Game Notes -- 5/21

ABOUT SUNDAY: Lansing beat the Timber Rattlers 2-1. Matt Lane’s two-out, two-run single in the top of the sixth inning gave the Lugnuts enough for the win. Both runs scored against Rattler starter Chris Tillman were unearned. Lansing managed just three hits in the game. The Lugnuts took three of the four games in the series from the Timber Rattlers.

TILLMAN’S TOUGH LOSS: Tillman gave up just an infield single in his first five innings yesterday. He recorded the first out of the sixth inning, but Travis Snider was the next batter and he reached on an error. Brian Pettway singled to put two runners on base. Tillman struck out Sean Shoffit for out number two, but he walked Chris Emanuele on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. Lane was next and he lined a single back through the middle to drive in two runs.

SIX PACK: By getting through the sixth inning, Tillman became the first Rattler starter to get through six frames since Nathan Adcock on May 11. Tillman has pitched six innings in a game twice this season, the only Rattler starter to do that this season.

END OF THE GAME: Carlos Triunfel, who had doubled and scored in the bottom of the third inning to give the Rattlers a 1-0 lead, hustled down the line to beat out a potential game-ending double play in the bottom of the ninth to keep the Rattlers chances alive. But, Lansing closer Seth Overbey picked off Triunfel moments later to end the game.

END OF THE STREAK: Kuo Hui Lo’s hitting streak ended at twelve games after he went 0-for-2 yesterday. Lo was not in the starting lineup. He entered the game in the top of the sixth inning for Gavin Dickey in left field. Dickey was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning.

GIVE THE MAN TWO MORE (DAY TWO): Rattler lead off batter Alex Meneses drew two more walks on Sunday. The Rattler second baseman was 0-for-9 in three games against Lansing. But, he reached base on five walks and one hit batsman. Meneses has walked 12 times this season. Despite playing in just nine games for the 2007 Rattlers, Meneses is second on the team in walks. Only Alex Liddi’s 13 walks is a higher total on the team.

SEASON LOW: The loss on Sunday dropped the Timber Rattlers to a season low 18 games under .500 at 11-29.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Kane County Cougars are the Midwest League affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are 11-30 and in eighth place in the Western Division of the Midwest League. In their most recent series, the Cougars split a four game series with the Great Lakes Loons. The Cougars are managed by Aaron Nieckula.

LAST SEASON: The Rattlers and Cougars faced each other sixteen times in 2006. Kane County won the season series 12-4. The Rattlers went 2-6 in their eight home games against the Cougars last season.

LAST WEEK: Kane County swept a brief two-game series from the Timber Rattlers at Elfstrom Stadium on May 14 and 15. Kane County beat the Rattlers 3-0 and 3-1.

UP NEXT: The Rattlers and Cougars continue this home-and-home series at Elfstrom Stadium on Wednesday and Thursday.

PROSPECTING: BASEBALL AMERICA has placed four members of the current Cougar roster on their list of top thirty Oakland prospects. Outfielders Matt Sulentic and Jermaine Mitchell are rated fourth and fifth. Pitchers Trevor Cahill and Andrew Bailey check in at numbers 10 and 28 respectively.

OPPOSING STARTER: Andrew Bailey was the sixth round pick of the Athletics in the 2006 draft out of Wagner. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2005, but his return to the mound saw him go 3-1 with three saves and a 2.03ERA in twelve games (six starts) with the Seahawks. Bailey was 2-5 with a 2.02ERA in 13 games (10 starts) for the Vancouver Canadians in the Northwest League after he signed with the Athletics. Bailey faced the Timber Rattlers in his last start and got a no decision. On May 15 at Elfstrom Stadium, he pitched 4-2/3 shutout innings and gave up just three hits with a pair of walks and six strikeouts. He left the game with runners on first and second with two outs in the top of the fifth in a scoreless game after tossing his seventieth pitch of the game. That game was just his second start of the season. The Cougars wound up win 3-1.