MWL1 Burlington Bees

Ruiz's Walk-Off Home Run Sinks Bees

Published on August 18, 2013 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Burlington Bees News Release


Rio Ruiz delivered a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Quad Cities River Bandits a 3-2 win over the Burlington Bees on Sunday night at Modern Woodmen Park.

The ninth inning was filled with excitement on Sunday, with the Bees (49-71, 23-32) tying the game in the top of the frame and the Bandits (69-54, 31-23) winning the game on a walk-off blast by Ruiz.

Ruiz led off the bottom of the ninth against Alex Blackford and belted a 1-1 pitch over the right field wall for his 10th home run of the season. Blackford (0-2) had tossed a perfect eighth and would have been in line for the victory, but the Bees failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity in the top of the ninth.

Burlington trailed 2-1 heading to the ninth and was facing Juan Minaya, a closer who was 2-for-2 in save chances against the Bees this season. Chevy Clarke lined the first pitch he saw up the middle for a base hit and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Garrett Cannizaro. Riley Good's single to left put men at the corners for Wendell Soto. Soto lined a ball off the leg of Minaya (2-6), and it trickled towards a vacant second base. Clarke scored on the play and Good was able to get all the way to third. Sherman Johnson walked, loading the bases with one out for Angel Rosa. Rosa flied out to shallow right and Exicardo Cayones struck out swinging to end the inning.

Chris O'Grady made his second professional start and it went well, but not as well as his first. O'Grady surrendered two runs, one earned in four innings. He only got through four on the mound because of a high pitch count. The unearned run scored in the third when Rosa dropped a throw from Cannizaro when Teoscar Hernandez was picked off. Hernandez scored on a ground out by Carlos Correa.

The Bees tied the game up at one in the fourth on an unearned run of their own. Clarke walked with one out and got all the way to third when Brian Holmes' pickoff throw went all the way to the bullpen. Clarke scored with two outs on an infield single by Good.

Quad Cities took the lead right back when Jobduan Morales hit his second home run of the year with two outs against O'Grady.

Burlington is now five games back of Clinton and four games back of Peoria with 15 games to play. Pat Lowery will take on the 2013 #1 overall pick, Mark Appel, on Monday night at 7:00 p.m.

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Midwest League Stories from August 18, 2013


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