[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Bub13

"Welcome back, glad you're feeling better!"

[reads 2-5 week]

"On second thought..."

Let's just say they don't know how to accelerate a healing process.

Originally Posted by alexsimon99

Welcome back and ... god, the Raccoons played like they had an appendix removed, so I guess they're showing their solidarity?

Appendix? I would have bet on their eyes and all paws.

As an aside, I am currently playing it series by series rather than the full week, because I still need a lot of lie-down time. Who knew gaming could be this hard...?

+++

Raccoons (42-39) @ Titans (35-46) – July 2-5, 2046

Four and four with the Titans were upon us, with the first 4-game set of the season having been swept by the Raccoons. We could use something like that again, facing the third-worst offense in the league, supplemented by mediocre pitching. Their rotation had a 4.53 ERA, while the bullpen was rather tight, so you wanted to get to them early, which was not exactly our specialty right now…

Projected matchups:
Ryan Person (6-6, 3.39 ERA) vs. Tommy Kubik (4-6, 4.54 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (3-7, 4.26 ERA) vs. David Barel (8-7, 3.64 ERA)
Jake Jackson (5-6, 3.45 ERA) vs. Victor Mondragon (3-8, 5.15 ERA)
Victor Merino (6-5, 3.09 ERA) vs. Ricky Contreras (4-9, 4.66 ERA)

Three southpaws to contend with here, the only exception being Mondragon. The Titans had no injuries to speak of, while the Raccoons were without Manny Fernandez still until the All Star Game, and Maldonado was still listed as day-to-day on Monday, but scratched his way into the lineup in an attempt to turn the team around on his own.

Game 1
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Martell – P Person
BOS: LF de Luna – RF C. Jimenez – 1B V. Chavez – CF T. Lopez – 3B D. Richardson – C Whitley – SS Batista – 2B J. Rodriguez – P Kubik

Rich de Luna’s homer put Boston 1-0 on top as soon as they broke out their toothpicks, which, you know, bright sides, was at least a new way for Ryan Person to fudge up. Portland did tie the game the following half-inning, though, with Ruben Gonzalez scoring from first base on Al Martell’s gap double with two outs, although Martell also got himself thrown out at third base to end the inning. A chance to take the lead didn’t really beckon until the fifth, when Matt Waters opened the inning with a single to left, stole second, and reached third base on Dan Whitley’s throwing error. Ruben Gonzalez scored him with a groundout, 2-1 Portland, and Person responded by walking “Kitten” Kubik on four pitches to begin the bottom 5th. Now, that came as a bit of a shock, because up til then, Person had issued only one walk against five strikeouts, a marked upswing. De Luna’s comebacker forced out Kubik, while Chris Jimenez struck out and, after de Luna stole second, Victor Chavez flew out to Baskins. Person struck out the side in the sixth, then found a way to walk Kubik on four pitches again in the seventh. His baffling insistence to screw up was … baffling. In the event, de Luna grounded out to Maldo to end the inning, and that concluded Person’s day, too, his spot coming up in the eighth. The Coons didn’t reach base, and instead Preston Porter blew the lead in the bottom 8th with a homer served up to Chavez.

The game reached extras, with Aaron Hickey dealing scoreless ninth and tenth innings for Portland, while the Raccoons had a single in both innings, and never got very far with it. The 11th was uneventful, but Toohey opened the 12th with a double to left that he ripped of righty Ricardo Sanchez. Pellicano hit a soft single to put them on the corners, after which the Raccoons struck out, struck out, and popped out. Fittingly, we lost the game in the bottom of the inning. Zack Kelly conceded infield singles to both Tony Batista and Rich de Luna, which is how you know you’re gonna lose to begin with, then walked Jimenez with Chavez to push the winning run across. 3-2 Titans. Pellicano 3-5; Person 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K; Hickey 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

Goddamn ******* awful.

Same for the weather on Tuesday – it poured all day long, and no baseball was going to be played. We instead got a double header on Wednesday, which on one paw offered the beleaguered pen some respite, but on the other paw… double header.

Game 2
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – SS Floyd – P Okuda
BOS: LF de Luna – RF C. Jimenez – 1B V. Chavez – CF T. Lopez – 3B D. Richardson – C Whitley – SS Batista – 2B J. Rodriguez – P Barel

After three innings of not-a-whole-lot, the Raccoons got Armando Herrera to second base in the fourth on his leadoff single and a Maldo groundout. Toohey singled to center, Herrera was sent around, aaaand thrown out at the plate. Pellicano’s bitter single afterwards almost made me weep. Three singles – no score in the inning for Portland, with Matt Waters flying out to Jimenez.

