[Westheim]

Raccoons (43-38) @ Boston (48-32) – July 4-7, 2039

Given that the Titans would play 8 of their next 11 against the Critters, too, their chances at running away with first place by mid-month were tremendous. The Critters were crummy, and nothing good had ever happened to them in Boston. They were also winless against the Titans this year, having been swept in a 3-game set earlier. Boston allowed the fewest runs in the Continental League, while being merely average at scoring.

Projected matchups:
Ryan Bedrosian (7-2, 3.70 ERA) vs. Andy Bressner (5-8, 3.33 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (9-2, 2.75 ERA) vs. Joe Hicks (4-7, 4.88 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (5-7, 3.90 ERA) vs. Mario Gonzalez (13-2, 2.35 ERA)
Drew Johnson (6-5, 3.46 ERA) vs. Leonhart Becker (6-4, 1.60 ERA)

Two right, two left, and probably a few in the snout.

Game 1
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Hooge – SS Maldonado – 1B Monge – C Morales – P Bedrosian
BOS: SS Bunyon – 3B Gil – CF Vermillion – LF W. Vega – 1B J. Garcia – C Kuehn – RF J. Davis – 2B Toney – P Bressner

The schmuck Bedrosian gave up a leadoff homer to Donovan Bunyon and the 4-game sweep was in full swing in the first inning on Monday, even though Troy Greenway hit one himself in the top 2nd, his first homer IN A MONTH. While Mark Vermillion tripled in two runs with two outs in the third, Mike Toney and Bunyon sitting on the corners, the Raccoons’ 2-out chance in the fifth involved the bases loaded with Bedrosian (single), Cosmo (walk), and Greenway (single), and Ed Hooge grounding out to short. Bedrosian was normally steady when he didn’t give up excruciating extra-base knocks, and allowed only four hits through six innings. The Raccoons were out-hitting the Titans even before loading the bases in the seventh against Bressner, but as it has to be pointed out again and again and again, nothing good ever happened to them in Boston. In the seventh, Berto, Cosmo, and Manny all reached with nobody out, bringing up Greenway against a suddenly foundering right-hander. Up 2-1 in the count, Greenway popped out to short, and Ed Hooge’s RBI came on a grounder to first. I accepted my fate, but then Maldonado ripped a ball into the corner for our own 2-out, 2-run triple, and that was indeed a surprising outcome…! Monge lined out, but the Titans went to Javy Santana in the eighth, a frame in which Cosmo added another run by plating Tony Morales with a double.

The Coons boldly went to Jose de Leon for the bottom 8th with Toney up, getting a leadoff walk and a Matt Dear double play grounder for their troubles before, with cold sweat on the forehead, sending Garavito against the lefty top of the order. Bunyon struck out, but no additional runs came forward in the top 9th and the Raccoons sent Jermaine Campbell against his old team in the bottom 9th. Of course he instantly exploded. Vermillion singled, Willie Vega doubled, and with two outs they pulled the corpse of Tomas Caraballo from some moist grave and tossed him in to pinch-hit in the #6 spot. Caraballo zinged a 2-run single, the lead was blown, and the Titans ran the gauntlet until the bags were full after a walk to John Davis and a pinch-hit single from Sean Calais. Dear struck out, sending the game to extras. Willie Vega ended the game with a walkoff double against David Fernandez in the bottom 10th. 6-5 Titans. Trevino 2-4, 2B, RBI; M. Fernandez 2-5; Greenway 2-5, HR, RBI;

Game 2
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – 1B Anderson – CF Maldonado – C Morales – SS Hernandez – P Sabre
BOS: RF M. Avila – 3B Gil – CF Vermillion – LF W. Vega – 1B J. Garcia – C Kuehn – SS J. Davis – 2B Toney – P Hicks

The only runner the first time through fore either team was Cosmo Trevino, who hit a single, stole his 23rd base, and then was ignored by Fernandez and Greenway. Defense was the call for today, with Hicks whiffing only two Raccoons through three innings, while Sabre got only one Titan to strike out (John Davis). The Raccoons still took an unexpected lead in the fourth, when with two down Greenway walked and scored on an Anderson double. Not to worry about the Titans though – they flipped the score in the fifth. Leadoff walk to Jose Garcia, two singles clipped by Paul Kuehn and Mike Toney, and finally a wild pitch – enough for two runs despite the absence of a big knell.

