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The Midwest League Traveler, Craig Wieczorkiewicz, with a post on last night's game, including several more photos.

Final: Fort Wayne 2, Wisconsin 3 (10 Innings) Rattlers take Game One in extra innings Neda scores winning run in tenth on two out wild pitch By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/images/2012/09/12/49S8pPiH.jpg The Rattlers celebrate after Rafael Neda scores the winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning against the TinCaps in Game One of the MWL Championship Series. (Ann Mollica/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The 2012 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers won ten games on walkoff hits during the regular season. They did not have a walkoff win in any of their first four postseason wins. That changed on Wednesday night in Game One of the Midwest League Championship Series. Rafael Neda raced home from third base with the winning run in the tenth inning after a wild pitch to give the Rattlers a 3-2 victory over the Fort Wayne TinCaps at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Neda had two hits and also drove in a run for the Rattlers. A wild pitch figured into Wisconsin's first run of the game. Brandon Macias walked to start the bottom of the first inning and was bunted to second base on a sacrifice by Chadwin Stang. Ben McMahan was at the plate and Fort Wayne starting pitcher Joe Ross uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Macias to score all the way from second for a 1-0 lead. Fort Wayne would also score a run without the benefit of a hit in their half of the third inning. Kyle Gaedele walked and stole second. He scored when a grounder off the bat of Travis Jankowski was booted for an error. Neda put the Rattlers in front in the bottom of the fourth. He lined a two-out double off the wall in left field to score Max Walla from second for a 2-1 lead. The TinCaps tied the game in the seventh inning, but the Rattlers almost escaped the frame with the lead intact thanks to a rare defensive play. Fort Wayne had runners on first and second with no outs. Catcher Austin Hedges sent a grounder near the third base bag. Macias fielded the ball, stepped on the base for one out, threw to second for the force out there, but the throw to first was just off line and Hedges reached as the Rattlers missed on turning a triple play. A wild pitch allowed Hedges to take second base. Then, Duanel Jones tripled to right-center to drive in Hedges and the game was tied again. Jacob Barnes did not figure into the decision, but he continued the streak of stellar starts by Wisconsin pitchers. Barnes allowed a pair of runs - one earned - on four hits over seven innings. In the last five games, Wisconsin starting pitchers have pitched 39 and allowed five runs and only three of those runs are earned runs. Neda started the game winning rally in the bottom of the tenth inning with a single to right off Fort Wayne reliever Luis De La Cruz. Adrian Williams bunted Neda into scoring position and the TinCaps elected to walk Macias. Stang sent a check swing slow roller past the mound the moved both runners up a base, but retired Stang for the second out of the inning. Then, Fort Wayne decided to walk Ben McMahan to bring Nick Ramirez to the plate. De La Cruz almost threw his first pitch to Ramirez to the backstop. He did throw his second pitch to the backstop and Neda raced home with the game winning run. The Rattlers have 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Game Two is Thursday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Chad Pierce will get the start for the Timber Rattlers. Fort Wayne counters with Colin Rea. Game time is 12:05pm. Thursday is the final Bang for Your Buck game of 2012. Soda, hotdogs, and beer is available for $1. Thursday is also the final College Day of the year. Students should show a college ID to receive a reserved bleacher seat for $1. If you can't make it to the game, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 12:05pm. Thursday's game is also available to MiLB.TV subscribers. WP: Brent Suter (1-0) LP: Luis De La Cruz (1-1) TIME: 2:55 ATTN: 1,574 Wisconsin Box Score Timber Rattlers pitching has been outstanding in the playoffs and tonight was no different. Jacob Barnes went seven strong innings, giving up just two runs. Only one of the runs were earned and Barnes allowed just four hits. Brent Suter relieved him and pitched three scoreless innings to get the win. Known more for his defense, Rafael Neda was the offensive hero tonight for the Rattlers. He had two of Wisconsin's four hits and scored the game winning run. Yadiel Rivera had a hustle double and Chadwin Stang singled for the only other Rattler hits. Defensively Max Walla had an outfield assist, throwing a runner out at second, following a Nick Ramirez error. Brandon Macias and Ben McMahan each drew a pair of walks. Wisconsin Play By Play Wisconsin Bottom of the 10th Rafael Neda singles on a line drive to right fielder Yeison Asencio, deflected by second baseman Tyler Stubblefield. Adrian Williams out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Luis De La Cruz to second baseman Tyler Stubblefield. Rafael Neda to 2nd. Luis De La Cruz intentionally walks Brandon Macias. Chadwin Stang grounds out, second baseman Tyler Stubblefield to first baseman Lee Orr. Rafael Neda to 3rd. Brandon Macias to 2nd. Luis De La Cruz intentionally walks Ben McMahan. With Nick Ramirez batting, wild pitch by Luis De La Cruz, Rafael Neda scores http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TWYrdhC7i2c/UFFp1W7eYkI/AAAAAAAABaI/Js5MVuBEGvI/s640/20120912_205000.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B4XGuUDboz4/UFFp5xL3wGI/AAAAAAAABaQ/W9bvppCI_C0/s640/20120912_211000.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xSBxjPeomak/UFFp9rl5VgI/AAAAAAAABaY/qbVzvyJc5A8/s640/20120912_212000.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9f94L0ox2O0/UFFrGJCL7RI/AAAAAAAABao/PcYma7nrtjE/s640/20120912_220000.jpg

Final: Clinton 2, Wisconsin 4 Wisconsin moves on to the Midwest League Championship Series Rattlers beat Clinton 4-2 for sweep in Western Division Finals By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers defeated the Clinton LumberKings 4-2 on Sunday night to sweep the Midwest League Western Division Finals two games to none. Sunday's win at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium sent Wisconsin to the Midwest League Championship Series. Mark Williams tossed eight strong innings and the Rattlers offense did just enough to move the team to the Finals for the first time as an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Clinton scored two runs in the top of the first inning off Williams. Jamal Austin doubled to start the game. Dan Paolini bunted to move Austin to third, but got more than that. The throw to first was wild and Austin scored while Paolini wound up at second base. One out later, Ramon Morla doubled off the wall in center and Paolini scored for a 2-0 lead. Nick Ramirez responded in the bottom of the first inning. Wisconsin had a runner at second with two outs when Ramirez blasted a long home run over the wall in center to tie the game. The round tripper was the second of the playoffs for Ramirez, who hit sixteen in the regular season. Adrian Williams put the Rattlers in front in the bottom of the fourth. Cameron Garfield and Max Walla had consecutive singles with one out, but Garfield was still at second and Walla was still at first with two outs. Williams, the Rattlers second baseman, smacked the first pitch of his at bat through the middle to drive in Garfield to for a 3-2 lead. Wisconsin added an insurance run in the seventh inning. Rafael Neda started the inning with a single and was sacrificed to second base by Adrian Williams. Brandon Macias followed with a single to right. Neda ran right through manager Matt Erickson's stop sign in the coaching box at third base and beat the throw to the plate for a 4-2 lead. Mark Williams settled in after the first inning. He didn't allow another run in the game. Williams struck out five, allowed five hits, and did not walk a batter over his eight innings. In five games during the 2012 playoffs, Rattlers starting pitchers have allowed five earned runs in 38 innings pitched. Santo Manzanillo took over for Williams in the top of the ninth and retired the LumberKings in order to close out the Western Division Finals. Wisconsin is making their fourth trip to the Midwest League Championship Series. The Timber Rattlers have made it to the League Finals three other times since they came into existence in 1995. Wisconsin finished as the runner-up in 1996, 1999, and 2005. The last time an Appleton team won the Midwest League pennant happened in 1984. The Appleton Foxes won the third of their three straight MWL titles that season. Wisconsin is in the 2012 finals, but they do not know which Eastern Division team they will face. The Lake County Captains and the Fort Wayne Wizards will play Game Three of the best-of-three Eastern Finals on Monday night at Lake County's Classic Park. The winner of that game will be the opponent for the Rattlers in the Midwest League Finals. Wisconsin's next game is Game One of the best-of-five Championship Series on Wednesday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Game time is 6:35pm. The Timber Rattlers will also host Game Two on Thursday afternoon at 12:05pm. Tickets for Game One and Game Two will be on sale Monday morning at 9:00am. Fans may purchase tickets in person at the Timber Rattlers box office or by calling (800) WI-TIMBER or (920) 733-4152. HOME RUN: WIS: Nick Ramirez (2nd, 1 on in 1st inning off Seon-Gi Kim, 2 out) WP: Mark Williams (1-0) LP: Seon-Gi Kim (0-1) SAVE: Santo Manzanillo (1) TIME: 2:36 ATTN: 566 Wisconsin Box Score Wisconsin Play By Play Wisconsin Bottom of the 1st Brandon Macias reaches on a fielding error by second baseman Dillon Hazlett. Chadwin Stang out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Seon Gi Kim to first baseman Ji-Man Choi. Brandon Macias to 2nd. Ben McMahan called out on strikes. Nick Ramirez homers (1) on a line drive to center field. Brandon Macias scores. Yadiel Rivera grounds out, pitcher Seon Gi Kim to first baseman Ji-Man Choi.

