[Westheim]

Raccoons (69-55) vs. Loggers (67-57) – August 20-22, 2068

Tops in runs scored, bottoms in runs allowed – a lop-sided roster held the Loggers back even with an offense that was putting out 5.5 runs per game. They only had a +25 run differential (Coons: +17), so maybe neither of these two teams would make it to the postseason. The Raccoons sure couldn’t cope with that offense, dropping like flies and series after series against Milwaukee, and were down 4-8 against them this year. The only upside was that Fidel Carrera and Jonathan Merrill were on the DL and thus two key parts of that scary machine were missing.

Projected matchups:
Nick Walla (10-10, 2.50 ERA) vs. B.J. Butrico (5-8, 5.10 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (7-8, 4.32 ERA) vs. Ramon Carreno (11-9, 5.80 ERA)
Alex Dominguez (16-3, 2.80 ERA) vs. Brett Bebout (9-5, 3.42 ERA)

Normally, southpaw Jose Villegas (5-3, 4.50 ERA) would be next, but he was laboring on hamstring strain. So the Loggers would probably send up three right-handers here, all on short rest, although the first two of them had been knocked out quick enough in their last outings that the missing day of rest should not affect them.

Game 1
MIL: RF D. Wright – SS Reber – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – C Guitreau – CF Alaniz – 3B Murcia – 2B R. Vargas – P Butrico
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Otal – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – 2B Archuleta – P Walla

Walla allowed leadoff singles to Dave Wright, who was doubled up, and Cesar Ramirez, who ran himself off the base paths, in the first two innings before the Raccoons got Mendoza and Archuleta to the corners with a pair of 1-out singles in the bottom 2nd. Walla whiffed, but Duhe drove in one run with a single to left and Jaden Wilson raked a 2-run double. Starr singled, but runners were left on the corners by Jose Corral. Rafael Murcia then hit another leadoff single and was again doubled up by Ricardo Vargas, so Walla faced the minimum the first time through, despite allowing three base hits.

Mendoza and Archuleta reached base again in the bottom 3rd, but with two outs and were stranded by Walla’s pop to center. In the fourth, Starr and Corral drew 2-out walks before Otal drove in a run and Flowe drove home another pair, which led to Butrico’s dismissal from a 6-0 game. Corral doubled home another two 2-out runs in the fifth, beating Carlos Dominguez’ range for a double to plate Wilson and Starr.

And Walla? After the chewy beginning and Dominguez and Cesar Ramirez reaching base in the fourth inning before being left on by Tommy Guitreau, Walla retired the Loggers in order in the fifth, sixth, and seventh, and racked up the strikeouts while doing so, reaching 10 K with a strikeout on Guitreau that ended the top 7th. He also drew a walk and hit a single, and twice was doubled up by Duhe grounding to short. He had another 1-2-3 inning in the eighth and got an 11th K against Murcia, but also got up to 109 pitches and would not be brought back for the ninth inning. Carrington retired the Loggers in order in the ninth instead. 8-0 Raccoons. Wilson 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Starr 2-4, BB; Corral 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Otal 2-5, 2B, RBI; Mendoza 2-4, BB; Archuleta 2-4, 2B; Walla 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11 K, W (11-10) and 1-3, BB;

The Raccoons had 16 base hits in total and everybody in the lineup had at least one.

Game 2
MIL: RF D. Wright – SS Reber – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – C Guitreau – CF Alaniz – 3B Murcia – 2B R. Vargas – P Carreno
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Otal – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – 2B Archuleta – P Gaytan

The picture changed on Tuesday, with the ball being hit every which way off Tony Gaytan right in the first inning. Kyle Reber doubled, Cesar Ramirez hit an RBI single, and Guitreau hit another double, but the latter two were stranded when Mario Alaniz flew out to center. Defense got the rockets a little better in the next few innings, although the inevitable pair of Dominguez and Ramirez got on base in full counts in the third inning. They were however left on base, and the Raccoons then tied the score with Archuleta and Duhe doubles in the bottom 3rd. Wilson left Duhe on base, and then the Coons twice got the leadoff man on in the inning, but had him doubled off.

