[Westheim]

Raccoons (38-37) @ Bayhawks (23-52) – June 27-29, 2067

The Bayhawks were having an unforgettable season in the worst way, sitting second from the bottom in runs scored and absolute bottoms in runs allowed, giving away almost SIX runs per game. They had a -147 run differential, ranked in the bottom three in all major stats except team homers (5th), and even the Raccoons had swept them in the first series between these two teams this year. Juan Sanchez and Adan Yniguez were on the DL, getting a temporary reprieve from having to partake in the slaughter in person.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (4-6, 3.92 ERA) vs. Adam Gardner (3-8, 4.39 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (5-5, 4.27 ERA) vs. Vince Vandiver (1-8, 5.48 ERA)
Ryan Musgrave (7-5, 3.23 ERA) vs. Paul Egley (3-8, 5.16 ERA)

They looked treacherously beatable. Never underestimate the Raccoons’ ability to lay a clutch of eggs against a last-place team! Gardner was the only southpaw opposition we expected to face in the series.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C R. Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Tallent – 2B Roberts – P Gaytan
SFB: RF J. Paez – 1B Navarre – LF Streng – 2B A. Montoya – C Goodwin – CF J. Ward – SS Bruce – 3B K. Ball – P Gardner

Wilson walked and Novelo singled to begin the game, but were then left on base, and Gardner went on to retire nine in a row before Ramon Lopez tried again with a leadoff single in the fourth, at which point the Baybirds were hitless against Tony Gaytan, who had walked Curt Goodwin and had otherwise retired everybody, four on strikes, in the first three innings. Gardner, however, got another set of three straight outs from the 4-5-6 batters, and the Raccoons didn’t score. Gaytan hit a 2-out single in the fifth that led nowhere nice, and in turn allowed a single to Jake Ward in the Baybirds’ go at the fifth inning. Ward stole second base, but was left there by Ryan Bruce and Keith Ball.

Gardner began the sixth inning by allowing a double to right to Novelo. Lopez was walked intentionally and Monck flew out to left, but Joel Starr then got hold of a breaking ball and crunched it some 410 feet to left-center for a 3-run homer, his tenth of the season. Marquise Early flew out after that, but with two outs Gardner nailed Tallent, who stole second out of spite, walked Roberts, and then saw Gaytan reach base when Bruce fumbled his entry-level grounder to short for an error. Clearly fazed, Gardner then walked in an unearned run against Jaden Wilson before Bruce redeemed himself with a jumping and perfectly timed catch on a Novelo liner that ended the inning. Gardner continued into the next inning, but another leadoff double by Lopez, Starr walking, and Early’s RBI single knocked him out of a 5-0 game. The inning escalated into the second straight 4-spot with a soft Tallent single to load the bases, Roberts’ RBI groundout, and then a 2-out, 2-run single up the middle poked by Gaytan. Wilson struck out against Roberto Mendez to make it stretch time. Early added two more with a wallbanger double to score Lopez and Starr in the eighth, getting the Coons into double digits, while Gaytan tried to complete the shutout, but was on 89 pitches through seven, and then played himself out of it with two walks issued to PH John Parrish and Nate Navarre in the eighth inning. He finished that frame, but at 110 pitches was not coming back anymore and was hit for with Jose Corral in the ninth, where Portland loaded the bases with nobody out against Dario Luna, who nailed Matas, gave up a double to Corral, and walked Wilson. Novelo doubled home two, and Jake Flowe pinch-hit for a sac fly, while Rich Monck continued to post an 0-for-6 with a groundout to first. 13-0 Furballs! Novelo 4-6, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Lopez 2-4, BB, 2B; Starr 2-4, BB, HR, 3 RBI; Early 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Corral (PH) 1-1, 2B; Gaytan 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 6 K, W (5-6) and 2-4, 2 RBI;

Great, now we used up all our runs for the series in game one!

