[Westheim]

Raccoons (43-40) vs. Titans (38-44) – July 6-9, 2054

The Titans were second from the bottom in both runs scored and runs allowed in the CL, and their run differential was -72. Could the Raccoons finally get a nice sweep in? They’d have two chances to do so, having four games with the Titans this week and another four next week in Boston after the break.

Projected matchups:
Seisaku Taki (6-6, 3.71 ERA) vs. Chad Shultz (3-1, 3.79 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (7-7, 4.01 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (3-7, 3.45 ERA)
He Shui (7-7, 2.51 ERA) vs. Noah Hollis (2-9, 5.53 ERA)
Rafael de la Cruz (1-0, 3.07 ERA) vs. Jamie Guidry (7-7, 4.13 ERA)

Southpaws in the second and fourth games, most likely; Hollis had most recently made a relief appearance, but with Kenneth Spencer and Jordan Ramos on the DL, had found his way back into the rotation.

Game 1
BOS: CF Whitlow – LF M. Gilmore – RF D. Gonzalez – 1B L. Rodriguez – 2B Roura – C Salas – SS J. Lopez – 3B Ro. Jimenez – P Shultz
POR: LF Crum – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – RF Cox – CF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – 2B Knight – P Taki

Taki struck out six in the first three innings, but that was after he gave up two runs on three singles by Eric Whitlow, Matt Gilmore, and Larry Rodriguez in the top of the first. He allowed only two more hits and reached 10 K by the middle of the fifth inning, but the Raccoons so far had one measly single against Shultz. When Matt Knight led off the bottom 5th with a triple, Taki struck out and Crum popped out, threatening to strand the runner at third base until precious Lonzo came through with an RBI single to left, extending his hitting streak to 17 games, stole second, and then scored the tying run on Ramsay’s single to left. (looks at Honeypaws) I don’t know, Honeypaws, I might actually love Lonzo more than you.

Through seven innings, Taki struck out a staggering 13 Titans, taking 102 pitches, and then was to lead off the bottom 7th in a 2-2 tie. The Raccoons needed help offensively, and Venegas batted for him. Venegas grounded out, the Raccoons went down in order, and Taki had to settle for a no-decision. When the Coons did take the lead by a Chris Gowin jack to left in the bottom 8th, 3-2, the Coons already had Daley on the mound, which probably needed explanation. Hitchcock retired a pair to begin the top 8th, then was replaced with Lillis against Gilmore, who was however pinch-hit for with a right-hander, Bruce Burkart, who hit an infield single. When Eric Cobb batted for Dave Gonzalez – same problem with handedness there – the Raccoons called on Daley, who handled the comebacker for the third out. Daley then retired the 4-5-6 batters in order in the ninth inning. 3-2 Raccoons. Taki 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 13 K;

(puffs Taki in the arm) First innings, huh?

Game 2
BOS: CF Whitlow – LF M. Gilmore – 1B L. Rodriguez – 2B Roura – C Salas – SS J. Lopez – RF E. Cobb – 3B Ro. Jimenez – P de Anda
POR: LF Venegas – SS Lavorano – RF Crum – C Gowin – 3B Brobeck – 1B Philipps – 2B Knight – CF de Lemos – P Wheatley

While Wheats dropped his ERA under four in the first inning, de Anda offered two scoreless against the Critters before disappearing for injury concerns. Jim Peterson, left-hander, took his place. Wheats struck out six and walked two in three *busy* innings, so a shutout was probably not in the books this time. At the rate he was going, six innings looked like tops – too many long counts. He did not allow a hit through four innings, but Jon Lopez and Eric Cobb got on base with shy singles in the fifth, but didn’t score. Good! – now there wouldn’t be any hard feelings when he’d be yanked in the seventh on like 125 pitches. He reached *87* in five scoreless frames. The Coons through four frames had one hit and two double plays, which was one of those games again… Knight hit a single in the bottom 5th, and then was doubled up by de Lemos, so the ratio wasn’t getting much better.

