[Westheim]

Raccoons (17-13) vs. Gold Sox (17-15) – May 9-11, 2044

The Gold Sox had their own 5-game losing streak at this point, something the Raccoons had suffered two weeks ago. They were sixth in runs scored, with a team that had the third-lowest OBP in the Federal League, but stole the most bases, somehow; and they allowed the fewest runs in the FL, which was kind of wicked for a team based on a mountaintop. We had not lost a series to the Gold Sox since 2030, but had played them only four times, either. The last series win was in 2042, two games to one.

Projected matchups:
Corey Mathers (4-1, 2.50 ERA) vs. Matt Hose (2-1, 3.30 ERA)
Brent Clark (0-5, 7.14 ERA) vs. Edward Flinn (5-0, 2.53 ERA)
Jake Jackson (2-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Brad Quintero (4-2, 3.33 ERA)

The Sox had two left-handed starters, and somehow we’d not face any of them.

Game 1
DEN: 3B Hornig – RF J. Gomez – 2B R. Thompson – CF S. Castillo – C R. Rodriguez – 1B J. Robinson – LF Napoles – SS Malfati – P Hose
POR: SS Waters – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – RF Toohey – C Kilmer – 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – P Mathers

Through three innings, both teams had three hits, a 50-minute rain delay, and a guy thrown out on the bases; Waters was caught stealing for Portland, while Hose was thrown out at home plate by Maldonado on Ronnie Thompson’s fly to center with one out and runners on the corners in the top 3rd. Nobody scored, but everybody was wet thanks to the typical Portland weather, regardless of season. Mathers looked pretty good despite the rain and all until he didn’t anymore. Top 5th, Lopo Malfati led off with a single to center and was bunted to second. Jeremy Hornig singled, and Jose Gomez hit another single to right to put the Gold Sox on top. Hornig went to third, but Gomez was caught stealing trying to nip second base before Ronnie Thompson legged out an infield single to get Hornig across. All in all, four singles got two runs across in the inning. For Portland, even a leadoff double by Ricky Jimenez in the bottom 5th wasn’t good enough to score anything… and the same **** repeated in the seventh inning when Kilmer socked a leadoff double, and was also stranded thanks to ****** hitting through and through.

The bullpen held up for the time being, whatever that was good for, and the 2-0 game saw the tying runs getting on base with one out in the bottom 8th, Ayala and Maldo reaching. Manny grounded into a fielder’s choice to remove Maldo from the basepaths, which helped nothing, and Toohey’s grounder to short was absolutely no better, except that Malfati fumbled that one, and Ayala scored on the error. Hose hung in there against Kilmer, who got ahead 2-1 and then got a fat pitch that he disappeared into the gap in right-center. Sandy Castillo had to chase it all the way to the fence, and the tying and go-ahead runs scored in a stunning development. Gutierrez hit for Carreno and lined out to right, which gave the ball back to Alex Ramirez, who had gotten the last out in the top of the eighth, with Josh Rella having thrown two days in a row. Chuck Jones would be in reserve. He entered the game after David Pinedo flew out in the #9 hole and Tim Turner, a lefty hitter, came out in place of Hornig. Jones got a grounder to short, then faced another pinch-hitter, right-hander Justin Bator. Oh well, he’s got no power, what’s the worst that can… y’know…? Slappy, say something, I need confirmation. Chuck Jones gave me the confirmation, getting a pop to Gutierrez at second base to end the game. 3-2 Raccoons. Waters 2-4; Kilmer 2-3, BB, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI;

All our runs were unearned.

Sigh.

Game 2
DEN: LF J. Gomez – 1B Napoles – 2B R. Thompson – CF S. Castillo – C R. Rodriguez – 3B Hornig – RF T. Turner – SS Malfati – P Flinn
POR: SS Waters – 1B Ayala – C Kilmer – LF Fernandez – RF Toohey – CF Baskins – 2B Gutierrez – 3B Jimenez – P Clark

Brent Clark, skipped the last time through, spent over 30 pitches on the first inning, delivering another clunker with three full counts, a walk to Alfredo Napoles, a Ronnie Thompson single, and then a 2-out, 2-run double whacked by Ricky Rodriguez; somewhere in between, a wild pitch. It was gross. It was also a problem we hadn’t foreseen when building this roster. The second was less ****, but in the third he loaded the bases again with two hits and a walk and then was rescued by Manny Fernandez and a running grab on Hornig’s drive in left-center that ended the inning. Turner drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, but was doubled up by Malfati.

