Fort Wayne holds off Rattlers

FORT WAYNE, IN - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers trailed 7-2 heading to the top of the ninth inning on Monday night at Parkview Field. The Rattlers scored two runs and had the tying run at the plate, but the Fort Wayne TinCaps held on for a 7-4 win. Wisconsin wrapped up their six game road trip to the Eastern Division with a 3-3 record.

Tyler Stubblefield hit a solo homer with one out in the bottom of the first inning to put the TinCaps (44-50 overall, 13-11 second half) in front 1-0.

Cameron Garfield got the Rattlers (56-37, 12-12) back to even with a solo homer in the top of the second inning.

Wisconsin took the lead in the third inning. Chadwin Stang doubled with one out and took third base on a wild pitch. Lance Roenicke drove in Stang with a sacrifice fly to left for a 2-1.

But, Fort Wayne rallied to take the lead in the bottom of the third inning. Felix Cabrera singled and Travis Jankowski doubled to start the inning. Mike Gallic drove in Cabrera with a grounder to short to tie the game. A two-out double by Yeison Asencio sent Jankowski home with a run to put the TinCaps in front 3-2. A single by Duanel Jones capped the inning and made it 4-2.

Cabrera would homer in the fifth inning and the TinCaps lead was pushed to 5-2.

Fort Wayne added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Mike Gallic singled in Jankowski from second with one out. Gallic would steal second and be on the move to third base on a pitch to Asencio. Asencio sent a grounder to second for the second out, but Gallic never stopped runner and beat the throw to the plate for a 7-2 lead.

The Rattlers batters went without reaching base from a one out walk to Garfield in the fourth inning to a leadoff double by Roenicke in the ninth. Then, the Rattlers scraped together a rally to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth.

Brandon Macias followed the Roenicke double with an RBI single, his 47th RBI this season. The Rattlers would load the bases with one out on an error and a walk and the TinCaps went to Matt Stites, their closer with the tying run coming to the plate.

Mike Garza drove in Macias with a fielder's choice after a force out at second base to get the Rattlers to within 7-4. But, Stites got a strikeout to end the game.

The Timber Rattlers are off on Tuesday before returning to action at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium on Wednesday night. The Timber Rattlers begin a series with the Great Lakes Loons at 7:05pm on Wednesday. Chad Thompson (4-2, 4.84) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Raydel Sanchez (3-4, 4.03) is set to start for the Loons.

The Milwaukee Brewers have announced that catcher Jonathan Lucroy is tentatively scheduled to be on a rehabilitation assignment with the Timber Rattlers from Thursday, July 19 through Sunday, July 22. Tickets are available for all six games of the homestand, including the four appearances by Lucroy. To purchase tickets, contact the Timber Rattlers Ticket office at (800) WI-TIMBER or (920) 733-4152, stop by Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium, or go online to timberrattlers.com.

HOME RUNS:
WIS:
Cameron Garfield (4th, 0 on in 2nd inning off Frank Garces, 1 out)

FW:
Tyler Stubblefield (4th, 0 on in 1st inning off Mark Williams, 1 out)
Felix Cabrera (1st, 0 on in 4th inning off Mark Williams, 2 out)

WP: Frank Garces (6-4)
LP: Mark Williams (5-7)
SAVE: Matt Stites (8)

TIME: 2:28
ATTN: 5,314