[Westheim]

Raccoons (43-39) vs. Indians (32-50) – July 4-7, 2067

After flattening a last-place team last week, the Raccoons would get eight games against a last-place team across the next two weeks, as the four-and-four part of the schedule with the Indians had arrived. The first four games were in Portland, and the Coons were trying to take command of a season series tied at two against a team ranking 11th in runs scored and eighth in runs allowed in the CL. Miguel Falcon was the only notable injury on the Indians.

Projected matchups:
Ryan Musgrave (7-5, 3.46 ERA) vs. Victor Perez (3-8, 3.61 ERA)
Nick Walla (5-5, 2.79 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (8-5, 3.30 ERA)
Gabriel Rios (8-6, 4.12 ERA) vs. Ignazio Flores (6-9, 4.78 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (5-7, 3.71 ERA) vs. Justin Esch (2-2, 1.93 ERA)

DeWitt and Flores were both left-handers, and DeWitt led the CL in strikeouts while being stuck on a last-place team. Jake Flowe and Ramon Lopez would split the starts behind the dish for this series, and then we’d probably hand Flowe back to AAA. The spitting plan was put in place even before the opener was rained out and we got a double header installed for Tuesday.

The Coons kept their pitchers in order, but the Indians moved DeWitt up to the opener on Tuesday. The skies were still cloudy and I wasn’t trusting the weather further than I could throw Igor, the tiniest and nastiest of the baseball gods, which wasn’t very far at all.

Game 1
IND: CF Ma. Martin – SS Baxley – 1B Ma. Rogers – C A. Gomez – 3B W. Mejia – RF T. Torres – LF Brassfield – 2B W. Martinez – P DeWitt
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Early – 1B Starr – RF Tallent – 2B Roberts – P Musgrave

Offense in the first three innings consisted solely of both Jaden Wilson and Wil Mejia to hit a single, steal second base, and then be left to wither there by their respective teams. Musgrave wasn’t able to keep it on the ground, though, but the Indians weren’t quite squaring him up either. Matt Rogers hit a single and stole second in the fourth inning, and Wil Martinez singled with two gone in the fifth, but those runners were also stranded. The real problem started with a leadoff walk to Matt Martin in the sixth. John Baxley’s grounder moved up the runner, and Rogers then singled cleanly to center to get the game’s first run home. The Coons were still stuck on that Wilson single to start the game, and a Novelo single with two down in the sixth made it all of two total bases against DeWitt, but before he could cruise to a shutout, the clouds opened and gave everybody a good dousing just as Musgrave finished the seventh inning.

Both starters were gone after an 88-minute rain delay. Yamauchi was then ineffective in the eighth, walking two, and McMahan was no help either, giving up an RBI double to Wil Mejia, who also hurt himself on the play and limped off in favor of Eddie Menchaca. The next batter, Tony Torres, popped out to Monck to strand a pair in scoring position. The Coons never got a third base hit; Ramon Lopez drew a 1-out walk from John Nesbitt in the bottom 9th, but Monck then gave his former teammate a save with a game-ending double play grounder. 2-0 Indians. Musgrave 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, L (7-6);

Wil Mejia was day-to-day with a bruised wrist and remained on Indy’s roster.

Game 2
IND: CF Ma. Martin – LF Menchaca – 1B Ma. Rogers – 3B W. Mejia – RF T. Torres – SS Baxley – C J. Edwards – 2B W. Martinez – P V. Perez
POR: CF Matas – SS Novelo – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – RF Colter – 2B Bonner – P Walla

The second game did not start until midnight Eastern time, but why not give it a whiff and regret it later? Menchaca singled and a pair of doubles by Rogers and Torres gave Indy a 2-0 lead again right away. Walla surrendered another messy run in the second inning on two singles and a wild pitch, but the 3-0 hole was filled in by Jamie Colter’s homer to right in the bottom 2nd, plating Dowsey and Flowe, who had reached on a single and a walk, respectively. Walla remained an absolute mess, though, issued another walk and a single in the third inning, and a four-pitch walk to Perez to begin the top of the fourth, although none of those runnrs came around to score. However, the Raccoons yanked Walla after 64 pitches and four innings, partly because of the AWFUL performance (10 runners, no strikeouts), and partly because he was still at a point where he’d be able to go on short rest on Saturday, while Musgrave had thrown just over 100 pitches. Jaden Wilson batted for him with Flowe and a leadoff double situated at third base with two outs, but was drilled by Perez and was narrowly nudged to first base by the home plate umpire instead of taking Perez’ head off, and Matas then struck out.