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – RF Corral – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – 2B Bonner – P Nakayama
SFB: RF J. Paez – 1B Navarre – LF Streng – 2B A. Montoya – C Goodwin – CF J. Ward – SS Bruce – 3B K. Ball – P Vandiver

Nakayama had another first inning from hell, allowing singles to Paez and Navarre, a walk to Ian Streng, and another single to Armando Montoya before getting anybody out. Montoya drove in the first run, Goodwin added a second run with a sac fly to Wilson, but Jake Ward then hit into a double play to end the effort. The Raccoons’ attempt at an answer in the top 2nd involved straight singles from the 5-6-7 batters to load the bases with nobody out before Ryan Bonner floated a ball to shallow right, where Montoya and Paez failed to communicate and had the ball drop in between them for an RBI single. Nakayama got himself even with a sac fly to Ward, and Wilson’s RBI double to left gave him the lead – and then Novelo blasted a 3-run homer, 6-2!

Rich Monck finally joined the hit parade with doubles in his next two at-bats, but both times he was the only Critter to reach base in the inning and was left on base. While Vandiver was hit for as early as the bottom 2nd after giving up that 6-spot, Nakayama was eyed anxiously as he appeared easily hittable and the Baybirds lineup looked like a rally was absolutely possible. When Juan Paez opened the bottom 5th with a sharp single past Monck, the bullpen began to do stretches, but Nakayama struck out the next two before Paez got himself caught stealing to get through five on 61 pitches.

Jose Corral’s homer drought ended in the sixth against Austin LaRosa, who gave up a 2-out, 3-run bomb to him with Bonner and Wilson on base. San Francisco got a run back in that inning with a leadoff triple into the gap by Armando Montoya. Goodwin whiffed, but Ward brought in the runner with a sac fly to Wilson. Nakayama would go seven, hitting Keith Ball in his final frame, but that runner remained on base. The Raccoons then had the bases loaded again in the eighth, and again with nobody out, as Bonner and Matas hit soft singles and Danny Zepeda then walked Wilson. The Coons only got one run this time, though, as Novelo struck out and Corral hit a sac fly. Monck reached on an error by Navarre, but Starr flew out. Holzmeister and McMahan put the game away for Portland. 10-3 Furballs! Wilson 2-2, 3 BB, 2B, RBI; Novelo 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Corral 2-4, HR, 4 RBI; Monck 2-5, 2 2B; Bonner 3-5, RBI; Matas (PH) 1-1;

Game 3
POR: CF Wilson – C R. Lopez – RF Corral – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Dowsey – SS Novelo – 2B Bonner – P Musgrave
SFB: RF J. Paez – 1B Navarre – LF Streng – 2B A. Montoya – C Goodwin – CF J. Ward – SS Bruce – 3B K. Ball – P Egley

Could the Raccoons complete the sweep with another double-digit runs game? Early signs were not promising as it took until the third inning for the Raccoons to put their first run together (but then again we hadn’t scored until the sixth on Monday) when Bonner singled, was moved to second by Musgrave, and then scored on another Wilson single. That lead, however, didn’t last; while Musgrave allowed just one hit the first time through, he lost Ian Streng on balls with one down in the bottom 4th and then was taken deep to right by Armando Montoya, which gave San Francisco a 2-1 lead.

Top 5th, and Musgrave led off with a shy single. Wilson singled as well, moving the tying run to second base, and Ball muffed Lopez’ grounder to third for an error and the bases were loaded again with nobody out for like the umpteenth time in the series. The Coons barely got the tying run on Corral’s groundout before Monck popped out, Starr walked, and Dowsey whiffed, leaving three aboard… The next inning began with Novelo and Bonner singles, who were at the corners for Musgrave, who struck out, but Wilson drove home the 3-2 for the second straight day, this time with a single to center, but the Coons again left a pair on base after that before Monck led off the seventh with a homer to right, tying Corral again for the team lead with 16 bombs apiece.