Final: Wisconsin 9, Clinton 1 Offense takes their turn to shine Rattlers beat Clinton 9-1 to take 1-0 lead in Western Division Finals By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers CLINTON, IA - After two straight complete game shutouts by Wisconsin Timber Rattlers pitchers to close out the Burlington Bees in the first round of the Midwest League playoffs, the Wisconsin offense took over in Game One of the Western Division Finals at Clinton. The Rattlers defeated the LumberKings 9-1 behind a twelve hit attack that included consecutive home runs in the fourth inning. Dan Paolini put the LumberKings in front in the bottom of the first inning. Paolini, who hit eighteen homers in the regular season, cracked a 2-1 pitch from Rattlers starting pitcher Chad Thompson to left-center for a solo homer and a 1-0 lead. It took Wisconsin's bats a few innings to find the range on Clinton starting pitcher Rusty Shellhorn, but once they did, the barrage was impressive. Ben McMahan began the Rattlers first extended rally with a one out single in the fourth inning. Then, Nick Ramirez was hit by a pitch to set the stage for Yadiel Rivera. The Rattlers shortstop lined a 1-0 pitch from the Clinton left-hander over the wall in left for a three-run homer and a 3-1 lead. Mike Garza followed by crushing an 0-2 pitch deep into the night. The back-to-back homers gave Wisconsin a 4-1 advantage. Wisconsin really got going in the fifth inning as they strung together six consecutive hits and scored five runs. Brandon Macias doubled with one out and Chadwin Stang's infield single placed runners on first and third. McMahan doubled in Macias. Then, Ramirez doubled to drive in two more runs to knock Shellhorn out of the game. Rivera greeted reliever Josh Corrales to the game with an RBI single. Garza would single to complete the streak of six straight hits. Corrales got the second out of the inning. Then, Rafael Neda picked up an RBI single to make it 9-1. Thompson cruised after giving up the homer to Paolini in the first inning. He tossed six innings and struck out ten, a professional single game high. At one point in the game, Thompson struck out six straight LumberKings. In the third inning, Thompson struck out the side on nine pitches. It doesn't get much better than that. Stosh Wawrzasek struck out four in two scoreless innings and Santo Manzanillo picked up two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 ninth inning to close out the LumberKings. The trio of Rattlers pitchers struck out sixteen Clinton batters in the game. The Timber Rattlers have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. A win in either Game Two or Game Three will send the Timber Rattlers to the Midwest League Finals for the fourth time in team history. Game Two of the Western Division Finals is Sunday at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Mark Williams (7-10, 3.88) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Seon-Gi Kim (4-4, 4.59) is set to start for the LumberKings. Game time is 7:05pm. Sunday night is a Bang for Your Buck Night with soda, hotdogs, and beer for $1. Sunday is also a College Night with reserved seat bleacher tickets available for $1 when fans show a college ID at the ticket window. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. Sunday's game is available to subscribers of MiLB.TV, too. HOME RUNS: WIS: Yadiel Rivera (1st, 2 on in 4th inning off Rusty Shellhorn, 1 out) Mike Garza (1st, 0 on in 4th inning off Rusty Shellhorn, 1 out) CLN: Dan Paolini (1st, 1st inning off Chad Thompson, 1 out) WP: Chad Thompson (1-0) LP: Rusty Shellhorn (0-1) TIME: 2:38 Wisconsin Box Score Rattlers pitching continued to roll, and this time the offense behind them was just as hot. Chad Thompson started and went six innings, allowing just one run. He struck out 10 LumberKings batters. Stosh Wawrzasek relieved him in the seventh and tossed two scoreless. Santo Manzanillo worked a clean ninth, striking out two. Yadiel Rivera led the Rattlers offensive outburst, going 2-5 with 4 RBI including that big fourth inning home run to get things going. Mike Garza also went 2-5 with a home run. Nick Ramirez was on base four times with a double and a walk and was hit by pitch twice. Ben McMahan, Chadwin Stang and Rafael Neda all chipped in two hits as part of Wisconsin's 12 hit attack. Wisconsin Play By Play Wisconsin Top of the 4th Chadwin Stang lines out to third baseman Ramon Morla. Ben McMahan singles on a line drive to left fielder Kevin Rivers. Nick Ramirez hit by pitch. Ben McMahan to 2nd. Yadiel Rivera homers (1) on a fly ball to left field. Ben McMahan scores. Nick Ramirez scores. Mike Garza homers (1) on a fly ball to left field. Carlos George strikes out swinging. Rafael Neda lines out to first baseman Ji-Man Choi. Wisconsin Top of the 5th Adrian Williams called out on strikes. Brandon Macias doubles (1) on a line drive to center fielder Jamal Austin. Chadwin Stang singles on a ground ball to shortstop Bryan Brito. Brandon Macias to 3rd. Ben McMahan doubles (1) on a fly ball to center fielder Jamal Austin. Brandon Macias scores. Chadwin Stang to 3rd. Nick Ramirez doubles (1) on a line drive to center fielder Jamal Austin. Chadwin Stang scores. Ben McMahan scores. Pitching Change: Joshua Corrales replaces Rusty Shellhorn. With Yadiel Rivera batting, wild pitch by Joshua Corrales, Nick Ramirez to 3rd. Yadiel Rivera singles on a line drive to right fielder Jabari Blash. Nick Ramirez scores. Mike Garza singles on a line drive to right fielder Jabari Blash. Yadiel Rivera to 2nd. Carlos George pops out to second baseman Daniel Paolini. Rafael Neda singles on a line drive to right fielder Jabari Blash. Yadiel Rivera scores. Mike Garza to 3rd on the throw. Adrian Williams grounds into a force out, shortstop Bryan Brito to second baseman Daniel Paolini. Rafael Neda out at 2nd.

Final: Burlington 0, Wisconsin 3 Rattlers advance on Goforth's complete game shutout McMahan & Ramirez go deep in Game Three win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - David Goforth pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout to lead the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers past the Burlington Bees 3-0 on Friday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Wisconsin got solo homers from Ben McMahan and Nick Ramirez to win the decisive Game Three of the first round playoff matchup to advance to the Western Division Finals. Burlington threatened early. Aaron Shipman started the game with a double. A walk to Royce Consigli put runners on first and second with no outs. Then, Addison Russell sent a hard grounder to short. The ball took an odd bounce and hit off the shoulder of Yadiel Rivera. Fortunately for the Rattlers, the ball caromed to second baseman Carlos George, who was covering the bag. George grabbed the ball with his bare hand as he stepped on second for the force. A quick throw to first got the double play. Goforth retired the next batter to end the inning. The Bees also put runners on in the second through fifth innings, but Goforth did not buckle and kept the Bees off the scoreboard. Wisconsin was held hitless by Bees starter Drew Granier through the first 3-1/3 innings. Then, McMahan and Ramirez went to work. McMahan, who hit fifteen home runs in the regular season, lined a 3-1 pitch from Granier over the wall in left for his first homer in the playoffs and a 1-0 lead. Ramirez, who hit sixteen homers in the regular season, cracked a 1-2 pitch from Granier to the beach beyond the wall in right-center for his first homer in the playoffs and a 2-0 lead. Wisconsin tacked on an unearned run in the fifth. Max Walla was at third base and scored on an error for a 3-0 lead. From there, it was The David Goforth Show. The hard-throwing right-hander out of the University of Mississippi retired the final thirteen Bees batters he faced. Six of his nine strikeouts came in the final three innings. Friday marked the first complete game of Goforth's professional career. He also set a professional high for strikeouts in a game with his nine punchouts. Friday night marked the second straight complete game shutout by a Timber Rattlers pitcher. Chad Pierce tossed a three-hit shutout in Game Two on Thursday night to force Game Three. Wisconsin pitching held Burlington off the scoreboard for the final 21 innings of the series. The Rattlers won the series 2-1 despite hitting just .165 (14-for-85) against the Bees. Consecutive complete game shutouts help quite a bit. Wisconsin will face the Clinton LumberKings in the Western Division Finals. Clinton defeated the Beloit Snappers 4-1 in ten innings on Friday at Beloit to advance to the next round. Game One of the Western Division Finals will be at Clinton's Ashford University Field. Chad Thompson (5-2, 4.31) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The LumberKings have Rusty Shellhorn (3-1, 3.60) as their scheduled starting pitcher. Game time is 6:30pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. Game Two of the series is scheduled for Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium on Sunday, September 9. Game time is 7:05pm. Tickets for Game Two go on sale Saturday morning at 10:00am at the Timber Rattlers ticket office at the stadium. Tickets may also be ordered by calling (800) WI-TIMBER or (920) 733-4152. HOME RUNS: WIS: Ben McMahan (1st, 0 on in 4th inning off Drew Granier, 1 out) Nick Ramirez (1st, 0 on in 4th inning off Drew Granier, 1 out) WP: David Goforth (1-0) LP: Drew Granier (0-1) TIME: 2:25 (1:03 delay) ATTN: 744 Wisconsin Box Score Another brilliant pitching performance tonight. This time from David Goforth. As hard as it is to believe, he may have been better tonight than Chad Pierce was last night. Nine innings. Nine strikeouts. Only six base runners allowed all game. Burlington did not get a hit off of Goforth after the 4th inning. The Rattlers didn't have a ton of offense, but they got the big back-to-back bombs from Ben McMahan and Nick Ramirez in the fourth. Both pitches were crushed. Ramirez also walked once. Brandon Macias and Chadwin Stang doubled for the only other TRats hits. Max Walla and Rafael Neda each drew a walk. The Rattlers also stole four more bases against Burlington pitching. Two by Stang and one each by Macias and Ramirez. Cameron Garfield left the game after getting hit in the hand in the 6th inning. Somehow the umpire ruled that the ball didn't hit him. That was kind of baffling. It'll be a quick turnaround for the Rattlers as they have to make the drive to Clinton, Iowa tomorrow and then head right back home for game two on Sunday night. Goforth and Pierce set the bar pretty high for Chad Thompson, but then again, he and Mark Williams did combine on a no-hitter in Clinton earlier this season. Wisconsin Play By Play Wisconsin Bottom of the 4th Chadwin Stang flies out to center fielder Aaron Shipman. Ben McMahan homers (1) on a line drive to left field. Nick Ramirez homers (1) on a fly ball to right center field. Cameron Garfield pops out to second baseman Sam Roberts. Yadiel Rivera strikes out swinging. Brew Crew Ball's Timber Rattlers Notebook

Ah that's true, hadn't even thought about that. High school football doesn't have dollar beer night though!

