Game Notes -- 8/15

ABOUT TUESDAY: The West Michigan Whitecaps beat the Timber Rattlers 6-3 in eleven innings. Ryan Strieby’s two-out, two-run double in the top of the eleventh broke the 3-3 tie.

LONG BALL: Rattler outfielder Gavin Dickey hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning off Jonah Nickerson to give the Rattlers a 2-1 lead. Dickey has hit all six of his homers and has 19 of his 28 RBI in the second half of the season.

ENDING ANOTHER GUY’S STREAK: Nickerson had a 26 inning scoreless streak before Dickey blasted his two run homer.

STARTING STRONG: Keith Renaud got the start for the Rattlers on Tuesday and went five innings. He allowed one unearned run on three hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Renaud left the game with a 2-1 lead.

SAVINGS OPPORTUNITY: The Whitecaps scored a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning off Justin Souza. Jeramy Laster launched a two-run homer to right-center to give the Whitecaps a 3-2 lead. That blast gave the Rattler bullpen their 19th blown save this season.

TIE GAME: Kuo Hui Lo tripled in the bottom of the seventh inning. Jamie McOwen singled in Lo to even the game 3-3.

SHUTDOWN MODE: After the home run by Laster, Ratter pitchers retired the next fifteen batters they faced. After the RBI single by McOwen, Whitecap pitchers retired the final fifteen batters they faced.

KICKIN’ IT: Three errors by Rattler third baseman Alex Liddi led to three of the six runs by the Whitecaps being unearned.

IN OT: Tuesday was the fourth extra inning game of August for the Rattlers. It was their first loss in extra frames this month. The Rattlers are 8-2 in ten extra inning games this season.

ROSTER MOVES: Pitcher Tony Butler was transferred back to the Rattler roster and catcher Jair Fernandez was activated from the disabled list today. To make room, the Seattle Mariners have sent catcher Blake Ochoa to Everett of the Northwest League and pitcher Drew Fiorenza has been placed on the disabled list.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Clinton LumberKings are the Midwest League affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They qualified for the Midwest League playoffs by winning the first half Wild Card in the Western Division with a record of 41-26. Clinton is 21-30 in the second half for an overall record of 62-56. In their most recent series, the LumberKings split four games with the South Bend Silver Hawks in Clinton. The L-Kings are managed by Mike Micucci.

THE SEASON SERIES: The Rattlers are 0-2 in the season series with the LumberKings. The teams were to have played a four game series on Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium April 9-12. But, the game on the 9th was postponed by inclement weather. The LumberKings swept the doubleheader the next day by scores of 8-1 and 11-1. The games scheduled for April 11 and 12 were snowed out. The Rattlers did not make a trip to Clinton in the first half.

COMPARE & CONTRAST: The Rattlers are 13th in the Midwest League in team batting average (.245). Clinton is tied for 9th (.251). Wisconsin has scored 466 runs (14th) compared to 523 (6th) for the Clinton. Wisconsin has 61 home runs (13th) while the L-Kings have 70 (T-9th). Wisconsin’s pitching staff has an ERA of 4.12 (11th). Clinton pitchers have an ERA of 3.60 (6th).

PROSPECTING: BASEBALL AMERICA places three members of the current Clinton roster on their list of top thirty prospects in the Ranger organization. Pitcher Kasey Kiker, the first round pick of Texas in 2006, is rated seventh. Shortstop Marcus Lemon, the son of former major leaguer Chet Lemon, is ranked twelfth. Second baseman Jose Vallejo is rated 29th.

OUT OF THE DRAFT: The LumberKings have two members of the 2007 Texas draft class on their active roster, all three are pitchers. Evan Reed (3rd round) and Josh Lueke (16th round) both on the roster.

OPPOSING STARTER: Zach Phillips was a 23rd round pick of the Rangers in the 2004 draft out of Sacramento City College. This is his third tour of duty with the LumberKings. Phillips made a pair of regular season relief appearances at the end of the 2005 season without a decision. Phillips went 5-12 with a 5.96ERA in 28 starts in 2006. In his last start for the LumberKings in 2007, Phillips pitched seven shutout innings against West Michigan and allowed three hits while striking out nine without a walk for a no decision. Phillips has faced the Rattlers three times. In the 2005 playoffs, Phillips allowed three runs on three hits in 1/3 of an inning as a reliever on September 10. In his lone start against the Rattlers in 2006, Phillips took the loss as he gave up four runs (three earned) on six hits over five innings on August 26 at Grand Chute.