CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - Michael Davis crushed a go-ahead grand slam home run to center in the eighth inning as the Kernels beat Burlington 5-2 on Friday night. The Kernels capped off the home portion of the regular season by winning their seventh straight game, a season-best win streak. They've
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - Michael Davis crushed a go-ahead grand slam home run to center in the eighth inning as the Kernels beat Burlington 5-2 on Friday night. The Kernels capped off the home portion of the regular season by winning their seventh straight game, a season-best win streak. They've also won a season-best nine straight games at home. Cedar Rapids will finish the regular season with a series at Beloit before the playoffs begin on Wednesday.
The grand slam by Davis was the eighth by the Kernels in 2018, a league-best. Davis now has 15 RBI during a current seven-game hitting streak. He has nine home runs in just 39 games with Cedar Rapids.
Burlington (50-82, 20-43) led 2-1 going into the eighth inning. Michael Helman walked to lead off the inning. Two batters later, Ben Rodriguez walked to extend his consecutive on-base streak to 20 games. Jacob Pearson then singled to load the bases for Davis. His grand slam came off of Bees reliever Andrew Wantz (1-2), who suffered a blown save and the loss.
Burlington took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Tim Millard led off the inning with a double to dep left. He advanced to third on a single and scored on Julio Garcia's RBI groundout.
The Bees used three consecutive singles with two outs in the fifth inning to take a 2-0 lead. Cam Williams singled to right after a pair of fly outs. He moved to third on a single to right by Leonardo Rivas. Orlando Martinez's RBI single to center plated Williams and put the Bees up by a pair.
Cedar Rapids (76-60, 44-23) got on the board in the sixth inning, cutting Burlington's lead to 2-1. Gabriel Maciel began the inning with his third single of the night. He appeared to be picked off by Bees reliever Anfernee Benitez, but home plate umpire Ben Rosen called a balk that sent Maciel to second base. Helman's RBI single to right-center scored Maciel and cut the deficit to one run.
Zach Neff (1-0) earned the win for the Kernels, throwing two scoreless and hitless innings. Moises Gomez also tossed two scoreless innings. Melvi Acosta started and allowed two runs over five innings of work.
Burlington's Denny Brady struck out a season-best seven batters over five scoreless innings for a no-decision.
The Kernels now head to Beloit to take on the Snappers at Pohlman Field on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. Carlos Suniaga (3-4, 3.89) will start for the Kernels against Beloit's Jean Ruiz (5-11, 4.55). Fans can listen to the action on 1450 KMRY AM and 93.1 KMRY FM, as well as online at www.kernels.com and www.kmryradio.com.
Cedar Rapids will host a playoff game on Thursday, September 6 at 6:35 p.m. with Game Two of the Midwest League Quarterfinals. The Kernels, the Second-Half Western Division Champions, will travel to the Second-Half Wild Card, in Game One on Wednesday, September 5. The opening series of the postseason is a best-of-three series.
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.
