Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Manny Fernandez moved to the DL in the new week. His ankle was thick after the Sunday game, but no structural damage was found. A 2-week stint on the DL was ordered by Dr. Padilla, which would mean that his vesting option for ’48 was not yet out of the window.

The Raccoons called up 25-year-old switch-hitter Roberto Medina, a corner outfielder, to fill in for Manny. Medina, a scouting discovery from Costa Rica, had been in AAA since ’43 without ever hitting much of anything. This year he was batting .300/.383/.429 in 18 games, which we deemed enough to try the … uh, kid?

Nope, Ken Mills was not an option – he was on the DL himself, laboring on a sore shoulder.

Raccoons (30-12) @ Thunder (26-16) – May 21-23, 2047

First-place teams clashed in Oklahoma City starting on Tuesday, but the Thunder were only leading the Knights by half a game, while the Raccoons led their division by eight games. They were however first in runs scored and second in runs allowed, with a +53 run differential (Coons: +43) and looked like a real contender so far. Last year we had gone 10-4 against them, including a 5-game CLCS win.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (3-1, 3.40 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (5-4, 5.58 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (4-3, 2.28 ERA) vs. Victor Marquez (2-1, 1.81 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (7-0, 2.33 ERA) vs. J.J. Hendrix (2-4, 3.40 ERA)

Marquez was the only southpaw starter they had to offer. He was also the league ERA leader – ahead of Okuda and Wolinsky.

The Raccoons were still without Armando Herrera, who figured to miss the entire set.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – RF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Baskins – CF Pellicano – 2B Waters – C Morales – P Jackson
OCT: RF Zurita – 2B Ban – CF Benavides – SS R. Cox – LF Humphreys – C Adames – 3B Greer – 1B J. Price – P J. Ramos

The Thunder sent up the entire lineup in he first inning, getting four singles off Jackson, who also walked a pair in a dismal start to the week. Three runs scored, two on RBI singles by Steve Humphreys and Jesus Adames, and another one with a bases-loaded walk to Marshall Greer. Jim Price and Ramos struck out to end the inning. Portland countered with two in the top 2nd, Toohey hitting a leadoff jack, and Baskins getting nicked and moved around with a Waters walk and Jackson’s 2-out RBI single.

Unfortunately, the struggle never stopped for Jackson, and while he turned away most of the Thunder after the 3-run first, he still hung baseballs that Adames in the third and Humphreys in the fifth hit out of the ballpark. That put the Thunder up 5-2, and Jackson quietly disappeared during a rain delay at the end of the fifth inning. The Thunder were not robbed of solo homers just because of that – Jim Price hit one off Hitchcock in the sixth, 6-2. The Raccoons instead shed Derek Baskins on an injury on a defensive play. With his spot leading off the top 7th and confusion reigning in the dugout, Ben Coen went to bat against Ramos, who, unfazed by rain, struck out the side in the inning. Jake Bonnie allowed a run in the bottom 7th, walking two and giving up the marker on a sac fly. I was coming to detest his stupid face… The game was long lost; except for Roberto Medina, who made his ABL debut when Baskins went down, and came to bat with two outs in the ninth after Toohey had whacked a double off John Steuer. He grounded out to Ryan Cox, though… 7-2 Thunder. Adame 2-4; Toohey 2-4, HR, 2B, RBI;

We keep running out of outfielders… no word on Baskins by Wednesday, so we had to play with a 3-man bench…

Game 2
POR: SS Adame – RF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – CF Pellicano – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – LF Medina – P Okuda
OCT: RF Zurita – 3B Greer – CF Benavides – LF Humphreys – SS R. Cox – C Adames – 2B Lujan – 1B J. Price – P V. Marquez

The splattering continued; while Mercado and Toohey walked in the top 1st, but were ignored, Okuda got raked for four runs in the bottom 1st. Marshall Greer singled, Juan Benavides – who had missed last year’s CLCS – doubled, and before long Cox and Adames hit back-to-back homers to make it 4-0 Thunder. The Critters would get their first runs in the third inning. Okuda opened it by lining out, while Adame singled and Mercado worked another walk. Maldonado dropped a ball over Jim Price’s head into shallow right for an RBI single, and Toohey hit another RBI single to left. Then Pellicano found another double play, 6-4-3, and Greer hit another homer off Okuda in the inning to get the Thunder to a more comfy 5-2 lead…

Okuda at least ended his 0-for-20 to begin the season when holding a bat with a 2-out RBI single in the fourth. He chased home Roberto Medina, who had just landed his first major league hit, a double to left. But Okuda was also whacked around for more runs – three more to be precise, before another early exit as the Thunder kept chugging hits and driving in their runners. Ryan Cox added a 2-run homer off Preston Porter in the seventh to get them into double digits. The Raccoons did absolutely nothing to perhaps prevent the rout. 10-3 Thunder. Adame 2-4; Toohey 2-3, BB, RBI;

More losses: Derek Baskins hit the DL with an elbow sprain and was probably lost until the All Star Game.

(groans!)

Since we were out of outfielders even in AAA by now, we brought back Brian Snyder, a former third-rounder that played all positions on the infield, and some rightfield – and was terrible just about everywhere he played. He had previously gotten into 11 games with the Coons in *2043*, batting 3-for-26, before lingering on the 40-man roster all the time in between.

Getting down to the skinny, huh?

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – CF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 1B Gurney – 2B Waters – C Morales – LF Medina – P Wolinsky
OCT: RF Zurita – 2B Ban – CF Benavides – LF Humphreys – SS R. Cox – C Adames – 3B Greer – 1B J. Price – P Hendrix

Bubba, too, found a way to get bombed in the first, even if it was “only” one solo homer hit by Benavides for a 1-0 deficit. While the Coons didn’t get a base hit until a Toohey single in the fourth, and no runs whatsoever, the Thunder added with a Steve Humphreys homer in the bottom 4th, 2-0, and then another run when Wolinsky walked Cox and allowed a hit to Adames, and Greer placed a grounder too well to turn two with runners on the corners.

The Raccoons made the board late again, scoring in the fifth. Medina walked, stole second when Wolinsky kept missing bunts (and eventually struck out), and scored from second on Adame’s 2-out single. Mercado found the gap after that, doubling home Adame, but Maldo struck out to leave the tying run in scoring position.

Hendrix was lifted in the sixth, but the Coons remained behind, as Wolinsky couldn’t shake the L even after seven innings. Toohey was nicked and Gurney singled in the eighth, but Danny Landeta rung up Waters to end the inning. Wolinsky returned for the eighth, inevitably nailing Benavides before getting taken deep again by Humphreys, which was the ballgame for good… Steuer was up for the ninth and gave up leadoff singles to Morales and Medina, bringing up the tying run in the 5-2 game. Pellicano batted for Josh Rella, who had replaced Wolinsky, but struck out. Adame then filled the bases with another single. Oh, you teases! Mercado flew out to Humphreys in shallow left for no gains except the second out. Maldo had to get out of the way of the first pitch to him, which was wild and scored Morales, moving the tying run to second base. But with first base open, the Thunder walked him rather carelessly with junkballs, preferring to go after the easier strikeout, Toohey. He didn’t strike out – but flew out to Benavides. 5-3 Thunder. Adame 2-5, RBI; Gurney 2-3, BB; Morales 2-4;

Ow.

Raccoons (30-15) @ Condors (19-29) – May 24-26, 2047

Maybe we could recuperate in Mexico, where the Condors had a .237 batting average, but somehow the fifth-most runs in the league. Prodigious power totals might have something to do with it. They were however also giving up the most runs, sitting bottoms in … many categories related to pitching and defense. Maybe our army of .190 hitters could have a bit of a boost down there! The season series stood at 2-1 in the Coons’ favor.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (5-1, 2.91 ERA) vs. Kellen Lanning (4-3, 4.72 ERA)
Victor Merino (2-5, 4.14 ERA) vs. Josh Henneberry (3-4, 3.82 ERA)
Jake Jackson (3-2, 3.93 ERA) vs. Blake Sansone (3-3, 4.34 ERA)

All righties. Four southpaw relievers, though, three of them with 5+ ERA’s.

Eh, like we aren’t in that competition…

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – RF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – CF Herrera – 1B Gurney – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – P Wheatley
TIJ: SS Quintana – 3B Barcia – 1B S. Henderson – RF Ito – CF Reidinger – LF D. Gonzales – C T. Black – 2B Watanabe – P Lanning

Another first inning, another homer, another deficit – this time a solo shot by Sergio Barcia. Otherwise, Wheats struck out five in the first three innings and allowed no more hits, but still couldn’t help himself with an RBI hit when Matt Waters was in scoring position in the top 3rd. Nobody could help themselves. Mercado hit a leadoff single in the fourth, but was stranded meekly. Gurney hit a leadoff single in the fifth then. Bottom of the order up – I sighed. Then Ruben Gonzalez hit a score-flipping homer to right. Huh! Still batting .162 though… and what did Wheats do with the lead? He walked the bases full in the bottom 5th, then gave up 2-out knocks to Barcia, a 2-run single, and Sterling Henderson, a 2-run double, to piss this game into the bin as well…

Lanning also had more stumbles, allowing another leadoff single to Mercado in the sixth. This time Toohey hit a jack to center, narrowing the deficit to 5-4. Wheatley was gone after six innings – four strong with six strikeouts and no walks, then two ****** ones, with four walks and no strikeouts, still trailing. The tying run was in scoring position with nobody out in the seventh, though, when Gonzalez doubled to left to begin the inning against Lanning. Waters whiffed before Pellicano batted against left-hander Brian Shan. He singled, putting runners on the corners for Adame, at least until he snoozed astray from first base and was picked off. Adame then lined out to short. Top 8th, leadoff walk to Mercado to put the tying run on base again. Right-hander Luis Ortiz got two outs, but allowed a single to Toohey, with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring positions after Herrera’s groundout to Paul Laughren at second base. Lefty Tim Abraham came on for the Condors, but gave up a hard Gurney knock up the middle that became a single and two runs, flipping the score for the second time in the game. Gonzalez struck out, though. Preston Porter (who had already pitched the seventh and was in line for the W) and Aaron Curl combined for a 1-2-3 bottom 8th, before the Coons scored a total of zero insurance runs in the ninth. Bottom 9th, Mike Lynn got two weak outs to short before Jesus Banuelas hit a single in the #9 hole. Angel Quintana, the leadoff man, struck out, though. 6-5 Raccoons. Mercado 2-4, BB; Toohey 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Gurney 2-3, BB, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Pellicano (PH) 1-1;

Good. We barely beat a **** team. At least no 5-game losing streak…

Game 2
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – RF Mercado – LF Toohey – 1B Gurney – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – 3B Coen – P Merino
TIJ: SS Quintana – LF J. Becker – 1B S. Henderson – RF Ito – CF Reidinger – C Clemente – 3B Barcia – 2B Watanabe – P Henneberry

At our fifth attempt this week we found a ******* hurler that didn’t give up a run in the first inning, although Merino walked a pair with two outs… Instead, the RACCOONS SCORED FIRST, on a 3-run homer by Matt Waters in the top 2nd, with nobody out. That was not the only run(s) in the inning; Adame hit a double with two outs, then was singled home by Herrera. Mercado reached on an error by Henderson, but the first-sacker handled Toohey’s grounder for the third out afterwards.

The Coons loaded the bags with one gone in the third, when Gonzalez walked and Waters and Coen clubbed singles. Merino grounded out to Shintaro Watanabe, good enough for one run to score, 5-0. Adame singled home the other two for a commanding 7-0 lead. All was well, Merino allowing two hits and two walks through four innings. Then the Coons lost Alex Adame on a defensive play in the fifth, leading to Waters shifting to short and Brian Snyder getting his first ABL appearance in four years, taking over the #1 spot and second base, while the Thunder promptly hit three straight singles off Merino to get a run on the board.

Merino went seven and two thirds in the end, knocked out by a Marty Reidinger single in the bottom 8th with nothing but right-handed bats following and Merino on 104 pitches. Hitchcock took over, walked Timóteo Clemente, but got a grounder from Barcia to escape the inning. The plan was to have Hitchcock finish the game, but he blackballed himself out of there with a terrible ninth inning, walking three and giving up a run on a Justin Becker single. Reidinger was back up with two outs and the bases loaded and what had somehow become a save opportunity, so here was Lynn again. Groundout to Gurney – done. 7-2 Raccoons. Adame 2-3, 2B, 2 RBI; Herrera 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 1-2, 2 BB; Waters 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Merino 7.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, W (3-5) and 2-4, RBI;

Dr. Padilla…? Why are they continuously getting hurt? – But we feed them only with the finest beefstakes and mashed potatoes! And cake! And they all had their three tubes of spray-on whipped cream this morning, I counted…!!

Adame was MIA on Sunday, and we played with a short bench again…

Game 3
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Gurney – SS Waters – C Morales – LF Medina – P Jackson
TIJ: SS Quintana – LF J. Becker – 1B S. Henderson – RF Ito – CF Reidinger – C Clemente – 3B Barcia – 2B Watanabe – P Sansone

Sansone retired the Coons in order the first time through, and opened the bottom 3rd with a single to left, but then was doubled off by Angel Quintana. Sansone’s string ended with a Herrera double in the fourth. Toohey would single him home for the first run on the board. Jackson allowed no hits to position players through five innings, but walked three batters, two of them in the fifth. He walked another two, Becker and Rikuto Ito, in the sixth, then was bombed by Marty Reidinger to find a 3-1 deficit to linger in… both teams had two base hits at that point. Toohey made it three with a solo homer in the seventh that still left the Critters a run short. Gurney and Waters hit singles after him, but the bottom of the order couldn’t put anything together. Morales hit into a fielder’s choice, and Medina fouled out.

Pellicano batted for Jackson to begin the eighth, singling to left off Tim Abraham to put the tying run on board again. The Condors went to a different lefty, Brian Shan, who rung up Mercado, then righty Generos de Leon, former Coons farmhand. Herrera grounded out, Maldonado flew out… Javy Santana then got the ninth inning against the 4-5-6 batters. Toohey singled to left to open the inning. The next three had nothing to offer again and made three straight outs… 3-2 Condors. Toohey 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Pellicano (PH) 1-1;

In other news

May 20 – The Blue Sox would be without Brad Critzer (.227, 5 HR, 15 RBI) for a month. The 32-year-old was suffering from shoulder tendinitis.
May 21 – 40 hits and 25 runs are tallied in the Stars’ 17-8 win over the Blue Sox. Jamie King (.350, 8 HR, 30 RBI), Leo Villacorta (.322, 4 HR, 28 RBI), and Dan Rollin (.293, 0 HR, 5 RBI) all have four hits for Dallas. Nobody has four hits for Nashville.
May 23 – ATL SP Brad Santry (3-3, 3.04 ERA) is out for the year with a torn labrum.
May 23 – Bayhawks starter Kevin Nolte (6-0, 2.82 ERA), who lost 18 games with a 6.13 ERA in ’46, 3-hits the Loggers in a 4-0 shutout.
May 26 – The Crusaders deal 3B/2B/LF/RF Frank Mujica (.301, 6 HR, 25 RBI) to the Warriors for INF/LF Brian Kaufman (.241, 1 HR, 8 RBI).
May 26 – The Cyclones send INF Chris Strohm (.264, 3 HR, 18 RBI) to the Pacifics for 3B/SS David Reid (.219, 4 HR, 18 RBI) and a prospect.
May 26 – Knights OF Jon Alade (.265, 2 HR, 17 RBI) was going to miss a month with chronic back soreness.

FL Player of the Week: PIT 3B/SS Ed Soberanes (.323, 7 HR, 34 RBI), hitting .560 (14-25) with 3 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR LF/RF/1B Bryce Toohey (.305, 9 HR, 35 RBI), swatting .500 (12-24) with 3 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Troubled week. Not getting anybody out against the Knights, and then another wholesale RISP disaster at various points and ends of the week. There are 2-4 weeks and 2-4 weeks, but this one was clearly in the “filling with foreboding” category.

It won’t get any easier, either, with the Knights and Indians up next week, and I don’t even know how we keep finding more and more injuries. Shedding Manny, Baskins, and Adame in a single week is certainly a black spot…

At least we’re comparing ourselves with the Loggers, and they are barely playing .500 as it stands. The rest of the division are all posting losing records in late May.

Fun Fact: Only four players have thrown a perfect game in ABL history, the first of them being Cincy’s Juan Garcia in 2008 against the Buffaloes.

It was hands down the best season in Garcia’s 14-year career in which he led the FL in losses with the Miners only three years earlier. He went 20-8 with a 3.46 ERA that year, the second-best ERA of his career, after a 3.27 mark in 2013, when he also led the league with 17 wins.

Mostly an FL pitcher, Garcia was an All Star once (2013), and won one each of a Platinum Stick and a Gold Glove for various exploits before finishing his career with the Bayhawks in 2015.

His career totals include a 128-139 record and 4.44 ERA with 1,684 strikeouts in 2,314 innings.

Fun Fact: 30 years ago, Jimmy Raupp of the Knights mashed three homers against the Raccoons.

The game was otherwise unremarkable, an 8-4 loss for us. Raupp hit his three bombs in just five innings, all off Chris Munroe, who entered with an ERA over 11 and was on the bus to St. Pete before the game was over. He was eventually traded after the season to get Tim Prince off the Miners, which was not a move that established permanent greatness in any way for anybody, although Munroe held on for over a decade as a journeyman punching bag (longer than Prince at least).

…and longer than Raupp, too, who was out of baseball by age 33, mostly playing in the CL South. He was a career .233/.329/.397 hitter with exactly 100 homers and 392 RBI, six of them in that 8-4 game on May 26, 2017.

[Westheim]

2047 DRAFT POOL ANALYSIS

Bit of a pitchers pool this year, which wasn’t a bad thing in itself – we’d need pitchers in three to five years, too. It’s not like they’re flight attendants – a whole caste of people suddenly unemployable because of airborne android servants that were both friendlier and more pleasing to look at.

118 players in total had made this year’s shortlist, 48 of those pitchers and 70 batters. Yes, I said it was a pitchers pool. Just take a look at the hotlist (*high school player):

SP Kennedy Adkins (13/14/13)
SP Jamie Kempf (13/12/7) – BNN #7
SP Jeff Boyce (12/11/13) – BNN #5
SP Blake Sparks (14/15/10) * - BNN #4
SP Troy Henrikson (13/12/6) * - BNN #10
SP Josh Clem (10/15/11) * - BNN #1

CL Mike Snyder (15/13/13)

1B Jay Rogers (9/12/13) – BNN #2
1B Bill Joyner (15/13/8) * - BNN #6
1B Harry Ramsay (12/11/8) *

LF/RF/1B Aubrey Austin (10/10/17) – BNN #3
OF Jason Monson (10/16/14) – BNN #9

Okay, it was also a first baseman’s draft, although those we had picked out here looked like good bets to be long gone before the Raccoons could have a sniff on them.

It was probably the first time that nine of the ten players on the BNN Top 10 made our dozen-or-so hotlist. We were missing #8, pitcher Justin Peterson.

Note that Pat Degenhardt, our scoutmaster, had been quite harsh on some of the hurlers in terms of control potential, but OSA was much kinder on those. I’d take any of the six starters in a heartbeat! Problem was, the Raccoons had won quite a few games last year and only held the #21 pick in every round. We had a supplemental round pick, too, which meant we’d pick three times in the top 60, which wasn’t too bad for a team with two rings in three years.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (32-16) vs. Knights (31-19) – May 27-29, 2047

For a change, the Raccoons actually put pants on for a Monday game, opening a 6-game homestand with hosting the second-place Knights, who were 1 1/2 games out in the CL South. Their numbers hinted at a good team, second in runs scored and third in runs allowed, but they had nevertheless been swept by the Raccoons in the teams’ first meeting in April.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (4-4, 3.23 ERA) vs. Kurt Olson (6-2, 3.34 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (7-1, 2.77 ERA) vs. Kyle DuPlessis (2-1, 6.28 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (5-1, 3.36 ERA) vs. Bobby Freels (6-3, 3.60 ERA)

All right-handers here; DuPlessis was subbing for Brad Santry, who was out for the season. Jon Alade, outfielder, was also on the DL, while the Raccoons brought home an ailing Alex Adame, with no diagnosis and no replacement as of Monday.

And if I had a say in it I would stop us shedding middle infielders for a change…

Game 1
ATL: SS Venegas – 2B Crim – 1B Marz – LF Hester – C Cass – RF van der Zanden – CF Kirkwood – 3B Lorensen – P Olson
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 2B Gurney – 1B Toohey – C Gonzalez – SS Waters – LF Medina – 3B Coen – P Okuda

While a struggling Maldo got the Monday off, Bryce Toohey was in the lineup and mashed a homer in the first inning, with Armando Herrera on first base making it count for two runs. Billy Hester countered almost immediately with a leadoff jack in the second, so it was 2-1 already, and John Marz tied the game with another homer in the third inning. That wasn’t all: Hester and Tyler Cass hit ANOTHER two homers off Okuda within minutes, and a 2-0 lead had become a 4-2 deficit, all on four bombs. The homering continued – Bryce Toohey hit another one his next time up, leading off the fourth inning. Unfortunately, that was all the Raccoons hits at this point: two Toohey bombs.

The 4-3 deficit held for a while with Okuda throttling down the number of long flies after the early innings to a more appreciable degree, but Toohey’s power also ran out. When he came back to the plate in the sixth with Herrera having walked and advanced on Gurney’s groundout, the Raccoons had to settle for an RBI single to tie the score at four. Okuda pitched another 1-2-3 inning, then was hit for in the bottom 7th with Ben Coen just having been awarded first base for a pitch that made contact with his uniform. Maldo batted for the pitcher and walked, which meant that three times through the lineup the Raccoons had three Toohey hits and absolutely nothing else. It didn’t get any better, with Nelson Mercado finding a 6-4-3 double play all too easily. Nelson Moreno handled the eighth, while Olson was also gone by the bottom of that inning, with Jeff Turi pitching for Atlanta. Pat Gurney hit a single to left with one out, and Toohey got nothing to hit anymore and had to settle for the walk. Which brought us to two on, one out, and the diseased and rotten bottom half of the order… Except that Ruben Gonzalez still had a BABIP of negative 11 and that silly thing HAD to adjust itself at some point…! It did here, with a single over Joe Crim’s head that brought home Gurney to break the tie. Waters walked, Medina hit a sac fly for his first career RBI and cushion run. Even Ben Coen chipped in with an RBI single…! Turi was yanked and Pellicano made the third out against Mario Benavidez, his replacement, while the Coons went over to Mike Lynn. He struck out two of the 6-7-8 that came up, with Chris Kirkwood singling. Antonio Ramires grounded out easily, though, ending the game. 7-4 Raccoons. Toohey 3-3, BB, 2 HR, 4 RBI;

Game 2
ATL: SS Venegas – 2B Crim – 1B Marz – LF Hester – C Cass – RF van der Zanden – CF Melendez – 3B Lorensen – P DuPlessis
POR: LF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Gurney – RF Pellicano – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – P Wolinsky

The Raccoons found another pitcher with an ERA over six against whom they hit absolutely nothing the first time through… We did get Armando Herrera to tie the game at one with a 2-out RBI triple in the bottom 3rd, bringing home an unearned run in form of Nelson Mercado, but after that Maldonado flew out to Hester. The Knights had taken a 1-0 lead on Wolinsky in the first inning when Joe Crim doubled to left and scored on an infield single by Hester.

By the bottom 4th the Coons loaded the bases; Pellicano had hit a single in between walks issued to Toohey and Waters. Gonzalez was up with one out, and rammed a quick bouncer past Joe Crim for a 2-run single and a 3-1 lead before both Wolinsky and Mercado struck out. An inning later, Gurney singled home Maldo for a tack-on run, and while Wolinsky held up his end of the box score nicely in the middle innings, the Raccoons had the bags full again in the sixth inning, now with the 1-2-3 batters, two outs, and Toohey coming up with nowhere to walk him to without incurring damage. The count on him ran full, and then DuPlessis kept missing, walking in a run’s worth of damage before being yanked from the 5-1 game. Danny Guzman then got Gurney to sail out to Hester in left. Wolinsky got only one more out after that before walking Ryan Lorensen in the #8 hole and being relieved on 107 pitches. Scott Davison, pinch-hitter, found a 6-4-3 double play against Preston Porter to reach the stretch. Porter was used to bunt in an otherwise inefficient bottom 7th, then retired the top of the Knights’ lineup in order in the eighth. Come the ninth, we got cocky – with two lefty batters up, we encouraged Jake Bonnie to suck some more. Hester flew out, Cass walked (…), and Arnout van der Zanden hit into a fielder’s choice that sent Cass back to the dugout. Bonnie remained in to face Bill Melendez, who grounded out to end the game. 5-1 Raccoons. Herrera 2-5, 3B, RBI; Maldonado 2-4; Pellicano 3-4; Wolinsky 6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (8-1);

And that is the season series, taken in May, 5-0.

And what about Adame? Dr. Padilla? – Nothing new? – What do you mean, “did we even take him home from Tijuana”??

Game 3
ATL: SS Venegas – LF Hester – 1B Marz – 2B Crim – RF van der Zanden – CF Melendez – C Toki – 3B Ramires – P Freels
POR: LF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Gurney – RF Pellicano – SS Waters – C Morales – P Wheatley

Wheats faced the minimum the first time through, feeding grounders to the middle infielders mostly, one of which – Joe Crim’s – was flubbed by Waters for a error before being cleaned up with a double play. The Raccoons were a lot less impressive when playing the stick-and-whack part of the game, amounting to memorable offense the first time through either. Just when I began to feel comfy with Wheats again, he allowed doubles to Venegas and Marz in the fourth inning, falling behind 1-0 as a consequence. Apart from that he pitched very well until he started to begin laying eggs in the seventh, the score still being the same. Melendez hit a 2-out double before Wheats leaked walks to both Manichiro Toki and Antonio Ramires, but then the Knights didn’t bat for Freels with three on and two outs, and the pitcher went down swinging to strand all the runners.

Eight innings of 1-run ball seemed enough to doom Wheatley, though, because through seven the Raccoons tallied two base hits and looked completely listless against Freels, who continued on the mound in the bottom 8th. Gurney opened with a single to right, which already had to count as raging success, but Pellicano hit into a double play, which was just the usual course of things here and yet all too depressing. Waters grounded out. Josh Rella pitched a clean ninth before the mound was retaken by Freels. Tony Morales grounded out. Brian Snyder grounded out. And then the Knights went to right-hander David Hardaway for some strange reason. Mercado promptly reached on a bloop single. That was it, though; Herrera grounded out to third base. 1-0 Knights. Wheatley 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, L (5-2);

Both teams tallied four base hits. They had all the doubles though…

By Thursday we FINALLY (?) moved Alex Adame to the DL after we found out his elbow had inflammation but no terminal damage. He would be out until early July, though…

We’d contend ourselves with Waters at short for now and recalled Carreno to fill the open spot…

Raccoons (34-17) vs. Indians (26-28) – May 31-June 2, 2047

…and then back came our usual problem team, the Indians, with the season series even at three right now. They were fifth in runs scored, ninth in runs allowed, and with a -2 run differential, but I was almost certain that they’d run riot and make themselves unwelcome around here in a hurry again…!

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (3-5, 3.77 ERA) vs. John Roeder (3-2, 3.18 ERA)
Jake Jackson (3-3, 3.92 ERA) vs. Jason Palladino (3-4, 3.79 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (4-4, 3.42 ERA) vs. Justin Roberts (3-3, 3.84 ERA)

Roeder was the only southpaw starter they had, and we’d get him right in the opener.

Nelson Galvan and Nick Nunez were on the DL for Indy, but our list was longer…

Game 1
IND: SS Russ – RF A. Mendez – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – 2B Tindle – 1B Kurtz – 3B B. Anderson – C J. Rose – P Roeder
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Mercado – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – P Merino

Now, I was assured three times by Cristiano Carmona that Andrew Russ only had a .376 OBP for this season, but he nevertheless stroked a leadoff single in the Friday game’s first inning and thus raised his OBP in games against the Critters to about 1.250, I was convinced. Somehow he was out on an Angel Mendez grounder, and Mendez got caught stealing, and the Raccoons actually got out of the damn inning even after a walk to Bill Quinteros with two outs… The Critters then quickly took the lead on a 2-run homer by Toohey, with Maldo on first base after having drawn a walk. Mercado reached on an infield single, and Matt Waters whacked a homer to left, 4-0. Problem was, Merino wasn’t retiring anybody in the top 2nd until four Indians had reached and one had scored. Single, double, walk, walk, and then a double play grounder from Roeder, which scored a second run, but allowed us to bail out when Pellicano risked life and limb to snatch a Russ liner and strand Bobby Anderson on third base. Pellicano then tacked on a run when he drove in Arturo Carreno in the bottom 2nd, Carreno having singled and been bunted to second base, Maldo also hit a single, but Toohey struck out this time to end the inning.

The thing was, could be score runs quicker than Merino kept coming apart? Angel Mendez hit a solo shot in the top 3rd, but this was countered in the bottom 3rd by Ruben Gonzalez, who homered to left with Mercado and Waters on base, running the score to 8-3 and sending Roeder home for the night. Now it was about dragging Merino through five, which was hard enough. Russ singled home Anderson in the fourth, 8-4, while the rookie Anderson then flew out to Herrera to strand runners on second and third the following inning. When the bottom 5th saw Gonzalez on with a leadoff walk and Carreno with a single, Merino was used to bunt them into scoring position, though. Pellicano singled home the runners against long man Larry Thompson, getting the Coons into double digits, but Merino retired nobody else, beginning the sixth with a Rose single and nailing PH Daniel Hertenstein. We then extricated ourselves with two outs from Josh Rella and one from Aaron Curl, matching up against the top of the order. The Indians got a run off Kevin Hitchcock in the seventh instead, finding either gap for extra bases with Joe Tindle and Ron Kurtz to shorten the score to 10-5, which lasted us into the ninth inning. Preston Porter was then out there. He put Joe Tindle and Bobby Anderson on the corners, but had two outs and one to go when Maldo misfired on Jason Rose’s grounder, pulling Pat Gurney off first base. The error conceded another run, made the whole thing a save situation, and the Indians promoted a lefty pinch-hitter to the plate in Philip Locke, so the Critters jumped to Mike Lynn, who gave up an RBI single up the middle before retiring Russ, of all people. 10-7 Raccoons. Pellicano 3-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Maldonado 2-4, BB; Mercado 2-2, 2 BB, 2B; Waters 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Carreno 2-4;

Thompson (0-0, 4.38 ERA) was sent to the Thunder after this game to net the Indians a prospect. Also, Bobby Anderson was named Rookie of the Month, then was demoted to AAA.

Not gonna get involved with that move…

Game 2
IND: SS Russ – 1B Kurtz – RF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – 2B Tindle – 3B Massey – CF Locke – C J. Rose – P Palladino
POR: LF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – SS Waters – C Morales – 2B Carreno – P Jackson

Against a lineup with only three righty batters, Jackson did rather well in the early innings, scattering three singles without allowing a run. The Raccoons scored early again, however, with Pellicano and Waters landing 2-out RBI knocks after Herrera and Toohey had put themselves on base ahead of them. The bags even filled up when Tony Morales walked, but Carreno popped out to keep it 2-0. Pellicano hit a solo homer in the third to add a run.

The annoying pest Andrew Russ (we should really print that on T-shirts) finally manufactured a run in the top 5th. He reached on an infield single, stole second, and came home on Kurtz’ double, shortening the score to 3-1. That was the only run Jackson allowed while on the mound, but he left with the tying runs (Rose, Russ) aboard and two outs in the seventh inning, having struck out eight Indians. Aaron Curl came on, had nothing better to do than to walk Quinteros to load the bases, then somehow struck out PH Daniel Hertenstein. While the Raccoons were content with what they had, the Raccoons used Curl for two more outs in the eighth before bringing on Moreno after Locke singled. Rose went out to end that inning, and we were not entirely against Moreno finishing the game, but by the ninth Russ (…!) doubled off him with one out, putting the tying run at the plate. Kurtz grounded out, moving Russ to third base, Moreno had nothing better to do than to walk Quinteros, but then somehow struck out Hertenstein to end the game anyway. 3-1 Critters. Mercado 2-4; Toohey 2-4; Pellicano 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Morales 1-2; Jackson 6.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (4-3);

And that was it – Sunday was persistent rain and rain and more rain, and no baseball was played, just when we wanted to rotate Brian Snyder in for a game.

In other news

May 28 – The Thunder rout the Canadiens in a double-header for a combined score of 22-1. OCT OF Juan Benavides (.307, 13 HR, 38 RBI) contributes six hits, two doubles, a homer, and five RBI between the two games.
May 28 – The Blue Sox tally only two hits against Gary Perrone (7-3, 2.77 ERA) in eight innings before they overturn their 1-0 deficit with back-to-back home runs off DEN CL Alexander Lewis (2-2, 6.10 ERA, 16 SV), hit by C Jorge Santa Cruz (.245, 3 HR, 33 RBI) and OF Nick Berryman (.266, 5 HR, 19 RBI) for a 2-1 walkoff win.
May 31 – The Bayhawks will be without 2B/SS Sergio Quiroz (.279, 8 HR, 24 RBI) for probably all of June. The 26-year-old is out with a separated shoulder.

FL Player of the Week: SAL RF/LF Jose Platero (.305, 7 HR, 29 RBI), hitting .526 (10-19) with 2 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA C/1B Kevin Weese (.280, 3 HR, 21 RBI), batting .462 (12-26) with 1 HR, 10 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL OF Tylor Cecil (.318, 10 HR, 41 RBI), hitting .354 with 5 HR, 23 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: OCT OF Juan Benavides (.300, 13 HR, 38 RBI), swatting .340 with 8 HR, 22 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: CIN CL Ross Mitchell (4-1, 2.93 ERA, 15 SV), shutting it down with a 4-0 record, 1.69 ERA, and 9 saves and 20 K in 15 games
CL Pitcher of the Month: SFB SP Kevin Nolte (7-0, 2.52 ERA), hurling for a 6-0 record with a 1.13 ERA and 30 K
FL Rookie of the Month: TOP C Brett Banks (.360, 9 HR, 37 RBI), raking .364 with 6 HR, 22 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: IND 3B Bobby Anderson (.320, 3 HR, 14 RBI), hitting .379 with 3 HR, 12 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Unlucky Brian Snyder will be gone on Monday with Manny coming off the DL then and taking that spot. Snyder is a weird player to have, a bit of a stick, and no glove to speak of…

Sunday’s game will be made up at a stupid point, July 5, in double header form – that is right ahead of the All Star Game, on the final Friday before the break. Looks like we’ll need a spot starter for that one.

You may wonder why no Toohey for Batter of the Month? His May was not actually that great, hitting .263 with 6 HR and 16 RBI; he was much better in April.

After failing to play six this week, we’ll try to play seven next week. Four in Elk City (brrrr), and then three at home against the Warriors before heading out East for three sets. The draft will also fall into that road trip, annoyingly a few days before we’re due to plunge into New York anyway…

Fun Fact: Rikuto Ito of the Condors is tied with Bryce Toohey and just one off the CL lead in home runs.

That is one of the castoffs the Raccoons tried in their most recent lean years in the early 2040s. He hit .277 with 4 homers in 86 games back then, which wasn’t a lot, and then wrapped up in a trade with Sacramento for Rich Willett and Carlos Cortes. Both had a good half-season for the Critters in 2042 before going down to injury and being traded to San Fran for Jose Casas, respectively, which is its own can of worms.

Ito hit 20 homers as a regular for the Scorpions in ’42, then was still relegated to the bench the yar after. He wound up in Tijuana by trade in July of ’44 and cranked it back up there, with a high of 19 homers in 2045. Since he can also add 30+ doubles every year, he’s a contributor despite usually languishing in the .250s …

For his career, Ito is .259/.345/.420 with 88 homers and 379 RBI.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (36-17) @ Canadiens (26-28) – June 3-6, 2047

The team departed northwards after our Sunday game was voided to play the damn Elks in a 4-game set. The Raccoons had swept the first 3-game set of the year against them, so they were surely out for blood up there. The Elks continued to have pitching problems, surrendering the third-most runs in the CL, but this year were also only average in scoring, and their -24 run differential (Critters: +45) was maybe an indicator that they would slide backwards rather than close in with the Critters. At least that was what I told myself to feel better about the team going up there for four days, banged up as it was already…

Manny Fernandez came off the DL in time for the series, sending Brian Snyder back to AAA.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (4-4, 3.42 ERA) vs. David Farris (5-2, 3.42 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (8-1, 2.65 ERA) vs. Hisami Furuya (2-3, 3.08 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (5-2, 3.10 ERA) vs. Brad Blankenship (4-3, 5.33 ERA)
Victor Merino (4-5, 4.03 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (2-3, 3.75 ERA)

Three right-handers, followed by a southpaw. Also, on the DL: Jerry Outram, although he could return to the lineup to spread terror any day now. Tim Phillips and Tony Romero were also on the DL for the Elks.

Game 1
POR: LF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – SS Waters – C Morales – 2B Carreno – P Okuda
VAN: CF Escobido – LF Mancini – 1B Delagrange – 3B Malkus – 2B O. Aguirre – C Ebner – RF I. Jaramillo – P Farris – SS R. Price

I soldiered bravely on into the office, only to find out that absolutely everybody had taken the midweek off. No Maud, no Cristiano, no Chad, and Degenhardt and Dr. Padilla were with the team anyway. Only Slappy and Honeypaws were on the trusty brown couch, as always, and as if they were the couch’s inventory. I plunged down next to Slappy, sighed, opened a bottle of booze, and none too soon, because the opener went off pear-shaped in a real hurry.

First, the Coons had a guy on in the first two innings each, but Herrera was caught stealing and things like that; the damn Elks then had Oscar Aguirre triple home Travis Malkus with nobody out in the bottom 2nd to take a 1-0 lead, but also stranded Aguirre at third base with three poor outs, the last made by the silly pitcher in the silly #8 slot. Portland returned to bat, Carreno hitting a leadoff single in the top 3rd. He stole second base, while Okuda put a ball in play that Aguirre initially mishandled and it became a real race to first base. Okuda won it, but also tweaked something on the infield single and had to leave the ballgame. I climbed deeper into my bottle of booze, but at least Nelson Mercado tied the game with a single to center. Herrera found a 6-4-3, but Maldo singled to left to give Portland a 2-1 lead before Farris fanned Toohey. Pitching duties devolved onto Josh Rella for the time being, although we hoped for actual long relief from Kevin Hitchcock after that.

Hitchcock inherited a 3-1 lead, it having been augmented with a Waters homer in the fourth, after Rella pitched two scoreless innings, and would enter the #1 spot in the lineup, Roberto Medina taking over leftfield after pinch-hitting for Rella to begin the top 5th. Hitchcock retired the first four he faced before walking Angel Escobido in the sixth, and appeared to run into a game-tier by Chris Delagrange not long after that, but the strong headwind knocked the ball down in center and dropped it into Armando Herrera’s mitten near the warning track. Long relief would amount to three scoreless in what remained a 3-1 game, with the Elks sitting on no more than two hits through seven innings. Somehow we had to get Jake Bonnie involved though, which happened in the bottom 8th, with the 7-8-9 up, including two left-handers, one of whom, Rick Price, he managed to walk with two outs. Escobido flew out leisurely to Pellicano, though, just ahead of the pitcher in the #2 hole. Not finding any more offense, we found Mike Lynn in the pen instead for the ninth. He struck out PH Antonio Peralta, got a grounder from Delagrange… then ran three full counts and walked the bases full against Malkus, Aguirre, and Sean Ebner, bringing up Israel Jaramillo with everything the Elks needed to win on base. The Raccoons hastily went to Nelson Moreno for the right-handed .340 bat, only to be countered by a .362 lefty in Julio Diaz – who struck out. 3-1 Critters. Maldonado 2-4, RBI; Carreno 1-2, BB; Rella 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (3-1); Hitchcock 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K;

2-hit them – not bad for a bullpen game.

Now, Slappy, if Dr. Padilla answered my calls, that would be very lovely.

Game 2
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – P Wolinsky
VAN: CF Escobido – LF Mancini – RF A. Peralta – 1B Delagrange – 3B Malkus – 2B O. Aguirre – C Ebner – P Furuya – SS R. Price

After both teams got their #2 man on and had him removed with a double play in the first inning, the Raccoons took an unearned 1-0 lead in the top 2nd. Manny reached with a soft single, while Ruben Gonzalez’ 2-out grounder was bobbled by Delagrange. Arturo Carreno struck with an RBI single up the middle before the inning ended with Wolinsky flying out to Angel Escobido. Top 3rd, leadoff walk for Mercado, then a single for Herrera. Both took off on the first pitch to Maldo, and Ebner spiked the throw to third, which got through Malkus for another error, allowed Mercado to score, and Herrera to third base with nobody out. Maldo cashed an RBI single before the inning ran out.

Another run was added in the fourth with back-to-back 2-out doubles by Carreno and Wolinsky, 4-0. On the mound, Bubba had the habit of putting a guy on in each inning, but the damn Elks kept finding double plays (as did the Coons…) and he sailed relatively cleanly until the fifth when he walked Aguirre and Ebner singled. Furuya bunted them into scoring position, bringing up Price with two outs – the only lefty hitter in the lineup though, and Wolinsky rung him up to keep his sheet clean. Top 6th, Waters forced out Manny with a bad grounder, but then stole second and scored on a Gonzalez single to extend the lead to 5-0. It looked like a comfy game – I was wondering where the baseball gods had hidden the hammer for this one. Antonio Peralta homered to left in the bottom 6th, which did get the Elks on the board, but Furuya did not retire anybody to begin the seventh. Herrera singled, Maldo was brushed in the fuzzy belly, and Toohey hit an RBI single to center. Herrera’s rush to home plate drew a throw from Escobido, which was late, allowed the trailing runners to move up, and Furuya was yanked after that. Manny grounded out to Malkus, which scored nobody, but Waters’ groundout and Gonzalez’ single each brought in a run.

Wolinsky left the 8-1 game with two outs and two on in the seventh, having issued four walks against six strikeouts, not the best ratio. The Coons went to Preston Porter, the only righty not involved in the Monday game, who got a fly to Herrera from Escobido to end the inning, then added a 1-2-3 eighth. Then, with the 7-run lead, the Coons thought they could just as well use Bonnie in the bottom 9th, even against right-handers. He retired the first two before Ebner hit a single. Fine enough. Bonnie then threw a wild pitch, walked Diaz, walked Price, and suddenly the bags were full again. He would face one more before we’d have to dig out a competent pitcher again… Thankfully, Escobido grounded out to Maldo to end the game… 8-1 Raccoons. Herrera 3-5; Fernandez 2-5; Gonzalez 2-4, 2 RBI; Carreno 4-4, 2B, RBI; Wolinsky 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, W (9-1) and 1-4, 2B, RBI;

I always like it when our pitchers drive in as many runs as they give up.

Or more.

Game 3
POR: CF Herrera – LF Fernandez – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 1B Gurney – SS Waters – C Morales – 2B Carreno – P Wheatley
VAN: CF F. Rojas – C Julio Diaz – LF Mancini – 1B Delagrange – SS R. Price – 2B O. Aguirre – RF Escobido – P Blankenship – 3B Malkus

Three singles to center and Rick Price’s double to right strafed Wheats for two runs in the opening inning. The Coons had the tying runs on base in the second, with Carreno flying out to Escobido to leave them on, and again in the third, then even with nobody out as Wheats singled and Herrera reached on Malkus’ error. Manny lined out to Delagrange, and Maldo and Toohey both grounded out to a corner infielder to sap my enthusiasm.

Wheats kept trying, hitting another single in the fifth, but nobody else reached base in the inning. On the mound, he remained luckless and stuffless; the Elks hit seven base knocks off him while whiffing once in the first four innings, and could have led by more. Delagrange added a 2-out single in the bottom 5th before Price popped out on a 3-0 pitch, and that was the last inning Wheatley completed before Aguirre and Malkus singled their way to the corners in the bottom 6th and knocked him out with two gone. Pellicano and Curl entered in a double switch that removed Gurney from the #5 hole, with the lefty hitter Felix Rojas grounding out to keep the score a civil 2-0. The Coons however couldn’t even score Waters after he whacked a leadoff double in the seventh, so what was the point… (unscrews Capt’n Coma) The Elks tacked on a run in the eighth, Malkus taking Hitchcock deep, but it wasn’t like the Critters were going to score any time soon… 3-0 Canadiens. Waters 2-4, 2B;

Game 4
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Mercado – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – P Merino
VAN: CF Escobido – LF Mancini – RF A. Peralta – 1B Delagrange – 3B Malkus – 2B O. Aguirre – C Ebner – P de Anda – SS R. Price

Bryce Toohey singled home Herrera with an unearned run in the first inning – Escobido had overrun Herrera’s single – but a Peralta single and a Delagrange homer flipped that score in a hurry and in the same inning. Delagrange repeated the feat in the fourth, then with a solo shot, putting the damn Elks up 3-1.

Both pitchers’ tenure ended with an hourlong rain delay in the fifth inning, with de Anda departing with the tying runs on base in Gonzalez and Carreno, one out, and Manny batting against right-hander Mario Godinez to resume play. His single stuffed the bases for Pellicano, who found Rick Price for a 6-4-3 double play… No, the Raccoons weren’t hitting, at least not where they should hit to, and the Elks were going to escape with a split… Preston Porter pitched two scoreless innings, but Rella was tagged for a run on a walk and two singles in the seventh; same for Moreno in the eighth, although his was unearned despite balking it in, thanks to a Maldonado error. The Raccoons had Gurney hit a single in the #9 hole in the eighth for no great effect, then gave off a last wheeze against Eddie Sotelo in the ninth. Toohey hit a 1-out single and Mercado found the rightfield corner for an RBI triple, 5-2. Sam Gibson, closer on duty, replaced Sotelo, but gave up an RBI single to Waters, promoting the tying run to the plate. Gonzalez hit a bloop single in a full count, but Carreno popped out. Tony Morales then batted for Moreno, but grounded out. 5-3 Canadiens. Herrera 2-4; Toohey 2-4, RBI; Fernandez (PH) 1-1; Gurney (PH) 1-1; Porter 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K;

Yeah, Slappy, I sometimes wish they’d start hitting before being down to one or two outs…

We also finally shifted Sadaharu Okuda to the DL with an intercostal strain. He would probably miss another two weeks, so there were two to three spot starts available for somebody from AAA. That would be Jeremy Baker, who had a 3.65 ERA with a 5-5 record for the Alley Cats, but the most appealing K/BB numbers among the staff there, with a 1.8 ratio. The lefty was of course nothing special to watch out for at age 26, with two appearances for Portland last year, and a 4.32 ERA in 8.1 innings back then.

