Rattlers Fall Flat in Road Trip Finale

SOUTH BEND, IN - The South Bend Cubs cracked nineteen hits on Monday afternoon to defeat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 9-2 at Four Winds Field. The Rattlers managed five hits in the game as they lost the final game of their six-game road swing through the Eastern Division.
South Bend (47-47 overall, 13-12 second half) jumped on Wisconsin starting pitcher Bowden Francis for three runs on five hits in the second inning. Brandon Hughes started the inning with a double. Cam Balego knocked in Hughes with a one-out double. Rafael Narea followed with an RBI double. Zach Davis drove in the final run of the inning with a single and the Cubs had a 3-0 lead.

Wisconsin (41-52, 10-14) scored a run without a hit in the top of the third inning. Gabriel García drew a walk, stole second, and went to third on a ground out.    He scored on a wild pitch by Lawlor.

That was about the only mistake Lawlor made. The lefty allowed one run, one hit, and one walk over five innings. Lawlor struck out eleven Rattlers, including the last six batters he faced in the game.

The Rattlers got close against reliever Enrique De Los Rios in the sixth inning, with a little help from De Los Rios. There was a runner at second with two outs when De Los Rios missed a grounder back to the mound to extend the inning. KJ Harrison smacked a single to right to score a run and the Rattlers were within 3-2.

The Cubs pushed their lead out to a more comfortable margin with five runs off reliever Robbie Hitt in the bottom of the sixth. Narea started the rally with a one-out double. Delvin Zinn drove in Narea with a single. Davis followed with a bunt single and a wild throw to first by catcher Payton Henry sailed down the line in right and by the time the ball was recovered Zinn had scored and Davis was cruising into third base.

The play was notable because it was the first error on Henry this season. The Wisconsin catcher had no errors in his first 61 games played behind the plate this season.

South Bend added to their lead in the sixth on RBI singles by Austin Filiere and Michael Cruz and a sacrifice fly by Hughes.

They tacked on one more run in the seventh inning on a single by Christian Donahue.

Gilbert Lara moved his current hitting streak to eight games with a single in the second inning. That was the only hit of the game off Lawlor.

Harrison had two hits in four trips to the plate on Monday. He went 7-for-14 in the three-game series with the Cubs.

Wisconsin wrapped up the road trip with a 3-3 record. They dropped two of three games at West Michigan before taking two of three from the Cubs.
The Timber Rattlers are off on Tuesday before returning to action with the first game of a six-game homestand at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium on Wednesday night against the Dayton Dragons. Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta is scheduled to make a brief start for the Rattlers in the game. Dayton, the Midwest League affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, has named Austin Orewiler (3-2, 3.56) as their starting pitcher. Game time is 7:05pm.

Fox Communities Credit Union will be at this game and they will be handing out envelopes with different denominations of cash. All fans may enjoy Cher-Make hotdogs and Pepsi products for $1. Fans 21 and older may purchase 12-ounce domestic beers for $1. This is a part of Bang for Your Buck Night at the ballpark with Y100! Also, one lucky fan will win two charter airfare tickets courtesy of AAA Travel and Funjet Vacations.
If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are many ways to catch the action. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino Pregame Show at 6:45pm. The broadcast is also available on the Tune In and IHeart Radio apps. Fans with Spectrum cable may watch the game on Spectrum Sports starting at 7:00pm. Subscribers to MiLB.tv can watch the game over the internet.