Dayton, Ohio – Quad Cities (61-52, 31-19) struck for a trio of home runs Friday, including Russell Stone’s first in High-A, as the River Bandits earned their third win in four games against the Dayton Dragons (60-56, 21-29) 10-3 at Day Air Ballpark.
Before the long balls, Ben North opened the scoring for Quad Cities in the second with his first professional RBI-double. Russell followed with the first of his night’s three hits, a two-run single.
Dayton struck for two home runs of its own during the bout and cut the Bandits’ lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the second on Esmith Pineda’s two-run shot.
Erick Torres and Ty Doucette exchanged solo shots in the fourth, with Torres striking for his third of the year against Dragons’ starter Kyle McCoy.
Quad Cities’ starter, Emmanuel Reyes, departed after 4.0 innings, striking out five and allowing Dayton’s three runs on three hits, three walks, and five strikeouts before giving way to the bullpen, which shutout the Dragons and did not allow a hit the remainder of the game.
Kamden Edge was first to take the ball in relief for the Bandits and struck out a pair to take the game to the seventh, where Russell lifted a 2-0 pitch from Drew Pestka over left-center field for a two-run shot and a 6-3 Quad Cities lead.
Later in the inning, Jose Cerice extended the advantage to 8-3 with a two-run single. The third baseman also reached twice via hit-by-pitch, extending his on-base streak to 38 games in the process.
After left-hander Ethan McElvain (1.2 IP) worked his third-straight scoreless appearance, Blake Mitchell struck for the Bandits’ third and final home run against Stephen Quigley, snapping a 0-for-21 stretch with a two-run laser down the right-field line for his 21st of the season.
Yimi Presinal picked up the final four outs on the mound for Quad Cities, striking out four in his team-leading 38th appearance of the season.
Edge (6-1) was credited with the win, while McCoy (4-5) was saddled with the loss after allowing four runs on six hits, two walks, and four strikeouts over 4.1 innings.
The River Bandits return to Day Air Ballpark for game five of the six-game set tomorrow and send Royals’ No. 1 prospect Kendry Chourio (2-2, 2.67) to the mound opposite JP Ortiz (5-1, 5.47). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET.