[Westheim]

Raccoons (84-71) @ Titans (80-75) – September 29-October 2, 2059

Final week, and these two teams were still in the running for second place in the division. The Raccoons were up by four games on the Titans, with four to play between them, and an 8-6 lead in our favor for the season series. Boston was eighth in runs scored and second in runs allowed, with a +72 run differential, almost matching our own +73 mark.

Projected matchups:
Duarte Damasceno (6-8, 4.04 ERA) vs. Grant MacKinnon (9-4, 3.11 ERA)
Chance Fox (13-4, 3.64 ERA) vs. Jayden Craddock (16-7, 1.92 ERA)
Justin DeRose (8-12, 3.73 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (11-16, 3.63 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (11-12, 3.18 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (12-6, 3.61 ERA)

Due to a double header last week, the Titans could have either Glaude or Ryan Musgrave (8-14, 4.03 ERA) in the final game. It didn’t really matter; all five starters were right-handers.

Game 1
POR: RF Christopher – 2B Labonte – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Kozak – SS Bean – C Monaghan – 3B Benitez – P Damasceno
BOS: CF Marcotte – SS J. Watson – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B R. Wilken – RF Y. Valdez – 2B Leitch – LF Ma. Gilmore – P MacKinnon

Joe-Chris drew a leadoff walk and was caught stealing in the first, so the Raccoons didn’t get the early start, and instead we waited for Damasceno to make nothing into something, which happened in the bottom 2nd, when with two outs he allowed a single to Yoslan Valdez, walked Alan Leitch, and gave Boston a 1-0 lead with another sharp single surrendered to Matt Gilmore. MacKinnon then finally grounded out to leave two on, then allowed a leadoff double to Tony Benitez in the top of the third, but then struck out DD and Joe-Chris, and then had Labonte fly out to strand Benitez at second base. The Coons got on the board in the fourth inning, and it was with a 2-out rally. Jack Kozak singled, Jon Bean was nicked, and Eric Monaghan fired a double over the head of Eddie Marcotte that went all the way to the wall and allowed both runners to score to flip the game around to 2-1 Coons.

Damasceno tried to fall over from there. He first struck out after an intentional walk to Benitez to end the top 4th, then allowed 2-out walks to the 7-8 batters in the bottom of the same inning. In the fifth, he nicked Manny Rubin, and in the sixth, Valdez and Leitch reached base again, but Gilmore popped out and PH Bill Dorey grounded out sharply to Kozak. DD was then pinch-hit for in the top 7th, where right-hander Mike Bell first walked Benitez and Ben Morris, then struck out the all-left-handed 1-2-3 in the Coons order, *in* order. Have you ever wondered why neither of these teams got anywhere near the Crusaders this year…?

The Coons’ pen then suffered an implosion in the bottom of the seventh inning. Bravo put Marcotte and Rubin on the corners, and it kept melting from there. Sencion walked Arviso with one out to fill the sacks, then couldn’t handle Randy Wilken’s grounder that became a game-tying infield single. Alex Rios secured a pop from Ted Lloyd, but when left-handed Ethan Torrence batted for Leitch, we brought Ricky Herrera, who surrendered a 2-out, 2-run single through the left side before Diego Mendoza finally flew the **** out. Portland would not reach base in the eighth inning, but Monaghan zinged a leadoff double off Mike Lane in the ninth that brought the tying run to the dish. Benitez struck out, Starr grounded out, and Christopher flew out, never moving that runner. 4-2 Titans. Bean 2-3; Monaghan 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Benitez 1-2, 2 BB, 2B;

Well, that was awful all around…!

Game 2
POR: RF Christopher – 2B Labonte – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – C Perez – 3B Ojeda – SS Gonzales – CF Morris – P Fox
BOS: CF Marcotte – LF Y. Valdez – 1B M. Rubin – 3B R. Wilken – RF Lloyd – C Burkart – 2B J. Watson – SS Leitch – P Craddock

Foxie Brown wasn’t spotless in the early innings, but at least kept the Titans off the board, give or take a Rubin double in the first. The Raccoons would again create a stir mostly from the bottom half of the lineup. Perez and Ojeda went to the corners with 1-out hits in the top 2nd, with the first run scoring on Jonathan Watson’s bobble of a grounder by David Gonzales. The error was followed by a wild pitch, and Ben Morris then hit a sac fly to make it 2-0 before Fox grounded out, but Fox would hit a 2-out RBI single his second time up, bringing home Ojeda, who had stolen second base with two outs and Morris batting. The Titans elected the intentional walk, and Chance chose to punish them for it, going up 3-0 before Christopher grounded out.

