[Westheim]

Raccoons (12-13) vs. Crusaders (13-10) – May 5-8, 2070

The Crusaders, who brought the best pen in the league for this four-game set, ranked ninth in offense and second in pitching after a month’s worth of games, and they were second in the division, half a game out of first place. The entire team had hit six home runs – as much as Tyler Wharton, who would miss at least the first couple of games here – but to be fair, they had yet to come up against Tony Gaytan and Vinny Morales… New York had won the season series last year, 11-7.

Projected matchups:
Ian Lowry (2-0, 2.67 ERA) vs. Paul Egley (1-1, 2.27 ERA)
Nick Walla (3-2, 4.26 ERA) vs. Dennis Marck (1-0, 1.89 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (1-3, 2.89 ERA) vs. Colt Long (2-0, 2.12 ERA)
Vinny Morales (3-2, 4.67 ERA) vs. Jarod Nesbit (1-3, 6.32 ERA)

Long was the only left-hander in the rotaton, and the only Crusaders pitcher with two wins to his name – besides closer John Faughnan, who had three.

Game 1
NYC: SS Roza – 2B Philpot – RF Ospina – CF Box – 3B Reber – 1B A. Vargas – LF Merrill – C A. Morris – P Egley
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – CF Otal – SS Katzman – 3B Gallo – 1B Morejon – RF Corral – C Flowe – P Lowry

Lowry was broken up in no time by the Crusaders, who started the second inning on 2-strike doubles up either line by Bryant Box and Kyle Reber, and it only got worse from there. Lowry filled the bases with Alex Vargas and Jonathan Merrill, walked in a run against Andy Morris, struck out the pitcher for the actual first out of the inning, walked in ANOTHER run facing Josh Roza, and a fourth run scored on Ryan Philpot’s fielder’s choice grounder the Coons couldn’t turn for to. Willie Ospina then finally grounded out to Yocum to end the inning… Kyle Reber added a homer in the third inning, and Lowry then tumbled through the rest of five innings with a 5-0 deficit and giving up rockets in an attempt to dig the hole yet deeper, but the defense did a little magic behind him before it could get worse. The Raccoons were not really visible through four innings before Corral and Flowe went to the corners with 1-out knocks in the bottom 5th. Van Otterdijk batted for Lowry then and was nicked by Egley, loading them up for Humphries, who hit into a 5-4-3 double play.

The Otter remained in the game as Humphries got half a day off and the pitcher ended up in the #1 slot for Portland as the Raccoons got four outs from Edgar Gutierrez, two from Gabriel Rios, and three from Jason Holzmeister, who came on in a double switch that exited Jose Corral from the game. The revamped 9-1 section then began the bottom 8th with two singles against Egley, who walked Yocum to load the bases with nobody out and put the tying run in the on-deck circle. Unsurprisingly, the Raccoons didn’t pull off a rally. Benito Otal hit a sac fly, and Katzman crashed into the next double play. Holzmeister gave the run then back in sympathy in the ninth, in which J.P. Gallo hit a window-dressing homer. 6-2 Crusaders. Fumero 1-1; Morejon 2-4; van Otterdijk 1-1;

Game 2
NYC: SS Roza – 2B Philpot – RF Ospina – LF J. Acuna – CF Box – 1B A. Vargas – 3B Maudlin – C Marty – P Marck
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – CF Otal – SS Katzman – 3B Gallo – 1B Morejon – RF Corral – C Flowe – P Walla

Walla allowed a walk to Alex Vargas, but nothing else the first time through, but also bunted into a double play after Jake Flowe hit a leadoff single in the bottom 3rd. In short, nobody scored, or came close to scoring, in the early innings. Willie Ospina hit a double into the right-center gap with one out in the fourth inning, but left the game with an oblique strain. The Crusaders failed to score in his memory; Javier Acuna struck out in a full count, and while Walla walked Bryant Box, he got an easy grounder from Vargas to end the inning. Instead, the Raccoons took a lead in the bottom 4th. Otal legged out an infield single, stole second base, moved up on a Katzman grounder, and then scored leisurely when Gallo sent a ball into the left-center gap where it caromed around long enough for Gallo to slide into third base with an RBI triple. Morejon grounded out to short, but that got Gallo home.

