Rattlers Bounce Back With Big Offensive Night to Pick Up Ground in Playoff Chase
GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers needed to rebound after a tough offensive night on Friday night as they hosted the Quad Cities River Bandits on Saturday night. The Rattlers gave the home fans plenty to cheer as they collected a dozen hits in a 9-3 victory over
GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers needed to rebound after a tough offensive night on Friday night as they hosted the Quad Cities River Bandits on Saturday night. The Rattlers gave the home fans plenty to cheer as they collected a dozen hits in a 9-3 victory over the River Bandits. The win allowed Wisconsin to move one step closer to their first playoff spot since 2016.
Click here for the scoring plays
The Timber Rattlers (35-21) scored twice in the bottom of the first inning. Luis Lara tripled to right-center on the third pitch of the inning. Dylan O’Rae walked to move his current on-base streak to twenty games. O’Rae was running on a pitch to Jadher Areinamo, and the pitch went to the backstop. Lara scored and O’Rae wound up at third base.
The River Bandits (23-31) brought their infield in early and Areinamo hit a grounder to short. However, the ball was booted and O’Rae scored for a 2-0 lead.
Wisconsin starting pitcher Yujanyer Herrera dealt with lots of traffic on the bases early with a lead-off single to start the game erased on a double play and a single with two walks left stranded in the second.
In the third inning, the River Bandits had two one-out singles, but it looked like Herrera would escape again after getting the second out with a strikeout. Carson Roccaforte didn’t let the opportunity go to waste for Quad Cities as he lined a double deep to right-center to tie the game 2-2.
The Bandits threatened to take the lead in the top of the fourth as the first two batters singled and were sacrificed into scoring position on a bunt. Herrera struck out the next batter but walked Carter Jensen to load the bases. Brett Squires, who has hit four of his nine homers this season against the Timber Rattler, sent a high fly deep to left-center that had the Rattlers holding their breath. Lara raced over from center and was able to camp under the ball to make a routine catch on the warning track in front of the Quad Cities bullpen.
Tayden Hall put Wisconsin in front when he hammered a 3-1 pitch past the 380’ Landing on the Home Run Porch for his first pro home run.
Tayden Hall sends one out of the park to propel the T-Rats back into the lead! ☄️
— Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (@TimberRattlers) June 9, 2024
Bot 4
River Bandits 2 | T-Rats 3#tratnation pic.twitter.com/19GBq1xkSw
That shot seemed to wake up the Rattlers bats as a walk and a single set up Jheremy Vargas for a two-run triple. Lara drove in Vargas with a groundout for a 6-2 lead.
Herrera’s high wire act was not done. The right-hander went back out for the fifth inning and gave up a double to Kale Emshoff. Roccaforte and Jared Dickey had consecutive grounders to second to move Emshoff over to third and get him across the plate to cut Wisconsin’s lead to three runs. Herrera ended his night when he struck out Trevor Werner his 99th pitch of the night just as lightning flashed in the sky and the tarp was placed on the field.
The game restarted after a thirty-seven minute delay. The Wisconsin offense restarted, too. Areinamo singled stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. Jesús Chirinos drove in Areinamo with a sacrifice fly. Later in the inning Ramόn Rodríguez added an RBI double.
Luke Adams hit a lead-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 9-3 lead.
A monster of a shot from Luke Adams - his 4th HR on the season!
— Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (@TimberRattlers) June 9, 2024
Bottom 7th
River Bandits 3 | Timber Rattlers 9#tratnation pic.twitter.com/yUXxUO16Km
Herrera allowed three runs on eight hits and three walks with five strikeouts over five innings to put himself in line for his third win of the season. There was still work to do and Patricio Aquino did it. Aquino tossed four scoreless innings, allowed one hit and one walk with four strikeouts to earn his first professional save.
One night after losing 10-1 to the River Bandits and collecting four hits, the Timber Rattlers stormed back with twelve hits as each hitter in the lineup had at least one hit. Lara, Vargas, and Eduarqui Fernández each had two hits. O’Rae was 1-for-4 with a walk as he extended his current on-base streak to twenty games.
In the first-half West Division playoff race, Wisconsin picked up a full game on the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Cedar Rapids lost 11-3 at Great Lakes on Saturday night. Wisconsin is 3-1/2 games up on the Kernels with ten games remaining in the first half. That puts Wisconsin’s magic number at seven.
The series finale between Wisconsin and Quad Cities is Sunday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field. Brian Fitzpatrick (2-1, 3.55) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The River Bandits have named Ryan Ramsey (0-2, 2.76) as their starter. Game time is 1:10pm CDT.
Bobblehead number three in The Freshmen Series from the Timber Rattlers is Sal Frelick. Be one of the first 1,000 fans into the stadium on Sunday to receive this bobblehead presented by Avaii Wealth Management. There is plenty going on before, during, and after the final game of this twelve-game homestand. Bring your glove to play Catch on the Field presented by TruGreen from noon to 12:30pm. Players and coaches will wear their 2024 Brewers Sunday caps and jerseys as part of Brewers Sunday with 107.5 The Fan. There is a postgame player autograph session for fans courtesy of Fox Cities Cards.
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 1:00pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Community Blood Center Pregame Show at 12:50pm. The game is also available on the internet and the Bally Live App.