Both the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and Great Lakes Loons were down to their final out in the ninth inning on Friday Night at Dow Diamond. Both teams received clutch home runs to extend the game to extra innings where Joe Gray Jr’s two-out, RBI single was enough to send the Rattlers to an 8-7 victory over the team with the best record in the High-A classification of Minor League Baseball.
Chris Alleyne put the Loons (41-19) up in the bottom of the first inning with a lead-off home run. The homer was Alleyne’s second of the season.
Great Lakes added to their lead with two runs in the bottom of the second. A walk and a double by the first two hitters put runners on second and third with no outs. Max Hewitt and Frank Rodriguez had consecutive sacrifice flies to score the runs for a 3-0 advantage.
The Loons had four singles in the third inning and scored two more runs for a 5-0 lead. Damon Keith and Taylor Young provided the RBI singles in the inning.
Wisconsin loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fourth inning on a walk by Great Lakes starting pitcher Maddux Bruns and two walks by reliever Frankie De La Paz. The Rattlers could not cash in and left the bases loaded.
Jose Acosta singled, stole second, and went to third on a grounder in the top of the fifth inning. Gray reached on an infield single to score Acosta with the Rattlers first run.
Reliever Michele Vassalotti held the Loons off the scoreboard with three perfect innings, including six strikeouts, to keep Wisconsin in the game
Then things got very interesting.
The Timber Rattlers bats came alive in the top of the seventh to score four runs and tie the score against Orlando Ortiz. Acosta started the inning with a single with Robert Moore following with a walk. Gray singled with one out to load the bases. Darrien Miller drove in Acosta with a sacrifice fly. The play pulled the Rattlers to within 5-2, but it was also the second out of the inning.
Ben Metzinger was next, and he lined a single to right to score Moore. Keith overran the ball to allow Gray score from first. Metzinger wound up at second base as the tying run.
Eduardo García followed with a single to left to score Metzinger with the tying run.
Karlos Morales took over for Vassalotti and retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh. However, a four-pitch walk, and a wild pitch put the lead run on second. Yeiner Fernandez made Wisconsin pay for the lapse with a single up the middle to give the Loons a 6-5 lead.
The score remained that way to the ninth. Reinaldo De Paula, the Loons fifth pitcher of the game, got the final out of the eighth and the first two batters in the ninth. García kept the game alive with a single to center on an 0-2 pitch. Then, Alex Hall sent the Timber Rattlers dugout into a celebratory mood as he hammered a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right-center for a 7-6 lead.
The homer was the sixth of the season for Hall, but his first since April 21.
Brannon Jordan entered the game in the bottom of the ninth and retired the first two batters he faced to bring the Rattlers to within one out of victory. Chris Newell, who had thirteen homers in the California League before his call up to Great Lakes earlier this month, had other ideas. Newell hit a long homer to right-center on the first pitch of his at bat to tie the game 7-7.
In the top of the tenth, Acosta started the inning at second. He was standing at third with two outs after a pair of grounders to the right side. Gray punched an 0-1 pitch through the right side of the infield for his fourth hit of the game and this RBI single scored Acosta for an 8-7 lead.
Jordan went back out for the bottom of the tenth and set down the side in order with a pair of strikeouts and a popout to leave the tying run stranded at second base.
The Timber Rattlers were 0-32 when trailing after eight innings prior to the game on Friday night.
Gray now has three four-hit games as a Timber Rattler. He also had four hits against Peoria on June 3, 2022 and against Great Lakes on August 13, 2021.
Game five of the series is Saturday night at Dow Diamond. Tyler Woessner (5-1, 2.38) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Kendall Williams is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Loons. Williams will be making his Midwest League debut in this contest. Game time is 6:05pm CDT.
