battlekow

Final: Mississippi 4, Huntsville 3Huntsville box score Shoddy relief work from Mark Willinsky and Robert Hinton spoiled a fine start from Mark Rogers as the Braves scored four runs in the final two innings to steal away the win. Rogers went five efficient shutout innings, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out six and needing just 65 pitches to do it, 50 of which were strikes. As pointed out, he hit for himself in the top of the 6th and then was removed for Willinsky, an odd move. Perhaps someday in the future we'll all be relaxed when it comes to Rogers' health, but that day is not today. Brett Lawrie was, as usual, 1-4, and Caleb Gindl was 0-4 in his return to action. Lorenzo Cain did not play, with Lee Haydel taking over in the leadoff spot and in center field and going 1-5. Zelous Wheeler and Andy Machado both doubled and walked. Huntsville play-by-play Here's the end of Rogers' day: Huntsville Top 6th Chris Errecart strikes out swinging. Chuck Caufield called out on strikes. Anderson Machado walks. Martin Maldonado singles on a line drive to right fielder Willie Cabrera. Anderson Machado to 2nd. Mark Rogers pops out to first baseman Mauro Gomez in foul territory. Mississippi Bottom 6th Pitcher Change: Mark Willinsky replaces Mark Rogers, batting 9th.

Final: Wisconsin 8, Burlington 4Rattlers recover to beat Bees Chris Mehring/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Grand Chute, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers spotted the Burlington Bees four runs in the top of the first inning. Then, they rallied for an 8-4 win Saturday night at Time Warner Cable Field. Michael Marseco drove in three runs for Wisconsin to pace the comeback. Kyle Heckathorn recovered from a shaky start to pitch seven solid innings for the win. Heckathorn committed an error on a bunt by Burlington leadoff batter Gerard Hall to start the game. The next two batters reached to load the bases. Joey Lewis singled in a run. A fielder’s choice by Carlo Testa, a 6-4-3 double play, and a single by Jose Bonilla accounted for the next three runs. But, that was it for the Bees’ scoring on the night. Wisconsin (13-28) scored twice with two outs in the bottom of the first. Scooter Gennett doubled with one out to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. One out later Chris Dennis singled in Gennett. Cameron Garfield’s double knocked in Dennis to make the score 4-2. Marseco struck with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth. His single to left drove in two runs to tie the game 4-4. The Rattlers took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Pete Fatse tripled to start the inning. The Bees had the infield in with one out and Marseco sent a slow grounder to second. Fatse beat the throw home for a 5-4 lead. Erik Miller delivered a hit-and-run single and Marseco scored when the ball was overrun by right fielder Rene Oriental. Miller scored later in the inning on a wild pitch for a 7-4 lead. Heckathorn became the first Timber Rattler starting pitcher to pitch into the seventh inning. But, the Bees loaded the bases with a double, a single, and a walk. Heckathorn kept Burlington (15-26) off the scoreboard by striking out Lewis looking to end the inning. The Rattlers starter allowed four runs (one earned) on nine hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Fatse knocked in the final Rattler run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth. Maverick Lasker pitched two shutout innings to close out the game. The series continues on Sunday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Field. Nick Bucci (2-1, 1.65) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Keaton Hayenga (1-0, 0.00) is set to start for the Bees. It is a Brewers Sunday presented by 107.5 The Fan. Timber Rattlers players will be wearing jerseys and caps based on those of the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers. Fans may play catch on the field before the game. There is also a post-game autograph session with the players. Additionally, Time Warner Cable subscribers may bring in their bill and receive up to four half priced reserve seat tickets. If you can’t make it to the game, you can catch the action on AM1280, WNAM. The Miller Lite Pregame Show starts the broadcast at 12:45pm. Game time is 1:05pm. Wisconsin box score Really nice second act for Heckathorn. Lasker's only worked two innings in each of his last two games. D'Vontrey Richardson was 0-3 with two punchouts, dropping his average to .228, but he did walk twice. He's drawn a respectable 17 free passes in 192 plate appearances this year, but has struck out 59 times. Khris Davis was 0-3 with a walk, and Cutter Dykstra was 1-4. Wisconsin play-by-play Look at Chris Dennis, manufacturing a run all by himself: Wisconsin Bottom 7th Chris Dennis walks. Cameron Garfield strikes out swinging. With Peter Fatse batting, Chris Dennis steals (4) 2nd base, Chris Dennis to 3rd. Wild pitch by pitcher Scott Kelley. Chris Dennis to 3rd. Peter Fatse out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Carlo Testa. Chris Dennis scores. Cutter Dykstra strikes out swinging.

