[Westheim]

The Critters expected record at the break is their actual record. The Crusaders are two games over their expected record, but that still doesn’t change the standings. The only meaningful difference in expected record is over in the FL East, where the Capitals are +5 and would be fourth in the division behind the Rebels and Buffaloes that way.

+++

All Star Game

Charlotte’s John Wilson was 3-3 with a 2-run homer in the game to win MVP honors, while the CL beat the FL clearly, 8-2. Although he allowed a run, Nick Brown claimed the W when the CL offense tore up William Kay and Helio Maggessi in the top of the fourth inning. Jonathan Toner also allowed a run, while Hector Santos pitched a scoreless inning. Dylan Alexander pinch-hit, failed, and stranded a pair.

Having three of their starting pitcher engage in the All Star Game presented a slight issue for the Raccoons, who had to get the rotation to work out afterwards. Bill Conway hadn’t been nominated despite leading the CL in ERA (wicked game, this is), so he was picked to go first, with the idle Dickerson after that. Brown, Santos, and Toner will resume pitching in order after that. Dickerson will go on regular rest, while Brown will be on three days’ rest, but only threw 18 pitches in a glorified bullpen session. We might limit him to 100 pitches on Saturday, but that should be all babying necessary.

Raccoons (50-37) vs. Loggers (34-52) – July 17-20, 2014

The Loggers weren’t much better off than ten days earlier, much the opposite. They had won only three of their last *nineteen* games, an ugly spill if there was one. They had the worst pitching, and the offense had dropped to tenth (from eighth) in a week’s time. Never mind the Raccoons still having scored 15 less runs than them. For the season, the Raccoons were up 5-1 on the Loggers, plus that suspended no-hitter of Bill Conway’s.

Projected matchups:
Bill Conway (5-3, 2.38 ERA) vs. Bruce Morrison (5-10, 4.88 ERA)
Daniel Dickerson (4-3, 4.39 ERA) vs. Gabriel Caro (11-5, 3.78 ERA)
Nick Brown (8-4, 2.78 ERA) vs. Brian Patrick (6-9, 5.74 ERA)
Hector Santos (9-4, 2.47 ERA) vs. Adam Euteneuer (2-12, 6.26 ERA)

The Loggers are still right-handed throughout. Again, Conway and Dickerson get the first two starts out of the break by necessity rather than design, while the Loggers are free to align their guys as they please. At least all Critters are healthy again including Cookie Carmona, who got only a pinch-hit at-bat in that malodorous Titans series.

This will be the only series of a 4-game homestand before we’re heading east to face the Crusaders. We have both remaining Thursdays in the month off, but will have to play 20 straight games starting August 1.

Game 1
MIL: 2B J.J. Rodriguez – LF Knowling – RF Dally – 1B M. Rucker – CF Enriquez – 3B D. Jones – SS Kingsley – C Leach – P B. Morrison
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Sambrano – 3B Nunley – RF Bednarski – LF Richards – 1B Quebell – SS Howell – C Alexander – P Conway

Juan Jose Rodriguez slapped a blooper for a leadoff single, so gone was the no-hitter – for today. He swiped second base off slow-motion D-Alex before scoring on Justin Dally’s single to right. Despite getting a free Cookie on second base after Dan Jones’ grisly throwing error that started the bottom 1st, the Raccoons neglected to score him, but there were bad news for the Loggers in the next inning. Ron Richards drew a leadoff walk before Quebell pilfered a pitch by Morrison and yanked it for a 2-run homer. Given Quebell’s track record, the Loggers were probably in for three more homers by Quebell in this series…

The Coons had the bases loaded to start the third inning. Cookie and Sandy singled both, and then Matt Nunley was hit by a 2-2 pitch to fill them up, but after that the Raccoons were held to consecutive sac flies, 4-1. The Loggers had Dan Jones lead off the fifth with an infield single, he stole second, but was left on. Rodriguez opened the sixth with another infield single, but finally D-Alex got a throw off on the next attempt to steal a bag and cut him down. Conway lasted seven on just over 100 pitches before being hit for in the bottom 7th. Nunley popped out to strand runners on the corners, after Howell had hit into an inning-ending double play in the sixth. It would have been entirely possible to create another insurance run or two, but now we had to watch as Zack Entwistle allowed a leadoff single to Eric Kingsley in the top 8th. Not to worry, though, Foster Leach hit into a double play and the Loggers didn’t score. Bottom 8th, Bednarski led off with a bloop single. Southpaw Orlando Valdez struck out Richards, but Quebell doubled, putting two in scoring position. The Coons got a run on an error by Rodriguez, 5-1, when Howell grounded there. Bergquist hit for D-Alex and struck out before Danny Margolis hit for Entwistle and crushed the first pitch for a long shot to left and outta here! 3-run homer Margolis, and this game was definitely in the bag! The run that Chris Mathis allowed in the ninth was hardly noticeable. 8-2 Raccoons. Carmona 2-5, 2B; Sambrano 2-5; Richards 1-2, BB, RBI; Quebell 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Merritt (PH) 1-1; Margolis (PH) 1-1, HR, 3 RBI; Conway 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (6-3);

Game 2
MIL: SS O. Sandoval – LF Knowling – RF Dally – 1B M. Rucker – 3B D. Jones – 2B Roncero – CF Gilmor – C Leach – P Caro
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Sambrano – 3B Nunley – RF Bednarski – LF Richards – 1B Quebell – SS Howell – C Alexander – P Dickerson

The Loggers threw everything left-handed with a pulse against Dickerson, trying to see what would stick. At first little did, and the Coons took a 1-0 lead on a Carmona triple and a passed ball (and nothing else) in the first inning. Dickerson was then shattered in the fourth inning, which the Loggers opened with four straight hits, all by left-handers or left-handed-hitting switch-hitters, and had a 3-1 lead with Nick Gilmor at second and nobody out. Gilmor wouldn’t stay on base, either, scoring on consecutive groundouts. Offensively, the Raccoons didn’t matter until the fifth, when Cookie singled, stole second, and scored on Sandy’s single, 4-2. Nunley singled, moving Sandy to third, and maybe someone would be kind enough to – uuuuuh, Bednarski! Huge shot to left, long shot, outta here! Score flipped, 5-4 for the Coons on that 3-run homer. Richards walked, but Quebell’s drive to right ended up with Justin Dally. Bottom 6th, however, D-Alex showed signs of life with a home run to center, 6-4. Better yet, his next time up against right-hander Ricardo Munoz, he hit one to right! That was a leadoff jack in the eighth after some stingy relief work by Constantino, Sugano, and Sakellaris. Angel Casas faced the bottom of the order in the ninth, and it still resulted in a mess. First, Gilmor reached on an infield single that D-Alex didn’t play quite vigorously enough. Leach hit into a double play, but Angel walked J.J. Rodriguez. Sandoval then drove a 3-1 pitch to deep left, where LUCKILY, the Raccoons had replaced Richards defensively. Cookie was in left (and Seeley in center) and Cookie made a play on the warning track to end the game. 7-4 Critters. Carmona 2-5, 3B; Nunley 2-4; Alexander 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI;

That’s two wins in two games, and zero ground gained on New York.

Game 3
MIL: 2B J.J. Rodriguez – LF Knowling – RF Dally – 1B M. Rucker – CF Enriquez – 3B D. Jones – SS O. Sandoval – C Leach – P Patrick
POR: CF Carmona – SS Howell – 3B Nunley – RF Bednarski – LF Richards – 1B Quebell – C Alexander – 2B Bergquist – P Brown

Brownie hadn’t won a game since June 2 (All Star games excluded), but he certainly got off well in this game, striking out five his first time through the order, with the only runner conceded owed to a Quebell error. The Coons offensively had already stranded four in their first two innings, and Brian Patrick walked a pair (Nunley, Bednarski) in the bottom 3rd just like he had in the bottom 2nd. Richards flew to deep center, but Victor Enriquez made the play, before Quebell grounded softly up the middle and past the reach of Rodriguez for 2-out RBI single. D-Alex then stroked a massive, 420+ ft homer to right center, perhaps hinting at resurrection for deceased catchers being a thing, while also handing Brownie a 4-0 lead. If he didn’t win this one, it would be on him alone … or the weather.

