CLINTON, IOWA (July 1, 2019) — The Quad Cities River Bandits picked up two wins against the Clinton LumberKings at NelsonCorp Field on Monday night and won the road series as a result. The Bandits scored two runs in the eighth inning of a game resumed from Sunday evening to win 2-0 and then pounded out 14 hits in a 7-3 victory in the nightcap.
The River Bandits (6-3, 49-26) came to the plate in the top of the eighth of the resumed game still locked in a 0-0 tie. Having been limited to just one hit in the portion of the game played on Sunday, they came out swinging in their first at bat of the night. Alex McKenna was hit by a pitch to open the inning and raced to second on Carlos Machado’s opposite field base hit. Michael Wielansky also singled to put the River Bandits on top 1-0. Before the inning was over, Freudis Nova added a run-scoring single of his own to double the lead.
Joey Gonzalez worked the final 2.1 innings to pick up the win. He, Brett Daniels and Layne Henderson combined to record the Bandits 13th shutout of the season. That total leads the Midwest League.
In the second game, the Bandits busted out of the gate with two runs in the opening frame. Ross Adolph opened the contest with a single off of Clinton starter Alberto Guerrero and quickly scored when Nova hooked a double into the left-field corner for a 1-0 lead. Nova then stole third base and scored when catcher Will Banfield’s throw deflected into left field for a 2-0 advantage.
The lead grew to 3-0 in the third inning with Nova right in the middle of the action once again. He lined another double into the left-field corner to put himself into scoring position and moved to third when a chopper from Austin Dennis was misplayed by second baseman Zach Scott for an error. Oscar Campos cashed in with a hard groundball to third that turned into an RBI infield-single.
The LumberKings scored their first run in the fourth inning on Bubba Hollins’ bases loaded single to left. Starter Matt Ruppenthal avoided further trouble by retiring the next two hitters to leave the bags loaded and maintain a 3-1 cushion.
That score held until the River Bandits came up with a big seventh inning to make the lead more comfortable. Nova doubled for the third time in the game to open the attack and was joined on base by Dennis who earned a base on balls. With two outs, Jonathan Lacroix plated a run with an RBI single and McKenna cleared the bases with a double down the right field line to extend the margin to 6-1.
Clinton got to within 6-3 thanks to a solo home run by Thomas Jones in the seventh and an RBI groundout by Connor Scott in the eighth, but the Bandits added an insurance later. In the top of the ninth, McKenna tacked on another RBI with a sharp roller into center-field that scored Dennis from third and increased the lead to 7-3.
McKenna, Nova, and Cesar Salazar each finished with three hits. McKenna drove in three runs while Nova collected three doubles, the most for a Bandits player in a single game this season.
Ruppenthal picked up the win by allowing one run on one hit in 5.0 innings. Jose Bravo was credited with a save in his first relief appearance of the campaign, allowing two runs, one earned, in 4.0 innings. The tandem combined to whiff 10 hitters.
The River Bandits will remain on the road, heading to Appleton, Wisconsin to meet the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Tuesday night at 6:30PM. RHP Jose Rivera (3-3, 6.66) will open the series on the mound for Quad Cities. Wisconsin will give the ball to RHP Reese Olson (2-4, 5.29).
Quad Cities (R-H-E): 2-4-0
Clinton (R-H-E): 0-3-1
Win: Gonzalez (4-3)
Loss: Brito (2-1)
Save:
HR: Quad Cities: None
HR: Clinton: None
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.
