Wisconsin Opens Series in South Bend with 5-2 Win

SOUTH BEND, IN - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers began their three-game series with the South Bend Cubs in the right fashion. The Rattlers defeated the Cubs 5-2 at Four Winds Field on Saturday night.
Wisconsin (40-51 overall, 9-13 second half) grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a little help from the Cubs defense. Tristen Lutz reached on an error with two outs. KJ Harrison followed with a bloop single to center that has mishandled and Lutz wound up scoring all the way from first while Harrison ended up at second. Gilbert Lara was next and he lined a single to center to score Harrison.

South Bend (46-46, 12-11) came back with an two-out run of their own in the bottom of the first. Michael Cruz doubled to score Christian Donahue from first base and the Rattlers lead was down to one run.

The Timber Rattlers took advantage of another South Bend error to set up two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Gabriel García drew a walk with one out, stole second, and went to third on a throwing error. Rob Henry drove in García with a single through the drawn-in infield for a 3-1 lead. Later in the inning, Zach Clark singled to drive Darren Seferina home.

Wisconsin made it 5-1 with another two-out run in the fifth. Lara, who had three hits in the game, singled with two outs and no one on base. Payton Henry extended the inning by drawing a walk. Trever Morrison delivered Lara across the plate with a single to left.

Rattlers starting pitcher Dylan File was in cruise control after the first inning. After allowing two hits in the first inning, he only gave up two more hits over his final seven innings and both of those hits were erased on a pair of double plays turned by the Wisconsin infield. File worked eight innings, walked two, and struck out five while keeping his pitch count under 90. 

Saturday was the second time File has gone eight innings in a game. The last time he went eight innings was on May 11 against Great Lakes. That game on May 11 was also the last time File picked up the win. He snapped a personal five-game losing streak by earning his sixth win of the season with his performance at South Bend on Saturday night.

The Cubs did get the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. Michael Petersen recorded the first out of the inning with a strikeout, but allowed three straight singles. Cruz had the final hit in the sequence to drive in the run to make it 5-2 and bring the tying run to bat. However, Petersen recovered and struck out the next two batters to close out the Rattlers second straight win.
Game two of the series is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Four Winds Field. Nelson Hernández (9-5, 4.55) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. South Bend will send Ricky Tyler Thomas (3-5, 2.71) to the mound as their starter. Game time is 1:05pm CDT. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino Pregame Show at 12:45pm CDT. The broadcast is also available on the Tune In and IHeart Radio apps. Subscribers to MiLB.tv can watch the game over the internet.