McClana-SLAM! Rattlers Beat Loons with Help from McClanahan’s Bases-Loaded Homer

GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Great Lakes Loons out-homered the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4-2 Sunday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium, but it was the Rattlers who celebrated an 8-6 win thanks to a go-ahead grand slam from Chad McClanahan and another big offensive day from Joey Wiemer.

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Wiemer continued to make an impression on the home crowd when he cracked a 441-foot home run over the back wall of the stadium with one out in the bottom of the first inning. The dinger was the fourth for Wiemer in his six games since joining the team from the Carolina Mudcats at the start of the series.

Zac Ching also continued a memorable series for the Loons (47-43) in the top of the second inning when he hit his fourth home run of the series. Ching’s solo shot to left was his eleventh of the season and it tied the game 1-1.

The Loons added to their league-leading home run total in the top of the third inning. Ryan Ward and Carson Taylor hit back-to-back dingers to start the inning and give Great Lakes a 3-1 advantage.

Wisconsin starting pitcher Freisis Adames retired ten batters in a row after the Taylor home run. That streak ended after a one-out double by Eddys Leonard in the sixth. Brandon Lewis was next and he hit a high fly to the warning track in center that Wiemer lost in the sun for a double to score Leonard for a 4-1 lead.

Je’Von Ward started the Wisconsin half of the sixth with a single. Then, Wiemer hit a high fly to center that Leonard lost in the sun and the ball dropped for a single. Zavier Warren was next and he singled to drive in Ward for the first run of the inning. Joe Gray Jr drew a walk to load the bases and set the stage for McClanahan.

The Wisconsin first baseman had hit a grand slam against West Michigan on May 18 and worked the count to 3-1. Then, McClanahan unloaded a 437-foot blast over the boardwalk in right-center and out of the stadium for the fifth slam of the season by a Wisconsin hitter and a 6-4 lead.

The Timber Rattlers (43-46) added two more runs after the seventh inning stretch. Ward and Wiemer singled to put runners on the corners with no outs. Warren hit a sacrifice fly to score Ward. Wiemer, who had four hits on the day, scored later in the inning on a wild pitch for an 8-4 lead.

Ryan Ward hit a two-run home run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. The homer was Ward’s second of the day, fourth of the series, and twentieth of the season, but that was as close as the Loons would get. Wiemer made a diving catch on a sinking line drive off the bat of Taylor to end the game.

Wisconsin won four of the six games in the series and staged comeback victories in all four of their wins.

The teams combined for 27 home runs in the six-game series. Great Lakes had sixteen homers and has run their season total to 139 in 90 games. Wisconsin had eleven homers in the series.

The Timber Rattlers are off on Monday. They return to action on Tuesday when they start a two-week trip to Iowa with game one of a series against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Joey Matulovich (1-1, 6.23) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin at Perfect Game Field. Game time is 6:35pm with the radio broadcast starting at 6:15pm on AM1280 and internet audio. The game is also available on MiLB.tv.