Sabre allowed only those two hits through seven innings, then was hit for when his spot led off the eighth, still down 2-1 of course. Ed Hooge popped out, and a Ramos single led nowhere in particular with two fly outs following. Prieto held the Titans off the base paths in the bottom 8th, after which the 4-5-6 batters would try their luck against Mike Hugh’s 1.26 ERA. Greenway drew a walk in a full count before Anderson flung a 1-2 pitch over a leaping Garcia for a double. The tying and go-ahead runs were thus in scoring position! Maldonado walked onto the open base, Tony Morales struck out, Brad Ledford hit for Joel Hernandez, ran a 3-1 count… and popped out. Jeff Kilmer batted for Prieto as the Raccoons were down to their last dips. One strike, two strike, three strikes – the last strike went into Kilmer’s furry bum, though, and everybody moved up 90 feet as the Raccoons were gifted a tied ballgame. Berto was too old and too wise to swing at Hugh’s wayward offerings, and drew a walk to force home Anderson for the lead. (blinks fast) Trevino struck out, and the Raccoons did not have Campbell available after he had been dragged through the streets of Boston dangling off the rear of the blue team’s chariot for an excessive amount of time the day before. Chris Miller got the baseball against the top of the order, getting scary fly outs from Moises Avila and Antonio Gil before Vermillion grounded out to Anderson. 3-2 Blighters. Greenway 1-2, 2 BB; Anderson 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Kilmer 0-0, RBI; Sabre 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K;

A win is a win is a win. A win is a win is a win. A win is a –

Game 3
POR: 1B Monge – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – C Kilmer – RF Greenway – SS Maldonado – CF Kilgallen – 3B Hernandez – P Chavez
BOS: RF M. Avila – 3B Gil – LF W. Vega – 1B J. Garcia – C Kuehn – SS Bunyon – CF Huntly – 2B Toney – P M. Gonzalez

The Raccoons had one runner in the first, two runners in the second, and three runners in the third. They scored no runs in the first, no runs in the second (Hernandez into a double play for the giggles), and all of one run in the third inning, with Jeff Kilmer holding out for a walk to force in Danny Monge with the bases loaded. Greenway popped out, and Maldonado ambled out to center to strand three. And then Bernie Chavez was torn apart for four runs in the bottom of the inning. Bill Huntly and Mike Toney made the corners with nobody out, Gonzalez bunted them over, and Moises Avila’s grounder was very much thrown away for two bases by Maldonado. Two more hits then led to two unearned runs in the batch o’ four.

While Portland made up a run in the sixth when Greenway drew a walk and scored on a Matt Kilgallen double, Bernie Chavez was yanked still trailing after a 2-out walk to Bunyon in the bottom 6th. Ottinger replaced him, got a grounder to end the inning, and the offense got another run in the seventh; Danny Monge hit a leadoff double and scored on two productive outs to shorten the gap to 4-3. Ottinger had another inning of competence in him, and Garavito held three lefty batters away in the eighth. The Raccoons then faced Blake Sciulli, red-headed righty with a 1.74 ERA, in the ninth. Berto batted for Hernandez to start the inning and walked on five pitches, putting the tying run aboard. Anderson struck out in a full count, but Monge hit a ball to left that eluded the golden glove of Willie Vega for a double and Berto dashed around from first base to score the tying run. Ninth-frame leads in this series, huh?? Cosmo grounded out, moving Monge to third base, but Manny got rung up and the game remained tied. Paul Kuehn would walk to lead off the ninth against Prieto, but was left stranded, sending another game to extras. Maldonado made another error in the 10th, putting Gil on base, but the Coons scrambled around that too. That was after Maldonado singled and was caught stealing in the top 10th. The Raccoons had two singles in the 11th against Ben Darr, but Berto and Monge were left on the corners. The Titans had four singles in the bottom of the inning against de Leon, and not even with an out in between. 5-4 Titans. Monge 4-4, BB, RBI; Ramos (PH) 1-1, BB;

Boston vibes. All over.

Game 4
POR: 3B Ramos – 1B Monge – 2B Trevino – RF Greenway – C Kilmer – LF Ledford – CF Kilgallen – SS Maldonado – P Johnson
BOS: RF M. Avila – 3B Gil – CF Vermillion – 1B J. Garcia – C Kuehn – SS Bunyon – LF J. Davis – 2B Toney – P Becker

Once more, the Raccoons scored first, with Kilmer going yard in the second to make it 1-0, and like Sabre on Tuesday, Drew Johnson also went four innings without giving up a hit before things went pear-shaped and Paul Kuehn hit one out in the bottom 5th for a 1-1 tie. Jose Garcia hit a leadoff jack in the seventh while the Raccoons did absolutely nothing in the meantime – but they did in the eighth against a tiring Becker. Manny drew a 1-out walk in the #9 hole, and then consecutive hits by Berto and Monge gave the Coons a 3-2 lead. Bottom 8th, David Fernandez walked a pair, then was yanked for Campbell, who was asked to get five outs with the go-ahead run already on base, after not being able to get three on Monday. Brad Ledford caught long flies by Sean Calais and Paul Kuehn to expire the Titans in the inning, then hit a single off Hugh after Hoogey’s pinch-hit leadoff double in the bottom 8th. They were left on the corners when Kilgallen, Maldonado, and Anderson made three terrible outs in a row…… Back to Campbell, Bunyon opened the bottom 9th with a single that Greenway overran for an extra base, and John Davis ripped another single to tie the game, and also went to second base on Hooge’s throw home. With two outs, Moises Avila walked off the Titans with a single. 4-3 Titans. Hooge (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Let’s just say I was restrained for much of the flight to Milwaukee.

