[Westheim]

Raccoons (25-24) @ Bayhawks (26-23) – May 30-June 1, 2039

Three over .500 was good enough for second place, one game out, in the South. San Francisco had won five straight as well, and they were second in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed. They were a team that was drawing lots of walks (11th in average), could hit bombs, but was second from the bottom in stolen bases. With Salvador Ayala and Edgardo Balderrama two of their better batters were on the DL, though. The Raccoons had swept them in the first set of the year.

Projected matchups:
Drew Johnson (2-2, 3.90 ERA) vs. Ryan Kinner (3-3, 4.09 ERA)
Bryce Sparkes (2-5, 3.52 ERA) vs. Rick Haugh (1-3, 5.31 ERA)
Ryan Bedrosian (4-2, 4.55 ERA) vs. Josh Long (8-1, 2.15 ERA)

All three starters here were right-handers.

Game 1
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – C Kilmer – CF Hooge – SS Williams – 1B Monge – P Johnson
SFB: CF M. Hall – 2B Schneller – LF Oshiita – RF D. Martinez – C Sailas – SS Greer – 3B Barcia – 1B Uliasz – P Kinner

Berto led off with a single, was forced out by Cosmo, but Cosmo stole second and scored on a Manny single. Greenway doubled to left, missing a homer by not much, and Jeff Kilmer made it 2-0 on a groundout, but Ed Hooge flew out to Mike Hall in deep center to end the inning. After Williams’ leadoff double in the second was wasted, and Kilmer hit into a killing double play with Trevino and Greenway on the corners in the third inning, the Raccoons laid down for a little snooze. Drew Johnson allowed four hits through five, including a solo homer hit by Dave Martinez, but maintained a 2-1 lead with some ho-hum pitching. No flash, but no extreme panic either.

The sixth began with Greenway whiffing, but then Jeff Kilmer doubled to left, and Ed Hooge did him one better, knocking a home run over the fence in right to extend the lead to 4-1. The Bayhawks countered immediately this time, clipping Johnson for three hard hits and a run on a Robbie Sailas single, but also stranded the tying runs on the corners in the bottom 6th. Johnson got Sergio Barcia to pop out, and Justin Uliasz flew out to right, but Greenway had arrived at the end of his usefulness here, and the pen would get involved going forwards. Chris Miller gave up three loud knocks in the seventh, all of which somehow found a glove. The Bayhawks then went to the corners against David Fernandez in the eighth, Dick Oshiita and Dave Martinez ripping singles to start the inning. Sailas struck out, after which Prieto replaced Fernandez against righty batters. Marshall Greer flew out to Greenway in shallow right, while PH Vinny Chavira grounded out to Trevino on 0-2, again denying the Bayhawks their comeback bid. Top 9th, Portland loaded the bases with one out; Oliver Anderson pinch-hit and doubled. Berto walked, after which reliever Jon Salls left with an injury. Marcus Goode replaced him, but allowed a single to Cosmo. Manny struck out, but with two gone, Greenway slapped a ball through the left side and two insurance runs scored! Tony Morales hit for Kilmer against the righty and hit an RBI single, after which Hoogey popped out foul. Dennis Citriniti then did his darndest to created a save situation in the bottom 9th, but with two on and one out Joel Hernandez – in for D to begin with – took a sharp Dan Schneller bouncer and turned it into a 5-4-3 game-ender. 7-2 Raccoons. Ramos 2-4, BB; Trevino 2-4, BB; Greenway 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Morales (PH) 1-1, RBI; Hooge 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Williams 2-4, 2 2B; Anderson (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Game 2
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – 1B Anderson – SS Williams – C Morales – CF Maldonado – P Sparkes
SFB: CF M. Hall – 2B Schneller – LF Oshiita – C Sailas – SS Greer – 3B Barcia – RF Chavira – 1B Uliasz – P Haugh

Greenway singled home Manny Fernandez, who had tripled, for a 1-0 lead in the first, and the second was even better, with Morales and Maldonado reaching scoring position for Berto to single both of them in, 3-0, and Cosmo landed another single off unimpressive Rick Haugh. Manny grounded out and Greenway popped out unluckily right at the netting, stranding those two. Haugh walked Williams and Morales in the third inning, then allowed a single to Maldonado to fill the bags for … eh, Bryce Sparkes with one out. Instead of striking out, Sparkes tried to be the hero, spanked a ball into a double play, the Coons got nothing, and then I waited for the Bayhawks to rally and sit on his face… or, alternatively, pick bits of intestine from his ripped-apart stomach with their beaks. The bags were full *again* with Berto, Cosmo, and Greenway in the fourth. With one out, Oliver Anderson emptied them with a double over Mike Hall’s glove, doubling the score to 6-0 and ending Haugh’s misery (3.1 IP, 11 H, 6 ER). Tony Morales made it 7 ER with a 2-out, 2-strike double off Lorenzo Viamontes, then was left on when Maldonado flew out.

