The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers scored twice in the bottom of the eleventh inning to defeat the Peoria Chiefs 4-3 on Saturday night at Neuroscience Group Field. Marco Dinges drove in the tying run with a single and Tayden Hall got the game-winner with a sacrifice fly to end an entertaining, but nerve-wracking game.
Peoria (19-30) took the lead in the top of the first inning after a twelve-pitch battle between Ian Petrutz and Wisconsin starting pitcher Jaron DeBerry. Petrutz fouled off six consecutive 2-2 pitches before DeBerry missed with a pitch to run the count full. Petrutz hit the next pitch just over the wall in right for a solo homer and a 1-0 lead for the Chiefs.
Chase Adkison added a run to the Peoria lead with an RBI single in the top of the third.
Chen-Wei Lin, the Peoria starter, walked Blake Burke with two outs in the first inning. He retired the next ten batters in a row. That streak ended – and so did Lin’s outing – with a double by Juan Baez to start the fifth.
Wisconsin (24-26) scored after Lin left the game. Tayden Hall moved Baez to third with a grounder. Yhoswar Garcia followed with an infield single on a slow dribbler up the third base line that refused to go foul. Baez scored on the play to pull the Rattlers to within a run.
Eduardo Garcia singled and stole second with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning. He would be caught trying to steal third for the second out of the inning with Blake Burke at the plate. Burke would single later in his at bat, but the Rattlers could do nothing with it.
In the seventh, Yhoswar Garcia started a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh with an infield single against Chiefs reliever DJ Carpenter. Garcia stole second and Carpenter walked Daniel Guilarte to extend the inning to Luiyin Alastre.
Alastre was at the plate waiting for an 0-1 pitch from Carpenter when Garcia broke early for third base. Carpenter stepped off the rubber and threw to third, but the throw was wild allowing Garcia to scamper home with the tying run.
The game remained tied through ten innings. Bayden Root, who entered the game in the top of the seventh with the Rattlers trailing, would work three scoreless frames for the Rattlers. Zach Peek entered in the top of the tenth and stranded the placed runner with a strikeout and a pair of grounders. On the Peoria side of the ledger, Michael Watson kept the Rattlers off the scoreboard in the eighth, ninth, and tenth.
In the top of the eleventh, the Chiefs broke the tie when Johnfrank Salazar singled on a 1-2 pitch with two outs to drive in the go-ahead run against Peek.
Wisconsin responded almost immediately in the bottom of the eleventh. Burke lined a single to center on the first pitch. Eduardo Garcia, the runner at second, had to hold for a moment to make sure the ball wasn’t caught and took third. Marco Dinges fell behind Gonzalez 0-2 but eventually worked the count full before sending a single to left on the eighth pitch of the at bat to score Garcia with the tying run.
Baez nearly won the game for the Rattler moments later when he hit a hard grounder ticketed for left field. Salazar made a dive to his left to field the ball. He got Dinges at second for the first out. Baez just beat the throw to first to avoid the double play and set the stage for Hall.
On June 9, 2024, Hall was at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game with the Quad Cities River Bandits with the bases loaded and no outs. Hall hit a sacrifice fly to left to score the winning run and touch off a celebration for the walkoff win in that game.
On Saturday night, history repeated itself. Hall hit the first pitch from Salazar to left field. Burke tagged and scored the winning run to touch off a celebration on a 4-3, walkoff win.
The win clinched the series win for the Timber Rattlers and put them in the win column for the eighth time in the last ten games.
Patricio Aquino contributed to the Rattlers win with 2-2/3 scoreless, hitless innings out of the bullpen. Wisconsin relievers allowed two hits and one unearned run over 7-2/3 innings in the game.
The series finale is set for Sunday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field. Anthony Flores (1-2, 4.37) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Peoria has named Jose Davila (2-2, 6.58) as their starter. Game time is 1:10pm.