The thing is, in A-ball he should be able to simply throw the ball by a fair percentage of the guys. Just eyeballing his runs allowed and baserunners allowed, you can tell he's getting a little bit unlucky, and his FIP being over three runs lower than his RA bears this out, but a ~5.7 FIP (MLS is missing his tornado outing, it looks like) is still pretty lackluster. It's just surprising that with his stuff he's still getting hit so consistently by A-ball hitters.

At Huntsville, Caleb Gindl activated from the temporary inactive list and Brent Brewer placed on the restricted list. I wonder what that's about.

Final: Nashville 3, Fresno 1Sounds even series, defeat Grizzlies 3-1 Nashville Sounds FRESNO, Calif. - The Nashville Sounds snapped a two-game skid on Friday evening at Chukchansi Park, defeating the host Fresno Grizzlies by a 3-1 count. The victory was the 10th in the Sounds' last 12 contests played in Fresno, dating back to 2005. Nashville (24-16) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second innings against Grizzlies starter Matt Yourkin. Erick Almonte (3-for-3) led off the frame with his first of two doubles on the evening and scored later in the frame on Ben Johnson's sacrifice fly to center. The Sounds missed an opportunity to add to their advantage in the fourth. After Nashville put runners on second and third with no outs, Yourkin recovered and fanned Trent Oeltjen, induced a shallow fly from Luis Cruz, and retired Johnson on an inning-ending groundout to squelch the threat. An inning later, Nashville loaded the bases with no outs and plated a pair of runs to chase Yourkin from the contest as the lead grew to 3-0. With the sacks full, Ray Olmedo greeted new Fresno hurler Steve Edlefsen with an RBI single to right that extended the veteran's longest hit streak of the year to 11 games. Adam Heether followed by grounding into a double play, on which Sounds pitcher Chase Wright scored the second run of the frame. Fresno got on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Brock Bond led off with a double against Wright and later trotted home on a Buster Posey sacrifice fly, closing the deficit to 3-1. Sounds reliever David Johnson worked into and out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth inning to keep the two-run lead intact before giving way to closer Chris Smith, who worked around a pair of baserunners in the bottom of the ninth to post a scoreless frame and notch his league-leading 14th save of the year. Wright (3-1) picked up the win for Nashville after allowing one run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings of action. He walked five batters and didn't record a strikeout in the outing, however. Yourkin (2-1) was saddled with his first loss of the year after giving up three runs on five hits in his four-plus frames. Cruz went 0-for-4 on the evening for the Sounds to snap his season-best hitting streak at 11 games. The teams play game three of the four-game set at 9:05 p.m. CT on Saturday. Right-hander Kameron Loe (4-2, 2.88) will man the bump for the Sounds to face Fresno right-hander and former big league Brewer Matt Kinney (2-2, 4.22). Nashville box scoreNot much to get excited about in the Nashville box scores when Zach Braddock doesn't pitch. Nice job by the Sounds bullpen to keep the Grizzlies off the board for the final 3.1 innings. Nashville play-by-play