Final: Burlington 0, Wisconsin 4 Pierce's gem pushes playoff series to Game Three GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers needed a win on Thursday night to extend their season. What the Rattlers got was something special. Chad Pierce tossed a complete game, three-hit shutout to lead Wisconsin past the Burlington Bees 4-0 at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The Rattlers offense scored four runs in the first two innings and Pierce took over from there. Wisconsin evened the best-of-three series with the Bees at 1-1 with the victory. The Rattlers and Bees will meet in Game Three on Friday night at 6:35pm. The winner will move on to the Western Division Finals. The loser will be done for the 2012 season. The Rattlers jumped on Bees starting pitcher AJ Cole with three consecutive two-out RBI hits in the bottom of the first inning. Brandon Macias took advantage of a dropped foul pop and reached on a single. He took second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a wild pitch. Nick Ramirez blooped in a single to left field to drive in Macias with the go ahead run. A passed ball allowed Ramirez to take second base. Cameron Garfield knocked in Ramirez with a ground rule double to right-center. Yadiel Rivera continued the onslaught with a single to left that scored Garfield from second for a 3-0 lead. Wisconsin made it 4-0 in the second inning. Rafael Neda walked to start the inning. A wild pitch moved him to second base and a single by Macias put runners on first and third with one out. Chadwin Stang sent a slow grounder to short. The throw to second forced Macias, but Stang beat the throw to first to allow Neda to score for a 4-0 lead. Pierce cruised through the game. The only time he faced a batter with a runner in scoring position was in the second inning. He retired Royce Consigli on a fly ball to center with runners on the corners and two outs. The Fond du Lac, Wisconsin native was backed up by solid to spectacular defense. Both Ben McMahan and Max Walla made sliding catches in the first inning, Macias made a diving grab of a hot grounder in the fourth and turned it into an inning ending force out. Centerfielder Chadwin Stang ran down several fly balls in the gaps. Pierce even got into the defensive act after a leadoff single by Aaron Shipman in the top of the sixth. The Rattlers right-hander speared a hard grounder right back at him off the bat of Sam Roberts and turned it into a 1-6-3 double play. He walked two and struck out three in the game. The 9-inning complete-game shutout by Pierce was the first by a Rattlers pitcher since Tyler Thornburg tossed a two-hitter at Kane County on May 29, 2011. The last 9-ininng complete game shutout by a Rattlers pitcher in the playoffs was by Cha Seung Baek, who pitched a 6-hitters at Beloit on September 8, 2000. Wisconsin will send David Goforth (10-8, 4.66) to the mound as their starting pitcher on Friday night. Burlington has named Drew Granier (11-10, 3.21) as their Game Three starting pitcher. Game time is 6:35pm. The Timber Rattlers will have a bonus Bang for Your Buck Night with soda, hotdogs, and beer for $1 on Friday night. Plus, Friday is also a College Night. Reserved bleacher seats are just $1 with a College ID. Friday is a bonus North Shore Bank Family Night. Kids 12 and under eat free and Kids 14 and under will get to run the bases courtesy of Jernagan's Health Mart. If you can't make it to the game, it will be broadcast on AM1280, WNAM and timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. MiLB.TV subscribers may also catch the game over the internet. WP: Chad Pierce (1-0) LP: AJ Cole (0-1) TIME: 2:39 ATTN: 1,756 Wisconsin Box Score I thought about just writing "Chad Pierce" and leaving that as my only comment, but there was just so much awesome baseball tonight that I had to write more. I'll start with Pierce because he was unbelievable. A complete game shutout, with only three hits and two walks. He was never really in trouble the whole game. Talk about stepping up in the playoffs! The Rattlers seemed really loose despite it being a win or go home game, and they started off with excellent defense right from the very start. Ben McMahan had a nice diving catch in left field and then Max Walla followed with an even better sliding grab along the fence in right field to end the first. Brandon Macias had a great diving stab at third to get a force at second to end the third inning as well. Chadwin Stang had a couple of long fly balls that he ran down and Yadiel Rivera played his usual great Yadiel Rivera defense. He's so smooth that if they opened the gates early enough, I would go just to watch Rivera take infield. Pretty much every player turned in at least one web gem type play. Offensively the Rattlers jumped on AJ Cole early and he never looked comfortable out there. Macias and Rivera each were 2-4. Macias's second inning at bat was incredible as he kept fouling off pitch after pitch before finally ripping a single. There was a great sequence during that at bat, as Macias was fouling off pitches and Cole was worrying about Rafael Neda at second base. Cole got visibly frustrated and stepped off the mound. On the very next pitch Matt Erickson had Neda take off for third. The pitch was fouled off but it was almost like they were saying, ok we're in your head, now we're really going to mess with you. A couple pitches later Macias singled back up the middle. Nick Ramirez was 1-2 with a pair of walks. He had a big two out opposite field single in the first to get the TRats on the board. Cameron Garfield also chipped in with a double and Ben McMahan had a single. Side rant: We can put 5000+ in the stands for Myron Noodleman or Birdzerk but only 1700 for a playoff game? I know, school's back in session, but come on Rattlers fans, we haven't had a playoff game since 2005. Hopefully with a Friday night game tomorrow more folks will show up. Wisconsin Play By Play All the offense Wisconsin would need behind Pierce tonight Wisconsin Bottom of the 1st Dropped foul pop error by first baseman Maxwell Muncy. Brandon Macias singles on a ground ball to right fielder John Wooten. Chadwin Stang out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher A. J. Cole to first baseman Maxwell Muncy. Brandon Macias to 2nd. With Ben McMahan batting, wild pitch by A. J. Cole, Brandon Macias to 3rd. Ben McMahan strikes out swinging. Nick Ramirez singles on a soft line drive to left fielder Bobby Crocker. Brandon Macias scores. With Cameron Garfield batting, passed ball by John Nester, Nick Ramirez to 2nd. Cameron Garfield hits a ground-rule double (1) on a fly ball to right-center field. Nick Ramirez scores. Yadiel Rivera singles on a soft line drive to left fielder Bobby Crocker. Cameron Garfield scores. Yadiel Rivera to 2nd on the throw. With Max Walla batting, wild pitch by A. J. Cole, Yadiel Rivera to 3rd. Max Walla strikes out swinging. Rattler Radio highlights and game two thoughts. You can see many of those great defensive plays I talked about here. I probably won't have my photos from tonight's game online until tomorrow afternoon but here are a couple of my favorites from tonight's game http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ub_8L2jUxjE/UEmBWKefkwI/AAAAAAAABZM/Vois9WuLGzM/s320/20120906_1340000.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fddVrHI_dIk/UEmBaRlJ8HI/AAAAAAAABZU/4GyTNozrNBk/s320/20120906_189000.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3D1hKTDAKoQ/UEmBkgIXw5I/AAAAAAAABZc/JNO01N2LOrc/s320/20120906_166000.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sxc9EmCm6HU/UEmBsP6ZKMI/AAAAAAAABZk/jogk9BHdSzg/s320/20120906_139.JPG http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UoR1LadYBNo/UEmB2fKGYXI/AAAAAAAABZs/q2lyIrshy-I/s320/20120906_114.JPG

Final: Wisconsin 0, Burlington 4 Bees shutout Wisconsin to take series lead Rattlers need a win at home on Thursday to keep season alive By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers BURLINGTON, IA - Tanner Peters and a pair of Burlington relievers pushed the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers season to the brink on Wednesday night at Community Field. The trio of Bees combined to shutout - and almost completely shut down - the Rattlers 4-0 in Game One of the best-of-three first round playoff series. Bobby Crocker put the Bees in front in the second inning. Max Muncy reached on a leadoff walk. Then, Crocker cracked a line drive home run over the wall in center and Burlington was up 2-0. Burlington tacked on another run in the third inning. Sam Roberts drew a one out walk. He scored when Muncy's two-out fly ball was dropped in left-center field and the Bees were up 3-0. Wisconsin got a leadoff single from Rafael Neda in the top of the second inning. Peters retired the final eighteen batters he faced. He struck out six over seven innings. The only walk he issued was a free pass to Brandon Macias to start the game in the top of the first. Muncy added to Burlington's lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Addison Russell reached on a two out single. Muncy doubled off the wall in right-center and the Bees went up 4-0. Seth Frankoff kept the streak going in the top of the eighth as he retired the three Wisconsin batters he faced. Nick Ramirez snapped the streak at 23 in a row with a two out double in the top of the ninth inning. But, Bees closer Jose Macias finished off the Rattlers with a strikeout to end the game. Game Two of the first round is Thursday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Fond du Lac native Chad Pierce (7-5, 3.47) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Burlington plans on AJ Cole (6-3, 2.07) as their starter. Game time is 6:35pm. The Timber Rattlers will have a bonus Bang for Your Buck Night with soda, hotdogs, and beer for $1 on Thursday night. Plus, Thursday is also a College Night. Tickets are reserved bleacher seats are just $1 with a College ID. If you can't make it to the game and are a Time Warner Cable Subscriber, you can still catch the game on Sports32. The game will also be broadcast on AM1280, WNAM and timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. MiLB.TV subscribers may also catch the game over the internet. HOME RUN: BUR: Bobby Crocker (1st, 1 on in 2nd inning off Jacob Barnes, 0 out) WP: Tanner Peters (1-0) LP: Jacob Barnes (0-1) TIME: 2:24 ATTN: 564 Wisconsin Box Score Well, it's win or go home now for the Rattlers. They have a tough task ahead of them, going against AJ Cole tomorrow night. But at least they are coming back home. Not much in the way of offense tonight. Nick Ramirez had a double for the team's only extra base hit. Cameron Garfield and Rafael Neda each had a single. Brandon Macias drew a walk to leadoff the game. Defensively, Max Walla gunned down a runner at third base and Ben McMahan had an error. Jacob Barnes allowed all four runs, three of which were earned. Mark Williams and Tyler Cravy each worked one scoreless inning of relief. Wisconsin Play By Play All the offense the Bees would need in this one. Burlington Bottom of the 2nd Maxwell Muncy walks. Bobby Crocker homers (1) on a fly ball to center field. Maxwell Muncy scores. Wade Kirkland grounds out, shortstop Yadiel Rivera to first baseman Nick Ramirez. John Wooten doubles (1) on a line drive to left fielder Ben McMahan. Royce Consigli pops out to third baseman Brandon Macias in foul territory. Nick Rickles flies out to right fielder Max Walla.

Final: Wisconsin 8 Burlington 3 (Game Two) Rattlers sweep twinbill from Burlington Wisconsin and Burlington will meet in First Round of MWL Playoffs starting Wednesday By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers BURLINGTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers closed out their regular season with a doubleheader sweep of the Burlington Bees at Community Field on Monday afternoon. Chadwin Stang hit a pair of homers and Mike Garza chipped in with a homer in the nightcap for an 8-3 win. The two wins in the twinbill gave Wisconsin a three-game series sweep of the team they will face in the first round of the Midwest League Playoffs. Stang blasted his first solo shot in the first inning. His one out home run was his ninth of the season and the third of the afternoon - the Rattlers hit two homers in the first game of the doubleheader - for Wisconsin hitters. Burlington (67-72 overall, 35-35 second half) scored twice in the bottom of the first inning. Addison Russell doubled to knock in the first run. A sacrifice fly from Wade Kirkland made it 2-1. The Bees almost blew the game open in the bottom of the third inning. They had the bases loaded and one out with Douglas Landaeta at the plate. Landaeta sent a line drive to the gap in right-center field that appeared headed for a bases clearing extra base hit. But, Max Walla made a spectacular diving catch to rob Landaeta of a hit. A run scored from third on the sacrifice fly to put Burlington up by two runs, but it could have been worse. The Rattlers offense took advantage of some sloppy Burlington defense to take the lead in the fourth inning. Stang walked and Walla singled to put runners at the corners with no outs. Cameron Garfield's grounder to third was booted for an error to let Stang score. A one-out double by Yadiel Rivera drove in Walla to tie the game 3-3. Lance Roenicke put the Rattlers in front when his broken bat grounder to third base drove in Garfield and put Rivera to third base. A wild pitch later in the inning let Rivera score for a four run inning and a 5-3 lead. Wisconsin (78-61, 34-36) added another run in the fifth inning when Carlos George scored from third base on an errant pickoff throw to first. Michael White came out of the bullpen for the Rattlers and kept the Bees in check. Then, the Rattlers put the finishing touches on the Bees in the top of the seventh inning. Mike Garza hit a leadoff homer - the fourth long ball of the day for the Rattlers - in the top of the seventh for his first Midwest League home run. Stang went deep again, his tenth home run of the season, with two outs in the seventh for an 8-3 lead. The Rattlers finished the year with five players reaching double digits in home runs. Nick Ramirez (16), Ben McMahan (15), Cameron Garfield (11), and Stang. White worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh for his first save. Wisconsin's offense hit 107 home runs during the 2012 season. That broke the previous high of 101 set by the 2005 Timber Rattlers. The teams will be off on Tuesday before meeting in Game One of their best-of-three first round Midwest League playoff matchup on Wednesday at Community Field. Game time is 6:30pm. The Rattlers will have Jacob Barnes (4-7, 3.84) as their Game One starting pitcher. Burlington has tentatively announced AJ Cole (6-3, 2.07) as their Game One starter. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10. Game Two of the series will be at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium on Thursday night at 6:35pm. Chad Pierce (7-5, 3.47) is the scheduled starter for the Rattlers when the series returns to Grand Chute. Tickets for Game Two are available at the Timber Rattlers Box Office, by calling (800) WI-TIMBER or (920) 733-4152, or through timberrattlers.com. HOME RUNS: WIS: Chadwin Stang (9th, 0 on in 1st inning off Seth Frankoff, 1 out) Mike Garza (1st, 0 on in 7th inning off Chas Mye, 0 out) Chadwin Stang (10th, 0 on in 7th inning off Chas Mye, 2 out) WP: Santo Manzanillo (2-1) LP: David Mota (3-1) SAVE: Michael White (1-0) TIME: 1:58 ATTN: 1,030 Wisconsin Box Score Chadwin Stang finished his regular season with a bang. He was on base all four times with a single, a walk, and two home runs. Stang scored three of the Rattlers eight runs. Michael Garza also muscled up for his first home run of the year. Nick Ramirez, Yadiel Rivera and Carlos George all went 1-3. Rivera's hit was a double. Santo Manzanillo picked up the win, despite not pitching all that well. He gave up a run on one hit and two walks in his one inning of work. Michael White had his finest outing as a Timber Rattler to earn his first save. He worked the final four innings and did not allow a run. He gave up just one hit. Wisconsin Play By Play Wisconsin Top of the 4th Chadwin Stang walks. Max Walla singles on a line drive to right fielder John Wooten. Chadwin Stang to 3rd. Cameron Garfield reaches on a force attempt, fielding error by third baseman Wade Kirkland. Chadwin Stang scores. Max Walla to 2nd. Nick Ramirez strikes out swinging. Yadiel Rivera doubles (26) on a line drive to right fielder John Wooten. Max Walla scores. Cameron Garfield to 3rd. Lance Roenicke grounds out, third baseman Wade Kirkland to first baseman Maxwell Muncy. Cameron Garfield scores. Yadiel Rivera to 3rd. With Mike Garza batting, wild pitch by David Mota, Yadiel Rivera scores. Pitching Change: Austin House replaces David Mota. Mike Garza strikes out swinging.

