[Westheim]

Raccoons (28-20) vs. Falcons (24-24) – May 30-June 1, 2044

While the Raccoons were at the top of the runs chart in the CL (still sounded like somebody had mixed something up), Charlotte sat nearly at the bottom, 11th in the Continental League. They were absolute bottoms in bullpen ERA, which ruined absolutely everything the halfway decent rotation put together. It worked out to the Falcons being seventh in runs allowed, with a -19 run differential overall (Critters: +48). We were up 2-1 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (3-1, 4.63 ERA) vs. Adam Messer (1-6, 3.63 ERA)
Corey Mathers (6-2, 3.29 ERA) vs. Jerry Felix (6-2, 2.82 ERA)
Brent Clark (2-6, 5.25 ERA) vs. Oscar Flores (3-5, 3.44 ERA)

The Falcons had only right-handed starters available (and not that many left-handed bats either). They did not have longtime regular Jose Farfan (.317, 2 HR, 15 RBI) available, either, the 30-year-old being out with a tear in his groin, which sounded unpleasant. Almost as unpleasant as an Opening Day starter with an ERA closer to five than four…

Game 1
CHA: 2B M. Martinez – 1B Haertling – LF Besaw – SS Aparicio – RF Turley – C Kokoszka – CF D. Vasquez – 3B E. Sandoval – P Messer
POR: CF Baskins – 1B Ayala – 3B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – RF Toohey – SS Waters – C Zarate – 2B Carreno – P Wheatley

…and Wheatley didn’t retire anybody either. Miguel Martinez led off with a single, there was an Ed Haertling single, a walk to Jose Besaw, and an RBI single by Tony Aparicio before I had Maud dial up the Knights to take him back. Archie Turley’s slam made it a 5-0 game, the Knights told me nah, and I resorted to Capt’n Coma. The Falcons had Wheatley out of the game by the second inning, and all that was left to do after that was to applaud some pointless heroism by Nelson Moreno in long relief, not allowing a ******* base runner through the end of the sixth, after Wheatley had put everything on that had looked even remotely human (looks unsure at Esteban Sandoval’s picture in Cristiano’s baseball card binder). More scoreless relief by Craig and Rella followed after that – all for the furry tush. The Raccoons only ever amounted to three base hits, one of which accidentally being a 2-run homer by Matt Waters in the fourth inning. That was it. 5-2 Falcons. Moreno 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K; Craig 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Sal Ayala went 0-for-3, ending his 18-game streak of finding an H for the box score, too.

Where your after-game vanilla pudding is, Jason? – (spoons vanilla pudding) – Have a guess. – Yeah? WHERE’S MY WINNING STREAK??

Game 2
CHA: 2B M. Martinez – 1B Haertling – LF Besaw – SS Aparicio – RF Turley – CF D. Vasquez – C T. Morales – 3B E. Sandoval – P Felix
POR: CF Baskins – 1B Ayala – RF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – SS Waters – 3B Cruz – 2B Gutierrez – P Mathers

Mathers didn’t pout, turn over, and take it in the first inning, which already made him the frontrunner for this week’s internal Starter of the Week competition. The Raccoons instead got a leadoff triple wedged into the corner in right by Derek Baskins, who scored on Sal Ayala’s groundout. Maldo singled, Kilmer reached on an error, and Waters did what he could to get out of the cobweb section of the lineup, slapping an RBI single to right. Mathers gave back a run immediately on three hits in the second inning, looked wonky after that as well, and Matt Waters’ double in the fourth was the only thing vaguely resembling offense the Raccoons put out any time soon. Mathers held on, also supported by defense, Baskins shagging a few in center, and Kilmer throwing out Joe Besaw trying to swipe a bag in the third inning.

