(TIMBER RATTLERS) GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers built a 5-0 lead and were cruising with a 5-1 advantage through six innings against the Beloit Sky Carp on Sunday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field. The visitors did not go quietly and rallied to an 8-6, eleven inning win over the Rattlers. Beloit was down to their last strike on three consecutive batters in the ninth inning but found a way to tie the game and eventually pick up the victory to give Beloit a 4-2 series win.
Wisconsin (16-23) broke on top in the bottom of the third. Hedbert Pérez singled and took second on an error with one out. Jadher Areinamo followed with a single, but Pérez was thrown out at the plate for the second out of the inning as Areinamo took second base.
Blake Burke was singled, and Eduardo Garcia drew a walk to load the bases. A wild pitch by Beloit starting pitcher Jake Brooks with Juan Baez at the plate allowed Areinamo to score the first run of the game.
Baez cashed in the other two runners on base with a single for a 3-0 lead.
Tayden Hall came through with another single to get Baez to third. Then, the throw in from the outfield got away from the cutoff man to allow Baez to score for a 4-0 lead.
The Rattlers loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth inning but could only score one run as Blayberg Diaz grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.
Tanner Gillis, the Wisconsin starting pitcher in his Midwest League debut, gave up one run over six innings. That run was an RBI double by Payton Green in the top of the sixth inning. Gillis allowed three hits, walked two, and struck out three to put himself for a win in his first game as a Rattler.
Beloit (21-17) got closer in the seventh against José Nova, another Rattler pitcher making his Midwest League debut. The first two batters reached on a walk and a hit batsman, with a wild pitch moving them both into scoring position. Nova got the first out on a grounder to third, but Eric Rataczak drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Emaarion Boyd made it 5-3 with a single.
Bayden Root took over for Nova and picked Boyd off first to end the inning. Root would work a perfect eighth inning to maintain the two-run lead.
The Rattlers had a chance to add to their lead in the bottom of the eighth inning with runners at the corners and one out. However, Yhoswar Garcia hit into a 6-4-3 double play, one of four twin killings the Rattlers hit into on Sunday.
Aaron Rund got the top of the ninth and retired the first two batters on six pitches. The game turned into torture for the Rattlers – players and fans alike – from that point.
Rund hit Garrett Forrester, and the Wisconsin defense allowed Forrester to take second on defensive indifference with Michael Snyder at the plate. Rund had two strikes on Snyder before Snyder lined an RBI double to left.
Rataczak was at the plate with a 1-2 count to put the Sky Carp down to their last out. Snyder was running on the pitch when Rataczak hit a foul pop down the line in left. Shortstop Eduardo Garcia made a fine running catch, and the Rattlers were ready to celebrate the win.
However, Diaz was called for catcher interference as Rataczak hit his glove on the swing and the game continued, after a long pause to decide if Snyder should be granted third base. Rund tried to stay loose on the mound during the delay and had to gear up again after the decision was made to have runners at the corners with two outs.
Boyd stepped in and worked the count to 3-2. Rund missed with ball four, and Diaz missed the ball for a passed ball to allow Snyder to score the tying run.
Jesús Broca took over for Rund and hit the first batter he faced before getting a foul pop to end the inning.
Wisconsin got a lead-off walk in the bottom of the ninth but could do nothing with it as the game went to extra innings.
Ryan Ignoffo’s sacrifice fly in the top of the tenth gave the Sky Carp the lead.
Eduardo Garcia responded with a lead-off double in the bottom of the tenth to score pinch-runner Daniel Guilarte from second base to tie the game. However, Wisconsin could not score Garcia with the winning run and the game moved to the eleventh.
Broca walked Forrester, who reached base five times in the game, and gave up a one-out single to load the bases for Boyd. Broca walked Boyd on a 3-2 pitch to force in the go-ahead run.
The Sky Carp added an important insurance run on a defensive lapse on the very next play. Colby Shade hit a hard grounder to Juan Baez near the third base bag. Baez stepped on third for a force play and fired home to Diaz, who took the throw while standing on the plate. However, the out at the plate needed to be a tag on the runner and Baez never put the tag on and Beloit had an 8-6 lead.
Wisconsin did get the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the eleventh after an infield single by Yhoswar Garcia put runners on the corners with one out against Gabe Bierman. A strikeout and a flyout to right ended the hopes of a Rattlers comeback and a split in the series.
The Rattlers outhit the Sky Carp 13-7 but went 5-for-17 with runners in scoring position as they fell to seven games under .500 for the third time this season.
The Timber Rattlers are on the road Tuesday to start a six-game series with the South Bend Cubs at Four Winds Field in South Bend, Indiana. Game time on Tuesday is 5:05pm CDT. Patricio Aquino (2-1, 3.38) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. South Bend has announced Tyler Schlaffer (0-1, 8.02)
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