[Westheim]

Raccoons (22-15) @ Indians (20-17) – May 14-17, 2046

First meeting with the Indians this year, with last year’s season series having been dominated by the Raccoons, 14-4. While we had gone 5-1 last week, the Indians had swept everything in front of them, and had a 6-game winning streak going, so something had to give in this 4-game set. They couldn’t score – second from the bottom in the league in total runs – but were also allowing the fewest runs with a +10 run differential. The Raccoons were 31 runs scored above even.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (1-4, 4.91 ERA) vs. Bill Nichol (4-1, 2.17 ERA)
Jake Jackson (2-3, 2.28 ERA) vs. Luis Anzaldo (3-0, 2.97 ERA)
Victor Merino (4-1, 3.19 ERA) vs. Bill Drury (5-3, 2.97 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (5-2, 3.25 ERA) vs. Jason Palladino (2-2, 4.09 ERA)

Only right-handed opposition coming up in this series…!

Game 1
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – C Morales – RF Mercado – 2B Martell – P Okuda
IND: SS Russ – 1B S. Jennings – RF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – CF N. Galvan – 2B Tindle – C Ebner – 3B Walley – P Nichol

In a weird pitchers’ duel, the Raccoons fell behind in the second inning when Joe Tindle and Sean Ebner hit soft singles off Okuda, which thanks to a balk that moved Tindle to second base in between was enough to get them a run on the board. That run looked like it was gonna hold up; through five innings the Raccoons amounted to all of one base hit, and while Nichol twice walked a pair – Maldo and Toohey in the first, Mercado and Okuda in the fifth – the lack of hitting prowess provided only poor outs afterwards for the Critters, and yielded no runs. Nichol walked Toohey again with one out in the sixth, again with two poor groundouts following. Danny Rivera thus inevitably put the game away with a 2-run homer to right off Okuda in the sixth, after Bill Quinteros had been nicked to begin the inning. Okuda put another two runners on the corners, of which Aaron Hickey conceded one on a pinch-hit 2-out RBI single by Tony Lira. But hey, at least Nichol was out of the game now, huh? Mercado, Gurney, and Baskins promptly hit three singles to load the bases against Armando Colmenarez in the seventh inning, bringing up Armando Herrera as the tying run and with one out. Herrera remained as useless as he had been for a year and change, hitting into a 6-4-3 double play. 4-0 Indians. Gurney 1-1;

Game 2
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 1B Gurney – 3B Maldonado – SS Waters – RF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – 2B Martell – P Jackson
IND: SS Russ – 1B S. Jennings – RF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – CF N. Galvan – 2B Tindle – C Ebner – 3B Walley – P Anzaldo

The Indians won their eighth in a row in like two innings, Bill Quinteros taking Jackson deep with Andrew Russ aboard in the first inning, and then a concoction of various ineptitudes in the bottom 2nd that led to another run, driven in by none other than Anzaldo with an RBI single. For four innings, the Raccoons had nothing again, except for a clueless stare whenever they walked back to the dugout. The door didn’t creak open at least a tiny bit until the fifth inning, which began with a walk in a full count to Matt Waters, and then Manny Fernandez found space between Rivera and Nelson Galvan for a double, putting two in scoring position with the tying run at the plate… even if it was the bottom of the order. Something, boys, anything? Basically nothing, except for Waters boldly dashing home on a soft groundout by Ruben Gonzalez, and Manny getting hung out to dry on second base on a pop and a whiff. The run was immediately given back by Jackson, who was singled off again by Anzaldo to begin the bottom 5th, Gonzalez conceded a base on a passed ball, and then Quinteros hit a 2-out RBI double off the fence in left anyway, 4-1.

Singles by Baskins and Herrera to begin the sixth put the tying run back at home plate, at least until Pat Gurney hit into a double play. Maldo chipped an RBI single, shortening the gap to 4-2, but Matt Waters amounted only to an inning-concluding strikeout. Again, the Indians pulled the run right back with an Ebner double and a Chris Walley single in the bottom of the same inning. By the seventh, we were up against righty Cesar Suarez, who crumbled a bit and allowed singles to Al Martell and Gene Pellicano with two outs in the inning, then a clean corner-kissing 2-run triple to Derek Baskins. Herrera flew out, leaving the tying run on third base… and as if that wasn’t bad enough, the Indians came back with a run AGAIN, this time with two hits by Russ, the ******* pest, and Rivera, off Bob Ibold and Zack Kelly, respectively. The tying run was back at the plate in the top 9th against Tommy Gardner when Bryce Toohey hit a 1-out single to center in place of Ruben Gonzalez – certainly a decoy so they wouldn’t get yelled at by their GM on the way to the bus back to the hotel. For sure: Martell struck out, Pellicano grounded out, and that was another loss. 6-4 Indians. Baskins 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI; Toohey (PH) 1-1; Pellicano (PH) 1-2;

Sigh.

