[Westheim]

Monday was off, except for the banishing of Damon DeOrio to the Alley Cats. I did not envy the poor coaching stuff down there that was entirely unprepared for a 27-year-old Hall of Fame level ****.

The Raccoons divined to get another look at Josh Rella in the absence of any smarter ideas.

Raccoons (24-19) @ Thunder (18-27) – May 21-23, 2041

Two of the things the Thunder lacked where offense and pitching. They were at the bottom of the list in runs scored, getting barely 3.5 runs per game across, and were also fourth from the bottom in runs allowed with an unhealthy -56 run differential (and don’t mind us, they had the damn Elks coming up, too, this week). Their defense was “eh”, while their pen was rivalling the Coons’ in terms of flammability. This was the first meeting we had this season, with last year’s season series having gone 6-3 in the Critters’ favor.

Projected matchups:
Bernie Chavez (3-4, 6.43 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (1-5, 4.52 ERA)
Nelson Moreno (3-2, 4.12 ERA) vs. Dan Minelli (5-3, 2.79 ERA)
Josh Brown (5-0, 2.44 ERA) vs. Alan Fleming (4-2, 2.98 ERA)

Those would be all their right-handers, but it remained to be seen whether they’d use their Monday off to skip a lefty into the series. The Raccoons skipped Angelo Montano, because watching Bernie Chavez getting beaten to death was so much better…….

Contrary to expectations, Tony Hunter was not 100% on Tuesday and was left out of the starting lineup once more.

Game 1
POR: 3B A. Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Morales – RF Balaski – 1B Levis – SS Kilgallen – CF Nettles – P Chavez
OCT: LF E. Moore – 2B Martell – C Adames – RF Marz – 1B D. Cruz – SS Kuhn – CF Heskett – 3B Trawick – P J. Ramos

Berto drew a 4-pitch walk to begin the series and was maneuvered around to score on two grounders and Tony Morales’ chip single for an early lead. Bernie Chavez then drove in a run himself, singling home Nettles with two outs in the second inning after Nettles himself had singled and stolen second base. Then he was beaten to ******* death again; retiring the first six Thunder in a row was followed by leadoff walks to Brian Heskett and Jake Trawick. Juan Ramos bunted them over, and the Thunder got the runs in on Ethan Moore’s groundout, Al Martell doubling in the gap, and for good measure an RBI single by Jesus Adames, taking a 3-2 lead with two outs. While I wondered what there was to even help Bernie anymore, besides holding his head under water for a solid 15 minutes, those were the only Thunder hits through five innings. John Marz dropped a soft single in the sixth that led nowhere. Jimmy Kuhn then hit a leadoff jack in the seventh, because it wouldn’t be Bernie if it didn’t make loud noise from time to time. The Raccoons, meanwhile, had apparently gone to bed and didn’t figure offensive throughout the middle innings at all. The top 8th then saw the tying runs on base almost by surprise; Morales hit a 1-out single, while Bill Balaski walked. Levis struck out. Kilgallen flew out to center. In the ninth, Hunter, Ito, and Berto went out in order. 4-2 Thunder. Morales 3-4, 2B, RBI;

That was the kind of loss bad teams would suffer to other bad teams…

Game 2
POR: 3B A. Ramos – SS Hunter – LF Fernandez – C Morales – 1B Balaski – 2B Trevino – RF Ito – CF Nettles – P Moreno
OCT: LF E. Moore – 2B Martell – C Adames – RF Marz – 1B D. Cruz – CF Ringel – SS Kalinowski – 3B Trawick – P Minelli

The baseball gods give, the baseball gods take – Berto started a splendid 5-4-3 double play for a bowling ball his size to end the second inning on Adrian Ringel, then threw away Jake Trawick’s grounder the following inning for a 2-base error. In the end, the Thunder didn’t score early on despite Moreno walking Moore with two outs and throwing a wild pitch, because Martell’s fly was tracked down by Manny. The Thunder had two hits and as many double plays through four innings, while the Raccoons had landed four hits and didn’t have anything to show for them, either. Berto walked in the fifth and was left on; Morales hit a single in the sixth that he thought got by Ringel, but it didn’t, and Tony didn’t make it to second base alive… Moore singled off Nels in the bottom 6th, but was caught stealing. One of *those* games!

