[Westheim]

Monday was off and spent reorganizing the roster, which meant that Rated-R (2-1, 6.39 ERA) RReturned to AAA and we brought up Randy Tallent as utility. He wasn’t hitting, but he was still offering options, although at age 31 his defense was noticeably diminishing and he we would mostly be held to the corners here, or second base at most up the middle. Also, Marquise Early was currently holding down leftfield well enough to not cause a disturbance with a batter that would … y’know… actually bat.

Raccoons (21-22) @ Knights (24-19) – May 22-24, 2068

The Knights were a game and a half behind first place in the South, all while being right around average in runs scored and runs allowed in the league, with a +6 run differential (Coons: -27). The Knights had no defense and were bottoms in stolen bases, and they were missing a number of regulars in Casey Ramsey, Javier Acuna, and FL import pitcher Rob Wilkinson.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (1-5, 3.74 ERA) vs. Goffredo Merlin (2-2, 3.70 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (2-4, 6.32 ERA) vs. Ivan Rodriguez (2-3, 7.41 ERA)
Alex Dominguez (6-2, 3.48 ERA) vs. Luis Briseno (4-2, 3.08 ERA)

Those were all right-handed pitchers.

Game 1
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Novelo – 3B Mendoza – P Walla
ATL: CF Fumero – C Hart – RF J. Evans – 3B Schomer – 2B J. Munoz – 1B M. Medina – LF J. Austin – SS B. Ellis – P Merlin

The Raccoons were once more hitless through five innings, but the Knights were less shy against Walla, who was pitching in the zone almost to a fault and was getting whacked around quite a bit after a pair of scoreless innings to begin the game. Carlos Fumero doubled and Justin Hart homered with two outs in the bottom 3rd to give Atlanta the lead, and he would then give up another double in the following couple of innings, including an RBI knock to John Austin, driving home Jon Schomer in the fourth.

Jose Corral broke up the no-hitter in the seventh inning with a leadoff single to right-center, but Flowe’s drive to left was intercepted by Austin, and then Novelo and Mendoza made poor outs until the inning was over. Duhe would get a single in the eighth, then was forced out by Wilson, who was then caught stealing to end the inning. The same happened to the Knights’ Alex Rascon in the bottom 8th, reaching base only by hitting into a fielder’s choice and ending the inning with a CS, which completed eight mixed innings for Walla, and unless the Raccoons would finally get their hitting shoes on against Merlin in the ninth inning, that would be a complete-game loss for him. Starr grounded out, Early popped out, and Corral bounced out to first. 4-0 Knights. Duhe 1-2, 2 BB;

Two hits, three walks, and no runs for the Critters.

Luis Briseno and his slider were then moved up to the middle game, where they’d pitch on regular rest.

Game 2
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Novelo – 3B Mendoza – P Gaytan
ATL: 1B M. Medina – C Hart – RF J. Evans – 3B Schomer – 2B J. Munoz – LF J. Paez – CF Jo. Soto – SS B. Ellis – P Briseno

Duhe opened the game with a single, which should not interpreted to mean that he got anywhere nice after that. Meanwhile, Gaytan’s goal for the game was to finally stop the panic and get the ERA into the fives again, but it went up before it could get down with a Hart single and Jon Schomer landing a 2-out RBI double at the base of the fence right in the first inning. Gaytan hit a 2-out double in the top 2nd that went up the leftfield line and Diego Mendoza, who had reached on a Schomer error, was trying to score from first base, but was thrown out by Juan Paez to keep the Raccoons off the board.

Portland got even with a Jaden Wilson homer with one out in the third inning, then got Starr on base with a walk. Early’s groundout advanced the runner, and Starr scored on a Corral single to right-center to make it 2-1 Critters. Jake Flowe also reached base on balls, but Briseno then struck out Novelo to strand the pair. Briseno then also reached base to begin the bottom 3rd on an uncaught third strike, but Miguel Medina immediately hit into a 6-4-3 double play to get the silly runner off the bases. Gaytan then pitched cleanly through five innings, which got the ERA out of the sixes. It would remain under six for the rest of the start – but by giving up a solo homer to Jorge Munoz in the bottom 7th he blew he tender 2-1 lead and the Raccoons’ generally futile poking meant that he was left with a no-decision. The Knights would put Fumero and Hart on the corners against Jesse Dover in the bottom 8th, but then had both Jake Evans and Schomer go down on strikes to keep them on base.

