(WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS) GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had been 0-2 with two ugly losses in Sunday home games going into today’s contest against the Peoria Chiefs at Neuroscience Group Field. This Sunday was much different with a 5-3 win over the Chiefs behind solid pitching from a trio of pitchers and homers from Luis Castillo and Andrew Fischer.
Cameron Nickens gave the Chiefs (24-27) a 2-0 lead in the top of the second with a two-run double.
Castillo brought Wisconsin (26-22) back to even with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second.
Peoria scored a run in the top of the fifth inning and were looking for a lot more before Rattlers starting pitcher Wande Torres shut them down. Tre Richardson III started the inning with an infield single with two errors on the play allowing him to take third base. Jesús Báez doubled to drive in Richardson for a 3-2 lead. Torres walked the next batter before he got a 6-4-3 double play and a grounder to short to end the inning.
The Chiefs nearly added to their lead against reliever Quinton Low in the top of the sixth after a single and a walk with one out and a hit batsman with two outs loaded the bases. Low struck out Jesús Báez, Low’s third strikeout of the inning, to end the rally and hold the deficit at a single run.
Wisconsin rallied in the bottom of the sixth. Two walks and a single loaded the bases with no outs against Peoria reliever Ruben Menes. Daniel Dickinson drew a four-pitch walk to force in the tying run. Menes got a strikeout for the first out. Then, Juan Baez beat out a potential inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to allow the go-ahead run to score from third.
Fischer gave the Rattlers an insurance run with a solo homer, his fifteenth home run of the season, with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
Chandler Welch closed out the game with three scoreless innings for his first professional save, but not without incident. Welch retired the Chiefs in order in the seventh but gave up a single and a walk to the first two batters in the eighth. Welch got a flyout to left and two strikeouts to finish that inning.
In the top of the ninth, Jesús Báez walked as the lead-off batter. Báez tried to steal second with Jack Gurevitch at the plate but was thrown out by catcher Daniel Garcia for the first out of the ninth. Welch got Gurevitch on a grounder to first only to see Jalin Flores single to extend the game and bring the tying run to the plate for the second time in the inning. Josh Kross sent a sinking line drive to leftfield that Josh Adamczewski caught to end the game.
Wisconsin pitchers kept the Chiefs in the ballpark on Sunday to snap Peoria’s home run streak at sixteen games. Torres, Low, and Welch also held the Chiefs to 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
The Timber Rattlers are off on Monday. They return to action on Tuesday with game one of a six-game series against the Cedar Rapids Kernels at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Iowa. J.D. Thompson (0-1, 5.40) is the announced starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Game time is 6:35pm.
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