Game 3
POR: 2B Gurney – LF Baskins – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Fernandez – C Morales – CF Mercado – SS Martell – P Merino
IND: SS Russ – 1B S. Jennings – RF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – CF N. Galvan – 2B Tindle – C Nunez – 3B Walley – P Drury

The Raccoons had the bases loaded and didn’t score as early as the second inning, truly doing no hitting as Drury walked Manny and Mercado and nailed Martell before Merino stranded them all with an easy fly to Rivera. The hit came in the third when Maldonado single with Baskins on first base after drawing a walk. Baskins went to third on the play, narrowly beating a throw by Quinteros, but Toohey struck out and Manny kept being suffocated by invisible shadows, grounding out to Steven Jennings to dip his average to .188 and his BABIP to .203 … The team remained ******* annoying in the bottom 3rd, with a soft single letting Andrew Russ on with one out, and then Maldonado immediately threw away Jennings’ grounder for two bases. A Quinteros grounder put the Indians ahead, and a Rivera single extended the lead to an insurmountable 2-0. By the fifth, it was 3-0, Quinteros singling home Russ, who stupidly had been walked by Merino and had already stolen another base, his 13th of the year.

And the Indians really weren’t hitting well. But their bloopers all fell in, and the Raccoons’ were all caught. By the seventh, Merino somehow singled, and Baskins drew a 2-out walk to bring Maldonado, 2-for-3 in the game and thus would have had the daily “pointless fight against windmill” medal clinched if not for the much regretted throwing error, back to the dish as the tying run. Drury was already on 100 pitches, fell to 3-1 against Maldonado… and then got an easy grounder to short from the $38.5M man to end that ******* inning, too.

Merino pitched seven pointless innings when he just as well could have stayed home, and the Raccoons tumbled towards another shutout loss, until Tony Morales followed a Manny single with a home run in the eighth inning. That, unfortunately, only narrowed the score to 3-2, and after a scoreless bottom 8th by Nelson Moreno, brought back Tommy Gardner and his 0.46 ERA. Herrera popped out in the #9 hole. Pat Gurney hit a poor grounder… but the Indians couldn’t play it and he reached on an infield single, putting the tying run on base. Baskins next, and he hit a liner into the gap that was gonna – be caught by Rivera, flying, perpendicularly to the ball, and I took a big bite out of my Raccoons hat, tormented by agony. Maldonado struck out. 3-2 Indians. Maldonado 2-5; Fernandez 2-3, BB; Merino 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, L (4-2);

Game 4
POR: 2B Gurney – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – LF Fernandez – RF Pellicano – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley
IND: SS Russ – 1B S. Jennings – RF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – CF N. Galvan – 2B Tindle – C Ebner – 3B Walley – P Palladino

Wheats was all the hope that was left, but Wheats allowed Andrew Russ to score before he got anybody out, and the game was lost on a Russ single and stolen base, and a Jennings RBI single, all in the bottom 1st. Another run scored on a wild pitch in the bottom 2nd after Ebner and Walley and socked line drive hits off Wheatley. There was no point to it all, and we should just pack up and go back out west again…

Then the Portland ********** batted through the order in the third inning, taking their first real, actual lead of the entire ******* series. Herrera singled and Maldo homered to tie the game. Waters and Fernandez hit singles, then raced around to score on Pellicano’s 2-out double into the corner in leftfield, 4-2. Gonzalez was walked intentionally and Wheatley struck out, but all he had to do now was stop his incessant conceding of runs and maybe we could at least stave off the sweep.

That plan worked surprisingly well for a while, with Wheatley allowing one more hit through the completion of five innings, and no runs, while the Coons tried to set a new highscore for stranded runners without scoring in consecutive innings, five of them being piled up in the middle innings, f.e. a leadoff double by Gurney in the fourth that wasn’t touched, and including the inning-ending double play Toohey spanked into in the sixth. When Wheatley hit Rivera with an 0-2 pitch to begin the bottom 6th and Galvan singled, Tindle’s groundout moved the tying runs into scoring position. Ebner went down on strikes, bringing up .188 Chris Walley, a treacherous pit to fall into. The intentional walk was not an option with Palladino ripe for pinch-hitting. Wheatley pitched to Walley, gave up an RBI single on 2-1, and the Indians were back to 4-3. Tony Lira then hit for Palladino, with Moreno in for Wheatley, and conceding the tying run on a 2-2 pitch. Russ then popped out.