That seemed like the ballgame; Sparkes was quite on and the Bayhawks didn’t have a threat going until the sixth, when they got two on with one down, but Dan Schneller popped out and Dick Oshiita flew out to center. The Raccoons were bold enough to remove Cosmo, Berto, and Greenway for replacement in the middle of the seventh, with Hooge, Ledford, and Hernandez coming in (and Maldo moving to third base to make up the numbers). This promptly disrupted the balance of space and time as well as Sparkes, who gave up a George Hawthorne double with two outs in the bottom 8th, then two singles to the 1-2 batters to bust the shutout. Garavito came in and got a lazy fly to left from Oshiita. Noe Candeloro (who?) gave back that run on three hits to the Raccoons in the top 9th, and Garavito and Travis Sims finished the game without greater panic. 8-1 Raccoons. Ramos 3-4, BB, 2 RBI; Trevino 2-5; Greenway 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Anderson 2-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Morales 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 3-5, 2B; Monge 1-1, RBI; Sparkes 7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, W (3-5);

This win moved the Raccoons up to third place, five games out, after they had wallowed in fourth for a few weeks. The Loggers dropped behind them. The Titans were in second, exactly halfway between the Coons and the damn Elks.

Game 3
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – CF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – LF Ledford – 1B Monge – C Morales – SS Maldonado – P Bedrosian
SFB: CF M. Hall – 2B Schneller – LF Oshiita – RF D. Martinez – C Sailas – SS Greer – 3B Barcia – 1B Uliasz – P J. Long

Portland would score first again, but not until the fourth inning and not until after Ryan Bedrosian had shuffled the bags full with a single and two walks in the bottom 3rd, then struck out Oshiita to escape the mess. Manny and Greenway hit singles to open the top 4th. Ledford grounded out, advancing them, but Danny Monge hit a double up the rightfield line, 2-0. With two outs, Maldonado bombed to left, 4-0. The Raccoons would have the bags full again in the sixth, but left them that way when Trevino popped out. Maldonado hit a double in the inning, which put him at 3-for-3 for the day, and a triple away from the cycle. After five shutout innings, Bedrosian meanwhile considered it time to implode, putting Schneller and Oshiita on base to begin the home half of the sixth, then wasted no time in giving up a home run into the second deck to Dave Martinez. That cut the lead down to 4-3 in no time…

Portland rebounded against Long, who hadn’t been shackled like this in a while, with a leadoff double by Fernandez in the seventh. Greenway singled, going to 4-for-4, all singles, no RBI, on the day. Ledford hit an RBI double to right, 5-3, and Long was gone after that. Monge hit an RBI single, Morales hit a sac fly off Candeloro, and then Maldo needed a triple, but hit a double … and with that I mean into a double play, ending the inning, but having countered the Baybirds’ 3-spot with one of our own at least. Bottom 7th, Dennis Citriniti got hold of the 7-3 lead and retired nobody, conceding a single to Uliasz, a walk to John Hansen, then a 2-run triple to Hall. Prieto replaced him, still didn’t retire anybody, with Schneller getting nailed and Oshiita tying the game with a double. Bravó, boys! Bravó! You dare to come ******* home tonight!!!

With the game locked at seven (and the Raccoons out-hitting the Baybirds 15-7 …), Elijah Williams hit a leadoff double in the eighth, then was stranded by the 1-2-3 batters. Troy Greenway’s fifth hit of the game was a leadoff triple off Tim Thweatt in the ninth, and he was ALSO stranded. Comebacker, pop, pop went the 5-6-7 charade brigade. Jermaine Campbell, rarely used to actually get a save, extended the game to extras, which started with Maldonado against Thweatt, but his liner to right was cut off by Dave Martinez before it reached the corner, and Maldo had to hold at second base – so close to the cycle! But no cigar. And maybe again no run. Williams popped out. Oliver Anderson, batting #1 after two double switches, walked in a full count. And Cosmo broke it open! Liner through the left side, up the line, a 2-run double!! Manny’s fly to center also meant that Greenway came up a sixth time, but walked, never getting anything to hit. Ledford hit an RBI single, after which Campbell was up. He batted and whiffed, ending the inning, then got back to pitching. Martinez hit a solo homer off him in the bottom 10th, but that was all the Bayhawks got anymore. 10-8 Raccoons. Trevino 2-6, 2B, 2 RBI; M. Fernandez 2-6, 2B; Greenway 5-5, BB, 3B; Ledford 2-6, 2B, 2 RBI; Monge 3-6, 2B, 3 RBI; Maldonado 4-5, HR, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Williams (PH) 1-2, 2B;

