[Westheim]

Raccoons (37-46) vs. Crusaders (35-46) – July 7-10, 2070

The Crusaders had a splendid chance to get rid of the red lantern in the division here, even though they scored an abysmal 3.35 runs per game (cough) and were merely average on the pitching side. They had a -56 run differential (Coons: -28). Portland was up 3-1 in the season series, but you’ve seen them play, haven’t you? It was just… (moves paws around). New York did however come in with a severely diminished roster; Ryan Marty, Javier Acuna, and Willie Ospina were all on the DL to further slash an already dire lineup, and both pesky centerfielder Bryant Box and reliever Nick Ellis had come out of Sunday’s game with injuries and were still on the roster, so at least for the opener they only had 23 players available. As if that would help us. Including another four-game set in New York after the break, we would play the Crusaders eight times in the next two weeks.

Projected matchups:
Vinny Morales (5-7, 3.63 ERA) vs. Erik Lee (5-6, 3.01 ERA)
Jimmy Wharton (4-6, 4.53 ERA) vs. Paul Egley (4-8, 3.71 ERA)
Nick Walla (5-7, 5.04 ERA) vs. Colt Long (5-5, 3.74 ERA)
Tony Gaytan (6-7, 3.47 ERA) vs. Jarod Nesbit (4-10, 4.68 ERA)

Long was the left-hander on duty in the Crusaders rotation.

Game 1
NYC: SS Roza – LF Merrill – C A. Morris – CF L. Morales – 3B Reber – 2B Philpot – RF Maudlin – 1B Duhon – P E. Lee
POR: 2B Yocum – LF Fumero – 3B Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Morejon – SS Mireles – RF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – P V. Morales

Josh Roza and Adam Yocum started their halves of the first inning with singles and were then both doubled off by Jonathan Merrill and Carlos Fumero, respectively, so that was one way to play a 16-inning, 1-0 game eventually. The Crusaders stranded two in the second, and van Otterdijk hit a wallbanger double with two out and nobody on, and also no help from Jake Flowe after him. Vinny Morales managed to finally fall behind in the fourth inning, which Andy Morris opened with a double in the left-center gap. Luis Morales struck out, but Kyle Reber singled to right. Morris went home and was thrown out by van Otterdijk, but Reber moved up to second and then scored from there on Ryan Philpot’s single, because Vinny Morales was just in such a giving mood. He loaded the bases in the fifth, as Erik Lee singled off him, Merrill doubled, and Morris drew a walk, but Luis Morales drew the short stick again and grounded out to Mireles at short, leaving three on base. Vinny also singled off Lee in the bottom of the inning, but didn’t score any more than Lee had.

The Coons pushed Vinny for 103 pitches and seven innings, the score still being 1-0 at the stretch. Morejon led off the bottom 7th with a single, but was forced out by Mireles, who was then caught stealing, but van Otterdijk’s grounder to short would have doubled them up anyway, because that was the absolute state of offense with this team now. McMahan and Ramirez put the eighth together, and Javy Carpio finally pitched in the ninth inning, giving up three rockets, one of which fell for Jeff Maudlin for a double, but the other two were run down by Fumero and van Otterdijk… New York closer John Faughnan had the 2-3-4 batters up in the bottom 9th. Fumero had a 3-1 count before swinging. I groaned, but he hit a double off the wall in left. Katz walked, and then Wharton hit a pop near the leftfield line – and neither Merrill nor Reber got there in time. Fumero totally would have been out at second had the thing been caught, being on the HOME side of third base when the ball dinked in, but that also meant he scored the tying run and we didn’t have to go through this three-on, nobody-out ********. Katz stopped at second, making third on Morejon’s fielder’s choice grounder that erased Wharton’s meaningless run. Mireles popped out, but van Otterdijk walked off the Raccoons with a hit to left-center. 2-1 Blighters. Morejon 2-4; van Otterdijk 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Morales 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K and 1-2;

Carpio somehow got a W for that inning.

The Crusaders were still playing with a 23-man roster on Tuesday.

Game 2
NYC: LF Griffin – 2B Philpot – C A. Morris – RF B. Davidson – 3B Reber – CF Merrill – SS Maudlin – 1B Nakamura – P Egley
POR: 2B Yocum – SS Mireles – 3B Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Morejon – RF Corral – LF van Otterdijk – C Brown – P J. Wharton

Ten days and an extra-inning L removed from his last start, Jimmyboy took to the hill and retired the first six batters he faced before Jeff Maudlin – like more parts of that Loggers machine (Reber and Merrill) not hitting above .220 – drew a walk off him to begin the third inning, but never got off first base as Natsu Nakamura and Egley (bunting) both struck out, and Tony Griffin flew out to center. Jimmy in the bottom 3rd knocked a 1-out single to left and Yocum extended a 10-game hitting streak with a double to left-center. Mireles’ sac fly brought home Little Wharton with the game’s first run, but Yocum was left on base when Katz grounded out to short.

That lead was then blown in splendidly stupid fashion in the fourth inning when Wharton walked Morris with one gone, allowed a single to Bill Davidson, walked Reber as well, and Merrill struck out with the bags full. Wharton then failed to throw a single strike to Maudlin, walking in the tying run before Nakamura lined out to Mireles. Griffin, Philpot, and Morris hits then slapped two more runs on his tally in the fifth, and he needed over 100 pitches to get through six innings before being removed unceremoniously…

The Crusaders extended an invitation in the bottom 6th, though, when Reber’s error put the leadoff man Yocum on base. Mireles walked, and Katz found the left-center gap for a game-tying triple, after which the Crusaders declined to pitch to cold-to-the-touch Tyler Wharton, who stole second out of spite. Morejon got another intentional walk, and there was the three-on, nobody-out, and in a tied game, too. Corral hit into a force at home, van Otterdijk fanned, and Brown bounced out to second, because could it really be any other ******* way?

New York was back up 4-3 in the seventh with Griffin’s leadoff single, two stolen bases, and a run-scoring groundout on Morris, all against Edgar Gutierrez. Otal batted for the pitcher to begin the bottom 7th, was drilled by Egley, and of course stranded by the top of the lineup. More runners in the eighth with Wharton’s leadoff single, another stolen base, since he was still angry, and then Morejon singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out. The Crusaders did the right thing and walked Corral in a full count, which made it three-oh in base/out counts again, and I calmly walked over to the cabinet where Maud kept the pesticide for the two plants in the room to spice up the Capt’n Coma a little. Van Otterdijk as if on command grounded to short sharp enough for the Crusaders to get Wharton out at the plate, but Sam Brown then hit a fly to left that was not particularly deep and caught by Griffin, but Morejon went for it anyway, and beat Griffin’s throw to tie the game. Murcia then flew out in the pitcher’s spot.

Pedro Valentin and 41-year-old ex-Coon Nick Robinson traded scoreless ninth innings, with Yocum hitting a single and getting his *** caught stealing. Nava held the game tied after that and Robinson gave up another leadoff single in the bottom 10th, this one to Wharton and into left, where Griffin misfielded the thing to put the winning run on second base. An intentional walk to Morejon and three feckless outs sent the game to the 11th. The Crusaders exploded all over John Reynolds for four runs, capped by Ryan Philpot’s 3-run homer, and Adam Dochterman put the lid on. 8-4 Crusaders. Yocum 2-6, 2B; T. Wharton 2-4, BB;

(helpless paw movements)

The Crusaders then got the required waiver from 10/5 rights holder Erik Lee (5-6, 2.80 ERA) and shipped the 35-year-old off to Atlanta. They received infielder Joe King (.332, 0 HR, 23 RBI) and a prospect, #145 OF Jose Oliveira.

That trade aside, they were STILL playing with 23 men on Wednesday, not that we were exploiting it very well.

Game 3
NYC: SS Roza – 2B Philpot – RF B. Davidson – CF Merrill – LF Griffin – C Orphanos – 3B J. King – 1B Duhon – P C. Long
POR: 2B Yocum – LF Fumero – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 3B Murcia – 1B Morejon – RF van Otterdijk – C Flowe – P Walla

Yocum singled and Fumero doubled to begin the bottom 1st, upon which Katz barely got a run home on a grounder to short before Wharton and Murcia both struck out. In turn, Joe King raked a 3-run homer in his first Crusaders at-bat, taking Walla deep with Griffin and Mike Orphanos on the corners in the second inning. (buries face in paws)

The Coons made up a run in their end of the second inning with Morejon’s leadoff double, a grounder by the Otter, and Flowe’s sac fly, but then didn’t reach again until van Otterdijk hit a single leading off the bottom 5th, having helped hold Walla together somehow in the meantime. Long plonked Flowe, and Walla bunted both of them into scoring position with the inning’s first out. The inning ended with Yocum’s 9-2 double play fly to Davidson, van Otterdijk being hammered out at home.

Walla didn’t strike out a position player in six hapless innings, and instead allowed another two runs on three hits in the sixth, keeping his ERA solidly above five. He left in shame, and Long left in the bottom 6th with an apparent injury. Katz and Wharton then quickly hit singles off right-hander Dave Hyman, but were stranded by Murcia and Morejon. The tying run was at the dish again in the bottom 7th, and again with one out, after Flowe walked and Otal singled off Hyman. Yocum smashed into a double play. (screams in despair!)

Carpio pitched the last three innings of the game, putting up two eggs and then a 4-spot in another “they’re last in runs scored??” capped by Davidson with a 3-run homer. 9-2 Crusaders. Yocum 2-4; Otal 1-1;

The Raccoons placed Javy Carpio (1-1, 16.00 ERA) on waivers again after this ********, and he’d not go back to AAA if he cleared waivers this time.

Jamie Colter, who had just *cleared* waivers, was added back to the 40-man roster and called up, because we totally knew what we were doing.

New York in turn traded Maudlin (.227, 2 HR, 10 RBI) to the Miners for infielder Robert Ortiz (.230, 7 HR, 33 RBI) and #108 prospect SP Gabe Croley, found out that Bryant Box (.288, 2 HR, 33 RBI) had a broken elbow, and reliever Nick Ellis (1-1, 3.11 ERA, 1 SV) had torn his triceps, and those two were off to the DL for the rest of the season. No news on Long, who was on the roster, but they now had *24* bodies available for the series finale.

Game 4
NYC: SS Roza – LF Griffin – C A. Morris – CF B. Davidson – 3B Reber – 2B Philpot – RF Nakamura – 1B L. Morales – P Nesbit
POR: 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – 1B Morejon – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – 3B Fumero – LF Otal – C Brown – P Gaytan

Gaytan put Griffin and Morris on base and then got two fly balls to center that sent Wharton back to make the last two outs in the inning before Yocum singled and extended his hitting streak to 13 games, only to immediately get doubled off by Katzman. New York went up 2-0 in the second as Philpot doubled, Luis Morales singled, and Roza doubled. Gaytan had nothing, evidenced by one strikeout through five innings, but at least the Crusaders didn’t stack up more runs in the early going. The Raccoons stacked up nothing but failure until Otal landed a gap triple in the bottom 5th and was actually brought home by Sam Brown to shorten the gap to 2-1. Gaytan then hit a 2-out single, but was left on.

Bill Davidson took Gaytan deep to make it 3-1 again in the sixth, and then Reber and Nakamura tacked on another run with a pair of searing doubles. Gaytan was yanked when he gave up a leadoff single to Nesbit in the seventh, which was just how **** was going ‘round here. Ramirez came in, but Roza singled, Griffin popped out, and Morris brought in Gaytan’s run when he jabbed an 0-2 pitch into play that the infielders declined to engage in any meaningful way. Davidson then romped another 3-piece to put the game away for good. Corral answered with the most useless homer in history, while John Reynolds issued a leadoff walk to the ******* opposing pitcher (who didn’t score, somehow) in the eighth. Steve George pitched in the ninth and gave up a single, a walk, a wild pitch, another walk, and finally a pinch-hit, 2-out slam to the New Yorkers’ newest arrival Robert Ortiz. 12-2 Crusaders. Van Otterdijk (PH) 1-1; Otal 3-4, 3B, 2B;

(lies face down in the cushions, not moving)

Raccoons (38-49) vs. Canadiens (46-39) – July 11-13, 2070

How the **** had the Elks gone to second place?? Well, I knew how they’d get into first place, given they’d get free wins against the Raccoons (11-28 in their last 39 games) in this weekend set. Elk City was fifth in runs scored and sixth in runs allowed, but their +27 run differential was more than plenty to get through here. They had three pitchers on the DL, most notably Ricardo Montoya. The Coons held a 5-4 lead in the season series that was about to die a ghastly death.

Projected matchups:
Gabriel Rios (4-0, 2.12 ERA) vs. Juan Rosado (6-8, 4.58 ERA)
Vinny Morales (5-7, 3.47 ERA) vs. Nick Waldron (9-5, 4.61 ERA)
Jimmy Wharton (4-6, 4.53 ERA) vs. Dallas Samson (6-6, 3.03 ERA)

Three right-handers. But they were three pitchers with any arms at all, so there was no hope.

Game 1
VAN: SS Barraza – 3B C. Castro – CF D. Moore – 1B H. Moreno – LF J. Hawkins – 2B Onelas – RF Bustillos – C J. Contreras – P J. Rosado
POR: 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – 1B Morejon – CF T. Wharton – LF Fumero – RF Corral – 3B Murcia – C Flowe – P Rios

Morejon hit a single in the first and was left on by Wharton, who was getting paid $9M as the world’s most expensive Designated Bystander, and nobody else reached until Rosado singled off Rios with two gone in the third inning. Roberto Barraza legged out an infield single, but Carlos Castro’s grounder to Katz ended the inning before it could spiral. Flowe singled to begin the bottom 3rd and was forced out on a **** bunt by Rios, who then held up the line as Yocum singled and Katz drew a walk to load the bags. Morejon then hit a comebacker to Rosado for the most trivial out at home plate in a while, but Jonathan Contreras played it too slowly to get Morejon at first and instead Big Check Wharton got to strike out to end the inning.

Dan Moore’s leadoff walk in the fourth ended with a strike-em-out, throw-em-out on Hector Moreno, and Rios then did get a lead when Corral took Rosado deep to right in the bottom of the inning. Moreover, Murcia and Flowe also reached with one out. Rios then crapped into an out at third base on his bunt attempt, but Yocum filled the bases with a bloop single behind Marcos Onelas, and Katz emptied the bases with a 3-run double in the left-center gap before being left on by Morejon. Offense!!

Rosado left with an injury in the fifth, and replacement Brian Brillhart nicked Murcia in that inning, and Wharton in the sixth after straight singles by the 1-2-3 batters had given the Coons another 1-out run. Fumero upped the score to 6-0 with a fielder’s choice grounder to second, Oliver Graham replaced Brillhart, but gave up another run on a Corral single. Murcia then flew out to end the inning. Rios finished seven, issuing two walks before being bailed out on a 4-6-3 double play in that last inning. Gutierrez had a scoreless eighth, but the same couldn’t be said for the Elks’ Tzu-jao Ruan, who retired nobody and was lifted after allowing four straight hits to the 3-4-5-6 hitters; Fumero doubled home a run, and Corral drove in two more with a single. Paul Wolk then got three straight outs, while Gutierrez got one more in the ninth before walking Jeff Hawkins and Marcos Onelas. Reynolds replaced him and somehow got the last two outs, John Bustillos’ sharp groundout to first, and Contreras’ fly out to center. 10-0 Furballs! Yocum 3-4, BB; Katzman 2-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Morejon 3-5, RBI; Corral 3-4, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Flowe 2-5; Rios 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, W (5-0);

