[Westheim]

Raccoons (33-48) @ Loggers (52-31) – July 7-10, 2031

The battered Critters would face another contending team right away, and it somehow always felt weird to combine the thought of a contending team with the Loggers, but here they were, in a virtual tie with Boston, and eager to get their share of wins. They had yet to drop a game to the Coons this year (4-0), and the Raccoons’ forever streak of taking the season series from them was in some real danger… Milwaukee was eighth in runs scored, but second in runs allowed. Their rotation had the second-lowest ERA in the Continental League.

Projected matchups:
Jason Gurney (4-3, 3.25 ERA) vs. Mike Hodge (7-3, 2.19 ERA)
Dave Martinez (3-6, 5.38 ERA) vs. Morgan Shepherd (5-5, 2.26 ERA)
Rico Gutierrez (4-7, 5.66 ERA) vs. Josh Weeks (6-5, 3.14 ERA)
Trevor Draper (0-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. Francisco Colmenraez (9-4, 2.88 ERA)

Two right, two left, drop another four?

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

Hodge walked a pair in the first inning, but the Coons also grounded out to Kaleb Holder three times to resist the urge of instant offense. There was in fact no such fact as instant offense in this game. There was one base hit through three innings, which was not the Coons’, who only got a single when Leal found a hole on the right side in the fifth inning, after which Gurney struck out bunting foul again and again, which led to Leal getting stranded rather than being brought around to erase a 1-0 deficit stemming from the bottom of the fourth inning, which Wayne Morris had opened with a triple to right. Miles Monroe had whiffed, but Danny Valenzuela brought in the run with a groundout. Bottom 5th, it only got worse, again with Leal involved. Taylor Canody was nicked to begin the inning, and when Hodge bunted with one out, Leal threw the ball way over Jarod Howden’s head for a 2-base error. The runners in scoring position were brought home with a Matt Lockert single to right, and it was 3-0 Loggers and we didn’t look like much of a comeback candidate.

The Loggers then started to play terribly. Lockert was thrown out by Jimmy Wallace trying to reach third base on Firmino Cambra’s single to right, and the following inning Morris was thrown out at home by Joe Vanatti. In between, a massive throwing error by Hodge had placed Howden on second base to begin the top 6th. Wallace and Hereford made poor outs, but Matt Nunley singled to center on an 0-2 pitch to get the unearned run home. In fact – all the runs except the one carried on the Morris triple in the fourth were unearned at this point. Gurney would last six and two thirds and left trailing 3-1, which was not his fault, and with the opposing pitcher Hodge on third base in the bottom 7th, which was. Hodge had hit aleadoff single in the inning, but was stranded when Fleischer got Morris to fly out to right. Hodge offered a leadoff walk to Howden in the eighth, bringing up the middle of the order as the tying runs. Wallace was robbed in the gap by Valenzuela, but Hereford and Nunley struck out pathetically. The Coons would face Ken Gautney and his 3.95 ERA in the ninth inning. Stalker singled to left off the right-hander, but Vanatti struck out. Catella hit for Leal, with Jamieson having already been brought into the #9 hole after a double switch in the bottom 8th that had seen Ohl clean up behind David Fernandez. Jamieson got to the plate after Catella popped out foul, and ended the game by swinging over a 2-2 pitch. 3-1 Loggers. Gurney 6.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, L (4-4) and 1-3;

Oh boy.

Meanwhile, Elias Tovias went to the DL, finally, with a strained hamstring. He was out until the middle of August, probably, so there went the easy path towards getting a surprise low-key prospect out of him as the deadline approached. Nobody had wanted a piece of Tovias in June, but maybe the game would have changed in July. Well, we’d not find out… Magallanes was recalled from AAA after making a brief 2-for-4 cameo just a few days ago.

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

While the Raccoons had to wait for the middle innings again to get a modest base hit – Jamieson singled with one out to finally break into the H column – they were also the first to get into the run-scoring business, despite Dave Martinez continuing to be everything but sharp. But the Loggers had some more baserunning adventures, like Lockert opening the bottom 1st with a single, and then getting doubled off by a country mile when Gabe Creech lined out to Hereford. Rich struck out after the Jamieson single in the fourth, and Nunley flew out to left with two outs, except that D.J. Mendez stupidly had the ball hit off the heel of his glove and then chased it deeper into leftfield. The Coons reached scoring position and Vanatti knocked an RBI single to right, making them 1-0 leaders before Daniel Rocha struck out. Bottom 4th, Creech opened with a single to left before the Loggers twice hit into force plays at second, but the Critters failed to turn two. Danny Valenzuela dropped a single, Miles Monroe walked, and suddenly the bags were full with two outs, but D.J. Mendez struck out on a 1-2 pitch far outside.

