[Westheim]

Just couldn't stay away and had to see whether their semi-decent 7-6 start was fake or not.

Raccoons (7-6) @ Titans (8-4) – April 18-20, 2005

Aaaand here come the Titans. Nobody particularly wanted to see them, but here they were. What an unhappy place to be in. The season is young, yet they are already second in offense and first in defense. Their starter’s ERA was 2.56, and their bullpen ERA 1.80, for crying out loud. Nothing to see here, maybe at the weekend with a little luck we might win a game.

Projected matchups:
Felipe Garcia (1-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. Joe Mann (2-0, 2.19 ERA)
Ben Carlson (0-2, 2.92 ERA) vs. Ray Conner (2-0, 1.69 ERA)
Nick Brown (2-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. Jorge Chapa (1-1, 3.21 ERA)

Right-left-left it is for this series. We have … basically no chance.

Game 1
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Brady – 2B M. Ramirez – 1B Martin – RF Greenman – CF Torrez – SS Yamada – C Cooks – P F. Garcia
BOS: SS D. Silva – 1B M. Austin – LF G. Munoz – C L. Lopez – 2B Metting – CF Garrison – RF Encarnación – 3B Matsumoto – P Mann

Felipe Garcia lacked the necessary fortune to achieve anything appreciable in the opener. Neither team had a lot of offense. But Garcia offered a walk at the most inopportune times, first to fall 1-0 behind in the first after the Titans pulled off a double steal, and then to fall 2-1 behind in the fourth, again walking the scoring batter in the first place. The Coons had scratched out a run in the third on a Cooks single, Garcia’s bunt, and a Sharp double, but had left runners on the corners before long, and would leave runners on the corners in the fifth inning, too. Garcia left in a double switch in the bottom 7th, leaving Dave Williams to escape a man on second with two outs, which he did with a K to Will Taylor. Down 2-1 in the ninth we faced Gabby De La Rosa, who was in his seventh season post-Portland, and the Coons made an effort to kind of softly overwhelm him. Greenman rolled a single to right and Nomura pinch-walked, before Fernandez grounded out in Kichida’s place, leaving the runners in scoring position for Curt Cooks with two out. Matt King was called on to pinch-hit, grounded up the middle, Kurt Metting intercepted the grounder, but had no play – Greenman scored, and the game was tied! Yet, Brad Sheehan, who had entered in the earlier double switch, struck out, leaving runners on the corners once more, and Ricardo Huerta was swiftly defeated by a Rudy Garrison single and Masaaki Matsumoto double in the bottom of the inning. 3-2 Titans. King (PH) 1-1, RBI; Garcia 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K;

Game 2
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Brady – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – 2B M. Ramirez – CF Torrez – SS Sheehan – C Wood – P Carlson
BOS: SS D. Silva – 1B M. Austin – LF G. Munoz – C L. Lopez – 2B Metting – CF Garrison – RF W. Taylor – 3B Matsumoto – P Chapa

Jorge Chapa moved up to this game as the Titans elected to skip Ray Conner’s turn in the rotation.

You don’t quite know what to elect as the Miracle of the Day in this game. Either the Raccoons scoring a run in the first on a Danny Sharp triple and subsequent sac fly by Brady, or Ben Carlson, the old ragged fella, no-hitting the Titans for four innings. His house of cards came down in the fifth, however, when Kurt Metting doubled to get going and scored to tie the game at one. That one run on two hits in the fifth exploded all the way to three runs on five hits in the sixth, an inning Carlson didn’t see to conclusion. Unforseeably however, that was not quite the game yet. Down 4-1 the Raccoons got Bob Wood on in the top 7th, and then King had another pinch-hit single in Kichida’s place. Good things developed, as Sharp singled home a run, Brady walked, and Greenman’s fatal grounder to third was bungled by Matsumoto, as the Coons got to 4-3 with the bags full and two out, as Chapa was yanked for Gabby against the left-hander(!) Al Martin. Gabby got ahead on Martin 1-2, before Martin bounced a ball to third – AND PAST MATSUMOTO!! Two runs scored, giving the Raccoons a 5-4 lead before Ramirez grounded out to end the frame! Alas, when Moreno came in to face left-handers in the bottom of the inning, he was completely torn to shreds, and gangbanged for all four runs we had just scored. And so another dismal loss entered the record books. No, wait a moment! Torrez homered in the eighth, 8-6, and in the top 9th Sharp hit a leadoff single off Ramiro Román, and then Brady doubled to get both runners into scoring position! Yet, a Martin groundout was all we even got into play. And so another dismal loss entered the record books. 8-7 Titans. Sharp 3-5, 3B, RBI; Greenman 2-5; King (PH) 1-1;

Moreno now has a 19-ish ERA. He has the least innings pitched, and most runs conceded on the staff.

Just why?

Game 3
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Brady – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – CF King – 2B Nomura – SS Yamada – C Wood – P Brown
BOS: C R. Rivera – 3B Matsumoto – LF W. Taylor – 1B M. Austin – SS H. Ramirez – RF Brulhart – 2B Frazier – CF Encarnación – P Conner

And here came Conner. Huh?

This time it was Brady to hit the first inning triple and score on a sac fly to make it 1-0 early. And then Brownie came out, walked the first batter, threw a wild one, made an error, and we knew that the one run conceded in this bottom 1st wouldn’t be the only one, and we were in for a world of pain, with the only ray of light for the entire week swiftly disappearing in the darkness. Dark clouds actually moved up, with the forecast not having been bad at all in the morning. Then the Coons lost Yoshi-N in the second inning, as Nomura left the game after batting and hitting a double after the trainer consulted him at second base. Ramirez replaced him and immediately looked quite bad on a play in the bottom of the inning. Brown had to bite and claw to keep the Titans from scoring as they stranded runners on the corners in both the second and third innings. Top 4th, Wood chopped a single, and so did Brown! When Sharp walked, the bases were loaded for Brady, who singled to left and the speedy Brown refused to be held at third and was safe at home! Now up 3-1, Brown had some leeway, but a terrible bloop by Matsumoto fooled Greenman completely in the bottom 4th and became a leadoff double. Brown bit his way around that, too. Still the dark clouds. It started to rain just as Brownie was commencing his final inning, the bottom 6th. He retired Mark Austin before the game entered a rain delay. We never emerged from it, as the game was called two hours later, and the Coons got away with a cheap one! 3-1 Brownies! Brady 3-3, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Martin 2-4, 2B; Nomura 1-1, 2B; Wood 1-2; Brown 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (3-0) and 1-3;

Well, we didn’t deserve this one, but we will certainly not complain. Getting three innings from the bullpen with a 2-run lead would have been … an interesting challenge.

Nomura had a mild oblique strain and was described two days of rest. One day will be our off day and then the first game in San Fran will be against a left-hander, so we will survive it, I guess.

Raccoons (8-8) @ Bayhawks (10-6) – April 22-24, 2005

We just escaped the second-best offense, and as reward for that we get to see the best offense. Yay, lucky us! Their starters were everything but bulletproof however, posting a 4.46 ERA so far through the first two and a half weeks, which ranked 9th in the Continental League. We’d still see the starter who led the league in ERA…

Projected matchups:
Edgar Amador (1-2, 4.41 ERA) vs. Raúl Fuentes (1-2, 5.89 ERA)
Ralph Ford (0-1, 3.15 ERA) vs. Marc Padgett (3-0, 0.47 ERA)
Felipe Garcia (1-0, 2.08 ERA) vs. Carl Bean (2-1, 2.87 ERA)

One more lefty in Fuentes, and then a pair of right-handers we know well. Bean anyway, and Padgett pitched in our division for four years with the Loggers.

Game 1
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Brady – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – CF Fernandez – SS Yamada – 2B M. Ramirez – C Wood – P Amador
SFB: 2B J. Diaz – LF Theobald – RF Bonneau – 1B I. Gutierrez – CF Black – 3B J. Perez – SS J. Barrón – C Washington – P R. Fuentes

The Fat Cat walked the bases loaded in the first inning before Jose Perez made the final out on a 3-1 pitch, a sorry pop lushed out to Fernandez. It didn’t help Amador, however, with a Yohan Bonneau triple heart and soul to the Bayhawks’ 2-run third inning that put up the first score in the game. Amador never got any better, being charged with four runs in six innings, walking four and striking out absolutely nobody. It still got worse, with Moreno being charged with another two runs to temporarily fire his ERA over 20 in the bottom 7th. The most remarkable offensive achievement for the Coons were their fourth and seventh innings being perfect copies of another. Sharp struck out, Brady singled, Greenman mauled two. Those two Brady singles were all that stood between Fuentes and a perfect game. 6-0 Bayhawks. Brady 2-3;

Game 2
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Brady – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – SS Yamada – CF Torrez – 2B Nomura – C Wood – P Ford
SFB: CF Black – LF Theobald – 1B I. Gutierrez – 2B J. Diaz – RF Bonneau – 3B J. Perez – SS J. Barrón – C J. Lopez – P Padgett

