01 Jul 2014

BANDITS HOPELESS AGAINST KAMINSKY

By Scott Kornberg

Southpaw fires seven shutout frames, Herrera gets four hits and four RBIs as Chiefs crush Q-C 8-2

PEORIA, Ill. (June 30, 2014) - TRob Kaminsky fired seven shutout innings and shortstop Juan Herrera set career-highs with four hits and four RBIs as the Peoria Chiefs crushed the Quad Cities River Bandits 8-2 Monday at Dozer Park.

Kaminsky (4-1) yielded only three hits without walking a batter. He fanned seven and allowed only one Bandit to reach third base against him.

Peoria (8-3 second half, 45-35 overall) got things started from the very beginning against Quad Cities (5-6 second half, 40-40 overall) starter Jandel Gustave. Vaughn Bryan led off the bottom of the first with a single before Gustave walked C.J. McElroy, Jr. and Justin Ringo to load the bases. Gustave punched out Carson Kelly and Mason Katz, but then Herrera singled to center to bring home two runs. Steve Bean's single a few pitches later plated Ringo to make it 3-0 Peoria.

Gustave (5-4) continued to struggle in the third, walking Kelly to lead off the inning before plunking Katz with an inside fastball, the first of two times the Peoria second baseman would be hit by a pitch in the game. Herrera then singled to right-center to score Kelly and push Katz to third. On the relay throw home, Jose Fernandez's throw sailed up the third base line and by the catcher Brett Booth, which allowed Herrera to advance to second. The River Bandits then brought in Chris Cotton, who walked Bean and gave up a single to Kenny Peoples-Walls to push across another run, making it 5-0 Chiefs. Michael Schulze then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, which scored Herrera to make it 6-0. Both runs were charged to Gustave, who gave up six on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts in two-plus frames.

Herrera singled again with two outs in the sixth inning against Quad Cities reliever Tyler Brunnemann to make it 7-0 Peoria.

The Chiefs won the season series against Quad Cities for the first time since 2009.

The River Bandits begin a three-game series tomorrow at Beloit with Michael Feliz (3-2, 3.64) on the mound for game one. The Snappers will counter with Hunter Adkins (0-1, 4.91).

UP NEXT: The River Bandits return home for the Fourth of July weekend, beginning with a 7 p.m. game Friday, July 4, to be followed by Fourth of July Fireworks presented by Smart Toyota of the Quad Cities, WLLR and WQAD. Game tickets are available at www.riverbandits.com. To order any of the River Bandits 2014 ticket plans - with new lower prices - call the River Bandits box office at 563-324-3000. Season ticket and mini-plan packages start at just seven games and begin at less than $40. Call a River Bandits account representative today to choose your seats and get the details of our various mini-plan packages.

27 Jun 2014

CLINTON PUMMELS RIVER BANDITS 12-3

By Scott Kornberg

Feliz struggles as Quad Cities can't complete sweep

CLINTON, Iowa (June 26, 2014) - Clinton starter Lars Huijer limited the River Bandits to two hits in six shutout innings and the LumberKings pounded out 14 hits Thursday in a 12-3 thrashing of Quad Cities at Ashford University Field.

The LumberKings led 3-0 in the fourth with one out when Michael Feliz walked Lonnie Kauppila. Zach Shank then beat out a bunt single down the third base line, and another infield hit, this one to first courtesty of Aaron Barbosa, who went 4-for-5 with two RBIs in the game and 9-for-13 in the series, loaded the bases. Feliz proceeded to walk Jack Reinheimer to bring in the fourth Clinton run of the game. The River Bandits then turned to Chris Cotton, whose first pitch to Chantz Mack was laced off the right field wall to score two more runs, both charged to Feliz (3-2). The right-hander surrendered a career-high six runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 3.1 innings.

Clinton really broke the game open in the seventh inning of an 8-0 contest against Quad Cities reliever Andrew Walter. Isaiah Yates, who scored three runs in his Midwest League debut, walked and then moved to second on a wild pitch. On Martin Peguero's single to center, Yates scored to give Clinton a 9-0 advantage. Peguero wound up 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Walter plunked Kauppila with a pitch and then served up a three-run home run to Shank, who drove in four in a 3-for-4 day, to put the LumberKings up a dozen.

Huijer (4-5) recorded just one strikeout, but got Quad Cities to hit into 14 groundouts to earn the win. He walked five.

Anthony Bass worked a perfect sixth inning with two strikeouts in his second rehab outing with Quad Cities.

Quad Cities broke up the shutout when James Ramsay scored on Clinton reliever Dylan De Meyer's wild pitch in the eighth. Tyler White, who was 2-for-3, had an RBI single in the inning and Ronnie Mitchell lifted a sacrifice fly to put three Bandits runs across in the frame.

