Nasim Nunez had a say in both the start and the end of the Beloit Sky Carp’s 1-0 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in game one of Sunday’s doubleheader at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.
Nunez manufactured a run for the Sky Carp (41-47 overall, 10-13 second half) in the top of the first inning. He drew a walk on a 3-2 count with one out and stole second. Then, he stole third and scored on an errant throw on the play for the 1-0 lead. Nunez is the Midwest League leader in stolen bases. He has 44 steals on the season.
That was the only run allowed by Wisconsin starting pitcher Antoine Kelly. The left-hander walked three, allowed four hits, and struck out seven over five innings to keep the offense close.
Beloit starter Dax Fulton cruised through 5-2/3 innings with nine strikeouts. The Timber Rattlers (48-40, 12-11) got something going against Fulton with two outs in the sixth. Joe Gray Jr just missed a game-tying home run as he banged a double high off the wall in left-center. Tristan Peters was next, and he drew a walk to put the go-ahead run on base.
The Sky Carp called on Tyler Mitzel to take over for Fulton and the Beloit reliever got a strikeout to end the threat.
In the bottom of the seventh, Ashton McGee singled to start the inning. Mitzel got another strikeout for the first out. Then, Antonio Piñero hit a grounder to the hole a short. Nunez made a diving stop, rolled over to throw to second for the force on McGee for the second out. Jose Salas made a strong turn and the throw to first completed the game-ending 6-4-3 double play.
The Beloit Sky Carp jumped to an early 5-0 lead and defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 5-2 in game two of Sunday’s doubleheader at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. The win in the nightcap gave the Sky Carp a sweep of the doubleheader and a sweep of the three-game series.
Game two started almost the same way that game one did. Nasim Nunez drew a walk with one out and stole second. Bennett Hostetler reached on an infield single with two outs to put runners on the corners. Davis Bradshaw sent a slow roller up the third base line for an infield single to score Nunez and Beloit (42-47 overall, 11-13 second half) had a 1-0 lead.
The Sky Carp added to their lead in the second inning. Dalvy Rosario doubled to start the inning and moved to third on a grounder. Kyler Castillo drove in Rosario with a sacrifice fly for the 2-0 advantage.
Wisconsin starting pitcher Justin Jarvis retired the first two batters he faced in the top of the third inning. Then, Hostetler and Bradshaw singled. Ynmanol Marinez followed with an RBI single. Dalvy Rosario capped the inning with a two-run triple and Beloit was up 5-0.
Pat Monteverde was the starting pitcher for the Sky Carp. He tossed five scoreless innings with three hits, a walk, and six strikeouts. In three starts against the Timber Rattlers this season, Monteverde has pitched 15-2/3 scoreless innings.
The Timber Rattlers offense broke through against reliever Raul Brito in the bottom of the sixth inning. Tristan Peters singled, and Joe Gray Jr doubled to start the inning. Ashton McGee drove in Peters with a grounder. Darrien Miller knocked in Gray with a two-out single to right. That was as close as the Rattlers (48-41, 12-12) would get.
Brito got the final out of the sixth. Robinson Martinez worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh for the save.
Wisconsin has lost seven straight games for the first time this season.
The Timber Rattlers are off on Monday. They return to action on Tuesday at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium to start a six-game series with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Russell Smith (2-4, 4.63) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. The Kernels have named John Stankiewicz (2-4, 5.85) as their starter. Game time is 6:40pm.
