TheCrew07

Castillo delivers walkoff hit for Rattlers fifth straight win Wisconsin beats Peoria 4-3 on Wednesday night By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/6/0/6/139630606/cuts/7_July_29_Celebration_WEB_wkwdg78w_2ojsl92y.jpg Francisco Castillo is mobbed by his teammates after his walkoff hit on Wednesday night. GRAND CHUTE, WI - Francisco Castillo drove in the game-winning run for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in a 4-3 walkoff victory over the Peoria Chiefs on Wednesday night. The Rattlers trailed 3-2 heading to the bottom of the eighth, but Castillo had a hand in the tying run and the winning run to send the Rattlers to their fifth straight win. The Chiefs (54-47 overall, 21-12 second half) were up 2-0 two batters into the game. Oscar Mercado drew a leadoff walk and stole second base to start the game. Paul DeJong followed with a homer to the beach in right-center and Peoria was in front. Wisconsin (36-66, 13-19) tied the game in the bottom of the second on their own two-run homer. Sthervin Matos singled with one out. Alan Sharkey lined the first pitch he saw to right for his third homer of the season and a 2-2 tie. Peoria used the long ball to go back in front in the top of the fifth. Kenny Peoples-Wall cracked a solo homer to left with one out and the Chiefs were up 3-2. Scott Lieser came out of the Wisconsin bullpen after a one out single to relieve starting pitcher Eric Hanhold. Lieser kept the Rattler close with 3-2/3 scoreless innings out of the pen. Lieser allowed two hits, walked none, and struck out two. Castillo started the Wisconsin comeback with a double off the top of the wall in left to start the bottom of the eighth inning. A bunt by Matos moved him to third base. Peoria reliever Steve Sabatino got the second out of the inning and kept Castillo at third. Then, the Chiefs went to right-handed closer Kyle Grana in to face right-hand hitting Luis Aviles. Grana got Aviles to swing at two straight curves for strikes, but Aviles blooped a third straight curve to shallow left near the line just out of the reach of Peoples-Walls to drive in Aviles with the tying run. Luke Curtis took over for Lieser to start the top of the ninth and pitched around a leadoff walk and a two-out single to set the stage for the bottom of the ninth. Grana, who had been 15-for-15 in save opportunities this season prior to Wednesday night, got the first out in the bottom of the ninth, but walked Blake Allemand, Carlos Leal, and Elvis Rubio to load the bases. That brought Castillo back to the plate and a five-man infield drawn-in on the grass for the Chiefs defense. Castillo was down 1-2 in the count, but he lined the next pitch inside the first base bag and into right field to score Allemand for the game winning hit. This was Castillo's second walkoff with the Timber Rattlers. He also had a walkoff sacrifice fly to beat Quad Cities on June 2, 2014. Wisconsin has won five straight games for the first time this season. They have also won six straight home games dating back to a victory over Quad Cities on July 17. The final game of the series is Thursday afternoon. Jon Perrin (1-1, 6.32) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Austin Gomber (10-3, 3.36) is set to start for the Chiefs. Game time is 12:05pm. The first 1,000 fans to attend Thursday's game will receive a poster of Timber Rattlers outfielder Brandon Diaz courtesy of Dunkin Donuts. This is poster number seven in a series of ten that are being given away this season. A 95.9 KISS-FM Thirsty Thursday means soda, beer, and Arty's Old Fashioned drinks are available for just $2. Since this is an afternoon game, the Baker Tilly Business Person Special and the WVBO/WNAM Seniors Special is available for this game, too! If you can't make it out to the ballpark, the radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 11:45am. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers to MiLB.TV may watch the game on that platform. HOME RUNS: PEO: Paul DeJong (2nd, 1 on in 1st inning off Eric Hanhold, 0 out) Kenny Peoples-Walls (5th, 0 on in 5th inning off Eric Hanhold, 1 out) WIS: Alan Sharkey (3rd, 1 on in 2nd inning off Dewin Perez, 1 out) WP: Luke Curtis (7-2) LP: Kyle Grana (1-2) TIME: 2:52 ATTN: 6,009 Wisconsin Boxscore I haven't been to a Wednesday game since my brother bought the restaurant (6 years) so I had forgotten what a zoo those games are... I was actually on track to be 40 minutes early so I could get some shopping in but didn't get to my seat until there were 2 outs in the top of the 1st. Regardless, what a fun game to attend. Alan Sharkey has pull power, but I haven't seen him go the opposite way with power so far this season. Blake Allemand (2-4,BB) and the hero Francisco Castillo (2-5,2B) had the multi hit games for the Rattlers. Omar Cotto made a real nice sliding/diving catch in the 6th and Sthervin Matos also made a very nice play down the 3B line but somehow Sharkey dropped the throw. I believe Devin Williams is being skipped this time through but I haven't verified that, and the timing stinks because I only need him, Angel Ventura, and John Uhen and I've gotten all of the pitchers on the gun. Scott Lieser and Luke Curtis both have legit velocity but need to work on the rest of their arsenal. Wisconsin Recap edit. Forgot to include a note I had written about Carlos Leal... I haven't seen a legit steal on him in months, every successful steal is first move on the pitcher. He'll have an occasional poor throw, usually high, but on those he rushes because the runner has such a head start and he didn't really have a chance from the start.

