Devil Rays top Rattlers 5-4

Published on July 3, 2006 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Southwest Michigan Devil Rays News Release


The craziest game of the year took place Monday night as the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in heart-stopping fashion. The final score of the contest was 5-4.

The player of the game was Cesar Suarez, who is emerging as the emotional leader of the Devil Rays. In the bottom of the third inning, Cesar was on a 2-2 count and was hit by a pitch. In his effort to dodge the pitch he swung his bat and was ruled out on strikes. The coaching staff approached the umpires to discuss the ruling. After Cesar headed to the bench, Tampa Bay Special Instructor Jimy Williams shouted from the dugout and was subsequently ejected from the game. Jimy ran out on to the field to confront the umpires before eventually heading to the clubhouse. The funny thing about it is that in the next half inning, Matt Devins told the umpires who they just threw out and they were shocked to hear that it was the former Major League manager.

Cesar's other strikeout happened without a pitch. After the second strike was called, Suarez was unpleased with the call and took his time getting back into the batters box. Then he stepped back out to get the sign that manager Skeeter Barnes was relaying to him. Suarez was called out because he took too long to get into the batters box and essentially struck out without a pitch.

The Devil Rays were up 3-2 going into the ninth inning. With one out, Matt Devins had a routine pop-up fall out of his glove, giving the Timber Rattlers one on and one out instead of two outs. The very next batter, Eddy Hernandez, hit a two run homer over the right field wall to put Wisconsin up 4-3.

In the bottom of the ninth the Rays needed some magic. As the storm clouds rolled in, they had a race against Mother Nature and a one-run deficit to overcome. Christian Lopez led off the inning with a strikeout. Jackson Brennan kept hope alive as he singled to left-center field. Then in a surprising move, Neil Walton came in to pinch hit for Devins. Walton has struggled at the plate significantly as of late but all was forgotten when he collected a base knock to left-center. The next batter, Hunter Vick, flew out to shallow center field. With the potential tying and winning runs on base, it was time for Cesar Suarez to get his redemption. That's exactly what he did. Cesar blasted a shot to deep center. As he was rounding first base he was jumping for joy and waving his base runners home. Just like that, the Rays won their third consecutive game.

Jake McGee was the starting pitcher for the Rays. He hurled five innings and struck out five batters to extend his league leading strikeout total to 117. McGee gave up five hits and two earned runs.

Chris Kelly came in to relieve McGee in the sixth inning and tossed two perfect frames with one strikeout. Kevin Lynn pitched the eighth and allowed one hit with one strikeout.

Aaron Walker chucked the final inning and gave up the Rays lead with the home run. Only one earned run was charged to Walker because of the Devins error. Because of Suarez's heroics, Walker earned his second win in three games, improving his record to 4-0.

The Devil Rays and Timber Rattlers will square off again on Tuesday. It's a special Independence Day game at C.O. Brown. The only fireworks show in town is at the COB immediately after the Devil Rays game. -KV

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Midwest League Stories from July 3, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central