Clinton cruises to 6-0 win over Quad Cities
DAVENPORT, IA. – The Quad Cities River Bandits collected five hits, but could not plate a run in a 6-0 shutout loss at the hand of the Clinton LumberKings in front of 6,685 fans on Book Buddies Day at Modern Woodmen Park. Keach Ballard notched a base hit in his first at-bat as a River Bandit, going 1-for-2 with a single and a walk in his Bandits debut.
Zach Litell (2-4) was dominant for Clinton (22-15), holding the Bandits (15-22) scoreless over 7 2/3 innings. The right-hander earned the victory, striking out eight and scattering just five hits. He struck out the side in the second and worked five 1-2-3 frames.
Clinton jumped on the board in a big way in the third inning. The LumberKings started the frame with four-straight base hits, including a RBI-single from Dalton Kelly and two-run double from Ricky Eusebio. Conner Hale singled in the fourth run of the frame, giving Clinton a 4-0 advantage over Quad Cities.
Two runs in the sixth added to the LumberKings’ lead. Austin Cousino singled to lead off the inning and Luis Liberato followed with a one-out base knock. Rayder Ascanio singled both home to put Clinton on top 6-0.
The Bandits loaded the bases in the eighth inning, trying to come back. Kyle Tucker crushed a ball to the Mississippi River, but it was ruled just foul and he just missed a grand slam that would have closed the Clinton-lead to two runs. Tucker snapped a season-high eight-gameh itting streak in the contest
Chris Murphy (3-3) allowed four runs on seven hits over 2.1 innings in a losing effort, snapping a personal three-game winning. Adam Whitt allowed only one hit, walked none, and struck out two LumberKings in 2.2 innings, inducing the ground-ball double play that ended the third inning.
The River Bandits send RHP Kevin McCannna (0-2, 3.96) to the mound on Wednesday night. The LumberKings counter with RHP Kyle Wilcox (1-1, 6.39) in the 7:00 p.m. CT first pitch. Jake Levy and Lance Ragland will have the call and the LLOYD Agencies Pregame Show starts at 6:45 p.m. on 1170 AM K-BOB in the Quad Cities, and on RiverBandits.com or the TuneIn app anywhere.
