Game Notes for 6/11

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Lugnuts beat the Rattlers 4-2. A two-out, RBI double by Brian Bormaster in the bottom of the seventh inning broke a 2-2 tie.

TRIPLE TIME: Rattler second baseman Luis Valbuena drove in a pair of runs with his fifth triple of the season. The three-bagger came with two outs in the top of the fifth inning.

THREE IN A ROW: The loss last night was the third consecutive loss for the Rattlers. This is the sixth streak this season of at least three losses in a row.

HELPING HAND: Michael Saunders had another outfield assist last night. He is tied with Casey Craig for the team lead in outfield assists with six. The Rattlers have sixteen outfield assists total this season.

HEATING UP AGAIN: Rattler shortstop Jeff Dominguez extended his hitting streak to six games with a fifth inning single. Dominguez is 8-for-23 (.333) during the streak. He has at least one hit in eight of his last nine games and this recent hot streak began after he snapped a hitless streak that reached 0-for-23.

REACHING FOR SIX: Jose Escalona reached his career high of six innings in a start for the third time last night. The lefty allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits with a walk and six strikeouts. He picked up a no decision in the game.

ERRORS FROM UNLIKELY PLACES: Wisconsin was charged with two errors last night. One was on Escalona, the other was on leftfielder Jairo Hernandez. Six of the last nine errors committed by the Rattlers have been on either an outfielder or a pitcher.

POWER OUTAGE: The Rattlers haven’t homered in their last five games.

LOOK OUT! Escalona hit a Lugnut batter and so did Rattler reliever Roman Martinez. Wisconsin pitchers have plunked 64 opposing batters this season. That is the highest total in the Midwest League this season by a wide margin. Kane County pitchers are second in the MWL with 47 hit batsmen.

OPPOSING STARTING PITCHER: Kristian Bell was an 11th round pick of the Blue Jays in the 2004 draft out of Blinn College in Texas. Bell was a reliever for Auburn of the New York-Penn League in 2004 and was 4-0 with a 5.85ERA in nineteen appearances. Last season, he was 5-4 with a 3.14ERA in fifteen starts for Auburn. In his last start for the Lugnuts, Bell beat Dayton on June 6 at Oldsmobile Park. He pitched seven innings and allowed two runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. This is his first appearance against the Rattlers and also against an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.