[Westheim]

Raccoons (16-14) vs. Condors (12-16) – May 12, 2064

This unholy make-up game for a rainout in April pitted us against the third-worst offense and the worst bullpen in the league. Before we could get to that, however, we had to climb over Brett Bebout (4-2, 1.60 ERA). He would face Angel Alba (0-3, 4.26 ERA) in a matchup of right-handers. The first two games played this year had been split.

The Coons of course came in with another roster move, optioning Jeff Applegate (1-2, 6.90 ERA) to St. Petersburg, moving Jarod Morris to the rotation, and bringing up John Nesbitt’s 2.19 ERA from the Alley Cats.

TIJ: 2B W. Acosta – CF Asencio – C Brann – 1B Metz – RF Ewig – LF Kaniewski – 3B Frasher – SS C. Ramsey – P Bebout
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Arellano – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Alba

The Raccoons had the bases loaded with a chance to blow it as early as the first inning as Bebout walked Kozak and Monck around an infield single by Starr, all with one out. Arellano and Morales would come up with an RBI single each, while Maldonado whiffed and Aoki grounded out, although Maldonado would drive in Starr with a 2-out single two innings later. Angel Alba was perfect the first time through the Condors’ order, striking out a pawful, but then was taken deep to right by Willie Acosta right away to begin the fourth inning, but got a bit of revenge with a leadoff double of his own in the bottom 4th. Corral singled him to third, and he scored on Kozak’s sac fly to make it 4-1. A Rich Monck homer added a run in the fifth, but Andy Metz also got Alba for another solo job half an inning later. Alba still struck out five more Condors in the middle innings. He’d get one more in the seventh for 11 on the day, but that would be all for him, needing 108 pitches to reach the stretch. Nesbitt then made his season debut in the eighth and right away drilled Acosta and allowed a single to Marco Asencio, and Corral overran that ball for extra bases for the Condors. However, runners on second and third and nobody out, Nesbitt struck out Mike Brann, and then McDaniel came in and handled Metz with a pop and Matt Ewig with a groundout, keeping the runners pinned. For the ninth and our 3-run lead we went to Jesse Dover, since McGinley was not available after throwing 47 pitches across the last two games. Dover retired the 6-7-8 batters in order with a strikeout. 5-2 Coons. Corral 2-5; Starr 2-4, 2B; Morales 2-3, BB, RBI; Aoki 2-4; Alba 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 K, W (1-3) and 1-3, 2B;

Second career save for Jesse Dover, who also got one last September.

Raccoons (17-14) vs. Pacifics (17-14) – May 13-15, 2064

In on schedule were the Pacifists, who scored the fewest runs in the Federal League (just under four per game), but they also only gave up the fourth-fewest runs. It still made for a rather unhealthy -17 run differential despite being three games over .500. They were bottoms in OBP, but were stealing the second-most bags and had quite a bit of power, too. Regulars Steve Dilly and Rich Cabrera were on the DL though, and Jesus Espinoza was day-to-day.

Projected matchups:
Tyler Riddle (3-3, 2.89 ERA) vs. Francisco Tello (1-1, 2.67 ERA)
Josh Elling (4-1, 3.10 ERA) vs. Ivan Torres (1-4, 7.96 ERA)
Chance Fox (1-3, 5.18 ERA) vs. Joel Luera (3-1, 1.79 ERA)

Those were all right-handers; with their day off on Monday untainted by make-up shenanigans, the Pacifics could also skip Torres and bring Steve Evans (1-3, 5.67 ERA) in, but we would not get to see the only lefty and ex-Coon in the bunch, Nick Robinson (2-1, 3.38 ERA).