Final: Wisconsin 6 Burlington 1 (Game One) Rattlers beat Bees in game one, clinch home field in first two rounds of playoffs BURLINGTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers defeated the Burlington Bees 6-1 in game one of a doubleheader on Labor Day at Community Field. The victory let the Rattlers clinch best overall record in the Western Division of the Midwest League. Wisconsin will have home field advantage through the first two rounds of the postseason. Wisconsin (77-61 overall, 33-36 second half) got another fast start with a first inning run. Ben McMahan doubled with one out. A two-out single to center by Cameron Garfield drove in McMahan for a 1-0 lead. Burlington (67-71, 35-34) answered in the bottom of the second inning. Max Muncy started the inning with a double and was moved to third on a grounder to the right side of the infield. A sacrifice fly by John Wooten tied the game 1-1. The Bees loaded the bases with two outs on a pair of walks and a single but did not score again in the frame. McMahan put the Rattlers back in front in the top of the third inning. He clobbered a two-run home run deep to left for a 3-1 lead. One out later, Cameron Garfield lined a 1-0 pitch down the left field line. The ball cleared the fence and was ruled fair for a solo homer and a 4-1 advantage. Rattlers starting pitcher Chad Thompson allowed a pair of one-out singles in the third inning. Then, retired the next eight batters he faced to carry the 4-1 lead to the sixth inning. He would walk the leadoff batter in the sixth and an error brought the tying run to the plate. Thompson would get the first out of the inning before turning the game over to Brent Suter. Suter got the second out of the inning with a strikeout, but walked the next hitter to load the bases. Suter escaped the jam with a grounder to second and the Rattlers maintained their 4-1 lead. Nick Ramirez provided some insurance in the top of the seventh inning. Macias and McMahan started the inning with singles. Ramirez followed with a double to the right field corner to drive in both runners for a 6-1 lead. Suter closed out the Bees with a scoreless seventh inning. Earlier in the day, Peoria beat Kane County 6-2. That allowed Burlington to get into the Midwest League playoffs as the second half Western Division Wild Card. Wisconsin will face the Bees in round one of the Midwest League playoffs. Game one of the best of three series will be in Burlington on Wednesday night. HOME RUNS: WIS: Ben McMahan (15th, 1 on in 3rd inning off Blake Hassebrock, 0 out),br> Cameron Garfield (11th, 0 on in 3rd inning off Blake Hassebrock, 1 out) WP: Chad Thompson (5-2) LP: Blake Hassebrock (2-2) SAVE: Brent Suter (2) TIME: 2:19 Wisconsin Box Score Ben McMahan and Cameron Garfield led the Rattlers offense in game one. McMahan was 3-4 with a double and a home run. He knocked in two and scored three runs. Garfield was on base three times with a single, a home run and a hit by pitch. He also knocked in two. Max Walla went 2-3. Nick Ramirez had a double and a walk. He also knocked in two. Brandon Macias had a single and a walk from the leadoff spot. Chadwin Stang stole his team leading 26th base. Chad Thompson picked up the win, allowing just one run over 5 1/3. Brent Suter worked the final inning and two-thirds to pick up his second save. Wisconsin Play By Play Wisconsin Top of the 3rd Brandon Macias walks. Ben McMahan homers (15) on a fly ball to left field. Brandon Macias scores. Nick Ramirez flies out to center fielder Aaron Shipman. Cameron Garfield homers (11) on a fly ball to left field. Yadiel Rivera singles on a ground ball to third baseman Wade Kirkland. With Rafael Neda batting, Yadiel Rivera caught stealing 2nd base, catcher John Nester to second baseman Sam Roberts. Rafael Neda grounds out, shortstop Addison Russell to first baseman Maxwell Muncy.

Rattler Radio

Final: Wisconsin 4, Burlington 2 Fast start helps Rattlers beat Bees By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers BURLINGTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers scored three runs in the top of the first inning at Community Field on Sunday afternoon. The Rattlers held on for a 4-2 win over the Burlington Bees. Wisconsin's victory prevented Burlington from clinching a playoff spot on their home field. Wisconsin (76-61 overall, 32-36 second half) grabbed a 3-0 lead with three runs in the top of the first inning. Brandon Macias started the game with his 35th double of the season. Ben McMahan followed with a single to put runners on the corners. A one-out single by Cameron Garfield drove in Macias for a 1-0 lead. Yadiel Rivera followed with a single that scored McMahan from second and sent Garfield to third base. Mike Garza capped the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly. Burlington (67-70, 35-33) got two runs on a two-out single by Addison Russell in the bottom of the third to cut the Rattlers lead to a single run. Nick Ramirez doubled with two outs in the top of the fifth inning and Garfield drove him home with a single and the Rattlers were up 4-2. Rattlers starting pitcher David Goforth worked a 1-2-3 fifth inning and put himself in line for his tenth win of the season. Bees starter Drew Granier struck out twelve Rattlers in six innings to set a professional career high for strikeouts in a single game, but he left with his team down 4-2. Granier leads the Midwest League in strikeouts with 167 this season. Rattlers reliever Kevin Shackelford allowed the leadoff batter to reach in the sixth and seventh innings, but stranded that runner each time. In the eighth, Burlington's first two batters reached on singles and were sacrificed to second and third. Shackelford struck out the final two batters of the inning to leave the tying runs in scoring position. Michael Strong entered the game in the bottom of the ninth and retired the Bees in order for his third save of the season. The Timber Rattlers and Bees will play a doubleheader against the Bees on Monday to make up for the game that was rained out on Saturday night. The first seven inning game will start at 2:00pm. Wisconsin will send Chad Thompson (4-2, 4.48) to hill as their starting pitcher. Burlington has Blake Hassebrock (2-1, 3.27) as their scheduled starter. Neither team has announced a game two starter. Burlington could clinch a playoff spot on Sunday if Kane County loses to Peoria on Sunday night. But, the doubleheader will still be needed to decide if the Rattlers or the Beloit Snappers would have home field advantage in a potential second round playoff matchup between the two Wisconsin-based Midwest League teams. Wisconsin currently has a one game lead on the Snappers (76-63) for the best overall record in the Western Division. If Wisconsin wins one of the two games in the doubleheader, they will finish with a better overall record than Beloit. The Rattlers would host games two and three in the Western Division Finals against Beloit, if both teams make it through the first round of the playoffs. Tune in for Monday's doubleheader on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 1:40pm. WP: David Goforth (10-8) LP: Drew Granier (11-10) SAVE: Michael Strong (3) TIME: 2:36 ATTN: 677 Wisconsin Box Score Wisconsin shook up their lineup a little bit on the second to last day of the season. Yadiel Rivera led the Rattlers offensively with a big day out of the fifth spot. He went 3-4 with a double and an RBI. Cameron Garfield contributed two hits and two RBI. Leadoff hitter Brandon Macias went 2-5 with a double. Nick Ramirez doubled for the T-Rats and Max Walla and Ben McMahan each singled. David Goforth picked up his 10th win, giving up just two runs over five innings. Kevin Shackelford relieved Goforth and pitched three scoreless innings and Mike Strong worked a 1-2-3 ninth for the save. Wisconsin Play By Play Wisconsin Top of the 1st Brandon Macias doubles (35) on a line drive to left fielder Bobby Crocker. Ben McMahan singles on a line drive to left fielder Bobby Crocker. Brandon Macias to 3rd. Nick Ramirez strikes out swinging. Cameron Garfield singles on a line drive to center fielder Aaron Shipman. Brandon Macias scores. Ben McMahan to 2nd. Yadiel Rivera singles on a ground ball to right fielder John Wooten. Ben McMahan scores. Cameron Garfield to 3rd. Mike Garza out on a sacrifice fly to right fielder John Wooten. Cameron Garfield scores. Carlos George strikes out swinging.

Timber Rattlers rained out

Final: Beloit 10, Wisconsin 4 Snappers sweep Wisconsin GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had an early 4-0 lead, but the Beloit Snappers would score ten unanswered runs and beat the Rattlers 10-4 Friday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The bottom third of the Beloit order did in the Rattlers as the Snappers earned a three-game sweep of the Rattlers. Ben McMahan started the scoring for Wisconsin (75-61 overall, 31-36 second half). He blasted a solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the first inning. Nick Ramirez would hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the second inning and Wisconsin was up 2-0. Those two round trippers gave the 2012 Timber Rattlers 102 home runs for the season and set a record. The previous record of 101 homers by a Rattlers team had been set by the 2005 team. Wisconsin added two more runs in the third inning. There were runners at first and second with one out and a grounder to short looked like a double play. But, the flip to second was wild. Lance Roenicke scored all the way from second base as the ball was tracked down. Yadiel Rivera drove in the second run of the inning with a single and the Rattlers were up 4-0. Beloit (74-63, 36-31) rallied for three runs in the top of the fourth. A single and an error let Eddie Rosario to reach third to start the frame. A sacrifice fly by Kennys Vargas got Beloit their first run. Then, back-to-back singles by Drew Leachman and Wang-Wei Lin put two runners on base for the Snappers. AJ Pettersen, the #7 hitter in the Beloit lineup, followed with another single and Leachman scored on the play. There was a slight bobble in the outfield on the play and Lin tried to score from first. He was out at the plate. Jairo Rodriguez, who hit eighth in Beloit's batting order, would pick up the fourth straight hit with an RBI double to score Pettersen and cut the Rattlers lead to a single run. The Rattlers maintained that lead until the eighth inning. A walk, a bunt single, and a sacrifice bunt started the Beloit eighth inning. Wisconsin intentionally walked Pettersen to set up a potential double play. But, Rodriguez knocked in the tying run with a sacrifice fly. Tyler Grimes was next and he lined a 2-1 pitch down the left field line. The ball stayed fair as it cleared the wall for a three-run homer and a 7-4 Beloit lead. Grimes, the number nine hitter in the Beloit lineup, also hit a home run in Beloit's win on Thursday. Beloit tacked on three more runs in the top of the ninth inning and it was the bottom third of the order that did the damage again. Pettersen knocked in a run with a ground out; Rosario had an RBI double; and Grimes singled in the final run. The 7-8-9 hitters in the Beloit order went 6-for-12 with nine RBI on Friday night. Wisconsin's lead for the best overall record in the Western Divison fell to 0.5 games over the Snappers. There are three games left in the season. The Timber Rattlers hit the road for the final three games of the regular season and they will take on a possible first round playoff opponent on Saturday night. Wisconsin takes on the Burlington Bees at Community Field. Chad Pierce (7-5, 3.47) is the scheduled starter for the Rattlers. The Bees have Drew Granier (11-9, 3.10) as their scheduled starting pitcher. Game time is 6:30pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. HOME RUNS: BEL: Tyler Grimes (7th, 2 on in 8th inning off Santo Manzanillo, 2 out) WIS: Ben McMahan (14th, 0 on in 1st inning off Jason Wheeler, 2 out) Nick Ramirez (16th, 0 on in 2nd inning off Jason Wheeler, 0 out) WP: Corey Kimes (2-0) LP: Santo Manzanillo (0-1) SAVE: Corey Williams (17) TIME: 3:22 ATTN: 5,280 Wisconsin Box Score The Rattlers late season slide continues as they've lost 7 of their last 8 now. Not the way you want to go in to the playoffs. Mark Williams gave up three runs over five innings and Stosh Wawrzasek pitched two scoreless, but things got ugly from there. Santo Manzanillo got shelled. He gave up three hits and three walks to allow four runs to score in the eighth inning. Michael White then gave up three more in the ninth on three hits and a walk. White's runs were unearned following an error by Carlos George. Nick Ramirez hit his 16th home run of the season and doubled as part of a 2-5 night. Ben McMahan also homered, his 14th of the year. George and Chadwin Stang both had 2-4 nights at the bottom of the order. The defense did manage to get a few outs with their arms as Stang had a pair of outfield assists, and Rafael Neda gunned down two or four runners attempting to steal. Wisconsin Play By Play Manzanillo's tough 8th inning Beloit Top of the 8th Pitching Change: Santo Manzanillo replaces Stosh Wawrzasek. Kennys Vargas walks. Drew Leachman singles on a bunt ground ball to third baseman Brandon Macias. Kennys Vargas to 2nd. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-runner Stephen Wickens replaces Kennys Vargas. Wang-Wei Lin out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Santo Manzanillo to second baseman Carlos George. Stephen Wickens to 3rd. Drew Leachman to 2nd. Santo Manzanillo intentionally walks Adam Pettersen. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter Miguel Sano replaces Jairo Rodriguez. Miguel Sano out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Lance Roenicke. Stephen Wickens scores. With Tyler Grimes batting, Drew Leachman steals (10) 3rd base. Adam Pettersen steals (11) 2nd base. Tyler Grimes homers (7) on a fly ball to left field. Drew Leachman scores. Adam Pettersen scores. Nate Roberts walks. JaDamion Williams doubles (15) on a fly ball to left fielder Lance Roenicke. Nate Roberts to 3rd. Eddie Rosario flies out to right fielder Ben McMahan.

