[Westheim]

Raccoons (5-8) @ Crusaders (4-7) – April 16-18, 2040

The Crusaders had not had a pleasant start to the season either, sitting in last place with the second-fewest runs scored (aided by a rainout costing them a game) and fifth-most runs allowed (probably also…). They had one qualifying batter with an average over .250 (Mario Briones, .325), but then again, the Raccoons were a tire fire top to bottom… We had won the season series four years in a row, hadn’t lost it in seven, and had taken 12 wins against them in ’39.

Projected matchups:
Raffaello Sabre (0-1, 3.38 ERA) vs. Josh Brown (0-1, 2.57 ERA)
Kyle Dominy (1-0, 4.26 ERA) vs. Jamal Barrow (0-1, 5.14 ERA)
Ryan Bedrosian (1-0, 0.90 ERA) vs. TBD

Lefty, righty, and whatever after that. Southpaw Todd Lush (0-0, 1.69 ERA) was up next, but was said to be ill.

Game 1
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – SS Hunter – C Kilmer – CF Maldonado – RF Greenway – LF Fernandez – 1B Kilgallen – P Sabre
NYC: RF Melendez – 3B Sifuentes – 2B Briones – CF Besaw – LF C. Russell – C D. Phillips – 1B Rudd – SS J. Adams – P J. Brown

Berto and Cosmo went to the corners with singles to begin the week, and both scored, one by one, on a Tony Hunter double and Kilmer’s sac fly, both to left. Then came Sabre, retired none of the first four hitters – Bill Melendez singled, Ramon Sifuentes doubled, Mario Briones walked, and Chris Russell hit the game-knotting single – and eventually gave the Crusaders a 3-2 lead, hitting Jim Adams with two outs and the bases full in the same inning. It didn’t get any better after that, either. Melendez singled to begin the bottom 2nd, Sifuentes homered, and Joe Besaw also homered with one out. Chris Russell hit a triple, finally sending Sabre into a corner for a well-deserved cry. I had one, too.

Chuck Jones conceded that Russell run, and the Crusaders tacked one more on in the bottom 3rd, although Jones had the inning finished. Jeff Kilmer lost strike three to Melendez, though, and two more singles after that plated the leadoff batter to run the score to 8-2. Another unearned run was tacked on in the fourth, still against a repeatedly stabbed in the back Chuck Jones, this time with major contributions by Matt Kilgallen and a 2-base throwing error. While Jeff Kilmer hit a 3-run homer past the point where it mattered, Rafael Zacarias was shackled for four hits and two runs in a continuing meltdown, that saw Jermaine Campbell allow a single, walk two, and balk home a run in the eighth. 12-5 Crusaders. Trevino 3-4; Hunter 2-4, 2B, RBI;

(barges through the door of the dressing room) Alright, LISTEN, you little *****!! I’m not going to take that crap much longer!! I will totally weed you lot out!! – Stop the screaming!! IT’S MY TIME TO SCREAM!! – LISTEN UP!!! – Hey!! Hey!! Take your paws away!!

(is dragged away by security after accidentally storming into the cheerleaders’ dressing room)

Game 2
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – CF Nettles – 1B Maldonado – C Morales – LF Fernandez – SS Hunter – RF Ledford – P Dominy
NYC: RF Melendez – 3B Sifuentes – 2B Briones – CF Besaw – LF C. Russell – C D. Phillips – 1B Rudd – SS J. Adams – P Barrow

When the Raccoons again but Berto (single) and Cosmo (RBI triple) aboard, and scored both eventually in the top of the first, I sighed, and kept cooling the black eye, which the disgusted strong-armed security lady had given me, with an icepack. But Dominy put a zero on the board, staving off a repeat of Monday for the time being, then singled home Fernandez and Ledford to get to 4-0. Barrow hit a pair in the third inning, then walked Dominy with one run in and two aboard and two out in the inning. Berto fell to 1-2, then slapped a single over Jim Adams to score the two Tonies. Cosmo flew out, keeping things at 7-0 in the middle of the third.