Game 2
VAN: SS Barraza – CF D. Moore – 1B H. Moreno – RF Lozada – LF Bustillos – 2B Ratliff – 3B C. Castro – C J. Contreras – P Waldron
POR: 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – 1B Morejon – CF T. Wharton – 3B Fumero – RF Corral – LF Otal – C Flowe – P Morales

Yocum drew a leadoff walk in the first, but didn’t come around to score, and instead the Elks got on the board first when John Bustillos precisely placed a skimmer inches inside the rightfield line and into the corner for a triple and scored on Andy Ratliff’s sac fly. Otal got on, but was caught stealing in the bottom 2nd, while the Elks slapped three singles off Morales in the third inning, but Corral threw out Roberto Barraza at home plate to deny them another run. Morales singled and didn’t score either in the Coons’ half of the inning, then removed Carlos Castro from the game by hitting him in the hoof with a breaking ball. He was replaced with Jose Alvarez.

Bottom 4th, and Morejon hit a deep fly for an out to Bustillos to begin the inning before Wharton singled and Fumero doubled to left. No runs, of course, as Corral popped out and Otal grounded out. The Elks then opened a 4-0 lead with Moore and Lozada homers, more hits by Bustillos and Ratliff, and Alvarez plated a run with a groundout before Morales ended the inning on a Contreras pop to Morejon. Morales was pinch-hit for after that socking of an inning.

The Coons then got five outs from Ramirez, three from McMahan, and four from George, all without allowing a run, but Waldron was taking his shutout to the bottom of the ninth before allowing singles to Wharton and Mireles. Elijah LaBat replaced him, which lined up so neatly (for them) with the three lefty sticks the Coons had coming up next. LaBat faced none of them, as van Otterdijk batted for Corral and spanked right away into a game-ending double play. 4-0 Canadiens. T. Wharton 2-4; Mireles (PH) 1-1; Murcia 1-1;

Used up all ya runs on Friday, huh??

Yocum’s 14-game hitting streak also died today.

Game 3
VAN: SS Barraza – 2B Ratliff – CF D. Moore – RF Lozada – 1B H. Moreno – LF J. Hawkins – 3B C. Castro – C J. Contreras – P Samson
POR: 2B Yocum – 3B Katzman – 1B Morejon – CF T. Wharton – RF Corral – SS Mireles – LF Otal – C Brown – P J. Wharton

Jimmy Wharton struck out Barraza and then gave up two singles before Lozada hit into a double play. Yocum drew a leadoff walk, got forced out by Katz, and then Morejon crashed into a double play. Odds were high that one team was gonna punch a zero at this point. It wasn’t the Coons – Tyler Wharton hit a home run to left to begin the bottom 2nd – but the Elks then equalized immediately with their 1-2-3 hitters clipping straight 2-out singles against Jimmyboy in the third inning before Lozada grounded out to short.

Yocum singled, stole second, and scored on Katz’ double to left to make it a 2-1 lead in the bottom 3rd, but Katz was left on base with strikeouts on the 3-4 batters, a scratch single by Corral, and Mireles’ fly out to center. Back to the basic recipe then: Otal singled to begin the fourth, stole second, and was doubled in by Sam Brown, 3-1. Samson then managed to walk Jimmyboy in a full count, then gave up a single to Yocum into left-center. Brown was waved around third base aggressively and scored ahead of Moore’s meek throw, and the trailing runners managed to reach scoring position, with still no outs in the inning. Wharton only scored on Morejon’s sac fly after a Katz pop, Wharton’s single didn’t leave the infield dirt and prevented Yocum from scoring from second, and Corral fanned against reliever Oliver Graham, leaving runners on the corners in a 5-1 game.

