It was a week that plenty of close games;

With the Rattlers winning most, sometimes in late frames.

There were two "walk-off" wins, if you are into that term;

But, there was also one inning -- out of many -- that will make you squirm.

The second half is just starting  and the record is good;

So are these Wily & Brock guys, who keep rolling through the neighborhood.

It's that time once again.  Will you take the call?

Are you ready for This Week in Timber Rattlers Baseball?

Friday, June 26; @Wisconsin 3, Peoria 2:  Put yourself in this spot.  Game tied.  Bases loaded.  Bottom ninth.  Infield in. You're at the plate. What did you just imagine yourself doing? Clean single to center?  Grand slam?  How about a walk-off fielder's choice?  Jose Duran was up in that exact situation and hit a hard shot that was knocked down at second.  The throw to the plate was just a bit too late and Corey Kemp scored the winning run.  Also in this game, pitcher Wily Peralta struck out ten hitters over six innings and was hitting mid-90's with his fastball throughout the evening.  Keep your eye on this kid.

Saturday, June 27; @Wisconsin 2, Peoria 1 (14 innings): It was a long night at the ballpark and there were some injuries two different suicide squeeze plays that were unsuccessful, and an odd end.  Steve Braun got hurt in a rundown between third and home when the Chiefs sensed a squeeze play.  Peoria pitched out and Braun got caught.  He's out for the rest of the season...probably.  Later in the game, Chris Dennis tried to score on a hit to right and landed awkardly on his right foot.  He's out maybe two months.  And so the game crept on to the four hour mark with the score still tied 1-1.  Duran reached on an error to start the bottom of the 14th.  Two outs later he was only to second base.  Juan Sanchez sent a high pop up to shallow right.....and Peoria's second baseman Junior Lake dropped the ball.  Or in the words of one wag in the press box...He Metsed it...

Sunday, June 28; Peoria 15 @Wisconsin 6: This was a 6-4 Rattlers lead at one time.  It was 6-5 going to the top of the eighth inning.  The first nine Chiefs batters of the eighth reached.  All nine scored.  For good measure, the Chiefs scored again in the top of the ninth.  That was just rubbing it in, but there will be games like this every once in awhile.  The good news, for now and the future, the Rattlers have gone 7-1 against the Midwest League affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

Monday, June 29; Off day.  Are you kidding me?  A three-day all-star break just ended on Thursday.  Did we really need another off day?  I'm not going to complain too much.  The last radio guy in the Midwest League to complain about the scheduling of games was put on the scheduling committee.  I've got enough on my plate.

Also, this was the day the Timber Rattlers got their first player from the 2009 draft.  Peter Fatse (Pronounced FAHT-see) joined the team and jumped into the lineup on Tuesday.  He was the 24th round pick of the Brewers out of UCONN.  UCONN....UCONN....UCONN....oh, right....

Tuesday, June 30; Clinton 4 @Wisconsin 2: This was a 2-2 game until the top of the eighth.  Clinton got a pair of runs with two outs in the inning and the Rattlers lost despite outhitting the LumberKings 6-4.  The Rattlers got a pair of runners aboard with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but could not get the runner home against former Timber Rattlers pitcher Ruben Flores.

Wednesday, July 1; @Wisconsin 4, Clinton 3: Day game special and the Rattlers win another one-run game.  This time the score was tied 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh.  That's when the L-Kings got BROCKED!

Brock Kjeldgaard tripled off the wall in rightfield to drive John Delaney home from first with what turned out to be the game winning run. Peralta got the win and struck out six more over the final three innings.

There was an incident in Wednesday's game.  Delaney, who wears number eight tripped on the mound going after a popup.  Before Thursday's batting practice someone did this to  the mound:

Thursday, July 2; @Wisconsin 4, Clinton 3: Down 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Brett Lawrie beat out a routine grounder to short.  He scored on a Corey Kemp double.  One out later, Kjeldgaard doubled in Kemp.  Then, Michael Vass singled in Kjeldgaard for a 3-2 lead.  In the sixth, the L-Kings got BROCKED again!

