Rattlers Beat Clinton 4-1 to Pick Up Ground in Playoff Chase
CLINTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and Clinton LumberKings were both on a roll as the teams entered their most important series of the 2019 season on Saturday night at NelsonCorp Field. Both teams had won four in a row and six of their last seven games. It was Wisconsin
CLINTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and Clinton LumberKings were both on a roll as the teams entered their most important series of the 2019 season on Saturday night at NelsonCorp Field. Both teams had won four in a row and six of their last seven games. It was Wisconsin to pull away late to stay on a roll with a 4-1 win in game one of a four-game series between two teams battling for a second-half Western Division playoff spot.
The Rattlers (66-64 overall, 35-26 second half) continued their recent trend of scoring first.
Clinton (71-60, 27-24) responded in the bottom of the third inning on a lead-off double by
Wisconsin put the first two runners on in the top of the fifth inning.
Yeison Coca singled and stole second with one out for the Rattlers in the top of the seventh inning. Howell followed by lacing a line drive to the gap in right-center for an RBI triple and the Rattlers were up 2-1 on Howell's third hit of the evening.
Wisconsin reliever
The Rattlers picked up an insurance run in the top of the eighth. Fry walked, was bunted to second, took third on a groundout, and scored on a wild pitch to put the Rattlers up 4-1.
The trio of Wisconsin pitchers combined for fifteen strikeouts in the game.
In the second-half, Western Division playoff race, Wisconsin trails Clinton by two games for the Wild Card. The division-leading Kane County Cougars lost 8-2 to the Quad Cities River Bandits at Modern Woodmen Park. That result means that the Rattlers also picked up a game on the Cougars and are just three games out of first. There are nine games left in the regular season.
Game two of the series is Sunday afternoon at NelsonCorp Field.