Final: Huntsville 4, Mississippi 2 (10 innings) Stars 4, Braves 2 Huntsville Stars JACKSON, MISS.- Chris Errecart doubled home Lorenzo Cain and Brett Lawrie in the top of the 10th as the Huntsville Stars (22-20) knocked off the Mississippi Braves (20-22) by a final score of 4-2 Friday night. The Stars got on the board in the top of the second against Braves’ starter Mike Minor by playing some small ball. With nobody out, Zelous Wheeler doubled to left. After Errecart was hit by a pitch, Chuckie Caufield moved the runners over with a beautiful sacrifice bunt. With the infield back, Andy Machado hit a grounder to short to drive in Wheeler and give the Stars a 1-0 lead. Stars starter Chris Cody would get an assist from his defense in the bottom of the third. With two down and a man on second, Mauro Gomez sent a single into left that Haydel fielded. Donell Linares attempted to score on the play and Haydel gunned him down at the plate. Machado continued his solid day at the plate in the top of the fourth. The inning started with the old lead-off base-on-balls to Wheeler. Zelous would steal second and advance to third on a Caufield single. That’s when Machado drilled a double to right to plate Wheeler and put runners at 2nd and 3rd with only one down. Sean McCraw would strike-out and Cody grounded out to end the inning with the Stars up 2-0. The Braves bats threatened the Stars' lead in the bottom of the fourth. They loaded the bases with nobody out and appeared to be on the cusp of getting a crooked number in the runs column. On a pay-off pitch to Alejandro Machado, the shortstop lined out to Andy Machado who coolly flipped the ball to Lawrie for a 6-4 double-play. Cody was able to get pitcher Mike Minor to hit a deep fly-ball to left-field where Haydel chased it down for the third out of the inning. Mississippi would cut the Stars’ lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a solo homer off the bat of Eric Duncan. Cody walked a tightrope through his five innings of work, as the Braves left nine stranded while he scattered eight hits, surrendering only the lone Duncan solo shot. Donovan Hand relieved Cody and tossed two perfect innings of relief. He got into a bit of a pickle in the eighth when, with nobody out, Gomez doubled to center. Willie Cabrera followed that with a single to right, putting runners at the corners. That would be all for Hand as Mike Guerrero chose to bring in the lefty Casey Baron. Cabrera would steal second base to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. Cody Johnson worked Baron to a full count and drew a walk. Once again the Braves had the bases full with no outs. Orlando Mercado delivered a sacrifice fly to left that scored Gomez to tie the game at two. Baron was able to escape the inning with no further damage as he picked off Cabrera and got Machado to ground out. The Stars tried to respond immediately in the top of the ninth. New pitcher Brett Butts hit Errecart. That was followed by a bunt from Scott Krieger going the Stars way as Butts couldn’t handle the ball, allowing everyone to arrive safely at their respective bags. Machado would bunt both runners over, putting runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out. But McCraw struck out, leaving it up to Juan Sanchez. Sanchez grounded out, allowing Butts to escape the jam. Baron walked the lead-off man Juan Gonzalez in the bottom of the 9th inning. A sacrifice bunt moved Gonzalez to second base. The Stars decided to intentionally walk Linares. It paid off when Duncan lined into an unassisted double play as Errecart caught the ball and tagged out Linares to end the inning. In the top of the 10th, Cain drew a lead-off walk. Brent Brewer bunted him over to second. After the Braves intentionally walked Lawrie, Wheeler drew a walk to load the bases. That’s when Errecart delivered his big double to bring home Cain and Lawrie and give the Stars a 4-2 lead. Brandon Kintzler nailed down his eighth save of the year in the bottom of the tenth, which gives him a tie for the Southern League lead. Baron’s (1-0) two innings of work out of the bullpen were enough to get him his first win of the year. Meanwhile Butts (0-1) took the loss. No one on the Stars tallied a multi-hit game. Errecart and Machado each drove in two of the four runs. The victory brings the Stars to within three games of the division-leading Smokies, who lost to Jacksonville. Huntsville sends Mark Rogers (2-3, 4.20 ERA) to the mound Saturday as they look to clinch the series. Huntsville box score Cody, despite allowing 11 baserunners in five innings, avoid the fate of Bush, Arnett, and Peralta. Cain and Wheeler each had a hit and two walks, and Lawrie had a single--Mr. 1-4. Huntsville play-by-play

Final: Burlington 16, Wisconsin 4 Bees blast Rattlers Chris Mehring/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Burlington Bees banged out 22 hits on their way to a 16-4 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Friday night at Time Warner Cable Field. Wil Myers homered and drove in four runs and Rene Oriental had four hits to pace the Burlington attack. Five players in the Bees’ lineup had at least three hits in the game. Burlington scored in every inning except the sixth. Burlington (15-25) immediately jumped on Rattlers starting pitcher Eric Arnett. Deivy Batista and Carlo Testa singled to start the game. Myers was next and he launched a three-run homer for a 3-0 lead three batters into the game. Wisconsin (13-28) chipped away with some small ball in the bottom of the first to get a run. D’Vontrey Richardson singled to start the inning. He stole second and a grounder by Scooter Gennett sent Richardson to third. Khris Davis knocked in Richardson with another ground out. The Bees padded their lead with single runs off Arnett in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings. In order the two-out RBI hits for the Bees in those innings were: A Testa single; an Adam Frost double; a Myers double; and a Ryan Wood triple. Arnett needed to soak up the punishment due to the depletion of the Wisconsin bullpen from the 15 inning marathon on Thursday night. Arnett absorbed a lot. He tossed 5-2/3 innings, allowed seven runs on 13 hits, walked three, and struck out four. The Bees pushed their advantage to 8-1 in the top of the seventh with a run off Jon Pokorny. Oriental tripled and scored on a wild pitch. Wisconsin took scored three times in their half of the seventh inning. Chris Dennis started the inning by reaching on a three-base error. Cameron Garfield knocked him in with a sacrifice fly. Pete Fatse walked and would score on a Michael Marseco triple. Marseco came home on a sac fly by Kyle Dhanani to make the score 8-4. But, Burlington put the game away in the eighth inning as they scored five runs on five hits. Joey Lewis doubled in the first run. Juan Graterol singled in the next. Oriental doubled in the third run. Wood drove in the final two runs with a single for a 13-4 lead. Wisconsin moved Marseco from shortstop to the mound to pitch the top of the ninth. Marseco had pitched in a game at Peoria on July 26, 2009 and tossed a scoreless inning. But, Friday at home against the Bees was a different story. Burlington added three more runs on three more hits to account for the final total. The four-game series continues on Saturday night. Kyle Heckathorn (1-3, 3.91) is the scheduled starter for the Timber Rattlers. Bryan Paukovits (2-2, 2.45) is the scheduled starter for the Bees. If you can’t make it to the game at Time Warner Cable Field, you may tune in to catch the action on AM1280, WNAM. The Miller Lite Pregame Show starts the broadcast at 6:15pm. Game time is 6:35pm. Wisconsin box score Pass. Wisconsin play-by-play

