Rattlers Let One Get Away In Burlington

BURLINGTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning on Wednesday night at Community Field. But, the Burlington Bees rallied for four runs after the seventh inning stretch and handed the Rattlers a 5-3 setback in their playoff chase.

Wisconsin (55-59 overall, 24-21 second half) started the game strong as lead-off hitter Jesús Lujano singled. An errant pickoff throw allowed him to get all the way around to third base. Thomas Dillard walked with one out to extend his on-base streak to 22 games. Both runners were at the corners with two outs and an 0-2 count on Je'Von Ward when they decided to manufacture a run.

Dillard broke for second and slammed on the brakes short of the base when he drew a throw. Lujano raced for the plate and the return throw home was wild. That allowed Lujano to score and Dillard to wind up on third base. Ward made it 2-0 Wisconsin when he laced his seventh triple of the season to allow Dillard to walk home.

The Rattlers had a chance to add to their lead in the third inning as they loaded the bases with one out on an error and two walks, but they stranded all three runners in the frame.

In the fourth, Lujano cracked his first home run of the season to give the Rattlers a run and the score was 3-0.

The Bees (55-60, 16-29) got on the scoreboard with a lead-off home run by Francisco Del Valle in the bottom of the fourth. Burlington loaded the bases with a single and two walks later in the inning, but Max Lazar escaped the inning with no more damage.

Lazar battled his way through five innings, scattered seven hits, walked two, and struck out four to maintain that 3-1 lead.

Wisconsin had another chance to add to their lead in the sixth inning as Lujano and David Fry each walked with one out, but they were left stranded. In all, the Rattlers stranded eleven runners in the game. They could not take advantage of eight walks by Burlington's pitching and five errors by Burlington's defense and Wisconsin was 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. It would cost them.

Joey Matulovich relieved Lazar and tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth. The seventh inning did not go as smoothly for Matulovich.

A walk to Alvaro Rubalcaba, the number nine hitter in the order started the inning. A single and a hit batsman followed to load the bases with no outs. Nonie Williams drove in the first run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to deep left. Del Valle followed with a long home run to right-center and the Bees had their first lead of the game at 5-3.

Eduardo Del Rosario, the fourth Burlington pitcher of the night, took the hill in the top of the eighth and retired Wisconsin in order. He repeated the feat with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to close out the game and help the Bees end a nine-game losing streak.

In the second-half Western Division Wild Card race, Wisconsin missed on an chance to move to within a game of the struggling Clinton LumberKings. Clinton lost 4-3 at Quad Cities for their sixth straight loss to fall to 26-19 on the half. The Rattlers loss kept them two games back of the LumberKings. There are 25 games remaining in the regular season.
The Timber Rattlers and Bees play game two of their series on Thursday night at Community Field. Luis Contreras (0-1, 4.50) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Burlington has named Hector Yan (4-3, 3.32) as their starter. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM and the TuneIn Radio app starting with the Papa John's Pizza Pregame Show at 6:10pm. MiLB.tv subscribers can watch the game over the internet.