LAST ACTION: The Timber Rattlers lost 6-3 at West Michigan. The Whitecaps jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first two innings. But, Wisconsin rallied to tie the game 3-3 on a two run home run by Greg Halman and an RBI singe by Kuo Hui Lo. The Whitecaps broke the tie with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI triple by Ryan Strieby and an RBI single by Santo De Leon. West Michigan tacked on one more run in the bottom of the eighth.
EARLY EXIT: Timber Rattler starting pitcher Ricky Orta left the game with a 2-1 count on Audy Ciriaco in the second inning. Ciriaco was the second batter of the inning and Orta left the game after a blister on one of the fingers of his pitching hand burst on a 1-1 pitch to Ciriaco. Orta allowed three runs on two hits with two walks in his inning plus of work.
THREE WAS NOT A MAGIC NUMBER: The Timber Rattlers scored three runs on three hits and committed three errors on Tuesday night.
LEAGUE LEADERS: The three errors puts Wisconsin’s total to 37 on the season. They lead the Midwest League in that category.
OPPOSITE FIELD: Halman’s home run, his first of the season, was a two-out blast to right in the fourth inning. Halman had five home runs in 28 games for Everett in the Northwest League last season.
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: Wisconsin concluded their six game road trip with a 1-5 record. The Rattlers are 2-8 on the road in 2007.
CLOSURE: The correction finally came in on the eighth inning of Sunday’s game. The official scorer in West Michigan charged Justin Souza with one earned run out of the five that he allowed. But, the stat company overruled the official scorer that Souza should have been charged with two earned runs. The stat company re-checked on Wednesday and agreed that the official scorer at the game got the call right. The statistics for both Souza and Wisconsin have been updated to reflect the change.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Fort Wayne Wizards are the Midwest League affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are 7-8 and in fourth place in the Eastern Division. In there most recent series, the Wizards split a four game series with the Swing of the Quad Cities. The manager for Fort Wayne is former major league outfielder Doug Dascenzo.
LAST YEAR: The Timber Rattlers and Wizards split the eight game season series. Fort Wayne went 3-1 in Appleton while the Rattlers took three out of four in Fort Wayne. The Wizards were 71-66 overall in 2007 and made the playoffs on the strength of a 40-30 record to capture the second half wild card in the Eastern Division.
NEAR NO-NOs: The Wizard pitching staff has taken three no-hitters deep into games this season. Quad Cities was hitless until a leadoff double in the top of the ninth inning on Tuesday at Fort Wayne. Burlington did not collect their first hit until the eighth inning at Fort Wayne on April 17. The Great Lakes Loons broke up a no-hit bid with one out in the ninth inning on April 9. The starter against the Loons that day was Nathan Culp and he tossed the first six innings of that game. Culp is the scheduled starter for Thursday against the Rattlers.
PROSPECTING: BASEBALL AMERICA lists four members of the Wizard roster on their top 30 list of Padre prospects. Outfielder Cedric Hunter is the top rated prospect on the list. Hunter was a third round pick out of King High School in Decatur, Georgia. Pitchers Aaron Breit and Andrew Miller are ranked #11 and #12 respectively. Outfielder Kyler Burke (#14) is the other Wizard on the list.
OPPOSING STARTER: Nathan Culp was the 4th round pick of the Padres in the 2006 draft out of the University of Missouri. Culp went 11-6 with a 3.40 ERA in his final season with the Tigers. His eleven wins tied for the most in the Big 12 Conference. Culp made six appearances (three starts) for the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League and was 0-1 with a 1.50 ERA. He earned a promotion to the Wizards near the end of July and went 4-2 with a 4.09ERA in seven starts. His previous outing of the 2007 season was on April 20 at home against the Burlington Bees. Culp allowed on unearned run on four hits over six innings with one walk and five strikeouts. This is Culp’s first appearance against the Timber Rattlers and against an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.
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