Game Notes -- 8/18

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Timber Rattlers beat the Clinton LumberKings 3-2. Sean White had a successful rehab start with five scoreless innings. Anthony Varvaro struck out nine over the final four innings for the save. Reed Eastley had a pair of doubles and knocked in two runs for the Rattler offense.

MAJOR LEAGUE: White walked one and allowed two hits over his five innings, but he faced the minimum 15 batters. The Rattler defense turned three double plays behind White. The right hander struck out four and picked up the win.

THAT WAS RARE: Varvaro, who was the scheduled starter for the Rattlers on Saturday worked four innings for his first professional save. The last time a Rattler pitcher had a four inning save was on May 24, 2000 when Caleb Balbuena pitched in relief of Matt Thornton at South Bend.

RACKING UP THE K’S: Varvaro struck out the first five batters he faced last night. His nine K’s last night ran his team leading total to 111 in 110-1/3 innings.

SLIGHT HICCUP: A two-out, two-run ground rule double by Wally Backman pulled the L-Kings to within 3-2 in the top of the eighth. But, Varvaro got out of the inning by striking out Hunter Harrigan and then worked a 1-2-3 ninth to close out Clinton.

GROUND GAME: Only one Clinton out was a fly ball last night. Chad Tracy fouled out to Alex Liddi in the seventh inning. The other 26 outs recorded by the Rattler defense were via strikeout or groundout.

ON THE OFFENSE SIDE: Eastley’s first inning RBI double gave the Rattlers the lead. Eastley also provided an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Rattlers a 3-0 lead.

A LITTLE HELP: Juan Beltran scored all the way from first on a hit-and-run single by Juan Diaz in the second inning when right fielder K.C. Herren bobbled to ball. This gave the Rattlers a 3-0 lead.

A SMALL VILLAGE: Wisconsin left a season high 15 runners on base last night.

WHITE NOISE: Rattler first baseman Joe White extended his team high hitting streak to fourteen games with a pair of singles last night. White is 21-for-48 (.438) during the streak. This is now the longest hitting streak on the Rattler team in 2007. It is the longest hitting streak by a Timber Rattlers since Josh Womack had a 22 game streak in 2005.

SO FAR SO GOOD: The Rattlers are 7-3 in the first ten games of their 16-game home stand. The Rattlers have swept a four game series from Beloit and a two game series from Clinton. West Michigan took three of four from Wisconsin.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Cedar Rapids Kernels are the Midwest League affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. They are currently 27-26 and in fourth place in the second half Western Division standings. They are currently trailing first place Quad Cities by 7-1/2 games. The Kernels are three games behind Peoria for the Wild Card. Cedar Rapids swept a two game series from Peoria at home in their most recent series. The Chiefs are managed by Ever Magallanes.

THE SEASON SERIES: The Rattlers are 6-5 against the Kernels this season. The teams have met four times in the second half – all here at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium – and split the meeting. Those are the only meetings here this season.

COMPARE & CONTRAST: The Rattlers are 12th in the Midwest League in team batting average (.246). Cedar Rapids is tied for 6th (.255). Wisconsin has scored 476 runs (13th) compared to 531 (6th) for the Kernels. Wisconsin has 61 home runs (13th) while the Kernels have 97 to lead the league. Wisconsin’s pitching staff has an ERA of 4.09 (10th). Cedar Rapids pitchers have an ERA of 3.38 (5th).

PROSPECTING: BASEBALL AMERICA placed 11 members of the Cedar Rapids roster on their list of top 30 Angel prospects before the 2007 season. They are: Catcher Hank Conger (6); pitchers Sean O’Sullivan (9), Tommy Mendoza (10), David Herndon (11), Trevor Bell (21), and Barrett Browning (28); outfielder Peter Bourjos (12); and infielders PJ Phillips (14), Matt Sweeney (16), Ryan Mount (20), and Mark Trumbo (29). Pitcher Jeremy Haynes (17) is on the list, but also on the disabled list.

OUT OF THE DRAFT: The Kernels have one member of the 2007 Angel draft class on their roster. Catcher Brian Walker was the 29th round pick of the Angels out of Arkansas.

CEDAR RAPIDS STARTER: David Herndon was the 5th round pick of the Angels in the 2006 draft out of Gulf Coast Community College in Florida. He was originally drafted by the Twins in the 23rd round of the 2005 draft as a draft-and-follow, but the Twins did not sign him. Last season in the Pioneer League, Herndon went 5-2 with a 2.21ERA in fourteen starts for the Orem Owlz. He has won his last two starts. In his last start, Herndon allowed two runs on five hits over five innings for a win over Great Lakes on August 12 at Cedar Rapids. Herndon is 1-1 in two starts against the Rattlers. He has allowed 12 runs (9 earned) on 16 hits over 10-2/3 innings versus Wisconsin in 2007.