Wilson remained in the game, batting ninth, and Evan Alvey was inserted as the long reliever in the #1 spot. He proved no less awful than Walla, allowing three hits for two runs in the fifth, when Mejia singled, Baxely tripled, and John Edwards hit another single, and three more singles for another run in the sixth, Rogers grabbing an RBI for driving in Martin. Alvey finally got rid of the 6-7-8 batters in the seventh, and then was hit for with Roberts, who singled to add to Wilson on the bases in the bottom 7th, but Nick Robinson then got a double play grounder from Novelo that ended the inning. Matt Martin and Joel Starr exchanged solo homers in the eighth that didn’t budge the score much, and after the Starr shot to right the Raccoons disappeared without setting another paw on base. 7-4 Indians. Roberts (PH) 1-1;

That’s not exactly how I imagined the series to commence.

And it’s way past my bedtime!!

Game 3
IND: 3B Baxley – LF Menchaca – 1B Ma. Rogers – C A. Gomez – 2B W. Mejia – RF Brassfield – CF T. Torres – SS S. Dixon – P I. Flores
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Early – 1B Starr – RF Tallent – 2B Bonner – P Rios

Rios was back to starting after Chance Fox’ dismal start in this spot the last time around. He scattered a few runners early, but the Coons would score first for a change. They stranded a pair in the second, but Wilson and Novelo reached base in the bottom 3rd, pulled off a double steal, and while Ramon Lopez lined out to third base, Monck dropped a single into right-center that plated both runners with two outs. Early also hit a single, but Starr struck out. Lopez would get an RBI his next time up, socking an RBI triple into the gap to plate Novelo, and then scored on Monck’s groundout to second that extended the score to 4-0 through five. The Indians had three hits against Rios so far, including a Baxley double in the fifth.

Indy alternated homers and strikeouts in the sixth against Rios, Alex Gomez and good old Trent Brassfield making up two runs with their shots over the wall in left. Bottom 6th, Tallent singled to right and stole second, but also hurt himself as he collided with Wil Mejia at the base and left the game in favor of Dowsey, who was then thrown out at the plate by Torres on Bonner’s single to center…

Rios departed after a leadoff walk to Sam Dixon in the seventh, and Carrington collected a double play grounder from Matt Martin to clean up behind him. He finished the inning, and McMahan got four outs after that, leaving just two to be collected by Jesse Dover… which he did, but not without giving up a run on Brass and Dixon doubles before John Bentley grounded out to Bonner to end the game. 4-3 Coons. Novelo 2-3, BB; Monck 2-4, 3 RBI; Rios 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (9-6);

There was no diagnosis on Randy Tallent as of Thursday at noon, so the Raccoons played one stick short again.

Game 4
IND: CF Ma. Martin – LF Menchaca – 1B Ma. Rogers – C A. Gomez – 3B W. Mejia – RF T. Torres – SS Baxley – 2B W. Martinez – P Esch
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – RF Colter – 2B Bonner – P Gaytan

Wilson got on base with a leadoff single in the bottom 1st, and Novelo’s attempt at a double play grounder ended up with Baxley bungling the baseball for an error. No worries though, Joel Starr was to the rescue with a 4-6-3 double play grounder; however, after that Monck and Dowsey doubles drove in two early runs for the Critters. Monck and Dowsey hit a pair of singles with two outs in the third, but Flowe grounded out to second to leave them on base and deny more support to Gaytan, who looked like he could need every bit of it and was already expanding his pitch count. The Indians didn’t really reach base in the first four innings, getting just one hit while Gaytan struck out five, but a Mejia double and a Baxley RBI single in the fifth were enough to cut the Coons’ lead in half. He was on 72 pitches through five, threw another 17 in the sixth, but then got some tack-on runs with a 2-run homer from Jake Flowe, his first this year and the third of his career. Gaytan put down the 5-6-7 batters with two strikeouts in the seventh, but that put him over 100 pitches and he would not return afterwards. Yamauchi kept the Indians away in the eighth, and Rich Monck led off the home half of that inning with a jack to right, going unretired by Justin Esch in this game. Chance Fox then got the last three outs on just six pitches, which also meant he wasn’t fooling anybody. 5-1 Critters. Monck 4-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Dowsey 2-4, 2B, RBI; Bonner 2-4; Gaytan 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (6-7);