Final: Beloit 9, Wisconsin 2 Beloit bops Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Beloit Snappers only outhit the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers by one on Thursday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. However, Beloit put together more run scoring hits for a 9-2 win over the Rattlers. Beloit pitchers also recorded fifteen strikeouts in the game. Tyler Grimes, the number nine hitter in Beloit's lineup on Thursday night, launched a 2-2 pitch to left-center for a two-out, two-run home run. The Snappers (74-62 overall, 35-31 second half) were up 2-0. Beloit added two runs to their total in the fourth inning. A walk and a single started the inning. Kennys Vargas singled in the first run. An RBI grounder by Drew Leachman knocked in the second run for a 4-0 lead. Wisconsin (31-35, 75-70) came back in the bottom of the fourth inning. Brandon Macias singled with the bases loaded to drive in a pair of runs and the deficit was cut to 4-2. The Rattlers put runners on second and third with one out in the fifth inning, but could not score. The Rattlers also put a runner in scoring position in the sixth and seventh innings, but stranded him both times. Wisconsin would leave a total of eleven runners on base as they were 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position in the game. Beloit pounced on a Rattlers miscue in the eighth inning to extend their lead. They had runners at first and second with one out. AJ Pettersen blooped a single to right that would have just loaded the bases. But, the ball got away from Max Walla in right. Two runs scored and Pettersen took third base. Pettersen scored moments later on a wild pitch for a 7-2 lead. Beloit added two more runs in the top of the ninth inning. Eddie Rosario's RBI double plated the first run. Leachman's RBI single made it 9-2. The Rattlers went down in order in the ninth on a pair of strikeouts. The ninth inning was the only inning Wisconsin did not have a base runner. Friday is the final meeting of the regular season between the Rattlers and the Snappers. Mark Williams (7-10, 3.81) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Jason Wheeler (14-6, 3.44) is set to start for Beloit. Game time is 7:05pm. A Static Cling Schedule for the 2013 Timber Rattlers season presented by BioLife Plasma Services will be given away on Friday night. BioLife Plasma Services will present the final postgame fireworks display of 2012 after Friday's game. Friday is also the final North Shore Bank Family night. Children 12 and under eat free and children 14 and under may participate in Kids Run the Bases presented by Jernegan's Health Mart after the fireworks. If you can't make it out to the game, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. HOME RUN: BEL: Tyler Grimes (6th, 1 on in 2nd inning off Jacob Barnes, 2 out) WP: Tyler Rogers (2-2) LP: Jacob Barnes (4-7) TIME: 3:03 ATTN: 4,494 Wisconsin Box Score Wisconsin Play By Play Wisconsin Bottom of the 4th Rafael Neda reaches on a missed catch error by pitcher Cole Johnson, assist to first baseman Kennys Vargas. Yadiel Rivera singles on a soft ground ball to shortstop Stephen Wickens. Rafael Neda to 2nd. Max Walla walks. Rafael Neda to 3rd. Yadiel Rivera to 2nd. Adrian Williams pops out softly to second baseman Tyler Grimes. Brandon Macias singles on a soft line drive to right fielder Wang-Wei Lin. Rafael Neda scores. Yadiel Rivera scores. Max Walla to 2nd. Chadwin Stang grounds into a double play, third baseman Adam Pettersen to second baseman Tyler Grimes to first baseman Kennys Vargas. Brandon Macias out at 2nd.

Final: Beloit 6, Wisconsin 5 (12 Innings) Twelve round decision goes to the Snappers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Beloit Snappers defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 6-5 in twelve innings Wednesday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. AJ Pettersen had a pair of extra-inning, two-out, RBI singles for the visitors, who erased an early 4-0 Timber Rattlers lead. Wisconsin (75-59 overall, 31-34 second half) took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Yadiel Rivera doubled and Carlos George reached on an error. A sacrifice bunt by Adrian Williams moved both runners into scoring position. Chadwin Stang put the Rattlers in front with a single to right that scored Rivera. George would score - and Stang take third - on an errant pickoff. An RBI grounder by Brandon Macias sent Stang home for a 3-0 lead. Ben McMahan blasted a long home run in the fourth inning for a 4-0 lead. McMahan's 13th home run of the season was the 100th of the year for the team. Wisconsin is one round tripper shy of tying the franchise mark for team homers in a season. The 2005 Rattlers squad hit 101 home runs. Beloit (73-62, 34-41) rallied for a run in the sixth inning off Rattlers starting pitcher Chad Thompson. A two-out RBI double by Wang-Wei Lin drove in Kennys Vargas for the first Beloit run. Thompson left after six innings with that 4-1 lead. That lead was gone before the top of the seventh was over and the Snappers did it without a hit. Wisconsin Reliever Eric Semmelhack walked the first two batters of the inning. Then, JD Williams dropped a sacrifice bunt in front of the plate and an errant throw to first allowed two runs to score and Williams to take third base. An RBI grounder off the bat of Kennys Vargas score the tying run. The Rattlers had chances to at least take the lead in the eighth or win the game in the ninth. Wisconsin loaded the bases with one out in the eighth inning, but Beloit's right-handed reliever Corey Williams got out of the frame with a popout and a strikeout. In the ninth, Rivera was at third base with two outs and the Snappers brought Zack Jones out of the bullpen to face Chadwin Stang. Stang fouled off several 3-2 pitches from Jones before lining a pitch deep to center field. However, Lin ran the ball down on the track and made the catch to send the game to extra innings. Beloit got a leadoff walk in the top of the tenth inning and had runners at first and second with two outs against reliever Michael Strong. Pettersen singled to drive in the go ahead run. Wisconsin answered in the bottom of the tenth Macias walked to start the inning. A single to right by Rafael Neda and an error on the play sent Macias to third. Nick Ramirez drove in Macias with a sacrifice fly. A leadoff walk started the Beloit twelfth inning. That runner was at second with two outs. Rattlers reliever Kevin Shackelford got ahead of Pettersen with two quick strikes, but the Snappers third baseman lined the 0-2 pitch to left and the go ahead run scored for a 6-5 lead. Wisconsin went down in order in the bottom of the twelfth and the Snappers picked up the win in game one of the series. Game two of the series is Thursday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Jacob Barnes (4-6, 3.61) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The Snappers send Cole Johnson (3-1, 1.70) to the mound. Game time is 7:05pm. Beloved former Timber Rattlers concessions worker Brock Calmes, who passed away earlier this season, was the overwhelming selection to be the Pepsi Fans' Choice Bobblehead. The first 1,000 fans to enter the stadium on Thursday will receive the bobblehead of Brock. Thursday is a Thirsty Thursday presented by Slugger's Sports Bar and 95.9 KISS-FM. All fans can enjoy 16oz soda and beer for just $2. After the game, those in attendance can take their ticket stub to Sluggers Sports Bar - located in Super Bowl on Northland Avenue - to win Miller Lite drinks and prizes. Fans may also pick up their Static Cling schedule for the 2013 Timber Rattlers scheduled courtesy of BioLife Plasma Services at this game. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm HOME RUN: Ben McMahan (13th, 0 on in 4th inning off David Hurlbut, 0 out) WP: Steven Gruver (7-8) LP: Kevin Shackelford (-5) TIME: 3:53 ATTN: 3,984 Wisconsin Box Score The bullpen did in the Rattlers in this one as they got a quality start out of Chad Thompson who allowed just one run over six innings. Eric Semmelhack relieved him in the seventh and gave up three runs to allow Beloit to tie the game at 4-4. Two of the runs were unearned but Semmelhack struggled with control, walking three. Michael Strong gave up one run in three innings of relief while striking out six. Kevin Shackelford pitched the final two innings and took the loss, giving up the eventual game winning run in the 12th. Ben McMahan had a big night at the plate, going 3-5 with his 13th home run. Brandon Macias was 2-4 with a walk and a double. Yadiel Rivera went 2-5 with a double. Nick Ramirez, Rafael Neda and Chadwin Stang had the other Wisconsin hits. Rivera, Adrian Williams and Cameron Garfield each had an error. Wisconsin Play By Play Wisconsin Bottom of the 3rd Yadiel Rivera doubles (24) on a line drive to left fielder JaDamion Williams. Carlos George reaches on a fielding error by shortstop Stephen Wickens. Adrian Williams out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher David Hurlbut to second baseman Eddie Rosario. Yadiel Rivera to 3rd. Carlos George to 2nd. Chadwin Stang singles on a sharp line drive to right fielder Nate Roberts. Yadiel Rivera scores. Carlos George to 3rd. With Brandon Macias batting, throwing error by David Hurlbut on the pickoff attempt, Carlos George scores. Chadwin Stang to 3rd. Brandon Macias grounds out, shortstop Stephen Wickens to first baseman Drew Leachman. Chadwin Stang scores. Cameron Garfield flies out to right fielder Nate Roberts.

