[Westheim]

Raccoons (36-32) @ Indians (36-31) – June 23-25, 2053

Four games with an opening double header in Indy now – things could get sketchy with the rotation here, although Victor Salcido proclaimed that his back was much better now. Although I wondered then why he was being carried around by some of the relievers and bench players everywhere he went… The Arrowheads ranked third in the North, fourth in runs scored, and fourth in runs allowed in the CL, with a +33 run differential. Ours was +51 (!?), and we were up 3-2 for the season series.

Projected matchups:
Josh Mayo (1-2, 4.43 ERA) vs. Adam Foley (3-4, 5.19 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (4-4, 2.50 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (4-5, 4.47 ERA)
TBD vs. Tan Brink (3-6, 3.81 ERA)
Victor Salcido (7-2, 3.33 ERA) vs. Thomas Turpeau (3-3, 3.52 ERA)

Turpeau was the only left-hander we saw coming here. TBD would most likely be Cameron Argenziano (what a thrill that was gonna be…), who was 0-2 with an 11.74 ERA in two starts this season.

Game 1
POR: 2B Malkus – SS Lavorano – RF Puckeridge – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – 3B Crispin – LF Tenazes – P Mayo
IND: 2B A. Rios – CF A. Mendez – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – LF S. King – 1B Lovell – SS de Castro – P Foley

Mayo legged out a grounder to short and beat Antonio Rios’ return throw to first base to break up a potential 6-4-3 double play after the Coons had put Gowin, Suzuki, and Tenazes on base in the top 2nd, and with one out, which allowed Chris Gowin to score and the Raccoons to go up 1-0 before Malkus grounded out to short. Mayo’s pitching didn’t quite keep up with his running, though; he walked Foley on four pitches with one out in the bottom 3rd, then gave up a mighty drive to left to the roster filler Rios, which Tenazes picked off the top of the fence to take away a double. Angel Mendez singled, but Bill Quinteros popped out to strand two Indians, who kept hitting the odd hard ball, but never found a spot on the open prairie with those – they were all caught by outfielders, and when Bill Quinteros hit a single in the sixth inning, that was somehow only their second base hit off Mayo. None the better, though: the Coons, who had three hits in six innings, and had Tenazes only reach on an error by Alex de Castro in the seventh. Mayo bunted into a force play at second, which cost a run as Malkus and Lonzo singles now loaded the bags with two gone, but Mendez caught Pucks’ fly to center to end the inning. Manny Poindexter then tied the game on Mayo’s first pitch in the bottom 7th, pumping a homer to left. A Lonzo error put Pat Lovell on base in the inning, and with two outs, Josh Hare hit an RBI triple to right to get the Indians on top. Rios’ groundout kept the score at 2-1.

Pinch-hit singles by Tony Lopez (off left-hander Bill McMichael) and Matt Waters (against right-hander Josh Livingston) then put Coons on the corners in the eighth inning, but also with two outs. Perez batted for Tenazes, struck out, and the inning ended. Raul Cornejo pitched a scoreless bottom 8th before David Williams came out for the save opportunity. Matt Knight pinch-hit for Cornejo and walked in a full count, which got the tying run back on base. Malkus travised his way into a 6-4-3 double play, though, and Lonzo flew out to center. 2-1 Indians. Suzuki 1-2, BB, 2B; Lopez (PH) 1-1; Waters (PH) 1-1; Tenazes 1-2, BB; Mayo 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, L (1-3);

For his losing performance, Josh Mayo won a trip to Florida due to the roster crunch. There was a chance though that he’d be back right away next week when we’d need a fifth starter again.

Raul Medrano (8.1 IP, 0 ER last year) was added to the roster as bullpen padding.

Game 2
POR: 3B Malkus – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – RF Lopez – CF Perez – C Raczka – SS Knight – P Wheatley
IND: 1B N. Fernandez – CF A. Mendez – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – LF S. King – 2B A. Rios – C Payne – SS de Castro – P En. Ortiz

The Coons went for max turnover in their lineup, and an unearned 1-0 deficit in the first inning as Nick Fernandez singled off Wheats, reached second by stealing and advancing on Raczka’s throwing error, and finally scored on a Quinteros groundout after Angel Mendez popped out. In the third inning, both pitchers hit a single off each other, and both half-innings went into the bin on a double play; Wheats was doubled up by Malkus directly, while Ortiz was forced out by Fernandez, and then Mendez found the 4-6-3 double play.

