GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A six-run ninth inning, capped by a Troy Sieber grand slam, lead the Quad Cities River Bandits to an 8-1 win over the West Michigan Whitecaps Saturday night at Fifth Third Ballpark. Daz Cameron drove in a pair of runs despite going hitless in the game
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A six-run ninth inning, capped by a Troy Sieber grand slam, lead the Quad Cities River Bandits to an 8-1 win over the West Michigan Whitecaps Saturday night at Fifth Third Ballpark. Daz Cameron drove in a pair of runs despite going hitless in the game while Chuckie Robinson provided what proved to be the game-winner with a solo home run in the fourth inning.
Quad Cities (17-6, 54-37) took their first lead with a sacrifice fly from Cameron in the second inning, scoring Ronnie Dawson who extended his hit streak to nine games with a lead off double. West Michigan (16-6, 61-28) tied the game with a sacrifice fly in the third, but that was all the damage they could muster despite a bases-loaded, no-out start to the inning. Robinson answered with his ninth home run of the year in the fourth to put the Bandits right back in front.
Seven straight reached for Quad Cities in the ninth to break things open. Four straight hits started the inning, including an RBI-single by Josh Rojas, before Cameron drew a bases-loaded walk to force in another run. Sieber then cleared the bases with his second home run of the season, sealing the Whitecaps fate in the series opener.
Cesar Rosado (W, 2-1) allowed one run on two hits in five innings of work to earn the win. He did not walk a batter while striking out four. Spenser Watkins (6-2) took the loss despite seven strong innings in which he allowed two runs on three hits and a pair of walks with a season-high seven strikeouts. Devon Carr struck out five over two scoreless innings for the Bandits to close out the game and earn his first save of the season.
The Bandits and Whitecaps turn around quickly for a 1:00 p.m. ET, 12:00 CT start in Sunday's middle game of the series. Carlos Sanabria (4-2, 4.38) gets the nod for Quad Cities against Tom de Blok (1-0, 1.11) for West Michigan. You can join Jake Levy for the live radio broadcast on 1170 AM K-BOB and TuneIn radio.
