Davenport, Iowa – Royals’ No. 7 prospect Ramon Ramirez launched a home run against Milwaukee Brewers’ right-hander and two-time National League All-Star Brandon Woodruff Tuesday, but Quad Cities (28-33) lost its series-opener to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (34-26) 11-6 at Modern Woodmen Park.
After Braylon Payne’s RBI-single got Wisconsin on the board in the top of the first against Bandits’ starter Cory Ronan, Ramirez stepped to the plate in the second and lifted an 0-2 pitch onto the left field berm for his eighth home run of the season and a 1-1 score.
The catcher is the second River Bandit to homer off Woodruff during one of the 33-year-old’s rehabilitation assignments, as Kale Emshoff took the right-hander deep on June 23, 2022 at Fox Cities Stadium.
As part of a scheduled bullpen game, Quad Cities’ left-hander Mason Miller relieved Ronan for the third and used a pair of strikeouts to complete scoreless frame, but the Rattlers jumped ahead against Miller with a five-run fourth inning.
The Timber Rattlers reclaimed the lead initially with an RBI-single off the bat of David Garcia before adding a run on Josiah Ragsdale’s fielder’s choice. One batter later, Daniel Dickinson dropped an RBI-single into center before Eric Bitonti plated Ragsdale with a sacrifice fly.
Right-hander Josh Hansell came from the bullpen to complete inning, but not before a wild pitch scored Dickinson for a 6-1 Wisconsin advantage.
Garcia pushed the Rattlers’ lead to 7-1 in the fifth with a sacrifice-fly.
After Ramirez’s home run, Woodruff used three of his night’s six strikeouts to finish the third and fourth innings, but Luke Pelzer’s leadoff single and pair of stolen bases in the fifth held get Quad Cities back on the board in the fifth. Following a Derlin Figueroa walk, an RBI-fielder’s choice off the bat of Tyriq Kemp brought in the River Bandits’ second run.
Connor Rasmussen, who got the start at third base for Quad Cities in his High-A debut, kept the rally going with his first Midwest League hit, a double, which allowed Angel Acosta to plate Kemp with a sacrifice-fly, cutting the Bandits’ deficit to 7-3.
After Wisconsin got the runs back in the sixth against Kamden Edge, with Luiyin Alastre’s RBI-single and a wild pitch, Quad Cities struck for another pair in the bottom half against Jose Nova, as Pelzer’s RBI-triple and an errant pitch from Nova made it 9-5 Timber Rattlers.
Wisconsin tacked on its final two runs in the seventh against Edge after the right-hander hit Dickinson with a pitch and surrendered a two-run homer to Payne.
Nick Conte (2.0 IP, 2 SO) and LP Langevin (1.0 IP, 3 SO) kept the Rattlers out of the run column for the remainder of the game, but Quad Cities’ bats managed just one run in 3.0 innings against Braylon Owens, who allowed an RBI-single to Rasmussen in the bottom of the ninth, before closing the door on his season’s second save and an 11-6 Wisconsin win.
Woodruff (1-0) earned the win for the Timber Rattlers, working 5.1 innings and giving up three runs during his assignment, while Miller (0-1) was tagged with the loss for Quad Cities, after surrendering five runs in 1.2 innings of relief.
The River Bandits return to Modern Woodmen Park for game two of the six-game set tomorrow and send Emmanuel Reyes (4-2, 3.71) to the mound opposite Josh Knoth (0-0, 2.19). First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.