Resilient Kernels stun 'Caps, avoid sweep
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA - The West Michigan Whitecaps had the Cedar Rapids Kernels down to their final out on two occasions Saturday afternoon, but a series of clutch hits by the resilient Kernels extended the game and resulted in a 7-6, 12-inning loss for the Whitecaps at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
West Michigan (9-7) fell short of a series sweep and finished their road trip at 3-3. All three losses were extra-inning, one-run defeats. Cedar Rapids (9-7) snapped a four-game losing streak with their dramatic comeback victory.
The 'Caps handed a 5-4 lead to lefty reliever Joe Mantiply in the bottom of the ninth. Mantiply, who entered play with 10 scoreless innings under his belt this season, recorded the first two outs of the frame without a hitch. Then B.K. Santy, making his Midwest League debut, stepped up and hit a high fly ball to left that cleared the fence for a game-tying home run.
West Michigan scratched across another go-ahead run in the top of the 10th. Wynton Bernard drew a leadoff walk and stole both second and third. That led to a runners-at-the-corners situation with two outs for Jose Zambrano, who dumped a flare-single to left that popped out of the glove of a diving Jeremias Pineda for a 6-5 lead.
But the bottom of the 10th followed a familiar script. After getting two quick outs, Mantiply allowed Jason Kanzler to reach base on a bunt-single that rolled between the pitcher and the first baseman. Mitch Garver followed with a pinch-hit double that split the gap in left-center, plating Kanzler all the way from first for another game-saving two-out run.
Cedar Rapids eventually won it in the bottom of the 12th. Whitecaps' reliever Montreal Robertson worked around a leadoff walk in the 11th but could not do the same one inning later. With a man at second and one out, Kanzler smacked the walk-off hit over the center fielder's head for the 7-6 final.
Brandon Peterson (1-0) earned the win with 2.1 scoreless innings for the Kernels, while Robertson (0-1) was charged with one run in 1.1 innings in the loss.
Early on, the Whitecaps bounced back from a 1-0 deficit by clubbing three home runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Raph Rhymes, who was 4-for-6 on the afternoon, led off the fourth with a solo homer that sailed out of the ballpark to left field. In the fifth, Tim Remes added a leadoff shot to left-center and Javier Betancourt lofted a two-run blast that pushed the lead to 4-1. Later in the fifth, Ben Verlander was at first with Rhymes at third when manager Andrew Graham called for a double steal. As Verlander purposely got hung up in a rundown between first and second, Rhymes broke home and scored for a 5-1 advantage.
But the Kernels battled back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, aided by a throwing error from starting pitcher Austin Kubitza that trimmed the Whitecaps' lead to 5-4. At that point Julio Felix came in out of the West Michigan bullpen and dealt 3.1 shutout frames to maintain the slim one-run advantage. Felix stranded potential game-tying runs in scoring position in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings before the Kernels finally broke through in the ninth.
The Whitecaps return to Fifth Third Ballpark on Monday to open a seven-game homestand with a 6:35 p.m. first pitch against the Bowling Green Hot Rods. RHP Jeff Thompson (0-0, 5.14) is scheduled to pitch for West Michigan against RHP German Marquez (0-1, 0.96) of Bowling Green. Each day of the seven-game "Dollar Days" homestand will feature a different $1 special, starting with $1 reserved seats on Monday for fans that bring a church or community bulletin thanks to JQ99 FM. Season, group and individual tickets can be reserved by calling the Whitecaps' front office at 616-784-4131 or visiting www.whitecapsbaseball.com.
Click here to view the box score.