The Raccoons got two on in the seventh with nobody out because Cosmo singled to begin the frame, took off with Ito blinking at a fat pitch and was safe because Adames threw high. The Thunder then bypassed Ito to get to the .186 hitter Stephon Nettles, who grounded out, but advanced the runners. Nels then heldout for a full count against new pitcher Jake Bonnie, then dinged the southpaw with a single up the middle that put the first two runs on the board! Berto ripped a double into the gap, reaching a .409 OBP – and also for his knee, which seemed to bother him. I sighed loudly in the visiting GM’s box. Dr. Padilla collected Berto, who was replaced by Jay de Wit. The Thunder walked Hunter intentionally to get to Manny Fernandez, which oughta be a crime. Turns out, it was, and the sentence was a 2-run single by Manny and an RBI single by Morales before Balaski tumbled into a double play to end the 5-spot.

Moreno maintained a 3-hitter through seven, then came back for the eighth. Trawick singled, Rick Urfer belted a pinch-hit homer, and Moreno was replaced with Brent Clark for the left-handed top of the order. Between Clark and Zabala the Raccoons loaded the bases, but PH Jimmy Kuhn would pop out to leave them loaded. Alex Ramirez, maybe the new closer or maybe not, retired the Thunder in order to make his case in the the ninth inning. 5-2 Coons. Fernandez 2-4, 2 RBI; Morales 3-4, RBI; Trevino 2-4; Ito 1-2, BB; Moreno 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (4-2) and 1-3, 2 RBI;

Dr. Padilla, you have to explain it to me in normal person terms. What is a patella and why is it tendinitic?

Anyway, Berto was off to the DL, maybe only for 15 days, but we also thought we’d have Maldo back by now… In the absence of any actual plan or idea, the Raccoons did a smooth move and told Miguel Reyna that they had a roster spot open again and if he didn’t mind…

Yes, there was some mutual hissing going on.

Game 3
POR: SS Hunter – 2B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – 1B Levis – RF Ito – 3B de Wit – CF Nettles – P Brown
OCT: CF E. Moore – 2B Martell – C Adames – RF Marz – 1B D. Cruz – SS Kuhn – 3B Kalinowski – LF Trawick – P Pinter

Left-hander Casey Pinter (1-2, 3.04 ERA) gave up an unearned run in the top 1st on Levis’ sac fly after two singles and a Josh Kalinowski error had loaded the bases. Adames homered in the bottom 1st to tie the game, the Raccoons scratched out another run between Nettles and Hunter in the second inning for a new lead, and a Kalinowski double and Trawick’s RBI single took it away again in the same frame against a wonky looking Josh Brown. Pinter walked six Raccoons in just four innings, but the Critters couldn’t get a base hit when they needed them, and instead Brown kept leaking singles and fell 3-2 behind on a 2-out Kalinowski single in the bottom 4th, making all the Thunder runs occur with two outs so far.

Portland had the bases loaded with nobody out in the sixth as Brown singled, Hunter was nicked, and Cosmo singled. They scored the expected amount of runs – ******* zero. Manny struck out. Kilmer struck out. And reliever Sean Hardin completed the cleanup with a soft pop from Levis… Brown was yanked the same inning after loading the bases cluelessly. He didn’t strike out anybody in the entire game, while Chuck Jones, upon entering with three on and two outs, threw a wild pitch that almost took out .184 hitter Jesse Stedham. Once allowed to actually mess up, Stedham messed up, popping out. The Raccoons continued to trail 4-2 into the eighth, where Nick Lando drew a walk leading off and Cosmo hit a single off Bobby Klopotek. Manny Fernandez then struck out in a fat spot for the third time in the game before Brian McAllister walked Kilmer. Levis batted with three aboard and two gone against the lefty that the Thunder seemed in no hurry to remove. He struck out. 4-2 Thunder. Hunter 2-3, BB, RBI; Trevino 3-5;

Raccoons (25-21) @ Condors (22-22) – May 24-26, 2041

The Condors’ record was deceptively .500, while they had a +24 run differential that indicated they were due some good luck. Well, here we were… Fourth in runs scored and second in runs allowed, the Condors were looking forward to get into the season series, which the Raccoons so far led, 2-0 with a rainout that would be made up in September.

Projected matchups:
Drew Johnson (2-3, 3.57 ERA) vs. Jose Lerma (1-6, 5.34 ERA)
Angelo Montano (0-2, 5.09 ERA) vs. Gilberto Rendon (3-3, 3.36 ERA)
Bernie Chavez (3-5, 6.27 ERA) vs. Tommy Kubik (4-3, 2.74 ERA)

The series would start with us facing a left-hander and conclude with another edition of Southpaw Sunday, too!

