CLINTON, IOWA (June 29, 2019) — The Quad Cities River Bandits dropped the first game of their series with the Clinton LumberKings by a 7-2 score on Saturday night at NelsonCorp Field. Clinton broke a 2-2 tie with a run in the bottom of the fifth before pulling away in the sixth inning.

The LumberKings (6-3, 39-39) took a 2-0 lead in the early stages of the contest thanks to a pair of solo home-runs off of Bandits starter RJ Freure. The first batter that stepped to the plate for Clinton, Christopher Torres, turned on a 2-2 offering and launched his third home run of the season. In the third, it was Peyton Burdick who registered his first Midwest League home run to make it 2-0.

After Clinton’s Tyler Mitzel was perfect the first time through the order, the Bandits chipped away in the fourth.  Three singles, including one of the RBI variety from Oscar Campos allowed the Bandits to cut the deficit in half at 2-1. Quad Cities (5-3, 48-26) evened the score with a two-out RBI single off the bat of Austin Dennis in the next inning.

The tie didn’t last for long as Clinton bounced back in front in the bottom half of the fifth. Freure issued a free pass to Torres to start the inning and a stolen base moved him into scoring position with one out. Connor Scott’s single pushed Torres to third and he scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly from Will Banfield.

The LumberKings gained some separation in the sixth. With the bases loaded, Torres plated another run with his bouncer to first. Burdick then hit a chopper to short that skipped over Trey Dawson’s glove for a two-run error. Before the inning concluded, Scott’s bunt single drove in Burdick from third and increased the margin to 7-2.

The River Bandits outhit the LumberKings 12-9, but left 12 men on base. Dennis led the Bandits with three hits and one run batted in. Campos and Dawson added two hits of their own. Scott paced the LumberKings with three hits as well.

Freure took the loss after surrendering three runs in 5.0 innings. He struck out seven and walked four while scattering five hits. Hunter Martin was charged with four runs, but only one was earned in his 1.2 innings on the hill. Riley Cabral finished the night with 1.1 hitless frames.

The River Bandits and LumberKings continue their series with game two on Sunday afternoon at 2PM. 

Quad Cities (R-H-E): 2-12-2

Clinton (R-H-E): 7-9-1

Win: Freure (4-3)

Loss: Mitzel (5-3)

Save: Jones (1)

HRQuad Cities: None

HRClinton: Christopher Torres (3, 1st inning, 0 on base), Peyton Burdick (1, 3rd inning, 0 on base)

RHP Brett Daniels (3-4, 2.17) will take the mound for the River Bandits against Clinton RHP Tanner Andrews (2-3, 4.27).

All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio.  Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.

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