The score remained 2-1 through six, with the Raccoons anxiously eyeing Mathers on the mound, and whether he’d hold it together. He retired 6-7-8 in order in the seventh on a pop to shallow left, a grounder to short, and a strikeout. So far so good, but the Raccoons also brought up 7-8-9 in their half of the seventh on the other end of the stretch. Cruz and Gutierrez made outs. The Raccoons sent Mathers to bat, choosing to wait out who the Falcons would send as pinch-hitter in the eighth. He struck out – and nobody batted for Felix, either, at the start of the eighth. He flew out to left, young and shiny Miguel Martinez, just coming back from his broken leg, grounded out to short, and then the Raccoons sent Chuck Jones to face Ed Haertling. The count ran full, Haertling singled through Cruz, and now we were in the ****. Exit Jones, enter Norris, an Besaw grounded out to short, ending the eighth anyway.

At this point the Raccoons were on all of four hits, but Baskins drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 8th. Maldonado singled with one out, putting runners on the corners. The Falcons hung with Felix still, who got Manny Fernandez to pop out in a full count. Bryce Toohey batted for an 0-for-3 Kilmer, walked, and now the Falcons went to Marcus Goode, who struck out Waters, stranding a full pond of ducks. The bases were loaded in the ninth too … for the Falcons. Rella allowed a leadoff single to Aparicio, walked Turley, and former Raccoon Tony Morales also singled with one out after David Vasquez popped out. Rella wiped his wet black mask, then walked in the tying run against Sandoval. And THEN threw a wild pitch. Ruben Esperanza struck out, and Miguel Martinez grounded out to Gutierrez. Bottom 9th, Coons now down by one. Jose Zarate led off in the #7 hole after Cruz was removed for defense, and reached on an error by second baseman Adam Shay against right-hander Kyle Conner and his 4.50 ERA. Gutierrez singled, moving Zarate, who could not be run for, to second base. Dustal singled to right as well, filling the bags from the #9 hole. I screamed in agony and threw a pillow across the office. Three on, nobody out – the Raccoons had just lost the game. Here came Derek Baskins. Grounder to first, throw home, Zarate out. – See, Maud, that is what I mean. This is not normal. … Here was Ayala, 0-for-7 on the week. He went to 1-1 on Conner before hitting a ball to the left side. Aparicio missed it, the ball eluded to left-center, and Gutierrez scored, and here came Jonathan Dustal, and also scored …! 4-3 Raccoons. Maldonado 2-4; Waters 2-4, 2B, RBI; Dustal (PH) 1-1; Mathers 7.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K;

Okay, Maud, the curse doesn’t ALWAYS work …!

Game 3
CHA: 2B M. Martinez – C Kokoszka – LF Besaw – SS Aparicio – RF Turley – 1B Haertling – CF Case – 3B E. Sandoval – P O. Flores
POR: CF Baskins – 1B Ayala – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – SS Waters – 3B Jimenez – 2B Carreno – P Clark

The curse had a chance to be back in the bottom 2nd of the rubber game, when the Raccoons put the 6-7-8 batters board with two singles and Aparicio farting on a double play grounder by Carreno, but got smashed with sticks by Brent Clark, who hit a sac fly to Seth Case for the game’s first run, and then Baskins, who raked a 2-run triple into the gap in right-center. Ayala’s groundout scored Baskins, giving Portland a 4-0 edge. On the mound, Clark struck out six against two base hits in the first three innings, then got another run of support from a Carreno sac fly, scoring Manny Fernandez, who clobbered into Chris Kokoszka with great noise, but neither of the two players had any harm done to their bodies; and another run in the fourth, Baskins doubling and scoring on a Toohey single through the seam on the right side.

All was more or less dandy through six, with the Raccoons up by as many, except that Brent Clark had both struck out nine batters and had run many long counts even besides that, and was on 102 pitches through six. He came back out for the seventh, but walked the leadoff man Haertling, and then allowed two hits to Case and Sandoval, retiring nobody. Norris replaced him, got out of the inning, but two runs scored. With the lead down to four, the Raccoons loaded the bases again in the bottom 7th. Toohey was nicked, Kilmer singled, and Waters reached on an error, bringing up .192 threat Ricky Jimenez with one out and a warehouse full of runners. He hit a deep fly to left off Luke Moses that was caught on the warning track by Besaw, but was good for sac fly on the Falcon’s mediocre arm. Carreno, slumping without end, popped out to end the inning. The Falcons pulled the run back against Alex Ramirez, who issued a walk and two hits in the eighth and didn’t look like he knew what the heck he was doing. Slappy, is he having his pants on backwards?? – … Oh well, it was still a slam-sized lead… and Jon Craig let nobody aboard in the ninth. 7-3 Raccoons. Baskins 2-4, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Toohey 1-2, BB, RBI; Waters 2-4; Jimenez 1-2, BB, RBI; Clark 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, W (3-6) and 1-2, RBI;

Thus ended the newest brief homestand; the Raccoons gained a game on the Titans, who lost two of three to the Thunder, but loomed very near on the schedule, just on the other side of the upcoming Loggers set.

Raccoons (30-21) @ Loggers (22-31) – June 3-5, 2044

The Raccoons led the season series against the last-place Loggers, 3-2. They had lost four in a row, were ninth in both runs scored and runs allowed, but in recent years had shown a knack to pull the Critters’ pants down mid-pitch, so I wasn’t convinced this trip would end well for us. The main saboteur, Ted Del Vecchio, was out with a pretty bad concussion though, so that took one of their teeth out, and only Aaron Brayboy (.283, 10 HR, 30 RBI) remained among the more prominent spoilers.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (3-2, 3.48 ERA) vs. Ruben Guzman (4-4, 3.93 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (5-3, 3.05 ERA) vs. Jose de Lucio (4-7, 4.16 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (3-2, 5.31 ERA) vs. Matt Peterson (1-4, 5.26 ERA)

No left-handers in sight, although maybe they’d skip Chris Lulay (1-2, 3.72 ERA) into the series, which was possible with the common off day on Thursday.

Game 1
POR: CF Baskins – 1B Maldonado – RF Toohey – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – SS Waters – 3B Jimenez – 2B Carreno – P Jackson
MIL: LF Serad – 2B S. Pena – CF Reeves – 1B Brayboy – RF Hertenstein – 3B Paul – C Payne – SS M. Aguirre – P R. Guzman

The Raccoons burst out for three runs in the opening inning, with Baskins singling, Maldonado reaching by getting nicked, and Manny walking to fill the bases. Kilmer’s sac fly and Waters’ double plated the runners then, while Jimenez grounded out. Then came the Loggers and put the first three batters on base against Jackson, depressingly. Aaron Brayboy grounded to second base for a double play, with T.J. Serad scoring from third base, but Daniel Hertenstein struck out, stranding Sergio Pena on third. After a calm second, the third began with Toohey reaching on a Jared Paul error. Kilmer and Waters added themselves to the mix, bringing the foundering Jimenez to the plate again in another thick spot. This time Guzman struck him with a wayward slider, pushing home a run, and serving Jimenez some embarrassment, which was picked up by Carreno with a K. Jackson grounded out, keeping it 4-1.

Then Guzman drilled Baskins to begin the fourth, and Baskins went down in a heap. Dr. Padilla took him out of the game, with Baskins looking simultaneously dazed and in pain. Ayala replaced him in the #1 hole, with Maldo moving out to centerfield. I was not amused, to say the least. The free runner disappeared on a Toohey 6-4-3, and the Raccoons did not put anybody else on base any time soon. Brayboy though drove home another run against Jackson in the bottom 6th, narrowing the score to 4-2. Jackson would log two more outs before departing when Jonathan Fleming batted for Guzman, the ******* ****, in the #9 hole; he departed with Ricky Payne on second base thanks to a 1-out double. Chuck Jones replaced him and got out of the inning with a 3-2 grounder to Ayala, then had to bat in the eighth when the Raccoons rolled up right-hander Bobby Freels for four hits and two runs by the time he was up, fifth in the inning. Carreno stole second base (Jimenez being on third), and then Jones slapped a 1-2 pitch through the right side for a ******* 2-run single …! That one put the game away, with Jones pitching another scoreless inning in the bottom 8th. Portland added another run with hits by Waters and Jimenez off Ron Purcell in the ninth; an error by Payne, the Loggers’ fourth in the game, also helped. 9-2 Critters! Baskins 1-2; Kilmer 2-4, 3B, RBI; Waters 4-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Jimenez 2-4, 2 RBI; Carreno 2-5, 2B, RBI; Jackson 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (4-2); Jones 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K and 1-1, 2 RBI;

