The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are firing on all cylinders to start the second half of the season. The Rattlers defeated the Cedar Rapids Kernels 10-1 on Friday night in front of their largest crowd of the season at Neuroscience Group Field for their sixth consecutive victory.
Wisconsin (40-28 overall, 6-0 second half) did a little bit of everything in the game. Starting pitcher Wande Torres allowed one run on three hits and no walks over six innings and Daniel Corniel allowed one hit over three innings of relief. Braylon Payne and Josiah Ragsdale each had two hits, including a homer. Luis Peña led Wisconsin’s den of thieves with four of the team’s eight stolen bases during the game. Oh, and the defense sparkled with several great plays throughout the game in an error-free contest.
The 6-0 mark to start the second half of the season is the most consecutive wins to open a half by any Timber Rattlers team since the start of the franchise in 1995. Wisconsin entered Friday night tied with the 2001 team, which opened the second half of that season 5-0.
Cedar Rapids (31-39, 0-6) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Caden Kendle lined a 1-2 pitch over the left field lofts for a solo homer, his fourth home run as a Kernel. That home run snapped a streak of eight consecutive games in which Wisconsin scored first.
Dameury Pena followed that homer with a single. Then, Torres retired the next nine batters he faced. A double with two outs in the fifth by Henry Kusiak snapped that streak before Torres retired the final four batters he faced. In his last two appearances, Torres has allowed one run and no walks over 11-2/3 innings.
The Rattlers responded in the bottom of the second. Juan Baez and Daniel Guilarte each singled with one out. An error on Guilarte’s single allowed both runners to move into scoring position. Luiyin Alastre knocked in Baez from third with an RBI grounder.
Wisconsin took the lead in the bottom of the third on back-to-back RBI doubles. Eric Bitonti blooped a double to right to score Peña from third base with the first run of the inning. Luis Castillo followed with a double off the wall in center to send Bitonti across the plate for a 3-1 lead.
Peña started another rally in the bottom of the fifth with a lead-off single and a steal of second. Bitonti walked and the duo pulled off a double steal. Castillo cashed in Peña with a sacrifice fly for the 4-1 lead.
Ragsdale started the Wisconsin seventh with a double to center to move his on-base streak to thirty games, matching Andrew Fischer for the longest on-base streak by a Rattler this season. Braylon Payne crushed a two-run home run to center, his fourteenth of the season, for a 6-1 advantage.
In the eighth, Guilarte doubled, Alastre walked, and Blayberg Diaz singled to right to score Guilarte. That brought Ragsdale to the plate, and he launched a homer to left for a three-run shot for a 10-1 advantage. Ragsdale’s two-hit game was his 22nd multi-hit game of the season.
Friday also marked the fourth time during the six-game winning streak the Rattlers have reached double digits in runs.
Corniel allowed a lead-off double in the seventh. He retired the final nine batters in a row, including striking out the side in the top of the ninth to earn his first professional save.
Game five of the series is Saturday night at Neuroscience Group Field. Jayden Dubanewicz (2-0, 3.60) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Adrian Bohorquez (0-0, 11.25) is set to start for the Kernels. Game time is 6:40pm.
