MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

Loons, Mother Nature Too Much for Swing

Published on July 18, 2007 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


The Swing of the Quad Cities and the Great Lakes Loons played through the raindrops as long as they could Wednesday night at Dow Diamond, but in the top of the seventh the rainfall intensified to the point where the contest was halted, eventually resulting in a rain-shortened, 10-4 Swing loss.

The ballgame initially started approximately 20 minutes late after a brief but heavy rainfall and a tornado warning forced everybody in attendance to gather in the basement of the ballpark. After the sun came out and the skies cleared for a time, a slight drizzle returned around the second inning and lingered throughout the game until becoming too much to play through in the top of the seventh.

Quad Cities (13-11, 51-42) was batting with two outs and the bases empty when the game entered a final rain delay in the top of the seventh, giving Great Lakes (8-16, 42-52) the victory to even up the series.

After 13 runs and 20 hits on Tuesday night, the Swing looked to stay hot early on Wednesday and reached the scoreboard in the top of the first. Antone DeJesus drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and moved to third on a fly out. Two outs later Steven Hill ripped a line-drive single to left, giving the Swing a quick 1-0 lead.

The Loons battled back in the bottom of the second, as Scott Van Slyke tied the game with a sacrifice fly before Carlos Santana's two-run homer put Great Lakes on top by a 3-1 score.

The score evened up in the third. Jared Schweitzer drew a walk to start the rally and promptly scored from first on a double by Tony Cruz that one-hopped the wall in center. One batter later Hill hit a hot smash that was fielded by Josh Bell at third, but when the throw to first sailed high, Cruz was able to score on the error to tie things up at 3-3.

But in the bottom of the fourth, Great Lakes added four more runs. Adolfo Gonzalez drove in the first run with a double to right-center, and moved to third on an error with nobody out. After fanning the next two batters it appeared Swing starter Tyler Herron might get out of the jam, but a walk was followed by a three-run homer off the bat of Matt Berezay to push the Loons' lead to 7-3.

The Swing added another run in the sixth as Christian Lopez singled and scored, but Great Lakes went back to work in the sixth. Santana doubled home Van Slyke for the first run of the frame, and moments later Trayvon Robinson left the yard with his first homer of the year, a two-run shot down the right field line that gave the Loons a 10-4 advantage.

A half-inning later, Nick Derba was in the batter's box with two away and the bases empty in the top of the seventh. As the rain picked up and became too much to play through, the umpires called the game and put it into a delay that eventually resulted in a Great Lakes win.

Herron (8-5) suffered the loss, bringing a personal eight-game winning streak to a close. The right-hander gave up seven runs on six hits, all of which came in the second and third innings. The 20-year-old from Florida also struck out nine and walked two over five innings of work, setting down the side in order with two strikeouts in each the first, fourth, and fifth innings.

David Pfeiffer (2-3) earned the win for Great Lakes, tossing three scoreless, one-hit innings out of the bullpen in relief of starter Steven Johnson.

TICKETS: Tickets for all events at John O'Donnell Stadium can be purchased by calling the Swing of the Quad Cities ticket office at (563) 328-2000, coming to the box office located at the stadium along South Gaines Street, or by logging on to www.swingbaseball.com.

UP NEXT: After the current four-game series against the Great Lakes Loons, the Swing will return home for a six-game homestand that begins on Saturday against the Lansing Lugnuts. All Swing games feature a radio broadcast that can be heard on WKBF AM-1270 or online at www.swingbaseball.com, with the pre-game show starting 15 minutes prior to scheduled first pitch.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS: The Swing hit John O'Donnell Stadium for a six-game homestand that kicks off on Saturday with a FIREWORKS night and a team photo giveaway courtesy of Heartland Chiropractic and the Sports Injury Clinic. Sunday will be a U.S. Bank Family Sunday as well as Optimists Day, and a free vacation to Florida will be handed out thanks to the Quad City International Airport and AirTran Airways. Quad City Homebuilders Association Night takes place on a Kids Eat Free Monday, and there will be a Kids Day on Tuesday. After an off day on Wednesday, the homestand resumes with Hispanic Heritage Night on a Bent River Brewing Company Thirsty Thursday. Curious George and WQPT will help close out the homestand with Military night on Friday, which will also feature post-game FIREWORKS!!!

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Midwest League Stories from July 18, 2007


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