Neither the offense, nor Kyle Dominy’s stellar day were over though. After a quiet fourth, the Crusaders’ Gabriel Lara put Manny and Hunter on base in the fifth inning, then faced Dominy with the pair in scoring position and one out. Dominy mashed a pretty straight fastball down Fifth Avenue for 399 feet for a 3-run homer, extending the lead to 10-0! And on the pitching side? Dominy scattered three hits and three walks through seven innings, but was still in fairly decent shape, beginning the eighth inning on 81 pitches, and facing PH Jesse Stedham in the #9 hole. The ex-Coon grounded out before Melendez and Sifuentes chipped base hits. Briones popped out, Besaw grounded out, and the inning ended. Come the ninth, Chris Russell grounded out to short on the 101st pitch. Devin Phillips ran a full count, then struck out. Tom Rudd fell to 1-2, then hit a dinker for a single. Dominy was on 111 pitches, which was probably enough, but he’d get one more shot at the shutout against .186 hitter Jim Adams, who singled, and PH Juan Herrera, who flew out to Nettles, ending the game. 10-0 Raccoons! Ramos 3-4, BB, 2 RBI; Fernandez 3-5; Hunter 4-5, 2B, RBI; Dominy 9.0 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 9 K, W (2-0) and 2-3, BB, HR, 5 RBI;

Congratulations on your second career shutout, Kyle! – Yes, yes. (tries to wiggle himself out of a fierce pawshake) – So, tell me… Would you happen to have an outfielder’s glove…?

Game 3
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – SS Hunter – C Kilmer – CF Maldonado – RF Greenway – LF Fernandez – 1B Kilgallen – P Bedrosian
NYC: RF Melendez – 3B Sifuentes – 2B Briones – CF Besaw – LF C. Russell – C D. Phillips – 1B Stedham – SS J. Adams – P Lush

Bedrosian spent 29 pitches in a bottom 1st that saw the Crusaders coax two walks and fill the bags on a Trevino error, only to leave them loaded when Phillips hit a comebacker to end the frame. Neither team scored before a 45-minute rain delay in the third inning, splitting a total of four hits down the middle. In the top 4th then, Lush, nursed back to health on pizza and Long Island Iced Tea, walked the flickering specter of Troy Greenway, batting .049 (sic!), then allowed singles to the next two clowns to fill them up with nobody out. Bedrosian whiffed, Berto popped out, Cosmo grounded out, and I also longed for some Long Island Iced Tea…

While Manny Fernandez singled home Tony Hunter in the fifth to get something on the board after all, we eyed Bedrosian’s pitch count with the added complications of the rain delay. He was at 71 through four, which was far from good to begin with, but got through the fifth on seven pitches. He was spotted another run as Todd Lush dissolved in the sixth. He walked a total of eight batters, but the Raccoons only got one run off him and Aaron Hickey before Greenway struck out with the bases loaded, sending it back to Bedrosian. Russell (single) and Stedham (catcher’s interference!) reached in the bottom 6th before left-handed Ricardo Salmeron pinch-hit for Hickey in the #9 hole with two outs. The Raccoons sent for Brent Clark, who gave up an RBI single on the first pitch before striking out Melendez instead…

Despite seemingly trying, the Raccoons couldn’t find another run in the last three innings of regulation. They didn’t even reach scoring position in any of them. At least Campbell and Garavito held the fort, and handed the 2-1 lead to Rico Sanchez, who hadn’t seen a save situation in quite a while. Doug Levis, Juan Herrera, and Tom Rudd were retired while making relatively little noise, and lasted only seven pitches between them. 2-1 Coons. Hunter 2-3, 2 BB; Fernandez 2-5, RBI; Kilgallen 3-5; Campbell 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Looks like Manny Fernandez has a pulse – he reached the .204 mark with this game.

Troy Greenway meanwhile has fewer RBI than the Raccoons have pitchers that have already gone yard this year.

Raccoons (7-9) @ Bayhawks (4-12) – April 20-22, 2040

Nothing had ever gone well for the Raccoons at the Bay, but then again the entire season so far had felt like it had been played at the Bay. They were last in runs scored AND runs allowed, which was never pretty, but here we were, to the rescue. Their rotation had an ERA of almost five, and their pen was even worse. They had hit nine homers, fifth in the league, but were near the bottom in every other category. With 2.6 runs scored and 5.2 runs allowed per game they looked like the real clown show. Oh well, here come the Coons. We had won eight of nine from them in ’39.

Projected matchups:
Bernie Chavez (1-1, 5.60 ERA) vs. Gilberto Rendon (1-1, 3.93 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (0-2, 8.25 ERA) vs. Rick Haugh (1-2, 4.41 ERA)
Kyle Dominy (2-0, 2.49 ERA) vs. Ryan Kinner (0-2, 9.18 ERA)

All right-handed pitchers coming up here!

