[Westheim]

Raccoons (12-12) vs. Crusaders (11-14) – April 29-May 2, 2069

Neither of these two teams had gotten the start they had expected / hoped for. For New York, the offense was scoring 3.2 runs per game, which was quite pathetic, and even the best bullpen in the game and the fifth-fewest runs allowed in the CL could not make up for that lack of firepower. They had hit seven home runs so far, bottoms in the CL, and ranked in the bottom three in most offensive categories. Last year’s season series had gone to the Raccoons, 11-7.

Projected matchups:
A.C. Stebbins (0-3, 3.80 ERA) vs. Alex Dominguez (1-3, 5.27 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-1, 2.00 ERA) vs. Russell Anderson (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Vinny Morales (2-2, 3.62 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (2-4, 2.31 ERA)
Cody Childress (1-3, 2.11 ERA) vs. Colt Long (0-2, 3.25 ERA)

Right, left, right, left, assuming the Crusaders wanted to go with the 24-year-old Anderson, who had only appeared out of the pen so far this year. He had made six starts among 15 appearances for New York last year, posting a 6.41 ERA.

Game 1
NYC: CF Box – SS Maudlin – C A. Morris – 1B Starwalt – RF J. Paez – LF Ambriz – 2B Philpot – 3B Frasher – P A. Dominguez
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – P Stebbins

Stebbins went out and threw four straight balls to Bryant Box, balked him to second, and then had the defense sort out the rest, while the Raccoons put a 4-spot on the board right out of the gate. Fumero reached on an error by Jeff Maudlin before Otal and Wharton hit a pair of singles to get him in to score with an unearned run, but Joel Starr’s third home run of the year over the fence in left was worth three earned runs. We had been thinking that Dominguez’ secondary stuff had been going when we declined to resigned him this winter, and Starr promptly hit a bomb off a hanger. But thanks for that #18 pick for the draft!

After that big inning things calmed down a bit except for a stray home run by Eric Frasher in the third inning, and another one by Benito Otal in the fifth, edging the score to 5-1, and there it remained for a good long while. Stebbins was far from great, and best described as competent and pitching to the defense he had, getting into the eighth inning before Bryant Box strung a 1-out double to send him to bed. That was only the fourth hit off Stebbins in the game. Dover walked Maudlin, but Andy Morris flew out and Danny Starwalt fanned to end the inning. The ninth inning brought trouble, though, as Juan Paez hit a leadoff single to center against Danny Nava, and then Fumero fumbled Ryan Philpot’s 1-out grounder for an error. Valentin sprung forth from the pen with a save on offer suddenly, struck out Frasher, but then gave up a silly bloop single for an unearned run to Josh Bursley. Box then flew out to easily to Wharton. 5-2 Raccoons. Otal 2-4, HR, RBI; Flowe 2-3, 2B; Stebbins 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (1-3);

The Crusaders decided to go with Erik Lee on short rest on Tuesday, which was one way of going about things.

Game 2
NYC: CF Box – SS Maudlin – RF J. Paez – 1B Starwalt – C A. Morris – LF Ambriz – 2B Philpot – 3B B. Wilken - E. Lee
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – RF Corral – 3B Leggett – C Flowe – P Walla

Maybe the Crusaders should Erik Lee on three days’ rest more often, because he did not allow a hit to the Raccoons until Joel Starr flipped a single and was left on base in the bottom 5th, at which point the Crusaders had already chewed up an off Nick Walla pretty good. Starting with Box they got three singles for a run in the first inning, and then undressed him for a 4-spot in the top of the fifth when Ben Wilken singled, Lee doubled (…), and while Box struck out, Maudlin’s triple, Paez’ RBI groundout, and Starwalt’s homer brought in the runs to give New York a 5-0 lead.

Bottom 6th, and Marquise Early opened with a double in place of Walla. Duhe singled, as did Fumero on the eighth pitch in a full count, getting Portland on the board. Otal popped out to short, but four straight balls from Lee to Wharton loaded the bases. Starr came up as the tying run, struggling with the .200 mark still, and fell to 1-2 before lobbing a single to left-center that scored two runs, 5-3. Corral and Leggett made meager outs after that, however, and the tying runs were left on base. And while that temporarily made it look like a close game, the Raccoons then went, one after the other, to Schmieder and Yamauchi, and both were slapped around for another two runs in the seventh on the former, and two more on the latter in the eighth. The game was very much over at that point; the most damage we did from here was a Wharton drive to deep left that Jose Ambriz caught as he smacked into the wall and then fell to the ground. He left the game slightly dazed, replaced with Chris Duhon. Jake Flowe drove in a run against Jon Dominguez in the ninth inning, not that it made a dent in the final score. 9-4 Crusaders. Fumero 2-4, RBI; Starr 3-4, 2 RBI; Early (PH) 1-1, 2B;

The Manabu Yamauchi (1-0, 6.23 ERA) experiment ended just like the month of April here, and the Raccoons would give Jason Holzmeister another spin, just for the giggles.

