[Westheim]

Raccoons (4-5) vs. Indians (7-2) – April 13-15, 2068

The Indians had gotten really well out of the gate with basically not allowing any runs and a 2.37 ERA for their starters, which surely wasn’t gonna last. They had been seventh in runs scored, and the bullpen ERA had been more than twice what the starters had put up. Right-hander John Nesbitt had already hit the DL. Indy had won the season series in ’67, ten games to eight.

Projected matchups:
Randy Rautenstrauch (0-0, 40.50 ERA) vs. Mike DeWitt (1-0, 1.54 ERA)
Nick Walla (0-1, 5.91 ERA) vs. Justin Esch (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Alex Dominguez (1-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. Victor Perez (2-0, 0.61 ERA)

Yeah… like that. DeWitt was the only southpaw in the group, and the only one who I would expect to hold up for six months.

The Raccoons would also *try* and get cute here for the first time. Since our next series was against the Loggers, and Rated-R would pitch the finale in that series on schedule, we’d try and hold over Gabriel Rios to take that start instead to fight that insane left-handed lineup. I’m sure we’d get our stuffings one way or another, but Rios was penciled in for that series, so wouldn’t be used for a ton of innings on Sunday, f.e.;

Game 1
IND: 2B W. Mejia – RF T. Torres – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – CF Ma. Martin – 3B P. Weber – LF Menchaca – SS Baxley – P DeWitt
POR: SS Duhe – LF Early – 1B Starr – CF Ramirez – 2B Archuleta – RF Corral – 3B Mendoza – C D’Alessandro – P Rautenstrauch

The first hit in the game was Ramon Archuleta’s 3-run homer to left in the bottom 1st after DeWitt offered a walk to Marquise Early and Eddy Ramirez reached on a throwing error by Paul Weber. Those runs were all unearned on DeWitt since they came with two outs, but the same wasn’t true for the pair of runs that scored on Ramirez’ home run to left in the third inning, which also came with Early on base, this time after hitting a single, and which gave the Raccoons an unlikely 5-0 lead, although it should be mentioned that Rated-R was wearing the defense out with giving up screamer after screamer. He gave up three hits in the first three innings and struck out nobody, then suddenly rung up the side in the fourth inning. He outlasted DeWitt, who was removed after four innings, and survived a fifth-inning rain delay that was barely long enough to be worth mentioning, but finally gave up a 2-run homer of his own in the sixth inning, that one being mashed out of sight by Indy’s Matt Rogers.

Bottom 6th, the Raccoons loaded the bases with nobody out against right-hander Juan Pena as Archuleta doubled up the rightfield line, Corral walked, and Diego Mendoza dropped in a single as he tried to reach the .200 mark. We were tempted to hit for 1-for-12 Chris D’Alessandro, but the sixth felt a bit early to run out of catchers, so we didn’t – and D’Alessandro socked a 2-run double to left, 7-2, but after that three useless outs were made. Rautenstrauch got one more out, then gave up a double to John Baxley and was yanked. Gabriel Rios replaced him, got out of the inning without conceding the Baxley run, but was then given on the snout in the eighth with a walk to Tony Torres, an RBI triple into the gap by Rogers, and Matt Martin’s infield RBI single that reduced the gap to three runs again, but the Coons doubled the gap in the bottom 8th against Luis Pulido. Corral led off with a double, Mendoza walked, and then frantic pinch-hitting occurred, with four batters coming off the bench within six plate appearances. Flowe struck out, Wilson grounded into a fielder’s choice, but Dowsey hit an RBI double, Early singled in two, and Shamar King allowed a walk to Starr upon replacing Pulido, but then got Novelo to pop out to short. Somehow this still worked out for a defensive arrangement in the ninth inning, which Yamauchi 1-2-3’ed against the Indians. 10-4 Raccoons! Dowsey (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Early 2-3, 2 BB, 3 RBI; Archuleta 2-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Mendoza 2-3, BB;

Ten games in, we were scoring 5.2 runs per game. We were also almost given up that many, but why not focus on the ups for a moment…?

Game 2
IND: LF Spicer – RF T. Torres – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – CF Ma. Martin – 3B P. Weber – 2B W. Mejia – SS Baxley – P V. Perez
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Dowsey – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Walla

On Saturday, both teams went down in order in the first inning, then scuppered a pair in the second inning, and one more runner in the third. Walla was still holding up on his end in the fourth inning, but Perez gave up a leadoff homer to Justin Dowsey in the bottom 4th that put the Coons in front.