Rich Monck tied for the lead in bombs in the CL again, drawing even with Danny Starwalt, the former Indian, with 17 home runs as of Thursday night.

Raccoons (45-41) vs. Canadiens (42-42) – July 8-10, 2067

Portland was ahead 5-3 in the season series against the stinking Elks, which I hoped they’d build on during this final weekend before the All Star Game. The Elks ranked fifth in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed, with a -15 run differential.

Projected matchups:
Shoma Nakayama (7-5, 4.15 ERA) vs. Ray Rath (8-5, 2.64 ERA)
Nick Walla (5-5, 2.93 ERA) vs. Martyn Polaco (3-3, 5.28 ERA)
Ryan Musgrave (7-6, 3.32 ERA) vs. Justin Wittman (8-7, 4.12 ERA)

One more southpaw before the break, which was Polaco.

Randy Tallent was diagnosed with a mild lat strain. He was out for the weekend, but Luis Silva claimed he’d be as good as new by the Thursday after the break.

Game 1
VAN: LF D. Moore – 2B Kilday – RF Lozada – CF Atkins – 1B Whetstine – C Varner – 3B R. Cordero – SS Barraza – P Rath
POR: CF Wilson – C Lopez – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – RF Dowsey – SS Novelo – LF Early – 2B Roberts – P Nakayama

Nakayama continued to be ******* awful especially in the early innings, giving up six hits for four runs AND breaking Dan Moore’s thumb with a pitch in just two innings. He had already hit Roberto Lozada in the first inning before singles by Rick Atkins and Chad Whetstine got the runner home, but then gave up three in the top 2nd on singles by Rico Cordero and Roberto Barraza, and after Rath bunted into a double play and he mangled Moore’s hoof, leading to his replacement by Nick Vaughn, still managed to cough up three runs on an RBI single by Matt Kilday, and Lozada’s 2-run double, before Rick Atkins flew out to right. The third brought not a lot of horror, but the fourth sure did. Rath led off with a single, the bags filled with more singles by Vaughn and Kilday, Lozada hit a sac fly, Atkns filled the bags again with a single, and then Nakayama walked in a run against Chad Whetstine and was yanked. Carrington allowed a sac fly to Steve Varner on his way to end the ******* inning, 7-0, after ELEVEN hits allowed by Nakayama.

Wickedly, Ray Rath would not get the W. He allowed just two hits through four innings, but a Dowsey double to open the bottom 5th was the first step for a 5-run rally by the Critters in the bottom 5th, as Novelo singled, Early hit a sac fly, Roberts singled, Alvey in garbage relief was used to bunt the runners over, and then Wilson singled home two, stole second base, scored on a Lopez double, Starr singled, Monck singled home a run, and then Dallas Samson replaced Rath and got Dowsey to pop out to second on a single pitch, leaving the tying runs on base.

Samson kept it quiet in the sixth, and Alvey still batted for himself, grounding out, to begin the seventh inning, but the 1-2-3 then all flicked singles to load the bases for Monck – but Monck knocked it into a 4-6-3 double play and the Raccoons remained behind by two. Alvey only got two outs in the eighth inning, then put Kilday and Lozada on the corners and was replaced by Dover in a double switch – Monck left the game! – before Atkins popped out to Starr in foul ground to keep the tack-on runners stranded. Bottom 8th, Paul Wolk walked Dowsey, bringing the tying run back to the dish, but the Coons made two poor outs, Roberts walked, and then Bonner popped out foul. The Elks instead tacked on two unearned runs on Dover, as the ninth inning began with Whetstine fly to right that Dowsey dropped for an error, and the damn Elks then piled up a few 2-out hits on Dover to zoom away. Dowsey then also made the final out, flying out to right with Wilson and Colter on base in the bottom 9th against Jon McGinley… 9-5 Canadiens. Wilson 4-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Lopez 2-5, 2B, RBI; Starr 2-5; Colter (PH) 1-1; Dowsey 2-4, BB, 2B; Alvey 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K;