Top 9th, Brad Fales gave up a 2-out double to Wilson before the Knights put Starr on intentionally. Marquise Early then struck out. Kehoe would then send the game to extras, where Novelo hit a 2-out double, but was also left on base, and Kehoe would pitch a second inning while keeping the game going. After that the Raccoons went to long relief option Matt Schmieder, although it’s really only long relief if you don’t give up the winning run after just four outs, which he did by conceding in the bottom 12th a 1-out single to Christian Glenn, a walk to Medina, and then a walkoff single to Justin Hart. 3-2 Knights. Wilson 2-6, HR, 2B, RBI; Early 2-5, BB; Novelo 2-5, 2B; Gaytan 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K and 1-3, 2B; Kehoe 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Game 3
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Hills – 3B Gates – P Dominguez
ATL: 1B M. Medina – C Hart – RF J. Evans – 3B Schomer – 2B J. Munoz – LF J. Paez – CF J. Austin – SS B. Ellis – P I. Rodriguez

The Raccoons were soon a-trailing again as Alex Dominguez got taken deep on a 1-2 pitch by the first batter he faced, Miguel Medina. The Coons would have three on and nobody out when Rodriguez walked Corral and Hills, and gave up a single to Flowe in between in the top 2nd. Rodriguez went on to tie the game with four straight balls to Gary Gates, but struck out Dominguez. Duhe grounded to the left side, where Ben Ellis contained the ball with a dive, but then flubbed a very bad throw to second base that sent Munoz scurrying. Ellis got an error, and the Raccoons got a 2-1 lead. Wilson whiffed, but Starr drove in two with a hit to left before the inning ended with Early’s easy fly out. The 5-6-7 batters then loaded the bases *again* to begin the third inning. When both Gates and Dominguez hit RBI singles, the Knights gave Rodriguez an early hook. Right-hander Nate Baker came in and struck out a pair before giving up two more runs on a Starr single, giving the Raccoons their second consecutive 4-spot, another single to Early to reload the bases, but then got Corral with a fly to left.

The air was a bit out of the game then; the Raccoons were silenced by the pen, and Dominguez pitched competently, if barren of sparkle, through seven innings, giving up only one run along the way from there, seeing Medina double home a second Knights run in the fifth inning, but through seven the score remained 8-2, with four shutout innings credited to Nate Baker.

So far so well. Then Yamauchi got the ball for the bottom 8th, gave up a homer to Medina right away, and then a string of singles that knocked him out with two down, two in scoring position, and only an 8-4 lead remaining. Valentin came in, walked John Austin, saw an inherited run score with a passed ball charged to Flowe, and then walked Ben Ellis, too. Jorge Soto finally struck out to end the dismal inning. Elijah LaBat, former Raccoon, held the Critters tight in the ninth inning before Valentin returned, shut Medina the **** up with a strikeout, and then retired Hart and Evans in order to put in the win in the books. 8-5 Coons. Starr 3-4, BB, 2B, 4 RBI; Flowe 2-4; Dominguez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (7-2) and 1-4, RBI;

Raccoons (22-24) @ Bayhawks (18-30) – May 25-27, 2068

The Baybirds were up 2-1 against the Coons this year, but they had lost seven games in a row. They were second from the bottom in runs scored and third from the bottom in runs allowed, with a -49 run differential already. They looked superficially less hopeless than last year’s team, but it wasn’t showing in the W-L columns for sure. With Ian Streng, Wally Leggett, and numerous other bits and pieces, they already had five players on the DL as well.

Projected matchups:
Girolamo Pizzichini (1-1, 3.57 ERA) vs. Preston Young (5-3, 3.30 ERA)
Vinny Morales (2-1, 1.80 ERA) vs. Juan Sanchez (3-4, 4.50 ERA)
Nick Walla (1-6, 3.84 ERA) vs. Kelly Whitney (1-7, 4.84 ERA)

Former teammate Juan Sanchez was the only southpaw we’d see this week.

Game 1
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Hills – 3B Mendoza – P Pizzichini
SFB: 1B J. Juarez – SS Bruce – RF J. Ward – 2B A. Montoya – CF Parrish – LF Navarre – C H. Valdez – 3B M. Flores – P P. Young

The immeasurable disappointment when you open a cardboard box and find a Pineapple Pizza – this can ruin someone’s entire day! – and this was one of those days, as Pizza went out and was slapped around for a Jake Ward double, veteran Armando Montoya’s RBI single, an RBI double by John Parrish, another single by Nate Navarre, and then finally got the third out from Hugo Valdez in the first inning, being already down 2-0, while Young faced the minimum the first time through partly because Pizza failed to get a bunt down, Hills was caught stealing in despair, and then Pizza struck out altogether. The Raccoons would put Wilson and Starr on the corners in the top 4th, finally, and scored a run on a well-placed groundout by Marquise Early, but left the tying run in scoring position and remained 2-1 behind.