The score flipped in the fourth; Pucks drew a leadoff walk, Waters doubled to left-center, and the pair scored on successive productive outs by Crum and Lopez. The game then dripped on through the middle innings without either team exceeding three base hits through six innings; Wheats had the odd wayward pitch, though, nicking Ricky Payne in the fifth and Quinteros in the sixth, although neither runner reached even second base. He proceeded then to nail Rios to begin the seventh. Second mound conference of the game then, after which Wheats walked Payne anyway, and the Indians scored the tying run from a bunt and a sac fly before PH Chris Morris hit a comebacker to strand Payne and the go-ahead run on second base. Wheats ended up with a no-decision; Lonzo batted for him for no gains in the top 8th, Malkus singled, and Pucks found another one of those diabolic double plays.

Lopez singled and Perez walked with two outs against David Williams in the ninth inning, but Williams hung a K on Raczka, while the Coons used Flores and Medrano to get the game to extra innings. Pat Lovell was the only player to reach base in the tenth inning, singling off Antonio Alfaro, but was also stranded right on first base, but the tie was broken in the 11th as McMichael (who had faced only one batter in the early game) made his second appearance of the day, but gave up a double to Waters and a homer to Ken Crum! It was the game winner – Kevin Daley faced the minimum in the bottom of the inning. 4-2 Coons. Waters 2-4, BB, 2 2B; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K and 1-2;

Medrano then was optioned back to AAA right away, and Argenziano promoted for an L on Tuesday.

Game 3
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – RF Lopez – P Argenziano
IND: 1B N. Fernandez – CF A. Mendez – RF B. Quinteros – 3B B. Anderson – C Poindexter – LF S. King – 2B A. Rios – SS de Castro – P Brink

Brink brinked Lonzo, then gave up a double to Pucks and a 2-run single to Waters for some swift punishment. The Coons soon found themselves beleaguered, though. The Indians loaded the bases with a Bobby Anderson single, a Lonzo error, and a walk to de Castro in the bottom 2nd, upon which Argenziano at least managed to sit down Brink on strikes to escape. It only got more annoying from there. Nick Fernandez and Anderson hit singles in the bottom 3rd, and Poindexter hit a comebacker with two outs that looked like the end of another attempt, except that Argenziano tossed that one *way* over the head of Ken Crum for two bases and a run, then walked Scott King before he at least handled Rios’ comebacker for the third out. De Castro opened the bottom 4th with a single, but was doubled up on a terrible Brink bunt, and in the sixth King opened the inning with a double to center, but was caught digging for third base, where Suzuki threw him out. Not the best advertisement for the game as a whole, this one.

Argenziano was gone after six, not having allowed an earned run, but still having pitched dreadfully. His W disappeared in another just as dreadful appearance of Steve Watson, who walked Fernandez and was taken deep by PH Chris Morris, flipping the score to 3-2 Indians. But – oh wait; the Raccoons had a comeback. Brink was yanked after he walked Malkus and Lonzo in the top of the eighth inning. Pucks hit into a fielder’s choice, but Matt Waters crashed a 3-run homer to left off frequent flyer Bill McMichael that grabbed the lead right back, 5-3. Crum hit a double but was left on base. Hitchcock’s eighth was neat and tidy before the Indians put the tying runs on base to begin the bottom 9th … on errors. Daley dropped a feed by Crum at first base to get Josh Hare on base, and Lovell reached on a flub by Malkus, which was the fourth Coons error in the game, and they had *yet* to lose it. Morris in the #2 hole hit a comebacker to Daley that the closer took to third base for the first out. Philip Locke then grounded to the second base bag, and somehow Lonzo and Waters ping-ponged the ball back and forth between their bodies, and neither made a play – infield single, charitably, and the bags were thus full, winning run on first base. Anderson struck out, while Poindexter got ahead 3-1 before hitting a sharp grounder to the right side – but Ken Crum was on his post and saved the day with a sure grab and tap. 5-3 Raccoons. Puckeridge 2-4, 2B; Waters 2-4, HR, 5 RBI;

This flayed win moved the Raccoons ahead of the Indians into third place in the division, 5 1/2 games behind the Crusaders.

