Game Notes -- 6/2

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Rattlers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 2-1 win in thirteen innings over the Burlington Bees. Kuo Huio Lo’s sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the bottom of the thirteenth gave the Rattlers the win. Rollie Gibson, Wisconsin’s fourth pitcher of the night, got the win with two scoreless innings.

DROUGHT IN A RAINSTORM: Friday’s game was played in a steady rain from the second through the eighth inning. The Rattlers scored an unearned run in the first inning on a two-out single by Alex Liddi. Wisconsin did not get another base runner past second base until the thirteenth. Tyler Chambliss, Burlington’s second pitcher in the game, pitched 5-1/3 innings of two-hit, shutout ball with seven strikeouts. The only Burlington run of the game came on a lead off home run by Chris McConnell in the sixth inning off Kyle Parker. Joe Kantakevich, Andrew Barb, and Gibson kept the Bees off the board for the final 7-2/3 innings.

ROLLIE’S WIN: Last night, was Gibson’s first win as a Rattler.

WELCOME TO THE TEAM; NOW GET IN THERE: Trevor Lawhorn, the newest Timber Rattler arrived at the ballpark after the game started. He entered the game as a pinch runner for Danny Santin in the bottom of the thirteenth. Lawhorn scored the winning run on the sacrifice fly by Lo.

CLOSE SHAVES: The final three games in the series with Burlington were decided by one run. Burlington beat the Rattlers 10-9 and 5-4 in the other one run games.

WORKING OVERTIME: The Rattlers are 2-0 in extra inning games this season. They beat Beloit 3-2 at home in eleven innings on April 18.

WORKING OVERTIME (PT II): Last night was the longest Rattler game since a fourteen inning game on August 18, 2006. The Rattlers beat the Dayton Dragons 7-5 that night at Fifth Third Field. The last time the Rattlers played thirteen innings at home in a single game was a 7-6 win over the Beloit Snappers on July 4, 2005.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Swing of the Quad Cities are the Midwest League affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are currently 30-24 and tied with the Cedar Rapids Kernels for third place in the Midwest League Western Division. The Swing trail Western Division leading Beloit by 4-1/2 games and the second place Clinton LumberKings by two games. In their most recent series, Quad Cities won the last three games of a four game series with the LumberKings. Quad Cities is 7-3 in their last ten games. They are 14-14 on the road this season. Keith Mitchell is back as the manager of the Swing

LAST YEAR: The Rattlers and Swing played twelve times in 2006. Wisconsin was 4-8 against Quad Cities in that season series. The Rattlers were 3-4 at home versus the Swing in 2006.

GET USED TO SEEING THESE GUYS: Between now and July 2 – a space of 27 games, the Rattlers and Swing will play each other 16 times to complete their season series for 2007.

PROSPECTING: BASEBALL AMERICA has placed four members of the current Quad Cities roster on their list of top 30 St. Louis Cardinal prospects. Outfielder Daryl Jones, the third round pick in the 2005 draft out of Spring (TX) High School, is the highest ranked Swing at #10. Pitcher Tyler Herron, a supplemental first round pick in 2005, checks in at #18. Outfielder Tommy Pham, 16th rounder in 2006, is next on the list at #22. The final Quad Cities player on BA’s list is pitcher Brad Furnish, a second round pick out of Rice in 2006, at #23.

OPPOSING STARTER: Eddie Degerman was the fourth round pick of the Cardinals out of Rice in 2006. In his final season with the Owls, Degerman was 13-2 in 20 games (19 starts). He also struck out a Conference USA record 172 batters in his final collegiate season. He made nine starts for the State College Spikes of the New York-Penn League after signing with the Cardinals. Degerman was 2-3 with a 2.76 ERA and struck out 53 in 42-1/3 innings. In his last appearance for the Swing, Degerman pitched 3-1/3 innings in relief and did not allow a hit or a run. He walked one and struck out five against Clinton on May 29. The last start for Degerman was on May 24 against South Bend. He was tagged with the loss as he gave up three hits and two runs (on two solo homers) over four innings with four walks and four strikeouts.