PEORIA, ILLINOIS (June 14, 2021) — With their backs against a potential second series loss of the season, the Quad Cities River Bandits topped the Peoria Chiefs 8-4 on Sunday afternoon to take half of the six-game set and depart Dozer Park winners of back-to-back ballgames.
In a rematch of Game One’s starters, Michal Yasenka had his way with the Bandits in the opening frame and stuck out the side on 11 pitches. But in the second, the righty-issued consecutive walks to Tyler Gentry and Michael Massey to start the inning before Eric Cole launched a three-run homer to right to give Quad Cities an early 3-0 lead.
With Anthony Veneziano holding down the fort on the pitching end and Yasenka already out of the game due to high pitch-count, the Bandits added to their lead in the third thanks to an error on Moises Castillo, which allowed Nick Loftin to score, and the fourth RBI of the game from Cole, who plated Gentry again, this time with a sacrifice-fly.
Now on top, 5-0, Quad Cities jumped on Chiefs’ reliever Cory Thompson, who replaced Wilfredo Pereira, with one out in the fourth, with a pair of RBI doubles from Loftin and Vinnie Pasquantino, who extended Veneziano’s cushion to 7-0.
The QC starter turned the momentum in his favor in the bottom of the fourth and struck out the side one-two-three before facing one over the minimum due to an error in the fifth to align himself for his first win of the season after a scoreless outing.
Now facing Will Klein, the Chiefs scratched across their first tallies in the bottom of the sixth and touched up the reliever for three on Leandro Cedeno’s three-run shot that cut the River Bandits’ lead to 7-3.
Klein would again run into trouble in the seventh and load the bases before Yohanse Morel entered with two outs. The right-hander walked in Cristhian Longa on four straight balls to Brady Whalen, but then ended the threat by striking out Cedeno to leave them loaded.
After a scoreless eighth, Quad Cities got a run when Gentry touched home on a wild pitch and then turned the game over to Jonah Dipoto, who set down the Chiefs in order in the bottom of the ninth for the 8-4 victory.
Veneziano (1-2) earned his illusive first win with a no-run, one hit, six-strike-out performance, while YaSenka (0-3) surrendered three on the Cole homer and went just 1.1 innings to take the loss.
Quad Cities will enjoy a league-wide off day on Monday before returning home to Modern Woodmen Park to host the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers who come to town on Tuesday for the first time in 2021.
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
