[Westheim]

This week took almost six hours to play. I suggest that you appreciate it accordingly, and it doesn't hurt any of you to pat my back from time to time and leave a consoling 'There, there.' comment.

This is the exhaustion speaking.

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Raccoons (25-24) vs. Condors (23-26) – May 27-29, 2024

The Coons had been swept on the weekend, the Condors had even lost four straight and had gone 1-9 in their last ten, and neither team was hitting very well. The Condors were eighth in runs scored, one spot behind the Critters, and tenth in runs allowed in the CL, even six spots behind the Critters. We had a 2-1 lead in the season series and really could use a few more W's against … anybody.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (3-3, 2.45 ERA) vs. Jose Menendez (5-4, 3.49 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (2-6, 4.21 ERA) vs. George Griffin (1-5, 4.31 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (4-3, 4.33 ERA) vs. Jeff Little (3-3, 4.57 ERA)

Where have other teams hidden all the left-handed pitchers? In the Condors rotation! We'd meet at least one here in Jeff Little after regularly going without recently, and this would only be the ninth left-handed opposition for us this year.

Game 1
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – CF Boggs – LF O. Larios – 3B M. Matias – C Sanford – RF Hollar – 1B McNeal – 2B T. Casillas – P Jo. Menendez
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gutierrez – C Tovias – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – P Roberts

Mark Roberts would fail badly against the 1-2 batters in the order. Bob Rojas and Robby Boggs both got on base in the first inning, which got derailed by Omar Larios' double play grounder, and they would get on again in the third inning. Rojas hit a 2-out single to left, stole second base, his 12th of the year, then came home on Boggs' single to center. Larios struck out, but that was the first run in the game, with the Critters so far hitless against Jose Menendez, who did not reappear for the bottom of the third, ostensibly having suffered an injury. The Coons got their first base hits off Sam Lowery in the bottom 3rd, back-to-back 2-out RBI doubles by Shane Walter and Abel Mora. Mike Grigsby had initially reached with a walk.

Through five, Roberts struck out only two batters, but also allowed only one base runner that was not named Rojas or Boggs, with Andy McNeal hitting a leadoff single in the fifth inning, but he got immediately washed up in Tony Casillas' double play grounder to short. He went on to strike out three in the sixth, though the inning also saw Boggs on base again, and a 4-pitch walk to Omar Larios. The Raccoons remained dead from the waste up at the plate, allowing Tony Casillas to tie the game on a 2-out brain fart by Roberts that hung in the middle of the plate in the seventh inning. It was Casillas' fifth homer of the season. Roberts lasted eight eventually, being all but forgotten by his team. The ninth saw McNeal single off Lillis with two outs, then being pinch-run for by Danny Zarate. There was just no catching Zarate stealing, and Tovias wouldn't come close when Zarate took second base. Lillis drilled Casillas before fanning PH Juan Estrada, giving the Coons, who had not gotten a hit in hours, a nominal chance to walk off. Right-hander Jeremy Waite's second pitch in the bottom 9th was taken to center for a double by Jon Gonzalez. Tovias didn't matter but in a double play context, so was walked intentionally. When Cookie grounded out, Alfaro was walked intentionally as well. Briscoe pinch-hit for Grigsby, whiffed, and Jarod Spencer grounded out to third base, stranding all runners and sending the game to extra innings…

The Raccoons got scoreless innings from Brotman and Surginer, while wasting Cookie singling and stealing in the bottom 11th, before Juan Barzaga smacked Casillas (again…) in the 12th and allowed the run to score on a single by Adrian Rojas, who had replaced Bob Rojas pinch-hitting earlier. Spencer reached on a throwing error to begin the 12th inning, representing the tying run on second base and bringing up the unproductive top of the order. While Tim Stalker carefully maintained his oh-fer, flying out to right, Shane Walter singled to center, allowing the quick Spencer to score and tie the score again. Mora then got a ball past Rich Walsh at first base for a double, but there was no way running Walter against Chris Hollar's murder arm. Gonzalez batted with the winning run on third base and one out, which was all you could wish for, AND against a left-handed pitcher in Mike Peterson. Except, no, another intentional walk, and here comes Tovias, who flew out on a 3-1 pitch to shallow left, and Cookie fouled out next to third base. And the band played on into the 14th, where Barzaga issued a leadoff walk to Hollar, who was on third base with two outs and the Condors' bench was depleted, so Peterson batted. Barzaga had him at 0-2 before balking in the go-ahead run STUPIDLY, and that would be the difference in the game. 4-3 Condors. Roberts 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K and 1-2;

I am really starting to hate this team.

