Bats Stall in Quad Cities’ Defeat

Davenport, Iowa – The Quad Cities River Bandits failed to record a hit after the third inning on Wednesday, as they fell to the Cedar Rapids Kernels 6-2 at Modern Woodmen Park.

For the sixth time in their last seven meetings, the Kernels snagged a first-inning lead against the Bandits, jumping in front 1-0 on a Rubel Cespedes RBI-single.

Starter Hunter Owen then responded with back-to-back scoreless frames in the second and third, allowing Spencer Nivens to break Quad Cities into the run column and into a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third with a two-out, two-run double.

Not only would the knock be the Bandits’ last hit of the game, but the advantage did not last long, as the Kernels retook the lead in the fourth, scoring a run on a Dustin Dickerson error to tie the game, before moving ahead 3-2 on Jose Salas’s RBI-single.

Owen would finish off his start with a scoreless fifth inning, but John Klein and Jarrett Whorff held the Bandits to just one base runner over the final six frames of the night with the bats only adding to their lead. The visitors plated a run on a Hunter Patteson wild pitch in the eighth and then a pair against Ben Sears via Kevin Maitan’s two-run homer in the ninth.

Klein (7-2) earned the win for Cedar Rapids, completing his third quality start of the season against Quad Cities, while Owen (6-5) got saddled with the loss. Whorff (1) earned his first save of the season with five strikeouts and 3.0 perfect innings of relief.

Quad Cities continues its six-game series with the Kernels on Thursday night and sends southpaw Ryan Ramsey (1-3, 3.02) to the hill against Kernels right-hander Jeremy Lee (1-3, 3.90). First pitch at Modern Woodmen is set for 6:30 p.m.