Cain brilliant, but Bandits unable to hold on
Left-hander Colton Cain tossed seven shutout innings, but the River Bandits fell to the Dragons 5-1 in front of 2,191 fans at Modern Woodmen Park on Monday afternoon.
The Bandits took a 1-0 lead into the eighth before the Dragons batted around the order and put together a 5-run inning to claim the eventual winning margin on right-hander Juan Minaya. Sammy Diaz drove in the tying run on a fielder's choice to shortstop Austin 'Catfish' Elkins and Seth Mejias-Brean followed by lacing a triple all the way to the wall in right-center to score Diaz for the go-ahead run. Three more runs came in on a single from Jesse Winker, a ground-rule-double that bounced over the wall in left off the bat of Daniel Piggot and a sacrifice fly from Jeff Gelalich. Right-hander Juri Perez retired Brent Peterson on a groundout to third for the final out of the inning on the only batter he faced.
Bandit starter Cain hit two batters in the first inning and Dragon starter Drew Cisco plunked the Bandits' leadoff man Austin Elkins, marking three hit batters in the game's first seven.
Quad Cities was able to get a run on two hits in the fourth. Jessse Wierzbicki led off the frame with a line drive down the left field line for a sliding double. Roberto Pena moved him over to third on a single, and Wierzbicki was then able to score on a groundout double play off the bat of Rio Ruiz.
After the first, Cain set down 14 Dragons in a row before giving up a single to Sammy Diaz with one out in the sixth. Cain allowed just two hits and struck out five, but did not get a decision in the contest. Since his first outing in May, Cain has gone 5-3 with a 2.42 ERA (17 ER/63.1 IP) in 16 appearances. It was his longest outing since going seven rounds for the High-A Bradenton Marauders against the Palm Beach Cardinals while a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization on July 5, 2012.
Minaya (1-4) replaced Cain to start the eighth, and allowed all five runs on five hits in two-thirds of an inning to suffer the loss. Perez allowed a lone hit in one and one-third of an inning for Quad Cities.
Cisco gave up one run on four hits and struck out two in six innings to get a no decision. Left-hander Joel Bender (2-2) earned the win after tossing the final two and two-thirds innings.
Right-hander Lance McCullers will take the mound for Quad Cities against the Fort Wayne TinCaps at Parkview Field in Fort Wayne, Ind., for game one of a three-game set on Wednesday, at 6:05 p.m.
UP NEXT: The River Bandits take to the road for their next 12 games during a 14-day span. They will return to host the Peoria Chiefs at Modern Woodmen Park on Tuesday, July 30, with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Single-game tickets are on sale at the River Bandits box office at Modern Woodmen Park, by phone at 563-324-3000 and online at www.riverbandits.com. Season ticket and mini-plan packages start at just seven games and begin at less than $50. Call a River Bandits account representative today to choose your seats and get the details of our various mini-plan packages.
ABOUT THE BANDITS: The River Bandits ownership is making one of the biggest improvements to Modern Woodmen Park since the ballpark was first built back in 1931! A new Ferris wheel, standing 112 feet over the playing field, is planned for next spring, along with a carousel and other new games and attractions. This season, the team just unveiled a new 300-foot long dual zip line, a rock climbing wall, a Mediacom Frog Hopper, and a number of new bounce houses . The team also boasts a new major league affiliate, the Houston Astros, and fans can see the first team in Minor League Baseball history with back-to-back No. 1 overall draft picks - 2012 top pick Carlos Correa and 2013 top pick Mark Appel, as well as 2012 first-round draft choice Lance McCullers. With new rides, new attractions, new improvements, a new affiliate and future major league stars, the second half of this season is one every fan will not want to miss!