Long two-week road trip ahead of us, with a long swing around the country, from Indy to Milwaukee, into Charlotte, and back home via Oklahoma, 13 games in total.
Raccoons (6-3) @ Indians (3-5) – April 14-17, 1994
This was a first vs. last matchup, but it doesn’t necessarily count for a lot if in theory the situation could reverse by the time we leave town. The Indians’ woes so far had been mainly of a lack of offense, with the Raccoons pouring out twice as many runs through one and a half weeks. I don’t expect our 5.89 R/G mark to hold up all times, though. But it never hurts to try.
With a long stretch of games to start the year, we were to give Reece, Salazar, Baldivía, and O’Morrissey, who had all started all games so far, days off during this series. Baldivía and Salazar made the start in the opener of the 4-set, with Quinn and Higgins subbing.
This changed lineup presented itself shockingly toothless against the Indians’ Jesus Lopez. The story of the game is quickly told. Lopez tossed a 4-hit shutout, while Scott Wade was respectable, but not good enough, surrendering three runs in seven innings. Tim Mallandain caused two more runs in the eighth inning with a 2-run homer to Matt Brown. 5-0 Indians.
For Mallandain (27.00 ERA) that was the last sucker outing. He found himself on the plane to St. Petersburg the next morning. 22-year old Cesar Salcido was called up to take his spot without having gotten into an AAA game this season yet. I expect him to walk eight guys while registering three outs, so I will look into free agent leftovers now. (But mind our non-existent budget space)
O-Mo had the day off for game 2, with Allen manning third base. Early on it looked like Neil Stewart would repeat Jesus Lopez’ performance from the day before, punching out four Coons in the first two innings, but Kisho Saito quickly out-aced him, because Stewart twice ran into a screeching chainsaw hidden quite well in the #7 hole in the Coons’ lineup: Royce Green. Our only offseason addition jacked two home runs off Stewart, the latter for three runs, for a 4-0 lead that Saito held well until the battery blew the shutout in the bottom 7th. Saito hit Luis Maldonado with a pitch. Vinson didn’t even make a throw, when Maldonado stole second, and he eventually came home to score a run. And it was only the beginning. A Mark Allen error put a man on in the bottom 8th, and a pitch to Angelo Duarte got away from Saito, and Duarte tripled, then scored on a sac fly. Suddenly it was a 4-3 game, since apart from Royce Green, we didn’t have anything going. Saito was removed when he put the tying run on, and Neil Reece threw the tying run out at third base, as Lagarde surrendered a single to catcher Mamoru Sato. Fortunately the Indians cocked up some, too, as their bullpen came apart in the top of the ninth. Both Salazar and Baldivía hit 2-run doubles in the inning, and Saito could breathe easier, finally getting his first W of the year. 8-3 Coons. Salazar 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Reece 2-4, BB; Higgins 2-4; Green 2-3, BB, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Saito 7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (1-0);
Neil Reece finally got a day off in the third game. Lopez played center, and Green batted cleanup.
Indy’s Arthur Young had plagued us badly in recent times. For game 3, he came into the game with 24 times the ERA of Jason Turner (2-0, 0.61) with an 0-2, 14.85 ERA season so far. He could only get better, and perhaps would do so against the Raccoons. And of course, he did get better right here. While the Raccoons scored first, it took them until the third inning, and involved the Indians barely NOT turning a double play when Baldivía grounded to second with runners on the corners and one out. Turner pitched well, but ran into Tomas Maguey and a solo home run in the bottom 4th that tied the game. The Raccoons – whatever the reason was – were unable
as a team to hit Young and his so-so arsenal, and did not get to him again. Young was removed with one out in the eighth and the first batter reliever Jim Durden faced was Salazar – and Salazar tripled. Baldivía hit a sac fly to give Turner a new lead. But Turner was unable to complete the eighth inning himself, like in his previous two starts. With two out, he issued his first two walks of the game, leaving it to Lagarde to deal with Maguey now, and got him to ground out to Salazar. We tried to get another run home in the ninth. Alejandro Lopez singled his way on with one out in the ninth, but he was thrown out trying to steal. Higgins then singled, and was sent to steal in a run-and-hit – and succeeded. Kinnear then drove him in with a single. Daniel Hall struck out with two on, leaving Grant West entrusted with a 3-1 lead. The first two men he faced hit doubles and that was it for him. Martinez had to stall the tying run on second base, popped up Claudio Ayala, struck out Joe Estes, and then struck out Mario Haider as well. PHEW!! 3-2 Raccoons. Salazar 2-4, 3B; Rodriguez 2-4, 2 2B; Turner 7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (3-0) and 1-3; Martinez 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (1);
If Grant West would have been born a horse, he would have been shot that evening.
