[Westheim]

Raccoons (60-53) @ Crusaders (57-55) – August 6-8, 2012

This was not the team I wanted to have on the plate in the current state of dysfunction, but eh, what are you gonna – … anyway, while half dis-Martin-ed, the Crusaders were still very much in this “race” between four thoroughly unimpressive teams, although their offensie potential was slashed right now. They were still second in runs scored in the league, but ninth in runs allowed. That pitching staff struggled to get reeled in for sure. The Raccoons had creamed them 9-3 for the year, but I had a bad feeling that payback was imminent.

Projected matchups:
Rich Hood (5-5, 3.71 ERA) vs. Kelvin Yates (13-4, 2.33 ERA)
Richard Williams (2-1, 4.83 ERA) vs. Pancho Trevino (6-12, 4.67 ERA)
Hector Santos (8-8, 3.79 ERA) vs. Paul Miller (8-9, 4.46 ERA)

This is a full set of right-handers. The Crusaders were not only without Stanton Martin, who merely hit 26 homers in 90 games before falling apart for the year, but also without 3B Kevin Bond, but the Raccoons still hadn’t called Michael Palmer back from his rehab assignment, either.

Game 1
POR: 2B Nomura – CF Carmona – LF Pruitt – 1B Quebell – RF J. Alexander – 3B Merritt – C D. Alexander – SS M. Gutierrez – P Hood
NYC: CF R. Pena – SS J. Ortega – LF M. Ortíz – 1B Manfull – 2B Caraballo – C G. Ortíz – RF Talamante – 3B Kester – P Yates

Adrian Quebell hit into an inning-ending double play right away in the first inning, but the Crusaders stranded two in scoring position when B.J. Manfull light out softly to Pruitt in shallow left and Francisco Caraballo popped out to first as well. Things took a swing for the worse for the Crusaders however in the second inning. Kel Yates put two men on, then was checked out by the trainer and manager – and they hauled him in. Yates out with an injury, and Joe O’Brian – the same Joe O’Brian that had an underwhelming appearance over 13 games as a Raccoon in 2011 – had nothing better on his game plan than conceding a 3-run homer to Manuel Gutierrez. *Gutierrez*.

Unfortunately Rich Hood was completely unable to silence the Crusaders. They had five hits in the first two innings, including a 2-out RBI single by pinch-hitter Herb Beckmann in the bottom of the second, and afterwards constantly seemed to have either their first or second batter on base. Hood pitched out of the stretch almost the entire game, and was rescued by nifty double plays started by Merritt and Nomura en route to somehow going seven innings without allowing more than the early run. The Crusaders made FOUR errors in the game, which somehow only generated one additional run for the Coons in the fifth, when the Crusaders made two errors, and the Raccoons did precious little themselves until somehow they accidentally laid an egg with a run in the ninth inning that was somewhat nicely produced. Somewhat. Sambrano had a pinch-hit single, stole second, Yoshi was intentionally walked, Carmona grounded out to move up the runners, and Pruitt hit a fly deep enough to left to get Sandy home with the run. 5-1 Coons. Sambrano (PH) 1-1; Hood 7.0 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (6-5);

Since July 1, Adrian Quebell has had *11* RBI. Way to go for a cleanup man. In this time, he has actually IMPROVED his slash line in average and OBP, and dropped two points of slugging. And he has THREE strikeouts in his last *61* at-bats! THREE!! And he still can’t get **** home. He is as unclutch as you can be, it’s as simple as that.

Game 2
POR: 2B Nomura – RF Sambrano – LF Pruitt – 1B Quebell – C D. Alexander – CF Carmona – SS Whitehouse – 3B M. Gutierrez – P Williams
NYC: CF R. Pena – 3B Kester – LF M. Ortíz – 1B Manfull – 2B Caraballo – C G. Ortíz – SS Boisvert – RF Talamante – P P. Trevino

The Crusaders lost Carlos Talamante to injury on the first pitch of the game as he caught a hissing line drive off Yoshi Nomura’s bat. The Raccoons would load the bases in the inning anyway until Carmona struck out to leave them loaded, and they stranded two more in scoring position in the second inning, also without scoring. Williams was not a pleasure to look at right from the start, and in the bottom 4th the Crusaders had the bases loaded with nobody out after singles by Jaime Kester and Martin Ortíz and an effortless 4-pitch walk to B.J. Manfull. A run-scoring double play grounder to short by Francisco Caraballo was all the Crusaders got, but that still put them 1-0 ahead.

