Jankins Tosses a Gem as Rattlers Beat Clinton 2-1

GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers beat the Clinton LumberKings 2-1 and some approaching severe weather on Wednesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Wisconsin got the longest outing of the season by one of their starting pitchers, a little power from an unexpected source, and a little luck to avoid the storms.

Clinton (15-21) took the lead in the top of the fourth inning. Nick Zammarelli III hit a leadoff home run to left field and Clinton had scored first for the third straight game of the series.

The Rattlers (18-18) responded in the bottom of the fifth. Trever Morrison blasted a solo homer, his first professional home run, to centerfield with two outs and that evened the score. Morrison had been hitting .125 and had just been activated from the Wisconsin disabled list prior to Wednesday's game.
Wisconsin took the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Demi Orimoloye singled to start the inning. Mario Feliciano followed with a hit-and-run single to right to move Orimoloye around to third. Tucker Neuhaus hit a sacrifice fly deep to right to drive in Orimoloye and the Rattlers were up 2-1.
Jankins made that lead stand. He allowed one hit after the home run by Zammarelli in the fourth. He would work 7-2/3 innings, give up one run on four hits, and strike out five before turning the game over to the bullpen.

Daniel Brown got the final out of the eighth and went back out for the ninth as the wind started howling out to left thanks to some approaching severe weather. However, Brown took the wind out of play by striking out the first two batters he faced in the ninth.

However, a four-pitch walk to Zammarelli brought the lead run to the plate in the form of Anthony Jimenez. Brown missed with the first two pitches to Jimenez. His next pitch was low and skipped away from catcher Nathan Rodriguez and Zammarelli took off for second. Rodriguez recovered and threw a one-hop strike to Neuhaus, who dropped a quick tag on Zammarelli for the final out to nail down the Wisconsin victory.

The win allowed the Rattlers to snap a five-game losing streak at home and moved them back to the .500 mark. The win was also the first for Wisconsin on a Wednesday this season. They were 0-5 on Wednesday before this win.

The rain never arrived during the game, but the grounds crew and front office staff battled the wind to get the tarp on the field almost immediately after the final out to cover the infield.
The Timber Rattlers welcome the Cedar Rapids Kernels to town on Thursday night to begin a four-game series. Braden Webb (1-2, 3.38) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Cedar Rapids has named Domenick Carlini (1-2, 5.66) as their starter. Game time is 6:35pm.
Thursday is Law Enforcement Night. Any Law Enforcement employee who shows a badge or ID at the ticket window will receive a $1 bleacher seat for this game. There will also be displays of vehicles from various agencies throughout the Fox Cities. Additionally, there will be some special guests at the game the kids will want to meet. 
It is also Craft Brews & Brats Thursday presented by Badger Club Amber, Wisconsin Brewing Company, and Fox River Brewing Company with Y100. Fans of legal drinking age may enjoy 12-ounce craft beers for $2. Cher-Make brats are also just $2 and they are available for everyone. Beers from Fox River Brewing Company, Badger Club Amber, and many, many more will be available. Present the ticket to this game at World of Beer after the game and receive a free beer there.
The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino Pregame Show at 6:15pm. The broadcast is also available on TuneIn Radio, IHeartRadio, and MiLB.tv. Subscribers to Spectrum can watch the game starting at 6:30pm on Spectrum Sports.