Windy City’s four-game winning streak was snapped Thursday night at Standard Bank Stadium at the hands of the River City Rascals who came out on top, 5-2.
For the fifth straight game, the ThunderBolts were the first team to score with a first-inning run. Guillermo Martinez led off the game with an infield single, stole second and moved up to third on a Zach Aakhus groundout. Ryan Basham’s groundball to second brought him in to score the game’s first run.
The score remained 1-0 into the third inning when River City got on the board in a similar fashion. Caleb Curry doubled with one out and stole third. He came home a Doug Sanders groundout. The Rascals took their first lead in the series the following inning when Stephen Holdren, Josh Banda and Chris McClendon singled consecutively and Holdren scored on a Danny Sawyer sacrifice fly.
Windy City had a chance in the bottom of the fourth to jump back ahead when they loaded the bases with one out, but Ryan Basham hit into a 4-3 double play to end that threat. That was the story of the game for the Bolts who squandered three bases loaded opportunities in the game, getting a combined one run out of them.
River City jumped on the missed opportunity by taking a 4-1 lead in the fifth. Chad Maddox and Holdren had the RBI hits. Windy City got one back in the sixth when Mike Torres walked with the bases loaded, but River City effectively put the game away on a Josh Banda eighth inning home run, completing the scoring at 5-2. Zack Sterner picked up the win (1-0) while Ryan Quigley took the loss, going five innings (2-3).
The Bolts wrap up their home stand with a 5-4 mark, and head to the road for the first time since June 22. Friday begins a three-game series at the Gateway Grizzlies. Windy City will throw Joe Scumaci (1-3) against Mark Brackman (2-4). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 and the game can be heard on WXAV 88.3 fm.
