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Bad Luck Befalls Bees in 9-8 Loss to Bandits

August 11, 2012 - Midwest League (MWL) Burlington Bees

DAVENPORT, Iowa - Misfortune smacked the Burlington Bees (57-60, 25-23) harder than many of the seven hits in the bot- tom of the seventh, but the Bees lost 9-to-8 to Quad Cities (58-59, 23-25) all the same. An inning that started with ground balls with eyes and bloop singles gave way to RBI ropes and gap piercing doubles in an eight-run inning for the Bandits.

The Bees entered the bottom of the seventh on Saturday with a 7-to-1 lead over the Quad Cities River Bandits. The Bees had lost three consecutive games to the Bandits in the previous series last week. The club was trying to take game one on the road against a team that is just as much in the thick of the playoff hunt as the Bees.

Nate Eppley started the bottom of the seventh on the mound, but he wouldn't see the end as the Bees soon unraveled. The first four batters reached in the bottom of the seventh with the last receiving first base on a fielder's choice. Casey Rasmus broke the trend, but still drove in a run on a ground ball. The next seven Bandits batters reached after the second out of the inning. In total, all nine batters in the lineup made a plate appearance in the Bandits' half of the seventh. In fact the Bandits enjoyed 13 plate appearances.

Eppley and Raul Alcantara endured the bottom of the seventh on the mound. Eppley allowed six earned runs, Alcantara (6-10) allowed two and took the loss.

To make matters worse, the Bees had just scored five runs in the top of the seventh to pull away from the Bandits. The Bees loaded the bases before Rashun Dixon hit a two-run single and Douglas Landaeta hit a two-run double. Nick Rickles added an RBI single to cap off the five-run inning to give the Bees a short-lived 7-to-1 lead.

The Bees also scored once in the second, third, and eighth inning in game one. Landaeta's first hit of a 3-for-5 night was an RBI single that scored Max Muncy in the second. The Bees scored again in the second when Wade Kirkland hit his 31st double with two outs and scored on an RBI single. Kirkland has hit a double in each of the last four games.

The eighth inning was a tease for the Bees as they looked like they might come back to tie the game after the demoralizing seventh. Sean Jamieson was hit by a pitch and eventually reached third base with the bases loaded. Jamieson scored on a sacrifice fly by Muncy to bring the Bees within one run of tying the game, but Landaeta struck out with two men in scoring position. The Bees fell by a final score of 9-to-8.

Long before the offensive explosion in the seventh, Drew Granier (11-7) pitched an exceptional game. The right-hander had a no-hitter through the first five innings before he allowed a solo home run to Rasmus at the start of the sixth. Overall, Granier pitched 5.2 innings, allowed one earned run on one hit and had seven strikeouts.

Last year's Bees' standout, Blake Hassebrock (0-0) makes his first start with the 2012 Bees on Sunday afternoon. Hassebrock was one of the best pitchers on the Bees' staff last year, and started this season in High-A ball with the Stockton Ports. First pitch of game two is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT.

For more information on Bees baseball call (319) 754-5705 or visit www.gobees.com.

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Midwest League Stories from August 11, 2012


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