Newton’s Walk-Off Grand Slam Propels Quad Cities over Cedar Rapids 5-3

Davenport, IA - With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Shervyen Newton belted a walk-off Grand Slam to lift Quad Cities to a 5-3 win over Cedar Rapids Thursday night.

For the third straight game to begin the series, Cedar Rapids got on the board first. In the top of the third, Misael Urbina walked to begin the inning, and after a Jose Salas bunt moved him to second, he scored on a Kyle Hess single to put the Kernels on top 1-0.

That stayed the score until the top of the sixth frame. Kevin Maitan singled to open the inning and after a groundout moved him to second, Jay Harry drove him in with an RBI single to double the Cedar Rapids lead to 2-0.

In the bottom of the sixth, Quad Cities got on the board for the first time. Justin Johnson began the inning with a single, advanced to second on a groundout and scored on a Dustin Dickerson base hit to make it 2-1.

But that was the only run allowed by Kernels starter Jeremy Lee. The right-hander allowed one run on four hits with six strikeouts and no walks. Together with reliever Nolan Santos, who tossed 2.1 scoreless innings, the Cedar Rapids staff allowed just one run through eight frames.

In the top of the seventh, Cedar Rapids re-upped the lead to two. Hess doubled to open the inning and moved to third on a Gabriel Gonzalez single before scoring on a wild pitch to put the Kernels ahead 3-1.

That was the score entering the bottom of the ninth. To begin the inning, Dickerson worked a long at-bat into a walk. After a pop out, back-to-back hits loaded the bases for Shervyen Newton, who blasted a walk-off Grand Slam to right to lift the River Bandits to the 5-3 win.

The loss drops the Kernels to 16-11 in the second half and 53-38 overall. Game four of the six-game series is set for tomorrow at 6:30, with Darren Bowen on the mound opposite Henry Williams.