ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Dragons beat the Timber Rattlers 14-4. Dayton’s offense collected 17 hits to support starting pitcher J.C. Sulbaran, who picked up his second win.
IT STARTED EARLY: Dayton scored four times in the first inning. Timber Rattler starting pitcher Efrain Nieves retired the first batter he faced. Then, two singles, a double, an error, and a single led to the four Dayton runs.
GOING DEEP: Miguel Rojas, who started the first inning rally with a bunt single, hit a two out solo homer in the bottom of the second for a 5-0 cushion.
DAMAGE REPORT: Carlos Mendez led the hit parade for the Dragons with a 4-for-5 night and three RBI. Rojas had three hits and added three RBI on the evening. Every Dragon in the lineup had at least one hit and at least one run scored.
TOUCHED: Three of the four Timber Rattler pitchers in the game gave up at least two runs. Nieves allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits over 4-1/3 innings. Brandon Ritchie allowed two runs (one earned) in 2/3 of an inning. Cody Scarpetta was hit for four runs on four hits in two innings.
UNSCATHED: Reliever Nick Tyson tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning and was the only Rattler hurler not to allow a run. Tyson has pitched six scoreless innings over four appearances since joining the Timber Rattlers.
FORE! Rattler outfielder Chris Dennis went 4-for-4 in last night’s game. He hit a pair of homers and added two singles to bump his average to .415. He is the fourth Rattler with four hits in a game this season. The others are: Taylor Green, Brett Lawrie, and Juan Sanchez
SOMETHING ABOUT THE 27TH: Last night – May 27 – matched the largest margin of defeat for Wisconsin this season. The Rattlers also lost by 10 in a 17-7 defeat at the hands of the Quad Cities River Bandits in the second game of a doubleheader on April 27.
SOMETHING ABOUT WEDNESDAY: Dennis is the second Timber Rattler to hit two homers in a game this season. Brock Kjeldgaard hit a pair of homers in Kane County exactly one week ago, on Wednesday, May 20.
THE REST OF THE OFFENSE: Jose Duran’s two-out, two-run single in the top of the eighth inning accounted for the final two runs of the night.
A LITTLE HISTORY: The Timber Rattlers are 13-14 in the month of May with four games remaining. The team needs to win three of those games to give them their first winning month (in a month with more than 10 games) since the 2007 Rattlers went 17-12 in August of that season.
ROAD TRIP! The Rattlers began a 12-game, 12-day, 4-city road trip last Wednesday. Wisconsin is 4-4 so far with one game left in Dayton and a three game series in West Michigan still ahead. The Rattlers return home on June 2.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Dayton Dragons are the Midwest League affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. Former major leaguer Todd Benzinger is the manager for the Dragons and they are 18-28 and in fifth place in the Midwest League Eastern Division. Tonight is the final meeting of the first half between the teams. Dayton visits Time Warner Cable Field for a three-game series July 22-24.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST: The Timber Rattlers are hitting .255 as a team. They have scored 209 runs (4.5/game) and hit 29 home runs. The Dragons are hitting .255 as a team. They have scored 203 runs (4.4/game) and hit 24 homers. Wisconsin pitchers have a team ERA of 4.40 while allowing a total of 235 runs (5.1/game). Dayton pitchers have a team ERA of 4.74 while allowing 245 runs (5.3/game). The Timber Rattler defense has committed 68 errors. The Dragon defense has committed 49 errors. Wisconsin is 6-16 on the road this season. Dayton is 6-13 at home this season.
DAYTON STARTING PITCHER: LHP Matt Fairel was the 35th round of the Reds in the 2008 draft out of Florida State University. In his final year with the Seminoles, Fairel was 12-2 and was named All-ACC Second Team. He signed too late to play professionally in 2008, but is off to a 3-2 start in his first nine appearances of 2009 with the Dragons is also third in the Midwest League in strikeouts with 54 (in 50-1/3 innings pitched) and tenth in the Midwest League in ERA at 2.68. In his start prior to this evening, Fairel won at Burlington. He pitched seven shutout innings, gave up two hits, walked one, and struck out one. Fairel has won two consecutive starts. Tonight is his first appearance against the Timber Rattlers. Fairel is also making his first appearance against an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment