Block, Bullpen Silence Kernels for Bandits' Third-Straight Win

Davenport, Iowa – With all of the ballgame’s offense contained in one inning, the Quad Cities River Bandits were the benefactors of lockdown pitching and defensive miscues as they topped the Cedar Rapids Kernels 3-1 to secure their third consecutive win at Modern Woodmen Park

Starting pitching dominated the first third of Friday’s game and saw Bandits’ starter A.J. Block and Kernels’ starter Tyler Beck each allow just one hit, a double, through three innings while Block struck out six of the of the 10 batters he faced.

On the fourth pitch of the fourth inning, Alex Isola doinked a solo home run off the bottom of the right field foul pole to give his team the 1-0 lead and the only blemish on Block’s stat line.

Despite just one hit prior to the bottom of the fourth, Eric Cole and Vinnie Pasquantino gave the Bandits two men on with no one out in their half before Jake Means worked a walk off Beck to load the bases. Michael Massey then came to the plate and reached on a fielding error by Isola that also allowed Cole to score and tie the game at 1-1.

The defensive woes continued for Cedar Rapids, as two batters later, catcher Kyle Schmidt’s attempt to turn a 1-2-3 double play turned into Quad Cities second run as his errant throw allowed Rave to reach first and Massey to score from second.

Will Hancock, the next batter, became the only Bandit to record an RBI on the night as his infield hit to Seth Gray plated Govern and extended his team’s lead to 3-1.

After recording his final out with a strikeout of Edouard Julien to leadoff the sixth, Block gave way to Peyton Gray who walked Isola prior to punching out Seth Gray and Wander Javier to end the inning.

The River Bandits’ righty gave his club two scoreless innings out of the pen, keeping the lead in tact while striking out four in 2.2 total innings.

While Erik Manoah Jr. and Zach Featherstone did their job and quieted Q.C. for 3.1 innings, Garrett Davila stranded a pair of walks, including the tying run on second in the top of the ninth to secure the win and his third save of the season.

Block (1-1) earned his first win of the season after tying his season-high with 5.1 innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts, while Beck (1-1) was a tough-luck loser after also working 5.1 innings and giving up just one earned run with three strikeouts.

Quad Cities will have a chance to win its seventh series of the season on Saturday as they will throw Asa Lacy (1-4, 5.40) against Cedar Rapids’ Kody Funderburk (0-0, 3.00) for a 6:00 p.m. CDT first pitch.