Walla needed 100 pitches exactly through six shutout innings, which was a decidedly mixed bag, while the Raccoons made two outs in the bottom 6th before loading the bags with the 5-6-7 hitters and squeezing Dennis Marck out of the game. Nick Ellis entered to face Jake Flowe, the count ran full, and Flowe struck out. Walla then got two more outs before giving up a single to Ryan Marty. When Merrill pinch-hit in the #9 hole, McMahan came out to meet him, got a grounder to second, and that ended the inning. Josh Roza hit a single that dropped behind Yocum to start the eighth. Nava replaced McMahan, got Philpot on a pop, and then a double play from Bill Davidson, Ospina’s replacement. The Raccoons did not tack on in the late innings, but Pedro Valentin shut down the Crusaders to complete a 5-hit shutout that took 16 paws to piece together. 2-0 Critters. Gallo 2-4, 3B, RBI; Walla 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (4-2) and 1-2;

Willie Ospina (.320, 1 HR, 4 RBI) went to New York’s DL, while the Raccoons would make another attempt at getting back to .500 on Wednesday – and with Tyler Wharton back in the lineup.

Game 3
NYC: SS Roza – 2B Philpot – LF B. Davidson – CF Box – 3B Reber – 1B Nakamura – RF Maudlin – C Marty – P C. Long
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Fumero – RF van Otterdijk – 3B Davis – C Jalomo – P Gaytan

Gaytan managed to fall 2-0 behind while giving up anything but a homer in the second inning, where Box doubled, Natsu Nakamura hit an RBI single, and the catcher Marty *tripled* with two outs for that second New York run. The Coons left Fumero and Jacob Davis on the corners in the second, but got a run with two gone in the third, in which Yocum doubled and Katz singled him home. Big Wharton hit a long fly to left, but it was not long enough and ended up with Davidson.

Showing neither stuff nor homers, Gaytan gave up another run in the sixth on a Philpot triple to center and Box’ 2-out RBI single that gave New York a 3-1 lead. The Coons had gotten Humphries on base with two outs in the fifth, and while he stole second base, he was left on by Yocum. Katz drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 6th, but Wharton rolled into a double play. New inning, new attempt, as van Otterdijk’s leadoff single in the seventh got Long removed for right-hander Adam Dochterman. Davis hit into a double play, and that took care of that inning. Humph walked to begin the eighth, the third straight inning where Team Brown got the first batter on while trailing by two. Dochterman walked Yocum, which was at least better than an instant double play, Katz singled to center, and now the bags were full with nobody out for Big Bash Wharton … who struck out in a full count. Carlos Fumero came to the rescue, clapping a solid single to right-center, which got home the tying runs. Lefty ex-Coon Nick Robinson replaced Dochterman, van Otterdijk lined out to short, but Davis clubbed a 2-run double to right-center and the Raccoons were now ahead. Jalomo grounded out, Valentin came on for the ninth inning… walked Box and Jeff Maudlin (squints and squeals) … but then Ryan Marty popped out to Fumero in foul territory to end the game. 5-3 Raccoons. Katzman 2-3, BB, RBI; Fumero 2-4, 2 RBI; Davis 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Back at .500, whee!

Game 4
NYC: SS Roza – 2B Philpot – CF Box – 3B Reber – 1B Nakamura – LF T. Griffin – RF Maudlin – C Marty – P Nesbit
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Morejon – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Flowe – P Morales

Vinny Morales allowed only one hit in three innings on Thursday while the Coons scattered five base knocks and barely got a 1-0 lead when Humphries hurried home on Katz’ sac fly to right in the third inning. In the fourth, the Coons made two outs before Jake Flowe singled. Morales came up and *cranked* a 2-run homer to right to extend his own lead to 3-0…! (snout hangs open) That was the second home run for a Raccoons pitcher on the season…!

