“I love winning, man….I love winning it’s like…..better than losing.” – Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh

McFarland to Giacalone to end the game.

Timber Rattlers 3
Great Lakes 1
Boxscore | Game Story | Highlights

Eric Semmelhack wasn’t throwing a no-hitter, but he matched the guy who was throwing a no-hitter.  He tossed six scoreless and kept the offense in the game.  A very nice bounce back outing for Semmelhack after that rough game at home against West Michigan last Wednesday.

Back to David Chavarria is a wizard.  Preston Gainey had runners at second and third with no outs in the bottom of the eighth.  This was right after the Rattlers had taken a 3-0 lead.  Chavarria talks about limiting the damage in spots like this.  If the pitcher tries to do too much, the inning can get away from him.  Gainey got a flybal that let a run score, a strikeout, and another flyout to limit the damage for a 3-1 lead.  That’s how it ended and that’s how Preston Gainey got his first professional win.

I figured there was a pretty good chance that Tyrone Taylor would bunt in that spot – runners at first and third with two outs in a scoreless game.  This is not the #BuntToWin sarcasm hashtag.  This was legit.  Taylor, a good bunter and a fast runner, put that thought in the mind of the Loons as their manager because he made a trip out to the mound to probably talk about exactly that.  Then, Taylor bunted to a perfect spot and Berberet scored the first run of the game.

Good to see Michael Reed get on track today.  He was 1-for-18 on the road trip before he doubled to start the seventh inning to break up the no-hit bid of Angel Sanchez.  He lined that double over the head of James Baldwin in center.  In the eighth, Reed singled up the middle to drive in Arcia and Taylor for a couple of insurance runs.

Victor Roache walked in the ninth.  He has reached base in 15 straight games since joining the Timber Rattlers on April 21.

The highlights that I am linking to up top are Loons-centric. Watch some of the strikeouts for on called strike three from Sanchez.  A few of the Rattlers thought the pitches were outside.  The point was made that Sanchez may have been off the plate, but he was hitting his spots and was getting credit for that with called strikes.

I am very, very surprised that the double play pitcher Jonathan Martinez turned in the top of the ninth didn’t make the Great Lakes highlights.  It was amazing.

Speaking of highlights:

Here’s the Victor Roache home run from Sunday.

Here’s a Ryan Gibbard strikeout from Sunday.

Tuesday is an off day.  Doubleheader on Wednesday against Clinton as the team returns home for a 10-game, 9-day homestand.

Pictures from Monday:

Six scoreless from Eric Semmelhack

The aftermath of the bunt single by Taylor.

Uncropped photo that was used in the game story.

Celebrate

Did I mention that there is a big chemical plant out past the stadium?

And when I breathed, my breath was lightning. – Black Elk

Ryan Gibbard strikes out Jeremy Rathjen to end the fifth inning on Sunday.

Timber Rattlers 5
Great Lakes 0
Boxscore | Game Story

This was the baseball’s reaction to being hit out of the park by Victor Roache in the first inning:

Roache went opposite field. Here’s the home run as it was leaving the yard:

Same photo as the game story. It’s just uncropped.

The ball landed beyond the Big E’s Sports Grill sign…around that second railing on the walkway. The sign is around 377′ from home plate. Here’s a better look at the sign with the walkways:

He hit is far is what I’m saying.

IF MiLB.com puts the highlight up as a on the main page, I’ll share it…it may be a day or two before it goes up on the site, but it’s all good.

Tyrone Taylor hit the ball really, really hard in the second inning. I thought it was a hit. How that got changed to an error is…I’m not going to say anymore. It’s just going to get me in trouble.

I didn’t put this in the game notes, but I made a point to put it on Twitter before the game today: Not in the Notes: In 1st 4 games of this trip, @TimberRattlers drew 29 walks. They face Lindsey Caughel today: 0BB & 20K in 21IP in 2013.

There were two outs and none on in the top of the first inning, when Mitch Haniger drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch right before the home run by Roache. There were two outs and none on in the top of the second inning, when Alfredo Rodriguez drew a walk on a 3-1 pitch.

Total number of walks for the Rattlers today were three. They have 32 walks in the first five games of this road trip. Oh, and they are 4-1 on this trip with one game left.

Ryan Gibbard. I had him at 79 pitches with 54 strikes. He took that early lead and ran with it.

The in stadium pitch speed display had Jorge Lopez reach 94 a couple of times. He was consistently at 91-92 and he three strikes. The only thing that went wrong for him today was the last out of the bottom of the eighth inning. There was a runner at second with two outs and Corey Seager hit a hard one-hopper back to the mound. Lopez turned and threw to third. Fortunately, Alfredo Rodriguez tagged out Seager in a rundown. Lopez yelled into his glove as he walked off the field….I think it was “Darn it!”

Monday’s game starts at 9:35am CDT. That’s a 10:35am start time here in the eastern time zone. The bus leaves 2-1/2 hours before the game tomorrow. Tune in for some baseball for your coffee break.

Maybe pull up a seat on the lawn outside of work:

Or on the lawn behind the Rattlers bullpen.

THAT’S what happened to Carl.

.

Yet habit – strange thing! What cannot habit accomplish? – Herman Melville

Chris McFarland singles to drive in the tying runs in the top of the eighth inning.

Victor Roache scores the tying run on McFarland’s game tying single.

Timber Rattlers 6
Great Lakes 4
Boxscore | Game Story

Just so we’re clear.  First 23 games of the season = 0…as in zero…9th inning runs for the Timber Rattlers.  Last two games = 8 9th inning runs for the Timber Rattlers.

Rodolfo Fernandez picked up his first professional win.  He tossed three scoreless innings, walked one, and struck out three.  He gave up a single, but erased that runner on a ridiculously good move to first base.

Austin Blaski should have only been down 1-0 when he left.  He made some really nice pitches when he was in there and kept the Rattlers in there until the Loons bullpen got in the game.

Mitch Haniger walked three times for the second game in a row.  He also had another single.  His slash line is at .314/.408/.524.

Victor Roache was hit twice by pitched.  The first one got him on his forearm and he had it wrapped in ice when we got back to the hotel.  The other grazed the shoulder of his jersey….The jersey appeared to be okay.

The Timber Rattlers have won three straight for the first time this season.  They go for their fourth straight on Sunday afternoon.

There was a point in 2012 where the Timber Rattlers came back to win some games and they started getting confident and believing that they were never out of a game no matter the deficit…Time will tell if the 2013 team looks back at these two May games in Michigan as a jumping off point for some really fun things this season.

File this under…I’ve made this type of mistake before and will again so it doesn’t make me feel bad when someone else does it…..Look closely.

Tonight’s lineup for the @timberrattlers. #Loons twitter.com/greatlakesloon…

— Great Lakes Loons (@greatlakesloons) May 4, 2013

Also filed under….That’s when I thought the Rattlers would win the game.

Photos:

Tyrone Taylor singles with two out in the seventh inning to drive in Wisconsin’s first run.

Oh…and this is the pressbox for Newspapers at Dow Diamond.