[Westheim]

Raccoons (7-4) @ Titans (7-5) – April 15-17, 2041

The Titans were only hitting .197 as a team so far, with the second-fewest runs scored, but maybe they’d be refreshed by our wonky pitching. They were in the top three for fewest runs allowed. The 2041 season series had ended up tied, but after that Loggers debacle I was not believing much in the team despite a 7-0 start (against almost farcical opposition).

Projected matchups:
Nelson Moreno (2-0, 2.38 ERA) vs. Mario Gonzalez (1-0, 1.54 ERA)
Josh Brown (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Eunice Suyumov (1-0, 1.13 ERA)
Drew Johnson (1-1, 0.69 ERA) vs. Philip Wise (0-2, 16.20 ERA)

Two southpaws followed by a battered right-hander was the Titans’ battleplan.

Game 1
POR: SS Hunter – 3B Trevino – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – 1B Levis – 2B Kilgallen – RF Ito – P Moreno
BOS: 3B Gil – LF W. Vega – CF Vermillion – 1B A. Zacarias – 2B M. Hurtado – C Graham – RF Beard – SS Nieblas – P M. Gonzalez

The Raccoons’ season fell apart with great shebang right at the start of this game, with Tony Hunter reaching base on a single, Cosmo Trevino flying out to left, and Maldonado having his wrist broken by a fastball for an ugly noise that told everybody in attendance that they wouldn’t have to wait for the X-rays on this one. Stephon Nettles took over while I stared in silence, with Doug Levis singling home a run in the inning. That was all the Portland offense early on, with Nelson Moreno not allowing a hit through three innings, but walking a batter in each of them. The Titans took to landing hits only in the bottom 4th, with Mark Vermillion and Mario Hurtado reaching the corners before a sac fly by Andy Graham tied the game at one. Moreno issued a leadoff walk to Orlando Nieblas in the fifth inning, which the Titans converted into run(s) in style with a triple by Antonio Gil through a diving Trevino, then a line drive homer by Willie Vega. That put them up 4-1. Cosmo not only failed to contain Gil’s fast bouncer, he also murdered all offense for the Furballs, being on the corners with Ito in the fourth before being caught stealing for the final out, and finding Ito and Hunter on the corners in the sixth with two outs, only to pop out poorly.

The game got out of hand for good in the seventh; good ol’ Jimmy Wallace hit a pinch-hit double off Moreno, who was lifted for Chuck Jones. Now, 2040 had seen a fairly reliable Chuck Jones. 2041 saw a Chuck Jones unable to get anybody out. Vega ripped an RBI double, as did Vermillion. He then walked Alex Zacarias. Hurtado would flick an RBI single off Tim Zimmerman to get to 7-1. And yet, lo and behold, the Raccoons twitched in the eighth. Levis and Kilgallen reached base against Gonzalez, followed by a 3-run homer smashed by Rikuto Ito. Balaski hit for Zimmerman, reached base, and was on third base by the time there were two outs on the board. Nettles was up, 0-for-3 in the game and about 1-for-6,000 on the season. The Raccoons went for the maximum applicable penalty and hit Berto for him, desiring to get that run home. They got that run home with a slap single, 7-5, then loaded the bases until Levis flew out to Vega to strand all three runners. Ernesto Huichapa and Gil hit leadoff singles off Alex Ramirez in the bottom of the inning, only to be doubled up and made redundant by Vermillion, but the Raccoons disappeared in order against right-hander Javy Santana anyway… 7-5 Titans. Hunter 3-5; Ramos (PH) 1-1, RBI; Kilgallen 2-5; Ito 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Balaski (PH) 1-2, 2B;

Off to the DL it was with Maldonado, who came back from the hospital with a blue forearm cast with yellow accents, explaining, when challenged by his GM why he wore the colors of the enemy, that the doctor and nurse had said these were the only colors they had. And they had snickered weirdly. And the doctor had worn a Titans cap.

I swore revenge to the baseball gods, authorized Josh Brown to throw at Mark Vermillion’s head on Tuesday, then ordered a replacement position player from AAA. Jose Brito and Nick Lando had both taken a backseat to young Arturo Carreno in St. Pete, and were readily available as backup infielder. We picked Lando, who was on the 40-man roster already.

