[Westheim]

Raccoons (26-24) @ Falcons (26-25) – May 28-30, 2046

Playing in Portland brought them no luck, so the Raccoons decided to try again on the road, venturing out to Charlotte by Monday. We were up 2-1 on the Falcons, but … eh… the Falcons were scoring the most runs in the league, they would surely find a way to run riot around our staff again. They gave up an average amount of runs, but would surely find a shutout or three in their arsenal.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (5-2, 3.62 ERA) vs. Adam Messer (4-3, 4.22 ERA)
Ryan Person (3-3, 3.12 ERA) vs. Natanael Abrao (1-1, 4.25 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (2-5, 4.65 ERA) vs. Jerry Felix (6-3, 3.57 ERA)

Only righty opposition for this series.

Game 1
POR: 2B Gurney – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – C Morales – LF Fernandez – RF Mercado – P Wheatley
CHA: 2B M. Martinez – 3B E. Sandoval – LF Besaw – SS Aparicio – 1B Haertling – RF Turley – CF Marroguin – C N. Evans – P Messer

Another game, another reason to walk off the nearest drawbridge; the Raccoons had two hits off Messer in the first five innings and failed to get as far as third base, while the Falcons twice put runners on the corners in the third and fourth innings against a swaying Jason Wheatley, who then walked Messer with one out in the fifth inning, his fourth free pass in the game. Miguel Martinez grounded into a fielder’s choice, but then stole second base, moving the go-ahead run into scoring position anyway. But it turned out, any position was a scoring position as soon as Esteban Sandoval hit a homer to center, his first of the year, on a 3-2 pitch. No Raccoons response was forthcoming and instead Wheatley came apart for good in the bottom 6th. Tony Aparicio and Ed Haertling hit singles, none of which got beyond the infield dirt. While Archie Turley flew out to left, the runners then pulled off a double steal, and Aparicio scored when Jordan Marroguin’s 3-1 pop to short was dropped by Matt Waters for a screaming stupid error. Nate Evans’ RBI single buried Wheatley by a slam, and the Raccoons resorted to Aaron Hickey to get out of the ******* inning.

Hickey’s spot then came up in the seventh with Morales, Manny, and Mercado on base on two singles and a walk issued by Messer. One down, Derek Baskins was the pinch-hitter, but was held to a sac fly to center. Gurney grounded out. The tying run was at home plate again after 1-out singles hit by Maldo and Toohey in the eighth inning (at which point we were again gloriously out-hitting the opposition, but still trailed by millions of runs), then with Waters batting. He had some making up to do after dousing Wheatley earlier, and kindly took the Pitcher of the Year off the hook with a homer to left-center, leveling the score at four. A Morales double brought the removal of Messer, but Jose Santamaria oversaw the bases filling up with a walk to Manny and by nailing Mercado. Gene Pellicano hit for Bob Ibold, socked a deep fly to right, but Turley caught up with it at the track – sac fly, and a 5-4 lead, though. Gurney then flew out to Joe Besaw to strand another two runners, swiftly followed by another bullpen implosion, this one with Preston Porter in the eye of the storm. He walked Ed Haertling to begin the bottom 8th, got to see Turley reach on Gurney’s error, and while Marroguin got Turley forced out with a grounder, an infield single by Evans loaded the bases. PH Mike Allegood hit a fly to deep center; Herrera caught the ball, but Haertling scored to tie the game. Miguel Martinez’ grounder kept the game tied, but when the Coons’ #2 spot led off the ninth inning, it was Al Martell to swing a stick at ex-Coon Antonio Prieto, Armando Herrera having sought out the services of Dr. Padilla. The game tumbled into extras, where Turley would end it in the 10th, homering off Todd Lush. 6-5 Falcons. Maldonado 2-5; Waters 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Morales 3-5, 2 2B;

So that was two losses: first, this particular ****** contest, and then Armando Herrera, who was placed on the DL on advice of Dr. Padilla. Back spasms would keep him out until late June.