Eric Hanhold RHP Missed first 22 pitches in traffic jam. All velocities are likely 1-2 MPH off (low) due to seat location. Pitch 33 is 2nd HR [pre]01) 86 (21) 80 02) 82 (22) 88 03) 88 (23) 87 04) 81 (24) 87 05) 89 (25) 82 06) 87 (26) 87 07) 90 (27) 27 08) 88 (28) 88 09) 90 (29) 87 10) 81 (30) 81 11) 88 (31) 77 12) 88 (32) 87 13) 88 (33) 86 14) 88 (34) 78 15) 90 (35) 81 16) 83 (36) 79 17) 83 (37) 89 18) 87 (38) 83 19) 89 (39) 91 20) 89[/pre]

Hopefully this puts an end to the "there were no good trades out there" excuse.

David Burkhalter RHP Pitch #16 was the HR to the #9 hitter. [pre]01) 87 (21) 62 (41) 00 02) 88 (22) 87 (42) 87 03) 73 (23) 86 (43) 88 04) 86 (24) 84 (44) 86 05) 87 (25) 85 06) 86 (26) 64 07) 87 (27) 83 08) 61 (28) 86 09) 86 (29) 87 10) 85 (30) 86 11) 87 (31) 87 12) 86 (32) 87 13) 85 (33) 63 14) 86 (34) 88 15) 61 (35) 84 16) 87 (36) 85 17) 83 (37) 86 18) 87 (38) 86 19) 87 (39) 88 20) 87 (40) 81[/pre]

Tyler Linehan LHP [pre]01) 85 02) 85 03) 87 04) 85 05) 87 06) 86 07) 89 08) 72 09) 82 10) 88[/pre]

Cody Ponce RHP True 3/4 delivery. In the wind up he has a very deliberate pace then explodes towards home plate. His bottom half is pretty clean, he stays open and directs all his momentum through home plate. He wasn't as explosive out of the stretch, his FB was down about 2 MPH on average. He's very inconsistent up top, he rarely finishes the same though he holds his arm slot well. FB topped out at 97, the curve was his best off speed, the cutter/slider wasn't impressive at all. Didn't throw the secondary stuff for strikes, anytime he was full or in a hitter's count it was all FBs. His pick off move was pretty slow, I hope that was his C move and he has better stuff in the toolbox. [pre]01) 93 (21) 92 (41) 00 (61) 78 02) 92 (22) 92 (42) 94 (62) 92 03) 94 (23) 93 (43) 91 (63) 76 04) 87 (24) 91 (44) 93 (64) 82 05) 94 (25) 92 (45) 96 (65) 92 06) 94 (26) 93 (46) 81 07) 94 (27) 94 (47) 95 08) 93 (28) 91 (48) 89 09) 95 (29) 93 (49) 94 10) 91 (30) 93 (50) 94 11) 93 (31) 80 (51) 95 12) 93 (32) 76 (52) 88 13) 97 (33) 94 (53) 79 14) 79 (34) 80 (54) 85 15) 95 (35) 92 (55) 93 16) 94 (36) 85 (56) 92 17) 92 (37) 81 (57) 93 18) 83 (38) 81 (58) 90 19) 92 (39) 95 (59) 90 20) 80 (40) 81 (60) 91[/pre]