And then came the proverbial clutch of eggs. Out-hitting the Baybirds 11-3 at the stretch, Musgrave then allowed a 2-out single to left Bruce, while Ball legged out an infield single. Musgrave went on to nail Parrish to fill the bases – and then Paez with the bases loaded, too, which narrowed the score to 4-3. The Raccoons brought Josh C and Early in a double switch for Dowsey. The right-hander got Nate Navarre to 0-2, but then gave up a 2-run single through the right side away to flip the score back to San Francisco. Ian Streng then struck out, but at this point Carrington could also kindly stick the strikeout up his furry tush… He put two more runners on base in the eighth, was clumsily dug out by Evan Alvey, while the Coons brought up the 2-3-4 batters against righty Roland Wiser, who had a 5.34 ERA and more walks than strikeouts, in the ninth. Lopez poked an 0-2 pitch into shallow center for a leadoff single and Corral hit an infield roller that nobody got to in time, putting another runner on base. Monck knocked Wiser’s first pitch right back to the hurler, though, and Wiser spun and fired to seco- wide! Error! Bases loaded, and still nobody out in the ninth! …and before the Raccoons could croak with three pops on the infield to lose, Wiser went from 2-2 to a full count on Joel Starr by completely throwing a ball over the catcher, over the umpire, and well up into the netting behind home plate. Lopez scored on the WILD pitch, tying the game at five, while Starr cranked a deep fly to center on the next pitch. It was caught by Ward, but at this point all we *really* wanted was for Corral to score on the sac fly, 6-5! Wiser threw another wild pitch, but the extra runner remained on third base on poor outs by Flowe and Novelo before Jesse Dover got the ball. Paez and Navarre grounded out, but David Blackham hit a 2-out single to left to get Montoya back to the dish. He hit a ball on the ground, though, to second base, and Novelo zoomed over and made the pick and stepped on the bag to complete the sweep. 6-5 Coons! Wilson 3-5, 2 RBI; Monck 2-5, HR, RBI; Novelo 2-5; Bonner 2-4;

Sweep!

Raccoons (41-37) @ Loggers (51-28) – June 30-July 3, 2067

Compared to the Bayhawks, the Loggers were hardly the same species. They ranked first in runs scored in the CL, with 444 runs from just 79 games (5.6 per game) and a solid sixth place in runs allowed for a +99 run differential (Coons: +20). They had already swept the Raccoons once this month and were up 6-2 for the year, so I was a bit cautions about expectations for this series. “Pizza” Pizzichini and Phil Reder were on the DL for them.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (5-4, 2.72 ERA) vs. Aiden Shaw (6-2, 3.54 ERA)
Chance Fox (0-0, 3.09 ERA) vs. Nick Waldron (9-2, 3.70 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (5-6, 3.59 ERA) vs. Jose Lugo (4-3, 3.18 ERA)
Shoma Nakayama (6-5, 4.24 ERA) vs. Matt Crist (8-5, 4.41 ERA)

Only right-handed pitching coming up here (although they had plenty of lefty relievers for flavor). The Raccoons would give Fox a Chance in Rios’ spot in the rotation, although, to be honest, neither of them had been anywhere close to good in the last few weeks.

Game 1
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – RF Corral – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – 2B Roberts – P Walla
MIL: 2B Goss – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – SS F. Carrera – RF C. Dominguez – 3B Reber – C Lulich – LF Ma. Gilmore – P A. Shaw

