[Westheim]

As is good custom in these confines, the CLCS (and possible World Series) will be presented in a 2-3-1-1 format, primarily to prevent spoilers in game 6 by seeing that the scrollbar doesn’t leave enough room for a game 7 in a 2-3-2 format.

2010 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (96-66) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (95-67)

Tuesday night, Portland, friggin’ cold, nobody cares, because it’s playoff baseball! We haven’t had such fancy bling in 14 years!

Yet the Raccoons arrived in this happy place in a rather unhappy state, decimated by injuries and poor form. They had played merely .500 since September 1, almost had blown a sizeable 8-game lead, and had lost two of their important position players, 3B Jon Merritt and OF Tomas Castro, to injuries in the final few weeks. MR Pat Slayton and rookie SP Hector Santos were also tucked away on the DL. Instead of Merritt and Castro, rookie Walt Canning and defensive centerfielder Santiago Trevino were added to the playoff roster.

Their opposition, the Thunder, also had injury woes. Half-ace Daniel Dickerson had been on the DL since June, and they were also without their starting centerfielder Jose Gonzalez and backup outfielder David Clarke. Another outfielder, Martin Covington was ailing with an oblique issue.

The Raccoons had a few decisions to make. The first concerned their rotation and which starter to drop. Brown – Umberger – Cruz was a rather moot point of discussion, but between Colin Baldwin and Gil McDonald you could argue for against both of them. However, the pendulum swung in favor of Baldwin, and not because he had had such a good season, but rather because the Thunder lineup was even more distorted in favor of left-handed batting than the Coons’ was. Colin Baldwin had started three games against Oklahoma during the season, and had won all three of them. Gil McDonald had faced them once and had been obliterated as recently as September 20. Thus, Gil McDonald moved to the pen, but this might not hold up for the World Series, should the Raccoons make it there.

Odds weren’t in their favor. Apart from the slight issue of the missing pieces in the lineup, there was also the problem that they had not played sound baseball for an extended period of time, and had gotten worse in the last three weeks. The rotation was struggling, the bullpen was prone to blowups, and the corner outfielders had essentially died in August. Matt Pruitt and Ron Alston were as cold as could be.

The Thunder had the highest OBP in the Continental League, and were suffocating their opposition by numbers, not by power. They had hit fewer home runs than the disappointing Portland Power Prodigies. Despite the injuries, they still fielded a top 5 that were all batting .275 or better, and all had OBP’s of .371 or better, with Tomas Cardenas, Pablo Ledesma, and Tom Reese all hitting double-digit dingers on top of that.

But even in the Raccoons’ second-half diminished state, their pitching was still better than the Thunder’s. Antonio Donis had won 21 games and the ERA title, but the best of the rest was William Raven with a 3.80 ERA. The bullpen was porous, especially if called on early. They had only one left-handed reliever in the pen, Steven Anderson, and he had allowed a few runs to the Coons during the year.

In principle, they’re beatable. But the recent offensive shenanigans of the Raccoons are a big concern, and the Thunder might hold a slight edge going into the set.

2010 CONTINENTAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Portland Raccoons (96-66) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (95-67)

Game 1 – Nick Brown (20-6, 2.70 ERA) vs. Takeru Sato (12-11, 4.11 ERA)

Antonio Donis had pitched on the weekend and was probably going to pitch game 2 of the series opposing Jong-hoo Umberger. Sato and Donis are their two left-handers, so it’s not a big difference for us.

He had stunk all the way since August, but it was the playoffs, and there was no way we could leave Ron Alston on the bench. However, I was hoping for a boost from Keith Ayers, who got the centerfield assignment over Pat White. Canning started at third base, something that would probably hold up throughout the playoffs until he would tear out a leg or two.

OCT: 1B J. Lugo – LF Britton – RF Tom Reese – 2B M. Garza – C Ledesma – SS Vieitas – 3B Arreola – CF E. Fernandez – P Sato
POR: 1B Quebell – 3B Canning – RF Alston – CF Ayers – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – P Brown

Almost 33 years old, Nick Brown’s first playoff strikeout after 2,072 K in the regular season was Pablo Ledesma at the end of the first inning. Jose Lugo, normally not batting in the top regions of the order, started with a single in a 1-2 count, and Tom Reese walked, but the Thunder popped out twice. While the Coons didn’t exactly made wind early on, much less storm, Brown’s first appearance as wobbly was proven by the third inning and a leadoff walk to the pitcher Sato. While Jose Lugo hit into a double play, Brown then drilled Apasyu Britton and was taken deep by Tom Reese, sending the Thunder up 2-0.

Brown led off the bottom of the third and reached base on an infield single. While Quebell flew out to left, Walt Canning squeezed a walk out of Takeru Sato, which put Ron Alston in a prime spot to hit one out for effect, or right into a double play. Of course he chose the latter.

While Brownie struck out the side in the fifth inning and reached eight strikeouts for the entire game at that point, the damage had been done, and the Raccoons acted in rather uninspired ways. Craig Bowen hit singles his first two times up, nothing ever came of them.

Brown struck out two in the sixth, and struck out Marcos Garza to start the seventh inning. When he struck out Pablo Ledesma, he reached a full dozen on the day, which broke the Continental League playoff record, and he even added one by striking out Herberto Vieitas for 13 total! Yet, all for naught. The Coons went down in order in the fifth, and in the sixth, that one with Ayers grounding out on a 3-0 pitch, and Bowen walked in the seventh, but … just no. No reaction from the lineup whatsoever.

