[Westheim]

Raccoons (15-9) @ Titans (12-13) – May 3-6, 2010

We continued our grand tour of the nation with two more stops on this 2-week road trip, continuing to the east coast to face the Titans, whom we had beaten 12 times in 2009. The Titans had the worst rotation so far, and allowed the fourth-most runs overall with a decent bullpen doing what was humanly possible. Their run differential was -4 with the third-most potent offense.

Projected matchups:
Jong-hoo Umberger (1-3, 4.18 ERA) vs. Jesus Cabrera (2-1, 4.91 ERA)
Javier Cruz (3-2, 2.78 ERA) vs. Mauro Castro (0-3, 5.09 ERA)
Kenichi Watanabe (2-2, 3.74 ERA) vs. Brian Patrick (1-3, 5.64 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (1-1, 3.91 ERA) vs. Jesus Elmore (2-2, 7.52 ERA)

And we continue to only face right-handers. Here come another four of them. And yet our hitting isn’t overly exciting.

Game 1
POR: LF T. Castro – 2B Merritt – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – 3B R. Martinez – C Bowen – CF White – SS Canning – P Umberger
BOS: 2B J. Ramirez – C M. Thomas – 1B T. Ramos – LF G. Rios – CF J. Gusmán – 3B M. Austin – SS Rodgers – RF Baez – P Cabrera

Cabrera issued three walks in the top of the first, which the Coons exploited just as well as Mark Austin’s transfer error on White’s grounder. Martinez drove in two with a double off the wall, and Canning scored two more with a single over the second base bag. The Titans meanwhile fielded a lineup that only had one right-hander in it with Mark Thomas, and immediately the Coons put on a display of a 4-0 lead that was in no way safe. Martinez made an error on Thomas’ grounder and Umberger walked a pair before the spook ended with Austin flying out softly to Tomas Castro to leave three on.

In a completely bonkers performance, Jesus Cabrera lasted four and two thirds, in which he walked eight batters, and also found time to strike out eight others. With a pitch count approaching 120 he was removed in the top 5th with Canning on base. Ramiro Román replaced him and walked Merritt and Alston with two outs before Quebell struck out to end the inning. Umberger had definitely cut down on the easy hittability between starts, and didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning (Austin single), and appeared good to go far which was that much more surprising given the lefty-laden lineup of the Titans. But of course, whatever confidence you may have, it shall be punished. Austin and Rodgers hit singles to start the bottom 7th and when Umberger walked Baez, the tying run came to the plate and there were no outs whatsoever. Donald Sims, who came in, provided no relief either, allowing a 2-run double to Bill Walters before he drilled Jesus Ramirez. Thomas hit into a double play to help the Coons, but the Titans scored three runs to make this one uncomfortably tight again. Yoshi hit a leadoff double in the top 8th that didn’t help any when Manuel Martinez struck out two in the inning. Punishment came swiftly when Beltran allowed a leadoff single to Gerardo Rios and then walked Gusmán in the bottom 8th. Ray Kelley failed to bail him out and the Titans scored two to take the lead just in time for Charlie Deacon to sniff out the Coons. 5-4 Titans. Nomura (PH) 1-1, 2B;

That team drew ELEVEN walks, and struck out THIRTEEN TIMES. They also left 11 on base.

Yeah well, okay. Just go ahead, just go ahead and **** it all up. It’s okay. I’m going to restore the liquor cabinet in the meantime.

Game 2
POR: LF T. Castro – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – CF White – SS Howell – P Cruz
BOS: 2B J. Ramirez – SS Rodgers – 1B T. Ramos – LF G. Rios – CF J. Gusmán – 3B M. Austin – C Lemberger – RF Thurman – P M. Castro

Like Umberger on Monday, Cruz didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning. Mauro Castro had put on Tomas Castro (single) and Merritt (walk) in the top 1st, then struck out Alston and Quebell en route to retire ten straight. Quebell then hit a double in the fourth, but raced on to third, where he was tagged out. Yeah, boys. Add rank stupidity to your general ineptness.

After four scoreless innings, power was provided for both teams in the fifth. Pat White hit a 2-piece while Zach Thurman hit a solo shot for the home team. While the Raccoons’ philosophy had always been that two runs gotta be enough, the Titans weren’t done, and Cruz ran into more trouble immediately. After getting two outs in the bottom 6th, Cruz was doubled off by Tony Ramos, then walked Rios. Javier Guzmán sent a ball to left center that Castro tried to make a lunging grab on, missed it, and it was only played by White. Ramos was in to score, but Gerardo Rios was thrown out at home to keep the game tied and move on to the seventh, where Yoshi got on in front of White again, but was rolled up with him in a double play. Bottom 8th, Beltran replaced Cruz and allowed a single to Samy Michel right away. Jesus Ramirez lined hard to first, but right into Quebell’s glove, who doubled off Michel. Top 9th, Merritt hit a leadoff single before Alston actually managed a strange beast, an extra base hit with a double to left. Two in scoring position for the Coons with nobody out, and not even them found a way to balk out of this chance without scoring. Quebell procured a lead with a sac fly to center, Bowen doubled in Alston, and a few batters later Ayers batted with one out and bases loaded and sent a ball to deep left, but was caught by Rios, who held Ayers to another sac fly. Angel Casas did his job well to tie the series. 5-2 Coons. Nomura 2-3, BB; White 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Cruz 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K;

The startling lack of left-handed opposition has made it hard to give our left-handers rest in this string of games. There probably won’t be a perfect opportunity, so we start resting them one by one now. Alston makes the start. He isn’t hitting the ball well anyway.

Game 3
POR: LF T. Castro – CF White – 3B R. Martinez – 1B Quebell – RF Ayers – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – C Owens – P Watanabe
BOS: 2B J. Ramirez – C M. Thomas – 1B T. Ramos – LF G. Rios – CF J. Gusmán – 3B M. Austin – SS Rodgers – RF Thurman – P Patrick

Miracles happened occasionally and so Rob Howell drove in the go-ahead run for the Raccoons batting with the sacks full and no outs in the top 2nd. He hit the sorriest looper over Jesus Ramirez for an RBI single before Owens grounded poorly to third base and enabled Mark Austin to throw home, where Keith Ayers was – as usual – out, and Watanabe hit into a 6-4-3, then allowed a run in the bottom 2nd to make the entire effort moot. But there would be more offense for the Coons, and Watanabe would be in the middle of it then. He led off the fifth – still in a 1-1 game – with a pop to right, almost on top of the foul line and in medium depth, and nobody got it, AND it bounced fair for a single. The Coons laboriously shoved him around the bases to score on a Quebell single to take a 2-1 lead, and Yoshi would hit a leadoff jack in the sixth to get to 3-1. Owens singled with one out and Watanabe’s bunt was airmailed over the dugout by Patrick, putting two Coons in scoring position. Gerardo Rios face-printed the wall in leftfield catching Tomas Castro’s drive, but at least that meant another run scoring on the sac fly, 4-1. There would not be much more to see of Kenichi, however, as the Titans pushed him off the mound with three hits and a run in the bottom of the same inning. Law Rockburn came in with two outs and two on to face Rodgers, who lined hard to right, but also right to Ayers for the third out.

The struggles didn’t end there, not for Rockburn, and not for anybody else. He got Thurman out to start the bottom 7th before Patrick singled (…), Ramirez walked, and Thomas also singled to center. Three on, one out, five left-handers up, and Sims and Beltran had already blown the series opener. Sims promptly blew this one, too, allowing a 2-run single to Tony Ramos. Brian Patrick remained in the game in the top 8th, even as the Raccoons build another case to get an undeserved win. Yoshi and Howell singled before Owens drew a full count walk, and then Ron Alston hit for Sims in the tied game. Patrick was not removed with Alston batting, and Alston promptly continued to hit like a well-overpaid third-rate dork and grounded to short, where Ken Rodgers threw home to nab Nomura. Tomas Castro provided relief with a single to center, scoring two, White also brought in a run off reliever Jeff Paul with a sac fly, and it was a 7-4 lead in the middle of the eighth. Ray Kelley took over on the mound, and while he faced only three and whiffed two, Angel pitched with the tying run at the plate in the ninth after another Michel single and him nicking Thomas (so, two ex-Coons on base), but the Titans didn’t break through with Gerardo Rios ultimately ending the game with a fly out to Castro. 7-4 Furballs. Quebell 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Nomura 3-5, HR, RBI; Howell 2-5, RBI;

In the category of things that just won’t work, even if I’m begging, the Raccoons tried to steal a base three times in this game, and were thrown out three times by Thomas. Martinez was nabbed twice, and White was also hammered out. We’re about last in stolen sacks… just like in homers…

Game 4
POR: LF Castro – 3B Merritt – CF White – RF Alston – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – SS Canning – 1B Heathershaw – P Baldwin
BOS: 2B J. Ramirez – C M. Thomas – CF J. Gusmán – RF G. Rios – 1B T. Ramos – 3B M. Austin – SS Rodgers – LF Baez – P Elmore

The Titans stuck to their left-handed lineup against Baldwin even. Listen Colin, they’re not thinking the least lick of you. Show ‘em!

At the very least, Baldwin showed up for the third inning, something that Elmore didn’t. Ron Alston opened the scoring with an RBI double in the first and also came in on a Bowen single, but Baldwin would give the 2-0 lead right back in the bottom of the first inning. However, the Coons sent ten batters to the plate in the top 2nd and scored five runs on a flurry of singles and walks, and Elmore was batted for in the bottom 2nd after allowing seven runs, and they were all earned. The Titans turned to Jorge Chapa, the ancient veteran, who had turned into a pumpkin over the winter. They tried to use him in long relief, but he gave up seven runs even quicker than Elmore had done. Pat White tripled with the bases loaded in the third to get to 10-2, and when the bases were loaded in the top 4th with one out, Chapa first threw a wild pitch and then was taken deep by Keith Ayers for a 3-run homer and a 14-2 score. While the game was long a blowout, it shouldn’t go unmentioned that Baldwin was hardly any good, allowed a homer to Marcos Baez in the fourth and left after a leadoff walk to Ramirez in the bottom 7th. Pat Slayton conceded the run after a bit of further scuffling, and the squishy part of our bullpen would allow another run on Slayton in the eighth, and Rios bombed Reese for two runs in the ninth. The Raccoons added a lone tally in the top 9th on some 2-out hitting by Quebell, Castro, and Martinez. 15-7 Raccoons! Castro 2-5, 2 BB; Merritt 4-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Martinez 1-1; Alston 2-3, 3 BB, 2B, RBI; Bowen 2-5, BB, 2 RBI; Canning 2-6; Heathershaw 3-6; Quebell (PH) 1-1;

Because nothing can ever go well with this team, Pat White left the game after his 3-run triple and had to be evaluated. Looks like he was in some pain. He was diagnosed with a groin strain the following day and headed to the DL, where he will reside for the rest of the month.

Raccoons (18-10) @ Blue Sox (13-14) – May 7-9, 2010

The Blue Sox had scuffled in April, but had gotten their act together now and had won five straight games. Their 114 runs scored ranked ninth in the FL, and their 117 runs allowed had them in sixth place. They actually had a better rotation compared to a horrible bullpen with a 5+ ERA.

The last three series between these teams ended in sweeps. The Blue Sox were triumphant in 2006, but the Coons swept them in 2007 and 2008. Overall, we’re 33-30 against them.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (6-0, 0.81 ERA) vs. Tim Bailey (1-0, 1.13 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (1-3, 4.24 ERA) vs. Toshiro Uenohara (1-1, 2.21 ERA)
Javier Cruz (3-2, 2.75 ERA) vs. Jorge Silva (2-2, 5.74 ERA)

… and three right-handers! The Coons will have played over 90% of their games against right-handers by Sunday.

We also called up Santiago Trevino as replacement for Pat White. He wasn’t batting all that much in AAA, but our other 40-man reserves, Jerry Saenz and Pete Schipper, were even worse. Jason Seeley was not on the 40-man roster, and wasn’t batting .200 either.

Game 1
POR: 3B Merritt – 2B Nomura – LF Alston – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – RF Ayers – CF Trevino – SS Howell – P Brown
NAS: SS Sato – LF J. Gomez – 3B A. Esquivel – RF J. Ortíz – CF Burke – C Valadez – 1B Griffin – 2B Correa – P Bailey

Brown lacked bite, control, and anything else you would desire in your starting pitcher in his seventh start of the season, which early on was obviously not going to be his seventh win. The Coons had their first two men on base against Tim Bailey in his second start of the season before Alston hit into a double play and let the air out of the entire lineup. Brown walked Jose Gomez in the bottom 1st, who was then scored by Juan Ortíz, and in the bottom of the third inning the Blue Sox, starting with Gomez, would hit four straight singles, three of those on 1-0 counts, off Brown to take a 3-0 lead.

The fourth inning saw the Coons storm the board in slo-mo fashion then. Bowen led off with a double and Ayers managed to reach on an infield single that Jose Correa didn’t play in time. Santiago Trevino followed Bowen’s liner to deep right with another double, scoring the catcher and putting the tying runs in scoring position with no outs and Rob Howell at the plate, meaning this was a lost cause. Except that the Blue Sox walked him intentionally to bring up Brown, who batted .500, but grounded one straight to Correa, who picked it, dropped it, missed it, and everybody was safe! Merritt tied the game taking a close call for ball four in a full count, and there was still nobody out. The final toot in the inning belonged to Yoshi, who hit the third double to right to score a pair, but when Alston flew out to center, Merritt went and was thrown out at home, although Ayers’ number was logged in the scorebook. The struggling Bailey would walk six men in total in the game, but the Raccoons, when having runners on the corners in the top 5th with one out, let him off the hook with a Howell pop and a groundout to Correa by Brownie.

