[Westheim]

Raccoons (12-12) @ Titans (12-13) – April 29-May 2, 2024

I don't think the Titans quite saw themselves in fifth place at the end of April, but then there was the good news for them; if they continued their recent dominance over the Raccoons, whom they beat 27 times in 36 tries between the last two seasons, then they could well be in second place by the weekend. They were second in runs scored (Coons: t-5th) and t-6th in runs allowed (4th). Their nominally impressive rotation had struggled quite a bit early on, but their pen had taken a beating … not that the Coons' pen had actually sparkled recently…

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (1-2, 2.70 ERA) vs. Alan Farrell (1-2, 7.40 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (1-3, 3.89 ERA) vs. Alberto Molina (1-2, 5.29 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (2-2, 4.70 ERA) vs. Dustin Wingo (2-3, 3.74 ERA)
Travis Garrett (2-0, 3.34 ERA) vs. Julio San Pedro (2-2, 4.05 ERA)

Wingo will be their sole left-hander, while we're gonna miss staff ace Chris Klein (3-1, 3.25 ERA). Yeah, like that's gonna help our souls… Also not in this series: young outfielder Adam Braun, who was on the DL with a triceps strain.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – P Roberts
BOS: C Arias – LF M. Owen – CF Reichardt – 3B R. West – SS Jam. Wilson – 2B Kane – RF W. Ramos – 1B J. Avila – P Farrell

The Coons started the game with singles by Cookie and Stalker, then a double play grounder to Rhett West off Walter's bat, and Gonzalez' groundout to short in order to not score. Matt Nunley hit into another double play in the second inning. Neither team scored through three innings, despite the odd baserunner, with the Titans out-hitting the Critters 4-3. More worrying was the way that stuff was eluding Roberts for his second consecutive start, him striking out only two in a lineup with a healthy share of left-handed batters, and that included the pitcher, through the first three innings.

Top 4th, base hits got Jon Gonzalez and Omar Alfaro to the corners to begin the frame. Abel Mora hit a drive to deep right that ended up with Willie Ramos, but Gonzalez tagged and scored, just in time before Nunley hit into his second double play of the night. By the sixth, the Coons would sit on four double plays, Alfaro smashing into one after Farrell had issued back-to-back walks to Walter and Gonzalez. For a nice change they would also turn a double play in the bottom of the inning, Rhett West hitting into a traditional 6-4-3 service after Adrian Reichardt had coaxed the first walk off Roberts in this start. By the eighth, both pitchers were still in this 1-0 squeezer. Cookie hit a leadoff single off Farrell in the inning, but then was caught stealing, just before Tim Stalker grounded to second base. Mike Kane's throw to Jose Avila was wild and bounced into the stands for a 2-base error, but since Cookie had recused himself from further participation, we only had a man on second and one out, rather than a pair in scoring position and no outs. Shane Walter combated defeatism with an RBI single past West into leftfield, the only counter in the inning. Roberts swiftly got bopped in the bottom 8th after a walk to Alex Arias and Matt Owen's double to right center. Surginer replaced him to face Reichardt, who was hit for by left-hander Keith Leonard. A run scored on Leonard's groundout, which was the second out in the inning, but a walk to Rhett West brought up lefties for the Titans and a lefty for the Coons as well in David Kipple, who whiffed Jamie Wilson with some nasty junk to end the inning and keep Roberts and the crew afloat. Portland loaded the bases in the ninth against Edwin Balandran, a left-hander, who allowed singles to Mora and Spencer, while Tovias drew a walk in a full count. Nunley had been used to initially bunt the leadoff runner, Abel Mora, over to second base. Cookie's sac fly would be all the Coons got in the inning, with Kipple sticking around for the bottom 9th; remember that Lillis had been blown up two days in a row and deserved some rest. Kipple came through, despite a leadoff walk to Mike Kane. No other Titan reached base, and Kane never moved off first base, as Ramos popped out, Avila whiffed, and Gil Cornejo flew out to Cookie in left. 3-1 Coons. Carmona 2-4, RBI; Mora 1-2, BB, RBI; Spencer 1-1; Roberts 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (2-2); Kipple 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, SV (1);

The Coons would finish the month with a winning record once the Tuesday game fell victim to rains. We'd make an honest try to play two on Wednesday, but the weather was still iffy.

Both teams left the original starters in the first leg of the double header.

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – P Chavez
BOS: CF Reichardt – C Leonard – RF R. Amador – SS Jam. Wilson – 1B Herlihy – 2B Kane – LF W. Ramos – 3B R. West – P A. Molina

The Coons in the first three amounted to little more than Cookie reaching on an error and being caught stealing again, while Chavez proved utterly useless once again, in general as well as in the circumstance, throwing over 60 pitches in the first three innings, allowing four hits and two walks, with Roberto Amador's 2-out, 2-run triple in the bottom 3rd doing some solid damage. Chavez would not register an out in the fifth inning, walking Leonard and Amador to begin the frame before conceding the runs on a long double to center hit by Jamie Wilson. That put the Titans up 4-0 and Chavez at 100 pitches, following which the pitching coach beat him off the mound with a broomstick. Billy Brotman would get the inning over with without conceding the Wilson run, but the Coons were doomed regardless, unable to put any kind of stick to Molina, who completely baffled them. They had three hits through six innings, no runs, and never were close. They would get close in the seventh, with Alfaro walking and a 2-out throwing error by Kane putting Tovias aboard, but Jarod Spencer grounded out to West. The best was yet to come, with Coons pitching walking FIVE consecutive batters in the bottom of the seventh inning. Four of the walks were on Cowen, who didn't allow a run because the first walker, Amador, was caught stealing by Tovias, who was thus 2/2 in the game and 6/17 on the season. Jimmy Lee replaced Cowen after the fourth free pass, but walked Willie Ramos, pushing in a run after all before West lined out to center on a 2-0 pitch to end the frame. Another run would fall out of Lee in the eighth on consecutive doubles by Reichardt and Arias. Molina finished with a 4-hit shutout. 6-0 Titans. Stalker 2-4;

We walked 11 and struck out two. They should have scored about 11, and we're still going to play two…

Since hopes for a W were justifiably low in the second leg of the double header, the Coons would switch in all their bench pieces.

Game 3
POR: SS Stalker – CF Briscoe – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – LF Graves – C Delgado – 2B Spencer – 3B Bullock – P Gutierrez
BOS: 2B Kane – LF M. Owen – CF Reichardt – 3B R. West – SS Jam. Wilson – RF Cornejo – C Leonard – 1B Herlihy – P Wingo

Gutierrez was no less **** than Chavez had been. Alfaro's RBI groundout in the first inning spotted him a lead, but he immediately blew it. The Titans got even before they made an out on a single by Kane and then Matt Owen's long double to the base of the leftfield wall, and he issued another hit and two walks to fall behind 2-1 in the inning. Gutierrez was all over the place, but would strike out Kane with one out in the bottom 2nd. It could have been so neat if Delgado would have come up with the ball, but Kane reached on the uncaught third strike instead. Gutierrez then walked Owen, and the pitching coach basically had to set up camp right next to the mound to yell instructions to Rico all the ****ing time, like, THROW IT THE **** FOR A STRIKE!! He mostly didn't, but the Titans got themselves out of the inning with Reichardt's soft fly to center and a foul pop by Rhett West, keeping the score at 2-1.

While Rico's mound performance was rated R and was not suitable for small children and/or woodland creatures, he was excellent at the plate. Coming up with Spencer and Bullock on the corners and two outs in the fourth, Gutierrez zinged a liner to left center that escaped to the track between Owen and Reichardt and allowed both runners to score, flipping the score in the Coons' favor. Stalker drove home Gutierrez with a single, running the tally to 4-2. Gutierrez' mound performance remained abysmal. He drilled leadoff man Reichardt in the bottom 5th, then walked three. That didn't cost him a run (yet?) thanks to a double play that Jamie Wilson hit into, but the bases were loaded with two outs and another left-hander up in Trent Herlihy, but Gutierrez had just walked two of those, and seven in the game. Herlihy was batting .159, so he was probably due, but we were so thin on pitchers… Gutierrez faced him, Herlihy struck out, and that was also 101 pitches for Rico… He still came back out for the bottom 6th and managed to retire the pitcher and Kane on one pitch each. If he could ever generate a sizable amount of that kind of at-bats…….

Surginer got out of the sixth, put Reichardt on in the seventh, but Kipple retired Wilson and Cornejo on pops. Facing Mike Stank in the top 8th then, the Coons loaded the sacks with three straight clean singles to begin the inning, by Graves, Delgado, and Spencer. Since Stank was a left-hander, Bullock batted, especially since a double switch had already brought Cookie into the #9 hole (with Alfaro gone), and I didn't want two left-handed bats come up and fail back-to-back by sending Nunley to pinch-hit here. So instead, Bullock turned around to bat from the right side to fail, hitting sharply to West for a force at home. Cookie struck out, and Stalker rolled it over to short. Nobody, nobody, nobody scored. Except for the Titans, who took advantage of a leadoff walk that Leonard drew off Kipple in the bottom 8th and brought him around to score, cutting the gap to one run. Top 9th, Briscoe singled and Gonzalez got hit by Balandran before Javy Salomon allowed a 2-out, 2-run single to Tony Delgado. Spencer singled, and now Nunley batted for Bullock against the right-hander, drawing a walk to fill the bags. Cookie would slash another wound to the Titans, knocking a sharp single past Kane to plate two, and guess what, Brett Lillis was our last reliever and didn't blow a 5-run lead. He put two on, though… 8-3 Coons! Graves 2-5; Delgado 2-5, 2 RBI; Spencer 4-5; Carmona 1-2, 2 RBI;

Game 4
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – P Garrett
BOS: CF Reichardt – C Leonard – RF R. Amador – LF M. Owen – SS Jam. Wilson – 1B Herlihy – 2B Kane – 3B R. West – P San Pedro

Garrett allowed no hits the first time through, walking and whiffing two each, but Adrian Reichardt extended a hitting streak to 16 games with one out in the third. Leonard's foul pop and Amador's fly to center kept him on the bases and nobody scored through three innings, both teams landing only one base hit. Walter hit a leadoff single in the fourth, but was then left to his own devices and stranded on the bases. Maybe Wilson's throwing error that put Tovias on second base to begin the fifth would help them get a run? Nah, "Tragic" Travis would bunt so badly that Tovias was tagged out at third base.

The middle of the fifth inning took almost an hour; the rain that had wiped out Tuesday's game was still in the area and had broken in the fourth, sending the game to delay after Garrett had been stranded by Stalker. San Pedro would not be back after the delay, but Garrett actually retired the Titans in order in the bottom 5th on three grounders. Mike Stank allowed base hits to Walter and Gonzalez to begin the top 6th, but Alfaro hit into a fielder's choice at second base, and Mora struck out. Nunley didn't, drilling a 3-1 pitch past Owen in leftfield for a 2-run double, the first tallies in the game. The Titans teased the Coons, walked Tovias intentionally, but Garrett was not hit for, striking out against Jose Fuentes, the new reliever in the game. Garrett got two more outs before Owen singled in the bottom 6th. With three left-handers coming up, and the rain delay, and him on 80 pitches, you had to figure that disaster was preparing to befall the Raccoons, so we moved on to Brotman, with Wilson popping out on 0-2 to end the inning. The Titans didn't get another runner until the eighth (and the Coons didn't get any through eight) when left-hander Gil Cornejo hit a pinch-hit leadoff single against Brotman. We moved to Surginer, who collected two outs before conceding the run on singles by Amador and Owen. They were on the corners for Jamie Wilson, prompting another pitching change to David Kipple. The Titans countered, wisely, with Alex Arias, but he flew out to center, keeping this a 2-1 game. The Coons remained dead from their little jaws down, and with potential controversy it transpired that Kipple remained in the game in the bottom 9th, where the Titans would send up another two lefties to begin things, Herlihy and Kane. Both popped out on the first pitches they saw, giving Kipple Rhett West and his .250/.380/.370 line. West sure enough didn't pop out, but rather drove a long liner to deep left that only bounced on the track and hit oddly off the fence, denying Alfaro a good bounce and allowing the tying run to reach third base with a triple. Having to hit for their pitcher, the Titans only had a left-handed bat left on the bench, Willie Ramos, who ran a full count before grounding up the middle. Stalker lunging over to intercept it, throw to first – IN TIME. 2-1 Furballs! Walter 2-4; Garrett 5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, W (3-0); Kipple 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (2);

Three of four in Boston! When did that most recently happen!? Maybe in Kisho's times…?

