[Westheim]

Raccoons (72-53) @ Titans (74-49) – August 24-26, 2060

Despite the league-worst .243 batting average, the Titans had reeled off 11 straight wins and were now just 6 1/2 games back of the Crusaders, who won a game on Monday to shake off the sweep they had suffered by the Raccoons on the weekend. The Titans, who were up 9-3 against Portland this year, hoped to exploit the lovely Brownshirts further to get even closer to New York. While they ranked 7th in runs scored in the CL, they were giving up the fewest runs overall and had a +96 run differential (Coons: +37).

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (9-6, 3.00 ERA) vs. Jayden Craddock (14-5, 3.07 ERA)
Duarte Damasceno (4-0, 1.35 ERA) vs. Will Glaude (4-6, 3.69 ERA)
Chance Fox (12-8, 4.18 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (12-5, 2.57 ERA)

The Titans, who were without the regulars Ted Lloyd and Jonathan Watson that were lingering on the DL, worked with only right-handed starting pitchers.

Bernie Ortega (.231, 0 HR, 2 RBI) was sent to AAA as Lonzoooo came off the DL to begin the series. Lonzo returned to the team trailing Elk City’s Danny Garcia by eight in the stolen base race, but where there’s a will, there’s a way, and where somebody puts a box of donuts on second base, there’s a Lonzo trying to get to it as quickly as possible.

The Raccoons were also hoping that Justin DeRose would heal up in time to make a start on Saturday, and shake off that neck –

That’s where my notes end, but I feel like there’s a line missing, because I don’t see how far it’d get us to fly to Vegas and start Justin, the Headless Forkball Gunner.

Game 1
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 2B Nye – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – 3B Fowler – C Perez – CF Morris – P Riddle
BOS: CF Marcotte – RF Y. Valdez – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 2B D. Mendoza – LF A. Lee – SS Leitch – 3B Elkins – P Craddock

Lonzo came off the DL ready, cocked, and loaded, and after Joey Christopher hit a double to left to open Tuesday’s opener, hit a jack over the wall in leftfield for a quick 2-0 lead…! And that was it for offense, because from there, the innings breezed by. Nick Nye hit a single and stole his 21st base, and Andy Lee hit a single for the Titans, but suddenly six innings were over and it was still a 2-0 game. The Raccoons got Angel Perez into scoring position in the seventh when he reached on a throwing error by Diego Mendoza, but Morris and Riddle made basic outs and left him on base. Riddle had seven strikeouts at the stretch, then whiffed away the middle of the order in the bottom 7th, and continued with a K to Lee in the bottom 8th. Alan Leitch popped out, but Jon Elkins and Bill Dorey then hit 2-out singles, and the Raccoons were panicked enough to send Ryan Sullivan against Eddie Marcotte atop the order. He gave up the third straight base hit through the left side, a double up the line, and Elkins scored, but Dorey was thrown out at the plate by Brassfield trying, which ended the inning. The Coons failed to get an insurance run after Brass walked and stole a base in the top 9th, but Matt Walters began the bottom 9th with a fly to center from Yoslan Valdez for the first out. Manny Rubin singled to left, but Jorge Arviso’s grounder up the middle was taken by Lonzo, who stepped on second, avoided the sliding Rubin, and zinged to first base in time for a game-ending 6-3 double play…! 2-1 Raccoons. Lavorano 1-4, HR, 2 RBI; Riddle 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, W (10-6);

Game 2
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 2B Nye – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – 3B Fowler – C Perez – CF Morris – P Damasceno
BOS: CF Marcotte – LF A. Lee – C Arviso – RF Y. Valdez – 2B D. Mendoza – SS Abecassis – 1B Dorey – 3B Elkins – P Glaude

Nick Nye left the game in the first inning with some back soreness and was replaced with David Gonzales batting third, which was certainly gonna turn out great going forwards. Other problems soon followed, with Damasceno retiring the first six batters he faced before giving up a single to Dorey and nicking Elkins on base in the bottom 3rd. Glaude got the bunt down, but Marcotte whiffed. Andy Lee was down 0-2, but then got hold of a hanger and brawned it some 440 feet into the next county over for a 3-run homer.

