ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Timber Rattlers beat the West Michigan Whitecaps 1-0. Brett Lawrie drove in a run in the bottom of the first inning with a grounder. Cody Scarpetta and Efrain Nieves combined on a two-hit shutout and the Rattlers got the win. Wisconsin’s offense had three hits on the night.
SCARPETTA: The Rattlers starter last night faced the minimum through six innings. He allowed a hit, but Brent Wyatt was erased trying to stretch his one out double in the fourth into a triple. Scarpetta struck out nine and did not walk a batter. In his last three appearances, Scarpetta has pitched 14 shutout innings, allowed six hits, walked none, and struck out 19.
HELPING HAND: Wyatt was out at third on a 9-4-5 relay. The 9 was right fielder Juan Sanchez who also picked up his ninth outfield assist of the season on the play. The 4 was Lawrie at second and his throw to John Delaney had Wyatt by a good distance.
WITH THE BAT, TOO: Sanchez had two of Wisconsin’s three hits last night. He led off the Rattler first inning with a single and scored the only run of the night.
SAVE-A-LOT: Nieves pitched three scoreless innings for the Rattlers last night to earn his first professional save. Nieves allowed one hit, walked one, and struck out one to wrap up the 1-0 win.
SHUTOUT III: Last night was the third shutout by Timber Rattlers pitching this season. All three shutouts have been at Time Warner Cable Field. The other two were a 2-0 win over Burlington on May 5 and a 7-0 win over Clinton in game one of a doubleheader on May 17.
COMMON THREAD: Scarpetta was the winning pitcher in the shutout of Clinton and he tossed five no-hit innings in that combined one-hit shutout of the LumberKings.
AAAAAAYYYYYY! Outfielder Peter Fatse has a hit in all eight completed games he has played with the Timber Rattlers. He was 1-for-3 with a first inning single last night. The 24th round pick of the Brewers in the 2009 draft is 9-for-31 (.290) on the season.
CAIN WATCH: The Milwaukee Brewers sent outfielder Lorenzo Cain to the Rattlers to work his way back from injury. Last night, Cain was 0-for-3 and reached on an error. He is 3-for-12 with four walks and a run scored in five games with the Rattlers.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The West Michigan Whitecaps are the Midwest League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are into the Midwest League playoffs as the first half wild card for the Eastern Division. The Whitecaps finished the first half with a record of 43-27. They finished two games behind Eastern Division Champion Fort Wayne in half number one. West Michigan is off to an 8-5 record in the second half to give them a 51-32 overall record.
SEASON SERIES: Wisconsin is 4-0 against the Whitecaps in 2009. The Rattlers swept a three game series from the Whitecaps at Fifth Third Ballpark from May 29 to May 31. The Timber Rattlers beat the Whitecaps by scores of 5-3, 4-3, and 8-3. The sweep by the Rattlers was the first ever by an Appleton baseball team since the Whitecaps entered the Midwest League in 1994.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .243 as a team. They have scored 344 runs (4.1/game) and hit 40 home runs. The Whitecaps are hitting .274 as a team. They have scored 423 runs (5.1/game) and hit 35 homers. Wisconsin pitchers have a team ERA of 3.88 while allowing a total of 365 runs (4.4/game). West Michigan pitchers have a team ERA of 3.63 while allowing 330 runs (4.0/game). The Timber Rattler defense has committed 99 errors. The Caps defense has committed 63 errors. Wisconsin is 27-18 at home this season. West Michigan is 24-16 on the road this season.
WEST MICHIGAN STARTING PITCHER: LHP Casey Crosby was a fifth round pick of the Tigers in the 2007 draft out of Maple Park (IL) High School. He did not pitch professionally in 2007 and hurt his elbow during instructional league that fall. Crosby underwent Tommy John surgery and made it back in time to pitch three games for the Gulf Coast League affiliate of the Tigers in 2008. He had no record and allowed one unearned run in three brief starts. In 2009, Crosby is 7-2 with a 3.25ERA in 16 starts for the Whitecaps. He has 76 strikeouts and 36 walks in 69-1/3 innings pitched. In his start prior to this evening, Crosby won his third consecutive start with a win over Dayton on July 4 at home. Crosby allowed one run on five hits over 5-2/3 innings with a walk and two strikeouts to beat the Dragons. Crosby is making his first ever appearance against the Timber Rattlers tonight. This is also his first ever start against an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.
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