Link Report for Sat. 8/23 -- Rainout ends the DSL Season

[Mass Haas]

Timber Rattlers win in 11: 'More than baseball, it was battle'

By Dave Eminian of the Peoria Journal Star

 

PEORIA -- The Peoria Chiefs and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers exhausted all weapons, traded their best shots and ended up in a glorious duel that looked like one of those hand-to-hand closing combat scenes in an action movie.

 

"That was more than baseball, it was battle," Chiefs catcher Carson Kelly said late Saturday, when it was finally over. "There was so much heart out there, so much guts on display."

 

It was great theater, as the Chiefs played the underdog role, coming in with only 23 players, a lineup forced to start three reserves, no extra players to pinch-run, and a pitching staff that had no left-handed reliever on the team.

 

They rallied from five-run and two-run deficits and forced extra innings before they couldn't go any further, finally surrendering four runs in the 11th inning for an 11-7 loss before 6,171 at Dozer Park.

 

Had the Chiefs won, they would have tied Wisconsin, clinched the playoff tiebreaker, and moved into the wildcard spot.

 

Instead, they dropped two games back and surrendered the tiebreaker to the Rattlers with nine games left.

 

"So frustrating, it really hurts," said Kelly, while the celebration in the Wisconsin clubhouse echoed down the tunnel beneath the grandstand. "We were right there on the brink of winning it.

 

"I'm proud of these guys. It's hard, and it's frustrating, but we move on and play these next games and see what happens.

 

"That game tonight ... was ... incredible."

 

It had everything. Both managers were ejected. Peoria right fielder Rowan Wick made a highlight diving catch. There were 30 hits. Chillicothe native Chris Razo came on with one out in the seventh, blew a save when his wild pitch allowed Peoria to plate the tying run, then went on to earn a win by shutting down the Chiefs for 3 2/3 innings in which he allowed 2 hits and no runs.

 

The Chiefs rallied against starter Zach Quintana in the fourth inning with six straight hits -- the most consecutive hits in an inning by Peoria this season -- to break up a no-hitter and tie the game with a five-spot.

 

Wisconsin's Sthervin Matos put a drive off the left field foul pole in the fifth that was ruled a three-run homer, then overturned into a two-run double, then overturned again into a foul ball.

 

Exit Rattlers manager Matt Erickson, ejected.

 

Video replays showed the ball hit the foul pole below the yellow line that marks a home run, meaning it should have been ruled a double.

 

Down 7-5 in the eighth, the Chiefs rallied again when Justin Ringo and Wick singled to set up runners in the corners, and Ronald Castillo just missed a home run, lining a bullet off the screen next to the foul pole and above the fence in the left field corner.

 

That plated Ringo to cut the deficit to 7-6, and Razo's wild pitch followed and the game was tied.

 

Kelly was parked on second with two outs in the 10th when Castillo -- who had a three-hit game -- ripped a line drive toward the right-center gap. But the ball, heading into the wind on a humid night, hung for just a moment. Instead of a walk-off win, it was the third out.

 

Wisconsin put together four straight hits, a sacrifice fly, and a fifth hit off righty Robert Stock in the 11th, and it was over.

 

Chiefs manager Joe Kruzel made an emotional exit in that inning, when Wisconsin's Chris McFarland was ruled safe on a close play at the plate for a 10-7 lead.

 

Kruzel fired his cap to the turf, was ejected, then raged on, kicking dirt onto the plate, moving up the baseline to kick dirt on plate umpire Ryan Doherty, then returning to the plate to bury it some more before finally exiting.

 

"We really battled to get back in that game," Kruzel said. "We had some chances. You have to tip your cap to our kids. They could have tanked, but instead they battled.

 

"We had a chance, and we came up just short. What a game it was."