DAVENPORT, IA – David Hollie broke a 4-4 tie with a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Quad Cities River Bandits held on to defeat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 6-4 at Modern Woodmen Park on Friday night. Quad Cities has won three of the first four games of the series from the Rattlers.
Gavin Cross gave the River Bandits (6-6) a 1-0 lead when he hit the second pitch of the game for a home run.
Wisconsin (6-7) came back to tie the game in the top of the second inning. Ben Metzinger walked, went to second on a wild pitch, and took third on a single by Alex Hall. Darrien Miller drove in Metzinger with a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game.
Eric Brown Jr. singled to right with one out in the top of the second for the Rattlers. River Bandits starter Luinder Avila got the second out. Then, tried to pick Brown off first base with three straight attempts while Metzinger waited for his first pitch. When the third pickoff attempt failed, Brown was given second base on a balk. Brown took off for third on the first pitch to Metzinger and the throw from catcher Carter Jensen sailed into left field. Brown scored and the Rattlers had a 2-1 lead.
Rattlers starter Stiven Cruz walked the lead-off batter in the bottom of the third before striking out the next two hitters. Another walk extended the inning. Then, Cayden Wallace made the Rattlers pay when he hit a long, three-run home run to left to give the River Bandits a 4-2 lead.
The red-hot Alex Hall brought the Rattlers back to even in the sixth inning. Metzinger walked on a 3-2 pitch from William Fleming. Hall hit the next pitch out of the stadium to right field to tie the score 4-4. The homer was the fifth of the week for Hall, who hit two homers on Sunday against Beloit and two homers last night against the Bandits.
A defensive miscue led to a pair of Quad Cities runs in the bottom of the seventh. Jack Alexander singled with one out against reliever Ryan Brady. Paxton Wallace was next to hit for the Bandits. He sent a grounder back to Brady on the front slope of the mound. Brady fired wildly to second base and instead of an inning-ending double play, the River Bandits had runners at the corners. Hollie followed by ripping a double into the corner in left to score both runners for a 6-4 lead.
Wisconsin could not take advantage of a Quad Cities error in the top of the ninth against River Bandits closer Anderson Paulino. Miller reached on an error by Paxton Wallace to start the inning. Miller was erased on a force out at second with Ernesto Martínez Jr replacing Miller at first base. Then, Jesús Chirinos grounded a single through the right side of the infield with Martínez racing for third. Terence Doston pinch ran for Chirinos and advanced to second on a ball in the dirt the trickled in front of the plate to put the tying runs in scoring position for the Rattlers with only one out.
However, Paulino escaped the jam with a grounder to third and a strikeout to earn his second save of the series and third save of the season.
The trio of River Bandits pitchers combined for fourteen strikeouts on Friday night. Quad Cities pitchers have collected 55 strikeouts in the first four games of the season.
Game five of the series is Saturday evening at Modern Woodmen Park. Tyler Woessner (2-0, 1.80) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Chandler Champlain (1-1, 4.09) is the scheduled starter for the River Bandits. Game time is 6:30pm.
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