GRAND CHUTE, WI – Asbel Gonzalez and Derlin Figueroa both homered twice for the Quad Cities River Bandits in Sunday’s 12-3 over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Neuroscience Group Field.
The River Bandits (13-10) took the lead in the top of the second inning on a two-out, RBI single from Erick Torres.
Eric Bitonti tied the game with a lead-off line drive home run to the Wisconsin bullpen in the bottom of the second.
Daniel Dickinson followed with an infield single. Then, Josiah Ragsdale doubled off the wall in left. A poor throw to the infield got away from the Bandits and Dickinson scored the go-ahead run for the Rattlers (14-10).
Quad Cities went back in front in the top of the fourth. Luke Pelzer started the inning with a triple. Jose Cerice tied the game with a ground-rule double to right. Wisconsin brought the infield in with Cerice at third and one out. A grounder to short off the bat of Tyriq Kemp was mishandled for an error to let Cerice score to go-ahead run. Later in the inning, Angel Acosta’s two-out single scored Kemp for a 4-2 lead.
The Bandits added to their lead in the fifth against Jason Woodward and Michael Fowler. Gonzalez hit a lead-off home run against Woodward. Blake Mitchell reached on a hit batsman. Then, Pelzer hit a line drive off Woodward’s right forearm. Woodward was able to get the out at first but left the game before facing the next batter.
Fowler got the second out but gave up a two-run home run for Figueroa and the Rattlers were down 7-2.
Miscommunication on a play at first base with two outs in the top of the seventh allowed the Bandits to extend the inning as they had runners at second and third instead of Fowler being out of the inning. A wild pitch let in the first run. Kemp followed with an RBI single.
Gonzalez went deep again in the eighth. This time it was a two-run home run off Bjorn Johnson. Gonzalez hit three home runs in the series.
Wisconsin’s offense was virtually silent from the third inning through the seventh. Josh Adamczewski has a two-out single in the third and a walk in the sixth to be the only Rattler to reach base in that span.
Adamczewski had a hand in Wisconsin’s run in the bottom of the eighth. Braylon Payne singled and Marco Dinges walked to start the frame. Adamczewski singled with one away to score Payne. The next two hitters were retired to stop the Rattler rally.
Figueroa put a cap on the scoring with his second home run of the game, a one-out, solo shot in the ninth against Quinton Low.
The River Bandits hit eleven home runs in the six-game series as they won four of the six games. They have hit seventeen homers in twelve games against the Rattlers this season.
Ragsdale and Adamczewski each had two hits in the game for the Rattlers. Sunday was Adamczewski’s eighth multi-hit game of the season for Wisconsin.
The Timber Rattlers are off on Monday. They return to action on Tuesday with game one of a series against the Peoria Chiefs at Dozer Park in Peoria, Illinois. Chandler Welch (3-0, 4.09) is scheduled to make his first start of the season for the Timber Rattlers. Game time is 11:05am. The radio broadcast starts with the Community Blood Center Pregame show at 10:45am on News Talk 93.9 and 1490AM WOSH and internet audio. The game is also available on Bally Sports Live