Road Trip Ends with Close Loss to TinCaps
FORT WAYNE, IN – The Fort Wayne TinCaps had just enough to beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 6-5 on Sunday afternoon at Parkview Field. The Rattlers trailed by two runs heading into the ninth inning before loading the bases with no outs. However, Wisconsin could score just one run and
FORT WAYNE, IN – The Fort Wayne TinCaps had just enough to beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 6-5 on Sunday afternoon at Parkview Field. The Rattlers trailed by two runs heading into the ninth inning before loading the bases with no outs. However, Wisconsin could score just one run and fell in the final game of their two-week road trip.
Click here for the scoring plays
The TinCaps (30-39 overall, 2-1 second half) scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning to take the lead. Anthony Vilar doubled to start the inning. Tyler Robertson singled to drive in Vilar. Wisconsin starting pitcher Alexander Cornielle hit Josh Mears on an 0-2 pitch to put two runners on base. Nerwilian Cedeño followed with a double to score Robertson and send Mears to third base.
Then, Homer Bush Jr. hit a hard grounder to short. Gregory Barrios came home with the throw, but it was offline, and Mears scored. Romeo Sanabria drove in the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly.
Wisconsin (43-26, 1-2) responded with a two-out rally in the third thanks to a little help from the TinCaps. Dwayne Matos retired the first two batters he faced before walking Jadher Areinamo and hitting Luke Adams. Matt Wood loaded the bases with a sharp single to right.
Felix Valerio hit a hard grounder to third and the ball glanced off the glove of Devin Ortiz. Areinamo and Adams scored on the play with Wood heading for third. Shortstop Jay Beshears tracked down the ball near the foul line in left and fired to third. However, the ball hit Wood and deflected away to allow Wood to score.
The teams traded runs later in the game. Fort Wayne added a run to their lead on a two-out, RBI single by Vilar in the bottom of the fifth. In the top of the sixth, Eduardo García doubled, took third on a grounder to the right side of the infield, and scored on a wild pitch by Sam Whiting.
Bush singled to start the bottom of the seventh inning and stole second, his 32nd stolen base of the season. Sanabria singled to center and Bush easily scored the insurance run for the 6-4 lead.
Wisconsin did not go quietly in the ninth inning against Fort Wayne closer Manul Castro. Barrios reached on an error with Areinamo and Adams following with singles to load the bases with no outs. Castro got Matt Wood to ground into a 4-6-3 double play that allowed a run to score and the tying run to take third base. Castro ended the game with a strikeout for his fifth save of the season.
The teams split the six-game series at Parkview Field with the Timber Rattlers winning the season series by taking seven of the twelve meetings between the teams. Wisconsin also finished their twelve-game road trip with a 7-5 record.
The Timber Rattlers are off on Monday. Their next game is Tuesday night against the South Bend Cubs at Neuroscience Group Field. Mark Manfredi (4-1, 3.20) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Ty Johnson (0-2, 8.68) is set to start for the Cubs. Game time is 6:40pm.
If you can’t make it out to the ballpark, there are several ways to follow the Timber Rattlers action. Tuesday’s game is available on tv-32 starting at 6:30pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM with the Community Blood Center Pregame Show set to go at 6:20pm. The game is also available on the internet and the Bally Live App.
Tuesday is Pride Night and Peanut-Free Night. The first game of the series with the Cubs is also a Bang for Your Buck Night presented by Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance. The rest of the homestand features another peanut-free game, a Los Cascabeles game, and Udder Tuggers weekend. See this link for full details to welcome the First Half West Division Champions back to Neuroscience Group Field this week.