The Coons stranded a pair in the eighth when Maldonado flew out, then were up against righty Justin Johns in the ninth. Toohey and Waters struck out, and Manny grounded out to the right side. Bob Ibold pitched a second scoreless inning to send the game to extras, where Johns struck out three besides hitting PH Tony Morales. The game instead ended on straight singles off Zack Kelly by left-handed Quinteros and Rivera, plus right-handed Galvan… 5-4 Indians. Gurney 2-6, 2B; Herrera 4-5; Waters 2-5; Pellicano 2-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Ibold 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Raccoons (22-19) @ Bayhawks (19-23) – May 18-20, 2046

A 3-game set at the Bay was the perfect way to bid for an 0-7 week. The Bayhawks were the exact opposite of the Indians being second in runs scored, and second from the bottom in runs allowed with a run differential of zilch, which I was certain we wouldn’t be able to handle either. We had beaten them 6-3 last season, so an 0-9 now would be appropriate.

Projected matchups:
Ryan Person (3-2, 2.16 ERA) vs. Noe Candeloro (1-0, 5.31 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (1-5, 5.12 ERA) vs. Rafael Pedraza (4-2, 3.04 ERA)
Jake Jackson (2-4, 2.87 ERA) vs. Chih Ke (4-2, 3.15 ERA)

Caneloro was the only southpaw we’d meet. The Bayhawks had been involved in a double header on Tuesday, and thus would not have a rested pitcher available on Saturday, save for a spot starter. One between Pedraza and Ke would go on short rest.

Game 1
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – 1B Gurney – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – P Person
SFB: CF M. Avila – 1B D. Riley – LF C. Cortes – C Suggs – 2B Quiroz – 3B R. Sifuentes – RF N. Duncan – SS B. Nelson – P Candeloro

Gene Pellicano’s game-opening homer marked the first time the Raccoons scored first all week and would certainly spell disaster in some other wicked way, although for the time being Herrera hit a single, stole second, and came around on a grounder by Maldonado after getting a free base on a wild pitch. Person walked a pair in the bottom 1st, so that horror was still well alive, and Arturo Carreno’s speed was all that broke up a triple play with Waters and Gonzalez on base in the top 2nd, as he spanked a bouncer at Gold Glover Ramon Sifuentes for two force outs at third and second. The Baybirds loaded the bases in the third inning, Dan Riley and Sean Suggs singling to left and Sergio Quiroz getting a walk out of Person, but now Sifuentes grounded out to Waters to strand all of them. Person was up to 59 pitches in three innings, whiffing four.

Pat Gurney narrowly missed a homer in right in the fourth inning, having to settle for a wallbanger double that moved Toohey first-to-third with nobody out – still a decent chance to tack on some runs. Candeloro’s battle with Waters saw the count run full and eventually ball four, loading the bases with nobody out, so there went that decent chance to tack on. Gonzalez struck out, Carreno popped out, and Person struck out. Nobody scored there, but Toohey doubled home Maldonado with two outs in the fifth, 3-0, to knock out the ineffective (worse than Person!) Candeloro, but Gurney hit an RBI double off righty reliever Donovan Mason, who paradoxically appeared to have come in one batter too early. Waters grounded out, handing the 4-0 lead back to Person, who had a clean fifth, then allowed three singles to begin the sixth, and THEN walked Bob Nelson with the bases loaded. For ****’* sake. Preston Porter hurriedly replaced the annoying Person, surrendered a second run on Jose Platero’s pinch-hit sac fly, but then got a double play grounder out of Moises Avila, and the Coons eloped with a 4-2 lead after six.

Top 7th, Pellicano drew a leadoff walk from Jared Murphy, then stole second. Herrera whiffed, but Maldonado hit a ball over Nick Duncan for an RBI double, 5-2, but couldn’t quite score on Gurney’s 2-out single to left. Waters, like Toohey, was punched out. Not punched out? Anybody facing Todd Lush in the bottom 8th. The newest useless left-hander on staff walked Sifuentes, then was taken deep by Bob Nelson, narrowing the lead to a single run. Josh Rella had to come into the game in the eighth to clean up that mess, then saw Maldonado and Toohey stranded on the corners when Gurney flew out in the top 9th, nixing any insurance runs that had been on the plates. Instead, a Dan Riley homer tied the game in the bottom 9th…

