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Old 08-27-2019, 06:00 PM   #2959
Westheim
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Raccoons (21-34) @ Loggers (24-30) – June 7-10, 2032

The Loggers had also hoped for better times to come, but had been disappointed. They couldn’t score runs at all, struggling to out-run 3.5 runs per game. Their pitching, ironically, was amazing. They were also conceding the fewest runs in the Continental League, but even then their run differential was -20. Their rotation was average, their pen was tougher than titanium nails, and the Coons were not really in a condition to deal with that, yet came in with a 2-1 edge in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Raffaello Sabre (2-4, 7.15 ERA) vs. Josh Long (6-5, 2.41 ERA)
Tom Shumway (2-6, 8.19 ERA) vs. Julio Palomo (3-1, 4.78 ERA)
Jason Gurney (2-5, 5.62 ERA) vs. Francisco Colmenarez (1-4, 3.71 ERA)
Ignacio del Rio (4-4, 4.37 ERA) vs. Alfredo Casique (6-5, 4.35 ERA)

In this compilation, Colmenarez was the only left-handed pitcher. However, the Loggers had seen Casique leave his last start early with some sort of ailment and didn’t yet know whether they had to put him down. They already had right-hander Mike Hodge and outfielder Gabe Creech on the DL.

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Wallace – 3B Perkins – 1B Howden – LF Braun – CF Pinkerton – C James – P Sabre
MIL: CF Valenzuela – SS Sessoms – 2B W. Morris – LF D.J. Mendez – RF Stephenson – C J. Young – 1B M. Monroe – 3B Lockert – P Long

Catcher’s interference put Tim Stalker on base in the first inning, and Jimmy Wallace drew a walk to create some sort of weird chance, but Perkins grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Jarod Howden was as much help as you’d expect in this spot and flew out easily to D.J. Mendez. Nobody got an actual hit for either side in the first three innings. Sabre retired the Loggers in order the first time through, and the Critters couldn’t dent Long any more than his own catcher Jim Young could. Perkins would sneak a single through the infield in the fourth inning, which brought up Howden, and Howden, the dumb pig, hit into a double play. Bottom 4th, Sabre’s first hit conceded was a single to center against Aaron Sessoms. He then gave up three in a row right away, with Sessoms scoring on singles by Wayne Morris and D.J. Mendez. Josh Stephenson flew out before Jim Young drew a full count walk with two outs. And so did Miles Monroe with the bases loaded… Matt Lockert popped out on the first pitch, keeping it at 2-0.

The Coons would not get another base hit until the seventh inning, a soft single to center by Travis Zitzner, hitting for Sabre after Howden and James reached base on balls with two outs. That brought up Berto, still slumping and already 0-for-3 in the game. The count ran full, Long had to throw a strike, and Berto was good at hitting strikes – zinged it to center, and since the batters moved on the pitcher starting his throwing motion even Giovanni James managed to score from second base, so Ramos’ single tied the game at two. Zitzner went to third on the play, and then Ramos ran at the first pitch offered to Tim Stalker. The catcher threw the ball away, Ramos reached third, and Zitzner came across with the go-ahead run! Stalker flew out, leaving Ramos on. The lead didn’t last, owing to a Matt Lockert homer off Nick Bates in the bottom of the inning. Bates went on to walk Matt Dehne, and got yanked for Garavito to face Danny Valenzuela, who was hit for with Jason Parten, but the right-handed poker hit into a 6-4-3 double play, and neither team managed to put up another threat in regulation. That changed in the 10th, and it wasn’t technically the Coons’ fault, but they had the first scoring opportunity. Stalker walked against George Barnett. The Coons called a hit-and-run, Wallace poked to second base, and Wayne Morris threw it over the head of Monroe, allowing two Critters into scoring position. That was the Loggers’ fourth error in the game, and maybe we should really exploit that one? And they … well, they did take the lead, but you couldn’t blame the Raccoons for it *again*. Perkins struck out. Howden grounded out to short to end the inning. How did the run score? A wild pitch. Bottom 10th, Wise allowed a line drive single to Lockert. He walked Dehne, and Barnett in the #1 hole bunted them into scoring position. In a highly critical at-bat, Wise rung up Will Ojeda, and then Morris spanked a ball to third base. Perkins was on it, threw to first, and the game ended. 4-3 Blighters. Zitzner 1-1; Sabre 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K;

Shambles! The Loggers made more errors (4) than the Critters had base hits (3)!