Raccoons (38-19) vs. Warriors (29-31) – June 7-9, 2047

Back to interleague play and home soil, with the third-place Warriors, just under .500, coming in. They had a -48 run differential, but I had seen that before this week and it hadn’t worked out *that* great for us. Second in runs scored, but bottoms in runs allowed, with the worst rotation AND bullpen – both with ERA’s over five – were allowing us to score aplenty. (snickers) The last meeting between these two teams had taken place two years ago, Portland taking two of three games.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (4-3, 3.66 ERA) vs. Aaron Jones (3-5, 5.66 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (0-0) vs. Jay Carroll (5-2, 5.17 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (9-1, 2.53 ERA) vs. Mark Elzinga (4-7, 5.16 ERA)

Right, left, left – Southpaw Sunday! – and they also had a pile of injuries, although mostly to relievers. Hugo Acosta was a memorable name on the DL, but the infielder was close to returning, they said, but we also hadn’t seen an antler of Jerry Outram in Elk City, so who knew…

Game 1
SFW: SS Moriel – 2B E. Stevens – LF M. Villa – RF Diskin – 1B Liberos – CF Munn – 3B Mujica – C W. Gardner – P A. Jones
POR: CF Mercado – LF Fernandez – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – SS Waters – 1B Gurney – C Morales – 2B Carreno – P Jackson

Tony Morales tried to atone for the final out in Elk City with an RBI single for the first run on Friday, plating Pat Gurney from second base in the bottom 2nd of the opener. He Coons added more singles from Carreno, followed by a Jackson bunt to put two in scoring position, and eventually Manny with two outs, scoring both runners for a 3-0 edge. Morales added a double to his ledger in the fourth before being singled home by Nelson Mercado, and Maldo doubled and scored on a Gurney single in the fifth to go up 5-0. A Julio Moriel error added Morales to the bags, and Carreno flicked a 2-out RBI single to get to 6-0. Jackson meanwhile held the Warriors to one hit in six innings, but walking three amidst a bunch of long counts did him in in the long run, and he was done after seven shutout innings and 104 pitches. Hitchcock allowed a run on two hits in the eighth, however, and was helped out mainly by a Moriel double play to Waters. Curl had no issues in a clean ninth, though. 6-1 Raccoons! Mercado 3-5, RBI; Maldonado 2-4, 2B; Gurney 2-4, RBI; Morales 2-4, 2B, RBI; Carreno 3-4, RBI; Jackson 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 K, W (5-3);

Game 2
SFW: SS Moriel – 2B H. Acosta – LF M. Villa – RF Diskin – 1B Liberos – CF Munn – C A. Thompson – 3B Wilken – P Carroll
POR: 2B Carreno – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – LF Medina – P Baker

The Warriors had two singles off Baker in the first, but no cigar, with Moriel thrown out by Herrera as he tried to go first-to-third on Mario Villa’s single. The Coons instead scored another unearned run in the bottom 1st, Carreno singling, going to third on a Herrera single, and finding the game ball sailing over his head and Randy Wilken after an errant throw by Matt Diskin, then turned left and scored. Herrera eventually scored on a Pellicano single with two outs, but also got entangled with Amari Thompson at the plate and got knocked out of the game, to be replaced by Mercado. I wailed terribly and cried into Honeypaws, although Dr. Padilla called a while later that it was only a bruise and he might even be able to play on Sunday. The inning continued with an RBI double by Waters in the right-center gap before Gonzalez lined out to Acosta. The Coons doubled their output in the third inning with a 3-piece that Pellicano smashed outta leftfield, scoring Mercado and Toohey for a 6-0 edge. Matt Waters went back-to-back with him and homered to right, while Gonzalez ripped a double to right before the automatic outs at the bottom of the order ended the inning. Reliever Andy Mejia gave up a run in the fourth, Pellicano driving home Maldonado, but also singled off Baker in the sixth inning of his long relief effort. After two innings in which a remarkably untouchable Baker had allowed a single before getting a double play grounder to clean up, this runner remained on base and had Villa added via walk with two outs. Matt Diskin flew out to Medina, though, stranding the pair. Baker’s defenses broke only in the seventh inning, when Danny Munn singled, advanced on a groundout, and was driven in by Wilken with another single, the eighth hit off Baker, and also the final one, with Baker pinch-hit for in the bottom 7th. Bonnie and Porter filled out the remaining two innings without accident. 8-1 Critters! Herrera 1-1; Mercado 3-4; Coen (PH) 1-1; Pellicano 3-4, HR, 5 RBI; Waters 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Baker 7.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (1-0);

We’re actually scoring MORE on them than their lousy average? Two days in a row? I have a bad feeling about this…! We probably get shut out on Sunday then…

Game 3
SFW: SS Moriel – 2B H. Acosta – LF M. Villa – RF Diskin – 1B Liberos – CF Munn – C A. Thompson – 3B Wilken – P Elzinga
POR: CF Mercado – 2B Carreno – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – P Wolinsky

…or Wolinsky would get blasted. Acosta tripled, Mario Villa homered, and there was another deep fly to right that Pellicano scraped off the top of the fence in the first inning, which saw the Raccoons trail 2-0 early. Mercado responded with a leadoff jack, but while Carreno and Maldo also hit singles, the 4-5-6 hitters collectively blacked out and the runners were stranded. Wolinsky allowed two singles to center in the second, conceding another run, struck out two to begin the top 3rd, then gave up another marker to a Manny Liberos double in left and Danny Munn’s single to center. Add to that 45 minutes of rain delay right after the inning, and the Raccoons were considering a bullpen day…

While the Coons had two walks in the bottom 4th and then saw Ruben Gonzalez robbed of a 2-out, 3-run, game-tying homer by Mario Villa, the fiend, Wolinsky clawed his way through five innings. He whiffed seven, but the rest of the line was gruesome and he was on the 4-1 hook. A Carreno walk and a Maldo single, all with two outs, brought up Toohey as the tying run in the bottom 5th, but he grounded back to the pitcher; Elzinga dropped the ball, the error filling the bases for Pellicano, who flew out to Diskin in deep right…

The tying run was at the plate AGAIN in the sixth after Manny and Gonzalez got on, with the #9 hole and Hitchcock up with one out. Pat Gurney grounded out in the spot, but Nelson Mercado FINALLY got the damn baseball out of the park with a 3-run homer (on a 1-2 pitch!) to right that Diskin could only look after. The game – tied.

Next, Carreno doubled to left and also strained a quad while doing so, hobbling off the field with Dr. Padilla. The Coons sent Jake Bonnie to pinch-run, showing their paw for their pitching plans in the seventh. Maldo grounded out to keep the game tied. Bonnie then whiffed Acosta, walked Villa, and whiffed Diskin before Villa was caught stealing. A pair of doubles by Manny Liberos and PH Dario Martinez downed Rella in the eighth, however, and the Warriors were back on top, 5-4. Putting runners on the base was not that hard for Portland – they got Elzinga (who was still going) to hit Gonzalez, and Gurney flubbed in a single with one out in the bottom 8th. Hey, here came Mercado again! This time Elzinga walked him, loading the bases. Carreno’s deserted spot now housed the pitcher, but our bench was rather sad. Ben Coen batted with three on and one out, one needed to tie, and two to lead. Elzinga walked him, too, before getting yanked a little late. Vincenzo Battaglia oversaw Maldo whipping a 2-run single to right-center, giving the Critters the lead, but struck out Toohey and got Pellicano to fly out. That left the ball to Lynn then. As in his prior outing, he got two outs before finding trouble, in this case a Villa homer with two outs. Diskin grounded out to first, though, completing the sweep. 7-6 Furballs. Mercado 2-4, BB, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Carreno 2-3, BB, 2B; Maldonado 3-5, 2 RBI;

In other news

June 3 – SAC SP Craig Czyszczon (5-6, 2.90 ERA) 3-hits the Wolves while throwing a 6-0 shutout.
June 5 – Aces RF/LF Mike Roberts (.298, 7 HR, 27 RBI) is headed for Tommy John surgery with a torn UCL, but should be ready for next Opening Day.
June 6 – Bayhawks C Sean Suggs (.276, 3 HR, 11 RBI) would miss about two months with a broken cheekbone.
June 8 – PIT RF/LF Victor Vazquez (.354, 3 HR, 20 RBI) has five hits, including a double and two triples, driving in one run, but the Miners fall to the Thunder in a late meltdown, 6-5.
June 8 – The Capitals fall to a 3-hit shutout thrown by MIL SP Victor Padilla (6-6, 3.51 ERA). The Loggers win 3-0.
June 8 – A broken thumb will mean at least a month on the DL for BOS RF Joe Ritchey (.258, 6 HR, 25 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: LAP 1B Mark Cahill (.274, 11 HR, 45 RBI), hitting .435 (10-23) with 1 HR, 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB 1B Dan Riley (.292, 7 HR, 23 RBI), socking .462 (12-26) with 3 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Just when the very idea of Arturo Carreno on the team became fun again, he tore out a leg… argh! He’s off to the DL for a month at least with the quad strain as we keep piling up the injuries. Not the BIG-BIG injuries, that end the season, but we have had a TON of these two to six week injuries now and … well, look at the bench. And it’s not gonna get better.

Okay, actually Al Martell will return to the team soon; he started a rehab assignment in St. Pete on Sunday. But we still gotta patch over the latest wound with probably John Castner while we go on the road trip. If Castner still got all paws on him. In this organization you can never be sure.

But somehow we keep wiggling through with the best record in baseball and while leading our division by more than the other three division leaders lead theirs by combined. So (cough) … there should be only so much room for whining?

Anyway, a 3-city road trip is up: Cincy, Milwaukee, New York, 10 games total. The draft will take place on Saturday, too.

Fun Fact: If we win another seven games against the Warriors before taking another L, we’ll finally reach .500 against them.

They are the only team from the FL we are sub-.500 against all-time, 40-47 at this point.

Although we sit at .500 against the Cyclones, and they are up next…

[Westheim]

We began the week with yet another roster move caused by injury. Arturo Carreno was sent to the DL on Monday with that quad strain, and with Al Martell not quite ready to be recalled from AAA’s rehab stint, we grabbed Josh Floyd to play a few games at short in Cincy. He was hitting .293 in irregular time in AAA this year.

Raccoons (41-19) @ Cyclones (31-28) – June 10-12, 2047

Last complete set before the draft – the Cyclones were within reach of the lead in the FL East, 2 1/2 games back, and needed to hold off the Critters to get closer. They were however seventh in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed in the Federal League, with only a +10 run differential. The Coons’ was +62, which was still well under what you’d expect for a 41-19 team (by four games, to be precise). The last time we saw Cincy, we lost two of three.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (5-3, 3.11 ERA) vs. Michael Donovan (3-3, 5.31 ERA)
Victor Merino (4-6, 4.18 ERA) vs. Sal Chavez (4-1, 2.79 ERA)
Jake Jackson (5-3, 3.31 ERA) vs. Lachlan Clarke (4-5, 4.13 ERA)

The Cyclones would lead the charge with their only southpaw starter. They had nobody on the DL at all…!

Game 1
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – SS Floyd – P Wheatley
CIN: 2B C. Vega – 1B Zuazo – 3B Burgos – SS C. Delgado – CF Mathes – LF Correa – RF N. Duncan – C Sicco – P Donovan

Three singles by Alvin Zuazo, Chris Delgado, and Dan Mathes, and Manny Fernandez grievously overrunning the middle one of them in leftfield, buried Wheats two down in the opening inning, and although Manny hit a jack in the top 2nd to try to make up for his sins, the Raccoons still trailed early, then 2-1. More power from recently awoken players would help – like Matt Waters. After Maldo drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, Toohey flew out to deep center and Manny whiffed, but Matt Waters hit a homer to left to flip the score, 3-2, only for the Cyclones to flip it right back. Chris Delgado hit a leadoff single in the bottom 4th, Ricky Correa beat Herrera in deep center for an RBI triple, and then scored on Nick Duncan’s sac fly to Pellicano to give them back the lead. What was up with Wheats? Still the First Half Blues? He once again lasted only five shoddy innings on 99 pitches.

Ruben Gonzalez kindly took Wheats off the hook for the day, bending a homer around the inside of the left foul pole with two outs and nobody on base in the seventh inning, tying the score at four, while the Coons had just as many hits – three o them longballs. Donovan had to settle for a no-decision likewise after Preston Porter got a double play from Zuazo following Carlos Vega’s 1-out single in the seventh. Pellicano singled off Jeremy Mayhall to begin the eighth inning to put the go-ahead run on base, but was doubled up by Maldonado… Porter gave up a leadoff double to Jesus Burgos to begin the bottom 8th instead. Delgado popped out before Mike Lynn took over – the bottom of the Cyclones’ order was heavily lefty-hitting, but Bonnie had pitched two days in a row and Curl had already been used in the sixth for the same batch of batters. Despite a 2-out walk to Correa, Lynn worked out of the jam without the go-ahead runner scoring, and would get two more outs in the ninth before a 2-out walk to Vega. Moreno came on in a double switch this time; Waters was out and Gurney in to play second base. He didn’t get much to do – Moreno walked Zuazo in a full count before giving up a walkoff blast to Burgos. 7-4 Cyclones.

Rotten game, through and through.

Game 2
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – LF Fernandez – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – C Morales – SS Floyd – P Merino
CIN: 2B C. Vega – RF Meyer – SS C. Delgado – 1B Zuazo – LF Correa – CF Mathes – 3B Reid – C Solomon – P S. Chavez

Mercado hit a leadoff single, then was forced out by Herrera. The centerfielder stole second, reached third on Jaime Solomon’s throwing error, and then scored on Manny’s grounder for a wonky 1-0 lead in the first. It also didn’t last very long; Vega drew a leadoff walk off Merino, advanced on grounders to Maldo twice, and then scored when Zuazo legged out an infield single between the mound and the box. The Cyclones kept whacking away at Merino in the second; Solomon hit a single to center, Vega drummed a double to right to take the lead, and then scored on a Dan Meyer single, himself, the latter two with two outs. Portland countered, getting Floyd aboard with a leadoff single in the top 3rd. Merino bunted him to second, from where he scored handily on a Mercado double to center. Herrera singled to right, but the tying run had to stop at third base with Meyer right on the ball. Then Manny found the long overdue double play, 4-6-3, to kill the ******* inning.

Top 4th, bases loaded with one out after Maldo (forced out by Waters) and Gurney singled, and Morales walked on four pitches against Chavez. Floyd managed a sac fly to Meyer to tie the game at three before Merino grounded out to first, then returned the lead to Cincy with singles conceded to Solomon and Vega, Meyer’s groundout getting Solomon home from third base in the bottom 4th. Armando Herrera’s first homer of the year tied the score at four AGAIN, and the Coons even went up on Chavez with a 2-out rally. Maldo doubled to center, Waters walked in a full count, and Pat Gurney found an RBI single in center to bring in Maldo for a 5-4 edge. That removed Chavez in favor of left-hander Chris Lulay, who walked Morales to fill the bags, but got Floyd to fly out to Meyer to strand all three runners.

Merino actually held on to that through six before Matt Waters jacked Lulay for a 2-run homer to center in the seventh inning, bringing in Maldo and his 1-out single, which put Portland up 7-4, same score as Monday, just the other way round. Merino scratched out one more out in the bottom 7th, but was chased after a Maldo error and a walk issued, Josh Rella cleaning up behind him. The Cyclones put two more on in the bottom 8th against Hitchcock, who was supposed to retire the 7-8-9, got as far as 8, then yielded singles to PH Mario Ochoa and Vega. Meyer grounded out to Maldo before we could bring in Moreno for a 4-out save attempt, Lynn being unavailable today. The save was off entirely when Maldo singled home Manny Fernandez against Mayhall in the ninth. Two more singles by Waters and Floyd (with two outs) added another run in Maldo’s shape against Danny Tankersley. The ball went to Porter instead then, and the Cyclones disappeared 1-2-3…! 9-4 Raccoons. Mercado 2-5, 2B, RBI; Herrera 2-5, HR, RBI; Maldonado 5-5, 2B, RBI; Waters 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Gurney 2-5, RBI; Floyd 2-4, 2 RBI;

Maldo, unretired! – Hard to give the man a day off, but we wanted him back for the games in division and so he sat anyway on Wednesday.

Game 3
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – LF Fernandez – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – C Morales – SS Floyd – 3B Coen – P Jackson
CIN: 2B C. Vega – 1B Zuazo – 3B Burgos – SS C. Delgado – CF Mathes – LF Correa – RF M. Ochoa – C Sicco – P Clarke

Clarke ran 3-ball counts against the first three batters of the game, whiffing Mercado, but walking Herrera and Manny. Toohey had less patience and whacked an RBI double to left instead, and Waters found the fence – but only the front side of it – for another double and two runs. Tony Morales popped out, but then the bottom of the order kept slapping away singles with two outs: Floyd to left, Coen to center, plating a run, and even Jackson, bringing in another run. Mercado flew out to Dan Mathes, making two outs in the same inning, but the Raccoons were up 5-0 at least. Jackson then struck out the side in the bottom 1st… but not in the way envisioned. He rung up Vega and Zuazo, then had Burgos at 0-2 before giving up a single. He went on to walk the bags full, gave up an RBI single to Correa, and then somehow struck out Mario Ochoa to make it three…

Jackson remained a kid playing with matches right in the middle of the Cincinnati Dynamite Co. – while Portland tacked on a run in the fourth when Herrera brought in Mercado, Jackson loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the inning, issuing two walks in the process, and that was against the 6-7-8 batters. David Reid pinch-hit but lined out to Floyd. Vega’s sac fly shortened the score to 6-2, and Zuazo was rung up by the ump to strand two, but Jackson’s pitching was FAR from making anybody in a brown shirt comfortable. Delgado got him for a solo home run in the fifth, 6-3, a run the Coons took back in the seventh after Manny and Toohey went to the corners with 1-out singles, and Vega had no double play on Waters’ grounder to right, having to concede Manny’s run. Morales struck out to end that inning. Somehow Jackson went seven innings and struck out eight, but it was miles away from pretty… It didn’t get much better with Bonnie in the eighth, who was taken deep by Correa for another solo shot, 7-4. Lynn would get the top of the order in the ninth. Vega struck out, and Manny caught a fly from Zuazo. Burgos’ grounder to Waters ended the game. 7-4 Raccoons. Toohey 2-4, 2B, RBI; Coen 2-4, RBI;

Raccoons (43-20) @ Loggers (28-35) – June 13-16, 2047

Off we were to Milwaukee for a 4-game set there, entering with a 2-1 lead in the season series. The Loggers were bottoms in runs scored in the CL, getting not even 3.4 runs out of every game, which was reminiscent of some old, old Raccoons teams. They were ninth in runs allowed, so their record was probably a lot kinder than it should be, with a -81 run differential having been piled up already. They had entered freefall recently, having won all of two games in June so far.

Projected matchups:
Jeremy Baker (1-0, 1.29 ERA) vs. Victor Padilla (6-6, 3.51 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (9-1, 2.82 ERA) vs. Ruben Guzman (1-7, 4.08 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (5-3, 3.36 ERA) vs. Carlos Vasquez (3-5, 4.36 ERA)
Victor Merino (5-6, 4.31 ERA) vs. Tomas Ruiz (2-10, 7.17 ERA)

Left, right, then right, left – Southpaw Sunday! The only notable DL absence they had to complain about right now was outfielder Brent Allen, and he might return by the end of the weekend.

I would have to fly out after half the games in the series, with the draft taking place on Saturday in New York, the team’s next destination.

Game 1
POR: RF Pellicano – CF A. Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – SS Floyd – LF Medina – P Baker
MIL: CF Reeves – LF Umbreiro – 3B Loyola – SS R. Espinoza – RF E. Hernandez – C Payne – 2B Velasquez – 1B Bush – P V. Padilla

The first five batters in the game all struck out before Jon Loyola hit a single and Ricky Espinoza flew out to Herrera. Waters walked in the second before being doubled up by Gonzalez, but the top 3rd saw leadoff singles from Floyd and the beleaguered (.085 entering the game) Roberto Medina. The runners were bunted into scoring position by Baker, but Gene Pellicano failed with another K. Herrera didn’t – his single to left-center brought in both runners for the first two markers on the board. Maldo singled, but Toohey’s fly in the gap was caught by Celio Umbreiro. While Baker shed two hits and no runs the first time through the lineup in his second start of the season, the Raccoons began the fourth inning by filling the bags with their 5-6-7 hitters and nobody out. Medina struck out (sigh of lamentation!), but Baker managed at least a sac fly to Bill Reeves to go up 3-0. Padilla walked Pellicano to restock the bags, then gave up *another* 2-out, 2-run single to Armando Herrera through the hole on the left, 5-0. The inning ended with Maldo, but the next began with another three Coons on base and nobody out. Josh Floyd hit a 2-run single before Luke Schwartz retired the 8-9-1 without suffering any more damage… in *that* inning. He got whacked around in the sixth, giving up another two runs on a pair of 2-out RBI singles by Gonzalez and Floyd, bringing home Herrera and Toohey.

Baker shut down the Loggers through six, then retired nobody in the seventh. Ernesto Hernandez hit a home run to begin the inning, before Ricky Payne singled, Jorge Velasquez walked, and Erik Bush hit an RBI single. That was it for the rookie, relieved by Rella, who got out of the messy inning for the cost of a Reeves sac fly, which reduced the lead to 9-3. Which was also as close as the Loggers got. Curl gave them nothing in the eighth, and while Portland didn’t tack on anymore, the Loggers only threatened with two runners against Hitchcock in the ninth, but couldn’t get another hit to force us to think about deploying Moreno before running out of outs. 9-3 Raccoons. Herrera 3-6, 4 RBI; Waters 0-1, 4 BB; Gonzalez 3-4, RBI; Floyd 3-4, BB, 3 RBI; Fernandez (PH) 1-1;

We had 13 hits – all singles. That’s normally a game you lose 5-4 or so.

Game 2
POR: RF Mercado – CF A. Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – 2B Gurney – SS Floyd – C Gonzalez – P Wolinsky
MIL: CF Reeves – LF Umbreiro – 3B Loyola – SS R. Espinoza – C Payne – 2B S. Pena – RF McIntyre – 1B Lovell – P Ru. Guzman

The bags were full before the Raccoons made an out on Friday with a walk, a single, and Maldonado taking another one to the bum. Toohey turned a 1-2 into a missile through Jon Loyola and up the line for a 2-run double, and the remaining two runners scored on groundouts by Manny and Gurney, giving the Critters a quick 4-0 paw up, all of which went out of the window in the bottom of the inning. Wolinsky offered a leadoff walk to Reeves, a single to Loyola, and another single to Ricky Espinoza for the Loggers’ first run. Ricky Payne struck out, but Sergio Pena struck a 3-run homer outta the park.

With that deflation still weighing on my chest, the Raccoons started with runners on base in the third again. Maldo singled, Toohey walked, and Manny socked a double to left this time, bringing in Maldonado to go up 5-4. Gurney added a sac fly, but Manny was left on base by the bottom of the order people, who got another chance to earn their oxygen in the fifth, with Manny and Gurney on base again, taking to the corners with one out. Floyd hit into a double play to kill the inning.

The bags were loaded with no outs in the top 6th then; Dave Peluso walked Gonzalez, mishandled Wolinsky’s bunt, and Pat Lovell fudged Mercado’s grounder to make a little bit of something out of almost nothing. This time, Herrera hit into the double play, 6-2-3 against boredom, before Maldo came to the rescue, cramming a triple into the rightfield corner to bring in a pair of 2-out runs. Toohey grounded out.

Wolinsky pitched into the bottom 7th, but shouldn’t have. He walked Celio Umbreiro to begin the inning, then got taken deep by Loyola to cut the lead to 8-6. Josh Rella would relieve him and get out of the inning, while the Raccoons rallied with two outs in the eighth – still against an enduring Peluso – with Mercado and Herrera getting on base before being driven in by Maldo again. Maldo also began the bottom 8th with an error to put Will McIntyre on base against Hitchcock, but the runner was caught stealing as Hitchcock rung up Lovell in a 3-2 count, then also pitched the ninth in a wild one. 10-6 Raccoons. Mercado 2-3, BB; Herrera 2-5, 2B; Maldonado 3-4, 3B, 4 RBI; Gurney 2-4, 2 RBI; Hitchcock 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Al Martell returned on Draft Day, with Josh Floyd, who hit 7-for-20 in his brief stint at short, being returned to AAA.

So that was now Waters at short again and Martell at second? Something like that.

Game 3
POR: RF Mercado – CF A. Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – 2B Martell – C Morales – LF Medina – P Wheatley
MIL: CF Reeves – 2B Barrington – RF E. Hernandez – SS R. Espinoza – 3B Loyola – C Payne – LF Umbreiro – 1B Bush – P C. Vasquez

This was a day game, which meant I could watch it in its entirety – barring extras or rain – in my hotel room in New York before hopping across the street to League HQ for the draft. Chief scout Pat Degenhardt and me tucked into my comfy double bed and molested room service with some menial request every five minutes while watching it on the 90-inch vector screen suspended from the ceiling.

The first few innings were scoreless and also hitless – nobody landed a base knock until Medina, of all people, hit a leadoff double to right in the top 3rd. That hurt Vasquez’ feelings and also his arm, and he left with something soon diagnosed as biceps strain. Righty Nicholas Pollock took over with Wheats batting, getting no more than a grounder at 1-2 that advanced the runner, then plated Medina with a wild pitch to get the Coons up 1-0.

Wheats had three perfect innings on 35 pitches and three strikeouts before a 45-minute rain delay struck, which also got us in the danger zone to finish the game before the ceremonies; not even getting into how my left paw was stuck in a pot of honey. Wheatley retired 14 straight before walking Payne, with Umbreiro flying out to end the bottom 5th, still in a 1-0 game, and the Loggers didn’t hit in the bottom 6th either. The next half-inning, Miguel Herrera was pitching for the Loggers. He walked Waters, who advanced on Martell’s groundout, then walked Morales intentionally to bring up Medina with one out. I wondered why we didn’t bat for him while trying to extricate my paw from the honey pot still, but what the heck do I know? Medina batted, dropped a single into shallow-left, and Waters scored from second, 2-0. Wheats then found a double play, got taken deep by Ernesto Hernandez in the bottom of the inning, and gave up two singles to Loyola and Payne before being shuffled off to the pasture with Nelson Moreno coming on to try and save the skinny 2-1 for the time being. He did so by striking out Erik Bush – after a walk to Umbreiro loaded the bags.

With time getting tight, Mercado and Herrera hit singles to take to the corners to begin the top 8th. Miguel Herrera kept pitching and yielding singles: Maldo hit an RBI single. Toohey hit a single. Waters slapped an RBI single. The Loggers sought refuge in a new right-hander, Caleb Martin, with three on and nobody out, but drowned with a 2-run double by Martell, then a walk to Morales. Medina popped out. Manny batted and hit a sac fly from Moreno’s spot, while Mercado hit a high bouncer in the gap, that jumped over the fence from the warning track for a ground-rule double, which actually cost a run; Morales had scored from first base, but was set back to third base. Ben Coen hit for Armando Herrera and whacked a 2-run double. Maldo finally made the third out, concluding an 8-spot. At this point, I agreed with Degenhardt that it was a win, the first Wheatley win in a while, and we should go. We didn’t get that honey pot off my paw though, so it tugged along to the draft procedures... I was then surprised to learn on the other side of the street that the game eventually ended much closer than indicated, with Degenhardt finding out that both Bonnie and Porter got on the snout in the final two innings… Still a win, though! 10-5 Raccoons. Mercado 2-5, 2B, RBI; Coen (PH) 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI; Waters 2-3, 2 BB, RBI; Morales 0-1, 3 BB; Medina 2-4, 2B, RBI; Wheatley 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (6-3);

After the daft draft event, Degenhardt and me hung around with some other GM’s past our bedtime and missed our late flight to Milwaukee, then decided to hang it out in New York on Sunday and wait for the team to join us instead.

I also still had to get that honey pot off my paw, and finding utensils or qualified personnel on a Sunday was not easy in New York, at least until Degenhardt took me to the Lower Eastside in Manhattan, where we found Rubinstein’s Deli & Blacksmith (we all have to broaden our portfolio to make enough dosh these days!), and with Sabbath over by Sunday, the owner extricated me from my gooey prison. I still got to keep the pot to lick it out, though, but we took sandwiches back to the hotel for the afternoon game.

Game 4
POR: RF Pellicano – CF A. Herrera – 1B Maldonado – LF Toohey – SS Waters – 2B Gurney – C Gonzalez – 3B Coen – P Merino
MIL: CF B. Allen – LF Reeves – 3B Loyola – SS R. Espinoza – 1B E. Hernandez – 2B S. Pena – C Nagel – RF Bush – P T. Ruiz

Nobody reached base until Ruben Gonzalez singled to open the third inning. Pellicano’s double scored him for a 1-0 lead, which went away an inning later on Pena’s sac fly following a pair of singles that sent Espinoza and Hernandez to the corners. Espinoza followed up a Reeves double with a 2-out RBI single the inning after, and the Loggers led 2-1 after five innings, while the Raccoons had two each in hits and errors…

Matt Waters flipped the score in the sixth with a 2-out homer to left, just after Ruiz had walked Bryce Toohey, and just before Pat Gurney grounded out on a 3-0 pitch. At least he made a diving grab in the bottom of the inning, which wasn’t something you were expecting from Gurney at second base. The top 7th then began with Gonzalez singling and Ben Coen drawing a walk. Merino bunted them into scoring position, and Pellicano hit a sharp grounder to left. Loyola narrowly missed it and the Coons got an RBI single out of it. Herrera grounded out to first, allowing Coen to score from third base, while Pellicano moved to second. From there, Maldo scored him – with another homer to left. That was Ruiz’ demise, although two Loggers hits also scratched Merino for another run in the bottom of the inning, but he actually went into the eighth and might have completed eight if not for a Coen throwing error that put David Nagel at second base with one out. Merino whiffed Bush, but then departed, with Moreno retiring the pinch-hitter, McIntyre. Moreno got two strikeouts and a grounder to short in the bottom 9th, but that wasn’t enough to end the game: Brent Allen reached on an uncaught third strike charged to Gonzalez and the Coons failed to turn two on the Loyola grounder. Espinoza grounded out to Gurney to indeed end the game and complete a forceful sweep. 7-3 Coons. Pellicano 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Toohey 1-2, 2 BB; Gonzalez 2-4;

In other news

June 10 – NYC LF/RF/1B Rich de Luna (.243, 0 HR, 8 RBI) finds his 2,000th career hit in a 5-4 win over the Blue Sox with a second-inning single off NAS SP Matt Sealock (5-7, 3.84 ERA). De Luna, who got his debut as a 19-year old Gold Sock in 2033, is a career .299/.337/.375 hitter with 38 HR and 628 RBI to his name, plus 494 stolen bases. He won a Gold Glove and was an All Star once in his career.
June 13 – Gold Sox INF Ivan Villa (.278, 10 HR, 55 RBI) will miss two weeks with a strained oblique.
June 15 – The Titans trade SP Tommy Kubik (4-7, 7.05 ERA) to the Blue Sox for OF/2B Jeremy Hampton (.238, 2 HR, 15 RBI) and a prospect.
June 16 – The Condors switch INF Paul Laughren (.220, 1 HR, 4 RBI) to the Buffaloes for two prospects.

FL Player of the Week: SAC LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.271, 12 HR, 31 RBI), batting .417 (10-24) with 3 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: CHA 3B/SS Bobby Thibault (.247, 2 HR, 33 RBI), hitting .471 (8-17) with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Six wins in a row after that L in the opener in Cincy! We also scored a whopping 56 runs this week, but don’t get used to it, we’ll not play the Loggers forever. Poor jokes aside, we scored our last 100 runs in just 16 games, so the offense has finally come together for the most part.

Well enough that we can overcome some middling pitching performances even!

The Indians have lost only one game since leaving Portland, so they remain in the 10-games-out range (they went 5-1 this week), the only team in the division that has a shot of catching the Critters this year; the third-place Elks are already 15 games out.

The Critters will join us in New York for a 3-game set starting on Monday. Then it’s back home, for a 6-game homestand with the Aces and Falcons.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons won 100+ games only once in their existence, a 108-54 campaign in 1996.

I am dreaming.

Of 1996, not what came after it…

[Westheim]

2047 AMATEUR DRAFT

Me and my honey pot got some weird looks as I hustled into the draft room with Degenhardt barely on time. The league presidium eyed me annoyedly, the other GM’s mostly with bemusement. I coughed dramatically and called for order before being shushed and sent to my seat by Agnes, the ancient secretary / head viper of the league.

118 players in total had made this year’s shortlist, 48 of those pitchers and 70 batters. Yes, I said before that it was a pitchers pool, but the talent was in the quality, not necessarily the quantity. Just take a look at the hotlist (*high school player):

SP Kennedy Adkins (13/14/13)
SP Jamie Kempf (13/12/7) – BNN #7
SP Jeff Boyce (12/11/13) – BNN #5
SP Blake Sparks (14/15/10) * - BNN #4
SP Troy Henrikson (13/12/6) * - BNN #10
SP Josh Clem (10/15/11) * - BNN #1

CL Mike Snyder (15/13/13)

1B Jay Rogers (9/12/13) – BNN #2
1B Bill Joyner (15/13/8) * - BNN #6
1B Harry Ramsay (12/11/8) *

LF/RF/1B Aubrey Austin (10/10/17) – BNN #3
OF Jason Monson (10/16/14) – BNN #9

Any of those starters would make me happy, but we were not gonna pick until #21 and so the chances were less than “hell no”. Unless something was wrong with our scouting process, in which case I would have to hit that honey pot onto Pat Degendhardt’s head until it broke. Either one of it.

The hotlist thinned out quick. The Wolves took Blake Sparks to begin the draft, making him the first-overall selection. The Titans went for offense with Monson, while the Capitals grabbed Kenny Adkins. Jay Rogers to the Blue Sox at #4, followed by Kempf being made a Logger. The Aces took Aubrey Austin. The Pacifics at #7 made the first pick not from the hotlist, SP Ben Lussier. Henrikson went #9 to the Crusaders, Clem #11 to the Falcons, Joyner #12 to the Scorpions. The Wolves then struck again at #14, one of their three first-round picks, and took Boyce from me, too!

That left Snyder and Ramsay to mull over when our time to pick finally rolled around at #21. They were incomparable, naturally, but the selection was between a good-contact first baseman with power and a righty groundballer with good potential for real closer’s stuff. Picking a closer in the first round was frowned upon in some circles, but it’s not like the Coons had fared badly with the tactic at times (*cough* Grant West *cough*). We went for Snyder in the end, convinced by his devastating curve and cutter combo.

Because life sucks and nothing can bring us joy, the Thunder then selected Harry Ramsay with the #31 pick in the supplemental round. That was ONE pick ahead of the Coons’ compensation pick for Ryan Person. I annoyedly and loudly clonked onto the table with my honey pot, but it did not crack nor shatter. The table got a wobble, though.

+++

2047 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#21) – CL Mike Snyder, 21, from New York, NY – groundballer with a vicious cutter / curveball combo that should give hitters fits at every level
Supp. Round (#32) – OF Curtis Scholl, 20, from Connersville, IN – able defensive outfielder with good speed and strong base stealing aptitude that can hit for average and for some power.
Round 2 (#61) – SP Cameron Argenziano, 19, from Stony Point, NC – left-hander with three, maybe four pitches, throwing 89 with a groundball tendency. Surprisingly good control for that age, hopefully translates into even better control in the future.
Round 3 (#85) – SP Eric Reese, 19, from Encinitas, CA – another left-hander, this one with a quite good cutter / slider combo. The third pitch is a problem – not much of a changeup – but maybe he can dial it up a bit from 91 mph.
Round 4 (#109) – INF/RF Joe Boese, 18, from San Diego, CA – versatile infielder (although the arm’s the best bit) with good plate discipline and at least some power potential
Round 5 (#133) – C/1B Tyler Philipps, 20, from Lincolnia, VA – very good defensive catcher with great ability behind the plate and to lead the pitchers during the game. Unfortunately he hits and runs like such a very good defensive catcher…
Round 6 (#157) – LF/RF Jeff Kjar, 21, from Bardstown, KY – left-hander with power potential; now, everything else needed work, but that power potential was really interesting… might wiggle through as so-so corner outfielder with a .240 batting average.
Round 7 (#181) – SP Jesse McGuire, 18, from Somerset, MA – left-hander with a swooping curve, but throws his fastball dea straight at 88;
Round 8 (#205) – OF Dustin Nudel, 18, from Kansas City, MO – wide-ranging, speedy outfielder with more of a singles bat, if anything.
Round 9 (#229) – 1B Mitch Lapp, 19, from Irondequoit, NY – weird one, a defensive first baseman that can run and hits like a Gold Glove shortstop, and on top of that grabs every strikeout he can…
Round 10 (#253) – INF/CF Jarod Nardine, 18, from Sonora, CA – so, here is then a potential Gold Glove shortstop that also hits like one.
Round 11 (#277) – SP Bob Norwood, 19, from Meriden, CT – this year’s obligatory left-hander in this position throws 86 and has a curve and a change, which doesn’t amount to much stuff at all. He’s not missing, though!
Round 12 (#301) – LF/RF Bobby Aragundi, 18, from Ponce, Puerto Rico – corner outfielder with limited range and no power
Round 13 (#325) – SP Eric Resek, 19, from South Hadley, MA – right-hander throwing 86 with no control whatsoever; can maybe employed to scare opposing batters, who duck a lot when he’s on the mound.

+++

There were not that many players released at draft time this year; the system was not quite as well stocked even by numbers this year, and we had quite a few injuries even in the minors. Before draft day, there had been only 81 actives between the three minor league teams.

Some, however, had to go. Like OF Ben Finegold, an eighth-rounder in 2041, who had spent the last seven years hitting nothing at every minor league level and at 28 years old had to breathe somebody else’s oxygen. At the bottom of the system we parted with LF/RF Aaron Weyrick, a 12th-rounder, and just a scant few more that had been washed in as scouting discoveries or out of other people’s discard piles.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (47-20) @ Crusaders (30-39) – June 17-19, 2047

Final set on the road trip – three games in New York with the Crusaders, who we led 5-1 this year. Their team was really struggling in many aspects of the game, in the bottom four in runs scored and runs allowed, f.e., and their rotation was the worst in the CL by ERA (4.69).

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (6-3, 3.36 ERA) vs. Jeff Johnson (5-7, 4.26 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (2-0, 2.77 ERA) vs. Matthew Owen (2-2, 3.33 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (10-1, 3.26 ERA) vs. TBD

Wednesday would be Yataro Tanabe (1-4, 6.61 ERA), the only southpaw in their current rotation, but he had left his last start with an injury and there was no word on whether he’d be able to take the next one out of the Crusaders camp yet.

Game 1
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – 2B Gurney – C Morales – P Jackson
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – LF C. Cortes – 1B D. Hernandez – CF Rogers – RF Rico – C Urfer – P J. Johnson

Something weird: an entirely right-handed lineup to face a right-handed pitcher – this should help Jake Jackson, shouldn’t it? While he allowed only one hit to Mario Briones the first time through, he struck out nobody, and instead walked the opposing pitcher in the bottom 3rd… Neither base runner got very far; the Raccoons were up 1-0 by then, having gotten Toohey across in the top 2nd on a leadoff double, Manny’s grounder, and a wild pitch. Pat Gurney helped out with a solo homer in the fourth, but Danny Rico matched the feat an inning later, 2-1, before Jackson helped himself in the seventh, finding Waters and Gurney in scoring position with one out and singling through the left side to drive in the pair of them. Unfortunately he also gave up a run on hits by Rico and Rick Urfer in the bottom of the inning, and the Crusaders came back to 4-2. Maldo hit a solo homer in the top 8th off former Critter Tony Negrete, but Jackson put Carlos Cortes, another former Critter, on base in the bottom 8th and then saw Josh Rella haplessly concede the run to a pinch-hit single by Josh Garris WHILE he walked the bases full. Urfer struck out to strand the purple threesome on base and keep the Raccoons afloat… Mike Lynn also made a fuss with two outs in the ninth, giving up a homer to Brian Kaufman that narrowed the lead to almost nothing – but Briones grounded out to Maldo to end the game after all… 5-4 Raccoons. Gurney 3-3, BB, RBI; Jackson 7.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (7-3) and 1-3, 2 RBI;

By Tuesday, the season of Yataro Tanabe ended with shoulder soreness. No word on Wednesday’s replacement starter so far.

Game 2
POR: CF Mercado – RF Pellicano – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – 2B Gurney – C Gonzalez – P Baker
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – 1B D. Hernandez – RF Rogers – C Urfer – LF Garris – CF Rico – P M. Owen

Tuesday’s game was a weird one; after two fine starts in place of Okuda, who was about to get back to action, Jeremy Baker had nothing. He walked four Crusaders and whiffed nobody through five innings, but also allowed only two hits, and they reliably found a double play to hit into whenever things got tight, and didn’t score a run. The Raccoons scattered five hits through as many innings, and took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on a Maldo single, him stealing second, and eventually an Urfer error. This skinny lead could hardly stand up forever, and wouldn’t: Baker got taken deep by Briones to begin the bottom 6th, then immediately gave up a triple into the leftfield corner to Dave Hernandez, who was scored easily by Phil Rogers with a single to left. That gave New York the lead, 2-1. Owen remained stingy, retiring the Coons in order in the seventh, then singled to begin the Crusaders’ side of the inning. Prince Gates also singled, knocking out Baker, but the Crusaders choked against Hitchcock, with Kaufman finding a 5-4-3 double play and Briones flying out to right. Mercado hit a single in the eighth, but the Coons never got the tying run off first base, then faced left-hander Julian Ponce in the ninth inning. Toohey, Manny, and Waters hit three poor grounders in a row to end our winning streak at seven games. 2-1 Crusaders. Mercado 2-4;

Baker was then returned to AAA – not for losing the game, but because Sadaharu Okuda would spring back into action after returning from the DL. He would be lined up for the Friday game, with Wolinsky remaining in the rubber game slot, where word was at first that we’d come up against Tony Negrete, making a spot start after pitching in relief (17 tosses) on Monday, but by Wednesday the Crusaders sent right-hander Paul Paris (5-6, 6.10 ERA) on short rest instead.

Game 3
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Waters – 2B Martell – C Morales – P Wolinsky
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – LF C. Cortes – RF Rogers – C Urfer – 1B de Luna – CF Rico – P Paris

Wolinsky didn’t gel with the all-righty lineup at all; Cortes hit a 2-run homer off him in the first inning, and Rogers hit a triple right after that, but was stranded when Urfer grounded out. The Raccoons then shed Manny again; he hit a double in the top 2nd, but was out at home plate on a Martell single, pulling up lame halfway between third base and home and requiring Urfer to come out and tag him to allow him to limp to the dugout. Medina replaced him, and the Coons didn’t score in the inning. They did score when Paris was taken deep by Mercado in the third, cutting the gap to 2-1, and Herrera got on afterwards with a single and stole second – Urfer had thrown him out in the first inning on another attempt. Maldo lined out, Toohey walked, and Medina stranded two with his grounder to Rich de Luna…

Top 4th, Waters drew a leadoff walk, and Martell singled to right. Tony Morales remained a burden, but his groundout at least advanced the runners and allowed Wolinsky to take himself off the hook with another grounder that scored Waters, leveling the game at two runs per side. Mercado popped out, ending the inning, but Paris issued walks to Herrera and Toohey to begin the next one. There was Medina again, but he singled to center this time, with Herrera turning third base. Rico’s throw was too late, but also allowed the trailing runners to reach scoring position while we went up 3-2. Waters added a run with a groundout, but Martell flew out to Rico, capping things at 4-2 at halftime. Wolinsky was still no bueno – he gave up seven hits and a walk through five innings. Gates and Briones hit singles in the bottom 5th, with Gates thrown out at home plate by Medina for a change. A Maldo error in the sixth didn’t help, putting Urfer on base before de Luna singled with one out. Rico smacked the ball to Waters, however, for an inning-ending double play.

Breathing room was established by Bryce Toohey in the seventh inning, smashing a 2-piece off Jeff Frank, who had just replaced Paris when he had yielded a leadoff single to Maldo. Wolinsky got one out in the seventh but was finally lifted with a guy on base and was worked out of the situation by Hitchcock. Rella worked a scoreless eighth before the Coons loaded them up in the ninth against Luis Villagomez. Maldo singled, Medina doubled, and Waters walked, bringing up Martell with one down. He hit a comebacker for a force out at home plate, and Morales grounded out to Briones to end the inning… Oh well, Nelson Moreno made no mess in the ninth at least, and the Raccoons took the series. 6-2 Critters. Mercado 2-5, HR, RBI; Herrera 2-4, BB; Maldonado 3-5; Fernandez 1-1, 2B; Medina 2-4, 2B, RBI; Martell 2-5; Pellicano (PH) 1-1;

It was off to the DL for two weeks for Manny Fernandez with the new injury, and somehow we seemed unable to come down from having a pawful of players on the DL or in rehab at all times… and no returnees for the rest of the month, either, probably, before we’d get Manny, Baskins, and Adame all back in early July.

Probably.

Yes, Manny, I talked about you. – What? – I need to talk louder? – YOU ARE BRITTLE, MANNY. – YES, VERY BRITTLE. – YES, BUT… WE TALK LATER, MANNY. LET DR. PADILLA SPOON-FEED YOU THAT SOUP FIRST.

Since interesting outfield talent was thin in AAA, we called up Brian Snyder for the time being.

