Wallner’s Wallop Proves Decisive in Peoria

PEORIA, Ill. – A go-ahead, two-run home run by Matt Wallner was the difference within a 4-3 Cedar Rapids Kernels win Friday against the Peoria Chiefs at Dozer Park. Cedar Rapids is now 48-40 overall after earning their third consecutive victory while Peoria dropped to 33-55.

The Chiefs grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Aaron Antonini picked up a leadoff walk and stayed at first base until Zade Richardson lifted a two-run homer over the right-field wall.

Gabriel Maciel brought the Kernels level, 2-2, during the top of the sixth. An error on an uncaught foul popup kept Maciel at the plate, and he doubled on the next pitch to drive in Jeferson Morales and Michael Helman.

Peoria powered its way back in front within the bottom of the sixth inning. Antonini’s two-out solo shot cleared the fence in right field for a 3-2 Chiefs advantage.

Wallner’s decisive dinger in the seventh put Cedar Rapids ahead for the first time at 4-3. Yunior Severino led off with a double before Wallner crushed a round-tripper to right field. The Kernels would maintain that one-run lead through the end of the contest.

Andrew Cabezas (3-1) allowed just one run over three innings of relief and tallied his first victory since a shutout start June 5 at the Fort Wayne TinCaps. Melvi Acosta followed with two scoreless and hitless frames for his sixth save this year. Diego Cordero (0-1) gave up the go-ahead home run and lost his 2021 Chiefs debut.

In the penultimate contest of this Kernels road trip, Cedar Rapids will face Peoria at 6:35 p.m. Saturday. Right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long (0-0, -.--) is scheduled to make his Kernels debut against right-hander Miles Mikolas (0-0, -.--) who is joining the Chiefs on a rehab assignment from the St. Louis Cardinals. Audio coverage with Chris Kleinhans-Schulz will be available on www.kernels.com.

Cedar Rapids will host its next six-game homestand from Tuesday, August 17 through Sunday, August 22. 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.