Winokur the Walk-off Hero, Kernels Best Timber Rattlers 5-4

Cedar Rapids, IA – With one out in the bottom of the tenth inning, Brandon Winokur delivered a walk-off single into left field as the Kernels walked off Wisconsin for the second time in three days, 5-4, Sunday afternoon.

After being shut out Saturday night, the Cedar Rapids offense got back in the run column in the bottom of the fourth on Sunday. Singles from Danny De Andrade and Poncho Ruiz put two on for Kyle Hess, who opened the scoring with an RBI single. A batter later, Jaime Ferrer lifted a sacrifice fly to left to plate Ruiz to make it 2-0. Behind him, Luke Napleton capped off the inning with an opposite-field two-run home run to up the edge to 4-0.

On the mound, Kernels starter Jose Olivares rolled. The right-hander allowed just one hit across five scoreless innings of work, striking out five along the way.

Now facing the bullpen, the Timber Rattlers got on the board in the sixth. After Eduardo Garcia worked a walk, Herbert Perez crushed a two-run homer to right to cut the Cedar Rapids lead to 4-2.

In the top of the eighth, Wisconsin rallied to tie it. To begin the inning, Garcia walked, stole second and moved up to third on a groundout. One batter later, Andrick Nava cued an infield single to bring in Garcia and make it 4-3. Later in the inning, Juan Baez reached on a fielder’s choice and moved up to second on a walk, in front of Luiyin Alastre, who blooped an RBI single to left to score the run and even the tally at 4-4.

That stayed the score until the bottom of the tenth. The extra-inning rule runner Kyle DeBarge stole third in front of Brandon Winokur, who plated the game-winning run with an RBI single to right to take the victory in walk-off fashion, 5-4.

With the win, Cedar Rapids wins the series against the Timber Rattlers 2-1 and finishes the season series with Wisconsin 9-9. The Kernels continue their nine-game homestand Tuesday evening when the Fort Wayne TinCaps visit Veterans Memorial Stadium for the first time since 2018 at 6:35. Both starters for game one are TBD.