First Half Finale Goes to Fort Wayne
FORT WAYNE, IN – The Fort Wayne TinCaps defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 5-1 on Thursday night at Parkview Field in the first half finale for both teams. Consecutive homers for the TinCaps in the bottom of the third inning gave them a 5-0 lead as they cruised to the
FORT WAYNE, IN – The Fort Wayne TinCaps defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 5-1 on Thursday night at Parkview Field in the first half finale for both teams. Consecutive homers for the TinCaps in the bottom of the third inning gave them a 5-0 lead as they cruised to the win.
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Fort Wayne (28-38) loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second inning. Alain Camou drove in a run with a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead, but that was all the TinCaps would get in the inning.
Joshua Mears and Colton Bender hit back-to-back homers in the bottom of the third inning against Wisconsin starting pitcher K.C. Hunt. Mears hit a three-run homer to left after a single and an error put two runners on with no outs. Bender followed with a home run.
Hunt allowed five runs – four earned – on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts over three innings.
The Timber Rattlers (42-24) couldn’t solve Fort Wayne starting pitcher Fernando Sanchez until the seventh inning. The left-hander gave up a two-out double to Eduardo Garica and walked Jesús Chirinos in the top of the first inning. He would retire the next fourteen batters he faced. Luis Lara broke the streak with a one-out single in the sixth inning, but the Rattlers could do nothing in the sixth.
In the seventh, Chirinos and Ramόn Rodríguez singled to start the inning, but a force at third was the first out. Then, Jheremy Vargas reached on an infield single to load the bases. Terence Doston drove in Rodríguez with a sacrifice fly to get the Timber Rattlers on the scoreboard. However, that was as close as the Rattlers would get. Tyler Morgan tossed a perfect eighth and Manuel Castro worked a scoreless ninth as he pitched around a one-out double by Rodríguez.
Relievers Stiven Cruz and Patricio Aquino kept the TinCaps off the scoreboard after the third inning. Cruz worked a scoreless fourth inning. Aquino struck out five and allowed just one hit over four innings.
The loss ended Wisconsin’s four-game winning streak. The loss also kept the 2024 Timber Rattlers, the first half West Division champions, tied with the 2001 Rattlers for the third-most wins in a half. The 2001 Rattlers were 42-26 in both the first and second half of that season. Only the 1996 Rattlers (46-21) and 2012 Rattlers (44-25) won more games in a half than this year’s team.
Game four of the series on Thursday night at Parkview Field is also the first game for the second half of the Midwest League season. Will Rudy (1-5, 5.83) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Fort Wayne has named Henry Baez (1-2, 3.94) as their starter. Game time is 6:05pm CDT. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Community Blood Center Pregame Show at 5:45pm. The game is also available on the internet and the Bally Live App.