The sixth began with a walk to Duhe and Wilson’s scratch single moved the tying run to second base. Starr hit a looper into shallow center that dropped between converging fielders for a single, but Duhe then got overambitious and turned third base for home, and was thrown out by a country mile. A K on Early and a groundout by Corral then killed the inning for good. Instead, Jake Ward’s solo home run to left in the bottom 6th extended the Baybirds’ lead to 3-1. In turn reliever Luis Morales then loaded the bases with nobody out in the top 7th, walking Flowe, allowing a single to Hills, and issuing another walk to Mendoza. Eddy Ramirez’ pinch-hit fielder’s choice grounder, plus Duhe’s sac fly to center tied the game at three, and Wilson lining out to short kept the game tied and Pizza with a no-decision.

The Coons then sent Schmieder after the bottom of the order, but he put Valdez and Curt Enos on base. Hall added Dan Geiger with a 1-out walk, but Francisco Roviva popped out. Ward then came up with the bases loaded and would face Dover, all with two outs. Dover settled the dispute on three pitches, and the K kept the game tied. Dover also inched around a double by John Parrish in the bottom 8th to maintain the tie long enough for McMahan to get walked off against with a Curt Enos double and Ernesto Holguin’s walkoff single to center in the ninth. 4-3 Bayhawks. Starr 2-4; Hills 2-4;

No, I don’t know who those people are either, but they are sure beating up on the Critters, three games outta four.

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – CF Ramirez – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – 2B Novelo – C D’Alessandro – 3B Mendoza – P V. Morales
SFB: 1B J. Juarez – SS Bruce – RF J. Ward – 2B A. Montoya – CF Parrish – LF Navarre – C H. Valdez – 3B M. Flores – P Ju. Sanchez

Parrish and Valdez ganged up to produce a Baybirds run with sharp base knocks in the second inning on Saturday, and the annoying one was Juan Sanchez’ leadoff double to left in the third inning, although he was left on third base ater two outs, an infield single by Ward, and then Montoya struck out in a full count. The Coons had already frittered away three hits at that point, then got walks to Early and Corral from Sanchez at the start of the fourth inning. Novelo’s liner to left was robbed by Nate Navarre on the slide, and D’Alessandro hit into a double play. Navarre and Valdez then reached base on a single and a walk in the bottom 4th. Navarre scored on a passed ball *and* a wild pitch, but Valdez remained on base while Mario Flores popped out and Sanchez flew out to Early. The fifth began with a Jose Juarez single, but he was caught stealing. Through five it was a 2-0 game, but it somehow felt closer to 6-0…

Vinny Morales was pinch-hit for in the top 7th when the Raccoons had Novelo and Mendoza on the corners with one out against Sanchez, who was otherwise still pitching a 4-hit shutout. Gary Gates pinch-hit, grounded out, both runners advanced and so the Coons got on the board, and Sanchez was yanked immediately. Luis Morales came in and struck out Duhe to quell the threat. He put Eddy Ramirez on base with a walk to begin the eighth, though, and the Baybirds began to rapidly exchange pitchers to mix and match with the batters in the box, but while Starr struck out, Marquise Early laced a game-tying triple off Matt Pickel with one out. After Corral was intentionally walked, Jaden Wilson batted for Novelo and gave Portland the lead with a solid RBI single to center. Pickel then retired the 7-8 batters without allowing any add-on runs.

Bottom 8th, and Dover appeared again after two other pitchers had fooled the bases full with two outs, this time Kehoe, who had pitched a scoreless seventh, but allowed a double to Montoya leading off, and then McMahan, who nailed PH Francisco Roviva, got a bad bunt from Geiger that he took to third base to kill the lead runner, but then Mario Flores reached base with a soft 2-out single. Curt Enos was up for Dover, hit a fly to left, and Early went back a bit, but made the catch without trouble. The ninth saw Valentin strike out Juarez and Ryan Bruce before falling behind 1-0 on Ward, who then hit a smoker into the right-center gap – but here came Corral on his horse, and he made the catch on the run! Ballgame! 3-2 Critters! Ramirez 2-4; Early 1-2, 2 BB, 3B, RBI; Wilson (PH) 1-1, RBI; Morales 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K;

Can we at least take the rubber game and not go down 2-4 to the Baybirds on the year…?

