Wisconsin Drops Pitchers’ Duel to Beloit

BELOIT, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers were held to one hit in a 2-0 loss to the Beloit Sky Carp Wednesday night at ABC Supply Stadium. Antoine Kelly and Pat Monteverde dueled for six innings with Monteverde picking up his second win of the season with just enough offense from his teammates to push him over the line. The also caused Wisconsin to drop another game behind division-leading Cedar Rapids with thirteen games left in the first half pennant chase.

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Beloit (24-29) scored in the bottom of the fifth inning to take the lead. Ynmanol Marinez singled and Dalvy Rosario walked to put runners on first and second to start the inning. Kyler Castillo lined a single off the glove of second baseman Tyler Black, who tried to make a diving stab of the liner. The ball trickled into right field and Marinez scored for the 1-0 advantage.

The Timber Rattlers (31-22) got something going in the top of the sixth. Tyler Black drew a walk and Zavier Warren singled with one out for Wisconsin’s first hit of the game against Monteverde. The Sky Carp starter escaped the jam with a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Monteverde left after the sixth inning. He walked three, allowed one hit, and struck out six.

Kelly also completed six innings. He allowed one run on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts but was tagged with his second loss of the season.

Brady Schanuel relieved Kelly for the bottom of the seventh and retired the first two batters he faced on two pitches. However, he would walk the next four batters with a four-pitch walk to Nasim Nunez coming at the end of the sequence to get the Sky Carp an insurance run.

The Beloit bullpen closed out the game with three scoreless innings. Tyler Mitzel pitched a perfect seventh and worked around an error that put Ethan Murray on base to start the eighth. Robinson Martinez retired Wisconsin in order in the ninth for his third save.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels ran their record to 35-18 with a 12-5 win at South Bend on Wednesday night. The Timber Rattlers find themselves four games out in the division now. South Bend is now a distant third at seven games behind the Kernels.

Wisconsin had been shutout one time in the first 41 games of the season. They have been shutout four times in the last twelve games.

Game three of the series is Thursday evening at ABC Supply Stadium. Ryne Moore (1-3, 9.18) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The Sky Carp have named Dax Fulton (1-4, 5.36) as their starting pitcher. Game time is 6:35pm. The radio broadcast on AM1280, WNAM and internet audio is set to start with the pregame show at 6:15pm. The game is also available to subscribers of MiLB.tv.