Raccoons (49-21) vs. Aces (34-38) – June 21-23, 2047

The Aces had started the season 2-14 (including a sweep at the paws of the Raccoons), but since then had rallied respectably. This despite them sitting ninth in both runs scored and runs allowed, with a still pronounced -23 run differential. They were crummy in many aspects of the game, except in stealing bases and in defense, ranking near the top I both categories.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (4-4, 3.45 ERA) vs. Adrien Calabresi (7-5, 3.52 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (6-3, 3.21 ERA) vs. Jaylen Woods (1-0, 1.93 ERA)
Victor Merino (6-6, 4.24 ERA) vs. Jose Villalba (3-5, 3.56 ERA)

The Aces had four left-handed starting pitchers around, but we still managed to draw their only right-hander, Woods. Meanwhile, outfielders Bob Montana and Mike Roberts were on the DL for them.

Game 1
LVA: SS Montes de Oca – CF Cramer – C Weese – LF Watt – 2B Landstrom – 3B E. Luna – 1B Stern – RF Cannizzard – P Calabresi
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – LF Toohey – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Martell – 3B Coen – P Okuda

The Raccoons took the lead in the bottom 2nd on an errant pickoff throw, which was one of those rarely ticked boxes on the Stupid Baseball Bingo card, but Calabresi still misfired past Rusty Stern with Gonzalez (double) and Martell (single) on the corners and one out, then walked Ben Coen for good measure. Okuda and Pellicano both flew out to strand the pair, and stranded another pair in the fourth inning, then Gonzalez and Coen. On the mound, Okuda’s return began rather gooey with a long drawn-out first inning in which the Aces had two singles, but did not score. Before long though, Okuda became sharper and by the middle innings fed the Aces reliably into his own defense. Josh Landstrom ended a string of 10 straight retirements with a seventh-inning single, but was left on base.

Okuda batted for himself to lead off the bottom 7th in the 1-0 game, drawing a walk that got Calabresi removed. Replacement Taylor Joachim walked Pellicano, then gave up a single to Herrera, presenting Maldo with three on and nobody out. He fell to 0-2 before grounding into a force at home, which at least sat down Okuda if nothing else. Toohey grounded out to first, plating Pellicano, but Waters came through with a single to left, chasing home two more to go up 4-0. Of course, when Okuda returned to the mound in the eighth, he retired nobody and left after Angels Rodriguez and Montes de Oca had singled and a walk to Brent Cramer… and nobody out. Moreno came on, struck out Kevin Weese and got a sac fly from Matt Watt, then was replaced with Aaron Curl, who got Landstrom to ground out. Lynn handled the ninth with competence. 4-1 Coons. Herrera 2-4; Gonzalez 2-4, 2B; Okuda 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (5-4);

Curl’s brief cameo in the eighth was the first showing for a lefty middle reliever of ours this week. Bonnie’s still in wraps.

Game 2
LVA: SS Montes de Oca – 3B E. Luna – C Weese – 1B Witherspoon – 2B Landstrom – LF Stern – CF Watt – RF Cannizzard – P J. Woods
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – SS Waters – 1B Gurney – 2B Martell – C Morales – P Wheatley

A Waters error put Montes on base to begin the game, and with Wheats leaking two singles that free runner turned into an unearned 1-0 deficit in short order. Maldo temporarily tied the game with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, but Wheats got whacked some more in the top 2nd, this time giving up earned runs on hits by Tim Cannizzard, Montes, and Eddy Luna, for a 3-1 deficit. He then went on to tie the game himself in the bottom 4th, driving in Martell with a 1-out single; Martell had already doubled home Matt Waters, who had drawn a leadoff walk in the inning. Morales, getting on by getting whacked with a pitch and now the proud owner of FEWER RBI than Wheats, went to second base on the play. A soft single from Mercado filled the bases around Woods, who got a soft pop from Herrera for some relief, but then fell to a Maldonado single anyway; Maldo singled home Morales on a ball that didn’t reach the outfield greenery behind Landstrom, but counted anyway, but Toohey popped out foul to leave a full set stranded.

Six innings was all that Wheats had in another messy start – but hey, the second half was just around the corner! – before leaving the 4-3 lead to other paws to handle. Bonnie needed work, even though the spot hardly called for him, and issued a leadoff walk to Luna in the seventh. He struck out Weese, and Sam Witherspoon hit into a double play to somehow stave off disaster. He also struck out Landstrom to begin the eighth, then let somebody else find disaster. Porter faced Stern and Watt, put both on base, and Aaron Curl walked Cannizzard to fill them up. Juan Jimenez doubled home two to flip the score, and Montes socked an RBI single to give the Aces a 6-4 lead on the bullpen. Hitchcock was shredded for two more runs in the ninth inning. While Mercado singled and Maldo homered once more in the bottom 9th, the resulting deficit after the bullpen meltdown was too big to overcome. 8-6 Aces. Mercado 3-4, BB; Maldonado 3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI;

Game 3
LVA: SS Montes de Oca – CF Cramer – C Weese – 1B Witherspoon – LF Watt – 2B Landstrom – 3B E. Luna – RF Stern – P Villalba
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Martell – LF Medina – P Merino

Merino allowed one hit the first time through, while the Coons scattered a few more than that, all rather inefficiently, with our pitcher leading off the bottom 3rd with a single. Pellicano also singled, then was forced out on a Herrera grounder. Maldo was nicked once more, loading the bags for a struggling Toohey (3 hits, 3 RBI this week), who found a double play to kill the chance…

That was about as much as the starting pitchers did before a rainstorm moved in and doused the entire place for almost two hours in the middle of the fourth. Merino was batted for when his turn came up with Waters on second, Medina on first, and two outs in the bottom 4th, with Miguel Mauricio having replaced Villalba already. Gurney grounded out, leaving everybody with a no-decision. The Critters went on to get two scoreless from Preston Porter before Waters opened the bottom 6th with a double off Mauricio. Gonzalez walked, and a wild pitch advanced the runners into scoring position before Martell unhelpfully grounded out to first base and kept them pinned. Medina was struck hard with a 2-2 pitch but wobbled to first base eventually. Mercado hit for Porter and broke the ice with a sac fly, but that was all the Critters got, Pellicano going down on strikes afterwards. The Aces then flipped the score immediately off Bonnie, who walked leadoff man Matt Watt and was taken deep by Rusty Stern in the seventh inning, going down 2-1.

We got back into a tie in the eighth with unlikely back-to-back 2-out doubles spanked by Martell and Medina off Willie Gonzales, which was one way to do it. Ben Coen hit for Rella, but grounded out, leaving the go-ahead run in scoring position. Lynn struck out three in the top 9th, which sounded better than the leadoff single to Watt and a walk to Luna that he also offered. Bottom 9th, season debut for 37-year-old journeyman Donovan Mason against the top of the order. Pellicano singled and was caught stealing. Herrera singled. Maldo doubled to right, but Herrera had to hold. I sighed, because we would have won by now if Pellicano had stayed on base. And Toohey? He was slumping badly, but first base was also open. The Aces elected to walk him intentionally to fill the bases for Waters, who ended the game with a sac fly to right. 3-2 Critters. Pellicano 2-5; Herrera 2-4, BB; Maldonado 2-4, 2B; Waters 2-4, 2B, RBI; Medina 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI; Merino 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K and 1-1; Porter 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;



In other news

June 17 – The Scorpions scorch the Warriors for ten runs in the first inning and then resort to managing that output into a 14-4 win. SAC LF/RF/1B Nate Culp (.278, 14 HR, 37 RBI) goes unretired with two hits (both homers), three walks, and drives in six runs.
June 18 – DEN SP Josh Brown (5-2, 3.72 ERA) and three relievers pitch a combined 1-hitter against the Wolves in a 5-0 win. Only SAL 1B Bill Jenkins (.280, 13 HR, 49 RBI) finds a single off Brown.
June 20 – The Buffaloes get an excuse to try a new closer with a strained hammy putting CL Trent O’Sullivan (1-9, 7.12 ERA, 22 SV) on the DL for three weeks.
June 21 – The hitting streak of TOP OF Dave Lee (.295, 8 HR, 33 RBI) reaches 20 games with an RBI single in the Buffos’ 3-2 loss to the Pacifics.
June 21 – SFB OF Armando Luis Herrera (.319, 5 HR, 31 RBI) singles home Alex Marquez (.295, 9 HR, 49 RBI) to walk off the Bayhawks against the Canadiens, 9-8 in 17 innings, including seven scoreless extra innings up to that point after both teams scored a 3-spot in the ninth.
June 22 – Scorpions INF Mario Coto (.289, 2 HR, 17 RBI) drives in six runs from the #8 spot as Sacramento destroys the Miners, 19-2.
June 22 – RIC LF/RF Pablo Gonzalez (.330, 8 HR, 42 RBI) hits a walkoff single to beat the Stars, 1-0 in 10 innings.
June 23 – DEN SP Josh Vercher (7-4, 3.16 ERA) throws a 2-hit shutout in a 2-0 win against the Cyclones.
June 23 – Rotator cuff tendinitis will sit down IND CL Tommy Gardner (3-4, 3.90 ERA, 18 SV) until the All Star Game.
June 23 – The Indians beat the Knights, 5-4 in 17 innings, after neither team had managed to score since the seventh inning. The winning run is driven in on a sac fly by 28-year-old rookie C Bill Turbeville (.289, 0 HR, 3 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: CIN 3B/SS David Reid (.238, 7 HR, 27 RBI), batting .600 (6-10) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR INF/RF/LF Jesus Maldonado (.311, 11 HR, 41 RBI), batting .385 (10-26) with 3 HR, 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Not an impressive week by our 2047 standards, but we’ll take 4-2 among the slow drip of injuries and the occasional pen meltdown. The Indians are keeping pace, though at their distance, while everybody else keeps sagging. The Elks are already 16 games out, and the bottom three teams are already 21+ games behind.

Wolinsky leads all of the ABL in wins now with 11, while Nelson Mercado has snuck into the lead in the batting title race for the time being.

Maldo, age 33 and to be expensive for a long time yet, took his eighth Player of the Week title this week; he most recently grabbed one last year during Opening Week.

Not only the major league team has its injury issues, the minor leagues also have a lot of players on the shelf this year. This week we already managed to put a new draft pick on the minor league DL, Curtis Scholl needing some time out with sore arm…

Next week we’ll have three more home games with the Falcons, then head to the frozen wastes up North for the second 4-game set there this month. At least the field is almost thawing at this time of the year, reducing the chance of fractures on diving plays…

Fun Fact: The Raccoons are 632-635 (.499) all time against the damn Elks.

I would really love to get on their good side now that we’re stomping everybody…

[Westheim]

Raccoons (51-22) vs. Falcons (37-37) – June 24-26, 2047

Playing .500 ball, the Falcons were fourth in the CL South, nine games out. They were seventh in runs scored, but had strong pitching, allowing the second-fewest runs with the second-best rotation by ERA. How their +32 run differential did not amount to a better record was a bit of a mystery. The Raccoons had taken two of three from them in the first meeting of the year.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (7-3, 3.38 ERA) vs. Ayden Cobb (5-5, 3.31 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (11-1, 3.23 ERA) vs. Tyler Weems (6-4, 3.06 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (5-4, 3.26 ERA) vs. Oscar Flores (7-4, 3.55 ERA)

A right, a left, a right – meanwhile there would not be a meeting with slugger Joe Besaw and pitchers Matt Schwartz and Evan Henshaw, all on the DL and all potentially for the rest of the season.

Game 1
CHA: 2B M. Martinez – SS E. Sandoval – LF Marroguin – 1B A. Zacarias – RF Allegood – 3B Thibault – C Torreo – CF Marroquin – P A. Cobb
POR: CF Mercado – RF Pellicano – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – SS Waters – 1B Gurney – 2B Martell – C Morales – P Jackson

Miguel Martinez opened with a single to center, stole second, and came around on Jordan Marroguin’s sac fly to score them Falcons an early run, but the Raccoons turned the game around quickly; Maldo hit a home run to tie the score in the bottom 1st, and Tony Morales doubled home Al Martell to take the lead an inning later. Jackson stubbornly held on to the skinny lead through five innings, during which he whiffed nine Falcons against three total hits, but that also ran up his pitch count. The Coons scratched out another run in the bottom 5th when Mercado opened the inning with a single, stole second, and was brought in on two productive outs by Pellicano and Maldonado. While Alex Zacarias singled in the sixth, Jackson struck out two more to keep the Falcons under control, made it through the seventh, too, but by then was on fumes and 110 pitches in total and would go no further. His spot also led off the bottom 7th, making for convenient pinch-hitting, but starting with Armando Herrera, the Raccoons went down in order. Josh Rella got the ball in the eighth, which led to near-disaster when Martinez and Esteban Sandoval hit back-to-back 1-out singles, although the Falcons didn’t get past another Marroguin sac fly, with Pellicano then tracking down a Zacarias drive in rightfield. Mike Lynn would close out the game, despite giving up a leadoff single to, well-known around these parts, pinch-hitter Jeff Kilmer. The tying run never got off first base, though. 3-2 Raccoons. Martell 1-2, BB; Morales 2-3, 2B, RBI; Jackson 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, W (8-3);

Game 2
CHA: RF Allegood – 1B A. Zacarias – CF M. Martinez – SS Aparicio – LF Marroguin – C Kilmer – 3B Thibault – 2B E. Sandoval – P Weems
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – 2B Snyder – LF Medina – P Wolinsky

Bubba rung up a pawful in the first three innings, which also allowed him to overcome a throwing error by Brian Snyder that put Bobby Thibault on base to begin the top 3rd, with Sandoval grounding out and Weems and Mike Allegood going down on strikes. There was however no saving grace when the Falcons slapped Wolinsky around for four singles in the fourth inning, plating the first two runs in the game that way. Maldo countered with a home run in the bottom 4th, shortening the deficit to 2-1 and tying the slumping Toohey for the team lead in bombs, and the Falcons lost Allegood to injury in the same inning when he took a tumble robbing Ruben Gonzalez of extra bases in the gap. Oscar Caballero replaced him. Charlotte countered with three straight 2-out singles by Zacarias, Martinez, and Tony Aparicio in the fifth, restoring the 2-run gap at 3-1, while Caballero would deliver the knockout blow in the sixth inning, a 2-out, 3-run homer with Thibaut and Weems on base to send Wolinsky to bed. One way or another, Weems held the Raccoons to just two base hits into the ninth inning, crumbling only with two outs when Gurney and Gonzalez slapped singles past either flank of Sandoval. No actual threat materialized, with Mercado, hitting for Snyder, grounding out to end the game. 6-1 Falcons. Gurney (PH) 1-1;

Day off for Maldo in the rubber game – it was a long string of games, and we needed him in the second half of the season, too…

Game 3
CHA: 3B Thibault – RF Caballero – CF M. Martinez – SS Aparicio – LF Marroguin – C Kilmer – 1B Marroquin – 2B E. Sandoval – P O. Flores
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – LF Pellicano – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – 2B Martell – C Morales – 3B Coen – P Okuda

The rubber game was a sad affair. The Falcons took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on three straight 2-out singles, but that was nothing compared to the clobbering they handed to Okuda in the second. Okuda began that inning with an error that placed Omar Marroquin on base, but before long the singles were dropping in and Caballero also hit another 3-run homer with two outs to become slightly less popular around my offices… Even after the homer, the Falcons scored two more runs as they brutalized Okuda, going up 6-0. Funnily enough (makes unsure paw movement) all the runs in the inning were unearned after Okuda’s error to begin the entire shambles. After Flores and Thibault hit another pair of singles in the third, Okuda was yanked after 2.1 innings and 10 hits off him. Caballero flew out harmlessly against Kevin Hitchcock, but Miguel Martinez’ RBI single and Aparicio’s 2-run double with two outs widened the chasm to 9-0 and it was about go-home time by then.

When Al Martell hit a single in the bottom 5th, it was the 15th hit in the ballgame, and the first for the Critters, so that sort of team effort was on display here… No runs or anything resulted from Martell’s heroics, and overall the team was really just lying down and taking it. Josh Rella became another chief taker in the game, after Hitchcock, Porter, and Curl put a few zeroes on the board. Rella got taken apart limb by limb in the eighth, surrendering four runs on just 14 pitches, including one that Jeff Kilmer hit all the way to The Dalles for a 2-run homer. That was before three runs fell out of Jake Bonnie’s utterly useless pelt in the ninth… Kilmer singled home another pair as the demolition continued. Oscar Flores remained unfazed through the barrage and pitched a 5-hit shutout in the mauling. 16-0 Falcons. Snyder (PH) 1-1; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1; Martell 2-4; Coen 1-2, BB;

Well, that game sucked.

The pen was burned out after the last few games. Kevin Hitchcock (0-0, 3.13 ERA) was sent back to AAA for no fault of his own. He had options, had thrown 65 pitches in two days, and we needed somebody not blue in the face, bringing up Sean Marucci instead. Jake Bonnie, egregiously terrible, still refused a minor league assignment.

Raccoons (52-24) @ Canadiens (36-40) – June 27-30, 2047

The team travelled north then to probably freeze off a few paws in Elk City. We were up 5-2 in the season series, but also seemed to be skidding right into a slump that might line up neatly with a 4-game sweep. (eyes standings) Oh well, still up by double digits…! (breathes into paper bag) … The Elks were sixth in runs scored, ninth in runs allowed, with their rotation being especially crummy. Like us, they had a pile of injuries, including David Farris, Tony Romero, Tim Phillips, and – most notably – Jerry Outram. At least it was the last trip up here for the season…

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (6-3, 3.19 ERA) vs. Brad Blankenship (5-5, 5.06 ERA)
Victor Merino (6-6, 4.04 ERA) vs. Mario de Anda (4-3, 3.55 ERA)
Jake Jackson (8-3, 3.22 ERA) vs. Bill McMichael (5-6, 4.30 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (11-2, 3.59 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (4-2, 4.50 ERA)

Two southpaws framed by two right-handers for the damn Elks – the Raccoons would also dole out more off days to the everyday guys. Maldo and Herrera had already had a turn against the Falcons; Toohey and Waters still had to get one. It was Toohey’s turn in the opener.

Game 1
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Gurney – LF Pellicano – 2B Martell – SS Waters – C Morales – P Wheatley
VAN: LF F. Rojas – 3B O. Aguirre – RF P. Colon – 2B Mancini – SS R. Price – 1B Delagrange – C Ebner – P Blankenship – CF Escobido

We needed a good one from Wheats, or at least for the team to out-rout Blankenship. Pat Gurney made for a nice start with a 2-run homer in the first inning, plating Herrera, who had singled. Wheats then came out, walked Felix Rojas on four pitches, gave up a single to Oscar Aguirre that sent Rojas to third, and conceded the run on a Pedro Colon sac fly to Mercado. Aguirre got himself caught stealing to ease him out of the inning. Back at home in Portland, I had nevertheless already sunk deep into the cushions.

Top 3rd, scoring opportunity again. Herrera drew a 1-out walk and Maldo doubled to left, setting up a thick chance for Gurney, who struck out. Pellicano grounded out to Aguirre and the runners remained in scoring position. While Wheats was laboring hard, battling a worrying lack of stuff and walking a guy in each of the first three frames while somehow still holding on to the 2-1 lead, the Coons had leadoff singles from Mercado and Herrera in the fifth to nominally pose a threat again. Maldo’s groundout to Bob Mancini advanced the runners into scoring position, setting up Gurney with runners on second and third and one out once more. This time he came through, fighting a 2-2 pitch over Blankenship’s head and into center for a 2-run single, 4-1. Wheats never got any better; he issued another leadoff walk to Aguirre in the sixth, although Colon found Martell for a double play. Wheats shrugged and walked Mancini instead, but Rick Price flew out to Herrera… He was finally lifted after a sixth walk to Sean Ebner with one out in the bottom 7th. Moreno entered in a double switch – Pellicano out, Medina in – to hopefully give us five outs. Travis Malkus’ comebacker was taken for a force at second base before Angel Escobido legged out an infield single. Rojas struck out, though, ending the seventh. Bottom 8th, Colon doubled, Mancini walked in a full count, and Rick Price hit a game-tying smacker over the centerfield fence. Moreno DID get five outs, but also a blown save on his ledger…

The Coons got Herrera to second base, but no further, in the top 9th, while Aaron Curl sat down three in a row to send the game to extras, the score even at four. When the pitcher’s spot came up in the 10th against righty Sam Gibson, the Coons went with the holiday boy, Bryce Toohey. Slump over? In any case, Toohey hit a blast over the leftfield wall that broke the tie in Portland’s favor, 5-4. That was however before Mike Lynn walked the bases full without retiring anybody in the bottom 10th. Rick Price popped out, but Julio Diaz grounded out to Gurney, pushing Aguirre across with the tying run. Ebner struck out, extending the game further. By the bottom 11th, the Coons arrived at Marucci pitching and batting first, with Maldo slid to first base, Gurney in right, and Coen at third base. Coen batted for the first time to lead off the 13th after two neat innings from Marucci (who was pitching so neatly and long as to be close to St. Pete again) and singled to right. Martell flew out with Coen running, the third-sacker barely making it back to first base in time as Angel Escobido unleashed a rocket from deep center. Waters singled as well off Pedro de Leon, and then Morales snuck another single past Mancini. Short on everything, the Raccoons windmilled Coen around third base without regard for life, limb, or Israel Jaramillo in rightfield. The throw was late, and the tie was broken again. It remained only the one run, though; Medina and Gonzalez made weak outs, the latter hitting for Marucci, and now Preston Porter was trusted with the baseball. Rick Price hit a leadoff double in the bottom 13th right away. The Elks were out of bats, though, so de Leon had to hit for himself in the #6 hole. He did so by bunting the tying run to third base. Crucially, Porter rung up Ebner for the second out, bringing up Jaramillo, who hit a high, high fly to right. Gurney was meandering out there, but finally made the catch near the line to end the game. 6-5 Critters. Herrera 4-5, BB; Gurney 3-6, HR, 4 RBI; Toohey (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Coen 1-1; Waters 2-6; Morales 3-5, RBI; Marucci 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (1-0);

In his 201st career appearance, Preston Porter saved his first game!

…and not a minute too soon.

Baseball proved to be a thankless business for Sean Marucci meanwhile. With the pen still burned out after that 13-inning crawler, he was sent straight back to St. Pete. Adam Bates, 25, a supplemental rounder that had once been taken in the Rule 5 draft but had been returned, was brought up as long man fodder. He was throwing a 96mph cutter, a forkball, and was walking waaaay too many batters…

Game 2
POR: LF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Gurney – RF Pellicano – SS Martell – C Gonzalez – P Merino
VAN: CF Jaramillo – 3B Malkus – 1B Delagrange – 2B Mancini – LF Escobido – RF Peralta – SS O. Aguirre – P de Anda – C Ebner

We now needed a good one from Merino, but the Elks put up a lineup without a lefty hitter, so that was the first challenge here… Merino soon forewent trying to get strikeouts – he’d whiff one through five innings – and instead began feeding balls to the infielders, which worked well enough for him. Both teams scattered four hits a side in five innings, mostly inefficiently. The sole exception and the only batter to touch third base in offensive fashion was Ruben Gonzalez, hitting a solo homer in the fifth that broke the scoreless tie.

An Aguirre error put Herrera on base to begin the sixth, which was immediately pounced on by Maldo, tying Toohey for taters again when he put a curveball into the leftfield seats for a 3-0 lead, but then made an error himself in the bottom of the inning that put Chris Delagrange on first – right in front of a Mancini bomb. Escobido then doubled and was maneuvered around to score on de Anda’s groundout, tying the game at three. Gonzalez drew a leadoff walk for Portland in the seventh, but was left on third base, while Merino got stuck with a Jaramillo single and a walk to Delagrange in the bottom 7th. Rella relieved him, rung up Mancini, then left for Curl when Colon pinch-hit for Escobido. Colon grounded out, keeping the game tied through seven. De Anda then found his own struggles in the top 8th, walking Maldo and Toohey to begin the inning. Gurney’s grounder up the middle was intercepted by Mancini, but he had no play, not even on the bumbling Toohey, and the bags were full with no outs. I pressed Honeypaws belly-first on my face. I couldn’t watch them squander that one…! Righty Matt Fries replaced de Anda, but gave up a quick bouncer to Pellicano that got past Aguirre for an RBI single before Al Martell cracked a bases-clearing double in the left-center gap. Huzzah!!

Being up by four and facing the bottom of the order, the Coons were thus baited into sending out Bates for his major league debut in the bottom 8th. He walked Antonio Peralta to begin a potentially short career, had his bacon saved by Herrera with a running grab on an Aguirre drive, and then finally got two grounders that were handled for more convenient outs to get out of the inning. Eddie Sotelo gifted the Coons a tack-on run in the ninth, plating Herrera with a wild pitch, emboldening us to go for Bonnie in a 5-run ninth. After Julio Diaz’ leadoff single, Travis Malkus hit into a double play, and the Elks went down with Delagrange after that. 8-3 Raccoons. Herrera 2-5; Gurney 3-5; Merino 6.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K and 1-2;

Last time up here, we also won the first two and then lost the last two games…

Also, a W in the Saturday game would get us back to .500 all time against the damn Elks for the first time since 2017!

Game 3
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – 1B Gurney – SS Waters – 2B Martell – C Gonzalez – P Jackson
VAN: LF F. Rojas – C Julio Diaz – RF P. Colon – 2B Mancini – SS R. Price – 1B Delagrange – 3B O. Aguirre – P McMichael – CF Escobido

While the Critters had Gurney thrown out by Escobido on a Martell double in the second inning, Jackson made his strong start against the Falcons soon forgotten by walking three batters in the bottom 2nd. Aguirre singled home a run in between the parade, but the Elks also stranded a full set with two poor outs at the end, Rojas popping out and Diaz going down on strikes. Jackson walked Colon to begin the bottom 3rd, with the runner on second base by the time there were two outs. Delagrange singled to center, Colon was sent, but thrown out by Herrera to end the inning.

A Matt Waters homer tied the game in the fourth, while Jackson kept dishing out leadoff walks, like to Aguirre in the bottom of the same inning. Aguirre was stranded, allowing the Coons to take the lead instead in the fifth. Pellicano doubled to left with two outs, then scored on a Herrera blooper into shallow right-center. No joy lasts for long with the Critters, though, this week – Diaz’ leadoff jack tied the game in the bottom 5th, and Jackson was undone with another walk and Rick Price’s RBI single, falling 3-2 behind at the completion of five innings. Josh Rella joined the walk parade in the seventh inning, putting Mancini on base with balls. Israel Jaramillo ran for him, stole second, and scored on a groundout eventually to give the Elks an insurance run. Herrera’s 1-out single off McMichael in the eighth brought the tying run to the plate, however, but after Maldo singled, Toohey struck out and Gurney fouled out to throw the chance away. Sam Gibson axed the Raccoons 1-2-3 in the ninth. 4-2 Canadiens. Pellicano 2-3, BB, 2B; Herrera 2-4, RBI;

(carves another scratch onto the right – losing – side of the door frame to his living room)

(deep sigh)

(hits head against the same side of the door frame repeatedly)

Game 4
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – 1B Gurney – 2B Martell – SS Waters – C Morales – P Wolinsky
VAN: CF Jaramillo – 3B Malkus – 1B Delagrange – 2B Mancini – LF Escobido – RF Peralta – SS O. Aguirre – P J. Ramos – C Ebner

Both teams had two singles and a walk in the first two innings, and both squandered everything in that package. Wolinsky then hit a single to open the third inning before being balked to second by Ramos. After Mercado whiffed, Herrera singled, putting them on the corners for Maldo, who fell to 0-2 before slapping a chopper into play that became at least a run-scoring groundout. Toohey flew out to Peralta to end the inning, but Gurney opened the fourth with a jack to right, 2-0. Waters and Morales reached the corners with one out in that inning, and Wolinsky was down 1-2 before he slapped a single to center, plating Waters…! Herrera singled to load them up with two outs, but Jaramillo would have Maldonado’s fly to end the inning. Elk City reached the board in the same inning, though, engineered by Wolinsky with a Mancini single, a walk drawn by Escobido, Peralta hitting into a 6-4-3 double play, and then … a wild pitch that scored Mancini from third, 3-1.

Wolinsky popped out to strand another full set of runners in the fifth, and the sixth began with a Mercado single, then a walk drawn by Herrera. Maldo singled barely over Aguirre’s glove to load the bases … with nobody out, so I had my reservations and instead twirled Honeypaws’ whiskers nervously. Big Toohey came through, though, driving a ball into the rightfield corner for a 2-run double, 5-1. Gurney’s RBI single axed Ramos, while Martell was the first out against Sotelo, albeit on a sac fly. Sotelo picked Gurney off first base then to bring about a quicker end to a long inning, but with Portland now up 7-1 and some juice left in Wolinsky. He pitched through seven before another home run by Pat Gurney collected Toohey and extended the lead to 9-1 in the eighth. Wolinsky got one more out from Rick Price after that before sitting down when Malkus singled to left off him. Adam Bates collected the final five outs, including his first K to Antonio Peralta. 9-1 Furballs! Herrera 2-4, BB; Maldonado 3-5, RBI; Gurney 4-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Martell 2-4, RBI; Wolinsky 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (12-2) and 2-4, RBI;

In other news

June 24 – The Cyclones will be without 3B Jesus Burgos (.276, 4 HR, 19 RBI) for six weeks. The 27-year-old is out with biceps tendinitis.
June 24 – RIC SP Steve Miles (2-3, 3.92 ERA) and CL Kurt Crater (3-3, 4.30 ERA, 18 SV) pitch a combined 1-hitter against the Pacifics in a 2-0 Rebels win. LF/RF/1B Jose Rivera (.290, 6 HR, 21 RBI) manages the only hit, a single, for L.A.
June 24 – Thunder OF Angel Zurita (.295, 5 HR, 41 RBI) drives in five runs on three hits from the leadoff spot as the Thunder rout the Loggers, 13-2.
June 25 – The Stars end the hitting streak of Topeka’s Dave Lee (.295, 9 HR, 35 RBI) at 23 games. Lee remains try in four attempts at the plate as the Buffaloes fall to Dallas, 6-3.
June 26 – OCT SP J.J. Hendrix (5-6, 3.48 ERA) 2-hits the Loggers in an 8-0 shutout, whiffing five Milwaukee hitters.
June 26 – RIC 2B/SS Lance Harrison (.280, 11 HR, 51 RBI) is a triple short of the cycle in a 5-hit effort with three RBI in a 9-1 win over the Pacifics.
June 27 – SFB RF/LF/1B Alex Marquez (.293, 10 HR, 54 RBI) hits a walkoff home run in regulation for the only score of the Bayhawks’ 1-0 win over the Thunder.
June 27 – Indians and Loggers play scoreless ball all the way into the 10th, but the Indians walk off then for a 1-0 win when Alex de Castro (.379, 0 HR, 2 RBI) singles home Philip Locke (.216, 1 HR, 11 RBI).
June 28 – A sprained thumb could keep NAS 3B/SS Brad Critzer (.214, 5 HR, 18 RBI) out of games until mid-August.
June 28 – SAL OF/1B Steve Petersen (.468, 0 HR, 10 RBI) whacks five hits in the Wolves’ 13-3 win over the Scorpions. Next to three singles, he also drops two triples and drives in two runs.
June 30 – The Crusaders deal 1B/RF Willie Ojeda (.380, 1 HR, 22 RBI) to the Gold Sox for two prospects.

FL Player of the Week: WAS INF Jarrod Cohoon (.261, 8 HR, 43 RBI), batting .444 (12-27) with 4 HR, 14 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR 1B/RF/2B/LF Pat Gurney (.292, 5 HR, 27 RBI), hitting .480 (12-25) with 3 HR, 8 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: SFW LF/RF Mario Villa (.370, 7 HR, 48 RBI), swatting .402 with 4 HR, 20 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: POR INF/LF/RF Jesus Maldonado (.310, 14 HR, 47 RBI), batting .327 with 7 HR, 23 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: DAL SP Dave Hils (6-7, 3.66 ERA), hurling for a 4-1 mark with 1.65 ERA and 32 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: CHA SP Oscar Flores (8-4, 3.28 ERA), dominating to a 4-0 tune with 0.86 ERA and 25 K
FL Rookie of the Month: SAC 1B Steve Wyatt (.344, 3 HR, 20 RBI), hitting .337 with 3 HR, 19 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: OCT LF/1B/RF Steve Humphreys (.249, 14 HR, 41 RBI), batting .238 with 5 HR, 16 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Pat Gurney! Not kidding when I say he’s about the best player in the league that has no place to play at…

…and Maldo! Second career HotM award for him, exactly four years after the first one. Earning his $5.5M one stroke at a time!

We won 20 games in June (20-8 total, to be exact) so that makes up for that lousy 16-11 May. Pfft! In all honesty, it was a trying week though. We went 4-3, but with a 29-37 runs total. Granted, one 16-run blowout can really ruin your stats, but that one somehow still stings a series win over the damn Elks later.

We will begin the process of emptying our DL now. Alex Adame has already begun a rehab assignment in St. Pete on the weekend and will be back soon enough. Baskins will also go do St. Pete early next week, and Manny should rejoin directly from the DL just before the All Star Game. That leaves only Bob Ibold and Carreno for after the break.

For the time being.

Until somebody else tears out a leg.

July 1 is just around the corner, which also means the international free agent pool opens again. We are not on the league’s penalty list and could in theory splurge with just under $2M of budget space left and no *immediate* pressing issues to add salary at the deadline. The soft cap this year for teen boy signings is $620k.

Last week before the All Star Game coming up. The Raccoons venture on to play four in Boston, then come back home for another four with the Indians, including a double header on Friday. No pitching plans so far – no pitching plan held long this week to begin with… It will be a very long homestand, with another three home sets after the All Star Game, for a total of 14 games against Indy, Boston, New York, and San Fran. Technically also the only homestand of the month, with a 3-city road trip clean through to July 31 following after that.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons score 4.7 runs per game this year – only four Raccoons teams have scored more than 4.7 runs per game.

That would have been the 2044 team (4.8), and three teams from the 1989-96 dynasty, which scored 4.9 runs in 1989 and 1992, and 5.2 runs in their smash-all (except the Rebels) season in 1996.

Half of those teams won a ring, but all of them won the pennant.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (55-25) @ Titans (32-50) – July 1-4, 2047

We would play the bottom-feeding Titans for four games twice around the All Star Game, the first of those sets taking place in Boston. With the second-worst offense in the league (3.7 runs per game) they were clearly in trouble, although they had a decent rotation together. It didn’t help that big earner and slugger Joe Ritchey was on the DL, however. The Coons were up 3-1 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (5-5, 3.50 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (5-7, 2.30 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (6-3, 3.08 ERA) vs. Victor Mondragon (3-9, 3.67 ERA)
Victor Merino (6-6, 3.87 ERA) vs. Emanuel Caceiro (1-2, 3.19 ERA)
Jake Jackson (8-4, 3.32 ERA) vs. David Barel (7-6, 3.04 ERA)

Here we’d get two right-handers up front, then two left-handers at the back end of the set.

Game 1
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Gurney – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – LF Medina – P Okuda
BOS: LF Hampton – C Whitley – RF C. Jimenez – 1B V. Chavez – 2B Galaz – CF T. Lopez – SS Kohr – 3B Round – P Turay

The Raccoons went up swiftly after Turay opened the week with a walk to Nelson Mercado. RBI extra-base knocks by Herrera, who doubled, and Gurney, who tripled, brought in two first-frame runs. The innings after, the Raccoons had them on the corners, but Mercado hit into a double play in the second, and stranded Herrera on third base in the third. Herrera got on in all of his first three plate appearances, and stole second base in the latter two of those, in the third and fifth innings. Maldonado walked behind him in the fifth, and Toohey flung an RBI single over Jason Kohr’s reaching glove to extend the lead to 3-0 at that point. Waters and Medina hit RBI singles in the same inning, getting to 5-0 in total, while Okuda scattered three hits and two walks in the first five innings, but so well spread out that the Titans couldn’t put anything together that would amount to a run or two. They only reached him in the seventh inning, when Kohr got behind Herrera (yes, it was possible) for a 1-out triple, then scored on Jim Round’s sac fly to Roberto Medina. Okuda completed seven innings on 101 pitches before being pinch-hit for with Al Martell against Dave Serio in the top 8th. Porter, Bonnie, and Moreno would piece the last two innings together from the pen, allowing only one base runner between them. 5-1 Raccoons. Herrera 3-5, 2B, RBI; Toohey 2-4, BB, RBI; Medina 2-4, RBI; Okuda 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (6-5) and 2-3;

Roster moves on July 2: Derek Baskins started a rehab assignment, while Alex Adame was activated from his own rehab assignment. Brian Snyder was optioned back to AAA.

Game 2
POR: CF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – 1B Gurney – 2B Waters – RF Pellicano – C Morales – P Wheatley
BOS: LF Hampton – 3B Kohr – 1B V. Chavez – 2B Galaz – CF T. Lopez – C Brooks – SS Round – RF L. Estrada – P Mondragon

Wheats slightly bettered Okuda through five innings, giving up two hits and two walks for no outs, while also striking out three batters. There was little hard contact off him, but it was now also the second half, and I was no longer taking “decent” from him. I wanted greatness! Not so great was our offense, which scored one run on singles by Toohey, Waters, and Morales in the second inning, and nothing else on just one additional base hit through five innings. Maldo and Waters reached the corners with a pair of singles in the sixth, but were stranded when Gene Pellicano rolled out to Gerardo Galaz. Victor Chavez then flung one over the leftfield wall to tie the game at one…

Tony Morales was on third base with one out in the seventh; he had hit a leadoff single, then advanced on Wheatley’s bunt and a wild pitch by Mondragon. Mercado hit a high fly to left that was easy pickings for Jeremy Hampton, but also deep enough to get even Morales home for a 2-1 lead. PH Manuel Arellano reached on an infield single in the #9 spot in the bottom 7th, stole second, but Hampton’s pop and Wheats putting a K to the Ohr ended the bottom 7th with the tying run stranded.

Top 8th, lefty Ricky Contreras gave up a leadoff single to Maldo. Toohey whiffed; we then sent Ben Coen to hit for Gurney, who was 1-for-8 since being named Player of the Week, but Coen was also rung up. Waters singled, moving Maldo to second, and Pellicano hit the perfect dying howler with two outs, shallow left-center, nobody close, where Maldo could easily score from second base just by going on contact. Contreras then lost Morales in a full count, setting up three on and two outs, and while Wheats had a couple of beans left in the cooker, the Coons would try to get the big hit from Ruben Gonzalez. Another full count with Contreras – then a strikeout, three stranded in a 3-1 game. Then the Titans loaded the bases… Curl faced only Chavez and gave up a single before Nelson Moreno plonked Tony Lopez and Justin Brooks reached on an infield single, filling the sacks with one gone in the bottom 8th. Jim Round hit a fly to left – Toohey was on it, and Chavez, a slow runner, didn’t go. Leo Estrada was a lefty hitter, batting .250 with one RBI in 52 plate appearances. There was no trust in Bonnie anyway, but the Raccoons had another lefty option: closer Mike Lynn for a 4-out save with the tying run right behind his back. Boston countered with .160 right-hander Tom Steffensen – one RBI in 25 plate appearances. A single to center made it two in 26, but then PH Ruben Mangual struck out… Hampton hit a leadoff single to left in the bottom 9th, but was then forced out by Kohr, a slower runner. Chavez struck out, and Galaz grounded out to Adame to allow the Coons to eek out another W. 3-2 Critters. Maldonado 3-5; Waters 3-4; Morales 2-3, BB, RBI; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (7-3); Lynn 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SV (21);

Close, but at least with a cigar…!

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – C Gonzalez – 2B Martell – LF Medina – P Merino
BOS: LF Hampton – C Whitley – RF C. Jimenez – 1B V. Chavez – 2B Galaz – CF T. Lopez – SS Kohr – 3B Round – P Caceiro

Wednesday saw a productive opening inning again, with Herrera hitting a triple into the rightfield corner before Maldo scored him with a shy single. RBI doubles by Toohey and Pellicano ran the score to 3-0 before Gonzalez and Martell made the last two outs. Merino started out with a walk to Hampton, who stole second, then was thrown out trying to get third base, too. Hampton went on to hit into an inning-ending double play in the bottom 3rd, just after Caceiro had singled for the first Boston base hit. Not much more happened in the next few innings, except for Kohr getting another ball behind Herrera for a 1-out double in the bottom 5th, but Round and Caceiro proved unhelpful.

The bottom 6th then had things go quite wrong quite fast. A walk drawn by Dan Whitley, a soft Chris Jimenez single, and Chavez taking one to the bum loaded the bases in the span of four pitches, and with only one out, and since Portland had not bothered to tack on since the 3-spot in the first, those were also the tying runs. Merino went on to ring up Galaz after a mound pep talk, with Lopez grounding out to Adame at short, and nobody scored. Top 7th, Medina opened with a single, but was forced out on a bad bunt. When Adame doubled to left right after that, Merino had to hold at third base, which for the time being cost a run, but Armando Herrera squished a single through between Jason Kohr and Jim Round, and both runners came home, 5-0. With the bigger lead, Merino merrily kept pitching, throwing 96 pitches through eight. The top 9th saw Herrera and Maldo go to the corners against Serio with two already down. Toohey hit a looper up the rightfield line that was caught on the run by Jimenez, bringing Merino back to the mound facing the 5-6-7 batters. Galaz was out on the first pitch, but Lopez singled on the second pitch. When Kohr singled to right, the Raccoons pulled the plug on Merino and brought Josh Rella. Round struck out, Brooks grounded out to Maldo, and that game was in the books as well. 5-0 Furballs! Adame 2-5, 2B; Herrera 4-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Maldonado 2-4, RBI; Merino 8.1 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K, W (7-6);

When we play Boston these days, I never know whether we are just that good with our pitchers or whether they are just really that full of woe.

Game 4
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – LF Toohey – RF Pellicano – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – 3B Coen – P Jackson
BOS: LF Hampton – C Whitley – SS C. Jimenez – 1B V. Chavez – CF T. Lopez – 3B Kohr – 2B Round – RF L. Estrada – P Barel

Jake Jackson was perfect the first time through, whiffing one, and hit an RBI single with two outs in the fourth to extend the Coons’ lead to 3-0, which became 4-0 a moment later when Adame hit another RBI single, plating Waters and Coen, respectively. The earlier runs had come together with Pellicano tripling and dashing home on Ruben Gonzalez’ groundout in the second, and Maldo singling home Adame in the third.

Running the bases definitely messed up Jackson, though, who put the first three hitters on base in the bottom 4th; infield single, walk, hit by pitch – then Chavez somehow struck out, and Tony Lopez hit into a 6-4-3 double play. The Titans had the kind of offense that made the summers long and excruciating indeed. The Coons had three on and no outs as soon as the top 5th then, Maldo doubling before Toohey walked, a wild pitch advanced the runners, and Pellicano drew another walk. Gonzalez was up next, grounding precisely up the middle for a run-scoring fielder’s choice, but Matt Waters socked a 3-run homer to left to blow the doors off this game, 8-0. Barel was gone, but the Titans showed *some* rally in the bottom of the inning, with the bottom of the order socking Jackson for three sharp hits, and two runs on Ruben Mangual’s pinch-hit single. Gonzalez singled home Toohey as a counter in the top 6th, but Jackson filled the bases again in the bottom of the same inning. Jim Round’s sac fly put the score at 9-3, and with Estrada up, Jackson left after 5.2 rather bipolar innings, with runners on the corners. Bonnie got Estrada to fly out to Toohey to end the inning.

The Raccoons were then trying Adam Bates for a 3-inning save and then swift disposal to get a fresh arm up for Friday’s double-header. The first part of the plan failed, though, because while Bates got through the seventh fine, by the eighth he drowned in Titans runners and was lifted with Kohr, Round, and Estrada on base, two outs, Justin Brooks pinch-hitting in the #9 spot, and the tying run putting on pants in the dugout. Preston Porter replaced him, hung a K on Brooks, then did a 1-2-3 on the Titans in the ninth to complete the sweep. 9-3 Raccoons! Maldonado 2-5, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 2-5, 3 RBI; Coen 2-4, 2B;

Sweep!

Now back home for the Indians.

Raccoons (59-25) vs. Indians (46-39) – July 5-7, 2047

Opening with a double-header, this 4-game set had the potential to put the division to rest before the All Star Game was being played – only the Indians were even within 20 games of the Raccoons on Friday morning, and they, too, were falling further behind. Seventh in runs scored, third in runs allowed, they had a +31 run differential, dwarved by the Critters’ +100 mark. In the season series, we led narrowly, 5-3.

Projected matchups:
Jeremy Baker (2-1, 2.84 ERA) vs. Bill Drury (8-8, 3.41 ERA)
Bubba Wolinsky (12-2, 3.43 ERA) vs. Jason Palladino (5-5, 3.49 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (6-5, 3.32 ERA) vs. Bill Nichol (8-7, 3.11 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (7-3, 2.96 ERA) vs. John Roeder (5-5, 4.02 ERA)

Unless the Indians found a spot starter somewhere, their only left-hander would line up for Southpaw Sunday.

Normally we would send the better starter (Wolinsky for sure) in the first game of the double-header, but this time had to go the other way round for logistical reasons. Since Baker took the roster spot of Bates, there were only six relievers left as long as he was around, which would only be for his start, and then he would be optioned again right between games, to be replaced by Kevin Hitchcock as seventh bullpen arm. Hitchcock would then remain here for the balance of the weekend at least.

At the same time, we might have to work more devil magic if Wheats made the All Star Game to take him out of the Sunday spot. This March’s trash heap pickup Carlton Harman (5-8, 4.27 ERA in AAA) would be lined up and rested for a spot start. It would be the 24-year-old right-hander’s major league debut.

Manny Fernandez was not quite ready to be activated today, which could have created a sixth bench spot by also doing the between-game switcheroo between him and Roberto Medina. Derek Baskins was thought to better remain in AAA rehab rather than being used up for those shenanigans.

Game 1
IND: SS Russ – 2B de Castro – RF B. Quinteros – CF D. Rivera – 3B B. Anderson – 1B Lutch – LF Locke – C J. Rose – P Drury
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – 1B Gurney – SS Adame – 2B Martell – C Gonzalez – P Baker

For four innings, Baker had the Indians right where he wanted them, holding them to two hits and no runs in a generally convincing performance. He also drove in Alex Adame with a groundout for the first run of the game in the bottom 2nd, while Adame singled home Armando Herrera the inning after for a second run. Still up 2-0, Baker began the top 5th by conceding singles to Vince Lutch and Philip Locke, threw a wild pitch, and walked Jason Rose. Three on, no outs, Drury struck out, but that brought up the absolute terror of the base paths, Andrew Russ, who was so far 0-2 in the game. Well, getting retired was over – he singed a liner into the gap for a bases-clearing triple, then scored on Alex de Castro’s groundout to flip the score around quite dramatically, 4-2 Indians in the middle of the fifth…

Baker left on the hook after six innings and seven strikeouts, while the bottom 6th saw singles from Adame and Martell to begin; Ruben Gonzalez found a 6-4-3 double play, while Gene Pellicano at least got Adame home with a pinch-hit single in Baker’s spot. After Preston Porter survived two singles in the top 7th, the Coons got Herrera and the tying run into scoring position to begin the bottom 7th with a double off the wall in leftfield. Maldo grounded out, Toohey whiffed for the third time against Drury, but Gurney zinged a single past Russ to tie the score at four before Adame grounded out. The score didn’t budge in the eighth, and Mike Lynn retired Indy in order in the ninth to set us up for a walkoff chance, with the top of the order batting against right-hander Justin Johns and his 2.43 ERA in the bottom of the ninth – and getting retired just like that, in order.

Lynn pitched a second inning despite a leadoff walk to Rose and a Gurney error adding a second runner, getting outs from the top of the order instead. The Coons still had nothing against Johns. Josh Rella and Matt Waters entered in a double switch for the 11th, Adame going to bed, with singles by Bobby Anderson and Bill Turbeville plating the Indians a 2-out run in the top 11th. Martell, Gonzalez, and Waters went in order in the bottom of the inning against Bobby Nelson to end the game. 5-4 Indians. Adame 3-5, RBI; Martell 3-5; Pellicano (PH) 1-1, RBI; Lynn 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K;

After that flush of frustration, the Raccoons busily resorted the roster between games. Baker went, Hitchcock came – ready for another game.

Game 2
IND: SS Russ – 2B de Castro – RF B. Quinteros – CF D. Rivera – LF Hertenstein – 3B B. Anderson – 1B Lutch – C Turbeville – P Palladino
POR: RF Pellicano – CF Mercado – 2B Gurney – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – 3B Coen – LF Medina – C Morales – P Wolinsky

The nightcap was trouble from the get-go. Wolinsky hit Bill Quinteros AND Danny Rivera in the first inning, then gave up a homer to Bobby Anderson for a 1-0 deficit in the second. He faced only one more batter before waving for Dr. Padilla, which made me reach for the nearest bottle of Capt’n Coma. Wolinsky was removed indeed with just four outs collected. The Raccoons had to turn to Kevin Hitchcock to pitch as far as he would and could – the score of the game no longer mattered. Just get through the game. Oh – and the sky became dark gray and a rain shower was probably on the way in, too.

Hitchcock amounted to only 3.1 innings before coming apart. The Raccoons also put up no offense, so Wolinsky remained on the hook for the loss while Daniel Hertenstein hit a 2-run homer in the fourth and the Indians just piled up runners by the fifth. Hitchcock left with a run in, Danny Rivera and Hertenstein on base, and two outs, having thrown 54 pitches. The Raccoons reused Rella, who had pitched in the first game, for a single out from the rookie Anderson here, just to get out of the fifth down 4-0. Aaron Curl then sort of recovered us with two scoreless innings, while the lineup kept doing nothing against Palladino, who spilled just three base hits through six innings, and of those only two were to the actual lineup guys – Maldo hit a pinch-hit single for Rella in the bottom 5th, which led nowhere whatsoever. Things threatened to unravel briefly for Palladino in the seventh, but the Raccoons, who got Medina and Morales on base to begin the inning, had to settle for a Pellicano RBI single for one lonely run, and remained behind by three. Moreno pitched the eighth, in which Bill Turbeville struck out, made a stink, and was sent packing by the home plate umpire, to be replaced by Jason Rose. When Portland made no gains in the bottom 8th, we gave up the game entirely – Gene Pellicano turned from outfielder to pitcher for the top 9th. He walked Steven Elkin in the #9 spot to get going, then got two groundouts from Russ and de Castro. The next batter, Quinteros, was beaned from the game and replaced with Locke, before Rivera grounded out. The Indians did not add on ten runs, even when Pellicano looked like he had that much to give. The final note in the game was Tony Morales’ 2-out solo homer in the bottom 9th that was his first of the year, didn’t amount to a rally, and thus counted more in the category of “but at least…” as the double header went entirely down the drain… 4-2 Indians. Maldonado (PH) 1-1; Curl 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Okay – damage control please.

Roster moves for Saturday included Manny Fernandez being activated from the DL, while Roberto Medina (.194, 0 HR, 5 RBI) was returned to AAA. Hitchcock (0-0, 3.76 ERA) also went straight back to AAA because we needed any live arm available, which was how we ended up with Sean Marucci again.

Game 3
IND: SS Russ – 1B Kurtz – RF Locke – CF D. Rivera – 3B B. Anderson – 2B Lutch – LF Elkin – C J. Rose – P Nichol
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – SS Adame – 2B Waters – C Morales – P Okuda

Saturday was all about me bugging Dr. Padilla for news on Wolinsky, Maud trying to wrestle the bottle from me, and the general hope that Sadaharu Okuda could keep his hole shut for six, seven, eleven innings. He retired the first four before Anderson and Lutch singled and a Maldo error on Elkin filled the bases. Rose and Nichol both struck out to keep them loaded at inning’s completion. That was the only blip for Okuda through five, as he allowed no further base hits, or even base runners. The Raccoons meanwhile were almost as dire against Nichol, who struck out six against four singles, none of those with a runner in scoring position. The game was thus scoreless through five.

Ron Kurtz singled in the sixth, but Locke and Rivera went down behind him, while Herrera opened the bottom of the inning with a single off Nichol, then scooped second base for his 16th steal of the year. This prompted an intentional walk to Maldo, then an unintentional walk to Toohey, bringing up Manny with three on and no outs. But Manny wasn’t warm and up to speed yet, struck out, and I sighed loud enough to make an old Bobby Quinn bobblehead fall over in the cabinet next to the TV. Adame came through, though, dropping a 2-run single into left-center for the first markers on the board, and the Coons’ first lead of the series. Waters walked to fill the bases again, Morales hit a sac fly to Rivera, and then Okuda killed off Nichol with a 2-out RBI single. Mercado added an RBI single to right against Enrique Ortiz before the inning ended with Herrera grounding out. Okuda was now up 5-0, but got bogged down in a long seventh against the top of the order and would not be back for the eighth. Sean Marucci got a 6-0 lead for the eighth – Maldo having taken Jared Murphy deep in the bottom 7th to clinch the team lead in bombs for himself – but also fought through a long inning with full counts and two base runners and would not go the remaining distance, either, even when the Critters piled two more runs on Murphy on 2-out RBI hits by Herrera and Maldo in the bottom 8th. Aaron Curl got through some right-handed bats to end the game then. 8-0 Raccoons. Mercado 2-5, RBI; Herrera 3-5, 2B, RBI; Maldonado 2-4, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Adame 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Martell 1-1; Okuda 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, W (7-5) and 2-3, RBI;

At least no sweep! That would have been bad. Would have rubbled down our lead to 9 1/2 …!

On Sunday morning, Jason Wheatley was indeed one of five Critters named to the All Star Team, and consequently scratched from the Sunday start. Sean Marucci was optioned again and Carlton Harman was called up from AAA to make his major league debut in his place.

Game 4
IND: 2B de Castro – CF Elkin – LF D. Rivera – RF Locke – 1B Kurtz – 3B Lutch – SS Arnold – C J. Rose – P Roeder
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – 2B Waters – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – P Harman

Harman began his majors career with a K to Alex de Castro, but by the second walked a pair. Logan Arnold hit into a double play to ease him out of there, but by the third a leadoff walk to Rose, Roeder’s bunt, and a de Castro single got the Indians up 1-0. Elkin forced out de Castro, but stole second, and came around when Rivera singled on a 3-0 pitch, putting Indy up 2-0 with two outs. Philip Locke grounded out, but Kurtz opened the fourth with a double and scored on an Arnold sac fly to make it 3-0.

While the debutee melted, the Coons had a silent first time through the order, then loaded the bases in the bottom 4th when Maldo singled and Toohey and Waters drew walks. The only run scoring came on a passed ball charged to Rose while Manny whiffed, Gonzalez was walked intentionally with first base open, and Harman popped out (after singling in his first at-bat). Indy clawed the run back in the fifth with singles from Roeder (…) and Rivera, 4-1, and another run scored – unearned – in the sixth when the Indians were on the corners with two outs and Waters fudged Roeder’s casual grounder into a run-scoring error.

No, it wasn’t the Coons’ game. With Pellicano and Fernandez on base in the bottom 6th, Gonzalez hit into an inning-ending double play. The next inning began with Coen singling for Jake Bonnie, and Adame getting nicked on base by Roeder, who was removed for Bobby Klopotek right after that. Herrera and Maldo made outs before Toohey flung an RBI single over the shortstop to at least bring the tying run to the plate in Pellicano, who was hit for by Pat Gurney. A zinger up the middle became an RBI single, but Klopotek then got Waters to ground out to second to end the inning at 5-3. The eighth was uneventful, but Moreno gave up a run on de Castro’s leadoff double and assorted misery in the ninth, as if the Indians needed more runs. Bobby Nelson put down the Coons’ 2-3-4 hitters without much fuss in the bottom 9th. 6-3 Indians. Maldonado 2-5; Gurney (PH) 1-1, RBI; Coen (PH) 1-1; Morales (PH) 1-1;

In other news

July 1 – DAL LF/CF Juan del Toro (.284, 5 HR, 41 RBI) was likely to miss all of July after leaving the Stars’ 17-7 win over the Warriors with a torn meniscus. OF Tylor Cecil (.291, 13 HR, 59 RBI) and 1B Jamie King (.349, 13 HR, 53 RBI) both went 3-5 with 4 RBI for Dallas, but with King having two home runs to Cecil’s single bomb.
July 1 – The Thunder beat the Condors in Tijuana, 4-1. All runs score in the deciding 10th inning.
July 3 – Also out for the month: NAS 1B Alejandro Ramos (.294, 14 HR, 41 RBI) with an intercostal strain.
July 5 – The Miners acquire INF Landon Guillory (.271, 6 HR, 29 RBI) from the Rebels for two prospects.
July 5 – Rebels LF/RF Pablo Gonzalez (.330, 8 HR, 45 RBI) is expected to miss six weeks with a broken rib.
July 7 – Charlotte loses 2B/OF Miguel Martinez (.329, 0 HR, 21 RBI) for two months on account of torn thumb ligaments.
July 7 – The Condors trade MR Carlos Castillo (1-0, 2.42 ERA) to the Blue Sox for a pair of prospects.

FL Player of the Week: CIN LF/1B/3B Ricky Correa (.298, 10 HR, 51 RBI), batting .522 (12-23) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR INF/LF/RF Jesus Maldonado (.321, 15 HR, 51 RBI), hitting .424 (14-33) with 1 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Maldo again! In case you’re counting, that is three straight weeks where the Player of the Week in the CL was a Critter.

This week was … difficult! We came out on top, mostly, 5-3 in terms of record, thanks to the Titans being as dull as dishwater. We almost got swept at home by the Indians, but that was also down to a myriad of pitching difficulties that saw us devolve into almost daily roster moves just to get through to the All Star break… In fact, the only day without an entry into the transaction log was Thursday (this includes international free agent signings).

Derek Baskins and Bob Ibold are both off the DL and in AAA rehab right now. Arturo Carreno is the last major leaguer on the DL right now – but who knows what Dr. Padilla will still find out about Bubba Wolinsky…!

For the All Star Game, the Raccoons will send five representatives. Jesus Maldonado, who also has a 12-game hitting streak, will go there for the fifth time – all consecutively since his first nomination at age 29 in ’43 – while it is the third honoring for Bryce Toohey, who made all those trips in his four years as a Raccoon. Armando Herrera makes the trip for the sixth time, and the first time since ’42. On the pitching side, Mike Lynn made a second All Star team (consecutively), same for Wheats (but not consecutively).

And when that circus will be over, we’ll have the Titans in for another four games next weekend.

All that aside, the Raccoons spent $170k on four international amateurs to begin the month of July. Included are two pitchers and two position players of so-so pedigree. The least money actually went to Omar Sanchez, a first baseman that signed for $15k, who might have some tremendous power potential, says Pat Degenhardt. Nobody else seems to have thought that, but I like to throw away $15k like that from time to time. We are bidding on another two pitchers in a different price category entirely; signing only one of them would already put us over the soft cap. In total the two boys after offered just under $1.1M at this point.

Fun Fact: Preston Pinkerton had a 9-year career with the Raccoons and Warriors, batting .246 with 8 HR and 95 RBI in total.

He also pitched to an 8.78 ERA in 31 games, half of which came in the wretched 2032 season alone, although he had at least one pitching appearance in each of his six seasons with the Critters from 2032 through 2037. In 40 innings, he walked 38 and struck out 11 batters.

Is Gene Pellicano the new Preston Pinkerton? Hopefully not, but him and Coen are the only position players on the roster that pitched in college and are thus the first two candidates to be called up for garbage relief in the ninth when we run out of actual arms.

[Westheim]

When I came into the office on Monday morning, Dr. Padilla picked me up right away and led me to his little zen garden and showed me how to place little rocks and cubes in aesthetic fashion, then how to rake the white sand around the rocks and cubes to make geometric patterns to sooth the mind.

And when I was sufficiently soothed, he told me that Bubba Wolinsky had torn a rotator cuff and was gonna miss a full 12 months.

And I was so ******* calm, you wouldn’t believe it.

All Star Game

The Federal League wiped the floor with the Continental League in the 2047 All Star Game, taking a 9-1 win. Sacramento’s Nate Culp was named MVP, going 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI.

Raccoons pitchers did not participate in the beating, with both Wheats and Lynn pitching scoreless innings when the game was already out of paw. The Raccoons batters didn’t produce any offense, either, however. Maldo went a strong 0-for-4, Toohey 0-for-3, and Armando Herrera 1-for-2 before being pinch-hit for.

Raccoons (60-28) vs. Titans (33-56) – July 11-14, 2047

Up 7-1 in the season series after sweeping the Titans in Boston last week, the Raccoons now got to host them at home for another four games. They were second from the bottom in runs scored, sixth in runs allowed, and just might keep lying down and taking it.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (7-6, 3.56 ERA) vs. David Barel (7-7, 3.45 ERA)
Jake Jackson (9-4, 3.40 ERA) vs. Victor Mondragon (4-10, 3.46 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (7-3, 2.96 ERA) vs. Brian Jackson (6-6, 2.65 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (7-5, 3.07 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (5-9, 2.97 ERA)

Barel – one of two southpaws next to Brian Jackson for this set – would make consecutive starts against the Raccoons in consecutive Raccoons-Titans games.

The Coons made roster moves over the All Star Game. Obviously, Bubba Wolinsky went to the DL. Since we did not need a fifth starter on Monday, which was a day off, Carlton Harman (0-1, 6.00 ERA) was returned to AAA as well – we’d probably bring back Baker for next Saturday. Rarely used Ben Coen (.304, 0 HR, 6 RBI) was also optioned.

Comebackers were Bob Ibold and Derek Baskins from their rehab stints; the spare roster spot from using only four starters went to Ken Mills, so no eighth reliever for the time being.

Game 1
BOS: SS C. Jimenez – C Whitley – 1B V. Chavez – RF Ritchey – 2B Galaz – CF T. Lopez – LF Hampton – 3B Kohr – P Barel
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – 2B Waters – LF Mercado – C Gonzalez – P Merino

Barel lasted two batters before having his wrist checked and being removed from the game, left-hander David Barnes replacing him initially, but he was pinch-hit for with Jim Round in the top 2nd when the Titans had runners on the corners against Merino, struggling again facing a mostly right-handed lineup. Round tripled in both runners and the Titans were up 2-0 early, but was stranded at least when Chris Jimenez popped out and Dan Whitley flew out to Mercado. The Coons had five hits and two double plays (Merino, Maldo) in the first three innings, scoring no runs, while the Titans loaded the bags on singles by Jason Kohr and Jimenez, plus Whitley getting plunked with two outs in the fourth. Lefty-hitting Victor Chavez struck out to leave all of them on, though.

Merino needed over 100 pitches through six innings, the 2-0 score remaining unchanged during his tenure. The Raccoons got runners to the corners with two outs in both the fourth and sixth innings, and both times brought up the #9 spot. Merino grounded out to Gerardo Galaz the first time, and Joe Ritchey went back to grab Manny Fernandez’ fly to end the sixth. Porter, Rella, and Bonnie would all pitch scoreless innings (although the latter two each put on a pair of runners) to complete nine frames, but the Raccoons just couldn’t even find second gear and never scored. 2-0 Titans. Herrera 2-4; Gonzalez 3-4; Gurney (PH) 1-1;

Game 2
BOS: SS C. Jimenez – C Youngquist – 1B V. Chavez – RF Ritchey – 2B Galaz – CF T. Lopez – LF Hampton – 3B Kohr – P Mondragon
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Adame – LF Fernandez – 2B Waters – C Morales – P J. Jackson

Boston scored first again, with the first three batters all getting hits off Jake Jackson to begin the game. Chris Jimenez singled, but was caught stealing, yet Ryan Youngquist’s double and Victor Chavez’ single were enough for a first-inning run. Chavez went on to double home Jimenez in the third inning, 2-0, while Portland had Adame on base in the bottom 2nd, but he was caught stealing. Bottom 3rd, Waters led off with a single, Morales was nicked, and Jackson bunted the tying runs into scoring position. Mercado’s single to right-center and Herrera’s sac fly to leftfielder Jeremy Hampton each plated one of the runners, while Galaz became the third caught-stealing in the game in the fourth after hitting a leadoff single. Toohey singled in the bottom 4th and was also caught stealing on a hit-and-run with Manny, where Manny swung and missed. What a game…!

Jackson threw a whopping 88 pitches in five innings, then hit a 2-out double in the same frame. Sadly, that one came with nobody on base. Mercado singled afterwards, but Jackson had to hold at third base, and both were stranded when Herrera grounded out to Kohr. Somehow Jackson then pitched two more innings on just 14 pitches, holding the Titans to their tie, while in the bottom 6th both Maldo and Toohey poked in 3-0 counts. Maldo flew out, Toohey reached on a Jimenez error, and nobody scored. Moreno, Curl, and Lynn pitched to complete nine innings for Portland, not allowing a run to the Titans, while the Coons had Mercado and Maldo on base in the bottom 8th, but now Toohey hit into a double play to kill the inning. We sent up 5-6-7 against a tough customer Mondragon in the bottom 9th, with Adame drawing the leadoff walk and getting consequently stranded at first base… The 10th went to Bob Ibold, who came apart quite spectacularly with a infield single, a walk, and a massive 3-run homer by Youngquist…

The Titans sent righty Ben Arner into the bottom 10th, which the Coons opened with a Martell single from the #9 hole, then a Mercado double off the wall in left, bringing back the tying run with nobody out. Armando Herrera’s RBI single brought up Maldo as the winning run – and Maldo was hitless in the game, threatening his 13-game hitting streak. It remained on death’s door when Arner nicked him with a 1-2 pitch, which loaded the bases for “Double Play” Toohey, who popped out to Justin Brooks at first base. No such luck with Adame for Arner, though – the shortstop flicked a single near the rightfield line, and two runs scored to re-tie the game! Jim Cushing replaced Arner, but walked Manny to fill the bases. Derek Baskins would bat for Ibold in Waters’ deserted spot, fell to 1-2, but completed a shocking comeback with a single over the head of Jason Kohr. 6-5 Furballs! Mercado 3-4, 2B, RBI; Adame 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Baskins (PH) 1-1, RBI; Martell 1-1; Jackson 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K and 1-1;

And I was already boozing!

Game 3
BOS: SS C. Jimenez – C Youngquist – 1B V. Chavez – RF Ritchey – 2B Galaz – CF T. Lopez – LF Hampton – 3B Kohr – P B. Jackson
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley

Wheats rung up four and allowed two hits the first time through, which sounded better than his struggle the second time through. Yeah, it was “only” three hits, but no strikeouts, and the Titans piled up all those hits into the top 5th, scoring two runs with the knocks supplied by Galaz, Hampton, and Kohr. The tying run was in scoring position at the time, but Brian Jackson popped out and Jimenez went down on strikes after all. The Titans had thus eaten away most of the early 3-0 supplied by Toohey and Maldo homers; Toohey socked a 2-piece in the first, Maldo a solo homer in the third to break the newly established tie for the team lead in bombs with #16. Not trusting Toohey farther than he could throw him, Maldo then whacked #17, a 3-piece in the fifth, driving in Adame and Herrera, who all reached with two outs against Jackson, going up 6-2.

And that was the whole ballgame – three Coons bombs for all the runs, and “Second Half” Wheatley having one blip in the fifth before getting back into his groove and killing the Titans for the rest of the game. He would have retired the last 14 batters in a row, if not for a Maldonado error in the seventh, putting on Tony Lopez, who was promptly caught stealing. 6-2 Raccoons. Herrera 2-4; Maldonado 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Toohey 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Fernandez (PH) 1-1; Wheatley 9.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, W (8-3);

First complete game of the year for Wheatley, and the eighth of his career. The last five had all been shutouts, but I’m not gonna be *that* picky.

Game 4
BOS: SS C. Jimenez – 3B Kohr – 1B V. Chavez – RF Ritchey – 2B Galaz – CF T. Lopez – C Youngquist – LF Hampton – P Turay
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – 2B Martell – CF Mills – C Morales – P Okuda

Okuda issued a walk in three of the first four innings, but only the last one actually cost him something… although you could also put some blame on Manny being old and not catching up to Vic Chavez’ leadoff bloop single in the top 4th, or Morales for putting Ritchey on base right afterwards via catcher’s interference. Galaz walked in a full count to make it three on and nobody out, and the Titans went up 2-0 on Lopez grounding out to first and Youngquist’s sac fly. Portland had only grabbed one hit in the first three innings, but Maldo opened the bottom 4th with a homer socked over the fence in left, 2-1. Toohey singled, Grandpa Fernandez was plunked with a looping 1-2 pitch, and the runners advanced on Martell’s groundout. Ken Mills grounded out to Galaz, but got Toohey home to tie the game at least. Okuda flew out to Ritchey after Morales was bypassed, ending the inning.

Two runs on three hits and an error – that was the total for both teams by the seventh-inning stretch, which was also as deep as Okuda went in the game. He threw 105 pitches and his spot led off the bottom 7th, making for a defensible pinch-hitting move. Gurney grabbed a stick, but popped out. Mercado grounded out, but Adame singled, then stole second base before Maldo got nicked for the second time in the game. Toohey grounded out, though, and Okuda was left with a no-decision. Curl and Moreno put down the 3-4-5 hitters in the eighth, while Turay was still going in the bottom 8th, but ran into a wall of six lefty hitters (Gurney had remained in the game over Toohey) starting with Manny. A Mills single aside, the Raccoons were harmless in the inning, though. Moreno pitched the ninth since he was already hanging around, still keeping the game tied before Gurney would open the bottom 9th against Jim Cushing. He flew out to left as the Coons were retired in order, setting up extras again.

Top 10th, Mike Lynn allowed a 1-out single to Kohr, who was run for with Tom Steffensen, but the pinch-runner was caught stealing by Morales. It REALLY wasn’t the series for base stealers…! Cushing was still out there in the bottom 10th, with Maldo hitting a leadoff double to right to put himself into scoring position as the winning run. Pellicano batted for Lynn, but struck out in a full count. Manny was walked intentionally, while Martell hit a soft single to left with Maldo forced to stop at third base since Hampton came very close to that ball. Three on, one out, and now Ken Mills? We balked, and Baskins pinch-hit instead. The move worked, and Baskins hit his second walkoff single in the series. 3-2 Coons. Maldonado 2-3, HR, 2B, RBI; Martell 2-5; Baskins (PH) 1-1, RBI; Moreno 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

In other news

July 11 – The Canadiens acquire 1B/LF/RF Eddie Moreno (.267, 14 HR, 37 RBI) from the Scorpions or the cost of two prospects. The package includes #76 C Keith Redfern.
July 11 – SFW SP Aaron Jones (5-9, 6.00 ERA) is out for the year; the 37-year-old was found to have bone chips in his elbow.
July 11 – CHA MR Jon Landrum (0-1, 1.69 ERA) takes the loss in the 15th inning when he fumbles a groundball that allows Atlanta’s Chris Kirkwood (.269, 1 HR, 4 RBI) to score the winning run for a 4-3 walkoff for the Knights.
July 13 – The Loggers lose SP Victor Padilla (7-8, 4.05 ERA) for the rest of the season; the southpaw has a tear in his labrum.
July 14 – It’s a no-hitter for sophomore CIN SP Austin Wilcox (4-2, 3.49 ERA), who holds the Capitals to nothing in a 6-0 Cyclones win. The difference between Wilcox and a perfect game is a singular walk issued to WAS INF Oscar Tamargo (.266, 2 HR, 7 RBI). This is the fifth no-hitter for the Cyclones after Manuel Garza (1997), Juan Garcia (2008, an actual perfect game), Mike Fernandez (2020) and Ben Lipsky (2039).
July 14 – PIT 3B/SS Ed Soberanes (.321, 12 HR, 56 RBI) is triple shy of the cycle in 3-hit, 5-RBI effort as the Miners drown the Blue Sox, 18-5.
July 14 – It takes an error by outfielder Joe Santry (.286, 0 HR, 2 RBI), filling in at shortstop in the 14th inning for the Wolves, to score *any* run in the Pacifics’ 1-0 win.

FL Player of the Week: PIT 2B/3B Alex Vasquez (.272, 1 HR, 27 RBI), hitting .556 (10-18) with 6 RBI
CL Player of the Week: NYC OF/1B Phil Rogers (.262, 9 HR, 33 RBI), batting .467 (7-15) with 3 HR, 4 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Maldo batted 5-14 with 3 HR and 5 RBI this week, which makes it *hard* to argue against Rogers specifically, and which is about one hit’s difference between me begrudgingly accepting the non-award and me flying to New York on Monday to bang on the door of the League HQ and demanding answers.

That, and Maud giving me a soothing tea first thing Monday morning.

Losing Wolinsky sucks baseballs, and now we have to make do with Jeremy Baker or go to the market after all for the second half. We dropped one of the international amateurs we were after to keep some budget room open, but we’re still waving $875k as of Sunday night at SP Rafael de la Cruz, a 16-year-old Venezuelan right-hander. Note that with $170k spent on the first quartet we signed, and a soft cap of $620k, we’d have to foot another $425k in penalty tax. That means that at the current going rate, de la Cruz would cost us $1.3M and drop our budget space from $2.1M to $817k. We still have over $1M in cash banked up, but Nick Valdes doesn’t like us going over budget…

Or anything, in fact.

Arturo Carreno came off the DL on Sunday, but was sent right back to AAA for the time being.

Next week, the homestand concludes with the Crusaders and Bayhawks.

Fun Fact: Magnificent Maldo is magnificent.

The fact that he didn’t *really* break out until 26 (.324, 13 HR, 54 RBI while missing 39 games in ’40) means that he will be pawesome for longer than usual, right, Cristiano?

Right?

Cristiano, talk to me!!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (63-29) vs. Crusaders (43-50) – July 16-18, 2047

Over 20 games out, the Crusaders had long resorted to playing out a long, long string. They were average in scoring runs, but their pitchers gave up the fourth-most in the CL, with a -32 run differential. The rotation was really troubled, with a second-worst 4.45 ERA, and then was also taken apart by injuries, with Carlos Malla, Matthew Owen, and Yataro Tanabe all down ad out; Randolph Nash joined them as a regular position player on the DL. The Coons led the season series quite convincingly, 7-2 at this point.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (7-7, 3.53 ERA) vs. Tony Negrete (1-2, 3.38 ERA)
Jake Jackson (9-4, 3.35 ERA) vs. Paul Paris (8-8, 5.60 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (8-3, 2.89 ERA) vs. Jim White (4-7, 3.81 ERA)

Two-cups-of-coffee former Raccoon Tony Negrete was a left-hander to open the series. He had moved into the rotation after 30 relief appearances to begin the year. The other two probables were right-handers.

Game 1
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – LF C. Cortes – 1B D. Hernandez – RF Rogers – C Urfer – CF Rico – P Negrete
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – 2B Waters – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – P Merino

Nothing but right-handed hitters opposed Merino (save for Negrete), which at times in the past had seen him struggle quite significantly, but ironically he began the game by sitting down the eight right-handers before walking Negrete. Neither team scored in the early innings, the Raccoons having their chances, however; Adame grounded out at 3-0 to begin the bottom 1st, before Herrera tripled and was stranded on a Maldo pop and Toohey strikeout. Pellicano’s leadoff walk ended with Manny’s double play grounder in the second, and Ruben Gonzalez opened the third with a single, but was left on third base. The leadoff man was on base *again* in the fourth, Maldo singling to center, but he never got off first base. The Crusaders did not even get a base hit off Merino until Danny Rico legged out an infield single in the sixth inning, but he was caught stealing to clean himself up. Bottom 6th, Adame opened with a single to left, the stole second off Negrete. He reached third on a Herrera grounder, and Maldo put the Coons ahead with a long fly to right that narrowly missed the fence and instead bounced away from Phil Rogers for an RBI triple. New York went on to walk Toohey intentionally, Waters walked unintentionally with two outs, and then Manny hit a soft liner over Mario Briones for a 2-out, 2-run single to extend the score to 3-0. Gonzalez flew out to left.

And Merino? The Crusaders next got a runner in the eighth when he walked Rogers with one out, but got through Rick Urfer, who flew out easily, and Rico, who was punched out for Merino’s seventh strikeout. Would he get the ninth? Yes, he would – whether Ruben Gonzalez’ 3-run homer off Steve Arrowsmith in the bottom 8th had anything to do with that? Probably! Merino batted for himself after that, grounded out, then retook the mound on 97 pitches to face PH Ken Wiersma in the #9 hole. Wiersma struck out, Prince Gates flew out to Pellicano, and after taking a ball, Brian Kaufman popped up high to second base. Matt Waters put the claws on the ball, and Merino posted an unexpected 1-hitter! 6-0 Raccoons! Adame 2-4; Herrera 2-4, 3B, 2B; Maldonado 2-4, 3B, RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Merino 9.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, W (8-7);

Damn you, Danny Rico!

There was no Paul Paris on Wednesday – the Crusaders traded him to the Blue Sox instead, receiving unranked infield prospect Felix Tovar instead. The Crusaders dug out another left-handed pitcher, Mike Zeigler (0-3, 6.57 ERA) to make the Wednesday start.

Game 2
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – LF Garris – 1B D. Hernandez – CF Rogers – RF de Luna – C Urfer – P Zeigler
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – P Jackson

Ruben Gonzalez drove in a pair with a 2-out single his first time up, chasing home Toohey and Waters, who had hit a single and double, respectively, ahead of him. Like Merino the day before, Jackson didn’t yield a hit the first time through, or a runner through the first seven hitters, before walking the entire New York battery. Urfer was caught stealing before Zeigler’s walk, however, and Kaufman made the third out again. In turn, the bags were loaded in the fourth inning, with nobody out. Briones and Josh Garris hit singles to either side of Waters, who then dropped Maldo’s feed off Dave Hernandez’ grounder. The Raccoons turned two, conceding a run, on Phil Rogers’ grounder to Adame, 6-4-3, and maintained a 2-1 lead when Rich de Luna flew out to Derek Baskins in left. Toohey went yard to right in the bottom of the inning to pull the run back, while Urfer was not seen again after the fourth inning, having hurt himself either on the stole base attempt earlier or on a defensive play in the bottom 4th. Wiersma replaced him.

Three hits by Briones – a double – Hernandez, and Rogers – singles – scored a run for New York in the sixth, reducing the lead to 3-2 as Jackson seemed to fade. A Toohey error put the tying run on base in Wiersma to begin the seventh, with productive outs moving the runner to third base by the time Kaufman batted and doubled to right to tie the ballgame. Briones flew out to Baskins in left-center, but Jackson was done – the #9 spot led off the bottom 7th – and the game was tied. The Coons went down in order, leaving him with a no-decision. Come the eighth, Pellicano hit a triple, but with two outs and nobody on base. Crucially, though, Matt Waters found the hole on the left side for an RBI single! Then Baskins hit *another* triple, scoring Waters, 5-3, before the Raccoons made a move designed solely to keep Manny Fernandez’ vesting option alive – he could only miss five more games all year, and this shouldn’t be one of them, so he batted for Gonzalez. He flicked a soft RBI single into leftfield to bring in Baskins! Tony Morales made the third out in the #9 slot, but Mike Lynn retired the New Yorkers in three batters to put the game away in the ninth inning. 6-3 Raccoons. Toohey 3-4, HR, RBI; Pellicano 2-4, 3B; Waters 3-4, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 1-2, BB, 2 RBI; Fernandez (PH) 1-1, RBI; Jackson 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K;

Game 3
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – RF C. Cortes – LF Garris – 1B D. Hernandez – CF Rogers – C Wiersma – P J. White
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – 2B Waters – CF Mills – C Morales – P Wheatley

Wheats stumbled out of the gate, giving up four hard-hit balls to the first four batters. Kaufman hit a single, Briones a double, and Carlos Cortes put New York up 1-0 with a sac fly, so I was already concerned. This was supposed to be the second half, and he was supposed to be unbeatable now! At least he rung up Garris… Nelson Mercado’s leadoff jack tied the score right away in the bottom 1st, while Wheats had a weird second run through the order, where only one player put the ball in play. Kaufman and Hernandez were whacked, while the rest of the bunch struck out. Wheats hit Kaufman again in the top 5th, with the New York third baseman having a few choice words from halfway up the line this time, which looked like “next time I’ll take your head off”. Anyway, neither team amounted to more than three base hits and one run through five innings.

Wheatley never faced Kaufman again, working himself to death in a bitter sixth inning that ended with him down 2-1. Cortes had drawn a leadoff walk, Garris had reached on a Toohey error, and Hernandez hit an RBI single before Wheatley slowly chewed through the bottom three to get out of the mess. White hit Maldonado to put the tying run on base in the bottom 6th, but Toohey hit into an inning-ending double play right away. New York added another two unearned runs, these on an Adame error, against Josh Rella and Aaron Curl in the seventh. Rella put the runners on base (with aid from Adame), and Curl waved them in when he gave up a 2-out double to Garris. The Raccoons had no runners in the seventh or eighth, then faced lefty Julian Ponce in the ninth, beginning with Adame. Adame grounded out, Maldo singled, but Toohey whiffed. Herrera grounded out to Kaufman as he batted for Manny, ending the game. 4-1 Crusaders. Maldonado 1-2, BB;

But… but-but-but…! It’s the second half? How is Wheats losing games??

(has wet eyes)

Raccoons (65-30) vs. Bayhawks (55-40) – July 19-21, 2047

San Francisco sat second in the South, six games and a half behind the Thunder. They needed the wins, but so did the Raccoons – 65 would not be enough by the end of September, y’know! The Baybirds ranked second in runs scored and fifth in runs allowed with a +54 run differential (Portland: +112), with the season series locked in a 1-1 tie with a rainout that would be made up in August at the Bay.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (7-5, 3.04 ERA) vs. Jesse Bulas (7-8, 3.82 ERA)
Jeremy Chaney (0-0) vs. Chih Ke (10-3, 3.01 ERA)
Victor Merino (8-7, 3.26 ERA) vs. Kevin Nolte (10-3, 2.75 ERA)

The Bayhawks had only righty starters around at this point.

The Raccoons would bring up Jeremy Chaney for a spot start on Saturday. The #5 slot in the rotation could be skipped again next week with an off day on Thursday, and after that we’d probably go to Jeremy Baker for the long run. Ken Mills would be sent back to AAA to make room on the roster, and we were as of yet open to suggestions to who would take the roster spot on Sunday.

Game 1
SFB: RF Del Vecchio – C J. Hill – LF Crum – 3B R. Sifuentes – 2B Quiroz – SS B. Nelson – CF A. Marquez – 1B D. Riley – P Bulas
POR: RF Mercado – CF A. Herrera – 1B Gurney – 3B Maldonado – SS Waters – LF Fernandez – 2B Martell – C Morales – P Okuda

The always annoying Ted Del Vecchio hit singles his first two times up, but Okuda also struck out five Bayhawks in between and didn’t allow him past second base in either baserunning attempt. The Raccoons had only one hit the first time through, while Bulas left with a shoulder ailment before getting through the order once, needing replacement by Natsume Adachi.

The first two Raccoons hits were also by the same player – Pat Gurney. He singled in the first and doubled in the fourth. The latter time, Maldo came to his aid and flicked an RBI single to put the Raccoons 1-0 ahead. Maldo stole second, but was stranded by Waters and Manny making weak outs.

With no other runs through five innings in the game, Okuda tried his best, hitting a double with two outs in the bottom 5th, but being left on by Mercado, while piling up eight strikeouts through six innings. The lead went bust in the seventh; first Bob Nelson hit a 1-out double to left, then Waters threw an Alex Marquez grounder past Gurney for a 2-base error that got the teams even again. Dan Riley and Adrian Ringel ended the inning with a K and a 6-3 that was actually on target, with Okuda now over 100 pitches and done. No decision for him – Waters led off the bottom 7th with a single, but was stranded.

Then Nelson Moreno had a rather uncharacteristic blowout in the eighth, walking three batters and giving up an RBI single to Ken Crum in between. He left with the bases loaded and two outs, and Curl found no way out of this one either, giving up an RBI single to Marquez, with Crum thrown out at home plate by Armando Herrera to end the inning after all. The Raccoons saw Herrera reach base with a 2-out single in the eighth, which led nowhere nice, and still trailed 3-1 when they faced Matt Simmons in the bottom 9th. Maldo singled to left, Waters singled to center, and the tying runs were on the corners. Manny grounded to short, but Bob Nelson had to hustle in and had only the play at first base while Maldo scored. Toohey batted for Rella in the #7 hole, but struck out. Morales grounded out to short… 3-2 Bayhawks. Gurney 2-4, 2B; Maldonado 2-4, RBI; Waters 2-4; Okuda 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K and 1-2, 2B;

A bit much shaky defense and not quite enough offense for my taste right now…!

Bulas would miss a month with shoulder inflammation.

Game 2
SFB: 2B Quiroz – 1B D. Riley – 3B R. Sifuentes – CF A. Marquez – LF Crum – C Jaros – SS Del Vecchio – RF A.L. Herrera – P Ke
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Gurney – CF A. Herrera – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – P Chaney

Roster move made as indicated, Chaney took his 8-4 record and 3.47 ERA from AAA to war against San Fran. Double, single, double, sac fly – that was how the Bayhawks greeted him, taking a 2-0 lead right in the first inning. Sergio Quiroz added a solo homer in the second, a feat matched by Armando Herrera in the same inning. Hits by Gonzalez and Adame scored another run in the third, but Chaney kept bleeding, trailing 5-2 on seven hits and a walk allowed through four innings. The bottom 4th gave hope to the Critters with leadoff singles by Maldo and Toohey, although then Gurney walked to make it three on and nobody out, ruining the whole effort. Herrera hit a soft grounder for an out and a run to begin the demise, Manny lined out to Dan Riley for only an out, and Ruben Gonzalez flew to right – but Armando Luis Herrera could no catch up with the ball! It fell on the warning track for a game-tying 2-run double…!

Chaney grounded out to strand the go-ahead run, then ached through the fifth, putting on another pair, but keeping the game tied. The Coons also stranded a pair, Mercado walking and Maldo getting nicked (like a ******* fastball magnet…) in the bottom 5th, leaving Chaney with a no-decision. A 6-5 lead was only taken by Portland when Ruben Gonzalez was back at the dish, hitting a sac fly to get Armando Herrera home, who had hit a leadoff double in the sixth. This was with Bonnie pitching for hopefully two innings; the sixth went well, and he held up in the seventh, too! Baskins would bat for him – in the #5 spot – in the bottom 7th, but ended the inning flying out to Marquez with Mercado and Adame in scoring position…

Two soft singles off Preston Porter put Mike Jaros and Armando Luis Herrera on the corners in the top 8th. John Hill hit in the pitcher’s slot with two outs, hit a drive in the right-center gap at 2-2, but Mercado tracked it down with a real zoom into the alleyway…! The lead preserved, it was then extended with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. The Critters’ Herrera drew a leadoff walk from Ricardo Ordas, then scored on Waters’ 2-out single from the #9 hole – Matt Waters had earlier entered with Bonnie in a double switch. Mercado grounded out, which gave the 2-run lead to Mike Lynn against the top of the order. Dan Riley hit a 1-out single through the left side, but that was all for San Francisco as the Raccoons evened the series. 7-5 Furballs. Adame 2-4, RBI; Herrera 2-3, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 2-3, 2 2B, 3 RBI; Bonnie 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

It was then back to AAA with Chaney (0-0, 9.00 ERA), who had made his fourth major league start here. Including his 27 relief appearances for the Capitals in 2045, he was 2-1 with a 3.68 ERA and 2 saves in the majors, but his ERA as a starter was a flat 7.00 …

Arturo Carreno was brought up for a few days as extra bench bat.

Game 3
SFB: SS Del Vecchio – C J. Hill – LF Crum – 3B R. Sifuentes – 2B Quiroz – CF A. Marquez – RF A.L. Herrera – 1B D. Riley – P Nolte
POR: SS Adame – CF A. Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Fernandez – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – C Morales – P Merino

Carreno was in the game by the top of second inning when Matt Waters left the game with a barking back. The game was scoreless at that point, but the Raccoons were in scoring position with Manny and Baskins and one out in the bottom 2nd. Morales’ grounder to first killed the inning, with Merino making an easy out after that, stranding everybody. Adame and Maldo were then a pair aboard in the bottom 3rd, but Toohey axed that chance with a grounder to short, 6-4-3.

Merino allowed two hits through five, then put himself on base with a leadoff single as the potential go-ahead run in the bottom 5th. Adame’s grounder up the middle narrowly squeezed by Del Vecchio for a single, only for Herrera to now hit into a double play and for Maldo to whiff… It was one of those trying games that tugged your heartstrings, and never gave you a reason to feel good about yourself…

So of course the Bayhawks took a 1-0 lead with a doubly-unearned run in the sixth. John Hill reached with two outs on a Merino error. Maldo fumbled Crum’s grounder for another error. Ramon Sifuentes jabbed an RBI single to center. I stuffed my snout with a pawful of cookies, then immediately turned them to mush with a generous gulp of Capt’n Coma. Quiroz was out to short, ending the inning, with two on again in the bottom half, as Nolte walked Toohey and Carreno. Baskins struck out, but Morales hit an RBI single to center to tie the score. Merino grounded out, allowed a double to Armando Luis Herrera in the seventh, but stranded the runners with a pop from Riley and a K to Nolte. Bottom 7th then, leadoff single by Adame, who was caught stealing, then another single from our Herrera – who was doubled up by Maldonado. Oh for crying out loud!

Moreno and Curl pitched the rest of regulation for the Raccoons, keeping them in the 1-1 tie. Matt Simmons was pitching in the bottom 9th again, facing 7-8-9. Baskins grounded out, but Morales drew a walk and Gurney flicked a single in the #9 hole, at which point Morales was run for with Mercado. A wild pitch to Adame moved the winning run to third base, at which point the Baybirds elected to create forces all over with an intentional walk to the shortstop, bringing up Armando Herrera – who found another double play to hit into, sending the game to extra innings…

Mercado remained in right, Manny’s spot being taken by Ruben Gonzalez, while Mike Lynn pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the top 10th. The Bayhawks stuck to Simmons for the bottom 10th, where he got easy outs from Maldo and Toohey before Gonzalez singled on 0-2. That brought up Carreno, but our options were getting thin and he was left in to bat – ending the game with a homer to left-center…! 3-1 Furballs! Adame 2-3, 2 BB; Herrera 2-5; Gonzalez 1-1; Baskins 2-4, 2B; Gurney (PH) 1-1; Merino 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K and 1-3;

In other news

July 15 – The Knights trade SP Bobby Freels (11-3, 3.32 ERA) to the Cyclones for two prospects, including #66 SP Joe Byrd.
July 16 – The Titans beat the Loggers, 2-1 in 10 innings, in a game in which both teams only manage three base hits.
July 17 – A torn meniscus will put PIT 3B/SS Ed Soberanes (.325, 12 HR, 56 RBI) on the sidelines for a month.
July 18 – Boston deals 2B/3B Tony Batista (.232, 1 HR, 14 RBI) to Los Angeles for LF/RF Jon St. Pierre (.273, 0 HR, 2 RBI).
July 19 – LVA LF/1B Rusty Stern (.271, 4 HR, 23 RBI) hits a home run for all the scoring in a 1-0 win over the Crusaders.
July 20 – CIN OF/2B Carlos Vega (.236, 4 HR, 21 RBI) hits for the cycle in a 10-9 loss to the Stars.
July 20 – The Blue Sox acquire SP Ayden Cobb (5-7, 3.23 ERA) from the Falcons, parting with #17 prospect SP Andy Overy.
July 20 – The Miners pick up 27-year-old Taiwanese rookie Joy-shan Kuo (4-4, 2.35 ERA, 16 SV) from the Scorpions for two prospects.
July 21 – The Rebels come back from three runs down to beat the Warriors, 7-6, with a bases-clearing walkoff triple smacked by bit player OF Francisco Mejia (4-for-8, 0 HR, 4 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: RIC 1B Willie Hernandez (.283, 11 HR, 36 RBI), batting .414 (12-29) with 2 HR, 4 RBI
CL Player of the Week: OCT 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.337, 6 HR, 56 RBI), flicking .600 (15-25) with 2 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The good news is that Matt Waters isn’t doing too badly. He might get a day off on Monday in Oklahoma, but should not miss any more time.

