[Westheim]

Raccoons (78-71) vs. Knights (76-72) – September 17-19, 2029

Penultimate week, and every game counted now! Wait, didn’t they count before? Anyway, the Knights were in town and the Coons needed to turn their fortunes against them around sharply and right now; they had won only two games of their previous six against Atlanta, the second-place team in the South, but practically eliminated at 12 games out. They had a -18 run differential, sitting eighth in runs scored and runs allowed alike.

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (2-1, 2.22 ERA) vs. Jesse Schiebout (7-7, 4.08 ERA)
Jamie O’Leary (2-9, 3.62 ERA) vs. Mario Rosas (14-13, 3.40 ERA)
Dave Martinez (5-1, 2.54 ERA) vs. Tim Wells (15-10, 4.04 ERA)

Some nagging injuries had thrown the Knights’ rotation into disarray, but we were most likely to get this set of the right-hander Schiebout (pronounce: sheep-out) and then a pair of lefties after that.

And we had to murder all of them, at the same time being without Matt Jamieson and his balking back for at least this series. There was also no hope to get back either Mora or Ramos this week. Mora maybe next week, Ramos likely not then either…

Game 1
ATL: CF Denham – C S. Garcia – 2B J. Johnson – RF Pincus – 1B Lundy – SS Hughes – 3B Greene – LF W. Lopez – P Schiebout
POR: CF Magallanes – 3B Nunley – LF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – 2B Stalker – RF Gomez – C Ivey – SS Gerster – P Gutierrez

The first 13 batters in the game were all retired until Willie Lopez coaxed a walk from Rico Gutierrez in the third inning. He was bunted over, then stranded on Ryan Denham’s K. In the bottom of the inning the Critters scored a run rather unceremoniously given that after Shane Ivey’s leadoff single he advanced on a Gerster groundout once and on a wild pitch twice. A leadoff walk drawn by Steve Garcia and a Roy Pincus single put Rico into a pickle in the fourth, but he got out of the inning on two fly outs to Rafael Gomez, while the Critters also got Nunley to draw a leadoff walk in the inning, after which Rich Hereford doubled down the rightfield line to present Kevin Harenberg with a clutch situation. Kevin flew out to Pincus, but plenty deep and bringing home Nunley with the second run. Hereford ended stranded when Tim Stalker, batting .189 this month and falling, struck out and Gomez lined out to Craig Lundy. The crowd would get on its hindpaws cheering for Shane Ivey then in the fifth, which the former third-string catcher led off with a jack to right, his first major league homer, and a shot that pushed the score to 3-0. The Coons had a further run thrown out at the plate by Denham in this bottom 5th; Gerster reached on an infield single, stole second, but turned out could not quite score on Magallanes’ single to left…

Rico threw 110 pitches for seven shutout innings, parking runners on the corners again in the sixth and Drew Greene at third base in his last frame. Greene opened the inning with a double to left-center, advanced on a wild pitch after Willie Lopez had popped out, and then still didn’t get across when PH Chris Mendoza grounded out to Harenberg and Denham also popped out to Hereford in shallow left. The Coons would not tack on in the bottom 7th, but Kevin Surginer kept the door shut on the Knights in the top of the eighth, whiffing Garcia and John Johnson and getting Pincus to fly out to right. While Josh Boles was readying himself, Rich Hereford socked a solo shot off Levi Snoeij in the bottom 8th, thus taking off the save chance unless somebody else would fudge up. That somebody else was picked to be Jonathan Fleischer, but he in fact retired the Knights in order to put the game away. 4-0 Furballs. Hereford 2-4, HR, RBI; Tovias (PH) 1-1; Ivey 2-3, HR, RBI; Gutierrez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (3-1);

The Titans won against the Thunder on Monday, but the Indians fell short against the Baybirds, but the Coons remained three games out overall.

