DAVENPORT, Iowa - River Bandits pitching held the Kernels to just four hits Wednesday night, en route to a 4-2 victory, snapping the Cedar Rapids seven-game winning streak.
After not leading in the Kernels win on Tuesday, the River Bandits got in front the right way on Wednesday. To lead off the bottom of the first inning, Nolan Sailors launched a solo home run to right center to jump Quad Cities in front 1-0.
In the second, Quad Cities doubled its lead. Back-to-back singles from Derlin Figueroa and Jose Cerice put two on to begin the inning. A bunt moved both runners into scoring position before a Sailors RBI fielder’s choice extended the advantage to 2-0.
That stayed the score until the bottom of the fifth. After two quick outs to begin the inning, an Asbel Gonzalez double and a Blake Mitchell walk put two on for Ramon Ramirez, who scored a run with an RBI single. A batter later, a Luke Pelzer double scored another Quad Cities run to make it 4-0.
Cedar Rapids finally got to Quad Cities starter David Shields in the top of the sixth. After 5.2 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, back-to-back two-out doubles from Eduardo Tait and Brandon Winokur combined to score a run to make it 4-1 and knock Shields out of the game.
The Kernels got a run closer in the seventh. Jacob McCombs singled and stole second to begin the inning. After a Rayne Doncon walk put two on, a throwing error on a double steal allowed McCombs to score to cut the deficit to 4-2.
But that was the closest the Kernels would get. Yimi Presinal came on out of the Quad Cities bullpen and pitched perfect innings in the eighth and ninth to lock down the 4-2 River Bandit win.
The loss snaps the Cedar Rapids season-long seven-game winning streak and drops the Kernels to 15-14 on the season. Game three of the series is set for Thursday at 6:30. Jason Doktorczyk gets the start opposite Justin Lampkin.