Carreno’s walkoff homer on Sunday not only continues his attempts to scratch his way back into our hearts and onto our roster, but also gives up 14 position players on the roster right now that have all hit a homer this season. Four of them have exactly one homer. As a team we’ve hit 80 in 98 games, second-best in the CL.

Three-city road trip begins on Monday – we’re into Oklahoma City, Atlanta, and Vegas to complete the month of July. The Thunder just swept the Indians on the weekend, which grew our lead some more, but may I remind you that they also swept us in the only meeting this year so far?

The bidding war for Rafael de la Cruz keeps escalating, with the asking price reaching $1.1M this week (not including a chonk of tax amounting to $650k). I am not sure how much further we will go with this one… He looks good, but he does not look like the next coming of Jonny Toner…

Fun Fact: The most recent ABL player to hit a cycle in a losing effort before Carlos Vega on Saturday? Armando Herrera.

That was in his Wolves days – and also against the Stars, a 6-4 defeat in Dallas in April of 2040.

The only player to be on the losing end of a cycle as a Raccoon is Tim Stalker – who actually lost BOTH of his cycles …!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (67-31) @ Thunder (63-32) – July 22-24, 2047

The two best teams in the entire league (by winning percentage) met in Oklahoma City starting on Monday. The Thunder had won seven straight and sat first in runs scored and second in runs allowed, while Portland ranked third and first, respectively. They had the better run differential at +152 (Coons: +115), although their rotation was remarkably average with a 3.98 ERA between the starters, which was not even top half in the CL. A lack of speed was however the only other major stat category in which they did not at least encroach on the top 3, and they led many offensive categories, including batting average (.289!), OBP, and homers. They had also wiped the floor with the Raccoons in a 3-game sweep in the first meeting of these teams during the year.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (9-4, 3.23 ERA) vs. Danny Orozco (2-2, 3.06 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (8-4, 2.89 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (8-8, 4.64 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (7-5, 2.84 ERA) vs. J.J. Hendrix (6-7, 3.60 ERA)

Orozco was the only left-handed starter for the Thunder.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – LF Toohey – RF Pellicano – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – 3B Martell – P Jackson
OCT: LF Zurita – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – SS R. Cox – 1B Humphreys – C Adames – 3B Greer – CF J. Price – P Orozco

Waters hit a single in the first, Martell drew a leadoff walk in the third, but neither of them reached even third base, while in between a pair of full counts to begin the bottom 2nd led to an infield single for Ryan Cox, a walk to Steve Humphreys, and after Jesus Adames was doubled up, still a 1-2, 2-out RBI single through the left side by Marshall Greer. Portland got Maldo on base to begin the fourth inning, owing to an error by Gold Glover and current CL Player of the Week Jonathan Ban. Orozco lost Toohey on balls, then Gene Pellicano with a single, presenting Matt Waters with three on and two outs. A sac fly to right tied the game, but was all the Raccoons could scratch out, with a Gonzalez pop and Martell K ending the inning.

The middle of the order kept wearing out Jackson, who always ended up in long counts with the 3-through-6 batters, and usually lost the fights. Two got on base the second time through, while Juan Benavides singled in the sixth, but was stranded on first base. Jackson crossed over 100 pitches, however, and was hit for in the top 7th of the 1-1 tie. With Martell on first after another leadoff walk, Pat Gurney hit for Jackson and hit a slow roller at the third base line. Marshall Greer threw him out, but also hurt himself and left the game for Nick DeMarco to replace him. More groundouts by Adame and Herrera stranded the go-ahead run at second base. Portland had Maldo and Waters on base with singles, but still couldn’t score in the eighth, while Bob Ibold and Jake Bonnie kept the Thunder off home plate as well, and in the ninth nobody reached base at all against John Steuer for the Thunder and Nelson Moreno for the Critters. A Maldo single and Toohey double with one out in the 10th – still against Steuer – sure generated a chance, however, putting the go-ahead run at third base. Derek Baskins hit for Pellicano and amounted to a sac fly. Waters whiffed. Mike Lynn was sent out on a third straight day, then saw Jayden Lockwood leg out an infield single from the #7 spot. The lead runner was erased on Jim Price’s grounder to Waters, and Lynn struck out Jose Zarate and Angelo Zurita to end the game. 2-1 Critters. Maldonado 2-5; Waters 2-3, BB, RBI; Jackson 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K and 1-1;

Consecutive extra-inning wins – but if you scored some more and a bit earlier, boys, we could grab dinner in time!

That should get them going.

Game 2
POR: SS Adame – RF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – CF Herrera – LF Fernandez – C Morales – P Wheatley
OCT: LF Zurita – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – SS R. Cox – 1B Humphreys – 3B DiMarco – C Zarate – CF J. Price – P J. Ramos

Wheats bled three singles in the first two innings, but didn’t allow a run yet, then batted with Manny (leadoff single) and Morales (walk) on second and first and nobody out in the top 3rd. He failed to bunt all the way to two strikes, then poked a 1-2 pitch to the shortstop, which Ryan Cox flummoxingly threw way past Humphreys for a run-scoring, 2-base error, and the first run of the game. But despite now having runners in scoring position and nobody out, the Raccoons could not tack on; Adame popped out to Juan Benavides in shallow right, way too shallow to send Tony Morales, and Mercado grounded out to first, which also kept Morales pinned. Maldonado grounded to Cox – and another throwing error, this one sailing clean into the dugout! Toohey struck out, but the Raccoons had gone up 3-0 on pretty much nothing in the inning. Now Wheats just had to hold up.

When Juan Ramos opened the bottom 3rd with a hit, I knew we were ******. Zurita hit another single, Benavides an RBI single, and with two outs, Steve Humphrey smoked a 3-run homer. That 4-3 lead was all earned for them… Top 4th, the Coons opened with Waters and Herrera singles before finding Morales and an inning-concluding double play, while in the fifth they put their first two batters even into scoring position on a single by Wheats and an Adame double to left. Mercado fell to 0-2 before flipping the score with a slapper that bounced on second base as it made its way to centerfield, 5-4, while Cox’ black day continued in the bottom 5th, where he hit into a force play to remove Jonathan Ban from the bases, then was picked off first by Wheats to complete five.

Wheats went seven after the tremendous third-inning whacking, maintaining the 5-4 lead for the duration of his stay in the game. The third aside, he had pitched a 3-hitter with six strikeouts. Right-hander Danny Landeta was in the game for Oklahoma in the eighth when Waters and Herrera went to the corners with a pair of singles and one out. Manny poked the first pitch past Jonathan Ban for an RBI single. Herrera went to third, drew a wide throw from Benavides, and that allowed Manny to bugger into second, but he stopped anyway on Tony Morales’ RBI single to left that made it 7-4. Baskins and Wheats the made the last two outs without getting Manny home, and with Lynn unavailable, the Raccoons had to be careful with the pen. Aaron Curl came out first, retired nobody between a Benavides single and Cox reaching on Adame’s error, then was replaced with Josh Rella, who got a double play grounder from Humphreys to kick the tying run off the plate. Lockwood grounded out pinch-hitting, ending the eighth. Preston Porter retired the bottom of the lineup in order in the ninth to put the game away. 7-4 Raccoons. Mercado 2-5, 2 RBI; Waters 3-4; Herrera 2-4; Fernandez 2-4, RBI;

69 wins in our first 100 games!

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – RF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – CF Baskins – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – P Okuda
OCT: CF J. Price – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – 1B R. Cox – LF Humphreys – C Adames – 3B DeMarco – SS Lujan – P Hendrix

No score through five innings – Okuda scattered four hits against six strikeouts, with Humphreys getting left on third base with one out by Adames and DeMarco, while the Raccoons’ best chance was Manny whiffing with Waters and Baskins aboard in the fourth. Top 6th, Maldo singled and Toohey walked with one out, putting a pair on again. Waters grounded out, advancing the runners, but Derek Baskins came through with a 2-out, 2-run single to center, soon followed by another single hit by Manny. A wild pitch advanced the runners, but removed the bat from Ruben Gonzalez, who was sent to first intentionally. Okuda then struck out, stranding a threesome of runners. Maldo doubled home Mercado in the top 7th, 3-0, just before a rain shower hit, brought about a 30-minute rain delay, and ended Okuda’s day after six innings and 92 pitches.

Bob Ibold retired nobody, walking DeMarco and nailing T.J. Lujan before being replaced with Curl. The lefty was more successful, whiffing Lockwood and getting a double play grounder, 4-6-3, from Waters. Curl sat down two more in the eighth before Cox doubled to left against him. With righty bats drawing up, the Raccoons entered Nelson Moreno in a double switch; he struck out Humphreys, while Herrera led off the ninth from that same spot, having replaced Manny (Baskins sliding to left). When both Herrera and Adame got nicked and Ban fumbled a Mercado grounder, the Raccoons had three on and nobody out through no achievement of their own in the top of the ninth. Maldo hit a sac fly, but Toohey and Waters were rung up by Steuer, forcing us to settle for one run. Moreno remained in the game to earn the save – but didn’t. He walked DeMarco, nailed Zurita, and when Price came back around, the Raccoons went to the standard option for the ninth, the left-handed Lynn, who got a fly to Mercado to complete the sweep. 4-0 Furballs! Mercado 2-5; Maldonado 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Baskins 2-4, 2 RBI; Okuda 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, W (8-5); Curl 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Raccoons (70-31) @ Knights (55-47) – July 26-28, 2047

While the Raccoons had only just tied the season series with the Thunder, they had already bagged the one against the Knights, being up 5-1. Ten games out in the South and with a +9 run differential, they were running out of spit in the race for the division, with some glaring issues at the bottom of the lineup and a catastrophic bullpen that was pushing an ERA of almost five.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (8-7, 3.08 ERA) vs. Danny Guzman (1-0, 3.90 ERA)
Jake Jackson (9-4, 3.14 ERA) vs. Brian Buttress (11-3, 2.66 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (9-4, 3.02 ERA) vs. Elijah Powell (9-8, 4.19 ERA)

Buttress was the only southpaw on offer, while Guzman had moved to the rotation after an injury to Brad Santry. He would be making his second major league start. Even as a reliever, he was piling up more walks than strikeouts.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – RF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – CF Herrera – LF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – 2B Martell – P Merino
ATL: SS A. Venegas – LF Hester – 1B Marz – 2B Crim – CF Alade – C Cass – RF van der Zanden – 3B A. Ramires – P D. Guzman

A single to Mercado, a passed ball, and another single by Maldonado put the Raccoons on top rather fast in the top of the first inning, and Bryce Toohey’s belter to left-center added two more, home run #17 for him this year. Merino, however, got under the wheels even worse than Guzman. The Knights grabbed him by the ankles, and smashed him face first into every single bit of the outfield wall, all the way around – seven hits in the first inning, five runs, as almost everybody got a go. Not even a homer – just hit after hit after hit after hit… seven times. He added a bad bunt that got Ruben Gonzalez forced out to his ledger in the top 2nd, while the Coons put a string of batters aboard again in the top 3rd. Herrera singled, Maldo walked; Toohey hit an RBI single, and Herrera walked. Three on and no outs with a 1-run deficit, Manny came up, ran a full count, then slapped a single through the right side to tie the score. Gonzalez struck out, but Al Martell found no man’s land in shallow right-center for a 2-run single, which made for a 7-5 lead in that top 3rd. Merino hit a sac fly to knock out Guzman and give the Raccoons their own 5-spot. Top 4th, Henry Copping pitching for the Knights. Three batters in, the bases were loaded with nobody out and Herrera up. His single and Manny’s fielder’s choice grounder to first both added a run and put us into double digits.

Then it all fell apart. The Knights opened the bottom 4th with three straight hits, John Marz’ 2-run single knocking out Merino from the 10-7 game. Armando Herrera also hurt himself on the play and was replaced with Baskins, who hit a 2-run single with the bases loaded off Copping in the fifth. New lefty Tony Rosas followed up with an RBI double served up to Manny. Gonzalez whiffed, but Martell added an RBI single.

And then the score somehow remained stuck at 14-7. Raccoons relief was smooth, and even the Knights found a few more cooperative arms after five innings of unmitigated disaster. For our part, Porter, Bonnie, Rella, and Ibold got the Critters cleanly through eight innings – before it almost came apart. Yup, almost blew a 7-run lead. Ibold was suppose to finish the game, but was finished himself after giving up a leadoff jack to David Hardaway, then hits to Billy Hester, Joe Crim, and Arnout van der Zanden, with a Jon Alade sac fly and hitting Tyler Cass with a pitch mixed in. Mike Lynn inherited two on, two outs with a 4-run lead, walked Antonio Ramires to bring the tying run to the plate, thee nailed Chris Kirkwood to put the tying run on base. Hardaway went down on three strikes to end the near-meltdown. 14-11 Critters. Adame 2-5; Mercado 2-4, BB; Maldonado 4-6, 2B, RBI; Toohey 2-3, 2 BB, HR, 3 RBI; Herrera 1-2, BB, RBI; Fernandez 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Martell 2-5, 3 RBI; Carreno (PH) 2-2; Porter 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, W (5-1);

Are we getting another rash of injuries? Armando Herrera was going to miss a month with a strained hamstring, and accordingly hit the DL.

Ken Mills was called up as replacement.

Game 2
POR: CF Mercado – SS Waters – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – RF Pellicano – 1B Gurney – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – P Jackson
ATL: RF van der Zanden – LF Hester – 1B Marz – 2B Crim – CF Alade – C Cass – SS A. Ramires – 3B Lorensen – P Buttress

Jackson faced the minimum the first time through, with only Maldonado bothering him when he committed an error to put Antonio Ramires on base to begin the third inning. Ryan Lorensen hit into a double play to clean up. At that point, the Raccoons were up 1-0 on a first-inning jack by Waters, who also added the team’s and game’s second run in the fourth, singling home Mercado. The Knights began to zero in on Jackson though; Billy Hester hit a double in the fourth, but was stranded, yet Jon Alade homered to right-center to begin the bottom 5th, cutting the lead back to 2-1. But Jackson stubbornly held on and gave management no reason to remove him in the sixth and seventh, retiring the Knights in order again.

The Coons squandered a scoring opportunity with Waters and Maldo on the corners in the sixth, then had them in scoring position with one out in the eighth after a single and a double, respectively, off right-hander Jeff Turi. The Knights elected to bypass Toohey and filled the bases instead. Manny batted for Pellicano, hitting a 3-2 pitch to right for a sac fly, 3-1. Gurney grounded out.

Then it was a Lorensen single and another Maldonado error, this time of the throwing variety on a grounder by Justin Kristoff, that put the tying run in scoring position with one down in the bottom 8th. Curl replaced Jackson against van der Zanden, who grounded out, but that brought in Lorensen, 3-2. Manichiro Toki pinch-hit (lefty on lefty?) and grounded out to Gurney to let the Raccoons wiggle out of the tight spot. No further problems arose with Mike Lynn in the ninth; two grounders and a strikeout put down the middle of the order. 3-2 Raccoons. Waters 3-4, HR, 2 RBI; Maldonado 3-4, 2B; Jackson 7.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (10-4);

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – RF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – LF Fernandez – C Morales – CF Mills – P Wheatley
ATL: RF van der Zanden – LF Hester – 1B Marz – 2B Crim – CF Alade – C Cass – SS S. Davison – 3B Lorensen – P E. Powell

The Raccoons had not much going for them besides a Manny double in the second and then Morales and Mills reaching with one out in the fifth, but being stranded by Wheats and Adame, all after a huge homer by Billy Hester had put Atlanta up 1-0 in the bottom of the first. Nobody reached for Portland in the sixth, nobody reached for Portland in the seventh, and Wheatley crumbled away in the bottom of the seventh for good. A walk to Jon Alade, a Tyler Cass single, and Toki’s pinch-hit sac fly made it 2-0, Lorensen’s single and Powell’s double with two outs (gnashes teeth) added another run. Powell still retired the Raccoons in order in the eighth. It took until one out in the ninth to get Bryce Toohey on with a double to right. Waters struck out, Manny grounded out, and the Raccoons posted an extremely listless loss. 3-0 Knights.

In other news

July 23 – Back spasms will keep TOP INF/RF/LF Felix Marquez (.282, 7 HR, 36 RBI) off the field for the next month.
July 24 – MIL CL Damon DeOrio (6-5, 3.49 ERA, 19 SV) is out for the year with bone chips crunching in his elbow.
July 25 – The Gold Sox win a storm-shortened game against the Rebels, 12-7. The eighth inning is just concluded when hail and lightning break loose.
July 26 – The Wolves beat the Rebels, 1-0, but can’t stop the hitting streak of Richmond outfielder Cullen Tortora (.272, 3 HR, 36 RBI), which reaches 20 games.
July 27 – The Gold Sox send OF Dylan Wright (.231, 7 HR, 38 RBI) to the Pacifics, acquiring right-handed MR Jon Craig (4-3, 4.50 ERA, 1 SV) and a prospect in the deal.
July 27 – LF/RF/1B Pedro Colon (.292, 1 HR, 42 RBI) is traded from the Canadiens to the Bayhawks or MR Matt Simmons (7-4, 2.59 ERA, 24 SV) and a prospect.
July 28 – At “only” 33 years of age, SFW 2B Hugo Acosta (.317, 0 HR, 29 RBI) reaches 2,500 career hits in a 7-1 win over the Buffaloes. The milestone hit is an RBI single off TOP MR Ryan McConnell (2-0, 4.98 ERA, 1 SV). The switch-hitting Acosta, discovered by the Stars in Mexico, is in his 13th major league season, reaching the 200 hits plateau seven times so far (and missing by no more than five hits another three times). He won four batting titles with Dallas and twice led the league in stolen bases. A 5-time All Star, he has hit .343/.391/.454 for his career with 29 HR, 920 RBI, and 436 SB.
July 28 – The Crusaders swap INF Randolph Nash (.250, 4 HR, 13 RBI) to the Rebels, along with a prospect, for SP Paul Medvec (7-3, 3.88 ERA).
July 28 – Nashville acquires 2B/3B Travis Malkus (.245, 3 HR, 31 RBI) from the Canadiens for two prospects. The deal includes #51 INF Gustavo Miguel.

FL Player of the Week: SFW RF Matt Diskin (.319, 19 HR, 81 RBI), hitting .429 (9-21) with 3 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN 1B/LF/RF Eddie Moreno (.274, 18 HR, 49 RBI), batting .444 (12-27) with 2 HR, 8 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Does the team need reinforcement at the deadline or nah? Well, probably not to win the division. Even if we played .400 from here on out, we’d land at 95 wins. The Indians would have to go 40-17 to get into a tie then. Doesn’t sound like the most realistic thing in the world.

Do we need reinforcements for the playoffs? Starting pitching is “interesting” to say the least. We still have four good starters, but if another one falls over, we could soon arrive at what we had last year. One good pitcher, another good pitcher, and then Laurel, Hardy, and Hardy’s big fat sister.

But did anybody notice Okuda sneaking into third place in ERA? He sure made it silently. Now that we noticed, he will lay a few eggs again, without a doubt. Which is a shame, because he’s currently 3-0 with an 0.79 ERA and has a legit shot at the CL Pitcher of the Month award.

We signed him. $1.1M for Rafael de la Cruz, age 16, in addition to $170k for four other players, and another $650k in penalty tax into the league president’s personal slush fund. It was our final offer and he took it. Now he just has to blossom into a Pitcher of the Year.

Maybe more than once.

Stopover in Vegas on the way home now, where we’ll play the Loggers for four and the Titans for three.

Fun Fact: Bubba Wolinsky still leads all of the ABL in wins with 12.

There’s a horde of guys with 11 wins, but he’s still supreme!

Also out until next July or so. (sigh!)

[Westheim]

Note: Jeremy Baker was supposed to take the vacant spot in the rotation to start this week (or Tuesday at the latest), but I entered a value in “bench for X days” at the wrong pitcher by mistake, and the AI merrily used Baker in AAA on Sunday. Hence, Carlton Harman was brought up first.

Yes, I am this bad at everything I do, not just the merry Critters.

+++

Raccoons (72-32) @ Aces (52-53) – July 29-31, 2047

Last series of July, with the question whether the Raccoons would add a starting pitcher at the deadline still unresolved. The Aces ranked fourth in the CL South, with a -19 run differential from scoring the third-fewest runs and giving up the seventh-fewest. Their rotation actually had a slightly better ERA than their bullpen. The season series was already decided in favor of the Portlanders, who had taken five of the first six games.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (8-5, 2.69 ERA) vs. Justin Kaiser (7-3, 3.23 ERA)
Carlton Harman (0-1, 6.00 ERA) vs. Jayden Woods (6-1, 2.26 ERA)
Victor Merino (8-7, 3.50 ERA) vs. Jose Villalba (4-8, 3.73 ERA)

In good times, the Raccoons had three lefty starters hanging around, but the Aces even had *four* of them assembled. Woods was the exception. In turn, they had one of their best hitters, Mike Roberts, on the DL for the year.

Game 1
POR: CF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Gonzalez – RF Pellicano – LF Fernandez – 2B Carreno – P Okuda
LVA: 3B E. Luna – SS Montes de Oca – C Weese – 1B Witherspoon – LF Montana – CF Cramer – RF Watt – 2B A. Rodriguez – P Kaiser

The two teams at hand managed to scatter 11 hits between them in the first five innings without ever scoring, and only the Aces even reached third base, once, against Okuda, who struck out five while giving out as many hits, four singles and a double. A walk drawn by Angel Montes de Oca and a Kevin Weese single, all with two outs in the bottom 3rd, were the biggest threat of the first half of the game, mostly because Manny Fernandez had the Weese ball bounce off his leg for an extra base and an error. With runners in scoring position, Sam Witherspoon grounded out to Toohey, though.

Kaiser was lifted after five and a third, after Ruben Gonzalez singled and he walked Gene Pellicano in a full count. Manny hit into a fielder’s choice against Ian Wilson, who then got a pop from Carreno to end the inning. Okuda whiffed eight in six innings of shutout ball before opening the top 7th with a single up the middle. Mercado also singled, but somehow Alex Adame managed to get doubled up in 6-4-3 fashion, and Maldo flew out to Matt Watt. One o’ *those* games… Instead, the Aces broke through in the bottom 7th. Watt and Juan Jimenez hit singles, and with two outs Montes rammed a double through Maldonado that went all the way to the corner and scored both runners. The Coons looked beat even with Weese grounding out. They didn’t reach in the eighth, and in the ninth only got on base with one out when Derek Baskins singled off Pablo Paez in the #8 slot. Pat Gurney grounded out before Mercado hit an RBI double to left, putting the tying run in scoring position with two down. Paez’ wild pitch moved him to third, but Adame popped out to end the game. 2-1 Aces. Mercado 4-5, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 2-4; Pellicano 2-3, BB; Baskins (PH) 1-1; Okuda 7.2 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, L (8-6) and 1-3;

Arturo Carreno was sent back to AAA after this game to get a new pitcher on the roster, who turned out to be Carlton Harman. Carreno had been batting .333 with 1 HR and 6 RBI in limited action.

Game 2
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 1B Gurney – 2B Waters – LF Fernandez – 3B Martell – CF Mills – C Morales – P Harman
LVA: SS Montes de Oca – CF Cramer – C Weese – 1B Witherspoon – LF Watt – 2B Landstrom – 3B E. Luna – RF Montana – P J. Woods

Manny, Martell, Morales all hit singles in the second inning for the game’s first run before Harman grounded out to end the inning, then proceeded to get whacked for an unlucky, but earned 3-spot in the bottom 2nd. Watt singled, Josh Landstrom got hit, and Eddy Luna legged out one of those annoying infield wheezers for another single before Bob Montana clonked a 2-run double off the fence in right. Woods’ groundout plated the third run. A Weese double and Watt single added a run in the third, 4-1, but the Raccoons started strong into the fourth inning. Al Martell hit a leadoff single to left-center, Ken Mills walked, and Tony Morales managed his weekly coherent breath with an RBI double up the line in right, which narrowed the score to 4-2 with the tying runs in scoring position and nobody out, albeit with the pitcher next. Despite Maldo and Toohey on the bench, the Raccoons did not bat for Harman, who struck out. Mercado walked to fill the sacks, and Woods threw nothing but balls to Alex Adame to force home a run. Then Gurney killed it all with a 4-6-3 double play grounder…

Woods kept leaking runners at a dramatic rate, though, with the Critters’ 5-6-7 hitters filling the bags with one out in the fifth. Then Morales hit into a double play, 3-6-3… The Aces instead tagged Harman with another run, involving another infield single, in the bottom 5th, while the Raccoons ran out of steam as soon as the Aces lifted Woods in the sixth inning. Morales had a hit in the eighth, but they didn’t score, and in the ninth right-hander David Williams sat down the first two before giving up a homer to Pat Gurney out of the blue. Waters hit a single after that, putting himself on base as the tying run, but Manny struck out to end the game. 5-4 Aces. Gurney 2-5, HR, RBI; Waters 2-5; Martell 2-4; Mills 2-3, BB; Morales 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI;

Harman (0-2, 7.36 ERA) was returned to AAA after this game, with Jeremy Baker (2-1, 3.60 ERA) added as the more permanent filling of the fifth starter’s spot.

Game 3
POR: CF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Gonzalez – RF Pellicano – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – P Merino
LVA: 3B E. Luna – SS Montes de Oca – C Weese – 1B Witherspoon – LF Montana – CF Cramer – RF Watt – 2B Landstrom – P Villalba

Mercado singled and scored on a 2-out single by Toohey in the top 1st, giving the Raccoons another lead, to which they added an unearned run in the third inning when Mercado drew a leadoff walk, but was forced out by Adame. The shortstop, however, stole a base, then scored on not one, but two Aces errors, one that allowed Maldo on base, and a throwing error by Kevin Weese that permitted him to score while Maldo reached third base. There he was stranded by Toohey’s grounder to Eddy Luna and Gonzalez’ pop. The lead nearly went bust in the bottom 3rd; a Waters error put the opposing pitcher on base to begin the inning, and Montes nearly hit a homer to left, with Baskins catching the ball right against the fence.

It was 2-1 by the fourth after Brent Cramer hit a no-doubter to centerfield. That home run was hit so hard, it almost came back into the stadium from the home plate side… Scoring stopped after that, with neither team getting much done against the opposing pitcher for the next few innings, although Merino had to tread carefully around a leadoff double by Weese in the bottom 6th. That tying run was stranded, and Merino pitched into the eighth, retiring left-handed Eddy Luna to begin that inning before being replaced with Moreno after 104 pitches. Moreno struck out Montes, but Weese singled. Sam Witherspoon worked a walk, and Bob Montana hit another single to right. Weese was sent for home from second base – but thrown out by Pellicano to end the inning! The Raccoons remained unable to tack on, however, and Mike Lynn would not have a cushion in the bottom 9th. Cramer grounded out to first. Rusty Stern grounded out to short. Josh Landstrom whiffed. 2-1 Blighters. Mercado 1-2, BB; Waters 2-4; Merino 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (9-7);

No trade was made – the Raccoons claimed they had enough pitching.

(cue the dramatic music)

Raccoons (73-34) vs. Loggers (42-64) – August 1-4, 2047

The Loggers had no fun. They had a 5-game losing streak that had dropped them into last place, and even without an actual streak of L’s going on, they were in deep trouble by the numbers. Second from the bottom in runs scored, worst in runs allowed, with league-worst returns in starters’ ERA, bullpen ERA, and defense. Run differential? A whopping -167 with two months to go. The Coons led the season series, 6-1.

Projected matchups:
Jake Jackson (10-4, 3.04 ERA) vs. Tomas Ruiz (3-14, 5.97 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (9-5, 3.06 ERA) vs. Ruben Guzman (3-13, 4.59 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (8-6, 2.67 ERA) vs. Nicholas Pollock (1-2, 4.80 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (2-1, 3.60 ERA) vs. Carlos Vasquez (7-7, 3.91 ERA)

The series started with a lefty pitcher for Milwaukee, after which we’d see three right-handers.

Game 1
MIL: CF B. Allen – LF Reeves – 2B Loyola – SS R. Espinoza – C Payne – 1B Bush – RF Lovell – 3B M. Grant – P T. Ruiz
POR: SS Adame – RF Pellicano – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Gonzalez – LF Fernandez – 2B Waters – CF Mills – P Jackson

The Coons went up quickly in the first, with an Adame single, a Maldo double, and Toohey singling home the both of them. After that the bags filled up, Manny getting clipped and Waters legging out an infield single, but Ken Mills struck out to strand all of the lot. Jackson walked a pair, but allowed no hits or runs the first time through, squeezing his ERA under three in the process. Ricky Espinoza’s 1-out single up the middle gave the Loggers their first base hit in the fourth, and Jackson walked Ricky Payne right afterwards, but then struck out both Erik Bush and Pat Lovell to end the inning.

Mills went yard to right in the bottom 4th to extend the lead to 3-0, which was not the only run in the inning. With two outs, the Raccoons began to run riot ‘round Ruiz; Adame singled, then was doubled in by Pellicano. Maldonado singled to left-center, plating the runner from second base. Toohey walked, moving Maldo to second, from where Gonzalez scored him with a single. Manny’s grounder to first ended the inning, but now with a 6-0 lead. But Jackson’s pitch count was already up there at 70 through four innings, so a shutout was not on the table anymore.

By the bottom 5th I sobbed, reason being the Loggers bringing in lefty Bubba Poss, which reminded me of Bubba Wolinsky, of whom we had been so grievously robbed. Maud tried to cover with a soothing tea with a spoon of honey, but I preferred some Capt’n Coma in it… Not that Poss did great – the bases were loaded with nobody out on a leadoff walk by Waters, a Mills single, and Jackson’s bunt being mishandled by Poss himself. Adame singled home a run, before Pellicano struck out, then offered a few choice words to the home plate umpire, for which he was duly ejected. Gurney replaced him, with Toohey to rightfield, while the Coons did not score again; Maldo flew out to Bill Reeves in shallow right, and Toohey grounded out to strand three.

The Coons squeezed seven shutout innings on just over 100 pitches out of Jackson, who was hit for with Baskins in the bottom 7th. Baskins singled, sending Ken Mills and his leadoff walk to third base against Luke Schwartz. Both runners scored on an Adame gapper in left-center, a 2-run double. Toohey singled home Adame with two outs to put the Raccoons into double digits. Gonzalez grounded out. Bottom 8th, three on and no outs *again*, with a single, walk, and error loading them up for Adame, who hit a comebacker for a force out at home plate. Gurney popped out, Maldo grounded out, and nobody scored. How very Portland! The Loggers scored a consolation run off Josh Rella in the ninth; Rella had done the eighth on just four pitches, but fared markedly less well in a second inning of work. It was not enough to get the Raccoons nervous, though. 10-1 Raccoons. Adame 4-6, 2B, 3 RBI; Maldonado 2-5, BB, 2B, RBI; Toohey 2-4, BB, 3 RBI; Gonzalez 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI; Waters 2-4, BB, 2B; Mills 2-3, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Baskins (PH) 1-2; Jackson 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K, W (11-4);

Meanwhile the weekend was over for Gene Pellicano. Ironically, NWSN had miked up the home plate umpire to catch some in-game sounds, which turned out to be Pellicano calling him a “blind ***”, “stupid *******”, and “******* ************”, which the league deemed enough to suspend him for four games.

Hard to argue with that one… I’d given him six games… and Maud wanted a full week and to wash his snout with soap.

Jackson’s ERA came to 2.89 after this game, with Okuda at 2.67 right now. Wheats in the Friday game had a chance to give the Critters a third starting pitcher with a sub-3 ERA.

…except that he didn’t, ultimately, because of bad weather. Friday’s game was postponed and a double header scheduled for Saturday instead. The wet weather hung around though and threatened more interruptions.

Game 2
MIL: CF B. Allen – LF Reeves – RF E. Hernandez – 2B Loyola – SS R. Espinoza – C Payne – 1B Bush – 3B M. Grant – P Ru. Guzman
POR: RF Mercado – SS Waters – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Gurney – LF Baskins – CF Mills – C Morales – P Wheatley

Wheats allowed three hits in the first inning, all singles, and no runs thanks to Waters reaching and snatching a Ricky Espinoza liner for the second out, followed by an easy fly from Payne to Mills to end the inning. Waters then homered for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the inning, the committed a throwing error that almost unhorsed Wheats in the top 2nd, but Ruben Guzman (who had singled) and Brent Allen (who reached on the error) were stranded when Mills caught Reeves’ fly.

But Wheatley kept leaking runners, giving the lead back on an Ernesto Hernandez double and Jon Loyola single in he third inning. The Coons took it back in the bottom 3rd, Mercado reaching on a walk before scoring on 2-out hits by Maldo (single to center) and Toohey (double to left). Gurney grounded out to Erik Bush to leave a pair in scoring position, but the Raccoons put another guy on third base with two outs in the bottom 6th, when Ken Mills tripled to center and … and then rolled into a ball in agony after sliding awkwardly into third base. He had to be helped off the field by Dr. Padilla and Maldo, with his left rear paw dangling precariously. Manny replaced him as pinch-runner, with Baskins moving from left to center, after which the Loggers offered a free pass to first to Tony Morales. The Raccoons sent Al Martell to bat for Wheatley, who was on 93 messy pitches anyway, but Martell flew out to center to strand them on the corners. Bob Ibold would take over pitching duties. At this point, the sky was depressingly dark and opened up after an uneventful seventh. Ibold was still pitching to Loyola to begin the top 8th as we tried to conserve Critters while already in a 23-man roster squeeze. The soft drizzle turned into a downpour quickly, and the game went into a rain delay. With another game needed to be played and the forecast for Sunday also damp, the umpires called the game after about an hour, giving the Coons a rain-shortened W. 3-1 Raccoons. Waters 2-4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Toohey 1-2, BB, 2B, RBI;

Bob Ibold thus got an unscheduled save here, while Manny Fernandez did not miss a game after entering thanks to the Mills injury. Wheats went *just* long enough in a shoddy start to get his ERA to 2.99.

Torn ankle ligaments for Mills, by the way, so he’d head to the DL for at least six weeks. It was, however, not possible to bring in a replacement before the second game of the double header, so the Raccoons had to play with 23 men indeed, weather permitting at all.

Game 3
MIL: CF B. Allen – LF Reeves – 2B Loyola – SS R. Espinoza – 1B E. Hernandez – RF McIntyre – C Bousquet – 3B M. Grant – P Pollock
POR: CF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – RF Fernandez – 2B Martell – P Okuda

Weather permitted, the skies clearing up in the evening for a late tilt. A walk and two hits by the Coons’ 1-2-3 batters gave them a 1-0 lead in the bottom 1st before Toohey flew out and Baskins and Gonzalez both whiffed. Manny drew a leadoff walk in the second, but was stranded, while Okuda gave the lead away with hits conceded to Mike Grant and Brent Allen in the top 3rd; Grant had stolen third base ahead of Allen’s single. That was before the Loggers burst out for a 3-spot the inning after. Four straight batters reached base, with Espinoza singling and Hernandez hitting a homer. Will McIntyre and Justin Bousquet also reached, all to begin the inning, with Pollock bringing in the last run with a sac fly to center.

But the Coons weren’t beaten despite me showing signs of defeatism, including detailing to Slappy and Cristiano how they’d bobble their 16-game lead away now. Manny hit a solo homer in the bottom 4th, 4-2, and in the fifth Aame singled, stole second, and scored on a Toohey single with two outs. Baskins and Gonzalez also singled, chasing home Toohey to tie the score at four. Unfortunately, Pollock then rang up Manny to end the inning. Two were on again in the sixth, but Mercado and Adame were stranded when Maldo flew out to Brent Allen in deep center. Two were on *again* in the seventh after Dave Peluso allowed a double to Baskins and walked Gonzalez. Manny batted with one out this time, hit a comebacker, but Peluso’s swipe missed and it hit off his foot before rolling away. All paws were safe, Manny being credited an infield single, bringing up Martell with the bases loaded. Peluso lost him on five pitches, thus walking in the go-ahead run. Gurney batted for Okuda and grounded to second base, but Loyola and Espinoza could not turn the double play, and another run scored. Mercado singled home Manny in a full count, after which Peluso was yanked for another righty, Noah Hollis, a 23-year-old rookie, who had Mercado steal second base off him, then gave up an RBI single to Adame, another RBI single to Maldo, and then finally got Toohey on a pop to short, but the Raccoons had taken a 9-4 lead. Loyola hit a jack off Jake Bonnie in the eighth to recoup one run, but the Coons pulled that one back in the bottom 8th, Baskins and Gonzalez reaching, with the former coming around on two grounders to right by Manny and Martell. Gurney whiffed to strand Gonzalez. Preston Porter closed out the game, however. 10-5 Raccoons. Adame 3-4, RBI; Maldonado 2-5, 2 RBI; Baskins 2-4, BB, 2B; Gonzalez 2-4, BB, RBI; Fernandez 2-4, BB, HR, RBI;

Mills was hauled off to the DL then, and a replacement shipped in from AAA in Roberto Medina. We *really* lacked a good centerfielder now, however, and would have to continue to cover the position between Mercado, Baskins, and Pellicano, all of whom were acceptable in center, but none of whom were great. Conversely, there was nobody in AAA with good D in center that could be expected to hit even half a lick up here, so patchwork it’d have to be.

Pellicano was of course still suspended for another two games, so we continued to play with a 24-man roster.

Game 4
MIL: CF B. Allen – LF Reeves – 2B Loyola – SS R. Espinoza – 1B E. Hernandez – C Payne – RF McIntyre – 3B M. Grant – P C. Vasquez
POR: CF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – RF Fernandez – P Baker

Baker struck out five in the first three innings, but fell behind 1-0 before whiffing anybody, conceding hits to Allen and Reeves, then a sac fly to Loyola in the top 1st. Vasquez faced the minimum the first time through; Mercado opened the bottom 1st with a leadoff single, was doubled up by Adame, and nobody else got to first base after that. Grant’s throwing error in the bottom 4th put Adame on second base with one out, though, and Maldo immediately seized on the opportunity and tied the game with a double to left. Toohey walked after that, and Waters grabbed the lead for Portland with an RBI single in right-center, his 50th RBI of the year, third-best on the team. After a Gonzalez single filled the bases, Baskins’ fly to left was just about good enough to get Toohey home with a sac fly, while Manny spanked a bouncer right at Hernandez for the last out of the inning.

The Loggers got back to 3-2 in the fifth, Vasquez singling home Payne, who had drawn a leadoff walk from Baker, who weaseled through a 3-hit sixth with a double play in between before concluding his day with a 1-2-3 seventh inning, still holding on to the 3-2 lead. He was hit for with Gurney in the bottom 7th after Gonzalez and Manny hit singles, but Gurney whiffed and Mercado flew out to McIntyre to strand the runners. Nelson Moreno turned away the Loggers’ 2-3-4 batters in order with two strikeouts in the eighth, but Portland didn’t tack on anything in that inning either. Lynn was in for the ninth, with right-handed Pat Lovell pinch-hitting for the left-handed Hernandez to give him all righties to contend with. Two grounders and a high pop to Baskins ended the game and completed the sweep. 3-2 Raccoons. Gonzalez 2-3; Baker 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (3-1);

In other news

July 29 – The Miners beat the Scorpions, 6-5 in 16 innings, the game finally coming to an end with a walkoff single hit by PIT LF/RF Roberto Cruz (.265, 2 HR, 9 RBI).
July 30 – The Thunder make a pair on confusing trades, acquiring SP Oscar Flores (9-7, 3.04 ERA) from the Falcons for a prospect, while sending aging SS Tony Aparicio (.311, 10 HR, 48 RBI) to the Condors for five prospects. The package includes #83 C Chris Gowin.
July 30 – The Cyclones pick up 1B Mark Cahill (.254, 15 HR, 59 RBI) from the Pacifics for the cost of a prospect.
July 30 – The Bayhawks acquire OF John Fink (.320, 8 HR, 58 RBI) from the Gold Sox, who receive OF Armando Luis Herrera (.297, 6 HR, 42 RBI) and a prospect.
July 30 – In his third game for the Blue Sox, 2B/3B Travis Malkus (.257, 3 HR, 35 RBI) spanks five singles and drives in four runs in a 9-1 win over the Warriors.
July 31 – The hitting streak of RIC OF/1B Cullen Tortora (.274, 4 HR, 40 RBI) ends at 24 games after he is held dry by Dallas in a 5-1 loss.
August 2 – The Condors scored in every inning but the sixth in their 14-4 win over the Knights. 1B Sterling Henderson (.292, 13 HR, 71 RBI) goes unretired, 5-for-5 with a walk and 2 RBI, for Tijuana.
August 2 – The Wolves put up a 10-spot in the seventh inning as they rally from behind for a 16-8 win over the Stars.
August 3 – In a bitter twist for Oklahoma City, their new acquisition Oscar Flores (9-7, 3.24 ERA) goes one inning and allows four runs in an 8-4 loss to the Aces on Thursday before leaving the game with what by Saturday turns out to be a season-ending case of shoulder inflammation.

FL Player of the Week: PIT INF Landon Guillory (.272, 8 HR, 45 RBI), hitting .371 (13-35) with 1 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN C Julio Diaz (.329, 7 HR, 38 RBI), batting .483 (14-29) with 2 HR, 8 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL OF Tylor Cecil (.311, 20 HR, 84 RBI), batting .383 with 8 HR, 29 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: OCT 2B/SS Jonathan Ban (.346, 8 HR, 60 RBI), swatting .435 with 4 HR, 16 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: NAS SP Marcus Wilkins (7-11, 3.89 ERA), dominating with a 5-0 record, 0.70 ERA, and 26 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: IND SP Bill Nichol (11-9, 2.78 ERA), hurling to a 4-2 record, 1.36 ERA, and 34 K
FL Rookie of the Month: PIT 2B/3B Alex Vasquez (.279, 1 HR, 36 RBI), hitting .343 with 15 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: TIJ 1B/C Jon Mittleider (.305, 2 HR, 16 RBI), batting .315 with 2 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

The sad-sack Loggers have already lost the season series; the sweep made it 10-1 Critters in that regard.

No trade at the deadline – the rationale was that we won the World Series without pitchers last year, and should more injuries strike we could do so again. No, actually, we have next to no prospects, and it was not possible to get a pitcher where we would have been able to proclaim that he was definitely better than what Baker should be able to put up. Baker, 26, is not the be-all, end-all of pitching, but a solid #5 and should things break further also good enough for one start in a 7-game series.

Next week we will host the Titans for three games, then have a meeting with the Gold Sox in Denver on the weekend. We will return home right after that, opening a 9-game homestand.

Fun Fact: While the Raccoons overall have pretty good offensive numbers, we remain unable to draw any walks whatsoever.

That is probably a management philosophy problem. I like hits. They are more exciting than walks.

Then again, nobody has ever torn ankle ligaments on a walk to first base…

[Westheim]

Raccoons (77-34) vs. Titans (43-68) – August 5-7, 2047

Like the Loggers, who we had swept on the weekend, the Titans had so far offered little resistance against the Critters in 2047. Of the 12 games played, the Raccoons had won all but two. Boston was bottoms in runs scored, failing to scratch even 3.5 runs per game together, while they had pretty sturdy pitching, with the fourth-fewest runs allowed. They also had no injuries to bother about.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (9-7, 3.38 ERA) vs. Brian Jackson (8-7, 2.58 ERA)
Jake Jackson (11-4, 2.89 ERA) vs. David Barel (8-8, 3.60 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (10-5, 2.99 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (6-11, 3.07 ERA)

Two southpaws to open the week, then the righty Turay. The Raccoons were still a man short on Monday, which was the last game of Gene Pellicano’s suspension.

The Coons also entered the week with the mathematical chance to clinch a winning season as early as August 10.

Game 1
BOS: SS C. Jimenez – C Youngquist – RF Ritchey – CF T. Lopez – 1B V. Chavez – 2B Galaz – LF Hampton – 3B Kohr – P B. Jackson
POR: SS Adame – CF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Gonzalez – RF Fernandez – 2B Waters – LF Medina – P Merino

While the Critters had no hits the first time through, Victor Merino delighted himself by pitching mostly behind in the count, which didn’t go well for long. Tony Lopez hit a jack off him to begin the second inning, and a walk to Victor Chavez and a Jeremy Hampton double added another run for Boston before long. Portland only awoke in the fourth, Mercado reaching on a bloop single to begin the inning. Maldo forced him out, and it took two 2-out singles by Gonzalez and Manny to get actually on the board and shorten the deficit to 2-1. Waters hit another 2-out single to load the bases, a soft dinker into center, and then Roberto Medina came up with another one of those in shallow right-center, allowing two runs to score and flip the Raccoons into the lead, 3-2. Merino grounded out to end the inning.

While Merino turned into Steady Eddie in the middle innings and allowed next to nothing to the Titans, he then crumbled away in the seventh. Leadoff walk Gerardo Galaz – but Hampton hit into a double play. Don’t matter – he walked Jason Kohr as well. When Brian Jackson slapped a single, it was time for a pitching change, Nelson Moreno inheriting two on and two out. Chris Jimenez hit a sharp grounder, but right at Waters for the third out. Another grounder and two strikeouts sat down the 2-3-4 in the eighth. Jackson held out into the eighth, where he loaded the bases with two walks to Toohey and Gonzalez, then nicked Waters with two outs. Moreno was in the #8 slot and pinch-hit for with Pat Gurney, who grounded out. Thankfully we had Mike Lynn lined up for the Titans, who didn’t amount to any sort of rally in the ninth…! 3-2 Raccoons. Mercado 2-4; Waters 1-2, BB;

Game 2
BOS: SS C. Jimenez – C Youngquist – 1B V. Chavez – RF Ritchey – CF T. Lopez – 2B Galaz – LF Hampton – 3B Kohr – P Barel
POR: SS Adame – CF Mercado – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – P J. Jackson

Jackson’s first pitch was taken into the gap for a double by Chris Jimenez, who was then thrown out at home plate by Pellicano on Ryan Youngquist’s double. The Titans still went up 1-0 on Joe Ritchey’s 2-out double, but the Coons flipped the score in the same inning, getting Adame and Mercado on base, and Toohey to single them home to go up 2-1.

