PEORIA, IL – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had a rough night at Dozer Park on Thursday in a 6-2 loss to the Peoria Chiefs. Wisconsin committed two errors, allowed three two-out runners, and struggled to get anything going in the middle of the contest after grabbing an early lead.
Tayden Hall gave the Timber Rattlers (43-30 overall, 9-2 second half) the lead in the bottom of the first. Hall lined a double to right with the bases loaded and two outs. Two runs scored on the play for a 2-0 lead. Wisconsin had a chance to add more in the inning and maybe knock Peoria starting pitcher Ty Van Dyke out of the game. Van Dyke was at 24 pitches in the inning, and the Chiefs had Gerardo Salas warming in the bullpen. However, catcher Sammy Hernandez picked a Rattler off third for the final out after the 25th pitch of the inning to stop Wisconsin.
The Chiefs (37-40, 5-6) tied the game in the bottom of the first. José Suárez doubled to start the inning. He was at third with one out when Jalin Flores knocked him in with a sacrifice fly. Josh Kross kept the inning alive with a two-out double. Hernandez tied the game with a bloop single to right to score Kross.
Peoria took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Hernandez singled, stole second, and went to third on an error. Anyelo Encarnaciόn got Hernandez home for an unearned run with a sacrifice fly to center.
Wisconsin’s bats went cool after the first inning. Tyler Rodriguez had a one out single in the second inning. Van Dyke retired the next eleven Rattlers in a row. Nate Dohm entered the game in the top of the sixth and set down the side in order to run that streak to fourteen in a row.
A lead-off walk and an error lead to another Peoria run in the sixth inning. Chandler Welch walked Kross to start the inning. Encarnacion doubled to left with one out. Tyler Rodriguez had trouble picking up the ball and that was enough for Kross to race home with an insurance run for the Chiefs for a 4-2 lead.
Hall broke the string of consecutive Rattlers retired at fifteen with a one-out single in the seventh, but he was left stranded.
Peoria added another run in the seventh. Suárez doubled with one out. Flores singled with two outs to send Suárez home for a 5-2 lead.
Blayberg Diaz singled to start the top of the eighth inning against Dohm. The rally never advanced beyond that because Luiyin Alastre hit a line drive that was ticketed for the corner in right, but that line drive wound up in the glove of first baseman Josh Kross, who made a leaping grab and stepped on first for an unassisted double play.
Yerlin Rodriguez, who got the final out of the bottom of the seventh for Welch, tried to hold off the Chiefs in the ninth. However, he gave up three straight two-out singles to Jose Cordoba, Suárez, and Jack Gurevitch. The single by Gurevitch got Cordoba across the plate for Peoria’s sixth run of the night.
Dohm walked Daniel Dickinson and Hall in the ninth to give the Rattlers a faint glimmer of hope. Then, Bobby Olsen snatched it away by relieving Dohm and recording consecutive strikeouts to close out the game.
Wisconsin had four at bats with runners in scoring position. Two in the first inning and two in the ninth inning.
The loss snapped Wisconsin’s brief three-game winning streak. It was also their first road loss of the season half.
Game four of the series is Friday night at Dozer Park. Wande Torres (5-5, 5.29) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Tanner Franklin (2-2, 4.96) has been named as the starter for the Chiefs. Game time is 7:05pm. The radio broadcast can be heard on Newstalk 93.9 and internet audio starting with the Community Blood Center Pregame Show at 6:45pm.