Sometimes you gotta take what you get, though…

Game 2
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Wallace – 3B Perkins – 1B Zitzner – LF Hall – CF Braun – C Wool – P Shumway
MIL: CF W. Ojeda – SS Lockert – 2B W. Morris – RF Stephenson – 1B M. Monroe – C J. Young – LF Valenzuela – 3B Parten – P Palomo

Tom Shumway, who hadn’t pitched since May, and hadn’t won since April, was – at 35 – probably too young to die, but I couldn’t help myself but envisioning him getting crushed by a falling piano. It was 2-0 Loggers before he logged an out, and then it was Wayne Morris being caught stealing after singling home Lockert, who in turn had tripled home Will Ojeda and that guy’s leadoff single. The defense helped him stave off some **** in the next few innings, but the bottom 4th saw the usual meltdown. Monroe single, Young single, walk to Valenzuela – three on, no outs, and some teams could be a genuine danger in that spot. Ah, this was the Loggers! Yet, this was also Tom ****ing Scumbag. He walked Parten in a full count, 3-0, then allowed an RBI single to Palomo. Ojeda poked at a 3-1 pitch and hit it back to Shumway, who got the out at home, but no more, yet Perkins speared a ball that Lockert spiked at him and turned it for a 5-3 double play. Somehow, Shumway’s fungi-beset carcass was dragged through six innings with, shall we say, halfway-normal damage, but at the same time the Coons had been completely blocked out by Palomo, who was pitching a 3-hitter and yet to let a Critter put his filthy hindpaw on third base, and why stop there? Palomo ran out of steam after eight innings. Joe West retired Ramos to begin the ninth, allowed a pinch-hit single to James, and then wrapped up the whole damn thing with a convenient 4-6-3 grounder by Jimmy Wallace. 4-0 Loggers. James (PH) 1-1;

By Wednesday, the Loggers knew that Casique was headed for Tommy John surgery, removing him from the equation for the time being.

Also, Maud called me in Milwaukee and demanded to know whether I had actually ordered express delivery of a piano. I calmed her down and explained how I knew what I was doing and also exactly where to hang it.

Game 3
POR: 1B Zitzner – SS Stalker – 3B Perkins – LF Wallace – RF Rodriguez – CF Braun – 2B Marsingill – C James – P Gurney
MIL: CF W. Ojeda – SS Lockert – 2B W. Morris – LF D.J. Mendez – 1B M. Monroe – RF Valenzuela – C Dehne – 3B Sessoms – P Colmenarez