The bottom 3rd began with a Jackson double to left before the 1-2-3 batters collectively flunked out to strand him at second base. Bottom 4th, Toohey hit a leadoff double to left! How about this time, boys!? Ruben Gonzalez hit a 1-out single to put runners on the corners, but Waters rolled a double play grounder – except that Jimenez and Galaz couldn’t turn it cleanly, Waters was safe at first, and Toohey scored from third base to go up 3-1. A Derek Baskins gapper for another double chased home Waters with two outs, 4-1, before Jackson was rung up.

Then the injury bug struck again, and precisely where it hurt most – centerfield. The Raccoons got Adame on with a leadoff single, and Mercado when he walked, to begin the bottom 5th. Maldo grounded to short then. Jimenez flipped high to Galaz, who had to leap, and while he caught the ball he came down on Mercado’s left foot with his own left hoof. Mercado had to hobble off the field with a foot contusion, while – adding insult to injury – also being called out, somehow. The Coons continued with Baskins in center and Manny in leftfield and batting second, as well as Toohey hitting into an actual 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Not that we were done with injuries – Jackson took himself out of the game with two outs in the sixth.

The game continued anyhow, despite me having a mild crisis and weeping behind the trusty old brown couch. Bob Ibold got out of the sixth, but Josh Rella got bombed by Jeremy Hampton for a 2-run homer in the seventh, narrowing the score to 4-3, while the Coons stranded pairs in the sixth and seventh without scoring. Vic Chavez hit a single off Curl in the eighth, but misread the play and thought he had a double, only to be thrown out at second base by Manny Fernandez. Was an insurance run in the cards? Facing lefty Ricky Contreras in the bottom 8th, the Raccoons put Baskins and Al Martell on with singles, before Adame walked, all with two outs, bringing up Manny, who flew out to Tony Lopez… And the ninth? Both Moreno and Lynn had been out two days in a row. With two injuries incurred in the damn game already, the Raccoons preferred a rested righty against the 5-6-7 batters and sent Preston Porter. He struck out two of the first three, but Galaz hit a single to left. PH Leo Estrada ended the game with a groundout to second, though. 4-3 Raccoons. Adame 2-4, BB; Mercado 0-1, 2 BB; Toohey 2-3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Baskins 2-4, 2B, RBI; Martell (PH) 1-1; Jackson 5.2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (12-4) and 1-2, 2B;

Yes, Cristiano, I see it too. Our pitchers fall over as soon as they reach 12 wins. Which is a problem.

Maybe we should have picked up a pitcher at the deadline after all…!

By Wednesday, only Nelson Mercado was diagnosed – his squished foot would require a minimum-duration stay on the DL, which made for three DL’ed centerfield options between him, Herrera, and Mills. Options in AAA were nearly non-existent. We called up Ben Coen for a righty bench bat instead, since Gurney, Toohey, and Maldo all were corner options and we could scrape by with only four nominal outfielders for a while. For centerfield, however, only Baskins and Pellicano were left.

Game 3
BOS: SS C. Jimenez – C Youngquist – 1B V. Chavez – RF Ritchey – CF T. Lopez – 2B Galaz – LF Hampton – 3B Kohr – P Turay
POR: SS Adame – CF Baskins – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – 2B Waters – RF Fernandez – 1B Gurney – C Morales – P Wheatley

I began this game with a gallon-sized bucket of vanilla ice cream to gobble through. It felt like something I needed for comfort. As usual, Boston scored first, although this time it took them to the fifth inning, and then it was Turay to single home Hampton with two outs… Wheats had allowed only two hits in the first four innings, the same amount the Raccoons had scratched out against Turay. The inning ended with a Jimenez groundout, while Wheats offered a leadoff walk to Youngquist in the sixth. Chavez hit into a double play, though.

Wheats held the Titans to five hits and one run through seven, still getting no support from his own team up to the seventh-inning stretch. The 6-7-8 were retired in order in the bottom 7th to keep him on the hook, and it didn’t get any better in the eighth. Moreno allowed a pair of 2-out singles in the ninth, but got the K against Estrada pinch-hitting in the #9 spot to bail out, before the Titans removed Turay, who had suffocated the Raccoons to the tune of three hits in eight innings, bringing righty Ben Arner against the 3-4-5 batters. Maldo grounded out, but Toohey thumped a homer to left to tie the game with two outs to go. Waters singled to left, then was caught stealing to put the tying run on base and immediately remove it again. Two outs, Manny batting, and I was almost at the bottom of my vanilla soup in the gallon canister. I nearly made a mess when Manny rocked a jack over the fence in right, barely managing to plonk the bucket on the table before jumping around like a moron. 2-1 Blighters. Adame 2-4, 2B; Fernandez 1-4, HR, RBI; Wheatley 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K;

Thursday was off, but even by Friday and with the help of all the tubes and scanners and hologram machines at Buttweiser Memorial Hospital in downtown Portland the Raccoons had not found out what was ailing Jake Jackson, who remained in Portland (and would not have been up to pitch in Denver anyway).

Raccoons (80-34) @ Gold Sox (68-43) – August 9-11, 2047

Here was a rematch of last year’s World Series, which the Raccoons, as I like to point out from time to time, had somehow won in six games. The Sox were only second in the FL West this time around, trailing the Stars by 2 1/2 games. Their pitching was sublime, allowing only 3.6 runs per game, by far best in the FL, but their offense was struggling, sitting seventh in runs scored. That still worked out to a +107 run differential (Coons: +143), but they had looked scarier the year before… We also had played the Sox in the regular season last year, then dropping two of the three games. But, eh, we won four when it counted!

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (9-6, 2.81 ERA) vs. Josh Vercher (9-9, 3.69 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (3-1, 3.38 ERA) vs. Josh Brown (9-2, 2.91 ERA)
Victor Merino (10-7, 3.34 ERA) vs. Israel Mendoza (7-10, 3.65 ERA)

Ex-Critter Josh Brown would be another southpaw to contend with.

Game 1
POR: SS Adame – CF Baskins – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – 2B Waters – RF Fernandez – 1B Gurney – C Morales – P Okuda
DEN: LF Haertling – 1B Willie Ojeda – SS R. Thompson – 2B I. Villa – CF A.L. Herrera – 3B Bass – C Kuehn – RF Bator – P Vercher

Okuda had … nothing. A leadoff walk to Ed Haertling was followed by three hits for two runs in the first inning, and the Sox had another three hits in the second, only to leave the bases loaded. Brian Bass was hit by a 1-2 pitch with one out in the bottom 3rd then. Paul Kuehn singled, Justin Bator walked, and Vercher got home Bass with a groundout to go up 3-0. Haertling popped out to Maldonado then, stranding a pair, while the Raccoons had stranded three runners already without scoring, getting three hits to lead off the top 2nd f.e.; but Toohey was thrown out at third base on his leadoff double – not: triple – and the singles by Waters and Manny were met with indifference and two more outs between Gurney and Morales.

Toohey then had another extra-base hit to begin the fourth, this time a solo homer that saw him retake sole possession of the team lead with 19 bombs. Maldo was not too pleased and hit his own 19th homer at the next-best opportunity, leading off the sixth and shortening the gap to 3-2. Not that Okuda had pitched better in the fourth and fifth – his final inning – but the Gold Sox just didn’t hit with runners in scoring position… Toohey tried to get up on Maldonado again, lined out in the sixth, the homered to left in the eighth – another solo shot, but enough to tie the score at three while a succession of Bonnie, Rella, and Curl held the Sox to what they already had.

The Critters went on to put their two catchers on base in the top 9th. Facing lefty Alex Lewis, Tony Morales drew a walk, while Ruben Gonzalez singled batting for Aaron Curl, at which point Roberto Medina replaced Morales as pinch-runner and go-ahead run. The move turned out to be unnecessary – there was ample time to score for anybody on the triple Alex Adame crammed into the corner on a 1-2 pitch, plating even Gonzalez from first base. Baskins’ sac fly brought in another run, but the 6-3 lead was in danger in the bottom 9th. Mike Lynn walked Armando Luis Herrera with one out, then fudged Bass’ bouncer that came back to him for an error. Kuehn became the tying run in the box, but popped out foul to Gonzalez, and the game ended on Fernando Alba’s grounder to Waters. 6-3 Raccoons. Adame 2-5, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI; Toohey 3-4, 2 HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Waters 3-4; Gonzalez (PH) 1-1;

While that assured us of a .500 season even if we lost all of our last 47 games, the hammer still came down with news from Portland that Jake Jackson was out with shoulder inflammation and his return to the rotation this year was questionable.

Monday was an off day, allowing the Coons to delay adding a fifth starter until the next weekend, so for the time being we added a bullpen arm, not having any other smart ideas. Sean Marucci returned for a third stint. Maybe he’d get into more than one game this time.

The Sox moved right-hander Israel Mendoza up to the middle game.

Game 2
POR: SS Adame – CF Baskins – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – RF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – LF Medina – P Baker
DEN: LF Haertling – 1B Willie Ojeda – SS R. Thompson – 2B I. Villa – CF A.L. Herrera – 3B Bass – C Kuehn – RF Bator – P I. Mendoza

Baker was a mess just like Ojeda had been the day before. He gave up a run on Haertling and Ojeda doubles in the first, then walked the first two batters and gave up an infield single, all with nobody out, to the 6-7-8 batters in the second inning. Mendoza and Haertling struck out, Ojeda grounded out to Waters, but Denver still got a run… on a wild pitch. Ronnie Thompson and Herrera landed base hits for another run in the third, before Baker finally put up a zero in the fourth. The Raccoons had put up nothing but zeroes by that point, but got a leadoff single from Toohey in the top 5th. Waters singled to right after that, but Manny’s grounder forced him out at second base. Now Mendoza threw a wild pitch to bring in Toohey from third base, then almost gave up a homer to Ruben Gonzalez, but the ball died and fell into Bator’s glove on the warning track. Medina singled home Manny with two outs, 3-2, while Baker struck out to end the inning.

Like Okuda, Baker lasted only five innings, but like Okuda, he was taken off the hook with a solo homer that tied the game at three. This time Manny Fernandez was the hero, going deep to right in the seventh inning to get us even. Bonnie held the tie with a 1-2-3 bottom 7th before Medina opened the eighth with a double to left. Gurney grounded out as pinch-hitter, but Adame slapped a single off Mendoza to get the go-ahead run across, 4-3. Moreno held on in the eighth, while the ninth saw a leadoff single by Toohey, an infield single for Manny, and the Gonzalez reaching when Bator dropped his fly to right for an error. Three on, nobody out, insurance runs welcome. Medina popped out, Morales grounded out to second, and no insurance run came about. Lynn thus had to protect a 4-3 lead. Fernando Alba was out easily to begin the bottom 9th, but Paul Kuehn singled up the middle before taking an elbow to the head on Bator’s comebacker, which the Coons tried to turn for a 1-4-3 double play, but Waters was discombobulated when he struck Kuehn and Bator was safe at first base. Unfazed, Lynn rung up Ryan Meyer to end the game. 4-3 Raccoons. Adame 2-4, RBI; Toohey 2-4; Waters 2-4; Fernandez 2-4, HR, RBI; Medina 2-4, 2B, RBI;

Ten in a row!

Sunday, we got a southpaw, but not Brown – John Kennedy (11-4, 2.68 ERA) go the ball instead.

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – CF Pellicano – 1B Maldonado – RF Toohey – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – 2B Waters – 3B Coen – P Merino
DEN: LF Haertling – 1B Willie Ojeda – SS R. Thompson – 2B I. Villa – C K. Morris – 3B Bass – CF A.L. Herrera – RF Bator – P Kennedy

The Sox loaded the bases in the bottom 1st, but Kevin Morris hit into a double play to incinerate two soft singles and a walk offered by Merino, while Toohey drew a leadoff walk in the top 2nd, just to get doubled up by Gonzalez. Kennedy faced the minimum the first time through, with Portland not getting a hit until Adame singled to open the fourth in a scoreless game. He was then swiftly caught stealing. Pellicano singled to right, Toohey homered to left, and the Coons still went up 2-0. Gonzalez then went back-to-back with Toohey to extend the lead to 3-0, but the Gold Sox made up a run in the bottom 4th. Ivan Villa singled, stole second, and scored on a 2-out wild pitch to Brian Bass… Another 2-out run came around in the bottom 5th, Haertling singling home Herrera, whom Merino had given an extra base with a balk…

Merino shook and wobbled, but got through seven innings of 6-hit, 2-run ball on 100 pitches despite the odd glitch here and there. Some tack-on offense would have been welcome, but the Raccoons hardly reached base after their fourth-inning outbreak. But in the eighth, Toohey struck again! Pellicano singled with one out, and while Maldo flew out to right to continue a mellow week, Toohey romped another 2-piece outta leftfield to extend the lead to three runs! Merino returned for the bottom 8th, which opened with left-handed Willie Ojeda, getting another K before yielding for Bob Ibold, who conceded a run on back-to-back doubles by Ivan Villa and Kevin Morris, but at least remained up 5-3. Moreno got the ninth – we did not consider it worthwhile to use Lynn three days in a row in an interleague series. The bottom of the order had little to offer for Denver, and the Raccoons completed another sweep and their 11th win in a row. 5-3 Raccoons! Adame 2-4; Toohey 2-3, BB, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Merino 7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (11-7);

In other news

August 6 – SAL SP Justin Roberts (8-9, 4.48 ERA) is out for the year, being diagnosed with shoulder inflammation.
August 7 – The Bayhawks’ SP Kevin Nolte (12-4, 2.53 ERA) 3-hits the Aces in a 1-0 shutout. Nolte, who posted a 6.13 ERA last season, whiffs seven in the game. The only run comes on a home run by INF Ted Del Vecchio (.260, 5 HR, 20 RBI).
August 7 – The Indians suffer a double injury to key batters; INF Andrew Russ (.298, 2 HR, 44 RBI), who leads the CL with 29 stolen bases, will miss a month with an oblique strain, while OF/1B Bill Quinteros (.239, 7 HR, 35 RBI) is expected to be out three weeks with a sprained elbow.
August 9 – The Wolves beat the Crusaders, 9-5 in 10 innings, on a walkoff grand slam by SAL RF/LF Jose Platero (.283, 15 HR, 60 RBI), who played for the Crusaders from 2040 through 2043.
August 10 – The Wolves beat the Crusaders on a home run again, this time *only* a home run by OF David Vasquez (.283, 5 HR, 26 RBI) for a 1-0 victory.

FL Player of the Week: SFW LF Mario Villa (.376, 8 HR, 77 RBI), batting .483 (14-29) with 1 HR, 12 RBI
CL Player of the Week: POR RF/LF/1B Bryce Toohey (.271, 22 HR, 77 RBI), crushing .500 (10-20) with 5 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

August 10 was when the 2047 Raccoons clinched a winning record with their umpteenth comeback, 1-run win of the week. Doing the bare minimum to win, which is still better than the bare minimum.

Bryce Toohey had gone nine games with only one multi-hit effort before suddenly lighting on fire this Tuesday. He batted 10-for-17 with 5 homers in 5 games (in 6 days), which is bonkers. The first one on Sunday was his 100th home run for the franchise, not completely awful for a fourth-year player (on the Coons, not overall). For his career, Toohey has 153 homers, including 52 with the Condors.

Next week: home stint begins with 3-game sets against the Buffos and damn Elks. Maybe I’ll also figure out what to do with the rotation by then.

…and Sean Marucci has yet to get into a game, too.

Fun Fact: The 1996 Raccoons clinched their 82nd win on August 18.

They were 82-41 at that point, beating the Indians 5-1 away behind Jason Turner on a Sunday afternoon, and were thus right on pace for their .667 finish.

The lineup that day?

2B David Brewer
3B Ben O’Morrissey (grrrr!)
CF Neil Reece
1B Liam Wedemeyer
SS Marvin Ingall (Ingall single!!)
LF Vern Kinnear
RF Luke Newton
C David Vinson
P Jason Turner

[Westheim]

Raccoons (83-34) vs. Buffaloes (60-57) – August 13-15, 2047

Final interleague series of the season, not including the World Series of course (cough, cough). The Buffos were in the lead in a tightly packed and/or miserable FL East, scoring the fourth-most runs and barely holding a spot in the top half in runs allowed, which worked out to a +48 run differential for them (Critters: +149). Their rotation was a whole lot better than their bullpen, though, which was ranking in the bottom three in the FL. We had last played them in 2045, taking two out of three games then.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (10-5, 2.91 ERA) vs. Luis Iniguez (5-4, 3.52 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (9-6, 2.90 ERA) vs. Kuniyoshi Nagai (10-8, 3.84 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (3-1, 3.65 ERA) vs. Jose Arias (11-5, 3.27 ERA)

Left, right, left. An off day on Monday allowed the Raccoons to skip over the vacant spot in the rotation once more, but we’d need someone by the weekend.

Game 1
TOP: SS A. Chavez – LF Lee – C Banks – 1B Casas – 3B Riario – RF Tabano – CF F. Garcia – 2B Chacon – P Iniguez
POR: SS Adame – CF Pellicano – 1B Maldonado – RF Toohey – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – LF Fernandez – 3B Coen – P Wheatley

The Raccoons first made a bid for a 12th straight win in the second inning, when Gonzalez drew a leadoff walk, Matt Waters doubled to right, and Manny Fernandez brought Gonzalez home with a grounder to the right side. Ben Coen lined out to Jose Casas, unfortunately, and Waters was stranded when Wheats made the last out. Wheatley came up again with three on two outs in the bottom 4th, after Toohey, Gonzalez, and Coen had all hit soft singles, but flew out to Fernando Garcia to strand absolutely everybody. Which was *fine* as long as he kept the Buffos off the board. Vittorio Riario, Gary Tabano, and Garcia all hit deep flies in the fifth inning, however. The first two were caught by Toohey and Pellicano, respectively, while Garcia hit a gapper for a 2-out triple. Carlos Chacon went down on strikes to keep the tying run on third base.

The Raccoons continued to lead 1-0 in a tense pitchers’ duel. The Critters got a 2-out double from Waters in the bottom 6th, but Manny could not get him home, while the Buffaloes scattered five hits up to stretch time, but never more than one in an inning, and consequently remained behind. Wheatley bunted Ben Coen to second base in the bottom 7th after Coen reached on a grounder that went through Chacon’s legs for a “single”, after which Alex Adame finally came through, sending a screamer past Alfonso Madrid at third base for an RBI double. Iniguez melted at once, throwing a wild pitch before walking the bases full and was lifted before the reigning CL Player of the Week could do damage to his feelings. Right-hander Adam Haller would face Bryce Toohey instead, got a pop to Garcia in shallow center, and then repeated the feat against Gonzalez, as the Critters stranded a full set for the second time in the 2-0 contest. Wheats pitched another inning, whiffing two in the top 8th, but also got up to 106 pitches and would not be sent back out for the ninth. Haller retired Waters and Manny to begin the bottom 8th, but then gave up a homer to Al Martell, batting for Coen. Gurney hit for Wheatley and singled, but Adame grounded out. Mike Lynn got the lead in the ninth and retired the Buffaloes without major drama. 3-0 Raccoons. Adame 2-5, 2B, RBI; Waters 2-4, 2 2B; Coen 2-3; Martell (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Gurney (PH) 1-1; Wheatley 8.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, W (11-5);

12 in a row – but I was concerned about Maldo’s deep slump. He was a scary 2-for-28 with a homer and a lone RBI in his last seven games and got another day off on Wednesday.

Game 2
TOP: SS A. Chavez – 1B J. Casas – 3B Riario – C Banks – LF Lee – 2B A. Madrid – RF Angeletti – CF F. Garcia – P Nagai
POR: SS Adame – CF Baskins – 2B Waters – 1B Toohey – LF Fernandez – RF Pellicano – 3B Martell – C Morales – P Okuda

Toohey had not done much in the opener, but doubled home Derek Baskins, who had been hit by Nagai, for a 1-0 lead in the bottom 1st. The Buffos flipped the score quickly, though, getting four hits off Okuda in the second inning. Brett Banks homered the game tied, while three more singles gave them a 2-1 lead with the bottom of the order. The Coons came back in the third inning, which Okuda began with a single before being forced out by Adame, who made up for the blunder by stealing second base and scurrying home on Baskins’ double to right. The next pitch by Nagai was also taken to right by Waters and stayed away from J.P. Angeletti long enough for a go-ahead RBI single. Angeletti threw home, but could not get Baskins, instead allowing Waters to reach second base. Nagai walked Toohey, while Manny and Pellicano both flew out to end the inning.

The 3-2 lead didn’t hold, not even an inning; Madrid, Garcia, and Adriano Chavez all whacked Okuda for doubles in the fourth inning, taking a 4-3 lead for the Kansanites, which Okuda would take away again himself with an RBI double in the bottom of the inning, bringing home Al Martell, only to give up another RBI double himself to Dave Lee in the fifth inning. Garcia hit a leadoff single off Okuda in the sixth, who was then yanked from the 5-4 game. Bob Ibold got out of the inning, barely, with assistance from Manny Fernandez, who threw out Garcia at home plate on a Chavez single with two outs. Nagai went on yet, giving up 1-out singles to Martell and Morales in the bottom 6th to put the tying and go-ahead runs on the corners. Pat Gurney pinch-hit, right into a double play… The winning streak went out of the window entirely when Josh Rella was taken deep not once, but twice in the seventh inning, both times to leftfield. Brett Banks’ 2-piece was followed by a solo deed by Madrid. A throwing error by Chavez would allow a late run to Portland, but Preston Porter also gave one back in the ninth inning as the Raccoons had their winning streak quite violently ended to the tune of 18 hits and 33 total bases… 9-5 Buffaloes. Toohey 1-2, 3 BB, 2B, RBI; Martell 3-4, 2B;

(mopes) *

Game 3
TOP: SS A. Chavez – 1B J. Casas – 3B Riario – C Banks – LF Lee – 2B A. Madrid – RF Tabano – CF F. Garcia – P Arias
POR: SS Adame – CF Pellicano – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – P Baker

Baker ached the first time through the order on 41 pitches, allowing two walks (amidst more long counts) and a Garcia double, but at least no runs. He walked Casas in the third, but got a double play from Vittorio Riario, had a clean fourth, then saw Gary Tabano reach base with a leadoff single in the fifth. With one out, Arias, who held the Coons to two base hits so far, swung away and found Waters for a 4-6-3 double play. Baker hit a single in the bottom 5th, but with nobody on and two outs. Adame walked, but Pellicano popped out to keep the game scoreless.

Baker was yanked with nobody out in the seventh, allowing a leadoff walk to Brett Banks and a single to Dave Lee. Moreno inherited that unhappy situation, only to be encountered by a lefty pinch-hitter in Matt O’Reilly rather than Madrid, then Angeletti instead of Tabano (ditto). The former grounded out, but the latter whacked a 2-run double to left. While Angeletti was stranded, the Raccoons kept firing blanks at Arias, who was still on a 3-hitter when he walked Pellicano in the bottom 8th and was lifted with two outs in the inning. Brian Grohoski had Maldo at 0-2 before giving up a single, but struck out Toohey to quell the threat. After the Buffos stranded two in scoring position against Curl and Ibold in the top 9th, the Raccoons brought the tying run back to the plate once righty Trent O’Sullivan walked Baskins with one out in the bottom 9th. Waters shoved an 0-1 pitch through Casas for a double, which advanced the tying runs into scoring position! Gurney flew out to shallow left on a 3-1 pitch, which made me take a big gulp from a new bottle of Capt’n Coma, before Manny Fernandez batted for Ibold, popping out to Riario. 2-0 Buffaloes. Maldonado 2-4;

And now?

Yeah, right…

Raccoons (84-36) vs. Canadiens (62-59) – August 16-18, 2047

Second in runs scored, ninth in runs allowed, +30 run differential. That was the skinny on the foul-stenched Elks, who came in for the second-to-last series of the season. The Raccoons were up 8-3 in the season series, which looked like a correction was due, just *because*, and then there was still the thing with the all-time .500 mark. Currently we were one game under (635-636), so I was entirely convinced that we would lose at least two of the games here… While the Coons had their injuries, the Elks were also without key personnel, with Jerry Outram – out for the year – certainly topping the list. Tim Phillips, Oscar Aguirre, and David Farris were also on the DL.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (11-7, 3.30 ERA) vs. Bill McMichael (10-8, 4.01 ERA)
Jeremy Chaney (0-0, 9.00 ERA) vs. Juan Ramos (9-3, 4.53 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (11-5, 2.76 ERA) vs. Brad Blankenship (7-10, 4.52 ERA)

We’d draw another southpaw to begin the series, then probably two right-handers. Elk City had been off on Thursday and could skip lefty Mario de Anda (7-8, 4.16 ERA) into the series just as well.

Chaney took the roster spot of Sean Marucci, who ended up on waivers once more.

Game 1
VAN: CF Escobido – RF E. Moreno – 1B Delagrange – 2B Mancini – C Ebner – SS R. Price – LF I. Jaramillo – P McMichael – 3B C. Rose
POR: SS Adame – CF Pellicano – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – RF Fernandez – LF Medina – P Merino

The Raccoons put pairs on base in the first two innings, but Gonzalez popped out to strand Pellicano and Toohey, while Waters and Merino went by way of an Adame fly out to Israel Jaramillo, who then opened the top 3rd with a single. Merino retired the pitcher, who was frivolously batting eighth, and Chris Rose, but walked Angel Escobido and fell to a 2-run double by Eddie Moreno before Chris Delagrange grounded out to end the inning. The Coons responded with another two on base to begin the bottom 3rd, Pellicano singling and Maldo drawing a walk. I was sure a double play would happen soon, since there was no way we’d win to get to .500 against the stupid Elks. Toohey hit an RBI single in a full count, barely beating out Rose’s reach, while Gonzalez grounded out to advance the runners. Waters hit a sac fly to center to tie the score at two, but Toohey was left on when Manny popped out to short.

Merino was not holding up, though; Rick Price in the fourth and Eddie Moreno in the fifth tagged him for solo homers, giving the Elks a 4-2 lead, and I was becoming both inebriated and insufferable, cursing out the baseball gods, but Maud and Cristiano failed to wrestle the Capt’n Coma from my grasp. Bottom 5th, Pellicano opened with a double to right, while Maldo’s grounder to short was thrown away for a 2-base error by Price, which allowed Pellicano to score, with the tying run on second base and nobody out. Toohey singled to left again, moving Maldo to third base, and he scored one pitch later when Sean Ebner lost courtesy of McMichael’s breaking ball to Ruben Gonzalez. Toohey scurried to second on the passed ball, then third on Gonzalez’ groundout. Waters’ groundout was too weak to allow him to score, and Manny rolled over to Bob Mancini – who bungled the ball for an error, making the resulting 5-4 doubly-unearned. Roberto Medina popped out to end the inning.

Merino pitched another inning before being hit for with Ben Coen in the bottom 6th. Coen singled, then was picked off first by McMichael, which was one way to not score a tack-on run. Porter, Curl, and Moreno put six outs together from there to protect the 5-4 lead through eight, and with no offensive successes whatsoever from the home team, Mike Lynn appeared in the ninth without a cushion. Felix Rojas, pinch-hitting in the #8 slot, singled up the middle right away, but Chris Rose grounded to Adame for a double play, 6-4-3. Angel Escobido found Adame as well, ending the game. 5-4 Critters. Pellicano 3-4, 2B; Toohey 2-3, RBI; Coen (PH) 1-1;

Yeah, well, Maud, they’ll just lose the next two games all the harder! You’ll see!

Game 2
VAN: LF F. Rojas – C Julio Diaz – 2B Mancini – RF E. Moreno – SS R. Price – 1B Delagrange – CF Escobido – P Ju. Ramos – 3B C. Rose
POR: CF Pellicano – SS Waters – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 2B Martell – LF Fernandez – 1B Gurney – C Morales – P Chaney

Chaney was certainly a good starting point for a loss, offering a leadoff walk to Rojas to begin the game, and while the damn Elks didn’t take him apart right there, and Toohey singled home Pellicano to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom 1st, Chaney was whacked around by the second. Delagrange singled, Maldo committed an error on an Escobido grounder – which would make the following pile of runs unearned – and Chris Rose singled home the tying run. Rojas then crashed a 3-run homer to make it 4-1 Elk City. Chaney leaked two more singles before Eddie Moreno grounded out.

The Coons loaded the bases without the benefit of a base hit in the bottom 3rd. Pellicano drew a leadoff walk before the next two hitters both forced out the lead runner with a grounder. Toohey and Martell then also drew walks off Juan Ramos, but Manny foul-tipped strike three and the tying runs were stranded. Chaney got a little less unwatchable in the middle innings, and the Raccoons had the tying run in the box again in the fifth after leadoff singles to center by both Waters and Maldo; Toohey struck out, Martell hit into a fielder’s choice, and Manny grounded out to again not score any runs whatsoever. The Raccoons then exploded for good in the seventh; Chaney began it, but a single and another error by Maldonado knocked him out. Jake Bonnie was then absolutely no help whatsoever, getting whomped for three hits, all hard, and four runs. It took another pitcher – Rella – and Pellicano’s throw to home plate to throw out Moreno on a Delagrange double to end the inning… Moreno would overcompensate for that with a 2-run homer off Bob Ibold in the ninth as the Raccoons got routed by the stupid, stinking Elks… 10-1 Canadiens. Waters 2-5; Baskins (PH) 1-1;

No, Slappy, I knew it. I just don’t know how close we’re allowed to get by the baseball gods. But certainly not over .500!

Game 3
VAN: LF F. Rojas – C Julio Diaz – 2B Mancini – RF E. Moreno – SS R. Price – 1B Delagrange – CF I. Jaramillo – P Blankenship – 3B C. Rose
POR: SS Adame – 2B Martell – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 1B Gurney – C Gonzalez – LF Fernandez – CF Baskins – P Wheatley

Thanks to Saturday’s blowout, “over .500” was not on the table on Sunday, with precisely .500 being the best that Wheats could achieve in his second start of the week. Unfortunately he put the first two batters on base with a walk and a single, and Rojas even stole third base, but then there were also straight strikeouts to the 3-4-5 batters for Wheats to bail out of a tense top 1st… The second began just as ****** as the first, with a single and a walk, but then no strikeouts – instead Wheats bent and stretched, which got the attention of Dr. Padilla and sent me into a screaming fit in utter terror. Some back issue or other removed Wheats from the game with three outs on the board, and Jake Bonnie conceded his runners without much of a fuss on a Chris Rose liner to left for a 2-run single. Bonnie, the utter disaster, allowed another two runs of his own on three hits in the third, then hit a single for the first Coons base knock in the bottom 3rd. Adame also singled, but Martell lined out to end the inning. Maldo and Toohey opened the fourth with singles, but Gurney popped out and Gonzalez found a double play. It was utterly ******* hopeless.

While the Coons failed to pin any run on Blankenship in his seven innings of work, Bonnie pitched 3.1 innings of garbage relief, followed by five outs collected by Porter (including cleaning up a mess left behind by Bonnie in the fifth). Curl got a clean seventh in before Rella leaked a tack-on run in the eighth on hits by Moreno and Jaramillo. Mike Lynn struck out the side in a wasted ninth. 5-0 Canadiens. Maldonado 2-4;

In other news

August 14 – Sacramento SP Craig Czyszczon (10-10, 3.45 ERA) is out for the year after suffering a torn labrum.
August 14 – The Rebels scatter 12 hits without scoring in a 4-0 regulation loss to the Titans. All hits are singles, except for a lone Gil Cabrera (.259, 6 HR, 44 RBI) double.
August 15 – CIN INF/LF Chris Delgado (.272, 10 HR, 53 RBI) will miss a month with an oblique strain.
August 16 – CHA OF Jordan Marroguin (.259, 7 HR, 48 RBI) hits for the cycle during a 4-for-5 day in an 8-7 win over the Condors. Marroguin gets one hit from each category and drives in two runs in the sixth cycle in Falcons franchise lore, coming almost three years after the previous one by Tony Aparicio.
August 17 – ATL 3B/LF/SS/CF Anton Venegas (.268, 3 HR, 46 RBI) could miss the rest of the season with a strained hamstring.
August 17 – The Knights beat the Aces, 5-4 in 16 innings, with a walkoff home run by 1B/3B Ryan Lorensen (.291, 4 HR, 25 RBI).
August 17 – Rebels RF Chris Morris (.304, 4 HR, 37 RBI) does the Knights one better, hitting a walkoff home run to beat the Miners, 4-3, in *17* innings.
August 17 – Meanwhile in Salem, nobody scores until the 11th inning and a walkoff single by SAL 3B/SS Roderick Neil (.272, 4 HR, 26 RBI), plating OF/1B Joey Krall (.221, 9 HR, 44 RBI) for the 1-0 win over the Scorpions.
August 18 – MIL 2B Sergio Pena (.227, 2 HR, 22 RBI) hits a home run in the top of the 10th to beat the Indians, 1-0.

FL Player of the Week: SFW LF Mario Villa (.383, 10 HR, 85 RBI), batting .481 (13-27) with 2 HR, 8 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN LF/1B/RF Eddie Moreno (.355, 12 HR, 37 RBI), hitting .474 (9-22) with 4 HR, 11 RBI

Complaints and stuff

First off, Dr. Padilla was quick to report that Wheats seemed to have slept wrong and that was the reason for the back discomfort. But he had already done some additional harm to himself with that one inning pitched and would definitely feel the back for all of next week. The timing is not great – while we have Thursday off, allowing us to skip him next week, there is that stupid double header with the Baybirds coming up the Monday after, and we can’t play double headers with a pitcher that can’t pitch (or should not) on the roster. It’s unlikely that Wheats recovers in time to pitch on that 26th, so he will probably go to the DL for the rest of the month and we’ll bring up the next bum in line.

We’re out of Jeremies, though, so it will have to be a non-Jeremy bum.

The Titans were eliminated on Sunday at 40 games out, which was one day after the Loggers were mathematically eliminated on Saturday.

The Loggers! (shakes head) … The two “e-“ teams will start a series of the forsaken on Monday.

The Raccoons lost Sean Marucci on waivers on Sunday. He was claimed by the Buffaloes. Always the eighth, ninth, tenth man in our bullpen, the 27-year-old righty got only into 56 games in five years, posting a 4-2 record with 3.36 ERA.

Shedding players left, right, and center – especially center! – but say, Dr. Padilla, when are we getting anybody back?? – Mercado? – Next week? – You promise?

Well, for sure we’d get the Crusaders and Falcons next week…

Fun Fact: In 1999, the Falcons put up consecutive cycles in the ABL.

Hubsie Green did the honors to the Raccoons on June 3, followed by Joe Morton, cycling against the Aces on September 2.

* There’s a Steam achievement that I lack for this game, for a 15-game winning streak. About once a decade they get close, but they never nibble on that cigar…

[Westheim]

Raccoons (85-38) vs. Crusaders (55-69) – August 19-21, 2047

The Crusaders came back to Portland, with us holding a 9-3 edge in the season series. New York was seventh in runs scored and ninth in runs allowed, which didn’t sound so bad, and their run differential was only a modestly bad -49. Their rotation struggled without ends, sitting second from the bottom in ERA, and a crummy defense played part in that. They also had no speed, sitting bottoms in the CL in stolen bases, but they were fourth in homers. Like the Coons, they had shed starting pitching, too, with Carlos Malla and Yataro Tanabe on the DL as they came in.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (9-7, 3.12 ERA) vs. Matthew Owen (4-5, 3.50 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (3-2, 3.56 ERA) vs. Mike Zeigler (0-6, 7.29 ERA)
Victor Merino (12-7, 3.40 ERA) vs. Jim White (5-11, 3.64 ERA)

The rookie Zeigler was the only left-hander coming up, and seemed clearly not destined to make any more starts after originally being brought up as a reliever.

Of course the Raccoons were by now also down three of their starting pitchers. Wheats was placed on the DL to begin the week, with Kevin Hitchcock being promoted for this week. We’d bring up a fifth starter for the Bayhawks series looming next week, including a Monday double header.

Oh speaking of weather and double headers… we had one on Tuesday after Monday was all rains and no funs. That would not help with our rotation jamboree either. Immediately the plan with not getting a fifth starter up until next week was in disarray, because without a fifth starter, somebody had to go on short rest on Saturday…

Game 1
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – LF C. Cortes – RF Rogers – C Urfer – 1B de Luna – CF Rico – P M. Owen
POR: SS Adame – 2B Waters – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – CF Baskins – RF Fernandez – C Morales – LF Medina – P Okuda

A flurry of singles gave the Raccoons a 4-0 lead in the second inning. Baskins and Manny hit grounders that escaped through the holes for two base hits to begin the inning before Medina drove in Baskins with a single that looped down between Brian Kaufman and Carlos Cortes near the leftfield line. With a late throw to home, the trailing runners reached scoring position, from where Alex Adame singled both of them home with two outs. Adame stole second and scored on a Waters single before the inning ended with Maldo’s fly out to Phil Rogers.

Unfortunately, Okuda seemed hellbent on making a mess out of this game *and* the next, pitching messily and with an exploding pitch count. He opened the game with a walk to Prince Gates, and it never really got better after that. He allowed a run on three singles, the first by Owen, in the top 3rd, and then walked pairs of runners in both the fourth and fifth without the Crusaders getting them home. Waters hit a solo home run to right in the bottom 5th, but Okuda was knocked out for good with one out in the sixth after Danny Rico doubled home Rich de Luna, 5-2, and Kaufman would single home Rico against Bob Ibold, 5-3. Ibold added a clean seventh before Roberto Medina took former Raccoon Tony Negrete deep to left for his first career home run…! The balls kept flying, though, with Hitchcock serving up a homer to Prince Gates in the top of the eighth, 6-4. Maldo almost joined the club, hitting a leadoff double off Jeff Frank that graced the top of the fence in left-center, but refused to go over. He would score with two outs, singled home by Tony Morales after Baskins had walked. Medina also walked, filling the bags for Ruben Gonzalez to pinch-hit with two outs, and whiff to leave everybody aboard. Mike Lynn got the ball for the ninth, and retired the Crusaders in order to put the game away. 7-4 Raccoons. Adame 2-4; Waters 2-4, HR, 2 RBI; Maldonado 2-3, BB, 2B; Baskins 1-2, 2 BB; Medina 3-4, HR, 2 RBI;

Game 2
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – LF C. Cortes – RF Rogers – 1B D. Salazar – C Wiersma – CF Rico – P Zeigler
POR: SS Adame – RF Pellicano – 1B Maldonado – LF Toohey – C Gonzalez – 2B Waters – CF Baskins – 3B Coen – P Baker

To my endless dismay, the Raccoons had another pitcher ready to be turned into dog food opposing them and did nothing against them. They had one hit the first time through – a Baker single – and just as many the second time through; the latter one was at least a solo homer by Ruben Gonzalez, his 10th on the year and tying up the 1-0 deficit that Baker had occurred on two singles and a walk in the opening frame. Unfortunately, Ken Wiersma, the annoying bugger, hit a go-ahead jack to left as soon as the Crusaders were back at the plate after the Gonzalez homer, giving them a new 2-1 lead in the fifth inning. Danny Rico singled home a tack-on run in the seventh, with the Raccoons still clueless against Zeigler and his 7+ ERA that was by now more like a 6+ ERA. At least they put the tying runs on the corners with nobody out in the bottom 7th, courtesy of a Gonzalez double in left-center, and an infield single that Waters legged out on a bang-bang play. Zeigler finally twitched, plating Gonzalez with a wild pitch and moving Waters to second, then gave away the lead on Derek Baskins’ double into the rightfield corner. Coen and Adame singles brought in Baskins to flip the score to 4-3 Portland, before grounders by Pellicano and Maldonado ended the inning.

The Raccoons now lined up Porter and Moreno for the last two innings, but of course it wouldn’t be quite that easy. Porter didn’t get through the eighth, with a Maldonado error putting Kaufman on base – to be replaced by pinch-runner Tom Labedz – and Porter walked Mario Briones to add a second runner. Carlos Cortes popped out, but when Josh Garris batted for Phil Rogers, we went to a lefty in Aaron Curl, who walked Garris to fill the bases. Next was Nelson Moreno against Salazar, a Coons farmhand at one point. Salazar flicked a 2-run single on the first pitch to flip the score, Wiersma hit an infield single (the ******* ****!), but Danny Rico struck out to strand a complete set of runners. The Crusaders added two runs off Moreno in the ninth, hitting a pair of doubles either way past Bryce Toohey in leftfield, before Pat Gurney socked a now very unhelpful leadoff homer in the bottom 9th, facing Julian Ponce. The score was 7-5, then 7-6 when Adame hit *another* homer to left. Pellicano walked to put the tying run aboard, but unfortunately Maldonado had been lifted in a double switch and the Raccoons had to make do with Al Martell as a pinch-hitter. He popped out, Toohey lined out to Prince Gates, and Gonzalez flew out to Cortes in deep right… 7-6 Crusaders. Adame 2-5, HR, 2 RBI; Gonzalez 2-5, HR, RBI; Waters 1-2, 2 BB; Baskins 2-4, 2B, RBI; Gurney 1-1, HR, RBI;

First career homer or not – Roberto Medina (.231, 1 HR, 10 RBI) was returned to AAA the day after, making room for Nelson Mercado, who came off the DL.

Game 3
NYC: SS Gates – 3B Kaufman – 2B Briones – RF Rogers – C Urfer – 1B D. Salazar – LF de Luna – CF Rico – P J. White
POR: CF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – 1B Gurney – P Merino

Merino was perfect the first time through, whiffing a batter in every inning, but the Raccoons were doing just as little in the Wednesday rubber game. Briones singled in the fourth, but was left on when Rogers grounded out to short. Instead, Portland went up 1-0 in the same inning, when Adame hit a leadoff single, stole his 26th base, and came around on a Maldo single – which by the way gave Maldonado his first RBI on a rotten homestand. He was then promptly picked off before Toohey doubled, Gonzalez was nicked, and Baskins walked, costing at least one run. Gurney batted with three on and two outs, got to 3-1, then swung and poked a grounder up the middle. While I groaned in agony, Gates missed the ball by inches, and the Raccoons scored two runs on the single, one of them when Rico dropped the ball as he was about to throw it back to the infield, allowing Ruben Gonzalez to be waved around to score from second base. Merino then flew out to right to end the inning, then allowed two singles and a 2-out walk to Jim ******* White to load the bases in the top 5th. Somehow, Gates grounded out instead of doing terminal damage to my mood.

The Crusaders had two more singles in the sixth before Rick Urfer killed the effort with a 6-4-3 double play, with Merino tacking on two clean innings after that to nurse the 3-0 lead. Not tacking on? The rest of the team. It was still 3-0 and Merino was on 100 pitches as the ninth inning dawned. With nothing but righty hitters up and in light of our rather dramatic situation in the starting pitchers’ field hospital, he did not get the chance to face the 3-4-5 in the ninth. We instead went to Lynn, who made it interesting by allowing a leadoff double to Briones and a walk to Rogers. The next two struck out, Rich de Luna singled home Briones, but Danny Rico grounded out to Waters to conclude the game. 3-1 Critters. Adame 3-4, 2B; Gurney 2-3, 2 RBI; Merino 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, W (13-7);

One of our starters made it to 13 wins and lived to tell the tale!? Magnificent!

Unrelated, just sent away Roberto Medina appeared in one AAA game before hitting the minor league DL with a strained rib cage muscle. We had no luck with injuries right now…

Kevin Hitchcock was returned to the minors on Thursday, with Carlton Harman promoted to make at least two spot starts here while Wheats was incapacitated. And that didn’t even cover for Monday yet…!

Raccoons (87-39) @ Falcons (55-70) – August 23-25, 2047

Bottoms in the CL South, the Falcons were steadily approaching mathematical elimination in the weirdest way. Despite being 15 games under .500, they had a +9 run differential, which immediately made me consider a gypsy curse as the main reason for their toils. They ranked ninth in runs scored, fifth in runs allowed, and the only thing they really lacked was home run power. They even had the best-rated defense in the CL! Strange, very strange. The season series was even at three.

Projected matchups:
Carlton Harman (0-2, 7.36 ERA) vs. Josh Swindell (1-6, 5.58 ERA)
Jeremy Chaney (0-1, 4.76 ERA) vs. Chris Jones (3-1, 3.31 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (10-7, 3.19 ERA) vs. Cameron Crawford (0-1, 3.86 ERA)

While the Raccoons were scratching the bottom of the barrel in terms of pitching, the Falcons also had a few starters on the DL with Evan Henshaw and Matt Schwartz out. Joe Besaw and Miguel Martinez were also on the DL, tearing two holes into their lineup. All three of the Falcons’ projected starters in this series were right-handers, and all three had started the season with the AAA Chesapeake Wanderers.

Game 1
POR: CF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – 1B Gurney – P Harman
CHA: CF Marroquin – 2B E. Sandoval – RF Allegood – 1B Sevilla – LF Marroguin – 3B Thibault – C Torreo – SS Vamos – P Swindell

Harman quickly became a question rather than an answer, leaking a single, two walks, and a Jordan Marroguin grand slam in the first inning. The Raccoons loaded the bases on their own with Toohey, Gonzalez, and Baskins in the top 2nd, bringing up Gurney with one gone. He ran a 3-0 count – then popped out to Bobby Thibault. I got watery black googly eyes, with Harman flying out to left to end the inning. The next bases-loaded situation was cashed in on, but it was the Falcons again. Harman crapped the bags full with runners with nobody out in the bottom 3rd, and the Falcons went on to hit two sac flies to get another two runs home, 6-0.

