(WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS) DAVENPORT, IA – A breezy and cold Tuesday evening at Modern Woodmen Park ended up being a really good night for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Four Wisconsin pitchers combined for seventeen strikeouts as the Rattlers won 6-0 to spoil the Quad Cities River Bandits home opener.
Wisconsin (2-1) took the lead with a two-out rally in the top of the second inning. Quad Cities starting pitcher David Shields walked Josiah Ragsdale and Juan Baez after striking out the first two Wisconsin batters of the inning. Braylon Payne and Luis Peña followed with consecutive RBI singles for the 2-0 advantage.
There was an eleven-minute delay heading into the bottom of the third inning. Plate umpire Tanya Millette had two foul tips hit her in the mask earlier in the game. She had stayed in the game at the time. However, base umpire Nicholas Saxton changed into the gear to allow him to go behind the plate after the top of the third. Millette would umpire the bases briefly before leaving the game. Saxton would finish the game as the lone umpire.
Timber Rattlers starting pitcher Yorman Galindez had four strikeouts over two innings with just thirty pitches and was staying loose during the pause in the action while Saxton got ready to work the plate. The Rattlers would decide to bring Bjorn Johnson on in relief when play resumed.
Johnson allowed one hit while striking out three in his one inning of work before turning the game over to Braylon Owens, a tenth round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2025 draft out of the University of Texas-San Antonio who was making his professional debut in this appearance.
Owens, who last pitched in a game on June 8, 2025, struck out eight over 4-1/3 scoreless innings while walking two and allowing two hits to hold the Bandits in check.
The Wisconsin offense added to the lead with two runs in the sixth and two runs in the seventh.
In the sixth, Marco Dinges doubled and took third on a wild pitch open the inning. Josh Adamczewski walked. Then, Eric Bitonti singled to knock in Dinges. A two-out error would allow Adamczewski to score later in the inning to make the score 4-0.
In the seventh, Payne and Peña started the frame with a pair of singles. They would both move into scoring position on a wild pitch that forced Quad Cities to bring their infield in on the grass. Andrew Fischer took advantage of the defensive positioning and ripped a single to right to drive in a pair of runs.
Jesus Flores took over for Owens with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Flores struck out two and walked one in 1-2/3 scoreless innings to conclude the shutout.
Payne and Peña both went 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI to lead the offense.
Quad Cities (0-1) had chances early against Galindez, Johnson, and Owens, but left a runner in scoring position in each of the first five innings. The Bandits stranded eight runners and went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Game two of the series is Wednesday evening at Modern Woodmen Park. Jason Woodward is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Quad Cities will counter with Justin Lamkin. Both pitchers are making their 2026 debuts. Game time is 6:30pm
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