Game 2
POR: SS Hunter – 3B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – 1B Levis – RF Ito – CF Reyna – 2B Lando – P Brown
BOS: 2B M. Hurtado – 1B A. Zacarias – LF W. Vega – RF M. Avila – CF Vermillion – SS Toney – 3B Gil – C Huichapa – P Suyumov

Brown indeed nicked Vermillion, but in the bum, in the bottom 1st. Unfortunately that loaded the bases with two outs, and Mike Toney was up to slap a 2-run single. Nick Lando, injected into the lineup because why not, hit an RBI double to score Levis in the second, but the Titans just kept adding on. Alex Zacarias blasted a home run to right, with Hurtado on base, to extend the deficit to 4-1 in the bottom 2nd, and I released a tortured sigh that got not one, but two attendants to inquire about my well-being. I hissed at them that I would be better if their ******* team wasn’t winning.

The Raccoons came near winning in the sixth inning after three innings of mutual non-aggression. Manny hit a 2-out triple off the fence in rightfield, then was plated by Kilmer. The bases filled up with Levis and Ito also reaching, but then Reyna fouled out to strand all of them. The tying runs would be in scoring position again in the seventh. Suyumov hit Lando, and Hunter dished a double to right, indeed getting close to tying the 4-2 game. They got done even less than the previous inning – Cosmo grounded out to Gil, and Manny flew out to right, and the tying runs retreated to the dugout without crossing home plate. Gilberto Castillo retired the Raccoons in order in the eighth before Adam Howell nicked Miguel Reyna to begin the ninth. Lando, heretofore unretired, struck out, and Berto grounded out. Tony Hunter was up with Portland down to their last out – and hit a jack to right to stave off defeat …! Bill Balaski hit for Brent Clark, grounded out, but Tim Zimmerman got the game to extras with three outs from three batters in the bottom 9th.

Portland would score next, in the 11th. It started with Seth Green walking Lando with one out in the inning. Berto was no help, but the Tony Brigade struck; Hunter and Morales both slapped singles off Green, which brought Lando around to score and break the 4-4 tie. Manny Fernandez came through with another single to right-center, with Tony Hunter scoring narrowly ahead of Moises Avila’s throw. Green out, Andy Bressner in, and inning over with a K to Jeff Kilmer. DeOrio got the inning over quickly in the bottom 11th, ending the Raccoons’ 5-game losing streak. 6-4 Raccoons. Hunter 4-6, HR, 2 RBI; Morales (PH) 1-1, RBI; Fernandez 2-6, 3B, RBI; Kilmer 2-5, RBI; Levis 2-5; Lando 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, RBI;

Hey, we can apparently still win games!

Well, at least one.

Game 3
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF Fernandez – 1B Levis – C Morales – SS Hunter – RF Balaski – CF Nettles – P Johnson
BOS: 3B Gil – LF W. Vega – 1B A. Zacarias – RF M. Avila – 2B M. Hurtado – C Graham – CF Toney – SS Nieblas – P P. Wise

Berto opened the game with a double and scored right away on a Cosmo single, but the Raccoons then stuttered into stranding Trevino at third base. The Titans then took the lead with a double by Gil and a homer by Willie Vega, without much fuss. But Portland was not defeated that easily this time – Manny Fernandez would homer to right to tie the score in the third inning, and we went up 3-2 in the fourth with a Hunter single, stolen base, and Balaski’s RBI double. The Titans answered with three runs on one hit in the bottom 4th, which saw Johnson walk Zacarias and Avila, nick Graham, and give up two runs on a Mike Toney double to right… and then another one on Nieblas’ sac fly. That made it 5-3 Boston on just three hits total for the blue team.

The tying runs were on the corners in Cosmo and Levis in the fifth with one out, but the only run to score did so on a wild pitch, and that run was reclaimed by the Titans as they chewed up Johnson for good in the bottom 6th with two hits and one walk. On to the seventh, which Cosmo opened with a double to right. Manny walked against new reliever “Graveyard” Gill, before Levis struck out and Morales popped out. Hunter walked, loading the bases for Ito, hitting for Balaski against the lefty pitcher. Ito walked, forcing in a run, and Kilgallen hit for the entirely successless Nettles, but struck out. Brent Clark held Boston away in the bottom 7th before Nick Lando became the tying run with a leadoff single in the #9 hole against Seth Green in the eighth. Three poor grounders by the 1-2-3 batters stranded him, and the team remained behind 6-5. Until the bottom 8th, that was, in which Juan Zabala walked three and allowed two hits, the last of them a homer to right by Ernesto Huichapa, in a 5-run explosion. 11-5 Titans. Trevino 3-5, 2 2B, RBI; Lando (PH) 1-2;