Fourth career base hit for Jones, and RBI’s #2 and #3. He already had an RBI last year. Guy’s a career .333 hitter – no wonder he cost more than a million bucks to re-sign!

Dr. Padilla had a hard time checking in on Derek Baskins who kept crying for mommy, so he was dead weight on the roster on Saturday at least.

About that Matt Waters kid…

Game 2
POR: SS Waters – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – RF Toohey – 3B Jimenez – 2B Carreno – C Zarate – P Okuda
MIL: SS M. Aguirre – 2B S. Pena – LF Reeves – RF Hertenstein – 1B Brayboy – C F. Gomez – 3B T. Ruiz – CF Serad – P de Lucio

Zarate doubled home Carreno for a 1-0 lead in the second that didn’t live to the third inning when Okuda gave up hits to Hertenstein and Brayboy to begin the bottom 2nd. Felipe Gomez’ grounder and Tomas Ruiz’ sac fly tied the game, but at least T.J. Serad struck out to keep Brayboy on third base. Zarate’s double was the only Raccoons hit in the first three frames, but Toohey and Carreno both clipped singles that narrowly eluded infielders in the fourth to create a threat, and Zarate was up again. He came through once more – and he came through all the way over the fence in centerfield for a MASSIVE 3-run homer!!

Unfortunately, Okuda kept struggling. The left-handed Brayboy singled in the bottom 4th, and Felipe Gomez whacked a double. Ruiz grounded to short, getting his second RBI in the game, and Serad popped out to strand another guy on third, but it didn’t look like a comfy 4-2 lead at all after four… de Lucio promptly led off the fifth with a single, which was awesome, and while Mike Aguirre forced him out, Sergio Pena also singled. Bill Reeves struck out, and Hertenstein was out to short, retiring the two switch-hitters in the middle of that order (neither of them batting more than .233 though). Zarate’s leadoff single in the sixth put him a triple short of the cycle (career triples: 1), but Okuda popped out bunting and Zarate was stranded on first base before Okuda again tried to get walloped by the bottom half of the lineup. Gomez singled this time, but Ruiz popped out. Serad got nicked, and de Lucio stunned the Critters with a gapper that became a game-tying triple also because Maldonado and Toohey had played shallow. Aguirre grounded out, keeping everything even at four after six innings…….

Top 7th, de Lucio offered leadoff walks to Maldo and Manny, then allowed a single to Toohey before the Loggers scrambled for relief when the Raccoons were stuck in the bear trap with three on and nobody out. In a full count, Jimenez struck out, causing me to groan and hit my head against the nearest wooden post until kindly asked by an attendant to not do that. Carreno also ran a full count, then drew ball four from Bobby Freels, pushing home the go-ahead run. Zarate, needing that triple, only got a double … play. Inning over. Carreno was then rewarded with the showers when a parade of relievers kept putting Loggers on base in the bottom 7th. Norris put on Hertenstein. Kelly nailed PH Jared Paul. Ramirez then entered in a double switch, walked Gomez on four pitches, then got an easy fly to Manny from Ruiz on the first pitch, the Loggers leaving the full set on. Ramirez put two more on (Serad single, Aguirre walk) in the bottom 8th before Jones came in and struck out Pena and Reeves to get out of that quagmire. No insurance run came about in the ninth, either, but at least Rella put the game away. Never mind the 2-out double Gomez crashed off the top of the fence in left that missed being a game-tying homer by about a broadaxe’s width. Ruiz popped out. 5-4 Coons. Toohey 2-5; Carreno 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Zarate 3-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI;

Nothing for four, with a walk. I think it’s psychic with Waters. He just CAN’T hit in the leadoff spot.