Final: Charlotte 12, Brevard County 9Brevard County box score You would think staking Wily Peralta to a five-run lead would be a comfortable position, but you'd be wrong in this case; the Manatees scored five in the 1st only to see Peralta immediately give three back and then five more in the 5th for an ugly final line: 4 IP, 5 H, 8 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Mike Ramlow got into his first game of the year and allowed an unearned run in 2.1 innings on three hits, walking none and striking out four. Erik Komatsu led the offense with three hits, including a double; Mat Gamel was 1-4 with a double and a walk. Kentrail Davis led off again and was 1-5, while erstwhile leadoff man Josh Prince hit sixth and was also 1-5. As MH pointed out, Matt Cline was hit twice by pitches and left the game. Brevard County play-by-play Charlotte Bottom 5th Matt Spring doubles (2) on a fly ball to right fielder Erik Komatsu. With Kyeong Kang batting, wild pitch by Wily Peralta, Matt Spring to 3rd. Kyeong Kang walks. Matthew Hall singles on a ground ball to left fielder Brock Kjeldgaard. Matt Spring scores. Kyeong Kang to 2nd. Isaias Velasquez hits a sacrifice bunt. Throwing error by pitcher Wily Peralta. Kyeong Kang scores. Matthew Hall to 3rd. Isaias Velasquez to 2nd. Tim Beckham singles on a line drive to right fielder Erik Komatsu. Matthew Hall scores. Isaias Velasquez to 3rd. Tim Beckham advances to 2nd, on throwing error by right fielder Erik Komatsu. Pitcher Change: Mike Ramlow replaces Wily Peralta. Matt Joyce out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Brock Kjeldgaard. Isaias Velasquez scores. Tim Beckham to 3rd. Henry Wrigley singles on a ground ball to left fielder Brock Kjeldgaard. Tim Beckham scores. Leslie Anderson singles on a line drive to center fielder Kentrail Davis. Henry Wrigley to 2nd. Reid Fronk strikes out swinging. Matt Spring strikes out swinging.

Come on, where's your usual optimism?

Sigh. Burlington Top 1st Deivy Batista singles on a ground ball to shortstop Michael Marseco. Carlo Testa singles on a line drive to left fielder Khristopher Davis. Deivy Batista to 2nd. William Myers homers (6) on a fly ball to center field. Deivy Batista scores. Carlo Testa scores.

Chad interviews Michael Bowman.

The Stars are facing Mike Minor tonight, the 7th pick in last year's draft and #2 on this week's Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet:

From last night's Stars contest: listen to Chuckie Caufield's first homer, Lorenzo Cain's RBI single, Brett Lawrie's two-run triple, and the final out of the game.

