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The Indians were locked in a tight battle with the Crusaders for the division lead. And they played like it. Miguel Sanchez fanned nine Raccoons in game 1 and hit a home run off Logan Evans as the Indians won 4-1, then went on to win the next 4-3 in the tenth inning, after Romero had struggled heavily with control, walking five and didn’t get any outs on the plate. This ate up my bullpen and cost in extra innings, when no fresh arms remained. The Indians had no problem to win the last game against Powell, who again was horrible in the 5-2 loss.
Horrible play by the team. If I just could trade them all away to never see them again. How well that worked with Miranda. Elsewhere, I moved Daniel Hall to AAA after he had gotten back to his mojo after his injury.
Another poor performance all around came in game 1 in Oklahoma City with a 3-2 loss, but at least the Raccoons touched the sometimes troubled Thunder pen in a naughty spot in the second game, scoring seven late in a 10-3 win. The Raccoons scored three early in the rubber game and scored again four in a big ninth inning to win 8-1. Sánz had two RBI after four the day before. Romero went seven and won the game to get back even at 9-9.
The Bayhawks were in town, a heck of a team, although their pitching had suffered a ton with the loss of Juan Correa. Christopher Powell went out and pitched four perfect innings. Then was slaughtered in a 4-run fifth inning. The Raccoons came back to tie it in the seventh, when Powell was long gone and showering. The game was still 5-5 in the bottom 9th. Two guys on and two outs, Ben Simon singled through the gap to the right. Jose Flores made a mad dash from second back home against Alfonso Marte, who had about the best arm among rightfielders in the league. Flores just barely made it past the throw and catcher Cam Cormack and the Raccoons walked off 6-5. Simon was 2-5 with three RBI in the game.
I made a lineup change after the game. Pickett was batting .288 after a recent surge and was moved up to #2 behind Flores. Sullivan slotted past Sánz and Simon to #5, and Johnston, Swift, and the catcher’s spot each moved down one. That might improve the offense, but the starting pitching continued to make me pull all my hair out. Berrios started game 2 and allowed five runs in 3.1 innings. Hadn’t he been sucking so hard again, the Raccoons would have won it quite comfortably, but the game went to extra innings at 7-7, where the big collapse came in the top 14th. Bayhawks won 12-7. Ed Sullivan was 3-7 with five RBI. Jesse Jeffries entered as pinch hitter, went 0-4 with 3 K and left three on base. The Raccoons lost the rubber game 5-4. Pickett homered for three in the bottom 9th, but it was too late already.
The following off day was great to rest the pen that had pitched again more than it’s share of innings. Berrios and Powell both were horrible and something had to be done. Wyatt Johnston was still good at 1B, but he demanded too much for an extension of his contract that would expire after this season. Could we get a decent starter for Johnston before July was over? Turned out such a trade was impossible.
The Knights were in town next for the last series against them in ’78. The Raccoons won the first contest 4-1. Ed Sullivan was 3-4 to go to .301 – the only Raccoon over .300 in a long time. Sullivan also made a key play in the top 8th at second base (where he had moved after Greg Swift had been tossed for loudly arguing to the home plate ump over a strikeout) that ended the inning after two Knights had reached on Kieran Lawson, first on a passed ball, then on a dropped and lost third strike. Romero went eight frames, whiffing six and the only run he allowed was unearned. Hatfield got his first save in 25 days.
This left the weak part of the rotation to go. Powell surrendered 11 hits and six runs in 7.1 innings, taking the loss, 6-2. The Raccoons were no-hit over six frames in this game. Powell has not struck out a batter in his last two starts, which combined for 13 innings. In his last 12 starts he was 1-8. Berrios also lost the rubber game, 3-2, allowing two runs in 7.1 innings. Gaston surrendered a home run in the ninth, which made the last Raccoons run in the bottom 9th pointless.
In other news:
July 19 – Jeremiah Carroll of the Cyclones (.348) is out for at least a month with a shoulder injury, dealing a big blow to his team in the playoff race.
July 19 – David Burke’s 9-10 season with a 2.93 ERA is over as the Pacifics starter tore a flexor tendon in his elbow.
July 20 – Leonardo Costa of the Scorpions has hit in 20 straight games.
July 21 – Warrior George Lynch goes down with an oblique strain for a few weeks. He was .376 with 3 HR and 37 RBI this season.
July 26 – Leonard Costa’s hitting streak reaches 25 games, as he goes 1-4 in a 5-2 loss of his Scorpions to the Cyclones.
July 28 – The Buffaloes chill Costa’s streak at 26 games in a 4-1 win over the Scorpions.
July 28 – The Cyclones acquire starter Victor Jimenez (4-2, 3.25) from Oklahoma City for outfielder Dylan Milley (.311, 5 HR, 38 RBI) and a minor league pitcher.
July 30 – As the Warriors trumped the Rebels 14-6, Warriors 1B Corey Byrd hit for a natural cycle, including a grand slam, against the FL East leaders. With another base clearing triple in there, he had seven RBIs in the game. Overall he is .317 with 3 HR and 65 RBI this season. This was the fourth cycle in ABL history, and the third natural cycle!
Next: Aces on the road, then Loggers and Canadiens each for four at home to start August.
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