BANDITS ARE TWO-HIT AS OSUNA DEALS
Quad Cities (10-11, 40-51) managed just two singles in the ballgame, one of which was a fourth-inning knock by Alex Castellanos that extended his hitting streak to 12 games and continued a stretch in which he has hit .392. Fort Wayne (18-4, 63-29) tossed a combined two-hitter, as Osuna and Alexis Lara combined for 14 strikeouts while allowing just five baserunners.
Osuna controlled the game from the outset, establishing a career-high with 10 punch-outs without issuing a walk and allowing just one hit over six scoreless frames. After retiring the first nine men he faced in order, he responded to the Castellanos single by setting down the final nine men he faced - including a string of six consecutive strikeouts between the fourth and sixth innings.
Lara did the rest, fanning four and walking one over thee shutout frames of one-hit ball to earn his first save of the year.
While the pitching dictated a low-scoring affair early, a pair of defensive misplays in the outfield enabled the TinCaps to crack the scoreboard.
Yefri Carvajal led off the fourth with a sinking liner to right, but when the ball skipped by a diving Alex Castellanos the leadoff hit turned into a triple. Two pitches later, a single by Robertson gave Fort Wayne the game's first run.
Two innings later Carvajal led off with a single to left, but ended up at second after a fielding error by Jarred Bogany. He promptly scored on a double by Robertson, while a Brayden Drake single later in the frame made it 3-0 in favor of the TinCaps.
Fort Wayne added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth, marking the first two earned runs allowed by reliever Matt Frevert this season. Robertson led off with a single - his fourth hit of the night - and was doubled to third by Robert Lara. Attempting to issue a one-out intentional walk, Frevert air-mailed the fourth ball to the backstop as the first run of the inning came home. A fielder's choice groundout by Drew Cumberland followed to plate Lara for the 5-0 final.
Kevin Thomas (3-6) took the loss for Quad Cities, allowing three runs on eight hits and three walks over five innings of work.
UP NEXT: The River Bandits continue a six-game road trip with game two of a three-game series against the Fort Wayne TinCaps at 5:05 p.m. CT on Sunday, and will return to the Quad Cities for a six-game homestand beginning July 22. The homestand opener will be a Modern Woodmen Half-Price Night in addition to the weekly Wednesday promotions of Rhythm City Casino's Guaranteed Prize WINS-day and an IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union Youth Night.
ABOUT THE BANDITS: The Quad Cities River Bandits drew more than 103,000 fans in the first half of the season for only the third time in team history. Ticket sales, concessions, merchandise sales, sponsorships and even Kids' Zone revenues are all up over last season, which was one of the team's best in history! Banditwear, mini-plans, and individual game tickets are on sale for the 2009 season by calling (563) 3-BANDIT or heading to www.RiverBandits.com. But hurry - good seats are going fast!