Jose Hernandez deals as Aaron Mizell's homer leads offense in win in Wisconsin
APPLETON, WI -- The Quad Cities River Bandits snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Tuesday afternoon at Fox Cities Stadium. Aaron Mizell hit an inside-the-park home run, his first of the year, and Dexture McCall collected three hits to pace the offense.
The River Bandits (3-10) took the lead for good in the fourth inning when Mizell roped a ball into the right-centerfield gap. Digging hard out of the batter's box, he sprinted around third for the plate. The relay throw beat him home, but he swiped his extended left hand around the catcher's mitt to touch the plate with a perfect hook slide. His first homer of the year also chased home McCall. The Bandits added an insurance run in the sixth when Antonio Nunez drew a bases-loaded walk to plate McCall for the second time in the game.
On the mound, Jose Hernandez was sharp for the second straight outing. After four scoreless innings of relief last Friday, Hernandez held the Timber Rattlers (5-8) to one run on five hits and a walk while striking out six. Pitch count forced him from the game after a two-out, two-strike single by Carlos Bellonis in the fifth, rendering Hernandez one out shy of qualifying for a win.
Adam Whitt got the Bandits through the fifth then immediately proved the importance of that sixth-inning insurance run. Mitch Ghelfi drew a leadoff walk before David Denson doubled him home to get the Timber Rattlers back within one. Denson, who had three hits in the game, advanced to third on a single, but with runners at the corners and one out, Whitt (1-0) got Alan Sharkey to ground into an inning-ending double play. Whitt went 1.1 innings, allowing a run on two hits and two walks while picking up a strikeout.
Ralph Garza allowed just one groundball single in three scoreless innings to slam the door and pick up his first save of the year. Connor Goedert reached base three times in his River Bandits debut, including a sharp ground ball in the seventh to plate Kyle Tucker - who smacked his first triple of the year to right-center - and provide some extra insurance down the stretch.
The rubber match of this three-game series is set for Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. CT at Fox Cities Stadium. Albert Abreu (0-1, 6.75) takes the mound for Quad Cities against John Perrin (1-0, 2.25) for the Timber Rattlers. You can hear the game live on K-BOB 1170 AM in the Quad Cities and world-wide on riverbandits.com or the TuneIn app. Jake Levy has the call, starting with the Lloyd Agencies Pregame Show at 6:20 p.m. CT.
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