BANDITS EDGE BEES IN EXTRAS
Quad Cities ties it in the 8th, wins in the 11th
BURLINGTON, Iowa – The River Bandits won their second straight against Burlington, 4-3, in 11 innings on Sunday afternoon at Community Field. Kevin Hill notched his second win of the season in relief. Chuckie Robinson belted his eighth home run of the year.
A pitching duel early, the Bandits (7-4, 44-35) broke a 0-0 tie in the fourth when Robinson left the yard on a two-run shot off Jose Suarez. Cionel Perez rolled through 5.2 innings of shutout ball for Quad Cities, but with two outs in the sixth, John Schuknecht unloaded a three-run go-ahead home run for the Bees. In the eighth, the Bandits evened the score when Carmen Benedetti singled to right to score Daz Cameron.
Quad Cities pushed ahead in the 11th off Ty Barkell. Ronnie Dawson walked to start the frame. On an apparent pitch out, Wander Franco hooked a single down the right field line, sending Dawson to third. The next batter walked to load the bases with one out for Rojas. Rojas’ sacrifice fly proved to be the game-winning RBI.
Erasmo Pinales worked around two singles in the bottom of the 11th to earn the save, striking out Sam McDonnell to end the game. The save was Pinales’ fifth on the year. Both starters - Perez and Suarez - settled for no-decisions. After four innings of no-hit relief, Hill (2-1) has now held opponents scoreless in his last 11.2 innings, spanning four appearances. Ty Barkell took the loss. Barkell (1-3) went two innings, allowing the game-winning run on the Rojas sacrifice fly.
The finale of the four-game series in Burlington is Monday night at 6:30 p.m. RHP Gabriel Valdez (2-0, 4.17) toes the rubber for the Bandits against Bees’ RHP Joe Gatto (5-6, 3.63). Jake Levy and Connor Onion have pregame coverage beginning at 6:15 p.m. on riverbandits.com and 1170 AM KBOB.
SALDANA’S GEM EVENS SERIES WITH BEES
Bandits pound out five runs, eight hits in win
BURLINGTON, Iowa – The River Bandits knocked off Burlington 5-3 on Saturday night at Community Field, improving to 6-1 on the year against the Bees. Abdiel Saldana earned the win in his first start of the season. Ronnie Dawson and Chuckie Robinson collected RBI in the fifth to push Quad Cities ahead.
Jahmai Jones led off the first with a triple and scored the Bees’ (4-6, 35-44) first run on an RBI ground out by Keith Grieshaber. The Bandits (6-4, 43-35) struck for three runs in the fifth. Dawson tied the score with an RBI single and Robinson’s double scored two, making it 3-1 Quad Cities. In the sixth, Jonathan Arauz collected an RBI single. Arauz attempted to take second on the throw home, reaching safely ahead of the tag. As the throw went to second, Marcos Almonte ran home, extending the lead to 5-1 Quad Cities. John Schuknecht blasted a two-run homer for Burlington in the ninth.
Saldana (4-1) pitched a career-high seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and struck out four. Devon Carr hurled the final two innings for the Bandits. Carr allowed Schuknecht’s two-run homer. Andrew Vinson took his second loss of the year against Quad Cities. Vinson (5-7) pitched five innings, yielded three runs and six hits, while striking out five.
BANDITS FALL SHORT IN LOSS TO BEES
Bees plate four in the fourth, win opener
BURLINGTON, Iowa – The River Bandits lost to the Burlington Bees 4-3 on Friday night at Community Field. Erik Manoah earned his third win of the year for the Bees. Josh Rojas and Ronnie Dawson hit solo homers for the Bandits.
With runners at first and second and one out in the bottom of the fourth, Jordan Zimmerman hit a grounder in the hole at shortstop. Bandits’ (5-4, 42-35) shortstop Jonathan Arauz looked to turn a 6-4-3 double play, but both the runner at second and first were ruled safe, loading the bases. The next batter, Julian Leon, hit a grounder to third. Wander Franco’s throw to second resulted in a fielder’s choice, but forced in a run to make it 1-0 Bees (4-5, 35-43). Sam McDonnell followed with a three-run homer to make it 4-0 Burlington. The Bandits scored in consecutive frames in the fifth and sixth on solo homers from Rojas and Dawson. Daz Cameron drove in a run with a single in the ninth, but was thrown out at second.
Manoah (3-5) lasted five innings, allowed one run, four hits and tied a season-high with six strikeouts. Jackson Zarubin and Blake Smith both pitched two innings and allowed a run a piece out of the Burlington pen. Carson LaRue took the loss. LaRue (8-3) tossed five innings, allowed four runs, five hits, struck out three and walked one.
