[Westheim]

Raccoons (37-41) vs. Canadiens (37-39)

The Canadiens threw nine righties at lefty Roman Ocasio (0-2, 6.32 ERA). Daniel Hall slapped another leadoff home run. Ocasio’s outing was very shaky, but somehow he was entitled for the win, when we entered the top 9th with a 5-3 lead. Gaston was still overused, so I tried Paul Cooper to close against the righties. He got two, then surrendered a home run and nailed the next batter. Ben Jenkins came in and loaded the bases. The Canadiens sent up lefty Jim Doyle. Bill Baker came out of the pen, but walked Doyle and the game was tied. The bullpen implosion continued in the tenth, and the Raccoons lost 8-5.

Game 2. Rain chased our starter Gary Simmons early, and we went with Carlos Moran to cover a few innings. We had out-hit the Canadiens through seven innings, but trailed 4-3 in the bottom 8th, until 2B Quincy Cox flubbed a grounder from Cameron Green and Pedro Sánz scored from second to tie it. Jenkins then stumbled through the ninth, before Angel Costa singled to lead off the bottom 9th. Evans advanced him to second. Then came Ralph Nixon, already 2-3. That baseball went for a ride, when Nixon fired it to dead center, and for a pretty nice distance, walking off the Raccoons with a 2-run homer for a 6-4 win.

We made a change to the lineup in moving Bocci to leadoff. Yes, that’s my catcher, and he’s leading the team with a .383 OBP. Hall now bats second. Romero went against Jose Salgado, both with 9-7 records, in game 3. While Salgado dominated the Raccoons, Romero struggled and surrendered five runs over 6.1 innings. The Raccoons lost 7-1, not scoring until their last out. Bocci went 1-4 in leadoff, and Salgado 4-hit us over eight frames. Ralph Nixon was hit in the arm by a pitch and left with an injury.

Powell surrendered a 2-run homer to start the last game of the series, but the Raccoons tied it in the bottom 7th, 3-3, when Powell had just been lifted for a pinch hitter. Brett Justice gave up a leadoff homer in the top 8th. We still trailed 4-3 entering the bottom 9th, and Hoyt Cook, batting 9th after coming on for Powell and replacing Johnston at 1B, launched a solo shot to right center to tie it, and the Raccoons walked off, when a double by Sánz into the right centerfield gap scored Angel Costa from second base for a 5-4 win!

Bad news: Ralph Nixon was diagnosed with a broken elbow, and his season is over. 15% of my budget got his arm in a cast and was out for the year, tearing a hole into the lineup. Angel Costa was a suitable defensive replacement, but nothing could replace a .285, 9 HR, 40 RBI line for this team. Nixon was disabled, and we called up Ben Cox, who had been on a rehab assignment to AAA anyway.

Raccoons (39-43) @ Loggers (33-49)

We were in Milwaukee for four games. Their bullpen was worst in the Continental League, so getting through their starters quickly was key to beating them. But the series opened with a major beating, 10-3, for the Raccoons. Logan Evans was horrible and Bill Baker had another terrible outing as well. Wyatt Johnston was 3-4 at the plate, that was about it for good news. Gustavo Tramacci, who had gone 0-5 since being called up by the Loggers, went 5-5 against the Raccoons.

Game 2 was another 7-1 wrecking dealt to the Raccoons. Ocasio: 4 IP, 3 H, 5 BB, 0 K, 1 ER; Baker: 0.1 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 4 ER; Green 0-3; all three were sent to AAA immediately. Their stats for the season were, respectively, 0-3 with a 5.33 ERA, 2-3 with a 8.59 ERA, and .167 with 2 RBI in 42 AB…

We called up Juan Berrios, who had pitched 17.1 innings at AAA, giving up 4 runs, with a 1.6 K/BB ratio. The latter had been 0.25 in the majors. He was rested and scheduled to start game 3 right away, moving Simmons to the #4 spot in the rotation and freeing him to make a relief outing if necessary. Miguel Bojorquez, our 1977 round 4 pick, was called up as lefty pen member, and Gustavo Zuniga also was called up once again. The best thing about it: I had just gotten Bill Baker to sign a 4-year, $640k contract. Now I will try to shop him off.

