Hensley's Homer Helps Bandits Tame Cougars

The Quad Cities River Bandits mustered only one hit over the final five innings of Thursday's game at Modern Woodmen Park. That one hit was a tie-breaking solo home run off the bat of David Hensley that pushed the Bandits to a 2-1 win over the Kane County Cougars. The game featured a one hour and 52 minute rain delay between the second and third innings.
The River Bandits jumped in front in the game's second inning. With one out, Miguelangel Sierra blasted a Mack Lemieux changeup over the left field wall for his 11^th home run of the season to give the River Bandits a 1-0 lead.
As the final out of the second inning was recorded, the grounds crew placed the tarp onto the field moments before a torrential downpour began. The heavy rains led to a delay lasting almost two hours.

When play resumed, Kane County tied the game in the top of the fourth inning off of Tanner Duncan. With two outs in the frame, Ryan Grotjohn lined a solo home run inside of the foul pole down the right field line to make it a 1-1 game.
That scored remained into the eighth inning. The River Bandits had been limited without a baserunner since the third inning and 15 consecutive batters had been retired by Cougars pitching after Abraham Almonte disposed of the first two batters in the eighth. Hensley changed that by breaking the tie with a solo home run onto the berm behind the left field wall. His fourth long ball of the campaign represented the final run of the game.
Starting pitcher Cesar Rosado worked 2.0 scoreless innings before the weather halted his outing. Duncan pitched the next 2.2 innings, allowing the one run while fanning five. Parker Mushinski tossed 2.1 innings with five strikeouts of his own and Hansel Paulino finished the game with 2.0 scoreless innings, striking out four. The River Bandits combined for 15 punchouts, bringing them within two of tying the Midwest League record for a pitching staff in a single season.
The River Bandits (30-23, 70-53) finish off their series with the Cougars (27-25, 62-59) on Friday night at 6:35 p.m. RHP Leovanny Rodriguez (4-5, 4.11) will start on the mound for the Bandits against RHP Cole Bartlett (3-2, 3.76) of the Cougars.
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.