Game 2
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – RF Hollar – 3B M. Matias – LF O. Larios – C Sanford – 1B McNeal – CF Boggs – 2B T. Casillas – P Griffin
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – RF Alfaro – LF Graves – 3B Bullock – P Chavez

Jon Gonzalez homered in the first inning, cashing in Shane Walter and his single for a quick 2-0 lead for Chavez, who could use any run he could get usually, and never got enough, and this game was not going to be an exception with Pat Sanford hitting a leadoff jack in the second inning right away. Tim Stalker, who had laid dying for about a week at this point, awoke for a 2-out, 2-run single in the bottom 2nd, driving in Graves (double) and Bullock (walk), whom Chavez had bunted over.

Bob Rojas being caught stealing by Tovias spared Chavez any damage in the third inning, and Tovias would come up big again in the bottom of the inning, putting a ball in play and scoring on the play, but it was not an inside-the-park job; let me elaborate. He came to the plate with one out and Abel Mora at first base, then smacked hard to right and up the line. Mora was waved around third on the double, with Hollar beaming in a throw from deep right. Mora was slapped down by Sanford in front of the plate – out there – with Tovias bidding for third base, and the Condors' catcher saw a 9-2-6 double play developing, but threw the ball wildly past Mike Matias into leftfield, allowing Tovias to pick himself up and scamper home to score, 5-1.*

Sanford hit another homer in the fourth, cutting the gap to 5-2, and Chavez would get rid of it entirely in the sixth inning, putting Rojas aboard and getting taken yard – massively – by Chris Hollar. Matias doubled, Chavez balked him to third base, and conceded the run on Sanford's groundout to short, knotting the tallies at five. That was also his last inning. Vince D and Kipple held the fort in the seventh, but the Coons wasted a leadoff single by Cookie (having entered in a double switch with Kipple) in the bottom 7th, and Kipple allowed singles to Hollar and Matias in the eighth inning. Surginer replaced him, fell behind 3-1 to Sanford, and then served up a bomb, Sanford's third in the game. That put the Condors up by three after being down by four not so long ago, but the Coons were not dead yet. The tying run was at the plate in the bottom 8th, when Cookie was up with two outs and lined out to Kyle Mims in right, but the chance was even better in the ninth, with Walter and Mora getting on against Lorenzo Romero, which brought up Gonzalez with one out. A wild pitch advanced the runners, but Gonzalez popped out to Casillas at second base. That brought up Tovias, an odd hero earlier in the game, and he continued to build the foundations of a legacy, drumming a 400-footer to right center that tied this malicious mirage of a ballgame at eight when Romero had been one out away from saving it! ELIAS TOVIAS!! There would be two on again in the 11th with Gonzalez up and one out, now against right-hander Markus Bates. He struck out, but there was still a Tovias coming around here! And that Tovias… grounded out, and the game went to the 12th. In things refreshingly unusual continuing to occur, Brett Lillis pitched two shutout innings in relief between the 11th and 12th, then was to bunt over Omar Alfaro after a leadoff walk in the bottom 12th. He failed, badly, getting Alfaro forced out. That brought up Bullock, but I was not going to waste a bench piece NOW in a game that could well go 20 innings… Bullock murdered Bates' initial pitch, a long liner into deep right and past Mims by a good amount. Lillis ran like he never had run before on the double, was waved around third base in desperation, and Mims' throw was off into foul ground, leaving Sanford no chance for a play, as Bullock walked off the Coons! 9-8 Blighters. Stalker 2-6, 2 RBI; Walter 2-5, RBI; Mora 2-4, 2 BB; Tovias 2-6, HR, 2B, 4 RBI*, Graves 1-2, BB, 2B; Delgado (PH) 1-1; Lee 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K; Lillis 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (2-4);

Hip, hip, Tovias! … there is no rhythm to that, and I will come up with something else.