Both teams rocked up with six left-handed hitters for this game, and neither scored a run on their lone single the first time through the batting order against right-handed starters, so that strategy was totally checking out. The Raccoons were the first team to actually make a bid for home plate in the fourth inning when Corral walked, Monck softly singled, and with two outs Dowsey singled to right, but Carlos Dominguez threw out his fellow rightfielder at the plate to end the inning. Depressingly, Dominguez followed up those heroics with a 1-out RBI single after Jonathan Merrill and Cesar Ramirez had reached base with a single and a walk to begin the bottom 4th, and Kyle Reber’s RBI single and Ian Lulich groundout extended the Loggers led to 3-0 immediately. That remained the score through five before Wilson hit a leadoff single in the sixth and was brought in on Monck’s 2-out RBI single, 3-1. Walla began the bottom 6th by getting Ramirez to fly out to center before Fidel Carrera hit a fly ball over the rightfield line. Corral rushed for the line, made the catch on the run, and then went half running, half sliding, and at full steam into the menacing looking sidewall, then collapsed into a heap of parts in foul territory, which Luis Silva then collected. He was replaced with Randy Tallent, who fittingly came to the plate with two outs after the Raccoons had made up a run on hits by Roberts, Wilson, and Novelo in the top 7th and had runners on the corners. Shaw carved him up on strikes, he would go eight innings compared to Fox’ seven-and-a-third, McMahan getting two more outs for Portland before the 3-2 lead went to Vincent Hernandez in the ninth inning, and he made short work of Bonner, Lopez, and Matas at the bottom of the order. 3-2 Loggers. Wilson 2-4; Monck 2-4, RBI; Flowe 2-3, 2B;

I was not exactly hot on a conversation with Luis Silva at this point, but I heard he went around several DIY stores in Milwaukee on Friday morning, so the Corral news would probably not be good. There were no news by game time on Friday, though, so the Coons played four paws short. Furthermore, Pablo Novelo had a day off, and Jaden Wilson was going to have a day off either on Saturday or Sunday.

Game 2
POR: CF Wilson – 1B Starr – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – RF Matas – SS Tallent – 2B Roberts – P Fox
MIL: 2B Goss – CF Merrill – RF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – SS F. Carrera – 3B Reber – C Guitreau – LF Ma. Gilmore – P Waldron

Ramon Lopez found Wilson on base and a spot behind the rightfield wall to deposit a baseball into for a quick 2-0 lead on Friday, but Chance Fox issued FOUR walks in the first inning and surrendered two runs to the Loggers right away, who didn’t even get a base hit in the inning. They would soon get a few, though, as Waldron singled and Tim Goss doubled to give them a 3-2 lead in the second inning. Fox was goddamn awful in absolutely every aspect and issued five walks and four hits in five innings, living on borrowed time and a bunch of good defensive plays, and that even without anybody else slamming into a wall somewhere.

Rios replaced Fox after five, preferably to pitch the rest of the game, and struck out the 9-1-2 batters in order in the bottom 6th before the Coons took Fox off the hook with three singles by Tallent, Early, and Wilson in the seventh inning. Starr struck out, but with two down Ramon Lopez socked a 2-run double to left to give the Coons a 5-3 lead and chase Waldron. Monck clubbed a hard RBI single to center against lefty Tony Espinosa, 6-3, but a K to Dowsey ended the 4-run rally.

Rios completed three innings, the last of which ran very long after two walks issued to the Loggers, but Goss then hit into a double play to get him outta there with the 6-3 score still standing. Wilson and Lopez hits against Angelo Ramirez tacked on a run in the ninth and the Coons went to Carrington against the lefty barrage starting with Merrill in the bottom 9th. He got them in order, although Dominguez got within seven feet of a homer to left. 7-3 Raccoons. Wilson 3-5, RBI; Lopez 4-5, HR, 2B, 5 RBI; Roberts 2-4; Rios 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, W (8-6);

Yup, Chance Fox is washed…

What a sad day for Portland baseball…..