On a 1-2 pitch, Kjeldgaard hit a high flyball to leftcenter.  It hit the top of the scoreboard.  A little math...385' to the wall.....scoreboard is about 50' maybe 55' off the ground...Well, it went a long way.  Nick Tyson closed out the game and the Rattlers are back above .500 (39-38) on the season and are in first place with a record of 5-2.  Good start to the first half.

Wanted to add this in before the bullet points for tonight's game.  Lorenzo Cain, the #6 prospect in the Brewers organization, has just completed his rehab assignment in Arizona and will join the Timber Rattlers for tonight's game.   He joins Taylor Green and Alex Periard as Brewers farmhands who play for the Rattlers as a way to get back in to game action before joining the upper levels of the system.  No word on how long Cain will be a Rattler, so get out tonight to catch him in action--if you are in the area.

The week ahead in Bullet Points:

• Friday, July 3: vs. Clinton.  Spider-Man appearance.  Military Appreciation Night.  Retired and active duty military personnel receive a free reserved ticket to this game.  North Shore Bank Family Night with Kids 12 and under eating free and kids 14 and under running the bases after a fireworks display.
  
• Saturday, July 4 through Tuesday, July 7 @Burlington.  Look out, blackjack tables.  I have a system this time.
• Wednesday, July 8: vs. West Michigan -- First 1,000 fans get a player poster of Daniel Meadows from Express Convenience.  It will not look like this:
• Thursday, July 10 vs. West Michigan Taco Bell Night for the Boys' and Girls' Club
  

So long, everybody.

BrewTown is jumping and the Brewers have three important series before the All Star Break. Let me insert cliches about fireworks, 4th of July, Summer, and Grilling here. The Brewers will hope to grill the Cubs this 4th of July Weekend...You can expect a lot of Fireworks before the Mid-Summer Classic...Blah Blah, here's the good stuff...

Shortstop: Brewers are in first. Now knock out the Cubs. — Jared

Tailgating: You might have seen Bill Schroeder or that Jerry Garcia dude from Piggly Wiggly talk about “brat hot tubs” on the FSN telecasts. Like all good Wisconsinites, I like to boil my brats in beer before I grill them, but the post-grilling “hot tub” idea was foreign to me until I saw it on FSN. It makes sense. I mean, it’s not unlike at picnics or events when brats are thrown in a crock-pot or other type of warmer with some beer and ***. And it works. The brats are a lot juicier and if you throw in some *** and onions, they’re tastier too. You can even leave them in the “hot tub” for quite a while with no danger of overcooking them. I use one of those flimsy aluminum bread pans you can buy at any supermarket for the tub. Try it out. — Jared

Recommended Tailgating Music: I feel like I should choose some MJ, but it's also Summerfest, so here's a mixer of some songs from bands at Summerfest that would make me want to join the tailgate: Help Save the Youth of America from Exploding by Less than Jake, All I Want by the Offspring, Drunken Lullabies by Flogging Molly, Roots Radicals by Rancid, River Card by Corey Chisel and the Wandering Sons, The Seed 2.0 by The Roots, I'm Shipping off to Boston by the Dropkick Murphys, Superstitious by Stevie Wonder, Kick Push by Lupe Fiasco, and The Set Up by Reel Big FIsh — Bryan

Handy Heckle: Earlier this week, RotoInfo posted a list that is supposedly the 103 players that tested positive for steroids when MLB did an “anonymous” test in 2003 (http://rotoinfo.com/read_article.php?articleId=318). It got quite a bit of buzz, but is apparently a load of crap. That said, we can still use this to our advantage. Five current Cubs showed up on the list: Carlos Zambrano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley (along with 15 other former Cubs). The list might be true (unlikely), but even if it isn’t, the Cubs players on the list are probably pretty pissed about it. Just casually remind them about it. Like, “Hey, Carlos, imagine what that Gatorade machine would’ve looked like after that beatdown if you were still on ’roids!” or “Derrek, 46 home runs one year and then 50 over the next three seasons. I was totally surprised you were on that steroid list, man!”. — Jared

