Game Notes -- 8/7

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Fort Wayne Wizards beat the Timber Rattlers 9-8. Jeremy Hunt homered twice and drove in six runs for Fort Wayne. Hunt’s second homer was a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning that erased an 8-6 Rattler lead.

LEADS, EVERYWHERE LEADS: Gavin Dickey gave the Rattlers a 1-0 lead with a home run in the second inning. But, Hunt hit a two run homer in the third. The Rattlers scored three in the fourth to retake the lead at 4-2. Fort Wayne kept getting close, but the Rattlers pushed a 6-5 lead to an 8-5 advantage with consecutive two-out singles by Jamie McOwen and Blake Ochoa in the top of the eighth. Then, the Wizards rallied for four runs in the bottom of the eighth capped by Hunt’s go-ahead homer.

ONE MORE TO THE LIST: The blown save for the Rattlers last night was their fourteenth of the season.

FOR KICKS: The Timber Rattlers and Wizards battled for four games in the series at Memorial Stadium. Wisconsin won the first three games of the set before losing on Monday. Here is the line score for the entire series:
..........R-H-E
WIS..42-57-4
FW...32-44-5
TIME: 15:30

WORKING THE BULLPEN: In the four games of this series, the Rattler bullpen has pitched 30 of the 42 innings. The Wizard bullpen pitched 24-2/3 of their 43 innings.

POWER SURGE: The Timber Rattlers had not homered in 73-1/3 innings before Ron Garth hit a home run in the final game of the Dayton series on August 2. The Rattlers proceeded to hit seven home runs in the Fort Wayne series.

OFF THE ROAD: The Rattlers went 4-4 in the eight-game trip to Dayton and Fort Wayne. Wisconsin had the lead in seven of those eight games.

MEET THE NEW GUY: Right handed relief pitcher Tom Ellis joins the Timber Rattlers today to bolster the relief corps. Ellis, an Australian, is in his first season as a professional. He began the season with Seattle’s Arizona League affiliate. In twelve appearances (two starts), Ellis had been 0-1 with a 3.91 ERA. To make room for Ellis, Anthony Varvaro has been transferred to the Everett AquaSox of the Northwest League. Varvaro will stay with the Rattlers and is scheduled to make his next start for the team on Saturday versus West Michigan.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Beloit Snappers are the Midwest League affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They won the first half Western Division title with a 44-26 record. They currently have the best record in the Midwest League at 69-43. In their most recent series, the Snappers split four games with the Dragons. Beloit is managed by Jeff Smith.

THE SEASON SERIES: The Rattlers are 1-7 against the Snappers. The teams split two games on Time Warner Cable Field April 17 and 18. Beloit beat the Rattlers in all six meetings at Pohlman Field this season. That streak includes a four-game sweep July 17-20.

COMPARE & CONTRAST: The Rattlers have a team batting average of .244 (13th in the MWL) while the Snappers have a team average of .240 (14th). Beloit has scored 479 runs (9th) compared to 434 (14th) scored by Wisconsin. Snapper hitters have 79 homers (T-4th), while the Rattlers have 54 (13th). The Beloit pitching staff has an ERA of 3.09 (1st). Wisconsin’s hurlers have an ERA of 4.22 (11th).

PROSPECTING: BASEBALL AMERICA put five members of the current Snapper roster on their list of top thirty prospects in the Minnesota organization. Chris Parmelee is the top rated Snapper on the list at number four. Joe Benson (#8) and Paul Kelley (#9), who is on the DL, are both in the top ten. Pitchers Tyler Robertson (#24) and Alex Burnett (#28) are also on the list.

OUT OF THE DRAFT: The Snappers have one member of the 2007 Minnesota draft class on their active roster. Chris Cates was the 38th round pick out of the University of Louisville.

OPPOSING STARTER: Brian Kirwan was the 11th round pick of the Twins in the 2005 draft out of Santa Fe Christian High School in Solona Beach, California. He did not pitch professionally in 2005. Kirwan went 5-5 with a 5.63 ERA in 13 starts for Elizabethton in the Appalachian League in 2006. He was rated as the 14th best prospect in the Appalachian League by Baseball America. Kirwan joined the Snappers in late May. In his last start, the Fort Wayne Wizards beat Kirwan on August 2. He allowed two runs on seven hits over 6-1/3 innings. He faced the Rattlers on July 18 at Pohlman Field and got a no decision. In that game he pitched four scoreless innings and allowed two hits.