Kane County's loss to Fort Wayne Friday gave Quad Cities the first Midwest League playoff spot
DAVENPORT, Iowa (June 13, 2015) - The Quad Cities River Bandits broke a 1-1 tie with a season-high eight-run sixth inning for a 9-1, seven-inning win in Game 1 of a doubleheader, but the Lansing Lugnuts pitched a 2-0, eight-inning shutout in Game 2 in front of 3,565 at Modern Woodmen Park, briefly delaying Quad Cities' clinching of a playoff spot until Kane County's loss to Fort Wayne Friday night.
Quad Cities (40-20) became the first Midwest League team to clinch a playoff spot and qualified for the first time since winning the 2013 Midwest League Championship. This season marked the club's first first-half playoff spot since 2011 and its fourth playoff appearance in the last six seasons, which have included Midwest League titles in each of its last two playoff runs in 2011 and 2013.
With second-place Cedar Rapids (36-25) being swept by Great Lakes in a doubleheader Friday, the River Bandits' magic number (combination of Quad Cities wins and Cedar Rapids losses) needed to clinch the first-half Western Division title was reduced to five.
The River Bandits' two starting pitchers Friday - right-handers Brock Dykxhoorn (4-3) and Joshua James - combined to allow one run and strike out 17 batters in 13 innings. In winning Game 1, Dykxhoorn matched career highs with six innings and 10 strikeouts, while James had a no-decision in Game 2 despite matching a career high with seven strikeouts and setting a new career high with seven shutout innings.