And please, can we get the Wednesday game over in regulation? Although there WILL be an off day on Thursday, so there's at least that…

Game 3
TIJ: SS B. Rojas – CF Boggs – LF O. Larios – 3B M. Matias – C Sanford – RF Hollar – 1B McNeal – 2B T. Casillas – P Little
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Spencer – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – C Delgado – 3B Grigsby – P Gutierrez

Sanford hit quite the drive his first time up, but it went to the depths of center and ended up with Abel Mora, not doing damage against struggling Rico Gutierrez. Mora also caught a real rocket by Matias, hit with two outs in the third inning and runners on the corners. Both those runners, Little(!) and Larios, had reached on balls… nope, Gutierrez was not well, but at least he also wasn't scored upon in the early innings. Runners were on the corners again with two out in the fourth inning, which included a leadoff double by Sanford, who should come with a bright yellow warning label attached, and then an intentional walk to Casillas to bring up Little, a left-handed batter. I know, I know – the most dangerous game. Rico hung a K on him, though, his first in the game. With the Raccoons offense not doing anything noteworthy in particular, Gutierrez struck out three in the fifth inning, with a courtesy single by Boggs in between those.

The game remained a scoreless duel through seven innings, with five mostly weak hits for the Condors, and four entirely weak hits for the Coons. Gutierrez entered the eighth on 92 pitches, but remained in with Omar Larios leading off, who was a lefty, and Coons philosophy does not encourage exchanging lefties for lefties on the hill. Larios came DAMN close to homering to right, Alfaro making a hasty catch on the track, so that was Gutierrez' last man, especially with Sanford going to appear within the inning. Vince D came on, but saw a left-handed pinch-hitter in Rich Walsh, whom he walked, and who then was swiftly run for by Danny Zarate again. Zarate took second off Delgado, but Sanford and Hollar both struck out, keeping the Condors off the scoreboard. Little was still going in the bottom 8th, retiring Grigsby and Briscoe before yielding singles to Stalker and Spencer, and that was hands down the best Coons effort in the entire game… Abel Mora ran a full count, then grounded out to short… Nobody reached base in the ninth, and this game went to extras AGAIN. The contest didn't remain scoreless for much longer, with Robby Boggs homering off Billy Brotman in the tenth inning, and Juan Estrada reached on a Stalker throwing error. Sanford was walked intentionally to get to Hollar, who walked unintentionally, all of this with two outs. Andy McNeal grounded sharply to third base, but Grigsby remained in control, ending the inning with three men stranded. Bottom 10th, the tying run was on right away with Mike Peterson nicking Tony Delgado. Grigsby whiffed. Walter whiffed. Stalker grounded out to short. 1-0 Condors. Spencer 3-4; Gutierrez 7.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K;

Raccoons (26-26) vs. Indians (22-31) – May 31-June 2, 2024

The Indians were at the bottom of the Continental League in terms of runs scored, and they were also near the bottom in runs allowed, sitting 11th. Their run differential was an unsightly -65, which didn't lend itself to playing watchable baseball, but here was a team with a +3 run differential that was also a tax on your nerves. Also, the Indians were playing .415 overall, but they were 5-1 against Portland this season…

Projected matchups:
Travis Garrett (4-1, 2.97 ERA) vs. Tom Shumway (3-4, 2.99 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (3-1, 3.96 ERA) vs. Sam Kramer (3-1, 2.73 ERA)
Mark Roberts (3-3, 2.43 ERA) vs. Jordan Caldwell (2-8, 5.26 ERA)

The left-hander Shumway would lead off this series, and we'd miss the fillers in the back of their rotation that had arrived there thanks to injuries to Tristan Broun and Alvin Smith. Brody Folk was also on the DL, among bits and pieces.

Of course, Saturday will see the Nick Brown Hall of Fame Bobbleheads being given out, so I expect Yusneldan to get routed and the rest of the outcasts to be no-hit through seven at least. I haven't had a parade that didn't get rained on for as long as I can remember.

