Top five Timber Rattlers games at Miller Park

Earlier today, the Milwaukee Brewers announced that the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers will play the Beloit Snappers at Miller Park on Saturday, May 24. This will be the seventh time the Timber Rattlers will play a game at Miller Park. 

Since this is Top Five Tuesday, let's rate the top five games the Rattlers have played at the home of the Brewers.

Honorable Mention: August 12, 2004. This was the second game between the Rattlers and Snappers. Beloit won 5-0 as Dana Eveland, Kevin Rival, Simon Beresford, and Tim Dillard combined to shut the Rattlers out on nine hits. Robbie Deevers, who was never known for his power, hit a pair of home runs in that game for Beloit…Robbie Deevers…This game drew 5,127 fans.

5.) May 7, 2010: Cedar Rapids 6, Wisconsin 1. Well…Mike Trout played in this game for Cedar Rapids and went 2-for-5 with a double and a run. Scooter Gennett went 2-for-4 with a double and scored when Khris Davis singled late in the game. There were 12,667 on hand to see this one. But, if anyone tells you that they saw Jean Segura playing, you can correct them. Oh, Segura was supposed to play for the Kernels, but he missed the bus from Appleton to Miller Park and was left at the hotel during the game.

4.) June 29, 2011: Wisconsin 5, Peoria 1.  Greg Hopkins hit a three run homer in the first inning. Brooks Hall, Brian Garman, and Eric Marzec combined to hold the Chiefs to one run in front of 11,335.

3.) April 28, 2012: Wisconsin 3, Dayton 0.  Chadwin Stang singled to start the game. Brandon Macias followed with another single. Max Walla is next and hits a three-run homer in the first inning. Drew Gagnon tosses eight shutout innings, allows four hits, and strikes out four in a dominant pitching performance. The reason this isn't higher is that the crowd for this game was just 6,616.

2.) August 14, 2003: Beloit 4, Wisconsin 2.  This was the first time the Timber Rattlers played at Miller Park against the Snappers. The thing about this game was how quickly it all came together. I think it was mid- to late July when the Brewers approached the Beloit and the Rattlers about playing a game there while the Brewers were away. Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder, Manny Parra, and Tony Gwynn, Jr. were all on that Snappers team and Milwaukee figured to give it a shot. They didn't plan on a lot of people turning out for the game and were going to keep the upper decks closed. Then, 14,447 decided, "Hey! Let's go see these guys."

The game itself didn't belong to any of the super-prospects: Weeks was 0-for-2 with a pair of walks and a hit batsman, Fielder was 1-for-5, Gwynn drove in two runs with a pair of sacrifice flies, and Parra allowed a pair of runs - one earned - in 4-1/3 innings. However, Kennard Bibbs went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a run scored, and an RBI. The Rattlers did load the bases with two outs in the top of the ninth, but Tim Bausher, who pitched the entire ninth, got the save by retiring the Rattlers and stranding those runners on base. Trivia: Winning pitcher that night was Khalid Ballouli.

1.) April 24, 2009: Wisconsin 5, Peoria 3.  There's no way I was going to have a Timber Rattlers loss at number one. Besides, this was a better game…really. Peoria had a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Brock Kjeldgaard launched a two-run home run to right and the Rattlers had a 4-3 lead. Wisconsin added another run in the eighth inning when Kjeldgaard drew a bases loaded walk. Wily Peralta went four innings in the game, probably could have been more, but he was in a tandem with Cody Adams at the time; so, a no decision for Wily in that game. Brandon Ritchie pitched a scoreless top of the fifth and Adams tossed three scoreless innings. In the top of the ninth - in a case of foreshadowing - Jim Henderson pitched a scoreless ninth for the save and 17,880 celebrated the Wisconsin victory.