Steve Watson (3-2, 6.00 ERA, 1 SV) got the axe, however, and was sent to the Alley Cats again. Argenziano (0-2, 6.59 ERA) was also sent away again. Medrano returned right away, along with Dave Blackshire, who was hitting .306 in St. Pete.

Game 4
POR: CF Tenazes – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – RF Lopez – 3B Blackshire – P Salcido
IND: 2B A. Rios – CF A. Mendez – RF B. Quinteros – C Poindexter – 3B B. Anderson – LF S. King – 1B Lovell – SS de Castro – P Turpeau

Salcido laid a bit of an egg in the second inning; having walked King and with the runner on second base and two outs, the Coons elected to walk Alex de Castro intentionally, knowing little about how Salcido would then also put Turpeau on base on four pitches out of the zone, and give up two runs on a Rios single. Mendez flew out to Tenazes to end the inning, giggling too hard to make proper contact with an 0-2 right down the middle.

Dave Blackshire then returned with a bang, homering to left to open the third inning, his first of the season. He also drew a leadoff walk his next time up in the fifth inning, but then Salcido bunted into a double play. Actual base hits remained few and far between in this game, with Chris Gowin hitting consecutive singles for Portland, three frames apart. The Indians hit a pair of singles in the bottom 7th to put Lovell and de Castro on the corners and knock out Salcido, with a run conceded by Vic Flores on Morris’ pinch-hit groundout, 3-1.

Top 8th, the tying runs were on with nobody out, somehow. Tenazes was hit by Scott Livingston, and even before that, Malkus had reached on a de Castro error as pinch-hitter in the #9 hole, which had ended Turpeau’s day. A Lonzo single loaded the bases and doomed the whole undertaking, presumably, with the Indians continuing to cycle pitchers, with Heath Turner now in the game. Pucks hit a sac fly, and Waters and Crum both flew out to King in shallow left, keeping the remaining runners on base… It was David Williams then in the ninth again, down by a run. Gowin struck out, but Perez walked. Blackshire struck out. Crispin hit for the pitcher, but grounded out… 3-2 Indians. Lavorano 2-4; Gowin 2-4;

Raccoons (38-34) @ Falcons (43-29) – June 27-29, 2053

I didn’t quite remember the last time the Falcons were actually good, but for now they were just two games out in the South. They did it on pitching, with a league-leading 3.6 runs allowed per game, but were only seventh in runs scored. Their run differential was +54, and they had to make up a 2-1 deficit in the season series, but had to do so without regulars Ian Woodrome and Mike Allegood, who were on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Kyle Brobeck (1-2, 5.14 ERA) vs. Hiroyuki Takagi (6-5, 3.47 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (8-4, 2.37 ERA) vs. Andy Overy (3-6, 3.84 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (4-4, 2.39 ERA) vs. Tyler Weems (7-2, 3.29 ERA)

One right-hander to start things, then two southpaws to finish out the week!

Game 1
POR: 3B Malkus – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – CF Suzuki – RF Lopez – P Brobeck
CHA: LF Sharp – 1B Tinoco – RF D. Ceballos – C Weese – SS Arreola – 3B Buckner – 2B R. Wright – CF Whitehead – P Takagi

Singles by Lonzo, Waters, and Crum gave the Coons a 1-0 lead in the top 1st before Gowin flew out to center, and Lonzo had an RBI single in the second inning after Suzuki reached on an error and Malkus drew a walk, getting the lead runner home with two outs before Pucks whiffed. Two runs and four left stranded wasn’t good enough, because the Falcons, after short-circuiting two innings by hitting into double plays against a generously runner-producing Brobeck, scored two runs to tie the game in the bottom 4th with a leadoff walk to Danny Ceballos, and singles by Kevin Weese and Juan Arreola to get to 2-1 with two aboard before Rich Wright’s sac fly then leveled the score. Ethan Whitehead flew out to Tony Lopez to end the inning.

