July 23 Game notes

LAST ACTION: The Timber Rattlers beat the Beloit Snappers 12-6 at Pohlman Field on Monday afternoon. Wisconsin pounded out 15 hits with Joe White and Juan Diaz leading the way with three hits a piece. White drove in three runs in the game.

HIT PARADE: All ten Timber Rattlers who had a plate appearance in Monday’s game had at least one hit.

WHY TEN? Rattler first baseman Joe Dunigan, who went 2-for-4 in the game, took a bad hop grounder to the mouth in the bottom of the sixth inning and left the game. Alex Meneses replaced Dunigan and would single in the eighth. Dunigan walked off the field under his own power and should be good to go for this series with the Whitecaps.

THE SINGLE LIFE: All 15 of Wisconsin’s hits on Monday were singles. In the three game series with the Snappers, the Rattlers had 32 hits and 31 of those hits were singles. The only extra-base hit for the Rattlers in the set with Beloit was an RBI double by Alex Liddi on Sunday afternoon.

WILD STREAK: The Rattlers also took advantage of eight walks, three hit batsmen, three errors, two wild pitches, and two balks in Monday’s game:

TOUGH START: Rattler starting pitcher Edward Paredes gave up four hits and three runs in the bottom of the first inning.

COMEBACK: Wisconsin scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to get close. Wisconsin took the lead with a six-run fifth inning that saw 12 players bat. Dunigan and Diaz had RBI singles in the inning. The other four runs scored on a balk, a wild pitch, a bases loaded walk, and a bases loaded hit batsman. The Rattlers have rallied from a three-run deficit to win games five times in 2008.

THAT’S A STREAK! Monday’s victory was the second in a row for Wisconsin and marked the first winning streak for the team since June 22 and 23.

SERIES WIN: By taking two out of three from the Snappers, the Rattlers won their first series of the second half. The last Rattler series win was when they took four out of five games from Clinton at Alliant Energy Field at the end of the first half.

THAT’S A STREAK (PT. II): Paredes allowed one more run (unearned) on two more hits after the first inning and picked up the win. In all, Paredes worked 5-2/3 innings, allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and struck out four while walking two for his second win in a row.

HERE COMES THE SUN: The Rattlers are 19-16 in day games this season.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The West Michigan Whitecaps are the Midwest League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They finished the first half with a record of 37-31 and qualified for the playoffs as the Eastern Division Wild Card. The Whitecaps are 14-16 in the second half. West Michigan has a record of 25-22 at home this season.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .239 as a team and have scored 361 runs (3.8/game). Wisconsin has hit 35 home runs this season. The Timber Rattler pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.92. West Michigan is hitting .252 as a team and has scored 434 runs (4.4/game). The Whitecaps have hit 45 home runs this season. The West Michigan pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.40.

2008 SEASON SERIES: West Michigan leads the season series 2-1. The Whitecaps took two out of three games from the Timber Rattlers on Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium from April 28-30. West Michigan won the first game of the series 4-3. The Rattlers won game two 7-5. The Whitecaps took the rubber game 6-1.

PROSPECTING: The only member of the West Michigan Whitecap roster who was on the Baseball America Prospect Handbook list of top 30 Tiger prospects heading into this season is currently on the disabled list. Pitcher Charlie Furbush was rated as the #21 prospect in the Tiger organization heading into the 2008 season.

OUT OF THE DRAFT 2007: The Whitecaps have eight members of the 2007 Tiger draft class on their actice roster. Pitchers Andrew Hess (19th), Jon Kibler (30th), Noah Krol (17th), Manny Miguelez (8th), and Paul Nardozzi (31st) are joined by infielders Justin Henry (9th) and Kody Kaiser (15th) and outfielder Kyle Peter (34th)

OUT OF THE DRAFT 2008: There are six members of the 2008 Detroit draft class on the active West Michigan roster. Pitchers Scott Green (3rd), Brett Jacobson (4th), and Thad Weber (16th); catcher Alex Avila (5th); infielder Brandon Douglas (11th); and outfielder Keith Stein (29th) are all with the Whitecaps. Also, outfielder Andy Dirks, an 8th round pick in 2008, is currently on the disabled list.

WEST MICHIGAN STARTING PITCHER: LH Mauricio Robles was signed by the Tigers as a non-drafted free agent out of Venezuela. Robles spent the last two seasons in the Venezuelan Summer League and compiled a record of 3-7 in 28 games (14 starts) with 103 strikeouts in 85 innings. He joined the Whitecaps in May and started out in the West Michigan bullpen. Robles is 3-1 with a 3.14ERA in 15 appearances (eight starts) for the Whitecaps this season. As a starter, he is 1-1 with a 2.62ERA. In his start prior to this evening, Robles picked up a no decision at Beloit on July 18. In that game at Pohlman Field, the Snappers got to him for three runs on two hits with three walks and three wild pitches over four innings. Robles struck out three Beloit batters in that game. Tonight is the first time Robles will face the Timber Rattlers. It is also the first time he will face an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.