[Westheim]

The Raccoons also had to go for roster moves as the week began, when Dr. Padilla diagnosed Juan Zabala with rotator cuff inflammation that might cost him three months, and Jeff Kilmer was felled by a virus and we could not go without a second catcher for several days. Dr. Padilla said he wouldn’t come back before the weekend, and that he should stop swallowing his half-oxen whole to upset his stomach less… Thus, the Raccoons returned Steve Nickas (1-for-10, 1 RBI) to AAA, installed Maldonado at short for the time being, and added a third catcher in Chris Lancaster, backup catcher in St. Pete behind a 22-year-old Jason Lindblom, who wasn’t on the 40-man while Lancaster was. In previous cups of coffee, the 28-year-old Lancaster had batted .333 (7-21) with 1 HR, 3 RBI in the majors. For the pen, with great gnashing of teeth, Travis Sims was added.

No need to say any more about Travis Sims…

Raccoons (37-37) @ Falcons (43-32) – June 24-26, 2041

The Raccoons began their deadly week in Charlotte, where the Falcons were up 2-1 in the season series. They sat ninth in runs scored, but were allowing the fewest runs in the land, which was just barely enough to keep them in first place. Their run differential was only +31 (Critters: -34).

Projected matchups:
Josh Brown (7-2, 3.06 ERA) vs. Marcos Nabo (7-4, 3.14 ERA)
Drew Johnson (3-7, 3.62 ERA) vs. Jose de Lucio (7-6, 3.64 ERA)
Angelo Montano (2-4, 4.28 ERA) vs. Ernie Quintero (6-6, 2.89 ERA)

We continued to elude left-handers, which, considering our recent record, was not really a good thing.

Game 1
POR: 3B Ramos – SS Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Morales – RF Balaski – 2B Trevino – 1B Levis – CF Nettles – P Brown
CHA: RF C. Robinson – 3B Lorensen – SS Aparicio – C M. Cook – 2B B. Nelson – CF J. Reyna – LF C. Russell – 1B Sheaffer – P Nabo

While Mitch Cook had the Falcons’ first two hits in the game, and Doug Levis temporarily looked like he had shaken off his month-plus-long slump with a 2-run homer to left in the second inning, the Falcons began to encroach on Josh Brown in the fifth inning. Jonathan Reyna hit an infield single, stole second, then scored on another soft single by Chris Russell. Brown continued to leak runners, putting on Nabo with a 1-out single and Chris Robinson with a walk, but then somehow elicited pops on the infield from Ryan Lorensen and Tony Aparicio. Heck, the damn Coons even got a glove under both of them, stranding three runners to preserve their 2-1 lead. They tacked on in the sixth, which Berto opened with a single. Morales walked and Bill Balaski chipped an RBI single into right-center, 3-1, but then Cosmo popped out.

Charlotte got a run back in the seventh when both Travis Sheaffer and Chris Robinson shot grounders past Berto’s big bum at third base for a double and an RBI single. Brown held out into the eighth inning – which turned out to be one inning too long. With two outs, Bob Nelson crashed his game with a home run, tying the game at three and removing him from the game. Alex Ramirez would get the last out of this inning and the first one in the ninth, then was replaced with Brent Clark, who basically retired nobody. Sheaffer and Jose Farfan singled, Robinson walked – all left-handed batters by the way – and then the game ended on a fly to Balaski and his terrible throw to home plate that was bad enough to earn him a game-ending error… 4-3 Falcons. Balaski 2-4, RBI;

Game 2
POR: 3B Ramos – SS Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Morales – RF Balaski – 2B Trevino – 1B Levis – CF Nettles – P Johnson
CHA: RF C. Robinson – 1B Lorensen – SS Aparicio – C Kokoszka – 3B Farfan – LF Esperanza – CF C. Russell – 2B B. Nelson – P de Lucio