Lonzo stole a base after a dry series in Indy, #29 for the year, and scored on a Pucks single in the top 5th to give the Coons a new 3-2 lead right away. Puckeridge also nipped second base by force, but was left stranded, while the Falcons got the tying run into scoring position in both the fifth and sixth innings, but each time left him on second base. They then got Wright to draw a leadoff walk in the seventh. Whitehead grounded to Malkus, who bungled another play, putting two on, before Esteban Sanches pinch-hit for Takagi and slapped one into a double play. Sencion replaced Brobeck for the left-handed Matt Sharp, but the Falcons countered with righty Erik Stevens, who shot a skipper up the middle, but somehow Lonzo not only played that damn thing, he also got it to first base in time…! That yet again stranded the tying run. Trouble resumed with Adrian Tinoco’s leadoff double into the right-center gap in the bottom 8th, but Sencion and Hitchcock then struck out the next three Falcons to step into the box. And then, after four innings of futility, Kevin Daley served up a leadoff triple to Jalen Buckner in the bottom 9th… Wright whiffed, but Whitehead’s sac fly tied the game, and after Mitch Sivertson flew out to right, the game went to extras.

Josh Clem plunked Ken Crum with two gone in the top 10th, and the Raccoons, who had been deeply a-snooze in the hour before, quickly scrambled two singles from Gowin and Suzuki to drive him home. Crispin batted for Tony Lopez and hit another RBI single before Josh Tomlinson struck out Dave Blackshire. The next save chance then went to Flores, with the top of the Falcons order that was up for the home half of the inning leaning well to the left side. Tinoco snuck a single, but Danny Ceballos flung a grounder to Lonzo for a game-ending double play. 5-3 Coons! Lavorano 3-5, RBI; Crispin (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Game 2
POR: 3B Blackshire – SS Lavorano – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – RF Lopez – CF Tenazes – P Taki
CHA: LF Sharp – 1B Tinoco – RF D. Ceballos – C Weese – SS Arreola – 2B E. Stevens – 3B R. Wright – CF Whitehead – P Overy

A walk, a single, and a very prainful bruise to Juan Arreola was what Taki loaded the bases with in the bottom 1st before hanging a K on Erik Stevens, which at least kept the linescore clean, although the Falcons drew 27 pitches off him in that opening inning. It got worse in the third, where Tinoco and Ceballos sloshed poor man’s singles, and Kevin Weese smacked a gapper for a 2-run double. The Coons had little offense, and when Lonzo hit a leadoff single in the fourth, he was caught stealing. A walk to Gowin and a fastball into Tony Lopez’ bum put the tying runs on base in the fifth, but only for Prospero Tenazes to chunk into a double play that ended the attempt.

The Falcons worked up Taki – they made him throw 99 pitches in five innings, which was about unheard of for the Japanese sophomore, and he was hit for as early as the top of the sixth in what I’d like to florally describe as a “tactical retreat” to fight another day. He was spared the loss, though. Pucks opened the seventh with a shy single against Overy, who then offered his absolute best – a 99mph heater to Waters, which was deposited into the leftfield stands just as quickly and tied the game at two. While Medrano and Sencion held the Falcons to their two early runs, the Coons saw Blackshire draw a 2-out walk from Overy in the ninth inning. Lonzo then raked a gapper in left-center that kept running around from Whitehead for an RBI triple and a 3-2 lead, but was stranded when Pucks bounced out to Tinoco. Hitchcock was fine in the eighth, but Daley struggled with the ninth inning again. He got two outs before Jaden Richards singled and he lost Tinoco on a ball count at 3-2. Ceballos ran another full count, but grounded out…! 3-2 Critters. Lavorano 2-4, 3B, RBI;

Game 3
POR: 3B Malkus – LF Puckeridge – 2B Waters – 1B Crum – C Gowin – RF Lopez – CF Tenazes – SS Knight – P Wheatley
CHA: LF Sharp – 1B Tinoco – RF D. Ceballos – C Weese – SS Arreola – 2B E. Stevens – 3B Buckner – CF Whitehead – P Weems