Will Ojeda did a good job of tearing Gurney a new one in the early innings. He hit a leadoff triple and scored on a Morris single in the first, then found two in scoring position with two outs in the second and casually singled them in, 3-0. While Gurney got a bit better after that – Ojeda did not come up again until the fifth, and then was part of a 1-2-3 inning – the Critters still weren’t in a position to do much of anything. They had two base hits through five innings, including one single hit by makeshift leadoff man Travis Zitzner, spelling Ramos, who got an early off day in his struggles and this 20-day string o’ games (this being only game #6). D.J. Mendez hit a leadoff single in the sixth, but was doubled off by Monroe and Gurney had another 3-man inning. Too bad the damage was already on the board… On to the seventh where Jimmy Wallace hit a 1-out double to left, which was already the most offense they had generated for two nights in a row. Rodriguez flew out to center, moving Wallace to third, and Braun grounded up the middle. Lockert cut it off, but not in time – Braun reached first base just barely safe, and Wallace scored the Coons’ first run and the third run in this series. Gurney lasted an ultimately decent seven, then was hit for by Berto, who singled. And the Coons were zoning in on Colmenarez in the eighth. Zitzner hit a deep fly to right, but was caught for the second out. Stalker dropped a single, putting the tying runs on the corners for Justin Perkins. He fell to 1-2 as it began to drizzle… then fired a drive to deep center… Ojeda after it… and… he caught it. Portland stranded Ojeda at second between Anaya and Hennessy in the bottom 8th, then got a leadoff single from Wallace off George Barnett in the ninth, and then a rain delay of some 20 minutes. When play resumed, Braun drew a 1-out walk, bringing up the go-ahead run in … well, not Marsingill. Bring on Howden! If you gotta lose, lose with your biggest swine! He fell to 1-2, then poked a single over Aaron Sessoms at third base to load them up for James, and it was James, who hit into that already anticipated game-ending, soul-murdering double play… 3-1 Loggers. Wallace 2-4, 2B; Howden (PH) 1-1; Ramos (PH) 1-1;

We need more pianos.

Game 4
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Perkins – 1B Zitzner – LF Wallace – RF Rodriguez – CF Pinkerton – 2B Marsingill – C Wool – P del Rio
MIL: CF Valenzuela – SS Sessoms – 2B W. Morris – LF D.J. Mendez – RF Stephenson – C J. Young – 1B M. Monroe – 3B Lockert – P Weeks

With Alfredo Casique out of the picture, the Coons got to face southpaw Josh Weeks (0-7, 5.16 ERA) on short rest, and he literally not won a single one of his 11 starts this year. There was no excuse for not splitting the series with a win! Of course, del Rio also had to hold up; he retired the Loggers in order in the first, then conceded two infield singles in the second, but did not end up snake-bitten like all the Critters’ hurlers always did when Monroe grounded out to Marsingill. In turn, del Rio bunted badly to force out Josh Wool in the top 3rd, then had to run the bases instead. Ramos grounded out for the second out, but Perkins walked and Zitzner singled to center. Del Rio went running, but the Loggers kicked the ball around the outfield and infield long enough to allow the pitcher across and Perkins to third base. Wallace grounded out to strand a pair.

But even with that 1-0 lead Ignacio did reasonably well, despite a leadoff walk to Morris in the fourth. Mendez hit a ball sharply at Zitzner, who pounced and fired to Ramos, who had time to fire back for a 3-6-3 double play. Zitzner also hit a sac fly to score Berto in the fifth, extending the lead to 2-0 with that Ramos Special; Berto had stolen third base in this inning to set up the sac fly in the first place. The Loggers went to the corners in the bottom 5th on two soft 2-out singles by Lockert and Weeks (grumble), but Valenzuela popped out foul to let del Rio off the hook. Top 6th, leadoff walk drawn by Rodriguez, and Pinkerton got nailed. Marsingill fell to 1-2, but poked a ball into left for a single. Wilson didn’t feel like stopping at third base and made for home, sliding in barely safe with the team’s third run, while the trailing runners advanced on the throw. Also – there was still nobody out. Time to crack it open, and with that I meant Weeks’ numb skull! Josh Wool was walked intentionally to bring up the pitcher with three on and no outs. Ignacio unfortunately poked at a 3-1 pitch and grounded to Sessoms, who fired home to force out a confused Preston Pinkerton. Ramos hit a sac fly, 4-0, but that was it, with Perkins out whiffing. Weeks was assured his 12th non-win in 12 attempts this year when he was removed after six, with the Critters setting up camp on the corners, and Loggers righty John Nelson got a double play from Wool, but at least that got another run home, 5-0. Ignacio hit for himself, because there was no reason to remove him, and retired the bottom and very top of the order in order in the eighth, and after Portland put on two more in the ninth with Perkins doubling home Ramos and scoring on a Rodriguez single, del Rio went back out on 87 pitches to defend his 4-hitter against the 2-3-4 batters. Sessoms grounded out to Marsingill, who also handled Morris’ pop. Mendez grounded up the middle, Ramos over, throw to first – out! 7-0 Furballs!! Perkins 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Rodriguez 2-5, RBI; Pinkerton 1-2; Marsingill 3-4, RBI; del Rio 9.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (5-4);

Second career shutout for Ignacio del Rio, and they came almost exactly one month after each other!

Raccoons (23-36) vs. Pacifics (40-20) – June 11-13, 2032

Good thing del Rio had spun that shutout, because we had three days of pain ahead of us. The Pacifics came in with the second-most runs scored, third-fewest runs allowed, and were also second in rotation and bullpen ERA. Second in batting average, first in homers, fourth in defense. Oh, and this – they came in with an active winning streak of FOURTEEN games. And we had also already lost the series to them last year, and two years ago, and four years ago…

Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (3-6, 5.06 ERA) vs. Abramo Archibugi (6-4, 3.08 ERA)
Raffaello Sabre (2-4, 6.71 ERA) vs. Dave Christiansen (10-2, 2.39 ERA)
Tom Shumway (2-7, 7.96 ERA) vs. Greg Gannon (3-5, 4.99 ERA)

With the two southpaws to start this series, the Raccoons would face four left-handers in a row. Oh well, it didn’t hurt us yesterday, did it? I am so calm.

What is it, Maud? – Nick Valdes is here? – And Toots, too?

Game 1
LAP: RF O. Mendoza – SS M. Martin – CF Fowler – 1B Kopp – 3B Schmit – 2B Menth – C T. Perez – LF Denzler – P Archibugi
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Perkins – 1B Zitzner – RF Rodriguez – 2B Stalker – CF Braun – LF Hall – C James – P Gutierrez

Oscar Mendoza doubled, Mike Martin singled him home, and Valdes was already grumpy at that point before the 3-4-5 batters all grounded out to Ramos, including ex-Critter Terry Kopp, who came in at .307 with 13 homers and 33 RBI and hoped to add more over our dead bodies. He hit a mighty deep drive with Justin Fowler (18 homers and hungry) on first base and two outs in the third inning that Adam Braun only caught because we were playing extra deep to begin with… The Coons had two hits, but no runs the first time through, trailing 1-0 after three. Valdes scoffed when Ramos struck out to end the bottom 3rd, sniping that we needed better batters. Slappy on the couch said nothing, but Cristiano Carmona chimed in and asked Valdes directly whether he had ever played the game, which Valdes negated, and then countered by asking Cristiano, who had been in a wheelchair from birth (number of wheels varying): “No. Have you?”

While the mood was frosty and Tootsie, the ever-scheming daughter of industrial magnate Roger Hotchkiss “Bud” DeVilane II, kept whispering into Valdes’ ear, which only seemed to make him angrier, Rico Gutierrez somehow held on to a decent line and didn’t allow any more runs through five innings. The Pacifics reached the corners in the fourth, but we walked Joel Denzler with intent and Archibugi made the third out in centerfield. Mike Martin reached base with a 1-out single in the fifth, but was picked off by Gutierrez. All of a sudden – the Coons twitched. Stalker led off the bottom 5th with a double to left, putting the tying run in scoring position, and then they actually drove him in, too! Adam Braun was it even, doubling into the left-center gap to tie the game at one! Valdes enthusiastically clapped his hands and pointed out to Tootsie that those were the players he had so wisely assembled. I said nothing and tried to get some pills I had nipped from the bag dangling from the rear of Cristiano’s seat to dissolve in my Old Ranger whiskey – that’s right, no Capt’n Coma. Nick Valdes hates it when we don’t use the products of our sponsors. Never mind that this doesn’t have half the spin of the Capt’n. The Coons took the lead on a wild pitch eventually, which was extremely unexpected and nobody quite knew how to react, except for Valdes, who grumbled that the go-ahead run should be plated with the stick and why weren’t they doing it. Cristiano poked him again, asking him whether he ever felt the urge to jump up for joy. Valdes turned around again, eyes flickering, and asked him: “No. Do you?”

While I was really cold in this atmosphere, and this Old Ranger **** wasn’t warming me up either, Gutierrez gave the lead away in the sixth, which surprised nobody. Kopp drew the leadoff walk, Dave Menth doubled, and Tony Perez hit a sac fly. Gutierrez barely got out of the inning after a walk to Denzler, getting Archibugi to roll one over to first. Top 7th, Jared Stone allowed a leadoff double to PH Jeremy Houghtaling, but then got two tough outs from Martin and Fowler. Garavito replaced him to ring up Kopp, stranding the former dumb Elk at third base. More stingy relief by Garavito and Wise extended the game into extras, while the Critters just couldn’t lift their bats. When the game ran long and into overtime, this drew more lamentations from Nick Valdes, who had hoped to catch a cockfight on the other end of town after the game. Toots tickled his ear to calm him down and then asked whether he wanted her to peel a banana, to which he nodded, prompting another remark from Cristiano, whether it was hard to be a multimillionaire miser. Valdes spun around and began to thunder that he was a *billionaire* miser, but Toots calmed him down with more gross ear touching and fluted to let her handle the matter. She then started at Cristiano with the iciest glare I had seen in a while and told him that this would stop NOW. Cristiano shook his head, saying he didn’t think so, and that Valdes was too easy a target to stop. Toots said nothing, but clicked the fingers on her left hand. A second later the right rear wheel of Cristiano’s wheelchair separated from the rest of the vehicle and sent him crashing to the floor.

While Slappy actually *moved* and carried a moaning Cristiano to the trainer’s room (well, he dragged him by one of his numb feet…), I sat there with my eyebrows raised. That had been the most amazing thing I had ever seen! Could she do this to opposing pitchers, too?? Well, she definitely wasn’t helping Raccoons hitters… they got Ramos and Perkins on base against Seth Odum with 2-out singles in the 11th, but Zitzner flew out ****tily. Nick Bates briefly appeared in the top 12th, but only to walk the bases full. Hennessy replaced him with one out, got a comebacker for an out at home from Terry Kopp, then rung up Schmit. Chun-yeong Chah walked Braun and Hall with two outs in the bottom 12th, but James grounded out pathetically. The game dragged on senselessly into the 14th inning, when the Raccoons sent their final reliever, Anaya. That was it – we had nobody else. After Anaya, it would be Sabre and plenty of roster moves. Stalker hit a double off Jorge Villegas jr. in the bottom 14th, but with two outs, and… Adam Braun popped out on the first pitch. The tie was broken in the 15th… and not by the Coons. Schmit and Ben Cook went to the corners with 1-out singles off Anaya, and Tony Perez hit a sac fly to give them the lead. Bottom of the inning, Nate Hall reached base leading off with an infield single against Villegas. James flew out to left. Wool hit for Anaya and popped out foul. Ramos rolled over to short. 3-2 Pacifics. Perkins 2-6; Stalker 3-6, 2 2B; Fernandez 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Hennessy 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

No, Nick, it’s not my fault that the cockfights are all over now!

Also, never mind that Houghtaling hasn’t been an Elk since the 2023 season. He will always remain a damn Elk!

At least the pen was still somewhat *okay*…? Good thing they had all had the day off on Thursday… Now, a deep run by Sabre would help……..

Game 2
LAP: RF O. Mendoza – 1B Kopp – CF Fowler – C Henley – 2B Menth – 3B Schmit – SS Cook – LF Denzler – P Christiansen
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Perkins – 1B Zitzner – RF Rodriguez – 2B Stalker – LF Braun – CF Pinkerton – C Wool – P Sabre

Perkins and Zitzner hit singles in the bottom 1st but Christiansen rung up the next two to end the inning, then was staked to a 1-0 lead on J.J. “Hopalong” Henley’s leadoff jack in the second. Perhaps worse, Christiansen hit a leadoff double over Braun in the third inning… He advanced on a Mendoza groundout, then had to hold on a shallow fly out by Kopp. Fowler crushed a liner to left, but Perkins threw himself at it and wrapped his glove around it for the third out … but shook his paw on the way back to the dugout. That one had been spicy hot!

Nick Valdes was of course grumbling about everything the team did, but this time Cristiano wasn’t around. The Druid had prescribed him three days of rest at home, and had shown Gustaf (who had worn *shorts*, but no shirt), how to treat his bruised arm with an extract won from crushing a red-spotted flying beetle from Peru with a wooden instrument, when he had been called in at 2am in the morning to pick up Cristiano with the pink, spare wheelchair. Slappy had assured anybody that he’d repair the other one – we’d never see that one again, I was sure.

Bottom 3rd, Ramos and Perkins with 1-out singles – maybe now some offense? Christiansen didn’t want to give Zitzner anything fat, but walked him, giving Rodriguez the plate with three on. Then he erased Wilson from the record book with three surgical strikes. Stalker lined out to Kopp, stranding all the precious runners. Dave Menth hit a triple in the fourth and scored on Schmit’s groundout, 2-0, then threw away a 2-out roller by Sabre in the bottom of the inning, placing the entire battery in scoring position for Ramos, who flew out easily to Denzler. Come the fifth, Denzler led off with a single and Christiansen bunted. Zitzner picked up the ball, threw it past Stalker, and that 2-base error also put two Pacifics in scoring position, but with NO outs, and now the Coons knew they had lost. Mendoza hit a sac fly, and Fowler plated the pitcher with a 2-out single, extending the gap to 4-0. Wilson Rodriguez unhelpfully tripled with nobody on and two outs in the bottom 5th, and was left on when Stalker popped out. I turned over to Valdes and Toots and asked them whether they planned to do anything *nice* later on. Both glared at me and I felt a tug in my neck as if my main artery was trying to jump out of my body… very weird…!

Sabre lasted five and a third, which could have been so much worse. Garavito and Bates kept the Pacifics at bay for the time being, before the bottom 7th saw a leadoff walk drawn by Nate Hall after entering in a double switch into the #9 spot (Pinkerton was gone). Ramos doubled him in, getting Portland on the board, and then Andy Schmit unleashed a horrendous errant throw on Perkins’ grounder, the third 2-base throwing error of the game. That one actually brought up the tying run with nobody out in Zitzner, who grounded out, then Rodriguez, who flew to left, deep, deep, no, at the fence, Denzler ha- DROPPED IT!! He caught it right at the fence, then lost it, and that gave Rodriguez an RBI double! Tying run in scoring position! Stalker was now the *go-ahead* run, but grounded out, shifting Wilson to third base. Braun walked, and that knocked out both pitchers. Joe Moore entered for L.A., which sent Jimmy Wallace to the plate for Bates … and he popped out to Mendoza in shallow right. (deflates) Nothing good happened in the eighth. The ninth pitted the right-hander Villegas against the 2-3-4 batters. Howden hit a 1-out single in place of Zitzner, and with two outs Stalker was hit by an 0-2 offering, putting the winning run on base for Adam Braun. … who struck out. 4-3 Pacifics. Ramos 2-5, 2B, RBI; Perkins 2-5; Howden (PH) 1-1; Rodriguez 2-5, 3B, 2B, RBI;

The good news was, we were at least on national TV as the Pacifics ran the streak to 16.

Also, Valdes and Tootsie left on Saturday night, having to attend the closing and detonation of a 120-year-old church in Mississippi for redevelopment into a shopping center right after service on Sunday morning.