Game 2
VAN: LF Chenette – 3B R. Cordero – RF Lozada – 1B Whetstine – C Varner – 2B Y. Valdez – CF S. Thompson – SS Barraza – P Polaco
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Dowsey – 2B Bonner – P Walla

The Raccoons expected to get at least five innings from Walla on three days’ rest, and he at least seemed to be sharp, striking out SIX in the first three innings for a single and a drilled and angry Chad Whetstine. Him and Varner hit a pair of soft singles in the fourth, but Yoslan Valdez – who looked oddly misplaced outside the Titans outfield – hit into an inning-ending double play.

Both teams had three hits through five innings, of which one of the Portland hits was a Walla single, and the game was still scoreless by then. Walla had thrown 63 pitches so far and was sent back out for the sixth, but that would be his final inning. He got around a leadoff single by Tyler Chenette and struck out two more for a total of nine across six shutout innings, but the Coons’ 2-3-4 disappeared in order in the bottom 6th and he once again was not rewarded for his efforts. Fox came in for him, allowed four hits and was raked for three runs in the seventh inning; two runs scored on a Polaco single, I started to drink my senses away after that, and then Yamauchi waved in one of the leftover runners.

The Coons were still shut out after seven. Bonner hit a leadoff single off Polaco in the eighth, then was forced out by the pinch-hitting Carlos Matas. Jaden Wilson however ran into one and cranked a 2-run homer, narrowing the gap to a single run. Novelo flew out, Lopez singled, but Monck grounded out to short to end the eighth. The Coons’ comeback bid survived a ninth inning appearance by Jason Holzmeister, but then they went in order against McGinley, of all people, in their half of the ninth anyway… 3-2 Canadiens. Bonner 1-2, BB; Walla 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K;

(grumbles!)

Game 3
VAN: 3B C. Castro – 2B Kilday – RF Lozada – CF Atkins – 1B Whetstine – LF Chenette – C Orphanos – SS Barraza – P Wittman
POR: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – 1B Starr – 3B Monck – LF Dowsey – C Flowe – RF Colter – 2B Roberts – P Musgrave

Musgrave not only stumbled out of the gate on Sunday, but ran into the gate and full blow, and took the entire fence down with two leadoff walks, a 3-ball count on Lozada, who then popped out, and Atkins’ RBI single, before the pitching coach already hustled out there for some emergency counseling. He Elks made two quick outs after that, and the Raccoons got a Novelo single and Monck’s 18th homer of the year to flip the score, 2-1, in the bottom 1st. Monck was going to the All Star Game again this year – and he showed why! The lead would disappear, however, as Musgrave issued another four-pitch walk to Carlos Castro in the top 3rd, and Castro stole second and scored on two groundouts to tie the game at two.

A new attempt at winning a game was made in the bottom 3rd when Starr found Wilson and Novelo on the corners and hit a sac fly to left, 3-2. Atkins robbed Monck with a sliding catch in centerfield, and Novelo was left on base. Wickedly, though, Musgrave would drive a double into the leftfield corner in the fourth inning, plating Mike Roberts from first base with two outs, and then scored himself on a Wilson single, which extended the Portland lead to 5-2. Sluggin’ Musgrave would return to the dish in the bottom 6th after a leadoff double by Flowe, a soft Colter single, and a walk issued by Dallas Samson to Roberts, batting with three on and nobody out. The right-handed Samson fell to 2-0 against Musgrave, and Musgrave then rose to 2-2 on the day and 6-2 on the scoreboard with an RBI single over the head of Barraza. Wilson added a run on a fielder’s choice, Novelo strung an RBI double to left, and Samson was yanked for Phil Baker, who walked the bags full again in a full count against Starr. Rich Monck fell to 1-2, but pushed an RBI single through the right side, and the Coons reached double digits with Dowsey legging out the return throw on a 4-6-3 attempt, getting an RBI for another fielder’s choice. Flowe flew out to Chenette, ending the 5-run inning.