Raccoons (44-41) @ Loggers (47-39) – July 8-10, 2039

The Loggers were eight games over .500 with a -1 run differential, which was indicating that they were due a few losses, and the Raccoons were totally gonna deal them to them. Totally. The season series was at 5-4 in Milwaukee’s favor.

Projected matchups:
Bryce Sparkes (5-8, 3.46 ERA) vs. Carlos Padilla (7-6, 3.09 ERA)
Ryan Bedrosian (7-2, 3.71 ERA) vs. Sergio Piedra (6-3, 3.42 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (9-2, 2.74 ERA) vs. Joe Feltman (7-7, 3.23 ERA)

Only right-handed opposition from here to the All Star Game. Whether Sabre starts on Sunday depends on whether he makes the trip to the showcase. If he wins an All Star nod, Jared Ottinger (1-0, 0.00 ERA) would make a spot start.

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

Another day, another 1-0 lead (Maldonado jack in the second), and for once not instant regrets. Instead, the Coons went up to 3-0 in the next frame, with Morales and Berto hitting doubles, Manny chipped in a 2-out RBI single, then was caught stealing to end the inning. Anderson fumbled Padilla’s grounder in the bottom 3rd after Sparkes had retired three in a row, and the Loggers would immediately get an unearned run with singles by Danny Valenzuela and Joseph Ronan. The only surprise was that dastardly Ted Del Vecchio didn’t go yard afterwards and instead flew out to Hooge. The Raccoons got the run back in the fourth; Greenway drew a leadoff walk, and Anderson and Morales hit singles to get him around. Sparkes struck out to end the inning, then gave up hits to Felipe Gomez and Victor Acosta in the bottom half before being taken deep to left by Tony Coca, tying the score at four.

That also remained the score through seven and a rain delay that dragged out the misery unnecessarily. Thankfully Chris Miller would throw a wild pitch in the bottom 8th that advanced Del Vecchio from first base to second base just ahead of Felipe Gomez’ 2-out RBI single to give the Loggers a lead that would sink the Raccoons. Berto hit a 2-out single off Raul de la Rosa in the ninth. Cosmo popped out to short. 5-4 Loggers. Ramos 2-5, 2B, RBI; M. Fernandez 2-4, RBI; Morales 3-4, 2B, RBI;

There are no words.

Game 2
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – C Kilmer – 1B Anderson – CF Hooge – SS Kilgallen – P Bedrosian
MIL: RF Valenzuela – 1B Ronan – SS Del Vecchio – LF J. Nelson – C F. Gomez – 2B V. Acosta – CF Coca – 3B Garnier – P Piedra

New day, new 1-0 lead, with Oliver Anderson tripling home Kilmer, who had opened the second inning with a single. Then three Critters struck out in a row, leaving Anderson at third, and the Loggers were seemingly all the time in scoring position and just waiting for Bedrosian to implode entirely. They had five guys on in the first three innings, and stranded all of them, four of them in scoring position. Greenway then hit a leadoff jack in the fourth, his 15th of the year and the second this week as he continued the defrosting process. It was barely enough to stay just afloat as Acosta and Maxime Garnier hit singles off Bedrosian in the bottom 4th, and then Valenzuela legged out an infield roller with two outs to get Acosta in. Ronan whiffed.

Milwaukee had only one runner each in the fifth and sixth, smooth sailing if there ever was some, while the Raccoons ineffectively poked against Piedra and then William Stockwell. Bedrosian didn’t come back for the seventh, with Garavito giving up a 1-out triple to Ronan before being yanked for de Leon, who walked a pair and retired nobody. Prieto was next, getting an easy fly to Greenway from Gomez, with the runners holding. Victor Acosta also flew to shallow right, Greenway came on, reached, flubbed it, and the ball rolled into center for two runs to score.

And I really don’t remember anything after that, probably because I had a stroke or something, but apparently no further runs were scored… 3-2 Loggers. Trevino 2-4; Kilmer 3-4; Anderson 2-4, 3B, RBI;

(just looks plain sad)

Game 3
POR: 3B Ramos – 1B Monge – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – C Kilmer – CF Hooge – SS Kilgallen – 2B Hernandez – P Sabre
MIL: RF Valenzuela – 1B Ronan – SS Del Vecchio – LF J. Nelson – C F. Gomez – 2B V. Acosta – CF Coca – 3B Yoshioka – P Feltman

Sabre did NOT make the All Star Game, so he got the Sunday game as consolation price. Cosmo was sore and was left on the bench for Sunday.

