Quad Cities Escapes Series Opener with Win

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - In the opener of a four-game series at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium, the Cedar Rapids Kernels rallied but fell short, 7-6, Thursday against the Quad Cities River Bandits. The River Bandits extended their longest winning streak of the season to nine consecutive triumphs.
Quad Cities (31-15, 68-46) notched an early 1-0 advantage during the second inning. Daz Cameron hit a one-out single and stole second base before reaching third on a Josh Rojas fly out. Ronnie Dawson followed with an RBI single.

The Kernels (20-26, 59-57) pulled even in the third inning, 1-1. Jimmy Kerrigan drew a one-out walk and later advanced to third base on a pair of wild pitches. Ben Rortvedt drove in Kerrigan with a two-out RBI single to tie the contest.
In the top of the fourth, the River Bandits surged back in front for a 3-1 lead. Quad Cities loaded the bases with two outs for Luis Payano, who produced a two-run single that drove in Troy Sieber and Cameron.
Both sides scored twice in the fifth resulting in a 5-3 Quad Cities lead. Sieber and Abraham Toro-Hernandez hit back-to-back homers to left field for the River Bandits. Cedar Rapids answered on Kerrigan's leadoff homer and Shane Carrier's RBI single.
A pair of errors allowed a pair of runs to score for the River Bandits during the top of the seventh. A throwing error after a ground ball by Dawson allowed Sieber to come home, and another error during a rundown against Dawson helped Rojas score for a 7-3 Quad Cities lead.
Within the home half of the seventh, the Kernels trimmed the difference to 7-4. Three consecutive walks loaded the bases. After a force out, Amaurys Minier delivered a sacrifice fly that brought in Rortvedt.
Two more runs in the eighth put Cedar Rapids down just 7-6. Christian Cavaness opened the inning with a leadoff home run. Kerrigan followed with a triple and scoring during an RBI single from Lewin Diaz. However, the only offense left for the Kernels was a two-out walk in the ninth from Joe Cronin, and Cedar Rapids would drop the one-run decision.
Jesus Balaguer (3-0) only allowed one run in one inning and was credited with the win. Tyler Watson (0-2) was charged for five runs in five innings within a loss. Salvador Montano pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his fifth save in as many chances.
Game two of this four-game series is slated for 6:35 p.m. Friday. The probable pitchers are Kernels right-hander Clark Beeker (10-3, 2.15) and River Bandits right-hander Yohan Ramirez (3-4, 4.15). Chris Kleinhans-Schulz will call the contest on 1450 KMRY AM and 93.1 KMRY FM and also online at www.kmryradio.com, www.kernels.com, and MiLB.TV.
Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for Friday's tilt, and the first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a Mr. Shucks Belly Bobble Figure. It is also Kernels Friday Mug Club Night sponsored by Stadium Bar & Grill, Shuey's Restaurant & Lounge, Red's Public House, Mulligan's Pub, and Z 102.9. A special 16 oz. mug of regular draft beer or soda costs $6.00, and refills of regular draft beer or soda for that mug are only $3.00 at every Kernels Friday home game.
Fans can purchase 2017 Kernels regular season and playoff tickets 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.
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