Solid pitching secures Bandits' sweep of Rattlers
Brock Dykxhoorn threw five shutout innings for the second consecutive start, and the Quad Cities River Bandits offense recorded a double-digit hit total for the second straight night, as the River Bandits beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, 6-1, for their seventh straight win in front of 3,825 at Modern Woodmen Park Sunday night.
Dykxhoorn (6-3) repeated his July 26 outing in Burlington by not allowing a run in five innings. Bettering his other numbers from last Sunday, Dykxhoorn struck out eight while allowing only one hit. In his return to the active roster, Brandon McNitt followed with two shutout innings of his own, allowing two hits and striking out a pair. Ryan Thompson struck out two and walked one in a scoreless eighth inning, while Angel Heredia allowed the lone run to Wisconsin (13-23 second half, 36-70 overall) on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Sthervin Matos in the ninth inning.
The River Bandits (24-14, 69-36) got to Timber Rattlers starter David Burkhalter (3-7) early, striking for three runs in the bottom of the second. With one out, first baseman Bryan Muñiz, who had reached in six straight plate appearances coming into the day, doubled to left center field. In the second inning, second baseman Jose Fernandez followed the Muniz double with a booming shot to left that landed halfway up the berm, his first home run in the Midwest League this season, making it a 2-0 Quad Cities lead. Catcher Garrett Stubbs followed the homer with a walk, and after third baseman Luis Reynoso struck out swinging, advanced to second on a walk to shortstop Kristian Trompiz. Jason Martin then singled to right, scoring Stubbs from second base and increasing the River Bandits lead to 3-0.
A Stubbs walk in the fourth inning started another run-scoring rally, followed by a bunt single by Reynoso and a Trompiz sacrifice bunt, moving runners to second and third. Martin hit a fly ball to left field, deep enough to score Stubbs from third, making it 4-0, and center fielder Bobby Boyd followed with a double off the top of the ribbon board in right field, scoring Reynoso and making it a 5-0 game.
That score remained until the seventh, when Fernandez reached on a fielder's choice and went to third base on a Stubbs single, but Wisconsin third baseman Sthervin Matos made a throwing error trying to get Stubbs at second base, which allowed Fernandez to score.
Muñiz set a River Bandits season high by extending his on-base streak to nine consecutive plate appearances. After his first-inning double, he was hit by a pitch in the third inning and had a bloop double down the right-field line in the fifth inning before flying out to center field in the seventh inning.
The entire Midwest League has an off day on Monday, and the River Bandits will look to extend their seven-game winning streak on Tuesday with the first of three games against the Bowling Green Hot Rods. Right-hander Justin Ferrell (2-2, 2.77) will be on the mound for Quad Cities, while right-hander Yonny Chirinos (3-1, 0.75) will throw for Bowling Green.
UP NEXT: All-you-can-ride amusements passes are $10 each on Tuesday at Modern Woodmen Park. It's also Dew-for-Twosday presented by Pepsi, WOC and Q106.5, with two-for-one tickets available at the box office. Fans who recycle a Mountain Dew can at the ballpark may exchange it for a 16 oz. Mountain Dew voucher. Individual tickets are on sale at the River Bandits box office and online at riverbandits.com. Ticket plans of 12 to 70 games - which include free parking, reserved seats, merchandise discounts, and guaranteed giveaways - are available by calling 563-324-3000.
ABOUT THE BANDITS: With the installation of the Ferris Wheel, the River Bandits ownership in 2014 made one of the biggest improvements to Modern Woodmen Park since the ballpark was first built back in 1931, and this year the club is matching that effort by opening three new areas. A two-tiered special group deck immediately behind and overlooking the corn field opened in June. A new 11,000-square-foot concourse expansion down the third-base line will open in July. Finally, the club is expanding the children's play area by an additional 5,500 square feet down the right-field line. New rides will be announced upon completion of these new areas.