Art: Smooth Criminal

Many of you have noticed Ryan Braun's new at bat song. Personally, I love it and I hope he keeps it. — Bryan

Half Pint: Wily Peralta. Having had a chance to see this guy live a couple times over at Timber Rattlers stadium has been a treat. The 6’2” righty is big and powerful. He gets it up into the mid 90s and has a really nasty slider. Peralta’s numbers so far this year are eye popping. He has a 3.41 ERA in 16 appearances (eight starts) with 83 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings and a 4.15 K/BB ratio. He’s on a roll right now too. Since the last Out of Right Field post, Peralta has pitched nine innings (one six-inning start, one relief appearance) giving up just two runs and striking out 16. Insane. Get out to Appleton while you can still see this guy as a T-Rat. — Jared

Blatz from the Pabst: Bill Wegman doesn't have a memorable name. He was picked in the 5th round. He doesn't have amazing stats, but Wegman was a solid Brewers starter from 1985 to 1995. His best statistical year was 1991 when he won 15 games and had an ERA under 3. He used this great year to get his "big" two million dollar a year payday. I remember Wegman as the rock of the staff...nothing fancy, nothing overpowering, but just solid. Batters would get on, but he would work through it. He ended his career with the Brewers, but also under a .500 career Win Loss record. — Bryan

Alternate uses for RFB shirts: 1) A gag to either keep yourself from getting kicked out of a game or to shut up an idiot fan. Instead of a profanity laced tirade causing security to come after a couple people text the Brewers, just show them the Cub Killer. 2) Ever forget to bring an oven mitt? This 4th of July, you could use an extra RFB shirt as a sweet oven mitt to grab the hot potatoes instead of burning your hands. 3) You just know someone is going to light their hand on fire from fireworks too. If you don't have bandages, a shirt makes a killer fabric wrap.— Bryan

Friendly Fire: Anyone that has ever been to a baseball game with me knows how much I hate the wave. Seriously, what is so god damn exciting about this tired 1970s gimmick? Yet every game I go to there is at least one ass clown in my section that screams for everyone to start the freakin’ wave with him. “Come on everybody! Get up! We’re going to start the wave! OK! 1! 2! 3! WHOAAAAH!” *FAIL* “OK, no really this time! We need EVERYONE! COME ON! 1! 2! 3! WHOAAAAAH!” *FAIL* *REPEAT* And if they’re finally (mercifully) successful, the whole section giggles in glee as they watch other fans stand up and sit back down in other parts of the stadium. Epic! The worst part? The morons that try to start the wave seemingly always wait until a key part of the game to begin it. So, rather than watch the Brewers (you know, the reason we’re all there…), I get to stare at the backs of people who get off on this stupid human trick. Stop. Doing. The. Wave. — Jared

I asked and you said sleep in, so I did. Here's a very abbreviated Morning Coffee.

First off, we will still have Out of Right Field, TWITRB and probably a Weekend Six Pack in the drink today.

If you got links & such drop them in the comments.

Boy, that Brewers game sucked last night.

First the Milwaukee Wave, now the Milwaukee Mile.

The T-Wolves wasted their pick on Ricky Rubio.

Shaq had some fun at Danny Ferry's expense.

Tonight's Daily Drink recommended concert - The Roots

I'll probably just do an open Morning Coffee tomorrow. If you got links, drop them in the comments.

Butt crack at Miller Park.

Miller Park South sucks.

Meet Joey Chestnut, eater of hot dogs.

Josh Childress. Milwaukee Buck?

T.O. has got nothing on this guy.

Rowdy Roddy Piper, arrested for DUI.

Top 10 Ironic/painfully wrong ads. (h/t klwillis45)

Summerfest Music video: For you Burnie....

From Summerfest - Willie Nelson



Leave your clever caption in the comments.