[Westheim]

2045 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (95-67) @ Richmond Rebels (98-64)

The teams had met in the regular season, with the Raccoons losing two of the three games. The only Raccoons starter from that series that was actually on the roster was Wheatley, who had lost the rubber game of the series, which was played in June, before he broke out of his miffs to claim the CL ERA title. The others had been Merino (DL) and Clark (sucks).

Game 1 – Corey Mathers (15-8, 4.11 ERA) vs. Omar Lara (21-9, 2.74 ERA)

Lara had pitched nearly a complete game for a W in the first game of the regular season square-off, and was put into the opener by the Rebels. The quicker turnaround from the CLCS meant that the Raccoons did not have Jason Wheatley available for the opener. He would go in Game 2 instead, then on regular rest.

POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Fernandez – SS Waters – 2B Carreno – C Kilmer – P Mathers
RIC: CF G. Cabrera – 2B Clevidence – LF P. Gonzalez – C K. Duncan – RF A. Marquez – 3B Frazier – SS Aguilera – 1B Guillory – P O. Lara

Maldonado hit a single in the first, and Doug Clevidence did the same. The difference was that Clevidence was backed up by Kyle Duncan with an RBI double, and the Rebels took a 1-0 lead before Alex Marquez floated out to Herrera.

The Raccoons continued to not put anything much together early on, while Mathers stumbled over Clevidence again in the third inning, walking him with two outs. He then got blasted by Pablo Gonzalez for a 410-footer that extended the Rebels’ lead to 3-0.

Through five, the Coons scattered three singles to the Rebels’ four hits, so it wasn’t exactly like they were running riot round Corey Mathers, who did fairly well for himself. Portland did make it onto the board in the sixth inning, when Armando Herrera hit a triple into the gap in right-center with one out, then scored on Maldonado’s groundout, 3-1. Toohey’s deep fly was caught, however, and the Raccoons did nothing more in the inning.

Instead, the team collapsed on the spot. Gonzalez and Duncan opened the bottom 6th with doubles to left to reclaim that run from the top of the frame, and Duncan scored when Baskins overran Alex Marquez’ single for an error, 5-1. Bob Ibold replaced Mathers, struck out Josh Frazier, then yielded another RBI double to Alvin Aguilera, who went on to try and steal third base. Jeff Kilmer threw the ball away, allowing Aguilera to score entirely, completing a 4-run meltdown with two errors and more doubles than I could be bothered to count.

Somehow, the Coons were not totally dead, though. Lara begin the seventh with getting Manny Fernandez to ground out, but then walked Waters. An errant pickoff allowed Waters to second base, from where Arturo Carreno singled him home, 7-2. Kilmer singled. Ricky Jimenez hit an RBI single. After Baskins grounded out, Herrera hit an RBI single…! Now it was 7-4 with the tying run at the plate in Maldonado – but he grounded out to Clevidence.

While Craig and Kelly pitched in the bottom 7th, the Raccoons continued to scratch and claw. Toohey opened the eighth with a double to left-center. Manny grounded out, and Waters grounded to short – but Aguilera’s throw skipped by Landon Guillory, and Toohey scored on the play. Carreno killed the rally with a double play grounder to Clevidence, 4-6-3. The game seemed still within reach – at least until Marquez singled off Kelly in the bottom 8th, Guillory singled off Preston Porter, and PH Victor Gutierrez hit a 3-run blast to right. That was before Porter allowed two more base runners, and another 3-run homer to Gonzalez. The Coons went on to score three runs off shallow-end reliever Lazaro Ochoa in the ninth inning, but they weren’t gonna rally from eight runs down…

Rebels 13, Raccoons 8 – Rebels lead series 1-0

Herrera 2-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Maldonado 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Toohey 2-5, 2B, RBI; Fernandez 2-5; Kilmer 2-3; Martell (PH) 1-1; Jimenez (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Oy.

Game 2 – Jason Wheatley (15-8, 2.37 ERA) vs. Zach Tubbs (17-6, 3.36 ERA)

The right-handed Tubbs was a flyball pitcher that we had not faced in the June series. Wheatley was a right-handed ERA champion that still seemed to be reeling from his battering in the previous series’ Game 1. Needless to say that this was kinda a must-win game. For the first time in the series, the Raccoons went with Pat Gurney at second base, the ostensibly more offensive variant, although Gurney was actually 0-for-6 in the postseason…

POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – RF Fernandez – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – 2B Gurney – C Kilmer – P Wheatley
RIC: CF G. Cabrera – 2B Clevidence – LF P. Gonzalez – C K. Duncan – RF A. Marquez – 3B Frazier – SS Aguilera – 1B Guillory – P Tubbs

Baskins lined out to the pitcher and Manny had a drive picked off the top of the fence in just the first inning, convincing me that we were doomed and it was all for nothing, while Herrera was stranded at second base after a single and a stolen base.

Then Pat Gurney kicked in – he came up with nobody on and two outs in the top 2nd and hit a jack to center, putting Portland up 1-0. Wheatley meanwhile was pretty decent, allowing only two runners the first time through; Kyle Duncan he nicked with a pitch to begin the bottom 2nd, but he was actually doubled up by Josh Frazier to end the same frame. And of course the opposing pitcher would clip him for a single. Gil Cabrera grounded out to Maldonado to not make much of an exploit of it, though.

Maldo drew a leadoff walk to begin the fourth inning, and Manny reached on a Guillory error to increase the pressure before Toohey struck out, Waters popped out, and Gurney lined out to a running Cabrera in center. Instead, Richmond tied the game with another pair of frickin’ doubles, Duncan to left, Marquez to right, in the bottom of the inning.

That was it through five, with two hits for Portland and three for Richmond, but the Coons began the sixth with two on and nobody out again after Herrera hit a double to right-center, and the Rebels, curiously, walked Maldonado intentionally as if Manny (.321) was a double play machine, and Toohey was hitting .429 in the playoffs up to that point. Manny promptly grounded a ball to Clevidence, but the Rebels only got Maldonado at second base. Runners were on the corners for Toohey – or at least until Manny was picked off first base. Then Toohey grounded out harmlessly.

The Rebels extra-base machine kept humming, though… Clevidence hit a ball off the fence in left for a double off Wheatley in the bottom 6th, and then Pablo Gonzalez hit another long one over the fence in right, putting the Raccoons behind again, 3-1.

Carreno pinch-hit for the stumbled Wheatley in the eighth inning, leading off in the #9 hole. He struck out. Tubbs got Baskins on a fly to left, but Herrera singled, bringing up Maldonado as the tying run, but his fly to center was caught. In the bottom 8th, the Coons walked the bags full. Marucci did the honors on Clevidence and Duncan, while Chuck Jones came on for Marquez, but ran into a pinch-hitter in Lance Harrison, who drew the walk. Nelson Moreno allowed a run on a Frazier single before Aguilera grounded out.

Down 4-1, we faced Jesse Beggs and his 52 saves in the ninth inning. Manny singled to left. Toohey doubled to right. The tying run was at the plate AGAIN. Waters struck out. Gurney popped out. Oh god. Kilmer ticked a single to right, bringing in the runners, and narrowing the score to 4-3 with two outs. Ricky Jimenez pinch-hit in the #9 hole, but flew out to Cabrera.

Rebels 4, Raccoons 3 – Rebels lead series 2-0

Herrera 3-4, 2B;