Game 1
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – CF Nettles – 1B Maldonado – SS Hunter – LF Fernandez – RF Greenway – C Kilmer – P Chavez
SFB: CF M. Hall – 2B Schneller – RF D. Martinez – 1B S. Ayala – SS Greer – LF Oshiita – 3B Barcia – C Sailas – P G. Rendon

Maldonado drove home Nettles in the top of the first, and the Bayhawks made two outs at the fence in the bottom 1st, so that was that. Manny hit a leadoff double in the second, Greenway walked, and Kilmer jammed a grounder into a double play to kill the inning. Bernie Chavez then divined to walk Sal Ayala, Marshall Greer, and Dick Oshiita to begin the bottom 2nd. While Sergio Barcia hacked himself out, Robbie Sailas singled home two runs to take the lead, and I was mightily miffed once more. The inning fizzled out for them after that, and Maldonado plated Stephon Nettles again with a double in the third inning to tie the score, but COME ON BERNIE!!

Nope, he stayed awful. It was all D behind him, but some things were just indefensible, like allowing a leadoff double to Rendon in the bottom 5th. Mike Hall singled, Dan Schneller hit a sac fly to break the tie, and then it was Kilmer throwing out Hall trying to steal second that got things moving further along. The Raccoons did not make much of an offensive impression afterwards, not even Nettles and Maldonado… In the bottom 8th, Ramirez and Jones and Campbell collectively came apart for two runs on three hits and a walk, and that put the team in a 3-run hole against Tim Thweatt in the ninth from which they didn’t emerge. 5-2 Bayhawks. Nettles 2-3, BB, 2B; Maldonado 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Fernandez 3-4, 2 2B;

(sits frozen with one eye closed, biting down on a sturdy wooden stick)

Game 2
POR: 3B Ramos – SS Hunter – CF Nettles – 1B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – RF Greenway – C Morales – 2B Caskey – P Sabre
SFB: CF M. Hall – 2B Schneller – RF D. Martinez – 1B S. Ayala – SS Greer – 3B Barcia – LF O. Calderon – C Sailas – P Haugh

In the second inning it seemed like Troy Greenway might actually land a ******* base hit, but it sizzling liner at 3-2 was hit right into Sal Ayala’s mitten, and that also ended a 1-2-3 frame. The Coons had two hits the first time through, but put up the minimum due to either being caught stealing (Berto), or hitting into a double play (Caskey). Sabre shaved a run and a half off his monstrous ERA for three scoreless innings, but also relied mightily on defense. Something was pear-shaped about him. Before the pear could break out of a scoreless line, Manny Fernandez hit back-to-back doubles with Maldonado and two outs in the fourth, driving in both Maldo and Hunter for the first two markers on the scoreboard. Then Greenway struck out in a full count. Sabre continued to hold out on a 2-hitter through five, followed by Nettles and Maldo reaching base to begin the sixth inning. They pulled off a double steal against Haugh, considered the right-hander with the best move in the league, after which Manny Fernandez dropped an RBI single to right to get to 3-0. Greenway popped out (bites into and tears with his teeth on coonskin cap), but Tony Morales poked another RBI single up the middle. The inning fizzled out with a K to CasKey, and Sabre flying out to Oscar Calderon. Sabre then was finally touched – we had been waiting for it quite a while – when Dan Schneller hit a solo home run in the bottom of the inning. Through six, it was 4-1.

Things had gone poorly enough for Sabre that he was hit for as soon as Ayala and Calderon reached in the seventh, bringing up .196 hitter Robbie Sailas with the tying run. Brent Clark struck him out, ending the inning. Top 8th, Jon Salls allowed leadoff singles to Maldonado and Manny Fernandez, bringing back the .040 schreck Troy Greenway. As much as we were longing for a knockout blow, we couldn’t pinch-hit for him. He had to break out of that slump, and there was a Jon Caskey in the dugout who could drive somebody in, theoretically, and here was a so-so righty pitcher in Salls, who fell to 3-1 against Greenway before Greenway poked… and grounded… to Schneller… to Greer… to Ayala… double play (gets wet eyes)… Tony Morales grounded out to strand Maldo at third base, and two singles off Zacarias and one off Garavito gave the Baybirds a run in the bottom 8th, driven in by Ayala before Greer fouled out to strand the tying runs. Cosmo batted for Caskey in the ninth, also couldn’t get the **** on base, but at least handled two grounders for outs behind Rico Sanchez to put the game away in the bottom half of the inning… 4-2 Critters. Ramos 2-5; Maldonado 2-3, BB, 2B; Fernandez 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Morales 3-4, RBI; Sabre 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-2);

Game 3
POR: 3B Ramos – SS Hunter – LF Fernandez – 1B Maldonado – CF Nettles – C Morales – 2B Trevino – RF Ledford – P Dominy
SFB: CF M. Hall – 2B Schneller – RF D. Martinez – 1B S. Ayala – SS Greer – LF Oshiita – 3B Barcia – C Sailas – P Kinner

