River Bandits Steal First Game of Series

MIDLAND, MI - Chris Swauger singled home the game-tying and go-ahead runs with two strikes and two outs in the top of the ninth inning, and the Quad Cities River Bandits battled back from a deficit as high as four to defeat the Great Lakes Loons 8-7 Tuesday night at Dow Diamond.

The Quad Cities' comeback came against the typically-dominant Javy Guerra, who blew his first save of the year. Guerra (1-1) walked two and threw two wild pitches in the ninth inning to put two runners in scoring position, setting the stage for Swauger's dramatics.

Quad Cities (14-10) jumped out to a 2-0 lead against Loons' starter Justin Miller in the first. But the Loons responded with four in the bottom of the first to take the lead. In the inning, Austin Gallagher singled home one. Kyle Russell followed with an RBI double. Then with one out, Travis Vetters singled up the middle driving in two.

With the score 4-3 in the second, the Loons tacked on three more scores. Russell notched his second RBI on a single to right. Tony Delmonico hit a sac fly to center. Then Vetters followed with his third RBI of the game on a double to right.

The Loons (13-12) did not score the rest of the game, and Quad Cities pulled to within one run with two in the third and one in the fifth.

Swauger finished the game with four hits and three RBIs. Charlie Cutler had three RBIs in the game.

Loons hitters walked nine times in the game. Dee Gordon, Jaime Pedroza and Delmonico reached base four times each.

Miller allowed six runs in five innings. Jordan Pratt hurled three shutout innings of relief. The River Bandits bullpen combined for 6 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Ramon Delgado (1-0) notched the win after a scoreless eighth. Casey Mulligan struck out the side in the ninth for his seventh save.

The Loons continue their three game series against Quad Cities and their 11-game homestand Wednesday night. Game time is 7:05pm. Tickets start at $6 and are available at Loons.com or by calling 989-837-BALL.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (0-3, 6.61 ERA) will start for the Loons against lefty Hector Cardenas (2-0, 3.68).

The Great Lakes Loons are the third-year Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers and members of the Midwest League. For more information about the Loons, visit Loons.com or call 989-837-BALL.