MWL Quad Cities River Bandits

Gambrell, Homers Lead Charge to Bandits' Third In-A-Row

May 8, 2021 - Midwest League (MWL)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


South Bend, Indiana - With a chance to eclipse the .500 mark for the first time in 2021, the Quad Cities River Bandits won their third straight game on Saturday as they defeated the South Bend Cubs 5-1 at Four Winds Field behind a scoreless start on the mound and a pair of long-balls at the plate.

As they had done in all three games of their modest winning streak, the Bandits scored in the opening inning, tagging Cubs' starter and 2019 Draft 1st round pick, Ryan Jensen, with a two-RBI triple off the bat of Seuly Matais that put QC up 2-0.

After allowing a two-out walk to Cam Balego in the second, right-hander Grant Gambrell settled in early for the visiting squad as he retired six of his first seven batters faced heading into the third.

Having spent the first three games in Quad Cities' nine-hole, John Rave rewarded Chris Widger's decision to pencil him into the leadoff spot as the former Illinois State product laced a ball off the right field video board for his first hit and first four-bagger of the season, putting his team up 3-0.

Two batters later, first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino smacked a solo-jack of his own off of the nearly the same location on the Cubs' video board to push the Bandits' lead to 4-0 through two and a half.

Over their next three frames at the plate, South Bend could muster little off of Gambrell who faced one over the minimum from the third to the fifth where his day concluded at five scoreless innings and just 63 pitches thrown.

Quad Cities added another run to their lead in the top of the sixth on an Eric Cole RBI single, while the home team got on the board for the first and only time in the bottom half when reliever Will Klein traded a run for two outs on a 4-6-3 double play.

The final third of the game was kept quiet by left-hander Garrett Davila--who allowed just two baserunners and struck out three over the stretch--and the Cubs' trio of Chris Allen, Alex Katz, and Garrett Kelly who scatted three more Bandits hits before their own bats went down uneventfully in the bottom of the ninth.

Gambrell (1-0) earned his first win in as many starts for Quad Cities, while Ryan Kelly's (0-1) debut ended with the loss and four earned over three, despite five strikeouts. Davila (1) earned a nine-out save in his second appearance of the season--the Bandits' second multi-inning save this year.

The opening series at Four Winds Field will conclude on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. CDT when Opening Day starters Angel Zerpa (0-0, 1.08) and Peyton Remy (0-0, 1.93) reconvene for a rematch in the finale.

Check out the Quad Cities River Bandits Statistics



Midwest League Stories from May 8, 2021


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