Chiefs Score Four in Ninth to Topple Timber Rattlers

GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers walked the tightrope all night long against the Peoria Chiefs Saturday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The Chiefs finally pushed Wisconsin off the wire with four runs in the top of the ninth inning to score a 12-9 victory. The defeat spoiled good offensive nights for Rattlers Je’Von Ward and Thomas Dillard.

The Chiefs (12-17) loaded the bases with one out in the top of the first inning against Wisconsin starting pitcher Justin Jarvis. The Rattler right-hander go ahead of Francisco Hernandez with strike one. Strike two was called, Hernandez drew a line in the batter’s box after the pitch, and was ejected by plate umpire Mitch Trzeciak. Jarvis escaped the inning by getting pinch-hitter Moises Castillo to strike out and Chandler Redmond to pop out.

The Rattlers (14-15) had two outs with none on in the bottom of the first when Garrett Mitchell singled, stole second, and took third on an error. Dillard drove in Mitchell with a single to right-center for the early lead.

Ward was next and he extended the Wisconsin lead and his own hitting streak with a double to left. Dillard scored for a 2-0 advantage and Ward’s hitting streak has reached fourteen games.

Peoria loaded the bases with one out again in the top of the second. Jarvis walked Brendan Donovan to force in a run, but retired the next two batters and the Rattlers had a 2-1 lead.

Chandler Redmond started the Peoria scoring in the third inning with a one-out, solo home run. Then, the Chiefs loaded the bases with one out one more time in the third inning and this time they cashed in for more than one run. Jhon Torres put Peoria ahead with a two-run single. Brendan Donovan made it 5-2 with an RBI grounder.

Wisconsin responded with three runs in their half of the third to tie the game 5-5. Mitchell drew a walk to start the inning. He was on the run and Dillard lined a single to right-center. Mitchell kept going, ran through a stop sign put up by manager Matt Erickson in the coach’s box at third, and scored on the play. Ward followed with another hit-and-run single to send Dillard to third. Gabriel García drove in Dillard with a sacrifice fly. Then, Ward stole second to get into scoring position and Nick Kahle drove him in with a single to tie the game.

The Rattlers took a 6-5 lead in their half of the fourth inning when Mitchell’s RBI ground got David Hamilton home from third base.

The Chiefs tied the game again in the top of the fifth when they loaded the bases with one out for the fourth time in the game. This time they did it against reliever Nash Walters. They tying run scored when Walters hit Pedro Pages to force in the run. Walters escaped the inning with a strikeout and a pop out and the Chiefs left the bases loaded again.

Kahle put the Rattlers back in front with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth. Ward doubled and stole third. Kahle drove in Ward with a sacrifice fly. Hamilton put the Rattlers up 9-6 with a two-out, two-run double later in the inning. Hamilton’s hit extended his own hitting streak to ten games.

Peoria kept on coming back though. Zade Richardson hit a two-run home run in the top of the sixth to cut Wisconsin’s lead to one.

The Rattlers carried that 9-8 lead to the top of the ninth. Taylor Floyd, who got the final two outs of the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth, found the bases loaded with no outs in the top of the ninth on two singles and a walk. Castillo, who had been 0-for-4 in the game after entering for Hernandez back in the first inning, singled on a 1-2 pitch to drive in the tying run.

Floyd go the first out of the inning on a line drive back to the mound. Richardson was next and he sent a grounder in the hole at short. Hamilton made a diving stop and flipped to third for a force out and out number two, but the go-ahead run scored. Then, Leandro Castillo doubled to right center to give the Chiefs a three-run cushion.

Wisconsin got a two-out single from Carlos Rodríguez in the bottom of the ninth, but that was it as Jacob Schlesener closed out the with a grounder to third.

The win gave the Chiefs a 3-2 edge in the series with the final game of the series – and of Udder Tuggers weekend – set for Sunday afternoon. Reese Olson (2-2, 3.24) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Peoria plans to send Logan Gragg (0-2, 3.75) to the mound. Game time is 1:05pm.

There will be a Cow-Themed Fanny Pack Giveaway to the first 1,000 fans to attend this game courtesy of Sure-Dry Basement System.

Timber Rattlers players and coaches will wear the Udder Tuggers jerseys for the final time. You might be able to win one of those jerseys in the on-line auction being run at this link. The auction is scheduled to have staggered end times of 6:30pm, 6:45pm, and 7:00pm on the evening of Sunday, June 6.

If you can’t make it out to the ballpark, you can follow the action on AM 1280 WNAM starting with the pregame show at 6:15pm. The game will also be televised on CW-14 starting at 1:00pm. The game will be available on internet audio and through MiLB.tv, too.