The inning actually wasn’t over yet. Bergquist singled, Brown singled, and then Carmona hit one into the corner in left for an RBI double. Howell lined hard to right, but Dally threw himself into the path of that blazing ball to put the lid on a 5-run inning. Vintage Brownie struck out eight through five innings, but it took him over 70 pitches, so a shutout was not in the books, despite the only runner for the Loggers still coming from that error. But no. The Loggers’ first hit came quickly, a pinch-hit double over Quebell by Victor Hodgers in the sixth. This actually turned out to be Brown’s last inning. Long at-bats to Zach Knowling and Justin Dally resulted in nothing good, an RBI double and an RBI single, respectively, and Vintage Brownie was not a thing past the fifth inning.

Bottom 7th, Kevin Cummings was pitching in trouble for the Loggers. Cummings, a left-hander, allowed a bloop single to D-Alex and a double to Bergquist with one out. Merritt hit for Zack Entwistle, but grounded out to Dan Jones, holding the runners. Rodriguez got the final out on Carmona’s grounder. Mathis pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, and with a 5-2 lead, three left-handers up, and Friday’s near-disaster fresh in mind, Ron Thrasher got the assignment for the ninth inning, which became much less of a potential issue when Ron Richards doubled home Nunley with two outs in the bottom of the inning, since we were now out of save range. Thrasher struck out Knowling and Dally, but lost Mike Rucker to a walk. Enriquez popped out to first to end the game, though. 6-2 Brownies! Alexander 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Bergquist 2-4, 2B; Brown 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (9-4) and 2-3;

With his first W in almost seven weeks, Brownie tied Santos for the team lead in wins and came up one short in team strikeouts. He’s still the fourth-best pitcher by ERA on his team, but Sam McMullen had pulled a Santos and had been obliterated for six runs by the Titans on Thursday, and the Raccoons now had ALL Continental League starting pitchers with a sub-3 ERA!

ALL FOUR!!

And we still haven’t gained ground on the Crusaders.

Game 4
MIL: 2B J.J. Rodriguez – SS O. Sandoval – RF Dally – 1B M. Rucker – CF Enriquez – 3B D. Jones – LF Hodgers – C Leach – P Euteneuer
POR: CF Carmona – LF Sambrano – 3B Nunley – RF Bednarski – 1B Quebell – SS Taylor – C Margolis – 2B Bergquist – P Santos

Santos started the game with three straight 3-ball counts, which was mildly outrageous. J.J. Rodriguez walked in a full count before Sandoval lined out to Nunley in another full count. Blind baserunning by Rodriguez turned this into a double play as Nunley unleashed a rocket to first. Dally then walked on four straight, but Mike Rucker struck out. Victor Enriquez made the third out at third base in the next inning, going aggro from first base on Foster Leach’s single. While no actual damage had been done, it was hard to not notice that Santos was totally off, and he had been off ever since that heel issue in the start in Milwaukee.

For the moment, the Loggers didn’t score, but the Coons did. Bednarski crashed a 2-run homer off poor Euteneuer in the third inning for the first tallies of the game, before the Coons also ran themselves out of an inning with Bergquist being thrown out trying to take third base in the fourth inning. He had swiped second before that. Santos ran numerous more full counts, which all ended in strikeouts, two of those to Euteneuer. He made it to the seventh, but not out of it. There, Dally led off with a single to center, but Rucker hit into a double play. Then Enriquez doubled, and with the tying run at the plate, it was time to make a move. Sugano replaced him and got a grounder to Bergquist from Dan Jones, ending the inning (Bergquist had to make a risky throw, though, picking the ball bare-handed and firing while turning…). The Coons had two deep drives by Sambrano and Bednarski in the bottom 8th, but neither made it to the wall, or onto the ground even. Angel Casas had to deal with the top of the order in the ninth, and struck out three, but not without issuing a walk to Dally in front of Mike Rucker, who still had more homers than any Raccoon. 2-0 Critters. Bednarski 1-4, HR, 2 RBI; Santos 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, W (10-4);

The Indians ended up swept by the Crusaders, too, so indeed no ground was to be gained on them before we headed east.

The Raccoons scored just enough in the sweep to make up the 15 runs they trailed the Loggers offense by and tied them for tenth place in runs scored in the CL. Yeah, we’re relevant, baby!