Top 5th then, and Sandy and Pruitt led off with singles. Quebell never moved the bat and took a 4-pitch walk, loading them up with nobody out now in turn for D-Alex, who helplessly struck out. Carmona grounded to short, and he was about the one guy on the team who could get away with it, beating out the relay throw to plate the tying run while getting Quebell forced out at second. Pat Whitehouse, the unassuming fourth-string shortstop, lined one to right, scoring Pruitt with the go-ahead run on a single, 2-1, before Gutierrez flew out to center. Pruitt tacked on a run in the sixth with a 2-out RBI single, plating Sambrano, who had singled himself and then taken his 16th bag and the second in this series. Too bad that the effort was for naught: Martin Ortíz led off the bottom 6th with a single and Caraballo took Williams so deep the ball was already halfway to the Pacific by the time Williams had nicked Gabe Ortíz, which led directly to his removal. Kevin Denton somehow got a double play in his first relief appearance in the majors, and Trevino didn’t receive a decision either, being removed after a Whitehouse single in the top 7th. The Coons scratched out a bases-loaded situation in the top 8th, all with two down, as Pruitt singled, Quebell walked, and D-Alex legged out an infield single. That brought up Carmona, who was 0-4 and had ruined a 3 on, 2 out spot already. Jon Merritt hit for him, flew out to cen- no! Tim Austin dropped the ball! Inserted in a double switch, Austin made a clumsy mistake, and the Raccoons got TWO runs on the error! That sucked the air out of the Crusaders – they went six up, six down from there, with Angel pitching a 2 K ninth. 5-3 Furballs. Pruitt 4-5, 2B, RBI; Quebell 1-2, 3 BB; Whitehouse 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Thrasher 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, W (5-3);

By Wednesday, the Crusaders knew that Kel Yates was done for the season, being shut down with shoulder inflammation. He had already gone down last year in the second half of the year.

We made a roster move before the third game as well, with Dave Roudabush waived and DFA’ed, and Michael Palmer added from St. Petersburg, batting .360 over 25 AB in rehab. Tomas Castro is still in the hells of Florida, but should be back this weekend.

Game 3
POR: 2B Nomura – SS Palmer – LF Pruitt – 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – CF Carmona – RF J. Alexander – C Bowen – P Santos
NYC: 3B Kester – SS J. Ortega – 1B Manfull – C G. Ortíz – CF K. Wood – LF T. Austin – 2B Boisvert – RF Beckmann – P P. Miller

The Raccoons were yet again donated a prime chance to do real damage by defensive ineptitude on New York’s side in the second inning. Quebell’s liner to left was capitally misplayed by Austin and became a double instead of an F7, and when Merritt grounded to Jorge Ortega, the shortstop bumbled the ball and was assessed the Crusaders’ sixth error in the set, putting runners on the corners. Carmona flashed those shiny, pretty legs with a 2-run triple, then scored on a wild pitch by Paul Miller, 3-0. In the first few innings it appeared that Hector Santos might run with that 3-0 lead, but the Crusaders had two hard hits in the fourth and scored a run, making this a closer 3-1 affair, at least for an inning. Quebell drove in a run by accident in the top 5th when the Crusaders couldn’t turn the double play and only erased Pruitt at second, while Yoshi scored from third base. The Crusaders pulled another run back in the bottom of the inning, but Santos then was more or less unthreatened for the rest of his outing. Sugano replaced him in the bottom 8th against B.J. Manfull, a tough lefty, with Santos at 90 pitches and two outs and nobody on. Sugano struck out the only batter he faced in the series, and the Coons overcame Scott Hood for two runs in the top 9th, which meant it was 6-2 and not Angel Casas, but Micah Steele was assigned the bottom of the inning. Gabe Ortíz led off with a single, but the Crusaders then went down on Ken Wood’s foul pop, a K to Tim Austin, and Ian Boisvert popping out to short. 6-2 Furballs! Nomura 2-4, BB, 2 2B; Quebell 3-5, 2B, RBI; Santos 7.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (9-8) and 1-3;

A sweep! I must say I find it baffling that we’re 12-3 against New York, yet 6-5 against Indy and 2-4 against the Scavengers…

The Elks beat the Titans 7-4 on Wednesday, taking over the division lead from Boston, but they had another game on our off day, and in that instance the Elks were up 7-0 after seven before coughing up six runs for the Titans between the eighth and ninth. Mathematically inclined followers might however realized that that still handed them the win, 7-6, and they now led the North 1 1/2 games over both the Coons and the Titans.

