[Westheim]

Raccoons (65-84) vs. Thunder (84-65) – September 20-22, 2066

The Thunder had a chance to win the CL South while in Portland, although since the Raccoons could not win THAT division I didn’t particularly worry about that. Good for them! They had a 4-2 lead in the season series with their third-best pitching and sixth-best offense. Outfielder Coby Thore was the only injury case for them.

Projected matchups:
Shoma Nakayama (9-12, 3.70 ERA) vs. Aaron Harris (12-13, 3.77 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (5-6, 4.08 ERA) vs. Jose Ortega (13-11, 3.83 ERA)
Juan Sanchez (9-8, 3.31 ERA) vs. Danny Baca (10-9, 3.36 ERA)

We would get two right-handers, a southpaw on (home) Closing Day, and none of the two ex-Critters they were carrying, Josh Elling (10-11, 4.47 ERA) and Tyler Riddle (15-6, 2.55 ERA).

Game 1
OCT: RF Almanza – 2B D. Richardson – SS Palominos – 1B I. Stone – CF J. Parker – LF Deisinger – C T. Anderson – 3B Bonilla – P Aa. Harris
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – 2B Arantes – C Flowe – LF Spicer – SS Novelo – P Nakayama

Nakayama allowed a single to Jose Palominos in the first inning, but Harris stumbled for three hits and a run in the second as the Coons took a 1-0 lead on an Arantes single, Jake Flowe’s double to right, and Spicer’s sac fly. They also loaded the bases with two outs then as Novelo scratched out another single, Nakayama somehow walked, but Wilson flew out to left. The excitement of running the bases then led Nakayama to throw away Alberto Bonilla’s grounder to begin the third inning, but he worked his way around the error and the unearned runner was stranded at third base. Harris’ struggles also continued; after striking out Jose Corral to begin the bottom 3rd he allowed a single to Joel Starr (who gained an extra base when Roberto Almanza overran the ball, which soon stopped mattering), then lost Monck on ball four in a full count (see?). Arantes struck out, but Flowe raked a 3-run homer to right, the second bomb of his career. Spicer reached on another error, then scored on Novelo’s double in the left-center gap before Nakayama whiffed to end the inning, now up 5-0.

Nakayama allowed a run in the fourth on doubles down either line whacked by Palominos and Ian Stone, but that was about it for Thunder offense on his watch. Travis Anderson would hit a single against him in the seventh, but was left on base, and he held the Thunder to five hits through seven on exactly 100 pitches. The Thunder would get a leadoff double from Daniel Richardson against Juan Soriano, who somehow kept getting used in games, to begin the eighth inning, but Palominos’ groundout and a pitching change to Pedro Mendoza contained that runner as the southpaw rung up Stone and got Johnny Parker to fly out to somewhere where Jaden Wilson could grab the ball. Instead, Flowe banged a leadoff double off Juan Carrillo (another ex-Coon on the Thunder) in the bottom 8th and Spicer added a soft single to put runners on the corners. Novelo whiffed, but Ramon Lopez grabbed a stick and hit an RBI single over Richardson. A wild pitch, combined with Wilson’s groundout, plated another run, while Ryan Bonner grounded out to end the inning. In a don’t-you-dare assignment the Raccoons then pitched Rich Read against the 6-7-8 batters with a 6-run lead, which gave them a runner on base with a four-pitch walk and Read leaving the game with a “tired arm”. Carrington was next, walked Anderson (…!), gave up an RBI double to Bonilla, and then retired the next three batters while conceding one more run on Almanza’s sac fly. 7-3 Coons. Flowe 3-4, HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Spicer 2-3, BB; Novelo 2-4, 2B, RBI; Lopez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Nakayama 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (10-12) and 1-2, BB;

Rich Read might have a tired arm, but I have tired eyes. And a sharp knife in that drawer over there. Unless Maud hid it again.

In any case Read would spend the rest of the season on the DL. No replacement was called up.

Game 2
OCT: RF Almanza – C Bohannon – 1B I. Stone – CF J. Parker – LF Deisinger – SS Archuleta – 2B Curiel – 3B Bonilla – P J. Ortega
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – 2B Arantes – LF Bentley – SS Arredondo – P Gaytan

Tony Gaytan, while surely talented, remained frustrating to watch and got on the snout early and plenty in Tuesday’s game, allowing 2-out singles to Stone and Parker in the first inning before being taken quite deep to left by Jamie Deisinger for a 3-run homer, to which Bonilla added a solo jack an inning later, putting the Thunder up 4-0. Gaytan, on the brink of removal, then reigned himself in some in the next few innings, while the Raccoons didn’t have much going the first time through, but then got Lopez and Monck on base with a leadoff single and double, respectively, in the bottom 4th. Starr hit a sac fly, and John Bentley hit a 2-out homer to narrow the score to 4-3 again.

Deisinger drove in another run against Gaytan in the fifth after he again had fumbled a pair of 2-out runners on base, which Ramon Lopez would answer with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, narrowing the score to 5-4 again … AFTER Jaden Wilson was caught stealing to remove a run off the bases and the board. Gaytan would go six and remain behind by a run, striking out three batters. He remained on the hook through a scoreless inning by Yamauchi, after which Wilson nearly hit a homer, but had the ball picked off the fence by the feisty Deisinger. McMahan and Cullum then fell apart for a 2-run eighth, as the Thunder opened with an Ian Stone triple, then threw in four pinch-hitters, most of whom reached base one way or another before Hyung-oo Chung finally grounded out to short from the #9 hole to keep runners on the corners. The Raccoons then did not seriously challenge again in the last two innings, but managed to lose Leon Arantes to an injury on a defensive play in the ninth… 7-4 Thunder. Lopez 2-4, HR, RBI;

Arantes was diagnosed with back soreness, which would leave him day-to-day for the rest of the week and stop us from wasting more at-bats on him for the time being. He remained on the roster, though.

Game 3
OCT: 1B I. Stone – C Bohannon – 2B Archuleta – SS Palominos – 3B D. Richardson – RF Kaniewski – LF Kozak – CF A. Torres – P D. Baca
POR: SS Novelo – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Early – CF Tallent – 1B Arellano – 2B Bonner – P Sanchez

Monck hit a sac fly in the bottom 1st after Novelo and Corral got on base, but the Thunder flipped the score quickly by filling the bases with Palominos (double), Richardson (single), and John Kaniewski (walk) in the top 2nd. Sanchez conceded a run on a wild pitch and one more on a sac fly by Alex Torres, while in between ex-Coon Jack Kozak, batting all of .162, struck out. The Thunder added four more runs in the third inning on a Martin Bohannon double, Ramon Archuleta’s homer, and then a 2-out, 2-run double by Alex Torres that drove in Kaniewski and Kozak to extend the score to 6-1 before Sanchez was chased during a 45-minute rain delay, because what else could be more fitting for the final game of the season in this old ballpark of ours?

The Coons got a scoreless fourth from Paul Barton before Randy Tallent doubled, strained an oblique, and left the game for Spicer (with Marquise Early sliding over to center), who was also left on base by the bottom of the order including Joel Starr pinch-hitting for Barton. Vinny Morales got the ball for two scoreless innings, perhaps as a tune-up for two more starting assignments at the tail end of the season, while Rich Monck doubled home a run in the bottom 5th to get back within slam range. In turn, Soriano got beaten up for two runs in the seventh, allowing a homer to Richardson, a single to Kaniewski, and an RBI double to Alex Torres. Quinones and Dover in a garbage assignment to keep him busy then added scoreless innings at the end, but again the Raccoons were without rally potential, and after six solid innings by the starter Baca fell rather meekly to a 3-inning save for Alfredo Picun, who struck out five against a singular hit, a pinch-hit double by Wilson that led nowhere. 8-2 Thunder. Monck 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Tallent 2-2, 2B; Wilson (PH) 1-1, 2B; Morales 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

Randy Tallent was going to be out for at least one week, but might see some more action in the season’s dying days.

The Thunder came up short for the South, with both the Knights and Bayhawks surviving on a magic number of two on Wednesday night.

Raccoons (66-86) @ Canadiens (72-79) – September 24-26, 2066

The Raccoons were almost through their fifth consecutive season of not winning the season series against the dastardly Elks, already being down 10-5 in the season series. The string included four losses and one 9-9 tie. They ranked seventh in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed. Nick Vaughn was the only DL dweller for them.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (12-9, 3.70 ERA) vs. Ken Nielsen (13-10, 2.74 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (10-12, 3.62 ERA) vs. Nate Freeman (8-10, 4.25 ERA)
Vinny Morales (0-4, 5.14 ERA) vs. Martyn Polaco (8-14, 5.07 ERA)

Polaco was one of two southpaws on staff, and the only one that could pitch in this series.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Colter – SS Novelo – 2B Bonner – P Walla
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B Kilday – CF Atkins – RF Lozada – C Varner – 1B Whetstine – LF D. Moore – 3B Spalding – P Nielsen

Offense was slow in the early innings, where no runs were scored, although the Raccoons had two hits and two walks against Ken Nielsen, but also hit into two double plays… Walla looked good, however, allowed only one hit the first time through the damn Elks’ order, and then struck out the 2-3-4 batters in order in the fourth. The middle innings passed without a base hit by either team as the innings breezed by. Jaden Wilson drew a walk and stole second base in the sixth inning, but for the lack of base hits he was also stranded there.

Rich Monck’s 21st homer of the year came to start the seventh inning and broke a scoreless tie. Nielsen then put both Starr and Colter on base and was lifted for Jesse Connors, who retired the bottom dwellers in the lineup and stranded the excess runners. Walla meanwhile had thrown 66 pitches in six innings and looked a-cruising, at least until the bottom 7th began with a Matt Kilday single to left and then Rick Atkins homering to left-center. Roberto Lozada and Steve Varner also reached, Monck bungled a grounder for an error, and another run was charged to Walla, who failed the bases full and left with Varner, Chad Whetstine, and Andy Friend surrounding him, two outs, and his head hanging in shame after a whole stewing mess of 39 pitches and three earned runs in the inning. Pedro Mendoza replaced him against Carlos Castro, was met with righty pinch-hitter Hsi-Chuen Yue, and walked in an (unearned) run. Kilday then flew out to Colter to end the inning. Another run was beaten out of Barton on three hits in the eighth inning. 5-1 Canadiens.

The Raccoons bravely laid down and took it… That will probably be the tag line of the season.

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – RF Colter – SS Novelo – 2B Bonner – P Nakayama
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B Kilday – CF Atkins – RF Lozada – C Varner – 1B Whetstine – LF D. Moore – 3B Spalding – P N. Freeman

The middle game was also scoreless with a 1-hitter for Nakayama (and also Freeman) through three innings. The Elks got Varner and Whetstine on base in the fourth inning, but only with two outs and without Dan Moore being much help and popping out instead. The Raccoons’ top 5th began with Starr grounding out, but then Colter and Novelo dropped singles and Bonner was walked to fill the bases. Nakayama popped out to Lozada in shallow right, with no advance by the runners, before Jaden Wilson clipped a 2-run single and Spicer drew another walk. Ramon Lopez’ soft single plated Bonner for a 3-0 score, but Monck popped out to Kilday to end the inning with the bags still full. Nakayama then promptly also loaded the bases, because why would you just take a lead and run with it? Freeman singled, Castro walked, and Kilday singled the bases full with one down in the bottom 5th. One run scored when the Raccoons could only turn one out on Rick Atkins’ bouncer to Bonner, but Lozada grounded out to Starr to leave the other two on base in a 3-1 game.

Pablo Novelo and Steven Spalding hit into double plays in the sixth inning, while the Coons had three on and nobody out in quite the odd circumstances against Dallas Samson in the seventh. The right-hander allowed a soft leadoff single to Bonner, then misfielded Nakayama’s bunt for an error, then threw a wild pitch, and then walked Wilson intentionally when he was already 3-0 behind. Spicer batted in the juicy spot, fell 1-2 behind, but then struck a 2-run double to right to extend the lead to 5-1. A passed ball on Varner scored Wilson, and Lopez singled home Spicer, which ended Samson’s dismal appearance in favor of Josh Meighan, who got a 6-4-3 double play from Monck to stop the shenanigans.

Nakayama pitched six and a third before being relief efficiently by Quinones, Cullum, and Soriano to hold the Elks to a total of six hits and one run, while Ramon Lopez singled home Spicer one more time in the ninth inning. Spicer had stolen his 43rd base after forcing out Marquise Early to get on base. 8-1 Raccoons. Early (PH) 1-1; Lopez 3-5, 3 RBI; Starr 2-4; Bonner 2-3, BB;

For the Sunday southpaw game, the Raccoons had only five healthy right-handed batters left over – and two of those were catchers, so the lineup was half left-handed.

Thankfully the division title was no longer in play…

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – 2B Bonner – P Morales
VAN: SS C. Castro – 2B Kilday – CF Atkins – RF Lozada – C Varner – 1B Whetstine – LF D. Moore – 3B Spalding – P Polaco

Vinny Morales was frankly terrible – in EVERY regard. He gave up six hits and a walk in the first three innings, allowing a pair of runs on RBI knocks by Varner in the first and Moore in the third innings, made a fielding error on a comebacker, somehow was dragged through by his defense, but for the cherry on top also bunted into a double play when Bonner skimmed another shy single in the top of the third, which ensured the Coons brought up the minimum against Polaco the first time through.

Wilson hit a single to begin the fourth and then didn’t really get anywhere for the rest of the inning. The fifth began with outs from Starr and Early before Corral was walked in a full count by Polaco, who then fell antlers-first into major embarrassment as he allowed an RBI double to Bonner and an RBI single to Vinny Morales, which took all of his lead away. Wilson hit another single, but was left on again when Novelo grounded out.

The defense dragged Morales through six innings on 99 pitches, allowing eight total hits to the damn Elks, but he held the 2-2 tie, even though the Raccoons didn’t get beyond a pinch-hit Bentley single in the seventh and no W would materialize for him – but a potential L developed for McMahan in the bottom 7th, who nicked PH Rico Cordero and then had to hand the ball to Carrington, who was taken quite deep by Rick Atkins for a 2-run homer and gave up two more singles before crawling out of the inning.

The Raccoons arrived in the ninth down 4-2 and then faced Jon McGinley again, who they had not done anything much against so far this season. Early and Arellano made outs to begin the inning before McGinley walked Bonner. Bentley then struck an RBI double to center, which suddenly put the tying run in scoring position for Wil- … uh, a pinch-hitter for Jesse Dover, which turned out to be Spicer, who singled to right, but Bentley didn’t have the legs to come around from second on a single in front of Roberto Lozada. Next up was Novelo, who didn’t futz around for long and singled clean through the hole on the left side, tying the game, and sending McGinley to bed. The runners would then take off for a double steal, but Robbie Lingard struck out Lopez to get out of the jam. Cruz Madrid held the tie to send the final Elks game of the year to extras.

Two innings by Yamauchi and a 12th inning by Barton held the scoreline while the offense did nothing while the Raccoons readied Evan Alvey to pitch red-eye innings until the game would tilt one way or another. He had a quick 13th, but then walked Atkins, allowed a single to Lozada, threw a wild pitch, and then issued a 2-out walk to Dan Moore. The bags were stuffed and cup-of-coffee holder Danny Nickel, all of 1-for-2 for his career, grabbed a stick. He hit a high fly to deep left – but too high and not deep enough, and Spicer made the catch on the warning track… and the game continued. The Raccoons shrugged and lost an inning later instead, when Mike Orphanos reached on a Novelo error, and Atkins knocked a walkoff double. 5-4 Canadiens. Wilson 2-4; Spicer (PH) 1-3; Bonner 2-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Bentley (PH) 2-4, 2B, RBI; Yamauchi 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

In other news

September 20 – The season ends early with a sprained thumb for Loggers 2B/SS Fidel Carrera (.289, 14 HR, 94 RBI). He is accompanied on the DL by fellow middle infielder Tim Goss (.293, 6 HR, 57 RBI), who has suffered a concussion.
September 21 – DEN SP Juan Ybarra (6-9, 3.45 ERA) pitches 9.2 innings of no-hit ball against the Miners without getting offensive support before PIT 3B/SS Brian Robinson (.309, 2 HR, 53 RBI) gets him for a tenth-inning single. Nevertheless, it takes 13 innings for anybody to score a run as the Miners eventually beat the Gold Sox, 1-0. 30-year-old Miners third-string catcher Bill Saba (.364, 0 HR, 1 RBI) singles home the golden run for his first major-league RBI, and the Miners have only three hits all game.
September 22 – The Boston Titans win the CL North with a 3-2 win against the Falcons.
September 22 – The Condors beat the Loggers, 14-8, overturning a 7-run deficit with 10 runs in the eighth and another three runs in the ninth inning.
September 22 – As a manifestation that wins were hard to come by for the Warriors, they take 17 innings to beat the Rebels, 4-3.
September 24 – The Titans take 15 innings to beat the Crusaders, 2-1.
September 25 – The Thunder rush the Bayhawks, 8-0, to claim the CL South title.
September 25 – In a game with 30 base hits, the Loggers take 16 innings to beat the Indians by the paltry score of 3-2.

FL Player of the Week: NAS C David Johnson (.311, 30 HR, 115 RBI), batting .478 (11-23) with 3 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA 1B/3B Alex Alfaro (.314, 13 HR, 69 RBI), hitting .524 (11-21) with 3 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Malcolm Spicer was now up five in the stolen base race. He should totally bat leadoff next year.

Meanwhile Cristiano showed me some paper about the FIP numbers of our pitching staff and it’s quite gross, especially compared to the more average-to-mediocre ERA’s as a whole. The best FIP’s of the 16 hurlers on the roster right now were:

2.56 (Madrid, so it doesn’t really count)
3.71 (Cullum)
3.84 (Nakayama)
4.03 (Walla)
4.10 (Dover, Mendoza, AND Quinones)
…and then it only got rougher from there. Basically, whatever your opinion on the defense was, you should probably apologize to them. Make it with a box of donuts.

Yes, one box per player.

(sigh)

One more week.

One more week, and then my pain will be over for the year.

Four with the Crusaders (probably gonna be ugly), and three with the Indians.

Fun Fact: Jason Brenize (18-6, 2.08 ERA) is oh so close to another triple crown.

He leads by a lot in ERA (46 points) and strikeouts (32). But he’s tied with his own teammate Matt Taylor for wins, and Taylor will get two more starts, and Brenize will only get one.

He probably wished now that he had skinned the Raccoons a bit harder this month…

Yes, my obsession with Brenize is unhealthy, but I am seeing somebody about it. (clonks a pair of bottles together with Slappy before wrapping his lips around the bottleneck)