Raccoons (54-37) @ Crusaders (59-34) – July 21-23, 2014

The Crusaders were fifth in runs scored, which sounded like a typo, and second in runs allowed, trailing of course the Raccoons. Neither team had injuries to complain about, and this was all about who was actually boss in the North. So far, the Crusaders held a 5-4 edge over the Raccoons in 2014.

Projected matchups:
Jonathan Toner (8-5, 2.72 ERA) vs. Pancho Trevino (8-3, 3.06 ERA)
Bill Conway (6-3, 2.32 ERA) vs. Paul Miller (9-5, 3.00 ERA)
Daniel Dickerson (5-3, 4.52 ERA) vs. Colin Sabatino (8-7, 4.92 ERA)

They also only have right-handed starters. Two games with a 4-game winning streak come in, only one can get out.

Game 1
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Sambrano – 3B Nunley – RF Bednarski – LF Richards – 1B Quebell – C Alexander – SS Howell – P Toner
NYC: 2B J. Ramirez – SS Caraballo – LF M. Ortíz – RF S. Martin – 1B Manfull – C Durango – 3B Salinas – CF Brissett – P Trevino

The Coons got off good when Cookie singled and Sandy doubled, but a Nunley sac fly was all that came out of that situation in the first inning. The lead didn’t stand; the Crusaders flipped the score in the bottom of the first. Jesus Ramirez hit a leadoff double, scored on Martin Ortíz’ sac fly, and then Stanton Martin homered off Toner to give his team the lead. Enter Rob Howell and the next score-flipper, this one a 3-run homer in the top 2nd, after Quebell had doubled and D-Alex singled. That inning continued with a walk drawn by Toner, and the Raccoons continued to crowd Trevino until he hit Bednarski to load the bases. With two outs, Richards came up and drew a 5-pitch walk, forcing home a run before Quebell struck out. 5-2 Coons, so much for that vaunted pitching of anybody!

The Crusaders’ vaunted pitcher didn’t make it through the fourth. He was already in trouble in the third inning when Carmona hit into a double play (now, that was rare!), but Richards raked a 3-run homer in the fourth to blow the score to 8-2 and Trevino was gone. Robbie Wills came in with one out, but Quebell had a hit, Howell was walked intentionally, and then Toner really scorched a bouncer to Miguel Salinas, who had to grab twice, then looked at Quebell going home, still threw to first and didn’t get Toner! Safe at first, the run scored!

That made it a 9-2 game, but Toner found his own troubles in the bottom 6th. Francisco Caraballo and Martin Ortíz both hit singles to start the inning before Stanton Martin got hit by Toner. Bases loaded, nobody out, left-handed batters coming up. Toner got to face B.J. Manfull, who hit an RBI single, and that was it. Sugano replaced him and did a fantastic job, surrendering a run on Eduardo Durango’s double play, but Salinas grounded out to Sandy rather easily, and the Coons were still up 9-4 with nine outs left, but the crumbling continued with Sugano, who allowed a leadoff single to Amari Brissett in the bottom 7th, and Brissett scored on Jorge Ortega’s pinch-hit double. Ramirez grounded out before Entwistle took over, got a grounder from Caraballo and struck out Ortíz. After an error by Stanton Martin in the eighth the Coons had runners in scoring position but Rob Howell grounded out to end that inning. The Coons held on, though. Entwistle completed the eighth, and Thrasher allowed a leadoff hit to Salinas in the bottom 9th, but then struck out three to end the game. 9-5 Raccoons! Richards 1-3, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Quebell 3-5, 2 2B; Alexander 3-5; Howell 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Entwistle 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Hey, we gained a game! Hooray!

