CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Cedar Rapids faced 24 batters to get the final 24 outs Saturday night, holding the Quad Cities offense at bay in a 3-2 win.
For the third straight game, the River Bandits opened the scoring in the top of the first inning. A Nolan Sailors walk, and an Asbel Gonzalez single put runners on the corners for Blake Mitchell, who opened the scoring with an RBI groundout. The next batter, Ramon Ramirez, then doubled down the left field line to double the Quad Cities lead to 2-0.
But that was the end of the River Bandits scoring on the night. Riley Quick did not allow another run in his four innings of work, and behind him, Michael Ross went four scoreless innings, only allowing one hit with four strikeouts and no walks. Eston Stull slammed the door on the victory, striking out the side in order in the top of the ninth to cap off the win. After the first inning, Cedar Rapids pitching only allowed three baserunners the rest of the way, and thanks to a pair of double plays and caught stealing, no more than three River Bandits hit in any inning down the stretch.
With the Cedar Rapids pitchers posting zeros, the Kernels got on the board in the bottom of the third. Marek Houston singled to begin the inning, and after he stole second, he scored on a Yasser Mercedes RBI double to cut the deficit to 2-1. The next batter, Quinn McDaniel, lined a triple to left to score Mercedes and tie the game 2-2.
In the fourth, the Kernels took the lead. Jay Thomason reached on a two-base error to open the frame, and after a wild pitch moved him to third, he scored on a Houston sacrifice fly to put the Kernels on top 3-2, the score that would be the final.
The win improves the Kernels to 25-25 on the season and to 2-3 in the series with Quad Cities. Cedar Rapids tries to salvage a split in the set on Sunday at 1:05 with Garrett Horn on the mound opposite Blake Wolters.