GRAND CHUTE, WI – The West Michigan Whitecaps beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 6-4 Wednesday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cites Stadium. Wisconsin trailed 6-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning and were poised for a big comeback with the bases loaded and no outs. However, they couldn’t close the deal and lost for the second night in a row to the Whitecaps.
West Michigan (6-7) took the lead with a pair of solo home runs in the top of the second inning. Bryant Packard hit the foul pole in left field for a homer with one out. Rey Rivera, who homered against the Rattlers on Tuesday night, hit a two-out solo homer that cleared the wall in center field and the Whitecaps were up 2-0.
Wisconsin (6-8) got a run back in the bottom of the second inning. Hayden Cantrelle doubled and Nick Kahle singled to put runners on the corners with no outs. Je’Von Ward was next and he grounded into a 4-6-3 double play that scored Cantrelle.
The Whitecaps added to their lead in the third inning on an RBI single by Andre Lipcius and in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Daniel Cabrera.
Thomas Dillard pulled the Rattlers closer with a lead-off homer in the bottom of the sixth inning. Dillard lined the first pitch from reliever Chavez over the wall in left field for his second home run of the season.
The top of the Whitecaps order rallied for two more runs in the top of the seventh. Parker Meadows lined an 0-2 pitch to center for a lead-off triple. Spencer Torkelson followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2. Later in the inning, Cabrera reached on a fielder’s choice to score a runner from third and the Whitecaps had a 6-2 lead.
The bottom of the Timber Rattlers order set up a big inning in the bottom of the seventh against lefty reliever Jared Tobey. Left-handed hitters Je’Von Ward and Jesús Lujano reached on singles and left-hander hitter Chad McClanahan drew a walk to load the bases. Korry Howell drew another walk to get Ward across the plate and the Rattlers were down 6-3 and primed for more. However, Tobey struck out the next two batters. Then, Angel Reyes took over for Tobey and got a strikeout to end the inning with the bases full of Wisconsin runners.
Howell accounted for the final run of the game when he blasted a long, solo home run with two outs in the ninth inning. The homer was Howell’s fifth of the season. He is tied for second in the Midwest League in home runs.
The Timber Rattlers were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and struck out sixteen times in the game.
Game three of the series is Thursday night at Neuroscience Group Field. Zach Mort (0-0, 2.53) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Beau Brieske (0-1, 9.53) is set to start for the Whitecaps. Game time is 6:35pm.
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