Bandits rally past Bees
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By Steve Batterson | Saturday, May 10, 2008 |
It’s all in the timing.
Just ask the Quad-Cities River Bandits, who mustered one hit but still found a way to score three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday to rally for a 6-4 Midwest League win over Burlington.
“We bunched a few things together, and it worked out,’’ said Charlie Kingrey, one of five River Bandits to collect two hits as part of a 12-hit effort by Quad-Cities.
“The pitchers battled, we had some hits and we were able to put an inning together when we needed it. We’ve come from behind before.’’
And that didn’t hurt.
“When a team can do, come from behind and win a game or two when they’ve been down late, there’s no question that it helps with the confidence,’’ Bandits manager Steve Dillard said. “Guys know they are capable of doing it, that they can come back and win and while it doesn’t happen every time, we’ve shown that we’re capable several times.’’
Quad-Cities needed to rally after the Bees’ David Lough launched a one-out homer to right in the top of the sixth to give Burlington a 4-3 lead.
The River Bandits left the bases loaded in the sixth inning and stranded runners on second and third in the seventh before making the most of an opportunity presented by the Bees in the eighth.
After Justin Roberson reached on a leadoff walk and Paul Vasquez was hit by a pitch, Burlington reliever Yensi Lopez was replaced by Henry Arias.
The right-hander put Jose Garcia in an 0-2 predicament, but Garcia worked the count full and then walked to load the bases.
Adron Chambers then drove home the game-tying run with a single to center, moving Vasquez into position to score on a sacrifice fly by Pete Kozma.
“Timely hits and timely contact to move runners is what this game is about and we had that when we needed it,’’ said Kozma, who extended his ongoing hitting streak to eight games with an RBI triple during the River Bandits’ two-run third inning.
An RBI groundout by Kingrey provided Quad-Cities with its winning margin and allowed River Bandits newcomer Eduardo Sanchez to finish off three perfect innings of relief with a 1-2-3 ninth.
“He showed what he is capable of,’’ Dillard said. “He’s on a pretty strict count right now where’s he limited to about 40 pitches, but he’s got great stuff, excellent stuff, and showed that tonight.’’
Sanchez, a 19-year-old from Maracay, Venezuela, struck out three and did not walk a batter in his Midwest League debut while combining with Thomas Eager and Pete Parise in the six-hit victory.
“It was a good game to come back and win,’’ Dillard said. “We had one hit in our three-run inning, but we’ve given up a few of those, too, so it was return the favor. I guess it was our turn.’’
Steve Batterson can be contacted at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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