Okuda was holding up with true grit, allowing three hits and a walk in five scoreless innings, then saw another offensive bid develop by his own team (twice in one game, wowzers!). Baskins and Herrera reached base to begin the top 6th against Barel, but now Maldonado hit into a double play, 6-4-3. Toohey came through with two outs, doubling to left-center for the game’s first run, scoring Derek Baskins. Toohey, maybe the sharpest tool in a shed full of dull scissors right now, would come to the plate again with two outs in the eighth, finding Herrera and Maldonado aboard, both having drawn walks, but this time flew out to Jimenez in right. Okuda meanwhile just kept pitching… he allowed a single each in the sixth and seventh innings, but nothing in the eighth. The Coons failed to tack on anything at all in the late innings, leaving us with the conundrum of having a lefty on 5-hitter with 97 pitches on the odometer, facing only righty batters in the bottom 9th starting with Tony Lopez. The Coons twitched, sent Josh Rella, and Rella sat down the Titans in order. 1-0 Blighters. Herrera 1-2, 2 BB; Toohey 2-4, 2B, RBI; Okuda 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, W (4-7);

Game 3
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Morales – LF Baskins – SS Waters – 2B Martell – P Jackson
BOS: LF de Luna – RF C. Jimenez – 1B V. Chavez – CF T. Lopez – 3B D. Richardson – SS Batista – C Youngquist – 2B Galaz – P Mondragon

A walk to Mercado, a Herrera single, and while Maldonado was denied by Jimenez in right, Toohey hit a 3-piece to left that went into the back rows there, his 21st bomb of the season and FOR ******* ONCE a quick start by the Critters. They tacked on another three in the second inning, which Martell began with a single, with more hits dropped in by Mercado, Herrera, and Maldonado. One run scored on a throwing error by Ryan Youngquist when Herrera attempted to steal second base. Gerardo Galaz shortened the score to 6-1 with the last of three singles off Jake Jackson in the bottom 2nd, but the Coons tried to get something going again in the fourth, with kind support by Mondragon. Martell hit another leadoff single, and the Boston pitcher mishandled Jackson’s bunt for an extra runner. Mercado legged out an infield single, but also seemed to cramp up as he crossed first base, and had to leave the game for Pellicano. Herrera’s grounder brought in the only run of the inning, actually, with Maldo flying out to short right and Toohey whiffing to strand a pair. Tony Morales’ leadoff double and two productive outs added another run in the fifth, 8-1, but Jackson was taken apart for four hits and three runs in the bottom of that inning, starting with a Galaz double and continuing mercilessly through the top of the order. Tony Batista and Ryan Youngquist then reached the corners with leadoff singles in the bottom 6th, and I started to see an 8-run game turn into an L before my sore imaginary eyes. Ibold came on, conceded a run on Galaz’ double play grounder, but got out of the inning still up 8-5.

The Coons had three on and nobody out again in the seventh when lefty Brian Jackson, in for long relief, put Toohey, Morales, and Baskins all aboard. Matt Waters hit an RBI single up the middle, and Josh Floyd, batting for Martell, brought in a run with a groundout, 10-5. Batting for Ibold, Pat Gurney added another RBI groundout against new pitcher Tommy Griffith in his first appearance of the year. Pellicano grounded out, keeping the score at 11-5 at the stretch. The eighth saw Bryce Toohey unfurl another 2-run hammer to well-beyond-left, 13-5. It was the final tally in a surprise offensive breakout. 13-5 Raccoons. Mercado 2-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Herrera 2-4, BB, RBI; Maldonado 2-5, RBI; Toohey 3-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Morales 3-5, 2B; Baskins 2-5; Martell 2-3; Floyd (PH) 1-2, RBI;

So, where’s that been all the time??

Nelson Mercado was day-to-day with a sore quad, probably for the rest of the week. He should heal up during the All Star break.

Game 4
POR: LF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Toohey – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – SS Floyd – 3B Coen – P Merino
BOS: LF de Luna – RF C. Jimenez – 1B V. Chavez – CF T. Lopez – 3B D. Richardson – C Whitley – SS Batista – 2B J. Rodriguez – P R. Contreras

Merino walked Jimenez and Chavez, nicked Lopez, and somehow didn’t get scored on in the first inning, also for pouncing on a Doug Richardson comebacker to allow Gonzalez to slap out Chris Jimenez at home plate. Dan Whitley then grounded out to Floyd. The Coons’ 5-6-7 batters then seamlessly took over the bases to begin the second inning on a walk, a single, and a brushed shirt. Ben Coen’s sac fly made it 1-0, but Merino struck out and Pellicano popped out to Richardson to fritter the thick chance away. Maldo’s solo homer in the third made it a 2-0 game, but with Herrera on second and Maldo on first and two outs, Ruben Gonzalez’ single to center in the fifth only served to get another run thrown out at home plate to end the inning.