What a bitter disappointment of a game.

We moved up to second in runs scored though, 15 markers behind the damn Elks.

Raccoons (28-24) @ Loggers (28-26) – June 3-5, 2039

Final stop of the long road trip, with the Critters longing for home and unlimited supplies of fudge.

There was a lot of average about the 2039 Loggers. Sixth in runs scored, sixth in runs allowed. Their rotation was in the top 3, but undone by a terrible pen. Offensively, they were fifth in batting average, but below average in OBP and power. Stolen bases, fifth. Lots of so-so. Also lots of injuries, with Alfredo Vargas, Danny Valenzuela, and Jared Paul all on the shelf for the time being. The season series was tied at three.

Projected matchups:
Raffaello Sabre (6-1, 2.43 ERA) vs. William Stockwell (3-5, 4.69 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (3-4, 4.11 ERA) vs. Sergio Piedra (3-3, 3.78 ERA)
Drew Johnson (3-2, 3.75 ERA) vs. Joe Feltman (5-3, 1.87 ERA)

Stockwell would be the only left-handed opponent this week.

Game 1
POR: SS Williams – 2B Trevino – CF Maldonado – RF Greenway – C Kilmer – LF M. Fernandez – 1B Monge – 3B Hernandez – P Sabre
MIL: 1B Ronan – RF I. Vega – SS Del Vecchio – LF J. Nelson – C F. Gomez – 2B V. Acosta – CF Torri – 3B Garnier – P Stockwell

Berto was not out of the game for long, with Joel Hernandez leaving with an injury right in the first inning. That also left Berto batting eighth, but it was what it was… Offense came from Danny Monge with a solo homer in the second, his first with the Coons, and then he was back at the plate in a 1-0 game in the fourth. Kilmer (walk) and Manny (single) were aboard with two outs, and Monge popped out foul at 1-2… except that Joseph Ronan dropped the ball and Monge got another shot, this time ripping a 2-run double to right for a 3-0 lead. Justin Nelson countered with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, so the Loggers were not entirely flummoxed by Sabre, who was going for his seventh win, which had to be close to a personal single-season high… A Ronan jack in the fifth narrowed the score to a single skinny run, though, and while the Coons twice got somebody to second base with two outs in the fourth and sixth innings, both times Berto was up and was intentionally walked before Sabre made the third out. Sabre kept bleeding on the mound, too, putting the insufferable Ted Del Vecchio and Felipe Gomez on the corners with singles in the bottom 6th before Victor Acosta hit into an inning-curtailing 6-4-3.

Portland saw lefty Rob Clack in the seventh, with Williams and Cosmo going to the corners on a pair of singles. Clack was walking more than he struck out with an ERA over six, so maybe that was the time to pounce. Maldonado grounded out, Greenway struck out, Kilmer grounded out, and nobody ******* scored. Sabre was hit for in the eighth with no effect, but at least David Fernandez and Chris Miller combined for a 1-2-3 eighth against the Loggers’ 1-2-3. Off Raul de la Rosa in the ninth, Cosmo hit a 1-out single, stole second base, and was stranded with a K and a grounder. Oh boy! But all would be well as long as Jermaine Campbell didn’t give up a run in the bottom 9th, two days removed from two innings for the W in San Francisco. Justin Nelson promptly hit a leadoff triple. Gomez spanked a bouncer at Berto, who remained in control of it and threw to first in time, with Nelson hugging the bag the entire time. All for naught – Acosta singled home the runner, and the game eventually dawdled into extras, for the fourth time on the road trip.