But now we had to beat Paul Miller, who was fifth in ERA in the CL. Since Toner had been charged with four runs, a good game by Miller would blow up our awesome ERA quartet. Yeah, the things I worry about…

Game 2
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Sambrano – 3B Nunley – RF Bednarski – LF Richards – 1B Quebell – C Alexander – SS Howell – P Conway
NYC: 2B J. Ramirez – SS Caraballo – LF M. Ortíz – RF S. Martin – 1B Manfull – C Durango – 3B Salinas – CF Brissett – P P. Miller

Both teams fielded the identical lineup compared to Monday, but there was much less early offense. The Coons had a leadoff double by Richards in the second inning, but outside a walk by D-Alex, nothing came together and Rob Howell hit into a double play. Caraballo then made a throwing error on Conway’s casual grounder that started the third inning, putting the pitcher on second base. Cookie singled, moving Conway to third, and Sandy walked to fill the bases. Nunley came up and drilled a 2-1 pitch to deep center, but not deep enough to beat Brissett. Still, the first run came home on the sac fly before Bednarski hit into a double play. That came back to bite the Coons quickly, with Brissett hitting a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning, and Conway quickly fell to a triple by Ramirez, who then scored on a groundout by Caraballo. That gave New York a 2-1 lead.

An erratic Miller was issuing plenty of walks, two more in the fourth. Howell hit a 1-out single to center, loading the bases, but all that did was to bring up Bill Conway, who was a glorious 1-for-35 on the season. He struck out, and Carmona, who had gone 1-for-6 on Monday, lined out to Stanton Martin. Top 5th, next try. Sandy whiffed leading off, but Nunley and Bednarski hit singles to go onto the corners for Ron Richards, who had been brought on to replace Quebell’s constant double plays and hit a 1-0 pitch over Ramirez into shallow right center for the game-tying RBI single (he would hit into a double play in the seventh, though). Quebell struck out (…), but D-Alex singled to left center, and Bednarski scored in full flight, 3-2 Coons. That lead was in danger pretty quickly. Conway struck out Miller to start the bottom of the inning before he walked Ramirez and Caraballo in full counts, his first free passes on the day. Martin Ortíz singled hard to center, Ramirez was sent, but was thrown out at home after a rocket fired by Carmona, and Cookie also caught Stanton Martin’s drive to center to end the inning.

Conway was done after six, having thrown 95 pitches, but the seventh promised plenty of left-handed bats and Sugano was back at work. He struck out Amari Brissett, Drew Lowe grounded out, but then Nunley bungled a grounder by Jesus Ramirez. Sakellaris came on in a double switch (Seeley replaced Richards for defense, with Cookie going to left) and got Caraballo to fly out easily to Bednarski on the first pitch. He got two outs in the eighth before he hit Manfull. Thrasher replaced him, as Kevin Bond hit for Ken McKenzie in Durango’s spot, but scandalously walked both him (after which the Crusaders ran Jorge Ortega for Manfull) and Salinas. Ken Wood (2-for-22) hit for Brissett, a right-handed batter, scorched a 1-1 liner to left AND NUNLEY LEAPT AND HAD IT!!! Inning over! Three stranded! The Coons would get Sandy on with a single off Micah Steele in the ninth, he stole second, but was stranded by Bednarski and Merritt. Angel Casas had to get through the ninth without a cushion, with Drew Lowe opening the inning with a groundout to third. The Coons took a hit there, though, since Nunley felt a pinch in his shoulder after a hurried throw and had to be replaced. Merritt had not stayed in the game, yielding to Angel instead, so Sandy had to move over to the hot corner. Bergquist took over at second and made a nice play when Jesus Ramirez grounded there on a 3-0 pitch. The Crusaders manager barked at Ramirez as he returned to the dugout, especially with Caraballo hitting a double after that. Having to pick between the Martin Brothers as the go-ahead run, the Raccoons elected to walk Ortíz intentionally to get to the right-handed “Clockwork” Martin instead. Stanton Martin doubled into left center, Caraballo scored, Ortíz held, and Ortega grounded out to strand the runners, but we had extras on our paws. Thanks, Angel. Really.

Top 10th, Quebell hit a leadoff double and D-Alex walked. Howell hit into a double play and Seeley was just plain useless and flew out to shallow left. The Raccoons had Mathis in for the bottom of the inning, whose first batter was … J.C. Crespo! He was batting .200 with a homer in his first big league exposure since 2011. He struck out and Mathis kept the Coons alive. Top 11th, Cookie led off with a single. A hit-and-run moved him to second as Sandy grounded to short, and then Bergquist hit a murderer’s double past a helpless Salinas, plating Cookie with the go-ahead run. That would be all offensively, and Entwistle got the ball for the bottom of the inning, facing the top of the order. Ramirez struck out, but Caraballo singled and Ortíz walked. Martin hit a grounder to third where Sandy made a nifty play, threw to second, and the relay beat Martin – game over! 4-3 Raccoons! Carmona 2-6; Sambrano 1-3, 3 BB; Bergquist 1-1, 2B, RBI; Bednarski 2-6; Richards 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Quebell 2-4, BB; Alexander 1-2, 3 BB, RBI;

WHAT. A. GAME.

