Late Rally Short-Circuits in Loss at South Bend
May 24, 2025 - Midwest League (MWL)
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers News Release
SOUTH BEND, IN - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers were set up for a late, big comeback on Saturday at Four Winds Field with the bases loaded, a run in, and no outs in the eighth inning as they tried to rally from a 5-1 deficit. However, misread on the bases led to the end of the threat and a 6-2 South Bend Cubs victory over the Rattlers.
South Bend (11-33) jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Jefferson Rojas doubled to start the inning. Cristian Hernandez followed with an RBI single and moved to second on an error. Andy Garriola cashed in Hernandez with an RBI single for the two-run advantage.
Wisconsin (20-24) halved their deficit in the top of the second inning when Yhoswar Garcia drove in Juan Baez from third with an infield grounder.
The Cubs went back up by two in the bottom of the second on back-to-back, one-out, doubles by Brian Kalmer and Rafel Morel.
The starting pitchers kept both offenses in check after that.
Wisconsin starter Tanner Gillis set down fourteen of the final sixteen batters he faced before leaving after six innings. South Bend starter Ryan Gallagher recorded nine strikeouts and allowed two hits over his six innings.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Cubs picked up a pair of insurance runs against reliever Bayden Root, who walked Rafael Morel to start the inning. Morel stole second and Rojas singled to drive him home. Then, Hernandez had a hit-and-run single to right to put Rojas on third base. Root would induce Edgar Alvarez to ground into a double play. However, Hernandez scored for a 5-1 lead.
Kenyi Perez, who had pitched the seventh inning without incident in relief of Gallagher, ran into trouble by losing the strike zone against Wisconsin in the eighth inning. He walked Daniel Guilarte, Jadher Areinamo, and Eduardo Garcia to load the bases with no outs. Blake Burke drew a fourth consecutive walk to force in Guilarte.
That walk pulled Wisconsin to within 5-2 and chased Perez from the game. The Cubs called Evan Taylor into the game to face Marco Dinges, the go-ahead run at the plate. That was when chaos was unleashed on the bases.
Dinges lifted a flyball to shallow left on the first pitch from Taylor. The ball was caught for the first out and Areinamo bluffed for the plate but wasn't trying to score. However, Garcia broke for third after the catch after reading that Areinamo was trying to score. At one point, all three Wisconsin base runners were in rundowns before Areinamo was tagged out between third and home on a 7-2-4-2-5-2-3-6 double play.
Taylor got Baez on a routine grounder to short to end the eighth.
South Bend added another insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Root threw a wild pitch to allow Miguel Pabon to score from third.
The Rattlers went down in order against Taylor in the top of the ninth.
Wisconsin had three hits in the game and went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position as their four-game winning streak came to an end.
The Cubs snapped their six-game losing streak with the victory over the Rattlers.
The series finale is Sunday night at Four Winds Field. Jaron DeBerry will make his Timber Rattlers debut as the starting pitcher for Wisconsin. The Cubs have named Kenten Egbert (0-5, 8.00) as their starter. Game time is 6:05pm CDT. The radio broadcast on AM1280, WNAM and internet audio starts with the pregame show at 5:45pm.
R H E
WIS 010 000 010 - 2 3 1
SB 210 000 21x - 6 11 2
WP: Ryan Gallagher (2-2)
LP: Tanner Gillis (0-1)
SAVE: Evan Taylor (1)
TIME: 2:21
ATTN: 4,147
Midwest League Stories from May 24, 2025
- Patrick Plays Hero in Doubleheader Split - West Michigan Whitecaps
- Loons Split Doubleheader, Shutout Win & Walk-off Loss - Great Lakes Loons
- De Vries Lines Three Hits in Front of Packed Crowd - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Captains, Lugnuts Swap Shutouts in Doubleheader Split - Lake County Captains
- Winquest Whiffs Nine, Chiefs Clobber Dragons - Peoria Chiefs
- Chiefs Top Dragons 6-1; Dayton Needs a Sunday Win to Earn a Road Trip Split - Dayton Dragons
- Captains, Lugnuts Swap Shutouts in Doubleheader Split - Lake County Captains
- Late Rally Sends Carp To 3-2 Win Over Bandits - Beloit Sky Carp
- Avant Aces Captains, Lugnuts Split Twinbill - Lansing Lugnuts
- Late Rally Short-Circuits in Loss at South Bend - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Cubs Lean on Gallagher Again in 6-2 Defeat of Wisconsin - South Bend Cubs
- Barrera Moves to Midland - Lansing Lugnuts
- Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Saturday (8:05 PM EDT at Peoria) - Dayton Dragons
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.
