Rattlers take third straight with extra inning win over Clinton
Wisconsin (54-54 overall, 16-22 second half) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Shaw singled with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch. Jason Rogers doubled down the left field line and Shaw scored easily.
Timber Rattlers starting pitcher Brooks Hall kept the LumberKings off the scoreboard through the first six innings. Hall allowed three hits and a walk, but Clinton (43-65, 19-19) could not cross the plate with Hall in the game.
Dan Britt relieved Hall in the seventh and worked a perfect inning. But, a double and a walk to start the eighth inning were followed by a sacrifice bunt to put two LumberKings in scoring position with one out.
Adrian Rosario entered the game and allowed an RB grounder by Mike McGee to get the game tied. But, Rosario and Greg Holle shut down the LumberKings the rest of the way.
Wisconsin missed on a few early opportunities to extend their 1-0 lead. Then, they missed on chances to end the game in the tenth and eleventh innings.
In the tenth, Wisconsin had the bases loaded with one out after a pair of Clinton errors and an intentional walk. In the eleventh, the Rattlers had runners at second and third with no outs. But each time Clinton reliever Tyler Burgoon was on the verge of letting in the winning run, he managed to extend the game.
Clinton reliever John Taylor made his Midwest League debut by coming on in the bottom of the twelfth. Shaw welcomed Taylor to the league with a single through the left side of the infield. The hit was the third of the game for Shaw. Rogers followed with a sacrifice bunt. Then, Hopkins got another turn.
Hopkins had been 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and had stranded four runners in scoring position in his first five times to the plate. Taylor, an extreme sidearm pitcher, got ahead of Hopkins 0-2, but the Rattlers third baseman lined the next pitch to left field.
Shaw halted for a moment, but took off for home when he realized the ball would drop. There would be no play at the plate as the ball was not handled cleanly and the Rattlers celebrated their second extra inning win in three days at home.
Game three of the series with the LumberKings is Thursday night at Time Warner Cable Field. Matt Miller (4-5, 4.95) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Roenis Elias is set to make his Midwest League debut as the starter for Clinton. Game time is 7:05pm.
Thursday is a Thrivent Financial for Lutheran's Night at the ballpark with a special Thursday Night postgame Fireworks display.
Also, fans are invited to bring school supplies to a special "Stuff the Bus" drive. Donations will go to schoolchildren in Calumet, Outagamie, and Winnebago Counties.
Plus, Thirsty Thursday means that 22 ounce Pepsi products and 16 ounce Miller products are available for $2. Redeem a Thursday night game ticket at Slugger's, located inside Super Bowl on Northland Avenue, for a chance to win great prizes from Miller Lite.
If you can't make it out to Time Warner Cable Field, you can catch the Timber Rattlers on AM1280, WNAM, timberratlers.com, and MiLB.tv starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. The game is also available to Time Warner Cable Subscribers on Sports32.
WP: Greg Holle (1-4)
LP: John Taylor (0-1)
TIME: 3:27
ATTN: 4,286