[Westheim]

Raccoons (4-4) vs. Loggers (5-4) – April 14-17, 2067

The Loggers were in for four games over the weekend to conclude the initial homestand, and brought the third-most runs scored and fifth-fewest runs allowed after the first few ballgames. Certainly they’d still manage to get rid of that +11 run differential at some point, but for now led the CL with a .370 OBP, outdoing the Raccoons by a crisp 67 points. Milwaukee had won the season series for the past two seasons, 11-7 in 2066.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (0-0, 2.57 ERA) vs. Matt Crist (1-0, 1.13 ERA)
Gabriel Rios (1-0, 0.93 ERA) vs. Julio Robles (0-2, 4.05 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (1-0, 2.45 ERA) vs. Nick Waldron (2-0, 2.08 ERA)
Nick Walla (0-1, 5.40 ERA) vs. Girolamo Pizzichini (0-1, 3.18 ERA)

Matt Crist was a 25-year-old rookie making his third big-league start. All four starters offered up by the Loggers were right-handers.

Game 1
MIL: 2B Goss – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – SS F. Carrera – RF C. Dominguez – 3B Reber – LF Alaniz – C Lulich – P Crist
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Roberts – P Gaytan

The first five batters in the Loggers’ lineup were all left-handed, and Tony Gaytan didn’t do too great with them. Tim Goss in the first inning and Carlos Dominguez in the second both had leadoff knocks, but were then stranded when the Loggers found defenders with hard contact. Crist, leading off the third inning, did not reach, but the Loggers then put a run together with hits by Goss and Cesar Ramirez anyway. Soon after, it began to rain. The Raccoons had no hits the first time through before Jose Corral and Ramon Lopez poked 2-out singles in the bottom 3rd, but then Monck grounded out to Goss. The bottom 4th began with a soft single by Justin Dowsey and Joel Starr doubling to left, putting a pair in scoring position. Novelo tied the game with a groundout, but Roberts popped out, and then the tarp came on the field for half an hour until the rain let up a bit. Gaytan batted for himself at that point, singled to right-center, and gave himself a 2-1 lead with two outs…!

Gaytan then made it through five innings at least, although the control was now off as well and he was behind everybody in the fifth inning, in which Crist got a revenge single, but was then doubled up on Goss’ grounder to Mike Roberts. Crist wasn’t doing much better in the bottom 5th, allowing hits to Corral and Lopez to send them to the corners before Rich Monck added on a run with a groundout. Dowsey hit into a fielder’s choice, Starr drew a walk, but Novelo flew out easily to right to leave a pair stranded. Gaytan came back for the sixth, but walked Fidel Carrera on straight balls, the runner stole second, and then scored on Dominguez’ hard double to left. The Raccoons pulled Gaytan, and Josh C managed to strand the tying run on base against the 6-7-8 batters, who all made meek outs.

Bottom 6th, Roberts got on base before the Loggers also yanked their wet starter for left-hander Tony Espinosa, who was however taken deep to right by Jaden Wilson, 5-2. Dowsey and Starr opened the next inning with hits and Roberts drew another walk, but there was also a pair of strikeouts by Espinosa on Colter and Wilson to end the inning with the bases loaded. Bob West had by then pitched a scoreless seventh for Portland added another out in the eighth inning. Holzmeister retired two batters to complete eight, and Ricky McMahan put away the Loggers in order in the ninth inning to claim his first save of the season. 5-2 Raccoons. Corral 2-3, BB, 2B; Lopez 3-5; Dowsey 2-3, BB; Starr 2-3, BB, 2B;

Game 2
MIL: 2B Goss – 3B Reber – 1B C. Ramirez – RF D. Wright – LF C. Dominguez – SS F. Carrera – CF Alaniz – C Guitreau – P Ju. Robles
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – 2B Arantes – P Rios

While the Coons on Friday hit into double plays with Monck in the first and Starr in the second inning, Rios had a fairly nice start to the game with not a lot of kibble allowed to the Loggers in the first three innings, but oh boy did it go wrong in the fourth… He lost Dave Wright on a leadoff walk, then right away conceded the game’s first run on a Dominguez double, and on the very next pitch Fidel Carrera clanked a 2-run homer off the right foul pole for a 3-0 Loggers lead. The inning then dragged on with a Novelo error – his second in the game – and a Goss single before Rios finally got Kyle Reber on strikes to go and sit down again, smoldering. Monck then hit a leadoff single and was doubled up by Dowsey in the bottom of the fourth, which made it one two-for-one for all three of the presumed punchers in the 4-5-6 spots, and with five innings to spare…!

