Quad Cities Offense Shines, River Bandits Defeat Kernels 8-2 

Cedar Rapids, IA - The River Bandits used three runs in the top of the third and two in the fourth to grab a lead they would not lose in an 8-2 win over Cedar Rapids Thursday night.

After scoring nine runs in game two of the doubleheader Wednesday, the River Bandits offense picked up where they left off in the top of the third inning on Thursday. A walk and a single put runners on the corners for Sam Kulasingam, who lined a single into right to put Quad Cities ahead 1-0. A walk then loaded the bases for Daniel Vazquez, who cued a single to right field that brought two runs home to make it 3-0.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Bandits added on. Austin Charles led off with a double, then moved up to third on Derlin Figueroa’s infield single. Charles scored one batter later on a groundout to make it 4-0. With two down, Nolan Sailors blooped a single into center to plate Figueroa to extend the lead to 5-0.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Kernels got on the board with a bases-loaded walk from Danny De Andrade to force in a run to make it 5-1.

In the top of the sixth, Quad Cities got that run back. A two-out single brought up Nolan Sailors who doubled to plate the run to make it 6-1.

That was the only run Matt Gabbert allowed out of the Kernels' bullpen. The right-hander tossed 4.1 innings, only allowing two hits with three strikeouts in his home debut.

In the ninth, the Bandits grabbed a pair of runs to pad their lead. Although the Kernels got a Jefferson Valladares solo home run in the home half of the ninth, it was too little too late as Quad Cities took game four of the series 8-2.

With the loss, Cedar Rapids goes to 21-24 in the second half and to 2-2 in the series with the River Bandits. Game five is set for Friday evening at 6:35 with Garrett Horn to start for the Kernels against Emmanuel Reyes