[Westheim]

Raccoons (17-34) @ Aces (20-31) – May 31-June 2, 2066

Let’s just say neither team was doing particularly great at this point in time. These were the two worst offenses in the CL, although that was still giving the Raccoons too much credit for anything, since while the Aces were scoring just about four runs per game, the Raccoons had their heads fully under water, failing to plate even 3.2 markers per contest. The Aces’ pitching was worse, but not to a degree that was going to be helpful here. Vegas had a -54 run differential, with the Critters at -77. Portland was up 2-1 in the season series, achieved during the better days of April.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (0-1, 9.53 ERA) vs. Chris Monahan (0-6, 7.35 ERA)
Nick Walla (4-4, 3.90 ERA) vs. Javier Huichapa (3-6, 3.82 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (3-5, 3.95 ERA) vs. Dan Gaither (1-5, 10.72 ERA)

The Aces had two southpaws in the rotation – and the Raccoons would step around both of them.

For injuries, Vegas had starters Matt May and Tim Henderson out as well as outfielder Nate Marazzo, and Joe Hade was ailing, but on the roster, just like Ryan Bonner still was on Portland’s roster after exiting Sunday’s game with an apparent injury.

Game 1
POR: LF Spicer – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – CF Wilson – 2B Gardner – P Vin. Morales
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – 1B A. Alfaro – LF Lorenzo – 3B Vic. Morales – CF A. Warner – C A. Perez – 2B Medford – RF Caceres – P Monahan

Monahan retired the Raccoons in *19* pitches the first time through the order, and IN order, so things were totally going according to plan. Vinny Morales allowed three hits the first time through, all singles, and Vic Lorenzo removed himself from the bases by being caught stealing to help him out. Things looked rather well for him, until he walked Koji Hatakeyama with two outs and nobody on base in the bottom 5th. The runner stole second immediately, and then doors blew off immediately with straight RBI hits from Alex Alfaro (single), Lorenzo (double), and good ol’ Coon Victor (Hugo) Morales, who hit an RBI single to left. Aaron Warner then popped out foul behind home plate to Ramon Lopez.

At that point Monahan had retired 15 straight, but Jaden Wilson singled his way on base to begin the sixth inning, which was such a rush of offense, at least until Joe Gardner immediately bashed his face into a double play, 6-4-3. Vinny Morales reached with a single after that, but was left on by Spicer. On the hill, he gave up another run on three hits in the bottom 6th, and pitched two outs’ worth into the seventh inning before being replaced with Sensabaugh, who got the last four outs for the Raccoons, which were all the outs still required against Monahan, who gave up a 2-out single to Spicer in the ninth inning, but then got a groundout from Tony Spink (batting for Sensabaugh in the #2 slot) to end the game with a 3-hit shutout. 4-0 Aces.

(opens snout)

(closes snout)

Vegas’ Joe Hade (.237, 0 HR, 20 RBI) ended May with being named CL Rookie of the Month, but also had his season end with a ruptured disc. He was moved to the DL, but Ryan Bonner kept rotting on the Raccoons’ roster.

The Raccoons deleted Joe Gardner (.255, 0 HR, 1 RBI), who went on waivers, and Marquise Early (.133, 0 HR, 1 RBI) and continued to try and catch any warm paw whatsoever. Newly on the roster were then two infielders. Manny Arredondo returned after an earlier 1-game cameo, and we also brought up 27-year-old minor league free agent signing INF/RF/LF Leon Arantes, who would be making his ABL debut by merit of hitting a little bit for the Alley Cats.

