Midland, MI: The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers won three out of five games against the Great Lakes Loons at Dow Diamond last week. The Rattlers head into the final week of May with a record of 23-18, holding second place in the Midwest League West Division standings after winning the series from the Loons, the East Division leaders.
The Rattlers won two of the first three games in the series by beating the Loons 6-4 on Tuesday, falling 4-3 on Wednesday, and winning 14-5 on Thursday. Wisconsin lost 13-4 on Friday night, but bounced back with an 11-4 Saturday victory. Sunday’s series finale was rained out and will be rescheduled for a to be determined date when the Loons come to Wisconsin for the final homestand of the first half between June 9 and June 14.
The Rattlers are tied with South Bend for the best road record in the league (16-7). Wisconsin has not lost a road series this season, outscoring opponents 171-106 when away from home. The Timber Rattlers are 8-3 against MWL East Division opponents after that series against Great Lakes.
Wisconsin starting pitching put up a 2.75 ERA, allowing just six earned runs through 19 ⅔ innings and routinely got the team off on the right foot against the potent Loons offense. The pitching staff had a commanding series tallying 50 strikeouts to 33 walks. The rotation was led by Wande Torres, who on Tuesday pitched six innings, allowed two earned runs, struck out six, earned the win and delivered Wisconsin’s first quality start of the season. Yerlin Rodriguez finished the day by saving his second game of the season. Chandler Welch earned his fifth win of the season on Thursday by tossing 3-⅔ scoreless innings. On Saturday, Jason Woodward picked up the win and Bjorn Johnson earned a save.
The pitching was supported by timely home runs from the Rattler bats, who hit eight as a team against the Dodgers’ High-A affiliate. Four solo home runs helped propel Wisconsin to the finish line on Tuesday. Four runs on one swing was the headliner in Thursday’s showing, with Marco Dinges and Andrick Nava each hitting a grand slam in the slugfest.
Braylon Payne hit two of the four Tuesday homers and was accompanied by Luis Castillo’s pinch-hit home run, the first by a Timber Rattler since Blake Ochoa’s in 2008. Andrew Fischer’s Tuesday blast was the first of his three home runs in the series.
Fischer batted 7-for-19 with six RBI and four extra base hits while scoring eight runs and stealing two bases. His team high 13 home runs leads the Midwest League in that category. Payne holds the second place spot with ten home runs on the season.
Josiah Ragsdale went 9-for-20 with two RBI and scored seven runs at Great Lakes. Josh Adamczewski had a well-rounded series hitting .267 with three doubles, three RBI, four runs, three stolen bases and eight walks. Luiyin Alastre got the Rattlers on the board in the finale with a two-RBI triple and scored twice in the game. Daniel Dickenson drew nine walks, stole four bases and scored three runs.
Defensively, Dickenson manned second base in each game and was part of five of the six double plays turned by the Timber Rattler defense in the series. Adamczewski assisted one of the double-ups from left field in Thursday’s win and also threw out a runner at the plate. Catcher Blayberg Diaz caught two stealing baserunners in Wednesday’s loss.
Additional pitching performances of note from Wisconsin at Great Lakes included: Braylon Owens, who pitched five innings with seven strikeouts in Wednesday’s one-run loss; Ethan Dorchies, in his first appearance since May 9 on Saturday, racking up five strikeouts in three innings. JD Thompson, Jack Seppings, Woodward, Rodriguez and Welch each had four strikeouts.
The Rattlers return to action on Tuesday, coming back home to Neuroscience Group Field for a seven game series with the Peoria Chiefs. Wisconsin hosted Peoria for five games in April and played six on the road earlier in May. The Rattlers are 7-4 against the Chiefs this season.
SCHEDULE AND PROMOTIONS FOR THIS WEEK AT HOME:
TUE, May 26th - 6:40 PM: Bang For Your Buck & Military Appreciation
WED, May 27th - 12:10 PM: Silver Foxes Special (Game 1)
WED, May 27th - Makeup of 4/17: (Game 2)
THU, May 28th - 6:40 PM: Craft Brews and Brats & “Bark In The Park”
FRI, May 29th - 6:40 PM: Shantymen Night & Post-Game Fireworks
SAT, May 30th - 6:40 PM: Harry Potter Night & Fireworks
SUN, May 3rd - 1:10 PM: Jacob Misiorowski Bobblehead Giveaway