DAVENPORT, IOWA (September 16, 2021) — Behind a record-setting four long-balls, the Quad Cities River Bandits cruised to their fourth straight win on Wednesday and topped the South Bend Cubs 12-4 at Modern Woodmen Park.
Quad Cities scored in all but one inning of the game and had their first two runs handed to them when Miguel Pabon made a bases-loaded error that quickly put the Bandits up 2-0 in the first, before Nick Loftin’s second hit in as many innings, a two-run double, made it 4-0 against the Cubs’ starter Max Bain in the second.
In the lead-off spot for the first time this season, Tyler Tolbert added a trio of tallies with a three-run blast in the third, his first High-A home run, that chased Bain from his start and made it 7-0.
Despite the Cubs getting five runners on against Charlie Neuweiler in the first three innings, the Bandits’ righty didn’t allow a run until the top of the fourth, when South Bend got a pair of unearned runs on a Tolbert throwing error.
However, the QC offense immediately got one back in the bottom-half on a solo-shot by John Rave for his fourteenth of the season and an 8-2 Bandits’ lead.
Emilio Marquez took over on the hill for Quad Cities in the top of the eighth, after Neuweiler went four innings and allowed no earned runs, and gave up a two-out solo home-run to Jake Slaughter, his second in as many nights. But once again, Quad Cities responded in the bottom-half with an RBI double off the bat of Tolbert for his fourth RBI.
After Marquez pitched the game’s first one-two-three inning in the top of the sixth, Quad Cities scored in six consecutive frames and did it in historic style, as Loftin’s two-run dinger gave his team 140 on the season, surpassing the previous single-season record 139 set in 2017.
Despite them loading the bases with one out in the seventh, newly-entered Zach Leigh finally held the River Bandits off the board in the seventh.
A sac-fly by Miguel Pabon and a solo homer from Eric Cole got each team another run in the eighth, but Will Klein shut the door with a pair of strikeouts in the top of the ninth to secure the 12-4 win.
Marquez (1-0) earned his first River Bandits’ win with three frames of one-run relief, while Bain (5-9), who coughed up seven runs — five earned — in 2.2 innings got the loss for the Cubs.
Quad Cities will look to secure at least a split of their final regular season series of the year tomorrow and will work behind Anthony Veneziano (6-4, 3.66). D J Herz (1-0, 3.27) is probable to get the start for South Bend. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30PM at Modern Woodmen Park.
ABOUT THE BANDITS: The 2021 season marks the River Bandits’ first year as a new Advanced-A Major League affiliate. As such, the team will be offering higher-quality baseball than has ever before been played in the Quad Cities. Additionally, the Bandits will welcome a new MLB affiliate to the Quad Cities, the Kansas City Royals. The River Bandits anchor the Quad Cities’ sports-market, which The Sports Business Journal named the top minor-league sports-market in the country in 2015 and second-best minor-league market in its 2017 follow-up ranking. In 2015, 2017, and again in 2019, the River Bandits earned Ballpark Digest’s award for “Best Charitable Works” in Minor League Baseball, the only club to win that coveted award three times. For more information, visit www.riverbandits.com or contact General Manager Joe Kubly at (563) 333-2768.