Morales then gave up a leadoff walk to Nakamura in the fifth, but got a double play from Tony Griffin, which was good, since Davidson then took him deep to left, 3-1. Vinny leaked a walk to Nesbit in the sixth, but somehow wobbled through that inning and the seventh, too, without giving up any more damage, and had only given up two hits by the stretch. Meanwhile, Nesbit was out after wix innings, and Nick Ellis allowed a 1-out single to Yocum in the bottom 7th. Yocum stole second, then had an easy jog home on Katz’ wallbanger double in right-center. Wharton walked, Morejon grounded out, and Gallo whiffed to complete the inning.

The eighth saw two more outs from Morales, while allowing a single to Marty, before he hit triple digits on the pitch-o-meter and was removed. Roza flew out against Victor Ramirez to leave Marty on base. Ellis allowed leadoff singles to Corral and Flowe in the bottom 8th, who were then bunted into scoring position by Ramirez. Humph grounded out to third base, which didn’t help, but Yocum singled cleanly through the right side and got both runners home. With that, Ramirez remained in the game in the ninth inning and completed the game and picked up a sneaky save along the way. 6-1 Raccoons. Yocum 3-5, 2 RBI; Katzman 2-2, 2 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Flowe 3-4, 2B; Morales 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, W (4-2) and 1-3, HR, 2 RBI;

Raccoons (15-14) @ Gold Sox (12-15) – May 9-11, 2070

The Coons hopped across the mountain for a weekend set against the last-place Gold Sox, although last place in the FL West at this point was only two games out of first place. They ranked eighth in runs scored and runs allowed in the Federal League, with a beleaguered rotation and no speed at all, having stolen only four bases so far. They had a -12 run differential (Coons: +3!). Portland had won the last three interleague meetings with the Sox, including a sweep in the most recent encounter in 2068.

Projected matchups:
Jimmy Wharton (1-2, 3.27 ERA) vs. Tony Lira (1-1, 4.82 ERA)
Ian Lowry (2-1, 3.66 ERA) vs. Jasper Madsen (0-0, 3.38 ERA)
Nick Walla (4-2, 3.52 ERA) vs. Aaron O’Harra (3-2, 6.25 ERA)

Southpaw Sunday! Also, two right-handers to begin the series that had made most of their 2070 appearances in relief. Madsen was the #6 pick from the 2066 draft, one pick behind the Coons’ Jack Hamel, who was hitting .167 in AAA as of Friday morning. Madsen, 22, was making his second ABL start, but had pitched 12 times out of the pen last September and to begin this year. He was without a doubt a starter, and probably a good one, but at this point appeared underdone.

Game 1
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Morejon – 3B Gallo – RF Corral – C Jalomo – P J. Wharton
DEN: CF Killelea – 1B J. Gutierrez – LF M. Sandoval – RF Tuck – C R. Rogers – 3B B. Metz – SS Gonzilez – 2B Fusselman – P T. Lira

Neither team scored through three innings on Friday, but while Tony Lira allowed just one base runner, Jimmyboy nicked two batters, gave up two hits, a walk, and a few outfield rockets – and somehow no runs, as the Gold Sox had Steve Killelea thrown out trying to steal third base and also found a double play to hit into to invalidate their attempts. Big Wharton bopped a solo homer with two outs in the fourth that gave the Coons a 1-0 lead, and Gallo and Corral hit leadoff singles in the fifth to put some pressure on Tony Lira. Jalomo whiffed, but Lira then inexplicably walked Little Wharton to load the bases. From there, Lira threw not one, but TWO wild pitches to get runners home, then walked Humphries and Yocum to reload the bases, and issued *another* walk to Katzman to force in another run. Tyler Wharton put him out of his misery with a 2-run single to left, 6-0, and when Mike Penaranda replaced Lira, he walked Morejon to fill the bags again, walked in *another* run facing Gallo, and then actually got an out from Corral, who grounded out, but got another run home with that. Jalomo then fouled out to end a GLORIOUS 3-hit, 7-run inning.

