[Westheim]

The Raccoons – shredded by injuries – had Monday off and used it to make extensive roster realignments. Between Cookie, Mora, and Nunley, we had two DL assignments, and astonishingly it wasn't Cookie who went on the DL. Our rapidly deteriorating Panamanian coulda-been-Hall-of-Famer had a mild hamstring strain that would probably keep him to an assignment as onlooker against the Rebels that were coming to town, but he was available to pinch-hit. He might take the field again as early as the weekend.

No such luck for Nunley (hamstring) and Mora (high ankle sprain), both of whom went to the disabled list. Mora would be out for the rest of the month, but Nunley might even be back as quickly as at the end of the 15-day DL stint, which meant within 12 days as of Monday.

The Raccoons called up Justin Gerace and Mike Grigsby to replace their fallen starters, both of whom had already been up here briefly this year, had made anything but an impact, and also both had indifferent AAA seasons.

Raccoons (58-60) vs. Rebels (59-58) – August 13-15, 2024

Thoroughly middling, the Rebels were seventh in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed in the Federal League with a nondescript +3 run differential. They didn't stand out in any one important measure, except in stolen bases, where they ranked near the bottom of the league. The Raccoons had won the last two series against the Rebels in 2021 and 2022, but they still had their worst overall winning percentage of all clubs against these Rebels, at .444.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (8-7, 3.18 ERA) vs. Todd Wood (5-12, 4.03 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (12-5, 2.88 ERA) vs. Diego Mendoza jr. (8-8, 4.30 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (8-7, 3.87 ERA) vs. Alex Quintero (6-7, 3.81 ERA)

Quintero is their only left-handed batter, but there was also the possibility for them to utilize their off day and get right-hander Rich Guerrero (11-9, 4.20 ERA) into the series.

Like the Coons, the Rebels had a flurry of injuries, and exclusively to position players, including more than a standard roster's worth of middle infielders, including Ricky Luna (undiagnosed), Jorge Zamora (wrist), Manny Bozan (back), Emilio Farias (intercostal), and Josh Downing (knee).

Game 1
RIC: RF Dalton – 3B A. Alvarez – LF Correa – 1B Meade – CF Duarte – C Leal – 2B M. Reyes – SS Pelles – P Wood
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – CF Kopp – LF Graves – RF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – P Roberts

Yup, that lineup contained quite a few former Raccoons we did not like to remember unless absolutely necessary with Alex Duarte and Ruben Pelles, as well as genuine outfielder Marty Reyes (of the Knights most notably) being pressed into service in the infield. Duarte was up to bat with two outs in the first, and two outs in the second, which already hinted at things going ABSOLUTELY AMAZING for Mark Roberts, the legendary disappointment of a pseudo-ace. Duarte flew out in the first, but drove in two in the second, running the score to 5-0, all runs having been plated with two outs in the second inning on a chain of 2-out singles that had infuriatingly started with Todd Wood and one man aboard. Dan Dalton hit an RBI single. Adrian Alvarez hit an RBI single. Jon Correa hit an RBI single. Ray Meade – for a change – walked. And then Duarte knocked in two, alas, 5-0. Tim Stalker got hold of Armando Leal's grounder to finally end the dismal inning of doom. How on earth did Rabid Roberts intend to ever make up for this kind of shenanigan!? Bottom 2nd, the oft-battered Wood allowed Graves, Alfaro, and Grigsby all aboard with nobody out, pulling up the Coons' starting pitcher, and hitting for him sure was tempting, but our bench was mostly composed of Laurel & Hardy types by now… as was the actual lineup. One of those was Roberts, batting .234 to challenge certain established position players. Wood hung a 2-1 breaking ball to him and Roberts got it, driving it to deep right center and THE **** OUTTA HERE!! – GRAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!

Okay, can we get serious now? In all seriousness, Roberts hit a ****ing slam, but also was ****ing toast by the fourth inning. Ray Meade hit a 2-run homer off him, extending a previously rapidly reduced Rebels lead to 7-4, and after that he went on to allow a single to Duarte and drilled Leal. Ryan Corkum worked his way out of that mess. Wood also wouldn't live forever (and who wanted that even…?), putting Spencer and Stalker aboard in the sixth inning, with both of them driven in by Elias Tovias' double to left, which closed the gap to 7-6, and the tying run in scoring position with one out for a struggling butcher boy corps in Gonzalez, whom reliever Alex Silva got to ground out to Marty Reyes, and Kopp, who also found Reyes for the third out.

