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River Bandits stop losing streak

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By Steve Batterson | Saturday, May 10, 2008 10:44 PM CDT | () comments

Mark Diapoules delivered what the Quad-Cities River Bandits needed the most Saturday night.

The right-handed starting pitcher worked his way out of jams with runners on third base in the first and second innings, giving Quad-Cities a chance to earn a 4-1 Midwest League win against Kane County.

Diapoules teamed with Nick Additon and Pete Parise on the seven-hit victory that ended a five-game losing streak by the River Bandits.

“We needed a pitching performance like that in the worst way and scoring a couple of runs early didn’t hurt, either,” Quad-Cities manager Steve Dillard said.

The first three River Bandits to face Cougars starter Travis Benwart collected hits and after Jose Garcia and Pete Kozma opened the bottom of the first inning with singles, Charlie Kingrey drove them home with a double that split the gap in right-center field.

“It felt good to be out there with a lead. Our pitchers were outstanding and that really seemed to get us going,” Kingrey said.

“We’ve been in a bit of a funk, so it’s good to break out of that. We would have liked to put a few more runs on the board, but (Benwart) settled down and didn’t give us much more of a chance.’’

Benwart struck out nine River Bandits during a 62/3-inning start, but he left with Quad-Cities clinging to the 2-0 lead it opened in the first inning.

Diapoules didn’t give the Cougars much to work with either, getting an out at the plate following a grounder by Corey Brown in the first and using a double-play to work out of a jam in the second inning.

Additon worked out of a similar jam in the eighth, stranding runners on the corners by coaxing a Christian Vitters pop up and a fly out by Larry Cobb.

“It helps when guys can stay in and have success like that and see that they can get the job done,” Dillard said.

A triple by Brown did drive home Kane County’s lone run in the eighth, but Quad-Cities answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Paul Vazquez collected an RBI single to right and Osvaldo Morales had a sacrifice fly to right as the River Bandits’ built a 4-1 cushion.

A pair of Cougars reached on walks in the ninth, but Domnit Bolivar snared a sharply hit grounder by left-handed hitter Adam Klein and relay throws to Garcia at second and Andrew Brown at first allowed Quad-Cities to turn a game-ending double play.

“That’s a tough play to turn and Domnir picked it well and Jose made a good turn. You don’t see many like that coming against a lefty like that,” Dillard said. “It was a good way to close things out.”

Steve Batterson can be contacted at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com. B