces. Dawson 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Campbell 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

In other news

August 26 – SFB 1B Roberto Rodriguez (.312, 1 HR, 35 RBI) will miss a few weeks with a fractured foot.
August 27 – A torn rotator cuff has done nothing to diminish Bill Smith’s abilities. In his second start for the Stars since finishing rehab, Smith (2-0, 1.69 ERA) spins a 1-hitter against the Rebels.
August 27 – Also a shutout: ATL Bernard Lepore (6-9, 3.76 ERA) turns in a 3-hitter against the Canadiens, who are trashed 10-0. ATL 3B Luis Barrera lacks the triple for a cycle in the game, going 5-6.
August 29 – Indy’s Alex Miranda (4-9, 4.87 ERA) is out until next summer with a torn UCL.
August 29 – NAS SS Mike Grimes (.304, 0 HR, 47 RBI) will miss a month with a sprained ankle.
August 30 – VAN Robbie Campbell (13-4, 3.56 ERA) 1-hits the Falcons, as the Canadiens win 4-0.
August 31 – TIJ RF Thomas Martin (.307, 6 HR, 56 RBI) goes 5-5 in a 9-7 win over the Titans, and in turn HITS FOR THE CYCLE. It is the 10th cycle in ABL history, the first for a Condors player, and ends an almost 2-year cycle-less drought.

Complaints and stuff

Logan Evans’ recovery from radial nerve compression surgery is going everything but great. It is very likely that he will miss the start of next season, either on the DL or in rehab.

Mark Dawson is making a run at Tetsu Osanai’s Raccoons home run record for a single season, which stands at 31. Dawson has 26 now. The all-time record seems far away: 35, held twice by Gabriel Cruz with himself.

Interesting notes: our AAA SP Jose Fernandez went 6-0 with a 2.78 ERA in August to be named Pitcher of the Month in that league. And what is with Richard Cunningham? Traded to Dallas, the Stars installed him as their closer right away. So far he has appeared in 20 games and is 2-0 with 14 SV and an ERA of nothing, absolutely nothing. I miss him and will continue to miss him for the next decade or so, but it's great to see him getting a chance on closing, which he was made for in the first place. He had only 26 SV for the Raccoons between 1981 and 1988. Bye Richard. :-(

Next: rosters expand. Which suckers will the Raccoons add to the suckers already here?