Kernels Bested by Bees Monday

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - The Burlington Bees defeated the Cedar Rapids Kernels, 13-5, Monday in the opener of a four-game series at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Torii Hunter Jr. Jr. clubbed his first Bees home run and registered a career-high four runs batted in. Akil Baddoo, Alex Kirilloff, and Royce Lewis combined for eight hits and all five runs batted in for the Kernels. Baddoo led Cedar Rapids with a personal-high-tying four hits.
Monday's game was tied at 5-5 in the fifth inning when Hunter took over. His RBI single in the fifth put Burlington in front, and he later scored on a single from Franklin Torres. During the sixth inning, Hunter lifted a two-run blast to left-center field that pushed the Bees' lead to 9-5. The Bees also plated two runs in the eighth on Spencer Griffin's RBI single and sacrifice fly by Hunter, and Burlington tallied two more runs in the 9th to reach its winning margin of 13-5.

Burlington (8-7) and Cedar Rapids (7-4) matched their offensive outputs in the early innings. The Bees scored three runs during the top of the first featuring Jo Adell's Midwest League-best 16th run batted in. Kirilloff answered in the third with a three-run round-tripper to left field that tied the contest. The home run was Kirilloff's team-high third clout of the year.
Both sides scored two runs in the fourth to set up the 5-5 tie. Burlington's David MacKinnon came home via wild pitch, and Jeyson Sanchez added another run on a groundout by Gleyvin Pineda. In the bottom of the inning, Baddoo drove in Shane Carrier with an RBI single, and Lewis produced a game-tying single that plated Baddoo.
Marc Brakeman (1-0) rode a stellar Bees debut into the win column. He allowed Lewis' RBI single in the fifth but retired the final 10 batters that he faced over 3.1 innings. Bryan Sammons (0-2) took the loss after yielding six runs - five earned - in 4.1 frames. Sammons also notched a game-high five strikeouts.
This four-game series continues Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. with Kernels right-hander Edwar Colina (0-0, 2.25) starting against Bees right-hander Isaac Mattson (1-1, 2.00). Chris Kleinhans-Schulz will call the game on 1450 KMRY AM and 93.1 KMRY FM and also online at www.kmryradio.com, www.kernels.com, and MiLB.TV.
Great Clips Twins Tuesday features a 2-for-1 ticket offer that can be found on the Kernels' Facebook page or email newsletter. The Kernels will wear special Twins-themed jerseys, and a lucky fan at Tuesday's tilt will win a pair of tickets to a Minnesota Twins game.
Fans can purchase tickets for all Cedar Rapids 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.