The Loggers scored first on a Del Vecchio homer in the bottom 1st, and three singles landed them another run in the second, with Feltman driving in Gomez with two outs. Swell. Monge singled home Hernandez in the top 3rd for one run, and the Raccoons loaded the bags with three runners in the fourth, only to bring up Sabre with two outs and they weren’t gonna strike gold after this week now, either. From there nobody did anything for a few innings, because the Loggers didn’t have to anymore and the Raccoons just goddamn couldn’t. In the eighth, Feltman walked both Fernandez and Greenway with one out. Kilmer and Hooge made poor outs, and then Ottinger was exploded for three runs in the bottom 8th anyway… Top 9th, Cosmo hit for Kilgallen and struck out. Maldonado hit for Hernandez and walked. Ledford batted for Ottinger and singled. The Loggers went from one lefty (Stockwell) to another (Logan Bessey), and Berto struck out. Danny Monge zinged an RBI single, and only now did the tying run come to the plate with two down. And Manny Fernandez grounded out on the first pitch. 5-2 Loggers. Monge 2-4, 2 RBI; Hernandez 1-2, BB; Ledford (PH) 1-1;

In other news

July 4 – Salem 1B Bill Jenkins (.245, 12 HR, 46 RBI) ends their game with the Warriors with a walkoff grand slam off Seth Odum (4-2, 4.72 ERA, 1 SV). The Wolves win 10-6.
July 4 – A torn meniscus will put Tijuana’s RF/1B/LF Willie Ojeda (.334, 9 HR, 39 RBI) on the DL for a month.
July 5 – Aces OF Steve Jorgensen (.324, 12 HR, 44 RBI) would miss a month with torn ankle ligaments.
July 6 – Knights INF Vincent Zesati (.231, 1 HR, 4 RBI) retires from baseball after a botched surgery for a ruptured finger tendon causes part of his hand to go permanently numb. The 26-year-old was a .278 hitter with 10 homers and 79 RBI in 242 games.
July 6 – The Knights beat the Falcons, 8-7, in a 17-inning slog when CHA 2B/SS Oscar Aguirre (.215, 4 HR, 21 RBI) fumbles a grounder allowing the winning run to score.
July 6 – SAC LF/SS Jesus Banuelas (.320, 2 HR, 28 RBI) is on the DL with a hammy strain and is expected to miss two weeks.
July 7 – VAN SP David Arias (9-4, 4.13 ERA) would miss a month with a torn meniscus.
July 8 – It takes 16 innings for the Buffaloes to put an 8-7 win over the Cyclones in the books. Infielder Kyle Lusk (.261, 3 HR, 18 RBI) scores the winning run with a grounder.
July 10 – Well into overtime, VAN RF/CF Ryan Phillips (.240, 10 HR, 45 RBI) sends his team into the All Star Break with a 13th-inning walkoff grand slam off IND MR Justin Kaiser (3-7, 4.47 ERA, 2 SV). Vancouver notches a 13-9 win. Phillips has three hits in the game including another grand slam off SP Eric Peck (5-6, 5.03 ERA, 1 SV) and 9 RBI in total.

FL Player of the Week: PIT 1B Danny Santillano (.332, 22 HR, 70 RBI), hitting .500 (14-28) with 4 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN RF/CF Ryan Phillips (.240, 10 HR, 45 RBI), batting .414 (12-29) with 2 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

So Sabre didn’t make the All Star Game, but the professional leadblower Jermaine Campbell did? Awesome. Also going: Jeff Kilmer, Manny Fernandez, and Troy Greenway. Kilmer was a first-time All Star, while Fernandez went for the third time, Greenway for the fourth, and Campbell for the fifth time. And maybe we could arrange for none of them to return.

Not exactly sure why we get any All Stars, to be honest.

The Raccoons added two more starting pitchers via international free agents this week, two 18-year-old left-handers in fact. One was from Cuba, named Juan Rosales, who was probably more of a reliever type with short stamina. He only cost $16k. We paid about 15 times that much for Victor Merino from Venezuela. He only threw 87 right now, but was a control groundballer like DiCenta, who we signed last week. Good slider and changeup for sure on him, and he would in fact go straight to Aumsville rather than the complex in Santo Desolato.

There was another player we were after, the slugging corner outfielder type. He would be expensive enough to blow us well through the soft cap and into the highest penalty tier for next year.

Fun Fact: Vincent Zesati, who retired for injury reasons this week, was originally signed by the Raccoons out of the Dominican Republic.

Besides being involved in the grandiose trade for Adam Avakian, he originally cost $20k in 2029. $20k was also the price for Ignacio del Rio, that demonspawn.

$20k is not a good price to pay for a Dominican guy, I think.