Game Notes for 7/28

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Rattlers rallied to beat the South Bend Silver Hawks 3-2 at Fox Cities Stadium. Wisconsin trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. Mike Saunders drove in the tying run with a two-out single. Saunders scored the go ahead run on a wild pitch.

BACK IN THE LINEUP WITH A BANG: Last night, Eddy Hernandez returned to the Rattler lineup for the first time since July 21. In the third inning, he drilled the first pitch he saw over the batter’s eye in centerfield for his second homer of the season to give Wisconsin a 1-0 lead.

ALLEN WRENCH: Rattler starting pitcher Nick Allen protected that 1-0 lead until the top of the seventh. He hit the leadoff batter on a 1-2 pitch, but struck out the next two batters. Then, Frank Curreri drilled a 2-0 pitch for a two-run homer and a 2-1 Silver Hawk lead.

RALLY TIME: Saunders tied the game by lining a 2-2 pitch back through the middle to drive in Hernandez. Then, Saunders stole second, went to third on a throwing error, and scored the go ahead run on a wild pitch.

IT TAKES A THIEF: Saunders stole two bases last night to run his season total to nineteen.

CLASSIC RELIEF: Austin Bibbens-Dirkx and Brian Kappel both worked an inning of perfect relief out of the bullpen to nail down the win. Bibbens-Dirkx worked the eighth inning and extended his scoreless streak to 10-2/3 innings. Kappel recorded his third save in three opportunities with a scoreless ninth.

DÉJÀ VU: The winning run in both Wisconsin wins over the Silver Hawks in the series at Fox Cities Stadium scored on wild pitches.

GOPHER BALLS: Allen gave up the home run to Curreri in the top of the seventh. Thursday was the ninth game in a row that the Rattler pitching staff has given up at least one homer. In the last nine games, opponents have hit thirteen homers off Rattler hurlers. Of those thirteen homers, ten have been solo shots. The other three were three-run blasts.

CLOSE CALLS: Four of the last five Timber Rattler wins have been by one run.

TAKING TWO: The Rattlers have won two games in each of their last five series.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Beloit Snappers are the Midwest League affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
The Snappers did not qualify for the playoffs in the first half. They are currently 18-16 and have a 1-1/2 game lead over Cedar Rapids for the second half wild card spot in the Western Division. In their most recent series, the Snappers split four games with the Burlington Bees at Community Field. Beloit is 53-49 overall this season.

MILK PAIL SERIES ’06: The Rattlers and Snappers are playing for the Milk Pail Trophy once again this season. Wisconsin took two out of three from Beloit at Pohlman Field in a mid-April series. Wisconsin won game one 7-2. The Snappers won the second game 11-10 in twelve innings. Wisconsin got the victory in game three 7-1.

SLIGHT EDGE: Since the Snappers became an affiliate of the Twins before the 2005 season, the Rattlers have a slight 11-9 edged in the series. Wisconsin and Beloit split sixteen games in the regular season (The Rattlers were 4-4 at Pohlman Field and 4-4 at Fox Cities Stadium.) The teams met in the 2005 Western Division Championship Series and the Rattlers won that series 2-1.

PROSPECTING: BASEBALL AMERICA’s Top 30 list of Twin prospects has six members of the current Snapper roster on it. Shortstop Paul Kelly is the highest ranked Snapper at number 11. Pitcher Eddie Morlan checks in as the highest rated hurler at number 15. Others on the list are: infielder Juan Portes (#18), infielder Drew Thompson (#19), pitcher Adam Hawes (#28), and pitcher Alexander Smit (#30).

OPPOSING STARTING PITCHER: Yohan Pino was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2004 out of Venezuela by the Twins. He was 9-2 with a 3.72ERA in 12 starts for Elizabethton in the Appalachian League in 2005. His first 34 appearances for the Snappers in 2006 were out of the bullpen and he was 8-2 with three saves in a relief role. His last appearance was his first start of 2006. Pino picked up the win at Clinton on July 23. He walked none over five innings and gave up four runs (two earned) with five strikeouts. Pino beat the Rattlers with a pair of scoreless innings on April 11 at Pohlman Field. He allowed two hits and one run for the victory.