[Westheim]

Raccoons (42-39) @ Crusaders (41-39) – July 6-9, 2043

The scoring-challenged Critters were off to the road for the last week before the All Star break, starting off with the road portion of our four-and-four set with the Crusaders over the next two weeks. The season series stood at 2-1 in the Raccoons’ favor, but wasn’t something that couldn’t be gotten rid of. The Crusaders conceded the fewest runs in the CL, which was a first sign of trouble, and both these teams were in the bottom three in terms of runs scored.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (5-8, 3.20 ERA) vs. Dave Hils (8-7, 3.18 ERA)
Corey Mathers (10-5, 2.80 ERA) vs. Paul Paris (6-4, 3.20 ERA)
Cory Lambert (2-7, 4.40 ERA) vs. Aaron Hickey (2-2, 4.28 ERA)
Jake Jackson (6-8, 4.93 ERA) vs. Ernie Quintero (7-7, 3.70 ERA)

That was all their right-handers, and none of their southpaw, Tony Galligher (7-4, 3.67 ERA).

The Raccoons placed Stephon Nettles on the DL to begin the week, bringing up Brian Snyder, meager fielder of many positions, from AAA. He had hit .368 in AAA, though.

Game 1
POR: 2B Carreno – LF de Wit – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – 3B Jimenez – RF Snyder – SS Gutierrez – C Kilmer – P Wheatley
NYC: SS Adame – CF Graf – RF Platero – 2B Briones – 1B Rudd – C H. Alvarez – LF J. Simmons – 3B Melendez – P Hils

Wheatley managed to give up four singles for three runs in the bottom of the first inning, which was almost admirable. Joe Graf hit a single to right that a good fielder with a sense for his surroundings might have caught, stole second, and then they dished home three singles in a row, which each runner getting the extra base on the throw to home plate, allowing them to score on the next single. It was brilliant, and also devastating. Ricky Jimenez’ solo homer in the top 2nd was soon matched with another shabby bottom 3rd, in which Tom Rudd, Hector Alvarez, and Justin Simmons all strafed Wheatley for hits, but got only one run this time.

Up 4-1 through four innings, the Crusaders then lost Dave Hils to injury after back-to-back singles by Brian Snyder – the first of his career – and Omar Gutierrez. It also started to rain. Soon enough the game went to a rain delay that took over an hour, with Wheatley being hit for once the game resumed and Jeff Johnson walked Kilmer in a full count. Three on, one out, Jose Casas took a stick, because there was nothing left on that bench worth writing home about, but lifted his average all the way to .198 with a deep fly to right, high, gone, and outta here!! GRAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!

The lead didn’t look like it would last long; Zack Kelly got the ball in the bottom 5th, up 5-4, and nailed two batters while Mario Briones became the fourth Crusader of the game to steal a base off the Critters’ battery. Kelly struck out Bill Melendez to get out of the inning, then struck out Fernando Alba and Alex Adame (36 SB!) before walking Joe Graf. Jon Craig replaced Kelly. Jose Platero hit a deep fly to left, but de Wit was on it and caught it on the warning track. No such luck in the seventh with Briones’ shot – it was outta here, and tied the game at five.

At this stage the Raccoons were also saddled with a pretty bad outfield. De Wit and Snyder were on the wings, while Justin Waltz ended up in center; Maldonado had replaced Jimenez at third base in a double switch, and Van Anderson, batting ninth and playing center, had been ejected disputing strike three in the seventh. But they held the tie with Sauerkraut in the eighth, then got PH Sean Sieber to reach on an error by Adame. Synder was rung up, but Gutierrez walked and Kilmer lined a ball to deep left that fell for an RBI double and a 6-5 lead…! Waltz tacked on a sac fly, and a parade of Crusaders relievers continued to falter, walking Carreno and giving up an RBI single to de Wit, all with two outs. Left-hander Mike Lynn came in to face Sal Ayala, but gave up a screamer to left for a 2-run single. Maldonado grounded out, completing the inning and an 0-for-5 personally. Up by five, the Raccoons tried their luck with Sam Bowman in the bottom 9th – with success. A grounder to short, two easy flies to center, and that was that. 10-5 Crusaders. De Wit 2-5, RBI; Ayala 2-5, 2 RBI; Kilmer 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Casas (PH) 1-1, HR, 4 RBI;