Wheats entered the game second in ERA in the CL after inching ahead of Taki during the latter’s sub-par performance on Saturday, but still a tenth of a run behind Zach Boyer. The first inning was enough though to give the team lead back to Taki. Wheats allowed a leadoff triple to Matt Sharp, then four singles, mostly hit sharply, for a 3-0 deficit. That was most of the commotion through four innings, with the Raccoons making the mere minimum of noise with a lone base hit, and the Falcons settling into defending their 3-0 lead nicely. The exception was Travis Malkus, who tweaked his back on a defensive play and left the game in favor of Dave Blackshire in the fourth inning, and Blackshire soon played a role in erasing the early deficit. The Coons got two solo homers in the fifth from otherwise mostly unhelpful batters, Tony Lopez and Matt Knight; it was the first career homer for the latter. Wheats then spanked a 1-out double to right, Blackshire singled to put runners on the corners, and Pucks scratched out the tying run with a grounder to the right side, although Blackshire was forced out at second base. Pucks then stole second, reached third when Weese’s throw got away from Arreola, and was then balked home by a shell-shocked Tyler Weems, giving Portland a 4-3 lead.

Wheats held on through six innings, and was even used to bunt Tenazes to second base in the seventh inning, but the runner was stranded on a deep fly to left by Blackshire that Sharp snatched. Flores defended the lead in the seventh, and with Pucks on in the eighth the Coons got robbed of run(s) twice. First Sharp picked a Crum drive off the very top of the fence – tough to say whether it would have bounced out or caromed back though – and then Gowin did hit one out… but on the bounce for a ground-rule double, with Pucks, who actually crossed home plate on the play, receiving directions back to third base by the home play umpire, after which Tony Lopez grounded out to Tinoco to strand a pair in scoring position. Cornejo held on in the eighth, but the ninth saw the mound taken by … Alfaro? Neither Hitchcock nor Daley were going to pitch unless things dragged on, having had back-to-back outings, and the 7-8-9 batters were coming up, so the Raccoons dared to go with their Rule 5 pick. Buckner struck out. Richards grounded out to Waters. And Sanches struck out as well…! 4-3 Critters!

First career save for Alfaro, while nobody on the team qualified for a mention in the post-game dispatch. Eight hits for the team, by eight different batters.

In other news

June 26 – OCT SP David Barel (12-4, 2.50 ERA) spins a 2-hit shutout against the Aces, who also get whooped 10-0 by the Thunder.
June 28 – Loggers SP Josh Costello (6-6, 5.47 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout over the Bayhawks, who also surrender ten runs to the Loggers.

FL Player of the Week: TOP LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.274, 17 HR, 53 RBI), whacking .421 (8-19) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL 1B/RF/LF Gaudencio Callaia (.328, 8 HR, 33 RBI), spanking .542 (13-24) with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Looks like Malkus will miss a month with a balking back, so the Raccoons are back to the drawing board for a leadoff hitter, although while Malkus worked nice in the role for six to eight weeks, he had dropped off quite a bit in the last 10, 12 games. He dropped 35 points off his OBP from the start of the Titans series, batting 2-for-30 with three walks.

The good news is, at that rate Tony Lopez can bat leadoff and we wouldn’t know the difference!

So normally Matt Knight would have been returned to the Alley Cats as the Raccoons have to get a fifth starter back on the roster for Tuesday at the latest, but with Malkus to the DL he might hang around a wee bit longer.

Pat Degenhardt didn’t object when I wondered out loud whether it would be insane to have Kyle Brobeck play third base a bit – he sure had the throwing arm, but the problem was of course that it would interfere with his pitching. Could he play first base, though? Although I liked Ken Crum there.

Of course there remains the possibility that Pat Degenhardt after some ten years with the team is picking his fights more wisely.

Next week: homestand against the Knights and Elks. There’s no more off day before the All Star Game now, with the final week ahead of the showcase spent on the road with the Loggers and Crusaders.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are holding opponents to a .234 batting average this year.

How long is that gonna hold up? I mean, we’re merely hitting .254 as a team, ninth in the CL…