Comeback Comes Up Short at Fort Wayne

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Despite slugging three home runs featuring a ninth-inning grand slam from Leobaldo Cabrera, the Cedar Rapids Kernels lost to the Fort Wayne TinCaps, 8-6, Thursday at Parkview Field. Cedar Rapids (11-16) rallied against multiple six-run deficits but was unable to complete the comeback.

The TinCaps (12-14) grabbed an early 1-0 lead within the opening stanza. Jonny Homza got to third base on a one-out double coupled with an error. Two batters later, Tirso Ornelas drove in Homza by producing an RBI single.

Seth Gray forced a 1-1 tie in the top of the fourth. He launched a one-out solo shot to right field for his fourth round-tripper this season.

Fort Wayne regained the lead during the bottom half of the inning. Kelvin Melean opened the rally by coming home via error. Grant Little added a run of his own after a wild pitch. Homza’s two-run single and Kelvin Alarcon’s two-run triple stretched the advantage to 7-1 TinCaps.

Both sides plated a run within the fifth. Michael Helman’s solo shot, which was his career-high fifth homer of 2021, cleared the wall in left-center field, but Fort Wayne answered with a Reinaldo Ilarraza sacrifice fly to secure an 8-2 edge.

Cabrera’s clout closed the gap to 8-6 in the ninth. Trey Cabbage and Helman each collected singles, and Chris Williams loaded the bases on a walk. The stage was set for Cabrera who hit a grand slam to left-center field. However, his second home run of the year was the final outburst from Cedar Rapids as the next three batters were retired in succession to end the game.

Ethan Elliott (2-1) notched nine strikeouts in a victorious quality start with two runs allowed in six innings pitched. Sam Keating set down all three hitters that he faced to earn his first save for the TinCaps. Tyler Palm (0-3) surrendered six runs including four unearned runs over two-plus innings and ended up with the loss.

Coming up, the second half of this six-game series begins Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET (6:05 p.m. CT) with Kernels right-hander Jon Olsen (0-3, 4.61) expected to face TinCaps right-hander Matt Waldron (2-1, 2.81). Chris Kleinhans-Schulz will call the contest on www.kernels.com.

Cedar Rapids will host its next homestand from June 15 through June 27. Fans can purchase tickets for all Cedar Rapids Kernels home games by visiting www.kernels.com, going to the Kernels Ticket Office, or calling (319) 896-7560. The Kernels Ticket Office is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays. On Sundays when the Kernels have a home game, the Kernels Ticket Office will open at 11:00 a.m.