I’m soaked with sweat. And a bit of champagne. Don’t mind that grin from cheek to cheek.

Nunley was not seriously hurt (claimed the Druid) but his barking shoulder was probably putting him out of action for the rest of the week, maybe even longer. Jon Merritt had not gotten a start since the All Star Game, so the old man was rested and could jump right in.

For the third game, we still were in a bit of a pickle. Dickerson starting was one thing, but Sugano had pitched four out of five days (including three straight), and Thrasher three out of four, so Sugano was definitely ruled out for this game. Thrasher might be available.

And then – a twist! And the twist was rain. Game 3 was washed away and rescheduled for August 26, a double header to start a 3-game set back in New York.

That gave the Raccoons two consecutive days off while moving to San Francisco for the weekend set with the Bayhawks.

Raccoons (56-37) @ Bayhawks (48-45) – July 25-27, 2014

There was always action in Bayhawks games, as they led the league in runs scored, but were 10th in runs allowed. Their rotation was 11th with a 4.78 ERA, and the pen was little better. The mix was working not too well; they were second in the South, but barely over .500, but they were 2-1 against Portland in ’14.

Contrary to everything above, the Bayhawks had just been 1-hit by the Falcons’ Steve Kreider (4-9, 4.07 ERA) on Wednesday, the only hit coming from pitcher Reynaldo Rendon.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (9-4, 2.79 ERA) vs. Milt Beauchamp (11-5, 4.15 ERA)
Hector Santos (10-4, 2.33 ERA) vs. Alex Maldonado (3-7, 5.88 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (9-5, 2.91 ERA) vs. Jared D’Attilo (4-7, 4.01 ERA)

Those are three right-handers again.

As the opportunity presented itself, the Raccoons skipped the struggling Dickerson, moving on to whatever Brownie was doing right now.

Game 1
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Sambrano – LF Richards – RF Bednarski – C Alexander – 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – SS Taylor – P Brown
SFB: LF Blanc – C G. Ortíz – RF Alston – 2B J. Gutierrez – SS Ingraham – 3B J. Rodriguez – 1B A. Martinez – CF D. Garcia – P Beauchamp

Brownie started the game with a walk and a balk before Gabriel Ortíz singled past Merritt, giving the Baybirds runners on the corners, but “Monte” Alston bounced back to Brown for a double play and Juan Gutierrez struck out to dispel the danger. Cat-like defense aside, Brownie batted in his own lead, landing the fourth straight 1-out single off Beauchamp in the top of the second inning. Carmona’s sac fly made it 2-0, but Brown was whacked in the bottom of the inning. The Bayhawks had three straight hits to start that inning, and didn’t leave Brown off the hook until all three had scored. It was a bad struggle for Brown all along, and he needed over 80 pitches for four innings.

At least there was some offense in the fifth. Richards singled and Bednarski doubled, putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with one out. And then D-Alex struck out and Quebell flew out to right. Oh for ****’s sake! The Coons then had the bases loaded in the sixth, but lefty Mike Tharp struck out Richards to keep them short. Brown somehow made it through six despite walking four and getting whacked otherwise as well, but the bullpen crapped out in the bottom of the inning and conceded two runs that were charged to Thrasher, who failed to remove either of the two left-handers Gabriel Ortíz and Ron Alston.

Top 8th, another scoring opportunity, created by ex-Raccoons relievers. Palmer Taylor hit a 1-out single off Adam Riddle, and Law Rockburn hit Jason Seeley. When Carmona singled off Ryosei Kato, the tying runs were on base for Sandy Sambrano, with the fourth reliever in four batters coming on in left-hander G.G. Williams. Sandy singled, 5-3, Richards hit a sac fly, 5-4, but Bednarski popped out. Ex-Coons farmhand Salvadaro Soure was the guy to beat in the top 9th, but it would have be done by the chronic strugglers. Soure cut them to pieces in a hurry. 5-4 Bayhawks. Bednarski 2-5, 2B; Taylor 3-4, 2B;

The Crusaders won, of course, since they win every game. That was a very winnable contest, and the offense ****ed up capitally, stranding ten runners, including a set of three and two sets of two.

