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MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

Burlington pitching halts Quad Cities' winning streak

May 17, 2008 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


Tommy Pham led off Saturday night's ballgame with another solo homer, but it was not enough for the Quad Cities River Bandits in a 3-1 loss to the Burlington Bees at Community Field.

Quad Cities (21-18) saw their four-game winning streak come to an end with the loss, dropping the River Bandits to 4-2 on the current seven-game commuter road trip. Burlington (16-24) got a stellar starting pitching performance from Alex Caldera, who carried the Bees on his back to snap the home team's four-game losing streak.

The River Bandits have gotten used to Pham's early-game heroics, and the speedy 20-year-old from Las Vegas was at it again on Saturday. Pham clubbed the second pitch of the night the other way for a leadoff home run - making it three leadoff bombs in just six games since joining the River Bandits - for a quick 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second, however, the Bees struck back. With men at the corners and one away, Alwin Perez lined a single to right to tie the score. There were two outs when Ryan Eigsti sent a bouncer down the third base line, but Domnit Bolivar's throw to first bounced past Osvaldo Morales and allowed another run to come home as Burlington jumped ahead, 2-1.

Caldera (3-2) took it from there, rebounding from Pham's leadoff homer to hold the River Bandits scoreless the rest of the way. He struck out eight and walked two over six innings of work, scattering six hits and allowing just the lone run. Chris Chavez (1) twirled the final three frames for his first save of the year, striking out two and allowing one hit without yielding a run.

The Bees extended the lead in the bottom of the third, as the first four batters that came to the plate reached base. Consecutive singles by David Lough and Mike Moustakas started the rally, while a pair of walks to Jason Taylor and Shawn Hayes kept it alive. The two walks came on eight consecutive pitches and pushed one run across the plate, prompting starter Blake King to exit the game with the bases still loaded and nobody out. Reliever Justin Fiske came to the rescue, however, stranding all three runners courtesy of two strikeouts and an infield foul-out to limit the damage and hold the deficit at 3-1.

After Fiske's gutty performance, piggyback starter Chuckie Fick came in from the bullpen to throw five scoreless frames and keep Burlington from adding to the lead. While the relief corps did well to keep Quad Cities in the game, though, the offense was unable to crack the scoreboard again.

That left King (1-3) with the loss, courtesy of three runs - two earned - on six hits over two-plus innings of work.

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Midwest League Stories from May 17, 2008


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