[Westheim]

Raccoons (8-9) @ Knights (10-9) – April 29-May 1, 2031

The Raccoons so far were a winning team on the road (4-2), but the beleaguered pitching would be under fire again against the Knights, who had the third-most productive offense in the Continental League. Their pitching was almost equally “tried”, but at least their rotation had a sub-4 ERA. Ours? Not so much… in fact the Critters came in with the third-worst rotation and the best bullpen, even though that bullpen had not exactly been averse to getting hosed. We had taken the season series last year, 5-4.

Projected matchups:
Dave Martinez (1-0, 1.42 ERA) vs. Andy Purdy (0-2, 5.63 ERA)
Ed Hague (1-0, 4.15 ERA) vs. Mario Rosas (4-0, 0.84 ERA)
Mark Roberts (1-2, 5.18 ERA) vs. Justin Osterloh (2-0, 3.60 ERA)

Lefty on Wednesday, which would be the middle game again after a common off day on Monday.

While Tim Stalker was back in the lineup, one old foe was missing from the Knights’, as Jeremy Houghtaling had gone to the DL with a broken thumb right in the first week after batting .364 in the first six games.

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Wallace – LF Hereford – 3B Nunley – 1B Howden – CF Vanatti – C Tovias – P Martinez
ATL: CF Denzler – 2B J. Johnson – C S. Garcia – 1B Harenberg – RF Pincus – LF Seago – 3B Barlow – SS Hawkins – P Purdy

The Knights chucked four hits off Martinez, all singles, in the first inning, but only got one run. Finding runners on the corners, Steve Garcia hit into a run-scoring double play, after which Kevin Harenberg, batting .355 with one homer, and Roy Pincus went back to the corners, but Nate Seago struck out. Jake Barlow’s leadoff walk was erased on another double play, hit into by former Bayhawks Tom Hawkins, in the bottom 2nd, but the Critters would not get a hit, a 2-out double by Ramos, until the third inning, and then Stalker left him on. On to the fourth, where Jimmy Wallace opened with a clean single to right against the so far steady Purdy. John Johnson fumbled Hereford’s grounder to add a second runner, but the Raccoons found a way out of the scoring opportunity; Matt Nunley was wrestled down on strikes, and Jarod Howden lined out to his predecessor Harenberg, who doubled off an astray Rich Hereford to end the inning before extending the lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff jack to right. Martinez nailed Pincus with the very next pitch, shoulder high, and immediately pandemonium ensued in form of a bench-clearing brawl. Both Martinez and Pincus, who enraged had tried to cave in Martinez’ skull with his bat, were ejected.

When the dust settled, John Hennessy and Chris Mendoza filled the roles just vacated by the battle brothers, and Hennessy made it out of the inning despite a near-homer allowed to Seago, a wild pitch, and a 4-pitch walk to Barlow. Hawkins hit into another double play. After this, the Coons went to Eddie Krumm, who got through the fifth, but put the first two runners on in the sixth and looked well off. The Druid went out to inquire and after a brief conversation took Krumm with him back to the dugout. Great, first an ejection, now an injury; way to come out of an off day! Garavito got the ball against a bunch of left-handed bats, of which he walked the first, Mendoza, then nailed Barlow with one out. Hawkins hit an RBI single, 4-0, before Purdy whiffed and Denzler flew out. That seemed well enough for Atlanta; the Raccoons remained on three hits through eight innings against Purdy, who got Stalker on a grounder to begin the ninth before Wallace got nailed (no reaction this time), and Hereford drew a walk. Now in a save situation, the Knights went to left-hander Mike Greene, which prompted an immediate reaction with Matt Jamieson batting for Nunley. He struck out, and Armando Leal hit for Chris Wise in the next spot, but flew out to center. 4-0 Knights. Wallace 1-2, BB; Wise 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Dave Martinez told me that Odilon told him to strike Roy Pincus in his ugly head and that Odilon’s decisions were always just and good. Well, we tried that defense with the league office, but they still suspended both him and Pincus for ten games…

Krumm in the meantime went straight to the 60-day DL with a herniated disc in his neck. Nick Derks was added to the 25- and 40-man rosters to take his spot.