Game 1
LAP: CF T. Garcia – 2B B. Ortega – LF J. Espinoza – 1B A. Olivares – RF Abel – C Kelbaugh – SS Sweeney – 3B Marchek – P Tello
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Oley – SS Aoki – 3B Tallent – P Riddle

Riddle was up against nothing but right-handers and switch-hitters, and gave up two sharp singles to Tony Garcia and Jesus Espinoza right away in the first inning, but got around the runners. The Coons had a Kozak single and a double play hit into by Starr in the first inning, but then rushed Tello for six hits – all singles – in the bottom 2nd. Monck and Burkart started with singles, Aoki hit a 1-out RBI single, Tallent singled home a pair, and scored himself on Riddle’s groundout and a wild pitch for the fourth and final run of the inning. Corral and Kozak hit two more singles, but Starr grounded out. Monck and Burkart found yet more hits in the inning after and while Oley lined out, Aoki’s groundout extended the lead to 5-0. Tallent grounded out to leave Burkart in scoring position.

After that, Milt Cantrell shut down the Coons in garbage relief, but the Pacifics also didn’t get anything worthwhile off Riddle anymore in the middle innings. Cantrell was undone in the bottom 6th by an Alejandro Olivares error that put Starr on base in addition to Kozak with one out. Rich Monck then singled home Kozak, 6-0, before Burkart was doubled up, the third Critters double play in the game. Instead, the Pacifics finally got a hold of Riddle in the seventh; Pete Kelbaugh singled, and Jesse Sweeney homered to left-center for two L.A. runs. Carrillo had a fine eighth inning before Mike Hall got the ball for the ninth inning – still against a sea of right-handed hitters. Sweeney hit a 1-out single, and Joe Marchek’s grounder to short that could have ended the inning was farted on by Aoki and instead the Pacifics had a second base runner with one out. Tyler Watson pinch-hit, and Hall struck out the lefty, then was replaced with Dover against Tony Garcia, and Dover got a second straight save on a single pitch, Garcia grounding out to Monck to end the game. 6-2 Critters. Corral 2-5; Kozak 2-3, BB; Monck 4-4, RBI; Burkart 2-4, 2B; Oley 2-4; Tallent 1-2, 2 BB, 2 RBI; Riddle 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (4-3);

Joel Starr needed a day off, it seemed, with all the double plays and what all.

Game 2
LAP: CF T. Garcia – 2B B. Ortega – 1B A. Olivares – LF J. Espinoza – C Kelbaugh – RF Whitman – SS J. Villarreal – 3B Marchek – P I. Torres
POR: RF Corral – 1B Kozak – C Burkart – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – LF Campos – 3B Morales – SS Novelo – P Elling

The weather promised to be iffy on Wednesday, so better grab a lead quick, boys! Corral singled, Kozak singled, and Burkart drew a walk to put the first three Coons on base on Wednesday. Monck’s grounder to Bernie Ortega became a force out at second base, but scored Corral with the first run of the game, and Elmer Maldonado singled in Kozak right afterwards, but Campos then found a double play to hit into. Elling got around a Kelbaugh double in the second, but in the third inning walked Marchek and allowed a single to Torres before throwing a wild pitch and conceding both runs on groundouts by Garcia and Ortega to fumble away the 2-0 lead. Neat.

The next 2-spot was the Critters’, and it came on the first career homer by Pablo Novelo in the bottom 4th, hit with one out and Morales on base against Torres, who was then removed from the game for left-hander Evan Alvey. Elling responded by raking a triple into the gap and scored on Corral’s sac fly to center, 5-2. While it drizzled on and off a bit, the Raccoons added another run in the fifth with Monck and Morales singles against Alvey. Meanwhile, Elling after his rough third inning had buckled down and carried a 3-hitter to the stretch, and still batted for himself in the bottom 7th, striking out with Campos and Morales in scoring position and one out. Corral came through, though, hitting a 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run single off righty Jose Salazar to extend the lead to 8-2. Elling would complete another inning, finishing eight strong on 103 pitches, before we gave a 6-run lead to Tetsu Kurihara to try and blow it up in the ninth inning. He gave up two walks, two hits, and a run in the inning before the Pacifics managed to have Kelbaugh thrown out at the plate from second base to run themselves out of the game on Jorge Villarreal’s 2-out single to left… 8-3 Raccoons. Corral 3-3, BB, 3 RBI; Kozak 2-5; Morales 3-3, BB, RBI; Elling 8.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (5-1) and 1-4, 3B;

Suddenly, six wins in a row!

The Pacifics acquired middle infielder Oscar Aredondo (.412, 0 HR, 2 RBI) from the Buffos for the reliever Jose Salazar (0-0, 4.43 ERA, 1 SV) and #53 prospect 2B/SS Jose Ortiz. Aredondo had been on the table to be traded to the Coons this past winter, but had gotten only 17 at-bats so far with Topeka.

Game 3
LAP: CF T. Garcia – SS Aredondo – LF J. Espinoza – 1B A. Olivares – RF Abel – C Kelbaugh – 2B Sweeney – 3B J. Villarreal – P Luera
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – C Burkart – 2B Monck – 1B Starr – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Fox

Fox hit Espinoza in the first, but the Raccoons got the first run on the board when Monck doubled to center with Corral (also drilled) and Kozak on base and thus put the Critters up 1-0. Starr flicked a single to left on a 3-2 pitch, getting in Kozak, but Monck had to stop at third base on the shallow ball and in deference to Gold Glover Jesus Espinoza. He remained on base once Maldonado lined out to Aredondo and Morales grounded out to the same new arrival in L.A., keeping the lead at 2-0. The Pacifics then right away scored a run in the second inning as Kevin Abel singled off Fox and was doubled home by Sweeney. Fox struggled through the innings with limited success and was taken deep to right by Kelbaugh in the fourth inning to get this game tied at two as well.

The Raccoons left pairs on base in the third and fourth innings before Burkart, Starr, and Maldonado all got on against Luera in the bottom 5th, but with two outs and Vic Morales coming up. Morales fell to 0-2, but then dug out a low breaking ball and flung it over Sweeney’s glove for a 2-run single and a new 4-2 lead…! Aoki’s groundout ended the inning then. Fox was nearly taken deep by Abel in the sixth, but Kozak picked the ball off the fence, and when Fox’ spot was up to lead off the bottom 6th, we went for the pinch-hitter, although Campos and Corral and Kozak made outs in order against Evan Alvey in the bottom 6th. McDaniel then pitched a scoreless seventh before a Jorge Villarreal error and an infield single put two runners on base in the bottom 7th, only for Elmer Maldonado to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Things remained tight, as Aredondo hit a leadoff single against Carrillo in the eighth, but was then doubled up by Espinoza shooting a ball at Monck on the bounce for a room service 4-6-3. The Pacifics then hit two more singles before Kelbaugh struck out to leave the tying runs on base. In turn, Oley and Aoki hit singles and went to the corners in the bottom 8th before Allen Tinsley struck out Tallent and Corral and got Kozak to ground out to Villarreal. Oley remained in leftfield after the inning, and the Raccoons brought in McGinley, who was right away met with a huge homer by Sweeney that cut the lead to 4-3. The next two batters struck out, but Tony Garcia drew a walk and Aredondo hit a fly to deep left where Oley chased it back to the fence, leapt at the fence – and took it off the top of the wall to end the game!! 4-3 Critters! Starr 3-4, RBI; Oley (PH) 1-1;

Seven in a row!

Raccoons (20-14) vs. Loggers (16-18) – May 16-18, 2064

The Coons had struggled against the Loggers – sometimes inexplicably – for years, and had just two season series wins against them in the last decade. 2063 had seen the teams end up tied at nine after 18 contests. This year they ranked third in runs scored, but gave up the most runs and a -18 run differential (Portland: +15). They were leading the league in homers, but were bottoms in starters’ ERA and had the second-worst defense. They were still without Cesar Ramirez. The Coons had a 2-1 edge in the season series so far.

Projected matchups:
Jarod Morris (2-0, 0.38 ERA) vs. Larry Wilson (3-2, 3.97 ERA)
Angel Alba (1-3, 4.00 ERA) vs. Tony Espinosa (4-2, 4.07 ERA)
Tyler Riddle (4-3, 2.84 ERA) vs. Girolamo Pizzichini (3-1, 3.76 ERA)

Espinosa was the only left-hander in this set.

