Kernels take Game 1

CEDAR RAPIDS - He walked off the mound to applause. Then it got louder and louder.

Pretty soon it was a full-fledged standing ovation. You could tell Felix Jorge was taken aback some by it.

'That was good,” the Cedar Rapids Kernels starting pitcher said, after his strong outing helped his club past Quad Cities, 5-2, in Game 1 of this Midwest League playoff series Wednesday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium. 'I like to see that. When the people do that, that's really a good thing. That was a surprise.”

It really shouldn't have been, because Jorge deserved each and every plaudit. He attacked from the start, pounded the strike zone and pitched one out into the eighth inning for the win.

Luke Bard and Nick Anderson finished up, and the Kernels find themselves one victory from eliminating a Quad Cities team that had the best regular-season winning percentage in the full-season minor leagues. Game 2 is Thursday night at 7 at Davenport's Modern Woodmen Park. Game 3, if necessary, is Friday night at Davenport.

'There are good baseball people here,” said Kernels Manager Jake Mauer. 'I've seen that for three years now. They appreciated Felix, knew the effort he gave tonight, how he competed and how big that was for us.”

In any playoff series, especially a short one like this, pitching and defense are paramount, and that's where Cedar Rapids held the advantage Wednesday. Both teams finished with 10 hits, but Quad Cities had the only two errors, with the Kernels scoring two unearned runs and an earned one on a wild pitch.

Nick Gordon's sacrifice fly in the fourth provided what turned out to be the winning run. He went 3-for-3.

'I felt like we put up some good at-bats, made things happen,” Gordon said.

'We brought a lot of energy tonight,” said Kernels designated hitter Alex Real. 'There was a really positive energy in the dugout. We got ahead early, and our pitcher did great. Felix was great, and our bullpen - Luke Bard and Nick Anderson - just shut it down at the end. Our defense was very sharp. Just a team effort.”

Real's two-out, two-run single against QC starter Joshua James gave Cedar Rapids a 2-0 lead in the third. The River Bandits tied it in the top of the fourth, but the Kernels went back ahead for good in the bottom half.

Chris Paul singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch to make it a 4-2 game in the sixth. Gordon doubled leading off the seventh and scored after tagging up on a fly to right and seeing right fielder Ramon Laureano's throw get past third and into the QC dugout.

'At this level, everyone is pretty even, so it's the little mistakes that could end up costing you a game,” Real said. 'We ended up being very good pitching and playing defense tonight.”

Jorge had 82 pitches through seven innings, with 61 of them strikes. He allowed nine hits but walked only one and struck out seven, thanks primarily to a good slider.

'He was great,” Gordon said. 'He was able to command all his pitches. He felt good on the mound, you could tell. He trusted us. Us guys behind him went to work for him.”

Mauer was asked how big a hammer his team carries now with this first-game victory. The starting pitching matchup Thursday is Sam Gibbons (7-4, 2.89 ERA in regular season) for Cedar Rapids and Brock Dykxhoorn (9-5, 3.88) for QC.

'Whenever you play a home game in a short series like this, you've got to win,” Mauer said. 'Hopefully we can find a way to win down there. Tomorrow would be nice. You've got to defend your home field and win on the road when you can.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com