Rattlers Close Out 2018 With a WinRattlers Close Out 2018 With a Win

GENEVA, IL - It took a long time, but the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers defeated the Kane County Cougars 4-1 on Labor Day at Northwestern Medicine Field. The victory kept the Cougars from clinching a playoff spot and opened the door for the Beloit Snappers to get into the playoffs.
The game started 33 minutes after the scheduled 1:00pm start time because of a brief rain shower that moved through the area around 12:30pm.
Wisconsin (68-71 overall, 37-33 second half) scored first on Monday afternoon. They loaded the bases on singles by Nic Pierre and Eddie Silva and an error on sacrifice bunt by Trever Morrison. Jay Feliciano singled to right to score Pierre, but Silva was out at the plate on a strong throw from Yan Sanchez as he attempted to score.

The Rattlers added to their lead with two more runs in the top of the sixth inning. A wild pitch by reliever Rafael Pujols allowed Kenny Corey to score from third base for the first run. Silva drove in the second run of the inning with a sacrifice fly for a 3-0 lead.
 

Severe weather was rolling into the area and the grounds crew got the tarp on the field just before a heavy downpour started to fall. Then, the waiting game started.

The reason for the long delay was that Kane County (72-66, 37-32) and the Beloit Snappers were still battling for the Second Half Western Division Wild Card on the last day of the season. Beloit was hosting the Cedar Rapids Kernels in a game that was supposed to start at 2:00pm, but they did not start their game until 8:20pm on Monday night due to even worse weather in Beloit. The Snappers could get into the playoffs if they beat Cedar Rapids and the Timber Rattlers beat Kane County on Sunday. The Cougars needed to rally to win or they needed Beloit to lose to the already playoff-bound Kernels.

Dylan File, the Wisconsin starting pitcher, allowed two hits, walked three, and struck out three over five innings.

The game resumed at 6:30 after a rain delay of three hours and nineteen minutes with Wisconsin reliever JT Hintzen taking over for File.

Tim Susnara doubled with Jancarlos Cintron at first and one out to put runners at second and third. Yan Sanchez sent a hard grounder to third with Silva playing back. Silva elected to go home with the throw, but Cintron was able to avoid the tag to score Kane County's first run.

Wisconsin added to their lead in the top of the eighth inning. Chad McClanahan drew a lead-off walk and Brent Diaz followed with a double. Corey collected his third hit of the game on a single up the middle to score McClanahan for a 4-1 lead.

Hintzen settled in after a lead-off single in the seventh inning and a leadoff walk in the eighth to keep the Cougars from threatening to rally. He set down Kane County in order in the ninth and ended the game with a strikeout. Hintzen picked up his first Midwest League save with his four innings out of the bullpen.

Kane County will have to await the outcome of Beloit's game to find out if their season is done or if they will host Cedar Rapids in game one of the playoffs on Wednesday night.
 
The next Timber Ratters game is scheduled for Thursday, April 4, 2019 when they open next season against the Beloit Snappers at Pohlman Field. Wisconsin's first home game of the 2019 season is on Saturday, April 6 at 4:05pm against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Click here to see the entire 2019 schedule.