The Coons offense lacked Lonzo homers, or base hits in general, until Glaude, who racked up seven strikeouts through four innings, offered a leadoff walk to Fowler in the top 5th. Angel Perez doubled, putting a pair in scoring position, but Morris whiffed, and Damasceno’s fly to right was caught by Valdez, who then threw out Fowler at the plate to end the inning.

When the Raccoons finally had the sac fly they were craving, it was already the seventh inning and Starr and Fowler had gone to the corners for Perez to fly out to Valdez in deep right. That shortened the score to 3-1, but Morris’ groundout then also ended the inning. Ethan Torrence’s pinch-hit, 2-out RBI single against LaBat that plated Dorey, who was Damasceno’s runner, then quickly re-established the 3-run gap on the Raccoons. In turn, Lonzo hit a 2-out single in the eighth, stole second base, and was driven in by David Gonzales of all people, who now had 21 RBI in a year and three quarters of being on the roster. Gabe Hill then walked Starr to put the tying run on base, with Mike Lane replacing him to face Brassfield, but he gave up an RBI single to left on a 1-2 pitch, and the score was now 4-3. The Titans brought yet another pitcher, southpaw Jorge Quinones, which drew Jack Kozak off the bench to bat for the left-handed Fowler. The reward was appealing, another 2-strike RBI single into right-center to tie the game…! Perez then grounded out to end the inning.

Bravo and Ricky H. split the bottom 8th between them to keep the Titans tightly tied, but while Christopher and Lonzo had 2-out hits in the ninth inning, Gonzales flew out easily to Matt Gilmore in leftfield to end the top 9th. Ruben Mendez’ scoreless ninth sent the game to extras, where the Coons wound up with Curt Therien in an attempt to get length. The Raccoons couldn’t get a paw up on Mike Pohlmann in long relief, but the Titans’ Diego Mendoza sure did on Therien, who got four outs in extras before serving up an 11th-inning walkoff homer to the second-sacker. 5-4 Titans. Lavorano 2-5, 2B; Fowler 1-2, BB; Kozak (PH) 1-1, RBI;

Nick Nye would miss two weeks with back soreness and was off to the DL, which was surely gonna help with the offense…

Uh. Anybody remember Bernie Ortega?

Game 3
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – 3B Fowler – C Maresh – CF Caballero – 2B Bean – P Fox
BOS: CF Marcotte – RF Y. Valdez – 1B M. Rubin – C Arviso – 2B D. Mendoza – SS Leitch – LF Ma. Gilmore – 3B Elkins – P Brenize

A Lonzo hit, a walk to Starr, and Brassfield reaching on Elkins’ error loaded the bases for the Raccoons with one out in the first inning, but Nick Fowler killed the whole thing with a 6-4-3 grounder to short. Instead Boston took a 1-0 lead when Fox took his Chances with a leadoff walk offered to Eddie Marcotte in the bottom 1st, and conceded the run on an Arviso single to right.

With that run on the board, the next three innings passed quickly and without much incident before Brenize walked Chris Maresh at the start of the fifth inning and Caballero stuck a double into the rightfield corner. That put a pair in scoring position for Jon Bean, except, no, the Titans were putting him on intentionally. So, three on and nobody out for Foxie Brown, batting a sturdy .128, or .125 after hitting a grounder to short that was quick enough for Leitch to go home and throw out Maresh, who, fun fact, was *not* quick enough. Christopher got the bare minimum done with an RBI single to center, tying the game at one, and Lonzo’s sac fly gave the Coons a 2-1 lead. Starr’s scratch single loaded the bases again with two outs, but Brass just wasn’t in the groove right now and flew out easily to Gilmore in medium-depth leftfield. Fox got three in a row in the bottom 5th before allowing a single to Brenize in the sixth. Marcotte hit into a double play, though.