New York meanwhile went for right-hander Jon Mendosa (0-1, 5.02 ERA) for a spot start on Wednesday.

Game 3
NYC: CF Box – SS Maudlin – RF J. Paez – 1B Starwalt – C A. Morris – LF Duhon – 2B Philpot – 3B B. Wilken – P J. Mendosa
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – RF van Otterdijk – P Morales

The Raccoons went up 1-0 in the second inning in the third of four games and the first game in May as Wharton worked a leadoff walk, Starr doubled to right, and Gallo hit an infield RBI single. After that strong start to any old inning, the 7-8-9 batters all popped out on the infield, and I could hear the baseball gods snicker. Otal ould also pop out on the infield the inning after, and on a 3-0 pitch…

Vinny Morales however was perfect the first time through, whiffing four, which was always nice to see. He got through four perfectly, then walked Starwalt to begin the top 5th. The inning then turned into an absolute **** storm when he also nicked Duhon, walked Ryan Philpot, and with the bases loaded surrendered the skinny lead on Ben Wilken’s sac fly to center. New York still had no hits, but got Mendosa on base when Starr bottled his 2-out grounder for an error. That loaded the bases again, but Box flew out to keep the lid on a bubbling pot. Morales hit a single in the bottom of the inning and was doubled off by Duhe, then allowed a leadoff double to Maudlin. Paez singled and put runners on the corners, and Starwalt’s groundout to short brought the go-ahead run home for New York. Morales then plated the other run with TWO wild pitches while Andy Morris was waiting for anything in his own zip code. That made it 3-1 New York, and I was patiently petting Honeypaws waiting for old age to finally do its job and take me away from this place.

But there was more pain to gain from this game, such as Morales departing after allowing a 2-out double to Box in the seventh, an that run was then waved home by Nava on Maudlin’s RBI single. Mendosa however walked Starr to begin the bottom 7th and then was taken deep by J.P. Gallo, which reduced the score to 4-3 again. The Raccoons then got two scoreless innings from Holzmeister, but failed to score in the bottom 8th even with an error by Juan Paez in rightfield. John Faughnan was in for the bottom 9th, which Starr led off grounding out. Gallo walked, and Leggett grounded out in place of Marquez, moving the tying run to second base. Jake Flowe batted for van Otterdijk and fell to 1-2, but then rolled a ball through between Omar Vera and Ryan Philpot for a game-tying single, as Gallo was running as soon as bat met ball. Early then walked in place of Holzmeister, which moved Flowe to second base. There was no running for Flowe, since he was the last catcher we had, but we also didn’t need a pinch-runner, as Jared Duhe completely buried another 1-2 hanger so deep in the right-center gap that Flowe could have scored easily from second base by just hopping on one leg – it was a walkoff! 5-4 Critters. Gallo 2-2, 2 BB, HR, 3 RBI; Flowe (PH) 1-1, RBI; Holzmeister 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

Okay, neither me nor Honeypaws, nor anybody in the stands, saw that one coming! This comeback W kept the Raccoons within one game of the first-place Indians, but it was four teams within one game at this point.

Game 4
NYC: CF Box – SS Maudlin – RF J. Paez – 1B Starwalt – 2B Philpot – LF Duhon – C McCarver – 3B Frasher – P C. Long
POR: SS Duhe – LF Fumero – CF Wharton – 3B Gallo – 1B Starr – RF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – 2B Leggett – P Childress

Both teams scored a run in the first; Starwalt singled home Maudlin and his double with two down in the top of the inning, while the Raccoons made two outs before Wharton and Gallo hit singles to right and Starr doubled in a run to left, but a pair was left in scoring position when van Otterdijk flew out to Box in center. As the game continued, Childress appeared completely out of his depth and was generously whacked around. Eric Frasher struck a 2-run homer in the top 2nd, giving New York a 3-1 lead, and the Crusaders then always got somebody on base, but also were twice caught stealing in the next couple of innings. The Raccoons stranded Fumero’s leadoff double in the bottom 3rd, and threatened to also not score a van Otterdijk leadoff double in the bottom 4th until Long did it for them with a 2-out wild pitch that had Childress evading the box before he struck out on the next pitch.

