Bandits Win Rubber Game Over Kernels

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - After six scoreless innings of play Thursday evening, Corey Julks hit a tie-breaking home run that lifted the Quad Cities River Bandits toward a 2-1 triumph over the Cedar Rapids Kernels in front of 2,322 fans at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Quad Cities won this five-game series by a 3-2 margin with its third consecutive victory.
The Kernels (17-18) were unable to capitalize on a fantastic start from Bailey Ober. The right-hander tossed his longest shutout start with only three hits allowed over six scoreless frames. Ober finished his quality outing by retiring 17 of the last 19 hitters that he faced.

Parker Mushinski added a strong performance of his own with five shutout innings for Quad Cities (22-17). Mushinski gave up just one hit and two walks while striking out five batters. The southpaw did not yield any hits over his final four frames of work.
Julks broke up the scoreless deadlock during the top of the seventh. Bryan De La Cruz kept the inning alive with a two-out walk, and Julks came through with a two-run shot to left field for a 2-0 River Bandits advantage.
In the eighth, the Kernels closed the gap to 2-1. Akil Baddoo drew a one-out walk and advanced to second base on a Royce Lewis groundout. Alex Kirilloff batted next and bounced an RBI single into left field that drove in Baddoo.
Leovanny Rodriguez (1-0) worked around Cedar Rapids' late run to secure the victory Thursday. He tallied a game-high six strikeouts over four frames of relief in his Midwest League debut while grabbing his first win as a River Bandit.
Carlos Suniaga (2-1) gave up Julks' home run in the seventh and was tagged with the loss. Suniaga allowed two runs and two hits in two innings pitched.
Coming up next, Cedar Rapids opens a seven-game road swing with a three-game series at the Clinton LumberKings. Friday's tilt is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., and the probable pitchers are Kernels right-hander Blayne Enlow (0-1, 5.65) and LumberKings right-hander Tommy Romero (2-2, 2.81). Chris Kleinhans-Schulz will call the game on 1450 KMRY AM and 93.1 KMRY FM and also online at www.kmryradio.com and www.kernels.com.
Cedar Rapids' next homestand starts Friday, May 25 and consists of nine games including two doubleheaders. Fans can purchase tickets for all Cedar Rapids home games by visiting www.kernels.com, going to the Kernels Ticket Office, or calling (319) 896-7560. The Kernels Ticket Office is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. On Sundays when the Kernels have a home game, the Kernels Ticket Office will open at 11:00 a.m.