MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

Swing undone by ninth inning run

Published on August 24, 2005 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


The Swing of the Quad Cities entered the ninth inning tied with Peoria, but the Chiefs scratched across a single run in the frame to take Wednesday night's game by a score of 7-6. In the top of the ninth, it was a leadoff walk that eventually did the Swing in.

With the rest of the league off today, Quad Cities (32-26, 68-59) still leads Beloit and Kane County by a full two games in the playoff race. Though last in the Midwest League's Western Division, Peoria (27-31, 62-66) pulls to within five games of the Swing and maintains an outside shot at sneaking into the postseason. With only 12 games remaining in the regular season, the magic number for the Swing remains at 11.

With Jaymie Torres on the mound, Eric Patterson led off the top of the ninth by working the count full before drawing the base on balls. After stealing second, it was Anthony Granato who came up with the big hit later in the inning, grounding a two-out, RBI single inside of the bag at third and just past a diving Chris Patrick to plate the decisive run.

Despite a leadoff walk to Nick Stavinoha in the bottom half of the inning, the Swing could not mount a rally. After consecutive pop-outs into center field, Juan Lucena went down swinging to end the game.

The Swing jumped out to the lead in the bottom of the second inning. With one away, Mike Ferris found himself down in the count, 1-2, when he ripped a Mike Billek fastball down the line in right field, a moonshot home run for his 15th longball this year. After a groundout, Eric Verbryke faced a full count before he blasted a towering fly ball over the wall in right field, his ninth of the season and his first since August 7.

Peoria scratched across an unearned run in the top of the third inning, as Joe Simokaitis drew a leadoff walk, sprinted to third on a Sam Fuld single, and scored on a two-out passed ball.

The Swing were able to get two runs right back in the bottom half of the inning, reopening a 4-1 lead. Newcomer Jose Mendez doubled over the head of leftfielder Drew Larsen to begin the inning, and Matt Shepherd walked. Stavinoha singled into left field, but Mendez was tagged out on the play after stumbling around third base and suffering an injury to his right leg to force him to be removed from the game. With two men on, Patrick roped a double down the left field line, scoring both runners for a 4-1 Swing advantage.

But the Chiefs took their first lead of the night in the top of the fifth inning. Fuld singled into shallow left, and then Eric Patterson drilled an RBI double into the right field corner. Former Cubs first-round pick Ryan Harvey then drilled the first pitch he saw for a no-doubt two-run home run that easily sailed beyond the wall in left, his league-leading 23rd long ball of the season to tie up the contest, 4-4. After Jesse Schmidt drew a walk and Larsen singled into left, both runners advanced to second and third base. Back-to-back wild pitches scored Schmidt and Larsen to give the Chiefs a 6-4 lead.

The Swing evened the score in the bottom of the seventh inning. With one away, Matt Shepherd and Matt Lemanczyk had back-to-back singles and Nick Stavinoha walked to load the bases. Patrick then split the left-center gap with a double to score Shepherd and Lemanczyk for a 6-6 tie. On the night Patrick was 2-for-5, including a pair of doubles and four RBI.

Swing starter Mark McCormick lasted 4.2 innings, equaling a career-high with eight strikeouts but allowing six runs (five earned) on six base hits as he picked up his second Swing loss. McCormick allowed only an unearned run on two hits in his first four innings, but the Chiefs had five straight men reach base as part of their five-run fifth frame.

Although he did not pitch poorly, Torres (4-3) picked up the loss. In two innings he allowed one run on one hit, walking a man and striking out two.

Peoria's Adalberto Mendez (2-1) was the winner, also hurling two innings. Mendez walked a pair but did not allow a hit or a run, fanning two Swing hitters.

UP NEXT: The Swing begin a four-game series against the Kane County Cougars on Thursday night, when the Swing send Nick Webber (0-2, 5.68) to the hill against lefty Ryan Ford (12-7, 4.37). First pitch is scheduled for 7:00, and pregame coverage on Progressive Talk AM 1270 will begin at 6:45.

PROMOTION: Wednesday's game will be the final Hooters/97 Rock Beverage Night of the season. Drink specials begin when the gates open at 6:00, and continue until 8:30. In addition, it is the Swing's Halloween Theme Night! For more information about Swing promotions or tickets, log onto www.swingbaseball.com. Tickets are also available for all Swing games by calling (563) 328-2000.

Check out the Quad Cities River Bandits Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Midwest League Stories from August 24, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central