[Westheim]

Raccoons (91-64) @ Canadiens (80-75) – September 25-28, 2045

Ahead of the third-place Elks in the final regular season series on the road, the Raccoons could finally add Derek Baskins back to the lineup. Up 10-4 against the team topping the league both in most runs scored and most runs allowed, all we hoped for were not more injuries, and that maybe the lineup could figure out how to stay in one piece until October. It would also help to not suffer any more pitching injuries…

Projected matchups:
Tony Negrete (1-1, 6.10 ERA) vs. Michael Donovan (9-7, 3.93 ERA)
Corey Mathers (15-8, 4.18 ERA) vs. David Arias (4-4, 6.13 ERA)
Adam Capone (4-4, 2.97 ERA) vs. George Drob (0-5, 6.44 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (11-10, 4.00 ERA) vs. John Roeder (8-10, 4.14 ERA)

They looked like they’d have left-handers at the ends of the series, with two right-handers in the middle. Both Arias and Drob had pitched in a double-header on Friday, and one might have to go on short rest.

There was no shortage on injuries on either side, with starters Omar Uribe and Mario Godinez, as well as position players Kenichi Saito, Chris Robinson, and Travis Malkus all on the shelf for Elk City. The Coons would weave in more of the backups in these technically meaningless games now, but all the core batters were in the lineup on Monday for Derek Baskins’ return, with the exception of Manny Fernandez, which was more like a thing with the left-hander on the mound.

Game 1
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Toohey – SS Waters – C Kilmer – 2B Carreno – 3B Jimenez – P Negrete
VAN: RF van der Zanden – 2B O. Aguirre – CF Outram – C Julio Diaz – 3B Hutson – 1B Zuazo – LF Peralta – SS Price – P Donovan

A Herrera double, Toohey reaching on an uncaught third strike, and Waters walking loaded the bags in the first, but Kilmer grounded out on a 3-1 pitch and nobody scored, and the damn Elks had the bases loaded in the bottom 2nd… with nobody out… and without as much of a base hit. Negrete stunk, nicked Julio Diaz, walked Dan Hutson and Alvin Zuazo, and allowed a run each on an Antonio Peralta single and Rick Price’s sac fly before the Elks somehow choked. Maldonado hit his 28th homer to left in the top 3rd, cutting the gap to 2-1, and that was it through five innings, neither team managing more than three hits off a wonky pitcher. Even Jerry Outram, hitting .353 with 19 homers, failed to feast on Negrete, hitting into two double plays.

Negrete was gone after five messy and long innings, still down 2-1. Clark and Marucci dealt scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh, respectively, while the Coons lineup remained stuck to three base hits. Then the Elks went to Matt Sealock – the veteran and former ace had missed all of this season recovering from Tommy John surgery, and was only making his second appearance in the majors after a troubled showing in a brief minor league rehab. He walked Toohey to begin the top 8th, then also walked Waters. Al Martell pinch-ran for Toohey at second base, but the next two batters made poor outs. Manny Fernandez batted for Ricky Jimenez, which was too much for the Elks’ taste, and they sent another starter, recently disgraced Alex Lewis (11-7, 4.84 ERA) to face him. Manny popped out in a full count. Instead, the damn Elks scored a run on Bob Ibold with singles by Dustin Fruman and Oscar Aguirre in the bottom 8th, and the Coons disappeared without a trace in the ninth. 3-1 Canadiens. Maldonado 2-4, HR, RBI;

Agree, Honeypaws. We’ll be home after four games in the CLCS.