Game 1
IND: CF Linnell – 3B J. Jackson – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – LF D. Morales – C Calhoun – 2B Stevenson – SS Burns – P Shumway
POR: SS Stalker – LF Spencer – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – 2B Walter – C Delgado – 3B Grigsby – P Garrett

Yes, that was former Raccoon Josh Stevenson misplaced at the keystone, but we will laugh about that – maybe – after turning that 1-5 tide. Given that we had "Tragic" Travis pitching, success was all but a given, and the Indians reached three times the first run through their order, all of the runners getting on via the walk… Justin Jackson's 1-out double in the third was the first base hit for either team, Garrett went on to walk Cesar Martinez, then got blasted by Mike Rucker's 12th homer of the season, a no-doubter on a lazy ball in the middle of the plate on 3-2. Garrett would issue another free pass to Justin Calhoun in the inning, giving him five in three innings, and no strikeouts. He would not complete another inning, walking Richard Linnell and Martinez in the fourth before being yanked. Kipple replaced him, walked Rucker, also walked Danny Morales to force in a run, allowed another run on Justin Calhoun's single (who hurt himself in the process and was replaced by Tony Perez), and then threw a wild pitch to score another run against Stevenson, who also eventually walked. The Raccoons, who had one base hit to their names, gave up on the game right there, throwing Barzaga into the fray. At least he could entice an Arrowhead to make contact, and Kyle Burns flew out to left, stranding a full set in a 6-0 game that was completely out of hand.

Next, the paying crowd had to endure an hourlong rain delay (hey, still not summer in Portland, or even spring), but after the delay Shumway was out of whack, too, bleeding three runs in the bottom 4th on a Mora hit, an Alfaro homer, a Walter double, and then Grigsby's 2-out RBI single. Gonzalez drove in Mora the following inning, but the Coons were still two short and already elbow-deep in their bullpen again, which eventually collapsed. Billy Brotman allowed back-to-back homers in the eighth to Martinez and Rucker, although that was still not the end. Shane Walter's single, another single by pinch-hitting Elias Tovias, and then Rafael Urbano losing Cookie Carmona on four pitches loaded the bases in the bottom 8th, and Tim Stalker came up with one out. Urbano's first pitch found Stalker's hip, pushing in a run and bringing up Jarod Spencer with the go-ahead run. Jarod flew out to left, and shallow enough that Danny Morales' arm was a real threat to Elias Tovias at third base. Southpaw Mike Homa replaced Urbano against Abel Mora, who cracked a 2-run single to left in a full count. Exit Homa, enter Luis Calderon, a righty, to go after Jon Gonzalez, and when we wanted to win this after all, we had to win it right NOW. Jon hit a ball into left for a single, the tying run scored, but now the Coons had to bat for Kevin Surginer, who had been penciled in for the ninth inning. Cory Briscoe ran another full count against the Indians before ticking a ball into right for another single. Abel Mora was flying around third to score largely unimpeded, and somehow ****ing Travis Garrett had gotten off the hook in a 5-run inning now. We were not quite done yet; Calderon served up an RBI double to Walter, 10-8, before Jackson made a strong play on Delgado's grounder to left. THAT one ended the inning. Now, that 10-8 lead went to Brett Lillis in the top of the ninth, which didn't mean he was reinstated as a closer, but was more an indicator as to the depletion of the bullpen at this point. He had the Indians a strike away from going down in order before drilling Kyle Burns with a 1-2, but at least Rich Mendez had the decency to ground out to Stalker before another extra-inning circus could break out. 10-8 Furballs!? Mora 3-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Briscoe (PH) 1-1, RBI; Walter 3-5, 3 2B, RBI; Tovias (PH) 1-1; Carmona 0-0, BB; Barzaga 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

I feel dizzy.

Coming up – bobbleheads! Also, Juan Ortega (0-1, 7.71 ERA) instead of Sam Kramer; Ortega, 38, was one of their replacements. Here was a … I don't want to say 'distinguished'… he was an All Star, once, and he did lead the Federal League in strikeouts twice, many moons ago. His career ERA is 4.71, and if he sticks around a wee bit longer he's got a good shot at 200 career losses. This was only the third season in which he had appeared in the Continental League after being part of the '18 Elks and '20 Falcons.