By the bottom 5th the Coons lost Matt Jamieson to injury. The veteran complained about a stiff neck, probably from having to crane his neck in the chase after deep drives surrendered by Martinez all the time. Magallanes replaced him in the field, then promptly made a stupid error in the sixth that cost the Coons the lead. Jim Young hit a 2-out single to left that scooted through Magallanes’ legs, allowing Young into second base, from where he scored on a Valenzuela single; and when the Coons couldn’t do nothing with an unlikely Daniel Rocha double in the top 7th, the Loggers struck right back at them in the bottom of the inning, with Mendez hitting a double and coming around on two groundouts off Martinez and Garavito, putting Milwaukee in front. Nothing good happened in the eighth, and the ninth pitted them against Alfredo Casique, former starter, who now had a 1.41 ERA. For a change, the Coons didn’t just fold and go home .Nunley popped out, but with one down Joe Vanatti conquered a fastball and hit it over the fence in right, tying the score at two. Stalker and Catella unwrapped pinch-hit singles to continue the rally, before everything died at the paws of Ramos, who hit into a fielder’s choice removing Catella, then was picked off first base to end the inning…..

More misery ensued, with the Coons not being able to poke the ball in a useful direction, and with the Loggers leaving everybody dangling long enough for Rich Hereford tweaking his calf in the 11th inning. Baldwin replaced him, emptying the Coons’ bench, and if we didn’t want to have the reliever (then Fleischer) lead off the 12th, we had to bring in Chris Wise in a useless spot, too. Wise got out of the inning, but would be in the #5 hole while Baldwin led off the 12th in the #9 spot. Baldwin walked, moved up on Ramos’ groundout, reached third on a Howden single off righty John Nelson, and then Wallace, sitting at the very bottom of the deepest well, struck out, which left the runners to Magallanes… and if he walked, Wise. Magallanes flew out instead. When Wise survived the bottom of the inning, he struck out to start the 13th before Nelson filled them up with a Nunley double and walks issued to Vanatti and Baldwin, bringing up Ramos with three on and two down. The count ran full, Ramos held off a ball outside, and walked to force home the go-ahead run. Jarod Howden already had a golden sombrero in the game, and fell to 1-7 against left-hander Travis Feider when he struck out AGAIN. Howden, you ****ING DUMB PIG!! … At least Wise held up for another inning, giving the Coons their first win over Milwaukee in 2031… 3-2 Blighters. Jamieson 1-1, BB; Vanatti 2-5, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Rocha 1-2, BB, 2B; Stalker (PH) 1-1; Catella (PH) 1-1; Baldwin 0-0, 2 BB; Martinez 6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K; Fleischer 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Wise 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (2-2);

Now to the surplus of injuries… both Jamieson and Hereford were listed as day-to-day. Hereford had a mild calf strain that would bother him until the upcoming All Star break, but could probably play, although we’d keep him out of the Wednesday game. Jamieson’s stiff neck was a bit worse, but might heal off quicker, but he would probably not feature in the last two games of the set, which annoyingly meant that he was not available to bat against the left-handed starting pitchers due up.

So, we continue to have a shortened bench in addition to once more a burned pen, while three likely starters were batting .111 (Leal) or worse (Nunley, Wallace) in their last handful of game, and in Wallace’s case the tally was all the way up to 4-for-44. With two corner outfielders in the ropes, there was no real way to keep Wallace out of the line of fire against the left-handed pitchers. Catella was an option only in theory – he did not have the arm to be more than an injury replacement in rightfield, especially against a speedy team like the Loggers.

Game 3
POR: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – LF Vanatti – RF Wallace – 1B Howden – CF Baldwin – 3B Nunley – C Rocha – P Gutierrez
MIL: 3B Lockert – LF Cambra – SS W. Morris – 1B M. Monroe – RF Valenzuela – CF Creech – C Canody – 2B Holder – P Weeks

One of five left-handed batters (not even counting Rico…) in the lineup, Jimmy Wallac enevertheless managed to hit a sac fly in the first after coming up with Ramos and Stalker on the corners after two singles and also Ramos’ 28th stolen base of the season. The Loggers got runners to the corners within three batters in the bottom 1st, but Stalker shagged a Monroe liner for a crucial out, and they didn’t score. Lockert hit a double in the third, but was caught stealing by Rocha. The defense did everything they could for Gutierrez, who got a K on Creech early on, which was remarkable on its own, but was also not sharp in any sense of the word. He walked Monroe with one out in the bottom 4th, and while Wallace made a sliding catch on a Valenzuela fly to right, there was no catching Creech’s rocket into the left corner after that. Creech went all the way to third base for a game-tying triple, but was stranded when Taylor Canody flew out to left. Gutierrez was doomed after walking Holder and Lockert in the bottom 5th. Cambra hit an RBI single, and then Morris slapped a hellish ball that bounced once and made a bid for Nunley’s nose at third base. Nunley swiped, had it, lived, AND turned a double play to end the inning! Way to go Nunley! You cat!!

Defense dragged Gutierrez through six, but he was still behind, 2-1. Creech misplayed a Howden fly into a double in the seventh, but Baldwin popped out and Nunley’s fly to right was caught by Valenzuela, stranding the tying run. The hole would rather get deeper thanks to Josh Boles retiring nearly nobody in the bottom 7th. Weeks opened the barrage with a single and before long Lockert doubled and Cambra hit a 2-run single. Derks had to replaced Boles in the inning, and since we could not hope to make up the difference under normal circumstances, he would also finish the game to at least reset the rest of the pen. Not even THAT worked. Creech hit a 1-out single in the bottom 8th, then was caught stealing by Rocha. Derks shrugged it off, then walked the bags full against the bottom of the order when only one more out was required. Garavito replaced him and allowed a 2-run single to Jim Young to make the wounds bleed faster. The Raccoons scored an unearned run in the top of the ninth. Nobody cared. 6-2 Loggers. Howden 2-3, BB, 2B; Hereford (PH) 1-1, RBI;

One night after winning himself a brand new platinum sombrero, Howden never took a third strike!

…but Joe Vanatti hit for a golden sombrero.

Ah!! This team!!

Game 4
POR: SS Ramos – CF Catella – RF Vanatti – 2B Stalker – 1B Howden – LF Baldwin – 3B Nunley – C Rocha – P Draper
MIL: 3B Lockert – LF Cambra – SS W. Morris – 1B M. Monroe – C J. Young – RF Valenzuela – CF Creech – 2B Holder – P Colmenarez

Yes, that lineup looked just wrong, but Catella walked, advanced on a groundout, and scored on Tim Stalker’s single for a first-inning lead. Too bad only that Draper was incinerated right in the first inning, allowing five straight batters to reach base with two outs. Morris singled, Monroe and Young walked, Valenzuela had an RBI single to left, and Creech plated two with a single to center before Holder could strike out to keep the goods at 3-1. Then there was the rag-tag bottom of the order churning out singles to begin the second inning. Baldwin, Nunley, Rocha ALL singled; one run scored on the Rocha single, and Draper got the bunt down to move everybody else into scoring position. Ramos ripped a score-flipping double to right, 4-3 Coons, but was then stranded on second base. Unfortunately, Trevor Draper had not acquired the “throw strikes” skill between innings. He walked Lockert and Cambra in the bottom 2nd, and a Nunley fumble put Monroe on base with two outs. Jim Young grounded out to first base, stranding three Loggers in a game that could well turn into a scorefest.

Howden made it 5-3 with a shot to left in the third inning, while the defense had to make more splendid plays in support of another useless pitcher. Chris Baldwin bit the dust in the fourth inning, slamming into the ground hard as he caught a Colmenarez (!) drive in the gap. Wallace came into the game rather than an injured player, with Vanatti moving to left. Draper lasted five, but no more, allowing another run on three hits in the bottom 5th, with Kaleb Holder driving in Miles Monroe. Colmenarez lasted six and whiffed eight despite the early shellacking, and the Coons now hoped they could make their pen stand up one way or another. They pieced it together with Fleischer in the sixth and Fernandez in the seventh, but the final part of the coup would require Ricky Ohl to pitch up to two innings because Boles, Wise, and Garavito were all unavailable. Fernandez however got rid of the 5-6-7 batters in order in the seventh and did not come up to bat in the top 8th, so was left in to face Kaleb Holder in the bottom 8th. He struck him out, then faced lefty pinch-hitter Canody … and struck him out, too! That left only four outs for Ohl at the top of the order. His first pitch nailed Lockert, who went to third base on Cambra’s single. Morris flew out to right, though, where Magallanes made the catch after entering with Ohl in a double switch. No offense came together in the top of the ninth. Ohl’s horrors returned though; Monroe slapped a leadoff single in the bottom 9th. Young struck out swinging, and D.J. Mendez popped out. With two outs Creech singled, and the winning run was on base. PH Esteban Arroyo appeared in the #8 hole, batting from the left side, but the Coons had no hurlers left. This was all Ohl. And Ohl threw all balls. With the bags full and two outs, Jason Parten pinch-hit in the pitcher’s spot. First pitch, fly to right, Magallanes ambling… and catching …! 5-4 Critters. Baldwin 2-2, 2B; Hereford (PH) 1-1; Magallanes 1-1; Fernandez 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Other than some random pills against the shivering paws, roster moves were necessary.

Reason number one was that the presence of Trevor Draper (1-1, 5.02 ERA) was no longer required with the All Star Game coming up, and an off day on the Monday after that. The second reason was Chris Baldwin moving to the DL with a broken claw. He would probably be out until the end of August. We called up Victor Anaya to stretch the pitching staff, as well as 2B Sam Cass, who was batting .288 in St. Pete.

Raccoons (35-50) vs. Indians (46-40) – July 11-13, 2031

The Indians had a 4-game winning streak and maintained a minimal chance to make the playoffs, but needed to romp the Coons to keep telling themselves that. They were seventh in runs scored and second in runs allowed, despite the second-worst pen in the league with a 4.31 ERA. They also had five wins against the Critters against our four in 2031.

Projected matchups:
Ed Hague (5-6, 4.32 ERA) vs. Sal Bedoya (7-3, 2.59 ERA)
Jason Gurney (4-4, 3.07 ERA) vs. Andy Bressner (9-8, 2.86 ERA)
Dave Martinez (3-6, 5.20 ERA) vs. David Saccoccio (8-5, 3.25 ERA)

All right-handers coming up here, which could be worse given our injury woes, although of course Jamieson was now back, and nothing was matching up, ever…

The Indians also had their stack of ailments. John McInerney, Marcus Owens, Alex Zanches, and Juan Herrera were all locked away on the DL. The Herrera injury would net 23-year-old Morgan Kuhlmann his major league debut in the series opener. Kuhlmann had been drafted less than a month ago, #35 overall.

Game 1
IND: 2B Schneller – 1B Regan – RF Plunkett – CF Baron – SS Pizano – LF M. Cowan – C Kuhlmann – 3B E. Sosa – P Bedoya
POR: SS Ramos – 1B Howden – LF Jamieson – RF Wallace – 2B Stalker – 3B Nunley – CF Vanatti – C Leal – P Hague

Wallace singled, Walker stalked, and Nunley dropped in a bloop to load the sacks with no outs in the second inning of a scoreless game. As usual, the actual loot from this treasure chest was rather limited, with Vanatti spanking into a run-scoring double play, Leal getting walked intentionally for whatever reason, and Hague flying out to left rather gingerly. The lead got away rather soon; Ramos unleased an errant throw on Elias Sosa’s grounder to begin the third inning, Bedoya bunted the tying run to third, and Ed Hague spared the Indians the hassle of having to figure out how to get Sosa across and uncorked a wild pitch to do the scoring for them. The Critters would take the lead back on a Bedoya lapse; the Arrowhead nailed Jamieson with an 0-2 pitch and two outs in the bottom 3rd, and the run came across on Wallace and Stalker singles. Nunley hit a liner to left, but it sliced to Mike Cowan for the third out. The Indians answered with two unearned fourth-inning runs. Nunley got them started with a missed pickup on a slow roller by Mike Plunkett, and Hague would spill more runners on base afterwards. Mario Pizano singled, Mike Cowan walked, and runs scored on a Morgan Kuhlmann sac fly, and Sosa dropped in a 2-out RBI single to get Indy ahead.

