Vazquez’s Three Hits Propel Bandits’ Win Over Timber Rattlers

Davenport, Iowa – Royals’ No. 27 prospect Daniel Vazquez drove in three runs and whacked a pair of RBI-doubles to help lead the Quad Cities River Bandits to a 7-3 win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Modern Woodmen Park.

After going 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position and stranding 14 runners on base in a 4-3 loss Wednesday, Quad Cities plated each of its first three base runners Thursday, with Vazquez collecting his first RBI-double of the night against Robet Gasser.

The left-hander, who got the ball in a Major League rehabilitation start, then saw the Bandits take a 2-0 lead on Callan Moss’s sacrifice fly, extending the slugger’s Midwest League-leading RBI total to 65.

Wisconsin tagged Bandits’ starter Logan Martin for a run on Luiyin Alastre’s RBI-triple in the second, but Quad Cities immediately got the tally back in the bottom half on Bryan Gonzalez’s RBI-single against right-hander Jaron DeBerry.

A run on a Martin error in the third and Alastre’s RBI-groundout against Bandits’ reliever Jacob Widener in the fourth gave the Rattlers a run in three-straight innings and tied the game 3-3, but Vazquez delivered again in the fifth and pushed Quad Cities back in front 4-3 with a sacrifice fly that plated Sam Kulasingam.

L.P. Langevin took over for Widener in the sixth and tossed back-to-back scoreless frames for the second-straight relief appearance, before the Bandits pulled away at the plate in the seventh.

After Kulasingam opened the inning with a triple, his team-leading seventh of the season, Blake Mitchell ricocheted the second of his night’s three singles off the mound into center field to extend Quad Cities’ lead to 5-3 and knock DeBerry out of the game.

Vazquez then greeted right-hander Patiricio Aquino with his second RBI-double, before Chris Brito drove in a 7-3 Bandits’ advantage two batters later.

Left-hander Tyler Davis closed out the four-run game with a scoreless eighth and ninth inning, including four strikeouts, cementing 6.0-innings of one-run work from the River Bandits’ bullpen.

After a 3.0-inning, two-run (one earned) start from Martin, Widener (1-1) earned the win for Quad Cities, striking out two over 2.0 frames, while DeBerry (2-3) ate up the bulk of work for Wisconsin and struck out six, but was saddled with the loss after surrendering four runs on nine hits and two walks in 5.0 innings of relief.

The River Bandits return to Modern Woodmen Park for game four of their six-game set against the Timber Rattlers tomorrow night and send Felix Arronde (3-5, 2.71) to the mound opposite right-hander Manuel Rodriguez (1-2, 1.99). First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.