Gomez goes deep to lead Rattlers past Bees

GRAND CHUTE, WI - Carlos Gomez was 0-for-9 in the first nine at bats of his rehab assignment with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. He made the most of his tenth at bat. The Milwaukee Brewers outfield launched a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to propel the Rattlers to a 5-3 victory over the Burlington Bees Friday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

Burlington (18-23) took the lead on the first pitch of the game. Sean Jamieson cracked Drew Gagnon's first offering over the wall in left for a home run and a 1-0 advantage for the Bees.

Wisconsin (25-17) had trouble getting anything going against Burlington starter Sean Murphy. Wisconsin had two hit in the first three innings, but Murphy faced the minimum through the first 5-1/3 innings due to a caught stealing and a double play.

Burlington extended their lead to 3-0 on a two-run homer by Nick Rickles in the top of the sixth. Gagnon allowed three runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts over 5-1/3 innings on the evening.

Wisconsin's bats got on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Parker Berberet singled with one out and Carlos George followed with a line drive to left that just cleared the wall in left. The homer was the second of the season for George and got the Rattlers to within 3-2.

Murphy got through the rest of the sixth without a run and pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning to hold the lead.

But, the eighth was a different story with a very different ending.

It appeared the Rattlers were set to tie the game early in the eighth. Yadiel Rivera singled with and - with one out and Berberet at the plate - went from first to third on a wild pitch.

However, Rivera went home on a grounder to third and was easily thrown out at the plate for the second out.

George extended the inning to the major leaguer and Gomez wasted no time putting the Rattlers in front. Gomez jumped on the first pitch from Murphy and hit a no-doubt home run to left field to give the Rattlers a 5-3 lead.

The game took an interesting turn as Drew Tyson relieved Murphy after the home run and hit Max Walla with the first pitch of his appearance. Tyson was immediately ejected from the game by plate umpire Fernando Rodriguez.

Rattlers reliever Tommy Toledo, who worked 2-2/3 innings of scoreless relief of Gagnon, turned the game over to closer Seth Harvey for the ninth. Harvey worked a perfect inning to close out the Bees. Toledo is now 6-0 on the season and Harvey earned his eighth save by finishing off Burlington.

The Timber Rattlers welcome the Kane County Cougars to town on Saturday to start a three-game series. Chad Thompson (1-1, 6.39) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Kane County has Kellen Moen (2-1, 4.54) as the scheduled starter. Game time is 6:35pm.

Saturday is a Fly Away Saturday from Funjet Vacations and Fox World Travel. One lucky fan will win airfare for two from at this game!

If you can't make it out to the ballpark, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. The game is also available to MiLB.TV subscribers.

HOME RUNS:
BUR:
Sean Jamieson (2nd, 0 on in 1st inning off Drew Gagnon, 0 out)
Nick Rickles (3rd, 1 on in 6th inning off Drew Gagnon, 1 out)

WIS:
Carlos George (2nd, 1 on in 6th inning off Sean Murphy, 1 out)
Carlos Gomez (1st, 2 on in 8th inning off Sean Murphy, 2 out)

WP: Tommy Toledo (6-0)
LP: Sean Murphy (1-2)
SAVE: Seth Harvey (8)

TIME: 2:31
ATTN: 4,179