The Raccoons’ habit of being wasteful with runner(s) on base continued unabated, Gallo being left on base after a leadoff single in the sixth. Childress wobbled into the seventh inning before being replaced with Gabriel Rios – the first lefty reliever the Coons sent into any game in the series – and Long was out of the game after six busy innings. The Coons then sent FOUR relievers into the eighth inning, successfully holding the Crusaders to three runs in the inning after Box’ leadoff single against Rios. Nava came in and allowed three singles and a walk for one out, Dover allowed a sac fly to Braden McCarver and a walk, and then McMahan finally got out of the ******* inning against Omar Vera, who grounded out on a single pitch, but McMahan then managed to **** up another run in the ninth anyway.

Bottom 9th, and the Raccoons crawled in trailing by five runs. New York gave the ball to Mike Rocheford, who retired nobody, putting Starr, Jacob Davis, and Flowe on base in order. Russell Anderson, who did not *start* a game in the series after all, then was sent in to *save* one. Wally Leggett’s grounder to short was taken to get Flowe out at second while a run scored. Marquise Early was already batting ninth after a double switch and secured himself another bowl of food tomorrow with an RBI single to right, which made Duhe come up as the tying run with one gone. He brought in a run with another groundout, which surely was not helpful to the cause, nor was Fumero’s groundout to Maudlin, which ended the game. 7-5 Crusaders. Gallo 2-4; Davis (PH) 1-1;

Raccoons (14-14) @ Miners (11-18) – May 3-5, 2069

On to another fifth-place team, the Miners being *last* in runs scored in the Federal League with just 3.1 runs per game – as if that had helped us against the Crusaders – while allowing the fourth-fewest in their league. They were in the bottom four in most offensive categories, but the pitching appeared just fine. One big problem was of course a Nick Ding(er)man-sized hole in the lineup. The slugger was on the DL and would not return on the weekend. The Raccoons had won the last ELEVEN interleague series against the Miners, including 2-1 series wins in both of the last two seasons.

Projected matchups:
Tony Gaytan (2-2, 3.64 ERA) vs. Aldomiro Campion (1-2, 2.70 ERA)
A.C. Stebbins (1-3, 3.19 ERA) vs. Brian Jones (2-2, 1.96 ERA)
Nick Walla (2-2, 2.79 ERA) vs. Adam McDonald (2-3, 3.69 ERA)

Only right-handed pitchers were lined up by the Miners, and we would see the 26-year-old Brazilian “Aldomiro” as he had on his uniform, as if he was a soccer player, in a game.

Game 1
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – C Flowe – RF Corral – P Gaytan
PIT: CF N. Chapman – SS R. Ortiz – 1B M. White – 2B Hood – LF Takeuchi – 3B E. Gonzales – RF X. Contreras – C J. West – P Campion

Duhe hit leadoff singles in the first and third innings, both with no score on the board, but the second time around the rest of the team actually showed up – or at least some of them. Fumero hit another single to left, and then Benito Otal beat Norm Chapman for a triple to center, and a 2-0 lead for the Critters. Wharton lined out to Roland Hood, but Starr got Otal’s run home with a groundout to send Gaytan back out with a 3-0 lead. He had sat down the Miners in order so far, but Xavier Contreras and Jesse West hit a pair of singles to left to begin the bottom 3rd. Aldomiro bunted into a double play and Chapman grounded out to turn that into zero runs.

