[Westheim]

May 1 is Euro-style Labor Day, so you'll get your Critters a bit earlier than usual today!

+++

Raccoons (42-41) vs. Indians (47-33) – July 5-8, 2060

Four and four with the Indians now, who were a bit of a surprise in second place, scoring the second-most runs in the CL, but lacking in pitching with the fourth-most runs allowed and a +20 run differential (Critters: -30). Their rotation was cruddy, their pen was worse, and they needed help, but they were up 3-1 on the Raccoons this year.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (7-3, 2.93 ERA) vs. Melvin Guerra (7-6, 5.19 ERA)
Zach Stewart (9-4, 3.16 ERA) vs. Roberto Oyola (5-4, 3.06 ERA)
Chance Fox (7-7, 5.01 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (4-1, 2.73 ERA)
Bobby Herrera (6-9, 3.63 ERA) vs. Shane Fitzgibbon (8-5, 3.69 ERA)

Two right, two left from the Indians, while the Raccoons contributed three southpaws to a majority-lefty series.

Game 1
IND: SS Kilday – RF Lovins – C A. Gomez – LF O. Ramos – CF Abel – 1B Schaack – 3B R. Vargas – 2B Zucal – P M. Guerra
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 2B Nye – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – 3B Fowler – C Perez – CF Morris – P Riddle

The Raccoons scratched out an early run with a walk drawn by Joe-Chris, a Lonzo single, and a run-scoring grounder to short for Nick Nye, but Lonzo was left in scoring position. Second inning, second run on Ben Morris’ sac fly after Fowler and Perez went to the corners with leadoff knocks against Guerra. That was it for early offense, while the Indians had three hits against Riddle in the first three innings, but also hit into two double plays. Chris Lovins’ leadoff jack in the fourth narrowed the score to 2-1 and the Indians got Alex Gomez and Orlando Ramos on base as well with singles, but Kevin Abel flew out and Riddle struck out Jason Schaack and Ricardo Vargas to wiggle out of the jam. The Vargas K was also his 100th K of the year in 111.1 innings. Roger Zucal, just recently added by Indy from New York, led off the fifth with another single, but was stranded on third base after a bunt, Matt Kilday’s groundout, and a K to Lovins. In turn, Nick Nye hit a home run in the bottom 5th to re-establish a 2-run lead.

The game remained close; the sixth was uneventful, but Schaack was nicked with a breaking ball by Riddle to begin the seventh inning, and the Indians managed to maneuver pinch-runner Ernie Mitchell around to score after Vargas drew a walk to shove him to second base with nobody out, but Riddle again got the critical out from Kilday to strand the tying run on third base. The Coons in the bottom 7th then had two walks (Joe-Chris, Nye) and a triple (Lonzo), and didn’t score because Christopher was caught stealing right away, and the runners on the corners were wound up by Joel Starr’s 6-4-3 grounder to short. Riddle came back for the eighth for Lovins, but the lefty hitter flicked a first-pitch single to left and Ruben Mendez was already lined up to follow on. He threw a wild pitch, got two outs, but the Indians sent left-handed batter Mike Weber to bat for Kevin Abel with two outs in the inning, with Lovins on third base. The Raccoons brought Walters in a double switch for an attempt at another 4-out save, but lost Weber in a full count, and then fell to a duck snort single to center on an 0-2 pitch by PH Ricardo Alvarez, tying the game after all before Vargas grounded out. In the ninth, Walters had to pitch around a Fowler error, but held the game tied. The Raccoons didn’t reach against Hyuma Hitomi, however, and the game went to extras, where in the top 10th secret weapon Ricky Herrera gave up three singles to Alex Gomez, Gaudencio Callaia, and Vargas as well as the go-ahead run, which wasn’t in my script… Left-hander Cody Kleidon (who?) got the bottom 10th for Indy, which started with Lonzo, who was not impressed with Kleidon walking more than he whiffed and singled to right to begin the inning. Nye’s grounder to short forced Lonzo at second base, and Starr had been removed in the double play, so Kozak pinch-hit for Ricky Herrera, but flew out on a 3-0 pitch, which left me aghast. Brass walked with two outs, and Chris Maresh batted for Fowler, but grounded out to Kilday. 4-3 Indians. Lavorano 3-5, 3B; Morris 1-2, BB, RBI; Riddle 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K and 1-2;