After five innings of ********, Brent Clark was hit for in the bottom 5th with Gutierrez (walk) and Jimenez (nicked) on base and one gone. The same situation had yielded a Bryce Toohey 4-6-3 in the bottom 4th, ending that inning, and now Jose Cruz batted, popped out, and Waters whiffed to piss another chance away. The Gold Sox loaded the bags against Norris in the sixth, but didn’t score when Gomez flew out to center. Ricky Rodriguez hit a 2-run homer off Zack Kelly in the seventh, which I doubted would matter much in the end, given that the Raccoons couldn’t hit a ******* thing.

Of course I was wrong about that, too. After seven innings of 3-hit ball Flinn began to melt in the eighth inning. Waters hit a 1-out single to right, followed by back-to-back RBI doubles by Ayala (to center) and Kilmer (to right). Manny Fernandez singled through Thompson to put the tying runs on the corners for “Double Play” Toohey, who popped out, and Baskins grounded out… The ninth was no better… 4-2 Gold Sox. Kilmer 2-3, 2B, RBI; Fernandez 2-4;

Game 3
DEN: RF N. Mercado – LF T. Turner – 2B R. Thompson – CF S. Castillo – 1B J. Robinson – 3B Hornig – C Pinedo – SS Napoles – P B. Quintero
POR: SS Waters – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Zarate – 3B Cruz – 2B Carreno – RF Rosario – P Jackson

Jackson shed a single to Thompson in the first, but the Raccoons had the bases loaded in the inning, with walks drawn by Waters and Manny, while Sal Ayala hit a single. Quintero fell to 3-1 against Zarate, who then swung at the next pitch, while I screamed in terror, only to open my eyes to the sight of Tim Turner tracking down a double in leftfield, and two runs scoring. Jose Cruz brought in another run with a groundout, with Carreno rolling out to end the inning.

The Sox had the leadoff man on in the next two innings, the guy – first Jason Robinson, then Nelson Mercado – stole second base, and yet was stranded both times. Hornig and Napoles then hit singles off Jackson in the fourth, bringing up the pitcher with two aboard and two down for the second time in the game. Quintero had struck out to end the bottom 2nd, but this time lobbed a single to center. Hornig was sent around third base – and thrown out by Maldonado. Bottom of the inning, Carreno hit a leadoff single, then stole his 15th base of the year. Juan Rosario remained useless, but Jackson came through with a soft RBI single into no man’s land in right-center, getting Carreno around from second base for a 4-0 lead. Waters singled to shallow center after that, and Ayala hit a gapper for a 2-run triple that ended Quintero’s day, 6-0. Maldo grounded out to third baseman Jeremy Hornig against Gabe McGill, but that was only the second out, and Manny instead closed Quintero’s line at 3.1 IP, 7 ER with a single to left, the last blip in the 4-run fourth.

With that it was about nursing Jackson, who had somehow thrown 78 pitches in four shutout innings, which was decidedly not great. He walked Thompson in the fifth, and needed 21 more pitches to get through the inning, putting him at 99 for the day. He still batted for himself in the bottom 5th, the Raccoons desiring another out or two if possible at all. He got two, then nailed Pinedo with pitch #109, and was sent for the showers. Ramirez conceded the run on a Napoles double before ringing up Bator to end the sixth, up by six. Manny Fernandez countered with a 2-run homer off Adrien Calabresi in the bottom of the inning. Rosario hit a single in the seventh, then made an error in the eighth that led to an unearned run on Jon Craig, but apart from that the Raccoons shook the game home without any more pains. 9-2 Raccoons! Waters 2-4, BB, 2B; Ayala 2-4, BB, 3B, 2 RBI; Fernandez 2-3, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Carreno 2-4, 2B;

With that the Raccoons arrived at an off day, which Juan Rosario used to travel to St. Pete again, hitting .133 in his time here. Jonathan Dustal came off the DL for the weekend.

Where’s the weekend set, Maud?

Oh.

Raccoons (19-14) @ Canadiens (18-17) – May 13-15, 2044

The Raccoons saw the damn Elks lose to the Blue Sox on Thursday, the Raccoons’ day off, and thus drop to two games out, meaning winning only one game would be enough to maintain sole possession of first place by Sunday night. They were first in runs scored, and first from the bottom in runs allowed, which I still found inexplicable. Their run differential was -13. Rotation, pen, defense – all rancid. They had no speed, but were first in OBP in the Continental League. We had missed Jerry Outram (.357, 4 HR, 14 RBI) and Dan Schneller (.318, 3 HR, 17 RBI) in the series in Portland, in which we won two out of three to begin the season series, but they were now back. Their only injury was pitcher Brandon Nickerson, who was lost for the year.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (3-3, 2.95 ERA) vs. Mario Godinez (2-0, 2.66 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (3-1, 4.19 ERA) vs. Paul Mevec (1-6, 8.84 ERA)
Corey Mathers (4-1, 2.56 ERA) vs. David Arias (1-2, 3.29 ERA)

Again no southpaw, which would have been Alex Lewis (3-2, 5.08 ERA) in this case.

Game 1
POR: 1B Ayala – RF Toohey – C Kilmer – LF Fernandez – CF Maldonado – SS Waters – 3B Jimenez – 2B Carreno – P Okuda
VAN: 3B Malkus – C Clemente – CF Outram – 2B Schneller – RF C. Robinson – 1B J. Lopez – LF V. Vazquez – SS Riquenes – P Godinez

Both teams had the leadoff man on base in the first and third innings, and nobody scored. The Raccoons had a leadoff single from Ayala in the first, a leadoff walk (!) drawn by Okuda in the third, and it was all for naught. Maldonado rolled a leadoff single in the fourth, stole second base, and reached third when Waters poked at a 3-1 pitch and legged out the resulting infield grounder. That single also got Waters over the .200 mark for the season. Waters could not get a good jump, but reached second base anyway when Ricky Jimenez, batting a sturdy .157, drew a walk. Oh god, three on, no outs. Having had to stay behind on the trusty brown couch and snuggling up to Honeypaws by default, and to Slappy once it got dicey with Okuda, who had lost three straight decisions, I feared the worst – no runs – again. Nothing to worry, though. Carreno flew out to right, and Maldonado went for home. Chris Robinson would have had him dead at the plate, but the throw was short, bounced off Timóteo Clemente, and Maldo slid in safe, the remaining runners advancing behind him. Okuda struck out, Ayala flew out, holding the damage to one run.

Okuda nursed the 1-0 through five innings. The fifth ended with a deep fly out to left by Travis Malkus, with Okuda on both three hits and strikeouts. A leadoff walk to Clemente was not the greatest beginning to the sixth, and kindly asked, Outram singled to right. Dan Schneller popped out. Robinson flew out to Maldonado, with Clemente zigging it to third base. Waters handled Johnny Lopez’ grounder to end the inning, though. Okuda then retired Vazquez, Sergio Riquenes, and Arnout van der Zanden in order in the bottom 7th, ending up over 100 pitches, but still with a 1-0 shutout. The Raccoons then fired off three straight 2-out hits off John Roeder in the eighth, doubles by Manny and Maldo, followed by an RBI single from Waters, to extend the lead to 3-0 and allowing me to unclench myself from Slappy’s upper arm.

Then the Elks put the first two batters aboard against Jon Craig in the bottom 8th, on a Malkus single and Carreno error, making me re-clench Slappy’s arm immediately. Chuck Jones came on for Outram, gave up an RBI single, nailed Schneller, and struck out Robinson. Ramirez then replaced him, struck out PH Julio Diaz, and got a cozy fly to center from Vazquez to boogie out of the damn inning while still up 3-1. Top 9th, Carreno singled with one out. Cruz grounded out, advancing him. Roeder put on Zarate, hitting for Ayala, then was yanked for Sebastian Parham. When Bryce Toohey doubled home a pair beating Outram’s range in center, the Coons were up 5-1, and I was able to get off Slappy’s lap again. Derek Baskins hit for Kilmer, 0-for-4 in the game, and singled to right for another run. Manny struck out, handing the ball to Moreno, who got around a 2-hit by Malkus to win the game. 6-1 Coons!! Ayala 2-4; Baskins (PH) 1-1, RBI; Maldonado 2-4, 2B, RBI; Waters 4-4, RBI; Okuda 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (4-3);

Very nice! (high-fives with Cristiano, Slappy, and Honeypaws)

First place was safe through the weekend, and once more we were the only team above .500 in this division. The Elks were at .500, even with the Titans, and everybody else was at least four games under .500 at this point.