The Critters looked done for the day since Gaytan was stingy with runners and struck out six twice through the lineup, but then gave up a solo home run to Chapman in the bottom 6th to get the Miners on the board, 3-1, and Edgar Gonzales singled and stole second in the bottom 7th, then was singled in by Contreras, whom Gaytan had yet to retire, and now the lead was down to one puny run. Gaytan pitched one more inning, completing eight frames with seven strikeouts while getting around a Mike White single with two outs in the eighth. Hood grounded out to leave the tying run on first, and Aldomiro was also out after eight decent innings of 6-hit ball. Right-hander Chad Brown replaced him, but right away allowed a single to Flowe and then walked Corral. Van Otterdijk stuck one into the corner in leftfield for an RBI double, Duhe walked, and the bases were loaded with nobody out for one pitch before Brown threw a wild pitch to get another run in, 5-2. Fumero then also walked, while Otal rolled a ball in front of the plate for a casual out at the plate on van Otterdijk. Wharton then was already down 0-2 when he popped up a ball behind the plate, which Jesse West dropped for an error – since this was in foul ground, Wharton remained at the plate, and hit a 2-run single to left on the next pitch. Kerry Sheats replaced Brown, nailed Starr to reload the bases, and then gave up a pinch-hit, 2-run single to Leggett. Flowe, who had begun the inning, ended the 6-spot with a double play grounder. 9-2 Critters. Duhe 2-3, 2 BB; Fumero 2-4, BB; Leggett (PH) 1-1, 2 RBI; van Otterdijk (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Gaytan 8.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (3-2);

Good! Now try scoring that sixer earlier so I can relax a bit?

Game 2
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – 3B Gallo – C Marquez – RF Corral – P Stebbins
PIT: CF N. Chapman – C Beckner – 1B M. White – 2B Hood – 3B E. Gonzales – SS R. Ortiz – LF Branch – RF A. Romero – P B. Jones

Nobody reached base in the first inning on Saturday, after which Tyler Wharton still didn’t hit a homer, but at least a leadoff single for the top 2nd. Starr was ahead 3-0 before hitting a bouncer to second, where Gold Glover Roland Hood got a bad bounce and dropped the ball, losing the double play, and then threw hastily and poorly to first base, where White could not come up with the thing, and a 2-base error broke out, putting a pair in scoring position with nobody out. Gallo then struck out, Marquez walked, and Corral was down 0-2 before “Nuke” Jones DRILLED him in the chest to force in the game’s first run. Corral fell down, and kept holding his chest, taking almost five minutes to take his dying body to first base, with Luis Silva holding his other paw all the way there. There were still bases loaded, but with the pitcher batting, and Stebbins whiffed. Jones walked in a run against Duhe, but fanned Fumero in a full count to leave the bases loaded. And compared to how endlessly long it took to score two runs in this inning – and neither scored for something a Critter did – the Coons added two in a rush in the third inning as Otal singled and stole second, and then Wharton DID mash a homer to left.

Wharton doubled in the fifth inning – meaning he was a triple away from a cycle – and Lorenzo Marquez assaulted the board with another 2-run homer, running the score to 6-0. Stebbins had not allowed a hit so far, but gave up two in the bottom 5th, a single to Gonzales and an RBI triple to Tommy Branch with two outs, but got Alex Romero out to short before the Miners could put more on the board.

The Coons answered with four runs and extended the lead to 10-1 in the sixth; Duhe and Fumero went to the corners with one out, and Wharton did not get that triple, but snapped an RBI single. Joel Starr cranked a 3-run homer off Kerry Sheats to land the big blow – although Roland Hood came up with his own 2-out, 3-run homer off Stebbins in the bottom of the same inning. Stebbins kept pitching, allowing a single to Branch in the bottom 7th and a double to J.D. Johnson, 10-5, before being yanked after a walk to Chapman. Dover secured a groundout from Mitch Beckner to get out of the inning. Wharton got another chance for a cycle in the ninth, leading off against right-hander Austin Cross, but had to settle for another single to center. More singles by van Otterdijk (batting for Gallo) and Corral got Wharton across home plate, while Early batted for Dover with two outs and lined out to Hood to keep two runners on base. Holzmeister put the game away with a quick 1-2-3 ninth. 11-5 Furballs. Otal 2-5; Wharton 5-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; van Otterdijk (PH) 1-1; Marquez 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI;

I liked that one much better, yes!

The pitching assignment for the Miners changed for the Sunday game – now that they had already lost their 12th consecutive interleague series against the Critters, they might just as well go with right-hander Jesus Ordonez (1-3, 8.37 ERA).