And Merino? Throwing lots and lots of pitches, he actually didn’t allow a base hit through five innings, but was also 18 pitches away from 100 in a rather inefficient display of pitchcraft. He had a quick sixth, but walked Richardson in the seventh and concluded that inning on 102 pitches. With six outs to go, we saw *some* wiggle room, even in a 2-0 game. Merino would not make another start until the weekend after, so he could go longer than usual this time. He hit for himself with runners on the corners in the eighth, grounding out to strand Gonzalez and Floyd. Juan Rodriguez grounded out to short to begin the bottom 8th. Youngquist flew out to center. De Luna popped out to Waters. Was it really happening? A tack-on run in the ninth was for sure, Toohey doubling home Maldo to get up to 3-0.

Bottom 9th. Chris Jimenez led off, got ahead 2-0, then grounded up the middle. Josh Floyd was there, no problem, two outs to go. Victor Chavez grounded an 0-1 pitch to Ben Coen, who converted without fuss, one out to go. Tony Lopez, batting .200, was the hopefully final out in the box. Ball. Strike. Ball. Strike. 2-2. Merino broke out the slider for his 118th pitch of the game, missed, but he also fooled Lopez, who swung, and missed just the same. It’s a no-hitter!!! 3-0 Furballs!! Maldonado 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Gonzalez 1-2, BB; Waters 2-2, 2 BB, 2B; Merino 9.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, W (7-5);

SQUEE!!!

Raccoons (45-40) @ Loggers (46-39) – July 6-8, 2046

The rush of the no-hitter aside, the Raccoons also closed to within a game of the Loggers by taking three of four in Boston. The Loggers had lost eight of nine, including three of four to the Indians during the week, so the Indians were wedged halfway between these two teams now in second place. Milwaukee had only scored six runs in the entire Indians series, and had slipped to eighth in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed. They had a -18 run differential (Coons: +45), which indicated some sort of writing on the wall. The Critters could tie them (but not necessarily for first place) by winning two of three from them. The Loggers, missing three starting pitchers on the DL, led the season series, 5-4.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (8-4, 4.15 ERA) vs. Mackenzie O’Toole (9-7, 5.17 ERA)
Ryan Person (6-6, 3.22 ERA) vs. Caleb Martin (5-3, 3.79 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (4-7, 3.91 ERA) vs. Ruben Guzman (6-7, 4.46 ERA)

Only right-handed opponents in this set, which would be followed by the All Star break. The stingy pitching of the last few days had allowed the Coons to more or less completely reset their bullpen, which might come in handy on Sunday, with Okuda on short rest after the double-header.

Game 1
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 1B Gurney – C Morales – SS Waters – 2B Martell – P Wheatley
MIL: CF B. Allen – LF Reeves – RF Hertenstein – SS R. Espinoza – 1B Brayboy – C Payne – 2B Davison – 3B R. Johnston – P O’Toole

The Loggers’ troubles seemed to continue when O’Toole put the first three Critters on base with walks to Baskins and Maldo amidst a Herrera single, but Toohey got in a run in the worst way with a 6-4-3 double play and Pat Gurney grounded out, too. For our troubles we were compensated with a solo home run by Al Martell in the second, 2-0, while Wheats scattered four hits in the first three innings, but also whiffed four and didn’t allow a run in his bid to get his ERA back into the threes. He made it there with five scoreless, while behind him Tony Morales and Matt Waters went deep back-to-back in the fourth to extend the lead to 4-0. All went well for Wheats until the seventh, when doubles by Scott Davison and Brent Allen paired up with a 2-base throwing error committed by Maldonado and the Loggers scored two runs. Porter replaced him, conceded another run on Bill Reeves’ single, 4-3, and finally retired Daniel Hertenstein to get out of the inning. In the eighth, Kelly walked Aaron Brayboy, the only batter he faced, before Nelson Moreno got a double play grounder from Ricky Payne to escape. The Coons failed to hit any more solo homers or score in any other way, but at least Josh Rella had a 1-2-3 ninth to shake the game into the books. 4-3 Coons. Herrera 2-5; Morales 2-3, HR, RBI; Wheatley 6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (9-4);

3.99 ERA for Wheats at the break, with one of the three runs being earned. The Coons meanwhile reached a tie for first, with the Indians’ loss to the Crusaders dropping them behind into third place.