Wheats hit a leadoff single in the bottom 6th against righty Mike Alden, and Venegas drew a walk to push the go-ahead run in the scoreless game to second base, tying the Coons’ furthest advance all day. Lonzo was hitless yet, but lined out to Lopez, while Crum hit a ball hard to right, but Cobb caught it on the warning track. Wheats had misread it and had to hustle back to second base to not get doubled off, and then Alden threw a wild pitch that moved the runners into scoring position instead of scoring Wheatley from third base. Gowin walked to fill them up, prompting a move to a new right-hander, Tommy Griffith. The Coons opted for Matt Cox rather than Kyle Brobeck, but he grounded out to Dave Roura, and no one scored.

We got Wheats squeezed through seven innings on 107 pitches, but that would be all. The Coons were toothless still against Griffith, and like Taki Wheats had to settle for a no-decision. Also, batting for Brobeck before he pitched, shortened our pen, so it was not a strategy to win games in the long run… Bak pitched a scoreless eighth, however, before being hit for by Pucks to begin the home half of the eighth. Pucks legged out an infield single to Roura, only for Venegas to ground sharply to short. Lopez threw the double play away, making it two on rather than two out. Lonzo came through in more ways than one, hitting an RBI single to right-center – hitting streak to 18 – but that was the only run the Raccoons managed to scratch out, with nothing but sad faces from the 3-4-5 batters. Back to Daley for the ninth, and one, two, three went the Titans. 1-0 Blighters. Lavorano 1-4, RBI; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K and 1-2;

A win is a win is a win.

(takes another sip)

Day off for Crum on Wednesday, as well as Gowin, the last before the All Star Game.

Game 3
BOS: SS Marroguin – LF M. Gilmore – RF D. Gonzalez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C Salas – CF Weir – 2B Perriello – 3B J. Lopez – P Hollis
POR: LF Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – RF Cox – CF Puckeridge – 3B Crispin – C Philipps – 2B Boese – P Shui

He Shui had paid attention the last few days and realized that he had to drive in his own lead; opening with three shutout innings wasn’t gonna do anything here. Tyler Philipps opened the bottom 3rd with a clean single and advanced on a groundout by Naughty Joe. Shui slapped a liner into the left-center gap for an RBI double, the first run of the game, and two pitches later scored on another double to left by Anton Venegas. Lonzo settled for an RBI single, then was caught stealing, which derailed the inning.

Once he was up 3-0, Shui loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth, giving up singles to Gonzalez and Rodriguez before also walking Raul Salas. Hector Weir struck out, while Bill Perriello managed a sac fly, the first career RBI for the 24-year-old right-handed hitter from Arkansas. Jon Lopez grounded out to Ramsay, ending the inning. Gonzalez and Salas would reach again in the sixth inning, and all of those middle innings were long for Shui – in fact so long that he was not going to pitch much longer, and when his spot came up with Critters aboard and two outs in the bottom 6th, he was pinch-hit for right away; in the inning, a Lopez error, a Cox double, and a walk drawn by Pucks against Hollis loaded the bases to begin the bottom 6th. Crispin dropped a dead cat of a ball on the infield for an all-paws-safe, 30-foot RBI single, extending the lead to 4-1, and while Philipps popped out, Naughty Joe hit a sac fly to left. Ken Crum pinch-hit for Shui, but grounded out.

Walters and Brobeck then stumbled in the eighth inning. The lefty had already gotten four outs when Gonzalez hit a single to right. Brobeck gave up another single to Larry Rodriguez, and then both runs on Weir’s 2-out single to right-center. Perriello grounded out to Lonzo, ending the inning with the Coons up by a pair. With Daley having been out two days in a row, and left-handers up for the ninth inning, we went to Lillis. He gave up a single to Jon Lopez right away, Burkart flew out to deep left, but then Josh Garris and Gilmore made meek outs to finish the game. 5-3 Raccoons. Venegas 3-4, 2 2B, RBI; Shui 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, W (8-7) and 1-2, 2B, RBI;

Three in a row! Barely!

I’ll order you a truck of donuts if you complete the sweep, boys!

Game 4
BOS: CF Whitlow – SS Marroguin – RF D. Gonzalez – 1B L. Rodriguez – C Salas – LF Weir – 2B Perriello – 3B J. Lopez – P Guidry
POR: LF Venegas – SS Lavorano – RF Crum – C Gowin – 1B Ramsay – 3B Brobeck – 2B Knight – CF de Lemos – P de la Cruz

The promise of a truckload of donuts led to none of the boys being able to sleep that night, and they looked like corpses in the box for the first few innings. Raul Salas took Raffy deep in the second inning for a 1-0 Titans lead, and they had two more singles for a run in the fourth inning before the Raccoons got some sort of threat going in the bottom 4th. Venegas doubled and Lonzo hit a scratch single to get to a 20-game hitting streak, putting the tying runs on the corners. Ken Crum got a run home… by hitting into a double play, 6-4-3, and that was the inning. Top 5th, Whitlow walked, Jordan Marroguin singled, and a sac fly by Gonzalez pulled the run right back for Boston, which was answered by de Lemos singling home Ramsay with two outs in the bottom of the inning.

Raffy couldn’t hold it together, sadly. He went into the sixth, struck out the first two batters for 9 K total in the game, and then walked Perriello, who stole second, and gave up RBI knocks to Lopez and … and the opposing pitcher. That was the end for him, with Terrell into the game. He retired Whitlow to end the sixth, but gave up a run the inning after with hits for Marroguin and Gonzalez, plus a Rodriguez sac fly, and then in the eighth Perriello and Lopez had hits, and Whitlow whacked a 3-run homer. Except for Venegas, who had three hits and was doubled up twice, the Raccoons could never get untracked, and Guidry almost pitched a complete game, only getting squeezed out with two outs in the ninth by offering a single to Philipps and a walk to Brobeck. Knight grounded out haplessly to end the game. 9-2 Titans. Venegas 3-3, BB, 2B; Philipps (PH) 1-1; Puckeridge (PH) 1-1;

(half a dozen of the Critters cry and clamor bitter tears at the GM’s hindpaws while he watches the truck from the donut factory toot as it backs off the ballpark lot)

Raccoons (46-41) vs. Loggers (49-36) – July 10-12, 2054

The Loggers had split four with the Elks during the week, which still had them lead the division by half a game, with the Raccoons now four behind. This was not a good matchup for the Coons this year, the Loggers holding a 6-3 edge in the season series. The Loggers were however not that intimidating on paper. They were just to the good side in both runs scored and runs conceded, with a +24 run differential, smaller than the Coons’ +42. With Tyler Riddle, Joe Gragg, and Perry Pigman, they had some important personnel on the disabled list, too, but they also had Chris Thomas, who had mashed 17 homers while not even qualifying for the batting title.

Projected matchups:
Arthur Pickett (5-7, 4.59 ERA) vs. Jeff Fox (8-2, 4.53 ERA)
Seisaku Taki (6-6, 3.64 ERA) vs. Angelo Munoz (10-5, 3.43 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (7-7, 3.77 ERA) vs. John Morrill (9-6, 4.88 ERA)

Fox would be the third and final left-handed opponent this week.

Game 1
MIL: RF Bishton – 3B T. Edwards – SS Z. Suggs – C C. Thomas – 1B Callaia – 2B R. Lopez – CF Starnes – LF Law – P J. Fox
POR: 3B Venegas – SS Lavorano – 1B Crum – C Gowin – RF Cox – CF de Lemos – LF Puckeridge – 2B Boese – P Pickett

Fox nicked Lonzo in the first and Ken Crum disapproved with his 13th homer of the season, giving the Raccoons a 2-0 lead. Cox and de Lemos also reached base, but Pucks’ deep fly to center was tracked down by Dennis Starnes to end the inning. Starnes walked and Gaudencio Callaia singled in the second inning, but Pickett faced the minimum thanks to a Ricky Lopez 6-4-3 double play grounder and Starnes getting himself caught stealing. Pickett mostly managed the lead nicely, remaining unscored upon through four innings, while he was back at the crease in the bottom 4th when Naughty Joe got on with a 2-out single. Pickett struck a lazy spinner with the paddle and – cheerio! – boundary shot! A 2-out, 2-run home run for the pitcher! 4-0!

Fox tried to counter with a single to lead off the sixth inning, but Pickett sounded the bugle and the hounds chased him and Ryan Bishton into a double play. Zach Suggs was more successful with a leadoff jack to right in the seventh, which sugged and got Milwaukee on the board, but after Callaia hit another single, Ricky Lopez found yet another double play. Toodles! A biscuit on that one, and a sip of – … no, Maud, I’m not having a cuppa tea, that’s one shire too far. – No, Maud, look. I had this shipped from Scotland! (shows off both a bottle of Scotch and a white plush unicorn, earning a sneer from Honeypaws)

Crum matched the Suggs homer with another one of his own in the bottom 7th, but Lonzo had yet to find a hit in this game, and and while Gowin reached base, he was doubled off by de Lemos, which meant that Lonzo would only come back to the plate in the bottom 8th if two other Coons reached ahead of him. First though Pickett got stuck in the moor in the eighth inning, allowing singles to Dale Haracz and Bishton with two outs, and was lifted for Hitchcock. On two pitches, the normally sturdy Hitchcock gave up a bases-filling single to Travis Edwards, then a bases-clearing double to Suggs, which suuuuugged. Chris Thomas grounded out, but the Coons lead was whittled down to 5-4. The Raccoons did not reach base at all in the bottom 8th, so no Lonzo at the dish, and then he had to end his own hitting streak in the ninth by handling Starnes’ grounder for the final out. 5-4 Raccoons. Crum 3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Boese 2-4; Pickett 7.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (6-7) and 1-3, HR, 2 RBI;

Game 2
MIL: CF Starnes – 3B T. Edwards – SS Z. Suggs – C C. Thomas – 2B R. Lopez – RF Catton – 1B Haracz – LF K. Archer – P A. Munoz
POR: LF Crum – SS Lavorano – 1B Ramsay – C Gowin – RF Cox – 3B Venegas – CF Puckeridge – 2B Knight – P Taki

With Starnes and Suggs on the corners, Chris Thomas struck out and Suggs was caught stealing in a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play in the top 1st, which sure sugged for the Loggers, but so did the one Ramsay hit into in the bottom of the inning. Lonzo and Rams hit singles to begin the bottom 4th, but Gowin then hit into a double play and Cox left Lonzo on third base. It was another one of those games that stayed scoreless for quite a while. For the second time this week, a Raccoons starter had to make his own lead: Taki singled with two outs and Knight in scoring position after a double in the bottom 5th, and the replacement middle infielder made it around to score. Crum then grounded out to Lopez, completing five with a 1-0 lead.

Back-to-back doubles by Suggs and Thomas tied the game again in the sixth inning, but at least Lopez and Mike Catton made weak outs to keep the go-ahead run stranded. The home team remained obnoxiously meek. Lonzo singled in the sixth and was caught stealing. The seventh began with Cox and Venegas singles before Pucks hit into a fielder’s choice, then was caught stealing, and Knight stranded Cox on third base. Finally, Zach Suggs hit a homer to right-center to break the tie over Taki’s head in the top of the eighth…

Ed Crispin batted for Taki to begin the bottom 8th and singled to right. The ball ticked off Catton’s glove for an error, allowing the tying run into scoring position with nobody out. Crum’s and Lonzo’s grounders and a K to Ramsay stranded the ******* runner at third base. Matt Walters held the 2-1 score in the ninth, before Dave Lister appeared for the Loggers in the bottom of the inning. Cox singled with one out, but Gowin, Venegas, and Pucks all fanned to lose the game. 2-1 Loggers. Lavorano 2-4; Cox 2-4; Knight 1-2, BB, 2B; Crispin (PH) 1-1; Taki 8.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, L (6-7);

In light of All Star nominations we might have jiggered the lineup a little bit on Sunday, but it turned out that NOBODY got to play due to thunderstorms sweeping the area all afternoon and evening long and the Loggers even had trouble flying out on Sunday night.

Oh well, four-day All Star break – except for our four All Stars.

In other news

July 6 – Topeka’s Eddie Moreno (.312, 14 HR, 60 RBI) extends his hitting streak to 25 games with a single in a 4-3 win over the Blue Sox.
July 7 – The Canadiens acquire right-hander Adam Middleton (4-4, 4.25 ERA) from the Stars, parting with four prospects. The package includes #86 SP Dario Luna.
July 7 – Dallas MR Sam Gibson (1-1, 3.00 ERA, 1 SV) undergoes surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow, ending his season.
July 7 – The Bayhawks beat the Condors, 4-3, in 14 innings. SFB OF/1B Armando Caban (.299, 1 HR, 26 RBI) has four hits and two RBI from the #8 spot for San Francisco.
July 8 – The Loggers beat the Canadiens, 6-4 over 16 long innings. MIL C Chris Thomas (.329, 17 HR, 56 RBI) rakes Vancouver for five hits, two homers, a double, and three RBI.
July 10 – The hitting streak of Lorenzo Lavorano ends on the same day as the one of Topeka’s Eddie Moreno (.311, 14 HR, 64 RBI), which made it to 28 games before he went 0-for-4 in a 7-6 win over the Miners.
July 10 – Canadiens 2B Tony Aparicio (.286, 9 HR, 35 RBI) will miss six weeks with a torn thumb ligament.
July 10 – The Crusaders acquire OF/1B/3B Gil Cabrera (.302, 0 HR, 30 RBI) from the Buffaloes for three prospects.
July 10 – The Wolves get CL Zack Stahl (4-6, 5.13 ERA, 11 SV) from the Aces for two prospects. The package includes #69 prospect SP Justin Rocco.
July 11 – Rebels 3B Danny Espinosa (.252, 12 HR, 46 RBI) has four hits and five RBI in a 13-0 rout of the Capitals. Espinosa homers twice and misses the cycle by the *single*.
July 11 – Starting with a 9-run fourth inning, the Blue Sox romp the Cyclones, 16-1.
July 12 – A torn hammy will cost Bayhawks infielder Adam Peltier (.253, 4 HR, 36 RBI) at least one month.

FL Player of the Week: RIC 3B Danny Espinosa (.255, 12 HR, 46 RBI), hitting .571 (16-28) with 2 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC RF/LF Danny Rivera (.306, 14 HR, 63 RBI), batting .458 (11-24) with 3 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons stashed away four All Stars, which felt like more than we deserved. He Shui made the All Star team in his first year in the league, and of all our relievers it was *Brett Lillis jr.* to get nominated for the showcase. On the batting side, Ken Crum and Chris Gowin were nominated. It was the first All Star Game for all of them except Crum, who made it for the third time, but for the first time since ’49.

The Loggers would not come back to Portland this season – we’d have to make up our rained-out Sunday game in Milwaukee in September as part of a false-flag home game in a double-header.

Still looking for a left-handed batting infielder to balance the roster.

Angelo Flores won’t be it. Angelo Flores is right-handed. He is also a 16-year-old from Venezuela that we’re chasing after in the international free agent pool this month. When even Eric Hartwig gives a boy a 16/14/15 potential, we gotta pounce. The thing is, the bidding war has almost escalated to $1M right now. The Raccoons have already signed two lesser players for a total of $83k, so with $920k currently offered to Flores, we’d already be hit with a $303k tax bill. Last time we went that level of ham on a Latino teen boy it was Raffy, who’s totally gonna piece his career back together, right, Raffy?

Right?

Fun Fact: Raffy missed a full year to Tommy John surgery and still has 67 career starts before turning 24, with a 24-23 record and 3.54 ERA.

Given that his birthday is on the 24th of this month, he might still get to 69!