Epic Doubleheader Swept by LumberKings
CLINTON, IOWA - Saturday at Ashford University Field, the Cedar Rapids Kernels and Clinton LumberKings opened a doubleheader with an 18-inning game, which ended in a 2-1 LumberKings walk-off win before action finished at 12:31 a.m. Sunday with a 3-0 Clinton shutout in seven innings.
The LumberKings (11-5) clinched a series victory with the doubleheader sweep, owning a 3-0 advantage in this four-game series against the Kernels (9-8) heading into Sunday's finale at 2:00 p.m.
Rayder Ascanio played a pivotal role early in game one. He promptly singled and stole second base in the first inning. Ascanio later scored on James Alfonso's sacrifice fly. He also kept the Kernels from loading the bases with a sliding stop for a force out at second base in the fourth inning. A strikeout and a groundout followed to keep Cedar Rapids scoreless at the time.
Down to their last out, the Kernels forced extra innings in the top of the seventh, evening the score at 1-1. Manuel Guzman recorded a one-out single and was in motion from first base during a Christian Cavaness groundout to reach second base. Jermaine Palacios followed with an RBI single to score Guzman and tie the game.
The 13th inning nearly produced the winning run. Cedar Rapids' Rafael Valera led off with a double and reached third on a wild pitch, but he was stranded to close the top of the frame. Clinton had pinch-runner Aaron Barbosa at third base with two outs when Braden Bishop grounded to Palacios. The throw was off at first base, and Bishop was initially called safe on Zander Wiel's tag attempt. However, the call was changed to an out that ended the inning and negated the potential winning run.
Clinton finally won the game one marathon, 2-1, in the bottom of the 18th. A two-out double from Bishop set up Alfonso, who singled up the middle to score Bishop for an extra-inning walk-off victory. Nick Kiel (1-0) took the win with four scoreless innings of relief while Zack Tillery (1-1) gave up the winning run to complete 1.2 innings pitched in a loss.
Game two started as a pitchers' duel between Clinton's Art Warren and Cedar Rapids' Dereck Rodriguez. Warren tossed six shutout innings and did allow any runners to reach third base. Rodriguez kept Clinton off the scoreboard for the first three innings, racking up six of his seven total strikeouts in the process.
The LumberKings grabbed their 3-0 winning margin in game two over the fourth and fifth innings. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fourth, and Logan Taylor lifted a sacrifice fly that brought in Barbosa. Dalton Kelly's two-out RBI single scored one run in the fifth. With runners at first and third, Kelly created a rundown and a distraction that was long enough to score Bishop from third base for another run.
Warren (2-0) claimed the win while Rodriguez (0-3) took the loss. After a scoreless seventh inning, Darin Gillies recorded his first save. The 25 innings in this twin bill were five innings shy of the Midwest League record (30) set by the 1976 Burlington Bees and Waterloo Royals. Burlington won by identical scores of 4-3 in game one (22 innings) and game two (eight innings).
Sunday's series finale between the Kernels and the LumberKings is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Ashford University Field. Cedar Rapids right-hander Cody Stashak (1-0, 1.80 ERA) will meet Clinton right-hander Zack Littell (0-1, 5.06 ERA). Listen to all of the exciting Midwest League action with Chris Kleinhans-Schulz on 1450 KMRY AM and 93.1 KMRY FM and also online at www.kmryradio.com and www.kernels.com.
The next Kernels homestand takes place from Tuesday, April 26 through Sunday, May 1. Tickets for all Kernels home games and the 2016 Midwest League All-Star Game are available at www.kernels.com, the Kernels Ticket Office and by 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. The ticket office is closed on Sundays except on Kernels Sunday home dates when it will open at 11:00 a.m.