Portland broke open de Lucio right at the start. Berto opened with a single, remaining around the .350 mark, and while Maldo flew out, both Manny and Morales whacked RBI doubles to right. Balaski added a single, Cosmo dropped an RBI single, and then Levis whiffed and Nettles rolled over dead to keep the score at 3-0. Drew Johnson meanwhile didn’t explode at first sight *and* hit a pair of singles in his first two stints in the box. The latter one dissipated in the third inning in which the Coons left the bags stacked, but the first one led off the top 2nd and eventually saw him score on a Fernandez single that made it 4-0. The Falcons vaguely threatened at times, but never got to Johnson, also thanks to some strong defense by Stephon Nettles, who seemed to roam the outfield on a four-wheeler. Robinson hit a leadoff double in the sixth and Aparicio walked to slightly crowd Johnson, but he got a 5-4-3 double play from Chris Kokoszka to stave off the Falcons. Nevertheless, seven innings was all the Coons got from Johnson, who took 90 pitches through seven and looked well done. The fact that the Coons had two on and one out when his spot came up in the top 8th was also an incentive to pinch-hit for him, but both Reyna and Ramos struck out. Tim Zimmerman pitched a scoreless eighth before Manny and Morales went back-to-back doubles for the second time in this game, then off right-hander Jerry Felix in the ninth inning. Then the Coons went to Travis Sims in the bottom of the ninth. The result was grim – Kokoszka singled, Farfan homered, and here was already Wyatt Hamill, who walked the bags full with the tying runs while getting only one out. Chris Robinson was next and flew to left on a 2-2 pitch. Manny made the catch, the Falcons’ Ruben Esperanza went for home plate – and was thrown out! 5-2 Raccoons. Ramos 2-5; Fernandez 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Morales 3-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Trevino 3-5, 2B, RBI; Johnson 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, W (4-7) and 2-3;

This bullpen!!

Game 3
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF Fernandez – SS Maldonado – 1B Levis – RF M. Reyna – C Lancaster – CF Nettles – P Montano
CHA: RF C. Robinson – 3B Lorensen – SS Aparicio – C M. Cook – LF Farfan – 2B B. Nelson – CF J. Reyna – 1B Sheaffer – P E. Quintero

The Raccoons opened the game with having Berto and Cosmo on, then hit into a double play and a simple fly to right. Both teams stranded the bases loaded from having only one out in the second inning, and both teams had their leadoff hitter make the third out in the inning with a pop to left. Two walks and a single then loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom 3rd as Montano did his usual coming-apart gig. Jose Farfan and Jonathan Reyna hit RBI singles each, Travis Sheaffer singled in two, and there was enough juice in the inning for Ernie Quintero to hit a sac fly and bury the Critters five runs deep. I was hardly pacified with Montano when he hit a single in the top of the fourth, the 2-hit keeping the inning going long enough for Berto to single home Miguel Reyna with a token run.

Montano was done after five innings. The Raccoons also made three errors behind him, but none of the lapses by Maldonado and Berto (twice) came in the third inning, and all the runs were thus earned on Montano’s pathetic ledger. The Coons kept getting runners and kept being ******ed whenever they had one. Reyna hit into an inning-ending double play in the fifth, Berto did the same in the sixth, then was excused the for the rest of the game, because it was ENOUGH. Travis Sims shoveled four Falcons on base and allowed another run in the bottom 6th, as if it mattered… The Raccoons got only one more run when Cosmo hit a leadoff triple in the seventh inning. Manny plated him with a groundout. Every other Critter to reach base afterwards (Maldo, Lando) was caught stealing. 6-2 Falcons. Trawick (PH) 1-1; Levis 2-4; Reyna 2-4;

We actually out-hit the Falcons in this game, 13-10.

What shall I say? We’re special!

Raccoons (38-39) vs. Loggers (45-33) – June 27-30, 2041

What a lucky break for the Loggers! They had just dawdled away their lead over the damn Elks, and now got to play their favorite punching bags in the division! Milwaukee was second in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed with a modest +39 run differential. They could potentially put away the season series with a sweep, leading it 6-2 already.

The Loggers!

Projected matchups:
Bernie Chavez (6-7, 4.39 ERA) vs. Tony Fuentes (7-5, 3.54 ERA)
Nelson Moreno (5-6, 4.69 ERA) vs. Adam Giovenco (5-3, 4.84 ERA)
Josh Brown (7-2, 3.10 ERA) vs. Sal Chavez (5-7, 4.50 ERA)
Drew Johnson (4-7, 3.39 ERA) vs. Carlos Padilla (5-4, 5.21 ERA)

These were all right-handers. And while the Loggers had some injuries, those were all afflicting position players like Jared Paul, Tim Cannizzard, and Dan Torri – no starting pitchers were hurt and none of the people routinely making things miserable on us.

We weren’t close to an off day (the next day off would be the All Star break), so we’d rotate people in and out on the weekend. Berto, with that rancid performance of his on Wednesday, got to take a day off first.

