DAVENPORT, IOWA (June 16, 2019) — The Quad Cities River Bandits closed out the first half of their 2019 season with a dramatic 3-2 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Sunday afternoon at Modern Woodmen Park. Ross Adolph’s go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning proved to be the difference as the River Bandits reached the all-star break with a 43-23 record.
The River Bandits entered the bottom of the seventh trailing by a 2-1 score. The frame began with a base hit by Jonathan Lacroix, but he was erased when Orlando Marquez rolled into a double play in the next at bat. However, Michael Wielansky restarted the rally with a two-strike single into center field. That hit turned out be of great importance when Adolph turned on a two-strike pitch from Anthony Bender in his own at bat for his fifth home run of the year.
Quad Cities received a dominant performance out of the bullpen from right-hander Jose Rivera. He earned the win by tossing the final 3.0 innings and racked up a season-high eight strikeouts. Wisconsin put runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the ninth before Rivera struck out David Fry swinging to end the game. Rivera, Felipe Tejada, and Yeremi Ceballos combined to strike out 13 hitters.
The Bandits grabbed the first lead of the game on a Trey Dawson RBI triple in the third inning. Wisconsin (31-38) battled back to take a 2-1 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. Brent Diaz tied the game with a sacrifice fly and Yeison Coca gave the Timber Rattlers the lead with a run-scoring triple in the next at bat.
Adolph finished the day with two hits as did Wielansky and Cesar Salazar. Alex McKenna extended his hitting streak to eight games which is the same number of games he has played in this season.
The River Bandits will send six players to the Midwest League All-Star Game in South Bend on Tuesday night. The team will next return to action on Thursday at Beloit’s Pohlman Field. First pitch is slated for 6:30PM.
Wisconsin (R-H-E): 2-7-0
Quad Cities (R-H-E): 3-9-0
Win: Rivera (2-3)
Loss: Bender (0-1)
Save: None
HR: Wisconsin: None
HR: Quad Cities: Ross Adolph (5, 7th inning, 1 on base)
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.
