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MWL1 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

Wisconsin hangs on for 4-3 win over Fort Wayne

June 8, 2015 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers News Release


GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers scored four early runs and held on to defeat the Fort Wayne TinCaps 4-3 on Monday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Zach Hirsch pitched five no-hit innings to pick up the win in Wisconsin's final home game of the first half of the season.

Brandon Diaz gave the Timber Rattlers (18-40) the lead on the third pitch of the bottom of the first inning. Diaz drilled a 2-0 pitch from Jose Castillo over the wall in left for his fourth homer of the season and a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Elvis Rubio drove in Sthervin Matos with a single and the Rattlers were up 2-0.

Wisconsin doubled their lead in the second inning. Francisco Castillo and Matos had back-to-back RBI singles in the frame and the Rattlers were up 4-0.

Hirsch, who came off Wisconsin's disabled list earlier on Monday, was making his first start since May 2. He walked two of the first four hitters he faced, but settled in to retire the next thirteen batters he faced. Hirsch struck out four.

The TinCaps (24-33) broke up the no-hit bid - and the shutout - with one out in the sixth inning against reliever David Burkhalter. Ruddy Giron lined a solo home run to left field to cut into Wisconsin's lead.

Fort Wayne made it 4-2 in the top of the seventh inning. Chase Jensen grounded into a force play at second base with runners at the corners to score Franmil Reyes from third.

In the ninth, Gian Rizzo took over for Burkhalter and got the first two outs. Jensen had an 0-2 count and sent a grounder to short, but reached on an errant throw. Rizzo fell behind pinch-hitter Trae Santos with three straight balls, came back with two strikes, but eventually walked him to put the tying run on base. Felipe Blanco, who was pinch-hit for in Fort Wayne's three-run game-winning rally during the ninth inning on Sunday, was down to his last strike before sending a single to center on a 2-2 to drive in Jensen to get the lead down to one.

Giron was next and he lined the first pitch he saw from Rizzo deep down the line in left, but the ball hooked foul at the last moment for a strike. Rizzo closed out the game by getting Giron looking at strike three.

The Timber Rattlers took two of three games in the series from the TinCaps to win their first series since they took two of three in a series at Clinton April 28-30. This was also the first home series win for the Timber Rattlers since they swept a three-game series from the Peoria Chiefs April 24-26.

Wisconsin drew 2,879 fans on Monday night to give them a total attendance of 106,829 in 35 home games for the first half. This marks the first time in team history Wisconsin has drawn over 100,000 fans to their stadium in the first half of the season. This is also the first time they did not have a rainout in the first half since the 2005 season.

The Timber Rattlers are off on Tuesday. They begin a 12-game road trip when they return to action on Wednesday at Fifth Third Field in Dayton, Ohio with a game against the Dayton Dragons. Angel Ventura (1-2, 2.50) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. The Dragons have named Wyatt Strahan (4-4, 2.73) as their starting pitcher. Game time is scheduled for 6:00pm CDT.

The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 5:40pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers to MiLB.TV can see the game with the Dayton Dragons broadcast crew on the call.

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