May 3 Game Notes

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers defeated the Lansing Lugnuts 5-2 Friday at Oldsmobile Park. Joe Dunigan homered, doubled twice, and drove in two runs for the Rattlers. Donnie Hume allowed two runs over 5-1/3 innings and got the win. Phillippe Aumont pitched three scoreless frames for his first professional save.

END OF THE AFFAIR: Wisconsin’s win ended an eight-game losing streak against the Lugnuts.

THE VERY GOOD NIGHT OF JOE DUNIGAN: The Rattler outfielder homered for the second game in a row. His two doubles gave him eight total bases on the night. Also, Dunigan did not strikeout and recorded an outfield assist.

TAG-TEAM CHAMPIONS: Hume and Aumont teamed for the fourth time this season. Hume pitched a career high 5-1/3 innings and added a career-high 8 strikeouts as he earned his third win of the season. Aumont walked two and struck out two in his three innings of work last night. Aumont has not allowed an earned run in 14-2/3 innings this season.

LEST WE FORGET: Rattler reliever Travis Mortimore got the final two outs of the bottom of the sixth inning.

FORTUNATE BOUNCE: Mortimore entered the game protecting a 4-2 lead with runners at first and third with one out. He threw a wild pitch and the runner from third broke for the plate. However, the ball hit off a door in the net behind home plate and caromed to catcher Korey Feiner near home plate. Feiner turned and tagged out the runner before he could score.

EVEN DOZEN: Edilio Colina doubled twice last night. His first double knocked in a run in the third inning. Colina now has a 12 game hitting streak (17-for-47, .362). This is the third longest active streak in the Midwest League.

WELCOME BACK: Last night, Rattler designated hitter Joe White made his first appearance of the season. He was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.

CANNON: Lansing rightfielder Moises Sierra threw out Juan Diaz twice on the bases last night. Diaz was out trying to stretch a single to a double in the fourth and again trying to score from third on a flyball to right. Sierra is tied for second in the league in outfield assists with five. Jeremy Moore of Cedar Rapids leads the league with six.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Lansing Lugnuts are the Midwest League affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Last season, the Lugnuts were 78-61 and qualified for the playoffs as the second half champions. They were swept by the West Michigan Whitecaps in the first round.

LUGNUTS IN 2008: Lansing is 15-12 and is in third place in the Eastern Division. They are 1.5 games behind first place West Michigan. In their most recent series, Lasing faced Quad Cities in a three games that were held in three different Iowa cities due to flooding around the home ballpark of the River Bandits. Lansing went 1-2, winning the middle game at Clinton, but losing game one in Cedar Rapids and game three in Iowa City. Lansing is 8-3 at home this season under new manager Clayton McCullough.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .238 as a team and have scored 75 runs (3.1/game). Wisconsin has hit five homers. The Rattler pitching staff has an ERA of 3.95. The Lugnuts are hitting .284 as a team and have scored 134 runs (5.0/game). Lansing has hit 13 home runs. The Lugnut pitching staff has an ERA of 3.48.

2007 SEASON SERIES: Wisconsin went 1-7 against the Lugnuts last season. The Rattlers won the first meeting between the teams last season and dropped the next seven, including a sweep at the hands of the Lugnuts July 12-15 at Oldsmobile Park.

NEXT TIME THEY MEET: Wisconsin hosts the Lugnuts in Grand Chute, July 29-31.

LANSING STARTING PITCHER: Brad Mills was the fourth round pick of the Blue Jays out of the University of Arizona in the 2007 draft. Mills was 9-4 with a 4.41 ERA in 16 games (14 starts) with 89 strikeouts and 30 walks in 87.2 innings pitched in his final season with the Wildcats. His first professional stop was with the Auburn Doubledays of the New York-Penn League. He appeared in six games (two starts) and was 2-0 with a 2.00ERA. In 18 innings, he allowed nine hits, four runs, six walks, and struck out 21. Tonight is his first appearance against an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. In his last start for the Lugnuts, Mills went 4-2/3 innings against Quad Cities on April 28. In the game, Mills gave up two runs on four hits with three walks and eleven strikeouts, but got a no decision in the game.

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