Wisconsin Shuts Out Burlington 1-0

GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers got a major league performance from Zach Davies on Saturday afternoon and it propelled them to a 1-0 win over the Burlington Bees at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

Davies made his rehabilitation start memorable for the 6,063 fans in attendance on a perfect afternoon for baseball. The Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher, who had been sidelined by a rotator cuff injury since a start against the Chicago Cubs on April 29, tossed 4-2/3 scoreless innings, allowed two hits, walked none, and struck out nine. He left the game after 56 pitches, 44 of which were strikes.

The Bees (17-22) got a one-out double from Jo Adell in the first inning, but Davies struck out the next two hitters. In the third, Davies worked around a two-out error. In the fourth, Torii Hunter Jr. reached on an infield single to start the inning, but he was left stranded at third. Davies struck out the first two batters he faced in the fifth inning before being taken out of the game with the large crowd cheering in appreciation of his performance.
 

Burlington starting pitcher Simon Mathews matched Davies with zeroes for five innings. The right-hander struck out eight and allowed just three base runners: Payton Henry walked in the first, Gabriel García singled in the second, and Joantgel Segovia singled in the third.

Alec Bettinger, Wisconsin's scheduled starting pitcher before Davies' rehab assignment was announced, struggled early in his day when he took over with two outs and none on in the fifth inning. He threw ten straight pitches outside the strike zone and would walk the bases loaded before retiring Hunter on a foul pop to end the frame.

The Rattlers (19-23) scored the only run of the game in the sixth inning. Nick Roscetti singled off reliever Jorge Tavarez to start the inning and stole second. Tristen Lutz lined a single to left with one out and Roscetti scored without a play for the 1-0 lead.

Lutz has driven in at least one run in seven of his last eight games.

Bettinger settled in after the rocky beginning and would only allow one hit the rest of the way. Spencer Griffin doubled with one out in the sixth for that hit, but Bettinger retired the final eleven batters of the game. The righty out of the University of Virginia struck out three over the final 4-1/3 innings to claim his third win of the season.

The victory allowed the Rattlers to snap a four-game losing streak.

The attendance of 6,063 is the biggest home crowd of the season - so far - for the Rattlers.
The final game of the series - and of Wisconsin's long homestand - is Sunday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Bowden Francis (1-1, 3.60) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Luis Madero (1-2, 2.88) is set to start for the Bees. Game time is 1:05pm.
The Timber Rattlers will hold their 11^th annual Bark in the Park presented by Fox Valley Animal Referral Center on Sunday. The left field berm will be set aside for our four-legged friends. For more details on Bark in the Park, head to this link.

If you missed Curious George on Saturday, the PBS Kids' star will be back on Sunday to meet you.

Timber Rattlers players and coaches will be wearing their 2018 Brewers-themed jerseys as part of Brewers Sunday sponsored by Rasmussen College and Star 98. 

Before the game, fans may play catch on-field courtesy of Rasmussen College starting at noon. Players will be available for a postgame autograph session sponsored by Tundraland.

If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are several ways to follow the action. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino Pregame Show at 12:45pm. The broadcast is also available on the Tune In and IHeart Radio apps. Subscribers to MiLB.tv can watch the game over the internet.