Game 1
MIL: LF J. Nelson – 3B Ronan – SS Del Vecchio – 1B Brayboy – RF Duncan – C F. Gomez – CF Prestwood – 2B V. Acosta – P T. Fuentes
POR: SS Maldonado – 3B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Morales – 1B Levis – RF Balaski – 2B Lando – CF Nettles – P B. Chavez

It began at once. Joseph Ronan singled, dismal Ted Del Vecchio walked, and with two outs Nick Duncan belted a 3-run homer off hapless Bernie Chavez. To anybody’s surprise, that was not a W outright for the Loggers, and shockingly it was Doug Levis to keep the Furballs in the game. He hit a leadoff double in the second inning, scored on a Balaski grounder, and when the third inning rolled around he found Cosmo on base and crushed a 2-run homer to left, his 12th of the year, to tie the score at three. By the fifth, though, the old slumpy Levis was back, hitting into a double play to erase Tony Morales.

And Bernie? After the early noise, Chavez didn’t allow another runner in the second, third, fourth innings… and so on, until the Loggers suddenly woke up and bashed him for another three hits in the seventh, knocking him out of the game with Aaron Brayboy already in and Felipe Gomez and Tyler Prestwood on the corners. Ramirez stranded them, getting a pop from Victor Acosta before walking PH Daniel Hertenstein. With the bags full, Justin Nelson grounded out to short to end the frame. Instead, Brent Clark was humbled by Del Vecchio and Duncan singles for another run in the eighth… Bottom 9th, the Raccoons got a free runner when Ronan threw away Nick Lando’s grounder for a 2-base error. Kurt Crater surrendered the run on Stephon Nettles’ single to center, 5-4, but before euphoria could even begin to stretch its paws, Miguel Reyna crashed another chance with a double play grounder. And if that bum hadn’t found the double play, Maldonado’s grounder to short would have done the job… It sure enough ended the game. 5-4 Loggers. Levis 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI;

No, Maud, I will not come down from the ledge. I will only come down from the ledge when we have a good team again that is worth getting up for in the morning? – You baked cookies? (whiskers twitch) Which cookies? – *Fine*! But that is the last time, Maud, that your cookies will bait me away from throwing myself into the container with broken recycling glass under this window!!

Game 2
MIL: LF J. Nelson – 3B Ronan – SS Del Vecchio – 1B Brayboy – RF Duncan – C F. Gomez – CF Hertenstein – 2B V. Acosta – P S. Chavez
POR: 3B Ramos – CF Nettles – LF Fernandez – SS Maldonado – C Morales – 1B Levis – RF Balaski – 2B Lando – P Moreno

Sal Chavez went on short rest for reasons not immediately divulged, and fell behind 1-0 in the first on Maldonado’s 2-out single that scored Nettles (who himself had forced out Berto). Nels allowed a first-inning single to Ronan, but nothing else through five, before a brief rain delay of about 20 minutes was definitely going to unhorse him. He struck out five up to that point, including four in a row just before the delay… The Raccoons’ offense was also in a perpetual rain delay – after the two first-inning singles by Berto and Maldo they didn’t land another base knock through five and the score remained 1-0.

And yet we all knew the end was near when Sal Chavez led off the sixth at the plate and whacked a liner up the rightfield line for a leadoff double. Nelson struck out, Ronan rolled out, but perpetual ******** Ted Del Vecchio crashed a homer to center that flipped the score in the Loggers’ favor, 2-1. Hertenstein, a switch-hitting rookie from Pahrump, Nevada, hit a solo shot in the seventh on his fourth day in the majors. Harrumph.

Lindstrom and Clark came apart for three hits and another run in the eighth inning, while the Raccoons were soul- and hit-searching. Maladonado had his third base hit of the game and the team’s fourth in the bottom 8th, and with two outs. Morales also singled, and Levis rolled over for an easy out. The tying run reached the batter’s box again in the ninth against Crater, this time with Balaski and Berto on the corners and two outs, and it was only Nettles who was up to bat. Given his 0-for-Infinity in progress, the Coons sent Jake Trawick to pinch-hit. He grounded out to short. 4-1 Loggers. Maldonado 3-4, RBI;

(hits head against ledge repeatedly while also nomming a cookie)

Jeff Kilmer returned from the outhouse by Saturday, allowing the Raccoons to return Chris Lancaster (1-for-4) to St. Pete and bring back a shortstop (Nickas… it’s not like we bred a new one in the meantime…), which would bleed into Maldonado getting a day off next.