Game 2
ATL: 3B A. Alvarez – C S. Garcia – 2B J. Johnson – RF Pincus – 1B Lundy – CF Greene – LF Kym – SS Hughes – P Rosas
POR: CF Magallanes – SS Gerster – 3B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – LF Rodriguez – 2B Stalker – C Tovias – RF Gomez – P O‘Leary

As much as the Coons had suffocated the Knights on Monday, as useless was O’Leaky on Tuesday. There were probably reasons for why he was 2-9; running three-ball counts against everybody and putting the first four batters in the game on base was probably somewhere high on the list. Adrian Alvarez and Steve Garcia hit singles, John Johnson walked, and Roy Pincus hit a 2-run double. Another run scored on Lundy’s grounder, with 3-0 being the end point for this inning. Top 2nd, Rosas singled, Alvarez doubled, Garcia hit an RBI single, and with that, O’Leary was yanked. Stonecipher replaced him, but his very first pitch was wild and scored Alvarez, he walked Johnson, and then was dumb/lucky enough to get Pincus to hit into an inning-ending double play, which also closed O’Flakey’s line at 1.1 innings and five runs, all earned, but I would wait out the game and only beat him to death afterwards.

As the Coons were hitless against Rosas after three innings, the Raccoons decided to give up on this game. Bobby Reed and the rest of the runts of the litter would parade through the last six innings. The good thing about baseball was that a 5-0 loss and a 15-0 loss were all counting the same. Reed tossed two shutout innings, even getting that damn ERA under nine, before his spot came up with Tovias and Gomez on base and one out in the bottom 5th. Nunley batted, popped out, and Magallanes’ grounder up the middle was easily handled by Johnson, and the Coons kept being shut out.

Two shutout innings by Billy Ramm followed, and then the Coons were on base again in the bottom 7th. Wilson Rodriguez led off with a double to left, the fourth hit off Rosas and the first for extra bases, and Rosas went on to lose Stalker and Tovias on walks, giving him six free passes on the day (but the Coons were also at three double plays…). Three on, no outs – the stuff of nightmares. Gomez gunned a grounder into a double play RIGHT AWAY. That scored a run alright, but also ended the big. German Sanchez batted for Ramm to counter Rosas, but flew out to right. The Knights would get a run off Billy Brotman in the ninth. The Coons, after Ryan Allan drew a walk off Jose Fuentes in the bottom 9th, would hit into a fifth double play (Stalker) to end the game. 6-1 Knights. Tovias 1-1, 2 BB; Reed 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K; Ramm 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

The competition won; we were now four games out.

Okay, boys. That was your freebie. You won’t get a second one, I’m afraid.

And as if that was not bad enough already, weather got involved, too; it rained all of Wednesday, washing out the rubber game and postponing it to Thursday, a common off day. At that point, the Titans had swept the Thunder, and the Coons were 4 1/2 games out of first…

Game 3
ATL: CF W. Lopez – C S. Garcia – 2B J. Johnson – RF Pincus – 1B Kym – SS Hughes – LF Greene – 3B Ri. Miller – P Wells
POR: CF Magallanes – 3B Nunley – 2B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – LF Rodriguez – SS Stalker – C Tovias – RF Gomez – P Martinez

When the going gets tough, some go home, and some go the extra mile; Dave Martinez kept holding up, somehow, and didn’t allow a run in the early innings, while the Raccoons clubbed Tim Wells for three solo homers in the first two innings. One came off Harenberg’s bat in the third, running the tally to 3-0. The other two? Matt Nunley! Marvelous Matt went deep to right in the first, then deep to left-center in the third, and while the crowd appreciated the first one, they went bonkers on the second bang!

The party stopped before long with Martinez getting pierced for two runs in the fourth, which Johnson opened with a triple. Pincus singled him in, got forced out, but Andy Hughes doubled over Gomez’ head and Greene brought in a run with a groundout. With the tying run at third, the Coons put Rich Miller on base with intent, and had Martinez whiff Wells to bail out. The break was but brief; Roy Pincus doubled home Willie Lopez in the fifth, and that one tied the score at three. Martinez’ stint ended after six due to developments outside his control, meaning somehow three Coons fell onto the base paths with two outs in the bottom 6th. Stalker singled, Tovias walked on a questionable call, and Gomez legged out a ****ty roller that died annoyingly far away from Rich Miller to allow him to reach first unbeaten. Sadly, the Coons failed to come up with a pinch-hitter more impressive than Butch Gerster, who flew out to Pincus. The Raccoons failed to get Magallanes around in the seventh despite him reaching on a leadoff walk AND stealing second base. Top 8th, Billy Ramm came on to face Kym, but the Knights sent right-hander Matt Dehne as pinch-hitter. Ramm hung one, Dehne ripped it, and it flew right outta here. Same for Billy Ramm, who got booted down the stairs to the clubhouse.

