July 6, 2009: Game Notes

ABOUT SUNDAY: The Timber Rattlers defeated the Burlington Bees 10-8. Juan Sanchez and Brock Kjeldgaard each homered and had three hits to pace the Wisconsin 14-hit attack.

FIRST TIME SINCE: Cody Adams pitched five innings and earned his first win since April 29. Adams allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits for his second win of the season.

FIRST TIME SINCE (PT II): The Rattlers reached double digits in runs for the first time since a 14-7 win over the Clinton LumberKings on May 18. The Rattlers have only reached 10 or more runs in a game one other time this season. That was in a 10-1 win over Quad Cities on April 10.

YARD WORK: Kjeldgaard’s homer was his team-leading 13th of the season. It was a two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning that gave the Rattlers a 10-6 win. Kjeldgaard has hit four of his 13 homers against Burlington pitchers this season. Sanchez hit a solo homer with two outs in the fifth inning to give the Rattlers a 7-1 lead. That was the first homer for Sanchez since he had a two-homer game for the Twins Gulf Coast League affiliate on August 6, 2008.

LOAD ‘EM UP: John Delaney had a two-out, two-run double in the fourth inning. Delaney has 20 RBI this season. Half of those RBI have come with the bases loaded. Delaney is 4-for-7 with three doubles, a walk, and a hit batsman with the sacks full of Rattlers this season.

AAAAAAYYYYYY! Peter Fatse now has a hit in all six games he has played with the Timber Rattlers. He went 1-for-4, was hit by a pitch twice and scored two runs. The 24th round pick of the Brewers in the 2009 draft is 7-for-23 (.304) on the season.

COME ON AND TAKE A FREE RIDE: Brett Lawrie drew a walk in his first plate appearance on Sunday. That free pass was the fifth straight plate appearance that ended in a walk. He walked in all four times to the plate in Saturday’s game. He finished Sunday 1-for-4 with an RBI.

NICK TYSON’S PUNCHOUT: Nick Tyson pitched a scoreless ninth with a walk and a strikeout to earn his fourth save of the season. Tyson is 4-for-4 in save opportunities with the Rattlers.

CAIN WATCH: The Milwaukee Brewers sent outfielder Lorenzo Cain to the Rattlers to work his way back from injury. On Sunday, Cain had an off day and coached first base. He is 2-for-6 with three walks and a run scored in two games with the Rattlers.

ANOTHER STEP FORWARD: The win last night moved the Timber Rattlers record to 41-39. They are two games over the .500 mark for the first time since they were 3-1 on April 13.

MAKING MOVES: Earlier today, the Timber Rattlers placed catcher Sean McCraw on the disabled list retroactive to July 2. Catcher Martin Maldonado has been transferred to the Timber Rattlers from Triple-A Nashville and will be in uniform for Wisconsin tonight.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Burlington Bees are the Midwest League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are the defending Midwest League Champions. The Bees went 29-41 and finished seventh in the eight team Western Division. Burlington is off to a 4-6 start in the second half. It’s early, but they are tied with Beloit and Quad Cities one game behind Clinton for the wildcard spot and three games behind the 7-3 Timber Rattlers.

SEASON SERIES: The Rattlers lead the season series 5-4. Burlington took two out of three from the Rattlers at Time Warner Cable Field May 5-7. The teams split a four game series at Community Field June 14-17.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .246 as a team. They have scored 340 runs (4.3/game) and hit 39 home runs. The Bees are hitting .244 as a team. They have scored 347 runs (4.3/game) and hit 30 homers. Wisconsin pitchers have a team ERA of 3.94 while allowing a total of 360 runs (4.5/game). Burlington pitchers have a team ERA of 4.09 while allowing 396 runs (5.0/game). The Timber Rattler defense has committed 96 errors. The Bees defense has committed 99 errors. Wisconsin is 15-21 on the road this season. Burlington is 13-28 at home this season.

BURLINGTON STARTING PITCHER: RHP Tim Melville was selected by the Royals in the 4th round of the 2008 draft out of Wentzville (MO) High School. Melville did not pitch professionally in 2008. He is rated by Baseball America as the #5 prospect in the Kansas City organization. Melville is 2-4 with a 4.50 ERA in nine starts with the Bees this season. In his start prior to this evening, Melville had a no decision at Quad Cities on July 1. He allowed four runs on seven hits, struck out five and walked three over four innings. Melville faced the Timber Rattlers on June 15 at Community Field. In that game, he gave up four runs (one earned) on six hits over 3-1/3 innings pitched. Melville walked three and struck out three for a no decision in the game against Wisconsin.