And Brown never found his groove in this game, not even a tiny bit. Him working seven innings on nine hits and three walks, with six whiffs, looked a lot like a python trying to swallow a pig and getting stuck halfway through, but he did end his outing with a strikeout to Jake Burke and thus on a mildly high note, still in a 5-3 game. The rest of the team still tried to give birth to a win here, despite Law walking Ricardo Valadez at the start of the bottom 8th. He then got the next two batters and Luis Beltran got the third out from Bartolo Román. And in the bottom 9th, Angel again put the leadoff man on base, Kuni Sato reaching on a single. He rebounded with a strikeout to Jose Gomez before Antonio Esquivel hit one sharply to Yoshi, who started a game-ending 4-6-3. 5-3 Brownies. Merritt 2-4, BB, RBI; Ayers 3-4;

If we win our next game, we’ll be the first team in the majors to 20 victories, perhaps tied with the Miners, who are also at 19 wins so far.

Game 2
POR: LF Castro – 1B Merritt – RF Alston – C Bowen – 3B R. Martinez – 2B Nomura – CF Trevino – SS Canning – P Umberger
NAS: SS Sato – LF J. Gomez – 3B A. Esquivel – RF J. Ortíz – C Walston – 1B Brady – CF Burke – 2B Correa – P Uenohara

While the Coons got a run in the first, Umberger was a total mess and allowed three walks and two hits in the bottom of the first inning. The Blue Sox scored two runs, and Ron Alston threw out Kuni Sato at home before that. Martinez singled to start the top 2nd, then was caught stealing for the third time this week, but in the next inning Castro got on, stole second base and then scored on Jon Merritt’s SECOND triple of the day. He had already tripled in the first inning and then scored on Alston’s groundout. With this second triple, the game was tied, and Alston gave the Furballs the lead for the second time on the day, now with a clean single to left, 3-2. Bowen hit into a double play before the team came back with two outs. Martinez and Nomura reached before Trevino tripled them in, and when Clyde Brady missed Canning’s grounder to right, the Raccoons were up 6-2.

Enter Umberger and a swift scoreboard destruction. He faced six batters in the third inning. Gomez, Esquivel, Ortíz, and Walston all singled, then he walked Brady and Burke, leading to his forceful removal from the game. Ray Kelley replaced him, Correa hit into a double play, but the tying run scored, and we were starting anew in the fourth inning with a 6-6 score. And after that flurry of runs in the first three innings, the middle three innings were scoreless. Kelley, Beltran, and Reese threw the fourth, fifth, and sixth in order. In the top 7th, Rick Nicholls walked the first two Coons, Merritt and Alston, bringing up Bowen. The two would battle with a lot of close pitches before Bowen drew the third walk of the inning. Bases loaded, no outs, in a tied game. Quebell hit for Martinez against the righty Nicholls, the Blue Sox didn’t budge, and Quebell grounded to Correa, who threw out Merritt at home. But we got the lead again when Yoshi singled up the middle, scoring Alston, and Bowen would come home on Trevino’s sac fly, 8-6.

Reese threw a scoreless seventh and then even was sent batting in the top 8th, leading off. Angel had pitched three of four days, and we had to roll the dice a little bit and stay away from him if at all possible. Of course, this wouldn’t work out as planned. The Coons went down in order in the top 8th, and Burke singled to start the bottom of the eighth. Correa and Jim Phillips made outs before Sato grounded back to Reese, who made the worst throw in the season yet, far past Quebell at first base, allowing Burke to score and putting the tying run into scoring position. Rockburn took over against Jose Gomez, who grounded a 3-1 pitch to first base. No hit by any opponent could be as much of a challenge for Quebell as Reese’s throw had been, and the inning ended with an 8-7 lead. The Coons got two on in the top 9th, left them on, and we went to Angel after all. He struck out Esquivel before Ortíz bounced a 1-2 pitch barely halfway between home and third. Jon Merritt’s bare-handed play and throw went almost as far past first base as Ted Reese’s throw, and the tying run was in scoring position yet again. Pat Walston bounced out to first, with left-handed Daron Griffin batting in the #6 hole. He lined a 1-0 pitch really hard to left. Tomas Castro had to shake those paws as he raced out to the line and … made the grab! 8-7 Greycoats. Merritt 2-4, BB, 2 3B, RBI; Alston 3-4, BB, 2 RBI; Martinez 2-3; Nomura 3-5, RBI; Canning 2-4, RBI; Kelley 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

The Miners lost, and we are indeed the first and sole team to 20 wins. In no way was it a pretty game, though. Brrr. We have won five straight now, though, and we could have seven straight if not for that entirely dumb loss on Monday.

