Bandits Bats Quieted by TinCaps’ Bullpen, Drop Opener with Fort Wayne

Davenport, Iowa – The Quad Cities River Bandits took a 3-0 lead into the fifth inning on Tuesday, but mustered just three base runners over the final three innings, falling to the Fort Wayne TinCaps 6-3 at Modern Woodmen Park.

With Quad Cities’ starter Luinder Avila beginning the game with 4.0-shuout frames, Cayden Wallace sparked the River Bandits early lead by launching a two-run homer in the third, before Javier Vaz plated Jack Alexander’s leadoff double with a two-out RBI single in the fourth, making it 3-0 Quad Cities.

Fort Wayne would eventually get to Avila in the fifth however, with the right-hander allowing three-straight base runners to open the frame, setting up Jakob Marsee to plate a run on a bases-loaded hit by pitch and Jackson Merrill to make it a one-run game with a sacrifice fly.

Despite stranding a pair of runners to end the fifth, Avila would allow the tying run to reach in the sixth on a one-out walk of Brandon Valenzuela. The Fort Wayne catcher would eventually score to tie the game 3-3 on Justin Farmer’s RBI single off newly entered Anderson Paulino.

While Paulino would rebound with a one-two-three seventh, the River Bandits failed to muster anything against TinCaps righty Raul Brito, who allowed just two singles and one walk over 3.0-scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

In the eighth, Bandits’ right-hander John McMillon allowed just one hit, a leadoff double to Valenzuela, but walked and plunked a batter before tossing a pair of wild pitches with runners at third to give the TinCaps a 5-3 lead.

Fort Wayne insured their advantage with a Marcos Castanon sacrifice fly in the ninth, but it would not make a difference, as Quad Cities offense totaled just two base runners against Keegan Collett who picked up a six-out save for his first of the season.

Brito (1-0) earned the win out of the bullpen for Fort Wayne, while McMillon (3-1) took his first loss for Quad Cities, allowing three runs in 2.0 innings of work.

Anderson Paulino (1) was also tagged with a blown save, allowing a go-ahead inherited run to score in 1.2 innings.

Quad Cities will look to even the series at a game apiece on Wednesday, as Mason Barnett (1-1, 4.04) gets the start for the River Bandits against Fort Wayne’s Adam Mazur (0-0, 1.45). First pitch at Modern Woodmen Park is set for 6:30 p.m.