At least.

For a roster move, hey, anybody up for some Van Anderson?

Game 2
POR: 1B Gurney – CF Baskins – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – SS Waters – LF Fernandez – 2B Martell – C Gonzalez – P Person
CHA: 2B M. Martinez – 3B E. Sandoval – LF Besaw – SS Aparicio – 1B Haertling – RF Turley – CF Marroguin – C Kuehn – P Abrao

Abrao pitched three scoreless innings, stranding Baskins and Toohey on the corners with a K to Waters in the top 1st, then also departed with a physical malady (for sure; only with the Critters you never know whether it’s not just a hunger attack). The early departure disqualified him from claiming the Falcons’ 1-0 lead, attained on Marroguin’s sac fly in the bottom 2nd after Person had yielded a pair of singles.

The middle innings passed without a significant Raccoons challenge, while Person managed to load the bases in the bottom 6th with nobody out with a whole lot of stupidity involved. He picked up Joe Besaw’s grounder to begin the inning, but didn’t throw to first base for some reason. He then walked Aparicio, and Gurney’s error added Haertling to the mix. All three scored – two on Archie Turley’s double, and another one on another sac fly, this one by Paul Kuehn. He was loaded with another run in the seventh, walking Martinez, throwing a wild pitch, and getting no help from Ibold, either. Turley added a homer off Ibold in the eighth. The Raccoons never scored, nor did they look like they were trying. 6-0 Falcons.

Game 3
POR: 1B Gurney – CF Baskins – C Morales – RF Toohey – SS Waters – LF Fernandez – 3B Martell – 2B Castner – P Okuda
CHA: 2B M. Martinez – 3B Watanabe – LF Besaw – SS Aparicio – RF Turley – 1B Haertling – LF Allegood – C Kuehn – P Felix

Despite having Baskins and Morales on the corners and one out in the first inning, the Raccoons didn’t score; Toohey struck out, and Waters floated out to Turdley, who threw out Al Martell at home plate to end the top 2nd. Martell had started from second base on an Okuda single, but desperate Raccoons found themselves unrewarded for boldness by sending him. In between, the Falcons had lost Tony Aparicio to injury, and now had to make do with Adam Shay at short. Baskins was on base in the third inning, only to get picked off by Felix, and no other Raccoon reached for a full turn through the order, with Baskins then flying out to Joe Besaw on a 3-0 pitch to begin the sixth. There was really, truly, finally, indeed no hope for this baseball god-forsaken team…

Not that the Falcons were even leading yet (trailing 6-1 on base hits as they did). Besaw landed their second base knock in the bottom 6th, a 2-out double to left. He also pulled a hammy doing so and was replaced by Sean Watson, but Shay flew out to Manny to end the inning. In the end, the Falcons took the lead on a solo home run by Haertling the following inning, a lefty-on-lefty crime. Okuda was hit for to no avail in the eighth, with Nelson Moreno managing the 1-0 deficit in the bottom of that inning. The 4-5-6 came up against Prieto in the ninth. Waters reached on an 0-2 squibber next to the mound, infield single, extending the Coons’ hits lead to 9-4. He was then forced out on Manny’s grounder to Martinez. Martell flew out to Allegood. 1-0 Falcons. Okuda 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, L (2-6);

End good, Alle good.*

This was the first game of the year that Jesus Maldonado did not participate in, just having entered a slump. No Coon was left to feature in all games of the season – and none deserved to be made a posterboy anyway.

Thursday was spent flying to Milwaukee and getting checked out by Dr. Padilla, but apparently I was still no nearer to a fatal aneurysm than at the beginning of this bone shaker of a 4-12 slide.

