Appleton, Wisconsin – The Quad Cities River Bandits (42-42, 12-9) returned from the 2026 All-Star break with their eighth win in 10 games, defeating the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (48-35, 14-7) 13-10 in a season-long 3-hour, 41-minute game at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.
Both teams scored in the first inning, with Luke Pelzer delivering a two-out RBI-single in the top half for Quad Cities and Braylon Payne and Marco Dinges recording an RBI-single and an RBI-groundout respectively for Wisconsin.
Yannic Walther tagged River Bandits’ starter Blake Wolters for an RBI-double and put the Rattlers ahead 3-1 through two, but after Pelzer drew a two-out walk against Wisconsin starter Wande Torres in the top of the third, Jose Cerice tied the game 3-3 with a two-run home run, his second of the year.
The T-Ratts knocked Wolters out of the game and loaded the bases with no one out in the bottom of the third, but a right-hander Aiden Jimenez got help from a double play and escaped the frame with the game still knotted.
Despite recording just one hit in the frame, Quad Cities scored five times and brought 11 hitters to the plate in the top of the fourth against the combination of Torres and Wisconsin right-hander Jose Meneses, drawing four bases-loaded walks and plating a run on a hit batsman.
Now protecting an 8-3 lead, Jimenez returned to the mound for the bottom of the fourth, but saw the Bandits’ lead shrink to two on Luis Pena’s RBI-double and Payne’s two-run homer.
Wisconsin tied the game 8-8 in the bottom of the fifth against Tanner Jones, as Luis Castillo and Pena struck for RBI-singles.
Jones and Rattlers’ reliever Tanner Perry combined for the games first scoreless inning in the sixth before Quad Cities retook the lead in the seventh against Daniel Corniel. After Ramon Ramirez drew his second bases-loaded walk of the game, Quad Cities’ fifth as a team, Pelzer made it a five-RBI night and a 12-8 Bandits’ advantage with a three-run double.
Kamden Edge kept Quad Cities’ lead intact through a scoreless eighth before Blake Mitchell tacked on an insurance run with and RBI-single off Garrett Hodges, making it 13-8.
Castillo’s second RBI-single of the game and a run on a double play ball plated a pair of Rattlers runs in the bottom of the ninth, but Edge ultimately closed out the game, leaving the game-tying run on-deck.
Despite being charged with a blown save, Jones (3-5) earned the win and struck out a game-high six for Quad Cities, while Corniel (0-2) was saddled with the loss for Wisconsin after recording just two outs and surrendering four runs on two hits and three walks.
The River Bandits return to Neuroscience Group Field for a doubleheader tomorrow and send David Shields (7-4, 4.11) to the mound opposite Jayden Dubanewicz (2-2, 4.61) for game one, set for 4:10 p.m. Emmanuel Reyes (6-3, 3.89) is scheduled for pitch game two for Quad Cities. Both games of the twin bill will be seven innings.