ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers beat the Lansing Lugnuts 5-2. Michael Pineda pitched 5-1/3 scoreless innings and struck out a career high seven batters to pick up his third win of the season. The Rattlers scored three times in the fourth on an infield groundout by Ron Garth and a two-run double by Eddy Hernandez. Scott Robinson hit a two-run homer in the fifth to put the Rattlers up 5-0. Lansing did not score their runs until the bottom of the ninth inning.
THREE’S COMPANY: Pineda joins Donnie Hume as the second pitcher to go 3-0 this season. Hume is 3-0 as a starter. Pineda went 2-0 as a reliever. Yesterday was his first win as a starter with the Timber Rattlers.
WITH THE BENEFIT OF ONE HIT: The Rattlers scored three runs in the fourth inning on just one hit. Wisconsin loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a hit batsman. Garth’s RBI grounder knocked in the first run. Hernandez followed with his double to left to plate two more runs and the Rattlers had a lead they would never give up.
POWER SURGE: Robinson’s homer in the fifth inning was a two-run shot that gave Wisconsin a 5-0 lead. The Rattlers hit a home run in each of the three games in the series at Lansing and now have six home runs in the season.
BAKER’S DOZEN: Edilio Colina doubled in the first inning last night. Colina now has a 13 game hitting streak (18-for-50, .360). This is the third longest active streak in the Midwest League. The two streaks in the league longer than Colina’s 13-gamer belong to Evan Frey of South Bend and Adrian Ortiz of Burlington. Frey’s hitting streak has reached 21 games (32-for-92, .348). Ortiz is at 15 games (25-for-64, .398) on his hitting streak.
TWO BAKER’S DOZENS: Maximo Mendez is 0-for-26 with a four walks since his last base hit. That hit was a single in the first inning against Beloit in the first game of a doubleheader on April 26.
*IT’S BEEN A WHILE: Records going back to the 2000 season, show that the Timber Rattlers had not won a series in Lansing before taking two out of three in the just completed series.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Great Lakes Loons are the Midwest League affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Last season, the Loons were 57-82 in their inaugural Midwest League season. Great Lakes did not make the playoffs in 2007. Manager Juan Bustabad is in his first season at the helm of the Loons.
LOONS IN 2008: Great Lakes is 12-16 so far this season. In their most recent series, the Loons dropped two out of three games to the Beloit Snappers at Dow Diamond. When Great Lakes won the second game of the series with Beloit, they snapped a seven game losing streak. Great Lakes is in fifth place, 4.5 games behind the division leading West Michigan Whitecaps. The Loons are 4-8 at Dow Diamond this season.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .234 as a team and have scored 80 runs (3.2/game). Wisconsin has hit six homers this season. The Timber Rattler pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.86. Great Lakes are hitting .213 and have scored 85 runs (3.0/game). The Loons have hit 16 home runs this season. Great Lakes’ pitching staff has an ERA of 4.02.
2007 SEASON SERIES: Wisconsin went 4-4 in eight games against the Loons in 2007. The teams split a four game series at Down Diamond May 8-11. The teams also split a four game set on Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium July 26-29.
PROSPECTING: Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook places six members of the current Great Lakes roster on their list of the top 30 prospects in the Dodger organization. Third baseman Pedro Baez (#10) is the highest rated player on the list. Pitcher Bryan Morris (#12) and outfielder Andrew Lambo (#14) are in the top 15. Pitcher Justin Miller (#22), infielder Preston Mattingly (#28), and pitcher Geison Aguasviva (#30) are also on the list.
OUT OF THE DRAFT: The Loons have six members of the 2007 Dodger draft class on their current roster. Pitchers Bobby Blevins (13th) and Justin Miller (6th); catcher Alex Garabedian (8th); infielders Parker Dalton (24th); and outfielders Erik Kanaby (10th) and Andrew Lambo (4th) are all Loons.
VETERANS: There are eight players on the current Great Lakes roster who spent at least part of the 2007 season with the Loons.
FAMILY AFFAIR: Preston Mattingly is the son of former New York Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly. Scott Van Slyke is the son of former major league outfielder Andy Van Slyke.
GREAT LAKES STARTING PITCHER: Kyle Smit was a fifth round pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2006 draft out of Spanish Springs High School in Nevada. He split time between the Loons and the Gulf Coast League Dodgers during the 2007 season. Smit began his 2007 season in the Gulf Coast League. He went 4-0 in eight games (six starts) with a 2.82 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 38.1 innings pitched. Smit was promoted to Great Lakes in August. He went 0-5 with an 8.34ERA in five starts for the Loons at the end of last season. He walked 12 and struck out 26 over 22.2 innings pitched. Today is his first appearance against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and against an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. In his last start, Smit took the loss at Clinton on April 28. He gave up seven runs on nine hits over 4-1/3 innings with a walk and three strikeouts.
*Staind on a Sunday? You bet.
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