Raccoons (26-27) @ Loggers (31-21) – June 1-3, 2046

The Loggers were steadily winning away and were already 5 1/2 games ahead of the lousy Critters as dawn broke on June. They were sixth in runs scored and fourth in runs allowed, so certainly not stellar, and the +13 run differential hinted at a lucky streak. But at least for the weekend they oughta be fine, despite being 3-3 this year against the team showcasing the “coulda, woulda, shoulda” attitude like none other…

Projected matchups
Jake Jackson (3-5, 3.07 ERA) vs. Tony Ruiz (1-2, 5.40 ERA)
Victor Merino (4-3, 2.71 ERA) vs. Ruben Guzman (3-4, 4.43 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (5-2, 3.84 ERA) vs. Sergio Piedra (5-1, 1.88 ERA)

Ruiz was the only southpaw, having found a spot in the rotation amidst injuries to starters Jose de Lucio, Victor Padilla, and Marvin Verduzco. Another three relievers were also out, including Caleb Martin, listed as day-to-day with a herniated disc, but who would go to a closer ailing like that?

Game 1
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Baskins – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – 2B Castner – P Jackson
MIL: CF B. Allen – 3B B. Johnson – RF Hertenstein – SS R. Espinoza – 1B Brayboy – C Payne – LF Reeves – 2B Davison – P T. Ruiz

The Coons didn’t score in the first (and why would they?), but the Loggers pounded Jackson for three as soon as he got his hat and pants on. He walked Brent Allen, Brad Johnson hit an infield single, and it was off to the races from there, Daniel Hertenstein, Aaron Brayboy (argh!), and Ricky Payne each driving home a run in another game that got far away early. It all tied in well with the soggy weather that would give everybody present the occasional drizzle in the next few hours.

The Coons didn’t answer, as usual. In the fourth, Ruiz offered back-to-back walks to Toohey and Waters, with two outs, and all Manny Fernandez could put together was another ******* groundout to Scott Davison. The scoring drought stopped after 24 innings of utter futility when Ruben Gonzalez whacked a leadoff double in the fifth and then barely scored on groundouts by John Castner and his battery mate.

…and then Ruiz actually did find trouble in the sixth; while Jackson had held up after the early waffling, Ruiz allowed a leadoff single to Baskins in the sixth. Maldonado’s grounder forced him out, but Toohey was nicked to move Maldo to second. Waters singled through the left side, with Maldo sprinting around for home plate, scoring, and drawing a throw that invited the tying and go-ahead runs into scoring position with one out…! In need of a choke job, the Coons found Manny and a comebacker to the mound for the second out, not getting a runner across. Gonzalez walked, leaving three runners on base to be John Castner’s .111 business. The Coons needed the runs – they sent Pat Gurney to pinch-hit *despite* the lefty on the mound. Gurney grounded out to Davison. Nobody scored.

When the Coons tied the game in the seventh after all, they did so mostly because the Loggers forced them to. Gene Pellicano hit a soft single, stole second on a botched hit-and-run when Ricky Payne didn’t get a throw off, and ultimately came home on a 2-out wild pitch by Ruiz. Both starters then called it a day for no-decisions after the seventh, with Kelly and Porter putting together a 1-2-3 eighth for the Raccoons. When Gurney hit a leadoff single off Ron Purcell in the ninth, Porter was retained to bunt, getting the go-ahead run into scoring position that way. But Mercado walked in Pellicano’s place, and Baskins and Maldonado both flew out to Bill Reeves to quell the threat. The Coons didn’t score again on that day – but they also didn’t lose. Soggy weather had turned to actual rain by the bottom 9th and Porter logged one more out before the game went to a rain delay from which it never emerged. Suspended at 3-3 in the ninth, it would be picked up again on Saturday.

Oh, to have scored a run in the top of the ninth…!!