By the bottom 7th, the Titans were hitting the ball harder, so the Raccoons got the pen ready despite Fox being on only 76 pitches through seven. Sullivan would put down the 6-7-8 batters in the bottom 8th; Gilmore singled, but was doubled up easily on an Elkins grounder to Fowler, 5-4-3. With late game offense for the Raccoons being basically a Starr single and nothing else, Walters got another 1-run game in the bottom 9th. He struck out Alex Abecassis, then gave up a game-tying homer to Marcotte, and the game went to extra innings for the second day in a row. This time the end was even more dismal, with Bernie Ortega’s leadoff single in the top 10th leading to absolutely nothing, not even a runner getting into scoring position *eventually* against Mike Lane, while Reynaldo Bravo in the bottom 10th walked Arviso, allowed a single to Leitch, walked Gilmore, and walked the Titans off with another ******* walk to Elkins. 3-2 Titans. Christopher 2-5, RBI; Starr 2-3, 2 BB; Ortega (PH) 1-1; Fox 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K;

Well, you know the saying about what happens in Boston.

NOTHING GOOD.

Raccoons (73-55) vs. Aces (52-75) – August 27-29, 2060

The Aces were in the bottom three in both runs scored and runs allowed, and were dragging a -85 run differential towards the season’s merciful conclusion. It was in all likelihood going to be their eighth straight losing season, and perhaps their fourth straight red lantern in the CL South. The season series between these two teams was even at three, though.

Projected matchups:
Bobby Herrera (9-11, 3.90 ERA) vs. Jesus Aquino (4-12, 4.47 ERA)
Justin DeRose (9-7, 3.52 ERA) vs. Scott Evans (7-11, 5.47 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (10-6, 2.92 ERA) vs. Kris Robbins (4-14, 5.29 ERA)

No southpaw here unless they skipped Steve Hunter (11-9, 3.32 ERA) into the series, which they could do on Sunday.

Game 1
LVA: LF K. Hummel – CF Schrock – 3B A. Alfaro – RF J. Evans – SS Veguilla – 1B Jacinto – 2B M. Roberts – C Mathews – P J. Aquino
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – 3B Fowler – C Perez – CF Morris – 2B Bean – P B. Herrera

Bobby Herrera struck out five the first time through, while Aquino was whacked for six base hits. Lonzo and Starr singles dissipated with Brass’ double play grounder in the first, but Fowler legged out an infield single to begin the bottom 2nd and Angel Perez then right away whooped a homer for a 2-0 lead. Morris and Bean hit more singles, were bunted into scoring position by Tipsy Bobby, and then left there with Joe-Chris popping out and Lonzo grounding out, but the Aces cashed Kyle Mathews’ leadoff double in the top 3rd with two productive outs and cut the Perez-sponsored lead right in half.

Herrera got up to 9 K through five innings, and more importantly also held the lead. He grounded out to begin the bottom 5th but Christopher and Lonzo then landed hits to get on base and Lonzo stole his way to second base before they both scored on Starr’s single to right, aided by Jake Evans’ defensive bobble in right that also allowed Starr to second base, but he got two RBI’s for his bothers. He was stranded out there with groundouts by Brass and Fowler, keeping it a 4-1 game.

