Dickey’s Blast, Mozzicato’s Gem Lead Quad Cities to Win in Series Finale

Davenport, Iowa – The Quad Cities River Bandits will enter the Major League All-Star Break riding a win, as they defeated the Peoria Chiefs 6-1 on Sunday afternoon at Modern Woodmen Park.

Although Peoria scored the game’s first run just three batters into the game, taking a 1-0 lead on Leonardo Bernal’s double play ball, it would wind up the only run surrendered by Bandits’ starter Frank Mozzicato. The left-hander worked six innings and allowed just two hits and two walks with five strikeouts for his second quality start of the season.

After Chiefs starter Darlin Saladin kept Quad Cities off the board over the first two innings, the Bandits rallied for a pair of two-out base runners in the third and jumped in front 3-1 on Jared Dickey’s three-run homer, his seventh of the season.

Saladin responded with a scoreless fourth, but failed to make it out of the fifth, with Quad Cities tacking on two more on a pair of RBI-singles courtesy of Carter Jensen and Trevor Werner.

Jack Pineda also helped pace the QC lineup, finishing the ballgame 3-for-4 and a home run away from the cycle.

The River Bandits’ bullpen convincingly kept the club’s 6-1 lead intact over the final three innings. After Chazz Martinez struck out four in 2.0 perfect frames, Natanael Garabitos cruised through a one-two-three ninth to close out the ballgame.

Mozzicato (5-6) got credit for the win, while Saladin (3-1) was tagged with his first High-A loss, allowing five runs in 4.2 innings, despite a season-high matching eight strikeouts.

After four days off, Quad Cities returns to action Friday, July 19 at Four Winds Field and opens a three-game series with the South Bend Cubs at 7:05 p.m. ET.