Game 2
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Jamieson – 3B Hereford – RF Wallace – 1B Howden – C Tovias – CF Baldwin – P Hague
ATL: CF Denzler – 2B J. Johnson – C S. Garcia – 1B Harenberg – RF Ryder – LF Seago – 3B Barlow – SS Hawkins – P Rosas

Atlanta went ahead in the first on Joel Denzler’s leadoff single, a stolen base, a productive grounder by Johnson, and then a wild pitch to bring the run across, but the Furballs this time actually had a response. Baldwin hit a single to begin the third and to liven up that .050 batting average, was bunted to second, and then the Coons hit a pair of RBI singles; Ramos put one into left-center and scurried to second on the throw home, then came around himself on Stalker’s single to center, taking a 2-1 lead. Deflation however followed almost immediately; Tom Hawkins dropped a leadoff single in the bottom 3rd, and Denzler hit one out to re-flip the score, 3-2 Atlanta.

The middle innings passed without incident, and the Raccoons arrived in the seventh inning out-hitting the opposition 7-5, but had yet to take the lead again. Rosas allowed a leadoff single to Tovias to begin the seventh, and then Baldwin also dropped one in. Hague bunted the runners into scoring position, but both Ramos and Stalker went down swinging against the impenetrable Rosas, who had by then rung up eight Coons. Both starters were gone after seven, with Hague stranding Hawkins and the unretireable Denzler (4-for-4) on the corners when Josh Johnson flew out to Jamieson. Ricky Ohl held the Knights in reach despite walking one and whiffing none to maintain his pear-shaped 2031 ledger anyway. Greene was at it from the start in the ninth this time, facing the 6-7-8 batters, which in this case meant Catella leading off as pinch-hitter just for the sake of having someone bat from the right side. He grounded out to second before Elias Tovias, lo and behold, homered to left to tie up the game! Baldwin doubled, advanced on a wild pitch, but Greene struck out Matt Nunley before filling the bases with walks to Ramos (intentional) and Stalker (not bloody quite). And the result? A ****ty comebacker for the third out by Jamieson. ****TY. At least they went on to lose in total disgrace after this; Nick Derks came in to pitch and began with whiffing Nate Seago before the wheels came off. Barlow walked, Hawkins singled, and they were on the corners with two outs before Derks nailed Denzler in the wrist to knock him out of the game. Justin Osterloh became a meaningless pinch-runner that got to jog home when Derks was forced to offer a strike to John Johnson with three on and two outs. Johnson hit it 420 feet. 7-3 Knights. Stalker 2-4, BB, RBI; Tovias 2-4, HR, RBI; Baldwin 3-4, 2B;

Denzler came off with a bruise and swore revenge, which can only become interesting down the road, while Derks has a 54.00 ERA for this season and a 4.88 ERA for his career. Well, what do you expect from a sixth-round pick?

Game 3
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Wallace – LF Hereford – 3B Nunley – 1B Howden – CF Vanatti – C Leal – P Roberts
ATL: CF Denzler – SS Hawkins – C Martins – RF Ryder – 2B J. Johnson – 1B Harenberg – LF Seago – 3B Barlow – P Osterloh

The Knights rapped six hits in three innings of an inefficient Mark Roberts, but nevertheless scored only one run on Jake Barlow’s 2-out RBI single to score Johnson in the second inning. Yes, the intentional walk would have been available, but no, it wouldn’t have changed anything, because Roberts also gave up a single to Osterloh… The Raccoons equalized in the third with a Ramos Special, all with two outs: infield single, stolen base, coming home on Stalker’s single. Mark Roberts needed four innings to get a strikeout (on Nate Seago), and five innings to give himself the lead with a 1-out RBI triple, plating Joe Vanatti. Let’s just say that Joel Denzler and Zachary Ryder did not look good on that gapper. Ramos was walked intentionally, but Stalker popped out and Wallace flew out to right to strand them on the corners, and when the bottom 5th began with an infield single by the opposing pitcher, then a walk to Denzler, I braced for impact. Wallace caught up with a Tom Hawkins fly, though, and Eric Martins neatly hit into a 6-4-3 to deny the Knights.

