Offense leads the way again as Carp stay hot

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa— The Beloit Sky Carp once again rode a hot offense to a victory, defeating Cedar Rapids 9-5 Wednesday afternoon.

The victory was the third straight for Beloit, who improved to 17-15 and moved into sole possession of second place.

First baseman Marcus Chiu stayed red-hot, crushing two home runs and, for the second straight game, knocked in four runs. Chiu opened the scoring with a three-run blast in the second inning. Federico Polanco walked to force in a run in the third to extend the Beloit advantage to 4-2.

After the Kernels responded with a run in the bottom half, a single by Victor Mesa Jr., combined with a Cedar Rapids error, made It 5-3, and a Zach Zubia sacrifice fly made it 6-2 in the fourth inning.

Jan Mercado hit his first homer of the season in the sixth to make it 7-2, and Chiu’s second blast of the game made it 8-2 in the seventh inning.

The Kernels scored three in the seventh, and Ynmanol Marinez had an RBI single to make it 9-5 in the ninth.

Matt Givin got the victory after tossing a pair of scoreless innings, while Tyler Mitzel finished off the Kernels with a pair of perfect innings.

The six-game series will continue Thursday night as the Sky Carp seek their fourth straight win.