Game 1
POR: SS Hunter – 3B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – 1B Levis – RF Ito – 2B Lando – CF Reyna – P Johnson
TIJ: LF S. Martin – 1B Willie Ojeda – CF Phinazee – SS Strohm – C Sawyer – 2B Ragsdale – RF Trahan – 3B B. Moore – P Lerma

The wickedest thing we had seen for a while in an initially dull contest turned out to be both teams ending their fourth innings with a fly ball-induced double play. The Raccoons had Manny and Levis aboard when Ito flew out to Dave Trahan, who found Levis having wandered towards second base for no good reason at all and completed the 9-3 double play, while in the bottom of the same frame, the Condors had gone up 1-0 on singles by Mal Phinazee, Mike Sawyer, and Dylan Ragsdale, when Trahan flew out to Ito this time, and the Raccoons’ rightfielder doubled the runner off second base. The game returned to being a snoozefest until Trahan homered off Johnson in the seventh. The Coons’ right-hander came apart entirely in the eighth, allowing three hits, including back-to-back RBI doubles to James Arnett and Phinazee, and with Juan Zabala replacing him the Condors unfurled another two base hits and Lando chipped in a throwing error, escalating the miserable inning into a 5-spot. 7-0 Condors. Hunter 2-4; Morales (PH) 1-1; Reyna 2-3;

So we’re already 1-3 against meager competition, and NOW we roll up Angelo Montano. Oh boy.

Game 2
POR: SS Hunter – 3B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Morales – RF Balaski – 1B Levis – 2B Kilgallen – CF Reyna – P Montano
TIJ: RF Willie Ojeda – CF S. Martin – SS Strohm – C Sawyer – LF St. Pierre – 3B B. Moore – 2B J. Simmons – 1B Phinazee – P G. Rendon

Single, walk, single – the Raccoons got a quick start, which meant they had three on, no outs, and then Morales, Balaski, and Levis… struck out, struck out, and … struck out. I giggled like a schoolgirl while beelining for the nearest place with liquid refreshments. The Coons also left Miguel Reyna in scoring position in the second, while Montano decimated the Condors in the weirdest way. Jon St. Pierre led off the bottom 2nd with a single, and Bill Moore added another one of those. St. Pierre hurt himself on his trip to third base, was replaced with Trahan, and with the bags full and nobody out, Phinazee flew out to Manny Fernandez in left. The Condors sent Trahan for home plate, where he collided noisily with Tony Morales and remained in the dirt until being stretchered off. The second inning wasn’t even over and the Condors were on their third guy – Ryan Phillips – in the #5 spot in their lineup. Whatever works?

Actually, maybe it would be great to score at least one run if we wanted a W. In that regard, we seemed completely **** out of luck, though. The Raccoons couldn’t score when Balaski hit a leadoff double in the fourth inning (they didn’t even move him to third base…), and then the fifth saw Cosmo hit a 1-out double. Manny walked and Balaski singled, putting three on with two gone for ice cold Doug Levis, who fell to 1-2 before chugging a ball over Bill Moore’s raised glove and all the way up the line into the corner for a bases-clearing double. Hell, yes, more of that!! It gave the Coons a 3-0 lead behind Montano, who was somehow still holding up, and with the Condors inches away from putting additional pitchers into their lineup. The Condors hit a bushel of singles off Montano in the middle innings, but never could get a hit with somebody in scoring position and didn’t score while Montano clicked off five, six, seven innings. Scott Martin singled to lead off the eighth. Chris Strohm struck out, but Montano then hit Sawyer with his 107th pitch and was removed. Brent Clark came in for Ryan Phillips, who singled up the middle. The Condors admirably refused to run the bases with breakneck attitude, and Reyna threw out Martin at home plate (no injury this time!). Sawyer and Phillips reached scoring position while Ramirez replaced Clark and got a groundout to escape the jam, then completed a 4-out save without panic. 3-0 Raccoons. Trevino 2-5, 2B; Balaski 2-3, BB, 2 2B; Levis 1-2, 2 BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Montano 7.1 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, W (1-2);

Game 3
POR: SS Hunter – 3B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – 1B Levis – RF Ito – 2B Lando – CF Kilgallen – P Chavez
TIJ: LF S. Martin – 1B Willie Ojeda – CF Phinazee – SS Strohm – RF R. Phillips – 2B Ragsdale – C Guerra – 3B B. Moore – P Kubik

Bernie Chavez faced the minimum the first time through, with a single and a double play behind him, while the Raccoons remained wholly oblivious to the fact that the game revolved around actually scoring runs. Through five, “Kitten” Kubik allowed three hits, three walks, whacked Kilgallen once – and the Raccoons stranded any and all of the runners. Bernie maintained a 1-hitter through five innings, then saw Levis whack a leadoff single in the sixth. There was Rikuto Ito next, and also a 6-4-3 double play. Sigh. Kilgallen hit a leadoff double to center in the seventh… and also didn’t reach third base even. Martin hit a single off Bernie in the sixth, Phillips found a single in the seventh, and neither scored, keeping the game looking for even a sliver of offense. Jeff Kilmer broke the drought with a leadoff jack to left-center in the eighth inning, finally!