Things became interesting in the sixth inning when Malcolm Spicer singled to lead off against Walla. Of course everybody in the ballpark remembered Spicer, who had won two stolen base titles with the Raccoons before having been flicked to Indy in the trade that had brought in Dowsey (of all people) and Gabriel Rios. He didn’t go before Tony Torres grounded out, which moved him to second base anyway, but then tried to make third base his third stolen bag of the season – but was thrown out by Flowe! Walla got rid of Alex Gomez, and so had another (oddly-shaped) 1-2-3 inning.

Dowsey came close to another home run in the bottom 6th, but was denied at the wall by Tony Torres, but Archuleta slapped a triple in the seventh inning and then scored on Flowe’s fly to Matt Martin for a 2-0 lead. Walla appeared to still have something, but a leadoff single by Wil Mejia put the tying run in the box to begin the eighth inning, and he was removed after Baxley flew out to Dowsey and left-hander Eddie Menchaca pinch-hit for Perez, which put three lefty bats up next. McMahan and Arredondo entered in a double switch, ending the days of Walla and Diego Mendoza, but McMahan failed the bags full with Menchaca and PH Miguel Falcon, then allowed Walla’s run to score on Torres’s sac fly. Josh C replaced him and got an easy groundout from Gomez to end the sticky inning, Portland still up by a skinny run.

Bottom 8th, Portland got Wilson on with two outs against Nick Leigh. He stole second, and Joel Starr worked a walk against the right-hander, bringing Dowsey up. With the count at 1-1, the run-and-hit was called, but Dowsey missed a pitch outside, which also unsettled Gomez enough to not have a shot at even Starr – but the runners were then stranded when Dowsey flew out to Martin on the next pitch. The Coons left Josh C in for the ninth inning, despite him having walked six batters in 4.1 innings prior to this game. The game exploded on him quite impressively with a leadoff wallbanger double by Rogers before Martin’s grounder was fired away for a 2-base error by Arredondo, which already blew the lead. Weber and Mejia then got the go-ahead run in with productive outs and I was opening the first bottle of Capt’n Coma of the year. Tony Lira sunk the Coons’ 5-6-7 batters to put the game away. 3-2 Indians. Archuleta 2-4, 3B; Walla 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K;

(closes eyes and groans)

Game 3
IND: LF Spicer – RF T. Torres – C A. Gomez – 1B M. Rogers – CF Ma. Martin – 3B P. Weber – 2B W. Mejia – SS Baxley – P Esch
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Dowsey – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Dominguez

Esch had only made one start for six scoreless innings so far this year, and he would run his tally to nine rather easily in this game as Jaden Wilson’s single was the only thing he gave up in the first three innings. Dominguez, however, was just as stingy, and struck out five while scattering three hits in four innings before Wilson led off the bottom 4th with another soft single. Starr then walked again, and Dowsey’s single to center loaded the bases with nobody out, spelling trouble for the Raccoons. Although we *did* score a run on the next play, we did it in the most Raccoons way possible, with Corral spanking a grounder to right that hit Dowsey – thus rendering him out – but at the same time this also brought in Wilson with the game’s first run. Archuleta made it 2-0 with a groundout to short, and while Flowe singled to right, Corral wasn’t sent against Tony Torres’ arm and instead held at third base. Mendoza whiffed to leave them at the corners, then. The Coons doubled their tally the following inning with a 1-out Duhe single, Wilson RBI triple, and Starr RBI single, before Dowsey crashed the party with a double play grounder.

Dominguez got around Spicer singling (and being forced out by Torres) and a walk to Gomez in the sixth inning before Corral extended the lead to 5-0 with a homer that chased Esch in the bottom 6th, although Paul Weber answered that call with a homer of his own in the following half-inning. Mejia then also reached base and the Coons brought McMahan to get out of the inning.

The melting continued in the eighth inning and George Kehoe, who allowed a single to Torres and another homer to Rogers to get the Indians back to within two runs. Matt Martin also reached, and Rios came in with two outs for the lefty bottom of the order. Wil Mejia flew out to Wilson to end the inning. At least Pedro Valentin held up despite Baxley reaching on an infield single to begin the ninth inning, which brought the tying run to bat. Menchaca, Spicer, and Torres all made soft outs, though, and the Coons took the series. 5-3 Critters. Wilson 3-4, 3B, RBI; Starr 1-2, 2 BB, RBI; Corral 2-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Dominguez 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (2-1);

Joel Starr won the race to 10 RBI with his fifth-inning single. At the time, Dowsey, Archuleta, and Flowe were all at eight runs batted in.