Gaytan fought hard through six innings, surviving a few more noisy drives and a leadoff single by Ramirez in the sixth, but that took him 106 pitches and his spot led off the bottom 6th, so he was hit for with Otal, but nobody reached until Wilson got on base with two outs, stole second, but was then stranded with Starr’s grounder to Vargas. The Coons got outs from Nava (four) and McMahan (two) to cover the next two innings, then made two outs in the bottom 8th before Gary Gates batted for McMahan and drew a walk. He went to third base on a Duhe single to right, and then scored the tie-breaking run on Wilson’s single to center. Joel Starr hit a scratch single that loaded the bases, but Corral lined out to Vargas. Pedro Valentin had been warming up anyway, and now got the skinny 2-1 lead, facing the 6-7-8 batters. Mario Alaniz hit a leadoff single to left, but was then doubled up by Rafael Murcia. Vargas flew out to Early in shallow left to end the game. 2-1 Raccoons. Duhe 2-4, 2B, RBI; Wilson 2-4, RBI;

Can it finally be? Can we finally not give up umpteen runs a game to the Loggers?? (looks beggingly at Chad in the mascot costume, who claps the oversized paws excitedly)

Game 3
MIL: RF D. Wright – SS Reber – LF C. Dominguez – 1B C. Ramirez – C Guitreau – CF Alaniz – 3B Murcia – 2B R. Vargas – P Bebout
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Otal – C Flowe – 3B Mendoza – 2B Novelo – P A. Dominguez

Bebout was also sent out on short rest and right away saw Duhe and Wilson reach on an infield single and a walk, respectively, but the 3-4-5 batters all choked pretty hard, and the Raccoons didn’t score. He held the Raccoons off the bases in the second inning and then took a 1-0 lead in the top 3rd when Dominguez plunked Rafael Murcia with an 0-2 pitch to lead off, and then conceded the run on a 2-out double to left by Wright. (looks confused)

Cesar Ramirez hit a home run to get the Loggers lead to 2-0 in the fourth, but those were the only two base hits against Dominguez, who struck out six Loggers in the first five innings, then socked a leadoff double to left in the bottom 5th. Duhe singled softly, and the tying runs were on the corners with nobody out. Wilson popped out to first, Starr lined out to Bebout, and I was close to losing my confidence until Corral dropped a single in between Vargas and Wright, scoring Dominguez, and Duhe raced for third base, drew a very bad throw by Wright that skipped past Murcia, and Duhe coldly turned third and made for home, scoring the tying run on the error. Corral went up to second, but Early grounded out to Murcia to keep the game tied.

The sixth inning was Alex Dominguez’ last, and not because he gave up a run, but because he ran four full counts in doing so, blowing up his pitch count. Worse, three of the full counts ended with singles by Wright, Carlos Dominguez, and Ramirez, and the fourth was a 5-4-3 to end the inning from Guitreau. Kehoe pitched a scoreless seventh, and Dover retired the 1-2-3 in order in the eighth, after which the Raccoons got Early on base with a 1-out single against Jose Lugo in the bottom 8th. Flowe forced him out, Mendoza hit another soft singles with two gone, but when Benito Otal batted for Novelo, he grounded out to Vargas. McMahan then came out to face Ramirez and plunked him, then left the rest of the ninth inning to be sorted out by Nava. The Coons were still just one run behind to begin the bottom 9th, facing Nick Robinson and leading off with Archuleta in the #9 spot. Him, Duhe, and Wilson all grounded out in short order. 3-2 Loggers. Duhe 2-5;

Or maybe not…

The Titans, who were off on Monday and instead played on the Raccoons’ day off on Thursday, ultimately also took two of three from the Indians, so the Raccoons remained a game behind before the weekend.

Raccoons (71-56) @ Condors (55-71) – August 24-26, 2068

The Condors had yet to win a game against the Raccoons in 2068. They were plating the second-fewest runs with the worst batting average, and not a lot in the power and speed departments. Their pitching and defense wasn’t great either, and they were giving up the fourth-most runs, for a -77 run differential. All while having spent the entire offseason adding talent for dosh. Tijuana had three pitchers on the DL, including Phil Nelson, Joe Allen, and Tyler Reed. All the bats were there.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (7-3, 2.98 ERA) vs. Jason Brenize (7-11, 3.92 ERA)
Girolamo Pizzichini (5-7, 3.81 ERA) vs. Colt Long (4-5, 3.18 ERA)
Nick Walla (11-10, 2.39 ERA) vs. Ryan Davis (1-4, 4.80 ERA)

Long was the only left-hander, while Brenize didn’t look like Brenize, but keep in mind that he was 2-9 with a 4.59 ERA at one point, so things were definitely on the up again for him now.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Otal – C Flowe – 3B D. Mendoza – 2B Archuleta – P Morales
TIJ: LF Whetstine – C Brann – 1B D. Cline – 3B Monck – CF Pinault – RF A. Lee – SS J. Turner – 2B M. Moreno – P Brenize

Rich Monck singled his first time up, but ultimately he was having a forgettable season on a team filled with players having a forgettable season, batting .254 with nine homers. Through three innings, the Condors had three hits, including a Brenize single, but couldn’t score, while the hardest hitting with the Coons lineup was Brenize throwing a fastball into Archuleta’s ribs in the third inning. Vinny Morales bunted badly to force him out and was ultimately stranded on base.

