Webb’s Fantastic Start Leads Captains to 2-1 Victory over River Bandits

EASTLAKE, Ohio – In the 5^th of a scheduled six-game series, the Lake County Captains (25-25) defeated the Quad Cities River Bandits (26-24) by a final score of 2-1 on Saturday night at Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake.

This marks the third win of the series for the Captains, all of which have been by one run.

After a pair of 1-2-3 innings to begin the contest, Quad Cities reached base via walk and a single in the 2^nd. Despite a wild pitch putting River Bandits on 2^nd and 3^rd, Ryan Webb (2-2) escaped the jam with a strikeout. The left-hander pitched a career-high 7 innings and tied a season-high with 8 strikeouts (last on 4/23/23 (G2) vs. Lansing) with 4 hits and 2 walks allowed on 94 pitches (64 strikes).

After the River Bandits left runners on base in the 3^rd and 4^th innings, the Captains offense reached base for the first time in the 4^th with a Nate Furman single. After a Jake Fox (No. 10 Cleveland prospect per MLB.com) single put Furman on 3^rd, Fox stole 2^nd base for his 3^rd steal of the season and allowed Furman to score Lake County’s first run of the game via a Quad Cities throwing error.

Webb went on to retire 9 of his last 10 hitters faced in the 5^th-7^th innings, the lone blemish occurring with a River Bandits single in the 6^th.

After a hitless 5^th-7^th inning stretch for Lake County, the Captains strung together a trio of hits in the 8^th to extend their lead. After a Micael Ramirez single, Yordys Valdes hit a 2-out RBI double, his 10th double of the season, to give the Captains a 2-0 advantage. Milan Tolentino added a single at the end of the inning.

After three straight walks to lead off the inning for Quad Cities, a groundout plated their first run of the night. Nevertheless, Tyler Thornton forced a pop out to leave runners on 2^nd and 3^rd and seal his 6^th save of the season.

First pitch for the finale of this week’s six-game series between the Captains and River Bandits is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 PM. It will be “Throwback Cleveland History Sunday” at the ballpark, where the first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive an Óscar González bobblehead courtesy of The Strong Museum of Play. Coverage of the game can be found on both the Bally Live app and MiLB.tv, as well as through @LCCaptains on Twitter and Instagram.