Rattlers Have The Burlington Blues
Published on June 29, 2008 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers News Release
BURLINGTON, IA - Johnny Giavotella extended the misery of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Community Field. Giavotella singled with two-outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to drive home the winning run in a 4-3 victory for the Burlington Bees Sunday afternoon. Wisconsin is 0-7 in Burlington, Iowa this season.
Wisconsin (3-8 second half, 34-43 overall) grabbed the early lead with a pair of first inning runs against Bee starting pitcher Alex Caldera. Ron Garth's two-out double drove in the first run. Alex Liddi followed with an RBI single for a 2-0 Wisconsin lead.
The Bees (7-4, 37-43) had the answer on one swing of the bat in the bottom of the first. Mike Moustakas launched a 3-0 pitch from Rattler starter Edward Paredes past the scoreboard in right-center for a two-run home run to tie the game at two.
Wisconsin went back in front in the fifth inning. They had runners at first and third with one out. Denny Almonte sent a high chopper to second. The Bees got the force out at second, but Almonte beat the relay to first to allow the run to score for a 3-2 lead.
But, Burlington rallied to tie the game again. Paredes walked Jason Taylor with one out. Taylor stole second and took third on an infield grounder. Paredes, a lefty, was lifted in favor of reliever Johnny DuRocher to face Nick Van Stratten for a "righty-righty" matchup. Van Stratten foiled the strategy by punching a single through the right side of the infield to drive in Taylor and make the score 3-3.
The Rattlers had runners at first and third with no outs in the top of the eighth after singles by Almonte and Diaz, but Caldera wiggled off the hook. Garth sent a grounder to third and the throw to the plate got the runner. Then, Liddi grounded into an inning ending 5-4-3 double play. Caldera scattered ten hits and allowed three runs over eight innings.
The Bees also had a chance in the eighth. DuRocher hit Giavotella to lead off the inning, then Jose Escalona walked Moustakas, the only batter he would face, in a "lefty-lefty" matchup.
Justin Souza came on in relief of Escalona and Taylor dropped a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up a base each. Wisconsin chose to walk Clint Robinson intentionally to load the bases and it worked out. Souza got pinch-hitter David Lough to ground into an inning ending 6-4-3 double play.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Jamar Walton reached scoring position to start the ininng on a fluky play. Garth was guarding the line at first base to protect against the extra base hit. Walton sent a grounder right to Garth, but the ball hit the first base bag and squirted into right for a double.
Souza almost got out of the inning though as he got the next two outs on shallow fly balls. Wisconsin elected to walk Adrian Ortiz, a left-handed batter, to have the right-handed Souza face righty Giavotella.
Giavotella fell behind 0-2, but managed to drop a blooper just inside the right field line for the game-ending hit.
The Rattlers wrap up the season series with the Bees on Monday night. Keith Renaud makes his 2008 debut as the starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Renaud, who went 2-0 with a save and a 3.50 ERA in 18 games for the Rattlers in 2007, was 3-9 with a 7.68 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) for High Desert in the California League before joining Wisconsin.
Burlington sends Matt Mitchell (5-6, 4.01) to the hill. Game time at Community Field is 7:00pm.
Midwest League Stories from June 29, 2008
- Kernels drop close game to Snappers, 2-1 - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- Kaiser ends 13-inning win for the Whitecaps - West Michigan Whitecaps
- Giavotella RBI single in ninth wins it for the Bees - Burlington Bees
- Collmenter Wins Pitchers' Duel - Great Lakes Loons
- Costly errors help Caps down Lansing in extras - Lansing Lugnuts
- Rattlers Have The Burlington Blues - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Cougars Fall in Fifth Straight Loss - Kane County Cougars
- Chiefs Winning Streak Hits Six With 4-3 Win over Kane County - Peoria Chiefs
- McCardell Retires 15 Straight En Route to His Fifth Victory - Beloit Sky Carp
- Bandits outlast LumberKings - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Only One Day Remains to Make Team Name Suggestions - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Wizards Shut Down Dragons, 4-1 - Dayton Dragons
- Snappers to Lend Helping Hand to Flood Victims - Beloit Sky Carp
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.
