[Westheim]

Raccoons (51-27) vs. Canadiens (40-36)

We were in exactly the right condition to face the Canadiens, who were eager to slash our lead from ten games to six. And they had a good chance to succeed with the Inepticoons not scoring at all.

The first run of the opener went to the Canadiens in the third. Scott Wade had been unable to retire pitcher Robbie Campbell, and his team mates brought Campbell around to score. The Raccoons tied the score on an entirely unearned run in the fifth, when Higgins was hit by Campbell, then stole second as Javier Salcido threw the ball errantly to the outfield and allowed Higgins to advance to third, from where he scored on a Flores sac fly. Wade pitched into the eighth, where his last scheduled batter, switch hitter Raul Solis, homered off him to break the tie. The same inning, Matt Higgins was bowled over by Yoshinobu Ishizaki at second base and had to leave the game. The Coons entered the bottom 9th down 2-1, and Reece was to lead off. He was 0-3 on the day, and fell to 2-2 against Alejandro Lopez. He made contact on the next pitch, sending it up the middle. Solis got there but had to take an extra step turning around – and then it was too late to throw. Reece was safe with an infield single, the hitting streak lived on. He was still left on base. 2-1 Canadiens. Salazar 2-4; Wade 7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, L (8-6);

Neil Reece’s hitting streak lived on, but Matt Higgins’ hamstring didn’t. Our only speed threat ended up on the DL with a strained hamstring and would miss about three weeks. Problem here, we didn’t even have a spare infielder (who would bat more than a buck fiddy here) with Elmer Hawley and Terry Miller injured. Jeff Martin got a call up and we’d see from here. Signing a free agent scrub was not out of the picture as we only had two middle infielders available now.

The Portland Botchball Club players cobbled together a run in the second inning of game 2, again a sac fly and not an actual clutch hit, as Sabre enabled Osanai to score here. Bottom 3rd, 0-1 Reece stepped in with one out against Vicente Torres and clobbered a pitch into the seats. Streaks extended, lead extended, 2-0. The same inning, with Quinn on first and two down, Osanai struck out on a questionable pitch, then went to work on the umpire. More than a decade in the States, Osanai’s English was still intelligible, but the umpire seemed to hear something and tossed him. Now, the Coons still led 2-0 and – oh, Steven Berry took the mound for the fourth inning, put four straight Canadiens on and then surrendered a grand slam to Solis. Well, the Coons now TRAILED 5-2, and – ah, screw it. Fast forward through three runs given up by Carrillo in the seventh into the bottom 9th. The Canadiens led 8-2 and were looking forward to dinner. Sabre and Brown got on to start the inning, chasing starter Torres. Arnold pinch hit in the #9 hole and legged out an infield single to be safe, then went to the clubhouse, also being sore. Flores pinch-ran for him, emptying the bench. Bases loaded, nobody out, the tying run putting on batting gloves in the dugout. Reece walked on four straight. Salazar singled up the middle. Now 8-4, Quinn came to the plate, gloves on. He struck out. Alejandro Lopez scored a run with a wild pitch, then O-Mo singled to score another. Vinson singled, another run scored. 8-7 Canadiens, one out, runners on the corners, Gonzalez to the plate. He walked, bases loaded, the park staring in disbelief. Who had switched out their team between innings!? Sabre had to be brought back from the clubhouse, where he reportedly had already snatched a cold one before being brought back. He lined out into center, but O-Mo tagged and tied the game. Matt Brown for the – groundout. There were the Coons again. Extra innings, oh joy. Cordero pitched the top 10th, but had to bat to start the bottom half, because, well the bench was empty. He was the only guy not to strike out. Everybody ready for an anticlimactic ending? In the bottom 12th and the game still tied 8-8, Sabre made a quick out, and Brown made a quick and poor out. That brought up Martinez, and well, he would have to pitch another inning, unless he socked one of Jamel Teissier. The 1-1 pitch, big contact, soaring, going deep, DEEP TO CENTER, OH – DEAR – GOD – IT IS – GOOOONNNEEE!!!

(here be a dramatic pause)

9-8 Raccoons. Salazar 2-5, RBI; Osanai 1-2; Sabre 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Arnold (PH) 1-1; Miller 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K; Burnett 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Martinez 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, W (1-1) and 1-1, HR, RBI;

(shakes head in disbelief)

Now, can we please carry over some momentum?

