ALEX MAESTRI’S COMPLETE GAME PROPELS BANDITS
Brisbane starter Alex Maestri returned to his dominant form, and the Italian right-hander spun the first complete game of his ABL career, tossing all nine innings of a 6-1 Bandits victory over the Canberra “UberGlobal” Cavalry Thursday night at RNA Showgrounds.
Maestri (9.0 IP/0 ER) bounced back after back-to-back losses to dominate a shorthanded Cavalry team Thursday. Without big bats Todd Glaesmann and Ty Morrison, both recalled to the US by their parent club, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Cavs welcomed back 2010/11 ABL batting champ Michael Collins to their lineup but still couldn’t crack Maestri. Canberra catcher Travis Scott and second baseman Kody Hightower posted the Cavalry’s only two hits, and Scott drove in the visitors’ lone run with the game already well in-hand for Brisbane.
Matching four walks with four strikeouts, Maestri picked up his third win of the season and first since November 11.
The Bandits got behind their starter early with a run in the first on a Brad Dutton solo homer, two in the second, and two in the third capped off by Rory Rhodes’s RBI double. Canberra’s Mike McGuire (2.0 IP/5 ER) couldn’t record an out in the third before exiting en route to the loss. Dutton added a second solo shot in the seventh to round out Brisbane’s scoring.
Brisbane can climb out of a three-way tie with Canberra and Melbourne for last place in the ABL standings with a win in the second game of this five-game set Friday in Queensland. First pitch for game two is scheduled for 7pm.