Bottom 8th, Rodriguez led off with a comebacker which Wells threw into Steve Garcia’s face and the catcher first, first baseman secondly swiped it away with his glove for an error (on Wells). Rodriguez reached second on a wild pitch, and that was the ****ing tying run, so somebody hit the gap right now! Stalker grounded out to Johnson, moving the runner to third, and Tovias grounded back to the mound, moving the runner nowhere in particular while cashing the second out. While clutching Honeypaws to my chest I took aim to slam my forehead on the desk repeatedly once Rafael Gomez made the third out, but Gomez actually remembered for a split second how to be a ****ing batter and lined a single to shallow right that allowed the Coons to tie the score again. Ivey batted for Ricky Ohl and singled to center, and Magallanes batted for himself against Wells, who the Knights trusted to have this. The count ran full, Magallanes dug out another pitch at the bottom of the zone and flung it over Hughes into shallow left-center, and it was enough to send Gomez around to score. COONS HAVE THE LEAD!! Nunley walked, leading to Wells’ removal in favor of righty Ed Blair. Rich Hereford didn’t give a ****, driving in two with a single at the shallow end of the left-center gap before Harenberg hit the deep end of the other gap for a 2-run double, the final bop in a 6-run eighth that gave Portland the victory. …or did it? Bobby Reed got the ball for the ninth with a 5-run lead and immediately set out to blow it all. Mendoza singled, Garcia reached on the pitcher’s throwing error, and after Johnson fouled out, Pincus singled to right. Three on, one out, and Josh Boles was hastily assembled and activated in the bullpen. He rung up Dehne and Hughes to secure the save. 9-4 Coons. Nunley 2-4, BB, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Hereford 2-5, 2 RBI; Harenberg 2-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Stalker 2-4; Gomez 3-4, RBI; Ivey (PH) 1-1;

Thus, before the weekend set, the Coons were four games behind the Titans, and two behind the Indians. Those two teams would play each other on the weekend, so for the moment we were kindly rooting for the Indians to win as many as possible.

Raccoons (80-72) @ Loggers (61-91) – September 21-23, 2029

The sad-sack Loggers had played for absolutely nothing for weeks and months. They were firmly nailed into last place, might still get a #1 pick, and could only hope for better times (hey, maybe as early as next week!). They had the fewest runs scored in the league, were conceding the third-most, and overall were not radiating confidence – the ideal stepping stone for the Coons, who nevertheless had already taken the season series, 11-4.

Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (14-11, 3.45 ERA) vs. Josh Long (6-6, 3.68 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (3-1, 1.92 ERA) vs. TBD
Kyle Anderson (6-6, 3.54 ERA) vs. Francisco Colmenarez (7-16, 3.47 ERA)

Right, question mark, left. The middle spot would have been Alfredo Casique’s, but the righty was suspended for biting Boston’s Stephen Williams during a brawl last week. The Loggers had yet to make a move and announce replacement starter.

We skipped Anderson for two spots with the off day, which would also allow both Roberts and Rico to pitch against the Titans next week, who were now the bigger threat. Unrelated, Matt Jamieson was back in the lineup for the series opener.

Well, on paper it all looked so well. And then rain struck AGAIN. Friday’s game was washed out and a double-header scheduled for Saturday. That of course knocked *either* Roberts *or* Rico out of the Titans series, unless one of them would go on short rest. At this point, conventional wisdom was probably not gonna get us far… The Raccoons made their move: they would both start in the double-header, Rico going first, since despite giving up five runs two starts ago we considered him more on a roll. Rico would go as far as possible unless the Loggers knocked him up early OR the Coons got a tall lead by the middle innings. If that would happen, Rico would get pulled early to allow him to start on short rest on Wednesday. If Rico would not come out early, Roberts would come out early and HE would then start on short rest on Wednesday.