Game 2
IND: 3B R. Vargas – RF Lovins – C A. Gomez – CF Abel – 1B Schaack – SS Zucal – LF R. Alvarez – 2B M. Weber – P R. Oyola
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 2B Nye – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – 3B Fowler – C Maresh – CF Morris – P Stewart

Christopher hit a single to lead off the bottom 1st, and that was the only Raccoons knock until most of the crowd had fallen asleep. The Indians got a run on Weber’s leadoff single and a Vargas double to left in the third inning, then another one when Schaack homered off Stewart in the fourth, and another one on another solo homer by Alex Gomez in the sixth, but they also lost ex-Coon Oyola to injury in the fourth inning and would have to piece the rest of the game together with their pen. Christopher then hit another single to lead off the sixth for the Coons’ second hit of the ballgame, whee. Lonzo singled, Christopher was caught trying to steal third base, Nye singled Lonzo to third base, and Starr found another double play to hit into, and that ended the inning.

Stewart got stuck with runners on the corners in the seventh inning, where Ryan Sullivan bailed him out, getting a fly to center from Gomez to end the inning. The Indians were still sort of cruising by the stretch with their 3-0 lead, but then Ben Akman loaded the bases with the 5-6-7 batters – on a hit and two walks – and nobody out in the bottom 7th. Morris, Kozak, and Christopher then all grounded out to second base in order. The first two brought in a run each, 3-2, but Christopher ran outta outs. The eighth was uneventful, but the ninth started with Elijah LaBat allowing a leadoff single to Alvarez and a walk to Weber, putting on two with nobody down. Callaia then hit a hard chomper back to the mound, and LaBat went all-in, flinging it to third base for a force on the slow-starting Alvarez, and Fowler threw out Callaia at first for a 1-5-3 double play. Vargas whiffed to end the inning. The bottom 9th went to Cody Kleidon, who bungled a bouncer by Brassfield to put the tying run on base right away. Fowler grounded to the right side, and Schaack fudged that ball for a second error…! That put the winning run on base, and the Raccoons sent both their righty catchers against the southpaw Kleidon. Maresh whiffed, but Perez singled to left, brought home Brass, and the game was tied. Caballero and Christopher both fanned to send another game to extras… Kleidon, the walk monster, then struck out two more in the bottom 10th without issuing a free pass to anybody. The Indians broke through in Reynaldo Bravo’s second inning of work, the 11th, with an Alvarez single and Orlando Ramos’ pinch-hit 2-run homer to right; both were left-handed batters, but we didn’t have anybody available to face them… Facing Hitomi in the bottom 11th, the Raccoons got the tying runs on the corners with one out as Fowler walked and Gonzales hit a pinch-hit single for Bravo. Caballero hit into a fielder’s choice at second base, scoring Fowler, but Christopher flew out to left… 5-4 Indians. Christopher 2-6; Nye 2-4; Perez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Gonzales (PH) 1-1;

Boys, if you gotta lose, at least lose in nine. Thanks.

