[Westheim]

Raccoons (45-60) @ Condors (58-47) – July 30-August 1, 2001

The Condors were creaming us at a 5-1 pace this season (but so had the Thunder…), and while our offensive outputs were roughly similar, their pitching was much better, with their rotation ranking fourth in the CL. A similarity between clubs was the fact that we both had better rotations than bullpens (but their bullpen was still solid, 7th in the CL). And, well, offense… we lack three key players in the lineup, so here it comes.

Projected matchups:
Ralph Ford (7-9, 3.55 ERA) vs. Bastyao Caixinha (12-8, 3.02 ERA)
Randy Farley (4-8, 5.07 ERA) vs. Curt Powell (9-6, 4.70 ERA)
Cipriano Miranda (4-11, 4.08 ERA) vs. Jose Maldonado (10-8, 3.32 ERA)

Game 1
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Cavazos – RF Flores – 2B M. Ramirez – P Ford
TIJ: LF Bayle – SS J. Barrón – C Cicalina – 3B O’Morrissey – 1B B. Boyle – 2B A. Ramirez – RF B. Wilson – CF G. Davis – P Caixinha

Ford struck out seven, walked none – and still lost. After Daniel Sharp struck first, in the first, with a solo home run, the Raccoons didn’t utilize Roberson reaching second base on an error and left runners on the corners before going into hiding. Things quickly turned sour for Ford with a 2-run home run by Bill Wilson in the bottom 2nd, and the Condors added a run the next inning. Ford went six and was hit for in the 3-1 game with two on and two out in the top 7th. Max Heart doubled over Gerald Davis, scoring a run and putting the go-ahead runs in scoring position, only for Guerin to strike out. We also had two on in the eighth, but Mark Thomas double played us out of there, and in the ninth Cavazos led off with a single off Enrico Gonzalez, was bunted over by Flores, advanced on Ramirez groundout, and then Jason Kent managed to hit the ball about ten feet to make the final out. 3-2 Condors. Sharp 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Cavazos 2-4; Heart (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Wade 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Yeah well, we have no surviving offense left. Reece down, Palacios down, Brady down (I do actually sound like a broken record, right?), and Martin is slumping, Cavazos is slumping harshly, and the rest of the team … meh …

Game 2
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – RF Cavazos – C Thomas – LF Parker – 2B McLaughlin – P Farley
TIJ: LF Bayle – SS J. Barrón – 3B O’Morrissey – 2B B. Boyle – CF MacKey – C C. Ramos – RF Richardson – 1B Cicalina – P Powell

The Raccoons were hitless the first time through the lineup, while Daniel Richardson (grmpf) had put the Condors on top 1-0 in the bottom 2nd. Powell faced the minimum into the fifth inning, with the Coons drawing two walks and finally a Guerin single in the fourth, but had hit into double plays twice and Guerin had been nipped stealing. Guerin stole his 26th base later in the sixth, but by then Cavazos had tied the score with a homer. In that sixth, Guerin was on second, Sharp on first, two down, and Roberson singled to left. Guerin was sent, and thrown out. Neither starter made it past the seventh, and neither got a decision. Top 9th, Roberson led off against lefty Jose Ochoa, and took him deep! Martin reached on an error, and the Coons somehow happened into loading the bags with two out. Kent hit for Diaz – and again failed. Nordahl had no cushion with a 2-1 lead, and readily walked Carlos Ramos and allowed a single to Richardson to get the bottom 9th underway. The Condors then tried to bunt, but Cicalina popped up and right to Nordahl. They bunted their runners into scoring position and Nordahl faced .145 Gerald Davis, a lefty. The count went to two strikes before Davis made contact, but it was another pop. McLaughlin ended the game. 2-1 Coons. Guerin 2-3, BB; Roberson 2-4, HR, RBI; Farley 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K;

Game 3
POR: SS Guerin – CF Cavazos – 3B Sharp – 1B Martin – C Thomas – LF Parker – RF Kent – 2B M. Ramirez – P Miranda
TIJ: LF Bayle – SS J. Barrón – 3B O’Morrissey – 2B B. Boyle – C C. Ramos – LF Richardson – 1B Jabalera – CF MacKey – P J. Maldonado

