July 30 Game Notes

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Rattlers beat the Lansing Lugnuts 6-2. Denny Almonte and Joe Dunigan each had a home run in the game for Wisconsin. Michael Pineda picked up his sixth win of the season.

LUCKY OR UNLUCKY? Both teams banged out 13 hits in the game. The Lugnuts stranded 11 runners. The Rattlers stranded 10.

SCATTERED: Pineda allowed 11 hits over seven innings but allowed only two runs. He walked one and struck out eight to keep most of those runners clogging the base paths.

CAREER DAY: Pineda’s eight strikeouts were a professional high for one game.

LIKES FACING LANSING: Pineda went 2-0 in two starts against the Lugnuts this season. He struck out 15 and allowed three earned runs over 12-1/3 innings in those two victories.

NUMBERS NINE: Almonte and Dunigan each hit their ninth home runs of the season last night. They are tied for the team lead. Almonte has hit three homers in the last two games.

PAIR OF THREES: Almonte and Edilio Colina each had three hits in the game for Wisconsin. Almonte had a single and a double to go along with his homer. Colina had a pair of singles and a double.

TWO OUT BINGO: The Rattlers trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. There were two on with two out with Israel Nunez due up to bat. The Rattler catcher smacked a double to left to put the Rattlers up 2-1. Later in the inning, Colina drove in Nunez with an infield single. The Rattlers never trailed after this inning.

SPELLING RELIEF: Ryan Moorer and Jeff Dunbar each worked a scoreless inning in relief of Pineda. Moorer worked around a pair of one-out singles in the eighth to keep Lansing off the scoreboard. Dunbar walked the lead off batter in the ninth but also kept the Lugnuts from scoring.

LOOKING FOR MR. DUNBAR: The converted catcher has made six relief appearances for the Timber Rattlers and has not allowed a run over 6-1/3 innings pitched.

MEN OF QUALITY: Wisconsin starting pitchers have tossed four consecutive quality starts. The streak started with Jake Wild against Beloit on July 26 as he pitched seven shutout innings. Edward Paredes also tossed seven shutout innings against Beloit in the regularly scheduled game on July 27. Keith Renaud tossed 6-2/3 scoreless innings against the Snappers on July 28. Add in Pineda’s two-run, seven-inning performance last night and Wisconsin starters have allowed two runs (both earned) over 27-2/3 innings in the last four games for an ERA of 0.65.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Lansing Lugnuts are the Midwest League affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. They finished the first half with a record of 39-31 and as the first half champions of the Eastern Division. They are currently 59-49 on the season. The Lugnuts have lost five straight.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .240 as a team and have scored 397 runs (3.8/game). Wisconsin has hit 42 home runs this season. The Timber Rattler pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.89. Lansing is hitting .257 as a team and has scored 456 runs (4.2/game). The Lugnuts have hit 58 home runs this season. The Lansing pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.06.

2008 SEASON SERIES: The Rattlers lead the season series 3-1. Wisconsin took two out of three from the Lugnuts at Oldsmobile Park earlier this season. The Lugnuts beat the Rattlers 6-2 on May 1. Wisconsin won the final two games of the series 5-2 on May 2 and 5-2 on May 3.

LANSING STARTING PITCHER: LH Chi-Hung Cheng was signed by the Blue Jays as a non-drafted free agent out of Taiwan in 2003. This is his third tour of duty with the Lugnuts. He was 7-6 with a 3.15ERA in 26 games (25 starts) and was a midseason and postseason all-star in the Midwest League in 2005. In 2006, Cheng was 11-5 with a 2.70ERA in 28 starts for the Lugnuts. Last year, Cheng split time between the Gulf Coast League and Auburn in the New York-Penn League. In his start prior to this evening, Cheng was beaten by the Quad Cities River Bandits at home. He allowed nine runs (five earned) on seven hits over 4-1/3 innings. Cheng did not face the Rattlers when the teams met in May of this season. But, he made three starts against Wisconsin between 2005 and 2006. He is 1-0 with 10 runs (nine earned) on 13 hits with 22 strikeouts over 17-2/3 innings in those three starts.