Was anybody really surprised when Kinner came within inches of three scoreless to open the game? But Berto’s 2-out grounder narrowly eluded Barcia, and Brad Ledford came around to score the game’s first run in the top of the third. Manny Fernandez went deep to center to give the Raccoons two runs by the fourth inning, and after Maldonado reached base and Tony Morales found a 6-4-3 grounder, it was also two double plays for the Coons’ backstop in this game. Dominy allowed two hits through three innings, but the contact was louder than it had been on Tuesday, and there was a potential for a Bayhawks comeback…

Before long, Kinner, Hall, and Dave Martinez all hit singles to load the bases in the fifth inning. Ayala tied the game with a single to right, Greer struck out, and Dick Oshiita reached on an infield single. Barcia stranded the full set with a fly to Ledford, but the score was even again, and Dominy lasted only one more inning before being whittled down for good by the Bayhawks, retiring after six innings and 113 pitches. Kinner was still going in the seventh, and also in the eighth… Ed Hooge hit for Alex Ramirez and drew a leadoff walk, and Berto singled off Kinner. Hunter hit into a double play… Manny singled up the middle, though, and the Coons were back in the lead, 3-2! Might they ACTUALLY hang a loss on a pitcher entering with an ERA of more than a run per inning? Maldonado sure tried to, smashing a homer over the fence in right, 5-2!

Jermaine Campbell got around two soft singles in the bottom 8th before Schneller grounded out to Berto, maintaining the 3-run lead. While rain set in, the Raccoons went down without success in the ninth, getting only a Ledford single off Josh Wilkes, then brought in Raul Sanchez again, who barely began pitching when the tarp came onto the field for 30 minutes. It was just not long enough to knock the closer from the game, and it also couldn’t prevent him from getting three outs against an Oshiita single to put the game away. 5-2 Critters. Ramos 3-5, RBI; Fernandez 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Maldonado 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Ledford 2-4;

In other news

April 16 – The age 41 season of CHA SP Jose Lerma (1-0, 3.63 ERA) hits a snag with shoulder inflammation. Lerma will miss four months.
April 16 – SAC OF Alfonso Cedillo (.400, 3 HR, 5 RBI) will miss a month with elbow soreness.
April 17 – Tied at six through nine innings, the Condors blow the Bayhawks out of extras with a 7-spot in the 11th, taking a 13-6 win.
April 18 – SAL CF/RF Armando Herrera (.371, 1 HR, 10 RBI) hits his first home run of the year in the ninth inning against DAL CL David Lindstrom (1-0, 4.26 ERA, 4 SV), and with that seals his first career cycle (and the Wolves’ fourth), but can’t stave off defeat as the Stars still win, 6-4.
April 19 – SFB SP Jose Moreno (1-3, 3.64 ERA) 3-hits the Condors in a 5-0 shutout.
April 20 – The Cyclones beat the Stars, 4-1, with all their runs coming on the eighth-inning grand slam of INF Cody St. Peter (.412, 3 HR, 14 RBI).
April 21 – DAL 2B Hugo Acosta (.463, 1 HR, 10 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak stretching back to last season after hitting an RBI triple in the first inning of a 3-2 loss to the Cyclones.
April 21 – Nashville SP Tim Hale (2-1, 1.90 ERA) 2-hits the Wolves, who also get rushed for a 12-0 smothering.

FL Player of the Week: SAC RF/LF/1B Carlos Cortes (.291, 4 HR, 16 RBI), hitting .385 (10-26) with 3 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR OF Manny Fernandez (.295, 1 HR, 9 RBI), batting .520 (13-25) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Change of diet! No more of those green stuffs! They make you weak and then you can’t hit the baseball anymore, or throw the baseball anymore! All that is left on the menu is donuts, cookies, chicken, and schnitzel! – Stop tugging on my pants, Hoogey. – Yes, Hoogey, fries don’t count, you can have fries with your schnitzel. – And your donuts.

The damn Elks started 0-2, then won 11 in a row (we sure noticed), then lost five straight. As much as they abused the handbrake, it was probably a bigger joy to follow them. The Raccoons couldn’t even find three outfielders worth the oxygen…

Troy Greenway’s slump is as mysterious as it is wicked. Cristiano, let the tape run again. – (Cristiano lets video of a Friday at-bat of Greenway run again, where he stumbles to the plate in clown shoes, no pants, a cap four sizes too big and hanging over his eyes, and a can opener instead of a bat, then strikes out) – I don’t see it, Cristiano. Do you?

The road trip continues through Vegas, before we’ll host the Titans next weekend.

Fun Fact: The Wolves were also involved in the last cycle hit by a player on the losing team.

That was four years ago, when Denver’s Danny Zarate hit for all the bases for the second time, but Salem prevailed 10-8. The instance before that? Tim Stalker for the Coons against Boston.