The 10th was uneventful, and the 11th opened with Oliver Anderson getting nailed by lefty Chris Cooper. That brought the top of the order up, with Williams used for bunting Anderson to second. Cosmo lined out, Maldo grounded out, and I was close to going out and strangling a few of them ON THE ******* FIELD. Justin Nelson reached third base in the bottom 11th, but was left on when Chris Sealock grounded out against Sims, who had allowed two hits in the inning. Portland was also back in scoring position in the 12th, with Kilmer singling off Cooper and Monge reaching on a 2-out, 2-base throwing error by Del Vecchio. Berto grounded out… (screams!) Top 13th, Ledford with a leadoff single in the pitcher’s spot, then a fielder’s choice poked into by Williams. Cosmo walked against righty Cesar Perez. Up came a pair that had been so close to something memorable in San Fran on Wednesday and was now a combined 0-for-12 in this game. Maldo popped out to right, 0-13. Greenway ate one strike, two strikes, then three – drive to right-center, long, high, deep, OUTTA HERE!! 3-run homer for Troy Greenway, #13 in the 13th!! Antonio Prieto retired the Loggers in order in the bottom 13th to make it stick. 6-3 Blighters! Trevino 2-5, 2 BB; Monge 3-6, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Ledford (PH) 1-1; Sabre 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K; Sims 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, W (4-0);

I ******* LOVE TROY GREENWAY!!

A roster move was required with Joel Hernandez to the DL owing to a strained oblique. He would be gone for a month. Jon Caskey was promoted from AAA, where he was hitting for an OPS over .800. The 25-year-old had been up for a bit last year, batting .139 in 43 PA. He was very much like Hernandez – a right-handed defensive third baseman that could also be used in the middle infield.

Game 2
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Hooge – 1B Anderson – SS Williams – C Morales – P Chavez
MIL: 1B Ronan – RF I. Vega – SS Del Vecchio – C F. Gomez – 2B V. Acosta – CF Coca – LF Sealock – 3B Garnier – P Piedra

When Greenway hit a leadoff single in the second, the Raccoons had a lineup that in the moment was hitting .300+ from the #1 slot all the way down to #7! Hooge and Anderson also dropped singles to fill the bags with no outs for Elijah Williams, who hit into a run-scoring double play, which was the only run the Critters got out of all the effort. A Ramos Special brought another run in the top 3rd, Greenway getting the 2-out RBI. All was well until Bernie Chavez nailed Maxime Garnier, who hit almost nothing, walked Joseph Ronan, and then gave up a 3-run bomb to ******* Ted Del Vecchio in the bottom of the inning. The game would be tied in the fifth in another Ramos Special, this time with Manny Fernandez getting the RBI on a groundout. Berto reached 10 stolen bases for the season in that inning – oh the days when he did that in April of a season …!

Chavez nailed Piedra in a bid to get impaled on a pike in the bottom 5th. Ronan singled, sending the pitcher to third base, and there was nobody out. The Loggers went up 4-3 on Ivan Vega’s groundout, but at least Ronan was stranded. A completely inefficient Bernie Chavez was hit for in the sixth with Williams and Morales on base and two outs. Ledford walked in the spot against righty Matt Tillman, replacing the equally-yanked Piedra. Berto held off for ball four as well, tying the game, while Cosmo flew out to Tony Coca to strand three, and the Critters parked another two in the top 7th. Bottom 7th, Citriniti got the first out from PH Travis Park, then was replaced with Garavito. The Loggers countered with Dan Torri to pinch-hit, and he singled, then stole second base. Vega grounded to short, with Williams fudging the ball, putting runners on the corners. Exit Garavito, enter Chris Miller, with Del Vecchio inevitably breaking the tie with a sac fly, 5-4. Gomez flew out. Maldonado pinch-hit for Morales and hit a leadoff single in the eighth, then was stranded on third base after Kilmer, Berto, and Trevino made outs in order. It was the second blood vessel-bursting game in a row, really. Prieto held the Loggers where they were in the bottom 8th, and then the 3-4-5 would be up against right-hander Raul de la Rosa. Manny singled, Greenway flew out, and Hooge hit into a double play. 5-4 Loggers. Greenway 3-5, RBI; Anderson 3-3, BB; Maldonado (PH) 1-1;

Arf.

