DAVENPORT, Iowa (May 2, 2014) - Playing their second doubleheader in as many days against the Clinton LumberKings, the Quad Cities River Bandits fell short in a late comeback to drop Game 1, 5-4, and lost a 1-0 lead within two outs of victory to drop Game 2, 3-1, at Modern Woodmen Park and suffer their first sweep loss in five doubleheaders this season.
In Game 1, Quad Cities right-hander Andrew Thurman (2-2) walked the first two batters of the game, allowed an RBI single to LumberKings catcher Marcus Littlewood, and issued a third walk before recording an out. Third baseman Joe DeCarlo drove an RBI double to right field to give Clinton (12-13) a 2-0 lead. In the second inning, Thurman gave up a single by shortstop Lonnie Kauppila, and after a fielder's choice and another walk, Littlewood added his second RBI single for a 3-0 lead. Thurman was done after two innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits and four walks with two strikeouts.
River Bandits catcher Brian Holberton helped spur the comeback effort by leading off the second inning with a line-drive home run to right field off right-hander Carlos Misell (4-1). Holberton also led of the fourth inning with a double and the sixth with a single to collect his first career three-hit game and extend his team-season-high hitting streak to nine games.
Clinton added two more runs in the third inning against left-hander Chris Cotton. First baseman Jeff Zimmerman hit an RBI double and scored on a wild pitch. Cotton would complete three innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits with two walks and a strikeout.
Trailing 5-1, Quad Cities (11-15) chased Misell after Holberton singled, right fielder James Ramsay hit an RBI double, and left fielder Tanner Mathis singled to start the sixth inning. Third baseman Alex Gonzalez rolled an RBI single into right field off right-hander Rafael Pineda to make it 5-3, with runners at first and second bases and no outs. But shortstop Thomas Lindauer bunted into a fielder's choice, and when center fielder Brett Phillips doubled home Gonzalez, Lindauer was thrown out at home trying to score the tying run. Pineda got a groundout to strand Phillips at third base with the tying run and worked around two walks for a scoreless seventh and his second save.
In Game 2, River Bandits left-hander Chris Lee kept the LumberKings hitless the first four innings, despite allowing six walks with three strikeouts. Phillips hit a third-inning leadoff double, moved to third base on a sacrifice and scored on third baseman Tyler White's sacrifice fly for a 1-0 Quad Cities lead against right-hander Jose Flores. River Bandits right-hander Andrew Walter allowed a fifth-inning, two-out single by center fielder Burt Reynolds for the first Clinton hit, but Walter and right-hander Tyler Brunnemann each tossed scoreless innings to carry the 1-0 lead through the sixth.
Out of pitchers at the end of a fourth game in two days, Quad Cities brought Gonzalez (0-1) to the mound in the seventh. He allowed one-out singles by first baseman Justin Seager and catcher Christian Carmichael, before Reynolds slammed his third home run of the season and second in the series off the center field batter's eye for a 3-1 lead. Left-hander Paul Fry (1-0) pitched the final three innings for the win.
Quad Cities begins a three-game series in Beloit, Wis., at 6:30 p.m. Friday. River Bandits left-hander Evan Grills (0-0) will face Snappers right-hander Lou Trivino (1-2) in the teams' first meeting since Quad Cities defeated Beloit in the 2013 Western Division final.
UP NEXT: Cinco de Mayo and Markdown Monday presented by 97X kick off a six-game River Bandits homestand May 5. Bleacher tickets for the 7 p.m. game are just $2 each, with $2 specials for hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn, nachos, beer and soda as well. Tickets are available at www.riverbandits.com. To order any of the ticket plans - with new lower prices - call the River Bandits box office at 563-324-3000. Season ticket and mini-plan packages start at just seven games and begin at less than $40. Call a River Bandits account representative today to choose your seats and get the details of our various mini-plan packages.
