April 29, 2009 Game Notes

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Timber Rattlers lost 4-2 to the River Bandits. Quad Cities scored three times in the third inning and held off Wisconsin.

SWEEPS SEASON: All five Timber Rattler series in 2009 have been sweeps. Wisconsin has swept a three game series from Quad Cities to open the year and a four game series from the Peoria Chiefs April 22-24. Wisconsin has been swept in a three game series by Fort Wayne at home, a three game set at Clinton, and the recently completed four game set at Quad Cities.

ROAD WOES: The Rattlers are 0-7 in road games.

THEY SCORED HOW? Quad Cities scored their three runs in the third inning last night on a bases loaded wild pitch, a bases loaded walk, and a bases loaded hit batsman.

BASES LOADED ISSUES: Opponents have had 28 plate appearances with the bases loaded against Timber Rattler pitching this season. They are 7-for-21 with a home run with the bases juiced. Timber Rattler pitchers have forced in seven runs with six bases loaded walks and that one hit batsman.

ON THE FLIP SIDE: Wisconsin batters have had 13 plate appearances with the bases loaded this season. They are 1-for-10 with a pair of sacrifice flies and a walk.

RATTLERS GET THEIR RUNS: Michael Vass tripled in a run in the top of the seventh inning to cut the River Bandit lead to 3-1. After Quad Cities scored in the bottom of the seventh, Brock Kjeldgaard drove in a run with a bases loaded sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 4-2.

DEBUT EVENING: Jose Duran made his Midwest League debut last night with a start at third base. He went 0-for-3 with a walk and a pair of strikeouts.

SEVENTH HEAVEN: Rattler outfielder Erik Miller went 1-for-5 in Tuesday’s game to extend his current hitting streak to seven games, the longest streak by a Rattler this season. He is 10-for-28 (.357) during the streak. This hitting streak is Miller’s longest streak as a professional. He had a six-game hitting streak from July 14 to July 20 while playing for the Arizona League Brewers.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Great Lakes Loons are the Midwest League affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is the third season for the Loons in the Midwest League. The franchise had been based in Battle Creek, Michigan from 1995 through 2006. The Loons have been a Dodgers affiliate since they entered the league in 2007. In their first two seasons, the Loons have not made the playoffs and compiled a record of 111-167. Juan Bustabad is in his second season at the helm. Former major league pitcher Danny Darwin is in his second season as the pitching coach for the Loons. Great Lakes is off to a 10-8 start to the 2009 season. In their most recent series, the Loons dropped three out of four games in a home series with the Fort Wayne TinCaps.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .224 as a team. They have scored 66 runs (3.9/game) and hit seven home runs. The Loons are hitting .271 as a team. They have scored 85 runs (4.7/game) and hit nine homers. Wisconsin pitchers have a team ERA of 4.72 while allowing a total of 86 runs (5.1/game). Great Lakes pitchers have a team ERA of 3.92 while allowing 78 runs (4.3/game). The Timber Rattler defense has committed 19 errors. The Loon defense has committed 17 errors. Wisconsin is 6-3 at Time Warner Cable Field this season. The Loons are 5-2 away from Dow Diamond this season.

PROSPECTING: Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook listed 10 members of the current Great Lakes roster on their list of the top 30 prospects in the Dodger system before the start of the season. Pitchers Ethan Martin (#3) and Nathan Eovaldi (#10) are ranked the highest. Other pitchers on the list are: JonMichael Redding (#18), Justin Miller (#20), Javy Guerra (#25), and Jordan Pratt (#30). The highest rated position player is infielder Austin Gallagher (#11). Other position players include: Kyle Russell (#17), Tony Delmonico (#19), and Alfredo Silverio (#27).

OUT OF THE DRAFT 2008: The Dodgers have placed seven players from their 2008 draft class on the current Great Lakes roster. Martin was their #1 pick in 2008. Russell (3rd round), Infielder Dee Gordon (4th), Redding (5th), and Delmonico (6th) were all top ten picks. Eovaldi (11th) and outfielder Jerry Sands (25th) were also 2008 selections by Los Angeles.

RETURNING ALUMNI: There are eight players on the current Loons roster that also spent at least some time with Great Lakes in 2008. Pitchers Bobby Blevins, Blake Brannon, Kyle Smit, and Miller were Loons in ’08. Catcher Estaban Lopez; infielder Parker Dalton; and outfielders Travis Vetters and Silverio also wore a Great Lakes jersey last season.

GREAT LAKES STARTING PITCHER: RHP Kyle Smit was selected by the Dodgers in the 5th round of the 2006 draft out of Spanish Springs High School in Sparks, Nevada. Smit is on his third tour of duty with the Loons. He went 0-5 in five starts with a 8.34 ERA for part of the 2007 season. Last year, he made 16 appearances (12 starts) for the Loons and went 1-4 with a 6.55ERA while also spending time with Ogden in the Pioneer League. Smit is making his first start of 2009 after making three relief outings to start his season. Smit’s last appearance was two innings of relief against the Dayton Dragons on April 22. He allowed one run on three hits over two innings. Smit has made one prior start against the Timber Rattlers. On May 4, 2008 at Dow Diamond, Smit allowed one run on five hits over five innings for a no decision. He walked two and struck out four in that game. Smit has pitched twice against a Milwaukee Brewer minor league affiliate. In 2008, he faced Helena in a pair of starts. Smit received a no decision in both games. He totaled seven innings in those starts and allowed four runs on seven hits with six walks and three strikeouts.