(WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS) – GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers were down by a run with a runner at third and no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon against the South Bend Cubs at Neuroscience Group Field. The runner was left stranded, and Wisconsin dropped a 5-4 decision to the Cubs.
South Bend (34-53 overall, 11-10 second half) took the lead in the top of the second inning. Carter Trice doubled and stole third with one out. Wisconsin starting pitcher Sam Garcia had his glove knocked off by a line drive off the bat of Reggie Preciado. The ball trickled behind the mound and the only play was an out at first as Trice scored.
Wisconsin (40-46, 6-15) rallied in the bottom of the second. Juan Baez singled and Kay-Lan Nicasia walked. Yhoswar Garcia bunted them into scoring position. An infield single by Blayberg Diaz drove in Baez. Daniel Guilarte had a sacrifice fly to score Nicasia for a 2-1 lead.
The Cubs rallied in the top of the fourth inning. The first three batters of the inning reached on a single, a walk, and a single to load the bases against reliever Jack Seppings. Miguel Useche tied the game with a sacrifice fly to right field. The throw in from Nicasia got away from Blake Burke for an error to put runners on second and third with one out.
The Rattlers brought the infield in to get an out at the plate. Jefferson Rojas spoiled the strategy with a single through the infield to score two runs to give the Cubs a 4-2 lead.
Eduardo Garcia gave the Rattlers a little hope with a two-out, solo home run to left in the bottom of the fifth. Garcia’s thirteenth home run of the season was his third hit of the game, left him a triple shy of the cycle, and pulled the Rattlers to within a run.
The game stayed at 4-3 until the eighth when Preciado doubled home a run in the top of the frame to give South Bend an insurance run.
In the bottom of the eighth, Blake Burke singled to start the frame for his 25th multi-hit game of the season. However, he was erased on a 5-4-3 double play. Hedbert Pérez restarted the rally with a double, and Juan Baez cashed him in with a two-out single to bring the Rattlers back to within a run.
Wisconsin gave the fans something to cheer in the bottom of the ninth. Yhoswar Garcia singled, stole second, and went to third on a throwing error to put the tying run 90 feet from home plate with no outs. Cubs reliever Grayson Moore denied the Rattlers a storybook finish by striking out the next two batters and ending the game on a ground out to first.
South Bend was 6-for-6 with stolen base attempts on Sunday afternoon. They won five of the six games of the series.
The Timber Rattlers are off for the Major League All-Star Break through Thursday. Wisconsin returns to action on Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa against the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the Midwest League’s first half West Division Champions. Game time is 6:35pm.
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