(TIMBER RATTLERS) COMSTOCK PARK, MI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattler continued swinging on their road swing through Michigan by beating the West Michigan Whitecaps 10-2 on Tuesday night at LMCU Ballpark. Marco Dinges, Jadher Areinamo, Eduardo Garcia, and Yhoswar Garcia all contributed big hits for the Rattlers while Jaron DeBerry and two relievers held the potent Whitecaps offense to two runs on four hits.
West Michigan (43-21) struck first. Kevin McGonigle lined a double off the wall in right-center with one out in the bottom of the first. Josue Briceño drove in McGonigle with a bloop single to center with two outs to give the Whitecaps a 1-0 lead.
The teams traded solo homers in the second inning. Dinges launched a home run, his fourth since joining the Timber Rattlers on May 20, to start the top of the second for Wisconsin to tie the game. Austin Murr hit a lead-off home run in the bottom of the second to put West Michigan back in front.
The Timber Rattlers took the lead in the top of the fourth. Blake Burke singled and Dinges reached on an error. Eduardo Garcia followed with a triple to center to score both runners for a 3-2 lead.
Garcia also moved his on-base streak to 27 games with that triple. He has the longest on-base streak in the Midwest League this season and has tied Robert Moore for the longest on-base streak by a Rattler since the franchise moved to the High-A classification in 2021. Moore had his 27-game on-base streak in 2023.
Whitecaps pitcher Max Alba retired the first two batters in the top of the fifth inning and was ahead of Juan Baez 0-2. Baez would draw a walk and Areinamo crushed the next pitch from Alba for a two-run homer and a 5-2 lead.
Wisconsin added two more runs in the top of the sixth on a two-run double by Yhoswar Garcia against reliever Haden Erbe.
In the eighth, Baez drew a bases loaded walk and Areinamo added a two-run single for a 10-2 lead. Areinamo drove in five runs on Sunday at Great Lakes to give him nine RBI in his last two games.
DeBerry, the Wisconsin starting pitcher, only allowed a two-out walk in the third inning after the home run by Murr in the second. DeBerry struck out six over five innings in the game to earn his second straight win.
The Wisconsin bullpen tossed four scoreless innings to close out the game. Bayden Root allowed a hit and struck out three in three innings. Jack Seppings, who joined the Rattlers from the Carolina Mudcats earlier in the day, needed five pitches to get three ground outs in the ninth inning to close out the win.
The Timber Rattlers are 5-2 on the first seven games of their twelve-game trip to Michigan. They have scored ten runs in a game three times on the road trip and have scored a total of 49 runs on the road trip.
Wisconsin is also 18-7 in their last 25 games and has reached four games over .500 for the first time this season.
Game two of the series is scheduled for Wednesday at LMCU Ballpark. Game time is 5:35pm CDT.
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