[Westheim]

Raccoons (20-11) vs. Stars (16-14) – May 11-13, 2010

Dallas was fourth in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed in the Federal League, with a +1 run differential. Their rotation had a 4.38 ERA to them, 7th in the FL, but that was still soundly better than what the Coons had put up in the last week…

We had played the Stars both of the last two years, taking five of six games in total. Overall, we were 26-25 against them over the course of ABL history (plus a clean, yet still sour defeat in the 1983 World Series).

Projected matchups:
Kenichi Watanabe (2-2, 3.62 ERA) vs. Paul Miller (2-3, 4.53 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (2-1, 4.31 ERA) vs. Ramiro Gonzalez (3-1, 4.93 ERA)
Nick Brown (7-0, 1.23 ERA) vs. Victor Scott (3-1, 2.89 ERA)

Whoah, boys! Settle down! We’re gonna get not only one, but TWO left-handed opposing pitchers in this series! Both Gonzalez and Scott throw from the left side, and … whoah!

We won’t skip anybody in the rotation despite a convenient opportunity, mainly for reasons stated before.

Game 1
DAL: CF Cowan – LF Al. Rodriguez – 3B Berman – RF Bonneau – 2B H. Garcia – C R. Garza – 1B C. Parker – SS Ar. Rodriguez – P P. Miller
POR: LF Castro – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – CF Trevino – SS Howell – P Watanabe

Rob Howell kept sabotaging his employment status in this game, making another headache-inducing error in the second inning by completely shafting a fast grounder by Chris Parker, a long-ago Coon that was still surviving in the league. While Watanabe survived that scare and got Armando Rodriguez, the top 3rd was led off by Paul Miller with a double. Watanabe threw a wild pitch to really, really make sure that the Stars would get him in, while the Coons were completely silent the first time through the order. Watanabe was not great, but survived thanks to a timely double play turned in the sixth and held the Stars to that single run through six and two thirds, but that still had him on the short end. In six innings, the Critters managed only two hits and two walks off Miller. When Bowen drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 7th it was time to roll the dice and Martinez ran for him. He finally stole that first base of the season and scored on two fly outs by Nomura and Trevino – all that effort just to tie the game. Miller continued to be a tough customer, but allowed a 2-out blooper to Merritt in the bottom 8th, then threw a wild pitch and made a 3-2 mistake to Ron Alston, who grounded a pitch past the reach of Armando Rodriguez into center and Merritt scored the go-ahead run. Angel Casas was in for the ninth, who was in trouble again after a leadoff double by Hector Garcia, with two lefties next. Casas wouldn’t strike out any of those, but Rafael Garza popped out to Alston in shallow right, and Chris Parker grounded out to Merritt, who was on first base by now. Armando Rodriguez came up with Garcia on third base, and he went down in three pitches. 2-1 Critters. Alston 2-3, BB, RBI; Bowen 1-2, BB, 2B; Watanabe 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K; Beltran 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (3-1);

Both teams scratched out only four hits in this game, and things could really have gone either way. We gotta watch our back. While the Crusaders are still dingling around in fifth place, the smelling Elks are right on our heels, being one game down at this point.

Game 2
DAL: CF Cowan – C P. Fernandez – 3B Berman – RF Bonneau – 2B H. Garcia – 1B J. Gutierrez – LF Keshishian – SS Ar. Rodriguez – P R. Gonzalez
POR: CF Castro – 1B Merritt – C Bowen – LF Alston – 3B R. Martinez – RF Ayers – SS Canning – 2B Heathershaw – P Baldwin

The Stars got their four hits in early in the middle game and scored two runs in the second inning with two doubles by Gutierrez and Keshishian. The Raccoons went down in order in the first, but in the bottom 2nd Alston singled and Martinez doubled to have the tying runs in scoring position with no outs, but were held to one run on Ayers’ groundout before Canning struck out and Heathershaw rolled out to short. While that was about the output for the Critters early on, Baldwin never started allowing hits, but the Stars didn’t score more runs through five. The start of the sixth inning however saw Garcia hit a double past Alston, and Baldwin then walked Juan Gutierrez. Two on, no outs, Ray Kelley replaced him, got Tirgen Keshishian to ground out to third base, was lucky with a soft line by Rodriguez right to Canning, and then struck out Ramiro Gonzalez. Reese held on in the seventh, but Yohan Bonneau homered (quite impressively) off Donald Sims in the eighth to run the score to 3-1. The Stars now had more runs than the Critters had hits, and they just didn’t get going… The Stars hit three 1-out singles off Pat Slayton in the top 9th, but with the bases loaded Hector Garcia hit hard to Yoshi at second base, who started the double play. Down by two runs and 11 hits, the Coons faced Kevin Wanless in the bottom 9th and had the theoretical chance for a ridiculous comeback, but nope, just nope. Merritt singled, Bowen hit into a double play, then Alston singled, yet if there would have been less than two outs, Martinez’ grounder to short would have been another double play. 3-1 Stars. Alston 2-3, BB;

So, lemme see. Last week was ****ty Pitching Week. This week is ****ty Hitting Week then? At least the Elks were romped for 15 runs by the Scorpions and we remain a game ahead and they have tomorrow off.

