Nivens Slams, Ramsey Twirls in Bandits’ Win Over Lugnuts

Davenport, Iowa – Spencer Nivens launched a pair of home runs—including a grand slam—and Ryan Ramsey crafted 6.0-scoreless innings Tuesday as the Quad Cities River Bandits defeated the Lansing Lugnuts 7-1 at Modern Woodmen Park.

A solo shot off Lugnuts’ starter Kade Morris marked the first blast for Nivens, the outfielder’s fourth go-ahead home run in his last five games, and put the Bandits ahead 1-0 in the third.

Morris rebounded with a scoreless fourth, but Quad Cities got back to him in the fifth, jumping out to a 3-0 lead on Dustin Dickerson’s RBI-single and Trevor Werner’s sacrifice-fly after Sam Kulasingam led off the frame with a double, his first extra-base hit as a River Bandit.

While Ramsey scattered four Lansing baserunners in the first five frames, Nivens busted the game open in the sixth, crushing his second grand slam of the season off reliever Blaze Pontes. The homer, Nivens’ 14th of the season and his Minor League leading ninth in the month of August, pushed Quad Cities ahead 7-0.

Ramsey closed out his night’s final frame with his last of five strikeouts and exited his start with a Midwest League-best 23.2-inning scoreless streak intact.

Shane Panizni closed out the game on the hill for Quad Cities and carried the shutout into the ninth with a scoreless seventh and eighth innings, but the bid was ended in the top of the ninth by former River Bandit Jared Dickey, who lifted a solo shot to right field for his first as an A’s farmhand.

The winning effort marks Ramsey’s (5-3) fourth-straight, while Morris (4-7) suffered his fourth consecutive loss since being traded to Oakland on July 30. Panzini (1) earned a nine-out save, allowing the one run in 3.0 frames with a pair of strikeouts.

Quad Cities continues its six-game set with Lansing tomorrow night and sends Henry Williams (4-4, 4.17) to the mound opposite Wander Guante. First pitch at Modern Woodmen Park is set for 6:30 p.m.