Reyes gem ends Lugs’ winning streak

LANSING, Mich. – On his 22nd birthday, Emmanuel Reyes struck out eight batters in six strong innings, leading the Quad Cities River Bandits (17-18) to an 8-2 victory over the Lansing Lugnuts’(17-21) in a Saturday afternoon clash at JacksonⓇ Field™.

The result simultaneously ended Quad Cities’ seven-game losing streak and Lansing’s six-game winning streak.

With zeroes on the scoreboard at the top of the third, Quad Cities found its difference-making burst of offense. After a Blake Mitchell one-out RBI single led to a first run, a Derlin Figueroa three-run homer into center field gave the River Bandits a 4-0 lead. Those four runs, combined with Quad Cities’ pitching performance, powered the River Bandits to their first win in the series.

The Lugnuts responded with their own run in the bottom of the frame courtesy of a throwing error from Figueroa.

Lansing added a run in the ninth on a Carlos Franco RBI double, but an offense that had scored 62 runs during the six-game streak was stifled by Quad Cities. Starter Reyes pitched six innings, recording eight strikeouts while allowing only four hits, one walk and one unearned run. Reliever Aiden Jimenez finished the game allowing two hits, two walks and one run with two strikeouts.

“He (Reyes) was very aggressive with his fastball and also landing his slider and change-up,” manager Javier Godard said. “So that kid pitched really well, so kudos to him.”

Ben Newton finished the game 2-for-3 with a single, a triple, a walk and two runs scored. No other players registered a multi-hit performance.

“Just a slow day overall,” Godard said. “We hit some balls hard at people, but we never got anything going, so that cost us the game today.”

Starter Tzu-Chen Sha was tagged for seven hits and five runs in 5 ⅓ innings, striking out three. Abel Mercedes, Darlin Pinales and Jorge Marcheco finished the game in relief, combining for three hits, three runs and five strikeouts.

Godard’s message to the team after the loss was centered around moving forward.

“Tomorrow's a new day,” Godard said. “Even though we already won the series, tomorrow's a good, you know, kind of getaway day going to the off day. So win tomorrow and go to Lake County for a big week.”

Starter Nathan Dettmer leads the Lansing Olive Burgers against Quad Cities at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday as Lansing plays as its alternate identity and celebrates 517 Day. Gates open at 12 noon, and the ballpark is offering a 517 Day Deal which includes a $5 olive burger, $1 soda and a $7 ticket. For tickets and more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit www.milb.com/lansing.

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