Graham nicked Brown in the bottom 5th, then put the 3-4-5 batters all on base in the sixth inning, and Corral singled home Katzman for another run. Mireles hit a high fly to deep left, but it came down in Hawkins’ mitten while he was touching the wall, ending the inning. Stingy defense then helped Jimmy get through eight innings in this game without allowing another run, and both Wharton’s left after those eight innings, as did Katzman, as the two position players were going to the All Star Game and got an earlier send-off. Colter and Murcia filled the ranks while Nava pitched the final inning before the break. 6-1 Raccoons. Yocum 2-4, BB, RBI; Katzman 2-4, 2B, RBI; T. Wharton 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Corral 2-4, RBI; Brown 2-3, 2B, RBI; J. Wharton 8.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (5-6);

In other news

July 8 – Career quad-A outfielder Evan Mottern (.333, 1 HR, 2 RBI) ends a 14-inning game with a walkoff home run to give the Blue Sox a 4-3 win over the Capitals.
July 9 – NAS OF Evan Mottern (.385, 1 HR, 2 RBI) hits a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning for the only Blue Sox base hit in a 3-1 loss to Washington. WAS SP Bobby MacDonald (9-6, 3.51 ERA) and CL Jon Dominguez (1-2, 4.00 ERA, 13 SV) combine for the 1-hitter.
July 10 – NAS SP Eddie Gonzalez (5-7, 3.32 ERA) is out for the season with inflammation in his shoulder.
July 11 – The Crusaders beat the Titans, 1-0 in ten innings.
July 12 – The Condors dump the salary of 33-year-old INF Rich Monck (.294, 3 HR, 20 RBI) on the Loggers in exchange for paying the pennies left on the 1-year deal for 38-year-old LF Chad Pritchett (.278, 2 HR, 4 RBI).
July 13 – An 18-2 thrashing by the Buffaloes gives the Capitals some wounds to lick over the break. For the Buffos, OF Jose Banuelos (.307, 11 HR, 51 RBI) drives in six runs, and “defensive catcher” Pat Cohen (.258, 6 HR, 33 RBI) adds five more. The pair slugs nothing but extra-base knocks, with a double and a grand slam for Banuelos, and a double and two homers for Cohen.

Player of the Week (FL): LAP LF/RF John Miller (.296, 14 HR, 47 RBI), batting .529 (9-17) with 2 HR, 4 RBI
Player of the Week (CL): LVA OF Victor Lorenzo (.364, 0 HR, 21 RBI), clipping .481 (13-27) with 7 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The Raccoons somehow got three All Stars, with Gabriel Rios being the only pitcher in the bunch. Big Wharton and Katzman also got nominations. This was Wharton’s tenth All Star Game, and the second as a Raccoon. Katz went there for the third (straight) year, and the first time in a brown shirt. Rios made the showcase for the first time.

Gabriel Rios has a 2.10 ERA in relief this year… and 1.77 when he’s starting (although the K/BB was 6.4 in relief and was only 3.1 as starter). No clue why this never worked in the past, or when the universe will re-align himself to give him a 6-run first in the snout.

Javy Carpio was released after clearing waivers on Saturday.

We’re on the road for the next two weeks (minus the break of course), playing four in New York, and then three games each in Milwaukee and Oklahoma City.

The real question is whether we throw in the towel on this roster now, or whether we will take another aim with Steve Humphries next year.

Fun Fact: Erik Lee spent 15 years in the Crusaders organization since being drafted #13 in 2055.

He made his debut in 2059 and pitched that year and the next mostly in relief, but was in the rotation by ’61 and has been largely steady, although his best ERA in a qualifying season was actually 3.12 right away in ’61. He had won a ring and two Gold Gloves with New York, and had gone 109-118 with a 3.82 ERA, two saves, and 1,495 strikeouts in 1,893 innings.