Game 1
POR: CF Magallanes – 3B Nunley – 2B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – LF Jamieson – SS Stalker – C Ivey – RF Gomez – P Gutierrez
MIL: SS Lockert – LF Cambra – RF W. Trevino – C J. Young – 2B W. Morris – 3B V. Diaz – 1B St. Germaine – CF Wheeler – P Long

By game time, the Coons were 4 1/2 out again, so losing was not an option anyway. Thankfully, all the rain REALLY raked the piss in Nunley, and he blasted a 450-footer off Long in the first inning, putting up the Coons 1-0 right away. The Coons also tacked on; Hereford and Harenberg ripped back-to-back doubles, and Stalker singled home Harenberg to make it 3-0. So far, all going according to plan! Then the bottom 1st began with a drag bunt single by Matt Lockert, Rico walked Cambra, and I started sweating. Willie Trevino flew out to deep right, and then Rico nailed Jim Young in the knee, getting Taylor Canody in the game right here and the bags were full for Wayne Morris, while only 17 pitches into the game the Coons already a crisis conference on the mound. Morris popped out on three pitches, and Vinny Diaz lined the 1-0 softly to Hereford to strand all the tying runs. Not that Rico did get any better – the Loggers put runners on the corners with nobody out in the third and plated them, too, with an RBI single by Josh Long (…) and a run-scoring double play that Lockert hit into. All the best-laid plans …

Rich Hereford homered and Ivey singled home Jamieson after a 1-out double to move the Coons back to 5-2 in the top 3rd, only for Trevino to sock a solo homer in the bottom of the inning. Rico could not be further from a co-ace if he was throwing balls with his paws stuck in a pair of metal buckets. He would throw 83 pitches through five innings, then was yanked simply for sucking. Oh well! We still had “Launchpad” Roberts available …! Stonecipher gave up a run in the bottom 6th with a leadoff walk to Diaz, who stole second, then a sharp Mike Wheeler RBI single, which narrowed the score to 5-4. Brotman allowed a 2-out single to Canody in the bottom 7th, was replaced by Kevin Surginer to face Morris, who was hit for by Alexis Rueda. Surginer threw a stinker, Rueda mauled it, and the score was flipped in the Loggers’ favor on a 2-run homer to right. The Coons left Jamieson stranded after an eighth-inning double (after already having left him stranded after a fifth-inning triple), and tumbled into the ninth on the road to an eliminating defeat. Bobby Valencia opened the inning with a walk to Rafael Gomez, so the tying run was on base once more. Tovias batted in the pitcher’s spot and struck out, but Valencia offered another walk to Magallanes. The problem was that Nunley seemed red-hot, but that wouldn’t make him faster; a double play would end the game. There was also no getting runners started early; Canody had one of the most murderous arms in the league and would easily get Gomez trapped between second and third. There was also no pinch-hitting for Nunley, who had three bombs on the week AND countered Valencia. Matt went to the plate, drew four balls, and they were loaded up for Rich Hereford, who also had already gone yard in this game. He hit a fly to deep left, but not past Gabe Creech; it was a sac fly, tying the game, and left “No Clutch” Harenberg to fly out to Trevino to strand a pair. Fleischer retired the Loggers in order in the bottom 9th to send the game to extras, which was not where I had ever wanted it to arrive. The Coons failed in the top 10th, and Fleischer failed in the bottom 10th. Canody walked, Jason Rauser singled, and Garavito replaced him against PH Ray Masri, who flew out to Jamieson. PH Chris Sherrod whiffed, bringing up Wheeler with two outs. Wheeler ended the game with a single over the head of Stalker that went away for Jamieson far enough to allow Canody to score from second base. 7-6 Loggers. Hereford 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Jamieson 3-5, 3B, 2 2B;

The Titans beat the Indians on Friday, and again on Saturday when Lorenzo Viamontes (16-6, 3.16 ERA) threw a 5-hit shutout against the Arrowheads.

Everything was over.