Game 2
POR: LF Baskins – SS Waters – 2B Gurney – RF Fernandez – 1B Toohey – CF Dustal – 3B Martell – C Gonzalez – P Mathers
VAN: RF van der Zanden – 2B O. Aguirre – CF Outram – C Julio Diaz – 3B Hutson – 1B Zuazo – LF V. Vazquez – SS Price – P Drob

The Raccoons exploded over Drob, who was picked to go on short rest, in the first inning; Matt Waters and Pat Gurney hit back-to-back homers, which marked the 20th for Waters this year, and the hard hits kept coming. Bryce Toohey hit a double with two outs, scoring on a Dustal single. Al Martell also singled, before the inning ended with Ruben Gonzalez’ fly to deep left. Another 3-spot was unfurled in the second inning as Drob got beaten like a drum. Baskins doubled to right – first hit off the DL – and Gurney hit an RBI single, followed by a 2-run homer to right clocked by Manny. Never mind that Corey Mathers was just the same mess – he scattered four hits the first time through the lineup even before a throwing error on Rick Price’s grounder put two in scoring position with two outs. The Elks, accepting of their fate, didn’t bat for Drob, but Drob hit a 2-run single to center. Mathers offered a wild pitch before getting Arnout van der Zanden out with a fly to left. It was 6-2 after two with potential for a long, long night.

Not for Drob, exactly; he was out in the third inning after giving up a homer to Dustal, a single to Gonzalez, mishandling Mathers’ bunt, and then an RBI double to center smacked by Baskins, settling him for eight runs in 2.1 innings, although the remaining runners were stranded with strikeouts by Waters and Gurney. But you had to hand it to Mathers – he was a believer! He didn’t think this game was won, and was firmly convinced that it could still be lost! He pitched accordingly, getting whacked around for ten hits in five innings, and five total runs; one more in the third, and two more in the fifth, narrowing the score to 8-5.

But not just Mathers failed. Everybody failed. Even Chuck Jones failed, facing the top four in the order in the bottom 7th and giving up a leadoff walk, a single to (the right-handed) Aguirre, a sac fly to Outram, 8-6, and then another single to Diaz. Nelson Moreno replaced him, struck out Hutson, and got a groundout from Zuazo to stave off the collapse for another inning. Moreno put Rick Price aboard with two outs in the eighth, then yielded for Zack Kelly, who was ready to shoot the puppy right between the eyes. Van der Zanden singled off him, Aguirre singled off him, 8-7, he fell to 3-1 on Outram, then nicked him to load the bases with two gone – and then Diaz grounded out to Pat Gurney. Portland failed to do anything after drobbing Drob, and then had only the scantest of leads for Josh Rella to play with. Hutson ripped a leadoff double to left, and while Zuazo struck out, Victor Vazquez’ single to right-center got the tying run around to score. Two more strikeouts concluded regulation, while I was back home on the couch, crying into the cushions.

Shockingly, when the tie was broken in the 11th, it was broken by Gurney’s RBI triple into the corner in rightfield, chasing home Waters for a 9-8 lead against Sealock. Gurney was on third with one out, with Manny trying to pop out in foul ground next to Zuazo – who dropped the ball for an error. The new lease on life Manny got allowed him to slap an RBI single two pitches later. Toohey had been replaced by Carreno for assorted defensive purposes earlier, and Carreno flew out to left. Dustal struck out, netting a golden sombrero. Up 10-8 then, the Raccoons tried Bob Ibold in the bottom 11th. Diaz opened with a single right away, but he struck out Hutson. Zuazo grounded to short, Waters to Carreno, to Gurney – ballgame. 10-8 Coons. Baskins 3-6, 2 2B, RBI; Waters 2-6, HR, 2B, RBI; Gurney 3-6, HR, 3B, 3 RBI; Fernandez 3-6, HR, 3 RBI; Dustal 2-6, HR, 2 RBI; Martell 3-5;

48th career appearance for Ibold – first save.

I could have done without it.

Game 3
POR: 1B Gurney – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – RF Toohey – 2B Carreno – SS Gutierrez – C Zarate – P Capone
VAN: RF van der Zanden – 2B O. Aguirre – CF Outram – 3B Hutson – 1B Zuazo – LF V. Vazquez – C T. Phillips – SS Price – P D. Arias

Gurney, Maldo, and Toohey filled the bases in the first on two hits and a walk, but Carreno struck out to strand all of them. Elk City went up 1-0 in the first instead, getting van der Zanden on with an infield single. He advanced on a grounder, stole third base, and came home on Outram’s sac fly. Zarate and Gurney doubles got us even at one in the top 2nd, but with a leadoff jack to left by Alvin Zuazo in the bottom 2nd, the Coons were a-trailing again. Toohey then tied the game with his own homer to left in the top of the third – his first RBI since coming off the DL! – and the Coons even took the lead in the fourth, going up 3-2 on a leadoff single by Jose Zarate, a bunt, a groundout, and a wild pitch by Arias. Whatever works!

