Things are so hard to figure out when you live from day to day in this feverish and silly world. – Jack Kerouac, On the Road: The Original Scroll

The Timber Rattlers lost their second straight game with a 6-4 defeat at the hands of the Bees on Sunday.

Timber Rattlers 4
Burlington Bees 6
Boxscore | Game Story

The Timber Rattlers did something today that they hadn’t done since the game against the Bees on May 12. They scored first. That’s five straight games.

However, the Bees did something today that they have done in the last four meetings between the Timber Rattlers and the Bees. They scored in the first inning. They scored three runs in the first inning. They have outscored the Timber Rattlers 7-1 in the first inning over those four games. BUT, the Rattlers are 2-2 against the Bees despite digging those early holes.

Tyler Wagner gave up three runs in the first inning today. He had allowed three earned runs in his last 23 innings pitched before today. His control looked off in the first inning as he walked the leadoff batter on four pitches and it never got better. I am confident that Wagner will bounce back.

Mike Strong walked three and hit a batter in the sixth inning, yet he did not let in a run. It was a bit of a struggle at times, but he kept the Bees from scoring in three innings>

Martin Viramontes with two solid innings out of the bullpen. Looked like good velocity and good movement.

There were no RBI hits for the Timber Rattlers on Sunday. Here are how they scored their runs:

• 6-4-3 double play with runners on the corners and one out
• RBI grounder to second with a runner on third
• Runner scores from second on an infield single/throwing error
• Wild Pitch with a runner on third

This was the second loss in a row in which the Timber Rattlers outhit the Bees.  They are just one big hit away from breaking things the right way for them.

This is something that you are getting used to hearing, “Orlando Arcia had a multi-hit game.”  He singled and doubled.

Math? I LOVE MATH!  Well, no I don’t but this one is for you inclined to see things through the prism of the Pythagorean Winning Percentage.

• The Timber Rattlers are 19-21 this season.
• The Timber Rattlers have been outscored 197-173 in 40 games
• Plug the appropriate numbers into the proper calculator
• The math says the Timber Rattlers should be 18-22
• The Timber Rattlers are outperforming MATH by one win

So, THAT’S something!

To leave you with a good feeling, Weiner Dog Race Day in Burlington:

One of the ten racers

The white streak is Ruby, who won the race for the second year in a row and for the fourth time. There was really only one other dog interested in racing…

The other eight were just enjoying their day at the stadium.

To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future. – Plutarch

Let’s call it about 10′ above the white sign on the light tower….That’s where Orlando Arcia’s ball hit for his first Timber Rattlers home run.

Wisconsin 5
Burlington 6
FINAL 11 INNINGS
Boxscore | Game Story
The end of the game…ugh. Read the game story if you want to relive it. I am going to focus on the positives from this game.

Orlando Arcia: 2-for-4, BB, 2RBI, SB, First Midwest League Home Run.  If you have been reading this post, you are aware of Arcia’s ability to NOT strike out and to hit the ball well on two-strike counts.  It seems appropriate that he hit his home run on a 2-2 pitch.   He also drew a walk after falling behind 1-2 in the top of the ninth inning.  The only thing he did wrong tonight was hitting the ball up the middle on a hit-and-run play in the fifth inning.  The play wound up being a 4-3 double play.  But, there were a couple of “WOW!” plays in the field that he made.

Clint Coulter with a 2-for-5 night. Yes, three strikeouts and another passed ball…BUT, two more hard hit baseballs and a clutch 2-out RBI single in the eighth to tie the game. 

I noted the distance of Arcia’s home run.  Mitch Haniger’s home run I could not note except to say that it went really, really, really far and covered that distance really, really, really fast.  To left field. I think. 

Alert base running by Alfredo Rodriguez and Arcia in the top of the seventh.  There was an 0-2 pitch in the dirt to Tyrone Taylor that he checked his swing on for a 1-2 count.  The Bees thought it was strike three easy.  But, when the plate umpire didn’t call the pitch a strike, they took their time to appeal to the base umpire.  While they were doing that, the runners broke for the next base and made it without a play when the base umpire called it no swing.

I liked the way Eric Semmelhack competed tonight.  Sometimes it’s easy to just say “To Heck with this” after it’s 4-1.  But, he did the job and kept the Rattlers within striking distance.  Semmelhack wound up with a no decision and a quality start.

Preston Gainey deserved a better fate.  Both runs scored against him were unearned.  The passed ball by Coulter in the seventh inning set up the RBI by Soto that gave the Bees their 5-3 lead.  The eleventh inning unraveled after the dropped popup to start the inning.  Gainey walked three, struck out three, and battled.  Get ‘em next time.

Next time for the team is Sunday at 2pm.  Tune in as Tyler Wagner and Mike Strong try to get the 19-20 Rattlers back to .500.

Each man delights in the work that suits him best. ― Homer, The Odyssey

Taylor Wall strikes out Andrew Ray for the final out of the fifth inning.

Wisconsin 8
Burlington 4
Boxscore | Game Story

In case you lost track during that long homestand, the win tonight is the sixth straight road victory for the Timber Rattlers – last two at Lansing (May 2 & 3), all three at Great Lakes (May 4-6), and May 17 at Burlington.

Great to see Alfredo Rodriguez get a couple of hits on Friday night. He has been putting together some quality at bats, but hitting balls right at defenders or having defensive gems turned against him. Not tonight.  Two hits, a run, and two RBI.

Clint Coulter hit the ball hard three times and drew a walk on Friday. He’s starting to heat up a bit.

Oh, look! Two more Victor Roache walks. He keeps getting on base.

Ryan Gibbard is 3-0 in three starts this season. He has allowed three runs in 16-2/3 innings as a starter this season. Tonight, he mixed it up and when he really needed a strike he was getting the off speed stuff in for strikes. Granted five walks isn’t perfect, but he also got five strikeouts when he really needed them.

Keep in mind the plate umpire tonight was the same plate umpire from Sunday’s game that featured all four of the scheduled pitchers (Scoggins & Boyd for Burlington and Gibbard & Lopez for the Rattlers). Sundays game had 20 walks. This one had….thirteen. Better.

Speaking of better. Jorge Lopez struck out six over three innings – two in each frame of relief – and walked two. In two relief outings this year, he has allowed two runs over eight innings. Someone needs to convince him that it’s the 6th inning when he makes his next start…(Scheduled for 5/22 @Quad Cities)

It might sound unusual to bring the closer in with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning with a three runs lead. But, a benefit of the tandems allows you to do exactly that. It may not have been a save on the stat sheet, but Taylor Wall keeps getting the job done. Tonight was his tenth relief appearance of the season. He has allowed no runs in eight of those outings.

Oh, and he has now inherited 13 base runners…He has allowed two of those 13 inherited runners to score.

One down, 12 more to go on this trip.