ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Rattlers lost 4-3 to the Kane County Cougars at Time Warner Cable Field last night. Kane County hit a pair of two-out, two-run homers to beat the Rattlers. Daniel Meadows allowed four runs on seven hits over 6-1/3 innings and took the loss. The win gave the Cougars a four-game sweep of the Rattlers.
FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR. PRINCE: Josh Prince reached on a walk in the first inning for the Rattlers. He stole second, went to third on a flyout to right, and scored on a two-out wild pitch. The Rattlers did not collect a hit in the inning and led 1-0.
VASS! Wisconsin grabbed a 2-0 lead on a two-out, solo homer by Michael Vass in the bottom of the second inning. The home run was the first for Vass since June 5.
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN: In the second inning, the Rattlers had three straight hits and sent four batters to the plate, but only scored one run. Kane County catcher Petey Paramore threw out a pair of would-be base stealers to derail the frame.
STOP THIEVES! The Rattlers attempted four steals and Paramore stopped three of the four tries by throwing out the runners.
UNLIKELY POWER SOURCES: Tyler Ladendorf tied the game with a two-run homer in the top of the fourth. After Jose Duran put the Rattlers in front 3-2 with an RBI fielder’s choice in the bottom of the fourth, Nino Leyja hit a two-run homer for a 4-3 Kane County lead. Ladendorf’s homer was his first of the season and Leyja’s was his second of the year.
NOW THAT’S JUST ODD: The series against the Cougars went 37 innings. In the 37 innings in which they hit, the Timber Rattlers had at least one base runner on in 33 of those innings. Wisconsin scored seven runs in the four game set.
LOW TIDE: Wisconsin’s overall record sits at 48-61 for the 2009 season. The 13 games under .500 mark is the farthest Wisconsin has been below .500 this season. Since beating South Bend on July 13 to get to 45-42 and match the most games over .500 they have been this season, the Rattlers have gone 3-19.
ROAD WOES: Wisconsin has lost seven straight road games and they are 3-12 on the road in the second half of the season.
A NOTE ABOUT ATTENDANCE: The attendance on Thursday was 4,588 to bump Wisconsin’s home attendance to 202,337 for an average of 3,550. There are 11 home games remaining on the schedule. The single season attendance record for Wisconsin was set in 1996 with a mark of 233,797. If the Timber Rattlers hit their average attendance over the final 11 games of the season, that will give them 30,050 more fans for a total of 241,387.
MAKING MOVES: Before last night’s game, Juan Sanchez was promoted to the Brevard County Manatees (Florida State League). Before today’s game, Kyle Dhanani, a 43rd round pick of the Brewers in the 2009 draft, was promoted to the Timber Rattlers from Helena (Pioneer League).
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Peoria Chiefs are the Midwest League affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They missed the playoffs in the first half of the season with a 38-31 record. So far in the second half, the Chiefs are 22-17. They hold the top playoff spot in the Western Division for the second half by four games over both Clinton and Quad Cities. The Chiefs have won eight of their last ten games.
SEASON SERIES: Wisconsin is 7-4 against Peoria this season, including an 0-3 record at O’Brien Field. The Rattlers swept a four game series in the first half of the season with three wins at Time Warner Cable Field and one win at Miller Park. The Rattlers took three out of four from the Chiefs at Time Warner Cable Field to open the second half of the season. But, Peoria swept a three-game set at O’Brien Field from July 25-27.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .239 as a team. They have scored 429 runs (3.9/game) and hit 50 home runs. The Chiefs are hitting .272 as a team. They have scored 509 runs (4.7/game) and hit 86 homers. Wisconsin pitchers have a team ERA of 4.22 while allowing a total of 535 runs (4.9/game). Peoria pitchers have a team ERA of 3.79 while allowing 461 runs (4.3/game). The Timber Rattler defense has committed 126 errors. The Chiefs defense has committed 123 errors. Wisconsin is 16-33 on the road this season. Peoria is 35-16 at O’Brien Field this season.
PROSPECTING: Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook listed two current members of the Chiefs roster on their list of top 30 prospects. Shortstop Ryan Flaherty is rated as the #8 prospect in the Cubs organization. Junior Lake is ranked at #14 by BA. The Chiefs previously had #1 prospect Josh Vitters and #18 prospect Chris Carpenter on their roster, but they have since been promoted.
OUT OF THE DRAFT 2009: The Cubs have placed two members of their 2009 draft class on the current Peoria roster. Outfielder Brett Jackson was a supplemental 1st round pick of the Cubs (31st overall) out of California-Berkley. Infielder DJ LeMahieu was a second round pick out of Louisiana State University.
ALL-STARS: Vitters was the starting shortstop and Josh Harrison was the starting designated hitter for the Eastern Division in the 2009 Midwest League All-Star Game. Both have since been promoted. Kyler Burke was a starting outfielder for the East. Pitchers Chris Carpenter and Ryan Butcher have were both on the East Division team and Carpenter has been moved up in the Chicago system.
PEORIA STARTING PITCHER: LHP Jeff Antigua was signed as a non-drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2006. He spent last season in the Arizona League and was 2-3 with a 3.05 ERA in 14 games (six starts). Antigua began 2009 with the Boise Hawks, the Northwest League affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, where he went 2-1 with a 2.30ERA in seven games (five starts). Antigua struck out 35 and walked 10 over 31-1/3 innings for the Hawks before being promoted to the Chiefs in early August. In his lone start for the Chiefs, Antigua allowed one run on five hits over five innings at South Bend on August 2. Antigua walked one, struck out four, and was not involved in the decision. He has never faced the Timber Rattlers before tonight. Tonight is also the first time Antigua will face an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.
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