The Critters dragged Roberts through seven innings of 9-hit ball, and somehow the 2-1 lead stayed in one piece despite scrapcoon Omar Alfaro hitting for Osterloh in the seventh, and despite a Denzler single following that obvious out that dropped Alfaro to .077 for the year. The Raccoons got Nunley and Howden on base with two outs in the eighth against Levi Snoeij, but Vanatti ground out, dropping to two Alfaros’ worth of a batting average. Bottom 8th, Ricky Ohl got two outs from the 3-4 batters before walking Johnson, which prompted an early appearance by Josh Boles with Harenberg coming up, obviously a left-handed batter. The Coons loaded the bases station by station in the ninth inning with Leal, Ramos, and Wallace reaching base, but Hereford popped out to strand them all. So Boles was brought back still in a 2-1 game and before long it got “interesting”. Ryan Allan had batted for Stalker in the ninth, but Baldwin then stayed at second base for Portland, while Allan moved to right in place of Wallace. Baldwin then got a 1-out grounder from Barlow that he threw wildly past Howden for two bases, and Boles walked on the winning run in Brad Woods before getting back to the top of the order and Denzler, who had six hits and a walk in the series and was still grumpy over getting hit in the wrist. Maybe a bit too grumpy – he chased high heat for strike three, but that still brought up another .300+ hitter in Hawkins, who hit away at the first pitch, popped up, and shattered his bat on home plate before retreating to the dugout straight away. Baldwin made the catch. 2-1 Critters. Ramos 2-4; Howden 1-2, 2 BB; Roberts 7.0 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (2-2) and 1-3, 3B, RBI;

Raccoons (8-9) @ Indians (10-9) – May 2-4, 2031

Back in Indy, where they are in last place and are trying to figure out the heck why under life fire. The offense was terrible – they were batting .209 as a team and scored the second-fewest runs, barely 3.2 per game, in the Continental League. While their rotation had been strong and held the third-best ERA, their pen had been cats in a box on fire, blowing any and all good starting pitching away. Their ERA was well over five! The Coons had won two of three in the first set of the season.

Projected matchups:
Tom Shumway (1-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. Mark Morrison (1-1, 5.28 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (0-2, 6.41 ERA) vs. Sal Bedoya (1-1, 1.63 ERA)
TBD vs. Andy Bressner (0-5, 2.87 ERA)

Bressner’s record and ERA is all you need to know. Their only starter with a winning record was their only lefty, John McInerney (1-0, 3.32 ERA).

We were not yet convinced how to work around the Martinez suspension (and we would have to do so twice). Since Raffaello Sabre was aligned to pitch Sunday on regular rest it was not an outrageous thought to have him up to make a spot start and work on that ghastly 15.43 career ERA in the majors… In any case and with any pitcher, we needed a roster spot, though…

Game 1
POR: SS Ramos – RF Wallace – LF Jamieson – 2B Hereford – 3B Nunley – 1B Howden – CF Catella – C Tovias – P Shumway
IND: SS Pizano – RF Plunkett – C J. Herrera – CF Baron – 2B Schneller – LF I. Vega – 1B I. Pena – 3B E. Sosa – P M. Morrison

Wallace singled, Jamieson doubled, and Hereford and Nunley made pathetic outs on the infield to waste away a chance in the opening inning. That was the only fat scoring opportunity for either team in the first four innings, until Ramos walked with two outs in the fifth inning, and The Excitement was by definition ALWAYS in scoring position. He swiped second, #10 for the season and in Pizano’s face, as the Indians’ shortstop had ZERO bags taken at the start of May. Then the Indians walked Wallace intentionally and got Jamieson to fly out easily. Meanwhile, Shumway through five walked a batter, nailed a guy, but got a double play and was facing only one over the minimum…!

The no-hit bid ended with Elias Sosa, leading off the bottom 6th with a double well over Jamieson’s head and off the base of the wall. That one had indeed been sharply hit; Morrison bunted the go-ahead run to third base, but Pizano flew out to shallow center and the Indians didn’t send the runner. Tom Shumway plunked Mike Plunkett to put them on the corners, then rung up Juan Herrera to end the inning and to keep the game scoreless. The following inning Dan Schneller was robbed in the gap by Jamieson, who made a flying catch for the second out, but then remained on the ground, handing the ball to the bystanding Sean Catella before rolling into a ball and holding still until the Druid arrived. He was taken out of the ballgame, replaced by Ryan Allan, who then went to the corners with Hereford on a pair of 2-out singles in the eighth. Nunley struck out against former Critter Jose Menendez to keep it scoreless. Shumway stayed true through eight, but still couldn’t buy any love from his teammates, who left him with a no-decision by still not scoring in the ninth. Howden hit a leadoff single off Marcus Owens. Tovias hit into a double play.