Raccoons (6-6) vs. Loggers (9-3) – April 17-19, 2068

This matchup had gotten the Raccoons nothing but beatings the last three years, with 12 losses on average and a rancid 5-13 contest of the season series last year. The Loggers, who narrowly missed scoring a blinding one-thousand runs last year, were up to 80 already from 12 games (6.66 R/G), while giving up the second-fewest, despite their pen being off to the worst start in the CL with an ERA north of six. Mario Alaniz was on the DL, not that this took a lot of teeth out of the lineup… Amazingly they led the league in offense despite being bottoms in homers and stolen bases. I guess, batting .303 as a team will get you pretty far regardless of oomph…

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (1-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. Jose Lugo (0-1, 2.57 ERA)
Girolamo Pizzichini (0-0, 4.26 ERA) vs. Matt Crist (0-0, 16.20 ERA)
Gabriel Rios (1-1, 7.11 ERA) vs. Brett Bebout (0-0, 2.53 ERA)

We would not be shocked if Crist was skipped due to the off day on Monday. If so, B.J. Butrico (1-1, 2.77 ERA) would be next in line. All their starters were right-handed, which was not something that could be said about that murder lineup…

Game 1
MIL: RF D. Wright – 2B Goss – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – SS F. Carrera – CF Merrill – 3B Reber – C Guitreau – P J. Lugo
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Dowsey – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Gaytan

The Loggers didn’t **** around with Gaytan longer than absolutely necessary on Tuesday. They right away put a run on him in the first on singles by Dave Wright, Carlos Dominguez, and Fidel Carrera, and then got him for two more in the third inning when he also struggled to retire any of the lefty barrage that was amassed in line from the #2 hitter Tim Goss through the #6 Jonathan Merrill. Cesar Ramirez got him for a solo homer in the fifth inning, and he only made it through six innings in total because the sixth was against the right-handed bottom of the order.

No, the stunner on Tuesday was that the Raccoons were almost matching the pace after a few futile innings against Jose Lugo to begin the game. Jose Corral hit a 2-run homer with Dowsey on base in the fourth inning, and an inning later Duhe and Starr reached and Dowsey hit a sac fly to narrow the score to 4-3 again. Flowe singled in the bottom 6th to get the tying run on base, but was doubled up by the luckless Mendoza to end the inning. Also luckless: George Kehoe, who came up against the left-handed murder troupe in the seventh inning and was whacked around for two runs (one earned), with Mendoza very helpfully chipping in an error.

The Loggers ran out of centerfielders in the seventh inning; having removed Merrill in a double switch after the sixth, replacement Phil Reder then hit the ground hard diving for a Wilson drive to center with Early and Duhe on base in the bottom 7th. He made the catch, but left with a bruised forearm and was replaced by unskilled worker Rafael Murcia in center. Starr hit a sac fly, 6-4, but that was all the Coons got in the inning. Holzmeister then got the ball, retired Murcia and Wright, and then got two runs in the snout on Goss’ 2-out single and a Carlos Dominguez homer… Archuleta answered with a solo homer off Jimmy Ding(er)man in the bottom 8th, and back-to-back doubles by Novelo and Early clawed another run back, 8-6. Holzmeister was not scored upon in the ninth any further, and a leadoff walk Tetsu Kurihara offered to Starr in the ninth inning brought the tying run to the plate, although Dowsey was gone, with Holzmeister in his spot. Eddy Ramirez would pinch-hit, but flew out easily to Dominguez in left. Corral singled, promoting the winning run to the plate, and Archuleta put the tying run on base with another single to right. However, Flowe popped out to first, and Novelo grounded out to short to end the game… 8-6 Loggers. Duhe 3-3, 2 BB; Corral 3-5, HR, 2 RBI; Archuleta 2-5, HR, RBI; Flowe 3-5; Novelo (PH) 1-2, 2B; Early (PH) 2-2, 2B, RBI;

Game 2
MIL: RF D. Wright – 2B Goss – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – SS F. Carrera – CF Merrill – 3B Reber – C Guitreau – P Bebout
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Dowsey – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – 3B Novelo – C D’Alessandro – P Pizzichini

Somehow Pizza survived a leadoff walk to Dave Wright in the first inning, while the Raccoons took a 1-0 lead with a Duhe single and Dowsey RBI double in the bottom 1st. Milwaukee turned that around real quick, though, getting Merrill on with a single in the second. Reber’s RBI double and Bebout’s depressing 2-out RBI single gave them a 2-1 lead.