While I was checking with an attendant how deep the Bay next to the ballpark was and where the nearest anchor shop was located, the Raccoons got a 1-out triple from Derek Baskins in the 10th inning. Facing Jeremy Mayhall, Baskins, who had entered the game in the eighth as a pinch-hitter, presented a prime chance to retake the lead. Manny Fernandez batted for the just-as-useless Rella to get the run home, hopefully. The move worked – Manny hit a sac fly on the first pitch Mayhall threw him. With pitching options whittled down at this point, Aaron Hickey won the ball and the 6-5 save opportunity in the bottom 10th. He allowed a leadoff single to Sifuentes, but then got Duncan, Justin Kristoff, and John Hill in order to end the game. 6-5 Critters. Maldnoado 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Toohey 3-5, 2B, RBI; Gurney 3-5, 2 2B, RBI; Porter 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Game 2
POR: 1B Gurney – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – SS Waters – RF Pellicano – LF Fernandez – C Morales – 2B Martell – P Okuda
SFB: RF M. Avila – 3B R. Sifuentes – LF Platero – 1B C. Cortes – C J. Hill – SS Quiroz – 2B B. Nelson – CF A. Marquez – P Pedraza

Herrera’s single, Maldo’s thick bum getting nicked, a double steal and a Waters groundout – the Raccoons took a 1-0 lead in the first again, but also left a runner on third when Pellicano struck out. Okuda from the start tried to fall over one coffee table after another again, except that neither team really let him. He conceded three hits and a walk, and threw away an Avila grounder for two bases to begin the bottom 3rd, and nobody scored, thanks to stingy defense – Manny threw out Avila at home plate on a Sifuentes single – and otherwise Bayhawks’ listlessness as soon as one of theirs popped up in scoring position. They also struck out four times. The many long counts were just as bad or worse as what Person had to offer start in, start out, and Okuda needed *79* pitches through four shutout innings. It finally all came crashing down in the fifth, again, with Nick Duncan, injury replacement for Moises Avila, hitting a 1-out double to right and advancing on a groundout by Sifuentes. Platero tied the game with a single over Waters’ glove, and Okuda committed another error on Carlos Cortes’ grounder before getting yanked. Ibold got an easy fly from Hill to end the damn inning.

Pedraza, on short rest, kept going merrily, but allowed singles to Gurney and Herrera to open the sixth. Maldonado’s grounder to left was only intercepted by Sifuentes deep on the dirt, and from there no Gold Glove on Earth could help him – infield single! …also bases loaded with nobody out and certain doom. Waters’ grounder to second was fired home for an out at the plate, and Pellicano’s sac fly was the only useful move and scored the only run. Manny grounded out, and a Bob Nelson homer off Ibold tied the game again in the bottom 6th. Three singles off Aaron Hickey in the seventh gave the Baybirds the lead, but this time a Maldonado homer tied the score again, 3-3 in the eighth. Two more hits and a bruise to Duncan then filled the bases, all on Hickey’s ledger in the bottom 8th, and Moreno inherited the 1-out mess, getting a sharp spanker right to Martell from Dan Hutson in the #2 hole, and it was turned for a 4-6-3 double play. Platero and Cortes opened the ninth with singles off Porter, but then Hill, Quiroz, and Nelson all made weak outs, and the Raccoons slithered into their third extra-inning game in a row…

The Coons didn’t get past a Maldonado single in the 10th, while Zack Kelly conceded a leadoff walk to lefty Alex Marquez, then an infield single to lefty Justin Kristoff. Duncan’s groundout advanced the runners, before righty Dan Hutson struck out. Platero, hitting .203 from the right side, was up there aiming for the winner, and singled past Waters to nail it home… 4-3 Bayhawks. Herrera 2-5; Maldonado 3-4, HR, RBI;

It would certainly help if somebody other than Jesus Maldonado could hit a ******* baseball.

Game 3
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – RF Mercado – C Morales – 2B Carreno – P Jackson
SFB: RF Kristoff – 1B D. Riley – C Suggs – CF A. Marquez – SS Quiroz – 3B R. Sifuentes – LF N. Duncan – 2B B. Nelson – P Ke

Straight singles from the 2-3-4 hitters gave the Raccoons another 1-0 lead in the first before Waters first grounded into a fielder’s choice, then was caught stealing to end the inning. Jacks by Tony Morales in the second, Matt Waters (his first of the year!?) in the fourth, and Baskins in the fifth each added a run, but the Baybirds had already tagged Jackson for a run in the bottom 2nd on a pair of singles. Ke opened the bottom 5th with a double to right and was brought around by Riley, narrowing the score to 4-2 again, and I couldn’t help but feel queasy and seeing another demolition coming up, especially with a torched pen after three straight overtime contests.

