Prosise-ly placed homer leads Rattlers to victory

June 5, 2006 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers News Release

FOX CITIES STADIUM -- Wisconsin Timber Rattler catcher Nick Prosise hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to erase a 6-5 Clinton LumberKing advantage and set the Rattlers on their way to a 9-6 win on Monday night. The Rattlers earned their first sweep of an opponent this season and pushed their winning streak to five in a row.

Wisconsin (24-33) jumped to an early lead. A two-out, two-run double by Eddy Hernandez off the left field wall in the bottom of the second put Wisconsin in front. Casey Craig added to the Rattler lead with a long home run to the right of the flagpoles in rightcenter in the bottom of the third.

But, Clinton (19-38) rallied to tie the game in the top of the fourth. John Mayberry lined a one-out home run, the first hit off Rattler starting pitcher Jose Escalona in the game, over the wall in left for his eighth homer of the season. Later in the inning, back-to-back, two-out RBI singles by Ben Crabtree and K.C. Herren tied the game 3-3.

Escalona got into trouble again in the top of the fourth. He walked Matt Smith and Mayberry with one out. Freddie Thon hit an opposite field homer to left and Clinton had a 6-3 lead.

Wisconsin got to within a run in the bottom of the fifth against Clinton starter Kyle Rogers. An RBI grounder by Luis Valbuena and a run scoring wild pitch by Rogers cut Clinton's lead to 6-5.

LumberKing reliever Jose Marte got out of a pair of jams in the sixth and seventh innings to keep the Clinton lead at a run. But, he walked Valbuena to start the bottom of the eighth.

Then, Prosise hit a no doubt home run to left on the first pitch he saw from Marte to put Wisconsin in front 7-6. Later in the inning, Jeff Dominguez doubled in a pair of runs and the Rattlers led 9-6.

Roman Martinez pitched a scoreless ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts for his first save since 2002 when he pitched for the Seattle Mariners affiliate in the Dominican Summer League.

The Rattlers begin a four game series with the Kane County Cougars Tuesday night at Fox Cities Stadium. Ruben Flores (0-4, 6.10ERA) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Jeff Gray (2-4, 5.77ERA) is slated to start for the Cougars. Game time is 7:05pm.

Midwest League Stories from June 5, 2006

• Prosise-ly placed homer leads Rattlers to victory - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
• Cougars build lead, beat devil rays - Kane County Cougars
• Justice smacks walk-off hit, Swing commits six errors - West Michigan Whitecaps
• Cougars comeback falls short - Kane County Cougars
• Swing lose in extras, streak ends at six - Quad Cities River Bandits
• Chiefs drop third straight to Wizards 6-2 - Peoria Chiefs
• Dragons come all the way back, lose in 10 - Dayton Dragons
• SilverHawks take series over Lugnuts - South Bend Silver Hawks
• Hawks take three of four from Lansing - South Bend Silver Hawks
• McCormick Placed on DL - Quad Cities River Bandits
• Chiefs Add Outfielder Carter - Peoria Chiefs
• It's Macker Time - West Michigan Whitecaps
• Hundley activated from DL - Fort Wayne TinCaps
• Padres to hold tryout camp at Memorial Stadium - Fort Wayne TinCaps
• Billek Promoted to Daytona - Peoria Chiefs

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.

Other Recent Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Stories

• Rattlers Fall to Beloit in Eleven Innings
• Sky Carp Strike Back to Beat Rattlers
• Garcia's Homer Wins Game for Wisconsin
• Hardin Deals a Shutout to Beloit
• Rattlers/Sky Carp Postponed on Thursday Night