Diaz and Orozco steal the show

Lugnuts drop River Bandits, 3-2

Rodrigo Orozco has reached base 13 times in his last 15 plate appearances. (Tyler Marcotte)

By Jesse Goldberg-Strassler

July 20, 2017

DAVENPORT, Ia. - Yennsy Diaz dazzled in six innings and Rodrigo Orozco contributed huge moments with his bat and his glove to lift the Lansing Lugnuts (10-17, 47-46) to a 3-2 triumph over the Quad Cities River Bandits (18-9, 55-40) on Thursday night at Modern Woodmen Park.After the Nuts fell to the Bandits in

DAVENPORT, Ia. - Yennsy Diaz dazzled in six innings and Rodrigo Orozco contributed huge moments with his bat and his glove to lift the Lansing Lugnuts (10-17, 47-46) to a 3-2 triumph over the Quad Cities River Bandits (18-9, 55-40) on Thursday night at Modern Woodmen Park.

After the Nuts fell to the Bandits in a 22-hit, 20-3 thumping in the series opener, Diaz (Win, 2-2) made sure that the second game of the three-game set would proceed differently. The 20-year-old right-hander struck out five batters while scattering five hits and four walks and holding Quad Cities' league-leading offense without a run.

The Lugnuts broke a scoreless tie in the seventh against Quad Cities starter Abdiel Saldana(Loss, 5-2), taking a 1-0 lead on a Mattingly Romanin infield single compounded by a throwing error by shortstop Osvaldo Duarte. Saldana hit Nick Sinay with his next pitch - the second HBP of the game for Sinay, increasing his league-leading total to 27 - loading the bases. Left-hander Devon Carr replaced Saldana and was greeted by a first-pitch two-run double by Orozco, increasing the Lugnuts' lead to 3-0.

It was the latest event in a massive week for Orozco, who had gone 4-for-5 with a walk on Monday; 3-for-4 with a walk in the series opener; and finished 3-for-4 with a walk in this game.

The Lugnuts needed his two-run double. In the eighth inning, River Bandits third baseman Josh Rojas - who had homered twice in the series opener - lined a two-run roundtripper off reliever Jared Carkuff , trimming the lead to one.

In the ninth, the Bandits' last gasp: Duarte drew a leadoff walk from Nick Hartman (Save, 2), but Marcos Almonte grounded into a double play. The game's final out was recorded by left fielder Orozco, covering an enormous distance and making a headlong dive into the Quad Cities bullpen to snare a foul fly from pinch-hitter Cristian Trompiz.

The result sets up a rubber match at 7:35 p.m. Friday, featuring Lansing right-hander Osman Gutierrez (2-7, 9.60) against River Bandits southpaw Patrick Sandoval (0-1, 3.38).

The next Lugnuts home game is a Winning Wednesday on July 26 against the Dayton Dragons, opening a seven-game homestand. Tickets may be purchased at the Cooley Law School Stadium box office, by calling (517) 485-4500 or via lansinglugnuts.com.
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