Game 2
POR: CF Carmona – SS Sambrano – LF Richards – RF Bednarski – C Alexander – 1B Quebell – 3B Merritt – 2B Bergquist – P Santos
SFB: LF Blanc – SS Ingraham – RF Alston – 1B A. Young – 2B J. Gutierrez – C Lefebure – 3B Holt – CF D. Garcia – P Maldonado

The bases were loaded as early as the second inning after D-Alex’ single and consecutive walks to Quebell and Merritt. Bergquist came up with one out, flew out to center, and that sac fly was all the Coons got with Santos striking out. Santos struck out four in a row himself before Jasper Holt hit a 2-out single in the bottom 2nd, but was caught stealing by Alexander. The Raccoons gave Dave Garcia a workout with lots of flies to deep center, with none falling in for anything, but at least Ron Richards hit a solo homer in the fifth to give Santos a 2-0 advantage, this one leaving the park to the right side. There was also action in Santos’ at-bats. He had killed the fourth inning with a terrible bunt, but when he came up with Bergquist on first and two outs in the sixth he lined a ball hard to the corner in right, plenty enough for Bergquist to score on the double, 3-0.

Through six, Angel was rather dominant, allowing three hits against seven strikeouts. In the seventh, the Bayhawks came close to toppling him. Adam Young homered, Gutierrez got on, and Jasper Holt’s 2-out RBI triple was enough for a headache, but Santos escaped on a flyout to Carmona, still up 3-2. Maybe it would have been better to take him out after that, but Santos was back out for the eighth, and boy, did it go wrong. Gabriel Ortíz hit a leadoff single, Zach Ingraham singled with one out, and when we did hurriedly go to Manobu Sugano, the game was already running away from us. Sugano was no help, allowing a sac fly to Alston, tying the score, and a double to Armando Martinez, breaking the tie. Soure had another 1-2-3, and the Raccoons had a losing weekend on their empty paws. 4-3 Bayhawks. Merritt 0-1, 3 BB; Bergquist 2-3, RBI;

Do I even mention what the Crusaders did? Everything sucks.

Prior to Sunday, the Bayhawks even added more to their killer bullpen, trading for the Titans’ Tommy Wooldridge (3-5, 2.73 ERA, 27 SV), which cost them four prospects.

Game 3
POR: CF Carmona – 2B Sambrano – 3B Merritt – RF Bednarski – LF Richards – 1B Quebell – C Margolis – SS Howell – P Toner
SFB: LF Blanc – C G. Ortíz – RF Alston – 1B A. Young – 3B J. Rodriguez – SS Ingraham – 2B A. Martinez – CF D. Garcia – P D’Attilo

The Coons had early offense when Bednarski hit a 2-run double in the first, and more offense would be a good thing with Toner struggling badly. The Coons left runners on the corners when Carmona and Sambrano failed in the top 2nd, the Bayhawks made up a run in the bottom 2nd, and had two on in the third when Young singled to right. The Birds sent D’Attilo from second base, but Bednarski threw him out to end the inning, preserving the 2-1 lead. Thankfully Ron Alston (.343, 18 HR, 69 RBI) was no help at all for the Birds, hitting into a double play in the first and popping out in the third.

Top 4th, two more stranded in scoring position, Margolis (walk) and Carmona (single) left on by Sambrano. By contrast, the Bayhawks got 2-out singles from Armando Martinez, Dave Garcia, and … Jared D’Attilo in the bottom of the inning to tie the score. Bednarski singled and Richards walked in the fifth before Quebell struck out and Margolis rolled over to Martinez for the routine pair left on base. The game blew out in turn in the bottom 5th, with a leadoff single by Ortíz, and Toner hitting consecutive batters. Javy Rodriguez hit a ball to the corner, two runs scored, Toner’s game was over, and when Entwistle finally appeared to get out of the inning, Dave Garcia’s grounder to short was not played by Howell, and Garcia had a 2-out RBI infield single. Entwistle surrendered two more hits and three more runs in a colossal 6-run meltdown. The Raccoons managed to strand pairs again in the seventh – of course it was Quebell, the ****ing dork. Those were also the last base runners in the game for them. 8-2 Bayhawks. Bednarski 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Richards 1-2, 2 BB;

