Kernels Slide Past River Bandits, 10-5

DAVENPORT, IOWA - All nine Cedar Rapids Kernels batters reached safely Tuesday as Cedar Rapids claimed a 10-5 victory to open a three-game series against the Quad Cities River Bandits at Modern Woodmen Park. Cedar Rapids' magic number to clinch a playoff berth is three after Tuesday's triumph over the River Bandits.
Brandon Lopez led all players with three hits and shared a game-high two runs apiece with Ben Rortvedt and Aaron Whitefield. Rortvedt, Christian Cavaness, Travis Blankenhorn, and Jermaine Palacios each drove in two runs. Blankenhorn produced a career-high two triples. Whitefield received a season-high three walks.

Cedar Rapids (37-28) and Quad Cities (33-30) traded three-run rallies early in the tilt. Cavaness posted a two-run double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Whitefield in the second inning to put the Kernels ahead, 3-0. Daz Cameron scored on a stolen base coupled with an error before Yordan Alvarez hit a game-tying home run for the River Bandits in the third.
The Kernels would score the next five runs to build an 8-3 advantage. Rortvedt's two-run double in the fourth inning broke the tie. Blankenhorn followed with an RBI triple. Whitefield scored on an error during the sixth, and Blankenhorn added a sacrifice fly that brought in Rortvedt.
Quad Cities closed the gap to 8-5 in the eighth inning. Jonathan Arauz's RBI single plated Chuckie Robinson. Later in the frame with the potential game-tying run at the plate, Cameron registered a sacrifice fly to drive in Ronnie Dawson.
Palacios lifted Cedar Rapids' lead to 10-5 during the final frame. Blankenhorn led off the ninth with a triple ahead of Palacios blasted a two-run home run to left field for the last runs of Tuesday's game.
Sean Poppen (5-1) only allowed three runs over 5.2 innings pitched and earned the victory. Carson LaRue (7-2) gave up a career-high six total runs, including four earned runs, in 3.2 innings within a loss. Hector Lujan was not charged for any runs over 1.2 frames and garnered his fifth save in five chances.
Game two of this three-game series is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Wednesday evening. The probable pitchers are Cedar Rapids left-hander Domenick Carlini IV (3-4, 5.10) and Quad Cities southpaw Cionel Pérez (3-3, 5.05). Listen to the game 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 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.