Game 2
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 1B Gurney – C Morales – SS Waters – 2B Martell – P Person
MIL: CF B. Allen – LF Reeves – RF Hertenstein – SS R. Espinoza – 1B Brayboy – 2B Davison – C R. Rodriguez – 3B B. Johnson – P C. Martin

Person had another start from hell. He walked three in the first inning, plating Brent Allen with a wild pitch to fall behind, and after Tony Morales tied the game with a solo homer in the second, issued another walk and a wild pitch in the bottom 2nd. Bill Reeves stole two bases after a leadoff walk issued to him in the bottom 3rd, and scored on Ricky Espinoza’s single, actually the first Loggers hit in the game. He’d leave after five innings of more than 100 pitches, having walked six, or in other words, plenty.

The Coons were still only down 2-1 at that point, then occupied the corners to begin the sixth, with Baskins and Herrera setting up camp with two singles. Maldo tied the game with a lobber over Espinoza on a 3-2 pitch that fell for a single, but the Coons ran out of steam after that with Toohey whiffing and Gurney and Morales grounding out.

Two scoreless innings by Bob Ibold moved the 2-2 tie to the eighth, where Armando Herrera drew a leadoff walk from righty Ron Purcell. Herrera swiped second, prompting an intentional walk to Maldonado, always a ballsy move with Toohey behind, although Bryce was the easier strikeout for sure. And indeed he struck out, 0-4 with 3 K in the game. Ruben Gonzalez pinch-hit for Ibold, who had replaced Gurney in a double switch, and jabbed a single up the middle to plate Herrera with the go-ahead run after all. Morales nicked a ball up the line into the rightfield corner for an RBI double, but Waters was intentionally walked and both Martell and Pellicano popped out to strand the bags full. We made another double switch in the bottom 8th after Zack Kelly allowed a 2-out single to Brayboy (but at least after retiring a pair…), bringing Rella into the #8 hole for a 4-out save, while Floyd took over shortstop, batting fifth. Rella struck out PH Kyle Edsell, the tying run, ending the eighth. Floyd grounded out to Brad Johnson to conclude the ninth after lefty Walt Wright had walked Herrera and Toohey, but also made the final play on Brent Allen to end the game and secure first place for Portland (or a share of it) over the break, after Rella had walked leadoff man Ricky Rodriguez. 4-2 Critters. Gonzalez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Morales 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Ibold 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (6-0);

Fun fact: Bob Ibold has as many wins as Ryan Person has.

He probably also got an out in the sixth more often than Person………

Game 3
POR: LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 2B Gurney – C Morales – SS Waters – 3B Coen – P Okuda
MIL: CF B. Allen – 2B Davison – SS R. Espinoza – RF Hertenstein – C Payne – LF Reeves – 1B Edsell – 3B R. Johnston – P Ru. Guzman

The situation was not ideal, but with Okuda on short rest, the Raccoons hoped for five or six innings from him, then use Aaron Hickey for multiple innings to get the game to Moreno, if necessary, with Rella unavailable. At least the offense made good headway after Baskins was caught stealing third base in the opening inning, and Pat Gurney’s solo homer in the second and the 2-out, 2-run single jabbed by Morales in the third got a 3-0 lead onto the board. Ben Coen went 2-for-2 with a leadoff single in the fourth. Okuda bunted him over, Baskins walked, and Herrera hit a single to left. Coen went around to score, drawing a late throw from Reeves that allowed the trailing runners to both reach scoring position, but the inning ended with a Maldonado comebacker, a Toohey walk onto the open base, and a K to Gurney. To make up for that, Matt Waters whacked a 2-run homer in the fifth, 6-0.

Okuda was almost flawless, throwing only 52 pitches through five innings for a single and a walk, but no runs, so was surely good to go for at least one more. Morales upped to 7-0 with another RBI single, plating Herrera in the top 6th, while Okuda pitched two more innings for not much more than a Payne single in the bottom 7th, maintaining a white vest in the R column. Hickey entered afterwards, and Toohey also left the game for All Star Game considerations at that point. Hickey pitched two shutout innings to complete the series sweep. 7-0 Raccoons. Baskins 2-5, BB, 2B; Herrera 4-4, BB, RBI; Gurney 3-5, HR, RBI; Morales 2-4, BB, 3 RBI; Coen 2-5; Okuda 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, W (5-7); Hickey 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

