Jeferson Quero has been the hottest hitting in the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers lineup for the last few weeks and the Beloit Sky Carp gave him a chance to beat them on Wednesday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Quero, who was 3-for-4 in the game, hit a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 Timber Rattlers victory.
Beloit, which was shutout on Tuesday night, got on the scoreboard in the first inning on Wednesday afternoon. Brady Allen knocked in Jose Salas with a one-out single for the 1-0 lead.
The Sky Carp (62-65 overall, 31-31 second half) loaded the bases with one out against Wisconsin starting pitcher Israel Puello in the top of the second. Puello escaped the jam with a strikeout and a grounder.
The Timber Rattlers (67-60, 31-31) tied the game in the bottom of the second. Tayden Hall tripled to start the inning. Zach Raabe had a sacrifice fly to right to score Hall.
Puello ran into trouble in the top of the fifth when he walked Brady Allen on four pitched. Puello fell behind Bennett Hostetler, the next batter, 2-0 and it cost him when Hostetler hit the third pitch of the at bat over the wall in left for a two-run homer and a 3-1 lead for the Sky Carp.
Arbert Cipion started the Rattlers comeback with a leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth inning. He stole second and took third on a wild pitch. Mike Brosseau, who was in the second game of his rehabilitation assignment from the Milwaukee Brewers, knocked in Cipion with a sacrifice fly to get the Rattlers to within a run.
The Wisconsin bullpen locked down the Beloit offense from that point of the game. Karlos Morales worked around a walk and a single in the sixth inning and pitched a 1-2-3 seventh. Then, Taylor Floyd pitched a perfect top of the eighth. Floyd has allowed four earned runs and has 30 strikeouts in 21-2/3 innings over twelve games since August 1.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Sky Carp went to Jake Schrand, and he walked Ben Metzinger and Brosseau to start the inning. Schrand got Jackson Chourio to ground into a 6-3 double play. That left Wisconsin with the tying run at third and Quero heading to the plate with two outs.
Quero, who had already singled twice in the game, cracked a 1-0 pitch from Schrand over the wall in left for a two-run home run and the Rattlers had a 4-3 lead. Quero is on an eight-game hitting streak. He is 18-for-35 (.514) with four homers, eleven RBI, and an OPS of 1.528 during the streak.
James Meeker closed out the game with a perfect top of the ninth inning for his sixteenth save. Meeker has allowed one earned run over his last nineteen appearances with ten saves in eleven opportunities during that stretch.
Brosseau went 2-for-2 with two singles, a walk, and a sacrifice fly on Wednesday and 3-for-5 with two walks during his rehab assignment with the Rattlers.
Game three of the series is Thursday night. Alexander Cornielle (1-0, 2.38) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The Sky Carp have named Evan Fitterer (4-7, 4.40) as their starting pitcher. Game time is 6:40pm.