Raccoons (63-53) @ Gold Sox (47-67) – August 10-12, 2012

The dismal Sox were not only in the bottom 3 in most offensive categories in the Federal League, including 10th in runs scored, but also dead last in runs allowed, with 611 runs amassed against them, which were more than 5.3 runs per game. Their rotation was the worst with a 5.27 ERA, and their pen was in the bottom 3 as well. We had not seen them in four years, and had dropped the last three engagements before that. Our last series win had come in 2003, and the last time we beat them before that was before Ricardo Carmona saw a kindergarten from the inside, in ’95. If there are kindergartens in Panama. What the heck do I know?

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (9-7, 2.78 ERA) vs. Alex Hurtado (5-12, 4.74 ERA)
Shunyo Yano (4-9, 5.21 ERA) vs. Yuzo Hayashi (6-11, 5.64 ERA)
Rich Hood (6-5, 3.51 ERA) vs. C.J. Fishel (9-8, 5.08 ERA)

Lefty on Sunday, and you might remember Hayashi being among the Japanese international free agents I showcased last winter. We picked up Yano and Sugano, and let him be. What a nice addition he (nickname “Meltdown”) would have made to our rotation.

Game 1
POR: 2B Nomura – SS Palmer – LF Pruitt – 1B Quebell – RF Sambrano – 3B Merritt – CF Carmona – C D. Alexander – P Brown
DEN: SS Silvas – 3B Maxwell – RF V. Sanchez – C E. Carter – 1B Carr – CF Perri – 2B Ybarra – LF Hiscock – P Hurtado

Only three batters in the Sox’ lineup (Victorino Sanchez, Lionnel Perri, and Pancho Ybarra) had ever seen Nick Brown, and they were barely .160 combined.

The Coons undressed Hurtado in the first as they batted around the order with four runs plated in total via a Quebell RBI double, a 2-run single by Carmona, and an RBI single by D-Alex. After stranding two in the second, the Coons had Merritt reach on an error in the top 3rd and Carmona hit another RBI triple to add the fifth run of the game, and Yoshi would score Carmona with a sac fly later in the inning, 6-0. Brown struck out four in the first three innings, allowing only one single, but the bottom 4th started with singles by Brian Maxwell and Sanchez before Eugene Carter doubled into the corner in right, bringing in the first run for the Gold Sox. 6-1, runner in scoring position and nobody out it looked like Brown might topple right now, but he struck out Dave Carr, Lionnel Perri grounded out to third base, with Merritt playing it as smartly as possible, and Ybarra struck out. The rally promptly stifled, the Coons came back with two runs off Eddie DeBlock in the sixth inning, which saw with two outs another RBI triple by Ricardo Carmona. Nick Brown struck out ten in the game, but only lasted six innings before reaching 100 pitches. The Critters tacked on two runs in the top 7th, both unearned, and with a 10-1 lead I considered the job well done and Kevin Denton came into the game. He can’t possibly give up nine runs in three innings, right? Well, we will never find out, since he was removed before the inning was over… Ybarra homered right away, and then he loaded the bases with a hit and two walks while getting only two outs. Steele struck out Eugene Carter to contain the flood. Carmona hit a double and scored in the top 8th, 11-2, and that was already his fifth hit on the day! Could the Raccoons bring him up once more? They could: Pruitt and Quebell reached base in the ninth before Bowen and Gutierrez struck out, and so Carmona came to the plate again against righty Luis Hernandez, lined the first pitch up the middle, but no! Williams Silvas made the catch, soaring through the air like a bird to rob Carmona of the history books. 11-2 Brownies! Palmer 2-6; Quebell 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Carmona 5-6, 2 3B, 2B, 4 RBI; Ayers (PH) 2-2, 2B, RBI; Brown 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K, W (10-7); Steele 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

New York’s Roberto Pena also went 5-6 on this day, with one triple and two doubles and plating only two. The Crusaders clubbed Sioux Falls 10-3 in that game.

Game 2
POR: 2B Palmer – 3B Merritt – LF Carmona – 1B Quebell – CF Sambrano – RF Ayers – SS Whtehouse – C D. Alexander – P Yano
DEN: RF Hiscock – SS Ybarra – LF V. Sanchez – C E. Carter – 1B Carr – CF Perri – 3B D. Hamilton – 2B Reeve – P Fishel

