Raccoons (5-7) vs. Loggers (6-6) – April 17-19, 2029
The story was well known; the Loggers had not won the season series against the Raccoons in *15* years, going down 12-6 in 2028, but this was their chance for a headstart in the new season given that the Raccoons had lost four in a row and right now didn’t seem like between batting, pitching, and fielding they could manage any of those at a remote level of competence. The Loggers ranked seventh in runs scored and runs allowed; the Coons were 11th in either category…
Projected matchups:
Rico Gutierrez (2-0, 1.46 ERA) vs. Francisco Colmenarez (0-2, 6.35 ERA)
Billy Ramm (1-1, 3.46 ERA) vs. Joe West (0-1, 2.51 ERA)
Dan Delgadillo (1-1, 9.64 ERA) vs. Morgan Shepherd (1-1, 3.54 ERA)
For this series, the token left-hander would be the first one we’d face. Meanwhile we used the off day on Monday to move Billy Ramm ahead of Dan Delgadillo, giving Yusneldan another extra day to think about what the **** he was doing …
Game 1
MIL: 3B Lockert – 1B Cambra – C J. Young – LF Schorsch – CF Sherrod – 2B Holder – RF Wheeler – SS Rauser – P Colmenarez
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Jamieson – 3B Hereford – 1B Harenberg – RF Gomez – CF Mora – C Tovias – P R. Gutierrez
Lo and behold, Kevin Harenberg hit a 2-out RBI single in the bottom 1st to plate Jamieson, who had earlier also singled, followed by a walk drawn by Rich Hereford. While Rico could not hold on and surrendered the lead on a 2-out single by Jason Rauser in the top 2nd, scoring Kaleb Holder, any clutch hit had to be marked down as rousing success right now… Overall there was not much offense in the early innings, but the Raccoons came up with the bases loaded in the bottom 4th. Hereford had knocked a leadoff single, and Colmenarez issued 1-out walks to both Rafael Gomez and Abel Mora to load up the bases for Elias Tovias, who came pretty close to hitting into a double play when he grounded fast to Matt Lockert, but the third baseman’s feed to second was over Holder’s head for an error that put the Coons up 2-1. It was all they got; Rico struck out, and Ramos popped out to short as he remained completely unable to get on base right now. At least we could draw comfort from the fact that the Loggers’ lineup was not one to specifically counter Rico’s somewhat lopsided splits; there were as many as five lefty bats in there, including the pitcher, and that sure helped him to coast through seven innings with the 2-1 lead. An insurance run would have been nice, though! Unfortunately, nothing of the sort came about; the Coons had two on in the fifth until Harenberg hit into an inning-curtailing double play, and then didn’t put up any specific threat in the following innings. Top 8th, the pen took over, which had been the undoing on Sunday with Ricky Ohl blowing a 2-1 lead to the Titans, and here he nailed Lockert with one out to put the tying run aboard. But Billy Brotman was already lined up against the following left-handed batters, got Firmino Cambra to pop out foul and rung up Jim Young to exit the inning. Bottom 8th, a 2-out uprising saw Matt Nunley single in Gomez’s spot against right-hander Bobby Valencia, who then walked Mora. Elias Tovias had done enough harm to his own team in this game that we sent Butch Gerster to bat for him, but he popped out to Holder and the runs were stranded. Then came Boles and blew the lead Rico had scratched out when Tom Schorsch hit a leadoff jack to right, tying the score at two, and I banged my head against the door frame for the rest of the inning. The game spilled over into a 10th inning, in which Boles unhelpfully retired the side in order before Hereford and Harenberg went to the corners with a pair of leadoff singles against righty Julio Palomo. Nunley had remained in the game after pinch-hitting the last time around and would once more relieve the Raccoons from their terrible pains, turning an 0-2 pitch around to knock it past Holder for a walkoff single… 3-2 Blighters. Jamieson 2-5; Hereford 3-4, BB; Harenberg 2-5, RBI; Nunley (PH) 2-2, RBI; Mora 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Gutierrez 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K;
A win is a win is a win. A win is a win is a win. A win is a win is – no, sorry, Josh, that SUCKED!!
The Loggers also skipped Joe West in their rotation, setting up Ramm against Shepherd in the second game.