Raccoons (15-13) @ Blue Sox (5-21) – May 3-5, 2024

Off to see the worst team in baseball now. The Sox were last in runs scored, second from the bottom in runs allowed, and overall horrendous over in the Federal League. The only main stats where they were not 11th or 12th in the FL were bullpen ERA (8th) and defense (6th), none of which helped them greatly. These teams had last met in 2021, with the Coons taking two out of three then. In eight meetings since then, no series had been swept since the Coons went 3-0 over Nashville in 2008.

Projected matchups:
Dan Delgadillo (1-1, 4.35 ERA) vs. Mike Lake (0-3, 5.83 ERA)
Mark Roberts (2-2, 2.43 ERA) vs. Matt Gossen (0-3, 6.12 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (1-4, 4.42 ERA) vs. Shane Baker (2-3, 4.26 ERA)

Three right-handers; also three important batters on the DL for the Blue Sox, including Steve Hollingsworth, Tom Schorsch, and Yoshi Nomura (.423, 1 HR, 6 RBI) who's 40-year-old intercostal was bothering him greatly.

Game 1
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – RF Graves – P Delgadillo
NAS: CF Espinosa – 1B Perkins – SS Muller – RF Orozco – 3B T. Fuentes – LF M. Ramirez – C Luckert – 2B Otis – P Lake

If Cookie had homered to lead off the game (rather than grounding out to short), the Coons would have hit for a reverse cycle in order between their first four batters. As it was, Stalker tripled, Walter doubled, and Gonzalez singled, resulting in one run in the top of the first. After the early run, the Coons' offense immediately sought cover, leaving the rookie ou thtere to fend for himself. There was a Gonzalez double leading off the fourth, and absolutely NOTHING coming from the next three batters, with Gonzalez advancing a total of zero feet. Delgadillo held up well, allowing only one hit to the worst offense in the FL through five innings, whiffing three and generating loads of poor contact.

Of course collapse was always close; Mike Lake ripped a leadoff double up the leftfield line to begin the bottom 6th, and the Coons would certainly soon be punished for their tardiness (or lardiness?). Delgadillo lost Juan Espinosa to a walk. Former Crusader Josh Perkins helped him out greatly, hitting into a double play, third-and-first, and even though Delgadillo lost John Muller in a full count, Orozco popped out foul. On to the seventh, an error by Espinosa put Abel Mora on second base, and Tovias ripped a double through Perkins to drive him in for the second (and much-needed) run in the game. Graves singled to put Critters on the corners, and Delgadillo batted for himself, striking out for the second red dot on the board. Cookie was on tap, though, lining up the leftfield line, uncatchable, for an RBI double, and then the consistently-dangerous Tim Stalker drilled a ball up the middle, no chance for Muller here, either, to plate two more with a single!

While that was a 4-spot, the Sox also went after Dan Delgadillo, finally. A walk and two hits plated a run in the bottom of the inning and he was replaced by Kipple with runners in scoring position and two outs, facing Espinosa atop the order. Espinosa put the 1-2 in play, but flew out to Mora in center, keeping the Critters up by a slam. For the Coons, Gonzalez hit a leadoff single in the eighth, was stranded, then came up with three on and two outs in the ninth and thought f-you, grounding out to short. Bottom 9th, Vince D was in, and his struggles continued. With one out he walked Manny Ramirez, and then Jerrod Luckert doubled. This was a save situation now, but there was another right-hander coming up in ex-Elk Matt Otis, who flew out to Alfaro in shallow right. When the Blue Sox announced left-handed batter Ruben Cervantes into the game, the Lillis trap sprung … hopefully. There was only one out to collect, but Cervantes promptly singled, two runs scored, and the tying run was up. Espinosa popped out foul, putting this one in the books, but Lillis' performance continued to rankle. 5-3 Coons. Stalker 2-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 3-5, 2B; Delgadillo 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, W (2-1);