Game 1 (cont.)
POR: RF Mercado – CF Baskins – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – 2B Gurney – P Porter
MIL: CF B. Allen – P Purcell – RF Hertenstein – SS R. Espinoza – 1B R. Rodriguez – C Payne – LF Reeves – 2B Davison – 3B Velasquez

Preston Porter had thrown 18 innings before the overnight delay of proceedings and picked up his own 0-2 count against Davison with one out in the bottom 9th. He completed the strikeout with a fastball, then walked Jorge Velasquez. Allen grounded out, sending the game to extras. Bottom 10th, Aaron Hickey pitching, leadoff double by Kyle Edsell in right-center, then a Daniel Hertenstein single. With runners on the corners, Ricky Espinoza flew out to Mercado in right. Edsell went for home, but was thrown out to prevent conclusion of the game. Rodriguez popped out, but Hickey walked Payne, and a walkoff slam by Reeves, the May Hitter of the Month, would serve the Loggers just fine… 7-3 Loggers. Porter 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Game 2
POR: 1B Gurney – C Morales – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – SS Waters – LF Fernandez – 2B Martell – CF Anderson – P Merino
MIL: CF B. Allen – 2B Davison – RF Hertenstein – SS R. Espinoza – LF Reeves – C R. Rodriguez – 1B Edsell – 3B R. Johnston – P Ru. Guzman

A Manny Fernandez home run gave the Raccoons a lead, but when did that ever hold up? Merino didn’t allow a hit the first time through the order, but walked a pair, one of which (Davison) got himself caught stealing, but also faced a lineup without lefty hitters, and thus was closely watched. Thus, I got a good look at the two Loggers homers that gave them a 4-1 lead in the bottom 4th. Bill Reeves went yard for three runs, and Edsell added a solo shot as the Raccoons crumbled apart in a really messy way again. It just continued like that – Merino saw Guzman reach to begin the bottom 5th, but Brent Allen doubled him off, only for Davison and Hertenstein to get on. Espinoza put the game away with a 3-run homer to left, and ending Merino’s time in the sandbox. Bryce Toohey hit a meaningless homer to begin the seventh inning, reducing the soul-wrenching deficit to 7-2, all runs coming on home runs. It was the last home run, as well as the last run, and the last Coons hit in the game. 7-2 Loggers. Fernandez 2-4, HR, RBI;

Game 3
POR: LF Baskins – SS Waters – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Morales – CF Mercado – RF Fernandez – 2B Martell – P Wheatley
MIL: CF B. Allen – 3B B. Johnson – RF Hertenstein – SS R. Espinoza – 1B Brayboy – C Payne – LF Reeves – 2B Davison – P Piedra

Waters walked, stole second, reached third on an error by Payne, and scored on a Maldonado groundout, giving the Raccoons a 1-0 lead in the first without as much as a base hit. Wheats walked Johnson in the bottom 1st, but when Johnson made a bid for second base, he was thrown out by Tony Morales. Maldonado drove in Waters again in the third inning, then with a double to center, and scored himself on a 2-out single by Tony Morales. Through three, Wheats also showed no signs of disintegration, but the same had been true for Merino on Saturday, so… eh! Manny and Baskins upped to 4-0 in the fourth with a pair of doubles off Piedra, whose only L of the season had come against Portland in April, and he had also hurt himself on the bases in that game, this being his second start off the DL.

Then we lost Waters to injury on a defensive play, which was totally not good. Castner entered the game playing second base, with Martell shifted over to short. Castner drove in Baskins with two outs in the sixth after Baskins had hit another double, upping the score to 5-0 and chasing Piedra. Wheats looked sturdy, allowing nothing but a Brayboy single and two walks through six innings, but I had learned better than to trust anybody willy-nilly on this team. You had to bring more than a Pitcher of the Year belt to get me confident these days…! Espinoza hit a 2-out single to center in the seventh, but Brayboy struck out. Bryce Toohey in turn put the game away with an unearned 3-run homer off Nicholas Pollock in the eighth, going yard to left with two outs and with Castner (reached on a Reeves error) and Maldonado on base. Wheats stranded Payne after a leadoff double to right-center in the bottom 8th, and was invited back for the ninth, albeit being on 98 pitches. Allen opened the bottom 9th with an infield single, which was so typical I wasn’t even getting worked up anymore. However – PH Ricky Rodriguez found Maldo for a 5-4-3 double play, putting Wheats an out away from a shutout. Hertenstein popped out foul to make it true. 8-0 Raccoons. Baskins 2-6, 3B, 2B, RBI; Castner 1-2, RBI; Maldonado 2-4, BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Toohey 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Morales 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Mercado 2-5, 2B; Wheatley 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, W (6-2);

