[Westheim]

This Monday was another off day, but it came with bad news. Dr. Padilla reported that Bob Ibold was down with shoulder inflammation and would probably have to rest for two months, putting him out until the All Star Game at least. Thankfully, we pretended we had right-handed depth in AAA. Closer Kevin Hitchcock was brought up to fill the void.

In turn, Matt Waters came off the DL by Tuesday, replacing Arturo Carreno on the roster.

Raccoons (26-10) vs. Loggers (19-17) – May 14-16, 2047

We had not yet met the Loggers this season, but we had three straight winning seasons against them, albeit only by a skinny 10-8 last year. The Loggers came in as the second-place team. They had conceded the third-fewest runs, but scoring was a real struggle for them – they were second from the bottom in runs scored, with only 3.7 runs per game. The run differential was not promising at -11 (Coons: +41).

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (2-3, 3.71 ERA) vs. Carlos Vasquez (2-3, 5.40 ERA)
Jake Jackson (3-1, 3.32 ERA) vs. Walt Wright (3-0, 1.63 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (3-3, 2.63 ERA) vs. Victor Padilla (4-3, 3.72 ERA)

One right, two left, maybe – you never knew with these Monday off days.

Game 1
MIL: CF B. Allen – 3B Barrington – C Payne – SS R. Espinoza – 1B E. Hernandez – LF Reeves – RF Umbreiro – 2B S. Pena – P C. Vasquez
POR: SS Adame – RF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – CF A. Herrera – 2B Waters – C Morales – P Merino

Adame and Mercado opened the bottom 1st with singles, but that was nothing that Maldo and Toohey couldn’t solve with a strikeout and a double play. Manny however continued to outdo his best years with another outfield assist and a 7-2 double play that killed the Loggers in the top 2nd, when they had Ernesto Hernandez and Bill Reeves in scoring position and Celio Umbreiro flew out to left with one gone. Manny made it three gone, then singled to open the bottom 2nd, only to get reliably left on base. Runners were on the corners with nobody out in the bottom of the next inning; Adame walked, stole second, and Mercado reached on an error by Sergio Pena. Maldo hit a sac fly to get the Critters on the board, but that was it; Toohey flew out to right, Manny grounded out to Pena.

Through five innings, Merino struck out nobody, which didn’t exactly qualify as dominant outing. He gave up six hits, one of them a game-tying homer by Reeves in the fifth. Merino walked Ricky Payne in the sixth, which put on the go-ahead run that of course scored, even though in form of Ricky Rodriguez, who replaced Payne when the latter was injured running the bases. Ricky Espinoza (lots of Rickies!) singled the lead runner to third, and Hernandez hit a sac fly to put the Loggers in front, 2-1. The Raccoons responded with three on, nobody out in the bottom 6th: Toohey walked, the rest of the bases filling up with singles by Manny and Armando Herrera. And like the worst ******* clockwork in the world, Matt Waters struck out, and Tony Morales hit into a double play. The Loggers instead tacked another run onto Merino in the seventh, Jack Barrington’s 2-out RBI double chasing home Pena and knocking Merino out at the same time. Moreno got Rodriguez out to end the inning, entering in a double switch that put Baskins into center over Herrera and leading off the bottom 7th, in which the Raccoons engaged further in not scoring. Jake Bonnie walked three and allowed a run in the ninth, but it wasn’t like THAT cost us the ballgame… 4-1 Loggers. Mercado 2-3; Fernandez 2-4; Herrera 2-3;

Game 2
MIL: RF Umbreiro – 3B Barrington – 1B E. Hernandez – SS R. Espinoza – C Payne – LF Reeves – CF Lamotta – 2B S. Pena – P W. Wright
POR: SS Adame – CF A. Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – P Jackson

When the Raccoons started the bottom 1st like a fire engine with an Adame triple, Herrera getting brushed in the pants around the knee (maybe, video was inconclusive) and Maldo’s RBI double, I envisioned a big inning. We got two pathetic groundouts from Toohey and Pellicano that kept the runners pinned, and Manny lined out to a leaping Pena. The Loggers then got knocks from Espinoza, Payne, and Pena to score two runs in the top 2nd, and took the lead again. Back to the corners went the Coons – Ruben Gonzalez doubled to left, Waters singled to center, and that brought up Jackson, who struck out. Adame tied the game with a sac fly, Herrera grounded out… Alex Adame would tie the game AGAIN in the fourth, after Espinoza had taken Jackson deep in the top half. The Coons began their half of the frame with walks drawn by the 7-8 hitters before Jackson blocked a bunt sharply to Barrington for a demoralizing 5-3 double play. Adame still singled home Waters from second, tying the game at three, but then was stranded there, and had no more magic in the sixth when he batted again with two outs, then with Manny and Jackson in scoring position, but grounded out to short…

The game remained locked at three for another inning after that, following which Jackson departed, frustrated, with a no-decision. The Coons defense overcame Josh Rella putting two runners aboard in the top 8th, while in the bottom 8th Ruben Gonzalez overcame Manny’s leadoff single that chased Wright with a 6-4-3 double play. Lynn retired the side in order in the ninth before being hit for with Mercado, the #9 spot leading off the bottom 9th against righty Miguel Herrera. He singled to center, as did Armando Herrera after Adame flew out to left. Maldo was unretired in the game, ran a full count, then flew out to Reeves. Toohey was in a really deep black hole right now… and 0-4 in the game. And for a stunner, Baskins batted for him against the righty. Baskins also struck out, so what the **** do we know about baseball? Nothing. Oh, one thing: we had extras on our paws.

Miguel Herrera opened the 10th with a single against Preston Porter when the Loggers were out of bench players, but Porter retired the 1-2-3 after that to keep the game tied. Then came the Brownshirts again, as if FOUR double play *and* TEN Furballs stranded was not enough for one night of baseball… Pellicano opened the inning with a double to left. I slapped by front paws together – this was gonna be good! Manny grounded out, shifting the runner to third base. Gonzalez was walked intentionally despite batting .159… Waters popped out to third base. Pat Gurney was in the #9 hole now and batted with two outs with a chance to make it a dozen stranded – but failed even at that when he hit a walkoff single over Brent Allen at second base. 4-3 Blighters. Adame 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI; Maldonado 2-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI; Pellicano 2-5, 2B; Fernandez 2-5; Mercado (PH) 1-1; Gurney 1-1, RBI;

A tube of glue that plays .700 baseball – wonderful!

Game 3
MIL: CF B. Allen – RF Umbreiro – C Payne – SS R. Espinoza – 1B E. Hernandez – LF Reeves – 3B Velasquez – 2B S. Pena – P V. Padilla
POR: SS Adame – CF A. Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – P Okuda

Scoring remained hard to come by on Thursday. Okuda began wonky, putting the leadoff man on base in the first two innings, but eventually settled into something vaguely resembling a groove as he put up zeroes. The Raccoons remained experts at being annoying, f.e. when Okuda bunted into a double play in the bottom 3rd. Baskins hit into another double play in the fifth, erasing a Pellicano leadoff single ahead of a walk drawn by Gonzalez. Waters struck out. Disgusting.

The next base hit in the game was again Pellicano, breaking the tie in the seventh with a 2-out solo homer to left. Finally, scoring! Okuda still had that 2-hitter and began the eighth inning at the very least, at least until Brent Allen singled with one out. Nelson Moreno replaced him at that point, struck out Umbreiro, and got Payne to ground out, keeping the Loggers at bay. The bottom 8th was just more sadness, but Mike Lynn struck out the side in the ninth to somehow scratch out another win for this team… 1-0 Blighters. Pellicano 2-3, HR, RBI; Okuda 7.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, W (4-3);

(gives Pellicano a thick smooch on the lips)

What do you mean, now you’ll never hit a home run again!?

(Pellicano blinks a few times, then scurries)

Raccoons (28-11) vs. Falcons (19-22) – May 17-19, 2047

The Strugglers next hosted the Falcons, who were in fourth place in the South. They were a bit the opposite of the Loggers – not that they scored mightily (eighth in the CL), no, but they were fourth in runs allowed and had a +12 run differential despite their record, three games under .500. Their rotation was tough as nails, just what the doctor ordered for the Raccoons, but had now shed two members in Jerry Felix and Evan Henshaw (the latter for the season), while a whole host of position players considerable as threats were on the DL: Archie Turley, Miguel Martinez, Joe Besaw, and Alex Zacarias were all out. Last year, this series had been a 5-4 W for Charlotte.

Projected matchups:
Bubba Wolinsky (6-0, 2.12 ERA) vs. Marty Madera (0-1, 0.66 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (4-1, 2.77 ERA) vs. Oscar Flores (4-2, 4.03 ERA)
Victor Merino (2-4, 3.75 ERA) vs. Matt Schwartz (0-2, 5.28 ERA)

Only right-handers, of which Madera had started the season in the bullpen.