The only guy possibly benefitting now was Ramos, who was hitless with an 11-game hitting streak on the line. When Garavito remained unscored upon in the bottom 9th, he got another chance in the tenth inning with Tim Stalker on first after drawing a leadoff walk from the #9 hole. Ramos however grounded out to Schneller. The runner advanced, but after an intentional walk to Wallace the Indians got poor outs from Allan and Hereford. Fleischer got the bottom 10th, allowed a leadoff double to Schneller, and before long a 2-out walkoff single to Sosa. 1-0 Indians. Shumway 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K;

Matt Jamieson was down with a strained rib cage muscle, the Druid advised. He would take two weeks to heal, we were told, while spending the first week of that timeframe at a serene lake in the mountains with quacking ducks to further the healing process. At this point I was long past questioning his methods and instead went towards roster move business and didn’t even catch what the treatment for the second week was.

So, Matt Jamieson was off to the DL. We brought up Alex Geraldo, that scrap middle infielder who had been claimed off waivers in late March, but he would only be up for a day before we would go on to bring in Sabre.

Game 2
POR: SS Ramos – LF Allan – RF Wallace – 2B Hereford – 3B Nunley – 1B Howden – CF Catella – C Tovias – P Gutierrez
IND: SS Pizano – RF Plunkett – C J. Herrera – CF Baron – 2B Schneller – LF I. Vega – 1B Regan – 3B E. Sosa – P Bressner

Between these two pitchers there were seven losses on the field, and no wins. And while the Raccoons’ offense made no early bid to give Gutierrez a win, the Indians’ wasn’t quite so shy. Even though they took two innings to get warm, they began to batter Gutierrez in the bottom of the third. Greg Regan doubled, scored on a 2-out triple by Pizano, and Plunkett singled home the second run for a 2-0 lead. Again, Rico Gutierrez was completely unable to retire anybody with two strikes. Every batter put the ball in play in those early innings, and it took John Baron, the successor of Ben Suhay in more than position on the Arrowheads, to fabricate a strikeout, Rico’s FIFTH of the season in 23 innings. That was an aberration, though. Elias Sosa hit a 2-piece on an 0-2 pitch in the bottom 5th, extending the lead to 4-0, even Bressner hit a deep fly for an out on two strikes, and by the way, Bressner was still no-hitting the Critters. It took them to the seventh inning for Ryan Allan to squeeze a leadoff single past Pizano, only to be stranded on first base. Gutierrez hung around for no greater good until Greg Regan hit a mammoth homer off him in the bottom 7th, that one a solo piece. Top 8th, the bottom of the order cooked something up; singles by Catella and Tovias, then a pinch-hit RBI double by Joe Vanatti! With one out and Bressner in the ropes, we sent the top of the order to collect runners in scoring position. Ramos popped out, Allan whiffed, and the team lost pathetically once again. 5-1 Indians. Vanatti (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI;

With this loss, the Coons found sixth place.

Alex Geraldo found his way back to St. Pete. He had not gotten into the game. Sabre would.

Game 3
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Wallace – LF Hereford – 3B Nunley – 1B Howden – CF Vanatti – C Tovias – P Sabre
IND: 2B Schneller – 1B Regan – RF Plunkett – CF Baron – C J. Herrera – LF Zanches – 3B E. Sosa – SS Pizano – P Saccoccio

