I mean, I have moments of huge frustration because of my inability to express myself linguistically as clearly as I would like to. – David Gilmour

Austin Blaski strikes out Ariel Ovando for the final out of the fourth inning.

Quad Cities 3
Wisconsin 1
Boxscore | Game Story

David Gilmour felt linguistically frustrated? Dude wrote The damn WALL and Wish You Were Here.

HYPERBOLE ALERT: I’ve never seen so many bounces go in favor of one team in a series.

That last play was the game in miniature. 3-2 count on Haniger. He smashes a grounder off Ryan Dineen. The ball deflects to Carlos Correa, who just HAPPENS to be in the right spot out in short left. Arcia didn’t round third base by too much, but it was enough to turn into the final out.

I believe that I called Ryan Dineen ‘Kevin Dineen’ after one of the line drives he snagged in the seventh inning. It’s only right. Kevin Dineen used to really tick me off, too.

Chris McFarland…I’m so sorry. You probably should have had three more hits in this series. But, Correa made some outstanding plays the denied you those hits. Hallmark should make a card.

Arcia had two more hits and is 8-for-14 during a four game hitting streak.

Austin Blaski pitched his way out of the fourth inning bases loaded, no-out jam…with some help from interesting base running.

Speaking of linguistically challenged…Look at the double play the Rattlers turned to help Blaski get the first two outs in the fourth inning. I could not form the words my brain was thinking as Elkins did not break for the plate with the bases loaded and just stood there waiting for Arcia to complete the 6-unassisted double play.

Then, there was the 5-4-3-5 double play in the top of the ninth. It’s also in the highlights and it’s also ridiculous.

The Rattlers end their ten-game homestand 5-5 and head out on the road for a 13 game road trip with a 18-19 record. The trip is Burlington (4), Quad Cities (3), Peoria (3), & Beloit (3).

Time to do laundry and pack.

But first, highlights:

I heard a definition once: Happiness is health and a short memory! I wish I’d invented it, because it is very true. – Audrey Hepburn

This was NOT and RBI single. This was Carlos Correa making a play up the middle on Mitch Haniger.

Quad Cities 9
Wisconsin 4
Boxscore | Game Story

Baseball Law: The longest games are the ones that have the shortest turnarounds for the next one.

Bad news: Orlando Arcia struck out.
Good news: Orlando Arcia struck out for the first time in 33 plate appearances. I’m pretty sure that’s an acceptable interval between strikeouts.
Gooder news: Orlando Arcia also had three hits, drove in a run, and stole a base.

Six straight River Bandits reached base between the third and fourth innings. They did not score. They ran into three outs on the bases in the third after two walks and two singles. In the fourth, they drew two walks to start the inning, but a double play and strikeout ended things for them.

In an alternate universe, the line drive off the bat of Alfredo Rodriguez in the fifth inning lands about a foot to the left, hits the line for a two-run triple, and the Rattlers win this game 23-5. Tonight, this is the darkest timeline.

We don’t normally talk about other teams prospects in this space…BUT…Lance McCullers, Jr. was a supplemental first round pick of the Astros in the 2012 draft. He is rated as the #4 prospect in the Astros organization. He was the starting pitcher. He gave up a two-out double to Mitch Haniger in the bottom of the first inning. Quad Cities got a reliever up in the bullpen and took McCullers out of the game after the inning ended. I saw the QC coaching staff talking to McCullers a lot during the break before the start of the second inning. He went up to the clubhouse without a trainer. He was back on the bench later in the game. Reason? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll hear tomorrow.

Also…Carlos Correa…um, wow. The #1 overall pick in the 2012 draft was 3-for-5 with a double, two runs, and two RBI. He made some solid to spectacular plays and showed great range. It looked like Chris McFarland had beat out an infield single in the bottom of the seventh, but it has to count as a spectacular 6-3 putout.  He is hitting .263 against the whole league and 9-for-23 (.391) against the Timber Rattlers.

Back to the Rattlers prospects:
Michael Reed 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base. His hitting streak is at 9-games and he is 15-for-32 during the streak.

