Kernels Bats Fall Silent in 4-1 Loss at Quad Cities

Davenport, IA - Quad Cities' pitching held Cedar Rapids to just one hit in the final eight innings, as the River Bandits came from behind to top the Kernels 4-1 Saturday evening.

For the fifth straight time to begin the series, Cedar Rapids scored first. With two outs in the top of the first inning, Rubel Cespedes reached on a single and moved to third on a stolen base and an error. A batter later, he scored on a Kevin Maitan RBI base hit to lift Cedar Rapids ahead 1-0.

Connor Prielipp got the start for the Kernels and was very strong in his first start with Cedar Rapids in over a year. Prielipp did not allow a run in his two innings of work, allowing just two hits while striking out four.

With Prielipp out of the game, Quad Cities took the lead it would never lose in the bottom of the third. A walk and an error put two River Bandits on to begin the inning and after a pair of outs, Trevor Werner plated both with a two-run double to lift QC on top 2-1.

In the sixth inning, the Bandits doubled their lead. A one-out Werner triple put a runner on third for Shervyen Newton, who increased the lead to two on an RBI groundout. A batter later, Justin Johnson doubled and came home to score on an Omar Hernandez RBI single to up the Quad Cities lead to 4-1, the score that would be the final.

The loss is the Kernels' third straight in the series with Quad Cities and it drops Cedar Rapids to 53-40 on the season and 16-13 in the second half. The Kernels go for a split of the series in the finale tomorrow at 1:00; C.J. Culpepper gets the start for Cedar Rapids opposite Frank Mozzicato.