Game 2
MIL: 3B Lockert – 1B Cambra – C J. Young – RF W. Trevino – CF Sherrod – 2B Holder – LF Wheeler – SS B. Day – P Shepherd
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – CF Mora – RF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – LF Jamieson – 3B Nunley – C Tovias – P Ramm
Alberto Ramos came in .209 after another 0-for-5 day on Tuesday, but led off with a double to right in the bottom 1st and quickly came home when Tim Stalker blasted a fastball into the stands to give Ramm a 2-0 edge. After that it threatened to become one of those iffy games; Hereford reached on a Lockert error, but was picked off to end the inning, while the bottom 2nd saw Jamieson draw a leadoff walk and be caught stealing before Nunley also walked. Matt Nunley advanced on a groundout by Tovias, then scored on TWO wild pitches by Shepherd! By the third, Firmino Cambra hit into a double play, which was also not an event anybody should ever bet on…
With that, the game calmed down; the middle innings were largely uneventful while Billy Ramm held the Loggers to two hits in the 3-0 game, but the Coons weren’t doing anything, either, having just one base hit (a Harenberg single with nobody on) after the Ramos-Stalker pair slapped Shepherd around in the first. Hereford hit a 2-out single to center in the bottom 6th, but Harenberg now chose to pop out… oh well, at least Billy Ramm seemingly effortlessly retired Logger for Logger, all the way to two outs in the eighth when Brendan Day found the gap in left-center for a triple, only the Loggers’ third hit in the game. Switch-hitter Wilson Aquino batted for Shepherd in the #9 hole, and Ramm was on 99 pitches, but Aquino was also weaker against lefties. Don’t change lefty for lefty! Ramm stayed in long enough to look as befuddled as Tovias when Day stole home to get the Loggers on the board, then allowed a single on the next pitch. Surginer replaced him now and retired Lockert to get out of the inning. The Coons let a Tim Stalker double with one out in the bottom 8th dissipate, then sent Boles back out. This time the Loggers went down in order. 3-1 Coons. Stalker 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Nunley 0-1, 2 BB; Ramm 7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (2-1);
Weirdly, despite his excruciatingly slow start, Rich Hereford now had a 10-game hitting streak.
The last game of the series would feature right-hander Alex Contreras (2-0, 4.50 ERA) opposite Dan Delgadillo.
Game 3
MIL: 3B Lockert – 1B Cambra – C J. Young – LF Schorsch – 2B Holder – RF Rueda – CF Wheeler – SS Rauser – P Contreras
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – CF Mora – LF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – RF Gomez – C Rocha – P Delgadillo
Delgadillo, who already entered with more than one earned run allowed per inning pitched, started the game with two walks before the Loggers popped out three times, so there was probably still more misery to unpack in this game, some of it pitching related. Contreras for example shed four hits, all singles, in the bottom 1st, with Ramos and Stalker going to the corners right away. Mora hit to second for a run-scoring groundout, Hereford hit an RBI single, Harenberg singled to put Critters back on the corners, and then Nunley had another run-scoring groundout before Gomez flew out softly to end the inning. As far as Delgadillo was concerned, he at least upheld the pretense of being a major league pitcher for a few innings. He allowed no hits through three innings, but walked three and balked once, until Tom Schorsch led off the fourth with a jack to right, cutting the score to 3-1. Holder singled, but was still on second with two outs. Jason Rauser was rather hot and a left-handed batter, so was walked intentionally to bring up the pitcher, who of course, as these things go, singled to load the bases for Matt Lockert, whom Delgadillo would get to 0-2 on two terrible hacks until he actually hit the ****ing ball on the third attempt and sent a deep drive to right in rather uncomfortable fashion, except that Rafael Gomez had hustled back in time to make the catch on the track.
