The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers could not find their way back from an early 7-0 hole against the South Bend Cubs on Wednesday night at Neuroscience Group Field. The Rattlers pulled to within three runs late in the game only to see South Bend pull away in the ninth for a 13-6 victory.
Mother Nature made the teams wait 31 minutes before the start of the game due to a brief downpour that hit just after the scheduled 6:40pm start time. Then, South Bend made Timber Rattlers starting pitcher Ethan Dorchies work a lot with 23 pitches against four batters in a scoreless first.
In the second, the Cubs (70-48 overall, 31-25 second half) loaded the bases with no outs on two walks and a single. Dorchies traded a run for two outs by getting Leonel Espinoza to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, but his pitch count continued to climb.
Reginald Preciado knocked in a runner from third on a weak grounder to third on a 2-2 pitch to make it 2-0. Josiah Hartshorn, who had an eleven pitch at bat in the first inning before striking out, fouled off an 0-2 pitch before sending Preciado home on a double. That was the 61st and final pitch of the night for Dorchies.
South Bend added four runs to their lead in the top of the third inning against Tanner Perry. The first four Cubs of the frame reached base with Loan Poteet and Alexey Lumpuy providing RBI singles. Preciado capped the inning with a two-out, two-run single for a 7-0 lead,
Wisconsin (63-54, 29-26) rallied for two runs in the bottom of the third. Juan Baez singled and Blayberg Diaz walked to start the inning. Sawyer Strosnider tripled to score both runners.
The Cubs responded with two runs in the top of the fourth. Angel Cepeda hit a home run just fair inside the right field foul pole with one out. Lumpuy had a two-out RBI triple to make it 9-2.
Daniel Dickinson and Eric Bitonti hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the sixth for the Rattlers. Dickinson’s homer was his tenth of the season to make him the seventh Wisconsin player to reach double digits in homers this season.
Bitonti’s blast was his 23rd of the season to tie Braylon Payne the single-season franchise record for homers in a season.
The Timber Rattlers continued to chip away with two more runs in the bottom of the eighth on a double by Luis Castillo.
Dickinson had singled and stole two bases in the eighth to start that rally. Dickinson has 53 stolen bases this season, the second-most in franchise history. The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers record for stolen bases in a season is 65, set by Pedro Liriano in 2001.
South Bend pulled away again in the top of the ninth. Josh Quezada walked the first two batters of the inning. Hartshorn, the #1 prospect in the Chicago Cubs system, had an RBI single for his fourth hit of the game. Then, Cepeda cracked a three-run homer for a 13-6 lead.
Wisconsin could not have got close without the efforts of reliever Michael Fowler. The right-hander pitched three scoreless innings for his longest outing in affiliated ball. Fowler scattered three hits, two walks, and a hit batsman with four strikeouts to give the Rattlers a shot before the Cubs had their big ninth inning.
Game three of the series is Thursday night at Neuroscience Group Field. Wande Torres (8-5, 4.40) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. South Bend will go with Nazier Mulé (2-3, 5.02) as their starter. Game time is 6:40pm.
