The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers fought from behind all night long against the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Wisconsin tied the game in the bottom of the ninth and the bottom of the tenth, but ran out of comebacks as Cedar Rapids took the lead in the eleventh and held on for a 6-5 win.
Lead-off hitter Edouard Julien gave the Kernels (43-33) a 1-0 lead when he hit a 3-2 pitch from Victor Castañeda over the wall in left-center in the top of the first inning.
Wisconsin (36-39) didn’t get their first hit of the game until David Hamilton doubled with one out in the fourth inning against Kernels starting pitcher Ben Gross.
Castañeda kept the Kernels in check after the homer by Julien through the fifth inning as he retired 15 of 17 batters faced.
However, Cedar Rapids scored twice in the sixth inning to take a 3-0 lead. Julien started the inning with a double and he scored on a single by Wander Javier. Matt Wallner reached first on a close call for an infield single to put runners at the corners. Castañeda got the second out with a popup. Then, Seth Gary sent a high pop to left that was lost in the twilight. The ball dropped in for a single and the second run of the inning scored.
The Rattlers mounted a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth inning. Korry Howell reached on an infield single as the ball died on the baseline halfway between third and home. Hamilton followed with a triple off the wall in front of the Wisconsin bullpen to score Howell. Joe Gray Jr. was next and his bloop to right field dropped just fair. Hamilton scored easily and Gray beat the throw to second for a double with Thomas Dillard, the league leader in RBI heading to the plate with the tying run at second base.
Then, the mood of the ballpark changed as Gray was called out for apparently losing contact with the base as the tag was applied by shortstop Wander Javier. Wisconsin manager Matt Erickson was livid and he argued vehemently before he was ejected from the game with his team still trailing 3-2.
The teams traded runs in the eighth inning. Max Smith drove in a run for Cedar Rapids with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth. Gray drove in his second run of the night with a base-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth.
The Kernels looked like they had the game wrapped up in regulation. Melvi Acosta retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth inning. Carlos Rodríguez extended the inning with a single. Nick Kahle popped the first pitch he saw down the line in right. It landed fair and the Kernels outfield was so deep that Julien, the second baseman was the first fielder to reach the ball. Nick Stanley, who had taken over for Erickson as the third base coach, didn’t hesitate to send Rodríguez to the plate and Rodríguez scored easily as the throw to the plate was wild and the game was tied 4-4.
In the top of the tenth, Wisconsin reliever Evan Reifert got the first two outs and was ahead of Michael Helman with an 0-2 count. It looked like he would get out of the inning stranding Matt Wallner at second base where he started the inning. Reifert wound up walking Helman and it cost him. Jair Camargo was next and he singled to right to score Wallner with the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the tenth, the Rattlers started with Chad McClanahan at second base and after a walk to Howell and a bunt single by Hamilton, suddenly, Wisconsin had the bases loaded with no outs against Melvi Acosta. Dillard drew a one-out walk to force in the tying run, but the Rattlers couldn’t push across the winning run.
In the top of the eleventh, pinch-runner Daniel Ozoria started the frame at second and, once again, Reifert retired the first two batters. Javier was next and he lined a 1-2 pitch to third that Howell missed for Wisconsin’s fourth error of the night and Ozoria scampered home with the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the eleventh, Hayden Cantrelle started the inning at second base, but he was still there when the game ended as Erik Manoah Jr., the fifth Kernels pitcher of the nigh struck out the side.
Hamilton went 4-for-5 in the game and extended his current hitting streak to twelve games. He is 17-for-46 (.370) during the streak. Friday night was Hamilton’s second four-hit game of the season.
Game five of the series is Friday night. Cristían Sierra (1-2, 4.63) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Cody Lawyerson (0-2, 4.01) is set to start for the Kernels. Game time is 6:35pm.