Top 5th, Maldo drew a 1-out walk off the adrift Arias. He made it to third base on Manny’s single, then scored on a deep fly out by Toohey, a sac fly to go up 4-2. Arias didn’t get out of the inning, walking the bags full, but Capone struck out against Alex Lewis to strand everybody. All the lead went away in the sixth inning, perhaps deliberately engineered by the Coons, who needed to feel Capone’s pulse under intense pressure, and were sorely disappointed as after a few solid innings, he came apart for van der Zanden and Outram singles, an RBI single by Hutson to narrow the tally to 4-3 and move both runners into scoring position on Herrera’s throw home, and while Vazquez popped out for the second out, Tim Phillips tied the game with a 2-out single to center. Zuazo was sent from second, Herrera tried again, and this time threw out the runner at the plate, ending the sixth with the score even at four.

Capone, a prospective fourth starter in the playoffs, got stuck for good with two outs in the seventh, with van der Zanden hitting a single and stealing second before Aguirre walked anyway. Chuck Jones, foundering, arrived for Jerry Outram, which used to be a good matchup for the Raccoons, and now we had to be content that Outram’s 2-2 liner went right into a mitten, Gurney’s in this case. The tie held into the ninth, which began when Gurney stuck a ball into the rightfield corner against Sebastien Parham for a leadoff triple. As if on command, the team choked. Herrera hit a poor grounder that kept Gurney pinned. Maldo was walked intentionally and shall be absolved of blame. But Manny struck out. And Toohey popped out. Failures, all of them. Except Maldo. In the bottom 9th, the decomposing Brent Clark walked the bags full with Steve Holbrook, Aguirre, and Outram, and two outs. Jon Craig vs. Dan Hutson would determine loss or extras. Hutson singled up the middle. 5-4 Canadiens. Gurney 3-5, 3B, 2B, RBI; Zarate 2-3, BB, 2B;

Pat Gurney missed the cycle by one thing for the second consecutive night – and never for the triple!

Never mind that as a whole, the team just looks ghastly night in, night out.

And only four games left to get good.

Game 4
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – SS Waters – C Kilmer – RF Shedd – 2B Carreno – 3B Coen – P Okuda
VAN: LF van der Zanden – 2B O. Aguirre – CF Outram – C Julio Diaz – 3B Hutson – 1B Zuazo – RF Peralta – SS Holbrook – P Roeder

Tapped as #2 starter behind Wheatley, Okuda entered trying to get the ERA into the threes in his final start in the regular season, but instead got waffle-slapped just like everybody else. He pitched five ****** innings, allowing four runs, three earned. Hutson singled home Aguirre in the first innings. Antonio Peralta homered to left in the second. Zuazo drove in two in the third inning, singling to right with Aguirre scoring on his own power, and Diaz being encouraged by Brian Shedd’s throwing error. The Coons? Baskins doubled home Ben Coen, who was 2-for-2 by then, in the fifth inning, and that was about it. Brad Barnes would follow that dismal outing with two innings of 1-run ball, not that it mattered much. When Shedd and Carreno opened the seventh by reaching base, Coen hit into a double play, and Ruben Gonzalez did the rest for that inning with another free out. The bottom 8th saw another three runs for the damn Elks among terrible pitching by Sam Bowman and errors by both Coen and Baskins behind him, which didn’t help with the woefully inept pitching. The Coons got singles from Manny and Carreno by the time there were two outs in the ninth, with Coen striking out to end the game and the ******* series. 8-1 Canadiens. Fernandez (PH) 1-1; Carreno 2-3, BB; Coen 2-4;

Bright sides – no broken little legs and necks.

