Comeback Rattlers Rally Again to Beat Fort Wayne

GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are getting used to the late comeback victory. The Timber Rattlers had won the first two games of their series with the Fort Wayne TinCaps with walkoff hits. Thursday night at Neuroscience Group Field, Wisconsin erased a 3-1 deficit with a run in the seventh and four runs in the eighth inning to beat the TinCaps 6-3 and maintain their position in the race for their first playoff spot since 2016.

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Eduarqui Fernández, who hit the game-tying homer in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday, started the Wisconsin rally in the bottom of the third on Thursday. He doubled off the wall in left with one out and moved to third on a grounder to second off the bat of Jheremy Vargas. Gregory Barrios, who drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning on Tuesday, knocked in Fernández with an infield single for a 1-0 lead.

Rattlers strike first. ☝️

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TinCaps 0 | T-Rats 1#tratnation pic.twitter.com/L5zS4DfEaJ

— Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (@TimberRattlers) May 31, 2024

Nerwilian Cedeño announced his presence for the TinCaps with his glove and his bat during a sequence to end the Rattlers fourth and lead-off the Fort Wayne fifth.

Wisconsin had Dylan O’Rae at third with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. Matt Wood hit a soft line drive to that looked like it would drop on the infield grass. Cedeño, who was playing in on the edge of the infield dirt, made a diving catch to coming in to pick it off the dirt. O’Rae was running on contact and was easily doubled off third for the third out.

Cedeño started the Fort Wayne fifth with a triple to the track in right-center. Joshua Mears drove in Cedeño with a sacrifice fly to tie the game.

The TinCaps took the lead in the top of the sixth. Nik McClaughry singled to start the inning. Ethan Salas, the #1 prospect in the San Diego Padres system, drove in McClaughry with a double to right. The hit was the first of the series for Salas. He had been 0-for-11 to that point.

Homer Bush Jr followed Salas with another RBI double to put Fort Wayne up 3-1.

The Timber Rattlers cut into the Fort Wayne advantage in the bottom of the seventh. Ramόn Rodríguez doubled off the wall in left with one out. Fernández doubled him home with two outs.

Fort Wayne starter Miguel Cienfuegos pitched seven innings, scattered seven hits with no walks, and allowed two runs over seven innings as he turned that 3-2 lead over to his bullpen.

Wisconsin went right to work against reliever Ryan Ochs. Barrios started the inning with a double. Och got the first out but gave up a single to O’Rae and hit Adams to load the bases. Matt Wood, who tied Tuesday’s game in with an RBI double in the eighth inning, walked to the plate against Ochs and blooped a single just out of the reach of McClaughry. Barrios scored the tying run, and the bases were still loaded for Rodríguez.

The Rattlers designated hitter had delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the tenth on Wednesday afternoon. He came through again on Thursday night when he ripped a double to the corner in left on a 3-2 pitch from Ochs. Two runs scored and Wisconsin had a 5-3 lead.

Bases loaded ➡️ Full count ➡️ Rodriguez 2RBI double

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TinCaps 3 | T-Rats 5#tratnation pic.twitter.com/rZRYzlFqeF

— Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (@TimberRattlers) May 31, 2024

Wood scored an insurance run later in the inning on a wild pitch from David Morgan.

K.C. Hunt took over on the mound for the Rattlers in the top of the seventh he allowed one hit over the final three innings and closed out the game with a perfect ninth, including a strikeout of Mears to end the game. Hunt recorded four strikeouts in the game and earned his first Midwest League win.

In the first-half West Division playoff chase, Wisconsin’s comeback win kept them 1-1/2 games clear of the second place Cedar Rapids Kernels. The Kernels staged a comeback win at home on Thursday night against the Lake County Captains with a run in the eighth to tie and a two-run homer from Rayne Doncon in the bottom of the ninth for a 4-2 win. Both Wisconsin and Cedar Rapids have eighteen games remaining in the first half.

Wisconsin has won four straight games and they have won all four in their final at bat. The Rattlers have won in eleven innings on Sunday in South Bend, on walkoffs in the bottom of the ninth and bottom of the tenth in the first two games of this series, and with an eighth inning comeback on Thursday.

Game four of the series is Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field. Logan Henderson (0-1, 3.38) will make his home debut as the Timber Rattlers starting pitcher. Henry Baez (0-2, 4.46) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the TinCaps. Game time is 6:40pm.

Timber Rattlers players and coaches are putting on their Marvel-inspired Defenders of the Diamond jerseys for Friday’s battle. You can make a bid on these jerseys in the online auction at this link. The auction is scheduled to end on the evening of June 2. Make sure to say hello to Captain America once you are in the stadium. He’ll be the guy with the shield in the Red, White, & Blue costume. The first fireworks display is set to happen after the game courtesy of 95.9 KISS-FM. Children twelve and under may run the bases courtesy of Menasha Corporation after the fireworks.

If you can’t make it out to the ballpark, there are several ways to follow the action. The game will be broadcast on tv-32 starting at 6:30pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Community Blood Center Pregame Show at 6:20pm. The game is also available on the internet and the Bally Live App.