Rattlers Pitch a Shutout to Beat Fort Wayne

GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers beat the Fort Wayne TinCaps 4-0 on Wednesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Brandon Knarr pitched six shutout innings, scattered six hits, and struck out six for his third win of the season. The shutout was the second in a row for the Timber Rattlers over the TinCaps.

Click here for the boxscore of this game

Knarr was nearly matched by Fort Wayne starting pitcher Jackson Wolf. The TinCaps lefty allowed one hit, walked three, and struck out six over 5-1/3 innings for a no decision as both pitchers put up zeros for the first 5-1/2 innings.

Fort Wayne (11-12) nearly got on the scoreboard first. Jarryd Dale singled with two outs and moved to second on a wild pitch. Then, Justin Lopez lined a ball that shortstop Antonio Piñero dove for the ball glanced off the webbing of his glove before trickling into shallow left-center. Dale raced for the plate, but Piñero was able to get to the ball and fire to the plate. The throw was a little off-line, but catcher Darrien Miller had time to catch the ball and get the tag on Dale for the final out of the inning.

Wolf got the first out of the sixth before leaving in favor of Edwuin Bencomo.

Zavier Warren greeted Bencomo with a single and Joe Gray Jr followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Bencomo got the second out and two strikes on Wes Clarke and appeared ready to escape the jam. Clarke had other ideas as he dropped in a single to right-center to score Warren and Gray for a 2-0 lead.

The Timber Rattlers (14-9) added two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Carlos Rodríguez singled with two outs and the bases loaded to score Gray and Darrien Miller for a 4-0 lead.

Wisconsin’s relievers pitched three scoreless innings. Kent Hasler worked around a one-out walk in the seventh inning. Cam Robinson pitched two perfect innings in the eighth and ninth to close out the game and earn his fourth save of the season.

Knarr walked one batter in the game and extended his personal shutout streak to 12-1/3 innings over three starts. The lefty has allowed four runs over 28-1/3 innings in five starts as a Timber Rattler this season. He also has 33 strikeouts on the year.

Game three of the series is Thursday night at Neuroscience Group Field with a start time of 6:40pm. Antoine Kelly (1-0, 3.24) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Noel Vela (0-0, 0.59) is set to start for the TinCaps.

If you are interested in hearing about how to get started in a career in sports, the Timber Rattlers have representatives from the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Admirals, Wisconsin Herd, and more area sports teams coming to the game for a panel discussion and a networking event from 4:30 to 6:30pm.Click this link for all the details and use promo code ‘sports’ to order tickets. Gates to the stadium will be open for attendees of the Career in Sports Night at 4:15pm.

Thursday is also a Craft Brews and Brats Night with Fox River Brewing Company and The Score. Fans of legal drinking age may purchase 16-ounce craft beer for $3. All fans can purchase a Cher-Make brat for $2.

If you can’t make it out to the stadium, there are several ways to follow the action. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM and on internet audio starting with the pregame show at 6:20pm. The game is also available on MiLB.tv.