Game 1
CHA: 3B Thibault – 2B Sandoval – SS Aparicio – RF Allegood – LF Marroguin – C Kilmer – CF Caballero – 1B Chin – P Madera
POR: SS Adame – RF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – CF Herrera – 1B Gurney – 2B Waters – C Morales – P Wolinsky

Tony Aparicio hit a triple, but Wolinsky allowed nothing else the first time through and thus stranded him on third base in the opening inning, which then saw back-to-back jacks by Mercado and Maldo for a 2-0 Coons lead. We then had three singles in the bottom 2nd, which amounted to no runs thanks to an intermediate double play hit into by Tony Morales. Manny singled with one out in the third, then had to hurry hard when Herrera hit a howler into the corner in leftfield. It became a triple – it surely would have been one without a runner ahead of Herrera – when Jordan Marroguin took his sweet time to make a play and Manny could be waved around to score, 3-0. Marroguin did track down a deep Gurney fly, but it was enough to get the runner home from third, 4-0.

Wolinsky’s shutout went bust on two doubles in the fifth inning. Longtime Critter Jeff Kilmer hit the first one, and the second one was whacked by Madera with two outs, into the gap in left-center. He seemed to tear some thing or other on the run, because he faced only one more batter before leaving the game with an injury, Mercado grounding out as he ended his day. The reliever sent, Chris Crowell, then was taken deep to left by Maldo for Maldo’s second solo homer in the game. Herrera doubled to left in the inning – then held his thigh with what looked like a hamstring thing. I frowned audibly, which sent Maud to get more sugar cookies for the bowl on the table. Baskins would replace him and scored on Gurney’s single. Through five, we were up 6-1.

Wolinsky pitched through seven without accident, then allowed two 1-out singles to Robby Gomez and Bobby Thibault in the eighth to accelerate his own removal. Preston Porter was of little assistance, allowing two RBI singles to Esteban Sandoval and Tony Aparicio before getting a double play from Mike Allegood. The Raccoons didn’t tack on anything, so were up by three runs in the ninth inning. We wouldn’t use Mike Lynn three days in a row this early in the season, so we went to Josh Rella, who had saved 174 games before coming apart in recent times. He struck out two before allowing a single to Oscar Caballero, a gapper for an RBI double to Xiao-peng Chin, and then finally got Gurney to grab a grounder by pinch-hitter Ron Gibbs… 6-4 Coons. Adame 2-5; Maldonado 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Herrera 2-3, 3B, 2B, RBI; Baskins 1-1; Wolinsky 7.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (7-0) and 1-3;

In good news, Armando Herrera had pulled a hammy, but only mildly. He’d miss a week, roundabout.

…which was also the worst injury duration, because now we were either a paw short for a week or we’d lose him for an additional week on the 15-day DL…

The former poison was chosen at this occasion…

Game 2
CHA: 1B Marroquin – 2B Sandoval – SS Aparicio – CF Marroguin – RF Allegood – 3B Thibault – C Kokoszka – LF Caballero – P O. Flores
POR: SS Adame – CF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – RF Toohey – 1B Gurney – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley

Maldo hit another solo homer in the first, this time without any further window dressing, with Wheats getting jumped on for three hits and two runs by the bottom of the order in the second inning to flip the score. Ruben Gonzalez doubled home Gurney to tie the game again in the bottom 2nd, while an Omar Marroquin (yes, this was confusing) error gave the Coons the lead again in the bottom 3rd. Fumbling a grounder by Manny Fernandez, Marroquin allowed Mercado to score from third base. Toohey batted with Maldo and Manny on the corners and one out, and for the first time in a week had a mighty stroke and hit an 0-2 to deep left… but off the fence for an RBI double rather than a 3-piece. Pat Gurney got multiple RBI’s with a single to left, though, running the score to 6-2, then was stranded.

The Falcons pulled a run back in the fifth, but it was unearned… but then again it was on Wheats’ fumbling Marroquin’s grounder after a pinch-hit double by Chin from the #9 spot. That put runners on the corners and set up Sandoval for a sac fly to get to 6-3. Wheats made up the mistake in the bottom of the inning: after Toohey and Gurney opened with singles and Waters hit into a double play (…), and after an intentional walk to Gonzalez, Wheats singled up the middle to extend the lead to 7-3 again. Adame singled to load the bases, while Mercado struck out to leave them that way, and before the Falcons scratched Wheats for another three singles and a run in the sixth… Nevertheless, Wheats tacked on another inning, going out at the stretch, with his spot up in the bottom 7th. Baskins tripled in his spot, but nobody else reached base in the inning and Baskins was stranded…

Then the Coons tried to blow another lead by Wheats. Aaron Curl pitched in the eighth, allowing three singles, two of which didn’t even reach the mound. He was yanked, and Nelson Moreno gave up an RBI single to Jeff Kilmer, who drove in Allegood. Thibault was also sent, but thrown out by Manny at the plate. PH Ron Gibbs then flew out to center. Natanael Abrao issued 2-out walks to Manny and Toohey in the bottom 8th, but Gurney grounded out to leave them on base… We then went back to Mike Lynn for the ninth with a 2-run lead. Sandoval and Aparicio grounded out before Jordan Marroguin drew a walk. Mike Allegood also got ahead, 3-1, but then swung and flew out to Mercado to end the game. 7-5 Raccoons. Maldonado 3-4, HR, RBI; Toohey 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Gurney 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Baskins (PH) 1-1;

