Shields Fans Career-High, Bandits Split Twin Bill with Sky Carp

Beloit, Wisconsin – Royals’ No. 4 prospect (MLB Pipeline) David Shields took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and struck out a career-high 10 in game two of the River Bandits’ Friday night doubleheader at ABC Supply Stadium. Quad Cities dropped the opener 8-7 in an extra eighth inning, but won the nightcap 3-2.

Before Shields’ effort, offense took the headlines in game one, with the Bandits and Carp combining for 15 runs and 20 hits over seven innings.

RBI-singles from Blake Mitchell and Derlin Figueroa got Quad Cities out to an early lead against Beloit starter Luke Lashutka, but a two-run homer from Brandon Compton and a sacrifice-fly off the bat of Emilio Barrera had the Sky Carp up 3-2 after the opening inning.

The River Bandits went 4-for-4 at the plate with men in scoring position over the first two innings in game one and retook the lead with a three-run second. After Angel Acosta tied the game with an RBI-single, Asbel Gonzalez struck for one of his own. Figueroa put Quad Cities up 5-3 on a bases-loaded walk.

Lashutka completed 2.0 innings and surrendered five runs on 10 base runners without recording a strikeout.

River Bandits’ starter Emmanuel Reyes rebounded and kept the Sky Carp out of the run column over his next six outs and saw a wild pitch from Braulio Salas score Tyriq Kemp for a three-run Quad Cities lead in the top of the third, but Beloit’s bats came back to life in the fourth.

In addition to Compton’s RBI-groundout, Jacob Jenkins-Cowart’s solo shot and Starlyn Caba’s two-run blast erased a the Sky Carp deficit and gave Beloit a 7-6 lead after four.

Reyes, who surrendered a season-high seven runs over a 4.0-inning start, gave way to Nick Conte for the fifth. The right-hander completed back-to-back scoreless frames and allowed Blake Mitchell to tie the game with a solo smash in the sixth off Brayan Mendoza.

River Bandits’ right-hander LP Langevin kept the 7-7 tie intact with help from a pair of strikeouts in a perfect bottom of the seventh, but after Quad Cities failed to score its placed runner in the top of the eighth, Cody Schrier plated pinch runner Wilfredo Lara with the game-winning sacrifice fly against Max Martin in the bottom half.

Despite being charged with a blown save, Mendoza (2-2) earned the game one win for Beloit, striking out four over 4.0 innings of bulk relief. Martin (2-1) was saddled with his first High-A loss of the season.

As they did in game one, the River Bandits got their starter an early advantage in game two. After Shields began his night with a nine-pitch first inning, Figueroa blasted his team-leading 15th home run of the season, his third of the week, off Sky Carp starter Nate Payne in the second.

RBI-singles from Mitchell and Ramon Ramirez, the latter of whom snapped a string of nine-straight games without driving in a run, gave Shields a 3-0 lead entering the bottom of the third.

Two frames later, having retired the first 12 Sky Carp hitters of the game, the left-hander struck out the side in order to complete the fifth inning.

After Payne finished off the top of the sixth inning, securing his second quality start of the season against Quad Cities, Beloit outfielder Colby Shade ended Shields’ perfect game bid on the first pitch of the bottom half, driving a single into center field.

Eight pitches later, Sheilds had responded with strikeouts of Cam Clayton and Lara, becoming the first River Bandit to punch out 10 or more in a game since Ethan Bosacker struck out 12 Sky Carp on August 15, 2024 in the same ballpark.

Shields would face three more batters, but would fail to complete his second quality start of the season, as Barreras broke up the shutout with an RBI-single before a fielding error on Diego Guzman allowed him to score two batters later and shirk Quad Cities’ lead to 3-2.

Coleman Picard took over for Shields after the miscue and stranded both the tying and go-ahead runs on base, getting Carlos Sanchez to ground out and end the eighth inning.

While the Bandits failed to insure their lead against Beloit right-hander Jaydenn Estanista in the top of the seventh, Picard returned for the game’s final inning and pitched a perfect bottom half to secure his first professional save and Quad Cities’ win.

Shields (4-4) allowed two runs, one earned, over his 5.2-inning effort and threw 61 of 87 total pitches for a strike (70.1%). Payne (1-4) was pegged with the loss for Beloit despite completing a quality start and striking out eight.

Quad Cities (26-32) returns to ABC Supply Stadium for game five of the six-game series tomorrow night and sends Royals. No. 22 prospect Blake Wolters (0-5, 12.27) to the mound opposite Sky Carp right-hander Limar Martinez (1-3, 6.21). First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.