Game 3
DAL: CF Cowan – LF Al. Rodriguez – 3B Berman – 2B H. Garcia – 1B J. Gutierrez – C P. Fernandez – RF Keshishian – SS Ar. Rodriguez – P Scott
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – LF Alston – 1B Quebell – RF Ayers – 2B Nomura – SS Canning – C Owens – P Brown

In the most stunningly depressing top 1st in some time (which says something), Nick Brown struck out Joe Cowan before hitting consecutive batters. Hector Garcia struck out on a 3-2 pitch with the runners off, Owens threw wildly to third base, Merritt didn’t come up with the ball, and Alejandro Rodriguez scored. Gutierrez struck out, giving Brown three strikeouts in the inning, no addition to his WHIP, but still a 1-0 deficit. No Star would make an out in the field until Scott grounded out to Yoshi to start the top 3rd, with Brownie having struck out the side in the second. Owens tried to make up for his earlier mistake and hit a double to get the bottom 3rd going. Brown, still batting more than should be remotely possible, raised his average to .478 with a single to center, giving the Critters runners on the corners with no outs. While Castro flew out to Joe Cowan, and Owens was safe at home with the tying run for a sac fly, Merritt hit a single, and then the Coons outrageously got a batter to hit a fourth homer on the year when Ron Alston pumped an 0-1 pitch to right, clearly uncatchable for anybody, and this gave Brownie a 4-1 lead. Quebell then was thrown out at third base on a double for the second time in not-a-long-time, before Ayers hit an infield single, but the Coons didn’t get any more.

While Brown had struck out seven of the first ten batters, he wouldn’t strike out anybody else for a while and the Stars started to hit singles, but couldn’t score again through five. In the bottom 5th, we had Merritt on first with one out. Alston fouled out before Quebell doubled to right center. Merritt was sent around third, but out at home, despite not being Keith Ayers. In the bottom 6th we had two on with two out and Brown batting on 98 pitches. That was a toughie, but he had snipped one already, so perhaps he could … He poked at the first pitch, a soft line to shallow center, and that was just IN, and Walt Canning scored from second on the single, 5-1. Brown pitched a clean seventh, but didn’t strike out a batter past the third inning. Beltran and Kelley took care of the top 8th, with Kelley’s turn coming up with two out and two on in the bottom 8th. This time we obviously hit for the pitcher, but Martinez grounded out. Then we had Law Rockburn in, who faced three batters, and all three reached. Garcia doubled, Gutierrez singled, and then Merritt bungled a soft grounder, and the tying run was at the plate in Chris Parker, while Angel Casas entered the fray. Parker removed the tying run from the plate on a single pitch, grounding to Rob Howell at short for a double play. Angel then struck out Armando Rodriguez to lock down Brownie’s eighth win. 5-2 Brownies! Merritt 2-4; Quebell 2-4, 2 2B; Owens 2-3, BB, 2B; Brown 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (8-0) and 2-3, RBI; Casas 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, SV (14);

Raccoons (22-12) @ Loggers (12-22) – May 14-16, 2010

By now, the Loggers had found their way into the dark pits of last place in the CL North, which was not something that came very surprisingly. They weren’t scoring runs, and they were allowing lots, ranking in the bottom 3 in both categories. The only thing they did semi-competently was a decently composed bullpen, which ranked sixth in ERA in the CL. That was the ONLY stat among the 22 main batting and pitching rankings in which they held a first division rank, except home runs allowed, where they *tied* for sixth. For comparison, the only stats of those 22 in which the Coons were in the second division were home runs (the ****!!) and stolen bases, holding the entirety or a share of tenth place (…!!??) as this series started. The Coons had swept the Loggers in the first 3-game set this season.

Projected matchups:
Jong-hoo Umberger (1-3, 5.50 ERA) vs. A.J. Bartels (1-2, 5.06 ERA)
Javier Cruz (3-3, 4.25 ERA) vs. Roy Thomas (3-3, 3.80 ERA)
Kenichi Watanabe (2-2, 3.18 ERA) vs. Alfredo Rios (0-7, 6.35 ERA)

Matt Pruitt returned off the DL for this series. Walt Canning had batted .250, but hadn’t set the world on fire exactly, and since Rob Howell had no options left, we stuck with him and Canning was sent back to St. Petersburg.

Game 1
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – P Umberger
MIL: 2B Moultrie – SS Luján – 1B Catalo – LF T. Austin – C Baca – 3B Mateo – CF Brissett – RF Campbell – P Bartels

That particular lineup the Loggers sent had exactly two batters with better than a .660 OPS, and they were batting 1-2. They promptly singled off Umberger, who had been mauled badly recently, and that wasn’t something that was over. Alonso Baca homered with two outs and the Loggers held a 3-0 lead. While Bartels would strike out Raccoons in droves in this start, Umberger never stopped sucking and was charged with 11 hits and five runs in 5 2/3 innings. The Raccoons had three hits through six, scoring a run in the second on a Howell sac fly, and another one in the sixth on a solo shot by Quebell and trailed by three against … against friggin’ A.J. Bartels. In the seventh, Pruitt drew a walk as the first man up, only for Yoshi to ground to first for a nifty 3-6-3 that nobody would have thought Leborio Catalo could turn. Howell then doubled for nought. Top 8th, Castro didn’t get on, but Merritt did, and when Alston yanked another shot (getting hot? Oh please, get hot!) the Coons were suddenly one run down. Loggers closer Micah Steele had no cushion in the ninth, which started with Yoshi batting and a single to shallow left center. Heathershaw ran for Yoshi while we preferred the nominally faster Martinez to bat for Howell, but he flew out. Trevino batted for Slayton and hit a line to right that fell to Earl Campbell’s right, but he got a good enough grab on it that we couldn’t send Heathershaw all the way around. Still, one out, runners on second and third, and Tomas Castro batting – you can to worse when 5-4 behind. Except that Castro struck out and Merritt bounced out to Antonio Luján. 5-4 Loggers. Alston 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Trevino (PH) 1-1, 2B; Slayton 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K;

In case you’re worried, while Jong-hoo Umberger would be under team control in 2011 (and thru ’13), his guaranteed contract ends this season, which MIGHT be a blessing, although I can’t figure out what in the living hell is wrong with him in the first place. Ah, the Elks lost, too, and come on, how often can we lose to those ****ty Loggers?

Game 2
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – C Bowen – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – P Cruz
MIL: CF J.R. Richardson – SS Luján – 1B Catalo – LF T. Austin – C Baca – 3B Mateo – 2B Moultrie – RF Campbell – P R. Thomas

While Cruz walked a pair in the bottom 1st, the middle infield dug him out of that mess, and the Raccoons looked like they were in business in the top 2nd. Bowen singled, Pruitt doubled, and between Roy Thomas, Jaime Mateo, and Alonso Baca, nobody could play Yoshi’s bouncer that became a bases-loading infield single (In the confusion of three Loggers falling on top of that grounder, Baca seemed like he had managed to get a firm grip on that ball at first, but in slo-mo you could see that he had merely grabbed Mateo’s groin). Howell’s continued suckage continued with a strikeout, but Cruz(!) singled in a pair of runs for an early lead that he gave back immediately and with passion. He walked Mateo to start the bottom 2nd (the poor boy wouldn’t have legged out a homer after getting his netherregions squelched), then continued to inflict pain by drilling Todd Moultrie on the arm, but the second-baser wasn’t seriously hurt (or killed). The Coons’ efforts and my patience were, though, after two run-scoring singles in the inning, and we were back to two and two.

While the Greycoats went on to strand at least one runner an inning, the Loggers waited with their fatality move as well, but would score the go-ahead run in the bottom 5th on a sac fly hit by Baca, who had already driven in four runners in the opener. While Roy Thomas left the game with an injury after six innings, the Raccoons completely lost their touch against the bullpen and went down fast in the seventh and eighth. Steele and Yoshi were at it again in the ninth inning, and this time Yoshi didn’t reach, but Martinez, batting for Howell again, got on with an infield single. Travis Owens had already been inserted in the #9 hole earlier and could not be hit for, making everybody wish for Sergio Esquivel to return when he hit into a game-ending double play. 3-2 Loggers. Alston 2-3, BB; Pruitt 2-4, 2 2B; Martinez (PH) 1-1;

Way to go, guys, way to go. I fear the worst with the anti-Brown Alfredo Rios coming in the Sunday game. He has lost every game, walked 23 and whiffed 16 in 39.2 innings.

Game 3
POR: CF Castro – 3B Merritt – LF Alston – 1B Pruitt – RF Ayers – 2B Nomura – C Owens – SS Heathershaw – P Watanabe
MIL: CF J.R. Richardson – SS Luján – 1B Catalo – LF T. Austin – C Baca – 3B Mateo – 2B Moultrie – RF Campbell – P A. Rios

Losing this one would be hard for Rios, who got four runs of support in the bottom 2nd, of which three were unearned. Mateo led off with a single before Moultrie tripled. On the following grounder, Heathershaw’s throw was capitally bad and well past Pruitt at first base, plating Moultrie, and eventually J.R. Richardson homered. When Keith Ayers hit a 2-piece in the top 4th, the Loggers were not fazed, nor worried. Rios batted with two outs in the bottom 4th and had Mateo on second base. He doubled on a 1-2 pitch to plate Mateo and the Loggers hit three more singles in crushing Watanabe in a 7-2 game. Rios hit another RBI double off Ray Kelley, and again with two outs in the bottom 5th as the Raccoons disintegrated completely.

But it wouldn’t be actual torture without a fake rally. Top 7th, the Raccoons got three singles by Heathershaw (probably by accident), Quebell, and Castro that stocked the bags and had them equal with the Loggers at 12 hits apiece, but down 8-3. Merritt flew out to Earl Campbell, but Alston plated a pair with a double. Pruitt walked, so the tying runs were on with one out for Ayers, who grounded to Jaime Mateo, whose only play was at first base, and another run scored, knocking out Rios. Yoshi Nomura hit a single past Catalo and off Andrew Wills, with both runs coming in to tie the score at eight. Okay, maybe they do put up an actual rally. That probably means the pen is going to give back seven runs in a matter of minutes. But that didn’t happen either.

Instead, in the top 9th, Merritt got a single to start the inning. While Alston and Bowen made outs, Ayers and Nomura singled, the latter plating Merritt for the go-ahead run. Dave Walk struck out Owens to end the inning, but we held a skinny 9-8 advantage, that Angel Casas failed to – despite a 1-out double by the troublesome Baca – turn into his first blown save of the year, striking out Austin, Mateo, and Keith Scott in the inning. 9-8 Coons. Castro 2-5; Merritt 2-5; Alston 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Pruitt 2-3, BB, HR, RBI; Ayers 3-5, HR, 3 RBI; Nomura 3-5, 3 RBI; Quebell (PH) 1-2; Rockburn 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-1);

In other news

May 10 – IND SP Bob King (4-2, 2.32 ERA) stymies the Pacifics in a 4-0 shutout, holding them to two hits.
May 14 – TIJ SP Zach Boyer (2-2, 3.09 ERA) might miss most of the remainder of the season with shoulder inflammation.
May 14 – TOP OF Justin Foster (.304, 0 HR, 5 RBI) has suffered a partially torn labrum and figures to be out for about four months.
May 16 – SAC SP Carlos Castro (4-2, 3.43 ERA) is considered out for the season with shoulder inflammation.

Complaints and stuff

What a stinker of a week. Once you get this close to being swept by THOSE Loggers, you can safely stop bothering about playoff participation. I don’t know where those ****ing Canadiens come from, but if the Crusaders aren’t biting, the division might as well be theirs. Or the Indians. Or **** it, the Titans. All I know is that this team has so many holes that every Swiss cheese is wholly (holey? … holy?) jealous.

So! Milestones this week: Nick Brown reached 1,900 strikeouts by ringing up Juan Gutierrez, and when Angel Casas managed to clean up Law Rockburn’s ****, Brown was also credited with the 2,700th regular season victory in Raccoons history.

The rotation isn’t the only sore right now. The hitting is situational, to call it mildly, but there are two sore spots in the bullpen, and the fact that those are our setup men is especially troubling. Law Rockburn has been ineffective since the season started, and Donald Sims’ ERA looks really good, but his inherited runners score is appalling rather than appealing: 17 runners inherited, nine of those scored.

Prospect watch, with obvious candidates: AAA SP Hector Santos, who turns 22 on June 5, is 4-2 with a 2.74 ERA in St. Pete. He has whiffed 47 in 46 innings, with 21 walks being the only bother. But if the rotation as a whole continued to falter like it does right now, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a spot for him in Portland well before August. But Brendan Teasdale (stretching the prospect label a bit now) also turned his season around that started with two horrible shellings. Since then he’s come down to a 3.77 ERA, but is lacking in stuff, striking out only 30 in 45 1/3 innings. He’s 26 in June. Outfielder Jason Seeley, who did so-so overall in AAA in 2009, is batting .179 with no homers in 30 games in St. Pete and is sent back to Ham Lake.

We also released three players from the Ham Lake roster, all batters, including 2006 fifth-rounder Santiago Celis and even 2007 supplemental round pick C.J. Vanderwall for just being outrageously bad. The third guy dumped is outfielder Josh Hare, who was a scrap heap pickup two years ago. They were all already 23 or 24 years old and stinking up the joint at 11-21 Ham Lake. They’re gone now. Nobody will miss them. (2015 CL Player of the Year pick right now: C.J. Vanderwall, batting .330/.412/.588 for the Elks as he leads them to their third straight championship)

Dark is the world, and full of terrors.