Game 1
MIL: LF Franks – CF Merrill – 1B D. Robles – 2B F. Carrera – C Guitreau – RF D. Wright – 3B D. Miller – SS Reber – P L. Wilson
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – CF Maldonado – C Arellano – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Morris

The Jarod Morris era of starting for the Raccoons started with a scoreless first, but then he was taken deep to right by Fidel Carrera in the second inning. Rich Monck matched the leadoff jack in the second thing to tie the game again, at least until hits by Kyle Reber, who stole a base, and Scott Franks put the Loggers up 2-1 in the third again. The Coons had left two on base in the bottom 2nd, but started their half of the third with the 1-2-3 all reaching base and bringing up Monck in a slam spot. Wilson ran a full count against Monck before throwing one in the dirt that was hard to hit over the fence, so Monck let it go and instead pushed in the tying run with a bases-loaded walk. Maldonado popped out, Arellano popped out, and Morales flew out to right to choke on the inning then.

Aoki’s leadoff single saw him gain a free base before Morris even bunted in the bottom 4th when Wilson made a bad pickoff throw that got away from Dave Robles and sent Aoki to second base. Morris then hit a soft single that put guys on the corners with nobody out. Maybe this time! Yes, Aoki was brought in by Corral – with a double play grounder… Reber then hit a leadoff double to left in the fifth, advanced on Wilson’s groundout, but was crucially prevented from scoring when Franks grounded out poorly and was eventually left on base by Jonathan Merrill, keeping the Coons ahead by the narrow score of 3-2… until Tommy Guitreau took Morris deep to centerfield in the sixth and we were even again.

The Loggers took a 4-3 lead in the seventh on another homer off Morris, who lost the sparkle rapidly. That homer was hit by … (deep sigh) … Larry Wilson. (unscrews bottle of Capt’n Coma) … Oh, the humanity! Campos batted for Morris for no gains to begin the bottom 7th, but the Raccoons got Kozak and Starr on base with two outs. Wilson was still in and trying to get Monck out, which had not reliably worked all game long and didn’t now either. He fell behind 3-1 on the count, then 6-4 in the game when he fed Monck a fat one and Monck didn’t miss it, brawling it over the fence in right for a score-flipping 3-run homer!! Huzzah!!

Of course, we now had to involve the bullpen, which immediately released the dogs. Nesbitt got the ball this time, struck out Robles, and then allowed a single to Carrera, walked Guitreau, and allowed an RBI double to Dave Wright. Exit that one, enter Carrillo for Danny Miller, who lined out to Marco Campos in centerfield. Guitreau went for home plate as the tying run – but was thrown out with a hammer by Campos! That ended the inning and preserved a 6-5 lead!

And then McGinley blew it, and forcefully so. David Milian’s pinch-hit double to lead off and a pinch-hit single by J.P. Jack put runners on the corners to begin the ninth inning, and Scott Franks tied the game with a sac fly. Robles going yard put the Loggers on top by two, and Vincent Hernandez held the Raccoons short in the bottom of the ninth… 8-6 Loggers. Monck 2-3, BB, 2 HR, 5 RBI;

Monck and Corral had to get a day off on Saturday against the only left-hander anywhere in sight.

Game 2
MIL: LF Franks – CF Merrill – 1B D. Robles – 2B F. Carrera – C Guitreau – RF D. Wright – 3B D. Miller – SS Reber – P T. Espinosa
POR: SS Novelo – LF Kozak – C Burkart – 1B Starr – 3B Morales – CF Maldonado – 2B Tallent – RF Campos – P Alba

Franks and Robles reached the corners against Alba in the first inning, but were left on with a K to Guitreau, while the Raccoons were offered free passes to Kozak and Burkart, and after Starr grounded out, Morales singled home both with a 2-out hit to center. The Loggers answered with three singles and a run off Alba in the second, but Espinosa couldn’t find the zone at times. He nailed Kozak to begin the bottom 3rd, then walked Burkart right away. Starr flew out on a 3-1, Morales also flew out, and then Maldonado drew a 2-out walk. Tallent struck out to leave everybody stranded, and then the hamster wheel began anew in the bottom 4th with a leadoff walk to Campos. He took off to steal second and reached third base when Guitreau’s throw stretched past Reber at second base. Alba hit a comebacker to keep him there, Novelo popped out like a fool, and then Kozak FINALLY got a run home with a single to center, 3-1…! And then Kozak was caught stealing.