Rattlers beat Peoria 8-3 to win fourth straight Ponce picks up first pro win and Rubio hits two homers By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/2/2/8/133807228/cuts/6_30_Rubio_Web_riwzvdk4_2lj4a75x.jpg Elvis Rubio hit a pair of homers and drove in three runs for the Timber Rattlers on Tuesday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers reached a four-game winning streak for the first time this season as they defeated the Peoria Chiefs 8-3 on Tuesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Cody Ponce pitched five scoreless innings and Elvis Rubio hit a pair of homers for Wisconsin. The Timber Rattlers (35-66 overall, 12-19 second half) took advantage of a pair of Peoria errors in the bottom of the second inning to take the lead. Rubio reached on an error to start the inning. Alan Sharkey singled and Sthervin Matos drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Francisco Castillo was next and he hit a grounder to first. The throw home got Rubio on the force play, but the throw to first for the double play sailed down the line in right. Sharkey and Matos scored and Castillo wound up on third base on the play. Tucker Neuhaus put the Rattlers up 3-0 with a single to left. Wisconsin expanded their lead in the middle innings with some extra-base hits. Neuhaus stepped to the plate with a Castillo at first in the bottom of the fourth inning and tripled to drive in the run. Mitch Meyer followed Neuhaus with another triple and the Rattlers were up 5-0. Rubio made it 7-0 in the fifth. Carlos Leal singled to extend his current hitting streak to six games. Rubio blasted a 1-1 pitch from Peoria starting pitcher Luis Perdomo to the left of the scoreboard for a two-run shot, his third home run of the season. Ponce worked around four hits and two walks over five shutout innings. The Brewers second round pick of the 2015 draft struck out two and put himself in line for his first professional victory. Peoria (54-46, 21-11) entered the game on a five-game winning streak and got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh inning against reliever David Burkhalter. A single and a walk with two outs put two runners on for Andrew Sohn, who hit a home run to left to cut Wisconsin's lead to four runs. Rubio welcomed Peoria reliever Cody Schumacher to the game with a leadoff home run to left in the bottom of the seventh. Rubio is the first Timber Rattler to hit two home runs in a game since Monte Harrison hit a pair against Cedar Rapids on April 22. Burkhalter closed out the game with a perfect eighth and a 1-2-3 ninth. Game two of the series is Wednesday night. Eric Hanhold (0-1, 9.00) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Peoria plans to send Dewin Perez (2-3, 2-3, 8.17) to the mound. Game time is 7:05pm. Fox Communities Credit Union will have over $2,000 in cash in envelopes for fans as part of their cash giveaway on Wednesday. Fans may enjoy Cher-Make hotdogs, Pepsi products, and Miller beer for $1 during the game as part of WIXX Bang for Your Buck Night! If you can't make it out to the stadium, there are several ways to catch the action. MyNEW 32's Sports Showdown will televise the game starting at 7:00pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers to MiLB.TV may watch the game on that platform. HOME RUNS: PEO: Andrew Sohn (3rd, 2 on in 7th inning off David Burkhalter, 2 out) WIS: Elvis Rubio (3rd, 1 on in 5th inning off Luis Perdomo, 0 out) Elvis Rubio (4th, 0 on in 7th inning off Cody Schumacher, 0 out) WP: Cody Ponce (1-1) LP: Luis Perdomo (5-8) SAVE: David Burkhalter (5) TIME: 2:21 ATTN: 2,728 Rattler Radio Postgame Post – July 28, 2015 3 short audio interviews: Ponce, Rubio (Aviles), and Caufield... video interview with Neuhaus and of course the highlights. Wisconsin Boxscore Cardinals prospect Luis Perdomo is a little dude, I doubt he's 6' 2" but I believe he's only 160lbs, after his first pitch I was like "woah", and I put the gun on him and he was regularly 94-95. So I instantly became curious what Rattlers would be able to turn on his FB as he was leaving them up, many Rattler teams in the past had maybe 2 or 3 guys who could turn on that kind of heat. After Elvis Rubio lined out to the LF on a laser in the 3rd I wrote a note to myself "Rubio has bat speed, easily turned around that 95 MPH FB". An inning later I added "as does Matos" and a couple of batters later, "so does Meyer". Then in the 5th Rubio smoked his first HR. The Tucker Neuhaus triple was a mid 90s FB that caught a ton of home plate but he was slightly behind and it tailed away from the CF into the LC gap. Tucker hit everything to the left side so I didn't see him turn on anything but he's looking better at 2nd base every time I see him play. Omar Cotto went back up the middle twice, a sharp grounder and liner for his 2 hits in 5 PAs and was the final player with a multi-hit game. David Burkhalter got stung by 7, 8, and 9 in the order, that didn't make me happy. He wasn't locating his CB at all today, I remember just one for a strike, it breaks 1-7 and is actually slower than I thought, it was between 61 and 63 MPH... wow. Wisconsin Recap

I do find Diplan intriguing but he's down in R ball so who knows what we have there. A couple of others could be decent relievers, but starting pitching is awful thin.

Because bats don't fix the fundamental flaw with this organization which has been pitching. I don't have a problem acquiring impact bats, but we literally have 4 intriguing CFs, 3 corner OFs, and 5 SS already. We need corner IF and C, so look around at the top prospects in each organization, see if their needs match up, and if they'd actually be willing to trade. There were literally 2 3B on the midseason top 50 from BA: TX - 3B- Joey Gallo isn't going anywhere. BOS - 3B - Rafael Devers possibly not a MLB 3B. There is an incredible shortage of decent 1B all around baseball and none in the top 50. Schwarber was the only C in the top 50, there's no way the Brewers are acquiring him. So then what are we going to trade for? More OF? We'll trade from position of strength to acquire more of that position? My idea of trading is to address positions of weakness long term. More importantly my biggest fear is that the previous cycle repeats itself, we end up with "expendable" bats and trade them for short term MLB pitching so the holes never actually get plugged... a couple of seasons in the sun with mediocrity around them. As to Melvin doing great in trades... that's hardly been the case. I think Sabathia, Greinke, and Marcum cloud that perception. He's also never added significant young pieces to the roster via trade so I would submit he's not even the right person to be captaining this sort of a ship. Nothing about trading for prospects plays to his strengths, not in TX and not here in Milwaukee, those are the not the kinds of trades he makes.