By Sunday, the Raccoons had a diagnosis on Baskins, who had suffered a broken thumb. Since Guzman hit him in the shoulder, with a carom in the helmet, I have to assume that he fell on the thumb somehow or jammed it under the bat, which he also fell on.

Sigh. Desolation.

Baskins was off to the DL. Since Van Anderson was also on the minor league version of the DL, the Raccoons had to dig deeper and promoted Jordan Gonzalez again.

Game 3
POR: SS Waters – 1B Ayala – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – 3B Cruz – RF Dustal – 2B Carreno – P Wheatley
MIL: LF Serad – 2B S. Pena – CF Reeves – 1B Brayboy – RF Hertenstein – C F. Gomez – 3B Paul – SS M. Aguirre – P M. Peterson

Improving on Monday’s disaster shouldn’t be too hard for Wheatley, who achieved this noble goal by giving up a 2-run homer to Brayboy in the bottom 1st, but nothing else. Good job, son. Portland’s proud of you. The Raccoons came back with Kilmer reaching base and Jose Cruz homering to right in the second inning, tying the game. Carreno hit a 1-out triple into rightfield after that, and Wheats drove him in with a groundout for a 3-2 lead. Not that leading made his pitching much better; Serad and Pena hit back-to-back singles in the bottom 3rd. Serad had stolen second base in between, and now went for home plate, where he was met with Kilmer’s glove containing a baseball, right to the face, hammered out by Manny Fernandez to preserve the lead.

The Coons then shed another outfielder, with Dustal tearing some thing or other on a double in the fourth inning. Jordan Gonzalez replaced him, playing designated bystander while the Loggers walked Carreno intentionally and then struck out Wheats to end the inning. Then Wheats fell for a Hertenstein single, Gomez walk, and Aguirre single in the bottom half of the inning, getting the game tied again, and another 2-run homer by Brayboy in the fifth, falling behind, 5-3…

While begging for one, Wheatley didn’t get the loss, thanks to a seventh-inning homer by Maldonado tying the game at five. Zack Kelly also applied for the loss, loading the bases with Pena, Reeves, Brayboy, and one out in the bottom 7th, but got Hertenstein to pop out for no greater gain. Moreno, unused since taking out Wheatley’s trash on Monday, now was tasked with taking out Kelly’s trash, and rung up Gomez to strand everybody, and Gomez then gifted the lead to the Coons again in the eighth, fumbling a Freels pitch for a passed ball with two outs, Jose Cruz scoring from third base after a leadoff single and two productive outs. Jose Zarate, having come in with Moreno in a double switch, grounded out.

Moreno did a fine eighth, and the Raccoons got Ayala on base against Cesar Perez, then cashed the run on a 2-out double to left-center that Manny whacked, going up 7-5. Jimenez hit for Moreno and walked, Pena fumbled Cruz’ grounder for an error, and the Raccoons had three on with two outs, and could not bat for Jordan Gonzalez, because they were literally down to Omar Gutierrez and nothing else on the bench. He struck out. Rella, though, faced the 1-2-3 in the order in the bottom 9th… but also retired them 1-2-3, completing the sweep! 7-5 Furballs! Ayala 2-3, 2 BB; Cruz 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Dustal 1-2, 2B; Carreno 1-2, 2 BB, 3B; Moreno 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (3-1);

