Davenport, Iowa – The Quad Cities River Bandits dropped their third consecutive game Tuesday, falling 5-4 to the South Bend Cubs in the opener of a seven-game series at Modern Woodmen Park.
South Bend jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a home run from Josiah Hartshorn, however, the River Bandits wasted no time responding to the opening salvo as Derlin Figueroa drew a bases loaded walk against Cubs' starter Alfredo Romero and plated Blake Mitchell, knotting the score 1-1.
Quad Cities starting pitcher Tanner Jones rebounded after the solo shot, posting back-to-back perfect efforts in the second and third innings.
The River Bandits’ momentum continued into the bottom of the third inning, as Mitchell reached home on a Luke Pelzer groundout to give Quad Cities a 2-1 lead. Shortly after, Figueroa smashed a no-doubt two-run home run over the right-field wall to extend the Bandits’ lead, 4-1. The blast marked Figueroa’s team-leading 11th home run of the season.
The Cubs stormed their way back into the lead with a four-hit fourth inning. An RBI-double off of the right-field wall from Miguel Useche kicked off the rally, trimming the Cubs’ deficit to two. After their third run was batted in on a Justin Stransky ground out, a two-RBI double from Drew Bowser bumped the Cubs into a 5-4 lead.
Tanner Jones completed his first and the River Bandits’ third quality start of the season after a 6.0-inning performance, finishing with two strikeouts while allowing seven hits and two earned runs.
Josh Hansell took over for Jones in the seventh and worked efficiently over his scoreless 2.0-inning appearance. The right-hander struck out two and allowed just one hit.
The Cubs cushioned their lead in the ninth inning against Max Martin, as a Christian Olivo single allowed Stransky to score from second for South Bend’s sixth run of the night. Later in the inning, Josiah Hartshorn drilled a two-RBI single to right-field. Cory Ronan would relieve Max Martin to close out the inning, and the River Bandits faced an 8-4 deficit while down to their final three outs.
Cubs’ right-hander Kenyi Perez shut the door and earned a six out save, striking out six to quiet the Bandits in the eighth and ninth.
Jackson Brockett (3-1) earned the win for the Cubs, tossing 4.0 innings of scoreless relief, while Tanner Jones (2-3) took the loss for the River Bandits.
With the loss, the River Bandits (22-27) remained in sixth place in the Midwest League West standings and fell to 9.5 games behind the division-leading Cubs (31-17).
Quad Cities returns to Modern Woodmen Park for game two of the seven-game series tomorrow night and sends Aiden Jimenez (1-2) to the mound opposite Sout Bend’s Kevin Valdez (2-0, 4.88). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.