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MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

Bats never get going as QC drops second straight

June 10, 2006 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


It was a game of missed opportunities for the Swing of the Quad Cities, who dropped their series opener to the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays Saturday night at C.O. Brown Stadium, 5-1. The Swing put men on the bases early and often against Devil Rays' starter Mike Wlodarczyk, but could not translate them into runs.

Quad Cities (29-31) falls six games behind Peoria in the race for the second MWL-West playoff berth of the first half, leaving the Swing with fading hopes of qualifying for the playoffs at the All-Star break. Southwest Michigan (30-32) continues their success against Quad Cities, taking the first 2006 meeting between the two teams after winning six of eight match-ups in 2005.

The Swing managed two hits and a walk off Wlodarczyk in the second inning, but two runners caught stealing snuffed out any hope of a rally. They put the leadoff man on base in each of the ensuing frames, but a double play in the third and another caught stealing in the fourth erased each of those baserunners. After stranding two runners in scoring position in the fifth inning, Quad Cities finally reached the scoreboard in the sixth.

The Devil Rays got on the board early, as Cesar Suarez used his speed to turn a bouncing ball towards shortstop into an infield single to open the bottom of the first. After moving to second on a wild pitch and third on a passed ball, Suarez trotted home with two outs on a line-drive single through the right side off the bat of Garrett Groce for a 1-0 lead.

Southwest Michigan added another run in the bottom of the fifth. With Chris Cunningham on second base, Suarez sent a line drive single into right field and Casey Rowlett came up throwing to the plate. The throw short-hopped catcher Bryan Anderson a few steps up the third base line, however, allowing Cunningham to give the home team a 2-0 lead.

Quad Cities cut the lead in half in the top of the sixth inning, chasing Mike Wlodarczyk from the game in the process. Rowlett sent a one-out double to the wall in left field and moved to third on a single by Colby Rasmus. Randy Roth turned out to be the last batter that the Devil Rays' starter would face, grounding a base hit right back up the middle, to pull the Swing to within 2-1.

Southwest Michigan had an answer, though, and crossed the plate twice more in the bottom of the sixth. J.T. Hall singled to lead off the frame and moved to second on a passed ball. That allowed him to score on another RBI knock by Groce, who would himself tally a run later in the inning on a sacrifice fly from Christian Lopez. The Devil Rays tacked on one more score in the eighth, giving them the 5-1 final.

Wlodarczyk (6-3) got the win for Southwest Michigan, scattering nine hits over 5.1 innings but allowing just one run with one strikeout and one walk. Greg Dupas (16) came on with two away in the eighth to work a four-out save, striking out two to convert his 16th consecutive save opportunity.

Jaime Garcia (4-4) had his record dropped to .500 with the loss, allowing four runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings of work. Though he struck out six and walked one, it was the first time in his career that Garcia yielded more than three earned runs in an outing.

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Midwest League Stories from June 10, 2006


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