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Old 07-15-2019, 04:39 PM   #2913
Westheim
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All Star Game

The Federal League notched a 4-2 win over the Continental League, with WAS C Nate Evans (.289, 7 HR, 50 RBI) named the game’s MVP. Evans hit the walkoff homer off Milwaukee’s Morgan Shepherd in the 11th inning that put the game to an end. Nashville’s Jim Allen also shone with three base hits, but could not get any help from people around him in the lineup.

For the Coons, Alberto Ramos played the whole game and went a snacky 0-for-5, while Ricky Ohl pitched a scoreless 10th inning before everything came crashing down.

Raccoons (37-51) vs. Loggers (54-36) – July 17-20, 2031

Following the split in Milwaukee the previous week, the Raccoons trailed 6-2 in the season series. The Loggers had been swept the previous weekend and the Raccoons hoped to get a few more wins in here, too. There was still that almost two decades old string of never dropping the season series… but I didn’t like our chances against a team that was already 16 games ahead of us…

Projected matchups:
Jason Gurney (5-4, 2.87 ERA) vs. Josh Weeks (7-5, 3.02 ERA)
Dave Martinez (3-6, 5.00 ERA) vs. Joe West (7-7, 4.42 ERA)
Ed Hague (5-6, 4.03 ERA) vs. Francisco Colmenarez (9-5, 3.08 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (4-8, 5.49 ERA) vs. Morgan Shepherd (5-5, 2.01 ERA)

Weeks and Colmenarez were the only southpaws in the Loggers’ rotation.

Game 1
MIL: 3B Lockert – LF Cambra – SS W. Morris – 1B M. Monroe – RF Stephenson – CF Creech – C Canody – 2B Parten – P Weeks
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Wallace – LF Jamieson – 3B Hereford – CF Catella – 1B Howden – C Rocha – P Gurney

The game unraveled right from the start, all thanks to Jarod Howden, the dumb pig. Matt Lockert reached on an infield single when Howden just ate his grounder, and then Howden dropped a Firmino Cambra pop. Two on, nobody out, Gurney unravelling right away, and Wayne Morris’ hopper over the second base bag made it 1-0 in a hurry. That was not enough to send me to the liquor cabinet, but Josh Stephenson’s homer to left sure was. 4-0 in the first, and it was ALL Howden’s fault, the dumb pig!! (angrily shakes Capt’n Coma bottle) Alright, alright, Gurney was also pitching like horse ****. Lockert and Cambra knocked base hits in the second, and Morris hit a sac fly, 5-0. Jason Parten would knock out Gurney with a 2-run single in the third inning, and we had a bullpen day RIGHT AWAY in the first game after the ****ing All Star Game. Gurney’s line closed at 2.1 innings, eight runs, seven of those earned. Josh Boles waved Parten around, and allowed actually another run on a Lockert double and a Cambra single. By now it was merely 9-0.

Boles would be used for eight outs, because when your tossing like garbage, garbage innings is what you’ll get. Speaking of garbage, while the brown-clad team was covered in it, they actually made it onto the board… eventually. Tim Stalker extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a fifth-inning double that plated Rocha and Ramos for two tiny runs that weren’t going to change anything. One run fell out of David Fernandez in the eighth, which didn’t matter, and Rich Hereford drove in a run in the Coons’ half of the eighth, which didn’t either. For ****’s sake, Jarod Howden, the dumb pig, plated a pair with a 2-out blooper in the shallow gap, and that still didn’t matter. 10-5 Loggers. Ramos 2-5; Stalker 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Howden 2-4, 2 RBI;

(takes deep breaths)

Game 2
MIL: 3B Lockert – CF Creech – SS W. Morris – C J. Young – RF Stephenson – 1B M. Monroe – LF D.J. Mendez – 2B Holder – P J. West
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Wallace – LF Jamieson – 1B Howden – CF Vanatti – 3B Nunley – C Leal – P Martinez

Martinez put three guys on in the first inning, allowing singles to Wayne Morris and Jim Young, then nailed Stephenson real good, but Miles Monroe popped out. Martinez put three guys on in the second inning on a single by D.J. Mendez, Joe West reaching base on a bunt on Martinez’ own stupid error, and then Gabe Creech knocked a clean single to left for the game’s first run. He ticked off the wild pitch in the third inning, and in terms of stupid **** Martinez thus lacked only balking in a run and falling off the mound in a wind gust and breaking his ****ing ass at this point… The Critters meanwhile did next to nothing the first time through the order, then got Stalker and Wallace to the corners with a pair of leadoff singles in the fourth. Oh, offense! How were they gonna – … easy, Professor Plum, in the conservatory, with the spanner… or, more accurately, Matt Jamieson with a 5-4-3 double play grounder, that did score the tying run, but… ah …!! Howden struck out, the dumb pig.