Game 2
POR: CF J. Wilson – LF Spicer – RF Corral – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – 2B Arantes – SS Arredondo – C Spink – P Walla
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – CF LeVan – LF Lorenzo – C A. Gomez – 1B A. Alfaro – 3B Vic. Morales – 2B M. Roberts – RF A. Warner – P Huichapa

The Raccoons went down in order AGAIN in the first three innings on Tuesday, while the Aces had two singles in the bottom 1st, but managed to run themselves out of the inning as Hatakeyama, while stealing second, was thrown out at home plate on Phil LeVan’s single. LeVan would lead off the fourth inning with Lorenzo and a pair of singles, but Lorenzo was caught stealing second after Alex Gomez popped out, and Alex Alfaro then flew out to right, leaving LeVan stranded on third base.

Huichapa retired 13 Raccoons in order before the certified nobody and despair promotion Leon Arantes rolled a single through the left side to get the Coons on base. Arredondo added another single right away, while Tony Spink drew a walk to fill the bases. Walla then of course orderly popped out to LeVan in shallow center and nobody scored. Walla stalked his way around two runners in the bottom 5th, but then allowed more leadoff singles to LeVan and Lorenzo in the sixth. This time LeVan had already reached third base with a stolen base and a free one on Spink’s throwing error, so Lorenzo plated him for the first run of the game. That was the last action for Walla, since the Raccoons brought his spot back up in the seventh inning after Starr walked, Arantes reached when Hatakeyama ****** up his potential inning-ending 6-4-3 grounder for an error, and Spink narrowly drew another walk. Ramon Lopez batted for Walla with three on and two outs, ran a full count, cranked a bases-clearing double to left-center, and then stomped on second base and angrily pointed with both frontpaws at the Coons bench as if to say that this was how it was done, and now they were up. No the mood on the team was not that great right now. The Aces walked Wilson intentionally for reasons best known to them, then collected a wimpy groundout from Spicer to end the inning.

McMahan pitched a scoreless seventh before Joel Starr took Huichapa deep to right in the eighth to extend the lead to 4-1, and Rich Monck tacked on two more runs in the ninth inning with a bases-loaded, 2-out single after Spink, Colter, and Wilson had reached base to begin the inning against Huichapa and Adam Edge. In between Spicer and Corral made more breathtakingly useless outs. Cullum followed a scoreless eighth from Juan Soriano with a decently quick ninth around a walk to Aaron Warner to end the game. 6-1 Raccoons! Arantes 2-5; Spink 1-2, 2 BB; Lopez (PH) 1-1, 2B, 3 RBI; Walla 6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (5-4);

UNBEATEN IN JUNE!!!

TAH!!!

Vic Lorenzo had a 20-game hitting streak thanks to his two singles in this game. He was hitting .358 with 3 HR, 19 RBI for the season.

Ryan Bonner meanwhile was finally shuffled off to the DL with a broken paw, which would keep him out until the All Star Game. Not that the All Star Game per se was a measuring stick he should be looking forward to. Outfielder Carlos Matas was recalled to make up the numbers.

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – RF Colter – 2B Arantes – SS Arredondo – P Sanchez
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – RF Caceres – LF Lorenzo – C A. Gomez – 1B A. Alfaro – 3B Vic. Morales – 2B M. Roberts – CF Leggett – P Gaither

The Aces scored quickly in the bottom 1st of the rubber game, getting a bloop single from Jorge Caceres, a walk drawn by Lorenzo, and an RBI single from Alex Gomez to take the 1-0 lead, but Alfaro struck out and Vic Morales popped out to leave two on base. The Coons wasted a Spicer double in the first and an Arredondo double in the fifth, and didn’t have a whole lot of anything in between again. Both teams were held to three hits through five-and-a-half, but then Lorenzo and Gomez opened the bottom 6th with singles through the left side on the first two pitches by Sanchez. Alfaro grounded out, allowing Vic Morales to hit a long sac fly to left, and Mike Roberts lined out to Arantes. Those two runs on five hits was all that Juan Sanchez allowed through seven innings, but it looked like plenty once more. The Coons only got on base in the eighth against Gaither when he nicked Jaden Wilson with two down, and then Spicer grounded out to second base. Instead, Juan Soriano was whacked around for three hits and two runs, driven in by Morales on a 2-out triple to send the Critters on their merry way, 3-hit and shut out by Gaither. 4-0 Aces. Arredondo 1-2, BB, 2B; Sanchez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, L (3-6);

GAITHER.

Raccoons (18-36) @ Indians (25-27) – June 4-6, 2066

This was the one team the Raccoons were still having a good record against, having beaten them five out of six games in the first four weeks of the season, before the Coons had turned into a dark spot in the middle of the highway. Indy was a distant third in the North, already double digits away from the top two, and ranked sixth in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed, and with a +22 run differential. They had turned the corner, it seemed. Would the Raccoons, and soon?

Projected matchups:
Duarte Damasceno (2-6, 5.75 ERA) vs. Vince Ellison (5-2, 3.66 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (3-6, 3.25 ERA) vs. Keith Thompson (2-4, 5.00 ERA)
Nick Walla (4-4, 3.68 ERA) vs. Victor Perez (3-2, 3.72 ERA)

Vinny Morales (0-2, 7.30 ERA) was skipped for this run through the rotation with another off day coming up on Monday. He would instead be available out of the pen. If the Indians wanted to use the common off day on Thursday for something, they could skip their only left-hander, Mike DeWitt (4-3, 2.45 ERA) into the series for a Southpaw Sunday.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Corral – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Tallent – P Damasceno
IND: CF E. Ramirez – SS Aredondo – LF Dowsey – C Atencio – RF T. Torres – 3B A. Mendez – 1B Ma. Rogers – 2B B. Ellis – P Ellison

Monck went yard for the first run of the game in the second inning, but DD spent his time behind in the count once again. He issued a leadoff walk to Tony Torres in the bottom 2nd, the runner was doubled up by Alex Mendez’ grounder to short, and then Matt Rogers grounded out on a 3-0 pitch. In contrast, Ben Ellis waited out ball four to begin the bottom 3rd, and eventually scored on a 2-out knock by Oscar Aredondo, in no way related to Manny Arredondo – they didn’t even have the same amount of ARRRRR…!

Vinny Atencio’s solo homer in the fourth gave Indy a 2-1 lead that Pablo Novelo erased with a homer of his own in the following half-inning, but an Eddy Ramirez single, a stolen base, and another single by Aredondo put the Indians right back in the lead, 3-2 in the bottom 5th. Aredondo was caught stealing, Justin Dowsey singled, and Atencio hit another long fly, but that was caught on the warning track by Jose Corral, who went on to take DD, who was done after six busy innings in which he allowed nine hits, off the hook with a game-tying leadoff jack in the seventh inning.

Two-R Arredondo entered in the bottom 7th in a double switch with Garvey, replacing Novelo at short, and when the southpaw kept the game tied, Arredondo put his furry tush on base as the go-ahead run with a leadoff single in the eighth. Wilson’s single to center sent him to third, and Spicer got him home with a sac fly to Torres. Wilson was then caught stealing and Lopez grounded out. Garvey got another three outs in the bottom 8th, but Jesse Dover’s ninth began with a Rogers double off the wall and a pinch-hit single by John Edwards, which put the tying runs on the corners with nobody out. 19-year-old (!) rookie Jose Hilario *didn’t* hit a walkoff homer, which would have been Hilario-us, but got rung up on strikes instead, and Matthew Parker in the leadoff spot cashed another strikeout. Aredondo then grounded out to Ar-…antes at second base to end the ballgame. 4-3 Critters. Arantes (PH) 1-1; Arredondo 1-1;

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Corral – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Arredondo – P Nakayama
IND: CF E. Ramirez – SS Aredondo – LF Dowsey – 1B Starwalt – C Atencio – RF T. Torres – 3B A. Mendez – 2B B. Ellis – P K. Thompson

Rain threatened on Saturday, and the Coons left another first-inning Spicer double unused and on the bases. Indy scored first with straight hits for Atencio, Torres, and Mendez in the bottom 2nd, the latter two of whom were stranded in scoring position. Spicer instead singled home Arredondo to tie the game in the third inning after the newcomer had singled an stolen second base. Nakayama struck out the side in the third inning, and didn’t allow another baserunner until Ben Ellis hit a shy single in the fifth, but that runner was stranded. Both teams were on one run on five hits through five innings.