We got somebody thrown out at home right in the first inning, MacKey nailing Sharp to end the inning without the Raccoons scoring. In turn, Antonio Jabalera’s first AB of the season resulted in an RBI triple in the bottom 2nd as Miranda fell 2-0 behind. Miranda was reeking, possibly rotting, on the mound, and by the fourth inning had racked up THREE HBP’s. Jabalera doubled home another run, putting the Raccoons 3-1 down. And with the way the Raccoons were going around at the plate, that was already a fatal deficit. Indeed they just couldn’t get runners on base. The Condors didn’t do a lot against Miranda, who went into the seventh before getting stuck, but Juan Diaz ended the inning. Manuel Martinez loaded them up in the bottom 8th and Miller allowed one run to score while collecting the last two outs. Top 9th, Gonzalez in – and the Raccoons didn’t even get close to reaching base, with Kent and Ramirez striking out. 4-1 Condors. Sharp 2-4; Kent 2-4, RBI;

We have gone 2-7 against the Condors for the second straight year. Also, when you don’t score at all, you get more aggressive. That’s why we tend to send runners.

And it never works.

Raccoons (46-62) vs. Titans (69-40) – August 2-5, 2001

We were going up against the CL’s diamond rotation (2.81 ERA), and we were probably not going to get too many dents into that. Their offense was ranked third, and that should be sufficient to inflict some hurt. The Titans have just lost the division lead to the Loggers, so they were hungry to deal damage.

Projected matchups:
Miguel Lopez (6-6, 5.20 ERA) vs. Bryce Hildred (2-4, 3.89 ERA)
Carl Bean (8-9, 4.04 ERA) vs. Jason O’Halloran (16-5, 2.68 ERA)
Ralph Ford (7-10, 3.60 ERA) vs. Steven Snyder (9-9, 2.89 ERA)
Randy Farley (4-8, 4.82 ERA) vs. Juan Sanchez (8-5, 2.59 ERA)

O’Halloran is the only left-hander, however right now I think that left-handers aren’t the issue. We can at most put three left-handers and a switch-hitter into the lineup, and THAT might be a problem against RIGHT-handers. Brady and Palacios are being sorely missed in that regard (not that Reece is not), and the latest prognosis on Palacios, whose DL time runs out on Friday, is that he is not quite ready to return this weekend and will most likely only return early next week. Reece is two weeks off.

Game 1
BOS: CF L. Alonso – 3B V. Flores – RF J. Thomas – LF Garrison – C Manuel – SS D. Silva – 1B Walker – 3B D. Mendez – P Hildred
POR: SS Guerin – RF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – LF Parker – C M. Thomas – 2B Heart – P M. Lopez

In muggy weather, Lopez walked three batters in the first, and the disgusting Daniel Silva lobbed a single past Heart for two runs, before Walker struck out. Lopez didn’t make it through the third inning, being truly horrible, issuing five walks and being loaded with five runs. The Coons had nothing going, being limited to two soft hits through five innings against Hildred, who then shoveled his own hole in the sixth. He hit Guerin, who led off the inning, then made an error to put Cavazos on as well. Roberson and Sharp came through with RBI singles and Parker also brought a run in before we ran out of steam. It had drizzled earlier, twice actually, but the rain got heavier in the seventh, forcing a 37-minute delay, ending a strong long relief effort by Bob Joly. Bruno finished the inning when play resumed. Down 5-3, Gil Flores led off with a pinch-hit single in the bottom 7th. Guerin made an out, before Cavazos came up against reliever Román. Ramiro vs. Ramiro, and the one Ramiro took the other Ramiro deep – and that tied the score! Could we get some momentum and – no. Scott Wade pitched a clean eighth, before it all went wrong in the ninth. Josh Thomas doubled, and the Titans would hit TWO infield singles in the inning en route to plate two runs – the latter run walked in by Juan Diaz. The Coons were two down and at John Bennett’s mercy. He put down Guerin, and put down Cavazos. Defrese hit for Diaz in the #3 hole and drew a walk. That brought up a slumping Albert Martin, 0-3 on the day. One strike, two strikes, HOME RUN!!! Martin’s 19th homer of the year tied the game again! As we were sent to overtime, our already depleted bullpen ejected Martinez to pitch the tenth. It would be the last inning of the day. Martinez sucked, loaded the bases, and then Miller came out and walked a run in. Bennett hit a sac fly and then finished the job in his second try in the bottom 10th. 9-7 Titans. Roberson 3-4, RBI; Joly 3.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