I highly doubt that any potential return for Gomez this off-season would include a pitcher as talented as Hoffman. That's just wishful thinking... So far Hoffman, Toussaint, and Sean Manaea who was the best value in the 2013 draft have been traded. There just aren't many pitching prospects with impact potential on teams that would be willing to trade them. Young impact pitching is a finite market each year and if you snooze you lose. I sincerely hope I'm wrong but realistically how many more young pitchers are possibly going to change hands?

That's alright, let Ventura fly under the radar a bit longer...

From my perspective, skewed heavily towards pitching, and knowing that there are only a couple of deals for young impact pitching every year, the Jays trading Hoffman is like a punch in the gut. People can talk about a better return in the winter all they want, but the best pitcher likely available in 2015 just went at the deadline to someone else and so far all we've done is trade Ramirez for a potential reliever. Yes I know, queue the "he's making the best deals he can" excuses for Melvin that repeatedly pop up, yet somehow other teams manage to trade for the talent we covet while the Brewers don't get it done unless they are trading for a MLB piece like Sabathia, Marcum, or Greinke. I sincerely hope to be proven wrong but even though the 2015 season has been a disaster for the MLB team it could have been a net positive for the organization as a whole if some impact young players were acquired via trade, unfortunately as I've said before I have no faith in this front office to move the players necessary to acquire that kind of talent. Meanwhile other teams are making deals and potential impact talent is moving while the Brewers sit on the sidelines... Maybe they pull off a deal, but the list of available impact talent is shrinking as are the teams we match up with. edit. days should have been deals

Jordan Yamamoto has had a season to forget thus far, he's only had 2 outings where he's allowed less than 3 runs, yikes. He had 2 decent games in a row and then dropped the 8 run clunker last night...

James Shields is 33, why would we want to take on that contract? I would have absolutely traded for him in 2008, but not now. It would be awesome if the Brewers would quit taking on pitchers in their mid 30s and expecting them to play a major role. Unless you're hoping he opts of the out the contract after 2016 and then what was the point? Simply to acquire 4 years of Wil Myers and swap our bad Garza contract for a worse contract?

That's not true at all, there's no platooning in the low minors and rarely do you see it even at AAA.

Of course you're negating ultimate ceiling. This wasn't a good trade for the Reds, it was quantity more so than quality. Finnegan doesn't have a 3rd pitch, he never has, his ceiling has always been that of a mid rotation starter which is the reason I wasn't interested in drafting him last year. Lamb completely lost his velocity after TJ and this is the first year he's back up over 90. The quality of his pitches also decreased dramatically with TJ and he never had a quality 3rd pitch to start with. He's a 4-5 now. Reed has a big arm, but control issues and also lacks a plus secondary offering, best case your hoping a mid rotation guy but he's more likely a bullpen piece. KC isn't the model of how a small market should operate and I disagree that these are the moves a small market team has to make when they are in a "window". Here's BA's unbiased take on the trade.

My gun had a real hard time picking up Gian in the 8th and 9th for some reason. Gian Rizzo RHP High 3/4 delivery Mostly around the plate FB, Change, Curve No out pitch Topped out at 92 [pre]01) 90 (21) 90 (41) 83 02) 89 (22) 73 (42) 87 03) 79 (23) 73 (43) 84 04) 88 (24) 89 (44) 91 05) 91 (25) 80 (45) 72 06) 75 (26) 92 (46) 74 07) 76 (27) 92 (47) 86 08) 92 (28) 74 (48) 89 09) 91 (29) 90 (49) 92 10) 91 (30) 75 (50) 90 11) 91 (31) 00 (51) 86 12) 75 (32) 88 13) 91 (33) 92 14) 90 (34) 00 15) 84 (35) 92 16) 90 (36) 82 17) 91 (37) 00 18) 72 (38) 79 19) 00 (39) 88 20) 89 (40) 91[/pre]

David Carver LHP True 3/4 Delivery Directs all momentum towards home plate with good balance Constantly around the plate, doesn't miss badly. Tops out 85 MPH, also throws curve and change. Pitch 27 was the moon shot HR he gave up [pre]01) 82 (31) 83 (61) 78 02) 83 (32) 81 (62) 68 03) 83 (33) 66 (63) 69 04) 75 (34) 82 (64) 77 05) 77 (35) 83 (65) 77 06) 83 (36) 83 (66) 71 07) 82 (37) 74 (67) 83 08) 82 (38) 80 (68) 77 09) 82 (39) 67 (69) 80 10) 74 (40) 83 (70) 75 11) 83 (41) 84 (71) 68 12) 74 (42) 69 (72) 74 13) 82 (43) 67 (73) 67 14) 82 (44) 85 (74) 74 15) 67 (45) 82 (75) 83 16) 83 (46) 65 (76) 81 17) 67 (47) 83 (77) 83 18) 83 (48) 67 (78) 66 19) 83 (49) 69 (79) 67 20) 83 (50) 75 (80) 85 21) 83 (51) 84 (81) 67 22) 82 (52) 75 (82) 83 23) 70 (53) 77 (83) 84 24) 85 (54) 67 (84) 82 25) 85 (55) 84 26) 81 (56) 84 27) 84 (57) 67 28) 74 (58) 82 29) 83 (59) 69 30) 84 (60) 84[/pre]

