(WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS) BELOIT, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers started an important two-week road trip with an emphatic 9-3 victory over the Beloit Sky Carp Tuesday night at ABC Supply Stadium. Wande Torres battled through seven inning as the starting pitcher, Braylon Payne hit an historic homer, and Luis Castillo delivered a big blast of his own late in the game to decisively give the game to the Rattlers.
Wisconsin (54-44 overall, 20-16 second half) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Payne tripled with one out. Daniel Dickinson followed with a single to left to knock in Payne.
Beloit (50-52, 23-14) responded with two runs in the bottom of the second. Esmil Valencia doubled and Emilio Barreras singled to put runners on the corners. Wilfredo Lara drove in Valencia with a one-out single to right that also put Barerras at third base. Dillon Head put the Sky Carp in front with a sacrifice fly to score Barreras.
Payne evened the score with his 22nd home run of the season. He drove a pitch off the foul pole in right field with one out in the top of the third. That home run tied the franchise record for homers by a player in a single season. Payne became the fourth Rattler to hit 22 home runs in a season. The others are Khris Davis (2010), Victor Roache (2013), and Clint Coulter (2014).
The Sky Carp went back in front in the bottom of the fourth. Valencia doubled to start the inning again but was still at second with two outs. Lara got the run home with another single to right for the 3-2 advantage.
The Rattlers responded to tie the game in the top of the fifth. Yannic Walther reached third to open the inning on an infield single and a throwing error by Beloit pitcher Liomar Martinez. Luis Peña followed with a triple to center to knock in Walther with the tying run. However, the Rattlers could not score Peña with the go-ahead run as Martinez retired the next three batters on a strikeout, a foul pop, and a strikeout.
Peyton Fosher relieved Martinez to start the top of the sixth inning and retired the first two Rattlers he faced. Tyler Rodriguez kept the inning alive with a double to left. Luiyin Alastre singled to left to knock in Martinez with the run to give the Rattlers a 4-3 lead.
Torres went back out for the sixth and worked around a two-out hit batsman. He was also called on to pitch the seventh and he retired the side in order, including his eighth strikeout of the night to end his night after 93 pitches. Torres scattered nine hits, walked none, and put the Rattlers in position to pick up an important win in game one of their series with the West Division leaders.
Daniel Corniel took over for Torres to start the bottom of the eighth and gave up a single and a stolen base to put the tying run in scoring position. Corniel retired the next two batters but walked Barreras to put the go-ahead run on base for the Sky Carp. The Rattlers got out of the eighth with a force out at second and went to the plate in the ninth looking for some insurance.
They found plenty.
Peña started the inning with a double with Beloit reliever Luis De La Cruz walking Payne and Dickinson to load the bases. Eric Bitnoti singled sharply to left to score Peña. That brought Luis Castillo to the plate with the bases still loaded.
De La Cruz fell behind Castillo and the Rattlers right fielder was ready for the 3-1 pitch. He crushed the ball deep to right for a no-doubt, grand slam and a 9-3 lead. Castillo has hit fourteen home runs this season, including two grand slams. He extended his current hitting streak to a season-high eight games. Castillo, the team-leader in RBI with 70, also has an RBI streak of five consecutive games. He has thirteen runs batted in over his last five games.
Corniel gave up a lead-off single in the ninth, but nothing else to earn his second save of the season.
The Timber Rattlers and the Quad Cities River Bandits, who beat the Peoria Chiefs 7-3 on Tuesday night, have both moved to within 2-1/2 games of the Beloit Sky Carp, the West Division leaders in the second half. Wisconsin has 29 games remaining in the season.
Game two of the series is Wednesday evening at ABC Supply Stadium. J.D. Thompson (0-1, 3.96) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Brayan Mendoza (4-4, 5.89) is set to start for Beloit. Game time is 6:05pm.
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