In other news

July 14 – The Cyclones think that they have lost SP Brian Doumas (7-2, 3.43 ERA) for the season with shoulder inflammation.
July 14 – PIT 3B Tom Thomas (.278, 1 HR, 19 RBI) is out for the year with a broken elbow.
July 17 – Recently acquired WAS SP Brian Benjamin (8-8, 4.06 ERA) throws a 4-hit shutout in his second start for the Capitals. The victims are the Buffaloes, who are held dry in a 7-0 game.
July 18 – The Knights acquire 1B Tomas Cardenas (.300, 13 HR, 49 RBI) from the Cyclones, parting with 3B Antonio Luján (.274, 3 HR, 21 RBI) and a pitching prospect.
July 19 – Cyclones and Blue Sox combine for 17 hits in a game that goes ten innings and ends as a 1-0 Cyclones win. R.J. DeWeese (.260, 20 HR, 81 RBI) singles home Julio Silva to win the game.
July 22 – The hitting streak of Oklahoma’s Emilio Farias (.382, 1 HR, 35 RBI) ends at 24 games in a 2-1 win over the Knights.
July 22 – NAS SS Andrew Showalter (.339, 7 HR, 56 RBI) swats five hits with a triple and two doubles, plating four in the Blue Sox’ 8-4 win over the Buffaloes.
July 23 – Los Angeles’ SP Bruce Mark (6-9, 5.47 ERA) carries a perfect game into the eighth inning against the Warriors, only to allow three singles and a walk in the inning. The Warriors get only one run and no other base runners against Mark, who ends up with a complete-game 3-hitter in the 3-1 Pacifics win. In the same game, Tony Hamlyn (12-4, 2.99 ERA) is the losing pitcher, but strikes out Jens Carroll and Luis Reya in the first inning to first tie, then pass Hall of Famer-to-be Martin Garcia for the all time strikeout lead.
July 23 – MIL 1B Mike Rucker (.244, 17 HR, 58 RBI) is out for the season with a broken ankle.
July 25 – It’s the 200th career win for SAC SP Juichi Fujita (10-5, 4.76 ERA), who beats the Blue Sox despite surrendering four runs in a wild 12-8 game. Fujita is 200-122 with a 3.47 ERA for his career, with 1,992 strikeouts.
July 25 – The Capitals acquire SP Colin Baldwin (1-5, 6.50 ERA) from the Stars, sending them C Casimiro Schoeppen (.236, 2 HR, 12 RBI).
July 25 – The Pacifics find themselves in a good old 18-3 rout at the hands of the Miners, who pour out 23 hits, with 4-hit days for Dave Carter and Joe Chappelle.

Complaints and stuff

With Toner tarred and feathered, not only was our ERA quartet blown up, but Curtis Tobitt had also snuck past Brownie, so we didn’t even have the top three anymore. That was not our main problem, though. The main problem continued to be total dorks like Quebell and Alexander killing offense at every opportunity. There’s also Cookie Carmona being 5-for-28 in his last six games, but I blame those other two.

Vic Flores was on the waiver wire early in the week, but I passed. We have good memories with him (2006-07), but he hasn’t hit convincingly in a while, and the Pacifics probably know why they have him on waivers, batting for a paltry .640-ish OPS. We are probably better off with Howell and looking to throw money for an improvement late in July elsewhere. But it’s actually hard to improve things. After the addition of Richards, the only positions where a tangible improvement could be made by one player is either middle infield spot or at catcher, but D-Alex had something of a renaissance after the break, and slugging middle infielders remain notoriously hard to find. That’s why the Miners are probably glad they took Tom McWhorter in the 2006 draft rather than Jimmy Oatmeal. McWhorter’s OPS is over .900 while playing a slick shortstop.

Besides, the capital fudging the team was guilty of in San Francisco should have beaten any playoff aspirations out of the fan base. Go find something to do with your October, right now. With the Crusaders never losing, we can stop worrying.