ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Clinton beat the Rattlers 3-2. The LumberKings scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning to erase a 2-1 Rattler lead. Juan Jimenez got the win and Gerry Oakes pitched the final two innings for the save.
TAKING THE SIXTH: The Rattlers had a 2-1 lead after a Stan Posluszny two-out RBI single in the top of the fifth inning. The first two LumberKings of the bottom of the sixth inning reached on a walk and a single. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. An infield grounder by Grant Gerrard drove in the tying run. Ian Gac knocked in the go ahead run with a double.
GAC! Gac had been hitless in fourteen at bats this season against the Rattlers before that double in the sixth.
CLOSE LOSSES: The Rattlers have lost three straight games and all of them have been by one run. Peoria beat the Rattlers 8-7 in twelve innings on Wednesday and 6-5 on Thursday. The Rattlers are 17-24 in one-run games this season.
INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS: Paul Fagan was the starting pitcher for the Rattlers last night. He became the first Timber Rattler pitcher in franchise history to make 28 starts in a single season. Fagan pitched 5-2/3 innings last night to give him a total of 165-2/3 innings this season. He is fifth on the Rattler single season list for innings pitched. Bobby Livingston is the franchise record holder with 178 innings pitched in 2003. Fagan took the loss last night to drop his record to 5-14. Fagan is now tied for the franchise single season record for losses with Nibaldo Acosta (2004) and Roy Smith (1995).
SOMETHING TO SHOOT FOR: With three games remaining in the regular season, the Rattlers are 51-86. Wisconsin needs to go 3-0 over the last three 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.
STAYING OUT OF THE CELLAR: The eighth place LumberKings moved to within two games of the seventh place Rattlers last night. The Rattlers trail sixth place Burlington by three games.
OPPOSING STARTING PITCHER: Joey McLaughlin was an 18th round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2004 draft out of Oklahoma City University. McLaughlin pitched for Lansing in 2005 and was 2-2 with a 3.13 ERA in 42 relief appearances. He started 2006 with Lansing and was 3-1 with a 3.04ERA in sixteen relief appearances before being traded to the Ranger organization on July 1. Since joining the LumberKings in that trade, McLaughlin is 1-0 with an ERA of 5.00 in fourteen appearances. He has made two appearances against the Rattlers this season – June 11 as a Lugnut & August 28 as a LumberKing. He has no record and has allowed one run on three hits over 2-2/3 innings against Wisconsin. Tonight will be McLaughlin’s first professional start. He has made a total of 95 minor league appearances since 2004, all of them in relief.
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