ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Timber Rattlers beat the Kane County Cougars 2-1. Juan Diaz drove in both Timber Rattler runs for the offense. Phillippe Aumont got the win and four Wisconsin relievers preserved the victory.
*SQUEEZE: The game was scoreless when Diaz stepped to the plate with one out and runners at second and third in the top of the sixth inning. On a 2-1 count, Scott Robinson, the runner at third broke for the plate, and Diaz got the ball down for an RBI on the suicide squeeze.
AUMONT UPDATE: The Rattler right-hander pitched five shutout innings to lower his ERA to 1.50. He also evened up his record at 3-3 by picking up his first win as a starting pitcher. Aumont set a professional high for strikeouts with six.
WITH DIAZ, YOU’RE IN GOOD HANDS: The Rattler shortstop delivered a two-out, RBI single in the top of the eighth inning to give Wisconsin an insurance run to go up 2-0.
MORE HITS? IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER: In game one of the series, the Rattlers outhit the Cougars 9-3, but lost 3-1. Last night, the Cougars outhit the Rattlers 7-4, but it was the Rattlers who picked up the win.
**FOUR HORSEMEN: Four Rattler relievers kept the Rattlers in front. Ryan Moorer pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh inning. Justin Souza allowed a run in the eighth, but got two outs. Jose Escalona, a lefty, struck out a left-handed hitter for the final out of the eighth. Keith Meyer worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts for his second save.
A TIP OF THE CAP: Scott Mitchinson was the starting pitcher for the Cougars last night. In two starts against the Timber Rattlers this season, he has allowed one unearned run on six hits with 16 strikeouts over 14 innings. He is 1-1 against the Rattlers.
ON THE ROAD: The Rattlers are 3-7 in the first ten games of their current 12-game road trip. The Rattlers are hitting .203 (64-for-316) and have scored 21 runs (2.1/game) on this trip. Opponents are hitting .227 (70-for-308) and have scored 40 runs (4.0/game) during the last ten games.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Kane County Cougars are the Midwest League affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. The Cougars are 31-21 this season. They are currently in second place in the Midwest League Western Division. Kane County trails first place Clinton by seven games. The Cougars hold the first half Western Division Wild Card spot by three games over third place Beloit. The Cougars are 14-12 at Elfstrom Stadium. In their most recent series, Kane County went 2-3 in five games at home with the Quad Cities River Bandits that ended on Monday.
201: Last night was the 201st regular season meeting between the Rattlers and the Cougars. The Rattlers lead the all-time 101-100.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .231 as a team and have scored 155 runs (3.2/game). Wisconsin has hit 13 home runs this season. The Timber Rattler pitching staff has a combined ERA of 3.29. Kane County is hitting .254 as a team and has scored 213 runs (4.1/game). The Cougars have hit 25 home runs this season. Their pitching staff has a combined ERA of 2.63.
2008 SEASON SERIES: The Rattlers lead the season series 3-2 after five games. The Rattlers won the first two games of the series in Grand Chute by scores of 8-6 on May 16 and 4-2 on May 17. The Cougars won the final game of the series 4-0 on May 18.
KANE COUNTY STARTING PITCHER: Craig Italiano was the second round pick of Oakland in the 2005 draft out of Flower Mound (TX) High School. In 2006, he made four starts for the Cougars and was 0-1 with a 3.50ERA. In 2007, Italiano went 0-3 with a 12.71ERA in six starts. His final start in 2007 was against the Timber Rattlers on May 14. He had allowed no runs over the first 2-2/3 innings. But, Carlos Triunfel lined a pitch back at the mound in the third inning and it hit Italiano in the head. He missed the remainder of last season as he recovered from a fractured skull. Italiano is off to a 6-0 start in the 2008 season and leads the Midwest League in earned run average with a 0.72ERA. He is also tied for the league lead in strikeouts with 63. In his start prior to this evening for the Cougars, Italiano pitched five scoreless innings, struck out six and allowed three hits against Quad Cities on May 24 for a no decision. Italiano has not allowed an earned run since a start on April 21 against Great Lakes. That is a stretch of six starts.
*-Cool for Cats....Get it...Of course, you do.
**-Whooooooooooooooooo!
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