Rattlers Win Third Straight by Beating Fort Wayne

FORT WAYNE, IN - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers trailed the Fort Wayne TinCaps 3-0 after two innings on Saturday night at Parkview Field. The Rattlers would rally to take the lead by the fifth inning and stretched their advantage into an eventual 8-4 win. The victory gave the Timber Rattlers their first three-game winning streak of the season.
The TinCaps (13-16) were up 2-0 three batters into the game against Wisconsin starting pitcher Nelson Hernández. Jeisson Rosario singled on the first pitch of the bottom of the first. Esteury Ramirez cracked a triple to center on the second pitch of the game to get Rosario home. Luis Campusano followed with a RBI grounder.

Fort Wayne added to their lead in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Rosario.

Wisconsin (11-17) rallied for two runs in the top of the third inning. Joantgel Segovia, who had a first-inning single to move his on-base streak to 19 games, singled with one out in the third. Tristen Lutz followed with a drive off the wall in center for an RBI double. KJ Harrison delivered a two-out, RBI single to send Lutz across the plate and the Rattlers were down 3-2.

Hernández got into a jam in the bottom of the fourth inning as a single and a double by the first two TinCaps to bat in the inning put runners at second and third with no outs. But, he escaped without a run scoring. The first out was recorded on a fly ball to shallow center. Rosario was next and his liner down the third base line was caught by Gilbert Lara, who stepped on third base for an unassisted, inning-ending double play.

The Rattlers bats responded in their next turn at the plate. Segovia, who had three hits in the game, and Demi Orimoloye singled. Then, Harrison, who had been in an 0-for-16 slide prior to his single in the third, struck again in the fifth. He lined a two-out, two-run double off the top of the wall in left to put the Rattlers in front 4-3.

Hernández settled in after the key double play in the fourth. He went 6-2/3 innings, the longest outing by a Timber Rattlers starting pitcher this season, and did not allow another run.

Wisconsin tacked on to their lead with two more runs - with a little help - in the top of the sixth. Payton Henry's high popup behind the plate was dropped and he got another chance to hit with Zach Clark at second with one out. Henry sent a grounder in the hole at short and the throw to third was in plenty of time to get Clark, but the ball was dropped and everyone was safe. A wild pitch let Clark score the fifth Wisconsin run.

Later in the sixth, Nick Roscetti slammed a ball through the drawn-in infield to send Henry home from third for a 6-3 lead.

The Rattlers padded their lead in the ninth. Lutz drove in a run with a sacrifice fly for the first run. Later, Roscetti scored from third when a throw to second in an attempt to get Segovia on a stolen base attempt went wild.

Michael Petersen relieved Hernandez with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and ran his scoreless innings streak to 16-2/3 innings before he issued a two-out walk to Rosario and an RBI triple to Ruiz in the bottom of the ninth. Petersen would get the final out of the inning and the game to record his second save of the season.

The Timber Rattlers are 4-1 on their current road trip and have won six of their last eight games.
 
The final game of the series - and Wisconsin's road trip - is set for Sunday afternoon. Dylan File (3-1, 4.10) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Nick Margevicius (1-1, 3.12) is set to start for Fort Wayne. Game time at Parkview Field is 12:05pm CDT. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino Pregame Show at 11:45am. The broadcast is also available on the Tune In and IHeart Radio apps.