Lewis Dominates as Kernels Take Game Two of the Series over Wisconsin 4-1

Appleton, WI – Cedar Rapids starter Cory Lewis tossed five scoreless one-hit innings Wednesday afternoon as the Kernels edged Wisconsin 4-1 to take the second game of the series over the Timber Rattlers.

After the Kernels scored twice in the first inning in the win on Tuesday, the offense started working right away again on Wednesday. To lead off the game, Noah Miller reached on a two-base error. The next batter, Emmanuel Rodriguez, then picked up an infield single to put runners on first and second with no outs before a passed ball and wild pitch plated Miller to put Cedar Rapids ahead 1-0.

In the second, Kyler Fedko took a two-out walk, and after a Keoni Cavaco single and a Miller walk, the bases were full with two outs for Rodriguez, who ripped an RBI single to lift the Kernels ahead 3-0.

That stayed the score all the way until the bottom of the sixth inning, thanks to the pitching performance of Cory Lewis. The right-hander picked up his fifth win of the season, going 5.0 innings, allowing no runs on just one hit with three strikeouts.

With Mike Paredes on in the sixth inning, Brock Wilken picked up a one-out base hit for the Timber Rattlers' second hit of the day before rain started pouring down, resulting in a 1:42 rain delay. After the delay, a Hendry Mendez single moved Wilken up to second, and a Darrien Miller base hit drove him home to cut the Kernels lead to 3-1.

The Cedar Rapids lead stayed at two until the top of the ninth inning. With one out in the frame, Jose Salas smoked a solo home run on a line to right to give the Kernels a 4-1 advantage.

In the bottom half of the ninth, Jarrett Whorff finished things off to pick up his third save of the year in the Cedar Rapids 4-1 victory.

The win for the Kernels (82-46) is the second in a row to begin the final series of the season against Wisconsin (58-68). The two sides meet again in the series' third game tomorrow at 6:40, with C.J. Culpepper on the mound for Cedar Rapids.