Hague never allowed an earned run in seven innings of 3-hit ball, which by the time he was hit for leading off the bottom 7th merely netted him a no-decision thanks to a fifth-inning combo of Jamieson tripling into the gap against one of his former teams, and Jimmy Wallace picking him up with a single to knot the score at three. Magallanes grabbed a stick, but flew out to left. Ramos fanned, but Howden singled and Jamison hit a scorched line drive … into Sosa’s mitten, and there would not be a decision for Ed Hague. The Indians got Greg Regan and PH Ivan Pena to drop singles against Anaya in the eighth, but didn’t score, and Wallace opened the bottom 8th with a single off Bedoya. This gave Jimmy a 4-hit day and hopefully dispelled the dire slump he had been in. Stalker slapped a double to left, giving the bottom of the order (flinches) a prime chance to set up a save opportunity in the ninth inning. Nunley ran a full count, then popped out. Vanatti was walked intentionally, and when the Indians went to right-hander Matt Beckstrom, a 31-year-old import from the Federal League, the Coons sent Rich Hereford to pinch-hit. Hereford lined out HARD to Sosa, and Catella flew out to John Baron, and … (sigh!) … nobody scored… Top 9th, Wise walked Sosa with one out. Sosa stole second, moved up on Ivan Vega’s groundout, and with two outs and the runner on third, Dan Schneller grounded to Ramos, who flicked the ball into the dirt, Howden couldn’t come up with it, and ANOTHER RUN SCORED ON AN ERROR! Tortured howls of a crazed madman echoed through the ballpark as the Indians took a 4-3 lead. (heavy breathing) … Bottom 9th, Jose Menendez issued a leadoff walk to Ramos. Our scouting report said that Kuhlmann didn’t have a good arm! The Coons just were swinging too eagerly to give Ramos much of a chance to steal… Howden flew out in two pitches, and in another two Jamieson laid a roller on the infield that luckily became an infield single, bringing up an unretired Jimmy Wallace with the winning runs on base. The count ran full, and Wallace prevailed, singling to center in a full count, allowing Ramos to score and tie the game. Could they end it? Stalker didn’t, popping out to Schneller. Nunley dragged out a full count before walking, presenting Joe Vanatti with three on and two outs. I squealed when he poked the first pitch to the right side, Schneller lunged and missed it, and the Critters walked off after all … 5-4 Blighters. Jamieson 2-4, 3B; Wallace 5-5, 2 RBI; Stalker 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Hague 7.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K;

Mauricio Garavito picked up the win, pitching the last out of the ninth inning, but didn’t really do anything. Dan Schneller was caught stealing after two pitches.

Game 2
IND: SS Pizano – RF Plunkett – CF Baron – LF I. Vega – 2B Schneller – C Paiz – 1B I. Pena – 3B E. Sosa – P Bressner
POR: SS Ramos – 1B Howden – LF Jamieson – RF Wallace – 2B Stalker – 3B Nunley – CF Vanatti – C Leal – P Gurney

A Ramos walk and Howden single in the first inning dissolved in a double play and a strikeout, before the Coons loaded them up on a Stalker single, Nunley hitting into a force play, Vanatti reaching on Pizano’s error, and then a soft single by Leal, bringing up Gurney, a .091 batter, with one out and the bags stacked. A strikeout brought up Ramos, who popped out foul. In turn, Pena rolled a single through the left side, Sosa walked, and after a bunt by the pitcher, the Indians took a 1-0 lead on Pizano’s single to center in the top 3rd. Pizano was caught stealing, allowing the Coons to strand the runner on third when Plunkett grounded out to Nunley.

Through five, the Coons out-hit the Arrowheads, 6-3, but nevertheless still had no runs on the board. Vanatti hit a single in the sixth, which led nowhere, and the seventh was uneventful. Gurney was maintaining his 3-hitter and the grip on the loss, until the Critters got another chance in the eighth. Wallace singled to left with one out, and Stalker squeezed Bressner for a walk. Nunley fell to 2-2, then dished a ball to center, and that one was well deep and chased John Baron back. He couldn’t get it, and the ball fell for a score-knotting RBI double, and two were in scoring position for Vanatti with one out. The Indians preferred to get the catcher up, and the Raccoons preferred to send Hereford again. Rich wrangled a walk from Bressner’s hands, forcing in the go-ahead run for the Coons, and with the lead, Gurney was hit for by Magallanes, while Cass ran for the calf-stricken Hereford. Bressner balked, plating Nunley, robbing Magallanes of an RBI when he drew the walk. Ramos came up with three on and one out and caused mayhem; one run scored when he hit into a fielder’s choice, getting Magallanes out at second, but Ramos then took off and Paiz overthrew the ball into centerfield for a run-scoring error that moved Ramos to third. Howden grounded out to end the inning, but the Coons had a 5-spot! The Indians got a run back from Ricky Ohl in the ninth, who allowed a leadoff single to Pizano and then a run-scoring double against Cowan, but Schneller struck out to put the game in the books. 5-2 Raccoons. Wallace 2-4; Vanatti 2-3, BB; Hereford (PH) 0-0, BB, RBI; Gurney 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, W (5-4);

