PEORIA, IL – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers looked great building a 7-0 lead through 2-1/2 innings at Dozer Park on Wednesday night against the Peoria Chiefs. They took a 7-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh. Then, errors, walks, and other miscues let the Chiefs back into the game and Peoria eventually celebrated a 9-8 win in ten innings over the Rattlers.
Wisconsin (5-3) took the early lead with three runs in the first inning. Korry Howell started the game with a single and David Hamilton followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Gabriel García was next and he drove in Howell with a single to center for a 1-0 lead.
Hamilton and García pulled a successful double steal and it set up the next two runs. Brendan Donovan made a wild throw to first on a grounder off the bat of Carlos Rodríguez and both runners scored for a 3-0 advantage.
Hamilton started a rally in the fourth inning with a bunt single and a stolen base. García followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Thomas Dillard’s slow roller up the third base line scored Hamilton and allowed García to take second base. Later in the inning, LG Castillo drove in two runs with a double and Kekai Rios sent Castillo across the plate with a single and the Rattlers were up 7-0.
Peoria (2-6) got on the scoreboard in the third inning against Wisconsin starter Justin Jarvis. Jhon Torres started the inning with a double, but he was still at second with two outs. Then, Jarvis walked the next two batters on eight straight balls to load the bases. Jarvis was ahead of Zade Richardson 1-2 in the count but hit the Chiefs catcher to force in a run.
The Chiefs threatened for more in the inning when Chandler Redmond sent a hard grounder up the middle. Hamilton saved at least two runs with a diving stop on the grounder and a strong throw to first for the final out.
Wisconsin let Peoria back in the game with five unearned runs over the seventh and eighth innings. An error on a grounder for what would have been the final out of the seventh inning let a run score to make it 7-2.
Moises Castillo was the first batter for the Chiefs in the bottom of the eighth and he skied a popup on the infield, but the ball was dropped for an error and the inning snowballed from there. The next batter walked. Then, Jhon Torres doubled in a run. A walk and a wild pitch moved two runners into scoring position. Pitcher Brady Schanuel retired the next two batters, but walked Brendon Donovan to load the bases.
Taylor Floyd came into the game and issued a bases-loaded walk, hit a batter with the base loaded, and threw a wild pitch to allow three runs to score before he got the final out of the inning with a strikeout.
In the bottom of the ninth, a lead-off walk to Matt Chamberlain came back to haunt the Rattlers. A slow roller moved Chamberlain to second and another wild let him take third. Wisconsin brought the infield in with Malcom Nunez at the plate and Nunez sent a slow chopper past the mound. Shortstop Yeison Coca charged and threw home on the run, but the throw skipped in an Rios couldn’t handle the throw. Chamberlain missed the plate on his first attempt and was able to get back to touch it before Rios could retrieve the ball.
The game went to extra innings and the Rattlers managed to score when Howell raced home from third on a wild pitch with two outs and Wisconsin was up 8-7.
The Chiefs had one more comeback in them though. Donovan was the first batter of the inning and he lined a single to left to score Brady Whalen from second base. Richardson singled to move the winning run into scoring position. Donovan stole third with one out. Castillo, who hit the popup that was dropped back in the seventh inning to start the Peoria comeback, capped the ballgame with a drive to the wall in deep right-center field for a walkoff, RBI single to score Donovan and give the Chiefs a 9-8 win.
Game three of the series is Thursday night at Dozer Park. Reese Olson (1-0, 0.00) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Connor Lunn (0-0, 5.40) is set to start for the Chiefs. Game time is 6:35pm.
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