Stars weather the weather, get third straight win Aaron Morse/Huntsville Stars After sitting through a rain delay that lasted two hours and 12 minutes, the Huntsville Stars (21-20) used an outstanding performance from Michael Bowman (3-4) to prevail 5-4 over the Mississippi Braves (20-21) Thursday night into Friday morning. The Stars put runners on first and third with two away in the top of the first before the teams were called off the field due to the impending thunder storm. The delay forced the Braves to switch pitchers, Ryne Reynoso (0-1) replaced starter Richard Sullivan when the game resumed. The Stars did not need to switch pitchers as Bowman had yet to throw a pitch in the game so rust would be at a minimum. That was certainly the case as he tossed six innings of one-hit ball, walking two and striking out five. Chuck Caufield got the Stars on the board in the top of the fourth with a solo homer off Reynoso. It’s the first long ball of the year for Caufield. Huntsville would get some much-needed insurance in the top of the seventh. With one away Martin Maldonado singled up the middle. Scott Krieger pinch hit for Bowman and came up big with a single to center for his second hit as a Huntsville Star. Back to the top of the order the Stars went and Lorenzo Cain continued his excellent season with a single to left to drive home Maldonado. Cain’s single chased Reynoso from the game. Relief pitcher Thomas Palica was greeted rather rudely by Brett Lawrie as the former first round pick smacked his league-leading seventh triple of the year, clearing the bases and extending the lead to 4-0. A Braves error allowed Lawrie to cross home to complete the scoring. When the dust cleared, the Stars had a 5-0 advantage. Robert Hinton relieved Bowman for the bottom half of the seventh inning and got some help from Cain, who made a spectacular catch as he crashed into the wall 380 feet away from home plate on a ball hit by Mauro Gomez. Hinton would run into trouble in the eighth inning as Randy Gress started things off for the Braves with a double to left. Two outs later, Hinton walked Alex Romero. A Donell Linares single drove in Gress and that was quickly followed by an Eric Duncan RBI single as well. With the lead cut to 5-2, manager Mike Guerrero brought in Nick Green to put out the fire. In his first appearance for the Stars this season, Green got some help from Chris Errecart. The first-baseman made a nice catch over the railing in foul territory on a pop-up to end the inning. Green gave up a lead-off single in the bottom of the ninth. One out later, another single brought the tying run to the plate. That would be all for Green as Brandon Kintzler entered to try and finish off the victory. Kintzler would walk pinch-hitter Orlando Mercado to load the bases. But he would bounce back to strike-out Travis Jones on three straight pitches. Romero would single home Gress and Willie Cabrera, and the Stars found themselves only up 5-4. With the tying and winning runs aboard, Kintzler got Linares to line out to Cain to secure his seventh save of the season. Lawrie and Cain both had big days at the plate as Brett went 2-3 with a run scored and two driven in. Cain also had a couple of hits with a run scored and a RBI. Cain swiped his 10th base of the year, but not to be out-done; Lawrie stole two bags to take the team lead with 11. Meanwhile Caufield’s homer extended his hitting streak to four games. The win pulls the Stars to within a half game of West Tennessee for the second place spot in the North Division. The Smokies also won Thursday, so Huntsville remains four games out of first. The Stars are back on the air Friday night for game two of the five-game set with the Braves. Join us on the AM 1450/92.9 FM WTKI and the Stars Radio Network or www.huntsvillestars.com beginning at 6:50pm Central Time. Former first round pick Mark Rogers (2-3, 4.20 ERA) heads to the mound to take on Mississippi’s Mike Minor (1-3, 3.43 ERA).

Rattler Radio: Game notes Tonight's pitcher Starting lineup No Cutter Dykstra today.

Not today. But I'm sure it will soon.

Check the Transactions thread.

Final: Huntsville 5, Mississippi 4Huntsville box score After a long rain delay in the first inning that knocked out the M-Braves' starter after two thirds of an inning, the Stars rode a four-run 7th inning to victory, holding on tight as Mississippi scored two runs each in the 8th and 9th. Starter Michael Bowman fortunately avoided being knocked out by the delay and tossed six sparkling shutout innings, allowing just one hit, two walks, and a hit batter while striking out five. After Nick Green worked into some trouble in the 9th, Brandon Kintzler came on and allowed a two-run single before closing out his 7th save. Brett Lawrie and Lorenzo Cain again had good nights (great to see Lawrie string a couple together); each had two hits and a walk, with one of Lawrie's hits being a two-out, two-run triple, already his seventh three-bagger of the year. Chuckie Caufield got the Stars on the board in the 4th with a solo homer, his first of the year. Huntsville play-by-play The winning 7th: Huntsville Top 7th Anderson Machado called out on strikes. Martin Maldonado singles on a ground ball to center fielder Alex Romero. Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Scott Krieger replaces Michael Bowman. Scott Krieger singles on a ground ball to center fielder Alex Romero. Martin Maldonado to 2nd. Lorenzo Cain singles on a ground ball to left fielder Cody Johnson. Martin Maldonado scores. Scott Krieger to 2nd. Pitcher Change: Thomas Palica replaces Ryne Reynoso, batting 9th. Coaching visit to mound. Lee Haydel pops out to shortstop Randy Gress. Brett Lawrie triples (7) on a ground ball to left fielder Cody Johnson. Scott Krieger scores. Lorenzo Cain scores. Zelous Wheeler reaches on fielding error by shortstop Randy Gress. Brett Lawrie scores. Chris Errecart grounds into a force out, third baseman Donell Linares to second baseman Eric Duncan. Zelous Wheeler out at 2nd.

