Burlington Wins Finale, Almost Throws No-Hitter

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - The Burlington Bees took a no-hitter into the eighth inning Monday at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium and grabbed a 1-0 one-hit shutout over the Cedar Rapids Kernels. A two-out single during the eighth by Travis Blankenhorn broke up the no-hit bid from Erik Manoah Jr., Ronnie Glenn, and Blake Smith, but the Bees still earned the win and split this four-game series.
Burlington (25-36) came within four outs of completing its first no-hitter since Danny Duffy and Juan Abreu combined for a 10-0 no-hitter August 7, 2008 at the Peoria Chiefs. The last time that the Kernels (36-28) were the victims of a no-hitter was May 1, 2015 when Daniel Missaki, Kody Kerski, and Troy Scott tossed a 2-0 no-hitter for the Clinton LumberKings.

Manoah (2-4) and Glenn carried the no-hitter through seven innings. Manoah recorded five shutout innings and overcame four walks while picking up the victory. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in his fifth and final frame of work. Glenn recorded perfect sixth and seventh innings to claim his first hold this season.
In the eighth inning, Blankenhorn ended Burlington's quest for a no-hitter. Smith induced fly outs from Aaron Whitefield and Ben Rortvedt to open the frame. His first pitch to Blankenhorn was hit into center field for a single, but a groundout by Jermaine Palacios followed to end the inning. Smith worked around a two-out walk to Mitchell Kranson in the ninth and secured his team-high fourth save.
The Bees scored the decisive run within the top of the second. Sam McDonnell produced a one-out single and moved to second base due to a walk from Brennan Morgan. After John Schuknecht loaded the bases with a single, Juan Moreno hit a sacrifice fly that drove in McDonnell and gave Burlington a 1-0 lead.
Tyler Wells (3-1) was saddled with his first loss despite a strong outing. Wells allowed just one run and four hits over five innings pitched. He also posted a game-high eight strikeouts compared to only two walks.
Coming up, Cedar Rapids goes on the road Tuesday to open a three-game series at the Quad Cities River Bandits. Tuesday's opener will begin at 6:35 p.m. with right-hander Sean Poppen (4-1, 2.63) starting for the Kernels. Chris Kleinhans-Schulz will call the action on 1450 KMRY AM and 93.1 KMRY FM and also online at www.kmryradio.com and www.kernels.com.
The final Kernels homestand of the first half of the 2017 season runs from Friday, June 16 through Sunday, June 18. Fans can purchase tickets for all 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 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.