The Loggers then took Rios apart for another three runs on a barrage of singles – and a bases-loaded walk to Tommy Guitreau – in the fifth inning, after which he wasn’t seen again. The Coons then needed two innings from Evan Alvey, who entered the sixth and allowed a single to Reber, an RBI double to Ramirez, a walk to Wright, and then a 3-piece over the centerfield fence to Dominguez, all without getting an out. A mound conference helped nothing as Carrera hit another single and then Lopez peppered away Mario Alaniz’ droppings in front of home plate for a 2-base error. Alvey was then replaced with Holzmeister, and I got mentally ready to have a position player pitch in the tenth game of the season by opening a bottle of Capt’n Coma. Holzmeister walked Guitreau to fill the bases, then popped up Robles to second base, which was the first ACTUAL out of the ******* inning. Goss’ sac fly made it 11-0, but Reber grounded out to end the inning. The Loggers shrugged and whacked Holzmeister for two runs on three hits in the seventh instead…

Rest assured that the Raccoons were taking their turns at-bat orderly during this furious 13-run shelling inside of four innings, there just wasn’t anything to write home about for them. Yamauchi finally ended the assault with a scoreless eighth before Jose Corral hit the most meaningless homer we had seen in a while to lead off the bottom 8th. Monck got on and was singled in by Starr with two outs for more lipstick on more pigs. Novelo was then out to pitch in the ninth inning, in which the Loggers fell over each other to run up the score by another five runs, and in which Cesar Ramirez appeared to tweak a hammy in all the outrage. 18-2 Loggers. Corral 2-4, BB, HR, RBI; Monck 2-4; Novelo 3-4;

Dominguez had five hits and drove in five runs, while the Raccoons didn’t even look like they had five claws on every paw…

Game 3
MIL: LF Alaniz – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – SS F. Carrera – 3B Reber – 2B Ahumada – RF D. Wright – C Lulich – P Waldron
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – 1B Starr – 2B Roberts – SS Tallent – P Nakayama

Nakayama appeared to stop the bleeding on Saturday and lined up zeroes, while the Raccoons took a lead in the bottom 2nd when Dowsey singled and Starr hit a double off the wall to get him around to score. Starr was stranded, but two innings later Ramon Lopez hit a single and Rich Monck cranked a homer to left to extend the lead to 3-0.

For a while Nakayama gave the Raccoons reasonable hope that all of this might be enough to get a good result and restore the bullpen. Through five innings the Loggers had precious little against him, but Jonathan Merrill then struck a leadoff double to left in the sixth that bounced fair by an inch, and the floodgates opened after a K on Ramirez. Carrera walked, Reber hit an RBI single, and after a Jose Ahumada pop to third base, Wright singled, Ian Lulich doubled, Waldron singled, and Alaniz singled, and in a real hurry the Loggers had put another 5-spot on Nakayama, who was then yanked and trudged off the hill, ears and whiskers hanging. Merrill grounded out to first against Bob West, stranding runners on the corners in the 5-3 game. Monck shortened the score to 5-4 in the bottom of the inning with another homer, but the Loggers answered with a Ramirez single and a pinch-hit Guitreau homer off West in the seventh…

Despite being down 7-4, the Raccoons still threatened against the Loggers pen in the eighth inning as both Corral and Monck drew walks. Dowsey popped out against Tony Espinosa, but Starr clipped a 2-out RBI single and brought the go-ahead run to the dish, although Roberts grounded out against fresh lefty Nick Walters, a 23-year-old rookie. Josh C and Dover put the last two innings in the books for Portland, while Tallent, Novelo, and Wilson went down in order against Vincent Hernandez in the bottom of the ninth… 7-5 Loggers. Monck 2-3, BB, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Starr 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Game 4
MIL: LF Alaniz – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – RF C. Dominguez – 3B Reber – 2B Ahumada – SS Murcia – C Guitreau – P Pizzichini
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Colter – SS Novelo – 2B Arantes – P Walla

