MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

Quad Cities loses first home series of year

Published on May 22, 2009 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


The Quad Cities River Bandits entered Friday night's ballgame with the hopes of avoiding a series sweep, but a nine-run first inning gave the Dayton Dragons other ideas as the home team suffered a 9-5 loss in front of a Fireworks Friday crowd of 4,191 at Modern Woodmen Park.

The sweep was the first suffered by Quad Cities (21-19) since opening the season with three losses in frigid Wisconsin, and also marked the first lost home series of the year for the River Bandits. Suddenly on a tear, Dayton (15-26) exploded for nine runs in the top of the first inning to win for the sixth time in their last seven games.

The ballgame got out of hand early on Friday night. River Bandits starter Scott McGregor induced a harmless groundout to start the inning, but the hit parade began moments later as nine consecutive men reached base courtesy of eight hits and a walk.

With men at the corners and one away, Carlos Mendez got the scoring started with an RBI-single to right. The bases were loaded when Cody Puckett added a two-run single to left, while Humberto Sosa promptly drove in two more with a double to the gap in right-center. A walk to Kevin Coddington snapped a string of six consecutive hits, but the Dragons went back to work with a run-scoring single by Andrew Means and a two-run triple by Dave Sappelt to chase McGregor from the game. After Miguel Rojas greeted the reliever with a sacrifice fly, Dayton seized a commanding 9-0 lead.

Although Quad Cities refused to give up, the early deficit proved too great to overcome.

The River Bandits bullpen did their part, combining for 8.2 frames of shutout baseball and holding the Dragons to just four hits after the first inning. Piggyback starter Arquimedes Nieto struck out four over 3.2 innings, newcomer Jason Buursma tossed three shutout frames in his River Bandits debut, and closer Casey Mulligan continued his dominance with two scoreless innings at the back end of the bullpen.

Meanwhile, Quad Cities did their best to make things interesting.

Brett Lilley yanked a two-run homer to right in the fifth inning, extending his hitting streak to 10 games while putting the River Bandits on the board. Charlie Cutler added a two-out single - one of three hits on the night to raise his batting average to .377 - while Jon Edwards brought him home with a double off the wall in center.

Paul Cruz and Cutler each checked in with run-scoring hits in the sixth to bring Quad Cities to within 9-5, but that was as close as they would get. A pair of hits to open the ninth got the crowd excited, but the game-tying run never got closer than the on-deck circle.

J.C. Sulbaran (1-0) earned the win for Dayton, striking out six over five solid innings while allowing three runs on five hits and four walks.

McGregor (2-3) suffered the loss for Quad Cities, serving up nine runs on eight hits while recording just one out.

UP NEXT: The River Bandits continue their homestand on Saturday with the first installment of a four-part bobblehead doll giveaway, featuring Pete Kozma emerging from the corn field at Modern Woodmen Park and brought to you by Orthopaedic Specialists. It will also be a Rockin' Saturday and Habitat for Humanity Night. The weekend continues with a U.S. Bank Family Sunday with a Salute to Apples theme in honor of the visiting Fort Wayne TinCaps, before the homestand concludes on Monday with Senior Citizens Day at a special Noon start time.

ABOUT THE BANDITS: Under new ownership and management in 2008, the Quad Cities River Bandits topped 207,000 fans for only the sixth time in team history and the first time in 12 years. Having recently completed one of the most successful seasons in the history of the franchise - and with a renewed dedication to fans, sponsors and the Quad Cities community - the return of the River Bandits has brought a resurgence of support for the team. Banditwear, season tickets and mini-plans, and individual game tickets are on sale for the 2009 season by calling (563) 3-BANDIT or heading to www.RiverBandits.com. But hurry - good seats are going fast!

Check out the Quad Cities River Bandits Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from May 22, 2009


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