Wisconsin tops Burlington 6-2 to win series
GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers defeated the Burlington Bees 6-2 Wednesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. David Burkhalter struck out eight over five innings while David Denson and Tucker Neuhaus homered for the Timber Rattlers.
Denson gave Wisconsin (45-82 overall, 22-35 second half) the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Elvis Rubio reached on a two-out single. Denson cracked the next pitch into the Burlington bullpen in left-center for a two-run homer.
Greg McCall singled in the bottom of the second inning and Sthervin Matos chased McCall home with a triple for a 3-0 lead.
Denson had a hand in Wisconsin's fourth run of the night. He doubled off the wall in left to start the third inning. Jake Gatewood flew out to right to send Denson to third base. McCall was next and his sacrifice fly to right knocked in Denson.
The first hit off Burkhalter came in the top of the fourth inning. David Fletcher, the sixth round pick of the Angels in the 2015 draft, lined a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left for his first professional homer. That would be the only hit Burlington (55-72, 20-38) would get against Burkhalter in the game.
The Timber Rattlers scored twice in the bottom of the fourth. Luis Aviles bunted for a hit with one out. Neuhaus followed with a line drive to left. The ball stopped at the wall in left. Trevor Gretzky threw up his hands but went back after the ball and dug it out just before the umpires made a call. Neuhaus kept running and would beat the throw to the plate for an inside-the-park home run and a 6-1 lead.
Burkhalter worked a 1-2-3 fifth inning to finish his night. He didn't walk a batter and his eight strikeouts set a new single-game high as a professional for him. Burkhalter would pick up his fifth game of the season.
Cody Ponce took over for Burkhalter in the top of the sixth inning. He struck out four over four innings and allowed an unearned run in the ninth inning as he closed out the Bees for his third save of the season.
Wednesday's victory gave the Rattlers a series victory over Burlington as they took two out of three games. The Timber Rattlers have won two straight series and five of their last seven games.
The Timber Rattlers begins a series with the Beloit Snappers on Thursday night with the conclusion of a game that was suspended at Beloit on July 13. The game was tied 2-2 after four innings when the game was halted by rain. That game will be restarted at 5:35pm on Thursday night with the Timber Rattlers batting in the top of the fifth. There will be a seven-inning game played thirty minutes after the conclusion the suspended game. Jon Perrin (1-5, 4.31) is the scheduled starter for Wisconsin in the second game. Joey Wagman (8-2, 3.67) is set to start game two for the Snappers.
If you have a ticket for Thursday, it is good for both games. The parking lot opens at 3:00pm and the gates to Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.
The first 1,000 fans to enter the stadium on Thursday will receive a mini-bat from The Stoneworx. A 95.9 KISS-FM Thirsty Thursday means 16oz soda, beer, and Arty's Old Fashioned drinks are available for just $2.
If you can't make it out to the game, the radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. The broadcast is also available on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. If you are a subscriber to MiLB.TV, the game is also available on that platform.
HOME RUNS:
BUR:
David Fletcher (1st, 0 on in 4th inning off David Burkhalter, 0 out)
WIS:
David Denson (2nd, 1 on in 1st inning off Kyle Middleton, 2 out)
Tucker Neuhaus (3rd, 1 on in 4th inning off Kyle Middleton, 1 out, Inside-the-park)
WP: David Burkhalter (5-7)
LP: Keynan Middleton (5-10)
SAVE: Cody Ponce (3)
TIME: 2:32
ATTN: 4,920