Quad Cities Drops Fourth-Straight in Rain-Shortened Defeat

South Bend, Indiana – The Quad Cities River Bandits (30-37, 0-4) suffered their fourth-straight loss to begin the 2026 Midwest League second half, as they were defeated by the South Bend Cubs (41-25, 3-2) 8-1 in eight innings at Four Winds Field.

For the sixth time in seven games, the River Bandits fell behind in the opening frame, with Josiah Hartshorn’s RBI-single landing the first blow against Quad Cities’ starter Emmanuel Reyes. Following a run on a Tyriq Kemp error, Reyes struck out Angel Cepeda for the second out of the frame, but saw South Bend go up 3-0 on Jose Escobar’s sacrifice-fly before the end of the frame.

Reyes worked scorelessly for the final three innings of his 4.0-inning outing, but the River Bandits failed to break through against Cubs’ starter Jostin Florentino, with Quad Cities mustering just one hit—Connor Rasmussen’s second-inning single—and striking out seven times over the game’s first four innings.

River Bandits’ right-hander Max Martin posted zeros in the fifth and sixth innings, but South Bend got back on the board in the seventh, taking a 6-0 lead against the combination of Nick Conte and Chase Jessee.

After a wild pitch allowed Kane Kepley to score the Cubs’ fourth run, Ty Southisene drove in Christian Olivo with an RBI-single. Jose Escobar then greeted Jesse to his River Bandits debut with an RBI-single of his own.

South Bend right-hander Brayden Spears kept the shutout bid alive through the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, but Luke Pelzer’s two-out RBI-single got Quad Cities on the board in the eighth. The outfielder leads High-A and ranks fourth among all minor league batters with a .400 two-out batting average.

Hartshorn got the run back plus one in the bottom of the eighth, pushing South Bend ahead 8-1 with a two-run homer against Bandits’ right-hander Kamden Edge.

As the Cubs took the field for the top of the ninth, the tarp was rushed onto the field and never removed after a 28-minute rain delay.

Spears (4-2) earned the win for South Bend, striking out six over 3.2-innings of one-run relief, while Reyes (5-3) was saddled with the loss for Quad Cities after allowing three runs, two earned, over a 4.0-inning start.

The River Bandits return to Four Winds Field for game three of the six-game set tomorrow night and send Roayls’ No. 4 prospect (MLB Pipeline) David Shields (5-4, 4.03) to the mound opposite South Bends’ Mason McGwire (1-0, 2.45). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET.