River Bandits Best Kernels 8-4 in Series Finale

DAVENPORT, Iowa - After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first inning, Quad Cities scored twice to tie the game in the bottom of the inning before taking a lead in the third it would not lose in an 8-4 win over Cedar Rapids Sunday afternoon.

Coming off a Fourth of July loss for the first time since 2018, the Kernels opened the scoring on Sunday. With two outs in the first inning, Eduardo Tait reached on a single. A batter later, Enrique Jimenez smashed a two-run home run to right to lift Cedar Rapids in front 2-0.

The River Bandits responded in the bottom of the inning. Nolan Sailors doubled to begin the frame, and two batters later came in to score on a Ramon Ramirez RBI double. Ramirez then attempted to steal third, and on an error on the throw, he came home to tie the game, 2-2.

In the bottom of the third, Quad Cities took the lead. Angel Acosta reached on an error to start the inning before a Sailors single put two on. With runners on the corners, a balk plated Acosta to put the River Bandits ahead 3-2. Three batters later, Luke Pelzer made it 4-2 with an RBI double.

Cedar Rapids got a run back in the fourth. Henry Kusiak doubled to open the inning before singles from Luis Hernandez and Dameury Pena combined to score him to cut the deficit to 4-3.

But it again did not take long for the River Bandits to answer. In the bottom of the fourth, Jose Cerice worked a walk in front of Trevor Werner, who launched a two-run home run to left to extend the advantage to 6-3.

The Kernels pushed across a run in the sixth. Hernandez tripled to begin the inning and came home to score two batters later on a Caden Kendle RBI base hit.

Cedar Rapids, however, could not get any closer. In the bottom of the eighth, an Acosta bunt hit and a Sailors walk put two on for Ramirez, who added two more RBI with a two-run double to make it 8-4 Quad Cities, the score that would be the final.

The loss drops the Kernels to 33-45 on the season as they finish the 12-game road trip 2-10. Cedar Rapids returns to Veterans Memorial Stadium to begin a six-game series with South Bend Tuesday at 6:35. Both starters are TBD.