Davenport, Iowa – The River Bandits’ pitching staff allowed just one earned run to the Midwest League’s top offense Thursday, as Quad Cities snapped a four-game skid with a 4-3 win over the South Bend Cubs at Modern Woodmen Park.
After Emmanuel Reyes set the tone with his second and Quad Cities’ fourth quality start of the season, LP Langevin and Kamden Edge no-hit the Cubs and struck out six through three perfect innings of relief.
The River Bandits’ bats found early success too, as Trevor Werner swung away in a 3-0 count and stroked a two-out, two-run double off Cubs’ starter Cole Reynolds to put Quad Cities ahead 2-0 in the second inning.
Reyes did not allow a hit through his first two frames, but surrendered a pair in the third. An RBI-double off the bat of Christian Olivo plated Alex Madera to get South Bend into the run column before a throwing error on Bandits’ second baseman Angel Acosta allowed him to score an unearned run and tie the game 2-2 two batters later.
While walks from Acosta and Luke Pelzer plus a Blake Mitchell single loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the third, the Bandits were unable to retake the lead, as Reynolds induced a pair of flyouts.
South Bend then broke the tie for 3-2 lead in the fourth inning when Jose Escobar reached home on the Bandits’ second throwing error of the game, a poor toss from Tyriq Kemp following Madera’s infield single that allowed Jose Escobar to score.
Reyes bounced back with a scoreless fifth and sixth inning, collecting the final three of his night’s strikeouts to help close out his seventh-straight start of five or more innings.
After the combo of Reynolds and Cubs reliever Ben Johnson kept Quad Cities scoreless from the third to the fifth inning, Derlin Figueroa came to the rescue in the bottom of the sixth and drilled an RBI-double to center field, scoring Ramon Ramirez and tying the game 3-3.
Langevin began his night on the mound with a perfect top of the seventh, allowing the Bandits jump in front 4-3 in the bottom half against Johnson. Acosta dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Werner to third after the Bandits’ first baseman doubled to begin the frame. Pelzer brought him in against a shallow infield with an RBI-single up the middle to push Quad Cities ahead 4-3.
The lead remained intact through eight after Langevin twirled a second-straight perfect inning.
Edge took the mound for the top of the ninth and struck out the side in order to lock up his team-leading third save and Quad Cities’ first win of week.
Langevin (3-1) earned the win out of the River Bandits’ bullpen, while Johnson (1-1) took the loss after conceding the tying and winning runs over a 3.0-inning effort.
With the win, Quad Cities (23-28) remains in sixth in the Midwest League West, but now sits only one game behind fifth-place Beloit. The Cubs (32-18) remain atop the division, 3.5 games ahead of second-place Wisconsin.
The River Bandits return to Modern Woodmen Park tomorrow night for games four and five of their seven-game series with the Cubs. Royals’ No. 4 prospect and Quad Cities’ left-hander David Shields (3-4, 3.63) is scheduled to get the start in game one opposite South Bend’s Jostin Florentino (0-1, 5.68), while Cory Ronan (2-1, 9.53) is scheduled to start the nightcap against Mason McGwire (0-0, 0.00). First pitch for game one is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.