MWL Quad Cities River Bandits

River Bandits Fall to Cubs in Extras on Opening Night

Published on April 8, 2023 under Midwest League (MWL)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


Davenport, Iowa - The Quad Cities River Bandits hosted Opening Night at Modern Woodmen Park for the first time in four years, but fell to the South Bend Cubs 5-3 after 10 innings.

Despite not recording a hit against River Bandits starter Noah Cameron until the fourth inning, South Bend took the initial lead in the opening frame, scratching a run across on a Cayden Wallace throwing error that allowed Bradlee Beesley to score and put the Cubs up 1-0.

After retiring six-straight in the second and third innings, Cameron allowed his only earned run of the night in the fourth, as Fabian Pertuz drove in Kevin Alcantara on an RBI groundout. However, the lefty minimized the damage, stranding runners on first and third with a strikeout of Ethan Hearn for his sixth and final of the night.

While Cameron kept Quad Cities in the ballgame, the offense failed to generate a run against South Bend starter Richard Gallardo, who didn't factor into the decision, tossing five scoreless innings, allowing four base runners, and striking out four.

Quad Cities nearly broke through in the second inning, with Wallace, Carter Jensen, and Kale Emshoff reaching to open the inning, but Gallardo struck out River Town and Shervyen Newton before getting Darryl Collins to fly out and keep the Bandits scoreless.

After mustering just two base runners through the subsequent three innings, the River Bandits took advantage of a catcher interference in the sixth, tagging Cubs reliever Joe Nahas with a pair of unearned runs on a Town two-out, two-run single to tie the game 2-2.

Town would single again in the eighth, but it would be the only hit for either team over the final three innings of regulation, as Anthony Simonelli, Tyson Guerrero, and Eric Cerantola combined for five scoreless innings and eight strikeouts out of the Bandits bullpen to match Nahas, who struck out five in three innings of work.

With the game still stuck at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Javier Vaz reached on an automatic ball four, stole second, and advanced to third on a Sheldon Reed wild pitch, but Reed would strand the winning run at third and send the game to extras with a strikeout of Wallace.

Despite eliminating the placed runner at the plate in the top of the tenth, Brandon Johnson allowed a pair of two-out RBI singles to Hayden McGeary and Fabian Pertuz, which gave the Cubs their 5-2 advantage, before Quad Cities failed to advance their placed runner or put the tying run aboard against Reed in a one-two-three bottom half.

Reed (1-0) earned the win out of the bullpen for South Bend, working around two walks and striking out four in two innings, while Johnson (0-1) took the loss in his High-A debut, allowing three runs on two hits, two walks, and no strikeouts.

Nahas was pegged with a blown save, allowing two unearned runs over three innings.

The River Bandits continue their three-game series with South Bend on Saturday at Modern Woodmen Park, as RHP William Fleming gets the ball against the Cubs LHP Luke Little for a 6:30pm first pitch.

Check out the Quad Cities River Bandits Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from April 8, 2023


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