Final: Wisconsin 4, Peoria 1 Three-run ninth snaps Rattlers losing streak By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - Mike Garza's ninth inning RBI single broke a 1-1 tie and led the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to a 4-1 win over the Peoria Chiefs Tuesday night. The victory helped the Rattlers avoid a sweep in Peoria and ended a four game losing streak. Jorge Soler drew a walk to start the second inning. A balk allowed Soler to move to second base. An error with two outs let Soler score for a 1-0 Peoria (62-71 overall, 27-37 second half) lead. That unearned run was all that Rattlers starting pitcher David Goforth would allow in the game. Goforth allowed three hits, walked two, and struck out five over seven innings. Wisconsin (75-58, 31-33) tied the game in the fourth. Mike Garza hit a leadoff single. Lance Roenicke sacrificed him to second base. Rafael Neda's shar single to left got Garza to third. Carlos George sent a slow grounder to short. Neda was forced out at second, but George beat the throw to first to avoid the inning ending double play. That allowed Garza to score the tying run. Nick Ramirez started the Rattlers half of the seventh inning with a double and was sacrificed to third base. But, the Rattlers could not cash in that opportunity. The game remained tied until the top of the ninth inning. Ben McMahan singled to start the inning. Ramirez followed with a single to send McMahan around to third base. Garza stepped in and lined a single to left-center and McMahan scored to run that put the Rattlers up 2-1. Wisconsin would score two more runs in the ninth inning thanks to a pair of errors that padded the lead to 4-1. Santo Manzanillo, who relieved Goforth to start the eighth inning, gave up a leadoff single in the bottom of the ninth inning. But, Manzanillo got the first out on a foul popup and finished the game with a 4-6-3 double play. The Timber Rattlers return to Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium on Wednesday night to begin a three game series against the Beloit Snappers. Chad Thompson (4-2, 4.72) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Beloit has David Hurlbut (5-6, 2.82) as their scheduled starting pitcher. Game time is 7:05pm. The first 1,000 fans to attend Wednesday's game will receive a poster of Brewers pitching prospect David Goforth. This is poster #10 in a series of ten that have been given away this season. Wednesday is also a Bang for Your Buck Night from 105.7 WAPL with $1 Cher-Make hot dogs, $1 Pepsi Products, and $1 Miller Beers! If you can't make it to the game, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. Wednesday's game is also available to subscribers of MiLB.TV. WP: Santo Manzanillo (1-0) LP: Justin Berg (0-3) TIME: 2:30 ATTN: 1,334 Wisconsin Box Score Outstanding effort from David Goforth tonight. Seven strong innings of three hit ball. He allowed just one unearned run. Santo Manzanillo pitched the final two innings and surrendered just one hit to earn the win. Michael Garza led the way for the Timber Rattlers offense, going 2-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Nick Ramirez also had a two hit night. He was 2-4 with a double before being lifted for a pinch runner. Adrian Williams was on base twice out of the leadoff spot, going 1-3 with a walk and also stole a piar of bases. Williams did commit two errors however. Ben McMahan, Rafael Neda and Lance Roenicke each chipped in a single as well. Wisconsin Play By Play The Rattlers three-run game-winning ninth inning Wisconsin Top of the 9th Ben McMahan singles on a ground ball to shortstop Timothy Saunders. Nick Ramirez singles on a line drive to left fielder Oliver Zapata. Ben McMahan to 3rd. Mike Garza singles on a line drive to left fielder Oliver Zapata. Ben McMahan scores. Nick Ramirez to 2nd. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-runner Chadwin Stang replaces Nick Ramirez. With Lance Roenicke batting, Chadwin Stang caught stealing 3rd base, catcher Chadd Krist to third baseman Dustin Geiger, Mike Garza to 2nd. Lance Roenicke reaches on a fielding error by second baseman Wes Darvill. Mike Garza scores. Pitching Change: Austin Reed replaces Justin Berg. With Rafael Neda batting, wild pitch by Austin Reed, Lance Roenicke to 2nd. Rafael Neda grounds out, third baseman Dustin Geiger to first baseman Jacob Rogers. Lance Roenicke to 3rd. Carlos George reaches on a fielding error by second baseman Wes Darvill. Lance Roenicke scores. Carlos George out at 2nd, catcher Chadd Krist to second baseman Wes Darvill.

Final: Wisconsin 3, Peoria 7 Rattlers drop fourth straight By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - Starling Peralta and the Peoria Chiefs sent the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to their fourth straight loss by handing Wisconsin a 7-3 defeat Monday night. The Chiefs took charge with some early runs while Peralta and two relievers kept the Timber Rattlers hitters in check. The Chiefs (62-70 overall, 27-36 second half) scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead. The first Peoria run scored on a throwing error. Tim Saunders stole third and scored with the throw sailed into left field. Later in the inning Jacob Rogers hit a two-run homer to right field for a 3-0. An error kept the inning going and eventually led to an unearned run scoring on a single by Bijan Rademacher. Wisconsin (74-58, 30-33) got their first base runner of the game in the fifth inning. Cameron Garfield spoiled Peoria starting pitcher Starling Peralta's string of 12 straight batters retired with a leadoff single in the fifth. Garfield took second on a wild pitch and third on a ground out. Mike Garza drove in Garfield with a sacrifice fly to put the Rattlers on the scoreboard. In the sixth, Max Walla's fly ball to center was lost in the lights and dropped behind the centerfielder for a triple that scored Chadwin Stang from first base. That pulled the Rattlers to within two runs. Peoria scored a run in the bottom of the sixth and the Rattlers lost Garfield on the same play. Rademacher singled to left with two outs and Rogers headed to the plate. Lane Roenicke's throw was in time, but Rogers dove for the back part of the plate. Garfield went around with a sweep tag and Rogers was ruled safe. Both Garfield and pitcher Chad Pierce vehemently argued that Rogers had missed home plate. Manager Matt Erickson came out to protect his players and make his points. Garfield and Pierce had moved away from the manager and the umpire when the base umpire ejected Garfield. The call stood and the Chiefs led 5-2. That was the final run allowed by Pierce, who tossed six innings and struck out five for the Rattlers. Peralta struck out eight and allowed two runs over six innings before turning the game over to the bullpen. Peralta would win his fifth game of the season. Peoria tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. A sacrifice fly by Chadd Krist and an RBI single by Rogers put the Chiefs up 7-2. Wisconsin got a run in the ninth. Garza doubled to start the inning. He took third on a grounder. Lance Roenicke's sacrifice fly drove in Garza for the final run of the game. The Chiefs have beaten Wisconsin in six of the last seven meetings between the teams.. Wisconsin and Peoria play for the final time this season on Tuesday night. David Goforth (9-8, 4.93) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Ben Wells (3-2, 3.60) is set to start for the Chiefs. Game time is 6:30pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. HOME RUN: PEO: Jacob Rogers (2nd, 1 on in 4th inning off Chad Pierce, 1 out) WP: Starling Peralta (5-8) LP: Chad Pierce (7-5) TIME: 2:30 ATTN: 1,003 Wisconsin Box Score The Rattlers have now dropped 6 of their last 7 to Peoria and 7 of their last 10 overall. They managed just five hits in tonight's loss. Cameron Garfield was 1 for 2 with a walk prior to being ejected in the 6th inning. Max Walla was 1-4 with a triple. Michael Garza went 1-3 with a double. Brandon Macias and Chadwin Stang had the other two Wisconsin hits. Garfield and Adrian Williams each committed an error. Chad Pierce was the Timber Rattlers starter. He went six innings and gave up five runs, four earned, on six hits. He walked two and struck out five. He also hit a batter. Stosh Wawrzasek pitched two innings of relief. He gave up two runs on three hits and struck out three. Wisconsin Play By Play Peoria Bottom of the 4th Timothy Saunders singles on a fly ball to center fielder Chadwin Stang. Dustin Geiger grounds out, third baseman Brandon Macias to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Timothy Saunders to 2nd. Jorge Soler hit by pitch. With Chadd Krist batting, Timothy Saunders steals (7) 3rd base, Timothy Saunders scores. Jorge Soler steals (3) 2nd base. Jorge Soler advances to 3rd. Throwing error by catcher Cameron Garfield. Chadd Krist strikes out swinging. Jacob Rogers homers (2) on a fly ball to right field. Jorge Soler scores. Wes Darvill reaches on a fielding error by second baseman Adrian Williams. Yaniel Cabezas singles on a line drive to center fielder Chadwin Stang. Wes Darvill to 2nd. With Bijan Rademacher batting, Wes Darvill steals (11) 3rd base. Yaniel Cabezas steals (1) 2nd base. Bijan Rademacher singles on a line drive to left fielder Lance Roenicke. Wes Darvill scores. Yaniel Cabezas to 3rd. Pin-Chieh Chen flies out to center fielder Chadwin Stang.

