Rattlers hold on for second straight win
Wisconsin (46-20 overall, 2-4 second half) sent ten men to the plate in the bottom of the second inning to grab a 6-0 lead. Nick Ramirez and Garfield started the scoring with back-to-back RBI doubles. The Rattlers had two on with two outs when River Bandits starting pitcher Tyrell Jenkins walked Chadwin Stang to load the bases. Quad Cities went to the bullpen for lefty Jonathan Cornelius. Roenicke welcomed Cornelius to the game with a two-run single to left and the Rattlers were up 4-0.
Cornelius struck out Brandon Macias, but the inning continued as the ball rolled to the backstop and Macias reached first to reload the bases. Mitch Haniger made Quad Cities pay for that mistake with his second hit of the inning, a two-run single to pad Wisconsin's lead to 6-0.
The River Bandits (38-37, 3-3) came back in the top of the third inning against Wisconsin starter Matt Miller. Colin Walsh hit his sixteenth home run of the season, a three-run shot, to cut the Rattlers lead in half.
Quad Cities made it a 6-4 game in the top of the fourth inning on a two-out RBI single by Matt Williams.
The Rattlers offense had several chances to add to their lead in the middle innings, but could not tally any insurance runs.
Miller worked out of a jam with runners on second and third with one out in the fifth inning to hold the two run lead, but he was done for the night. Miller struck out five, but tossed over 100 pitches in five innings. He turned the game over to relief pitcher Tyler Cravy in the sixth.
Anthony Garcia hit a solo homer in the seventh inning off Cravy to make the score 6-5. Then, Cravy retired the final five batters he faced to protect that one run lead into the ninth inning.
Tommy Toledo entered the game for the top of the ninth. He allowed a one-out single and threw a wild pitch to put the tying run at second base with Walsh and Garcia due up. Toledo calmly closed the game by inducing a pair of groundouts to end the ballgame and pick up his fourth save.
The Timber Rattlers begin a three-game series with the Peoria Chiefs on Thursday night. Fond du Lac native Chad Pierce (1-2, 3.73) is scheduled to make the start for Wisconsin. Gerardo Concepcion (2-5, 7.38) is set to start for Peoria. Game time is 7:05pm.
Thursday night is Ultimate Tailgate Night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Mad Dog & Merrill and 95.9 KISS FM's Dayton Kane will host the pre-game tailgate party in front of the ballpark. Festivities include: BBQ sampling, beverage sampling with the Miller Girls, and contests for Ultimate Griller and Ultimate Tailgater.
Plus, Cher-Make will be giving away a 3-piece BBQ Grill set to the first 1,000 fans.
All fans can enjoy 16oz soda and beer for just $2 as part of Thirsty Thursday presented by Slugger's Sports Bar! After the game, those in attendance can take their ticket stub to Sluggers Sports Bar - located in Super Bowl on Northland Avenue - to win Miller Lite drinks and prizes.
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 6:45. Subscribers to MiLB.TV may watch the game over the internet.
Sports 32 will broadcast the game to Time Warner Cable subscribers, too.
HOME RUNS:
QC:
Colin Walsh (16th, 2 on in 3rd inning off Matt Miller, 0 outs)
Anthony Garcia (9th, 0 on in 7th inning off Tyler Cravy, 1 out)
WP: Matt Miller (6-5)
LP: Tyrell Jenkins (1-3)
SAVE: Tommy Toledo (4(
TIME: 3:03
ATTN: 4,128