Game Notes for 8/27

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Rattlers beat the LumberKings 5-1. Travis Scott drove in a pair of runs and four Rattler pitchers held Clinton to four hits.

OH, WHAT A RELIEF IT WAS: Roman Martinez entered the game in the top of the fifth inning after starting pitcher Jose Escalona was removed for precautionary reasons after four scoreless innings. Martinez pitched three scoreless, hitless innings and got the victory. The only LumberKing to reach against Martinez got to first on an error. Martinez struck out a pair and picked up his second win of the season.

MORE THAN DOUBLE: Escalona reached 126-1/3 innings after recording the final out of the fourth inning. The most innings Escalona had tossed in a season prior to 2006 was 53-1/3 for Aguirre in the Venezuelan Summer League in 2005.

GREAT SCOTT! Rattler catcher Travis Scott drove in a pair of runs for the Rattlers. His sacrifice fly in the second inning put the Rattlers up 2-0.

FIRST RATTLER HIT: Third baseman Alex Liddi doubled with two out in the bottom of the fourth inning for his first Midwest League hit.

KAPPEL KEEPS WINNING: Rattler reliever Brian Kappel has appeared in twenty games for the Rattlers, including a 1-2-3 ninth inning last night. The Rattlers are 15-5 in the games that Kappel has pitched in this season.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Rattler win last night gave them a record of 28-40 at Fox Cities Stadium in 2006. A win today would make this team ½ game better than the 2004 team that finished with a 29-41 record at Fox Cities Stadium. The 2002 Timber Rattlers had the worst home record in team history with a 24-46 record.

SOMETHING TO SHOOT FOR: With nine games remaining in the regular season, the Rattlers are 49-82. Wisconsin needs to go at least 5-4 over those last nine games to pass the 2002 Timber Rattler team that finished the season 53-86. That 53-86 mark in the worst record in Wisconsin history.

OPPOSING STARTING PITCHER: Juan Jimenez was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the San Diego Padres out of the Dominican Republic in 2003. He joined the Ranger organization in a trade for Manny Alexander on August 31, 2005. The Rattlers beat Jimenez at Fox Cities Stadium on June 3 by getting to him for four runs on five hits and five walks over two innings in a 7-2 win. Jimenez has lost his last two starts. Beloit cuffed Jimenez around for eight runs on twelve hits over 5-2/3 innings on August 20 at Pohlman Field. He walked two and struck out two in the loss.