July 13 game notes

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Rattlers snapped their 13 -game losing streak with a 5-4 win over the Fort Wayne Wizards. Joe Dunigan hit a pair of homers and drove in three runs. Ryan Moorer got the final four outs for his first save of the season.

YO, JOE! Dunigan hit his seventh and eighth home runs of the season last night. Both homers gave Wisconsin the lead. His first was a solo shot in the fourth inning for a 1-0 advantage. His second was a two-run blast to right in the eighth that broke a 3-3 tie.

MULTI-BALL: Last night was the first two homer game for a Timber Rattler since Andy Hargrove had a pair of long balls against the Peoria Chiefs in the second game of a doubleheader on May 13, 2007 in Grand Chute.

BACK-TO-BACK BLASTS: Juan Diaz hit his first homer since July 4, 2007 immediately following Dunigan’s home run in the fourth to give the Rattlers a 2-0 lead. This marks the second time in the last week Rattler batters have hit consecutive home runs. Ron Garth and Dunigan hit back-to-back homers against Beloit on July 6 at home.

GROOVIN’: Rattler starting pitcher Michael Pineda allowed one hit and walked one through the first six innings.

BUMP IN THE ROAD: Lance Zawadzki hit a homer to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning. Later in the frame, Ali Solis doubled in a pair of runs off Pineda to give the Wizards a 3-2 lead.

COMING BACK: Ron Garth, who extended his hitting streak to five games earlier in the game, doubled in the tying run in the top of the eighth off Dylan Axelrod. Dunigan launched the next pitch deep over the right field wall for a two-run homer and a 5-3 lead.

IT’S NEVER EASY: The Wizards scored a run against Natividad Dilone in the bottom of the eighth inning on a two-out single by Yefri Carvajal. That single also put the tying run on second and the lead run on first.

MOORER RELIEF: Moorer struck out Andy Parrino to get the final out of the eighth inning and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save as a Rattler. Moorer struck out three in is 1-1/3 innings of work.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Fort Wayne Wizards are the Midwest League affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They finished the first half with a record of 37-33 and missed the playoffs. In the second half, Fort Wayne is 8-15. They are tied for fifth place in the Eastern Division and trail South Bend by seven games for the top playoff spot. They trail Dayton by 3.5 games for the Wild Card. Fort Wayne is 27-21 at home this season.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .240 as a team and have scored 324 runs (3.7/game). Wisconsin has hit 34 home runs this season. The Timber Rattler pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.89. Fort Wayne is hitting .254 as a team and has scored 426 runs (4.6/game). The Wizards have hit 51 home runs this season. The Fort Wayne pitching staff has a combined ERA of 4.06.

2008 SEASON SERIES: The season series is ties 2-2. In the first half, the Wizards took two of three games on Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Fort Wayne won the first two games in Grand Chute (5-1 on April 14 and 5-3 on April 15). The Rattlers won the series finale by a score of 6-2 on April 16.

FORT WAYNE STARTING PITCHER: LH Cory Luebke was a supplemental first round pick of the Padres in the 2007 draft out of The Ohio State University. Luebke led the Big Ten conference in ERA with a 1.95 in 2007. After signing with the Padres, Luebke pitched at three levels in the San Diego system. He went 3-0 and a 1.46 ERA in eight games (three starts) for the Eugene Emeralds in the Northwest League. Then, Luebke made five starts for the Wizards and was 1-2 with a 3.33 ERA. He wrapped up the season with the Lake Elsinore Storm in the California League with a 1-1 record and a 7.71 ERA in two games (one start). Luebke started the 2008 season with Storm and was 3-6 with a 6.84 ERA in 17 games (15 starts). He faced High Desert, Seattle’s California League affiliate, three times this season and was 1-1 with a 3.12ERA. He allowed seven runs (six earned) on 12 hits with five walks, and 15 strikeouts over 17-1/3 innings. Luebke faced Wisconsin one time last year. On August 6 at Memorial Stadium, he picked up a no decision as he gave up five runs on eight hits and struck out seven over six innings. Luebke is ranked as the #12 prospect in the San Diego organization by Baseball America.