Game 3
IND: SS Kilday – RF Lovins – C A. Gomez – LF O. Ramos – 1B Schaack – CF E. Mitchell – 3B Zucal – 2B M. Weber – P DeWitt
POR: 2B Nye – SS Lavorano – CF Caballero – C Perez – 1B Starr – LF Kozak – RF Christopher – 3B Gonzales – P Fox

Wednesday went pear-shaped quite quickly despite a Nye homer to begin the bottom 1st. DeWitt then got Lonzo to 0-2 before nailing him with a fastball in the forearm, which Lonzo did not approve of. He flung the bat, raced out to the mound, and with the undrilled right paw punched DeWitt right in the kisser before getting tackled from behind by Zucal as pandemonium broke out. It took over five minutes to restore order and for the game to proceed, then without DeWitt and Lonzo, who had both been ejected. Jon Bean replaced Lonzo at short, but I had a hunch that he’d get a suspension once we heard that the Indians were looking for an emergency dentist appointment for DeWitt. Angel Perez hit a 2-run homer off ex-Coon Hyun-soo Bak when the inning finally continued, so Portland was up 3-0 through a tumultuous first inning.

It was 5-0 after two; Christopher led off with a double and scored on Fox’ sac fly, but the inning continued with 2-out hits by Nye, who stole second, and Bean, who got the RBI. Foxie Brown then struck out the next four batters he faced in the third and fourth innings, then two more in the fifth for seven K through five innings in his best start in a while, keeping the Indians to two hits so far. The Indians didn’t reach in the sixth, and when Alex Gomez hit a leadoff single to left in the seventh, Ramos popped out and Schaack grounded to Bean for a double play. Fox was at 86 pitches through seven innings, but he was also the first starter here that would only come back after the All Star break, so we’d squeeze him a bit harder than usual here if he kept the shutout going, which soon became bold words, because he gave up a leadoff single to Ernie Mitchell in the eighth, then struck out the 7-8-9 batters, but that shot him well over 100 pitches for the day. He did come back for the ninth, still with a 5-0 lead because apparently the Indians emptying their entire bullpen was not good enough for the Coons to tack on some. Kilday flew out to Caballero on the first pitch of the ninth, which was neat, but the next pitch, #108, nicked Lovins on base. Gomez then resisted for eight pitches before whiffing, but Fox would still get the left-handed Ramos, whom he got to 1-2 before a passed ball by Perez advanced the Indians’ runner. The count ran full before Ramos hit a liner on the eighth pitch of that at-bat – and right into Foxie Brown’s reaching mitten! Ballgame! 5-0 Raccoons! Perez 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Fowler (PH) 1-1; Fox 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 K, W (8-7) and 0-2, RBI;

TEN GAME SUSPENSION for Lonzo…! TEN!!! Maud, no!! We will appeal!! How DARE the league suspend my favorite toy for TEN GAMES!!

(walks around the office screaming)

Nick Nye would slide over to play shortstop for the time of the Lonzo suspension, since that was defensively preferrable.

Game 4
IND: SS Kilday – CF Abel – LF O. Ramos – RF Lovins – 3B R. Vargas – 2B M. Weber – C J. Kelly – 1B R. Alvarez – P Fitzgibbon
POR: RF Christopher – SS Nye – LF Brassfield – C Perez – CF Caballero – 1B Kozak – 3B Gonzales – 2B Bean – P B. Herrera

No shutout on Thursday from Bobby Herrera, who came off two excellent outings, but walked Matt Kilday to begin the game, then struck out two, and then went on to allow SIX 2-out runs. Chris Lovins hit one out, Vargas walked, and then the Indians rapped off four straight 2-out hits, including an RBI double by the pitcher Fitzgibbon to drown Herrera in a barrel. He would continue to pitch though so we wouldn’t have to churn through the entire pen yet again, while the Raccoons were offensively hapless in the early going. In fact, the biggest hit the first time through was a Herrera double in the bottom 3rd, although he was topped an inning later, when the bottom 4th began with a Brass walk and a Perez single, and after Caballero popped out, Jack Kozak hit a 3-run blast over the fence in left to cut the 6-0 gap in half.