Chiefs beat Rattlers in a marathon Chris Mehring/Wisconsin Timber Rattlers GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Peoria Chiefs defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 9-6 in 15 innings on Thursday night at Time Warner Cable Field. Wisconsin rallied with three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to tied the game 4-4. The Chiefs broke the game open with four two-out runs in the top of the fifteenth. Nelson Perez drove in four runs for the Chiefs. Peoria used seven pitchers (including catcher and eventual winning pitcher Mario Mercedes). The Rattlers went 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position and had the potential winning run thrown out at the plate in two different extra innings. Wisconsin (13-27) got on the board first. Khris Davis walked and Michael Marseco dropped a sacrifice bunt to start the second inning. An error on the play put runners at second and third with no outs. Austin Stockfisch got Davis home with an infield grounder. Peoria (24-17) took the lead in the top of the third as they strung together four hits against Rattlers starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi. Justin Bour doubled in the first run of the frame. Nelson Perez doubled in the next two runs for a 3-1 Peoria advantage. The Chiefs tacked on a run in the fifth. An RBI grounder off the bat of Greg Rohan made the score 4-1. Wisconsin’s bats stayed silent. They had collected just one hit through the first eight innings against starter Trey McNutt and relievers Steve Grife and Ronny Morla. That changed in the bottom of the ninth inning against Peoria closer Jordan Latham. Chris Dennis singled and Davis walked to start the inning. Marseco appeared to hit a game-tying homer to right-center. But, the play was ruled a double to score Dennis. Pinch-hitter Pete Fatse knocked in Davis with a sacrifice fly and a poor throw to the plate put Marseco on third. He was still there with two outs, but scored on a wild pitch. The Wisconsin bullpen went into shutdown mode after a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh. Efrain Nieves retired the final six batters he faced. Then, Santo Manzanillo pitched three perfect innings. The first opportunity for the Rattlers to win the game was in the eleventh inning. Fatse tripled with one out. He tried to score on a fly ball to shallow center, but Francisco Guzman threw out Fatse to send the game to the twelfth. The Chiefs scored a run on a two-out rally in the top of the twelfth against Andre Lamontagne. Guzman singled with two outs and would steal second and third base. Hak-Ju lee singled to knock in Guzman for a 5-4 lead. Wisconsin answered in the bottom of the inning. D’Vontrey Richardson singled with one out and he was still at first with two outs. Richardson was running on a 3-2 pitch to Scooter Gennett and Gennett sent a sinking line drive to left. The ball hit in front Logan Watkins and bounced off his chest to left-center. Richardson scored to tie the game and Gennett took third. But, the Rattlers couldn’t get the winning run home. Davis started the bottom of the thirteenth with a double and he was sacrificed to third. But, he was still at third when the inning ended. The Chiefs ran out of pitchers and had to put catcher Mario Mercedes into the game for the bottom of the fourteenth. Gennett singled with two outs and stole second. Chris Dennis singled to right, but Perez came up thrown and just got Gennett at the plate to send the game to the fifteenth. Peoria had Lee at second with two outs in the fifteenth against right-handed reliever Andy Sauter and the Rattlers elected to intentionally walk lefty Justin Bour. Matt Cerda foiled the strategy with a ground rule to send Lee home. Perez singled to drive in Bour. Then, Jonathan Mota knocked in a run with an infield single. An error on the play allowed the final run of the inning to score for a 9-5 lead. Wisconsin made a last-ditch rally in the bottom of the fifteenth. Davis singled and Marseco walked. One out later, Cameron Garfield walked to load the bases. Richardson scored in Davis with a two-out single to knock Mercedes out of the game. Pitcher Larry Suarez, who tossed 2-1/3 innings on Tuesday night and didn’t have many pitches in him for Thursday’s game, came in to face Cutter Dykstra. Suarez struck out Dykstra on three pitches to put an end to the game. Milwaukee Brewers’ outfielder Carlos Gomez went 1-for-4 with a pair of stolen bases for the Timber Rattlers in his second and final rehab start. He left the game after the bottom of the ninth inning. The Rattlers welcome the Burlington Bees to town on Friday night to start a four-game series. Eric Arnett (0-3, 8.07) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Nick Wooley (1-2, 5.18) is the scheduled starter for the Bees. Tomorrow night is a North Shore Bank Family Night in conjunction with momslikeme.com. Children 12 and under eat free. After the game, ThedaCare Orthopedics presents Kids Run the Bases for children 14 and under. If you can’t make it to the game, you can tune in on AM1280, WNAM beginning with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. Game time is 6:35pm.