Meanwhile Jason Turner is certainly off to fast start for sure. Despite needing to be rescued in the eighth inning of every game so far, he is 3-0 with a 0.81 ERA and 15/6 K/BB. Heck, I’d take five guys with those stats in a heartbeat
After seeing left-handed starters for three straight games (something that can only happen against the Indians, it seems), we faced right-hander Larry Davis (0-1, 7.11 ERA) in game 4, trying to nail down a series victory. Neil Reece had not been hurt by the off day, driving in the first run of the game with a 2-out RBI single in the top 1st. We added a run in the second inning, but then left the bags full in the third. The Coons took a few big swings against Davis, but didn’t tag him again until Royce Green hit a towering home run in the sixth to make it 3-0. While the Indians failed to get to Miguel Lopez, the Raccoons added another two runs on a Vern Kinnear homer in the eighth and while Lopez laid down a bad bunt that forced out Vinson at second base for the second out in the inning, Salazar extended his hitting streak and scored Lopez with a double that drummed off the wall in left center. Would Lopez finish the shutout bid? He had given up a single hit early on in the game, but nothing since. 2B Angel Gonzalez doubled with one out in the bottom 8th, and Lopez walked pinch-hitter Carlos Paredes with two down. Maldonado then made the final out to Green in right and the bid remained alive. Lopez got two quick outs from Haider and Maguey in the ninth, before Ayala managed an infield single in a full count. Mamoru Sato would be Lopez’ last batter, for better or worse. Kinnear made a play on Sato’s fly ball – a shutout! 6-0 Raccoons. Baldivía 2-5; Green 1-2, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Kinnear 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Vinson 2-4, 2B, RBI; M. Lopez 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, W (3-0);
This was the third career shutout pitched by Miguel Lopez, and his fourth complete game. It’s also the closest he has come to a no-hitter, his other shutouts having been 4-hitters. A rotation of Miguel Lopezes (3-0, 1.52 ERA, 23/2 K/BB) would not be bad either.
The hitting streaks of Neil Reece and Jorge Salazar have lingered through some 1-hit days, but are still alive at 24 and 18 games, respectively.
Raccoons (9-4) @ Loggers (6-6) – April 18-20, 1994
This was a matchup between the two CL teams with the least runs conceded so far. The Raccoons had allowed 39 runs, the Loggers 42. Yes, the Loggers actually did well at something. In turn, their offense was not exactly pumping, scoring 4.25 R/G, just below average.
The Loggers’ Rafael Garcia had gone 16.1 innings without allowing an earned run so far. Time to soil that streak. Garcia didn’t make it further than to 16.2 innings, with Salazar flying out to start the game. After that, an error put Baldivía on, O-Mo singled, and Reece unleashed some thunder with a towering 3-run home run, two runs of which were earned. Unfortuantely, Raimundo Beato fudged up that early lead in time. In a 3-1 game in the fourth, with one out and the tying runs in scoring position, he failed to get Garcia out in a 2-2 count. Garcia singled to left and tied the game. When Beato loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth, he was yanked. Miller replaced him and scored the go-ahead run with a wild pitch, putting the Raccoons down 4-3. At that point, a good offense would kick into high gear, but the Raccoons didn’t have any gear in at all, having had one hit since the first inning. Instead, the bullpen collapsed spectacularly. Cesar Salcido made his debut in a lost game and managed a scoreless inning. 6-3 Loggers. Vinson 1-2, 2 BB; Quinn (PH) 1-1;
We had nothing going after the first inning. What a stinker of a game. It also marked the end for Salazar’s hitting streak, as he went 0-5. Neil Reece extended his streak to 25 games with the home run, but the news were overshadowed by Dave Browne’s 2,000th hit the same day.