The Gold Sox moved up Fishel, the left-hander, and the Raccoons were visibly distraught, amounting to two hits in the first five innings, and that was not enough to get a run home, or even to third base. The Gold Sox didn’t find a way through Shunyo Yano, either, and so the first run didn’t get onto the board until the leadoff jack in the sixth hit by Michael Palmer. Carmona walked but was thrown out on the base paths on Quebell’s single, then made a throwing error in the bottom 6th that allowed the tying run to score, and the Gold Sox kept rolling to take a lead on a suddenly deflating Yano. The Gold Sox remained up 2-1 when neither Merritt nor Carmona managed to bring in John Alexander from second base in the eighth inning, and the Coons trailed into the ninth, facing Luis Hernandez, 77 K in 53.2 IP. The Raccoons were extinguished without as much as a squeal. 2-1 Gold Sox. Carmona 2-4; J. Alexander (PH) 1-1;

The Gold Sox were on something here. With the Raccoons all too easily vanquished by the at-best-mediocre left-hander, the Sox dropped Yuzo Hayashi from the series completely and instead sent in another left-hander in Jim Moore (5-6, 3.76 ERA).

The Raccoons meanwhile made two roster moves and sent Pat Whitehouse to St. Petersburg, activating Tomas Castro from rehab, and also dumped the hapless Denton back to Ham Lake (…) with his 19.64 ERA, activating Scott Spears after a rehab start in St. Pete. Williams will go to the bullpen, but that can’t happen until after Williams will have made the start on Monday, since Spears had his start on Saturday, and we can’t work it out.

Game 3
POR: 2B Nomura – SS Palmer – CF Sambrano – 1B Pruitt – 3B Merritt – LF Castro – RF Ayers – C Bowen – P Hood
DEN: SS Silvas – 3B Maxwell – RF V. Sanchez – C E. Carter – 1B Carr – CF Perri – 2B Ybarra – LF Reeve – P J. Moore

The Coons loaded the bases in the top 1st … on THREE ERRORS. Silvas made errant throws to put on Palmer and Sambrano, and then Jim Moore threw away a ball from Pruitt, trying to start a double play. A shaken Moore walked in a run against Merritt, and conceded an RBI single to Castro, but Ayers popped out to short and Bowen whiffed, leaving it at 2-0. On their own, the Raccoons couldn’t be bothered to produce much, and only got another run over home plate in the top 6th, when Bowen singled in Pruitt, and that was with Merritt making the third out on the base paths. Rich Hood had fought him high traffic volumes on the bases the entire game, and was clobbered out of the game for good by back-to-back doubles by Carter and Carr in the bottom of that inning, the latter a 2-run double. Steele replaced Hood, but surrendered the tying run on the third consecutive double by Lionnel Perri, and so Hood was left with a no-decision. The Coons pen continued to scuffle after Steele was sent to bed without a goodnight smooch, with Thrasher walking two in the seventh and being rescued by Slayton, who got into trouble on his own in the eighth and was dug out by Sugano after leaving two on, but not until after Sugano had loaded the sacks with another walk. The Gold Sox stranded five between the two innings, and the game remained tied … somehow. The Coons stumbled into extras, where the first pitch of overtime was issued by Dave Walk, and Walk had it clocked WELL out of right by Yoshi Nomura, who livened up an 0-4 day with a go-ahead leadoff homer, which was GREAT since the Raccoons had Josh Gibson in the #4 slot after two double switches and Angel Casas was the only reliever left in the pen. Palmer, Sambrano, and D-Alex went down without even leaving tracks, bringing the closer in with a 4-3 lead to face the 6-7-8 part of the order, which resulted in the side slaughtered with three strikeouts. 4-3 Coons. Castro 2-4, RBI; Bowen 2-4, 2B, RBI;

In other news

August 8 – SFW OF Jose Morales (.341, 20 HR, 56 RBI) is out for two weeks with shoulder tendinitis.
August 9 – PIT SP Fred Dugo (12-8, 3.02 ERA) hurls a 2-hitter in a 4-0 shutout over the Rebels, who lose their starter Brian Furst (9-9, 3.83 ERA) for the year with a partial tear in the labrum.

Complaints and stuff

Piecing the crew back together. Spears will start next week, and that means the only pieces still missing are Rockburn and Baldwin. Rockburn is of course out for the season, most likely, while Colin Baldwin is not coming back before September.

Still crummy baseball, though. How they are half a game out of the lead now is beyond me. They haven’t played well for longer than a game or two at a time since May. Playing well and playing successful is wildly not always the same thing. But after a 4-2 over the Loggers on June 5, the Coons had won seven of their last eight. Their only streak vaguely as successful as that was right before the All Star break, exploiting the Loggers, Crusaders, and Elks for six of seven and eight of ten. If not for that desperately pathetic loss on Saturday, they’d have a 6-game winning streak and the lead in the North.

Saturday was real bad…

Next week, our good old friends, the Capitals. Ah, those early 90s were good fun. Plus, Loggers.