Dowsey doubled again in the third inning to tie the game, chasing home Jaden Wilson with two outs, and Pizza got around another leadoff walk to Fidel Carrera in the fourth inning to at least stay in the tie. The Coons wasted an Archuleta double in the fourth, but Jared Duhe then socked a tie-breaking homer to right when he led off the fifth!

Pizza departed after 5.2 innings of hard work. I wondered why the Loggers didn’t hit him harder, since he had been with that team forever, and it wasn’t like he was just blazing them away. In any case he departed with two batters on base that Josh Carrington almost waved around when he entered against Tommy Guitreau, who fell behind 0-2 before Carrington threw a wild pitch and then walked Guitreau onto the open base, but then struck out Bebout to strand the full set. In any case, the Coons’ pen exploded on schedule in the seventh inning with Carrington’s leadoff walk to Wright, and McMahan proved no help when he entered in a double switch with Arredondo (who replaced Novelo at third base), gave up a single to Goss and a 3-run homer to Cesar Ramirez…

The Coons got the score back level with reckless baserunning in the bottom 7th as Arredondo singled and stole second, and when Duhe walked, both took off for a double steal. Guitreau’s throw to second got away from Carrera, and Arredondo scored while the tying run, Duhe, got to third base, from where Wilson brought him in with a sac fly, tying the game at five. Jimmy Ding(er)man then gave up a single to Dowsey and a 2-out double to Corral that brought Dowsey around to score, 6-5 Coons. Archuleta grounded out. Yamauchi got the ball and saw Kyle Reber ground out before Guitreau singled in the eighth, but Ricardo Vargas hit into a 4-6-3 double play. Right-hander Julio Robles got the bottom 8th and nicked Jake Flowe hitting for Yamauchi before giving up singles to D’Alessandro and Arredondo, and a run along with that. Duhe slapped another RBI single, but Wilson flew out to left and Starr hit into a double play, which gave a 3-run lead to Pedro Valentin. Wright struck out to begin the ninth, and the pitcher was in Goss’ slot. Yoslan Valdez, former left-handed Titans piece, grounded out on a 3-1 pitch. A strikeout on Dominguez ended the game…! 8-5 Furballs! Duhe 3-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Dowsey 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; Arredondo 2-2, RBI;

Now for the interesting one!

Game 3
MIL: RF D. Wright – 2B Goss – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – SS F. Carrera – 3B Reber – CF Merrill – C Guitreau – P Butrico
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Dowsey – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Rios

Gabriel Rios was ******* out of control and walked the bases full to begin the game. The Loggers only got one run on a sac fly after Rios was yelled at by the pitching coach, but that also included a hard lineout by Carrera to Archuleta that could have become expensive if it had been a foot higher. Rios threw 39 pitches in the inning, and Rated-R was on the way down to the pen after the first inning. When he wasn’t giving out freebies – those were the only three walks he allowed until a 2-out free pass to Carrera in the fifth – Rios wasn’t THAT bad: he did not allow another run in his outing, and ended up striking out six Loggers… but he also only lasted five innings, which took him 103 pitches, which wasn’t so bad considering we also had a 30-minute rain delay somewhere in between there...

Butrico meanwhile was pitching a no-hitter until Jake Flowe hit a 1-out single to center in the bottom 5th. Mendoza legged out an infield single, but Ramirez and Duhe made meek outs and the runners remained stranded. The Coons, despite only being down 1-0, then went to Rated-R, who surprisingly put out two nice innings… and then hung around for the eighth inning and promptly hung himself by the neck and tail in the nearest clothesline. Cesar Ramirez hit a leadoff double before Carrera flew out to deep center and Reber whiffed. We then called an intentional walk on Merrill to get to the right-handed Guitreau (who was not exactly harmless), but Reckless Randy walked him as well, and then was yanked for McMahan when Yoslan Valdez pinch-hit. McMahan **** the bed; he walked in a run against Valdez, then allowed straight singles to Wright and Goss for three runs, allowed another walk to Dominguez, and then Ramirez finally flew out in a full count… The Raccoons drew six walks in the game, but remained stuck on two hits and never scored a run. 5-0 Loggers.