Wins, wins, wins! – I would not tire of it if they kept winning forever!

But they won’t.

Game 3
IND: 2B Schneller – 1B Regan – RF Plunkett – CF Baron – LF I. Vega – SS Pizano – C Paiz – 3B E. Sosa – P Saccoccio
POR: SS Ramos – 1B Howden – LF Jamieson – RF Wallace – 2B Stalker – 3B Nunley – CF Magallanes – C Rocha – P Martinez

Martinez continued to experience penance with Odilon and was not sharp and easily hittable. At least he was lucky enough to face John Baron after shuffling the bags full in the third inning. Baron, a bad copy of Ben Suhay, struck out when Martinez tried REALLY hard to walk him with the bases loaded, ending the inning. The Coons also brought up their centerfielder with the bases loaded, but that came in the fourth inning and with one out, but still in a scoreless game. He poked an 0-2 pitch to first base, where Greg Regan sniffed two and zinged to Pizano, who was then taken out with great vigor by Matt Nunley – 40 years old, but not too good for himself to hit a guy in the legs. He might have displayed extra vigor, sniffing a crusty nut snack in Pizano’s back pocket, which he promptly stole while the shortstop picked himself out of the dirt. In any case, Jimmy Wallace scored from third with the game’s first run. Rocha flew out to Plunkett, stranding two. The 1-0 lead was given away immediately by Martinez on a Schneller double and Regan single in the fifth, then loaded the bases in the sixth with a walk issued to Baron, a Pizano single, and another walk against Paiz. Sosa batted with one out, but the Coons went to the pen and got Fleischer, who got a soft liner to Ramos from the third baseman, and then a hissing liner to right hit by Saccoccio that somehow ended up with Wallace…

The Raccoons stranded runners on the corners in the sixth (when Magallanes flew out to left) and in the seventh (Jamieson popped out), missing plenty of opportunity to take another lead. Stalker was on in the eighth, but was doubled off by Nunley, and since the right-handed tandem of Fleischer and Anaya was holding the Arrowheads at bay, Chris Wise came out to defend the 1-1 tie in the ninth inning, then right away nicked PH Andres Medina with a 2-2 pitch. Schneller grounded out, moving Medina to second, and then Wise nicked Ivan Pena. Plunkett struck out, but Baron dropped a single into right, allowing the quick Medina to score. Vega flew out to center, but now Menendez would face the bottom of the order in the bottom of the ninth. Magallanes flew out, but Vanatti grounded to deep short, and too deep for Pizano to convert the ball into an out. As the winning run came to the plate, Hereford batted for Wise, singled to right, and Vanatti sped to third base, bringing up Ramos. He grounded at 1-2 to Pizano, to second, but the throw to first was late, and the tying run scored. Ramos was caught stealing to send the game to extras… Boles came on for the tenth inning, Pizano singled, Paiz was nailed (…!), and then Leal lost a ball to allow the runners to advance. Boles glitched Sosa on base on four balls, so the Indians had them loaded with nobody out. The pitching coach strolled out, hit Boles on the head with his cap and gave him a good yellin’ that seemed to work. Boles struck out Kuhlmann and Schneller, and had Pena at 0-2 before the ball was put in play, and into the gap, and Magallanes was nowhere near, and it was a bases-clearing double. (hits head against the wall with great force, again and again) The Indians took a 5-run lead on Plunkett’s bomb to dead center, after which Boles was yanked and thrown straight into the Willamette. Derks fanned Baron, all too late, and the Coons rather bemused themselves by giving the spare pieces on the bench at-bats in the bottom 10th… 7-2 Indians. Jamieson 3-5, 2B; Stalker 1-2, 3 BB; Vanatti (PH) 1-1; Hereford (PH) 1-1;

