MWL1 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

Diaz dazzles in Rattler win at Quad Cities

Published on June 13, 2014 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers News Release


DAVENPORT, IA - Victor Diaz was almost perfect in his six innings on Friday night for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Modern Woodmen Park. The Venezuelan right-hander retired the first sixteen Quad Cities River Bandits he faced and picked up the victory in a combined 7-0 shutout win with Anthony Banda. The win was the tenth in the last eleven games for the Rattlers, but it could not prevent them from being eliminated from the first half playoff race.

Wisconsin (35-32) sent eight men to the plate in the top of the second inning and scored four times for the lead. Clint Coulter was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Taylor Brennan followed with a single. Jose Pena knocked in both runners with a double into the left field corner. Pena would take third on a wild pitch. The River Bandits brought the infield in, but Francisco Castillo lined a single over the infield for an RBI single to drive in Pena. Later in the inning, Angel Ortega made it 4-0 with a sacrifice fly that drove in Castillo.

Diaz was didn't allow a runner until there was one out in the bottom of the sixth inning. He hit Jake Rodriguez with a 1-1 pitch to end the streak of sixteen straight batters retired to start the game. James Ramsay singled off the glove of Castillo at second base with two outs for the first hit by a River Bandit. But, right fielder Michael Ratterree threw Rodriguez out at third base for the final out of the inning and the Quad Cities catcher tried to go from first to third on the single. Diaz struck out six in the game.

Left-handed reliever Anthony Banda took over in the bottom of the seventh inning and retired the Bandits (34-33) in order.

Wisconsin tacked on a pair of runs in the eighth. Johnny Davis reached on a bunt single with Ortega at second and a wild throw to first let Ortega score. Ratterree dropped a single down the line in right to get Davis home from third later in the inning.

In the top of the ninth, Rafael Neda knocked in the final Wisconsin run with a sacrifice fly for a 7-0 advantage.

Banda allowed a single, a double, and a walk in the bottom of the ninth, but he got the final outs to end the game and preserve the shutout.

Friday night was the third shutout of the season for the Timber Rattlers and their first since April 16 when they shutout Lansing 1-0 in the second game of a doubleheader.

Unfortunately for Wisconsin the Burlington Bees rallied several times to defeat the Cedar Rapids Kernels 6-5 at Cedar Rapids on Friday. The win by the Bees eliminated the Timber Rattlers from playoff contention. Burlington trailed 2-0, 3-2, and 5-4 in the game, but took a 6-5 lead on a two-run double by Mike Fish in the top of the sixth inning. The Bees held on to clinch the first half Western Division Wild Card spot with two games remaining before the All-Star break.

Wisconsin has gone 10-2 in June, but Burlington has gone 9-3 to hold off the hard-charging Timber Rattlers.

The teams meet in game two of the series on Saturday night. Tyler Alexander (4-3, 3.74) is the scheduled starter for the Timber Rattlers. Chris Lee (2-4, 4.47) is set to start for the River Bandits. Game time is 6:00pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 5:40pm. Saturday's game is also available on MiLB.TV.

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Midwest League Stories from June 13, 2014


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