Captains sink Rattlers 12-4
GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Lake County Captains defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 12-4 on Thursday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Claudio Bautista was a triple shy of the cycle as he collected four hits to lead Lake County's 16-hit attack.
Wisconsin starting pitcher Luis Ortega got the first two outs of the first inning, but allowed a double to Bautista and a walk to Bobby Bradley. Dorssys Paulino sent a grounder to right for a single and Bautista crossed home plate just before Bradley was tagged out trying to get back into second base.
The Captains (26-27) added to their lead in the top of the second inning. David Armendariz doubled with one out and Francisco Mejia followed with a home run to the Wisconsin bullpen for a 3-0 lead.
Lake County's defense gave the Rattlers (16-38) a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the second inning. Carlos Leal, who was named to the Western Division's All-Star Team earlier in the day, started the inning with a single. Elvis Rubio was next and his slow roller to third turned into a run when the throw to first was wild and Leal raced around the bases with Rubio ending up on second. Dustin DeMuth bunted for a hit and put runners on the corners with no outs. Monte Harrison grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to score Rubio and the Rattlers were within a run.
The game remained 3-2 until the top of the fifth inning. Bautista was at the plate with runners at the corners and no outs. Ortega got Bautista to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to score the runner from third to make it 4-2.
Paulino singled to start the sixth inning. Taylor Murphy followed with a double to drive in Paulino. Ortega got the first out of the inning on a sacrifice bunt and was replaced by Gian Rizzo, who gave up a sacrifice fly to Mejia and the Captains were up 6-2.
The Rattlers responded in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Captains committed three errors in the frame. Sthervin Matos walked to start the inning and Leal singled to left-center. The throw to third was wild and that allowed Leal to break for second. The throw to get Leal was also wild and the second error on the play allowed Matos to score. Rubio was next and his popup on a bunt was jarred loose from Mejia's glove by starting pitcher Anderson Polanco. That play put runners at the corners. DeMuth, who had three hits in the game, reached on a fielder's choice that scored Leal to make it 6-4. Wisconsin loaded the bases with two outs in the inning, but could not cash in another run.
Bautista, who was named to the Eastern Division All-Star team today, hit a two-out solo home run off Milton Gomez in the top of the seventh inning to give the Captains a 7-4 lead.
Lake County tacked on five runs in the ninth inning as they sent ten men to the plate, collected five hits, and took advantage of two Wisconsin errors in the frame. Both teams have won a game in the three-game series.
Game three of the series is Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Joshua Torres (0-3, 4.60) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Lake County has named Justus Sheffield (4-1, 4.34) as their starting pitcher. Game time is 7:05pm.
The first 1,000 fans through the gates for this game will receive a Timber Rattlers baseball cap from North Shore Bank. It's also Faith Night presented by 91.9, The Family with a special postgame concert from Danen Kane. Children 14 and under may participate in Kids Run the Bases thanks to Molina Healthcare after the postgame Fireworks display on this North Shore Bank/Y100 Family Night.
If you can't make it out to the ballpark on Friday, there are several ways to catch the action. MyNEW 32's Sports Showdown will televise the game starting at 7:00pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers to MiLB.TV can see the game that way.
HOME RUNS:
LC:
Francisco Mejia (5th, 1 on in 2nd inning off Luis Ortega, 1 out)
Claudio Bautista (6th, 0 on in 7th inning off Milton Gomez, 2 out)
WP: Anderson Polanco (3-5)
LP: Luis Ortega (1-5)
TIME: 2:55
ATTN: 4,872