In other news

July 7 – The Titans get doubly bad news; while CF/LF Adrian Reichardt (.294, 3 HR, 35 RBI) will miss four weeks with a quad strain, SS Keith Spataro (.294, 4 HR, 34 RBI) is out for the season with a torn calf muscle.
July 7 – The Wolves trade INF Elijah Williams (.283, 0 HR, 22 RBI) to the Cyclones for two prospects.
July 8 – IND SP David Saccoccio (8-5, 3.25 ERA) 3-hits the Canadiens in a 9-0 Indians romp.
July 8 – In a 19-4 smothering of the Crusaders, BOS OF Adam Braun (.341, 6 HR, 19 RBI) clocks two homers and drives in six runs.
July 9 – SAL SP Rin Nomura (3-4, 4.24 ERA) 3-hits the Pacifics as the Wolves win 7-0.
July 10 – Another 3-hit shutout is delivered by OCT SP Leon Hernandez (2-1, 3.49 ERA) in an 8-0 Thunder win over the Knights.
July 10 – NYC OF Chris Reardon (.269, 8 HR, 59 RBI) wins the Crusaders a 1-0 triumph over the Titans with a seventh-inning homer. It is the second straight 1-0 game between the two teams after the Titans had won with the minimal offensive output the previous day.
July 13 – The Warriors’ SP John Rucker (8-6, 3.09 ERA) 2-hits the Scorpions in a 7-0 shutout.

Complaints and stuff

The win in the last game in Milwaukee and taking the first two from Indy gave the team a 3-game winning streak. That was also their FIRST 3-game winning streak of the season. Of course it is already over.

Tim Stalker carries a 12-game hitting streak into the break, although he got the hit on Sunday only in the miserable 10th inning.

But before the general sadness can continue, we will have the All Star Game upon us. Two Coons will go. One of them was rather obvious, Alberto Ramos winning the second-most votes among CL position players. It is his third All Star nomination, all consecutively. Ricky Ohl also got the nod, for *reasons*… he makes his fifth All Star team in seven years, e.g. all the full seasons he spent in the majors.

The Coons will have Hereford back to strength after the All Star Game. We will also see a number of pitchers come off the DL over the next week or so, although Shumway, Roberts, and Krumm (who?) will all report to AAA for a tune-up first. We do not need a fifth pitcher until the second Friday after the All Star Game, and by then *somebody* should be available out of that bunch. While we have a double header against the dumb Elks the Tuesday after the All Star break, we can probably arrange our pen to piggy-back with the guy that starts the second game after the break. Maybe make that Martinez; it’s not like he’s pitching deep into games anyway…

With that, three players will remain on the DL, including Tovias, Baldwin, and Hennessy, who is likely out for the season.

…and how is our #5 pick doing, a month after the draft? Manny Fernandez is batting … .187 in Aumsville. Man, he should watch out that nobody pelts him before he loses kit protection next June…

Fun Fact: Prior to Jarod Howden on Tuesday, seven other Raccoons had struck out five times in a game, some of which we even fondly remember.

That’s really Concie Guerin, actually, who struck out five times on June 27, 2000, and Vern Kinnear on September 25, 1995, although I have always had a soft spot for Winston Thompson (August 8, 1987), who these days seems to be almost forgotten among Raccoons fans.

The other 5 K heroes include Wyatt Johnston (1979), Mike Crowe (1998), Mike Denny (2018), and Omar Alfaro (2022).

No Raccoon has ever struck out six times in a game, and only one player has ever struck out six times in a regular nine-inning game, Alex Duarte of the 2023 Rebels. And if that name rings a bell, yes, he used to be a Raccoons rookie. He batted .314 in a stint in ’16 for us, never replicated the feat, and ended up a career .243 batter with 50 homers that was out of the majors by age 33.

Six strikeouts in extra-inning games has been done from time to time, but only one batter ever managed to whiff as often without being beaten to death by his manager right away, and divined that a seventh strikeout would enshrine him in the record books forever. That was Stephen Buell of the Capitals on July 7, 2002. And if you say, well, hold on, that ALSO rings a bell, I have to admit you’re right. Stephen Buell ALSO was a Raccoons rookie, batted .299 in a stint in ’96, never replicated the feat, and ended up a career .263 batter with nine homers that was out of the majors by age 28.