The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have won five straight games after Sunday’s offensive outburst pushed them to a 14-6 win over the Peoria Chiefs at Dozer Park. The Timber Rattlers scored in seven of the nine innings and were led by Dylan O’Rae, who got back into the lead-off spot after getting his first rest day of the season on Saturday.
O’Rae was all over the boxscore as he was on base six times and scored five runs to help the Rattlers eventually take the lead and pull away from the Chiefs. The lead-off hitter was officially 3-for-4 with a triple, a walk, a hit batsman, two stolen bases, and an RBI.
Wisconsin (15-6) loaded the bases in the top of the first inning as Peoria starting pitcher Inohan Paniagua hit O’Rae to start the game, hit Gregory Barrios with one out, and walked Luke Adams. Paniagua got the second out on a popout but threw a wild pitch to let O’Rae to score for a 1-0 lead.
Peoria (7-14) responded in their half of the second inning. Leonardo Bernal hit a lead-off home run to tie the game. Osvaldo Tovalin lined a double off the wall in right. Dakota Harris followed with a single and took second on a throw that missed the cutoff man to put runners on second and third with no outs. Anyelo Encarnacion drove in Tovalin and moved Harris to third with a deep fly to right. Luis Rodriguez dove in Harris with an infield grounder for a 3-1 lead for the home team.
The teams traded single runs in the third and fourth innings. O’Rae tripled to start the Rattlers third and scored on a single by Luis Lara. Bernal drove in a run with an RBI double in the bottom of the third. Eduarqui Fernández cracked a lead-off homer in the top of the fourth. Darlin Moquete had a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fourth.
O’Rae started another Wisconsin rally in the fifth inning when he had a lead-off single. Lara followed with a walk and the duo pulled a double steal to get the tying runs in scoring position. Barrios drove in O’Rae with a sacrifice fly. Adams was next, and he roped a double to left to score Lara to tie the score 5-5.
Bernal was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the fifth and went to third on a single by Tovalin. Harris pushed a bunt to first on a successful safety squeeze to score Bernal for a 6-5 Peoria advantage.
The Timber Rattlers rallied in the top of the sixth to take their first lead since the first inning. Fernández walked, Jesús Chirinos reached on an error, and Terence Doston had an infield single to load the bases. O’Rae sent a grounder to short and the Chiefs tried to turn two. They got the out at second, but O’Rae beat the throw to first for an RBI fielder’s choice and a tie game.
A similar play gave Wisconsin the lead moments later. Lara hit a grounder to short. The Chiefs got the out at second, but the throw to first was wild to deny Peoria an inning-ending double play. Chirinos, who had been at third, scored on the play for a 7-6 lead.
The Timber Rattlers bullpen went into shutdown mode after the offense gave them the lead. Tyler Wehrle pitched a scoreless sixth with two strikeouts and Aaron Rund worked a 1-2-3 seventh.
The Rattlers bats did not go into to shutdown mode as they plated five runs in the top of the eighth inning to provide plenty of insurance. The rally started with O’Rae and Lara again. O’Rae walked and Lara doubled. Barrios added a sacrifice fly to score O’Rae and Adams, who also walked three times as he went 2-for-3, chipped in with a single to get Lara home. Matt Wood walked to extend the inning before Jadher Areinamo blasted a three-run home run to left for a 12-6 lead.
The trio of O’Rae, Lara, and Barrios struck one more time in the top of the ninth. O’Rae and Lara both singled with two outs. Barrios lined a double to the corner in left to knock in both runners for a 14-6 lead. Barrios had four RBI in the game and now has 20 on the season.
Rund, who had pitched a perfect eighth inning, gave way to Chase Costello for the ninth. Costello worked a 1-2-3 ninth to close out Wisconsin’s fifth win in a row.
Edwin Jimenez, the Rattlers starting pitcher, wasn’t sharp, but battled through five innings and picked up his fourth win in four Sunday starts this season despite allowing six runs on nine hits.
The Wisconsin bullpen covered 27-2/3 innings in the six-game series with the Chiefs and allowed four runs with only two of those runs being earned.
The Rattlers offense matched their season high for runs scored with fourteen. It was the third time this season Wisconsin has scored fourteen in a game.
The Timber Rattlers are off on Monday. They return to action on Tuesday at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium against the Great Lakes Loons. Tate Kuehner (0-1, 7.71) is the announced starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Game time is 6:40pm CDT.
