The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers scored twelve runs on fourteen hits to provide more than enough offense for their pitchers in a bullpen game for a 12-2 win over the Cedar Rapids Kernels Saturday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.
Wisconsin (37-39) scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Korry Howell started the inning when he was hit by a pitch and stole second. Joe Gray Jr. singled to drive in Howell for a 1-0 lead.
LG Castillo singled with two outs to send Gray to third and that was the end of the line for Kernels starting pitcher Cody Lawyerson, who left the game with an injury.
Jesús Lujano welcomed reliever Tyler Palm to the game with a single to left-center on the first pitch he saw to drive in Gray. A hit batsman by Palm on Nick Kahle loaded the bases and a wild pitch by Palm let Castillo score. Yeison Coca capped the inning with an infield single to score Lujano.
Cedar Rapids (43-34) scored in the top of the second on an RBI grounder by Michael Helman.
The Rattlers used the home run to pad their lead in the bottom of the second. Howell reached on a double to start the inning, but he was at third with two outs. Thomas Dillard didn’t let the opportunity go to waste as he cracked a homer to right-center to score Howell for a 6-1 lead. LG Castillo was next and he lined a homer over the wall in left for back-to-back dingers and a 7-1 lead.
Dillard’s drive was his fifteenth of the season and he now has 65 RBI. Castillo’s homer was his fourth of the season and his first at home.
The Kernels and Rattlers traded runs in the third inning. Alex Isola’s RBI single scored a run in the top of the third for Cedar Rapids. Antonio Piñero doubled to left to score Coca from first in the bottom of the third and Wisconsin’s lead was 8-2.
Kahle reached on a double in the fifth inning. He took third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch for a 9-2 advantage.
The Timber Rattlers put more distance between themselves and the Kernels in the bottom of the sixth. Lujano drove in two runs with a two-out double and Kahle drove in Lujano with a single for a 12-2 lead.
Wisconsin’s bullpen did the job they had to do. Saturday was supposed to be Reese Olson’s start but that changed after he was traded to the Detroit Tigers on Friday afternoon.
Cristían Sierra, making just his second professional start, worked four innings, allowed two runs, and struck out four. John LaRossa pitched three scoreless innings with six strikeouts and earned his first professional win in affiliated baseball. Taylor Floyd closed out the game with two scoreless innings, including three strikeouts.
The final game of the series is Sunday afternoon. Wisconsin has not named their starting pitcher. The Kernels plan to send Tyler Beck (1-1, 2.28) to the mound as their starter. Game time is 1:05pm. The Rattlers will need a win to gain a split in the six-game series.