Game 2. The Coons struck early again with a 2-out, 2-run double by Matt Higgins in the first inning. The Loggers weren’t bothered. They tagged Scott Wade for three runs in the bottom 1st, yet the 3-2 deficit was tied up by the Coons in the top 2nd, but Reece left the bases loaded when he flew out. It was a mess of a game. The Raccoons took a lead in the third, when 3B Raúl Rodriguez threw away Daniel Hall’s grounder, allowing Matt Higgins to score an unearned run, and added a run in the fourth on a balk. Neither starter made it through the fifth inning. The Loggers pinch-hit for Albert Zarate in the fourth, and Wade put the tying runs on in the fifth and was removed for Burnett to face lefty Jim Stein. Burnett surrendered the game-tying double and was removed as well. Martinez got out of the inning, stalling Stein at third base. 5-5 through five, the Raccoons came back with back-to-back doubles by Salazar and Baldivía, followed by bloop singles from Reece and Higgins in the sixth. Green struck out with the latter two on, keeping the score at 7-5. The Coons’ pen rapidly emptied in the seventh. Vela got an out, Salcido got one lefty, but not the second, and Lagarde had to come out to face a struggling Gates Golunski, who batted .184 on the year. Lagarde got his 1-2 pitch right back to his feet for a kindergarten easy out to first, then struck out the side in the eighth. With only Miller in reserve, Grant West better would not blow this one. Duane Smith flew to deep center, but into Reece’s glove, before West got pop ups from the next two batters. 7-5 Raccoons. Salazar 2-4, BB, 2B; Baldivía 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; O’Morrissey 2-5, 2B; Higgins 3-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Martinez 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0); Lagarde 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;
Not a game for my fragile nerves. I screamed some obscenities along the way. Needless to say I am way more happy with the top 3 of the rotation at this point. Let’s hope for Kisho Saito taking care of a more silent game on getaway day. Should be in his best interest, he still has to win 26 for #200.
One thing standing against Saito making a long and calm outing in game 3 was the nasty weather. Dark clouds hovered over the park from the get go, and rain started to come down with the Coons up 2-0 in the second inning, quickly forcing a 40-minute delay. The pitchers kept going, but Saito gave away the lead in the third inning. He would probably not go past the fifth, so scoring for him was urgent. In the top 5th, Baldivía singled with one out, and O-Mo walked, ending the day of SP Miguel Garcia. John Bennett came in and balked the runners over for Neil Reece to drive them home. Reece fell to 2-2 after being 2-0 ahead, but then singled up the middle to score Baldivía and give Saito a lead. Higgins and Kinnear then left the runners on, and we left two more on in the sixth. Saito got one out in the sixth, but put Drake Evans on and was removed. O-Mo made a sparkling play to end the inning with a double play on a grounder by Golunski off Daniel Miller. It could have ended well, but the bullpen broke down again. Miller allowed the Loggers to tie the game and load the bases in the seventh, and Burnett allowed all runners to score. Golunski crowned the nightmare with a 3-shot off Vela. All runs had been scored with two out. When the Raccoons loaded them up in the top 8th with one out, they failed to score on a fly out by Baldivía and a groundout by O’Morrissey. 10-4 Loggers. Baldivía 2-5, 2B; Reece 3-4, BB, RBI; Kinnear 2-5, 2B, RBI; Vinson 2-4, 2B, RBI; Allen (PH) 1-1;
In other news
April 16 – RIC RF/LF Raúl Vázquez (.460, 3 HR, 14 RBI) extends a hitting streak that began last season for the Indians to 20 games with two hits in the Rebels’ 4-3 win over the Cyclones.
April 16 – VAN SP Manny Ramos (3-0, 1.66 ERA) 2-hits the Crusaders in a 10-0 blowout. It’s back-to-back shutouts for the Canadiens over the Crusaders, as Arnold McCray had tossed a 5-hitter the day before.
April 16 – RIC INF/LF Enrico Lopez (.324, 0 HR, 5 RBI) will miss a month with a broken thumb.
April 18 – OCT 2B/1B Dave Browne (.269, 0 HR, 3 RBI) joins the 2,000 hits club in a 12-6 drubbing of the Thunder to the Knights. The 32-year old Browne hits the milestone base hit in time, a first inning double off Glenn Ryan, who gets tagged for nine runs in 1.2 innings, with Browne getting two hits and scoring two runs against him.
Complaints and stuff
So much for our bullpen. The left-handers are giving us massive trouble so far. So far our offense ranks first in the CL with 84 runs scored (5.25 R/G), but the bullpen has been costing us a few games.
Dave Browne is in a hurry to get to 3,000 hits, by the way. The day after he logged #2,000 (and #2,001), he 5-hit blitzed the Knights in a 7-3 Thunder win. At one point, looooong ago, he was a piece of trade talks, but I can’t remember for whom that should have been.
Strange fact: Kisho Saito has won 20 games in a season – once. But never for one team. Huh!? He won 20 games in 1984, when he was traded from the Canadiens to the Raccoons in July. He went 14-4 for the smelly Elks, then 6-4 for the fluffy Furballs, for a 20-8 season. He has two 19-win seasons (one on each side of the 49th parallel).
At the pace the offense (and pen…) is going for Saito, he will have to pitch until his age 41 season to reach 200 wins -.-