Game 3
LAP: RF O. Mendoza – SS M. Martin – CF Fowler – C Henley – 3B Schmit – 1B Serrano – 2B Cook – LF Denzler – P Gannon
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Wallace – RF Rodriguez – 1B Howden – CF Braun – C James – 3B Marsingill – P Shumway

Mendoza opened the game with a 407-footer to right-center, and I opened another bottle o’ Capt’n Coma. Martin tripled and Henley walked, yet somehow the Pacifics couldn’t get that second run across. It was defense, and absolutely nothing that Tom Scumbag did. Nevertheless, it was 3-0 after two innings, with Danny Serrano and Ben Cook being singled in by GANNON in the second. Now, Gannon actually blew that lead in the bottom of the inning; leadoff walk to Howden, single by James, then a gap double for one run by Marsingill. Shumway struck out with the tying runs in scoring position, but Berto ran a hitting streak to 12 games with a game-tying single to center, then was caught stealing. The Coons shrugged and took the lead an inning later. Stalker now drew the leadoff walk, then scored on singles by Rodriguez (to center) and Howden (to left). There was actually some life in the park for the first time in weeks when Stalker crossed home plate and it was officially 4-3 Critters, but perhaps the Pacifics were just still a good draw after the 2026 World Series against them. And Gannon had nothing. Braun hit an RBI single, 5-3, and then James hit a ball right at Ben Cook for an inning-ending two-for-one, but neither starter looked like he belonged. Speaking of which, the fourth inning saw Tom Scumbag give up 2-out singles to Denzler and ****ing Greg Gannon, then plated Denzler with a wild pitch before Stalker had to do the hard work to contain a Mendoza rocket to keep the team up 5-4. More Capt’n!

Bottom 5th, both starters somehow still alive. Wallace and Rodriguez reached to begin the inning, with Howden, the dumb pig, hitting into a fielder’s choice. Braun dropped a roller near the mound, Gannon had to look back Wallace, then couldn’t get Braun anymore – infield single, bases loaded with one out for James, who hit a sac fly to center, which remained the only run in the inning, with Marsingill rolling out to Andy Schmit, who then hit a leadoff double in the sixth that knocked out Shumway, finally. Hennessy fought like a lioness protecting her cubs and kept the runner stranded, and the Pacifics got two on against Garavito and Anaya in the seventh, but Fowler spanked into an inning-ending double play. In turn, southpaw Jinten Kaneshiro got torn up. Wallace with the leadoff double off the wall, causing a roar in the stadium, and Rodriguez singled to get them to the corners. Howden hit a sac fly, y’know, meh, with Braun chipping another single. We wanted no piece of Giovanni James in a double play spot, and sent Zitzner instead. Zitzner lined an RBI single, getting the lead up to a slam. Marsingill’s single loaded the bases, and here the Coons did NOT bat for Victor Anaya. The pen had been beleaguered hard in the last few days (Garavito had pitched in all three games in the set f.e.), but Anaya had some breath left and needed to get a couple of the six missing outs before handing it off to Wise, who had pitched on Friday, but not on Saturday. Anaya batted for himself with three on and one out, whiffed, but that was FINE. Ramos lined out to Cook, stranding all runners. So of course Anaya was shredded for three base hits and a run in the eighth, starting with a Henley double, and ending with a 2-out RBI single by Denzler. Wise came in with runners on the corners and lefty PH Dave Menth at the plate – and rung him up! The Coons wouldn’t get a run off Odum in the bottom 8th. Wise came back to face the top of the order, with Mendoza landing a leadoff single in a full count. Martin grounded to short, Ramos, to Stalker, but the play was broken up in aggro fashion by Mendoza, with Stalker losing his cap in the collision and then slapping Mendoza’s hat of the corresponding noggin’. Ramos and the ump stepped in between before things could get ugly, but the crowd liked it, and me and Honeypaws and the Capt’n also liked it! Justin Fowler, who had done NOTHING the entire series, whiffed, falling to 2-for-15 in the set. Then Henley singled up the middle at 1-2, bringing up Schmit as the tying run. The count ran full, Wise was over 30 pitches, came inside, and Schmit turned on the 3-2. A 410-foot drive, and well outta here, and a tied ballgame. Numb. Numb. I was nothing but numb anymore. The ballpark was silent. Everybody was numb. Even the Capt’n looked numb on the half-empty bottle. The Raccoons did nothing in the bottom 9th. Extras saw Nick Bates somehow survive an inning pitching for the third straight day. After that, David Fernandez pitched basically until his arm fell off, also on the third straight day, two innings, and allowed a 2-out, 2-run single to Denzler in the second frame, the 12th in total. Bottom 12th. Joe Moore pitching for L.A.; Braun grounded out to second. Wool with the pop to third. Marsingill – triple into the gap in right-center. Pinkerton was the last man on the bench and hit for Fernandez… and lined out to Schmit, the ****ing ********. 10-8 Pacifics. Wallace 2-5, BB, 2B; Rodriguez 2-5, BB; Braun 3-6, RBI; James 1-2, RBI; Zitzner (PH) 1-1, RBI; Marsingill 3-5, 3B, 2B, RBI; Perkins (PH) 1-1;

