Rattlers Slay Dragons 16-5

DAYTON, OH - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers hammered the Dayton Dragons 16-5 Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Field. Wisconsin collected 19 hits as they scored in seven of the nine innings in which they batted. Isan Diaz led the way with four hits and Mitch Ghelfi continued to crush Midwest League pitching with two hits - including a home run - and four RBI.

Wisconsin (46-48 overall, 12-12 second half) went up 7-0 in the first three innings. They scored two runs in the first inning. Jake Gatewood doubled to drive in Troy Stokes, Jr with the first run. David Denson knocked in Isan Diaz from third with a ground out.

The Rattlers added a run in the second. Stokes singled to left to send Alan Sharkey home from second base.

Dayton starting pitcher Jose Lopez did not make it out of the third inning. Gatewood doubled to start the inning and took third on a flyout to center by Denson. Juan Ortiz struck out, but reached on a dropped third strike. Lopez threw a wild pitch with Luis Aviles at the plate to let Gatewood score and Ortiz to take second. Aviles would single later in his at bat to put runners at the corners. Wisconsin pulled a double steal with Aviles drawing a throw and Ortiz breaking for the plate. Ortiz scored and the throw home was wild to allow Aviles to take third base. Sharkey singled to drive in Aviles and knock Lopez out of the game

Later in the inning, Stokes drove in Sharkey with a ground out and the Rattlers were up 7-0

Dayton (29-64, 8-15) pulled to within two runs when they scored single runs in the third and fourth innings. Chris Okey drew a bases loaded walk to force in a run in the third. Mitch Piatnik drove in a run with a two-out single in the fourth.

Those were the only two runs allowed by Wisconsin starting pitcher Devin Williams. Williams gave up four hits, walked four, and struck out seven over five innings and earned his sixth win of the season. Williams is 5-0 in his last six appearances.

The Wisconsin offense went back to work in the top of the fifth as they sent ten men to the plate and scored four more runs. Aviles, who had three hits in the game, doubled to start the inning against reliever Jordan Ramsey. Sharkey reached on an error to put runners at the corners. Ramsey made an errant pickoff throw to first that allowed Aviles to score. Stokes would draw the second of his three walks in the game with one out before Ghelfi extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single that sent Sharkey home and knock Ramsey out of the game.

Diaz welcomed reliever Manuel Aybar to the game with a double into the corner in right that scored both runners and Wisconsin was up 11-2.

Denson singled with two outs in the top of the seventh inning to knock in Diaz for a 12-2 Wisconsin lead.

Okey hit a three-run homer off Trey Supak with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to pull the Dragons to within 12-5.

Ghelfi got all of those runs back in the top of the eighth with a three-run homer off position player Jose Duarte. Ghelfi is 23-for-41 during his current nine-game hitting streak. He is 42-for-96 in the second half of the season and has bumped his season average from .256 to .322.

Wisconsin tacked on one more run in the top of the ninth when Denson doubled to start the inning. He scored on a two-out single by Sharkey.

Supak closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning to earn his first professional save.

Seven of the nine hitters in Wisconsin's lineup had two or more hits in Sunday's game as they set a new single-game high for hits. 

Diaz had his second four-hit game of the season. He is 7-for-11 in the first two games of the series with Dayton.

The final game of the series at Fifth Third Field is Monday night. Thomas Jankins (0-0, 7.71) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Dayton will send Tanner Rainey (2-7, 5.79) to the mound. Game time is 6:00pm CDT.

The radio broadcast is on 1280 AM, WNAM starting with the pregame show at 5:40pm. The game is also available on the internet through IHeartRadio, TuneIn, and MiLB.TV.