The fourth saw Harman’s day end, finally, while Matt Waters put a token run on the board with a homer to right, his 14th on the year and chasing Maldonado for second on the squad. Jake Bonnie was then unmothballed to pitch two garbage innings, walking a pair, but not giving up a run for once. While the pen held up, with Josh Rella also turning in two innings – neither of those two had been in action against the Crusaders earlier in the week – the Raccoons had a vague hint of a rally against Swindell in the eighth, which Mercado opened with a double. The bags were full with Maldo and Toohey joining before Waters whiffed. Kyle Conner replaced Swindell, but gave up a 2-run single to Ruben Gonzalez before lefty Tyler Weems came to the rescue, getting out Gene Pellicano, who hit for Baskins. Antonio Prieto shut down the Raccoons in the ninth. 6-3 Falcons. Toohey 1-2, 2 BB; Gonzalez 2-4, 2 RBI; Bonnie 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K; Rella 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Game 2
POR: CF Mercado – SS Waters – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Martell – RF Pellicano – LF Fernandez – C Morales – P Chaney
CHA: C Torreo – 2B E. Sandoval – RF Allegood – 1B Sevilla – LF Marroguin – 3B Thibault – CF Caballero – SS Vamos – P C. Jones

The middle game was another 4-0 deficit in the bottom 1st, with Chaney getting torn apart on two singles, two walks, including a 2-out walk to Thibault with the bases loaded, before Oscar Caballero emptied the bases with a double in the gap between Manny and Mercado. Only Josh Vamos ended the inning, grounding out to Maldonado. Portland made up a run in the second, drawing walks through Toohey and Manny before Tony Morales hit an RBI single. Chaney hit a fly to left that Marroguin had to run for pretty far, but made the catch to end the inning. Waters added another solo homer in the third, 4-2, but Chaney just kept sucking. Mike Allegood opened the bottom 3rd with a single, Raul Sevilla walked, and Marroguin hit an RBI single. Two outs later, Vamos doubled home the remaining runners to put Charlotte up 7-2. Three more runners and a run later, Chaney was yanked from an 8-2 rout in the fourth inning as the thought crept up in me that we were really, truly in the ***** now. Bob Ibold cleaned up and disposed of Chaney’s soiled rug, but the game was very much over already.

Matt Waters’ tear continued without any deeper meaning at all. He hit a leadoff jack in the sixth off Jones, and while the Raccoons added two more 2-out runs in the inning after Toohey singled, Pellicano walked, and Coen singled (in the #7 spot previously dis-Mannied in a double switch) to load the bases, and Tony Morales got home two with a grounder up the middle for a single, Derek Baskins as the tying run then grounded out easily in an 8-5 game. The Raccoons never threatened again and just wasted more scoreless innings from their pen. 8-5 Falcons. Waters 3-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Coen (PH) 1-1; Morales 2-4, 3 RBI; Curl 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

Pitching change for Sunday – while the Raccoons were very relieved to get an established name on the mound, the Falcons longed to do the same as they went for the throat, and sent Jerry Felix (9-6, 4.03 ERA), also a right-hander.

Game 3
POR: CF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – RF Pellicano – 1B Gurney – LF Fernandez – P Okuda
CHA: CF Marroquin – 2B E. Sandoval – RF Allegood – 1B Sevilla – C Kilmer – SS Marroguin – 3B Thibault – LF Caballero – P Felix

Always good for some offensive upsets, Okuda hit a gapper in right-center with two outs in the top 2nd, driving home Gurney and Manny for the first runs in the Sunday game. Mercado walked, Adame whiffed, Okuda had a clean second, and then Waters hit a single in the top 3rd and stole second base as he made a case for Player of the Week. Ruben Gonzalez drove him in with a double up the leftfield line, but knocked his knee into Jordan Marroguin’s leg in a tight play at second base and had to leave the 3-0 game in pain. In pain, I was as well – but more in the chest area. Tony Morales obviously replaced Gonzalez. He scored after a Pellicano single and a Gurney fielder’s choice, 4-0.

At least Okuda held up, and Pellicano doubled home Waters, who was just unretireable right now, in the fifth to go up 5-0. Okuda scattered four hits in six shutout innings with a low pitch count, then gave up a leadoff double to longtime Coon Jeff Kilmer in the seventh. Marroguin walked, but we were not yet going to the pen, who would be needed again on Monday… Okuda came through, getting two grounders to short. The Raccoons could not turn two on Thibault’s, but did turn two on Caballero to strand everybody and get out of the inning! The eighth saw another single and walk for the Falcons, but also another inning-ending double play, this time Mike Allegood going to Waters for a 4-6-3. The Raccoons didn’t score in the late innings, but they technically had plenty on the board as Okuda returned for the ninth inning, facing 4-5-6 on 98 pitches. Leadoff walk to Raul Sevilla – not great. He struck out Kilmer. Marroguin flew out to Mercado. And Caballero flew out to Manny Fernandez in left-center, the grizzled old veteran going for a diving grab on the ball just before it could dink in! It’s a shutout! 5-0 Raccoons! Gonzalez 1-2, 2B, RBI; Pellicano 3-5, 2B, RBI; Fernandez 1-2, 2 BB; Okuda 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K, W (11-7) and 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Why is Manny Fernandez heading for Dr. Padilla as he walks off the field, rather than joining his teammates in the huddle?

In other news

August 20 – The lone tally in the Titans’ 1-0 win over the Loggers comes on a home run by Boston’s Joe Ritchey (.229, 8 HR, 33 RBI).
August 21 – DAL OF Tylor Cecil (.314, 27 HR, 105 RBI) socks a walkoff grand slam off A.J. May (2-3, 3.81 ERA, 1 SV) in the ninth inning to beat the Pacifics, 7-6.
August 22 – A hamstring strain might mean season over for Dallas SP Dave Hils (11-7, 3.52 ERA).
August 23 – BOS SP Brian Jackson (9-10, 2.77 ERA) 3-hits the Aces in a 5-0 shutout.
August 23 – Cincinnati and Sacramento play scoreless ball for nine innings before CIN MR Josh Livingston (2-6, 2.88 ERA, 1 SV) ends the game with a wild pitch, allowing SAC INF Kenny Leon (.263, 6 HR, 37 RBI) to score the winning run in walkoff fashion in the 10th inning.

FL Player of the Week: DAL OF Tylor Cecil (.320, 30 HR, 111 RBI), hitting .417 (10-24) with 4 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA 1B Sam Witherspoon (.261, 12 HR, 53 RBI), batting .474 (9-19) with 2 HR, 10 RBI

Complaints and stuff

So, the Raccoons barely scratched a 3-3 week, found out that their replacement pitchers oughta be replaced, and then, just before the lights went out, shed another two players on Sunday. Ruben Gonzalez’ knee was not so bad, but he might not make it into a game next week, with the crouching and all. Manny Fernandez, however, broke his wrist and was out for the rest of the regular season, and highly unlikely for the playoffs, which also yoinked his vesting option for 2048 for good. Never mind that we’re on the end of our tethers for replacements in the outfield, too.

It’s ******* Verdun out there, isn’t it?

So we will need a third catcher AND an additional pitcher on Monday. How the **** are we gonna do that??

October will be brief for the Coons, routed out of the CLCS with the pathetic remainders of their rotation that won’t be able to hold up … anything, really. Yeah, they will probably win 100+ for the second time in franchise history. But it didn’t amount to a ring last time, either.

Dr. Padilla, we need these replacement body parts, NOW!!

Next week, that stupid set with the Bayhawks that opens with the EXTREMELY INCONVENIENT double header on Monday, then a Loggers set at home on the weekend. Rosters expand on Sunday, which, fun fact, is too late for us in the current roster crunch.

Fun Fact: The roster expansion comes too late for us in the current roster crunch.

Fact!

(hits head on door frame repeatedly)

[Westheim]

Oscar Alcala was a crummy pitcher. A 25-year-old left-hander, he had been signed as scouting discovery out of the Dominican Republic in 2038. He had never been a hot prospect, not even a prospect. He had just been there, and had slowly failed his way up the ladder in the organization, arriving in St. Pete last year. There he ha posted a 5.75 ERA in 11 starts. This year, he was at 5.30 in 19 games (17 starts). He threw baseballs at 93 that would be turned into rockets to exit the ballpark much faster. His secondary stuff was crummy. He walked more than five batters per nine innings.

And on Monday, he’d make his major league debut with the Raccoons marred in a roster crunch, mired at the Bay, and maimed from top to bottom.

Alcala had probably never been mentioned before in the Raccoons dispatches, and we didn’t think of him as much of a pitcher. Pat Degenhardt sighed deeply when he dug out his scouting report and blew the dust off. Even Mama Alcala thought he should hang up the cleats and do something he was actually qualified for, like apprenticing as a butcher with Uncle Jose.

And there he was, sitting in the dugout for the opener, waiting for his turn in the nightcap.

And I was afraid.

Raccoons (88-41) @ Bayhawks (67-62) – August 26-28, 2047

By now, both CL divisions were no-contests, with the second-place Bayhawks being even further behind the stomping Thunder than the Critters were ahead of the Indians at this point. San Fran was sixth in runs scored, seventh in runs allowed, and had really embraced mediocrity at this point. We led the season series, 3-2, and of course that meant a makeup game double header on Monday.

Projected matchups:
Jeremy Baker (3-2, 3.60 ERA) vs. Rafael Pedraza (11-11, 4.54 ERA)
Oscar Alcala (0-0) vs. Chih Ke (10-8, 3.72 ERA)
Victor Merino (13-7, 3.24 ERA) vs. Kevin Nolte (12-5, 2.89 ERA)
Carlton Harman (0-3, 9.00 ERA) vs. Jesse Bulas (7-8, 3.96 ERA)

Only right-handed opposition here, while Harman was the only right-hander put up by Portland.

Roster moves for Portland? Manny Fernandez went on the DL on Monday, but we’d carry Ruben Gonzalez through this series while he soothed his bum knee. Jimmy Dalton was brought up as third catcher. He had appeared in eight games last season, batting .250 with one RBI. The roster spot for Alcala came from Jeremy Chaney, who was yoinked for A) sucking, and B) not going to pitch in this series anyway.

Somehow, make it to Sunday and roster expansion, will ya, boys?

Game 1
POR: CF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – LF Toohey – 2B Martell – RF Pellicano – 1B Gurney – C Morales – P Baker
SFB: SS Del Vecchio – C J. Hill – LF B. Nelson – 3B R. Sifuentes – 2B Quiroz – CF A. Marquez – RF Fink – 1B P. Colon – P Pedraza

The early innings were an orgy of stranded base runners, as the Raccoons left on pairs in the second (Morales whiffed) and third (Toohey flew out to leftfielder Bob Nelson), while the Bayhawks left the bases loaded in the bottom 2nd (Pedraza struck out) and stranded one more in the third. After that a pitching duel seemed to break out. The Coons put only one runner on base in the middle innings, while Baker looked good through five, then faltered in the sixth. Nelson hit a leadoff single, Ramon Sifuentes smacked a double, and it went downhill from there. Sergio Quiroz’ sac fly gave the Baybirds a 1-0 lead, and after Baker walked Alex Marquez, he was removed for Jake Bonnie, having exploded his pitch count to 103 in a real hurry. Bonnie walked John Fink and conceded a run on Pedro Colon’s grounder before getting out of the inning.

Pedraza carried his shutout into the eighth before walking Mercado to begin the inning. Adame forced out the runner, but then scored on singles by Maldo and Martell by the time there were two outs. Derek Baskins batted for Pellicano with runners on the corners, but grounded out to the disagreeable Ted Del Vecchio. The ninth began with right-hander Ricardo Ordas, but he left with an injury after Tony Morales lobbed a 1-out single to left, which also put the tying run on base. Ben Coen batted for Rella, but no pinch-runner was available – the last warm body on the bench was Jimmy Dalton. No pinch-runner was needed anymore once Coen was done grounding into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game. 2-1 Bayhawks. Mercado 1-2, 2 BB; Martell 2-4, RBI; Rella 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

Game 2
POR: CF Mercado – SS Waters – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 2B Martell – LF Baskins – 1B Gurney – C Dalton – P Alcala
SFB: SS Del Vecchio – RF Fink – LF B. Nelson – 3B R. Sifuentes – 2B Quiroz – CF A. Marquez – C Suggs – 1B P. Colon – P Ke

The Raccoons took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, with Mercado, Maldo, and Martell all hitting singles; Al Martell got an RBI, as did Toohey for his sac fly in between. So far, so smooth, but then came Alcala. He struck out Del Vecchio to begin his major league career, but then walked Fink and Nelson in a real hurry. Ramon Sifuentes singled to center, Fink turned third, but was thrown out at home plate by Mercado. Quiroz’ fly to left ended up with Derek Baskins, easing Alcala out of the inning. Somehow he kept the Bayhawks off the board for three innings, despite hard balls hit all around the ballpark, but his luck would run out by the fourth. Sifuentes single, a walk to Marquez, and Sean Suggs singled home the first run. Five pitches later, a Pedro Colon blast for a 3-run homer to right flipped the score to 4-2 Bayhawks.

The Coons had two on and one out for Maldonado in the fifth, but he hit into a double play, and the sixth saw Toohey hit a leadoff single, followed by a Baskins double with one out. Pat Gurney ran a 3-1 count before poking a comebacker, but at least it went to the wrong swide of Chih Ke, who scrambled late and got nobody out for an RBI infield single, 4-3. Jimmy Dalton came through, too, hitting an RBI single through the right side to tie the game. Gurney went to third, and with runners still on the corners, the Raccoons aggressively batted for Alcala, with Ben Coen walking in a full count to load the bases. Ke leaked another full-count walk to Mercado, and that pushed home the go-ahead run, 5-4, before Waters borked the whole effort with a double play grounder to Quiroz… The lead was short-lived, with Bob Ibold giving up a single to Suggs and an RBI double to PH Dan Riley in the bottom of the inning, getting everybody even at five…

Top 7th, Maldo and Martell hit singles, then pulled off a double steal that *really* seemed to catch the Baybirds battery off-guard. Baskins cashed in both runners with a clean single through the right side, but the tying runs reached against Preston Porter in the bottom 7th. Mercado dropped a Nelson fly, Sifuentes singled, but Marquez grounded into a fielder’s choice before Suggs got rung up swinging to strand the runners. Pedro Colon homered off Aaron Curl to begin the bottom 8th, erasing the cushion, and Moreno had to dig out Curl from that inning, ringing up Adrian Ringel to strand the tying run on base once more. No insurance run came about; the Raccoons stuck with Moreno to begin the bottom 9th, just so they still had one unused pitcher left, which happened to be the nominal closer, Mike Lynn. After groundouts by Sifuentes and Quiroz, Juan Brito hit for the pitcher Dan Minelli in the #6 hole. He was a lefty hitter with considerable power and huge holes in his swing. *Now* came Big Man Lynn – he got Brito to 1-2, then gave up a single. Suggs socked a liner through Maldonado at 1-0, and it went up the line for extra bases. Uh-oh. The Bayhawks sent Brito to home plate, but so did Derek Baskins with the baseball, getting a nice bounce off the sidewall in leftfield. Adame with the relay to home plate, Dalton throwing himself into Brito – and the runner was called out! Ballgame! 7-6 Critters! Maldonado 2-5; Martell 2-5, RBI; Baskins 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Adame (PH) 1-1;

Derek Baskins!! Whee!!

Alcala (0-0, 7.20 ERA) was returned to AAA after the games, with the question of Sunday’s starter remaining unresolved for now. Kevin Hitchcock joined the team for the next few days, once more. He really had to have a lot of bonus miles by now…

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – 2B Waters – RF Maldonado – LF Toohey – CF Baskins – 1B Gurney – 3B Coen – C Morales – P Merino
SFB: SS Del Vecchio – C J. Hill – LF B. Nelson – 3B R. Sifuentes – 2B Quiroz – CF A. Marquez – RF Fink – 1B P. Colon – P Nolte

With Maldo playing the outfield for the first time in two years, and Merino lacking control and walking three in the first three innings to quickly escalate his pitch count, the Raccoons appeared to tumble into another loss, despite the game remaining scoreless; Merino also whiffed four in the early innings to help keep the Baybirds off the board. Baskins hit a leadoff double in the top 5th, but was stranded by the bottom of the order, Gurney and Coen whiffing while Morales grounded out. Merino was at five walks after five innings, which made absolutely nobody happy, but opened the sixth with a single to right. Adame hit into a double play then… Merino issued a sixth walk to John Fink in the bottom 6th, and was gone after getting a groundout from Nolte to begin the bottom 7th, having thrown 99 pitches. Moreno replaced him, gave up a double to Del Vecchio (grrrr!), but rung up John Hill and got a fly out from Nelson to Gene Pellicano, who had entered with Moreno in a double switch – Gurney was removed, and Toohey moved in to first base.

Moreno continued in the bottom 8th after the Coons frittered away a Morales double in their half of the inning, but allowed a leadoff single to Sifuentes and was then ushered out in favor of Curl, who again sucked and blew the game by giving up an RBI single to Marquez after Sifuentes stole second, and with Marquez scooting into second base on Maldo’s throw home, Sean Suggs’ single to center was enough to get a second run on the board. Come the ninth, right-hander Brad Barnes offered a leadoff walk to Waters, bringing the tying run to the plate; well, at least until Maldonado hit into a double play… Toohey then walked with two outs, but Baskins grounded out. 2-0 Bayhawks. Baskins 2-4, 2B;

Sigh.

Game 4
POR: CF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – 1B Gurney – C Dalton – P Harman
SFB: 2B Quiroz – C Suggs – 1B D. Riley – CF A. Marquez – RF P. Colon – 3B R. Sifuentes – LF Fink – SS Del Vecchio – P Bulas

Another game with no runs scored in the first three innings. John Fink was the only player to land a base hit, a leadoff single in the bottom 3rd, as Harman pitched deceptively non-*****, while the Raccoons only got Waters on with a walk in the second – he was stranded after stealing second base – and Dalton on an error in the third. Toohey walked in the fourth, but was forced out by Waters, while a Suggs single and a walk to Colon put Bayhawks on the corners for Sifuentes, but he grounded out to Adame to end the inning.

A leadoff double by Quiroz and two productive groundouts finally put a Bayhawks run on the board in the sixth inning, as the Raccoons continued to be entirely terrible at the plate against Bulas. They still did not have a base hit through six – but Toohey would break up the bid with a leadoff single in the seventh. Bulas was yanked right away for righty Orlando Altreche. Waters lined out, but Baskins singled to center. Gurney was next, banged a grounder past the falling Altreche and the ball went up the middle, over the bag, and into centerfield. Toohey threw caution to the wind and turned third base, making it home just before Alex Marquez’ throw to tie the game, while the trailing runners advanced. Al Martell then batted for Dalton, but grounded out to first base, keeping the runners in scoring position, while Tony Morales batted for Harman, and also found Riley with a grounder, stranding the runners for good.

Teams remained locked at 1-1 through eight innings, with Bonnie and Hitchcock turning in three outs each for Portland without allowing a run. Baskins’ 2-out single off Minelli in the ninth went nowhere, but Aaron Curl retired the Bayhawks in order in the bottom 9th to send the game to extra innings, which began with Pellicano batting for Curl in the #8 hole, and bending a homer around the left foul pole on a Minelli hanger, which broke the tie rather nicely, but was also all the Coons got in the inning. Lynn got the ball in the bottom the inning; Sifuentes struck out, Fink struck out, and dismal Ted Del Vecchio ran a 3-1 count before popping out to Waters. 2-1 Blighters. Baskins 2-4; Pellicano (PH) 1-1, HR, RBI; Harman 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K;

With this win, the Raccoons were up 15 games on the Indians in the CL North, which was the same as the magic number to clinch the division.

Thursday was off, which allowed for enough time for Ruben Gonzalez to heal up for good, and Armando Herrera was ready to come off the DL, too.

Here, we started to poke at the loopholes in the rulebook. Jimmy Dalton would have to pass through waivers to return to AAA, only to be brought back on Sunday when rosters would expand. We’d rather keep him around to begin with. Since nobody else was obviously expendable and Kevin Hitchcock looked like a nice alternative for the postseason, we instead sent Armando Herrera on a rehab assignment in AAA for a few days, which would keep him in the DL contingent for postseason eligibility.

(looks upwards to wait for baseball gods’ lightning)

Raccoons (90-43) vs. Loggers (49-83) – August 30-September 1, 2047

Last and forsaken, the Loggers had won but one of their 11 games with the Critters this year so far. They were second from the bottom in runs scored, worst in runs allowed, and already had piled up a -227 run differential. They were not only bad – they were real Loggers-bad!

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (11-7, 3.00 ERA) vs. Carlos Vasquez (7-9, 3.83 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (3-3, 3.58 ERA) vs. Walt Wright (6-11, 5.23 ERA)
Jeremy Chaney (0-2, 8.40 ERA) vs. Tomas Ruiz (3-18, 6.49 ERA)

A righty and two southpaws coming up here. How Tomas Ruiz was holding on to his spot in the rotation was his and the Loggers’ dirty little secret.

Chaney was of course not on the roster yet; he would only arrive on Sunday with the roster expansion group and whoever else was being parked in AAA right now.

Game 1
MIL: CF B. Allen – RF McIntyre – 2B Loyola – SS R. Espinoza – C Payne – LF Reeves – 1B Lovell – 3B M. Grant – P C. Vasquez
POR: CF Mercado – SS Adame – 1B Maldonado – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – 3B Martell – RF Pellicano – C Morales – P Okuda

Portland went up in the first, scoring a first-inning run on singles by Adame, who stole his 28th bag, and Waters. That was enough to have Okuda cruising; despite throwing 39 pitches, he retired the Loggers in order the first time through, and the Raccoons would tack on in the fourth inning. Waters and Baskins got on base, pulled off a double steal, and then scored following a Martell RBI groundout, a Pellicano single, and Tony Morales’ sac fly to center, extending the lead to 3-0.

Okuda retired 13 in a row and looked like ready for more before Ricky Payne reached on an error by Nelson Mercado in the fifth inning. Bill Reeves hit into a double play right away, but the perfect game was out of the window at that point, of course. Bottom 5th, the Coons tacked on two more; Adame got on base, then scored on a Waters double. Baskins singled, and so did Martell, extending the lead to 5-0 by scoring Waters. Morales then flew out to end the inning.

Then the Loggers actually rose from their slumber. Pat Lovell broke up the no-hitter with a single up the middle to begin the sixth, and the Raccoons went on to shed two runs on another single by PH Ricky Lopez, a throwing error by Morales, and a walk to Brent Allen. Okuda dug out of the inning, then was sent into early retirement as a storm moved through and doused the ballpark for an hour. When play resumed, Preston Porter conceded a run on three hits in the top 7th, narrowing the score to 5-3, and Nelson Moreno allowed one hit in the eighth, but kept the Loggers off the board. The Raccoons were not keen on adding more runs themselves, so Mike Lynn had to hold up in the ninth, but gave up a leadoff single to Ricky Espinoza. Payne struck out, PH Sergio Pena hit into a fielder’s choice, and the game ended with a K to Pat Lovell. 5-3 Raccoons. Adame 2-5; Waters 4-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Baskins 2-4; Morales 2-3, RBI; Okuda 6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (12-7);

Game 2
MIL: CF B. Allen – 1B Bush – 2B Loyola – SS R. Espinoza – C Payne – LF Reeves – RF McIntyre – 3B M. Grant – P W. Wright
POR: SS Allen – RF Pellicano – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – CF Mercado – P Baker

The Raccoons’ Jeremy Brigade kept being dispiriting, with Jeremy Baker giving up three runs on five hits in the opening frame, getting whacked around pretty well to all fields. When Alex Adame opened the bottom 1st and was not scored for the duration of three outs, I accepted the loss. Baker shed another run in the third, in the bottom of which the Critters loaded the bases with one out, Maldonado briefly interrupting an August slump with a single, sandwiched in between walks drawn by Pellicano and Toohey. Waters was up with the bags full, squeezed out another walk to push home a run, but after that Baskins and Gonzalez struck out. Bottom 5th, the Critters tried again, now with Pellicano and Maldonado singling, and Bryce Toohey opening a big can of BOOM, SEE YA for Walt Wright, homering to left-center to tie the score at four.

That gave Baker a no-decision for five shoddy innings I’d rather unsee, with scoreless frames by Hitchcock and Bonnie tacked on after that. Bonnie got in line for the W when Pellicano was on base against Dave Peluso with a leadoff single in the bottom 7th, then was driven in by Maldo with a gap triple in right-center. Maldo had entered the game 6-for-34 in his last 10 games, so a 3-for-4 was right up everybody’s wishlist. The Coons’ 4-5-6 hit a bushel of singles to not only score Maldo, 6-4, but also load the bags with nobody out. Gonzalez popped out, but Mercado added an RBI single, which was the end for Peluso. Bubba Poss replaced him, the lefty striking out Ben Coen for the second out, but then gave up two runs on an Adame single to center. After that came another three straight RBI singles as Raccoons players got their second swings of the inning that was rapidly escalating away from the Loggers, even before Matt Waters cranked a 3-run homer to left. New pitcher Luke Schwartz popped out Derek Baskins, which ended an *11-run* inning that saw the Coons go up 15-4. Way to break a tie! Scoreless innings by Rella and Ibold would then end the game. 15-4 Raccoons! Adame 2-6, 3B, 2 RBI; Pellicano 3-4, 2 BB, RBI; Maldonado 4-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Toohey 3-4, BB, HR, 5 RBI; Waters 2-4, BB, HR, 4 RBI;

Rout!

So here was the roster expansion. The Raccoons needed a fifth starter, any starter at all really, and thus brought up Jeremy Chaney once more. Adam Bates was an extra right-handed reliever, while Arturo Carreno and Armando Herrera joined the team from AAA as well. That only made for a 29-man roster, but we also had Wheats about to return shortly, and then also a bit of a squeeze on the 40-man roster and so far no inclination to waive additional players.

The Loggers brought on a right-hander, blowing up Southpaw Sunday – boo! – with Nicholas Pollock (1-3, 5.30 ERA) getting the baseball for them.

Game 3
MIL: LF Reeves – 1B Bush – C Payne – SS R. Espinoza – 2B Loyola – CF Pate – RF B. Allen – 3B Farfan – P Pollock
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – RF Pellicano – C Morales – P Chaney

Alex Adame reached 30 stolen bases in the first inning, hitting a leadoff single, stealing not one, but two bases, and coming home on Armando Herrera’s sac fly. That wasn’t gonna be enough to make Chaney a winner, though – he walked three of the first five Loggers, who also hit into two double plays in the first two innings, but Jose Farfan’s leadoff double and two productive outs did him in come the third inning. Reeves’ sac fly tied the game, and Erik Bush homered to right to give the Loggers a 2-1 lead. John Pate added a 2-piece the inning after, and the Raccoons took until the fifth to actually shake themselves and get to hitting. With two outs, Tony Morales doubled to right, Chaney singled to left, and Adame hit an RBI double to center, putting the tying runs in scoring position. Herrera didn’t wait around either and smashed Pollock’s first pitch into the right-center gap for a 2-run triple, tying the score at four…! Maldo popped out in foul ground, ending the inning.

Chaney was dragged through another inning, then even got the lead in the bottom 6th when Toohey initially got on base, only to be forced out by Waters. The slugging shortstop at second base stole second base, to which the Loggers responded with an intentional walk to Derek Baskins. Pollock then gave up the go-ahead run on a Pellicano single, and another single to Morales that loaded the bases, but then struck out both Al Martell and Al(ex) Adame to dig himself out of his selfmade jam. He then waited to be dug out of his losing spot when Brent Allen doubled off Hitchcock and reached third base on a wild pitch to begin the top 7th, but Farfan struck out, Lovell popped out, and Reeves again struck out to keep that tying run pinned. Curl and Rella combined for a 1-2-3 eighth, but then Mike Lynn loaded the bases in the ninth inning – and without a cushion! One out, Pate and Allen singled, and a full count saw Kyle Edsell draw a walk. Will McIntyre pinch-hit in the #9 hole and struck out, bringing back Reeves, who fell to 1-2, but then singled to center. The Raccoons ended the ining on the play, Edsell being called out sliding into third base, but that was after two runs had already scored to flip the game around. The Coons had no response and lost a – hh!! – second game to the Loggers on the year. 6-5 Loggers. Adame 2-5, 2B, RBI; Herrera 2-4, 3B, 3 RBI; Morales 2-4, 2B; Mercado (PH) 1-1;

In other news

August 30 – 39-year-old SAL 2B Billy Bouldin (.281, 0 HR, 8 RBI) reaches the 3,000 hits mark, the 19th ABL player to do so. Bouldin, a 19-year veteran, was a batting champ as a 2036 Blue Sock and won three Gold Gloves and two World Series rings in a career hitting .329/.363/.407 with 24 HR and 1,002 RBI. DAL SP Roberto Pruneda (12-9, 4.95 ERA) gives up the milestone hit, a second-inning single, in the 7-5 Wolves win.
August 30 – The Rebels would have to do without LF/RF Pablo Gonzalez (.331, 8 HR, 51 RBI) for three to four weeks. The 27-year-old was down with a broken rib.
August 31 – A home run by SFW 1B Manny Liberos (.246, 25 HR, 85 RBI) is the only base hit the Warriors get off DEN Israel Mendoza (10-11, 3.38 ERA) as the Gold Sox win 5-1.

FL Player of the Week: DAL OF Tylor Cecil (.333, 32 HR, 122 RBI), batting .528 (19-36) with 2 HR, 11 RBI
CL Player of the Week: LVA 1B Sam Witherspoon (.271, 16 HR, 61 RBI), hitting .421 (8-19) with 4 HR, 8 RBI

FL Hitter of the Month: DAL OF Tylor Cecil (.334, 32 HR, 122 RBI), mauling pitchers at a .419 clip with 12 HR, 38 RBI
CL Hitter of the Month: LVA 1B Sam Witherspoon (.269, 16 HR, 61 RBI), batting .351 with 9 HR, 32 RBI
FL Pitcher of the Month: RIC SP Zach Tubbs (13-8, 3.81 ERA), throwing for a 4-0 record with 2.51 ERA, 30 K
CL Pitcher of the Month: OCT SP Juan Ramos (14-10, 4.25 ERA), hurling for a 6-0 mark with 2.28 ERA, 30 K
FL Rookie of the Month: WAS C Eric Thomas (.347, 2 HR, 21 RBI), hitting .351 with 1 HR, 16 RBI
CL Rookie of the Month: IND 3B/1B Nate Massey (.289, 3 HR, 21 RBI), batting .345 with 1 HR, 13 RBI

Complaints and stuff

September is here, and hopefully we can shed the injuries and peace the thing back together now.

Both the Critters and the Indians went 19-9 in August, so if it feels like the gap hasn’t really moved in a while, it’s because it hasn’t in fact. Losing to the Loggers on Sunday however means that we will not go 17-1 against a CL North team for the first time ever. Shambles.

We go back on the road for 10 games in three cities, starting in Indy and Boston next week. Now, our magic number is dow to 11, which means we could technically clinch the division next week, but we have had our troubles playing the Arrowheads, so I am not expecting anything.

Fun Fact: 41 years ago today, San Francisco’s Tyler Sullivan no-hit the Falcons in a 5-0 game.

The left-handed Sullivan spent three-and-a-half of his seven full-time seasons with the Bayhawks, who picked him out of random Buffaloes detritus and turned him into a reasonable CL starting pitcher at the age of 29 – before that he had made only 34 major-league starts across six years of random cups of coffee. Sullivan ran with the chance for a while, winning the 2009 ERA title despite being traded to the Capitals in July, thanks to pumping out 164.2 innings in 21 starts of 2.24 ERA hurling – but that ERA more than doubled in Washington, and his career fizzled out within three years after that.

Overall, he was 101-96 with a 4.11 ERA in 249 games (241 starts).

One of the players going from Washington to San Francisco in the 2009 trade was a prospect Adam Young, who wound up in Portland by the end of the decade, and was one of the more pronounced frustrations of that era, with him dropping from three straight 25+ homer seasons in San Francisco (not a power haven!) to *15* in two seasons in Portland – combined!

[Westheim]

Monday was a day off, but for Jason Wheatley it was a day on, coming back onto the roster from the DL after the minimum 15 days. The Critters would slot him right back into the opener for the Indians series on Tuesday, while dropping Jeremy Chaney into the bullpen into a garbage innings role. We were now at 30 players on the extended roster, 15 arms and sticks each.

The only other DL returnees to expect during the regular season would be Ken Mills in about ten days, and Jake Jackson in roughly three weeks, barely enough for one tune-up start or two.

Raccoons (92-44) @ Indians (77-60) – September 3-5, 2047

Tied at six in the season series, the Raccoons continued to struggle against the Arrowheads. They were not scoring runs (bottom there in the CL) except against us, and they were not allowing runs (second-fewest), and especially not to us.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (11-6, 2.86 ERA) vs. Bill Nichol (14-9, 2.59 ERA)
Victor Merino (13-7, 3.12 ERA) vs. Enrique Ortiz (1-0, 2.89 ERA)
Carlton Harman (0-3, 6.86 ERA) vs. Bill Drury (12-13, 3.05 ERA)

That would be three righties, actual order up for grabs. Ortiz was a rookie filling in for the suspended John Roeder, who was banned from appearing in the series. Either him or Drury would go on short rest on Wednesday against Merino – or somebody else entirely!

Game 1
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – SS Adame – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B de Castro – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – SS Russ – 1B Massey – 3B B. Anderson – C N. Nunez – P Nichol

Maldo hit a homer in the first inning to set the Raccoons up 1-0, and Toohey hit another hard drive right after him, but that one fell short and into Bill Quinteros’ mitten. Wheats came back solid, although he gave up two singles and two walks in the first three innings, but he also got two double play grounders to cut down on the traffic. The lead went out the window in the fourth, which was down to Wheats nicking Quinteros with a 3-2 pitch to begin the inning, and then Waters dropping Andrew Russ’ pop fly behind second base for an error. The runners pulled off a double steal, and Nate Massey’s sac fly tied the game. Bobby Anderson grounded out to Maldo to keep Russ stranded at third base. Wheats didn’t help himself in the fifth, bunting into a force at second base that got Derek Baskins removed, but with two outs a Mercado double to center and a Herrera single to right actually plated Wheatley for a new 2-1 lead. Nichol walked Maldonado to fill the bases in that tight spot, bringing up Toohey, who flew out to Angel Mendez in deep right.

That lead, too, did not last, and went out the window in unearned fashion, Nick Nunez reaching second base to begin the bottom 5th on a throwing error by Maldonado. The Coons could not keep the catcher on the bases, and Maldo could not bring in Mercado from third base with two outs in the seventh, also flying out to Mendez. Wheats walked Bobby Anderson with one out in the bottom of the inning, then hung one to Danny Diaz, pinch-hitting for Nichol with two outs, and that baseball was never seen again. That was it, a 4-2 deficit for seven innings of work, despite only giving up three hits. Jake Bonnie held the Indians to what they already had in the eighth, but the Raccoons could not scratch the Indians’ pen at all and lost the opener. 4-2 Indians. Wheatley 7.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, L (11-7);

Game 2
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Baskins – SS Adame – 2B Martell – C Morales – P Merino
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B de Castro – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – SS Russ – 1B Massey – 3B B. Anderson – C N. Nunez – P Drury

The Raccoons opened the game with back-to-back doubles from Mercado and Herrera and another 1-0 lead, then masterfully stranded Herrera in scoring position with a whole load of nothing from their 3-4-5 batters. Andrew Russ, the premier annoyance on legs, hit an infield single in the bottom 2nd, stole his 31st base of the year, but was stranded at least by Merino, who struck out three the first time through, but still blew the lead in the bottom 3rd on 2-out singles to Mendez (who stole second), and Alex de Castro (who chased him home).

The fourth saw another pair of hits to open the inning for Portland – Toohey and Baskins hitting singles – and then a croaking noise with a pop and a double play grounder. Morales hit a leadoff single in the fifth, and advanced to second even as Merino failed to bunt and was out on a poke grounder. Mercado’s fly moved Tony Morales to third, where he would have remained if Quinteros had not fumbled Herrera’s fly for an error, conceding the go-ahead run. Maldo grounded out to end the inning, but in the sixth, Adame reached with two outs. He stole second, his 32nd bag of the year – HAH!! Eat your hat, Russ!! – and was singled home by Al Martell to go up 3-1. Of course gloating was only to get the baseball gods’ attention and the bottom 6th saw a swift reversal of fortunes. Angel Mendez singled, stole a base, was tripled home by Quinteros anyway, and ******* Andrew Russ got the tying run across, too.

It got worse yet. Maldonado left the game in the seventh inning with a pinch in his back, to be replaced by Ben Coen. It didn’t look *that* bad, but when has it ever not been bad with the Coons!? Merino meanwhile battled himself to a no-decision through seven innings. The eighth was scoreless, Ibold and Curl doing good work from the pen. Tommy Gardner was out for the ninth, after closing out the Coons the day before, but gave up leadoff singles to Martell to left and Morales to right. With runners on the corners and nobody out, we found a spare Matt Waters on the bench to bat for the pitcher, but he struck out, and so did Mercado. Herrera grounded out to – sure – Russ, who also hit a single off Josh Rella in the bottom 9th after Danny Rivera had already reached base leading off, hit by a pitch. Somehow, we didn’t lose right there, Rella getting a pop and a 6-4-3 grounder to escape into extra innings… Losing was left to Preston Porter, who retired Ron Kurtz and Philip Locke in the bottom 10th, but then fell to a Daniel Hertenstein double and a walkoff single by Joe Tindle… 4-3 Indians. Coen 1-1; Martell 2-4, RBI; Morales 2-4; Merino 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K;

Dr. Padilla reported that one week of rest should put Jesus Maldonado back together – as good as new!

Still up by 13 1/2, we might not even manage to suck our way into second place by then…

Game 3
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 2B Waters – LF Toohey – SS Adame – 3B Martell – C Gonzalez – 1B Gurney – P Harman
IND: RF A. Mendez – 2B de Castro – CF B. Quinteros – LF D. Rivera – SS Russ – 1B Massey – 3B B. Anderson – C N. Nunez – P E. Ortiz

Scrub McHarman continued scrubbing the bottom of the talent barrel, allowing two singles and two walks, including one to Massey with the bases loaded in the bottom 1st, before thankfully Bobby Anderson grounded out to Martell. Somehow that was the only early damage although the Indians were also swinging progressively in good counts, f.e. Quinteros grounding out at 3-0 in the bottom 3rd. Instead, Matt Waters homered to right to tie the game in the fourth, which was only the second Critters hit on Thursday. We got nothing else in the first five, but the Indians got a hanger in the thick part of the zone with two outs, Quinteros on second, and Danny Rivera finding himself unable to decline the invitation, homering to right-center to put Indy up 3-1. Harman did not retire another batter, giving up a triple, single, triple, and walk before getting yanked from the mound. He was not even going to face the PITCHER anymore. Hitchcock was brought in to get the K.

Top 6th, Herrera reached on an error. Two outs, Toohey singled, and then Adame singled, driving home Herrera to undeservedly cut the gap to 5-2. Martell grounded out, though, and the inning ended. The tying run was at the plate again in the seventh after Coen singled – having entered in a double switch with Bonnie – and Mercado got on by means of a de Castro error, all with two outs. Herrera now grounded out, and again we got hoots. The eighth? Toohey hit a soft 1-out single, and advanced on a wild pitch. Adame doubled to center to actually get a ******* run home, 5-3. Pellicano and Gonzalez made easy outs, however. And then the Indians turned Adam Bates inside out for two runs in the bottom 8th and t was all for naught. Swept. 7-3 Indians. Toohey 2-4; Adame 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI;

Here comes the rally!

And next we’re off to Boston, where nothing good ever happens.

Raccoons (92-47) @ Titans (54-86) – September 6-8, 2047

We had really owned the Titans all season long, taking 13 of the 15 games played so far. Thy were bottoms in runs scored, and fourth in runs allowed, and a similar mix had just put the Coons up with a 4-game losing streak. Both teams had shed their third baseman, with Jason Kohr on the DL for Boston. That was it for them, our list was of course still longer…

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (12-7, 2.89 ERA) vs. Victor Mondragon (9-14, 3.33 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (3-3, 3.88 ERA) vs. Brian Jackson (9-12, 2.86 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (11-7, 2.85 ERA) vs. Kyle Turay (6-16, 3.29 ERA)

I wondered whether Turay woke up at night, screaming. Anyway, a W here was a real possibility for him, since we currently could not hold our bats straight and liked to sabotage Wheatley every chance we got. Jackson was the only southpaw up for grabs this week.

Game 1
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – SS Waters – 1B Toohey – LF Baskins – 2B Martell – 3B Coen – C Morales – P Okuda
BOS: SS C. Jimenez – C Youngquist – RF Ritchey – CF T. Lopez – 1B V. Chavez – 2B Galaz – LF Hampton – 3B F. Cortez – P Mondragon

Okuda leaked leadoff walks in the first three innings... Joe Ritchey doubled up Chris Jimenez in the first with a grounder to short, but Tony Lopez scored in the second, doubled home by Gerardo Galaz to put the Titans in the lead, 1-0. In the third, Okuda retired the next three after a free pass to Jimenez, who never left first base. In the fourth, for a change, Vic Chavez got to hit a leadoff double to center, and Galaz singled right after that. With runners on the corners, Okuda grabbed a pop from Jeremy Hampton and rung up Fernando Cortez and Mondragon to bail out. By then, the Raccoons had frittered away five hits for no runs of their own, including a leadoff double by Baskins. The bottom 5th was the first inning Okuda retired the leadoff hitter, so of course it was also the one where it fall apart for good, with homers by Ritchey and Chavez blowing up the score to 4-0.

Mondragon pushed the shutout into the seventh before giving up a homer to Ben Coen, but that was of course a solo shot. Hitting with runners on base? How un-coonish! But Mondragon also invited the tying run to the plate in the eighth, AND with nobody out, AND with Toohey getting the first poke after a Herrera single and a walk drawn by Waters. Mondragon ran a full count before walking the big man, ending his own day and in all likelihood the rally, with three on and nobody out now for Baskins against Emanuel Caceiro, left-hander. Pellicano pinch-hit for Baskins, hitting a sac fly, 4-2. Ruben Gonzalez hit for Martell, which drew attention from righty Dave Serio, who got a pop from him and rung up Coen to end the damn inning. And then Kevin Hitchcock and Jake Bonnie exploded for four runs in the bottom 8th… Tony Morales hit a jack in the ninth, but again, that was a solo shot… 8-3 Titans. Herrera 2-5; Baskins 2-3, 2B; Coen 2-4, HR, RBI; Morales 2-4, HR, RBI;

Game 2
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – RF Pellicano – 1B Toohey – 3B Waters – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – 2B Carreno – P Baker
BOS: SS C. Jimenez – C Youngquist – RF Ritchey – CF T. Lopez – 2B Galaz – LF Hampton – 1B Wheeler – 3B Round – P B. Jackson

Alex Adame booked a 1-0 lead for the Raccoons with a leadoff jack in the third inning, but they blew that like they blew everything now. Baker had two scoreless innings with two outs, then allowed straight singles to fill the bases to Jackson, Jimenez, and Ryan Youngquist. Joe Ritchey popped out, but Tony Lopez tied the game drawing a walk, and then Galaz cranked a grand slam to give Boston a 5-1 lead.

Why did the Raccoons never get big hits anymore? Toohey had struck out with two aboard in the first, but at least doubled to park himself into scoring position with Pellicano with one out in the sixth. Waters brought in a run with a groundout, 5-2, but Gonzalez flew out to center. Adam Bates pitched in that bottom 6th, got through without giving up a run, but then also headed for Dr. Padilla with an injury.

While I was ready to cover this game too with a drab blanket of mourning, the baseball gods wished to tease me once more. Ben Arner pitched in the ninth, Boston still up 5-2. Martell drew a walk in place of Moreno in the #6 spot with one out, but Baskins grounded to Galaz. The baseball gods though had Galaz fumble the ball for an error, and the tying run was back at the plate with Mercado batting for Arturo Carreno. A walk loaded the bases for … Jimmy Dalton. Well, double switches, huh? Dalton struck out, Adame grounded out, and the Coons lost six straight. 5-2 Titans. Adame 2-5, HR, RBI; Pellicano 2-4;

(pats Wheats on the shoulder) There’s no hope. Maybe you can get a no-decision. Nah, kidding.

Game 3
POR: SS Adame – CF Mercado – 2B Waters – 1B Toohey – LF Baskins – RF Pellicano – 3B Martell – C Gonzalez – P Wheatley
BOS: SS C. Jimenez – LF Hampton – RF Ritchey – CF T. Lopez – 1B V. Chavez – 2B Galaz – C Cardena – 3B F. Cortez – P Turay

Baskins grounded out to strand Mercado and Toohey in the first, and Mercado hit into a double play to wrap up Adame in the third, as the team remained infuriatingly inept at the dish. Wheats started well before having to sit down after two innings owing to rain. Since the Raccoons would not meet Boston again, the game had to be pushed through five innings somehow, preferably with a winner, but remained scoreless through three.

Baskins and Pellicano hit 2-out singles in the fourth, but then Martell grounded out. It just continued. The fifth began with Gonzalez on base, but he was forced out by a poor bunt by Wheats, who was forced out on Adame’s grounder to Cortez, and Adame was caught stealing to end the inning. Wheats scattered four hits through five innings, getting three double plays turned behind himself, which was at least something for the defense ledger…

Mercado’s double to right that opened the sixth left me with little more than a snort. How would they **** up this one? Waters popped out, which was a good start. Toohey didn’t get a chance and shed blame with an intentional walk, and same for Baskins, who got plunked to put three on with one out. Pellicano struck out, the first K for Turay in the ******* game, and Martell flew out to left. Nobody scored, again.

