Rodriguez Homers Twice in Wisconsin Win
FORT WAYNE, IN – It wasn’t pretty, but the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers will take Saturday’s 7-4 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps at Parkview Field as they near the end of their two-week road trip against teams from the East Division of the Midwest League. Ramόn Rodríguez provided a spark
FORT WAYNE, IN – It wasn’t pretty, but the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers will take Saturday’s 7-4 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps at Parkview Field as they near the end of their two-week road trip against teams from the East Division of the Midwest League. Ramόn Rodríguez provided a spark with two homers for the offense. Yujanyer Herrera, who looked like he might not get out of the first inning, allowed one run over five frames for his fourth win of the season.
Click here for the scoring plays
The Timber Rattlers (43-25 overall, 1-1 second half) loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first inning against Fort Wayne starting pitcher Dylan Lesko. Eduardo Garcia doubled to start the game. Gregory Barrios was hit by a pitch and Jadher Areinamo singled sharply to center with Garcia stopping at third. Lesko escaped the jam with a strikeout, a popout, and a flyout.
Fort Wayne (29-39, 1-1) had a runner at first with one out in their half of the first inning. Then, Herrera and Devin Ortiz battled to an eleven pitch at bat as Ortiz fouled off six different 2-2 pitches from Herrera before lining a single to left. Herrera walked the next batter to load the bases. Herrera got ahead of Josh Mears with two quick strikes but missed with his next four to walk Mears and force in a run. Herrera got the final out of the inning on a force play with his 38th pitch of the frame.
Rodríguez provided the offense that put Wisconsin in front. First, he tied the game with a one-out, solo homer in the second to tie the game. Then, Rodríguez hit a two-out, solo homer in the fourth for a 2-1 lead. This is the second time this season Rodríguez had hit two homers in a game. He has hit five home runs this season.
They called him Ramón Two Homers because he always hit two homers in game.
— Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (@TimberRattlers) June 23, 2024
Gonna hit the homer....hit the homer:
https://t.co/f2du9Zss7P via @milb
Herrera gutted his way through five innings and didn’t allow another run as he protected the lead once he had it. He walked three and struck out three while tossing 88 pitches in the game.
The Rattlers added to their lead in the sixth. Tayden Hall’s sacrifice fly scored Luke Adams from third for a 3-1 lead.
Wisconsin hitters went for the cycle in the top of the seventh to add four runs to their advantage against reliever Jose Geraldo. Eduarqui Fernández started the rally with a double and went to third on a wild pitch. Garcia, who had three hits on Saturday, shot a single through the drawn-in infield to score Fernández. Barrios followed with a triple to left-center. Another wild pitch by Geraldo allowed Barrios to score. Areinamo capped the inning with a long home run to center for a 7-1 lead. The homer was Areinamo’s fifth of the season.
Jadher HEY! Areinamo with another home run! https://t.co/Ix0d3z2uMm via @milb
— Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (@TimberRattlers) June 23, 2024
Fort Wayne scored twice in the bottom of the sixth off Wisconsin reliever Brian Fitzpatrick. Griffin Doersching doubled and took third on a wild pitch. Nik McClaughry drove in Doersching with a ground out. Homer Bush Jr singled and stole second. Ethan Salas flared a single to left with two outs. Barrios was able to field the ball and fire an off-balance throw to the plate, but Bush was just fast enough to avoid the tag to score a run to cut Wisconsin’s lead to four.
Fitzpatrick pitched a scoreless eighth inning and went back out for the ninth. McClaughry started the inning when he reached on an error on Hall. Bush sent a grounder to third with the throw going to second for the force out. However, Areinamo dropped the throw and the TinCaps had two on with no outs. Fitzpatrick got the first out of the inning on a strikeout. Then, Salas reached on a weak grounder that went for a single to load the bases, bring the tying run to the plate, and brought Chase Costello in from the Wisconsin bullpen.
Costello needed just three pitches to close out his second save of the season. Ortiz grounded out to first to score a run. Vilar was retired on a routine fly to Garcia for the final out.
The victory guaranteed Wisconsin a winning road trip. The team went 4-2 at West Michigan last week. Saturday’s win gives them a 3-2 lead in the series with the TinCaps.
The final game of Wisconsin’s twelve-game road trip is Sunday afternoon at Parkview Field. Alexander Cornielle (3-2, 3.24) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Braden Nett (0-0, 11.42) is set to start for the TinCaps. Game time is 12:05pm CDT. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Community Blood Center Pregame Show at 11:45am. The game is also available on the internet and the Bally Live App.
The Timber Rattlers host the South Bend Cubs in a six-game homestand that begins on Tuesday, June 25. The homestand features two peanut-free games, 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.