Late Cedar Rapids Homers Beat Wisconsin
GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and the Cedar Rapids Kernels battled deep into Friday night locked in a 3-3 tie at Neuroscience Group Field a Fox Cities Stadium. The Kernels broke the tie with back-to-back homers in the ninth inning and turned back a desperate late charge
GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and the Cedar Rapids Kernels battled deep into Friday night locked in a 3-3 tie at Neuroscience Group Field a Fox Cities Stadium. The Kernels broke the tie with back-to-back homers in the ninth inning and turned back a desperate late charge by the Rattlers for a 7-3 win.
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The barrage started early.
Wisconsin starting pitcher Justin Jarvis retired the first two Cedar Rapids batters he faced on strikeouts. He quickly got ahead of Matt Wallner with two strikes and looked to close out the inning with another punchout. However, Wallner hit the next pitch for a solo homer. Aaron Sabato was next and he followed with another homer. The back-to-back blasts gave the Kernels (62-50) a 2-0 lead.
It only took one home run for the Rattlers (53-58) to take the lead in the bottom of the first against Kernels starting pitcher Sean Mooney. Sal Frelick started the rally with an infield single. Zavier Warren walked on four straight pitches. Mooney missed the strike zone with three straight pitches to Joey Wiemer. Then, Wiemer ambushed the 3-0 pitch and hit a three-run homer to put Wisconsin up 3-2.
Alex Isola tied the game in the third inning with a solo homer. Isola has homered in three straight games in the series.
Both teams had opportunities to take the lead in the middle innings. Cedar Rapids loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth and had runners at second and third with two outs in the fifth. Wisconsin loaded the bases with one out in the fifth and got runners into scoring position in both the sixth and seventh. The game remained tied.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, three walks to Wisconsin hitters loaded the bases again with one out. Osiris German came into the game and stranded all three runners to send the game to the ninth inning tied 3-3.
The Kernels broke the tie in the top of the ninth in a big way. Wallner drew a lead-off walk against reliever Harold Chirino. Sabato was next and he hit a long home run to center. Isola followed with a home run to left and the Kernels were up 6-3.
Later in the inning, Gabriel Maciel drove in another run with a two-out single and Cedar Rapids had a 7-3 lead.
Wisconsin didn’t go away in the bottom of the ninth. Joe Gray Jr. singled and Freddy Zamora walked to start the inning and a wild pitch moved them both into scoring position. German retired the next two batters with strikeouts. Then, it was time for the Kernels to go to the bullpen and get Melvi Acosta.
Frelick extended the game by drawing a walk to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. Acosta denied the Rattlers comeback be getting the final out with a strikeout.
The Timber Rattlers stranded nineteen runners in the game and were just 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position. The Kernels hit five homers on Friday night. They have hit fifteen homers in the first four games of the series with Wisconsin. The Kernels have 36 home runs in 22 games against the Timber Rattlers this season.
Cedar Rapids maintained their one game lead over Great Lakes in the High-A Central League Wild Card Playoff race. The Kernels also padded their lead to two games over Lake County in the playoff race. There are eight games left in the season.
The series continues Saturday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field. Nick Bennett (3-4, 4.34) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. The Kernels have named Aaron Rozek (0-1, 4.38) as their starting pitcher. Game time is 1:05pm.
The Timber Rattlers will be celebrating local heroes and ThedaStar’s 35th Anniversary at this game as part of Local Heroes Day presented by Kwik Trip and BluePearl Pet Hospital. Local emergency service personnel receive a $1 ticket for Saturday’s game when they show ID at the ticket window. The players and coaches will wear special patriotic jerseys that are available in an online auction at Live Source and there will be a special delivery from ThedaStar. Kids aged twelve and under run the bases after the game courtesy of Meijer as part of a North Shore Bank Family Day with 101.1 WIXX.
If you can’t make it out to the ballpark, the radio broadcast is on AM 1280, WNAM and on internet audio with the pregame show at 12:45pm. The game is also available on MiLB.tv.