Albert Martin tied Jesus Palacios with 19 homers, but they do not lead the CL anymore. Jorge Cruz had tied Palacios on Wednesday, and moved to 20 while the Raccoons came oh so close and still lost.

Game 2
BOS: SS D. Silva – 1B H. Ramirez – 3B Austin – RF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – LF Kinnear – CF L. Alonso – 2B D. Mendez – P O’Halloran
POR: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – CF Roberson – LF Cavazos – 1B Heart – RF G. Flores – 2B M. Ramirez – C Defrese – P Bean

This game had automatic loss written all over it. Or was it? Bean pitched a clean first before Guerin got on base. Roberson singled, moving him to third, and Cavazos scored Concie with a sac fly. Okay, 1-0. What now? Heart doubled! That put two in scoring position with one out for Flores and his grounder up the middle trickled through between Silva and Mendez and plated both runners! If Bean could just pitch a decent game now… He pitched three scoreless frames, before Mark Austin homered in the fourth. Lopez walked, Kinnear singled, and Alonso sent a fly to deep left where Cavazos laid out to make a fantastic catch to end the inning no sooner than absolutely necessary. It was Austin at the plate again in the fifth with two out, two on – and this time nobody was there to intercept a double as Gil Flores ran after it in vain in the corner in deep right field. That tied the game, but wasn’t shocking, since nobody expected better from Bean. The game was still tied at three in the eighth with Marcos Bruno pitching. He got socked again, with Austin singling, and Ramirez then spilling Thomas’ bouncer for an error. Lopez walked, and we were going down hard. Kinnear flew out to Roberson, runners holding, but Luis Alonso unloaded a bases-clearing double and that was that. Another run was charged on Nordahl, with us out of relievers to throw into a loss. 7-3 Titans. Guerin 2-5; Roberson 3-5; Heart 2-3, BB; Flores 2-4, 2 RBI; Parker (PH) 1-1; Bean 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K;

The useless Miguel Ramirez was trashed after this game. He was batting .164, was inefficient in the field, and I hated his face. We made a wicked move:

We called up Nick Brown.

Game 3
BOS: CF L. Alonso – 3B V. Flores – 1B Austin – LF Garrison – C Manuel – RF Kinnear – SS H. Ramirez – 2B Walker – P Snyder
POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – C M. Thomas – RF Kent – 2B Heart – P Ford

Ralph Ford was massively useless in this game, losing it with flying colors, never mind that the offense couldn’t get a bat up at all. He was hooked after four plus innings, in which he walked five, threw two wild pitches, and also gave up a home run, as the Titans led 4-0 with two men on and nobody out. Bob Joly replaced him, casually gave up a 2-run triple to lead-footed Andres Manuel, and the Raccoons were equally casually flushed down the toilet. Joly was as **** as Ford, surrendering three hits and three runs in two innings for two more runs. Yes, the Titans were inefficient with their runners. The Raccoons would give out 13 hits, nine walks, and countless facepalms en route to getting demolished, while tallying easily unnoticed three singles themselves. 10-0 Titans. Kent 1-1, 3 BB;

And it just goes on and on and on and on and on …

Game 4
BOS: SS D. Silva – CF Garrison – 3B Austin – RF J. Thomas – C L. Lopez – 1B H. Ramirez – LF L. Alonso – 2B V. Flores – P J. Sanchez
POR: SS Guerin – LF Cavazos – CF Roberson – 1B Martin – 3B Sharp – RF Kent – 2B McLaughlin – C Defrese – P Farley

