ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Kane County Cougars crushed the Timber Rattlers 19-5. Jeff Baisley had two hits, but drove in six runs. Jose Pineda had three hits, including a homer and drove in four. Cougar starter Jason Ray struggled to get through five innings, but left with a 14-5 lead.
EARLY LEAD: The Rattlers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. JB Tucker reached on an error with two outs and went to second on a wild pitch. Luis Valbuena knocked in Tucker with a single to left.
A DECADE: Valbuena extended his current hitting streak to ten games with that first inning single. He has matched Ron Garth for the longest hitting streak on the team. Valbuena is 13-for-39 (.333)
SHORT NIGHT (KIND OF): Rattler starter Justin Thomas went just 1-2/3 innings last night and gave up ten runs (six earned) on nine hits with two walks and no strikeouts. Thomas threw over sixty pitches in last night’s start.
LOST WEEKEND: In the four game series at Elfstrom Stadium, the Rattlers hit just .183 (23-for-125). In those same four games, Kane County hit .350 (50-for-143).
DELVING INTO HISTORY: The nineteen runs given up by the Rattlers last night were the most against them since September 2, 2004. The Rattlers got beat 20-7 at O’Brien Field by the Peoria Chiefs. In that game, Rattler starter Casey Abrams gave up eight runs on ten hits in 1-2/3 innings.
A LOT OF RUNS: In the last six games, Wisconsin is 1-5. They have been outscored 63-26 in those five games. The Rattlers have not held an opponent under five runs in any of their last six games.
NOW PITCHING: Chao Kuan Wu and Robby Hudson finished up last night’s game on the mound for Wisconsin. Wu, a catcher, gave up a run on two hits with a walk in the seventh. Hudson, an infielder, got the only 1-2-3 inning of the night by a Rattler pitcher in the eighth. Wu and Hudson became the first Wisconsin position players to appear on the mound in a game since Corey Freeman pitched 1-2/3 innings against the Peoria Chiefs on July 7, 2002. In that game, Freeman struck out a pair and retired all five batters he faced.
FOUR STRAIGHT: Wisconsin has homered in four consecutive games. Michael Saunders homered on Thursday; Curt Ledbetter hit one on Friday; and Prosise went deep on Saturday; Casey Craig launched one last night.
THE CRUELEST MONTH: The Rattlers are 8-18 in May.
ON THE ROAD: The Rattlers have dropped below the .500 mark in road games this season. They are now 11-12.
MISSING ON TWO: The Rattlers haven’t won two straight games since beating Cedar Rapids at Veterans Memorial Stadium on May 5 & 6.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Burlington Bees are the Midwest League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are 23-24 and in 4th place in the Midwest League Western Division. In their most recent series, the Bees split a four game series with the Beloit Snappers at Pohlman Field.
VS. BURLINGTON IN ’06: The Rattlers went 1-3 against the Bees at Fox Cities Stadium last week. The Rattlers were 5-3 at Community Field in 2005.
OPPOSING STARTING PITCHER: Michael Penn was an 11th round pick of the Royals out of the University of Michigan in the 2005 draft. He was 7-2 with a 2.79ERA in fourteen starts for the Wolverines. Penn went 0-1 with a 5.09ERA in five starts for Idaho Falls in the Pioneer League last season. He beat the Rattlers on May 22nd at Fox Cities Stadium. The Rattlers got to him for five runs (four earned) on eleven hits over six innings. But, Penn struck out five without issuing a walk for his third win of the year.
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