Evans hit a leadoff single to left in the seventh inning, but the Aces didn’t get a leg up on the Coons, and Herrera in particular, permanently. He retired the next three batters in order, striking out Miguel Veguilla and Mike Roberts while Gustavo Jacinto popped out to short. Herrera was also closing in on 100 pitches, but batted for himself and singled in the top 8th, leading off. Christopher forced him out, but stole second, and Aquino allowed singles to Lonzo and Starr to get Christopher around to score. Brass and Fowler made meek outs again to fritter away more runners, though. Herrera struck out Mathews in the bottom 8th, his 13th K in the game, before allowing a 2-out single to Ken Hummel. Matt Schrock grounded out on Herrera’s 104th pitch, but Herrera still batted with the bases loaded in the bottom 8th, hitting into a run-scoring double play that scored Perez against lefty Jose Cintora. Oscar Caballero batted for Christopher and hit an RBI single to plate Bernie Ortega, who had pinch-hit for Morris, from third base. Lonzo was nicked, but Maresh batted for Starr and popped out to end the inning. Bobby Herrera then retired three Aces on three grounders to complete the game in 113 total pitches. 7-1 Critters! Caballero (PH) 1-1, RBI; Lavorano 3-4; Starr 3-4, 3 RBI; Perez 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Ortega (PH) 1-1; Kozak (PH) 1-1; B. Herrera 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 13 K, W (10-11) and 1-3;

Game 2
LVA: LF K. Hummel – CF Schrock – 3B A. Alfaro – RF J. Evans – SS Veguilla – 1B Jacinto – 2B J. White – C Mathews – P S. Evans
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – 3B Fowler – LF Brassfield – CF Morris – 2B Bean – P DeRose

The first five Aces all reached base against DeRose, Ken Hummel doing so on a Fowler error, but after that they got a walk and three singles, with RBI’s for Jake Evans and Miguel Veguilla on hits, as well as Jacinto with a sac fly, before Jim White and Mathews grounded out to end the bedeviled inning. The Aces got two more hits off DeRose in the second, and three more hits, all 2-out singles from their 7-8-9 batters, in the top 3rd to extend the lead to 4-0 with an RBI for Scott Evans, while another run scored on an error by Brassfield on Hummel’s fly to left. That was the end for DeRose, who was yanked after 2.2 innings of 8-hit, 5-run (three earned) ball before his head would *actually* come off. Bravo whiffed Schrock to end the inning, while Lonzo singled, stole second, and was doubled home by Joel Starr to get the Coons on the board in the bottom 3rd, 5-1. Perez singled, but runners were stranded on the corners with a Fowler pop and Brass’ fly to center.

Bottom 4th, the Raccoons filled the bases with a Bean single on a 3-0 pitch with one out, a first-pitch single by Kozak, batting for Bravo after four outs, and then a walk drawn by Christopher. It was then Jake Evans’ turn to fudge a fly, this one by Lonzo and also bringing in a run, 5-2. But then Starr whiffed and Perez grounded out, and another splendid scoring opportunity was tossed in the dumpster… Similarly, when Joel Starr came up as the tying run in the bottom 6th after singles by Therien (!) and Lonzo, he just bounced one over to Jim White to end the inning. Therien pitched for 11 outs in garbage relief before being removed after giving up a single to PH Omar Gonzalez on his 42nd pitch. Ryan Sullivan then had nothing better to do than give up a homer to Ken Hummel. *******. A walk to Gonzales, a balk, and a Christopher single drove in a run for Portland in the home half of the eighth, but other than that I had nothing better to do than to gnash my teeth until it was over. 7-3 Aces. Lavorano 2-5, RBI; Starr 2-5, 2B, RBI; Maresh (PH) 1-1; Kozak (PH) 1-1; Therien 3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K and 1-1;

Game 3
LVA: LF K. Hummel – CF Schrock – 3B A. Alfaro – RF J. Evans – SS Veguilla – 2B J. White – 1B Jacinto – C Mathews – P Robbins
POR: RF Christopher – SS Lavorano – 1B Starr – C Perez – 3B Fowler – LF Kozak – CF Morris – 2B Ortega – P Riddle

Christopher’s leadoff walk in the first inning of the rubber game was followed by a Lonzo single that sent Joe-Chris to second, from where he scored on consecutive deep fly outs by Starr and Perez for an early 1-0 lead. Lonzo then ended the inning by getting caught stealing – oops. The Raccoons had them on the corners again in the second, if only for Riddle to pop out. The Aces also had runners on the corners in the third inning before running out of fizz. After Lonzo doubled and was left on base in the bottom 3rd, nobody reached for a bit, although Kyle Mathews in the fifth came close to a game-tying homer to left, but was caught by Kozak at the fence instead.