Rattlers beat LumberKings to earn sweep By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/1/2/138902912/cuts/7_July_26_McCall_slide_li3n72x0_74orxwfg.jpg Greg McCall slides home on a Tucker Neuhaus sacrifice fly in the third inning of Sunday's game against the Clinton LumberKings. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers erased an early 3-0 deficit and defeated the Clinton LumberKings 6-4 on Sunday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The win gave the Timber Rattlers a three-game sweep in the series. Gianfranco Wawoe put the LumberKings (32-68 overall, 6-25 second half) in front with a solo home run in the top of the third. Clinton added to their lead with two more runs in the frame. A walk and a misplay on a bunt single put runners on second and third for the LumberKings. Martin Peguero knocked in the second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly. Pat Leyland capped the inning with an RBI single and Clinton was up 3-0. The Rattlers (34-66, 11-19) got one run back in the bottom of the third. Greg McCall doubled and took third on an error to start the inning. Tucker Neuhaus knocked in McCall with a sacrifice fly. Wisconsin took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Francisco Castillo started the inning with a bunt single and McCall drew a walk. Neuhaus bunted both runners into scoring position. Omar Cotto hit a hard grounder to third and the ball hit the corner of the bag. The ball deflected off the base and into left field for a two-run double to tie the game 3-3. Carlos Leal put the Rattlers in front with a two-out RBI single to score Cotto. David Carver, Wisconsin's starting pitcher, rebounded after the rough third inning and kept the LumberKings off the scoreboard for the remainder of his time in the game. The lefty went six innings, scattered eight hits, walked one, and struck out six to put himself in line for his first Midwest League victory. McCall gave the Rattlers an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Sthervin Matos drew a leadoff walk and was bunted to second base by Castillo. McCall followed with a deep fly to the corner in right that he legged into his first professional triple. Matos scored on the play and the Rattlers were up 5-3. Gian Rizzo took over for Carver in the top of the seventh and retired the first two batters he faced. However, Austin Cousino singled and Arby Fields doubled to drive in Cousino to pull Clinton back to within a run. Neuhaus tacked on another insurance run for Wisconsin in the eighth inning. Wisconsin had runners at second and third with one out and the LumberKings brought the infield in on the grass. Neuhaus hit a high chopper over the mound and the only play Peguero had was to first base for the out. The RBI grounder by Neuhaus gave the Rattlers a 6-4 lead. Clinton tried to rally in the top of the ninth as their first two batters of the game reached on an error and a single. But, a failed sacrifice bunt attempt ended on a popup to first. Rizzo concluded the game with a strikeout and a routine flyball to right. Rizzo earned his third save of the season with his performance on Sunday. The sweep was the second in a three-game series by the Timber Rattlers this season. It was their first three-game sweep since an April 24-26 series against the Peoria Chiefs. The LumberKings dropped their fifth straight game. They have lost sixteen of their last seventeen games. The Timber Rattlers are off on Monday and return to action with a game against the Peoria Chiefs on Tuesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Cody Ponce (0-1, 1.93) gets the start for the Timber Rattlers. Luis Perdomo (5-7, 2.89) is set to start for the Chiefs. Game time is 7:05pm. The first 1,000 fans to attend the game on Tuesday will receive a Timber Rattlers seat cushion courtesy of Hardee's. That's just part of Hardee's Night. There will also be several coupons and surprises from Hardee's. Show your business card when you purchase a ticket and for $13.50 you will receive a box seat ticket, a beverage and your choice of brat or hot dog. The offer is also available to senior citizens (55 & older) courtesy of Baker Tilly, WVBO, and AM1280 WNAM. If you can't make it out to the stadium, there are several ways to catch the action. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel will televise the game starting at 7:00pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers to MiLB.TV may watch the game on that platform. HOME RUN: CLN: Gianfranco Wawoe (6th, 0 on in 3rd inning off David Carver, 1 out) WP: David Carver (1-1) LP: Pat Peterson (4-6) SAVE: Gian Rizzo (3) TIME: 2:36 ATTN: 4,686 Wisconsin Boxscore Omar Cotto covers the gaps well, he caught a ball in LC I didn't think he was going to get to, his 2B was off the 3rd base bag. Sthervin Matos (2-3,2B,BB) and Gregory McCall (2-3,2B,3B,BB) led the way offensively. I'd equate Blake Allemand to Dustin DeMuth defensively, he's not going to hurt you but he's not going to give you anything extra defensively. Alan Sharkey made a nice sliding catch on a popped up bunt attempt. Wiconsin Recap