Ramon Lopez drove in three runs in the first two innings, first plating Wilson with a single in the first, and then Wilson *and* Corral, who had gone through with a double steal, in the second inning. Wilson had already driven in Leon Arantes, who had begun the inning with a single and had stolen second base, and Joel Starr would with two outs double home Lopez for a 4-run second inning, breaking a 1-1 tie; Walla had given up a run with a leadoff single to right by Dominguez, a walk to Ahumada, a groundout, and a wild pitch in the top 2nd. Wilson would plate Arantes again with a 2-out RBI single in the bottom 3rd, although this time Arantes had reached on an error. “Pizza” however was sliced at this point, and replaced with right-hander Jose Soto, who gave up a single to Corral, but Lopez then lined out to Rafael Murcia at short to end the inning.

Walla ran up a pitch count, throwing 84 offerings in five innings, although he only gave up that Dominguez single earlier in addition to two walks and seven strikeouts, most of which came in long counts of 2-2 or 3-2. He bunted Arantes and his 1-out single to second base in the bottom 5th, and Jaden Wilson drove the second-sacker in for the third time in the game, now hitting an RBI double to right-center off Soto before Corral grounded out to second. Walla however had only one more inning in him, allowing straight singles to the all-left-handed 2-3-4 batters in the top 6th to load the bases, but then Kyle Reber spanked a ball into a 5-4-3 double play on Walla’s 100th and final pitch of the game. Evan Alvey followed and had another meltdown, allowing two walks, three hits, and three runs to mostly left-handed batters in the seventh inning, ******* away half of the Coons’ 7-1 lead.

But the Critters responded in the bottom 7th against Aiden Shaw, filling the bags with Arantes, Wilson, and Corral, two walks and a single, before Ramon Lopez cracked a 2-run double to left, 9-4. Monck and Starr both struck out, leaving a pair in scoring position. Carrington then had a 1-2-3 eighth, while McMahan put two Loggers on base in the ninth inning, but sorted out his own mess and grounded out Cesar Ramirez to end the game. 9-4 Raccoons. Wilson 4-5, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Corral 2-4, BB; Lopez 3-5, 2B, 5 RBI; Starr 3-5, 2B, RBI; Arantes 3-4, BB; Walla 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (1-1);

That ended the long season-opening homestand, with the Raccoons leaving on Monday with a .500 record.

They left for Boston though, so…

Raccoons (6-6) @ Titans (8-4) – April 19-21, 2067

The Titans were atop the division after two weeks, although they had yet to really kick it into gear. While the pitchers had allowed the fewest runs so far, the bullpen had been beaten up a bit, and the offense ranked only fifth in runs scored. Boston had to make good against the Raccoons, who had somehow stolen a split of the season series last year, but had not actually beaten the Titans over the course of a full season since 2061. Boston reliever Jose Gomez was on the DL, finishing rehab on a torn rotator cuff suffered last season.

Projected matchups:
Ryan Musgrave (0-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. Tyler Riddle (1-1, 2.25 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Bryce Wallace (2-0, 0.73 ERA)
Gabriel Rios (1-1, 4.30 ERA) vs. Matt Taylor (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

The Titans had played on only two of the last five days, having had Thursday and Monday off, and had been rained out on Saturday, with a double-header split with the Crusaders on Sunday. Jason Brenize (3-0, 1.64 ERA) and Mike Bell (2-1, 2.37 ERA) had pitched in those games and were not available for this series, but the other three could be sent up in any order. They were leading off with ex-Coon Tyler Riddle, the only lefty, though. Taylor had yet to make a start this year, having only pitched in relief so far.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – RF Corral – 3B Arantes – 1B Starr – LF Early – 2B Roberts – P Musgrave
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF A. Lee – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – 1B Joyner – 2B Jer. White – SS Onelas – 3B C. Pena – P Riddle