Craddock’s day ended in the fifth with a double given up by Brass, immediately followed by an even louder noise as Joel Starr whacked his 19th homer of the year to extend the lead to 5-0. He tied Cas for the team lead in bombs and my dearest wish was for somebody to get at least to 20.

Xavier Caston and Mike Pohlmann then shut up the Raccoons offense, while Fox meandered into the bottom 7th with some long counts, yet a shutout, but then had it quite loudly taken from him after a leadoff walk to Bruce Burkart in the inning. Jonathan Watson fouled off no fewer than six 1-2 pitches before shooting a sharp single, and while Leitch fanned, Dorey then pinch-hit and socked a very deep 2-run double on another 1-2 pitch, and Fox was hauled in. Elijah LaBat got out of the inning without allowing another run, an error by Labonte with two outs be damned. Rubin struck out as the tying run, leaving guys on the corners in a 5-2 game. Bottom 8th, Ivan Ornelas struck out the first two batters he faced, but then got squeezed on two singles and a walk by the 6-7-8 batters, who filled the bases. When Ethan Torrence pinch-hit, Matt Walters was called on for a 4-out save, and rung up Torrence to dispel the most immediate threat. Marcotte drew a leadoff walk from him in the ninth inning, however, then ended up stealing second base. Randy Wilken romped a double to left with two outs and two strikes to get the run home, but Lloyd struck out to end the inning. 5-3 Raccoons. Christopher 2-4, BB; Perez 2-4, 2 2B; Ojeda 2-4; Morris 0-1, 2 BB, RBI;

First run allowed by Matt Walters in almost two months, when the Bayhawks got him on August 6. That was also the last time he blew a save, having converted 13 straight in 16 total appearances since.

The Warriors had their magic number down to one in the FL West on Tuesday night, but the CL South featured the Knights, Thunder, and Bayhawks all tied for first place. The Condors and Falcons both were four games back and playing each other and it was *technically* possible for one of them to still end up in a 3- or 4-way tie for first place, all at 82-80, by winning out their last five games as long as the Thunder and Bayhawks, also playing each other, would split their last two games. None of the top three would go against another top three team on the final weekend.

Game 3
POR: RF Christopher – LF Morris – CF Caswell – C Perez – 1B Starr – 2B Ortega – SS Gonzales – 3B Hudalla – P DeRose
BOS: CF Marcotte – SS J. Watson – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B R. Wilken – RF Y. Valdez – 2B D. Mendoza – LF Ma. Gilmore – P Brenize

DeRose was again throwing too many pitches to not enough batters, and while he still got around having the bases loaded in the second inning with an easy exit against Brenize, who still struggled in his day job, he then seamlessly put Marcotte and Watson on base to begin the bottom 3rd as well, then was finally and deservedly taken deep by Jorge Arviso for a 3-run homer. Watson, Rubin, and Wilken loaded the bases again in the fifth inning, and this time DeRose was yanked with two outs and 81 messy pitches in the books. Eloy Sencion got a pop to Vernon Hudalla from Yoslan Valdez to end the inning.

At that point the Raccoons were on the board, thanks to a leadoff double by Bernie Ortega in the fifth inning. He scored on productive outs by Gonzales and Hudalla, reducing the deficit to two runs, but we only had three measly hits against the former #2 pick and #1 prospect Brenize so far. He didn’t walk anybody – quite an issue of his normally – until Cas got a free pass in the sixth inning, but already with two outs. Perez singled, and Starr also singled, plating Caswell from second base, 3-2, but Ortega was then rung up to close out the inning.

Sencion had another scoreless inning before doubles by Rubin and Arviso with two outs in the seventh against Alex Rios tacked on an insurance run for Boston. The Raccoons didn’t get another base knock until Trent Brassfield’s 2-out single against Josh Carlisle in the ninth inning. Kozak then batted for Hudalla and struck out. 4-2 Titans. Starr 2-4, RBI; Brassfield (PH) 1-1;

Game 4
POR: RF Christopher – 2B Labonte – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – 3B Ojeda – SS Benitez – C Monaghan – P B. Herrera
BOS: CF Marcotte – SS J. Watson – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 3B R. Wilken – RF Y. Valdez – 2B Leitch – LF Caron – P Musgrave

Tipsy Bobby tried to reach .500 for the season, which was noble goal for somebody making more millions than I had claws on any of my paws, and the Raccoons at least faked trying to help with straight singles from the 4-5-6 batters to begin the top of the second inning against Musgrave. Benitez and Monaghan then fanned a bunch, and Herrera sent a floater to shallow center that Marcotte – … dropped. With two outs and in motion, two runners scored on that bobble, and Joe-Chris’ groundout ensured it was only two for the inning. The Coons’ third run of the game was also unearned, coming in the top 3rd after Labonte singled and stole second when Watson threw away Brass’ grounder quite badly for two bases. Two pops followed, keeping the score at 3-0, none of the runs being earned.

