River Bandits Slam Wisconsin

GRAND CHUTE, WI – Justin Johnson’s grand slam home run was all the Quad Cities River Bandits needed to beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 4-2 on Thursday night at Neuroscience Group Field. The slam was the eighth of the season for the River Bandits.

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The River Bandits (61-61 overall, 31-26 second half) opened the scoring in the second inning. Wisconsin starting pitcher Tyler Wehrle, making his first start since May 14, 2023, had pitched out of trouble in the first after allowing a walk and a single to start the game. In the second, Wehrle got the first out before Quad Cities loaded the bases on an infield single, another single, and an error on a potential inning-ending double play. Then, Johnson unloaded the bases with a home run to the scoreboard for a 4-0 lead. This was the fourth bases-loaded homer for the River Bandits against the Timber Rattlers this season.

Wisconsin (74-48, 32-24) rallied for a run in the bottom of the third against Bandits starter Ethan Bosacker. Eduarqui Fernandez singled and stole second with one out. Luis Lara followed with a single to left to score Fernandez.

In the fourth, Hedbert Pérez lined a double high off the wall in left-center with two outs to score Ramόn Rodríguez from first base. Dustin Dickerson denied the Jheremy Vargas an RBI moments later when the Bandits shortstop made a diving catch in shallow left to end the inning.

Hey Hedbert, that was a good looking hit! 👏

🦝4 | 🌭2#tratnation pic.twitter.com/GgH10UgHwp

— Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (@TimberRattlers) August 30, 2024

Bosacker ran into a jam in the fifth inning as Fernandez singled and stole second again. Matt Wood drew a walk with two outs to bring the lead run to the plate. A grounder to first ended the inning and Bosacker’s evening. He allowed two runs on five hits over five innings to put himself in line for his seventh consecutive win.

Rodríguez singled to start the bottom of the sixth against Quad Cities reliever Nate Ackenhausen to bring the tying run to the plate. However, the River Bandits bullpen went into shutdown mode. Ackenhausen retired the next six batters he faced and turned the 4-2 lead over to Chazz Martinez, who closed out the game with a perfect eighth and a perfect ninth for his second save of the season.

Wehrle struck out five and allowed four runs – three earned – on five hits over 4-2/3 innings to be charged with the loss.

Wisconsin’s bullpen also pitched scoreless baseball with a pair of pitches making their Midwest League debut by combining for 4-1/3 shutout innings. Brailin Rodriguez took over for Wehrle with two outs in the fifth and struck out three while allowing one hit and one walk over 2-1/3 frames. Dikember Sanchez gave up two hits in two innings but faced the minimum thanks to a pair of 6-4-3 double plays.

Quad Cities is starting to solidify their playoff position for the right to face the Timber Rattlers in the first round of the Midwest League playoffs. The Peoria Chiefs lost to the Beloit Sky Carp on Thursday night. That result moved the River Bandits lead to two games on the Chiefs. The River Bandits have the tie-breaker on the Chiefs due to winning the season series. Beloit and the Cedar Rapids Kernels remained four games behind the River Bandits with nine games remaining in the regular season.

Game four of the series is Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field. Ryan Birchard (0-0, 5.14) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. The River Bandits have named Frank Mozzicato (5-10, 3.75) as their starting pitcher. Game time is 6:40pm.

Friday’s game is night two of Bratoberfest presented by Jones Dairy Farm! There is a Bratoberfest Ticket Offer for those 21 and older that includes a box seat ticket, a Beer Bat, and a free fill up of your new Beer Bat. That ticket package is available here. Plus, the team is wearing their one-of-a-kind Wisconsin Brats jerseys. Those jerseys are available for you to bid on in an online auction here.

There will be pregame music by Tom Schneider and 2/5ths outside the stadium from 5:00 to 6:15pm and postgame fireworks courtesy of Thrivent Financial. Children twelve and under may run the bases courtesy of Menasha Corporation after the fireworks show.

If you can’t make it to the ballpark, there are several ways to follow the Timber Rattlers action. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM with the Community Blood Center Pregame Show set to go at 6:20pm. The game is also available on the internet and the Bally Live App.