Raccoons (7-8) vs. Aces (9-7) – April 20-22, 2068

We would conclude this very tiresome homestand with the Aces, who had won last year’s season series, 5-4, and now showed up leading the CL South while ranking third in both runs scored and runs allowed in the league. They were another team where the rotation had a much better ERA (almost two runs) than the bullpen after the first few weeks of the season. They were second from the bottom in home runs.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (0-1, 4.00 ERA) vs. Chris Monahan (2-1, 4.66 ERA)
Alex Dominguez (2-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Ignazio Flores (1-1, 5.21 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (1-1, 4.95 ERA) vs. Josh Jackson (1-1, 4.58 ERA)

Flores was the only left-hander in this group, but the Aces came in rested with a day off and could skip another left-hander, Gabe Molina (1-1, 4.15 ERA) into the series.

Game 1
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – 3B Vic. Morales – C Haynes – RF Rosado – LF Lorenzo – 2B Rodewald – CF A. Warner – 1B L. Jimenez – P Monahan
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Dowsey – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – P Walla

The Coons could not score early on despite being gifted runners to begin the bottom 2nd when Jose Corral reached on an uncaught third strike and Archuleta was nicked on base by Monahan. Meanwhile, Walla’s wonky start to the season continued. He was behind everybody in the first inning, giving up singles to Vic Morales and Chris Haynes, and then allowed a run when he walked Koji Hatakeyama and gave up an RBI double to Haynes in the third inning. At odds with his own body, he allowed straight singles to Vic Lorenzo, Matt Rodewald, and Aaron Warner – the last one of the infield variety – to begin the fourth before getting a double play, 5-4-3, from Leo Jimenez and an easy third out from Monahan to keep the damage to one run. The Coons had Corral and Archuleta on again to begin the bottom 4th, this time with singles, and again scored a wet fart, as Flowe flew out and Mendoza bungled into a double play.

After a throwing error by Flowe cost Walla a third (unearned) run in the sixth inning, the Raccoons loaded the bases with Dowsey, Archuleta, and Flowe, who finally hit a single, in the bottom 6th, bringing up pinch-hitters Marquise Early, who popped out, and Novelo in place of Walla, but he flew out to center, and **** remained ****. Holzmeister allowed another run on two hits in the seventh, but Yamauchi was not scored upon in the eighth. The Coons then put Archuleta and D’Alessandro on the corners in the eighth inning, both getting singles off left-hander Jesse Connors before Eddy Ramirez struck out against right-handed replacement Adam Johnson and stranded them. Josh C then had another rotten inning in the ninth, allowing another run on a walk and two hits, while the Coons trundled towards their second consecutive shutout. 5-0 Aces. Dowsey 2-4; Archuleta 2-3; D'Alessandro (PH) 1-1;

The Coons fell to last place in the division with this result, although the record was not *that* bad (yet) at 7-9.

Game 2
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – 3B Vic. Morales – C Haynes – RF Rosado – LF Lorenzo – 2B Rodewald – CF Caceres – 1B A. Alfaro – P I. Flores
POR: SS Duhe – LF Early – RF Corral – 2B Archuleta – 1B Dowsey – CF Ramirez – 3B Novelo – C D’Alessandro – P Dominguez

Marquise Early’s first homer of the season ensured the scoring drought that had befallen the Raccoons didn’t extend beyond 18 innings, and Jose Corral nearly hit another run right afterwards in the first inning on Saturday. Dominguez retired the first seven batters he faced, which included striking out the side in the second inning, before walking Alex Alfaro in the third inning, but the tying run was kept on base; but in the fourth inning a Chris Haynes double to left-center and Vic Lorenzo’s single to left tied the game after all.