Game 3
MIL: 3B Wynn – SS McNelis – 2B Del Vecchio – 1B Brayboy – LF Hertenstein – C F. Gomez – RF J. Nelson – CF Prestwood – P Giovenco
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – 1B Levis – RF Balaski – CF Nettles – SS Nickas – P Brown

Pat Wynn was a debutee, and Eric McNelis had been up for a few weeks, but never in the starting lineup. Both rookies opened the game with a single each, and Brayboy drove in the first run of the game with another single off Brown. The Raccoons didn’t get a base hit until the third inning, then had three in a row starting with leadoff hitter Josh Brown to load the bases for Manny Fernandez. They got the tying run on a fielder’s choice that removed Cosmo at second base, after which Kilmer fouled out. Doug Levis ripped at a 3-1 pitch, causing me agony until the ball got past Hertenstein in left for a 2-run double that put Portland in front, 3-1. Balaski whiffed, sending the Loggers back to the plate. They did little in the fourth, then had the bags full in the fifth. Tyler Prestwood drew a leadoff walk, Wynn was nicked, and McNelis hit another single with one gone. Predictably it all went in the toilet with ******** Del Vecchio batting. He singled in a pair before McNelis was caught trying to cockily steal third base, and the Loggers took a 4-3 lead on Brayboy’s single. Brown barely got out of the inning, but was done after 93 pitches, most of them unimpressive.

The Raccoons were hell-bent on sticking the loss on Brown, too. Berto and Cosmo reached base to begin the bottom 6th, but the middle of the order collectively farted and the tying run was left on third base. Balaski then ripped a gapper for a leadoff triple in the seventh. He, too, was stranded on third by the assembled lack of hitting talent in Nettles, Nickas, and, depressingly, pinch-hitter Maldonado. Bottom 8th, still a 1-run game, Berto and Cosmo were on AGAIN facing lefty Marvin Verduzco. Manny flew out to Hertenstein, who also handled the 3-0 pitch that Kilmer singled to left on while I was shrieking. Berto had seen enough and just went for it from second base, barely barreling over home plate ahead of the throw, and tying the score at four. The trailing runners both advanced on Hertenstein’s throw to home plate, while the Loggers elected to walk Levis with intent. Trawick was then sent to hit for Balaski against the left-handed Verduzco… and smacked right into an inning-ending double play.

The Loggers wouldn’t win in regulation at least – Lindstrom and Hamill took care of that, even though Levis tried to derail the latter with a silly error on a Hector Alvarez grounder. The Coons had the 3-4-5 up against righty Cesar Perez in the bottom 9th, but the meaty bit of the order only yielded a Kilmer single. Tony Morales hit for the pitcher in the #6 hole and grounded out, thus sending the game to extras. The Raccoons were down to Chuck Jones and Travis Sims in the pen, plus a tired and terrible Brent Clark, and went with Jones to begin overtime. He retired three in a row, but the bottom 10th had the dismal mucky part of the order up. Nickas hit a 1-out single, was caught stealing, and then Reyna singled. Berto lined out to ******** Del Vecchio, keeping the game going for another scoreless frame by Jones in the 11th. Kurt Crater was in the for the bottom of the inning, which seemed like a weird choice, given his extensive track record in this series. Manny and Kilmer hit 1-out singles, then reached scoring position on a wild pitch. The Loggers went for the intentional walk to Levis, bringing up the pitcher’s spot again. Nick Lando was the last bat on the bench. The .200 hitter didn’t even need to land a base hit – a sac fly would totally do! He flailed at the first pitch, a low liner up the middle, past the middle infielders, and into center for a walkoff! 5-4 Coons! Ramos 2-5, BB; Trevino 2-4, 2 BB; Kilmer 3-5, BB, RBI; Lando (PH) 1-1, RBI; Jones 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (4-1);

Game 4
MIL: 3B Wynn – CF Hertenstein – SS Del Vecchio – 1B Brayboy – RF Duncan – C F. Gomez – 2B Yoshioka – LF Prestwood – P C. Padilla
POR: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF Fernandez – CF Maldonado – C Morales – RF Balaski – 1B Reyna – SS Nickas – P Johnson

Maldo tripled in the game’s first run (Manny) in the first inning, and I decided not to gnash my teeth over the run we lost when Cosmo was caught stealing just prior to Manny’s single, even when Felipe Gomez tied the game with a homer in the second inning. Both teams then proceeded to do next to nothing for the rest of qualifying distance, through which Johnson threw 69 pitches, whiffing seven against three base hits. He struck out Duncan to end the sixth, but only after walking ******** Del Vecchio, who stole second, and allowing a tie-breaking single to Brayboy. Johnson retired three in a row in the seventh inning, but left on a 2-1 hook. Padilla couldn’t hold on, though, with Maldonado hitting a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning and advancing on a wild pitch. Morales then plated him with a single to right, getting teams even at two before the next three Critters all made poor outs.

Bottom 8th, Berto and Cosmo reached with one out against Padilla, who was still short of 100 pitches. Manny popped out, but Maldo came through with a single to center, driving in Berto with the go-ahead run and two outs. Then Cosmo was caught stealing third base, ending the inning. Ramirez then got the save chance since Hamill had been in both of the last two games (without ever getting a save opportunity since the one coyly manufactured by Dimwit Sims earlier in the week). Del Vecchio, Brayboy, Duncan came up against Ramirez – and he struck out all of them. 3-2 Coons. Maldonado 3-4, 3B, 2 RBI; Morales 1-2, BB, RBI; Johnson 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K;

In other news

June 24 – SFW SP Keith Black (11-4, 2.43 ERA) 2-hits the Capitals with five strikeouts to his name in a 3-0 Warriors win.
June 25 – NAS 1B Chance Bossert (.329, 1 HR, 16 RBI) reaches 2,000 hits on a 3-for-4 day as the Blue Sox beat the Scorpions 7-6. The milestone is his first home run of the year, a leadoff jack off SAC SP Al Scott (6-6, 4.63 ERA) in the fourth inning. The 33-year-old Bossert is a career Blue Sock, having been the #1 pick in the 2027 draft. He led the FL in stolen bases twice in his younger years (when he was also still mostly playing third base), and won the 2039 batting title. For his career, he was a .306/.396/.393 hitter with 45 HR and 689 RBI.
June 25 – The Aces enter the ninth inning with a 6-1 lead over the Crusaders and manage to suffer a 6-run implosion to lose the game in regulation, 7-6. New York hits four singles, draws two walks, and has no fewer than three batters hit by pitches to enable the comeback. NYC LF/CF Joe Besaw (.281, 3 HR, 49 RBI) is hit by a pitch offered by Derek Barker (1-4, 5.00 ERA) with the bases loaded to end the game.
June 26 – The Aces send SP Willie Gallardo (7-7, 3.62 ERA) to Cincinnati for two prospects.
June 27 – NYC SP Ernesto Lujan (7-4, 3.79 ERA) no-hits the Titans in a 1-0 win for the Crusaders. The 38-year-old Lujan walked two and whiffed four in the performance. It is the sixth no-hitter for the New York franchise after those by Eric Edmonstone (1984), Carlos Guillén (1985), George Kirk (2004), Jaylen “Midnight” Martin (2017), and Mike Rutkowski (2026).
June 27 – The Condors will be without OF/1B Scott Martin (.317, 5 HR, 29 RBI), who is going on the shelf for six weeks with a torn groin muscle.
June 30 – The Crusaders lose SP Aaron Hickey (4-4, 3.08 ERA) for the season. The 25-year-old is out with a torn labrum.

FL Player of the Week: NAS 2B/SS Billy Bouldin (.338, 1 HR, 25 RBI), hitting .517 (15-29) with 1 HR, 3 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN OF Jerry Outram (.367, 16 HR, 49 RBI), whacking .462 (12-26) with 4 HR, 8 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: TOP RF Troy Greenway (.241, 11 HR, 28 RBI), hitting .314 with 9 HR, 21 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: VAN LF/RF Justin Becker (.318, 4 HR, 27 RBI), batting .339 with 4 HR, 16 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: TOP SP John Kennedy (8-6, 3.76 ERA), hurling 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA, 34 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: CHA SP Ernie Quintero (7-6, 2.87 ERA), tossing 5-1 ball with a 2.08 ERA, 28 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW OF Tyler Mantooth (.265, 7 HR, 38 RBI), hitting .348 with 3 HR, 17 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: BOS LF/RF/1B Alejandro Rodela (.356, 5 HR, 9 RBI), hitting just exactly as much

Complaints and stuff

Saturday was the 5,400th regular season win for the franchise, and they took their sweet time with it, both in terms of wins put together this season (they have fewer than losses now, you may have noticed) and how long it took in that game – 11 innings despite ample chances. Nick Lando bought himself another four days’ reprieve from being sent to the nearest bread line for a complete lack of production with that walkoff single.

Looks like the -38 run differential finally caught up with us, huh?

Now, we could waste some oxygen on how the Raccoons are really not THAT far away (though in fourth place) and could conceivably – … but may I make you remember that they had eight of their next eleven games against the damn Elks and could reasonably be 15 games out by the middle of July? Montano will open the first four-game set against the Elks, in case you were tempted to make a bet to the contrary.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are third in hits, third in OBP, fourth in walks, first in stolen bases… and ninth in runs scored.

That is not bad luck. That is the baseball gods telling you firmly NO, and not now, not next year, and not for the rest of the decade.