The LumberKings extended their 1-0 first inning lead in their very next at-bat. After a one-out Yates double, Peguero struck out but then Kauppila singled home Yates. Shank's single moved Kauppila to second before Barbosa's base hit scored the Clinton second baseman to make it 3-0.

The River Bandits will begin a five-game, four-day series at Peoria tomorrow with Edison Frias (4-3, 6.09 ERA) on the mound against the Chiefs' Chase Brookshire (2-3, 5.06).

UP NEXT: Back-to-back fireworks nights kick of the Fourth of July weekend at Modern Woodmen Park. The ballpark will open Thursday, July 3, for the annual Red, White and Boom Fireworks, and the River Bandits will have Fourth of July Fireworks presented by Smart Toyota of the Quad Cities, WLLR and WQAD following the 7 p.m. game on Friday, July 4. Game tickets are available at www.riverbandits.com. To order any of the River Bandits 2014 ticket plans - with new lower prices - call the River Bandits box office at 563-324-3000. Season ticket and mini-plan packages start at just seven games and begin at less than $40. Call a River Bandits account representative today to choose your seats and get the details of our various mini-plan packages.

25 Jun 2014

BANDITS PITCHING BURNS THROUGH LUMBERKINGS

By Scott Kornberg

Bass throws perfect inning in rehab, Thurman goes four shutout in relief in 5-2 win

CLINTON, Iowa (June 24, 2014) - Anthony Bass threw a perfect inning in his first rehab outing, Andrew Thurman tossed four shutout frames out of the bullpen and Quad Cities pitchers combined to fan nine Clinton LumberKings with no walks in the River Bandits' 5-2 victory Tuesday at Ashford University Field.

Bass struck out Clinton's Zach Shank before getting Marcus Littlewood to fly out to center field and Jack Reinheimer to line to third in his inning of work. The Houston Astros right-hander threw 13 pitches, eight for strikes.

Thurman (4-4) took over in the next inning and dominated the Clinton hitters, ultimately allowing only two hits with three strikeouts.

While the Bandits pitching overpowered the Clinton order, the Quad Cities offense was able to get its pitchers some breathing room. Jose Fernandez, who went 2-for-3, singled with two outs in a scoreless game in the second and then stole second base. A few pitches later, Brett Booth crushed his second home run of the season to give Quad Cities a 2-0 lead.

Thomas Lindauer walked to leadoff the third before James Ramsay fouled out to the catcher Littlewood on a bunt attempt. Austin Elkins then ripped a double to left to put runners on second and third. Brett Phillips, who finished 2-for-4, launched a sacrifice fly to the left-center field wall to score Lindauer from third and make it 3-0. The next batter, Chase McDonald, who was 2-for-5, drilled a double off the center field wall to score Elkins, giving Quad Cities a 4-0 advantage.

After a two-run Littlewood home run in the eighth cut the Quad Cities lead in half, the River Bandits added an insurance run on a Phillips RBI triple in the ninth to make the score 5-2.

Andrew Walter struck out three in the ninth while yielding a double to pick up his sixth save of the season and first since June 1 as the River Bandits improved to 2-2 in the second half and 37-36 overall.

Clinton starter Edwin Diaz (2-4) surrendered four runs on five hits in five innings with two walks and six strikeouts to suffer the loss as Clinton fell to 2-3 and 32-41.

Quad Cities will start Jandel Gustave (5-3, 3.81 ERA) tomorrow night as the River Bandits look to win the series in their first road set of the second half.

UP NEXT: Back-to-back fireworks nights kick of the Fourth of July weekend at Modern Woodmen Park. The ballpark will open Thursday, July 3, for the annual Red, White and Boom Fireworks, and the River Bandits will have Fourth of July Fireworks presented by Smart Toyota of the Quad Cities, WLLR and WQAD following the 7 p.m. game on Friday, July 4. Game tickets are available at www.riverbandits.com. To order any of the River Bandits 2014 ticket plans - with new lower prices - call the River Bandits box office at 563-324-3000. Season ticket and mini-plan packages start at just seven games and begin at less than $40. Call a River Bandits account representative today to choose your seats and get the details of our various mini-plan packages.

