[Westheim]

Raccoons (15-9) vs. Canadiens (10-14) – May 4-6, 2020

The Elks hadn’t started the season like they had hoped, hovering close to the bottom in the North. They were already six games off the pace, and offense was a major issue for them. While their pitching was right about average in the Continental League, their offense very much was not, and they had scored just 3.6 runs per game, second-worst in the league. Last year’s season series went the Coons’ way, 11-7.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Guerrero (1-1, 1.38 ERA) vs. Zach Hughes (0-4, 6.51 ERA)
Jonathan Toner (3-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. Ron Funderburk (1-2, 4.71 ERA)
Tadasu Abe (2-1, 4.66 ERA) vs. TBD

The Elks have only right-handed starters right now. Their starter for Wednesday is unclear so far. Bryant Roberts (1-1, 5.47 ERA) would have his turn there, but he is currently suspended for his involvement in a tussle on the weekend, and the Raccoons would not see him in the series. It could be Matt Rosenthal (2-1, 2.70 ERA) on short rest, or find a spot starter.

The Raccoons meanwhile started the series waiting for a diagnosis on Yoshi Nomura, who had left Sunday’s game in the first inning.

Game 1
VAN: LF A. Torres – 2B J. Gutierrez – CF Rocha – RF Branch – C Padilla – 1B T. Delgado – 3B Roundtree – SS Otis – P Hughes
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Margolis – LF DeWeese – 2B Prince – CF DeWald – P Guerrero

The Elks had only eight home runs as a team (thus, less than Dumbo Mendoza), but Jose Gutierrez got them one right in the first inning, bombing Bobby Guerrero to right center with a solo shot. The Coons’ answer was swift. Cookie walked, stole second, and scored on McKnight’s single to left. Then, the Miraculous Margolis struck again, wonking a 2-run homer over the leftfield fence with ease as the bottom 1st gave the Coons a 3-spot. The lead would grow in the third inning, with Mendoza moving ahead 10-9 in his home run battle with the Elks, knocking a 2-piece to right that also collected Nunley, who had reached with a 1-out single.

That put Guerrero ahead 5-1, but he started the fourth with a leadoff walk to Mario Rocha. Ezra Branch struck out, but the Elks would get a singled from Dave Padilla, an RBI double from Tony Delgado, and then the Coons were lucky that DeWeese got in quickly to snag a line drive by Steve Roundtree that kept the runners in scoring position. Matt Otis was walked intentionally before Hughes grounded out to short to strand a full set of runners. Leadoff walks were a bit of an issue for Guerrero, who would issue three of the buggers in this sstart, the last of which came in the fifth inning to Alex Torres, but that runner never progressed past second base, and the Elks would not get another run off Guerrero overall through his seven innings of work. Bareford hit for him to start the bottom 7th. Guerrero’s day was over before Cookie could extend his 17-game hitting streak, but he singled to right following Bareford’s groundout to Roundtree. Nunley grounded out and moved up the runner, but the Raccoons became alive with two outs. McKnight singled Cookie in, then scored on Mendoza’s triple to the base of the wall in centerfield. Margolis singled to score him, three more runs on the board, all off left-hander Pat Goldstein. The Elks were laid to rest at this point. Cowen and Boynton would finish the game out of the Raccoons’ bullpen and would not allow the Elks even a sniff at a comeback. 8-2 Coons. Nunley 2-4, 2B; McKnight 2-4, 2 RBI; Mendoza 2-3, BB, HR, 3B, 3 RBI; Margolis 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Guerrero 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, W (2-1);

Jonny Toner would be able to make his scheduled start on Tuesday. No news on Yoshi from the Druid, and actually I haven’t seen the Druid. Maud says he’s gone to the library in search of a papyrus tome from the Middle Kingdom on skin rashes.

I don’t want to know.

Game 2
VAN: LF A. Torres – 2B J. Gutierrez – CF Rocha – RF Branch – C Padilla – 1B T. Delgado – 3B Grooms – SS Otis – P Funderburk
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Margolis – LF DeWeese – 2B Prince – CF DeWald – P Toner

In “I’m almost sure all will be fine” territory, Jonny Toner walked three batters in the first inning and only made it out unscathed for a nifty double play that Matt Nunley turned for him. Toner would strike out three after the three walks before reaching the top of the order again, including Padilla to end the first inning with Torres on third, but he would not get a clean inning. Margolis had a throwing error in the second, and the Elks had two singles off him in the third. His pitch count was skyrocketing, and that was probably telling only half the truth. However, the Coons scored first, getting a run home in the bottom 3rd after a Nunley single, McKnight double, and Mendoza’s sac fly to center that Rocha just barely got the glove on before it could get over him and to the track for two. Tony Delgado’s leadoff jack in the fourth inning made the Coons’ lead null and void, tying the score at one.

Bottom 4th, the Coons loaded the bases. DeWeese hit a leadoff single, but was forced on a grounder to Jose Gutierrez by Tim Prince. DeWald walked in a full count, and Toner swung away with two on and one out. He singled through the right side, presenting Cookie – who had already singled in the first inning – with a full menu of runners. Cookie lifted the ball out to Rocha in center, Prince got home on the sac fly, but that was all. Nunley grounded out, leaving the score at 2-1. Toner had another dreadful fifth, getting the pitch count up to over 90 with another two base runners, but held on to the lead, while the Coons crowded Funderburk with another three runners in the bottom of the inning. McKnight, Mendoza, and DeWeese all singled with one out, bringing up Prince. Again, the Coons got a sac fly, and no more. Prince’s fly to right took Branch back two steps, just enough for McKnight to score, 3-1, and then DeWald continued his dreadful season with a soft and easy fly to Rocha.

Toner made it through six before Bareford hit for him to start the bottom of the sixth inning. Bareford sent a quick bouncer through Tony Delgado and up the rightfield line for a leadoff triple, then scored on Cookie’s noticeably softer single to center, 4-1, and that also gave the team runs in four consecutive innings. Could they exceed a ‘1’ on the scoreboard now? Yes, although Cookie was caught stealing before Nunley hit the gap in right center for a double, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on McKnight’s single to left. Pat Goldstein emerged again and got an inning-ending double play grounder from Mendoza to the shortstop Matt Otis. Top 7th, Alex Torres homered off Seung-mo Chun to get the Elks back to 5-2, but the Coons pulled the run right back when DeWeese hit his first homer of the year (…) in the bottom of the inning, a real rocket off Cory Dew. A 6-2 lead didn’t mean no save opportunity, however. The daring Critters put Cowen into the game in the ninth and it didn’t work. He allowed two hits while getting only one out, but Joel Davis saved the day, getting a pop from Gutierrez and a grounder form Rocha. 6-2 Coons. Carmona 2-3, 2 RBI; Nunley 2-4, BB, 2B; McKnight 3-4, 2B, RBI; DeWeese 3-4, HR, RBI; Bareford (PH) 1-1, 3B;

The Druid came to me with a diagnosis on Wednesday morning, announcing that he had diagnosed Yoshi with a sore elbow. He was listed as day-to-day. He recommended sitting him on Wednesday, we had Thursday off, and Friday we’ll see.

Matt Rosenthal got the call for the Wednesday game. He had not started regularly since 2016 in AAA, but so far had not suffered in his five games this season, all starts.

Game 3
VAN: LF A. Torres – 2B J. Gutierrez – CF Rocha – RF Branch – C Padilla – 1B T. Delgado – 3B Folk – SS Otis – P Rosenthal
POR: LF Carmona – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Margolis – RF Jackson – 2B Petracek – CF Bareford – P Abe

A 2-run homer by Mendoza put the Coons up in the bottom of the first inning, but everybody was watching the struggling Abe anxiously; Torres had almost homered on the very first pitch of the game. Cookie caught that ball at the fence, and Abe was actually perfect the first time through the order, although even Rosenthal hit a rocket off him to deep right that Eddie Jackson had to make a jumping grab on. The Coons got an extra run in the bottom 4th, which saw McKnight and Mendoza go to the corners on leadoff base hits before Margolis hit to short for a 6-4-3 that scored the runner from third, 3-0. THEN they loaded the bases, with Jackson singling to left, Petracek laying off four balls, and Bareford also working a walk over five pitches. Unfortunately that brought up Abe, a career .154 batter that hadn’t eclipsed .100 since 2017. He grounded out feebly to Gutierrez on the first pitch by Rosenthal. The score remained 3-0 there, but jumped to 4-0 in the fifth. Cookie led off with a single, giving him a 20-game hitting streak now, stole second, and came home on Mendoza’s 2-out RBI double.

Abe sat down 16 straight Elks to start the game, including a pair of strikeouts in full counts in the fifth inning, but eventually ran out of his share of luck and Otis singled with one out in the sixth inning. Rosenthal bunted, but Torres grounded out to first base to strand the runner in scoring position. Ezra Branch had a 2-out single up the middle in the seventh, but was also left on when Padilla rolled over to Petracek. The bottom of the inning saw Cookie hit his annual homer, a leadoff jack off Rosenthal that knocked the swingman from the game. Cory Dew replaced Rosenthal in a 5-0 game, allowed a triple to McKnight and another homer to Mendoza, 7-0. Abe got stuck in the eighth inning, leaving Boynton with two on and two outs. Boynton walked Torres to fill the bags, and when Gutierrez grounded to short, McKnight’s throw to first was poor and bounced off Mendoza’s glove. One run scored before Rocha struck out to strand three. Joel Davis and his ERA over six had a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to seal a very satisfying sweep. 7-1 Raccoons! Carmona 2-5, HR, RBI; McKnight 2-4, 3B, 2B; Mendoza 4-4, 2 HR, 2B, 5 RBI; Jackson 3-4, 2B; Abe 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (3-1);

I am not kidding when I say ‘Cookie’s annual home run’. His average for home runs since 2017 is 1.0 … not that I mind in that case.

While we swept the Elks, we were denied first place in the North. The Titans swept the Crusaders (!!) … correction, they won three of the first four in that set. The Crusaders beat them on Thursday, our off day, so we moved to within half a game, but we now have to play one of the best teams by record in baseball.

Raccoons (18-9) @ Buffaloes (19-9) – May 8-10, 2020

The Buffaloes were one of three teams who were ten games over .500 on Friday morning, sharing that distinction with the Capitals, with whom they were in a virtual tie in the FL East, and the Titans, which led the Critters by half a game. They ranked third in runs scored, but third *from the bottom* in runs allowed in the Federal League, so the boards underneath them were creaking and the sharks were already swimming in circles underneath. Their run differential was a meager +12. The question was more when they would collapse, rather than if. The Coons won the series between the teams last year, two out of three, but had been swept in the two meetings before that.

Projected matchups:
Hector Santos (4-0, 2.48 ERA) vs. Alberto Molina (4-1, 1.88 ERA)
Cole Pierson (3-2, 3.57 ERA) vs. Jerry Moran (1-3, 5.58 ERA)
Bobby Guerrero (2-1, 1.64 ERA) vs. Carlos Marron (3-1, 4.50 ERA)

Those would be three more right-handers to dissect. The Coons liked the first three they saw this week, and Molina aside these don’t look much tougher. Molina, 27, also never did better than a 3.37 ERA in a qualifying season, and his walk rate had been cut in half so far this year, and that is before we get to his .259 BABIP.

The Buffaloes had just lost LF/RF Bill Adams (.301, 5 HR, 19 RBI) to an oblique strain, which took a piece out of their middle of the order.

Game 1
POR: RF Carmona – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – 1B Mendoza – C Margolis – LF DeWeese – 2B Prince – CF DeWald – P Santos
TOP: LF Madrid – 3B W. White – 2B Owen – CF Sanborn – C J. Vargas – RF Traylor – 1B Pimentel – SS Ingraham – P Molina

The Raccoons didn’t make a big impression early in the game on Molina, and the Buffaloes would take a 1-0 lead in the second, with a leadoff walk to Todd Sanborn coming around to bite Santos. Jose Vargas singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out, so conceding only the one run on a Dave Pimentel single was probably still a stroke of luck given that Santos wasn’t exactly blasting the Buffaloes away. In the top of the third, Prince drew a leadoff walk and DeWald singled to the right side. Santos’ bunt moved them to scoring position, so a base knock by Cookie would swipe several issues in one swing. His soft line to first was snagged by Pimentel, and Nunley grounded to short, but Zach Ingraham – the old Bayhawks foe – had to go up the middle and couldn’t get a throw off in time. Prince scored with the tying run, but McKnight popped out to leave runners on the corners. Another defensive shortcoming by Ingraham would give the Coons the lead, however, an inning later. Mendoza was on with a single and DeWeese had been drilled. Prince grounded to short with one out, Ingraham’s throw to first was wild, and Mendoza scored while the runners moved into scoring position. In an interesting move, the Buffaloes walked DeWald intentionally with ONE out despite him batting .185 to get to Santos, a career .178 batter, but twice that much early on in this season. Molina snuffed him out on strikes, and then Cookie’s soft fly to right center was caught, stranding three. Another run did get on the board the following inning, however, when Mendoza bombed Molina with two outs and nobody on for his 13th dinger of the year. The Critters then loaded the bases on singles and a walk, but DeWald grounded out to Pimentel to strand another three-pack.

Santos had been wobbly in the first few innings, but the Buffaloes had nary a chance in the middle innings and were tallying only three base hits through six frames. Top 7th, more Coons on base. Mendoza led off with a single to center, and then Margolis pawed out an infield single. DeWeese sent a drive up the rightfield line that went past Zack Traylor for an RBI double, 4-1, runners in scoring position with no outs. Prince was walked intentionally before Molina whiffed DeWald with the bases loaded, but then got beat by Santos with a single to center that scored one run. That brought up Cookie, who was dry in four at-bats, and would see Molina again. Molina went to work on him, had him on two strikes, and then surrendered a soft fly to left that dinked into the grass just in front of Willie Madrid. Two runs scored, the streak lived on, now at 21 games, and the score rose to 7-1. Jose Lerma replaced Molina and got a double play from Matt Nunley to end the inning. With a 6-run lead, could we get a rare complete game from Santos? It was certainly dicey, as he entered the ninth inning on 95 pitches and would face the entirely left-handed array of the 2-3-4 batters. He walked Wade White, then was removed swiftly. Kaiser came in and the Buffaloes never got another man on base as Kaiser sawed off Chris Owen, Todd Sanborn, and Jose Vargas in order. 7-1 Raccoons! Nunley 2-4, BB, RBI; Mendoza 4-5, HR, RBI; Margolis 3-5; DeWeese 2-3, 2B, RBI; Jackson (PH) 1-1, 2B; Santos 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (5-0) and 1-4, RBI;

The Raccoons took over the North with this win, since the Titans lost to the Wolves. The Wolves are a miserable 6-23 now, and I sure hope that they can win a few more this weekend.

Game 2
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Nomura – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – SS McKnight – C Margolis – LF DeWeese – CF Bareford – P Pierson
TOP: LF Madrid – SS Ingraham – 2B Hernandes – C J. Vargas – CF Sanborn – RF Traylor – 3B W. White – 1B Pimentel – P Moran

Pierson allowed a single to Willie Madrid, hit Marco Hernandes, and managed to allow no runs thanks to Bareford defusing two absolute rockets to deep center in that first inning. DeWeese caught a soft fly to left by Sanborn to end the inning with runners on the corners. The Buffaloes didn’t score in the first three, but neither did the Coons, who were a bit slow out of the gate again. Moran tried his best to help out and issued a pair of walks to star the fourth inning, putting Nomura and Nunley on base in front of Mendoza, whose bat had actual teeth, but hit only a slow grounder to the mound. Moran tried to turn two, threw wildly to second and into centerfield and the bases were now loaded without any base hit by the Critters whatsoever in the inning. They would not get one, either; McKnight and Margolis brought in a pair of runs on a pair of sacrifice flies, but that was it. The Buffaloes rapped three singles off Pierson in the bottom of the inning to come right back, scoring one run for a 2-1 score through four.

