In a game full of twists and turns down to the final pitch, the Quad Cities River Bandits emerged with a 6-5 walk-off win in the 13th inning against Cedar Rapids on Friday night at Modern Woodmen Park. Corey Julks worked a bases loaded walk to force in the winning
In a game full of twists and turns down to the final pitch, the Quad Cities River Bandits emerged with a 6-5 walk-off win in the 13th inning against Cedar Rapids on Friday night at Modern Woodmen Park. Corey Julks worked a bases loaded walk to force in the winning run and spark a celebration on the field. The 4 hours and 26-minute game was played in front of 2,913 fans.
Cedar Rapids jumped ahead right out of the gate against River Bandits starter Peter Solomon. Solomon walked the leadoff hitter Akil Baddoo and then allowed a single to right field off the bat of Royce Lewis. Outfielder Bryan De La Cruz threw out Baddoo trying to advance to third on the play and Lewis advanced to second base. Alex Kiriloff followed with an RBI single up the middle to make it 1-0. A walk to Andrew Bechtold put two on base, and with two outs Jose Miranda singled sharply into center field, expanding the lead to 2-0.
The River Bandits struck back in the fourth inning. Corey Julks singled through the right side off of Cedar Rapids starter Brusdar Graterol and then moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. De La Cruz dumped a single into shallow center, leaving men on the corners with one out. Adrian Tovalin was plunked by a pitch to load the bases. After Colton Shaver struck out, Cody Bohanek was also hit by a pitch, forcing in a run and reducing the deficit to 2-1. Gabriel Bracamonte followed with a grounder to third that the diving Alex Kiriloff threw away, allowing two more runs to score and giving the River Bandits a 3-2 lead.
The Kernels tied the game in the eighth inning on an RBI double from Jean Carlos Arias that drove in Jose Miranda from first base. After that, the teams traded scoreless innings with the score tied at 3-3 until the 12th inning. Cedar Rapids took a 5-3 lead in the third extra inning courtesy of RBI singles from Royce Lewis and Alex Kiriloff.
In the bottom half of the inning, with De La Cruz opening the frame on second base, Tovalin knocked an opposite field 2-run home run to bring the River Bandits back to even on the scoreboard. The long ball was his second of the year.
In the bottom of the 13th, Cedar Rapids reliever Jovani Moran walked the first two hitters he faced to load the bases. After he rebounded to strike out Jonathan Arauz, Moran could not find the zone and issued the decisive free pass to Julks to force in the winning run.
Four River Bandits pitchers combined to strike out a season-high 20 hitters. Solomon, the starter, worked 5.0 innings and allowed two runs on four hits and a pair of walks, while striking out seven. Yohan Ramirez followed with 3.1 innings out of the bullpen, during which he surrendered one run on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Robert Corniel pitched 3.0 innings and gave up two runs, one earned, on three hits, compiling seven strikeouts in the process. Adam Bleday earned the win with 1.2 scoreless innings complete with two whiffs.
The River Bandits totaled nine hits. De La Cruz and Colton Shaver provided two each. De La Cruz and Tovalin each extended their hitting streaks to seven games. Tovalin has tallied at least one RBI in five straight contests.
The River Bandits (9-10) and Kernels (8-7) continue the series with a doubleheader beginning Saturday afternoon at 1:15 p.m. RHP Luis Garcia (0-0, 0.00) will start game one for the River Bandits against RHP Randy Dobnak (1-0, 7.71) of the Kernels. In game two, it will be RHP Cristian Javier (0-0, 1.64) throwing for the Bandits and RHP Melvi Acosta tossing for Cedar Rapids.
All River Bandits games are broadcast on 1170 K-BOB and TuneIn Radio. Home games are also available with video on MiLB.TV.