Game 3
POR: SS Duhe – 2B Fumero – LF Otal – CF Wharton – 1B Starr – C Flowe – RF Corral – 3B Leggett – P Walla
PIT: CF N. Chapman – SS R. Ortiz – 1B M. White – 2B Hood – LF Takeuchi – 3B E. Gonzales – RF A. Romero – C J. West – P J. Ordonez

Wharton followed up his 5-for-5 day with a double play in the first on Sunday, erasing an inning with Fumero and Otal on the corners. Walla then came out and got WHACKED by everybody he faced as Chapman tripled, Robert Ortiz hit a deep sac fly, and White and Hood socked sharp singles before Kazuhide Takeuchi grounded out and Edgar Gonzales struck out. The whole ordeal took 32 pitches. The Raccoons at least made up the deficit in the top 2nd with hits from Starr and Corral, and Leggett’s RBI groundout, but the Miners right away hit balls through the seams now for an Alex Romero double and West’s RBI single before Walla struck out the next three batters somehow.

The score remained 2-1 through five, and Nick Walla went from passable to whackable several times just to make it that far. The Coons’ 4-5-6 made straight and quick outs in the sixth inning, and Leggett hit a single in the seventh, but was not moved an inch, let alone 270 feet, by Gallo or Duhe after that. Otal and Wharton singled in the eighth and were left on base once more as Starr K’ed and Flowe flew out to Romero in right. Nava, McMahan, and Schmieder held the score together through the end of eight, and the Miners were brave enough to bring Chad Brown, who had already been handed a beating in the series, but it was also the bottom of the order coming up. He walked Corral on four pitches before Leggett foolishly grounded into a double play, 6-4-3. Van Otterdijk struck out. 2-1 Miners. Otal 2-4; Starr 2-4; Corral 1-2, 2 BB, 2B;

In other news

April 29 – Boston puts OF Eddie Marcotte (.267, 3 HR, 8 RBI) on the DL for two weeks, owing to a mild shoulder strain.
April 29 – Gold Sox LF/1B/RF Miguel Sandoval (.179, 3 HR, 10 RBI) is going to miss a month with an oblique strain.
April 29 – The Loggers acquire C Manuel Rodriguez (.318, 2 HR, 7 RBI) from the Capitals, parting with CL Tetsu Kurihara (2-3, 5.40 ERA, 5 SV) and RF/3B/1B Pete McKenna (.087, 0 HR, 4 RBI).
May 4 – Pacifics 2B/LF Armando Montoya (.182, 1 HR, 3 RBI) gets his 2,500th career hit in a 4-2 in against Vancouver in general and right-hander Juan Rosado (0-2, 4.29 ERA) in particular. Montoya, who played all of his career prior to this season further north in California, is a career .285 hitter with 328 home runs and 1,433 RBI. He was a Rookie of the Year in 2053 and has seven Platinum Sticks in his trophy cabinet.
May 4 – Thunder CL Brad Fales (0-1, 3.72 ERA, 9 SV) could miss the rest of the season for surgery to relieve radial nerve compression.
May 5 – Boston acquires SP Paul Egley (2-3, 4.91 ERA) from the Bayhawks for three prospects. The package includes #117 SP Brad Yoxall.
May 5 – Plantar fascitis will keep Vegas OF Victor Lorenzo (.349, 2 HR, 20 RBI) on the DL for the next month.

FL Player of the Week: SAC LF/RF/1B Steve Giles (.348, 2 HR, 11 RBI), hitting .483 (14-29) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT LF/RF/1B Justin Dowsey (.286, 5 HR, 19 RBI), socking .467 (14-30) with 1 HR, 5 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: RIC LF/CF/2B Darby Laybolt (.352, 11 HR, 29 RBI)
CL Hitter of the Month: LVA C/1B Chris Haynes (.375, 8 HR, 16 RBI)
FL Pitcher of the Month: SAL SP Ramon Carreno (4-1, 0.80 ERA)
CL Pitcher of the Month: TIJ SP Jason Brenize (4-0, 1.26 ERA)
FL Rookie of the Month: DEN RF/LF Steve Millen (.351, 4 HR, 14 RBI)
CL Rookie of the Month: MIL INF Sean Van Leeuwen (.373, 0 HR, 11 RBI)

Complaints and stuff

I have no clue what this team is doing, but they’re hard to watch. The pitching and defense are not the problem – except that we’re giving up ALL the home runs. The staff is in the top three in every category, but they’re bottoms in bombs away with 28 home runs allowed – twice as many as the league-leading Indians.

We are also tied for second in home runs hit, but the team can’t get on base at all – says the OBP, which is worst in the league, but they are HITTING alright…

What a confusing team!!

Team What-the-heck-is-going-on will have Monday off and then play the Warriors and Indians at home.

Fun Fact: Val Centeno has a 2.25 ERA in St. Petersburg.

(gnashes teeth and winces)