Game 2
POR: SS Waters – 1B Ayala – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – CF Maldonado – C Zarate – 3B Cruz – 2B Carreno – P Wheatley
VAN: LF van der Zanden – RF C. Robinson – CF Outram – 2B Schneller – C Ju. Diaz – 1B M. Hernandez – 3B Malkus – SS Price – P Medvec

The Elks lineup grinded Wheatley to dust from the start. Many long counts, right from the get-go, and he needed almost 50 pitches just ONCE through the order. No runs, scored, mind, but the bases were in the process of filling up with third-inning hits by Rick Price and Paul Medvec, and then a 1-out walk to Arnout van der Zanden. Chris Robinson struck out swinging in a full count, but that still brought up Outram, the monster, who had hit into a double play his first time up. No luck this time – Outram singled in two with a liner to right, Schneller hit an RBI single to left, and the damn Elks were up 3-0, because of course the Raccoons did not do **** to a pitcher with an 8+ ERA, neither early, nor later. They didn’t have a HIT until Manny dropped a single in the fourth, moving Ayala to second base with two outs. Maldonado of course struck out. After Wheats struck out the side in anger in the bottom 4th, Zarate and Cruz opened the fifth with hits, bringing the tying run to the plate again, and with nobody out. Carreno struck out, Wheatley hit into a double play, then gave up a leadoff double to Medvec in the bottom of the inning, and conceding the run on Robinson’s sac fly. (angrily throws empty bottle of booze against the wall, making a new stain)

The sixth, two more Critters on base to begin the inning. Waters walked, Ayala doubled to right. The runs scored this time – on a 2-base throwing error by Price on Toohey’s grounder. WHATEVER ******* WORKS. Manny and Maldo didn’t, remaining mired in the muck in May. Jose Zarate, though, homered to left with two outs, tying the ******* game all on ******* unearned runs against a ******* tosser who STILL had a 7.68 ERA after 5.2 innings of no-earned-runs ball against the Stumblecoons.

Then Schneller socked a leadoff jack off Wheatley in the bottom 6th. Two more singles knocked out the pitcher, with Zack Kelly inching out of the inning. The Raccoons kept teasing though, now facing left-hander Juan Vela. Carreno singled to left to begin the seventh, and Waters singled with one out. There was no stealing on Vela, who had one of the best moves in the league. The Raccoons called a hit-and-run anyway with Ayala at the plate. The boldness of it all shocked even the Elks, Diaz looking on befuddledly after Ayala swung and miss, and with the tying and go-ahead runs now in scoring position. Ayala hit a shy single to the right side that Schneller tipped and deadened, but had to scamper after and had no play on – that one tied the game. Toohey and Manny made poor outs, though, and the go-ahead run was stranded. (groans!)

Instead, Jon Craig was shaken up for another two hits in the bottom 8th, and conceded the go-ahead run on Clemente’s pinch-hit sac fly. I was barking at the TV with very foul words, but that didn’t help – it was still Parham with a 1-run lead in the ninth. Baskins led off in the #9 hole, hitting for Jimenez, who had gotten in there in a double switch earlier. He grounded out, but at least he made contact. Waters and Ayala didn’t. 6-5 Canadiens. Ayala 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Zarate 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Dustal (PH) 1-1;

…!

Game 3
POR: SS Waters – 1B Ayala – C Kilmer – LF Fernandez – CF Maldonado – 3B Cruz – 2B Carreno – RF Dustal – P Mathers
VAN: LF van der Zanden – RF C. Robinson – CF Outram – 2B Schneller – C Ju. Diaz – 1B M. Hernandez – 3B Malkus – SS Price – P D. Arias

Waters struck out to begin the game, but walks to the next two batters and a shy infield single by Maldonado loaded the bases eventually. Cruz fell behind 1-2 before whacking away at the next pitch and sending a deep fly to – GRAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!!

After I helped Cristiano back into his wheelchair after I had exaltedly thrown him out of it with a too enthusiastic puff on the upper arm, I had to agonize over Mathers, who allowed hits to Robinson and Outram in the bottom 1st, then conceded a run on a wild pitch. Not great, and that Manny Fernandez threw out Malkus at home plate on a 2-out double by Arias in the second inning was also not – well, the throw was, but the situation in itself was not so much… Mathers also got to touch second base a bit later, though, reaching it on a throwing error by Diaz in the fourth inning, following Dustal’s 1-out single to center. He was then doubled off second base when Waters lined out to Price, and Mathers was caught off his spot, which also ended the inning. At this stage, Mathers also liked to give up loud contact, which made me sit on Slappy’s lap and holding onto his neck with both arms again.