With this their fourth win of the week, the Raccoons closed in on first place, now trailing the Crusaders by half a game. Not that I will get cocky here…

Game 2
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – 3B Nunley – CF Briscoe – RF Alfaro – C Delgado – P Roberts
NAS: CF Espinosa – 3B T. Fuentes – SS Muller – 1B Rainey – RF Orozco – C Leal – LF Cervantes – 2B Otis – P Gossen

The Blue Sox struck first, John Muller's fifth homer of the season putting them up 1-0 in the bottom 1st. Truth be told, Roberts' pitch didn't do much across the plate, at least until it met that bat. Then it was outta here in a hurry. The Coons had an answer prepared, although after Briscoe's 1-out single it took an Otis error to also get Alfaro aboard, and then Tony Delgado tied the game with a single to left. With one out and Cookie wonky, Roberts swung away, or held still, drawing a walk in a full count from Gossen, who had come in with 20 walks in 32.1 innings, but this was the first drawn by a Coon. Cookie lined out to shallow right, but Stalker came through with an RBI single, putting Roberts 2-1 ahead before Walter whiffed. Orozco opened the bottom 2nd with a triple into the depths of the outfield, and after that Armando Leal ripped a liner to left. Cookie had that, then aimed at Orozco making for home … he wouldn't make it, thrown out perfectly by Ricardo Carmona!

The bases would be loaded with Coons again in the fourth inning. Delgado singled with one out, Gossen misfired Roberts' bunt for an error, and then Cookie singled up the middle. With Espinosa's arm and Delgado's club feet there was no way for him to score, but there was a full platter for Tim Stalker, who led the team with 21 RBI and was unretired in the game. He got another RBI, but was also retired, grounding into a run-scoring fielder's choice. Walter grounded out to Will Rainey to end the inning with a 3-1 score.

Muller remained a thorn in Roberts' side, hitting one of two singles in the bottom 4th (the other was Rainey's) that put runners on the corners. Orozco made the second out with a fly to shallow center, and then Leal drove one to deep center, but also into an out, Briscoe being on the watch out there. He would then contribute an RBI triple, chasing home Gonzalez in the following half-inning, but was left aboard when Alfaro walked, only to be collected in Delgado's double play. Cervantes hit a leadoff double off Roberts in the bottom 5th. Roberts was allowing plenty of hard contact in this game, but was also getting K's again, whiffing six through completion of the inning, including Gossen and Espinosa to end it. The Blue Sox were not defeated yet, though. Orozco cracked a solo shot in the seventh inning, getting them back to 4-2.

Top 8th, Delgado on base with another single, bumping his average to .314 in the process, but was stranded between a bunt by Roberts and Cookie's grounder to first. Roberts retired two more, the left-handed 1-2 batters in the bottom 8th, then was replaced with Vince D, who allowed a double to Muller before Rainey rolled out to short. Both put the ball in play on 1-2 pitches, so Devereaux continued to be mighty wonky. With two lefties and a switch hitter in the bottom 9th between the 5-6-7 batters, it was Lillis time, and we were shivering. Two walks, a wild pitch, and single to center, put a run across and the winning runs on the corners for Nashville, and Lillis was yanked. Kevin Surginer inherited a near-impossible job with the tying run at third base and nobody out, but sure bore a child named hope when he got Josh Perkins to pop out. Too soon, and in vain. PH Jose Rojas tied the game with a sac fly before Espinosa struck out, and the game went to extras.