Herrera was hauled in after five innings with no notable Indians offense in the latter four. Ben Morris doubled in his spot in the bottom 5th, but got no assistance and remained on base. Perez and Caballero then got on against Fitzgibbon to begin the bottom 6th, bringing back Kozak as the tying run. He gave a 3-2 pitch a good ride to right-center, but had to settle for an RBI double off the base of the wall. Fitzgibbon’s 1-2 pitch to David Gonzales was wild and scored Caballero, 6-5, and Gonzales’ sac fly to left-center tied the game, chased Fitzgibbon, and got Tipsy Bobby off a well-deserved hook for what would have been his 10th loss of the season.

Ruben Mendez held the game tied at six in the top 7th, after which Hyuma Hitomi walked Christopher, who stole his 20th base, walked Brass, and had the bags fill up on a soft 1-out single by Perez. Caballero ran a full count before laying off a pitch outside to draw the third walk of the inning and pushing home the go-ahead run, 7-6, and that brought back Kozak, who had four RBI in the game, but hacked out. Gonzales flew out to Lovins to leave the bases loaded. Ricardo Alvarez and Roger Zucal went to the corners with 2-out hits against Ryan Sullivan in the eighth. The Coons brought Ricky Herrera for Kilday, who struck out to kill the rally. No insurance run was produced in the bottom 8th, but Walters struck out Abel and got two grounders to Gonzales to end the game. 7-6 Critters. Perez 3-4; Kozak 2-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Morris (PH) 1-1, 2B;

Just when I wanted to demote Kozak to make the shortened bench more flexible…!

Woe is me…!!

Raccoons (44-43) vs. Loggers (39-45) – July 9-11, 2060

The sorry Loggers had just lost Perry Pigman (.324, 1 HR, 32 RBI) for the season with a broken elbow, joining Fidel Carrera and Eli Dupuis on the DL for them. They were tops in batting average and stolen bases and nearly bottoms in home runs, and also second-worst in starters’ ERA. This worked out to third in runs scored, 11th in runs allowed, a -14 run differential and another cruddy season in Loggerland. The Coons led the season series against them, 7-2, after years and years of struggling against them.

Projected matchups:
Angel Alba (1-2, 7.04 ERA) vs. Julian Dunn (10-4, 4.39 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (7-3, 2.99 ERA) vs. Roger Pritchard (7-5, 3.28 ERA)
Zach Stewart (9-4, 3.22 ERA) vs. Jesus Aquino (3-8, 4.51 ERA)

One more lefty before the All Star Game on Saturday with Pritchard.

Game 1
MIL: LF Lock – 2B Garmon – CF Franks – 1B D. Robles – C M. Reed – RF Milian – SS D. Miller – 3B Serna – P Dunn
POR: RF Christopher – 3B Fowler – SS Nye – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Maresh – CF Morris – 2B Bean – P Alba

The Raccoons scored first on Friday when Starr led off the second with a triple to left and came in on a Brassfield grounder, and that was all there was to the inning, but Jon Bean drew a walk to begin the bottom 3rd. Alba, who was 1-hitting the Loggers early on, bunted him to second base, and Christopher cashed him with a single to left-center, 2-0. Trent Brassfield doubled that in the fourth, again finding Starr on base and hitting a jack over the wall in left, 4-0! That was not all for the inning, as Morris got on base by means of four balls, then stole his fourth base of the year before coming around on a 2-out, closed-eyes single flicked into center by Angel Alba. Dunn got a grounder to third from Christopher to end the inning.

Alba kept unscored upon for a while longer. David Milian hit a single in the fifth, but was caught stealing, and Marty Serna was nicked by a pitch to begin the sixth, but was stranded. Dave Robles then ended the parade with a seventh-inning jack to left-center, his 14th of the year. Milian singled in the inning, but Alba struck out Danny Miller before the Raccoons went to LaBat for Serna, with Caballero entering over Morris in a double switch. LaBat got four outs, stranded Alba’s runner, and got around a walk to ex-Coon Marcos Chavez in the eighth inning, all while keeping the 5-1 lead intact. A Maresh homer tacked on a run in the bottom 8th, but Bravo retired the Loggers in order in the ninth anyway. 6-1 Raccoons! Starr 2-3, BB, 3B; Alba 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (2-2) and 1-1, RBI;

Unfortunately for Alba (2-2, 5.32 ERA), the Raccoons with a day off on the Monday following the All Star Game would not need another fifth starter for the length of Lonzo’s suspension and opted to send him to the Alley Cats to get an extra bat on board.