Kaleb Holder singled in the go-ahead run with one out in the sixth. Miles Monroe had doubled off the leftfield wall to begin that inning, and Martinez didn’t make it out on the other side, either, being yanked after a 2-out walk to Matt Lockert. Fleischer rung up Creech to strand runners on the corners in the 2-1 game. A touch of offense could be enough to turn this game around again…! Jim Young touched a Fleischer fastball, however, for a solo homer in the seventh, and when Young came up again he also touched Chris Wise in the naughty spot in the ninth inning with an RBI double to plate Creech. The Coons got two men on with two outs in the bottom 7th, but Armando Leal continued to not be a contributor, while Hereford was on base leading off the eighth, and then was doubled off by Stalker. Alfredo Casique retired the meat of the order in the bottom 9th without putting anybody on base. 4-1 Loggers. Stalker 2-4, 2B; Howden 2-4, 2B; Magallanes (PH) 1-1;

We now have to win … seven of … eight? …against the Loggers to extend the streak? … Maybe, if a conjunction of planets- yeah, no, it’s over.

EVERYTHING IS OVER.

Playing was, too, temporarily, on Saturday, where it just rained all day long. This scheduled a double header for Sunday, which was totally not going to screw up our pitching plans…

Game 3
MIL: 3B Lockert – LF Cambra – SS W. Morris – C J. Young – RF Stephenson – 1B M. Monroe – CF Creech – 2B Holder – P Colmenarez
POR: CF Magallanes – SS Stalker – RF Wallace – LF Jamieson – 3B Hereford – 1B Howden – C Rocha – 2B Cass – P Hague

Ed Hague didn’t strike out anybody until the fifth inning in the first leg of the Sunday twin-bill, but at least he also didn’t allow a hit through five! Less pretty was the Coons’ disinterest in scoring runs themselves. Magallanes had opened the bottom 1st with a single and had been doubled off by Stalker right away, and they had merely existed ever since. Ironically it would be the opposing pitcher to take away the no-hit bid when Colmenarez singled up the middle with one down in the sixth. Both Lockert and Cambra flew out easily to left, though.

Top 7th, still scoreless, but at least the Loggers had woken up now. Morris and Young opened the inning with line drive singles, and pinch-hitter D.J. Mendez drew a 4-pitch walk to load the sacks with nobody retired. And OF COURSE the skies came down…! Miles Monroe hit a clean RBI single for the first blotch on the scoreboard, with more following soon. PH Esteban Arroyo popped out, but Kaleb Holder grounded to second, and 2005 Ugliest Baby Boy award winner Sam Cass couldn’t turn two on a trivial play. A run scored and runners were on the corners for Colmenarez, who grounded to Sam Cass, who couldn’t be any uglier if someone broke a full ash tray forcefully on his nose, and ****ed the play, with the ball rolling out of his glove and into rightfield, allowing another run to come around. Lockert struck out, but the damage was done with three runs on Hague, two of them earned, and one actually merited. Not that the Loggers were that stellar; base hits by Jamieson and Hereford in the bottom 7th would turn into runs merely on a passed ball charged to Young and a Morris error with Daniel Rocha batting with two outs. That nominally made it a close game, 3-2, but the sirens kept howling in he bottomless pit in the center of the field, and Firmino Cambra rammed a leadoff homer in the eighth to give the Loggers a cushion. Hague lasted one more out, and Garavito put in the rest of the outs missing in regulation, but it was all in vain. No Raccoon reached base again facing Colmenarez in the eighth and Casique in the ninth. 4-2 Loggers.

Slappy, what pills did the Druid prescribe for you? Because mine don’t really give me any spin even in a pint of Capt’n Coma…

Game 4
MIL: 3B Lockert – LF Cambra – SS W. Morris – 1B M. Monroe – RF Stephenson – CF Creech – C Canody – 2B Holder – P Shepherd
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Wallace – LF Hereford – 1B Howden – CF Vanatti – 3B Nunley – C Leal – P Gutierrez

Loggers led early on with a run produced on a Cambra double and a Morris single, and the ball was flying great distances off Rico Gutierrez right away in this game, or any other, really… The Furballs got Ramos and Stalker to the corners to begin the bottom 1st, and Jimmy Wallace tied the game with a groundout, which would have been fine if somebody would have brought in Stalker from second. Nobody did; Hereford walked, Howden popped out, and Vanatti just whiffed and sat down. That would not be enough to support Gutierrez, who plainly sucked, and was one of a number of candidates who faced banishment when the crop of DL dwellers would resume pitching. Creech hit a leadoff single in the second, but was caught stealing. In the third, Cambra and Morris reached base with one out, and Stephenson lined a single over Ramos with two down. Cambra was sent and thrown out by Hereford, keeping the score tied. Bottom 3rd, Ramos drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and was on third with two outs. Hereford walked again, leaving things to Howden. The dumb pig fouled out behind home plate at 0-2.