The Coons had only one hit through five innings, and it wasn’t Cookie’s, but got two more hits in the sixth. Mendoza hit a 2-out double, and then McKnight sent a bomb to right center and well outta here, 4-1 for the Critters! Pierson, though, didn’t radiate security exactly. He had allowed five hits through five innings and had struck out none, and to start the sixth he offered his first walk of the game to Hernandes. Vargas singled, and the Buffaloes got a run back again on a fielder’s choice and then Traylor’s sac fly to pretty damn deep rightfield. Cookie made a good catch on the warning track, and Wade White flew out to DeWeese to keep the score at 4-2.

We had to worry about Cookie’s streak again. Cookie was 0-for-3, came to bat with two outs in the seventh with Pierson on second after a double, and popped out harmlessly. Moran continued in the eighth, but got wrecked for good, with Yoshi hitting a leadoff double. Mendoza was walked intentionally, which brought up McKnight, who had a homer and three runs driven in already in this game, and doubled his output with a rousing jack to deep right, and again well outta here. Pierson made it through eight innings, and the 3-run assault in the eighth assured Cookie of another plate appearance in the ninth inning. The inning started with Bareford leading off against right-hander Sean Carlsen, a full count, and eventually a walk for Bareford, who then stole second base and scored on a single to right by Petracek, batting for Pierson. Here came Cookie, the count ran full to him as well, but in the full count he knocked a fast grounder to the right side and through between Hernandes and Pimentel – it’s a single! The streak lives on! Yoshi and McKnight would come up with RBI’s before the inning was over, getting the Coons into double digits. In the bottom of the ninth, Adam Cowen worked around a leadoff double by Pimentel to end the game. 10-2 Furballs! Nomura 3-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; McKnight 2-3, 2 HR, 7 RBI; Petracek (PH) 1-1, RBI; Pierson 8.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, W (4-2) and 1-3, 2B;

Game 3
POR: RF Carmona – 2B Nomura – 3B Nunley – 1B Mendoza – SS McKnight – CF DeWald – LF DeWeese – C Olivares – P Guerrero
TOP: LF Madrid – 3B W. White – 2B Owen – C J. Vargas – RF Traylor – 1B Pimentel – CF Harp – SS Lawson – P Marron

The Raccoons took a 2-0 lead in the second in their bid to sweep an entire week. Mendoza reached base on an infield single to start the frame, and DeWald split Traylor and Mason Harp for a double into the gap. With two in scoring position, DeWeese whiffed for the second out, but Olivares lobbed a single to shallow right to plate both runners and to triple his RBI output from one to three. The Buffaloes had two singles in the bottom 2nd off Guerrero, but David Lawson hit into a double play to Yoshi to end the inning, but they would load the bases in the bottom 4th – and with nobody out. Owen and Traylor hit singles around a walk drawn by Vargas, and Guerrero was in a heap of trouble with two left-handed batters next. The hole only got deeper; Pimentel worked a 4-pitch walk to shove home a run. Harp struck out, but Lawson lined to left center to plate two runs and give the Buffaloes a 3-2 lead. Guerrero struck out Marron and got Madrid to ground out, but the damage was done.

The Raccoons made up the deficit quickly, however. Olivares walked in the fifth, with one out, and then was bunted over to second base. Cookie was still looking for a base knock, but got one with a slow grounder past Marron that Owen couldn’t play in time hustling in, giving Cookie an infield single. Olivares went to third on the grounder, then scored on Yoshi Nomura’s single to left, even at three now. Nunley flew out to Harp in center to end the inning. Guerrero didn’t get out of the sixth inning, offering a leadoff walk to Traylor that knocked him out of the game. Kaiser came on, but couldn’t keep the run on base, conceding a new lead to the Buffaloes on a 2-out double by David Lawson, 4-3. The Raccoons’ pen collapsed in the bottom of the seventh, with Mathis and Thrasher each conceding two hard singles, which gave the Buffaloes another two runs, and our 5-game winning streak was about over. Another run scored off Chun in the eighth, although an error by Nunley in the inning made that run unearned, yet that still didn’t change that Chun in general couldn’t make a ball out of a paper bag. DeWeese hit a triple in the ninth off Justin Boggio, but that was all the Coons did in the inning. 7-3 Buffaloes. Nomura 2-4, RBI; Mendoza 2-3, BB; Olivares 1-2, BB, 2 RBI;

