August 21 Game Notes

LAST ACTION: The defeated the Kane County Cougars 3-2 on Tuesday afternoon. Joe Dunigan drove in a pair of homers with a home run and a double. Maximo Mendez also homered to account for the other Timber Rattler run. Natividad Dilone picked up the win and Keith Meyer got the save.

EARLY ON: Dunigan gave the Rattlers a 1-0 lead with a two-out RBI double in the top of the first inning. Mendez hit a solo homer in the top of the third inning for a 2-0 advantage. A sacrifice fly by Todd Johnson pulled Kane County to within 2-1 in the bottom of the third.

AUMONT UPDATE: Rattler starting pitcher Phillippe Aumont pitched 4+ innings on Tuesday. He allowed one run on three hits with four walks and three strikeouts for a no decision.

INSURANCE: Dunigan hit his team-leading twelfth home run of the season in the top of the sixth to give the Rattlers a 3-1 lead. The RBI on the homer was the 48th of the season for Dunigan and he is second on the Rattlers in that category.

SOLID: Dilone relieved Aumont after the Rattler starter walked the lead-off batter in the bottom of the fifth. Dilone pitched three scoreless innings without allowing a hit and striking out three.

NEVER EASY: Jose Jimenez entered to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning and loaded the bases on a leadoff single and a walk and a hit batsman with two outs.

SAVING THE DAY: Meyer got Justin Frash looking at strike three on a 3-2 pitch to end the eighth. Meyer did give up a leadoff homer to Jake Smith in the bottom of the ninth, but he got the save, his fourth of the season.

BOUNCING BACK: The Rattlers lost the first two games of the four-game series at Kane County. Then, the Rattlers picked up the series split by winning the final two games.

SUCCESS: The Rattlers returned home from their seven-game road trip with a winning record by going 4-3. Wisconsin was 2-1 in three games at Peoria before getting the split at Elfstrom Stadium against the Cougars.

POWER SURGE: The Rattlers hit nine homers over that seven game road trip. Wisconsin now has 55 home runs this season.

WELCOME BACK: Catcher Jonathan Arias has rejoined the Timber Rattlers. He takes the place of catcher Blake Ochoa, who was placed on the disabled list.

WHERE’VE YOU BEEN? Arias joined the Timber Rattlers at the end of the first half and appeared in a pair of games. After the game against the Burlington Bees on June 20, Arias was sent to the Arizona League affiliate of the Mariners and went 4-for-16 (.250) in five games before being promoted to Pulaski in the Appalachian League. Arias had appeared in 35 games for Pulaski and was hitting .239 with two homers and 16 RBI.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Quad Cities River Bandits are the Midwest League affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They did not qualify for the Midwest League playoffs in the first half. The River Bandits were just swept in a four game series with Western Division leading Burlington before starting this series with the Timber Rattlers. That sweep knocked Quad Cities to a 29-29 record in the second half and a deficit of 7-1/2 games behind the Bees for the division lead. The River Bandits are trailing Cedar Rapids by three games for the second half Western Division Wild Card. They are 62-60 overall.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .242 as a team and have scored 483 runs (3.9/game). Wisconsin has hit 55 home runs this season. The Timber Rattler pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.93. Quad Cities is hitting .242 as a team. They have scored 518 runs (4.2/game). The Bandits have hit 92 home runs this season. The Quad Cities pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.82.

2008 SEASON SERIES: The Rattlers lead the season series 4-2. Wisconsin and Quad Cities split a four game series at Modern Woodmen Park to open the 2008 season. The Rattlers won the first two games of a series on Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium that was scheduled for four games from June 5-8. The games on June 7 and 8 were rained out.

PROSPECTING: Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook listed one current River Bandit on their list of the top 30 prospects in the St. Louis organization. Reliever Kenny Maiques was rated at #15 before the 2008 season.

OUT OF THE DRAFT 2007: The Cardinals have put nine members of their 2007 draft class on the active Quad Cities roster. Pitchers Chuckie Fick (15th), Dylan Gonzalez (31st), Deryk Hooker (7th), Jameson Maj (45th), and JD Stambaugh (25th) are joined by infielders Oliver Marmol (6th) and Ross Oeder (28th) and outfielders Adron Chambers (38th) and Nick Peoples (19th).

OUT OF THE DRAFT 2008: St. Louis has five members of their 2008 draft class on the current River Bandit roster. Pitchers Jared Bradford (18th) and Ryan Kulik (8th); catcher Blake Murphy (42nd); and infielders Curt Smith (39th) and Niko Vasquez (3rd) are all on the Quad Cities roster.

QUAD CITIES STARTING PITCHER: LH Ryan Kulik was picked by the St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth round of the 2008 draft out of Rowan (NJ) University. Kulik went 10-2 with an ERA of 1.72 and struck out 144 while walking just 24 over 94-1/3 innings for the Profs. Kulik started his professional season with the Batavia Muckdogs in the New York-Penn League with a pair of starts that lasted three innings each. He allowed one unearned run on three hits and struck out five before being promoted to the River Bandits. He is 4-4 in nine starts with a 5.44ERA since joining Quad Cities. In his last start before tonight, Kulick allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits over 7-2/3 innings against Beloit on August 15. Kulick got the win in that game. Tonight is his first appearance against the Rattlers and against an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. This is not Kulik’s first appearance in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. He made the start for Rowan in their second game of the 2005 NCAA Division III College World Series. Kulik took the loss against the College of Wooster on May 28, 2005.