The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers keep on winning. The Timber Rattlers beat the Beloit Sky Carp 6-3 on Sunday afternoon at ABC Supply Stadium for their eighth consecutive victory. Brock Wilken had four hits, including a key, two-run homer, knocked in two runs, and scored three runs to lead Wisconsin’s fifteen-hit attack.
Beloit (51-74 overall, 24-36) took the lead in the third inning. Ryan Ignoffo reached on an infield single. Osiris Johnson executed a hit-and-run single with one out to put runners on the corners. Javier Sanoja doubled to right to score Ignoffo.
The Sky Carp had the bases loaded with one out after a walk to Joe Mack. However, Wisconsin starting pitcher Edwin Jimenez got out of the inning with no more damage as he got Torin Montgomery to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Wilken started the Wisconsin fourth inning with a single. That single extended his current hitting streak to nine games. Wilken has at least one hit in fifteen of his last sixteen games.
Beloit starter Alex Williams retired the next two batters. Then, Matt Wood kept the inning alive with a single to send Wilken to third base. Joe Gray Jr tied the game with a single to left on a 1-2 pitch.
Wilken gave the Rattlers (58-66, 32-28) the lead in the top of the fifth inning with a two-out, two-run home run to left. Wilken’s second Midwest League homer made it 3-1 in favor of the Rattlers.
The Rattlers added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning and Wilken was in the middle of that, too. He singled with one out to collect his first four-hit game as a professional. Wood sent Wilken home with a two-out RBI single for a 4-1 lead.
Jimenez went into shutdown mode after the third inning. He retired the side in order in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Jimenez retired the first batter in the bottom of the seventh. Then, Ynmanol Marinez happened.
Marinez hit a grounder behind the bag at third. Wilken made a backhand stop and threw the ball wildly to first from foul territory. Marinez went to second and took off for third. First baseman Ben Metzinger had chased down the ball in foul territory and tried to throw out Marinez at third. However, the throw hit Marinez and the ball caromed to the wall on the third base side of the field. Marinez scored and the Rattler lead was down to two runs.
Jimenez wasn’t affected by the odd play as he retired the next two batters to close out the inning. He went seven innings, allowed two runs – one earned – on five hits with a walk and seven strikeouts to put himself in line for his sixth win of the season.
The Timber Rattlers added some insurance in the top of the eighth inning. Darrien Miller doubled and went to third on a passed ball with no outs but was still there with two outs. Fortune smiled on Luis Lara to get Miller home. Lara hit a grounder to first that should have been the final out. However, the ball hit the corner of the bag and went between the legs of Torin Montgomery for a hit to drive in Miller.
Lara stole second with Wilken at the plate and the Sky Carp elected to walk Wilken intentionally to deny him an opportunity for a five-hit game. Hendry Mendez made the Sky Carp pay for that decision with a single to center to score Lara for a 6-2 lead.
It was not an easy march to the first six-game sweep in Timber Rattlers history. Tanner Shears retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the eighth before two walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases to bring the tying run to the plate. Shears walked Cam Barstad to force in a run and that brought Shane Smith into the game from the Wisconsin bullpen to face Marinez.
Smith got the count full before getting Marinez to line out to Gray in right to end the inning with the Rattlers up 6-3.
In the ninth, Smith retired the first two batters before a walk and an error brought the tying run to the plate again. There was no drama in the final at bat as Smith struck out Sanoja looking at a 2-2 pitch to end the game.
In the six-game series at Beloit, the Rattlers outscored the Sky Carp 34-8. Wisconsin’s pitching staff allowed five earned runs in the series.
This is Wisconsin’s first eight-game winning streak since the 2012 season.
In the playoff race, Wisconsin needs to wait to see if they picked up ground on the Peoria Chiefs. The Chiefs, who are current holders of the second half West division playoff spot, start the final game of their series at Quad Cities on Sunday night at 6:30pm. The Chiefs magic number to clinch going into tonight is at four.
The Timber Rattlers are off on Monday. They return home to host the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Tuesday night. Nate Peterson (2-2, 4.05) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Game time is 6:40pm.