Game 3
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Hooge – 1B Anderson – SS Williams – C Morales – P Johnson
MIL: 1B Ronan – CF Coca – SS Del Vecchio – LF J. Nelson – C F. Gomez – 2B V. Acosta – RF Torri – 3B Garnier – P Feltman

Hits by Ronan and Nelson in the first, a Torri triple and Garnier sac fly in the second, the Loggers were up 2-0 early against Johnson, who did not entirely badly, but wasn’t exactly great either, and the offense was also not there to rescue him. It took an infield single by Tony Morales (!) to begin the fifth, and then a 2-out single by Cosmo to get them on the board, and Manny Fernandez struck out soon after that to end the inning. Greenway opened the sixth with a single, but was doubled up by Anderson after Hooge struck out. Johnson came apart in the bottom 6th as the game got away; single, walk, RBI single without getting an out, then a run-scoring infield single for Torri after Acosta popped out. Sims got Garnier to line into Trevino’s glove, then struck out Felt- … and Tony Morales lost the ball, kicked it away, too, and Gomez scored as Feltman scampered to first base. OH BOY. Now, the Raccoons also scored a run with a passed ball in the seventh, but that was not really a spirit-raising event. David Fernandez got exploded for a 3-run homer (Nelson) in the bottom 7th, and another run fell out of Citriniti in the eighth. 9-2 Loggers. Greenway 2-4; Ledford (PH) 1-1;

In other news

May 30 – Boston southpaw Leonhart Becker (2-3, 1.27 ERA) 2-hits the Condors in a 4-0 win. He strikes out four while going the distance.
June 1 – The Knights beat the Crusaders, 9-0, with the game only remarkable for all the nine runs being scored in the ninth inning.
June 3 – CIN 3B/2B Ben “Nine Fingers” Freeman (.307, 1 HR, 11 RBI) has the Cyclones’ only hit, a double, in the Buffaloes’ 4-0 combined shutout between Miguel Alvarado (4-4, 3.71 ERA) and John Steuer (0-0, 1.57 ERA).
June 3 – SFB RF/LF/1B Dave Martinez (.302, 6 HR, 22 RBI) would miss three to four weeks with a strained biceps.
June 4 – Walkoff balk! Nashville’s Casey Moore (4-1, 3.21 ERA, 6 SV) is guilty, balking the Rebs’ Alfredo Rojas (.276, 2 HR, 15 RBI) across to give the Rebels a 10th-inning, 9-8 walkoff win.
June 5 – SFB SP Gilberto Rendon (4-3, 4.57 ERA) will be out for three months with a ruptured finger tendon.

FL Player of the Week: DAL C Pacio Torreo (.292, 12 HR, 40 RBI), swatting .409 (9-22) with 2 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL OF Justin Nelson (.333, 3 HR, 14 RBI), hitting .458 (11-24) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: PIT 1B Danny Santillano (.350, 16 HR, 50 RBI), hitting .358 with 7 HR, 25 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: IND 3B Dan Hutson (.263, 13 HR, 38 RBI), hitting .328 with 9 HR, 25 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: RIC SP Mike Mihalik (9-1, 2.40 ERA), tossing 5-0 with a 1.71 ERA and 25 K (he also got traded from the Warrios to the Rebs this month)
CL Pitcher of the Month: BOS SP Mario Gonzalez (8-2, 2.77 ERA), pitching 6-0 with a 2.58 ERA and 26 K
FL Rookie of the Month: DAL C Pacio Torreo (.271, 10 HR, 32 RBI), swatting .301 with 5 HR, 15 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: IND 1B Pat Dodson (.275, 12 HR, 40 RBI), poking .287 with 9 HR, 29 RBI

Complaints and stuff

There were some grim truths in the June 1 scouting report, and let’s just say our scout guy, who has a name I never remember, can be lucky that I’m not allowed to kill the messenger. Let’s just say we only have half a bullpen left with sometimes grim ratings cuts to Campbell, Garavito, and Sims especially. The above-30 section of our infielders also got some downward adjustments…

The Raccoons are now 6-0 against the Bayhawks in ’39. They have never gone 9-0 against any CL South team (but they have sure gone 0-9…) in their history.

Fun Fact: Luxembourg’s finest, Johan Dolder was an Original Raccoon and lasted for three years, and never batted for more than a .559 OPS.

The outfielder just couldn’t hit a lick. That didn’t stop the 1977 Coons from giving him 448 at-bats for a .209 return with 4 homers and 31 RBI. And that was by far his best season. He was sent to the Crusaders after the 1979 season, along with Kevin Hatfield for three players among whom Pedro Hermundo was the least useless. Dolder appeared in only one game for the Crusaders, batting 1-for-4, and then disappeared from the majors. For his career he hit .203/.270/.275 with 4 HR and 41 RBI. And no, his defense didn’t make him worth it, either.