03
Jul
2015
Pitcher turning 21 goes career-high seven innings in club's fastest nine-inning game since at least 2004
DAVENPORT, Iowa (July 2, 2015) - Pitching on his 21st birthday, Quad Cities River Bandits right-hander Brock Dykxhoorn went a career-high seven innings, and left-hander Jordan Mills retired six straight batters to finish a 2-0 win over the Peoria Chiefs in one hour, 49 minutes - the shortest nine-inning game for Quad Cities since at least 2004 - in front of 6,982 at Modern Woodmen Park Thursday night.
A Goderich, Ontario, native, Dykxhoorn (5-3) made his final start before joining Team Canada for the 2015 Pan Am Games later this month in Toronto. Also one day after Canada Day, he allowed three hits and struck out three batters to help Quad Cities (5-3 second half, 50-26 overall) become the first Midwest League team to 50 wins this season.
While no pitcher walked a batter Thursday, the Chiefs (3-5, 36-40) managed three hits and one runner in scoring position the entire game, and it came in the first inning. Second baseman Darren Seferina led off against Dykxhoorn with a single to left field. Right fielder Nick Thompson and All-Star shortstop Oscar Mercado hit consecutive flyouts to right fielder Sean McMullen. With first baseman Alex De Leon batting, Seferina stole second base and went to third base when catcher Trent Woodward's throw went into center field. On the next pitch, De Leon flied out to center fielder Bobby Boyd to end the inning. Peoria did not move a runner past first base for the rest of the game.
Chiefs right-hander Matt Pearce (3-9) also stranded a River Bandit in scoring position in the bottom of the first inning. All-Star Jamie Ritchie hit a leadoff single to right field, and shortstop Alex Bregman reached on an infield single to third baseman Andrew Sohn. But Pearce struck out left fielder Jason Martin and got All-Star third baseman Nick Tanielu to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Pearce retired eight River Bandits in a row to keep the game scoreless until two outs in the third inning, when Ritchie hit his fourth home run of the season on a fly ball just in front of the Built Ford Tough Deck in right field for a 1-0 Quad Cities lead. The River Bandits added a run in the next inning. Tanielu hit a one-out double to right-center field, went to third base on designated hitter Ramon Laureano's flyout to center field and scored on right fielder Sean McMullen's line-drive single to right field to make it 2-0.
Pearce was charged with two earned runs on six hits while striking out four batters in 6 2/3 innings, but he lost his seventh straight start. Chiefs right-hander Kyle Grana retired all four batters he faced on groundouts in 1 1/3 relief innings.
By retiring three straight batters to end the first inning, Dykxhoorn began a stretch of retiring 15 Chiefs in order before Sohn led off the sixth inning with a single to left field. Dykxhoorn retired the next four batters before De Leon singled to center field with one out in the seventh inning. Dykxhoorn then got a flyout and fielder's choice to finish the frame. Prior to Thursday, Dykxhoorn's career-long outing was six innings, but he lasted seven on Thursday to extend his 11-inning scoreless streak against Peoria.
Mills began the eighth inning in relief of Dykxhoorn and set down all six batters he faced - including three on strikeouts - to earn his second save of the season. The shutout was the River Bandits' eighth this season, tying Bowling Green for the Midwest League high and marking the most for Quad Cities since it posted nine shutout victories in 2011.
The River Bandits conclude their homestand at 7 p.m. Friday at Modern Woodmen Park with the second game of a split-city, four-game series against Peoria. River Bandits right-hander Francis Martes (1-2) is scheduled to face Chiefs right-hander and former River Bandit Jhonny Polanco (1-1). The two teams will finish the series in Peoria on Saturday and Sunday.
UP NEXT: Gates open at 6 p.m. on S.J. Smith Night with a koozie giveaway for the first 1,000 fans. A 50-50 raffle will benefit the Quad Cities Sports Hall of Fame. Following the 7 p.m. game will be Friday Fireworks presented by Smart Toyota of Quad Cities, WLLR and WQAD. Individual tickets are on sale at the River Bandits box office and online at riverbandits.com. Ticket plans of 12 to 70 games - which include free parking, reserved seats, merchandise discounts, and guaranteed giveaways - are available by calling 563-324-3000.