In other news

July 2 – LAP SP Marcus Wilkins (7-5, 3.12 ERA) and CL David Fox (7-6, 5.29 ERA, 12 SV) combine for a 1-hit shutout, 1-0, of the Gold Sox. DEN 1B Jason Robinson (.281, 3 HR, 42 RBI) hits a single for the only Denver entry into the H column.
July 2 – The Capitals trade SS Tony Hunter (.213, 0 HR, 8 RBI) to the Bayhawks for 2B/SS Mike Gibson (.280, 2 HR, 9 RBI).
July 2 – Scorpions outfielder Nate Culp (.317, 13 HR, 49 RBI) will miss three weeks with a strained hamstring.
July 4 – Rebels swingman J.J. Hendrix (6-1, 3.51 ERA) 1-hits the Capitals in a 9-0 shutout. His no-hit bid is only broken up with two outs in the ninth inning by a single hit by WAS 3B Ricky Jimenez (.262, 13 HR, 51 RBI).
July 5 – The Indians trade SP Ayden Cobb (5-6, 3.19 ERA) and cash to the Falcons for two prospects, including #93 SP Enrique Ortiz.
July 6 – TIJ SP Pedro Quinonez (8-6, 4.67 ERA) 3-hits the Bayhawks in a 4-0 win for the Condors.
July 7 – Atlanta INF/RF Joe Crim (.269, 11 HR, 61 RBI) makes the history books with a 3-homer game in a 13-4 rampage over the Falcons, and in total drives in 10 runs on the three homers and a single. He is the second Knight to go yard three times in a game this season, joining teammate John Marz (.247, 10 HR, 46 RBI).
July 7 – The Pacifics trade SP Marcus Wilkins (7-5, 3.12 ERA) to the Blue Sox for two prospects, including #20 SP Mike Kipp. The 19-year-old left-hander was halfway through an 80-game suspension for a failed drug test at this point.
July 8 – The Knights pick up C Manichiro Toki (.255, 0 HR, 7 RBI) from the Rebels, along with cash, for two prospects.

FL Player of the Week: SAL OF David Vasquez (.304, 5 HR, 30 RBI), hitting .536 (15-28) with 1 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL INF/RF Joe Crim (.266, 11 HR, 61 RBI), swatting .409 (9-22) with 3 HR, 14 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Six wins in a row and first place! Somehow! The complete and utter nosedive the Loggers are in is of course helping. Also, we snatched up first place just before the All Star Game, which I enjoy.

Speaking of the All Star Game, we have a few representatives. Toohey, Maldo, and Morales (!) all go there, as is a pitcher …. Bob Ibold! None of our starters were picked, not even Merino, that no-no boy! (But Atlanta’s Brian Buttress goes on his 4.26 ERA, which is a bit of a head scratcher).

This is the second All Star Game for ABL home run leader Bryce Toohey, his first having come in 2044, his first year in Portland. Maldo goes for the fourth time, all consecutively. Bob Ibold and Tony Morales are nominated for the first time.

I kinda like my move to get Morales back after he was tingled around the league for four years without ever catching on anywhere. He is currently hitting for a .927 OPS, which would by far be the best of his career, but in any case he and his career seems definitely rejuvenated.

Games will continue on Thursday, with the home set against the Titans, with a Crusaders set following after that. We’d be on the road in Oklahoma and Vegas following that.

The Coons will actively explore trades too for the rest of the month. We have no lefty relief at all anymore, and we can certainly do a thing or two to liven up the bench, which all too often is Pat Gurney, a catcher, and swaths of misery now. Gurney might be the best player not getting his share of playing time in the entire league, but once you use him, your down on your luck with your current roster – although Manny Fernandez should be back after the break, and Mercado should be back at 100% too.

In terms of international free agents we have so far signed two outfielders for $74k total, and I am after one pitcher that is currently trading at $172k, but I am not married to the idea of pursuing him over a current roster improvement – we don’t have that much budget space remaining: barely $700k and $1.7M of cash.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons have the most no-hitters of all ABL teams, but Victor Merino was the first Critter to no-hit the Titans.

Juan Berrios – 1977 – Loggers
Jason Turner – 1989 – Thunder
Manuel Movonda – 1998 – Condors
Bob Joly (!) – 2000 – Crusaders
Jose Dominguez – 2007 – Crusaders
Nick Brown – 2016 – damn Elks
Jonny Toner – 2019 – Thunder
Tom Shumway – 2030 – Loggers
Victor Merino – 2046 – Titans

Tah!