While Herrera was still no-hitting the Titans in the most inefficient way possible (he was north of 60 pitches after just four innings), the Raccoons finally got an earned run and I got my dearest remaining wish when Noah Caswell hit a solo homer to right in the fifth. 4-0, and that was his 20th of the season. Herrera was also having to work overtime because Tony Benitez bungled not one, but two grounders behind him inside five innings, but the Titans didn’t get through to score any runs off that either, although a single by Anson Caron in that bottom 5th finally got them into the H column – not that Herrera would have lasted nine in this one.

But nobody got stabbed in the back as badly as Ryan Musgrave, who put Labonte on third base with two outs in the seventh inning, but got Brass to ground out to Alan Leitch, except that Leitch also fudged the play and the Raccoons got their fourth unearned run of the game. Herrera finished seven mildly inconvenienced innings of 1-hit ball. The Titans’ second hit of the game was a Marcotte homer off Colby Bowen in the eighth before Elijah LaBat got the last four outs of the game to split the series down the middle, but give the season series to the Raccoons. 5-1 Critters. Labonte 3-5, 2 2B; Brassfield 2-5; Konecny (PH) 1-1, 2B; B. Herrera 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, W (12-12);

Bobby Herrera had entered the game with an outside chance at 200 K, but would have needed to whiff 11 Titans for that.

The longshots in the South were eliminated with the Thunder taking their last two games from the Bayhawks. Since the Knights split their two games with the Aces, the Thunder were now one ahead of the Knights, and two up on the Baybirds. These three played the Condors, Falcons, and Aces – in that order – now on the weekend. A 3-way tie was of course still possible here.

Raccoons (86-73) @ Indians (76-83) – October 3-5, 2059

Such shenanigans should not bother the Raccoons in Indianapolis on the weekend. We were assured of a second-place finish, no worse than ten games behind New York. In theory we could still wind up tied for the third-best record in the league, which was a bit confusing. A protected pick was long off the plate. Despite all the suffering during the season, we were guaranteed to have at least the eighth-best record in the league. Indy meanwhile was ninth in runs scored, seventh in runs allowed, and had to sweep the Critters to still get into a split for the season series.

Projected matchups:
J.J. Sensabaugh (3-0, 3.06 ERA) vs. Melvin Guerra (9-11, 3.84 ERA)
Bobby Sneeze (2-3, 3.79 ERA) vs. Marcos Rivera (14-11, 3.33 ERA)
Chance Fox (14-4, 3.61 ERA) vs. Matt Green (8-7, 4.23 ERA)

No more Damasceno and another shot for Bobby Sneeze (gesundheit!). He would wipe his pokey black nose, then oppose the last southpaw starter for the season, Marcos Rivera.

Game 1
POR: 2B Labonte – C Perez – CF Caswell – RF Brassfield – 1B Starr – 3B Ojeda – LF Kozak – SS Bean – P Sensabaugh
IND: SS Kilday – CF Abel – 1B B. Quinteros – C A. Gomez – RF Lovins – 3B R. Vargas – 2B Ewers – LF McConnell – P M. Guerra

Sensabaugh was torn to shreds inside three innings on Friday. He walked the bags full and allowed a 2-out, 2-run single to Ricardo Vargas in the first inning, then got roflstomped for three runs in the second when Kevin Ewers, Blake McConnell, and the opposing pitcher all landed leadoff hits against him. Ewers scored on McConnell’s double, Matt Kilday scored the leftfielder with a fielder’s choice, then stole his 49th base of the year and scored on a single by venerable Bill Quinteros. Sensabaugh was axed after getting out Alex Gomez, but then soon having the bases loaded again with one out and the #9 hitter up, even though in the bottom 3rd a Labonte error had added to the mess. Adam Harris replaced him, walked in a run against the ******* opposing pitcher, and then gave up a bases-clearing triple to Kilday, and probably still wondered why he was rotting in St. Petersburg most of the year.