Game 2
IND: CF Linnell – 2B R. Mendez – RF C. Martinez – 1B M. Rucker – LF D. Morales – C T. Perez – 3B J. Jackson – SS Burns – P J. Ortega
POR: SS Stalker – 2B Walter – CF Mora – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – LF Carmona – RF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – P Delgadillo

There was somebody aboard against Delgadillo in every inning, although he always got a break either through a double play like in the second and fourth innings, or with Tovias throwing out a runner, like in the third inning. The Raccoons really had given their all on this frigid June Saturday afternoon, with a huge pregame bonanza in Nick Brown's honor, who also threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the game. Offensively, the team was not inclined to embarrass Ortega and the Indians, unfortunately, with only two soft hits falling in during the first three innings.

We were in the sixth, with an erratic Delgadillo already at 100 pitches, when the Indians had two men on in Linnell (single) and Martinez (walk). When Mike Rucker hit a deep drive to left I was emotionally ready to kiss this cruel day goodbye, but Cookie Carmona made a flying catch on the warning track to keep the scoreboard empty. Morales grounded out on the next pitch, keeping Delgadillo unscored upon in a 6-inning outing that was otherwise not spectacular. Abel Mora's leadoff double in the bottom 6th presented the vague chance to give him a W, somehow, anyhow, but the Arrowheads passed on Gonzalez uncontested to bring up Tovias. They were really begging for a blast by Elias, whom the league still didn't accept as a legit (.253/.321/.414) hitter. His groundout to Rich Mendez did nothing to cement his standing amongst his peers and their leaders, but at least advanced the runners, and Cookie's fly to Morales was good enough for Mora to scamper home with the game's first run. Alfaro got four wide ones, with Graves batting for Grigsby, but flying out to right. Vince D retired the Indians in order in the seventh inning, the bottom of which saw Walter double and Mora single, teaming up for a 2-out run. Three Coons relievers stumbled through the eighth inning while barely avoiding a 3-run blast by Mike Rucker off Surginer, which Cookie took care of, while the Indians got eighth innings from Ortega, somehow. Kevin Surginer stuck around for the ninth, facing three right-handers starting with Morales, who singled sharply to left. Perez flew out softly to Cookie, but Jackson singled. Kyle Burns went down looking, with Josh Stevenson batting as the last out of the Indians here. He wouldn't dare hurting us and ruining our good day, would he? The first pitch Surginer offered was mauled to centerfield, deep, far beyond Mora, and caromed around for a triple. That of course blew the lead, and if Maud hadn't hidden my gun so well, I'd now blow a hole into my numb head. Linnell hit a drive to right that Alfaro managed to catch up with, but here we were again, looking like utter fools. Even Nick Brown in the stands looked dismayed.

Fellow southpaw Billy Brotman struck out the side with vigor in the tenth inning, bringing up the meat of the order with a chance to beat Nick Salinas, a right-hander with middling success. The winning run reached base with nobody out in truly Portlandian fashion, Shane Walter hitting a ****ty hobbler that Salinas threw away for two bases. Mora lined out to short, Gonzalez was still not pitched to, and Tovias hit into a double play. Juan Barzaga would manage to not get murdered in the top 11th, after which Cookie hit a leadoff double to right. COOKIIEEE!! Now, you little ****s, get that ****ING RUN HOME!! But first, an intentional walk to Omar Alfaro. Tony Delgado smacked into a double play, Daniel Bullock walked, and Stalker struck out to strand the winning run at third base. Barzaga cocked up a run in the 12th, but Jon Gonzalez ended a day with only strikeouts and intentional walks with a 2-out homer off Urbano in the bottom of the inning, keeping the music going here, with Portland almost out of pitching and close to signing Nick Brown to a 1-day deal.