Game 3
CHA: CF Marroquin – 3B Thibault – SS Aparicio – LF Marroguin – C Kilmer – 2B Shay – RF Caballero – 1B Gibbs – P Schwartz
POR: SS Adame – CF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 1B Toohey – 2B Gurney – RF Pellicano – C Morales – P Merino

Merino’s first pitch beaned Omar Marroquin out of the game, to be replaced by Allegood, which wasn’t at all good. He balked the runner to second base, then gave up an RBI single to Bobby Thibault on his second pitch of the game. It only got worse from here. Aparicio singled, and two walks followed. Adam Shay hit a sac fly, with the bags refilled when Merino nailed Oscar Caballero. Ron Gibbs drove in a fourth run before Schwartz grounded out, after having gotten a 4-0 lead before ever picking up a baseball. The Raccoons took a while to get going, as usual, with Mercado singling home Pellicano in the third inning for their first run. Maldo flew out as the tying run, completing three innings, and the tying run was back at the plate in Gurney after Manny and Toohey reached base to start the fourth. Gurney hit a sac fly, 4-2, and a Pellicano single put Critters on the corners. Morales struck out, as did Ben Coen, when he batted for Merino…

It still got worse in the fifth with Kevin Hitchcock pitching. Aparicio led off with a single, while Marroguin flew out to left, where Manny took a tumble hustling in, but still made the catch mid-tumble. He was slow to get up and couldn’t shake off whatever bothered him, eventually leaving the game for Derek Baskins, which also meant that the Raccoons were down to two bench players by the fifth… Hitchcock pitched three innings, allowing an unearned run in the seventh for an Allegood single and TWO errors by Morales and Adame… That unearned run soon was the margin between the teams; the bottom 7th had Schwartz yield a single to Adame, then a homer to right to Mercado, 5-4. Well, at least until Robby Gomez hit a leadoff double off Bonnie in the ninth and came in to score on a sac fly by Thibault. To be fair, Bonnie had struck out the side in the eighth… Bottom 9th, Ruben Gonzalez grounded out in place of Bonnie (emptying the bench in the process) before Adame hit a 1-out single to left off ex-Coon Antonio Prieto. Mercado struck out, but Maldo dropped an RBI single into left-center, and there was that silly unearned run again. Baskins grounded out to cement the loss. 6-5 Falcons. Adame 2-5; Mercado 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Fernandez 1-2; Pellicano 2-3, BB, 2B; Hitchcock 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K;

In other news

May 13 – The Titans beat the Indians, 12-1, with 11 of their runs scoring in the third inning alone.
May 14 – Cincy’s SP Sal Chavez (3-0, 2.45 ERA) 1-hits the Buffaloes in a 6-0 shutout. TOP C Brett Banks (.389, 4 HR, 22 RBI) doubles in the seventh inning to turn away the no-hitter specter.
May 15 – SAC LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.267, 7 HR, 22 RBI) would miss a week at least with a sore knee.
May 16 – The Condors pick up 35-yr old SP Josh Henneberry (3-3, 3.48 ERA) from the Aces for 25-yr old 1B Sam Witherspoon (.174, 1 HR, 3 RBI).
May 18 – Thunder INF/CF Nick DeMarco (.491, 1 HR, 10 RBI) goes 6-for-6 in a rare start against the Loggers, who get romped by Oklahoma, 16-6. DeMarco hits four doubles and two singles and drives in two runs.

FL Player of the Week: SFW 2B Hugo Acosta (.349, 0 HR, 16 RBI), hitting .640 (16-25) with 3 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC 3B/2B/RF/LF Frank Mujica (.302, 6 HR, 24 RBI), whacking .444 (12-27) with 3 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Here come the injuries…! No news on Manny so far, but it won’t take much time on the DL to take his vesting option for ’48 apart. I hope we won’t have to play with a 3-man bench… (looks at Dr. Padilla)

May I remind everybody that yes, this is a .700 team, but also one that is only ninth in runs scored. I don’t even know HOW. We’re second in batting average, fifth in OBP and homers… we just can’t get anybody across…!!

Of course, allowing under 3.4 runs per game helps with many, many things…

Monday will be off again, and then it’s a weeklong road trip to the Thunder and Condors.

Due to acute tiredness and an urgent need to go zzz *right* *now*, the Fun Fact has to be postponed to next week…