Ventura Ks 11 in 4-0 Wisconsin win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/9/6/138770796/cuts/7_July_25_Ventura_WEB_g8omcxgn_t5ullz41.jpg Angel Ventura tossed six scoreless innings and struck out eleven in Wisconsin's 4-0 win over Clinton on Saturday night. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) GRAND CHUTE, WI - Angel Ventura tossed six scoreless innings and struck out a career-high eleven batters for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in a 4-0 victory over the Clinton LumberKings on Saturday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The win was the second straight for the Timber Rattlers. Wisconsin (33-66 overall, 10-19 second half) broke the scoreless tie with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Elvis Rubio singled and Alan Sharkey walked to start the inning. Sthervin Matos dropped a sacrifice bunt and the throw to first was in time, but into the baseline. Matos collided with the glove of first baseman Kristian Brito and the ball popped free. Rubio sprinted home with the first run of the game. The Rattlers loaded the bases on a walk to Tucker Neuhaus. Clinton starter Jarrett Brown struck out the next two batters and looked like he might get out of the jam. Omar Cotto made sure the Rattlers wouldn't waste the opportunity. Cotto, who signed with the Milwaukee Brewers as a non-drafted free agent out of the University of Southern California after the 2015 draft and joined the team from Milwaukee's Pioneer League affiliate in Helena, Montana earlier in the day, blooped a single into shallow right to drive in Sharkey and Matos for a 3-0 lead. Clinton (32-67, 6-24) collected two hits in three innings against starting pitcher Kodi Medeiros. They did not fare any better when Ventura came in as the second pitcher in Wisconsin's tandem. Ventura retired the first seven batters he faced in the game. He got the first out on a grounder to short and struck out the next six Clinton batters in a row before giving up a hit to Gianfranco Wawoe in the sixth. Wawoe would have the only other hit off Ventura when his eighth inning flyball to center was lost in the lights for a double. Ventura would strand Wawoe at third in the eighth by ending the frame with a grounder and his ninth strikeout of the game. The Rattlers pitcher finished off the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, including strikeouts number ten and eleven for the final two outs of the game. Ventura, who became the first Wisconsin pitcher to reach double digits in strikeouts this season, went 2-0 in two games this week. He also won at Kane County on Monday night. For the week, Ventura pitched twelve shutout innings and struck out thirteen. The Timber Rattlers and LumberKings conclude their three-game series Sunday afternoon. David Carver (0-1, 9.00) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Clinton has named Pat Peterson (4-5, 4.52) as their starter. Game time is 1:05pm. Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Wily Peralta is the latest former Timber Rattler to be immortalized as a bobblehead. The first 1,000 fans to attend Sunday's game will receive a bobblehead of Peralta courtesy of U.S. Cellular. Also on Sunday, McClone Insurance and Bergstrom Automotive present Strike Out Cancer Day to benefit local families battling pediatric cancer. Local stylists will be at the ballpark for fans who wish to participate in the Wigs for Kids hair donation and Be the Match bone marrow registry will also be at the game with information on how to be the match and donate. Additionally, a portion of tickets sold on the day of this game will go to Strike Out Cancer Day Fund. Fans may play catch on-field courtesy of Rasmussen College starting at noon. Players and coaches will wear their Brewers-themed jerseys for this game as part of Brewers Sunday presented by 107.5, The Fan. Bernie Brewer will be at the game for photos with fans. After the game, players will be available for an autograph session sponsored by Tundraland Home Improvements, too. If you can't make it out to the game, the radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 12:45pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers to MiLB.TV may watch the game on that platform. WP: Angel Ventura (5-4) LP: Jarrett Brown (1-5) TIME: 2:29 ATTN: 4,914 Wisconsin Boxscore I apologize as I had a charity golf outing today and I ended up golfing the longest 18 holes of my life, over 6.5 hours and I just couldn't make it to the game so I had to eat a ticket. I really wanted to verify Angel Ventura's velocity tonight, and of course he pitched the best of game of his career just to rub in the fact it didn't work out, but what a performance. Carlos Leal (2-3) had the lone multi-hit game for the Rattlers, he's bumped his ave up to .326, I know I keep saying this but I just have a hard time getting over what a wonderful surprise he's been. Wisconsin Recap

Jon Perrin My impression was he was all FB and slider and looking over the velos I believe that's correct. He did mix 1 curve in there during the 8th inning though. [pre]01) 88 (21) 90 02) 88 (22) 90 03) 89 (23) 87 04) 90 (24) 88 05) 88 (25) 91 06) 90 (26) 83 07) 91 (27) 00 08) 84 (28) 83 09) 90 (29) 92 10) 93 (30) 84 11) 91 (31) 84 12) 91 (32) 82 13) 87 (33) 92 14) 84 (34) 84 15) 92 (35) 84 16) 92 (36) 92 17) 82 (37) 83 18) 79 (38) 93 19) 83 20) 92[/pre]