Final: Peoria 9, Wisconsin 6 (15 innings)Mercedes first position player to win in Chiefs history Nathan Baliva/Peoria Chiefs Grand Chute, WI - The Peoria Chiefs blew two late leads but scored four runs in the 15th inning to win the longest game of the season both time wise and inning wise, 9-6 against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Thursday night. Backup catcher Mario Mercedes threw 1 2/3 innings to earn the win, thought to be the first in franchise history for a position player. The Chiefs are now 24-17 on the season as they win the series two games to one. Hak-Ju Lee started the 15th with a single off new reliever Andy Sauter and he was sacrificed to second by Logan Watkins. After Greg Rohan popped out the Chiefs took the lead with a two-out barrage of hits. Wisconsin intentionally walked Justin Bour and Matt Cerda put the Chiefs on top 6-5 with a ground-rule double to right-center. Nelson Perez delivered a two-run single to second for an 8-5 lead and he advanced to second on a throwing error. Jonathon Mota made it 9-5 with a single to center before Charles Thomas delivered the Chiefs fifth hit of the inning. Francisco Guzman, the ninth batter of the inning grounded out to end the four-run frame with the Chiefs leading 9-5. Mercedes walked two and gave up a single to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the 15th. After Franklin Romero popped out, D'Vontrey Richardson singled to right to cut the lead to 9-6. With the winning run at the plate the Chiefs called on Larry Suarez who struck out Cutter Dykstra on three pitches to end the game for his first career save. Wisconsin jumped out on top in the second inning without the benefit of a base hit. Chiefs' starter Trey McNutt walked Khris Davis to start the inning and Michael Marseco laid down a sacrifice bunt. McNutt's throw to first sailed down the right-field line to put runners on second and third with nobody out. A grounder to second by Austin Stockfish scored Davis before McNutt struck out Erik Miller and retired rehabbing Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez to end the frame. Rattlers starter Jake Odorizzi cruised through the first three innings with five strikeouts and one baserunner allowed. Watkins led off the fourth with a double and Rohan singled to put runners on the corners. Bour doubled down the line to tie the game at one and after a flyout Perez doubled home two for a 3-1 Chiefs lead. The Chiefs added to their lead in the fourth as Lee reached on an infield single and stole second before Watkins walked. A wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet and Rohan made it 4-1 with a groundout to shortstop. The game remained 4-1 into the ninth as the Chiefs bullpen turned away the Rattlers without a hit allowed through 3 1/3 innings. Jordan Latham entered in the ninth looking for his eighth save of the season but first since May 4. Chris Dennis started the frame with a single and Davis walked on four pitches. Marseco crushed a double to cut the Rattlers' deficit to 4-2 and put the tying run in scoring position with nobody out. Pinch-hitter Peter Fatse delivered a sac fly in foul territory to left and the throw home by Lee got away allowing Marseco to move to third. Pinch-hitter Cameron Garfield lined out to short on a great play by Lee to bring Gomez to the plate. A wild pitch on the first delivery by Latham hit the screen on a fly to score Marseco and tie the game. Gomez then popped out in foul territory to Mota to send the game to extras. Wisconsin had the winning run in scoring position in both the 10th and 11th innings. With two down in the 10th against Latham, Scooter Gennett singled and moved to second on a wild pitch before Latham intentionally walked Dennis. Davis popped up to second to end the threat. Against Yohan Gonzalez in the 11th Fatse tripled to right with one out. The Chiefs infield moved in and Garfield lifted a flyball to medium centerfield. Guzman made the catch and threw a strike home that Mota caught on one hop. Fatse bowled Mota over but the Chiefs' catcher absorbed the contact and held on the end the inning. The Chiefs took the lead in the 12th against Andre Lamontagne. With two down Guzman walked, stole second and stole third as Lee worked a full-count. Lee delivered a go-ahead single to right to score Guzman for a 5-4 Chiefs lead. Wisconsin took advantage of a Chiefs defensive mistake to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. With one down Richardson singled up the middle and Dykstra flew out to center. Gennett singled to left and the ball bounced off Watkins leg for an error to allow Richardson to score the tying run. The throw back in by Watkins got away allowing Gennett to move to third but Gonzalez stuck out Dennis to end the inning. In the 13th Davis led off with a double and was sacrificed to third by Marseco. The Chiefs intentionally walked Fatse to set up the force and Garfield flew out to right with Fatse taking second base. Gonzalez struck out Romero to end the inning. Mercedes came out of the bullpen to pitch in the 14th and got two quick pop-ups before Gennett singled to center and stole second. Dennis singled to right and Perez threw Gennett out at the plate to end the inning and send the game to the 15th. McNutt threw 4 2/3 innings and allowed just one unearned run on one hit and three walks while striking out four. Steven Grife was in line for the win before the ninth with 2 1/3 perfect innings and two strikeouts. Ronny Morla threw one shutout inning with a walk and a strikeout. Latham allowed three runs, two earned on three hits and two walks over two innings. Gonzalez allowed just one unearned run on four hits over three innings while striking out three. Mercedes allowed one run on four hits and two walks over 1 2/3 innings. Suarez nailed down his first career save with a strikeout on three pitches. Wisconsin box scoreIt's really late, I'm tired, and just thinking about this game makes me even more so. Check the comments up thread for a pretty accurate representation of what it was like to listen to the game. I'd forgotten at this point that Odorizzi even started today. Wisconsin play-by-play The missed chances: Wisconsin Bottom 11th Michael Marseco flies out to center fielder Francisco Guzman. Peter Fatse triples (5) on a fly ball to center fielder Francisco Guzman. Cameron Garfield flies into double play, center fielder Francisco Guzman to catcher Jonathon Mota. Peter Fatse out at home on the throw. Wisconsin Bottom 13th Khristopher Davis doubles (11) on a fly ball to left fielder Logan Watkins. Michael Marseco out on a sacrifice bunt, third baseman Charles Thomas to first baseman Justin Bour. Khristopher Davis to 3rd. Yohan Gonzalez intentionally walks Peter Fatse. Cameron Garfield flies out to right fielder Nelson Perez. Franklin Romero strikes out swinging. Wisconsin Bottom 14th D' Vontrey Richardson flies out to center fielder Francisco Guzman. Cutter Dykstra pops out to second baseman Matthew Cerda. Ryan Gennett singles on a ground ball to center fielder Francisco Guzman. With Chris Dennis batting, Ryan Gennett steals (3) 2nd base. Chris Dennis singles on a line drive to right fielder Nelson Perez. Ryan Gennett out at home on the throw, right fielder Nelson Perez to catcher Jonathon Mota.

