Eighth Inning Dooms River Bandits in 6-2 Loss

The pitching staff of the Quad Cities River Bandits was cruising through the first seven innings on Tuesday night at Modern Woodmen Park. They had surrendered just one hit to the Peoria Chiefs who came into the game with the best batting average in the Midwest League. However, the game changed in the bottom of the eighth when the Chiefs scored six runs on four hits and three errors on their way to a 6-2 victory in the opening game of the series.   
The River Bandits jumped on Peoria starting pitcher Winston Nicacio right out of the gate. Cody Bohanek dumped a single into shallow right field to open the bottom of the first inning. He was running on the pitch as Jonathan Arauz lined a base hit of his own to right. Bohanek ended up at third on the play and the Bandits had runners on the corners with nobody out. The aggressive baserunning continued with Arauz and Bohanek pulling off a double steal moments later. Arauz took second and drew a throw from catcher Julio Rodriguez. Second baseman Irving Lopez cut off the throw in front of the base and fired home where the ball popped out of the mitt of Rodriguez, allowing Bohanek to score and giving the River Bandits a 1-0 lead.
The pitching staff of the Quad Cities River Bandits was cruising through the first seven innings on Tuesday night at Modern Woodmen Park. They had surrendered just one hit to the Peoria Chiefs who came into the game with the best batting average in the Midwest League. However, the game changed in the bottom of the eighth when the Chiefs scored six runs on four hits and three errors on their way to a 6-2 victory in the opening game of the series.   
The River Bandits jumped on Peoria starting pitcher Winston Nicacio right out of the gate. Cody Bohanek dumped a single into shallow right field to open the bottom of the first inning. He was running on the pitch as Jonathan Arauz lined a base hit of his own to right. Bohanek ended up at third on the play and the Bandits had runners on the corners with nobody out. The aggressive baserunning continued with Arauz and Bohanek pulling off a double steal moments later. Arauz took second and drew a throw from catcher Julio Rodriguez. Second baseman Irving Lopez cut off the throw in front of the base and fired home where the ball popped out of the mitt of Rodriguez, allowing Bohanek to score and giving the River Bandits a 1-0 lead.

The lead doubled without the aid of a hit in the third. After getting a pair of groundouts to open the frame, Nicacio lost his command, issuing walks to Arauz, Corey Julks, and J.J. Matijevic in consecutive at bats to load the bases. After a visit to the mound by pitching coach Cale Johnson, Nicacio hit Adrian Tovalin with a pitch to force in a run and make it 2-0.
Entering the eighth inning with just one hit, Peoria exploded for six runs in the eighth. Juan Yepez and Dylan Carlson came up with run-producing hits in the frame while the River Bandits hurt their cause by committing three errors. The Bandits put a runner on base in each of the final two frames, but could never cash in.
The River Bandits finished with five hits. Arauz reached base three times with a single and a pair of walks.
Cristian Javier, the Bandits starter, worked 4.0 shutout innings and struck out six. Carlos Hiraldo retired all three batters he faced in his River Bandits debut. Yohan Ramirez suffered the loss after allowing three runs in 2.0 innings. Carlos Sanabria surrendered three unearned runs in his one inning of work. Cole Watts tossed a scoreless ninth.
The series will resume on Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. at Modern Woodmen Park. LHP Parker Mushinski (0-0, 0.00) will take the ball for the River Bandits against Peoria RHP Jake Walsh (1-0, 2.61).
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.