Silva got out of the sixth-inning jam, but not out of the seventh-inning jam. Alfaro walked, scored on Grigsby's double to tie, and then Spencer hit a 2-out RBI single to zoom ahead, 8-7. After Stalker grounded out, the Coons had just enough juice left in the pen to line up Lillis and Snyder to nurse that late lead into a W – unless Lillis and Snyder would manage to screw up. It sure wasn't Lillis for once, who retired Pelles, Andres Castro, and Dalton in order, but Snyder, who got nothing else to work with, surrendered a leadoff jack to Alvarez in the ninth, which excruciatingly was also Alvarez' first home run of the season in some 200 attempts. Bottom 9th, an aged Ian Van Meter tried to extend the game to extras, but allowed a leadoff double to Zach Graves. Van Meter had been removed from the rotation at the beginning of the month after being a mainstay in the Rebels' five-up-five-down for 11 1/2 years. The Coons loaded the bases with an intentional walk to Alfaro and – after Grigsby whiffed – Gerace reaching on an error by Ray Meade. Spencer up with one out, and casually batting .360 by now, popped out… but just before I could ram a knife into my neck Van Meter issued ball four to Tim Stalker to end the game anyway. 9-8 Coons. Spencer 2-5, BB, RBI; Stalker 2-5, BB, RBI; Tovias 4-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Graves 3-5, 2B; Grigsby 2-5, 2B, RBI; Carmona (PH) 1-1, 2B; Lee 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

The beleaguered Jimmy Lee would have gotten the W for his very relieving outing if Snyder hadn't fudged up the earlier 8-7 lead.

Game 2
RIC: RF Dalton – 3B A. Alvarez – LF Correa – 1B Meade – CF Duarte – C Leal – 2B M. Reyes – SS Pelles – P D. Mendoza jr.
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – RF Kopp – CF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – LF Gerace – P Gutierrez

In terms of quirkiness, both teams in this contest had an error on their ledgers before anybody landed a base hit. Gutierrez mishandled an Alvarez grounder for an error after already hitting Dan Dalton, but wiggled out of the first inning with the help of a double play, while Alvarez then dropped a foul pop by Tim Stalker, who ended up grounding out regardless. Elias Tovias then hit a 2-out double, but was stranded when Gonzalez walked and Kopp whiffed. It took three more innings for anybody to break into the R column on the board, and then it was Kopp crossing the plate. Forcing out Gonzalez – who had walked – in the bottom 4th he then made it to third on a botched 1-out hit-and-run with Alfaro at the plate, on which Leal's throw zipped past Pelles' glove, and Alfaro flew out to center on the following pitch and deep enough for Kopp to score on the sac fly.

The night after a 17-run game, scoring was in short supply in this middle game, with the Coons lame in the paws and Gutierrez not exactly dominating, but reliably trudging through the innings without letting anything spiral out of control. Through six, he had only two strikeouts, but was still tossing a 3-hit shutout. The Raccoons also only had three base hits through six, with Tovias' double in the bottom 6th not being turned into a permanent addition to the 1-0 lead by either Gonzalez or Kopp, which was too frequent an observation right now to make one comfortable. Gutierrez got irretrievably stuck in the eighth inning, allowing a 1-out single to Dalton, and then walking Alvarez. Vince D was thrown into the game to rescue what was still eligible for rescue, whiffed Jon Correa, then got Ray Meade – a genuine danger – to ground out to short, keeping the 1-0 in shape. The 1-0 was off to Snyder after that, and this time he wouldn't encounter feared sluggers like puny Adrian Alvarez and retired the Rebels in order. 1-0 Coons! Tovias 3-4, 2 2B; Alfaro 0-1, BB, RBI; Gutierrez 7.1 IP, 4 H, 0 2 BB, 2 K, W (13-5);

This was quite the squeezer, but gee, we'll sure take anything as long as theoretical hopes still exist, seven games behind the Titans as of Wednesday night.