Game 2
POR: CF Magallanes – 3B Nunley – 2B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – LF Jamieson – SS Stalker – C Tovias – RF Rodriguez – P Roberts
MIL: SS Lockert – LF Cambra – RF W. Trevino – C Canody – 2B W. Morris – 1B E. Arroyo – 3B Parten – CF Creech – P Colmenarez

The Coons hit three singles in the top of the first, then saw Jamieson hit into a double play to end the frame. Stalker led off the second with a double, moved to third on Tovias’ single to left, and then Rodriguez struck out, Roberts struck out, and Magallanes struck out against Colmenarez, who made the start on short rest. Nunley led off with a single in the third. Hereford struck out, Harenberg popped out, and Nunley didn’t advance until Jamieson singled with two outs, putting runners on the corners. Tim Stalker was up, still batting squid on the month, but lined over Jason Parten and into the corner for a 2-out, 2-run double. Tovias then struck out. The Loggers did not get a base hit until the fifth, but then led off with singles by Wayne Morris and Esteban Arroyo to have the tying runs aboard. Parten lined out to center, Creech was retired on the warning track in right, and Colmenarez popped out to strand them. Top 7th, a leadoff single by Nunley knocked out Colmenarez; righty John Nelson got Hereford to hit into a force at second base, but Rich stole second and the Loggers put on Harenberg intentionally with no hesitation. Jamieson singled to left, Hereford was sent and scored, and a bad throw even allowed the other runners to get into scoring position and Harenberg came home from third on a Tim Stalker sac fly, running the lead to 4-0. Roberts went into the eighth inning, but then allowed a single to Wilson Aquino with one out and a Cambra double with two down. Ricky Ohl would replace him against Willie Trevino, served up a 3-run homer, and proceeded with a single allowed to Canody before Alexis Rueda bashed a pinch-hit, 450-foot homer to centerfield. That one flipped the score, too. Top 9th, George Barnett got Hereford to pop out. Harenberg singled and was run for by German Sanchez, who was caught stealing before Barnett could walk Jamieson. Tim Stalker sailed out to center to end the game. 5-4 Loggers. Nunley 3-5; Harenberg 2-4, BB; Jamieson 3-4, BB, RBI; Stalker 2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Roberts 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K and 1-4;

(stands motionless, petrified at the window of the visiting GM’s suite long after the game ended, while a Loggers-employed attendant tugs at his shirt sleeve because he wants to kill the lights and go home, too)

Game 3
POR: LF Jamieson – 3B Nunley – 2B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – SS Stalker – CF Allan – RF Gomez – C Rocha – P Anderson
MIL: SS Lockert – 1B E. Arroyo – C Canody – 2B W. Morris – LF Cambra – 3B V. Diaz – RF St. Germaine – CF Creech – P Feider

Southpaw Travis Feider (2-3, 3.90 ERA) got the spot start as the Loggers readied to say their ballpark goodnight for the winter and hoped for complete demolition of the evil Raccoons that had humiliated them forever and ever. Not this time! This time the Loggers would have the upper axe!

The Coons hit four singles in the opening frame, bringing Nunley around on a Stalker single, and having Harenberg thrown out at home by Gabe Creech on Allan’s single to end the inning. The Loggers countered with a 4-spot against the overwhelmed Anderson right away. Arroyo singled, Canody doubled, Wayne Morris landed a 2-run double, and the inning just went on and on. Cambra hit an RBI single, advanced to second on a futile throw home, then scored on Diaz’ single, too. Milwaukee added a run in the second on a Lockert single, then three straight 2-out walks by Anderson as the sky just never seemed to stop falling. While Portland got an unearned run in the top 3rd thanks to a Morris error with two outs that allowed Jamieson to come home from third base, Coons pitching remained abysmal. Anderson was knocked out in the bottom 3rd on singles by St. Germaine, who stole second, and Lockert, who drove in the run with two outs. Billy Ramm replaced Anderson and at least got out of the inning when Esteban Arroyo hit a liner right into his glove. Gomez reached base with a leadoff single in the fourth. Rocha struck out, and Ramm swung away at the first pitch by Feider and blasted it over the fence in left – that made it a 6-4 game.