The rest of the middle innings consisted of futile poking before Alfredo Rosado opened the seventh with a single to right. He was forced out by Rodewald on a grounder to short, but Rodewald scored on a tie-breaking triple over the head of Ramirez that the long-ago Elk Aaron Warner smacked while batting for Jorge Caceres. Alfaro struck out, which was also the last batter for Dominguez, who went seven good innings, but was now on the hook. Kehoe replaced him in the eighth and immediately got in trouble drilling PH Leo Jimenez. Vic Morales’ 1-out single moved the lead runner to third base, from where he scored on Haynes’ groundout, but with two outs Alfredo Rosado ripped a first-pitch triple to extend the lead to 4-1 anyway. Kehoe walked Lorenzo before Rodewald grounded out to leave two on base. D’Alessandro and Wilson with a pinch-hit single scratched out a run against three different relievers in the bottom 8th, but the run was taken right back against Josh C, who walked another two batters while being ******* useless in the ninth inning. Reliever Tony Torres then struck out Archuleta and Dowsey in the bottom 9th before Jake Flowe hit a pinch-hit home run. Novelo singled, but D’Alessandro fanned to end the game. 5-3 Aces. Early 2-3, HR, RBI; Wilson (PH) 1-1, RBI; Flowe (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Novelo 2-4; Dominguez 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, L (2-2);

Sigh.

Game 3
LVA: SS Hatakeyama – 3B Vic. Morales – C Haynes – RF Rosado – LF Lorenzo – 2B Rodewald – CF A. Warner – 1B L. Jimenez – P Jo. Jackson
POR: CF Wilson – 2B Archuleta – 1B Starr – LF Dowsey – RF Corral – SS Novelo – C Flowe – 3B Arredondo – P Gaytan

Gaytan kept giving up runs, as he walked Haynes and conceded the run on a Rosado double in the first, and then was taken deep by Jimenez for a solo run in the second, but also drove in the Coons’ first run in the bottom 2nd after Novelo (single), Flowe (double), and Arredondo (intentional walk) loaded the bases with one out. Gaytan’s RBI single reduced an Aces lead to 2-1, and Jackson then lost Wilson on balls to tie the ballgame. Archuleta then hit a bouncer to third base that Vic Morales after some deliberation took back to the base for a 5-U force on Gaytan while Arredondo ambled home to score and give the Coons a 3-2 lead. Starr flew out to Lorenzo to end the inning. Gaytan kept stumbling over every pebble in the road, issuing a leadoff walk to Rosado in the fourth. Lorenzo forced him out with a grounder, but then was thrown out at the plate by Wilson on Rodewald’s double to center. Warner struck out in a full count to let Gaytan elope with the lead for another inning.

It was 4-2 after four with Starr doubling home Archuleta (who forced out Wilson) in the inning, and while Gaytan had a 1-2-3 fifth, he was then wrecked in the sixth. Morales and Haynes both hit leadoff singles in full counts, and Rosado doubled in another full count, plating Morales, while Haynes was thrown out at the plate as the tying run – but Lorenzo’s single then tied the game anyway. Gaytan hit Rodewald and then walked Warner on four pitches, and then was yanked with the bases loaded and only a baserunning out collected. Yamauchi replaced him, and first exploded the score with a bases-loaded walk to Jimenez, an infield single hit by Caceres, another knock by Hatakeyama, and then exploded his own arm and left the game. Holzmeister picked up the pieces in the 6-run inning, and the Coons were now down 8-4, then ****** the bases full himself by hitting Rosado and allowing hits to Lorenzo and Rodewald in the seventh. One run scored on Warner’s groundout, and a walk to Jimenez stacked them up again. Holzmeister was yanked and Kehoe surrendered three more runs on Nate Marazzo’s groundout and a 2-run single for Hatakeyama. Morales flew out to leave a runner on base in another 4-run frame.

The Aces then lost reliever David Gaither to injury, while the Coons did not allow any more runs in the last two innings, with McMahan and Valentin nobly trying to shut a door that had been blow out of its hinges long ago. 12-4 Aces. Starr 2-5, 2B, RBI; Early (PH) 1-1; Flowe 2-5, 2B; Arredondo 0-1, 2 BB;

In other news

April 12 – Loggers 2B/SS Fidel Carrera (.324, 0 HR, 7 RBI) leads the team with four hits, including three doubles, and one RBI in a 13-1 thrashing of the Crusaders.
April 13 – LF/RF Ian Streng (.244, 2 HR, 4 RBI) could be missing from the Bayhawks lineup for months with a particularly gnarly concussion.
April 15 – NAS SP Josh Rivera (2-0, 2.77 ERA) could miss most of the season with a torn rotator cuff.
April 15 – The Crusaders out-slug the Loggers, 15-11, with all crooked-number innings for both teams: three four-run innings, four three-run innings, and a cute little two runs that New York started the game with. For Crusaders outfielders, Bryant Box (.309, 1 HR, 5 RBI) goes 4-for-7 with three RBI and four runs scored, and a triple shy of the cycle, while Jose Ambriz (.426, 5 HR, 14 RBI) goes unretired with four hits, two walks, two RBI, and five runs scored.
April 17 – CHA SP Edgar Mauricio (2-0, 0.87 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout with seven strikeouts against the Bayhawks, claiming a 7-0 win.