13 Jun 2014

RIVER BANDITS RALLY FALLS SHORT AT CEDAR RAPIDS

By Scott Kornberg

Quad Cities falls behind Burlington in Wild Card race with 5-4 loss

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (June 11, 2014) - The Quad Cities River Bandits scored three runs in the top of the ninth, putting the tying and lead runs on-base before ultimately succumbing Wednesday to the Cedar Rapids Kernels 5-4 at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Cedar Rapids led 5-1 going to the top of the ninth with Hudson Boyd on the mound for his second inning of relief. Boyd gave up a leadoff single to Chase McDonald, who went 2-for-4, walked Ronnie Mitchell and then plunked Tyler White with a fastball to load the bases. However, after falling behind 3-1 in the count on Jon Kemmer, he struck out the Bandits left fielder before getting Brett Booth to fly to shallow left, holding the runners at their stations. Austin Elkins was able to chop a single to right field to score McDonald and Mitchell while putting the tying run on base. After Brett Phillips singled home White to make the score 5-4 and put the lead run on first, Cedar Rapids turned to Todd Van Steensel, who got Chan-Jong Moon to fly out to left to end the ballgame for his sixth save.

The Kernels were able to extend a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning off of Quad Cities reliever Edison Frias. Engelb Vielma and Tanner Vavra each singled to lead off the frame and scored when Chad Christensen pelted a two-run triple to left-center. Mitch Garver, who was 3-for-4 in extending his team-best on-base streak to 20 games, singled to bring in Christensen and make the score 5-1.

Frias came into the game for starter Evan Grills after five innings. Grills (2-2) gave up two runs, one earned, on eight hits in his five frames, scattering eight hits thanks to six strikeouts and no walks.

The two teams began trading runs in the bottom of the first, when Christensen, who finished 1-for-4 with three RBIs, hit a fielder's choice to score a run and give Cedar Rapids the initial 1-0 lead. However, in the top of the second, McDonald, Mitchell and White each singled consecutively, with the latter plating McDonald to tie the game at one. But Jason Kanzler's home run off of Grills to lead off the last of the second gave the Kernels a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish.

Brandon Bixler (4-3) earned the win with three perfect innings in relief of Cedar Rapids starter Fernando Romero, who gave up a run on five hits with two walks and a strikeout in four innings.

The loss dropped Quad Cities to 34-31 and into a three-way tie with Peoria and Wisconsin for third place in the Western Division, a game behind Burlington with four games to play in the first half of the season. Cedar Rapids improved to 28-37 and will start Ryan Eades (3-7, 7.07 ERA) tomorrow against Quad Cities' Adrian Houser (4-1, 3.91) in the rubber game of their three-game series.

UP NEXT: The annual Father's Day Cookout at Modern Woodmen Park is open for reservations until Wednesday, June 11. The package includes a game ticket and all-you-can-eat menu in the Budweiser Champions Club Sunday, June 15. To order any of the River Bandits 2014 ticket plans - with new lower prices - call the River Bandits box office at 563-324-3000. Season ticket and mini-plan packages start at just seven games and begin at less than $40. Call a River Bandits account representative today to choose your seats and get the details of our various mini-plan packages.

11 Jun 2014

PHILLIPS, BANDITS CRUNCH KERNELS

By Scott Kornberg

Outfielder notches career-highs with four hits and three runs scored as Quad Cities moves into tie with Burlington for Wild Card

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (June 10, 2014) - Jandel Gustave and Michael Feliz each worked four innings, striking out a combined nine hitters, and Brett Phillips recorded career-highs with four hits and three runs scored in Quad Cities' 6-2 victory Tuesday over the Cedar Rapids Kernels at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The win pushed the River Bandits into a tie with Burlington for the Western Division Wild Card with five games to play in the first half of the season.

River Bandits pitchers did not walk a batter, while their offense lumped enough hits together to score in four different innings, despite being sent down in order in four other frames. Quad Cities starter Jandel Gustave worked the first four innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits with five strikeouts. Michael Feliz (2-1) earned the win in relief, firing four frames with four punchouts while scattering two hits. Chris Cotton worked a perfect ninth for Quad Cities.

Quad Cities struck first, with Phillips leading off the game with a base hit. Chan-Jong Moon then hit a slow groundball to the right side of the mound that Cedar Rapids starting pitcher Aaron Slegers fielded and threw away, allowing Phillips to score from first and Moon to reach third. After Brian Holberton flew out to center field, Chase McDonald, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, singled home Moon to make it 2-0 River Bandits.

With Quad Cities leading 2-1, Tyler White and Jon Kemmer each singled to put runners on first and second with two outs in the fourth. Brett Booth then hit a line drive to center that Jason Kanzler misjudged, overrunning the ball and having it roll all the way to the wall. Both White and Kemmer scored and Booth ended up at third with his first triple of the year to increase the River Bandits lead to 4-1.

After Cedar Rapids scored to make it 4-2 Bandits, Brett Phillips lined a triple of his own into right-center field to lead off the fifth, his 10th three-bagger of the year. Slegers got Moon to ground out to first, but walked Holberton to put runners on the corners. McDonald then laced a single to right to plate Phillips and give the Bandits a 5-2 lead.