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – LF de Wit – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – 3B Jimenez – RF Snyder – C Sieber – SS Castro – P Mathers
NYC: SS Adame – CF Graf – RF Platero – 2B Briones – LF J. Davis – 1B Rudd – C H. Alvarez – 3B Melendez – P Paris

Platero sprained his ankle on a double in the first inning and was replaced with Rich Salek right away, but nobody scored until the third inning when the Raccoons opened with a Sieber double to left and a Castro single to right-center, then got Corey Mathers to split John Davis and Joe Graf for a 2-run double…! That gave Mathers 8 RBI on the year, more than Waltz, Anderson, or Ayala (since joining the team). Ayala batted with Mathers on third base and two outs, but drew a walk. Maldonado plated the pitcher with a clean single to center. Jimenez struck out to end the inning, and Mathers then gave two runs back right away on a 2-piece by Salek in the bottom 3rd.

Maldo drove in another run his next time up, a 2-out double to right that chased home de Wit for a 4-2 lead. Jimenez tacked on, hitting a homer to left, 6-2. Suddenly they seemed to be hitting again …! 7.25 runs per game in the last four, and this one was not even over yet! …they also continued to give up runs, though. Mathers lasted six innings, but gave up another 2-piece of his own in the final frame, this one punched out by Tom Rudd, his first of the season, which made me grind my teeth again.

With the taxed pen, tough decisions had to be made. Chuck Jones pitched a scoreless seventh, but there was another left-hander (Salek) we wanted him to face to begin the eighth. The Crusaders made it hard on us by putting Sieber on base with an uncaught third strike, and Castro with a single. They were on the corners with one out and Jones’ spot up, and with a 2-run lead we had Jones, who was 1-for-1 this year, swing away … and single past Briones to bring in Sieber …! Lefty Brian McAllister continued to melt, walking Carreno to fill the sacks, and giving up a run on a de Wit single. Ayala and Maldo however popped out, stranding a full set. Jones and Ramirez did the eighth, before Josh Rella got the ball for the ninth inning with a 4-run lead. He ventured straight into the buzzing chainsaws, giving up singles to Justin Simmons, Melendez, Adame (8-5), and a double to Graf for an 8-7 score. Salek up with two outs. One ball. Two balls. Sigh. And a pop! Sieber tossing the mask and chasing after it, and he made the catch …! 8-7 Critters. De Wit 2-5, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Sieber 2-4, BB, 2 2B; Castro 2-4, BB; Jones 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K and 1-1, RBI;

Doesn’t look like two teams that can’t hit. Looks more like two teams that can’t do anything BUT hit.

Game 3
POR: LF de Wit – 3B Jimenez – RF Casas – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – 2B Gutierrez – 1B Snyder – SS Castro – P Lambert
NYC: SS Adame – CF Graf – RF Salek – 2B Briones – LF J. Davis – 1B Rudd – C H. Alvarez – 3B Melendez – P Hickey

Jimenez reached on errors by infielders both of his first times up in this game, and while nothing good happened the first time, the second time around in the third inning the Raccoons got three RBI hits to follow up on his, uh, heroics. Casas and Maldo hit RBI doubles, and Gutierrez chipped an RBI single for a 3-0 lead. Like the other Cor(e)y the day before, Lambert gave some back though in the bottom of the inning, conceding a single to the opposing pitcher and then a double to Adame, who was however stranded on base. Things then came REALLY apart in the fourth. John Davis led off with a single, and was on second base with two outs thanks to an errant pickoff throw, of all things. We wouldn’t walk Melendez intentionally with Hickey hitting well off Lambert, but Melendez singled home Davis with a zinger to center. Oh well, there’s still the pitcher for the third ou- …outta here. Home run for Hickey, flipping the score. And the blunderbuss was in Portland!! Adame legged out an infield single, stole his 37th base, and then was driven in by Joe Graf to extend the New Yorkers’ lead to 5-3. I groaned, then went for the nearest booze concessions to drown the pain.