After the skip of Sal Bedoya, the Indians walked David Saccoccio (1-3, 3.97 ERA) into the Sunday game. He would pitch on regular rest. He had a clean first, while Sabre walked two, almost allowed a homer in between – Wallace caught the drive at the fence – and then got lucky that Ramos turned him a double play to bail him out. He then struck out a pair in the second, which was cruel, because it gave us false hope. Come the third, Pizano and Schneller drew walks, Greg Regan fired a gapper, and the Indians were up 2-0. Nothing got better after that. Pizano tripled and scored on a Saccoccio single in the bottom 5th, and by the way, the Raccoons were not even remotely close to scoring a run, sitting on two hits, two walks, a runner caught stealing (Ramos), and a whole lot of questions. Top 6th, Ramos led off with a double to left-center. Stalker grounded out, moving him to third, and Wallace grounded up the middle, but not past Schneller, and was easily retired at first to extend a rut to 3-for-19, but at least he had his first RBI in nine games…

This sorry spectacle was swiftly followed by Sabre’s final decomposition. Elias Sosa hit a 2-out single in the bottom 6th, and Pizano just wasn’t going to be fooled by any third-rate rook and smashed a homer over the fence in left. That closed Sabre’s line at five runs in 5.2 innings – better than the last one, yet still incredibly pathetic. So pathetic in fact that he didn’t even get to see the pitcher anymore. The Coons rather went to Chris Wise, who got the strikeout. Further down the sadness-trodden road, Nick Derks served up a homer to .137 batter John Baron in the eighth. Saccoccio pitched a complete-game 4-hitter instead. 6-1 Indians. Nunley 1-2, BB;

In other news

April 28 – LVA LF/RF Andy Montes (.250, 1 HR, 2 RBI) hits a solo home run off NYC SP Chris Rountree (1-2, 2.67 ERA) for the only score in the Aces’ 1-0 win. Vegas has only one other base hit in the game, while New York has four off LVA SP Jamie Klages (0-1, 2.39 ERA) and the bullpen.
April 29 – LAP SP Chris Cooper (2-1, 1.55 ERA) 1-hits the Cyclones in a 6-0 L.A. win.
April 29 – A bruised wrist puts OCT 1B Danny Cruz (.329, 4 HR, 13 RBI) on the DL for the next three weeks.
April 30 – IND C Juan Herrera (.164, 3 HR, 8 RBI) lifts a walkoff jack off SFB SP Matt Huf (1-4, 4.45 ERA) for the only tally in the Indians’ 1-0 victory over the Bayhawks.
May 2 – TIJ SP Jorge Villalobos (2-1, 1.01 ERA) 3-hits the Thunder in a 5-0 shutout.
May 3 – The Buffaloes fall victim to NAS SP Alfredo Vargas (3-0, 1.77 ERA) in a 3-hit shutout. The Blue Sox win 1-0.
May 4 – MIL SP Josh Long (3-0, 1.46 ERA) will miss two months with a sore elbow.
May 4 – The Warriors destroy the Scorpions with an 11-run sixth inning, enough to coast to a 12-3 victory. SFW 1B/CF Pedro Cisneros (.277, 1 HR, 12 RBI) drives in four runs on two hits.

Complaints and stuff

Jimmy Wallace was named CL Rookie of the Month, batting .338 with 4 HR and 16 RBI in the season’s first 19 games. He has since fallen into the blackest hole, because why wouldn’t he?

I remember that for the first ten days or so we actually hit more dingers than we allowed. We are not hitting any dingers anymore, but the ball is sure still flying off the bats. Must be the bats then. Or the lazy arms. Or both.

But I got this present from Slappy. (shows a white box with “Consolation” scribbled onto it in black felt marker) I guess I should open it. (removes lid) Aww, Slappy, you shouldn’t have! The first bottle of Capt’n Coma of the year …! – (Slappy on the couch lifts his own bottle in agreement)

Meanwhile, Sabre will be sent back to St. Pete before midnight, and we will have to work another pitcher into the rotation during the next cycle, because Martinez remains suspended for his next turn. We have to gain one day somewhere. Probably points us towards Jason Gurney or Sean Rigg in some way…

Turns out, the second-week treatment for Matt Jamieson would be letting him for a pint of blood daily. I think I should intervene. Probably. But first … (unscrews the bottle of booze) …first let’s hear what the Capt’n has to say!

Fun Fact: The last time the Raccoons failed to win even seven games in back-to-back seasons against the Indians was in 2003 and 2004.

We are on pace for that. 6-12 last year, 2-4 this year.