In other news

May 30 – Cyclones CF/LF Dan Mathes (.338, 12 HR, 43 RBI) rakes three home runs and drives in four in an 11-2 rout of the Pacifics. It is the second time a Cyclones player goes yard three times in one game, and those two instances have been the most recent ones, Danny Santillano hitting three home runs off the Buffaloes on October 2, 2042.
May 30 – Pittsburgh RF Troy Greenway (.260, 5 HR, 23 RBI) might miss most of June with knee tendinitis.
May 31 – Richmond’s 1B Manny Liberos (.228, 4 HR, 26 RBI) and LF/RF Pablo Gonzalez (.394, 11 HR, 48 RBI) both have four hits and five RBI apiece in a 17-8 slugfest win over the Warriors.
May 31 – The Indians and Condors play 15 innings before the former prevail, 4-3. Both teams had previously scored two runs in the ninth. The Indians’ catching corps of Sean Ebner (.255, 3 HR, 11 RBI) and Jason Rose (.254, 0 HR, 12 RBI) goes a combined 5-for-7 with one RBI on an Ebner homer.
June 1 – DAL INF/CF Jose Rivas (.365, 0 HR, 22 RBI) will miss a month with an oblique strain.
June 1 – VAN RF/LF/1B Arnout van der Zanden (.265, 2 HR, 20 RBI) drives in six runs from the leadoff spot on three hits in a 15-3 rush of the Bayhawks.
June 5 – Warriors and Scorpions grind it out for 17 innings before SFW C Amari Thompson (.229, 3 HR, 13 RBI) whacks a 3-run homer to walk off Sioux Falls, 6-3.

FL Player of the Week: CIN CF/LF Dan Mathes (.344, 12 HR, 46 RBI), mashing .455 (10-22) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS 3B Ivan Lugo (.322, 1 HR, 38 RBI), batting .500 (13-26) with 10 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: TOP INF/LF Tony Batista (.310, 9 HR, 41 RBI), batting .366 with 5 HR, 25 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: OCT C Jesus Adames (.302, 11 HR, 31 RBI), swatting .343 with 10 HR, 24 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: CIN SP Melvin Lucero (8-2, 1.92 ERA), sparkling for a 5-1 record with 1.19 ERA, 25 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: CHA SP Emmanuel Lizarraga (4-2, 3.97 ERA), pitching for a 4-0 mark with 2.55 ERA, 30 K
FL Rookie of the Month: CIN INF/LF Chris Delgado (.308, 7 HR, 32 RBI), batting .231 with 3 HR, 15 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: TIJ OF/1B Marty Reidinger (.228, 4 HR, 21 RBI), poking .244 with 3 HR, 17 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Uh. That Melvin Lucero? Yeah, he was ours. Traded him in the Greenway deal seven years ago. Man, if only we had him rather than Wheats now.

The Opening Day starter’s curse, huh?

Meanwhile Matt Waters is hitting leadoff again, but we would have stuck longer to Derek Baskins. Unfortunately, he can’t hold a bat with a broken thumb, and only a select few people in the league have ever been any threat without a bat at all, like Isto Grönholm or Ray ******* Gilbert.

No news on Dustal yet, but from what I heard from the trainer’s room down there his knee has swollen to balloon size, and that can’t be good. We don’t have pants that wide.

Monday will be off, and then it will be 16 straight games, with three road series separated by trips to Portland for single series there. This makes no sense. When I’m back in Portland on the weekend, I’ll have Maud write a letter to the league office with some harsh words. The Coons will be in Boston by Tuesday, then host the Buffos on the weekend. Grueling 4-city, 3-country road trip coming up starting on the 20th, so that’s something to look forward to.

Fun Fact: The Opening Day starter’s curse is alive and well.

First, we have no consistency in the position. None.

2044 – Jason Wheatley – 5.60
2043 – Jake Jackson – 4.10
2042 – Rich Willett – 3.13 but traded to the Aces midseason, so how was that for a career move
2041 – Bernie Chavez – 3.85
2040 – Ryan Bedrosian – 2.06 but traded to the Knights midseason, where he won nothing
2039 – Bryce Sparkes – 3.48
2038 – Bernie Chavez – 4.57
2037 – Bernie Chavez – 3.38
2036 – Gilberto Rendon – 3.97

With the exception of 2041 Bernie, they all added about one third of a run to their ERA in the season in which they were the Opening Day starter compared to the one before. For Willett it’s even half a run. For Rendon and 2038 Bernie, a full run.

For Wheatley, it’s two and a half.