Game 3
POR: SS Novelo – 1B Starr – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – CF Matas – RF Tallent – 2B Bonner – P Gaytan
MIL: 2B Goss – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – SS F. Carrera – RF C. Dominguez – 3B Reber – C Guitreau – LF Ma. Gilmore – P J. Lugo

Gaytan didn’t do well either, getting slapped around for five singles by the Loggers the first time through. They held themselves to one run and two double plays, but it didn’t look great for longevity and Evan Alvey was encouraged to end his second dinner early. The Raccoons had not a lot going on early on, and when Starr and Lopez reached base to begin the fourth, Monck whiffed and Dowsey hit into a double play to get rid of that chance. In turn, Gaytan walked Dominguez with one out and on four pitches before giving up a double to Kyle Reber and a 2-run single to Tommy Guitreau. Merrill walked, but was doubled off by Ramirez in the fifth.

The Raccoons dragged Gaytan into the seventh inning, where he nicked Guitreau beginning the bottom 7th. Matt Gilmore and Jose Lugo made weak outs, with Guitreau reaching second, but with the lineup flipping back to the top of the order and five lefty sticks, Alvey came into the game in the #7 slot, the last one cleared before the stretch, Dowsey going to right and Early entering in leftfield batting ninth. For all that effort, Alvey then surrendered Gaytan’s fourth run on the first pitch, which Goss knelled to right for an RBI single. He would retire the next four, and the Raccoons never got unclenched against Jose Lugo, who pitched a 5-hit shutout on 99 pitches. 4-0 Loggers. Lopez 3-4, 2B;

Well, that was another game that was not good on any level.

Also not good: a torn ligament in Jose Corral’s thumb. However, Luis Silva thinks he’s got it stapled back together pretty good and he might be able to return at the end of July! For now, he was off to the DL, though, and he probably wouldn’t get to 39 homers this season now. Jamie Colter was recalled from St. Pete.

Game 4
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – RF Colter – 2B Roberts – P Nakayama
MIL: 2B Goss – CF Merrill – 1B C. Ramirez – SS F. Carrera – RF C. Dominguez – 3B Reber – C Guitreau – LF Ma. Gilmore – P Crist

Colter hit a single his first time up on Sunday, but was left on base, and when he came up again in the fourth inning of a scoreless game that had already seen three double plays being hit into (one by Jake Flowe), he found that there were two outs, and Monck and Dowsey singles and a walk drawn by Flowe had loaded the bases for Portland. He hit a fly to deep left … but it was caught out there by Gilmore. Nakayama then allowed a single to Reber and got a 6-4-3 from Guitreau to end the inning, which was the Loggers’ third double play in the game in just four innings. They finally broke through though in the fifth with a leadoff walk drawn by Gilmore, and then Crist just swinging away and hitting a single. Merrill and Ramirez added RBI singles to give them a 2-0 lead before Carrera struck out and Dominguez grounded out to short, leaving a pair on the corners.

Top 6th, and the Raccoons again made two outs before Monck reached on an error. Dowsey walked, and Flowe singled, and here was Colter again with the bases loaded and two down. This time he hit a ball to right – and it was a screamer that went into the corner and then bounced away from Dominguez, and all runners scored on a score-flipping, bases-clearing double!

Nakayama collected four more outs before the lineup flipped over again and the Raccoons opted for a left-hander, this time McMahan with a skinny 3-2 lead, who got two outs to complete the seventh inning from Goss and Merrill. Monck and Dowsey then got on base together again in the eighth, but Flowe popped out. Colter instead drew a 1-out walk to fill the sacks. Ramon Lopez batted for brutally useless Mike Roberts, grounded to short, but the Loggers failed to complete the 6-4-3 double play and the Coons scratched out an insurance run before McMahan batted for himself, whiffed, and went back out with a 4-2 lead and completed a 1-2-3 eighth in seven pitches. The Coons were silent in the ninth, but at least they could now send Dover against right-handed batters Reber and Guitreau. Reber then promptly homered to left, 4-3, and Dave Wright batted for Guitreau, but grounded out. Dover lost Gilmore on balls before Ian Lulich few out to Dowsey in left, but the lineup flipped over. There was a mound conference for some counseling before Dover faced Goss and ran a full count. The game ended with a swing and a miss, and the Raccoons got out with a split. 4-3 Critters. Monck 2-4; Dowsey 2-2, 2 BB; Colter 2-3, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Nakayama 6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (7-5); McMahan 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