Spicer was robbed of extra bases in deep center by Eddy Ramirez to lead off the sixth, which then held the Coons to Ramon Lopez’ single in the inning, and they did not score. Nakayama walked Atencio in the bottom 6th, but then got a double play grounder from Torres to clean up. However, Mendez and Ellis then opened the seventh with singles and a sac fly by Keith Thompson himself put the Indians up 2-1 before Rogers grounded out in a full count to strand Ellis on third base.

It started to rain, finally, in the eighth inning, and a brief rain delay nevertheless chased Thompson from the game, although Victor Ramirez held the Coons away in the inning after replacing him. The Coons then had to use three relievers in the bottom 8th as Cullum walked Aredondo and Danny Starwalt on base. Atencio was retired by McMahan, but Dover came in for pinch-hitter Matt Martin and gave up a drive into the gap in left-center on his first pitch – but there was Spicer coming out of nowhere and taking the 2-run double away! Inning over, instead, and the Raccoons tried to squeeze out a tying run in the ninth against Cody Kleidon. Monck hit a leadoff single, but Tallent, Starr, and Novelo were brushed away with two strikeouts and a sorry pop. 2-1 Indians. Spicer 2-4, 2B, RBI; Arredondo 2-3; Nakayama 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, L (3-7);

No southpaw was offered by the Indians, as they kept Victor Perez in his regular spot in the rotation for the rubber game.

Game 3
POR: 1B Spicer – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – RF Corral – LF Arantes – 2B Arredondo – CF Matas – P Walla
IND: CF E. Ramirez – SS Aredondo – LF Dowsey – 1B Starwalt – C Atencio – RF T. Torres – 3B A. Mendez – 2B B. Ellis – P V. Perez

Spicer singled, stole second, and eventually scored after Lopez walked and Monck hit a sac fly to center. Corral left Lopez stranded in that first inning. Manny Arredondo then was the center of attention in the second inning. He struck out fairly unexcitingly in the top of the inning, in which the Coons went in order, but in the bottom 2nd threw away an Atencio grounder for a 2-base error leading off the inning. Torres singled, and with runners on the corners, Alex Mendez lined the ball hard at Arredondo, who had to jump, but made the catch. Atencio had read the play very badly, had gone for home, and then fell down trying to return, and was easily doubled off in 4-5 style! A K on Ben Ellis ended the inning, and Ellis also ended the fourth inning with a soggy out after the Indians had tried to sneak up on Walla with two outs. Starwalt walked, Torres singled, and Mendez walked, but Ellis’ pop to short left everybody stranded on base in the 1-0 game.

The Coons didn’t get another base hit until Novelo slapped a single in the sixth. Lopez walked, but a foul pop by Monck and a Corral fly to center left the runners on base. Walla did what he could, even without any sort of stuff. He walked Dowsey and Atencio in the bottom 6th, but the Indians again left all the runners stranded. However, after six innings and five walks, Walla was done at that point. Soriano, for novelty, had a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh before Cullum put Dowsey on base in the eighth. Jeremy Garvey replaced him and got out of the inning on soft contact, and the Raccoons then actually did add an insurance run against Victor Ramirez in the ninth as Corral hit a 2-out double to right, and Starr batted for Arantes against the righty and snuck an RBI single up the middle, 2-0. Arredondo struck out, and Garvey retained the ball for the bottom 9th, and when Torres and Mendez, a lefty and a switch-hitter, both made outs to Starr, also got Ellis, a right-handed batter. And Ben Ellis also grounded out to Starr…! 2-0 Blighters. Starr (PH) 1-1, RBI;