Final: Wisconsin 3, Peoria 10 Chiefs soak Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - It was a wet Sunday afternoon in Peoria and the Peoria Chiefs defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 10-3. Jeff Antigua dampened the Rattlers offense with seven scoreless innings. Dustin Geiger swamped the Rattlers with three hits and three RBI to pace a 13-hit attack. Peoria (61-70 overall, 26-36 second half) started the bottom of the first inning with four consecutive singles. Geiger and Jorge Soler had singles that knocked in runs to put the Chiefs up 2-0. Geiger struck again in the third inning. Pin Chieh Chen, who scored four runs in the game, doubled to start the inning. Geiger followed with an RBI single and the Chiefs were up 3-0. Jacob Rogers made it 4-0 with a mammoth homer off the scoreboard in right-center field in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Chiefs added a run with assistance from the Rattlers in the seventh. Chen reached on an error. Geiger walked to put two runners on base. An error on a grounder to short by Soler allowed Chen to score for a 5-0 lead. Antigua handcuffed the Rattlers for seven innings. The lefty allowed three hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out seven. Peoria sent ten men to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning and scored five runs to take a 10-0 lead. Wisconsin (74-57, 30-32) went to bat in a steadily worsening downpour in the top of the ninth inning and loaded the bases with one out on a single, an error, and a hit batsman. Ben McMahan drew a bases loaded walk to force in a run. Nick Ramirez grounded into a force play at second that let the second run score. Mike Garza followed with an RBI single to right-center. But, that was as close as the Rattlers would get to the Chiefs. The loss was the third straight for Wisconsin. Game three of the series is Monday night. Chad Pierce (7-4, 3.34) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Starling Peralta (4-8, 3.38) is the scheduled starter for the Chiefs. Game time is 6:30pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. HOME RUN: PEO: Jacob Rogers (1st, 0 on in 6th inning off Mark Williams, 1 out) WP: Jeff Antigua (2-2) LP: Mark Williams (7-10) TIME: 2:40 ATTN: 1,760 Wisconsin Box Score Looking at a radar map, and based on some of Chris's comments, this was a game that probably never should have been played. There was a pretty steady rain for most of the game and it led to plenty of sloppy play. Errors, multiple runners slipping around the bases, grounds crew stoppages, just not a good day for baseball. The Rattlers got three runs on six hits. All six hits were singles, and two of those six were of the infield variety. Michael Garza had a 2-4 day with an RBI. Chadwin Stang, Brandon Macias, Yadiel Rivera and Carlos George each went 1-3 for the other Rattlers hits. Garza and Rivera each committed an error and Nick Ramirez was tossed in the ninth inning. Mark Williams dropped his record to 7-10, but didn't pitch horribly given the conditions. He allowed five runs, four earned over seven innings. Michael White on the other hand was just not good in his one inning of work. He gave up five runs on five hits and walked two. His ERA climbed from 8.31 to 12.10. You'd have to think the almost 23 year old righty will be the odd man out if/when Stephen Peterson is ready to return. Wisconsin Play By Play The brutal bottom of the eighth pretty much sealed the Rattlers fate, but they tried to stage their best Little League World Series comeback in the ninth. Peoria Bottom of the 8th Pitching Change: Michael White replaces Mark Williams. Jacob Rogers singles on a ground ball to right fielder Chadwin Stang. Sergio Burruel walks. Jacob Rogers to 2nd. Yaniel Cabezas walks. Jacob Rogers to 3rd. Sergio Burruel to 2nd. Oliver Zapata singles on a line drive to center fielder Carlos George. Jacob Rogers scores. Sergio Burruel to 3rd. Yaniel Cabezas to 2nd. Zeke DeVoss singles on a line drive to left fielder Ben McMahan. Sergio Burruel scores. Yaniel Cabezas to 3rd. Oliver Zapata to 2nd. Pin-Chieh Chen grounds into a force out, first baseman Nick Ramirez to shortstop Yadiel Rivera. Yaniel Cabezas scores. Oliver Zapata to 3rd. Zeke DeVoss out at 2nd. Pin-Chieh Chen to 1st. Dustin Geiger singles on a line drive to left fielder Ben McMahan. Oliver Zapata scores. Pin-Chieh Chen to 2nd. Jorge Soler doubles (4) on a fly ball to center fielder Carlos George. Pin-Chieh Chen scores. Dustin Geiger to 3rd. Wes Darvill called out on strikes. Jacob Rogers grounds out, first baseman Nick Ramirez to pitcher Michael White. Wisconsin Top of the 9th Carlos George grounds out, second baseman Zeke DeVoss to first baseman Jacob Rogers. Chadwin Stang singles on a fly ball to right fielder Jorge Soler. Lance Roenicke reaches on a force attempt, fielding error by shortstop Wes Darvill. Chadwin Stang to 2nd. Brandon Macias hit by pitch. Chadwin Stang to 3rd. Lance Roenicke to 2nd. Ben McMahan walks. Chadwin Stang scores. Lance Roenicke to 3rd. Brandon Macias to 2nd. Nick Ramirez grounds into a force out, shortstop Wes Darvill to second baseman Zeke DeVoss. Lance Roenicke scores. Brandon Macias to 3rd. Ben McMahan out at 2nd. Nick Ramirez to 1st. Offensive Substitution: Pinch-runner Max Walla replaces Nick Ramirez. Wisconsin Timber Rattlers first baseman Nick Ramirez ejected by 1B umpire Mike Huus. Mike Garza singles on a line drive to center fielder Pin-Chieh Chen. Brandon Macias scores. Max Walla to 2nd. With Yadiel Rivera batting, wild pitch by Pete Levitt, Max Walla to 3rd. Mike Garza to 2nd. Yadiel Rivera walks. Rafael Neda strikes out swinging.

Final: Wisconsin 2, Peoria 3 Chiefs get two homers and hold on to beat Rattlers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers PEORIA, IL - Back-to-back fourth inning homers proved to be enough for the Peoria Chiefs to defeat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 3-2 Saturday night at Peoria Chiefs Stadium. Chadd Krist and Tim Saunders hit the dingers for the Chiefs and a pair of Peoria relievers kept the Rattlers off the scoreboard late. Peoria (60-70 overall, 25-36 second half) took a 3-0 lead on a pair of home runs in the bottom of the fourth. Jorge Soler reached on an error to start the inning. Krist followed with a two-run homer down the left field line. Saunders was next and his homer just cleared the wall in left-center for consecutive home runs. Wisconsin (74-56, 30-31) got a run in the top of the fifth inning. Brandon Macias drove in Carlos George from second base with a two out single to cut the Peoria lead to 3-1. Lance Roenicke welcomed Peoria reliever Sheldon McDonald to the game by cracking a homer to the berm in left-center on the first pitch from the Chiefs lefty. Roenicke's second homer of the season shaved Peoria's advantage to one run. George was next and he singled for his third hit of the night and the tying run was at first base with no outs. McDonald would pick George off first base for the first out and retire the next two batters to end the inning. Ben McMahan reached on an error to start the top of the eighth inning. But, McDonald struck out the next three Rattlers to preserve the 3-2 advantage. Max Walla doubled to lead off the top of the ninth inning against Larry Suarez. But, an attempted sacrifice bunt went awry and Walla was out at third base. Suarez struck out the next two batters and closed out the 3-2 Peoria victory. Game two of the series is Sunday afternoon. Mark Williams (7-9, 3.72) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The Chiefs have Jeff Antigua (1-2, 1.91) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 2:00pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 1:40pm. HOME RUNS: WIS: Lance Roenicke (2nd, 0 on in 7th inning off Sheldon McDonald, 0 out) PEO: Chadd Krist (4th, 1 on in 4th inning off Jacob Barnes, 0 out) Tim Saunders (2nd, 0 on in 4th inning off Jacob Barnes, 0 out) WP: Joe Zeller (3-4) LP: Jacob Barnes (4-6) SAVE: Larry Suarez (5) TIME: 2:42 ATTN: 5,178 Wisconsin Box Score Wisconsin Play By Play All of Peoria's offense came in the 4th inning Peoria Bottom of the 4th Jorge Soler reaches on a fielding error by shortstop Yadiel Rivera. Chadd Krist homers (4) on a fly ball to left field. Jorge Soler scores. Timothy Saunders homers (2) on a fly ball to left field. Sergio Burruel grounds out, shortstop Yadiel Rivera to first baseman Nick Ramirez. Oliver Zapata walks. Bijan Rademacher strikes out swinging. Zeke DeVoss flies out to left fielder Ben McMahan.

Final: Cedar Rapids 3, Wisconsin 2 (10 Innings) Kernels sneak past Rattlers in ten innnings GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Cedar Rapids Kernels defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 3-2 in ten innings on Friday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Trevor Hairgrove's run scoring fielder's choice knocked in the go ahead run and Cedar Rapids held off a late rally in the bottom of the tenth to avoid being swept by the Rattlers in the three game series. Wisconsin (74-55 overall, 30-30 second half) broke the scoreless tie in the fifth inning. Greg Hopkins singled to start the inning. Mike Garza lined a double to left-center with one out and Hopkins raced home to put the Rattlers up 1-0. Rattlers starting pitcher Chad Thompson allowed two hits over five scoreless innings. Then, Santo Manzanillo worked two perfect innings to maintain the 1-0 lead. Eric Semmelhack come on in the top of the eighth inning and walked the leadoff batter. Gary Mitchell followed with a homer to center and the Kernels (49-81, 17-43) were up 2-1. Wisconsin rallied to tie the game with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Cameron Garfield reached second on a dropped fly ball and was replaced by pinch runner Lance Roenicke. Nick Ramirez slammed a single off the glove of a diving Mitchell at first base and Roenicke scored the tying run. The Rattlers had an opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. Yadiel Rivera doubled to start the inning and was bunted to third base. But, RJ Alvarez, who gave up the run in the bottom of the eighth, got a pair of strikeouts to send the game to extra innings. Semmelhack got the first out of the tenth. Then, a bloop double to left by Mitchell and a bloop single to right by Abel Baker put runners at the corners with one out. Semmlehack jammed Hairgrove on an 0-1 pitch and got a weak grounder up the first baseline. Ramirez thought he fielded the ball in foul territory, but the ball was ruled fair by the plate umpire. Ramirez threw to second for the force out, but Hairgrove beat the throw to first to deny the Rattlers an inning ending double play. Mitchell scored on the play and the Kernels were up 3-2. Nick Mutz retired the first two Rattlers in the bottom of the tenth. Then, Rafael Neda sent a sinking line drive to center. The ball hit in front of Workman, who slipped and fell. The ball rolled to the wall and Neda streaked around to third base for a triple. The Kernels elected to walk Nick Ramirez intentionally and Mutz would get the final out of the game on a grounder to third. The Timber Rattlers begin a brief four game road trip on Saturday night with game one of a series against the Peoria Chiefs. Jacob Barnes (4-5, 3.61) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Joe Zeller (2-4, 3.61) is set to start for the Chiefs. Game time at Peoria Chiefs Stadium is 6:30pm. Tune in for the action on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. HOME RUN: CR: Gary Mitchell (14th, 1 on in 8th inning off Eric Semmelhack, 0 out) WP: RJ Alvarez (2-2) LP: Eric Semmelhack (2-3) SAVE: Nick Mutz (1) TIME: 3:01 ATTN: 5,482 Wisconsin Box Score Brandon Macias was the only Rattler with a multi-hit game tonight. He went 2-5 with a stolen base. Rafael Neda came in to the game late after Cameron Garfield was lifted for a pinch runner. Neda tripled in his only at bat. Michael Garza had a double and an RBI. Chad Thompson and Santo Manzanillo combined for seven scoreless innings, but Eric Semmelhack couldn't hold the lead. He gave up three earned runs in three innings. Wisconsin Play By Play Cedar Rapids Game Story

Final: Cedar Rapids 3, Wisconsin 6 Rattlers make it two wins in a row GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers defeated the Cedar Rapids Kernels 6-3 Thursday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The Rattlers hit a pair of home runs and got a pair of solid pitching performances to defeat the Kernels for the second night in a row. Cedar Rapids (48-81 overall, 16-43 second half) took the lead in the first inning. Zach Borenstein hit a two-out solo home run off Rattlers starter David Goforth for a 1-0 lead. Wisconsin (74-54, 30-29) rallied with two outs in the bottom of the second inning. Lance Roenicke, who reached on a hit batsman, stole second and went to third on a throwing error with two outs. Carlos George doubled down the line in right to score Roenicke with the tying run. Chadwin Stang would single to right to score George. Stang took second on the throw home. Yadiel Rivera followed with another single to right to score Stang and the Rattlers were up 3-1. Brandon Macias started the Wisconsin fourth inning with a line drive home run to left field that made the score 4-1. The homer was the eighth of the season for Macias. Borenstein chipped away at the Rattlers lead. He hit a leadoff homer in the sixth inning off Goforth to cut Wisconsin's advantage to 4-2. Thursday was the second two-homer game for Borenstein against the Timber Rattlers. The only runs Goforth would allow were on those solo homers by Borenstein. He tossed six solid innings and struck out six to put himself in line for his ninth win of the season. Wisconsin had trouble adding on to their lead against Kernels starter Ryan Crowley. The left-hander struck out ten and walked just two over 7-1/3 innings. In the seventh, Borenstein doubled in a run against Wisconsin reliever Brent Suter and Wisconsin's lead was down to 4-3. The Rattlers got their insurance runs late in the game when Cameron Garfield came through for the home team. He greeted Kernels reliever Stephen Tromblee with a two-run home run to left field that put Wisconsin up 6-3. The home run was the tenth of the season for Garfield, who had two hits on Thursday to extend his hitting streak to ten games. The pair of home runs pushed Wisconsin's round tripper count to 98 for the season. The franchise record for team homers in a season is 101 and was set in 2005. Suter would get into a bases loaded jam with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, but got a strikeout - his fourth in three innings of work - to close out the Kernels and earn a save in his Timber Rattlers debut. The final game of the homestand is Friday night. Chad Thompson (4-2, 5.06) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Cedar Rapids has Michael Johnson (4-6, 5.12) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 7:05pm. BirdZerk! has some quirks and you'll want to be here to enjoy his on field antics during the game on Friday night. It is also a North Shore Bank Family and children 12 and under eat free. Settle in after the game to watch the fireworks. After the fireworks, children 14 and under may participate in Kids Run the Bases presented by Jernegan's Health Mart. If you can't make it out to the ballpark, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. Friday's game is also available to MiLB.TV subscribers. HOME RUNS: CR: Zach Borenstein (9th, 0 on in 1st inning off David Goforth, 2 out) Zach Borenstein (10th, 0 on in 6th inning off David Goforth, 0 out) WIS: Brandon Macias (8th, 0 on in 4th inning off Ryan Crowley, 0 out) Cameron Garfield (10th, 1 on in 8th inning off Stephen Tromblee, 1 out) WP: David Goforth (9-8) LP: Ryan Crowley (1-6) SAVE: Brent Suter (1) TIME: 2:44 ATTN: 3,411 Wisconsin Box Score Cameron Garfield continued his breakout offensive season, going 2-4 with a double and a home run, and pushing his hitting streak to 10 games. Brandon Macias also had a home run, his eighth of the season. Yadiel Rivera and Chadwin Stang each went 2-4. Ben McMahan drew a pair of walks and Rafael Neda and Carlos George both had 1-3 nights. David Goforth pitched six innings and picked up his ninth win. He allowed two runs on six hits, while striking out six. Brent Suter picked up a save in his Timber Rattlers debut, working the final three innings. He gave up just one run, but allowed five hits and walked two. Goforth and Rivera each had an error. Wisconsin Play By Play Wisconsin Bottom of the 2nd Gregory Hopkins called out on strikes. Lance Roenicke hit by pitch. Rafael Neda called out on strikes. With Carlos George batting, Lance Roenicke steals (6) 2nd base, . Lance Roenicke advances to 3rd, on a throwing error by catcher Zach Wright. Carlos George doubles (10) on a line drive to right fielder Zachary Borenstein. Lance Roenicke scores. Chadwin Stang singles on a ground ball to right fielder Zachary Borenstein. Carlos George scores. Chadwin Stang to 2nd on the throw. Yadiel Rivera singles on a line drive to right fielder Zachary Borenstein. Chadwin Stang scores. Yadiel Rivera out at 2nd on the throw, right fielder Zachary Borenstein to first baseman Frazier Hall to shortstop Eric Stamets to second baseman Alex Yarbrough.

