GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Quad Cities River Bandits received a great start and scored in two innings to defeat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 6-2 in game one of a doubleheader at Neuroscience Group Field on Saturday afternoon.
Wisconsin (48-36 overall, 14-8 second half) was robbed of the go-ahead run in the bottom of the first inning. Luis Peña was at second with one out when Marco Dinges hit a sharp grounder up the middle. Second baseman Angel Acosta made a diving stop to keep the ball on the infield. Dinges reached on a single, but Peña had to hold at third. Bandits starting pitcher David Shields ended the threat by getting Daniel Dickinson to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Nolan Sailors started the scoring for the River Bandits (43-42, 13-9) with a lead-off homer in the top of the third inning. The inning degenerated from their for the Timber Rattlers.
Asbel Gonzalez reached on a single and took second on the play on a misplay in right field. Rattler starting pitcher Jayden Dubanewicz issued a walk to Blake Mitchell before getting the first out on a flyout to center that moved Gonzalez to third base. Jose Cerice followed with a single to drive in Gonzalez for a 2-0.
Dubanewicz got the second out of the inning on a weak grounder to first that moved the other runners into scoring position. A wild pitch let Mitchell score for a 3-0 lead.
Mitchell walked to start the top of the fifth inning against reliever Jason Woodward. Luke Pelzer followed with an RBI triple. Cerice was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners. Derlin Figueroa hit a sacrifice fly that was deep enough to score Pelzer and send Cerice to second. A wild pitch sent Cerice to third and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Erick Torres for a 6-0 lead.
Shields left the game after five shutout innings. He allowed two hits, walked none, and struck out four.
Braylon Payne got the Rattlers on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth against reliever LP Langevin. Payne singled and stole second. Langevin walked Marco Dinges to keep the inning alive. Both Payne and Dinges broke for a double steal, and Mitchell threw down to second. However, Dinges had slammed on the brakes to head back to first. Acosta mishandled the throw to allow Payne to race home as the ball trickled into the outfield.
Tayden Hall lined a lead-off homer, his eighth home run of the season, in the bottom of the seventh for Wisconsin’s final run.
The Timber Rattlers have hit 113 homers in 84 games this season. The franchise record of 117 was set by the 2021 team in 119 games.