I am just going to point this “stat” out there because it’s…I don’t know what it is…because it’s there?
There have been 75 innings by Wisconsin pitchers on this homestand.
There have been 18 1-2-3 innings by Wisconsin pitchers on this homestand.
Seven of those 1-2-3 innings by Wisconsin pitchers on this homestand belong to Tyler Wagner.

Sleep fast.  First pitch is at 12:05pm on Thursday.

Highlights:

You hit home runs not by chance but by preparation – Roger Maris

Michael Reed’s RBI single in the 7th inning.

Quad Cities 7
Wisconsin 9
Boxscore | Game Story

First things first.  Watch the home run by Haniger in the highlights.  Look for where the pitch is and how far out in front Haniger is,but he still manages to get a good swing on the ball to hit his fourth home run of the season.

Parker Berberet went down the first base line. The River Bandits were not expecting him to go that way.  That allowed Chris McFarland to race all the way home from first base.

I believe that my exact words before the Roache home run were: The outfield is playing him very deep <CRACK!> It doesn’t matter!  Listen for it on the highlights.

From now on when I hear Roache make contact, I am thinking of Walt Simonson’s sound effects from Thor.

As in: Here’s the 1-0 pitch to Roache….

Tyler Wagner extended his scoreless streak to 12-1/3 innings. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 21-1/3 innings pitched.

Tyler Wagner’s first two outings: 8IP, 8BB, 3K
Tyler Wagner’s last five outings: 26IP, 3BB, 29K

Tempting fate again, Orlando Arcia has not struck out in his last 31 plate appearances.  That includes 11 2-strike counts.

Tyrone Taylor and Michael Reed both extended their hitting streaks to eight games on Tuesday.  Reed is 13-for-28 and Taylor is 9-for-31 during the streak.

There are still some things that need to be sorted out by the defense.  There was a missed opportunity for a scoreless first inning, but the inning ending double play didn’t get turned. They gave too many outs to Quad Cities in that second inning and there were some missed cutoffs on throws.

BUT,

The Rattlers are above .500 for the first time since they were 2-1.  Plus, they are tied with Peoria (18-17) for 4th place and just two games behind Beloit and Quad Cities (Tied for 2nd at 21-16).

Highlights:

No game in the world is as tidy and dramatically neat as baseball, with cause and effect, crime and punishment, motive and result, so cleanly defined. – Paul Gallico

Jose Sermo scores on Tyrone Taylor’s ground out in the third inning.

11 innings
Burlington 4
Wisconsin 5
Boxscore | Game Story

Michael Reed and Tyrone Taylor both extended their hitting streaks to seven games.  Reed had three hits and scored two runs.  Taylor extended his hitting streak with a bunt single in the eleventh as he was trying to move Orlando Arcia to second base.

I know that I am tempting fate with this one…BUT…Speaking of Arcia: The last time the Rattlers shortstop struck out was in the eighth inning of the game at Great Lakes on May 4th.  He has gone 27 straight plate appearances without striking out.  Arcia has reached two strikes in ten of those 27 plate appearances.  He has four hits and two walks with two strikes against him since that strikeout on May 4.  He’s 18.

By my count Arcia is 5-for-22 with five walks since that strikeout.  Small sample size, but this is a rare time where BABIP = AVG

Heads defense by Adam Giacalone and by Eric Semmelhack.  Look for both plays in the highlights.

Clint Coulter struggled behind the plate with two more passed balls…BUT…look at him throw out Kyle Johnson at second base on the stolen base attempt in the top of the ninth.  Johnson had been 23-for-23 in stolen base attempts going into that try.

The two runs against Eric Semmelhack were: An unearned run on a two-out hit in the eighth and a wind-aided home run to left in the tenth.  I thought he pitched well.

For the record, the last time the Timber Rattlers won a game on a bases loaded walk was in 2007.  9/2/07 in the first game of a doubleheader and Calvin Beamon drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch to force in Gavin Dickey with the run to beat Kane County.

The Timber Rattlers are back at .500 (17-17).  They are in a 3-way tie with Peoria and Kane County for 4th place in the MWL Western Division.  All three teams are three games behind second place Quad Cities.  The Rattlers have three games left on this homestand…They play Quad Cities.  Important series for the Rattlers

Highlights: