Luis Lara hits walk-off single as Wisconsin Timber Rattlers beat Sky Carp 6-5

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. — Tony Bullard’s two-run, go-ahead double in the top of the ninth seemed like it was just what the doctor ordered for the Beloit Sky Carp.

Not only did it put the Sky Carp ahead of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 5-4, but it put them in position to put together back-to-back wins amid a tough 2-8 stretch.

But the Timber Rattlers offense attacked in the bottom half, and Luis Lara sent an RBI walk-off single into right field to help Wisconsin down Beloit 6-5 on Saturday night.

The Timber Rattlers won the six-game series, which was played Monday through Saturday as all teams across the Midwest League did to accommodate for the Fourth of July holiday, 4-2.

Josh Ekness, who had come in and gotten the final out in the eighth, allowed a ninth-inning leadoff single to Tayden Hall before striking out Eduarqui Fernandez. Jheremy Vargas’ single put runners on the corners before he swiped second base. Ekness’ wild pitch allowed Hall to score and tie the game up while moving Vargas over to third. Lara’s single into left then ended the night.

Down 4-3 in the top of the ninth, Jorge Caballero drew a walk off Mark Manfredi and, after a strikeout, Josh Zamora walked to put two runners on. A wild pitch moved both players up and Bullard’s sharply hit double into center field scored the duo before Manfredi got crucial back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame.

The offensively dominated night, which saw both squads rack up 10 hits apiece, got started by the Timber Rattlers in the bottom of the first when Lara tripled off starter Ike Buxton into right field and later scored on Matthew Wood’s sacrifice fly to center.

The Sky Carp answered in the top of the second when Brock Vradenburg, Jake DeLeo and Cameron Barstad hit back-to-back-to-back singles to tie it up at one off starter Joe Ross, making a rehab appearance. The righty signed a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers in the offseason and held a 2–4 record and 4.50 ERA with 35 strikeouts across 9 starts before being placed on the IL in late May with a low back strain.

Ross induced a double play to end the top half and Hall sent a two-out double into left in the bottom half before Fernandez launched a two-run homer over the left-field wall to make it 3-1.

Ross finished after 2 2-3 innings and allowed an unearned run on three hits with a strikeout while Stiven Cruz got the final out of the third.

Yujanyer Herrera came in to throw the fourth for Wisconsin and after two outs Vradenburg doubled and DeLeo singled to right to put Beloit behind 3-2.

But Herrera locked in after that inning to throw three-straight scoreless frames. He finished allowing four hits, an earned run, two walks and six strikeouts.

Buxton finished allowing three earned runs on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts in five innings.

The Sky Carp tied it at three in the eighth when Zamora and Bullard drew a pair of walks off Aaron Rund to start and DeLeo hit a one-run single into left.

Alex Williams replaced the starter in the sixth and threw a scoreless sixth and seventh before Lara hit a leadoff solo blast in the eighth to put Wisconsin back in front 4-3.

DeLeo had three hits and two runs batted in while Vradenburg and Barstad both had two hits. Lara and Vargas both had three hits for the Timber Rattlers.

The Sky Carp return to ABC Supply Stadium for a six-game series against the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.