The Tuesday opener saw a former Raccoon doing very well against the Raccoons, allowing only three soft hits in the first six innings, while the former Titan was constantly in trouble, gave up a run in the first on hits by Steve Humphries and Jorge Arviso, another run in the third on an RBI double by Bill Joyner that scored Andy Lee before he walked the bags full and was lucky that Cesar Pena popped out to Arantes, and another run in the sixth on a Marcos Onelas single, Pena’s double, and PH Tony Rodriquez’ run-scoring groundout. Corral then raced down a Humphries drive to deep right to end the inning, and both pitchers were done at this point since Riddle had been hit for. Getting through six took Musgrave 116 pitches, and he wasn’t gonna throw any more. Raccoons relief from Bob West and Holzmeister was scoreless, but Titans relief from Tyler Gleason and Cody Kleidon was hitless, and the Raccoons lost the opener without much of a squeal. 3-0 Titans.

And the Titans pitcher on Wednesday was……

Nobody. It rained all day.

Come and see us try play two on Thursday then!

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – C Aguilar – LF Dowsey – SS Novelo – 2B Roberts – P Gaytan
BOS: LF S. Humphries – RF A. Lee – CF Marcotte – C Arviso – 1B Joyner – 2B Jer. White – SS Onelas – 3B C. Pena – P B. Wallace

Jaden Wilson narrowly missed a home run to begin the game, hitting a ball off the top of the rightfield wall for a double, and the rest of the team narrowly missed scoring him by two bases with a pair of strikeouts and Starr’s fly out to Humphries… Gaytan had an interesting first run through the lineup. He got three easy and quick groundouts in the first inning, then allowed straight singles to the 4-5-6 batters to lead off the second inning and load the bases with Bostonians. Then he got three pops on the infield from the 7-8-9 crowd and all the runners remained stranded.

Boston got him in the third, though, with Humphries bashing a leadoff triple and scoring on Lee’s groundout, and then Eddie Marcotte lobbed a homer over the fence with apparent ease. The Raccoons did not have another base hit until Wilson hit another double with one out in the sixth (…), after which a shy Corral single and Starr walking loaded the bases for Rich Monck, who found a double play to bobble into, and nobody scored (again). Jeremy White then doubled home Joyner to extend the Titans’ lead to 3-0 in the bottom 6th.

The Raccoons had the bags full again in the seventh, then unearned and with no outs as the 5-6-7 had all gotten on, Dowsey doing so on an error by White. Roberts popped out, Gaytan whiffed, and Wilson rolled over to short. Gaytan perhaps only batted because he had oxygen left and because we were looking another game right after the conclusion of this one. On the bright paw, he finished eight innings on 99 pitches, albeit the metrics were outta whack. He would get credit for a complete-game 10-hitter, and a loss, because the Raccoons only scored in the ninth inning, and with two outs, on back-to-back doubles by Randy Tallent and Mike Roberts, and then Arantes grounded out in Gaytan’s spot. 3-1 Titans. Wilson 2-4, 2 2B; Tallent (PH) 1-1, 2B; Gaytan 8.0 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, L (1-1);

Valiant effort, though depressingly fruitless. I was taking note though that Gaytan had struck out 18 batters in 20 innings, against just one walk. He led the team in whiffs at this point, although Rios would only need five in the second game to pass him.

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – 1B Starr – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – RF Colter – SS Arantes – 2B Tallent – P Rios
BOS: LF S. Humphries – SS Onelas – CF Marcotte – 1B Jer. White – RF Kaniewski – 2B R. Cabrera – C L. Marquez – 3B C. Pena – P Ma. Taylor

Rios didn’t get the five strikeouts, but he got all sorts of things beaten over his head in the second inning, which began with reserves John Kaniewski singling and Rich Cabrera whacking a homer for a 2-0 lead, and then Lorenzo Marquez and Cesar Pena hit more singles, Matt Taylor bunted badly and got Marquez forced out at third base, and Humphries flew out to right; but with two outs the Titans went into all-out stomping mode. Onelas singled, Marcotte singled, White doubled, Kaniewski singled, and Cabrera singled, and with the score at 7-0, Rios was yanked. Holzmeister came in and got a grounder from Marquez to second that Tallent flung away for a run-scoring error, another unearned run scored on another Pena single, and only Taylor ended the 9-run assault with a fly to center…

Holzmeister was his own mess and got only four outs before the Coons went to Alvey, who got beaten up savagely as well. He pitched just 2.2 innings for six hits and four runs, including a fourth-inning homer for Rich Cabrera. He left two runners on base that Yamauchi then waved across. Yamauchi allowed a run of his own in the seventh, getting beaten with three singles, including Taylor and Humphries with two outs… Only Jesse Dover would pitch a scoreless inning without conceding anybody else’s leftover runners, while Matt Taylor in his season debut as a starter pitched a 5-hit shutout. 16-0 Titans. Aguilar (PH) 1-1; Tallent 2-3;

(sad look)

We were a 5-0 loss to the Condors away from giving up twice as many runs as we were scoring.

Consolation though: we weren’t scoring a lot of runs to begin with!

(raises eyebrows and thinks about what he just said)

Raccoons (6-9) @ Condors (8-8) – April 22-24, 2067

The battered Critters went to Mexico to face the .500 Condors, who ranked fourth in runs scored and also in runs allowed. They had a +9 run differential, while the Raccoons were already at -39. The Condors’ pitchers were the opposite from the Titans’ staff, having a horrible rotation with a 5+ ERA between them and the best bullpen in the league. On offense they had stolen only two bases, and were also in the bottom three in homers. They were down two regulars in Andy Metz and Mike Pinault, who were both on the DL. The season series had ended 5-4 for five straight years, with winners strictly alternating. The Raccoons had kept the upper paw in the even years.

Projected matchups:
Shoma Nakayama (1-1, 3.98 ERA) vs. Aaron Ledbetter (1-0, 7.84 ERA)
Nick Walla (1-1, 4.08 ERA) vs. Kodai Koga (1-1, 4.43 ERA)
Ryan Musgrave (0-2, 3.00 ERA) vs. Ryan Davis (1-1, 6.75 ERA)

We would get three right-handers, although did it even matter whom we didn’t score runs against…?

The Raccoons did not score any runs on Friday for example – when they were rained out for the second time in three days.

RAINED OUT IN TIJUANA.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – RF Corral – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Dowsey – SS Novelo – 2B Roberts – P Nakayama
TIJ: CF B. Snyder – LF Brassfield – C Brann – 2B Nye – RF Ewig – 3B Schomer – 1B L. Jimenez – SS Spehar – P Ledbetter

The long Saturday began with Wilson walking and getting doubled off by Ramon Lopez for no run in the first inning. The Condors also hit into a double play with Matt Ewig in the first, but not until after Brendan Snyder’s single, a walk to Trent Brassfield, and another ex-Coon, Nick Nye, adding an RBI single to center had given the Condors a 1-0 lead. That remained the tally for a while; the Raccoons were simply not doing anything, getting a Corral single in the fourth and no other base hits inside five innings, while Nakayama’s control was off, and he piled up four walks in five innings, including a walk to Mike Brann with two outs after a Brass double in the bottom 5th. Nye then hit another RBI single to make it 2-0, before Ewig flew out to Wilson in center to strand a pair.

Out of the blue, the Raccoons then woke from their coma in the sixth. A four-pitch walk to Nakayama with one out was followed by a Wilson single that sent the pitcher to third base. A wild pitch by Ledbetter scored Nakayama, Corral struck out, but Lopez walked, Ledbetter threw another wild pitch to move the runners into scoring position, and Rich Monck then singled them both home on the next pitch, flipping the score to 3-2 Coons…!

Next, the Coons shed leadoff man Wilson when he made a headlong dive to catch a Jon Schomer fly to center in the bottom 6th. Wilson left the game with a numb arm, and was replaced with Tallent. The seventh saw Portland tack on a run with a Dowsey double and Roberts’ RBI single to center, 4-2, while Nakayama fought his way through seven innings despite allowing singles to Snyder and Brass in the bottom 7th before Brann bounded a ball to Novelo for a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. He was followed by Josh C, who pitched a 1-2-3 eighth against the middle of the lineup, and Joel Starr tacked on another run with a solo homer in the ninth. The 5-2 lead went to Dover, who put Ryan Spehar on base with one out, but then got a room service bouncer for a 5-4-3 double play from Jesus Martinez to Monck. 5-2 Critters. Wilson 1-2, BB; Nakayama 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, W (2-1);

Jaden Wilson went to the DL with a bruised elbow between games, but the Raccoons had no reserves on standby to bring onto the roster, and would contest the night game four paws short.

However, we were facing Kodai Koga, and this had to be way past his bedtime as a senior citizen, so maybe things would even out here.

Game 2
POR: RF Corral – SS Novelo – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – C Aguilar – 2B Arantes – CF Tallent – P Walla
TIJ: CF B. Snyder – LF Brassfield – 2B Nye – RF Ewig – 3B Schomer – 1B L. Jimenez – C Lippert – SS Spehar – P Koga

Joel Starr had closed the scoring with a homer in the first game, and opened the scoring with a homer in the second game, bashing a 2-piece with Novelo on base in the third inning after both teams had only mustered one hit and the odd walk in the first two innings, but no runs. Rich Monck added a double to right and then Dowsey dealt a homer over the fence in right – his first two RBI’s with the Raccoons while hitting a solid .286. That made it 4-0 against Koga. The 43-year-old was not on top of his game here, but soldiered bravely onwards, but ran into a bases-loaded situation after three straight singles by the 3-4-5 batters with one out in the fifth inning, and Aguilar batting. Aguilar, too, got his first RBI of the year by virtue of getting nicked to push in a run, and Koga got the hook after 4.1 muddled innings. Ryan Singletary replaced him, got a fly from Arantes to Snyder in center, Monck went for home – and was thrown out, which ended the inning.

Walla made it through five innings with a 1-hitter, but had also walked three batters and had somehow ballooned his pitch count to 85 already. He then went on to have a 6-pitch sixth, and returned for the seventh, but didn’t retire another batter. Ewig singled, Schomer popped a home run to left, and then Walla hit Leo Jimenez with a fastball, which led to a fracas and the benches clearing. Both Jimenez and Walla were ejected, and when the dust settled, Manny Rubin was pinch-running and Bob West had the ball. He walked Spehar, who was forced out on a grounder by Ian Parker, and then Snyder flew out to Dowsey to leave runners on the corners. Top 8th, and the bags were full with Dowsey, Aguilar, and Tallent and one out. Marquise Early pinch-hit and struck out, but Jose Corral got hold of a middle-middle mistake and POUNDED it – GRAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!!

That put the lid on the game, as the Condors then ceased resisting. The ball went to Manabu Yamauchi, with McMahan getting ready if needed, but he wasn’t. Yamauchi collected the last six outs without much trouble. 9-2 Raccoons. Corral 1-5, HR, 4 RBI; Starr 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Monck 3-5, 2B; Dowsey 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Yamauchi 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Carlos Matas was called up on Sunday to replace the injured Jaden Wilson. Matas had only appeared in three games for the Alley Cats so far, but he had some things going for him, like being a centerfielder, healthy, and on the 40-man roster.

Game 3
POR: RF Corral – C Lopez – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – LF Dosey – SS Novelo – 2B Roberts – CF Matas – P Musgrave
TIJ: CF B. Snyder – LF Brassfield – C Brann – 2B Nye – RF Ewig – 1B M. Rubin – 3B D. Sandoval – SS Spehar – P R. Davis

Lopez walked and was forced out by Starr in the top 1st, but the 4-5-6 batters then all chipped singles, with an RBI each for Dowsey and Novelo before Roberts whiffed to end the inning. The next three half-innings all ended with double plays hit into, as Musgrave faced the minimum on 19 pitches the first time through. The Raccoons then tacked on another two runs in the fourth; Matas doubled in his second at-bat of the year, scored on Corral’s single to right, and Lopez tripled a wildly caroming ball off the fence with two outs, bringing in Corral for a 4-0 lead. The Condors yanked Ryan Davis right then and there, and lefty Joe Cash rung up Starr to end the inning.

Musgrave continued to face the minimum through four, but then allowed two hits in the fifth and two walks in the sixth to create some drama on the bases. The Condors both times left the runners on the corners, Ryan Spehar and Nick Nye making the inning-ending flyouts, respectively. Musgrave then returned to 1-2-3’ing the Condors in the seventh, while the Coons tacked on another 2-spot with a homer by Matas (!) in the eighth, his third career homer in three cup-of-coffee seasons. Musgrave looked like a shutout was in the cards, but then ran long counts in the bottom 8th. Snyder hit a 2-out single in a full count, and Brass struck out also in a full count to at least end the eighth but with the veteran now over 100 pitches. Musgrave did make a bid for the shutout, but it wasn’t meant to be; Brann doubled and Ewig hit an RBI single to break up the bid, and he was then lifted for McMahan to get the last two outs. 6-1 Coons. Lopez 2-4, BB, 3B, RBI; Monck 2-4; Dowsey 3-4, RBI; Matas 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Musgrave 8.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (1-2) and 1-4;

In other news

April 14 – The Warriors beat the Pacifics, 3-2 in 17 innings, when OF/2B Jesus Alvarez (.359, 0 HR, 4 RBI) finally comes through with the walkoff single after a full game’s worth of innings without scoring.
April 15 – Condors OF/2B/SS Mike Pinault (.289, 0 HR, 5 RBI) would miss the rest of the month with a quad strain.
April 15 – The Stars get wiped by the Wolves, 15-3, and the Salem batters leave another dozen runners on base.
April 19 – IND SP Mike DeWitt (2-1, 3.65 ERA) is perfect for 8.1 innings against the Crusaders before NYC INF Paul Labonte (.250, 0 HR, 3 RBI) pokes a single and ruins everything. Reliever Danny Nava (0-1, 6.75 ERA) completes the combined 1-hitter in a 6-0 Indy win.
April 20 – The Loggers light an 11-run fireworks under the Canadiens in the seventh inning on their way to a 16-5 victory. MIL 2B/SS Fidel Carrera (.327, 6 HR, 22 RBI) chucks two home runs, a grand slam and a 3-piece, and drives in eight runs in total.
April 21 – Sacramento demolishes Salem, 20-2, despite no Scorpions player getting more than three hits or three RBI.
April 22 – BOS SP Jason Brenize (4-0, 1.16 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout with ten strikeouts against the Falcons, taking an 8-0 win.
April 24 – Pacifics SP Joel Luera (0-0, 4.60 ERA) was out for the season after suffering a torn UCL.

FL Player of the Week (2): SFW OF/2B Jesus Alvarez (.396, 2 HR, 9 RBI), hitting .519 (14-27) with 2 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week (2): LVA 1B/3B Alex Alfaro (.348, 4 HR, 15 RBI), batting .522 (12-23) with 1 HR, 10 RBI

FL Player of the Week (3): CIN 1B Steve Jordan (.290, 4 HR, 13 RBI), knocking .450 (9-20) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week (3): MIL OF Jonathan Merrill (.450, 0 HR, 12 BRI), clipping .556 (15-27) with 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Thursday and Saturday double headers would not have had a grim effect on pitching plans because we have another day off on Monday before playing two more road series in Oklahoma and Elk City. Gaytan will open the Thunder series on Tuesday on regular rest.

However, Walla’s suspension will. He’s banned through next Saturday, so can only wind up again on Sunday during the finale in Elk City. The Raccoons somehow had to fill the five starts before that, and who would you want to use as a spot starter. Alvey??

Speaking of starting pitchers, Chance Fox had an 8+ ERA after two rehab appearances in AAA…

Fun Fact: Loggers players lead all batting triple crown categories as they sit half a game behind the Titans.

Jonathan Merrill was batting .450 ahead of teammate Cesar Ramirez going .430 at this point, while Fidel Carrera had pounded out six homers and 24 RBI, both well ahead of the competition.

For comparison, the last-place offense in Portland had a couple of .300 hitters with Lopez on top batting .328, but Monck’s four homers and Corral’s 11 RBI’s were as it good as it got right now.

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Bit of a service announcement, as we have a heat wave with temps up to 35°C (95°F) and I might just drag myself home from the office and lie down in that weather. Cold doesn’t faze me, but heat is terrible. So there may or may not be updates until about Friday, but if there aren’t any, you know why.