(TIMBER RATTLERS) PEORIA, IL – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers didn’t let deficit of 5-0 and 8-3 get them down in game one of their series against the Peoria Chiefs at Dozer Park on Tuesday night. The Rattlers took advantage of several bouts of wildness and got some clutch hits from Eduardo Garcia and Blake Burke to rally to a 14-9 win over the hosts.
Peoria (8-19) had the lead three batters into the bottom of the first inning. Jon Jon Gazdar doubled to start the frame. Ian Petrutz doubled with one out to score Gazdar for the 1-0 lead.
Wisconsin (12-16) had runners at second and third with no outs in the top of the second inning after a lead-off walk to Matt Wood and a double by Eduardo Garcia. Peoria starter Cade Winquest retired the next two batters before he walked Daniel Guilarte to load the bases. Then, Winquest got a strikeout to end the inning and strand all three runners.
The Chiefs had two runners on base to start the bottom of the second on consecutive singles. A grounder to short off the bat of Michael Curialle that could have been a double play ball was mishandled by Garcia for an error to load the bases with no outs. Wisconsin starting pitcher Ryan Birchard got Trey Paige to ground softly towards second baseman Jadher Areinamo.. The ball, Areinamo, and Curialle all reached the same spot of the infield at about the same time. The ball trickled away from Areinamo after a light collision and Paige was given credit for an infield, RBI single for a 2-0 lead.
Gazdar made it 4-0 moments later with a two-run single. Petrutz capped the inning with an RBI single.
Birchard held the line after that single by Petrutz. He got the final two outs of the second inning and pitched through the fifth without allowing another run. The right-hander walked none and struck out four as he gutted through five innings.
The Rattlers offense came to life in the sixth inning. Garcia cracked a one-out homer to get them on the scoreboard and knock reliever Tanner Jacobson out of the game. Michael Watson took over and got the second out, but struggled to find the third out as an error and back-to-back walks loaded the bases. Hedbert Pérez drove in two runs with a single and the Rattlers were within two runs.
The Chiefs responded in the bottom of the sixth when Michael Curialle hit a two-run home run against Jeferson Figueroa. A single and two walks loaded the bases with two outs to chase Figueroa from the game. Jesús Broca took over on the hill and walked Ryan Campos on four straight pitches to force in a run and the Rattlers were back down by five runs. Broca would get the final out on a force play at second.
In the top of the seventh, Chiefs reliever Dionys Rodriguez got the first out but never found the second. Matt Wood started the rally with a double. Garcia and Tayden Hall walked to load the bases. Luiyin Alastre was hit by a pitch to force in the first run of the inning. Then, Rodriguez threw one strike to the next two batters as he walked Daniel Guilarte and Yhoswar Garcia to force in two runs to pull Wisconsin to within 8-6.
Joseph King did not throw strikes immediately as he walked Pérez on four pitches to force in another run. Then, Jadher Areinamo – on an 0-2 pitch – tied the game on a sacrifice fly to right. Blake Burke, who made the first out of the inning stepped in with two outs and runners on the corners and laced a 3-1 pitch from King to left-center for a two-run double and a 10-8 lead.
Eduardo Garcia added to the lead in the eighth inning with another solo homer for his second two-homer game as a Rattler. Garcia had two homers against Beloit at home on September 9, 2022/.
Broca, who pitched around and error and a walk in the bottom of the seventh, gave up a lead-off homer to Joshua Baez in the bottom of the eighth. He would get the first out of the inning before giving way to Aaron Rund, who retired the final two batters.
Wisconsin added three insurance runs in the top of the ninth as the Chiefs walked four more batters in the frame. Burke added to his RBI total with a single. Wood tacked on a sacrifice fly. Alastre drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the final run of the night.
Rund closed out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save of the season.
The Chiefs used seven pitchers in the game, and they combined to walk fifteen Rattlers.
Game two of the series is Wednesday morning at Dozer Park. Chandler Welch (0-2, 6.26) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Jose Davila (1-2, 9.00) is the starter for the Chiefs. Game time is 11:05am.
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