Game 3
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – LF Alston – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – RF Ayers – SS Howell – P Cruz
NAS: SS Sato – LF J. Gomez – 3B A. Esquivel – RF J. Ortíz – C Walston – 1B Brady – CF Burke – 2B Correa – P J. Silva

Another game, another Raccoons starter getting shoved a lit dynamite stick beneath the tail. After Clyde Brady grounded out to start the bottom 2nd, Burke, Correa, Silva, and Sato all hit singles against Cruz, plating the first two runs. Gomez popped out to Nomura, but then Esquivel doubled in a pair, and scored on the next double by Ortíz. Cruz then walked Walston on four pitches, and we really didn’t have enough pen to take him out, but Brady hit a 2-run double, and Burke came up with another double. Correa flew out to right, but that was an 8-run inning, and the end of our most recent mini-streak. Yoshi Nomura hit a 3-run double in the top 3rd, but come on… Cruz pitched the bottom 3rd, almost handed a 2-run homer to Esquivel, and it was more than enough. Pat Slayton came into the game to have at it, which amounted to four innings of 2-run ball and a lot of mess in those, including a wild pitch that cost a run eventually, and a balk that didn’t. There were no offensive heroics whatsoever from the Raccoons, who got romped to end this nerve-wrecking week. 10-3 Blue Sox. Nomura 2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Heathershaw (PH) 1-1;

Did we have a single game this week that wasn’t nerve-wrecking? Ummm. Nope!

In other news

May 3 – SFB 2B/SS Bartolo Hernandez (.404, 0 HR, 6 RBI) racks up his 2,500th career hit in the Bayhawks’ 7-6 win over the Aces on Monday. The milestone hit is a third-inning single off Jimmy Young. Hernandez spent the first 15 years of his career from 1995 to 2009 with the Loggers, leading the league in hits three times and in stolen bases once, and also won five Gold Gloves.
May 4 – Chronic shoulder soreness lets the Scorpions shut down SAC SP Kevin Beaver (2-1, 2.57 ERA), presumably for the rest of the year.
May 7 – Big day for LVA RF/LF Ricardo Garcia (.328, 8 HR, 19 RBI): the 27-year old slugger has four hits in a 10-4 smashing of the Gold Sox, hitting for the cycle in the process! The feeling is nothing new for Garcia, who already hit for the cycle on September 3 of last season against the Falcons. He is the second batter to hit for back-to-back cycles in the ABL after Salem’s Carlos León, who hit for two cycles in 1982, and there is only one other batter with two cycles, Bruce Boyle, who also hit his two cycles for the same team, the Condors, but 11 years apart.
May 9 – DAL CF/LF César Morán (.286, 1 HR, 6 RBI) will miss a month with an oblique strain.
May 9 – SFW INF Oliver Torres (.308, 0 HR, 8 RBI) is back on the DL with an oblique strain. He should be out for a month.

Complaints and stuff

Why does always the entire rotation go to **** at the same time? This week: 36.2 IP, 47 H, 28 ER, 19 BB, 26 K. That ain’t even replacement level.

Keith Ayers’ homer off Jorge Chapa on Thursday was our first homer by a right-hander all year. Nick Brown struggled in his start, but should click off another “100” in strikeouts in his next start which will take place at home against the Stars either on Wednesday or Thursday, depending on whether we want to skip Watanabe or even Baldwin. Brownie has 1,897 K right now.

Matt Pruitt will return to the team right off the DL by the next weekend. He is more or less good right now, but his 15 days aren’t up yet.

Because things aren’t bad enough with the starting pitchers that are around in Portland, there’s also bad news in Ham Lake, where 2007 first rounder Kevin Denton’s season ends with a torn elbow ligament. He had been 2-1 with a 3.89 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 34 innings. How’s that other hot AA SP prospect doing? Rich Hood is 1-2 with a 2.38 ERA with 28 K in 26 innings, less BB/9 and a higher BABIP than Denton. Hood looks like a hot promotion candidate later in the season.