The go-ahead run was in scoring position again in the bottom 4th, and again with no outs. Vanatti ripped a double down the line. While Nunley popped out, the runner advanced on a wild pitch, then came home when Armando Leal got his weekly hit, a single to left, 2-1 Coons. Leal would be bunted to second by Gutierrez, then driven home by Ramos with two outs, leaving Ramos unretired in three attempts, and giving the Coons as many runs in a 3-1 game. Gutierrez inched through the fifth on just over 70 pitches, and with an army of relievers still available (only Garavito had been used in the first leg of the double header) we’d watch every move and sneeze he made from here on out, which stunningly included batting again in he bottom 5th. While he struck out to end the frame, by then the Coons had scored two after getting Wallace, Howden (singles), and Nunley (walk) on base, and then getting Leal to hit a ball over Monroe for a 2-out, 2-run single, 5-1. Rico would retain the ball as long as he didn’t create serious traffic, which we deemed to be two men on base or a run on the board. Or… well… weather. Rico got two to begin the sixth, then started to get wet from above rather than from all the surrounding bases. The game continued for the moment, though, with Taylor Canody flying out to Wallace to end the inning.

Meanwhile, Ramos was running up a score, too. He had walked and stolen a bag in the first, and walked and stolen a bag in the third. In the sixth, he opened the inning by singling against Julio Palomo, stole second, Stalker walked, and then they stole a pair in unison, giving Ramos four on the day. Wallace lined out to Holder while Hereford reached base on catcher’s interference, giving this game, too, a weird-ass touch. Howden got a run home with a sac fly, 6-1, before Vanatti popped out. In light but steady rain, Rico Gutierrez lasted six and two thirds before two Loggers were on base. Granted, Lockert reached on a Ramos error before a Cambra single to center, but his run would count the same as any other… Ricky Ohl came on, walked Morris in a full count, then rung up Monroe in another, stranding three. Anaya and Fernandez handled the baseball from there, while Ramos drew a leadoff walk against Travis Feider in the bottom 8th. He wouldn’t, would he? He would, but should he? Could he? Stalker batted with a hit-and-run called, but flew out to Stephenson, forcing Ramos back. Wallace whiffed, and with Hereford up, the Coons called a run-and-hit; Hereford whiffed, but so did Canody, and Ramos stole his fifth bag of the game and 37th of the season, the best performance by any player in a game that also saw Firmino Cambra go unretired, but with much, much less splash. 6-1 Coons. Ramos 2-2, 3 BB, RBI; Leal 2-4, 3 RBI; Gutierrez 6.2 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, W (5-8);

In other news

July 14 – Teenage wonder DAL INF Jon Ramos (.350, 2 HR, 33 RBI) will miss six weeks with an oblique strain. He will have turned 20 by the time he comes off the DL.
July 16 – The Crusaders deal 3B Ryan Czachor (.263, 2 HR, 27 RBI) to the Titans for RF Corey Curro (.179, 0 HR, 3 RBI). Both players are over 35 years old.
July 19 – Salem’s OF/1B/SS Noel Ferrero (.294, 3 HR, 42 RBI) smacks five hits, including a double and a grand slam, in a 5-RBI effort that gives the Wolves a 9-8 win over the Pacifics. The game ends with two outs in the bottom 9th when LAP MR Gabriel Recio (1-1, 3.60 ERA, 1 SV) nails SAL C Jing-quo Liu (.231, 4 HR, 26 RBI) with the bases loaded.

Complaints and stuff

This was a depressing stump week. They played horrendously. Besides, oddly, Rico Gutierrez, who got the lone W against the Loggers, which also puts us down 3-9 in the season series, so, eh, yeah… no more droning about that stat in the future…

Alberto Ramos not only entered the history books on Sunday (see below) but also has entered the 23-strong 300 SB club. He is currently chasing Lorenzo Rivera of Los Angeles for 22nd spot.

Nothing else really happened. Next week will see us in another double header right away against the Elks, but that will come on the other side of an off day, so that’s weird… We will also have the Knights in next week.

Fun Fact: Alberto Ramos became the first Continental League player EVER to swipe five bases in a single game!

The feat has been achieved three times in the Federal League, and all instances have come in the last decade. Capitals Guillermo Obando (2023) and Enrique Trevino (2030) were the first to do it, and Oscar Mendoza of the Pacifics also took a handful last year in August.

Nobody has ever taken six in a game.
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