Correa falls two outs short of no-hitter

When Manaurys Correa took the mound for the ninth inning Saturday, he wasn't the only one pushing for a no-hitter. His teammates wanted to make sure they did everything they could to complete the gem.

The 20-year-old right-hander everyone calls "Pollo" got Wisconsin's Joshua Prince to fly out to center field to open the final frame, but that was as close as he got.

Mike Brownstein slapped a solid single to center one batter later, but it did little to diminish Correa's accomplishment in Cedar Rapids' 11-2 romp over the Timber Rattlers.

"It was a great experience, honestly," said third baseman Jon Townsend, who powered the Kernels' offense by going 4-for-4 with two homers and a career-high seven RBIs. "Going into that ninth inning, it seemed like every person on that field was so dialed in. We wanted it so bad for Correa. It hurt when the guy got the base hit."

Correa, a 6-foot-3 righty, stepped off the mound and smiled after the single, and pitching coach Brandon Emanuel came out of the dugout to assess his starter's mood. He sensed a hint of disappointment, but the overall reaction was positive.

"Let's do it," he said. "Let's finish it."

However, after recording the second out, the Kernels coaching staff pulled him because it didn't want to risk tarnishing the performance, which ended with Correa giving up one earned run on two hits with three walks and four strikeouts over 8 2/3 innings.

"He threw the ball well," Emanuel said. "He mixed his pitches well, threw effective inside and used his changeup really well. He just kept them off-balance and really just attacked them all game. It was a good outing for him, definitely a confidence-builder."

It was Correa's first win since July 16, despite a solid performance in his last outing. The Kernels' steady offensive barrage took some pressure off, but the pitcher said he was too focused to notice.

"That's a good thing, but I don't think about that's a good thing," the native of the Dominican Republic said. "I think about throwing strikes, everything's down. My changeup was good tonight."

While Correa was putting together a dominant effort on the mound, Townsend was getting it done at the plate. The 24-year-old hit a two-run homer in the third inning and followed with a two-run single in the fourth.

Townsend added a three-run shot in the sixth and finished his night with an eighth-inning single.

"When your pitcher is out there dealing like 'Pollo' normally does, it takes a lot of pressure off the hitters and vice-versa, I would assume," he said. "It was a little bit odd for us to be putting up a lot of runs at the same time when he was pitching very well. It really allowed us to focus a lot on helping him get through the game."

It's been an up and down season for Townsend, so his performance was satisfying.

"It's been very off and on," he admitted. "Offensively, I haven't had the season I would have hoped for. It's a difficult role to fill when you don't play every day, but I'm on a great club."

But even more than his own accomplishment, he wanted to see Correa succeed.

"Anytime you see a guy out there, giving it all he's got, it motivates you to do the same," he said. "That was the case tonight for everybody. I'm sure 'Pollo' would be the first to tell you it's a team effort. Everybody feeds off the starting pitcher's energy, and tonight he just had it. He had it."