Raccoons (92-67) vs. Titans (65-94) – September 29-October 1, 2045

The final home set featured the Titans, that season series being in the Coons’ camp already at an 11-4 rate. We would continue our cowardly approach to our core lineup players, though (as far as they were useful at all at this point) and none of them should play all the games in the series (pinch-hitting not included). Boston was second from the bottom in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed, with a -73 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Sean Marucci (0-0, 3.15 ERA) vs. Victor Mondragon (9-11, 4.77 ERA)
Tony Negrete (1-2, 5.28 ERA) vs. Hisami Furuya (5-6, 4.35 ERA)
Corey Mathers (15-8, 4.21 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (2-5, 3.91 ERA)

Looked like we’d pick out their righty starters, or what was left of those: Lachlan Clarke, Danny Tirado, Todd Lush, Ivan Lugo, Juan Rodriguez… the list of injuries for them was long.

Marucci got the spot start instead of Wheatley, not because of ERA title considerations (he’d have a hard time giving up as many runs as needed to blow his title), but because having Wheats in Game 1 was more important. Marucci had only two solid pitches, but if you looked at some other personnel on staff, you’d wonder how they didn’t do better with their multitude of tossings. Marucci had started in college, but despite having been a #42 pick in the 2041 draft had never started professionally. This would be his 202nd professional appearance, and his 36th in the majors. Going on Closing Day would not inhibit Mathers from starting Game 3 on full rest.

In the CL South, the Thunder led the Bayhawks by two, and they’d play each other on the weekend. The Falcons were eliminated.

Game 1
BOS: SS Castaneda – LF Liceaga – 1B C. Jimenez – C Whitley – 2B Kleemeyer – CF T. Lopez – RF D. Meyer – 3B Mangual – P Mondragon
POR: LF Baskins – 2B Gurney – 3B Maldonado – RF Fernandez – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – CF Dustal – C Kilmer – P Marucci

There was little to find objectionable about Marucci’s spot start. He put a pair on in the first inning, but wiggled out of that, and he gave up a fifth-inning single to the opposing pitcher, and he also seemed to be unable to retire Danny Liceaga at all, but he made it through five scoreless innings for three hits and two walks. He also got absolutely no support from his own team, which was held to one hit (a 2-out Maldo triple that led nowhere) through four innings by Mondragon, who walked a pair. Marucci batted for himself in a 7-8-9 wipe in the bottom 5th, keeping the game scoreless, then gave up a leadoff single to center to Dan Whitley in the sixth. Josh Kleemeyer flew out easily, and Tony Lopez hit a 3-1 pitch back to Marucci for a 1-6-3 double play. That was it for Marucci – six FINE innings, and maybe we had found our #4 starter for the playo- (gets slapped by Cristiano with a rolled-up magazine)

A win was not in the offing for Marucci, though, with Mondragon remaining in command through six. Preston Porter continued to pitch scorelessly for Portland, adding two innings on 18 pitches. Kilmer then hit an infield single in the bottom 8th with one out, which, y’know, what a rush of emotion and all… He advanced on a wild pitch to PH Ricky Jimenez, who then grounded out to second, as did Baskins, stranding Kilmer at third base. Rella retired the Titans in order in the ninth, while Justin Kaiser, lefty, replaced Mondragon in the bottom 9th. Gurney drew a leadoff walk in a full count. Maldo raked the first pitch into the gap, though. Javier Miranda couldn’t reach it, and it ran all the way to the wall for a walkoff triple…! 1-0 Blighters. Maldonado 2-4, 2 3B, RBI; Kilmer 1-2, BB; Marucci 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K; Porter 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Two thirds of our base hits in this game were Maldo triples. If he gets as much as a stomach bug by the CLCS, the Coons will get swept in THREE games…

The Thunder squeezed out the Bayhawks, 2-0, to clinch the CL South. In terms of home field advantage, they had one more win than us right now.