Ted Reese replaced Brown in the eighth after Brown had thrown 116 pitches, and right away surrendered a first-pitch home run to ex-Coon Eddie Fernandez. Down 3-0, Pat White pinch-hit for Reese in the bottom of the eighth, leading off and hitting a double, the first time a Raccoon reached second base since the second inning. He didn’t score either as the Raccoons continued to suck. Luis Beltran forfeited the game for good in the ninth inning, facing five batters and putting four on base. A complete choke job was completed with a double play that Travis Owens hit into in the bottom of the ninth.

5-0 Thunder (OCT lead 1-0); Bowen 2-2, BB; White (PH) 1-1, 2B; Brown 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 13 K, L (0-1) and 1-2;

Nick Brown broke the strikeout record that was first set by Bob “Butcher” Haines in 1988, and tied by Larry Cutts in 2006.

Game 2 – Jong-hoo Umberger (18-8, 3.28 ERA) vs. William Raven (8-2, 3.80 ERA)

We arrived at game 2, and Angel Casas had come down with the flu. It was too bad to be made up. He was coughing, sneezing, and splattering nasal excrements all over the dugout. It was unpleasant. Was it legal to have him pitch? His paws were covered in plague smear that doctored the ball considerably.

However, if the team doesn’t score runs, there’s no need to run him out there.

OCT: LF Britton – 1B T. Cardenas – C Ledesma – RF Tom Reese – 2B M. Garza – CF Covington – 3B Arreola – SS Vieitas – P Raven
POR: 1B Quebell – 2B Nomura – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 3B Canning – CF White – SS Howell – P Umberger

Umberger struck Britton with the fourth pitch of the game, giving the Thunder a free runner, but the issue was for now rendered moot when Ledesma hit into a double play. The largely unremarkable Raven retired the first eight Raccoons in order before Umberger reached with a snipped single to center. Quebell lined a pitch over Cardenas for a double, and Yoshi singled to left to at least score Umberger before Ron Alston made a predictable third out, but at least the Coons held an actual 1-0 lead.

The fourth inning was tense. First, Cardenas almost hit one out but Pruitt was able to catch the ball at the wall. The Thunder remained behind, and Raven walked Bowen in the bottom 4th for a 1-out runner for the Coons. Canning singled, but White popped out. Rob Howell swung through strike three, except that his bat touched Ledesma’s glove and the backstop was called out for interference, loading the bases with two outs for … Umberger. Too bad he was such a ****ty hitter and was not due another base hit until Pentecost.

On the other side of the linescore, Tom Reese was quick to get the Thunder even, hitting a leadoff single in the fifth, stealing second base, and scoring on Marcos Garza’s single to center. Worse, Arreola reached base and then Herberto Vieitas emptied a pitch into the gap in left center, where it easily split and got past Pruitt and White, both runs scored, 3-1 Thunder after the Vieitas double. The runner promptly moved to third base on a wild pitch to Raven, who flew out to center, with Pat White throwing out Vieitas at home. Would that even matter?

Ron Alston actually did something worthy of his salary in the bottom of the inning. With Nomura on base, he doubled to left and into the corner, well enough to have Yoshi score, and Alston represented the tying run on second base. Excuse me – third base. Raven just balked him over. Matt Pruitt singled to left, Alston scored, and we were even at three.

We were going to be even for like five milliseconds. Umberger walked Britton on four pitches in the top 6th, then allowed a single up the middle to Cardenas. Britton went to third with nobody out. Ron Thrasher replaced the clueless Umberger, struck out Ledesma, got a pop to left from Reese that was not deep enough to have Britton go even on Pruitt’s poor arm, and then Marcos Garza struck out in a full count. White and Howell then led off the bottom 6th by getting on base and Thrasher was used to bunt them into scoring position. Quebell and Nomura both grounded out, but at least the go-ahead run scored before Thrasher also pitched the seventh.

But well, we were up after seven, 4-3, so now we could line up Rockburn and – oh ****. And you couldn’t count on Beltran, either, because he had been crap for over a month now. Two innings from a lineup where he wouldn’t face a right-hander until it was too late was probably too much to ask from Raw Lockburn, but did we have another option? We couldn’t send Thrasher to pitch four innings for sure. So it was Rockburn to come out in the eighth to face the top of the order, appearing along with Manuel Gutierrez to get Rockburn into Canning’s slot so his turn wouldn’t come up in the bottom of the eighth. Britton singled to right before Rockburn got a strikeout and a double play, avoiding the blown save for now.

An insurance run would have been swell, but none came to be. While Rob Howell singled, he was also picked off first base, and so Rockburn had to contend with Reese, Garza, and Covington as we wouldn’t bother the feverish Angel Casas. Reese worked a 7-pitch walk to make the attendance break a sweat right away. Garza lifted a 1-0 pitch to left, where Pruitt collected it rather routinely. But then Rockburn loaded the bases with a Covington single and Ignacio Arreola walked. Our last hope was that backup shortstop Marciano Romano in the #8 hole would strike out and whoever hit for Anderson would not hit it all too hard. Romano popped out foul, with left-hander Haruyoshi Takizawa hitting for Anderson, another left-hander. Come on, Law! Don’t be raw! Be … a … be a staw? Get him out goddamnit!!

One, two, three strikes you’re out at the hold ballgame.

4-3 Raccoons (series tied 1-1); Alston 2-4, 2B, RBI; Howell 1-2, BB; Thrasher 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-0); Rockburn 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, SV (1);