The Rebels got more bad news on Thursday, with Ricky Luna (.265, 2 HR, 16 RBI) being revealed to have ruptured a medial collateral ligament (whatever the heck that was) and being out well into next season.

Game 3
RIC: RF Dalton – 3B A. Alvarez – LF Correa – 1B Meade – CF Duarte – C Leal – 2B Pelles – SS Cameron – P Quintero
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – C Delgado – 1B Gonzalez – CF Kopp – 3B Grigsby – RF Alfaro – LF Gerace – P Delgadillo

Further aiding me in questioning my every move and decision was Ruben Pelles' 2-run homer in the second inning that put the Rebels ahead against Delgadillo, who was not exactly tricking anybody in this game, and was considerably less fortunate than Gutierrez had been the day before. The Coons made up a run in the bottom of the same inning on Alfaro's 2-out RBI single. Top 4th, Meade hit a leadoff double and was brought around on two groundouts to score, extending the lead to 3-1, but the Coons had the bases full and nobody out in the bottom of that inning against Quintero, who walked Kopp and Grigsby before allowing a soft single to Alfaro. This brought up Gerace, batting 2-for-23 in his career and zip since being recalled. He didn't get much chance to harm his own team; Quintero's first pitch to him was very much wild, plated Kopp, and after that the Rebels chose to walk Gerace intentionally to bring up the pitcher. Unfortunately for them, Delgadillo bounced a ball past the debutee Joe Cameron, the 24-year-old replacement for the umpteenth middle infielder succumbed to injury for the Rebels. Annoyingly, the Portland top of the order more or less instantly killed a potentially huge inning. While the Raccoons took the 4-3 lead on Jarod Spencer's run-scoring double play grounder, Stalker's grounder already ended the inning.

Delgadillo got three quick outs in the fifth, but the sixth was a tougher chew for him. Correa singled, Meade walked, putting the go-ahead run aboard with nobody out. Alex Duarte was primed for trouble and drove a ball to left center, but Gerace was useful in D at least and caught up with the rocket, preventing Correa from going further than third base on the tag. Leal also flew to left, Gerace made another catch, and Correa tagged again to go for home, but was thrown out thanks to Gerace's lightning strike, ending the sixth. On to the bottom 7th, Stalker and Kopp were on the corners against Dan Lambert, the former Indians starter. With an insurance run probably a strong idea, the Coons sent Zach Graves to bat for Grigsby against the right-hander, and that move paid off with a hard single to right that allowed Stalker to score that vaunted insurance run. Alfaro then fouled out. Delgadillo struck out Dalton and Alvarez in the eighth, but then walked Correa, bringing up Meade as the tying run, which also meant that the call went to the pen. Vince D lost Meade on balls, then K'ed Duarte, bailing another starter out of the eighth inning in this series. The Coons wouldn't score in the bottom 8th despite Gerace's first base hit since returning, and Corkum came into the ninth inning with the 5-3 lead in deference to Snyder's long and ultimately unsuccessful outing on Tuesday before his crisper performance on Wednesday. And – heck – Corkum was a closer, too! And he also retired the side in order! 5-3 Furballs! Kopp 3-3, BB; Graves (PH) 1-1, RBI; Alfaro 2-4, RBI; Delgadillo 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (9-7) and 1-1, 2 BB, RBI;

A sweep! Just when we were on the brink of elimination.

Well, with the next team up, we are surely still on it.

Raccoons (61-60) vs. Crusaders (65-56) – August 16-18, 2024

This series was beyond crucial. It was so beyond crucial, there were no words for it, and this was without the Crusaders even leading the division. They were 2 1/2 behind the Titans, but the Coons couldn't afford to fall further behind either of those teams. They HAD TO WIN this series, ****ing up a 6-game winning streak for New York in the process. The Crusaders were seventh in runs scored, first in runs allowed, with a top 3 rotation and the best bullpen in the land. The Coons were 4-7 against them in '24.

Projected matchups:
Jack Sander (7-6, 4.09 ERA) vs. Alejandro Mendez (8-8, 3.97 ERA)
Jesus Chavez (7-12, 3.93 ERA) vs. Ben Jacobson (6-4, 3.69 ERA)
Mark Roberts (8-7, 3.49 ERA) vs. Ozzie Pereira (10-9, 3.58 ERA)

No injuries for New York, and Jacobson is their only left-handed starter.