Final: Fresno 6, Nashville 2Sounds open road trip with 6-2 loss to Grizzlies Nashville Sounds FRESNO, Calif. - The Nashville Sounds opened their West Coast road trip on the short end of a 6-2 loss to the Fresno Grizzlies on Thursday evening at Chukchansi Park in the opener of a four-game series. Fresno notched its league-leading 28th victory in the matchup between the top two teams in the Pacific Coast League. Grizzlies starter Joe Martinez (4-1) turned in an outstanding effort, allowing two runs on five hits over 7 2/3 innings to notch the victory. Fresno took an early 2-0 lead against Sounds starter Chuck Lofgren with single runs in the first and second innings. Brock Bond led off the Grizzlies' first with a triple and scored later in the frame on a Buster Posey sacrifice fly. An inning later, Fresno third baseman Jesus Guzman slugged his fourth home run of the year, a one-out solo shot to left. The Grizzlies upped the lead to 6-0 in the sixth. After the first three batters of the frame reached to load the bases, Joe Borchard tacked on a run with a sacrifice fly. Fresno first baseman Brad Pill followed by belting a three-run homer to left that chased Lofgren from the game. It was the infielder's fourth roundtripper of the season. Nashville finally broke up Martinez's shutout bid in the eighth. Second baseman Ray Olmedo put the visitors on the board when his two-out double plated Drew Anderson, who had drawn a walk in front of him. The two-bagger extended Olmedo's hit streak to 10 games, matching his longest effort of the year. Trent Oeltjen followed with an RBI single to make it a 6-2 contest. Grizzlies reliever Osiris Matos escaped further damage in the frame when he caught Adam Heether looking at a third strike with two runners on to end the inning. The right-hander finished out the game to notch his first save of the year. Nashville shortstop Luis Cruz doubled in the fifth inning to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, the longest by a Sounds player all season. Lofgren (5-3) took the loss for the Sounds after surrendering a season-high six runs on six hits, including a pair of homers, over 5 1/3 innings of action. It marked only the second time in nine starts this season that the left-hander allowed more than three runs in a contest. The teams meet again on Friday in another 9:05 p.m. CT contest. Left-hander Chase Wright (2-1, 4.10) will take the hill for the Sounds to face Fresno southpaw Matt Yourkin (2-0, 3.50). Nashville box score Tough night for Lofgren, who might have made a different team as a LOOGY out of spring training, on the day that two of his teammates get The Call. Speaking of which, Jonathan Lucroy started and went 0-2 before being removed, presumably after word reached the Sounds about the decision to DL Gregg Zaun. Heether was 1-4. Josh Anderson missed his second straight game. Martinez, Fresno's starter, is the pitcher whose face Mike Cameron fractured with a line drive last year. Nashville play-by-play

The Rattlers have had the winning run thrown out at home twice now in extra innings tonight. There's also the runner on third base with one out that they failed to score in the 13th. They're creative, these guys.

Wow, Fatse tripled with one out in the bottom of the 11th but was thrown out at home trying to score on Garfield's fly ball.

Well, yes, but you know what I mean.

So, that's two 40-man roster spots the Brewers need to open tonight.