The Coons scored a run in the first inning on a Martin groundout, then had Nomura and Wood on with no outs in the second. Ford, who had misfielded an infield grounder and hit a batter in the bottom 1st and still hadn’t been scored upon, bunted into a force at third, and we didn’t score. Ford, the dork, walked the pitcher to start the bottom 3rd, walked Black as well, and was jumped on for three runs. Because, you know, the Waterbirds can actually hit. The Coons failed their way to the seventh where suddenly Sharp singled and Brady walked with one out. Greenman came up and fired a shot to left that at first looked like it would count for three, but then banged off the wall for a common RBI double, but Greenman was now the go-ahead run at second base. Martin singled to left to tie the game, and Yamada’s fly to Bonneau in right was enough to score Greenman as the Raccoons flipped the table on the Bayhawks. Ralph Ford was still tossing, and tossed up an exit pitch to Rusty Washington to start the bottom of the inning. What a smart management of a slim lead. That was now gone, and it was 4-4 after seven. In the top 9th we had Brady on first with one out, and hit-and-run our way into a strike-em-out-throw-em-out. The game was a drag in extra innings until Martin made an error to put the leadoff man on in the bottom 12th, with Moreno pitching. But the Bayhawks had used their entire bench already, and thus we were able to force their reliever Salvadaro Soure (a former discovery by our Vince) to the plate with the winning run at second base and two outs. Moreno got to 1-2 before surrendering a drive to center, but Edgardo Fernandez made the play. We still had a bench, but no batters, if you know what I mean. Moreno’s turn was up with one out in the top 13th, and King hit for him with nobody on. Soure made a mistake, King noticed it and drilled a homer to right! As Angel Casas had been used already (he had not pitched all week, and we didn’t want to have him rot in the pen any longer), Marcos Bruno was assigned the finishing duties in this game, facing the heart of the lineup. Iván Gutierrez led off with an infield single, but Diaz struck out and Bonneau grounded into a double play. 5-4 Coons. Greenman 4-6, 2 2B, RBI; Martin 2-5, 2 RBI; King (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Casas 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

This was Matt King’s second career home run and his first as a Furball.

Game 3
POR: 3B Sharp – LF Fernandez – RF Greenman – 1B Martin – CF King – SS Yamada – 2B Nomura – C Cooks – P F. Garcia
SFB: 2B J. Diaz – LF Theobald – RF Bonneau – 1B I. Gutierrez – CF Black – SS J. Perez – C Washington – 3B Bulco – P V. Perez

No rendezvous with Carl Bean, as Vicente Perez (1-1, 7.13 ERA) was assigned to Sunday’s start basically 30 minutes before the game for unknown reasons.

The first three Hawks all hit safely to deep left, plating them an early run on Garcia, who looked quite shabby in that first inning. The shabby look was good for something, however, as Garcia would put up the Coons’ first run later, in the third inning, with a solo homer to left that left the pitcher Perez and Paul Theobald with a sour look. Theobald responded with a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning, and Yohan Bonneau then took up the part of going yard. 3-1 Hawks, and Bonneau would have another at-bat like that in the fifth to get the score to 5-1. Garcia went six with five runs (four earned) against him, and the Coons were – not doing much of anything. Yamada reached third base once, but was stranded, and in the eighth Martin singled home Fernandez, who had hit a leadoff double, but nobody was following up on that either. 5-2 Bayhawks. Martin 2-3, BB, RBI; Yamada 2-4, 2B; Bruno 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Yamada was thrown out twice in this game, both times stealing second base. He stole third successfully, however. Weird, huh?

In other news

April 18 – SAL SP Raúl Chavez (2-2, 1.47 ERA) is going to miss five weeks with a fractured finger.
April 20 – CIN SP Tynan Howard (0-1, 10.24 ERA) didn’t look right from the start and it has now been confirmed that he has suffered a torn flexor tendon and is out for the season.
April 21 – While the Capitals offense smothers the Cyclones for ten runs, WAS SP Chris York (3-1, 0.53 ERA) pitches a 3-hit shutout and sends an early statement to opposing lineups.
April 23 – Miguel Diaz (3-0, 2.37 ERA) tosses a 3-hitter for the Stars in their 5-0 win over the Miners.
April 24 – Back-to-back shutouts for Stars starters, as Manuel Hernandez (3-1, 1.61 ERA) 2-hits the Miners in another 5-0 shutout win.

Complaints and stuff

Yep, they've been fake. 66 runs in 19 games.

Remember the Concie trade that made you cry? We got a promising outfielder for it in 21-year old Bob Mays. In his first nine games in AAA, he batted .359/.405/.795 with 4 HR and 5 RBI, and stole five bases. And then he sprained his thumb.

A-ah.