Phillips again helped create a run in the seventh. He singled to right and then moved to second on Moon's infield single. On a pitch to Holberton, the River Bandits tried a double steal. Cedar Rapids catcher Michael Quesada fired the ball into left field, allowing Phillips to score from third and put Quad Cities ahead 6-2.

Slegers (5-3) took the loss, surrendering five runs, three earned, on seven hits. He walked one and struck out three. The defeat sent Cedar Rapids to 28-37, while the River Bandits improved to 34-30. Quad Cities will send Evan Grills (2-1, 3.23 ERA) to the mound against Cedar Rapids' Fernando Romero (0-0, 3.60).

UP NEXT: The annual Father's Day Cookout at Modern Woodmen Park is open for reservations until Wednesday, June 11. The package includes a game ticket and all-you-can-eat menu in the Budweiser Champions Club Sunday, June 15. To order any of the River Bandits 2014 ticket plans - with new lower prices - call the River Bandits box office at 563-324-3000. Season ticket and mini-plan packages start at just seven games and begin at less than $40. Call a River Bandits account representative today to choose your seats and get the details of our various mini-plan packages.
28 May 2014

BANDITS END UP ON TOP OF SEESAW BATTLE WITH BEES

By Scott Kornberg

Ramsay draws four walks, Mitchell goes 3-for-5 with a home runs as Quad Cities wins 10-9

BURLINGTON, Iowa (May 27, 2014) - In a game that featured five lead changes and three ties, the River Bandits ended up on top of the Burlington Bees 10-9 Tuesday at Community Field. It was Quad Cities' first one-run win since beating Beloit 6-5 on May 8.

After a three-run Burlington sixth put the Bees up 9-8, Brian Holberton, who went 2-for-5, led off the top of the seventh with a bloop double down the leftfield line. A wild pitch from Bees reliever Spencer Trygg (0-1) advanced Holberton to third, but he held there after a groundout by Jack Mayfield. The next batter, Ronnie Mitchell, drilled a two-run home run to right to put the River Bandits up for good at 10-9. Mitchell finished 3-for-5 with a triple shy of the cycle.

The Bandits got the scoring started in the top of the first. James Ramsay drew his first of four walks to lead off the game and scored when Chan-Jong Moon tripled down the rightfield line. Brett Phillips walked, and then with runners on first and third, Quad Cities executed a double steal to score Moon and make the score 2-0.

However, Burlington answered right back in the home half of the first. Kody Eaves doubled to lead off the inning and Exicardo Cayones walked against Quad Cities starter Andrew Thurman. Mike Fish flew out to right, but then Thurman surrendered an RBI single to Eric Aguilera and a three-run home run to Angel Rosa as Burlington grabbed a 4-2 advantage.

Thurman would battle to work a career-high 5.1 innings, but allowed eight runs on 10 hits with three walks and six strikeouts. He did not factor into the decision.

Quad Cities tied things up again in the third. Moon singled to start off the frame. Phillips then laid down a sacrifice bunt, but a throwing error on the third baseman Rosa allowed Moon to score all the way from first, with Phillips reaching third. After Chase McDonald was hit by a pitch from Burlington starter Clint Sharp, who gave up eight runs, five earned on seven hits in 4.1 frames, a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Holberton scored Phillips and tied the game at five.

Jon Kemmer homered for the fourth time this season to give Quad Cities a 6-5 lead in the top of the fourth, but Burlington tallied a run in the bottom half with Stephen McGee scoring from third on a passed ball to knot things up again.

In the top of the fifth, Holberton drilled a one-out solo homer, his fourth of the year, to right-center and the Bandits held a 7-6 advantage. Tyler White then doubled and advanced to third and then home, respectively, on two wild pitches to give Quad Cities an 8-6 lead.

Albert Minnis worked 2.2 innings out of the bullpen to earn the win. Minnis (1-1) scattered four hits to allow only one run while fanning two. Frederick Tiburcio worked a scoreless ninth with two punchouts for his first career save as Quad Cities salvaged the three-game set to improve to 25-26.

The River Bandits will Chris Lee (2-2, 2.77 ERA) to the mound tomorrow as they begin a three-game series with the Beloit Snappers.

UP NEXT: The next chance to have your bill paid up to $100 by the River Bandits will be on Wednesday, May 28th when Quad Cities hosts the Beloit Snappers. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. battle on Game Show Night at Modern Woodmen Park. To order any of the ticket plans - with new lower prices - call the River Bandits box office at 563-324-3000. Season ticket and mini-plan packages start at just seven games and begin at less than $40. Call a River Bandits account representative today to choose your seats and get the details of our various mini-plan packages.

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