Nuts rally in 9th again, but fall in 10
DAVENPORT, Ia. – For a third time in four days, the Lansing Lugnuts (7-12) rallied to tie the score in the ninth inning, but ultimately fell in the tenth to the Quad Cities River Bandits (9-8), 3-2, on Saturday night at Modern Woodmen Park. On Wednesday, the Lugnuts had rallied
DAVENPORT, Ia. – For a third time in four days, the Lansing Lugnuts (7-12) rallied to tie the score in the ninth inning, but ultimately fell in the tenth to the Quad Cities River Bandits (9-8), 3-2, on Saturday night at Modern Woodmen Park.
On Wednesday, the Lugnuts had rallied from a 5-4 deficit before Quad Cities walked off with a 6-5 win. Then on Friday, Lansing scored six runs in the ninth to pull off a stunning 7-6 win.
The Nuts entered the ninth trailing 1-0. Bobby Boser drew a leadoff walk from Yimi Presinal – the same reliever who had given up the lead on Wednesday – and Devin Taylor lasered a single to right. Nate Nankil laid down a bunt which Presinal fielded and threw wildly toward first, allowing Boser to score the tying run.
Déjà vu struck an inning later. With placed runner Gavin Turley at second, Justin Riemer grounded back to Presinal. This time the Quad Cities right-hander turned toward third base, but the result was the same, a wild run-scoring throw down the line.
Crucially, Presinal followed up his errors with big pitching in both innings, stranding runners at second and third in the ninth and leaving Riemer at third base in the tenth.
In the bottom of the tenth, a strange three-bunt sequence befell the Lugnuts and reliever Jake Garland. Erick Torres opened with a bunt that first baseman Jared Sprague-Lott threw away, allowing placed runner Austin Charles to score for a 2-2 tie. A Trevor Werner sacrifice was overrun by third baseman Davis Diaz. And Tyriq Kemp dropped down a bunt single that came to a halt directly on the third base line.
With the bases loaded and no one out, Nolan Sailors won the game with a sacrifice fly to deep left.
Lansing starter Kyle Robinson fanned five in 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision, allowing one run on three hits and one walk. Davis Diaz and Devin Taylor each finished the game 2-for-4 with Diaz adding a walk, while Bobby Boser drew a pair of walks to extend his on-base streak to 18 games.
One game remains in the six-game series. Tzu-Chen Sha starts for Lansing at 2:00 p.m. EDT / 1:00 p.m. CDT; a Lugnuts win would clinch a series split.
The Nuts return home from April 28-May 3 to host the Dayton Dragons. For tickets and more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit www.milb.com/lansing.
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