Game 1
NYC: 1B X. Garcia – CF Douglas – RF Ellis – 3B Schmit – C A. Gonzales – 2B Oosterom – LF Loya – SS Doering – P A. Mendez
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – RF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – CF Alfaro – 3B Grigsby – SS Bullock – LF Gerace – P Sander

On his first day of eligibility since being ejected and suspended for going after Alex Torres, Jack Sander had two aboard in the first, got around that, and then had two more aboard in the second, and straight collapsed. Xavier Garcia hit a 2-out RBI double, and Lance Douglas hit a 2-run single to give New York an early 3-0 edge that was only bound to get bigger. Sander continued to wheeze from the blowhole, allowing hard base hits to Andy Schmit, Alfonso Gonzales, and Piet Oosterom to begin the third. The Dutch Antillean shortstop, displaced to the keystone, already drove in New York's fourth run, and more scored on Blake Doering's groundout and "Ant" Mendez' 2-run single to right. That made for a 6-0 game, which was a bit of a death penalty for any lofty ambition a .500 team in the middle of August might have.

Sander being **** was one thing, but there was also the issue with Kopp and Gonzalez being entirely anemic at this point. Spencer doubled, Tovias singled, putting runners on the corners with nobody out in the bottom 3rd. Between Kopp and Gonzalez, the Raccoons amounted to two pops over the infield and no runs scored, and hanging any kind of hope on Alfaro by now was just another undue case of animal cruelty, because of course he was striking out. Sander got bopped from the game in the fourth, allowing a double to Lance Douglas and an RBI single to Schmit, falling behind 7-0 in the process. There was just no way for the Raccoons to make up this kind of deficit against "Ant" Mendez, always a tough customer, given their haphazard ensemblage of has-beens, never-have-beens, underdone demi-prospects, and plain ol' replacement level garbage. Mendez went into the ninth before running out of steam there, spilling nine mostly mild base hits and one wee run along the way. 7-1 Crusaders. Spencer 2-5, 2B; Tovias 2-4; Gerace 1-2; Stalker (PH) 1-1; Lillis 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Game 2
NYC: 1B X. Garcia – CF Douglas – RF Ellis – 3B Schmit – C A. Gonzales – 2B Oosterom – LF Loya – SS Doering – P Jacobson
POR: 2B Spencer – SS Stalker – C Tovias – 1B Gonzalez – CF Kopp – 3B Grigsby – RF Alfaro – LF Gerace – P Chavez

Chavez managed to cock up a run right away, fumbling Xavier Garcia's grounder for an error. Garcia stole his 36th base and scored on Douglas' sharp single to center. Nate Ellis also singled, there was a passed ball, and that led to a second run on Alfonso Gonzales' groundout. Ellis homered his next time around, a leadoff jack in the third after the Crusaders somehow hadn't exploited getting two leadoff walks from a completely unwatchable Chavez in the second inning. Chavez, after the Ellis homer, walked Gonzales, allowed a single to Oosterom, and after an intentional walk to Blake Doering got to face the pitcher with two outs and the bases loaded. Jacobson grounded the first pitch back to the mound, Chavez fell over that one, too, and the Crusaders added a run on the "infield single", because even the Raccoons' official scorer was too embarrassed to give Chavez the second error that he clearly deserved just as much as being eviscerated and hung from the highest gallows atop the ballpark. Xavier Garcia struck out in a full count with the runners in motion, making a bit of a mental error and flailing while also being already in motion to first base, which didn't add up to great – or any – contact at all.

The Raccoons rallied in the bottom 3rd, though, completely erasing the 4-0 deficit. Jarod Spencer led off with a triple and scored when Tim Stalker snuck a single past Doering up the middle. Tovias went deep right away, reducing Jacobson's edge to 4-3, and then Kopp singled with one out, advanced on Grigsby's groundout, and was doubled in by Alfaro with a long lampoon to center that evaded Lance Douglas by a few feet as he dashed backwards. Gerace didn't get a chance, with Chavez flying out to right to end the inning, now in a 4-4 contest; it was a tie he'd better protect! Ah, who am I even kidding… of course he didn't. Ellis belched a homer right in the fourth, which was his 23rd for the year, tying up with Jon Gonzalez, who hadn't hit a dinger since the invention of movable type. Alfonso Gonzales also went yard in the same inning, with Elias Tovias banging a drive outta leftfield in the bottom 4th. All three shots in the inning were of the solo variety, putting New York 6-5 ahead.

Ricky Loya's leadoff triple in the fifth obviously led to another run, 7-5 as Doering got him across with a sac fly, and Chavez was removed soon after to be prepared for a public drawing and quartering during the seventh-inning stretch. The score remained the same by then, but Jacobson, somehow still allowed to fudge along, allowed singles to Tovias, Gonzalez, and Kopp to begin the bottom 7th. With the game utterly on the line, the Coons hit for the 1-for-17 right-hander Grigsby and sent Cookie, giving up their advantage in handedness over Jacobson, who lost Cookie on a walk to push across a run. That was the last guy that Jacobson faced; Jon Ozier replaced him to see after Alfaro, who lined out softly to first base, after which Graves batted for Gerace and singled to right to tie the game! Ellis' arm kept Kopp decent at third base, with Daniel Bullock hitting for Jimmy Lee now, a sign of a depleted team running out of players. Bullock grabbed the lead in the inning by flying out to left, quite deep, and Loya got nothing on the throw as Kopp scored, followed by Spencer's RBI single. Stalker flew out to Ellis. That gave Portland a 9-7 lead as well as incoming heartbreak. Spencer threw away a Garcia grounder in the eighth, with Billy Brotman going on to walk Ellis and allow an RBI single up the middle to Schmit with two outs. That brought up the right-handed part of the lineup and an early move to Snyder for a 4-out save, please. Gonzales grounded the 1-2 to Bullock, who had remained in the game at third base, and zinged to first on not one, but two bounces, and nobody quite knew how Jon Gonzalez kept that one from getting away, but he did it, and the inning ended. Ozier remained in for the bottom 8th after getting clobbered in the seventh, allowed a leadoff single to Tovias, a wild pitch, half-hearted walk to Gonzalez, and then a 3-run blast to dead center to Terry Kopp!! OUTTA HERE; OUTTA HERE!! Snyder retired New York in order in the ninth to preserve the W…!! 12-8 Raccoons!! Spencer 2-5, 3B, RBI; Stalker 2-5, RBI; Tovias 4-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, BB; Kopp 3-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Carmona (PH) 0-1, BB, RBI; Gerace 0-1, 2 BB; Graves (PH) 1-1, RBI; Snyder 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (18);

Game 3
NYC: 1B X. Garcia – 2B Oosterom – 3B Schmit – RF Ellis – C A. Gonzales – SS Doering – LF Douglas – CF Shaffer – P Pereira
POR: 2B Spencer – C Tovias – CF Kopp – 1B Gonzalez – RF Alfaro – LF Carmona – SS Stalker – 3B Armetta – P Roberts

Another game, another unmitigated first-inning disaster, as the Crusaders also wrecked Roberts for two instant runs. Garcia walked, scored on Piet Oosterom's double to left, and a bloop single by Ellis and a fielding gaffe by Alfaro (once again) moved another run across home plate. The Crusaders swiftly followed that up with a third run in the second inning on doubles by Nick Shaffer (…) and friggin' OZZIE PEREIRA. Roberts continued to be a kid with matches in a dynamite factory, drilling Schmit and walking Ellis in the third, with the defense somehow bailing him out. Cookie made two strong catches in left, but that couldn't mask that he was half of the two Raccoons runners having been caught stealing already in this game (the other being Spencer), or in other words – all their runners had been caught stealing. Their first runner not getting caught stealing was Roberts with a 2-out single in the bottom 3rd, although at this point I would not specifically mind him getting stolen altogether.

By the fourth inning Pereira was on his second base hit, Omar Alfaro on his second occurrence of fielding diarrhea, and these two being in conjunction gave the top of the order a man in scoring position with one out. After the one-hundred-seventeenth mound conference of the game, Roberts beaned Xavier Garcia with a 1-2 pitch, which was the kind of chain of events that made you wish to quit the game once and for all and become a fisherman in Mozambique, a noble dream that was reinforced in the bottom of the inning with Tovias reaching on Garcia's error (sloppy game…), Kopp singling, Pereira balking, and then Jon Gonzalez striking out, bringing up Alfaro, who flew out to center (out #2), with Shaffer gunning down Tovias at home plate (out #3), which also made for as many outs on the base paths made by the Raccoons as the Crusaders had runs in total on the board. … at least until Blake Doering went yard in the fifth.

