Adrian Tovalin's two-out RBI triple in the seventh inning broke a 1-1 tie and helped lead the Quad Cities River Bandits to a series opening 3-1 win over the Kane County Cougars at Northwestern Medicine Field. The victory gave the River Bandits victories in consecutive games for the first time
Adrian Tovalin's two-out RBI triple in the seventh inning broke a 1-1 tie and helped lead the Quad Cities River Bandits to a series opening 3-1 win over the Kane County Cougars at Northwestern Medicine Field. The victory gave the River Bandits victories in consecutive games for the first time this season.
The River Bandits were the first team to strike, doing so in their first at bat of the game. With one out, Jake Adams hit a roller off of the first base bag that deflected into shallow right field for a single. He advanced into scoring position on a tapper back to the mound by Jonathan Arauz. Bryan De La Cruz came through with a base hit up the middle to score Adams and give the Bandits a 1-0 lead.
Kane County managed to pull even in the bottom of the sixth. Ernie De La Trinidad reached on an error with one out when Carlos Hiraldo dropped Adams' flip to him while covering first base on a ground ball. Yoel Yanqui followed with an infield single to the left side, leaving runners on first and second. The next hitter, Luis Silverio, smashed a ground ball to third that took a high hop past third baseman Adrian Tovalin for an RBI double that evened the score.
Tovalin came through with the big tie-breaking hit in the seventh, driving in Jonathan Arauz, who had walked, with an opposite field triple into the corner. Roman Garcia followed with a ground ball to third that was thrown away by Joey Rose, allowing Tovalin to score and growing the lead to 3-1.
Starting pitcher Luis Garcia was outstanding, throwing 4.1 shutout frames, while scattering two hits and striking out seven. The outing represented his first start of the year and was the longest of his short professional career. Hiraldo, who earned the win, went 3.2 innings without allowing an earned run and fanned three. Carlos Sanabria picked up the save with a clean ninth inning.
The River Bandits finished with five hits. Adams, who had two, was the only player for either team with multiple hits.
The series continues on Tuesday with a 12:00 p.m. first pitch at Northwestern Medicine Field in Geneva. The River Bandits (6-9) have not yet announced a starting pitcher, while Kane County (8-7) will hand the ball to RHP Jeff Bain (0-0, 2.16).
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.
