Oceans 11: Bandits take series from Fort Wayne

DAVENPORT, Iowa -- On the strength of three home runs, the Quad Cities River Bandits romped the Fort Wayne TinCaps, 11-3, in Thursday's rubber match at Modern Woodmen Park. Marcos Almonte  homered twice, including a grand slam, to drive in six runs in the win. Brett Adcock  struck out a career-high 11 TinCaps over six innings en route to his first win of the year. During the game, the River Bandits hosted a surprise military homecoming with Burlington, Iowa native Jake Conger surprising his three kids with his return from Afghanistan.

The River Bandits (14-11) scored all eleven runs with two outs in their respective innings. Almonte put Quad Cities in front with a two-run homer in the fourth after Fort Wayne (10-17) got a single run in the third on a double by Fernando Tatis Jr.  to take an early lead. Then a two-out homer in the fifth from Alex De Goti brought home a pair before three straight walks got Almonte back to the plate and he crushed an estimated 414-foot grand slam - the fourth grand slam by the Bandits this year - to left to blow the game open.
Adcock (1-0) breezed through a career-long six innings, allowing just the third-inning run, on four hits and a walk while striking out the eleven opponents. Adcock has now struck out 37 batters this season and only walked seven. Jerry Keel  (1-2) couldn't get through the fifth inning for Fort Wayne, surrendering the eight runs on six hits - including all three homers - and four walks while striking out three.
Jake Rogers  hit a sacrifice fly for the second out of the seventh inning before back-to-back RBI singles from Randy César  and Chuckie Robinson  rounded out the River Bandits scoring. Lucas Williams  struck out a career-high five batters in two relief innings to close out the series win.
The Bandits have now won the season series with Fort Wayne in back-to-back seasons. They look to keep the power numbers surging as they host the Lake County Captains for a three-game set, beginning Friday, May 5, at 6:35 p.m. CT at Modern Woodmen Park. Gates will open at 5:35 for a Cinco De Mayo fiesta with post-game fireworks presented by Smart Toyota. The radio broadcast will begin at 6:20 on 1170 AM K-BOB, riverbandits.com and the TuneIn app; simulcast on MiLB.TV.