Down 4-0, Spencer approached the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom 5th. Singles by Cookie and Stalker plus a pinch-walk by Grigsby were crowding Ozzie Pereira. Spencer rammed a ball into the left-center gap, missed by inches by Douglas, and Jarod came up with a bases-clearing double, which made Tovias, on some kind of hot streak, the go-ahead run. Elias turned an 0-2 pitch into an RBI double past the reach of Nate Ellis, and the perversion of the day would be Jon Gonzalez' 2-out RBI single up the middle, which theoretically put Mark Roberts in line for the victory, assuming the Coons could find another four innings from a bullpen that had already tossed like a hundred frames in the week. Turns out, they couldn't, Vince Devereaux tying the score at five with a 2-out, 2-strike wild pitch to Lance Douglas in the seventh, his second inning of work. Restoration to the lead occurred via – whom else? – Elias Tovias in the bottom 7th as he hit a double up the rightfield line with one out that plated Justin Gerace; the undistinguished rookie had opened the inning with a single off Pereira, who now hung in for the loss again.

But not for long. Shaffer dropped a drag bunt to reach base with a leadoff single in the eighth inning against Lillis, who could have used a strikeout, but never got one, and got dipped by Piet Oosterom eventually. The sneaky shortstop hit a line drive double to left to plate the tying run with two outs once again, now evening the teams at six apiece. Spencer tripled off Travis Giordano in the bottom of the ninth, but that one came with two outs and nobody on, and Tovias couldn't get a grounder past Xavier Garcia, sending the Raccoons' ravaged pen to overtime. Ryan Corkum got the tenth and allowed another bunt base hit to Shaffer to lead off. The annoying pest would remove himself from the game, though; as Chris Peters grounded to short for what could be two, Shaffer scrambled and lost his helmet between the bases, then slid into Jarod Spencer's knee head-first. That sure broke up the double play, but also left Shaffer dazed and confused on the ground while Spencer walked off that blow. Also, the Crusaders were out of bench players – pitcher Steve Casey had to man the outfield now as Shaffer was stretchered off the field. There was another pest still in the game though, and that was Oosterom. After Garcia whiffed, Oosterom doubled up the line for his 250th extra-base hit in the series. Peters made for home plate, Alfaro firing a laser beam from the corner – A PERFECT THROW AND THE RUNNER'S OUT AT HOME!! That ended the inning, and the Crusaders had another casualty. Oosterom having hurt himself on the swing. Ace Mike Rutkowski now held a post in the infield for them, giving them three pitchers on defense and in the lineup. COME ON COONS!! COME ON COONS!! Gonzalez drew a 1-out walk from Giordano in the bottom 10th, and Alfaro – our old port in the storm – hit into a double play, very convincingly turned by Rutkowski.

Three shutout innings by Corkum amounted to nothing, though, leading to Snyder entering the game in the 13th and whiffing the top of the order, which included Rutkowski in the #2 hole. Snyder was our last reliever that hadn't already pitched two days in a row (and none of those three guys had enjoyed brief outings, either). Tim Dunn was however discreetly dazzling the Raccoons now and spun three perfect innings from the 11th through the 13th. A double play got Snyder out of trouble in the top 14th, and the bottom 14th finally saw the Coons back aboard. Cookie led off with a single, and Stalker hit another one, which put the winning run on second with nobody out and the pitcher's spot up. We still had one guy on the bench in Graves, but here a bunt looked … well, what was ever promising with this team? Bullock was in the #9 hole, for crying out loud. Snyder dropped down the bunt, NOT a good one, Dunn looking at third, but Cookie was too fast, so he had to whirl back around to first base and fire there, BUT IT'S PAST GARCIA!!! Ball goes into foul ground, Cookie racing around third base, Nate Ellis contains the ball in foul territory, but his throw is WAY TOO LATE, AND THE RACCOONS WALK OFF!!! 7-6 Furballs!! Spencer 3-6, 3B, 2B, 3 RBI; Tovias 2-6, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Carmona 4-6; Stalker 2-5, BB; Grigsby (PH) 0-0, BB; Gerace (PH) 1-1; Corkum 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K; Snyder 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (4-2);

