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Sports

Rascals on a Roll, Beat Washington 7-1

River City now winners in 11 of last 12 games.

River City right-hander Zach Sterner threw a complete-game three-hitter to lead the Rascals to a 7-1 win at Washington on Thursday night.     

Chris McClendon slammed two home runs and went 4-for-4 while Josh Banda and Bobby Burk added round-trippers to power the River City attack.    

The Rascals have won 11 of their last 12 games and remain 1.5 games ahead of Southern Illinois in the Western Division.    

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River City improved to a league-best 27-11 with its third win in a row.    

Sterner, from Franklin, Pennsylvania, moved to 5-0 and lowered his ERA to 1.73 with another in a long line of strong efforts. He is tied for the Frontier League lead in wins and second in ERA. He struck out seven and walked one. Overall, Sterner is 11-1 with a 2.41 ERA in 22 career games with the Rascals.    

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Sterner said after Thursday's game that his ability to keep the ball down in the strike zone was the key to his success. He needed only 98 pitches to complete the gem.    

Burk and McClendon hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth to break a tie and give River City the lead for good 3-1. Banda powered a three-run uprising in the ninth with a two-run shot. McClendon has 20 RBI and moved his average to .317 with a near-perfect performance. He got the Rascals started with a solo homer to lead off the first inning.    

Burk's home run was his sixth of the season.    

River City infielder Doug Sanders added a run-scoring hit in the eighth to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.    

The defending league champions go for a series sweep at Washington on Friday before moving on to Lake Erie for a three-game series Saturday through Monday. Zach Robertson (4-0) will start on the mound for the Rascals on Friday and will be opposed by Gary Lee (1-0) of the WildThings.    

The Rascals return home to begin a six-game homestand on Tuesday at T.R. Hughes Ballpark with a 7:05 p.m. contest against Washington. That six-game streak will take the team into the All-Star break.

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