Neither team got a base hit in the middle innings. What little there was in terms of runners reached on walks, and was then usually doubled off, with Monck and Otal guilty parties to the crime of hitting into two-for-ones. Top 7th, and Corral led off with a single to right that bounced off Andy Lee’s glove for an error and an extra base. Brenize was on, though, struck out Otal and Flowe, which gave him 10 K in the game, and Diego Mendoza grounded out. Morales struck out only two through six innings before David Cline singled and Monck walked to begin the bottom 7th. Mike Pinault whiffed, but Lee swatted an RBI double to right, and Jason Turner added a sac fly to give the Condors a 2-0 lead. Mario Moreno grounded out, ending the inning, but Brenize still had his hands on the Coons’ little necks in the eighth and would go a full eight innings of 1-hit ball before Josh C got three quick outs in the bottom 8th. The ninth then went to lefty David Carlson, who had a 5.09 ERA, but faced the 2-3-4 batters, all left-handed. Ramirez batted for Wilson, walked, then was forced out on Starr’s grounder to Moreno. Gates batted for Corral and popped out, and Otal flew out to center. 2-0 Condors. Corral 1-2, BB;

Ooooh boy.

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – CF Ramirez – 1B Starr – LF Early – RF Corral – 3B D. Mendoza – 2B Archuleta – C D’Alessandro – P Pizzichini
TIJ: LF Whetstine – C Brann – 1B D. Cline – 3B Monck – CF Pinault – SS J. Turner – RF LeVan – 2B M. Moreno – P C. Long

Long struck out the Coons in order in the first inning while Chad Whetstine singled and stole second, and Mike Brann drew a walk. Cline and Monck then struck out and Pinault popped out to let Pizza get away with all his olives untouched. The Raccoons had Marquise Early lead off the second with a single, but left him on base, while Long led off the bottom 3rd with a single. Whetstine walked, Brann struck out, Cline singled the bases full, and then Monck spanked a sharp hissing grounder at Archuleta for a 4-6-3 double play, and the scoreboard remained clean.

It was already the seventh inning when the Raccoons got their second base hit – a 1-out jack to right by Joel Starr, who had been quite silent for a week and change, and finally hit #27 to give the Coons and Pizza, who was on a 4-hitter, a 1-0 lead. Pizza got three grounders from the 6-7-8 batters, then was hit for with Novelo when the Raccoons had Archuleta on second base after a double in the eighth inning, but he grounded out to Moreno and the chance passed untaken. The Condors had a lefty-leaning lineup, too, and Gabriel Rios got the bottom 8th, getting through the 9-through-3 spots while allowing a single to Whetstine, the old Elks pest, and then Early had to run down a 2-out drive, but D.-Clined the Condors a hit and the tying run. (snickers for the most awful word play ever)

The Condors sent Long back out for the ninth, where he walked Duhe, but then retired Ramirez and Starr. Early chopped a single, moving Duhe to second, and Long still remained in for the left-handed Corral, who had a 2-2 count against him when he smashed a single through the right side. Duhe was running full blowers and beat Phil LeVan’s throw home, and the Condors didn’t get Early at third base with a second attempt, either, but Mendoza then struck out. The Coons then hung with Rios facing Monck to begin the bottom 9th, with Valentin waiting in the pen, ready. Monck singled, which wasn’t great for us, and when Valentin came in, he walked Pinault. Turner and LeVan whiffed, but Andy Lee punched a 2-out, pinch-hit, RBI double to right, with Pinault turning around third base before throwing the anchor and scampering back – he would have been well out at home. Right-hander Josh Rugar pinch-hit with the tying and winning runs in scoring position, but Valentin executed him on three snarling pitches for his third strikeout. 2-1 Blighters. Early 2-4; Pizzichini 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (6-7);

The Titans had been rained out on Friday, then lost both ends of a double header against the Falcons on Saturday, which allowed the Raccoons to tie them for first place at least for the night.

And maybe Walla could drive in a run of his own to facilitate a win on Sunday in the rubber game??

The Condors would send right-hander Miguel Lopez (8-5, 3.39 ERA) instead of Ryan Davis for the occasion.

