Bandits Tattoo Snappers For Fourth Straight Win
September 3, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release
A full moon was in the night sky, nearly 50 fans received free tattoos as part of Tattoo Night at Modern Woodmen Park, and the Quad Cities River Bandits overcame a wild start to Thursday night's game to emerge with an 8-3 win over the Beloit Snappers in front of 4,509 raucous fans.
Quad Cities (29-36, 59-76) picked up their fourth straight victory in the process, giving the River Bandits an opportunity to pull off the series sweep when they take the field for their final home game of the regular season on Friday. Beloit (27-39, 54-82) was stifled by a trio of excellent pitchers on Thursday, beginning with the professional debut of 2009 first-rounder Shelby Miller and continuing with a nine-strikeout performance by Scott McGregor that included four punch-outs in a single inning.
As the game began, all eyes were on River Bandits starter Shelby Miller, an 18-year-old fireballer from Texas that was selected 19th overall by the Cardinals in the 2009 draft. Making his professional debut, Miller tossed just one inning of work and threw 22 of his 32 pitches for strikes. After James Beresford reached on an error to open the game, Aaron Hicks drew a one-out walk to put runners on first and second. Miller notched his first pro strikeout against Jon Walternbury, but Danny Rams followed with a run-scoring single to left. In all, Miller allowed one unearned run on one hit with one strikeout and one walk.
After Miller's exit, the fans were treated to a wild first three innings that saw the lead bounce back and forth. The River Bandits and Snappers combined for nine runs, 12 hits and six errors through the first third of the contest, and each of the six half-innings over that span featured at least one run and at least one error.
Jermaine Curtis tied the score at 1-1 with an RBI-double in the bottom of the first, but Beloit took another lead with a run in the top of the second. In the bottom half of the frame, run-scoring singles by Jack Cawley and D'Marcus Ingram put Quad Cities back out in front by a 3-2 margin, but Hicks tripled and scored for Beloit in the top of the third to tie things up once again.
In the bottom of the third, however, the River Bandits asserted control for good. After a deep fly-out to center opened the inning, Curtis drew a one-out walk and Xavier Scruggs doubled him to third. Rich Racobaldo followed with a tie-breaking single up the middle, plating both baserunners and ending up all the way at third after an errant throw to the plate. The very next pitch was a broken-bat bouncer towards short by Frederick Parejo, and the splintered bat barrel cleared a path for the baseball to get through the drawn-in infield for a run-scoring single and a 6-3 lead.
Two innings later, Quad Cities added to the lead. Parejo and Ryde Rodriguez drew consecutive two-out walks while a wild pitch moved both runners in scoring position. Jack Cawley promptly grounded a single through the right side to bring both men home, extending the advantage to 8-3 with his second and third RBI of the game.
McGregor (7-11) did the rest, taking over for Miller in the second inning and holding Beloit to just one earned run (two total) on five hits over six innings of work. His nine strikeouts established a new career high and tied a River Bandits team-high. In the sixth, a dropped strike three with two outs prolonged the inning as the bases eventually loaded up. But McGregor responded by fanning Dominic De La Osa for his fourth strikeout of the frame. Ramon Delgado added three strikeouts over two scoreless innings at the back end of the game to raise Quad Cities' strikeout total to 13 on the night.
Liam Hendriks (27-39, 54-82) suffered the loss for Beloit, roughed up for six runs - four earned - on eight hits over four frames.
UP NEXT: The home portion of the 2009 regular season concludes with Fan Appreciation Night on Friday, featuring the first-ever Bandit Wedding and one last pyrotechnic extravaganza on a Fireworks Friday. Join us for one last hoorah as the River Bandits close out the season the only way we know how - Bandit-style - at Modern Woodmen Park!
Midwest League Stories from September 3, 2009
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- Bandits Release 2010 Schedule - Quad Cities River Bandits
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