Final: Cedar Rapids 1, Wisconsin 5 Pair of early homers leads Wisconsin past Cedar Rapids GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers scored five runs in the first two innings and a pair of pitchers made those early runs stand up for a win. Wisconsin topped the Cedar Rapids Kernels 5-1 Wednesday night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The Rattlers scored four of their five runs on two home runs as the 2012 team continued its assault on the franchise single-season home run record. Chadwin Stang put Wisconsin (73-54 overall, 29-29 second half) in front on the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning. The Rattlers center fielder drilled a home run to left and made it 1-0 with his leadoff homer. The Rattlers used the long ball in the second inning to extend their lead. Max Walla blasted a three-run home run over the wall in right-center with two outs for a 4-0 lead. Kernels starting pitcher Frank De Jiulio walked the next two batters. Then, Nick Ramirez singled to drive in one more run for a 5-0 lead. Ramirez went 1-for-1 on the night and drew four walks. Wisconsin hitters drew ten walks in the game. Cedar Rapids (48-80, 16-42) got on the board in the fourth inning. Andy Workman singled. A double by Frazier Hall drove in Workman to make the score 5-1. That was the only run Cedar Rapids would get in the game. Rattlers starting pitcher Chad Pierce pitched six innings, walked three, and struck out six to put himself in line for his seventh win of the season. He left the game in the hands of reliever Kevin Shackelford. Shackelford tossed four scoreless inning to nail down the victory and his fifth save of the season. Wisconsin's two home runs on Wednesday night pushed their season total to 96. The franchise record for home runs by the team is 101 and was set in 2005. Wisconsin and Cedar Rapids continue their series on Thursday night. David Goforth (8-7, 5.04) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The Kernels have Ryan Crowley (1-4, 4.08) as their scheduled starter. Game time is 7:05pm. The Timber Rattlers are offering kids a chance for one last HURRAH! with a Back to School Summer Sendoff. FunPros Inflatables will be at the stadium and youngsters may also play free in the Kid Zone all night long. Bring in a donation to the Community Clothes Closet School Supplies Drive and you will be entered into a raffle for a prize filled backpack from JanSport. All fans can enjoy 16oz soda and beer for just $2 as part of Thirsty Thursday presented by Slugger's Sports Bar and 95.9 KISS FM! After the game, those in attendance can take their ticket stub to Sluggers Sports Bar - located in Super Bowl on Northland Avenue - to win Miller Lite drinks and prizes. If you can't make it to the ballpark, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:40pm. Thursday's game is also available to subscribers of MiLB.TV. HOME RUNS: WIS: Chadwin Stang (8th, 0 on in 1st inning off Frank Di Jiulio, 0 out) Max Walla (7th, 2 on in 2nd inning off Frank Di Jiulio, 2 out) WP: Chad Pierce (7-4) LP: Frank De Jiulio (4-5) SAVE: Kevin Shackelford (5) TIME: 2:47 ATTN: 5,429 Wisconsin Box Score Every Timber Rattlers starter except Lance Roenicke had a hit. Nick Ramirez was on base all five times, with a single and four walks. Max Walla and Chadwin Stang each homered. Walla knocked in three runs. Yadiel Rivera was 2-4 with a double. Rafael Neda went 1-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. Rivera, Ben McMahan and Brandon Macias all stole bases. Chad Pierce turned in six solid innings, giving up just one run over six innings. He gave up four hits and struck out six. Kevin Shackelford pitched the final three innings for his fifth save. He did not give up a run and only allowed two hits. Wisconsin Play By Play Wisconsin Bottom of the 2nd Yadiel Rivera singles on a line drive to center fielder Andy Workman. Rafael Neda singles on a line drive to left fielder Gary Mitchell. Yadiel Rivera to 2nd. Lance Roenicke grounds into a double play, shortstop Eric Stamets to second baseman Alex Yarbrough to first baseman Frazier Hall. Yadiel Rivera to 3rd. Rafael Neda out at 2nd. Chadwin Stang walks. Max Walla homers (7) on a fly ball to right field. Yadiel Rivera scores. Chadwin Stang scores. Brandon Macias walks. Ben McMahan walks. Brandon Macias to 2nd. Nick Ramirez singles on a sharp ground ball to center fielder Andy Workman. Brandon Macias scores. Ben McMahan to 2nd. Gregory Hopkins grounds into a force out, shortstop Eric Stamets to second baseman Alex Yarbrough. Nick Ramirez out at 2nd.

Ugh, that will probably keep me from going to any more games at Kane County. I love having the Brewers nearby in Appleton but I do sometimes long for the less crowded stadium days of being a Mariners affiliate. I can just imagine how obnoxious a stadium full of Minor League Cubs fans would be.

Final: Peoria 4, Wisconsin 2 Peoria rallies to beat Wisconsin Chiefs take three of four in series on Rattlers home field By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Peoria Chiefs erased an early 2-0 deficit to defeat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4-2 Tuesday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Pin-Chieh Chen's RBI single in the seventh inning broke a 2-2 tie and the Chiefs finished off the victory. Peoria won three games in the four game series with the Rattlers. Ben McMahan reached on a two out error in the bottom of the first inning. Cameron Garfield cashed in the opportunity with a double into the corner in left and McMahan scored for a 1-0 lead. Wisconsin (72-54 overall, 28-29 second half) made it 2-0 in the third inning with some heads-up base running. Chadwin Stang was at first base with one out. Brandon Macias singled to right and Stang raced for third. The throw was cutoff and Macias found himself in a rundown. Macias stayed in the pickle long enough for Stang to make a break for home. The throw to get Stang was wild and he scored for a 2-0 lead. Wisconsin starting pitcher Mark Williams gave up a run in the sixth. Jorge Soler's infield single with two outs allowed Sergio Burrell to score Peoria's first run. Williams struck out four and allowed one run on four hits in his six innings of work. He would not be involved in the decision. The Chiefs (57-69, 21-36) took the lead in the seventh inning against Rattlers reliever Stosh Wawrzasek. The first two Peoria batters were retired by Wawrzasek, but Wes Darvill singled and stole second to keep the inning alive. Burrell singled to left and Darvill scored to tie the game. Additionally, Burrell took second on the throw to the plate. That turned out to be big. Pin-Chieh Chen was next and he sent a grounder through the middle. Second baseman Greg Hopkins made a diving stop of the ball in shallow center and Burrell just kept running for home. The throw home was in time, but it was a shorthop and Burrell scored when the ball was bobbled at the plate. Peoria tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning on a Rattlers mistake. Oliver Zapata was at third base with one out. Pitcher Mike Strong got a grounder back to the mound and had Zapata trapped off third. But, Wisconsin botched the rundown and Zapata scored for a 4-2 lead. Wisconsin had just one hit after the sixth inning. Macias doubled with one out in the eighth inning, but that was it for the Rattlers offense after the Chiefs took the lead. The homestand continues on Wednesday night with a game against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Chad Pierce (6-4, 3.43) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Frank De Jiulio (4-4, 5.70) is the scheduled starter for the Kernels. Game time is 7:05pm. The first 500 fans to attend the game will receive magnet #4 in a series of four that have been given away this season by Lamers. This magnet is of former Timber Rattler and 2012 National League All-Star Bryan LaHair. It's also one of the final Bang for Your Buck Nights from 105.7 WAPL with $1 Cher-Make hot dogs, $1 Pepsi Products, and $1 Miller Beers! If you can't make it out to the ballpark, Time Warner Cable subscribers can watch the game on Sports32. Fans may also tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. Wednesday's game is also available to subscribers of MiLB.TV. WP: Austin Reed (5-7) LP: Stosh Wawrzasek (0-1) SAVE: Larry Suarez (4) TIME: 2:30 ATTN: 3,321 Wisconsin Box Score Brandon Macias and Cameron Garfield accounted for 2/3's of the Rattlers offense, each going 2-4 with a double. There wasn't much else to speak of offensively today. Chadwin Stang and Michael Garza contributed the only other hits of the game. Garza was akso caught stealing and committed an error. Mark Williams had a nice start, giving up just one run in six innings. He struck out four and allowed five hits. Stosh Wawrzasek struggled for the second straight game. He gave up two runs on five hits in 1.2 innings and took the loss. Michael Strong and Michael White each pitched 2/3 of an inning in relief. Wisconsin Play By Play Stosh had trouble getting the third out in the seventh which led to the loss Peoria Top of the 7th Pitching Change: Stosh Wawrzasek replaces Mark Williams. Jacob Rogers flies out to center fielder Carlos George. Oliver Zapata strikes out swinging. Wes Darvill singles on a line drive to right fielder Chadwin Stang. With Sergio Burruel batting, Wes Darvill steals (10) 2nd base. Sergio Burruel singles on a line drive to left fielder Ben McMahan. Wes Darvill scores. Sergio Burruel to 2nd on the throw. Pin-Chieh Chen singles on a ground ball to second baseman Gregory Hopkins. Sergio Burruel scores. Pin-Chieh Chen to 2nd on the throw. With Timothy Saunders batting, Pin-Chieh Chen caught stealing 3rd base, catcher Cameron Garfield to third baseman Mike Garza.