Miller Time for West Michigan against Wisconsin
June 21, 2025 - Midwest League (MWL)
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers News Release
COMSTOCK PARK, MI - The West Michigan Whitecaps held the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to a single run on Saturday night at LMCU Ballpark for a 4-1 victory. Wisconsin had an early lead but could not hold off the team with the best record in the Midwest League. Joe Miller pitched six innings of scoreless relief to earn his second win without allowing a run against the Rattlers this season.
The teams traded runs in the first inning on a pair of two-out, RBI singles.
Jadher Areinamo doubled with one out in the top of the inning against Alex Lange, a Detroit Tigers pitcher on a rehab assignment as the Whitecaps starter. Eduardo Garcia singled with two away to score Areinamo with the go-ahead run for the Rattlers (34-33 overall, 0-2 second half).
Wisconsin starting pitcher Ryan Birchard hit Seth Stephenson to start the bottom of the first. Stephenson stole second and went to third on a grounder by Kevin McGonigle. Birchard struck out Max Clark for the second out. Then, Josue Briceño's blooper to center dropped in just out of the reach of centerfielder Yhoswar Garcia to drive in Stephenson with the tying run.
West Michigan (46-21, 2-0) went in front in the bottom of the fourth inning. Birchard walked Josue Briceño to start the inning. Austin Murr singled to right with one out to put runner on the corners. Birchard got a strikeout for the second out with Murr stealing second to give the Whitecaps two runners in scoring position. Peyton Graham had a full count against Birchard and hit a grounder just to the left of Areinamo at third base. Areinamo made a diving stop on the ball, but his throw to first was late and Briceño scored the go-ahead run.
Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark singled to start the bottom of the fifth. That put runners at the corners again and chased Birchard from the game. Jesús Broca relieved Birchard to face Briceño, who drove in McGonigle with a sacrifice fly to center for a 3-1 lead.
The Rattlers fought their way back into a threat against reliever Joe Miller in the top of the sixth. Marco Dinges reached on an error with one out. Then, Tayden Hall singled with two outs and Yhoswar Garcia walked to load the bases. Miller got a strikeout to end the inning.
Kay-Lan Nicasia started the Rattlers seventh inning with a triple, but Miller stranded him there by retiring the next three batters. Miller pitched six scoreless innings, walked two, allowed three hits, and struck out eight. He has struck out seventeen Rattlers in eleven scoreless innings over two appearances against the Rattlers this season.
Tyler Woessner pitched the bottom of the seventh for the Timber Rattlers and got the first out with a strikeout. However, a walk, a hit batsman, and an infield single loaded the bases for West Michigan. The Whitecaps scored an insurance run on a wild pitch by Woessner before he struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
Luiyin Alastre singled with one out in the ninth inning for his second hit of the game. Carlos Lequerica, the fourth pitcher of the night for the Whitecaps, got the second out on a strikeout. Lequerica got the final out when McGonigle, who is 3-for-9 at the plate in the series, made a great play on Blayberg Diaz on a slow chopper to shortstop to prevent the Rattlers from getting the tying run to the plate.
The final game of the series - and of Wisconsin's two-week road trip to Michigan - is Sunday afternoon at LMCU Ballpark. Jaron DeBerry (2-1, 4.43) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The Whitecaps have listed Hayden Minton (1-1, 3.18) as their starter. Game time is 1:05pm CDT. The radio broadcast on AM1280, WNAM and internet audio starts with the pregame show at 12:45pm.
R H E
WIS 100 000 000 - 1 6 0
WMI 100 110 10x - 4 7 2
WP: Joe Miller (5-2)
LP: Ryan Birchard (2-4)
SAVE: Carlos Lequerica (2)
TIME: 2:42
ATTN: 8,266
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