After an uneventful 10th, Tyler Nodelman drilled Spencer with one out in the 11th. Spencer was in the #9 hole, and this brought up Cookie, but before Cookie could do damage, Spencer stole second base, his first of the year. Nodelman ended up walking #31, and then they pulled off a double steal! The Coons wanted the win, and they wanted it NOW. Fortunately, their surprise terror was up, and Tim Stalker rammed a bouncer past John Muller for a 2-run single! Shane Walter hit one right back into the pitcher's mitten, after which Tovias batted for Surginer in the cleanup spot. Turning on a 3-1 pitch, Elias doubled to left center to add another run. Joe Medina replaced Nodelman, walked Nunley, but then got Briscoe to ground out. So, that's a 3-run lead. Who wants a save? Since Chavez would go on short rest tomorrow and we had Cowen penciled in as piggyback to him, we had to pick between Brotman and Lee, who would face a mixed bag of batters. The fourth and fifth batters of the inning figured to be additional righties, so Jimmy Lee was sent into the game. Orozco flew out to right, after which Lee allowed a single to Leal, a double to Manny Ramirez, threw a wild pitch to score a run, and walked Joe Chappelle. At this point, and with the winning run in the box, I didn't even trust him with the right-handed batting reliever Medina… Here comes Brotman! He struck out Medina (in a full count) while Chappelle stole second base. The tying runs on second and third with two outs, left-handed bats were coming up with Espinosa, who had a golden sombrero already. HAVE HIM, BILLY! That sombrero became platinum after the count ran full. 7-5 Blighters. Stalker 3-6, 2B, 4 RBI; Tovias (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Briscoe 2-6, 3B, RBI; Delgado 3-5, RBI; Roberts 7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K; Surginer 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-0);

Can't get no relief, or much pitching at all…

New York lost their second straight upstate in Salem, which meant that the Coons hit FIRST PLACE at the conclusion of this circus game!

For the Sunday affair it was Chavez, Cowen, and then who knows how many pitches we have to scrape from the bottom of the barrel, because nobody else is particularly well rested. Everybody had pitched on three of the last four days, without exception.

Game 3
POR: LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – RF Alfaro – P Chavez
NAS: CF Espinosa – 1B Perkins – SS Muller – RF Orozco – LF Rainey – 3B T. Fuentes – C Leal – 2B Otis – P S. Baker

Stalker reached on an error, stole second, and then scored on Gonzalez' double to left center, which was the first of three 2-out base hits in a row for Portland. Mora also hit an RBI double, but to right center, and Nunley cracked an RBI single into shallow right. Tovias walked, but Alfaro grounded out, keeping the score at 3-0. This was in fact the first of two consecutive 2-out RBI singles for Nunley, and both would plate Abel Mora from second base. The next one came in the fourth, with Mora then reaching on a Tony Fuentes error and stealing his way to second. And how was Chavez? Pretty fine so far. The Coons' short-rested starter was not seriously hurt through the first three, holding on to the 4-0 lead. Rainey doubled in the second, but was stranded. Chavez made an error to put Espinosa on in the third, but the runner was quickly caught stealing. Chavez also led off the fourth with a single, Cookie also singled, but Stalker hit into a double play (!!) and Walter flew out. A leadoff walk to Perkins in the bottom 4th did not precede instant elimination, but the Blue Sox hit two deep flies off Chavez in the inning, and maybe Cowen should find his cleats and pants and start stretching, and why the **** is his throwing paw stuck in a honey jar?

Top 5th, Gonzalez hit a leadoff single, the ninth off Baker, then stole his first bag of the year by accident as Mora missed the hitting part of the hit-and-run, nor did Gonzalez wait for contact. He was safe, and two pitches later he was on third base when Mora singled to right. Nunley hit into a double play, which at least brought the run in… you can almost forgive it with a 4-0 lead, now 5-0. Almost. You could also almost – almost – forgive Espinosa, who had cost his team enough already on the weekend, for driving in two off a worsening Chavez in the bottom 5th, smashing a 2-run double that Mora couldn't catch up with. Spencer batted for Chavez in the sixth, and we'd throw in Cowen now to get length, any which way. Cowen was behind against all batters he faced in the bottom 6th, walking Muller leading off, but the runner never moved off first base in the inning as poor contact stymied the Sox. Muller would also be the batter to blow up the Coons' lead in the seventh. Cowen sucked, still, put on Otis with a single and then walked two more. Perkins' sac fly got the score to 5-3, and Muller's homer flipped it in the home team's favor. Orozco singled off Cowen, knocking him from the game for good. Jimmy Lee replaced him, threw one pitch, and Alfaro caught up with Rainey's screaming drive to get the third out after all.

Nunley led off the eighth with a single to left, with Bullock running for him. It was a wasteful move, with Tovias hitting into a double play almost immediately, and Alfaro flew out to left. Brotman held on to the game in the bottom 8th before the Sox sent Nodelman into the ninth inning. Wait – that's your closer? You poor things! Oh how I wanted the team to rip him another hole …! It would be Graves leading off in the #9 hole, drawing a walk. After that, however, Cookie flew to right, and Stalker grounded into a force at second base. Walter popped up a 1-1 pitch, foul, but Armando Leal made a sliding catch, gear still mostly on, in foul ground to end the game and deny the Coons the sweep. 6-5 Blue Sox. Gonzalez 3-4, 2B, RBI; Mora 2-4, 2B, RBI; Nunley 3-4, 2 RBI;

I would not say, however, that this was Chavez' fault. For once. This one was square on Cowen.

In other news

April 29 – A ruptured finger tendon in his throwing hand will cost PIT SP Joao Joo (2-3, 4.26 ERA) up to four months on the DL.
April 30 – Ruptured finger tendons galore, with CIN SP Jason Clements (1-2, 5.54 ERA) the next victim. He will also miss four months at least.
May 1 – Sacramento loses RF/LF Pablo Sanchez (.314, 2 HR, 10 RBI) to a sprained ankle. He might miss most of May.
May 1 – OCT SS Lorenzo Rivera (.323, 0 HR, 14 RBI) hits the DL with a broken finger that should cost him six weeks.
May 2 – The Continental League's Hitter of the Month of April, DEN INF/LF/RF Rich Hereford (.356, 6 HR, 18 RBI) would miss most of May with a strained rib cage muscle.
May 3 – The Scorpions trade for the Rebels' 1B Luis Moreira (.208, 2 HR, 11 RBI), sending RF Dan Dalton (.333, 1 HR, 8 RBI) to Richmond.
May 4 – LAP INF Nick Herman (.315, 1 HR, 28 RBI) goes down with a herniated disc that will keep him off the field for at least a month.
May 5 – IND 1B Mike Rucker (.204, 7 HR, 16 RBI) drives in seven on three hits, a double and two home runs, in a 16-2 rout of the Miners.

Complaints and stuff

First place!! Well, by a whisker, but it counts! I have already sent a complementary fruit basket on the way to Salem for sweeping the Crusaders. Ah, dang, I should have delivered it in person … it's been 35 years since they beat us in the World Series, 4-2, and I think that's the first time they have been useful since.

The Elks' Bryce Sudar was Pitcher of the Month in the CL; there is something on the rise in that pot hole they play in, and I don't like it! Well, the standings reveal as much.

I don't like Omar Alfaro's line…

I also received a nice letter from Mrs. Sheila Brotman, née Rosenzweig, who lamented that her son William Baruch Brotman would not acquiesce to her wishes and not do work on the holy Sabbath. She appealed to me to talk sense into her boy and pointed out how a man of my standing had to possess profound wisdom and would see the importance of conforming to the orders of the holiest of days.

First off, if I had any wisdom at all, I would have packed up and gone fishing about 25 years ago. Second… what is it, Maud? – What do you mean, she's right? – How can pitching be forbidden on the Sabbath, there was no baseball thousands of years ago…!

Apparently, spinning (fibres) and erasing (batters?) are forbidden, but then again I saw Billy walk out of the clubhouse devouring a sandwich with plenty of bacon on it last Friday night, so maybe spinning or making steps while pitching are our least concern with this forsaken soul.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have a combined total of five players in the top 5 of all the extra-base hit categories at this point, with Jon Gonzalez being second in both doubles and home runs, Tim Stalker being second in both doubles and triples, and Cookie Carmona being fourth in triples.

That is something we haven't had for a while. Maybe the extra-base prowess will mask our inability to walk at any rate?

Nah, probably not.