The winning run appeared on third base once more in the bottom 13th, with Eric Davidson allowing 1-out singles to Alfaro and Delgado. That brought up Sluggin' Bullock again, but the bench was officially spent and there was nobody to send for him. He struck out. Stalker grounded out, stretching a futile day to 0-for-6. It was worse in the 14th, when Walter and Gonzalez singled, and now Jimmy Lee was up with one out and the winning run at second base. Lillis was the only reliever left, and there was no hitting for Lee anyway. We asked for a bunt, which would have the Arrowheads forced to pick between Cookie, who was in a deep slump, or Alfaro, who's middle name was probably Slump. They chose Cookie. Cookie flew out to shallow left. Lee had nothing left in the 15th and was replaced by Lillis mid-inning, with the Indians not moving the go-ahead run past first base after Rich Mendez' leadoff single. Bottom 15th, leadoff single by Alfaro up the middle. In a perfect world, Bullock would be batting eighth to bunt, and bring up Delgado in hope of a single, but that was not the way they were arranged in the batting order now. Delgado singled instead, Bullock couldn't even get a ****ing bunt down, but it didn't matter, with Mike Homa whiffing both Stalker and Walter… The Indians broke through in the 16th inning, scoring a run after two singles and a passed ball off the Lillis/Delgado battery. Jonathan Valle grounded out to short to get the run in. The Coons, past and present, seemed to have enough now. Jon Gonzalez hit a 1-out single after a weak groundout by Mora. Lillis bunted, not knowing any better. Cookie came up, grounded over to Zach Ingraham, whose throw to first was … wild. And into the dugout. Gonzalez was awarded home plate. Alfaro struck out to continue the game. Next inning… Delgado singled to center to lead off, and Bullock bunted him to second base against Mike Homa. Tim Stalker was 0-for-7 but there was no wisdom in sending Rico Gutierrez to bat instead… The Arrowheads WALKED HIM INTENTIONALLY. The Coons called a run-and-hit on Walter, who missed, and Delgado was dead at third base. HOWEVER … there was now speed on second base, and a single would probably - … oh hold on, Homa just threw a wild one. Stalker to third, where he remained on Walter's groundout to Ingraham.

The 18th inaugurated Jesus Chavez in relief with Lillis completely gassed, which had the positive side effects of wiping out another ****ty start for him while keeping tomorrow's starter unmolested. One wobbly inning with two deep drives that thankfully did no damage was enough for Chavez; Mike Homa's 38th pitch and the first of the bottom 18th was his last. Abel Mora branded it and sent it into the upper rows in rightfield to end this curiosity that would keep statisticians busy for a long time. 5-4 Blighters. Walter 3-9, 2B; Mora 3-9, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 3-6, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Alfaro 3-5, 3 BB; Delgado 3-4;

Five hours, 37 minutes, or in other words, two hours longer than Nick Brown, busy with endorsements, could hang around.

Roster moves for Sunday included Matt Nunley coming off the DL and replacing Mike Grigsby, who had started his career 5-for-10 and continued it 3-for-22. We also sent Juan Barzaga to St. Pete through no fault of his own, but we needed a rested long man in the worst way and that was going to be Adam Cowen.

The Sunday affair would also see as many players as possible to get a day of rest in case they played all 18 innings on Saturday, although Shane Walter and Jon Gonzalez remained the odd guys out that had no replacement and were back in the lineup.

Game 3
IND: SS Burns – 2B R. Mendez – LF D. Morales – RF C. Martinez – C T. Perez – 3B J. Jackson – CF Faulk – 1B Linnell – P Kramer
POR: CF Briscoe – LF Spencer – 2B Walter – 1B Gonzalez – C Tovias – 3B Nunley – RF Graves – SS Bullock – P Roberts

Mark Roberts was fully aware of him not getting rescued before he had thrown 110 pitches in this game, and if he surrendered 13 runs while doing so it would be his problem, not ours. Of course he was in a pickle from the start. The Indians hit three rockets in the first inning, all for outs, then stretched the second out forever with two infield singles and Sam Kramer running a full count before striking out to strand them. Kyle Burns hit a leadoff jack in the third, an inning that saw Mark Roberts over 60 pitches once it concluded. Portland pulled even in the bottom half of the same inning, with Daniel Bullock singling, stealing, scoring on Spencer's bloop single to left with two outs. While the Coons showed no sign of making a move for more runs, Roberts got torn up in the sixth inning. Danny Morales hit a leadoff jack, and after Tony Perez got on the Indians added two more runs with two down on A.J. Faulk's double and Richard Linnell's single. At 108 pitches, Roberts was done at this point, and we'd have Adam Cowen throw some garbage innings afterwards. In a perfect world, Roberts would have pitched a shutout, and Cowen could have taken a spot start to give Chavez a breather, but maybe we could switch Gutierrez into the Monday start instead.