Get another debutant in: the Raccoons had six years ago signed a right-handed Venezuelan outfielder named Felix Ayala for the budget price of $32k in the July IFA period. He had worked his way up the minors steadily since then and was batting .330 with three homers in 47 games in St. Pete this year. Ayala, 23, could play all three outfield positions and was agile, but didn’t have a great throwing arm or much power. He was right in the lineup on Saturday though against the southpaw Pritchard.

Game 2
MIL: SS D. Miller – RF Wilks – CF Franks – 1B D. Robles – C M. Chavez – 3B Lange – LF Milian – 2B Serna – P Pritchard
POR: RF Christopher – SS Nye – LF Brassfield – C Perez – 1B Kozak – 3B Gonzales – CF Ayala – 2B Bean – P Riddle

For the second time this week, Nick Nye homered to give the Coons a first-inning, 1-0 lead. It was his 10th bomb of the year. Bottom 2nd, Kozak walked and Gonzales singled before Ayala’s first time in close proximity to a major league baseball ended with a groundout. The Loggers didn’t pitch to the left-handed batting Bean, opting for the intentional walk and to have Riddle bat with three on and one out, which worked out for them as both him and Joe-Chris popped out on the infield… On the hill, Riddle retired seven straight before serving up a Serna single, but kept the Logger on base. In the home half of the inning, Nye led off with a single, stole second, and then watched two strikeouts before Kozak doubled to left to get him home, 2-0. Gonzales’ sharp RBI single to left-center narrowly allowed Kozak to score, but Ayala grounded out.

The Loggers again made it onto the scoreboard with a home run in the fifth inning, hit by Ralph Lange, which was going a bit against their season-long stats, but the Raccoons shrugged it off and in the sixth got straight singles from their 8-9-1-2 hitters to tack on two runs with RBI’s for Christopher and Nye as they extended the score to 5-1. Riddle was still looking good, but gave up 2-out singles to the 7-8 batters Milian and Serna in the seventh. The pinch-hitter Willie Martinez was rung up, though, and the inning ended for Milwaukee. Riddle completed eight, retiring the top of the Loggers lineup in order in his final inning, then was hit for with Morris against right-hander Girolamo Pizzichini in the bottom 8th. Morris walked and stole a base, but nothing came of the inning, really; I just wanted to say “Girolamo Pizzichini” real bad. Erickson handled the ninth perfectly to end the game. 5-1 Coons. Nye 4-5, HR, 2 RBI; Kozak 2-3, BB, 2B, RBI; Gonzales 2-4, RBI; Bean 2-3, BB; Riddle 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (8-3) and 1-2;

Felix Ayala went 0-for-4 with three groundouts and a pop, but at least didn’t fumble any balls on defense, or got too close to an established players food bowl…

For Sunday the Raccoons would want to stay away from Matt Walters, who was nominated for the All Star Game, but everybody else was available; no living position player on the roster, nor starter Zach Stewart would make the trip.

Game 3
MIL: RF D. Wright – LF Garmon – 1B D. Robles – C M. Chavez – 3B Lange – SS D. Miller – CF Wilks – 2B Serna – P J. Aquino
POR: RF Christopher – 3B Fowler – SS Nye – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – CF Morris – 2B Bean – P Stewart