Of course there was concern for Jimmy Wharton now, after the top 5th had taken almost 40 minutes among 68 pitches, but he got three quick outs in the bottom of the inning and appeared fine. Penaranda allowed a triple to Humphries and balked him home in the sixth, extending the Coons’ lead to 9-0. The Coons removed Humph, Katz, and Yocum at the stretch, and didn’t amount to another run, while Jimmy Wharton continued to click off batters in the second half of the game, and suddenly arrived in the ninth inning on a 4-hitter with 99 pitches, and the Coons allowed him to try to complete the shutout against the 4-5-6 batters, but they all reached on a single, walk, and RBI single. Holzmeister replaced him and allowed another run on an RBI single by Jim Fusselman, but at least got the lid on the bubbling pot. 9-2 Raccoons! T. Wharton 5-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Gallo 1-2, 3 BB, RBI; J. Wharton 8.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (2-2);

Tyler Wharton had five hits in the game. The entire rest of the team had three hits pooled together, but drew eight walks and held still while the Gold Sox shotgunned both of their own legs off, so good job on that front.

Game 2
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Fumero – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Morejon – 3B Gallo – RF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – P Lowry
DEN: CF Killelea – 1B J. Gutierrez – RF Tuck – C R. Rogers – 3B B. Metz – SS Gonzilez – LF Millen – 2B Fusselman – P Madsen

Portland loaded the bases with the 3-4-5 batters, who got two singles and a walk, and then saw Gallo strike out in the first inning. Killelea nearly hit a first-pitch homer in the bottom 1st, but Humph made a catch against the fence, and Lowry and him hit 2-out singles in the second that also led precisely nowhere. The Coons scored their first run on their seventh hit of the night, as van Otterdijk singled home Wharton, who had singled along with Morejon to begin the top 3rd. Flowe then struck out, and our left-on-base tally was already up to seven, right before Juan Gutierrez tied the game with a homer to right in the home half of the inning.

After Fumero singled and was left on in the fourth, Steve Millen gave Denver a lead with another solo homer to right. The fifth inning was calm before van Otterdijk reached on an error by Alex Gonzilez to begin the sixth. Flowe singled, and the runners were bunted into scoring position by Lowry. Madsen lost Humph in a full count, loading them up for Fumero, who singled up the middle in another full count. The Otter scored, but Flowe was held at third base. Katz kept the line moving, hitting another RBI single to center for a 3-2 lead, and also knocked out Madsen before Tyler Wharton could do serious, nonconsensual damage to his underage tush. The slugger had to settle for a sac fly to left against Penaranda, but Morejon got another RBI single before Gallo grounded out to Jim Fusselman. The score was 5-2 in the middle of the sixth.

Lowry got four more outs, most of them loud, and then walked PH Steven Jordan in the #9 hole before exiting in the seventh. McMahan came on for the left-handed top of the order, got Killelea on a pop, but then allowed an RBI single to Gutierrez and Chris Tuck reached on a Katzman error. Nava replaced him, gave up a screaming liner to Ryan Rogers, but it was within reach of Humphries in left-center, who made a great pick to end the inning, still up 5-3.

Left-hander Kelvin Castillo walked Humph and Fumero in the eighth, but rung up Katzman and got a double play outta Wharton, so the Raccoons did not tack on. Nava got one more out before Rios put on Gonzilez and Millen, left-handed batters, before ringing up Fusselman, a right-handed batter. Another lefty swinger, Justin Donaldson, pinch-hit for Castillo and grounded out to short, stranding the tying runs for the second straight inning. The Gold Sox would do the same choke for a third straight inning to lose the game in the ninth after they got Gutierrez on with a single and Rogers drawing a walk off oddly inefficient Pedro Valentin, who nevertheless got a cozy fly from Beau Metz to Otal in leftfield to end the game. 5-3 Coons. Fumero 2-4, BB, RBI; Katzman 2-5, RBI; T. Wharton 2-4, RBI; Morejon 2-4, BB, RBI;

We had 12 hits, all singles, but somehow managed to squeeze out our fifth straight W.

Game 3
POR: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Fumero – 3B Gallo – RF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – P Walla
DEN: CF Killelea – 1B J. Gutierrez – LF M. Sandoval – RF Tuck – C R. Rogers – 3B B. Metz – SS Gonzilez – 2B Fusselman – P O’Harra

Humph singled, Yocum walked, and Katzman singled in a run to begin the game, but then the Raccoons made rapid outs with a Wharton K and a double play grounder by Fumero. Walla also allowed a run before he got an out, as Killelea singled, Gutierrez walked, and Miguel Sandoval hit an RBI double to right. Tuck’s grounder got a second run home for Denver before they left Sandoval at second base. It was soon apparent that Walla once again had put his pants on with no stuff at all, but he singled to begin the third inning and got around to score on a grounder, Yocum’s single, and Katz’ sac fly to tie the game. Wharton walked with two outs, and Fumero hit a fly to the fence that Tuck caught.

Sandoval hit his second RBI double of the game in the bottom 3rd after the 2-3 batters reached against an entirely defenseless Walla, who hit another single in the fourth instead, that one with Gallo and Flowe on base and the Gold Sox already having made an error when Gutierrez bungled the catcher’s grounder. Humph batted with three on and one out, struck out, and Yocum grounded out. The Coons hit long flies with Wharton and Gallo in the fifth that were also caught, while Walla drilled Sandoval, which was one way to keep him from pumping out the doubles.

Walla hit his third single of the game in the sixth inning, but remained yucky on the hill, allowed two more hits in the bottom of the sixth, and when Yocum made a diving catch on a low liner by PH Justin Donaldson to keep those runners stranded, Walla was quietly whisked away to prevent further damage. The score, mind, was still 3-2 Denver, and Yocum hit a leadoff single off Jorge Garza in the seventh, but then was caught stealing. It was alright, though, because Katz’ grounder to short woulda been two anyway…..

The Coons struck out in order in the eighth while Holzmeister loaded the bases with the 5-6-7 batters and nobody out in the bottom 8th. He was hooked and replaced with Rios, who struck out Steve Millen, struck out Earl Fleet, and struck out Steve Killelea to turn away the Gold Sox… but they were still winning and the Coons had the 8-9-1 batters up against John Silver and his sterling 0.00 ERA from 12 innings in the ninth. Flowe lifted one out to right for Tuck to catch, and Morejon whiffed, but Humph legged out an infield single. Yocum quickly hit another single, moving the tying run to third base. Silver got Katzman to 2-2 before Katz slapped a ball over the head of the shortstop and into left-center! Humphries was waved around and scored, and Walla was off the hook with the game tied! Wharton was next, was also down to two strikes, and then raked a liner to right, where it caromed hard off the wall and past the rushing Tuck, who could not reverse so fast, bounced off the wall awkwardly, and by the time him and Gonzilez met at the ball in shallow right, Wharton was standing at third base with the go-ahead, 2-out, 2-run triple!! Benito Otal batted for Fumero against new pitcher Phil Nelson, popped out, and then the ball went to Danny Nava, accounting for Valentin’s second long outing of the week on Saturday. The right-hander retired Gutierrez, Sandoval, and Tuck in order to get the Coons’ sixth straight W into the books! 5-3 Furballs! Yocum 4-5; Katzman 2-4, 3 RBI;

In other news

May 5 – Rebels OF Travis Bickerton (.317, 2 HR, 9 RBI) will miss up to six weeks with a separated shoulder.
May 5 – Sacramento takes 15 innings to beat the Gold Sox, 3-2. Denver leadoff man OF/1B Steve Killelea (.193, 0 HR, 4 RBI) manages to go 0-for-8 with no strikeouts.
May 6 – Eight runs are scored in the tenth inning of the Titans-Indians game that was tied at one through nine innings. The Titans win with a 5-spot in the top of the tenth, 6-4.
May 8 – LAP C Matt Warner (.302, 2 HR, 10 RBI) goes unretired with three hits, two walks, a home run, and five RBI in a 10-4 win against the Warriors.
May 9 – The Cyclones’ OF Anthony Schneider (.265, 3 HR, 15 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 16-4 rout of the Aces, bashing out the four required hits in just six innings before adding a walk and another single on top of that. Schneider drives in three runs in the game. This marks the 150th cycle in league history and the fifth for the Cyclones franchise.
May 10 – The Condors expect OF Jeremy Jenkins (.262, 2 HR, 6 RBI) to be out for up to four months due to a torn labrum.
May 10 – SAC INF John Schmidt (.287, 0 HR, 13 RBI) went on the DL with chronic back soreness and was going to be shut down for the rest of the month.
May 11 – Capitals 2B Andy Ratliff (.426, 1 HR, 22 RBI) finishes the week with a 2-run single in a 6-5 win against the Knights, which gives him a 20-game hitting streak.

Player of the Week (FL): CIN OF Anthony Schneider (.282, 4 HR, 16 RBI), batting .462 (12-26) with 2 HR, 5 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): ATL 1B Kris DiPrimio (.358, 4 HR, 23 RBI), hitting .545 (12-22) with 1 HR, 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons’ 6-game winning streak vaulted them to second place in the division, one game behind the Titans, who were rained out on Sunday in Topeka and were rewarded with having an upcoming 4-city road trip turned into a 5-city road trip by having the makeup date inserted into their off day there. Portland was the second stop on that tour around the country, where they would be our third opponent on the upcoming homestand, which would begin on Tuesday with the Cyclones and Loggers in.

After two trying games to begin the week, the offense put out five straight games with 5+ runs, and seven of their last nine, winning all of them and also Tuesday’s 2-0 W behind Nick Walla, for a 6-game winning streak and 8-1 run. We were up to 4.28 runs scored per game now! It’s almost like we might end up being fine after all.

But don’t you worry, I’ll find more doom and gloom for you soon. This is Portland baseball after all.

Some tweaks around the roster will come, with Jalomo an obvious problem, but we also have three outfielders that only show up occasionally and when it fits their schedule…

But anyway, six in a row, and now we get to see the twice-defending champs and the Loggers. I have a hunch we won’t be W12 next Sunday.

Fun Fact: Two of the four previous Cyclones to hit for a cycle spent time on the Raccoons.

The players to hit cycles with Cincy before Anthony Schneider on Friday were R.J. DeWeese (2012), Carlos Vega (2047), Juan del Toro (2055), and John MacDonnell (2057).

Del Toro only spent half a season with the Critters, batting .275 with six homers, after being acquired from the Stars with much fanfare and at the expense of three valuable pitchers (most notably at the time probably Bubba Wolinsky), but then was offloaded to Cincy just eight months later to acquire Trent Brassfield, who’s still stumbling around the league.

DeWeese though was different. He played on the Coons *after* his Cyclones stint, arriving on a 7-year, $23.1M contract that was a lotta money at that time, and hit well for one season, two if you’re charitable, and then just became that giant millstone around the neck of the late-10s Coons that went out in the CLCS three years in a row and then flubbed the division to the Loggers in a second tie-breaker in 2020. That was the last game of DeWeese’s Coons tenure, as we somehow managed to offload his dead bottoms to the Thunder for CF Josh Stevenson, who nobody remembers these days although he was a starting outfielder for three years in Portland, but those teams were all anonymous and descending into a rebuild. DeWeese, for $16.5M of precious 2010s dollars, hit all of .232 with 111 homers and 387 RBI in five years, which doesn’t *sound* that bad, but I think I was reasonably insufferable about him at the time, because the second I mentioned his name earlier, Maud rolled her eyes and left the room.