Cody Bohanek tied the game with a two-RBI triple in the eighth inning and scored the winning run moments later on Colton Shaver's sacrifice fly to propel the Quad Cities River Bandits to a crucial 5-4 win over the Clinton LumberKings Wednesday night at Modern Woodmen Park. With the victory,
Cody Bohanek tied the game with a two-RBI triple in the eighth inning and scored the winning run moments later on Colton Shaver's sacrifice fly to propel the Quad Cities River Bandits to a crucial 5-4 win over the Clinton LumberKings Wednesday night at Modern Woodmen Park. With the victory, the Bandits moved one game back of first place and into a tie with Peoria for the wild card.
The River Bandits struck first by plating a run in the second inning. Bryan De La Cruz opened the frame with a single and was able to race to third on an ensuing base hit from Bohanek. Shaver followed with a deep fly ball to center field that allowed De La Cruz to tag up and score from third. The sacrifice fly put the Bandits on top 1-0.
Shaver did more damage to the LumberKings in the fourth inning. With two outs and the bases empty, the first baseman lifted a high fly ball to left field that scraped the top of the wall and bounced out for a solo home run. The long ball was the eighth of the campaign for Shaver and doubled the advantage to 2-0.
The Bandits carried the advantage into the seventh inning, having yet to allow a hit to the LumberKings. Ryan Costello opened the frame by beating the shift with a bunt single toward third for Clinton's first hit of the game. With two outs, Eugene Helder tied the score with a two-run home run to right field.
The LumberKings came right back in the eighth to take the lead. Parker Mushinski issued walks to two of the first three batters in the frame. Both of those runners ended up scoring on back-to-back RBI singles later in the inning from Ariel Sandoval and Costello to push the LumberKings advantage to 4-2.
However, the Bandits were able to bounce back in the bottom of the inning. Jake Meyers reached on a single to open the frame and moved to second on a Corey Julks infield single. After a groundout by De La Cruz, Bohanek tied the game with his triple over the head of Sandoval in center field. Shaver drove him in with a sacrifice fly on the first pitch he saw from reliever Scott Boches to reclaim the lead at 5-4. Willy Collado retired the side in order in the ninth to end the game and pick up his second save of the season.
The Bandits collected 11 hits as a team. Meyers, Julks, and Bohanek each tallied a pair. Shaver led all players with his three runs batted in, which was a new season-high for him.
River Bandits starting pitcher Leovanny Rodriguez worked 4.2 no-hit innings with seven strikeouts, while walking three. Brendan Feldmann finished the fifth inning by striking out the only batter he faced. Mushinski tossed 3.0 innings and allowed four runs on four hits and two walks, striking out one.
The River Bandits (36-30) will host the Clinton LumberKings (37-29) for one final first half meeting on Thursday night at 6:35 p.m. The Bandits will start RHP Cesar Rosado (2-2, 5.36) against Clinton LHP Ray Kerr (2-5, 4.56) in the finale.
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.
