Rattlers Beat Chiefs 4-1 in Game One

GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers got two key hits and clutch defense to defeat the Peoria Chiefs 4-1 in game one of Tuesday's doubleheader at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

Chad McClanahan put the Rattlers up with a big blast in the second inning. Brent Díaz got on base with a one-out triple. McClanahan followed with a long home run just to the right of the 405' sign in right-center field. McClanahan's third home run of the season gave the Rattlers a 2-0 lead.

Peoria got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning. Delvin Perez started the inning with a double, but he was still at second with two outs. Carlos Soto got Perez home with a single to right and he took second on an errant throw to the plate. That ended the day for Wisconsin starting pitcher Scott Sunitsch.

Reliever Chad Whitmer entered the game for Sunitsch and got the final out of the sixth on a great defensive play by Antonio Piñero. The Wisconsin shortstop made a sliding stop in short left and fired to first base in time to get Leandro Cedeno for the final out.

Sunitsch allowed one run on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts over 5-2/3 innings to put himself in line for his ninth win of the season.

The Timber Rattlers added to their lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Thomas Dillard drew a walk with one out to extend his on-base streak to twenty games to start the rally. Kekai Rios followed with a double to left to put runners at second and third. Je'Von Ward cashed in the runners with a single over the drawn-in infield and Wisconsin was up 4-1.

The Chiefs did not go away. Whitmer got the first out in the seventh inning before Peoria loaded the bases on a walk, an error, and a single to bring Perez back to the plate as the go-ahead run.

Whitmer escaped the jam by getting Perez to ground into a game-ending 5-3 double play. That allowed Whitmer to pick up his fourth save of the season.