(WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS) BELOIT, WI – Luis Peña went 4-for-4 with a walk, a run, two stolen bases, and two RBI to help pace the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to an 11-5 win over the Beloit Sky Carp Friday night at ABC Supply Stadium.
Wisconsin (56-45 overall, 22-17 second half) scored two runs in the first inning on an infield single, an error, four walks, and a wild pitch. Peña started the game with the infield single and moved up to second on a throwing error. Beloit starting pitcher Michael Perez walked the next two batters to load the bases before throwing a wild pitch to allow Peña to score. Another walk reloaded the bases, and Tayden Hall knocked in the second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to right.
Beloit (51-54, 24-16) sent reliever Braulio Salas out for the top of the second inning after Perez threw 40 pitches in the first. Peña reached on another single. He stole second and third on consecutive pitches. Eric Bitonti drove in Peña with a high chopper to first for a 3-0 lead.
The Sky Carp got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning on a two-out RBI single by Wilson Weber.
Max Williams hit a two-out, two-run home run to right in the bottom of the third to tie the score 3-3. Wisconsin starting pitcher Josh Knoth didn’t allow another run.
The Rattlers took advantage of a defensive lapse in the top of the fourth to set the table for Peña. Tyler Rodriguez singled to start the inning. Yannic Walther singled to left-center with one out. Rodriguez, with the play in front of him, raced for third base. Leftfielder Jacob Jenkins-Cowart fielded the ball and made a whirling throw to third that was way too late to get Rodriguez. Walther lit out for second when he saw where the throw was going and the Rattlers had runners at second and third for Peña.
Then, Peña delivered a sharp single to center to score both runs for a 5-3 lead.
Daniel Dickinson started the top of the fifth with a single and he went to third on a single by Tayden Hall. Luiyin Alastre drove in Dickinson with a sacrifice fly.
Knoth pitched around a one-out single in the fourth and a lead-off walk in the fifth to turn the 6-3 lead over to the bullpen. He walked three and struck out eight over his five innings.
Luis Castillo launched a lead-off home run in the top of the seventh to add to the Wisconsin lead. Castillo’s fifteenth home run of the season also extended his hitting streak to a season-high twelve games and gave him 71 RBI on the season. Castillo is the first Rattler of the High-A Era for the franchise (since 2021) to reach 70 RBI in a season. David Fry, who had 70 RBI in 2019, is the last Rattler to reach that mark in a season.
Later in the seventh, Yannic Walther lined a three-run home run to the Beloit bullpen for a 10-3 lead. The homer was Walther’s second with Wisconsin.
The Sky Carp had two on in the bottom of the seventh after an error and a one-out single. Reliever Bjorn Johnson, who had pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning, struck out Dillon Head for the second out. However, Starlyn Caba lined a triple, and the Sky Carp were within five. Johnson got his third strikeout of the game for the final out of the seventh.
Wisconsin got that run back in the top of the eighth when Dickinson singled for his twentieth multi-hit game of the season and moved to second on a grounder. Hall singled to send Dickinson home for an 11-5 lead.
There was a scary moment in the bottom of the eighth inning. Quinton Low took over on the mound for the Timber Rattlers. Williams, the lead-off batter in the inning, lined the second pitch of the at bat off Low’s face. The ball deflected to Hall at first for a 1-3 putout while Lowe was on his hands and knees on the first base side of the mound. Wisconsin’s training staff raced to the mound to check on Low, who was eventually able to make it back to his feet and walk off the field on his own.
José Nova was called in from the bullpen and got the final five outs of the game, including striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth.
The Rattlers pitchers combined for fourteen strikeouts in the game.
Peña, who was playing his first game at shortstop since July 18, was on base five times in the game with three singles, a walk, and a triple, which came in the seventh inning. Peña collected his first four-hit game as a Rattler and his first since June 11, 2024 in a Dominican Summer League game. He was replaced by Juan Baez defensively at short in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Rattlers have pulled to within 1-1/2 games of the Sky Carp for the second half West Division playoff spot. The Quad Cities River Bandits entered Friday 1-1/2 games behind Beloit. Their game at Peoria was tied 6-6 heading into the bottom of the ninth when this story was emailed.
Game five of the series is Saturday night with a 6:35pm start time at ABC Supply Stadium. Ethan Dorchies (4-7, 5.09) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Carson Laws (1-6, 6.59) has been named as the starting pitcher for Beloit.
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