ABOUT WEDNESDAY: The Timber Rattlers beat the Peoria Chiefs 6-1. Denny Almonte had three hits – a single, double, and triple – and a pair of RBI to pace the offense. A quartet or Rattler pitchers allowed one unearned run on seven hits.
TRIFECTA: The Rattlers won the final three games of the series with the Chiefs to win the four game set 3-1. Wisconsin is on their second winning streak of three or more games this season.
TWO-OUT BINGO: Peoria starting pitcher Chris Siegfried retired the first two Wisconsin batters of the first inning. Edilio Colina and Ron Garth would each draw walks. Gavin Dickey and Joe Dunigan followed with back-to-back RBI singles. Almonte was next and he doubled off the left field wall to drive in the final two runs of the inning.
*FIVE: Hume allowed two hits and one unearned run with two walks and two strikeouts over five innings for his fifth win of the season. Hume did not give up a hit until a two-out RBI single by Elvis Lara in the fifth.
OPERATION SHUTDOWN: Three Timber Rattler relievers – Jose Escalona (IP), Michael Pineda (2IP), and Justin Souza (IP) – followed Hume into the game and kept the Chiefs off the scoreboard. The Rattler bullpen pitched 15 innings in the four game series against Peoria. They allowed four runs over those 15 innings.
ESCALONA’S RUN: Escalona, who pitched a scoreless sixth inning yesterday, has not allowed a run over his last eight outings. The lefty has pitched 8-2/3 consecutive scoreless innings.
DOZEN FOR MENDEZ: Rattler outfielder Maximo Mendez went 2-for-4 with a walk yesterday to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. He is 20-for-48 (.417) during the streak. The 12-game streak is the longest current hitting streak in the Midwest League.
STILL A WAYS TO GO: Evan Frey of South Bend has the longest streak in the Midwest League this season. The Silver Hawk outfielder had a 23-game hit streak from April 9 through May 5 of this year.
DROUGHT: Mendez hit a lead-off homer against the Peoria Chiefs on May 26. That was the last time a Rattler batter went deep. The last time a Rattler homered at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium was May 17, when Scott Robinson hit a game winning homer in the bottom of the ninth to beat Kane County.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Quad Cities River Bandits are the Midwest League affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are currently 30-27 and tied with the Beloit Snappers for third place in the Midwest League Western Division. Both Quad Cities and Beloit trail division leading Clinton by 10 games. The River Bandits and the Snappers are both 4.5 games behind the Kane County Cougars for the first half wild card spot in the Western Division. Quad Cities is 15-15 in 30 road games this season.
FAMILIAR FACE: River Bandit manager Steve Dillard has managed in the Midwest League before this season. Dillard was the first manager of the South Bend Silver Hawks in 1988. He also managed the Davenport, Iowa Midwest League franchise in 1993 and 1994 when they were known as the Quad City River Bandits and were an affiliate of the Houston Astros.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .238 as a team and have scored 184 runs (3.3/game). Wisconsin has hit 13 home runs this season. The Timber Rattler pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.29. The River Bandits are hitting .237 as a team and have scored 232 runs (4.0/game). Quad Cities has hit 36 home runs this season. The River Bandit pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.76.
2007 SEASON SERIES: The Rattlers and SWING of the Quad Cities (as they were known last year) played 16 times in 2007. The Rattlers went 6-10 against Quad Cities, including a 2-6 record at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium.
2008 SEASON SERIES: Wisconsin and Quad Cities split a four game series at Modern Woodmen Park to open the 2008 season. After a rainout on April 3, the River Bandits won on April 4 by a score of 4-3. The Rattlers swept a doubleheader on April 5, winning both games by a score of 2-0. Quad Cities won the series finale on April 6 by a 6-1 score.
PROSPECTING: Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook places three current River Bandits on their Top 30 Cardinal Prospect lists. Shortstop Pete Kozma, the 18th overall pick in the 2007 draft, is the highest rated Bandit on the list at #7. Pitcher Blake King, a member of the Swing in 2007, checks in at #26. Catcher Luis De La Cruz is #30.
OUT OF THE DRAFT: Ten members of the River Bandits were selected by St. Louis in the 2007 draft: Pitchers Brian Broderick (21st), Thomas Eager (5th), Chuckie Fick (15th), and Dylan Gonzalez (31st); infielders Mike Folli (42nd) and Kozma (1st); and outfielders Matthew Arburr (17th), Adron Chambers (38th), and Charlie Kingery (22nd) were all picked in the ’07 draft.
QUAD CITIES STARTING PITCHER: Brian Broderick was a 21st round pick out of Grand Canyon (AZ) University in the 2007 draft. He was 6-5 with a 3.65ERA in 14 games (all starts) for the Antelopes. His first pro season was with split between Batavia (New York-Penn) and Johnson City (Appalachian) and he was 3-3 with a 2.55ERA in 16 games (9 starts). Tonight is his first appearance against the Rattlers and against an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. In his last appearance, Broderick allowed two runs on four hits over three innings of relief work at Beloit on June 1.
QUAD CITIES RELIEVER: The Bandits employ a tandem starter system. Also scheduled to pitch tonight for the Bandits is Josh Wilson, a second round pick out of Whitehouse (TX) high school in 2005, is 1-1 with a 4.98ERA in six games (three starts) for the Bandits this season. He faced the Timber Rattlers on May 9, 2006 and took the loss. In his last appearance this season, Wilson started at Beloit on June 1 and allowed seven runs on seven hits over two innings to take the loss.
*-Under-rated Peanuts character
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