Well, we never had a chance to win this game. When have we EVER won a series in Boston…

Raccoons (8-6) @ Aces (6-9) – April 19-21, 2041

The Aces were 10th in runs scored *and* runs allowed in the early going (Coons: 2nd, 7th, respectively). They could hit home runs (4th in CL with 15), but they surely could not steal bags (3, bottoms). They did have the best bullpen in the league, though, which made me envious all the same… We had lost this season series two years running, dropping five of nine games in ’40.

Projected matchups:
Bernie Chavez (2-1, 7.04 ERA) vs. Oscar Valdes (0-3, 5.60 ERA)
Nelson Moreno (2-1, 4.08 ERA) vs. Willie Gallardo (1-2, 4.50 ERA)
Josh Brown (1-0, 4.00 ERA) vs. Israel Mendoza (1-1, 2.38 ERA)

All righties from their side!

Game 1
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF Fernandez – 1B Levis – C Morales – SS Hunter – RF Balaski – CF Reyna – P Chavez
LVA: CF Dustal – 3B Rossi – 2B D. Richardson – RF Jorgensen – SS O’Keefe – 1B J. Velazquez – LF Burgos – C D. Gomez – P O. Valdes

Doug Richardson and Steve Jorgensen hit back-to-back jacks off Boom-Boom Chavez right in the first inning, giving the Raccoons that all too familiar feeling of trailing again. While the Raccoon drew a few walks, but had no base hits through four innings, Bernie looked every bit like he would cause more agony, fooling nobody, and causing the outfielders to play two feet deeper each inning after another. When the Aces got to him again in the fourth inning, it was ironically not a homer, but walks issued to John Velazquez, who stole a base and advanced to third on Morales’ off throw, and Danny Gomez, who also stole second base, because Raccoons. With two outs Jonathan Dustal cashed both runners with a double to right, then was stranded when Nate Rossi was retired at the fence by Manny Fernandez…

The Raccoons would not score an earned run against Oscar Valdes, who walked EIGHT batters in the game, but only allowed one hit, a Berto single in the fifth. The Raccoons stupendously found every double play to hit into that offered itself up, and once Berto was also picked off first after walking. They *did* score a pair in the seventh inning, but on two errors and only after ex-Coon Sal Lozano had replaced the out of control Valdes. Nate Rossi then hit a jack off David Lindstrom in the bottom 7th to get the Aces back out to slam range, 6-2… That was barely enough to weather the Raccoons’ rally in the eighth, which included five hits off four different pitchers, starting with Miguel Reyna in the #8 hole. Berto singled, Cosmo hit a sac fly, 6-3, and Manny hit another single. Levis and Morales both hit RBI singles off Derek Barker and Marty Madera, respectively. The string ended with Tony Hunter, stranding runners on first and second. While Chuck Jones and Tim Zimmerman sure tried to implode in the bottom 8th, the Aces left runners on the corners, meaning the Raccoons had to make up one run to tie, and two to take the lead against righty Aaron Duval in the ninth inning. Ito pinch-hit to start the inning, hitting for the pitcher in the #7 hole. He grounded out to short. Reyna flew out softly. Nettles singled, getting his batting average up all the way to .077, stole second base as I shrieked in horror, then scored on a single Berto slapped through the right side, tying the game at six after all…! Berto was then caught stealing…

Ian Wilson had been skipped in the rotation for this game, then pitched a scoreless bottom 9th to send the game to extras, *and* became the pitcher of record on the long side, provisionally, when Manny Fernandez hit a leadoff double in the 10th and scored on two decent outs. DeOrio came out and walked PH Corey Caldwell with two outs to get the winning run to the plate for the Aces. A guy in a black-and-red jester costume in the first row on the first base side held up an oversized Two of Spades while pointing at the ex-Ace DeOrio, with several other fans around him also point and shouting, apparently voicing displeasure at DeOrio with his befuddled reputation, but that only made him angrier and he carved up Ken Wiersma for a game-ending K when Wiersma was usually that annoying low-talent coonskinner always good for a walkoff homer. 7-6 Coons. Ramos 3-4, 2 BB, RBI; Fernandez 3-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Morales 2-3, 2 BB, 3 RBI;