Game 2
BOS: 2B Encinia – 1B C. Jimenez – C Whitley – SS B. Carter – CF T. Lopez – 3B Castaneda – LF D. Meyer – RF J. Miranda – P Furuya
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 1B Gurney – RF Toohey – SS Waters – 3B R. Jimenez – 2B Martell – C Gonzalez – P Negrete

The Raccoons scored four runs in the first inning – all unearned. After Baskins walked, Herrera reached on a 2-base throwing error by Dan Whitley. Gurney and Toohey both grinded out RBI groundouts, but then Waters doubled to right with two down, Ricky Jimenez walked, and Al Martell tripled in the both of them. Despite the 4-0 lead, Negrete came very close to not even making it through five innings. He did a tremendous job at making that Titans lineup look major-league-comparable, which was not a complement to anybody, scattering six hits, a walk, and a nailed batsman through 4.1 innings, although the only run on him was unearned thanks to a Ricky Jimenez error in the fourth. But in the fifth, there he sat with Furuya and Chris Jimenez on the corners, one out, and Whitley – sort of the offensive leader here with a .232 clip and 10 homers – being the tying run in the box. There, Ricky Jimenez redeemed himself, picking a sharp spanker on the first offering by Negrete and zipping it round for a 5-4-3 double play to complete five innings on 84 shoddy pitches for Negrete.

Negrete erred through another inning, whiffing two for a total of four, and somehow eloped like Marucci with six innings without allowing an earned run, although he was ahead in the game, 4-1, while the Coons were being out-hit, 7-3. The Coons then got leadoff singles from Martell in the sixth and Baskins in the seventh, only to both times find a double play immediately. Relief was neat, though – Bob Ibold and Nelson Moreno each pitched scoreless innings. Against Rella in the ninth, Jose Castaneda grounded out to Gurney, Dan Meyer whiffed, and Javier Miranda popped out to Gonzalez. 4-1 Raccoons. Martell 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI; Negrete 6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (2-2);

So in fact all runs in this game were unearned.

Change of plan for Sunday then – the Titans made it a Southpaw Sunday after all, sending Ricky Contreras (8-13, 3.36 ERA) against us.

Game 3
BOS: 2B Encinia – CF T. Lopez – 1B C. Jimenez – 2B Kleemeyer – LF Mangual – C Templeton – RF Bottino – SS Castaneda – P R. Contreras
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – C Kilmer – 3B R. Jimenez – RF Shedd – 2B Carreno – SS Coen – P Mathers

Kilmer and Carreno hit doubles to left in the bottom 2nd to go up 1-0, but singles by Juan Encinia, Josh Kleemeyer, and Ruben Mangual tied the game again in the top 3rd. That was it for hits for the Raccoons and their fractional lineup through five innings, while the Titans had a total of five knocks against Mathers, who held out for seven innings in a rather uninspiring game that was still tied when he got his pat on the furry bum at the stretch.

It was a miserable game, underlined by on-and-off rain that kept everybody well moist and forced a rain delay by the seventh inning, after which it was still 1-1 in runs, and 5-2 Boston in hits. Ibold and Clark combined for the eighth for Portland, while Kyle Turay, the scheduled starter, appeared in relief in the bottom 8th. A Rick Rowell error behind him put Carreno on base to begin the bottom 8th, and he stole second, only his 25th base of the year. Coen’s groundout moved him to third. Manny hit for Clark, trying to get that run in that would end the season without another seven soggy innings. Single to center on 1-2, and the Coons went up, 2-1! Baskins also singled, but Herrera and Maldonado made weak outs. With Josh Rella having pitched in both games of the series already, the Raccoons went to Nelson Moreno in the ninth inning instead. Whitley flew out to begin the ninth, but Moreno walked Liceaga pinch-hitting. Rob Bottino grounded to Maldo, who took the out on the lead runner. Rick Rowell struck out, concluding the regular season. 2-1 Critters. Kilmer 1-2, BB, 2B; Fernandez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Mathers 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K;