Berrios stat line was 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K – easily his best start of the season. He got a no-decision. Ironically Gary Simmons, who would have had the start here hadn’t it been for the shuffle around Ocasio, pitched an inning in relief and got the W in the 4-3 for the Raccoons. The winning run scored on a balk by Eduardo Jimenez. Simmons, Justice, and Gaston all pitched flawless innings with a K each. Hall was 2-3 with a walk and a homer. Bocci was 2-4, two doubles and two RBI.

Two news after this game: the Warriors claimed Lynwood McFarland, outfielder at AA, whom I had put on waivers to make room for Bojorquez on the 40-man roster. No big loss there, he was not even close to major league material. The Warriors had bigger problems, in news #2, as corner infielder Don Sullivan retired after tearing his labrum at age 32. Sullivan was a huge threat with the bat, bashing 78 home runs for the Aces, Gold Sox, and Warriors, tied for 3rd on the all time list.

The Raccoons lost the last game 5-4 in 11 innings, so we dropped three of four to the last place team, which of course is the prime strategy to get back into last place. It also means our all time record against the Loggers is now 31-31. We don’t have a winning record against any team anymore.

Raccoons (40-46) @ Crusaders (42-44)

Since getting to half a game behind the Indians, the Crusaders had lost six straight. Christopher Powell and Tom Moulds engaged in a pitcher’s duel early on, and Powell held a 2-1 lead in the bottom 6th, when his defenders blew it open by not catching a lazy fly by Yamada to short center. This led to an intentional walk later in the inning, and two additional runs scored to make it four. Down 5-2, the Raccoons crumbled further and lost 8-2. I made a mistake and had Powell start the seventh and he gave up two home runs to Yamada and Foster, back-to-back. To add grief to pain, Pedro Sánz came out with a sore back and won’t be available for the rest of the series.

With Sánz out, and Bocci and Hall very tired and need of rest, I turned out a weak lineup for game 2, with Wyatt Johnston at .256 having the highest batting average. After Logan Evans had given up a leadoff homer to 3B Joe Helms, Crusaders pitcher Mark Lee worked on a no-hitter. Up 2-0 in the top 6th, he gave up his second walk to backup catcher Kieran Lawson with two out. Ken Clark hit the ball approximately 20 feet and would have been out, but Crusaders catcher Miguel Fuentes threw the ball away, getting Raccoons to second and third. Pedro Hermundo then broke up the no-hitter against his former team with a 2-run slasher to left that tied the game as well. Speaking of Lawson – Lee never got him out that day. I played him in the leadoff spot, which was normally madness, since he was batting .192, but I didn’t have another clue. But after two walks, he bashed in the go-ahead run for the Raccoons in the top 8th. But all for nought, Evans gave up two more runs in the bottom 8th and the Raccoons lost 4-3. The sweep was completed the next day with a 2-1 loss. Raccoons had led into the eighth, where the game was tied and then lost in the ninth. Craig, Bojorquez, and Jenkins were responsible.

In other news:
July 4 – LF Michinaga Yamada bashes three long balls for the Crusaders, as they defeat the Indians 9-1, moving into a half game back of the same Indians in the CL North. Yamada has 16 HR this season.
July 11 – The Rebels deal 1B Irwin Webster (lifetime .336 hitter in 1,963 AB) to the Falcons for SP Cristo Negrón.

It was the All Star break and the Raccoons entered with six losses in the last seven games. C Stephano Bocci and SS Ben Simon went to represent the Continental League.

At the break, Ken Evans leads the CL in steals with 17 (five ahead of everybody else). Logan Evans is 3rd in strikeouts with 84 (34 behind Joe Ellis). After the break, we’ll start at home against the Loggers (4) and Indians (3), then go on the road to Atlanta and Charlotte to end July, which so far has not been kind to us.

I’m in talks with two teams to unload some dead weight. We’ll see whether anything comes together after the break.