Game 2
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Morales – SS Hunter – RF Ito – 1B Kilgallen – CF Reyna – P Moreno
LVA: CF Dustal – 3B Rossi – 2B D. Richardson – RF Jorgensen – LF Caldwell – SS O’Keefe – C D. Gomez – 1B J. Velazquez – P W. Gallardo

Nels allowed four hits in the first three innings, but the Aces remained off the board, stranding runners on the corners in the second inning and running themselves out of the first and third frames. Nate Rossi was caught stealing in the former, while Jonathan Dustal was thrown out at third base by Rikuto Ito on a 2-out Doug Richardson single in the latter. Portland was however just as successful and the game remained scoreless early on. Berto and Cosmo landed hits to go to the corners in the fifth inning, but then were stranded with a pop by Manny and a groundout by Morales. Berto was on again in the seventh, again for no greater good, and Chris O’Keefe singled off Moreno with one out in that inning, stole his way to third base, and was stranded when Ken Wiersma pinch-hit for Velazquez and popped out.

Both teams then had runners thrown out stealing in the eighth inning. For the Coons it was Hunter, ending the inning, while for the Aces it was Ozzie Burgos, who had opened the bottom half with a single up the middle. Dustal legged out an infield single, but Moreno dug a trench and struck out Nate Rossi. The runners went there, and Morales axed Burgos at third base. Mound conference, advising Moreno that Richardson was his last batter and he should give his all. Nels drilled him at 1-2, then was lifted for Alex Ramirez, who gave up a yowling 2-run double to Steve Jorgensen to piss the game away. 2-0 Aces. Ramos 2-4, BB, 2B; Levis (PH) 1-1; Moreno 7.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, L (2-2);

This ******* bullpen…

Game 3
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF Fernandez – 1B Levis – C Kilmer – RF Ito – SS Hunter – CF Nettles – P Brown
LVA: 1B van Brunt – SS O’Keefe – RF Jorgensen – C Wiersma – CF Rossi – 3B D. Richardson – 2B Bensinger – LF Dustal – P I. Mendoza

Portland scored first (sic!) with soft singles by Berto to start the contest and by Levis with two outs. With Jeff van Brunt and Chris O’Keefe on base, Ken Wiersma hit a hard liner right into Trevino’s mitten in the bottom 1st, giving the Raccoons an unusual lucky break. Not that the lead would last – Portland got nothing together in the next two innings, and O’Keefe took Brown deep to tie the score in the bottom 3rd instead.

Top 4th, Kilmer hit a double off Mendoza with one down, with Ito then grounding to short. O’Keefe threw the ball away for two bases, gifting the lead back to the Raccoons as Kilmer scored, 2-1. Tony Hunter sunk a double in the gap in a full count, 3-1, but Nettles grounded out and Brown whiffed to strand him. Bottom of the inning, Brown nailed Richardson, then struck out three in a row to escape.

Brown was done after just five innings, throwing 90 pitches, mostly in the first and fourth innings. The Raccoons held on to the 3-1 lead through seven, with scoreless frames by Zabala and Zimmerman… then came apart violently again and once more. Jorgensen ripped a 1-out triple off Zimmerman in the bottom 8th, with the right-hander also allowing an RBI double to ******* Ken Wiersma, 3-2. Brent Clark came on, bled three more hits in a row, and after a Rossi single, Richardson double, and Bensinger single was 5-3 behind. The Raccoons would put the tying runs in scoring position with singles by Balaski, hitting for Nettles, and Berto in the top 9th. Confusion between Caldwell and Jorgensen allowed both runners to reach scoring position. The pitcher’s slot was up next, Cosmo having been replaced at second by Nick Lando earlier, so Tony Morales grabbed a stick against none other than ex-Critter Francisco Pena. Morales got home a run with a grounder, a token gesture unless Manny could get something done with two outs. And he did – singling up the middle to tie the game at five! Well, Aces, that’s Francisco Pena for you…! Pena was shanked for Derek Barker after that blow, who struck out Levis to end the inning. Alex Ramirez then survived a few sharp grounders to send the third game of the week to extras, where Kilmer started things with a double to left. Hunter singled after Ito whiffed, and Balaski added a sac fly to take the lead. Hunter stole second, but was stranded when Lando popped out. DeOrio, undeterred by braying and low-rank XXXL cards being waved at him, retired the Aces in order. 6-5 Critters. Ramos 2-5; Trevino 3-4, 2 2B; Kilmer 2-5, 2 2B; Hunter 3-5, 2B, RBI; Balaski (PH) 1-1, RBI;

