Bandits Blank Timber Rattlers 8-0

The Quad Cities River Bandits recorded their Minor League Baseball best 19^th shutout of the season by blanking the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 8-0 on Saturday night at Fox Cities Stadium. Abdiel Saldana and R.J. Freure combined to strike out 13 Wisconsin batters and limited the Timber Rattlers to just four hits.
Saldana collected the win by working the first 5.0 innings of the game. He struck out seven and scattered four hits. Freure took over in the sixth and worked the final 4.0 innings to earn his third save of the season. He was perfect aside from a one-out walk in his first inning on the hill.
The River Bandits (27-21, 70-44) received all of the offense they would need in the top of the second inning. With a runner on first base, Zach Biermann crushed an opposite field home run to left field for his first of the season. The home run came in his first professional at bat in his home state of Wisconsin and gave the Bandits a 2-0 lead. Later in the frame, Alex McKenna lined a single up the middle with the bases loaded to extend the lead to 3-0.

With the bases loaded once again in the sixth inning, Orlando Marquez lifted a sacrifice into deep center to make it a 4-0 advantage. That set the stage for a huge sixth inning in which the lead was doubled. With two runners in scoring position, second baseman Korry Howell dropped a pop up on the right side of the infield for a two-base error. Freudis Nova followed with a two-run single up the middle and the lead grew to 7-0. The final run was tacked on with Oscar Campos's double into the gap in left center.
Wisconsin (26-22, 57-60) collected three of their four hits in the first two innings of the contest. Wilyer Abreu led the River Bandits with a 3-4 day at the plate and finished a home run shy of the cycle. Nova added two hits and two runs batted in.
The series will resume on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. RHP Brett Daniels (5-6, 1.87) will get the start for the River Bandits. Wisconsin will turn to LHP Scotty Sunitsch (9-11, 4.69).
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.