Bees Edge Rattlers 1-0

BURLINGTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had plenty of chances, but it was the Burlington Bees who picked up the 1-0 win at Community Field on Wednesday night. The loss was the third straight for the Timber Rattlers.
Both teams threatened to score in the fifth inning. The Rattlers (31-35) loaded the bases with two outs on singles by Tristen Lutz and Jay Feliciano and a walk to Devin Hairston. Isaac Matson got out of the inning with a grounder to first.

Wisconsin starter Christian Taugner had a tougher jam to escape in the bottom of the fifth. Connor Fitzsimons started the inning with a triple, but the fifth ended with him still at third base after Taugner got a strikeout, a tapper back to the mound, and a grounder to short.

The Bees (30-36) broke the scoreless tie with a run in the bottom of the sixth. Torii Hunter Jr. singled with one out and was at second with two outs. Taugner got ahead of Franklin Torres 0-2, but the Bees third baseman lined a double just fair off the wall to drive in the run that gave the Bees a 1-0 lead.

That was the only run Taugner allowed. He pitched seven innings, scattered six hits, walked none, and struck out six.

Wisconsin had scoring threats against Matson in the seventh and eighth innings. In the seventh, Gilbert Lara doubled to start the inning, but was erased when trying to advance to third on a grounder to short. In the eighth, Kenny Corey reached on an error with one out and Trever Morrison followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Matson escaped with back-to-back strikeouts to maintain the 1-0 advantage.

The Rattlers had one more opportunity in the ninth inning. Pat McInerney drew a one-out walk to chase Matson from the game. Zach Clark came on to pinch run for McInerney and Mayky Perez entered the game to take over on the mound for Matson.

Perez walked Lutz to move Clark into scoring position with one out, but struck out the final two batters to close out the 1-0 win.

The Timber Rattlers hitters were 0-for-9 and had six strikeouts with runners in scoring position on Wednesday night.

Taugner allowed one run, but took the loss in the game. Wednesday was his sixth quality start of the season and he is 1-1 with four no decisions in those six games. 

The Bees and Timber Rattlers have played six games this season and all six have been decided by one run. Burlington has outscored Wisconsin 8-7 and holds a 3-2 edge in the season series.
Game three of the series is Thursday night. Alec Bettinger (5-4, 3.73) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Denny Brady (0-0, 0.00) is set to make his second start of the season for Burlington. Game time is 6:30pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino Pregame Show at 6:10pm. The broadcast is also available on the Tune In and IHeart Radio apps.