The Raccoons got the first run again on Sunday, and right in the first inning, although the clumsy Loggers helped as much as they could. After Christopher singled, Fowler reached on an error by Serna, and they also couldn’t turn two on Nye’s grounder to short. Aquino walked Starr to fill the bases, then walked Brass to push home a run. Perez hit a sac fly to center, and Morris turned an 0-2 pitch into a soft RBI single to right-center. Bean grounded out, but it was 3-0 rather quickly. Stewart then walked a pair himself to begin the top 2nd, putting Ralph Lange and Danny Miller on base. James Wilks, Serna, and Aquino then made three quick and poor outs and nobody scored for them. The next leadoff walk to Dave Wright came around to score, though. The Loggers made two outs, but then clubbed three straight singled with Chavez, Lange, and Miller. Lange and Miller both drove in a run, and Lange was thrown out trying to go first-to-third on Miller’s single, which ended the inning with Portland still up 3-2. Stewart kept melting like ice in the sun, though; he nicked Serna, mishandled Aquino’s bunt for an extra base runner, and then surrendered the tying run on Wright’s double to left. Wright pulled something on the turn at first base, and was replaced with Milian. Corey Garmon’s groundout put the Loggers up 4-3 before Robles fanned to end the third sticky inning in a row.

Bottom 5th, Christopher was on base with a 1-out single. And if I had a dime for every time Fowler reached on a Serna error in this game, I wouldn’t turn rich, but by the bottom 5th I’d have two dimes. Nye’s single to center then loaded the bases. Aquino then walked in another run in, tying the game when he lost Starr in a full count. Brass hit a sac fly in another full count for a 5-4 lead before Perez grounded out to strand a pair, but the bottom 6th brought more trouble for Aquino, who put Morris, Bean, and Caballero on base with nobody out. But there was still no big knock – Christopher hit another sac fly, 6-4, but Fowler whiffed and Nye popped out. Aquino kept getting run out into the bottom 7th until he gave up a homer to Joel Starr, 7-4, and that ended his day, finally.

The Raccoons used Sullivan and Mendez to cover the next two innings and get through eight, but also didn’t tack on. We still didn’t want to use Walters, if we could sneak our way through a ninth inning with a 3-run lead and Reynaldo Bravo facing the bottom of the Loggers lineup, though. The Loggers obeyed and went in order and with two strikeouts. 7-4 Coons. Christopher 3-4, RBI; Starr 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Brassfield 1-2, BB, 2 RBI; Morris 3-4, RBI; Caballero (PH) 1-1;

In other news

July 5 – Buffaloes INF Zach Suggs (.299, 11 HR, 49 RBI) gets his 2,000th base hit in a 7-5 win against the Capitals. The milestone is a game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning against WAS CL Ben Lussier (1-5, 3.46 ERA, 18 SV), two pitches ahead of Dan Martin (.310, 10 HR, 64 RBI) whacking a walkoff home run. For his career Suggs is hitting an even .300 with 262 HR and 1,088 RBI, and has won two rings, four Platinum Sticks, and two home run titles in the CL.
July 6 – Charlotte swingman Andres Lopez (3-2, 2.74 ERA, 1 SV) pitches 5.2 innings of 3-run ball to claim victory in a 14-3 rout of the Bayhawks. While his pitching was unremarkable, he also went 2-for-3 at the plate with a grand slam off SFB SP Mark Jacobs (7-5, 3.16 ERA) and *6 RBI* in total. Lopez had just four career RBI prior to this game, his 39th career start.
July 6 – The Loggers beat the Titans, 6-4 in 15 innings.

July 7 – The Aces send 1B Jeff Andersen (.271, 4 HR, 36 RBI) to the Rebels for OF/1B Matt Schrock (.251, 3 HR, 24 RBI).
July 7 – The Wolves trade SP Gabriel Casanova (5-7, 2.96 ERA) to the Blue Sox for a prospect with the delightful name Palmiro Derbyshire.
July 8 – The Buffos kill the Capitals in a 22-4 thrashing, with half their runs scored in the fourth inning alone. Every position player in the Buffos’ lineup reaches base safely at least three times. TOP INF/LF/RF Adam Peltier (.228, 3 HR, 25 RBI) leads the team with five RBI on two hits including a first-inning grand-slam.
July 9 – The Falcons bring in OF/3B/2B Chris Tomko (.259, 6 HR, 32 RBI) from San Francisco for UT Ricky Carbajal (.218, 5 HR, 32 RBI) and #109 prospect CL Brad Fales.
July 9 – VAN SP Jeff Kozloski (2-9, 7.57 ERA) has his miserable season end with a torn labrum.

