Rattlers Drop 5-4 Decision to Kane County

PEORIA, IL - A major blizzard back in the Fox Cities forced the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to host the Kane County Cougars at Dozer Park in the first game of a three-game series on Tuesday night. The Rattlers grabbed the lead in the middle of the game, but the Cougars rallied late to beat Wisconsin 5-4. The Kane County comeback spoiled fine performances by Rattlers Bowden Francis and Pat McInerney.
Francis, the Wisconsin starting pitcher, retired the first eleven men that he faced before Yoel Yanqui bunted up the third base line against a defensive shift. Yanqui tried to steal second a few pitches later to end the inning.

Kane County starting pitcher Kevin McCanna retired the first nine batters he faced before Joantgel Segovia lined a clean single up the middle to start the bottom of the fourth. McInerney stepped to the plate with one out and launched a two-run homer to left and the Rattlers were up 2-0.

Wisconsin (3-8) made it 3-0 in the fifth inning. Gabriel Garcia struck out, but reached on the play when catcher Tim Susnara failed to pick up the ball cleanly. Franly Mallen made the Cougars pay by lacing a triple to right-center to score Garcia.

The Cougars (4-5) got on the scoreboard against Francis in the sixth inning after he retired the first two batters of the frame. Ryan Grotjohn singled to keep the inning alive. Then, Jasrado Chisholm doubled to drive in the run.

McInerney got that run back in the bottom of the sixth with a long home run to left-center and the Rattlers were up 4-1. McInerney has four homers on the season. He has eleven hits on the year and nine have gone for extra bases.

Francis left the game after six innings. He allowed one run on four hits, walked none, and struck out seven in the contest to set the Rattlers up for the win. But, the bullpen could not hold.

Matt Hardy entered in the seventh inning and loaded the bases with no outs on two walks and a single. Joey Rose snapped an 0-for-23 slump to start the season with an RBI single to left to score the first run of the inning. Susnara followed with a sacrifice fly and the Cougars were within a run. Hardy got out of the inning with no more damage.

Carlos Herrera took over for Hardy in the eighth inning and retired the first batter he faced, but gave up a double to Yoel Yanqui and a single to Luis Silverio to put runners on the corners. Herrera threw wildly to first on a pickoff attempt to let Yanqui score the tying run and Silverio to take third.

Eudy Ramos was next and he sent a high popup that dropped in for a single just beyond the infield dirt to send Silverio home with the go-ahead run.

Wisconsin put the tying run in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth innings, but it wasn't enough to keep the Rattlers from dropping their fourth straight game. All four losses have been by one run.
Game two of this unusual series is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Nelson Hernández (1-1, 7.71) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Cole Stapler (0-1, 3.60) is set to start for the Cougars. Game time is noon. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino Pregame Show at 11:40am. The broadcast is also available on the Tune In and IHeart Radio apps.