Bandits Close Half with Sixth Straight Win

The Quad Cities River Bandits closed out the first half of their schedule with a 5-2 win over the Burlington Bees on Sunday afternoon at Modern Woodmen Park. The win was the Bandits sixth in a row, matching a season-high, and improved the team's record to 40-30.
The River Bandits did not waste much time before getting on the board. In the bottom of the first inning, Michael Papierski worked a walk to open the frame and was replaced at first base on a fielder's choice groundout from Alfredo Angarita. The third batter of the inning, Miguelangel Sierra, turned on a pitch and belted it onto the berm in left field for his fourth home run of the season. That blast gave the Bandits a 2-0 lead.
Burlington clawed closer in the third inning. Torii Hunter Jr. Jr. worked a walk and then raced to third on an errant pickoff throw from Bandits starter Yohan Ramirez. He scored moments later on a passed ball to cut the lead in half.  

The Bandits pushed the lead back to two runs with an unearned run in the bottom half. Logan Mattix started the frame with the first hit of his professional career and then raced to third on a single by Angarita. Angarita was aiming to advance to second when third baseman Julio Garcia airmailed a throw into right field, allowing Mattix to score. The miscue gave the Bandits a 3-1 advantage.
Quad Cities extended the advantage with two more runs in the fifth. Jonathan Lacroix worked a walk with two outs and went to second on a wild pitch. David Hensley followed with his first professional hit to drive in Lacroix and make it 4-1. Hensley went to second on an error by left fielder Jimmy Barnes. Mattix yanked a double into the left field corner to increase the lead to 5-1.
Burlington scored the final run of the game in the eighth inning. Hunter worked a walk off of Dariel Aquino to open the inning and went all the way to third on a base hit from Kevin Williams Jr.. He scored on Keinner Piña's RBI groundout to pull the Bees within 5-2. That was as close as the Bees would get.
Ramirez went 5.0 innings on the hill and allowed just one earned run on two hits to pick up the win. He fanned six and walked three. Enoli Paredes worked a scoreless inning with two strikeouts as the first man out of the bullpen. Dean Deetz, Aquino, and Brendan Feldmann each worked one inning to close out the final three frames. The Bandits racked up 15 strikeouts, matching their season-high for a nine-inning game.
The offense collected eight hits as a team. Angarita, Roman Garcia, and Mattix each finished with a pair.
The River Bandits will enjoy three days off before returning to play on Thursday night at Modern Woodmen Park. The Beloit Snappers will be in town to open up a four-game series on Thursday at 6:35 p.m.
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.