DAVENPORT, IOWA (August 12, 2021) — The Quad Cities River Bandits saw their three-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday, as they were topped by the Beloit Snappers 8-1 in a game that saw Quad Cities fail to score until the final frame.
Entering the contest with 98 strike-outs on the season, Anthony Veneziano became the first River Bandit and first Royals’ farmhand to hit the century mark after punching out two in the scoreless first. However, his performance was matched by Antonio Velez who, like Veneziano, worked three shut-out innings to start the game.
After Veneziano allowed his first walk of the night, a one-out pass to Victor Victor Mesa, Thomas Jones opened the scoring with the first of back-to-back RBI singles as he and Troy Johnston put the Bandits behind 2-0.
Quad Cities looked to spark a two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth and got a walk from Logan Porter and a single from Eric Cole, but Velez got Jake Means to fly out to end the threat.
Beloit’s lead grew by three in the fifth as Veneizano allowed three-straight hits to start the inning, including an RBI single from Ynmanol Marinez. The lefty then induced a pair of Snappers’ fly-outs, but was replaced by Yohanse Morel with two away and saw two more score on Jones’ two-run double.
With an even larger cushion, Velez continued to dominate in the fifth and sixth and retired the Bandits in order in both frames thanks to the help of four ground-balls.
Quad Cities’ deficit grew to 7-0 in the top of the seventh on Kameron Misner’s two-run blast off of Morel that scored Connor Scott, who reached on a single and then stole his way to third.
In the bottom-half, Velez completed his gem and stranded Porter’s lead-off single with a pair of pop-outs and a strike-out of Will Hancock, which marked just the lefty’s second “K” of the game.
Nathan Webb and Eli Villalobos combined for a scoreless eighth prior to the Snappers tacking on an additional tally by plating Ricky Aracena’s lead-off triple with a Scott single, while Quad Cities avoided the shut-out and got its only run of the night with one out in the bottom of the ninth when Cole singled in a Seuly Matias double.
After working his second consecutive seven-inning shut-out start, Velez (5-2) got the win for Beloit and needed only two strikeouts to hold QC off the board. Veneziano (3-4) took his fourth loss of the year on five runs, four earned, over a 4.2-inning start.
With the series split, the River Bandits will look to A J Block (3-2, 4.62) for Thursday night’s contest, while Beloit will start Bryan Hoeing (4-6, 6.29). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30PM CDT at Modern Woodmen Park.
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.
