August 3 game notes

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Loons scored four times in the top of the ninth inning to erase a 5-3 deficit on the way to a 7-5 win. Andrew Lambo drove in the tying runs with a two-out, two-run double. Eduardo Perez tripled in the go-ahead run and scored an insurance run on a wild pitch.

EARLY ON: The teams traded rallies in the third inning. Lambo and Perez singled with two outs and none on base. Rattler starter Juan Ramirez hit Brandon Taylor to load the bases. Jaime Ortiz doubled to left and the Loons led 2-0. Wisconsin scored four times in the bottom of the inning. Daniel Carroll tripled in a pair of runs to tie the game. Later in the frame, Ron Garth singled home two more runs for a 4-2 Rattler advantage. Great Lakes pulled to within 4-3 on a two-out RBI single by Parker Dalton in the top of the sixth inning.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY: Wisconsin had runners at second and third with no outs in the bottom of the sixth, but could not score. Loon starting pitcher Given Kutz struck out Alex Liddi for the first out. Then, Kutz walked Joe White intentionally to load the bases. Strikeouts of Blake Ochoa and Maximo Mendez ended the Rattler threat.

JUST BRINGING IT UP: The Rattlers are 11-for-69 (.159) with the bases loaded this season. For comparison, the Loons are 10-for-54 (.185). West Michigan (30-for-96, .313) has the top average in the Midwest League with the bases loaded. The league average with the sacks full is .238 (294-for-1,236).

NOT ENOUGH: Wisconsin did push across an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth as Ochoa singled home a run with two outs for a 5-3 lead.

HOW? Rob Harmon entered the game in the top of the ninth inning. He got the first out, but gave up a single and a walk to put the tying runs on board. Harmon struck out Erik Kanaby for the second out. Then, Lambo doubled just inside the right field line to drive in two runs. Perez tripled to left-center on the next pitch to make the score 6-5. A wild pitch scored Perez for a 7-5 score.

BOBBY! Bobby Blevins pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth inning for the save. Blevins has five saves this season. He is 3-for-3 in save chances against Wisconsin. Blevins has not allowed a run in four innings and has struck out seven against the Rattlers this season.

LAMBO FIELD: Lambo is 4-for- 9 with six RBI in the first two games of this series.

BIG TIME: Last night’s crowd of 7,174 was the largest home attendance of the season for the Timber Rattlers.

RARELY: Last night was only the second time the Rattlers lost a game that they led heading into the ninth inning.

A TRIPLE A DAY: Daniel Carroll tripled in the bottom of the third inning to drive in two runs and tie the game 2-2. Wisconsin has one triple in each of the last four games. The Rattlers had a pair of triples in the game on July 28 and no triples on July 29. The Rattlers have six triples in the last six games.

COMING HOME: Cal Stanke, a graduate of St. Mary’s Central in Menasha, picked up his first Midwest League victory in his first appearance with the Loons. Stanke, a 15th round pick of the Dodgers in 2007 out of UW-Oshkosh, allowed a run in two innings last night.

AWAY FROM THE EAST: Today is the final game against the Eastern Division for the Timber Rattlers. They are 10-24 against the East, including a 6-10 record at home heading into this afternoon’s game.

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 16-26 in the second half and trail first place South Bend by 10 games. They are eight games behind Dayton for the Eastern Division Wild Card. Great Lakes is 23-33 on the road this season.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .241 as a team and have scored 416 runs (3.9/game). Wisconsin has hit 44 home runs this season. The Timber Rattler pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.94. Great Lakes is hitting .240 as a team and has scored 403 runs (3.6/game). The Loons have hit 66 home runs this season. The Great Lakes pitching staff has a combined ERA of 4.04.

2008 SEASON SERIES: The Loons lead the season series 4-1. 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.

GREAT LAKES STARTING PITCHER: LH Thomas Melgarejo was signed as a non-drafted free agent out of Mexico by the Dodgers in 2005. He pitched in the Gulf Coast League in 2006 and was 3-1 with a 3.60ERA in nine games (seven starts). Melgarejo spent all of 2007 with Great Lakes and was 4-8 with four saves and a 6.20 ERA in 33 games (12 starts). So far in 2008, he is 2-5 with a save and an ERA of 4.02 in 27 games (seven starts). In his start prior to this afternoon, Melgarejo allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits over three innings at Beloit on July 29. He walked none, struck out two, and took the loss. Melgarejo faced the Timber Rattlers twice in 2007 – one time as a starter – and had no record with no runs allowed on five hits over 4-2/3 innings. He pitched two innings in relief against Wisconsin on May 5 at Dow Diamond and allowed one run on two hits.