MWL1 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

Rattlers start homestand with 3-2 win over Cougars

July 29, 2014 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers News Release


GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers defeated the Kane County Cougars 3-2 on Tuesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium to begin a six-game homestand. The Timber Rattlers held off a ninth-inning rally to pick up the one-run win over the team with the best record in the Midwest League.

David Denson drew a walk to start the Wisconsin second inning. Clint Coulter followed by crushing a 1-2 pitch from Kane County starter Duane Underwood over the wall in left for a two-run homer. Coulter's seventeenth home run of the season made it 2-0 in favor of the Rattlers (56-50 overall, 20-17 second half).

Wisconsin starting pitcher Anthony Banda protected that lead by tossing five scoreless innings The lefty allowed two hits, walked four, and struck out seven. Banda has a 15-inning scoreless streak.

Jacob Rogers got Kane County (67-40, 22-15) on the scoreboard with a two-out, solo home run to center off Victor Diaz.

The Rattlers scratched out an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. David Denson singled with one out. He went to second on a wild pitch and took third on another wild pitch. Omar Garcia singled with two outs to get Denson home for a 3-1 lead.

Diaz worked a scoreless seventh and retired the first two batters he faced in the top of the eighth. That brought Rogers back to the plate. The Cougars first baseman hit another solo home run, this one to right-center, and Kane County was back within a run.

Luke Curtis, the 18th round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2014 draft, came on in the top of the ninth inning to go first his first Midwest League save. Catcher Cael Brockmeyer started the Kane County ninth with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Giuseppe Papaccio. Curtis, who had two saves at Helena in the Pioneer League prior to joining the Timber Rattlers on July 7, threw a wild pitch to allow Papaccio to take second base. Jeffrey Baez lined out to deep center for the first out and Papaccio went to third with the tying run.

Carlos Penalver was next and he hit the ball hard on an 0-1 pitch. The line drive was right at third baseman Tyler Brennan. Papaccio was too far away from third to get back and Brennan jogged over to touch third to double off the runner for a game-ending, unassisted double play.

Banda picked up the win to move his record to 6-6 on the season. Banda was 1-5 through May 22. He is 5-1 since snapping a personal three-game losing streak with a win on June 8.

Rattlers second baseman Chris McFarland went 1-for-4 with a first inning single. McFarland moved his current hitting streak to thirteen games. His hitting streak is the longest of the season by a Timber Rattler and the longest active hitting streak in the Midwest League.

Game two of the series is Wednesday night. Tristan Archer (3-5, 4.15) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Kane County has named Jen-Ho Tseng (6-0, 2.68) as their starter. Game time is 7:05pm.

Wednesday is a Fox Communities Credit Union Cash Giveaway. Fox Communities Credit Union will be giving away envelopes to fans who attend this game. Some of the envelopes will have cash inside. It's that simple.

It's also a WIXX Bang for Your Buck Night on Wednesday. Enjoy Cher-Make hotdogs, Pepsi products, and Miller beer for $1.

If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are many ways to catch the action. MyNEW32's Sports Showdown will have the television broadcast starting at 7:00pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM and IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. Subscribers to MiLB.TV can see the game, too.




Midwest League Stories from July 29, 2014


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