Game Notes -- 8/11

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Timber Rattlers beat the Beloit Snappers 4-1. Tony Butler pitched seven innings to earn his first Midwest League victory and Gavin Dickey launched a two-run homer to lead the offense. Joe Kantakevich pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his sixth save.

TWENTY: Butler retired the first 20 Snapper batters he faced. The lefty did not have a 3-ball count until he faced Joe Benson to start the seventh. Wilson Ramos drew a two-out walk in the seventh to break the streak.

IT’S BEEN A WHILE: Butler’s win was his first as a Rattler. He allowed one run on two hits with a walk and six strikeouts over seven innings. The last time Butler won a game was on September 6, 2006 as a member of the Everett AquaSox, Seattle’s Northwest League affiliate.

ONE LAST NOTE ON BUTLER: In three starts against Beloit this season, Butler allowed one run over 15-2/3 innings.

SWEEP! By winning four straight from their in-state rivals, the Rattlers collected their first four game sweep at home since June 2-5, 2006. Wisconsin took four straight from Clinton in that series sweep..

GARTH’S STREAK ENDS: Rattler second baseman Ron Garth went 0-for-4 last night. His streak of games with a home run ended at five.

POWER SURGE CONTINUES: Dickey’s homer to center last night gave the Rattlers 14 home runs in their last ten games.

WHITE HOT: Joe White went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks last night to extend his hitting streak to nine games. White is 14-for-31 (.452) during the streak. Also, the two walks last night gave White 21 in 36 games. White is fifth on the Rattler team in walks.

OUT OF THE CELLAR: Wisconsin’s win on Friday night – combined with Clinton’s loss – got the Rattlers out of the Western Division cellar. The Rattlers had been in eighth or in a tie for eighth in the second half standings since July 14.

OUT OF THE CELLAR (PT II): The Rattlers played another error-free game on Friday night. In the four wins over Beloit, the Rattlers committed two errors. The recent flash of the leather has moved the Rattlers past Great Lakes in the Midwest League defensive statistics into 13th. The Loons have committed 192 errors and have a fielding percentage of .956. The Rattlers have committed 179 errors and have a fielding percentage of .958.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The West Michigan Whitecaps are the Midwest League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They won the first half Eastern Division wild card with a 38-32 record. They are 31-16 in the second half and currently have the second best record in the Midwest League at 69-48. In their most recent series, the Whitecaps swept a four game series at Clinton. West Michigan is the defending Midwest League Champion and they are managed by former major leaguer Tom Brookens.

THE SEASON SERIES: The Rattlers are 1-3 against the Whitecaps this season. West Michigan won the first two games of the series at Fifth Third Ballpark on April 21 and 22. The Rattlers won the third game of the series, but the Caps took the finale.

COMPARE & CONTRAST: The Rattlers have a team batting average of .245 (13th in the MWL) while the Whitecaps lead the Midwest League in team batting average of .270. West Michigan has scored 539 runs (4th) compared to 454 (13th) scored by Wisconsin. The Whitecaps have 61 homers (11th), while the Rattlers have 59 (T-12th). The West Michigan pitching staff has an ERA of 3.28 (T-2nd). Wisconsin’s hurlers have an ERA of 4.15 (11th).

PROSPECTING: BASEBALL AMERICA lists five members of the current Whitecap roster on their list of the top 30 prospects in the Detroit minor league system. Outfielder Gorkys Hernandez is the highest ranked Whitecap at #7. Infielder Scott Sizemore is rated at #10 in the system. Outfielder Brennan Boesch (#16), pitcher Jonah Nickerson (#25), and shortstop Audy Ciriaco (#28) are the other three on the list.

OUT OF THE DRAFT: The Whitecaps have one member of the 2007 Detroit draft class on their active roster. Pitcher Charles Furbush was the 4th round pick of the Tigers out of Louisiana State University in the June draft.

OPPOSING STARTER: Matt O’Brien was a 15th round pick of the Tigers in the 2004 draft out of Florida Atlantic University. He split time between Oneonta of the New York-Penn League and West Michigan last season and went a combined 11-2 with a 2.65 ERA in 15 starts. He began 2007 with Lakeland in the Florida State League and went 0-3 with a 7.59 ERA. O’Brien joined the Whitecaps after the All-Star break. He has won his last three starts. In his last outing, O’Brien allowed four runs (zero earned) over eight innings in a win over Quad Cities. He did not walk a batter, gave up eight hits, and struck out six in that start on August 5. Tonight is O’Brien’s first appearance against the Timber Rattlers and against an affiliate of the Mariners.