In other news

May 4 – NYC INF Sergio Valdez (.340, 4 HR, 14 RBI) looks like he will miss time until the middle of June trying to rehab a small tear in his labrum.
May 4 – BOS LF/CF Adrian Reichardt (.152, 2 HR, 11 RBI) suffers a knee sprain on a defensive play and is out for at least a month.
May 5 – Another CL player goes down as ATL 3B/1B Antonio Esquivel (.287, 2 HR, 6 RBI) will miss at least a month with a fracture in his hand.
May 6 – The Blue Sox score five runs in the bottom of the ninth for a massive come-from-behind walkoff win over the Capitals, 6-5. A walk, a 2-run homer by OF Tom Schorsch (.295, 6 HR, 19 RBI), and then four singles undo the Capitals and give the Sox the win.
May 8 – RIC SP Mike Brugh (3-1, 2.27 ERA) is lost for the year with a ruptured medial collateral ligament.
May 8 – The Stars lose SP Andy Hackney (2-1, 4.81 ERA) to a torn rotator cuff; the 31-year old lefty is also out for the season.
May 9 – CIN CF Nando Maiello (.282, 0 HR, 10 RBI) will miss a month with a torn thumb ligament.
May 9 – On the second day of interleague games, four Federal League teams score walkoff wins over their Continental League opposition. The Warriors walk off, 5-4, against the Condors. The Cyclones walk off, 7-6, on the Loggers after blowing their lead in the top of the ninth, and the Blue Sox come from behind after the Crusaders took a lead in the top of the ninth and beat them with a 5-4 walkoff. The Wolves end their 12-inning game with the Titans with a 7-6 walkoff.
May 10 – The Crusaders lose OF/1B Ricky Loya (.211, 2 HR, 13 RBI) for the season. The 26-year old has broken his kneecap.

Complaints and stuff

A certain Senor Mendoza was the CL Player of the Week, swatting the opposition for a *.636* average (14-for-22) with 4 HR and 10 RBI. Whichever sort of unsweetened tea he is drinking before bed – I want some. Then there was McKnight, who had that big 7 RBI game on Saturday, but he only had three more RBI the rest of the week and batted “only” 9-for-24, although I take a .375 clip any day of the week.

Anybody remember Andy Hackney? He is a former Nick Brown Memorial Pick – taken in the 11th round of the 2009 draft by the Critters. He was involved in the ill-fated deal with the Stars in 2013 that sent him, Michael Palmer, Craig Bowen (end of first stint) and Colin Baldwin to the Stars for Graham Wasserman. Hackney debuted in ’14, but never really became a regular and got odd swingman jobs with the Stars. Over the years he has been in 131 games (52 starts) with a 20-23 record and 4.51 ERA, also four saves.

At least we later used Graham Wasserman as something other than a bottle opener. We flipped him for Ronnie McKnight in December of 2014. Given that Wasserman is only 42-40 and bouncing from team to team almost aimlessly, we sure got the better end of that trade. Wasserman also made two starts for the Raccoons, but totalled only 6.1 innings while conceding ten runs.

Cookie has a 23-game hitting streak now, although he only extended it barely in each of the three games in Topeka, including infield singles. I hope he can refire the stick next week, because the Coons have hit a rough patch with the Warriors, Titans, Crusaders, and Bayhawks all lurking in the next three weeks.

Jonny’s W on Tuesday marked the 3,600th regular season victory for the Critters.

We had a trade proposal from the Aces this week, offering Danny Rice and a pitching prospect for Tadasu Abe. Yeah, well, no, we don’t need a catcher no longer. Thanks for stopping by, come again. Thanks. Don’t hit your butt on the way out.