But Portland scratched out another run in the fifth, with Kilmer getting nicked, advancing on a wild pitch, and scoring on Maldo’s 2-out single. Now Schneller threw away a Cruz grounder for two bases, putting a pair in scoring position. Arturo Carreno pounced, pushed a 2-2 pitch through the left side for a 2-out, 2-run single, and Arias got the axe for the day, down 7-1, five runs being earned. With Lazaro Cavazos on the mound, Carreno stole second, then scored on Dustal’s single, 8-1. Mathers flew out – but we were now hoping for some more lengths. He had thrown 50 pitches through four innings. He’d throw 44 more, but only reached one out in the seventh. Outram homered off him in the sixth (after a bevvy of hits had given the Raccoons three more runs in the top of the inning), and Malkus opened the bottom 7th with a leadoff triple to left. Price walked, and Justin Becker hit a scary-deep sac fly to get rid of Mathers. Chuck Jones got out of the inning, while Maldonado hit a 2-run homer off Ryan McConnell to continue the utter rout in progress, now at 13-3. That was the final scoring event in the game – with the damn Elks laying down their weapons and passing under the yoke … for now. 13-3 Furballs!! Gutierrez 1-1; Fernandez 3-5, RBI; Maldonado 4-5, HR, 3 RBI; Cruz 2-4, BB, HR, 6 RBI; Dustal 3-5, RBI;

In other news

May 10 – DAL 2B Hugo Acosta (.406, 2 HR, 33 RBI) goes hitless in three tries against the Condors, ending his hitting streak at 25 games. The rest of the Stars are not quite as unproductive and win the game, 5-1.
May 10 – Wolves and Loggers play 14 innings before the visiting Wolves scratch out a 6-5 lead. The Loggers had led 5-1 after five before slowly, slooowly eroding away.
May 12 – The Thunder send C Dan Whitley (.405, 1 HR, 3 RBI) to the Titans, and pick up OF/1B Cullen Tortora (.229, 1 HR, 10 RBI) and a prospect.
May 13 – The Falcons beat the Cyclones, 3-0, on only two base hits, one of which is a 3-run homer by 1B/LF/RF Ed Haertling (.205, 4 HR, 13 RBI).
May 13 – BOS SP Jamal Barrow (2-4, 2.91 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout against the Indians, ringing up nine for a 3-0 win.
May 14 – The Stars beat the Pacifics, 1-0 in 10 innings. SS Jon Ramos (.365, 0 HR, 6 RBI) singles home the game’s only run and goes 2-for-2 off the bench.

FL Player of the Week: SAC 1B/LF/RF Eddie Moreno (.349, 11 HR, 28 RBI), hitting .462 (12-26) with 3 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL 1B/RF/LF Aaron Brayboy (.266, 5 HR, 20 RBI), batting .481 (13-27) with 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Hah!! **** THE ELKS!! Bums!! (giggles)

I know, I know, Maud. The baseball gods can hear me. – Yes, the neighbors, too.

What do with Brent Clark, who shaved half a run off his ERA on Tuesday, but … eh… ya. He will be skipped again with a day off on Monday (after that: Crusaders, Condors), and who knows what happens by the weekend.

Courtesy report on AAA starting pitching: Merino, Montano, Lambert, and Vargas all had ERA’s at or over five. Tony Negrete had a 3.79 ERA with 34 walks in 40.1 innings. Adam Capone was the brightest spot yet with a 2.23 ERA, but he was also walking 4.7 per nine innings and was bailed out by a .248 BABIP. Merino might still be the best bet with a 5.40 ERA, although the individual numbers were not *that* bad. 3.7 BB/9, 6.7 K/9 (all better than Capone). BABIP of .302, which was not bad my any means. How he wound up with a 5.40 ERA then? No real explanation. Four good starts, three clunkers with 6+ runs. So, Clark will continue to fumble games? He’s lost every game he’s started, and that with a .260 BABIP…

There’s also no real offense on that team. Ruben Gonzalez is coming along fine, and there is some hitting done by Jay de Wit and Brian Snyder, but apart from that it’s mostly gruesome there. Appropriately, the Alley Cats are a dim 9-22. Our lower-level teams have winning records (marginally) at this stage.

The Warriors fired most of their front office and manager on Friday the 13th, which is superb timing for a then 12-23 team.

Fun Fact: Jose Cruz has almost twice Ricky Jimenez’ OPS, but is only half as efficient in the field.

That pairing at third base will give me headaches going forwards…