A reasonably angry Travis Feider then really amped up the volume. He would face 12 more Raccoons in the game, retired ALL of them, and that included strikeouts to the next four batters after the Ramm homer, and six K in the final dozen retired, and eight for the entire start. Ramm lasted through the seventh, then got patted on the furry bum. Top 8th, the Coons got Stalker on with two outs against George Barnett, and Alex Gutierrez walked PH Wilson Rodriguez to bring up Rafael Gomez as the go-ahead run with another reliever, right-hander Alexis Zamora, in the game, and grounded out to short. The Loggers got an insurance run when Stonecipher led off the eighth by presumably smacking Gabe Creech’s wrist bones to dust with an errant fastball. Mike Wheeler ran for Creech, stole second, and came around on two productive outs, a concept that eluded the Coons wholly and fully. The run turned out crucial; Bobby Valencia opened the ninth by losing PH Juan Magallanes on balls. With one out, Jamieson powered a shot to left that went over Cambra’s glove and the fence, but now that 2-run homer only cut the gap to 7-6. Nunley was the tying run aboard with a single, and now only hoping for a Rich Hereford Special was still available. He singled to left, which brought up Harenberg, which for the Loggers again was as good as ballgame. Harenberg struck out, making Stalker the batter with two outs. He hit a fly to left, no threat for Cambra, and the ballgame ended. 7-6 Loggers. Jamieson 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Nunley 3-5; Ramm 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K and 1-2, HR, 2 RBI;

(stands motionless, petrified at the window of the visiting GM’s suite long after the game ended, while Kevin Surginer tugs at his shirt sleeve because he really wants to go home, and home was 1,800 miles away)

In other news

September 17 – A no-hitter is tossed by SFW SP Juan Muniz (11-13, 4.37 ERA) in a 3-0 win over the Blue Sox. Muniz walks two and strikes out four and also logs his 10th career shutout in the effort. The 57th no-hitter in ABL history is both the first no-hitter thrown by a Warrior and the first thrown against the Blue Sox.
September 17 – The Falcons beat the Canadiens, 1-0, on the strength of two first-inning singles and don’t ever get another base hit again. LF/RF Barend Kok (.286, 13 HR, 62 RBI) plates OF Nate Nelson (.249, 21 HR, 70 RBI) for the game’s only run.
September 18 – SAL SP Josh Weeks (11-10, 3.78 ERA) allows only three hits to the Buffaloes and strikes out ten in a 7-0, complete game shutout.
September 18 – The Crusaders’ SP Mike Rutkowski (12-9, 3.27 ERA) 3-hits the Condors in a 5-0 shutout, whiffing seven.
September 19 – The Condors rout the Crusaders, 10-1, to seal the Southern Division of the Continental League. It bill be their 11th postseason appearance, and the second consecutive.
September 19 – WAS SP Matt Reimann (6-2, 3.32 ERA, 1 SV) throws a 3-hit shutout against the Scorpions in a spot start. The 27-year-old lefty has appeared in 55 games for the Capitals this year, all but four in relief.
September 19 – CHA INF Raul Mendez (.331, 4 HR, 21 RBI) figures to miss nine months with a broken kneecap.
September 22 – IND 1B Jon Gonzalez (.296, 21 HR, 72 RBI) is out for the year with torn thumb ligaments.
September 22 – LAP MR Chris Cooper (3-1, 3.16 ERA, 3 SV) ends the Pacifics’ game against the Scorpions a 3-2 loss, balking with Antonio Alvarez on third base in the bottom of the ninth to award the runner a free trip to home plate.
September 23 – SAL SP Josh Weeks (12-10, 3.61 ERA) twirls his second shutout of the week, a 4-hitter over the Gold Sox that the Wolves win 5-0.

Complaints and stuff

Well, there was a CL North team spot on this week, and … it was not us. The pitching continued to suck, the offense continued to suck.

Everything sucked. Everything sucks.

Yeah, well, there is always next year. Once more. After 2030 things will probably turn bleak for a while.

No, thanks, Maud, I don’t want a coffee. – No, I don’t want a tea, either. – No, I am not in the mood for Snakes and Ladders, either. I just want to stand here at the window and wait until the sun sets and veils our fantastic shame in darkness.

Fun Fact: Only the Aces, Buffaloes, and Scorpions remain as teams to never have one of theirs throw a no-hitter.

All of them have been on the receiving end several times though; there were two no-hitters against the Buffaloes, including both a perfect game (CIN Juan Garcia, 2008) and Greg Gannon’s no-hitter last month; three against the Scorpions; and five against the Aces. The Raccoons were never involved in any of these.