August 2 game notes

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Loons beat the Timber Rattlers 8-6. Andrew Lambo homered and drove in four runs for Great Lakes. The Loons built an early 8-1 lead with four runs in the third and four more in the fourth. Wisconsin attempted a comeback, but fell short.

CALL OF THE LOONS: Great Lakes scored four runs in the second inning on three hits. Rattler starting pitcher Edward Paredes allowed a one out single and two walks to load the bases. Lambo knocked in his first run of the game with an infield grounder. A hit batsman re-loaded the bases. Brandon Taylor followed with a two-run single to center. Alex Garabedian singled in the final run of the inning.

LATHER. RINSE. REPEAT: The Rattlers got a run in the bottom of the third. Then, the Loons scored four more runs in the top of the fourth. Paredes issued a one-out walk and left in favor of Jose Jimenez. A single, a double steal, and an error allowed the first run of the inning to score. Lambo hit a three-run homer and the Loons went up 8-1.

AMONG THE LEADERS: Lambo is tied with Mike Moustakas of Burlington for fourth in the Midwest League in homers with 15. He is third in the league in RBI with 70.

CLIMBING BACK IN: The Rattlers scored three times in the bottom of the fourth. Ron Garth’s two-run triple made the score 8-3. Joe White’s sacrifice fly made the score 8-4. In the fifth, Edilio Colina drove in his team-leading 47th run of the year with a two-out single. In the eighth, Joe Dunigan hit his team-leading tenth homer of the season. The Rattlers had the tying run at the plate in the eighth and ninth innings, but could not tie the game.

DAILY TRIPLE: Garth’s triple marked the third straight game in which the Rattlers have tripled. Wisconsin did not have a three base hit in the game on July 29, but had two on July 28 to give them five triples in the last five games.

K-MEN: Four Loon pitchers combined to strikeout 14 Timber Rattler hitters in the game. Denny Almonte went 0-for-5 and struck out five times.

END OF THE LINE: Daniel Carroll went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts to end his hitting streak at eight games. He did reach on a fielder’s choice and stole two bases. The two steals gave Carroll the team lead with 22.

SCORELESS: Rattler reliever Jeff Dunbar pitched a scoreless ninth inning last night. He has not allowed a run in 7-1/3 innings over seven relief appearances with Wisconsin.

FIRST OF THE MONTH: The Rattlers have lost their first game of the month each month this season. Quad Cities beat the Rattlers 4-3 in Davenport on April 4 in the season opener. Lansing beat the Rattlers 6-2 on May 1 at Oldsmobile Park. Peoria beat Wisconsin 6-4 on June 1 and 7-1 on July 1 on Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Then, the Loons won 8-6 on August 1.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Great Lakes Loons are the Midwest League affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They finished the first half with a record of 30-39 and missed the playoffs in the Eastern Division. They are currently 15-26 in the second half and trail first place South Bend by 11 games. They are nine games behind Dayton for the Eastern Division Wild Card. Great Lakes is 22-33 on the road this season.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .240 as a team and have scored 411 runs (3.8/game). Wisconsin has hit 44 home runs this season. The Timber Rattler pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.91. Great Lakes is hitting .240 as a team and has scored 396 runs (3.6/game). The Loons have hit 66 home runs this season. The Great Lakes pitching staff has a combined ERA of 4.03.

2008 SEASON SERIES: The Loons lead the season series 3-1. Great Lakes took two out of three from the Rattlers at Down Diamond May 4 through May 6. The Loons won the first two games of the series by scores of 4-2 and 6-1. The Rattlers won the series finale 6-0.

PROSPECTING: Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook placed four current Loons on their top 30 list of Dodger prospects before the season. Outfielder Andrew Lambo is the highest rated player at #14. Pitcher Justin Miller (#22), infielder Preston Mattingly (#28), and outfielder Alfredo Silverio (#29) are also on the list.

THEY’RE RELATED: Mattingly is the son of former New York Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly.

WON’T SEE HIM: Pitcher Bryan Morris, a first round pick of the Dodgers in 2006, was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates at the trade deadline. He was part of the deal that sent Many Ramirez to the Dodgers from the Boston Red Sox.

OUT OF THE DRAFT 2007: The Loons have eight members of the 2007 Dodger draft class on their current roster. Pitchers Bobby Blevins (13th), Given Kutz (18th), Justin Miller (6th), and Cal Stanke (15th) are joined by catcher Alex Garabedian (8th), infielder Parker Dalton (24th), and outfielders Erik Kanaby (10th) and Andrew Lambo (4th).

OUT OF THE DRAFT 2008: The Dodgers have sent pitcher Josh Lindblom, a second round pick in this year’s draft out of Purdue, to the Loons. He is the only member of the 2008 draft class on the Loon roster.

GREAT LAKES STARTING PITCHER: RH Given Kutz was the 18th round pick of the Dodgers out of the University of Portland in the 2007 draft. Kutz was 6-6 with a 3.77ERA and was an honorable mention on the All-West Coast Conference Team. Kutz spent his first professional season with Ogden in the Pioneer League and went 1-0 with a save and an ERA of 3.00 in 18 relief appearances for the Raptors. He began 2008 with Inland Empire, the California League affiliate of the Dodgers, and was 0-1 with a save in 10 relief appearances. Kutz faced the High Desert Mavericks twice. In 3-1/3 innings, he allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits. He is 3-3 with a save in 16 games (11 starts) for the Loons. Tonight is his first appearance against the Rattlers. In his start prior to tonight, Kutz pitched seven shutout innings and allowed four hits for a no decision against Quad Cities on July 28.