The Quad Cities River Bandits scored four runs in the first inning and held the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers offense in check to cruise to a 7-2 victory on Saturday night at Neuroscience Group Field. Carson Roccaforte drove in four runs to lead the Bandits to their series-clinching victory.
Justin Johnson gave the River Bandits (63-61 overall, 33-26 second half) the lead three pitches into the game with a lead-off home run. Roccaforte added to the Bandits lead later in the inning with a two-run triple. Shervyen Newton drove in Roccaforte with a sacrifice fly for a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
Roccaforte tripled again in the top of the third. This one knocked in one run for a 5-0 advantage. Wisconsin starting pitcher Will Rudy would retire the final seven batters he faced. Rudy allowed five runs on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts over five innings.
Eduardo Garcia got the Timber Rattlers (74-50, 32-26) on the scoreboard with a two-out, solo home run to center in the bottom of the third. The homer was Garcia’s third of the season.
Aidan Maldonado was activated from the Wisconsin Injured List earlier in the day and he came on to pitch the top of the sixth inning. Trevor Werner doubled to start the inning. Roccaforte singled him home for a 6-1 lead. Maldonado had to escape a bases-loaded one-out jam to keep the game from getting out of hand. He did with a little help from himself and a lot of help from Luis Lara in center field. Maldonado got the second out with a strikeout. Johnson, who hit a grand slam on Thursday night, sent a sinking line drive to center. Lara raced in and made the diving catch for the final out to keep the deficit at five.
It was the second stellar grab of the game for Lara, who has made numerous spectacular catches this season while patrolling the outfield for the Rattlers. He also robbed Johnson of extra bases in the second inning with a leaping grab against the fence in front of the Quad Cities bullpen after a long run.
The Rattlers nearly took a big bite out of that deficit after Lara’s big defensive play in the sixth inning. They had runners at the corners with two outs against Hunter Patteson and Hedbert Pérez at the plate. Pérez hit a deep drive down the line in right. The ball just barely went foul at the last moment for a long, loud strike. Patteson got Perez to tap out in front of the plate moments later for the third out.
Milwaukee Brewers reliever Enoli Paredes entered the game for the Rattlers in the top of the seventh inning for his second rehabilitation appearance of the series. Spencer Nivens hit a lead-off home run, his eighteenth homer of the season. Jac Caglianone was next, and he tripled. Paredes stranded Caglianone at third with a pair of strikeouts and a popup. In the eighth, Paredes struck out the side on ten pitches.
In the bottom of the ninth, Wisconsin had runners at the corners with no outs after a walk to Ram?n Rodríguez and a single by Pérez. Eduarqui Fernandez got the run home, but it was on a 5-4-3 double play. The next batter was retired for the final out.
Quad Cities maintains their two-game lead over the Peoria Chiefs in the race for the second half West Division playoff spot. The Chiefs won 8-4 at Beloit on Saturday night. There are seven games remaining in the regular season.
The Timber Rattlers have lost four in a row and will try to avoid their first five-game losing streak on Sunday in the series finale. Alexander Cornielle (6-5, 4.30) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Rattlers. Oscar Rayo (5-0, 2.14) is set to start for the Bandits. Game time is 1:10pm CDT.
