Lugnuts send Rattlers to fifth straight loss
Lansing (66-33 overall, 19-11 second half) got their first hit of the game on a leadoff double by Aaron Muñoz. A fly ball to right got him to third base. Then, Kenny Wilson singled to right and the Lugnuts led 1-0. K.C. Hobson added to the Lansing lead with a solo homer in the sixth inning.
Jacob Barnes, the Rattlers starting pitcher, allowed those two runs on three hits. Barnes walked five and struck out five in the game, but he would be tagged with the loss.
Lansing made it 3-0 in the top of the seventh inning with back-to-back doubles by Kipp Schutz and Hobson. Those two doubles came off Rattlers reliever Eric Semmelhack, a 12th round pick of the Brewers out of UW-Milwaukee in the 2012 draft. Semmelhack was making his Midwest League debut in Monday's game.
The Timber Rattlers (57-42, 13-17) put the first two batters on base in the bottom of the eighth inning against Lansing reliever Tyler Ybarra to bring the tying run to the plate. Ybarra got out of the inning with a flyball to shallow right and a 4-6-3 double play.
The Lugnuts pushed three runs across the plate in the top of the ninth inning. The Rattlers did not help themselves as they committed two errors. A wild pitch let one run score. Wilson had an RBI single and Gustavo Pierre tripled in a run for a 6-0 lead.
Wisconsin loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning. They would score their run when Greg Hopkins grounded into a force play at second for the second out.
The Timber Rattlers are off on Tuesday and return to action on Wednesday in Kane County. Matt Miller (7-7, 4.10) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Kane County has Angel Baez (5-2, 2.03) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 6:30pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm.
HOME RUN:
LAN:
K.C. Hobson (9th, 0 on in 6th inning off Jacob Barnes, 1 out)
WP: Blake McFarland (5-3)
LP: Jacob Barnes (3-3)
TIME: 2:47
ATTN: 2,094