Rattlers make it two wins in a row
Cedar Rapids (48-81 overall, 16-43 second half) took the lead in the first inning. Zach Borenstein hit a two-out solo home run off Rattlers starter David Goforth for a 1-0 lead.
Wisconsin (74-54, 30-29) rallied with two outs in the bottom of the second inning. Lance Roenicke, who reached on a hit batsman, stole second and went to third on a throwing error with two outs. Carlos George doubled down the line in right to score Roenicke with the tying run. Chadwin Stang would single to right to score George. Stang took second on the throw home. Yadiel Rivera followed with another single to right to score Stang and the Rattlers were up 3-1.
Brandon Macias started the Wisconsin fourth inning with a line drive home run to left field that made the score 4-1. The homer was the eighth of the season for Macias.
Borenstein chipped away at the Rattlers lead. He hit a leadoff homer in the sixth inning off Goforth to cut Wisconsin's advantage to 4-2. Thursday was the second two-homer game for Borenstein against the Timber Rattlers.
The only runs Goforth would allow were on those solo homers by Borenstein. He tossed six solid innings and struck out six to put himself in line for his ninth win of the season.
Wisconsin had trouble adding on to their lead against Kernels starter Ryan Crowley. The left-hander struck out ten and walked just two over 7-1/3 innings.
In the seventh, Borenstein doubled in a run against Wisconsin reliever Brent Suter and Wisconsin's lead was down to 4-3.
The Rattlers got their insurance runs late in the game when Cameron Garfield came through for the home team. He greeted Kernels reliever Stephen Tromblee with a two-run home run to left field that put Wisconsin up 6-3. The home run was the tenth of the season for Garfield, who had two hits on Thursday to extend his hitting streak to ten games.
The pair of home runs pushed Wisconsin's round tripper count to 98 for the season. The franchise record for team homers in a season is 101 and was set in 2005.
Suter would get into a bases loaded jam with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, but got a strikeout - his fourth in three innings of work - to close out the Kernels and earn a save in his Timber Rattlers debut.
The final game of the homestand is Friday night. Chad Thompson (4-2, 5.06) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Cedar Rapids has Michael Johnson (4-6, 5.12) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 7:05pm.
BirdZerk! has some quirks and you'll want to be here to enjoy his on field antics during the game on Friday night.
It is also a North Shore Bank Family and children 12 and under eat free. Settle in after the game to watch the fireworks. After the fireworks, children 14 and under may participate in Kids Run the Bases presented by Jernegan's Health Mart.
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 6:45pm. Friday's game is also available to MiLB.TV subscribers.
HOME RUNS:
CR:
Zach Borenstein (9th, 0 on in 1st inning off David Goforth, 2 out)
Zach Borenstein (10th, 0 on in 6th inning off David Goforth, 0 out)
WIS:
Brandon Macias (8th, 0 on in 4th inning off Ryan Crowley, 0 out)
Cameron Garfield (10th, 1 on in 8th inning off Stephen Tromblee, 1 out)
WP: David Goforth (9-8)
LP: Ryan Crowley (1-6)
SAVE: Brent Suter (1)
TIME: 2:44
ATTN: 3,411