BANDITS LOSE 7-RUN LEAD TO SQUANDER SWEEP
Kane County is the first team since June 10 to score 10 runs off Quad Cities pitchers
GENEVA, Ill. (August 23, 2015) - The Quad Cities River Bandits scored seven runs while batting around in the second inning to take an 8-1 lead, but they lost their largest lead in a game in more than two years, as the Kane County Cougars rallied to ultimately take the lead in the eighth inning of a 10-9 win that kept the visitors from sweeping the three-game series at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark Sunday afternoon.
The River Bandits (34-21 second half, 79-44 overall) lost a seven-run lead for the first time since April 6, 2013 (also an 8-1 advantage at Kane County in a 13-10, 11-inning win) and a lost a game in which they held a seven-run lead for the first time since April 16, 2010, when they squandered a 9-1 lead at Clinton in an 11-10, 11-inning loss. On Sunday, Quad Cities put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position in the ninth inning with one out, but Cougars closer Zac Curtis retired left fielder Drew Ferguson and center fielder Jason Martin on consecutive groundouts to end the third straight one-run contest between the teams with the two best records in the Midwest League.
Quad Cities scored its first seven runs off Cougars left-hander Josh Taylor. In the first inning, center fielder Jason Martin hit a one-out single to right field, stole second base and scored on designated hitter Ramon Laureano's RBI single to left field. Kane County (38-17, 74-49) immediately tied the score in the bottom of the inning against right-hander Brock Dykxhoorn, as shortstop Ildemaro Vargas had a leadoff bunt single, stole second base and scored on second baseman Henry Castillo's RBI single.
In a 1-1 tie beginning the second inning, River Bandits catcher Trent Woodward and shortstop Kristian Trompiz began their respective three-hit games with consecutive singles. Taylor walked third baseman Luis Reynoso, before Ferguson hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly to right field. Martin then popped up a bunt that catcher Elvin Soto dropped when he collided with Taylor near the first-base line. With the bases loaded, the next six batters each collected an RBI. First baseman Bryan Muñiz singled, and Laureano walked to end Taylor's outing after 1 1/3 innings. Left-hander Hector Hernandez - a River Bandit in 2011 and 2012 in the St. Louis Cardinals organization - then allowed three straight singles to second baseman Jose Fernandez, right fielder Ryan Bottger and Woodward, who had two hits in the inning. Trompiz's sacrifice fly made it 8-1 before Hernandez escaped. Taylor was charged with seven runs - six earned - on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts, while Hernandez lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and a second-inning earned run while striking out two batters.
The Cougars' comeback began in the bottom of the second inning against Dykxhoorn. Third baseman Joe Munoz and Soto hit consecutive singles, and Vargas chopped a one-out ground ball off Muñiz's glove to score Munoz. Dykxhoorn's one-out balk scored Soto, and Castillo's two-out RBI single made it 8-4. In the fifth inning, first baseman Marty Herum hit a leadoff double to right-center field and scored on Munoz's two-out RBI single. After Quad Cities added a sixth-inning run against right-hander Jency Solis on Bottger's sacrifice fly that scored Martin, the Cougars answered in the bottom of the sixth inning with right fielder Victor Reyes' walk preceding Vargas' two-run home run. That finished Dykxhoorn's start, after he allowed seven earned runs on 11 hits (both career highs) in five-plus innings.
Left-hander Zach Davis (0-1) relieved Dykxhoorn for two scoreless innings, matching Cougars right-hander Ryan Burr (1-0). But with a 9-7 lead in the eighth inning, Davis began by hitting Vargas with a pitch, and designated hitter Cody Regis added an infield single. Castillo hit an RBI single to center field, and Herum drove a go-ahead, two-run double to right-center field for a 10-9 lead. In the ninth inning, Woodward greeted Curtis with a leadoff single. Curtis' error on Trompiz's sacrifice put runners at first and third bases, and Reynoso sacrificed Trompiz to second base before Curtis and Herum handled consecutive ground balls to give Curtis with his league-best 29th save.
BANDITS USE EARLY LEAD TO ELUDE COUGARS
Quad Cities moves within three games of Kane County in the second-half Western Division race
GENEVA, Ill. (August 22, 2015) - The Quad Cities River Bandits scored three first-inning runs and never lost the lead, as left fielder Drew Ferguson and second baseman Jose Fernandez each homered, before right-hander Angel Heredia allowed two ninth-inning runs but stranded the tying run at third base to save a 6-5 win over the first-place Kane County Cougars at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark Saturday night.
Holding the best record in baseball, the playoff-bound River Bandits (34-20 second half, 79-43 overall) won their second straight one-run game over the Cougars (37-17, 73-49) and became the first visiting team to win a series in Kane County since Bowling Green June 3-5.
River Bandits center fielder Bobby Boyd began the game with a bunt single fielded by Cougars All-Star first baseman Marty Herum. After Cougars left-hander Jared Miller (3-4) struck out Ferguson, All-Star third baseman Nick Tanielu grounded a single into left field. With Boyd and Tanielu both running, designated hitter Bryan Muñiz grounded an RBI single off the glove of shortstop Ildemaro Vargas into left field to score Boyd. After Fernandez walked to load the bases, right fielder Ramon Laureano grounded to All-Star third baseman Cody Regis, whose throw on a force attempt went past catcher Michael Perez, allowing Tanielu and Muñiz to score.
After the three-run first inning, Miller allowed four hits over the next five innings, with the only additional run coming on Ferguson's first Midwest League home run on a drive down the left-field line to a picnic deck for his first Midwest League home run. Miller was charged with four runs - three earned - on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts in six innings.
River Bandits right-hander Joshua James (6-3) held the Cougars to two singles by Vargas through the first four innings. James faced one batter over the minimum until the fifth inning, when second baseman Henry Castillo grounded a triple down the first-base line and scored on a sacrifice fly from Cougars All-Star center fielder Colin Bray to cut the lead to 4-1.
Kane County put the tying run on base for the first time in the sixth inning, when Vargas hit a one-out double to right field, Regis hit an RBI single to left-center field, and James hit Herum with a pitch. That ended James' outing after 5 1/3 innings in which allowed six hits without a walk or strikeout. Right-hander Eric Peterson entered and hit Castillo with his first pitch to load the bases with a 4-2 lead. After Bray flied out to right field, Peterson's wild pitch scored Regis to make it 4-3. With the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, Peterson got catcher Michael Perez to fly out to left field. James was charged with all three earned runs, but Peterson held the one-run lead for 2 2/3 scoreless innings, working around a walk in the seventh inning and error and hit batter in the eighth inning.
Ferguson and Fernandez helped Quad Cities add insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, against Cougars right-hander Nick Baker. Ferguson hit a seventh-inning, two-out single to right field, marking his first three-hit game as a River Bandit. He then stole second base on the same play as a Baker wild pitch, allowing Ferguson to reach third base, before another wild pitch scored him. In the eighth inning, Fernandez hit a leadoff drive over the left-field wall for his second Midwest League home run this season and a 6-3 lead.
In the ninth inning, Heredia began with a three-run lead and struck out Perez - the only strikeout by a Quad Cities pitcher in the game - before a one-out walk to designated hitter Joe Munoz and two-out walk to left fielder Chuck Taylor. Vargas then hit a two-run triple to right-center field - his game-high fourth hit - to make it 6-5, before Regis flied out to Boyd, giving Heredia his team-high ninth save.
BANDITS BULLPEN SILENCES FIRST-PLACE COUGARS
Using a franchise-record 32nd pitcher this season, Quad Cities beats Midwest League ERA leader
GENEVA, Ill. (August 21, 2015) - The Quad Cities River Bandits fell behind, 2-0, in the first two innings but rallied for three runs in the fifth inning, while left-hander Steve Naemark and right-hander Elieser Hernandez combined for 5 2/3 scoreless relief innings in a series-opening 3-2 victory over the first-place Kane County Cougars at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark Friday night.
With their 33rd comeback win of the season, the River Bandits (33-20 second half, 78-43 overall) kept their hold of the best record in Minor League Baseball while denying the Cougars (37-15, 73-48) a chance to trim their magic number to clinch a second-half playoff berth. Quad Cities also made history in the bottom of the first inning, when right-hander Thomas Eshelman made his Midwest League debut. The Astros' second-round pick in this June's draft became the 32nd different pitcher the team has used this season, topping the 56-year Midwest League franchise's previous single-season high of 31 pitchers used in 2005. Eshelman allowed both Kane County runs after leadoff walks in the first two innings, but he lasted a career-high 3 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and three walks with two strikeouts.
Eshelman began the first inning by walking Cougars left fielder Chuck Taylor, who went to third base on designated hitter Henry Castillo's one-out single to left-center field. All-Star first baseman Marty Herum hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Taylor for a 1-0 Cougars lead. After All-Star center fielder Colin Bray walked to load the bases, shortstop Dawel Lugo to hit into an inning-ending double play.
In the bottom of the second inning, Eshelman opened with a walk to Cougars third baseman Joe Munoz, followed by catcher Elvin Soto's single to right field and right fielder Victor Reyes' RBI double down the third-base line for a 2-0 lead. With runners at second and third bases, Eshelman struck out Taylor before consecutive groundouts by second baseman Ildemaro Vargas and Castillo to end the inning. That began a stretch of seven straight batters Eshelman retired before Soto's one-out double in the fourth inning to end Eshelman's outing.
With Eshelman's exit, Naemark (1-0) entered in the fourth inning and allowed an infield single to Reyes. With Reyes at first base and Soto at third with one out, Reyes broke for second base, while second baseman Jose Fernandez cut off a throw from catcher Trent Woodward and threw back to home plate to get Soto for the inning's second out. Naemark got Taylor to ground out to end the inning.
Entering with a Midwest League-leading 2.47 ERA, Cougars right-hander Brad Keller (7-9) allowed two hits and a walk in the first four innings, but right fielder Ramon Laureano began the fifth inning with an infield single to Lugo. Woodward walked, and on a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Luis Reynoso, Keller overthrew first base, allowing Laureano to score and putting Woodward and Reynoso at third and second bases, respectively. After center fielder Bobby Boyd struck out, designated hitter Drew Ferguson lined a game-tying single to right-center field. Then All-Star third baseman Nick Tanielu bounced an infield single behind second base, where Vargas only stopped the ball from reaching center field, as Reynoso scored for a 3-2 Quad Cities lead. Keller was charged with three runs - two earned - on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts in five innings. The Cougars bullpen combined to allow two hits and no walks in four scoreless innings.
With a 3-2 lead, Naemark allowed a fifth-inning leadoff double to Vargas, who went to third base on Castillo's sacrifice. Herum walked before Naemark got two straight popups, including an inning-ending sliding catch by Laureano in right field. Hernandez also got help from Laureano's diving catch in the right-center field gap to end the sixth inning with the tying run at first base. Hernandez scattered three hits without walking a batter and striking out three in four scoreless innings to earn his first Midwest League save.