July 10 – A torn rotator cuff will put SFB SP Eric Braley (6-9, 4.42 ERA) on the DL for the rest of the year and perhaps the start of next season.
July 10 – SAC C Nate Danis (.285, 8 HR, 36 RBI) was expected to miss a month with an oblique strain.
July 10 – The Indians raid the Canadiens in an 18-1 game. IND INF Matt Kilday (.325, 1 HR, 38 RBI) has four hits, a double, and drives in three runs from the leadoff spot, with the entire lineup contributing.
July 11 – LVA SP Scott Evans (7-4, 5.23 ERA) 3-hits the Thunder in a 7-0 game, striking out six.
July 11 – The Gold Sox acquire SP Ben Peterson (5-8, 5.96 ERA) from the Scorpions for LF/CF Rick Miles (.309, 0 HR, 10 RBI).
July 11 – The Wolves send SP Marcos Rivera (7-8, 2.78 ERA) and cash to the Blue Sox for OF Diego Montero (.234, 3 HR, 13 RBI).
July 11 – SAL SP Blake Sparks (4-9, 5.74 ERA) would miss two months with a forearm strain.
July 11 – Cincy LF/1B/RF Alan Puckeridge (.299, 3 HR, 23 RBI) shines with two home runs and six RBI in a 12-7 win against the Buffaloes.

FL Player of the Week: TOP INF Zach Suggs (.307, 13 HR, 61 RBI), hitting .462 (12-26) with 2 HR, 13 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 1B Andy Metz (.285, 14 HR, 53 RBI), bashing .433 (13-30) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The unremarkable Raccoons had three All Stars, two of which would actually show up walking on their own legs: Tyler Riddle and Matt Walters. The other Critter there would be on crutches, as Noah Caswell had gone down to torn ankle ligaments in early June, but had still won the fan vote for centerfielders. It was the fifth All Star Game nod for Cas, and the fourth straight at that. Walters went for the fourth time in five years. Brittle Riddle went for the third time, and his first after a 3-year break mostly cause by injuries.

The Lonzo suspension makes him dead weight on the roster for a staggering two weeks, up to and all the way through most of the Titans series *after* the All Star Game, which comes *after* the back end of the four-and-four with the Indians. It would also sap his attempt at a stolen base title, since he was currently just four bags behind Danny Garcia of the damn Elks, but hadn’t had much momentum to begin with right now.

And, well, he was occupying a roster spot for nothing.

Lost in all the rage on Wednesday was the second career shutout of Foxie Brown. He also 4-hit the Knights last year.

For administrative completeness, Brad Loveless came off the DL this week but was outrighted to AAA straightaway. We also signed up four youngsters in the July IFA pool for $359k: two Dominican pitchers, one from each side, for low six figures each, and two catchers from the value bin. We bid on two more players, but bowed out because they didn’t seem worth it going into penalty territory with a signing: infielder Israel Diaz with a high-contact, won’t-K bat and highly questionable defense, as well as Venezuelan righty Jorge Flores with six pitches, but none of them too good.

On the other side of the All Star Game, the Raccoons will go on a 3-city road trip to Indy, Boston, and the Bay.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons won the season series from the Loggers for the first time since *2053*.

That was a mighty long time against a team that didn’t necessarily play great during these six years. Three of the years ended with a 9-9 tie between the brown and green teams, and twice the Loggers prevailed 10-8. Only in ’57 did they really bowl the Raccoons over with a 14-4 season.

This year it’s 10-2 Coons though with six games to play.