DAVENPORT, Iowa (May 8, 2014) - Jobduan Morales and Brett Phillips hit consecutive RBI doubles with two outs in the eighth inning to complete the Quad Cities River Bandits' second straight comeback from a three-run deficit, and the team won its third straight game in a 6-5 victory over the Beloit Snappers in front of 1,087 at Modern Woodmen Park Thursday night.
After falling behind 3-0 and 5-2, the River Bandits (15-18) scored four runs in the eighth inning for a second straight game to match their longest winning streak of the season, which first occurred April 10-13.
In his return from the disabled list, River Bandits right-hander Michael Feliz worked around a first-inning single and second-inning walk to pitch two scoreless innings. Right-hander Patrick Christensen followed with a scoreless third inning, but right fielder Tyler Marincov led off the fourth with a double to center field, and designated hitter Jaycob Brugman drew a one-out walk. First baseman Ryan Huck hit an RBI single to left field, and second baseman Luis Baez followed with a two-run double down the left-field line to make it 3-0.
After Christensen allowed three earned runs on three hits and a walk in two innings, right-hander Gonzalo Sanudo started the fifth inning for Quad Cities. He allowed a single and walk to start his outing but got a ground ball to the mound and line-drive double play to escape.
Against Snappers right-hander Kyle Finnegan, Quad Cities was held to four hits and no runs through the first four innings. But Phillips led off the fifth with a triple down the right-field line and scored on second baseman Chan-Jong Moon's RBI groundout. Finnegan allowed one earned run on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts in five innings, before right-hander Junior Mendez began the sixth with a 3-1 lead. First baseman Conrad Gregor doubled to left-center field on Mendez's first pitch, and scored on right fielder Ronnie Mitchell's single.
Beloit *13-20) added to its lead against Sanudo in the seventh. Pinch hitter Sam Roberts hit a leadoff single and moved to second base on a sacrifice. After a strikeout and two-out intentional walk to left fielder B.J. Boyd, Sanudo was removed after 2 2/3 innings. Right-hander Zach Morton (2-1) came in to allow Marincov's RBI single - his game-high third hit - before ending the inning with a 4-2 deficit. Morton allowed another run in the eighth inning, when Burgman hit a leadoff double and scored after Huck's single was bobbled by left fielder Tanner Mathis. Morton completed 1 1/3 innings, allowing an earned run on two hits with one strikeout.
With a 5-2 lead, Mendez began the eighth by allowing a single by shortstop Jack Mayfield, a walk to Gregor and an RBI single by third baseman Tyler White, who had his third straight multi-hit game and is 11-for-17 on the homestand. Mitchell put down a sacrifice against right-hander Stuart Pudenz (1-3), who allowed designated hitter Brian Holberton's sacrifice fly to make it 5-4. Morales drove a 3-2 pitch down the left-field line to score White for the tying run, and Phillips greeted right-hander Tyler Hollstegge with a double to score Morales.
With a 6-5 lead in the ninth inning, Quad Cities used a fifth pitcher of the game for the first time since April 8. Right-hander Andrew Walter got a groundout by center fielder Boog Powell and a foul popup by Boyd before striking out Marincov for his third save.
Quad Cities will try for a season-high fourth straight win against Beloit left-hander Chris Lamb at 7 p.m. Friday.
UP NEXT: The first 500 fans to Friday's 7 p.m. game receive a sport bottle courtesy of Total Turf & Landscape. It is AUSA Military Appreciation Night, with postgame fireworks presented by Smart Toyota of the Quad Cities, WLLR and WQAD. Tickets are available at www.riverbandits.com. To order any of the ticket plans - with new lower prices - call the River Bandits box office at 563-324-3000. Season ticket and mini-plan packages start at just seven games and begin at less than $40. Call a River Bandits account representative today to choose your seats and get the details of our various mini-plan packages.