The next base hit was … a Lonzo single to begin the bottom 6th… and again the Raccoons couldn’t go anywhere with that, and Lonzo was caught stealing in a hit-and-run in which Angel Perez failed to hit. Or even swing. Inevitably, Riddle responded with a meltdown, walking Veguilla, who stole second base, in the top 7th, and then crashed and burned with RBI knocks for Jim White and Mathews that flipped the score to 2-1 Aces. He finished the inning by retiring Robbins, but was both replaced after that and also had to watch the Raccoons not getting any hitting done against Robbins, who went eight innings before handing the ball off to Alex Rios, who had a 4.76 ERA in Portland before going to Vegas on waivers, and now had a 6.91 ERA with them, so he would also be my and Honeypaws’ absolute first choice to save a 2-1 ballgame. Perez hit a single off him, and Fowler hit into a game-ending double play… 2-1 Aces. Lavorano 3-4, 2B; Riddle 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, L (10-7);

In other news

August 23 – Monday sees the 2,500th career base hit for 34-year-old SAC 2B/SS Chris Navarro (.287, 0 HR, 40 RBI) in a 6-2 loss of the Scorpions to the Warriors, a sixth-inning single against Warriors SP Evan Alvey (9-8, 4.69 ERA). Navarro, who was a Rookie of the Year with the Condors in ’48 and has led the CL in stolen bases and in hits twice, has never won a major award or been an All Star while batting .298 with 17 HR and 772 RBI, plus 505 SB for his career.
August 25 – The Stars place OF Tyler Wharton (.266, 2 HR, 20 RBI) back on the DL; the 22-year-old’s injury-addled season might be over with a strained rib cage muscle.
August 27 – RIC SP Chad Shultz (7-10, 4.52 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout with six strikeouts for a 2-0 win against the Pacifics.
August 27 – The Crusaders beat the Thunder, 8-5 in 14 innings, on a walkoff home run by Victor Velez (.227, 1 HR, 11 RBI). Both teams had before that scored a single run in the 13th inning.
August 28 – IND OF Orlando Ramos (.295, 24 HR, 89 RBI) has his quest for a home run title end with torn ankle ligaments sending him to the DL for the rest of the season.

FL Player of the Week: TOP INF Alex de los Santos (.292, 14 HR, 76 RBI), hitting .474 (9-19) with 1 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL 1B/RF/LF Bobby Ellwood (.287, 5 HR, 46 RBI), batting .526 (10-19) with 1 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Another awful week for the offense. Let’s focus on the bright sides, though. Lonzo has a 14-game hitting streak across his DL stint. Lonzo batted 12-for-26 with 1 HR, 4 RBI this week.

(silence)

Next week: San Francisco, roster expansion, the damn Elks.

Fun Fact: Joel Starr has the fourth-highest OPS (.906) among qualifiers in the league this year.

Third in the CL behind Willie Acosta (.939) and Sean Zeiher (.917), and in the FL only David Johnson (.913), the Blue Sox’ catcher, sits higher. Zeiher, Johnson, and Starr are all remarkably close batting around .320 with around 20 homers at this point, while Acosta does it with an oddly-shaped .282/.458/.481 clip, but still 14 homers to support that OPS.

Acosta, the Pride of Nicaragua, has won the CL Player of the Year award in the last three even years (2054, 2056, 2058), each time also leading the league in OBP and walks. The odd years are usually the ones where he struggles with the batting average, and last year he played in just eight games before a torn UCL ended his season on April 15.