(WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS) DAVENPORT, IA – A rainy night at Modern Woodmen Park saw the Quad Cities River Bandits pour on the offense in two big innings to hand the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers an 11-1 loss on Thursday. A five-run first inning by the Bandits put the Rattlers on the back foot, and missed opportunities left Wisconsin unable to dig out of the early hole before a late offensive spurt by the hosts ended hope of a comeback.
Quad Cities (1-2) sent eleven men to the plate in the bottom of the first inning to take a 5-0 lead. Blake Mitchell, the second batter of the inning, hit a two-run home run to right-center. Ramon Ramirez made it back-to-back homers with a home run to right for a 3-0 lead.
One out later, Jose Cerice singled to right and took second on an error. Derlin Figueroa singled to left with two outs to score Cerice. Later in the inning, another error allowed Figueroa to score for the 5-0 lead.
Wisconsin (3-2) rallied for a run in the top of the second. Luis Castillo grounded into a force play at second with runners at the corners to get a run home. There were runners at first and second with a chance for more runs, but a 4-6-3 double play ended the opportunity.
The Timber Rattlers had several more chances through the middle innings, including a lead-off single in the third, runners at first and second to start the fourth, and runners at first and second with one out in the seventh. Wisconsin was turned away each time.
The River Bandits put the game out of reach in the bottom of the seventh as their first six hitters of the inning reached base and all six scored. An error allowed the first run to cross the plate. Jose Cerice drove in a run with a bases-loaded single. Austin Charles had a two-run double, and Tyriq Kemp capped the inning with a two-out, two-run single for an 11-1 lead.
The loss ended Wisconsin’s three-game winning streak. The Rattlers did themselves no favors with four errors on the defensive side. The offense managed four hits, went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, and struck out twelve times.
Juan Baez had a pair of singles in the game for Wisconsin.
Game four of the series is set for Friday night. Bryce Meccage (0-0, 10.13) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Aiden Jimenez is set to start for Quad Cities. Game time is 6:30pm.
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