April 18 – Thunder RF/LF Roberto Almanza (.453, 0 HR, 6 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak following a triple and two singles in a 4-3 loss to the Condors. The first six games of that streak still occurred in 2067.
April 18 – Scorpions 3B/SS/LF/RF J.P. Gallo (.412, 7 HR, 18 RBI) hits a home run as the only hit for the Stingers in their 11-1 rout suffered against the Gold Sox.
April 18 – CIN 2B/1B Rich Cabrera (.500, 2 HR, 3 RBI) hits a 13th-inning walkoff home run to beat the Buffaloes, 3-1.
April 18 – Boston RF/INF/CF Jared Robichaud (.250, 2 HR, 7 RBI) goes yard to conclude a 12-inning, 5-3 win against the Indians.
April 18 – San Francisco beats Charlotte, eventually, by a score of 3-1 in 16 innings.
April 19 – WAS OF Alex Romero (.276, 2 HR, 14 RBI) cranks a walkoff grand slam to beat the Miners, 7-3 in regulation.
April 19 – The Condors end the 20-game hitting streak of OCT Roberto Almanza (.426, 0 HR, 6 RBI) in another narrow win for Tijuana, 3-2.
April 19 – The Bayhawks win another long one from the Falcons, 4-2 in 14 innings.

April 20 – LAP SP Joe Chalmers (2-2, 1.50 ERA) throws a 3-hit shutout to beat the Blue Sox, 7-0.
April 20 – The Condors get socked for 20 hits in a 16-2 rout by the Loggers. MIL OF/2B Tim Goss (.366, 1 HR, 11 RBI) has three hits, with a home run, and drives in four runs to lead the charge.
April 20 – The Stars crush the Cyclones, 17-1. Five runs, most on the team, are driven in by DAL C Curt Goodwin (.310, 2 HR, 12 RBI) with the help of a grand slam.

FL Player of the Week (2): SAC 3B/SS/LF/RF J.P. Gallo (.450, 5 HR, 15 RBI), pushing .632 (12-19) with 2 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week (2): IND 1B Matt Rogers (.357, 3 HR, 11 RBI), batting .545 (12-22) with 3 HR, 10 RBI

FL Player of the Week (3): LAP SS/2B Dustin Cox (.405, 0 HR, 6 RBI), clipping .577 (15-26) with 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week (3): ATL RF/LF Javier Acuna (.365, 2 HR, 9 RBI), hitting .480 (12-25) with 1 HR, 3 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Nothing works. Nothing is fixed.

Nothing.

Well, we’re tying for first in home runs in the CL. It’s a team effort, since nobody has more than three dingers, but almost everybody in the lineup has one. That even includes Diego Mendoza, who is probably the biggest bust so far, although Eddy Ramirez and Rated-R aren’t far behind.

Pedro Valentin has yet to allow a run, which I am sure will come in time in a 3-2 game. No word on the Yamauchi injury, but we have a full Monday off day to figure it out before we start the road trip.

Any other teams besides the Loggers where we think we’d do better with Rios than Rated-R? The Condors are up there with a heavy left-handed lineup. The Thunder maybe, as well. In May the stars might align for back-to-back starts against the Loggers and Condors, so we will try to make that work.

Injury news from AAA include Josh Mireles missing most of April with a shoulder strain and Juan Soriano’s shoulder also exploded and he would miss at least half the season.

The Raccoons would take their L4 streak on the road now for two weeks well East of the Mississippi with the Falcons, Titans, Crusaders, and Cyclones. No off day between those games either. Yikes.

Fun Fact: The Wolves are off to a 14-5 start.

I mean. THE WOLVES.

They have scored the most runs in the Federal League. They also have allowed the most runs in the Federal League, and their run differential is +4. They have won every 1-run game they played. It’s not gonna hold up.