BURLINGTON, IOWA (August 2, 2019) — The Quad Cities River Bandits scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to finish a four-game sweep of the Burlington Bees with a 4-1 win on Friday night at Community Field. Alex Holderbach drove in the winning-run in the top of the ninth inning for the second straight night. The series sweep was the first of the second half for the River Bandits in a series that was more than two games in length.
The game was tied 1-1 entering the ninth inning. The River Bandits (23-17, 66-50) had not scored since the opening inning, but brought the middle of their lineup to the plate against Gregory Veliz. With one out in the frame, Freudis Nova walked and quickly stole second base. He would then go to third on a wild pitch before being joined on base by Grae Kessinger with a walk of his own. That brought Holderbach to the plate with a chance to put the River Bandits on top. On Thursday night, he hit a go-ahead home-run, but this time chopped an RBI infield-single to third that scored Nova, and then advanced to second on a throwing-error by Alvaro Rubalcaba. Another run scored on a Ramiro Rodriguez fielder’s choice bouncer to the second baseman and then Oscar Campos made it 4-1 with a sacrifice-fly to deep center-field.
Reliever Garrett Gayle had allowed the tying run to score in the seventh inning, but came back out for the ninth trying to finish off the win. He showed no signs of being tired, striking out the side in order to pick up the win on his birthday. He allowed one run on five hits over 3.0 innings of work.
The Bandits had taken a 1-0 lead without the aid of a hit in the first inning. Burlington (15-25, 54-56) starting-pitcher Hector Yan walked Michael Wielansky and then hit Cesar Salazar with a pitch to put two on base. The two runners executed a double-steal to move into scoring-position, and Austin Dennis gave the Bandits the lead with a run-scoring groundout to short.
Felipe Tejada, the Quad Cities starter, worked 6.0 scoreless frames to maintain that lead. He scattered three hits and recorded five strikeouts, but did not factor in the decision. Burlington scored their lone run in the seventh inning on an RBI infield-single from Reyneldy Rosario.
For the second straight night, Burlington finished with more hits than the River Bandits. Eight different players collected one hit each for the Bees. Holderbach was the only player in the game with multiple hits, finishing 2-3 with an RBI.
The River Bandits will take their four-game winning streak on the road to Geneva, Illinois, where they will meet the Kane County Cougars. First pitch on Saturday evening is scheduled for 6:30PM. RHP Jose Rivera (5-4, 4.91) will open the series on the mound for the Bandits against a pitcher yet to be announced for Kane County.
Quad Cities (R-H-E): 4-5-1
Burlington (R-H-E): 1-8-3
Win: Gayle (1-1)
Loss: Veliz (1-1)
Save:
HR: Quad Cities: None
HR: Burlington: None
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.
