Birchard was the story for the Rattlers (53-68 overall, 19-37 second half). The right-hander retired the first eleven batters he faced with a dazzling play by shortstop Jesús Made getting the second out of the fourth inning.
A four-pitch walk to Blake Mitchell gave Quad Cities (68-55, 29-28) their first base runner. Then, Birchard started another streak as he set down the final ten batters he faced. Birchard struck out eight over seven no-hit innings for his longest outing as a pro. He struck out his last two batters faced before he was told he was done after 83 pitches.
Adams, who was activated on a Minor League rehabilitation assignment from the Biloxi Shuckers of the Southern League, returned to action for the first time since June 19. It looked like he didn’t miss a beat. In the bottom of the fifth, Made and Josh Adamczewski had singled with one out. Adams laced a double down the line in left to score both runners for a 2-0 lead.
In the seventh, Adams had a lead-off double, moved to third on a grounder to the right side by Tayden Hall, and scored on a wild pitch for a three-run advantage.
Yerlin Rodriguez was called into the game for the top of the eighth. The crowd of 5,200 was buzzing after a strikeout started the inning to bring Wisconsin to within five outs of their first nine-inning no-hitter since June 10, 2021.
However, a walk to Trevor Werner was followed by an RBI double from Canyon Brown to end the shutout and the no-hit bid. Rodriguez compounded the tension with a pair of wild pitches later in the inning that would allow Brown to score and cut Wisconsin’s lead to a run.
In the ninth, the Rattlers asked Anthony Flores to get the final three outs. Flores had been 0-for-2 this season in save opportunities and 0-for-4 in his career. He got the first out. But the playoff hopeful Bandits weren’t going to make it easy. Sam Kulasingam reached on an infield single and a walk to Mitchell put the tying runs on base.
Flores got the second out with a strikeout. However, the degree of difficulty went up a few degrees when a passed ball by catcher Andrick Nava allowed both runners on base into scoring position. Flores finally got his man when Derlin Figueroa lined out to right to end the game.
Night two of Bratoberfest presented by Salmon’s Meat Products is game five of the series on Friday at Neuroscience Group Field. Bishop Letson (2-1, 1.45) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The River Bandits have named Felix Arronde (4-7, 2.81) as their starter. Game time is set for 6:40pm.