Scott Lieser I wasn't watching close enough to distinguish if it was 2 different off-speed pitches or just varying the speed and shape of the curve. [pre]01) 88 (21) 00 02) 88 (22) 87 03) 84 (23) 89 04) 88 (24) 89 05) 88 (25) 79 06) 90 (26) 80 07) 89 (27) 79 08) 90 (28) 76 09) 91 (29) 73 10) 76 (30) 76 11) 92 (31) 89 12) 79 (32) 89 13) 77 14) 76 15) 90 16) 89 17) 92 18) 87 19) 73 20) 73[/pre]

Luis Ortega Ortega threw 33 pitches in the first. Breaking ball in the upper 70s, Slider in the low 80s, his first slider was actually pitch 16. Min FB 81, max FB 92. His landing on his right foot is inconsistent at best, he varies 8"-12" sometimes pitch to pitch with no rhyme or reason from a location standpoint. His arm angle is consistently inconsistent. He throws strike the best from a high 3/4 slot, he regular pitches down at a low 3/4 (most of the first), and he drops to almost side arm on his slider. He's also unbalanced falling hard towards 3B as his finishes his delivery. [pre]01) 77 (31) 86 (61) 89 02) 83 (32) 81 (62) 91 03) 83 (33) 91 (63) 90 04) 82 (34) 89 (64) 80 05) 81 (35) 88 (65) 79 06) 83 (36) 90 (66) 83 07) 86 (37) 91 (67) 77 08) 85 (38) 80 (68) 82 09) 86 (39) 91 (69) 88 10) 86 (40) 91 (70) 85 11) 84 (41) 89 (71) 84 12) 85 (42) 00 (72) 00 13) 88 (43) 81 (73) 84 14) 87 (44) 87 (74) 82 15) 87 (45) 88 (75) 77 16) 80 (46) 80 (76) 80 17) 86 (47) 88 (77) 90 18) 79 (48) 82 (78) 86 19) 87 (49) 00 (79) 88 20) 87 (50) 81 (80) 84 21) 80 (51) 84 22) 81 (52) 79 23) 89 (53) 83 24) 87 (54) 76 25) 87 (55) 79 26) 88 (56) 87 27) 82 (57) 81 28) 82 (58) 91 29) 88 (59) 00 30) 79 (60) 92[/pre]

That would be kind of pointless now, after the all-star game would have much more sense from an AB perspective. I guess a month at BC can't hurt him regardless, but if they were going to be aggressive I would have rather they split A teams this year and then bumped him to AA for the start of 2016 given his age.

Rattlers stage biggest comeback of season to beat Clinton Wisconsin wins 6-5 after trailing 5-0 By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers http://www.milb.com/assets/images/6/8/8/127606688/cuts/5_30_Leal_WEB_u6vaf3th_qod7kh2m.jpg Carlos Leal went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for the Timber Rattlers on Friday night against the Clinton LumberKings. (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers/Ann Mollica) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers dug themselves a 5-0 hole against the Clinton LumberKings on Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. But, the Rattlers were able to climb out of that hole and defeat the LumberKings 6-5. Clinton (32-66 overall, 6-23 second half) got off to a quick start with two runs in the top of the first. Wisconsin starting pitcher Luis Ortega walked the first two batters. Pat Leyland put the LumberKings up 2-0 with a one-out double that knocked in both runners. Gianfranco Wawoe made it 3-0 with a solo home run in the top of the second. Clinton extended their lead to 5-0 on a two-run homer by Wayne Taylor in the top of the fourth. Clinton starting pitcher Tyler Herb retired the first eight batters he faced before Mitch Meyer singled with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Wisconsin (32-66, 9-19) found the range on Herb with five straight hits in the bottom of the fifth. Alan Sharkey started the rally with a double and Carlos Leal drove in Sharkey with a single. Elvis Rubio doubled to knock in Leal. Greg McCall was next and he singled to right to score Rubio, but got caught in a rundown for the first out of the inning. Tucker Neuhaus made it five straight hits off Herb in the inning with another single, but the inning ended with the Rattlers down 5-3. The comeback continued with another run in the sixth. Leal reached on a single and moved to second on a single by Rubio. Neuhaus singled to right with one out to drive in Leal and the Rattlers were within a run. Scott Lieser entered the game in relief of Ortega in the top of the fifth and worked two scoreless innings. Jon Perrin took over for Lieser in the top of the seventh and put up another zero to let the offense get back to work after the stretch. Mitch Meyer, who had three hits in the game, reached on a leadoff bunt single in the bottom of the seventh against Clinton reliever Nick Kiel. Blake Allemand singled to right on a picture perfect hit-and-run play with Meyer running to put runners on the corners with no outs. Alan Sharkey lined a 1-2 pitch from Kiel deep to center for a sacrifice fly and a tie game. Carlos Leal picked up his third hit of the game with another single off Kiel to send Allemand around to third base. The Leal single caused the LumberKings to go to the bullpen and bring Ronald Dominguez into the game. Sthervin Matos, who replaced Rubio in the top of the seventh inning, swung at the first pitch from Dominguez and flew out deep to center to drive in Allemand with another sacrifice fly and the Rattlers were up 6-5. Perrin allowed a one out walk in the eighth, but got an inning-ending double play. He would work a 1-2-3 ninth inning to close out the Wisconsin victory. The Timber Rattlers have played 22 games in July and fourteen of those games have been decided by one run. Wisconsin is 5-9 in one-run games month and 8-23 in one-run games this season. Wisconsin's biggest comeback in a win prior to Friday night was three runs and they had done that twice in 2015. Game two of the series is Saturday night. Kodi Medeiros (4-2, 4.13) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Clinton will counter with Jarrett Brown (1-4, 4.63). Game time is 6:35pm. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers become the North Pole Reindeer for Christmas in July presented by Feldco on Saturday. There will be plenty of Christmas cheer with carols, Santa, and many other holiday touches - like live reindeer from Special Memories Zoo in front of the ballpark from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, a Webkinz Reindeer giveaway for the first 500 kids 12 & under, and the special jerseys worn by the team for this game. The jerseys will be available in a silent auction during the game with the proceeds going to Boys and Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley. Salvation Army-Fox Cities will be ringing the bells for the red kettles. Plus, NASH 99.5 will be taking donations for the Coats for Kids Drive. Stick around after the game for a Christmas-themed fireworks display presented by FOX 11. If you can't make it out to the game, there are several ways to catch the action. MyNEW 32's Sports Showdown will televise the game starting at 6:30pm. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:15pm. The broadcast may also be heard on Tune In Radio and IHeartRadio. Subscribers to MiLB.TV may watch the game on that platform. HOME RUNS: CLN: Gianfranco Wawoe (5th, 0 on in 2nd inning off Luis Ortega, 0 out) Wayne Taylor (2nd, 1 on in 4th inning off Luis Ortega, 1 out) WP: Jon Perrin (1-1) LP: Nick Kiel (1-4) TIME: 2:30 ATTN: 3,898 Wisconsin Boxscore What a great win, this team really needed something like this... and Clinton goes from getting no hit yesterday to letting a 5 run lead get away today. Luis Aviles killed the rally in the 6th, he literally struck out on pitches in the middle of the left handed batters box (hint, he's right handed). So many of these guys want so desperately to succeed they actually make the opposite happen. Luis Ortega was no different on the mound, he didn't break 85 MPH on a FB to the first 2 batters, I was actually starting to think my gun was malfunctioning... he was aiming and so and tight he could hardly throw a strike and his pitches had nothing behind them. I once had a HS QB who was that way early very in my career, if he made a mistake everything turned into an aimed lollipop, but I've never seen a professional pitcher work 10 MPH off his max FB in the first inning before. Carlos Leal (3-4) called an awesome game behind the plate (or the coaching staff, I wasn't playing close enough attention), Elvis Rubio (2-3) also had a very nice game, but apparently I missed him getting injured at home as Matos replaced him after that play at the plate. Yes I still hate the contact play which is why there was the play at the plate in the first place... Tucker Neuhaus (2-4) is starting to settle back in as well but I thought the best ABs of the night belonged to Mitch Meyer (3-3) gift bunt single talked about below or not. Wisconsin Recap I sat all game with opposing pitcher Nick Kiel's parents talking pitching with his father and even if I hadn't I would have thought he got a raw deal. Mitch Meyer's single was generous scoring, Kiel booted it 2 different times. Then Allemand singled on a hit and run right through where the 2nd baseman would have been had Meyer not took off for second. I was pleased with the execution from the Rattler perspective but I had a hard time with the Meyer "hit". Baseball is a weird game, if Clinton makes the first play, Allemand doesn't single, and they are out of that inning with a 1 run lead, the dominoes fall in such amazing ways. Wisconsin Bottom of the 7th Pitching Change: Nick Kiel replaces Tyler Herb. Mitch Meyer singles on a bunt ground ball to pitcher Nick Kiel. Blake Allemand singles on a line drive to right fielder Taylor Zeutenhorst. Mitch Meyer to 3rd. Alan Sharkey out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Austin Cousino. Mitch Meyer scores. Carlos Leal singles on a ground ball to right fielder Taylor Zeutenhorst. Blake Allemand to 3rd. Pitching Change: Ronald Dominguez replaces Nick Kiel. Sthervin Matos out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Austin Cousino. Blake Allemand scores. Greg McCall strikes out swinging.