****ING HELL YES, **** **** **** **** ****ING HELL YES!!! RACCOONS!!! RACCOOOOOOONSSSS!!!!

In other news

August 12 – NAS OF Juan Espinosa (.291, 5 HR, 46 RBI) hits for the cycle in the Blue Sox' 13-9 defeat at the hands of the Crusaders. The 24-year-old Espinosa goes 4-for-5 with 3 RBI in the game, connecting in the process for the 71st cycle in ABL history, and the eighth by a Blue Sock. It is also the first cycle in over two years, as most recently the Bayhawks' Rafael Gomez cycled in 2022.
August 13 – SAC INF Trey Rock (.298, 1 HR, 49 RBI) runs a hitting streak to 20 games with a 2-for-4 in a 3-1 win over the Thunder.
August 16 – The hitting streak for Sacramento's Trey Rock (.298, 1 HR, 50 RBI) ends after 22 games as the 25-year-old right-handed batter is held dry in a 5-3 Scorpions win over the Stars.
August 16 – Nashville rookie SP Josh Bell (4-2, 3.63 ERA) 3-hits the Rebels in an 8-0 blanking.
August 16 – Four Loggers pitchers combine for a 1-hitter over the Titans. BOS 1B Trent Herlihy (.201, 4 HR, 20 RBI) has a leadoff single off eventual winner SP Morgan Shepherd (6-10, 3.80 ERA) in the fifth inning for the only Boston entry into the H column as Milwaukee claims a 2-1 victory.
August 18 – Legendary Buffaloes SP Ernest Green (12-8, 5.34 ERA), who did the bulk of his work with the Pacifics, notches his 200th career win in a 7-4 victory over the Cyclones. The left-hander took part in all three of the Pacifics' championships in the 2010s and was an All Star five times, overall going 200-144 with a 3.82 ERA and 2,493 strikeouts.
August 18 – TIJ SP Jose Menendez (10-12, 3.48 ERA) whitewashes the Bayhawks in a 6-0 shutout. Rookie SFB SS/3B Tom Hawkins (.231, 2 HR, 13 RBI) has the Bayhawks' only hit, a pinch-hit single in place of starter Bobby Guerrero (1-11, 5.94 ERA) in the sixth inning.
August 18 – Torn ankle ligaments end the season of SAL CF Ben Adams (.261, 11 HR, 69 RBI).

Complaints and stuff

We saw some horrendous pitching, some real rallies, and somehow a winning week in the last seven days, even though the Raccoons were originally bound to lose plenty. Early-inning cockups by starting pitchers have been a major bane again recently, and besides Gutierrez and Delgadillo we only got lopsided trailing out of any of our starters.

We also saw Elias Tovias being named Player of the Week, going 15-24 (.625) with 2 HR and 7 RBI – you just couldn't get him out this week!

Despite being over .500 by merely a token amount, the Raccoons remain valid in the playoff race, though! This wretched crew is still only 6 1/2 games out!

I also need a new desk because after that glorious walkoff throwing error we just witnessed I think I broke mine with euphoric fist banging. I need to ask Steve from Accounting whether that is in the budget.

Also of note is Rico Gutierrez who went into the eighth in a shutout on Wednesday and lowered his ERA to 2.74 in the process. Since Luis Flores of the Condors suffered his fourth average to oh-dear start in a row this week, allowing four runs in seven innings to the Bayhawks on Friday (and going 1-3 in the stretch), Flores has now slid behind Gutierrez, who takes over the lead in the ERA race!

Next week, Loggers and Falcons, which has the potential to keep adding a few more wins.

Fun Fact: The sweep over the Rebels elevated the Raccoons to a .470 all-time clip in the regular season against them, moving the Rebels out of the bottom spot in the table. The Raccoons are now worst against the Gold Sox (.467).

The Rebels had been the team we had the worst record against all the way since 1978, when we were swept in a series by them. We didn't play them in '77, so the first team that graced the bottom of the list for us were the Bayhawks, who raked the Coons nine-for-nine in '77. The Coons did not get swept by any Federal League team that year.