Final: Quad Cities 5, Wisconsin 6

Rattlers hold on for second straight win
By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers scored six runs in the second inning against the Quad Cities River Bandits on Wednesday night. Then, they held on for a 6-5 win at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Lance Roenicke and Cameron Garfield paced the Wisconsin offense with three hits each. The win was the second straight for the Rattlers.

Wisconsin (46-20 overall, 2-4 second half) sent ten men to the plate in the bottom of the second inning to grab a 6-0 lead. Nick Ramirez and Garfield started the scoring with back-to-back RBI doubles. The Rattlers had two on with two outs when River Bandits starting pitcher Tyrell Jenkins walked Chadwin Stang to load the bases. Quad Cities went to the bullpen for lefty Jonathan Cornelius. Roenicke welcomed Cornelius to the game with a two-run single to left and the Rattlers were up 4-0.

Cornelius struck out Brandon Macias, but the inning continued as the ball rolled to the backstop and Macias reached first to reload the bases. Mitch Haniger made Quad Cities pay for that mistake with his second hit of the inning, a two-run single to pad Wisconsin's lead to 6-0.

The River Bandits (38-37, 3-3) came back in the top of the third inning against Wisconsin starter Matt Miller. Colin Walsh hit his sixteenth home run of the season, a three-run shot, to cut the Rattlers lead in half.

Quad Cities made it a 6-4 game in the top of the fourth inning on a two-out RBI single by Matt Williams.

The Rattlers offense had several chances to add to their lead in the middle innings, but could not tally any insurance runs.

Miller worked out of a jam with runners on second and third with one out in the fifth inning to hold the two run lead, but he was done for the night. Miller struck out five, but tossed over 100 pitches in five innings. He turned the game over to relief pitcher Tyler Cravy in the sixth.

Anthony Garcia hit a solo homer in the seventh inning off Cravy to make the score 6-5. Then, Cravy retired the final five batters he faced to protect that one run lead into the ninth inning.

Tommy Toledo entered the game for the top of the ninth. He allowed a one-out single and threw a wild pitch to put the tying run at second base with Walsh and Garcia due up. Toledo calmly closed the game by inducing a pair of groundouts to end the ballgame and pick up his fourth save.

The Timber Rattlers begin a three-game series with the Peoria Chiefs on Thursday night. Fond du Lac native Chad Pierce (1-2, 3.73) is scheduled to make the start for Wisconsin. Gerardo Concepcion (2-5, 7.38) is set to start for Peoria. Game time is 7:05pm.

Thursday night is Ultimate Tailgate Night at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Mad Dog & Merrill and 95.9 KISS FM's Dayton Kane will host the pre-game tailgate party in front of the ballpark. Festivities include: BBQ sampling, beverage sampling with the Miller Girls, and contests for Ultimate Griller and Ultimate Tailgater.

Plus, Cher-Make will be giving away a 3-piece BBQ Grill set to the first 1,000 fans.

All fans can enjoy 16oz soda and beer for just $2 as part of Thirsty Thursday presented by Slugger's Sports Bar! After the game, those in attendance can take their ticket stub to Sluggers Sports Bar - located in Super Bowl on Northland Avenue - to win Miller Lite drinks and prizes.

If you can't make it out to the ballpark, tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45. Subscribers to MiLB.TV may watch the game over the internet.

Sports 32 will broadcast the game to Time Warner Cable subscribers, too.

HOME RUNS:
QC:
Colin Walsh (16th, 2 on in 3rd inning off Matt Miller, 0 outs)
Anthony Garcia (9th, 0 on in 7th inning off Tyler Cravy, 1 out)

WP: Matt Miller (6-5)
LP: Tyrell Jenkins (1-3)
SAVE: Tommy Toledo (4)

TIME: 3:03
ATTN: 4,128

Wisconsin Box Score

The Rattlers jumped on River Bandits starter Tyrell Jenkins early, knocking out the Cardinals #6 prospect in the second inning. Cameron Garfield led the attack with a perfect 3 for 3 night at the plate. He doubled, scored a run and knocked in one and was also hit by a pitch. Lance Roenicke also contributed three hits and walk to go along with a pair of RBI. Mitch Haniger and Nick Ramirez each had two hits and Yadiel Rivera went 1 for 3 with a walk.

Matt Miller gave up four runs in five innings, tossing 109 pitches in those five innings of work, but that was good enough to earn him his sixth win of the season. Tyler Cravy pitched three solid innings of relief, allowing just one run on a very long home run by Anthony Garcia. Tommy Toledo closed the door in the ninth for his fourth save.

Wisconsin Play By Play

The big six run 2nd inning for the Rattlers
Wisconsin Bottom of the 2nd
Mitch Haniger singles on a ground ball to center fielder Nick Martini.
Nick Ramirez doubles (10) on a line drive to right fielder David Medina. Mitch Haniger scores.
Cameron Garfield doubles (6) on a ground ball to left fielder Anthony Garcia. Nick Ramirez scores.
With Yadiel Rivera batting, passed ball by Juan Castillo, Cameron Garfield to 3rd.
Yadiel Rivera walks.
Max Walla strikes out swinging.
With Carlos George batting, wild pitch by Tyrell Jenkins, Yadiel Rivera to 2nd.
Carlos George pops out to catcher Juan Castillo in foul territory.
Chadwin Stang walks.
Pitcher Change: Jonathan Cornelius replaces Tyrell Jenkins.
Lance Roenicke singles on a line drive to left fielder Anthony Garcia. Cameron Garfield scores. Yadiel Rivera scores. Chadwin Stang to 2nd.
Brandon Macias strikes out swinging. Passed ball by catcher Juan Castillo. Chadwin Stang to 3rd. Lance Roenicke to 2nd. Brandon Macias to 1st.
Mitch Haniger singles on a line drive to left fielder Anthony Garcia. Chadwin Stang scores. Lance Roenicke scores. Brandon Macias out at 3rd on the throw, left fielder Anthony Garcia to catcher Juan Castillo to second baseman Colin Walsh to shortstop Luis Mateo.