Cubs’ Five-Run First Drops Bandits for Third-Straight Loss

Davenport, Iowa – The Quad Cities River Bandits fell into a five-run first-inning hole on Friday and failed to climb back in a 9-3 loss to the Cubs at Modern Woodmen Park.

The defeat marked the Quad Cities’ third-straight and the end to a six-win, 21-loss May—the club’s worst month of since at least 2005.

While a Trevor Werner error caused four runs to be unearned, Bandits’ starter Frank Mozzicato allowed a season-high seven runs over his 4.2-inning start, including five in the first frame. Jonathon Long gave the Cubs their initial 2-0 lead with an RBI single before Brain Kalmer provided a three-run homer for his first of the year.

Carson Roccaforte got a run back for the Bandits in the third, driving in Justin Johnson on an RBI-groundout, but it would be the only run plated against starter Drew Gray, who tossed a career-high 4.1 innings with five strikeouts.

Just after Quad Cities broke into the run column, the Cubs responded with two more against Mozzicato, a solo shot from Ethan Hearn in the fourth and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Long in the fifth.

The Bandits’ first man out of the bullpen, A.J. Block, struck out the side in a scoreless sixth, but ran into Long in the seventh, as the designated hitter capped off a four-RBI night with a solo homer, South Bend’s third blast of the night.

Quad Cities trimmed its deficit down to five in the seventh, receiving two-out, one-run singles off the bats of Carter Jensen and Brett Squires, but they would be the lone blemishes on the night for Will Sanders, who tossed 4.0 innings and struck out a game-high seven in a piggyback start.

The Cubs tacked on their final run against Cooper McKeehan in the eighth on a sacrifice-fly courtesy of Jefferson Rojas—the shortstop’s fifth in the last three games.

Koen Moreno (2-3) only pitched 0.2 innings in between Gray and Sanders but earned his second win of the season out of the Cubs’ bullpen, while Mozzicato (2-4) suffered his fourth loss of the summer, allowing a season-high six hits with five strikeouts.

The River Bandits will look to avoid their fifth-straight series loss on Saturday, as they send Henry Williams (1-1, 4.14) to hill against South Bend’s Aaron Perry (1-0, 1.10). First pitch at Modern Woodmen Park is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.