By the fifth, the Raccoons gave up on the game. Lambert was strafed for another three hits, and was yanked for Bowman, who wouldn’t get out of runners on second and third and one out against Melendez and Heinous Hickey, I was sure. Then he actually struck out Melendez and popped up Hickey for the third out. The Crusaders pumped out 15 hits in total in this game, including three more in the sixth off Bowman, though, and that gave them an extra run. The Raccoons only managed six hits in the game, and none in the last three innings… 7-3 Crusaders. Maldonado 2-4, 2B, RBI; Becker 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

We needed a fresh reliever – the string of bad starts was taking its toll. Sam Bowman (6.75 ERA) was returned to AAA, and we called up … Travis Sims. He had a 7.20 ERA in St. Pete, but we just needed a warm body to make it to the All Star Game…

Game 4
POR: 1B Ayala – LF de Wit – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Sieber – RF Casas – 2B Carreno – SS Gutierrez – P Jackson
NYC: CF Graf – C Alba – RF Salek – 2B Briones – LF J. Davis – 1B Rudd – SS J. Simmons – 3B Melendez – P E. Quintero

Singles by Ayala, Jimenez, and Sieber gave the Raccoons a first-inning run before Casas struck out. Not batting atop the lineup was Carreno, dumped to the bottom for being stuck in a 1-for-21 slump. When he did reach base in the fourth inning it was by forcing out Casas, and then he was caught stealing. Sometimes, things just were really, really rotten.

Briones’ solo home run in the bottom of the fourth tied the game at one, after Jackson had scattered a few runners here and there in the early innings. An error by Rudd would put Ayala on base to begin the fifth. He advanced on a de Wit grounder, then scored on a Jimenez single to center, taking a 2-1 lead for Portland that was also short-lived. Jackson had one of those innings in the fifth, giving up doubles to Melendez and Graf to tie the game, and a single to Fernando Alba to put the Crusaders in front. Getting strikeouts would help at times, but he wasn’t, whiffing just two batters in five innings.

Then the Critters came back. Casas was nicked, Gutierrez reached base, too, and Jackson bunted them into scoring position for Ayala with two outs, because we were that kind of on-a-wing-and-a-prayer team. Ayala winged a ball into right for a single, and both runners scored, flipping the game back to the Coons, 4-3. Jackson was back out for the bottom 7th when Guillermo Obando appeared in the #9 hole, but yielded a single to the right-hander, putting the tying run on base. Chuck Jones yielded the lead on a 2-out single by Briones… after Joe Graf had legged out an infield single on a completely hosed Arturo Carreno. Davis struck out, ending the seventh in a 4-4 tie. From there, the Raccoons got a scoreless inning from Sims in the eighth, then went to Kelly against the left-handed top of the order in the ninth. He allowed a single to Alba, which meant Briones came up again. 6-4 Crusaders. Ayala 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Jimenez 2-5, RBI; Gutierrez 2-3, BB;

Raccoons (44-41) @ Canadiens (52-35) – July 10-12, 2043

There was no way we would get out of Elk City with our tails still attached. They had won four in a row and were steaming away with the division now, while sitting second in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed. 2B Dan Schneller was still on the DL, but it wasn’t like there was no supporting cast around Jerry Outram (.362, 12 HR, 47 RBI) anymore. They were up 6-3 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Brent Clark (7-6, 4.15 ERA) vs. Matt Sealock (10-6, 4.29 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (5-8, 3.43 ERA) vs. John Roeder (7-5, 4.43 ERA)
Corey Mathers (11-5, 2.97 ERA) vs. David Arias (11-3, 2.07 ERA)

Roeder was the lone left-hander to contend with. Besides all the bats, and anxiety.

Game 1
POR: 1B Ayala – LF de Wit – 3B Jimenez – CF Maldonado – C Kilmer – SS Castro – 2B Carreno – RF Casas – P Clark
VAN: SS R. Johnston – C Clemente – CF Outram – 1B M. Hernandez – LF J. Becker – 2B Malkus – RF V. Vazquez – 3B R. Ashley – P Sealock

Brent Clark faced the minimum the first time through, walking Timóteo Clemente before getting a double play grounder from Jerry Outram (!), but the Raccoons weren’t doing anything either. Maldonado had a single the first time through, and that… was it. Clark whacked Ryan Johnston with a pitch to begin the bottom 4th, but never let him get off first base. He then hit Travis Malkus in the fifth, and from there it all went south… and it was the opposing pitcher again that drew blood. With runners on the corners and two outs, Matt Sealock doubled to left, driving in both Malkus and Ray Ashley on the damn Elks’ first base hit of the game. And the hitting batters didn’t stop there – Clark nailed Outram in the sixth, and by now the Elks were becoming loud in the dugout. They shoved it to Clark in baseball fashion, though. Melvin Hernandez singled, and with one out, Travis Malkus tripled to center to drive in another pair. Victor Vazquez’ lineout and Ray Ashley’s easy fly stranded Malkus, but what did it matter? Four or five? The Coons couldn’t even score one! (looks into the box of donuts on the living room table) Honeypaws – there were five donuts in there before Malkus hit that triple and I had a little cry. Now there is only four! – Don’t give me that “what does it matter”!!

Clark completed seven innings on three hits and five walks (…), melting late after a stellar beginning, and leaving with a 4-run deficit. The Raccoons also had three hits, but of course they wouldn’t have a run against Sealock. And then we suddenly got the tying run up in the eighth. PH Van Anderson and Ayala singled to lead off, de Wit hit into a fielder’s choice, and Jimenez with the RBI single, and now Maldo was the tying run with one down…! He also grounded a fat one to Johnston for an inning-ending double play. Instead, in the bottom of the inning Malkus put the game away with a 2-run homer off Alx Ramirez.

Or did he? While I fought Honeypaws over the last donut, Kilmer singled, Castro singled, Kilmer scored on a throwing error, and Carreno hit an RBI double into the left-center gap, making the tying run appear with nobody out in the on-deck circle. It reached the box with Casas’ scratch single…! Van Anderson struck out before Sebastian Parham, who had inherited two runners with nobody out, threw a run-scoring wild pitch that also took off the double play. It didn’t protect against a grounder to first by Ayala and de Wit’s fly to center, though. 6-4 Canadiens. Castro 2-4; Carreno 2-4, 2B, RBI; Anderson (PH) 1-2;

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – LF de Wit – 3B Jimenez – 1B Maldonado – SS Castro – C Sieber – RF Casas – CF Waltz – P Wheatley
VAN: RF van der Zanden – C Clemente – CF Outram – LF M. Hernandez – 3B J. Becker – 1B J. Lopez – 2B Jorgensen – SS R. Johnston – P Roeder

The bags were full, Carreno (forced out by de Wit), Jimenez, and Maldo all reaching off Roeder to begin the game. Castro popped out, Sieber whiffed, and nobody scored. Through three, the Critters had four hits to the Elks’ one, and neither team got a run across, but in the fourth a walk drawn by Castro and a Sieber double put a pair in scoring position with nobody out, and things were getting a bit imperative here. Things also promoted three sub-.200 batters to the plate, so I expected nothing. Jose Casas’ sac fly was already more than I dared to ask for, but also was all the Critters got together. Waltz whiffed, Wheatley grounded out, then had Carreno drop an Outram pop to put the tying run on base in the bottom 4th. Somehow, he pitched around it.

No Critter reached in the fifth, while Maldonado got a leadoff single off Roeder in the sixth, but was stranded on third base when Casas struck out. Wheatley still had a 1-hitter, walked Clemente in the bottom of the sixth, but then struck out Outram, which not many Critters managed with runner(s) on base. The Elks remained shut out through six, but Wheatley approached 90 pitches due to some inefficiencies along the way. He walked Johnny Lopez in the seventh, but got three more outs to keep the Elks down; on 105 pitches however, his day was over.

Jon Craig was out for the eighth, but put Arnout van der Zanden on base with a 1-out single. Clemente grounded out, after which the Coons went to Chuck Jones, who held Outram – MAYBE the best player in the league! – to an .077 batting average. He gave up a game-tying double on a 2-2 pitch, and I sunk into the cushions, not registering that Hernandez struck out until Johnny Lopez hit a 2-run walkoff homer off Alex Ramirez in the ninth. 3-1 Canadiens. Maldonado 2-4; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K;

We kept Sauerkraut in reserve for the last few days, unsure whether Corey Mathers would be an All Star or not – he was not, and thus would start the Sunday game himself. Jon Craig and Jesus Maldonado were All Stars.

There was a roster move, incidentally, with Manny Fernandez coming off the DL just ahead of the last game in Elk City. Justin Waltz was disposed of once more, hitting .192/.273/.256, somehow. Maldonado got the Sunday game off instead.

