Clinton swept by River Bandits, drops finale 5-3

Davenport, IA - Through six games in 2015, the Clinton LumberKings (2-4) have seen their opponent score first five times, the fifth of which, Tuesday night at Modern Woodmen Park led to a sweep. Derek Fisher hit a two-run home run off of Clinton starter Jeffeson Medina (0-1) in the third inning, the second consecutive night Fisher left the yard. Though Quad Cities (5-1) went just 1-10 with RISP, Fisher's home run paired with Clinton defensive miscues led to the eventual River Bandits win.

Though Medina started out the game efficiently, a two out walk to Jamie Ritchie set up Fisher's third inning home run. The Clinton righty, in his 2015 debut, allowed three runs and five hits over 4.2 innings. Following Fisher's home run in the third, Medina allowed a leadoff double to Mott Hyde to begin the fourth. Hyde later scored on Kristian Trompiz's RBI single, which gave the home team a 3-0 lead.

Clinton battled back and made it a one run game in the fifth inning. After Quad Cities' starter Kevin Comer (2-0) threw four no-hit innings, he ran into trouble in the fifth. A walk to Arby Fields, one of three on the night for the outfielder, and a free pass to Chantz Mack, allowed Alex Jackson to get Clinton within one. Jackson drove a single to right field and plated both Fields and Mack, as Clinton trailed 3-2 after 4.5 innings.

Jarrett Brown, who relieved Medina with two outs in the fifth, allowed a pair of runs in the seventh, the eventual winning runs. Ritchie began the inning with a single, and advanced to third on a base hit by Fisher. Jackson's throw into third base from left field ricocheted past third base and off of the Quad Cities dugout, which allowed Ritchie to score. After Brown retired Ryan Bottger and Hyde, Kody Kerski relieved the lefty. Kerski's 0-2 pitch to Jacob Nottingham got away from Clinton catcher Wayne Taylor, which allowed Fisher to score, as the River Bandits led 5-2 after seven innings.

The LumberKings threatened in the eighth, and though they plated one run, they left an opportunity to tie the game on the bases. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Martin Peguero in the inning, who then drew a four-pitch walk from Albert Minnis (SV, 1). The walk plated Jackson, and moved the tying runners into scoring position. But Minnis got Fields to look at a called third strike, as Clinton left three of a game high nine men on base. The lefty cruised through the ninth inning, as he struck out Mack, got Ward to ground out to second base, and struck out Jackson to end the game and complete the sweep.

In the loss, Clinton saw two hitting streaks come to an end. Chantz Mack, who had picked up hits in his first at-bat of his first five starts, finished 0-4. Taylor, who had recorded hits in three consecutive games, went 0-3 with a walk in the loss. Clinton managed just 13 hits and seven runs in the three game sweep in Davenport.

The LumberKings will look to break the losing streak as they head to Kane County to take on the 2-4 Cougars. First pitch of the three game series vs. the Cougars is set for 6:30 CT in Geneva, Ill on Wednesday night. Daniel Missaki (0-0, 3.00) and Jared Miller (0-1, 12.00) are each set to make their second starts of 2015 for the LumberKings and Cougars respectively. The LumberKings radio broadcast will begin at 6:15 with the pregame show, and can be heard on WCCI 100.3 FM, WCCIRadio.com, LumberKings.com, and via the TuneIn Radio App.