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – CF Wilson – 1B Starr – RF Corral – LF Otal – 2B Archuleta – C Flowe – 3B Gates – P Walla
TIJ: SS J. Turner – C Brann – 1B D. Cline – 3B Monck – CF Pinault – RF A. Lee – LF LeVan – 2B M. Moreno – P Mi. Lopez

A Duhe single and a Corral double produced a first-inning run for Walla, who allowed a leadoff single to Jason Turner, walked Cline, but popped out Monck and got a fly from Pinault to Wilson for the third out in the bottom 1st. Gates hit a double in the second, but was left on, while Starr hit a 1-out double into the right-center gap in the third inning, gained a base on a wild pitch, and then scored on Corral’s grounder that was even thrown away by Moreno for a 2-base error. Otal hit a single that Moreno cut off on the infield, but had no play on, and the Raccoons were on the corners. Archuleta’s sac fly made it 3-0, but Flowe struck out to end the inning.

The score opened up further in the fourth with singles by Walla, Duhe, and Starr getting the Raccoons to 4-0 before Corral walked to fill the bases with two outs, and then Otal dropped a single between Turner and Pinault, driving in two more runs, which was the end for Lopez on the mound. Left-hander Willie Mendoza replaced him, and got a sharp groundout from Archuleta to end the inning.

But Sunday’s Walla wasn’t Monday’s Walla. He had already thrown 49 pitches through three innings, then walked Cline leading off the fourth, his third free pass issued. Monck came close to a homer, but was robbed by Wilson, and the Condors then made straight outs to end the inning, but in the bottom 5th got a Moreno triple with one out, an RBI knock from Mendoza (…), another single from Turner, and then a 3-run homer by Mike Brann to ruin Walla’s line. He lost Cline in a full count to another walk, then was yanked. McMahan came in and continued to BLOW, allowing a double to Monck before Corral dropped a Pinault fly to shallow right for a run-scoring error. Lee hacked himself out with runners in scoring position in a 6-5 game, and LeVan grounded out to Archuleta. McMahan then ****** Moreno on base with a four-pitch walk to begin the bottom 6th, received Mendoza’s bunt, and then was kicked out of the ballgame, even though Danny Nava provided zero relief, throwing a wild pitch before giving up three straight 2-out singles to Brann, Cline, and Monck, turning what had been a 6-0 lead a while ago into a 7-6 deficit. And the Raccoons couldn’t get the sticks up anymore, having already packed up all offensive equipment when they were 6-0 ahead. Jesse Dover then blew up the rest of the game in the bottom 9th, getting two outs before walking Brann and Cline, and then got 3-run-bombed by Rich Monck, which served us well to not resign him….. Starr then led off the ninth with a now-pointless homer against Justin Cullum, given that the team was now four runs down, and no further runs came together. 10-7 Condors. Duhe 2-5; Starr 4-5, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Otal 2-3, BB, 2 RBI;

In other news

August 21 – RIC SP Josh Jackson (8-8, 3.84 ERA) 3-hits the Blue Sox for a 6-0 shutout.
August 22 – A 2-hit shutout is pitched against the Falcons to claim a 5-0 win by SFB SP Paul Egley (10-10, 3.11 ERA).
August 24 – LAP SP Joe Chalmers (14-7, 3.45 ERA) pitches a no-hitter in a 3-0 win against the Buffaloes! The 33-year-old right-hander issues two walks and strikes out six Buffos.

FL Player of the Week: DAL CF Tyler Wharton (.347, 32 HR, 129 RBI), batting .519 (14-27) with 2 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: BOS 2B/1B Jeremy White (.273, 15 HR, 87 RBI), hitting .524 (11-21) with 1 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Titans won on Sunday, so the Raccoons again fell out of the tie for first place they took all week to claw themselves into.

Nick Walla having music played on his face for the second time in three games was now just 15 points ahead of Nate Freeman for the ERA title, with Ken Nielsen of Oklahoma close behind.

Sigh.

Rosters will expand on Saturday, and I have yet to convince myself that this is going to help us. It’s not like we have a lot of pitching going to help out in AAA, now that McMahan has turned to turds.

We will play three in Charlotte starting on Monday now, then play three at home against the damn Elks, only to go right back out East afterwards. At least there’s off days on either side of that Elks series. We also still have six games with the Titans left, three at each place, and finishing the regular season against them in Portland.

Fun Fact: The Chalmers no-hitter is the first for L.A. in 28 years.

Most recently, Chris Sulkey no-hit the Stars in 2040. Sulkey had a rather invisible career, pitching 13 years for the Pacifics, Cyclones, and Thunder, going 110-128 with a 4.10 ERA, and 1,354 strikeouts in 2,031 innings. He was an All Star in 2041, but otherwise never challenged to lead the league in anything – not too dissimilar from Chalmers, who is 123-125 with a 4.07 ERA and 1,304 strikeouts in 2,112 innings so far. He was in his 12th year in the league, pitching for the Cyclones, Bayhawks, Titans, Capitals, and Pacifics, and this year had been an All Star for the first time. He had never led the league in anything. Unlike Sulkey, though, he had won a ring with the Bayhawks in ’61.