DAVENPORT, IOWA (May 26, 2019) — The Quad Cities River Bandits scored eight runs on nine hits over the first four innings on Sunday afternoon and made them hold up in an 8-4 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Modern Woodmen Park. The River Bandits did not put a man on base against the Wisconsin bullpen in the final four innings, but had established enough of a cushion to prevail.
Wisconsin (22-26) scored an unearned run in the top of the first to take an early lead. Brice Turang worked a walk off of starter Luis Garcia to open the game. He moved to second on an errant pick-off throw to first and then headed to third on a wild pitch. While he was advancing, Ruben Castro’s throw from behind the plate bounced away and Turang raced home.
Quad Cities (31-15) took their first lead in the second with a three-run spurt. David Hensley and Jonathan Lacroix tied the game with back-to-back doubles to lead off the frame. Wisconsin third baseman threw wide of first on a bouncer to the left side by Michael Wielansky to score another run and put the Bandits ahead 2-1. Before the inning came to a close, Trey Dawson singled through the left side to push the margin to 3-1.
The Timber Rattlers tied the score on RBI singles from Turang and David Fry in the top of third before the River Bandits pulled away. In the bottom half, the Bandits jumped back in front with three consecutive singles to open the inning. The final hit in that trio, provided by Cesar Salazar, scored a run and made it 4-3. Hensley lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Jeremy Pena for a two-run advantage.
Three more runs came across in the bottom of the fourth. Wielansky reached on a second error by Garcia and moved into scoring position on another throwing error by pitcher Logan Gillaspie. He was joined on base by Castro who singled and stole second in short order. Ross Adolph rolled a base hit right back over the mound to score both and grow the lead to 7-3. One more run was tacked on with Pena’s sacrifice fly to center. Gillaspie allowed eight runs, six earned, on nine hits while taking the loss.
The Timber Rattlers threatened to trim the lead significantly in the sixth, but settled for one run. They loaded the bases with two outs against River Bandits reliever Manny Ramirez and the right-hander walked in a run with his third base on balls of the inning. With the tying run at the plate, the Bandits brought on Felipe Tejada, who struck out Brent Diaz to end the inning.
Tejada retired all four batters he faced in 1.1 innings. Fellow right-hander Humberto Castellanos closed the game with a pair of scoreless frames. The win belonged to Garcia after his 5.0 innings of work to begin the game. The four pitchers combined to strike out 12 Wisconsin hitters.
Eight of the nine hitters in the Bandits lineup collected a hit. Austin Dennis was the only player in the game with multiple hits. Pena used a single in the third inning to extend his hitting streak to eight games.
The River Bandits and Timber Rattlers finish off their series with game four on Monday evening at 5:15PM. The River Bandits will call on RHP Austin Hansen (4-1,1.16) in a meeting with LHP Aaron Ashby (2-1, 4.19) of Wisconsin.
Wisconsin (R-H-E): 4-5-3
Quad Cities (R-H-E): 8-9-2
Win: Garcia (3-0)
Loss: Gillaspie (1-1)
Save:
HR: Wisconsin: None
HR: Quad Cities: None
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.