Game 3
POR: 1B Ayala – SS Castro – 3B Jimenez – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – RF Casas – 2B Carreno – CF Anderson – P Mathers
VAN: RF van der Zanden – C Clemente – LF M. Hernnadez – 1B J. Lopez – 2B Malkus – CF Mann – 3B R. Ashley – SS R. Johnston – P D. Arias

With neither Maldo nor Outram engaged, neither team knew how to score and didn’t do so ahead of a third-inning rain delay that lasted over an hour and was sure to derail the starting pitchers earlier than expected in a scoreless affair. The fourth began with both pitchers still involved, and with Manny Fernandez reaching on a Johnston fumble. Kilmer doubled to left, then was doubled off when Casas lined out to Malkus. ARGH!! Arturo Carreno stopped me from eating Honeypaws in frustration when he took Arias deep to left for a 2-0 lead.

Mathers pitched five innings, not allowing a run, although singles by Arias (…) and van der Zanden to begin the bottom 5th looked like he’d get chewed up now. Clemente hit into a double play, though, and after a clumsy walk to Hernandez, Mathers was told by the pitching coach in no uncertain terms that it was get Lopez, or get yoinked. He got Lopez on strikes.

The Raccoons then went to Travis Sims, which was a bold move with a 2-run lead, but the right-handed bottom half of the order was up, and he retired five in a row, three on strikes. Zack Kelly got a fly to center from van der Zanden to complete seven. Brian Snyder then hit a leadoff double for Kelly in the eighth and ended up stranded, which made me really giddy. Jon Craig got around a Hernandez single in the damn Elks’ half of the eighth, so the Carreno homer kept standing up. It was also all the Critters got here, with Casas reaching base only when Ryan McConnell hit him in the ninth, and then being stranded. Josh Rella got the ball for the ninth. Jeremy Mann grounded out. Ray Ashley flew out. Ryan Johnston popped out. Arturo Carreno stole a game in Elk City…! 2-0 Raccoons. Carreno 1-4, HR, 2 RBI; Snyder (PH) 1-1, 2B; Mathers 5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K, W (12-5) and 1-2; Sims 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

In other news

July 9 – SFB 3B/1B Ramon Sifuentes (.267, 16 HR, 65 RBI) will miss a month with a torn meniscus.
July 9 – Pacifics OF/1B Jon Sullivan (.248, 3 HR, 25 RBI) hits a home run for the only score in a 1-0 win over the Gold Sox.
July 11 – The Bayhawks beat the Condors, 15-11. They do so while being out-hit 16-9, but draw 13 walks to make up the difference in runners. SFB RF/LF Juan Brito (.286, 7 HR, 27 RBI) drives in four runs on a homer and a single.

FL Player of the Week: NAS 1B/C Jeff Wilson (.350, 12 HR, 30 RBI), batting .476 (10-21) with 3 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN 2B/3B Travis Malkus (.220, 5 HR, 13 RBI), poking .364 (8-22) with 5 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

**** the Elks. Malkus especially, whatever hole he crawled out of to replace Schneller’s production just in time.

More losing pretty much has put us so far out, with all the flaws we already have, that we can’t realistically fantasize about the playoffs anymore, and so there is no need to make any more ill-advised trades down the line. We already got Ayala, hitting a sturdy .652 OPS since the trade. That is a teamwide ailment…

Mario Briones hit 10-for-19 in the Raccoons series, whacking three home runs and driving in seven. At least one guy likes seeing the Raccoons play.

We spent $617k on international free agents this week, which got us into the penalty zone for next year, but we should still be able to sign one sterling talent for big dosh next year. This year we got three players; most of the money went to 16-year-old Venezuelan right-hander Políbio O’Higgins, a groundballer with fastball, curve, changeup combination. We will maybe revisit him in a couple years and voice disappointment over burning $570k on him.

Fun Fact: Jerry Outram has won the batting title, OBP crown, and slugging belt four out of the last five years, and there is no way to believe he won’t go 5-for-6.

.360/.484/.554. The man is a natural disaster ready to wash your village away at any time.

Unless he’s hurt. He played in more than 146 games only twice in his career, with 2036 being his first full time season. Three times he missed at least 48 games.