In other news

April 15 – OCT C Jesus Adames (.326, 6 HR, 11 RBI) was off to a hot start, but now has to take a seat on the cold DL, having strained an oblique that will put him on the shelf for a month.
April 15 – TOP OF J.P. Angeletti (.452, 2 HR, 7 RBI) would miss two months with torn ligaments in his thumb.
April 16 – Salem SP Kyle Dominy (3-0, 1.80 ERA) spins a 3-hit shutout against the Pacifics for a 4-0 Wolves win. A single in the same game gives Salem’s Armando Herrera (.385, 1 HR, 8 RBI) a 20-game hitting streak that dates back to 2040.
April 16 – The game between the Thunder and Aces ends 6-2 in favor of the latter in the 11th inning when LVA C Danny Gomez (.250, 3 HR, 7 RBI) pinch-hits and crashes a walkoff grand slam off Wyatt Hamill (0-1, 1.04 ERA, 5 SV).
April 16 – The Rebels beat the Buffaloes, 17-6, crushing them with a 10-run eighth inning. RIC 3B/LF Josh Frazier (.288, 4 HR, 14 RBI) has three hits and drives in handful in the rout.
April 17 – The hitting streak of Salem’s CF/RF Armando Herrera (.351, 1 HR, 8 RBI) ends right away in a 2-1 Wolves win over the Pacifics.
April 17 – WAS SP Jerry Banda (1-2, 5.88 ERA) 3-hits the Blue Sox in a 6-0 shutout.
April 19 – BOS CL Javy Santana (0-1, 4.35 ERA, 3 SV) has an epic meltdown, walking off the Falcons with an error made himself in between four walks issued to them in the bottom of the ninth inning, turning a 2-1 Titans lead into a 3-2 Falcons win.
April 20 – Condors and Indians need 13 innings to get anybody to score a run, with Tijuana taking the 1-0 victory with an RBI single by OF Mal Phinazee (.271, 1 HR, 5 RBI) in the top of the inning.
April 21 – SFB OF Josh Dahlman (.448, 0 HR, 2 RBI) is out for the season, having ruptured his medial collateral ligament.

FL Player of the Week: RIC 3B/LF Josh Frazier (.319, 6 HR, 18 RBI), hitting .440 (11-25) with 3 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN OF Jerry Outram (.417, 8 HR, 18 RBI), batting .500 (12-24) with 5 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The damn Elks took the lead in the North on Thursday, slapping the Loggers for 11 runs to leap past them. I wrote the season off right there and then, but the Loggers actually found a way to get back in front by the end of the week. Good for them! We’ll chill back here, two games out in third place, unconcerned with that race – if it is one.

The Raccoons arrived in all the ninth innings trailing this week, which is not a recipe for enduring success. They made up three deficits and won all those in extras, but there might be more successful business models out there…

The pitching is mostly gruesome, and the defense is just the same. Offensively there are really only two strugglers, Reyna and Nettles. Everybody else has a 99 OPS+ or better. Is Rikuto Ito an .890 OPS batter for the future? Maybe, maybe not. But with Maldonado out and two other outfielders gasping for air, there’s no risk for him getting sent down to St. Pete by Thursday…

Next week, Knights and Indians. After that looms the first meeting with the damn Elks. Remember that series from last year? – Me neither.

(lifts bottle of Capt’n Coma back to his fuzzy lips)

Fun Fact: The top 3 in doubles in the CL are Cosmo Trevino, tied for first with the Thunder’s Carlos Vega with 8 apiece, and … Jeff Kilmer.

Jeff Kilmer has seven doubles this season after hitting all of eight doubles in 2040. In turn he has zero home runs compared to 16 last year. I am sure it is temporary.

…like the bullpen plague that is somehow in its fourth year.