The Coons didn’t do all that much; Ramos was on with a 1-out single in the bottom 5th and stole second, but was stranded with both Stalker and Mora grounding out to Cambra. Yusneldan got stuck for good in the sixth after a Holder single leading off, then a walk to Mike Wheeler. Those were the tying runs, and Jeremy Moesker came in to restore … chaos. Rauser grounded into a fielder’s choice, but Moesker walked the pitcher Contreras on four pitches, then with the bags full nailed Matt Lockert to force home a run. Firmino Cambra, who in a previous life had been a scary situational hitter in the Federal League, ran a 3-1 count, then rolled it over to Stalker to strand a full set of Loggers yet again, and the Coons remained up 3-2. Moesker and Fleischer managed to hold up in the seventh, and Ricky Ohl retired the bottom of the order in the eighth, which just left the question whether there was any insurance on the plate before Josh Boles would be wrung out for a third straight appearance. The question would be – surprisingly – yes, with Ramos leading off with a single, stealing second and taking third on Young’s throwing error, and coming in on a Mora single. Hereford and Harenberg also knocked singles, the latter running the score to 5-2, and while Jason Rauser leapt high in the sky for a Matt Nunley liner, he could not get it, either; Nunley dropped an RBI single into left-center, moving the game out of save range. The inning lasted even long enough for Daniel Rocha to break an 0-for-15 spell to begin the season with a 2-out RBI double to right off southpaw Alex Gutierrez. Gerster grounded out to end the inning, and Sean Rigg pitched a quick ninth to finish the sweep. 7-2 Furballs. Ramos 3-4; Hereford 2-4, RBI; Harenberg 3-4, RBI;
I am really glad we got this bit of damage control in now, because our CLCS buddies are coming up and they can actually play baseball.
Raccoons (8-7) vs. Condors (11-5) – April 20-22, 2029
The Condors, who had – funnily – already torn Mark Roberts to shreds in the fall, and would see him in the opener, tied for the lead in the South at this point (the Coons were 1 1/2 out in the North) but were also on a tear, having won eight games in a row after a 3-5 start! They were doing it all on pitching though, although that should not diminish their pitching: they had allowed only *30* runs so far, which was fewer than TWO runs per game…! Such a thing was entirely unheard of, and it made even their lackluster, eighth-place offense look entirely sustainable to wreak sufficient havoc to make a challenge for the postseason again. The Raccoons had gone 8-8 against the Condors in 2028, if you were inclined to count the CLCS going the distance.
Projected matchups:
Mark Roberts (0-2, 11.08 ERA) vs. Jorge Villalobos (2-1, 1.29 ERA)
Tom Shumway (1-1, 2.04 ERA) vs. George Griffin (1-2, 2.37 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (2-0, 1.40 ERA) vs. Adam Potter (2-1, 2.57 ERA)
Those would be their three right-handers, with southpaws Joe Perry (3-0, 1.25 ERA) and Jeff Little (3-1, 2.05 ERA) looming as additional threats should the Condors decide to utilize having had Thursday off rather than Monday like the Coons.
Game 1
TIJ: CF C. Murphy – SS C. Miller – 3B Sanks – RF M. Matias – 1B McGrath – C Zarate – LF Braun – 2B Bross – P Villalobos
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – CF Mora – LF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – RF Gomez – C Tovias – P Roberts
The Condors, who as said allowed fewer than two runs per game, allowed a bushel in the first inning; Ramos hit a single, but was still on first when Hereford came up with two outs. Rich doubled over the head of Chris Murphy, with Ramos starting early and scoring easily for a 1-0 lead. Harenberg hit an RBI single, and Matt Nunley wrecked a fastball over the fence for a 4-0 rush in the opening inning! Hereford hit another RBI double, then cashing Tim Stalker, in the bottom 3rd, but by that point the Condors had already taken Roberts deep once, Kevin McGrath doing the honors in the top 2nd. By virtue of Mike Matias’ leadoff single, it was a 2-piece and now a 5-2 game through three frames.
