The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers grabbed a 3-1 in the top of the fourth inning against the Quad Cities River Bandits on Tuesday night at Modern Woodmen Park. Then, Will Hancock put the home team ahead to stay with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the fourth as the River Bandits beat Wisconsin 5-3 for the second straight night of their six-game series.
Quad Cities (24-13) took advantage of a pair of potential inning-ending double plays going awry in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead. Nick Loftin reached on a single with one out. Vinnie Pasquantino was next and he sent a one-hopper to second that bounced off the glove of Hayden Cantrelle and the ball deflected into right field to put runners on the corners with one out. Tyler Gentry was next and his grounder to short was a tailor made double play. The Rattlers got the out at second, but the throw to first was high. Gentry was safe at first and that allowed Loftin to score.
Wisconsin (18-20) rallied to take the lead in the top of the fourth inning. Thomas Dillard walked and Gabriel García followed with a single. Jesús Lujano was next and he lined a single to left-center to score Dillard with the tying run. LG Castillo gave the Rattlers the lead with a single to left that scored García. Chad McClanahan capped the inning with a two-out, bloop single to left that dropped just inside the foul line to score Lujano.
The Timber Rattlers lead was brief. The River Bandits had two on with two out and William Hancock at the plate. Rattlers pitcher Justin Bullock got ahead of Hancock, but the Bandits catcher cracked a 1-2 pitch over the wall in right field for a three-run home run and Quad Cities was up 4-3.
David Hamilton started the top of the fifth inning with a double and went to third on a sacrifice bunt. Je’Von Ward sent a sinking line drive to left that looked like it would drop and Hamilton was halfway to the plate when Tucker Bradley made the running catch for the second out. Hamilton had to scramble back to third base to avoid being doubled off third. He made it back, but was left stranded at third when the inning ended. The double by Hamilton was the last hit of the game for the Timber Rattlers.
The River Bandits added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Pasquantino started the inning with a double. Gentry was next with an RBI double and the score went to 5-3 in favor of Quad Cities.
River Bandits starting pitcher Angel Zerpa, who struck out eight, turned the game over to his relievers in the seventh as he had put himself in line for his fourth win of the season. Will Klein tossed two scoreless, hitless innings with three strikeouts in the seventh and eighth. Jonah Dipoto walked the lead-off batter in the ninth before striking out the next three batters to pick up his fifth save of the season.
Game three of the series is set for Thursday night at Modern Woodmen Park. Justin Jarvis (0-4, 4.96) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Quad Cities plans to send Asa Lacy (1-3, 6.65) to the mound as their starter. Lacy was selected by the Kansas City Royals with the #4 overall pick in the 2020 draft. Game time is 6:30pm.