Wheats went six on just some 60 pitches, but felt tired on account of the long rain delay and was removed thus for Herrera to pinch-hit after Turay nicked Gonzalez to begin the seventh. Herrera flew out, but Adame singled and Mercado walked, filling the stupid bases again with one out. Waters barely hit a sac fly to Lopez, and Toohey popped out… Porter defended the 1-0 lead in the bottom 7th, allowing only a bloop single to Vic Chavez, while Bob Ibold shed only an infield single to Jimenez in the eighth. Waters batted with Adame and Mercado on the corners in the ninth, but grounded out on a 3-1 pitch, tacking on no runs. That brought in Mike Lynn for the first time all week and with no cushion whatsoever. Ritchey grounded out to short, but Lopez singled softly to center. Chavez popped out easily to shallow center, Mercado taking the ball. Galaz struck out. 1-0 Blighters. Adame 2-4, BB; Mercado 1-2, 3 BB; Wheatley 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, W (12-7);

In other news

September 2 – NYC SP Yataro Tanabe (1-4, 6.61 ERA) is out for the season with a sore shoulder.
September 2 – Warriors CF Clay Krabbe (.267, 5 HR, 19 RBI) is out for the season as well, having broken his kneecap.
September 2 – Crusaders and Loggers make for a busy box score, playing 12 innings before the Crusaders prevail, 15-14. NYC C Rick Urfer (.265, 12 HR, 65 RBI) has the most productive day with five RBI, despite being double-switched out after eight innings. 51 players are used in the slog in total.
September 6 – RIC 3B Josh Frazier (.243, 7 HR, 36 RBI) could miss the rest of September with an oblique strain.
September 6 – The Aces score 16 runs on 16 hits in a 16-3 rout of the Bayhawks, including a 10-run sixth inning. LVA LF/1B/RF Rusty Stern (.273, 8 HR, 42 RBI) has the best individual day with three hits and four RBI.
September 8 – It’s a no-hitter! TOP SP Kuniyoshi Nagai (14-9, 3.53 ERA) holds the Rebels hitless in a 2-0 win, walking two and whiffing three batters. This is the third no-hitter of the year, and the second time the Rebs have been no-hit in Topeka *this season* after being on the dire end of Jose Arias’ perfect game in April.

FL Player of the Week: TOP OF Dave Lee (.310, 16 HR, 65 RBI), batting .429 (9-21) with 3 HR, 5 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ 1B/C Jon Mittleider (.304, 3 HR, 32 RBI), hitting .480 (12-25) with 1 HR, 6 RBI

Complaints and stuff

This week sucked.

No big hits in big spots – that might be trouble by October, if we get that far. I am saying farewell to 100 wins. 95 looks like a stretch now.

Next week we can look bad against the Loggers and Thunder, who would be our CLCS opponents unless we can somehow butterclaw the division to the Indians still…

Fun Fact: 14-4 on the Titans for the third straight year – the first time we have posted the identical record in the season series for three straight seasons against them.

The real goody here is that it has only happened against three of our division rivals – never against the Loggers or Indians – and only for the fifth time in total. And then ONLY with the Raccoons on the winning end.

The other instances were three 10-8 seasons against the Crusaders in 1994-96, and three times we did it against the damn Elks. A triple of 11-7 seasons in the same three years, 1994-96, and trios of 10-8 in both 2012-14 and 2036-38.

I take that.

[Westheim]

The week began with Maldonado still out for at least a few more days, and Adam Bates hitting the DL with a sore elbow. He might even come back this year, but we had no use for him right *now*. Oscar Alcala was brought back up.

Who thought we’d see Oscar Alcala in a *second* major league game??

Raccoons (93-49) @ Loggers (52-90) – September 9-12, 2047

Final dips with Milwaukee for the season, and they sure had seen enough of us, winning only two of the previous 14 engagements in ’47 (although they DID have a 1-game winning streak against the Critters…!). They were second-worst in runs scored, worst in runs allowed, with an eye-watering -259 run differential (the Loggers!), and general welcomed the impending arrival of October.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (13-7, 3.10 ERA) vs. Carlos Vasquez (7-10, 3.96 ERA)
Carlton Harman (0-4, 7.36 ERA) vs. Walt Wright (6-12, 5.47 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (12-8, 3.02 ERA) vs. Nicholas Pollock (2-3, 5.22 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (3-4, 4.27 ERA) vs. Tomas Ruiz (3-18, 6.45 ERA)

Right, left; right, left.

The Coons entered with a magic number of eight, allowing for clinching the division in Milwaukee in theory, but then again we were 1-6 in September, so maybe we should watch the GB column instead. The Indians began the week 12 1/2 out.

Game 1
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 2B Waters – 1B Toohey – LF Baskins – CF Herrera – 3B Martell – C Morales – P Merino
MIL: LF Reeves – 3B M. Grant – 2B Loyola – SS R. Espinoza – C Payne – 1B Edsell – RF McIntyre – CF Pate – P C. Vasquez

The Raccoons opened the game with two singles before continued the stalling game that they had put up for the last week-plus that was so annoying to witness. Merino faced the minimum in three innings, with Ricky Espinoza hitting a single and being doubled up by Ricky Payne in the second inning. After that, he actually got a lead with straight base hits to leftfield in the fourth inning. Toohey singled, and Derek Baskins and Armando Herrera whacked a pair of doubles, Herrera getting two RBI’s for the first runs on the board. Vasquez walked Al Martell, but Tony Morales killed the inning with a double play. Matt Waters drove in a pair in the fifth, bringing home Merino, who reached on an error, and Adame, who singled. Two runs were scored in the sixth as well, but this time by the team in white shirts and green pants, as Vasquez, Bill Reeves, and Mike Grant tagged Merino for straight singles, Grant bringing home a run, and Jon Loyola’s sac fly to center bringing Reeves across. The Raccoons loaded the bags in the seventh with their 3-4-5 batters, which ended Vasquez’ day with one out, and brought on lefty Bubba Poss, who nevertheless first faced right-handed Armando Herrera, who clipped an RBI single to John Pate’s feet, 5-2. Righty pinch-hitters Ben Coen and Jimmy Dalton added a run each, with a sac fly and a single, respectively. Merino was not hit for, but shot a 2-out RBI single to centerfield anyway, 8-2…! Pellicano hit for Mercado, but grounded out to end the top 7th. Merino allowed another run on a Pate sac fly in the bottom of the seventh, after which Jeremy Chaney got the ball for what we hoped would be two meatball innings, but before long allowed a single to Jon Loyola and a homer to Ricky Espinoza. Suddenly, it was a 3-run game again… Mike Lynn would end up closing out the game rather than finishing his pork belly dinner out there in the pen… 8-5 Raccoons. Adame 2-5; Toohey 2-5; Herrera 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Martell 1-1, 2 BB, 2B; Dalton (PH) 1-1, RBI; Merino 7.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (14-7) and 1-3, RBI;

Derek Baskins has a 12-game hitting streak in the middle of a team scoring drought – who’d expect that!?

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – CF Herrera – SS Waters – 1B Toohey – RF Pellicano – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – 3B Coen – P Harman
MIL: LF Reeves – CF Pate – C Payne – 2B Loyola – RF Lovell – 1B McIntyre – SS R. Lopez – 3B Barrington – P W. Wright

Speaking of terrible pitching, here’s Carlton Harman. Three hits, a walk, generally bad counts, and a 2-0 deficit was the first inning alone, and the Loggers added a run in the third inning Wright had surrendered a run to Harman alone in the top 3rd. Harman hit a leadoff single, advanced on two groundouts, then was balked across home plate by Wright. Portland sent the tying runs to the corners in the fifth, Coen drawing a leadoff walk and Arturo Carreno hitting a single with one gone. Herrera came through again here, zinging a sizzler into the left-center gap for a game-tying triple…! Waters made it 4-3 with a sac fly, and Toohey hit a fly to deep left, but had it caught by Bill Reeves.

A lead was not something you’d think Harman could work with, but he pitched two more innings without blowing the lead, but after six had really long-counted his pitch count into the “high enough” region and he was batted for to lead off the top 7th. Wright was still pitching, but came apart on soft singles by Adame – who sent Harman showering – and Carreno, then walked the bags full after Herrera tagged on a run with a sac fly, 5-3. Pellicano drove in two more runs with a liner to right that fell for a single, after which ex-Coon-and-everything-else Rich Willett dug the Loggers out of that inning, but gave up a third 3-spot to the Coons in the eighth, all runs scoring on Matt Waters’ 19th homer of the season and with two outs. Three more hits scored another run after that, Ruben Gonzalez getting the Coons to 11-3. After which we tried again – Alcala to the mound! …and could he pitch six outs before giving up eight runs? Kinda – he allowed a single and got a double play in the eighth, then – despite being put in the eighth-to-bat spot for the ninth, grounded out to end the top 9th after the Raccoons had whacked another three runs out of the Loggers’ pen. Mercado hit a sac fly, Pellicano drove home another pair. And Alcala? Gave up a single, a homer, a walk, a wild pitch, and another homer in the bottom 9th before getting kicked to the curb. Hitchcock had to finish the game… 14-7 Raccoons. Carreno 4-6; Herrera 2-4, 3B, 3 RBI; Waters 2-4, BB, HR, 4 RBI; Pellicano 3-5, 2B, 4 RBI; Gonzalez 4-5, RBI; Adame (PH) 1-1; Gurney (PH) 1-2;

The Indians had been off on Monday, so that got the magic number to seven already. They shut out the Titans on Tuesday behind Bill Drury, but that still put the magic number at six.

The Thunder clinched the South on Tuesday, beating the Aces 5-2 to seal the deal, now with a 20-game lead over the Bayhawks and the edge over the recently slumping Raccoons for home field in the CLCS.

Game 3
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – CF Herrera – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – 1B Gurney – 3B Martell – C Morales – P Okuda
MIL: 1B Edsell – 3B M. Grant – SS R. Espinoza – C Payne – LF Bush – 2B R. Lopez – RF McIntyre – CF Pate – P Pollock

Alex Adame, vying for the stolen base title in the CL, picked up his 35th bag after hitting a 1-out double in the top 1st, taking third base and scoring on the play when Ricky Payne misfired the ball past Mike Grant. Okuda, up 1-0, ran four 3-ball counts in the bottom 1st, somehow without getting burned, but had a much cleaner second inning to calm me down at least a little bit. The Loggers would amount to five hits and two walks against Okuda in five innings, but no runs, while Armando Herrera hit a solo jack in the fifth to extend the lead to 2-0. Ricky Lopez hit a 1-out double in the bottom 6th, and after Will McIntyre popped out, the Raccoons walked Pate intentionally. Milwaukee sent Pat Lovell to bat for Pollock, but he grounded out to Martell to end the inning and strand a pair.

Okuda retired none more, offering a leadoff walk to Kyle Edsell and a single to Grant in the bottom 7th before getting yanked. Josh Rella gave up a double to Espinoza, then a sac fly to Payne, and that got the game tied in a real hurry. Ricky Lopez then grabbed the lead with an RBI single off Aaron Curl. The eighth saw Herrera hit a leadoff single before both Waters and Baskins hit into force outs at second base, and Gurney was no help, either. The Loggers gave the 3-2 game to Caleb Martin in the ninth, with the bottom of the order up against the right-hander. Martell and Morales grounded out, Toohey struck out, and the Loggers had another win over the Raccoons. 3-2 Loggers. Herrera 3-3, BB, HR, RBI;

The Indians won, getting another shutout from Enrique Ortiz, so the magic number remained at six.

Game 4
POR: CF Herrera – SS Waters – 1B Maldonado – LF Toohey – RF Pellicano – C Gonzalez – 2B Carreno – 3B Coen – P Baker
MIL: LF Reeves – 3B M. Grant – 2B Loyola – SS R. Espinoza – RF Lovell – C Payne – 1B Edsell – CF B. Allen – P T. Ruiz

Ruiz entered not only with 18 losses, but also 192 hits and 100 walks, and I told the boys before the game that if they didn’t get his WHIP denominator up to 300 in this game, they’d have all their candy privileges revoked back home in Portland. They thus scattered a walk and four hits in the first three innings, but the only run they scored came on a balk by the pitcher, which somehow happened for the second time in this series already. Gonzalez walked and Coen doubled in the fourth, but in between Carreno had hit into a double play already and Baker was rung up on strikes. 300 was reached the inning after with a 1-out single by Matt Waters. But between the next three batters, Toohey drew a walk amidst two groundouts, and we didn’t score yet again…

At least Baker had nursed a 1-hitter so far, but loaded the bases with two singles to Lovell and Brent Allen in the bottom 5th, plus a walk to Edsell. That brought up Ruiz with two outs, and the Loggers clearly thought they wanted to see more of HIM, and had him strike out to keep it a 1-0 game. Ruiz was not removed until Waters hit a 2-out single in the seventh, then saw Dave Peluso wave the runner across by giving up a double to Maldonado, and Toohey also hit a hard ball, but right at Grant for the third out. Espinoza and Lovell meanwhile sent Baker home to begin the bottom 7th, hitting a pair of singles, but once Nelson Moreno arrived in the game he struck out three in a row to quell the threat. Bonnie and Porter conspired to give up a run in the bottom 8th, however, each dropping a hit to the Loggers to narrow the tally to 2-1. The Coons could not tack on, but the Loggers could tie in the ninth… Lovell hit a leadoff single off Lynn, was run for by Mario Contreras, and the pinch-runner scored on a 2-out single by Brent Allen, tying the game and ultimately sending it to extras after McIntyre grounded out in the #9 spot.

While the Raccoons lineup remained uninvolved, Kevin Hitchcock pitched two scoreless innings, whiffing three, to begin overtime baseball. While we had Rella around, with no offense of our own we went to Chaney in the bottom 12th. If we had to lose, at least let’s lose right now and not in the 19th… Chaney obliged, giving up a walkoff homer to John Pate as soon as he took the hill… 3-2 Loggers. Waters 3-5, 2B; Maldonado 2-5, 2B, RBI; Gonzalez 3-4, BB, 2B; Baker 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K; Hitchcock 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;

The Indians beat the lifeless Titans once again, so that reduced our lead to 11 and I now had lost hope that we’d even win 100 games this year… especially with the next team up being the stomping Thunder…

Ken Mills was added off the DL for the weekend.

Raccoons (95-51) vs. Thunder (96-49) – September 13-15, 2047

The Thunder were first in runs scored and third in runs allowed. Their +199 run differential dwarved the Coons’ +141 mark, and I had little confidence by now that we had a say in the pennant decider this year. Nothing worked out for the Coons. The Thunder also had two missing starters in Victor Marquez and Oscar Flores, but they were also first in almost every offensive category, except that they were in the bottom 3 in stolen bases. The season series was even at three, with a sweep chalked up for each side.

Projected matchups:
Jason Wheatley (12-7, 2.75 ERA) vs. Ray Thune (8-5, 4.02 ERA)
Victor Merino (14-7, 3.12 ERA) vs. Felix Alvarez (3-0, 1.98 ERA)
Carlton Harman (1-4, 6.82 ERA) vs. J.J. Hendrix (11-8, 3.02 ERA)

Only right-handers lined up by the Thunder.

Game 1
OCT: LF Zurita – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – SS R. Cox – 1B Humphreys – C Adames – 3B Greer – CF J. Price – P Thune
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – LF Baskins – CF Mills – C Morales – P Wheatley

Angelo Zurita greeted the CLCS victims with a leadoff triple, but was stranded when Jonathan Ban lined out and Wheats rung up Juan Benavides and Ryan Cox. Benavides got back at the pitcher in the third inning, though, hitting a 2-out, 2-run homer with Zurita having doubled ahead of him. Yeah, we were not gonna go to the World Series anyway. It sucks at the World Series! SUCKS! (spoons big bowl of chocolate pudding while also crying into the bowl)

While the Coons did not get a hit until Bryce Toohey clonked his 24th homer of the year off the left foul pole in the fourth inning – a solo home run to get to 2-1 – the Thunder’s Zurita had the third leg of the cycle ticked off by the fifth inning, singling off Wheatley to begin the inning, which made seven hits off Wheats. He was stranded that time, but the Thunder got at least one hit per inning out of Wheatley, which could not go well forever. The Raccoons reached a mighty TWO hits with a Maldo single to open the bottom 6th, which somehow also put the tying run aboard. Toohey popped out, Waters hit a deep drive that was nevertheless caught by Jim Price, and Baskins hit a 2-out single; hey, a runner in scoring position! There he remained, Ken Mills grounding out to second…

Wheats went into the eighth, retiring the last eight batters he faced, ending his day with a K to Jesus Adames, but still was on the hook, 2-1. The Coons’ Adame and Maldonado opened the bottom 8th with outs, before Toohey singled to send Thune home. Waters singled of Tom Spencer, but hitting for Baskins, Pellicano popped out after drawing righty Jon Craig (not the former Critter). Rella retired the Thunder in order in the ninth, with right-hander John Steuer up for the bottom of the inning. He got Mills to 0-2, then gave up a gapper for a leadoff double. Oh come on boys! (splats pudding around shaking his paw aggravatedly) At least take Wheats off the hook! Morales struck out. Martell popped out. Mercado grounded out. 2-1 Thunder. Toohey 2-4, HR, RBI; Mills 1-2, 2 BB, 2B; Wheatley 8.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, L (12-8);

Sometimes, I ******* hate this team.

The Indians lost to the Falcons, 9-3, so at least the magic number went down to five…

The Coons added two more players – with AAA having concluded its season on Friday – by Saturday: outfielder Roberto Medina was brought back once again, and also right-hander Danny Cancel for his major league debut. Cancel, 24, was a trash heap signing from March that had pitched at all three minor league levels this year, and generally with good success. He had been discovered by the Baybirds in the Dominican Republic in 2039, and had been released last year.

Game 2
OCT: CF J. Price – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – LF Humphreys – SS R. Cox – C Adames – 3B Greer – 1B J. Aviles – P F. Alvarez
POR: RF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – C Gonzalez – 2B Gurney – CF Herrera – LF Mills – P Merino

Merino leaked singles to the first three batters to load the bases, I whined, but the Thunder only got a run on Cox’ grounder; Steve Humphreys struck out, and Adames grounded out to Maldonado to strand a pair. A Maldo doubled and Toohey’s RBI single tied the game in the bottom 1st, but the top of the Thunder order whacked Merino again in the third inning. Price and Ban singled, went to the corners, and Merino fell behind on a wild pitch… Ban was stranded after Ryan Cox’ 2-out walk when Gurney handled Adames’ grounder. This deficit was also tied, but not until the fifth inning. Gurney doubled, then scored on a Mills single, and everybody was even at two after five frames. – Maud, I’ll need a bigger pudding bowl, this one is full of tears.

Cox (walk) and Adames (single) went to the corners with one out in the sixth, but Marshall Greer found his way into a 4-6-3 double play, while instead of a lead, or a win, or a ******* bigger bowl I got more shards in the seventh. Merino saw Maldonado throw away Alvarez’ grounder for a 1-out, 2-base error, and T.J. Lujan immediately hit a pinch-hit RBI double in place of Price to give the Thunder a 3-2 lead. Ban singled to right, Mercado threw the ball back in, but hurt himself on the play, and was replaced by Pellicano. Humphreys homered off Moreno in the eighth, 4-2, while the Raccoons got a Gurney single in the seventh, a Mills single in the eighth, and didn’t to **** with either of them. Steuer faced the middle of the order in the ninth. Maldonado popped out. Toohey grounded out. Gonzalez scratched a single at 1-2. Gurney fell behind 0-2, then hit a dribbler near the third-base line and legged that out to put his bum on base as the tying run. And then Herrera grounded out. 4-2 Thunder. Gurney 3-4, 2B; Mills 2-3, RBI;

…

Game 3
OCT: LF Zurita – 2B Ban – RF Benavides – SS R. Cox – 1B Humphreys – 3B Greer – C Zarate – CF J. Price – P Hendrix
POR: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – RF Toohey – 2B Waters – 1B Gurney – C Morales – LF Medina – P Harman

Harman’s first pitch was hit 400 feet to right for an instant 1-0 deficit by Angelo Zurita, but the Raccoons made up the gap again in the bottom 1st with an Adame double, Herrera single, and Maldo hitting a sac fly to center. Herrera went on to swipe second base, then scored on a Toohey single to actually take a ******* lead for the first time since I DON’T KNOW ANYMORE. Nicking Waters and a Gurney single loaded the bases, and Morales’ grounder to first brought in a third run. With first base open, the Thunder pitched to Medina in the #8 hole, and were punished for a 2-run single. Harman struck out, and now it was betting about how soon he’d blow the 5-1 lead. Maud said he wouldn’t, Slappy picked the fifth, Cristiano the fourth, and me? The second, with at most one out.

I lost, because I always lose. Jim Price was nicked in the top 2nd, but that was all for Oklahoma. The Coons got a double from Adame to begin the bottom 2nd, but Adame also waved to the dugout, then was removed after consultation with Dr. Padilla, and I burst into tears. Carreno would take over the #1 hole, with Waters sliding over to short. Maldo doubled home Carreno, 6-1, Toohey singled to park the two boppers on the corners, and then Waters wanted to get in on the conversation, also smacking an RBI double to right. That was the end of Hendrix, with Jon Craig allowing two more runs on a Morales single with two outs. Harman singled to lead off the bottom 3rd, Craig threw a wild pitch, Carreno walked, and Craig threw another wild pitch. Herrera raked a 2-run double, which made it an 11-1 game. Maldo added an RBI single in the inning, but then Toohey hit into a double play. I was still waiting for Harman to cork the 12-1 lead…

He didn’t shedding one more run in five innings of work for 96 pitches (…), but that would qualify for a W. The Coons didn’t score in the fourth, but in the fifth began with a 1-2-3 batters on base against Oliver Delcid. Toohey drew a bases-loaded walk before Waters and Gurney made poor outs on a pop and K. Delcid was then touched by Tony Morales for another two runs on a single through the right side. Medina grounded out, keeping it at 15-2. The sixth brought a new battery with Chaney (!) and Dalton replacing the starters. Chaney kept sucking; he had a 1-2-3 inning, then loaded the bases without retiring anybody in the seventh and got yoinked. All runs scored, plus one more; Bonnie walked in two runs, also not retiring ****, while Ibold got out of the damn inning, for the price of a Humphreys sac fly and an RBI single by ex-Coon Jose Zarate. The eighth was a scoreless frame from Alcala (yay…), before Cancel got his major league debut in the ninth inning against the 4-5-6 batters. Triple, single, deep fly out… He walked Zarate, but Price hit into a double play to end the game. 15-7 Critters. Adame 2-2, 2 2B; Carreno 1-1, 2 BB; Herrera 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Maldonado 2-3, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Toohey 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Morales 3-4, 2B, 5 RBI;

In other news

September 10 – NAS SP Leborio Valdevesso (11-9, 3.57 ERA) will require reconstructive surgery for a stretched elbow ligament, rendering him out for this season and potentially all of next season, too.
September 10 – IND SP Bill Drury (13-13, 2.92 ERA) shuts out the Titans on two hits, 5-0, to get his record to an even .500 with an ERA that says he should be better.
September 11 – Back-to-back 2-hit shutouts? IND SP Enrique Ortiz (3-0, 2.20 ERA, 1 SV) says yes in a spot start, holding the Titans to two base knocks in a 3-0 win.
September 14 – Warriors SP Seth Green (3-2, 5.32 ERA) carries a no-hitter to two outs in the ninth inning before it is broken up on a pinch-hit RBI double by Miners RF Justin Waltz (.296, 10 HR, 64 RBI). The Warriors still win, 2-1.
September 15 – Boston INF/LF/RF Jose Rodriguez (.318, 1 HR, 6 RBI) hits his first career home run at age 23 for the sole tally in a 1-0 win over the Condors.

FL Player of the Week: PIT 3B/SS Ed Soberanes (.326, 15 HR, 80 RBI), batting .400 (10-25) with 3 HR, 10 RBI
CL Player of the Week: VAN LF/1B/RF Eddie Moreno (.302, 33 HR, 90 RBI), crushing .400 (12-30) with 5 HR, 12 RBI

Complaints and stuff

Neither Alex Adame, nor Nelson Mercado are seriously hurt, Dr. Padilla let me know in time after the Sunday game. They were listed as day-to-day, one with a sore back, the other with a sore shoulder, but should be back by next weekend, so in time to see us **** the division to the Indians, I guess.

We’re not gonna win 100. We’d suck our way to 99-63, out of spite, somehow, and then get swept in the CLCS. I just knew it. I could already SEE it in my head…

Don’t look, but Mr. Second Half has taken the lead in the CL ERA race. Wheats sits at a 2.73 ERA, one whisker ahead of Indy’s Bill Nichol. Boston’s Brian Jackson was a late bloomer at 27 and in third place with a 2.87 mark in his first season as a regular starter.

Going back to Sunday, the first five innings for the Coons went 54303, which is the ZIP code for Brown Bay, Wisconsin. It used to be called Green Bay, but after the Great Iron Sludge Retention Basin Disaster of ’39 up there it’s been brown ever since…

All of our minor league teams this year finished in the bottom half and with a losing record. The less said, the better.

The Indians completed their sweep of the Falcons on Sunday, which put us at a magic number of four, merely half of what it had been on Monday morning. They weren’t missing beats right now. Meanwhile, the Coons couldn’t miss the low punches in the groin area…….

Next week? Condors at home, then the final regular season road trip to New York, just a weekend vacation. Did I mention the final week was against the damn Elks and the Indians? Even a 7-game lead might not be enough!!

Fun Fact: In 2007, the Raccoons led the division by 10 1/2 games on June 26 and blew it to the Crusaders.

This year? 20 1/2 games on AUGUST 13!

I am afraid.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (96-53) vs. Condors (66-83) – September 16-18, 2047

Four series to go, the Raccoons were up against the Condors as they tried not to fumble the 20-game lead they had held in August. The Condors just wanted the season to end; they were seventh in runs scored, ninth in runs allowed, and quite a bit below their expected record with a mild -27 run differential (Critters: +146). Rikuto Ito and Alex Lopez were on the DL to weaken the lineup, while the Coons were up 4-2 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Sadaharu Okuda (12-8, 3.02 ERA) vs. Marc Hubbard (11-15, 3.47 ERA)
Jeremy Baker (3-4, 3.91 ERA) vs. Ben Lehman (4-5, 4.82 ERA)
Jason Wheatley (12-8, 2.73 ERA) vs. Kellen Lanning (13-10, 4.06 ERA)

All right-handed opposition here – Lehman was a 24-year-old rookie, the #4 pick from 2044, that would make his 13th major league start.

Game 1
TIJ: 2B Navarro – CF M. Gray – SS Aparicio – 1B S. Henderson – C Mittleider – LF J. Becker – RF Reidinger – 3B Quintana – P Hubbard
POR: 2B Carreno – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – RF Mills – P Okuda

Tijuana made errors in the first two innings, first putting Toohey on base in addition to Carreno, but Waters struck out to strand both of them, then placing Derek Baskins at second base with an Angel Quintana throwing error to begin the bottom 2nd. Gonzalez and Mills had grounders to the right side, getting the run across for a 1-0 lead, and it was 2-0 after three when Toohey doubled home Maldonado, who had drawn a 2-out walk from Hubbard. Waters singled to put them on the corners after that, but Baskins got stuck at short and Tony Aparicio and the inning ended. Ruben Gonzalez’ double, an Okuda single, and Carreno’s sac fly extended the lead to 3-0 in the fourth. Okuda was playing the control game so far, but began the top 5th with a walk to Marty Reidinger, then gave up a double to left to Quintana, putting two in scoring position with nobody out. Hubbard whiffed, while Chris Navarro legged out an infield roller for a single – the other runners had to hold, though, and the bags were full for Mike Gray, who went down on strikes. Two gone, Tony Aparicio and his .305 stick with 15 homers were up. He shot a hard grounder on the first pitch, but right at Maldonado for the third out.

The Critters also began their half of the fifth with their first two batters aboard. Maldo flicked a leadoff single, while Toohey was nicked by a pitch. Between the next three hitters, the Coons got two strikeouts and a groundout, and no run(s). Sterling Henderson and Jon Mittleider hit two leadoff singles off Okuda in the sixth, but the Condors then also made three poor outs in succession without scoring. Okuda pitched into the seventh, giving up an unearned run; Navarro singled, stole second, and a poor throw by Gonzalez had the ball skip away from Carreno, allowing Navarro to take third base. He scored on Gray’s grounder to Waters. Josh Rella and Aaron Curl would fill in for the rest of the seventh and the eighth, keeping the 3-1 score in one piece. When the Critters did not progress beyond a 2-out single by Ken Mills in the bottom 8th, they picked Plan A for the ninth, sending out Mike Lynn. He got out Quintana and PH Dan Schneller, then walked Navarro. Gray flew out to Mills, though, ending the game. 3-1 Raccoons. Carreno 2-3, RBI; Toohey 2-3, 2B, RBI; Okuda 6.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (13-8) and 1-3;

The Arrowheads beat the Aces, 6-3, but we scrubbed down the magic number to three at least.

The 97th win this year also meant we had eclipsed the recent winning seasons; the most-recent higher win total was 98 in ’28, and after that there was only 1996 (108-54) to aspire to. The September Slide Job we had performed (5-10 including Monday) however meant that we’d have to be near-perfect to get there now…

Game 2
TIJ: 2B Navarro – RF J. Alcala – SS Aparicio – 1B S. Henderson – C Mittleider – LF J. Becker – CF M. Gray – 3B Quintana – P Lehman
POR: 2B Carreno – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – SS Waters – LF Baskins – RF Pellicano – C Morales – P Baker

While Maldo was picked off first base to end the bottom 3rd, he had at least singled home Arturo Carreno for the game’s first run. Baker was unharmed in the early innings, despite issuing two walks and facing an all-righty lineup. He also walked Justin Becker to start the fifth inning, but three groundouts kept the Condors from scoring. Carreno was then scored again in the fifth, which was a bit of a mess. Tony Morales hit a leadoff single to left, but was forced out on a bad Baker bunt. Carreno then forced out the pitcher with a grounder to short, but stole second base and came around on a Herrera single to right, 2-0. Armando Herrera scooped his 20th bag of the season then when he swiped second, but was left on with Maldo whiffing to end the bottom 5th.

Bottom 6th, three on, nobody out. I sighed. Toohey doubled, Waters walked, Baskins singled, bringing up the bottom of the order. Gene Pellicano ran a full count, then chopped a clean single into shallow right to score a run – alright, good start! Morales’ sac fly made it 4-0, and Baker batted for himself, swinging into a 6-4-3 double play so he could get back to pitching… Shutting out the Condors on 66 pitches through six innings was no mean feat, and he retired the 4-5-6 batters in order in the seventh on top of that. He was knocked out of the eighth without retiring a batter, however, giving up a leadoff double to Gray and an RBI single to Quintana, both to left. Bob Ibold replaced him and retired the next three, whiffing Schneller and Jose Alcala. Portland would not tack on, so the 3-run lead went to Lynn again for the ninth inning. Aparicio grounded out, after which he walked Henderson. Mittleider and Becker went down on strikes, however, putting the game away. 4-1 Raccoons! Herrera 2-4, RBI; Maldonado 2-4, RBI; Morales 1-2, RBI; Baker 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (4-4);

Indy also grabbed another W – Ron Kurtz’ walkoff homer did the trick – so the magic number only went down to two.

Game 3
TIJ: SS Navarro – 2B Quintana – 1B S. Henderson – C Mittleider – CF M. Gray – RF D. Gonzales – LF B. Mendoza – 3B Barcia – P Lanning
POR: RF Mercado – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – LF Baskins – C Gonzalez – SS Martell – 2B Carreno – P Wheatley

Wheats was thus up for the potential clincher, but fell behind in the first inning, allowing three singles while Chris Navarro after reaching base also stole his way to third to score easily on a Mike Gray single. David Gonzales grounded out to Maldo to strand a pair.

Then the season fell apart for good. Bottom 2nd, Bryce Toohey was on with a leadoff single. When Baskins grounded to short, Toohey collided with Angel Quintana at second base – and when he picked himself up from the dirt, the cameras immediately caught his right paw with an obviously broken claw. Dr. Padilla removed him from the game in favor of Pat Gurney, but it was immediately obvious that his season was over. And what would we do in the playoffs without Bryce Toohey?? I tried to jump out of the nearest window, but Maud and Cristiano held on to my shirt and while I dangled over the ledge for a while, those two appendages were too wide to fit through the window next to each other and to my great annoyance they managed to pull me back in…

But maybe there’d be no playoffs after all. It increasingly looked unlikely that this would be the clincher, with Wheats offering a leadoff walk to Navarro in the third, and Quintana singled right away after that, putting the runners on the corners. Quintana stole second, and both runners scored on a Mittleider sac fly and a Gray single, 3-0. The Coons had six hits through five innings, but scattered them as inefficiently as possible before Herrera hit a leadoff single in the bottom 6th and Maldonado socked a homer, his 21st of the year, narrowing the score to 3-2. Gurney struck out, after which Lanning was removed for lefty David Fox. Baskins, Gonzalez, and Martell answered with 1-out singles, loading the bases in a real hurry. Carreno popped out to second, though, and then the Coons chose violence, batting Pellicano with two outs over Wheatley – but he struck out.

So, no clincher W for Wheatley, but could we for once at least take him off the narrow hook? Fox walked Mercado to begin the bottom 7th, and Herrera singled, so that was a neat start. Up came Maldonado, and somehow the Toohey injury, the extent of which was well known by then, somehow had ignited Maldo’s afterburners – he absolutely RAKED a 94mph fastball for a HUGE 3-run homer to left, flipping the score at once, 5-3! Portland added another run in the inning when Ben Coen hit a sac fly, in Martell’s place, off lefty Brian Shan following hits by Baskins and Gonzalez. From there, Nelson Moreno nixed the 3-4-5 batters in the eighth inning, while the Coons made two outs to begin the bottom 8th, then put on Herrera with a single, Maldo by getting nicked (will ya please…), and then Gurney, already counting as replacement, legged out a 1-2 grounder and pulled something in the process, limping off the field. At this point, it got a bit sketchy with replacements… Safe for the already hurting Alex Adame, we were out of infielders (in September and a regulation game…), and Ruben Gonzalez was moved to first base, while Jimmy Dalton took over catching duties after being inserted as pinch-runner. Baskins grounded out to strand three, while Jake Bonnie got the ball for the ninth inning (why break Lynn, too?). Bonnie tried his best to break the 6-3 lead; he gave up a leadoff double to lefty hitter Ryan Robbinson (sic!), then walked another lefty in Benito Mendoza. Sergio Barcia struck out, and Jose Alcala flew out to Baskins in deep left. After an RBI single by Chris Navarro to center, the Coons wet to Bob Ibold, drawing lefty pinch-hitter Marty Reidinger, who popped out at 0-2 to complete the sweep. 6-4 Furballs. Herrera 4-5; Maldonado 2-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI; Toohey 1-1; Baskins 3-5; Gonzalez 2-4, 2B; Martell 2-3;

First career win for Kevin Hitchcock, who followed on Wheats in the seventh and thus got the benefits of Maldo’s second homer.

And that was it – the Indians blew a 4-1 lead in the ninth, then lost in 11 innings to the Aces, 5-4, to actually put the division away for Portland! Fourth year in a row, baby!

Too bad that the baseball gods have by now reduced us to a bunch of one-legged, one-eyed casualties…

Bryce Toohey was out for the year, there was no way around it. His .859 OPS would not play in October. Same for Gurney – an oblique strain would render him out for the rest of the season, very much including October.

On the other paw, Jake Jackson came off the DL in time to make two starts at the tail end of the season here to get tuned up for the playoffs. No more Carlton Harman in the rotation…!

Raccoons (99-53) @ Crusaders (65-88) – September 20-22, 2047

That lousy record played for fourth in the CL North, which was a bit shocking. New York sat fifth in runs scored, but 11th in runs allowed, with a -70 run differential. Their rotation was the second-worst in the CL, and the pen was not much better. Unsurprisingly, they were also in the bottom three in defense. The Raccoons led them 11-4 in the season series.

Projected matchups:
Victor Merino (14-8, 3.10 ERA) vs. Jim White (8-13, 3.51 ERA)
Jake Jackson (12-4, 2.84 ERA) vs. Mike Zeigler (1-6, 6.75 ERA)
Sadaharu Okuda (13-8, 2.90 ERA) vs. Matthew Owen (4-11, 4.49 ERA)

Zeigler would be the only left-hander up this week, but we might just as well see a different lefty in former Critter Tony Negrete (3-7, 4.66 ERA) in that spot. A jumbled rotation was what the Crusaders contended with for losing Carlos Malla, Jeff Johnson, and Yataro Tanabe from their lead five. Mario Briones was also unavailable in this series.

Meanwhile the Raccoons were out of first basemen all of a sudden. Maldo was an option, but he was now also pretty much the only one. We dug deep – Evan Van Hoy, 25, was brought up from AAA as an afterthought. Jeremy Chaney ended up on waivers to make room on the 40-man roster. Van Hoy had been an eighth-rounder in 2042 and had been in AA for a long time, only promoting to AAA late this year, getting into 16 games with the Alley Cats, batting .286 with no homers. He was not a high-power first-sacker; he was much more speedy than beefed up.

All we needed, though, was a warm body…

Game 1
POR: CF Mercado – SS Adame – 3B Maldonado – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – RF Mills – LF Medina – 1B Van Hoy – P Merino
NYC: C Urfer – SS Gates – 1B Yamamoto – CF D. Hernandez – RF Rogers – 3B F. Martinez – LF de Luna – 2B Kaufman – P J. White

Roberto Medina hit a 2-run homer in the top 2nd just ahead of Van Hoy singling in his first major league at-bat, but we also had Merino up against an all-righty lineup, and as usual that mix did not end well for Merino. He gave up five runs in as many innings, all with two outs. The first two came in the bottom 2nd on a Jim White double, which stung me quite a bit, and the others came in the fifth, when Dave Hernandez hit a 2-run double with two aboard, and then scored on Phil Rogers’ single. Danny Cancel did the sixth, getting his first major league K on Rick Urfer, but with the offense looking pretty dead against Jim White, Carlton Harman was sent in to pitch the probably-final-two innings here. The bottom 7th was scoreless, after which the Raccoons reached the corners in the top 8th with 1-out walks drawn by Waters, who stole second and reached third on a bad throw by Urfer, and Gonzalez. That was the end for White, with right-hander Jeff Frank taking over pitching duties with the tying run at the plate. He gave up a sac fly to Ken Mills, then rung up Medina to end the inning. Harman then promptly got swamped in the bottom 8th, giving up two hits and two walks for only one out. Preston Porter was no great help, giving up another two runs on a Prince Gates single before whiffing Shuta Yamamoto and popping out Eddie Baker. Top 9th, Portland began with a Van Hoy single. Baskins grounded out, Mercado was nicked, and Alex Adame hit an RBI single, 8-4. The Crusaders went to closer Julian Ponce at that point, but he gave up a 1-out single to Maldonado to load the bases. Waters hit a sac fly, which was not all that helpful. Ruben Gonzalez stung an RBI single to center, putting the tying run on base with two outs, at which point Armando Herrera batted for Mills, but flew out to Aaron Foss in the left-center gap. 8-6 Crusaders. Adame 2-4, BB, RBI; Maldonado 2-5; Gonzalez 3-4, BB, RBI; Van Hoy 2-4;

Game 2
POR: 2B Carreno – CF Herrera – 1B Maldonado – SS Waters – C Gonzalez – RF Pellicano – 3B Coen – LF Medina – P Jackson
NYC: 3B Labedz – 2B Kaufman – RF C. Cortes – LF Garris – SS Gates – CF Rogers – 1B D. Hernandez – C A. Lara – P Zeigler

Jake Jackson showed obvious rust, beginning the game with a walk to Tom Labedz and continued to spend most of his time behind in the count, but the Crusaders actually scored with three sharp base hits in the third inning. Angel Lara singled, Labedz did as well, and Brian Kaufman whacked a double, giving them a 2-0 lead. The Raccoons had no base hits in the early innings, and they scored in the fourth, still without a base hit – Herrera drew a leadoff walk, Maldo got nicked (…), and Gonzalez hit a sac fly eventually. A 2-out single by Gene Pellicano was the first actual entry into the H column for the visitors. Zeigler walked Coen to fill the bases, but Rogers caught a shallow pop from Medina to strand all the runners.

The bottom 6th saw Josh Garris smash a leadoff jack, 3-1, while Pellicano took a tumble on a catch on Phil Rogers and also left the game hurting. For crying out loud…! (looks upwards with a flicker in his eyes) WHAT DID I DO TO YOU *NOW*????

The baseball gods were unmoved, and Nelson Mercado replaced the fallen Pellicano. The Raccoons hit for Jackson in the seventh for no great result, but then loaded the bags with two outs with their 1-2-3 hitters, bringing up Waters with a chance to do damage. Damage he did, whacking a 2-run single to right-center to tie the game at three before Gonzalez grounded out to Labedz. The Coons went on to get a scoreless inning from Jake Bonnie, but Rella gave up a leadoff homer to Brian Kaufman in the bottom 8th, setting them into trailing mode again. Lefty Jordan Calderon was out for the ninth after we had whittled away Julian Ponce in a long inning on Friday for no actual wins. Carreno drew a leadoff walk, but the next two batters hit grounders to middle infielders. Herrera stayed out of the double play, while Maldonado very much did not. 4-3 Crusaders. Herrera 2-3, 2 BB, 2B; Mercado 1-1;

Adam Bates rejoined from the DL on Sunday, while Dr. Padilla had no news on Pellicano so far, despite working hard overtime all week long.

Game 3
POR: CF Mercado – SS Adame – LF Baskins – 2B Waters – C Morales – 3B Coen – RF Mills – 1B Van Hoy – P Okuda
NYC: 3B Labedz – SS Gates – 1B Yamamoto – LF C. Cortes – CF D. Hernandez – C Urfer – RF Garris – 2B Kaufman – P M. Owen

The Critters scored before making an out on Sunday, Mercado ripping a leadoff double to center and scoring on an Adame single against Owen. Baskins doubled, too, but with two in scoring positions, both Waters and Morales hit grounders so poor that they kept the runners pinned, and Ben Coen struck out to end the inning. Okuda walked a pair in the first inning, wiggled out of there, but gave up a run on an Urfer single and Kaufman RBI double in the bottom 2nd to get the teams tied again. Portland went up again in the top 3rd, despite Baskins hitting into a double play after Adame’s leadoff single. Matt Waters tripled, and Tony Morales singled to right, 2-1. Coen flew out to Garris in deep right. Another run was added in a weird fourth; Van Hoy drew a walk, then was forced out on Okuda’s bunt. Mercado coaxed a 2-out walk out of Owen, and then Adame doubled over Dave Hernandez. Okuda scored, but Mercado was thrown out at home plate to end the inning in a 3-1 score. Back-to-back doubles by Baskins and Waters added a run to begin the top 5th, with Morales drawing a walk and Coen reaching on a Labedz error to fill the bags with nobody out. Mills struck out, but Evan Van Hoy grabbed his first career RBI with a single through the right side, 5-1. Okuda added one more run with a sac fly to Garris, while Mercado also flew out.

While a Waters double and Morales single off Steve Arrowsmith allowed the Coons to reach a 7-1 score by the sixth inning, Okuda seemed in a real groove at that point after the difficult first few innings, then out of the blue allowed four straight 2-out hits in the bottom 6th to conceded two runs, RBI’s going to Garris and Kaufman. Top 7th, Ben Powers allowed singles to the bottom three in the order to begin his outing, with Okuda singling home Mills, 8-3. A walk to Mercado filled the bases with nobody out, a.k.a. the Danger Zone. Indeed, they choked at once; Adame hit into a run-scoring double play (better than nothing, huh?) and Baskins flew out to Hernandez. That was the final inning with runs in the game. The Coons went to bed, while Okuda regained control to complete eight innings before Oscar Alcala and Kevin Hitchcock combined for the ninth. 9-3 Critters. Adame 3-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Baskins 2-5, 2 2B; Waters 3-5, 2 2B, RBI; Morales 2-4, BB, 2 RBI; Mills 2-4, BB, 2B; Van Hoy 2-4, BB, RBI; Okuda 8.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (14-8) and 1-3, 2 RBI;

16 base hits, including seven doubles and the Waters triple. That will usually do!

In other news

September 18 – NYC OF Phil Rogers (.273, 14 HR, 71 RBI) drives in six runs in a 13-2 whomping of the Bayhawks.
September 20 – ATL INF/RF Joe Crim (.295, 19 HR, 89 RBI) is out for the year with a torn labrum.
September 21 – It’s 300 career home runs for VAN 1B Chris Delagrange (.245, 18 HR, 72 RBI). The 38-year-old takes deep IND SP Bill Drury (13-13, 2.96 ERA) in what ends up being a 3-2, 13-inning win for the Canadiens. A former #3 pick, Delagrange has split 14 seasons between five teams, mostly in the Federal League, batting .265/.370/.436 along the way. He has 1,219 RBI to his name.
September 22 – The Knights get blown out late by the Thunder thanks to an 11-run bottom 8th that allows Oklahoma to claim a 17-4 win. Angelo Zurita (.287, 6 HR, 68 RBI) has four hits and as many RBI from the leadoff spot for the Thunder.

FL Player of the Week: SFW LF Mario Villa (.376, 15 HR, 109 RBI), batting .556 (15-27) with 2 HR, 7 RBI
CL Player of the Week: TIJ SS/2B Chris Navarro (.382, 0 HR, 12 RBI), poking .520 (13-25) with 5 RBI

Complaints and stuff

100 wins for the first time since 1996!

Unfortunately it won’t amount to anything. This week we lost Bryce Toohey, Pat Gurney, and probably Gene Pellicano, too. We’ll probably take some of the Mills / Medina / Carreno brigade of “eh” hitters to the CLCS. The Thunder will probably not be too impressed. No back-to-back titles. Shambles.

Is Ben Coen gonna be a sleeper for a CLCS breakout? He has a 107 OPS+ after all! Well, no. His BABIP is .357 and he hit way less in AAA this year. Somehow, he’s rotted at the far end of the bench for more than half of this season, but started only 18 games so far (might add a few in the last week as we try to nurse at least Maldo into the playoffs…). At times he was not even used. F.e. from May 28 through June 12 he was on the roster the entire time, and had all of three plate appearances. He’s not a winning bat. He knows it. We know it. Even Mama Coen knows it.

There’s still regular season games left to get hurt in, though, with the damn Elks (who really came on strong in the second half) and Indians visiting Portland to complete the 162-game slate.

Fun Fact: The Raccoons make the playoffs for the fourth straight season, the first time they kept a grip on the CL North that long.

We previously won the division three years in a row from 1991-93, each time advancing to the World Series to play the Caps (and winning twice), and from 2017-19, but then we exited in the CLCS every time.

We did get close in 2020, but then got the wicked idea to send out Nick Lester to pitch in extra innings of the second tie-breaker against the Loggers.

The Loggers!

That L was the final career appearance for Lester in the majors, by the way. Done at 27! He went 2-4 with a 6.20 ERA (but was quite good in late ’20!) and one save in 53 career games. In 2020, overall, he was 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA and that lone career save over 16 appearances.