River Bandits GameDay for April 23

River Bandits GameDay
Monday, April 23, 2018 l Game #15
Northwestern Medicine Field l Geneva, Illinois l 6:30 p.m.
 Radio: 1170 AM K-BOB
Quad Cities River Bandits (5-9) at Kane County Cougars (8-6)
RHP Luis Garcia (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Cole Stapler (1-1, 2.70)

Click Here for the full game notes packet
Today's Games: The Quad Cities River Bandits (affiliate of the Houston Astros) travel to take on the Kane County Cougars (affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks) in the first game of a four game series. River Bandits-Cougars Season Series in 2018: Overall: River Bandits 2, Cougars 2. Northwestern Medicine Field: River Bandits 0, Cougars 0.
Last Time Out: The River Bandits and Bees split a doubleheader for the second straight day on Sunday with both teams winning a game by the score of 3-2. Burlington took the lead with three runs in the first inning of game one, chasing starting pitcher Yohan Ramirez in the process. The River Bandits chipped away at the deficit with one run in the second and one more in the third, but missed opportunities to do more damage, stranding three runners in scoring position in those innings. The Bandits put a runner on base in each of the final three innings, but never could score again. In the nightcap, Burlington scored a pair of runs on sacrifice flies from Franklin Torres and Julio Garcia in consecutive at bats in the third inning. The River Bandits got one back on a Marcos Almonte sacrifice fly in the fourth and then tied the game on another sac fly, this one from Cody Bohanek in the fifth. The next batter, Corey Julks, provided the decisive hit, a go-ahead RBI double. Tanner Duncan struck out five of the six hitters he faced to pick up the save.
Single Inning Sadness: With the 28-7 loss to Burlington on Friday the exception, the River Bandits pitching staff has allowed runs in just one inning in seven of the last eight games. The problem is that those innings have often been big innings that lead to a lead change and as a result, the team is just 3-4 in those seven games.
A Day to Forget: The River Bandits suffered their worst loss in recent history on April 19 when the Burlington Bees slugged their way to a 28-7 win. The Bees also racked up 24 hits, 7 extra-base hits, three home runs, including two grand slams, and went 14-22 with runners in scoring position. The River Bandits entered the contest with a 1.88 team earned run average which was second in the Midwest League. By the time the game ended the team ERA was 3.83 which is ninth. Burlington's batting average jumped 46 points during the nine innings played that day. Prior to the game, the most runs allowed by the River Bandits had been six.
Incredible Effort: During two games against Peoria on April 17 and April 19 the River Bandits limited the league's top offense to runs in just 2 of 19 innings and hits in only 3 frames in the series. Four pitchers (Parker Mushinski, Robert Corniel, Luis Garcia, and Colin McKee) combined to one-hit the Chiefs in the game on the 19^th. At one point, in that game 25 consecutive hitters in the game were retired. The Bandits struck out a season-high 18 opposing hitters in the contest.
Upcoming Pitching Match-Ups
Tuesday, April 24                   12:00 PM at Kane County     TBA vs. RHP Jeff Bain (0-0, 2.16)
Wednesday, April 25              11:00 AM at Kane County     TBA vs. LHP Mack Lemieux (1-2, 6.23)
Thursday, April 26                   6:30 PM at Kane County     RHP Cesar Rosado (0-1, 4.82) vs. RHP Brian Shaffer (0-1, 4.61)