In other news

May 31 – Blue Sox CF/RF/1B Fernando Aracena (.373, 0 HR, 22 RBI) ends the month of May with two hits against the Warriors and a 20-game hitting streak, although the hosting Warriors hold on to win the ballgame, 7-6.
May 31 – San Francisco beats Milwaukee, 3-2. All runs score in the tenth inning.
June 1 – Nashville’s 2B/SS Franklin Serrano (.322, 2 HR, 27 RBI) decides another game in Sioux Falls with a tenth-inning grand slam, 10-6 Blue Sox.
June 1 – SFW OF Danny Perez (.331, 5 HR, 31 RBI) would miss at least a month for tearing his meniscus.
June 3 – SS/3B Dustin Cox (.320, 7 HR, 24 RBI) is traded from San Francisco to Los Angeles in exchange for INF Adan Yniguez (.277, 2 HR, 22 RBI) and a prospect.
June 4 – A torn ACL ends the season of Capitals outfielder Brent Campbell (.270, 1 HR, 18 RBI).
June 6 – The hitting streak of NAS CF/RF/1B Fernando Aracena (.369, 0 HR, 23 RBI) ends at 24 games as he goes hitless in a 5-4 loss to the Capitals on Sunday.
June 6 – BOS SP Mike Bell (8-2, 2.14 ERA) falls two outs shy of a no-hitter in a 7-0 win against the Canadiens, surrendering a single to 2B/3B Hsi-chuen Yue (.255, 3 HR, 21 RBI). Bell is removed and MR Jose Gomez (2-1, 1.23 ERA, 1 SV) finishes the game as a combined 1-hitter.

FL Player of the Week: WAS INF Angelo Flores (.316, 10 HR, 29 RBI), striking .478 (11-23) with 3 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: MIL 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.367, 5 HR, 40 RBI), raking .462 (12-26) with 3 HR, 7 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: CIN RF/LF Roberto Soto (.374, 8 HR, 44 RBI), batting .408 with 6 HR, 27 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: NYC LF/RF Kazuhide Takeuchi (.311, 11 HR, 43 RBI), hitting .330 with 6 HR, 25 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DAL SP Alex Quevedo (8-0, 1.39 ERA), going 5-0 in six starts, with 1.38 ERA, 45 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: OCT CL Erik Swain (2-1, 1.08 ERA, 18 SV), closing out 11 games with a 2-0 record, zilch ERA, 25 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SFW INF Jimmy Madden (.330, 2 HR, 25 RBI), hitting .406 with 2 HR, 20 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: LVA LF/CF/1B Joe Hade (.237, 0 HR, 20 RBI), hitting .240, 0 HR, 15 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Stunningly competent 3-3 week, if you ignore that the team only scored 13 runs while being at it. We’re once more oh so close to hitting below three runs per game for the season.

Joe Gardner passed through waivers unharmed and was assigned to the Alley Cats. Because who’d want a guy that’s not hitting enough to be on the RACCOONS??

Northwest sequence coming up. We’ll have a home week against the Crusaders and Buffos, then a 3-game trip to the Wolves. Another home series against Boston will be followed with a road trip that start in Elk City, so we’re playing our next five series in the wider region.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons as a whole are batting below replacement level.

The Raccoons have already used 38 players this season, and you can’t say that variety is really improving the menu here. Of the 38 players, a mere dozen has a positive batting WAR, and of those dozen players, nine have at most +0.2 WAR. That leaves just three players that have done ANYTHING with a stick: Monck (+1.5), Lopez (+1.1), and Novelo (+0.6).

Thing is, I don’t really know what I am supposed to replace the feeble flailers with anymore. We’ve already gone through much of the AAA batters. Only the kid on the milk carton left to call up, and he hasn’t been seen in seven months!