CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - In his Midwest League debut, Tyler Webb hit a full-count, two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning that turned a late Burlington Bees lead into a 3-2 Cedar Rapids Kernels walk-off win Friday in front of 3,457 fans at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - In his Midwest League debut, Tyler Webb hit a full-count, two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning that turned a late Burlington Bees lead into a 3-2 Cedar Rapids Kernels walk-off win Friday in front of 3,457 fans at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Kernels (9-6, 48-37) are now on a season-best five-game win streak including four consecutive wins against the Bees (4-11, 43-42).
History repeated itself for Webb within Friday's tilt. His first game played this year came with the Rookie-Level Elizabethton Twins, and he produced a full-count, two-out, two-run double in a 3-2 victory on Opening Night against the Bluefield Blue Jays. Webb delivered the same heroics in his first Kernels appearance as he drove in Gilberto Celestino and Gabe Snyder on a double to right-center field.
Josh Winder and Kyle Tyler opened the contest with dueling quality starts. Winder notched a game-high eight strikeouts in seven innings for his seventh quality start in a row and the seventh consecutive quality start by Kernels pitchers overall. Tyler tossed seven strikeouts over seven frames. Both starters allowed just one run each.
Alvaro Rubalcaba hit a solo home run for Burlington in the third inning before Cedar Rapids pulled even, 1-1, in the fourth. Jacob Pearson and Celestino hit back-to-back singles and advanced on a fly out from Snyder. Jared Akins launched a sacrifice fly to plate Pearson and tie the game.
Tim Millard broke an eighth-inning tie and gave the Bees a 2-1 lead. Millard collected a solo shot, and Burlington would hold on to its advantage until Webb's game-winning double in the final frame.
Carlos Suniaga (3-2) yielded one run in two innings and was the winning pitcher Friday. Tyler Smith (5-3) gave up the two ninth-inning runs within a blown save and a loss.
This weekend, the Kernels will start a three-game road series at the Quad Cities River Bandits. Saturday's series opener is scheduled for 6:35 p.m., and the probable pitchers are Kernels right-hander Andrew Cabezas (2-5, 4.04) and River Bandits right-hander Matt Ruppenthal (3-2, 4.13). Chris Kleinhans-Schulz will call the contest on 1450 KMRY AM and 93.1 KMRY FM and also online at www.kmryradio.com and www.kernels.com.
Cedar Rapids will host its next homestand Wednesday, July 10 through Monday, July 15. 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.
The Cedar Rapids Kernels are the Midwest League affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