Game 3
POR: 2B Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – C Flowe – SS Gates – 3B Tallent – P Walla
SFB: 1B J. Juarez – SS Bruce – RF J. Ward – 2B A. Montoya – CF Parrish – LF Navarre – C H. Valdez – 3B M. Flores – P Whitney

The Raccoons took a quick 3-0 lead, starting with Duhe and Wilson going to the corners on a walk and single to begin the game. Starr grounded out, but got Duhe home, and Early whiffed, but Corral and Flowe hit singles, and Gates hit a double, with RBI’s for Corral and Gates, before Tallent struck out to end the inning with two in scoring position. Duhe and Wilson were on base again with one out in the second inning. Starr popped out to short, and Early hit a blooper behind short that dropped in, Navarre and Bruce almost ran into each other, the ball got knocked by Navarre’s shin towards the infield, and on the confused play the Coons scored a run, but then had Wilson tagged out in a rundown to end it as well.

Whitney didn’t get out of the fourth inning, in which Wilson reached, stole second, and was driven in by Early for a 5-0 lead. Walla meanwhile threw 41 pitches through three, scattering four hits and having to get around a Corral error, and somehow had yet to give up a run. He had a 1-2-3 fourth before Flores singled his way on in the fifth inning, but was caught stealing. Ryan Bruce hit a leadoff single in the sixth, was forced out by Ward, who did steal second base, but was still left there at the end of the inning. The Raccoons had a few silent innings before Wilson hit a solo home run off Austin LaRosa in the eighth to extend the lead to six. Walla meanwhile retired the Baybirds in order in the seventh and eighth and set himself up for a go at a complete-game shutout, sitting at 92 pitches through eight innings. When Diego Mendoza reached on a Juarez error to begin the ninth inning after batting for Tallent in the #8 spot, Walla was retained to bunt him to second. Hills’ pinch-hit single put runners on the corners, Wilson added another run with a sac fly, but Starr’s bleak day ended with a K. Walla then tried to finish the job; Ward led off and grounded out to Mendoza at third. Montoya whiffed. And so did Parrish! 7-0 Furballs! Hills (PH) 1-1; Wilson 4-5, HR, 2 RBI; Early 2-5, 2 RBI; Corral 1-1, 3 BB, RBI; Flowe 2-4, BB; Gates 3-5, 2B, RBI; Walla 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, W (2-6);

Shutout!

In other news

May 23 – DAL 3B/LF Xavier Reyes (.322, 0 HR, 18 RBI) puts up four singles and two doubles for a 6-hit game with two RBI in a 10-5 win against the Miners.
May 32 – Blue Sox SP Tony Marquez (6-3, 2.62 ERA) spins a 3-hit shutout to beat the Wolves, 3-0.
May 25 – The Thunder beat the Titans, 3-0 in 11 innings.
May 26 – The Titans win another extra-inning affair from the Thunder, 9-8 in 12 innings. Both teams score a pair in the tenth before the Titans walk off in the 12th. The best day is had by OCT 1B Ian Stone (.274, 4 HR, 25 RBI), who goes 5-for-7 with all singles and one RBI.
May 27 – Miners C/1B Nick Dingman (.268, 8 HR, 32 RBI) is a triple shy of the cycle in a 4-hit, 5-RBI rush against the Wolves. The Miners win the game, 14-5.

FL Player of the Week: CIN OF Anthony Schneider (.278, 3 HR, 21 RBI), clipping .429 (9-21) with 3 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: ATL 3B Jon Schomer (.332, 7 HR, 33 RBI), batting .542 (13-24) with 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Odd 3-3 week. Not as odd as the last one. But the last one was … oh boy.

We’ll talk about Walla below, but Alex Dominguez won his seventh game this week – and nobody in the league has more than seven wins, somehow. He’s the only CL pitcher with seven wins even, and that on a losing team.

It’s an odd year in the CL. Like, the top two home run hitters were both catchers right now, Mike Brann having 13 ahead of Jorge Arviso’s 12. And neither team was in the upper half of their division.

We go back home from here and will play three with the Aces starting on Monday. The 31st will be a day off, and then we’ll host the Titans on the weekend. There is only one off day after that Titans series all the way to the All Star Game, so that’ll be fun…!

Fun Fact: Nick Walla pitched his second career shutout on Sunday.

And two complete games this week. He went 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA.

The shutout was wobbly early and not quite as impressive as his 2-hitter against the Loggers in 2066. But he didn’t have a complete game at all last year, and overall his record of 2-6 is not indicative of his craft this year. Also, that dismal loss in extra innings.

But this also means that no pitcher has come to *relief* Nick Walla in his last three outings, since he finished that icky 16-inning loss against the damn Elks last week and went the distance twice this week.