The Raccoons had the first run of the game hammered out at home by Luis Alonso in the second, and left Jorge Defrese on third base where he arrived with one out the next inning. Bottom 4th, Sanchez walked the first two Critters, Martin and Sharp, before Kent flew out in a 3-1 count. McLaughlin’s single loaded them up, and Defrese ran a full count before hitting a perfect 6-4-3 problem solver – for the Titans. Randy Farley had deferred getting flogged through four innings, but a pair of leadoff doubles by Alonso and Victor Flores were easily enough to sink him, as both were scored in the top 5th. The Raccoons left two on in the bottom 5th, and Farley was up to bat against reliever Ramiro Román (Sanchez had walked his arm off, apparently) with two on and two out. As much as we loved to have a nominal batter bat here, the pitcher had to, since our deflated bullpen was not in a position to pitch three innings. Predictably, Farley struck out. Bottom 8th, still 2-0, Sharp and Kent got on with no outs. Orlando Blanco had come in just for Kent and had surrendered a single. How unexpected! The Titans went right to the next guy, Risto Mäkelä, and Parker hit for McLaughlin and singled. Bases loaded, nobody out for Defrese. And he drew a walk! That pushed the tying run to third – no outs! – and now we were comfy with batting for Randy, since we were expecting to have Nordahl pitch in the ninth anyway. Mäkelä walked Thomas, tying the game and then Guerin singled, giving Randy the lead. From here, only Roberson brought someone in with a sac fly. But we were up 4-2, we’re good, we’re good. Austin led off with a single. Thomas flew out deep to right, and then Manuel grounded to second, where Heart was. Heart went to first, where Defrese was, and Defrese dropped it. Well, maybe … and Nordahl walked Ramirez. We’re not good. We’re so not good. A walk to Alonso brought home a run, and then Kinnear hit in the #8 hole. This game was lost, regardless of whether Kinnear would swing or not, since Nordahl had just melted completely. Kinnear swung, it was high, it was deep, it was a grand slam. 7-4 Titans. Guerin 3-5, RBI; McLaughlin 2-2, BB, 2B; Farley 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K;

Sharp was thrown out at home to end the bottom 2nd. Yes we keep doing it, since next to bat was Defrese with first base open after McLaughlin’s double, and after that Farley. And it never works.

It never works.

In other news

July 30 – A partially torn UCL ends the season of 37-year old CHA SP Fernando Chavez (5-7, 4.81 ERA).
August 5 – Oklahoma lose their closer Jimmy Morey (5-3, 2.98 ERA, 24 SV). The 32-year old will be out for the season with a torn labrum.

Complaints and stuff

(sits at the table, silently, face buried in the palms)

…

(silence)

…

…

…

(takes the hands down, showing eyes that have been cried bright red)

It’s…

Last 13 games, 35 runs scored, 68 runs allowed.

Without all the good players, the team can’t score any runs. I mean, it is very obvious, but I can’t stop beating the drum. Amazingly this has happened right at the very moment where our pitching did not implode on a daily basis (well, until the Titans series). I also try to stay away from certain guys in the pen, mostly Marcos Bruno, who’s had a hard rookie season, and is already well over 50 innings on the season. I really don’t want to use my relievers that much…

Now the Nick Brown talk. 11th round pick back when, now he’s in the Bigs. He started on Thursday, and this makes him a nice fit to take over the fifth slot in the rotation. Miguel Lopez gets moved to the bullpen. We will look for someone to get rid off in the next week. It’s really between Diaz and Joly…

The newest scouting report on Brown hasn’t changed from the one I showed you before. In 21 starts this year between AA and AAA, he has pitched 138.1 innings, and struck out 195 batters. That’s something. This young lefty will get his chance on Tuesday. We are antsy to see him go out!

Not that he could wrap up anything else than a bitter loss.