Since Bernie was so completely dominating the Condors, the Raccoons did not think about replacing him, either. Juan Guerra and Bill Moore made easy outs to begin the bottom 8th, but then James Arnett buried a ball in the gap (still better than over the fence) for a 2-out triple. Bernie whittled down Scott Martin, though, ending the inning, and then batted for himself leading off the ninth against Steve Bailey. He grounded out, but Hunter and Cosmo reached base ahead of an RBI double smacked by Manny Fernandez, 2-0. Kilmer struck out, while Tony Morales hit for Levis and was walked onto the open base. Hah! We have more like that! Balaski batted for Ito with the bases loaded and two gone… and popped out on the first pitch. (grumble grumble) Thus it was Bernie against the 2-3-4 batters, although Willie Ojeda was gone in a double switch. Justin Simmons hit second, grounding out to Lando. Phinazee popped out. Strohm grounded up the middle, Hunter deep behind the bag – no chance, infield single. The pitching coach hurried out, with Bernie already holding up a paw to slow down his pace. All was well, Bernie claimed, and he had what it took to retire .201 batter Ryan Phillips. At 2-0, Phillips singled, and up 2-0 the Raccoons pulled the plug. Ramirez came on for PH Mike Sawyer, getting a fly to center on his only pitch of the game. 2-0 Raccoons. Trevino 3-4, BB; Levis 2-3, BB; Kilgallen 1-2, BB, 2B; Chavez 8.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (4-5);

In other news

May 20 – Milwaukee outfielder Justin Nelson (.265, 5 HR, 18 RBI) falls a double shy of the cycle as he rips into the Knights for five hits and 3 RBI. The Loggers win, 11-4.
May 20 – SAC LF/SS Jesus Banuelas (.382, 1 HR, 16 RBI) keeps raking, dropping four hits and as many RBI in a 13-3 rout of the Cyclones.
May 22 – The Pacifics’ recent addition, outfielder Aaron Foss (.306, 5 HR, 22 RBI) tags the Capitals for five base hits, all singles, in a 14-7 shootout.
May 24 – MIL SP Sal Chavez (3-3, 3.68 ERA) and CL Kurt Crater (3-3, 4.94 ERA, 14 SV) pitch a combined 1-hitter in a 5-2 win over the Aces. The only Vegas hit is a 2-run home run served up by Chavez to rookie CF/RF Chris Whalen (.198, 3 HR, 10 RBI).
May 24 – Bone spurs in his elbow needing immediate removal end the season of RIC SP Jared Murphy (3-3, 2.83 ERA).

FL Player of the Week: SFW C Ethan McCullar (.267, 8 HR, 40 RBI), batting .440 (11-25) with 4 HR, 15 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS RF/LF Kyle Beard (.293, 4 HR, 21 RBI), hitting .480 (12-25) with 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Was this week a success? No. The team went 3-3 and looked like it would fall victim to starvation on most days. We were outscored by three runs, which happens, but the opposing teams only scored 17 runs themselves… Scoring 2.3 runs per game is usually not a lasting recipe for success.

Dr. Padilla, when’s Maldonado going to lose that cast? – Tuesday? – You promise? – Double-promise? – Good.

We start another 2-week homestand now, featuring the Aces, Indians, Loggers (shivers), and Stars.

Fun Fact: The record for fewest Raccoons at-bats while hitting a triple is held by just-retired left-hander Mauricio Garavito.

Garavito, who pitched here for almost 12 seasons, got exactly 12 at-bats in his career and landed two base hits, both in otherwise wretched 2032. One of them was a single, the other a triple, and they came in the same game on August 6 against the Indians, braving through four innings of long relief after Travis Coffee lasted only three innings on account of injury rather than dismemberment. Garavito didn’t allow a run and batted twice, including a 2-out triple that scored Toby Ross and Brendan Day (who?) against John McInerney. The Coons won 8-0.