Rattlers Beat Quad Cities and the Weather

DAVENPORT, IA - It took a little over two months and a couple of rain delays but the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers picked up a 2-1 win over the Quad Cities River Bandits on Tuesday night at Modern Woodmen Park. This game was the completion of a suspended game that was halted by rain in the eighth inning.

Click here for the boxscore of this game

The game was halted back on June 20 in Davenport with a runner at first and one out in the bottom of the first inning with no score. Victor Castañeda was the starter on that day back in June 20 and had hit Nick Loftin just before the game was halted by rain two months ago. Castañeda, came back to pick up the game where it left off and threw one pitch to restart the game and got Michael Massey to ground into an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play.

Wisconsin (46-50) took the lead thanks to a pair of players who were playing for the Carolina Mudcats in June. Joey Wiemer drew a walk with one out in the top of third inning and went to second on a wild pitch. Zavier Warren knocked in Wiemer with a single to right for a 1-0 lead.

The River Bandits (63-31) didn’t get their first hit of the game until a two-out single by Logan Porter in the bottom of the fifth.

There was confusion before Wisconsin hit in the top of the sixth inning. Wiemer, who replaced original starting designated hitter Garrett Mitchell in the lineup, should have been batting in the number three spot in the order. Instead, he was placed in the number nine spot. The error was not caught until the second time Wiemer batted so there was no penalty. That is how Wiemer made the second out in the fifth inning and hit again just three batters later in the sixth.

Quad Cities tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning as the storm clouds began to roll over the ballpark on a two-out, RBI triple off the wall in center by Michael Massey.

The Rattlers went back in front moments later. Felix Valerio doubled with one out in the top of the seventh. Carlos Rodríguez drove in Valerio with a single on the next pitch and Wisconsin was backup 2-1.

Castañeda worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning but walked the lead-off batter in the eighth. That was when the skies opened and the umpires had to call for the tarp to be placed on the field and the game entered a delay.

The rain poured down for the next hour and with no letup in sight the game was called and made official with the Rattlers picking up the victory. The stats from the eighth inning were wiped out and that gave Castañeda a complete-game win with seven strikeouts.

The regularly scheduled game for Tuesday was rained out. The teams will play a doubleheader on Wednesday with game one set to start at 5:05pm. Wisconsin has named Brandon Knarr (0-0,7.36) as their starting pitcher for game one with Joey Matulovich (1-1, 5.82) set to start the nightcap. The radio broadcast is on AM 1280 WNAM and on internet audio with the pregame show at 4:45pm. The games are also available on MiLB.tv.