Jackson did tack on a run in the sixth though, finding Morales on third base after the catcher had socked a leadoff double and advanced on a wild pitch (but Carreno had been unproductive). Jackson got the run home with a single to left, but was also thrown out at second, hysterically trying to get a double out of it. On the mound, he held up fairly into the eighth inning, but then a Sean Suggs double and a walk to Quiroz put runners on the corners. Zack Kelly struck out Duncan to end the inning, keeping the Coons’ lead together. The Critters also reached the corners in the top 9th, getting back-to-back pinch-hit 1-out singles from Pellicano and Fernandez. Herrera hit a sac fly, 6-2, while Aaron Curl struck out Maldonado to end the inning. Ibold turned the Bayhawks away in the bottom of the inning, taking the rubber game. 6-2 Coons. Fernandez (PH) 1-1; Maldonado 2-5; Toohey 2-3, BB, RBI; Waters 2-4, HR, RBI; Morales 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Pellicano (PH) 1-1; Jackson 7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, W (3-4) and 1-3, RBI;

In other news

May 16 – Falcons C Nate Evans (.207, 1 HR, 4 RBI) finds his 2,500th career hit in a 6-1 loss the Condors. The 39-year-old goes 2-for-4 in the game, with the milestone achieved in the fourth inning with a single off TIJ SP Generos de Leon (2-4, 5.82 ERA), who takes the win.
May 16 – LAP SP Joe Feltman (4-1, 2.93 ERA) will be out for a month with a strained hamstring.
May 16 – The Rebels beat the Buffaloes, 11-9 in 16 innings, on a walkoff homer by C Kyle Duncan (.234, 5 HR, 12 RBI).
May 17 – The Bayhawks lose SP Jesse Bulas (2-2, 3.65 ERA) for about six weeks with a torn groin muscle the culprit.
May 18 – The Knights acquire CF/RF Jim Price (.344, 0 HR, 19 RBI) from the Blue Sox in exchange for four prospects.
May 19 – Buffos INF/LF/RF Felix Marquez (.236, 2 HR, 10 RBI) would miss at least a month with a broken finger.
May 20 – Indians infielder Andrew Russ (.268, 0 HR, 12 RBI) would miss time until late June with a sprained ankle. The 25-year-old tied for the CL lead in stolen bases with 14.

FL Player of the Week: RIC LF/RF Pablo Gonzalez (.260, 10 HR, 26 RBI), hitting .500 (13-26) with 3 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN C Julio Diaz (.399, 3 HR, 27 RBI), mashing .591 (13-22) with 2 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Oh boy. Let’s just agree that whatever happens in Indianapolis, the **** stays in Indianapolis. When a series in San Francisco is the highlight of the week, it’s usually bad, and it was, plenty bad – 2-5 in terms of record, and it felt like 0-11.

Monday’s a day off for regrouping, which I fully intend to spend on the most rundown craps table in Vegas, and after that Aces series it’s gonna be back home for a single set against Atlanta, and then we’d have to fly back east yet *again* for a week with the Falcons and Loggers.

We have stuff to sort out. Baskins isn’t clicking, Mercado is productive only with his snout, demanding more playing time, and the second base situation is gruesome to say the least. Putting Gurney there more often hurts our groundballers, though. I don’t know what to do anymore… Options in AAA include John Castner, who had a wholly unsuccessful cup of coffee (.184, 0 HR, 1 RBI in 19 games) last year, and this year was hitting an impossible .493 in 19 games in St. Pete. The Carreno/Martell situation – and especially the Carreno situation – was bad enough to give him a run around the ballpark though… We had taken him #17 in the 2041 draft, and he had always been a decent average hitter in the minors, although with little in terms of OBP improvement, patience not being his forte. He was going on 26, but the Japanese guy we had signed this winter and who got most of the playing time wasn’t hitting at all.

Fun Fact: While Vancouver’s Jerry Outram led the league by miles in OPS (1.035), Jesus Maldonado led it in total bases.

99 TB for Maldo at the end of this week, while Outram was barely in the top 10 with 79. Outram was hitting .340/.475/.560 though, suffocating everybody with walks, while Maldo, who also led the league in extra-base hits with 25, four more than 2nd place Aaron Brayboy, had never been a fan of walks – never drawing more than 50 in a season. This year, he was however at 16 free passes just after the quarter post, against only 13 strikeouts. He had already walked more than he had struck out in 2042 and 2045. He just didn’t look like a candidate for the leadoff spot, that was all.

Nor was Outram, but us Raccoons knew that bloody well…