MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

River Bandits Clinch Rivertown Showdown with 6-4 Win

Published on August 2, 2012 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


DAVENPORT, Iowa - The Quad Cities River Bandits got six strong innings from right-hander Brad Watson, and designated hitter Anthony Garcia hit a go-ahead, two-run home run to lead the River Bandits past the Peoria Chiefs, 6-4, giving Quad Cities the season-series victory in the inaugural Rivertown Showdown Thursday night in front of 3,580 at Modern Woodmen Park.

In his third start for the River Bandits, Watson (2-1) struck out five batters without walking one and scattered five hits and two runs. He was given a 1-0 lead after the first inning but relinquished it to the first batter of the second inning, as Chiefs third baseman Dustin Geiger homered to left field for his third home run of the series. Geiger finished 3-for-4 and was a triple shy of the cycle, one day after tying a single-game Peoria record with eight RBIs.

Chiefs right-hander Starling Peralta (3-7) went five innings and gave up the deciding runs in the bottom of the fourth. In a 1-1 tie, Peralta issued a leadoff walk to right fielder David Medina. Then Garcia snapped a 1-for-30 cold spell with a home run to left field. The hit put Quad Cities up for good, 3-1, and gave Garcia his first RBI in his last nine games and his first home run in three weeks. He finished 2-for-4 with an infield single in the seventh inning.

Peoria (16-23 second half, 51-57 overall) scored once in the fifth inning, as shortstop Wes Darvill hit a leadoff triple and scored on a groundout by right fielder Oliver Zapata. Geiger doubled with two outs in the sixth but was stranded by Watson when first baseman Paul Hoilman lined out to third baseman Stephen Piscotty.

The River Bandits (18-21, 53-55) extended their lead in the sixth inning with three runs off former Chicago Cubs pitcher Justin Berg. The right-handed reliever gave up a two-out single to first baseman Jeremy Patton, and catcher Juan Castillo reached on an error by Darvill at shortstop. Second baseman Luis Mateo then drove a two-run double to left-center field, and he came in to score on a single by shortstop Anthony Melchionda, who finished 2-for-4 with a double. The three unearned runs made it 6-2.

Quad Cities right-hander Ricky Martinez started the seventh inning and allowed a walk, single and hit batter - all with two outs - to load the bases. Center fielder Pin-Chieh Chen then placed a double just out of Medina's reach down the left field line to close it to 6-4. But Martinez got designated hitter Javier Baez to ground out to shortstop to end the seventh. Martinez gave up two singles but no runs in the eighth inning.

Right-hander Heath Wyatt allowed a leadoff infield single in the ninth inning but struck out the final two batters to earn his 17th save.

The inaugural Rivertown Showdown concludes with the final regular season meeting between the River Bandits and Chiefs at 7 p.m. Friday night at Modern Woodmen Park. Quad Cities has clinched the season series with an eight games to five season-series lead but will try to win this four-game series Friday, as left-hander Dail Villanueva (6-5) is scheduled to face Peoria right-hander Yao-Lin Wang (3-3).

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