Seventh Inning Decisive in Peoria’s Win Over Wisconsin

PEORIA, IL – The seventh inning was lucky for the Peoria Chiefs in a 4-3 victory over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Sunday night at Dozer Park. The win allowed the Chiefs to take the season series from the Timber Rattlers in Wisconsin’s final road game of the season.

Click here for the boxscore of this game

The duo of Jackson Chourio and Jeferson Quero put the Timber Rattlers (65-60 overall, 29-31 second half) on the board in the top of the first inning after a 50-minute rain delay kept the game from starting on time. Chourio drew a walk with one out. Quero followed with a double off the wall in right-center and Chourio raced home to score the first run of the game.

Wisconsin starting pitcher Stiven Cruz allowed two hits over three innings but faced the minimum thanks to a pair of nifty double plays turned by the Rattlers defense.

Peoria (53-73, 25-25) got their first run in the bottom of the fourth against Joey Matulovich. Osvaldo Tovalin drove in a runner from third on a two-out, broken-bat blooper to center to even the score.

The game turned in the seventh inning as the Rattlers couldn’t take advantage of a Peoria error in the top of the inning while the Chiefs jumped on one costly error by Wisconsin in the bottom of the inning.

Eduardo García reached on an error by reliever Nick Trogrlic-Iverson to start the Rattlers half of the seventh. Then, Zack Raabe walked. Trogrlic-Iverson struck out the next two batters. Darrien Miller was next, and he hit a hard grounder to short that Mack Chambers made a diving stop on before throwing to first. However, the throw pulled Tovalin off the bag at first and the Rattlers had the bases loaded. This play was originally ruled an error, but was changed to a hit after the game.

The bases stayed loaded as Chambers was able to make a strong throw on a slow chopper off the bat off Chourio to just get the final out of the inning at first.

Tyler Reichenborn started the Peoria seventh with a single. Wisconsin reliever Brannon Jordan got the first out of the inning and was ahead of Noah Mendlinger 1-2 before hitting him with a pitch. Luís Rodríguez followed with a slow chopper to third. Ben Metzinger made the play clean, but his throw to first was offline and wound up down the line in right field. Both Reichenborn and Mendlinger scored with Rodríguez taking third base. Tommy Jew doubled two pitches later to score Rodríguez and the Chiefs were up 4-1.

The Timber Rattlers made it interesting in the ninth. García started the inning with a double. Ethan Murray got Wisconsin to within a run with a one-out home run that just got over the high fence down the line in right. However, Trogrlic-Iverson regrouped and got the final two outs to nail down the win for Peoria.

The Rattlers went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position on Sunday night.

Wisconsin and Peoria entered Sunday’s game tied at ten wins each in the first twenty meetings between the teams this season. The Chiefs victory gave them an 11-10 edge in the season series.

The Timber Rattlers are off on Monday. They return to action on Tuesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium to start a season-ending, six-game homestand with the Beloit Sky Carp. Brady Schanuel (0-2, 3.20) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. MD Johnson (9-8, 3.17) is set to start for Beloit. Game time is 6:40pm.

Milwaukee Brewers infielder Mike Brosseau is slated to begin a rehabilitation assignment with the Timber Rattlers on Tuesday night.

Also on Tuesday, the Rattlers are honoring the past and present with a pair of giveaways on Tuesday night. David Ortiz was a Timber Rattler in 1996 and a 2022 National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee. The first 1,000 fans to attend this game will receive a replica of his plaque that is on display in Cooperstown courtesy of Sure-Dry. Jeferson Quero is a catcher on the current Rattlers squad, is the #7 prospect in the Brewers organization, and is the final player poster giveaway from Chick-fil-A this season.

The final Bang for Your Buck Night with NEW Manufacturing Alliance and Y100 is Tuesday, too. All fans may enjoy Cher-Make hotdogs and 16-ounce Pepsi Products for $2. Those of legal drinking age may purchase 16-ounce domestic beers for $2.

If you can’t make it out to the ballpark, the radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM and internet audio starting at 6:20pm. The game is also available on MiLB.tv for subscribers.