In other news

May 29 – The Stars romp the Capitals, 14-0, despite scoring in only two innings, the fifth (six runs) and the eighth (the rest). Omar Gonzalez (.320, 2 HR, 25 RBI) and Joreao Porfirio (.307, 10 HR, 45 RBI) each drive in five runs apiece.
May 29 – Oklahoma City SS/LF/1B Ryan Cox (.258, 2 HR, 19 RBI) will miss at least one week with an intercostal strain.
May 30 – Knights RF/1B/LF John Marz (.219, 4 HR, 20 RBI) livens up a pretty damp season so far with three solo home runs to down the Canadiens, 9-8. He is the first Knight to hit three home runs in a game since Jimmy Raupp in 2017, and the last 3-homer game against Vancouver had taken place even longer ago, New York’s Martin Ortíz doing the honors to them in 2015.
May 30 – The Crusaders acquire LF/RF Ethan Moore (.173, 0 HR, 7 RBI) from the Thunder for an unranked prospect.
June 2 – With a torn flexor tendon, SFW SP Andy Mejia (2-3, 5.29 ERA) is out for the season.
June 2 – The Bayhawks out-hit the Condors 20-6, and need 15 innings to turn that into a 5-3 win.
June 3 – Indianapolis is thrilled to re-unite with 3B Dan Hutson (.230, 2 HR, 6 RBI), who comes over in a trade from the Bayhawks. The 36-year-old’s services cost the Indians MR Orlando Altreche (1-2, 4.30 ERA) and a prospect.

FL Player of the Week: SFW 2B Hugo Acosta (.333, 0 HR, 32 RBI), poking .545 (12-22) with 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA OF Archie Turley (.324, 8 HR, 51 RBI), swatting .462 (12-26) with 5 HR, 12 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DEN OF Tim Turner (.371, 4 HR, 37 RBI), hitting .395 with 3 HR, 17 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: MIL LF/CF Bill Reeves (.321, 6 HR, 24 RBI), batting .374 with 3 HR, 10 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DEN SP Roberto Pruneda (7-4, 2.41 ERA), pitching to a 5-1 record and 1.59 ERA with 29 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: IND SP Bill Nichol (6-2, 2.09 ERA), hurling for a 4-1 record, 1.81 ERA, and 27 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW 3B/CF/1B Randy Wilken (.313, 5 HR, 16 RBI), poking .314 with 4 HR, 15 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: TIJ 3B/SS Alex Lopez (.257, 2 HR, 18 RBI), hitting .283 with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Fifth career shutout for Wheats, and the second one this year, on Sunday to stop another 6-game bleed. Or, shall we say, “interrupt”?

After the rally at the start of May, the team completely faltered in the second half of the month. It worked out to a 14-14 May, which was boilerplate crummy and absolutely insufficient in any regard. Offense was the main culprit – we coincidentally finished the month with 20 scoreless innings and two shutouts against the Falcons…

We also lost Herrera for a month this week, and Matt Waters for an undetermined amount of time, but I think Dr. Padilla walked around with a bone saw earlier. Losing hitters is exactly not what we need right now…!

Dark times.

Don’t see it getting better next week, either. We’ll have Monday off, then three each against the damn Elks and Blue Sox at home.

Fun Fact: Three of Jason Wheatley’s five career shutouts have come against the Loggers.

If you invoke any Rico Gutierrez comparisons, your season tickets will be revoked.

*For our German readers exclusively; the German proverb “Ende gut, alles gut”, roughly equivalent to “all’s well that ends well” and that outfielder’s name were begging for it. Matched well with the sweep, too…