In other news

September 25 – SFB RF/LF Jose Platero (.254, 6 HR, 34 RBI) ends the Bayhawks’ 5-4 win over the Condors with a 14th-inning walkoff home run to keep them in the CL South race.
September 26 – SFB SP Chih Ke (8-4, 3.57 ERA) and CL Jeremy Mayhall (9-4, 2.30 ERA, 46 SV) pitch a combined 1-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Condors, who only get a base hit from C Angelo Ortiz (.247, 1 HR, 9 RBI).
September 26 – Despite their own 10-5 loss to the Blue Sox, a Miners loss to the Cyclones hands the FL East to the Rebels.
September 28 – SFW LF Mario Villa (.378, 13 HR, 92 RBI) suffers a torn back muscle to end his season, but should be ready for Opening Day. He will now have to watch whether his 2-point lead in the batting title race will hold up against Dallas’ Jose Rivas.
September 29 – IND RF/LF Mario Ochoa (.375, 1 HR, 10 RBI) bangs out six base hits, a triple, three doubles, and two singles, and drives in four runs in a 13-11, 11-inning win over the Canadiens. He is, after Cesar Martinez in 2019, the second-ever Indian to land six base hits in a single game.
September 30 – LAP 1B Mark Cahill (.307, 24 HR, 112 RBI) rocks three home runs in a 6-4 win over the Scorpions, driving in four runs in total. He is the second player this year to achieve the feat, after Portland’s Bryce Toohey.
September 30 – A home run by CIN C/1B Dan Rollin (.310, 8 HR, 44 RBI) is the only scoring in the Cyclones’ 1-0 win over the Buffaloes.
September 30 – The Aces score 10 runs in the seventh inning as they rally past the Knights for a 14-8 victory.

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL OF Tylor Cecil (.369, 23 HR, 143 RBI), raking .358 with 6 HR, 29 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: NYC C Fernando Alba (.320, 27 HR, 92 RBI), hitting .355 with 8 HR, 21 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DEN SP John Kennedy (17-9, 2.88 ERA), hurling for a 5-0 mark with 1.60 ERA, 33 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: VAN SP Michael Donovan (11-7, 3.69 ERA), pitching for a 5-0 record with 0.88 ERA, 25 K
FL Rookie of the Month: CIN OF Armando Luis Herrera (.351, 16 HR, 85 RBI), hitting .315 with 3 HR, 13 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: NYC 1B Dave Hernandez (.290, 11 HR, 50 RBI), swatting .279 with 5 HR, 23 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Manny’s pinch-hit single on Sunday not only prevented us from having a gruesome 13th-inning injury on Closing Day (looks skywards to the baseball gods), it also brought about the 5,800th regular season W for this old franchise. It was credited to Brent Clark, who snuck the honors by getting a single out to end the top 8th.

So, everybody survived the last week here – and now we just need to piece a working playoff roster together. Let’s start with pitching! (laughs nervously)

Manny’s single also meant we went 14-4 against the Titans this year, tying our best-ever result against them, previously achieved all the way back in 1996.

I don’t know about anybody else, but I don’t dig comparisons with 1996. Mainly because of what came after it.

But let’s be honest. The Coons are not postseason favorites. They are the bottom seed, which is one thing, but they are also crawling into the playoffs, bums dragging. The pitching is highly questionable, and the hitting has been absent for about two months now. I don’t see us doing great against the Thunder. It will be the fifth CLCS against Oklahoma, and probably the second one we’ll lose. It’s just… (points helplessly at stats table and at Victor Merino, sitting sobbing in the corner with a stitched-up shoulder)

Fun Fact: For the first time in league history, four teams have lost 100+ games.

The Wolves (115), Buffaloes (106), Indians (102), and Capitals (101) really went for it, and the Titans were not that far behind, stopping at 97 losses. On the other hand, eight teams won 90+ games (although the top four by record also made the playoffs).

The previous low water mark for 100-loss teams was three in a season, which happened twice.

In 2028, the Rebels (106), Blue Sox (104), and Falcons (100) formed an unholy trifecta, the first time that had happened in 40 years. Back in 1988, the Scorpions (112), Warriors (102), and Crusaders (102) had all lost over 100 games.