In other news

June 28 – Knights catcher Justin Hart (.283, 2 HR, 35 RBI) puts together a 20-game hitting streak with two knocks – including the walkoff RBI single! – in a 6-5 win in ten innings against the Canadiens.
June 28 – Warriors OF Danny Perez (.294, 9 HR, 46 RBI) goes yard to plate the only two runs in a 2-0 win against the Cyclones.
June 29 – The Thunder bring OF Johnny Parker (.307, 8 HR, 33 RBI) back in a trade with the Buffaloes, who receive a prospect.
June 29 – The 20-game hitting streak of ATL C Justin Hart (.280, 2 HR, 35 RBI) ends in a 3-0 win against Vancouver with an 0-for-3 showing.
July 1 – DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.308, 19 HR, 70 RBI) might miss most of July with a broken foot.
July 1 – The season of Boston LF/RF Andy Lee (.199, 4 HR, 19 RBI) ends with a broken kneecap.
July 1 – The Canadiens beat the Indians, 5-3, in no fewer than 14 innings.
July 2 – The Canadiens up the fun by seven with a 2-1 win in *21* innings against the Indians, who get only nine base hits in all that time, two of them by SP Justin Esch (2-2, 1.93 ERA, 1 SV). VAN C Steve Varner (.286, 4 HR, 32 RBI) almost outdoes all Indians position player with a 5-for-8 day, including the RBI single for the winning run in the top of the 21st inning.
July 3 – The Buffaloes lose INF/LF Alex Rodriguez (.247, 5 HR, 29 RBI) for the rest of the month. The 30-year-old was down with an oblique strain.
July 3 – The Condors trade LF/RF/1B Trent Brassfield (.283, 3 HR, 24 RBI) back to the Indians for outfielder Elmer Maldonado of (.286, 5 HR, 36 RBI), #56 prospect CL David Carlson, and $790k in cash.

FL Player of the Week: LAP C Matt Warner (.341, 4 HR, 26 RBI), batting .545 (12-22) with 1 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL OF Jake Evans (.280, 14 HR, 55 RBI), socking .448 (13-29) with 2 HR, 11 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: CIN OF Melvin Avila (.329, 4 HR, 33 RBI), batting .390 with 3 HR, 17 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: NYC C David Johnson (.306, 12 HR, 49 RBI), raking .422 with 9 HR, 22 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: NAS SP Edwin Moreno (9-5, 2.03 ERA), hurling for a 5-1 record with 1.63 ERA, 33 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: BOS CL Cody Kleidon (5-1, 3.51 ERA, 24 SV), going 5-0 with 7 SV and a 0.67 ERA, 12 K in 13 games
FL Rookie of the Month: DEN 1B Juan Gutierrez (.282, 3 HR, 20 RBI), poking .294 with 1 HR, 9 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: VAN INF Roberto Barraza (.277, 1 HR, 30 RBI), hitting .290 with 15 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Chance Fox is so done. We will try to keep him in the garbage relief role for the rest of the year and then quietly let him go into free agency and before long retirement…

Funnily enough, J.J. Sensabaugh is still around in AAA. They are the last two Critters pitchers going back to the 2050s with the team, although Joel Starr on the batting side has been around since 2058 and thanks to his contract will still be around in 2069.

It is July, which means the window to sign international free agents is open now. The Raccoons had strict signing limitations last year due to overdoing it in ’65, which means that this year we can go blow on teenage boys from the Caribbean again. Except that the pool was *really* uninspiring this year. The Raccoons might as well have had signing limitations, because we struggled to find any youngster there worth throwing six figures at.

Fun Fact: The Canadiens and Indians played just nine innings on Sunday.

Elks won 4-2. And I don’t think anybody was particularly mad about getting to go home on time.