All these plans were for after the thorough beating to be taken right here, of course. Burns hit his second leadoff jack of the game off Cowen in the seventh inning, stretching the Indians' lead to 5-1. While the Coons had a token attempt at making a comeback in the eighth, putting runners on the corners only for Jon Gonzalez to strike out, Cowen retired the next eight batters after the Burns homer, whiffing five. He also made sure Burns would not hit another home run, hitting Burns instead with two outs in the ninth, and Burns was then caught stealing by Tovias. This still made for a pretty ****ty loss developing. Cookie Carmona's pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom 9th, plating Nunley, who had doubled, was window dressing. 5-2 Indians. Walter 2-4, 2B; Graves 2-4, 2B; Carmona (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Cookie's late appearance has kept him from missing his first game of the season, although he has already come off the bench 10 times now. Jon Gonzalez is the only other Coon to feature in all contests this year.

In other news

May 27 – The Loggers beat the Falcons, 4-3, in 17 innings on a walkoff double by 1B Mike Gershkovich (.215, 3 HR, 15 RBI).
May 30 – The Thunder trade SP Alex Telles (5-2, 1.97 ERA) to the Wolves in exchange for unranked prospect 1B Alex Aleman.

Complaints and stuff

Some week, huh?

I do not remember a 3-game series in which all games went to extra innings. I just don't remember it. Glad that is off our bucket list. And Saturday, well… Saturday was some game, too. By the way, we have no off day until the 20th. Monday will see Rico Gutierrez moving up a day (but he will pitch on regular rest due to Thursday having been off), with Chavez getting two days to recover from his win in relief to start on Tuesday, all of this in New York. If Garrett blows again on Wednesday, I'll flog him personally.

Do you remember however Kaleb Babcock? We took him in the rule 5 draft from the Titans, then included him in the Abel Mora deal to the Wolves. Well, now this 28-year-old whatever-ya-wanna-call-him is 6-2 with a 2.56 ERA and wrapped up the Rookie AND Pitcher of the Month award in the Continental League with a 5-0, 0.71 ERA performance.

I guess I will congratulate myself on starting another great career and leave it at that. You know, how I started Dennis Fried's career.

MAUD, WHERE IS THE GUN!!??

And while we all know that Travis Garrett is ****, I still don't know who could replace him from AAA. It looks like I have to seek my fortunes in a trade…

Fun Fact: Pat Sanford's 3-homer game on Tuesday was the 43rd in ABL history, and the fourth in a losing effort, joining unlucky IND Victor Cornett (1991), DEN Liam Wedemeyer (1995), and ATL Gil Rockwell (2014).

It was also the sixth-ever 3-homer game against the Raccoons, and the fourth for the Condors. Sanford joined Raúl Vázquez (2002), Juan Diaz (2009, and not the infamous left-handed reliever), and Jimmy "Oatmeal" Eichelkraut (2017) in going yard thrice.

Other players to have done so against Portland? NYC Gabriel Ortíz (2010), LAP Stan Murphy (2012), NYC Jesus Ramirez (2014), ATL Jimmy Raupp (2017), and MIL Chris LeMoine (2020)…

*Elias Tovias incorrectly (in my opinion) received an RBI on this play.

And as if the week didn't drag on enough, the stupid game cost me another 30 minutes by not giving #42 back to Matt Nunley when he came off the DL. It claimed that the number was in use. It was not. Not on the major league roster, nor on ANY minor league team, nor on the DL, or even the minor league DL, or on waivers, or anywhere.

Except that the stupid game had retired it automatically for Angel Casas in 2022.

(bites into clenched fist real hard)