At least Carrera also got caught stealing in the sixth, so at least that evened out, and after the rough start to the game Alba settled down in the middle innings and allowed only two base hits from the fourth to the sixth, but his pitch count was up to 88 through six. The Loggers were kind enough to making three easy outs in the seventh, so Alba at least got to the stretch before his spot led off the bottom 7th and he was batted for with Corral against right-hander Jesus Hinojosa. Corral singled, but Novelo was robbed in the gap by Scott Franks, and the next two batters made outs on the infield. McDaniel got rid of the 2-3-4 batters in the eighth, and then we arrived in the same spot as on Monday again, with McGinley having thrown 44 pitches in two days and us needing a closer, and here was Jesse Dover again. Guitreau whiffed, and Wright and Miller both grounded out to end the game. 3-1 Coons. Kozak 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Corral (PH) 1-1; Alba 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (2-3) and 1-2;

Game 3
MIL: LF Franks – RF D. Wright – 2B F. Carrera – 1B D. Robles – C Guitreau – 3B D. Miller – CF Merrill – SS Reber – P Pizzichini
POR: RF Corral – LF Kozak – 1B Starr – 2B Monck – C Burkart – CF Maldonado – 3B Morales – SS Aoki – P Riddle

The Loggers got the leadoff man on base in each of the early innings of the game as Franks singled and stole his 15th base before being left on in the first; Guitreau singled and was forced out before the second inning fizzled out, and “Pizza” hit a double to right and was joined on base by Dave Wright on a 1-out walk before being caught off base on Fidel Carrera’s liner to Aoki and was doubled off rather unceremoniously to end that inning. The Coons didn’t reach base until Riddle hit a 2-out double in the bottom 3rd, but Corral whiffed.

Starr, Monck, and Maldonado all hit singles to slowly load the bases in the fourth inning against the Loggers’ tasty right-hander, but there were already two outs when Vic Morales stepped in. he came through again, however, and hit a 2-run single to right-center in a full count. Aoki tried to follow up with a fly to deep right, but Wright went back and caught that one to keep a pair on base. Leadoff hits by Merrill and Reber and a throwing error by Corral then right away gave a run back to the Loggers in the fifth, 2-1. Robles chucked a leadoff double in the sixth (so that was five outta six for leadoff men reaching base for Milwaukee here), but was stranded on three poor outs; however, Riddle was chewed up by that point and would not return for the seventh.

Bottom 6th, and the controversy: Rich Monck reached base on a Carrera error, then stole a very confused base when Bruce Burkart held up on a hit-and-run with the stick in the zone and ticklingly close to the baseball. The Loggers claimed he made contact, which would make it a foul ball and force Monck back to first base, but the umpires saw no such thing and the stolen base stood. Ten minutes of discussions and reviews were ultimately a waste of time since Vic Morales’ first homer of the season with two outs would score him from wherever, and extended the lead to 4-1. The Coons then got four outs from Nesbitt and two from Mike Hall to get through the next two innings, both without putting a runner on base. Bottom 8th, Monck led off the inning with a single of righty Jose Soto, who walked the bags full with Burkart and Maldonado then. Morales, who had all the Coons’ RBI’s in the game, choked by hitting into a curiosity 5-2-3 double play – no runs scoring on that ************ – and Todd Oley, batting for Aoki grounded out … but Carrera’s second error of the game was a poor throw to Robles, who was pulled off the base, and Oley reached after all, while Burkart scored from third base. Arellano pinch-hit and found an RBI single through the left side, but Novelo batted for Corral and rolled out to Reber. Kurihara then got the 5-run lead and got three outs without another circus breaking out. 6-1 Critters. Monck 2-4; Morales 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; Arellano (PH) 1-1, RBI;