Chance Fox was awful for a second straight day, walking two and giving up a 2-run homer to Castro in between in the eighth inning after Musgrave had gone seven. Chenette clonking a Monck fly for a 2-base error returned one run to the Coons in unearned fashion as Novelo scored on that 2-out play in the bottom 8th, and then Dover slammed the door shut on this half of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. 11-4 Furballs. Wilson 2-4, 2 RBI; Novelo 4-4, BB, 2 2B, RBI; Monck 2-5, HR, 3 RBI; Flowe 2-4; Colter 2-4, 2B; Musgrave 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, W (8-6) and 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI;

In other news

July 4 – The Miners re-acquire SP Austin Cross (6-8, 4.25 ERA) from the Scorpions for two prospects.
July 4 – MIL C Tommy Guitreau (.234, 10 HR, 44 RBI) drives in five runs and is a triple shy of the cycle in a 15-6 rout of the Titans. Teammate 2B/SS Fidel Carrera (.303, 10 HR, 56 RBI) misses the cycle by the double and drives in three runs in the game.
July 6 – Calamity in Boston, were ace SP Jason Brenize (14-4, 2.39 ERA) hits the DL with chronic back soreness and is not expected back before August.
July 7 – The Loggers and Titans both blow 2-run leads in the ninth inning before the Loggers walk off for an 8-6 win with a 3-run walkoff homer by MIL 1B/RF/LF Cesar Ramirez (.366, 14 HR, 78 RBI).
July 7 – The Warriors win 2-0 in ten innings against the Scorpions. For the second time in ten days, SFW OF Danny Perez (.296, 12 HR, 57 RBI) hits a 2-run homer for all the runs in a game.
July 9 – Falcons INF Diego Mendoza (.288, 8 HR, 27 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak going after a single in a 7-1 win against the Aces.
July 9 – The Loggers trade SP Nick Waldron (9-4, 4.24 ERA) to the Crusaders for an unranked prospect. Rumor has it that the trade is not related to on-field performance and that the Loggers had to get Waldron out of town yesterday for other reasons.
July 9 – The Capitals beat the Buffaloes, 17-6, while scoring in only three different innings. The Caps get eight runs in the fourth, five in the fifth, and four in the ninth. No player on the team has more than three hits, three RBI, or two runs scored.
July 10 – Nashville acquires OF/1B Cody Padgett (.279, 4 HR, 29 RBI) from the Falcons, along with #75 prospect CL Benjamin Earle, and cash, all for the services of MR Carlos Gomez (5-1, 2.30 ERA).

FL Player of the Week: SFW OF/2B Jesus Alvarez (.291, 6 HR, 38 RBI), hitting .500 (9-18) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ RF/LF Matt Ewig (.287, 11 HR, 50 RBI), poking .542 (13-24) with 1 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Two All Stars for the Raccoons this year, as Rich Monck was voted into the field and then Ricky McMahan somehow also managed to get the call. This was the fourth All Star Game for Monck, and the first since 2063, and the first overall nomination for McMahan. Danny Starwalt did not go yard all week, so Monck was the sole leader of the CL home run table with 18 bombs at the break. Yes, Tony Roman of the Blue Sox was sneering about that tally, leading the entire league with 24 bombs.

Five winning teams in the division at the All Star break – and we’re even one of them! Huzzah!

The Raccoons spent $66k on two infielders in the July IFA pool this week, and that’s probably gonna be it for the year.

We will play four in Indy on the tail end of the All Star Game. The series will be part of a 10-game road trip with further gigs in Boston and Oklahoma City.

Fun Fact: Six-time Pitcher of the Year Jason Brenize, age 30, was on the DL for the first time.

Barely 30 years old and already dealing with the old-people injuries!

Sic transit gloria mundi!