ABOUT LAST NIGHT: West Michigan beat the Timber Rattlers 4-3. Kody Kaiser’s RBI single, his third hit of the night, in the top of the eighth inning broke a 3-3. Both starting pitchers – Juan Ramirez for Wisconsin and Alfredo Figaro for West Michigan – had nine strikeouts, but neither was involved in the decision.
FIRSTLY: The Rattlers got on the board first with a second inning RBI single by Gerardo Avila. The Rattlers have scored first in the first four games of this home stand.
RAAAAAMIIIIIIREZZZZZZZ: The Rattler starter retired the first ten batters he faced last night, but ran into trouble in the fifth inning. An RBI single by Joe Bowen tied the game 1-1 and an RBI single by Kyle Peter put the Whitecaps up 2-1. Ron Bourquin knocked in the third run of the game off Ramirez with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. On the evening, Ramirez set a new professional high for strikeouts with nine.
NOTHING COULD BE FEINER: Rattler catcher Korey Feiner hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game 3-3. Feiner has hit both Timber Rattler home runs at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium this season. He also threw out two of four would be base stealers in last night’s game.
THE CLOSER: Russ Darrow retired all six Rattlers he faced over the final two innings for his second save.
GOOD EYE! GOOD EYE! Eddy Hernandez drew a walk in the bottom of the second inning. It was the second plate appearance in a row in which the Rattler outfielder drew a walk. He had not coaxed a walk from an opposing pitcher in his first 37 plate appearances of 2008.
AND ONE: Rattler outfielder Calvin Beamon doubled in the first inning to run his current hitting streak to eight games. Beamon is 9-for-31 (.290).
BLUE MAN GROUP: Wisconsin had a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Juan Diaz fouled a pitch off the arm of home plate umpire Nathan Thompson. Thompson would need treatment and left the game. A fourteen minute delay occurred as base umpire Brandon Misun went back to the umpire’s clubhouse to put on the gear to work behind the plate and Timber Rattler front office intern Trevor Van Schindel got into the blue uniform to work the bases. After Mark McBratney was hit by a pitch in the top of the fifth, Thompson emerged from the first base dugout, took over as the base umpire, a sent Van Schindel back to his intern duties.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The West Michigan Whitecaps are the Midwest League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. In 2007, the Whitecaps had the best record in the league 83-57. They also went on to win the Midwest League Championship, their second straight league title and their third in the last four years. The last team to win consecutive Midwest League Championships was the Appleton Foxes. The Foxes won three straight titles from 1982-1984.
WHITECAPS IN 2008: West Michigan is off to a 14-9 record to start this season. They are in first place and have a one game lead over the Lansing Lugnuts for first place in the Midwest League’s Eastern Division. In their most recent series, the Whitecaps dropped two out of three games at Cedar Rapids. West Michigan is 7-7 on the road in 2008 under their first-year manager Joe DiPastino.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST: West Michigan is hitting .260 as a team. They have scored 120 runs (5.2/game) and have hit seven home runs. The Whitecap pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.09. Wisconsin has a team batting average of .240 and have scored 60 runs (3.0/game) with three homers. The Rattlers have a staff ERA of 4.03.
WEST MICHIGAN PITCHER: Manny Miguelez was Detroit’s eighth round pick in the 2007 draft out of the University of Miami. He was 1-2 with a 5.60ERA in 14 games (10 starts) in his final season with the Hurricanes. Most of his first pro season was spent with the Gulf Coast League Tigers where he was 2-4 with a 4.20ERA and 38 strikeouts over 45 innings pitched in 10 games (nine starts). Miguelez made two starts for Oneonta in the New York-Penn League late in the season and was 0-1 with a 4.91ERA. In his last start for the Whitecaps, Miguelez got a no decision against Beloit on April 23. He allowed four runs on six hits with two walks and eight strikeouts over 6-2/3 innings pitched. This is his first appearance against the Timber Rattlers and against an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.
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