Shakeup helps River Bandits

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By Steve Batterson | Thursday, May 29, 2008 11:04 PM CDT | () comments

Steve Dillard shook up his lineup Thursday night, and when things shook out at Modern Woodmen Park, the Quad-Cities manager found plenty to like.

The River Bandits rode strong pitching by Mark Diapoules and Nick Additon and steady defensive play to blank Burlington 6-0.

The victory ended a five-game losing streak at home, but what pleased Dillard the most was the attitude he saw from his team when it stepped into the batter’s box.

“We were a lot more aggressive in our at-bats in this game than we were in our last game,’’ Dillard said, referring to the Bees’ 4-1, two-hit victory Wednesday. “It was exactly what we needed.’’

Dillard inserted Pete Kozma into the top spot in the batting order for the first time this season as part of an overall shuffle that resulted in an 11-hit game by Quad-Cities.

“Mostly, I just change things up a bit and see if we could get things going and in this one, everybody chipped in,’’ Dillard said.

Diapoules (4-0) scattered three hits and struck out five during a five-inning start before Additon followed with four hitless innings to earn his first save of the season.

Both pitchers benefited from working with the lead that Mike Folli provided Quad-Cities in the bottom of the second inning.

After Tommy Pham reached on an error and Adron Chambers walked to open the inning, Folli deposited a fastball by Burlington starter Sam Runion over the newly opened tiki bar beyond the right-field fence.

As fans rushed to soak up discounted beverages — their reward whenever a Quad-Cities homer clears the thatch-roofed village — Folli appreciated that the River Bandits made the most of their early opportunity.

“The one thing this team has done well all year is move on. We had a tough night (Wednesday), but we started fresh and came out to play. This was a new day, and we played like a different team,’’ Folli said.

“We had 11 hits, six runs, our pitchers did well, and Chambers made a couple of great plays in left. Everything just fit together.’’

Nobody appreciated that more than Additon, who took the mound with a 6-0 lead after an RBI double by Charlie Kingrey and a run-scoring infield single by Pham helped Quad-Cities put three more runs on the board in a fifth inning that was extended by a pair of Burlington errors.

“Everything was pretty comfortable by the time I got out there,’’ Additon said. “All I had to do was throw strikes, let them put the ball in play and rely on the eight guys behind me. That’s a great feeling.’’

It’s a feeling Dillard would like the River Bandits, who were led by Kingrey’s three-hit game, to experience more often.

“This was the type of game we should be playing all the time,’’ he said. “Our defense has been there all season, our pitching has kept us in games. We just need to come out, be aggressive in our approach and get after it. When we’ve done that, we’ve played our best baseball.’’

Steve Batterson can be contacted at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.