MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

'Bandits blow out Chiefs

Published on July 7, 2008 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


A trio of 2008 draft picks led the Quad Cities River Bandits to a blowout win on Monday evening, as first-rounder Brett Wallace went 3-for-3, ninth-rounder Aaron Luna bashed his first professional home run, and eighth-rounder Ryan Kulik earned his first pro victory in an 8-2 win over the Peoria Chiefs at Modern Woodmen Park.

Quad Cities (10-9, 43-40) finished their seven-game home stretch with a 4-3 record, drawing 2,306 more fans on Monday to bring their attendance up to 30,026 for the holiday homestand - an average of 4,289 fans per game. The stretch included two wins in the three-game series against Peoria (12-7, 42-45), who came into Modern Woodmen Park on Saturday riding a franchise record 11-game winning streak.

The Chiefs threatened a run in the top of the first as Nathan Samson singled and advanced to second on an error. But when Jovan Rosa lined a two-out base hit into left, Aaron Luna unloaded a one-hop strike to the plate to cut down Samson trying to score for the third out of the inning.

While Luna's arm kept Peoria off the scoreboard in the first, his bat gave the River Bandits a lead in the bottom of the third. A 21-year-old outfielder from of Rice University, Luna slugged the first pitch he saw out of the yard to left field, homering on his first professional hit to give Quad Cities a 1-0 edge.

After Tommy Pham's squeeze bunt drove in a second run one inning later, the River Bandits blew the game open with a four-run outburst in the fifth.

Luna sparked the rally by drawing a leadoff walk and scored one out later on a triple into the right field corner by Adron Chambers. After Pete Kozma drew a walk and stole second, Francisco Rivera chipped in with a sacrifice fly that scored Chambers. Brett Wallace added a run-scoring double that allowed Kozma to cross the plate, and a two-out error eventually brought Wallace home to put Quad Cities in front by a 6-0 margin.

That was plenty of run support for Ryan Kulik (1-1), who twirled five dominant shutout innings to earn his first pro win in his fourth appearance since the draft. The lefty, who made two relief appearances in the New York-Penn League before joining the River Bandits' starting rotation, allowed just three hits without issuing a walk while fanning three. He was able to effectively keep the ball down in the zone, using groundballs to record 14 of his 15 outs and allowing just three balls to be hit through the air - all line drives - through 18 batters faced.

Paul Vazquez put the icing on the cake with a two-run homer in the eighth. The 23-year-old catcher followed Wallace's second double of the game by launching a pay-off pitch onto the left field berm, making it an 8-0 lead on his third homer of the year.

Peoria reached the scoreboard in the top of the ninth courtesy of a two-run homer by Luis Bautista, but it was far too little, far too late. Robert Hernandez (1-1) suffered the loss, roughed up for six runs - five earned - on six hits over 4.2 innings.

UP NEXT: The River Bandits will take the day off on Tuesday before embarking on a six-game road trip that will take them to South Bend for a three-game series starting Wednesday and then Clinton for another three games next weekend. Quad Cities will return to Modern Woodmen Park on Wednesday, July 16, for a six-game homestand. Bandit Wear featuring the new team name and logo is currently available by visiting the Modern Woodmen Park team store, and season ticket packages, mini-packages, and the popular You-Pick-10 Plan are on sale at the park or by calling (563) 3-BANDITS!

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Midwest League Stories from July 7, 2008


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