Wisconsin Takes Series with Sunday Win over Kernels
June 8, 2025 - Midwest League (MWL)
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers News Release
GRAND CHUTE, WI - Thee Wisconsin Timber Rattlers concluded a very successful homestand with a 7-5 win over the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Sunday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field. Eduardo Garcia, Blake Burke, and Marco Dinges all continued their torrid hitting while Sam Garcia was solid in his first Midwest League start to push the Rattlers past the playoff-contending Kernels
Wisconsin (29-28) scored a run in the first inning. Juan Baez singled to start the inning and Burke sent him to third with a one-out single. Dinges singled to left to knock in Baez for the 1-0 lead.
Garcia continued his hot streak by hitting a three-run home run to left with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. The homer was his tenth of the season, extended his on-base streak to 21, and extended to the Wisconsin lead to 4-0.
Garcia became the first Timber Rattler to have ten homers in a season before July since the team moved up to the High-A classification in 2021.
The Kernels (32-24), who entered Sunday one game behind West Division-leading Quad Cities, tried to get back into the game and pulled within 4-2 on a solo homer by Rayne Doncon in the fifth and a sacrifice fly by Kyle DeBarge in the sixth.
Those were the only two runs allowed by Wisconsin starting pitcher Sam Garcia, who was making his Midwest League debut. Garcia allowed two four, walked one, and struck out four over 5-1/3 innings. He would leave after giving up a single to Nate Baez with Yerlin Rodriguez coming out of the bullpen.
Rodriguez walked the first batter he faced and fell behind Danny DeAndrade. Wisconsin was fortunate as DeAndrade hit a line drive to Eduardo Garcia at short and he was able to double Baez off second base for the inning-ending double play.
The Rattler bats went back to work in the bottom of the sixth and scored three big insurance runs. Blake Burke singled home the first run. Dinges followed with a two-run single and a 7-2 lead.
Cedar Rapids didn't go away.
Kaelen Culpepper tripled with two on and two out in the top of the seventh against Rodriguez to cut the Wisconsin lead to 7-4.
Patricio Aquino took over in the top of the eighth and gave up a double and a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Aquino minimized the damage by getting Doncon to ground into a 1-4-3 double play. A run scored on the play, but there were two outs with none on base. Aquino got the final out with a flyout to center.
In the ninth, Misael Urbina and Culpepper had back-to-back singles with one out to bring DeBarge to the plate as the potential go-ahead run. DeBarge has a history of big, late hits against the Rattlers this season with a walkoff, three-run homer at Cedar Rapids on April 22, and a game-tying, two-out double in the ninth inning on Saturday night. This time, the Rattlers got what they needed as Aquino induced a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of DeBarge to end the game.
Wisconsin wrapped up their twelve-game homestand on Sunday with a 9-3 record. They went 5-1 against the Peoria Chiefs and 4-2 against the Kernels. Sunday's win also pushed the Rattlers above the .500 mark for the first time this season.
Burke's two hits on Sunday gave him his seventeenth multi-hit game on Sunday. Dinges knocked in three runs to give him fifteen RBI in his first sixteen games with the Timber Rattlers.
The Timber Rattlers hit the road for a two-week road trip to Michigan. The first game of the journey is Tuesday night at Dow Diamond against the Great Lakes Loons in Midland. Ryan Birchard (2-3, 4.46) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Game time is 6:05pm CDT. The radio broadcast on AM1280, WNAM and internet audio starts with the pregame show at 5:45pm.
R H E
CR 000 011 210 - 5 9 0
WIS 100 303 00x - 7 12 0
HOME RUNS:
CR:
Rayne Doncon (3rd, 0 on in 5th inning off Sam Garcia, 1 out)
WIS:
Eduardo Garcia (10th, 2 on in 4th inning off Tanner Hall, 2 out)
WP: Sam Garcia (1-0)
LP: Tanner Hall (2-3)
SAVE: Patricio Aquino (3)
TIME: 2:49 (:55 Delay)
ATTN: 4,221
Midwest League Stories from June 8, 2025
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- TinCaps Game Information: June 8 vs. Beloit Sky Carp (Marlins Affiliate) - Fort Wayne TinCaps
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