In other news

June 9 – SFB RF Ben Suhay (.275, 9 HR, 24 RBI) has hit in 20 straight games with his first-inning single against the Falcons. The Bayhawks win, 8-3.
June 9 – LVA SP Ismael Gutierrez (2-6, 4.22 ERA) would miss a full year to repair and rehab a torn flexor tendon in his elbow.
June 10 – The hitting streak of Ben Suhay (.269, 9 HR, 24 RBI) is already over. The 29-year-old Bayhawk is held dry in a 5-1 loss to the Falcons, stopping him at 20 games.
June 12 – ATL C/1B Steve Garcia (.281, 3 HR, 28 RBI) has a 20-game hitting streak following a home run off RIC SP Guillermo Regalado (4-3, 5.00 ERA) in the Knights’ 5-3 loss to the Rebels.
June 12 – Jim “Mastodon” Allen (.319, 8 HR, 36 RBI) will miss the next month’s worth of games. The 26-year-old Nashville third baseman is out with a broken thumb.

Complaints and stuff

Thanks to my efforts this week, we have a new sponsor in Schwanenstein – Fine Classical Instruments, and the ballpark is now full of death traps for players that don’t deserve better. Just wait until one of the automated piccolo flute guns goes off. That would be some spectacle!

Ignacio del Rio’s second career shutout was undoubtedly the highlight of the week. Well, there’s no magic involved in shutting out the Loggers normally. Just ask Rico Gutierrez, who’s done it five times.

Next week, Blue Sox and Indians on a new Midwest trip. And, well, for me a trip to New York to attend the Amateur Draft. That will be on Tuesday. But, after that Sunday game, what I really want to do, to be honest, is sleep. For … one-hundred years.

Fun Fact: Only once have the Raccoons finished a season with the current .371 clip or worse, in 1979, when they lost 107 games for a .340 win percentage.

That team was ghastly. Ben Simon and Pedro Sánz were the only qualifying batters with OPS over .700 (Simon actually with an .862 mark, .289 average, 28 homers, 94 RBI). Daniel Hall also had a decent .784 OPS, but was up and down early in the season and did not qualify, playing in only 99 games.

That appalling lack of offense (596 runs scored…) didn’t gel well with the fact that the starting pitchers that did not keel over were atrocious. “Old Chris” Powell went 13-15 with a 4.08 ERA. Jerry Morris was 10-12 with a 5.04 ERA. Berrios 4.61, Ned Ray 5.19… Logan Evans emerged with a 2.22 ERA in 12 starts (only to never reach that mark again), and one of the bright spots in the pen was Wally Gaston, who walked more batters than he struck out (but so did Morris, Berrios, and Evans…).

Fun times. 107 losses. The only Coons team to lose more than 99.

So far.
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Portland Raccoons, 83 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here!
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