Julien, Isola Homer Wednesday for Kernels

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Despite home runs from Edouard Julien and Alex Isola along with a good start by Ben Gross, the Cedar Rapids Kernels dropped a 9-4 decision Wednesday versus the Quad Cities River Bandits at Modern Woodmen Park. The Kernels (27-23) and the River Bandits (32-16) are now in a 1-1 tie within this six-game series.

Julien opened Wednesday’s tilt with an early blast. On the fourth pitch of the game, he lifted a solo shot over the wall in left-center field to secure a 1-0 Kernels lead.

Quad Cities tallied a game-tying run during the third inning. Nick Loftin’s RBI single plated John Rave, but Loftin was retired in a rundown to end the frame. Gross allowed no other runs over his five total innings of work. He also posted the 100th strikeout of his professional career while fanning five River Bandits batters overall.

Isola put Cedar Rapids back in front, 2-1, within the fourth. He delivered a one-out round-tripper to left-center field that snapped a brief tie.

The River Bandits began a stretch of eight consecutive runs in the sixth on Michael Massey’s RBI single. A six-run seventh inning included back-to-back-to-back run-scoring singles from Jeison Guzman, Loftin, and Vinnie Pasquantino along with Massey’s three-run homer to right-center field. Guzman added a sacrifice fly during the 8th to push the lead to 9-2 Quad Cities.

Seth Gray and Allante Hall capped the scoring within the top of the ninth. Wander Javier scored on a double by Gray. Hall, who was batting in his first professional plate appearance, produced an RBI groundout that brought in Gray and sliced the final margin to 9-4.

Mitch Ellis (3-1) picked up the win while Owen Griffith (4-3) was charged with a blown save and the loss. Ellis tossed two shutout innings out of the bullpen. Five of the six runs from the tie-breaking seventh inning were tagged to Griffith.

Thursday’s contest between Cedar Rapids and Quad Cities will take place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Modern Woodmen Park. Right-hander Cody Laweryson (0-0, 3.00) starts for the Kernels against southpaw Anthony Veneziano (2-2, 5.18) and the River Bandits, and fans can follow the action with Chris Kleinhans-Schulz on www.kernels.com.

Cedar Rapids will host its next homestand Tuesday, July 6 through Sunday, July 11. Fans can purchase tickets for all Cedar Rapids 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 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays. On Sundays when the Kernels have a home game, the Kernels Ticket Office will open at 11:00 a.m.