Homer-happy Bandits trounce Lugs, 20-3

Rodrigo Orozco went 3-for-4 with a walk, reaching base in his eighth consecutive plate appearance dating back to Monday. (Tyler Marcotte)

By Jesse Goldberg-Strassler

July 20, 2017

DAVENPORT, Ia. - Ronnie Dawson homered twice in a nine-run second inning, and the Quad Cities River Bandits (18-8, 55-39) handed the Lansing Lugnuts (9-17, 46-46) a record-setting 20-3 loss in the opener of a three-game series on Wednesday night at Modern Woodmen Park.The Lugnuts set a dubious franchise record with

DAVENPORT, Ia. - Ronnie Dawson homered twice in a nine-run second inning, and the Quad Cities River Bandits (18-8, 55-39) handed the Lansing Lugnuts (9-17, 46-46) a record-setting 20-3 loss in the opener of a three-game series on Wednesday night at Modern Woodmen Park.

The Lugnuts set a dubious franchise record with the 17-run margin of defeat and tied franchise records with 20 runs and six home runs allowed.

The River Bandits scored four runs in the first inning against Mike Ellenbest , capped by a Troy Seiber three-run homer, and then blew the game wide open in the second on two-run and three-run homers from Dawson, plus a two-run homer off the bat of Daz Cameron.

Ellenbest (Loss, 3-6) gave up nine hits and nine runs in one inning plus five batters.

Quad Cities third baseman Josh Rojas also hit two home runs, belting a two-run roundtripper off Geno Encina in the third and a two-run shot off Denis Diaz in a three-run fifth inning that pushed the lead to 18-0.

The Lugnuts broke up the shutout in the sixth on an Edward Olivares sacrifice fly, and closed out the scoring in the ninth on a Nash Knight home run and a Rodrigo Orozco RBI single.

Orozco starred in defeat, extending his streak of consecutive plate appearances reaching base to eight with a single, walk and double before getting robbed by first baseman Sieber on a line drive down the line. He finished 3-for-4 with a walk, a run scored and an RBI, raising his batting average to .290.

Quad Cities starter Carson LaRue(Win, 10-3) pitched five shutout innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out two. Ronel Blanco took care of the next 3 2/3 innings, allowing all three Lugnuts runs, before he was relieved by Dustin Hunt for the game's final out.

Right-hander Yennsy Diaz (1-2, 4.75) represents the Lansing Lugnuts in the second game of the three-game set, opposing Bandits right-hander Abdiel Saldana (5-1, 2.85) at 7:35 p.m. Eastern.

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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