And Roberts shed some runners, issuing a walk in both the fourth and fifth innings, but held up for the moment. Shane Sanks, the reigning Player of the Year (growls) did not, having to leave the game after being nailed by Roberts with a 98mph heater to begin the sixth. Matt Good replaced him. The Condors loaded the bases with quick singles by Matias and McGrath, and here was the pickle! Roberts stuck to it for the moment, struck out Danny Zarate, but then nailed Adam Braun, too, and was yanked right after that. Kevin Surginer inherited a mess and made it blow up, conceding an RBI single to Dave Bross, and another one to Chris Murphy. In between, Joel Denzler grounded to Stalker for what might have been the end of the inning, if Ramos had not dropped the feed for yet another error. The Condors scored four in the inning to take a 6-5 lead, then put another one on Surginer in the seventh, but by then I was already weeping anyway. And not for no reason; the Raccoons did absolutely nothing through the middle innings and beyond, all the way into the ninth. The pen had held the Condors tight in the eighth and ninth and the gap was two runs still. Those two runs were in scoring position with one out after Magallanes walked in Gomez’ place against Mike Baker, and Tovias doubled up the rightfield line. Matt Jamieson batted for Ricky Ohl and struck out, and Ramos flew out to Adam Braun. 7-5 Condors. Hereford 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI;
Game 2
TIJ: CF C. Murphy – SS C. Miller – 3B Sanks – RF M. Matias – 1B McGrath – C Zarate – LF Braun – 2B Bross – P Griffin
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – CF Mora – RF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – 3B Nunley – LF Jamieson – C Tovias – P Shumway
Murphy opened the game with a jack to right, which was so consoling, especially with the Coons setting themselves up for major failure in the bottom of the inning by putting three on with nobody out. Ramos singled, Stalker got hit, and Mora singled again. Hereford flew out to Matias, but deep enough to bring in Ramos to tie the game, Harenberg singled to restock the bases, and then Nunley remained scalding hot and dropped an RBI single in front of Matias to put us up 2-1. The inning fizzled out then with Jamieson whiffing and Tovias grounding out to Dave Bross. Now, there was more to come here; the bottom 2nd saw Ramos draw a 1-out walk, be caught stealing, but then Stalker got hit AGAIN, Mora walked, Hereford walked, and was this gonna end? No, Harenberg also walked, pushing in a run, and then came Nunley, Destroyer of Empires, who hit a 2-run single to center. YOU GO, MATT!! Jamieson walked to reload the bases, but then Tovias struck out to keep the score at 5-1.
It did not stay 5-1 for long; Chris Miller doubled in Bross in the third to get the Condors to 5-2, which the Coonies countered with a Ramos single to right and a Stalker triple to left in the bottom of the inning. Griffin walked Mora, then was removed to be suffocated with a pillow after eight hits and five walks in 2.1 innings. Righty Markus Bates faced Rich Hereford, who knocked an RBI single to right to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. Bross fumbled a Harenberg grounder for an error, finally loading the bases with one out for Nunley, who took ball four in a full count to push in another run, his fourth in the game and his 15th on the season. Things continued with Jamieson flying out, but Tovais hit a 2-out, 2-run single, and then Bates even allowed an RBI single to Shumway, which meant that in the third inning, Alberto Ramos came to the plate for the fourth time in the game…! Bates got him to 0-2 before firing a 100mph burner right down the middle. Alberto took notice and mauled the leather sphere for a massive home run to right – GRAAAAAAAAAAAND SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM!!!
Of course, the game was over at that point. The Raccoons added two more runs in the fourth with Jamieson landing his first RBI not coming on a homer when he doubled home Hereford, but after that the Coons laid down and removed a few of the studs by the sixth inning, including Hereford and Ramos. The Condors shifted back to second gear right away and never threatened Shumway again. The Shumster went eight innings of 5-hit ball, then was removed on account of the pitch count approaching 110 and why break the guy needlessly? Sean Rigg did the ninth in scoreless fashion. 16-2 Furballs!! Ramos 3-4, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Stalker 2-4, 3B, RBI; Mora 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Magallanes 1-1; Hereford 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Harenberg 2-5, BB, RBI; Nunley 2-4, BB, 4 RBI; Jamieson 2-5, 2B, RBI; Tovias 2-5, 3 RBI; Shumway 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (2-1) and 1-5;
(waves with both arms and screams) Excitement!! Excitement!! Excitement!!
(still waves with both arms)
Game 3
TIJ: CF C. Murphy – SS C. Miller – 3B Sanks – RF M. Matias – 1B McGrath – C Zarate – LF Braun – 2B Bross – P Potter
POR: SS Ramos – 3B Nunley – LF Jamieson – RF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – CF Magallanes – 2B Baldwin – C Tovias – P Gutierrez
Matt Jamieson went yard in the first to put Rico up 1-0 and made a bit for another one his next time up, but was then denied by Adam Braun. That was already in the fourth; through that inning, the Coons had no other base hits, but the Condors had only put two runners aboard against Rico Gutierrez, either, and one of those (Murphy) had been caught stealing by Tovias. This was also for all intents and purposes a right-handed lineup that Gutierrez was silencing, which was also encouraging; well, at least until the whole thing derailed as usual. Murphy, Miller, and Sanks would knock straight 2-out hits in the sixth inning to undo the Coons, two singles and a double over Jamieson’s head that plated both runners because they were both already in scoring position after a wild pitch. The Coons were still on that one base hit and looked puzzled for sure; Rico and Ramos would hit back-to-back 1-out singles in the bottom 6th to at least do SOMETHING, but Matt Nunley’s hard liner to left was intercepted by Adam Braun and Jamieson went down on strikes. Nothing good happened in the seventh and eighth innings, while at least the Condors weren’t moving further away. Mike Baker would face the top of the order, and behind those hitless Rich Hereford in the bottom 9th as the Coons needed one to tie and two to win. Ramos blooped a single to center, but the Condors had exchanged catchers when Danny Zarate had been hit for in the top of the ninth; Brett O’Dell was now behind the dish, and he was also a former teammate of Ramos, who knew his every move and antic. …and Ramos stole second base anyway! Nunley grounded out to second, moving Ramos to 90 feet away, where he stayed while Jamieson grounded out to the mound… and while Hereford grounded out to Matt Good. 2-1 Condors. Ramos 2-4; Gutierrez 7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, L (2-1) and 1-2;
Yeah, they just couldn’t save a few of Saturday’s runs for Sunday, no? No, they just couldn’t…
In other news
April 17 – In a bonkers game, the Scorpions defeat the Pacifics, 16-15, thanks to a 7-run rally in the eighth inning. The Pacifics score three runs in four different innings; SAC RF/LF Pablo Sanchez (.360, 1 HR, 11 RBI) drives in six on four base hits, while LAP 3B Jason LaCombe (.143, 0 HR, 2 RBI) walks five times in six plate appearances.
April 18 – Washington’s 21-year-old phenom Enrique Trevino (.359, 0 HR, 2 RBI) falls a dinger shy of the cycle in a 5-5 performance with a triple, two doubles, and 2 RBI in a 10-2 rout of the Miners.
April 19 – In the second weird-ass game of their series, SAC RF/LF Pablo Sanchez (.400, 1 HR, 17 RBI) goes 5-for-6 with a walk and 5 RBI against the Pacifics, but can not prevent his Scorpions from blowing a 7-1 lead in the ninth, then a 10-7 lead attained in the top of the 11th. The Pacifics score four in the bottom of the inning to claim an 11-10 walkoff victory. LAP OF Bobby Ortega (.400, 1 HR, 7 RBI) comes off the bench but still finds time to drive in four runs, including a 3-run homer off Sacramento’s Jay Schimek (0-0, 27.00 ERA) in the ninth inning.
April 19 – Aces outfielder Nick Hatley (.278, 1 HR, 8 RBI) shines with four hits and four RBI as the Aces drum the Knights, 14-2, starting with a 10-run first inning.
April 22 – RIC RF/LF Keith Damron (.250, 0 HR, 6 RBI) will miss three weeks with a strained hamstring.
Complaints and stuff
Fantastically, the first Raccoon to reach 10 RBI this season was … MATT NUNLEY.
The homer off Villalobos on Friday did that. Hereford hat nine ribbies at that point. Also, Nunley reached 15 by the end of the week and is still the team leader. Oh, Matt, you dirty beast! (slaps the feeding Nunley on the bum) Give me animal names! (Nunley’s whiskers twitch in confusion)
Quirky as well: Matt Nunley has only one strikeout in 53 plate appearances this season. I guess old age makes you too slow to swing at the high, bad stuff?
Brodnax, Virginia – that is the place of the zip code we put up in the first five innings on Saturday. Boy, that was fun. Would have been more fun to also win the rubber game after Rico had pitched his heart out. I still can’t fathom though that the Condors came in allowing 1.9 runs per game and left having allowed 7.3 runs per game to the Raccoons …!
Nick Derks went unclaimed (quelle surprise) and was assigned to St. Pete on Tuesday. Also in St. Pete: Rin Nomura, who has started a rehab assignment this week and is yet looking for command and control.
Fun Fact: 40 years ago this Saturday, Daniel Hall shredded the Falcons for six base hits in a 12-4 Raccoons win.
He was the second Coon to achieve the feat after Freddy Lopez in 1977, and only Jorge Salazar and Cookie Carmona have done it after him.
Cookie does not have a contract right now… the poor thing…