The Coons were down 9-1, the “1” part being courtesy of Bean and Labonte putting all of two hits together in the top 3rd. That was quite the rally. It was also as good as it got. The ball was back with Colby ******* Bowen, who actually put a zero on the board in the fourth, but then put runners no the corners and was lifted with two down in the fifth inning. Elijah LaBat came in, walked Quinteros, walked Alex Gomez, and … walked Chris Lovins, forcing in two runs before being disposed wholesale with Angel Perez for an entirely new ******* battery of Ornelas and Cortez Chavez in a double switch. Ornelas then proceeded to walk Vargas, and I was slowly but surely having trouble breathing. Kevin Ewers slapped a 2-run single before McConnell finally struck the **** out. It was now a 14-1 game.

Those were also the last runs for the Indians. Ornelas, Rios, and Loveless each put a zero on the board after that, as if it still mattered, and we managed to keep our total of walks issued to 11, even though it felt worse than that. No offensive rally of any size ever came to pass, either. Guerra finished a complete-game 8-hitter. 14-1 Indians. Morris (PH) 1-1;

Knights and Thunder won in the South, but the Bayhawks lost to the Aces in 10 innings and were eliminated from contention.

Game 2
POR: LF Ortega – C Perez – RF Brassfield – CF Caswell – 1B Kozak – 3B Ojeda – SS Benitez – 2B Gonzales – P Sneeze
IND: SS Kilday – CF Abel – 1B B. Quinteros – C A. Gomez – RF Lovins – 3B R. Vargas – 2B Ewers – LF McConnell – P M. Rivera

Sneeze (gesundheit!) went like glue in the first two innings, needing 37 pitches, but also getting three strikeouts against two hits and wasn’t already down by an awful pawful at that point. In fact the game was tied scorelessly when he reached base on a 1-out Kilday error in the top 3rd. Rivera then walked Ortega, and Perez was nicked to fill the bases for Brass, who wanted to get to 20 homers too and bashed a brash bomb to straightaway centerfield to at least make it 19 – GRAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAMMMM!!!

That was the Coons’ only base hit in four innings, before Bernie Ortega found a leadoff single in the fifth. Perez added another one like that right away, but the middle of the order croaked with a fly to right, a fielder’s choice, and a K. The Indians then also got to Bobby Sneeze in the bottom 5th, who was yanked before finishing the inning. McConnell singled, was bunted to second, and scored on a Kilday 2-out single. Kilday was running riot and stole his 52nd base already, and then Sneeze hatchooed the bases full with two walks and was lifted. Alex Rios was brought in, walked Alex Gomez on four pitches to force in a second run, which pissed me off to no end, but then struck out Lovins to escape the stupid inning.

Bottom 6th, and Eloy Sencion gave up three straight singles and a run as his collapse continued right to the end of the season. He needed to be rescued by Reynaldo Bravo, who struck out Abel with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position to get out of another bloody stupid inning. The Coons then put Ortega and Perez on the corners with another pair of leadoff singles against righty Tim Jacoby in the seventh inning. Brass struck out and Cas grounded into a double play, and I was glad that the season was over and I was gonna get them outta my sight within 24 hours…

Bravo blew the 4-3 lead in the bottom 7th. He struck out Quinteros before putting Gomez and Lovins on base… and then threw not one, but two wild pitches with two outs and Ewers batting to tie the game. Ewers then flew out to center. The Coons had runners on the corners against Jacoby again in the eighth, then with 2-out singles by Benitez and Gonzales. Joel Starr batted for Bravo and slashed a ball through between Ewers and the largely immobile Quinteros (age 38) with the very first offering from Jacoby to break the tie in the Coons’ favor, 5-4, but Ortega grounded out to Vargas at third base and that was that. Ricky Herrera had a quick bottom 8th to hold the lead, and the team loaded the bases against Rich Morrall in the ninth inning. Perez hit a leadoff single, and two poor outs later, two walks to Kozak and Labonte filled the sacks for, well, Tony Benitez, who struck out on a 3-2 pitch. Matt Walters put the game away, but not without walking Gomez for some more terror. 5-4 Raccoons. Ortega 2-4, BB; Perez 3-4; Brassfield 1-4, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Gonzales 2-4, 2B; Starr (PH) 1-1, RBI;

The Knights won and the Thunder were blown out by the Condors to tie the South with one game left.

Game 3
POR: RF Christopher – 2B Ortega – CF Caswell – LF Brassfield – 1B Starr – 3B Ojeda – SS Bean – C Monaghan – P Fox
IND: SS Kilday – RF Lovins – CF Abel – C A. Gomez – 1B B. Quinteros – 2B Ewers – 3B R. Vargas – LF McConnell – P M. Green

The regulars were in the lineup on Sunday, but the plan was to have them all replaced after about six innings. The game didn’t matter, we were just wasting everybody’s time anyway. Cas made the most of what time he had and followed an Ortega single with a 2-run homer to left, probably taking the team home run crown for good. Fox then offered a leadoff walk to Kilday, who stole his 53rd base eventually, making it five in this series, but who was also thrown out at the plate by Brassfield on a 2-out single by Alex Gomez. Kilday singled, stole ANOTHER base in the bottom 3rd, but was stranded by Lovins and Abel. Brass also singled and stole a base, his ninth of the year as he tried to rally after Kilday and probably in vain, but at least he was brought around to score with well-placed grounders by Starr and Ojeda, who was almost certainly making his final appearance as a 1-year rental Raccoon.

Fox was then ****** to bits in the bottom 4th in what was the baseball gods’ way of telling me that they still hated my guts and always would. Alex Gomez led off with a 3-2 single, and Quinteros walked. Ewers singled, three on and nobody out. There, Vargas legged out an infield single to get Indy on the board. McConnell’s sac fly made it 3-2, and Green’s bunt was fudged by Fox himself with an overly ambitious non-play at third base. Kilday then hit ANOTHER infield single to tie the game, and Chris Lovins’ bases-clearing double ended Fox’ season, crammed with seven runs in 3.1 innings. Seven, because of course Alex Rios would give up a 2-run homer to Alex Gomez.

The game was obviously in the bin then, just like my mood, and I wished them all to where the sun don’t shine. Ornelas was torn up for four runs in two innings of futile long relief before Loveless and even Damasceno put up the required zeroes to get the game towards its merciless conclusion. Tony Benitez drove in a meaningless run as a pinch-hitter for Ornelas in the seventh. It was our last run of the year. 12-4 Indians. Benitez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Caswell 1-2, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Morris 1-1;

In other news

October 2 – The Warriors beat the Stars, 4-3, to clinch the FL West with three games to spare.
October 2 – Capitals OF/1B Gunner Epperson (.294, 11 HR, 43 RBI) has places to be and no time for extra innings, and ends a game tied in the bottom of the ninth against the Cyclones with a walkoff grand slam for a 7-3 Washington win.
October 3 – The Bayhawks’ season ends when SFB MR Zane Fenlon (3-7, 3.57 ERA, 2 SV) nicks Las Vegas’ Andy Chairez (.287, 1 HR, 24 RBI) with a 1-2 pitch and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning, forcing in the run that gives the Aces a 6-5 win.
October 4 – The Thunder suffer a blowout loss, 22-1, against the Condors to lose their 1-game lead in the CL South with one game to play. Condors LF Tim Duncan (.205, 18 HR, 82 RBI) has the best day with three hits, two homers, and seven RBI. Six different Condors players had three hits apiece in the game and everybody in their lineup scores at least one run.
October 5 – Both the Knights and Thunder lose their last game of the season, the Knights in 1-0 fashion, to set up a tie-breaker game on Monday.
October 5 – Wolves and Pacifics cash overtime pay on Closing Day, which for them goes 14 innings for an eventual 6-3 Wolves win.
October 6 – In the CL South tie-breaker game, OCT SP Aaron Harris (13-9, 3.37 ERA) and ATL OF Dan Nork (.188, 2 HR, 19 RBI) are ejected in the third inning for fighting, but the Thunder rally around their bullpen and erase an early deficit to run away for an 8-3 win and a playoff ticket.

FL Hitter of the Month: SAC RF/CF Will Buras (.373, 22 HR, 107 RBI), going .387 with 5 HR, 25 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: VAN 3B/2B Thomas Whittington (.278, 11 HR, 68 RBI), bashing .389 with 3 HR, 18 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: SFW SP Ethan Alvey (11-10, 3.20 ERA), throwing 4-1 ball with a 1.60 ERA, 38 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: TIJ SP Miguel Batista (17-12, 3.32 ERA), a perfect 6-0 record with 1.62 ERA, 22 K
FL Rookie of the Month: RIC 1B Pedro Parada (.329, 8 HR, 34 RBI), batting .354 with 3 HR, 11 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: NYC OF Tommy Branch (.232, 16 HR, 58 RBI), hitting .301 with 3 HR, 14 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Thank goodness, this is over. Awful end to an awful season. There are without a doubt some good foundations on the roster, like that 3-4-5 part of the lineup and maybe we can even hammer a major leaguer out of the unformed ingot that is Joey Christopher, who dropped his OBP to .370 and was .500 in stealing bases.

Oh well, next year, Lonzo will be back and all our problems will be solved!

La-lala-lala, all is well… (dances into the sunset of the season)

Fun Fact: The Raccoons won the season series against every CL North opponent this year, except for the one against …

…the Loggers…!!

The Loggers…!!!