In other news

May 12 – TOP SP Scott Carroll (1-2, 5.96 ERA) will miss a full year for Tommy John surgery for a torn UCL.
May 12 – The Crusaders beat the Warriors, 2-1 in 14 innings.
May 13 – New York again narrowly beats the Warriors with a walkoff, and in the truest sense, with SFW MR Josh Carlisle (1-2, 4.50 ERA) offering four walks to the Crusaders in the bottom 9th to walk in the only run of the 1-0 game.
May 14 – The Thunder acquire INF/RF/LF Alberto Bonilla (.273, 1 HR, 11 RBI) and a prospect from the Wolves for C Steve Preston (.287, 1 HR, 11 RBI).
May 14 – The Capitals score in every inning but one in a 17-1 thrashing of the Canadiens.
May 14 – The Scorpions win 2-1 against the Indians, all runs only scoring in the 10th inning.
May 16 – OCT INF Miguel Veguilla (.309, 3 HR, 32 RBI) is expected to miss time until the All Star Game with a broken thumb.
May 17 – The Bayhawks and Knights brawl not once, but twice in an 8-3 Atlanta win. Atlanta SP Brian Fuqua (2-2, 4.83 ERA) and UT Carlos Fumero (.306, 2 HR, 20 RBI) as well as San Fran MR Hector Montenegro (0-0, 2.35 ERA) and 3B/1B Dan Sandoval (.234, 4 HR, 17 RBI) are all ejected and given hefty suspensions, with a lofty *15* games for Fumero for hitting an opposing player with a bat.
May 18 – Dallas’ 23-year-old INF Adam Yocum (.340, 0 HR, 28 RBI) breaks his leg on an awkward slide into a base and is expected to miss three months.
May 18 – Indy acquires corner outfielder Nick Vaughn (.264, 4 HR, 18 RBI) from the Rebels for three prospects, including #156 SP Leo Garcia and #164 C Willie Romero.

FL Player of the Week: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.395, 11 HR, 39 RBI), bashing .400 (10-25) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR INF Rich Monck (.333, 5 HR, 21 RBI), batting .478 (11-23) with 3 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Yay, Rich Monck!! He had a slow start last year too, so maybe the warmer weather is required to really get him going. Still needs to hit 31 homers to match last year’s tally!

Strong 6-1 week and that stupid unnecessary loss on Friday was really stupid and unnecessary, but you could probably replace half that pen with random kids from the street and you wouldn’t notice any difference in the results for a couple of weeks. Jesse Dover showed some prowess though this week and saved three games with McGinley unavailable and/or wrong-pawed for the spot. Is Dover the future closer? Right now he’s whiffing 7.8 per nine innings, so he’s got stuff to work on before we can get excited.

On the other paw the Raccoons are ranking third in runs scored in the CL right now. If only it could stay that way a bit longer!

Ten more games before we get a day off. The next four are in Elk City, then we’re at home against the Baybirds on the weekend, and then it’s off to the East. The schedule will then lighten up in June, but the travel might be getting even more stupider with four cross-country flights inside of 14 days, but we’ll whine more about that when we get there.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons last finished in the top 3 in runs scored in the Continental League in 2047.

That’s 16 years, in case you ran out of claws to count that on.

There was a narrow miss in 2053, when we came fourth, three runs behind the third-place Knights. Apart from that, mostly misery. And in 2047, we were just *barely* third, now three runs ahead of those same fourth-place Knights. The last convincing offensive result would be all the way back in 2044, when the team scored the second-most runs, nine behind the damn Elks for most, and 53 ahead of the fourth-place Bayhawks.

Both 2044 and 2047 were title years. Ah, the good old days of the Manny Fernandez, Jesus Maldonado, Matt Waters etc. Raccoons…! Every regular on that 2044 team – minus Arturo Carreno – had an OPS+ over 100! And three-and-a-half (Derek Baskins played a lot, but much of it off the bench) of them had an OPS+ over 140, the full-timers being Maldonado, Bryce Toohey, and Sal Ayala.