Clinton Beats Wisconsin 8-3 in First Game of Crucial Series

GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers took an early lead over the Clinton LumberKings Monday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Then, the LumberKings erupted for four runs in the third and three runs in the fourth to take control of the game on the way to an 8-3 victory.

Brent Díaz put the Timber Rattlers (51-55 overall, 20-17 second half) up 1-0 with a two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the second inning to score Connor McVey from second base.

Clinton (57-49, 24-14) stormed in front of Wisconsin as they send nine men to the plate and scored four runs in the top of the third inning. The first three hitters in the inning singled with Christopher Torres knocking in the tying run. Kameron Misner put Clinton up 2-1 with a sacrifice fly. Peyton Burdick followed with an RBI double. Evan Edwards capped the inning with an RBI single for a 4-1 lead.

The Rattlers loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the third inning and got a run on a sacrifice fly by McVey and the Rattlers were down 4-2.

Misner, playing in his first game with the LumberKings, stepped to the plate in the top of the fourth with two runners on base and lined a home run off the foul pole in right field and Clinton was up 7-2.

The LumberKings added one more run in the top of the fourth inning on a run-scoring wild pitch by reliever Reese Olson.

Olson would work a total of four innings in relief for the Rattlers. He struck out eight to set a new single-game high as a professional.

Wisconsin got one more run when Thomas Dillard scored from third on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth.

The Rattlers collected eight hits and drew eight walks in the game, but managed to plate just three runs. They were 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and stranded eleven runners in the contest.

Tanner Anderson was the winning pitcher for Clinton as he scattered six hits and three walks to allow just two runs over six innings.

The loss dropped Wisconsin four games behind the LumberKings in the second half Western Division Wild Card race. The LumberKings moved to within a game of the division-leading Kane County Cougars because the Cougars lost to the Peoria Chiefs on Tuesday night.
Game two of the four-game series is Wednesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Scotty Sunitsch (8-10, 4.57) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Clinton has named Alberto Guerrero (4-5, 2.87) as their starter. Game time is 7:05pm.
It's a Girls Night Out at the ballpark on Wednesday. There are several specials for the ladies planned for the evening. Fifty ladies will be selected to participate in a Diamond Dig in the beach area at the ballpark and one lucky winner will leave with a half-carat diamond courtesy of Avenue Jewelers. 

The first 1,000 fans to attend the game will receive a poster of Timber Rattlers All-Star catcher David Fry from EatStreet. This is poster number two in a series of four that are being given away this season. 

Enjoy Cher-Make Hot dogs and 16-ounce Pepsi products for $1 and there are also 16-ounce domestic beers available for $2 to those of legal drinking age on Wednesday.   These specials are part of the Wednesday night Bang for Your Buck with Y100.
If you can't make it out to the ballpark, the radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM and the TuneIn Radio app starting with the Papa John's Pizza Pregame Show at 6:45pm. MiLB.tv subscribers can watch the game over the internet.