Game 3 was Saito against fellow southpaw Vernon Robertson. Saito’s first pitch was taken out of center by Carlos Quintela. Oh well, let’s come from behind again. Gonzalez tied the score in the second on Sabre’s 2-out single, dashing through the stop sign at third to score. Sabre still got booked for an after-game scolding for launching at a 3-0 pitch in the fourth with a runner on first and two down. Sabre grounded out and that would Saito have batting leadoff in the fifth. That’s a no-no. Vinson was right there next in line. The Canadiens had a man on first with two out in the top 6th, and the Coons led 2-1. Art Garrett slammed the ball into the ground right in front of the plate, and Vinson threw it away, putting two Canadiens in scoring position. Saito was thrown off balance and surrendered a 2-run double to Solis to turn the game inside out. For once, a pitcher was not left on the hook he didn’t deserve to be on in the first place, but it took an error by Garrett to scored the tying run in the eighth. The Coons still had two men on for O-Mo here, but he flew out, and Gonzalez grounded out. One more wasted chance, we could stop counting to make things easier. Lagarde held the Canadiens in a tie, and the Coons just had to hit a knock or two in the bottom 9th off Lance Parsons. Sabre – out. Johnston – out. Reece – walked on a questionable 3-2 pitch. Salazar – deep to center, base of the wall, REECE MAKING THE TURN AT THIRD BASE, THROW COMES IN – NOT IN TIME!!!!

4-3 Raccoons. Salazar 3-5, 2B, RBI; O’Morrissey 2-4, 2B; Gonzalez 2-4, 2B, RBI; Saito 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (4-2);

Neil Reece extended his hitting streak to 29 with a single, but seems to run out of steam a bit.

One more, could the Raccoons actually win a so extremely important series? Reece got to 30 right away with a single in the first, and the Coons led 3-0 through four. Quinn had hit an RBI triple in the third and had been scored by an Osanai sac fly, and they had added one in the fourth. In the top 5th, Turner got in serious trouble with two doubles by Salcido and Fred Rodgers to start the frame, but managed to starve Rodgers on base to hold a 3-1 lead. Turner however became unglued now and surrendered four hits to tie the game in the sixth. Time for the offense to move, and the moment I said it, Vinson, Osanai and all outfielders moved to the concession stands. Turner left after that cringing sixth with a no-decision. It would have been hard to get a W anyway, because the bullpen gave up two on the way to the ninth. Was another miracle comeback in the books? With one out, Reece reached on an error and was forced when Salazar grounded to second. Quinn singled to put the tying runs on base for Osanai, who had not had an important hit the whole month – and didn’t start with being clutch on June 30. He grounded to first. 5-3 Canadiens. Reece 2-5; Quinn 2-5, 3B, RBI; Johnston 1-2, 2 BB, 2B;

In other news

June 27 – SAL CL Domingo Alonso (2-4, 1.62 ERA, 23 SV) holds the Warriors at bay to save a 5-2 game, logging the 400th save of his career.
June 29 – WAS SP Ramon Ortiz (8-3, 2.84 ERA) 2-hits the Buffaloes in a 4-0 win.
June 29 – DAL LF/CF Xiao-wei Li (.332, 0 HR, 29 RBI) reaches 20 games of hitting with a single in a 4-2 loss to Los Angeles.
July 1 – LVA OF Seitaro Ogawa (.266, 8 HR, 35 RBI) is out for the year with a strained hip muscle.

Complaints and stuff

I think that’s the first ever walkoff home run hit by a relief pitcher that I have ever seen. It was quite the hair-raising series overall.

We have an offer out there for 30-year old INF Alberto Reyes, currently a free agent, to patch up our infield with Higgins out of action. He’s a .263 batter that won’t win games for you offensively, but will hold an infield together well, playing all four positions exceptionally well. He just has to sign that damn contract.

Neil Reece was shunned for Batter of the Month in the CL for Preston O’Day, who swatted nine homers. Nobody’s appreciating small ball these days.

We’ll be on the road in Milwaukee and New York before the All Star break. They probably look easy on paper, but this is a) baseball and b) a team that can’t buy a run at most times.