26
May
2015
BANDITS OUTDUEL PERDOMO, CHIEFS IN 2-0 SHUTOUT
Three Quad Cities pitchers combine to strike out 12 batters in team's fourth shutout of the season
DAVENPORT, Iowa (May 23, 2015) - Quad Cities River Bandits right-handers Joshua James, Jorge Perez and Brock Dykxhoorn combined on a four-hit shutout, and catcher Jacob Nottingham doubled twice and drove in a run in a 2-0 win over the Peoria Chiefs in front of 6,619 at Modern Woodmen Park Saturday night.
The River Bandits staff outdueled Chiefs right-hander Luis Perdomo (1-4), who held the home team hitless through four innings and lasted a season-high seven innings, allowing one run on seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Quad Cities (33-10) pitched its fourth shutout of the season and won its fifth straight meeting with Peoria (21-22).
James did not allow a runner past second base through the first four innings. In the first inning, Chiefs shortstop Oscar Mercado grounded a one-out single to left field, and Nottingham threw out Mercado at second base when he tried adding to his league-leading stolen base total.
In the bottom of the first inning, Perdomo walked second baseman Mott Hyde with one out before getting center fielder Derek Fisher to line to first baseman Justin Ringo for a double play. Perdomo was perfect in the next three innings to face the minimum through four.
In the top of the second inning, Ringo led off with a double before James retired the next three batters, including two on strikeouts. James walked catcher Luis Cruz to begin the third inning before retiring six straight to end his outing. He went four innings, allowing two hits and one walk with a season-high six strikeouts.
Peoria's best chance to score came against Perez in the fifth inning. Center fielder Magneuris Sierra reached on a one-out infield single to shortstop Thomas Lindauer and went to third base on Perez's errant pickoff throw. Cruz grounded to third baseman Nick Tanielu, who threw to Nottingham to retire Sierra at home plate. Perez worked a scoreless inning in his first Midwest League outing since Sept. 1, 2013.
Nottingham gave Quad Cities its first hit by grounding a double down the left-field line to lead off the fifth inning. Tanielu hit a single to center field to bring Nottingham to third base. But Perdomo struck out left fielder Jason Martin, and on a squeeze bunt by designated hitter Ryan Bottger, Perdomo threw to Cruz to tag out Nottingham.
With a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth inning, Lindauer, whose bobblehead was given away to fans at the game, led off with a single to left-center field. First baseman Jamie Ritchie then extended his on-base streak to 22 games with an infield single behind second base that Mercado only knocked down to keep the ball from going to center field. Second baseman Mott Hyde then chopped an infield single over Perdomo that sent second baseman Darren Seferina into a collision with Mercado, loading the bases with no outs. Fisher then hit a blooper to left-center field that scored Lindauer, but Sierra fielded the ball and threw to third base to force out Ritchie before he reached third base.
Dykxhoorn (3-2) held the lead for four scoreless relief innings, striking out five batters and only allowing baserunner, when left fielder Vaughn Bryan hit a seventh-inning, two-out triple down the left-field line. With the tying run on third base in a 1-0 game, Dykxhoorn struck out Sierra to begin a string of seven batters he retired in order to finish the game.
Quad Cities added a run in the eighth inning against right-hander Blake McKnight. Fisher hit a two-out single to left-center field, stole second base and went to third base on an errant throw by Cruz. Nottingham doubled to right-center field to drive in the insurance run.
BANDITS BLAST THREE HOME RUNS FRIDAY NIGHT TO DOWN CHIEFS
Quad Cities matches a season high set exactly one month earlier in Peoria
DAVENPORT, Iowa (May 23, 2015) - Quad Cities River Bandits first baseman Jacob Nottingham hit his team-high seventh home run among a career-high four hits, and third baseman Nick Tanielu and designated hitter Jason Martin each hit their first Midwest League home runs in an 8-1 homestand-opening victory over the Peoria Chiefs in front of a season-high 7,106 at Modern Woodmen Park Friday night.
On a night that included the first Genesis Home Run for Life of the season by Jeff Hobbs, the River Bandits (32-10) hit three home runs to tie their season high - set exactly one month earlier on April 22 against the Chiefs (21-21) in Peoria. On Friday, eight different River Bandits had hits, and seven different players scored runs.
After being shut out for the final 10 innings of their series in Clinton, the River Bandits were on the board within the first two batters in the bottom of the first inning against Chiefs right-hander Fernando Baez. Catcher Jamie Ritchie singled into center field, and second baseman Mott Hyde hit his league-leading 15th double over center fielder Magneuris Sierra to score Ritchie for the first run. After a wild pitch sent Hyde to third base, center fielder Derek Fisher walked and stole second base. Nottingham then doubled down the right-field line to score Hyde and Fisher for a 3-0 lead.
River Bandits right-hander Daniel Mengden (4-1) retired the first six batters of the game before a third-inning, leadoff walk to Sierra, who stole second base and went to third base on a one-out infield single by second baseman Andrew Sohn. Left fielder Vaughn Bryan grounded back to Mengden on the third-base side of the pitcher's mound, where he threw to first base to retire Bryan. With Sierra scoring, it was the first run allowed by Mengden after 27 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings - a streak which began in Peoria April 23 and was the longest by a River Bandit since Nick Additon pitched 32 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings May 10 to June 19, 2008. Mengden then worked around a pair of singles in the fourth inning to finish five innings, allowing one earned run on three hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
Quad Cities added to its lead in the bottom of the third inning. Fisher hit a leadoff single to right field but was thrown out at second base when he tried to stretch it to a double. Nottingham singled to center field, and Tanielu launched a fly ball to the Modern Woodmen Berm in left field to make it 5-1. In the fifth inning, Nottingham led off with a home run to the Modern Woodmen Berm, and two batters later, Martin hit his first home run to the Miller Lite Party Deck in right field for a 7-1 lead. That ended Baez's outing after 4 1/3 innings, in which he allowed seven earned runs on 10 hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. Right-hander Nick Frey entered to allow a single to right fielder Ryan Bottger and an infield single by left fielder Bobby Boyd. Shortstop Kristian Trompiz grounded to Chiefs shortstop Oscar Mercado, who stepped on second base for a forceout, but his throw to first base was dropped by first baseman Alex DeLeon, allowing Bottger to score an unearned run to make it 8-1.
Following Mengden, right-hander Austin Chrismon began the sixth inning with a seven-run lead. He retired 15 of the 17 batters he faced in four scoreless innings, only allowing a seventh-inning, two-out infield single to Sierra and an eighth-inning, two-out double to Mercado. He struck out three batters and earned his first save since 2013.
